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Bruce was in the batcave working on the Burton case. He had been at it for 3 days already and still wasn't any close to cracking it. The cave was empty - his children were scattered around the house save for Tim who was on a young justice mission. Popping his knuckles, he sipped his coffee and grimaced at the cold liquid. He hadn't been here that long had he?
As if reading his mind, the posh voice of Alfred broke his quiet musings "Master Bruce, I do advise you take a break from holing yourself in this drab cave and shower. Master Damian has requested your presence in the evening."
Knowing better than to refuse the old butler, Bruce stood up, but not without sulking.
"Do not make that face Master Bruce. It is unbefitting of a man such as yourself. "
Long after Bruce had showered and reacquired himself a hot cup of coffee he heard the soft whirring of the zeta tubes. Giving his son a couple minutes to change, he sipped at his mug quietly. Believing it had been enough time, he started "Welcome back Tim, how was the mission? Also, after you shower I was hoping you could share some insight on the Burton case. It's been puzzling me for a while. "
Setting his mug down, Bruce turned to face his second youngest. As he expected, the teen was in some loose workout clothes. But his face was oddly pink.
Bruce addressed him with thinly veiled concern "Tim you're flushed. Are you coming down with something? Were you exposed to any unknown substances during the mission? "
Instead of answering him quickly like he expected, his son stuttered out a response "No Bruce, I'm fine. I'm just tired from the mission. I should go take some rest. I'll help with the case later"
Judging by the way Tim became even more red, Bruce could deduce Tim was hiding something. "Tim, you don't have to hide if you're sick. Nevermind the case, go take some rest, I'll tell Alfred to bring you soup later. "
Quietly nodding, Tim soon left. Bruce turned back to the batcomputer and opened the mission report. While he trusted his son to tell him if anything was wrong, he could have been exposed to contaminants without knowing. However, as he read through the report, his face became pinched. Apparently red robin's bike had been damaged during the mission and he had been carried back to base by superboy. It took him a while to process, but he wasn't all that bad with emotions contrary to what his children liked to believe. It was actually fairly easy to deduce. Tim wasn't sick - he was flustered. He must have a crush on superboy or something.
The clone wasn't a threat and certainly not the worst his son could pick. But as he was about to close the document, a thought suddenly struck him. He recollected something Diana had said a while ago. She had been extremely happy to announce her protege, wondergirl, was in a relationship with superboy.
Bruce's hand on his mouse stilled. He knew the drakes had messed Tim up quite a bit. It had taken a lot of love and affection to reassure a young Tim that Bruce wouldn't abandon him like his parents did. Bruce knew that his crush already being in a relationship would hurt Tim an unimaginable amount.
His brain ventured into a dark part - his own teenage years. He had been quite the playboy, but he could never quite get over his first heartbreak. It had broken him in a way that he couldn't describe.
Shaking the memories off, Bruce hardened his resolve. He wouldn't let his son end up heartbroken. While threatening the clone directly would sadden Tim, there was no rule against targeting the girlfriend. Distracted by concern, he didn't notice Damian sneak up behind him and tap his shoulder.
Occupied by his youngest, the rest of the day passed by in a blur. But Bruce didn't forget, afterall, while he may not be an expert at parenting, he did try his best.
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*Next mission*
Bruce accompanied Tim to Mt. Justice for the mission briefing. The room stilled upon Batman's entrance. Tim wasted no time in fleeing his side to go stand by his teammates.
Clearing his throat - he had an image to maintain afterall - he quickly summed up the objectives and details of the mission. "Any questions?" he announced in his deep gravelly voice. Both wondergirl and impulse's hands went up. But overlooking wondergirl whom he usually chose most of the time, Bruce pointed at impulse who then began talking a mile a minute.
After having spent quite a lot of time with Barry, he knew to pick apart the young speedsters words before providing him with a no-nonsense answer. As soon as he finished his response, wondergirl started speaking, there was no-one else waiting afterall. But Bruce simply raised his hand, an obvious sign of dismissal. Wondergirl's confused sputters went unheard as he swiftly pivoted and walked back to the zeta tubes. In a totally not dramatic fashion thank you very much.
As he was about to step in, his ears picked up the girl's indignant complaints to her teammates. Smirking, Bruce returned to the batcave.
The pattern carried on for quite a while with bruce even going as far as scowling and actively reprimanding her. After every mission, he would give her a thorough scolding if she made even the slightest mistake. With every passing mission, wondergirl became more and more troubled. The boys were also confused with Batman's odd behavior as their own mistakes went unnoticed. Eventually, a meeting was called between the four of them and Tim was elected as the obvious representative to clear the matter up up.
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*at the batcave*
It was a quiet day for the bats so most of the family had retired to the mansion for a game night. Tim and Bruce were the only ones still in the cave.
Awkwardly Tim began "Hey B, can we talk."
Confused by his son's tone of voice, Bruce responded "Of course we can chum, what's bothering you?"
With some newfound confidence, Tim finally said what had been on everyone's minds lately. "Um, the team and I have been concerned about your behavior with wondergirl lately. Any particular reason. "
Playing innocent, Bruce replied harmlessly "Whatever do you mean? Has my behavior been odd?"
Tim knew better though, "Cut the act B. You've been really short with her lately, dodge all her questions and concerns and start scowling at even the mention of her name? You don't notice any of the mistakes kon, bart and I make as you're far too engrossed in yelling at her. What's up with that? She's really worried she did something wrong and now you're going to kick her off the team. "
Realising he may have gone a bit too far, he knew the truth had to come out soon. Starting with a sigh "Here's the thing and hear me out properly without interrupting. When you returned home blushing from a mission, I passed it off as you simply hiding an illness. But after looking through the report, I realised you were flustered from your contact with superboy when he carried you. I wasn't worried that you had a crush on him, he's a good one. But I remembered Diana telling me that him and Cassie were together. I was worried about you and maybe that rubbed off onto my interactions with her. I just want you to be happy Tim. "
Bruce had dismissed Tim's interuptions until that point with a single raised finger, but after finishing, he let him speak. Instead of talking however, Tim started laughing. For a second, he thought Tim had been hit with laughing gas. It took him a frankly embarrassing amount of time to realise that Tim was laughing at him. Confused, Bruce was about to ask him what was wrong.
Tim didn't stop laughing, but raised his hand to let him know he was going to say something. After a ten or so minutes(he was getting really concerned), Tim finally calmed down. "Bruce, you've got it all wrong. Diana probably told you years ago, but as you were working on the Burton case, your mind probably forgot to remember that. Kon and Cassie broke up ages ago. Also, it's not a crush"
Now Bruce was really confused but before he could interrupt, Tim continued. "I'm glad he has your support because we're dating. Now I know there's something you want to say so go ahead. "
"But the blushing? If you were already dating, why were you blushing from a little contact?"
Now Tim looked a little sheepish "That wasn't because of kon carrying me actually. My face was flushed because I had just made out with kon a couple minutes before leaving"
Bruce knew he probably looked lost which was a rare expression on his face, however the reality of his actions hit him. He had been unneededly aggressive to wonder woman's protege and even led her to believe she was being taken off the team.
Sensing his thoughts, Tim chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll tell the team the reason behind your actions. Cassie will get a good laugh out of it. "
While his image was probably going to be ruined, it was far better than the alternative - an angry wonder woman coming after him.
But wanting to have the last laugh, he smirked a little. "Thanks for telling me Tim. But remember, be safe and make sure to use protection. Also you still have your brothers to worry about so you may want to warn conner about that" with that little tidbit, he turned and left the cave. He could hear Tim's embarassed shrieking behind him.
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