Diana wandered the lonely halls of stately Wayne Manor. She hadn't been a permanent resident long and already she had to wonder how Bruce was able to stay sane while confined in the dusty old mansion. It also didn't take long for her to get lost. Repeatedly. Every hallway felt identical to the last despite the different trophies and pictures decorating the walls.
But this bout of wandering wasn't a result of taking a wrong turn: she couldn't sleep. The Manor was foreign to her and it was no wonder that Mr. Wayne himself didn't seem to sleep in any of the stuffy bedrooms. Aside from the locked master bedroom – and her guest room, of course – all the bedrooms in the manor seemed more or less untouched. While it was better than the padded room in the rehab facility she'd stayed in, the gothic architecture of the mansion fostered nightmares more often than dreams. Maybe that was why Bruce wasn't often home at night. Perhaps he had a suite or swanky apartment somewhere in the city itself for when the nights were exceptionally lonely… Hera knew he had the money to do so.
After countless doors and halls, Diana found herself in a parlor room face to face with a looming portrait of a couple. The woman was sitting in a chair. She had the beauty of a bygone era and held herself with a reserved strength that reminded Diana of a distant First Lady. Standing behind the woman's left shoulder was a man with a strong jaw, a dashing mustache, and a twinkle in his eye that communicated compassion even through the paint. Neither was smiling but they still seemed happy and warm.
There was no placard on the frame identifying the couple so Diana assumed them to be Bruce's parents. She had always wondered what happened to them. He never spoke of his parents and she sure didn't see a trace of them in the home. Did they live in another state? Were they both retired and on some everlasting second honeymoon? Wherever they were, Diana knew they weren't lost. But I am.
She continued to wander late into the night, eventually coming upon a room that piqued her interest.
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"Hey, boss." Batgirl pushed away from the Batcomputer and approached Batman with a playful smirk under her helmet and a swagger in her step.
Batman was in the crime lab enclave of the BatCave preparing a sample of mystery residue for analysis. The foreign sludge had been retrieved from the Burnouts during his raid on their clubhouse. He looked up from his work, surprised at her haughty state.
"I'm in the mood for some conflict," she finished.
"The dive bar wasn't conflict enough?" the Bat gruffly returned.
After the tense meeting between her father and Batman, Kimber had been able to get to Burnley, in uniform, in time to meet Batman and Robin. As the dynamic duo took down a fair number of Burnout members at the front entrance, Batgirl had slipped in through a cracked window in the dive bar's restroom. In a flurry of fists, she had fought her way from the restroom to the stockroom, arriving just as Batman and then Robin broke through the double doors that led to the main bar.
From there the three progressed methodically, clearing out all gang members who stood in their way and dared to challenge their trespassing. It didn't take long for them to fight their way to the back room and once there, Batman had terse words with the leader of the gang. After scaring the leader silly, Batman confiscated the samples of the "merch" that had enticed the Burnouts to send three of their members to the warehouse. As for the warehouse raid on Eastern Boulevard… That had failed.
Goren had ordered his men to form a perimeter expecting he would have no trouble getting the clearance for SWAT deployment. Nothing could have been further from the truth and the goons in the warehouse had ample time to escape. Somehow, by the time Branden's team arrived and swept the building, it was devoid of both criminals and content. It was, in fact, uncannily empty; almost as if they'd never been there. Another mystery for another time.
"Pfft, some baton-wielding thugs against the three of us?" Three light jabs to the air. "I'd say that was not conflict enough!"
"I would have thought you would jump at an early night." Batman returned his attention to the chemical sample on the sterile slide. "Normal people your age go on dates."
"Feh, what do you know about normal?" Batgirl scoffed.
"Watch it," Batman tersely warned, glancing up from his work for a second.
Batgirl rolled her eyes as her mentor returned his attention to his work. "You know what I mean. After all, Mawk is at some orientation for his new job in Star City. Or so he wants me to think." She gave Batman a grin. "But I'm on to him."
"Get to the point."
"Fine. If you want me to go on a date, then call the Bird-Boy here. I have a revelation that is sure to knock him right out of his stupid cowl."
Now she had Batman's full attention. "Robin already confirmed your secret identity with me. Correctly, by the way. He said you pretty much told him yourself." He crossed his arms, slightly frustrated that the protégé he had been training for the shorter time was more of a detective than the veteran partner. "Something about you wearing your uniform under a simple jacket and jeans."
A bead of cool sweat ran down Kimber's back. "Now, I know you're probably upset, and I totally get that. But I figured out who he is at the same time! And wasn't that the point of this challenge? For me to become some ace detective? And if we figured it out at the same time, doesn't that technically make this a tie?"
