Stephanie Brown and Tim Drake were more than just average troublemaking teenagers though that fact was what they kept to themselves. They were both part of the Bat vigilantes, with Steph donning the identity of Spoiler and Tim having Red Robin's to his credit.

They used to patrol Gotham at night along with the rest of the vigilantes to make sure the citizens were safe from the crime that bustled in the city's network of alleys and dark crevices. Sometimes, they also got to face the more notorious criminals of Gotham such as Joker, Penguin, Two Face, Scarecrow etc, the list is never ending.

That night however they were up against Killer Croc, a dangerous part crocodile entity ravaging the city's sewers. The Bats had suspicions that Killer Croc was operating under Poison Ivy and their intentions could not be harmless.

Hence, Red Robin had decided to investigate himself and was currently on his perch waiting for the right time to go after the threatening creature. Spoiler was staying as backup and both were being monitored by Barbara Gordon as Oracle.

Batman and Robin had left for Star City on a mission so Gotham was left to the rest of the Bat vigilantes with Oracle carefully monitoring each area. Nightwing was patrolling the denser areas, Hood was positioned in the darker deserted precincts, mainly the areas near ACE Chemicals as the factory had gone up in a sinister explosion and he had taken upon himself to get to the bottom of the case.

And as Red Robin had volunteered himself to investigate Killer Croc, Oracle had reluctantly agreed but only allowed him to do so if he took Spoiler as backup and continuously kept in contact with the Cave. Nightwing was to be alerted too if anything went wrong with the younger vigilantes.

So far everything had been going fine but when Red Robin had to check out the sewers while keeping on Killer Croc's trail, he unexpectedly came face to face with Killer Croc himself.

"Mayday," Red Robin breathed and when the giant crocodile man lunged at him, he dodged, using his bo staff to defend himself.

Spoiler came to his aid shortly after and the two barely managed to escape the sewer, however Killer Croc had grabbed hold of Red Robin's cape and threw him afar as easily as if he was a Frisbee.

"Red Robin, what's happening?" Oracle lost connection to him as well and the poor vigilante crashed straight through the windows of an old building.

"Oh shit..." He hit the floor with a loud thump and the glass shards were sticking on to his suit. The protective layer had stopped him from getting him severely cut up but he had received a lot of scratches on the parts not covered by the suit, mainly his chin and neck.

***

Alex woke up alarmed, hearing the loud crash that came from the lower portion of the building. He sat up immediately and thinking that it could be an intruder, he cautiously stepped down the spiral staircase, his phone in hand to call the cops if necessary.

However, when he reached the lower portion, he saw the glass windows had smashed and one of the Bat vigilantes was trying to pick himself off the floor.

Knowing that the vigilantes worked to help the citizens, he quickly rushed to the boy's aid, taking his hand and helping him up.

"I am so sorry," the vigilante with his red and black costume apologized and by then Alex realized he was Red Robin, "I promise I will pay for all the damage I have caused."

Alex saw that the impact must have been hard and though the boy made it seem as if the glass shards had not punctured through the suit, the slight wince of pain as he straightened showed that he was still injured.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course but still I am really sorry..."

Alex shook off his apologies and switched on the light, "I know you're hurt. And forget about the payment, I'll manage."

"Absolutely not!"

"Red Robin, it doesn't matter. What matters right now is whether you're fine or not."

The vigilante paused as if quite surprised, "honestly, you're the first person I've met who's reacted as such, like I crashed through your windows... You must be angry."

"No. I'm not angry," he smiled gently, "you people save the city all the time and the least we can do in return is to thank you for that. Care for a cup of coffee?"

The cowl was covering his face but it seemed as if he had been delighted at the offer, "wow... I had not been expecting for this patrol night to end up like this."

"So I take it as a yes?"

The vigilante nodded, "thank you so much, I owe you."

"What are you doing? Or rather what have you done!" The two spun around to see Spoiler who had followed Red Robin there and was examining the damage done on the windows. Turning to Alex she added, "we're sorry, Sir, we will replace these windows. I assure you."

Alex told her the same that they need not worry about the windows, he was going to replace them anyway since the renovations were already going on for his shop.

"It's all your fault," Spoiler snapped at Red Robin who backed off immediately as if assuming she would hit him.

"I got thrown around like a frisbee," Red Robin replied, "and how is that my fault?"

"You should not have straight up poked Killer Croc in the face, you idiot. What if you had gotten chewed instead of merely thrown around like a Frisbee?"

He thought for a while then sighed, "valid point..."

Alex had switched on the lights in the kitchen and put the coffee to brew on the stove. Spoiler glanced towards the kitchen inquisitively then asked Red Robin in a low voice, "what's he doing?"

"Making coffee."

"The nerve of you to ask for coffee even though you literally wrecked his place."

"I did not intentionally wreck his place," he replied though both of them were speaking in a barely audible tone, "and he offered coffee himself. How could I say no?"

She was shaking her head slightly, "you caffeinated slug, of course how could you say no... But it is very dangerous for us to accept favors, you know that, right?"

He watched as she craned her neck to get a better view of the kitchen "What, you're checking if he's poisoning the coffee or something?"

"Of course he wouldn't do that! It's Alex, he can't even hurt a fly..."

"Hush," Red Robin silenced her, "what if he hears you?"

Right on cue, Alex stepped out of the kitchen and both of them turned silent, thinking that maybe he had heard them.

"Hey, why don't you guys come to the kitchen? This area is very messy because the renovation was going and also there are glass shards all around now..."

"We're extremely sorry for that," both spoke up in unison.

But Alex smiled, "it's alright, coffee's ready though."

Red Robin gratefully accepted the coffee cup and downed it but Spoiler's mask was covering her entire face and she was not going to drink it in front of Alex. He must have noticed that as he stepped out.

When Red Robin asked where he was going, he said, "your friend can't have coffee while I'm in here so I'll clear the mess up in the meanwhile."

"Can we know your name?"

"Alexander, But you can call me Alex."

"Thank you Alex, not many people are as cooperative as you are."

Alex had picked up the floor mop and had gone out while Spoiler lifted her mask slightly to drink the coffee and remarked to Red Robin, "you were right. He's too good for Gotham."

He looked out again to make sure Alex wasn't listening then spoke, "according to my estimate, the damage I did here is about 500$. The window's a double pane, a large one though and it would require labor charges as well."

She raised an eyebrow skeptically, "so...?"

"I have 350, you got some money on you right now?"

"Oh," she checked her utility belt, "lucky, there's a crisp 200 right here that I will need very much."

He took it from her, giving her the fifty dollars and quickly scribbled a note for Alex, "I'll pay you the rest when we get back. For now thanks for letting me borrow."

"Well I didn't say you could borrow..."

He shook his head, "he's our friend, right? And you yourself said you help friends out."

"Fine," she agreed, "but don't you forget to pay me back."

"First thing I do when I reach the cave, I promise."

Leaving the note and the money taped to the fridge, both Red Robin and Spoiler bid their farewell to Alex and quickly snuck out before he could stop them and return the money.

***