Chapter Text
When Tim was first informed about the Gotham Academy Mentorship Program, he expected it to be a waste of his time. Pairing fifth graders with seventh graders in an attempt to “provide mentorship and guidance as the younger generation transitions into middle school” might make sense in some settings, but Gotham Academy was small. K-12 all attended in the same building, unlike the numerous public schools in Gotham. This made the difference between fifth and sixth grade much lesser than it would be for students transferring from public elementary to middle school.
Tim didn’t need the help academically, either. He was a straight A student and already taking 7th grade math and science classes. His parents had pushed for him to be allowed to skip a grade, but the school guidance counselors refused due to ‘the potential negative impact on his social development.’ Tim had been secretly relieved. He was generally well liked amongst his peers, if not particularly social, but he didn’t fancy his chances with a bunch of older students. Tim already looked younger than most of his classmates.
So really, Tim didn’t see much point in joining the program and wasting his after school time. However, his parents had heard from the McLean’s that their son, Derrick, was participating due to the networking opportunities and Tim’s fate had been sealed. So now he was sitting with a group of 5 of his peers on the first day of spring semester, waiting to be paired with his mentor.
Tim scanned the cafeteria, absently taking note that Derrick McLean was, in fact, present. He fought the urge to take out his phone and play the new Justice League RPG he’d been addicted to for the past month. Tim wished Ives was with him, but his friend's parents seemed to agree with Tim about the program being a waste of time. Plus, with Ives being sick so often he didn’t participate in many extracurriculars.
Tim listened with half an ear as his teacher, Miss Gupta, welcomed them all. She gave some generic speech explaining the program which was nearly identical to what had been included in the email sent to parents. Then, finally, she began announcing who would be paired with who. Tim waited for his name to be called.
“Jason Todd and Timothy Drake.”
Holy. Crap. Now that woke Tim up. Tim sat up and looked around, scanning the cafeteria - there! How had he missed it? Jason Freaking Todd, the new Robin, was sitting at the end of another table, a bit distanced from the other seventh graders. Maybe he didn’t want to do the program either? Tim caught his eye and waved with a smile, trying not to look too excited. Jason’s face showed a spark of recognition, which Tim hoped was due to their shared pre-algebra class and not due to his nighttime adventures. Tim waited impatiently for Miss. Gupta to finish announcing the pairs.
“Now please find a space to meet with your partner and begin filling out your buddy books. Don’t worry too much about the answers; these questions are meant to help you get to know one another.”
Tim gathered his bag quickly so that he could meet Jason halfway. He fought the urge to bounce on his feet as Jason made his way over.
“You’re Tim?” The older boy looked down at him, a guarded expression on his face. Tim noted that Jason was shorter than his peers, like Tim. He didn’t loom over him as much as the other seventh graders did.
“Yup! Hi Jason.” Tim smiled brightly.
Jason’s lips twitched, something in his stance seeming to soften a bit. “Let’s go grab a seat.” Jason led the way to an empty table, Tim following along happily. They sat opposite one another, Tim swinging his feet gently as he dug out the introduction book they were meant to complete together. When Tim found the little booklet of stabled papers and smoothed it out on the table he looked up to see Jason watching him curiously.
“Have we met before?” The teen asked.
Tim nodded, a hint of nerves settling in his stomach. “I live next door, in Drake Manor.” Next door was a bit of an oversimplification, considering Drake Manor sat on roughly 50 acres of land and the Wayne Estate was even larger. “And we have pre-algebra with Ms. Ludwig together.”
Tim hoped Jason bought the explanation. It was technically true. What Tim didn’t mention was the other time they had met.
Tim had been perched on the fire escape for nearly half an hour, waiting with his trusty camera. He didn’t normally come out on Sunday nights, preferring to try to salvage some of his sleep schedule for the week ahead. But Twitter had been talking about a new Robin all week and Tim was dying to catch a glimpse of him.
Tim had discovered Batman and Robin’s identities last year when he saw a newsclip of Robin performing a quadruple somersault while fighting some of Two Face’s goons. He had been shocked to the core when he recognized the move from one of his earliest memories; seeing the Flying Grayson’s fall to their death had left quite the impact on his fragile three year old psyche. Having their orphaned son, Dick Grayson, move into the mansion next door hadn’t helped matters. So when he saw Robin perform the Flying Grayson’s signature move it hadn’t taken long to make the connection.
