[Fic] East of the Sun, 10/11 (Tim/Kon/Cissie)
Title: East of the Sun 10/11
Authors: lady-sarai and zoe-chan
Fandom: DC Comics
Characters: Tim Drake/Kon-El (Conner Kent)/Cissie King-Jones
Rating: PG
Word Count: 20,600... give or take.
Summary: Kon and Cissie learn that Tim has set off on a crazy solo mission to find Bruce--despite the fact that the whole world thinks Batman is dead. They set out to find him, but when they do, he is not as eager to see them as they had expected. They decide to tag along with him--to keep him grounded, and because they think he needs their help. Along the way, the three grow closer and become tied together in unexpected ways.
Authors' Note: Written for polybigbang, which was so fun. Canon-wise, this draws on events from Red Robin 1-3, but because it was started and plotted back in June, it turns AU before the end of Red Robin 3. It is entirely AU from Adventure Comics, sadly, as that did not come out until August. Our dear beta, xenokattz, managed to read and understand it without knowing recent canon, though. Because she is that awesome.
~*~
Accra, Ghana
October 12
Kon was tired. No--exhausted. Stopping a tsunami was hard work--even for Superman, if he were around--and Kon wasn't Superman. He was a pretty awesome Superboy, but he wasn't Clark. Usually he was okay with that, but then--usually he wasn't stopping a tsunami from wiping out Hawaii.
Hey, Nightwing and Flamebird couldn't be everywhere at once, right? Besides, Hawaii was definitely Superboy's territory.
But that didn't mean he was any less wiped by the time he flew back to Ghana.
He yawned as he let himself into the hotel room, and then stopped, blinking a little in surprise at the scene that presented itself to him. After all of the arguing and reasoning it had taken for Tim to agree to share the room's single bed with them, he had kind of expected to see him and Cissie curled tightly on opposite sides of the bed.
He hadn't expected to see them... snuggling.
He watched them quietly for a few moments. He thought he should probably feel weirder seeing his girlfriend asleep with her head on his best friend's shoulder, the way she slept with him most nights, but... he didn't. It was... almost cute, and kind of natural, and it seemed to fit together with the little pieces of their lives that should have made him stop to think, but never had.
How Tim hated having his personal space invaded, but tolerated--and even invited--that from Cissie and him.
How none of them were ever really relaxed until they were all home--or as close as it got these days. Even when Tim was trying to give them couple-time, or Cissie was trying to give them guy-time. It just wasn't... right until whoever had left came back.
And the looks, and... it was never anything obvious, or Kon thought he probably would have picked up on it sooner. As it was, he thought the great detective should have picked up on something, but Tim had the emotional intelligence of a tuna sandwich. Not that it was his fault--he'd been half-raised by Batman. There was bound to be some damage there.
He continued to eye them thoughtfully as he got ready for sleep. He slid into the bed on Cissie's other side and cuddled up behind her, putting an arm around her waist, just underneath Tim's. A little weird, but... comfortably weird. Huh. He yawned and pressed his nose into Cissie's hair, breathing in the smell of her and her shampoo as he drifted off to sleep.
Which lasted about two minutes, until Tim's cell phone rang. Kon groaned as Tim carefully extricated himself from the snuggle-pile on the bed and crossed the room to pick up the ringing phone. He frowned a little when he looked at the caller ID.
"I have to take this. I'll go into the bathroom so you can sleep."
"Dude. It's three thirty in the morning. Nothing is that important. Come back to bed."
"In a minute." Tim went into the bathroom and shut the door... which did absolutely nothing to keep Kon from hearing every word of the conversation. Super hearing sucked like that sometimes.
"What do you want?"
That was not Tim's friendly voice. So sometimes super hearing wasn't so bad after all.
"Good evening, Timothy." Kon didn't recognize the voice on the other end of the line, but the list of people who could get away with calling Tim ‘Timothy' was not a long one. "It has been far too long since our last conversation."
"I seem to recall telling Z, Owens, and Pru that I didn't need backup anymore."
"You've made that clear in the welcome you've extended to the men I've sent to offer you assistance. I was under the impression that we had an agreement."
