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The bats had soul bonds forged through blood, sweat and tears.
Tim had had plenty of all that during his vigilante career, none of the bonuses of a soul bond though.
That's ok, he gets it. They just don't have that kind of relationship.
That's... Fine.
His parents explained soul bonds to him young, he was "mature for his age", so they thought it important he understood society at large early on.
Soul bonds required time, effort and mutual agreement. You only forged one with the people you were closest to. They took continuous attention and maintenance at first, but older bonds just became second nature, easier to opened and dampen signals. They carved a spot in your soul.
To be able to connect to others on such a level that you can share each others emotions directly, in their purest, and feel the basic underlying thoughts responsable, was a immense privilege to be given.
They were a choice not to be taken lightly, and extremely painful to break.
Tim had been bondless since his father's murder. The loss of each of his parents was single handedly to most painful days of his life.
He'll be honest, a little part of him hoped that Bruce would offer a bond after that, even just out of pity. They had been partners for years, saved each other more times than either could count.
He had to crush that little part of him after the first month of adoption, he didn't know what he expected, traditionally a adoption bond was done the day of the paper signing. He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up.
Don't get him wrong, Tim had plenty of loving and fulfilling relationships with the people in his life. The Young Justice gang for example. It was just none of them could form a bond with him.
Kon as a half Kryptonian clone had a different soul shape, or something; Zatanna's explanation was way to magically advanced for any of them. Either way, not possible, he could only bond with other Kryptonians. And boy did that cause issues with Clark in the beginning.
Bart's future apocalyptic society didn't do soul bonds, too much death, the constant soul strain of broken bonds was not conductive to a effective resistance movement or enslaved workforce. It was outlawed early on, about the only thing everyone could agree of apparently. So the ability was never cultivated. He never developed it. Still couldn't no matter what they tried now.
Cassie in theory could, but part of her pledge and culture as a Amazonian warrior was no men. And he would never make her choose his want for a soul bond over her mother, her sisters, even her powers.
And sure, maybe he had drifted from them a bit after their deaths and Bruce's "death" and then getting removed from the Titans and then being called crazy, and then him not being told when they came back from the dead but finding out on the news and the fact they never apologised for any of it or even reached out at all.
Ok. Maybe his current relationship with them all wasn't as fulfilling and close as it had been.
That's fine, he had plenty of work to fill the free time and empty void in his chest.
He was still friendly with the rest of the bats too.
Just yesterday him and dick had plans to hang out, go to this new cafe that had all these board games to use. He'd been begging Dick for weeks to come with him.
Sure Dick'd cancelled last minute.
That was fine, it's the thought that counts.
Yeah he'd been waiting out the front of his building for half an hour for him to be picked up when Dick had called saying something had come up, but life happens, he gets it.
Maybe it hurt a little when he checked his socials on the way back up to his apartment, and got recommended Dick's latest post.
From 15 minutes ago.
Of him at the board game cafe.
With Damian and Duke, and a suspiciously familiar head of black and white hair in the background.
Captioned "happy annual little brother kidnapping day, one day of missed school for singing soul bonds, 100% worth it! P.s. don't tell Bruce."
It's fine.
It makes sense that they would want a day to strengthen their bonds with each other, Duke's and Damian's were fresh.
He didn't have bonds to any of them so there was no reason for him to be there too.
Things have finally chilled out a bit around Gotham and within the family. Fratricide attempts are at an all time low, no one was fighting over vigilante IDs and the patrol rotation even allows everyone a night off every week. Now is the perfect time for cultivating new and existing bonds.
And hey, while Tim's being honest with himself, maybe he did think the whole solo saving Bruce from the time stream thing would have endeared himself to the rest of the bats enough that they would entertain the idea of a soul bond with him.
At least, that what he told himself everytime Ra's offered him one, along with his promises of "mutual loyalty" and "world domination in the name of environmental and cultural preservation" and whatever other bullshit I was spouting that day.
Ra's other whispers about how, he needed bonded people that would "appreciate your brilliance and unwavering loyalty properly, detective" didn't get to him while stuck by his side leading the League, but now?
Sitting in the Nest on his night off;
Alone;
Bored;
Wrapped in a oversized blanket;
Solving Bruce's old cold cases.
Taking his mind off of the fact that earlier that night, at the start of patrol, Steph had sent a selfie with everyone that was out tonight together on the roof of a BatBurger. The BatBurger that looked strikingly similar to the one, 2 blocks from his apartment.
Taking his mind off the similar photo sent last week, also on his night off, to the same chat on a different roof, with a different fast food.
And 2 weeks before that, the same.
And before that...
And this is why he was doing cold cases.
Cause he didn't want to think about how he was in none of those selfies, how his all of their nights off changed weekly and how it didn't happen on every one of his nights off but it always seemed to be on his night off.
He was fine.
And he would continue to be fine, even as the Nest garage door chimed to signal a correct code input and awaited for him to approve entry.
Fine, as he pulled up the cameras and was greeted with Red Hoods emotionless helmet.
Fine, as he opened the door and heard Hood's motorcycle being driven and parked.
