Celestial Bodies AU (5/?)
(Part one, part two, part three, part four. Also on AO3)
Robin sighed as he sat in the passenger seat beside Batman. Another night of patrol had ended semi-peacefully with thankfully no injuries, but Batman still didn't look happy. He was still in the process of accepting Robin as his partner again, and it tired him out trying to mediate and smooth sharp edges. Everything was just exhausting.
The both of them began turning into the cave, where Nightwing was already standing next to the computers when both Batman and Robin entered. He seemed to have just finished his own patrol, but was still in his uniform.
Robin paused when he saw him.
He looked angry.
That was what usually happened between Nightwing and Batman. The two of them fought like dogs and cats over Robin’s presence and training. When one suggested one thing, the other would argue like their lives depended on it.
(In a way, it did. Robin’s life depended on it.
… or at least, Robin’s life had depended on it.)
Sometimes, he understood why Nightwing was so angry.
If he was disobedient, he could get injured. He didn’t know how many times Nightwing had pushed that idea into his head.
(And although Tim wished he was, he was not Jason. That Robin would never come back, no matter how much Batman tried to pretend he did.)
Both Batman and Robin exited the car and Robin went straight towards Nightwing.
“Hey,” Nightwing called out, his grimace switching out to a small smile, just like a performer would, “how was patrol?”
“It’s been an easy night tonight,” Robin said, peeling off his mask to give Nightwing a smile. “How was yours?”
Nightwing gave a singular nod and then a shrug.
So probably nothing worth noting either.
Batman was silent, taking off his gloves and cape on the other side of the cave.
Robin studied Nightwing’s face.
He was a pretty boy through and through, with long hair in a mullet style and a light smile on his face that made him shine like the sun. To Robin, Nightwing was his goal and his idol. He wanted more than anything to show him that his decision to allow and help him become Robin was not a mistake.
He looked right back at Robin, his eyes considering.
“Nightwing,” Robin began carefully, “did you want to tell me something?”
There was a beat of silence.
Nightwing paused. Then he nodded slowly, “Actually, yes. I wanted to ask you if you wanted to meet the cluster.”
Robin's eyes widened.
The Phantom Cluster was an important part of the Justice League’s history and the survival of the planet. Every time something apocalyptic was about to occur, the King of the cluster would warn the Justice League. On occasion, they would also communicate with their hosts through dreams and visions, and prevent even more disasters.
The hosts of the Phantom clusters were only Robins. No matter how much any other hero tried to appeal to them, the stars only favored the wards under Batman.
Though they also seemed to like the younger heroes a lot, having no problem helping them. Tim had heard that Dick’s star had given his personal approval for Starfire and had actually watched out for the Teen Titans before.
The cluster had always loved the Robins.
(Nightwing had called his bonded star, "mine," and his star had responded back in kind. Jason's nickname for his own star was supposedly "Princess." She had called him "dearest" and from what Nightwing would say, their bond was very strong.
It made something inside of Tim ache.)
Essentially, this was possibly an invitation for Tim to get his own star, if it was true that the cluster bonded to all Robins.
Batman, however, whipped his head around and snarled. “Absolutely not! You are forbidden from seeing the cluster!”
Nightwing’s attitude immediately changed as well. He rolled his eyes and snapped, “Who are you to decide that? You don’t have a damn leg to stand on!”
Robin eyed him. He suddenly felt his heart twinge at the thought that it was his fault that he made them start arguing again. The two of them continued arguing and it wasn’t until Alfred came down into the cave that he spoke up.
“Okay, okay. It was just a suggestion. All of the previous Robins met the cluster, so what's the big deal?" He said, trying to defuse the situation.
“Yes,” Batman spat, “all of the previous Robins met the cluster, and one of them died.”
Robin winced.
“Don’t you dare blame them for Jason,” Nightwing snarled. “If I can’t blame you, you can’t blame them either. They lost a sibling too!”
Robin did not speak again as he thought about the situation.
He wanted to meet them. All of the files on the Batcomputer about the Phantom Cluster had him locked out. All he knew was that it was a cluster made of sentient stars and planets and two of them had chosen an individual Robin to keep as a “host”. When Jason had died, his star had died with him. Everything else were anecdotes from Dick, who clearly loved them and his star very much.
But in order to be Robin, he also needed to meet them. The cluster made deals with all of the previous Robins. Now that there was a new one, would things be easier if he also became a host with a star?
(And maybe, just maybe, Bruce will accept him if he had a star of his own too.)
Robin started to speak again, "I—"
“No. That cluster has been nothing but trouble. Robin, I forbid you to go!” Bruce roared.
Robin gulped and shivered. The pure rage in Batman’s tone suddenly made him worried for what he was going to do. Nightwing wrapped a protective arm around him and pulled him back.
“The Cluster has never hurt a Robin before.”
“He. Will. Not. Be going,” Batman growled.
Alfred coughed into a fist and everyone shut up and looked at him. Robin tried not to move but he couldn’t help but try to press closer to Nightwing.
"Master Bruce," Alfred said sternly, "may I speak with you?"
Bruce wilted and then trudged after the true patriarch of the Wayne family.
