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Should one be able to see Red Robin’s reaction to entering the JL’s main reunion room, well…one might realize just how weird things were going to get.
Red Robin took a total of three steps in the room, before dropping everything he held in shock.
The coffee mug hit the ground first, the sound startling all the leaguers who hadn’t noticed both Red Robin and his mentor’s arrival.
Then the files fell, some landing in the coffee, others fluttering around RR’s feet.
What was more shocking to everyone was that Red Robin stepped right on both the coffee and the files, and beelined straight to their guest.
Two hours earlier Constantine had requested help from the league, regarding ‘one of their teammates’. No, Constantine did not elaborate. He, however, requested to bring up a witness. A seventeen year old girl.
And that’s who red robin ran to.
“Oh my god, Coraline what happened?” he asked, his tone borderline frantic. With shaking hands he begun checking her for visible wounds
The poor girl, who had stuck around Constantine not looking nor touching anything, was obviously startled. And scared. She seemed to be terrified by all the heroes, but now specifically by Red Robin
“Goddamnit, we talked yesterday” Red continued, while simultaneously grabbing her hand to check her pulse “ yesterday morning, how did you manage to need the League’s help since yesterday morning?” he repeated with emphasis.
Coraline was looking at him with wide eyes, not knowing how to answer.
“What happened? Why are you here? I swear if anyone hurt you I’m going to break every single fucking rule enforced by Batman” Red said, and Coraline obviously knew the main one of Batman’s rules. She shook her head frantically
“I’m I’m I’m not hurt” she stuttered. Batman was looking at them menacingly.
“Then why’s your heart beating so fast? You didn’t get into an accident and gained powers did you? No because I’ll be offended if you didn’t tell me first” and it was obvious to everyone that Red Robin was joking, but Caroline looked like she was about to pass out.
And, in Superman’s opinion, it must have been the years of being Robin that allowed Red to actually read the situation.
“You’re scared of me,” he said, taking a step back. It wasn’t a question, but Coraline nodded imperceptibly.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t…I just saw you here and I didn’t think..I’m wearing the mask so obviously you wouldn’t recognize me, I apologize, Coraline I know you hate jumpscares, I really didn’t mean to…”
It was Caroline herself who stopped him “It’s okay, I don’t, I don’t mind” she said
Red Robin just raised his eyebrow.
“Don’t insult my intelligence, Jonesy. We both know you’re terrified” he said, his hand going to his hair, in an obvious unconscious gesture. Obviously his hand met the cowl of his suit, and he stopped, bringing his hand back down.
He looked back at Batman who looked more broody than usual, then at Caroline and sighed. He had obviously decided that Batman’s wrath was a lot less important than this girl.
“Ok…I… don’t use my name, okay?” Red said, and Caroline shook her head
“I don’t know your name, I swear I have no idea who you are, I promise” she said, her voice betraying just how afraid she was.
“Caroline” Red said, in an authoritative voice. The poor teen snapped at attention, obviously trembling.
“Can I take your hand?” Red asked gently, and Caroline nodded after a moment of hesitation.
“We know each other, we talked yesterday morning” he said calmly, and Coraline looked back towards batman. Red squeezed her hands to get her to focus
“I told you I got involved in the nightlife, remember?” The poor girl shook her head, a couple of tears spilling out of her eyes.
It was the last thing Red said that did it
“I hate to be called ‘doll’” he said, obviously thinking that he would need to give her another hint.
But Caroline's eyes went wide in surprise , and she retracted her hands from Red’s grip in favor of hiding her surprised expression.
“Oh my god” she said, and her tone was in equal parts hopeful and afraid
Red, for his part, smiled and while doing the jazz hands said “Surprise”
It was lucky that Red Robin had years of vigilantism under his belt, because Caroline jumped at him faster than the Flash.
Her arms looped over the boy’s shoulder
“You fucking idiot” she said, and Red Robin just hugged her tighter.