That's how Hood found him, wrapped in his blanket, surrounded by the comforting sight of bloody crime scene pictures, and 100% completely and totally fine.
Tim glanced over his shoulder, and let out a long, over exaggerated sign.
"What do you want from me now Hood, you know it's my night off"
Red Hood dismounted and went to open his bikes under seat storage.
"Nah, I've clocked out for the night I'm not here on night business."
Jason finally turned from his bike brandishing a BatBurger bag and cup tray.
Tim raised a suspicious eyebrow.
"So you've what? Come to my secret vigilante base to eat your dinner and leave?"
Tim said as he spun his chair fully around to face Jason. Jason made his way to the smaller bench near Tim and begun pulling out food from the bag.
"No dumbass WE'RE going to eat dinner in your secret vigilante base. Can't a guy suprise his most tolerable bird every once in a while?"
Tim leveled Jason with a flat look.
"Stop giving me that look and wheel you're ass over here before these fries get more soggy" Jason exclaimed as he pulled the last of the food from the bag and began splitting to the two sides of the bench.
Tim did not wheel his ass over there, he remained within the safety of his blanket and gruesome crime scene photos
"Jason, I don't know what this is but you have never once come to me for the sole purpose of hanging out. Let alone bought me food for the sake of it. So either spill what you really want or I'm call Bruce and telling him you have a head injury."
At Tim's declaration Jason paused slightly before finishing his task and grabbing a nearby work bench's chair.
Jason not exactly shocked by the kid's suspicion considering the last time he came barring food it was as bribery for help to shut down a rival gang trying to stir trouble in the alley. But it still stings a little to have to put so blatantly.
"Okay, it is kind of a bribe" Jason confessed slowly,
"but not really" he rushed to add on before looking of to the side, "cause it's still not night life related, and I'm not asking a favour or help or anything."
Jason took a breath before turning back to Tim and making eye contact.
"This is a personal thing and I just want you to hear me out."
Tim slowly nodded his head, emerged from his blanket and began wheeling his chair over.
"Alright, I'll hear you out, I guess. Although you are still kind of freaking me out with this whole thing so you're going to have to talk while we eat or I might actually implode from the suspense." Tim stated as he sat down and unwrapped his burger.
Jason followed his leading his lead began on his own food.
"Now after I ask this I want you to actually think on, no gut reactions." Jason stated after his first bite.
"And I would like it on the record that this whole honest conversation and verbally expressing emotions is a new novel concept for me." He continued with a sarcastic tone laced with nerves, adverting his eyes again before taking another bite.
Tim paused his chewing for a second before speaking.
"Mmkay, now you've got me actually worried." He said still half way done chewing.
He swallowed and picked up his his drink, gesturing vaguely in Jason direction with it.
"You better not be about to tell me your dying or something, or, oh god... Are you getting married!? Is this you asking for me to be a groomsman?" Tim continued almost desperately.
"Say no, right now, I'm not lossing this bet to Steph and Duke. I have way too much money on riding on this."
Jason placed his burger back down gently before letting out a suffering groan and pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Tim please, for the love of fucking god, stop talking."
Jason laid both his hands on the bench and leveled a serious expression around to the other boy.
"New rule for this interaction;" he stated, pointing to Tim "You shut the fuck up until I finish, I will take questions at the end. I have a whole mini speech thing ready for this, I've been practising, and I with not be thrown off my game by whatever paranoid delusions you come up with after everything I say." He finished, then taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.
Tim raised his hands in a mock surrender, drink still grasped, putting on sheepish face.
"Alright, I get it, I promise to keep my thoughts to myself. I can see this is actually something kinda big."
Tim sat back, placing his drink down and moving onto his fries, tipping them on to his wrapper and picking out the largest to the side.
Jason took another deep breathe before sitting up straighter. His words holding gravity as he begun.
"Tim, I care deeply about you. I know that our relationship has often been more rocky than stable, but I can truely say that I have come to care deeply about you and would regard you as one of the people closest to me."
Tim paused in his fry sorting as Jason collected his next thoughts, briefly glancing up at the older boy before continuing.
Jason continued.
"I know that we've fought probably more than either of us have ever fought with the other bat, eh, except maybe Bruce. But i think that makes the fact we can sit here now together, me eating like a normal person and you sorting for fries by size like a little freak." The smirk was audible in Jason voice, only growing when Tim froze and shot him a dirt look through the hair that had fallen over his face.
"Get on with Mr. I eat my burritos like a corn cob." Tim responded, dawning a smirk of his own and beginning eating his fries from one of his sorted piles.
Jason barked out a laugh before turning serious again.
"You don't have to decide right away, but what I'm trying to get at here, is , well... What I'm trying to ask is would you like to form a soul bond." Jason finished, looking down at his abandoned food and back up at Tim.
He was met with Tim's face slack with shock, fry frozen half way to his mouth.
"What." Tim whispered.
Jason slowly began clearing up his food, suddenly finding him self much less hungry than when he arrived.
"Maybe I misread our relationship, that's on me. You can wipe that look off your face."