Now, Tim wasn’t one to jump to conclusions without sufficient evidence. Tim began paying more attention after that. It didn’t take long to find further proof. Only two weeks later, Dick performed the move again at Mrs. Becker’s garden party, grinning happily to a captive audience of onlookers. His mother had scoffed at the display, making disparaging comments about Mr. Wayne’s parenting. Tim had actually talked back to her at that moment, defending Dick. She had ignored him, as was her habit.
A simple google search was all it took to confirm that the Flying Grayson’s were some of the only people in the world to ever successfully achieve a quadruple somersault. After that, it wasn’t hard to put the pieces together. Robin had the same dark hair and general build as Dick Grayson. Tim faintly recalled seeing Dick on crutches, in casts, and otherwise injured on multiple occasions.
From there, it was easy to make the connection between Bruce Wayne and Batman. At first Tim had been skeptical. He had grown up around Brucie Wayne and the man was, for lack of a better term, an idiot. Tim had watched him walk into a wall on more than one occasion, even while sober. At one memorable gala, the man had actually fallen into a chocolate fountain. When Tim was seven he overheard Mr. Wayne ask his father for help spelling the word potato. Tim never got the context for that particular conversation and he was unwilling to ask.
Still, for all his flaws, Brucie Wayne was clearly an attentive and loving father. Tim was intimately familiar with how parents could put on a good show in a public setting, but there was no denying the genuine love and affection on the man’s face when he looked at Dick. Tim couldn’t see the man allowing his teenage son to run around Gotham unsupervised in tights with a strange man in a bat costume. Unless, of course, he wasn’t unsupervised because Mr. Wayne was with him.
Once Tim considered the possibility of Brucie being a cover it became painfully clear. Despite being known for his drunken escapades, Tim never saw Mr. Wayne actually drink the various alcoholic beverages he had on hand at parties. And his numerous sports injuries were perfect covers for injuries acquired fighting crime.
Within a month Tim was confident in his conclusion. Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson were Batman and Robin. In a happy coincidence, this conclusion aligned perfectly with him receiving his first camera for Christmas. His parents had the package specially delivered on the holiday despite being in Brazil.
Less happily, Tim had only been Batwatching for two months when Robin disappeared from the scene and Dick Grayson moved away to Bludhaven. Tim was devastated at the absence of his hero. Sure, he could still take pictures of Batman, but it wasn’t the same. Don’t get him wrong, Batman was…fine. But, Robin. Robin was magic. Robin was a kid, like him. He didn’t have special powers, just a strong sense of justice and a determination to do the right thing. He was kind and funny and strong and not afraid to stand up to anyone, even Batman. He was everything Tim wanted to be.
So when Tim heard there was a new Robin several months later, he had to see what he was like. Hence the fire escape. By now he had been sitting for thirty minutes and his butt was starting to go numb. He was fairly sure Batman and Robin were going to pass by here on their patrol - he was still finalizing his analysis of their patrol routes, but maybe Batman had changed it to accommodate his new protege.
Tim was about ready to call it a night and head home when he heard the ‘thwick’ of a grapple gun followed by soft voices. Darn it, they had landed on the roof above Tim rather than across the street like he had been hoping. There was no way he’d be able to climb down the rickety fire escape, cross the street, and climb back up in time to catch a picture. Grumbling almost silently, Tim started packing up his bag. Once his camera was secure, he glanced back up and froze.
Robin was leaning over the edge of the roof, looking right at him.
Tim stayed as still as possible, clutching onto the faint hope that Robin couldn’t actually see him. He was dressed in dark, nondescript clothing with the hood of his jacket pulled up. He should be blending into the shadows around him fairly easily. But no, Robin was definitely making eye contact now. Shoot, shoot, shoot.
“Robin, is everything alright?” Batman called, footsteps coming closer. Tim gave up all pretense of hiding from Robin, allowing his hood to tip back as he sent his hero a pleading look, holding his finger to his lips. If Batman caught him he would be in so much trouble.
“Uh, yeah B, all good.” Tim watched in slight disbelief as Robin shot him a thumbs up and disappeared back over the ledge. “I’m starving though. Can we get Batburger?”
Tim listened as Batman let out a soft humph, followed by a long moment of silence. “Fine. I’ll go get the Batmobile.” The Dark Knight’s voice had a distinctly fond note. “You wait here, and do not move until I return no matter what. Understood?”
