It's almost a year later, but I finally finished up this one thats been sitting on my laptop for ages.

Enjoy!

Luck, it seems, is not on Tim's side.

Maybe it was on his side in the past, when he just started out as Robin and blundered his way through perilous situations, somehow coming out of them alive every time. But clearly the universe has decided to balance it out again.

Or he's just being dramatic. But he'll never admit that.

"I can't believe Father sent you pick me up." Damian says, and somehow the kid manages to pack all his disappointment, disgust and anger in that one word. Being dramatic, is seems, is a family trait.

"Shouldn't have gotten your ass grounded then." Tim tells him by way of greeting and next to him a mother shields her daughters ears and gives him a stern look at the use of his language. Oops.

He gives the lady an apologetic half grin then looks around the school parking lot, noticing that several children give Damian a wide berth.

Intriguing.

"What exactly did you do?"

Damian gives him a glare that should have been menacing, but the effect is taken away by the school uniform he's wearing and the backpack dragging on the ground. Tim would almost go so far to say that the little brat looks endearing. But he has a set of scars on his arm that stops that train of thought pretty quickly.

"Nothing they didn't deserve." Damian grumbles and Tim decides that maybe now is not the best time to prod him for answers. The lady next to him is giving him a side eye again.

"Riiight." He says instead, then starts steering Damian away by his shoulders, "Car's back at my school, let's walk."

Damian, to his credit, only shrugs off his hands with a short, "Don't touch me, Drake."

It's an improvement.

They walk in silence for a while, because Tim knows better than to try to engage the demon brat in conversation when he's in a mood. But that doesn't stop him from pointing out some vintage cameras displayed in a store window they pass.

"Whoa, look at these beauties," he whistles, and he stops to get a better look at them. Once, when he still had time for hobbies, photography was his way to unwind. He hasn't actually used his camera in ages. The last time he touched it was when he moved into the manor after his dad's death.

Behind him Damian just humphs.

Tim ignores him and takes his time admiring the cameras and other photography tools.

When he turns back around Damian is gone.

Well shit.

Dread immediately starts pooling in his stomach. Not for Damian. Okay maybe a little bit. But mostly for himself. Because, fucking hell, Bruce is gonna skin him alive if he finds out that Tim let Damian sneak off while he's grounded.

He starts looking around frantically, trying to spot the brat's school blazer, but he doesn't see it anywhere.

Then he hears Damian hiss, "Drake, get over here." from the alley next to the shop and he lets out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. He wants to chew out Damian for disappearing on him, but as he rounds the corner all words leave his mouth.

Damian is sitting on his knees, his back towards Tim. He's holding something in his hands but Tim can't see what it is. When he walks up to his little brother he can hear it though.

Tiny pathetic mewls.

Damian is cradling a kitten in his arms. It's looks filthy and underfed. It's also purring and butting it's tiny nose against Damian's hands. And uuughh Tim is utterly powerless when the kid turns his big green eyes on him and says, "She needs my help."

He squats down next to Damian and carefully holds out a hand for the kitten to sniff. She shrinks back at first but then stretches her neck and headbutts his hand. Tim grins a little, "Alright sure, we'll take her. But you get to explain to Bruce and Alfr-"

A fist connects with his temple and his vision swims. His arms are forcefully pulled behind his back and before he can make a sound a piece of duct tape is slapped over his mouth. From the corner of his eyes Tim can see Damian undergoing the same treatment and he can't help but sigh through his nose. Another day, another attempt at kidnapping one of the Wayne heirs.

A needle is jammed into his neck and the last thing he thinks before he passes out is fuck the universe.

.

When Tim comes to, he's in an empty warehouse. He blinks a few times, shaking of the lingering haze from whatever drugs he's been dosed with. He doesn't have to move his hands to know that they've been bound. He looks up to find Damian staring at him. It's disconcerting and comforting at the same time.

"Finally." his little brother says and Tim huffs.

"Not everything is a competition, ya know?" he says, then sits up to fully take in their surroundings. It's dank. It's cold. It's empty. Probably nice and remote too. Just their run of the mill kidnapping location.

"I already turned the 'kidnapped as civillians' beacon on." Damian says offhandedly, his attention focused on a bulge in his shirt that's...moving.

"You brought the baby cat?" Tim hisses and if his hands weren't tied up he would have extremely facepalmed like that one meme with the guy and the hand sticking out the back of his head. But he has to settle for a glare instead.

Damian carefully cradles the bump in his shirt and gives him a look, somehow managing to look smug about the fact that he already freed his hands and incredulous at Tim's obvious stupidity about leaving a kitten at the same time. Tim just huffs and starts working on freeing his own hands. He will probably never fully understand Damian's extremes.

