Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tim - Host doesn’t know about anyone in the system
Timmy - Little and memory holder, knows about Nightwing and Tim
Robin - Factive and Little, knows about Tim and JJ
Nightwing - Caregiver and Emotional Protector, Knows about everyone
JJ - Brain made and Little, knows about Tim and Robin
Red Robin - Brain made and Physical Protector, knows about everyone

“Timothy Jackson Drake!” The jerk his body gave was enough to wake him up, on the verge of tears, heart racing, and thoughts jumbled. But Tim then felt this comfort fall over him like he’d been given a weighted blanket for his brain.

Don’t worry, I’ve got you. We’re safe, you can go back to bed.

The exhaustion of a nightmare at 2:30 in the morning was enough to get him to fall asleep again, especially with the comfort his brain provided him. The blankets covering his body, the warmth he felt from them coupled with the weight of them were helping to lull him back to sleep despite the nightmare.
***
His head was cloudy as he fought his way from the hands of sleep knowing he had to get up for the day despite it being his day off. He let out a little whine as he realized he’d have to go downstairs and interact with people but quickly it died in his throat. Why was he whining, he was a full grown 15 year old, he shouldn’t be whining. 

Tim stared in front at the wall his laptop was on for about 3 or 4 minutes before feeling his autopilot turn on and his body sat up out of bed for him, reminding him that it was time to get ready for the day once again. So he went through his morning routine, mouth wash, brush teeth, get dressed, do his hair then head down stairs. By the time he’d made it to the kitchen it had been 20 minutes which was the perfect amount of time so the fluoride of his toothpaste would do its job. 

When he arrived in the kitchen, he was starving, ready for some waffles, eggs, and fresh fruit that Alfred always served on Tim’s day off knowing it was his favorite. Jason and Dick were down there already having stayed the night after an extra long night of patrol, each hugging a steaming mug, Jason’s filled with green tea and Dick’s with a latte filled with some sort of sugary syrup. 

Somehow despite being the grumpiest in the mornings, Jason apparently thought it was too quiet and decided he’d start the morning for everyone.
“So how did everyone sleep? Because I slept like a baby. I always forget how these beds are like clouds.”

Dick grunted out an affirmative into his hot latte, and put his head down on the table before hearing Alfred clear his throat. His head shot up and he took another sip from his latte, speaking clearly this time,

“Sorry Alfie”

Jason was looking at Tim now, what was the question again?

“What did you ask?”

“Yikes kid. Question answered. You must’ve slept like a rock if you’re still not coherent.” Tim started to feel something like shame for not remembering the question. His face heating up and almost wanting to cry. He must be tired if he’s trying not to cry after taking a single joke from Jason.

“You know those nights when you have a nightmare and your entire body is flowing with energy until that comfy voice reminds you that you’re safe and they help lull you back to a blissful and calm sleep?” Jason looked at him like he did not know those nights.

“I don’t get it that way, but sometimes after a nightmare I can hear the voices of who was in my dream, replaying over and over.” Jason seemed a little heavier after that admission, Tim had to lighten the mood again, he didn’t mean to make breakfast a trauma dump session. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you think about your nightmares first thing in the morning.”

“It’s okay kid, if you ever need to talk about it, I’m here. And I mean it, none of this feeling like a burden shit that you do. Capishe?”

Tim nodded quietly as Alfred set the food down on the table, feeling this far away feeling of shame again in a way that he hadn’t felt in quite a while. Not since. . .

“Tim, seriously. You good?”

“Sorry I was just. . .I forgot what I was thinking about.” This was so frustrating, maybe he just needed a cup of coffee. Tim got up and walked over to the coffee pot with the liquid gold sitting inside and went to grab his cup. It was the same mug he’d used since he was a kid, one he found in a hot topic that was black but had the Nightwing symbol slowly pop up as it got warmer. Jason used to be jealous of it but once he realized it was just part of Tim’s untouchable routine, he got Tim a Red Hood mug that he used for late night tea. 
“Hey Alfie, have you seen my mug?” Alfred gave him a slightly confused look.

“I believe I already filled it with your morning coffee.” Tim looked back at the table to find his steaming cup of coffee sitting there waiting for him. Tim went back to the table and sat down, with a weird look coming from Bruce, who had just walked in. Jason looked slightly confused as well, but thought better of bringing it up again and continued to eat his waffles and his eggs. This was going to be a long day if Tim couldn’t get his brain together.

Chapter Text

Even after his morning cup of coffee, Tim was still exhausted, his body feeling heavy and his eyelids even heavier. He went to bring his laptop to his bed to hopefully try and get lost in some case work for the day, which worked for a few hours. He lost himself in the frenzy of trying to write up some case reports he’d fallen behind on. 

