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Tim had a plan. He had a mission. He had finally found something to do.
B wouldn’t let him out. Not with Red Hood making rather pointed threats about clipping wings and ‘traffic lights in spandex'. N hadn’t been much better and while he would spar with Tim on occasion it wasn’t near enough and N was always gone with Tim was most restless since what made him restless was not patrolling. He hadn’t even been allowed on comms.
Initially he’d worried about Titan’s Tower being more of the same, more of being stifled despite being able to hold his own just fine. It was why he had been considering going specifically when everyone else was out, and when he had been considering what to take, it had occurred to him a half formed project he’d thought of long ago and never did anything with.
It would take dedication, planning, use of all his training and skill sets he had largely let gather dust since taking up the mantle of Robin.
It had always been a dream of a tiny Tim Drake to get pictures of the Batcave or Titan’s Tower or any of the superhero bases. The place where they became heroes and returned to their everyday lives.
He’d actually done that somewhat, when he first became Robin, when he first pushed his way into B’s life. It had only been a little bit though, Tim too absorbed into the self imposed task of forcing Batman to accept him.
He’d never taken his camera to Titan’s Tower. Not the real camera anyway. He’d snapped plenty of phone photos, and it was an ongoing joke among the titans that Tim was their photographer, that he was the one who would instinctively know the right lighting and angle. He’d never told him that it hadn’t started out instinctive, just as his movements of Robin had to be trained.
Mentally, he was calling it training. He was dusting off the old skills that had let him drift through Gotham, unnoticed by Batman, unnoticed by Robin. Well, mostly unnoticed by Robin… kinda… sorta…
Okay, Robin had caught him maybe a dozen or so times. Jason had caught him. Every time he’d called Tim a Bat-stalker but he’d also helped Tim out of whatever situation even if Tim didn’t strictly need help.
He might not have been as showy as Dick, as silent and unseen as Bruce, or as smoothly powerful as Jason but he was perfectly capable of getting down from a ladder that was rusted into place a little too high.
He’d still accepted. Had ducked his head and muttered about taking pictures of other things too. He’d… he’d even shown Jason a few of those photos, highlighting the city lights of Gotham, capturing the haunting emptiness of its streets in the depths of the night, perfectly balancing perspectives on the archaic gargoyles against cutting edge tech. Jason had ruffled his hair, told him the pictures were amazing.
He still kept Jason’s favorite one printed out to canvas size on his wall in the manor, his own silent tribute to Jason.
These pictures would be far different. They wouldn’t be meant to be artistic or thought provoking or an attempt to capture some sort of emotion or the ‘heart’ of the city. He had a sneaking suspicion that Jason would still approve. He’d laugh, he’d call Tim a Bat-stalker again, and then he’d insist on sharing the trove of blackmail that Tim was setting himself up to gather.
Currently the tower was empty. Tim had muted any sort of signals going out to alert anyone he’d been in and out, making sure that he’d have plenty of time before it occurred to someone to come check on the darkened building. Casing a place of this size after all took quite a bit of time even if he was familiar with it.
Strictly speaking, he didn’t actually need to sneak through the entire tower. He did anyway though. He wanted to know how much time it would take if he pulled on his tricks from watching Batman and Robin soar through Gotham as well as the pretty significant tips from Catwoman he’d gathered over the years. Maybe, if B kept trying to keep him grounded, he’d go see if Selina had been serious about actually teaching him a little bit more distinctly. It also gave him a good idea of just how far and where he could move through the shadows in the soft light absorbing hoodie.
Tim was halfway through finding each and every vantage point in the kitchens when the lights shut off. Tim breathed, crouching down further into the sunken space of the upper cabinets that really could use a cleaning as the alarms started to flicker to life.
Emergency power. Tower lockdown chirping. What the hell had triggered that?
Tim hadn’t noticed anything sound or shaking wise. There had been no level of warning and it wasn’t some sort of aerosolized gas since the doors remained as they were instead of the bulkheads sliding closed. The alarms for a fire were different…
Stealth abandoned for the moment, Tim scrambled down from the cabinets via the fridge and got to the command panel. It just confirmed that the tower had been put into lockdown mode except it didn’t say why , just that someone had initiated it, someone with a higher clearance code than Tim.
Tim could count the number of people who officially had higher security clearance to the tower on one hand. Unofficially, it was really only Oracle and Cyborg that could lock him out like this and of them Oracle wouldn’t do that and if Cyborg was going to prank him this wasn’t a likely way to do it. He couldn’t get a connection to call them about it either. Not even activating a distress call to Nightwing that no one else was supposed to know about worked.
“What the hell?” Okay… assess, he’d been vaguely thinking of this as training anyway. This was just an advanced form of it.
He carefully tucked the camera into its protective case, and slunk into the shadows. He needed more information. The best places to begin would be the zeta tubes and the main entrances. Assume that it was someone causing this until it proved to be a malfunction. Zeta tubes would be first just by virtue of that they were on the way. If they were functional then they might have a log of someone coming in. If not, then they might be a viable escape plan. If they were shut down or locked out… Tim drew in a deep breath as he crept to one of the hatches rather than the door itself. If the Zeta tubes were down then he still had the main doors he could escape from… maybe. If not, there were a handful of other ways out of the tower. He knew for a fact that if certain safety features were removed from one of Cyborg’s vehicles then it could blast a hole through the garage door. That had been “fun” to explain how and why exactly he discovered that feature. A repeat of Cyborg’s rage and Nightwing’s simmering disappointment in compromising the tower, along with the sheer amount of noise, put that plan absolutely last on the list.
Satisfied with having loose plans A-W running in his head, Tim slipped silently into the vents. He wouldn’t be able to make the entire trek like that but he could pop in and out of them enough to hopefully remain untraceable. With luck he might even get an idea of who he was dealing with.
The Zeta tubes were shut down completely. Tim eyed the space from the relative safety of an open vent and a potted fake plant. They didn’t even appear to have backup power, just completely dead and silent.
That… shouldn’t happen. There were safety protocols and complicated end point things and backups and… and there should have at least been a blinking error light.
It mostly confirmed that this wasn’t some glitch. For the zeta tubes to be so completely dead… someone had cut their power. Someone had cut all of their power and a few other key functions.
Tim slipped back into the vents. With the confirmation, he could start working on who and why. Oddly enough, Gizmo or the academy were out. Gizmo wouldn’t have taken out the zeta tubes that way and his hacking held a pretty distinct signature that he couldn’t or didn’t want to shake… Mammoth physically could have but wouldn’t have the knowledge to actually do it. Most others wouldn’t be subtle in this way.
Faced with an unknown threat, Tim dropped down out of the vents into a quick change closet to evaluate. His original plan was to head directly to the exit doors if the zeta tubes were down. What if they were blocked however? What if there was some sort of trap?
