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The coffee shop is inconspicuous. It's small and there's barely enough tables to fit twenty people. There's only three patrons in the shop including Tim. He's tapping his foot against the sticky tiled floor while he waits for Jason. It's the one place he'd been able to find that's consistent in Jason's schedule. Dick would approve of the intel. Of course, he won't approve of the fact Tim's meeting Jason secretly. It's why Tim triple checked that all the clothing he wore was free of trackers and/or bugs. He just needs to ask Jason a few questions and then he'll be out of Jason's hair.
Dick had practically grounded Tim when they found out where Jason was to keep him from going after the supposed dead man. He refused to let Tim out on patrol until Tim promised he wouldn't make contact with Jason. He'd told him they would wait until Dick was healed and then they'd go together. So if Jason attacked them again, they at least wouldn't be outnumbered.
Dick hadn't said anything about Tim maybe… sort of… stalking his technically-brother. He also hadn't said anything about happening upon Jason somewhere Tim knew he'd be. It's not like Tim was doing anything illegal (minor trespassing, a little B&E, but that's normal for Robin).
Tim sits up a little straighter when he hears the bell above the entrance ding. He grins when Jason walks in the door. Jason does a quick sweep over the shop and his eyes catch on Tim. Tim waves. Jason clenches his jaw as he freezes in the threshold of the shop. For a moment, Tim expects Jason to turn and walk out of the shop. Then everything he did would be partially out the window. He'd still be able to follow Jason without him noticing. He'd just have to be a little more careful. He's surprised, however, when Jason enters the shop and orders.
Tim watches Jason as he approaches with a tired look on his face. There's bags under the other mans eyes and his shoulders are slumped, but the rest of his body is tense. Like he's ready for a fight.
Tim kicks the chair across from him out for Jason. He notices the gun tucked into the back of Jason's waistband as he walks to the table. He tilts his head and in two quick movements, has the magazine in his pocket. Jason doesn't react. Tim smiles to himself.
"Hi," Tim says. He's not sure how to introduce himself to someone he's been stalking. And to someone he knows has images of him on a murder wall in his motel room. He settles for holding his hand out for a shake. Jason eyes it like it's hiding a knife. He could be, Tim realizes, with the long-sleeved Gotham University sweater. Jason doesn't take his hand.
"Okay." Tim pulls his hand back. "Tim Drake."
"Yeah," Jason says, "I know."
"Right. Yeah. I knew that." Tim suck on his teeth. He hadn't really planned out what he wanted to do here. He just knew with how often he'd watched Jason, he still has no idea where Sionis is. That's all Tim really needs to know. He can bring that information back to Dick and they can make a better plan.
"Listen," Tim starts, "I just wanted to officially meet you and maybe ask you a couple of questions."
"A couple of questions?" Jason scoffs and takes a sip of his coffee. "And did, uh, Nightwing put you up to this? Maybe Batman even?"
"Oh, B doesn't know," Tim says. He leans over his chair and pulls his bag into his lap. "About you being…" Tim waves at Jason's general existence. He opens the big pocket of his backpack and pulls out the glossy photo's he printed off the night before in a Wal-Greens. The best idea? No. But if he used the Batcave, Dick would know. So looking like a creeper in the Wal-Greens it was.
When he looks up from his bag, Jason has a bewildered expression on his face. Tim slowly sets down the stack of images on the table.
"What?" he asks.
"Bruce doesn't know?" Jason asks.
"No. I mean—" Tim holds his hands up "—Not my idea. I wanted to tell him. But Dick said we should wait. So."
"Right…So you're here on behalf of Dick?" Tim shakes his head as he starts spreading out the pictures he'd managed to take of Jason. He's not looking at the images. Instead, he's studying Tim's face with a scrutiny Tim recognizes. If he lies, Jason will know.
"Nope," Tim pops the 'p', "He doesn't know I'm here. Well, he knows I'm out to get coffee, but he doesn't know I'm with you. Us meeting is just coincidence."
"Uh-huh." Jason drawls. It's then he looks down at the table. His eyes go wide when he sees himself in almost every one of the. Tim frowns and starts reorganizing them in chronological order. They got a little jumbled up in his backpack. No worries.
"That's my motel room." Jason says with a flat voice. Tim straightens the images and pulls back. He looks at the one Jason is pointing at, the first picture Tim had taken. It had been with his phone, so it's a little blurrier than he'd like.
