The Lost Boys (1987) is the greatest movie ever made. Sup I'm Isaac. he/him (transmasc), gay mlm, polyamorous. I might write fanfic at some point we'll see. Header image not mine, icon image not mine.
Summary: Tim is aware that a vigilante known as Spider is beloved by New York, and that his girlfriend cancels a lot of dates. When he finds Spider unconscious in a Gotham alley, he begins questioning what he knows both about the vigilante and his girlfriend.
A/N: I have very little practice writing for Tim, so apologies if he's OOC! I love him, though, and I plan to write more for him in the future!!
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“I,” you begin as you lean back to dodge a punch.
“Have,” you continue, twisting into a roundhouse kick that catches Hyena’s jaw.
“A… date!” you conclude.
Panting for air, you look down at the unconscious foe, tapping your toes against the bipedal killer. Sirens are approaching quickly, so you have to leave behind the villain you thought was from a time when you were lacking both common sense and spider sense. Now you have one of those. Most days.
“Aren’t you supposed to be dead?” you murmur, aiming your extended fingers toward the looming roof of the New York skyline. “Or bothering Firestorm?”
Swinging high above the crowded city streets, you shoot a web with your left hand as you unlock your phone with your right. Someone once told you texting and swinging was a bad idea, but you assured him you’d never crash into a building (like some people have). You’re very late, you find, as expected.
“Please don’t hate me,” you whisper as the dial tone trills in your ear.
“Hey,” Tim greets. He yawns, then asks, “What’s up?”
“I’m so sorry,” you begin, pulling yourself up to sit on a rooftop. “I got caught up at work and traffic heading out of the city is awful. I don’t think I’m going to make it.”
“No worries,” Tim replies. “Reschedule for, uh, Saturday?”
Dropping your head back, you close your eyes against the setting sun and think. There’s a fight in Hell’s Kitchen late Friday night, and a new ride is opening at Coney Island Sunday.
“Saturday works,” you answer. “I’m really sorry, Tim.”
“Hey, I get it,” he assures you. “I love you.”
You pinch your eyes closed tighter, guilt weighing down your chest. “I love you.”
“Oh, I found something cool to show you. I’ll come to you Saturday?”
“Sounds good. Thanks, Timmy.”
Tim pulls his phone from his ear and squints at the video that resumes playing. The spider vigilante stealing the hearts of New Yorkers has gained a lot of popularity on social media. Jason even stumbled upon a fanfiction someone wrote about the Spider beating Batman in a fight — he’ll never admit he read it, but if he did, Tim might have found it entertaining. He saves the video to show you the comments your neighbors are making, then turns his comms back on.
“Yo, Replacement!” Jason barks. “Stop flirting and give B some backup!”
“What makes you think I was flirting?” Tim questions as he stows his phone in his belt.
“Because we warned you against a long-distance relationship,” Dick answers. “And now every free moment you have is spent on your phone.”
“Your girlfriend is from a different planet,” Tim deadpans. “Hypocrite.”
“New York City is not long distance, Grayson,” Damian scoffs. “One can hire a civilian driver, pay a meager fee, and be in the city in less than two hours.”
“How do you know that?” Batman rasps.
“Uh… Raven informed me of the details,” Damian mutters. “Perhaps I should give my attention to Killer Croc.”
“Perhaps,” Bruce agrees. “And if you choose to take a trip to New York, don’t Uber.”
“Steal a car,” Jason agrees.
Bruce’s sigh seems to shake the very foundation of Gotham before he utters, “No.”
“I’m going to New York Saturday,” Tim offers. “We were supposed to meet tonight, but she got stuck in the city.”
“Again?” Dick, Jason, and Barbara, safe in the watchtower, ask.
“I’m not going to fault her for cancelling dates at the last minute when I’ve missed just as many because of this,” Tim counters.
“No, just…” Jason exhales heavily, then asks, “Don’t you wonder if there’s something she isn’t telling you?”
“I love her,” Tim defends.
“That’s not an answer, Tim,” Barbara points out softly. “It’s okay to want answers.”
“I always tell her it’s fine,” Tim replies. After a breath, he admits, “But, yeah, I’m getting suspicious.”
“She’s not the type to cheat on you,” Dick adds. “And as someone who has had my fair share of relationships while hiding part of my own life from them, I’d suggest you have a mature conversation before it’s too late.”
“Suspicious how?” Barbara inquires.
“I can’t justify asking her questions when she doesn’t know I’m Red Robin,” Tim decides, putting an end to the conversation. “When there’s something to talk about, we’ll talk about it.”