“Aye aye, captain,” Robin replied cheekily. Tim held his breath as he listened to Batman’s heavy footsteps get farther away, followed by the sound of a grapple. He let out a sigh of relief and shouldered his backpack, preparing to climb back down the fire escape.
“Whatcha doin?” Tim nearly screamed at the voice in his ear, whirling around and coming face to face with Robin. How the heck did he get down here so quietly?
“I, um, I…” Tim stuttered and tripped over his words, desperately trying to come up with an explanation for his presence.
The older boy’s stance softened a bit as he scanned Tim, taking in his beat up sneakers and secondhand clothes. “This isn’t a safe place to crash, kiddo.”
“I wasn’t going to stay here,” Tim replied faintly, mind still reeling at coming face to face with the hero.
“Sure. Look, I won’t mention you being here to Batman, but if you need somewhere to go there are shelters in the area. The Wayne run ones don’t ask for names anymore, and they won’t contact CPP.” Tim watched as Robin reached into his utility belt, pulling out a pamphlet and holding it out. “But there are people who will help you.”
Tim hesitantly reached out, taking the pamphlet. “Uh, thank you.” Robin had clearly assumed he was homeless or a runaway. Tim wasn’t going to correct him.
“Do you think you can get there on your own? I can walk you, if you want.”
Tim shook his head quickly. “I’m good at being sneaky. I can make it.”
Robin gave him a smile. “I believe it. Got something I can call you, kid?”
Tim scrambled for a name, blurting the first that came to mind. “Alvin.” Dammit, he shouldn’t have watched that chipmunk movie earlier.
“Well, Alvin.” Robin drew out the name, sounding amused. “When you get there, tell them Robin sent you. That way they can let me know you made it safely.” Tim nodded in understanding. The roar of the Batmobile’s engine sounded in the distance.
“Better scram then. Stay safe, kid.” Robin flashed him a smile and salute before scrambling back up the fire escape.
“Bye, Robin.” Tim whispered, a smile spreading across his face. This new Robin was awesome!
That was over a month ago now. Tim was fairly certain that Jason wouldn’t connect Timothy Drake, heir to Drake Industries, to the dirty street kid he barely talked to for five minutes. They had encountered one another in passing in the hallways but never spoken beyond a basic greeting.
“Right, the Drakes. Your parents are the archeologists, right?”
Tim nodded in confirmation, pleased that Jason remembered. Technically, neither of his parents actually had a degree in archeology. Dad was a business major, mom studied finance and marketing. But they had enough money to get whatever visas they wanted and ride along on permits that were granted to the graduate students they hired.
“Cool. Well, let's see if we can get this book done.” Jason scooted closer.
“First we need to put our full names,” Tim read carefully. There were two outlined people on the paper which reminded Tim of gingerbread cookies, meant to be colored in as part of the book.
“Jason Peter Todd-Wayne. That’s spelled - oh, you got it.” Jason looked over Tim’s shoulder where he had written the name in his best penmanship. Tim wrote ‘Timothy Jackson Drake’ below it.
“Don’t call me Timothy though, please.”
“Sure thing,” Jason agreed easily. “What’s the next page?”
“Why are you participating in the Gotham Academy Mentorship Program?” Tim read out.
“Well Bruce thought it would be good for me. He wanted me to practice ‘being a good influence, connecting with the youth’ or whatever. Honestly I think he just wanted to keep me busy.” Jason shrugged.
Tim was a bit surprised by the answer. Jason was already Robin, he was the best influence. Still, he wrote down ‘practice being a good influence.’
“How about you, Timbo?”
Tim blushed at the nickname, unsure what to make of it. “My parents thought it would be a good networking opportunity.”
Jason nodded, smirking a bit. “Oh yeah. All the best networking happens in middle school.” He looked at the next page. “What’s your favorite subject?”
“Computer science,” Tim responded easily. “How about you?”
“English Literature.” Tim jotted down the answers.
Jason read on. “Here’s a fun one: favorite superhero?”
“Robin,” Tim replied immediately and without hesitation. His blush darkened a bit but he had no shame in his answer.
“Oh, really?” Jason grinned for real now, looking pleased. “Good taste, dude. Why not Batman? Or Nightwing?”
“Robin is the best, especially the new Robin!” Tim exclaimed. “Batman is too grumpy and violent without Robin. Nightwing is pretty cool, but he quit being Robin last year, which he loses points for. The new Robin is super nice, and he looks out for little kids. So he’s my favorite.”
