Last Laugh AU (for plus)

[birdstalker]

[ King Shark doesn't make for great company. Too much biting at the bars, not enough polite conversation. Or impolite conversation. Tim's kind of Superboy's teammate, after all.

Better the man-eater than what's going on at the other end of the hall. The crunch. The splatter. The begging. Multi-Man does nothing but beg now; starts crying the second he comes back, right up until--

Crunch.

Tim rubs a hand over his face. The cuts and bruises are healing. They ran out of food a while ago -- Tim had only a few power bars squirreled away in his belt -- but the human body can survive a long time without sustenance, and they have water. It hasn't really been all that bad. Hard to tell time in a black hole, but if his watch is right, it's been just a little over a week. ]

Please, please, god, no, stop!

[ Crack.

Enough time for the Joker and the inmates to have destroyed the world, though. And here Tim is, trapped inside the Slab, fingers crossed that this time, this time it'll be the right power-- ]

Robin!

[ He looks at King Shark, who snaps his jaws back at him.]

Nice talking with you, but we're out of here.

---

[ The world is still there when he gets back. That's a great sign.

Not so great: they're in Antarctica. Thankfully the Martian Manhunter's somehow there to help. He seems -- surprised, by Tim, and turns out everyone thinks Robin is dead, and Tim's stomach drops out a little at that revelation, and he almost misses the news that the Joker's been stopped and the riots are being wrapped up, with the last of the escaped inmates on the run.

They thought he was dead. Bruce thought he was dead. And Dick, and Barbara, and Alfred, and Stephanie.

(His dad, and Dana, too, with the riots and Tim gone missing for so long--)

He can't get home fast enough. J'onn gives him a lift right back to Gotham, and if Tim's gear were working he'd be able to ping them on the comms, but as it is he's taking the back entrance into the Cave and hoping somebody's there. The Martian Manhunter wasn't able to confirm Batman and Nightwing's whereabouts, and Oracle for some reason isn't at her console, and Tim's stomach is doing that weird flip-flop motion again by the time he comes jogging into the Cave: exhausted, suit ripped and torn and cape missing, and roughed up to hell and back, but whole. Alive. And calling out, worried. ]

Bruce? Dick? Alfred -- anybody here?

Comments

[dickingaround]

I thought you were dead.

[It's not as if he hadn't lost friends before; hadn't lost family before. But that didn't mean it stung any less when yet another person was gone. In the end he hadn't been able to deal with the fact that he'd never see Tim again.

He'd let himself become a murderer for it. It'd just made him feel worse. He had no way to know how Tim would react to that kind of news. Tim just-- wanted to help people. No doubt, he would find out eventually; no doubt, Bruce was probably on his way back right now, if J'onn had been the one to bring Tim back from Antarctica.

No, he was definitely going to be long gone by then. But for now, he was only glad that Tim was safe.]

We all did. [He releases his hold, though reluctant to give it up completely as he lets his hands idle on the sides of Tim's arms, as though if he let go or looked away then he really would just disappear, he'd just be another ghost that Dick couldn't let go, and the strain of this entire affair and the week in between was starting to show through in his voice.] I'm just-- glad that you're OK. Everyone could use some good news.

[birdstalker]

[ It's maybe a little difficult for Tim to understand. He hasn't been outside, has just spent the past week kicking his heels and waiting for the right chance, and he's so young -- aside from his mom, he hasn't lost anybody close to him like that. Not like Dick has. It's hard to wrap his mind around what it must have been like for them.

But he's as reluctant to let go as Dick is, if only because it seems like Dick really, really needs it. Tim, being Tim, hooks onto the comment, eyebrows bunching worriedly. ]

Good news? I thought -- well, J'onn said the riots are almost over. Just rounding the stragglers up now. That's good news, isn't it? The Joker's stopped, most of the heavy-hitters are being given the antidote and brought back into Arkham and Slabside...

[ Sure, there's damages, loss of life. Tim gathered that much. But the fights ended quickly, and everything sounds like it's on its way to returning back to normal. ]

Did something else happen?

[dickingaround]

[Ah yes. Tim was always smart like that. Dick can recognize the hook, but he's not quite of the right mind to to avoid it completely, can't think about it much when the new topic makes him fully pull away, returned to his own personal space, and harden his expression again.]

It's not exactly a cherry-picking happy day to celebrate after so many people have been hurt or died. A win like this is bitter at best.

[Unusually pessimistic for him-- or maybe he was just being overly sensitive. But it was a different case with Tim being alive, after all.]

We got things under control, but it'll probably be awhile before the world can really get over it... but-- you being back, that's the important part. So-- don't worry.

[birdstalker]

[ His face sombers. Dick's sterner than usual, and it's a little jarring, but he's also right. A lot could happen in a week, and Tim's only just now starting to learn what. ]

Yeah.

[ Tim's going to worry. And fret. That's what Tim does. There's going to be a permanent worry line in his forehead by the time he's eighteen -- there's the makings of it, right there. Tim's had a hell of a week himself. ]

I'm sorry, 'Wing. I should have been here.

[ It's not like he could have done anything different -- it'd been an unlucky series of events that had landed him at Slabside, incommunicado -- but still, Tim can't help but feel like he could have made a difference somehow. Could have saved just one more person, could have helped, if he'd just been a little quicker, a little smarter. ]

[dickingaround]

I told you-- don't worry about it. It's not your fault. That's just... what the Joker does.