It might be worth it to detour back up to his room to stash the expensive and exceedingly breakable camera and to grab the armored Robin suit and utility belt. Admittedly… he probably should have done that from the start.
Tim got close to the personal rooms, keeping hidden and silent as he moved. Like this… it almost felt like the times he had crept into Rogue setups to get ideal shots of the fight. Riddler, for instance, liked mazes and lighting like this, as did Harley Quinn.
Ahead of him, around the corner, came the heavy tread of boots.
Quieting his breathing, Tim slunk into the shadows like he had thousands of times before. The emergency lights lent themselves to it, even if they made the camera work hell. Actually… could he? Slowly, Tim shifted into position, raising the camera. Flash most definitely off, that was how he’d always tracked the bats though.
Already he could tell it was someone heavy by the easy way their gait carried the threat. Nothing overly unusual about it though, so probably humanoid and the sound definitely indicated pretty standard steel toed boots.
The figure passed the join in the hall, turning directly in Tim's direction as his finger pressed down automatically in sync with the lights. It was probably a good thing he’d already prepped, since he wasn’t even conscious of the picture he took, too busy stifling any indication of his shock because… because… Red Hood had just turned the corner. The weighted steps belonged to the Crime Lord who was every inch as much a tank as Batman himself. Full armor under the leather jacket, reinforced and probably armored cargo pants, helmet faintly catching the emergency lights and the lenses literally glowing.
The man that Batman and Nightwing had been hunting, the man who had been making pointed threats against Robin, the man who had been the reason Tim was stifled and benched and who he had come to California to have the plausibility of avoiding… was here. What the hell was a Gotham rogue doing in Titan’s Tower? Was he alone? Did Red Hood, a Crime Lord have the ability to hack to a level that let him into Titan’s Tower!?
Tim already knew the answer to why, even as he adjusted so, so quietly to get a few more shots of Red Hood stalking down the hallway. The man turned again at the next join, disappearing, and Tim finally allowed himself to take a steadying breath. For a moment he evaluated his options.
Red Hood was a fairly new rogue but a distinctly dangerous one. He was a trained fighter and good at it. Both B and N had come back multiple nights with bruises and blood to show for getting into fist fights. He was also intelligent, keeping pace with B’s plans, taking control of the major circuits in Crime Alley virtually overnight, and not only maintaining them but turning them downright lucrative. Most alarmingly, he was very good with the guns holstered to his thigh, and had little to no hesitation using them.
There was a 99% probability that Red Hood had come to Titan’s Tower to either scope it out or to catch Robin. Tim rather doubted that it was a mistake that the tower was in full lockdown mode. The zeta tubes indicated a disturbing level of knowledge, ability, and familiarity with their systems. There was also the factor that his comms were down, even the backup ones…
It indicated that most likely, the usual methods of escape would be cut off just as effectively. That left the carefully guarded secret ones and just outright force. Tim might just be making his way to the garage yet. He just had to figure out the most likely route to actually get him there.
For a long moment Tim stared down the hallway that Red Hood had disappeared into. He couldn’t hear the footsteps anymore… at all actually. That was probably good right?
Carefully he crept out of the shadows. He’d need to dart back up the hallway and the nearest vent which should take him to the stairwell. It’d be a risk hopping from railing to railing given the sheer amount of noise but Tim thought it was worth it. Red Hood would probably be searching rooms for a while so he could just…
He felt the movement before he saw it, much good that it did him. A hand closed on his shoulder and hood rather than the back of his neck, hauling him up even as he desperately tried to squirm out of the hoodie. The effort was rendered moot when he was tossed into a wall, a hand closed on not only the hoodie but his shirt and camera strap, and Tim was hauled upward. “What the fuck !?” The voice was modulated, though the edges of it crackled as Tim got his hands on Red Hood’s arm. “How the ever loving fuck did you get in the tower?”
Tim had been planning on using the leverage to kick out at Red Hood and hopefully get enough clearance in to actually hit a shoulder or joint of something. Instead he paused, blinking. “Uhhhh…”
“You reckless little twerp. Are you still a batstalker!?” Red Hood dragged him close, shaking him slightly. “Do you have any idea of how dangerous being here is right now? How did you even get here?”
He… had a pretty good idea about how he got here yeah, even if he was beyond confused. Neither B nor N had said anything about Red Hood potentially being insane. Had he just been called a batstalker? “I… what?”
“Don’t try to play dumb, Alvin.”
… What? Alvin ? Did… Did… Had he met Red Hood as Alvin Draper? Did Red Hood not realize?
“I promise I was only trying to get a few pictures, Mr. Red Hood… Sir? Nothing incrimina-”
He was dropped. Red Hood actually dropped him. “Don’t call me Sir. Hand over the camera.” One hand opened expectantly, Tim freezing with his fingers clenched on the very expensive and very breakable camera. Worse, at the camera chock full of what was clearly him scoping out the best hidden photographer positions in Titan's Tower… He wasn't a stalker! Anymore. But the camera would certainly not be helping his case.
“Kid, I don’t have the time or the patience to deal with this right now, though it entirely proves my point to B.”
What point? There was a point to this? “Just… promise you won’t break it?”
Red Hood heaved a sigh. “I just need to see what pictures you have. At most a few might get deleted.”
Did he trust a volatile Gotham Rogue and Crime Lord? Did he have any level of choice, especially if he was apparently getting clocked as Alvin Draper? Apparently Batstalker Alvin Draper which was just… wow… okay…
Swallowing, he shakingly drew the camera strap off and handed it over. He then got to stand there in awkward silence while Red Hood played with his camera. It was… actually a bit unnerving, not being able to read any type of expression from the helmet.
Part of him was tempted to sneak off while Red Hood was distracted but… that isn’t what Alvin Draper would do. To Alvin Draper that camera was everything and since Red Hood apparently knew Alvin Draper or at least a version of him, he had to immediately get into character.
“These are pretty good.”
Was it weird to be relieved by the praise? It was probably true. Red Hood certainly had no reason to lie or sugar coat anything. “R-really?”
“Hm, quite a bit of improvement.” The camera tilted slightly, Red Hood apparently considering it. “Might be a different camera, don't know much about that, but even then it’s damn tricky to make night shots of a kitchen look good.”
“Thanks. It… means a surprising amount.” Red Hood could be lying. Alvin Draper was generally well liked by those he met. He was meant to be quiet, shy, and well liked as well as confident and self assured. The kind of kid who disappeared when you weren’t looking, who just didn’t take up anyone’s time and who didn’t need anyone to worry about him.
