Fight Club

There was something odd about Tim Drake. Well okay, that was an understatement. There were a lot of things that were odd about Tim. Like his fashion sense. And the kinds of doodles that covered Tim's notes, detailed sketches of cars and motorcycles and things he didn't even recognize. And the way Tim always seemed to be tired, even though he didn't go to any parties. And the way he would sometimes wince when Bernard touched him, like he was hurt, even though he didn't play any sports and everybody liked him. Bernard couldn't believe his abuse theory any more, not after meeting Tim's dad and stepmom and seeing how Tim had acted around them. His current theory was that Tim was in a fight club. Sure, it was unlikely, but it didn't contradict any of the facts. It even explained some of them.

Today, though, Tim was acting a different sort of odd, sort of a combination between shell-shocked and having actually had passing acquaintance with a bed in the past week. And it didn't look like he was trying to finish all of his homework before school ended or falling asleep. The not falling asleep part was odd for anybody in this class, not just Tim. He wasn't even doodling.

"What's wrong, Tim?" he asked after class. "You look like somebody killed your dog or something."

"I don't have a dog."

"Maybe not now…" That got even less of a smile than his bad jokes usually got out of Tim. "Come on, did you break up with your fake girlfriend or something?"

"Steph's fine," Tim said, but the mention of his totally not real girlfriend seemed to perk him up somewhat, because he offered an insincere smile (which was still better than nothing). "It's just some family stuff. I'll get over it." Bernard pretended he believed him.

***

Tim seemed to be more himself these days, although Bernard couldn't be sure, since he was certain that he'd never seen the real Tim Drake. But he seemed, if not exactly more relaxed, more willing to let things slip. Nothing about whatever secret he had, of course, but he'd at least stopped pretending he was a total pushover. He didn't have the constant black circles under his eyes that he'd used to have (he'd used to use concealer on them. Bernard doubted anybody but him had noticed that.), and he never had bruises anymore. Bernard decided that Tim had quit the fight club. If that was what it had been.