sunrises: Damian Wayne (Robin) - Wayne Family Adventures (Default)
Zi ([personal profile] sunrises) wrote2017-12-23 08:08 pm

(honey's sweeter) the nights we shared

Title: the nights we shared
Fandom: DC Comics + Uncharted
Universe: Honey's Sweeter
Relationships: Tim Drake + Victoria "Tori" Drake
Summary: turns out, nothing says "sibling bonding" like a midnight rooftop run.
Notes: Merry Christmas, Caryl! I try to write a fic from our 'verses every year, and this one was absolutely no stranger to the occasion. ♥ Though I hope you can sense some character development.

Their rooftop chase had started with a simple need to beat the traffic.

"We're never going to make it home in time," Tim had announced, upon spying the thousands of sparkling red lights on the highway.

They were almost blinding, even from their high vantage point. Tori let out a low whistle as she slid on her sunglasses and peered down at the bumper-to-bumper traffic. Even for Atlanta, this was ridiculous. Someone must be filming two blocks over. Or maybe there was that six car fender-bender. Or maybe - or maybe this was the price they had to pay for living in a traffic-infested southern hellhole.

(In another life, Tori swore she'd move somewhere with decent public transportation. Like London.)

Tori also supposed she should've been the good older sister. She should've pointed out that Mom never cared when they came, as long as they were safe and sound. But Mom also had no idea that Tim was in costume. As far as Mom was concerned, her darling Timmy was at a football game, not the opening night of a cultural art exhibit.

The way Tori saw it, Mom would kill both of them for very different reasons, like vigilantism and breaking-and-entering. Being late was just the cherry on top of a punishment sundae.

"So we'll be late," Tori said, caving into that instinct. "I'll call Mom and let her know."

"And deal with questions about the game?" Tim scoffed, reaching into his utility belt and pulling out a grappling hook. "As if."

Puberty must come with a side of disdain and sass, because she couldn't remember this side of him. Tori laughed, folding her arms and turning towards the window.

"So you're going for a rooftop run?"

"You have any other ideas?"

Besides catching a ride on top of the nearest MARTA train? Not really - they lived all the way out in Morningside, and MARTA would only take them to the Buckhead area. Since Tori had graciously left her car at home, they were looking at a seriously long commute. Even with a rooftop run, they would seriously be cutting it close. Tori sighed, reaching into her own pockets and pulling out the hook she'd stolen from one of her exes.

"We'll make it a game," Tim promised, with a charming smile that would make Russ proud. If, you know, they weren't about to break the law. "Whoever gets back first can - "

"Can tell Mom the cover story," Tori finishes, beaming. "And loser has to roll with it, no matter what."

Tim's eyes narrow - or she thinks they're narrowing, it's hard to tell when he has those giant white-out lenses. "No matter what?"

"You heard me." Tori laughs, nudging him out the window. "So let's get this show on the road."





She's never felt this free, even with the blinding, bright lights of Midtown shining upon her. Atlanta is no Gotham or Metropolis; its skyscrapers are far smaller, its buildings far more spread out. There aren't even helpful gargoyles for their hooks to hold onto. Yet Tim and Tori make do, sometimes even hitching rides on unsuspecting Uber drivers.

Tim may have a burner phone, like a properly paranoid hero, but Tori keeps her smartphone on at all times. Which includes a proper GPS, and a decent map of the highway.

In-between jumps, she consults that map for the quickest way home. Which way would get them closest to Morningside, and which way would prevent the police department from running at their heels. Also, which places are still open so they can grab a meal on the way back -

("We are NOT stopping at Murder Kroger," Tim yells, before she can even suggest it. "They're not even open at this hour!"

"Probably because someone's trying not to get murdered!!")

So, Murder Kroger aside, they're doing a pretty swell job. Twenty minutes in, they're racing closer and closer, and she can feel her heart beating dangerously fast, as if it'll rip straight out of her ribcage.

She has to stop and catch her breath, but she can't help raising her arms and pumping her fists into that clear sky above.

She's running. She's free, and ironically, she's running right behind her kid brother.

Had someone told her, a few years ago, that she would be a thief chasing after a superhero, she would've laughed straight in their face. Yet she's doing so, and Tim - no, sorry, Robin has a few meters' lead on her. Nothing she can't beat.

So she draws in a deep breath and keeps running.





She's got a two meter lead, she realizes, right as she turns the corner and runs towards home.

Instead of gloating, instead of swinging into her bedroom, she slows down and lets her kid brother take the lead again. Tim glances back at her, as if realizing that he was allowed to run, but Tori just waves him off with a smile.

As far as she's concerned, tonight doesn't need to end - and when it does, she wants to remember this feeling. This freedom. This night she shared, and how they had both won and lost.

"We should make this a tradition," she finds herself saying, once she catches her breath.

He turns around to face her, and nods in agreement, "I'd like that."

She takes that moment to side-step him and cross the threshold into their mudroom, "Then we'll make it happen."

Whoever said that she had to lose that first night, anyway?