#especially when caught up in the whirlwind that is Tim Drake

[mistergreatbones]

Tim thinks the reason Dick is so insistent on always being there whenever the brothers hang out is to keep Damian and Jason from ganging up on him when in reality it’s to keep so Dick can keep the focus on him so Duke and Tim don’t start making small talk and accidentally take over the world as an experiment

[night-fallz]

It's getting better . . . right?

A (very) brief look into how Damian’s life with the League was.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ao3 // Wattpad

previous II next

I'm confused (Part 3)

Damian wanted to spend the whole afternoon in the shower. He wanted to forget everything.

He needed a break.

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions for him. Everything was so confusing.

It was too much.

Although his brothers were becoming more tolerant towards him. It still felt forced.

And to make it worse, things were only getting worse at school.

Today was a good example of that.

His peers usually ridiculed him in private. Somewhere they couldn’t get caught.

They’ve never mocked him in such a public space before. Especially not a public space where adults could return at any time.

It was different.

Damian hates how he allows his mind to wonder how the outcome might’ve been different. If the librarian walked in on what they were doing to Damian, would she have tried to stop it?

Or would she just turn a blind eye?

He hoped that it wasn’t the latter. The librarian was one of the only adults in the facility that Damian could somewhat tolerate.

Out of nowhere, he felt the water become hotter and cursed.

It felt like he was back in the League and they were throwing lava at him again. He was supposed to learn two lessons during that exercise.

One: Learn how to withstand the heat.

If Damian could survive being pelted with lava, he could survive or at least tolerate any high temperature.

And if he got gravely injured or didn’t survive during the lesson? Well, there’s a reason that they had the Lazarus pit.

Any burns or scars that Damian had would dissolve. As if they never existed. It was the one thing he liked about the pit.

Without it, Damian’s whole body would be littered with scars. From the intense training sessions, he’s gone through to the punishments that he has suffered from. Scars were something that he was accustomed to.

Two: Learn how to dodge

If he didn’t want his skin to burnt because of the lava, then he better evade the numerous attacks. It didn’t matter if Damian got hit: there was a sequence on how they launched it. And they wouldn’t stop until all the gallons of lava were empty.

All the injuries that Damian received during that training session might’ve brought him a lot of pain, but it worked.

In the end, Damian believes that the torment that he had gone through was worth it because he had acquired something from it.

He could only hope that it would be the same here.

—————————————————————

Getting out of the shower was harder than Damian thought it would be. He had quickly gotten used to the boiling drops that crashed onto his skin and instantly accepted the pain.

He deserved it after all.

After a few minutes of staring at his sunken reflection, he forced himself to go back to his room.

He didn’t expect to see his siblings lounging around like they owned the place.

Damian hesitated, not knowing what to do.

“Do you guys require my assistance?”

All three heads immediately turned towards him and Grayson’s smile brightened.

“Hey baby-bat.” he greeted, “Any plans today?”

Why do they keep asking that? What do they want from me?

Damian slowly nodded, “Actually,” he lied. “I do.”

The dark-headed trio glanced at each other and Todd raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure?”

No

“Yes.”

He wants to stay home.

“So you aren’t lying?”

He is.

Damian forced a scowl on his face, “No, I’m not.”

The older bat kept pushing, “Are you positive?”

Damian kept a straight face, trying not to let his annoyance show. “Definitely,” he walked forward avoiding the spots where his brothers resided, and crossed his arms. “You guys can leave now.”

Drake walked towards him and Damian had to force himself not to flinch.

Please don’t punish me. I didn’t do anything wrong.

“So you wouldn’t mind telling us what your plans are?”

Damian raised an eyebrow, “I don’t need to tell you anything. It’s none of your business.”

Why can’t they just leave me alone?

“We just want to get to know you better, baby-bat.” Grayson gently assured. “You’ve been here for around a year and we barely know you.”

Damian tutted, “And who’s fault is that exactly?”

His. It was his fault.

Damian knew that it was his fault that no one wanted to get to know him. He was the unwanted one. The one no one expected.

He was an Al Ghul.

A murderer.

He has so much blood in between his fingers and he hasn’t even reached the age of eighteen.

Drake scoffed, “You didn’t exactly make it easy for us to get to know you.”

