It was the week before Christmas, and everyone in Wayne Manor was in full holiday mode. Dick and Stephanie were singing carols at the top of their lungs, Jason not so politely telling them that they sounded worse than Damian trying to tell a joke. Of course, Cass and Rory took it upon themselves to deck out Barbara's wheelchair with red and green tinsel and battery-powered lights so she was a rolling spectacle wherever she went.

Alfred had taken it upon himself to start baking on the 20th and also to start decorating the manor all on his own. Of course, everyone else was not happy with this idea. With some miraculous convincing on Bruce's part, they managed to get Alfred to go to the store and get some stuff they wanted for Christmas Dinner. Alfred knew more than anyone that when you had more than three people attending you needed to start days ahead with the prep work.

While he was gone, they managed to decorate the foyer. They had just barely gotten the tree together when Alfred came in the door and looked close to tears, of course, he refused to let them direct how the tree looked because he wanted it to look decent.

After spending an hour decorating the tree, most of the manor was ready for Christmas. Naturally, multiple people completely forgot to do their shopping except for Rory, Tim, Alfred, and surprisingly Jason. They all got a kick out of watching the other scramble from store to store to try and find gifts. Even Damian was trying to find something decent for his family, after all, Christmas was a special time.

Everyone in fact was so busy, that no one noticed just how odd Tim and Rory were acting. Well, no one except Jason and Cass who just so happens to be the most observant people in the whole manor besides Tim and Rory. What started out as simple flirting turned into some of the most adorable yet cringe-worthy acts either of them had seen. It began with Tim and Rory just casually flirting with the other, and quickly turning red and looking away. That was the first sign that something had happened on Rory's birthday.

The second sign was that literally every time their hands touched both of them would freeze and drop whatever it was they were holding. Several of Tim's mugs had been the casualty of this happening and Alfred began to hide the good china after cleaning up five of the mugs.

It was the 23rd, the day before Christmas Eve, and the Ballet that Jason finally decided to do something about this. Watching them skirt around each other was both adorable and irritating to the point that Dick was starting to notice and he was pretty oblivious when it came to love, especially with himself. 

He was helping Rory wrap her presents to everyone, except his own because that would ruin the surprise when he noticed what she had gotten him. "Rory, I have a question and you need to answer it honestly If you lie, I will douse you in ice water and throw you outside to freeze." 

Rory lifted her head from wrapping Bruce's gift to look at him. "That's a little morbid, I would expect that from Damian more than you." she chuckled.

"We all know Damian would not do anything to hurt you, for some reason he seems to like you. Maybe it's because you tried to kill Tim." he chuckled softly at the memory.

"Yeah, maybe that's why. But I will answer your question to the best of my ability," she responded and turned in her spot on the floor to look at him.

"Alright." Jason set down the gift he was wrapping and looked her straight in the eye. "Are you in love with Tim?"

Rory's eyes widened and her face started to go red. "I don't have to answer that."

Jason grinned "But you said you would, and you can't lie to me. Besides, whether or not you answer my question doesn't matter. Your reaction was all the confirmation I needed."

Rory huffed and went back to wrapping, her hands fidgety from her flustered state. "It doesn't matter if I am or not. We're friends, I don't want to ruin that." she kept wrapping, wanting to get it done before she went on patrol that night to make up for Christmas Eve.

"It does matter because it's obvious." Jason prodded. "Don't you think you should tell him?"

Rory shook her head. "I can't. He doesn't think of me like that so it would just make things awkward between us."

Jason stared at her in disbelief, things weren't awkward enough as it was? He ran a hand through his hair, the white streak contrasting against the natural black of his hair, and let out a sigh. He opened his mouth to tell her different when there was a knock at the door.

"Rory, I know you are wrapping in there so I won't come in. But I need to head out sooner than later, Cobblepott's men are popping up in different locations and I need several of you to watch them." Bruce said from the other side.

"Give ten minutes and I'll be ready to go." She called and shoved the presents under her bed and took off for the Batcave, leaving Jason in her room with an exasperated look on his face. Did she really just up and leave him sitting there, were they not in the middle of a conversation? Jason rubbed his face and got up. She was almost as bad as Tim was at avoiding things, they really were made for each other, weren't they?

