( honey's sweeter ) keep me safe
Title: keep me safe
Fandom: Uncharted + DC Comics crossover
Universe: Honey's Sweeter
Relationships: Tim Drake / Shikari Shinga
Summary: Shikari expected a typical translation gig; instead, she got a scarily perceptive (and caring) superhero along with it.
Notes: Another fic written purely for self-indulgence! This one started out as a snippet about 6 years ago, according to my old drafts (#yikes), but I really loved the idea, so I wanted to flesh it out and keep it going. Today, I got the chance to finish it, so I did! ♥ An impromptu present for![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
camalyng!
This summer, Shikari had expected her typical translation gigs. Diplomats wanting ironclad contracts, graduate students wanting international proposals, or novelists seeking interpretations of their greatest stories. All lucrative gigs, but for an omnilingualist, all kind of boring. She could craft every interpretation from the comfort of her aunt Elena's home in Atlanta.
(Heck, if she wanted to, she could even venture to Starbucks or Waffle House and translate there. The cheap waffles and sticky, too-sweet syrup motivated her when little else did.)
The beginning of summer had seemed set in stone. She would weave together stories in other languages, figuring out which words had certain connotations, and creating meaning through each paragraph. From this, she would earn enough to buy textbooks, and pocket the rest for fun expenses like D&D games and video game marathons with her friend-slash-housemate Tim.
Then the notorious treasure hunter – and kind-of grave robber – Tori Fisher had contacted her out of the blue with a proposal: translate an ancient scroll from ancient Bengali to modern-day English, uncover more scrolls located in the depths of Bangladesh's forests, and receive the payday of a lifetime.
The promise of illegitimate cash hadn't spurned her to accept. Shikari didn't need it. (Not that Tori or the average person would know, given how deep her family's roots had extended into the foundation of the Bangladeshi government.) No, the scroll had intrigued her. If such an ancient treasure existed - and that was a giant if, considering - then the country of Bangladesh deserved to know. Their suffering people, rather than corrupt government officials, deserved to reap the rewards.
She accepted, then and there, not on the desire for cash, but on the desire to help her countrymen - and, of course, the desire to keep important data out of a white woman's hands.
Okay, she had written back. I'll come with you. But only if you can keep me safe.
The flights from Atlanta to Doha, and then onto Dhaka, had seemed like an eternity. Shikari had almost forgotten how inconvenient the visa-on-arrival process was, let alone how long the lines were for the average person.
Miss Fisher, it seemed, had wanted to blend in. Fine, whatever. Don't rely on Shikari's connections to enter the VIP lounge, let alone have someone bring the luggage into the bus. Don't rely on her family to find a van, or a reliable driver, or anything else that might seem relevant for a Dhaka-to-the-countryside trip. In the end, she grumbled at the normalcy that she had been reduced to, all the way up to the international terminal's exit.
The white van rolled up to the curb, and Tori was already scrambling to toss their luggage into the back. The driver slid down her window seat and - Shikari lowered her sunglasses at the all-too familiar sight.
"Chloe auntie?"
"Here I thought you wouldn't recognize me, pitha," Chloe said with a smirk, unlocking the doors for them. "It's been a while."
"It's only been two weeks since Tim's graduation," Shikari protested to empty air as she tossed her duffel into the trunk.
"AKA long enough," Tori pointed out, sliding into the passenger seat and kicking her legs up onto the dashboard. "If we didn't have to hurry, we wouldn't have gone for it, Ari."
Once again, her name was ignored in favor of a nickname. Shikari grimaced, leaning back in her seat and resisting the urge to say anything. The name reminded her of white people trying to work around her name, rather than acknowledging its beauty - and well, only one person had said such a nickname with love.
Unfortunately, said person wasn't here. He had paperwork to finish for a summer internship at Wayne Tech, and he promised he would be available by WhatsApp whenever he got a spare moment. That sentiment, she swore, would be the death of her some day.
"So," Shikari began, once there was a lull in Tori and Chloe auntie's conversation, "Where are we going?"
"Down to the coast," Tori said, with a surprising amount of delight. "Sun, surf, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts."
