"So explain to me again, what exactly was in the vial?" Rory asked, wincing as she sat up straighter in her chair. Tim let out a sigh as he helped her out, trying to make sure she was in the least amount of pain possible. 

Barbara wheeled around to look at them as she held up the empty vial. Rory was correct in assuming that there were leftover traces of something in it, but she was unsure of what it could be. That was why she had brought it back in the first place.

"Again, that's not entirely clear yet. The only thing I have found is traces of your DNA, Ivy must have gotten a hold of a strand of hair or something to use in this. What she used it for, I don't want to know. Her powers are constantly evolving and she is nothing short of a genius either, the real question is why did she have it in the first place?" Babs said.

"I heard Croc say something about you being the bat brat she adores so much, I may be a little behind on my homework but why does she have this apparent thing for little miss sunshine again?" Kon crossed his arms and put his feet up on the table in front of him. 

Rory shot him a frown and kicked his feet off with her own, "That's a need to know basis." she snapped.

Jason let out a laugh. "That, or she's embarrassed about what happened." he teased.

Grabbing the closest thing to her, which just so happened to be her cup from earlier that morning. "Fuck you Princess!" she threw it at his head and watched it bounce off the same spot on his forehead and shatter on the floor.

"What the hell! Why do you always throw shit at my head!" he yelled, grabbing the pear next to him and throwing it at her head in retaliation. Rory caught it before it even got close to her face with an unamused expression as she took a bite of it. 

"I told you, your head is so big it's great for target practice," she answered, her mouth full. 

"Hold on, why would she be embarrassed from it?" Kon asked, looking between the two. 

"She kissed Ivy to protect me," Tim said quickly, Rory turning to look at him with a shocked expression. 

"I should have thrown it at you Timothy!" she cried, shoving him off the chair and watching as he fell onto the floor with a soft thud. "Why the hell did you tell him!?"

"I could keep going on about what happened after that as well?" Tim threatened with a grin.

Rory frowned. "You so much as breathe what happened, I will make sure you regret it." she threatened.

Kon watched the two of them with an amused expression, Tim talked about Rory all the time. Every time they talked, he had a new thing to tell him about her, and Kon thought it was sweet seeing how much he adored Rory. They really were made for each other, maybe at first glance, it wasn't seeable because she was so rough and abrasive, and Tim almost the exact opposite; but seeing them interact like this he could see that they complimented each other in a way that no one else could. 

Tim laughed at her comment and got back up on the chair, kissing her cheek. "You still love me though." he grinned.

"Somehow, I still do." she smiled and took his hand. "But back to the vial. The incident with ivy could be influencing her obsession with me. But nothing like that has happened since, so why would she?"

"Are you really trying to understand how these villains think? Most of them are criminally insane, if not worse." Stephanie spoke up. 

"Brown has a point, every time we try to understand them we get set back," Damian said. "So why don't we giver her what she wants?"

"What, you mean world domination? Yeah, I'm sure that would go over well." Jason muttered.

"He means me, if Ivy really has taken a liking to me then maybe I can get some information," Rory said, looking around.

"Absolutely not! Rory, you just survived an encounter with Killer Croc and you want to push fate even more and go pay a visit to Ivy? Not to mention, we don't even know where she is still." Tim said looking at her.

It's like she had a death wish. Rory had barely made it out alive, she wouldn't have if Kon didn't show up in time and Tim was not going to let her put herself in that kind of position again. Not if he had anything to say about it.

"Tim, this might be out only chance! I doubt she would hurt me." Rory reasoned.

"No, but she might just try and sleep with you." he countered.

Her face flushed as she went quiet, not saying another word. Of course, that's what he would be worried about, but it made sense. The last time Ivy had kissed her, she had tried to get Tim to sleep with her and there was no telling what Ivy would do to her if she got ahold of Rory again.

"You know I'm right, you are not going. Besides, you can barely move Songbird I don't want to see you in a hospital again." 

Rory let out a sigh as she looked at him. Slowly she reached her hand out and cupped his cheek, making him look at her. "Tim, I get you worry about me, but this is my job. If this helps save lives, then I need to do it. I can't just sit by and watch, especially when I know that I can do some good. I've been on the sidelines too much and I am way too deep in this case to not help. You just have to trust me." she explained.

