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smol tim is smol

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Ever since Tim worked out (a) worked out Batman and Robin's identity and (b) realized that she could sneak out of the house at night without anyone noticing, she has a system. She keeps a bag packed with her camera, a bottle of water, and some snacks in case she gets hungry, and she has a set of dark-colored clothes, a nice warm jacket and shoes with a lot of grip for running around Gotham. When she gets to go out depends on who's at home with her that night. Tonight is really easy, because her parents are in the city but at a big party, and usually they go right to bed when they get home without checking on her.

She's gotten really good at analyzing patrol patterns based on current crime rates and past patrol routes. Bruce Wayne is supposed to be at the party tonight, so she heads to one of the most likely places Robin is going to go to tonight.

It's colder than she expected tonight, but that's okay. Tim finds herself a snug, semi-hidden place on a fire escape and settles in with her legs pulled up to her chest for warmth. All she has to do now is wait.

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Batman is observant, it's a very important skill that he's made sure to pass on to his protegé, and Dick couldn't help but notice the tiny figure that's been just on the edge of his vision for a little while now. It's not been every night, and they've never gotten involved with anything him and Bruce had been doing, so he hadn't mentioned it, but he had to admit his curiosity was definitely piqued.

It was probably worth investigating, just in case there was something more sinister going on, but privately Dick had to admit he was mostly just curious. Unless he was very much mistaken, it was a kid even younger than himself who'd been following them, and he just really wanted to know why.

Finding her wouldn't be easy, he had no idea where she was coming from, only that she occasionally showed up on their patrol routes, so the only option he had was running those self-same routes - just much earlier than planned. On the second run, he had a stroke of luck - he spotted her getting settled in just in time to duck out of the way before she saw him.

Creeping round, he climbed his way down the fire escape as silently as possibly, before hooking his knees around the railings and dropping to hang upside-down in front of her.

"Hey there."

ABORT. MISSION ABORT.

He is greeted by full-on Tim panic because what no Robin isn't supposed to find her!! She's supposed to stay hidden and take pictures and then go home and no one is supposed to know.

Unfortunately, she can't actually curl up in a ball so small that she just disappears. However much it looks like she's trying.

"H-hi?"

It would be mean to laugh at her panic, it really would, but unfortunately it's so adorable that Robin genuinely has trouble keeping a straight face.

He swings himself down so he's actually looking at her rightway up, and he can't help but be surprised at how young she looks, even though he'd been expecting it, he hadn't quite been expecting this.

"So... what's your name?"

"Um."

She doesn't want to lie to Robin, but - she shouldn't give out her name, right? Because then he might tell her parents, and she's not sure what they would do.

Ohgosh. What if he decides she's a threat? She is too young to go to Arkham.

"'m Tim."

"Well, hi Tim, it's nice to meet you," he drops down into a crouch so he can meet her gaze better "I'm Robin, but I think you already know that don't you?" he grinned encouragingly

"What are you doing out here, Tim?"

"Ummmm."

She can't think of a good excuse, so obviously the only thing to do is stall.

She can't think of a good stall tactic either, so she's mostly just staring at him with wide eyes and a baby-deer-in-headlights look.

Oh god she was adorable, Dick was about thirty seconds from taking her home and asking Bruce if they could keep her. That probably wouldn't go down very well with either Bruce or Tim's parents, so he tried to keep himself in check.

"...Where are your parents?" he tried, hoping it might be an easier question for her to answer.

She starts fiddling with the zipper on her jacket. "Um. At a party." Sometimes they take her with them, but not usually. (She gets in the way.)

So. Her parents were at a party and she was out here... Dick frowned slightly, who was supposed to be looking after her? How had she got out here, did anybody know she was here? Had anybody known she was there every time she'd come out to watch them?

"Tim, are you here all by yourself?"

Man, that zipper sure is fascinating.

"I'm okay here." Which is not quite what he asked, but. She doesn't want him to worry! For lots of reasons, not least of which is that she really is okay.

He frowned even deeper, getting himself more comfortable on the fire escape opposite her, he had a feeling this conversation was going to take a while, she didn't seem intent on being particularly forthcoming.

"So have you been watching us for a while, Tim? Me and Batman?"

The baby-deer-in-headlights look is back. Not that it ever really went away, but...

"....maybe..."

She's in so much trouble, isn't she?

"Why?" he asks as gently as possible, running through possible scenarios in his head. Did somebody put her up to it? Was she some kind of..child spy?

"Ummmmm." How does she explain it?

"...Are you going to be mad?" Because that seems like a good thing to find out first.

"I won't be mad at you, I promise," he tells her encouragingly, after a moment's hesitation. He can't deny he might get mad if it turns out she's being used by some villain to spy on them, but he also knows that it probably won't be her he's angry at, and he can keep his emotions enough in check that he can hide it from her if that does happen.

She seems to consider this for a little while before deciding he believes him. "I like to take pictures."

She carefully removes her camera from her bag to show him.

"Pictures? Of us?" he leans forward to get a better look, intrigued "Just for fun, or has somebody else asked you to do it?"

"For fun."

She surrenders her camera over for him to look at, though there isn't anything newer than a few days old, for obvious reasons.

He takes the camera slowly, trying not to make any sudden movements and scare her, and scrolls through the pictures.

"Hey, some of these are pretty good..." he looks up at her with a smile "Do you like to take pictures?"

He's not mad? He's not mad!

She smiles at him shyly. "Uh-huh." Most of them are of Batman, Robin, and a few other criminals and crime fighters, because mixing these pictures with more ordinary ones wouldn't be a good idea.

"That's good," he nods encouragingly, handing her back the camera. His expression turns a little more serious for a moment and he leans in, voice calm and reassuring.

"Tim... I promise I'm not going to be mad or get you in any trouble, but do your parents know where you are?"

And... She's back to looking uncomfortable and staring anywhere but at him. ".....No?"

Ah. Well, that wasn't good.

"It's dangerous to come out here on your own, you could get hurt," he told her, trying to make sure he sounded concerned rather than angry "I would feel a lot better if I knew you were home safe, is it okay if I take you home now?"

She shrugs. "I can go on my own." Robin has important things to do! More important than taking her places.

"Would it be okay if I came with you?" he asks gently "I wouldn't want anything to happen to you on the way..."

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sorry for the delay!!

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