Breaking Codes (and Hearts)
AKA "Danny Fenton works as a barista at a late night coffee shop and unintentionally solves crime. Red Robin claims dibs." DPxDC Dead Tired prompt!
The first time Danny meets Red Robin is at 2am and the espresso machine is broken. Izzy, his co-worker, panics and Danny doesn't really understand why - how busy can it get at 2am on a Tuesday?
Turns out, very busy. A certain population of Gotham - goons, students, and bird themed vigilantes alike - seem to flock to the coffee shop like feral turkeys. It slows down a bit by 3am and the only remaining resident is a red-caped vigilante who stole a spot in the corner with a hoard of muffins and three cups of light roast coffee, mumbling to himself over crumpled notes.
Danny happens to be walking by to wipe down a table when he overhears, "What the hell could BM mean??" and he can't help but bark a badly concealed laugh. Red Robin whips his head around, the eerie whites of his eyemask gleaming as he seemingly thinks very hard, before offering a very flattering half-smile.
"No, I'm serious! It doesn't mean what you think it means. It's code for something else, I swear."
"Yeah?" Danny ghosts closer, hip bumping against the table as he crosses his arms. (He doesn't think he's imagining it when Red Robin's gaze seems fixated on Danny's forearms and biceps where his t-shirt cuff rolled up. Unless he is? He can't exactly see the guy's eyes are looking.) "What's the context? The Riddler left Batman a love letter again?"
"Worse. Riddler is smart with his clues. This is like trying to decipher a diary written by a toddler." Red Robin's face scrunches into a scowl with a shake of his head, as if trying to shake a thought away. And what can he say? Danny's intrigued. He may double majoring in rocket science, but he's had his fair share of overly complicated vague comments by an omnipotent entity. He's sure a half-assed Riddler-wanna-be goon can't be worse. Danny nudges Red Robin's arm out of the way (and ignores the way the guy turns stiff as a board, not even seeming to breathe for a second) to look at the crumpled paper.
The riddle is... not a riddle. Danny recognizes it immediately, much to his amusement. It's something the kids in Amity used to do in High School to make up cool new slang words.
"It's short-hand but using trigger words or phrases to replace phonemes. Bm is bat-man, which can be replaced by words like 'bowel movement' or 'shit'. See here? The words 'sw' and 'compass' are repeated, I'd bet that's code for northwest - the abbreviated word is 'nw'. Night-wing." Danny squints down at the page again. Red Robin's expression is stupefied, shifting quickly between amused and baffled.
"So... this says that Nightwing is taking a package to Batman? Or they want him to, or are worried that he will? I don't know for sure."
And the amusement is gone. The vigilante's expression turns placid, almost apathetic, even though his skin looks a little more pale; he murmurs a tepid "thanks" and retrieves the paper with a movement that seems a little too panicked.
(Later, Danny will hear that several Gotham-Rogue-wannabes got arrested for attempting to sell a new version of venom. Apparently their plan was to disguise a deadly airborne substance as their first 'shipment' so they could infect the Bats once it was confiscated and then move out their second shipment to actual buyers. The GCPD couldn't figure out how the Bats always seemed to know.)
Despite Red Robin's abrupt departure, he quickly came back to the coffee shop - and often. Obviously, only to get assistance with more cases.
((Izzy will never forget finding Danny and Red Robin doing stuff in the alleyway behind the coffee stop, despite Danny's red-faced excuses that he was just being saved from a mugging.))
