<Hazel's>
Knocking. Knocking is what woke me up. Why? Well, ask the very tired looking Tim Drake standing in front of me.
"Sorry to wake you... I figured I should tell you now and then get sleep." He says, the dark bags under his eyes practically growing by the minute, "Jason left again on patrol so he wanted you to stay with me and not Demon Spawn. Can't imagine why." He huffs sarcastically.
I frown as I repeat what he said, "Jason left again? On patrol?"
"Yup." He nods and then looks to the side from a few seconds, his face getting slightly red, "Are you anxious?"
"Considering that I just took a bullet out of him; yes, yes I am." I admit, crossing my arms over my chest. His uncomfortable state makes me uncomfortable I realize as I shift my weight to my left hip.
"Mind telling me why I have to hug you?" He murmurs awkwardly.
"What?" I question, my eyebrows drawing together in confusion.
"Jason told me to give you a hug if you were feeling anxious. I tried to ask him why, but all he said was it would calm you down. Is there a reason it's hugs or..." He trails off before adding in a slightly panicked voice,"Do you need a hug, now? I can call Dick, but I don't know how Brooke will take it."
"No, I'm fine." I stop his rambling and say, "Why don't you get some sleep? I won't do anything until you have had at least a few hours of sleep." He opens his mouth to say something, but I cut him off with, "I promise. Now, go."
He huffs, but doesn't say no as he turns and walks back to his room, his face still a light shade of red.
I slowly shut the door, a slight creak sounding out, giving away its older age.
Well, I guess that explains the hugging last night; he was trying to get me to calm down. I don't even know how he knew it would help, but I guess it did work. At least my heart rate went down.
But this also makes me upset, because he knows that I am going to freak out and he still goes without telling me what's happening. Why can't he just stay here and explain what happened yesterday instead of getting into more danger?
I sigh and lay back down, also needing more sleep myself. But I doubt I will be able to get any, now. Not with a certain raven-haired boy running around Gotham like he is invincible.
~<~>~
Once again; knocking. Not like I could be woken up though. I couldn't even get a minute's worth of sleep. Why? Because I am very worried that Jason is going to think he is invincible and then find out he isn't in the worst way possible.
"Hazel! I am ready for whatever you want to do. Who knew naps could give you bursts of energy?" He says, his fists still drumming against the door.
"Tim, hold on!" I shout over the noise as I quickly get changed.
When I finally open the door, his hands freeze and finally stop knocking.
"What do you want to do?" He questions noticing my clothing.
"We should go out! It's been forever since I've walked around in Gotham." I smile innocently, hoping that he won't shut down the idea.
"You're a missing and wanted person." He deadpans, his eyes looking dully at me as if he were realizing that this job was going to be harder than he thought.
"I could wear sunglasses." My hands clasp behind my back as I continue, "Come on, its one trip into town. And I'm technically not a missing person anymore; my dad kind of has a vague idea of where I am..." I trail off as his eyes sharpen into a slight glare.
"You realize that Black Mask can send anyone as soon as he knows where you are?"
"Well...yes." I say slowly, "But what if he didn't know who I was? Come on; out of everything you guys have, you don't have a proper wig and colored contacts?"
"We do. I still don't think it's a good idea." He mutters while biting his lip.
"You will be with me. And you're basically a very very qualified body guard." I nod vigorously as if to prove my own point. "Besides,-" I continue, "- it's just a coffee shop."
"Coffee?" He questions, a perplex look on his face.
"Yeah..." I trail off awkwardly.
"Grab a coat." Is all he says before he turns and starts walking.
A grin breaks out on my face as I quickly grab one of the coats Jason technically stole from my house and start running after him and down to the Batcave.
~<~>~
The familiar chime rings out through the small coffee shop as we open the door. The smells of hot chocolate, black coffee and pastries greet us as we step inside.
"You can sit anywhere you would like."
My head snaps to the eyes of Katie, who I don't think as ever looked more out of it than now. Her eyes had dull dark bags underneath her eyes and her hair was a slight mess of tangles.
For a split second I think she recognizes me, but then she simply turns away and starts walking to the back.
"Who was that?" Tim asks as he clears his throat. He must have seen the weird encounter.
