"So what's the plan, Rory?" Tim crossed his arms as he leaned back against the chair stationed at the bat computer as he watched his girlfriend type away on the keyboard. They were so close to cracking the Penguin case, but they were missing a few key components that made it all fit together.

What they knew was that Cobblepott was storing toxic waste for Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, and where Harley was involved more often than not so was the Joker. But why was Cobblepott storing it, and what were Ivy and Quinn giving him in return? Hiding things from Batman was not an easy task, so he would have made her pay up big time.

Rory was scanning through the footage from patrol the night before when they had a run-in with some fo Cobblepotts men. They had managed to tie up a few of them and keep them conscious but what neither Rory nor Tim knew was the Cobblepott had equipped them with cyanide pills hidden in fake teeth. With those three men willing to kill themselves, Rory and Tim searched the other few and pulled out the fake tooth before they could wake and kill themselves too.

Whatever Penguin was doing, it was nothing good if he had his men willing to kill themselves to keep it hidden. 

Her eyes watched the screen intently, not hearing what Tim had said. She was frustrated, the case wasn't going where they wanted and Rory was just having a lot of off days lately. It was the fifth or sixth time she watched through the footage before she finally had enough. With a cry of anger, Rory hit the desk with her fists making items fall off from the sudden force of her hands.

Tim jumped a little at her action and got up, placing his hands on her shoulders. He could see how irritated it had made her, and he wanted to help ease her frustration but everything he tried had only made it worse. It wasn't Tim's fault Rory was angry, and she hated it when she would snap at him. She knew that he was trying to help, but sometimes you just needed to punch something and scream at the top of your lungs.

"Rory, why don't you get something to eat and give your eyes a break? Once you are done, you can come back with a fresh pair of eyes and we can keep looking okay?" he said, moving to rub her shoulders. Tim felt her shoulders relax under his touch slowly, but she was still tense.

"How are you so calm?" she asked softly, leaning into his touch. 

Tim chuckled and kissed her cheek. "One of us has to be, speaking of that though have you been feeling any better?" 

Rory shook her head, "No, if anything I want to punch things even more." Rory had no idea why she was so angry, when she was with the Outlaws a couple of weeks ago she was fine. It's been since she came back that Rory has just felt off about everything. With a sigh, she pulled out of Tim's hold and turned to look at him.

"Maybe I am just really hungry, I'll go grab something. Do you want me to bring you back anything?" she asked, looking at him.

Tim watched her with close eyes, something was definitely off with Rory. "A cup of coffee and a bagel if you could," he said softly and placed a kiss on her forehead. Rory smiled softly and turned to go up the stairs and headed for the kitchen.

On her way up she passes both Stephanie and Cassandra, Barbara was at the Police Station with her dad and was going to stay with him for the weekend. They waved at her, Rory only giving them a half-hearted wave. As she passed, the two of them gave each other a look. That wasn't their Rory, and they were starting to get worried as well.

Jason watched as Rory walked into the kitchen and made herself a sandwich, not saying a word. He and Tim were the first to notice that something was wrong with Rory, the two of them were the closest to her. She hadn't picked on him in a couple of days, and Jason wasn't willing to admit it but he kind of missed her doing it.

"Hey, Princess. Everything okay?"

Rory glanced back at him and shrugged. "I'm fine, Jason."

Jason stopped mid-bite and stared at her. Rory never called him by his actual name, it was always nicknames with them. What happened to her? Setting his sandwich down, Jason stood up and walked over to her.

"Rory, come on. Talk to me, you've been acting weird since we got back from France. Did something happen that you aren't telling me?" He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms as he looked down at her.

"I said I'm fine." she snapped, chopping a tomato to put on her sandwich. 

"But you aren't fine, what's on your mind," he asked.

"Jason, stop talking before I kick your ass." 

Jason frowned, "Go ahead, do it then. It might make you feel better."

Rory took a deep breath, she didn't want to take Jason up on that offer because she was worried that if she sparred with him it wouldn't end well. Rory knew what her anger did to herself when she fought, and she didn't want to hurt anyone because of it. Slowly she turned to look at Jason who was giving her a frown that was worried, it wasn't his fault she was angry. Hell, it wasn't anyone's fault, Rory was just angry about everything and she didn't know why.

"Maybe another day, I don't want to hurt you," she said softly and went back to making her sandwich.

"You know that I am here if you need someone to talk to okay?" 

Rory gave him a nod. "I know, once I figure out why I am upset maybe I'll come and find you." 

Jason gave her a half-smile and ruffled her hair. "Alright, maybe go relax some. I'll go down to the cave and see if I can assist Tim with anything." He turned to leave when Rory pulled on his sleeve. Turning, he saw that she was holding a cup of coffee and a bagel. 

"Can you take these to him, please? He asked me to bring him down something and I figured if you are going down, you could take it for me?" she asked. Jason looked at her then at the items in her hand before taking them.