"Yes," Tim says, "You and your murder wall. Creepy, by the way. That picture of me playing soccer is only in the manor."
"I'm creepy?" Jason says. "You have twenty five pictures of me."
"Oh, no. These are just the relevant ones. I have more on my camera."
"Excuse me?"
"Not the point." Tim glances through the photos and separates them again. He leaves the ones of Jason leaving his motel. "Okay, so, you're not keeping Sionis at your motel room. I checked. It's just the mask there. And whenever you leave it's hard to track your movements. Even for a Robin." Jason shifts as Tim moves the pictures off the table and replaces them with pictures of Jason walking around The Narrows. A few are of him as Red Hood. Jason chokes on his coffee. Tim ignores it.
"You just… wander. I haven't seen you actually do anything like what you did during your debut night." Tim says. It's one of the reasons he still has faith in Jason. "But, you don't stop anywhere significant when you're in The Narrows." Tim swipes the images off the table and back into the stack. He notes Jason's hand moving slowly towards his back. He ignores it as he sets up the last few pictures on the table.
"And here, in Crime Alley—"
"Park Row," Jason interrupts. Tim rolls with it.
"—Park Row. You're doing the same thing as in The Narrows. I just don't understand where Sionis could be. You clearly—I already have your clip, Todd, let go of the gun—You clearly have him somewhere I just can't tell where." Tim finishes his speech by placing said magazine on the table between them, on top of the images. Jason stares at the magazine. He pulls his gun out and checks. He stares at the gun for a moment as Tim waits.
"You forgot the one in the chamber," Jason says.
"You're not gonna shoot me." Tim says. He rests folded arms on the table and leans forward. Jason studies him again and Tim grins. He doesn't mind. He's aware he's technically an unknown to Jason. He knows Tim about as well as the very dedicated Wayne fangirl. He doesn't know him on a personal level or exactly how he ticks. Tim only let's a little of himself show as Robin. Dick had made sure of that, saying you can never be too careful. Then muttered something about a mistake Jason made once that nearly cost them.
Jason sets the gun on the table. Tim relaxes. He hadn't realized how tense he'd gone.
"Alright," Jason says, "I'll bite. You want to know where Sionis is. Why? So you can run back to Dick with the information? Pull the rug out from under my feet?" Jason leans back, folding his arms over his chest.
"I just want to help," Tim says, "However you'll accept that help. And I might tell Dick, but like I said: he doesn't know you're here." He would tell Dick. Eventually. It had always been the plan to let his older brother know. But that didn't mean he needed to know the moment Tim had the information.
"You do understand what I'm doing here? In Gotham?" Jason asks. Tim scoffs and leans back.
"I've been following you for almost a month," he says, "I know a crime lord when I see one."
"So you understand Sionis might not be in his… original packaging."
"He hasn't been in his original packaging for a while now. A few extra dings shouldn't raise any red flags." Jason's brows raise at that. Tim swallows the sour taste in the back of his throat. He knew Sionis wasn't being treated like the best guest by Jason. He knew there was a chance Jason had already killed the man. Gotten whatever he wanted from the man and gotten rid of him. But he wanted to believe the best.
Tim and Dick had argued in the cave about what Jason was doing know, how he wasn't entirely himself. Tim still believed there was some anger boiling in Jason's chest and it was the only thing keeping him going. Pushing forward. Tim knew that once it had been the only thing keeping him going. Even when he joined the Wayne family.
"What if your help includes adding a few dings yourself?" Jason asks. Tim's pulled out of his own thoughts. He looks away from the picture of Jason in an alleyway he'd been focusing on. He tilts his head; sucks in a breath.
"That I won't do," he says, "But I won't tell Dick. If you ask." Jason nods.
"So don't tell Dick." He grabs his gun, loads the magazine and tucks it back where it'd been at the start of the conversation. He stands, grabbing his coffee cup and starts walking.
"What—Now?" Tim asks.
"Yup." Tim curses under his breath. He collects his pictures, shoving them in his backpack. He slings his backpack over one shoulder and grabs his coffee cup. He gives the workers a smile as he walks out.
"Okay, but like you have to admit I was pretty good." Tim says once he catches up. "Like, you didn't even know I was tailing you."
"Shut up." Jason says. Tim laughs.