Rory stared at the tests, all of them were negative yet again but it only rose more questions in her. Was this another false negative, or was she not pregnant and her body was acting weird. Rory inhaled deeply trying to calm her rising anger, to no avail. As a result, she punched the mirror and shattered it with her fist. 

"Fuck!" Startled at her own actions, she jumped back and saw her knuckles were bleeding.

What kind of idiot punches a mirror?

She took more deep breaths, calming her heart rate some before there was a knock at the door. "Rory, is everything okay?" Roy called from the other side.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm okay, just give me a minute and I'll be right out." Digging under the sink, Rory searched for the first aid kit. She felt around with her good hand only to find it was not there, so where did she leave it? With a sigh, she wrapped her hand in a towel to soak the blood coming from her hand and she unlocked the door.

"What was all the cursing from?" Roy asked as she left the bathroom. Rory kept her eyes to the floor and her hand pressed to her chest, avoiding Roy's look because she didn't want to go into detail. "And what happened to your hand?"

"It's fine," she muttered as she searched under the kitchen sink, letting out a sound of triumph as she found it and pulled it out. "They were all negative like I said they would be Harper." She placed the kit on the counter and pulled out bandages and cleaning wipes before hunching over the counter and tried to pick the glass out with her left hand.

"What was all negative?"

Rory froze in her spot, dropping the tweezers on the floor. She didn't have to turn around to see who was there with Roy, what she wanted to know was how long he was there and what exactly he had heard. 

"Songbird, what was negative and why is your hand bleeding?" Tim asked, stepping towards her slowly. Rory swallowed and bit her lip, this was not how she imagined this conversation starting. Hell, she wasn't actually expecting him to talk to her like he still loved her but she had heard it plain as day. There was still a sense of adoration in his tone when he spoke to her like he always did. 

"I uh, I punched the mirror." she chuckled weakly, running her good hand through her hand scared to turn around and meet his eyes. Even though he spoke like he still loved her, she was worried that he wouldn't look at her like he did before she left.

"What kind of idiot punches a mirror?" he asked. Rory still hadn't turned around, but she could feel that Tim was right behind her. She watched as his hand reached around and gripped her wrist and slowly turned Rory to look at him. Rory's breath caught in her throat as she watched his hand bring her injured one up and press a soft kiss to her knuckles.

Rory kept her gaze lower, avoiding his. "Rory, why won't you look at me?" 

"Because, I don't want to see the disappointment on your face," she answered softly.

Tim took her chin in his hand and lifted her head to look at him. "Do I look disappointed to you?" Rory's dark eyes finally met his light blue ones, and she could see that he wasn't disappointed. That's not what he looked like at all, in fact, he looked the opposite. He looked relieved.

Tim's hand let go of her wrist as he wound his arm around her waist and pulled her flush against him and bent his head down to meet her lips in a soft kiss, gripping her chin still. It had been a month since she had kissed him last, and she had almost forgotten what it felt like.

As she returned the kiss, Rory's good hand gripped the fabric of his shirt as she held him close to herself. She hadn't realized how much she missed him until this moment, her heart and body yearned for him and his touch. Before they could go much further, they were interrupted by a couch behind him from Roy.

Rory slowly pulled away from the kiss, letting out the breath she was holding. Her eyes fluttered open as she gave Tim a small smile. Tim chuckled softly and pecked her cheek. "Let me look at your hand and we can talk okay?"

She looked behind him towards Roy, "Can you give us a few minutes Roy? I have a lot of explaining to do." 

He gave her a nod, "You have my number, just give me a call if you need me to come back." 

Rory smiled softly and watched as Roy left the safe house, leaving her and Tim alone. Her eyes met his once more and watched as he pulled her towards the table and grabbed the first aid kit. Tim sat her down before pulling up a chair for himself and began to pluck the shards out of her hand.

"So, are you going to tell me why you punched a mirror, why you left or what exactly was negative first?" he asked.

Sure Tim was upset at her, Rory had up and left without a word to anyone but Barbara and Dick and they weren't able to stop her. But that didn't mean he hated her, he loved her still. Tim loved Rory more than anything in the world and it broke his heart hearing that she disappeared without so much as a heads up.

"Or, how the fuck I wasn't able to find you until Roy gave me directions to get here."

Rory let out a small chuckle, wincing as he dug out a large shard of glass. "This is one of Oli's safe houses. It's meant for when we are deep undercover and don't want to risk being found. When you tried pinging my phone, the satellite just glazed over this place right? Same when you tried to trace my tooth?"

Tim gave her a nod to show that he was listening. "Yeah, how the hell is that possible?"

"I designed the software, security, and the firewall to keep this place hidden. It's designed so not even the great detective himself is able to find it, and once it is inside these walls nothing is traceable." She explained.

Tim stopped working on her knuckles and looked up at her. "You designed something like that? Holy shit Rory." he chuckled and went back to work on her hand. "So, that answers that question. What about the other ones?"

"Those are a little harder to explain," she admitted. "I guess that I should start at the beginning. The reason why I left, I mean. Just promise me that you'll hear me out before you say anything?" 

