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English
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Part 2 of Hydra AU
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Published:
2020-08-02
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1,511
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1/1
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Journey of Self-Discovery

Summary:

After Bruce's return from being lost in the timestream, things become too much.

Following an argument with Dick, Tim chooses to leave Gotham and think about himself for a new start.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

Everything becomes too much after Bruce is back. Despite him being the one to do it, Tim cannot help being overwhelmed by yet another sudden change in the dynamics between himself and his family.

Bruce was gone for months, it's only natural he wants to spend time with his kids. That he wants to reconnect, to learn how they changed, what they did.

That's not what pushes Tim to leave, however.

No, what pushes him to leave is a comment Bruce makes, offhandedly, an afterthought.

"I'm proud of you, for giving Damian Robin. I know how much the role meant to you."

It's a simple comment, of something he should be over with, but he also apparently isn't.

What hurts the most is that Dick lied.

Dick, his brother, the one person he had left after Bruce was thought dead, who ripped Robin away from him - no matter how good of an explanation it was, not matter that Dick was right in giving Damian Robin- lied to Bruce . To Batman .

Most of all, he lied about Tim.

 

 

Dick hears Tim coming before he sees him, turning right in time to catch a punch to the face.

"Whoa, Baby Bird! What's up with this?"

"You lied ," Tim growls, and Dick takes a step back, hands raising in a placating gesture.

"Now, Tim-"

"You lied !" Tim repeats, interrupting Dick. "To everyone! To Bruce, to Batman !"

"It wasn't a big deal, Tim."

"Not a big- you fucking dick . You ripped Robin from me . You did it without a warning, without giving me time to adjust , and now you say it wasn't a big deal?"

"I thought you agreed with that choice!"

"I understood your reasons," Tim corrects. "It took some time to go past the hurt, but I understood- I understand why you gave Damian Robin. Doesn't mean I agree with how you went about doing it. Doesn't make you being right about giving Damian Robin, right on the how you did it."

"Damian needed Robin," Dick counters.

"So did I," Tim whispers. He turns around, giving Dick his back as he walks towards the door. " So did I ."

 

 

Not even a week after his argument with Dick, Tim leaves.

He can't stand living in the manor, can't stand being with his family and even the thought of interacting with either of his siblings- or, heaven forbids, Bruce - brings him close to throwing up.

He has Tam and Lucius give back full CEO rights of Wayne Enterprises to Bruce, under the pretenses of him being 'too young', 'too inexperienced', that he only 'did it as a necessity', and Tim has always been the only one able to successfully lie to Bruce, so Bruce gives him a reassuring smile and a squeeze on the shoulder before going on with his day.

Before leaving, he makes sure to change all the locks at Drake manor, stuffing his most important things- those he can't bring with him- inside the many rooms available, then he also upgrades the security with one he created himself, then, he procures a fake ID and passport, and he's boarding a plane for Europe well into the night, when the Bats are out and about and won't notice until morning he's not there anymore.

If they notice at all.

The clock passes midnight, and as the new year starts, Tim is flying above the ocean.

 

 

Tim lands in Madrid, Spain, as Janet Drakonova. His mother's name and his father's ancient surname mixed to create a new identity for him, one he can both hide behind and find himself in.

The receptionist at his hotel gives him a weird look, but she doesn't make any comments and simply gives him his room keys, and it's when Tim declares himself safe that he goes to sleep.

He wakes up around lunchtime, and he starts his transformation. From Tim to Janet.

His suit is swapped with a long-sleeved, pastel blue dress that reaches his tights, and his shoes are replaced by short heeled flats. He styles his hair so it's a little curled, using the 'braid with wet hair' method due to a lack of proper equipment, and he only wears just enough makeup to make his jawline look less defined, to fake the shadow of breasts and to hide the scars he got in his years as a Gotham's vigilante. He then switches his prescription contacts with normal, brown-grey ones and places a pair of glasses over his nose, with a golden frame and rounded lenses.

Grabbing a matching bag, Tim- Janet - walks out of the room.

 

 

The reason for the gender switch, Tim muses as he walks aimlessly among the streets of Madrid, is he always made sure to make his dislike for crossdressing known to the Waynes and most of his friends.

The only one who suspected had been Cass, but Cass was also never one to pry.

He never told his family about his mother’s lessons, how she taught him how to be seen, not heard, and the how she switched it around, teaching him how to be heard, not seen, and then how to do both.

Janet might’ve been a bad mother, but she was a terrifying businesswoman.

He’s in Madrid for a reason, however, so he looks carefully around himself, making sure to pay up the part of a tourist fascinated by the place she’s in as not to look suspicious. Tim finds what he’s looking for at El Retiro Park.

Or rather, who .

“John Constantine,” Tim greets with his voice, then he activates his voice modulator. “Can we talk, please?”