They stayed like that for a few seconds, up until Batman pointedly coughed .
That’s when Coraline broke the hug in favor of backhanding her friend
“You told me you were involved in the nightlife, Not that you were a fucking SUPERHERO!” she screamed the last word
“Technically I’m more of a vigilante than a superhero” Red said sheepishly
“Do I look like I care about the distinction? Do I LOOK LIKE IT?”
“I’m sorry Jonesy, I swear I didn’t think you’d turn up on the fucking Watchtower”
Batman muttered a “Language” but the two teens ignored him
“I know I know, you were not even supposed to tell me that, blah blah blah. What do I call you? Other than Idiot of course, because that’s what you are”
Red Robin smiled sheepishly “You’re going to understand my name more than anyone actually” he said, and after looking straight into her eyes he told her “Red Robin”
In the course of three seconds Coraline’s weirdly expressive eyes told everyone, but especially a trained detective like Batman, that she felt sadness, empathy, fear, pity and love.
She only said “Oh” but all the members of the room could feel that they were the only two privy to some very depressing story behind the name
“I’m so sorry” she said after a good ten seconds of silence.
“Yeah, well. I was told to use a name that was of great importance to me. What better than Red Robin”
“Oh T…I mean…Red? Is just Red okay?” Coraline asked, and RR nodded.
“I’m so sorry, and I know you had your reasons not to tell me, but at the same time you know you can always tell me everything, right?”
Red laughed. And it was a long, bitter laugh.
“God, now that you know I’m going to complain so much. About everything. I’ll explain why I basically disappeared for a year, and spoiler it involves dark and broody over there” Red said, pointing to Batman with his thumb.
Coraline laughed.
Up until three minutes before she trembled at the sight of superman, but now she laughed at the expense of batman. Diana thought that it was a rather rapid development.
“It’s such a long story you have no idea. But I promise I’ll explain everything” he said smiling.
It was Batman himself who, looking menacingly at both of them, said “No you won’t”
Now coraline was shaking again, and so was Red. for very different reasons
“You don’t get to have a say in anything I do. And I want to tell Coraline. I obviously wasn’t going to tell her anything, but now she knows and denying anything would just be counterproductive” he argued
“It is not just your identity at risk” Batman said, and Red Robin met him glare for glare
“I don’t give a shit. She won’t tell anyone. I’ll talk to her”
“No you won’t” Batman said
“If you don’t want me questioning your authority, Batman, don’t make absurd ass requests” Red said.
It was obviously shaping up to be a full fight, when Coraline murmured a sentence. Just one. That threw everyone for a loop
“You said you weren’t being abused,” she said, looking at Red.
This caused different reactions in different people: Batman looked like he had just been struck by lightning, but hadn’t gained powers from it; Red didn’t even flinch when he answered
“I’m not”
“You said so last time too” Coraline argued, and half the league’s hearts broke at that
“It’s different” Red argued, still not looking away from batman
“Is it?” Coraline asked
“Yes”
“Just because you’re not physically alone it doesn’t mean you’re not lonely. You said you didn’t tell them of whatever medical emergency you’re going through. If you don’t feel like you can tell them, then I don’t think it’s a healthy environment” at this Red did flinch.
“What medical emergency?” both Batman and Nightwing asked at the same time, with the same distraught tone.
Red turned away “It’s not important”
Unfortunately, Coraline’s attention had been brought to Nightwing now.
“He’s the dick, isn’t he?” she asked, cocking her head to the side, as if assessing him.
“What?” Nightwing asked with a choked tone
“I didn't tell her who you are,” Red reassured, but Caroline was obviously mad now.
“But he did tell me what you’ve done. He’s the one who took your title away! Oh my god! He took Robin away from you!” she said, walking purposefully towards Nightwing
She raised her finger at his face
“How dare you? HOW DARE YOU TAKE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FROM HIM?” she asked, yelling.