It was almost funny, but Robin was still tense as Nightwing glared at the retreating back of their mentor and guardian. Alfred turned slightly to wink at him, and he relaxed with a faint smile.
Robin stared at Nightwing.
"... Nightwing?" He asked carefully.
Nightwing softened further as he looked at him. "Yes, Tim?"
"... it's okay if I don't go, right?"
Nightwing's eyebrows immediately went up to his hairline. It was like he couldn't believe that he would not want to go see the cluster.
Robin grimaced. He corrected himself hurriedly, "I mean— I want to go, but—"
"Tim, it's okay. If you don't want to go, it's fine. But to be honest, I'd rather have you go at least once. The cluster... they've always been allies of us Robins. I'd like you to meet my star, at least."
Us Robins. That thought made Robin pause.
Nightwing always tried to be accommodating and gentle with him. The thought of disappointing him gave him determination.
Robin shook his head and said in a firm tone, "No, I want to go."
Nightwing grinned. "Let's go now, then."
Robin glanced back at where Alfred and Batman had left.
"Don't worry about him. I'll take care of it, okay? I'll say that I forced you or something. B is just a paranoid asshole."
Robin's lips twitched but he nodded quickly and followed Nightwing. The two of them entered the teleportation tube that was installed in the cave and then away they went.
When they landed in the space station, Nightwing immediately locked the doors so nobody would enter.
Robin eyed him. Nightwing gave an innocent smile back and said, "It's just in case he decides to come after us."
Robin didn't say a word as Nightwing lead them through the metal halls before they finally ended up in the main room, where windows covered all of the walls, revealing a beautiful starry world outside of the space shuttle.
Robin gasped as he stared out the window at the close stars and planets. They were so close that Robin could almost see the surface of each star move and shift. Thankfully, the tinted windows allowed them to look directly at them.
"Hello, my star," Nightwing breathed and the stars remained silent. Nightwing didn't seem angry, just sad as he pressed his forehead and left hand to the glass, sighing.
Beyond the glass, the stars inched around an empty space, where the Jason's star used to stay.
Robin bit his lip again.
Jason's death had not only hurt Batman and Gotham, but also the heavens.
He might not have known it, but he was so very loved.
Nightwing exhaled again and then stood up straight. He looked at Robin with a thin smile and beckoned him forward.
"Come on. They don't bite."
Robin came forward, eyes darting towards the stars with silent awe and reverence. The stars and planets glittered and shone with a brilliance that matched the Sun, and Robin couldn't help but stare at the sentient celestial objects that floated in the sky.
"They're beautiful, right?" Nightwing said, and it startled him out of his thoughts.
"Yeah. They are," he agreed, because if he said otherwise, it would've been a lie.
It was awe-inspiring (and a little bit terrifying) to see somethings so big and large that were benevolent enough to help them.
It made Robin feel smaller than ever.
Nightwing hummed.
The communicator crackled then, taking away the sound of ocean waves and faint TV static.
Nightwing whipped his head around and Robin followed, staring between the communicator and the window, where the stars lied in silence.
"Hello," a thousand voices called and a shiver ran down Robin's spine.
Like the chorus of angels, a symphony of voices, a choir of sirens, the voices were soft and gentle.
They sounded sad. Tired. Wane.
Robin felt like it was odd that he understood what they were feeling, but he said nothing as he looked at Nightwing's face, which was tinged with the same exhaustion in the stars' tones.
"Hello. This is..." Nightwing gestured to him, "Robin. I'd like to introduce you to him."
The sound of ocean waves again. Robin felt his stomach swoop and drop.
Had they rejected him?
He knew he wasn't Jason, but he had to do it. In order for Batman to be the best hero that he could be for Gotham's sake, he needed a Robin.
Nightwing placed a hand on his shoulder and Robin tried to breathe past the panic.
The voices came back and said, ".... we know."
A different voice differentiated itself from the rest. It was distinctly masculine and adult-sounding, unlike the androgynous and childish voices of the others.
"My Nightwing," the voice called softly and Nightwing beamed.
"My star," he returned the call with a nod and a smile.
Nightwing's star continued, "Our little sister wants to make a deal with Robin. If he wants."
Robin startled. "Who?"
Hope filled inside of him. He wasn’t rejected after all!
Nightwing chuckled. "The little sister of the cluster is the protostar. That one, right there."
He pointed outside, towards a small, bow-tie shaped cloud of dust and gas, all of it converging into one center. She spun and consumed nebula swiftly, but did not move otherwise.
"That's the little sister?" Robin tilted his head.
She was oddly... vulnerable. With the way the other stars and planets circled the point of their cluster, and the way they directed the nebula towards her, they were clearly very protective of her.
"Yep," Nightwing said, but he was quickly interrupted.
There was a crackle from the communicator and then an angry hum like that of a buzzing hornet. Robin flinched and looked at Nightwing, who suddenly burst out laughing.
"My star! Please, Robin isn't going to take her away!"
Another angry hum, though less loud and more indignant.
Robin blinked and then relaxed. His lips twitched and he asked, "Is your star jealous that I'm looking at her?"
