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Tim shot out of bed, panting as he clutched at his throat. Toxic green eyes and silver knives coated in red haunted his mind. He couldn’t close his eyes without seeing Jason’s cruel, delighted smile, couldn’t breathe as the scar at his neck burned with the memory. It took a few minutes, but Tim was finally able to get his breathing back to normal, using the techniques Bruce had taught him.
Looking around, panic flared higher in his system as he realized that he didn’t recognize the room he was in. Slowly, memories began to come back to him. Ra’s, the base, the deal. He had made a deal with Ra’s, that he would serve Ra’s loyally for as long as he was searching for Bruce. So, if he wanted to end his service as quickly as possible, he needed to find Bruce yesterday.
He wouldn’t, no he couldn't go back to sleep. He might as well get back to working on his case to find Bruce. Moving to the desk, he opened his laptop and began his research on some ancient caves in a nearby desert. If he could convince Ra’s that finding Bruce was a more pressing issue than any other assignment then maybe he could make this work to his favor. Granted, Ra’s rarely ever bargained, what happened last time–was that really only a few hours ago–was quite possibly a once in a lifetime experience. Ra’s did say that he’d have basically free reign of the place though, so he probably wouldn’t have to ask for permission if he left now. With his mind made up, he quickly changed back into his suit and began his careful journey through the halls.
“And where do you think you’re going?” Tim froze, nobody was supposed to notice him! “Your tricks do not work on me Timothy, I was born and raised in these very shadows,” Talia announced, staring straight at his form. Slowly, he melted out of the shadows glaring at the woman in front of him.
“And why does what I do matter to you?” Tim asked bitterly. He was wasting time, she was wasting his time.
“I do not appreciate you and your kind sneaking around my base without knowing your intent.” She stated, glaring daggers at him. It was a little disconcerting, he didn’t understand what he had done to receive such a heated look.
“Well, Ra’s has given me permission to move around here as I please,” Tim countered as he glared back at her.
“Unfortunately, I do not feel inclined to believe you.” Before Tim could say anything back she had lifted her hand and he was immediately pinned down by multiple assassins.
“Poor little cuckoo,” Tim flinched at her soft voice, remembering one so similar saying the same thing in his dream–memories. “Always destined to be alone, to steal another bird’s home. Well not this time.”
Tim tried to fight back, to gain some sort of leverage against the ninja that would allow him a clean break, but he was never able to find one. Talia’s heels clacked sharply against the stone floors as they travel deeper and deeper into the base. Tim kept his breathing even as he noticed them passing cell after cell, only the dim flicker of torches to light their path. The shadows danced around him, revealing nightmares or horrors of both recent and past events.
He watched with a sinking heart as Talia opened a large steel door and he was shoved into a room covered in different types of weapons and shackles. He struggled to get away with a renewed vigor, knowing that this would end poorly on his end. He couldn’t let this happen, not when he was so close! But it didn’t matter what he wanted when the ninjas removed his gloves and locked his wrists above his head, so much so that only the toes of his boots could reach the floor. Deep breaths, he needed to take deep, calming breaths. He couldn’t let her know just how scared he was, not when his life–his worth–depended on him being able to out think any of his opponents, and if he wanted to do that he needed to have a clear open mi-
A scream ripped through him as the crack of a whip echoed against his shoulder blade. His hands wrapped themselves around the chain, attempting to squeeze out as much of the pain as he could. Snap . Tim was ready this time, and though it hurt like h*, he was able to keep back the scream. Tim didn’t know how long this went on, but it was long enough that he could see large black stars dancing in his vision as silent tears he tried so hard to hold back fell from his cheeks.
Bam. The door was thrown open, and it took every last bit of strength for Tim to look up to see who had come to make things worse. To his surprise, it was Ra’s that had come, and he looked pissed. This was it, this was how he died.
“What is the meaning of this, Talia?” Ra’s growled, staring down his daughter and shocking Tim out of his daze. Talia, for her part, did not seem fazed by this at all, though she didn’t respond. This seemed to only infuriate Ra’s more. “Get him down from there and bring the medic. Now.” He had never seen the ninja move faster in his life.
“You and I, daughter, will be speaking to each other soon. Now leave.” Tim felt a shiver of pure unadulterated fear run down his body, relieved when he was finally lowered back down to the cold solid ground. His back burned like nothing had before.