Nightwing didn’t really know what to say, and was just looking at Red with confusion.
In that confusion, the little teen from Oregon, previously terrified by everyone in the room, straight up punched him.
Only the smack was heard and suddenly Nightwing was holding his bloody nose.
“Nooooo…” Red Robin said, almost resigned to the situation.He immediately went to grab Coraline, who was now going against nightwing, again, with the obvious intent of beating the shit out of him
“LET ME AT HIM!” She was saying, while Red Robin grabbed her on the waist and hauled her on the other side of the table
“HE HURT YOU WHEN YOU WERE ALREADY DOWN, LET ME AT THE BASTARD, I’LL BEAT HIM WITH HIS OWN FUCKING STICKS!”
Red threw her on the chair and grabbed her face in his hands “You can’t go fighting all the people who hurt me, Coraline, do you understand how crazy that is?”
Nightwind let out a whimper. And the current Robin knew it wasn’t because of the pain, but because he had confirmation that he hurt Tim.
“I don’t care! He took the one single thing you cared about! And it was Robin, wasn’t it? That’s why you were being so vague that night! Because he took Robin from you! He doesn’t get my forgiveness, and I have no idea how he gets yours” Coraline exclaimed
“He doesn’t, yet” Nightwing whimpered again.
“The night you called me you were terrified! You were so fucking scared that your older brother was going to send you to fucking Arkham! You kept repeating that you weren’t crazy, and that he had no right to took what was yours from you! You kept talking about the most important thing in your life, one of the last remaining. He doesn’t get me being FUCKING CIVIL!” she said, standing up again, about to go smack him again
“Coraline, he's a trained vigilante, he has been longer than me. And while I could take him in usual conditions I don’t think I can, not today. You know this. You can’t go fighting battles you can’t win, and I can’t take you out from. No, Coraline. Not today. Got it?”
Both teens were staring at each other with wide eyes and panting.
For coraline the whiteout lenses were creepy, but she didn’t mention it.
“Fine” she said “For now”
Red took a breath
“Thank you” he said “Now, what are you doing here, with Constantine of all people?” The man had been watching the events unfolding with his foot propped up on the wall.
At this Coraline looked worried, a sharp 180 from her previous anger “You might want to sit down. And grab a bag you can vomit in” she said.
Red Robin stilled. The only indicator that he didn’t suddenly become a wax statue was his finger twitching
A few seconds passed, where Coraline, from her chair, took Red’s arm. She was about to say something, but Red turned sharply towards the computer
“Where the fuck is Captain Marvel?” he asked to the room at large
He got to the computer and turned it on
“Ti…Red Robin…” Coraline tried
“I asked. Where. Is. Captain. Marvel?” Red asked again, and this was the Red Robin that Ra’s Al-Ghoul is scared of.
“He said he needed a couple of sick days” Flash answered.
“God fucking damnit!” Red cursed
“So I was right” Constantine said, smirking.
Red Robin turned to him
“That child is being emotionally and psychologically tortured with his own wished and desires. You DO NOT get to play with this, Constantine” Red said.
The mage only raised an eyebrow “Got experience with this, don’t we?”
“I can’t take Nightwing right now, but I can take on you, so watch your fucking mouth” Red Robin said.
“Hey, how do you know who I was talking about?” Coraline asked
“He’s the only one the Beldane might want” Red answered launching the facial recognition server
“We have to find him. He’s smart, and he’s really good. But this…she can trick him too easily” Tim said. And his family knew that this was Tim and not Red Robin, because of the tremor in his voice.
“Robin, report” Baman said, and Red Robin halted for a second, but kept working.
The little Robin on the other hand spluttered “I…I don’t…”
“I meant Red Robin” Batman said, seemingly unperturbed by his slip up
“It’s a long story. But we have to find him. Now”
And that’s when the computer pinged that no, Billy Batson was not on earth. Nowhere to be found.