"He's the most jealous star I know," Nightwing said, in a loud and teasing tone that was clearly meant to be heard by the stars. "Such a sis-con."
Robin snorted, suddenly feeling a little better. He looked at Nightwing, who now looked more relaxed and encouraging. "You can talk to them," he said. "I promise, they're nice."
Robin nodded firmly and stepped up the communicator. "Uhm. Hello," he said, then winced from the awkwardness.
Silence again, and then, a soft, "Hello, Robin."
The word “Robin” was said with so much unspoken affection that it made him flustered. He stuttered then, but as Nightwing looked at him encouragingly, he continued.
Robin took a deep breath and said slowly, "I'd like to make a deal with the protostar, if that's okay. I can't promise that I'll be a good host, but I promise that I'll be the best host I can be. I'll take care of her and Batman too."
Silence.
Robin glanced back at Nightwing, who was grinning widely and giving an enthusiastic double thumbs-up.
Robin turned back as the communicator crackled once more and then the stars said, "Okay."
One voice in particular, softer than the others and lighter, spoke up then. "Let's make a deal, Robin."
She sounded tired, like she was struggling to stay awake and Robin felt his tone softening as he spoke to her, "Okay. I'll make a deal with you. We'll protect each other, okay?"
The protostar said softly, "I'll protect you."
Robin knew that she purposefully did not mention how he would protect her. He knew it, and he felt like he should've said something to make it fair, but the reassurance that she would be there for him suddenly made him breathless. He felt like he was robbed of all oxygen as he stared at the sky and suddenly understood why Nightwing was so fiercely and deeply protective of the cluster, even against Bruce.
They were kind. So very kind despite being cursed children who had become stars.
"Okay," he said slowly, already feeling a deep affection for his star blooming in his chest, "okay."
He instinctively put his hand on the glass and a bright light, flashing and fast, shot out of the nebula cloud she was consuming and flew towards him. It struck the glass and hot warmth entered Robin's body and then into his side.
He paused, taking a deep breath to calm his heart from racing before he opened his tunic, already knowing where the fated mark was.
On his left side, around the area of his ribs, was a four pointed star, white and pastel yellows and blues slowly tattooing itself into his side.
He beamed. "Dick! Look!" He had accidentally called him by his civilian identity, but Nightwing didn't seem to care as he bound forward and then picked him up and twirled him around.
"You did it! You've got your own star!"
Robin beamed.
He was accepted as a Robin and got his very own star from the Phantom cluster!
He wished he could've heard them singing, like Nightwing used to talk about, or maybe made a deal with his star in happier circumstances, but this was nice too.
Nightwing was still cheering and celebrating, but Robin couldn't help but look out past the stars. His protostar spun in place a little, looking a little more cheerful and he smiled.
"Thank you, Robin," she whispered and Robin grinned.
"No, thank you.... partner." That seemed like a good nickname for her.
A beat of silence from her and then she said, in a slightly more upbeat tone, "You too, partner!"
"Pfftt— you're like a couple of cowboys," Nightwing muffled his laugh.
Robin rolled his eyes and shoved him lightly. "Shut up, Dick. You're the one with the creepy, "my star" thing."
Nightwing gasped and put a hand to his chest dramatically.
"Y'know what? You're grounded! I won't take this slander anymore!"
Robin laughed and as the tension bled out from previous days of mourning and grief, he almost wanted to believe that things would be okay again.
He looked out the sky, as Nightwing put him in a headlock, and watched the stars begin to move slowly, as if suddenly gaining the energy to do so.
He watched that empty hole in space be avoided and he thought of Jason again.
No matter what would happen, he would make him and the stars proud.
————
Bruce seemed resigned when he came back bonded. He didn't say anything and just went to his room. Usually, Tim would've been worried, but he wasn't too concerned since he was so excited about having a star for himself.
Dick gave him the codes to unlock the files on the Phantom Cluster and Tim dove right in without hesitation.
He researched everything he could about the cluster, from what they told the Justice League, from Dick's own secret files that he sent over into his computer, from astronomy websites, and he even hacked into NASA's database on stars and astronomical bodies.
Tim finally found another purpose besides being Robin.
He was his star's host.
Being a host for a star belonging to the Phantom Cluster meant many things. For one, their condition reflected on their stars.
If Robin was whole and healthy, so would his star. If he was sick or tired, it would show on his star too.
For another, being a host meant being protected and watched over by the stars.
Nightwing had mentioned before that sometimes, the stars gave them powers. Robin had a hypothesis that with each host being bonded to a star, the powers that they were able to gain grew stronger or increased, since he discovered new abilities that were not recorded since he was bonded to his own star.
A lot of it were minuscule, barely able to make a difference unless it was a split second thing, when Robin miraculously needed just a little push to solve a mystery, fight crime, evade a dangerous situation, or defeat a bad guy.
Nightwing had mentioned before that he had never had a bad landing after being bonded, and that he had a small immunity to heat and fire. He had also said that sometimes, bullets would mysteriously be unable to hit him, but this was a hit-or-miss thing (quite literally) and didn't always happen, so Robin still had to be able to dodge well.
