I don't know what comic that comes from, so sorry for anybody who wants to know, all I can say, is it's probably in one of those comics where they introduce Tim Drake into the DCU.

Damian and Tim one shot, I don't think I've done that in a while.  Brief appearances of Dick and Jay, maybe Cass and Alfred.

I may or may not have exaggerated Tim's love for being smart... oops, sorry guys.

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Tim finished his homework with a flourish, signing his name at the bottom of his essay, satisfied with what he had created.  The perfect paper on the history of paint.  How it was created, when it was used, the first known appearance of it... everything was perfect.

Tim smiled, knowing this one piece of homework was down, but he would have to do his math homework.  Which was a paper on parabolas, a subject he was very familiar in. 

He didn't have to start now, so he decided to just look at his room for a second, deep in thought on how to redecorate it.  His room was painted with code, 011001001010100.... and so on, till is reached the door and faded into the dark oak wood.  His bed was perfectly made, with pictures of math formulas dotting the white spread.  His pillows were perfectly puffed, thanks to Alfred... and every piece of furniture dusted, with a perfectly polished look, also due to Alfred.  On his white desk stood photos.

His family.  Him and his dad standing side by side and making peace signs.  Him, Conner, and Bart standing outside an ice cream shop looking incredibly guilty, but pleased.  Him, Jason, Dick, and Damian taking a selfie during their very first plane crash together.  Him, Jason, Dick, and Damian taking a selfie during their latest plane adventure.  Steph and him kissing in one of those photobooth pictures.  Cass and him playing chess, with Cass looking like she was going to kill him.  Him and Cassie at the Titans Tower.  Bart on his back.  Bruce and him.  His father and him going fishing.  Spoiler in a tree(don't ask).  And his personal favorite, the one where he met Dick, when Dick was merely just in the circus, and remembering what is was like to finally meet his hero.

It was hard to believe that at one point, he had looked up to a circus performer, but he did.  And he couldn't believe it when his parents told him they would be able to see Dick perform in Gotham.  He watched as Dick happily hugged his parents and watched as the climbed the ladder to the top of the trapeze, with little Dick following.  He remembered cheering louder then anybody when he saw the ringleader announce the Amazing Flying Graysons.... the mom, the dad, then his hero Dick.  Dick waved to the audience with a face one could only describe as 'I love everybody in the world' and he cheered louder then anybody.  He watched the first few minutes as the mom and dad flew across the trapeze with beautiful motions that entranced him.  And finally, Dick was about to go, until the trapeze snapped.

And they fell.

He had looked up to his hero then, and watched as he cried.  And he cried too.

That memory had haunted him for about forever.  It still did.  

He wouldn't have known it then, but that person was his brother, his partner... and always his hero.

Tim hated himself for even looking at that photo, and wiped away the tears that had blotted into his eyes and he left the room quickly, unable to even look at the photo.  Every fiber(sorry nucleus might be a better word) in his body wanted him to get rid of it, throw it away somewhere where he could just easily forget about it.  But that picture reminded him also of happy times, when life was so much simpler.  Tim sniffed his tears away and ran down the hall, off to dinner.

---

Damian detached himself from his most recent hiding spot, the ceiling of Tim Drake's room, and he wondered what it was Tim was crying about.  Of course, he hadn't expected to see his brother cry, but really he was just looking for ammo to tease Tim the next time he was with Stephanie.  All he wanted was something to make Tim blush at, but instead he got his brother crying?

Seriously?  Why was this family so sappy and babyish?  Trying to find one embarrassing item was just not enough was it?

Damian plopped to the ground and curiously looked at the photo Tim had been holding.  

Damian squinted at it a bit, and looked at the curious costume that the slightly elder boy had on.  He seemed like one of those circus performers Dick talked about.  The costume was blue, with a blue triangle that stretched all the way to the fingertips.  Almost like Dick's old Nightwing costume, except with more blue hues.  But the boy himself looked like Dick.  The soft blue eyes, the bright smile, the frustrating perfect white teeth.  Another boy was right beside the Dick impersonator, he was wearing overalls and a white shirt.  His face had the same build as Tim's, and his blue eyes seemed to have that same determined gleam that had the same deep intelligence that Tim had.  Hmm, wow it was a Tim impersonator.

