jayeinacross

Progress: Complete (this part, more to come in the series.)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Word count: c.2000 in total
Disclaimer: Characters are not mine.
Characters: Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd, Clark Kent, Alfred Pennyworth;
Pairings: Dick/Tim, Damian/Tim, Bruce/Tim, Bruce/Dick, Dick/Jason, Bruce/Clark/Tim
A/N: The first in a series of these tables.

***
Classic
1.Injured 2. Love 3.Sick 4.Drunk 5.Emotion 6.Lonely 7.Jealousy 8.Tears 9.Fear 10.Fight

***

1. Injured - Dick/Tim

The wound isn’t really that bad, and the pain is nothing that Tim can’t handle, but Alfred insists that he take a few nights off, and Bruce doesn’t argue. Tim personally thinks that Bruce just can’t be bothered arguing with Alfred, but that might just be the frustration talking.

He still insists on staying in the Cave and working, but somehow there’s not a lot to do. Which is ridiculous, because there’s always something to do, but now? A few documents that need organizing and filing.

What’s worse is that Alfred’s milling around the Cave, pretending to clean, but Tim’s perfectly aware that he’s just keeping an eye on him, sending deeply disapproving looks at him when he does anything more physically strenuous than typing.

It’s ridiculous. He’s not going to rip out his stitches if he goes through a couple of katas.

Alfred’s gone upstairs because someone was at the door, and Tim’s too busy banging his head on the desk to notice someone else coming down the stairs.

“Hey, hey,” Dick says, catching Tim’s head before it falls back down onto the desk. “What are you doing?”

“I’m so bored,” Tim moans.

Dick laughs softly and presses a kiss to the top of Tim’s head. “Well, we can’t have that, can we?”

Tim stands when Dick tugs on his arm. “Where are we going?”

“Out, somewhere,” Dick replies. “Boredom rots the brain.”

***

2. Love - unrequited Damian/Tim, Damian+Dick

Love can only be a weakness. Something from which one gains no benefit, only a disadvantage. Something that only hurts.

Talia was never an affectionate mother. And she always looked for what she take from Damian. What caring for him and keeping him by her side could bring her.

Bruce wasn’t much better. Perhaps it was just that he didn’t have enough of a chance to try to be a father to Damian. Or maybe it was that he didn’t want to try.

When Damian wants to give his love (the shattered shards of his love) to the one person who will never accept it, he knows it can only end in more pain.

But knowing this doesn’t make it stop hurting. It doesn’t make him want Timothy any less.

Dick, who can be painfully oblivious at times, is too observant when it’s most inconvenient. The man sits in the Cave by the mats where Tim is training, chatting with his brother. When Dick glances over at Damian, who’s sitting at the computer bank. Damian looks over, but when he catches Dick’s eye, he looks away immediately, red rising on his cheekbones.

Hopping up, Dick goes over to whisper something in Damian’s ear.

There’s not even any point denying it. Damian just presses his lips together and gives a tiny nod.

Dick doesn’t say anything, just pulls the boy into a tight hug. Damian leans into it briefly, before pulling away, hyper-aware that Tim is watching them curiously.

Love is one of the most painful things that Damian has ever experienced.

But maybe it doesn’t always have to hurt that much.

***

3. Sick - Bruce/Tim

Tim’s fever is so high that Bruce is starting to worry.

“Master Tim is strong,” Alfred assures him. “It will go down soon.” He doesn’t say it, but the older man thinks that it’s a little ridiculous that Bruce worries more over a high fever than a broken bone or a gunshot wound, but he’s glad that Bruce at least is showing some concern.

Tim is shuddering, teeth clacking, and when he starts to mumble, Bruce is immediately focused on him.

“Bruce...mnhh.”

“Tim? How are you feeling?”

The teenager keeps muttering, mostly incoherent, only a few words understandable. “Cold”, and “why”, and “Bruce”.

Bruce isn’t sure whether it’s his or Tim’s palms that are damp, as he twines his fingers with Tim’s and lifts the delicate hand up to his lips.

