[For Titans, Exiles and other Friends of the treehouse]

[needsarobin]

Tim tried to explain that he was fine. That he could get up and move and live his life again. Dick was having none of it and Tim considered it a minor victory that he'd been allowed clothes. Had been bundled with clothes in fact until he thought that it was likely he resembled a snowman built from sweaters. Overprotective big brothers had never

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[healerofharms]

It wasn't that she'd actually tried to come see him; far from it. It was that she knew how sick he was, and she wanted to bring him soup, even though-

Even though her side had turned into an ugly bruise, the purple bleeding from her hip nearly to her armpit, so dark it was almost black. She wore a t-shirt with a pair of Bart's old sweatpants that she'd rolled up at the cuffs. She'd not slept - it hurt too much.

She wasn't even sure if it was the physical or mental hurt. But she had soup, and quietly knocked on his door, not yet opening it. "Tim?"

[needsarobin]

He pushed himself up in bed, fists clenching in the blankets at the sound of Jill's voice. His stomach twisted and heaved, remembering with imperfect clarity screaming at her. Grabbing her. Putting her to the ground. He wondered how badly he'd hurt her. He couldn't be sure. He knew it whatever it was, it wasn't something he could even begin to apologize for. "Come in, Jill."

[healerofharms]

"I- I brought you soup." She still looked gray - there wasn't really anything that could be done for the pain, and all there was that was available was paracetamol, and she wasn't really looking at him for all she'd taken the initiative in coming to see him. "Are you hungry?"

Still cold, maybe. Her eyes flicked to his, only for a moment, before they flicked away again. The blue of her eyes was pale and blood shot, and she set the soup down before she dropped it.

[needsarobin]

"Soup?" Tim repeated stupidly. It hit him like a slap. "No, I...Jill, what are you doing? Yesterday, I hurt you. I know I did. I should be apologizing to you not..."

What was wrong with her? You didn't coddle the people who abused you.

[fallen_ancient]

Morgan had not been surprised to see Dick midafternoon the next day. Nor had she been surprised to see dark shadows in laughing eyes. What did surprise her was the quiet reverence in Dick's tone when he'd thanked her and returned the cloak, if not as pristine as it had been with the fur broken off in jagged clumps - from frozen sweat she supposed. No smile, no matter how charming, could obscure the quality of the man, his lethal grace and the heart that beat beneath it, not from her. But she had not yet seen it

[thethirdwonder]

Cassie had been running around all day, making sure things were going smoothly and people had everything they needed, be it items or touches. She'd checked on everybody from home many times, not really have the patience to deal with Jill. She was just coming back from the Exiles tree house when she almost ran smack into someone just inside the tree house. Thankfully, she had some grace from training with Diana and moved around her. "Hello?" She asked in a friendly tone. "Can I help you?"

[fallen_ancient]

Morgan had seen the girl with Dick a few times, though they had never been introduced, nor did she imagine Dick had pointed her out to the child. She seemed now to be well-adjusted to the island, kind, and helpful.

Expression calm and serene, Morgan allowed a small, warm smile to play at her lips. "Perhaps you may. I am here for Timothy."

[thethirdwonder]

Yeah, Cassie had seen her around and Dick had told her to expect other visitors for Tim, so she just smiled and motioned for her to follow, first to the mud room so she could take off her boots. "If you want to take off any outer layers, here would be the place to do it." She removed her own coat as she added. "I'm Cassie. A teammate of Tim's from back home."

[thethirdwonder]

Cassie had waited until later to come visit Tim, having spent the morning running around getting stuff done to make sure there was as little as possible for the others to worry about, which included Dick and Roy. On one of her runs to the Compound, she'd checked out the bookshelf and pulled down some books she thought Tim might like. They were all detective stories, Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie and that kinda thing and since he'd been trained by the World's Greatest Detective she thought he might like them.

At one point when she knew no one was in the room, she walked in, books under her arm. "So, how are you feeling? If you say better, I brought you presents."

[needsarobin]

For Cassie, he summoned up a rueful smile, "What do I get if I say like an idiot?"

It was good to see her, someone that he hadn't tried to hurt yesterday, that he hadn't driven away. Someone who knew Stephanie, if only the couple of times that Cassie had met her. Right now, that seemed like water in the desert.

[thethirdwonder]

"Your being honest so you still get presents." She said with a beaming grin, glad to see him smiling despite how awful yesterday had been for him.

She walked over and carefully sat down on the edge of his bed, facing him, and fanned out the five paperbacks she'd gotten from the bookshelf. "Since I doubt Dick is going to let you out anytime soon, I figured you could use something to stop yourself from going stir crazy."

She'd known Stephanie and genuinely liked Stephanie, even if they'd only met a few times. When Dick told her Stephanie had died, Cassie had been heart broken, for her and for Tim. But she had people who needed her to she'd worked through it. And making Tim smile helped too.

[needsarobin]

Honest...well, that was a matter of perspective, wasn't it? He felt like an idiot, that was true enough. But the smile was a lie and the enthusiasm he showed when he leaned forward to investigate her gifts. "You'd think that he was the one who'd spent the last two years studying medicine. He's being irrational about it. Recovery is fairly quick. Oh, hey, Murder on the Orient Express."

[wizard_errant]

The reason Dairine hadn't come right away, when Bart had come to find her (sniffling and sneezing over a pot of tea in the Compound) was the assurance that Tim was asleep. It's probably a good thing; a guy in the middle of a nervous breakdown needs Dairine showing up about as much as a stranded lifeboat needs to be descended on by a hurricane. This way there's been time for everybody to calm down.

But then show up she does, bundled up against the cold and without Spot, and spends the first moment just standing in the doorway working out what to say, before he notices she's there.

Then she sneezes.

[needsarobin]

Tim jumped, like he hadn't known she was there. He hadn't, of course. He'd been staring at the cowl spread over his lap. He was pale, not with cold this time, just with grief and for a moment his expression was entirely unguarded, the loss coming through. "Dairine..." He closed his eyes fro several seconds and when he opened them again, his face was clear. "I...come in. I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

[wizard_errant]

"Hey. Didn't mean to scare you, sorry." A few steps closer, head tilted, watching the change in his face, perching lightly on the edge of the bed. "How're you doing?"

[needsarobin]

"Do you want the real answer or the Robin answer?" he asked wryly. His hand stroked over the cowl, infinitely tender. "I'm healing. Physically, shouldn't be out more than a couple days. Moderate hypothermia but no frostbite. Not sure how I managed that, honestly. Jill's out of commission for longer. Bart will have to favor his side for a while. Looks like you and Cassie are the team."

He paused, considered, "You're still my second, so she'll follow. She's a very capable leader though, don't discount her experience. Nightwing can assist but don't let him take over and you can stop giving me that look, I know I'm not telling you anything you don't know."