#ColorlessRobin

[blackroseaki38]

Coloring in the Lines

@badthingshappenbingo

Fandom: Tim Drake in Dc Universe

Trope: Loss of Sight (What kind of sight was not specified. So, I decided on the loss of sight, more specifically, loss of normal colored sight)

An: Crazy this idea even came to me. Was driving home from work. Suddenly, at a stop light. I saw the red light, thought of an anime cake with strawberries on top. BAM. Imagine the strawberry drained of color. Colorblind. I know that is not how it works. But, I liked this idea so I did it.

Tim wakes up when the ringing of his alarm clock would not go away, like the constant ache in his head. Half asleep, he dragged himself out of bed to brush his teeth.

He decided to wait on getting dressed after he had something to fill his empty stomach since he hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast the day before. He grabbed the first thing he could get his hands on in his fridge, which was the slice of cake Damian forced him to take after last night's battle. How someone could look so murderous giving a small piece of cake still baffled him.

He took off the container's cover and sat down on his couch to eat. Tim was still tired and drowsy until the first bite of the sweet dessert hit him. The cool cream against the bittersweet chocolate, along with some kind of fruit, was refreshing enough to get him to open his eyes and see what he is eating.

Tim's eyes opened to see a slice of dark brown chocolate cake topped off with fluffy white cream, with a juicy red strawberry sitting on top. Suddenly, the bright red color of the speckled fruit started to drip away, like crimson blood bleeding out of a deep wound until there was no more color left. Tim's eyes widened in shock as the strawberry became a drab grey blob.

Tim stood up, letting the tupperware fall to the ground in a gooey mess at his feet. He ignored the mess to rush to his restroom, tripping over nonexistent items in his way. Tim slammed the door open and saw a pile of discarded clothing lying on the ground. The boy realized it was his suit, though it was no longer the maroon red color it used to be, at least in Tim's eyes.

Tim closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. 'It can't be true,' he thought to himself. 'I can't be . . . broken.' He opened his eyes, hoping his fears were misguided. Instead of seeing his icy blue eyes, all he saw were a pair of monotonous grey eyes staring back at him.

Tim fell to the ground, devastated at the new development in his life. How could this have happened? He tried his best to remember what happened the night before.

He was able to start his regular patrol when Oracle informed him that Red Hood needed help. By the time he got there, Nightwing and Robin had barely joined the battle. Of course, Jason protested he didn't need any help, but the bullet wound in his arm spoke otherwise. Since Bruce was still at home on bed rest because of his cold, which he got from his impromptu dive in the Gotham harbor, it was only the four of them against the crowd of goons.

Luckily, they were able to defeat the group before call Gothom PD. Once they were able to leave, they said their goodbyes before going their own ways after a quick talk. Robin gave Tim the container of cake while Nightwing tried to keep the injured Hood in his grip to take him back to the Batcave because of his injury. With a quick reminder for tomorrow's family dinner, the trio was off to their destination. Tim was able to get back to his own home, though the kick he took to the head was bothering him. Since there was no blood or torn skin, he decided he didn't need to tell the others since it wasn't serious.

Now, Tim knew that was a mistake. He should have told Dick and maybe then, his eyesight might have been saved.

Tim knew the statistics and how tricky head injuries can be. A lot of head injuries end up with people blind or deaf. He was lucky he ended up with being colorblind instead of having some other kind of . . . issue. He was not going to call himself disabled, because he was more than capable of doing lots of things.

Tim turned to take a look at the uniform by his side. He gripped the material in his hands, wondering how he can be a hero with this issue. He didn't even know the extent of his colorblindness, but he knew he could still see a few colors from how he could still see the yellow walls of the small bathroom.

Tim knew he could tell Bruce and he would do everything in his hands to help him. Get him to a specialist or help him adjust to not seeing certain colors in the world. But, he had a feeling that Bruce would do anything possible to keep him safe, even from himself.

He would force him to move back into the manor and stop his work in Wayne Industries. He would take away the things that made him independent. He would take away . . . Red Robin. He would be taking away . . . his identity just like Dick did.

