Coffee Fairy Twins - Chapter 2 - A brand-new Pair of Wings
Marinette always knew that she was a fairy and that Tom wasn't her biological father. But he was her papa and he adored her and she never felt the need to know her biological father. But she never knew that she had a twin brother.
Tim never knew he had a twin sister. He also never knew that the people he thought were his parents kidnapped him as an infant or that it was his biological father who adopted him. And since he had no idea that he was a fairy - or that fairies existed for that matter - he seemed like an ordinary human to almost everyone (immortal megalomaniacs may be an exception).
Sabine never knew that the child she thought was taken from her was still alive.
And Bruce? Bruce never knew that his parents hadn't been fairies (or maybe he didn't want to know) or that one of his Robins, who he thought to be human, had a lot more in common with him than he thought.
But it might only take a nightmare and a shiny new pair of wings or two to change all that.
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That was the first thought Tim had upon waking. He knew his Nest intimately. He knew each sound, whether it came from the outside or his apartment, he knew how it smelled and how his sleeping spots felt, even though he usually preferred a cup of coffee over a nap.
This was not the Nest. The sounds were wrong, he heard the sea instead of the usual fight of the couple from the apartment across the narrow back alley of the former theater. The couple who always left the windows open. Maybe Marvin finally gave up and agreed to visit Alice's insufferable sister in Seattle. That or one of them killed the other that would be just as likely. Tim remembered the last visit of Alice's sister. If he had to bet, he'd say the latter was the case.
Tim kept a controlled, steady breath to let everyone around think he was still asleep as he tried to pick up more clues about his surroundings. He lay in a bed or something similar. The underground was soft and a nice blanket kept him warm.
He tried to remember what he had done before he fell asleep. Had he been on a mission? On patrol? Was someone already looking for him?
Some commotion outside the room interrupted his thoughts and before he could even consciously pay attention another body landed with a war cry that sounded suspiciously like “Rob!” on him and left him gasping and blinking against the brightness.
“What happened? You suddenly passed out and then there was this force that got stronger and stronger and pushed us away. I tried to run against it but I guess it was like when other people run on a treadmill, I couldn’t run fast enough to get anywhere near you. Can you imagine? I wasn’t fast enough? ME? Luckily Cassie could withstand that force long enough to bring you to your bed, but even she had to leave the room afterwards-”
Oh. Bart. Tim smiled softly and ruffled the speedster’s hair. Bart beamed at him at the affectionate gesture and hugged him tighter. He turned his head to look at the door while trying to keep up with the speedster’s torrent of words. A part of him was already busy analyzing what he learned.
He remembered now that he had decided to spend his birthday at the tower with the other former members of Young Justice. He had come to San Francisco the day before his 18th birthday, so they could start celebrating at midnight, and on the day itself, they would meet up with the other former members of their group. Bruce always got sulky when his friends visited him in Gotham and he really didn’t want to soothe a middle-aged furry with emotional constipation, especially not on his birthday. And after the disaster that was his 16th birthday, he didn’t want to be around Bruce for the day. Or Alfred, if he was absolutely honest with himself. And his last birthday was during his search for proof that Bruce was still alive. Sometime between breaking into museums, losing his spleen, and running the fucking League of Assassins he had turned 17.
Which is why he decided to celebrate his birthday like this. In San Francisco, with the people he trusted the most and far, far away from Gotham, the Bats or god forbid his immortal megalomaniac stalker. A look on his phone told him that midnight was still a few hours away. It was 9:12 pm.
It’s not as if he was unreachable in the case of an emergency. But he left the only way to contact him with Barbs and Bruce might be extra grumpy for the next week, but he wouldn’t be able to force her to get him if she didn’t think it was necessary.
During Bart’s rant Cassie and Kon had appeared in the door. Cassie seemed a lot more concerned and Kon looked incredibly uncomfortable.
“Tim? After this force field appeared we initiated protocol Tau-ATH-R3,” Cassie started and Tim nodded. This was an authentication protocol. The tower was on lockdown and only his way to reverse it would work. If someone, like an imposter, made even one wrong step, the Justice League would be informed.
“It’s fine, I’ll do this right-” He stopped. There, there was …
Tim carefully pushed his friend off of him to sit up. At the same time, he tried to feel for his back. The collective gasps of his friends let him know that this was not some sort of sensory hallucination.
“Rob, you’ve got something …” Kon helpfully fell silent when he noticed his friend feeling for something on his back.
Tim gave up feeling around and decided to walk over to the big mirror to have a look. But what he saw left him baffled.
There, on his back, was a pair of big, feathered wings. Without consciously deciding to, the wings opened up a bit showing him beautiful red, black, and golden feathers on the inside. He tried to turn and look at the outside, but he couldn’t see much.
