Everyone Loves a 2-for-1 Sale
(Not the og, just trying to live up to this) coincidentally that’s exactly what Danny says. But also this just inspired me so I wrote a tidbit, and if OP is good with it I might let it turn into a wip but prob not idk
Btw there is another 2 part ficlet written for this
It takes Danny an embarrassingly long time to actually make it to Gotham to confront Timothy Drake-Red Robin-Original Owner of Thine Genes.
Correction, Danny thinks he deserves to have taken his sweet time about it and will continue to do so; Ted Tobin on the other hand… thinks Danny needs to get his priorities straight and hurry it up, he was Robin for goodness sakes, 5 months? Really?!
Danny thinks Ted Tobin needs to shuzhhh because they both know that two of those months were spent trying to figure out where Danny ended and Tim began, and then even more so where Tim ended and Red Robin began. Because of course his new body had identity issues free with purchase.
After finally figuring out how to deal with the Danny in Tim mind situation, (there was a rough couple of months he called himself Tanny,) Danny unabashedly decided he didn’t want to deal with the default identity crisis and squished it into one manageable little box he labeled ‘Ted Tobin’.
The voice that sounded like Jazz said that was ignoring his issues, but Jazz also sounded like the child therapist Jack and Janet Drake had sent him to so he’d get labeled a genius, so he ignored it.
He’d spent five months abroad, struggling to pick up behind his original -No, Bad Danny you are your own person-behind his doppelgänger on the search for Bruce.
He finds out Bruce was stranded in time just too late enough to be there to bring him back. He figures they probably don’t want him there anyway, so he takes what he knows about time travel from Clockwork and conspicuously sprinkles it into First Tim’s path.
He only had to actually impersonate the original once, and it’s all too easy to let Danny fade to the background and let Tim, in all his collected calm calculation, manipulate the situation.
It works, thankfully, and he hopes he doesn’t have to do it again. (He doesn’t know that he could.)
Once he hears that Bruce is back, that he completed his mission, what he set out to do, the reason he became Red Robin in the first place, Danny becomes more Danny, but this time, Tim doesn’t fade out like he had at first, which is what caused the Tanny situation.
And after finally, finally, figuring out the identity crisis, Danny really started to get sick of people calling him Red Robin- okay they didn’t call him that exactly but one can only hear ‘Hey aren’t you that vigilante from Gotham-‘ so many times before they have to stop.
So he switched up the Red Robin outfit he’d been wearing since waking up in- or rather out of- The Pod.
(He only took it off for rare occasions, but ‘Hey aren’t you that rich kid from Gotham’ is less easy to change with a color swap of his Kevlar.)
The dark grey (not black, the family would think it’s threatening) base color, with gray fading and green accents like his bandoliers (It’s a callback to Robin, just enough color to keep firmly in the child-vigilante category so they’re less likely to attack), heck even the lower face mask with a domino suits the new him.
Anyway!- Danny takes another sip of his coffee and returns his mask to his mouth- He was in Gotham now and that was that.
New suit. New memories. New him!
Danny is currently remotely hacking into his own comm channels and his- no-Tim’s gauntlet from the upper business side of Gotham.
From there it’s short work to ping off one of Tim’s trackers still laced into Danny’s suit hem and he knows it’ll send them running. The calculating and paranoid part of him wants to investigate first, test the waters, maybe watch(stalk) the now reunited family; but the reckless punch-ghost-now-do-homework-later part of him says that’s not worth it and it’s better to confront them now.
He doesn’t even have to guess to know which side won that debate. Not Ted Tobin that’s for sure.
“Red Robin, I’ve got your distress beacon in the financial district, what’s wrong?”
“Your tech must be glitching Oracle, I haven’t stepped foot in the Financials all night, Spoiler just saw me.”
“I did, we’re nowhere near-“
“Then you better get near because the cameras at that location are showing me a masked figure- oh fantastic, he just waved. He knows we’re watching, be careful.”
“On my way.” Batman’s growl echoes across the comm line.
Tim sighs into his own comm before replying, “Me too then.”
Danny is sitting on top of the water tower when Red Robin arrives with Spoiler in tow- unsurprisingly they look up and spot him within seconds.
They jump into fighting stances when he jumps down and lets his cape flare out. He even lands within it, letting it cover him all Batman like and everything.
Danny smirks, no wonder Phantom had wanted a cape. Danny likes his.
“Who are you?” Red Robin says, tense and fists still up.
Oh right. Danny rises slowly, putting his hands up, “Really, no recognition? Not even a little?”
Steph answers for him, “What? You think because you dress a little like Red, we’re supposed to know you?”
