Auroral » Titans

26|| Sleep Is For The Weak

A bright red light strobed across Sophie's face. It seeped past her closed eyelids, stirring her out of her heavy sleep. The corners of her lips pulled down into a frown as she buried her head in the crook of her elbow.

A startling beep came from the computer before the red light changed to a bright green.

"What?" Sophie growled as she looked up at the computer screen. Live footage of the garage entrance played on screen and in the center of the feed was a bright green alert that said access in to the building had been granted.

She stared at the screen for a long moment as her groggy brain tried to wrap around what she was seeing. And then it clicked, Dick was back. 

Slowly she sat upright, her spine popping as her back straightened out. A yawn forced its way past her lips and she stretched her pale arms over her head.

She shoved her hands in the pockets of her hoodie and made her way down the quiet hall.

Her head was already pounding from the tension in her neck, and the lack of sleep was slowly killing her. She had been up for hours, staring at a computer well her mind ran wild with a million thoughts. 

She wasn't even sure what she was looking for anymore. She wasn't sure if she was looking for answers on why he did everything, or if she was just searching for more reasons to want him gone. 

Sophie got to the kitchen and frowned at how bright everything was. The large windows bathed everything in sunlight and made the sleek white counters glow. 

The sound of quiet footsteps broke Sophie out of her haze. Her head shot up and her eyes landed on Dick. 

He looked, lost. 

He held himself differently. His shoulders were slumped and his head was tilted towards the ground. She had seen that look on him before. During those tense weeks before he disappeared in the middle of the night.

"Hey." Sophie greeted him. Her voice was hoarse from the lack of use. 

Dick looked at her and forced a tight lipped smile. "Hey." He said as he placed his black case down on the kitchen table. 

"I'm gonna make coffee." She muttered, mainly to herself. She made her way to the coffee maker and grabbed the tin of ground coffee from the cabinet.

"You look tired." Dick said, breaking the silence that had settled between them. 

Sophie scoffed quietly and turned on the coffee maker. The machine gurgled before hot coffee began to drip into the pot. "You have no idea." She huffed before turning around to face him. "I was up all night working my case."

Dick nodded and his eyes drifted down to the table top. She knew he hated that she wasn't telling him about the case. She hated it, but the voice in the back of her head kept telling her that he'd look at her differently if he knew.

Sophie ran a hand through her tangled blonde hair. "How'd everything go with your old circus crew?"

Dick sighed through his nose before his brown eyes met hers. "It was Nick Zucco, he was the one killing my old friends." 

"Did you stop him." She asked, her voice quiet with sympathy. She knew how much Dick hated that family for what they did to his.

"He won't be hurting anyone else." There was a bite to his tone, a lingering anger that she knew he'd keep with him for a long time. 

Silence settled over the room again. It wasn't awkward or tense, It was just the undisturbed quiet. It would have been peaceful if Sophie couldn't see their was something else on Dick's mind. 

"You ok?" She asked.

Dick clenched his jaw before he looked at her. "Why didn't you tell me there was another Robin?"

Sophie's brow creased. She was far to tired to comprehend Dick's sudden annoyance. "It kind of slipped my mind with everything that's been going on." She shrugged.

"Well he's got some serious fucking issues." He huffed.

She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "He's got his problems but Jason's a good person, Dick." 

"He beat the shit out of the cops, Sophie." Dick snapped.

"He-" Sophie's eyes widened before she clenched her jaw. "He's gone through a lot. But I've worked with him, I know what he's like, and beneath that cocky attitude and sarcasm there's a good person there."

Dick clenched his jaw and glared at her "Why are you so quick to defend him?"

She sighed deeply and ran a hand through her messy blonde hair. She was way to tired for this shit. 

"Because unlike you I actually know Jason. I know what he's been through and I know that he deserves to be Robin just as much as you did. Maybe once you've figured your shit out with Bruce, you'll see that too." Sophie glared back at Dick. She knew Jason, and despite his problems he was worth taking a chance on.

"I thought I heard passive aggressive voices." Kori's almost sing-songy sarcasm cut through the heavy tension between Sophie and Dick.

Sophie's eye's snapped over to the hallway where Kori was standing. Their gaze met and Kori raised a brow, asking a silent question. 

Sophie huffed before she turned back around and grabbed a mug from the kitchen cabinet. "Want some coffee?" 

"Please." Kori said before she walked over to the table where Dick was sitting. "So if you two are done, we need to talk." 

Sophie's brow furrowed and she quickly finished making the cups of coffee. She handed one to Kori before her gaze flickered over to Dick. He was looking at Kori with the same concerned curiosity that Sophie felt.

"What is it?" She asked. 

Kori leaned against the wooden table. "Dr. Adamson's refusing to talk to anyone but Rachel." She began to explain.