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Bernard knew something was wrong the second Tim showed up at his apartment. He'd already texted to say that he was going to be late so Bernard wasn't all that concerned at first when Tim stumbled in sometime past 10:40 pm. "Long day at the office, hon?" He asked sympathetically, moving to offer Tim some of the takeout he'd bought when he noticed the fresh black eye blooming around Tim's cheek. "What the hell? What happened to you?" He jumped up from the couch to find an ice pack.
"It's nothing, I'm fine," Tim lied, badly. "I just want to spend some time with you."
Bernard wrapped the ice pack back in a dish towel, walking back to gently help Tim ice his face. "Okay, you don't have to tell me what happened, but are you okay?"
"I am now," Tim said, and that was the end of it.
For a little while.
Until it happened again. After finding out about a bank robbery with hostages, Tim had run off and came back limping. The news had said that Red Robin was shot.
"What happened to your leg?" Bernard asked with far more innocence than he should be capable of.
"I just pulled a muscle," Tim laughed, "I didn't stretch enough before my morning without."
How do you tell your boyfriend, who knows you're into conspiracies, that you think he's Robin?
Bernard decided the answer was that he wouldn't. Instead, he began getting training of his own. When Tim asked him why he decided to get his emergency medical technician certification, he simply said he'd been inspired by Robin to do what he could to help.
He didn't tell him that he was also planning on using those new skills to return the favor.
He just hadn't expected to need them as soon as he did.
Bernard dressed in cargo pants and a jacket, definitely not stalking his boyfriend during patrol. He'd long passed suspicious and had happily settled into unofficially confirmed. His boyfriend, Tim Drake, was Robin. The same Robin that had saved him from a homicidal cult.
And this time, Tim was the one that needed help. He'd gotten stabbed by a villain and from what Bernard could see, it looked pretty bad. Tim was crouched in an alley with Red Hood covering him, but he clearly didn't want to leave Tim alone like this.
"Who the hell are you?" Red Hood asked, pointing his gun at Bernard, who put his hands up.
"I'm here to help," he said before noticing out of the corner of his eyes that Tim was reaching around to try to take the knife out, "Hey! Don't you touch that!" Bernard snapped at him, forgetting about the gun pointed at him. "Right now that knife is keeping you from bleeding out," he said, pulling some sterile gauze and medical tape out of his pockets to stabilize the knife, "You guys have a doctor you go to, right?"
Red Hood nodded, “Yeah, Dr. Thompkins.”
“Help me take him there,” Bernard said, “He needs stitches and I can’t do that.” Thankfully, Red Hood didn’t bother to put up an argument. Instead, he led Bernard to a clinic, helping him keep Tim's arm still the whole time.
"Are you ever gonna tell us who you are?" Red Hood grumbled.
"Red Robin knows who I am," Bernard said firmly.
Even with both their masks, Bernard could see that Tim hadn't known until now. Or maybe he just hadn’t wanted to believe it. "B-"
"Don't call me that right now, not with that knife in your shoulder," Bernard cut him off.
Tim snapped his mouth shut, "Then what should I call you?"
“I don’t care, pick something,” Bernard said.
The tension was getting too much for Jason who decided to chime in, “Nah, you don’t want that. Drake here will come up with something terrible.” He eyed Bernard again, “What about Caladrius?” He suggested without follow-up.
Tim and Bernard both looked at each other in confusion, Tim shrugged so Bernard finally asked, “What’s a caladrius?”
“They’re birds from Roman mythology, supposed to be able to heal the sick,” Jason said casually. “I’ve got a feeling we could use someone with your skills around. Might as well fit the whole theme.”
“Hood!” Tim shouted. “What the hell?”
“We get injured a lot,” Jason said, opening the door to the clinic, “it’d be nice to have someone lighten Doc Thompkins’ load.” He had a point.
Bernard scoffed at both of them, “It’s my decision, Red Robin,” he said, anger starting to edge into his voice.
“Hey,” Tim said softly, “What’s going on?” Jason slipped out of the room to find Leslie while they talked.
