Chapter Text
Tim was an idiot. A lovestruck idiot. An idiot so lovestruck, in fact, that he was going out of his way during all of his patrols to pass in front of Bernard’s window.
When he had woken up after Robin’s “unexpected” appearance, Bernard was making pancakes in his kitchen. He went to sit at the table and saw his old Robin photographs strewn across the table. He had long since discarded his childhood hobby, but he still held each photo with the utmost reverence.
Bernard looked over and smiled at his boyfriend, happy to see his plan worked.
“Kind of cool that Robin showed up to thank you personally, huh? That doesn’t happen to just anyone in Gotham, you know,” Bernard joked as he transferred a pancake to a plate. Perhaps if it had happened when Tim wasn’t also a secret superhero, he would’ve been way more ecstatic about the whole ordeal. Now, he was just happy it was over with. Tim wasn’t going to pass up a conversation starter though.
“He didn't say my name right once, Bear.”
“Not the point.” The two settled into silence, with only the slight sizzle of the batter and the scrape of the spatula for ambiance. Tim had decided that was as good a time as any to bring up the marble that was shaking in his maraca brain for the entire night.
“So,” he began as nonchalantly as he could, “when you said Red Robin was your favorite, was that by, like, a wide margin or-”
“Oh please, don’t tell me you’re gonna pick a fight with me over which Robin is better.” Bernard quipped.
“No! No, never; they’re all really cool and stuff. Just, why Red Robin in particular?” Tim laced his fingers together as he leaned over the table to catch all of Bernard’s response.
“I don’t know. I didn’t pay much attention to the first two Robins to be honest,” Bernard said to the stove. “I actually started paying attention to them because of you. I mean, I was reading theories about the heroes way before you came along, but you had so many photos and knowledge about Robin that it sparked some interest in me. And the third Robin showed up around the same time you did, so I guess it was just circumstantial.”
“Oh.” Bernard laughed at his reply.
“Sorry, was that underwhelming? Should I have said he’s the most handsome and I wish he’d save me more often?” Tim broke their eye contact with a blush creeping up his face. How could he stay calm when Bernard was sweet talking him to himself?
“No, your reasons were good. I was just curious, that’s all,” he said to the table. Bernard brought two plates of pancakes with syrup and berries for Tim and bananas and chocolate chips on his. Tim happily accepted his breakfast and the two made fun banter as they ate. Perhaps Bernard’s favorite superhero should stop by his place more often.
And so began Tim’s habit of circling Gotham just to pass his boyfriend’s apartment before heading to the Cave. He also used it as an excuse to ensure Bernard was safe and sound while he was out. This all fell on its head when Red Hood not only spotted him in his Montague-esque scheme, but gestured from the rooftop to turn around. Mid-grapple, Tim twisted behind himself just to see a bright flash accompanied with a camera shuttering and a blond grinning mischievously. Bernard eagerly waved at him until he was lost in the sea of warm lights and stone buildings. Red Robin grappled up to a nearby building to be shortly joined by the Red Hood.
“Is our Love Dove surveying his dear Capulet on the Bat’s time?” Red Hood said with a smirk even though his face is quite literally covered at all times.
“Patrol ended half an hour ago. What are you still doing out?” Red Robin deflected.
“Nuh uh uh, baby bird! I asked you first.” Red Robin scoffed and turned away.
“Is it a crime for someone to check up on his boyfriend?”
“I suppose not, but he’s not your boyfriend, birdie.” As much as he hated to admit it, Hood had a point. For all intents and purposes, Red Robin doesn’t have a partner and has no reason to check on the Dowd boy. And Bernard seemingly catching on and getting such a clear picture was evidence of his well intentioned carelessness.
“Oh, B’s gonna kill me if he finds out.” Tim straightens up and turns to Hood. “What do you want for it?”
Red Hood’s posture shifts into something less confident, like Tim just swung a punch at him. “Want for what?”
“Your silence, so that this doesn’t get back to B,” or worse, Nightwing and Robin.
“Nothing, baby bird, it’s on the house?” Hood speaks unsurely, which makes Tim feel like he was swung at. “It’s not my business how you spend your time, and it’s no one else’s. I won’t tell the others, but in turn, I’ll be checking on you more in their stead.”
“You just want to tease me about it more, don’t you?”
“You’re so smart, birdie.” And with that, the Red Hood made his exit and Tim turned to stare at the Gotham skyline for a few more moments. Tim was surprisingly grateful with Jason’s insistence on monitoring him instead of the others, he knew Jason’s word meant a lot. They were more alike than most gave them credit for, but Tim knew.
His contemplation ended and he found himself heading back to his boat house to cool down for the night.
~~~~~~
Bernard was having much more fun than he thought he should with this plan. He flipped through the digital camera to see the brand new shot of a mid-flight Red Robin mere meters from his window. He laughed to himself as he plugged it into his laptop on his bed. He had known his boyfriend was a vigilante for a long time, the coincidences a bit too coincidental for him to ignore. He, of course, never put his findings onto forums for others to discover, but he still enjoyed scrolling through and seeing how far people were from reality.
As he downloaded and printed his photos to show Tim later, he laid back and drifted into a long recurring thought. What could Bernard do to help Robin?
He couldn’t reveal his knowledge so soon, that would ruin all of the fun. The secret would come out when it had to, he decided. Plus, his calculated inconspicuousness was something he was proud of. Staying under the radar provided much more useful to him than being the center of attention.
As he mindlessly scrolled through more forums, he kept seeing one bar pop up. It was just opened but seemed to be getting much more attention than most do. Bernard kept reading up on it and all of the conspiracy theories people were making for it. Was it another crime front? Maybe supernatural? An Iceberg Lounge rival? So many ideas in, what, two? Three weeks? Something was up, and Bernard thought he ought to have some fun with it.
Couldn’t hurt, after all.