Chapter 1
It was a rare day that Tim got to partake in his hobbies but the stars aligned as he had a free night. So here he was, shivering on a dirty Gotham rooftop taking pictures of Batman and Robin.
He shuffled closer to a dryer vent and held his hands in the flow of warm air for a moment before lifting his camera to snap a photo of Bruce and Damian jumping to another rooftop, their silhouettes dark against the bat signal behind them.
A faint click nearby had him shifting into a defensive position, gravel scraping. The figure on the roof beside him had done the same, both staring wide eyes at each other.
“D- did you get a good shot?” The boy on the roof over asked, clearing his throat.
Tim snorted. “Yeah. How about you? The lightening can be a bitch out here.”
A bark of laughter was followed by the kid launching himself across the gap. Tim flinched and moved forward to catch him but the action proved unnecessary and the kid landed with plenty of space between him and the edge.
“Shit, man. Don’t you know that’s dangerous?”
He rubbed his neck and shrugged. “I guess it was, huh? It’s been a minute since I’ve considered something like that dangerous.”
Ah. A man after his own heart. “Tim Drake.” Tim stuck out his hand. “I’ve never seen you out here before.”
An even colder hand grasped his. “Peter. Peter Parker. I normally frequent Queens, New York but my boss wanted some photos of Gothams vigilantes.”
“Far from home! Who’s your boss?” Tim asked, sliding into detective mode.
“Jonah Jameson at the Daily Bugle. I didn’t want to take this job but he threatened to fire me if I didn’t.”
Flashes of an angry man spitting hot words about Spider-Man came across this mind. “The guy that hates vigilantes?”
“Got it in one. I don’t agree but it brings in some cash,” Peter shrugged again while taking.
“Wait- Did you take those pictures of Spider-Man?”
Now Peter looks truly embarrassed. “Oh- uhh, yeah.”
“Those were amazing! What lens did you use to get the zoom that clear?”
“Most of those were taken with my thrifted camera. I just found spots where I knew he would pass by.” Peter shifted uncomfortably before changing the topic. “Can I see some of your work?”
Tim thanked his past self for grabbing his personal camera rather than the one he’s used to take photos of crime scenes. He shuffled over to Peter, their jackets brushing.
“Here’s the one I just took.”
“Oooh! Look at how clean their outlines are! Hang on, let me see if mine turned out that good.” Peter’s hand rested on Tim’s wrist while he reached around grabbed his camera.
The darkness hid Tim’s blush but his voice squeaked slightly when he spoke, “Wow! It looks like they are flying from the angle you took it. Can you send that to me?”
“Sure! Do you have a phone or do you want me to mail them to you?”
Tim’s opens his mouth to reply when the comm he thought was off beeped on. “Oooh is little Timmers getting a phone number? They grow up so fast!”
Peter blush implied he heard that, only making Tim’s embarrassment boil over.
“Excuse me one second, Peter.” He strode to the edge of the roof and growled, “Fuck you, Jason. This was supposed to be a private line with O. Do I need to share the pictures of you and Roy to the group chat or would you like me to keep those private, asshole?”
Jason was quiet for a moment before he sighed, “Fine, sorry. Thought you could take a joke, Replacement. I just wanted to tell you that I solved that case you handed off to me but I guess that can wait.” The line clicked as Jason hung up.
“Asshat,” he huffed before waking back to Peter. The boy seemed to be holding back laughter as he forced his face into something more neutral when Tim approached.
“That a friend of yours?”
“My brother, actually. I don’t think anyone in my family knows what privacy is.”
”Says you.”
Tim huffed as he ripped the comm out of his ear. Barbara would just have to call if someone needed emergency help since apparently she couldn’t respect privacy either.
“It’s fine! I wouldn’t be surprised if my mentor is texting me remarks like that right now. I know he has my phone bugged.” Peter rolled his eyes at the end of the sentence.
He snorted and asked, “Is he a rich billionaire?”
“Yes? Why?”
“Bruce Wayne is my mentor slash adoptive dad. He does the same. There’s trackers in just about everything I own.”
Peter threw this hands up with a grin. “Right? I’ve taken out probably a hundred of them! Tony Stark is my mentor. Don’t give him any ideas about adoption, though. I think my aunt would beat him up.”
“Beat up a superhero? She must be an incredible woman.”
“She is. It wouldn’t be the first hero she kicked the ass of. Apparently she a fling with some guy from the Justice League and beat him up when he was an asshole.”
