"The Mountain has gone into lockdown. They left one door open." Barbara said from her computer as she hurriedly typed away at the keyboard. 

"What?" Stephanie asked, leaving her poor waffle at the table when she hurried over to stand behind Babs. 

"Intruder Protocol. I'm not sure why they left a door open, though." Babs continued, pulling up the cameras to the team's headquarters. 

It looked like a normal day, the team training for most of the morning. Then, at 11:26 AM, the cameras became faulty, before cutting off completely a few seconds later. 

"You know, this is exactly what happened when you appeared."  

Only two superheros in the entire Universe knew about how Steph came into the game. Everyone else thought Barbara had found her using some advanced moves to save civilians from a gang war. In actuality, Babs had met Steph a week before, when she appeared in her living room. 

It took a few days for the redhead to trust her, but eventually, Babs realized that Steph's story checked out. They decided to keep quiet about it, because every superhero is paranoid and the fact that you can travel between universes should definitely not be told to the villains. 

It wasn't until a few months later, when Bart arrived from the future, that someone else found out. 

Bart seemed to know how important it was to keep this secret, because he never mentioned it until he and the girls were alone. 

It was then that they realized Steph was in this Universe for one reason, and that reason had yet to arrive.

Until now. 

"You think...?" Steph trailed off, a hint of hope in her voice. 

Babs smiled warmly at the girl she saw as a younger sister. "Yeah. Head to the mountain. Try to explain what's going on to Tim before the Bats can start to question him. We'll need to figure out a cover story."

When Steph arrived, she found all of the mountain's occupants crowding inside of the Medical Room. That must be where Tim was. She should above expected him to arrive hurt. This was Timothy Drake, the Robin with no self sufficient abilities, after all.

When she got to the entrance to the room, she heard Bart shout, "Don't worry, guys! Tim won't hurt us! And even if he did, we wouldn't be able to stop him. He's totally crash!"

Which, yeah, they definitely would not be able to stop Tim if he really got going. That was just who Tim was. 

Steph decided to make her entrance dramatic and awesome, because, why not? Tim got to do that when he arrived. It's her turn. 

"What the fuck is going on? Oracle is very angry that you went into lockdown without telling her what was wrong and she sent me as backup."

Steph pushed forward in the room and then she saw him. 

Tim. Her ex boyfriend. 

The boy she could never really move on from. 

He's here. Now. 

And oh, God, she wasn't ready for this. 

She couldn't do this, couldn't see him. 

She wasn't prepared enough, wasn't prepared for all the feelings and suppressed memories to all come back in a rush and oh wow why wasn't she ready? 

She felt like vomiting. She couldn't do this. Couldn't face him. She wasn't ready. 

"Ummm... I see your busy. I'll go tell Oracle. Steph all but ran from the room. 

When she arrived back at the Clocktower, she broke down in tears. 

Barbara didn't ask questions, probably watched the whole thing from her cameras. She just wrapped her arms around the heartbroken girl and held her as she sobbed. 

She wasn't ready. 

....

Bart felt Tim tense up when he heard Steph's voice and a feeling of dread filled his stomach. 

In Bart's opinion, Steph and Tim were soulmates. 

What other reason could cause Steph to arrive in this universe, only a few years before Tim would? They were meant to be together, in life and death. 

In this case, "death" meant another universe. 

But Tim didn't know that the Steph that just arrived was also his Steph from the other universe. 

Bart could only imagine what Tim was feeling right now. 

According to future Tim, his two best friends who were dead in his universe, and his girlfriend, who was also dead, were alive and well in this Universe. Not to mention the fact that his hero and older brother, Jason Todd, was still Robin and had never died. 

He must be going insane. 

And it didn't help that Dick was going to start interrogating him as soon as Tim woke up. 

No wonder future Tim is the way he is. 

"Ummm... I see your busy. I'll go tell Oracle." Steph said. Bart watched in confusion as she turned and left the room quickly. 

Steph knew that this was her Tim. Why was she reacting like that?

