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Tim locked the door behind him just before the familiar tingle of magic rushed through his body as he began to transform. His clothes melted into his skin, his bones morphed and fur began to sprout from his arms and legs. Mere seconds later, a small black cat had replaced the boy, and Tim slipped into the shadows.
Time to go birdwatching.
It was easier to reach the inner city as a cat than as a boy, as Tim had discovered early on. It took longer for him to get tired in this shape so he didn’t have to take the bus and attract unwanted attention from people concerned about a ten-year-old taking public transport alone at night. No one paid much attention to a presumed street cat, not in the way they’d look at a kid with a too expensive camera for this part of town hanging around his neck. Sure, it could get a little annoying to have to keep shifting whenever he wanted to take pictures, but Tim still preferred this to getting mugged or worse. He’d learnt his lesson from the first time he’d been nearly beaten into a pulp by a man who’d tried to steal his camera. He’d barely made it out in one piece. He’d been lucky he had the element of surprise when transforming into his cat form, and the man had backed away from his claws long enough for Tim to make his escape.
He usually tried to limit the amount of times he shifted. While he was used to channelling the magic now, after years of perfecting the craft, it was still tiring. When he was still figuring out his power, he’d overexerted himself quite a few times and had been stuck in cat form as a result. He really did not want a repeat of that.
Tim trotted through alleyways, keeping close to the walls in order not to be seen. Batman and Robin should be here soon, if his calculations of their patrol route were correct – which they were, he knew they were.
A flash of red and green in the sky above him, a light gust of wind, just barely unnatural. Tim would’ve grinned if he were human. He settled on a pleased twitch of his whiskers instead.
Tim made his way over to the nearest fire escape and expertly climbed it to reach the roof. There, high in the sky, was Robin, the Boy Wonder. His still developing wings were stretched out behind him as he glided through the air behind Batman, a shadow barely visible in the dim light Gotham exuded.
Tim tailed them for a while, hopping from rooftop to rooftop, waiting until Batman and Robin would stay still for a while. Before his powers had fully manifested, he’d tried to do the same in human form, and had quickly found out maybe that wasn’t such a good idea. He’d nearly fallen a few times too many and decided to buy a grapple gun with his parents’ money, but that had left him disappointed. Grapple guns were more difficult to use than Batman made it seem, it turned out. Tim had practiced for a few months until he could reliably grapple across rooftops, but he still preferred doing it in cat form, as he was more in control of his body like that. He still carried the grapple with him for when he was human, but it had been degraded to Option B.
He jumped to the next building when a voice startled him.
“Hey!”
Tim looked up at the yell. There was a man smoking on the roof he was perching on. Tim assumed it was the landlord of this building. He didn’t look happy as he approached Tim.
“How the hell did it get up here,” The man mumbled to himself, then, louder, at Tim, “Ksst, shoo!”
Uh oh. Tim frantically searched for a way out, but the next roof over was too far away, he wouldn’t be able to make that jump. His brain short circuited, and his time was up.
There was a sharp pain between his ribs, a scream ripped out of his throat, coming out as a high-pitched yowl in this body, his claws automatically shot out, trying to get a hold of something but there was just empty sky and wind rushing through his fur, and then he was falling, falling, falling-
And then he was flying, cocooned in a nest of safety and warmth.
“Ssh, it’s okay, I’ve got you.” A high, young voice, filled with kindness and care. “You’re safe now.” Tim looked up at his rescuer. A masked face smiled back.
Robin had caught him.
Tim quickly retracted his claws, noting the faint line of red he’d scratched across Robin’s arm.
Robin was holding him.
Robin was holding him.
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit-
Something was on his head. Tim let out a startled “mrow”. Robin was petting him, apparently. Tim couldn’t help but lean into it. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt a gentle touch.
“Come on, kitty, I’ll take you to B. He’s really nice, although he likes to act grumpy he’s actually a total softie. You’ll like him,” Robin rambled as they flew over the city, Tim purring in his arms. “He’s like my dad, kinda, but also not, you know? He asked to adopt me yesterday. I haven’t said yes yet, but I think I will. He’s better than my old dad ever was. B never yells at me or hits me and he doesn’t mind that I have wings, like my previous dad.” Robin’s wings fluttered happily and he went into a gentle dive, swooping down to land in front of a concealed entrance. Robin hadn’t stopped talking even while the wind was stealing away their breaths and he cheerily chatted on. “And Agent A is like B’s butler dad which makes him my grandpa. He’s the best .”