Running down, she threw on her suit and walked over to where Tim, Barbara, Damian, Cass, Steph, Dick, and Bruce were all waiting. Jason was coming down the stairs still. "So these are the locations, Dick, you and Cass are going to keep an eye downtown, Steph is taking Amusement Mile, Jason is taking the east, Tim the west, Rory the central part of town. Damian and I will be taking the north part of the city. Let's try and keep everyone in once piece for Christmas okay? Alfred might have a cow if someone came back hurt." Bruce explained.

Everyone nodded and got onto their bikes and took off into the night, Rory making her way to the central part of town which happened to be Robinson Park. Parking her bike out of sight, Grey Arrow took to the trees. All the skyscrapers were too far for her to hear or see properly and thanks to the new thermal lining she was not going to freeze.

She jumped through them silently, before coming to a stop where she saw a group of men standing there talking. Since she was close enough, Grey Arrow didn't have to use any special gadget to listen in.

"So why exactly does Cobblepott want us here? It's cold as shit, my arms are going to fall off." One asked, shivering in his spot.

"He wants us to make sure that goods we have stashed here are safe from any prying bats. Did you forget that Red Robin set off the bomb in the boss's warehouse? Lucky for us the basement wasn't harmed, but if we mess this one up we're fucked." another replied, adjusting the gun slung across his body.

So they still had things in storage for Ivy then? This was news to her, and probably news to Batman. She was about to report this in when Grey Arrow heard something behind her. Turning on her heel, she aimed an arrow at the person who turned out to be her absolute favorite villain in the world.

Poison Ivy stepped off the vine that brought her up to Grey Arrow's level and smiled seductively at her. "Good to see you again, my dear." 

"I would say the feeling is mutual, but you did drug me that last time we met," Arrow replied, not lowering her bow in the slightest.

"You were the one that told me to, in order to spare your lover am I correct?" she asked, looking at the snow-covered tree they were currently perched on.

"Red Robin is not my lover, we're just coworkers." She tried to keep her face neutral, but Ivy saw through her facade.

"My dear, the toxin you were under was not just some form of ecstasy. After it took effect, it would make you act on the deepest desire of your heart and even I can see what that was. The two of you are not very good at hiding your feelings for the other." Ivy's eyes traveled down Grey Arrow's body. Even now, she could see the way Arrow held herself. The second she mentioned him to be her lover, Arrow had stiffened up. Her tone got sharper and watched her face darken.

Grey Arrow was speechless, Tim wasn't ever clear about what had happened while she was drugged but she wasn't about to take Ivy's word for what did actually happen. The woman was a supervillain for crying out loud.

"Your silence tells me that you aren't aware of what happened. I admit once the toxin wears off it gives you amnesia but you should ask that pretty bird of yours what truly happened." she grinned and stepped back on the vine and began to lower herself back to the ground.

"I am never wrong when it comes to love my dear." and with that Ivy was gone.

Grey Arrow stood there in shock, she had blocked out all outside noise trying to calm her thoughts. There was no way in hell Tim had feelings for her, she would have noticed right?

"Arrow, if you don't answer me in 30 seconds I'm coming to find you."

With this Rory snapped out of her shock "Sorry Bats, I was busy. What happened?" 

Batman's voice sounded through the com once more. "I had asked if you found out anything from Cobblepott's men." 

"They have something stashed here, probably close to my location. They moved it to Robinson Park after a certain someone blew up their warehouse."

"How many times do I have to apologize for that?" Red Robin said.

"Until I decide that you don't. Until then you better keep apologizing bird boy." she chuckled and looked back to Cobblepott's men who were gone. They must have slipped away when Ivy paid her a visit, thinking about it that was probably why.

Looking at the ground, she saw their footprints head north towards the exit so she followed them carefully keeping an eye out for anything to happen. The trail ended at what seemed to be a small bunker hidden in the bushes almost invisible with all the snow around it. Grey Arrow would have missed it if it weren't for the footsteps leading her to it.

Pressing her com she called Batman again. "Hey Bats, I think I found their new stash. It's a small bunker hidden in bushes. I'm placing a small tracker here so we can find it. The snow makes it hard to see, I only found it because the idiots left a trail for me to follow."

"Good work, head back to the cave and we can talk more there." 

Grey Arrow gave a hum of confirmation and made her way back to her bike, her mind not leaving what Ivy had said. The deepest desire of her heart? It was getting her family back, it had to be. That's the only thing she had wanted for years, so what did Tim have to do with anything?

Once she was back in the cave, Rory took off her mask and sat in a chair twirling an arrow in her hand. Barbara was the only one there, with the others still out working. Sensing that Rory did not want to talk, she left her alone and kept an eye on things.

