Chapter Text
It was getting dark and Barbara informed him that there was a potential breakout from Blackgate prison and he didn't trust Stephanie to handle something like that alone without anyone on standby. Had he left Alfred at home or not had Clark collecting Dick, it might have been all right, but Barbara was still in the early days of regaining partial mobility and he wasn't on good terms with Batwoman or Cat Woman right now to have them be backup for his newest Robin. This getting mentioned in Tim's presence was the only time he saw that mask of indifference slip a little and it was when he mentioned the boy’s ex-girlfriend possibly having to handle black mask on her own and that was for him to tell them to go home and keep her safe that he had half the Justice League helping out already and she had nobody to watch her back.
She needed somebody there quickly, so he would just have Alfred drop him off near the zeta beam site and then make his own way back to Gotham in the car. There would probably be some rumors that he and Tim weren't on good terms, but Stephanie’s well-being was more important than some gossip between people who didn't really understand how his family worked. It didn't matter that he wanted to stay and help with the search, he couldn't deny that he would be more useful watching out for Cluemaster’s daughter back home in New Jersey and Alfred should be able to catch up with him in 2 to 3 hours if he took I-76 to the Gotham City expressway, so he wouldn't be alone with mixed guilt for long.
At first, he was confused about what was taking Alfred so long to bring the car around before his phone lit up with text messages. Apparently the child had managed to get into his car, curl up in the blanket that usually resided there, and cried himself to sleep if the tear stains were any indication. Flash took the child back to the apartment and called off Superman so Dick could actually get sleep after his last mission. Alfred wasn't sure how the boy had gotten in without any signs of jimmying or anything on the doors, but there was enough dried tears and snot on usual blanket to prove he had been there the whole time. Apparently the lack of marks, the dark tint on the windows, and the lead lining had managed to stump three speedsters, two kryptonians, and local police.
Relieved that he wasn't abandoning Tim in his time of need, he arrived at the cave and immediately went to work. The escapees from Blackgate turned out to be Arthur Brown himself along with Roman Sionis, Otis Flannegan, and and three of Falcone’s devoted lieutenants, which made the trip feel much more necessary since he couldn't very well send that girl to fight her own father after what he had put her and her mother through. He had almost benched her for the night, but changed his mind and sent her after Ratcatcher in the sewers so she didn't have to even see the man on the monitors down in the batcave.
He was exhausted, but he and Alfred zetaed back to Fawcett and met with Tim at the Drake-Batson apartment as the police were leaving. Despite wanting nothing more than to hug the teenager, Bruce made a point of avoiding the officers so no one would see him heading inside, since he was currently supposed to be in Gotham instead of Fawcett. His youngest seemed very surprised when he pulled him into a tight hug as soon as the window closed behind him.
He never made it to the kitchen to meet the child who had been missing for hours, because Tim absolutely melted into the embrace and he wasn't pulling back until his kid did. Billy was hiding his face in the faded Gotham Knights hoodie from Tim’s closet, which had come from Dick, who had stolen that from Bruce years ago. The way he guarded his food as he practically inhaled it, reminded Bruce painfully of Jason in those early days and he realized that Tim had still been trying to protect him from heartache even after all of these years.
All four of them were exhausted, so after the twelve year old finished eating and placed his dishes in the dishwasher, everyone settled down for the night. Alfred was given Billy's bed, Bruce was with Tim in his own room, and the boy had already climbed into a nest he had built in Tim’s closet. It was strange that a child that had slept the night before and half the day was already too tired to stay up to snoop on the people who had invaded his home, but then again, he had cried enough to leave fairly large salt marks on the wool blanket from the car, so it might have been emotional exhaustion More than physical.
In the morning, he woke up shortly after Alfred started cooking breakfast and was met by the piercing blue eyes of a child that looked nearly identical to how Tim had been when he first met him upon entering the living room. Billy wasn't as fineboned as his older brother, likely due to factors from maternal lines but otherwise the resemblance was uncanny. Like with Jason, Billy's eyes seemed too old to belong to a child that young, but it was from the same reason which was living on the streets for too long taking care of themselves and seeing things no one their age should have witnessed. He was also attempting to hide the fact that he was snacking on cereal before breakfast.
“Hello.”
“You aren't gonna rat me out are you? The guy in the kitchen look like he was about to burst a blood vessel when I mentioned just having cereal for breakfast.”