Of course, he’s right. Drake is always right.

“And am I supposed to care about that?” Damian retorted, “I don’t need plebeians like you to understand me. People like you aren’t-”

“Damian.” Grayson’s stern voice cut through the room like a whip. “Enough.”

“But he was- I didn’t-“ Damian’s voice sounded pitiful in his ears. “Drake was the one who started it.”

The teen scowled at him, narrowing his eyes at Damian. “Why am I not surprised that you’re shifting the blame to me?”

“I’m not shifting the blame towards anyone!” Damian screamed in frustration, trying to get his brothers to understand. “I'm telling the truth!”

The emotions that trashed inside of him for weeks have finally begun to still. As if even they’ve grown tired of trying to figure everything out.

Nothing made sense anymore.

One moment, his brother would act like how his mother would describe a family. Caring, loyal, and loving.

Then the next, they would remind Damian of how the League treated him. Cold, worthless, and unworthy.

Weren’t they supposed to be the good guys?

“What’s going on here?”

Damian turned and saw his father’s muscular frame towering over the door. The tone of his voice was calm, but Damian could see how his blue eyes seemed to rage, demanding for answers.

Damian forced his face to become neutral as he tried to explain the situation. “Father, I was ju-”

“You know, the usual.” Drake interrupted him, “The demon child acting like a brat, throwing his weight around like he owns the place.”

“I was not-”

“Damian.” his father’s voice was coated in the familiar intonation that Damian could never recognize. Was it disgust? Annoyance? Anger? A mix of all? “We’ve talked about this.”

No, they haven’t.

His father barely acknowledged Damian unless he was reporting a mission, or if he did something wrong. Sadly, it was mostly the latter.

If it wasn’t for all the training that Damian’s received, he would’ve flinched from the way his father looked at him. His gaze was filled with disgust. As if Damian was nothing but a piece of gum stuck in his shoe that he couldn’t remove.

As if he was a burden.

But isn’t that what he was?

His father gave him a final glance, “I’m benching you from being Robin until we get this attitude of yours under control.”

He heard someone mutter an “If that’s even possible.”

When Damian heard his father’s footsteps become inaudible, he forced his head up.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Grayson dragging Drake out of Damian’s room. When their eyes met, the oldest Wayne only sighed before shaking his head at Damian.

He knew Grayson well enough to know what his I-am-very-disappointed-in-you looked like.

“You should apologize.”

“What?”

“Apologize,” Todd slowly repeated, as if he was talking to a child. “You should apologize to Tim.”

“Why would I need to apologize for something that wasn’t my fault.”

Todd shut his eyes and clenched his fists before walking past Damian, muttering to himself.

“I knew we shouldn’t-”

“-bothered to try.”

“-deserved everything that happened-”

That was the last thing Damian heard before he heard his door slam shut.

Suddenly, the events of the night have finally plummeted itself towards Damian’s head.

No more Robin.

Damian felt his chest tighten and his heart seemed to race at speeds that could rival the Flash. Everything around began to spin and he couldn’t help but let out a small, frightened breath.

What was wrong with him?

His feet seemed to tremble and he fell on the floor. The room began to heat up.

The sun was against him. It was like all it wanted to do was burn Damian’s skin until there was nothing left.

Was he sweating?

Damian was definitely sweating. Why was he sweating? It’s the middle of Winter.

He couldn’t breathe.

Is he going to die?

He didn’t even get a chance to prove himself to his father.

Though, his mind couldn’t help but contemplate the possible scenarios of when they find him in the middle of his room, dead.

Would his father cry? Or would he just be relieved? Relieved at the fact that he didn’t have to watch over Damian anymore. Would they be happy that the Wayne family was finally back to being normal? Now that the smudge of brown was gone from their picture-perfect portrait.

“Calm down.” He heard a calming voice mutter, “Deep breaths.”

“Ummi?” Damian’s voice sounded muffled as his vision began to fade into the darkness, “Are you taking me home?”

A silhouette bent down to give Damian an embrace.

He didn’t feel anything but he still heard his ummi’s voice. “Deep breaths,” she repeated.

Damian forced himself to focus on the light as he followed the instructions. He couldn’t fail his ummi. She was the only one who ever loved him for him.

