The snake-like Cuckoo who lives among the Bats and Birds
The first lesson Janet Drake taught Tim was about how everybody has their own agenda. That he should never give someone else his trust, at least not very easily.
Tim was young then. Very young. Toddler years if you will. However, his mother still taught him such a thing because while children are impulsive and hard to control and most importantly stupid, Timothy Drake- her flesh and blood, the only heir to the Drake fortune and the one who will, one day, be the reason she will continue living her dream life in early retirement- was a genius. A prodigy if you will.
He was smart. Far smarter than even some adults (people Tim meets at every gala he attends). Sharp and calculative in the same way Janet was. Because Tim was all mother and no father. He didnāt inheret even a remotely similar personality trait from Jack. And Janet- ever the observant woman- noticed that fact early. It gave her a chance to raise a proper Drake heir. A cunning and successful man who will one day raise Drake Industries to new heights and dominate everything else.
And in the real world, no one is ever above deciet and betrayal if all the right buttons are pushed.
Timās trust never came to anyone very easily after that.
The second lesson Janet Drake taught Tim was about subtle manipulation.
Trusting no one doesnāt mean that Tim couldnāt predict his opponentās moves as long as he has enough information about them. A little trick there and a little accident here. No, Tim wasnāt the cause of this! How could you even think of that? Tim was the one who brought justice to the wronged! Itās just that, because he helped, these people trusted him. Became somewhat loyal!
And giving your trust to Tim was always the wrong move. Because trusting Janet Drake was a wrong move too. Back then, as stated before, he was a child. So most of the time he just acted dumb and got people talking. He was kind of a spy for the Drakes in that way. Janet knew how to utilize resources just as well as Tim of the present. He prided himself for never getting caught.
Nowadays, resprting to a little manipulative tactic became a bit of a habit. Second nature of you will.
The third lesson Janet Drake taught Tim was about the art of acting and wearing masks.
When Janet was small, she learned that masks are absolutely needed if she wanted to survive among the hungry and greedy gotham elites. Back then, she helped Jack Drake he was too trusting, too gullible, and too loyal. Janet learned to take advantage of her little bodyguard and fool the rest of the elites. Wearing the little sweatheart of gotham mask- a mask that seamlessly fit her face- wasnāt easy. Jack was too annoying, too clingy, too prideful, tooā¦ obsessive.
She learnt to love him all the same. Because she was also too much in certain areas too.
She taught Tim how to act and switch between masks effortlessly. To build a mask, one for every occasion. Every separate identity, and every separate Tims that he wanted others to see and percieve.
The shy and timid Drake child.
The invisible shadow that follows the Bat and his birds.
The perfect sweetheart of gotham.
The amicable, old money heir.
His first lesson was to never trust. His second was to do anything to get what he wanted. His third was to decieve.
Gotham elites are a different kind of crazy than the rest of this cesspit of a city. No one, other than the truly decieving and despicable, could survive in it. No one, other than a truly born and raised Gothem elite, could Thrive in it. It was the reason why the Drakes didnāt associate with New money. New money didnāt know the ins and outs. They were gullible and weak and the Drakes wouldnāt be caught dead letting them talk to them longer than socially necessary.
Gotham elites were selfish and had their own agenda. Everyone manipulated, no one trusted another, and everyone wore a mask- however, lacking they are.
That was the world Tim came from. So imagine his fascination when he found out about Batman.
A man who, seemingly for no reason, was fighting crime and helping the city. It juxtaposed everything Tim knew and the rules he lived by. Which was why he needed know the manās motives. Because surely, everyone has their agenda, everyone does something to gain for their selfish reasons. Surely, Batman isnāt an outlier.
Gotham elites, the Drakes, everyone. Even Tim. They did everything for their own gain. They stopped at nothing to get it. There was no symptathy for the weak who fell. No respect for the strong who thrived. Tim did not pity the street rats. That was simply their role in this waste pool of drama and plays.
But Batman. He helped without getting paid. He made it seem like he had no motive. And Tim, being the genius whose mind is constantly undersimulated, decided he wanted to solve this case. His first case.
And then he quickly became obsessed.
Stalking wasnāt hard when you somewhat practice self defence arts. This is Gotham. And he was a Drake. A Drake wouldnāt be caught getting kidnapped. It would bring shame on the family name.
He took up photography rather quickly, playing it off as a hobby. Batman and Robin were magical. Beautiful. And Tim still hasnāt solved Batmanās motives. His life fianlly had meaning beyond being a perfect heir to the Drakes.
Then he found out about their identities.
Tim began stalking Bruce Wayne and Richard Grayson in the galas too. It was obvious to him that Brucie was a mask. Even before he found out about Batman.
The Gotham elites didnāt have empathy nor sympathy towards anyone who fell and those who never got the chance to fall. He assumed Bruce Wayne was the same.
Everything he did was for the publicity, at least thatās what he thought. He thought wrong.
No one ever saw Bruce Wayne and Batman in the same room. And to prevent people of finding his secret identity, Bruce created the mask named Brucie. He found out one of Batmanās motives.
And then everything came apart.
Dick had an argument with Bruce. Bruce found another Robin. That Robin died. Batman became a man willing to give up.
Tim couldnāt have that. While being birthed and raised by Janet Drake meant that he had a very loose moral compass, he couldnāt have Batman giving up. That would lead to Batman dying, Gotham falling, and most importantly, Tim never getting the chance to solve Batman.
He did the standard things in order the right everything. Asking Nightwing to come back was a bust. Demanding Batman find a Robin was also quickly becoming a bust. Then both were captured by two face.
Alfred handed him a Robin suit with a haunted look on his face.
Robin was magical. Robin was empathetic. Robin was kind and helpful.
Robin was everything Tim wasnāt.
Then, Tim quickly created a mask named Robin and saved both heroes.
The only reason Tim was still welcome in this house was because he had his uses. No matter what, Bruce Wayne is a Gotham elite. And Gotham elites all have their agenda, their reason to do anything they did. Bruce welcomed his kids in becauseā¦ they were his children. Because he loved them. It escaped Tim why love is the way it is.
But among the Bats and Birds, Tim was the Cuckoo. He forced his way into the family. As a born and raised Gotham elite, Tim has his own agenda of being here. He wanted to be useful. To beā¦ loved the same way the others were.
But because he was a Cuckoo, that love is hard to earn. He knew that. So, he remained useful. Became the smart Robin, the detective that is almost on par with Batman himself. Lead the WE gracefully, kept the Wayne public image as high as possible, entertained the other elites so that the others wouldnāt need to.
Everyone knew a slightly different Tim.
The Bats knew the case obsessive Red Robin.
The Waynes knew the sleep deprived Tim.
The Gotham elites knew the genius CEO Timothy.
And the media knew the Gothamās sweetheart Tim Drake.
No one knew the Tim that existed beyond the high raised walls upon walls.
Just like how he liked it.
Because the Drakes may be prideful Dragons and the Waynes may be the protective Bats but Janet and Tim were the deceitful snakes that grew wings and feathers.
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