In the reports, the previous Robin mentioned how he would occasionally get brief, sporadic dreams of the future. Every once in a while, he would sleepwalk, and as if possessed, wake up with a new plan, an unknown secret, or an important clue in the morning. After the previous Robin had gotten his star, Nightwing had supposedly gained the same ability on the occasion, and even Robin discovered that ability, which proved his hypothesis.
Robin himself, had odd bouts of good luck, often causing him to end fights or solve cases even faster than Batman could. At other times, the good luck manifested in things like finding an unusual number of heads-facing pennies that were printed in 1943, or finding lost items whenever he lost them. When Robin fell asleep, nightmares were scarce and he would sometimes feel a weight against his side, as if he was resting next to someone with their head on his shoulder.
(When he woke up, he would feel refreshed, but with a slightly melancholy and loneliness. He wondered if it was from his star.)
Robin wanted to be depended on. He wanted to be important and loved and cared for, and his star was everything he wanted.
For her, he wanted to improve.
He trained under several masters, he made enemies and friends, he joined other hero teams, and he even created his own team, the Young Justice. Bruce’s team grew too, with Cass and Stephanie and others joining them in order to help Gotham City.
Every day, he grew older and his star grew alongside him, an eternal beacon.
She spun and whirled like a hurricane, absorbing and eating nebula and growing stronger, almost converging into a sphere as if she was about to begin her transformation into a star.
And then everything changed when Jason's star came back.
————
Both he and Dick had been in the space shuttle when she had reappeared.
The black mass that used to be the quasar still remained, still and quiet, but the other stars seemed to have gain energy from her silent presence. They spun around her happily, as she loomed over them with her inky presence, bending light around her like a lightless black hole.
With her arrival, it meant that Jason had come back.
And with Jason’s return, so did the Batman’s interest in the stars.
“How do they know?” He growled, as they poured over information and audio logs of the interviews of the stars. “How do they know what happens? Did they know that Jason would die and come back?”
Nightwing glared at him, but said tersely, “I don’t know. From what we know, their ability to read the future comes from Clockwork. He visits them and tells them information.”
Robin lifted his eyes up from the paper, which had a picture of his star on it.
“We’ve never seen Clockwork before, have we? We don’t know much about him either.”
“He seems to be an authority figure or warden for the cluster. They speak highly of him, but are purposefully vague,” Nightwing mused, rubbing his chin in thought. “I think I remember my star mentioning once that Clockwork helped him with his past.”
“So… he’s probably also a parental figure,” Robin said, and Nightwing nodded thoughtfully.
Batman looked exhausted, his cowl pulled down off of his head as he bent over the table with an almost inaudible creak of his back and stared intensely at the papers.
Jason’s star had come back, but there were no traces of Jason except an empty grave. They had all been too late when arriving at his grave, only to be met with a coffin that had been broken in from the inside. Whatever had happened, Jason had dug himself out on his own.
Robin knew that it killed Nightwing and Batman inside to imagine the boy they considered as family carving himself out of his own coffin.
The two of them were almost inconsolable at first, but they quickly gathered themselves up again and started investigating.
The cluster was surprisingly unhelpful, not even answering Nightwing when he asked questions about Jason. The only thing his star had said was, “Be patient.”
It was such a hauntingly simple and frustrating answer, exactly like what one would expect coming from an all-powerful and all-knowing being that lived for an unknown amount of years stuck with a child’s mind. Nightwing and Robin did not begrudge them, knowing that they were also protecting the quasar's secrets and bond with the other Robin, but Batman could not say the same.
Of course, they didn’t let that hold them down.
For the first time, Robin had been able to hear the song of the stars.
It was gorgeous. It was still soft, like waking up from a deep sleep, and sometimes it cut off like a bad connection, but Nightwing had looked relieved at the sound of it.
“There’s still another voice missing,” Nightwing had said sadly, “Jason’s quasar— her voice isn’t in the song.”
It already sounded so nice, with the melodic voices of the stars and planets and Dick’s star singing along, so if the loss of one voice was making it incomplete, just how beautiful was the sound when they were all together?
For many reasons, Robin wanted to find Jason.
He was reluctant to continue being Robin for awhile, but Nightwing convinced him to stay.
Once Jason was back, he would give back the suit.
“There’s something we’re missing,” Batman said slowly. “We need to review the facts.”
Nightwing nodded and looked at Robin encouragingly.
Robin began, “Okay. So on XX, XX of this year, we discovered that Jason Todd was revived or in some capacity, alive due to his star returning. He… dug his way out of the coffin himself, but has disappeared for now. The cluster seems to be aware of his movements and location, but is not planning to tell us where or why. The question is, how did Jason come back to life? Where is he, and if he's not in Gotham, did someone take him?”
Nightwing sighed. “We don’t have a lot of information. It’s just a whole bunch of what-ifs and wheres.”
Batman was silent, brooding.
Robin thought some more and then asked, slowly, “Have we reviewed the footage of the cluster before? What if… what if Jason’s star didn’t come back at the time that we thought?”
Nightwing blinked. “What do you mean?”
Batman, however, nodded suddenly. “I think I see what you’re saying. We should review the footage. Nightwing, maybe the time you noticed the star coming back isn’t accurate.”