She should've figured it wouldn't be anywhere near close to where her family lived, and yet, she should've figured it would be one of the few areas in Bangladesh that was remotely close to dangerous. Shikari and Chloe auntie would blend into the crowds just fine, but Tori's pale skin and even paler hair distinguished her in a heartbeat. If anything went south, Shikari would be in far more danger...
After a moment of deliberation, Shikari allowed herself a sigh, "The pay had better be worth it."
Chloe auntie's laugh filled the entire van, "Now that's the Shikari I remember."
The drive down to the coast was long, and honestly, kind of boring. Shikari didn't remember when she had dozed off, let alone how long she had fallen asleep - but she sure woke up at the sound of gunfire.
Chloe auntie was focusing on the road ahead, while Tori had stepped out of the van, holding her usual sidearm and pointing it at a couple of motorbikes. She shot; they swerved out of the way. Typical countryside traffic ignored them - even the goats and cows kept on running ahead.
"The hell...?" Shikari murmured, leaning forward and clutching her head.
"No time to explain!" Chloe yelled, swerving around a fallen truck. "Looks like we're not the only ones after this artifact!"
Shikari didn't have much magic left in her, but if their enemies were gaining on them, she could summon some will o' wisps and light a wildfire –
The door beside her rattled with unnatural force. The lock was broken open as Tori tossed in a gagged man. His red-and-black uniform was familiar. Too familiar.
Shikari scooted over for a closer look. When her eyes met those crisp white-out lens, and the discernible black beak-like nose, she swore. The notorious hero Red Robin was in town, and of course, her boss had to kidnap him on the spot.
"Pedal to the medal, Auntie C!" Tori called, sliding right into the passenger seat.
Chloe let out an exasperated groan as she, of course, slammed on the accelerator and zoomed past men, goats, and cars alike. "You had to kidnap him?"
"Well, yeah!" Tori sounded genuinely offended. "I couldn't let the League get to him, and you know how Batman would feel if his protege died because of me."
Shikari wasn't sure which was worse: that Tori had some sort of relationship with this squirming hero, that he was in her company's van, or that if this all went downhill, her permanent record would be scarred for life.
She had only agreed to a simple translation job. Nothing more, nothing less. Words were the foundation of her soul and her work, and honestly, she figured Tori and Ms. Frazer would handle all the heavy lifting.
Yet as she sat there, alone in the back seat with a bound-and-gagged Red Robin right beside her, Shikari thought she would rather die. She leaned forward, positioning herself to remove the sloppy duct tape off his mouth.
Just before she reached out, she called, "Can I remove the tape?"
"No," Tori went at the same time that Chloe auntie yelled, "Please do!"
Taking Chloe auntie's advice, Shikari peeled off the duct tape with a gentle touch and then untied what remained of the ropes that had bound his arms together. Her hand was steady, yet inexperienced - she knew she was inflicting more pain than strictly necessary, and for the first time, she was regretting her lack of experience.
As Red Robin sat up, he winced, rubbing the spot where his exposed skin had met the rope.
"Thanks." He glanced back at Shikari, before swallowing and really looking at her. He removed his gloves, just so he could brush back her hair behind her ears. Despite the lack of distance, he felt like he was another world away... "Wait, Shikari? Tori brought you along?"
"We're paying her," Tori grumbled, blowing her hair out of her face. "She's not forced into this, if that's what you're implying."
Red Robin pressed his lips together, not letting go of her.
Shikari swallowed her own discomfort, searching the lower half of his face for clues. He knew her, somehow – heroes always did when they comforted civilians like her, but how? Those lips and jawline weren't telling her much, beyond the appeal of the lower half of his face... and how much they reminded her of Tim.
(She should've called or texted him earlier, now that she stops to think about it. She had promised him she would be safe - because Tori had promised her - but now, she's not so sure.)
"I'm sorry," she began, lowering her voice to a whisper, "Do I know you?"
"No." Red Robin's reply was too quick, almost brusque with how he brushed her off. "We've never met."
Yet his gaze never pulled away from her. Not even when Tori whistled at them, not even when Chloe auntie yelled at them to put on their damn seatbelts already, and definitely not when the roads were bumpy enough to throw her right onto him.
