Jaytim Behind the Helm (Continuation)

Chapter One: Hot Mess

9212 words
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"Why are you pacing, sweetie-pie?" Is what snaps Tim out of his mind first, his hair in total disarray as he hadn't bothered brushing it since waking up.

Tim meets her gaze, and seriously considers spilling everything. Spilling the fact that, number one, he'd just outed that he was gay. Number two, he'd be working with the Arkham Knight exclusively for years if he were being realistic, and finally, number three, the most scandalous per se, he'd kissed the Arkham Knight, one of the—if not the most—powerful crime-lords in Gotham only a few days ago.

"It's nothing, I'm alright."

"Is he bothering you?" She asks, not at all being serious in her tone of voice as she should've been. Of course, she was referring to Jason.

"No, he's not. I'm just.. concerned with the idea that files from the Batcomputer are out there. How else would Penguin be able to get those files if somehow they weren't all corrupted?" Tim decides to say and saves himself, not revealing anything he was just thinking about.

"Is that computah even still intact?" Harley asks, propping her feet to the coffee table. Tim sighs, and rounds the couch, slumping into Selina's armchair. He shakes his head.

"I'm not sure. I have no idea what's happened since I've left the manor. I thought that everything was just gone, but who knows. Perhaps the computer is still intact." He replies. Harley hesitates in her response, uneasy as the young man brought up the explosion.

"Have ya been since?" Harley asks him. He shrugs, and shakes his head.

"I've tried to forget about it I guess." Tim shrugs, "I'll have to go someday and investigate." Harley nods, but neither of them can say any more when Tim's phone rings on the kitchen counter.

Tim jumps the couch, and more excitedly than intended he answers the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, can you be at my office in twenty-two minutes?" It was Jason's voice, and an oddly specific question.

"What for?" Tim asks, leaning his elbows to the counter and locking his one ankle over the other.

"Now that you're my second, I'll be needing you to accompany every meeting of mine. Especially this one. It involves one of the newer drug rings I've gained control of, and I have a meeting about profits and equity or whatever. Be there?"

"Sure. I'll be there in fifteen." Tim smiles to himself, keeping his voice as level as possible.

"Perfect, see you then." Jason says, promptly hanging up.

"That th' Knight?" Harley asks, watching as Tim snatches his costume and quickly locks himself in the other room.

"Uh.. yeah! Time sensitive." Tim calls, practically falling out of the room and into the kitchen to grab an apple off the counter.

"And Selina is okay with ya going?" Harley asks with a curved smile, before Tim dismisses the comment with a snort.

"She'll have to be," Tim says, shrugging. "See ya, Harley!" Tim shouts, slamming the door behind him.

Selina comes out from her room right after, disheveled and rubbing her head, "Who the hell just slammed the door?" She groaned, groggy and slumping to the couch.

"Timmy. Said he had a 'time sensitive' deal." Harley matter of factly explained, grabbing her phone. Selina rolled her eyes, and joined her on the couch.

—

"Hello~ am I on time?"

"You're early, actually," Jason responds, looking up from his desk. Tim uneasily glances toward his henchmen, before turning to confront Jason.