Even if Red Hood was lying to make ‘Alvin’ feel better though… He was also giving away information like candy. Tim should really be taking advantage of that. Especially if Red Hood was willing to make comments on where they’d met before. The camera wasn’t old but… it had been years since he’d bought a new camera, hell since he’d had the time to think of wanting to upgrade his camera. The current one he would have gotten just a few weeks after… after…
When he’d heard the funeral announcement, he’d dropped his last camera. This one had been a replacement before his parents could notice such a careless mistake. He’d already known the new model he’d wanted, just had to actually order it.
Did that mean that he’d met Red Hood before Jason died? Actually, that would make sense. Tim hadn’t been out very much since then as Alvin the photographer, usually just for brief undercover missions or to keep his connections with some of the working girls and other contacts though those had faded as patrols picked up.
Red Hood’s head tilted slightly, his hands pausing on one of the photos. Then the helmet made an odd whining noise that had Tim backing up a step. “Damn that’s a good shot.”
“Uh…”
“I mean I guess you had plenty of warning since I was trying to scare out a little bird by stomping around, but to hide and get set up in that amount of time.”
Tim blinked, daring to edge around slightly. Red Hood was looking at his own photo as he came around the corner, backlit in red by one of the emergency lights but in such a way that it mostly emphasized his frame while leaving the details lost except for the glowing eyes of the helmet.
Those same lenses were suddenly on him, Tim feeling pinned to the floor. “I want this picture.”
“S-sure?”
“Good.” Red Hood turned back to the camera. “How many others did you get? Eh, okay. Okay. That one’s pretty good. Then it’s all back shots…”
“Um… M-Mr. Red Hood?”
“Hood’s fine. Mr is my father.”
It sounded distracted but… was that supposed to be a joke? “Hood Sir-”
“No Sir. Just Hood.”
“O-okay. Hood, if I can ask… what gave it away? Normally…” Normally no one noticed Alvin Draper unless he wanted them to. Normally, no one saw him taking photos. Not even Batman had ever noticed, Dick hadn’t noticed… though Jason had.
“Helmet picked up the camera shutter though it looks like it didn’t catch it till the third or fourth shot. There’s also a very faint gleam. It wasn’t right for a scope so I initially thought it was a security camera or something.”
“Good… Good to know.” That made sense, and had some interesting implications for the quality and tech in the helmet. Also for Red Hood's plans if he didn't care about a security camera though maybe he thought it was powered down? Did he power down the security cameras too? Did he power down all of the security camera systems? If so… how!? Not even most of the titans knew just how many existed in the tower or that there were multiple isolated setups that just looked like a single system. Something, something, Nightwing, Oracle, the usual level of Bat paranoia, plus a couple of villains who had attacked the tower who were tech savy or claimed to be tech savy.
“Okay, it doesn’t look like you have anything dangerous. Here, I know you’ll risk your life for this thing.” Tim immediately grabbed hold of the camera, clenching it close when Red Hood actually gave it back.
He blinked, the shocked doe eyes very much real. “Thanks.” The camera was fine, he still had his pictures and Red Hood was just… there.
“Yup, now, Kid… I’ve got a few more questions for you that I’m going to need answered.” Red Hood straightened, Tim immediately backing up as the looming presence filled the hallway. He should have run. He should have bolted. He could only blame his own confusion at the situation for why he was suddenly trapped by… by a hand on his shoulder?
Tim stumbled as he was turned sharply and shoved forward. Not enough for the grip to be gone but it also… wasn’t harsh. “Starting with where you want to eat.”
“Uh… w-what?”
“It’s not actually optional by the way. I’ve got questions, here isn’t safe for either of us especially with the amount of time that’s passed. Never give a bat time to prepare and all that. Plus, I'm in a pretty good mood after seeing that beautiful picture of yours and none of the traffic light, and you are far, far too lightweight. I swear, you looked like a shrimp before and it hasn’t gotten any better.”
Red Hood managed to semi forcefully lead him to the stairs while Tim processed just… just all of that. “A-are you kidnapping me?”
“Pretty much. Don’t worry, I’ll let you go after.”
“M- uh… Hood… Are you alright in the head?”
“Oh absolutely not, but you’re safe. I don’t hurt kids.”
“It… seemed like you wanted to hurt R-” He snapped his jaw shut at the sudden tight squeeze on his shoulder.
“Yyyyeahhhh… best not to bring up the Replacement to me. He’s a special case.”
Tim… in deference to the very tight grip, the fact that he was very much outweighed, and the stairs that were so conveniently located to currently throw him down, nodded. “O-okay.” Plus… Replacement?
Red Hood did not in fact push him down the stairs. Instead they made it all the way down nice and safe and at the bottom the man had them pause. Tim stared as the Gotham Rogue slipped a glove off, keyed in a code in smooth practiced motions, and the lockdown started to lift. Not like it was supposed to. Instead it was opening up a path for them specifically. Had Red Hood hacked Titans Tower? How the hell had he programmed his own biometrics into it without anyone noticing?
Tim considered his odds of escape, decided that they would be best actually outside where he could flee in any direction and hopefully get to an area of service. So far beyond the hand on his shoulder and the generalized threat, Red Hood hadn’t actually restrained him. He also… apparently didn’t know he was dealing with a Robin? There also seemed to be a vested interest in leaving before Hood figured it out too.
Tim could work with that. He’d been in… okay this was a strange and dangerous situation but overall he was pretty sure he’d been in worse odds.
Red Hood opened the doors to reveal a sleek red motorcycle sitting partially hidden in the bushes. At least that answered how Red Hood had gotten to the tower though… had he really ridden the bike all the way from Gotham? How long had he been planning this?
“Hey, can you get a good picture of the bike?”
Tim blinked, glancing back at Hood. “Uh… I mean probably?”
“Good, see if you can get a shot of the bike with the ocean behind it. I’ll be over here for a second.” The man tilted his head. “And don’t you dare run. I can promise you I’m faster than I look and a very good shot.”
Tim was fully aware of that. Pulling on a nice intimidated air and wondering which was the lie, the part about shooting him or the part about not hurting kids, Alivn Draper set to fiddling with the camera. He kept a subtle eye on Hood though, even if he couldn’t fully see… It looked like the man was removing some kind of device from the tower? Something to do with the lockdown or the communications being jammed? Then he shifted, Tim stiffening as he heard a hiss and release of air.
“Nah-uh… you’re supposed to be tak-ing pictures of the bike.” The voice modulation disappeared partially through, Tim doing his best to focus on both cataloging the sound of Hood’s actual voice while also getting the pictures that were apparently a distraction. Without the modulation his voice was young, and hauntingly familiar although Tim couldn’t quite get his mind to place it beyond the faded Crime Alley accent, muddled by something else.
Hood returned a few moments later, with a full faced red motorcycle helmet and the more obvious Rogue elements hidden. He eyed Tim for a long moment before shrugging out of the leather jacket, leaving him in a dark long sleeve shirt over some other kind of outfit that was probably his usual armor. Tim blinked at him, carefully stowing the camera.