He pulls his hands free with a triumphant noise just as their kidnappers enter the room, then quickly shoves then behind his back again and shifts his expression to I'm-a-scared-rich-kid. From the corner of his eye his can see that Damian has decided not follow his lead, as usual, and that he has chosen to scowl at their attackers instead. It almost looks terrifying, but the tiny mews coming from his shirt negate it somewhat. Tim almost wishes he could capture this truly accurate picture of Damian Wayne before he remembers he's playing a kidnap victim.

Instead Tim focuses on their kidnappers, who are apparently having a whispered discussion in the back of the room. He studies them for a second, notices their kidnapper-y clothes (black clothes, ski masks, left one is taller than the right one) and decides they shouldn't be too much trouble for whoever is coming to rescue them. He hopes its Jason. Their trigger happy brother has a special love for taking down child abductors. He can't help a snort escaping as he thinks about it.

Tall guy's head snaps to him and Tim quickly lowers his head in a submissive pose.

He hears the footsteps coming to him before his chin is grabbed by a gloved hand and he's forced to look at the face covered in a ski mask. It looks pretty dirty up close. And it smells.

"Think this is funny do ya? You little Wayne shit."

And oh, how Tim's free hands are itching behind his back.

"Leave my brother alone!" Damian shrieks, and it sounds so un-Damian that both Tim and the kidnapper turns their heads. Tim catches the gleam in his little brothers eyes though and all he can think is the little fucker before tall guy lets go of his chin, grins at Damian and brings his fist down on Tim's face.

Ow.

Tim's head reels and he can feel his left eye starting to swell. He vaguely hears Short guy calling Tall guy back and another whispered discussion ensues. He blinks away the stars dancing in his eyes and dares a glance at Damian next to him.

"Apologies", his little brother whispers, not sounding sorry at all, "But I had to protect Artemis."

It takes Tim a second to realise that Damian has already named the fucking baby cat that started this whole debacle and when he does he can't help the annoyance bubbling up in him

"We are not naming it Artemis." He hisses, "This whole shit show is your fault. If anything, I get to name the thing."

"She's not a thing! And I won't let you nam-"

Damian trails off as all the lights suddenly flicker out and the room is bathed in darkness. Tim can hear the sharp inhales of breath from their kidnappers. Ah, the sweet sound of panic. It takes only seconds before Tim spots the tell tale lights of masked eyes. No sounds of a cape, so either Red Hood or Nightwing then. There's the sound of one well placed punch and a body hitting the floor, then another. And that's it. The light turns back on.

"Heya, kiddos." Red hood says, like this is normal, which it sort of is actually, "Heard you needed some help.

"Took you long enough, Todd." Damian says, getting up. The cat has evidently also decided the danger is over and is sticking out its tiny head over the collar of his shirt. Jason looks him over, shrugs then turns his attention to Tim, who is still sitting on the floor, carefully probing the skin around his eye. It has basically swollen shut by now and he lets out a hiss of pain.

"Nice shiner." Jason says, turning Tim's face left then right, "Any other injuries?"

Tim is very much done with people touching his face and slaps away his brother's hands as he gets up. "I'm fine." He grunts, then walks over the their kidnappers. He pokes one of them with his foot. They're out cold. Tim sighs, "The media catch any wind of this yet?"

"You're in luck. Nobody noticed this piss poor attempt. They were to busy arguing to actually send out a ransom demand. Amateurs. Dickie will be here soon to clean them up. I'm tasked with taking you back to the Manor."

Jason turns his attention back to Damian, who is pretending to be busy with making sure his tiny charge is alright.

"So little D, care to explain how you two managed to get yourselves kidnapped in broad daylight? And pick up another flee-bag?"

Damian looks up, shrugs and says "Not particularly. I would prefer to the explain the situation myself to Father. Not let's go shall we? Artemis needs care."

He barges past Jason and Tim, who can't do anything but follow.

.

Later, when they're home and cleaned up, Tim has to give the little demon credit for standing his ground during Bruce's interrogation of what exactly happened. They come out of it relatively unscathed. Tim with only a minor scolding of letting his little brother out of his sight and Damian with a stern warning and the promise of finding an adopter for Artemis when she's healthy. They have enough animals in the house already.

Which should have been enough to forget about the whole fiasco. But Tim will be the one walking around with a black eye for a week. And it's not in his nature to let his brothers get off easy with messing with him. So yes, maybe it's a little juvenile of him, to refill all of Damian's hygiene products with mayonnaise. Maybe.

But at least they're even again.