Visit to Tim's House

"Dad..?" Tim said. "Can Dick and Jason come over on Saturday?"

"Dana has her class on Saturday," Jack reminded him. Tim gave him a look and he knew that Tim hadn't forgotten.

"Come on, Dad, they're retired, and we've known each other for years. You'll be there, you'll be able to hear any attempts they make to entice me back into the vigilante life."

"Fine," Jack said finally.

***

The sound of two motorcycles came from outside and Tim looked up from his cereal. "That must be them." He drained the last of the milk in his bowl and put it in the dishwasher, making it to the door a second after the doorbell rang. Jack was right behind him.

"Hey Tim," Dick said.

"Hi Dick," Tim replied. "I thought I heard two motorcycles?"

"You did, but Jay comes bearing gifts, which he has to get out of the saddlebags."

"Ooh, gifts." Jack cleared his throat. "Sorry, I'm forgetting my manners. Dad, this is Dick Grayson. Dick, this is my dad, Jack Drake."

"It's nice to meet you," Dick said, shaking Jack's hand. "Tim's told me so much about you."

"I…honestly haven't heard much about you," Jack admitted.

"Tim probably didn't want to give away information about us that he wasn't sure we wanted to share with you," Dick replied. "Former secret identities and all that."

"Hey Tim!" Jason said cheerfully, coming up to them. "Alfred sent over some cookies!"

"Alfred's cookies?" Tim and Dick wore identical expressions of delight.

"There's got to be one benefit to staying at the Manor," Jason declared. "Jason Todd." He introduced himself, shaking Jack's hand vigorously.

"Jack Drake," Jack said faintly. "Staying at the Manor? Then you're…" He trailed off.

"The former Robins," Jason said. "Well, the former Robins you didn't already know." They headed to the kitchen, Jack feeling clumsy as his were the only footfalls that could be heard. No wonder Tim had been able to sneak out so easily, if he could walk so silently.

"So Tim says he's known you for a long time?" Jack asked, letting his curiosity get the best of him.

Dick snorted. "He figured out I was Robin when he was nine," he said. "None of us knew he knew and was watching us until Jason quit and he tracked both of us down begging for one of us to become Robin again, because he has this theory that Batman needs a Robin."

"Bruce has mental health issues," Jason confided, dumping a bag of homemade cookies out on the plate Tim handed him.

"Then they helped train me," Tim said around a mouthful of cookie. "And we've hung out."

"So you're not going to lure Tim back into vigilantism?" Jack asked, pretending it was a joke. He didn't think it fooled any of them.

"We quit for a reason. A variety of reasons," Jason corrected himself. "I think every superhero's at least thought about it, and they don't have to deal with Batman on a daily basis."

"Superheroes have to deal with a lot of things that most people don't," Dick explained.

"Getting attacked on a daily basis," Jack said.

"More like, getting the smell of the sewer out of your costume," Jason said.

"Never getting enough sleep," Tim countered.

"Not being able to keep a girlfriend because you always have to go and fight crime," Dick chimed in.

"Time travel."

"Alternate realities."

"Having to pretend you don't know people you know in your other identity."

"Really, getting attacked is the least of it," Jason drawled, draping himself across his chair. "If we weren't willing to get attacked we never would have done it."

"Everybody who does it, or did it in the past, agrees." Dick was balancing his chair on one leg. "Normal humans obviously don't have to go out and fight crime, and there are plenty of metas who don't either."

"But you could have been killed!" Jack protested. "Any one of you!"

"That's why we did so much training," Tim said. "And wore Kevlar. Though with the costumes those two wore…"

"Hey! I designed that costume," Dick protested.

"Because a costume designed by a 12-year-old who was raised in a circus is such a good fashion statement," Jason said, rolling his eyes.

"You wore it too!"

"It was tradition. Plus, I worked those short pants."

Listening to their banter, Jack realized that he wasn't afraid that Tim's friends would steal Tim away from him. Grabbing a couple of cookies, he left the room without disturbing the conversation.