Fic: What the Doctor Ordered. Part Three
Title: What The Doctor Ordered. Part Three
Characters: Tim, Bernard, Alfred, Jason, Cass, Steph, Damian, Dick, Babs, Lian (tagging this is going to be a bitch)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Boys making out, some violence, Damian
Word Count: 3, 900
Author's Notes: A sequel of sorts to Part One and Part Two , because my brain wouldn't leave well enough alone. Once again it starts about a month after the end of Part Two. I tried something different with part, because I wanted to experiment with writing style. Con crit is welcome.
Week One - Tim
Tim smiled warmly at Bernard as he led him down the stairs into the Cave, although Tim had told him it existed, Bernard hadn’t visited it until now.
When they entered the Cave Bernard couldn’t help the gasp that escaped his lips. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, but the brightly lit, neat and clean cave wasn’t it. The main computer terminal drew his eye first, it stood to the far wall, surrounding by a long desk with various chairs stationed near it. Along the rest of the far wall were seven other work stations, all in various states of use. Jason was at one of them, working on plans sprawled over the desk, he turned when they entered, and gave them a small wave.
“The main terminal is for everyone to share, and the smaller workstations are one for each,” Tim explained as he led Bernard on.
“But there are only six of you that I’ve met?” Bernard asked, confused, “You, Steph, Dick, Cass, Jason and Damian, unless the seventh is Alfred’s?”
Tim chuckled, “No, Alfred doesn’t need a workstation, the seventh is for Barbara, but she prefers to work at her own base, which is why you haven’t met her yet.”
Bernard nodded his understanding and Tim pointed towards a large section of the Cave taken up by giant models.
“That’s the trophy section, the penny is from a battle with Two Face, the joker card is from a fight with the joker, the giant dinosaur is actually a robot,” Tim elaborated but paused, smiling to himself, “one of the first times Damian came to the cave he nearly got eaten by that dinosaur. Good times.”
Tim turned to look around the Cave, he spotted Damian training on the parallel bars.
“HEY DAMIAN!” He called out and waited for Damian to turn towards him, “Remember that time you nearly became dinosaur food!”
“I HATE YOU!” Damian’s voice screamed back and Tim almost doubled over in laughter.
“I love you too Damian!” He yelled back, then turned to Bernard again, “sorry, he did try to kill me the first time we met, so it’s only fair I can pick on him now.”
“You do realise if I wasn’t trying to be completely impassive to this situation I would definitely suggest family counselling, and possibly ADHD medication for Damian, and maybe for Dick too,” Bernard joked.
“You’ve already been spending too much time around us,” Tim smiled, “come on, I’ll show you the cars.”
Tim led Bernard into a second section of the Cave, which turned out to be entirely full of cars. He started counting but gave up at fifty.
“How many freaking cars do you need?” Bernard asked shrilly.
“They tend to break a lot, especially when Jason is driving,” Tim explained, “plus, there are also an assortment of motorbikes, my Ducati is back there somewhere, I miss that bike but she’s taken too much of a beating to still ride, and a chopper or two. The planes are kept in the hanger and there’s a boat or five in the Cave entrance.”
“You have more money than you know what to do with,” Bernard told him, much to Tim’s amusement.
“And everyone wonders why I had to went back to Wayne Enterprises, those idiots were running it into the ground, we need a lot of the income from the business to fund our little adventures.”
“How does any of this stuff get built? Surely you can’t go through the normal channels?”
“We generally order various parts through fake companies and have them sent here, where we put them together. It’s the suits that are surprisingly more difficult to come by, no one notices massive shippings of car parts but high quality body armour tends to draw more attention.”
“Jesus Tim, how many suits do you have?”
“Well, Jason, Richard and I can’t all fit into the same suit, so there’s one for each of us, plus Jason and Richard’s other costumes, then Cass and Steph, then Damian’s Robin costume and we all have at least five suits each as well as variations on the suits depending on the situation.”
“Wait, rewind to that first bit, what did you mean by you three not fitting the same suit?” Bernard asked.
“You haven’t really talked to anyone except for me have you?” Tim asked with a small smile.
“I haven’t really had a chance,” Bernard shrugged.