Though she knew lenses could not physically move, she could almost see Batman's white eyes narrowing. He stared her down for a moment before an alarm for the manor above echoed through the 'Cave. "Fine." Batman approached the Batcomputer and silenced the alarm before he clacked away at a few keys. "He'll be here within an hour. In the meantime." He pointed her to the crime station he'd been using. "Put your chemistry skills to work and figure out what that sample under the microscope is."
"What about you?"
"I have someone wandering upstairs."
"Ooh..." Batgirl had to giggle. "You'd better find her before she dies of starvation. A person could get lost in that museum of a house."
Batman said nothing. He simply moved to the intermediate changing station, emerged as Bruce Wayne, then went up the stairs.
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Swish. Slash. Jab. Parry. Duck. Roll. Swipe.
The movements were all fluid.
Guard. Turn. Parry. Dodge. Spin. Thrust.
The blade felt so natural, so familiar. It was balanced nearly the same as the training blades she'd used on Themyscira. Diana jumped up and thrust the elegant weapon forward again. As soon as she was back on the floor, she flashed her foot out and then caught her imaginary opponent off-guard with a stab for the midsection. In one swift and final two-handed swipe, she had beheaded her invisible enemy.
She straightened up after the kata and reverently inspected the blade. "This sword is of the gods." She barely dared to breathe.
"It's Greek. But close enough."
Diana spun around and let out an exclamation: Bruce Wayne was leaning on the door jam with his trademark grin on his lips. His arms were crossed and he had one foot relaxed in front of the other. "Remind me not to get on your bad side." The smirk never left his face as he entered the room.
"How long have you been watching me?" Diana asked, uneasy.
"Long enough to know that this Thanksgiving it will be you cutting the turkey."
"I'm sorry. I couldn't sleep." A slightly shy, girlish smile spread over Diana's face. It was unnerving that this man had snuck up on her so easily, but it was Bruce Wayne! Did that make it alright? "It seems you keep odd hours as well," she added. "Normal people usually are in bed at this time."
"Work never sleeps, Ms. Prince. It's always daytime somewhere." Bruce answered dismissively. "I've grown accustomed to burning the candle at both ends."
Diana twisted the blade in her hands, allowing the artificial light to dance along the edge. "Ever done swordplay before, Mr. Wayne?"
Bruce cocked a brow. "Once or twice," was his mischievous reply. "Though I don't recall if I ever won."
She pointed to a rack of swords. "So all this is just for show, then? Who was your teacher?"
Bruce's face fell slightly. "Alfred." He reverently removed a similarly dulled training saber from the rack.
"Alfred?" Was he the man in the portrait?
"I'm sorry." Bruce's jovial nature rebounded and he assumed a very basic stance. "He was my butler. Passed away not too long ago... Treated me like his own son and taught me a lot about life." He chuckled as some fond memories of his longest friend flashed through his mind. "Odd old codger," he murmured affectionately.
Diana assumed a more advanced stance. "Sounds like he was a wonderful and honorable man. I'm sorry for your loss." She started forward with a simple swipe.
Bruce raised his blade and easily parried the strike. "He was a good man," He confirmed as he shoved her blade away and then parried her next strike. "Please, Ms. Prince, I may not have been raised by warriors on Themyscira, but I have had the opportunity to learn from some unexpected teachers in my youth." With a twist of his hips, Diana stumbled past him and barely regained her footing in time to block his blade. "Don't take my skills for granted."
Diana had to smile again. Seems like this will be a challenge. "I will have to warn you, Mr. Wayne." She swung her blade at his head in a telegraphed move. True to her expectations, he ducked and she punched forward. "I've been trained by the best."
Bruce threw his weight back to barely avoid her fist and then stumbled away from her, effectively distancing himself. So have I. He rushed her.
The clangs and slashes were beautifully timed. Bruce, as Batman, had sparred many times with Diana during their tenure in the Justice League and then the Justice Lords. She was a vengeful spirit and a powerhouse. But she didn't always think too far ahead. She'd often had her super strength to fall back on when the going got tough. But now, her strength wasn't any more remarkable than anyone else's. He dodged her foot, then lashed out with his blade again.
Diana pivoted parallel to his blade and threw her head forward. Again, Bruce anticipated her movement and threw a hand up. He caught the head-butt, though he did his best to act surprised. She was surprisingly easier to read than he'd expected, perhaps her time in that facility dulled her edge? Either way, he was ready for anything she could throw at him.
"Who is the couple in your large portrait?"
Almost anything. He faltered and she got a good hit off of him. Her fist thudded against his left pectoral and he stumbled back.
"Which one?" he asked as he lurched forward to attack. But he knew which one she was talking about. Outside in the second foyer before this hallway. Above the fireplace and perpendicular to the wall with the giant grandfather clock…
"Outside in the second foyer before this hallway. Above the fireplace and perpendicular to the wall with the giant grandfather clock." She voiced verbatim his thoughts as if she'd read his mind. "Who are they?"
