Crossed Wires // By Holli

Author LJ: holli

Stephanie was mostly awake when the noises started up outside her window. She'd had sort of a rough day, and with one thing and another, she wasn't finding it easy to fall asleep.

So by the time the sill slid open, almost silently, and a hand reached in to pull up the blinds, she was entirely awake. And when a figure, silhouetted by the moonlight, slipped into her room, she sprang from the bed and caught the intruder in a running tackle, pinning him to the ground with one arm twisted up behind him.

"Ow! Steph, what are you *doing?*" Tim twisted far enough for her to see his face. The light from outside reflected off his goggles, making him look kind of spooky, but he was definitely still Tim.

"Whoops." Steph let go of his arm. "What are you sneaking in for? You could have called and said you were coming. And what're you doing in costume?"

Steph was still sitting on him, so Tim's attempt to wriggle free was pretty much futile. He glared at her. "I took the Bug here. And I-- I needed to tell you something." Steph just looked at him. He made one last, unsuccessful bid for freedom, until Steph finally took pity on him and let him up. She offered him a hand up, but he just scowled at it and go to his feet on his own. She turned on her desk lamp, so they wouldn't have to have this whole conversation in the dark.

"So what's the matter, Larva Lad?"

"I wish you wouldn't call me that. I mean, I *really* do." Tim ran a hand through his hair, which was already standing straight on end. It looked like he'd forgotten to get it cut again-- he and Ted both did that, spent so much time tinkering and squinting at computers and working on the Bug that they forgot all about such petty things as haircuts.

Steph knew she shouldn't find it half as endearing as she did, but she counted it as part of Tim's intense, nerdy, awkward charm.

Emphasis on the intense and awkward, just then-- Tim looked seriously on edge. He pulled the cowl back off his face, and Steph was surprised to see the shadows under his eyes, as though he'd spent three nights straight chasing down computer hackers again. But when he did that, he was usually more jittery, from all the caffeine, and his eyes weren't as suspiciously red-rimmed as they were now. He just looked tense, and anxious, more so than Steph could remember him being in ages.

"Seriously, Tim. What's wrong?"

"There's something-- something happened. That'll change things, for us. Um." Tim looked, somewhat desperately, at the still-open window.

So something really *was* wrong. "Did something happen to Beetle? Or Booster? They're not even supposed to leave for that mission they've got for another few days--"

Tim shook his head impatiently. "No, no, nothing like that. I mean. I talked to Ted just now; he's the one who said I should tell you."

Okay, so this was going to be one of those conversations, where Tim was oblique and frustrating, and Steph had to learn, like, Morse code and semaphore to follow him. "So, something happened to you that'll change things, and Beetle thought I should be the first one to know." Steph felt a little nervous, suddenly, too aware of her elderly pajamas: a pair of flannel pants with ragged edges, and a T-shirt with the neck cut out that said I WENT TO KOOEY KOOEY KOOEY AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY SHIRT.

Which was silly, of course. Tim had seen her in all kinds of situations, most of them a lot more ridiculous than this one. He was her best friend; he was the Blue Beetle's sidekick, and she was Booster Gold's sidekick, and they both knew each other well enough to not have to stare at the walls behind each other's heads, trying to avoid making eye contact.

And just like that, like the Lego model of the old League satellite she and Tim had built when they were fourteen, the last piece clicked into place, and Steph crossed her tiny room in two steps-- thanking her lucky stars that the Elias School had single rooms, because even a roommate like Cissie or Traya would make things difficult, right about now-- and she wrapped her arms around the back of Tim's neck, and kissed him soundly.

She'd never kissed someone who felt so surprised by it, before-- Steph could actually feel his eyebrows shoot straight up, before he relaxed into it a little, and rested his hands on her hip and the small of her back. He was a good kisser, actually, once he got the hang of it-- not slobbery, and he tasted a little like Zesti.

When he broke the kiss, Steph smiled, keeping her eyes closed for an extra second, before she opened them and saw Tim looking at her, wide-eyed and utterly bewildered. Oh, *crap.* "Um. So that *wasn't* what you came here to tell me?" Steph said, trying to sound like she was joking.

"A-actually, I was planning on never ever telling you as long as I lived, because I didn't think you liked me that way." Tim at least had the sense to look embarrassed. "I was going to tell you something else. But now I want to do *that* even *less.*"

"Oh. Oh-okay. That's good, I think, except that now I'm kind of annoyed that you were planning to moon over me for the rest of your life." Tim winced. "But, no, we'll deal with that in a minute. Spit it out, Tim. The anticipation's killing me."

"I-- okay. The thing is-- the thing is, I just got a call from the hospital in Gotham. Where my dad is." Tim looked like he might cry. "He woke up. He's out of the coma, and he wants me to come back to Gotham."

"I-- oh." Steph didn't, really, have the faintest idea of what she should say. She had a pretty good idea that bursting into helpless giggles probably wasn't the best response, though.

Tim looked shocked, then confused, and then annoyed. Watching his try to settle on an expression just made Steph laugh harder, until she had to sit down on the side of her bed and try to get her breathing under control. "I'm sorry!" she gasped. "I'm-- whoo. I'm not laughing at you. I promise."

"Then what's so funny?" Tim asked, sounding wary.

"Well-- hee-- last week my mom called me. She's out of rehab again, and she's petitioning the court for custody. She wants me to go back to Gotham, but I was going to say no, because I didn't want to have to play the secret identity game with her." Steph looked up at Tim. She could *see* the laughter trying to escape, but he kept better control of it, darn him. "So clearly we are both idiots, who worry too much and don't tell each other important things."

Tim sank down next to her, suddenly, like a cut-loose marionette. "That about sums it up, yeah," he said ruefully. "Whoops?"

Steph fought back the giggles this time, but only barely. "Yeah, 'whoops.' And I can't *believe* you weren't ever going to say anything about liking me, you big repressed dork."

"It's not my fault! I thought you liked Robin," Tim protested. "I mean, you flirt with him whenever we go to Titans stuff."

"Jay flirts with *everybody*. Jay flirts with *you,* and *I* didn't leap to any assumptions, did I?"

"Well-- okay. But there's one other thing I should tell you," Tim said. "You know how I said I took the Bug here?"

Steph didn't know if she liked where this was going. "Yes...?"

"Well, I didn't, exactly, tell Ted. Or ask him first. Um."

"Well, then," Steph said, solemnly, "we'd better hurry. I don't want you to die a virgin."