The Hours In // By __fallen

Title: The Hours In
Author: __fallen
E-mail: quietdelusions (at) a o l (dot) com.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except Lonnie. He's mine.
Author's Note: Written for "timfinity." Spoilers for Wonder Woman Issues 94 - 100.

5:22 am - The Reluctant Teacher

By the time she comes for him, he's ready. She nods at him and he follows. They rarely speak. They do not relate. They do not share stories. For her this is all about the training. Tim respects that.

They run to the park - she refuses to let him fly. He isn't sure if it's because of his training or because she refuses to let a man hold her or help her.

He doesn't like the look she gives him when he manages to get the upper hand, even if it lasts just a few moments. There's a fire he respects and yet fears. A fire of resentment and anger and yet awe. He's not even sure Artemis herself knows what she feels. Or what she should feel.

She feints and he follows through. She lands a blow to the chest. He swipes at her feet. She flips over him. Their swords clang. She pulls a move he doesn't expect and her foot slams square into his gut, sending him back to the ground. She steps on his chest in victory and she smiles and says, "Never look away." Her eyes blaze with satisfaction and victory.

7:45 am - The Hesitant Father

Breakfast is almost as deafening as training with Artemis between lessons. Jack Drake sits reading the paper eating pancakes; he makes them every morning because he knows that Timmy likes pancakes. Tim has a few bites and plays with the strawberry his dad put on the plate (because Timmy likes strawberries) with his fork.

Jack never asks about training.

Jack never looks Tim in the eye when he comes back in the house at seven in the morning sweating, sometimes bruised, even cut if training was especially brutal. "Did you do your homework?" The small talk is painful; it's the only time they speak in the day before dinner. If Tim can make it for dinner.

"Yeah," he replies. "Just some algebra, nothing big. Have a paper due Friday." Tim knows that the small talk lets Jack believe in the fairytale he's created in his mind. He knows pretending that his son is normal sometimes makes him happy. And the less he knows of his life as Wonder Boy, the better.

His father hesitates before he asks his next question. "Do you think you'll be home for dinner on time…or should I save it for when you get back from…your activities?"

Tim shrugs. "Should be. If not, I'll try to call, okay, Pop?" Calling him ‘Pop'…it's one of the few things he can say that will make his father smile.

11:45 - The Normal Boy

Tim isn't normal and he's quite okay with it. Usually. When it's not an issue among the "normal" people. He has few friends in this public school of his. Many see him as a threat. He opted not to conceal his identity - Diana didn't, Amazons wear their true faces into battle. Why would Tim be any different?

They make fun of him sometimes, for being in the land of women, for letting women lead him. What they say doesn't bother him, it's the fact they feel the need to say it to make him feel bad, that makes him feel bad. They do not like him because he's different. That is the crux of the issue.

Nevertheless, he did manage to make friends with Lonnie, a gay club boi who is also an outcast. He thinks Wonder Boy's bracers are "totally lush." Sometimes when Tim is hanging out with Lonnie, he feels like he's in the movie Clueless, but Lonnie's a nice enough guy with a big heart. He's one of the few friends Tim's managed to keep at school.

Tim likes to draw when he's bored out of his mind in class, like today. He sketches, mostly. He never plans what he's going to draw; it's whatever image his hand chooses to draw. When the sketch is of Robin, the Girl Wonder, he blushes. When Lonnie whispers, calling him on said blush, he hides the sketch by stuffing it back in his binder.

"What're you hiding from me?" Lonnie says with a teasing grin. "Are you drawing porn?"

Tim throws him a glare. "Shut up, you're going to get us in trouble!"

"Just show me the picture, T." Lonnie gives him puppy eyes. It always amuses him that Lonnie thinks that ploy could actually work. Though, to humor him, and because it is just a drawing, he shows Lonnie.

Lonnie's brows rise and he smiles. "That's kind of cool."

"Thanks," Tim replies, taking the picture back and he stares at it. There's a small quirk of a grin on his face.

