BatFam Ficlets

Fae!Tim

Timothy Drake was...odd. Most wouldn't notice anything amiss with the boy, but then again, Bruce Wayne wasn't like most. So he cataloged the forever small stature, the slim build that never seemed to show just how strong the boy really was. The sharp features of his face, angled eyes, fair skin, and silky black, darker than night, hair. The almost luminescent shine to his otherwise eerily pale eyes in the night. The way his skin was always cold no matter how hot it was around him. The way he could be both awkward and graceful at the same time. The way he never made a noise unless he wanted to. The way he seemed to legitimately fly at night. The odd mannerisms and precise wordings. The calculative gaze he always had. The way he never really lied, always expertly avoiding answering or only telling half truths. The way none of his things had iron and how he would almost always have gloves on when touching anything metal at all. The way he would stare off into the shadows and cock his head as if listening. The way that sometimes, in the right lighting and angle, out of the corner of his eye, he could see features much more prominent than normal, glowing skin, a flash of fangs, slightly pointed ears, nails that resembled claws, but they were gone so fast that he could and would normally put it off as a trick of the light.

Yes, Bruce saw a lot, but he never saw Tim outright shy away from iron, refusing to touch or even be near it. At least, not until almost six years into his run as Red Robin.

As always, it happened because of Ra's al Ghul.

In the Batcave, Nightwing stared at the batcomputer, screens lit up informing them of an incoming call from Titans Tower. "Computer, accept call," Batman ordered from behind the frozen in panic Nightwing.

"Thank the goddess!" Cassie said as soon as it connected, her worried face appearing on the screens next to Bart and Kon's. "Tim's gone! Ra's has him!"

"Do you know where?" Batman demanded as he gently pushed Nightwing out of the way.

"No, we found his trackers, but there's no sign of him anywhere near."

Batman gave a noncommittal grunt, about to end the call when Nightwing stepped back in, "thank you, we'll find him."

The three on screen exchanged a glance, like they would rather be helping than waiting for the Bats to find their teammate, but nodded, "please keep us updated."

Nightwing nodded back and ended the call. Turning to Bruce, he asked, "any ideas?"

"TT," Damian melted out of the shadows by the stairs, "if it was Grandfather who took Drake, it should be rather easy to find him, no?"

Bruce gave a grunt that could have meant anything from 'you're right' to 'let's get pizza'.

"He wouldn't be at Nanda Parbat, if that's what you're thinking, Demon." Jason came stomping down the stairs, "Ra's wouldn't put Replacement somewhere as precious to him as his city."

Dick nodded, "he also wouldn't put him somewhere as easily escapeable as one of his hole in the wall bases."

"Which leaves us with his 'secret' base in the arctic." Damian brings it to a close, a sneer in his voice that the other two recognized as his own brand of 'duh'.

They turn to where Bruce used to be and then continue turning to where Batman now stood by the Batplane like he was just waiting on them. With a sigh and groan from Nightwing and Red Hood, the three followed him into the plane, coordinates set and ready to go.

"Why the fuck do I have to come with you to save the Replacement? I don't even like the kid!"

"Nobody likes Drake, Todd."