Chapter Text
Ra's lay on the harsh rocky ground, the last of his energy seeping away now that all the Lazarus Pits were destroyed. Despite his frail state on the ground, the madman still seemed inexplicably strong as he continued to chuckle icily, the last League of Assassins base in flames behind him.
The Bat Clan stood tall in front of the dying man. There was nothing they could do to save him, not that anyone (probably not even Bruce) would try to save the 700-year-old man. Ra's has tormented the world long enough.
Batman stood in the front, face impassive yet dark. Cass and Steph were both standing tall slightly to the back, glowering at the old man at Bruce's feet.
At his left, Dick loomed directly over Bruce's right shoulder. This was the man who hurt his family so much, Ra's hurt Bruce, tried to possess Damian and abused his little brother, nearly killed Tim (he never did find out exactly what made Ra's so angry-), not to mention all the pain he caused Jason and Cass, if indirectly. That is not mentioning all the other people whose lives he ruined.
Duke was frozen opposite from Cass and Steph. He did not have as big a personal stake in this as the others. He joined the family a bit late for that. However, he saw all the damage this man's actions caused on his family, all their scars and hurt. Duke did not feel an ounce of pity for Ra's al Ghul, though he might be having nightmares about this moment for days to come.
Jason stood, closest to Dick but still more than an arm's distance, his helmet removed. Jason wanted to see this bastard die with his own two eyes.
Tim and Damian stood the furthest back, both still wary of the dying man. They both learned not to underestimate him.
-
Bruce couldn't bring himself to feel guilt over not helping the dying man before him. His righteous fury placated him as much as it terrifies him. Was Ra's not living? Would this count as murder? But no. Ra's had far outlived his live-span. Still, Bruce couldn't help the warring emotions inside him. His morals vs his emotions.
The Batman is pulled out of his inner conflict by the rattled cough of the Demon's Head. Each cough racked the man's body like an earthquake as magma-like blood began to drip from his mouth. Ra's fingers spasmed uselessly as he tried to grasp the dust and rocks on the ground to steady himself. The man was dying. On his knees, in the dirt. Weak on the outside, just like he was on the inside. Bruce didn't believe people who hurt others as readily as Ra's were anything but truly weak.
Ra's stared off in the distance, his eyes unfocused, as his gaze tried to flicker up at his former protigé.
"After the damage you caused last time..." Ra's rasped, " I thought I had stopped underestimating you, Detective. But it seems you have exceeded even my greatest predictions."
Bruce didn't react outwardly to the praising words, except with a few words, "You've never truly known me Ra's. Just an idealised version of the heir you imagined."
The dying man only laughed hoarsely, his maniacal laughter teetering off into bloody coughs once more.
"And you surprise me still." Ra's muttered, as he smirked, struggling to lift his head, "What's with the secrets, Detective? I thought family doesn't keep secrets from eachother."
Anger overwhelmed Bruce at that statement. How dare this man call himself family. What gives him the right?
Dick gripped his shoulder in silent support, despite the rage pouring off him in waves too. His oldest son was undeniably the closest to Damian, and knew full well that despite the blood ties, this man did not deserve to call himself his little brother's grandfather or family.
Taking a deep breath, Bruce tried to regain his composure. Batman couldn't lose control.
As if smelling blood in the water Ra's decided to push further, "The loneliest man in the world, rejected by his own family,"
The immortal smiled cruelly. Bruce felt confused for the first time. Rejected? By his family?
"They don't understand that pain," Ra's continued, "But I do."
The man's eyes sharpened as they stared firmly behind Bruce. Towards Damian, Bruce noted. The others turned but Bruce kept his gaze firmly on the man before him.
"And my heir will too, after all... what's a bigger betrayal than being abandoned by one's father."
At that, Bruce turned, while his other children cried in outrage. Jason nearly socked the man in the jaw for that one.
Damian's eyes were blown wide. His son's eyes shifted to Bruce, pleading. He would never abandon his son. If Ra's believed that even for a second, he was truly mad. He tried to convey this to Damian through pure will and words. "I would never abandon you."
Damian sagged with relief as Tim put a comforting hand on his shoulder, the older boy staring resolutely at Ra's.
Turning back to the abomination that dared call himself a man, he saw the age finally catch up to the ancient man. His wrinkles doubled, and continued to do so in front of Bruce's eyes.