"And I was under the impression that I asked you to call your assassins off. It sounds like there's been a lot of miscommunication." Kon it back a grin. That was his "Robin is pissed off, and you'd better not mess with him" voice. Awesome.
"Which is precisely the reason for this conversation, young man. You seem to have had quite the change of heart since last we spoke."
"Last time we spoke, Ra's, I was vulnerable and alone, and you took advantage of that. I'm not alone anymore. I have help. And I'm going to keep taking down your guys if you send them after me. I don't like being followed."
It sounded like Tim had been keeping some things from them--"keep taking down your guys?" What was that all about?--but Kon couldn't help smiling against Cissie's shoulder at Tim's words anyway.
"Am I to understand you no longer wish to have access to my considerable resources?"
"I think I'm doing pretty well on my own. I may not have a worldwide network of assassins at my back, but I do all right with what I have."
"I believe you are making a serious mistake, Timothy."
"I think I'm rectifying a serious mistake, actually. Keep your people away from me and my friends, Ra's, or I'm going to make it my very personal, lifelong mission to take you down. I'm not as good as Bruce yet, but I'm getting better all the time, and some day--I will be. Or maybe better. Don't doubt that I can do it."
Kon kept his mouth shut, resisting the urge to whistle. Tim was threatening Ra's al Ghul. One of the most badass guys on the planet, and Tim was totally calm and serious about it.
"I do not doubt your particular skills," Ra's said dryly. "It is your decision to make, but know that I will not offer my resources again should you change your mind."
"Somehow, I'm just going to have to learn to live with that." Tim's tone was equally dry. "Goodbye, Ra's. Lose my number."
Kon heard the phone click shut, and briefly considered faking sleep, but decided against it. He waited until Tim left the bathroom and had put his phone away before speaking quietly. He wasn't really worried about waking Cissie--if she slept through it, he'd fill her in later. "Hey. What was that about?"
Tim shook his head a little, scrubbing his face with a hand. "Just... wrapping up some old business. Sorry about that. I know it's late."
"Nah, it's fine. Everything okay?"
He nodded. "Should be." He eyed Kon thoughtfully for a moment. "How much of it did you hear?"
"Uh..." Kon considered lying for about half a second, then smiled sheepishly. "Kind of all of it? Sorry."
"It's okay." He gave him a wry smile. "Sorry for not telling you the Ra's stuff was still happening."
"Dude, I'm just sorry I didn't get to help kick some assassin ass."
"Yeah, well, if they show up again, you're more than welcome to help."
"Thanks. You okay?"
"Yeah." Tim gave him a little smile. "I'm good."
Kon grinned and opened his mouth to say something, but Cissie stirred and gave a small groan. "Stop talking and get back in bed," she grumbled sleepily.
Tim snorted a little and shook his head. "Yes, ma'am," he murmured, amused. He climbed back into bed, settling close to the edge.
Kon rolled his eyes--that was more what he'd expected to see when he came in earlier. "You're gonna fall off the bed," he said, using his TTK to pull Tim closer.
Tim made an indignant noise. "I'm not--" His objections cut off when Cissie opened an eye to glare at him. "Stop talking, right."
"Stop talking," she agreed, snuggling back against Kon--and putting an arm around Tim. "Sleep."
Tim grinned over her head at Kon. "Demanding, isn't she?"
Kon grinned back. "Hey, it's your funeral if you don't listen to her. I'm shutting up and going to sleep," he said, pressing a kiss to Cissie's shoulder.
Tim gave him a mock-salute and closed his eyes. "'Night."
~*~
Accra, Ghana
October 14
Cissie folded the last of Kon's shirts and tucked it into his bag. Sometimes she wondered if he wasn't purposefully terrible at packing so that she would just do it for him. She glanced at the clock, frowning. Kon should be back any minute, but she didn't know how long Tim would be. It couldn't be easy to arrange passage from Ghana to Mongolia for three people on such short notice. She was more than ready to leave the humid fall rainy season behind them, but she wasn't looking forward to the snow that might be waiting for them. Cissie put her hands on her hips and regarded her bag thoughtfully, debating whether or not to drag out a heavier sweater for the trip.
