Nah I Would Have To Lie To Do That.

Nah I would have to lie to do that.

tell me im wrong i dare you

I can't do justice to this idea but it gave me brain worms and I had to write a bullet list on it.

Tim first has an inkling because Bruce always comes back from the edge, and beats impossible odds. He had done things that no normal person should be able to accomplish. So it wasn't out of possibility that Bruce was still out there.

They didn't even know what the Omega beam actually did fully. For all anyone knew, Bruce had been teleported to some far-reaches-of-space-prison or qn alternate dimension.

So to say that he had a good feeling Bruce was still around somewhere was a bit of an understatement. He could gather proof, gather a clue, and get Bruce back. He could.

He didn't tell anyone. Of course he wasn't going to tell anyone. Everything was a balance at the moment, and something like this could upset the balance that everyone was on at the moment.

He had some plan, he just wanted to check something out. He had a plane ticket, but then the careful balance of Gotham was upset when Scarcrow managed to put his new airborne toxin in air units that many residents and businesses bought.

Gotham was more or less on fire. There was fifteen and counting drains of toxins. All of them were affecting people differently. He couldn't leave now with all of them spread thin as was. It didn't help that teamwork wasn't a given at this time.

So he put it on the background for the moment.

It took two weeks

Everyone was exhausted.

Dick, Damian, Tim, and Stephanie were all sitting at a makeshift table in one of the better safe houses. There was three plates of three week old eggos warmed up in an ancient toaster they hadn't thought to replace in the upgrading they did of safehouse gear. There was some store bought maple syrup that Stephanie got from the corner store across the street when she saw they were going to eat eggos.

Duck was at the head of the table. Damian to his left and Stephanie to his right, and Tim next to Stephanie.

No one was talking.

Tim was taking a bite out of an eggo that was slightly soggy on one side and a little overcooked on the other.

If he had been consistently going to school instead of dealing with one crisis over the other an English teacher might have a field day with metaphors on his it connects to his current situation and mental state.

Seeing as he wasn't in school, he just ate the eggo.

Everyone was mad at eachother, but too tired to care. It was an uneasy peace that hadn't been formally established but was being held together by the power of sleep deprivation, eggos, and the chatter of the upstairs apartment as a couple was screeching at eachother about something or another.

But somehow despite the fact that Tim wanted to scream at all of them for a bit. About various grievances and issues, it was one of the best mornings he has had in a long time.

Looking back on it later he would realize it was because Bruce wasn't there.

Bruce wasn't there to make Damian feel like he had to be superior, Bruce wasn't there to make Dick feel like he had to walk on explosive eggshells, Bruce wasn't there to make Steph feel like she was less than everyone else, and Bruce wasn't there to make Tim feel like he was being graded for every action he took.

It was a breath of fresh air no one knew they had taken until much later.

The first few months sucked. After everything seemed to settle into a new normal.

Dick was Batman.

He had been Batman before but eith the knowledge that Bruce would go back to it in awhile.

Now he was just Batman knowing he would be stuck with it for the foreseeable future.

He was making mistakes (they all were) but he was a better Batman, when he got he feet planted.

Tim wishes he could be the Robin to this Batman, but he isn't.

He doesn't have a name yet, still workshopping his name and suit (which he keeps changing as scenarios and ideas pop up) but while he isn't happy about Damian being Robin, he isn't pissed about it.

Steph is the new Batgirl the fourth Batgirl. She grows into an even better hero. No longer having to worry about Bruce she allows herself to shine brighter than ever.

Nothing is perfect, not great, but they are all getting there. It's a good place to start.

He finds a clue on the whole Bruce situation.

He debates with himself what he should do, and he realizes he already knew what he was going to do.

He burns the oil painting in a bonfire on the docks. Along with a bunch of other stuff he doesn't want anymore.

He knows it's the right choice.

Ra's al Ghul becomes a problem eventually. Luckily all of them work together and they send him back into a dark corner having to start from scratch.

They are a family. Sure they still have a lot of issues, but Bruce isn't there.

That doesn't mean they don't miss him sometimes.

He, Steph, and Dick end up making some stupid decisions with alcohol (he and Steph shouldn't even be drinking, but teen rebellion and stress. It is the only time they do it.) They talk about some of the good times with Bruce.

There were good times but soon they realize a lot of stories are the good in a sea of not great stories.

They all end up crying. Its the first time all three of them just cried about everything as a whole.

Cass comes back two weeks after that.

A new name, and asking for some help with a situation in Hong Kong that might lead to problems internationally..

He and Steph go.

They don't fight, in fact they have become friends. Friends with some unresolved issues, but without Bruce, they thrive.

While on the trip Tim discovers another clue. This time Steph figures it out. She was always good with puzzles and riddles, and connecting things together.

She agrees to help destroy it.

They don't tell Cass, but she joins as well.

Cass wants to know why, so they explain, and she doesn't stop them but she doesn't look entirely happy about it.

On the way back Tim finally decides on a name.

He had been operating temporary as Red Robin, but he wanted something permanent.

He becomes Cardinal.

[Far later down the line Jason would comment on the symbolism that Cardinals hold: devotion, hope, joy, strength and security, and in some cases restoration]

A year after Bruce has been missing they all sit down for a family feast celebrating all they had accomplished. It's bright, and light, and there is laughter.

Dick, Damian, Steph, Cass, and Tim. A family. There hasn't been a fight over picking sides. No fights with Bruce.

The shadows don't feel so heavy anymore.

