Tim pulled up to the manor, his hand holding tight to Rory's for the entire drive. The two of them had talked about different things on the way from the case and how far Tim had gotten in her absence to the idiotic things Dick and Jason did on the daily. He had asked what she did in the month she was gone, but Rory shrugged and said that she didn't do much.

What he didn't know was that Rory still worked while she was gone, with the safe house being untraceable she could hack into anything and not get caught. She had dedicated weekends to getting into Penguin's systems, branching off of signals of the others while they were on patrol.

Of course that meant she heard and saw everything they did while they were out, Bruce may not have known but everyone had a bad habit of stopping at Belly Burger while they were out and requested that the kid's meal came with a toy tailored specifically for them. The one that did it the most was Jason and Dick, they stopped at least twice a night to ask. She even heard Barbara from her end as well and picked up on things they didn't.

During this time, she had learned some things that Tim didn't know about the case. Penguin wasn't working with Harley and Ivy, more so he worked for them. The only reason he was doing what they asked was that Ivy threatened to have him eaten by one of her monster plants if he didn't cooperate. A good chunk of Cobblepott's men knew this, but he had threatened them into silence by threatening their families and such. 

What intrigued her the most was the fact that Ivy and Harley were not working with the Joker at all. Ever since Dick and Jason had busted her out of his captivity, he hadn't been seen in Gotham. She wasn't sure if she should feel relieved or worried about it, considering who had put him up to the task of kidnapping Rory in the first place. 

The last thing she had picked up, was that Slade was still in Gotham. She would catch glimpses of his trademark black and orange before hacking into traffic cams and such to find him. It was a mystery if he knew that she was hiding during that time or not, but it seemed that he was looking for her. It was mainly through Tim's or Jason's cams that she would see him since she had normally patrolled with one of them.

She wasn't sure was his plan was, it definitely involved her. These were all things she needed to bring up to the Bat sure, but there were more pressing matters on hand at the moment. Tim parked the car and looked at her.

"So, what do we do if you are pregnant Rory?" he asked.

Rory went to speak, the words caught in her throat. "I'm not sure Tim, I would probably have to retire along with officially telling the League no. With both of our inheritances, we wouldn't need to worry much about money and buy a nice place in the safer parts of the city? We'd have to keep secret that Red Robin has a kid, that would only put a target on our backs" she sighed. "There is a lot to think about, but we can figure all of that out if it comes back positive this time okay? Right now, let's just focus on figuring out what the hell is wrong with me."

She unbuckled and went to get out, but Tim pulled her back by the shoulder and kissed her softly. Rory giggled and kissed him back, and saw that multiple people were running out of the manor, trying to get to them first. In the lead was Jason and Steph, but she had managed to jump up and flip off of his shoulders pushing herself in the lead. Rory braced herself for impact as Stephanie collided with her, hugging her tightly.

"Rory, if you ever run away again I will kick your ass," she said. Rory wrapped her arms around her friend and held her tight. 

"I'm sorry Steph, I really am I just didn't know what to do. It was an asshole thing to leave like that, and I want to make it up to you." 

Stephanie laughed and looked at her friend. "You can make it up to me by naming Rory Jr. after me." 

"Rory Jr.? What the hell Stephanie?" Jason asked, pulling her back and looked at Rory and pointed a finger at her.

"When I said go relax, that was not giving you the okay to turn into Houdini and disappear Aurora Queen! Where the fuck have you been and why the fuck did you not answer my calls!" he snapped. "And what the hell did she mean by Rory Jr.?" 

Rory pushed Jason's finger away. "Let's talk about this inside okay? I have a lot to talk about, there are things I haven't told anyone yet but they are important." she reasoned.

Jason was angry, she could see in the way he stood and the look in his eyes. But there was more than anger there, Jason was upset that she had left like that. It worried him that he had possibly lost someone else he cared for and it ate him alive from the inside.

Could it have been the early summer sun, the heat, or just the general stress? Whatever it was, Rory started to get dizzy. Tim had noticed that she had started to sway where she stood and quickly ran over and picked her up. "Come on, let's get you inside to see Bruce," he muttered.

He carried her inside, the others giving Rory a concerned and confused look and followed them in. Jason ran for the kitchen and got her a glass of water as Tim carried her to the couch. Carefully he set her down on the couch, giving her a worried look. 

Rory's face had gone pale, and her head was feeling fuzzy. Her body felt hot, and her hands were shaking. Tim knelt in front of her, keeping a hold of her good hand that had the ring on it and placed a soft kiss to her hand.

"You alright Princess?" Jason asked, handing her the cup of water. He noticed the ring on her hand but decided that this was not the right moment to ask her about it. 