"I took inspiration from your grief-induced spirals, Detective. After I learned of it... I truly considered you a viable heir..." Ra's rasped, coughing once more. What did he mean? He, took inspiration from Batman? It was all so confusing. The only thing Bruce could think of which could fit in context... was Robin. Ra's always wanted an heir. Was he talking about Damian? Or... the time after Jason? Bruce didn't remember a lot from that time, but he felt immense guilt. He knew he hurt a lot of people, turned ruthless and merciless. If Tim hadn't come...
"But unlike you. I succeeded in my endeavor."
Now Bruce truly was confused. It just didn't fit.
"What the hell do you mean?" Jason growled at Ra's.
"He says truth." Cass said, just loud enough for the family to hear.
The dying man's gaze finally landed on Bruce, the man struggling to look up at him, "How about... a parting gift. For my old student," Ra's finally pulled himself up enough to look Bruce in the eye, the sly, cruel smirk still on his face, "I have a base left untouched. A new one, after all, I couldn't have the Detective finding that one... Good luck, Bruce."
Ra's laugh was more of a wheeze at this point. "Tick-tock, Detective. The place of your first victory against me, will be my last."
By now, Ra's looked older than any man Bruce had ever seen. His skin was more wrinkled than dirt, his hair pearly white and fleeting. With a sickening thought, Bruce realised that Ra's hands were starting to rot and crumble away.
And with one final breath, he was gone.
-
Tim was pale. He knew he was. Ra's final words rang through his head. "I took inspiration from your grief-induced spirals, Detective. After I learned of it... I truly considered you a viable heir..."
He was talking about Tim. About his spiral after Kon. He didn't want to think about it. He couldn't. The thing he nearly did...
Which apparently Ra's did do. "But unlike you. I succeeded in my endeavor."
An heir. Ra's created an heir. "And my heir will too, after all... what's a bigger betrayal than being abandoned by one's father."
Ra's had an heir. He created one. The fact that he went the cloning method meant he probably couldn't go the natural route, so no women involved. So which father? Was Ra's talking about himself, or the other father? Who's the other father? Did they know? Who-? Ra's stared towards Damian towards Tim.
No.
No no no no no no no no. NO.
It couldn't be. Tim doesn't have a child.
Ra's couldn't have. He had Tim's spleen, his DNA.
"Tick-tock, Detective. The place of your first victory against me, will be my last."
He needed to find them. And Tim knew where.
"What's with the secrets, Detective? I thought family doesn't keep secrets from eachother."
Tim couldn't tell them. not yet. Not until he knew.
-
Everyone was quiet and tense on the Batplane, towards Gotham.
The silence was temporarily broken by Tim moving towards the computer, muttering something about starting the search for the base.
Tim of course kept an ear on the discussion. He wanted to know what kind of conclusion his family would draw.
The rest of the family stood around the plane, wondering where to start.
Dick seemed to know exactly how to start the discussion as he asked in a more somber tone than usual, "What was he talking about?"
Jason scoffed, "Which part? Cuz the whole thing seemed like crazy talk to me."
"I gotta agree with Jason," Duke placated, "I may not know a lot about the dude but he sure seemed a bit... loony. And I couldn't be the only one who couldn't follow a single thing he said."
Most of the family hummed in agreement.
"Me." Damian said, drawing himself out of the shadows a bit, being so high-strung meant he was falling back on his assassin training. "Grandfather was talking about me. It's the only logical explanation."
Not a bad conclusion to draw, especially with their lack of information, Tim thought as he continued to type away at the computer. He already had a solid start, unlike the rest of his family. Paris wasn't a place he'd forget soon.
"I- don't know," Bruce spoke up, "We already destroyed the League base where I first beat Ra's."
"Guys. What if he wasn't talking about a specific base, but more of an area?" Duke asked, gesturing with slight restraint.
"He's right," Jason chewed on his lip.
"Yeah, didn't he mention a new base?" Steph asked.
Tim nodded distractedly, he was finally cracking through the last few encriptions of uncorrupted League data.
"Tt, but why say, 'couldn't have the Detective find that one'?" Damian said, drawing his cape around himself. It was obvious this whole situation was irritating him.
Tim winced. Because I would've destroyed it and foiled whatever new bullshit he was planning.
Steph sighed, getting annoyed, "I don't know. Maybe the old cakoo was getting mental damage from dying- Not that he wasn't already derranged- What he said was quite disjointed."
