Chapter Text
It was common knowledge that Tim had a rocky relationship with Poison Ivy. On one hand, she knew he respected her; he disapproved of her methods of course, but she just wanted what was best for the environment. On the other hand, she knew he respected her, and thus had come to the conclusion that they had somewhat of a bond, and that Tim happened to be the best test subject for whatever new concoction she had come up with.
That's why he was currently being held up by thorny vines, which were digging into his arms and torso unpleasantly, in what looked like a darker and more sinister impersonation of a greenhouse.
He had been patrolling with Steph when Babs got on their line and mentioned that Ivy was planting some new seeds around the perimeter of a nearby park, and asked for one of them to check it out. Steph had instantly volunteered him, and he went off without much complaint, bar lightly punching her shoulder.
By the time he made it to the park, the seeds were already sprouting, the stems an exceedingly unnatural vibrant blue, and Ivy was nowhere to be seen. He sighed and started to inspect the plants closer, taking one for sampling. There wasn't much more he could do— he was not game enough to start taking more plants out of the dirt —so he decided after one more sweep, he'd leave and meet Steph back on their route.
That was the plan, and that plan was scrapped the moment he noticed some pollen in the air. It wasn't from the new plants, they were still barely out of the earth, how could he have missed one? There, a small, but undoubtedly fully grown plant was wrapping itself around a tree. It was green with yellow bumps, which every Gothamite knew excreted sleep pollen. Not good. Taking a deep breath, he reached for his rebreather when a new panic seized him. It wasn't there. Fuck.
His head swam, and god, that wasn't from panic, was it? The drowsiness hit hard and fast, but he hadn't breathed that much in. His lungs burned but he refused to take another breath, instead starting to sprint as far as he could while also sending an SOS out. When the tiredness overcame him, he could only hope he had made it far enough away.
When he opened his eyes to that greenhouse, he knew he hadn't.
It took him a few seconds to regain his bearings, and by the time he did, Ivy walked in, with her arms full of roots and leaves which she gently placed in a pile of dirt near his feet. He squirmed a bit in the vines to test how strong they were (answer: very strong), and the motion made Ivy look up at him. With a smile that was just warm enough to be unnerving, she stood, shaking the dirt off of her hands and towering over him.
"Glad to see you awake sapling, how are you feeling?"
"Uh…"
"Be specific please," She said sweetly, grabbing a pen and paper, "It's important that I'm able to properly compare."
Alright, getting into dangerous territory fast, Tim was not about to become an experiment. When he didn't say anything, Ivy's smile got strained.
"Or I could give you something to loosen your tongue a bit."
Woahkay, experiment it was.
"Drowsy." He said, clipped and flat. Ivy made a note down, humming.
"Anything else?" He shook his head. "Alright, and how long did it take you to fall asleep? Long enough for you to try and run, I noticed."
"I don't know, two minutes or so, but maybe longer." Another hum, more displeased than the last.
Ivy made one more note before she turned and left, the fauna she placed on the ground eerily reaching for her as she walked away. Tim didn't know how long it would be until she came back, so he knew he needed to work something out quick. The vines had no give, and pressing against them just ripped his suit and probably his skin, and he had been stripped of his belt. He tried to fiddle around for his panic button again but if no one came last time, he was worried no one would come now. He pressed it anyway, not able to do much else. He was about to say fuck it and start just biting at the vines when his captor returned. This time holding multiple syringes.
This wasn't going to end well for him, was it?
"I'm not going to bore you with a monologue, I know how much you Bats hate those, but it's important you know what's going to happen, I suppose." Ivy told him, setting the needs down on a tray next to her notebook. "You see, my sleep pollen is just so inefficient when it comes to putting people down quickly, so I decided to develop an alternative. Instead of targeting the production of melatonin, it directly affects the nervous system. Well, in theory at least, that's what you're here for."
That really wasn't good. Not only for him, but if Ivy went out and used it on civilians, who knew what would happen? It could be dangerous, hell, it could really hurt people. It could really hurt him. Where was Steph when he needed her?
"The only thing is, I haven't quite figured out how to evolve the sap into a pollen, so it's been awfully hard to trial my new concoction. How lucky I was to catch a little Bird!"
"Come on Ivy, I thought we were close." He tried to plead once she picked up one of the needles, flicking it like some kind of lowly evil scientist.
"And this will only make us closer, sprout." She soothed as she injected the sap. Tim was about to start praying that it wouldn't kill him when a loud crash sounded from the somewhere above him, spraying the room in light.
He was distracted from what was a hell of an entrance by a chill spreading down his spine. It felt like he had been doused head to toe in ice water, and he suddenly felt numb enough for that to be true. Fuck, that set in fast. They couldn't let Ivy make it into a pollen, it would have catastrophic effects.
By the time he was able to focus back on what was happening, Ivy was pouting the the corner, tied up in thick rope, and Steph was waving a hand in front of his face.
"Yo, Red? You good?"
"Uh… yeah." He said slowly, as soon as she got her confirmation, she started to slice the vines around him. In an instant he was back on the ground, being heavily supported by Steph, who was eyeing the table with suspicion.
"Did she… give you something?"
"Yep."
"Shit, why didn't you say anything? Are you okay, what was it?" She said urgently, inspecting him closely and starting to lead him out. He stumbled after her on legs could hardly hold his weight, more pins and needles than flesh and bone.
"It was something new, but I think I'm fine. It just made me feel really numb—"
"—Let me know any other side effects!" Ivy cut in, shouting from her place on the floor.
"Are you sure?" Steph asked, looking guilty. Well, he thought she looked guilty, but his vision was getting kind of blurry. Should he tell Ivy that? He should tell Steph at least, right?
"Mhm…" He started but even just a weak mumble must've been all the sap needed to really kick in because it felt like the ground just went and dipped out from under him. He gripped Steph's arm tight and tried to take a deep breath. "Shit—"
"Re…what…ening?" Steph's voiced filtered in and out but he was too busy losing all his senses to respond. His last thought before passing the fuck out was that she kinda deserved it for letting him get kidnapped.
Tim was getting tired of waking up in random places. That's it, that's all he could think as he blinked up at an unfamiliar room for the second time that day. Then he remembered the bullshit he had just gone through and groaned into the surprisingly soft pillow he found beneath him on the couch he had been put on.
"Holy shit Tim, you're up." Steph nearly dropped the cup she was holding when she saw him. "You've been out for ages, Bab's even started trying to synthesise an antidote from the little bit of sap I found she was so worried."
"How long is ages?" Tim dared to ask, fearing the answer, moreso because of all the time he lost rather than his actual well being. He felt pretty much alright.
"An hour and a half." She answered, wringing her hands.
Oh, that… wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. Bit of an overreaction really, but whatever.
"Well good news is, I'm fine. Like good as new fine, surprisingly good nap fine. Bad news is that Ivy has apparently successfully created something that can target a person's autonomic nervous system."
"Holy shit."
"Exactly." He rubbed his face in exasperation. "So we either have to stop her completely, which I don't think we're going to be able to do,—" Steph nodded in annoyed agreement, "—or get enough of a sample to make a working antidote."
"Sounds like we have some work to do."
"Yes, yes we do." He said before moving to stand off of the lounge, to which Steph clicked her tongue at.
"Not you though, you're benched until we're sure it's out of your system." She pushed him back down, smiling.
He'd make sure to be out in an hour or so but no one needed to know that.