“Well, if you’re back on the clock, maybe you could come help me get out of Pammy’s vines,” Jason suggests.
“Call Harley,” Barbara jokes.
Jason’s voice is so soft it’s nearly inaudible when he says, “She sent me to voicemail.”
Surprisingly, the Friday night fight didn’t end in the bloodshed you expected. When the former mayor’s Fisk Shipping company was announced as one of the event’s sponsors, you expected the worse. But Hell’s Kitchen was quiet… as quiet as it gets, at least.
So, you stumble into your apartment just after 1 a.m., eager to get some sleep but excited to see Tim tomorrow. It’s been nearly three weeks since your last date. You had several scheduled in that time, but you were late to the first and he’d already left for a family emergency, then you cancelled the next two. The simple fact of living in a different city than Tim does complicates things, but the suit you don, and the powers and responsibilities you have make it even more difficult to maintain a secure relationship. Yet Tim has never been anything but understanding. That doesn’t make it any easier to sneak around and lie when you love him.
You’ve just pulled your mask off when a blue light flashes in the bedroom entry behind you.
“Shock it!” a familiar voice exclaims before the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the floor thuds.
“Hi, Miggy,” you greet without turning.
“It’s Miguel, kid,” he grumbles, pushing up to his feet. “Year?”
“Same as last time.”
“Any reason I should be here?”
Shaking your head, you move to face him. His mask is off, the gloves of his suit torn. The left side reveals a simple gold band on his ring finger.
“Actually,” you decide, putting on your best friendly smile.
“No,” he interrupts. “I don’t like when you do that.”
“You don’t like anything,” you argue. “It’s not going to put anyone in danger.”
“You saying that scares me.”
“I need some advice,” you confess. “I… I’ve been seeing someone, and I love him. I do. But I also really love helping people.”
Miguel drags a hand down his face, then asks, “This guy seem bothered by the constant excuses?”
“How do you know I give him excuses?”
Miguel simply looks at you, because he knows exactly what you’re dealing with. Even when he’s been around other spiders, there have been things he couldn’t — or simply wouldn’t — share.
“He’s really busy too, so I think he understands and it works out. So far, he hasn’t acted suspicious… not to my face at least.”
“There’s this novel idea where you meet in the middle,” Miguel says. “You tell him what he needs to know and ask the same in return.”
“What if… What if he doesn’t like what I tell him?” you whisper.
“Then you dodged a bullet.” Miguel shrugs and counters, “Maybe you won’t like what he tells you. But you won’t know until you stop letting your situation control you.”
“Right. Well, he’s coming here later today, so I guess I could consider your advice. Wait, why are you here?”
“No clue.” He points over his shoulder but doesn’t have to ask.
“Couch is all yours,” you answer. “There’s leftover pizza in the fridge or the Thai place around the corner is still open. Thank you, Miggy.”
“Whatever, kid,” he grumbles, rolling his shoulders as he walks out of your room.
You decide to take Miguel’s advice under consideration for a while longer. When you open your door to see Tim holding a bag of food and a box from your favourite store, you decide you would rather have the mature conversation in Gotham. That way, Tim doesn’t have to find his way home knowing that you have been lying to him for the entirety of your relationship.
“Are you free Friday?” you check after the door is closed and everything he was carrying is stowed on your counter.
Tim checks his phone quickly, then nods.
“Can I come to Gotham? I’ve been wanting to go to that diner again.”
“Sure,” Tim agrees. “They just added a new dessert menu.”
“I should move,” you sigh dreamily.
“Then who would give me excuses to buy overpriced chocolate on 7th Avenue?”
Wrapping your arms around his waist, you kiss his shoulder and whisper, “You could still do that for me.”
“How kind of you.”
Nearly a week after Tim had to cut your evening in New York short because his brother called, you make your way to Gotham. You’re three hours early, but it seems like a nice buffer to actually ensure you make your date this time. It’s getting late, but the heavy clouds above you blot out the sun, making it seem closer to dusk than it is.
Walking through Newtown, which separates one of the most crime-ridden areas of Gotham from the bridges, you look at the businesses lining the streets. It seems as if someone is trying to make this side of the city more welcoming than it once was. You pass by a glass blowing shop, then stop and incline your head toward the alley on the other side of the street. A familiar tingle buzzes at the base of your skull as your heart rate increases.
Carefully, you cross the street, as if you’re interested in the seasonal menu of a mom-and-pop ice cream parlor.
“No, no, please,” someone pleads in the alley.
“Just hand it over!” another voice demands.
