milliways_bar | (no subject)

"Criminals can be odd at times. Perhaps they're having a competition or bet on who can off the Boy Wonder first," he said as if what he had said earlier hadn't been suspicious at all.

Kon narrows his eyes at him for a long moment as he turns this over in his head, puzzling out the statement. Finally, he shakes his head. "Nuhuh. You're not pulling that one on me."

"Pulling what on you?" He asked with a cock of his head, seemingly innocent and unaware of what Kon was talking about. But he knew better, of course.

"-That-." Kon crosses his arms now. "You've been acting weird lately, and you never say -why-. Tell me now." He pauses, then adds, "Please?" As if that'll really help if Tim's determined to not tell anything.

Tim was silent for a moment as he considered his options. He could continue to deny that anything was wrong, of course, but that would probably only frustrate Kon further. On the other hand, if he did tell the truth, Kon may not react well anyway.

So he decided to go for the in-between.

"I moved out of Gotham."

...huh?

That was not really Kon had been expecting as a response at all; though what he had been expecting, he didn't really know. Just... not that. "When did you do -that-? -Why- did you do that?"

"A little while after Steph's funeral." Which wasn't an event he liked looking back on. "I needed to get away from Gotham. Be on my own for a while. And Dana...she needed...treatment." Of what kind, he didn't say.

"And you didn't -say- anything about this?" That was... incredibly stupid. Kon can't blame Tim for the stupidity, but it was still stupid! "Where did you -go-?"

Well, this was the part that he particularly didn't like to admit, because he knew that it'd only fuel Kon's anger.

Tim sighed a little as he spoke. "You remember when I said I moved to the edge of Gotham before?"

"Yeaaah?" Kon eyes him warily. He's not going to like the response to this, is he?

.......wait. "You don't mean..."

Although people thought differently, Tim knew that Kon wasn't stupid. So he knew that when he didn't finish his sentence, that Kon had come to the right conclusion.

So Tim merely nodded.

"You. Moved to -Bludhaven-." Kon stares at him. "Without telling anybody?"

That was.... he doesn't even -know- what to say about that. And he's trying real hard not to be mad here, because he knows Tim has been having a hard time, but... "Do you know how stupid that was?"

He knew it was a dangerous city, but he didn't like the fact that Kon was calling him stupid to his face at his decision.

"I didn't do it because I thought it would be fun, Kon. Dana needed treatment, and they have one of the best clinics there." That was one of the major reasons he had chosen the city. For his stepmother.

"And with Nightwing out of the game, Bludhaven needed a new protector."

"Yeah, but..." Kon trails off. Right. Stop objecting and start -asking-. Don't call him dumb until you know everything. "Treatment? Why?"

Tim became hushed for a moment after he asked that question. Thinking of his father's death...it still hurt. And it hurt even more that he couldn't help Dana himself.

"Because of dad," he said silently and tonelessly.

"...oh."

So she'd... and then... and... damn. Now Kon felt like a jerk for getting mad. He still thought it was stupid, but sometimes people were allowed to be stupid.

And maybe he could be allowed to be a bit stupid too, because now that he's feeling like a jerk for being mad, he also feels sad that Tim didn't think he could share this with even him, for whatever reason.

"Is she... are they helping her?"

Tim closed his eyes for a moment, as if he were trying to push some thoughts or emotions into the corner of his mind. He opened them a moment later with a breath.

"I don't know," he confessed honestly. He was no expert of mental health, and it was painful to watch her when she forgot what had happened.

Kon wishes he could assure him it's alright... but he barely knows anything, so he can't do that. Maybe with someone else it would help to bullshit like that , but not with Tim. "Well, I'm sure that... you'be done everything possible, and whoever's taking care of her will... so she's -gotta- get better."

"The doctor says that she's improving, but...mental instability is so hard to cure," Tim said, hand gripping the table. He really wished he could do more; he felt as though he wasn't doing nearly enough.

"Yeah, but... if they say she's improving, you gotta trust that. It's not gonna help her -or- you if you just worry yourself more over it." Not that someone could really stop themselves from worrying just because it was a bad thing to do.

"I can't help it, Kon. She's the only family I have left." He was afraid of losing her as well. Both his mother and father had died because of him, and...he was afraid that someday, he would lead Dana to her death, too.

"No, she's not. I mean, she is, but..." This might not be the right thing at all to say right now, but it's all Kon knows to say. So. "But you've got another family too. A different kind of family."

"I know, Kon. I really do," Tim said, covering his face with his hands. "But I was supposed to be the one that had a separate life from all of this. Dysfuctional, sure, but still fairly normal." That had been why he hadn't blindly looked to Batman like Dick and Jason had done on occasion.

"It's just...the lines keep blurring. The lives mix together, and look how that turned out." And he wasn't sure he could maintain the identity of Tim Drake without them.

Kon looks at him for a long moment before getting up and sliding into the seat next to Tim, putting an arm around his shoulder. Tim can rebuff him if he wants, but... yeah. It's all he knows what to do, really. The rest, the words, is just fumbling for something that might help.

"It doesn't always turn out like that. Look at the Arrows... they're not exactly gungho on protecting their identities."

Tim didn't reject the comforting arm, not yet, anyway. He seemed to be too tired to even do that. He didn't look up at Kon either, though.

"But they're all in the business. It's different. I got my family involved in something they weren't supposed to be involved in." He had to carry the weight of being unable to save both of his parents.