Yeah, Tim thought, Because he was having a creepy one sided conversation with ME. Just the usual. Quite rude not to involve the rest of you in the room(desert). One last Fuck You from the old bastard as he talks AT me like he did when I was with the League.
Jason shrugged, "I mean, it'd make sense. He must've had a few screws loose. The Pit doesn't exactly do wonders for mental stability."
Bruce frowned, "But the messages don't make sense. If he was talking about an heir, he was probably talking about Damian or me. But seeing as he mentioned 'being betrayed by one's father', that leaves only Damian,"
Bruce turns towards his youngest and removed his cowl.
"He should know I'd never betray my son." The man said with conviction.
"It could be a set up," Dick suggests, "Ra's did mention a last victory, he could've set a trap to manipulate Dami."
Cass suddenly got everyone's attention, 'maybe he has a way to make sure the League survives' she signed.
"But how?" Steph exclaimed, "Damian defected and made his stance pretty clear. Bruce won't kill. The only possible remaining candidate is Talia but she's been off the grid for months-"
As words registered in Tim's mind, he had to stop himself from reacting. Oops. He may or may not have threatened Talia at the start of this whole crusade to keep her nose out of her father's business for a while. With the reputation he gained in the League of Assassins from the last time he was there blowing most bases sky high, it wasn't too hard.
"-not to mention," Steph continued with a huff, "Ra's is a petty, misogynistic piece of shit."
While it drew quiet laughs from most of those on board, Tim met Cass' eyes.
That ruled out Nyssa too.
Cass' gaze lingered on Tim before her eyes widened a miniscule amount.
Tim quickly shook his head, imperceptibly for most.
It definitely wasn't what Cass was thinking.
She relaxed at that.
Then Barbara spoke up. "Guys, I think we've overlooked a very easy explanation."
Everyone turned to the speakers on the jet.
"... That Ra's chose a new heir."
Jason snorted, "We kinda already established that, Barbie."
Babs only sighed, "No. I mean a new Detective."
Silence.
"What if Ra's wasn't talking to Bruce... but to whoever this new Detective is."
No one noticed Tim freeze. Because everyone else was also frozen, though for a different reason entirely.
"But then why was he looking at Father when he said that?" Damian asked, more subdued than usual.
He wasn't, Tim thought.
"He wasn't," Dick said, as Tim's eyes snapped to him.
"His eyes were unfocused," the man continued, "he could barely keep his head up..."
Now everyone stared at Dick.
"... It could be that in his delirium, he thought that Bruce was... whoever this new Detective is."
Tim wasn't sure if he should speak up. This felt like the worst possible moment to draw attention to himself, but he'd been too quiet. And... maybe he could push them in the right direction (not completely though).
"It makes sense." Tim keeps a carefully blank face as everyone whips around to face him as he seemed to abandon his work on the computer.
"He called you Bruce," the young detective said as he turned to his adoptive father, "Before his death, he called you his student and Bruce. Not Detective."
"Then why the hell would he think Bruce is the new guy?" Duke asked, seeming even more lost. He had the least context about this situation after all.
"Because they look the same." Jason exclaimed nonchalantly, shrugging as if the answer was obvious.
Everyone just stared.
"Come on guys!" Jason paced as he continued his explanation, "I can't be the only one who's figured it out! Ra's couldn't get Bruce, so he created Damian. Then Damian defects... so, what does he do? He takes on another apprentice. One who fills out the same weird criteria that old bastard has. Black hair. Blue eyes. Great intuition. Probably extremely smart with a shit-ton of trauma!"
Wow. Those points were pretty spot on. Many often forgot just how smart Jason was. Often dismissing his brain for his obvious brawn. Tim was impressed. That was a pretty accurate conclusion to come to without the full picture. Not to mention it was also somewhat correct. Mostly correct even.
Damian scoffed, "Not great enough if he got himself tangled up in Grandfather's mess."
Damn. Tim subtly clutches his chest. Dami knew to hit right where it hurt. Not that Tim had much of a choice in joining Ra's for that year of hell that's what he tells himself anyway.
He suddenly felt the brush of a gentle hand on his shoulder. Cass smiled down at him from behind her mask. God, he loved his sister. He took her hand and squeezed it gently. Cass reciprocated, reassuring him of her support.