"She is my friend, Katie." I say as I stare at the door separating the workers from the costumers. My feet start moving toward my old table out of habit, but I don't stop until I am sitting and staring at Tim from across the table.
I look out of the window and into the familiar street, a slight pained look on my face as I do so. "I visited here the day I went missing. I actually came here twice."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"Can I take your ord-" She cuts off as she looks at me, her pen clanging onto the floor. She stares at me fore a few more moments before she looks down and shakes her head. "I'm sorry. You just look a lot like someone I know. This was her favorite spot; she came in here everyday."
I only nod, not sure of what to say exactly. I really want to tell her. So bad. I meant I know I can trust her; Katie can't even remember my middle name, let alone know my true last name.
Tim clears his throaty for the second time and says, "Umm, I will have black coffee."
Katie's eyes perk up as she writes down the order, "No sugar or cream?" Tim shakes his head, only making her more excited, "Not a lot of teens like it like that."
Tim does really know how to react to this so he just nods in agreement.
"And you?" She looks back to me.
"Hot chocolate, please." I smile slightly as her eyes widen at my response.
"No freaking way that this is a coincidence." She mutters, "Move over and explain yourself, young lady."
"I'm older than you-"
"Not the point." She deadpans as she cuts me off. She stares into my new blue colored eyes before picking up a small stripe of the long blond hair that I am now donning. "I swear, if this is a prank I will pour that hot chocolate straight down your shirt, do you hear me?"
I laugh slightly, "Geez, could you let it at least cool down first?"
She practically tackles me in a hug, nearly knocking me into the wall in the process, "Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh!" She pulls away and points across the table to Tim, "Is this the sicko who kidnapped you!?" She was practically already on the table ready to pounce on him.
"What?!" Tim shrieked, "No! I just wanted coffee." He mutters miserably as he rubs his face and continues,"I'm in so much trouble."
Katie slowly sat back down before turning to me, "Where on earth have you been?"
"I can't say." I mutter realizing how much of a mess I just made. "Listen, you can't tell anyone that you saw me. And this has nothing to do with him." I nod towards Tim, "He just happened to be in the neighborhood and offered to be a part of my cover up. He doesn't even know who I am."
"Oh, dang." Katie mutters, her facial expression giving way just how blown away she really is. "Ok. I won't tell a soul. But we need to talk about something important." She says, her eyes locking with mine.
"Yes?"
"You still don't like coffee?!" She says in disbelief.
I start laughing before I can stop myself, "Well-"
"You don't like coffee?" Tim, who was sitting across from us in a slight haze, suddenly snaps up.
"I know right?" Katie agrees, "It's just not normal."
"Ok, well I'm clearly no longer normal
so." I defend as I pout slightly at their sudden team up.
"Still." Tim says, his eyes looking so confused as to how I couldn't like a drink he literally lives off of.
"Can you just go get my hot chocolate and stop judging me?"I mutter, my arms crossing over my chest.
"Geez. You go missing for weeks and you come back with all of these demands as if I'm a waitress or something like that." Katie huffs with a small wink before getting up and running to the back.
"She seems nice." Tim says, his eyes still on the spot where she disappeared to before he looks back to me, "This wasn't planned right?"
"No. I didn't know she would be working today." I admit, "She usually only works afternoons and has the weekends off."
"Right." He says as his eyes cut back to her, "And she won't say anything? And not about me right?"
"She won't." I nod in confirmation, but doubts start crawling into my mind causing me to stand and start walking towards her.
Her face brights as I come closer, "You want anything else?"
"No. But I need you to promise you won't say anything to anyone. Not even my dad. Or the police. It would make things worse for me." I whisper in a low tone. Her face changes to worry causing me to add, "Don't worry. I have a plan and I am safe where I am. I just need you to keep quiet so no one knows where to find me."
"I promise that I won't say a word. I trust you and if you say it's dangerous, then it is. After all, you were the only person who ever said Gotham was beautiful in its own way. If you believe it's too dangerous then it's more dangerous than that." She smiles warmly before pulling me into a tight hug.
"Thank you." I smile even though she can't see me as I hug her back just as tight.
"Don't worry. Just please put this plan of yours in motion before I go mentally insane worrying about you." She says as she pulls away and turns to pick up the two mugs behind her.
