One:

Tim Drake flinched as another fist hit him in the jaw. He flinched as another one came down on his temple, then again as an open palm slapped him across the face. This hand of course, belonged to his long time tormentor, Jason Finch. Jason was tall for his age. He wasn't fat, but he was thick, with incredibly large muscles in his arms, shoulders, and neck. He had brown eyes, and blonde hair down to his shoulders. His forehead looked way too large for the rest of his face, but Jason wasn't an ugly boy. In fact there were girls in the next year level who swooned over his looks. It was his personality which left him without a girlfriend. Tim's own school bully.

Naturally, the robin could have taken Jason down in two moves, but Tim, Tim was just the weak nerd. Tim didn't cry out whenever Jason beat him up. Not anymore. And he didn't talk about it to anyone, especially not his father figure. If Bruce found out, he would probably stop letting Robin go with Batman on patrols, since if Tim can't handle a simple bully, there's no way his persona could hold his weight against someone like killer croc or poison ivy. Not after what happened to the last Robin... So no. Tim let Jason Finch do as he pleased, no matter how many bruises or aching bones or terrible wounds he received.

There was a time long ago when Tim began receiving a few cuts and gashes from Jason Finch. Jason often used his fists or feet, but decided to expand his repertoire of torture to include knives, rocks, burns from cigarettes or other flamed objects, and occasionally the threat of a gun on Tim's temple. His targeting of the young Drake was unmotivated as far as Tim was aware, but it had been going on for long enough that Tim stopped questioning it. Years and years of torture, and minor slip-ups on patrol made Tim's daily beatings a regular, completely normal event in his schedule. Sure, maybe he used to cry out, but that stopped when Jason brought a pair of pliers to school and the warning to Tim; "whenever you open your mouth, the pliers go in, and a tooth comes out." Tim said he was going to tell the principal then, but was silenced by the pliers being smashed into the side of his head, above the ear, and well within the thick part of his hair, (Sure Jason was a bully, but he was most certainly not stupid.) Tim opened his mouth to cry out, but the feeling of the pliers thrust into his mouth made him close it again quickly.

Every Student at Gotham Academy knew about Jason's 'ordeal' with Tim, and for this reason, Tim had no friends. The students feared Jason Finch. They saw how he treated Tim, watched from a distance. Even teachers diverted their eyes when they saw Jason attacking Tim ("boys will be boys" they always said,) and Tim... He just sat there and took it. He saw a twisted justice in it, (if he's beating me up, he isn't hurting anyone else,) and it's for this reason he would let Jason Finch beat him, slash at him, even shoot at him with a BB gun, until the end of his life if that's what it took. Because that was a part of Batman's code, his sacrifice; to take whatever is thrown at him or anyone else for the good of the civilians, or in Tim's case, his cohort.

Alfred always asked Tim about his day. The moment Tim got into the back of the shiny black car, Alfred would ask "so how was your day, master Timothy?" and every day it was the same reply. Tim would plant a big false grin on his face, and talk about the best parts, like the project he had in chemistry (which he didn't have a partner for,) and the beautiful girl he spoke to (saw) in his English class, and of course the tragic abuse a student received at lunch break who was most certainly not him. And as always, Alfred described how such a student should tell a teacher, or even the principal about it. And as always, Tim agreed, and asked what was for dinner that night.

Robin tripped on patrol one night.

"Batman please. it was just a loose tile, that's all" cried Robin. Batman gave Tim a glare that removed any sense of comfort from his young partner.

"She got away robin. Harley got away. YOU were chasing her, and she got away. Our ONLY chance to plant a tracker on her. A simple tracker with a complicated adhesive, which you could have thrown on her easily, and not only did you fail in your mission to plant said tracker, but you lost sight of her, because... You tripped on a loose tile." Robin slumped before Batman's eyes, looking away into a corner somewhere to the right of the Bat. The larger man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, and said to the boy wonder "Do not let it happen again, Tim. One more slipup like that, and you're going to receive a lot more than a warning. Now go." and Tim got up, limped to the elevator, and out of the cave.

In his room, on his bed, Tim pulled off the fabric of his leggings and discovered that the stitches he had given himself to fix the gash in his thigh had been reopened. This wasn't the first blunder Tim had committed on patrol thanks to Jason Finch. Tim mentally thanked the first robin for teaching him how to tie a bandage in a way that even if he started bleeding out, he could excuse himself from class and restitch himself in the bathroom. Of course that was taught to him for Robin related injuries at school, not school related injuries as Robin.