"Why, my parents of course." He laughed it off as he brought the blunt end of his sword's pommel down for her forehead. She easily pivoted away from him.
"How are they?" she asked. "I have not seen them at all."
He switched fighting styles without realizing it. From the basic one he'd been using, he switched to a samurai style that was reserved for the pupils of Yoru-Sensei. He quickly reverted, but not before he had knocked her back a few feet. "They..." He was unsure how to approach it.
It was a sensitive subject that he rarely talked to anyone about. The news, talk shows, interviews: he shot them all down. It was now that he realized he had never told any of his former teammates about the death of his parents. Of course, the Justice League as a whole never knew who Batman was behind the mask; but that Diana didn't even know the tragedy of Thomas and Martha Wayne reminded him just how fresh she was to the world of Man... and to Gotham.
"They are..."
"Yes?" Diana's innocent voice was a stark contrast to the furious swipes she was making for his midsection and arm.
"They are dead."
The statement caught Diana off-guard. Dead? She managed to side-step Bruce's downward swipe. "What happened?"
Just the thought of the nameless mugger who had gunned down his parents outside the theater many years ago filled him with rage. "Murder." He spat the word out and simultaneously rocked his elbow out catching Diana in the temple. Surprisingly, she brushed it off and blasted her knee for his crotch.
He avoided her strike but she was already setting up for her next attempt despite the thoughts swarming her mind. Murder? "Did they ever – ugh – catch the murderer?" She took a step back as Bruce's knee withdrew from her side.
A warmth flooded his veins and Bruce could only guess that this was how Bane had felt whenever Venom washed through his system. Every night he went on patrol for the first few years, Bruce would catch a mugger, a killer, an abuser, a criminal... and he would ask himself, is this the one? He would glare into the thug's face and all his anger, all his aggression toward his parents' killer would be unleashed on Batman's unfortunate victim. "No." The word came with bitterness. A sense of failure.
Diana's foot shot out and nearly tripped Bruce, but his footing became sure once more and he was able to stabilize. "Were you there?"
"There was nothing I could do." He felt like screaming but managed to keep himself in check. The words, the admittance of helplessness, were hard to come by.
Diana bit her lip but pressed on with the fight and the conversation. Her off-hand lashed out with a swipe of nails. "How old were you?" She could tell the questions were hurting him, but she felt had to know. She needed to know.
Bruce's eyes narrowed in concentration as he shuffled by her and then behind her. He glimpsed his face in the mirror during the move and found himself wearing his natural face: the glare of Batman. Before Diana faced him, Bruce quickly wiped the look from his face and managed to throw up a half-hearted Bruce Wayne façade.
"I was eight." It came out as a sort of moan.
Diana jumped back to avoid his blade and then lunged forward, but with not nearly as much gusto as she had before. But it wasn't because she was tired. The lamentation... It is nearly oozing from his very being. She parried his next two strikes then followed it up with a half-hearted string of slashes and jabs. She could nearly feel his sadness like a burden.
Bruce grimaced and lunged forward just as she prepared to thrust. He tackled her. The two went to the floor in a rough heap of grunts. She'd been fighting messy, but so had he. Her probing questions somehow peeled through his defenses and made him emotional. The conversation had been the true conflict and he'd lost. He looked at the woman under him. Her tears were mixing with her sweat. He, too, could feel the sweat pouring down his brow and collecting on his chin, dripping to the floor.
There was a slight beeping coming from his phone in his pocket, but neither moved. They just stared at each other.
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"Look who found his way here! Like a reverse canary." Batgirl's voice echoed in the BatCave as Robin entered from the underground walk-in path. "Surprised you could find the place so easily."
"Well, Batman sent me the coordinates, so..." Robin answered the darkness. He scanned his surroundings. "It wasn't that difficult."
True. How else would you have gotten here?"
Robin fired his bat-claw into the cave ceiling and was whisked up into the waiting darkness. "You think I couldn't have found this place by myself, Kimmie?"
Batgirl shook her head as she watched him zip up above her hiding spot. He was taunting her, she just knew it. The way he said her name, flaunting his hidden knowledge – it nearly took the wind out of her sails. "You're that confident in your abilities?" she called out to the darkness above her.
"Yup," echoed his distant response. "I've always been good at being unseen. And as it turns out, I'm just as good at uncovering secrets."
He was far off to the left of her, likely in a higher crevasse."You're already off-base," she chided with a light laugh. "Maybe you should stick to one dank cave."
A different laugh echoed back at her. It made a chill jump up her back.