They’d made their way through a small tunnel system and had arrived in a huge space. Batman was sitting in a chair in front of a computer with the biggest screen Tim had ever seen.
“Jaylad,” Batman acknowledged. “Did you have a good time flying?”
“Yeah!” Robin exclaimed, flying over to Batman. Batman turned his chair around and spotted Tim in Robin’s arms.
“Jason.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you bring a kitten to the Batcave?”
“He was falling off a building! I saved him!”
Batman pinched the bridge of his nose. Tim couldn’t see his eyes behind the white lenses of his cowl, but he didn’t have to in order to know they were closed in exasperation. “That still doesn’t answer my question.”
Robin landed, ripping off his domino, wings puffed up in indignation. “He seemed like a stray, he has nowhere else to go. He’s just a kitten, look he’s so small.”
If Tim were in human form he’d have huffed. He was already ten years old, practically an adult!
“Bruuuuuce, can we keep him, pleeeease?” Jason begged. “I promise I’ll feed him and play with him and-” He scrunched up his nose in disgust. “and even clean his litter box so you and Alfred don’t have to do anything!” Jason held Tim up to Batman’s face. “Look, he’s so cute you can’t put him back on the street, and I already named him so he’s mine now. His name is Sparky!”
Tim's ear twitched in annoyance. Excuse him? That was not Tim’s name, he’d already chosen this one himself, thank you very much.
That’s it, he was shifting back. Tim’s fur rippled and made place for human skin and his bones reformed until he was human again. Jason yelped and dropped Tim, jumping backwards when instead of a kitten he was holding an entire human child.
“My name is Tim, not Sparky, thanks,” Tim said, arms crossed defiantly. “You do know that that’s a dog name, right?”
Jason gaped at him, mouth open comically wide. “I- You-” He pointed at Tim, then at himself.
“What, never seen a shapeshifter before?”
Jason’s eyes flickered over to Batman, who still hadn’t said anything, then back to Tim. “What the fuck?”
It dawned on Tim that maybe he shouldn’t have revealed himself to Batman and Robin. Well shit.
“What were you doing out at night on your own, Tim?” Bruce asked. He didn’t sound angry, just gentle and kind.
“Would you believe me if I said I was on a leisurely walk?” Tim tried.
Batman just stared.
Tim sighed. Of course that wouldn’t work, he was the goddamn Batman. “I... may or may not have been stalking you. Potentially.”
“What in the hell are you talking about?” Jason exclaimed.
Tim silently handed him his camera, hands shaky. He knew Batman didn’t hurt kids, but he’d never met a kid who knew his identity.
Jason accepted the device and began flicking through the pictures, wings jerking in surprise when he realised what he was looking at. He shoved the camera towards Batman. “Look B! He’s got pics of us, and of N too!”
“Shouldn’t you go back home to your parents, Tim?” Batman asked. “I’m sure they’re worried about you.”
But Tim shook his head. “They’re in France. They’ll be back in March.”
“March!” Jason yelped. “It’s October!”
“Are you saying you’re home alone?” Batman asked.
Tim nodded. “Sorry, Mr. Wayne.”
Jason’s eyes were nearly bulging out of his head. “Did you just-”
Tim gasped, covering his mouth with his hands. “I didn’t mean-”
Batman didn’t show much of a reaction besides a slight inclination of his head. “Since when have you known?”
Tim looked down at his feet, chewing on his cheek. “I figured it out about a year ago. Dick Grayson and Robin are the only ones who can successfully do a quadruple flip. Sorry.”
“I’m not mad,” Bruce said. “I think it’s very impressive.”
“Really?”
“Really. Have you told anyone?”
Tim shook his head vehemently. “No! I know it’s important no one knows, I promise I haven’t said anything! Please don’t hurt me.”
Tim knew Batman didn’t hurt kids, but he wasn’t just a kid, he was a kid who knew Batman’s greatest secret.
“Jason, why don’t you go take a shower and change? Alfred doesn’t like us sweating up the house.”
“But-”
Batman gave him a look. Jason acquiesced. He stomped towards a nearby door, wings defiantly sliding over the floor. He slammed the door extra hard for good measure. Tim flinched at the sound.
Batman turned his attention back to Tim, taking off his cowl. When he spoke, his voice was soft and reassuring, a calming lilt. “Tim, of course I’m not going to hurt you. I’d never. Like I said, I’m not angry about you knowing. I just needed to make sure you were the only one.”
