Disclaimer: DC owns them. Not mine, never will be. No money is being made from this piece of fiction.
Away from It All
By Arlene
Timothy Drake needed to leave his life, all of them, for a little while and just be himself. Not Robin, not Alvin Draper, not the leader, not the student, not the sidekick, just him, Tim Drake. It had worried him for a long time that he was starting to lose focus of himself. It never occurred to him that billions of other teenagers were struggling with the very same problems he had: who to be and what kind of life to lead.
So, instead of moping around in his dorm room, visiting his "older brother," or going through case files at the Batcave, he came here, to the new headquarters of Young Justice. He'd checked all of his teammates' locations to make sure he'd have the place to himself. Well, knowing that Impulse wouldn't stay in one place for long, Tim could only hope. Then, a full tank of gas, a full basket of Alfred's goodies and he was off.
Being a student of the Bat, he'd memorized the layout of the resort (thanks to the blueprints Oracle provided) and decided to try out the old gym, delighted to find everything still in working order. After some stretching and warm-up exercises, he moved to the mats to try out a new gymnastic routine Dick was teaching him. Although training and working out was a Robin-type thing, it allowed his body to be busy while he did some Tim-type thinking.
***
Cassandra Sandsmark wanted some time to herself. It wasn't that she didn't love hanging out with her friends, it was just that, well, she wanted a quiet place to think about deep and heavy stuff. Like about superheroing, about Kon, about changing her costume, about school and about Kon. Normal teenager-type stuff. Her mother, seeing how restive her daughter was, suggested she go out and take in some fresh air to clear her mind. She remembered what being a teenager was like.
So, dressed in her latest Wonder Girl outfit, Cassie went out. She wasn't about to go back to Happy Harbor for obvious reasons, and she decided to check out YJ's latest headquarters, a huge resort, plenty of places to get lost in. Perfect. Although she'd been here before to explore with her teammates, it was only a cursory look, enough to get a feel for the place, but not enough to truly get acquainted. She landed softly and walked in. Even if she had bothered to look, she would have failed to notice the carefully concealed red car.
***
Deep within the recesses of the building, Tim was pounding and kicking away at a punching bag. It felt good. His body worked smoothly to ensure that the bag would never have a chance to retaliate. Take that. Heh. If only real life were so easy. Feeling his muscles burn from the hours of working out, he stopped and walked over to the mat for stretching and cooling-down exercises. Grabbing a bottle of water and a towel, he made his way to the showers, grateful again to Oracle for finding such an ideal place.
***
Cassie flew from room to room, opening doors and taking a quick peek at each. After a while, she became bored as she realized that most of the rooms were pretty much the same. Well, duh, it's a hotel. Then she decided to skip the living areas and check out the more interesting parts, like the dining room and the kitchen. She wandered down to the lower parts of the building and flicking a switch, she discovered the workout room. To her surprise, the area was cleaner than the rest of the hotel, and there were no sheets covering the equipment from dust. Then, she heard the noise. Running water.
As she listened, her first thought was that an intruder had broken in. Adopting a defensive stance, she immediately flew to the opposite doorway, which she assumed led to a locker room. Just before she entered, she paused in mid-air. Rob had always warned her about being impulsive. Perhaps now would be a good time to exercise caution. She flew more slowly, thinking about the situation.
Would an intruder actually stop off to take a shower? Experience told her they usually tended to blow places up, or cause some other sort of damage. Maybe someone just stumbled onto the abandoned property and decided to take advantage of the facilities. If that were the case, then she didn't want to frighten an innocent person. Of course, it could just be that one of the guys forgot to turn off the water the last time they checked the place out. She grimaced at all the water that was probably being wasted.
Hm, so this is what a men's locker room looked like. No big difference from the women's.
When she finally reached the door to the shower room, the faint scent of shampoo hit her nose. Okay, so it wasn't the guys' fault. Probably an innocent, then. She doubted a villain would take the time to clean him/herself so thoroughly. And use such nice-smelling stuff. A puff of steam escaped when she cracked open the door. Just a peek, she told herself. I'll assess the situation and figure out a plan of action. Rob would be so proud.
***
Aside from the survival skills, another thing he gained from the Bat was a heightened appreciation of a long, hot shower. When he first turned on the water, reddish-brown sludge squirted from the showerhead. He expected it; after all, it hadn't been used for a long time. He turned the hot water on full blast to flush out the pipes more quickly, and when the water turned clear, he stepped in. Ahh. As he applied shampoo, he let the steaming water pound his muscles, wincing slightly when it hit the still-tender scar on his back. Another reason to get away. He didn't really enjoy people trying to kill him. Turning to face the spray, he rinsed his hair. Hm, a bit drafty in here.
***
Cassie shut the door noiselessly, and let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Wow, definitely not a stranger. In her quick glance through the steam, she'd caught sight of a tall figure, black hair, muscular back, cute butt and great legs to match. Kon-El. Okay, girl, what now? Walk away? Wait outside? Confront him? She debated the ethics of her next action. After all, Kon was always trying to get into the girl's locker room at the old Justice Cave. Although he'd never actually succeeded, he'd always try talking Bart into joining him for a panty raid. A wicked grin spread across her face. She was in the perfect position to attempt this. What would it be called? A boxer raid? Then, the smile fell from her face. Of course, Diana wouldn't approve. Sighing, she decided the right thing to do would be walk away. But after another quick peek. Nobody would know.