Batgirl heard a faint crumble of loose stone patter down to her left and watched as some small rocks fell from the cave wall ceiling. She wet her lips and made her way to the ledge where the rubble had fallen from, then reached for her bat-claw. "I can hear you, you know."
"Because I want to be heard." His voice was suddenly behind her.
Bagirl whirled around quickly and punched the voice.
Robin let out a squawk of dismay and surprise as Batgirl laid him out.
"Oh, shit!" Batgirl suppressed a chuckle as she offered a hand to help him up. "You okay, tough guy?"
Robin accepted. "Yeah. I didn't think you'd actually hit me."
"Why not? Fight or flight, right? You could have been anyone."
Robin stretched his mouth to try and work away the soreness. "We're the only two here. Who else could it have been?" He made his way back to the first floor of the cave and looked around at the rest of the BatCave's furnishings.
Batgirl chased after him. "Hey, you never know when someone could stumble in here and need to be subdued."
"Funny." Robin rubbed his still-aching cheek as he turned his attention to the stairs leading from the manor. Batman was halfway down. "You called?"
Batman completed his descent. It was clear he had been within the cave during their short cat-and-mouse game and likely had caught some of their interaction from the landing halfway down the stairs. Now on the ground floor, he gestured to Batgirl as he made his way to the Batcomputer. "On her order," he said with a hint of humor.
Robin turned to the girl. "What? Missed me already?" He grinned beneath the mask, clearly referring to the somewhat intimate experience they'd shared in her father's office.
"Hardly," she responded with a huff, turning her head to the side to avoid direct eye contact. "I just figured I'd return your earlier revelation in kind. So let's dash pretense. You know who I am." Batgirl removed her helmet and let her curled dark hair fall free. "And I know who you are, Robin."
"Kimber..." Robin's smirk was replaced with a look of slight admiration. He caught his breath as her midnight curls bounced down her neck and cascaded between her armored shoulders.
Kimber bit the inside of her cheek. "Thanks," she shyly mumbled back. Keep control of the situation, Kimber. Don't let him get in your head again. Even still, she looked at her reflection in her dark visor and nodded approvingly. "I'm sure you'll look just as good with the mask off."
"Okay, this oughta be good." Robin took a stabilizing breath as he, too, regained his composure. He put his weight on one foot and placed his hands on his hips as if expecting her to fail. "You really think you know who I am?"
"I just cut through your bullshit up there—"
"Debatable."
"And!" Kimber was beginning to get flustered. "I'm about to cut off your parading here." She marched over to Robin and cradled his covered face in her gloved hand gently. Had Mawk's chin always been this square? "I know it's you under there, Mawk, so why don't you just peel the cowl off and we call it even?"
"Mawk?" Robin seemed to glance in Batman's direction. The Dark Knight also seemed to find some humor in it. "Terrif… You think I'm Mawk?"
"I know you are." Without warning, Kimber leaned in to kiss her boyfriend.
"No, wait—!" Robin began to protest and put a hand up to push Kimber away, but it came too late.
Their lips met for the briefest of seconds and Kimber felt her heart flutter as a spark seemed to leap between their lips and for the first time in a long while, she felt alive. She separated and smiled at the stunned boy as she adjusted her grip on her helmet. "Take the mask off."
Robin looked at Batman, shocked by the events. "Should I? Because now I'm scared."
Batman responded, shaking his head in slight dismay, "Depends how much longer you want to play this out."
Robin heaved a sigh. He looked at Kimber. The girl's mind seemed to be occupied, her gloved fingers brushing over her lips as she seemed to replay the tender moment in her head. He swallowed hard. "Mistakes have been made…" he muttered. His hands lingered at the edge of his cowl and a distinct look of uncertainty was etched on his face. "Kimber..."
Brought back to Earth by her name, the crime fighter placed an impatient hand on her hip. "Are you takin' that mask off or what, bud?"
"Yeah, yeah..." He started to lift the cowl from his head then stopped mid-removal. "Just don't get angry at me, alright?" The jovial tone he'd used before was long gone, replaced with a nervous one.
His tone unsettled her slightly, but she pushed the feeling aside as he removed his mask. A strange feeling of anxiety crept in as she prepared to see Mawk's mischievous grin. However, it wasn't Mawk under the mask and for some reason, relief washed over her. Even so, she found herself speechless once the cowl hung from the neck of Robin's uniform and she was staring at Curtis.
"Curtis?" She was incredulous. "How the–? What the–?" She extravagantly wiped her mouth with her forearm and then looked at Batman. "The hell just happened here?"
Batman approached, microscope slide in hand. "Basic misdirection," he stated. "He adopted all the mannerisms and traits of someone else you knew, effectively throwing you off. Apparently, it was someone you knew well." There was a hint of amusement in the Dark Knight's voice.
