Wax Figurine | T. Drake ✔

[14]

After Bruce contacted his family at last, the Waynes were finally relieved and there was hope that things would come back to normal as Bruce would be coming back soon. But that wasn't the case with Tim; he had something else on his mind.

A few nights ago when he had been talking to Steph and stumbled upon the fact that Olivia was probably programmed to be that way, he had started research on Cadmus and their projects. Besides without going out on patrol, he had enough time on his hands to dig through all the confidential stuff he had found on Cadmus.

He had also researched why exactly were the scientists working at Project Cadmus sentenced to prison and while researching, he had come upon the sinister case of Ashlar and Gemma McArthur.

It all strengthened his assumption that their daughter Olivia wasn't just an average human being hidden from the rest of the world.

She was either a clone, a metahuman, or a genetically modified human whose records had intentionally been misplaced or not registered legally in order to keep her out of the public eye.

He had always wondered how she could be always one step ahead of him and why she was so perfect in every single task she was given. And now the answer to that question was partially formed with three possible options laid out in front of him.

The deeper he dug into her parents' charges, the more confused he became regarding what he knew about her and what he was just finding out.

He didn't remember much about Olivia's Dad but recalled Gemma McArthur to be a very kind and loving person. He also remembered that despite his rivalry with Olivia, he had respected Gemma back then. She was somewhat of a mother figure to him too.

But seeing her name along with her husband's tied to illegal experimentation on humans that had ended up in many deaths made him question everything he recalled.

While searching deeper, he found some evidence in photos of their base, and seeing those pictures, he stilled as it shocked him to the very core.

He had been there too. 

He didn't recall it clearly but those blank white walls and long corridors weren't what he was seeing for the first time in those photographs.

He had seen it all firsthand and not just once but several times.

For some reason, he had forgotten all about it until he had seen those photographs just then which in itself was quite odd. Tim had an eidetic memory which had helped him recall but he knew that he wasn't able to recall those times as clearly as he normally should have.

It was almost as if something was intentionally blocking his access to those memories. And whether or not he liked to accept, the answers to all his questions lay with Olivia McArthur.

Somewhat frustrated at not finding the answers himself and being tired as well, he rested his head on his crossed arms at the desk, closing his eyes for a few minutes to clear his head. But as he closed his eyes, not long had passed when a snippet of his memories from years ago flickered within.

Olivia's features came in front of his eyes, not like how she was right then but a younger version of her back when he had first met her. Her wide dark eyes were staring at him with a very blank expression and she looked so emotionless that it unnerved him. He had held his hand out toward her and after a while she took it.

But he didn't recall much of that memory as everything faded into grey, restricting him to see what had happened next.

***

Ever since Bruce had talked to his family and realized that they needed him to be with them, he had decided to go back. He had to tell Olivia as well and surprisingly,  the girl's face fell upon hearing that.

It seemed as if she was going to miss not having him around either. She seemed to have become accustomed to his presence and perhaps she wasn't ready to let him go.

That fear of losing people who came close to her was what held her back, reminding her that people only came into her life for them to leave her on her own afterward. It had happened before with her parents, with her best friend and now Bruce too had to leave. 

"I could adopt you," he offered because, in those few days, he too had started to care for that weird girl who had helped him out in one of the worst times he had been through.

"Touching," a smile broke out on her face though she didn't accept the offer, "but no thanks. I would rather die than be labeled as Timberly's adoptive sister. That won't do."

"Then what did you think of as compensation? You mentioned that you had thought of something earlier."

She paused but then shrugged nonchalantly, "you want me to be honest? I didn't think much."

"But there must be something."

She considered, taking some time to think it over then replied, "I want to go to high school, not like the entire high school course because I do know all that stuff very well and will probably ace the subjects already. I just want to go there for senior year and attend a proper convocation ceremony. That's all."

"Consider it done," he didn't even pause to think as he replied.

"Really?"

He nodded, "Tim is in senior year, you can join his class."

"Wait, no. Not Tim again..." She didn't look too pleased with the idea of Tim and her sharing the same class.

"Do you or do you not want to go to high school?"

She paused, "I do... I guess I will have to tolerate him then."

"He's a good kid," he remarked, "I don't understand what you have against him."

"Oh, just something like what you have against the Joker... Well, probably not that serious since we are not playing vigilantes and villains right now, at least not yet. But yeah, we have had a full-on rivalry going among us ever since we first met. That still hasn't changed."

"Then join him in senior year and excel him there too," he suggested, "wouldn't you want to do that?"

"Oooh," she paused, considering the offer, "ya know, Bruce, you understand me so well by now that it's scary. But of course, that would be fun, I'm in."

"Then that's settled. I will meet the Headmaster and make all the necessary arrangements for you."

A radiant smile lit up her face, "thanks a bunch."

She stayed there only for a fleeting second before she skipped off happily to tell Vanya that she would be crossing off one thing on her bucket list very soon.

Bruce sometimes felt bad for the girl who had been so isolated from the world. He wanted to do something for her in return for all the help she had been to him. So that was why he had asked her what she wanted.

He truly hadn't been expecting her to say that she wanted to go to high school. But perhaps that was what she wanted most; having a normal experience of high school along with teens her own age. Perhaps it was for the best and as she would interact with people her own age and make friends, it might reduce her loneliness.

He could have adopted her and it looked like she wouldn't have minded if not for the fact that she would then have to tolerate Tim more than usual. For some reason, she couldn't stand Timothy Drake for any longer than a few hours, and the same was the case with Tim.

But sometimes he couldn't help but think that there was something more than just childhood rivalry between the two. There was a connection between them that he was failing to see just yet.

***