In

Out

His head began to ease up. The pain was slowly going away.

In

Out

He could feel his legs, it no longer felt like a mountain was on top of them.

In

Out

His vision slowly cleared up. He could see shapes begin to form as the light steadily took over the darkness.

He was going to be okay.

“Ummi?” his voice cracked.

There wasn’t anyone there.

He felt tears form on the corner of his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.

If he cried, it meant that Damian was weak. That he was useless. And he wasn’t.

Right?

His brothers probably hate him again because of his stupid little outburst. He was so stupid.

His father banned him from being Robin, so he probably won’t be able to see his teammates for the time being.

Why couldn’t he just keep his mouth shut?

He was all alone again.

He didn’t have enough energy to move to his bed, so he hugged his knees closer to his chest as he tried his hardest to keep his tears at bay.

Everything was back to normal.

Note:

(Damian’s emotions have been building up for quite a while now. He’s confused and frustrated. A dangerous combination for someone who wasn’t allowed to express how he felt throughout the beginning of his life.

And from my experience, it’s the smallest things that just make a person break. So when Damian was blamed for something that wasn’t his fault, he just lashed out.

Sorry for the lack of updates from the past two weeks. School sucks. It’s like my teachers barely give me any work throughout the school year just so they could dump everything in May.

Hopefully, this chapter didn’t disappoint you guys too badly. And if it did, give me some nice constructive criticism in the comments. I love reading them, no matter how harsh.)

[queerbutstillhere-writes]

Soulmate AU

Life had always gone by at 100 miles per hour, it felt like. Bart was always moving, always doing something, always reacting, always learning. He was constantly discovering new things, and even if he didn’t always remember them, and sometimes never used his knowledge, he was always learning.

But this latest discovery was the most astounding of his lifetime.

He had always known about soulmates. It wasn’t a secret thing, in the future, but it was easier to control, with all their access to tech. It was easier to know who your soulmate was.

Bart was never told who his soulmate was. He would later discover the reason for this, but not for years later. As a child, growing up in a simulation world, he never really thought about it or bothered with it. It wasn’t something that really concerned him. He had more important things to do.

So he was never really taught about the catch that came with soulmates.

He never really knew how you would stop aging, until you fell in love with your soulmate.

People stopped aging at different times. Some people stopped at sixteen, some stopped at eighteen, some at twenty-five. There was no way to know, except one day, you’d start noticing that you were never growing or maturing or anything. You were just . . . stuck. Until you fell in love with your true soulmate. Until you two truly loved each other, you wouldn’t age anymore. And then you could grow old together. It was a weird system that often got exploited. People who didn’t want to grow old would just refuse to fall in love, their lives would be full of work and lacking in love. But what people often forgot, was that soulmates weren’t necessarily romantic. Platonic soulmates, for example, also counted for this odd system the universe had. Your soulmate was someone who you truly belonged with. Someone you truly loved.

Having lived a simulation life, Bart never knew about any of this.

And then he was thrown backwards into the 21st century, lived a hectic chaotic life for a bit, jumping from adult to adult, working with other speedsters, causing havoc. Then the thing with Bedlam happened, and Young Justice formed and Bart was caught in a whirlwind of hanging out with them, working with them, doing missions, saving people, kicking ass and taking names.

It was Kon who first brought up soulmates to him. They were just hanging out one day, when Kon randomly asked out loud if they thought he would have a soulmate, since he wasn’t naturally born. It was just the four of them, Kon, Bart, Robin and Cassie, and they all sat there in silence.

“Soulmates?” Bart asked, softly, frowning at them.

“Yeah. I don’t know, Kon. That’s a really good question?” Robin said with a shrug.

They kept talking about it, but Bart sat there in confusion.

“Wait, what do you mean soulmates? Those are real?”

Everyone went silent, and then slowly turned to him.

“Um? Yes?” Robin said, looking as confused as Bart felt.

“Wait do you really not know about soulmates?” Cassie asked, frowning and leaning closer.

“No?”

Kon laughed. “Imp, stop messing around.”

“I’m not?”

They all stared at him for a moment before it seemed to click that he wasn’t actually joking with them. Robin took a breath and then turned to him.

