Rose lands in Phenom Pang a week before the Monsoons start. The customs clerk looks over her passport and never blinks. It says clearly she's a natural born United States citizen, when she clearly knows she was born here, but that's just one of the many little things her mother gave her. Her mother had many tricky ways to forge an identity.
The foul weather of the monsoon suits her. Tim got her the best suite at the Grande Royal Hotel, that suits her too.
She has the cabbie drive her to the worst parts of town. The red light districts. Parts of town where an American girl by herself should not be safe. It only takes two serious fights to convince the lowlifes around here that she's not just any girl, they leave her alone after that.
"I've seen you prowling little girl, you looking for a good time or a good job?" An attractive but aging woman asks in a heavily accented English from the dimly lit doorway of a respectably well maintained bordello. The building is three stories tall and done with cheap paint and plaster to imitate traditional Khmer architecture.
"*Neither*" Rose answers in a local dialect of Khmer. "*I'm trying to find Lillian Worth, do you know her*"
"*She owe you money?*" the woman replies.
"*She's my mother*"
"*So you're the one, I should have recalled your white hair*" The women steps out of the red glow of the doorway, the glaring artificial light from the street lamp age her 10 years in an instant.
"*You know her*" it's not a question.
"*knew her, honey, you know well enough she's dead*"
"*No I don't know*" If she was dead, Rose could let this rest.
"*well that's too bad honey*" The woman removes a cigarette from a silver cigarette case and lights in with experienced hands.
"*How did you know her, did you work with her*"
"*Babe, she nearly drove my house out of business, now she's dead and good riddance, good riddance to you too, unless you're buying something, got a few boys who could show you a good time, girls too, I won't judge*"
Rose walks away to the sound of the woman's laughter. She doesn't give the old whore the satisfaction of bothering to get angry.
It's a scene that Rose has played out a dozen times across the bordellos of the city. Everyone knew Lilly, everyone assumes she's dead. It's frustrating, but she knows that if Lilly is alive, she's not going to be found overnight.
It's early when she returns to the Grande Royal, she could go out and party, but it's no fun in her condition. She eats dinner by herself in the hotel restaurant and returns to her room. She's got the first of her promised appointments with the OB/GYN tomorrow anyway, might as well call it an early night.
Oddly enough she's not surprised to find her father waiting for her when she gets to the room.
Slade Wilson fills the entire space of the suite from the armchair in the corner. That's how big his presence is. "Something you want to tell me, Princess"
No small talk, no introductions or casual conversation about the terrible weather outside. Straight to the point.
"Daddy I'm pregnant"
"Yes, and?" what more does he want.
"It's Robin's"
"Robin?" Slade's eyebrow arches incredulously, "Wayne's kid? Didn't think the boy had it in him. When were you planning on calling me about this?"
"Soon, Daddy, I was just scared of what you would say" She's crying now, and it's almost entirely the fault of her pregnant hormones.
He walks over to her and embraces her in a bear hug. "There there princess, it's ok. This is nothing we can't deal with together. Me as a grandpa, can't say I saw this coming."
For a moment she just wants to believe him. She just wants to be hugged by her father and not wonder what the consequences of that would be, but eventually reality sets in and she remembers all the bad too. The serum, the Titan's East, all the harm he's done her, and Joey too, and she steels herself.
"You're right dad, it's nothing I can't deal with, but not with you. I don't want your help, I've already had enough of that, and look at all the good it's done me"
"Too bad princess" he drops his arms from the hug that was no longer welcome. "Can't say I blame you, all things considered, Robin taking care of you and your situation"
"He's writing a lot of promises"
"And what about me?"
"What about me?"
"You taking care of you and your situation?"
He doesn't take the door, he leaves by the window, pausing before he leaps. "You're mother's got some family left in Stung Treng, The Khmer Rouge have done a number on your bloodline, but some of your cousins are still around, a few of them are still using the name Worth"
With that he's gone.
Rose spends the rest of the night pouring over maps and making plans.
…...
Tim raises his hand to knock, then hesitates. He closes his eyes, he takes a deep breath, he knocks on the door.
The door opens a moment later.
