Batty Family - Batfam Oneshots

[RQ] The Youngest (Damian & Family)

Request!
Takes place during the Robin and Red Robin era.
—
Tim was smart. Everyone knew it. He was the smartest. No one could dispute it; there was nothing that Tim couldn't solve.

As much as he denied it, that fact made Damian's blood boil. He wanted to be the best, he wanted to be the brightest. Something in him was rotting and dying knowing that Tim was better than him in every conceivable way, and everyone else could see it. Dick knew, Alfred knew, maybe even his own father knew...even if Damian was the blood son, Tim truly was the son of Batman. Damian could pretend he was better all he wanted, and he was going to do that, but deep down he knew of his inadequacy in comparison to Tim Drake.

He shook off his insecurities as he scrolled through the Batcomputer while logged into Red Robin's account. He clicked on the profiles of villains. Tim kept a list of everything he knew about the criminals, where to find them and how to beat them. Damian had used the list numerous times. This time, he would use it against Tim. He was going to find every last criminal on the list, and he would take down every one of them. Maybe then, he could prove that he was better than Tim. The first person on said list? The Joker.

"Really?" Damian grumbled under his breath, "How is this guy ranked higher than Grandfather?"

"Because he's insane," a voice answered from behind him, and Damian jumped. He turned around to see Tim walking up to him, his arms crossed, "Ra's is more skilled, undoubtedly, but at least he's a little predictable. You can't know what the Joker will do. Ever. If he knows you're expecting something, he'll do the exact opposite."

"Seems like the Joker must be predictable, too," Damian raised an eyebrow.

Tim passed him, leaning on one of the walls of the Batcave, "Come talk to me in a couple years, then we'll see how you feel."

"I'll go face him right now!" Damian snapped, "Then we'll see who is right!"

Tim opened his mouth to retort, but then he paused. Damian couldn't figure out why, he could only see that something was making the gears in Tim's brain turn. The teen closed his mouth, and Damian huffed.

"Nothing to say?" he asked as he walked towards the exit of the Batcave.

Shrugging, Tim pulled his phone out and began scrolling, "If you wanna go, I can't stop you."

Damian gritted his teeth, stomping out of the cave. Tim pretended to be unbothered, as if he was cold and uncaring, but he spared a glance at the boy just before he was out of eyesight. He could only hope Damian wouldn't make him regret his indifference.

While Tim tried to deny to himself that he was worried, Damian seemed to do everything in his power to make Tim worried, albeit unknowingly. Damian knew his family became less than agreeable whenever he went out on his own, but he failed to see the reason. They worried about the youngest member, even if he was too cocky to think there was something to worry about. He was grateful for the moments in which he could escape their watchful eyes and prove himself worthy, as the chance presented itself to him that night. Robin grappled around the rooftops of skyscrapers as he made his way across town to find the Joker.

'Arkham Asylum,' he remembered the location Tim wrote on the Joker's profile. The name was infamous in Gotham, but his family never let him go there. Various times there were missions at the asylum, but someone always stopped him from coming.

"I don't think so, kid," Jason would say, pushing him back with a hand on his chest.

"Not safe," Cass would warn.

"Not this time, Robin," Bruce would turn down his demands to come along.

"Can you patrol the south side? I've got something to take care of," Dick would disguise the rejection as something else, or try to distract Damian from the real mission by making him do his busy work. Each time he was pushed away felt like an insult, as if what his family meant to say was 'you're not good enough, Damian.'