4:03 p.m. - The Hero & the Champion

Very few can say they were graced by actual gods with powers beyond that of mortal men. This mortal can. Just barely sixteen and already a hero.

The crowd watches with awestruck eyes, never blinking. They gasp and they point and they whisper - their hero shoots up into the sky followed by the latest super-villain that has decided today is their day to fight. They become two dots in the sky battling until their champion brings the villain down with the best of Amazonian warfare.

He is called Wonder Boy.

He is savage in battle when he must be, yet regal and oh-so-very-much the politician when he needs to be. He is honorable, with wisdom few teens his age seem to exhibit. Some call him a champion. Champion is a new concept for him. Being a champion seems so much more than being a simple hero - it means becoming an advocate, it means more.

She touches the ground as if landing on water, with all the grace Aphrodite has blessed her with, but even with just a glimpse, anyone can see she is a woman of nobility, strength, and warmth. They call her Wonder Woman. She is what he sees when he hears the word champion.

Wonder Woman places a hand on his shoulder, the police fill the area that surrounds them, and he looks up at her. She nods. And without ever saying a word, they turn to the police, give them a wave and a smile, and they're gone - into the sky like a pair of angels.

His staff retracts to a fourth its size and he clips it to his belt, where it dangles a bit as he flies. He has no Lasso of Truth, though he sometimes wishes he did. But his staff is enough. A weapon it may be, but one without sharp edges. Not that his staff couldn't be lethal. In the hands of an Amazon, anything can be lethal.

"You did well, Timothy," she says.

"Thank you." He bites down on his tongue before he can add the word "mother."

"Your training is coming along nicely," she adds with a warm smile as she glances toward him with a warm smile.

"Thank the gods," he replies as they pass the numerous redbrick buildings of Boston, "otherwise Artemis would kill me."

"How is Artemis? Really?" Her brow furrows, and she looks to the sky ahead.

"You mean is she still angry?" Diana says nothing. "She's doing well, considering. She still says, ‘You did well…for a boy.'" Tim frowns, pondering. "Sometimes I wish she'd just get over it."

"Artemis has many unresolved issues. But she wouldn't be training you if she thought you couldn't handle it." Diana's never one to lie, Tim knows this from experience. Diana's the most honest person he's ever known. But there's something about that statement he just doesn't believe. Yet.

5:36 p.m. - The Rivals

He shows up in Tim's city with only one agenda: to pick a fight. They're friends of consequence, circumstance. They're partners when they have to be. But there's a tension between them that neither denies. They call him Superboy.

Kon-El feels threatened by Tim. Tim is competition. Tim flies like he does, has super strength like he does, and he looks damn sexy in his costume. Tim's absolutely sure this is about Robin, too.

Each blow they throw knocks them back a few feet as they blaze through the sky above the clouds of the city well away from the view of any citizens - as well as freeing up the possibility of damaging city property.

They know it's pointless to fight each other. They know that at some point they'll need to stop because whatever problems they have with each other won't be solved this way. Neither cares because for now it isn't a bad temporary solution. Tim's vaguely aware that if they stopped bickering and fighting they might actually have things in common. They might even be friends.

Sadly, and just because it's a cliché doesn't make it a lie, the girl is in the way.

Tim makes the final blow and wins the battle. At least this round. Kon-El glares at him and then nods.

Then, he streaks off into the clouds, the sonic boom trailing behind him.

Their relationship is unique.

6:17 p.m. - The Girl

She comes to see him, for what reason, he isn't sure. Perhaps to talk. Maybe she needs his help. Maybe it's because she heard about the fight with Superboy. He's not quite sure, but she's standing before him nonetheless on the rooftop of a law firm in downtown Boston. She stands, her cape wrapped around her hiding the red, yellow, and green uniform that's so classically Robin. She has an air of confidence about her and a smile that makes his heart skip a beat. In the back of his mind, or some other part of his anatomy, he hopes to God that she's never visited Superboy like this.

