Of course he'd seen the value in what Tim was doing. Yes, the Knights was a cover, but that didn't mean it wasn't doing real work among the city's at risk youths. He'd seen Tim's work gain traction, even helped it along as he could. Between Tim's programs and his own, the number of teenagers being recruited was down by over half. The kids that had once been forced to take to the streets to scrape up enough money on their knees to be able to feed themselves and possibly even younger siblings were fewer and further between. Hood's shelters could focus on domestic abuse victims and families with nowhere else to go, while Tim's could help the children that would otherwise fall through the cracks.

They were a team, the two of them. No matter if Tim knew it or not. It was what he'd been coming here to say in the first place, Tim's plea for help only making the whole thing that much more amusing.

"Oh, I can find my own food and drink, Mr. Drake. I appreciate the offer, but you are the man of honor here, right? I'm just the messenger boy." He smiled, that soft little lopsided smile that Tim only got to see when it was just the two of them. "But maybe later, after all the speeches and toasts and everythin' else too rich for my blood...maybe then I can ask you for a dance? 'S a party, right?"

He wasn't going anywhere. He'd stay close, be ready to swoop in if Tim needed a rescue. Though, the younger boy's doe eyes at him had no doubt been noticed. More than a few of those old vipers would be leaving him alone.