A/N: This is inspired by the song Catalyst by Anna Nalick. It's also set in the same universe as Alleybat's Matter of Opinion. It's not necessary to read it to get the story but Steph does allude to it talking about Cass. Anyway I hope you enjoy Tim and Steph are my favorites!
The air hung heavy with death. Below, police officers carefully combed the alleyway for any leads they could find. This was the third victim in 2 months and still every lead went nowhere. Stephanie wondered what the poor girl's last moments must have been like, how scared she must have empathy was heightened by the fact that all of the victims were blonde.
"It's strange, this one is a bit out of the usual area." A familiar voice said, coming up behind her. She smiled, it'd been awhile since she'd gotten a chance to talk to Tim.
"It is." She watched him kneel down next to her, his face expressionless behind the cowl. "Any theories on why that is, Dr. Mid-nite?"
"I'm not sure. I'd have to go and compare the locations of all the crime scenes and track his pattern. I need to see if our guy-"
"Okay, Okay!" She cut him off. "I get it. You gotta go be Boy Detective."
He didn't even look at her. What is wrong with him? she thought. He'd never been the most sociable, that much was true. But recently he had become so distant, she rarely saw him except when there was a case. When they talked it felt like they were strangers. It made her miss their days of being Spoiler and Robin. At this point she'd probably do anything to go back to those days of beating up guys twice their size, sharing a midnight snack on the roof, then stealing kisses under the Gotham city lights.
She studied the bit of his face she could see beneath the cowl. He was thinking hard, studying the scene and remembering all the evidence. He was cute when he was in detective mode.
"You know, it's been awhile since we've had a chance to hang out. Just the two of us." She wanted those days back, and now might be her only chance to try. She'd be damned if she was letting it slip away.
It got him to look at her at least. "Steph... do you really think now is the time for this?"
"Why not? It's the only time you talk to me." She stood up, placing her hands on her hips.
He followed her lead, standing up and facing her. "Listen it's not that I don't want to talk to you it's just that-" he looked away from her. "It looks like the police are done down there. I should go see what I can find." He dropped the subject like a hot potato.
She watched him swing down to the streets. Why was she even trying? He obviously didn't care, so why should she? She seemed to be asking herself that a lot lately and it never took long for her to find the answer. She missed him. She missed what they had. The nights she would find him outside her window, his corny puns, or the way he chewed on his lip when he was concentrating deeply. Maybe she was holding on too tightly to the past. She was just going to have to accept the fact that they weren't those kids anymore. It broke her heart just thinking about it.
"Batgirl, Red Robin. I have some information regarding your case." Barbara's voice rang in her ear.
"Alright." She replied. "I'm on my way."
"So, what do you have for us Barbara?" Tim asked as the two of them walked into her base of operations.
Barbara smiled. "We've got some footage of our most recent victim with a man just a little while before the time of death."
"To be fair." Stephanie commented while watching the footage. "Just some footage of the two of them together isn't enough to incriminate him."
"No," Barbara agreed. "but there is more. I identified him as Joshua Lewis." She pulled up a map of Gotham with the three crime scenes marked. "He lives here." she pointed to a place near the first two crime scenes.
"Interesting." Tim said under his breath.
"And" Barbara continued "He recently bought a one way plane ticket to Los Angeles, leaving only hours after the most recent murder occurred."
"And this one is on the way to the airport from his apartment." Tim pointed out.
"Right." Barbara nodded. "It is true though. It's not enough to convict him of." Barbara turned to look at the two of them. "Dick is going to check out his apartment, but for now I think we need someone to go and keep an eye on him."
"So you want us to fly out to LA?" Stephanie didn't mind that idea, even if it was for business.
"I think one of us could handle him on their own, we don't really need both of us-"
"Oh no you don't." Stephanie cut him off. "You're just trying to find some way to avoid me." She wasn't entirely sure if that was really what he was doing, but she had had it. He wasn't talking to her and she didn't care why.
"I'm not trying to..." He trailed off.
"Why have you been acting so strangely lately? Damnit between you and Cass." Stephanie crossed her arms. "At least Cass has an excuse, I think seeing that little girl die got to her."
"You're right." Tim didn't look at her, and she got the feeling she shouldn't have said that. "I don't have an excuse."
"Anyway..." Barbara said before Stephanie could respond. "You're both going. End of discussion."