Belated Birthday Patrol and Movie Night

[theyoungdetective]

Tim can't quite say that it was exactly tradition to go on a light patrol and have movie night for his birthday. Even if it were, it was belated in any case, what with running around to set up his college courses late and work. But movie nights were certainly a tradition for the blended Wayne family, or at least the kids. The one night they'd all get together in a month and try to take it easy and he wouldn't deliberately get into a fight with Damian. It was harder when they scatter more, grew more, and was always difficult to get Bruce to join in, but he and Dick at least would try.

It's a tradition he misses, and he misses having family beside him on rooftops and in his ear. But now, he has a little bit of that again after a year and a half in Darrow. It was time to bring back tradition.

Back in his apartment, he has a decent stock of popcorn and a scheduled pizza order to be delivered just before midnight. All of the Karate Kid is set up for viewing enjoyment when he gets back home.

Right now, Red Robin sits on the roof of the building next to the Hideout with a box of donuts, enjoying the music pulsing from below while keeping an eye on a bank across the street, waiting for his guests or robbers to show up.

You know, whatever came first.

Comments

[ghost_holder]

Recently, Aggie's seen another hero type with red energy powers that seem to help her fly and though she's not quite as finessed at it, Aggie thinks she does a pretty good imitation as she hovers up beside Tim. Careful to appear in his peripheral and to be heard, Aggie settles daintily next to him to look at the window.

"What's the news?"

[theyoungdetective]

Tim casually hands Aggie a mask as he takes a sip of his coffee. It's designed to cover the upper half the face, made of deep gray leather and mirrored lenses. A quick design that they can revisit in the future.

"Nothing much yet, but I've seen potential thieves canvassing the area. Shazam should also be here any minute," he says, tapping his paper cup against his watch.

"Oh, and the maple cream filled donuts are definitely way too sweet. Blueberry glaze is still the winner tonight."

[ghost_holder]

"As Shazam or as..." Aggie waves a hand. She's not sure if they've ever fully said that Shazam and Billy are the same person but when you get to know a person and his pet tiger well enough, the connections aren't hard tonight.

"What about the chocolate cake donut with cereal on top? Or are we saving that for candle time."

[theyoungdetective]

"Shazam. It's strictly codenames on the rooftops until we get to home base. ...Which I just realized you totally don't have."

Well, he feels sheepish.

"We, uh, we should work on that."

Tim eyes the large box of donuts.

"Nineteen candles in a bunch of donuts is gonna look weird, don't you think? But yeah, totally saving that for last. And cutting up three ways, because we all deserve a taste, but not the sugar coma that instantly happens when you finish a whole one."

[ghost_holder]

"I mean, everyone pretty much knows who I am," Aggie says, distracted by the chance to paw through the donuts and find a strawberry filled one. Successful in her quest, she settles into the seat next to him and pulls on the mask, tying it securely in place.

"There. Now no one knows who I am."

[theyoungdetective]

"Yeah, but you don't want me yelling your name out if we end up fighting some random bank robbers, right? You need something like... I dunno. Geist? Shade?" he considers.

Tim smiles, seeing that the fit is proper for her face.

"How's your vision?"

[ghost_holder]

"You know, someone told me once that my last name means 'ghost holder' or 'ghost catcher,'" Aggie says contemplatively. She looks at Tim sidelong through her mask and then pauses, tying it a little tighter so that it lays flat and doesn't interrupt her peripheral vision.

"I can see pretty well. How do I look?"

[sayshazam]

Billy floated down next to Tim and Aggie as they sat on the edge of a building. Now that he knew that Tim and Red Robin were the same person, and Tim knew that Billy and Shazam were the same person, they didn't get on each other's nerves nearly as much as superheroes. Sometimes they still argued, even friends argued, but it wasn't with real anger anymore. He hadn't told Aggie his secret identity but he liked her and knew she was Tim's good friend so he was happy to see her too.

"Hey, Happy Birthday," Billy said, grinning at his friend. "Having a good one?"

[theyoungdetective]

Tim considers Aggie's look for a moment. "Owl-ish. Dunno if that's a good thing. Maybe I should have brought a mirror..."

He turns at the sound of feet landing beside them and smiles back at Shazam.

"Thanks! And we are. It's actually looking pretty quiet down over there," he gestures to the bank across the way.

"So we've pretty much just been trying to figure out a code name for her while eating donuts and waiting to see if something happens. I haven't even gotten an alert to something happening elsewhere from my trackers."