'No! I can't let anyone know about this or they . . . will take away who I really am. I need to learn how to adjust to being colorblind or else I can expect to be locked up in Wayne Manor for the rest of my life,' Tim decided.

He got up from the floor and went to get his phone from the living room. He winced as he saw the mess he left in his panic, so he quickly cleaned up before he did anything else. On his phone, he was able to find a good eye doctor to visit. He called and made an appointment for the next day. Tim was going to lay down for the rest of the day, to wait out his life until the appointment. But, a text on his phone reminded him of something or rather some event.

Hey, Tim! Just reminding you about the dinner with the family tonight!

Tim groaned as he read Dick's text. Alfred was very upset that the family had been unable to meet up for a family dinner in months. So, Dick decided to have at least one family dinner a month to make sure Alfred is happy . . . and he still makes everyone his delicious cookies. Tim was about to get up when his phone let out a small ding. He checked the notification and saw it was another text, this time from Jason.

Hey, Replacement! Dick asked me to get a cake for tonight, but I forgot. And there is no bakery nearby for me to get one from. Can you get the cake instead? I can make a quick mango custard, you know? Your favorite! I'll order one ahead of time for next month! Just this once!

Tim just found out he can't see certain colors anymore and now his brother was asking him to get a cake during this crisis. 'It's not his fault. He doesn't know about what's going on with me. I'll have to bring the cake, otherwise, there won't be a dessert. Besides, I do like mango custard,' he thought as he sent Jason a reply.

The next hour was spent getting dressed and trying to locate the closest bakery. Once he was ready, he left his home to go to the bakery where he decided to get the cake from.

As soon as he stepped out in the world, he was surprised by how different things looked. The sky was dark and stormy, but he wasn't sure if that was just the way he was seeing it or the weather. He tried to ignore the changes, but he wasn't able to completely. He stopped by the closest store to buy a pair of sunglasses, hoping it would make a difference. They made everything an even shade of grey, but it was better than seeing random pockets of greyish items instead. Once Tim had arrived at the bakery, he took off his glasses knowing it is unusual for people to wear them indoors. As he was doing so, he received another text, this time from a surprising source.

Drake, where are you? We expected you to come earlier. Grayson is getting worried about you since you have been ignoring his calls. Even Todd has arrived before you. Come to the manor before Todd decides to go find you.

Tim sighed, wishing this day would just end already. He sent a reply to Damian, telling him he'll be at the manor within the hour. With that issue out of the way, he started to talk to an employee behind the counter. She led him to a section to choose a cake from.

"These are the cakes that are ready to be picked up. We always have a few cancellations, but the cakes that are already made are placed here. Anyone can buy these cakes without waiting, though there is a limited selection to choose from," she explained as they arrived at a fridge.

Tim looked at the cakes, but none of them seem to catch his eye. Some were for other occasions and others were dull in color. Finally, he found a blue cake with greenish-gold and white stripes.

"I'll take that cake, ma'am,"

The lady looked hesitant as she took out the cake to box.

"Are you sure, sir? We weren't expecting anyone to buy this cake in particular,"

Tim knew not everyone likes the color pink since it is associated with being something girls would like, but he wasn’t going to be late getting to the manor because of the color pink.

"Yes, I'm sure. Can we hurry this along? I need to get going," Tim said as he checked the time on his phone.

As soon as the cake was packed, Tim was out the door and on his way to the manor. Once he arrived, Alfred took the cake box from him and corralled him into the living room. Inside the main sitting area, Dick was trying to get Damian to watch cartoons, Bruce was trying to stop Damian from hurting his brother, and Jason was laughing his head off on the ground.

Tim let out a sigh of relief. The regular chaos of their family was enough to distract everyone from paying attention to him. He slowly tried to leave when a voice called his name.

"Tim!"

Now that he was caught, Tim gave up trying to get away and turned around to greet the group. Bruce, the only one who probably noticed him entering the room, got up from his seat.

"I was getting worried when everyone, even Jason, got here before you. Was there some kind of problem?" Bruce asked cautiously.

'What can I say, Bruce. Everything's fine, except for the fake our family has learned to ignore our problems by following your example. It's not your fault that I tend to be invisible to even my own family. It's my fault. And the consequences were waking up and finding out I'm now colorblind.'

