Fic: A Displaced Red Robin Chapter 9 (original) (raw)

Title: A Displaced Red Robin
Author: Brokaw22
Disclaimer: The norms
Rating: T
Story Synopsis: Tim gets transported to the cartoon Young Justice world, and he's not sure he knows how to deal with it.
Thanks to Kathy for beta work.

Previous Chapters: Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight

Tim doesn't have a choice. He has to take Jason home. He just hopes that he can get through to him before they get there, but first they have to wait for the cops, because there is no way that Tim is leaving Joker--even if he is unconscious and tied up--unsupervised. He keeps a hold on Jason's arm the whole time that they wait, and once Tim is absolutely sure that The Joker is properly detained, he instructs Jason to lead him to his home. Jason seems extremely reluctant to do so, but Tim isn't relenting. After a twenty minute debate, Jason finally sighs and then starts marching off, presumably in the direction of his home.

Tim doesn't want this walk to be one long lecture, but he has to at least try to get through to Jason. He attempts to be gentle with him, but Jason doesn't seem too receptive of the whole thing. “I know you're not happy with the way that I handled things back there, but you have to understand that this is the only way people like me can work. If we went around killing, we'd be no better than the people we fight against, and then instead of working with the cops, they'd be chasing us.”

Jason huffs out a breath, and tries to pull ahead, but Tim still has a firm grip on his arm. “Yeah, sure, fine, whatever.”

Tim sighs. Short of getting into a fight with this child--which he refuses to do--there's not much more that he can say. It's ultimately up to Jason to decide what kind of person he wants to be, and Tim highly doubts that anything he says is going to make an impact. Still, he tried. He guesses that, for now, that has to be enough.

When they finally get to Jason's apartment, Jason pauses outside and glares at Tim. “You're going to tell my mom about tonight, aren't you?” He's got his arms folded over his chest, and he looks really upset at the prospect.

Tim can't help himself. He has to kneel down to be at eye level with Jason, and then he shakes his head. “No, I'm not; but I am going to give you this.” He hands Jason a small device, and waits patiently for the kid to take it. “This is a communicator. If you get into trouble or need anything at all you are to push this button right here,” Tim points to indicate where he means. “And this will connect you to me. You are to call me immediately if something happens. Is that understood?”

Jason nods as he tucks the little communicator away in one of his pockets. This isn't exactly what Tim had in mind when he linked his tech to the stuff back at the team's HQ, but he figures it's as good a use for it as any. He gestures for Jason to head on inside, but instead Jason holds up his index finger as a sign for Tim to stay where he is for a moment. “Wait, you gave me something, so I have to give you something.” Tim shakes his head, but Jason insists. “That's how it works, so just wait here for a sec, okay?”

Tim doesn't get a chance to protest before Jason ducks into his apartment. When he reappears a few minutes later he's holding a small toy solider. He presses it into Tim's hand. “Here, take it. I know it's not much, but he's one of my favorites.”

Tim shakes his head, and tries to shove the little figure back into Jason's hand. “I couldn't possibly take him. He's far too valuable to you.”

Jason thrust the tiny solider into Tim's hand before he backs away a step or two. “No, I want you to have him, because you saved me. My mom likes to call him the lucky solider, 'cause he got stuck down one of the vents, but we managed to get him out with a broken hanger. Maybe he'll keep you safe...or something. I don't know.”

Tim doesn't know what to say. It figures that the nicest interaction that he's ever had with Jason Todd comes in the form of an interaction with a young Jason from another world. He holds the little solider tight in his hand, and nods once. “I promise to keep him safe, then.”

Jason gives him a small smile, and a wave before he ducks back into his apartment. Tim tucks the little solider into one of the pockets on his belt, and then makes his way outside. He still has a few more Arkham escapees to catch tonight, and he doesn't really want to have to explain to this Batman why he fell off the grid for almost an hour tonight.

Tim's swinging across rooftops with no real destination. After all, it's not as though he has any leads for the locations of the rest of the Arkham escapees, but there's always plenty of petty crimes to stop in Gotham, so Tim makes a beeline for a bank robbery in progress. He's expecting run of the mill thugs--probably with guns and money in hand--which is why, when he sees a little old white-haired lady walking out of the bank with two large duffel bags in her hands, he almost stumbles over the side of the roof. Tim manages to catch himself, however, and watches for a few moments.

