Chapter Text
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TIM (Aug. 1)
“Spoiler!” I called out. “On your left.” Stephanie Brown ducked just in time and swept the legs out from under the masked assailant. It was quite possible she hadn’t needed the warning, but I’d found it was better safe than sorry. I’d already lost her once; I certainly didn’t want to lose her again. I raised my arms in front of my own face to block the oncoming swing of a thug’s punch.
They didn’t have any weapons, which made this easy. The only reason Steph and I hadn’t taken care of all of them yet was that we were badly outnumbered. Although we’d quickly managed to knock out a few of the bruisers, there were still five of them who were attacking with full force. I ducked to dodge a fist and came out just as quickly, striking the pressure point on the guy’s jaw. He dropped to the ground, unconscious. A kick to my gut left me gasping for air. Instead of retaliating, I backed up against the metal fence.
The metal fence was protecting a S.T.A.R. Labs building where several scientists were being held hostage by one of their own. Evidently fired and shunned for the direction he had wanted to take a project in, Dr Richard Felk had returned to steal his equipment and research with the help of some thugs. As far as I knew, Felk was the only one with a gun, which he was using to threaten the hostages.
Spoiler and I had drawn the attention of the hired help by, well, attacking them, while Batman took care of Felk. We’d managed to lead them away from the main facility, away from the hostages, and were currently taking care of them near the entrance to the campus.
The two remaining thugs stared at me, their anger apparent thanks to their scowling faces. The one who wore a black beanie looked especially pissed, probably because I’d kicked him in the balls earlier. They advanced, in surprising synchronisation for a group of hired goons (Maybe they’d worked together before). At the same time, Beanie-Man lunged for my ar,m and Other Guy threw a punch towards my face.
I sidestepped, and both of them slammed into the metal fence behind me before turning in my direction. Other Guy looked stunned by the collision, but Beanie-Man recovered quickly and grabbed my cape. He pulled on it hard, and I tripped. I managed to twist as I fell, so I landed on my butt rather than my face. Beanie-Man was staring down at me with a sick satisfaction. I kicked his knee in. He screamed in pain.
In the commotion, I had ended up close to my fallen Bo-Staff. I grabbed it, and swung in a wide arc, hitting Beanie-Man squarely on the head. His head banged on the ground with a painful thud. In his place stood Other Guy, whose foot was already headed in my direction by the time he was revealed. I took a second hit to the gut just then. I really hoped my ribs weren’t broken. The thug took a moment to look smug, not very smart of him, and I positioned my Bo-Staff so it was pointed towards his head. With a click of a button, the Bo-Staff expanded, hitting the area under his mouth as he was launched backwards. The pressure of his foot on my stomach was relieved.
I stood up, Bo-Staff in hand. The man groaned on the floor in front of me, his legs lying on top of Beanie-Man’s unconscious form. Before I could do anything else, however, there was a blur of purple in my peripheral vision, and Spoiler kicked him soundly in the head. The moaning stopped.
“Thanks,” I said, one hand on my stomach. “But for the record, I had that handled.”
“Surrrre,” Steph said with a smile. “But for the record, I took out five guys today, and you only took out three.” I rolled my eyes. Grabbing handcuffs from my belt, I began to lock up the thugs. Stephanie did the same. Secretly, I was really glad she was teasing me. After we broke up a few weeks ago, things had been tense between us, and it sucked. It was because I didn’t want to talk to her. She had tried a few times, but eventually she got the message.
I couldn’t decide if it was a blessing or a curse that Batman had forced us to pair up for this mission. On one hand, years of camaraderie made us a great team and helped me remember how Steph had always been there for me, but it was also awkward. She had no idea why I wouldn’t talk to her, but I wasn’t ready to reveal anything yet.
“Yes, fine, let the record state that you beat up two more guys than me today, but I remember me stopping a bank robbery with three thugs, while all you did was help tie them up later.”
“Robin!” She hissed. “That was only because you were closer, so you got there sooner! I could’ve taken them out too, you know.” She shoved me playfully, and I could see her smile shining in the Gotham moonlight. I did know that she could’ve taken them out. I smiled back at her. I reached down to my belt to grab my communicator. It was kinda like a burner phone, hence the nickname, BatBurner. I mainly used it for one thing: situations like these and emergencies. It had the GCPD and my teammates on speeddial. I called the former right then.
“Hello?”
“911, what is your emergency?” Asked a small voice.