Of course, Tim couldn’t say his thoughts out loud. But, that would open up a can of emotions that he would never be prepared enough to handle.

"I'm fine, Bruce. I had to stop by a bakery to get the cake Jason was supposed to," he responded, making sure to loudly speak his last few lines.

Bruce shook his head with a smile and led the boy to the sofa. Tim was relieved that Bruce didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, though sensing someone is colorblind is out of the question even for Batman.

"I said I'll make sure to order a cake next time!" Jason yelled back.

"Actually, you should just make something like you did today, Jay! I always love your cooking, especially your baking!" Dick said, turning his attention away from Damian, who was clearly relieved he wasn't going to have to watch the treacherous pony show anymore.

"I've already told you, Dickhead. I don't have a good kitchen in the safehouse I'm currently living in. Can't exactly bake without the right tools," Jason countered.

"The dining table is prepared. Master Bruce and Young masters, you may take your seats now."

Everyone stood up and started going towards the dining room.

"Young master Jason?" Alfred called.

Jason stopped and turned to the butler.

"Yeah, Alfred?"

The older man smiled, his eyes twinkling as he looked at the young man in front of him.

"I wouldn't mind sharing the kitchen with you. Your welcome to bake whatever you want in my kitchen. I haven't had your delicious scones in so long."

Jason let a small smile grace his lips for a few seconds.

"I'll think about it. But, thanks for the offer, Alfie."

Once everyone was settled into the dining room, they started to dig in. Other than Alfred's amazing dishes, there were a few other dishes that were brought Dick had brought some sushi from his favorite Japanese restaurant since his cooking would most likely be toxic. Damian made a surprisingly good vegetarian stew, though Tim hoped he did not use his unsanitary daggers. Bruce tried to explain how he wanted to make gelatin, but something went wrong and he bought a tray of lasagna instead. Jason brought the promised mango custard and no one had any complaints about his dish.

Finally, after everyone had eaten and most of the dishes were put away, Alfred brought out the cake. Everyone leaned forward to take a look once Tim took apart the cardboard pink box. Once the cake was revealed, everyone looked at Tim confused.

"Uh, Tim? Not to be rude, but . . . " Dick drawled off.

"Why the fuck did you choose that cake?!" Jason asked bluntly.

"Young Master Jason! Language!" Alfred scolded.

"Sorry, Alfred," the young man replied with a blush on his face. He was not used to anyone 'parenting' him, but he knew better than to argue with Alfred.

"While I do not agree with Jason's choice of words, but I would like to know why you chose this design in particular," Bruce asked as well.

Tim was wondering what the big deal was when Damian spoke up.

"Drake, if I were you, I would have chosen a much superior cake," he started off.

Tim opened his mouth to respond when Damian held up his hand to stop him.

"But, I do like your design as well. The Union Jack is a much more sophisticated design than the American flag," he finished.

Suddenly, Tim made the connection. White Stripes. A cross and a giant X in the middle. Blueish background. 'Oh no! I brought a United Kingdom's flag cake! What can I do?! I can't exactly explain that I was in a rush and my new eye problems caused to mistakenly pick up this cake!' he thought to himself.

"Tim, are you okay?" Dick's worried voice shook the boy out of his thoughts.

"I bought this cake because of . . ." Tim knew he would be found out if he couldn't explain this away, then he saw Alfred standing behind Bruce and he knew what he had to do.

"ALFRED!"

Everyone looked at Alfred, who looked calm opposed to the rest of the family.

"Alfred, you asked Tim to bring a . . . Union Jack themed cake?" Bruce asked the man.

"Of course not, Master Bruce," the unmoved man answered.

"Replacement, can you please explain so we can eat dessert and I can leave?" Jason asked, tired at the conversation.

"What I mean is . . . I bought this cake because Alfred is . . . BRITISH! And I saw this cake, so I thought it would be a nice idea to make Alfred happy," Tim slowly explained.

"That's a nice thought, Tim. But, you do know we live in America, right?" Bruce asked, concerned about Tim's sudden lack of geology.

