Tim spent most of the day in a drugged sleep, drifting in and out. The first time he came to, he briefly saw a small shadow from the corner of his eye. 'Damian?'

The next time he woke up, Damian was standing at the foot of his bed. The Kid was worrying his lip with a look of concentration. Or was it worry? Tim couldn't tell, and thinking was hard, so he went back to sleep.

He woke up with a small cat trying to force its way under his left hand. Bemused, he lifted his hand slightly and the cat purred happily, settling under his arm. Tim noticed a weight on his feet and looked down to see Titus' massive head draped over his feet. 'I hope he doesn't send Batcow over to snuggle,' Tim though with a groggy smile. It felt nice and warm, so Tim fell asleep again

It was evening when he finally woke up fully. He felt clearer and not tired now. 'Alfred must have laid off the pain killers,' he thought.

Damian was sitting in a chair by the bed with a small metal bowl full of a green paste, "oh good, you're awake, Drake. As funny as it'd be for you to wake up with green goo on your face, I'd rather you were awake for this."

"D, what is that stuff and why did you say it's going on my face?"

"It's a herb poultice. It should help reduce the swelling so you're decent for school tomorrow"

Tim let out a low groan as he let Damian to start dabbing the smelly green goop onto his face. "School, damn, I missed a lot… what am I gonna do?"

"I picked up your homework."

"You mean you had Alfred drive you to pick up my homework?"

Damian stared into Tim's eyes, not blinking in that unsettling way he had for a long moment before saying, "if it makes you feel better to think, so we'll go with that. Now hold still while I put the bandage over this."

Tim dutifully held still as Damian put gauze and medical tape over his nose, "I finished your English paper for you."

"When did you read Moby Dick?"

"When I was five."

"Of course you did. Well, thank you."

Damian sat looking at his hands in his lap as they worked at something only he could see.

"Drake…"

"Yeah?"

"Last night…. I should have… you shouldn't have…"

"Damian, one time I jumped into a car because I thought it was my way out of a tight spot. The Joker was behind the wheel, and before I could react, he gassed me and I woke up tied to the passenger seat with a gag in my mouth and him driving. We all have fallen into traps, me, Dick, Bruce, all of us."

"Yes, but you got out of that, didn't you Drake?"

"I did, because I had to, and if you had to, you would have too."

Damian was silent for a beat, looking at his hands, "Drake…"

He fell silent again and Tim had to smile, "you're not very good at this are you?"

And for just a second there was some one else in the chair by the bed. Tim didn't see the trained killer or the superhero, but a stubborn fourth grader. Then it was gone stuffed back under a mask of a smirk that didn't make it all the way to his eyes.

"I guess I'm not," then he nearly spat out, "thank you, and I'm sorry… Tim."

Tim let it hang in the air for a beat, before letting the kid off the hook.

"No problem, little bird," and the tension between them snapped.

"Tt, the Clone Boy is upstairs, wants to see you."

Tim blushed furiously, and this time the smirk did reach all the way to Damian's eyes.

"Oh um Kon's here? Well I mean you can send him down when you go up. I guess, I mean, if it's no trouble. It's like, whatever, it'd be nice to see him. In like, a general way, kinda nice, nothing big or anything…"

Damian rolled his eyes and headed to the stairs. A moment later Conner came floating into the room from the stairway.

"The gremlin said you were awake," he said, pointing his thumb back over his shoulder in the direction Damian had gone.

"Oh come on, he's not that bad," Tim protested. Conner's eyebrows climbed. Tim laughed, "yeah, I know, coming from me, I'll tell you later, maybe when I understand it."

"Okay…. so, what are you going to do tonight?"

"I was planning on going out on patrol," Tim got out of bed, befor Conner's hand gently pushed him back into bed.

"Or you could stay in tonight, bird brain," and Conner lifted the covers and slid in next to him.

"Or I could stay in," Tim agreed, cuddling against his boyfriend.