Of Blankets and Brothers, A Gift Fic for Bee
Fandom: Batman
Characters: Tim Drake and Damian Wayne
Summary: It’s just Tim’s luck that he’d be forced to save the Demon Brat only days after the brat’s most recent assassination attempt.
Notes: This was supposed to be a fluffy fic for Bee on tumblr, but in canon it’s rather difficult to get Damian and Tim to be fluffy together. Hopefully I was at least partially successful.
***
Tim climbed through the window of the safe house, hauling Damian behind him by the scruff of the kid's neck.
“Let me go, Drake,” Damian demanded angrily.
Tim ignored the younger boy and simply dumped the ten year old on the pristinely made bed. He grabbed Damian’s hands placed them on top of the ugly stab wound in the child’s thigh. “Put pressure on this,” he instructed.
“I know. I am not an idiot,” the boy snapped, but did as he was told.
Now sure that Damian wasn’t go to bleed out the moment Tim turned his back, the teen hurried into the bathroom and gathered up the necessary medical supplies before returning to the bedroom.
Once he was back at Damian’s side he pushed the boy’s hands away and placed some clean gauze over the wound before applying pressure himself. Damian was silent and Tim appreciated not having to fight about this. Hopefully he could get the bleeding to stop, get the brat stitched up and back to the manor without any more bloodshed.
Unfortunately, the silence couldn’t last.
“I did not need your assistance,” Damian said finally, raising his head defiantly.
Tim thought about the fact that Robin had been cornered, overpowered fifteen to one with a leering Two Face in the background. “Of course not,” he agreed dully.
“So why did you do it?” Damian demanded.
Tim frowned slightly at the confusion in the child’s voice. He looked up from Damian’s wound and took in his younger brother’s expression. “Why wouldn’t I?” he asked.
“I hate you,” Damian said. “And you hate me. I tried to kill you two days ago. You should be *ecstatic* at the opportunity to get rid of me.”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you then,” Tim said, turning his attention back to Damian’s injury. “But that isn’t the case.”
“I do not understand you,” Damian informed him. His tone was haughty but Tim could still hear the confusion.
“That’s okay,” Tim said. “It doesn’t really matter. But you shouldn’t be patrolling alone. This is why we wait for backup.”
Damian snorted. “That is a lie.”
“No, it isn’t,” Tim said.
“It is. You patrolled on your own all the time almost from the beginning. I read your files.”
Tim inhaled sharply. “I. If you read them you also know I patrolled with a lot of different people, Damian. I prefer not to patrol alone. In either case you should have waited for Dick or Bruce to go with you.”
“They were busy,” Damian snapped defensively.
“Yeah,” Tim said before he could really think about it. “They do that sometimes.”
“What do you - ”
“Put pressure on this,” Tim interrupted, letting Damian take over again. He was not empathizing with the Demon Brat. He’d saved the kid’s life. That was enough, wasn’t it? He wasn’t going to give the little monster more fodder to attack him with.
Tim marched over to the linen closet and grabbed a few blankets.
“What are you doing?” Damian asked suspiciously.
Tim ignored the boy and carried the blankets back to the bed. He almost felt bad for enjoying Damian’s horrified face as he began wrapping the child assassin in blankets.
“What are you doing?” Damian squawked.
“I’m treating you for shock,” Tim said blandly.
“I am not in shock!”
“Well, no. You’re still breathing. So that’s a good sign,” Tim said as he sat down next to Damian. “Has the bleeding stopped yet?”
“Not…yet,” Damian said.
“Do you need more gauze?”
“I am fine.”
“Are you?”
“I. Why do you care?”
“Because you’re my brother,” Tim said.
“Is that why? I do not believe you,” Damian said, but even as he spoke he slumped against Tim’s side. The long night must have finally caught up to him.
“I think I may be in shock,” Damian said quietly, the words slightly muffled against Tim’s shoulder.
“I understand,” Tim said; the gentleness in his voice surprised him. “It definitely looks like shock. You don’t know what you’re doing.” The teen cautiously placed his arm around the younger boy’s shoulders and pulled him a little closer. “You can’t fall asleep just yet, though. I need you to stay awake a little bit longer, okay?”
“You will not leave?” Damian slurred tiredly.
“No. I’m never the one who leaves,” Tim said. He was so tired. That had to be the reason he kept saying things like that. When was the last time he slept?
“I do not want to be alone,” the boy said. At least Damian seemed too tired to notice Tim’s mistakes.
“You’re not alone,” Tim said. “I’m here.”
“I am glad,” Damian said softly.
Tim swallowed down the lump in his throat at those words. He knew it was just the exhaustion and the shock talking, but in that moment he felt closer to Damian than he had ever had. He didn’t know how long this feeling would last, but for the moment he was in a good place. And that made everything worthwhile. Near-death experiences and all.