Saving Grace: a Batman fanfiction

Chapter 24

*A/N: Hahahaha. I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry. Here I am, more than a year later, adding another chapter because, 1, so many people wanted me to– I love you guys, I really do– and 2, this story isn’t over yet!! I have more plans for our favorite family. Shoutout to you if you’re one of my readers from the very beginning. You’re amazing. Enjoy! As always, lmk what you think 🤍

    Tim woke up tired. He always did.

    He supposed it didn’t help that he’d laid awake on his bed for hours, listening to Jason’s tossing and turning. How long had it been since Tim had shared a room with someone? Apart from the sparing sleepover with Dick when he stayed at his place in Bludhaven, he’d never shared a room before. Jason wasn’t asleep either, Tim could tell. How could they sleep, with the other's presence such a stark interruption?

    This was a bad idea, Tim thought, lying deathly still on his back, not daring to move, lest he be accused of trying to look at Jason. This whole trip was a bad idea, he thought, and then eventually the thatched ceiling faded to black and he’d fallen asleep.

    When he woke up, Jason wasn’t in the room. Thank God for small victories, Tim supposed, heading into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Jason had unpacked his toiletries on the sink, and for some reason the sight of neatly organized skin and hair care bottles had Tim’s lips unwittingly curl up into a small smile.

    The shower was luxurious, even by a Gotham billionaire’s standards. Tim tilted his face up towards the shower head, closing his eyes as the water ran directly onto his face.

    The bathroom door slammed open.

    “What the fuck,” hissed Tim, spluttering as he jerked his head out from under the formerly-comforting shower.

    “Whatever,” says Jason in a stubborn voice that suggests Tim shouldn’t even waste his breath in complaining about this unwelcome intrusion of his privacy.

    Tim seethes behind the thin shower curtain and listens to Jason rummage through the drawers of the vanity for whatever the hell it is he was looking for.

    “You know if I ever did this to you you’d actually slaughter me without a second thought, right?” Tim pointed out, irritation seeping into his voice.

    “You sleep like a baby,” Jason shot back not unkindly, turning to leave, shutting the door as loudly as he’d opened it.

    Tim took a measured inhale, turned back to the showerhead, and immersed his face in the running water again.

He just had to stay calm. He could do that, right?

**********

    Breakfast was incredible.

    Grace stared at the seemingly never-ending spread of fresh tropical fruit, pastries, artisan breads, and too many spreads to name.

    “Quite the continental breakfast, isn’t it,” chuckled Bruce to her left, no doubt enjoying her dumbstruck expression. She quickly schooled her face into something a little less I-used-to-be-a-dirt-poor-orphan-that-skipped-breakfast.

    “It is,” she said, helping herself to some fresh pineapple and a flaky croissant.

    “Hey.”

    Grace dropped her fork onto her plate. It crashed down loudly, and if she wasn’t so panicked she might have been worried about breaking the dish. She twisted around, heart in her throat, to find– Dick.
It was just Dick.

    “Are you okay?” Asked Dick, hands up wearily, eyebrows furrowed in confusion and concern. Grace could feel Bruce’s eyes on her as well. Jason had stopped walking when she dropped the fork, about halfway to the breakfast table, and was now just standing there surveying the scene, face tight.