“Wait- don’t tell me- are you team Avengers? I thought I could like you!” Tim dramatically cried, handing covering his heart.
Peter mimicked the movement. “You are team Justice League? I don’t even know if this could be a Romeo and Juliet situation.”
They both froze, blushes returning. A chill wracked Peter’s body, causing him to huddle into his jacket.
“There’s a- uhm 24 hour Bat Burger down the road. Do you want to get something to eat?”
Peter hesitated for a moment but one look at Tim’s begging face had him caving. “Yeah, sure. Just not for long, deal? I need to get those pictures tonight.”
“Yes!” Tim exclaimed before grimacing at the noise level. “Here follow me. There’s a fire escape over here that pretty sturdy. You should be able to get down it.”
No one has never said Tim was humble and wouldn’t show off. He flipped off the side of the building and caught himself on the fire escape before letting himself hit the ground. A glance up showed the impressed face of Peter but it also showed the terrifying sight of Peter copying his moves (perfectly, might he add.)
“So which was is food? I got twenty dollars to my name and a stomach hungry for some burgers.”
What. In. The. Vigilante. Was. That?!? It took Tim months of practice to not hesitate before flipping off a building, much less able to stick the landing. Just who the hell was Peter Parker?
“Uhhh. This way? Let me just tell my- someone where we are going.” His phone couldn’t have ended up in his had faster.
Tim: BABS!!! Find out who Peter Parker is, please. On the DL. I don’t want B in this.
Babs: Sure. Everyone still fine. Unless you count Dick got a paper cut looking through some files as ‘not fine.’
Tim: Tell him I lost my spleen and that a paper cut is nothin. Or that Jason died.
Babs: Wow, pulling out the big guns for me. Go on your date, Tiger. I can handle Dick.
Tim stuffed his phone in his pocket and glanced at Peter who was glaring at his phone. “Everything okay?”
“Tony wants me to you tell that he will ‘destroy the Wayne family image including the no-so-dead Jason Todd’ if you hurt me. Also that we need to use condoms”
He coughed violently for a moment before getting his head on straight. “So, should eat the burgers with condoms on our hands or are we supposed to have a water balloon fight with them?”
“Probably eat with them. They don’t make good water balloons unless your aim is to hurt. Trust me, those things don’t break even at high velocity.”
Peters phone dinged so he looked back down before snorting. “He says, ‘You are both 17, I shouldn’t have to tell you where to put condoms’ cough, he means that most people put it up his ass instead of the stick, ‘but I can fly down there and me and Brucie can give you two the talk. Oh, and yea, it is up my-‘ aaaand he gets vulgar there. I never want to hear about his sex life again, thank you.”
Tim raised his voice for the phone to hear, “Don’t worry, Stark! Bruce faces us all very comprehensive sex ed. He even taught us to open condoms with scissors.”
Peter was holding back his laughter at Tim’s sarcasm before reading off his reply, “‘You know what? I’m flying out there. I don’t know if Peter can even get-‘ oh wow he goes on for a while. I think he’s called Bruce Wayne stupid at least ten different ways, one of them even using the Justice League.
“Mr. Stark, if you fly out here, I’m telling Aunt May. She has been writing out new ways to tell you off after you broke into my school because my watch said my heart rate went up.”
The boy gave a satisfied nod at whatever Stark said before slipping his phone away. “We should be good. He might send a drone but he knows even that would get a lecture. The last one lasted a solid 48 hours with my aunt and Pepper taking turns yelling at him.”
“Pepper?” Tim asked curiously, already cataloguing everything he just learned. The name sounded familiar. Who knew Tony Stark was a helicopter parent?
“Pepper Potts. She’s Iron Man’s Lois Lane.” Ah. Virginia Potts. Thats why the name sounded familiar.
“Why do you call her Pepper and Tony Stark?” He titled his head while asking. Was Tony Stark as much of an ass in person as his media persona was? Did Peter need help?
Peter leaned in, voice tickling Tim’s ear. “It bugs him and it’s funny. I respect Pepper too much to not call her what she asks.”
Okay. Pepper Potts is the one in charge, not Tony. Bruce was going to have field day updating his contingencies.
Tim sped up as he approached the brightly lit Bat Burger and pulled open the door Peter, smiling as he went through.
“Wow, such a gentleman,” Peter teased, walking up the counter.