A single glance around the corner confirms that you sensed something. Three large men have a defenseless girl who looks to be several years your junior pinned in the alley. She’s clutching her bag to her chest as tears streak down her cheek.
“Let’s do this one more time,” you murmur to yourself before slipping into the shadows.
When you emerge in the alley, you’re in your suit and looking to make this fight as short as possible. Without making yourself known, you shoot a web toward the man who appears the be the leader. It wraps around his ankles and allows you to pull his legs out from under his. His face collides with the damp asphalt, which muffles his pained groan.
“Who is that?!” the other man demands, turning and revealing a knife in his grasp.
The third man inches forward then, becoming visible to you. Riddler, you recognize from all the posters around Gotham. He narrows his eyes at you and spins the small cane by his side.
“I spin a silky web so neat, to catch the bugs I like to eat, with eight long legs I creep with pride, in dark corners I like to hide,” he calls. “What am I?”
The man you knocked down clambers to his feet and pulls a heavy crowbar from the wall behind him. Maybe, you realize, this isn’t a fight I shouldn’t have picked on my own.
“You are a crazed lunatic,” you answer. “I am a spider.”
The next web you shoot connects Riddler’s co-conspirators by the shoulders, temporarily rendering them incapable of fighting.
“Get out of here!” you tell the girl as you move toward Riddler.
She obeys your command and runs out of the alley. The odds of her sending someone to help you seem slim.
“You should go too,” you tell Riddler. “While you still can.”
“It is worldwide, but once only a spider could weave one,” he says. “Gotham is no place for spiders.”
The others separate themselves, and you rock your weight back onto your heels. Of all the times for Miguel to not show up unannounced.
The sun set hours ago, and Tim needs to get ready to meet you at the diner for your date. But Jason needed ‘a minute,’ so Tim is covering Newtown briefly. He leaps from one rooftop to another, slowing when he sees something in the alley beneath him. Tim drops to one knee and realizes that the lump he saw is a person.
He lands soundlessly in the alley and approaches the individual cautiously. When he’s close enough to make out details, he stops.
“What are you doing in Gotham?” Red Robin mutters, lifting New York’s spider vigilante’s arm, which falls uselessly back to her side.
He’s seen enough videos and read enough stories about the spider to know that, by all accounts, she’s good. But that doesn’t explain why someone who can carry their own against New York’s biggest and baddest is lying unconscious in a Gotham alley.
“That’s not good,” Tim muses softly when he sees blood darkening a sleeve of Spidey’s suit. “B, I’ve got a situation in Newtown.”
“I left for five minutes!” Jason groans.
“The spider from New York?” Tim begins. “She’s here.”
“Doing?” Bruce inquires.
“Nothing. She’s hurt, unconscious.”
“I’m on my way.”
“Me too,” Jason offers. “You need someone who doesn’t trust anyone about anything if this girl wakes up.”
“She needs to get patched up, not be interrogated,” Tim argues, pressing his thumb to the side of Spidey’s neck to check her pulse.
“If I’m lucky, there’ll be time for both.”
Your mask is firmly in place when you wake, but someone is prodding at your arm and the damp concrete that you landed on has been replaced by a dry sheet beneath you. You jerk upright, ready to fight Riddler and the two goons he had with him. They won’t get the jump on you again, and you know to protect yourself from whatever it was Riddler used against you. Though you remain unsure why he had a weapon that powerful and chose to mug an unarmed girl.
“Oh,” you mutter when you realize you are face-to-face with Batman and Red Robin. Glancing toward your now-bandaged arm, you see that Red Hood is lurking in the corner with his arms crossed.
“What are you doing in Gotham?” Batman demands.
Red Robin steps forward and lays one hand on your shoulder while the other circles your wrist. He directs your arm up, then toward your chest.
“Who are you?” Red Robin inquires.
You look at your wrist where he’d touched you, convinced you’ve felt his touch before.
“Um, most people call me Spider,” you offer, dropping your voice. “It was supposed to be Spider-Girl or something, but the whole thing never stuck.”
“What are you doing in Gotham?” Batman asks again. “Who brought you here?”
Red Robin moves behind you, rubbing the blade of his palm down your neck and to the base of your spine. You had no idea the bats had medical training. The idea of Batman sitting in a lecture hall makes you smile beneath your mask, but then Red Robin spreads his hand against your shoulder.
Suddenly, you’re no longer in Gotham being interrogated. You’re in New York, looking up at billboards in Times Square with Tim Drake lingering at your side and whispering comments in your ear. Red Robin’s touch seemed familiar because it is.
