Fic! With actual plot!
PG-13ish, suprisingly. Minor Dick/Tim moments (just fluff), because, well, it's me writing, but... Mostly just fun.
No Fury Like A Robin Scorned
Nightwing is swinging through the streets on patrol, when a small explosion goes off on a rooftop a few blocks away. He hurries to go check it out. There is no one there when he gets there, but a large orange arrow has been left behind, pointing to a smoke stack. An envelope has been tied to it with a black ribbon. He carefully check if it's booby-trapped then pulls the envelope out from beneath the ribbon.
'For Nightwing,' it reads. He opens it carefully, and finds a stack of photographs inside. He takes them out with a shaking hand. They are pictures of Robin. The kid has he suit and mask still on -- Dick himself still can't figure out how to disarm Tim's suit after the kid made some new adjustments a few months ago. He is also chained to the wall, and someone is holding his head up to face the camera. He is quite clearly in pain, even if Dick can't see his eyes through the white-out lenses. With a shaking hand, he flips to the next picture. More of Robin, and this time Dick can hardly see his face through the blood. He flips through the rest. Robin being tortured, Robin lying in a corner, helpless, Robin chained so he has to look out the window, to freedom, as the cut into his back. One last picture. Robin's head. Just the head. There is no body. Dick is sobbing by now, and wants very badly to throw up. Not Tim. Not his Tim.
A message on the back of the last picture: 'Your little brother's fun to play with'.
Nothing else. Dick shoves the pictures back into the envelope and tucks it into a gauntlet compartment. Bruce. He has to go to Gotham, go see Bruce. Maybe this is all some sick joke. Some kind of mind game. Surely Tim is fine. Tim has to be fine. He flies fast and reckless to where his bike is hidden, and heads full speed towards Gotham.
~
The Red Hood is annoyed -- he was invited to this supposedly fun club for villains, and it turns out to be full of a bunch of plotting, deranged madmen. And not it the fun way. It's just plain boring all this world domination and evil empires -- far too many rules and too many things that could go wrong. Okay, so they've got it pretty well covered, all the plotting -- luring the Titans into a trap that will lock them in a box at the bottom of the ocean, sending pictures to torment the League and the Outsiders, giant explosives -- but the people are just plain boring. And they've assigned him to be a henchman. Him. Jason is offended. He is going to make the fuckers pay for that one.
"Nice helmet, lollipop boy," snarks the main organizer. This is all Jason can take. He is not going to be called lollipop boy by anyone. They are most definitely going to pay. Jason smirks, and thinks evil thoughts. Maybe this could be interesting after all.
~
"Robin!" Dick shouts as soon as he enters the Cave. "Robin! Tim!" Bruce comes to meet him.
"No names in the cave," he chants the old rule.
"No time for that, Batman, where's Robin?"
"He left for Bludhaven, two days ago. He said something about a message, and having to warn you. I assumed he was with you, he checked in when he reached the city limits, I haven't heard from him since then." Dick feels his heart break into little tiny pieces and his stomach flip as he wants to throw up again.
"Oh my God. No. Please, no." He lets himself fall into Bruce, sobbing.
"Nightwing? Nightwing. Dick. What's wrong?" Dick sobs more, and shakily takes out the envelope.
"I. This was left for me tonight." Bruce takes it, and opens it carefully. He gasps as he flips through the pictures.
"No. Not this. Tim." Dick hugs Bruce again, and sobs some more.
"We have to find out who did this," Dick pulls away to say shakily. "We have to make them pay." Bruce nods sadly, and visibly pulls himself together. Dick can't stop crying.
"We'll contact Oracle and Batgirl and the Huntress, then get these down to the lab, see if we can get anything off them. Scan the photos into the computer, we can. We can analyse them." Dick nods, and takes the envelope with shaking hands, and goes to start scanning them. Tim is dead. Tim is dead. He can't. He loves. Loved.
