Work Text:
Tim's feelings were very, very muddled at the moment. On one hand his case and his expensive clothes were absolutely ruined, but on the other hand… Jason Todd was a very handsome pirate.
Several of the other women tied up nearby to Tim seemed to have the same feelings. There were mild looks of fear and annoyance as their dresses were stained with the spilled alcohol from the fight and some had minor scratches and bruises, but their eyes also tracked the attractive vagabond as he searched through the captives for whoever he was looking for.
Tim wasn't in any better shape than his fellow boaters. His laid back, casual boating suit had rips in the thighs, he'd lost his jacket and his white collared shirt was ripped open exposing his chest. He had to continuously shift to keep as much skin covered as he could, not needing his fellow captives to see the litany of scars that covered his body.
He tried to push aside his own discomfort – keeping an annoyed, but disinterested appearance that some random rich dude on a disrupted cruise might carry – and hoped the other innocent people around him followed suit. Tim knew with Jason here, everyone would be safe in the end, all innocents at least would be sent on their way with nothing more than an exciting story to tell.
They just had to be patient and let this play out.
One of the younger girls restrained near Tim gave a soft whimper, interrupting his fake nonchalance and he observed the cuffs cutting into her skin, overly tightened in the pirate crew's haste to bring the crowd under control. Her face was twisted in agony and no one else seemed to notice, meaning her family must be trapped in a different area.
Tim could have broken out of his restraints to help her, but that might cause more of an issue, he needed to handle this subtly and then, hopefully, whatever case Jason was working by playing pirate and the case that Tim was investigating could both go on their merry way without clashing together in a fiery impact.
“Hey don't pull at it,” Tim whispered in her direction. “Try to relax.”
“It really hurts,” she whimpered. Her brown eyes scrunched in pain and Tim estimated she was only 10 or 11. Her guardians were hopefully somewhere nearby and safe but in the meantime she appeared scared and alone. Her fingers were white from the restricted blood flow and her breaths came out in harsh pants.
“No talking!” One of Hood's pirate crew strode over and Tim analyzed him. Back in Gotham, Hood had a full gang of men and women working under him and Tim knew most of their faces. Whoever this was must have been someone that Hood picked up for the bit. Maybe he'd hired a boat and everyone on it.
“Her cuffs are too tight, just let her out before she gets nerve damage. She's not going to hurt anyone.”
The man gave a disturbing chuckle that sent Tim's nerves on high alert. Definitely not the standard thug Jason hired. Again Tim analyzed his options, weighing the risks.
“Is it too tight, girly?” The man sneered as he came closer to their position. “Bet it's not the only thing tight on you.”
The girl's eyes widened in fear and Tim reacted, kicking his legs out and nailing the unsuspecting man in the groin. He doubled over immediately retching from the impact to his balls.
Everyone's eyes moved to Tim, including the blue-green of Jason. So much for keeping their cases from imploding against each other.
Jason had gone full pirate themed for this opportunity apparently. He was wearing a billowing white shirt that framed his chest and fitted black pants tucked into knee high boots, just like he'd walked off the cover of a harlequin romance book. There was a red strip of fabric with cut eye holes tied around his face, and atop his head sat a dark red pirate hat, overly embellished with black and gold stitching.
It should have looked ridiculous but Tim just felt thirsty instead.
“Hi Hood,” Tim practically chirped. “it seems seafaring has lowered your employment standards. I was helping with some vetting.”
Jason's eyes dragged across Tim with a slowly growing smirk, his gaze burning into every bit of exposed skin. “Timothy Drake, is that you?”
Tim actually had come as himself for this opportunity. Using his serious business, but also seriously rich persona to get an invite to this cruise in order to follow his mark. A man suspected of extortion and embezzlement but also had ties to human trafficking… which Tim started to suspect could be exactly what Jason was after.
“Her bindings are too tight,” Tim said, nodding his head to his neighbor who gave a squeak of fear. “And busted balls down there is a pedophile.”
The accused man had gathered his bearings enough to lunge towards Tim in revenge, but Tim didn't bother even flinching. Jason had moved close enough to easily backhand the assailant across the deck.
Another soft sound and Tim shifted to look at the girl. “Hey, it's okay,” he tried to assure her.
A shadow fell over them and she clenched her eyes, but Jason just deftly cut her bindings loose before attempting to step back. She was moving before Tim could comprehend– a sharp elbow up had Jason's head snapping back, his ridiculous hat flying off off his head, and then she was grabbing the knife from his loose grip and rushing towards a gaping Tim.