"I told you it'd work, Boss," Curtis mumbled.
"A little too well," Batman confirmed.
Kimber stared at Curtis unsure of how to feel about the quick kiss she'd forced on him.
"Don't look at me like that!" Curtis' brown eyes avoided his still-stunned friend's glower. "I protested!"
"You acted like my boyfriend!" she charged.
"And you didn't do your homework!" Curtis shot back. "He's been out of town for three days and you didn't even think to call him to check where he was before pulling this? How would he have gone between Gotham to Star City so quickly without anyone noticing? And do I even look as big as Mawk? The guy's the size of a pickup!"
"No," Kimber said as her cheeks went flush and her eyes turned down. "But you are bigger than I remember," she added with a low purr.
There was a moment of silence in the BatCave. Finally, Curtis spoke. "Well, I have been working out, so at least I know that's noticeable."
"Cute." Venom laced Kimber's comment but she couldn't help but feel respect for the show her friend had put on. He'd taken her for a ride. She'd been so sure in her father's office that she discarded even the idea of double-checking her notes. Looking back, it should have been obvious that Mawk could be ruled out, but Curtis was right: she hadn't even thought to shoot him a text. In fact, aside from a scant few messages, she hadn't even spoken to him over the past few days. Defeated, she turned to the Bat and hoped for a change of topic. "So what happens now?"
Batman handed her the slide he'd tasked her with examining. "You tell me."
She sighed and began explaining the compound she had been tasked with identifying. "I can't say for sure what it is. I set it up with a quick profile and ran it against all chemicals in the Batcomputer's database, but came up with only partial matches. So instead of having it trying to match one compound, I set it to match multiple compounds; they would have to be volatile enough to mix well and match at least 30% of the substance with a low overlap threshold."
"Well? Don't keep us waiting."
Kimber gave Curtis a dark look. "You did."
"Feh. It was supposed to be a light-hearted game." He waved her off but she could read he was feeling every bit as bothered as she.
"The result?" Batman interrupted in his impatient way.
"Horrifying." She sat before the Batcomputer and pulled up the profile on the substance she'd started putting together. "A lovely little mixture of Venom and an unnamed liquid in the database. I looked at the nameless compound's parent file and – get this." She clicked a few more keys on the keyboard and Curtis read the title out loud.
"Lazarus? You mean to say that this horrifying liquid is a lethal combination of Bane's Venom and Ra's al Ghul's Lazarus Pit liquid?"
"Horrifying? Yes. Lethal? Far from it," she corrected. "This compound is a near-perfect synthesis of only the positives from each compound. In theory, it would have all the physical enhancement effects of Venom without the risk of dependency nor the withdrawal symptoms."
She pointed out to her partners the results of the simulations she'd run. "It also has all of the life-prolonging properties from the Lazarus serum, to an extent, without the threat to the user's psyche. The two compounds could be so perfectly balanced that they cancel each other's negative side effects out."
"So Venom's resulting physical buildup would prevent the Lazarus serum's mind-altering enzyme from bonding to molecules that pass through the blood-brain barrier... While the Lazarus serum's replenishing attributes could cancel out the risk of dependency and withdrawal symptoms from the Venom and facilitate the rapid growth and repair of muscle tissue." Batman mused.
Curtis bit his lip.
Kimber nodded. "Yup, but there's a bit more." She opened up another computer-simulated test. "See this here?" She pointed to a subset of the results. "The compound can integrate with cells through the Lazarus liquid and those cells then can be modified via Venom's mutagenic effects…"
Curtis caught her logic. "Then that stands to reason over time, the effects of the serum could become—"
"Permanent," Batman growled, effectively silencing the BatCave for a good few moments.
"So that's the Society of Shadows' game; some sort of drug trafficking?" Curtis pondered out loud. "Seems sort of low-key, honestly."
"It's never that simple with Ra's," Batman stated. "There has to be more... Something you aren't telling me, Batgirl."
Kimber nodded. "I was still looking over the molecular design when Boy Blunder here entered and I... went to hide." Her cheeks burned.
Curtis laughed. "An effective use of time."
"Hush you." She dismissed Curtis' jab and pointed to the screen. Sure enough, the two compounds were there but there was a trace of another element that the Batcomputer had no match for. "No clue what it is and it doesn't interact with either compound in any way. Directly, at least." Her fingers flew over the keypad and the computer simulated over 50 different builds for all three molecules but none of the builds found any way for the third trace molecule to activate within the human body. "I think it's just a stabilizing compound they're tweaking to get the ooze to be more potent, but can't say for sure."
"I don't recognize this compound, either." Batman eyed it suspiciously. "I have a feeling that only Ra's al Ghul knows."
