Dora made him sit down in front of the mirror, then stood behind his chair, brushing his hair out gently. The soft brown strands reached down to his shoulders and though he looked adorable to her even with longer hair, to Alex and the rest of his family, he had looked better with short hair.

Jason and Damian hadn't stopped teasing him that he looked like a homeless waif ever since the two had seen him with shoulder length hair and though Tim didn't mind it usually, sometimes they would take it too far.

So Dora had offered to cut his hair for him and he had agreed.

She positioned the mirror to the appropriate angle then sprayed water onto his hair before cutting. With the dark strands considerably wet, her fingers combed through once again to see that all the tangles were out.

"I might fall asleep since you're being so gentle right now," he mumbled, relishing the feeling of her fingers gently weaving through his hair.

"What, now you want me to slap your head repeatedly so that you keep awake?" She came in front of him, eyebrow raised skeptically.

A light chuckle escaped him, "oh no, not at all. It's just... Very soothing the way you run your fingers through my hair. I like it a lot. Wait no, I love it..."

She left the scissors at that remark, a smile breaking out on her face as she ran her fingers through his hair again, tips gently massaging his scalp as she watched his eyes flutter shut in relaxation.

"Though fair warning, if you fell asleep while I'm cutting your hair, I won't be responsible if the haircut gets ruined."

"I won't hold you responsible. I wouldn't dare..."

"Don't fall asleep then because I don't want you to look like a canary with its head shoved in a juicer blender."

He laughed yet again though the sound was drowned within as Dora leaned forward and captured his lips with her own.

His palm glided over the curve of her cheek softly, fitting over it akin to a puzzle piece as he pulled her on top of him, his other hand resting on her waist.

She didn't object as he pulled her even closer. Her hands had trailed down to his neck, clutching onto the soft fabric of his shirt as she dissolved in the moment.

She couldn't imagine how she had survived all those months of not having him close like that.

"Tim," she pulled back slightly, a little out of breath, "we were supposed to do something else..."

"But do you mind...?"

"No."

"Then I don't see any issue here," he nuzzled his head in her neck instead, feeling her grip tighten on him as he left a trail of delicate butterfly kisses, stopping when she turned his face towards her once again and kissed him fully.

But not long had passed like that when she noticed that his hair were messy once again so reluctantly she disentangled herself from him.

His lips puckered into a small frown as he protested, "Dora, no..."

"Look in the mirror, I'll have to comb your hair out all over again."

"Oops."

Though she couldn't resist the adorable look on his face as she gently kissed his cheek but pulled back before he could reach out for her.

"Not now, birdboy, sit still and let me get this done with first."

She carefully brushed out his hair once again, spraying the strands wet as she picked up the scissors and carefully measured the length. "You okay with the usual haircut, right? Till the nape of your neck from the back and slightly fluffy up front?"

"However you see fit."

"Okay then, don't move now," she started from the back, cutting the longer strands first then carefully trimmed until his hair stopped at the nape of his neck. Picking up the coarser brush, she brushed off the excess hair from the back.

"Ow Dora, that itches."

"Bear it," she mumbled, spraying his hair once again as she trimmed the sides.

Tim didn't close his eyes even for a minute because he knew he would fall asleep if he did so and Dora had clearly forbidden him from doing that. Besides, ever since he had returned, falling asleep was something he never looked forward to.

She finally came up front after the back and sides were taken care of and then sprayed his hair once again, asking him to close his eyes.

"But I'll fall asleep if I do that," he remarked, "and you know I don't want to."

She sighed, fingers gently caressing his cheek, "please Timmy, I won't be able to focus if you keep looking at me the entire time."

"Why not?"

Because then I'll be tempted to kiss the hell out of you instead, she thought to herself but didn't voice it out loud.

"I'll explain later," she replied vaguely, "try not to fall asleep though."

"You're putting me in a very difficult situation," he closed his eyes, knowing full well that sleep would overpower him shortly after.

"If it is of any consolation, keep talking to me so that you stay awake," she suggested, spraying his hair wet again.

He agreed to that, "I'll try my best. What should I talk about?"

"Something which won't let you go to sleep."

There was a slight pause before he replied, voice lowering considerably, "I don't think you'd like to hear that."

She realized exactly what he meant and stopped for a second, taking in a deep breath, "maybe you're right, I won't like to hear that. But we've never kept any secrets from each other before."

"I just don't want you to get worried."

His arms gently encircled her from the waist but he didn't pull her close as he knew she was trimming his hair and any unnecessary movement would ruin the haircut.

"I realized that everyone of us literally pounced on you for staying away from us, blaming you for all the pain we went through," she spoke up, concerned brown eyes searching his face for any flicker of emotion but found only a slight dread etched across, "but not even once did we ask what you had been through in that time."