Shikari knew she would regret this, even as she extended her hands to hold onto his wrists, but she's - she's nervous, and she's fuming, and she's like a firecracker that's about to go off. She could feel that kindling in her chest, and its temperature rising too fast, too quickly for its own good.
Yet she still whispered, right where she thought his ear was, "Liar."
Red Robin froze.
Taking his silence for an answer, she continued, "You know me, you know my name and you won't tell me how, so that leaves us at a stalemate."
With that, she scooted to the opposite side of the van, buckling herself in and staring at the window. She could still feel her heart racing (which is stupid, heroes are stupid, and Gothamites like Tim are the stupidest of the lot), but she had to ignore it. They're about to enter the Tracts, and one little spark could set off a whole wildfire.
Red Robin moved to the front, whispering something in Tori's ear.
"Just tell her already, you dork." She laughed, loud enough for the whole van to hear, "She's one of us now."
"Tori!" Red Robin's voice lowered into a defiant, almost pissed-off hiss. "Absolutely not!"
So this hero, whoever he was underneath that mask, has a history with her and with Tori. Chloe auntie was snickering, under the low hum of Bollywood music, but Shikari can't bring herself to care.
Tori had dragged a superhero - and gunfire - into her easy job. Her safety had been thrown in question, and she doubted that a thief and a hero would lower the odds. If history had proven anything, they would only make those odds infinitely worse.
They parked the van at the edge of the tracts, and so they trudged into the forests, towards an old Buddhist temple Bhutanese immigrants had built a few centuries ago. Given the quiet, surreal aura radiating around the woods, Shikari suspected that traces of magic - of mana, of otherworldly energy - still lingered.
While neither Tori nor Chloe auntie gave magic much attention, its pull was too strong for her to ignore. As she steadied her gait, focusing on her breaths and the timing of them, she willed herself to keep walking. She wouldn't let something so small get the better of her. Not here, not now.
Red Robin, once again gloved, reached out for her hand and intertwined his fingers in hers.
"Hey." His voice was soft, yet worried. "You're shaking."
Tori and Chloe auntie were far ahead, too caught up in maps and geology to notice either of them. At the time, Shikari had considered it a blessing. She could walk at her own pace, and Red Robin would zoom through the trees, ignoring her altogether now that she had called him out on his lies.
Yet he walked side-by-side, careful to maintain eye level with her.
He knew her, and he cared for her. This kind of attention meant that someone in her life was lying about their extracurriculars, and Shikari didn't want to dwell on that dark road. She had enough secrets to keep without prying deep into someone else's.
"I'm okay," she lied, gritting her teeth.
This time, it was Red Robin who held onto her hand, freezing them at this spot and whispered in her ear. "Liar."
His modulated voice gave no clues towards his identity - for all she knew, Red Robin could be a she - but he held onto her as if she were his anchor. The action terrified her.
He continued, not quite letting go, "There's magic near the temple, isn't there?"
"How did you...?"
"You're a witch," Red Robin explained, as if that solved everything. "Therefore you can feel whenever other people have used magic. I read about it in your file."
Yeah, but her magic wasn't something she even told Tori or Chloe auntie about. She usually buried it deep down, relying on other sources of power, like her words - or in worst-case scenarios, her fists.
She had only confided in one person the nature of her true power when they had set off sparklers in the backyard, and when she had mimicked the stars above by shooting sparks in the palms of her hand. He had gazed down at those sparks as if they were the stars and moon, and then he had sworn himself to secrecy. He wouldn't tell, even if the world had bowed down against him, and even if he was -
Even if he was holding onto her right now.
Shikari pulled back, just wide enough to trace his jawline. Alone, the similarity didn't mean much, but with that sudden knowledge...
"No, you didn't," she murmured. "I told you myself."
He froze, his shoulders shaking as he stared back at her, his lips pressed together as if in deep, deep contemplation.
Supposedly, Red Robin was a master liar. Supposedly, he could formulate cover identities like others breathed, and he could shed stories like one shed sweaters. He thrived off espionage, and of the detective work that all Gothamite heroes pursued. They strove for justice, and for the truth to reveal itself.
Yet, this wasn't a truth either of them really wanted to acknowledge.
Before Shikari could think, before she could think through the consequences of her actions, she stood on her tip-toes and pressed her lips to his.