This wasn't the first time Tim needed to fix one of Jason Finch's marks after a patrol, hell it wasn't even the most severe. it was however, the one with the most noticeable results. Tim was weak on that rooftop. His leg hurt so much, and he tripped. He felt the stitches being ripped out of his skin, and felt his legs scrape along the tiles, knees falling as if knee boarding across the roof, over the gutter and off the side towards the alleyway below him. He hadn't ripped the suit, but his knees were definitely shredded in some way beneath the fabric. Tim's grapple saved him, but the mission wasn't able to be saved. Tim had an easy excuse tonight, a believable one compared to some other nights, (I mean it batman, a hand came out to the sewer with a knife and sliced my calf!) Tim was certainly improving his lies, and gave himself a mental pat on the back for it. He felt that much was justified.

The next day at school saw Tim there early, as always. Tim liked this time of the day, because of the people he could be around. Not talk to of course, but just sit and listen to; the breathing, the conversations of who hooked up with who, the panic of "I haven't done my homework for math!" and their friend's comforting reply of "haha, me neither!" and the laughter. Tim loved the laughter most of all. It meant his fellow students were happy, and more importantly, safe. Tim closed his eyes and let his senses free. He could feel the seat and the table he was leaning on, the hard wood of the picnic table he used for studying. The slight chips in the wood which could cause splintering if someone wasn't careful, but gave Tim a comfort he couldn't explain. The smells of the trees and the air, and the polluted smell that could only come from Gotham, which again gave Tim some comfort. The sound of the students talking about nonsense, ("did you see Nate on 'talented Gotham' last night? It was amazing!") and the birds in the trees, calling out to each other, and maybe even to Tim. He was a bird too after all. Lots in common there. Tim smiled at the thought, and that was when his school day ended.

"Hey Drake, whatchya smirking at? The thought of Wayne in your mouth last night?"

People turned around to look, but noone moved from their place. Tim snapped out of his pre-school happiness. Jason Finch never came to school this early. Why was he here now? He didn't even like school. When Tim said nothing, Jason moved before Tim, not even a half step away from him, his hand behind his own back.

"come with me Drake, now." People began to whisper, and the malicious look in Jason's eye put a mild fear in Tim. Jason looked to his left, where a girl had just whispered to her friend that she thought Jason was a nasty, no good, pathetic little...

"what was that?" Jason asked her in a threatening tone. The girl looked taken aback, and started trying to defend herself. "What, no. I uh... I meant..."

"where to, Jason." Tim asked standing up, putting an arm around Jason's shoulder ( even though Jason was almost a head taller,) turning him away from the girl, effectively protecting her, as he was meant to do. Jason faltered slightly, but hit Tim around the back of the head to remove his arm. Tim allowed himself to be pushed forward by occasional hits to the head from Jason Finch, until the pair stopped in a corner out of sight to any windows or teachers eyes. Jason usually never went to this much effort to hide his misdeeds...

"what's the trouble now, Jason?" asked Tim, keeping his composure, showing no fear. Jason gave a sly grin, which seemed... Off.

"Well, you see drake, there was an accident at kickboxing last night. I was kicked in the face." Tim replied somewhat cocky, saying "well I'm sad to hear that it didn't fix your face." Jason's smirk faltered slightly, but he recomposed himself almost immediately.

"see, Timmy, that's what I'm trying to do now." and he grinned a sinister grin; a sinister grin with a missing tooth. Tim put two and two together, even before he realized that the object behind Jason's back was the pair of pliers Tim had been threatened to have his teeth pulled out with some time ago.

Tim had a teacher make the call to Alfred. He could barely talk at all with a tooth missing and his mouth full of blood. Alfred had asked how it happened, and though Tim already had his excuse compiled, he couldn't recount it anyway. No, that would have to wait until after he had a replacement made and in his mouth. Bruce was more concerned with Tim than he was with his current business, a contrast to how he was as Batman. So Tim had a new false tooth in and a enough time for the anesthesia to ware off by the end of the day. So over a dinner of cold fish (as Tim couldn't have anything hot yet,) Alfred again asked Tim how the accident had occurred.

"I was playing dodgeball with my friends before school, and my friend Nate threw the ball WAAY too close to the line, and WAAY too close to me for it to be safe... I mean obviously" and Tim gave a small laugh at the last part. Alfred too laughed as he stood up, clearing away his own empty plate, and ruffled Tim's hair saying "oh yes master Tim, indeed." Alfred didn't notice when Tim flinched under the pressure on his head. "although master Timothy, you could have at least pretended to cry, as any other boy would have. You do have a secret to keep you know." Tim didn't look up from his cold meal. "I know Alfred. I know."