"It's not you that I don't trust Rory." 

"Then trust that I won't put myself in that position? No matter what you say, you can not stop me but I don't want to go behind your back," she said.

Tim's eyes softened as he listened to her speak. If he was in her position, he would fighting even harder to make sure he was the one who went. It came with the job of a hero, making the plays and sacrifices that others can't. He placed his hand over the one she had on his cheek and kissed her palm.

"Alright, but I am waiting right outside and so is Kon. I'm not letting you get hurt again." 

"Well, we are partners Dragon Boy, for better or worse." she smiled.

"Can you two not be so sappy for ten minutes? Holy hell." Jason chuckled.

"Butt out Princess," she said, turning to look at him.

"Make me Sleeping Beauty." He grinned.

Even though she was hurt, Rory still managed to get Jason in a headlock even though he was almost a foot taller than she was. Bruce had come back down from the Manor to see Rory holding Jason by the head, threatening to suffocate him if he ever called her that again only for Jason to laugh and say it again.

Rory squeezed tighter, making Jason tap out. "Uncle! Uncle!" he rasped as Rory let go. "Why are you so violent?"

"Only around idiots Princess, I'm guessing coming back from the dead fried some of your brain cells." she laughed, trying to hide the whimper of pain. The pole Killer Croc threw at her really messed up her back, but Rory was not going to let it stop her.

"Have you guys found anything?" Bruce asked, with a raised brow. He had a strong feeling of what the answer was but wanted to see if they were going to be honest with him.

"Well, there were traces of my DNA in the vial," Rory said, sitting back down next to Tim.

"And?" he asked, waiting for more.

"And what B? That's all we have so far." Jason said.

Bruce let out a sigh as he held his forehead. "I have left you alone for an hour, and that's all you could come up with?" he asked.

"Hey! Rory threw stuff at my head!" Jason pointed a finger at her.

"You were being an idiot, still are actually. Might want to keep your distance." she grinned.

"I watched you throw a dagger hundreds of yards! I doubt any distance is safe from you." he threw his hands in the air.

"Then you better watch your back Princess." she grinned.

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose, why was it the only responsible ones were gone? Cassandra was the most responsible of them all, and she was in England with Kate, the other really responsible one. Dick had his moments, but half of the time he was part of the problem while he egged on Jason and Tim. 

"Can we please be serious for twenty minutes?" he asked. "Do we have any idea where Ivy could be?"

"She wasn't at Amusement Mile, but there was evidence that she was. I made sure to get as much of the place in my suit footage as I could before Kon flew us out of there." Rory explained. "The others didn't do so well in finding her. The only other place I can think of is the Bowery, which has a lot of open space and ACE Chemicals."

"None of us think that she would go to ACE Chemicals though it's too obvious. Besides, that place is watched by Two-Face these days. He and Ivy have never been on good terms." Tim said.

"Well, I doubt Croc and Ivy were ever on good terms but he let her into his sewer. Did we forget she has her toxins, she could be using it on all these people to get the things she wants? Two-Face included even Penguin." Steph said, taking a bite of her burrito.

"Those are all valid points, so what do you think we should do?" Bruce asked looking at all the people in front of him. He wanted to know what they think and challenge their minds to see if they could come up with ideas together.

"Well, we are short a couple of people but I think two teams will work," Barbara said. "I can still run things here with the help of Alfred, and you all split into teams and tackle the Bowery and ACE Chemicals."

"So Tim, Kon, and I could be a team and the others are a team with Bruce?" Rory asked.

"I think that's fair since you have alien boy there, he can make up for the lack of manpower," Jason said as he pointed his thumb at Kon.

"I feel like I should be offended, but then I remember who I'm sitting with and realize that this is normal," Kon spoke up. "But I'm down with it, it could be fun." 

"Alright, we'll tackle this all tomorrow. Kon, Alfred set up a room for you it's the same room you had last time you were here." Bruce said.

Steph got up and darted for her room, she was exhausted and wanted nothing more to do for the rest of the night except sleep it all off. Barbara and Damian walked to the elevator, talking as they went about various things. 

