Timothy had really started to open up after joining the Advanced Placement class. Maybe it was because he was surrounded by other kids like him. Or, more likely, because his deskmate Stephanie Brown was an outgoing thrill-seeker who loved to drag Tim along on her endeavors.
Either way, Tim had to be getting bolder to even suggest participating in the activity going down that weekend. "A boy-girl sleepover? At Stephanie's house?" Bruce asked, reading the invitation his youngest son had handed him. "Please Daddy? It'll be fun." Tim smiled.
Bruce looked over the invite again. If Stephanie was involved, he was sure it'd lots of fun for the kids and a nightmare for any parent. "My whole class is going. I can't be the only one who doesn't go." Tim pleaded.
"Aw come on Bruce, it's just a sleepover." Dick reasoned on his brother's behalf. "Besides," Jason grinned mischievously. "They're eight. It's not like they know any of the stuff you're worried about." Bruce shot the middle child a warning look then turned back to the youngest.
Even if Stephanie was a bit of a loose cannon, Tim was responsible enough to take care of himself for one night.
"Tim, you made it!" Stephanie squealed, giving him a big hug before dragging him through the door. Tim gave Bruce a hasty wave goodbye as Steph escorted him to the living room. Once he set up his sleeping bag, one of the girls grinned.
"We finally have enough people." She squealed and pulled out an old fashion soda bottle. "I heard my big sister talking about this game on the phone. Girls sit on one side of the room, and boys sit on the other. A girl spins the bottle, and when it lands on a boy, they go in the closet for a bit."
"What do they do in there?" One of the boys asked, his eyes wide. "I don't know." The girls shrugged. "She started giggling at that part and wouldn't stop." While the kids did try to play the game as best they knew how, seeing as they weren't old enough to know what to do in the closet, they got bored fast.
III
The rest of the night was normal sleepover activities. Pizza, cake, movies, and party games. When lights out finally rolled around, the kids all even pretended to be tired and crawled into their sleeping bags.
Stephanie's mom wished them all sweet dreams and headed to her own room, relived that when she woke up, all she had to do was wait for the kids' parents to pick them up. For all of five minutes, the children lay still in their sleeping bags. Finally, Stephanie crept to her mother's door and held her ear against it.
"She's out like a light." She announced in a whisper. "Everyone, grab your flashlights." The day before at school, Stephanie had told everyone to make sure they brought a flashlight for the special after lights out activity. It was time.
Steph propped open the living room window and motioned for her guests to follow her out and down the fire escape. The kids all tried not to giggle as they made their way into the big empty space between Stephaine's buildings and a few others.
"Alright," Steph called loud enough for her classmates to hear but not so loud that she attracted unwanted attention. "New game. Man Hunt. Someone counts to twenty while the rest of us hide. The person counting has to find everyone, but it only counts as finding them if they get tagged. If you're tagged, you have to help find and tag everyone left. Last one standing wins."
The other children nodded, excited for what was sure to be the most fun they'd ever had. Stephanie made one of the girls start counting, and everyone ran around the courtyard, trying to find good hiding spots.
Tim jumped as someone grabbed his arm but relaxed when Steph motioned for him to keep quiet and follow her. She led them out of the courtyard and into a nearby alleyway where they crouched behind some discarded boxes. "They'll never think to look here." She whispered gleefully.
They sat quietly for a while, the silence only broken by the occasional squeal or giggle from the ongoing game. "You know, I didn't want to have a big sleepover." Steph admitted after a while. "Why not?" Tim asked, genuinely confused.
Stephanie was pretty popular across their grade, and he knew for a fact that there were kids in other classes who were upset they hadn't been invited to her party. "I just wanted to invite you. But Mom said that wouldn't be nice." She whispered.
Even in the dark, Tim could see her blushing slightly and sincerely hoped she couldn't see him doing the same. "You're kinda quiet, but you're really fun for a boy." Steph grinned. "You're pretty fun too." Tim smiled back. "For a girl."
The sweet moment was suddenly cut short by the sounds of quick footfalls, too big and heavy to be any of the kids from the sleepover. Tim peaked between some gaps in the boxes covering them and spotted two grizzly-looking men stopping to catch their breath and looking as if they just seen ghosts.
"Think we lost 'em?" One of the guys asked, looking back the way they came. "Had to." His friend replied. "They're just kids. They can only go so fast."
As Tim tried to hear what they were saying next, a rat scurried over Steph's foot. She controlled herself enough not to squeal, but in her attempt to shoo it away, her elbow hit a few panes of glass which tipped and crashed on the concrete.
"Well, what do we have here?" One of the men smiled, leaning over their no longer hiding place. As he retched to pull them out, two dark figures landed from the roofs. "You didn't actually think you got away, did you?" A familiar voice taunted.
The men grabbed Tim and Stephanie and held them up as human shields, putting them in plain view of Nightwing and Robin. The two heroes reached for their utility belts, eyes fixed squarely on their brother. "Back off," One of the thugs started, and they both pulled out switchblades. "Or the kiddies get it."
"Could you be any more cliché?" Robin asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. The men inched their blades closer to the kids' necks. In one swift, almost imperceivable motion, the vigilantes dropped smoke pellets, engulfing them all in a thick haze.
Tim and Stephanie felt the men release them, and they crawled through smoke to the nearest wall. By the time it all cleared, the men were lying on the ground unconscious.
Nightwing and Robin turned their attention to the two children they'd just rescued. Even from under their domino masks, Tim could tell they were not happy. Steph, however, was unfazed by their glares. "That was so cool!" She gushed.
"What are you two doing out so late?" Nightwing asked as gently as he could. "We were just playing." Tim answered softly. "Is it just you two?" Robin asked, in a tone that Tim knew meant he was gonna get teased later.
"The others are over there." Steph told them, pointing back to the courtyard. "Well, you should all get inside and to bed." Nightwing ordered. Steph reached for Tim's hand to lead him back. "We wanna talk to your friend for a second." Nightwing told her, and Tim nodded for her to go without him.
"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Robin hissed as soon as the girl was out of earshot. "Those guys could have gutted you two just for the fun of it."
"We would've been ok." Tim huffed. "I can fight too ya know." Nightwing got down to the kid's level. "We know. But you guys still could've gotten hurt. You don't normally put yourself in danger like this." He said softly. "Steph wanted to play a game." Tim told them sheepishly.
Before Robin could utter the sly comment forming on his lips, their coms buzzed in their ears. "Batman's coming to meet us." Nightwing announced. "Get back to bed." He said to Tim.
"You're not gonna tell him, are you?" The boy asked nervously. If Batman found out about this, Tim may never be allowed out of the manor again. "You're lucky he's not the one who saved your asses." Robin muttered. Tim nodded and started back to Stephanie's.
"Don't think we're done talking about this." Nightwing called after him.
III
All the other kids were asleep or falling asleep as Tim climbed silently through the window. "We just got saved by Nightwing and Robin." Steph recapped excitedly in an almost inaudible whisper as Tim crawled into his sleeping bag. "Best birthday ever."
"Nice work you two." Batman said as he arrived to Robin and Nightwing tying up the two stray thugs. "You know," he contemplated. "We're right around the corner from that sleepover. Maybe I should just check to make sure he's ok."
"No!" The two younger heroes said at once. "He's fine B." Nightwing assured. "Besides, think of how scared one of those kids would be to wake up and see Batman looking through the window." Robin added.
"I suppose you make sense." Batman sighed. "I hope he had a good night."
