Old friends, like old swords, still are trusted best

[cisskabob]

WHO: Cissie King-Jones
WHERE: Tim's room at the Inn
WHEN: Backdated to the beginning of January, no more than a few days after the NYE party
OPEN TO: Tim Drake
WARNINGS: N/A, will update if necessary

---

Cissie's had a few days to digest everything she learned at the party on New Years' Eve, and to try to wrap her mind around the idea of Tim being here too, but not with his memories of Wonderland. She's wrestled with what to do; should she tell him? Should she try to rebuild their friendship first, and tell him later? She finds herself lying awake in bed one night, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep... and realizes that she just misses Tim, which is ridiculous when he's right down the hall. It occurs to her that maybe he isn't exactly the same Tim as the one she knew in Wonderland, but he's still her friend, and they won't get anywhere if she doesn't at least try to talk to him.

Which is how Cissie finds herself at the door to Tim's room in the Inn, knocking, well after midnight. She's not exactly worried that the most nocturnal person she's ever known would be doing something as ridiculous as sleeping, but she still keeps the knocks quiet and speaks softly to avoid waking any neighbors.

"Tim? It's Cissie. Can I come in?"

Comments

[cisskabob]

"Well..." Cissie shifts awkwardly, considering how to reveal... everything she has to reveal to him, without freaking him out completely. "It's hard to say everything that's different, because I don't know... everything. But for starters, he didn't know you, and... never tried to kill you."

[mrsarcastic003]

He blinks a couple of times. "Well, that's... going to be a pleasant change." It's been a long time since he was optimistic that his relationship with Jason could ever improve, but he also hadn't considered getting a fresh start with a completely different universe's Jason.

A failure of imagination on his part, really.

[cisskabob]

Cissie's smile was a little bit sad and she shrugged, spreading her hands. "Honestly, I think it helped that in Wonderland, you hadn't met him yet. He was still dead for you, and... Damian was there, and he was a pretty big jerk to Jason. That, and he met you before he found out you were Robin, and I think that helped too."

[mrsarcastic003]

"...It probably would," he admitted. Robin was... kind of the problem between the three of them, one way or another. He gives her a little smile. "And you ended up dragged into all of this, too. So how's that retired life going?"

[cisskabob]

She blinks, and then gives a surprised laugh. Some of the tension she's holding releases, and she relaxes just a little, returning his smile with a small one of her own. "Pretty boring, up until getting kidnapped twice into multidimensional bubbles of the time-space continuum," she admits. "Tim... I think you should know that I know a lot more than you think I do. Or that I probably should know."

[mrsarcastic003]

He gives her a bemused smile. "...Okay? I'm not sure what you mean."

[cisskabob]

Cissie looks back at him and considers for a moment before deciding--in for a penny, in for a pound.

"Bruce Wayne is Batman. Dick Grayson is your brother, and was the first Robin, and then he was Nightwing until he took over as Batman and fired you as Robin so that Bruce's son Damian could be Robin. Jason was the second Robin, until he was murdered pretty horribly, and brought back by the Lazarus Pit. Your girlfriend was Stephanie Brown, who went by Spoiler, but she was Robin too for a little while, until she died too.

Also, Superman is Clark Kent."

[mrsarcastic003]

He can feel his jaw start to drop as she calmly runs through the list of his family's IDs, including Steph's. It makes sense that she would know them if she knows his, and if she's followed what's happened to him at all over the past few years. That's sort of been one of the risks of all being in the same family and doing the vigilante thing--once you know one of them, it's pretty easy to work out the rest. It's how he'd worked out Batman's ID himself, after all.

And then she drops Clark's ID, and he blinks. "Cissie, what the hell?"

[cisskabob]

She gives him an apologetic look. "I did say I know things I shouldn't. Or--that you don't think I know, or should know. And Kon was in Wonderland with us, and so was Lois Lane and Clark Kent for a short while, and also a kid named Jon, who was their son in a different world than ours. Kon didn't exist where he was from."

[mrsarcastic003]

He takes a breath and lets it out slowly. It's Cissie. Cissie's been a friend for years--had been a vigilante herself, once. It's actually okay that she knows these things. He just needs a moment to realign. He gives her a wry smile. "I suddenly find myself really wishing I remembered your Wonderland. I think it would make things a lot easier."

[cisskabob]

She returns his smile with a slightly shy one of her own, relaxing slightly as he does. "I wish you did, too," she admits. "We got--really close, actually. When Kon left, we locked ourselves in my room with terrible movies, Lucky Charms and a giant bag of gummi bears. But you were a lot younger--you were surprised I knew your name, and you thought I was still in Young Justice."

[mrsarcastic003]

"That was... a long time ago, wasn't it?" Young Justice feels a little like ancient history these days, for all that it wasn't more than a handful of years ago. So much has happened since then.

As for her remarks about his stress + junk food habit... No. Comment.

[cisskabob]

She laughs, nodding. "It feels like another lifetime," she admits. "It was really weird, being there with you guys, but all of us from different points in time. I did not like knowing more than everyone, I don't know how you do it all the time."

[mrsarcastic003]

He blinks. Then laughs. "Um. I'm not sure I know more than everyone, but thank you? And I will say that knowing more than people around you and not being able to tell them is really uncomfortable, especially when it's not a position you asked for. So I'm sorry you had to be there. That sucks."

[cisskabob]

"You've always known more than everyone I know," she says fondly, smiling. It's strange, but it's almost a relief to hear him say that. She knows Tim forgave her for keeping those secrets in Wonderland, but it still matters that he knows how it feels. "But--thanks. It does suck, and I'm sorry you have to deal with that so much."