“FUCK!” Red cursed
“Calm down” Coraline said “Try to think clearly. We both know we can’t beat the bitch without a clear mind” Red barked a bitter laugh
“I’m aware, Jonesy. No need to remind me of my old failures” he said
“It wasn’t a failure. You’re here, you’re alive. You have your soul” she said
“Which is not something to take for granted” Constantine commented from the side
“Your soul?” Nightwing asked distraught, his nose had stopped bleeding at some point.
Red Robin took a breath and looked around the room.
All these people were counting on him to bring their teammate home. They didn’t know, but they did.
He turned around to the computer again.
“Ok, Ok, ok. If Billy wants he’s more than capable of avoiding cameras. I also haven’t considered the fact that he might be in his weird magical fortress or whatever…”
“Highly unlikely. If he met the beldane then the stench of this kind of magical interdimensional being would be a lot stronger in a highly magical environment” Constantine added his two cents
“Oh so you’re not completely useless, after all” Red said to Constantine, and the man snorted. He looked wrong without a cigarette in his hand. Of course he couldn’t smoke in space, but it was weird seeing him like that.
Red took his phone
“Who are you calling?” asked Aquaman
“An alone child, with no family, no caregivers, no adult to turn to. Where will he go?” he asked rhetorically
“To his best friends’ house” answered Coraline with a knowing look.
Red nodded
“How’s Bern…I mean…the dog?”
“The dog, Coraline?” Red asked, amused. The line kept ringing
“Yeah…like the Saint Bernard dog? How is he?” Red laughed, genuinely.
The batfamily was scared to realize that this girl knew who Tim’s best friend was. Better yet, they were scared that she knew who he was better than they did.
“Well for you guys not in the know, we’re talking about a person. And I mean… we’re kinda fucking on the down low so, depending on my skills he’s either really happy or moderately content” Coraline laughed brightly. Batman Nightwing and Robin stared. They were not aware that Tim was in a relationship.
Someone answered
“Mrs Vasquez! Hello, I’m Tim. I’m a friend of Freddy and Billy. Are they there?” Red asked in his most pleasant tone.
“Of course, Mrs Vasquez. I’m so sorry. I was meant to meet Billy today, and he didn’t show up. I’m just a little worried. Can you just tell him that I have his Batman painting for art class?”
Red suddenly took the phone away from his ear. Obviously someone must have been screaming.
The people in the Justice League meeting room all heard the sound of a bunch of stuff falling to the ground.
“I can take it” said a boy’s voice
“Hello?” the boy said
“Hey Billy. It’s Red Robin, I’m sorry for the trouble. We have reason to believe you encountered a..what did you say it was? Ah yes a magical interdimensional being. The beldane. You might know her better as the Other Mother”
And Billy dropped the phone from shock.
“I…I did” he said, his voice full of tears.
“Okay. I’ll pass you to Constantine. He knows how to deal with her, okay. And whatever you need, I’m a call away, alright?”
The phone was quickly given to Constantine, and the man started talking.
Red finally turned to Coraline “How the hell did you know about Billy?”
It was Coraline’s turn to look sheepish
“So you know how you disappeared last year, right?”
“I am painfully aware of that, yes”
“Well…I went on holiday in Salem with a friend, and Constantine was there. He took one look at me and he knew I had met the Other Mother. I agreed to have him cast a spell on me. It used my somewhat connection to the Other Mother to let me know when her presence was stronger on this plane of existence. I thought it’d let me find a doll, not a child who had already seen some of the wonders”
Red nodded
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there, I could have taken it.” he said
Coraline smacked him in the arm “You had enough shit already, you idiot.” Red smiled
Robin though seemed to have had enough
“What is the meaning of this?” He asked, frustrated
“None of your business you Replacement” Coraline answered with venom, but this time Tim turned to her with barely suppressed anger
“Coraline never say that to him. Never fucking again, do you hear me? He’s not a replacement. More of a successor.” Red answered
“What is going on?!” Robin asked again, but Nightwing knew that he was really shook by what Coraline said.