"Sure thing princess, go try and relax." he then turned on his heel and left for the cave.

Rory watched Jason walk out before grabbing her sandwich and walked to her room with it. When she opened the door, Rory saw that Stephanie was there sitting on her bed cross-legged waiting for Rory to arrive.

"Hey Steph, what's up?" she asked, sitting on the bed and taking a bite of the sandwich.

"Rory, can I ask you a few questions?"

Rory gave her a skeptical look. "You know that you can ask me anything right?" she picked up her sandwich and took another bite.

"I know, but some of these questions are a little personal and I don't want you to bite my head off." Stephanie looked at the sandwich and gave it a skeptical look. "What the hell is that?"

Rory looked at her sandwich and then back at Steph. "A fried egg sandwich with tomato and cheese? Why what the hell is wrong with it?"

"Rory, you hate eggs and cheese. You said that it is a combination that should never have existed." Stephanie commented. "Yet here it is, on your sandwich and you are eating it."

She rolled her eyes at her friend and went to take another bite of the sandwich, but with Steph mentioning that Rory did in fact hate eggs and cheese the smell turned sour and her stomach twisted into knots. Dropping her sandwich onto her plate, Rory took off for the bathroom and slammed the door shut. 

Rory fell to her knees and threw up into the toilet. She heard Stephanie come in and sit beside her to hold her hair back. Steph may not be the smartest resident of Wayne Manor, but she could connect the dots. Something was definitely wrong with Rory, and she had a sneaking suspicion of what it was.

Once Rory was done, Steph helped her to her feet and cleaned her up. How was she going to bring this subject to Rory's attention without freaking her out? She stepped out and grabbed Rory a free shirt and sweats so she could relax comfortably in bed. Steph held her wrist up to Rory's forehead and tried to see if she had a fever. Maybe she was overthinking it and Rory was just sick with a bug?

Rory had no fever, but she looked exhausted and ready to collapse at any second. She gripped Stephanie's arm as she led her to the bed and helped her relax. Steph sat next to her and set the sandwich aside. "Do you think the eggs were bad?" she asked.

Rory gave her a shrug. "I don't know, Alfred had made them for breakfast this morning and no one else is sick."

"What if it's something else, Rory?"

Rory gave her friend a confused look. "What the hell are you talking about Steph?"

Stephanie took a deep breath and sighed. "Before you get upset, hear me out." Rory watched her with concern on her face. "You've been angry and frustrated since you got back from France right? It's not just me that noticed, either the others have seen it too. You've also been eating really weird things, like the egg sandwich earlier for the last few days."

Rory listened as Steph talked, and she didn't like where this was possibly going.

"And it's no secret that you and Tim are intimate often."

Yeah, Rory was not liking this conversation at all.

"What's the possibility that you are pregnant?" Steph asked softly, looking down at her friend who was lying on the bed quietly and still.

Rory swallowed, she wanted to deny it but there was a lingering thought in the back of her head. Neither Tim nor Rory have been safe the last few times they slept together, it had slipped both of their minds. And if what Steph was saying true, and she really had been on edge since she got back from France then that would mean it was really damn possible.

"Rory, talk to me," Steph said, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

Rory looked at her, a slight panic in her eyes. "It's possible..." she whispered softly. 

Stephanie watched as Rory's eyes teared up and placed her head in her lap, and Steph began to stroke her hair to comfort her. This wasn't the first time any of them were having this problem, Dick had it with Barbara, Kori, and Shawn, and she even had one with Tim when they dated. None of them turned out true, but she was still worried for Rory.

"Do you want me to go and get some tests for you?"

Rory nodded and wiped her eyes. "Do you think Babs would be angry if I showed up at her place? I don't want to do it here..." 

Steph brushed her hair back from her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, why don't you pack a small bag and I'll have Cass drop you off while I go to the store okay?" 

"Okay." Rory sniffed and wiped her eyes and got up, and grabbed a spare gym bag she had laying around before throwing clothes and various items into it. Stephanie slipped out of the room and texted Cass and Babs the situation and within minutes Cassandra was with Rory helping her pack and Babs was getting the spare room set up for Rory to stay in if she needed a couple of days.

Steph got into her car and left for the store while Cass and Rory had tried to sneak out. They were almost out the front door when Alfred and Bruce had caught them.

"Miss Cassandra, Miss Aurora where do you two think you are going at this hour?" Alfred asked, taking notice of the bags the two of them were carrying.

Rory was about to open her mouth to speak, but Cass beat her to it. "We're going to see Babs, girl's night you know? Trying to mellow out Rory's mood, all this testosterone is probably what's making her cranky."

Alfred looked amused at her words, but Bruce detected something more. He saw the look on Rory's face before she hid it from view and he could see that she had been crying, there were red rings around her eyes while her cheeks and nose were flushed still. He could tell when one of his kids lied to him and knew for certain that Cass was indeed lying to him, but why would she lie?