The jacket was warm and heavy. Hood has more armor in the jacket… helpful to know. It engulfed Tim, making him feel a little bit like a preschooler, especially when Hood felt the need to zip up the jacket for him.
Turning, he retrieved a second helmet from the side bag, holding it out after spending a moment fiddling with something inside. Who knew motorcycle safety was on Red Hood’s list of things to apparently insist on. The moment the helmet was on, Red Hood’s voice crackled in his ear. “Helmets are linked. You can put your camera in here, or carry it on you but you’re going to be riding upfront.”
“I… I can hold on…”
Hood laughed. “Yeah, I’m not risking you jumping off. You’re riding up front.”
Well there went that plan. Tim steeled himself, and then started fiddling with the jacket. “Can I wrap it in the hoodie?”
“Oh… yeah, that’d probably be good huh.”
He was sure he looked completely ridiculous trying to get all the layers correct, even with Hood’s oh so helpful gesture of holding the jacket for him. Somehow, despite the pose being the same as Alfred adopted, Tim felt that Hood was mocking him.
In the end he had on the thin T-shirt, Hood’s armored jacket, sweat pants, sneakers, and the helmet. Hood fixed the camera and the hoodie in the space the helmet used to occupy, and then gestured for Tim to get on.
Taking a deep breath and eying the leg holsters hidden but definitely still there, Tim threw his leg over. He had better chances in the city. He just had to keep telling himself that. He might not have an emergency beacon on him, but he had his phone and surely there would be some opportunity for him to be able to get a call out without the jammers. Hood hadn’t overly restrained him so far and there was a lot of reason to continue biding his time and keeping it that way.
Hood threw his leg over the bike and settled in behind Tim. The engine rumbled to life and Hood glided out smooth and easy. “Have passengers often?” It didn’t seem like something Hood would do but… small talk should be fine right?
“Eh, sometimes. Take the street kids to the clinic or somewhere safe fairly often.”
Tim blinked. Red Hood… did that? Tim was aware of reports from B, N, and even other sources about how Crime Alley seemed to be closing ranks around Red Hood. Was that why? “Okay… so food. I had this diner last night that was alright. Good for burgers and milkshakes? You allergic to milk? I don't think you were last time…”
“Uh… no? Not- not to the diner. I can have milk. I’m… good with everything really.” Hood was actually going to take him for food? That… he’d said it sure but to actually do it? Also when the hell was 'last time'? Immediately Tim set to sorting through the exceedingly short list of encounters that would involve Alvin Draper, his camera, and eating or drinking something that contained milk with someone.
“Perfect.” The bike turned onto main roads, Tim keeping track of turns and street names. “Now… since you didn’t actually answer before… How exactly did you get into the tower?”
“Um… front door?”
“Ha, funny. How’d you get the door to open.”
What would be a believable answer for Alvin? “I… I used R… uh… That is I saw someone enter the code and-”
“You used Replacement’s entry code?” He felt the laugh as much as he heard it, Hood leaning over him though the bike stayed steady.
“Um… yeah…”
“Oh fuck, that’s brilliant. Beautiful. Exactly my point about how secure the little kiddie heroes club is.”
“What… what is your point?”
“You really want to ask questions?”
“Y-yeah?”
Hood huffed what might have been a laugh or a sigh. “Alright… fair enough I guess. Plus you’re a stalker so it tracks you’d snoop anyway and this is safer.”
“I’m-”
“You’re either a stalker or a thief to case a place like that. Besides, I didn’t mind it before, I don’t mind it now. We can get into how I feel about the safety of what you’re doing later.”
He didn’t… mind it before? What the hell did that mean? Before in the tower or… before before? The last time they met? Tim racked his memories, trying to think of any instance where someone from Crime Alley had caught him and realized what he was doing. “If I admit to being a stalker will you answer?”
Hood laughed. “Sure! Batstalker.” Tim grumbled, sinking against the tank of the bike as they pulled up to a red light. “And my entire point of tonight was to prove that Robin isn’t safe.”
“Why?”
“Nah, question for question.”
Tim sighed but… hopefully he’d get Hood to actually answer with useful information if he played along. “Fine.”
“When’d you get into the tower? Must have been a while by those pictures.”
Under the helmet Tim rolled his eyes but considered. After a few moments he shrugged and told the truth, down to the minute.
Hood whistled, though the sound cut off midway through. “Hold on… Oh you little sneak.” Tim stiffened, feeling Hood starting to tense. “ Fuck… Replacement wasn’t even there was he? It was you using his code!”
Tim swallowed. “Um…”
“You didn’t go in through the front door, you snuck in from the cave.”
Tim very seriously evaluated if he could successfully elbow Red Hood hard enough to get free and fling himself from the bike. “Is-isn’t that multiple questions?”
Hood was silent for far too long but the bike remained steady and Tim focused on breathing. “Ask something.”
He swallowed. “If… if it was me… what would you do…?”
This silence stretched on, Tim winding tighter and tighter. It lasted until they pulled into a diner parking lot and even then Hood sat there on the idling bike with his feet down and arms stretched to the handlebars while Tim shivered. Finally, he sat back. “Fuck… it’s not your fault.” Tim swallowed, and stayed low against the tank. Hood audibly breathed for a moment. “I never considered something like this… It’s not your fault I played one of my best cards for the wrong audience.”
After a few more deep breaths, Hood shut down the bike and got off. “What I’m gonna do, is exactly what I was doing before. Getting you dinner and getting myself a milkshake.”
Tim let himself melt against the gas tank. At least until Hood rapped on his helmet. “Come on, up you get or you’re gonna get carried.”
Only the full belief that Hood would do exactly that had Tim sitting up. Carefully he reached up, tugging the helmet off even as he watched Red Hood do the same. Tim snapped around, his eyes widening because Red Hood was just casually-
The helmet slid from his fingers, not even the sound of it hitting the pavement managing to shake him from the shock because… because… “J-Jason?”
Robin had been a name on his internal list but it was written off because… because…
Jason Todd was staring at him, older, filled out and without the scar on his lip where he’d gotten caught by a surprise second goon just as Tim snapped a picture. Jason Todd who had other scars now littering his face and a series of jagged lines down the side of it over some kind of brun. Jason Todd who had the faint marks of a domino mask having quickly been removed if one knew where to look. Jason Todd who had a tuft of white hair in his bangs and eyes that were a vivid glowing green as they stared at each other's bare faces under the weak but steady neon.
Literally glowing, and it was getting brighter as rage crossed his face. “Son of a bitch !” Tim scrambled off the bike, managing to catch himself in the too large jacket and tumble onto the concrete. Jason stalked around the corner of the bike and before Tim could manage to get his feet fully under him and run , Jason had him by the front of the jacket.