“Bart. Everyone, as far as I’m aware, has a ‘Soulmate’. No one knows why this is how the world works, but oftentimes, people will reach a certain age and stop aging until they’ve met and fallen in love with their soulmates,” he explained. “Like . . . like, Nightwing for example, has met his. They live together, and are aging normally. But Batman, hasn’t, and isn’t aging anymore.”

“Wait, isn’t that weird? Is Nightwing older than him then?” Kon asked.

“Not yet? I mean, it doesn’t change Batman’s birth year, Nightwing just . . . will look older sooner, unless Batman falls for his soulmate like, tomorrow.”

Kon made a little grunting noise, looking back at Bart.

“. . . wait really, you’re not kidding me?”

“No, Bart. And you don’t, technically, have to fall in love with someone romantically. I know of some people whose soulmates are their best friends. But Superboy isn’t sure if he’ll have one, since he wasn’t born naturally.”

“Does Superman have one?” Kon speculated out loud.

Robin snorted and launched into a debate with Kon over this, Cassie joining in occasionally. But Bart was stuck there, thinking. If he’s from the future, wouldn’t his soulmate also be in the future? Would he just stop aging and have to live out the next however many years until he got to meet them?

“What happens if you never meet your soulmate?” He asked quietly.

“Well. . . not everyone can avoid death forever. Most people get sick or have something bad happen to them. But there are some people that purposefully avoid falling in love just so they can live forever, and have succeeded fairly well, so far. . . But when your soulmate dies, you’ll start aging anyway.”

“Who’s done the cheating death thing?”

“I’m pretty sure Lex Luthor is one.”

“Checks out.”

They all laughed a bit at that.

Bart didn’t bring up his other question. It wasn’t worth broaching. He’d find out sooner or later.

It ended up being much much later.

Because, you know, death didn’t exactly help his testing of soulmates and whether he had them.

It wasn’t a fun time, being dead. Well, being dead, coming back, becoming old, because apparently the speed force doesn’t give a shit about soulmate aging laws - Bart actually thought that this meant that his soulmate didn’t exist - and then dying again. It was just a really weird time for him, and he was still in therapy for it.

But now, back to life, with Superboy Prime gone, and the real true, prime Superboy back, Bart was starting to settle back into normal human life as a teenager again. Which was weird, having already aged to adulthood, had a boyfriend for a while, then a girlfriend, until he died again. It was weird, because he remembered having several relationships, but now for the life of him, he couldn’t locate Griffin anywhere. Which was probably for the best, because like. . . what would he do if he could. Griffin was a good few years older than him now, and had probably moved on anyway.

So he went back to school, worked as Kid Flash, and went to therapy weekly, and was managing. Things were getting better, he was starting to have less nightmares. Or well, no, not less nightmares, he was just learning how to get out of them faster. He also hung out with the old Young Justice team more. . . . Well, mostly Cassie and Kon. You could tell it was odd for Cassie, being around Kon and Bart. There was this fragile layer of glass everywhere, easily broken, easy to cut people with, and this layer of glass was the topic of their death, and Bart absolutely hated it. But, he was glad to be around Cassie, and he especially liked hanging out with Kon. They would play video games or watch movies or just lay together on the roof and look up at the sky and not say anything. Because they both knew.

They knew how weird it was, to have died and come back. To have watched their friends age around them, to watch their friends go on with life, to have mourned them, and then have to deal with them coming back. It was surreal and sickening and it wasn’t really something you got over easily.

And then their hanging out sessions started including a lot more touching. It started after Bart had a little breakdown that had caused Kon to pull him into a tight hug and just hold him close against his chest, and had only grown from there, to the point that they were cuddling while watching their movies and Bart was sitting in Kon’s lap and they were holding hands, a lot. And it wasn’t weird. It was really nice and naturally and Bart felt so drawn to Kon. He felt like . . . like he might love Kon.

But did either of them discuss it? No, of course not. They’re dumbasses, what do you expect?

But what they did talk about a lot was Tim.

Tim Drake, their old Robin. Their best friend who had been through so much in their absence. Their best friend who had changed his name to Red Robin because of some kid who was apparently Bruce’s biological son showed up. Their best friend who had been more distant since their return then he had been when they first met him, all those years ago.