Rory reached out to take the cup from him and sipped it slowly. The cold water felt nice as it cooled her overheating body. Not much after, Bruce walked in with Alfred right behind him.

"Rory, it's nice to have you back. What's this Dick was telling me about needing a specific doctor?"

Rory slumped a little in her spot. "Thanks for the subtlety there Bruce," she muttered.

"What does he mean, specific doctor Rory?" Jason asked.

Tim and Rory sat there quietly, not saying anything nor were they meeting the eyes of the people in front of them. The two of them knew that this was not going to be a fun experience, but they did not expect it to go like this.

"Princess, I swear if you don't start talking I am going to kick your ass." Jason threatened. 

"You will not." Tim snapped, turning to look at him. Jason frowned a little at Tim's reaction, he had always been protective of Rory but this was different.

"Tim, it's okay. He's going to find out eventually," she said gripping his hand tighter.

Jason threw his hands in the air and let out a yell. "Will somebody tell me what the fuck is going on!?" he snapped.

"We don't know for sure what is up with me, but a popular theory is that I might be pregnant," she said softly, looking at Jason and watched as his eyes widened and looked quickly between the two of them. 

"You might be pregnant? Is that why you have been acting weird and disappeared for a month and this specific doctor is a baby doctor? Haven't you heard of pregnancy tests?" he asked each question quickly, as his brain was trying to process it.

"Yes Jason, I'm not stupid. The first time they came back negative, but I still had symptoms for it a month later and took several more and they still came back negative. Hence the doctor, I want to get a real test done so we can make sure." she explained.

Jason bit his cheek and nodded as he listened. "Alright, so what do we do? Do we bring the doc to the manor, sneak her into the doctor's office? I see why she asked you, we get followed around all the time by reporters and they would have a field day with this." 

Rory nodded. "That's why I had Dick ask them about what we should do." 

"I have a way for you to get tested," Bruce spoke up. "I have a few friends that can help get you to a doctor and get some answers.

Two hours later, Rory and Tim were sitting in a private doctor's office waiting for the doctor to show up. The two of them were clearly nervous, Tim's hand gripped her good one as his leg bounced repeatedly. Rory was trying to keep her breathing normal, she had never liked doctor offices, to begin with, and knowing that the test was a blood test made her more nervous.

The door opened and in walked the doctor, she was an elderly woman with her hair going white and age lines across her face. "Hi, I'm Doctor Agnes." she smiled and shook their hands.

"Mr. Wayne has informed me of your situation. You have taken tests a month apart and got negative results both times, but you are still getting symptoms?" 

Rory nodded. "Yeah, I know these things aren't always accurate and wanted to get an official test done to see." 

Doctor Agnes nodded as she listened to Rory. "Well, I can for sure get the test done and if it comes back negative again there are possibilities to what you could be experiencing." 

Rory watched as a nurse walked in, and began to prep her arm to draw blood. Tim felt her discomfort and gripped her hand tighter. "Hey, just look at me, Rory. Don't pay attention to it," he said.

Rory looked at him with a grateful smile, wincing slightly as she felt the needle enter her skin. Tim kissed her cheek, keeping a tight hold of her hand as the nurse began to draw the blood.

She kept her eyes on Tim, not wanting to risk vomiting again because of the blood. Seconds later, the nurse finished and took the vials back to get tested.

"While we wait for the results, why don't we talk about the other possibility?" Dr. Agnes asked. Rory and Tim both looked at her and nodded.

"So, there is this thing called a phantom pregnancy. It doesn't happen often, but it's not uncommon," she said.

Rory looked confused. "What is a phantom pregnancy?" 

"It's when your body shows signs of being pregnant, but there is no baby. It's unsure what exactly can cause it, sometimes it's mentally when the mom wants a baby so bad that her body conjures up the symptoms. Another cause can be depression, that alone can have serious impacts on the body as well."

Rory listened quietly as she spoke. She didn't want to have kids at the beginning of this, it wasn't even something she had thought of all that much.  Sure, she wanted kids in the future but not to the point her body was making her think she was right? Then there was the other option. Dr. Agnes was right, depression can cause serious problems with a person's body. She had experienced it before after she quit being White Arrow.

Rory was so lost in her depression, that no one ever saw her smile. There was more to it then her sour mood and lack of positivity, her sleep schedule became abnormal and so did her eating habits. Rory would go a couple of days not eating very much, and then one day she would be hungry and not stop eating. She had also stopped taking care of herself, it just seemed like too much to worry about during the day when she was worried about what she was going to do with her life now that she wasn't White Arrow.

Could her own depression be the cause of all this?

Tim looked at Rory, watching her as she thought through everything. He wasn't her and he didn't know what went through her head, even when she told him what she was thinking half of the time he didn't understand it because that was just who she is. Rory was unique in the way she thought and sometimes the things she would say were the craziest things he ever heard but he never wanted that to change. 