She crouched over him like a feral cat, brandishing the knife at all the men who'd crowded in at seeing their fellows attacked.
“I'm going to cut you loose," she whispered towards him, “and then we run.”
Jason grinned at Tim as he rubbed his jaw, “Need little girls to rescue you now Tim?”
Jason's easy banter should have been relieving but the shifting men gathering around them told a slightly different story. Tim busted his own cuffs that he'd been systematically weakening, grabbed the fierce girl and spun her out of the way just as a knife was thrown.
“Really poor vetting Hood!” Tim yelled as he dove over the bar he'd been tied against, keeping the girl safe in his arms.
She shook, clearly on an adrenaline rush. “Thank you for saving me,” Tim praised. “What's your name?”
“Annabelle.”
There were shouts and sounds of scuffling as Hood and the other pirates clearly had a difference of opinions on the other side of Tim's hiding spot.
“Okay Annabelle. What you did was so brave, but I need you to listen to me now. I’m going to go help the others and I need you to stay back here and stab anyone that tries to grab you. Can you do that?”
She nodded, face determined, and Tim launched back over the bartop to assess how to help.
The pirates seemed to have divided between those that stayed loyal to Jason and those that had decided to spontaneously commit mutiny.
Belatedly Tim realized that he was here as Tim Drake and couldn't do much or else risk blowing his cover, but he trusted Jason to have it in hand. Instead Tim began freeing the innocent passengers, deliberately ignoring the demanding shouts of the ones he suspected Hood could be after.
Tim tried to keep an eye on the fight behind him, Hood was doing fine, but Tim still reacted too slowly in the end. The only warning had been the man he was freeing suddenly looking fearfully over Tim's shoulder, his mouth opening too slowly to shout a ‘watch out’.
Tim found himself jerked back against a salty, stinky body as one of the opposing pirates brandished a knife against his throat, yelling threateningly towards Jason who'd paused in his fight to watch.
“This your boy-toy Hood!? How about I give him a new hole if you don't back off!”
Jason frowned at Tim, studying the situation for a moment. Tim smelt the whiskey on his captor’s breath and felt the unsteady sway of his body. He met Jason's eyes, twitching his lips up in challenge.
“Tim,” Hood practically drawled and Tim immediately knew the play. “Come here.”
The order was soft, charged, and completely unexpected by everyone except Tim. He had, of course, played this scenario out dozens of times with his boyfriend as a possible contingency.
Mere seconds later Tim left his unfortunate assailant crumpled unconscious on the ground and sauntered over to his pirate themed lover.
“Good job, Tim. Just like I taught you,” Jason played up for the crowd. Tim restrained a laugh and leaned against him. It was the perfect play for a small crowd such as this. No news crews, no phones recording, and anything the security tapes picked up would be easy to scrub. All they’d walk away with was a few Gotham rumors that they could fan or douse depending.
The rest of the rebelling pirates were subdued shortly after and Tim could finally pull Jason aside to get answers. He wanted the details from Jason on what case had caused all this drama.
“Was it Somberly? Jefferson?” Tim questioned. “I have cases on both but for you to pull this theater production you must have better evidence than me.”
“Oh I had a case alright,” Jason agreed easily as he leaned back on the boat railing. He'd replaced his ridiculous hat and once more looked like he should be on a Disney themed character cruise rather than the pirate's small freighter or the business cruise Tim had been a part of.
Tim raised an eyebrow, observing his boyfriend’s cheeky demeanor. “And?”
Jason's arms wrapped around Tim’s shoulders and dragged him close into an embrace. He balanced back on the railing, forcing Tim’s body to lean against his as he gave a wicked grin. “It was a case of a wayward boyfriend taking off on a cruise without me!”
Jason moved in for a dramatically timed kiss but Tim ducked and shoved back. “You took an entire cruise ship hostage by playing pirates so you could interrupt me?” he hissed
Jason gave a roguish grin and, still dressed as he was, it unfairly worked. “What else kind of response do you expect when my sugar daddy abandons me? I was forced to turn to piracy!” he fake pouted
Not buying the act for a second, Tim shoved him again with a glare. “Tell the truth you drama queen!”
“It was the pirates," Jason finally answered. “I was after the pirates. They had a connection somewhere on this ship and I was just following it.”
“It’s definitely Somberly, then,” Tim offered, his mind pinning the connections in place. “How about you change into something less dramatic and we investigate his room?”
“Together?” Jason grinned.
“Together.” Tim agreed, and finally leaned up to catch his partner's lips in a kiss.