Because they both missed him so much.

“What if we just go show up at his apartment?” Kon asked, idly rubbing his hand over Barts short spiky hair. It was still growing back from him having buzzed it.

“He has an apartment?”

“Yeah, he moved out after that one kid showed up.”

“Oh, weird.”

“Yeah, I’ve been by his place once, but he pushed me out pretty quick. . .”

“Yeah. It’s like. . . I dunno, he’s been through a lot but it’s like he’s a completely different person.”

Kon shrugged, leaning forwards and pressing his forehead against the top of Bart’s head. “I just wish he would talk to us.”

Bart hummed his agreement. Kon didn’t move away, and Bart didn’t want him to.

They did, in the end, just show up at his apartment a few days later. He wasn’t there when they got there, so they sat on the fire escape and chatted, like they hadn’t been together all evening. Kon suddenly turned and a few seconds later there was a thunk as someone pulled themselves over the edge of the fire escape. Red Robin was standing there, his cape falling around him to mask his body, and he eyed them for a moment.

“What are you two doing here?”

“We’re worried about you,” Bart said, not beating around the bush. He hopped up - causing Kon’s arm to hit the railing of the fire escape with a thunk - and walked over to Tim, not giving him an option before hugging him.

Tim stiffened under the hug and didn’t reciprocate.

“You didn’t need to stop by, I’m fine.”

“Yeah, that’s bullshit,” Kon grumbled, also standing.

Tim pulled away from Bart and moved to the window, pushing it open and slipping it inside. Kon exchanged a look with Bart, but the window stayed open, so they both followed. Inside was . . . dark, and a little dingy. It wasn’t terribly well decorated, but it was definitely functional. There were a few clothes here and there, but other than that and the dishes on the counter, it was fairly clean. Tim pulled off his mask and turned to them once Kon had closed the window and the blinds.

Bart could see pain behind his eyes.

“Are you hurt?” He asked immediately.

“I’m fine,” was the tense response, but Kon tilted his head.

“No, I can smell blood.”

They all but dragged Tim to the bathroom, sitting him on the counter top while they patched him up. The injury was nothing more than a good scrape on the arm, and had mostly stopped bleeding by now anyway, only restarted by them peeling off his shirt. He sat there and stared at the floor, not talking to either of them. But he kept glancing at Kon.

“I’m gonna go make something light to eat,” Bart said softly and stood up off the edge of the bath where he had been sitting and slipped past Kon, hoping that would give them some time to talk.

He just wanted his Robin back.

He quietly made them some cheese quesadillas because Tim had literally next to nothing in his fridge, and he could hear Kon and Tim talking, but couldn’t make out their voices. He just waited patiently. After a bit Kon came out and walked over, but Tim didn’t reappear. Kon came over and just slid his arms around Bart and gave a soft sigh.

“How is he?"

“Closed off? Defensive? Really fucked up? Pick a descriptive.”

Bart sighed and leaned back into him, staring at the cheese that had hit the hot skillet and was bubbling from heat.

After a moment, Kon stepped back and turned, and when Bart also turned to look, he saw the bathroom door start to open and Tim step out, wearing sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt, his hair pulled back into one of those half-buns. Everyone stood there and stared at each other, and then Kon laughed.

“Shut up!” Tim exclaimed, cheeks going pink.

“What just happened?”

“His stomach is rumbling. You made a good choice, deciding to cook.”

Bart grinned at Kon, and turned to flip the quesadilla, before going to get plates. Tim moved and slowly started pushing papers to one side of his small dining table in order to give them room to sit at it. Once food was ready and cut, Bart made them each three plates, and then sat at the table, Tim to his left, and Kon on his other side, and they fell back into awkward silence as they ate.

“So. . . What have you two been up to since you . . .” Tim trailed off awkwardly.

“Oh uh. . . I dunno, I guess I’ve been talking with the Kent’s more, and Clark. . . we’ve been. . . just getting closer?”

Tim nodded.

“I’ve been doing school mostly. It’s just. . . weird, ya know, because like, it seems like people don’t know who I really am? Or they don’t know I was gone? I dunno, I guess the Speedforce is probably protecting me or something.”

