Blood's Ink [Tim Drake love story]

Chapter 16

•Saturday, March 14th•

"I got the popcorn and the chips... and the soda," I say walking into my room setting down the snacks as Jessica sat at my desk with a raised brow

"What, I'm hungry," I say eating some popcorn

"And I get cranky when I'm hungry" I add with a smirk

"Ok so I found two newspaper articles on him but neither got me any closer," Jessica says clearly stressed out

"Hey we'll find him... why don't we take a little break, I mean, we've been doing this for hours," I suggest

"Ok fine but I'm picking the Netflix show this time," Jessica said plopping down on the bed and taking the remote

"Alright," I say with a smile and sit next to her

- - - - -

"I'm going to go to bed but could you read through the articles in case I missed something?" Jessica questioned with a yawn

"Sure, night," I say as she leaves my room closing the door

       I turn on the news for background noise to help me concentrate as I read through the articles about Robin and Batman.

"Folks we have here the annual Wayne Gala tonight and hopefully we'll get a few words from the billionaire-playboy, Bruce Wayne, himself." The news anchor said in fake excitement

'Maybe Tim will be on tv...' I think allowing myself to glance at the tv before going back to the articles

       I spot a blurry picture of Robin on a rooftop in the article and decided to pull up the digital copy of the article to see if I can't focus the picture better.

"Everyone amazing tonight, Jack. I gotta tell you I've never felt so poor before." the anchor jokes

"Oh and look there is Bruce Wayne's ward, Tim Drake, my does he clean up nice." the anchorwoman said with a smirk

'Ew, you're like twice his age Kelly.' I think disgustedly to the news anchor

       My disgust was soon replaced with a smile as I see Tim walking down the stairs looking so calm while his house was swarmed with people he's never met but just like before my expression changed once more when I noticed his hand. He had a dark bruise across his knuckles like he had punched something or something.

       I zoom into the picture to make sure my vision wasn't playing tricks on me. The closer it got the more I noticed. I noticed and a small amount of what looked like debris on his collar bone and a small cut in his hairline.

'That can't be from just engineering...' I think to myself as I hear a ding mining the picture of Robin was fully cleared now and rush to grab it

       Robin stood with his chest puffed out and a hint of a smirk on his face as he looked over the city. His black glossy hair pushed back in the wind. Nothing out of ordinary, nothing to connect him with anyone we know.

       I set the paper down and sigh. I've been up for a few hours and thought I was getting closer to figuring out who he is but I guess I was wrong. Until I noticed a small reddish line in Robin's hairline.

       At first, I thought it was just a flook or a piece of hair but then I looked closely. It was a small cut and it was in the same spot as Tim's.

'Tim is- Robin is- - Tim is Robin' I think stunned dropping the paper as I stare blankly outside the window

"That means all those times... The book store... the alley when I first got here, it was him. It was from Tim." I whisper to myself trying to process all the information

"Jessica can't know about this who knows what she'd say if she found out and to who," I mumble to myself

       Yes, Jessica and I have become friends but in the time that I've known Jessica, she can be very emotional and irrational. Since she and Tim aren't exactly pals who know what she says if he somehow upset her. I can't risk Tim's identity like that.

       I grab the articles and picture and throw them in the fireplace and then delete the digital article from the browsing history so Jessica couldn't stumble upon it.

'I can't believe I was so selfish as to put Tim's life and identity at risk just to easy a small craving of mine.' I think with guilt

'God, what is he going to think?' I wonder in horror imagining Tim telling me how horrible of a person I am for sticking my nose where it doesn't belong

"At least the evidence is gone so no one else can find out" I whisper with a sigh of relief

~~