“What! But I had been coming there every day!” Nightwing said, but then paused. His eyes went wide, and then rushed to the computer.
Batman patted Robin on the shoulder, making warmth ooze in his chest. Batman said with a cold, but vaguely grateful expression, “Good job on the new lead, Robin.”
Robin beamed.
They rewound the camera footage of the cluster which were all kept in the files, since Dick liked rewatching them.
And just as Robin suspected, it was true.
The empty space where the quasar had sat before her demise had not been as empty as Nightwing had thought. For at least a few days before her return as a black star, she had been very small and only noticeable in how light slightly bent around her tiny shape.
She had been shadowed and covered by her siblings until her final reveal and Jason’s ultimate return.
Nightwing covered his face. He seemed to be struggling to find the words on what to say.
Eventually, he said, strangled, “I should’ve looked closer. If I had known, we would’ve found Jason sooner!”
Batman sighed. “Don’t beat yourself up.” Both Robin and Nightwing looked at him with surprise. He sighed again and said, “I am… aware that I‘ve been upset and hostile of the Phantom Cluster. But ultimately, you are still bonded with them and they still offer you some semblance of protection. I am... also grateful that they gave us a chance to know that Jason is back. At least we know now that Jason had dug himself out a few days earlier.”
The three of them looked at each other.
Jason was going to be found and brought back to them. No matter what.
A few months later, almost 6 months after Jason's return, the silent mass that was Jason’s star suddenly bloomed into a protostar, larger than Robin’s. She was a ginormous, funneling top of blue and red nebula, quickly consuming the stellar remnants in the galaxy.
“… what does this mean?” Nightwing muttered as he stared at the footage of her new form. The other stars were cheerfully circling around their sibling again, their song now joined in by their returned sister. “Is he back for real? Was he not back before? Does this mean that he wasn't himself or something?"
Robin was silent, listening to the song. True to Nightwing’s words, the song was beautiful and ethereal.
It was a heaven’s choir, a siren’s song, a mother’s lullaby. It was beautiful in all sorts of ways. The sound was cold and sent shivers down his spine but oddly enough, he welcomed it.
“Do you think he’s… mad?” Robin asked. He felt strangely serene as he listened to the song of the stars.
“… hm?”
“Do you think Jason is mad that I’m Robin and that’s why he’s not coming home?”
Nightwing stared at him with such horror and disbelief that Robin quickly backtracked.
“It’s fine. He’s going to come home,” his tone was firm, hiding his inner insecurities. “The stars foretell it.”
Time passed and Jason’s star remained as a protostar, his own star often twirling around her in happy circles. Both sisters were cute to look at, especially because one was so big and the other was so small. The two of them spun cheerfully around each other, being fed nebula by their family, and Robin watched it all.
Of course, while the stars were in stasis, he was not.
He continued his duties as Robin, made secrets between only Nightwing and the stars, helped others and lived on, even when his mom was killed and his dad was paralyzed and in a coma. He could not prevent it because he had not known.
It was a cruel, cruel fact that the heavens did not care for civilian lives when they were lost.
(The stars did not care much for anyone but the Robins. It was a thought both flattering and terrifying.)
When his dad found out about him being Robin, he was forced to quit. He handed his uniform to Stephanie to keep safe for him, and then he was… normal again.
His protostar seemed unhappy with the decision, but thankfully not with him, because when he climbed onto the roof of the Drake manor to talk to her, she responded back just as eagerly as always. However, she had stopped moving, a sign of either displeasure, discomfort, or something from the future.
“Do I come back to being Robin?” He remembered whispering to her one night, and her answering twinkle made his heart swell.
He liked feeling important, but he also never truly wanted it. The pain and suffering that came from being a hero truthfully scared him. It was only the thought of Batman and Nightwing, as well as his star, that kept him from quitting all together when he first found out that Jason was back.
But he could admit to himself that he liked the feeling of flying through the air, beating bad guys, and saving people. He liked the feeling of recognition and attention.
He didn’t mind not being a hero for a little while. At least he knew that he would come back in the future.
Soon, Stephanie donned the Robin uniform, and at first, Tim could admit that he had been worried. She was reckless and foolhardy, but she was a good person with a keen eye for puzzles and problem-solving. He wanted her to succeed and in order to do so, she needed to meet the cluster.
It had been him who introduced her to her own celestial object and he was also the one who taught her about the Phantom Cluster and their abilities.
The both of them bonded over endearing and anthropomorphic astronomical bodies and Tim was the one who taught her to be Robin too, since Batman seemed insistent on kicking her down. It was difficult to make plans while Tim’s dad was also adamant on driving Stephanie away, but they made it work.
It was a peaceful night, as Tim snuck onto his roof and Stephanie quickly followed with a picnic blanket that was spread over his house shingles. It had been years since the both of them first met and then began working together in the hero scene, boosting each other up with their stars by their side. Now they were good friends after dating for a while and then Tim breaking up with her due to his change in status from a vigilante to civilian.
As they were chatting under the moon, with a tablet holding footage of their respective celestial objects, everything changed.