One by one, the others began to arrive back in the cave and each of them saw Rory in her chair twirling an arrow in thought. The look on her face showed that she was deep in thought and decided it was best that they didn't bother her, afraid she would stab them with the arrow.

Rory was still caught on Ivy's words about the deepest desire of her heart when Tim finally walked in. He got off his bike and took off the cowl, his hair slightly damp from sweat and his face red from the cold. Her eyes raked over his body, lingering on his arms and chest where she could see the faint outlines of his muscle and it was then when it clicked.

The deepest desire of her heart was getting her parents back, but some time between arriving at Wayne Manor, and this moment it had changed. What she wanted more than anything was her best friend to love her as she did him.

"So I met an old friend of ours while I was out," she said, as Tim walked past her to get a cup of coffee.

"An old friend?" he chuckled. "Who?" 

"Poison Ivy."

Tim almost spat out his coffee, what the hell was Rory doing with Poison Ivy? "She didn't kiss you again, did she?"

Rory shook her head, still twirling the arrow. "No, instead she wanted to talk. Tim, what exactly did I do when I was drugged?" She quit spinning the arrow and turned her eyes to look at him with a hard stare.

Tim met her gaze and almost gulped. He had been dreading this question more than anything, how was he to tell her that she tried to seduce him and gotten damn near close to it? "I thought I told you, it was Ivy toxin. You were acting pretty crazy." he stuttered.

The few who were left in the cave glanced at the two of them in interest. What did Tim mess up this time, and was Rory going to beat him up for it? 

"Crazy how, Tim?" she got up, the arrow still in her hand walked over stopping right in front of him. Tim stared down at her, hoping she couldn't hear the rapid beating of his heart and swallowed.

"Now Rory, don't freak out." he started.

"Tell me, Timothy. What did I do?" she snapped, gripping the arrow in her hand tighter to the point her knuckles were going white.

Tim let out a long sigh, "It was after I left you to get changed and I changed myself. I came back and you were different, there was a certain look in your eyes and I couldn't figure out what it was until you tried to seduce me." 

"I gathered that much had happened, I want to know what I did." 

"Geez Rory, do I have to recount everything? You kissed me and tried to get me to sleep with you. You would have if I didn't sedate you." 

The cave was dead quiet and Rory's grip faltered, the arrow clattering to the floor with a loud crash that echoed off the cave walls.

"And you didn't think to tell me this?" she asked quietly, her eyes not leaving his.

"I didn't know how, I-" Rory didn't hear the rest of his sentence before she took off out of the cave and ran up to the manor. 

There was no way in hell Tim held any kind of feelings like that towards her. He couldn't, she was a terrible person. If he knew of the things she did, Tim would change the way he thought of her in fact it's what ended her relationship with Jesse. She hid things from him and he couldn't be with someone who kept major secrets from him, it was only a year ago the two of them had gotten on better terms.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear Tim come after her. His legs were longer and had more muscle to them, so he managed to catch up to her before she got to her room. As she was opening her door Tim managed to get in before she could shut him out. 

Grabbing her shoulders, he pinned her to the door making it slam shut. "You are going to stand there and listen to me Aurora Sonnet." he panted, noting of the look of shock on her face.

"Tim please," she said quietly, only for him to cover her mouth with his hand.

"No, you are going to listen, and then you can speak. I didn't know how to tell you without telling you how I felt." Rory's eyes widened at his words, this is what she was afraid of. 

"Rory, I've loved you since the day you came back into my life. The day you kissed me still rings in my head, and I can't get it to stop. I love everything about you, how caring you are, how strong you are; I've never loved anyone as much as I love you." he said, his eyes not leaving Rory's.

"To me you are perfect and I can't see you as anything but that. It kills me on the inside, how much I love you knowing that you don't feel the same for me but that doesn't mean I will stop." 

Tim then took his hand off her mouth and Rory was silent, she stared at him with wide eyes unsure of what to say. He just confessed that he loved her, and he thought she didn't feel the same for him but boy was he wrong. 

Rory loved him with all she had and wanted nothing more than to be with him. But she couldn't, Tim was too good for her, too pure. She would ruin him like she ruined everything else, and Rory wouldn't be able to live with herself if that happened. 

"Tim..." she dropped her gaze and looked at the floor. "Tim, I can't. I'm not good, there are so many things you don't know about me. I'm not the same girl you knew as a kid, I've done terrible things that I'm afraid to tell you because you'll end up hating me."