“We’re gonna have to have a talk when this is all over,” Bernard said, softening slightly when he looked back at Tim, “But you need to stop thinking you know what’s best for me, especially when you were dumb enough to try to take a knife out! How many times did I tell you not to do that while I was in tech school? Explicitly for this purpose!”
Tim stared at Bernard, “Wait, how long have you known I’m Robin?”
“You’re the reason I got my cert,” Bernard admitted, a little embarrassed.
Tim's jaw dropped while he did the math in his head. "Over a year?" He asked hoarsely. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Can we all stop pretending to not be on the same page now?" Jason asked when he burst in with Leslie in tow, making Tim look at him in panic, "I've wanted to meet Little B ever since you came out, Timmy. Nice to meet you, kid. I'm Jason."
Bernard's face bloomed into a grin while Tim hid his face in his hands, only to be scolded by Leslie for moving his arm while she was examining him. "Jason Todd?" Bernard asked, glee sneaking into his voice, "I was right?" He looked back at Tim who was avoiding eye contact with him and instead focusing on Leslie. “You know, if you want people to not think it’s you, you should probably stop destroying your grave.”
“Well I’m not dead anymore, so what’s the point of it,” Jason muttered, “Maybe someone should stop rebuilding it.”
"What else was I right about?” Bernard asked, but Tim was still avoiding eye contact. “Oliver Queen is Batman, isn't he?"
Jason laughed, "No, but I'll pay you $20 to call him that."
"Call Oliver Queen Batman or the other way around?"
"Both," Jason and Tim said in unison and shared a grin that disappeared quickly, making Bernard realize a looming figure had entered the room.
Bernard spun to behind him and, sure enough, there was the legend himself. "Hey, Mr. Queen," he said awkwardly, drawing out a barking laugh from Jason who handed him a $20.
"Who are you?" He asked in a voice much softer than Bernard expected.
"B-" he started, before catching himself, "Caladrius." Jason grinned at him.
"He's cool, B," Jason said, "Helped patch the baby bird up real good. And actually got him to listen."
The corners of Batman's mouth quirked up in what looked like amusement, "That's impressive," he said in a deadpan.
"Hey," Tim attempted to object, though he knew better than to put the effort in. The rest of the room sent him a look full of judgment and he ducked his head to avoid eye contact.
"Maybe try that again when you haven't just gotten a knife taken out of your shoulder," Leslie suggested, tapping his bad shoulder to remind him. "You're going to need to avoid using that for at least a week, please. And come back for a follow-up in two days."
“A week?” Bernard asked.
With the heavy sigh of someone who’s been involved in Bat shenanigans for far too long, Leslie turned to him, “I’ve given up trying to mandate the actual healing time. Two weeks would be better, a month would be ideal.”
“Got it,” Bernard said, glaring at Tim, “Two weeks.”
“You can’t ma-”
“Two. Weeks.” His tone left no room for argument and Tim finally looked away from the intense staring match. “Minimum.”
“Fine,” Tim said, “But I’m gonna complain the whole time.”
Forgetting about the terrifying bat in the room, Bernard gently kissed Tim, gently placing a hand on his cheek. “Yeah, I know. I’m okay with that.”
Batman coughed to remind them they weren’t alone, making both boys blush. “We probably have some things to discuss, Robin and… Caladrius, you said?” Bernard nodded. “That’s a good one, did you come up with it?”
“No. Red Hood did, he said it had something to do with Roman mythology.” For some reason that made Batman smile in a weirdly soft way, and suddenly Bernard understood why Jason had thought it was so funny when he assumed Batman was Oliver Queen. There was really only one thing Tim Drake and Jason Todd had in common, besides both being former Robins.
Bruce Wayne.
When they talked about their families Tim had mentioned Bruce was weird, somehow Bernard hadn’t thought that meant dressing up in a bat costume and fighting crime. It was all starting to make sense though. This was one dysfunctional family.
Bernard just hoped one day he could be a part of it.