“Only if you don't share.”
“Deal.”
The vigilante then watched the boy eye the kitchen as he slowly revealed an open box of something that looked like Cheerios, but with a bear mascot instead of a bee, from under the coffee table and offered it in a way that wasn't visible to Alfred. He couldn't help but give the boy a small smile as he took a handful and began eating them one at a time making sure to moisten them enough that they didn't crunch as he chewed them. The box vanished again and Bruce never saw the food being consumed, but he definitely saw him swallowing it when he was done.
When Alfred came to tell them food was done, he narrowed his eyes at the pair of them, clearly knowing that they had eaten something that he hadn't prepared, but there was no proof of the fact. Unlike his own children, Billy hadn't learned to fear the man’s eyebrows yet, so when one went up, so did the boy’s, along with a head tilt. The narrowed eyes almost had Bruce shifting from discomfort, but not this child, he leaned forward and asked a silent question, asking if the food was ready with a look and a head jerk. It was actually impressive.
“If one of you could set the table and the other rouse Master Tim, the food is ready.”
“But he is so hard to wake up! He has like eight alarms and he still barely gets up in time for his meetings, let alone food!”
“Here, let me show you a trick.”
Instead of heading to the bedroom, Bruce led the boy into the kitchen and as soon as he saw where the mugs were kept, he poured a small amount of coffee into it and then turned to Billy.
“Put it close enough that he smells it, but don't let him drink it. Once his hands are wrapped around it just pull him along until he's in the kitchen.”
The child looked skeptical, but headed to get his brother up. The look of awe on Billy's face made Bruce feel pleased with himself when the boys entered the kitchen. The child even got his brother to sit down before releasing the cup.
“What kind of sorcery is this? Is there some kind of potion in that cup?”
“Just plain black coffee. Took nearly half a year to figure it out. He hates the taste, preferring energy drinks, but it will get him out of the bed.”
“Huh. That explains some stuff.”
“Ugh.. this is so nasty…”
“Welcome back.”
“Why are we up this early? Did we have a meeting this morning? What day is it? Thursday?”
“It is currently Wednesday morning, Master Timothy.”
“Wednesday… Wednesday… I don't remember anything that has to be done in person versus virtually?”
“I have an in-person meeting back in Gotham before lunch and I wanted to spend a little bit of time with you before I had to leave?”
“You opened up like this yesterday too. It's suspicious.”
“You are an idiot. Keep talking like that and you'll train him to never do it again. Eat so Mr Eyebrows can stop judging me.”
“You wouldn't judge a child, would you Alfred?”
“You heard Master William, your food is getting cold.”
“Yes sir.”
“Agreed.”
“Should I be scared of him? You two seem scared of him...”
“Let's just say in Gotham, we once saw him bossing around Batman.”
Bruce could tell that that thought utterly terrified the child and it was sadly justified. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried not to groan. That was going to turn out great.
⚡🦆⚡🦆⚡🦆
Waking up to sudden movement followed by being cuddled tightly was not the worst way to wake up, but definitely a confusing one. Apparently the arms wrapped around him was his brother? Hadn't they just had a fight? Why was he shaking so badly?
“Do you know- no, sorry. I'm glad you are okay. I don't know how you got in that car, but I'm glad you were there and not kidnapped by somebody.”
Billy rubbed his eyes and yawned, still half asleep.
“What time is it?”
“6:42, you have been missing since a little after 1:00.”
That woke him up better than an ice bath. He had gone missing for nearly 6 hours because he had stormed off and climbed into a strangers vehicle, which had been very stupid now that he wasn't feeling as hurt by being lied to and feeling like he ruined the life Tim used to have, where he had friends.
“I didn't mean to scare you… I just wanted to be alone for a while… I didn't mean to fall asleep. I'm sorry…”
The arms around him tightened and the measured breathing started. Billy felt like a monster. Tim's anxiety was usually manageable, but a scare from someone in his office, his and Billy's fight, and then panic of not being able to find him for a large part of the day, Tim needed this hug more than the person being hugged, so it was returned in kind.
Eventually, he retracted and squirmed a little, not really wanting to upset Tim, but he was really struggling to control his bladder. He got another apology as he was released, but it was clear that he was reluctant to let Billy out of his sight. He didn't want to make it hard on his brother, he tried to make the trip quick, which made him think about how he got home.