“This is Robin. I’m calling to request the arrest of Richard Felk and his hired help at the S.T.A.R. Labs Facility. The situation has been dealt with, and the criminals are all ready to be locked up at your nearest convenience,” I said because I was sure Batman would have Felk apprehended by now. Steph and I stepped to the side, thugs all successfully handcuffed and unconscious. Stephanie pulled out her phone and began scrolling on Instagram. I raised my eyebrows. She took no notice of my silent criticism.
GCPD would probably be here in around ten minutes. I tapped my earpiece, turning on my coms so I could receive information from the team. “Hey B, is Felk out of commission yet?” I knew he would hear me, because even in combat, Batman never turned his coms off of receiving mode.
“Yes, I’m just talking with the hostages.” I nodded to myself.
“Alright, me and Spoiler already called GCPD, they should be here soon.”
“Thank you for letting me know,” Batman said. I tapped my coms again, turning the input and output off. I slipped my phone out from my belt, the time read 9:34. Shit. My stomach filled with dread. My glowing screen revealed multiple unread messages from Bernard. Shit, shit, shit. I thought, scrolling through them. “Steph,” I started, “Do you mind if I take off?” I texted a fast apology; Sorry! Traffic is awful but I’m on my way.
She looked up at me, then tilted her head in confusion. “Okay…? Wh–?”
“Okay, I’ll see you soon,” I said, switching out my phone for my grappling hook.
“Robin?” I paused, looking back at her. “We need to talk, soon.” I opened and closed my mouth, then nodded. I used my grappling hook to swing out of there, intending to stop by Wayne Manor and change before meeting up with Bernard.
I knew exactly what Steph wanted to talk about, and I knew that I would try to delay it for as long as I could. She wanted to ask all the hard questions about the very personal reasons that had caused our relationship to come to an end. And I didn’t. She wanted to talk about what it all meant, but I still wasn’t even sure if I knew what it all meant.
I entered the Batcave under the cover of darkness and ran up the stairs to my room.
“Master Tim,” Alfred stood near the foyer stairs. “Back from the mission already?”
“Yup!” I answered, already taking the stairs two steps at a time. “See you!” At the top of the stairs, my momentum pushed me towards the wall. I met the wall with my palm, then extended my arm to give myself a boost down the hallway. Wayne Manor was ridiculously large, but luckily, my room was only a few doors down. I ripped open the plain brown door that revealed my bedroom. Stepping awkwardly over some dirty clothes on the floor, I made my way to my closet. I stripped and quickly replaced my Robin outfit with black jeans, a white polo and a maroon jacket.
I glanced down at my phone, the time read 9:57 as if taunting me. Ughhhh, I was so cooked. Bernard might’ve already left. I really hoped he had stayed. Although I couldn’t blame him for leaving.
I grabbed the keys to one of the motorbikes from the bowl as I dashed down the stairs and into the garage. It was an excruciating journey, the one from Wayne Manor to Big Belly Burger. I managed to avoid the worst of the Gotham traffic thanks to the bike’s small size, but it still took me like ten minutes to get there.
After parking half-heartedly in the lot, I left the bike and helmet and went into the fast-food place. I was hit with fluorescent lights as soon as I entered the building. It took me a minute to zero in on Bernard’s location, but there he was, sitting by the window with an empty tray in front of him. I saddled up next to him, sagging with guilt.
“Bernard, I am so, so sorry.” Bernard glanced at his watch. “I know I’m super late, and I didn’t text in advance, it’s just– something came up.” The blonde boy raised an eyebrow.
“And that something was?” A million excuses ran through my head.
“My brother stole my shoes and hid them.” I settled on. “I searched like four rooms before I found them.” I scowled as I spoke to make my lie more believable. “I’m sorry.” I looked up to meet Bernard’s eyes, and found his lips twitching in a small smile. For their date, he had worn a black leather jacket, dark jeans and a white t-shirt. He had sunglasses pushed to the top of his head, which kept most of his hair in check, but let a few strands dangle in front of his forehead. It was dark, and had been dark for a long time, so the sunglasses were completely unnecessary. But they looked good.
It reminded me of Bernard’s style from when we’d gone to school together. Maybe he hasn’t changed. I thought. Maybe I won’t have to relearn too many things about him; maybe I already know a decent amount. After seeing Bernard for the first time again, this awful fear had taken root in my head. A voice that kept saying, what if I don’t know what he’s like anymore? What if it’s been too long? And we’ve both changed too much?