Cass looked to Bruce and could tell that he didn't believe them. "Trust me, it will do her some good to get out of here for a bit." and that was the truth.

Bruce let out a sigh and nodded. "Just stay safe, and tell Barbara and Jim that I said hello." 

Cass gave him a smile and ushered Rory out the door, who was on the verge of breaking down. Rory didn't have a car, and Cass didn't feel the need to own one when Alfred drove her almost anywhere. The two of them walked down to the garage and opened it, to see what they would ride.

Rory owned two bikes, her nicer and more durable one was for their nightly activities while the more flashy model was for when she went out places. Lucky for them, the keys were in the lock cabinet and there were helmets to spare. Walking over, Rory grabbed the keys while Cass grabbed helmets.

Tossing her the keys, Cass climbed on the bike and handed Rory the second helmet before starting the bike. Rory placed the bags in the storage compartment and climbed on behind Cass and held on tight.

"You crash my bike, I will hurt you, Cassandra," she said softly, with a small chuckle.

Cass rolled her eyes. "I am a great driver thank you very much, now just hold on tight. Steph said that she was checking out." 

Rory nodded and flipped down the visor as Cass took off into the night, leaving Wayne Manor in the dust. Barbara's father Jim Gordon lived in Downtown Gotham, not very far from the GCPD since he was the commissioner and needed to be there often. The drive there was silent, as Rory held tight not wanting to fall off the back of the bike. She had decided it was better Cass drive because she didn't feel like it was a good idea. 

About twenty minutes later, they had pulled into the garage of the Gordon Household where they saw Stephanie's car parked there already and Jim's police cruiser nowhere in sight. Cass turned off the bike and got off, helping Rory stay on her feet. Ever since Steph had mentioned that she could be pregnant, Rory's body didn't want to work. Her hands were shaking and she constantly lost balance because she was so worried about the outcome of the tests.

Closing the garage, they opened the door. "Hey, Babs! We're here!" Cass called.

"Living room Cass!" Steph's voice called from around the corner. Rory and Cass walked quietly and saw Steph sitting on the couch with Barbara next to her, several plastic bags at their feet. Seeing the bags, Rory's stomach dropped and her knees went out from under her. 

Quickly Cass caught her and helped her sit on the couch, Rory was visibly shaking now and was so pale she almost looked dead to them. Babs wheeled over and took both of Rory's hands in her. "Rory, look at me."

Rory couldn't focus, everything was becoming too much and she couldn't breathe. Her head was going fuzzy and her whole body hurt, quickly her eyes looked around unable to meet Barbara's soft gaze.

Steph and Cass sat next to her and placed their hands on hers. "Rory, listen to me. You need to calm down, at this rate you'll pass out before you can take the tests." 

She could hear Barbara, but she could barely focus enough to see her. "Take a deep breath." Rory listened as she heard Barbara take a deep breath, and did the same. "Good, now let it out." Rory did the same.

It took a few tries, but Rory's breathing was calmer, and could focus on things around her again. "Good, feel better?"

Rory shook her head. "I'm so scared Babs..." she muttered softly, her voice shaking as she spoke.

"I know you're scared, but you need to do this," Babs said, holding her hands tighter. 

"But what if they turn out positive?" 

"Then we deal with that, but first we don't even know if they are positive or negative yet. That's the first step we have to take, okay?" Barbara knew what Rory was feeling, she had gone through this with Dick twice before and both times they had turned out negative.

Rory gave her a nod and took another deep breath. She watched as Steph handed her one of the bags, the other two staying on the floor. "What's in those?" she asked.

Steph shrugged. "Chocolate, hot chocolate mix, and maybe some alcohol depending on the results. I figured, either way, you needed some comfort after this."

Rory gave Steph a grateful smile and took the bag from her as her hands shook still. Cass helped her up and led her to the bathroom, and Rory shut it behind her. Opening the boxes was a struggle as Rory's hands couldn't stop shaking, and tears began to fall from her eyes again. 

What if she was pregnant? How would she tell Tim? Would he be upset, or would he be excited about it? What about her, was Rory ready to have a baby if it came out positive? Rory wasn't even sure what kind of mother she would be to a child that belonged to two vigilantes. One of them would have to retire to take care of it, and Rory couldn't ask that of Tim. He loved being Red Robin too much and he did more good for the city and the world than she did. All Rory did was make matters worse as destruction followed behind wherever she went.

Once she took the tests, Rory set them on the floor and buried her head between her knees as she curled up in the corner of the bathroom. Positive or negative, Rory knew that things were going to be different. Peeking up, her breath caught in her throat as the results began to form on the tests.

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Well... I have no idea where this came from. When I started the chapter last night, this was not my intention but then I continued this morning and it just happened. Don't you just love when your hands don't work according to plan, because I do. Not that I really had a plan for this chapter.

Anyway, cliffhangers are fun and I hope you all have a good day!

Until Next Time,