“Look, I know we can be a little overwhelming,”
“Overwhelming? You’re all crazy!” Bernard threw his hands into the air in exasperation.
Tim raised an eyebrow at Bernard, who lowered his arms and smiled sheepishly. Tim patted him on the arm comfortingly.
“When Bruce first died, the three of us spent months fighting over the cowl, I ran off to Europe after Jason tried to kill me and Richard fired me,” Tim started but Bernard cut him off.
“Is that why you call him Richard even though everyone else calls him Dick? You’re still angry at him?”
“Bernard, stop trying to study me and pay attention,” Tim scolded gently and Bernard pouted, “so anyway, I ran off to Europe, Jason went into hiding and Dick became Batman with Damian as his Robin. Eventually I came back, but I still avoided everyone until Cass and Steph got together and started plotting.”
“I knew those girls were sneaky!”
“Yes they are, but they had the right idea, originally Cass had tried to set up a network of superheroes, she knew that one person alone could never replace Bruce.”
“So you share now?”
“Jason, R-Dick and I all share the job, I take the most shifts because I don’t have a second identity, Jason is Red Robin when he’s not Batman and Dick kept his Nightwing identity. It’s worked well for us, I’m not constantly exhausted like Bruce was, so I still have time for work, and we’re not spread too thin. Steph and Cass both help out as Batgirl, and they tend to liaison with Batwoman and the Question frequently, plus we’ve got Damian, Roy patrols with us whenever he's out here with Lian, and we get help from the Teen Titans and JLA whenever we need it, unlike Bruce we are willing to work with metas as well as superheroes who aren't Gothamites.”
“Wow, you put a lot of thought into explaining that didn’t you?” Bernard questioned with a knowing grin.
“It may have been rehearsed,” Tim returned the smile, “I just wanted you to know what you’re getting yourself into.”
Tim’s smile softened at his last words and Bernard knew he was second guessing himself.
“I know we’ve only just started but I want to be part of your life, I know exactly what I’m getting myself into,” Bernard assured him.
Tim’s face lit up and Bernard couldn’t help but kiss him.
Week Two - Cass and Steph
Bernard had just come back from lunch with Tim on the balcony when he ran into Steph in the hallway. Tim had gone straight down to the Cave so Bernard had volunteered to take their plates to the kitchen.
“Hey Bernard,” Steph greeted him cheerfully when she saw him.
“Hi Steph,” Bernard tried to keep the jealous tone out of his voice.
He felt something move behind him and turned to see Cassandra, dressed in civvies, but apparently having just jumped from the level above. Bernard flinched.
“Are you trying to scare me to death?” Bernard asked once his heart settled down.
“No, but you should be nicer to Steph,” Cassandra told him firmly.
“I hadn’t said anything!” Bernard defended himself indignantly.
“Cass it’s okay,” Steph stepped in, “she reads your body language, you don’t need to say anything for her to know how you are feeling.”
“I see, so what was my body language saying?” Bernard asked.
“Jealousy,” Cass explained.
“I don’t understand,” Bernard kept his voice even.
“No point lying, I know why you are,” Steph reassured him.
“Why I’m what?” Bernard questioned.
“Why you’re jealous, you’re kind of dense for a psychiatrist,” Steph laughed and Bernard bristled with anger.
“Calm down,” Cassandra’s firm voice commanded.
“You don’t need to be jealous, I don’t live here because of Tim,” Steph told him.
“I’m not sure what you are suggesting,” Bernard said defensively.
“You’re worried there’s still something between Tim and I, but there isn’t, I live with Cass,” Steph explained further, smiling at Bernard.
“You live with...?” Bernard looked from Steph to Cassandra, Steph moved to wrap an arm around Cassandra’s waist and Bernard understood, “right! Well, thank you for telling me, I should get back to the kitchen.”
Steph smiled and dismissed him with a wave, ignoring the light blush he felt spreading across his cheeks, Bernard smiled back and hurried off.
Week Three - Barbara Gordon
When Bernard went down to the Cave to see if Tim had arrived back he saw a woman in a wheelchair navigating her way across the main computer terminal.
“Hi,” he called out to her cautiously.
She turned to him quickly, her eyes darting over his face and body.
“You must be Bernard, Dick warned me about you,” she offered her hand.