Jason let out a yawn and walked up the stairs as Tim helped Rory to her feet. Kon walked with the two of them as they made their way up the stairs, which proved to be a bit of a struggle for her. 

Tim let out a sigh. "Just let me carry you Songbird, that way you'll be in less pain." 

"No way Timothy, I don't need help. Just gotta take it slow, that's it," she said, wincing as she walked up them.

"Come on Sunshine, let us help you," Kon asked.

"Why the hell are you calling my sunshine?" she asked, taking another step upwards. 

"Because your name means dawn, and that's when the sun rises? Why do you call me Wonder Boy?" he countered.

"Because you're Superman's sidekick not Wonder Woman's," she answered. A sharp pain shot up her back, making her collapse into Tim's arms who caught her before picking her up completely.

"Tim put me down!" she snapped.

"Not happening. Now shut up and let me help you, it's my job as your boyfriend," he said, carrying her up to her room. The three of them walked up the stairs faster than before and made it to their rooms. The one Kon was sleeping in was next to Tim's even though he stayed in Rory's room most nights.

They both bid him goodnight before Tim carried Rory into her room and set her on the bed carefully. He walked over to her drawers and pulled out a set of pajamas for her and held them out to her.

Rory had managed to change on her own, but her back was killing her. The soothing gel Alfred had put on her back earlier had worn off and the pain was back worse than before. Luckily, he had sent up the jar to her room.

"Tim, can you help me get some of this on my back?" she asked.

He gave her a smile and took the jar from her hands with a nod. "Of course, turn around."

Rory turned her back to him as she lifted her shirt slowly, as the two of them unwrapped the bandage slowly to reveal her bare back. Tim winced when he saw the large bruises forming over her body, the finger marks from Killer Croc's grip evident on her sides and back. 

He opened the jar and rubbed some of the gel on his hands to warm it up before rubbing it across her back slowly. Rory jumped a little, the gel still cold but slowly relaxed into his hands as it soothed her back. She had to admit that it was a nicer experience with Tim doing it and not Alfred while his best friend helped.

Talk about awkward.

As he rubbed the gel on her back, Rory thought about Tim and Kon. Their friendship seemed strong, like how Rory and Roy's was. So close, they were like family and no one questioned it. She knew that he was excited for them to meet, and Rory didn't hate Kon at all. In fact, it was the opposite, he was fun to be around and fun to pick on. He was almost as snarky as she was, and it was fun to bicker with him.

Tim placed kisses on her shoulders as he rubbed the gel on her back, as she sat in between his legs. Once he was one, Tim helped her wrap the bandage back around her before she lowered her shirt. Turning to look at him, Rory placed a kiss on his lips. His want went to her cheek as he smiled into the kiss.

"What was that for?" he asked, the smile still on his face.

"I just love you is all." she smiled, as she laid back on the bed carefully wincing as he back touched the mattress.

Tim watched her with a sigh and laid on his back and pulled her onto his chest, laying on her stomach instead. He grabbed the comforter and pulled it over them both, keeping his hands on her waist not wanting to touch her back. 

Rory wrapped her hands around his waist and nuzzled her face into his neck, not wanting to move from that spot. She loved moments like this, the quiet serene moments they shared at the ends of the day. Neither one of them had to talk, they just enjoyed the company of the other person as they laid close together.

His hand went up and played with her hair, as she smiled at the touch. "I love you, Tim," she said once again.

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "I love you too Rory, is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I just wanted to say it." she muttered, as sleep began to take over her. Tim watched as her eyes fluttered shut, and was soon asleep in his arms. She was so peaceful when she slept, not a trace of worry on her beautiful face. It was at times like this she was his literal Sleeping Beauty, but Tim would never tell her he thought that. It was something he wanted to keep for himself, a moment he would treasure forever. 

Her face was relaxed, free from the troubles of the outside world. He wished it would stay like that, but it never did; not with the lives they lived. Tim kissed her head once more before he too closed his eyes and fell asleep with the love of his life in his arms.

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This one is shorter than normal, but I didn't want to pack so much into one chapter. But the final showdown with Ivy begins next chapter! It's going to be good, at least I hope it will be. I'm really liking Rory and Kon's friendship though, he can definitely keep up with her snark. Hope you enjoyed it!

Until Next Time,