After they both ordered and payed, they slid over the cracked leather on the booth and leaned back. Peter poked the mysterious spot on the table, face twitching when it turned out to be sticky. Tim watched in fascination as he continued to poke the sticky spot, making a quiet ripping noise each time he pulled his finger up.
After what felt like a minute, Peter looked up, blushing. “Sorry, I got distracted for a moment there.”
“No, it’s fine. It was cute-“ It was Tim’s to turn blush now. He drug his hands down his face, groaning. “I am so glad my siblings aren’t here. I’d never hear the end of this.”
“I mean, I can tease you about this if you want,” Peter blurted before letting his head bang into the table. “I’m a gay disaster.”
“Well, we can be gay disasters together, if you’d like. I think we already earned the admissions tickets to the club by being a disaster in front of a cute guy.”
“I uhh- I think you’re cute too.”
The mutual blushing was interrupted by the cashier setting their food in front of them. “Here you are. Do you guys need anything else tonight?”
“No, ma’am, thank you,” Peter thanked, smiling.
“How long have you two been together?”
“Oh we just met-“
“What? Why would you say that-“
“Ah, my apologies! You two are just cute together that I thought- ugh, how embarrassing! I’m so sorry!” The cashier covering her face and speeding off.
“We should leave her a big tip, right?” Tim asked, face still mimicking a tomato.
Peter, face looking like he spent a week on the beach without sunscreen, replied, “Yes. Definitely. If I were her, I would be sinking into the ground from embarrassment.”
“I’d be jumping off a building.”
“We already did that. I’d be… I’d move to the forest and live like a hermit, never interacting with another being again.”
“Nah, that’s boring. I’d kill everyone that witnessed it and invent a memory machine to forget it myself.”
“Stark already invented a memory machine so that’s step two complete. How should we complete step one?”
“Hmm. I mean kidnapping and dropping the body in international waters after weighing it down would probably be the safest but you still have to stare at the witnesses on the way over so maybe a knife to the heart then burn the building down?”
“Nah, that’s too obvious. You gotta EMP that area first so the camera short and then you want to get into wherever Bat Burger stores their camera and delete all that before hiring an assassin to get rid of the witnesses. I know you are rich so that should be easy.”
The pale face of the cashier as she walked by led to a fit of giggles in both boys.
“Maybe we shouldn’t plan a murder in public. It’s not like Bat Burgers have internal cameras but the poor cashier is traumatized now, more than she was!”
“Should we take this back to the rooftops?” Peter slurped the last of his drink loudly before tossing his ball of trash into the trashcan.
Tim blinked in shock before trying to do it himself. It missed by an inch.
“Ooh, ouch. That’s lame, man. Go clean up your mess, loser.”
Tim mocked hurt as he picked up his trash and put it away. Peter threw his drink in can and followed Tim out the door, still grinning.
“I never got your number,” Tim blurted once they started walking.
The other boy steps stumbled briefly before he opened his phone and handed it to Tim. The name already said ‘Tim ❤️.’ “Here.”
Tim copies Peter’s movement and handed his phone to him before putting in his number. He had set Peter’s name as ‘Cute Rooftop Boy.’
“Ouch. I don’t even get my name as the contact?”
Tim gaped for a moment before catching the joke in Peters words. “No, you weren’t cool enough. Nah, my siblings would be able to track you down faster if I gave them a name. I’m already going to blackmail Jason so he doesn’t.”
“That’s actually pretty smart! I just coded my phone to display a random number when you open a contact. I have open it in a specific pattern to get it to show the real number.”
“I never thought about do that! I just made sure no one could get into my phone to trace the numbers. Well, I can’t keep one of my sisters out.” Barbara: 113 ; Tim: 4. He’d have to pull out all the tricks to beat her for even an hour. Those four times were before she learned his tricks.
The pair bantered as they climbed back onto the roof, cameras out. “So, do you know where the vigilantes will be this time of night?”
Tim pulled out his phone and checked their trackers. “Orphan might be nearby.”
“What do you mean? I’m right here,” Peter joked with a grin, it faltered for a second as he glanced behind Tim but came back quickly.
He turned his head to look where Peter had glanced and saw nothing. A hand tapped his other shoulder.
”Yeah, Tim. I’m right here,” Cass signed, grinning.
Tim groaned. “Oh fuck you both. I’m sorry you are an orphan, Peter. It sucks. Vigilante Orphan, we need some pictures. Will you pretty please pose for us?”