After all, Red Robin claimed he wasn't Tim. He wasn't the one person she wanted to come home to every evening, let alone the one person she was even earning this giant paycheck for. He was a hero who happened to share Tim's jawline and knowledge of her, and if that mask was all he needed to pretend he was someone else...
She could pretend with him.
When she let go, Red Robin coughed, ignoring the blood rushing to what she could see of his face. "Shikari! I'm sorry, I–"
"Just keep me safe." She stepped forward, forcing herself to catch up to Tori and Chloe auntie. "There's no excuse that can make up for the lies you've told, but... keep me safe. That's all I can ask for."
He held onto her hand, squeezing it tight as he rushed to catch up with her.
With all the hesitation she had expected from the timid, shy nerd she loved, Red Robin said, "Your boyfriend's one lucky man."
"Yeah," she couldn't help agreeing, lifting his mask long enough to see his eyes - her dumb, stupid Tim's eyes – before kissing him again. "He really is."
When they finally reached the temple, nestled deep in the foothills of the tracts, Chloe auntie was waiting for them with open arms and blood-stained thermoses of masala chai.
"Took you long enough!" She called, latching onto them both and pulling them in for a three-way hug. "Watching you, pancake, was far worse than watching your dad. I think you beat him not only in time but–"
"That's enough," Red Robin coughed, shaking his head at Chloe auntie. "She doesn't need to hear –"
"Oh, no," Shikari interrupted, all-too-eager, "I want to hear all about how Red Robin here is worse than his dad."
As they trudged inside, listening to Chloe auntie crow about how her beloved pitha and pancake were finally together, and apparently how Tim's parents sucked at love confessions, Shikari couldn't help sneaking a glance at her flustered friend. Now that she knew what to look for - the body language, the squeaks in his voice, the cadences - no mask could split her beloved from her... well, masked beloved.
Tori was standing at the top of the alter, pressing her hands against an invisible barrier.
"Magic," she growled. "We get this far, and we're up against damn magic."
Red Robin shot her a glance, and Shikari nodded, splitting from him and Chloe auntie to investigate the barrier. Alone, it shimmered a faint blue to indicate its presence, not unlike sharp glass on a sliding door. She took a decisive step forward, pressing her fingers on the glass.
Her touch, right along the edge, activated faint letters around her hand - ancient Sanskrit, she'd guess - that spelled out an incantation.
Ignoring Tori's (and Red Robin's) copious note taking, Shikari closed her eyes and murmured what she read, letter by letter, line by line, thinking back to old poetry lessons and evenings reciting the Qu'ran. Language, to her, was like breathing. Words lifted off the page and revealed their hidden meaning, just as this incantation indented into the barrier and broke it apart.
Tori and Chloe auntie high-fived as they continued into the temple, but Red Robin lingered to again hold onto her hand.
"I'm okay," she told him, interlacing her fingers with his. "I didn't use that much energy."
"Actually," his face lit up (or maybe it was the magic, still glowing around them?) as he beamed at her, "I was thinking more about how badass you looked. Forget me keeping you safe... I think you're perfectly capable of it on your own."
"As sweet as that sentiment is, I'm still weak to chivalry –"
"Oy! Lovebirds!" Chloe auntie was grinning from ear to ear as she waved at them. "We don't exactly have all day, if you'll remember the gunfire?"
Red Robin let out a squeak, right as Shikari shoved him towards the inner depths of the temple - "She's never going to let me live this down."
"Chloe auntie?" Shikari giggled, despite her instincts telling her otherwise, "Nah, she'll get over it soon enough."
Red Robin's frown only worsened as he held onto Shikari's hands for support. "Actually...." existential dread filled not only his voice, but what seemed to be the depths of this dark temple, "I meant my sister."
"Oh." Shikari couldn't summon up a single word in response.
Language was supposed to be easy, like the very magic she had summoned to guide them into the temple - and in turn, to light their pathway into the depths of this ancient place of worship, avoiding overgrown plants and rotten statues - but for the first time since she had begun her translation work, she couldn't say a single word.
"Hey, don't worry," Red Robin said, noticing the look on her face. "I'm going to keep my promise to you, and you're going to find that treasure with us, safe and sound."
She shook her head, once again squeezing his hand, "I already did."