"You feel like calling him up and asking?" Curtis piped up.
Surprisingly, Batman didn't glare at him for the joke. "I have the distinct feeling that he will be attempting to make contact with me." He began removing his gauntlets. "In the meantime, focus on the rise of the gangs here in Gotham. The Burnouts are likely not the only groups that Ra's doled out samples to. Could make fights unpredictable."
"No problem, Batman." Curtis lightly punched Kimber's armored shoulder. "After all, now that your little test is over, we can focus on working together rather than against each other. Also, what about your end of the bet?"
Batman reached for a key fob hanging from a panel of similar devices and tossed the shiny silver object to Curtis. "Here. Key it to your belt."
"Is this what I think it is?" Curtis thumbed one of the two buttons on the oval-shaped piece of metal. There was a low rumble of an engine and both Kimber and Curtis looked into the Garage as a vehicle rumbled to life. "Oh yes..."
The trike-like vehicle had two wheels in the front and one larger wheel in the back. The cradle for the driver was snug between the three wheels with the feet of the driver near the two front wheels and the back close to the rear wheel. The sleek black-tinted canopy was forward in the 'open' position and revealed the graceful controls and electronics. Under the cockpit were two trunk spaces, one on each side, no doubt for equipment that couldn't fit on a belt.
"Awesome," Curtis breathed.
"Unfair!" Kimber whirled around to her mentor. "You never said there was going to be a prize!"
Batman, now in the costume of Bruce Wayne, started ascending the stairs. "I never said there wouldn't be," he sang back.
"So when are you going to tell her?" Kimber shifted the conversation to Diana as Curtis gushed over his new ride.
Bruce's face darkened. "Never."
Kimber caught up to him. "She'll find out eventually. You don't want her finding out on her own, especially with the conflicting feelings she no doubt has since... you know."
This girl was the perfect embodiment of his conscience. He knew damn well that if Diana continued to live in the manor, there would come a time when he would have to face the music and tell her he was the Dark Knight. Or she would find out on her own. But he didn't want to. "She won't be here forever, Batgirl." He continued his way up and the darkness enveloped him.
"Keep telling yourself that, Bruce," Kimber retorted more to herself. Then she quickly walked back down to the BatCave and cornered Curtis. "We cannot tell Mawk."
"What? That we run around in long underwear and punch people that cross the law?" Curtis joked.
"I'm serious, Curt!" Kimber pleaded. "Not that we are Batgirl and Robin, but that we kissed. That I kissed you."
"Yeah, of course. You know I wouldn't..." His expression was one of confusion. "Why would I? He's my friend, you know. Or at least, I think he is… Besides, I told you not to."
"Yeah, and I ignored you because you made me think you were Mawk! Why him of all people?" She threw up her hands.
"Because he's easy to imitate," he replied with a grin, though a hint of something deeper flickered in his eye.
Kimber's glare didn't waver and when her shoulders squared, Curtis sighed and lost his smile. "When I stumbled upon the Bat-Trike in Batman's files, I wanted it. Boss wasn't happy I'd been rooting around his system but when he presented the challenge to me, I bet him I could mislead whoever Batgirl was into thinking I was someone else. I wagered the Bat-Trike and he accepted, so sure I couldn't pull it off." Curtis glanced at the sleek vehicle, a small, rueful laugh escaping him. "Showed him..."
It was a more honest answer but it wasn't the answer Kimber was looking for. "But why Mawk?" she asked again, more pleadingly.
He hesitated at first, but when he finally spoke, his voice was softer. "Because Mawk… Mawk's got that charisma, that confidence I've never had. It just flows naturally from him. It didn't matter what anyone else thought of him, he was confident in his own abilities and that trickled into how others viewed him. With the mask on, I felt like I could borrow some of that. I felt cool and capable, like him."
The two were silent for a moment as Kimber reflected on his answer. Soon, Curtis continued. "It was only after I realized who you were that the irony came through. Either way, I thought you were going to do like me and just tell the boss in private. Then he'd tell you you were wrong and you'd either try again or give up." He looked up at the cave roof, avoiding her gaze. "I didn't think you'd showboat it so much..."
Kimber was quiet for a moment as she digested his words. "I honestly thought you were him – I wanted you to be him. I wanted that so bad..." She trailed off. There was a part of her, a deeper part, that was relieved that Mawk wasn't the man beneath the mask. A part deep down that she didn't wish to acknowledge. At least now she knew he would be safe. She sniffed before continuing. "So screw you but I apologize." She sat on the ground in a huff. "Just... Please, don't tell Mawk…"
"I won't. I promise."