“A little like him-! A little-!” Danny is offended in the way that only Steph can make him, “I know for a fact this is better than any copycat vigilante’s sewing project!”
Red Robin cuts in again, “Who are you.”
“Hey dumbass,” Danny rolls his eyes and sighs inwardly, he can’t even have coffee right now, “You remember all that time you spent with the League of Assassins? Ra’s and his creepy fruitloop self?”
The two bats tense. But Danny doesn’t break eye contact with Tim.
“Well do you also remember when your heart stopped?”
Red Robin’s eyes narrow in suspicion. They both ignore how the comm fills with yells and questions, Steph gets even more tense.
“Just for a minute. Not long. But long enough. How ‘bout your back up plan? You remember that?”
More suspicion, but not quite recognition, but he knows it’s close, he just has to get him there.
“Come on RR, I, of all people, know how fast that brain of yours works.”
The lenses of Red Robin’s eyes widen exponentially, ah there it is. He sees RR’s fists loosen and knows exactly what’s next.
Danny chucks his rock, hitting Red Robin square in the jaw and making him stumble back. Spoiler jumps in front of him on guard immediately.
“You know what that was for, Asshole! I’ve been holding onto it since Iran!” Danny whoops. Finally! That rock had been in his belt for months, but he knew the only time he’d get a chance Tim wouldn’t dodge would be in a state of pure shock.
Totally worth it even if it ruins his chances of trust.
Hopefully not, but still.
“Red, you okay?” Spoiler says, voice filled with defensiveness.
RR groans with regret behind her, cradling his jaw, “Yeah, Steph I’m fine.“
Spoiler goes rigid, “Red, don’t use-“
“He’s fine. If he knows how to hack my gauntlet he definitely knows our names.”
Danny feels his neck prickle and immediately jumps to side in time to avoid Batman’s hand trying to grab him.
A sense of relief floods through him at seeing Batman-B, Bruce, his dad- alive and present. Because it’s definitely not Dick under that cowl.
Even with the demon child scowling at his side.
Danny has to reel in every memory of driving himself into the ground to bring Bruce back and focus on the now, focus on letting Ted Tobin shine.
“Tim you wanna explain or should I?”
No one gets the chance to speak before there’s the sharp sound of metal as Damian draws his blade. Oh great, just as bloodthirsty as in his memories, wonderful.
“Who is this fool, Drake. Even someone as idiotic as you knows not to reveal our identities.”
“And you are just as unpleasant as I don’t remember, Demon brat.”
“I will eviscerate you-!”
“You could certainly try you little bloodthirsty cheerio!” God he hates this kid and he’s only actually met him once!
The anger clouding his vision snaps clear as Batman steps forward and between them with a separating hand, “Who are you? Why are you here?”
“B, I’ve been asking myself the same questions for months now. If anyone’s got the answer it’s Red over there, the one doing the gaping fish impression.”
“Father, why is this urchin speaking so familiarly to you?”
Batman doesn’t respond, still glaring Danny down. Danny, who very much wishes he had all of Ted Tobin’s batglare resistance, glances over at Red Robin with a pointed look.
He finally steps in front of Steph, between all of them, “Everyone, relax. He shouldn’t be a threat to us, identities or no.” Tim glances back at him.
Danny gives a small nod back, “I love Lucy pumpkin watermelon.”
There’s a moment of pause as Tim’s shoulders sag with weight and everyone else seems to recoil with confusion.
“Did I just have a stroke? What the fuck was that? That wasn’t a sentence-“
“No Spoiler you didn’t have a stroke, that was a code phrase…” Red Robin looks at Batman with a wince, “Specifically the code phrase for my clone. That I made.”
Everyone’s heads whip to Danny, who takes it as his cue to remove his lower mask. “Sup,”
Tensions rise somehow even higher as they take in Danny’s -Tim’s- face. Danny takes the opportunity to reach between the roof installments to grab the coffee he stashed there.
Now that he doesn’t need his mouth covered, there’s nothing stopping him.
“This simpleton is your clone? Tt. Of course.”
“Was it too much to hope that he’d split the insults between the two of us? Rather than double it?”
Tim shrugs with bone deep exhaustion, “Probably.”
“Cave.” Batman growls, “Now.”
“Now that one I expected. Lead the way, B.” He steps past Tim, handing him the now empty coffee cup, “For the DNA test. The first of many I’m sure.”
Then he drops down into the alley of the Batmobile.
It’s the first time he’s ever seen it. He’s intimately familiar with the locking mechanism.
He’s never been inside before. He barely hesitates to open the door and get in.
The car came to life around them and Danny sighed.
Tonight was gonna be a long night.
Ted Tobin wanted to sigh too.
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