Chapter Text
0229 EDT
Secure line 6B
TRANSCRIPT:
[RR] Red Robin to Oracle, requesting analysis of hard drive. Over.
[OR] Oracle to Red Robin, confirmed, enter at CT East entrance. Meet in the turret. Over.
[RR] Copy, ETA 0236. Over.
[OR] Roger. Oracle out
TRANSCRIPT END.
Barbara received a message from Red Robin asking for entrance into the Clock Tower. She briefly disarmed the security system at the East entrance to let him in before she returned to her work on the monitors. It was a cold night, that kind of late fall cold that bit at your fingers and cheeks. Babrara felt grateful for the heat emitted from her computers every time she heard a sharp gust of wind rattle the Clock Tower, and for the warm (now almost empty) mug of coffee beside her.
It was nearly the end of the night and Oracle was just tying up a few loose ends; some Penguin goons who had fled their boss' big crime scene a few nights ago. Barbara had located them cooped up in a warehouse by Gotham Harbor. She notified her nearest operative–Batgirl, as it turns out–and was almost ready to call it a night after she talked to Tim about whatever he needed.
She heard Red Robin enter the Clock Tower behind her, clumsily vaulting through the small eastward window.
“Red Robin.” She spun around to see Tim, standing by the window he’d just tumbled through, gathering his bearings.
“Oracle.”
“You need analysis?”
“Yes.” Red Robin approached Oracle, holding up a small harddrive, “I found this hard drive in Carlo Rossi’s office–”
“--when were you in the Sionis estate?”
“I wasn’t, I was in the False Face Society’s meeting house.” Tim reached out to hand Barbara the hard drive.
They were quiet for a moment as Barbara inspected the harddrive; it was small, fit in her palm, it looked like an average external hard drive you’d see a college kid lugging around.
“This was in Carlo Rossi’s office?”
“In a locked drawer. I had to melt the lock–it’s not important. It’s encrypted. Could you analyze it?”
“Of course,” Barbara inserted the drive into her computer (first checking for any malware). Turns out, the little hard drive has AES 128-bit encryption, which would take an average computer a couple of years to crack. Barbara bets this will take about two hours.
“This is going to take a while, do you want some coffee or tea while we wait?” Barbara grabbed her cane and mug and made her way to the small counter where she had her coffee maker set up; a fresh brew already half emptied inside the kettle.
Barbara received no response. She turned around to see Tim standing where he was before, eyes blank.
“Tim?”
Tim jumped in his skin and suddenly came back to life, “Coffee.” He looked around, “uh, please.”
“Seems like you need it” Babs held her cane between her feet and grabbed a mug for Tim from the stack on the countertop. Tim chuckled softly, shifting from foot to foot as she filled his mug.
Barbara turned back around to hand Tim his coffee. He just stood in the middle of the Clock Tower instead of coming over towards her, which was weird and mildly annoying. He’s pale (paler than usual Bat standards), his hands are shaking. Noticing her line of sight, Tim clenched a fist around the ends of his cape.
“Are you feeling alright?” Barbara hands him his mug, one of those big novelty ones, shaped in the face of Elmo.
“Yeah, I feel fine, just tired–you know?” He rambled before taking a gulp of his coffee.
“When’s the last time you slept?” Babs went back to the coffee maker to refill her mug. The sound of Tim’s foot tapping against the floor filled the silence of the Clock Tower. He didn’t respond until she turned back around.
“I got an hour in the batmobile. Earlier tonight.”
“When’s the last time you slept, Tim.” She paused before adding, “In a bed.”
“I…uh…” Tim began tapping his foot rapidly against the old wood floors of the Clock Tower. Babs just looked at him, leaning against the countertop for support as she sipped her coffee. “...Tuesday, I think.”
“And what day is today?” Barbara sipped her coffee.
“Friday morning,” he sheepishly admitted, avoiding her gaze.
Barbara looked, summoning all the disappointment usually reserved for when Dinah uses the wrong ‘there’ in a text, at Tim as he sighed in defeat.
“You know how to unfold the couch. I have extra blankets and pillows in the closet over there and some civvies.” Barbara drank her coffee casually, the words “KISS THE LIBRARIAN” in bold red sans-serif font staring back at Tim.
“Babs no!” Tim protested, “I can’t sleep–not right now! I have a case, and the hard drive–!”
“The hard drive data will still be here when you wake up. And if it’s so urgent I can give your lead to someone else.”
“Babs–”
“Tim. I’m serious, you need to get some sleep.” Barbara chided. Tim flung his hands up exasperated, searching for more reasons to protest. Babs sighed. “It’s not a punishment, Tim.”
“How long?” He asked with a begrudging sigh.
“Well it’s going to be two hours before I can decrypt this hard drive. So…”
“Two—!” Tim exclaimed, doing the math in his head, “By then my patrol is over—”
“--and then you can go home and rest in your own bed.”
“Baaaaaabs!!”
“You’re not going to break me.” Barbara sipped her coffee.
“Come’on, I thought we were friends.”
“We are. That’s why I’m forcing you to do this.”
Tim sighed.
Then he took a giant gulp of his coffee, emptying the mug.
“Seriously?” Barbara remarked as Tim handed her his emptied mug; She placed it aside to be cleaned later. “Come’on, hop to it.” Barbara gestured for Tim to move to the couch and move out of her way so she could get back to her desk.
The couch in the Clock Tower had facilitated many great naps, most forced but some voluntary (thank you Steph). Barbara had no clue how old the couch was, she’d found it shoved away in a corner covered in a dust shroud when she first moved into the Clock Tower. Despite all of its creaks and the thread-bare upholstery, it’s pretty comfortable. The couch was positioned along the west wall and in a spot where Barbara could see it from her desk behind her monitors.
“I’m getting better…” Tim muttered as he unfolded the couch.
“Better. Still not good.” Barbara took a sip of her coffee and got back to work, absent mindedly listening as Tim struggled with the couch.
Then Tim was quiet for a little while, passive aggressively walking across the Clock Tower to where she keeps the bedding and walking back, one blanket at a time, making sure to make eye contact. Babs just put on her headset and got to work, periodically checking the progress on the encryption.
“I probably won’t be able to fall asleep anyway.” Tim grumbled as he got under the blankets.
“Good night, Red Robin.”
She heard Tim shift and mutter to himself some more, but after a few moments the little boy-wonder was silent except for the sound of his soft breathing; the sound almost completely masked by the hum of her computers. Barbara took her headset off and leaned back in her chair to get a better view of Tim.
For a moment Barbara saw the bright-eyed, determined kid she’d met all those years ago curled up on the couch. The kid deadset on becoming Robin, on saving Batman. He’s older now, less hopelessly optimistic; matured, she might say. Dark circles contrasting those bright eyes, determination turned into stubborn frustration.
He still had that kid inside of him, but he was more now. He was a leader. A detective. A brother. And honestly, Barbara doesn’t think she could be more proud of him.
Barbara put her headset on and got back to work and let the soft hums of her computers fill the Clocktower.