Tim grabbed her chin and made her look up at him. "You think I care about all of that? I know who you are on the inside, I've seen it. Rory, you are one of the most caring people I know. Everyone here loves and cares about you, why can't you see that?"

"I don't deserve you, I can't let myself love you without thinking that I'm going to ruin everything. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you because of me." she leaned into his hand and closed her eyes, trying to hide the tears.

"I don't care, I'm not going to let you push me away Rory. Let me prove it please?" he begged, leaning his forehead against hers. "Let me show you how much I love you, Rory." 

Rory's breathing was hard and ragged, her heart pounding so hard it hurt. She wanted to say yes, god did she want to say yes. Rory opened her eyes, looking up into his, and saw the pleading behind them. For once, could she let herself be selfish and get what she wanted? Her whole life was spent trying to help others, it's what came with the mask of a hero. 

The air was tense and silent except for their heavy breathing, still tired from running. At this moment, there was nothing more Rory wanted than Tim. To feel him, touch him, love him, Rory wanted all he could give her.

Slowly, she reached a hand up and stroked his cheek with her thumb. Tim placed his hand over hers and leaned into her hand kissing her palm. Gripping the collar of his suit, she pulled him towards her and placed her lips on his.

At this, Tim wrapped his arms around her middle keeping her close to him as he kissed her back, trapping her against the door. Rory's hands rubbed his chest through his suit as she kissed him, making him lean closer into the kiss. Her hands traveled up to his head and tangled themselves in his messy hair.

Groaning against her lips, Tim's grip on her tightened. This was so much better than the first time he kissed her, it drove him crazy. His hands traveled up her back, wanting to feel her as he pressed her against his chest.

A knock on the door sounded through the room, making Rory and Tim pull apart. 

"Is everything okay? The others are worried you actually killed him this time Rory." Dick's voice came from the other side.

"I'm still alive," Tim said with a chuckle and looked down at Rory who was trying to hide her giggles.

"That's good to hear, remember to use protection!" Dick called and quickly ran down the hall, afraid that one of them would come after him. At his comment, Tim's face went bright red making Rory giggle.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to try and seduce you again. At least not right now." Rory said and slid out of Tim's hold, and went to her closet leaving him at the door with a flustered look on his face.

When she came out in shorts and a shirt, she sat on her bed and patted the spot next to her. Tim obliged and sat with her, his cape hanging over the side of the bed. Rory turned to face him as he cupped her face in his hands. "Rory, please give this a chance," he whispered, looking at her. 

"Tim, all my past relationships ended because of me. With Kori, I was too busy and then she had to leave for her homeworld and didn't know when she would come back so I ended it. Lena, we were too much alike that we fought more often than not so I left because I didn't want to hurt her anymore. Jesse, I kept too many secrets from him and he couldn't trust me after that. Roy and I dated for 12 hours, we quit because it was too weird for us. I don't want to ever hurt you like that, it would kill me if I were to ever cause you pain like that." she explained.

Tim listened to her words, but he didn't care. He knew that she held secrets, dark ones at that but he wasn't going to let that change what he thought about her. He could see why she got along with Jason so well, they both had a dark past and did things they weren't proud of but would do it again in a heartbeat to protect those they love and that's what mattered most to Tim.

"I know you have your secrets, but I would never push you to tell me unless I worried for your safety. With this life, it's hard to do it with a high moral code. There are times when we have to make a hard decision and that doesn't mean you are any worse of a person because of those. Some day when you decide to tell me, I will still love you all the same." 

Rory looked up at him and gave him a nod. "Alright, I'll give this a chance Tim-" before she could finish, Tim cut her off with another kiss this one more gentle but she could feel the excitement behind it. 

With a giggle, she pulled out of the kiss. "You didn't let me finish, dragon boy." 

"Mm, that may be true but I would much rather kiss you Briar Rose." he grinned pecking her lips once more.

Rory rolled her eyes, "You ever say that in front of the others I will tell them just how much of a romantic cheesy sap you really are." she threatened. Tim held up a hand with three fingers out. "Scout's honor, songbird." he grinned.

Rory gave him a smile, pulled him close, and kissed him once more.

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Just gonna leave this here fo you all. But ship names? Tory, DragonSong, DragonRose is an idea I'm tossing around but I'd love to hear your ideas they are probably way better than mine anyway.

Next chapter is Christmas Eve, and it's going to be an adventure.

Until Next Time,