“J-Jason, please,” He was hauled close, Jason completely ignoring Tim’s scrabbling at his glove. He really didn’t want to use a full force kick. Jason wasn’t as armored but he was definitely still very armored. Plus there were bystanders to consider… not that Tim could see any currently but they were in a very public place.
“You’re just a little liar who does nothing but lie and cheat aren’t you, Tim Drake ? You didn’t happen to catch someone entering codes, you just used your own.”
“I didn’t lie! You’re the one who called me Alvin!”
“You certainly didn’t disagree!”
“I'm not dumb ! Why in the world would I correct you? Clearly you were there for a very specific reason but then you… I thought I could get away if I just went along with it and… and…” He sucked in a breath. “Jason… you’re alive.”
“I haven’t even done anything to you, Replacement and you’re already crying?”
Screw it if he was. He quit struggling, instead more or less limp in Jason’s hold. At least this time his feet were on the ground. “You’re alive…God, everyone is going to be so happy.”
Jason opened his mouth, glanced around and snapped it shut even as his hand tightened as he hissed. “I should shoot you.”
“Why… why are you Red Hood? Why didn’t you come back?”
“I fucking couldn’t. There was a little cuckoo in my place.”
Tim’s eyes widened. Replacement. That’s what Hood had been calling him. “Jason, oh no… they don’t want me. I’m just… I’m just a placeholder. They want you.”
“Not fucking bad enough! Not bad enough to avenge me.”
Tim blinked. “Aveng- you mean the Joker?”
“Yes I fucking mean the Joker. That lunatic who’s still breathing.”
Oh… oh this was fixable! This was entirely fixable! “Bruce wanted to! Superman stopped him. It actually took Superman stopping him since Joker pulled some bullshit and killing him would have triggered a war. Dick did kill him… sorta…”
“Like I’d believe a god damn thing out of your shit little mouth.”
“There’s footage!”
The hand holding him spasmed slightly. “What?”
“There’s footage of Dick… of him… That’s why they had to bring him back so he didn’t…”
Jason stared, his eyes shifting brighter and dimmer. Finally, he let go to sigh with his full body and drag his hands down his face. For a long moment he stood there, staring up at the sky overhead through his fingers. “How’d we meet, batstalker?”
Tim stared at Jason. “I’m not sure I…”
“Answer. The. Question. The first time we met, how’d it go down?”
Tim opened his mouth, then shut it. After a moment, he glanced towards the bike. “Um… I was sprawled on the back of a gargoyle… between its wings since I knew the patrol route usually went by there and I wanted to get a shot of… well anyway, instead of getting the shot you came up behind me and scared the hell out of me. I jumped, slipped, and you had to hook your leg around the gargoyle’s arm just to keep us both from going over the side. Then you bought me ice cream and told me not to climb statues.” Tim still had plenty of times. He’d even climbed that same gargoyle and had gotten the picture he wanted. It was one of his favorites with Batman and Robin just completing an arc and their lines not quite snapped out yet so they soared through the sky, the city lights glittering around them.
“The batstalker stole my suit… the fucking stalker …” Jason muttered quietly, his eyes sliding shut. “The little shrimp who kept getting into the weirdest pla- why the fuck were you casing your own place?”
Tim stared at Jason Todd , at Red Hood. After a moment he swallowed. “Well… uh… B and O have me locked out of everything and N’s usually busy with patrol and since no one else was there… I’d been meaning for a while to find the best vantage spots to-”
“God, tell me you aren’t stalking your own teammates.”
“-get blackmail.”
For a moment Jason stared at him. “Blackmail…”
“Uh… yeah… I mean it’ll take forever but if I know all the best hiding places and best angles already I can lie in wait or even better set up an automatic system and…”
“You were casing the place… so you could set up secondary cameras… to get dirt on your teammates…”
Jason was a bat. There was no way he wasn’t trained to know they should have the advantage on everyone if they could take it. Hell, Dick would definitely approve and probably suggest a few more spaces Tim didn’t think of because he wasn’t as flexible and actually paid attention to things like gravity.
Tim folded his arms, and felt a little ridiculous since he mostly succeeded in flopping the too large sleeves over one another. “Like you wouldn’t do the same. Besides, it’s good stealth training in case someone ever suddenly breaks in.”
Several emotions passed over Jason’s face, switching back and forth and overlapping before his lip twitched. “Oh… oh I am so fucked…” Tim’s eyes widened, and then he squawked as Jason ruffled his hair. “I promised you food. Let’s go.”
Jason paused for a moment to swipe the dropped helmet from the ground, carrying it into the diner. After a moment, Tim scrambled after because… because…
He was wearing Red Hood’s jacket which probably had all sorts of safeguards in it. Red Hood had a rule about not hurting kids. Robin may or may not be an exception but also he hadn't seriously tried anything… Jason was back. Jason was Red Hood. Jason was Red Hood… Red Hood was Jason. He needed to get Jason home. He needed to tell Bruce and Dick and Alfred that Jason was alive.
Selfishly… he wanted to let Jason keep up… whatever this was. Logically Tim knew that Jason wasn’t his older brother. He’d been called, to his face, a cuckoo, a replacement, and had called himself a placeholder. He wasn’t Jason’s little brother but… but even with parts of his mind rattling off the extensive list of crimes that were confirmed to belong to Red Hood and tacking Jason’s name to them… this was still Robin. Robin wanted information from him. Robin had called his pictures good, great. Robin wanted one of the pictures…
The lady at the counter was giving Jason a side eyed glare, not so subtly holding her phone though she blinked a bit at Tim scrambling to catch up. She still seated them, called Tim pumpkin, and then sauntered off to get their drinks while Jason examined the helmet for damage. There was definitely some cosmetic damage…
“Sorry about-”
“It’s fine.” Jason scrubbed a hand down his face, and then thunked the helmet onto the table. “Okay… You’ve successfully thrown off my entire groove…”
“Um… sorry?”
“I promise this is far better for you.” Tim… Tim shoved it off into the back corner that he was fully aware of that. He had a beautiful photo of Red Hood stalking through the tower with the intent to rough up Robin. Maybe he could just think of it as a prank, or a photoshoot, or something. That would have it reconcile with their current situation. “So… first and foremost we’re going to lay down some ground rules.”
“I’m telling B.”
Jason groaned. “Technically… it was the plan to reveal it tonight… technically. It’ll still…” Jason groaned again , shoving the helmet at Tim so he could slouch across the table and… wasn’t he being a little too dramatic?
“I… I don’t have to tell him right away…” It was selfish. He could prop up some sort of defense about Jason clearly not being ready or something but… Tim knew better. He should most certainly tell Bruce who had been near mad with grief. He should tell Dick who had been murderous with it.
