The Archer | T.D. ✔

Chapter Thirty-Two

"So what's the plan, Rory?" Tim crossed his arms as he leaned back against the chair stationed at the bat computer as he watched his girlfriend type away on the keyboard. They were so close to cracking the Penguin case, but they were missing a few key components that made it all fit together.

What they knew was that Cobblepott was storing toxic waste for Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, and where Harley was involved more often than not so was the Joker. But why was Cobblepott storing it, and what were Ivy and Quinn giving him in return? Hiding things from Batman was not an easy task, so he would have made her pay up big time.

Rory was scanning through the footage from patrol the night before when they had a run-in with some fo Cobblepotts men. They had managed to tie up a few of them and keep them conscious but what neither Rory nor Tim knew was the Cobblepott had equipped them with cyanide pills hidden in fake teeth. With those three men willing to kill themselves, Rory and Tim searched the other few and pulled out the fake tooth before they could wake and kill themselves too.

Whatever Penguin was doing, it was nothing good if he had his men willing to kill themselves to keep it hidden. 

Her eyes watched the screen intently, not hearing what Tim had said. She was frustrated, the case wasn't going where they wanted and Rory was just having a lot of off days lately. It was the fifth or sixth time she watched through the footage before she finally had enough. With a cry of anger, Rory hit the desk with her fists making items fall off from the sudden force of her hands.

Tim jumped a little at her action and got up, placing his hands on her shoulders. He could see how irritated it had made her, and he wanted to help ease her frustration but everything he tried had only made it worse. It wasn't Tim's fault Rory was angry, and she hated it when she would snap at him. She knew that he was trying to help, but sometimes you just needed to punch something and scream at the top of your lungs.

"Rory, why don't you get something to eat and give your eyes a break? Once you are done, you can come back with a fresh pair of eyes and we can keep looking okay?" he said, moving to rub her shoulders. Tim felt her shoulders relax under his touch slowly, but she was still tense.

"How are you so calm?" she asked softly, leaning into his touch. 

Tim chuckled and kissed her cheek. "One of us has to be, speaking of that though have you been feeling any better?" 

Rory shook her head, "No, if anything I want to punch things even more." Rory had no idea why she was so angry, when she was with the Outlaws a couple of weeks ago she was fine. It's been since she came back that Rory has just felt off about everything. With a sigh, she pulled out of Tim's hold and turned to look at him.

"Maybe I am just really hungry, I'll go grab something. Do you want me to bring you back anything?" she asked, looking at him.

Tim watched her with close eyes, something was definitely off with Rory. "A cup of coffee and a bagel if you could," he said softly and placed a kiss on her forehead. Rory smiled softly and turned to go up the stairs and headed for the kitchen.

On her way up she passes both Stephanie and Cassandra, Barbara was at the Police Station with her dad and was going to stay with him for the weekend. They waved at her, Rory only giving them a half-hearted wave. As she passed, the two of them gave each other a look. That wasn't their Rory, and they were starting to get worried as well.

Jason watched as Rory walked into the kitchen and made herself a sandwich, not saying a word. He and Tim were the first to notice that something was wrong with Rory, the two of them were the closest to her. She hadn't picked on him in a couple of days, and Jason wasn't willing to admit it but he kind of missed her doing it.