On a Titans mission where Tim brings Damian as an almost internship, they discover another clue. It's part of a Batcape, and Cowl. For a moment Tim is afraid Damian will say something.

Damian fingers the material for a bit, and asks how they can destroy it, remove it, get rid of the evidence.

They create a chemical acid and leave it behind finishing the mission, and Damian has an invite for whenever he is ready for the chance to work with a team.

Tim finishes High School. He walks, shakes hands with the right people, and gets a photo with the tassel on the right.

He takes a photo with Dick, Damian, Steph, Cass, Barbra, Helena, and another with his various hero friends.

He confides later that he wished Bruce was there, but that he thinks he might not have finished highschool if Bruce was there.

Two weeks later Jason shoes back up and ge promises to do better [and he does.]

No one says it but they all know it's because Brice isn't there.

Tim is with Dick when they discover another clue to Bruce being out there. It's a crude version of the Batcave. Dick cleans things up, modernized it, and makes it a new base for a covert international team. They just nod at one another in understanding.

They declare Bruce Wayne publicly dead.

There was a funeral. They all cry, not just for the public, but for themselves.

One part in relief, one part in sadness. They all have their own thoughts on the matter, but they all understand that things are better now.

They continue to destroy evidence. They continue to know the truth but hide it.

They continue to live.

It isn't always happy or content.

Each of them has stayed up late crying into their pillows, their blankets, their hands. Wanting Bruce back, wanting things to go back. Sitting with the knowledge that they could do it.

But each morning they wake up to the sound of an alarm, in whatever house, apartment, or base they are in. See the picture of the family on their screen and smile knowing that things have gotten better.

Because they have.

They all live with the what-if, the what-would-happen, would-I-change-something. There is no way not to. But the voices in their heads bringing up dowbt become quite. Not gone, but quite. Because even the voices know that this, the family, the connections, the smiles, the memories, and laughter, wouldn't have come if Bruce was brought back.

I'm craving a fic where Tim just... does not bring up the idea of Bruce still being alive.

Not out of spite. But more hindsight. This would probably be tagged Abusive Bruce Wayne. Or just Canon Bruce Wayne. I don't want him a caricature of abuse, because there were good times but also too much bad times that the kids 'have to' get hurt either as a collateral to Bruce venting, his willful neglect, or just being the first set of balls to be dropped at the first sign of priorities being decided.

They eventually adapt to a new normal. Tim takes on a new mantle, a bitter pill to swallow but something else was more bitter so that's. That. And Tim eventually find proof which makes his intuition more reality and actually starts actively covering it up so that the JL don't return Bruce. This would be so delicious character breakdown and analysis.

Like, there's so much potential here, in this very specific time for this very specific genre.

Gotham needs Batman, Batman needs Robin, and him and his siblings need for Bruce not to be there.

Maybe he initially tried to go on his quest, but something happened where Tim stays in Gotham just a little longer and observes something in the dynamics to make everything click.

Helena Bertinelli in Zuhair Murad Fall 2023

reference under cut

I need batfam as Kardashians, please. Like just them being the drama in civilian life. I need them going to the Met Gala and competing over both best and worst dressed, but always getting the theme, because they know how to match a goddamned theme.

I need them being so smart but saying the dumbest shit on tv or online. I need them dating other celebrities and collaborating with charity to do weird and sweet fundraising.

I need Dick showing up to red carpets with Haley in a matching outfit and making Harry Styles look normal.

I need everyone just looking at Cass and just falling in love with her sweet smiles.

I need the internet collectively asking "why Tim why?" when he rocks up to a press event in Balenciaga and Hot Topic and a very well loved skateboard with gucci bags under his eyes.

I need the world just accepting Jason is alive and just not understanding how someone who looks like a badass is just the nerdiest of them all, but also babygirl.

I need Damian repeatedly arrested for stealing exotic pets from other nepobabies and yet no one gets mad at him or stops inviting him to parties.

I need Duke slowly becoming just as crazy as his sibs and starting both a rap career and getting his poetry published.

Most of all I need a Bruce who can not shut up about how much he loves his kids.

How do u think they all reacted to finding out pieces of Tim’s year abroad?

Concept: he tells one person who tells everyone else, but it's like a game of telephone where the story changes over time

Tim, under his breath: ...so yeah, I lost my spleen and blew up the League of Assassins.

Cassandra: *nods*

[later]

Stephanie, gasping: No way! He sold his spleen to the League of Assassins?!?

Cassandra: *nods*

[later]

Stephanie: *whispers to Barbara*

Barbara: Moldy blue cheese in a pasta salad. No wonder he seemed so out of it.

[later]

Barbara: *whispers*

Duke: That doesn't sound like him. I'm gonna ask Jason to see if he knows.

[later]

Duke: Apparently Tim spent a year in a treehouse writing classic rock ballads.

Jason: That's the first time I'm hearing about this.

[later]

Dick: What were you and Duke talking about?

Jason: Nothing much, just how Tim went off the grid to live like a caveman for a year.

Dick: He what now—

[later]

Damian: I overheard you and Todd talking about Drake's alternative lifestyle retreat.

Dick: Well, actually—

Damian: Does Father know?

Dick: I don't think so, but—

Damian: I shall inform him.

[later]

Damian: *whispers*

Bruce: Are you sure?

Damian: My intel is never wrong.

Bruce: *barges into the Batcave*

Bruce: Timothy Jackson Drake, since when did you smoke weed?!

Sugar Cone, or the cone that tastes like sugared cardboard. Because some brands that make it should just label it 'Carboard cones'.

Ok I’m really curious