And that's when it fully struck Damian.

It was Dick and Tim!

"What?" Damian asked, grumbling to himself, "Why are they together?  Did they know each other before they met Father?  What is this demonicness?"

Damian growled, and determined to find out what this picture really meant, he grabbed it and carried it downstairs.

---

"You're kidding right?" Tim was on the edge of his seat, listening as Cass recounted one of her tales and adventures she had in Hong Kong.

"No, not at all!  And then, the man whipped around with a gun... but it wasn't any gun!"  Cass said, her hand waving upward.

"What type of gun was it?" Tim asked, his face lighting up.

"A water gun!" Cass said, her face smiling.

"One of the ones that can kill you?" Tim asked, his face full of serious.

"No, one of the kiddie ones!" Cass said, bursting into laughter along with Tim.

"Oh, man, you must have caught him so quickly!" Tim laughed.

"Move out Cain, I need to talk to Drake." Damian said, walking into the room.

"Um...." Cass made a face, but moved anyway, "I'm just going to go help Jason make dinner.  You know we'll be tortured if he makes it himself."

Tim and Damian groaned, and Tim begged at Cass, "Yes, please I can't take any more of his tuna surprises!"

"Actually, today, I think he said something about brussell sprouts!" Cass said, her face grim.

"Oh boy... yes Cain, please help Todd, or else the world will go to hell." Damian said, his face the picture of pure terror.

Cass winked and slowly walked out the door, her hand at her belt, ready to attack anybody coming by.

Tim and Damian watched her dart from the room, and listening carefully, they were able to hear, "AAAGGGHHH!"

"Sorry Dick..."

"Yuh huh, thanks Cass, just what I needed today... a lovely cut on my neck..."

"Well, at least it's a clean cut?"

"Oh my gosh Cass...."

Damian giggled, while Tim raised his eyebrows and snorted, his face happy.  In a couple seconds it was serious again, "What do you want Demon?"

"I want answers!" Damian said, his face demanding.

"You sound like you're from a movie." Tim laughed.

"I'm serious Drake, I want answers to this," Damian pulled out the picture from his back pocket, "Now."

Tim's face whitened only a little, "I think that picture is fairly self explanatory... what do you need to know?"

"It is really not self explanatory!" Damian protested, "There are so many questions!  Why are you at a circus?  Are you and Grayson hiding something from us?  Did you guys officially know each other?"

"Um... no."  Tim looked at Damian, then snatched the picture away from him, "Where did you get this?  You shouldn't be messing with it!"

"I should.  It's obviously something that makes you cry."  Damian spat at his elder adoptive brother.

"No- wait!  Why did... were you spying on me?" Tim asked, bewildered.

"....... maybe." Damian said, "Are you going to explain this?!"

"No!  Why do you need to know?" Tim asked angrily.

"Because it made you upset.  I can't have my enemy upset, it'll make him off balance and to easy to defeat.  Therefore you can see why you can not be upset." Damian explained.

Tim paused, was Damian implying that he actually cared about him?  No, impossible!  Damian was just out for himself and curious.  But still, it hurt that this was the one thing that Damian wanted to know about.  But he had a right to know, so Tim started explained, "Well, I didn't know Dick before.... but I kinda, maybe, sorta stalked him...."

"You did what?" Damian's face was a mixture of amusement and 'what the hell did you used to do in your free time?'.  It made Tim laugh.

"Yeah.  Dick was... is... my hero.  When I heard that the Haly Circus, you know, the place that Dick performed at, when I heard that the Flying Graysons would be there.... well, I simply just couldn't not go!" Tim said, remembering that special night when he had heard.

"That's nice."  Damian paused, "Oh... what happened.... there?"

