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The rocks and sand were warm under Tim’s feet as he scrambled down the path towards the sea. It was the first time the sun had come out since a storm blew in the week prior. It shone upon the beach, warming the sand and burning away the remaining clouds.
He raced to the water’s edge. It lapped lazily at the shore in a rhythm all its own.
He didn’t know how Bruce and Dick didn’t notice. Perhaps they were too wrapped up in their own thoughts, too busy wondering how and why instead of looking at what was right in front of them. They weren’t watching the waves, noticing how during low tides there seemed to be a red glint in the water, even when the sun wasn’t shining. They weren’t watching the pier, seeing scales slipping away whenever someone walked down late at night.
“I know you’re there,” Tim said quietly, looking out at the glittering sea. “It’s- I know you’re sorry.” Tim paused again and murmured in an ever lower tone, “I’m still a little mad about it though.”
There was no response.
Tim grunted and sat on a sun-warmed rock, dipping his toes into the water and opening up his laptop.
He had just gotten into his work when he heard a small splash that didn’t match the tempo of the waves. He pretended not to notice.
He did notice, however, when something came flying at his laptop.
“Hey!” He shielded his screen from the projectile. “What was that for?”
He got no response, save another item chucked from a glare of sunlight in the water not too far from the shore. Tim glanced down. A couple of familiar looking flippers had landed on the sand beside him.
Tim narrowed his eyes and stalked into the water, wading out to his knees. “If you throw my camera I wi-”
He came to a pause as he saw Jason’s head peeking out of the water, camera in hand. He looked different in this light, and Tim took a moment to study him fully. Dark hair with a white streak flush against his forehead. Intense green eyes meeting his own, crimson and scarlett scales flashing in the sun.
Tim surprised himself by opening his mouth. “They want to see you, you know.”
Jason’s face remained impassive.
“Even if you don’t.”
Nothing.
Tim just wanted something, anything from him.
“Why stick around if you don’t want to see them?!” He shouted, refusing to tear his gaze from Jason’s.
The mer disappeared under the waves with a splash.
Tim took his flippers and his laptop back up to the house.
…
The tide was high and Tim was sitting on the edge of the pier, looking out at the water. Jason hadn’t come back since the day he gave him back the flippers a week prior, but that didn’t stop Tim from keeping an eye out.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Jason staring up at him until he heard the sound of wood hitting plastic.
“Suit up,” Jason said quietly, tossing the goggles onto the pier. “Come on.”
Tim looked back at the house. He frowned down at Jason. “What are you doing?”
Jason’s eyes flashed and he flicked his tail in response, turning away. “Fine.”
“Wait-” Tim slipped his goggles on. “I’m coming.”
…
Tim would be lying if he weren’t slightly terrified of slipping into the water with the mer who had tried to drown him only a week prior.
“Where are we going?” He asked. Without his flippers he couldn’t quite keep up with Jason, but at least the goggles let him peer through the waves.
Jason didn’t even turn back to him. “Not far.”
Apparently, his definition of ‘not far’ was very different from most.
Suddenly he disappeared under the water.
Tim hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath and following the gleam of red scales down into the depths.
He could barely make out the shadow of a tail in the darkness but he managed.
Tim breached the surface when Jason did.
“Whoa.”
Muted sunlight filtered into the cave, casting everything in a hazy glow. It came from a circular opening about 25 feet above. Textured and striated rocks surrounded a small bit of sand on the left hand side of the cavern. The water itself took on a crystalline blue quality that Tim had rarely seen for himself. In the shadows he could just make out a rock outcropping filled with motors, rudders, oars, and other trinkets.
Jason heaved himself half onto the shore and flopped onto his back.
“I- I didn’t know this was here.” Tim admitted, lying back on the shore a few comfortable feet away.
“It’s where I used to stash anything I scavenged from shipwrecks. The rocks keep the worst of the storms out, and the only way to access it is to dive.”
Tim opened his mouth to ask another question, but let it die on his tongue when he saw Jason staring at him intently.
…
The sun was taking on a golden hue when Jason finally spoke again.
“Scram.”
Tim sat up, stretching after hours sunbathing in silence. “What?”
“Go.”
Jason didn’t open his eyes, didn’t even move.