He wipes away the tears that still won't stop streaming down his face, and takes a few deep breaths. Bruce is about to call Oracle, but can't seem to bring himself to do it. Dick takes another few deep breaths, then hands the envelope and photos back to Bruce.
"Bruce, why don't you go down to the lab? I'll talk to the others." Bruce looks at him and nods. Dick presses the button that will patch him through to Oracle.
"Nightwing! It's been a while since -- Oh my God, what's happened, what's wrong, Nightwing?" Dick takes another deep breath.
"Robin's dead," he sobs. Oracle gasps.
"Dead?"
"They sent me photos. They had tortured him. Then. They cut off his head, Babs."
"Oh my God." And now Babs is crying to, and Dick can't stop sobbing. "Send. Send me the pictures, Dick. I'll see if I can get something from them. Something we can use, a location or. Something."
"Babs, you might not-"
"Send them to me."
"Okay." Dick sends them.
"We'll bring these bastards down, Nightwing."
"Yes. We will."
"I'll start contacting everyone. I'll bring the Birds in."
"Thanks."
"Dick."
"Yes?"
"Someone's going to have to contact the Titans."
"I." Dick takes a breath and tries to stop crying. It doesn't work, but at least he can talk without sobbing. "I should do that. Nightwing, out."
"I'm so sorry Dick."
"Yah, Babs. Me too."
~
The Red Hood grabs Robin from behind.
"I wouldn't go in there if I were you."
"Red Hood. I didn't think kind of thing was your style. I guess you really are sick."
"This kind of thing isn't my style, you're right. I shouldn't be rescuing you, I should just leave you to go find that those kids they were dressing up as Titans and photographing to torment the League are already dead, and this is all a trap. They're planning to brainwash you and put you and the other Titans in their army, you know."
"Wait. Rescue? Trap?"
"Yes. Rescue. Trap. Now come on, we have to get out of here and try to stop the League from going to the 'rescue' as well and landing in a 'trap'."
~
Dick tries to contact the Titans, and finds that there is absolutely no one at the Tower. He attempts to contact them individually, but none of their communicators seem to be on, not even to leave a message. It's like they've disappeared off the edge of the Earth. Dick feels distinctly sick. All the Titans are missing. Tim is a Titan. That could mean...
Oh God.
Dick calls an emergency joint meeting of the League and the Outsiders.
~
Jason and Tim arrive at the Cave to find Alfred crying and Bruce and Dick already gone. When he sees them, Alfred hugs Tim half to death, and then turns to hug Jason as well.
"Where are they?" Tim demands.
"Master Dick called an emergency meeting of the Outsiders and the League."
"Fu-um-diddly-dum," says Jason at the look Alfred gives him. "Right. Let's be heroes, kid."
"You're not going to rescue them dressed like that! They'll kill you, thinking you're part of it."
"Well what do you suggest I wear?"
"We're almost the same size. Take one of my Robin suits." Tim reaches over and grabs a spare mask, grabs a spray can, and paints it red. It dries almost instantly, and he hands it to Jason. "And now people can tell us apart."
"Right. I'm gonna want to borrow some weapons."
"You know where to find them. Now let's move."
~
They have just begun their meeting when the screen in the meeting room turns on of it's own accord.
'Hello to my enemies,' reads the text. 'World domination shall be mine, and you are going to help me. Why? Because...' The screen then switches to slowly flash through pictures of all the Titans, chained to walls and being tortured. Vic. Gar. Kory. Cassie. Bart. Kon. Dick has to close his eyes after seeing Kon's photo. The boy is barely recognizable -- they must have cut into his face with Kryptonite to do that. He opens them again to see the last picture flick away and change back to the message. 'You see, I managed to collect a group of your little friends. You shall compley with my wishes, or they will die. I have no wish for them to die, I have in fact offered them all places in my future empire, but.' A picture of Tim's disembodied head. Dick hears someone hurl at the back of the room. 'Well, they seem reluctant to do so. This particular one was quite a bit of trouble, so I'm afraid we had to kill him. However, you can still save the rest if they behave themselves and you do as I say. We will even stop the torture. Now. I am faxing you a list of my demands, and an address in Metropolis. You will all be there at noon, the day after tomorrow, or more heads will roll.' The fax machine turns on and starts spitting out paper. Dick realises he is crying again, and looking around the room, he is far from being the only one. They would do what he asked, and then use the opportunity to capture whoever he sent to collect the things and get information. They could track this sicko down. They would rescue the rest of the Titans.