Tim didn't have to go to school the next day, as he was still "recovering", according to the dentist anyway, but Robin was allowed on patrol. He did his best that night not to show any sign that he was in pain, and Batman made a point of saying how surprised he was at the boys composure under the circumstances (referring to the tooth of course) and Robin just smirked in response. Batman saw it as his cocky attitude, but in reality, it was Tim's cry out for help.

"Robin, make your way to seventh. There's an apartment on fire there. Two people trapped, both on the 4th floor. The fire department can't get to them, and my weight would exacerbate the structures current flaws. Get them out Robin." robin gave Batman a short reply, and grappled his way to the street Batman had said. Robin realized why the fire department had given up when he was 7 streets away. The blaze was massive. It had to have started on a top level, but no... Now Tim had a view of the whole building, he realized that the fire was no accident at all. The blaze was most fierce at the top and bottom of the structure, potentially a result of a few carefully placed bombs. There was no way the fire department could get to the 4th floor. So Tim did what the reckless boy wonder was meant to do; he grappled straight into the building, in through a window on the floor where the people were trapped.

The first person was a little boy no older than 6. He was cowering in a corner behind his car shaped bed. He looked like a younger version of the pictures Tim saw of the 2nd robin. Robin took care in putting the young boy under his arm, right against his chest where the boy wrapped his arms and legs around in his own safety procedure. Tim moved with the child to the window, asking the young boy his name to keep him calm. "Timothy." the boy said quietly, but loud enough for Robin to hear. It took all of Robins strength not to cry out "me too!"

The boy wonder grappled to a structure across the street from the building they were in, and carefully set the child down at the base of it where a man ran to the child screaming "TIM! Thank you Robin, Thankyou. Now please, please get my other son, Tim's brother. Please." the momentary joy on the mans face was replaced by a hopeful, terrified look.

Robin ran to a fireman, asked "how long have I got?" and was on the 4th floor again when he got a calm, though desperate reply of "less than 5 minutes for sure." Robin rushed around looking in every corner, in every nook and cranny, in every cupboard and wardrobe on the floor. He ducked as the ceiling caved in slightly. The building was going down soon. It had definitely gone down somewhere else though, apparently, as somewhere there was a person, somewhere a scream resonated.

"Keep making noise, please." cried out Tim desperately, before coughing from the smoke blanketing him. He couldn't pass out himself. He had to save them both. The kid, who sounded much older than the little boy he had just saved, did as he was told, calling out "hello"s and "I'm in here"s, and finally, robin caught sight of him. A boy with a boxing bag next to him pinned to the ground, and a full set of teeth, one of which was Tim's own.

Robin caught eyes with the terrified Jason Finch, his tormentor for so many years, the reason he got in trouble with Batman sometimes, the reason he used tricks intended for Tim Drake as robin. The reason for his pain, his misery. The reason he had no friends. The reason he was terrified of school. All of this, right before him, pinned to the ground by a beam. Helpless. Terrified. Crying out for help. Hurting.

"Robin please. It hurts. It hurts. Oh god Robin it hurts so much. Please, please, please!"

Tim stood there, staring at the figure on the ground. He saw himself in elementary school, limping from the bruise he definitely had on his spine. A small 1st grader, who definitely fell off the monkey bars and hit his back on the platform. The 3rd grader, who definitely hit his elbow running too fast in the hallwaysand broke it on a doorframe. The 5th grader, who felt the sensation of a knife against his throat for the first time. The 7th grader, who had an invisible, but large and brutal gash from the butt of a gun that was slammed and buried into his head. The 9th grader, who had his tooth pulled out with a pair of pliers... The cowardly boy he is now because of this monster before him.

Tim doesn't know how long he stands there, staring at Jason. He relishes in the moans and cries and many, many sobs made by Jason Finch. Tim smirks sadistically, almost trance like, makes sure his fake tooth can be seen, turns around, and walks away.

"no. ROBIN! Please oh god it hurts, it hurts robin. Please oh god please please save me OH GOD PLEASE!" Jason begged and begged, and he begged until Tim jumped out of the window, just as the structure crumbled in on itself. An ear piercing scream which cutoff, a resonating *snap* of Jason's spine rang throughout the entire 4th floor, and all sound besides the crackling of the fire went mute.