Jason tilted his head to stare at Tim, his eyes flickering with hints of green that could be the neon lights from outside… if any of them were green. “Do you have any idea what I planned to do tonight, Baby Bird?”
Tim opened his mouth, shut it, and was saved from embarrassing himself while his brain rebooted by the arrival of their drinks. Robin had just called him a nickname. Was it the same nickname that Dick used… yes… but somehow it was different and special and okay maybe Jason was mocking him a little actually. Still, Jason had said nothing about Tim ordering coffee, though he was staring at it now with a considering look that had Tim pulling the mug closer. “Um… You weren’t exactly being subtle so…”
Red Hood had been making threats for weeks. It was the entire reason that Tim had been at the tower at all. It was the place that was supposed to be safe except of course the tower would let Jason in. Tim blinked at the man in front of him. “Huh… Your codes still work.”
Jason smirked at him. “Point number, eh, 79? On why the whole thing isn’t safe for kiddos.”
Tim stared. “Do you actually have a list or are you making up numbers?”
“Oh, there’s definitely a list. It’s titled all the ways B fucked up and the reasons-” Jason paused, closing his eyes and burying his head. “Fffffuuuuuuuccccckkk… I can’t even… I know for a fact that you’d sneak around even without gear, or backup, or training or…” The sound might have actually been a curse word though it was too garbled to actually tell.
The waitress eyed Jason oddly when she came up, Tim shuffling further into the jacket. Before she could get too close though, Jason pulled himself up with a deep breath, and gave her a smile that looked like he had stolen it from Dick and wasn’t entirely used to using it yet. He was polite and steady as they ordered, and the moment the waitress had headed off, he closed his eyes and breathed for a moment.
“Alright… rules …” Tim nodded when Jason locked his gaze on him. “First… no talking about certain homicidal clowns.” Tim could see how that would definitely be a touchy subject. “No holier than thou bullshit about B’s little golden rule. I do, I have, I’m going to keep doing it. You knew that when you got on the bike.”
“I didn’t exactly have a choice.”
Jason just pointed at him, Tim immediately clicking his mouth shut. “No bringing up the eyes. I’m aware. Also, not really a rule but you should probably know that my temper is definitely ramped up to 10 and beyond, courtesy of getting dropped into the Lazareth Pits.”
“Is that what-” Tim started, and then froze.
Jason gave him a smile that was a little too amused. “Go on.”
“Um… Pretty sure my question is going to violate a rule you haven’t gotten to yet.”
“You can talk about my death.”
They… could? Tim immediately leaned forward. “Is that how you came back?”
“Nope. Not totally anyway. Don’t actually know what got the ball rolling, but apparently I was just wandering Gotham like a zombie when Talia found me. Nothing else she tried brought my mind back so as a last ditch effort she dropped me in magical rage and madness waters and presto…” Jason reached up, tugging at the white streak. “I get a fashion statement.”
That would definitely do it, though it left a lot of information to be desired. It did explain the missing scars though not the new ones, and the eyes, and the sudden swings into rage, and actually the violent path that Red Hood had cut through Gotham… mostly… Tim would definitely be reading up on the extent of the Lazareth Pit side effects later. Plus, being around Talia probably hadn’t helped matters. Dick had a lot to say about her and pretty much none of it was good. In fact… if she was half the snake that Dick insisted she was then… then Jason may not have accurate information at all.
He’d been entirely unaware of just how close the Joker had come to being murdered by not one but multiple bats. Tim could fix that! He could fix it, and then Jason would be able to verify for himself and he’d come home and… and…
Would he stop being Red Hood so he could be Robin again?
Tim shut down that train of thought hard. “Other rules?”
Jason tilted his head from side to side, considering. “Don’t suppose I could scare you into not telling any of the other bats?”
Tim worried his lip. He shouldn’t. It was for entirely selfish reasons. He shouldn’t, he really, really shouldn’t. “No, but bribing …”
Jason blinked, and then laughed. Jason laughed. Tim had made Jason laugh. Jason was alive , and laughing. “So much trouble. Alright… what do you want huh?” Something flashed in Jason’s eyes, and his grin was distinctly amused as he leaned forward. “Another photoshoot together?”
Immediately Tim felt his face flush. “It was one selfie!”
“Oh, so I can bribe you with one selfie now?”
“No!” Tim huffed, leaning back.
“Well then, what do you want, Timbo? What’s the baby bird’s price?”
“Your number, your real number… and a photoshoot. At least 10 printable pictures. It won’t buy my silence forever though.”
Jason considered him for a long moment, his face not quite as unreadable as Bruce but Tim still couldn’t read the microexpressions. Maybe he should ask Cass about teaching him a bit more at some point. Finally, Jason drummed his fingers against the table. “If I agree, you won’t tell anyone ? Not B, not Dick, not Babs, none of them…” Tim opened his mouth and Jason tsked. “For any reason.”
Tim rolled his eyes. “Fine, I won’t tell any of the others for any reason for… a month.”
“Year.”
“No way! You can’t just keep running around and… and… Hold on, why are you running around as well… you know…”
Jason stared at him. “You’ve been there for my entire rant about how B is failing the city, the whole issue with Arkham, you know my rules…”
Tim stared right back. “Oh…” Somehow… somehow he’d thought jumped straight to bringing Jason home. He… “So you’re going to keep being-” Jason’s eyebrow quirked just like Dick’s and Tim instinctively stopped. Right, they were in a public place although he didn’t think anyone was really that close…
“Uh… yeah… Obviously.”
“I mean… it’s just… I… I just thought that since you were alive that you’d… Maybe-that-you’d-want-Robin-back.”
Jason stared at him, the green rising and falling. He opened and closed his mouth several times, and then thunked his head on the table. Their food arrived before Jason pulled himself back together, Tim fiddling with the coat in the meantime. The waitress eyed Jason for a long moment and then quirked an eyebrow at Tim.
“Family drama.” Jason grumbled. Tim startled slightly. He wasn’t Jason’s brother so it was just a convenient excuse right? Right?
She shook her head slightly, setting the assorted plates down and striding off. Tim watched Jason mutilate his burger for several minutes, occasionally sidetracking to stab fries with the toothpick that had come with the burger. Tim ate his neatly. His own parents had drilled it into him not to play with his food and Alfred had always seemed relieved that Tim stuck to the habit unlike Bruce and sometimes Dick.
“So… just let me just make sure that I’m actually understanding this whole little what-if… I could have just come up to you, at any point, and said give Robin back and you would have just handed it right over?”
“Yes. Granted it would have been easier if you just came to the manor instead of the whole…” Tim made a vague gesture that had Jason rolling his eyes but still seeming to understand.
Jason set his fingers against the bridge of his nose, tapping the side of the plate with his toothpick spear. “Christ.”