Coraline huffed and crossed her arms, turning away.
Red Robin was left to answer.
It was the first time she heard it. And coraline was more than a little shocked at Tim’s ‘reporting’ voice.
It was completely emotionless, void of everything.
“The Beldane, or Other Mother, is a monster. She feeds on the souls of children. She has a very peculiar MO: she sends a doll to the children, this doll is a spy it reports the child’s most sensitive desires to the Other Mother. With these secrets at hand she creates a world ad hoc. The victim is lured to the other mother’s realm with a key. There they are shown ‘wonders’. A perfect world. They are lured in for three nights in our experience. Then the Other Mother makes a proposition: the victim won’t have to live in the real world anymore and will be able to live forever in the perfect world. The only condition is that they must let the Other Mother replace their eyes with buttons. The saying ‘the eyes are a window for the soul’ is much more literal than we might think. She eats the childrens’ souls through their eyes. And they are left empty shells of what they used to be. Billy obviously avoided giving in for now. I trust Constantine to kill the Beldane. Or at least banish it to a dimension where she won’t hurt anyone. This concludes my report” Tim said.
“Never do that again” Coraline shuddered
“What?” Red asked, a confused expression on his masked face
“That! God it was so…emotionless!”
Red laughed “It is what it is” he said
The rest of the JL looked stricken with sadness and pity.
The present members of the batfamily looked terrified.
“You were one of the children” Batman said. He wasn’t asking.
Tim smiled sadly “Yes. It was about three months before…you know. Five before I started bothering you to become Robin.” what he would have wanted to say was ‘before Jason died’
Bruce understood.
“It’s fine. It was years ago, for me it’s in the past.” Red shrugged.
Coraline didn’t really look like she agreed, but she didn’t have time to say anything, because Constantine handed Tim the phone
“I’ll go take care of the Beldane. I’ll send Captain Marvel here. Someone should be with him.”
“Send him to the Batcave” Red said
“If we stay here he’ll be vulnerable in front of his teammates. If i know half a thing about dealing with the Beldane, he won’t want to seem weak in front of people that are important to him”
Constantine nodded and took his leave
“I trust you with Jones” he said, almost as an afterthought, then he zetaed away.
Coraline watched him leave “Gotta love being someone’s first thought” Red laughed.
“Come on, I’m not leaving him for a second” he said.
“Wait wait wait, we’re bringing her to the cave?” Robin asked, and Red shrugged “It’s not like she’ll know the location, Robin. And even if she did she won’t tell.” Red and Coraline smiled at each other.
“Come on” Red signed to Batman and associates.
They left the league at the Watchtower, wondering just what the fuck had just happened.
Tim went through the zeta tubes first, and waited for the “Guest Coraline Jones” before moving to guide her away from the tube.
“This is the coolest thing ever!” she said looking around. Tim remembered, seeing the cave for the first time. It was a magical experience. Before the pain and the hurt, and…everything else.
Coraline kept looking around the cave while Batman Nightwing and Robin came through the zetas.
“Hey, what’s with the dinosaur?” Coraline asked, and before Tim could answer, Red Hood’s laughter was heard from the batcomputer.
“I love this chick. Who are you?” Red Hood asked.
Coraline didn’t answer, but cocked her head
“Hold on who is he?” she asked “Because I’m trying to put together the vague stuff you told me, and the few things I know about Gotham vigilantes. Which is a sentence I never thought I’d say” she trailed off towards the end
Tim hesitated “There are many answers to that” he begun, but Coraline looked at him
“Don’t bullshit me” she said in the most no-nonsense tone Tim had ever heard from her.
Hood laughed again “She’s got you there”
Tim sighed again “He’s my second wonder” he said in the end.
And Coraline stopped smiling “Oh” she said, sadness in her voice “Which one?” she asked, and Tim couldn’t help but smile sadly
“Both”
And with that Coraline’s world came crushing down.