Jason snapped out, beginning to stand up.
"i won't let this affect our work in the field if you don't, I meant what I said, I respect you and that includes the work you do."
He didn't get to finish standing before Tim was lunging across the table, grasping is wrist in a iron grip.
"Wait! Jason, please." Tim leaned back to his side of the table, grip still firm, cause Jason arm to pull taught and for him to lean forward slightly.
"I'm just surprised your the first one to ask." His grip grew stronger, fingernails beginning to dig in to the soft skin on the underside of Jason wrist. "Do you... Do you actually mean it, like 100%, for real, not a sick joke, mean that you want a soul bond?"
Jason reached his other hand across the table towards the one on his wrist. Slowly he pried of Tim's fingers and took his hand between his own two.
"Tim, I'm deadly serious, I would never joke about something like this and after every I've put you through over the years I felt I owed it to you to be the open to ask." He insisted, look straight into Tim eyes.
Tim, with his limited experience with positive emotionally heavy conversations, immediately burst into tears.
"Jason, I" sniffle, "I would" sniffle, "love to have a bond with you" extremely large and wet sniffle.
Jason let out a brief laugh before realising Tim's hand and reaching for some of the napkins in the takeout bag.
"Ok dude, but first blow you nose, cause you are making some exceptionally gross sounds right now and that is not the sound track I want to finish my burger to."
Tim responded with a wet laugh as he took the offered napkins and blew his nose.
Jason began on his burger again, appetite returning in full force. He suddenly let out a quick hum as he remembered something.
"Now that all that emotional junk is out of the way" Jason began, Tim rolled his eyes but waited of him to continue.
"You won't believe the new level manipulative, guilting tripping Bruce and Dick have reached trying to make sure I'm at Sunday brunches."
Tim picked up a stray fry, flicking it forcefully at Jason.
"I should have known the true reason you were here was to bitch, I'd heard that Roy has gone dark for a mission."
Jason batted the fry back into the table before putting on a overdramatic sad face.
"Your the only one can could ever understand my dearest Timmy. Yeah Roy gets the shits with Oliver but he still doesn't full grasp what it's like have a bond with the type of guy that's such a control freak he fucked off to the top of a mountain to train with Tibetan monks in how to stop his own heart through 'mental fortitude' or whatever." Jason explained, reaching for his drink, using a exaggerated Batman impression and air quotes for emphasis.
Tim grinned, holding up one of his hands like a hand puppet with his pointer and pinkie finger raised straight up, giving it the signature cowl ears. He instead put on a terrifyingly accurate Batman impression,
"Robin, the first step to controlling any situation is to be in control of your own body."
Jason snorted, putting his drink back down, coughing.
"You little shit, you were waiting for me to be drinking. But you get it, guy like that can send you a very specific and concentrate message through a bond."
Jason continued with his original rant,
"I missed like two brunches in a row, and now every time one is coming up the two of them are sending me constant 'hopeful' and 'miss you' in the days leading, even when I've already let them know I'm coming." He finished with a huff, then after a slight pause continued, this time more subdued.
"It's already enough that Alfred calls when if I don't respond to his little bond inquiry fast enough, no trust from the lot of em.
Tim gave him a small sympathetic look,
"Why'd you have to miss the last 2?"
"I had a really important deal to attend, could change a lot for the alley."
Tim's look then faded into a suspicious one.
"And you told them this, specifically, that you had an important deal that couldn't be missed?"
Jason diverted his eyes, staring just above Tim's head.
"I may or may not have just told them I had 'important crime to do'."
Tim let out a small huff of laughter and stared at Jason face, waiting for him to make eye contact again.
"You've had enough yelling matches with Bruce to know that trust is a two way street."
Jason lower his eyes, looking a little chagrined before a flash of annoyance took over his face, pointing at Tim.
"I don't want to hear anything from you, you haven't been to one since you left the manor. So spill, let me in on whatever unbeatable excuse your using; I'll even come help out at whatever it is if it's actually true. Or even better tell what special technique you use to ignore the constant bond tugs. I should be able to miss brunch without the two of them sending me up the wall."
Tim returned a confused look, taking his final bit of burger out of the wrapper and scrunching the paper up
"I don't do anything on Sundays but sleep in and watch shit reality TV, the others know this, Its the same this I tell them everytime they ask what I'm doing on a Sunday. You're welcome to join me but I'm not sure it's a good enough excuse to get you out of brunch."
Tim took his final bite and held up a finger, his other hand going for his drink.
"One: I'm not invited to brunch, haven't been since I moved out" He explained after chewing. He then held up a second finger and took a loud sip.
"Two: they're not bonded to me, so no bond tugs happening here" Tim finished, turn away from Jason to search through the takeaway bag for another napkin.
It was Jason turn to be shocked, his face then contorting in horror.
With a handful of fresh napkins Tim looked away from the bag, back and Jason, his hands slowly coming out of the bag.
"Jay, why are you making that face."
"When you said you were surprised I was the first to ask, you weren't talking about between the two of us, were you. You were talking about the bats, in general."