Peter bit his tongue from saying ‘still here’ to the vigilante orphan part. Orphan nodded eagerly and stuck a goofy pose before shifting in a true vigilante stance when the camera were pointed at her.
Peter was of the opinion that she looked amazing with the bat burger logo beside her but Tim scoffed and had her start jumping between rooftops.
After taking way more photos than necessary, Peter waved her over. “Hey, Miss Orphan, would you be willing to spar with Tim? Nothing crazy! I’d just love some action shots.”
The vigilante agreed immediately but Tim seemed more hesitant. They had a long, silent conversation, just staring into each other eyes before Orphan sprung at him.
Tim ducked out of the way and managed to give Orphan a shove, sending her wobbling for a second.
It was so silly that Peter almost forget to take pictures but his camera was snapping away before long. The whole spar looked more like two kittens playing, neither of them trying to win. He couldn’t decide if it was because Orphan didn’t want to hurt him or if they were so used to sparring that they could predict each other moves and have fun. He was leaning towards the latter.
Finally, Orphan managed to pin Tim down and stood victoriously over him. A few giggles escaped Peter as he took some pictures of that. “That was amazing! It reminds me of when Black Widow and Hawkeye spar!”
“Oh, is Iron Man training you to take over for him? I would have thought he was teaching you about the company and such. He didn’t seem eager to hand down his suit.”
The boy froze for a moment, brain wracking through possibilities. Answering yes explains his combat training but it was a lie. Answering no left open questions for how he could fight. There was no doubt in his mind that Tim would find out he could fight. “Uhh kinda? I’m not his successor but he did teach me to use the suits. Harley is actually going to take over as Iron Man and likely the company. I just like superhero’s so he let me watch them spar a few times.”
“Oh cool! I know C- Orphan would love to spar with Black Widow. Both two badass former assassins.” That earned Tim a glare from the girl before backed away to the edge of the roof. With a quick salute, she jumped off and ran.
“So, do you know where Batman is? Do you think he would let me get pictures of him like Orphan did?” Peter patted himself on the back for the subject change. He did not want to scare off a cute guy by being a vigilante.
Tim felt himself relax at the subject change. He already scared off one cute guy by being a vigilante. It would destroy him to run off another. “Probably not. He and the current Robin can be prickly so it’s best to stay out of sight.
He led the other photographer across the city, jumping rooftops and scaling fire escapes. It had been a long time since either of them could let loose and just parkour across a city.
Finally, Tim paused, stopping Peter. His voice was barely audible when he spoke, “Batman is in the shadows of the roof across on that building. He will likely step out when Robin regroups.”
Peter nodded and wedged himself between two air conditioning units, camera pointed at the other roof.
Sure enough, Robin landed on the roof and Batman emerged. The dark knights body language was softer than Peter expected. The man was almost loving in how he approached the kid and rested a hand on his shoulder.
The air conditioning units drowned his frantic shutter clicks as he caught this adorable moment. Tim’s own camera was near silent in its clicking but he was just as frantic. He was totally framing this in the bat cave (and Damian’s room.)
The bat and the bird chatted for a bit longer before sprinted off, capes billowing majestically.
“Do you think they ever regret having capes? Like Edna believes, capes can be troublesome,” Peter wondered out loud while wiggling free.
It took everything in Tim’s power to not loudly snort. Incredibles was quoted at least weekly in the manor. “Batman has kept a cape in his outfit since he started his crusade. Some of the Robins got rid of the capes but the newest one likes it.”
“There’s more than one Robin?” Peter flinched as his voice carried a bit further than he meant.
“Yeah. The first Robin is now Nightwing. The third is Red Robin. The fourth is Spoiler. The most recent has been Robin for a year or two now.”
“And the second Robin?”
He regretted opening his mouth the second he did. He had heard rumors about a Robin dying and the clear way Tim was avoiding it, should have confirmed his suspicions.
“He died. There’s speculation that Red Hood was the second Robin.”
He grimaced at Tim’s shortness. “Sorry. I bet it was hard to loose your hero. I appreciate you telling me about them and helping me get pictures. I should probably start making my way back to New York.”
“Wait! I had a great time tonight. Do you think… do you think we could go on a date sometime?”
“Yes! I mean- yes. I’d love that. See you around, Tim Drake.”
“See you around, Peter Parker.”