Tim paused also, and looked at his hands, "I saw Dick.  He was great.  He was even better to see in person.  I got a picture with him before he went on.  I doubt he remembers, because of the events that followed, but that picture is the one you're holding."

"The events that followed?" Damian asked stupidly.

"You've probably heard of this a million times from Dick." Tim said, not exactly wanting to explain Dick's whole backstory.  That would just be awkward.

"Actually.... no." Damian sat down next to Tim, "He won't tell me.  He just looks at me whenever I ask, then says, 'Damian, they died that night.'  Then he walks off.  It's like, but I know they died!  How?  He won't tell me!" Damian said, then paused awkwardly before looking up at Tim, "Can you... maybe tell me?"

Tim looked at Damian, "It's painful to remember."  It was hard for Tim to remember, he couldn't imagine how Dick felt.

"When is it not?" Damian asked, laughing harshly, "It's always painful.  As many times as you think that you can forget it, or that the pain will go away, it only gets worse.  It's awful.  I know."

Tim looked at Damian, "You aren't that bad when you aren't trying to kill someone."

Damian glared, "Can you just tell me?"

Tim sighed, "It's hard to believe that Dick can even get on a high space anytime he thinks about this."

Damian waited.

"Well, it happened on the trapeze.  They all climbed up the ladder, and they stopped at the top.  Dick's dad... he went first.  He did a whole bunch of amazing flips and tricks up there.  It was hard to tear your eyes away from it.  Then Dick's mom went."  everything about this felt wrong, Tim thought to himself when he felt his mouth unable to speak, explaining something that Dick should have explained, and sitting next to Damian, "Dick's mom was amazing as well, and she gripped Dick's dads hands with full trust.  They were amazing to watch."

Damian waited as Tim unflicked his hands, "But then... when Dick was about to jump.... the rope just, broke, snapped."

Damian's face turned down, "They fell?"

"It was awful.  I can't believe that...." Tim paused, remembering his own parents death, then started to silently sob, "I miss my parents."

Damian sat there awkwardly, unsure of how to comfort his 'ememy',  "It's okay.  You have Father.  And Grayson.  They are suitably and arguably, fine substitutes for parents."

Tim laughed a little, "Bruce?  A good parent?"

Damian paused, "Well... okay fine, Father is horrible at parenting.  I remember one time, he decided that he'd put red clothes with the white."

"Oh no."  Tim laughed.

"Grayson had to wear pink pants to his date." Damian said.

Tim started laughing.

"And then there was the time he decided that the only way to get Ace to eat food was to spoon feed him.  Who spoon feeds dogs?  Father did anyway, and he didn't even use a spoon!  He used a knife!  Alfred took a week off after that incident."

Tim had lost it by then.  And Damian continued to tell stories about the horrible things that Bruce did while being a father.

Dick looked on at the door next to Alfred.  He whispered softly to his surrogate grandfather, "Wow... I can't believe they're getting along."

"Me neither.  Though, if I may, Master Dick, people tend to bond over bad situations, or things that others wouldn't want to discuss."  Alfred said, wisely of course, then turned away, "I must go, and make sure that Master Jason has not made a mess of my kitchen.

Dick turned back to the door.  Seeing Tim, a boy who had lost his father so young, and lost the other man he considered his father only a few years afterwards, laughing, was a relieving sight.  And the fact that  Damian had made him laugh?  Well, either this world was actually going to hell or they had both conspired against Bruce.  The first was more likely.

Nevertheless, Dick smiled.  Finally.

---

Okay, so I drew the Batboys.  This is a scene from Batman and Robin vol 2, issue 12.  It didn't turn out exactly like the original picture, so I took a bunch of artistic liberties to the background.  It's not the best but I'm proud of it.  I hope you guys enjoy it!

I loved drawing Jason and Damian, as hard as it was to get Jay's jacket right, and Damian's feet correct!

A/N:  Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story.  I'm not really good with the Damian and Tim dynamic, but I tried.  I'll try to do a batter version of something like this later!