“Give me your phone, I’ll take a picture,” offered Kon, and a moment later Tim marveled at the outside of his wings. The colors seemed to be the same but the pattern was different. On the inside, there was a horizontal line of golden feathers dividing his wings into an upper and a lower half. All the feathers above were dark red and the long flight feathers below were black. On the outside the edges of the wings had golden feathers, the upper half was red with some black feathers in between and the lower flight feathers were black again. On the outside, the halves weren't divided by a line of golden feathers.
Some tiny part of him freaked out. Bruce didn’t want metahumans in Gotham and while Tim thought most of his rules existed only because Bruce was a controlling jerk, the reason behind that one was that there already was a lot of crazy stuff in Gotham. The gangs were bad enough without recruiting metahumans. However, he made an exception for Duke, so the biggest problem would be to hide his wings when he was a civilian.
Another bigger part felt almost … pleased. Like he had just received something he should have always had. He had a short flashback to the dream he had. At first, he had had one nightmare after another but then he had been on the roof of the nest and found a hovering blob of light waiting for him. The light had then proceeded to guide him through Paris. He knew it was Paris because the light had dragged him up to the top of the Eiffel Tower to show him the view.
Tim shook his head. He could think about this later. Now he had to prove that he was himself. He walked to the control center and swiftly deactivated the lockdown.
Bart cheered and hugged him again.
“So, wings, huh? Are you going to try them? I think you should try them. As long as you are here you have two people who can catch you,” he proposed. He talked a bit slower now, but in his excitement, he still talked faster than not-speedsters.
“Wait, Imp, are you seriously suggesting Tim should jump off something and we should catch him if his wings don’t work?” Kon looked slightly disturbed.
“Isn’t that how birds learn to fly? Heh, Tim, you’re an actual bird now!” Bart grinned at the revelation and Tim couldn’t help himself but chuckle. Why wasn’t he panicking? If someone told him a week ago, he would wake up with a pair of wings, he would have freaked out.
“I would rather know what happened first,” he finally said. Find out what happened and if this is a problem. He didn’t want to lose his wings, the thought alone scared him already, but he had to know. Because, if they were a sign that something bad was coming, he would have to find a way to get rid of them, no matter how he felt about them. He really hoped he just had a metagene that only showed now.
“I told you!” Bart said and plopped down on the sofa. He pulled him down next to him and snuggled up to him. This, more than anything, told Tim how worried his friend had been. Bart was the most physically affectionate out of them but this was excessive even for him. Usually, he would have run away to get some snacks as soon as the lockdown was lifted. The fact that he still remained and hadn’t left his side even for a second said enough.
“Okay, I passed out. It’s almost half past 9 pm now, how long have I been out?”
“You fell unconscious exactly at 3 pm. Kon had just brought your bag to your room. And I felt the force field vanishing at 9:07 pm,” Bart reported. “Cassie tried to keep me out.”
The small speedster gave the girl a small pout but grinned again right after that. “But she also tried to keep Kon out and I used the distraction.”
“I thought you had overworked yourself and needed the rest and this force field might be some tech you had on you. I had no idea you would emulate a butterfly and grow a pair of fucking wings!” Cassie seemed to be the one in their group who was freaking out the most. At least the one who showed it the most. Kon gave him worried glances and Tim knew he was asking how he felt.
“I don’t know why I suddenly have wings,” he started. He wanted to calm his friends down, to let them know he was fine. “I will have to do some tests. But, honestly, I’m alright.”
“You don’t worry about the wings? And don’t try to lie to us. You may be able to lie to Batman, but we know you, Rob. How do you truly feel about this?” Kon asked. He still seemed worried. A warm feeling bloomed in Tim’s chest and he held his hand out, his wings lifted a bit, inviting his friends to join the hug. He didn’t have to convince Kon and Cassie any more than that, they both joined the group hug.
“I feel fine. I don’t know why I’m not freaking out and maybe I will later, but right now? Right now having wings feels right. Like I’ve always waited to finally have them and I just didn’t know. I will conduct some tests," he declared but before he could stand he caught Bart's pout, "but not now and not tomorrow,” he added with a soft sigh that ended in a little laugh when Bart's pout turned into a grin.
He felt Cassie ruffle his hair and caught her grinning at him as well. “That’s the right attitude! Maybe your self-preservation instinct has been in your wings and that’s why you can only now access it.” Tim chuckled at that. It was common knowledge that Gothamites didn’t have a self-preservation instinct. Gothamites lived mainly to spite Gotham’s craziness.
“Sooo, what I’m hearing is: Kon get Wendy the Werewolf Stalker started and I’ll go get the pizzas?” Bart asked and was gone a second later. Kon huffed and sat up to get their favorite show started. Well, Kon loved the show, but Tim preferred Star Trek. But when he watched something with his friends, Wendy was more fun than Star Trek. Cassie and he pulled out one of the sofas so they could all cuddle in front of the TV together.