"Of course I know, Bruce!" Tim responded, gaining more confidence the more he spoke.

"Alfred does everything for us, so why can't we do something for him? Since he is sacrificing his birth land, we should at least appreciate the country that gave us the Alfred we know today," Tim ended his rant, not realizing when his explanation turned into an inspiring speech.

"Tim, I was starting to get concerned about you . . ." Dick started to say, his words worrying Tim.

" . . . but clearly, I was wrong! I'm with Tim! We should be thankful for Britain! We should appreciate where Alfred comes from!"

Tim was glad someone here believed his story.

"And we should definitely get U.K. flag tattoos!"

And now he wished Dick wasn't the first one to believe his story.

"Calm down, Dick. No one is getting any tattoos," Bruce tried to shut down that line of thought.

"Speak for yourself, old man! I already have two!" Jason bragged.

"If Todd had a tattoo, I need to have a better one!" Damian inserted himself into the conversation.

"As I said before, no one here is getting any more tattoos," Bruce said once more, with a pointed glare at Jason.

Alfred let out a small chuckle, catching everyone's attention. Everyone knew Alfred only laughed or chuckled in either the most heartwarming situations . . . or the most amusing.

"What's so funny, Alfred?" Dick asked, hoping the butler would spill the beans already.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that . . . this conversation feels so familiar to how it went between me and Master Bruce so many years ago," the man let out with another chuckle.

"Alfred . . . " Bruce tried to stop the conversation, knowing where this was going.

"Really? Bruce wanted a tattoo?!" Jason asked, with a familiar smirk on his face.

"Oh, yes. I told him he was too young to get his skin 'inked' as he used to say," Alfred continued.

"I assume Father listened to you," Damian guessed, trying not to look like he was not paying attention when he actually was.

"Then you would assume wrong," Alfred responded.

All the boys gasped at the thought of Bruce . . . disobeying Alfred. Bruce groaned, knowing what the man was going to say.

"You don't mean," Tim trailed off.

"Master Bruce got the tattoo he so dearly wanted against my wishes. Though he dearly regretted his decision when his tattoo got infected. And he was very much embarrassed when Leslie had to come in to take a look at his tattoo.

"Why was it embarrassing?" Tim asked.

"Most likely because of where his tattoo was located," Alfred informed them with a smile.

All the boys tried to hold in their laughter as they realize what Alfred meant while Bruce covered his face with his hands in shame.

"Alfred, did you have to tell them every detail?" he asked with a red face.

"Of course, Master Bruce. Besides, I did not tell them every single detail, though if you want me to . . ."

"No thank you, Alfred."

Alfred turned to Tim, as the laughter died down.

"Master Timothy, the others may have been surprised at your choice of design for the desert," he started off.

"I, on the other hand, appreciate your choice."

Tim smiled, thankful that Alfred not only saved his excuse from falling apart in pieces, but also helped distracted the rest of the family unknowingly.

Thankfully, Tim was able to get through the night without any more incidents. The cake turned out to be so delicious that no one had any complaints, but they were reminded of how Jason's cakes were even better. Since Tim and Damian were the only ones who have not tried his baking yet, they requested Jason bake a different country-themed cake every month. Though he venomously rejected the idea out loud, everyone secretly knew Jason would be talking with Alfred about new recipes and different ingredients right after dinner.

After they all helped with the cleaning up process, they all relocated to the living room. Dick tried to get everyone involved in a board game, which Damian tried to destroy in order to prevent that from ever happening. Bless his demonic heart!

Jason was still in the kitchen, not discussing the german chocolate cake he was not making for next month's family dinner. Bruce had snuck off to the cave, to work on another late-night case. In fact, it was time for Tim to leave as well. He had some cases of his own to work on before patrol tonight. Not to mention his upcoming appointment with the eye specialist tomorrow. His best chance of leaving was right now while both Alfred and Bruce were busy.

Tim got up from his seat on the couch and started to go towards his old room in the manor. The best way to escape this family was to make them think he was staying. Instead, he was planning on leaving through the window. The tree outside his room was always easy to scale downwards.