“And you must be Barbara, I didn’t know I needed a warning,” he shook her hand and smiled nervously.
“Don’t worry, he just told me to watch out if you try to interrogate me to make sure I’m sane,” she teased and Bernard blushed.
“Have I been interrogating people?” he asked worriedly.
“Of course not!” Barbara whacked him lightly on the arm, “and anyway, I don’t have the hang up the rest of them have about psychiatrists, I went to one for a few months after I lost the use of my legs.”
“I get the feeling a lot of the family doesn’t like me, is it because I’m a shrink?” Bernard asked quietly.
“No, it’s because you’re with the baby bird,” Barbara laughed at Bernard’s expression, “I know Tim isn’t a kid anymore but Jason and Dick still treat him like a little brother, especially Dick. And Steph and Cass also worry about Tim a lot, I’m sure you realise how withdrawn he has become. And don’t worry about Damian, he doesn’t like anyone.”
“Is there something I can do about it?” Bernard wondered aloud.
“Stop avoiding them for starters,” she held up a hand at Bernard’s affronted huff, “don’t pretend like you aren’t. Talk to them, but try not to come across as a shrink, they won’t be too impressed, especially not Jason.”
“Really?”
“Yeah really, now, go amuse yourself somewhere else, Tim’s not here and I’m busy,” she dismissed with him with a smile and a wave.
“Thank you Barbara,” Bernard called as he headed back up to the manor.
Week Four - Dick Grayson
Bernard wandered into the kitchen at 8am, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He collapsed at the table and stared dejectedly at the coffee machine, willing it to make him a coffee.
“Tired?” A voice asked from the other side of the kitchen.
Bernard jumped in his seat and looked around for the source of the voice. Dick was standing at the other door, leaning casually against the frame, munching thoughtfully on a piece of toast.
“Yeah, Tim didn’t get back until 3am and I stayed up waiting for him,” Bernard explained as he dragged himself towards the coffee machine.
“You’re going to have to get used to that if you plan to stick around,” Dick told him brusquely.
Bernard sighed, easily recognising the tone of Dick’s voice but feeling too tired to deal with it. Dick stared at him in silence whilst Bernard waited for his coffee and Bernard tried to ignore Dick’s glare.
“You have a problem with me,” Bernard stated as he took a sip of coffee.
Dick tensed and frowned, still glaring at Bernard but eventually he relaxed and came to the table, pulling up a chair next to Bernard. He opened his mouth to speak but Bernard cut him off.
“Don’t bother trying to lie, I’d know you were lying even if it wasn’t my job to.”
“I don’t want to see Tim hurt,” Dick said with an accusatory tone.
“Neither do I, what are you expecting me to do? Up and leave after a couple months? Or do you think I’m only with him for work, because I want to do a case study on the goddamn Batman? Don’t think I don’t realise why you are all so hesitant towards me, treating me like a social pariah just because I make people talk about feelings for a living,” Bernard practically spat at Dick.
“We don’t care what you do for a job!” Dick snapped back.
“Yes you do, you act like this happy little family but I realise how tense you all are, the teenager alone is more fucked up than most people I’ve met. But I don’t care about any of that, I’m not here because I want to study your psyche or unravel the mysteries of Gotham’s vigilantes. I’m here because I love Tim and because I want to help him. Not as a psychiatrist, but as his boyfriend!” Bernard shouted.
They stared at each other in silence for a minute, Bernard breathing hard with his fist clenched at his sides. Dick remained perfectly still, watching Bernard impassively, eventually he stirred.
“Good,” Dick said bluntly, but with a warm smile.
“Wh... wait what?” Bernard stuttered.
“I wanted to be sure you were going to look after my little brother,” Dick told him, “now I’m sure. Have a nice day.”
Dick wandered out of the kitchen, leaving Bernard clutching his coffee cup and staring after Dick in confusion.
Week Five - Jason
Bernard woke with a start, but instantly froze when he felt pressure on his throat. A figure was standing over him, one hand holding his waist, pressing him into the bed and the other at his throat.
“Ti-Tim?” Bernard choked out.
“Not quite,” a rough, male voice growled out and Bernard couldn’t help the panic rising.