He could still worry about his wings in a few days. The Justice League had enough magic users who might know what had happened. But for now, he couldn’t bother. The same feeling that had told him, that Bruce was alive when he was caught in the time stream, that had insisted, that the quadruple somersault was enough proof to know that Dick Grayson was Robin back when he was nine years old, that same feeling now assured him, that his wings were perfectly natural and nothing he had to worry about. And wasn’t it sad that that was a rare feeling?
So, as long as he felt like this, he would enjoy it.
The pizza Bart got them was amazing. Better than any pizza place in Gotham. Yes, Dick, even the one next to Robinson Park with the herbs that got juiced up on Ivy’s machinations at the infamous park.
They were already halfway through dinner and the first episode, Teeth and Moonlight, when Tim noticed that his new limbs might have a mind of their own. Both wings were spread and protectively encompassed Bart and Cassie on his left and Kon who sat on his right side.
Tim paused and looked a bit away as he tried to concentrate on the appendages. He should learn how to control them, so he could fold them on his back.
“Is something wrong, Tim?” Cassie asked and pulled him out of his thoughts. He hadn’t even noticed how Kon had stopped the episode. He shrugged, trying to seem unbothered. “Yeah, it’s just … I’m sorry about the wings. I’m trying to fold them on my back, but they seem to be pretty uncooperative.”
“Well, they are a Robin’s wings. Did you think they would listen to you any more than the Robins listen to Batman?” Kon tried to lift the mood with a joke. He was actually sort of successful because Cassie laughed and he snorted with amusement. Bart instead leaned against him with a pleading look in his eyes.
“Please, don’t fold them away! They are so warm and soft and comforting. Better than any blanket!” he exclaimed and, probably to reinforce his words, snuggled more into the wing.
“You know, Bart is right,” Kon uttered with a considering gleam in his eyes, “they feel really … comforting. Yeah, that might be the best word. Comforting like Ma’s apple pie or a cup of hot chocolate after being in a blizzard. Or having my favorite bird safely in my arms.” Kon sent a flirtatious smirk his way and Tim felt his cheeks growing a bit hot, so he tried to hide his face against the half-kryptonian’s shoulder. As revenge.
“What has me puzzled is, why do you still have your shirt on,” Cassie chipped in after swallowing a bite of her pizza. The boys of their group turned to her with confused frowns.
“Cassie, are you complaining that my boyfriend isn’t topless?” Kon’s frown grew at that thought, although Tim didn’t think that was what Cassie meant. For one, Kon and Tim had dated her, during different times (obviously), before she made them realize that they were in love with each other. Yeah, they still felt a bit dumb for not noticing that themselves.
“Oh please, Kon, if I wanted to see any of you topless, I would propose to take a dip in the pool. Also, have you seen your boyfriend topless? I always get the urge to wrap him in bubble wrap until he can’t even move his pinkie and then beat up every thug in Gotham and threaten them into not hurting our bird.” Cassie huffed after her declaration. Tim only grumbled good-naturedly. He knew Cassie wouldn’t do that. Well, he hoped. Okay, maybe he should hide every bit of bubble wrap there was in the tower.
“No, I’m talking about the wings. They grew out of his back, right? So, why didn’t his shirt rip?”
They all stopped to give the wings another scrutinizing look. Cassie was right. His shirt didn’t rip, but Tim felt the wings connect to his back. Maybe they were an illusion? He pulled his shirt over his head and tried to look at his back. “Let me,” Kon muttered and turned him around to have a look. This also gave Cassie and Bart a good view of his front.
“I get what you mean with the bubble wrap,” Bart fake whispered to their friend.
“It can’t be possible, but it looks as if they are growing out of your back,” Kon reported and gave him his shirt back. So, it could only be an illusion. But they felt so real! Tim mourned his wings a bit but pulled his shirt back on with decisive movements. He should-
Three gasps put that thought on hold. When his head came out of the collar of his shirt he gave his friends questioning looks.
“Ok, Rob, so, we probably didn’t look when you took your shirt off, but this time we all saw it: Your wings turned to some sort of golden dust or glitter in the air and only solidified again when you had your shirt back on,” Bart explained their observation and curiously petted the soft feathers.
This gave Tim more food for thought. He hadn’t felt any different. The weight on his back hadn’t disappeared at all. Maybe their minds tried to reconcile something impossible this way? But would they all see the same thing?
Making up his mind Tim leaned over Kon to fish for the remote. He changed the TV from the show they were watching to the security cameras all over the tower and stopped at the one filming them. In the feed, they could all clearly see the big wings. He rewound a bit and, yep, there was the golden dust Bart mentioned. And either they were still under an illusion or his wings had some convenient properties.
He almost stood up to see whether the ventilation system of the tower had been tampered with, but before he could he was buried beneath his friends.