Tim must have annoyed the hell out of them to get killed when it risked having the superheroes refuse. Must have caused so much trouble, organized escape attempts, probably nearly succeeded a few too many times. That was his little brother alright. Tim would not die in vain. Dick would get the Titans out if it was the last thing he did.
~
"Okay, so the plan is: we go rescue the League, stop these crazy guys from taking over the world, and then get the Titans. How long will they be able to last in there?"
"A week, as long as they don't try anything suicidal," Jason replies as they drive towards Metropolis. "And I still don't see why you had to drive."
"I'm in trouble already as it is, do you really think I want Bruce to find out that I let the Red Hood drive the Batmobile? No offence or anything."
"Point. But can we at least go a bit faster?"
"Jay. We're already going 60 miles above the speed limit."
"Oh."
~
Dick enters the warehouse carrying a large box containing some of the materials that were requested. They pile the boxes in a pyramid in the middle of the room, just like they were instructed, and line up against the wall. A net immediately drops, and the ropes have some sort of force-field that prevents them from using their powers. Dick struggles against the net, and they are suddenly pulled up and pinned against the wall. The force-field flashes light blue, and Dick can no longer move. Fuck.
On the catwalk above them, someone chuckles deeply.
"Ah good. Now, I'm afraid all your efforts were for nothing. You see, you didn't save anyone, and now I'm just going to kill you all. The supplies you brought me will help to build the world's greatest superweapon! And, you're going to get to witness a little test run. Men!" A dozen men in black ski masks enter the warehouse, and begin loading the boxes into a large truck. A small device lowers to the floor, and Dick gets a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. That did not look good.
~
"Right," Jason says, standing beside Tim a rooftop away from where everything is going on. "You take on the goons, and hack into their system to take out all those gadgets. Mister Big Time Villain is mine."
"Could you try not to kill him?"
"Robin doesn't kill. But I might maim him a bit."
"That would be fine."
~
"This is a small working model of my new weapon. You see, it may be small, but it has enough power to wipe this warehouse, and the surrounding blocks from the face of the Earth. And you shall get to see it in action before you die! Without any superheroes in the way, my empire will be undefeatable! The world shall be mi-" The man is cut off as the cieling window breaks open, and a bright flash of colour swoops down to take him down. Robin. It can't be. Robin grabs the man's head and beats it against the railing.
"No" bang "It's" bang "Not." The man falls down, unconscious. Robin gives him one last kick for good measure. "Fucker," he spits, and then drops down to the floor to stand in front of them. The force field turns off, and Dick disentangles himself from the net. He runs up to Robin, and then stops.
"Robin?"
"That would be me."
"You're not Tim."
"No." Dick gives the man a hard look. Tim's costume, seems so familiar, is Robin, red mask...
"Jay?" he exclaims in disbelief. Jason shrugs, and Dick pulls the man into a hug. Bruce stares at them, and then openly gapes, but not at them, to a point behind them. Dick turns and sees "Tim!" he launches himself at the boy, hugging him hard. "How are you not dead?"
"It's all Jason's fault."
"Jason," Bruce states. Dick finally notices that the rest of the Superheroes are staring in shock. "You saved us all. You saved the planet."
"Yeah, well, I suggest we worry about that later and concentrate on saving the Titans. They're probably pretty pissed about being stuck at the bottom of the ocean in a box that prevents them from using their powers. Long story, I'll explain on the way. Get those skinny asses in gear, people."
