InsaneJournal

Who: Conner Kent & Tim Drake-Wayne
What: Tim can't sleep
When: Shortly after Conner's arrival
Where: Conner's apartment
Rating: Low
Status: Complete | Log

Tim hadn’t slept properly for two days, now. He was running on thirty-six hours of no sleep and coffee had long since stopped helping him. He was awake through sheer stubbornness and a knowledge that when he lay down to sleep there were nothing but nightmares waiting for him. Since there was no crime here - and he didn’t have his suit anyway - he couldn’t go out and just work off his aggression and frustration on some bad guys and work himself to exhaustion so he just dropped off into a dead sleep for a few hours.

That was how he’d wandered down the hallway, past Cassie’s room - and he had lingered there for a few moments, touched the door like he was going to knock and then changed his mind. They were from different times, and Cassie was pleased to see him but Tim couldn’t shake the way that he felt like she was still mad at him for disappearing, for snapping at her in the graveyard when she had tried - calmly - to tell him that Bruce was gone, just like Conner was gone. But they weren’t. And neither was Bart. They were all alive and Stephanie- Well, she was still dead and gone. Not many miracles.

He’d thrown a silent apology her way and instead headed towards the room Conner was sharing with Clark. Tim hadn’t met the Clark that was here yet, they weren’t exactly close anyway; Clark was Bruce’s friend, just like Tim was Kon’s. But still, he stood outside the door and closed his eyes, resting his forehead against the wall and feeling so tired.

He just didn’t want to be alone. He didn’t know the Dick that was here well enough to wake him and ask for company, the same went for the Bruce. He knew he could probably ask Jason but Jason needed time to catch up with Roy and enjoy not being alone for a while. He knew there was a difference between having him there and having Roy there. Roy was Jason’s best friend, or the closest thing to it. Tim was - at best - a little brother. At worst- well.

At worst he was the replacement.

Ugh. Being tired made Tim’s mind even more of an enemy than it normally was.

“Conner?” he murmured, under his breath but he knew that if the super was awake - or even if he wasn’t, he would be soon enough - “if you can hear me, I- uh- I’m outside. Can you let me in?”

Conner should have been sleeping but he wasn’t or at least not very soundly as honestly it was still very strange to be here, in Goodland, without any rhyme or reason to his and everybody else’s apparent abduction. Thankfully people he knew very well were also here so it was easier not to feel alone, much easier. He was sitting up in bed or rather levitating in bed as he tossed a baseball idly from hand to hand in the hopes it might help him get some sleep.

Newsflash it wasn’t.

Of course his attention soon drifted to the distinct familiar voice of one Tim Drake-Wayne who by all intents and purposes should also be asleep but then this was Tim and sleep had never been his greatest ally.

Conner guided the ball back to rest on the nearby table and settled his weight on bare feet and moved in the direction of the door to let Tim in. Ordinarily if the other had his gear he probably would have been tapping on the window in his bedroom but he didn’t so this was obviously the next best thing.

He undid all the locks and pulled open the door before sticking his head out.

“Hey,” Tim mumbled, having heard the sound of the lock being turned - hah, as if anyone would be stupid enough to break into Superman’s apartment. Of course, seeing Kon on the other side of the door made him feel all kinds of guilty and though he’d pushed off the wall he cleared his throat and looked like he’d been caught doing something wrong. “I- sorry- I shouldn’t have bothered you, man.” Almost like he hadn’t been expecting Conner to come and let him in even though he’d asked.

Conner just rolled his eyes and stepped out of the doorway to immediately wrap his arm around Tim’s shoulders, pulling his friend deep into the recesses of the home he shared with Superman. It was done with ease and with absolutely no hesitation. “Don’t be an idiot,” he chided softly and without heat. “You know you can always bother me.”

He tipped his head to shut the door without having to let go of Tim.

“Can’t sleep?”

“Something like that,” Tim muttered, not really hesitating in going with the gentle pull, the warmth of an arm over his shoulder. God, he missed his family. The ones that were here were nice, they’d let Jason keep him after all (haha, like a stray. A slightly, tiny, hysterical laugh escaped him for a moment before he caught it) but it wasn’t the same. They didn’t know him and that wasn’t their fault.

He leaned into Conner’s side and kept his voice low so as not to disturb Clark. “Guessing you weren’t asleep, huh.”