"Hey little brother, I was wondering when I might see you" Dick Grayson is standing in the doorway wearing a white tee-shirt and a pair of drawstring yoga pants.
"Yeah" Tim says, he stands there awkwardly, "here I am" lifts his hands into an almost shrug.
"Come on in kid, I was just making dinner" Dick moves back into the apartment. Tim can smell roasting meat with an under current of white wine and rosemary as he follows Dick to the kitchen.
"Chicken's bout ready to come out of the oven, do me a favor and stir the sauce." Tim obediently checks the sauce, a white wine with butter base with rosemary and garlic. Noticing the pasta was about done he silently gets the colander down and ducks as Dick reaches across to grab a fork to check the chicken with, they move through the kitchen like brothers, or partners. It's easy and casual, Tim finishes dressing the salad while Dick mixes the capers into the pasta sauce.
They fix their plates and sit down at the small kitchenette table.
"Chicken's good" Tim says.
"Yeah, I got the recipe from Alfred"
There's an awkward tension, Rose Wilson is the elephant in this room, and they are both tip toeing around while waiting for the other to bring it up.
"So Tim, I talked to Kor'i recently"
"Yeah"
"She said that Rose Wilson is pregnant"
Tim can feel a deep flush creeping across his face as the conversation he came for, and also desperately wants to avoid approaches.
"Yeah, she is"
"I talked to Bruce too, says you might have something to do with that"
Tim doesn't reply immediately, he just pokes at his salad idly.
"Yeah, I did"
"Man kiddo, got yourself in a real mess" Dick is looking at Tim with an appraising expression.
"I sure did" Tim is relieved to finally have the problem aired.
"I mean, I know you don't want to say, but I have to ask, did you guys use protection?"
"Yeah, we did, we are the statistical minority of failed condoms"
"Bruce tells me you plan to raise the kid with her, as Tim"
"You think that's a bad idea?"
"It's probably not a good idea, but it's also probably the right thing to do"
"Yeah, that's kind of what I figured, I mean, keeping identities hidden is hard, but I think we can put a good PR spin on this, and you know, it's my kid, I don't want to be a secret dad, it's... it's bigger then me, it's my kid, and I can't give her a secret identity and hide her in my life as a floozy or something, for one her hair and her eye, for two, I don't think she would let me"
"I'm picking up what your putting down Tim, I've been there"
"Really?"
"Not this far in, but me and Barbara had a serious scare once. And I have been with some girls who I would not want to join the statistical minority of failed condoms with, I mean, Tarantula, could you imagine?"
"I'm getting a pretty good idea of what that picture would look like" Tim's voice is dry and unamused.
"Oh come on kid, Rose isn't that bad, she's got her heart in the right place, she's just got some issues to sort out"
"And some of those issues are with me, I had her in Gotham for a few weeks, it was a nightmare."
"where is she now?"
"Cambodia, wanted to take some time off, get back with her roots, I think it's a positive step, to examine her mother's influence on her life while she prepares to become a mother"
"You know her mother never showed up during the crisis with the Black Lanterns"
"one, wow! two, how do you know that?"
"Slade told me"
"You and Slade been chatty recently?"
"Generally, no, but he called me last night so that I might deliver to you a choice lecture about the responsibilities of fatherhood and the life expectancy of boys who may have recently fathered his grandchild"
Tim groans at the prospect of Slade Wilson's new found attention.
"So" Dick continues "She moving to Gotham."
"That's what I'm hoping, she doesn't seem too thrilled at the idea, but I'm holding on to the hope"
"Wayne Manor?"
"I'm remodeling the carriage house actually"
"Ah." Dick pauses awkwardly not entirely sure where to take this conversation from here. "so I've been looking over the Titan's battle records and I saw a few areas I think you guys really need to tighten up on"
"Yeah, the dynamic is not quite there though, Kid Devil keeps acting like he's just waiting for me to kick him off the team, and nothing I say really stops that, the connection is just not quite there for some reason"
"yeah I can see that, so here's some ideas I been kicking around"
They spend the rest the night on the more comfortable topics of how to not die, or get their friends killed.