A/N: Tim's love life hits a snag when he has to attend the cotillion, the dance where society's teens are now eligible to date. Not only that, when he is sent to Europe to meet with Wayne Enterprise business partners to gain support for his Wayne Foundation Neon Knights Project, Tim is presumed dead when the plane he was on suddenly explodes and nose dives into the Atlantic Ocean.

Red Robin Rising

by

AJ

Part 4: Weather Issues and Keeping Secrets

Tim rushed down to the cave. He wanted to check out a hypothesis that was forming in his mind. What if this weather wasn't natural? He went over to the computer and typed in the name of the person he wanted to check out.

'Damn,' Tim thought. 'He's locked up in Arkham. Well there goes that hypothesis. Looks like we're just having a late spring this year.'

"Drake, aren't you supposed to be upstairs?"

"I'm checking on something," Tim stated. "Even Captain Cold was in jail, but he's Flash's old enemy.'

"You can do it upstairs."

"No I can't and you're not 'Father' Demon Spawn," Tim stated. "Go bug someone else."

"Don't call me that."

"Well, you are the Demon Head's grandson," Tim countered. "I'm just stating what's true."

"I don't know why Father ever adopted you."

"That's none of your business."

"I bet he did it because he pitied you."

"You're trying my patience."

"What are you going to do, Drake?" Damian came closer, his face inches from Tim's.

Tim suddenly brought up his fist, hitting Damian in the chin with an uppercut. "Stay out of my face, brat."

Damian rubbed his chin. "You're not as sickly as you pretend to be."

"I'm not, but don't tell that to Alfred." Then suspicion filled Tim's mind. "Why are you trying to get a rise out of me?"

"I'm bored," Damian confessed.

"You're bored. So, you decided to pick a fight with me."

"Well, yeah. And you've been complaining at not getting in some exercise."

"You know if 'Father' hears us fighting again, he could ground us from patrol."

"What are you doing down here," Damian questioned. "You didn't really answer my question."

"Checking on the weather," Tim replied.

"You could do that upstairs."

"Not if it's not natural."

Tim's statement got Damian curious. "You think it's not?"

"I did until I found out the only person who could have caused it is in Arkham."

"You're a lot smarter than you look."

"Gee thanks."

"I mean it, Drake. Sometimes you come up with ideas that others might not think of. You're wrong, but the idea does have merit."

"If it was Freeze at least we wouldn't be bored any more. We could go after him."

"You mean, Grayson, Todd, Father, and I could go after him. You're still benched."

"Don't remind me. How in the hell am I supposed to get un-benched."

"That never stopped me," Damian crowed.

"Only because the only one you listened to is Father, but Alfred is the doctor. He knows what he's talking about."

"Pennyworth doesn't know everything."

"Don't let him hear you say that," a third voice came into the conversation.

"Grayson, what are you doing here?"

"Looking for birdie," Dick said. "Your girlfriend is looking for you. You better get upstairs before she finds this place."

"Um . . . She kind of already has," Tim said.

"Tim, you didn't," Dick was shocked at the fact that Tim would reveal something as crucial as that.

"I didn't have to. You practically revealed it yourself when you shouted at me before Devlin re-kidnapped me from the Manor."

"Oh sh . . ." Dick closed his eyes at the near blunder that he had caused. "So what did you tell her?"

"I told her I do neighborhood watch."

"And what about Batman?"

"That was a little harder to explain," Tim said. "Look, we're going to have to tell her sooner or later. I'm going to marry her."

"Wait, you asked her to marry you?" Damian questioned.

"Yeah," Tim said.

"What if it doesn't work out? Not only that you're too young yet."

"I can marry her when I'm 17," Tim argued. "She has a right to know about my other life. I'm her red bird, remember."

"If you tell her that means she'll learn about us as well," Damian argued back. "And you have no right to reveal our secret identities."

"Damian's right," Dick said. "You tell her about Red Robin you'll compromise the rest of our identities."

"Dick you haven't been listening," Tim explained. "She already knows or at least suspects."

"How?"

"Ask her," Tim said. "She learned the first week we returned home from the Bahamas."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because it would have been pointless and you would be doing what you're doing right now. Chewing me out." Tim headed back up to the main part of the Manor as his brother's followed him. "Anyway, since we're stuck here, want to go out and have a snowball fight? I need to burn off some of this energy that Alfred won't let me."

"I want to know how she found out," Damian stated. "Confess Drake, you told Mother."

"Mother!? Since when is Sammie, your mother? And I did not tell her, but Dick did yell at me. And he did mention patrolling and Batman loud enough for her to hear."

"You didn't tell her you're on neighborhood watch," Dick stated.

"I tried to, but she didn't believe me," Tim said. "It was hard enough trying to come up with a plausible story about Batman taking me to a cave. Look, she knows or at least she suspects something is up with us every time we disappear from dinner. We're not going to be able to hide it much longer."

"Hide what from me much longer?" Samantha said as the three of them emerged from the grandfather clock as it closed.

The three brothers stared at Samantha with blank faces. Tim was the first to break the silence.

"Oh boy, we're in trouble."

Continues with Part 5