Chapter Text
He didn’t know where he was. He didn’t feel the body he was in. Smaller than he remembered, lighter than he knew. He just knew what day it was.
It was that day.
The day Jason dug his way out of his grave.
Somehow his brain managed to process this piece of information, and he was taking off with speed he didn’t know he was capable of. All he knew was he had to be there, had to dig the boy-no, man out of his grave before everything that happened could happen.
Maybe it would change things.
Would change the Jason that he used to know.
Change the man that he had fallen in love with.
But if Tim could spare him the nightmares, he’d do it anyway.
--
Tim landed neatly (albeit clumsily, given his smaller body than he was accustomed to) by the grave that looked fresh. It was only covered a few days ago afterall. The ground was damp from the light rain over the few days too. Tim barely hesitated as he knelt down and started digging.
He dug until he could hear something. Something that sounded horribly similar to muffled screams and heavy pounding. He dug faster, until he reached the lid of the coffin and the pounding was so loud that he barely resisted taking out his bo staff (that wasn’t there) and just smashing the damned thing.
Thankfully the coffin was still new, the latch still working so Tim did not need to hunt down anything to pry open the wooden box. Heaving the heavy lid off was a lot of work on his smaller body, but he managed to anyway. The sight that met his eyes was horribly, horribly familiar.
Jason was gritting his teeth, tear tracks down his face and the moment the lid had opened he had pounced on Tim, screaming so loud he was surprised no one came to investigate.
Wiping the dirt off his face, Tim realized he had been crying too.
“J-Jason?”
The screaming and sobbing had ceased, but the death grip on his body had not lessen, Jason choked before nodding slightly.
“It’s okay.” Tim muttered, holding the boy tighter. “I’ve got you.”
“Fucking hell.”
Well, that sounded familiar.
“I never, ever, want to go through that one again.” Jason heaved himself off the younger boy, putting his head between his knees as he did. “Fuck.”
Tim sat up cautiously, unsure if this was his Jason.
“Jas- Jay?”
“Fucking hell, replacement.”
Yes. It was him.
“God.” That was all Tim managed before he lunged at the older boy, clutching him tightly as though he was afraid the other would disappear. Jason grunted but held onto the younger, hands still shaking from the shock of waking up in the coffin that he dug himself out that one time, almost ten years ago.
--
“Anomaly.”
“Shut up, baby bird.”
“Jay, we’re in our past bodies.” Tim said, frowning as they sat on a bench in the park. The rain had stop a while back, and the two man-no, boys were sitting in the park, thinking of their next action.
“We could go back to Bruce.” Tim said, idly plucking at the edge of his jacket. Jason was still in his suit, though he had ditched the jacket the moment he sat down.
Jason snorted. “How are we supposed to explain all this?” He sighed heavily. “By now I should be wandering the streets with no memory except the horrible coffin, and in a few months Talia would get wind of me and take me to the damn pit and dump me in.”
“But it doesn’t happen.” Tim said, turning to look at him. “Do you still have that hated voice?”
Jason looked startled for a while, before he sighed and shook his head. “No. Nothing. Doesn’t mean it won’t come back.”
“But you’re not going to be dumped into the Pit!” Tim exclaimed, and briefly he was very happy.
“That also means I’m not getting the training I did when I was.”
“The brain remembers, Jay.” Tim said happily, leaning against his shoulder. “And you know what you can do. We just have to train it back up.”
Jason smirks. “You’re right, baby bird.”
“Oh, but the time line is messed up.” Tim frowned. “You’re back and you can go back to being Robin.”
The older boy barks a laugh. “And go back to B? I don’t think so.” Shifting slightly, he leaned back against the seat. “I think I’ll stick to Hood.”
“But Jay.” Tim protested.
“Crime Alley still needs someone like Hood, Tim.” Jason said solemnly. Tim nodded in understanding, leaning more onto his side.
“That doesn’t mean I like it any better.”
Jason sighed. “I’ll cut down on the killing, alright?”
“Just…don’t go overboard?” Tim pleaded. “I know you will still butt heads with Bruce, but I’d like less tension if possible.”
Jason snorted, but nodded anyway. “So what are we going to do now?”
Tim smiled darkly. “We play the game, of course.”
--
The next time they crossed paths, Tim was Robin and Jason was Red Hood.
“Replacement.”
“Hood.”
Bumping fists and smirking at each other, that was their greeting. Batman and Nightwing never understood their relationship. Jason had acted his part well, training for the three years away from Gotham. The time they spent apart from each other was hard, even with phone calls and text messages, but it was worth it, seeing Jason come back into his prime and peak of his skills. He was sharper and stronger than before, only because he learnt from his past mistakes and made himself better. Tim was the same.
He played his part well, going to Dick and babbling about how Batman needed a Robin, before getting sent to Barbara and ended up pretty much doing the same saving Batman and Nightwing in the Robin suit.
The only difference was he talked to Dick and Bruce, made them reconcile the differences by playing the scared little boy who wanted his family back in shape. Bruce and Dick could not resist the plea and ended up fighting it out, only to have them closer than before. Tim was proud of that feat.
When Jason came back, he played his part well too.
Only he aimed to incapacitate and not kill this time.
It still started off rocky, like it was meant to be, but at least the bloodshed by Red Hood was limited to a few. Although Bruce was angered, Tim made a show of fighting it out with Jason this time, with Jason being more careful with the younger boy, as though he was afraid to hurt him.
When Dick intercepted the fight, he pushed Tim off the building they were on by accident.
Tim was slightly panicked, this was not part of the plan nor did it happen in the normal timeline. Jason threw caution into the wind as he dove after the younger boy, grapple out and ready to shoot as soon as he caught him, swinging and crashing into the nearest building. Batman and Nightwing followed, slightly astounded to find Jason hugging Tim and petting his head like he was comforting him.
Tim smiled, remembering the look on their faces.
“I missed you.”
Everyone heard it, heard it from Tim’s mouth, directed at Jason. Jason grinned.
“Missed you too, baby bird.”