There was a sound at the door, and Kon let himself in, a bag of bagels held triumphantly in front of him. "Victory!" he crowed. "I, the manly hunter, have stalked and killed our breakfast."
Cissie giggled and dramatically clasped her hands over her heart. "My hero! You're so big and strong, it makes me weak in the knees."
He grinned back at her. "Flattery will get you a bagel." He offered her the bag. "It was between these and something I couldn't pronounce, and had no idea what was in them. I thought this was the safer bet, since we'll be on a plane in a few hours."
Cissie wrinkled her nose, grabbing a bagel. "Excellent point. I'd rather not repeat what happened in Egypt."
"We said we'd never speak of that again."
She laughed and leaned over to kiss him. "I'm sorry. Pretend I didn't say it."
"There's nothing funny about explosive diarrhea," he complained, tugging her toward him so that he could put his arms around her.
She smiled and set her bagel down on her bag so she could put her arms around his shoulders. "No, there's not. Forgive me?"
"I don't know," he said, eying her thoughtfully. "I might be able to milk this for a while."
"Hmm, and I could remind you who was to blame for that particular episode."
"And yet you brought it up!" He pouted dramatically. "Reminders of intestinal distress, when I brought you this lovely breakfast, which I have gathered with my own two hands!"
Cissie laughed and stuck her tongue out at him. "Hey, I told you your bagel-hunting skills make me weak-kneed. You brought up the questionable foods."
"Hmph." He kissed the tip of her nose. "So... I had a question."
"Yeah? About what?"
"Um..." He looked a little uncertain. "I know this is going to sound a little weird, but... what do you think about Tim?"
She frowned up at him. "What do you mean?"
"Like... as a boyfriend. Um. Our boyfriend."
Cissie blinked at him. "...What?"
"I know--I know it sounds kind of weird. But... we're all kind of great for each other. I was just--I've been thinking it could work. Like--with the three of us." He shrugged a little, as though it didn't matter, but his anxiety was written all over his face as he watched her expression.
Cissie didn't pull away, but she moved her arms from around his shoulders to between them, resting her palms against his chest. She frowned. "You want to... You feel... like that? About Tim?"
He nodded slowly, a tiny frown on his face. "Yeah. I do. And... I kind of think you do, too."
She leaned back, frown deepening. "What? Why would you--I don't."
"No?" He covered her hands with his. "Ciss... It's okay. I mean... haven't you noticed how even when it's just you and me, we're both kind of waiting for Tim to show up again? Even though we know it's just going to cut short the you-and-me time?"
Cissie chewed on her lip, turning her hands over to grasp his tightly. "I... Maybe. I guess. I don't--you really think it's okay?" She looked up at him worriedly. "I love you. You know?"
"Yeah." He grinned and squeezed her hands. "Of course I know. And I love you. But I think we also love Tim, and that's okay, too. I mean, isn't the world a better place when more people love each other? And who says the magic number has to be two, anyway?"
She relaxed visibly and smiled slightly. "I guess you have a point. Maybe. ...What do you want to do now?"
"I think... we should probably talk to Tim. You know how he is." Kon grimaced. "He might take convincing."
Cissie laughed. "I think he'll need more than I did," she said wryly, making a face.
"No kidding," Kon laughed and kissed her. "Maybe we should wait until we get to Mongolia to try to fight with him, huh?"
"Hmm." She rested her head against his shoulder. "It might not be a bad idea. Spare us an unpleasant trip, at least."
"Ugh. Definitely. It's way too long a flight to deal with a cranky Tim."
"Yes," she agreed. She wrapped her arms around his chest and hugged him tightly. "When did you become the perceptive one?"
He hugged her back, kissing the top of her head. "I dunno. It's probably the super senses."
She groaned, laughing. "It must be. ...Do you think he's going to freak out about it?"
He let out a short laugh. "He's Tim. Does the sun rise in the east?"
"Point." Cissie laughed wryly and let out a slow breath. "This should be interesting."
Kon laughed. "We're superheroes. Did we expect anything different?"
Part 11: Ulan Bator, Mongolia