"Actually... could I get those to go?" I say before she even has time to turn around. "And could I add on to my order?"
She gives me a puzzled look but decides against asking.
I turn and wave Tim over, realizing just how much of a good idea it was for him to wear his shaded glasses. I could barely recognize him without his blue eyes.
"What other drinks do we need?" I question when he is close enough to hear. He immediately understands what I mean and starts telling her the lengthy order.
She nods as she scribbles down every word he says before turning and starting on the drinks.
"Two teas?" I question as he turns towards me.
"Damian and Alfred." He says in a whisper in case she can still hear us, but I seriously doubt it considering that she is humming along to Angel With a Shotgun, which was playing through the café.
"And the black coffee is Bruce." I whisper back.
"Yes. And Dick and Brooke are at the manor too. Brooke likes her coffee slightly stronger than Dick does. They had the cream and sugar add-ins." He explains.
"And Jason?"
"He doesn't really come around much. Sometimes he comes and goes in the middle of the night. But each time he does stay for breakfast, he drinks practically anything you sit in front of him. I ordered him a hot chocolate." He says sheepishly admitting that he doesn't really know Jason's preferred drink.
"If he doesn't like it then we can just make him coffee at the manor." I smile encouragingly at him.
He smiles, but it fades as he says, "Crap, was Barbara coming today? Maybe I should get her something in case." He says already scanning the menu hanging above our heads.
"You need to add something else?" Katie says, amusingly as she looks at him.
His hand flies to the back of his neck as he rubs it and lets out a small laughs, "Yeah. Sorry."
"It's not a problem." She says smiling as she starts setting up the other drinks in front of us.
Tim orders the last drink and quickly tries to pay.
"It's on the house." Katie says stopping him.
"No, put it on my tab. That is when I am not considered a missing person." I smile sheepishly.
"No, it's on me. You just figure out this crazy situation and get back to your regular visits." Katie says smiling before she shoos us out the door.
Tim attempts to argue with her, only causing her to grab him by his shoulders, physically turn him and push him in the direction of the exit. Surprisingly, due to him being caught off guard, Katie manages to make him move several steps before he catches himself.
"Bye, Katie." I smile at her before giving her one last hug and then I follow Tim out the door with four drinks in each of our hands.
Tim somehow managed not to spill a drop from any of them despite his slight tumble. I wouldn't be surprised if Bruce trained them to do that too. I wonder what else he trains them to do. Like can they clean the house at an unnatural rate?
I shake my head and scoff silently to myself; Alfred would never let them do that. He is too proud of his job to.
"She was slightly forceful." Tim mutters glancing back at the coffee shop, "I will pay it anonymously."
"Don't worry, I've got it covered as soon as I'm not undercover." I smile slightly at my own pun, which only makes Tim groan.
"Where on earth did Jason find you?"
"A couple of streets over actually." I say as I climb into the car that Alfred drove us here in.
Tim freezes, "And you thought it was a good idea to come back?"
"By a couple I mean like ten." I attempt to defend myself. In all honestly, it wasn't the place that got me into trouble, it was the bar that I attempted to spy on that did.
"Still-"
"I don't believe that the same goons will still be around." Alfred says, trying to help me.
I have to agree with Alfred; I don't think any of the goons from that night are still after me. Jason made that pretty impossible I remember with a slight shudder.
I can practically feel the rough hands wrapped around my body, holding me back as I try to free myself. I can see the red and hear the ringing from each ricochet that hits it target and the thud that follows after.
"Do you think Jason will be back?" I question, trying to think about anything else but what he did that night.
"I am not sure, Miss Hazel." Alfred admits, "Master Jason is a complex person I am afraid. He will not come back until he has cooled down."
I nod absentmindedly as my head rests against the frame of the rental car that we are using. Apparently they have a spare that they only use in emergencies and to Tim, coffee is an emergency.
"Wake me up when we get there, please." I say before shutting my eyes. I don't actually sleep though; I can't. Now that I have started to think about that night, I can't get it out of my head.
When will I ever learn?
-/-/-/-
A/n:
I am alive and fighting guys. School started and it sucks sooooo much.
I hope you liked this chapter tho
Questions:
What do you think Hazel means at the end?
What do you think will happen next?
What do you hope will happen next?
Share, comment and vote!!!!