She probably knew. Knew what he suspected. And she was still supporting him. Maybe... maybe the others would understand too.
As Tim looked into Cass' eyes questioningly, Cass signed, 'I trust my little brother. I trust my family. You can trust them.'
And Tim nearly broke.
But he couldn't. Not yet. He wasn't ready.
He looked over to the rest of his family.
"-can't fully dismiss the possibility of a clone either."
What.
"What."
Realising he said that out loud, when everyone turned to look at him, Tim blushed.
Damian looked like he was readying an insult when Bruce cut in.
"With the situation with Damian. We can't completely discount the possibility of said "Detective" or heir being a clone from... one of our DNA."
Everyone knew he was talking about the situation with Damian and his older clone version who was sent to kill him. They all knew Bruce was talking about his own DNA.
The fact that this new Detective could be an aged-up clone had just increased the danger factor of the mission.
Well, not really, if Tim had understood Ra's final message properly.
"I think I have a lead." Tim finally said.
Batman approached the computer where Red Robin sat as he explained, "We destroyed all of Ra's known bases. But according to old movement, Ra's spent a considerable amount of time in Paris last year, a few months ago, and again about 2 weeks ago."
He pointed to the map.
Batman hummed.
"I guess we have our first lead then."
-
A month or two after bringing Bruce back, the League of Assassins started making moves, dangerous moves.
No one knows exactly when the executive decision was made that they had to take the League down, but it was probably after the 3rd failed attempted assassination on Damian. (Tim had moved out so no one noticed, but still, receiving poisoned wine is a pretty good message, as well as a toppled King chess piece.)
So Red Robin and Oracle got planning. No one anticipated the sheer ruthlessness and efficiency in taking down the League bases, systematically cutting off Ra's supplies and allies alike.
(Tim made sure to destroy every Lazarus Pit, he would never let it hurt anyone in his family again. Plus he never wanted the scare of waking up next to one again, not knowing if he was dunked in it or not.)
The Batclan raided all the bases, arresting and containing all the assassins, hoping to provide assistance with removing the brainwashing.
(Pru was a great help with that, although, she somehow convinced all the younger rectuits to start calling Tim 'Boss' instead, though, only outside of the Bats' earshot.)
Along the way, they discovered that the destruction of the Pits was weakening Ra's. At that point a decision had to be made. Although the vote to let the immortal die was quite unanimous, it was still a several hour discussion.
And so here they were.
-
The LoA base they arrived in was extremely unassuming and plain. It could almost be considered a normal house if not for the thoroughly destroyed lab they found in the basement.
Tim suspected Ra's had it destroyed 2 weeks ago when he realised the Bats' moves against him were a serious threat to his empire.
They received little resistance as they made their way through the large building.
Splitting up into pairs, Tim decided to go with Cass and vice versa.
Dick went with Duke.
Jason with Steph.
Damian of course with Bruce. Batman and Robin.
After about 10 minutes of searching, the comms crackled and Duke's voice filtered through.
"Guys, I think we found something."
"Nightwing, Signal, report." Batman
"There's an entrance here, two assassin guards, not trying to hide. The elite kind. Requesting backup." Nightwing
"Oh shit-" Signal
Dick cursed, "Fuck, our positions are compromised, but the assassins aren't attacking. We might be able to negotiate. I have... a weird felling."
That wasn't reassuring.
"Good or bad?" Batman asked.
"I don't know. Both? Like, not from the guards but whatever they're guarding."
Everyone knew what Nightwing was implying. The Detective was behind that entrance, or the heir. Possibly both. And with the destroyed laboratory they found, the clone theroy was gaining ground.
"On our way."
Red Robin and Black Bat ran.
-
The whole family (well, not the whole family but all that came on this mission) stood facing the two guards.
Batman stepped forward, threateningly looming over the two assassins but the two dressed in black didn't even flinch.
When he tried to move past them though, both black-clad figures were quick to draw their weapons.
Before Batman could complete his reach for a batarang, one of them spoke up, "Only those related to the heir directly, by blood can enter."
Bruce frowned. The others looked at him.
That ruled out the Damian clone theory since Bruce was his biological father, therefore related to him by blood.
Just to make sure, Batman tried to enter again. Once again, the door was blocked by sharp blades.
The younger occupants of the room glanced at eachother. What will they do now? Fight their way through, maybe altogether, but this was a bootle-neck situation. The odds favoured the assassins. They wouldn't beat them without serious injuries. Not to mention, even if they did win, they'd probably have to fight whatever's on the other side.