He also knew that Rory struggled a lot, her past was not an easy one. In fact, anyone who lived at Wayne Manor never had an easy life. Most of them were orphans, or only had one parent alive. He had seen what depression had done to him, it turned him into a workaholic, and would work himself to death if no one was around to stop him. 

Things had gotten easier for the both of them when Rory arrived at Wayne Manor, she had a new surrounding with people that cared for her, and Tim had his childhood friend back. The time they spent together on patrol was some of his favorite moments, it was when Rory truly let loose of the facade and let her colors show. She was always brighter in the night as she fought crime, Rory loved to protect the innocent and he saw that every day. 

But ever since Slade came back to town and Joker happened, Rory was different. He should have noticed before now and maybe they wouldn't be in this mess. 

The nurse that took Rory's blood came back, with a clipboard in her hands crossed over her chest. "So the results are back, and you are not pregnant Miss Queen," she said.

Rory bit her lip and nodded. Now that she was officially not pregnant, she was upset. There was a part of her deep down she wouldn't acknowledge that really wanted a child with Tim. But that was where her common sense kicked in, if she wasn't pregnant then she wasn't meant to have kids at this time.

She looked over at Tim and she could see the slight disappointment in his eyes as well, telling her that he had the same hope she did deep down. 

"So, does that make this a phantom pregnancy?" she asked, trying to keep her voice even.

Dr. Agnes noticed her tone and nodded softly with a sad smile. "Yes my dear, I'm afraid it does. As for treatment, I'm afraid that there is not much I can do. Normally when this happens, it's because of the psychological state of the mother. Telling by the looks on your faces, you weren't really expecting any of this to happen. What I can tell you is that you need a break from whatever is stressing you in your life. Now that you have an official answer, your body and mind might be on the same page again and the symptoms will recede in time." 

Dr. Agnes got to her feet and placed a hand on Rory's shoulders. "I'm sorry my dear, I truly am." and she walked out of the office. The nurse had led both Tim and Rory out of the office where Roy, Stephanie, Dick, and Jason were all waiting. 

Just by looking at her, Rory looked like nothing was wrong. But to Roy, he saw straight through her act and was the first to approach them. "Everything okay Twinkle Toes?"

The other three watched Tim and Rory exchange a look. "I'm not pregnant, doc said that phantom pregnancies happen and that's what is happening to me," she answered shortly and pushed past them and walked towards the waiting cars.

The whole ride back to the manor was quiet, so quiet that it was painful. Neither Tim nor Rory had to say what they were thinking, the other's could feel it just by looking at them. Rory wrapped her arms around herself while Tim sat quietly and looked out the window.

Dick glanced at Stephanie who sat in the passenger seat while he drove. Jason had driven over with Roy and was behind them. She looked at him and gave a sad smile. Steph may have had a scare, but this was different. With the first tests coming out negative, it ended there for her but not for Rory. She could tell the last month had given Rory a slight chance of hope at a family but it was gone now. All she saw when she looked at her friend was despair with no glimmer of hope left in her. Tim didn't look that far off either, he had always wanted a family of his own and this could have been his chance but it wasn't.

When they pulled into the manor, Rory got out quickly and walked straight to her old room locking the door behind her. Deep down, she knew it was a bad move leaving Tim downstairs but she couldn't stand to be around people. This was the worst pain she had felt in a long time since losing her parents to be exact and she felt like her heart was going to rip in half.

She hadn't even made it to the bed before she fell to her knees and broke down into sobs, not caring all that much who heard her. Rory was tired of losing things, she was tired of always being hurt and not able to do anything about it. 

Tim stood outside her door, listening to her cry. He tried to open the door but she had locked it, so he decided to go the other way. It didn't take him long, but Tim climbed the tree outside her window and swung onto her balcony. He figured that Rory would probably yell at him, but he knew that this was not a good time to leave her alone.

When he entered through the balcony, Rory's things were thrown across the room. Her pillows, blankets, books and other various things were all over as he stepped over them to comfort the crying girl in the corner. Slowly he knelt down in front of her and took her hands.

Rory jumped at his touch, only crying harder when she saw him. Seeing her like this broke his heart, he wished there was something he could do to take away the pain but he couldn't. Instead, he went with the next best thing. He scooped Rory up into her arms and held her as the two of them cried softly, secretly wishing that it had come out positive.

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

This got a little dark and I'm sorry, but phantom pregnancy is a real thing and I feel terrible for the women who have gone through it.

But what did you guys think? I know this wasn't the happiest of chapters but things are going to lighten up a bit, (I think).

Depends on what 2 am me is thinking later.

Hope you all have a good day!

Until Next Time,