That's a problem for later. Right now, Tim is cracking and about to go into his version of a panic attack. 

Which is to say, suppress all emotions until he was alone and could break down privately without judgement. 

Bart would have to fix that too. 

"I bet you're hungry, right?! It's a long trip from where you're from! I'll bring you some food!!" 

Bart was back in 14 seconds on the dot, loaded down with Chinese. 

He placed the food next to Tim and proceeded to watch with the eyes of a hawk as Tim slowly sniffed the food. 

Freaking Tim and his inability to trust people without expecting them to only use him. 

Fuck Tim's universe. They messed him up so badly! Bart was going to send it up in flames if they tried to get Tim back. 

Bart looked away from Tim when the older boy finally began to eat. Now, he had to do damage control. 

Alrighty then, time to get this over with. 

Steph had left just as quickly as she came and Tim could feel his heart shattering with every step she took away. She was leaving him. 

Again.

....

Bart had brought food. He wasn't hungry, but Bart was watching him. 

He couldn't disappoint his best friend. 

Not again. 

Tim watched as Bart all but forced this Universe's versions of his friends and family out of the room. 

His mind was reeling from the last few minutes, filled with memories he didn't want to think about. 

His first kiss with Steph. 

Their first date. 

Bart and Kon and Steph, all dying too young. Too soon. 

It hurt. It hurt so badly. Steph was alive. She was healthy. 

Would he have to watch this Steph die? Bart, Kon, Jason? 

He didn't want to. He wasn't going to be able too. 

He'd rather die then watch them all die again. 

Why did fate send him here? Why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why?

Why did they have to leave him? Alone, forgotten. 

And this Universe was just plain mean. 

Showing him his best friends, alive and perfectly fine. Steph, just as dramatic as ever. Jason, still Robin and his happy self. Dick, the best older brother one could possibly have. A team of young heroes, one that Tim wasn't apart of.

Would he ever really belong anywhere? 

No. He didn't think so. There's just been to many signs from both of the Universes he'd spent time in. 

But maybe... 

Maybe he could prove himself useful here? 

If he was useful, if he worked hard and helped everyone who needed him, maybe they'd let him stay. 

If he followed instructions, listened go what they told him to do and did it effectively and efficiently. 

Maybe it could work. 

It was worth a try.

...

"Traitor!" Lagaan shouted, pushing Bart against the wall. 

"Lagaan, stop!" Dick ordered, throwing the Atlantian off the ginger haired speedster. "We don't attack teammates!" 

Lagaan snarled. "He's a traitor! Was I the only one who saw him interacting with the enemy??"

Dick sighed, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. 

"Bart, is there a reasonable explanation for your actions?" he asked. 

Bart grinned, jumping up and down excitedly. "I know Tim from the future! He's totally crash and like, reallyreallyreallyreally smart! Like, soooooo smart!" 

"If Tim is from the future, how is he here now? I thought you were the only one who knew how to travel to the past." Cassie asked. 

"Oh, Tim isn't from the future. When I met him, he was like, old. Really old. Now, he's a teen. If he came from the future, he'd have been old." Bart explained. 

"So... Where's he from then?" Jason asked. 

"That's easy! He's from another universe! Crash, right?!" 

The team froze, their minds trying to acknowledge what they were just told. 

"What the fuck? He's from another universe?!"
...

So, maybe I should explain?

Okay, so you know how Steph dies? Yeah, well, instead of "coming back to life" she instead is actually dead.
And in another universe.
The universe that Tim had just arrived in.

Only three people know Steph isn't who she says she is; Steph, Babs, and Bart.

In this universe, Stephanie Brown never existed. Her parents never got together, so she was never born.

You'll find out just what has happened in this universe later, but until then, I'll give you some questions to ask yourself as you read.

Why is Jason Robin?
How did this Universe's Tim die?
Why was Steph in this universe?

Oh yeah, virtual high fives to anyone who guessed that the voice that made Tim break was Steph.

Until next time!