With that in mind, he reached into a pocket dimension and pulled out his League communicator only to see that he had been left multiple messages. He might have stood there for a little too long rereading everything, but his brain couldn't quite wrap around it. It made a few things make sense, but left him with just as many questions.
Bruce Wayne, Tim's former foster dad had been at the office and part of the reason Tim had to come in for the meeting, was the main donor for the Justice League and very concerned about his former ward’s half brother who was missing in the city and requested assistance in the search since he, the local police, nor Batman could get a hold of Captain Marvel. He had messages from each of the speedsters apologizing for coming into his City without permission, but stating they were only there to look for William Batson. There was also a message about Mr Wayne having to leave after calling in the superheroes to assist the police department in the search, which felt a little cold to Billy, but then learned that the man leaving, after seven and a half hours of searching, was how he was found at all because he had been in the back of his brother's former foster dad's car before Flash brought him home in the blanket, still asleep, according to Barry.
It kind of explained how Tim and Bart knew each other. He wasn't sure if it was a protection detail turned friend situation or if they had been intentionally placed near each other in hopes that a friendship would occur so that he could be protected as the child of the person paying for them to have a space station circling the planet, but it explained Impulse knowing his brother and the two of them being friends. It could very well be that his brother didn't want to be constantly watched anymore now that he was no longer tied to Mr Wayne and that's why he hadn't really been talking with his friends anymore, especially since there was no way Tim hadn't figured out that he had a pseudo-bodyguard as a good friend.
It didn't explain why his usually hands off brother was being incredibly touchy. Was he missing something? Probably. He had already spent too long over the toilet and if he didn't at least flush, Tim would think he fell in or ran off again.
When he came out, his brother was on the couch staring at the blanket Billy had arrived in, with tears in his eyes. As he got closer, he noticed the dried tear stains on the monogrammed edge. He wasn't sure who JPTW was, but he felt like he owed them an apology when he saw he had left slug trails of snot on it too. That was gross and he wasn't even sure it would come out in the wash since colored boogers hadn't when he was forced to do everyone's laundry at one of his former foster homes. Still, that didn't explain Tim's tears.
He sat there, not quite touching his brother, who was completely lost in thought or maybe memories. They stayed like that for well over an hour before Billy was too freaked out not to interrupt it. It really wasn't like his brother at all, or at least what he knew of him.
“Tim?”
His brother tried to blink away the water and redness before turning to face him. The smile he got was weak and sad. It made the champion of magic’s heart sink, which was probably easy to see.
“Sorry, Billy. I'm not in a great headspace. Oh, Janice made a casserole out of the stuff she found in the fridge and cabinets. She was here while I was talking with the police and everything. You should probably eat after the police clear everything up.”
“You're going to eat too, right?”
“You're still growing. You need to eat more than -”
“No. You are still growing too. Men don't usually stop gaining height until they are like thirty and you are sixteen, so if you aren't eating, neither am I. You first so you don't back out after I eat.”
“Bil-”
“I used to live on the streets. I can go days, so you better eat if you don't want me to starve.”
“Fine.”
Thankfully, all the police needed was a quick call to come over and only need to know how he had ended up in the car on his own. They tried to get him to admit how he got in, mostly which technique he used, but he was definitely keeping it to himself that he used magic to get in. The benefit was that he now had people thinking he was skilled enough at breaking into a car, a fancy one at that, that he could do so without leaving a trace at the age of 12 while being upset, even if those looks of being impressed were coming from police officers who really shouldn't be encouraging that kind of behavior. A few hair ruffles that made him pull the hood up over his greasy hair so they couldn't do that anymore, and eventually the cops left and he was told to shower while Tim heated the food.
It took a while, but he finally felt clean, then he had to out stubborn his legal guardian until he actually ate any of the food. Billy wasn't sure if Tim took medication for his anxiety or the other stuff going on with him, but he did know from League training that certain people had no appetite from stress and pharmaceuticals, but he hadn't thought any of that applied to his brother until he had to watch him force down a single serving of enchiladas, not actually a casserole as previously stated, that smelled amazing. He was actually afraid he was going to be the reason someone ended up puking, but once it was down everything seemed better.
He was in middle of his own, extra large serving when there was a knock on the door. Since the cops had left a while ago and it was actually late, like nearly midnight late, he was instantly on alert. Instead of tensing up like he had that morning while Billy was under that desk, Tim relaxed and practically ran for the door.