"Yeah that's weird, I've been wondering why that's the case because like . . . They revealed your identity in your . . . so why wouldn't people remember. . . "

"Yeah. . . Also like, I had a boyfriend for a while. Do you remember that? Did you ever meet him?"

Tim shook his head.

"Yeah, so I dated this guy for a while but now he just . . . Doesn't exist? I can't find him anywhere."

Tim made a little grunting noise and reached for a notepad.

"What's his name?"

"Griffin Gray. It's . . . It's okay, you don't need to look for him, we broke up before I-" Bart cut himself off. "And he wasn't my soulmate anyway, so it's okay."

Tim just hummed and continued writing.

"And where were you two living?"

"Keystone."

More nodding, then he pushed the notepad aside and returned to eating. Silence fell back over them.

"Hey, Tim."

"Hm?"

"We were going to go see that new movie Friday . . . Do you want to come with?" Conner asked, turning to face him a little better.

Tim looked up, then between the two of them.

"What time?"

"Like, seven?"

"I probably can't, I have wor-"

"We can come up here!" Bart exclaimed quickly. "I mean, we have super powers, you don't. . . It makes more sense."

Tim turned his gaze to Bart, and sat there, just looking at him for a moment. Long enough that it got a little awkward.

"Sure. Find out what time the showings are and text me."

"Uh. . . What's your current number?"

" . . . That would probably help."

They all quickly exchanged new phone numbers, and once more fell to silence, tension thick in the room. Finally Kon cleared his throat and looked at Tim.

"How have you been, Tim?"

"Eh. Yeah I'm fine."

"Not to be rude but uh . . . Bullshit."

"Huh?"

Kon waved vaguely around the apartment. "Bullshit. Are you at least . . . " He stopped and shook his head. "I know you've been through a lot of shit. Do you have someone to talk to about all that?"

"Yeah I do I've got . . . " There was a sad pause here. "Bruce and Steph and a couple others."

Conner made an uh huh noise.

"Tim," Bart started, reaching over the table and grabbing his hand, not letting him pull it away.

His hand was rough and calloused and a little sweaty.

"We're just worried about you, okay? We both know that it's weird for you, us being back here. But you . . . We all need to talk about it. We can't just let it become some taboo subject. It was something serious and major that happened and we're all messed up from it."

Tim swallowed, and even squeezed Bart's hand a bit.

"Okay? So. . . So you don't have to talk to us about it. But please, talk to someone. Please don't push away anymore. We miss you. I miss you."

Tim just nodded a bit, but Bart could tell from the look in his eyes he wasn't going to.

"Tim. Promise me."

"Bart-"

"Swear it on your soulmate."

Tim snorted softly and closed his eyes, tilting his head down towards the table.

"I think I should tell you two something."

Kon and Bart exchanged a confused look, but neither one spoke. Tim took a breath, then started speaking.

"When . . . When you two died, I started aging. I hadn't been aging for a few years, more or less stuck at fifteen."

Bart felt the breath sucked out of him, and he looked between them both.

"Wait but I came back, did you-"

Tim shook his head, glancing up at him.

"But . . . You weren't exactly you either, were you? And you weren't back long enough to have really noticed."

Bart frowned, he made a good point. Tim sighed and pulled his hand away to rub his face.

"So, I don't know who, but I know it's one of you two. . . So, can you see part of why I had to avoid you? I couldn't . . . Couldn't pick between my two best friends."

Kon and Bart just looked at each other.

"Tim . . . Tim we don't even know if I have a soulmate," Kon said softly. He slid out of his chair and knelt next to Tim, reaching out and touching his arm. "But we do know you and Bart each have one."

"Kon, you can't-"

Kon just smiled sadly. I'd rather watch my two best friends get to be happy together, okay, Tim?"

"But Kon-"

Bart felt something inside of him crying out, mourning, sobbing at the idea of Kon not being by his side too.

"Kon-" he breathed out, looking down at the clone.

Kon turned his sad smile to the ginger.

"I'll let you guys talk-"

"No!"

Bart jumped up and moved to intercept Kon, pushing him back down.

"You're both idiots."

"Huh?"

"I just figured it out. These dumb feelings of mine."

They both blinked up at him, twin expressions of confusion.