“I do apologize Timothy. I had made a vow that no harm would come to you on my base, but I have already broken that promise. You may have one unconditional favor from me. Anything you ask, I will do no questions. But we will worry about that later, for now we must tend to your wounds.” Tim tried to nod, but even that seemed to strain the markings on his back, causing him to gasp out in pain.
Ra’s didn’t make any moves to comfort him, didn’t say anything, he simply stood next to Tim like a sentinel. He assumed that he would leave once the medic arrived, but he didn’t. He just stood and watched everything with cold, vigilant eyes. It was disconcerting to say the least.
The weirdest part, Ra’s had even escorted Tim back to his room. Bruce, Dick, not even Alfred had ever acted like this. Sure they had acted like this with the others, but never Tim. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered if Ra’s ever treated Damian this way. It would make, afterall, Damian is his actual grandson, Tim isn’t even that. The only reason Bruce adopted him was so that he wouldn’t go into a home, thus he wouldn’t lose his Robin.
“I will be back in the morning to check on your wounds.” Ra’s said from his doorway. Tim had made his way to his bed, shocks of pain wracking his body. “I will ensure that nothing like this will ever happen again.”
“Why?” Tim rasped. Nothing was making sense, this must have been some sort of twisted dream. Maybe he was dead, or some weird and extreme fever dream. That’s the most likely scenario, because even his wildest dreams would have a hard time coming up with this.
“Simply put, you have something that I need. The only way you can provide what I need is if you are in good condition. But I am also a man of my word, and my word was broken because of the foolish actions of my own blood. I will not let such a disgrace stain my hands.” Ra’s explained calmly. It made sense, or maybe he just thought that because of the blood loss–he didn’t think he lost that much blood though.
“I recommend you stay in your room for the night. No one will be able to disturb you as long as you remain here.” With that, Ra’s disappeared around the corner once again. Tim allowed himself to slowly fall against stomach, breathing deeply as his back continued its blazing inferno.
Tim needed to process this, he couldn’t go back to sleep. The first thing he needed to think about when it came down to all of this was Talia. Talia was mad at him, she called him a cuckoo just like Jason and Damian always did. Just. like. Jason and Damian. Jason was basically raised by the League after his resurrection in the Pits. He was trained by Talia. Damian was born in the League. Talia would have told him stories of the goings on in Gotham. Talia is the one who twisted the truth to Jason. Talia was the one who told Damian that he was weak and useless, that he was the placeholder of the family.
In some regards he understood Talia’s frustrations. He had taken Jason’s place mere months after the boy had died. It probably appeared like Bruce didn’t care about Jason’s death at all, or at least that it hadn’t hurt or affected him. But she was smarter than that. She must have known the spiral Bruce was in. She must have seen that Bruce would have ended up killing himself had Tim not intervened. If Batman fell, Gotham would fall into ruin, and isn’t that what the League wanted to some degree? To tame or rid of the corruption they see as insurmountable?
Part of him wondered if Ra’s had also contributed to the hate and malice that both Jason and Damian now hold over him. If he did truly hate Tim, and helped instill that hate in Jason and Damian, then he was good at hiding it. But if Ra’s did hate him, why not let Tim suffer, why not let him die?
He had admitted to Tim earlier that he knew nobody was looking for him, that nobody cared for him any longer. Wouldn’t it have been easier to just let him disappear; stage his death as an accident and move on? Nobody would mourn him, and Bruce would be lost forever making Gotham a little bit easier to destroy with Dick now wearing the cowl. It would still be difficult, but it wouldn’t be as impossible as before.
But that left only a few possible answers, all of which were anomalies to him. The biggest one that came to mind was that Ra’s didn’t actually hate him, or that he at least saw some sort of worth in him. And that thought was outrageously laughable. Ra’s had tried to kill him, multiple times. And why on Earth would he care about Tim when all of the Bats thought he was insane, when they had kicked him out because his mind was now worthless because he had apparently gone crazy due to all the loss he had suffered through in such a short time. But that brought the question back to, why wasn’t he dead yet if Ra’s didn’t hate or need him?!
Burying his face into the feather pillows Tim let out a long frustrated scream. He needed to finish his job and get out of here as fast as possible.