The song of the stars had cut off slowly, grinding to a halt and making both of them pause in their conversation.
“Uh. They just stopped singing. What does that mean?” Stephanie asked nervously.
Tim stared at the tablet and reached over to bring it closer. “… sometimes it means that there’s something we need to know or something is happening. I wonder what’s going on.”
He knew that Dick was also mostly likely noticing something was up as well.
Both Stephanie and Tim stared at the tablet in silence, tension building as nothing happened yet. The stars and planets slowed down and Tim’s star even stopped spinning, motionless.
Tim’s eyes were drawn to Jason’s quasar-turned-protostar.
There was another beat of silence, and then the camera’s feed turned to white with a sudden screech.
Both of them flinched from the loud scream and then watched a supernova consume the vision of the camera. It took a while before the brightness lowered and the shrieking of metal stopped ringing through their ears.
“Oh my gosh! Look!” Stephanie shook Tim’s shoulder, but it was unnecessary because he couldn’t take his eyes off of the screen.
Jason’s quasar had turned into a frighteningly enormous star. Almost 20 times the size of Dick’s star, Jason’s star had turned into a star that was so blue, it was white. She floated in space for a moment, before she then began a slow cycle around the cluster, carefully avoiding the planets so they would not burn in her luminosity. The rest of the cluster paused, as if taking in the sight of her before following suit and then…
Song burst from the feed again.
“Whoa,” Stephanie said, in a hushed whisper, “it’s beautiful.”
Dick had once described his and his star’s growth into adulthood with new identities. He had said that his star went supernova and transformed from a black hole to a giant star.
He had mentioned how the song had changed, with the addition of a fully mature voice of an adult star.
It happened the same way this time too.
Jason’s star had a light and delicate voice, distinctly feminine and quite high. She provided a soft harmony to the song alongside Dick’s star, with the both of their adult voices enriching the sound of the other stars, who were still children.
Stephanie gave another soft sound of awe.
Tim was more focused on what this meant.
It had been four years since his death. Now that his star had changed, it meant that Jason had also changed his identity, like how Robin became Nightwing. Whatever had happened, Jason had now grown up into an adult. He had come into a new identity in the four years he had been gone, and now he had found himself and alongside with it, his star.
But a question still remained.
Where was he?
————
Tim bopped his head to the music as he bent over his desk. It was another night of peace as he stayed in his room to do his school assignments, while his dad and Danna went on another date.
He was finishing up the last of his homework when he heard the door opening in the faint distance. He took a reflex glimpse outside the window, where he saw a cloudy sky, and then poked his head out of his room.
"Dad! Are you home?"
Silence.
Tim immediately tensed. He patted his pockets for weapons but found nothing. He inched back into his room and picked up the bat that was by his door. When he finally left his room again, he tried to go for nonchalant as he called out, "Dad! Did you bring home the wings I asked for?"
He carefully made his way to the foyer. But before he could turn around the corner and look at who had entered his home, he was knocked back by a fist.
He cried out as pain bloomed on his face. He squinted through the tears, silently wondering how they could hit so hard before he swung the bat. It was stopped with a hand, but Tim maneuvered his body and then lunged forward to kick the assailant back.
He darted backwards to get some distance and stared.
It was a muscular man, all clad in leather and black kevlar with a red helmet on his head.
Tim catalogued his appearance and could not figure out who this person was.
The only person with this kind of memo was the Red Hood, which was an alias that the Joker used, but that couldn’t be possible.
"Who are you?" He snapped. "What are you looking for?"
"What? I'm looking for a who," the man hissed, his voice coming through as electronic. "I'm looking for a Robin."
Tim's stomach dropped.
He said slowly, "I think you're looking in the wrong house. Robin isn't here."
"I heard you quit, Timothy Drake. I heard you quit being Robin and gave it to some other kid. Do you think it's that easy? Do you think it's that easy to leave being Robin behind?"
Oh crap.
Tim scrambled away as the man then lunged at him. He swung the bat again and as the man blocked with a fist, Tim lashed out with another kick. The man grabbed him by the ankle with the other hand and then threw him to the side.
Tim choked on his breath as his back hit the wall, knocking down some picture panes and shattering them on the floor. His back was already starting to ache, but he didn't have time to worry about that when the man struck again, punching him in the stomach.
Tim gagged on the bile rising up his throat before he attacked back with a jab to the throat. He then kicked the man twice in quick succession, making him grunt, and darted up on his feet, dodging a hit from the man's fist again.
"Who are you?!" Tim cried out, his blood freezing in his veins at the thought of Bruce and Dick's secret being known to others.
Would this man reveal their identities? Take Tim as a hostage? Use him to blackmail Bruce?
The man laughed mechanically. He reached behind his head and unlocked the helmet with a faint hiss of air. Then he dropped the helmet onto the floor and brushed his hair back with bright green eyes and a wild smirk full of teeth like he wanted to tear Tim apart.
Tim's eyes widened.
If the familiar face shape didn't key him in, it was the four pointed star on his cheek, unmistakeable and alight with bloody orange and turquoise, that told him just who had came into his house with the intent of attacking him.