"Kon. I'm in love with you," Bart said, confidently, never more sure of anything in his life.

Kon's eyes went wide and he looked up at Tim, clearly startled.

"Bart, I-"

Bart held up a hand to silence him, and looked at Tim.

"But I think we're soulmates too."

"What makes you think that?" Tim was closed off. Cold and calculating, more Robin- Red Robin now then Tim Drake.

"Because I . . . " Bart scowled, turning to pace, trying to figure out how to get the words from his brain, the feelings from his heart, out through his mouth.

They just watched patiently, knowing how Bart worked by now.

"I've always felt connected to you. Like . . . Like there was something more we were destined for. Like, I can't explain it, but ever since I met you on that dumb ski trip, I've always felt like I needed to be around you."

They both looked from Bart, to each other, then back at Bart, and Kon gave a soft smile.

"Okay I'm glad I'm not crazy then."

"Huh?" Tim asked, as Kon stood back up.

Kon walked over, hugging Bart tightly.

"I've felt the same way, towards you two. I've always felt connected . . . Like there was this rope tied around my spine, tugging me towards both of you." He turned back to Tim, not speaking for a moment. "God, Tim, I'm-"

"Wait. Shush."

Tim held up his hand, and they both audibly clicked their jaws shut. Their leader had given a command, of course they'd listen. He frowned, laced his fingers together, and rested his chin on his thumb. They waited.

Silence continued.

Then, finally, he spoke.

"You really think it is possible for someone to have two soulmates?"

"Sure, why not?" Conner said, shrugging. "Doesn't seem that far fetched."

"And you two really think . . . That we're all . . . "

Kon and Bart exchanged a look, and then nodded.

"Yeah?"

Tim made a little humming noise, then stood.

"I need to sleep on this. I'll see you two on Friday."

He walked away, down a little hallway, and neither of them moved, just looked from each other, to the doorway, then back. Then Bart giggled and stepped forwards, leaning into Kon.

"Wow that really just happened."

"God I hope we're right."

Bart hummed. Kon kissed the top of his head, and Bart smiled into his shirt.

"So . . . You're really in love with me?"

"Yeah? I thought . . . I thought that was obvious?"

"I mean a little, but I wasn't sure."

Bart snorted lightly, and looked up at him. Kon smiled softly down at him.

"It's true though."

Kon's smile grew a bit. "I know."

With that, he leaned down, and gently kissed Bart, a hand coming up to rest on his neck, thumb on his cheek. Bart pushed up on his tiptoes, arms going over Kon's shoulders. It was soft and timid, with every bit of the nervousness of a first kiss with someone you really liked.

Kon pulled away first, grinning at Bart. "We should probably get out of Tim's apartment."

"Probably." Bart giggled.

They slipped out the window, closing it firmly behind them, and said goodbye on the fire escape with another soft kiss.

Friday was accompanied by another major crisis in Gotham, so Tim had to call off, and they didn't hear anything from him other than a confirmation that he was alive on Saturday. Four three days after that text they didn’t hear anything from him. And then randomly, they got a group text from him, asking if they wanted to come over for dinner. They had immediately said yes, on the one condition that Tim wasn’t the one cooking.

So Thursday evening, they got ready and met at Tim’s apartment, actually using the front door this time. Bart was there before Kon, and when he walked in, the smell of lasagna hit him.

“Whoa, I thought you said you weren’t cooking?”

“I’m not,” Tim said with a small laugh. “You just missed Alfred.”

“Oooh, that makes sense.” Bart walked over to the oven and peaked in, grinning as his mouth started watering. “This smells so good.”

“Yeah. It should be. You know how Alfred is.”

Bart nodded his confirmation and looked around the apartment. It was a lot cleaner and brighter than the last time he was here, and Tim was a lot cleaner then the last time he was here. His hair was clean, and from where it had been tucked behind his ears, it had curled slightly. He was still wearing what was probably work clothes, brown pants and a cream, tight fitting turtleneck. And he was smiling. Smiling at Bart.

Bart smiled back.

“How was your day?” Bart asked, stepping closer.

Tim stepped in, after a moment of hesitation, and hugged him.

“It was pretty good. We had some meetings, still working towards transfering most of the CEO work back over to Bruce,” Tim said with a small shrug as he stepped back again.

