Friend or Foe?

Chapter 13

Dang- sorry this took so long. I was dealing with writer's block, plus I was working on another project.

Warnings: Self-hatred, Animal abuse, Mentioned/Implied past incident of being carved into, A singular Arab word (Author does not speak Arab at all and relied of Google-Translate.)

It's a late Wednesday afternoon, and Tim sits at his quiet home desk, working on some last-minute stuff for the day. As he finishes the last of his work, he's ready to close his laptop, in order to get up and grab a coffee before starting on some detective work, a notification from an unknown email pops up. Tim reluctantly clicks on it and finds an unknown link, which leads him to an image on some social media site. Tim observes the photo with wide eyes. Damian leans against a locker with an ill expression as a rat sits a foot or two in front of him on the ground. The rat appears to be dead, but what really strikes Tim is the cloth that lays next to it. Tim recognizes the cloth, but he's not sure from where. It suddenly hits him, he'd seen Travis pick something up with that cloth at the zoo the other day, and whatever he'd picked up was about the size of a rat.

Tim sighs before closing his computer up and pushing his chair back. He pinches the bridge of his nose before lifting himself from the seat and heading over to the kitchen. He quickly brews himself some coffee before heading over to his bedroom, which is home to a secret entry to his bunker, where he keeps his more advanced tech, along with everything he might need as Red Robin. Once down in his bunker, he places his coffee safely to the side and starts up his multiple computers. He quickly pulls up the email and begins to trace its origin. It's not long before he uncovers that the anonymous email belongs to Riley. Tim sits back in his seat and folds his arms, his expression serious. It's pretty clear that this Travis kid is tormenting Damian, and Riley seems to be connected somehow. Tim's not sure if Riley is trying to help Damian out by sending this to him, or if he's making fun of the kid.

Tim sighs before pulling up the security footage from the zoo and tracing it to right after Tim had left Damian. "What do you two ruffians want?" Damian inquires with a rude and slightly impatient tone. "Someone's snappy." Travis chuckles with an unsettling grin. "Why do you seem so unhappy? I thought we were friends." Riley states with a dramatic sadness before switching over to a smug expression. Damian glares at him.

It certainly didn't seem like Riley had any intention of playing nice, let alone helping Damian. Tim clenches his fist under his folded arms as the scene continues to play out on the screen. "Did you seriously have to be escorted by your big brother? Man, you really are a baby." Travis states smugly. Damian lets his fists fall to his side as they clench, his glare deepening. "And you say he's the immature one." Riley chimes in with a small chuckle. "He may be a fool, but he is certainly better company than you two hooligans." Damian states coldly. The anger building up in his chest lets go a bit at that. He hadn't expected the kid to ever say anything like that. That might just be the closest the boy has ever come to admitting he cares for the older male. The anger is quick to return as the scene continues. "I wonder if he'll even come back. I bet he'd love to be rid of your sorry ass." Travis states as he looks Damian up and down with a disgusted expression. "Yeah... I mean, I distinctly remember him hating you or at least strongly disliking you." Riley elaborates with a smug expression. Damian bites down on his lip a bit.

Damn it, why doesn't he say anything? Damian just stands there, as if he believes what they're saying. As if he believes that Tim truly does despise him. Tim bites down on his lip a bit. Has he really been so ignorant? The kid may be a brat, but he's still his little brother. How could he have rivaled the kid so much that he'd believe Tim hates him? It suddenly occurs to him that Damian hadn't been fighting back much recently. When Tim had put him down a couple weeks ago, the kid had pretty much surrendered. Did Damian believe those things Tim had said? Tim pushes the thought to the side as the scene continues.