“Who are you?” he managed to ask around the constricting hand.
“Try to throw me off,” the voice demanded.
Bernard stiffened and tried to remember some of the self-defence lessons he had taken. Nothing in particular came to mind so he writhed helplessly under the man’s grip.
“Tell me who Batman is?” the voice hissed at him.
“What?” Bernard coughed, “No. Who the fuck are you?”
“Tell me!” A cool piece of metal was pressed against Bernard’s cheek.
“No!” Bernard yelled back.
The metal pressed into his cheek and he felt the skin break, warm drops of blood trickled down his face and Bernard bit back a whimper. The hand around his throat tightened and Bernard struggled to breath.
“If you tell me who Batman is then you will live, if not, you won’t leave this room,” a shadowed face leant over him and Bernard could see the dangerous glint in the man’s eyes.
“Fuck. Off.” Bernard ground out.
The hand on his throat released him and the figure stepped out of his line of sight. Bernard shot up straight away, scrambling away from the figure.
“Don’t move,” the voice told him and Bernard had enough sense to listen.
A light flicked on and Bernard closed his eyes against the brightness. After the spots on his eyes cleared, Bernard managed to make out the figure standing against the windowsill.
“JASON!” He shouted, “WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!”
“Shut up Blondie,” Jason commanded, “I wanted to see if you were to be trusted.”
“So, you what? Decided to try to kill me!” Bernard asked incredulously.
“If you plan to become involved with Tim, you need to be able to resist threats,” Jason explained harshly, “you’re too weak to throw off any physical assault but at least you didn’t say anything about who Batman is.”
“Oh well, that’s lucky then,” Bernard snapped sarcastically.
“Get up, put some clothes on, I’m teaching you the basics of fighting,” Jason told him, striding out of the room.
“Can’t Tim teach me?” Bernard asked, but got up and pulled on sweats and a shirt anyway.
“He won’t. Come.”
Bernard followed Jason as they snuck down the stairs into the training room of the Cave. Jason pointed to the floor mats and Bernard took up a defensive stance.
Week Six - Damian
Bernard was sitting on the first floor steps, waiting for Tim to return home when he sensed something behind him. Jason’s lessons still fresh in his mind, he moved instinctively, ducking and leaping down to the ground floor. He turned back to see a batarang sticking out of the wall, right where his head had been. Something black moved out of the corner of his eye and Bernard moved again, twisting to the right and crouching down.
“Damian I swear to god if that’s you I am going to come back here tomorrow with a needle full of sedatives and you won’t wake up for a week!” Bernard shouted up the stairs.
“You’d have to catch me first!” Damian called back as he ran down the stairs straight at Bernard.
Bernard relaxed into the stance Jason had taught him to adopt. Damian jumped into the air and threw a kick towards Bernard’s head, Bernard ducked and Damian missed him. As Damian landed behind him Bernard turned and brought his arms up, Damian threw a punch and Bernard managed to block it, but pain radiated up his arm and he bit back a curse.
Damian circled him, feinting punches every couple of seconds and Bernard dodged them as best he could but it didn’t take long for Damian to wear him down and land a blow. A kick into his stomach had him double over, dry retching but he straightened himself back up and managed to avoid a punch to the face.
“Is this really necessary?” Bernard panted out as Damian kicked his knee in.
“Yes, but I’d do it even if it wasn’t,” Damian jeered.
Bernard staggered up again, feeling nauseous and trying to ignore the pain in his knee. As Damian came close Bernard feinted right and threw a punch, managing to connect weakly with Damian’s jaw.
“I almost felt that!” Damian teased, before striking Bernard back handed across the face.
“Enough!” A voice called out.
Half delirious, Bernard looked up to see Jason watching them, Damian pouted but skulked off into the shadows.
“Why do you hate me so much?” Bernard called out to Jason.
“I don’t, I’m trying to make sure you’ll be safe,” Jason answered.
Bernard hated it, but he realised that Jason was probably right. That didn’t mean he wasn’t beinging sedatives next time.
Week Seven - Alfred and Lian
“Master Bernard, may I have a word?” Alfred called out to him as Bernard passed on his way out of the Cave.