The exhaustion was still very prevalent, and began to grow as the sun shone through his window and onto his bed. Eventually the sunlight filtering through his window had landed on him and he felt his body getting heavy again and found himself thinking, this sunlight is so warm!! Time for a nap please!!! Please, Please, Pleeeeease!!!!

Why would Tim argue with himself, of course it was time for a nap but he soon heard a whine leave himself and he flinched. He wasn’t sure why his body reacted that way but soon Tim felt himself drift off. 

Timmy looked around and remembered that he’d been trying to get Tim to stop working forever and ever! So, Timmy grabbed all of the papers and put them back on the table nice and neat so mommy wouldn’t get mad at him for having a messy room. Timmy was always a little confused on why Tim didn’t like to go to sleep but Timmy was looking at the warm sunny spot on the bed like it was made exclusively for him. 

No Fair!!! I wanna lay down too!! Maybe we can lay in the sun together before nighttime and papa brings the **** machine.

Timmy ignored the thought and continued to clean the room as quickly as he could, picking up all of their clothes and wondering why they would just leave them on the floor. Mom taught him better than this. Timmy was just about to grab his stuffed fox that he hid under the bed until he knew that it was an okay time to take a nap when a knock on the door had Timmy hit his head on the bed he was under grabbing Ms. Fox. 

“Hey Tim, I hope you don’t mind. I just wanted to see if you had any info for a case that I’m working on abou– why are you half way under your bed?”

Uh oh. It was Dick, it would be so embarrassing if he found him acting like Timmy and grabbing Ms. Fox from under the bed.

“Nothing.” Timmy coughed realizing his voice felt too high. He really couldn’t deal with getting in trouble for hiding things again. 

“I can come back later if you want. . .” Dick said confused, acting like he’d walked in on his brother in an inappropriate manner. Tim coughed again and next thing he knew, he was ready and on his toes, back straight and arms crossed over his chest.

“You’re fine, what case did you need help with?” Red was trying to get this over with because he could feel Timmy just dying to get out and lay on the patch of sun on the bed. 

It’s almost gone!!!! I’m not gonna get my nap!!

Focus. That’s what Red needed to do but it was so damn hard to stay grounded in the moment with Dick rambling on and on.

“-- you could hack into an encrypted file for me later since Babs is out of town right now.” Dick was still looking at him like he was a ticking time bomb which he wasn’t!! 

“Yeah, when do you need it done by?” 

“Just later tonight, no rush.” Dick paused and his head tilted in questioning. 

“I didn’t know you were a nail biter.” 

“I’m not”

“What do you mean, you’re doing it right now” Damn it Timmy.

“Okay shows over, please get out. I need time to get into that file you need me to unlock.” Red’s voice was slightly higher now and he was fighting back the urge to whine and start stomping his feet which meant that Timmy was about to take over and Dick nor anyone else needed to be present around him. 

“Thank you, if you need to talk I’m al–”

“Yep, thanks, bye.”
Tim felt like crying and whining and thrashing around on his bed in upset because the sun spot was almost a place he couldn’t lay and now he wouldn’t get his comfy nap, or the warm sun, and mom was gonna find Ms. Fox and then she’d be mad at him and then she’d take him away and – 

Breathe baby bird, let’s go lay down.

Next thing they knew they were laying in bed in the sunspot with Ms. Fox and a heating pad on low to mimic the sun’s heat for Timmy.

When Timmy began to fall deeper into sleep he could almost feel the arms of his big brothers around him, comforting him, and protecting him from anything that would try and hurt him. 

Timmy come here.

His mom didn’t call him Timmy unless he’d messed up. . . what had he done this time? Was the soap in the bathroom empty? Had he forgotten to clean up his mess in the kitchen?

Why are your shoes by the door? How many times do I have to tell you to move your shoes to your room? You make this home that I paid for and spent so much time working on look like a pig sty with how lazy you are. Are you seriously so lazy that you can’t take your own shoes up to your room?”

“But last week you said you didn’t want me to track dirt through the house.” Tim was confused, he thought he’d done what his mother had asked him.

“I don’t remember saying any such thing. Do you remember me saying that Jack?”

“Nope”

“See, I don’t need you lying, just fix it. You’re grounded for the next two weeks just so you know, no going out with friends when you get back to school, understood?” Tim wanted to argue but he knew that it would be futile, it’s not like they would know what he was doing when they left for their next trip in 4 days.

“Yes”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, Ma’am” Tim was so ashamed that he couldn’t follow a simple rule but he also felt like the rules were changing all the time. Timmy would always get in trouble with mom, she was always mad at him for something.

His body flinched awake, scared that his mom was still mad at him but then he remembered that she was out of the country unable to be mad at him. Why would she be mad at him anyway, she was level headed and his mom, she knew best. 

Right?