“You promised you wouldn’t do any tests now or tomorrow, remember?” Tim sighed. Bart was right, but if they were being drugged …
“I just want to make sure, we don’t hallucinate and that this isn’t some kind of attack on-” A ping interrupted him. His phone, it was a message. And Barbs was the only one from Gotham who could reach him.
Fearing a big Arkham breakout or another doomsday situation he pulled his phone out with some difficulty because Cassie tried to get a hold of it.
Just so you know, Steph is pissed, because you skipped town. She convinced Cass to drop in later/tomorrow and now they’re talking Duke into joining them. And Dick is sulking for the same reason, I wouldn’t rule out that he might have the same idea on his own. Felt like I should warn you.
You’re a saint, have I ever told you that? Tim typed and with his thumb hovering over the sent button he had an idea. Barbs was trustworthy and not in the tower. So, she wouldn’t be subjected to some hallucinogens. Can you check something for me? Don’t tell anyone, yet, but is this an illusion?
He added the clip from the camera and sent both to his pseudo-sister. And he didn’t have to wait long for an answer.
WTF Tim! WINGS? Magical wings, it seems? Are you fucking kidding me? What happened? Bruce is going to freak out!
Thanks for confirming. So this is not an illusion. And please, don’t tell them. I have to think about how I want to explain this to them.
It’s always something with you guys, huh? Ok, I think I can find something to keep Steph and Dick here, but Cass might still come over. Duke is more hesitant, but maybe having another meta with you isn’t the worst idea.
Thanks, Barbs, I owe you for this. I don’t think that Cass would freak out, so if she comes over tomorrow, I think it would be fine. And Duke is pretty chill, too, but you remember, that I am … I was the only normal human of the last remaining YJ members?
Not waiting for another reply he put his phone away and looked into the expectant faces of his friends. “Barbs saw the wings and the glitter as well, so it’s not an illusion. She called them magical wings. Well, at least I won’t have to get new shirts with holes.”
“So, if we get up now, you won’t run to the lab or something?” Bart asked suspiciously. Tim huffed a laugh and shook his head. “I’ll stay right here,” he told them and felt their weight lift. Still, Bart snuggled up to his side and grabbed onto his arm to make sure he wouldn’t go anywhere.
“She also warned me that maybe Cass and Duke come over tomorrow,” Tim added after he grabbed another piece of his pizza. “In that case, we should enjoy the time we four have without any other bats around.” With that Kon took the remote back and changed the TV back to their show.
Many episodes later they were full and cuddled together on the pulled-out sofa. Tim was half-laid on Kon, his head tucked beneath his boyfriend’s chin. The half-Kryptonian held him in a lazy embrace, his big hands a steady warmth on the small of his back. Tim had his wings spread and Bart and Cassie had each claimed one for themselves. Both of them were softly snoring.
“So, there’s a camera in this room. Good to know not to make out with you here,” Kon murmured into his ear. Tim felt his cheeks heating up again but snorted at the idea.
“Haven’t you met my family, Kon? It’s not just Bruce ‘I’m allergic to privacy and boundaries’ Wayne. If you look up ‘paranoid’ in a dictionary there’s a picture of us - probably one from one of our own cameras. There’s no way around it, at some point, we will make out on camera. But since we all have heard B and Catwoman through B’s comm that he forgot to turn off, I know how my family will react. If they’re snooping, they deserve the trauma.”
He felt more than heard the soft chuckles. For a while, they just silently watched Wendy and listened to the snoring of their friends. Then Kon’s embrace tightened a bit and Tim made a questioning noise.
“Is it really okay? The wings I mean … What are you going to tell Batman or Cass and Duke tomorrow? You know I will be there for you, right? We all will.”
Tim hummed at that and nodded after thinking about it. “I don’t know yet what I will tell them, but I’m sure Cass and Duke will be fine with this, and B … well, it’s not as if I put some cut-off heads in a duffle bag or pushed my brother off the dinosaur in the cave and I’m not afraid to remind him of that. He’ll learn to live with it. As I said, the wings feel just right. I’m not about to give up this feeling, because B might decide to be a jerk about them. And look at it this way: If he’s enough of a jerk, I’ll stay here at the tower for a while. More time for us and I know the Titans could use another tech guy now that Vic is busy with the JLA. Whatever B’s reaction is in the end, I can’t change it. Might it hurt me? Yeah, but being hurt before that doesn’t accomplish anything. So, I’m not. I-”
A soft pair of lips placed a kiss on his head, interrupting his rambling.
“Okay, then we will take care of this when we cross that bridge and not a moment sooner,” Kon whispered. Then he showed him his phone. Tim was wondering what he was supposed to see on it until Kon continued and a gentle warmth filled his whole body: “Also, happy birthday, bird boy.”
