Don’t they know the difference between silver and golden age All Might!?
They searched for him for months.
When Tim Drake disappeared, the entire Batfamily unraveled. One day he was there, saving Gotham alongside them. The next? Gone. No explanation. No note. Just silence. Bruce, Dick, Jason, Damian—they all assumed the worst. Kidnapping, foul play, an elaborate plot. Because Tim Drake doesn’t just leave.
But he did.
Months later, they found him. Not in a dark corner of Gotham. Not held captive by some villain. No, they found him in a small, quiet town in Europe. A place with cobblestone streets and flower boxes in every window. Tim was there, in a cozy house with a garden out back. And he wasn’t alone. He had a child—a bright-eyed little one with dark hair and a curious smile. The moment they saw the kid, they knew.
Kon.
The clone Tim made, after all those failed attempts to bring Kon-El back. Tim had finally succeeded. And he was raising this child alone, quietly, away from the chaos of Gotham.
The confrontation wasn’t what they expected. Bruce tried to argue, voice low and rough, that Tim was too young for this. “You’re barely out of your own childhood,” he said, the words falling flat even as he spoke them. He knew the truth: Tim had never really been a child.
Tim’s response? Calm. Firm.
“I raised you out of your grief. I was Robin because Gotham needed me to be. Because you needed me to be. But this isn’t what I wanted for my life. I’m choosing my happiness, Bruce.”
They didn’t know how to respond to that. Because Tim was right. He’d given everything—his childhood, his innocence, his sanity—for a city that never gave back.
Now, he had a family. A child who wasn’t burdened with masks and capes. And a life. A real life. One where he spent afternoons in the garden, mornings at the café down the street. Where he wasn’t “Red Robin” or “Tim Drake.” He was just… Tim.
There were signs of something else, too. Little things. An extra coffee mug in the kitchen. Another pair of shoes by the door. A faint, easy smile when he glanced across the street, as if sharing an inside joke with someone they couldn’t see. They didn’t press. But there was a quiet presence in Tim’s life, woven into the edges of this new chapter. Someone who helped build this safe haven, this peace.
And Tim had no plans of returning to Gotham.
“I’m not Red Robin anymore. And I never will be again.”
They didn’t understand at first. Not fully. How could he walk away? How could he choose this life, this quiet happiness, over the mission? Over them?
But deep down, they knew. They’d always known Tim’s heart wasn’t in it the way theirs was. He wasn’t like Bruce, who could never let go. Or Jason, who burned with restless fury. Or Dick, who carried hope like a torch. Tim had been the glue holding them together, but it had come at a cost. And now he was finally healing.
“I’ll still be family,” Tim promised. “I’ll visit. Holidays, special occasions. But this? This is my life now. You can’t take me away from my happiness because you need me to stay. That’s not fair.”
They wanted to argue. But what could they say? Tim had always been the rational one. The one who saw the bigger picture. And he was right.
Bruce’s voice softened. “You’re happy.”
Tim nodded. “I am.”
And in the end, that was all that mattered.
The Batfamily returned to Gotham, a little quieter, a little heavier. They’d lost Red Robin. But they hadn’t lost Tim. And as much as it hurt, they knew he’d finally found the peace they could never give him.
Some heroes leave the fight not because they’ve lost hope, but because they’ve found something worth living for.
Tim Drake had given Gotham everything. Now, it was time for Gotham to let him go.
The biggest omission is that they were not shown at the wedding of Hiccup and Astrid, even as a cameo. Hello? Heather is her best friend.
Bruce only kept the Batmobile as a name because Dick would refuse to call it anything else and Alfred enabled him in the days before the car had an autopilot, asking Bruce which car over and over and listing all their luxury cars alphabetically until Bruce gave into the name.
Flash: what the hell happened with no metas in gotham?
Batman: Signal is a special case, I trust him solely as one of gotham’s vigilantes-
Flash: What? No. I’m talking about the blue one. I saw him lift like, 1000 pounds the other day.
Batman: … it was that or therapy
While I'm sure bad guys in Gotham have learned over time that the Bats don't kill, that even after bashing your teeth in they'll flag down an ambulance or dump you unceremoniously at the ER, it's still a shaky trust.
One that is easily shaken seeing a child wielding a sword in the dead of night; nobody wants to learn how that is handled nonlethally. Or bad guys just surrendering one late night after running into an alley and Nightwing's standing over their unconscious buddy, holding the gun he wrestled away. They watch Red Hood break into the place they're robbing with a crowbar in hand and just decide they'd rather not chance it. They see a shadow that could be Black Bat and-- you get it.
Texts From Superheroes
Facebook | Threads | Patreon | Instagram
Bruce: Why pouting?
Clark: You had a kid and you didn't tell me.
Bruce: I had plenty of kids. You need to be more specific.
Clark: You had a kid of your own, and you didn't tell me.
Bruce: Are you making differences between bio kids and adopted kids? 'Cause I have some big news for you, alien boy.
Clark: You had a son with Talia al Ghul.
Bruce: Listen, it was an accident-
Clark: Are you telling me you just happened to get Talia al Ghul pregnant?
Bruce: You knocked up Lois!
Clark: We were engaged? She's not my arch-enemy?? I didn't keep it from you???
Bruce: Hey, cut me some slacks! I was a bit shocked! I mean, how would you react if you found out to have a secret child with Lex Luthor?!
Clark: *nervous laugh*
Bruce: ???
Clark: What an odd choice of words...
(BRB gonna use this dialogue in my Superbat WIP)
Bruce: who are you? A new crime lord?
Jason: *takes off his helmet*
Bruce: *squints suspiciously* a new crime lord who looks like a grown up version of my dead son?
Jason: *sighs in annoyance and forces a bright smile*
Bruce: JASON THE NEW CRIME LORD???
previous one went stratospheric so this came about lmao??