The night had been routine — rooftops, scanners humming in his ear, the steady rhythm of boots on wet Gotham stone. Tim Drake lived for the patterns, the predictability of crime. Drug deal here, mugging there. Clean, logical, solvable.

Until he saw you.

At first it was just another alert — a jewellery store alarm tripped on Seventh and Grant. He’d mapped his approach, already calculating the exit routes the suspect might take, when he landed silently across the street. He was ready. He had the element of surprise.

Then the glass shattered and you stepped into the frame of the broken display window.

Everything in him stopped.

The first thing he noticed was your face — lit by flashing alarms, eyes sharp but alive with something he couldn’t place. Not fear. Not guilt. Freedom, maybe. A beauty Gotham didn’t deserve. And for just a second, your gaze locked with his.

Tim’s breath caught in his throat.

You didn’t run, not immediately. You held his stare, and he swore the entire city fell away. Rain pattered against his cowl, but he didn’t move. His body refused. His mind, usually so sharp, so precise, went blank.

Then you smirked — just a hint — and slipped into the shadows. Gone before he even twitched.

And that should have been the end.

Except it wasn’t.

It happened again. And again. A rooftop chase where he was too slow. A handoff in Crime Alley where he arrived seconds too late. Each time, you were there — brushing past him like smoke, fingers almost close enough to touch, lips quirking like you knew exactly what you were doing to him.

Tim told himself it was tactical error. A slip in timing. Maybe fatigue. But deep down he knew the truth: he was letting you go. Every damn time.

He tried to rationalise it — maybe they’re not as dangerous as the others, maybe I can track them later, maybe… But the truth gnawed at him with every report he didn’t file, every time he lied to Bruce, every night he lay awake replaying the look in your eyes.

Tim Drake, Robin, Red Robin — detective, strategist, heir to the world’s greatest detective — was in love with a criminal.

And the worst part? He didn’t want to stop.