Robin one shot part 3!

5th Day of Christmas

Tim had called Dick a few times to see if he could help out on some cases aka hang out because Bruce was annoying him but when they hadn't been answered nor returned, he found himself stuck with his meddling mentor. It was odd that there was no answer considering he always picked up or called back not long after even when on patrol but he wasn't immediately worried about it. Dick was Dick and he'd return the calls when he had time. It wasn't until Barbara asked him to swing around the acrobat's place to check up on him did he seriously worry. "Why am I going?" he asked, already getting ready to set off.  

"I'm swamped with work and you owe me a favour. Besides, he'll give you good snacks as payment," she answered. Whilst she was trying to sound nonchalant, he could hear an underlying concern. She hadn't been able to get a hold of him too which meant he was either actively ignoring them or something else was going on. If she was outsourcing the work to him then it shouldn't be something awful but it was something concerning. They all knew Dick was doing his best to be fine. He got a dog, he threw himself into his work, and he was doing everything he could to keep what family they had together. He was playing the part of the big brother living on his own and fighting crime at night. That was the problem Tim supposed. He was playing the part. 

"I'll be over soon. He might've just slept in." 

The spare key to Dick's apartment came in handy when knocking on the door for ten minutes got him nowhere. He could hear Haley whining behind the door and scratching as if to open it for him. Clearly, there was something wrong so he unlocked the door only for the dog to quickly seize his pant leg and pull him. "One second, girl, I need to lock the door." She whined at him but relinquished her grip. She'd been worked up by something and he was in the right mind to think that something had to do with Dick. He locked the door quickly and then looked down at her for help. She barked and ran off into the bedroom with Tim following close behind. When they got to the bedroom, he didn't understand why she'd led him there. It wasn't messy but it wasn't clean either. No signs of struggle but also no sign of their MIA acrobat. The bed's covers looked like they'd been kicked off which wasn't too surprising. Dick was a restless sleeper so that could've happened at any point. Haley didn't give up though and continued to yip beside the closet. He frowned at her, wondering if there was a clue inside there or if maybe he was putting too much trust in this dog. Her toy could just be stuck in there and without her owner around she was making use of him. Nonetheless, he opened the door and was surprised to find Dick curled up in there. Dick seemed just as surprised to see him there. He took off his headphones and coughed awkwardly whilst Haley bit at his sleeve to pull him out. 

"Haley, did you invite a friend over?" he asked the pitbull. She let go of his sleeve for a moment to lick his hand before returning to her efforts of pulling him out. He crawled out from beneath the blanket and got to his feet, bringing the small dog with him in his arms where she licked the tear tracks on his face. He cackled softly at her before letting her down. Haley didn't wander far though, she stood beside her owner like a tiny guard dog. "So Timbo, what are you doing in my apartment?"

"What were you doing in the closet?"

"Well since you came out, there was an empty space there and I thought I'd fill it," he replied with a grin. 

"Oh please, I know you're still in there."

"Yeah, the Discowing suit made the closet transparent."

"The original Robin suit made the closet transparent." The older laughed and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. There was no coming back from being found in the closet with clear tear streaks on your face. "What were you doing in there?"