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The night had been rather eventful. Not only had she apparently lost the opportunity to upgrade her ride, but Kimber had also found out Curtis was Robin and in the most embarrassing way possible. Now, walking next to Curtis down the gravel path leading out of the BatCave, she felt different around him. She looked him up and down as the light from outside reached them. He had changed. How had she not noticed before? His chin was more chiseled than she remembered and had he always been that tall?
Curtis caught her staring and looked at her, lost. "What?"
Were his shoulders always that broad? Kimber continued to look at him, then a thought hit her as they stepped out of the cavern and onto the lower grounds of the Wayne estate. "Curt? What size clothing do you wear?"
Curtis' face sort of fell into a sad smile. "You noticed. When I was growing up, my folks often came home with clothes a size or two too big for me. Dad always said I'd grow into them." He laughed at the memory. "Never did... Looking back, I realize he was often buying second-hand since it was all we could afford, but they always made me look scrawnier than I was." Curtis looked out at the distant Gotham skyline as if reflecting on something. "With my internship stipend, I thought I could finally afford a wardrobe upgrade, but most of the money has been redirected to some of my father's past-due bills and saving for an apartment."
Kimber was silent a moment as her gaze lingered on Curtis. She saw it now, the way his shoulders slumped as he spoke of his father's financial woes and his childhood. That was the Curtis she remembered from high school. Back then, she assumed he simply stood with a hunch but now she could feel the invisible weight he carried. Perhaps being in the BatCave, being Robin, gave him a chance to escape that weight – even if for a few hours. But in asking him about it, she realized she had inadvertently brought it all crashing back to him. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Are we cool?"
"Huh?"
"Are we cool?" she asked again. "About the you-know-what? It didn't mean anything, right?" She sounded like she was trying to convince herself.
"Yeah, of course not." Curtis smiled through his feelings. Actually, it kinda did. He liked Kimber a lot. It was a feeling that sprouted during their first interaction before winter break and further developed over that Christmas season. She was single at that time, and at the bash, he honestly thought he had a chance. But soon after Mawk was hospitalized, Kimber rushed back to his side making them a power couple again. It took time, but Curtis managed to repress his feelings. But now that kiss had broken down the dam holding back his emotions; all those initial feelings came flooding back. It would take time to build that wall again.
As for Kimber, all the uneasy feelings she had moments ago were shattered by his smile. There was something disarming about it. "Y'know... I've been working for him longer... So what say you let the veteran claim seniority over that trike?"
Curtis 'tsked' Kimber. "I earned it fair and square. Besides, you already have the bike! What would you need with another transport?"
She tousled his hair but gave no response.
"So what has Mawk been up to lately?" Curtis shifted the conversation to her significant other. "I know he's been between here and Star City, but that's about it. Thought I would run into him myself while I was out there, but never caught sight of him."
"To be honest, I haven't heard from him recently." She hadn't thought about just how thin their relationship was quickly becoming. He was getting busier with college prep and she was a superhero. She pulled her phone from her pocket.
"You're gonna call him?"
"I might when I get home, yeah... We haven't talked in a bit." She unlocked her device and skimmed their text message chains. "We've both just been busy – him more than me. I hope he's alright."
"Nothing can hold him down, Kim. College is starting soon and the athletic scholarships he'd been granted were taken away after the… party. I'm sure he's just scrambling to be prepared for Fall. His parents may be rich, but they're not that rich."
"Fair enough." She sat behind the wheel of her car and realized that hers was the only car in the courtyard. "Where's your ride?"
Curtis shrugged. "Didn't exactly come here in a conventional way," he replied. "So I'll probably have to grab a bus home or something."
Kimber started her car and gripped the wheel. For a moment, something in her gut prompted her to ask if he'd like a ride home. She remembered that he lived rather close to her. But she managed to squash the feeling after considering what had happened earlier in the 'Cave. She put the car into reverse. "So, we will be seeing a lot of each other, huh?"
"I guess we will." Curtis stepped back from her car as it slowly started to roll back. Then he added just before she was out of earshot, "Call Mawk."
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-Six Months ago. Mid-January-
"Yetch!" A young teen gagged at the wretched sight on his plate. "What is this slop?"
His friend nudged him with laughter. "It's the day's special: guess who you're eating."
The first boy shook his head slowly. "Aren't they supposed to feed us actual food? I mean, we are in high school."
"Oh calm down, Tim." His friend stabbed whatever was his dish with his plastic fork. "At least with enough salt, it tastes good." He stuck the morsel in his mouth and chewed.
Tim leaned back in his chair and risked another nibble and then gagged. "Bleh! Nope!" Tastes like something Croc would eat. He stuck his tongue out in disgust at the meal. "You want it, Melvin?"
Melvin, wearing a likewise disgusted face, pushed Tim's dish further down the table to another kid eating a peanut butter and honey sandwich. "Give it to Mikey, he will eat anything."