They speak of his five years in Themyscira, otherwise known as Paradise Island, about the death of his mother, the then-presumed death of his father, the pain of all that for a ten-year-old boy, and about how he was treated by the Amazons - with amusement and tender acceptance, as well as thinly veiled contempt. They speak of his bravery in asking the Queen of the Amazons to let him stay on an island, defying all Amazonian tradition.

They talk of speaking with the gods themselves to bestow him the powers he needed to help Diana in her mission to bring about Peace to the Patriarch World, and about learning that his father still lived and was in Boston. The anxiety of their reunion. The unpleasant strain of their current state.

They stand facing each other when it's time to say goodbye. He notices how very blond her hair is in the light and he smiles. "Glad you ditched the wig," he says.

"Me too. Only did it because the other Robins had dark hair. Got to be too much of a hassle, so I told Batman he had to deal." She grins. There's clearly more to the story, but it's one better left for another day. Time is short.

There's an awkward moment where neither knows what to do. What to say. She flashes him a smile, "I should book, I'm supposed to meet Spoiler for a girl's night and if I'm late she's gonna freak."

"Batgirl gonna be there?" He replies with a brow raise.

She blinks at him for a moment before laughing heartily. She clears her throat when she's done. "You're funny."

They share smiles and there's more silence. Her expression changes, her smile fades and hits him with a quick, "Well, bye." The following silence is a heavy burden.

"Bye." He says it awkwardly, and distant. Robin pauses for a moment as if there's something she needs to say, or do, but instead she turns to leave instead. Oh, screw it. "Rob, wait." He already kicking himself for his lack of smoothness, of charm…but he's never done this before-hazards of innocence.

The exchange is awkward; after all, he's nervous. There's hesitation, blushing, and his heart is beating so loud he's quite sure Robin can hear it. But when their lips touch there's a moment of fear - rejection is coming? - before he hears her let a soft moan escape, pulling him closer. She is kissing him back. Kissing him back.

She pulls away and clears her throat. Her skin is flushed and Tim curses the mask because he'd love to see her eyes. "That's, uh, wow. If you keep that up, we'll never get out of here."

He's panting, and yet he manages a self-conscious, "Yeah, well, I try." She smiles and he melts again. She's gone in seconds, though, soaring down an alley on a jump line. He rubs the back of his neck and realizes he's floating. Literally, floating.

He blinks and makes his way home. Inwardly, he debates telling his father about his first kiss, but instead, decides to keep this secret to himself.

11:42 p.m. - The Cleansing

He lets out a soft hiss when the hot water touches his skin, reopening the latest cut on his upper arm from Artemis' sword. It's a little more than a scratch but it still stings. He lets out a deep sigh as he tilts his head back letting the water pour over his body, running his hands through his wet hair.

Long day, he thinks.

Dinner with his father was filled with quiet chitchat about school and his friend Lonnie. His father was disappointed to learn that Lonnie was male, and asked about girls at his school and anyone he's thinking about dating. Tim almost wants to tell him about Robin, but thinks better of it. The kiss might've been the highlight of his day.

Artemis was harsh tonight. Relentless. She told him the wound was to prove a point. They were not little children playing games. He is to be a warrior. That was the lesson. To be a warrior, not a little boy. He desperately wants Artemis' respect. He knows he will probably never win it, simply because he happens to have the wrong parts to be an Amazon. Nevertheless, he still hopes.

He washes his wounds, and his body, letting the dirt and grime swirl down the drain, noticing now the bruises from his fight with Superboy. He wonders what will happen when Kon-El hears about the kiss. Will he also be relentless? Will things get worse?

He turns the water off, gets out of the shower to dry off his body, and slips on a pair of boxers. He dresses the cut on his arm and bandages it. He's mildly aware of a history quiz he didn't study for - and he's amused that it's about ancient Greece. After securing the tape, Tim searches through his drawers for a shirt to wear to cover the bruises on his chest and stomach, just in case his father comes in to wake him in the morning.

Then he slips into bed, thinking of the kiss, the fight with Kon-El, about all the things that filled the day, and he wonders what will greet him when he wakes at five once more.

When he finally drifts off to sleep, he dreams with a sword in his hand.