Robin kept tossing and turning in his bed trying to get to sleep. He stayed the night at the cave to get as much files done as he can. It's been several weeks now since he started to decrypt the files and so far he's only got nine hundred and seventy one done. Around midnight he decide to call it quits and start again in the morning. He would have been done a long time ago but with school, his civilian life, training, Gotham, and the team he's doing the best that he can. He probably would have been done right now if Angela continued helping him but she stopped after the first time. She never explained the whole "I'm the one who encrypted these" thing and he hasn't pushed her into doing so. He knew that she didn't want to talk and wasn't comfortable enough around them to.
Staring up at the ceiling he knew that he wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. With that in mind he got up, put on his sunglasses, and headed up to the kitchen to see if there is anything there that can help him sleep. The cave was silent the only thing to be heard is the quiet humming of the ventilation. He made sure not to make any noise, not wanting to wake anyone up. When he got to the kitchen he was surprised to see that someone was up or more specifically that Angela was up. She looked to be cleaning the counter tops. He has been noticing that everything in the cave has been looking neater lately but didn't think much of it. Now he knows why.
"Are you just going to stand there or did you want something?" Angela's monotonous voice snapped him out of his thinking. He walked to one of the stools at the counters and sat down. "Couldn't sleep." He said. She doesn't look at him just continues to clean. "Kind of figured that when someone's up at 3 a.m." She stated. She put down the rag she was using to wipe the counters and looked at him. Well he assumes she's looking at him. She always keeps her hair covering her eyes so he can't really tell. "Do you want anything?" She asked. Her face is blank so he doesn't know if she's being nice or is just curious. He suddenly feels a little sheepish and says "I was just going to make something to help me sleep." He has no idea why he feels nervous he just does.
Wordlessly she heads off to the fridge and pulls out a carton of milk. Then she goes gets a pot, a mug, and a jar of honey. Seeing that Robin raised an eyebrow in question of what she's doing Angela says "This will help you sleep. One cup of this and you'll be out like a light." She puts the pot on the lit stove and fills it with enough milk for him. As it starts to warm up he asks "Aren't you going to have some?" She shook her head, waiting for the milk to heat up. "Why not? You need sleep too." He asked slightly confused. "I'm not tired. I already slept fourteen hours this week." She answered dully. He looked at her astonished. "You only got that much rest. Don't you need more?" His voice was filled with disbelief. He has had weeks were he was lucky to get total a hour of sleep, on some not even a minute to rest his eyes, and still be able to function like he normally does. But with other people he has never witnessed them to be able to act so well on so little sleep till now.
"This is actually the most I've slept in years. I'm used to getting six hours maximum a week of sleep. That's only if they let me." It became quiet after that. No one said anything and the raven haired boy didn't know what to say. Angela has only been with them close to three weeks now and this is the most she has talked to anyone that wasn't Connor or Dinah. It took time for Black Canary to get the young girl to feel at least slightly comfortable around her. When she first woke up it took five days for Angela to start having two sentenced conversations with her. It didn't seem like much but it was progress. Now he assumes she says more at their therapy sessions. He snapped out of his train of thinking when Angela set the mug down in front of him. "Thank you." He mumbled quietly. Angela just shrugged her shoulders "Don't mention it." Her tone indifferent.
She turned around and started washing dishes from dinner last night. He started drinking and when it was half way empty he couldn't stand the silence anymore. "What do you usually do when everyone else is asleep?" He asked. "Lots of things. Like doing the dishes." She gestured to the now clean plate in her hand. "Or sweeping and mopping the floor. Sometimes I scrub down the equipment and mats in the gym. I thought you guys might like that it doesn't smell like BO anymore." He chuckled at that. He got up and rinsed the now empty mug and put it in the dishwasher ignoring Angela when she tried to take it. He leaned back against the cabnet and turned to face her. "You know you don't have do any of those things, right?" He asked gently. He doesn't want her to think just because she now lives here means that she's their servant and is expected to do these things all by herself.
"I know. It's just there's not much to do without waking everyone. I know that you guys never planned for me to be Cinderella. And it's like it's all I've done. I'm not sure if you noticed but your library is bigger and better than the ones IV league colleges have. It's a no brainer where I'll spend most of my time." He smiled at that. "Glad to see that you're feeling at home." He was too because this means that she's on her way to have a normal life where her past won't hold her back. He'll never forget those two times she was asleep and screaming at her first day here. She looked so broken, there was so much pain in her voice, it was heartbreaking. Angela didn't say anything back, maybe she was tired of talking, or he struck a nerve, or something. He doesn't know. The rest of the night was spent either talking about random things or just sitting in the peaceful quiet. Until Robin finally fell asleep. The next morning he found himself tucked in his bed. He briefly wondered how he got there then he saw a note. Morning Sleeping Beauty I see that the drink worked really well on you. By the way all the files are now done. Enjoy your day off. -A Robin smiled at this, having a feeling that there will be more nights like last night.