He can't honestly believe that this woman, who looks far too well dressed for a bank heist, planned this all on her own. He's waiting for her to make her way to a getaway car--or at least for some large goons to surface--when he sees her calmly--almost as if in a daze--walk over to a completely inconspicuous looking vehicle, and place the bags inside the silver sedan before slowly walking away. Tim isn't exactly sure what's going on, but he knows that he has to follow that car. The driver isn't even driving like he or she is trying to get away from a bank heist. The person is simply following all of the rules of the road, driving at a respectable speed, which makes at least one part of his night a little easier.

He follows the car for a good twenty blocks, before it randomly pulls into a parking lot in front of an old hat shop. Tim has absolutely no idea why the person would stop here, but then most of the things that criminals do rarely make sense. He moves to another building to get a better view as the person exits the vehicle. The person in question is quite short in stature, and is practically skipping towards the door of the shop. Tim suddenly has a bad feeling about this. What he thought was a simple bank robbery is looking to be something far more complicated. He makes his way across more rooftops until he's in a position where he can see into the shop more easily, and Tim really doesn't like what he sees.

There's a woman tied to a chair, positioned in front of a table with a tea set placed in front of her. Tim now understands why the woman from earlier appeared to be in a trance. It's because she was. He knows who he's going up against now, and, honestly, after the night that Tim has had so far he really can't imagine things getting much more bizarre. He waits until the man, who was driving the sedan (which was most likely stolen), is positioned just right, and then Tim shoots off a grapple, swings down feet first through the window, and slams into the Mad Hatter with all of the force that he can muster.

The Mad Hatter goes flying across the table, and smashes into the wall on the other side of the shop. He gets back up, and starts throwing the now scattered tea set at Tim. “No, no, no! You're supposed to be busy with the others. Don't you dare take my Alice!” Tim ducks as some teacups go sailing towards his head. “Wait, you're not the Bat. Who are you?” The Hatter pauses, but then decides it doesn't matter who Tim is as he resumes throwing teacups.

Tim leaps over the small table and puts himself between the Hatter and the woman. She doesn't seem to know whether she should be relieved or even more frightened, now that he's here. Tim figures he'll get to that in a second, but first he has to make sure that he doesn't get doused in whatever mind-altering chemicals this Mad Hatter prefers. He crouches as the Hatter throws a few saucers at him, and then slides out of the way as the Mad Hatter attempts to dump the entire contents of the teapot on his head, and then Tim spins away from the flying teapot itself. Tim has had just about enough of this evasion technique. He's managed to get the Mad Hatter a respectable distance away from the still bound woman, which is all that Tim was really waiting for.

The moment that the two of them clear the table, and the Hatter is out of things to throw at him, Tim moves in, kicking out as hard as he can, and then punching the Hatter square in the jaw. He follows that with a solid kick to the man's chest. The Mad Hatter goes crashing into the wall behind him, and Tim's about to follow that with an elbow when the Hatter holds up both hands and screams. “Stop! Stop! I'm done. I'll be good. I'll go back. You can even take Alice.”

Tim huffs out a breath as he pulls the Mad Hatter to his feet, and then spins him around, and shoves him face first into the wall as he binds his hands behind his back. “Glad we could come to an understanding. Now, sit, stay, and be quiet.” Tim pushes the Hatter into a sitting position on the floor, and then turns to deal with the bound woman. She stares at him, wide-eyed and a little shocked. Tim holds both hands out for her to see, in order to keep from startling her. “I'm just going to untie you, okay?”

She nods, but Tim isn't really sure that she's registering anything more than just her fear. He quickly undoes the gag in her mouth, and swiftly unties the ropes around her, and then he backs up a good foot or two to give her some space. She stands quickly, mutters a small thank you, and then runs out of the shop. Tim's half-tempted to knock the Mad Hatter out, but he doesn't actually see a valid reason to do so. Therefore, instead, he calls the cops, and then leaves.

He's on his way towards the lower east side, when his communicator goes off. Tim immediately halts on the rooftop that he had just been about to leap off of, and then reaches a hand up to his ear. “Red Robin here.”

“Killer Croc has been neutralized. I'm going after Clayface. Status report.” Batman's voice is gruff, and low in his ear. It's typical Batman behavior, which Tim realizes he's missed more than he thought.