He knew who they were from pictures, in newspapers, magazines, the internet, and his brother’s photography: Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth. The old guy came into the kitchen with a judging look while Billy shoveled the rest of his meal into his mouth and Wayne opened his arms and Tim fell into them, almost going boneless. The mustache guy was not to be trusted if he was going to act like that without even saying hi to the person whose apartment it was, but greeting with a hug and obvious care made Bruce Wayne a good guy in Billy's books, even if he had tried leaving before a missing kid was found.
Packing up the leftovers and putting his dishes away with multiple eyes on him the entire time was not fun, even if it was his fault for vanishing, but it wasn't exactly comfortable. It was like being judged by Batman, which was not something he was used to outside of being Captain Marvel. He was so tired that he didn't care who was going to be sleeping where, so he crawled into his cocoon and was asleep before he could check that Tawky Tawny was going to check on Tim to help with the nightmares.
He woke up to the starting sounds of one of those bad dreams when they stopped suddenly. Glancing around, the distinguished tiger was still with him, so what stopped it this time? The answer was, apparently, Mr Wayne, who had Tim in a side hug and running fingers through his hair while both of them were seemingly still asleep. He thought it was weird, but his friend said it was pretty normal for a parent and child, so he reluctantly went back to sleep.
When he woke up again, the sky outside Tim's mostly closed curtains was starting to brighten, so it was still early. This was why when he came out of the room, he was a little surprised to find out he had been beaten to the kitchen by the old butler guy, who was checking all of the cabinets to see what was in them. They locked eyes for a moment before Billy decided it was too early for this and asked the man to pass him some cereal since he had the cabinet open. He hadn't been expecting the affronted reaction and the subsequent throbbing blood vessel on the side of the man's head. Apparently he wasn't allowed to have cereal when Alfred Pennyworth was in the apartment because he was shooed out into the living room while “actual food” was being made.
It was still early, so Billy was just going to find something to entertain himself with, but he had no clue where his laptop and phone had ended up, he wasn't going to turn on the TV, and he had already read through everything they had borrowed from the library, so he ended up portaling a box the oat and honey tiny donut cereal from the cabinet and munching on those while he waited to be able to go into the kitchen again. Of course, since he was watching the kitchen he completely missed when an adult snuck up behind him.
He really hadn't expected the guy to basically ask him for some of the only healthy cereal he had been able to find in the store as payment for not telling Mr Pennyworth. After handing over the box briefly and grabbing a fistful himself, he portaled the box back where it belonged and ate them as silently as Mr Wayne. It was nice until the person they were hiding their eating from came over and nearly made one of the richest men in the world cower.
For a moment, he was concerned about the odd power dynamic between the two, but then he remembered that this was the man who raised Bruce Wayne after his parents were murdered in front of him, then he was worried about possible abuse. Batman and Tim would have noticed if that was a thing right? Constantine was British and scary despite actually being a good guy, so maybe that was what was going on here and Billy hadn't understood the guy yet.
He might have pushed things a little, but by the time he was taught how to lure Tim out of bed, he was already seeing the softer looks in the man’s eyes. He wasn't the person receiving those glances, but that could be because he broke into Mr Pennyworth’s car, scared the people the man cared about, and was the reason the guy's grandson who wasn't his grandson had been mad at him yesterday. That was an interesting thing to learn, especially on the heels of knowing that this man had bossed around Batman before.
“I'm sorry about what I said to you yesterday, Alfred. I was upset and took it out on you. I never should have blamed you before not seeing Billy run past you. We had at least four superheroes out here and you were the one who ended up finding him, so I need to thank you for that.”
“My dear boy, I understood all of that. You have nothing to apologize for. I blamed myself for not having seen your charge race past my location and was relieved to find him safe and secure in Master Jason’s blanket.”
“Still helping me even when he's gone…”
If he felt bad about the snot and tears all over that blanket before, he definitely felt bad after he found out it used to belong to Me Wayne’s dead son. If Billy remembered correctly, Tim was only a little bit older than that kid ever got to be.
Still, Billy wouldn't mind getting to know these people. Tim deserved to have his friends and found family around and Billy wouldn't mind having another older brother. It didn't really matter if Alfred Pennyworth was probably the scariest person on the planet, not if he would be able to get hugs like the ones he had been told that Dick Grayson gave.