Fandom: Uncharted + DC Comics crossover
Universe: Honey's Sweeter
Relationships: Tim Drake / Shikari Shinga
Summary: Shikari expected a typical translation gig; instead, she got a scarily perceptive (and caring) superhero along with it.
Notes: Another fic written purely for self-indulgence! This one started out as a snippet about 6 years ago, according to my old drafts (#yikes), but I really loved the idea, so I wanted to flesh it out and keep it going. Today, I got the chance to finish it, so I did! ♥ An impromptu present for
camalyng!This summer, Shikari had expected her typical translation gigs. Diplomats wanting ironclad contracts, graduate students wanting international proposals, or novelists seeking interpretations of their greatest stories. All lucrative gigs, but for an omnilingualist, all kind of boring. She could craft every interpretation from the comfort of her aunt Elena's home in Atlanta.
(Heck, if she wanted to, she could even venture to Starbucks or Waffle House and translate there. The cheap waffles and sticky, too-sweet syrup motivated her when little else did.)
The beginning of summer had seemed set in stone. She would weave together stories in other languages, figuring out which words had certain connotations, and creating meaning through each paragraph. From this, she would earn enough to buy textbooks, and pocket the rest for fun expenses like D&D games and video game marathons with her friend-slash-housemate Tim.
Then the notorious treasure hunter – and kind-of grave robber – Tori Fisher had contacted her out of the blue with a proposal: translate an ancient scroll from ancient Bengali to modern-day English, uncover more scrolls located in the depths of Bangladesh's forests, and receive the payday of a lifetime.
Trust me. You wouldn't want to miss this opportunity.
The promise of illegitimate cash hadn't spurned her to accept. Shikari didn't need it. (Not that Tori or the average person would know, given how deep her family's roots had extended into the foundation of the Bangladeshi government.) No, the scroll had intrigued her. If such an ancient treasure existed - and that was a giant if, considering - then the country of Bangladesh deserved to know. Their suffering people, rather than corrupt government officials, deserved to reap the rewards.
She accepted, then and there, not on the desire for cash, but on the desire to help her countrymen - and, of course, the desire to keep important data out of a white woman's hands.
Okay, she had written back. I'll come with you. But only if you can keep me safe.
The flights from Atlanta to Doha, and then onto Dhaka, had seemed like an eternity. Shikari had almost forgotten how inconvenient the visa-on-arrival process was, let alone how long the lines were for the average person.
Miss Fisher, it seemed, had wanted to blend in. Fine, whatever. Don't rely on Shikari's connections to enter the VIP lounge, let alone have someone bring the luggage into the bus. Don't rely on her family to find a van, or a reliable driver, or anything else that might seem relevant for a Dhaka-to-the-countryside trip. In the end, she grumbled at the normalcy that she had been reduced to, all the way up to the international terminal's exit.
The white van rolled up to the curb, and Tori was already scrambling to toss their luggage into the back. The driver slid down her window seat and - Shikari lowered her sunglasses at the all-too familiar sight.
"Chloe auntie?"
"Here I thought you wouldn't recognize me, pitha," Chloe said with a smirk, unlocking the doors for them. "It's been a while."
"It's only been two weeks since Tim's graduation," Shikari protested to empty air as she tossed her duffel into the trunk.
"AKA long enough," Tori pointed out, sliding into the passenger seat and kicking her legs up onto the dashboard. "If we didn't have to hurry, we wouldn't have gone for it, Ari."
Once again, her name was ignored in favor of a nickname. Shikari grimaced, leaning back in her seat and resisting the urge to say anything. The name reminded her of white people trying to work around her name, rather than acknowledging its beauty - and well, only one person had said such a nickname with love.
Unfortunately, said person wasn't here. He had paperwork to finish for a summer internship at Wayne Tech, and he promised he would be available by WhatsApp whenever he got a spare moment. That sentiment, she swore, would be the death of her some day.
"So," Shikari began, once there was a lull in Tori and Chloe auntie's conversation, "Where are we going?"
"Down to the coast," Tori said, with a surprising amount of delight. "Sun, surf, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts."