“You’re forgiven,” Bernard said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Just don’t make it a habit, alright?” He was smiling. “So, how ‘bout we get to that date, huh?”
“Sounds like a plan,” I said, relieved. Thank God Bernard was so forgiving, thank God he’d bought my lie. “You look nice,” I added. Kind of reminds me of Kon. It was hard to see a leather jacket and sunglasses and not think of Superboy. Tim felt his stomach tighten.
“Thanks,” Bernard said, his smile genuine. “So do you.” He looked down at the tray in front of him, covered only by a greasy paper. “Uh, I already ate, do you want to stay or?”
“I don’t need to eat,” I said. “Do you want to just take a walk?”
“A walk? In the streets of Gotham at ten P.M?” Bernard asked. “Timothy Drake-Wayne, you are one brave, brave soul.” He said with a whistle and a smirk. I shrugged in response.
“We’ve got enough vigilantes watching our backs. I’m sure we’d survive.”
“I guess you’re right.” He picked up his tray and walked over to the trash. After tossing the paper, he places the tray on the pile of them in the trash. “Let’s get out of here.”
I took the lead, since I’d suggested the walk. I wanted to get away from the main roads and lead him to the park. As we walked, the moonlight shone down on Bernard. Illuminating his blonde hair in an almost platinum hue. Stephanie’s hair did the same thing on midnight patrols. We were close enough that if I moved my hand a few inches, our knuckles would touch. Should I be holding hands with him?
Was that what most civilians would do on their second date? My fingers twitched involuntarily, but I didn’t reach out. I guided us towards the fountain in the middle of the park. Upon arriving, I sat down. Bernard took his spot next to me.
“So,” he began. “I want to have a full update. What’s been going on in your life recently?”
I hesitated. What had been going on in my life lately, aside from superhero stuff? “Well… I got a new camera.” I said. “Really high quality, too. Bruce gave it to me for my birthday.”
“What about college?” Bernard asked. Shoot, I should have asked him what he had been doing. I was going about this all wrong. I wrinkled my nose.
“I did get into college, and I kind of tried a few classes…” I said. “But I sort of had scheduling conflicts,” Superhero duties. “And the programs there didn’t have a lot of new information, so I didn’t find it that interesting, you know?”
“I get that,” Bernard said, nodding. “I’m majoring in Physics and Biology right now.”
“Wow, double major? That’s intense.” Bernard shrugged.
“I like it. Keeps me busy.”
“Cool,” I said, unsure what to say next. Did I ask him more questions now? Organically learn new things about him? I could do a background check and learn more about him than he probably knew about himself, but that wouldn’t help us get any closer. “So…” I said.
“So,” Bernard parroted. We were facing each other now, our shoulders and faces less than a foot away from each other. He smirked. “Its pretty tonight. You can almost see a star or two.” His gaze stayed glued on mine.
“Yeah.” I said with a shiver, “It is.”
I knew it would happen before it did. Although I’d never kissed a boy, I did have my fair share of experience with girls. Bernard leaned in, his arm reaching up and cupping the back of my neck. I closed my eyes as our lips met. It was as soft as I’d expect a first kiss to be, but also lasted longer than they normally did.
I pulled back. I had one hand on Bernard’s chest, and his arms were wrapped around me. “You don’t think we’re going a little fast?” I asked.
“I think you’re so pretty that if I hadn’t gotten kidnapped on our first date, I would’ve already kissed you.”
“Oh.” I said, “Thanks.” Bernard laughed.
“Come on, Tim, let’s just save the talking for after, okay?” He retracted his arm. “Maybe we could also go someplace more…” He looked down at the fountain. “Comfortable?”
“Sure,” I said. “Where?”
“We could hang out at my place,” Bernard offered. It was definitely too soon for that. Even if all they did was kiss more when they got there, I needed more time. I needed more information on what I was getting myself into. I bit my lip.
“It’s kind of getting late…” I saw Bernard’s smile drop. But then he shook his head, as if recentering himself.
“You’re right,” He said. “We’ll just have to continue this another time.” His eyes were kind and understanding. Oh, thank God he had forgiven me, thank God he understood. I just wasn’t ready to jump into the pool before I knew how to swim. Does that metaphor work in this situation? I don’t know.
“May I walk you home?” I asked, stepping up and offering Bernard my arm. He smiled.
“Yes, you may.” He put his hand on my arm and let me lead him back to his house. After we said our farewells, I called the driver Bruce had on duty that night and went home.