((A/N)): Why are there no good gifs of Timmy???
-----------------------------------------------------------

"Hello".

The girl's voice made Tim jerk his head up. He spun around to find her sitting on a wall behind him, swinging her legs and grinning.

"Hello", he said back, slowly, while studying you.

You couldn't be much older than him. Dressed smartly in a white button down, sleeves pushed up, and black jeans, the only things that really stood out to him were the neon green laces in your black combat boots, and the familiar green bowler hat perched on top of your head. The moon shining down in the alleyway happened to catch on something around your finger... a question mark ring.

"Who are you?" he asked suspiciously. "You don't look like the kind of henchmen the Riddler keeps around".

You jumped down from the wall, your boots landing with a crunch in the gravel. You didn't fail to notice how he stiffened when you approached him.

You stuck your hand out to him, the one with the ring.

"I'm Y/N Nygma", you introduced yourself.

Tim slowly shook your hand.

"Nygma as in, Edward Nygma? As in, the Riddler?"

You rolled your eyes.

"Who else in Gotham has the last name 'Nygma'?"

Tim flushed, embarrassed. You laughed, patting his cheek twice.

"And you're Robin", you say, twirling around. "Boy Wonder".

Tim followed you with his eyes.

"Yeah", he finally confirmed, although he knew you probably didn't need it. Despite his villainy, Riddler was one of the smartest men in Gotham, which is what made him such a formidable opponent against Batman. He figured if nothing else, you would have at least inherited that from him.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" he questioned.

You plopped down on the ground, back against the wall and shrugged up at him.

"My dad is committing some crimes right now", you said, as if it were normal. "I'm just his lookout".

Tim furrowed his brow in confusion.

"So... shouldn't you be sounding an alarm or something?"

"Shouldn't you be arresting me or something?"

Tim snorted.

"I asked first", he said, crossing his arms across his chest.

You sighed, picking at your nails.

"I don't really care. Dad can do whatever he wants. He just brings me along. Your turn".

He had to admit, he was pleasantly surprised by your boldness, your bluntness, your quirk, your charm, your wit. It was like all the best things about Edward Nygma, if such things existed, had manifested in you.

And even though you were supposed to be the enemy, it felt nice to have someone his own age to talk to.

"You don't look like the crime-committing type", he admitted. "You're not breaking any laws or anything".

You smiled and shrugged again.

"True".

There was a strangely comfortable quiet.

Police car sirens going off suddenly made both of you look up. You sighed, pushing yourself off the ground and dusting your clothes off. You extended your hand to Tim once more.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Robin", you said, shaking his hand firmly before saluting him and taking off.

Tim watched you go until you disappeared.

He wondered if, kind of hoped, he would see you again.

~

Luckily, fate was on his side.

It didn't take long after the first meeting for him to figure out, with Bruce's help, that you did, in fact, go to the same school as him. As the years passed, you moved up to the same high school, too, where he saw you more often compared to before. Now he knew what to look out for.

A steady friendship had formed between you and the Boy Wonder over the years. Batman and the Riddler would go at it, and you and Robin would go off somewhere and sit, talk; somewhere away from the fighting, where you could both be normal teens with normal friends.

Tonight, though, it wasn't looking like that was going to happen.

You stood beside your father on a stack of rubble him and his goons had blown away from blowing a hole into the vault of the bank. He was leaning on his question mark cane, overseeing his men haul bags of money into the van he had stolen earlier.

The police sirens were getting louder. You could see the first car pulling up.

"Police are here", you observed.

The Riddler looked up, glancing in the same direction.

"Ah, so they are".

He smiled down at you. You recognized it as the look he gave you whenever he wanted something from you and rolled your eyes.

"'Go sit in the car and watch the money'", you predicted, already heading off. "Got it, Dad".

You didn't give him time to say anything as you turned your back to him. You yanked the van's passenger side door open and sank down into the leather seat.

The van was parked all the way in the back of the bank, staying out of sight of the police, but making the distance your father's men had to walk to get the money back there longer. Only occasionally did the thump of a heavy sack of bills hit the floor in the back.

Knowing you would be waiting around for awhile, you kicked the door open, pulling a cigarette and lighter out, ready to light up...

"That's a nasty habit", Robin said, wrinkling his nose as he landed in front of you.

You startled, dropping the lighter. You grumbled as you tucked both away.

"Holy shit, Birdboy, you scared me".

Robin leaned on the open car door.

"Are you okay?" he questioned.

"Well, my dad is robbing the bank, your boss is about to beat the shit out of him, I'll have to visit him in Arkham for the next few months again until he breaks out..."

You paused, grinning up at him.

"So yeah. I'm great, thanks".

Tim rolled his eyes under his mask. He knew already your sarcastic jibes were just your way of dealing with the fact that your father was a criminal, too selfish to stop and think about how his actions affected you, too.

"Just stay in the van, okay?" he said pointedly.

You held your hands up in surrender.

"Sure thing, Birdboy".

He was gone as quickly as he had come, leaving you lonely.

Stay in the car, both him and your father had said. After about 10 minutes of waiting, you decided that Riddler had no dad rights over you, and your best friend was supposed to put up with your stubbornness, anyway.