She should've figured it wouldn't be anywhere near close to where her family lived, and yet, she should've figured it would be one of the few areas in Bangladesh that was remotely close to dangerous. Shikari and Chloe auntie would blend into the crowds just fine, but Tori's pale skin and even paler hair distinguished her in a heartbeat. If anything went south, Shikari would be in far more danger...
After a moment of deliberation, Shikari allowed herself a sigh, "The pay had better be worth it."
Chloe auntie's laugh filled the entire van, "Now that's the Shikari I remember."
The drive down to the coast was long, and honestly, kind of boring. Shikari didn't remember when she had dozed off, let alone how long she had fallen asleep - but she sure woke up at the sound of gunfire.
Chloe auntie was focusing on the road ahead, while Tori had stepped out of the van, holding her usual sidearm and pointing it at a couple of motorbikes. She shot; they swerved out of the way. Typical countryside traffic ignored them - even the goats and cows kept on running ahead.
"The hell...?" Shikari murmured, leaning forward and clutching her head.
"No time to explain!" Chloe yelled, swerving around a fallen truck. "Looks like we're not the only ones after this artifact!"
Shikari didn't have much magic left in her, but if their enemies were gaining on them, she could summon some will o' wisps and light a wildfire –
The door beside her rattled with unnatural force. The lock was broken open as Tori tossed in a gagged man. His red-and-black uniform was familiar. Too familiar.
Shikari scooted over for a closer look. When her eyes met those crisp white-out lens, and the discernible black beak-like nose, she swore. The notorious hero Red Robin was in town, and of course, her boss had to kidnap him on the spot.
"Pedal to the medal, Auntie C!" Tori called, sliding right into the passenger seat.
Chloe let out an exasperated groan as she, of course, slammed on the accelerator and zoomed past men, goats, and cars alike. "You had to kidnap him?"
"Well, yeah!" Tori sounded genuinely offended. "I couldn't let the League get to him, and you know how Batman would feel if his protege died because of me."
Shikari wasn't sure which was worse: that Tori had some sort of relationship with this squirming hero, that he was in her company's van, or that if this all went downhill, her permanent record would be scarred for life.
She had only agreed to a simple translation job. Nothing more, nothing less. Words were the foundation of her soul and her work, and honestly, she figured Tori and Ms. Frazer would handle all the heavy lifting.
Yet as she sat there, alone in the back seat with a bound-and-gagged Red Robin right beside her, Shikari thought she would rather die. She leaned forward, positioning herself to remove the sloppy duct tape off his mouth.
Just before she reached out, she called, "Can I remove the tape?"
"No," Tori went at the same time that Chloe auntie yelled, "Please do!"
Taking Chloe auntie's advice, Shikari peeled off the duct tape with a gentle touch and then untied what remained of the ropes that had bound his arms together. Her hand was steady, yet inexperienced - she knew she was inflicting more pain than strictly necessary, and for the first time, she was regretting her lack of experience.
As Red Robin sat up, he winced, rubbing the spot where his exposed skin had met the rope.
"Thanks." He glanced back at Shikari, before swallowing and really looking at her. He removed his gloves, just so he could brush back her hair behind her ears. Despite the lack of distance, he felt like he was another world away... "Wait, Shikari? Tori brought you along?"
"We're paying her," Tori grumbled, blowing her hair out of her face. "She's not forced into this, if that's what you're implying."
Red Robin pressed his lips together, not letting go of her.
Shikari swallowed her own discomfort, searching the lower half of his face for clues. He knew her, somehow – heroes always did when they comforted civilians like her, but how? Those lips and jawline weren't telling her much, beyond the appeal of the lower half of his face... and how much they reminded her of Tim.
(She should've called or texted him earlier, now that she stops to think about it. She had promised him she would be safe - because Tori had promised her - but now, she's not so sure.)
"I'm sorry," she began, lowering her voice to a whisper, "Do I know you?"
"No." Red Robin's reply was too quick, almost brusque with how he brushed her off. "We've never met."
Yet his gaze never pulled away from her. Not even when Tori whistled at them, not even when Chloe auntie yelled at them to put on their damn seatbelts already, and definitely not when the roads were bumpy enough to throw her right onto him.
Shikari knew she would regret this, even as she extended her hands to hold onto his wrists, but she's - she's nervous, and she's fuming, and she's like a firecracker that's about to go off. She could feel that kindling in her chest, and its temperature rising too fast, too quickly for its own good.