"No..." he whispered in disbelief, scrambling backwards again as his breath came out quick and panicked.
Jason had come back?
Jason was back!
If he hadn't just been beaten by him with his fists, he probably would've been happy. Now he was just extremely confused and frightened.
"Oh yes," Jason purred. He was fully grown now, well muscled and clearly trained by someone other than Batman for the last four years. "You're in luck, Robin. You're the first one I saw after being back in this hell hole."
Tim was mentally making a list of the things he needed to do.
Finally, he replied slowly, "But why? Why did you see me first? And where were you?"
"I was dead, obviously," Jason scoffed. “And I came here to ask you a few questions.”
“Okay, cool,” Tim said nervously. “Did you need to punch me to ask me questions?”
Jason didn’t answer, but instead, swung to punch him again. Tim yelped and rolled to dodge. He was barely back on his feet before Jason grabbed his hair and pulled him down, kneeing him in the stomach.
Tim coughed but also took that moment while he was bent over to drop and kick out his legs, knocking Jason off his feet.
Jason fell and Tim jumped over him to get away. He flew down the stairs and barely reached the entryway when he was pounced onto by Jason, who felt like a damn elephant as he pinned him onto the floor with his body weight.
They wrestled but Tim was so out of Jason’s weight class that it wasn’t even funny. Tim could feel the panic within him rising as he struggled and tried to get away from the previous Robin, a once beacon of hope and light for Gotham.
“You have it so easy,” Jason hissed, as he started wrestling him to the ground. “A dad, money, a good home. You never had to dig through trash for scraps. You never had to take care of your dying mom while you were starving yourself. You never had to fight for your life while being tortured!”
Tim kicked Jason in the stomach, allowing just enough space for him to throw back his elbow to his chin. Jason made a faint noise of pain, and punched him once more, but before it could escalate, the most intense feeling of nausea struck Tim.
For a moment, he wondered if he was going to throw up over the previously dead Robin’s hands, but when Jason also paused and moved away from him with a gasp, he realized that both of them were struck with the same condition.
Tim blinked rapidly as the both of them stared at each other in thinly veiled confusion and distrust. Jason suspiciously stared at him, and then looked up out the window that was placed over the door. As Tim blinked away the stars in his eyes, he was beginning to realize that it was not just stars in his vision, but also stars in the sky.
The night was now clear, allowing them both to see a patch of sky with two distinctive lights.
Both Robins, old and new, stared at the rapidly twinkling lights in the distance. There were two flashes, blinking over and over, as if trying to get their attention.
The two sat there in silence. Then Jason looked down at his wrist, which held a watch that was now projecting the image of his star. She was spinning and bursting with solar flares like crazy, enough that Jason gave a disbelieving, almost angry laugh.
"Okay, jeez, I get it, Princess. You want me to keep your sister's fucking host alive."
Tim exhaled in relief, casting his eyes over to the night sky, which held his star in the distance.
Thank the stars that she helped him.
He didn’t want to know what would happen if her and her sister couldn’t get their attention.
He silently mouthed, "Thanks, partner."
The sky twinkled noticeably one last time before it stopped.
Tim jolted when Jason suddenly bent down and started taking off his shirt.
“Excuse me?!” He shrieked, feeling the bruises ache as Jason started undressing him. He struggled weakly, but Jason was still pulling apart his clothes.
“Shut up. Where’s the damn mark?”
Just to spare himself the indignity, Tim pulled his t-shirt to present his side and snapped, “Here.”
Jason stared at the four pointed star, colored with baby blue and butter yellow, for a beat and then stood up in a huff.
Tim glared at him. He loved the Robins and he loved Batman, but that didn’t mean he was just going to forgive him for almost killing him!
"Where are your medical supplies?" Jason asked, looking around his room.
Tim grimaced and said, "The kitchen."
“Where?”
He eyed him with distrust. Jason put his hands on his hips and waited.
“…. In the left cabinet next to the stove.”
Jason went off to look for it, probably, and Tim slowly sat up, rubbing his shoulder that had been knocked against several surfaces this night, while he lifted his eyes to the window again.
His star was still there, faint due to her distance from Earth, but she was still just barely bright enough that he could find her through Gotham’s smog.
Thank the heavens for her and her sister.
Jason came back with a stomp and the emergency medical kit in his hands. He sat down next to Tim and raised a hand, palm up.
"Hand."
Tim gave it to him.
Jason opened the kit and then began to inspect, clean, and wrap up his wounds. Even for his back, Tim was asked to take off his shirt and Jason applied bruise gel all over it. Tim was tense at first, but eventually, he just kind of melted underneath Jason's hands and closed his eyes as he was taken care of by the previous Robin.
Sometimes he would ask Tim questions.
“So what do you call your star?”
“Partner. She calls me partner back too.”
“Ha! You’re like cowboys.”
“You sound like Dick.”
“Like hell I do!”
But Jason didn’t hurt him again. Tim was full-on relaxing by the end of it.
When Jason was finished, Tim was lightly dozing from the warmth of the numbing creams and the fact that it was a late night on a school day. The fact that he hadn’t been hugged or touched in a while certainly aided his sleepy haze too. Jason snorted at the sight of him and said, "Aren't you too trusting? I just beat you up."
