You know… I can’t stop thinking of a specific type of deaged Tim Au
One where Tim blinks awake and instead of Bruce and Alfred and Dick and Barbs in the cave with him it’s Bruce and a tall man in a red helmet, two teens, one in yellow and the other in a Robin suit. There’s also a couple of girls, one blonde, one with short black hair.
And everyone’s starring at him but Tim’s pretty good at rolling with the punches, so he sits up and waits for Bruce to make introductions and he looks at Tim and Tim looks back unflinchingly and so he does, “This is Jason,” and Tim looks at Bruce for confirmation. The man nods so he offers his hand and when Jason hesitantly shakes it, Tim says “Welcome Back” Jason blinks, in surprise? and just nods in response.
“This is Damian, my son” Tim looks at him and cocks his head, he doesn’t let it show on his face but he’s trying to put the pieces together, was he in the future? Has he been deaged? Has he been in a coma for several years? He doesn’t ask any of that, just “Talia?” after a moment and Damian nods, and Tim smiles at him, hand out “It’s great to meet you, hope our transition was smoother than all the other legacies” he jokes and Damian grimaces as they shakes hands and Tim laughs, not really amused, “Yeah, guess it wouldn’t be, would it?”
He ignores the weight of the silence and heavy the tension in the air.
Bruce nods to the other teen, who’s already reaching over to pat Tim’s shoulder, “Hey, Duke,” He introduces himself, “We’re all glad you’re alright man. Try not to do that again, will you?”
Tim nods, “I’ll do my best,” he promises, amusement clear. It’s reflected in Duke’s expression.
“My daughter, Cassandra” Bruce introduces the young woman with short black hair and she and the blonde hug him without much warning, “and her best friend, and one of yours, Stephanie.”
So not a coma, then. That makes sense, his body doesn’t feel different enough from… whenever he last was… actually…? He kind of wishes that they’d focus on introductions after telling him what’s going on.
He nods even as he relaxes slightly into the hug.
There’s something Bruce isn’t saying, something off about the way he’s emphasizing my but Tim chooses to ignore it.
They break the hug and Tim tries to be still, to be patient, to relax amongst the stranger’s surrounding him.
He doesn’t ask about Dick, or Barbara, or Alfred or Helena, even though he really, really wants to.
He is about to ask what happened when suddenly Dick is sliding past the door that is also a clock and racing down the stairs, skipping steps, and Tim lights up.
He’s older, his hair is different, but he’s Dick.
Tim jumps off the cot, stumbles a bit, but shrugs it off, even as several pairs of hands reach out to steady him and runs and throws himself at Dick.
He face plants into the others chest and Dick gathers him close, laughing in relief as Tim relaxes his weight fully, trusting his brother to keep him safe in a place that that’s never really had enough people to fill it up before but now feels suffocating.
Tim lets Dick pat him down, checking for injuries without much complaint.
The computer flickers on and Oracles green face pops up on the screen… there’s something that pings in his head when she breaths out his name but he ignores it in favor for pulling away from Dick to wave at her brightly, she says his name again but it’s happy and tearful all at once, telling him how close of a call it was… whatever it was that happened to him.
He then throws himself backwards where Dick is already ready to catch him and he laughs at Dick’s exasperated but fond exhale.
The others stare, in silence.
Tim avoids Bruce’s eyes, to be polite, the man is older and wearier than he was before, and Tim tries to not show it on his face.
Dick ushers him back to the cot and sits down on it with him, letting Tim rest against his side, arm around the fourteen year old’s shoulder.
Bruce isn’t the man he remembers him to be, a shadow in his eyes that Tim has never seen before, even as he kept the man from completely sinking into his grief with stubbornness alone.
There’s something off about Barbara, her voice subdued.
Alfred is notably missing and no one brings up Helena.
The blonde, Stephanie, is typing furiously, shoulders hunched like she was trying to hide behind Cassandra, though of course, she couldn’t, really, telling Tim there were others, even more people who wanted updates.
He curls up to Dick whose talking, what he’s saying is important because it’s coming from Dick, but it’s not relevant to the situation he finds himself in currently so he lets his bother’s voice mostly wash over him as he takes in his ultra vigilant audience, tracking their movements and taking notes of their expressions.
There’s something off about these people.
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