Batman Fic: Needs
Aug. 23rd, 2010 01:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
imasupermuteantTitle: Needs
Fandom: DCU
Characters/Pairing: Tim Drake, Batman
Wordcount: 644
Rating: PG
Warnings: main character death
Summary: Batman needs a Robin
"Hello Bruce."
The image is... Not grainy but certainly not sharp, as though it had been filmed by a cheap camcorder or, as he suspects, the built-in webcam on Tim's laptop. The same laptop which had been bought for him by his father-- his real father-- when he graduated from high school.
The computer was woefully inadequate for anything but the most mundane tasks, and the image has been stretched to fit the gigantic screen of the cray, but he can't be bothered to shrink it down or improve the quality. He's too busy watching what was left of his-- of Tim.
"You're watching this because I've died." Tim says, as though it's the most normal, casual thing he could possibly say, "Or because I've been unconscious or missing for more than four-point-two days..."
He almost smiles. It's just like the kid to have his automated death message go off after such an arbitrary amount of time. On the screen, Tim leans back and crosses his legs with a wry smile. It's a small smile, all of Tim's honest smiles were so small as to be imperceptible.
"I want you to know that I'm sorry." Tim says, "I am so sorry and I never meant to leave you alone."
He feels himself wonder at the absurdity of being comforted by the diseased himself. Tim's eyes are serious (always so very serious) but there is real humor in them and real life that he will never see again in person.
"I don't intend to leave you alone for long either." Tim continues, "Because I remember what it was like after Jason and I know that you need someone. A Robin."
His memory presents him with that determination in Tim's eyes whenever he would say that. Batman needs a Robin. Like it was the only real truth in the world.
"If you look in the batarang drawer under the bottom panel you'll find a list of potential candidates for ...my replacement. I expect you'll be contacting one or more of them within the month."
That "I expect" is more of an order than anything.
"Don't... Don't ruin yourself over this, Bruce. You don't need to forget me but you do need to continue on. Continue the Mission..."
He finds it amusing that Tim can speak that with obvious capital letters. Can think just the way he does.
"...and don't try to bring me back. I've been there and done that and I don't want it for you."
There's a pause, as though Tim is sifting through all the things he'd want to say and choosing out whatever it is that he needs to say. Tim's eyes harden, his voice is low and serious as he leans towards the camera, his finger obviously headed to end the recording.
"I believe in you, Bruce..."
"...Tell Dick I love him."
And there it is. He inhales again, sharply, that phrase hitting him as powerfully as the first twelve times he's watched this, the flush and the faint smile that flashes across Tim's face before the screen goes blank.
Dick reaches up to run his hand along the sharp points of the cowl, it's unfamiliar still but slowly becoming part of him in a way he'd never expected.
He thinks of Bruce, lying buried next to Tim through some magical maneuvering on Alfred's part. He'd visited the graves this morning with roses (for Bruce) and a can of grape Zesti (for Tim). He hadn't cried then either.
The recording haunts him. Has haunted him for weeks, no matter how often he watches it or how many times he thinks about it but doesn't.
Dick sighs, pushes back the cowl so he can rub a hand across his tired eyes...
And heads for the batarang drawer to retrieve the list Tim had left for... him.
Batman needs a Robin, after all.
Fandom: DCU
Characters/Pairing: Tim Drake, Batman
Wordcount: 644
Rating: PG
Warnings: main character death
Summary: Batman needs a Robin
"Hello Bruce."
The image is... Not grainy but certainly not sharp, as though it had been filmed by a cheap camcorder or, as he suspects, the built-in webcam on Tim's laptop. The same laptop which had been bought for him by his father-- his real father-- when he graduated from high school.
The computer was woefully inadequate for anything but the most mundane tasks, and the image has been stretched to fit the gigantic screen of the cray, but he can't be bothered to shrink it down or improve the quality. He's too busy watching what was left of his-- of Tim.
"You're watching this because I've died." Tim says, as though it's the most normal, casual thing he could possibly say, "Or because I've been unconscious or missing for more than four-point-two days..."
He almost smiles. It's just like the kid to have his automated death message go off after such an arbitrary amount of time. On the screen, Tim leans back and crosses his legs with a wry smile. It's a small smile, all of Tim's honest smiles were so small as to be imperceptible.
"I want you to know that I'm sorry." Tim says, "I am so sorry and I never meant to leave you alone."
He feels himself wonder at the absurdity of being comforted by the diseased himself. Tim's eyes are serious (always so very serious) but there is real humor in them and real life that he will never see again in person.
"I don't intend to leave you alone for long either." Tim continues, "Because I remember what it was like after Jason and I know that you need someone. A Robin."
His memory presents him with that determination in Tim's eyes whenever he would say that. Batman needs a Robin. Like it was the only real truth in the world.
"If you look in the batarang drawer under the bottom panel you'll find a list of potential candidates for ...my replacement. I expect you'll be contacting one or more of them within the month."
That "I expect" is more of an order than anything.
"Don't... Don't ruin yourself over this, Bruce. You don't need to forget me but you do need to continue on. Continue the Mission..."
He finds it amusing that Tim can speak that with obvious capital letters. Can think just the way he does.
"...and don't try to bring me back. I've been there and done that and I don't want it for you."
There's a pause, as though Tim is sifting through all the things he'd want to say and choosing out whatever it is that he needs to say. Tim's eyes harden, his voice is low and serious as he leans towards the camera, his finger obviously headed to end the recording.
"I believe in you, Bruce..."
"...Tell Dick I love him."
And there it is. He inhales again, sharply, that phrase hitting him as powerfully as the first twelve times he's watched this, the flush and the faint smile that flashes across Tim's face before the screen goes blank.
Dick reaches up to run his hand along the sharp points of the cowl, it's unfamiliar still but slowly becoming part of him in a way he'd never expected.
He thinks of Bruce, lying buried next to Tim through some magical maneuvering on Alfred's part. He'd visited the graves this morning with roses (for Bruce) and a can of grape Zesti (for Tim). He hadn't cried then either.
The recording haunts him. Has haunted him for weeks, no matter how often he watches it or how many times he thinks about it but doesn't.
Dick sighs, pushes back the cowl so he can rub a hand across his tired eyes...
And heads for the batarang drawer to retrieve the list Tim had left for... him.
Batman needs a Robin, after all.
no subject
on 2010-08-25 08:46 am (UTC)no subject
on 2010-08-26 01:22 am (UTC)mmmm... Tortured Dick...
no subject
on 2010-11-03 07:52 pm (UTC)I'm curious to know where you intended this to be set. Clearly, it sounds like it pre-exists the Battle of the Cowl events (perhaps during the first time Dick took up the mantle of Batman when Bruce was hurt).
Still no matter where it takes place, it is nicely done and very heart-wrenching, particularly considering the double loss for Dick.
Thank you for sharing this with us.
no subject
on 2010-11-03 09:31 pm (UTC)I dont usually pay all that much attention to continuity when writing fic, mostly because I usually find myself pining for the 90s and I wasn't exactly old enough to be reading/writing fic back then.
For this one, I like to think that it's in some not-to-distant AU future in which Damian has already died of some horrible mutant tuberculosis-herpes-leprosy-type-thing and Dick is the only one left. As far as I'm concerned, Timmy made that recording in his first few months as Robin and never saw fit to change it ^____^