“What?”
“Yeah. I knew from the second wonder. I saw Robin, and then him” he pointed at the still masked hood “and I knew something was Very wrong. But I still ignored it. Because I’m an idiot, and I know it” He smiled, and begun walking towards the couches
“Oh Tim, I’m so sorry! You knew I wouldn’t have judged if you told me! And I could have helped you through it! It’s okay, it’s not your fault. The Other Mother has been doing this for millenia, you have nothing to be ashamed about” Tim didn’t answer. He just texted Alfred that they had a guest and that they would need food.
“Hold on hold on. Did she call you Tim?” Hood asked, sounding vaguely panicked
“Yeah she knows me” Tim explained, and Hood just stared.
“I mean…technically I can guess who you all are. But I’m not going to tell. Never. Tim is one of the most important people in my life, I would never hurt him. Or his family. As horrible as you all are to him”
And the silence at the accusation spoke volumes.
Something that Hood noticed
“Hold on. Robin isn’t saying anything because he knows he’s horrible to Red. B has got no emotions so that checks out. I tried to kill him so it’d be hypocritical of me, but what’s your problem Dickface?” Hood asked.
He didn’t realize that he had given Coraline a very important information.
“Did you just say you tried to kill him?” she asked, her voice was shrill and angry
“I…yeah. Years ago. I was half out of my mind at the time, but I thought you knew? Red told you something?” Hood trailed off, and Tim looked at the ceiling in both exhaustion and guilt
“I tend to skip over the almost dying bits”
Coraline didn't seem to know where to direct her anger
“From now on I expect to know every single time you almost die. Or have assassins sent at you. Capishe?” she ordered tim
“Yes, Ma’am” he said with a sad smile.
“And you” Coraline said, raising her finger
“Jonesy I can’t help you if you fight him” Tim said, his voice sounded exhausted
“I’m not. I’m yelling at him.” She said, before turning towards the Red Hood
“You are an asshole, and a son of a bitch. You hurt Tim. YOU TRIED TO KILL HIM! And if it wasn’t anyone else, sure. It’d be almost fine. I wouldn’t care so much, but from YOU?! He simply adored you! You were his hero! His inspiration! When you died he cried for two weeks! He cared for you so much, despite never having even met you! AND YOU TRIED TO KILL HIM! I knew the relationship with you two was shaky, and I knew that but Tim didn’t tell me that you tried to kill him! Was it after you came out of hiding? Because honestly that would be even more fucked up! He must have kept the secret that you were alive and…”
Tim put a hand on her arm
“Jonesy no” he said “He was actually dead. He came back to life through an alchemic solution…you know what it doesn’t matter. And it wasn’t his fault, okay? Yes he tried to kill me. Twice, for the sake of honesty. But it wasn’t his fault. I didn’t know he was alive until i realized it was him at the Tower. It was fine, Jonesy. Really”
Coraline’s shocked eyes kept darting from Tim to Red Hood’s expressionless helmet
“You’re not supposed to say it’s fine” she murmured, almost as if it was an instinct.
“Yeah well. It actually was. And even if it wasn’t I forgave him. So stop. You yelled at him enough. And I’m not mad at him. He doesn’t need anymore guilt, alright?”
Coraline seemed to be in an internal debate, but nevertheless she nodded.
“Fine. I’m sorry if I brought up triggers, or unwanted things uhm…what do I call you? Because you’re obviously not Robin, and we decided I’ll pretend I don’t know your identities”
“Red Hood” Jason answered. And his voice seemed perfectly fine to Coraline. But the rest of the Batfamily, well. They knew Jason was crying under the helmet.