Jason laughed at his answer. “Why do you think Nightwing was Robin?”
Tim gave the boy an inpatient look. “It’s obviously the same person, just in a different costume. I know he wears a mask, but it isn’t like his face changed. Plus, Nightwing showed up like, two weeks after Robin disappeared.”
“Fair enough.” Jason smiled. “And you’re right, Batman is too grumpy.”
Tim perked up a bit when Jason agreed with him. He realized absently that he had just insulted Jason’s father and brother, but the older boy didn’t seem offended. “Who’s your favorite?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” Jason said. “Wonder Woman.”
Tim was surprised by that answer. “My dad says she can’t be a good superhero, since she’s a girl.” That comment had led to a rather spectacular argument between his mother and father.
“Well you shouldn’t believe everything your dad tells you, Timmy. Cool kids drink their respect women juice. Wonder Woman is the strongest in the Justice League!”
“I thought Superman was the strongest,” Tim argued.
“I mean, maybe he’s stronger physically, but he has way more weaknesses. Show up with some kryptonite and the guy is basically useless. Plus he’s a total boy scout. Wonder Woman, on the other hand, has practically no known weaknesses. And she’s not afraid to make tough calls, if you get what I mean.”
Tim did not get what Jason meant, but he nodded along regardless.
The two boys continued working through the book of questions, using the variety of markers on the table to color in the corresponding pictures. Tim was relieved to learn that Jason was as nice in real life as he was as Robin. Not that he expected Jason to be mean, but one can never be too sure with older kids. Tim wasn’t bullied by any means, but his small stature and habit of answering all of the teacher’s questions in class did make him a somewhat easy target in the hallways.
Soon enough it was time to wrap up. Miss Gupta called all of the groups to attention. “Remember students, you will come here to the cafeteria every Monday to meet with your partner and work on an assigned activity. In addition, we want each of you to set up one additional weekly meeting outside of school. That time will be less formal and can be used to bond and get to know one another. You will log your hours on the sheet provided, which will be turned in at the end of the semester. Make sure you have contact information for one another. We will be sending out emails to put your parents in contact as well.”
Tim made a mental note to check the email he had set up in his parents’ names. His mom had helped him create it when he was in third grade, stating that she didn’t always have time to respond to all the school messages and she trusted him to tell her if anything truly important came up.
“Here, Timtam, put your number in.” Jason thrust his phone in Tim’s face. Tim took it carefully, inputting his number in the open contact page. He returned the phone to the older boy, who typed out a quick message before pocketing the device. A moment later Tim’s own phone lit up with a new message. He looked down to see that he had received a gif of Wonder Woman crashing into Batman and knocking him over, presumably from Jason. He snorted out a laugh, covering his mouth. Tim quickly added the older boy to his contacts.
“So when do you want to meet?” Tim asked.
“I can do most days after school, I’m usually free on the weekends too.” Jason shifted, chewing on his lip. “We could do video games at my place?”
“Sure! I have karate on Thursdays but I’m free every other day.” Tim would have to fight the urge to snoop through Wayne Manor the entire time he was there, but it would be worth it.
“Okay cool. I’ll make sure Bruce is okay with it, but he should be chill since he knows your parents. I’ll ask him if you can come over Friday after school.” Tim wasn’t sure what knowing his parents had to do with Mr. Wayne letting Tim come over. Jack and Janet had never asked to meet a friend’s parents before.
“Great!” Tim smiled, trying not to sound too enthusiastic. He was going to Robin’s house!
All of the students, Jason and Tim included, started making their way out of the cafeteria and towards the pick up line. Jason scanned the line, perking up as his eyes landed on a black Rolls Royce. He turned back to Tim. “You got a ride, Timbo?”
Tim nodded, shivering a bit in the January chill. “Yeah, I’m catching the bus.”
Jason frowned at him. “The Academy doesn’t have buses.”
“I know, I’ll take the city bus,” Tim explained.
Jason looked slightly horrified. “In Gotham? You’re like, eight!”
“I’m ten.” Tim crossed his arms, trying not to pout. “And it’s only a short ride. I have pepper spray.”
“Nuh uh.” Jason shook his head. “You can ride home with me.” Jason took his arm, pulling him along towards the car despite Tim’s protests. It wasn’t like he enjoyed the bus, but he didn’t want to be an inconvenience.
Jason opened the rear passenger door and slid into the car, waving at Tim to follow. “Alfie, this is Tim. He lives next door to us. Can we give him a ride home?” Tim hesitantly slid into the back seat, nervous about Jason asking right in front of him.