Yet she still whispered, right where she thought his ear was, "Liar."
Red Robin froze.
Taking his silence for an answer, she continued, "You know me, you know my name and you won't tell me how, so that leaves us at a stalemate."
With that, she scooted to the opposite side of the van, buckling herself in and staring at the window. She could still feel her heart racing (which is stupid, heroes are stupid, and Gothamites like Tim are the stupidest of the lot), but she had to ignore it. They're about to enter the Tracts, and one little spark could set off a whole wildfire.
Red Robin moved to the front, whispering something in Tori's ear.
"Just tell her already, you dork." She laughed, loud enough for the whole van to hear, "She's one of us now."
"Tori!" Red Robin's voice lowered into a defiant, almost pissed-off hiss. "Absolutely not!"
So this hero, whoever he was underneath that mask, has a history with her and with Tori. Chloe auntie was snickering, under the low hum of Bollywood music, but Shikari can't bring herself to care.
Tori had dragged a superhero - and gunfire - into her easy job. Her safety had been thrown in question, and she doubted that a thief and a hero would lower the odds. If history had proven anything, they would only make those odds infinitely worse.
They parked the van at the edge of the tracts, and so they trudged into the forests, towards an old Buddhist temple Bhutanese immigrants had built a few centuries ago. Given the quiet, surreal aura radiating around the woods, Shikari suspected that traces of magic - of mana, of otherworldly energy - still lingered.
While neither Tori nor Chloe auntie gave magic much attention, its pull was too strong for her to ignore. As she steadied her gait, focusing on her breaths and the timing of them, she willed herself to keep walking. She wouldn't let something so small get the better of her. Not here, not now.
Red Robin, once again gloved, reached out for her hand and intertwined his fingers in hers.
"Hey." His voice was soft, yet worried. "You're shaking."
Tori and Chloe auntie were far ahead, too caught up in maps and geology to notice either of them. At the time, Shikari had considered it a blessing. She could walk at her own pace, and Red Robin would zoom through the trees, ignoring her altogether now that she had called him out on his lies.
Yet he walked side-by-side, careful to maintain eye level with her.
He knew her, and he cared for her. This kind of attention meant that someone in her life was lying about their extracurriculars, and Shikari didn't want to dwell on that dark road. She had enough secrets to keep without prying deep into someone else's.
"I'm okay," she lied, gritting her teeth.
This time, it was Red Robin who held onto her hand, freezing them at this spot and whispered in her ear. "Liar."
His modulated voice gave no clues towards his identity - for all she knew, Red Robin could be a she - but he held onto her as if she were his anchor. The action terrified her.
He continued, not quite letting go, "There's magic near the temple, isn't there?"
"How did you...?"
"You're a witch," Red Robin explained, as if that solved everything. "Therefore you can feel whenever other people have used magic. I read about it in your file."
Yeah, but her magic wasn't something she even told Tori or Chloe auntie about. She usually buried it deep down, relying on other sources of power, like her words - or in worst-case scenarios, her fists.
She had only confided in one person the nature of her true power when they had set off sparklers in the backyard, and when she had mimicked the stars above by shooting sparks in the palms of her hand. He had gazed down at those sparks as if they were the stars and moon, and then he had sworn himself to secrecy. He wouldn't tell, even if the world had bowed down against him, and even if he was -
Even if he was holding onto her right now.
Shikari pulled back, just wide enough to trace his jawline. Alone, the similarity didn't mean much, but with that sudden knowledge...
"No, you didn't," she murmured. "I told you myself."
He froze, his shoulders shaking as he stared back at her, his lips pressed together as if in deep, deep contemplation.
Supposedly, Red Robin was a master liar. Supposedly, he could formulate cover identities like others breathed, and he could shed stories like one shed sweaters. He thrived off espionage, and of the detective work that all Gothamite heroes pursued. They strove for justice, and for the truth to reveal itself.
Yet, this wasn't a truth either of them really wanted to acknowledge.
Before Shikari could think, before she could think through the consequences of her actions, she stood on her tip-toes and pressed her lips to his.