“Nope,” Conner answered with a grin as he led the way to his room as privacy was a must especially when dealing with one TIm Drake-Wayne. “How long since you last slept?” He asked, genuinely concerned and fixing those baby blues of his on his friend.

If he knew Tim as well as he thought he did Conner was willing to put money on days. Possibly even a week. He hadn’t been around to keep an eye on Tim’s coffee intake so it was hard for him to get an accurate feel.

“I’ve been awake longer,” came the slightly petulant reply as Tim let Conner lead him into the ‘privacy’ of his room. If Clark was awake he’d hear everything anyway and Tim had no idea how many meta-humans or aliens were here who had super senses. Probably not many that could pick out a heartbeat from orbit, or hear someone screaming for help on the other side of the world but you never knew. And he didn’t. That was a huge part of the problem.

His shoulders lifted and he pulled away to sit on the edge of the bed, hands pulled into the sleeves of his hoodie.

“Been trying to get my bearings here. It’s not working well.”

Conner pushed the door shut and wandered over to join Tim on the edge of the bed, shoulder to shoulder, and snorted quietly. “Just because you’ve been awake longer does not make this not sleeping thing any better.”

He tipped his head to look over at Tim. “What is about this place that’s throwing you off? I mean aside from the fact we all got dumped here by this unknown entity for seemingly no reason?”

Super disturbing if you asked Conner.

“It means I’m not at my worst,” Tim countered, bumping Conner’s shoulder with his own. The guy was an immovable object but the resistance was familiar. Usually Bart was- well, he used to be on the other side, vibrating with whatever emotion he was feeling. Bart was the unstoppable force. The two of them were a paradox in more than one way.

He snorted. “For a start, yeah.” He wet his lower lip. “It’s just… it’s a lot, you know? And half the people here that should be my-“ family? Was he still part of the family? Bruce was gone, Damian was Robin, he might have the controlling share in Wayne Enterprises but had that just been a failsafe? Everyone had come when he called but he hadn’t asked the Bats for help… “-Other than you, Cassie and Jason the people here I recognise don’t know me. Cassie and I didn’t exactly leave things on good terms where she’s from in time either. And then, yeah, this weird omnipotent Entity who can seemingly reach across time and space and realities and no one else seems to really be that bothered by it.”

Conner gave a soft smile as Tim bumped his shoulder in return, he’d missed this. “That is a lot,” he agreed after having listened quietly to everything that Tim was saying. It wasn’t as hard on Conner as it was on Tim as biologically speaking or otherwise? He really didn’t have a lot of family to speak of, save of course the Kents who had basically adopted him. His friends had always been more of a family to him after all.

“I think it’s creepy.” And it was, it really was. “I mean, it’s definitely some sort of fucked up thing if it can reach across time, space, realities and just bring us all here. Also, why? I mean, it’s not like there’s anything to fight.”

Tim grumbled under his breath. “Damn right there’s nothing here to fight. I’m going stir crazy. I both want to go home and don’t.” Because he missed his life in Gotham but also everything there was a shitshow. His side hurt and he just sort of slumped against Conner. “This whole place is just-” he waved his hand. “Yeah, I’m not sure why we’ve been pulled here and no one can tell us why or how or for what reason.”

He cleared his throat. “Sorry, I’m being a downer.”

Conner ducked his head to hide an affectionate smile before he just turned his attention to Tim and where he was slumped against him. “It’s okay, I won’t hold it against you.” And he wouldn’t.

He blew out a breath and lifted his gaze to regard the ceiling.

“I suppose all we can do is not get complacent, be ready for anything.”

“That’s the plan,” Tim muttered, relaxed against Conner’s shoulder. “I’m gonna make sure we’re ready. So even if something does happen, we won’t be caught off guard. You’re in, right?”

Conner thought briefly about teasing Tim about how he definitely was not in but decided against it, didn’t think his tired friend would be able to take it right now.

“Yeah, of course I’m in. But-” he broke off and looked over at Tim. “You need to get some rest first.”

“Mm,” Tim shifted a little, pushing himself up and away from Conner, swinging his legs off the edge of the bed and moving like he was going to leave. “Thanks for listening to me.”

Conner frowned and reached out to catch Tim’s shoulder with his hand. “Where do you think you’re going?” He dropped his touch to the crook of Tim’s elbow and gave him a light pull. “You’re crashing here.”

No ifs or buts about it.

Conner was stubborn after all and, popular to contrary belief, Tim knew when to pick his battles.