Tim keeps his rueful smirk to himself as he replies. “Poison Ivy and The Joker have both been detained, and the police are on their way to pick up The Mad Hatter.”

He's honestly expecting Bruce to just cut the connection, which is why he nearly falls over when he hears a, “Good job.” over the line.

He's so frazzled that Tim can't even regulate his voice as he squeaks out, “Thanks.”

Batman, on the other hand, is kind enough not to mention anything before he gives his next set of orders. “I'll handle the rest. Head back to the HQ.”

If this was Tim's Batman, he'd probably protest and tell him that there's absolutely no reason for him to head back so soon...not while Bruce is still dealing with Clayface. As it stands, however, he doubts that his argument would mean much to a Batman who is used to dealing with a thirteen-year-old Dick Grayson, who probably frequently gets in over his head when he's having a night like Tim's. “Understood. Call if you need backup.” He cuts the connection, before his face breaks out into a grin. Despite all of the craziness, it has actually been a good night for him.

When Tim gets back to the team's headquarters, he wants nothing more than to take a shower and enjoy a little down time before the team gets back from their mission, but the moment that the computerized voice dies down after stating his call sign and number he's practically thrown to the ground by both M'gann and Robin tackle hugging him. “Whoa, what did I miss?”

M'gann is the first to release him before backing off a step or two. “We thought you disappeared...that you went back home without saying goodbye.”

Robin takes another moment to let go of him as well, but unlike M'gann he doesn't take a single step away. “Where were you?”

Tim's not really sure how Dick is going to take the news that he was in Gotham. He hopes that they don't end up having a massive confrontation in front of the entire team. After all, those types of conflicts rarely go well when metas get involved. “There was an Arkham breakout. Batman needed some help detaining a few of the more problematic escapees while he tracked down Killer Croc, so he asked for my help.” It's the most diplomatic way that Tim knows how to phrase it, but he still braces himself for the fallout.

Robin stops and stares at him. “Whoa, he trusted you enough to go after the other Arkham criminals by yourself? That's so cool. Who did you take down?”

Tim lets out a small sigh of relief at the fact that Dick seems more interested in the action than in any insecurities he might have, and then he allows a tiny, almost imperceptible smile onto his lips. “Poison Ivy, Joker, and Mad Hatter. Batman is still dealing with Clayface and a few other small timers.”

Dick looks as though he's about to start bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet as he practically drags Tim over towards the couch. “Aw man, you've gotta tell us all about it.”

Tim glances around and suddenly the entire team is surrounding the couch and staring at him intently. Kaldur gestures for him to speak. “It would be interesting to hear, and we might learn something from your tactics.”

Tim doesn't really know how much they can learn. It wasn't as though he tactically found Joker or the Mad Hatter. He mostly just stumbled upon them. Hell, it was more luck than anything else, and he's pretty sure they're expecting to hear a story with a little more finesse to the fighting style beyond hit hard and fast. He shrugs and tries to appear as boring as one possibly can. “There's not much to tell actually. Everything went fairly smoothly, all things considered.” Besides, no one needs to know that he found a very young version of one of the brothers who frequently tries to kill him.

Kid Flash, who is sitting on the floor in front of Tim, seems absolutely devastated at the fact that that's all of the information Tim is willing to give. He starts nudging Tim's foot, trying to get more out of him. “No way. Come on, man. You've gotta tell us everything. You fought Poison Ivy for heaven's sake. That had to have been at least slightly interesting.”

Wally waggles his eyebrows in a very obvious way, and Tim can't help but shake his head. “Not really. I gave her a choice to walk away from the park quietly. She chose not to. The fight ended fairly quickly, all things considered.”

Superboy's brow furrows at that, obviously confused by Tim's decision. “You gave her a choice to walk away? Why?”

Tim huffs out a breath at that. He really wasn't expecting that question. Maybe they truly could learn something from him rehashing his night, after all, or at least Superboy could. “Because she deserved the opportunity to walk away.” At the disbelieving expressions that he receives all around, Tim sighs. “Look, Ivy is still nefarious, don't get me wrong, but more than anything else she cares about the well being of her plants, which means that as long as you give her a reason to believe you're serious about letting her 'babies' live unharmed she can be reasoned with.”