“Well then. I’m sorry, Red Hood. But you were an ass to Tim, and I don’t like it”
“She actually punched ‘Wing” Tim said, still on the couch
“And I reckon that Master Nightwing must have deserved it” Alfred said, making himself known at the bottom of the stairs
“I am Agent A, miss. I must have missed your name. Master Red Robin has forgotten to tell me”
“Oh yeah. Agent A, this is Coraline Jones. An old friend”
“It’s very good to meet you, Miss Jones” the old butler said, placing the tray on the table. Then he took out a thermos and a cup. In three seconds Tim had a cup of coffee in his hands
“You’re Alfred!” Coraline exclaimed, stunning the old man “You’re the absolute best! Tim can’t stop talking about how good your food is and how much he misses it at his new place! Which is fair, because we had decided that once we begun living together I’d be the one cooking, now it will be Bernie, but still. Of course the overachiever here decided it was a great idea to start living alone over a year too soon. I’m sure my cooking will never be as great as yours, but I was actually wondering if you’d want to pass me some recipes. Now that I know that Tim is a vigilante I can’t let him keep eating ramen and instant noodles everyday, now can I?”
Alfred seemed startled for a moment before recovering “Of course, Miss Jones. I will gladly share my recipes with you. I was not aware that Master Tim was in a committed relationship” he said, and Coraline laughed, while a red faced tim sipped his coffee.
“He’s not. Not with me, anyway. We really are just friends” she said with a smile
“Very well” Alfred answered
“You really are the best, Mr Alfred, sir. And if I know Tim even a little he doesn’t tell you enough”
“Lies and slander” Tim said from where he was buried in the cushions
“And thank you for the coffee Alfred”
“Of course Master Timothy”
After that, no one really seemed to know what to say. And the heavy silence was only interrupted when the zeta tubes chimed a “Captain Marvel A-15” and a little boy appeared in the tube.
Billy sat in the entrance of the Zeta tube, shivering. His cheeks had obvious dried tear tracks, and the boy’s arms were hugging his own middle, trying to self soothe as much as he could.
Tim and Coraline exchanged glances, and sprung to action.
“Hi, Billy, I’m Coraline” the girl said with a big smile. She begun advancing towards him, telegraphing her movements. Tim started rearranging the cushions on the couch to make room for both victims of the Other Mother.
“Hi” Billy whispered. He didn’t even glance up, and Batman, who was used to seeing the boy in action, was so incredibly shocked at the contrast: anyone could have overpowered him in this instance. And that was a liability, but must importantly a worrying problem about Billy’s mental health.
“I’m here because I know what happened” Coraline said, when she got close enough. She crouched to be at eye level with the much younger kid.
Billy seemed resigned to his fate.
“If I’m off the league, Batman can tell me himself.” he said, a note of defiance in his voice.
“I am not a superhero, nor a vigilante. I have nothing to do with this stuff, and I don’t want to. I’m here because there are many bad things that have happened, and that will happen. And I have faced them before, i helped someone else face them, and I want to help you. “ she paused, waiting for Billy to absorb all these information
“Will you let me help you?” she asked, kindly
Billy hesitated “How do I know you’re not one of her creations?” he asked finally
Coraline smiled sadly, as if she knew that kind of question was coming.
“My eyes” she answered honestly “The other mother cannot recreate eyes, because she doesn’t have a soul. She can only make buttons. And I don’t have buttons in my eyes, do I?”
Billy was still looking at the ground.
“You need to be brave Billy” Coraline said, not touching the boy despite desperately wanting to. “You need to look into my eyes. For a moment. You can also touch them, if you want. I’m going to close them, obviously but you’ll feel the eyesocket. I promise, everything’s there. You just have to be brave”
“DON’T SAY HE HAS TO BELIEVE YOU!” Tim yelled from the couch “THAT’S ONE OF THE THINGS SHE TOLD ME, YOU’LL TERRIFY HIM IF YOU SAY THAT”
“Yes. Tim. I know. Let him do this. It took you two days before you could regularly look people in the eye again, so let him take his time” Coraline said in a perfectly normal voice. Billy huffed out a little laugh, and Coraline stared at him a little dumbfounded. The kid laughed.
