Winding Down (Robin)

This was certainly going to go down as one of those Halloweens that is best forgotten. Nothing tonight had gone to plan, not one single detail. Tim had pre-planned his Halloween, and none of that had come to fruition. He was expecting to spend the night at home, within the cosy setting that is Wayne Manor. There he would watch television with Alfred, and then later finish off whatever candy was left. That didn’t happen, and Tim could easily forgive putting things on hold to deal with the Zsasz situation.

It was Nightwing showing up that truly ruined this Halloween. After an entire year out, without so much as a phone call or a text, and he returns to think that he can just pull rank on them. It was astounding the level of arrogance that Dick had, and the sheer nativity to think that him pulling rank would go down so smoothly. He had irked Tim to no end, and it wasn’t the first time, and will unlikely be the last. Dick always seemed to act extra protective with Tim, he wouldn’t allow the current ‘Boy Wonder’ to dabble in dangerous situations, nor take lead in most things.

In reality, Dick had missed a lot in his year out. Not only had Barbara gotten better, but so had Tim – a result of his diminished role in ‘The Team’ to focus on working alongside the Dark Knight. Tim had come on leaps and bounds, he was only getting better with each day. But Dick had acted tonight as though Tim had only been in the hero game a month or two. It left a sour feeling about Tim.

In the drive back to the Manor, Tim had notched up a gear. Tim drove his cycle at a much higher speed than he normally would, and perhaps even being somewhat reckless in his driving. It all stemmed from his pent up anger caused by the original bird-brat. Tim wouldn’t slow down, not even when he heard the communication from Batgirl. But as he was ahead, Tim came to a sudden and abrupt stop as his bike skidded somewhat as he turned around. ”Right behind you”. Tim replied through the built-in communicator in his helmet as he followed Barbara’s cycle. She came to a stop outside a convenient store, and Tim pulled up alongside.

He wasn’t exactly sure what she was after, candy perhaps? It might be best off getting some, for Alfred - a gesture of thanks for leaving him to answer the door all night. Tim turned the ignition off, kicked the kick stand into position and took off his helmet; resting it on the seat once he dismounted. Time to see what the important pickup is.

Tim would follow Barbara into the store, and it quickly became apparent what the important pickup was – ice cream, treats and whatever else. It was far from the usual grocery shop that Alfred may send one of them out for. It was quite surreal entering the shop, to see a few kids around that were dressed up as people whom Barb and Tim would call friends. The funniest of all had to be a baby dressed up as Aquaman, looking less than thrilled by the costume choice.

Get whatever you want, my treat”

Tim didn’t need to be told twice. With the instructions given, Tim wandered off down one of the aisles. As he did so, he would pass a group of kids and couldn’t help but overhear the conversation that was going on between them. ’What a lame Robin costume!’  is what one of them remarked with, and his friend was quick to chime in; ’He doesn’t even look like him!. Little did they know…

Tim didn’t waste any time on pondering what made those group of kids come to such a wrong conclusion, and instead continued in his stride towards where all of the candy was kept. There wasn’t much left from what could be observed, which was undoubtedly down to it being Halloween. All that was left was the cheap candy, and that didn’t bother Tim one bit. A lot of it was in bags, huge bags of candy. Tim picked up all he could, all that was humanly possible for him to carry and would proceed to head back to where Barbara was. His movement was slow, cautious to not lose any candy.

As he reached the end of the aisle, he had to wait. Blocking the way was a mother and her young daughter who looked up at Tim and pointed; ‘Bat Boy!’. Tim glanced back with a smile, and the mother turned to pull her daughter back as Tim stumbled on by. Soon Tim returned to where Barbara was, and dropped all the candy he held into the basket(s). “Some of it’s for Alfred…”. Tim would say, he assumed that Barb assumed he wasn’t going to share.”See any chocolate ice cream?”. Well, Barb appeared to be the ice cream expert after all…

Somehow based upon the response given by Barbara, Tim wasn’t entirely sure whether or not she believed him. It certainly seemed more as though she didn’t, but Tim was telling the truth. There was too much candy for him to eat by himself; he would need to tag someone else in, like Alfred, if there is to be any hope of finishing it all. Though one must be vigilant with candy in the Manor, Bruce is known to occasionally have quite the sweet tooth – stopping him from retreating into the Cave with it all was going to be something to be mindful of.