Meanwhile, Tim was cursing Ra's in every language he new, including and not limited to dead languages like Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Of course, Ra's would pull something like this. Reveal your secret or the secret remains unrevealed.
Wait- no. The Demon's Head wasn't counting on Tim finding this place. Not completely anyways. So who- Nyssa. Of course! Nyssa would be able to enter due to her blood relation to Ra's and raise the child- oh god he has a child- as a final "Fuck you" to Tim. Yours sincerely, from Ra's al the biggest asshat Ghul.
Tim, being Tim, did NOT want to reveal his suspicions (probably correct ones) to his family. Just in case he was wrong, he didn't want his family questioning him on why he thought HE of all people could enter.
Subtle way it is.
So Red Robin turned his gaze to the assassins in front of the door and glared.
Not his Red Robin glare, nor his Robin or even Batman glare. It wasn't even a Tim Drake glare. No. It was an icy, commanding, I will ruin you for no other reason than causing me this inconvenience, Janet Drake glare.
He may or may not have added his take on Ra's Demon's Head glare, sans creepy green eyes of course.
As if struck by lightning, the assassins retracted their weapons to their sides.
To get the message across, Tim shifted his gaze to his little brother and to the door. Damian was to be let through.
"Th- The grandson shall be allowed to pa-pass through," one assassin muttered weakly.
-
Cass only side-eyed her little brother (Tim) before breaking out into a smile behind her mask. Her brothers were such drama-queens, but she loved them. She couldn't wait to meet her little brother's child. She was going to be the best aunt.
-
Damian didn't startle. That had been trained out of him years ago.
He looked to Grayso- to Dick for support.
They didn't know what this "gift" from Grandfather was. They suspected it was a person, maybe even a clone, but it could just as easily be a trap.
There was no love lost between his grandfather and his family. And he was willing to kill Damian to see Bruce suffer. He proved that plenty with the assassination attempts.
Dick smiled at him reassuringly. He didn't have to do it if he didn't want to.
"It could be a trap." Damian reiterated what was on everyone's mind, "But... It would be beneficial for one of us to go scout, especially if we don't have to fight and can provide backup."
"No," Dick said firmly.
To do or not to do.
"Don't you trust me, brother?" Damian asked. He didn't mean the guilt trip completely, however, he could never fully shake the need to prove himself to Father. Grayson knew that. But he was just as weak to sentimentality. Calling him brother was a sure-fire way to get him to agree.
Everyone, especially Nightwing, looked torn up.
Finally, the tension snapped.
"Fine," Nightwing approached Robin and placed a hand on his shoulder, "but be careful."
After all, Damian would always be his brother, his Robin to Dick's Batman.
-
As Damian snuck through the corridors, he remained tense.
It was completely silent. Eerily so.
As he opened another door, a quiet squeak hit his ears.
Slowly looking through the door, he once again found nothing. Of course, he'd double checked for hidden compartments.
A crackle comes through his ear.
"Robin, is everything okay?"
"Confirmed. Haven't found anything yet-"
Suddenly there was another creaking whine, louder this time.
"Unidentified noise," Robin whispered, "going to try locate it."
"Okay Robin... be careful."
With that, Robin continued onto the next room.
He opened the door.
"What the-"
-
Everyone was tense as they waited for Damian to return.
Finally, they heard footsteps.
No one relaxed. Getting into fighting stances, the family of vigilantes focused all their attention to the door.
The assassins didn't look concerned but didn't move either.
Damian appeared from the shadows.
Dick let out a sigh of relief. His youngest brother was okay.
Then he noticed a small dark bundle in Damian's hands. For some reason, Dami seemed quite uncomfortable.
His inner contemplation was interrupted by a small guttural scream.
What the-
Bruce immediately strode toward his son, quickly taking the bundle from his hand.
Tim looked at Damian, poor kid looked really out of his depth. Tim would normally laugh at him if he wasn't frozen stiff.
"Is that a baby?!" Duke exclaimed.
"I guess we found the 'heir'". Jason drawled, accentuating his words with bunny fingers.
Steph elbowed him but also looked ready to say something, the only thing stopping her was Cass' hand on her bicep.
"Hey!" Exclaimed Jason.
"Prepare the Batplane" Bruce commanded, and everyone scrambled in preparation to depart.