He turned and headed back towards Alfred, finding him in the training room, watching a young girl swing herself around a pommel horse. When she saw Bernard she stopped and leapt off, landing gracefully.
“Alf! Is this Uncle Timmy’s boyfriend?” she asked excitedly.
“Yes Miss Lian, that would be Master Bernard,” Alfred answered with a warm smile, “Master Bernard, this is Miss Lian Harper.”
Lian shook Bernard’s hand firmly and grinned up at him.
“My dad is friends with Uncle Dick, I’m training to be a superhero!” Lian told him eagerly before running off back to the pommel horse.
Bernard turned to Alfred with a bemused expression on his face. Alfred was watching the girl with a delighted expression. They watched in comfortable silence for a few minutes.
“The manor hasn’t seen this much life for years,” Alfred spoke suddenly, startling Bernard.
“What do you mean?” Bernard asked.
“It was only recently that the entire family moved back into the manor, Master Timothy spent much of his time at penthouse in order to be closer to work, Master Jason had his own apartment where he slept and ate, and Miss Stephanie only moved in with Miss Cassandra recently as well. That day you saw us all breakfasting together was a very rare occasion. Your re-entrance into Master Tim’s life caused him to frequent the manor more often, drawing the others with him,” Alfred explained with a smile.
“I’m glad I’ve been of some use,” Bernard smiled back.
“No need to be so self-demeaning, I suspect your continued presence within the manor has played a major part in them all remaining here, even Master Jason has taken a liking to you.”
“He tried to kill me!”
“Of course he did, he wouldn’t be himself if he didn’t, but he was only doing it to protect you, of that I am certain.”
“He did say that,” Bernard acknowledged grudgingly.
As they spoke, Lian had performed an especially difficult trick on the horse and as she completed it she laughed loudly. Alfred clapped her and she bowed.
“Masters Dick’s mood has improved much as well, which has allowed Lian’s father and herself to spend more time in the manner.”
“I am glad I can be of some assistance.”
“Bernard,” Alfred clasped a hand on his arm, “I believe you may be able to make this family whole again.”
Alfred stared at him intently, and Bernard understood his desperation. Bernard had realised how monumentally messed up the Wayne family was, despite outward appearances.
“I’ll try my best Alfred.”
“That is all I ask.”
Week Eight - Tim
Tim entered the living room early in the afternoon, spotted Bernard reading on the couch and sprawled over him lazily.
“You’re home early,” Bernard commented as he pressed a kiss to Tim’s hair.
“Yeah, board meeting got out early and I decided to come see you,” Tim told him.
“How nice of you, I was starting to get lonely.”
“Lonely? With all the people in the manor, I highly doubt that,” Tim smiled, “have you been playing nice?”
Bernard paused to consider Tim’s question, he put his book down and ran his fingers through Tim’s hair. Tim waited patiently, shifting slightly to curl into Bernard.
“Your family is incredibly strange, somewhat violent, but they are also loyal, protective and loving,” Bernard said thoughtfully, “they are better than many families I’ve come across in my profession.”
“Could you see yourself dealing with them permanently?” Tim’s voice was hesitant.
Bernard nearly choked, “what... what do you mean?”
Tim raised an eyebrow and thumped him on the arm.
“I’m not proposing you idiot, I was just wondering if you wanted to move in with me, you’ve been practically living here anyway and there’s more than enough room. Plus, I think Alfred would enjoy the company of someone who doesn’t run around in a cape and cowl every night,” Tim paused, “although, you might look good in the shortpants.”
“Oh no! No! No. No. I’m not wearing the shortpants,” Bernard gesticulated wildly.
“Fine, but what about my other offer?” Tim looked up at him warmly.
“Yeah, yes of course,” Bernard answered, brushing Tim’s fringe out of his eyes.
Tim sat up in order to hug Bernard tightly.
“I was worried you’d say no because we’re all crazy,” Tim admitted.
“I don’t care if you and your family are crazy,” Bernard pressed a chaste kiss to Tim’s lips, “I love you anyway.”
Tim stilled, his eyes widened. Bernard silently cursed himself for saying anything aloud. Tim very slowly placed his hand on Bernard’s cheek. He brought his lips to Bernard’s and kissed him. When they broke apart, Tim grinned.
“I love you too.”
Part Four