A/N: I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. I'm not gonna bore you all with my list of excuses, but I hope I can kind of make it up? On my profile (which is in serious need of some updating tbh), on the bottom, I put up the two things that helped inspire this fic and the playlist so far. :D Anyway, here's the next chapter. I'm not all that pleased with it, but oh well? Guest responses on the bottom as usual. :3

Chapter Four:

Instinct

"When I get logical, and I don't trust my instincts - that's when I get in trouble."

-Angelina Jolie

The awkwardness was palpable and Tim couldn't help but clear his throat slightly as the waitress, an old, plump lady with kind eyes, led them to a booth. There were some tears in the fabric of the booth, revealing the foam material that made up its inside. There were a few unidentifiable stains as well, but they didn't appear to be fresh. He slid in opposite of Steph, glancing at her briefly before turning his eyes to the menu, his brow furrowed with more concentration than it probably should have.

"Usual?" the waitress questioned, looking at Steph. She nodded, giving the waitress a small smile, before flashing a cautious glance Tim's way. He resisted the urge to sigh. He had screwed up. He was brought out of his thoughts as the waitress turned to him.

"What do you want, hon?"

"Um," Tim brought the menu up to his face. One would think with the amount of concentration he had been giving to the menu a few moments ago, he would've actually bothered to read it. "I'll take the… uh, garden salad?"

"Is that a question or a statement, dear?" Tim blushed and stuttered. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Steph's lip twitch, obviously fighting back a smile.

"Statement."

The waitress grinned and nodded as she wrote the order down. She then walked off, leaving Tim and Steph alone. He honestly wasn't sure whether or not he would've preferred it if there had been other people in the diner. It would've probably lessened the chance of her hitting him with another hard object. At that thought, he couldn't help but eye the napkin dispenser.

"Well?" He blinked and looked at Stephanie as she spoke. Her arms were crossed against her chest again and her tone was demanding. There was a slight pout to her lips that hinted at irritation. "You said you wanted to talk, so talk."

Tim fought desperately through the blank state his mind had gone to, a rarity for him. How did he explain his actions without sounding like he belonged in a mental asylum? The last thing he really wanted right now was Stephanie getting a restraining order against him. And, frankly, if he told her about the dreams, he wouldn't blame her if she did just that. He tried to keep his expression as innocent as possible. He knew she barely, if at all, bought the excuse he had given her.

"I already told you; I saw you at the library and wanted to meet you. Sorry I came off like some creepy stalker." The wince and apologetic look he gave was sincere. Didn't girls find that stalker stuff romantic, though? It was certainly in the media enough. But, then again, Stephanie wasn't your average girl.

The waitress came then with their meals, and the health-conscious part of Tim couldn't help but question how quickly they had prepared the meals. He was distracted however, as he eyed Stephanie's plate. It was pretty much mashed potatoes with a side of turkey that was covered in questionable gravy. A fond sort of amusement curled its way into his chest and he resisted the urge to smile.

They both thanked the waitress, and Stephanie took a brief moment to mix some of her food together, before glancing back up at him. "Your apology is pending. I'm not going to apologize for the brick, though." Tim nodded. He would take that. He had a feeling it was as good as it was going to get, anyway. "So, what's your name?"

He could still sense the slightest hint of suspicion in her voice. She wasn't the type to just give her trust to anyone, he theorized. He was glad at this, because it was something that would help to keep her safe, but he also felt the urge to frown. There was a reason for the lack of trust, and he didn't know what it was. Maybe it had to do with her criminal father? Either way, he wasn't going to ask. He may have felt the need to know every little insignificant detail about her, but deep, life questions like that weren't all that appropriate for the first date.

… "Date?"

He resisted the urge to shake his head as he cleared his thoughts. "Tim." She raised an eyebrow at him and he assumed she was waiting for him to give his last name. "Drake. Tim Drake." He held his breath, wondering if she'd recognize the name.

There was a pause as Steph's lips pursed slightly. "Sounds familiar." Tim merely shrugged. "I'm Stephanie, but you already knew that." She eyed him and he was thankful to see a hint of amusement make its way through her gaze. "Stephanie Brown."

Tim's heart stuttered as he looked into her eyes. "Nice to meet you, Stephanie."

The smallest smile came to her lips and Tim wasn't sure if he had ever felt so satisfied. "Uh huh. Are you going to eat your salad or did you find a bug in it?" Tim blinked, having completely forgotten about the food as soon as it came, and looked down at it with surprise.

"Oh." Stephanie's grin increased with her amusement and Tim found it was worth his embarrassment as he grabbed his fork and began to eat. He glanced back at her just as she took a rather large bite of mashed potatoes. A quick grin flashed across Tim's face. So far, this Stephanie didn't seem all that much different than his dream Stephanie. Aside from the obvious fact that here in the real world, she had never met him before.

A ding from the doorway signaled the entrance of more people, and Tim watched as three men walked in, talking nonchalantly amongst themselves as they went to seat themselves. They grew silent, though, as they passed Tim and Stephanie. Tim tensed immediately, noticing how most of their attention was on Stephanie. One whispered something to another, which Tim frustratingly could not make out. He glanced at Stephanie to see her glaring at them defiantly, though her body language clearly gave away some fright. There was more to this than a few men eyeing up a pretty girl, he realized. He was missing out on something. And he didn't like it. The three men sat in a booth directly across from them. Tim was going through the various different ways to handle the situation and the scenarios that would result, when Stephanie took one last bite of her mashed potatoes and stood up. "Let's go."