"It doesn't matter, Dora, it's all past now," he added reassuringly despite the fact that he was about to tell her something he hadn't told Bruce either. 

But then, he could never really hide anything from Dora. Sooner or later she would work it out herself and he didn't want her to feel that he couldn't tell her due to lack of trust.

Tim could trust her with his life in a heartbeat if the need arose.

Dora sighed, shaking her head a little, "but still..."

"I killed Shadow Walker," he spoke up abruptly, knowing that if he didn't he would never have the courage to voice it out again and she froze upon hearing those words, "had to or else he would have never let me get to Luke. I electrocuted him and that obliterated his darkness. But before I could get out of there, Deathstroke caught me and the building exploded. I don't know how he got us out of there. Then Deathstroke kept me in his captivity for weeks until I finally escaped."

Her hand brushed through his hair again, placing the scissors back as the cutting and trimming was all done. But her fingers still lingered on his face as she leaned closer, her forehead resting against his.

Tim's blue eyes fluttered open, gazing in concerned brown, "I knew you wouldn't like to hear about that. I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

She took her time observing him closely. He said he had killed and yet there was no blemish upon his innocence, to her he was still as angelic as the first ray of dawn that pierced through the night's darkness.

He made her sit down as well, not letting go of her as he resumed, "then I had to track the people Shadow Walker was working for. They call themselves NOWHERE, an alliance of mutants like Shadow Walker and Deathstroke. Shadow Walker wanted to get rid of us to regain his status within the organization and Deathstroke helped because he blames us for both his sons' death."

"It must have been so hard on you," she mumbled, cupping his face tenderly in between her palms.

"Hard would be an understatement." He paused for a while then continued, "I had to join NOWHERE in order to take them down, had to give myself up as a specimen to be experimented on while I worked on disintegrating them all the while behind their backs. Difficult, yes. Life threatening, indeed. But not impossible."

She looked at him as if horrified, "they experimented on you?"

"Their main objective is to turn as many mutants in as possible. They have a whole colony of scientifically modified mutants, hundreds of them..."

"But Tim..."

"I had weighed out my options very carefully, Dora, there was no other way. But before any of their experiments could succeed I found enough info to take them down. It took me months to implement it but I couldn't return without making sure that they wouldn't be a threat anymore."

She was slightly confused, "so you mean that there is no NOWHERE now?"

"None," he replied softly, "all finished."

"And the colony of mutants?"

"Freed. Batman knows, he looked after it."

She gazed deep into his pure blue eyes wondering that there was still so much to him that she had never known nor even bothered to know. She could see that he had a will of steel, unbreakable determination that got him to his plan's completion. And even though he was just twenty, he was way beyond people his age.

He had killed, the words reverberated in her head once again, and yet he was still the pure and sweet Timothy Drake she had known. Too precious for the world and yet too complex at the same time.

"But all you went through... Those nightmares..."

He lowered his head in regret but held onto her even then, "I can't get rid of them, I'm sorry."

A thick silence washed over the two but Dora leaned closer, resting her head on his chest, listening to his rhythmic heartbeat. Out of habit she counted the steady beats, her own anxious heartbeat synchronizing with his own. His hand had gently weaved through her hair and neither of them spoke for a while, relaxing in the comfort they felt in each other's presence.

"Tim... You never cease to surprise me," she mumbled as she looked up, lips brushing against his gently, "how can you be like this?"

"Like what?"

"Like so badass and innocent at the same time that at times I really suspect whether you're real or not."

A smile broke out on his face at last, "oh come on, that's not the case. Of course I'm real."

The words sparked up memories from the days she had spent without him, when his presence felt so real yet he wouldn't actually be there with her and it would just be a hallucination. Those days had been hardest for her to bear.

"I'm glad you're real," she breathed, closing her eyes as she snuggled closer to him, her head resting on his shoulder, "and I'm glad you're with me."

His hand gently stroked the back of her head, "I had promised to come back, didn't I? And you know I keep my promises."

"I know. But it was so long that I almost thought..."

Her voice trailed off as his finger traced the curve of her lips, silencing her. "Don't say that, I'll try my best never to let any such thing happen again. I promise."

She closed her eyes as his lips connected with his and her wrists crossed at the back of his neck. When she pulled apart, brown gazed into blue as she spoke up, "you're my first everything, you remember that, don't you?"

"I do."

"Don't be my first heartbreak. Please."

He gently caressed her cheek, "you know I'd never intentionally do that."

"I know but still..."

Tim pressed his lips on hers lightly as he mumbled, "Dora, you're my first everything too. Trust me when I say this, I can never even think of parting with you."

***