Robin's Shadow (Batman OC)

Chapter 27: Tired Tim

Roy did indeed keep up with contact after our day together. It was nice, he texted me now almost as much as Dick does, and he was being his old self around me. Well, his old self plus a lot more flirting. We both enjoyed that part, and throw pick up lines at each other often. He is a handsome man, and I certainly don't mind his attention, but I also equally wouldn't want to waste or risk my only friendship. For now, he doesn't live near me or come to Gotham often, so our flirting is fun and makes us both happy, so I'll continue to do it.

"How long has it been this time?" I ask Alfred one day as I walk down to the cave and see him fretting over Tim, trying to get the boy to go to bed.

"Almost three days." Alfred replies back in exasperation.

"Alright, I got this." I say confidently, cracking my knuckles as I walk up to Tim. I crouch down until I can whisper right into the boy's ear. "We can so this the easy way, or the fun way." I say threateningly to him.

"I can't sleep, I have work to do." Tim replies back robotically.

I chuckle into his ear, "The fun way it is." I say, then promptly lift his body up and throw it over my shoulder like he's a sack of potatoes. I lock down my grip on him so he can't escape, and I laugh evilly as he complains. 

I walk all the way up to his room like that, him thrashing and punching me weakly as I haul him along. I throw him in his bed and take off his shoes and change him into pajamas, him trying to escape the whole time.

"You're worse than a toddler." I say in exasperation to him as I finally manage to get him changed.

"I fear for any child you're ever around." He deadpans at me.

"Me too." I grin at him, then proceed to get into his bed with him.

"What are you doing?" He asks hesitantly as I wrap my arms around him and begin to gently stroke his hair.

"Making sure you sleep. Don't worry, I'll be here all night. You can get some rest." I say reassuringly. I know he doesn't sleep because he has nightmares about his parents or about things that happen on patrol, and that he just throws himself into his detective work to avoid the dreams. Especially lately, he's been avoiding sleep so often he goes days at a time without it, just caffeinating himself to get by.

"I don't need you to do this." He says stubbornly, but I can feel his body relaxing against my own.

"No, but I'm going to anyway. I'm all kinds of selfish like that." I say with a chuckle, and he starts to drift off. 

I stay the whole night, sleeping peacefully with my new little brother in my arms, protected him from any harms, even the ones in his dreams. When the nightmare does come, I just hold him a little tighter and hum softly into his ear until he relaxes again. It was harder to tell with him that he was having a nightmare, he's a crier, not a fighter, so it was only the soft sound of his whimpering that alerted me to his distress. 

In a way, it was more heartbreaking that Dick's or Jason's nightmares. Especially because there's always going to be a small part of me that blames myself that he has these nightmares now since I let him become Robin and face the fears he battles now in his sleep.

From then on, I became the only one who could get Tim to sleep when he was being stubborn. It also became a habit of his to occasionally crawl into my own bed during the night. Whenever that would happen, I would just scoot over and make room for him, and then wrap my arms around him and hold him. 

I reflected on that for how we all end up seeking comfort with each other when we sleep. Dick would always wrap his arms around me, holding me against his long broad chest as if I was breakable. Jason would be my mirror and face me while holding my hand, or he would starfish around my own starfish limbs, but we would always be equals, mirrors. For Tim, and I would always wrap my arms around him and stroke his hair, comforting him while he comforts me by letting me know he's safe within my arms. We were all cuddly sleepers, but in different ways of seeking comfort.