turned tables [closed]

[battorch]

Not terribly surprisingly, Red Robin was out of his proverbial hideout for the time being-- there was plenty of work to be done elsewhere, after all.

But the basement of the otherwise unimpressive building was still out of the ordinary, even when not occupied by the vigilante that had arranged it. A lot of equipment was down there, along with supplies-- enough so that he could easily work on whatever needed to be done, outside of his actual work places. There was a cot in the corner, but it was covered by a few spare parts. It was the perfect place for him to work on whatever he needed to.

Comments

BENDIED LIEKWHOA

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"What's this here?" Howard turns over the parts on the bed, trying to decide what they are and coming up short. He tosses them aside and continues rooting - from the size of the clothing here, he's fairly sure he's found his Red Robin.

And there. Jackpot. Howard opens a drawer and finds the trademark cowl.

Highly satisfied, he folds it up and takes a seat on the bed. He's patient. He can wait.

HOORAY

[drakewayne]

Tim realised, actually, that someone had made their way into his abode-- the problem, however, was that he was apparently a bit too tired to notice the signs early enough.

So when he was on his way down the stairs into the basement and he realises someone is there with him, the most he can do is duck into the shadows, curse internally, and hope he hadn't been seen while he figured out the best way to get out of this.

Re: HOORAY

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"I see you." Howard sounds totally casual about crushing Tim's hopes of safety and anonymity. He flips the cowl into the air and catches it. "So, how's it feel?"

[drakewayne]

There's a drawn out silence while Tim avoids cursing. He doesn't know that Howard has figured out who it is yet-- he knows he's there, but...

Maybe he can still get out of this unscathed. Move shop.

"How's what feel?" he asks, voice low, more Red Robin than Tim. He won't grant him any validation by saying anything aloud.

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"How's it feel to have someone trespass on your turf and violate your sense of safety?" Howard's voice is icy. "Tim."

Because as much as he wants to gloat, there was a little part of him that wanted to trust Tim, that held Tim up as the kid who was kind to him while he was freaking out. And instead Tim's just another liar.

[drakewayne]

For a moment, he's silent, remaining steady even when Howard speaks his name. So much for that. And he recognises that tone-- remembers ones like it, and what goes along with it.

"It's never been about my safety," he replies, voice perfectly calm. But he steps out into the open. He's not going to hide himself, or the situation, from Howard.

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"So what's it about? Your ego? Having a nice safe public face to retreat to so you don't have to face consequences for terrorizing me? Because that's what it looks like." He clutches the cowl in his hand, crumpling it.

[drakewayne]

"It's about efficiency," he says flatly. "And keeping other people safe. That's the way I've always operated. Nothing was ever about terrorizing you or avoiding blame. Tim Drake and Red Robin operate on different levels."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"No, it's about fear. It's always about fear." Howard's mood is deteriorating the more Tim argues with him. "What are you going to do if I take your little multiple personality disorder public?"

He pulls his omnicomm out of his pocket and holds it.