“I’m here.”

***

4. Drunk - Damian/Tim

Damian is completely befuddled.

He’s been through a few mood swings tonight - not even he can escape the side effects of puberty. It was a dull patrol that evening, and his father was halfway through a lecture on being patient when Damian stormed up to his room. Frustration, as he resisted the urge to throw things at the walls, and sinking misery when he realized that he’d just taken ten steps backward. Anger, again, when Grayson barges into his room unannounced and uninvited, hauling a heavily intoxicated Timothy inside and leaving him there for Damian to deal with.

Now, complete and utter confusion as he watches Tim lie on his bed, laughing hysterically at the ceiling.

“Drake. You are ruining my sheets.” He tugs ineffectively at Tim’s sleeve. He might be a giggling mess, but he’s still strong and surprisingly crafty, despite his lack of his inhibitions.

“Not yet I’m not,” Tim says, and winks.

Damian splutters at that. “What--Drake, are you--what are you suggesting--?”

Tim just laughs and pulls Damian down onto the bed with him. Damian’s about to protest again, but the words die on his tongue when Tim plants a sloppy kiss on his cheek.

“You’re funny,” Tim grins.

“You’re a ridiculous drunk,” Damian retorts, trying to pull away, but Tim already has a firm grip on him and isn’t letting go.

“Do you really think that?” Tim sounds so sad, so suddenly, that Damian does a double-take.

“I--what?”

Tim’s grinning again, claiming “I knew it!” excitedly and kissing Damian properly. For a very long time.

And Damian suddenly finds himself in a very, very good mood.

***

5. Emotion - Damian+Tim

Tim knows exactly what Damian is feeling right now.

He’s finding himself in this position more often than he ever would have expected.

As he watches Damian brush off Dick’s concern, ignore Alfred’s offers of food or company, and very pointedly does not look at his father, who isn’t paying any attention to him anyway.

But that’s part of the problem.

Tim finds Damian in the Cave, alone, that night, training relentlessly. He hasn’t gone on patrol. A sure sign that something is wrong, and Bruce must know that - he just chooses to ignore it.

“What do you want, Drake?” Damian grits out between beating the punching bag up after Tim has been sitting there watching him for a few minutes.

“You don’t have to hide, Damian.”

“What?”

“We’re your family.” Tim looks Damian straight in the eye when he stops and turns towards him. “A fairly dysfunctional one, yes, but still. You’re family. And we care about you.”

All Tim gets is a curt nod, but he understands that that is Damian’s gratitude.

He gets up to leave, and says one last thing to Damian before he goes. “If you give Bruce some time, he will show you that he cares. All you have to do is remember that he does. And that we do too.”

***

6. Lonely - Bruce/Dick

Bruce thinks he doesn’t need friends.

Dick knows he does.

Bruce refuses to acknowledge the truth.

Dick will make him if he has to.

Everyone knows. But few make an effort to fix it. Not that Bruce makes it easy.

Dick understands Bruce better than anyone.

He knows that fear is really what drives Bruce. That’s why he goes out every night. It’s to fight his own fear. It’s why he keeps Tim and Alfred at a distance. Because Bruce looks at them, he sees his father and his son. A father that might die before his eyes. A son that might never come home.

Another father and son.

His fear makes him lonely. It makes him shy away from connections and companionship.

Dick doesn’t want him to be lonely anymore. So he chatters aimlessly to him, makes bad jokes, and shines when he sees Bruce hide a smile. He kisses Bruce’s rough cheek and tells him he needs to shave, laughs when Bruce rolls his eyes. Takes him to bed and gives him everything, all his heart and his love.

He will do anything to make sure that Bruce isn’t lonely anymore.

***

7. Jealousy - Dick/Jason

Jason knew coming home was a bad idea. He’d argued against it, but they’d all convinced him somehow. Even Damian had said that he should.

But he really did it for Dick.

Dick never asked for anything, but Jason knows it was tearing him apart to have to keep Jason and the rest of his family separate. And even now, through all the awkward situations and stifled conversations, he’s glowing.