"No, he doesn't!" Tim protested. "He won't eat it, he hates everything."
True to Tim's words, Mikey took one bite of the mystery slop and shook his head. "What the heck is wrong with you two?" He asked slowly. Then he returned to his homemade meal.
"One day, I'mma remember to bring a sandwich from home."
"You say that every lunch period, Tim," Melvin pointed out.
The group talked for a bit about various subjects as the news on the cafeteria's television screens droned on in the background.
"...And that was pretty much why my Dad had to get his leg amputated—"
"Hang on," Tim cut Melvin off. He perked up an ear and listened to the latest news bulletin. He couldn't make out the entire thing over the loud cafeteria, but what he was sure of were two words: 'Batman returns'. "Oh you've gotta be kidding me," he muttered. He turned to his friends. "I'll catch ya'll later!" He called as he picked up his tray.
Mikey followed. "Dude!" he exclaimed. "You can't just leave! School doesn't end for another three hours! And Beth will be so pissed at you if you miss her study session!"
Tim brushed his friend's concern off. "I know, just tell her I had a family emergency or something."
"'Or something'?" Mikey shook his head. "I'm pretty sure that she'd expect you to text her that sort of thing directly, since, ya know... She's your girlfriend?"
Only for, like, a month. Tim rolled his eyes. "Just tell her something. Anything!" Then he was out the doors on the way home.
Tim burst through the front door of his aunt and uncle's apartment. "Hey, Rog!" He grabbed his cellphone charger from his room and snatched an extra jacket from his closet.
"Timothy Drake!" Uncle Roger called after his nephew. "Just where do you think you're going? Aren't you supposed to be in school?"
"Uh... No!" Tim snatched a black book from his bookcase, and a phonebook, then bounded down the stairs and by his father figure. "It was a half day. Didn't the school call? See ya later, going to the library to study. Bye!" His disjointed answers came at a machine-gun's pace as he booked for the door.
There was nothing Uncle Roger could do to stop the bundle of energy that was Tim Drake. He knew full well that school was still in session. But Tim wouldn't die from missing one day of class, would he? The older man looked through the blinds and caught sight of his nephew waving down a taxi. "That boy knows damn well he could just walk to the local library. The laziness of the youth these days."
Tim entered Gotham Public Library after a long drive from Blüdhaven. His legs ached and he was sure he'd likely expended his allowance for the next two months with the fare alone. But once the gritty sign advertising Gotham city limits met his eyes, he felt a surge of energy. Within seconds of the taxi stopping before the library, he was through the main doors and at the main desk repeatedly ringing the bell. "Babs! Babs!"
"Shhh!" A stern young woman exited the back office with a deliberate pace and clapped a firm hand over the service bell, cutting off all further ringing. "I don't care if you're skipping school. This is still a library and you have to– Wait, you moved to Blüdhaven… How did you get here?"
Tims narrowed his eyes and searched her face. "You look silly with glasses."
"Thanks, Mr. Suave," Barbara replied flatly. "Guessing my question will go unanswered, so let me try again. What's up, sport?" She came around the desk and stood before her young friend.
"I think he's back."
Barbara straightened up and arched one brow in librarian fashion. "Really?"
Tim's head nodded up and down with conviction.
"You think that after everything that has gone down. After everything he has done part of that... League," she said the word as if it were a slur. "You think that he has just come back to take his place as if nothing happened?"
Tim nodded again, unphased by her cynicism. "Uh-huh. Heard some dude on the news talking about it!"
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
Barbara sighed. "Tim... those are talking heads. Only half of what they say is true and even that half is extremely biased. I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them."
"Well, you can throw a full-grown man pretty far," he pointed out.
"You know what I mean!" she snapped back hastily. "Besides, my father would have mentioned him by now."
"Your dad isn't in charge of the police force anymore. And it's not like you and him are on the best of terms, what with his new role and all. He is some sort of dual prison warden per the B-Man's request."
"No need to remind me of Dad's promotion." She leaned against her desk and crossed her arms. "He isn't back, Tim. He can't be. I don't care what you heard."
"Has your dad said he wasn't back?" Tim asked, again ignoring Barbara's inquiry.
"Like you said: we don't talk." Barbara stooped a bit. In the past, she would have had to bend over to get on Tim's level, but he had grown over the years, now all it took was a hunched back. "What? You want me to call him?"
"Who? Bru—"
"No!" She hissed the boy quiet. "My father! Duh!"
"Only if you don't believe me."
"Fine. I'll let you know later tonight, then." She extended her arm.
Tim shook her hand. "Sweet!" He turned to leave.
"Oh, Tim?"
"Yeah?"
"If he is back; what are you going to do? Ask to join up again?"
Tim fell silent and left the library.