~
Superheroes are definitely more amusing then villains, Jason decides. They're action packed, not obsessed with ultimate power, and traumatised in interesting ways. Much more fun to hang out with. Jason is going to have to take Tim clubbing with him sometime. It would be fun to get the kid drunk and then send him home to Dick and see the horrified expression on the man's face. He could get Tim drunk enough that he couldn't remember what happened, and then tell Dick he found the kid like that on a rooftop or something. If he was really cruel, he could get Tim drunk enough to be able to convince the kid to put on a dress, and then take him home and tell Dick he found him at a brothel.
Superheroes are going to be way too fun to hang with. So naive in the ways of mischief. They deal with evil fine, but when someone's not evil, just well, evil but in a subtle way, they have no idea what to do. He snaps himself out of his happy thoughts to watch as they finally get the room to open and let the Titans out. The hugging commences immediately. A couple of the Titans run over to hug him.
"Robin! We were so worried about you -- wait a second," says one of them. "You're not. Well you are, but. Tim?"
"Over there," laughs Jason, pointing. "Long story, have him explain it to you."
~
Dick doesn't let Tim further then a few feet away from him. He watches the kid closely all the way back to the Cave. Tim is perfectly fine. Not dead. Would be dead, if it weren't for Jason. Dick still doesn't understand that twist, but he'll be forever grateful for it. When they get back to the Cave, Tim immediately moves to look at the pictures of 'Robin'.
"Oh my God. Dick, I. I can't imagine what it would've been like for me if it were one of you guys. I'm so sorry, I should have called in, I was undercover, and then things moved so fast and I couldn't reach you because they were monitoring your calls and it would give away the plan," Tim says in a rush. Dick will not start crying again. He pulls Tim to him, and hugs him hard.
"Just don't ever scare me like that again, okay. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."
"It's okay, Dick. I'm right here."
"I love you." He didn't mean to say that. He meant it, but he didn't mean to say it. Tim pulls back to look at him.
"Yah?"
"Yah." Tim hugs him again, but this time it's not the same kind of hug.
"I love you too," Tim breathes against his neck.
~
Jason laughs as the villains are carted off to prison.
'Lollipop Boy' indeed.
~
End.
No Fury Like A Robin Scorned
Nightwing is swinging through the streets on patrol, when a small explosion goes off on a rooftop a few blocks away. He hurries to go check it out. There is no one there when he gets there, but a large orange arrow has been left behind, pointing to a smoke stack. An envelope has been tied to it with a black ribbon. He carefully check if it's booby-trapped then pulls the envelope out from beneath the ribbon.
'For Nightwing,' it reads. He opens it carefully, and finds a stack of photographs inside. He takes them out with a shaking hand. They are pictures of Robin. The kid has he suit and mask still on -- Dick himself still can't figure out how to disarm Tim's suit after the kid made some new adjustments a few months ago. He is also chained to the wall, and someone is holding his head up to face the camera. He is quite clearly in pain, even if Dick can't see his eyes through the white-out lenses. With a shaking hand, he flips to the next picture. More of Robin, and this time Dick can hardly see his face through the blood. He flips through the rest. Robin being tortured, Robin lying in a corner, helpless, Robin chained so he has to look out the window, to freedom, as the cut into his back. One last picture. Robin's head. Just the head. There is no body. Dick is sobbing by now, and wants very badly to throw up. Not Tim. Not his Tim.
A message on the back of the last picture: 'Your little brother's fun to play with'.
Nothing else. Dick shoves the pictures back into the envelope and tucks it into a gauntlet compartment. Bruce. He has to go to Gotham, go see Bruce. Maybe this is all some sick joke. Some kind of mind game. Surely Tim is fine. Tim has to be fine. He flies fast and reckless to where his bike is hidden, and heads full speed towards Gotham.
~
The Red Hood is annoyed -- he was invited to this supposedly fun club for villains, and it turns out to be full of a bunch of plotting, deranged madmen. And not it the fun way. It's just plain boring all this world domination and evil empires -- far too many rules and too many things that could go wrong. Okay, so they've got it pretty well covered, all the plotting -- luring the Titans into a trap that will lock them in a box at the bottom of the ocean, sending pictures to torment the League and the Outsiders, giant explosives -- but the people are just plain boring. And they've assigned him to be a henchman. Him. Jason is offended. He is going to make the fuckers pay for that one.