After all, Red Robin claimed he wasn't Tim. He wasn't the one person she wanted to come home to every evening, let alone the one person she was even earning this giant paycheck for. He was a hero who happened to share Tim's jawline and knowledge of her, and if that mask was all he needed to pretend he was someone else...
She could pretend with him.
When she let go, Red Robin coughed, ignoring the blood rushing to what she could see of his face. "Shikari! I'm sorry, I–"
"Just keep me safe." She stepped forward, forcing herself to catch up to Tori and Chloe auntie. "There's no excuse that can make up for the lies you've told, but... keep me safe. That's all I can ask for."
He held onto her hand, squeezing it tight as he rushed to catch up with her.
With all the hesitation she had expected from the timid, shy nerd she loved, Red Robin said, "Your boyfriend's one lucky man."
"Yeah," she couldn't help agreeing, lifting his mask long enough to see his eyes - her dumb, stupid Tim's eyes – before kissing him again. "He really is."
When they finally reached the temple, nestled deep in the foothills of the tracts, Chloe auntie was waiting for them with open arms and blood-stained thermoses of masala chai.
"Took you long enough!" She called, latching onto them both and pulling them in for a three-way hug. "Watching you, pancake, was far worse than watching your dad. I think you beat him not only in time but–"
"That's enough," Red Robin coughed, shaking his head at Chloe auntie. "She doesn't need to hear –"
"Oh, no," Shikari interrupted, all-too-eager, "I want to hear all about how Red Robin here is worse than his dad."
As they trudged inside, listening to Chloe auntie crow about how her beloved pitha and pancake were finally together, and apparently how Tim's parents sucked at love confessions, Shikari couldn't help sneaking a glance at her flustered friend. Now that she knew what to look for - the body language, the squeaks in his voice, the cadences - no mask could split her beloved from her... well, masked beloved.
Tori was standing at the top of the alter, pressing her hands against an invisible barrier.
"Magic," she growled. "We get this far, and we're up against damn magic."
Red Robin shot her a glance, and Shikari nodded, splitting from him and Chloe auntie to investigate the barrier. Alone, it shimmered a faint blue to indicate its presence, not unlike sharp glass on a sliding door. She took a decisive step forward, pressing her fingers on the glass.
Her touch, right along the edge, activated faint letters around her hand - ancient Sanskrit, she'd guess - that spelled out an incantation.
Ignoring Tori's (and Red Robin's) copious note taking, Shikari closed her eyes and murmured what she read, letter by letter, line by line, thinking back to old poetry lessons and evenings reciting the Qu'ran. Language, to her, was like breathing. Words lifted off the page and revealed their hidden meaning, just as this incantation indented into the barrier and broke it apart.
Tori and Chloe auntie high-fived as they continued into the temple, but Red Robin lingered to again hold onto her hand.
"I'm okay," she told him, interlacing her fingers with his. "I didn't use that much energy."
"Actually," his face lit up (or maybe it was the magic, still glowing around them?) as he beamed at her, "I was thinking more about how badass you looked. Forget me keeping you safe... I think you're perfectly capable of it on your own."
"As sweet as that sentiment is, I'm still weak to chivalry –"
"Oy! Lovebirds!" Chloe auntie was grinning from ear to ear as she waved at them. "We don't exactly have all day, if you'll remember the gunfire?"
Red Robin let out a squeak, right as Shikari shoved him towards the inner depths of the temple - "She's never going to let me live this down."
"Chloe auntie?" Shikari giggled, despite her instincts telling her otherwise, "Nah, she'll get over it soon enough."
Red Robin's frown only worsened as he held onto Shikari's hands for support. "Actually...." existential dread filled not only his voice, but what seemed to be the depths of this dark temple, "I meant my sister."
"Oh." Shikari couldn't summon up a single word in response.
Language was supposed to be easy, like the very magic she had summoned to guide them into the temple - and in turn, to light their pathway into the depths of this ancient place of worship, avoiding overgrown plants and rotten statues - but for the first time since she had begun her translation work, she couldn't say a single word.
"Hey, don't worry," Red Robin said, noticing the look on her face. "I'm going to keep my promise to you, and you're going to find that treasure with us, safe and sound."
She shook her head, once again squeezing his hand, "I already did."