“Of course, Master Jason. Hello, Master Drake.” Tim recognized the Wayne butler, Alfred Pennyworth, from past galas. “It is nice to see you again.” The man clearly recognized him as well.
“Hello, Mr. Pennyworth. Thank you for the ride, I hope it isn’t an imposition,” Tim responded politely, buckling his seat belt.
“No imposition at all. And please, call me Alfred.” The butler pulled out of the pick up lane smoothly. Tim sat quietly and listened as Jason began filling Alfred in on his day. The older boy’s chattering made for much better background noise than the city bus. Soon enough they were pulling up outside of the gates to Drake Manor.
“Thank you for the ride, Mr. Alfred. I’ll see you later, Jason.” Tim climbed out of the car as the two called their own farewells before entering the code to the gate and making his way up the long driveway. He noted that the car remained idling until he reached his porch. Tim gave them a cheery wave before entering his empty house.
Tim dropped his backpack by the front door and kicked off his shoes, grinning to himself. He couldn’t believe he got to hang out with Robin! And they would be doing it again on Friday! Miss Gupta said they could do whatever they wanted during the meeting, and Jason mentioned video games. Maybe Jason would play his switch with him. Most of his games were one player, but he had Mario Kart. Or maybe they could skateboard! Tim had been working on his kickflip and was getting pretty good. He bet Jason would think it was cool. But it was probably too cold out for that.
Tim was brainstorming ideas of how to entertain the older boy when his mom walked down from her office.
“Timothy? Where have you been?” Janet walked over.
“I was at school, mom.”
Janet frowned down at him. “It’s winter break.”
“No.” Tim shook his head. “Winter break ended. Today was the first day back. But mom! I started the mentorship program and guess who I got paired with?”
“Hm? Who is that, Timothy?” His mom had pulled her phone out while he was talking and was typing away, her long nails clacking against the screen.
“Jason Todd!” He grinned happily. “I’m gonna hang out with him on Friday! Mrs. Gupta is sending you an email about it and to introduce you to Mr. Wayne. Can you send him a message to let him know I can come over?”
“That’s nice, dear.” She kept typing.
“Mom? You need to respond to the email,” Tim repeated patiently. He knew she was jetlagged from her trip and it made it hard for her to listen.
“What?” She glanced up before turning back to her phone, pinching her brows at something she read. “Oh, Timothy, you can take care of that, can’t you darling? I gave you access to that email for a reason. Your father and I have to pack and I won’t have time.”
“Pack?” Tim’s smile felt a bit tight. “You’re leaving again? I thought you were staying for the month.”
“Yes, well, our permits finally went through for the dig in Switzerland. You know how long we’ve been waiting.” She finally put her phone down, expression softening a bit as she met Tim’s eye. “We don’t leave until Saturday, though. We can go out for dinner on Thursday. Won’t that be nice?”
“Oh, I have karate on Thursday.” Tim shifted.
“Well missing one practice won’t hurt things. It isn’t like you’re a black belt, Timothy.” Janet rolled her eyes.
Tim hunched his shoulders a bit, cheeks burning. He had gotten his red belt last month, but his parents hadn’t been able to come to the ceremony. His sensei had been upset at this fact, and brought Tim ice cream at the next practice. “Oh. Right. Well, I can miss one practice. I’d rather spend time with you and dad anyway.”
Janet’s smile returned. “I’ll make a reservation at Bianca’s. Now run along, Timothy. I’ll see you at dinner.”
Tim knew a dismissal when he heard one. He darted in to give his mom a quick hug before grabbing his bag and heading up to his room. He could hear his father in his study as he passed. Jack was talking loudly and angrily, so Tim didn’t stop to say hi. Tim tried not to be disappointed about his parents leaving again. After all, when they were home it was much harder to sneak out for bat watching. And his mom was clearly excited for this dig. It would be selfish to be upset.
Once Tim was in his room he booted up his laptop, logging into the email his mother created. As promised, there was an email from Miss Gupta sent to JJDrake@DI.com and [email protected] introducing them to one another. Tim shot off a polite email to Mr. Wayne, reintroducing himself as Janet Drake and encouraging him to reach out via email for any future questions as she and her husband didn’t like to use cell phones. There, perfect. Afterall, impersonating his parents over the phone was not a skill Tim had mastered yet. Email was much easier.