Tim gave her a worried look but nodded. "Alright, I'm listening." he finished wrapping her hand, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles once more his eyes not leaving hers.

Rory took a deep breath. "You remember how I was always angry before I left? Well, you weren't the only one who noticed it. Jason and Steph noticed it as well and Steph had made a few connections that freaked me out a bit."

She looked at Tim to see that he was still watching her, listening to every word she was saying. "What was the connection she made?" he asked.

Her gaze dropped to the floor. "She thought that I was pregnant."

She felt Tim's hands freeze in her own, dreading to see the look on his face. Slowly, she looked up and saw that his face was a mixture of a lot of things. Shock, confusion, worry but there didn't seem to be a trace of anger.

"That's why I went to Babs', I didn't want to take the tests at the manor and risk getting caught by someone I didn't want to know yet. Steph ran to buy me tests, and I took them. They came out negative."

"So you're not pregnant?" he asked, his voice matching the look on his face.

Rory nodded. "No, but with everything, I didn't know how to process it. I was upset and relieved at the same time and it wasn't fair-"

"Wasn't fair? No shit it wasn't fair Rory! Why didn't you tell me, didn't I deserve to know?!" he snapped.

"Of course you did, I just didn't know how to tell you! Do you think that I didn't want to tell you? Damn it, Tim, I didn't want to possibly get your hopes up only to break your heart seconds later! I wanted a chance to think for myself without you or anyone telling me what to do." she stood up from her chair, it sliding back as she stood. 

"You should have told me! I would have understood! Why do you think that you have to do everything alone!?" He rose to his feet to meet Rory and looked down at her.

Rory's eyes flared with anger. "I have always done things on my own Timothy Drake, I never asked for help, not from anyone. I left because I was scared, scared of what I was feeling, and the fact that both of our futures could have been changed in the blink of an eye. Neither one of us had even thought of talking about the possibility of having kids and all of a sudden I drop a baby bomb on you and in the middle of a case? Tim, I may be slightly crazy but I know that you work hard enough as it is and don't need any more stress on your shoulders."

Tim and Rory stared at each other, both of them radiating anger and irritation amongst other things. "I get you have always done things on your own, but we're a team you and I. We're supposed to work together through anything, this is no different." he let out a sigh and his anger died down, as he watched Rory's eyes. 

"I love you so fucking much Rory, pregnant or not that won't change. One day I want to have a family with you, it's something I've wanted since I realized I love you." His hands went up to cup her cheek, making her look at him.

Rory watched him, tears pricking her eyes. "That's what I want too, I was so scared that it wasn't what you wanted as well. It's why I ran, I didn't even know what I wanted at that time, I was hurting and confused and didn't want to drag you into that mess."

Tim wiped the tears from her eyes. "Again, that's the point of partners. I don't ever want to see that you are hurting, especially if there was something I could do about it. I want to be by your side through everything." 

Rory chuckled softly with a smile. "That's starting to sound like a proposal there Dragon Boy, be careful."

Tim laughed. "Would that be such a bad thing?" he teased "But let's wait on that part for another day. How about this instead?" reaching into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box and opened it, revealing a small silver ring with what looked to be a black diamond.

"Tim, what is that?" she asked.

"This is a promise," he answered. "A promise that I will be by your side through everything that comes our way and I will fight to my last breath for you." 

Rory watched him with a small smile as he slid the ring onto her finger, the black diamond glistening in the light. "Now, are we done fighting and I can finish explaining everything?" she asked.

Tim laughed and sat, pulling Rory onto his lap and held her close. "The symptoms didn't go away, I still have them. Roy left earlier this afternoon to get me more tests, we were worried that I had gotten false negatives before and this is what you walked in on. The second round came out negative as well, and of course with my emotions out of whack still, I had gotten angry because I still had no answers for this."

As she spoke, Tim listened to every word she said and thought. "So, what if we went to the doctor and got an official test? That way we will know for sure if they are real negatives or not, and if they are all negative then maybe get an answer to why you are feeling like this," he suggested.

"Tim, neither of us can be seen going into a women's health clinic. The tabloids will go nuts with just a simple photo of even one of us going in," she explained. Tim nodded in agreement, of course, she was right.

"So what should we do then?" he asked. 

Rory sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder. "What if we told Bruce or even Alfred? Maybe they could help us get what we need?"

Tim was about to answer but the door opened and in walked Roy, accompanied by Jesse. The two of them laughing, hand in hand, and saw that Rory was sat on Tim's lap with her right hand bandaged and her left hand wearing a diamond ring. They both stopped and stared at the black diamond that was placed on her ring finger no doubt.

"Holy shit Rory, I leave for two hours and you get engaged!?" Roy yelled, looking completely confused.

Both Rory and Tim looked at each other and laughed. "No, it's nothing like that Roy. This is just a promise that whatever happens the two of us will work it out together."

Roy looked at Jesse and nudged his shoulder. "Why can't you do something cute like that for me?" he asked. "I would make something like that look good you know?" Jesse laughed and gave Roy a peck on the lips.

