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Unintentional Stalker Tim Drake AU
I love the interactions where Tim is his canonical weirdo fanboy self, but consider the idea that he never meant to stalk the bats.
Tim’s parents are gone, away on another dig, and Tim decides that instead of sitting in the quiet manor again, alone with only his TV to keep him company, he would grab his camera and take aesthetic photos of nighttime Gotham.
He’s quiet as he looks for a good spot to take his first photos, and when he finds a cool angle of a building against the setting sun he takes a photo.
He did not expect to see Batman and Robin mid jump between rooftops.
He quickly looked up from the photo, but any sign of the bats having been there are gone. Tim’s slightly disappointed, but decides to head home early, not wanting to risk being caught out alone.
The next night, he returns to the streets, camera slung around his neck and heading in the opposite direction of where he last saw the vigilantes. He sees a cool reflection of the moon being framed by a street lamp, and with the click of a button he takes the photo.
He again captured Batman and Robin, this time grappling in the distance, their silhouettes obvious against the light of the moon. When Tim looked up from the picture, they were gone.
Awe aside, he’s getting annoyed that the two masked crusaders keep photobombing his pictures. He walks down a few streets, climbs a tree, and takes a landscape photograph. Almost hesitant, Tim looks at the result.
Robin is chasing a low level gang member across the street.
This keeps happening: Tim goes out into Gotham’s night in an attempt to take photos of the city, and every time time Batman and Robin- sometimes just one of them sometimes both- unintentionally fall into the camera’s path as Tim snaps a photo.
In the background of his photos he’s captured Batman scolding Robin, the duo eating ice cream, Robin trying to walk on a power line, and even a couple of their fights with some of the rogues, along with many more photos.
On one particular night, as Tim gets his camera to focus against a satellite dish against the sky, he sees Robin do a quadruple somersault.
Tim is quickly able to figure out their identities like in canon, and when Jason comes in to take over the Robin mantle, Tim discovers his identity too with little to no problem.
Tim keeps up with his photo shoots, not nearly as annoyed of the photobombs as he used to be but refusing to give up until he has one clean shot of just the city and nothing else.
When Jason dies, and Tim sees Bruce dishing out broken bones and ICU visits to everyday thugs, he knows he’s got to do something. After all, they’ve been entwined longer than the bats know.
Danny died young. That wasn't what made him powerful. No, but it was part of it. His obsession was Protection due to that being one of the only forms of love he ever received. His parents swearing to protect him from monsters that they never found and his sister protecting him from his parents more...extreme actions.
He died at 6 and if there was one lesson he had learned from his short life, it was that to love was to protect and to be loved is to be protected.
So Danny, ever the explorer, had spent another 6 years after death wandering around the zone and saving people. One day he slipped out of the Infinite Realms and into a new reality but he didn't expect to see a kid around his own age dressed in black and red.
The kid jumped from rooftop to rooftop, doing flips and handsprings with a small smile on his face. Danny stared at him wide eyed while standing frozen on the ground like an idiot. Just like that, Danny developed his first crush.
Following behind the kid was a large man in a gray and black outfit. Supervillian? He watched as this guy jumped from rooftop to rooftop running after the kid.
Danny almost blasted the guy right then and there if it wasn't for the kid turning around and talking to him. Eavesdropping wasn't exactly polite but Danny needed to know if he needed to rescue his crush this kid. Luckly it didn't come to that as "Batman and Robin" discussed a case and left.
Later, back in the IR, Danny was caught by Kitty while he was picking flowers. Upon asking what he was doing he stated the obvious. This of course, led to Kitty following Danny back to Gotham and getting front roy seats to Phantom popping his head up from the rooftop while Robin was running and startling him.
Robin got into his battle stance alongside Batman, all the while Danny didn't ride up from the roof any farther than his shoulders. Danny was too nervous to say anything and just blushed before he chucked the bouquet at Robins feet and bolted.
Robin jumped back, fully expecting the object the kid threw to be a weapon or explosive of some kind. Even after realizing they were flowers and the other kid was gone they still suspected it might be a trap.
Eventually they brought the glowing flowers to the batcave where they were examined. Alfred took the liberty of putting the ones that weren't being examined in a vase.
"I don't get it. Was he trying to send a message? I don't even recognize any of these flowers, what was he trying to tell us?"
"If I may, Master Tim." Alfred interrupted the boy, "Is it possible he gave you flowers for another reason? One more...mundane?"
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Aka Danny gets a big ole crush on BTAS Tim and the other ghosts coo at Danny for "baby's first crush"
The bats are never normal so they're absolutely convinced Phantom is up to no good
Dick Grayson clutching Robin!Tim Drake to his chest: this one is my baby I love him, I will do anything for him.
Tim: cool anyway can you help Bruce with-
Dick now 700 km away, moved, left, skeddadled out of town, call him a road runner, no actually he was never there, if he’s not there he can’t hear you, actually he’s in an underground bunker made of lead so you can’t call him unless you’re Donna Troy (long story): sorry can’t hear you
Tim about do so something reckless with YJ: works everytime
Batfamily - 530*160
Artist : Lan.C