-
When they were finally on the Batplane (completely forgetting about the remaining two assassins, whatever, they had bigger or rather smaller problems), Bruce handed the baby to Dick.
The younger man looked down at the squirming baby in his arm. It was obvious he was hungry. Unfortunately, they didn't have any formula on board. Huh, seemed like Batman wasn't prepared for everything after all.
The baby had a mop of jet-black hair and olive skin just like Damian's, eyes still closed. Dick gripped one of the baby's small hands in his. It was amazingly small. So tiny...
The others crowded around him as Batman continued to fly the Batplane.
"Awwww. Hello little fella." Steph cooed at the baby along with Duke.
"Hm." Jason hummed, "How do you know it's a boy?"
Dami deadpanned. "Maybe, Todd, because I checked? Not to mention my grandfather wouldn't exactly accept a woman as his heir."
Dick grimaced. Right. Ra's was a misogynistic asshole.
Slowly, as if by magic, the baby started to open his eyes. As everyone moved closer to see, they were met by two beautiful pale blue eyes. The baby scrunched his nose, squirming, overwhelmed by the attention.
Jason chucked, "I guess it fits the pack."
Tim stood there, awestruck by the tiny human. Dick chuckled at his reaction. He would definitely have to have a go holding the baby.
"Family," Cass said, looking lovingly at the child. "We protect him."
Dick nodded absentmindedly.
Yes. They protect family. And it seemed like this little guy was already claimed by them.
Family indeed.
-
Dick couldn't hold the baby for long seeing as everyone wanted a turn.
Therefore, they decided to go from oldest to youngest.
There was a bit of a scuffle between Jason and Cass to decide who was older. Cass won, of course.
Cass was a natural. She babbled at the kid and rocked the tiny body in her arm, drawing a tiny laugh from the baby boy.
Jason was the embodiment of a gentle giant. Cooing at the baby and holding him steady in his warm embrace.
Stephanie didn't get the "little fella" for long. She was deemed too energetic.
Then, it was Tim's turn. And in a blink, Tim found his arms full of one tiny fragile life. A baby. His baby.
-
Tim found his free hand curling around tiny pudgy fingers. He stared in wonder as the small baby gripped his finger with unprecedented strength and he nearly broke down there and then. Instead, Tim watched his baby with awestruck eyes, unable to hide his starstruck gaze.
Cuz goddamit that was his son.
That small life he held in his arms was half him. Half Tim.
He felt a burning behind his eyes but did not let the tears fall. Tim couldn't, not yet.
So many emotions were running through him, faster than his mind could keep up.
Rage and disgust at what Ra's did. How he dared use Tim's DNA in such a perverse way. In that moment, Tim thought he understood a bit how Clark must've felt. How it must've felt to suddenly have a child half you yet created by someone he loathed so much, in such a non-consensual manner. However, that brief flare of sympathy was quickly crushed when he remembered how Superman treated Kon in the beginning. How could he? Tim couldn't understand, couldn't comprehend how Superman managed to abandon Kon. His son- oh god, he had a son, Tim's only known of his existence for less than a day but already he cannot think of life without him. This tiny life which he contributed to.
Love and shock. Tim loved him o so much, and he couldn't understand why. Is this what being a parent felt like? It was nothing like he'd ever felt.
Fear and confusion, because he didn't want this. He never thought about having kids. What if he screwed up? Was Tim even fit to be a parent? He was only 18. Not to mention a vigilante and a very busy CEO.
Pride. Tim wanted to shout it to the rooftops. This was his child. His SON. He wanted his team, Kon, Bart, and Cassie to all meet their cute little nephew so they could all dote on him. He wanted to tell Bruce he was a Grandpa (damn Alfred was a great-grandpa), let all his siblings be doting and over-protective uncles and aunts.
But he couldn't. Tim was scared. What if they wouldn't accept his son? What if they wouldn't accept Tim anymore? What if-
Tim was snapped out of his dazed spiral by a loud, "Tt" sounding from across him.
"What, Drake," Damian scowled, "Never held a baby before?"
Although 6 months ago Tim would've taken that as a provocation, he could now read the finer tells of Damian. The boy was stressed, obviously so. No wonder, anyone would be frazzled by finding out they're now a nephew (father).
Tim was fine. Tim could handle this. He'll tell them about it. Later. He'll tell them later.