“I…okay” Billy said, and started to slowly look up
Once he got to her chin he turned back down, shaking his head. “I can’t” he said, voice shaking
“It’s okay, Billy, you don’t have to. You can just touch my eyes if you prefer” Coraline replied
Billy seemed to steel himself, then surged forward and almost took Coraline’s eyes out with the speed at which he threw himself at her.
His hands found her face quickly enough, and his touch did, in fact, reveal eyesocket.
This gave him enough courage to look at Coraline
“There you are” she said with a smile, looking Billy in the eyes. “I know this is a stupid question, but how are you feeling?” she asked. Billy’s own eyes watered. He didn’t answer and just shook his head.
“Okay. we have many choices now. We can eat if you want, Alfred made some amazing smelling pancakes over there, which I’m sure you’d love. We can stay here if you still need some time. Or we can hug, I know the other kid I helped was severely touch starved when everything happened to him, and so was I in a way. If you want to do anything…”
Billy cut her off with a hug
Coraline reciprocated, and didn’t say anything.
After a couple of seconds, Billy started sobbing in Coraline’s arms. He kept crying and he couldn’t stop. Coraline just rubbed soothing circles on his back.
The moment was interrupted when Coraline fell. Billy, startled, begun looking around frantically, trying to search for whatever possible threat (not her, not her, not Her). but Coraline just apologized
“I’m sorry I’m not really that athletic” she said
“This is the kind of people I’m friends with, go figure” Tim said with an eyeroll.
“I’m sorry I’m not a brooding vigilante who crouches on gargoyles at night for hours on end!” Coraline snarked and Tim smiled
“She’s just not in the business” he said, winking at Billy.
Then Tim took Coraline in his arms “I’m not helpless, let me stretch, and I’ll be right there!” she protested
“We need to get out of here, anyone could come in at any moment. We might as well relocate on the couch. Come on Billy, you can hop on” Tim said, lowering Coraline a little. The girl’s eyes widened “Do you think I’m some sort of…” but Billy was already climbing her lap, and Tim laughed, bringing the two of them to the couch.
“Here, we have food, and as much affection as you need. We also have…well it’s the Batcave. You know what’s here” Tim said
“I really don’t” Billy murmured, eyeing the food.
“Yeah I’ll be honest, I don’t think I know everything either” Tim confessed Billy in a stage-whisper.
“And anything else you need, we can do for you” finished Coraline.
Billy sat on the thought a little. “Can the rest of the batfamily go away?” he asked, almost shyly.
“I can feel her presence on you. It’s almost a decade old, but it’s there. They don’t have it. Can you…please, can they go away?”
Tim cradled Billy’d face
“They’ll be gone in a second, I’ll make sure of it” The promised.
Coraline stayed with Billy, hugging and talking in hushed tones.
Tim corralled his whole family towards the stairs
“Drake this is preposterous!” Damian kept insisting
“Yeah, yeah demon brat. You can cut my line again if you’re really that pissed about it, but stay out of here”
“Wait cut your line? What line?” asked Jason
“Yes, it was a long time ago. Don’t worry about it. Actually you know what? Worry about that, and don’t bother us. Stay up here, block the cave to others. If Steph needs the Batcomputer she can wait a few hours. We’ll be downstairs, trying to not let Billy make the same mistakes I’ve made. Now I’m going to go back down, ad none of you are going to follow me. Is that clear?” Tim didn’t wait for the answer, and crossed the grandfather clock, locking it behind him.
“What line did you cut, Demon Brat?” Jason asked, helmet still on, his full menacing air about him
“An even better question” said Bruce, taking off his cowl. The three boys could feel that now, without outsiders, shit was about to go down. “What happened while I was in the time stream?” it was Bruce that asked, but the tone was fully Batman’s. Dick flinched back.
This was going to be a long, long night.