“You can still totally just come back though! Everyone would be thrilled! I mean… B’s obviously going to run DNA tests and stuff but they’ll be so relieved and then Alfred won’t spend Thursdays being sad and staring at your door and… and…” And Tim needed to stop talking before anything about him came out. After all… if Jason was Robin, then Tim didn’t need to be there. He’d just… go back home he guessed… Maybe he could still hang out with everyone on occasion? He could probably run comms or something, or help with casework but he wouldn’t want to be intruding on the family that was finally back together.
Jason was staring at him oddly. “What about my door?”
“Oh… yeah… Alfred still cleans your room so it’s not dusty or anything but most of the time your door stays shut, something about a deal you had with B? It takes Alfred a while to open it each time.”
“My door stays shut… I… He…” Jason took a deep breath, his voice oddly flat. “He didn’t throw everything out?”
“What? No… why would he?”
“Where do you sleep?”
Tim stared blankly. “In a guest room, kinda?”
“What do you mean, ‘kinda’?”
“Oh well… B didn’t really want me all the way on the far side of the manor in case there was an emergency or something and we had to get to the Cave quickly so he had Alfred make up the last door on the third floor into a guest room for me so my response time is the same as everyone else’s.”
Jason was giving him one of those looks that Tim sometimes got and internally he sighed. He’d rather hoped to avoid the slightly stunned, slightly concerned, obviously thinking that Tim didn’t understand the situation just fine look from at least Robin. Finally, Jason turned his attention away. At least it seemed he wasn’t going to try and convince Tim of some feel better soft lie that he’d have to keep himself from believing only to be hurt. “Eat your food.”
“I am eating. You’re the one playing with yours.”
That got a flash of annoyance, and Jason pointedly taking a massive bite of his own burger.
“Who’s turn is it anyway?”
Tim blinked at him. “What?”
“Who’s turn to ask the question?”
Were they… still doing that? Well, it was honestly a 50/50 shot… “I think mine? Ummmm… You mentioned Talia… does that mean that for the last couple years you’ve been with the League?”
“Some of it, yeah, been here and there with a couple different teachers. I didn’t want my style to be easy to place.”
“You succeeded. B’s been pulling his hair out trying to find anyone who uses the main movesets you do.”
“Other than him?”
Tim paused, tilted his head. “It has come up that sometimes you use the same moves as the rest of us, especially on the line. Minus Dick, of course.”
“You find me someone who can copy Dick’s flippant attitude about gravity and I will march myself right down into the cave here and now.”
Tim very seriously ran through the list in his head. “Honestly the closest is probably some of the Arrows, outside of us...”
“Yeah, no. Not even close.”
Tim breathed out a sigh. “Too bad. That would have made things easy.”
“For you, maybe.”
Tim raised an eyebrow, before pointedly turning to his dish. Jason got three more bites in before he settled to stare at Tim. “How did B find you? You were always actually pretty good at hiding.”
“Um…”
“After I died, how did B find you? Get too close to him during patrol and he just snatched you up? Promised to properly train you and take you out with him?”
“Are you asking… how I became-”
“Yes, exactly.”
Tim carefully set down everything. “B didn’t find me. I found him.”
"Bullshit."
The green was building, Tim swallowing. “He was violent and… and… suicidal…”
That doused it. “What?”
“After… after… he kept going out but it was longer and he beat down anyone who did anything criminal. He put a porch pirate into the hospital. He also wasn’t dodging, or patching himself up, or anything. He didn’t care if he made it back at the end of the night.”
Jason’s eyes narrowed, clearly disbelieving but Tim didn’t have time to convince him right now. Plus, it would be easier later. “Look… I have pictures of it if you really don’t believe me. I… If… I had to gather evidence so that when I went to ask Dick to go back then he’d understand but he still refused and… and… there was no one else who dared to approach B but B needed someone. I forced him to take me, to train me and then when he was in a tight spot I saw the chance and I went out to prove to him and Alfred approved even though B had ordered us to stay out of it…”
Jason had set his head in his hands at some point, Tim trailing off to swallow as he caught the hint of glowing green seeping from between Jason’s fingers.
“Bruce is a grown ass man.”
“He was broken after…”
“Like I wasn’t!” Jason snapped, Tim shrinking back from the glare. After a moment Jason closed his eyes, breathing in a pattern Tim recognized. Tim swallowed, letting the silence carry for a few moments. He needed to say something though… none of the questions that came to mind seeming like they would be a good diversion and right now…
Well, it might be a little manipulative but that was fine. Tim could steel himself for the rejection and if it worked. It took no effort to make his voice small, and slightly trembling. “I just… B needed someone and I thought… I thought that maybe I could make you proud of me. I know I’m not as good at it as Dick was, definitely not as good as you were but… I thought that maybe…”
“You’re a good Robin.”
Tim tried to temper the emotions swelling in him. He had manipulated Jason into saying it. Jason who was picking at his food again, the green dulled out and flickers of blue showing now. After a long time he closed his eyes, and slumped over the table. Tim waited, patiently and when he caught the waitress eying him he indicated not to interrupt.
Eventually… Jason seemed to pull himself together. “Alright. Alright… we’ll… we’ll do it this way.” His eyes locked onto Tim with an intensity that was honestly a little intimidating. “How’s Dick, as an older brother.”
Tim wasn’t really expecting a question like that. It took him a moment to come up with an answer. “I’m not really-”
“Yeah, yeah, you have parents and you’re a guest, blah, blah. For right now we’re ignoring that whole ordeal.”
“Hey! What do you-”
“I’ve seen the travel plans, kiddo. I know exactly how rarely the shits who are legally your parents are around.”
Well wasn’t that just a whole rug pulled out from under Tim. He shot halfway across the table. “You can’t tell B!”
Jason just stared at him with a look. “Baby bird, I ain’t telling B shit. Now sit down before you get something on my jacket.”
Tim plopped down, focusing on breathing. It made sense. Right now Jason didn’t want to talk to Bruce without masks and threats holding a degree of separation. Add in the pit rage and it might turn dangerous. Okay… okay that gave him time to figure out what to do about someone seeing through his careful facade and he couldn’t… he couldn’t…
“Kid, fucking breath. Christ, of all the things to set you off…” Tim startled slightly at Jason reaching across the table to shove him. “Know what, fuck it. Why is this such a thing for you? You’ve gotta know that it’s a shit thing for them to leave you like that, you like… 13.”
Tim swallowed. “15.”
“A kid.”