M'gann floats over to sit in the vacant seat on the other side of Tim. “If that's the case, then why did she still fight you?”

Tim shrugs, and then settles more comfortably onto the couch. It doesn't look as though he's going anywhere any time soon. He mourns the loss of a shower, but it'll be there once this conversation is over. “I would presume it's due to the fact that I'm new around here. The Ivy from my world knows that I'm sincere when I tell her that as long as her plants don't pose a threat to anyone they won't be harmed. This Poison Ivy hasn't had the opportunity to trust someone like me yet.”

Robin turns in his seat on the couch next to Tim to face him more fully. “So, you're saying that Batman is wrong to go in flamethrowers blazing when we deal with Ivy?”

Tim shakes his head. He was really hoping to steer clear from the 'how often do you disagree with Batman' conversation for the duration of his stay here, but Tim does actually know better than to hope for such things. “It's a case by case basis. Depending on what Ivy is up to, how many people she is putting in danger, and how many people she intends to harm sometimes it's better to just hit her where it hurts.”

Dick takes a moment to think that over before nodding once. “That makes sense.”

“I assume your encounter with the Mad Hatter went a bit differently.”

Tim can't help but grin at Kaldur. Clearly, he is desperately trying to keep this conversation on track, and it makes Tim want to laugh. He knows what it's like to be surrounded by people who love to get off topic. He inclines his head, before allowing himself to show his chagrin. “Well, yes, I think it's fair to say that. I knew where to find Ivy. After all, it's pretty obvious. There's only so many places for a plant loving individual to go in Gotham, but I had no idea I was going to stumble upon the Mad Hatter when I did.”

Tim tells them about the entire encounter, and he's honestly a little surprised when they don't mock him for stumbling onto that particular individual. However, he is caught off-guard when M'gann holds up a hand to stop him. “Wait, I don't get it. Why did he need the money if he already had his Alice?”

“The chemicals that he needs to control people are expensive, and I got the impression that that particular woman wasn't very susceptible to the Mad Hatter's charms. Anyway, what about you guys? Tell me about your mission.”

“It went well. Everyone performed admirably.” Kaldur is the first one to speak, and he's smiling at each and every one of his team members with great pride.

Wally is grinning just as wide as ever as he smacks Tim's leg. “You should see what I brought back for the trophy room. It's pretty sweet.”

Tim reminds himself to have a talk with Black Canary about Wally's trophy obsession. It's just a bit too “serial killer” for Tim's comfort, but, then again, Bruce has an entire section of the cave devoted to trophies, so he guesses there's not much that he can say on the matter. Still, it might be prudent of him to at least keep an eye on Wally. The boy could definitely use some manners if his eating habits are anything to judge by.

Robin is the next one to chime in excitedly. “It was actually really fun. It was just supposed to be a recon mission, but then this gang started trouble, and we actually all worked really well together.”

Tim smiles a little brighter at that. It's good to hear that the team is finally starting to act like one. “That's all great to hear.”

Even Superboy looks pleased with himself when he tells him, “And I didn't even accidentally demolish anything.”

Tim can't but laugh at that. “Well, that's good.” He then turns to M'gann. “You're awfully quiet about the mission. Did something happen?”

M'gann shakes her head. “No, no, actually it went really well.”

Wally nudges her leg. “Stop being so modest. You were awesome. She totally took out five gang members all by herself. It was amazing.”

M'gann laughs at Wally's praise. “It wasn't that special.”

Superboy shakes his head at her. “I thought it was pretty cool.”

M'gann blushes slightly and inclines her head. “Thank you.”

Tim figures now is as good a time as any to escape. He stands abruptly and stretches. “Well, I'm going to go get a shower, and then head to bed. You guys have a good night.”

He doesn't get a chance to get away before Robin has a fistful of his cape. “We're actually planning on having a movie night if you want to join us after your shower.”

Tim pauses and glances around at all of their genuinely hopeful faces. He's not really that tired, and it's not as though he's used to going to bed this early anyway. With a lack of a good reason to tell them no, and their downright puppy dog eyes, Tim inclines his head, and mutters out a small, “Sure, why not?”

He makes his way over to the door, and doesn't miss the resounding, “Yes!” as he heads toward his room and the awaiting shower.

The End (for now)