You glance at Red Robin, searching his face. What’s visible certainly looks like Tim Drake.
“You come into our city announced, pick a fight, and find yourself unprotected and vulnerable,” Batman says. “Justify that.”
“I didn’t pick a fight,” you defend. “I saved someone. It’s what I do.”
“It’s what you do in New York,” Red Hood interjects. “Why are you here?”
Glancing up, you realize that you’re in a real cave. There’s got to be a way out because there’s a way in.
Pretending to stretch your shoulder, you aim your hand toward the rafters and murmur, “Maybe I was never here.”
Just as a spider disappears from its web in a breath, you leave Batman, Red Robin, and Red Hood alone, with no idea as to where you are. They search the expanse of the cave, shine a spotlight along the rafters, but find no trace of you.
“Well, I doubt she’ll be back,” Jason decides. “Now that she knows we’re here and we want answers.”
“But why was she here at all?” Bruce wonders, removing his cowl. “Who took her down in that alley?”
“It’s suspicious,” Tim agrees. “Gotham isn’t exactly a destination, so I doubt it was a convenience thing.”
“She said she saved someone,” Jason remembers. “Any reports of crimes in that alley tonight?”
Bruce falls into his chair at the Batcomputer to check, leaving Jason and Tim behind him to speculate.
Tim’s phone chimes, and he reads the text from you quickly, then locks his phone. Then, when he truly realizes what you said, he opens it again.
“What?” Jason asks.
“My girlfriend cancelled our date,” Tim mumbles.
“The date that’s supposed to start in… seven minutes?” Jason sighs, then checks, “You suspicious enough to talk about it yet?”
“She’s been acting weird,” Tim says, moreso to himself than to Jason. “She’s been late or cancelling dates the whole time we’ve been dating. I never really thought about it, because I’d call them off last-minute too when Batman stuff came up.”
“Okay,” Jason drawls. “And?”
“But I’m pretty sure someone had slept on her couch before I visited her in New York last weekend and she didn’t say anything. And… and there’s something about the Spider.”
“Found it,” Bruce announces. “Store at the end of the alley has surveillance.”
He presses play on the video, showing Riddler and two unfamiliar men cornering a young girl.
“When did Riddler get a team?” Jason wonders.
“After Joker taunted him for working alone,” Bruce answers flatly.
The video shows the moment Spider steps out into the dim light in the alley and pulls the first man off his feet.
“Ooh,” Jason murmurs. “That hurt.”
“She saved the girl,” Tim muses when she runs out of the alley. “So, she wasn’t lying about that.”
They quiet as the video continues. When Riddler lunges toward Spider, she reaches both hands out and grasps his upper arm, flipping him over her shoulder. He pulls something out of his blazer pocket, slams it against her arm, and then Spider collapses. Riddler ushers the men out of the alley, though they clearly want to take advantage of her unconscious state.
“Wait, whoa,” Tim interrupts, slapping the back of Bruce’s chair lightly. “Go back?”
“Wondering when Riddler took up purse snatching?” Jason jokes.
Bruce drags the mouse until Tim tells him to stop. In slow-motion, they watch Spider grasp Riddler’s arm, then how she staggers back as she tries to fight off whatever he did to her.
“It’s a variant of the Joker toxin with traces of Scarecrow gas,” Oracle says through the comms system. “Other than that, her bloodwork looks fine.”
“He injected it?” Jason questions.
“He’s prepping for something big,” Oracle suggests.
“I know who Spider is,” Tim admits, staring at the paused video. Spider’s hands are on Riddler’s arm, one hooked beneath his tricep and the other manipulating his forearm. Tim has been in the same hold on more than one occasion, but he’s never actually been tossed like Riddler was. He had no idea before now that it was a possibility.
“What?” Jason exclaims. “Who?”
“I have to go,” Tim murmurs, moving toward the staircase that leads to the manor.
“Where?” Jason calls. “To do what?”
“Watch videos of Spider fighting that green guy in New York!”
Bruce turns and watches Tim go, then asks Jason, “Do you know who she is?”
“No.”
“Then perhaps you should consider updating his world’s okay-est detective trophy.”
“Sure,” Jason deadpans, “I’ll get right on that. Maybe I’ll be the demon spawn a new sword, too.”
Tim spends the next twenty hours watching every video of Spider he can find online. Running on adrenaline and caffeine, he’s more convinced that he’s right about her true identity. So, he travels to New York and stakes out on the roof of a building that Spider seems to frequent.
Less than an hour later, you lands on the edge of a roof and straightens when you see you aren’t alone.