Chapter Text

Tim was having an emotional rollercoaster of a day. He couldn’t put together why he was but he was. After an hour-long nap, Tim started work on this encrypted file that his brother needed him to jailbreak. It would’ve been a walk in the park typically but today his head felt like it was full of water with thoughts floating around but unable to be grasped. However, Tim had his sure fire way of working through the water.

Tim rolled his chair over to the other corner of the room where he had a small mini fridge stocked with all the caffeine he could need and the best way to get it. Through an ice cold Zesti. Normally, Alfred would be upset by the idea of having a fridge in any of their rooms but it was the compromise that Alfred made with Tim. Tim was allowed a fridge in his room but only if it was filled with soda and not anymore energy drinks since they had ‘too much caffeine at once’ according to Alfred, but Tim kept his side of the bargain.

That first sip helped to clear his head a little bit making the jailbreak slightly more tolerable, but the process went pretty quickly after that small pick me up. Tim felt like spinning in circles in his chair, filled with pride but also excitement, although he’d hacked a million different files before he always lit up whenever he got into another one.

Tim granted himself permission to spin around in his chair and he was ready to start flapping his arms around as well but he was interrupted by a knock on his door. 

***

Call him overbearing but Dick wanted to make sure that Tim was feeling okay. It was unlike him to be so secretive with him, or at least Dick thought so.

So Dick tried to get him back in the game by giving him an easy project to get his head in the game and hopefully feel more normal especially after a restless night filled with nightmares. They all had their ways of dealing with them and Tim typically liked to throw himself into his work so Dick gave him the opportunity to.

Was it the healthiest way of coping with negative emotions or triggering situations? Maybe not, but Dick never claimed he was a professional, he just wanted to help.

Dick went and knocked on Tim’s door a few hours later, a few minutes before he was supposed to be getting ready for patrol in the cave.

Dick knocked on the door and waited for what felt like forever before the door opened.

“Hey baby bird. You got that file for me?” Tim looked confused.

“What file?”

Shit. Dick actually did need that file to be opened

“I’m just kidding! The look on your face was hilarious! That’s what you get for interrupting my nap earlier.” Dick laughed hesitantly.

“Yeah, good one.” Although Dick didn’t agree at least Tim didn’t seem to be in the same fog he’d been in that morning.

“I hope you did get your nap eventually, I didn’t mean to interrupt one.” They all knew how little sleep Tim actually got even when he was laying in bed asleep it was almost never restful. Everyone knew that, which made it feel that much worse knowing Dick interrupted one of his chances at a nap.

“Hey, I didn’t have time to check what was in the file, you wouldn’t mind filling me in would you?” Tim asked curiously.

“Oh nothing big, I believe it was supposed to be new formulas that Scarecrow was thinking up for his next batch of fear toxin.” Dick was slightly confused. 

“Didn’t you look at the file after opening it?” It was Tim’s turn to look confused.

“No, why would I do that, it’s not my job.” Dick knew that Tim typically read everything he opened for them not wanting to be out of the loop of the latest rogue's plans or any reports that could be helpful to his cases.

“But you -” Dick was cut off by the sound of Alfred clearing his throat behind him.

“Master Dick, I do believe it is time for you to get ready for patrol.”

“I was just talking with Tim about the file I needed” 

“Those conversations are meant for the cave and both of you know it. Also, you know Master Tim isn’t supposed to be working on any field work until he’s cleared from that migraine he’d had a few days back” Tim winced knowing he’d been caught and knowing he’d have dish duty as soon as he was cleared.

When Dick didn’t have to look behind him to feel Alfred’s glare and know that he’d be on dish duty for tonight’s dinner. 

“Sorry Alfred. I’ll see you later Baby Bird.” When Dick looked over at Tim he found his eyes focused on his keyboard where his fingers lay, eyes looking but not seeing. Maybe Alfred was right about no bat related work until he was cleared.

“Don’t worry Master Dick. I’ll care for Master Tim, for you however, I believe it is time to prepare for patrol.” Dick was tentative to leave Tim on his own but he’d be in Alfred’s more than capable hands.

“Okay” 

When Dick got to the cave, Dick brought up his concern for Tim to Bruce. 

“Hey B, do you think Tim has been acting weird? He just doesn’t seem to be acting like himself.” In classic Bruce fashion, he responded with a grunt instead of any words like any healthy person would.

“Maybe I’m just being paranoid because my migraines don’t look like his but something feels off about him today.”

“Dick, we all get migraines and they put us out for anywhere from two to four days at a time, even if the pain isn’t evident to others.”

“Way to dance around the question B.” However, Bruce made a noise of dismissal that told Dick he’d have to get ready for patrol

“I’d have to agree, Dickwad. We all deal with pain in our own ways, you’re definitely over-reacting.” It was only Dick’s years of training that kept him from jumping out of his skin, forgetting that Jason was patrolling tonight as well.

“I guess I’m just being -”

“A pain in the ass?” Jason jokingly questioned. “What else is new?”