[ghost_holder]

"Hoo, hoo," Aggie teases. "You're not calling me Night Owl."

Noticing they have company, Aggie waves at Shazam but also grabs another donut. She's the smallest of the three of them and figures she's going to make sure she gets her share via speed and trickery. Or something.

"I'm mostly just eating donuts right now. This is my first night out."

[sayshazam]

"Yeah, don't go animal themed. No offense, but it's overdone," Billy said. He wasn't sure if Tim had gotten to choose his own name or if it was a legacy thing. Billy didn't care how cool Tim's costume was, Red Robin was a hamburger chain. Not that he'd say that out loud because by the way Aggie was eating donuts she might hound Tim for burgers.

"Also, don't be super obvious about what your powers are with your code name. That's just dumb."

[theyoungdetective]

"What's wrong with animal names?" he asks, feigning offense. Tim really didn't get to pick his name. Robin was a legacy, and Red Robin was a cape he took because it was tainted and lead away from the Batfamily.

"And if any Titans end up here, I'd advise against repeating that in front of them. Most of us picked or were given our names exactly like that. Kid Flash, Static, Beast Boy, Solstice..."

Tim considers other names, other heroes he's met and how they've called themselves.

"Something linked to your origin or why you're fighting could be good? Steph used to go by Spoiler because she was spoiling her dad's plans."

[ghost_holder]

"You've cornered the market," Aggie says, shrugging. Truthfully, aside from 'Beast Boy' she doesn't think any of those names actually communicate their powers but Robin is likely to know them far better than she does. Tilting her head, she considers Robin and Shazam.

"Like...Phantasm? Is that one taken?"

[sayshazam]

Billy thought 'Kid Flash' was about the dumbest name for a hero ever, even if it was for a kid that ran super fast. What were you going to do when you got older? You couldn't be 20 and be Kid Flash. It was just dumb.

"Okay, Phantasm is an awesome name. Ominous but not super specific about anything."

[theyoungdetective]

"It is," he nods. "And maybe later, we can go over more of a costume, if you'd like. Maybe something with a hood?"

There's a faint sharp sound from across the street picked up by the cowl, and his expression changes back to being all business. Red Robin glances back at the bank through his binoculars and sees a man being let into the bank proper, past the 24 hour ATM in the foyer. There's shattered glass and plastic in front of the ATM. Looking down the block, it looks like he's got a lookout person situated midway between the bank and a car.

"Later. Looks like the other guests arrived after all."

[ghost_holder]

"Goggles," Aggie says. She doesn't actually know if they'd be useful or fit the theme, but she bets they would look cool.

When Robin changes track, Aggie takes the binoculars and looks. "How did we miss that," she comments, noting the shattered glass. "Okay, who am I taking?" If she gets her choice, she wants to wreck the getaway car after all her frustration with the stupid driver's test.

[sayshazam]

"I'll fix that when we're done," Billy said, making a face when he realized they had missed the break in. If someone had been in there they could have gotten hurt. As fun as this was they were still out here to protect people and he didn't want anyone hurt because he wasn't paying attention.

"It's your birthday," he said, turning to Tim. "You tell us what to do, you're the leader."

[theyoungdetective]

It's his fault. Normally, one of them should have been keeping their eye on the target. It was his case, so it should have been him, but Tim was having too much fun just talking on a rooftop with his friends...

That didn't matter. Now he had to focus on a plan.

He hands an ear comm from his pouch to Aggie.

"Phantasm, you're going to keep visual from the outside and wait for my call. If you see them running out before that, take out the getaway car and handle the lookout."

Red Robin pulls out his grapple gun and looks to Billy.

"I know a way in from the roof. We're going in that way, and sticking to the shadows to assess what exactly they're doing in there, if whoever let them in was an accomplice or under duress. No attacking until I say go."

[ghost_holder]

This a serious mission and Aggie does her best not to light up with delight at the first use of her codename but it's a very near thing. She takes a second to tighten her mask and secure the earpiece, before she jogs toward the edge of the roof.

"I can wreck the engine from here," she says, watching as Red Robin and Shazam get into position as well.

[theyoungdetective]

Red Robin nods approvingly. If she can avoid being spotted, avoid physical risk, all the better. Phantasm isn't helpless at all, but he'll never forgive himself if she got hurt because he likes to celebrate punching bad guys in the face a little.

"When I signal it."

He turns to Shazam.

"Ready?"