He opened his room, expecting to come into the room and have a quick escape. Instead, he found a certain big brother waiting for him.

Jason was sitting on his wooden desk chair. He lifted his head and his eyes met Tim's.

"Well, well. Look what the cat decided to drag in."

"Why are you in my room, Jason? "

"Your room? That’s not true anymore! You haven't slept over at the manor in months now. You only stay over at my place when your injured and the others don't want you to be alone. So, why are you here?" Jason was curious. It was always bad when he got like this. He doesn't give up until either he got an answer or he loses interest, which was unlikely to happen. Tim had to get him off his back before he got too invested.

"Same reason as you. To leave before Dick brings out the monopoly. The last time we tried playing that horrid game, Damian tried to stab me when I started to win." Tim was not making this up. He still has nightmares whenever Dick brought up having game nights again.

"Sure, that might be one reason why you're in such a hurry to leave. But, you've been acting strange all day. First, you were the last person to show up for the get-together today. Second, you brought a British themed cake and even you wouldn't be oblivious enough to get something like that. And last, you're trying to escape while everyone is distracted. You knew I would be in the kitchen talking with Alfred. Dick and Damian would argue, but also bond together in their weird ways of verbal fights. And Bruce would be trying to kill himself without sleep again. The usual. Usually, if you wanted to leave, you would try to leave with an excuse about being at Wayne Corp the next day. Alfred would take your side, knowing you need all the sleep you can get. You would proceed to go home and not sleep, working on some project all night instead. That is not what happened today. You tried leaving, without saying goodbye or anything. That is not normally how you do things. Something's up and I want to know about it. So, talk."

Jason may not be a good big brother, but he was a brother nonetheless. Bruce ignored the emotional problems he sees unless they interfere with their work. Dick loves to deal with emotional problems, but ever since Damian come on to the scene, Tim's had an easy time staying under the radar. Sure, the Demon kid needs a lot of help. But, is Jason and Alfred the only ones who can see how difficult of a time Tim is in right. He's the CEO of Wayne Corp at his age. His online classes keep him busy any time he's not at work. And being Red Robin takes up all his time during the night. When he actually sleeps, Jason doesn't know. Though he hopes to find out once he can worm his way into Tim's life, without letting him realize he has a heart. He had a reputation after all.

Tim didn't know what to do. Jason wasn't like the others. For some reason, he actually . . . liked him. Though he didn't know why, since he wasn't any more special then Damian or Dick, let alone Bruce. Recently, he reached out and now they both patrolled their areas together. In some ways, it made things easier since they got things done faster. In others, it made things difficult with Bruce. Luckily, Jason and Bruce were starting to get along more often or not. Which is one of the reasons Jason was even here today.

To be completely honest, Tim was not that afraid of telling Jason about his recent change in his eyesight. Unlike Bruce, Jason was more likely to let him continue doing things the way he wants. He was still used to hiding a lot of things from Bruce, even though they were on okay terms now. He just spent so much time hiding parts of himself away along with the things that have happened to him, that it was hard to turn off the switch in his head. Tim was sure he would encourage him to keep this all a secret then tell someone. Maybe he could tell him about this. He needed someone he could trust in his corner.

"Jason, I .... can't tell you. Here. Not right now. I'll talk to you on patrol tomorrow night. Can you just let me leave right now and I swear on my collection of coffee beans that I will tell you tomorrow."

The other looked at him with scrutinizing eyes, trying to figure out if this was some kind of trick or now. He finally saw what he wanted to see, because he stepped aside, leaving the window wide open for Tim to exit from.

Tim let his shoulders relax before he started towards the exit. He had one leg out the window, ready to scale the nearby tree down to leave. He turned back one last time at Jason and said one last word.

"Thanks."

As soon as Tim got home, all he could do was brush his teeth before he knocked out. He slept peacefully, letting himself forgot all about tomorrow and its incoming troubles. The impending eye doctor appointment. The unavoidable patrol confession scheduled with Jason. The secrets from Bruce and the others. None of that mattered at the moment. Right now, Tim let himself forgot about his color blindness as his dreams of rooftop tag continued.

To be continued ...... oR Is iT?