Tim scrambled for his wallet, pulling out a fifty and laying it on the table. Steph eyed the money, a slight disgruntled look coming to her face, before she turned and headed for the door without another glance at the three men. Tim followed her, giving the three men the quickest of glances as he exited, seeing them smirk as their eyes followed them. Every alert system in Tim's mind was going off.

"You didn't have to pay, y'know" Steph grumbled after a few moments of walking, her previously fast pace slowing slightly. Tim ignored the statement.

"What was all that about?" He knew he wasn't going to get an answer as soon as he saw the stubborn set to her jaw.

"Nothing."

He persisted. "It didn't look like nothing." When the only response he received was slight quickening in her pace, he brushed his fingers against her arm, ignoring the way his fingertips tingled afterward. She stopped immediately and turned to eye his hand, blinking a couple times. Maybe she had felt it too? He pushed the thought away for later. "Steph, c'mon, these guys could be dangerous."

There was a beat of silence and Tim could see it; he was too late. The wall was already up. "I can take care of myself."

You shouldn't have to do it alone. He withheld the comment, instead allowing the concern on his face to speak for him. Steph bit her lip slightly, and glanced around, before giving a sigh. "It was nice meeting you, Tim, but I have to go now." A lump formed in his throat as he watched her turn and walk away. As soon as she rounded the corner, he cursed himself for not going after her. He ran a hand through his hair, a frustrated sigh escaping him, before he turned to glare at the diner that was about a block away now. He had no idea what the connection between Stephanie and those men were, let alone why the look in their eyes as they looked at her seemed to scare him to death at the same time it made him want to respond in a violent way that he wasn't sure Bruce would approve of.

He remembered Steph's earlier comment. "One of them." One of who? Did that comment have a connection to those three men? The questions raced through Tim's mind, before determination set in.

Red Robin was going to do some investigating tonight. In the back of his mind, one of the less pleasant dreams replayed.

Tim shuffled uncomfortably as he glanced everywhere but at the grave in front of him. He didn't want to have to look at it, let alone read the words that didn't hold nearly enough meaning in them. He had never quite understood epitaphs. How could a life so meaningful and complex and beautiful be described by a few simple words with so few syllables? Maybe it was for the best. If he had to describe the life, it wouldn't fit on a tombstone. Not an averaged sized one, anyway. But, then again, he probably wouldn't have been able to write anything at all, anyway.

Because that was what he was doing, right? He was avoiding the subject. He was pushing it as far as possible out of his mind. He didn't want to face it, couldn't face it. If he acknowledged it, he wasn't sure how he would ever be able to go forward. Really, he'd taken so many things for granted that he couldn't picture his life without them; her laugh, her smile, the way her eyes sparkle when she's telling a good story, how she would tease him but still listen patiently as he went on some "nerdy drabble," the stubborn set in her jaw when she had her mind made up on something, and so many other, seemingly insignificant things.

He finally forced his eyes to look at the cold stone that represented so much more than what it was made of. He barely even noticed as he slowly sunk to his knees.

No one had been willing to tell him the details of her torture. So, like the idiot he was, he had hacked into the files. And God…

He should've saved her. He should've looked harder for her. He should've forgotten about that damn gang war and spent all his energy looking for Steph. He should've found her and whisked her away before Black Mask had the chance to lay on single finger on her. He should've never taken her for granted.

A part of him whispered that he should be taking out all of this rage within himself out on Black Mask. But he couldn't. Stephanie wouldn't want him to abandon his morals for her, even if she had questioned them at times.

A single tear rolled down his cheek and his voice wavered. "I'm so sorry."

A/N: I was gonna do a cute flashback, but then I was like; "Nah, let's do a sad one." Sorry? :P Oh, and also remind me next time I do a multi-chapter fic, not to use quotes in every chapter. Looking for good ones is hard. :/ lol Anywho, review please. ;3

Aprillis: It was my favorite too, so far! ;D Haha, hope you enjoyed it. ^.^

guest: ("THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!thank you for updating. maybe the present stephanie should start having dreams like tim? i feel for stephanie about her daughter. not knowing if your child is okay and is happy. i wish that the baby was tim's sometimes. in my alternate universe tim and steph are together and have two kids: jack and Cassandra"/"if you're wondering why i named steph and tim's kids that way it's because: jack after tim's father, cassandra jane (just decided to add that) after tim and steph's best friend cass cain and after tim's mother.") Lol, thank you for reading! ;D And I totally approve of this headcanon. ;3

Guest: ("This was another great chapter :) I think you have a good balance of preboot and reboot. Really excited for the next chapter !") Thank you! :D

jo: Thank you so much! ^.^

guest: ("Is everything that Tim is going through right now just a dream? Like in the real world he got into a fight with a villian that placed him in a coma with this kind of dream and everybody's trying to wake him? just curious. Update soon Pretty Pretty Please.") I'm pulling a Lost and everyone's really just dead. I KID I KID. (Or do I?) -dodges stone.- Haha, you're just gonna have to keep reading I guess. ;3