Red Hood protected kids… Robin protected kids. He took a deeper breath. “If… if anyone found out… CPS would get involved, and my parents would be disappointed and… and what if I got taken away? What if they came home!?” If they came home, then he couldn’t be Robin because they’d notice. They’d definitely be watching, and would be upset because they’d taught him to be better and were so proud that he could take care of himself and he wouldn’t even be able to sneak out to see the bats and… and…
“Jesus Christ. Hey, hey… Tim, Timbo, Baby Bird.” His gaze snapped to Jason rose, and then squished into the bench beside him, slinging an arm over. “Alright, alright… Tell you what okay… You don’t have to worry about it, okay? Kiddo, you already live in the family wing. I have first hand accounts of just how rabidly B and N are about protecting the youngest of the brood. I’m sure B has adoption papers tucked into his belt all filled out and ready to go at even the slightest hint that you’d agree or that he could pull it off without the rich fucks who donated your genes raising a stink. Hell, he might anyway if you actually told him how long they leave you alone for. If he doesn’t, I’m pretty sure N would figure out how to either adopt you himself or like… smuggle you to the tower full time… You know the Tower’s lot would close ranks around you.”
Some small part pointed out that he didn’t have much choice about curling up into Jason’s side. The rest of him didn’t care because he could curl up into Jason’s nice warm side and it felt safe. Jason had turned into a heavyweight on par with Bruce and like this… it truly felt like he was a wall standing between Tim and everything else, strong enough for his words to be real, and true and… and…
Tim should really be holding it together better but he could seem to much care, drawing up his knees to tuck into Jason’s too large jacket that smelled faintly of gun oil with the weight of an arm around his shoulders. It wasn’t proper, and there was plenty of him screaming that he should be hiding this away but he could handle it. He could handle showing this shameful part of himself that needed if it got Jason to do what he wanted.
“Fuck… You know what… I’ll make you a promise okay? You still with me?”
Tim nodded slightly.
“Good. Then I’m going to give you my number like I promised earlier, and you’re gonna keep it and if your parents pull any kind of shit or you know what… if anyone tries to pull some shit and B or N don’t take care of it right, then you call me and I’ll get you out of there, alright? If B has a problem with it then… then he can suck eggs because you’ll be my sidekick cause he dropped the ball and… and… Hold on, are you snickering under there?”
Tim had been trying to hold it in but… Jason was scowling at him in mock anger and… it was kind of funny how indignant he had gotten instantly. Tim tucked his head closer. “Alright…”
“Little shit!” A hand clamped onto the back of his neck, shaking him back and forth a bit. “Here I am, pouring all my protective big brother rage out and you’re snickering. You know what, you know what!?”
By the time the waitress braved checking in on them, Jason had Tim in a half headlock while Tim wheezed and tried to squirm away from the onslaught of noogying and tickling. Jason, being mean , didn’t even let Tim recover while he ordered shakes for the both of them.
Eventually, the shakes came and in that time they discussed nothing and danced around everything. Jason very clearly still wanted to know how N was treating his ‘younger brother’. Tim very much wanted to know the assorted places Jason had been. Jason touched occasionally on the state of the Bats and bat adjacent. Tim very carefully stayed away from how B could swing between wildly overprotective and straight up forgetting that Tim was Robin currently. They talked about the Titans. They talked about some of the rogues and compared notes.
Tim was definitely going to rub it into Riddler's face that he'd reused a scheme and thought there weren't any witnesses anymore to call him on it.
Too quickly, the food and milkshakes were gone and the waitress was clearly idling so… they packed up. This time Tim sat on the back of the bike, leaning over Red Hood as they wove back through the streets. The tower it looked like had been fully rebooted, the lights of it shining in the darkness.
Jason insisted on dropping him off at the edge of town, the pair arguing for quite a while about making Tim walk the rest of the way until he finally huffed and turned. At least Jason gave him back his hoodie and camera, though mostly it had been remembered because he needed his jacket back and needed to put the helmet away. Red Hood had insisted on keeping the camera card, though he gave the actual camera back. Something about ensuring he got those pictures he wanted. "Fine!"
Unfortunately, Tim had to concede the point as soon as he got back to the tower. The doors opened, both Nightwing and Batman standing shoulder to shoulder, arms crossed and glaring.
Tim stared at them. "What?"
"Where were you?"
"Getting a milkshake."
"Why was the tower rebooted?"
"I was going through security measures. Hey, did you know that biometrics apparently don't expire? We should really fix that. Could you imagine if someone got like… resurrected and turned into a murderous evil puppet?" He shook his head, moving past them.
"Who were you with?"
Tim shrugged. "Rideshare."
"There are securi-"
"He had clearance. Oh, also N, can you explain how the like layered cameras work again? Plus, I think we need to update some of the lenses since there might be a glare on them that can give away the locations…"
" Robin."
He leveled a stare at Batman, raising an eyebrow before extending his arms. "What, do you want to search me? See! No injuries, no bruises, no rope burns. I noticed a rideshare I knew was in the area, met up outside the tower, we ate, we talked, the waitress didn't like him, I came back. What, going to restrict me to only the tower or the cave now?"
Nightwing sighed, "We just worry… and we've been entirely unable to find Red Hood tonight."
Tim snorted, turning on his heel. "And what, he dropped his entire no doubt busy crime lording to drive across the entire country, turned off all the security and broke into Titan's Tower just to let me go?" He lifted the camera strap a touch. "Oh, ohhh, maybe he wanted a photoshoot. Can't do anything around here without everyone throwing a fit." He stalked into the halls, fully aware of at least one shadow following him. Well, that would be fine. It was better actually, Nightwing would be distracted by Tim pulling up Jason's tower clearances and deleting them but not in a way that he'd show how depressed he was about it.
That was assuming Tim actually wanted to delete Jason's files… huh… maybe he didn't actually…
The actual security risk was still a thing though. Tim was already dragging up all of the coding when Nightwing sat down next to him. "Tim…"
"Yeah, yeah, don't be reckless blah, blah." He turned, narrowing his eyes at Nightwing. "When did you forget that I'm Robin ? Or do I need to start pulling up some pretty nice pictures of when you were benched because of something stupid?"
Nightwing winced. "Red Hood is a danger…"
Tim scoffed, and gestured at the screens. "Want to help with this? I'm thinking an expiration date on biometrics? Like a… get them renewed each barrage of mission biochecks and if they're older than a year you get to go through the rounds anyway?"
Dick reached out, squeezing his shoulder. "It'll be wrapped up soon."
"Let's hope so. I'm betting a month."
"Nah, it won't be that long."
"If you're wrong you have to take kitchen duty."
"And if I'm right, you promise to tell at least me next time you're going to give B a heart attack because you aren't answering."
"Fine, if you win, I will let at least one Bat know when I'm going to go out without comms." He'd have to message Jason later, make sure he knew not to enact his final reveal he no doubt had before the month was up. Not that this instance would have fallen under that anyway since by technicality, two bats knew what was going on, Jason and himself. Small details though. "Oh, we should also set up an alert that if a 'dormant' biocheck is used it sends out a ping."
"That's a pretty good idea. Here, I think we have something similar already that we can R&D."
"Awesome."