Bruce hasn’t taken the Case down yet.

Jason’s not really home yet.

Watching the Replacement is the hardest part of being back at the Manor. He’s so comfortable here, so at ease with Dick and Alfred and Bruce. He even seems comfortable arguing with Damian.

Jason feels like he’s spying on them from outside their window.

“He likes you, you know,” Dick murmurs to him one afternoon when they’re out in the garden with a picnic blanket and basket Alfred had given them, Dick curled up in Jason’s lap.

“Who?” Jason’s fingers are idly twisting in Dick’s hair.

“Tim.”

“The Replacement? Hardly.”

“He does,” Dick insists.

“He doesn’t want me here,” Jason argues. “None of them do, really -- ‘cept maybe Alfie.”

“Then why did they ask you to stay here?”

Jason stares down at him like it’s obvious. “Because you asked, idiot. Jesus, Dickie. Anyone would do anything you asked.”

Dick throws him a coy look. “Even you?”

“Maybe. Yes.”

“Then just listen to me? Tim’s looked up to you for years. You. You were his Robin.”

***

8. Tears - Dick/Tim

Dick’s never seen Tim cry like this.

Never.

They’ve left Gotham. They can’t go back just yet. They can’t go back to that - all the pain and hurt and memories of the people they’ll never see again.

But those memories still haunt them.

It’s the worst for Tim.

Dick knows how it feels to lose a friend. A best friend. And he knows that all he can do is be there for Tim when he needs him. While he mourns Conner.

He will never leave Tim.

***

9. Fear - Bruce/Tim

The first time Tim sees Bruce affected by Scarecrow’s fear gas, he’s not sure what to do. Bruce just keeps saying “Jason, Jason, Jason, no” over and over again.

So Tim says to him, “It’s okay, Bruce, he’s not here,” but it only makes Bruce shake and shudder worse.

He realizes his mistake later.

The second time, Tim still doesn’t know what to. He understands now that Bruce isn’t afraid of Jason himself, but of losing him. He relives that experience - that horror, that pain, that failure.

And Tim can’t help him.

But when he finds Bruce in the Cave, standing in front of it, talking to it quietly - talking to Jason, he goes up to him and touches his arm.

Bruce doesn’t flinch. He knew he was there.

“I think,” Tim starts hesitantly, fearful of saying the wrong thing, but desperate to help Bruce, “that he’s forgiven you. He was a good person. And so are you.”

The next time they fight Scarecrow, it’s Tim’s name that Bruce shouts.

***

10. Fight - Bruce/Clark/Tim

Clark knows that Bruce and Tim are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves.

Even so, that doesn’t stop him from worrying. He always keeps an ear out for Gotham, and every time he hears a bone break or a man yell out in pain, he can’t suppress the wince.

He’s sitting in his office at the Daily Planet trying to finish a story for Perry when he hears the gun go off, Bruce’s panicked yell of “Robin!” and doesn’t hear a reply from Tim. Clark is halfway to Gotham before the papers he’d knocked off his desk have managed to flutter to the ground.

“Superman,” Bruce says, his tone grim, when Clark flies down. The thugs they’d been fighting are unconscious on the ground, but so is Tim. And he’s bleeding. Badly.

A cracked rib and probably a concussion, but the bullet went straight through and missed any vital organs. Clark thanks the gods for this small miracle.

When Tim’s eyes flutter open again, he finds himself in the Cave, a dull burn shining through the numbing painkillers. His fingers twitch inside Clark’s big hand.

“Clark?”

The man is immediately leaning over him, a concerned look on his face, but tinged with relief. “Tim! You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

Tim winces. “Stiff. Hurts. How bad is it?”

“You need to take some time off.” It’s Bruce, who’s somehow suddenly on Tim’s other side. “No patrol for a while.”

Clark cuts Tim off before he can protest. “You were shot, Tim. Plus you have a cracked rib and a concussion.”

Tim relents with very little argument, even if it is mainly because Bruce just twined his fingers with the ones that Clark isn’t already clutching.