thegoshdarn | (no subject)

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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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Tim explains away the noise and the tiger in her arms by saying that she was getting it down, at which point Dick gets a front-row seat to another lecture on Being Mature and Responsible and Trustworthy. At the end of it, Jack puts the tiger back on its shelf, orders her to go back to sleep, and then leaves, relocking the bedroom door behind him.

Tim waits a little while to be sure he's out of earshot before whispering, "You can come out now."

Dick rolls out from under the bed and sits up, frowning.

"...Did you just get told off for... wanting to get down one of your own toys?" he asks slowly, trying to figure out exactly what Tim did to deserve that lecture. Sure she'd been a little noisy (well, he had), but it was her toy... and then he'd gone and put it right back on the shelf? Dick is not particularly happy with how that went.

She shrugs and ducks her head uncomfortably. "I'm supposed to ask." Getting Robin to do it for her was definitely cheating, and she knew it, so she guesses she deserved it. And then, because her dad did tell her to go back to sleep: "You should probably go."

"...Why?" Dick frowns, looking up at the stuffed animals "Are they special?" Maybe if they were expensive or collectable or something he could sort of understand the need to be careful with them, but even then, putting them up in her room where she could see them but not play with them just seemed sort of mean...

Well. They are higher-end stuffed toys, but not in a 'not for children' way. They're also the only ones in the room, even on the bed, because she is Too Old To Need Stuff Like That.

"I'm supposed to," she just repeats.

"Well... that's dumb." he can't really think of anything more intelligent to say, or even a way to explain it that isn't just like he's calling her parents' rules dumb, even if he is, because honestly... they're stuffed animals, they're supposed to be played with.

"I probably should go..." he admits "But I'll be back soon, okay? ...Do you want me to tuck you in before I go? I could read you a story?"

She shakes her head quickly, because she's not a baby. She can go to bed on her own. "I'll be fine."

"..Okay, if you're sure... you know I still love stories, maybe you could tell me one before I go?" he asks, glancing over at her book.

On the one hand, Robin (again). On the other hand, she's already in trouble (again). She's pretty sure her parents wouldn't be happy if she stays up longer now, even if she's reading to Robin.

"I'm supposed to go to sleep now."

"Okay then, maybe another time," he smiles kindly "I'll see you soon okay?"

He's already planning to stop by within a couple of days.

The next couple days go by pretty much the same. They take her out once for a business meeting where she sits and reads quietly in the corner of someone's office, but there isn't really any variation.

This morning, though, her parents didn't come to let her out for breakfast. She's not worried at first, because her parents are busy sometimes so they probably just... they were probably just busy. When lunchtime comes and goes without anyone coming by, though, she starts to wonder if maybe she did something wrong. Maybe she's being punished? But no one told her she was, and she doesn't remember doing anything wrong. But they wouldn't go on a business trip or something without her and forget she was there, right?

Right?

When it starts getting dark, she tries knocking on the door and calling out, but no one comes to answer. By the time Robins would be out and about, she's pretty much given up. She can't tell from her room if any of the cars are missing, so there's no way to be sure if her parents are home but not talking to her or if they left. She's hungry and scared and she still can't get at the stuffed animals on the shelf, so she grabs her pillow and clings to it while she indulges in some super-not-Mature-at-all crying.

Robin drops from his grapple to hang upside down in front of her window with a grin on his face - the grin immediately drops as soon as he sees her curled up and crying. He gets the window open and swings himself inside.

"Hey, hey Timmy, what's wrong?" he asks, rushing over to her side and crouching beside the bed. In his other hand he's holding a gift bag, but he drops it to reach out to her in offer of a hug.

"Robin!" He very quickly has an armful of Tim, who's still crying too hard at first to answer him. She calms down at least enough to speak after a minute. "I don't know what I did wrong!"

"It's ok, it's ok," he promised soothingly, hugging her tight and waiting for her to be calm enough to speak. When she does speak, he frowns.

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"I don't know!" Her grip on him tightens. "I, I must've made them mad at me but I don't remember what I did? And, um, I'm really sorry," not that she has any idea what she's sorry about, but she's prepared to be really sorry about whatever it is, "and I wanted to tell them that but I don't know where they are or if, if they don't want to talk to me or..."

Edited 2016-03-13 01:04 (UTC)

"Made who mad? What do you mean you-" he freezes, realising what she might be getting at "Tim, do you mean your parents? Are they not here? Have you been left on your own?"

Either they'd left the house without telling her where they were going or why, or they were still in the house but hadn't come into her room in...however long it was since she'd seen them last, either way it was enough to make him seriously angry. She was just a little kid! He kept it in check for her sake, but if they were here...

"I don't know!" she says again. "I tried calling out for them but no one answered and I can't go out and check." She pulls back a little now so she can wipe her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. "I guess I made them angry but I don't know what I did and I just want to know!" Well, that and eat something, but she guesses she can live with it if she's supposed to skip meals as a punishment for something as long as she knows what the something is.

"Wait here," Dick untangles himself from her and picks up the gift bag "I got you a little something, why don't you have a look and I'll be back in a second." he hands her the bag and heads over to inspect the lock on her bedroom door. A few tools from his utility belt later and he's picked it and slipped out into the corridor. It's a few minutes before he's back, frowning.

"Tim.. how long is it since you saw them?" he asks carefully, wondering how long she's been left, locked in her room all by herself.

The gift bag is at least enough to distract her while he's looking around. The little stuffed bear with a Robin mask and cape gets a slightly watery grin, and she's arranging it in her lap when he gets back. "Last night?"

"Last night?" he repeats incredulously "You haven't seen them all day? Have you... have you had anything to eat?" he suddenly realises. He's having trouble keeping a hold of his anger, but he's doing his best to keep a lid on it for her sake.

She starts getting teary-eyed again and stares down at the plush Robin instead of the actual Robin in front of her.. "Uh-uh." She's not supposed to have snacks or anything in her room.

"Right." he says firmly, then takes a deep breath to calm himself.

"Come on Timmy, we're going to go out for something to eat, and then... well, we'll get to that."

That sounds good. Except.

"I'm... not supposed to go out?" Isn't that what got her into all this trouble in the first place?

"This time you have permission, I am giving you permission to come out. You need to eat, so please come with me?" he had to work hard to keep his voice gentle, because seeing her so scared to go out when she had been left all on her own without food made him really want to punch something, what the hell had her parents told her after Batman's visit?

She was supposed to listen to her parents and not make Batman and Robin have to come back. But, maybe this time it's okay? Because Robin's inviting her to go out. Also, she is really hungry. "Okay."