“O-okay,” Tim breathed. “I am. The only one, I mean.”
“You’ll be staying with us,” Bruce decided.
“Wh-what?”
“Your parents won’t be home for another few months, right?” Tim nodded. “You can’t stay on your own all that time, I won’t allow it, not when we’ve got plenty of space here.”
“It’s fine, Mr. Wayne, I don’t want to be a bother. I know I’m annoying.”
“Tim.” Bruce kneeled down so he was eyelevel with Tim. There was nothing but kindness in his eyes. “You are never a bother, okay? Never. I’m giving you a place to stay because you’re too young to be home alone and I have the resources to help you. Besides, I think Jason would be happy to have another kid here, he’s been a bit lonely ever since Dick moved in with his boyfriend. He seems to like you.”
“Okay,” Tim gave in. If it was for Jason, he would do it. “If you say so.”
Bruce gave him a smile, just a small one, really, but on him, it was like a beam of light.
“I’ll go tell Alfred to prepare a room. Jason should be done soon and he can take you upstairs.” Bruce stood up, tossing his cape and cowl over the chair and making his way over to a staircase.
Tim just stood there for a moment, processing all that had happened in barely an hour, until the door Jason had disappeared behind reopened and Jason came out, now in a Wonder Woman themed pyjama. There was a hole cut out in the back of his shirt to let his wings through. They were draping over the floor, leaving a damp trail.
“Your wings are still wet,” Tim pointed out.
Jason craned to look over his shoulder. “Eh, whatever.” He shook his wings out, spraying water everywhere. Tim jumped back, hissing. He hated water.
Jason burst out laughing. Tim glared at him.
“Sorry, it’s just- You still act like a cat even when you’re human, that’s so funny.”
Tim stuck his tongue out at him. “Okay, birdboy.”
Jason’s bangs had fallen in his face during his bout of laughter and he now swept it back with his right arm. A thin red line caught Tim’s eye as he did so, and he winced.
“I’m sorry,” Tim said.
Jason raised an eyebrow. “What for?”
Tim pointed at his arm. “I hurt you.”
Jason laughed, a joyful cackle. “This? It’s barely a scratch, Timbers. Trust me, I’ve had worse. Besides, it was an accident. I’d rather get a little prick than having a Timmy shaped pancake on the streets.”
Tim was silent for a while. He didn’t know what to say. “Okay then... If you say so.”
Jason nodded resolutely. “I do say so. Now, come on. Alfred’s hot cocoa is the best in the land!”
He grabbed Tim by the arm and began dragging him upstairs. They stepped out into a hallway. Jason led Tim toward the kitchen where a kind looking elderly man was standing.
“Hi Alfie, this is Tim! He’s gonna stay with us for a while! He’s a cat!”
“Master Bruce has informed me, yes. Hello, Master Tim, it’s nice to meet you.”
Tim stammered out a greeting.
“I’ve prepared you a bedroom right besides Master Jason’s, I hope that’s alright with you.”
“Yeah, of course, that’s fine.”
Alfred made a hand motion and a cabinet opened. Three mugs flew out. Alfred did the same to a pan and expertly began preparing the hot chocolate.
Jason leaned over and whispered in Tim’s ear. “Alfred is a wizard.”
Tim nodded enthusiastically, fixated on the floating kitchenware. He’d never seen a wizard before.
Bruce walked in, wearing a hoodie and sweatpants. He took a seat around the kitchen island. Jason nudged Tim to follow. A steaming mug floated his way, landing in front of him. Tim gave Alfred a grateful nod and warmed his hands on the ceramic.
“So, Tim, how long have you had your powers?” Bruce asked.
Tim perked up. No one had asked about his shapeshifting before. Granted, only his parents knew about it, but they didn’t like it. His mom had told him not to use his powers around other people. Dad had said nothing, just nodded with her and never mentioned it again.
But now Bruce actually wanted to know about it!
“Ever since I was little. I used to only be able to transform partly, just a tail or some fur on my arms, but I practiced and now I can easily fully transform! Why, do you know any shapeshifters?”
Jason choked on his cocoa. “Does he know -”
“Tim,” Bruce said gently. “I’m a werewolf.”
Tim’s brain short-circuited and he couldn’t utter a word.
Batman was a werewolf.
Well. That explained a lot.