“Uh, hello,” you greet, waving awkwardly at Red Robin, who you’re pretty sure is also your boyfriend. “Look, if this is about last night—"
Red Robin interrupts you and says your name. Not Spidey. Your actual name. Tonight, he’s speaking like himself, not using that raspy tone you assume he learned from Batman. He sounds like Tim Drake, and your stomach twists at the idea this will be the last time you hear him say your name.
With a heavy sigh, you pull your mask off. “Tim, I’m sorry,” you begin.
“Don’t bother,” he interrupts, causing your heart to drop to your stomach. He pushes his cowl back and smiles, calming the building storm inside you. “Call it even?”
“You’re not breaking up with me?” you check, clutching your mask in your hands.
“Are you kidding!? The Spider and Red Robin are unbreakable.”
“The Spider and Red Robin just met.”
“I’m not breaking up with you,” Tim promises, taking your hand. “And I have an idea for how you can beat that Goblin guy.”
You open your mouth to ask how he knows about the villain and your fights but then remember you’re talking to Tim Drake. What little he doesn’t know he can find quickly.
“It’d be nice to have someone in my corner,” you reply. “Teach me how to fight Gotham rogues, too?”
“Sure. Then we can switch cities and freak everybody out,” Tim suggests.
You laugh, then lean forward and kiss Tim’s cheek before you put your mask back in place.
“Who are we fighting tonight?” Tim inquires.
“It’s been pretty quiet so far,” you say. “Oh, if you could figure out how to keep Miggy from spawning in my bedroom when he time travels, that’d be great.”
Tim nods, following you toward a fire escape, then catches your wrist to stop you and yells, “Time travel?!?”
Tim Drake & x reader Taglists🏷️ @fireriyu @lortheswiftie @noble-17 @kmc1989 @anonymousmuffinbear @outpostsworld
A long exhale leaves your lips as you drape yourself over your boyfriend — head lying on his shoulder and cheek smeared against his neck, breathing in deeply.
Damian doesn't say anything, doesn't break the silence and doesn't move an inch. He stays seated in the bed, back still leaning against the headrest while his eyes follow the lines alongside the book.
His expression remains solemn, almost cold in a sense that makes you shudder. "I love you." you murmur, so quietly as if you were afraid of something. You wrap your arms tighter around his neck, already lying halfway across his body.
Silence settles — unsettling and uncomfortable for you. The night was breathing, the curtains fluttered, the soft thud of his book closing. The silence comes back, this time louder.
"I must use the restroom." he whispers back.
His poise feels sharp. But his silence to your affection lays somewhere deeper, unanswered and uncertain that makes your skin itch.
As if he cared enough to open your soul yet leaves it untouched. And before you realise, you are already sitting on the edge of the bed — the door closing behind him as he vanishes into the bathroom.
The frown tugs deeper on your face, corner of your lips weighing heavier than any burden. "You are supposed to say I love you too." you whisper under your breath, "am I being too needy?"
Your gaze drifts towards his desk. The fine details of a clean and composed order, everything in place and boring. You rise from the mattress and make your way to the table.
"I shouldn't..." you trail off, hands hovering above the papers. You still do — fingers brushing against the book to let it fall open in front of you, bare for your eyes only, “woops…”
But you halt at the very page already, gaze glued to the lines stretched across the paper — the contour and the shape so perfect that it steals your breath. The shading seems impeccable, the contrast perfect.
This cannot be.
You continue flipping through the papers, fingers grazing the edges softly, eyes attentively drifting to every curve and every line. You suck in a sharp breath, too intrigued to stop.
Until you reach the very last page. This time, a painting. With expressive colours and beautiful lighting. It makes you glow. As if he has memorised every single detail of you.
"Oh." you let out, seeing his signature etched into the fabrics and your name right beside his as if it belonged.
Every drawing and painting — it's perfect. It's beautiful. But for him, you are. The very definition of perfect.
You, you, you.
The heat crawls up to your head. Embarrassment fused with fluster. He loves you in his own way.
2026 Adam/He-Man has officially stolen my heart and it’s wild that tumblr isn’t talking abt this guy. He’s a loser. He infodumps about his home planet on a first date and gets dumped immediately. He works in HR. He can’t drive. He gets mesmerized by his own abs. He’s convinced he can talk things out with the bad guys despite this never working once the entire film. He goes to the gym in a pink kitten sweater that says “alpha male.” He’s been arrested. He sneaks away to transform into he-man as if it’s a secret but literally everyone knows. He brought his earth roommate to eternia to prove he wasn’t crazy. He even killed Jared Leto. What a guy.
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