Reaching into the glove compartment, you shoved a pistol into your thigh-high, setting off for the crime scene again.

You could see Robin fighting off your father's henchmen near the gaping hole in the bank, but couldn't spot him or Batman anywhere.

"They took it inside", Commissioner Gordon huffed beside you. You turned to him, giving a little side smile.

"What's up, Commish?" you started with the small talk.

He sighed, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

"Same old", he replied gruffly, shaking his head. "You keeping out of trouble, Y/N?"

You placed a hand over your heart in fake shock.

"Me? Trouble?"

The commissioner gave the smallest hint of a smile and shook his head again.

"Let's keep it that way. You're a good kid, Y/N. Would hate to see you make Riddler's mistakes".

You waited a beat after that before reaching into your boot to retrieve the pistol.

"You said they went inside, Commish?" you asked slowly.

Jim nodded.

"Think they're fighting their way up to the top... Y/N? Y/N, wait!"

That was all you needed to hear. You were already off, bursting into the lobby and searching for the elevator.

It only took you a little over halfway up. You would have to go the rest on foot. Throwing the door to the stairs open, you discovered a spotted trail of blood on the ground. You followed it up to the highest floor, Floor 7, where true to the Commissioner's word, Batman and your father, broken and bleeding nose, were still going at it, wrecking the office space around them.

They were, you noted, getting awfully close to the window. Maybe you could use that to your advantage...

You let off a single shot, shattering the glass. The entire pane fell out, making both Batman and the Riddler turn to you, pistol aimed on your father.

"Come on, Dad. Let's just leave", you said slowly, taking careful steps forward.

You already knew he wasn't going home for a long time. In fact, he was probably headed straight for Arkham, but he didn't need to know that. You had talked your dad down from situations like these too many times. You knew exactly how to handle him.

"But, Y/N, the money", Ed Nygma's voice trembled. Blood dripped down his chin onto the floor. "You would betray your own father like this?"

That made you stop in your tracks.

You had never had the best relationship with him. But he wasn't cruel or neglectful. He had taught you everything you knew, everything that made you so smart. You probably could've had a better relationship with him if he just wasn't so selfish.

You lowered your gun just slightly.

"Forget it, Dad", you said quietly. "You don't need the money. You know you're not getting away with this. And look, you're bleeding all over shit".

You took a few more steps forward, close enough to stretch your hand out to your beaten father.

"Come on", you said, a subtle plea behind your words.

For a minute, you thought you had finally gotten through to him, that for once in your life, he would choose you over his stupid riddles.

You were wrong.

Riddler yanked you forward by your hand, far too close to the shattered window and the unforgiving drop. The Bank of Gotham was no skyscraper, but seven floors, you reckoned, would still be a pretty nasty fall.

You wrestled with your father as he tried to take the gun from you, and you let off another round straight into the ceiling. The loud bang made both him and Batman react.

"NO!" Batman lunged forward, startling your father enough to let go of you. It was too late, and you were too close to the edge. Your foot slipped, and you plummeted out of the window to what would surely be your death.

Just finishing the last of the thugs, Tim looked up in horror.

"No", he breathed.

In a burst of strength, he leapt forward, catching you at just the right time. The force of the fall and the weight of your body brought him to his knees, where he was sure there would be bruises, but you were alive, and that was the important thing.

You slowly opened your eyes, having squeezed them shut as you fell, to find yourself in Robin's arms, your own arms looped around his neck.

Even after that near-death experience, he was relieved to see that you were, indeed, alright, when a small grin worked its way onto your face.

"Nice catch, Birdboy", you said.

He huffed out a small laugh, standing up slowly, still holding you, bridal style.

"You're stupid, you know that?"

The sound of footsteps rushing over to you had you both looking up to find the Commissioner and a medical team.

"Y/N! Y/N, you're alright", Gordon breathed. "Don't ever do that again, you hear? Leave all the grunt work to us and Batman. And Robin".

You laughed.

"No promises, Commish. Trouble's in my blood, remember?"

As if on cue, the bank doors swung open, revealing your father in cuffs and Batman leading him out.

Robin tightened his hold on you as you sighed, avoiding his glare.

"Literally".

A beat of silence passed before Jim squeezed your shoulder.

"You're gonna have to get checked out, okay? You know where to find us".

He directed a look at Robin.

"Take care of her, son", he said, turning on his heel and walking away.

You clung to Robin still as the med team approached you.

"Robin. We're gonna have to take her now", the head of the team said solemnly.

You recognized the look of disappointment cross over his face just as he was about to hand you over.

"Wait", you stopped him. "Can we have a minute?"

The man looked skeptical, but you flashed him your best puppy-eyes and he nodded, backing off.

Robin readjusted his grip on you, fingers curling over your thighs.

"Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.

You bit your lip.

"I don't know", you answered truthfully, in a rare moment of weakness.

Neither you nor Robin had time to worry about it as it disappeared just as quick. You stretched up to plant a kiss on his cheek, making him blush.

"But I will be".

He carefully set you back on your feet, hands immediately flying to your waist as you wobbled. The med team rushed forward, steadying you.

You winked in Robin's direction before letting them guide you to the ambulance.

"Thanks. For catching me. Birdboy".

He couldn't prevent his fond smile as he watched you go, shaking his head.