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Dec. 28th, 2018 10:11 pmAfter the disaster of a mission that got one kid shot in the shoulder and put Dodge in some kind of tech coma, Tim just - splits. Packs a bag and sneaks out of town while Bruce is giving him some space to deal with the guilt. He's honestly not sure where he's going at first, just away, but then he remembers the new Blue Beetle in El Paso, Texas that's been sending out SOSes and warnings about the Reach. Bruce, being Bruce, was already suspicious of a seemingly-benevolent alien race showing up to spread peace on earth and goodwill toward men, but also being Bruce, he didn't actually tell the new Blue Beetle that. Which just - it sucks. It's not fair to make the guy feel like he's fighting this on his own. And, well, El Paso, Texas is as good a destination as any.
He gets as far as the Reyes' garage when it occurs to him that he has no idea what he's going to do here. It's not like he can walk up as himself and say hi, I'm Robin, I just wanted to let you know that Batman has your back. Jaime might be a good guy, but that doesn't mean Tim can just blow The Secret to him. But Tim Drake-Wayne has no reason to be here if Robin isn't going to deliver a message, which means - it means he shouldn't be here. He should turn on his heel and book a flight back to Gotham and face the consequences of his actions, but just the thought of that makes his chest feel tight because he can't, he can't be there right now, he can't be in the city where so many people have gotten hurt or killed and it's his fault and he doesn't know how he's supposed to keep waking up in the morning with that on his conscience.
So instead, he keeps walking, and he walks right up to the open door on Reyes Gas and Service. He recognizes Jaime from the file Batman has on the Blue Beetle but not the other teenager with him. He's been vaguely aware of two different voices while walking up, but he wasn't paying close enough attention to what was being said except for the part he literally walks in on: I wish I could meet a cute girl who would be okay with all the weird.
It's absolutely not his cue, but he takes it, anyway. "Uh, hi. Bad time?"
He gets as far as the Reyes' garage when it occurs to him that he has no idea what he's going to do here. It's not like he can walk up as himself and say hi, I'm Robin, I just wanted to let you know that Batman has your back. Jaime might be a good guy, but that doesn't mean Tim can just blow The Secret to him. But Tim Drake-Wayne has no reason to be here if Robin isn't going to deliver a message, which means - it means he shouldn't be here. He should turn on his heel and book a flight back to Gotham and face the consequences of his actions, but just the thought of that makes his chest feel tight because he can't, he can't be there right now, he can't be in the city where so many people have gotten hurt or killed and it's his fault and he doesn't know how he's supposed to keep waking up in the morning with that on his conscience.
So instead, he keeps walking, and he walks right up to the open door on Reyes Gas and Service. He recognizes Jaime from the file Batman has on the Blue Beetle but not the other teenager with him. He's been vaguely aware of two different voices while walking up, but he wasn't paying close enough attention to what was being said except for the part he literally walks in on: I wish I could meet a cute girl who would be okay with all the weird.
It's absolutely not his cue, but he takes it, anyway. "Uh, hi. Bad time?"