"You are such a dork Roy Harper." 

"But you adore this dork." Roy teased.

Tim and Rory let out a laugh as they watched Roy and Jesse flirt. She turned her head to the side and pecked him on the lips, making Tim chuckle. "But, if that's what you want to do then we need to go back to the manor. Bruce and Alfred can get a hold of someone who can help in private. The joys of being rich."

"Wait, what the hell is going on?" Jesse asked, looking between the two of them.

"Need to know basis, Jess. When Rory is ready to tell you then she will tell you." Roy said, "But if we are going back to the manor, then you are going to need a ride. I drove back with Jess on his bike, and it only fits two."

"I drove here as well, I can take her back," Tim said, holding Rory closer.

"I need to pack up before I go anywhere, so we'll be right behind you okay?" Rory said, wiggling out of Tim's grip and went to her bedroom and grabbed her bags. Tim got up and followed her as Roy and Jesse let themselves out.

He leaned in the doorway and watched Rory pack. He understood why she left, Rory was scared and didn't know what to do but that didn't make it hurt less. He watched as he threw her stuff back into bags as his mind drifted off to what could be if Rory really was pregnant. Would it look like her, or more like him?

Rory turned and saw that Tim was watching her from the doorway. "What are you doing? I thought that you were helping me pack up?" she asked.

"I'm just thinking, about the future you know? I spend so much time thinking about the present, I never took the time to think about what I wanted. When you left, I had a lot of thoughts going through my head. If I did something wrong, or if I didn't pay you enough attention and it made me realize that if I ever want to have a future with you I need to be ready for whatever it may hold." he said.

Rory stopped packing and watched him as he spoke. "It's why I bought that ring, it's a promise that one day I am going to replace that with an engagement ring. It's the start of our future together, wherever you go I'm going too." he smiled.

Her fingers twirled the ring on her finger as she listened to him. Tim was right, they had to be more cautious of their future they weren't kids anymore tagging along with their father figure to beat up criminals. Both Rory and Tim were their own heroes now that operated on their own, they had grown up.

She put the clothes she was holding down and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "I'm sorry I left Tim, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away about this."

He took her waist and gave Rory a lopsided smile. "I understand why you did, just next time try to keep me somewhat in the loop?" he chuckled.

"Bold of you to assume that there will be a next time, Dragon Boy." she giggled softly.

Tim bit his lip softly and leaned down towards her. "With you, there will always be something Briar Rose." he pressed his lips to hers in a soft kiss, Rory playing with the loose hair on the back of his head.

"Now, let's get packed up before someone assumes we are doing something else." she chuckled and went back to packing.

It didn't take them long to get Rory's stuff together and into Tim's car. The second that both of them left the walls of the safe house, their phones started receiving calls from Dick and Jason. They climbed into the car and decided to answer Dick's call, Rory and Tim assuming that he and Jason were in the same room, to begin with.

"Hey Babybird, Rory popped back up on the satellite. Jason is trying to call her right now to see where she is."

"There's no need to Dick, I'm right here." Rory chuckled, as Tim started the car and drove for the manor. 

"Rory! Where the hell did you go? Did you tell Tim anything?" he rushed out quickly.

Tim glanced over at Rory. "Dick knows?"

She gave him a nod. "Yeah, he saw the first ones in the trash at Babs'." 

"First ones, Rory what the hell does that mean? There was more?" 

"Yeah, about that. Do you think that Bruce can get an obstetrician to the manor or something? The second round came out negative again, but I am still having crazy symptoms. Roy thinks it could be false negatives, and I think it might be something else entirely." she asked.

Dick didn't get the chance to answer, Jason noticed that Rory was with Tim and tried to take the phone from Dick so he could give Rory a piece of his mind. 

"Jay, let go of the phone!"

"No way Dickiebird, I have words that need to be said. Give me the fucking phone!"

Rory pursed her lips, unamused with their behavior. "Jason, I swear to your empty grave that if you don't give Dick the phone back it will no longer be empty." she snapped.

The two of them quit fighting, Rory and Tim hearing Jason mutter under his breath about how Rory's threats were scary even through a phone. 

"Now, as I was saying. I don't mind if you tell Bruce because at this rate only him, Alfred, Jason, and Damian are the only ones who don't know. I can't be seen going into a doctor's office, with or without Tim it doesn't matter. People will take this and run with it before I even have answers." she finished.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do. See you in a bit little arrow."

Dick hung up the phone and Rory let out a deep breath. "I don't know what's scarier, telling Bruce or telling Jason." 

Tim laughed at her words. "I think telling Oliver and Dinah would be worse, they are your parents Songbird. I'm the guy that possibly knocked up their daughter." 

Rory leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Don't worry. I'll protect you." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My babies are so cute. The ring he gave her is attached at the top, and I love it. But things got a little tense there for a second.

Next chapter we find out what's wrong with Rory and the reactions of the others.

Hope you all have a good day, and enjoyed the chapter!

Until Next Time,