"Nice helmet, lollipop boy," snarks the main organizer. This is all Jason can take. He is not going to be called lollipop boy by anyone. They are most definitely going to pay. Jason smirks, and thinks evil thoughts. Maybe this could be interesting after all.
~
"Robin!" Dick shouts as soon as he enters the Cave. "Robin! Tim!" Bruce comes to meet him.
"No names in the cave," he chants the old rule.
"No time for that, Batman, where's Robin?"
"He left for Bludhaven, two days ago. He said something about a message, and having to warn you. I assumed he was with you, he checked in when he reached the city limits, I haven't heard from him since then." Dick feels his heart break into little tiny pieces and his stomach flip as he wants to throw up again.
"Oh my God. No. Please, no." He lets himself fall into Bruce, sobbing.
"Nightwing? Nightwing. Dick. What's wrong?" Dick sobs more, and shakily takes out the envelope.
"I. This was left for me tonight." Bruce takes it, and opens it carefully. He gasps as he flips through the pictures.
"No. Not this. Tim." Dick hugs Bruce again, and sobs some more.
"We have to find out who did this," Dick pulls away to say shakily. "We have to make them pay." Bruce nods sadly, and visibly pulls himself together. Dick can't stop crying.
"We'll contact Oracle and Batgirl and the Huntress, then get these down to the lab, see if we can get anything off them. Scan the photos into the computer, we can. We can analyse them." Dick nods, and takes the envelope with shaking hands, and goes to start scanning them. Tim is dead. Tim is dead. He can't. He loves. Loved.
He wipes away the tears that still won't stop streaming down his face, and takes a few deep breaths. Bruce is about to call Oracle, but can't seem to bring himself to do it. Dick takes another few deep breaths, then hands the envelope and photos back to Bruce.
"Bruce, why don't you go down to the lab? I'll talk to the others." Bruce looks at him and nods. Dick presses the button that will patch him through to Oracle.
"Nightwing! It's been a while since -- Oh my God, what's happened, what's wrong, Nightwing?" Dick takes another deep breath.
"Robin's dead," he sobs. Oracle gasps.
"Dead?"
"They sent me photos. They had tortured him. Then. They cut off his head, Babs."
"Oh my God." And now Babs is crying to, and Dick can't stop sobbing. "Send. Send me the pictures, Dick. I'll see if I can get something from them. Something we can use, a location or. Something."
"Babs, you might not-"
"Send them to me."
"Okay." Dick sends them.
"We'll bring these bastards down, Nightwing."
"Yes. We will."
"I'll start contacting everyone. I'll bring the Birds in."
"Thanks."
"Dick."
"Yes?"
"Someone's going to have to contact the Titans."
"I." Dick takes a breath and tries to stop crying. It doesn't work, but at least he can talk without sobbing. "I should do that. Nightwing, out."
"I'm so sorry Dick."
"Yah, Babs. Me too."
~
The Red Hood grabs Robin from behind.
"I wouldn't go in there if I were you."
"Red Hood. I didn't think kind of thing was your style. I guess you really are sick."
"This kind of thing isn't my style, you're right. I shouldn't be rescuing you, I should just leave you to go find that those kids they were dressing up as Titans and photographing to torment the League are already dead, and this is all a trap. They're planning to brainwash you and put you and the other Titans in their army, you know."
"Wait. Rescue? Trap?"
"Yes. Rescue. Trap. Now come on, we have to get out of here and try to stop the League from going to the 'rescue' as well and landing in a 'trap'."
~
Dick tries to contact the Titans, and finds that there is absolutely no one at the Tower. He attempts to contact them individually, but none of their communicators seem to be on, not even to leave a message. It's like they've disappeared off the edge of the Earth. Dick feels distinctly sick. All the Titans are missing. Tim is a Titan. That could mean...
