Night had fallen and the lights in Dora's Coffee Haunt dimmed with the last of the customers leaving through the door. Alex had just left for Chinatown so Isadora had to close the kitchen by herself but she decided to check the door first.

Turning over the sign to Closed, she was about to go back when the sound of tapping against the glass panel made her stop.

She turned around alert but saw Tim outside, his hands pressing against the glass and he seemed rather out of breath. His blue eyes met hers and he began to speak, she couldn't hear him but he seemed in utter distress.

Sighing wearily and shaking her head, she unlocked the door and stepped aside to let him in, "I couldn't hear a word of what you were saying out there."

His eyes widened, "what? I wasted my breath for a whole five minutes?"

"Five minutes is a little too much, don't exaggerate."

He looked around and spoke up, "you guys closed the shop already..."

"Yup, didn't you read the sign?"

"In case you hadn't noticed I was a little out of breath due to running all the way here."

A small smile flickered on her face, "why, didn't any of your brothers give you a lift?"

"They aren't normally that nice," he shrugged, "Dick's an exception though but he was held up at work."

She looked at him briefly, "Officer Grayson?"

"Yup." But then he spoke up, "I know it's closing time and you have to leave but can I please, please get one cup of coffee? I swear my headache would get worse if I don't."

She knew he was going to say that, "it's past closing time, Tim. I was about to have dinner."

His fingers ran through his messy brown hair as he looked at her with blue eyes wide in a pleading expression, "Dora please... I swear it won't happen again."

She couldn't help but give in to the adorable expression he had managed, "I'll let you off just this once but next time if you come after closing, I won't open the kitchen again for you."

Relief washed on his features as he followed her to the kitchen, "thank you so much, I owe you."

The lights were already switched on in the kitchen for she hadn't packed up everything yet, "you're lucky I had gotten a little late and everything isn't packed up already."

He picked up one of the last two cookies in the baking tray, relishing the chocolate flavor, "still, thanks."

She nodded placing the cup in front of him. "Have you had dinner?"

"Not yet."

"Well, I live off sandwiches but they taste good..."

"Dora I'm fine, I don't want to bother you anymore than I already have," he spoke up immediately noticing that she had busied herself in making some more sandwiches.

She shrugged off his remark, "it's no bother really." She fixed up some sandwiches for him as well then placed both plates on the table as she took a seat across from him.

"You and your bother are too good for Gotham," Tim's eyes had a distant gleam as if he was thinking about something.

Dora smiled, "if Steph was here she would say you're flirting again."

He shook his head, features breaking into an adorable grin, "I was not flirting. I was just stating a fact. But yeah Steph would have said that, no doubt."

"Why does she tease you so much though?"

He shrugged, "we've been like that for years. We bother the hell out of one another but at the end of day, we are family. So yeah, we've learnt to put up with each other. Honestly speaking, I might get annoyed by Steph a lot but I won't give her up for anyone else. She would tell you the same I'm sure if you asked."

She nodded, thinking over his words a little for Steph too had said something quite similar for him as well, "and how's the rest of your family? Are they like that too?"

"We're a weird lot, I'll give you that much. If we ever had family dinners, that would be the most chaotic gathering Gotham would have ever seen," his smile widened, "even weird would be an understatement then."

"Yeah that's evident enough already," she laughed lightly, "I haven't met all of you Waynes but those whom I've had the pleasure of meeting surpass the weird level."

He raised an eyebrow skeptically, "oh and who else have you met other than me and Steph?"

"Officer Grayson. He had dropped by once or twice," she replied, "he's too nice for an Officer though. And really funny. Sometimes I wonder why you guys gave him that nickname even though he's so opposite."

He chuckled recalling Dick's daily antics, "we didn't give him that nickname, he came along with it."

"Oh."

"Thought you were going to say he was weird though?"

She nodded, "he is, you don't normally expect a police officer to be like that."

"He's the eldest after Bruce and Barbara but thankfully, he's the most chill out of us. Never gets pissed off, lets us do whatever we like, even joins us in creating havoc sometimes and is very good company."

"Figured that much."

"You like to figure out everything, don't you?" He asked playfully as he refilled his cup from the thermos she had placed on the table beside him knowing full well that just one cup would never be enough for him.

She nodded, "I like to be aware of what's happening around me. Comes in handy most of the times."

"Good for you. On the other hand, I'm so unaware that it usually ends up in me getting abducted and realizing only when it's too late."

Her brown eyes widened in alarm, "you've gotten abducted?"

"Not once, unfortunately. I got used to it," he replied though his tone was quite nonchalant as if he was talking about a routinely occurrence, "there was one kidnapping in which they had to knock me out because I was not shutting up and that was the only time I got a full eight hour sleep that month."

"That's sad, Tim."

"Actually sometimes I think I'm a peril on those abductors," he reflected, eyes twinkling in mild amusement, "like imagine keeping someone hostage and expecting they would be scared. Instead the hostage starts lecturing on how the kidnapping strategy was awful and just plain boring, also giving tips on future improvement."

She laughed, "you do that?"

"All the time in hopes that these people would get sick of me and stop to even think of abducting me again," he nodded smile widening, "also I don't get the point of those long ass speeches tailored to terrify the victim. Like it's pointless. By the time they get to finish it, the Bat vigilantes are already breaking in through the windows."

Thinking of Bat vigilantes, she was reminded of Red Robin, "one of them is a friend of Alex's and comes here often."

"Oh, which one?"

"The Burger Joint," she replied.

He shook his head laughing at her remark, "you spend a lot of time with Steph, she's starting to rub off on you."

"He was here like two days ago and I confused him with you because I was half asleep. His reaction was priceless," she added, brown eyes focused on him as if observing his reaction as well, "he didn't turn up after that though."

Tim knew that she was very observant so he willed himself to play it off smoothly without raising any suspicions in his direction again, "he must have been offended; I'm a walking disaster and no one in their right mind would want to be mistaken for me."

"Perhaps."

She stood up and Tim did the same, taking the plates with her to the sink. "Thanks a lot, Dora, I'm sorry I was such a nuisance. Won't happen again."

Dora shrugged off his apology, smiling gently, "you weren't a nuisance, Tim. And it was better to have your company than dining alone."

He was about to add something but his phone started buzzing in his pocket. His facial expression flipped from the relaxed look she knew to a slightly worried one as he glanced at the clock. "Sorry, I've gotta go. See you tomorrow."

"Sure, see you tomorrow." She accompanied him to the door and locked it securely after he had stepped out.

At some times it seemed to her as if Tim was someone else at the same time. As if there was another being enclosed in him, another identity which she was somehow aware of but he did all in his power to keep it restrained in himself.

As if he was trying to prevent her from finding out who he really was.

And Isadora had a genuinely curious nature such that once she got intrigued by someone, she usually got to the bottom of the matter, figuring things out herself. A detective in the making, according to Alex.

***