“What, you don’t want to keep being a teenage CEO?”

“Preferably, no.”

Bart chuckled. “I mean, that’s understandable. Are you done with school then?”

“Yeah, I took some tests to get my GED and I’m done.”

“Huh, Nice. I’m jealous.”

Tim chuckled, stepping away as the oven started beeping. He grabbed some oven mitts and quickly pulled out a big tray of lasagna, as well as a tray of Texas Toast. Bart’s stomach grumbled in anticipation. There was a knock at the door, and Tim looked up, busy sprinkling more cheese on the lasagna.

“Can you get that? It’s probably Kon.”

Bart nodded and zipped over, pulling the door open, to discover that it was in fact Kon outside the door. He grinned the moment he saw the ginger.

“Hey there, Bart.”

“Hi, Kon!”

Bart got a kiss on the cheek and a hug before Kon stepped inside, letting him shut the door as he walked over to Tim. Bart watched them embrace and share a quick greeting, and could help but smile. It was clear Tim was wary around them still, but he was trying and Bart was over the moon about that.

“I thought we told you no cooking,” Kon said, eyeing the lasagna Tim was putting back in.

“You did. I didn’t bake! Alfred was here a little bit ago, he did all this and just left me instructions when to take things out.”

Tim picked up and waved a sheet of paper. Kon snatched it and read over it, snickering the whole time, he shook his head, grinning at Tim.

“You really cared about this, huh?”

“Of course I did!” Tim exclaimed, then his cheeks went pink. “Uh. . . What do you two want to drink?”

After a bit, dinner was ready, and they were all sat at the, now clean, table, chowing down on steaming plates of lasagna, Tim watching in horror with how much Bart and Kon ate.

“I forgot about this,” he muttered, shaking his head.

“Forgot about what?” Bart asked, after gulping down his mouthful of lasagna.

“The whole. . . “ Tim waved at their plates. “Food intake. You two are gonna eat me out of house and home, aren’t you?”

“Maybe.” Kon grinned at him.

Despite the insane quantities of food, Kon and Bart both had fairly good table manners, so it took them a lot longer to eat then it would when they were alone. After, they helped clean up the kitchen, and then found themselves crashing on the sectional in the living room. Only the second they sat down, Tim immediately stood up again. He stepped around the coffee table and faced them.

“Okay. I have to tell you guys something, the reason why I called you two down- or well, up here.”

Kon frowned and leaned forwards, forearms on his knees. “What’s up?”

“I’ve been thinking . . . a lot, about our conversation last week,” he paused, and neither of them dared to interrupt. “About how I feel about you two. . . and- and about how I don’t ever want to be without you.”

Bart’s heart leapt into his throat, but he waited patiently. Well, as patiently as he could. He may have started vibrating a bit.

“I don’t . . . I don’t know how having two soulmates works, apparently it’s more common than I thought. But . . . If we’re right. . . Then I want to try it. I want to be with you two. Both of you.”

At this, Bart jumped up and dashed over, throwing his arms around Tim and hugging him tightly. Tim grunted slightly, but hugged him back, pressing his face against the side of Bart’s head. Then he pulled away, pushing Bart back slightly.

“But uh. . . I’ve never . . . with guys-”

“Tim.” Kon was right behind them now. “We can take things at whatever pace you need, okay? I don’t have that much experience here either, but we’ll take things one day at a time."

Tim smiled, nodding slightly, and looking between them. Kon stepped in and hugged him as well. But then Bart had a thought.

“What happens. . . What happens if we find out we’re not soulmates?” he asked softly.

“Then we’ll handle that when we get there,” Kon reassured. “For now, let's just focus on the dating aspect. One day at time.”

“One day at a time,” Tim agreed, holding out an arm for Bart, who immediately joined the little group hug.

Their group hug migrated to the sofa, which then just turned into laying on Kon, who seemed perfectly content with this. And Bart? Bart couldn’t be happier. It might be a rough road from here out. It would definitely be fraught with peril, injuries, and maybe even death. But if Bart had his soulmates, his two best friends in the whole world by his side? He would face that danger with a smile, because they were worth it. This. This was worth it.

@core-disaster-week-2020