Oh God.
Dick calls an emergency joint meeting of the League and the Outsiders.
~
Jason and Tim arrive at the Cave to find Alfred crying and Bruce and Dick already gone. When he sees them, Alfred hugs Tim half to death, and then turns to hug Jason as well.
"Where are they?" Tim demands.
"Master Dick called an emergency meeting of the Outsiders and the League."
"Fu-um-diddly-dum," says Jason at the look Alfred gives him. "Right. Let's be heroes, kid."
"You're not going to rescue them dressed like that! They'll kill you, thinking you're part of it."
"Well what do you suggest I wear?"
"We're almost the same size. Take one of my Robin suits." Tim reaches over and grabs a spare mask, grabs a spray can, and paints it red. It dries almost instantly, and he hands it to Jason. "And now people can tell us apart."
"Right. I'm gonna want to borrow some weapons."
"You know where to find them. Now let's move."
~
They have just begun their meeting when the screen in the meeting room turns on of it's own accord.
'Hello to my enemies,' reads the text. 'World domination shall be mine, and you are going to help me. Why? Because...' The screen then switches to slowly flash through pictures of all the Titans, chained to walls and being tortured. Vic. Gar. Kory. Cassie. Bart. Kon. Dick has to close his eyes after seeing Kon's photo. The boy is barely recognizable -- they must have cut into his face with Kryptonite to do that. He opens them again to see the last picture flick away and change back to the message. 'You see, I managed to collect a group of your little friends. You shall compley with my wishes, or they will die. I have no wish for them to die, I have in fact offered them all places in my future empire, but.' A picture of Tim's disembodied head. Dick hears someone hurl at the back of the room. 'Well, they seem reluctant to do so. This particular one was quite a bit of trouble, so I'm afraid we had to kill him. However, you can still save the rest if they behave themselves and you do as I say. We will even stop the torture. Now. I am faxing you a list of my demands, and an address in Metropolis. You will all be there at noon, the day after tomorrow, or more heads will roll.' The fax machine turns on and starts spitting out paper. Dick realises he is crying again, and looking around the room, he is far from being the only one. They would do what he asked, and then use the opportunity to capture whoever he sent to collect the things and get information. They could track this sicko down. They would rescue the rest of the Titans.
Tim must have annoyed the hell out of them to get killed when it risked having the superheroes refuse. Must have caused so much trouble, organized escape attempts, probably nearly succeeded a few too many times. That was his little brother alright. Tim would not die in vain. Dick would get the Titans out if it was the last thing he did.
~
"Okay, so the plan is: we go rescue the League, stop these crazy guys from taking over the world, and then get the Titans. How long will they be able to last in there?"
"A week, as long as they don't try anything suicidal," Jason replies as they drive towards Metropolis. "And I still don't see why you had to drive."
"I'm in trouble already as it is, do you really think I want Bruce to find out that I let the Red Hood drive the Batmobile? No offence or anything."
"Point. But can we at least go a bit faster?"
"Jay. We're already going 60 miles above the speed limit."
"Oh."
~
Dick enters the warehouse carrying a large box containing some of the materials that were requested. They pile the boxes in a pyramid in the middle of the room, just like they were instructed, and line up against the wall. A net immediately drops, and the ropes have some sort of force-field that prevents them from using their powers. Dick struggles against the net, and they are suddenly pulled up and pinned against the wall. The force-field flashes light blue, and Dick can no longer move. Fuck.
On the catwalk above them, someone chuckles deeply.
"Ah good. Now, I'm afraid all your efforts were for nothing. You see, you didn't save anyone, and now I'm just going to kill you all. The supplies you brought me will help to build the world's greatest superweapon! And, you're going to get to witness a little test run. Men!" A dozen men in black ski masks enter the warehouse, and begin loading the boxes into a large truck. A small device lowers to the floor, and Dick gets a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. That did not look good.