[(Did, now.)

Of course he was going to worry anyway-- any of them would. But Bruce would give Tim grief for what happened on his own, in his own way that sort of meant he cared. No need for Dick to give him the grief for it right now.

He casts his gaze around a bit unsure of what to do with himself, trying to keep an eye out for signs of anyone coming in-- before focusing on Tim again, a bit of a lopsided attempt at a smile on his face.]

I mean-- you basically just got out of cellblock, right? You don't have to apologize to me when you should be celebrating-- or at least getting something to eat and out of half a uniform.

[Nothing to worry about. Everything totally fine on his front, yes indeed.]

[birdstalker]

A cellblock in a black hole, too. I'm surprised we managed to get back as soon as we did.

[ The odds really weren't in their favor.

But there it is again. Dick's acting strange. For a moment, Tim can't place the behavior. He'd -- well, he'd like to think Dick would be making a ruckus by now, with Tim back from the dead. He's not. He's looking around, distracted, suggesting that Tim go tend to himself rather than herding him along.

There's two immediate explanations that come to mind.

The first is that Dick is dismissing him. Run along now, Timbo, he doesn't really wanna talk to you. Which? Ow.

The second is that Dick is-- ]

Are you avoiding someone?

[dickingaround]

Wh--? Of course not.

[He's quick to answer, almost like he's offended by the assertion-- but Dick quickly realizes that line's not gonna be getting him anywhere. He lets out a noise somewhere between a grunt and a sigh, his shoulders sagging along with it.]

I had an argument with Bruce the other day. [Not a lie-- but definitely an understatement. Like, the kind that would go in a World Records book.]

I don't really wanna talk to him. I'm exhausted-- That's all.

[birdstalker]

[ Tim doesn't look like he buys it, not completely, but Nightwing and Batman fight a lot. It's not really that surprising that Dick's skirting around him. Tim grins crookedly, sympathetic, and pats Dick on the arm. ]

He does have that effect on people.

[ This seems to be a recurring theme in all of his conversations with other heroes. Batman is exhausting, Batman is terrifying, standoffish, they feel like they're letting him down or always making mistakes -- Tim hums, and agrees, and always tells them that's just how it is with Bruce. ]

Anything I can do to help?

[ He's gotten pretty good at playing mediator between the two of them. ]

[dickingaround]

Don't I know it?

[At least he's aware of how often they argue. He responds with comical exasperation, but his heart isn't in it like with most of his behavior this week, and now he can't seem to get himself to relax anymore, good going Grayson.]

No-- like I said, don't worry about it. [Honestly, he hates how much they've ended up finding around Tim. He wasn't just some dumb kid, but it wasn't really air to him.]

...Sorry, I guess I'm raining on your 'Welcome Home' parade-- but I'm glad to see you. Really. Just got a lot going on right now.

[birdstalker]

[ He won't press too hard. He hasn't ever really seen Dick this down before, and Tim's not about to make it worse. He just gives his arm a supportive squeeze, shrugging. ]

It's fine. There'll be fireworks later, anyway, rain or shine.

[ Batman is going to chew him out for hours. ]

But you can always talk to me about anything, you know that, right? S'only fair after how much whining you gotta hear on my end.

[ Dick, my girlfriend's pregnant. Dick, my dad's super pissed at me. Dick, I like Steph more than Ariana, help.

Nightwing's always been his sounding board about anything. Like a real brother. ]

[dickingaround]

...Yeah.

[Clipped, short-- Sometimes he does like to talk about his problems to someone who will listen, try to seek out some answers. Babs has offered to talk, and Wally has too; but there's no one he can really talk to about this. No one he trusts, at least.

Tim, I murdered the Joker. I haven't spoken with Bruce since you went missing. Surprise. Yeah, no way.

He moves away, gathering up the serum samples he'd come to collect.]

I gotta-- get going. We can-- hang out some time, after Bruce puts you through the ringer, if you're still up for it. You should probably go tell Alfie you're here, anyway.

[birdstalker]

[ He's a little disheartened that Dick's so strangely cagey, but the reason will out, eventually. It's just something else for Robin to puzzle and turn over. See if he can't poke his nose around and get an idea of what Bruce and Dick were fighting about. Alfred might be just the man he needs to see on that front. ]

Definitely. With the company I've had these past few days, I could really go for some one-on-one time.

[ King Shark really wasn't great conversation, at all.

For now, he'll go break the news to Alfred, and prepare for the inevitable flood of questions. Hopefully there'll be food in there, and a shower, and a change of clothes, and maybe a nap, too. Can crash in the guest room for a bit until Bruce gets in. ]

I'll swing by in a day or two, sound good?

[ He's going to make you commit to a thing, Dick. ]

[dickingaround]

Yeah-- sounds good.

[He's not really listening anymore-- not really paying attention to actually setting any plans in stone. Things are too different now, he thinks, for anything to really stand firm once Tim talks to Bruce. Bruce'll probably be worried and keep him busy anyway.

(He's starting to think, maybe, he's not as firm in his decision as he thought he was an hour ago-- but is that selfish? To have been fine with the Joker still being alive, if his little brother had survived the ordeal? The madman's gone and Tim's alive-- it should be the best of both worls, right?)

Distracted, clearly distracted, but not too much that he can't find his footsteps to start moving back towards the Cave's exit.]

I'll see you then.