When Barbara passed on the basket that was filled to the brim with treats, Tim did feel the weight of it all. His arm dropped initially under the weight, caught off guard by just how heavy it was. Though he would quickly come to terms with it, he was a skilled one at carrying shopping as the female members of the Team already knew. In no time did Barbara return with the chocolate ice cream, and it was for the best that she had gone to retrieve it. Had Tim gone, he probably would have spent a good ten to twenty minutes analysing the selection.

Eventually they reached the cash register, and Tim placed the basket down at the one end for Barbara who went to work unloading everything they had got. Tim shuffled his way down towards the other end, awaiting the contents as they were scanned through to put them in carrier bags. Then the cashier gave him a look. A look, followed by a remark; ’Is that your brother or something?’ he had asked Barbara. Barbara perhaps gave the most accurate response that could be given. It was something like that. And just like the good big sister that Barbara was, she was getting treats for her little bro after having had a frosty encounter with the brooding elder brother. See, the Bat Family is totally normal.

”Uhhh… I think we got a little too much”. Tim would say as he looked down at the three or so bags that he had packed. They were on motorcycles after all, not exactly known for their use for grocery shopping. Tim stood there with his arms folded across his chest, one hand held up to his chin as he surveyed the bags. Detective Tim was on the logistics case.

Once Barbara had paid for everything, Tim would pass on a bag to Barbara before he himself would take hold of the other two remaining bags. From there they would walk out from the store, passing a few children as they walked out who were dressed as various members of the Justice League. It was sort of cute really, apart from the one bald kid dressed as Martian Manhunter – that looked wrong.

“Necessary supplies thou.”

Unfortunately, Tim was in one of those moods where he just couldn’t help but add his own comment. ”You sure Dick won’t show up to lecture us on the sugar intake?”. Tim would say in a not so sarcastic tone. With how tonight had gone, Tim couldn’t rule Dick showing up again. At last they reached where the bikes were parked, not far from the store front. Tim would place the two bags in the compartment the bike had for storage, and then proceed to mount the vehicle. He waited, turning to watch Barbara to see if she was ready. When she was, he would start the engine and speed off towards the Manor. Part of Tim was hoping that Alfred wouldn’t know its them, and opt for the ‘Batman’ routine he had developed for Halloween. It was a rare spectacle, one they may never see. But here’s to hoping.

Barbara had raced off ahead of Tim, who at the time was just about putting his helmet on. ”Getting an early start, figures”. Tim would rev the engine momentarily before his motorcycle sped off down the street in pursuit of Barbara. For a while, Tim was following the same route as the one Barbara had taken. But he eventually zipped down one of the side roads, opting for the roads less taken to catch up with Barb as no longer was traffic an obstacle. ”You know… it’s a little unfair, I’ve got two bags and you got a headstart. I think you should wait up a little, Barb”. Tim said, making use of the communication capabilities of his helmet. He didn’t care too much what Barbara did, but if she slowed and Tim slipped ahead, then he wouldn’t let the lead slip so easily.

Tim remaining zipping down the side roads for a little longer. Each was populated with a few people, the homeless that called a section of the road home. Tim would whizz past them, careful as to not endanger any as he flew past at a high speed. Eventually Tim arrived back on one of the main roads, and up ahead he could see Barbara weave her way through the traffic with ease, whilst also feeling compelled enough to dish out a little trash talk. Tim didn’t respond at first, he remained silent, his focus kept on the road ahead of him as now the traffic was his problem as well. But before long did Tim pull away from the constraints of the traffic, as he arrived right beside the Batcycle of Barbara. It was neck and neck for a while, and now Tim felt comfortable enough. With no immediate threat of traffic, Tim turned his head to look over towards Barbara, “Spoiler; I win”. Tim would say beneath his motorcycle helmet, a wide smirk having appeared across his face. It was then that the Boy Wonder kicked things up a gear, turning back to look forward, as he pulled ahead of his Bat-Sister somewhat.

The problem with winning this bet, was that there was a choice to make. The choice was over what movie would be viewed tonight, and Tim… really had no idea what movie to pick. It wasn’t something that Tim had put any thought into, all that Tim had his mind set on right now was winning. Perhaps some thought in the subject was needed, at least narrow down the genre. A horror movie was fitting, but then there are horror-comedies and many other sub-genres. As Tim went through a list in his head, he hadn’t been paying attention to Barbara who seemed to have moved ahead. Grr. Lowering his head slightly, Tim looked to speed up in order to catch her just in time, they were in the final stretch now.