~
"Right," Jason says, standing beside Tim a rooftop away from where everything is going on. "You take on the goons, and hack into their system to take out all those gadgets. Mister Big Time Villain is mine."
"Could you try not to kill him?"
"Robin doesn't kill. But I might maim him a bit."
"That would be fine."
~
"This is a small working model of my new weapon. You see, it may be small, but it has enough power to wipe this warehouse, and the surrounding blocks from the face of the Earth. And you shall get to see it in action before you die! Without any superheroes in the way, my empire will be undefeatable! The world shall be mi-" The man is cut off as the cieling window breaks open, and a bright flash of colour swoops down to take him down. Robin. It can't be. Robin grabs the man's head and beats it against the railing.
"No" bang "It's" bang "Not." The man falls down, unconscious. Robin gives him one last kick for good measure. "Fucker," he spits, and then drops down to the floor to stand in front of them. The force field turns off, and Dick disentangles himself from the net. He runs up to Robin, and then stops.
"Robin?"
"That would be me."
"You're not Tim."
"No." Dick gives the man a hard look. Tim's costume, seems so familiar, is Robin, red mask...
"Jay?" he exclaims in disbelief. Jason shrugs, and Dick pulls the man into a hug. Bruce stares at them, and then openly gapes, but not at them, to a point behind them. Dick turns and sees "Tim!" he launches himself at the boy, hugging him hard. "How are you not dead?"
"It's all Jason's fault."
"Jason," Bruce states. Dick finally notices that the rest of the Superheroes are staring in shock. "You saved us all. You saved the planet."
"Yeah, well, I suggest we worry about that later and concentrate on saving the Titans. They're probably pretty pissed about being stuck at the bottom of the ocean in a box that prevents them from using their powers. Long story, I'll explain on the way. Get those skinny asses in gear, people."
~
Superheroes are definitely more amusing then villains, Jason decides. They're action packed, not obsessed with ultimate power, and traumatised in interesting ways. Much more fun to hang out with. Jason is going to have to take Tim clubbing with him sometime. It would be fun to get the kid drunk and then send him home to Dick and see the horrified expression on the man's face. He could get Tim drunk enough that he couldn't remember what happened, and then tell Dick he found the kid like that on a rooftop or something. If he was really cruel, he could get Tim drunk enough to be able to convince the kid to put on a dress, and then take him home and tell Dick he found him at a brothel.
Superheroes are going to be way too fun to hang with. So naive in the ways of mischief. They deal with evil fine, but when someone's not evil, just well, evil but in a subtle way, they have no idea what to do. He snaps himself out of his happy thoughts to watch as they finally get the room to open and let the Titans out. The hugging commences immediately. A couple of the Titans run over to hug him.
"Robin! We were so worried about you -- wait a second," says one of them. "You're not. Well you are, but. Tim?"
"Over there," laughs Jason, pointing. "Long story, have him explain it to you."
~
Dick doesn't let Tim further then a few feet away from him. He watches the kid closely all the way back to the Cave. Tim is perfectly fine. Not dead. Would be dead, if it weren't for Jason. Dick still doesn't understand that twist, but he'll be forever grateful for it. When they get back to the Cave, Tim immediately moves to look at the pictures of 'Robin'.
"Oh my God. Dick, I. I can't imagine what it would've been like for me if it were one of you guys. I'm so sorry, I should have called in, I was undercover, and then things moved so fast and I couldn't reach you because they were monitoring your calls and it would give away the plan," Tim says in a rush. Dick will not start crying again. He pulls Tim to him, and hugs him hard.
"Just don't ever scare me like that again, okay. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."
"It's okay, Dick. I'm right here."
"I love you." He didn't mean to say that. He meant it, but he didn't mean to say it. Tim pulls back to look at him.
"Yah?"
"Yah." Tim hugs him again, but this time it's not the same kind of hug.
"I love you too," Tim breathes against his neck.
~
Jason laughs as the villains are carted off to prison.
'Lollipop Boy' indeed.
~
End.