Tim Drake Gets the Love he Deserves

Chapter Four

Dick's emotions would just not stand still long enough for him to focus. They were changing from confusion, anger, sadness, shock, exasperated, and annoyance. He could not control the situation if he couldn't make sense of it, and he couldn't make sense of it if his brain wouldn't just PICK A DAMN EMOTION. 

After Bart had dropped the bomb that this kid -Tim- was from a different universe, he'd shut his mouth and hadn't said a single word since. Instead, he'd spouted some nonsense about how Tim needed him to make sure he was eating, and disappeared into the Med Bay, leaving Dick to try and calm everyone down.

Why did he want to lead a group of teenagers again? Someone really should have talked him out of this. 

So what could he do except call Babs down here and ask for her help? If anyone would know something about this, it would be her. Especially with the way Steph had reacted to seeing the kid. That was just a whole new level of suspicious. 

Until she arrived, however, he needed to somehow stop everyone from murdering Bart. That was going to be extremely difficult, seeing as how Dick had wanted to do the same thing to the speedster after he disappeared. 

Teenagers. Why, why, why did he agree to lead teenagers?

....

"..."

"...?"

"..."

".....Tim?"

"..."

"Timmy?"

"..."

"Timbo?"

"..."

"...Red?"

"..."

"Are you...Okay?"

"..."

"..Tim?"

"Hmm?" Tim asked, finally looking away from the spot on the wall he'd been staring at for the last few minutes. 

Bart was sitting next to him, not bothering to hide his worry. If there was one thing he'd learned from future Tim, it was that he hated pity, but had never had someone really care for him. One way to show you cared was to worry, so Bart worried outwardly and inwardly. 

"ImeanIknowyouaren'treallyokay,butyou'vebeenstaringatthatwallforlikeforeverandit'sgettingalittlescarybecauseyouhaven'tevenblinkedandsoareyouokay?"

Tim blinked at him, nodding slowly. "Yeah, yeah I'm okay." It would never cease to amaze him that Tim understood him perfectly. He must have spent a lot of time with a speedster.

"Just... surprised, I guess." Which, yeah, that makes sense. Bart would be pretty surprised too if he found out that his girlfriend is from his universe and came here when she died.

"Is she... Are you sure? Like, absolutely positive?" Tim asked, unable to keep the pure hope out of his voice. 

Bart grinned. "Yeah. Stephanie Brown is 100% from your universe. There is no daughter, or son for that matter, of Cluemaster here." 

Tim let out a laugh. A laugh that put all of his emotions on full display. Hope, love, sadness, surprise, relief, joy. It was a laugh that Bart had never heard from Tim before. It was... refreshing.