She again opened the door, the steam actually billowing into the cooler locker room this time. She took a little longer to look on this attempt, since the steam almost totally covered the figure from view. His back was still facing the door. And what a back it was! The muscles rippled, constantly making the scar shift a bit. Wait. Scar? Kon didn't scar. So if it's not Kon, then who . . ?
***
Now that his body was acclimated to the heat and humidity of the room, he relaxed and just stood, soaking in the running water. Just then, he felt another draft, and this time the room's temperature dropped noticeably. At the same time, he also had the peculiar prickly feeling on the back of his neck that meant he was being watched. At the sudden gasp behind him, he simultaneously snatched his towel to cover himself and picked up his bottle of shampoo as a weapon. When he saw his would-be attacker,
"GAH!"
"HERA!"
Cassie found herself looking at a pair of incredibly blue eyes. Funny, she never noticed how blue they really were.
Tim dropped the bottle and gathered the towel more closely around him. He sputtered, "Cassie, what the fu--What're you--get out!!" His voice echoed throughout the tiled room. Alarmed at his roar, she shut the door and flew out of the building at fast as she could. Seeing the door close, he immediately dropped himself on the floor, the coolness of it chilling his bare bottom.
A moment passed. Crap. Well, what's done is done. Shakily regaining his composure, he stood up and turned the water off. He warily entered the locker room, and after making sure it was empty, he quickly changed into his T-shirt and shorts without bothering to dry himself. His towel was soaked anyway. He packed up his gear and headed for the upper level of the building. Gotta think about proximity alarms. Rig up surveillance equipment, security, talk to Babs and Bruce about it later. What did she see? Thank God he didn't sing in the shower. He mentally cringed at that possible scenario. He slowly climbed the stairs, his shirt clinging uncomfortably to his damp skin, droplets of water from his wet hair falling on each step. He snorted to himself. So much for getting away from everything.
Once outside, he put on his sunglasses, and placed his things in the Redbird. After a thought, he pulled out Alfred's basket. Moving onto the lawn, he took out his YJ communicator and called. "Cassie, would you please come back? I'm not mad, honest. But I think we need to talk."
As he waited, he tried to relax, feeling the warmth of the late afternoon sun. At least he'd dry off a bit. Let's see, he thought, she's probably trying to get over her embarrassment and thinking of what to say to me. She'll figure out that she's gotta face me some time, and the sooner it's over with, the better. She'll come back right about . . . There was a soft crunch of grass behind him. "C'mon, let's go back inside." He led the way back to the front door and opened it for her, letting her go in first.
He closed the door behind him and removed his shades. She stood uncertainly, not sure what to do next. Gesturing toward the sitting room, he let her precede him. She glanced at his face as she passed. He didn't look mad, but he could usually hide his feelings. Except when he's buck naked. She bit back her smile and gritted her teeth to keep herself from laughing, glad that he couldn't see her face. Get a grip, girl! She entered the room and pulled off a dust cover. She coughed, trying to cover up her giggling by pretending she was affected by the dust. Hera! Talk about torture.
Tim, now in his Robin-the-leader mode, wasn't a bit fooled. He sighed wearily. "Go ahead, get it out of your system." At this, she let herself go, dropping onto the uncovered couch sidewise and clutching her sides as she laughed hysterically, tears spilling from her eyes. Tim allowed himself to chuckle as well, not at the current situation, but at his friend who was so clearly out of control. He busied himself by setting up the coffee table and laying out the prepared snacks. Alfred always made more than enough.
Cassie settled down after a few more minutes, feeling much better not only for the release, but seeing that Rob was grinning a little too. She sat up and rested her back against the cushions, still slightly winded from laughing. She removed her wig and goggles. The smile faded from her face, and she looked down at the floor, suddenly feeling extremely awkward. How to begin? She couldn't make herself look into his eyes, or at any other part of him for that matter. She felt the blood rush up to her cheeks.
Watching her demeanor shift, Tim knew it was time to get down to business. He also knew that things would go easier if he opened. He was the leader, after all. He swallowed his pride and cleared his throat. "Look, Cass, I'm sorry I yelled at you."
Cassie looked up, startled. "What? Why are *you* apologizing? I mean, *I'm* the one who, who . . ." She dropped her gaze. "I'm really sorry, Rob," she whispered, "I thought it was Kon, and, well . . ." She couldn't continue, knowing that things would sound even worse. She wiped away a tear forming in her eye.
Knowing how she felt about Superboy, he let it pass. The last thing he needed was for her to start crying. "What? I'm not good enough for you? Did my muscles not impress you? I literally work my butt off for this body." When he saw her shocked look at his extremely un-Robin-like statement, he gave her a genuine smile, showing all his teeth. "Gotcha!" It was his turn to laugh. After getting over her initial surprise, she joined in. Gradually, the two teens lapsed into a companionable silence.
She spoke first this time, feeling better than she had before returning. "I'm really, really sorry Rob," she started softly. "If you're worried if I, uh, saw anything, I didn't. Just your back."
Glad that he could put *that* worry aside, he accepted her apology. "It's all right, Cass. And it's never going to happen again, not to anyone else, right?" She nodded emphatically. "Good. And, ah, could we not talk about this? Ever? To anybody?" She nodded again. "Great. So let's eat." He really didn't want to dwell on the subject any longer than necessary. Even though he seemed at ease with the whole situation, he was still extremely embarrassed. He shoved that thought away, planning to deal with it when he was alone. Score one for Bat training. He handed her a napkin, and when she accepted without hesitation, he knew that everything would be all right.
End