So that was it?
He was sick of the silence, of the lack of answers. “Why? Why bring me here? Why not just talk to Bruce, why-”
Jason’s eyes flashed in the light of the setting sun. “Go.”
Tim jumped up, anger flaring in his throat. “No. No. Why? What are you doing? What is your game plan? Listen- I have just as many questions as the rest of them, but I just want to know what is happening. So. What are you doing here? Why not go somewhere else? Why avoid Bruce and Dick? Why-”
Tim barely managed to jump higher onto the shore before Jason lunged at him.
“Listen closely, Replacement. Get. Out.”
Tim gave Jason a wide berth as he grabbed his goggles and leapt back into the water.
…
Tim brought his laptop out to the beach every day. Every day, he watched for the gleam of scales in the water. Every day, he went back to the house on the top of the hill and researched ancient rumours of outwitting death.
…
Tim had finally convinced Bruce and Dick to get some fresh air. It had been almost a month since they had heard the mournful sound from the shell, almost a month since they had begun to grapple with the idea that maybe, just maybe, beyond all hope, Jason was alive.
A month that Tim had been conveniently omitting the fact that Jason was, in fact, swimming in the waters that they claimed to know like the back of their hands, his hideout only a few miles outside of their normal terrority.
The sun was out in full force, and Tim sunk his feet into the warm sand as they made their way down the path. He was scanning the horizon when, there, right there, a glint of red appeared. He looked to Dick and Bruce, but they were focused on their own thoughts, mechanically putting one foot in front of the other.
Some detectives, Tim thought, wading into the water while the rest of his family spread out on the sand.
The water was calm, but by the time he had blinked the sun’s glare out of his eyes, Tim had lost the crimson shadow.
He turned back to Bruce and Dick when something cold and wet and sharp curled around his ankle.
Later on, Tim would argue that he did not scream. Later on, Dick would remind him that screaming in response to a sensation that triggered memories of drowning was perfectly normal.
“Tim!” Dick shouted, but Time wasn’t paying attention to him. Tim’s eyes were locked on the mer who had grabbed his ankle, lounging in waist deep water. Today, his eyes didn’t seem as sharp as they normally did, the green almost looking like the seaglass he used to sometimes find washed up on the shore.
Dick paused as he ran into the water and finally, finally laid eyes on the brother he thought he had lost.
For his part, Tim felt as though he were standing before two statues. Granted that only lasted for a moment, before there was a loud splash and a grumbled sound of dissent lost in a shout of joy.
“You- you’re, you’re alive. You’re here, you’re back, and you’re-”
Tim watched in surprise as Jason’s arms slowly moved to encircle the selkie who had wrapped around him.
“Yeah,” Jason breathed to himself. “Yeah.”
Bruce’s hand clamped tightly around Tim’s shoulder as he waded next to him.
For a moment, no one spoke.
“Jason, Jay-lad, how-”
He took a deep breath while Tim tried to ignore the way it looked like Bruce was going to break at any moment. “I missed you so much.”
Jason’s eyes softened as they took in Bruce, and Tim thought he could hear a barely audible “Dad,” come out of his mouth.
Tim found himself standing alone in the water, shifting back and forth on his feet while watching the half submerged reunion.
“Little fry, get over here,” Dick said. Tim found himself losing his balance as he was tugged into the water in between Dick and Jason.
And in the sun, in the waves, in the embrace of family, it felt like home.
…
The sun had moved further down the horizon, and it’s new angle was perfect for sunbathing.
Dick was in seal form, lounging half on top of Jason. The tide was low, and somehow, somehow Bruce had convinced Jason to bring himself closer to shore, just enough that he could comfortably lie back on the sun-baked sand while still mostly in the water. Tim sat with his back against Dick and didn’t say anything when he felt a hand that definitely didn’t belong to Bruce start carding through his hair. Bruce was parallel to the shore, lying on his side and letting the waves lap at him. One hand propped him up while the other ran through Jason’s hair, lingering a little longer on the white shock. He had so many questions, but they could wait. Now, now, they could sit together in the sun, and listen to the waves come in and out, and for a moment, everything could be okay.
…
The next day, Tim’s camera sat on the edge of the pier, wrapped sloppily in kelp.