Milk And Cardamom | S. Brown ✔

[49]

Dora was about to call Stephanie when the door to her bedroom opened and the blonde haired girl stepped in. Dora reached out towards her immediately, eyes full of worry as she asked, "Steph, where's Tim?"

"Sit down," she made her sit down on the bed, sitting beside her and spoke up, "first, you will have to answer my questions. Please."

She reluctantly agreed because she wanted to know where Tim was and only Steph could tell her so she didn't have another option.

"What do you know about Tim? Why do you think he's in danger?"

"Because he is! Because he went after Deathstroke..." Conflicted brown eyes connected with her clear green, "if you think I don't know you all are vigilantes, then you're wrong."

Steph froze, "you know... How? Did Tim tell you?"

"I found out by myself," she replied, "remember when Tim had broken his jaw on patrol? He had turned up at our shop and I had given him first aid. I told him that night that I knew and he denied it but he couldn't prove me wrong because I had to remove his cowl to treat the wound."

"How long have you known?"

"Ever since we started dating. It wasn't that hard to figure out since both Tim and Red Robin had a similar helpless addiction to caffeine."

Steph knew Dora was very observant so it was quite expected of her to connect the dots and figure out the truth by herself. But the surprising aspect was how she had managed to not let them get suspicious about the fact that she knew their secret.

"I promised Tim to not let his secret out to anyone, not even to Alex. I would never have told you either, Steph, but you're not telling me what happened to him and I had no choice..."

Stephanie nodded, taking her hands in her own in a gentle grip, "Dora, promise me you won't freak out."

"I promise," though she had braced herself to listen to the worst.

"He went to Deathstroke's hideout all by himself," her voice was low, "he did ask Rose for help and together they got Luke out but... But the hideout exploded and he didn't make it out in time."

Dora's already pale features turned deathly white, "what...?"

"Look at me please," she cupped her face, realizing that the girl was one second away from a panic attack, "that doesn't mean he's no more. We haven't found a trace of him yet but there's a high chance he survived. He always does..."

"But... But you don't know for certain?"

Steph's fingers gently wiped the tears that streaked down Dora's cheeks, "no. But we tracked Deathstroke out and right now Dick, Jason and Damian have gone after him. They might find Tim as well. I hope they do."

Dora let Steph engulf her in a reassuring hug, her hands holding her close and her soft voice asking her to calm down.

"Please Dora, you have to be strong for yourself," she mumbled soothingly, "Tim will be back very soon and he wouldn't want to see you in so much trouble. You've deteriorated your health by worrying too much."

She did not reply but held on to her tightly, her questions had been answered but the uncertainty of Tim's survival was still weighing her down.

"I hope he's alright," she spoke up at last, voice breaking slightly, "I can't bear to lose him, Steph."

"I know. And you won't lose him, trust me." Though Steph had managed her tone to be strong for she did not want Dora to break down again, deep down even she was just as scared as Dora was for Tim.