#know one

Tim stared at his family rejoicing in front of him. No thank you’s, no apologies, not even a token acknowledgement that he was right. Was it so bad that Bruce is alive? They seemed happy enough.

Maybe they were right about one thing, maybe he is crazy. Is that why everything seems so different to him? Was he just here to play the part they needed, to stroke their egos? Tim the fan boy that wanted nothing more than to keep them alive and true to themselves.

He shook his head to clear the thoughts. He wouldn’t, couldn’t, change anything. Messing with the time stream was too selfish.

He plastered a smile on his face and joined his family in the main hall. He ignored Damian’s look of hatred. He ignored Dick’s look of disbelief. It really didn’t matter what he did, it wouldn’t change how they saw him. Little pretender Tim, playing at being a detective.

He inwardly sighed, they do say you should never meet your heroes.

He continued to smile and act joyous as his thoughts continued to betray him.

Was all his hard work and dedication wasted? If only he could have argued his point better. No. It wouldn’t have changed anything. They saw what they wanted to see. He couldn’t fix them.

Tim had to focus to keep his fist from clenching. He could not afford to lose sleep over this, could not afford to let himself feel alone. He could not let the hallucinations or waking nightmares turn him against his family.

He may not be able to change how they look at him, but he can change how he looks at them.

He glanced at his brothers again. Instead of hatred from Damian, he now saw the relief, the insecurities and the jealously. From Dick he could see relief, love, and fear of loss.

Maybe it was time to let his heroes die, take them off the pedestal and let them be human. Maybe he could even try to get Jason to stop by for supper. He faltered for a moment, he wasn’t that good at manipulation. The smile on his face slowly became real as he looked towards Alfred. Mayve he just needs a little help in the convincing.