Eight year old Annalise Wayne or Anna, as Dick had called her that and she liked it, sat on the couch staring at Tim Drake whom her dad, Bruce, had charged with babysitting her instead of patrol. She didn't break eye contact with him as she absently scratched her chest as he sat down across from her on the other couch.
"No scratching" he said still staring at her, causing her to stick her tongue out at him.
" I know" she spat defiantly, she didn't have much interaction with Tim since he was away with the team mostly and had come back only to end up watching a chicken pox riddled little girl.
"You sure about that kiddo" he said smiling at her," Alfred left some chicken noodle soup for you" he said as he grabbed the remote and turned he'd seen her the volume up as she made to protest.
"yeah I'm not...Hey" she said looking to the screen expecting the channel to change.
Tim laughed, "you're not sure huh" he said chuckling as Anna looked back at him," and I won" he smirked at her and she threw a pillow at him with a glare. He laughed as the pillow smacked him in the chest and he tossed it to the side.
"cheater" the sick pox covered girl yelled as she pulled a blanket around herself and looked at the tv seeming to pout.
Tim studied the sick little girl knowing she could be quite clever from what he'd been told. Bruce had informed he that he'd she'd been caught sneaking out twice by him and twice by Alfred. Bruce was out on a Justice League thing, Alfred was out it was his night off, Dick was in Bludhaven and so was Jason. Damian was Tim didn't really know where he was and no one really thought he'd be very good with a sick Anna anyway, especially after the whole loose tooth debacle. So when Tim had come back to Gotham he'd been tasked with watching the young girl.
Anna sniffed and coughed as she watched the tv snuggling up in a warm blanket with a slight shiver. She absently scratched herself again with a sighed when she realized. She looked up hearing Tim move and watched him leave the room. She wondered where he was going but opted to not follow him at the moment. Instead she got up and made her way down the hall towards the bathroom noticing Tim was in the kitchen. She assumed he was heating the food Alfred had left for them and left him to it.
Tim noticed her going but thought nothing of it not really knowing the young girl. He noticed her brown hair was hanging loose about elbow length instead of in a braid or pigtails like in most of the pictures he's seen of her. He saw she was absolutely covered in red spots a lot more than he remembered having when he had chicken pox, and she just looked tired. He felt bad for the little girl but knew she'd be better with a week or so. She didn't look like the girl he was expecting to be there when he'd walked in and was told he was babysitting her since he had no plans, having just come home.
"Anna" he said as he made his way back to the living room with some chicken noodle soup with crackers and a lemon lime soda for her and a grilled cheese and a cola for him," Annalise" he called seeing she hadn't come back yet.
Curious he sat their food down on the coffee table and headed down the hall he'd seen her wander down. He figured she'd headed to the bathroom but she had been gone for awhile longer than he thought she should. As he walked along he looked into open doors as he went looking for her. After a few minutes he heard a door creak open and turned to find her standing behind him. She smiled at him," what" she asked tilting her head as she shoved her hands into her pockets.
"Come eat and I'll get the cream for you to put on so you don't itch so bad" he said smiling back and wondered what she was hiding as she pulled a hand from her pocket and scratched her arm," trust me it'll make you feel better Anna" he assured her when she simply stared at him.
"Ok whatever" she said as she turned and walked off reminding him of Damian in that moment as he followed her back towards the living room, "what were you doing" he asked simply as he watched her for any tells.
"What do you think I did I went to the bathroom" she said simply shrugging as she walked," why you wanna hold my hand next time or something" she bit out clearly irritated.
"No just curious what to you that's all" he said simply as he recognized she wasn't really irate with him but was just not feeling good and most likely tired. He was just a convenient target for her attitude," Bruce and Alfred would have my hide if anything happened to you" he said knowing it was partially true.
She stopped and turned to face him, giving him a look like he'd grown a second head or something," and what would've happened I fall in the toilet and drown" she said sarcastically staring him down.
Tim laughed and shrugged," you never know kiddo" he said smiling as she rolled her eyes.
"I was told your the smart one" she snarked and whirled around waltzing away from him like she just wanted away from him suddenly.
He chuckled as he followed easily keeping just a little ways behind her shaking his head.
"You've been hanging out with Jason too much kiddo" he said watching her shake her head in response," yeah he's been telling tales on all of us hasn't he" he said knowing she was close to the second Robin for some reason unknown to him and Dick refused to elaborate. He knew better than to ask Bruce and Alfred would tell him to ask her himself. He'd never ask Jason himself as he'd just gloat and say he was jealous of a little girls affection.
"What if he has" she asked not stopping her stride," I like his stories, lots of action and stuff" she said as she turned to face him, now walking backwards staring at him as she did so.
"Storytime with Jason and training with Dick I see" he said nodding as they walked.
"So" she said simply smiling at him and suddenly something was flying at him.
He was so surprised he didn't get a chance to react and a paperclip smacked him in the forehead followed by Anna laughing at him. He looked at her now holding a rubber band hooked around her fingers on one hand and the other plunged in her pocket likely for another paperclip. He managed to dodge the next one when she fired it at him but was promptly fired at again. He barely dodged it and she bolted. He smirked as he gave chase to her and managed to easily overtake her. He simply swiped her rubber band from her. She simply laughed and pulled out another one before shooting another clip at him. He humored her dodging her projectiles and shooting some back himself. They laughed as they shoot paper clips at each other until Anna got tired. After carrying her to the couch and reheating the food he was pelted with pieces of crackers she flicked at him with a smile.
Hours later when someone came home they found Anna wrapped up in a blanket asleep on one couch and Tim stretched out on the other asleep as well. There were paper clips and cracker crumbs all over the floor and dirty dishes were left on the coffee table.
(How many more adventures could they get up to while Anna is sick or maybe he should babysit in other instances, or maybe one of the others get the joy of watching Anna)
