Wax Figurine | T. Drake ✔

[08]

The vigilantes were keeping Olivia under watch so the next morning when she left her house to go to the city, it did not escape their notice. They had two options from there; either they could go and check her house out in her absence and risk another landmine attack or they could follow her and find out what she was up to.

Tim chose the latter option and volunteered that he would go himself and see if she was up to anything suspicious or not. 

Olivia had first gone to the supermarket where she got the usual grocery items, nothing suspicious about that. But then she went to a drugstore, buying some bandages, ointments, painkillers and other stuff needed for someone heavily injured.

On her way out of the drugstore, she bumped into Tim.

"Watch where you're going," she remarked but paused upon seeing him.

"Sorry," he mumbled, seeing that she did have a lot to carry and was getting weighed down by the bags, "I can help you with these."

But she kept all her bags close to herself, "no thank you. Next thing I know you'll be running off with things I bought."

"I wasn't going to," he replied, trying to manage a small conversation, "I feel like I've seen you somewhere before."

"Oh have you? I haven't..." She looked at him closely, paused again because he did look somewhat familiar but then chose to ignore it, "unless you're Timberly Drake, or whatever the hell his name is."

"My name is Timothy Drake," he corrected her, feeling the same cringey sensation as she had called him by yet another awful nickname.

"Oh so wait, I was right..." Her eyes widened in recognition, "long time no see, Timmers.  Remember me, your worst nightmare?"

And with that cheerful smile, she dumped more than half of her bags on him, now certain that he wasn't going to run off with her stuff. So she might as well make use of his offer before he could take his words back.

"Hi Olivia," he staggered under the weight but straightened, "how have you been?"

"Great. How about you?" 

"The usual."

Her eyes twinkled, "the usual? The kind of usual I remember or did it change in all these years?"

"People change," he remarked vaguely, "unlike you."

"Aw come on, you haven't met me that long enough to know whether I've changed or not. You do look different though, and why did you get taller than me? Unfair."

To any onlooker, they might seem like friends who had met after a long time. But Tim and Olivia both knew that wasn't the case.

They were rivals at most, two children forced to spend a lot of time together in each other's unbearable company due to the fact that their mothers used to drop them off together too often.

But a long time had passed since then and encountering each other unexpectedly had excited Olivia. Though Tim was just as cautious as earlier because it might have been an encounter for her but he had somewhat planned that meeting.

"Who would have thought I would actually get so happy to see you," she remarked as they crossed the street together, "though I can see the same can't be said for you."

"Not really. It's good to see you're still alive."

"Oh shut it," she laughed, "there are a good many years left till you'll get the satisfaction of my death."

A very slight smile threatened to break out on his face, "why would I be satisfied with your death?"

"You tell me. Perhaps because then you will be proudly able to admit that no one exists who could excel you at everything," she remarked, recalling their childhood days.

The main reason for the rivalry between the two of them was proving that they were the best to each other. It had been a big part of all the times their mothers had left them together; the two spent it trying to show the other down.

"So where are you going?" He asked, trying not to make the question seem too abrupt.

"Nowhere important, what about you?"

"Same here. Care to join me for coffee?"

"Oh, don't tell me, you actually did grow up to be a caffeine addict?"

"If that's what you call drinking more coffee cups than an average human being, then yes," his reply was quick and made her smile.

"Maybe I could join you for a short time," she looked at her watch, assessing whether it would be fine to let Bruce be alone in her house for a bit longer than necessary, "or maybe not... Hey, leave me your number and we'll catch up someday?"

"Sure... I like this friendly you much more than what I recall from memory," he remarked, scribbling down his number on a piece of paper when she took the bags from him, waiting for the bus to arrive at the stop. 

"Friendly or not, I always liked you," she replied back but then quickly reformatted her words, "I mean I always liked teasing the hell out of you. So don't get your hopes high too soon."

"Don't do that please."

"Can't make any promises," she smiled, "see you around."

"Yeah, bye," he waited with her until the bus arrived and she got in.

When she left, his phone started ringing so he picked up the call. Not so surprisingly, it was from Stephanie.

"And here you told us you hated her?" Steph's accusatory voice hit him and he sighed, knowing exactly why she was saying that. 

With him out there trying to find out whether Olivia was keeping Bruce or not, Steph and Barbara had been watching over them from the cave.

"Steph, good morning to you too," he replied, ignoring the question, "I was just coming back and I will tell you what I found then."

"No, you are telling me right now. That seemed like a very friendly meet-up. You half made us believe she was dangerous and sending you out there to keep watch on her would be a risk in itself! And here you are, carrying her bags around as if it was just nothing... What is really going on?"

"Trust me, I am just as surprised as you are," he remarked vaguely, thinking about the way things had gone so differently from what he expected.

"Really?"

He rolled his eyes, checking the time on his watch, "really. I did not expect her to be so friendly and delighted to see me. I thought at most, she would push me in front of a bus soon as she got the chance. But maybe Richard was right, people change in that long a time. I shouldn't have been so biased by what I knew from so long ago."

"Is Bruce with her or not?"

"Seems like he is," he replied, somewhat relieved at the change of topic, "but the good news is she doesn't look like she's going to kill him in there. She brought a lot of medicines and stuff that could help him considering that he might be already injured from that... Wait, I really should talk to you later."

"Okay, then get here as quick as you can," she remarked and cut the call afterward.

Tim put his phone back in his pocket, thinking about what he should do next. Judging by how Olivia currently behaved with him, if he managed to be on good terms with her, he might be able to get to Bruce through Olivia herself.

No more landmine attacks, no more strict surveillance. Perhaps the easiest way would be to use that unexpectedly friendly behavior of hers to his advantage.

She might have been hostile to Red Robin but perhaps the case would be the opposite for Timothy Drake. He simply had to meet her again and take her into confidence, convincing her to let Bruce come back home to his family.

***