Tim grumbled as he opened his eyes and uncurled from his position. "You're an asshole, y'know that? What was all of that even for?"
Jason sighed and said, "I changed. And... I guess… sorry. I wasn't in a right state of mind when I came here."
Tim twisted to look at him. Looking at him closer, Jason's eyes were still green, though noticeably less bright.
The shade of green was so familiar that Tim stared for a long time before he suddenly blurted out, "The league. You were with the League of Assassins!"
Jason narrowed his eyes. "I was."
"Was it Talia? Did she revive you? What happened?"
Jason looked exasperated but he nodded with a deliberately careless shrug. "I died, crawled out of my grave like a zombie, and then she picked me up. I went with her to the League and she threw me into the Lazarus Pits before training me. Now I’m here again to take back what’s mine.”
“Robin?” Tim blurted again. “I’ll give it back to you. I was going to— but someone needed to be Robin and my dad made me quit so I gave it to a friend and she became Robin for a little while, but I don’t think she’ll mind if you get it back.”
“Breathe,” Jason deadpanned, eyeing him with an unidentifiable emotion. “And I don’t care for it anymore.”
“You sure? You definitely cared about it 20 minutes ago,” drawled Tim.
Jason glared at him and Tim narrowed his eyes at him right back.
Eventually, Jason rolled his eyes and looked away. “Well, I stopped caring.” He pointed at Tim demandingly. “I don’t give a fuck what happens next, but if you tell anyone I’m here, I’ll break your damn face!”
“But why?”
Tim could understand that Jason was angry. Whatever had happened in the League had changed him for the worse, but there was still that familiar, charismatic, and caring boy inside, evident by Tim's carefully bandaged wounds (despite being the one to inflict them, but whatever). He could see that Jason was feeling vengeful too, but he didn't want Jason to be estranged from Dick or Bruce.
"I have plans," Jason said with a sneer. "Plans for Gotham that can't have B and Dick interfering."
"... are you trying to get revenge?"
"So what if I am? I died. Better yet, I was murdered. It doesn't matter what you think, I'll do what I need to do and because you're the host of my star's sister, I'll let you go this one time."
Tim thought of Bruce's brooding and endless self-blame at Jason's death. He thought of Dick's almost desperate attempts in training Tim and his neverending grief from the loss of a brother and the loss of a possible future knowing him. He thought of Alfred's silent sorrow, his eyes full of fear when Tim used to suit up in the Batcave. He thought of that period of time where Batman brutalized every criminal he came across, even the petty ones, turning Gotham into a city of rage and pain.
".... They all mourned for you," Tim said, not really knowing what outcome he was looking for by saying this,"B and Dick mourned for you. It was so bad that I had to force them to make me Robin because Batman needed him. Batman needed you."
Jason stared at him, his eyes flickering between greenish hues before he looked away, eyebrows furrowed.
“It doesn’t matter,” Jason snorted coldly. “They clearly didn't care enough if the Joker is still alive. I’m going to stay here and I’m going to kill the Joker. No one else avenged me, so I’ll just have to do it myself.”
The Joker?
Tim's breath hitched as he froze so badly that even Jason paused and raised an eyebrow at him.
Tim stared at Jason with wide eyes.
He could not help but look down slightly, at the four pointed star that covered Jason’s cheek, a mark of the heavens that bound him to a star.
Jason snarled, “What?!”
Tim said slowly, “The… The Joker’s not alive.”
When Jason’s tense posture and aggressive stance slackened into shock, Tim had to continue and say, “He died a while ago.”
Jason grabbed him by the shoulders, fingers digging into his skin as he roared, “Who did it?!”
Tim pursed his lips.
Jason could probably keep a secret, right? He didn’t believe that he would go and tell anyone, especially because….
“Nightwing did. And I helped him hide the body.”
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Check out my CB!Jason art here
Tim and Dani are partners!! Hooray!
I'm sure you can guess who Steph ends up with, hm? She’ll get her own story, dw.
Tbh, I wanted this to be a 3+1 thing with all of the other Robins bc I thought it'd be short, but then it became longer than I expected, so I just... continued writing.... 😶 I think I got too excited again.
I'm trying to write in chronological order, but the history of the Batfam is so ridiculous that idk if I can do that, but if I don't do that, I'll get confused myself, y'know? Someone please help.
The scene where Jason beats the shit out of Tim apparently comes after he reveals his identity to Bruce… so I’m going to switch it for it to make sense. He was also supposed to choke Tim in this fic, but then it got too dark… so I changed that too :9
“How come none of them could figure out that he was with the League?” They knew he was revived in the coffin, so no one thought of the Lazarus pits bc they didn’t think he was basically a zombie (suspend your disbelief, please!). Also, more info on Jazz will be in the fic with Jason’s return.
Tim was originally supposed to go with Tucker, but then I thought about it and I changed it because 1) like Dick and Jason, his star is sort of the opposite of their personality, 2) I don’t see how they’ll encourage each other to grow, 3) a secret third thing
A deeper explanation of reason 2 is on AO3.
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