John regards him for a moment, then he tilts his head towards the boat rental and Tim nods.

Tim only speaks again once they’re well into the lake, away from the various tourist.

“What do ya want?” John asks, bluntly.

“Either your help, or the contact of someone who can,” Tim says.

“Be quick. I don’t have all day.”

“I need something that will give me a woman’s body, either real or illusory.”

John blinks at him, then he takes out a cigarette and a flask of whiskey. “I’m not sober enough for this, but sure. Whatever. I’ll help but it’ll cost ya. Lots. ”

Tim smiles. “Oh, I’m not worried about that. Give me a price and I’ll pay it.”

A week later, Tim leaves Madrid for Berlin, with actual size C breasts and a gleaming ruby pendant around his neck.

 

 

Berlin is when his parents had a vacation house.

When his mother died, and his father had been in a coma, Tim sought his family lawyer and tried to learn as much as he could about his family’s possession, especially those that went beyond Drake Industries, and he made sure to write down in detail about all of it.

Berlin is the first place he can start living a new life.

Cleaning the- surprisingly- small house takes him less than three days. Selling his ‘Tim’ clothes and buying more for ‘Janet’ takes even less. He got everything he might need and even more, for both genders, even if Janet has by far the most complete wardrobe while Tim has mostly pjs and work-out clothes.

Enrolling into an online school is the next step.

 

 

When summer comes, Tim leaves Berlin and goes to Moscow.

He exits the plane as Janet, but the meeting with his family lawyer has to be as Tim. Or rather, as Timothy Jackson Drake. Timothy Drakonov, a name he hasn’t used since he was four.

A pristine, dark blue suit and hair styled into a half bun, and Tim walks into the law firm with his back set straight, icy-blue eyes narrowed behind his glasses as he walks without a single falter in his steps, right until he reaches the lawyer's office, Yuri Makarov.

Tim knocks just the necessary times to be heard, and a male voice tells him to enter right after.

A man sits behind a desk, its glass surface covered by stacks of organised papers and a modern laptop, while a high library is full of files and cartels, all labeled and orderly. From the large, open window comes inside the morning sun and a gentle breeze, and the scarlet moquette compliments nicely the light grey of the walls.

Yuri gets up from his office chair, offering his hand in handshake. “Welcome, Mr Drakonov. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine,” Tim says, sitting on the opposite chair from Yuri. “I think we should just go straight to the point, should we?”

Yuri nods, bringing out a thick cartel labeled ‘Drake-Drakonov’. “Let’s start, then.”

 

 

Tim is in Moscow for two weeks, the only time he needs to sort through his family’s possessions.

Dressed yet again as Janet, with a pleated skirt, a sleeveless turtleneck and sandals all in shades of black and yellow, Tim takes one of his parents’ cars and drives out of Moscow, out of his natal nation.

He’s in Paris, France, on July 18th.

On July 19th, his seventeenth birthday, Tim, as Tim, meets Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Notes:

Thank you all for reading!

I mostly used wikipedia and batman wiki as references to write this, so I hope I didn't mess things up! ^^'

I decided to 'sweeten up' a kind of trope I saw in the DCU fandom: 'Tim Drake leaves the Batfam', especially- mostly- following Bruce's return from the time stream. In most fics I read, after leaving Tim pretty much holds a grudge towards his family, in some he even turns villain just to 'show up' the Batfam, and while all of those ideas are awesome, after reading through the wikis and some DCU bloggers I decided to do something less drastic.

Tim still leaves Gotham (and the Batfam/Wayne family as a consequence), but it's less of a "I'm holding a grudge the size of the planet towards you/I don't want you in my life anymore/I'd rather die than talk to you again" and more of a "What you did hurt me and I need to leave so I can gather my thoughts up and we can both heal from a bad situation that put a strain in our relationship" kind of thing.

So, while Tim is angry at Dick (rightfully), he also recognises Dick's actions as the right choice to make, and he still has to come to terms and accept the new situation.

In the next part for this serie, we'll look into Paris' Papillion Situation (yes I'll be using the Fench Dub names), either a one or two shots going from Marinette and Adrien getting their Miraculous and then showing the changes I'll make for this AU- SPOILER! I'm planning for Marinette to become way less tolerant for bullies (ChloèLilacoughchough) than canon and for Adrien to get actual 'lessons' on social interactions- and while I will not be bashinf anyone (except Lila, maybe. Or Bustier) I will throw a little bit of Salt into it.

HOWEVER THIS WILL NOT BECOME A SALT FIC.

I can sprinkle some salt here and there, but it will not become something weird, nor will I demonise a character just to bash them.

Thank you again, and feel free to give out advice in the comments on how to write the Batfam!!!

See you all on part 3!

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