I'm surprised at how few fics in the Arkham City fandom have Tim… I hope you enjoy this!
I'm going to have Tim's origins be like what they were in the Animated Series
(for those of you who haven't seen it, his dad worked for Two Face and left Tim home alone when Two Face's guys started coming after him. Two Face came after Tim's dad, but he was already gone so they took Tim. Batman saved Tim, but fell unconscious after an explosion but Tim got him in the batboat and Bruce ordered it to go home, with Tim inside. Bruce ended up adopting Tim after they found out his dad had been murdered in Bludhaven)
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Tim's POV
Alfred hooked up another IV to my arm and gave me more blood, the news playing in the background. Today was going to be Batman's first night out since Arkham Island, but then he was arrested and taken to Arkham City. With Batman recovering and gang activity increasing in Bludhaven for the past few weeks, keeping Nightwing busy, I've had to take care of Gotham alone… and the criminals knew it. They didn't fear the night anymore. More and more crimes were happening every night and I was running myself ragged trying to catch as many as I can. It didn't help that, for the past few weeks, I've been having these weird dizzy and weak spells. I couldn't tell Alfred, though, or he wouldn't let me out and Gotham needs someone out here. Already Alfred is getting tired of having to give me so many blood transfusions. He's had to go to Leslie's every other day because I need more and more blood transfusions.
"Breaking news from Arkham City." The newscaster announced. Alfred and I immediately watched what was going on. "This is Vicki Vale reporting live. If anyone can hear me, my helicopter has just been shot out of the air and the pilot is dead. There are men all around my position and-Batman!" The sound of Bruce landing calmed Alfred and me down. "Is there anything you would like to say? I… Wow, are you okay?" I felt myself tense up immediately at those words. If even she can tell that Bruce isn't feeling well, he must be very bad. "I'm fine. Find a safe place and stay there." Batman's voice growled, but it sounded rougher than normal and more tired. The connection cut off as Vicki Vale finally stopped recording and did what she was told, for once.
"That's it, I'm going." I said, standing up and putting my gear back on, saving my gloves for last so that I would get more blood.
"Master Timothy, you haven't finished you blood transfusion and, besides, you heard Master Bruce-" Alfred began, but I cut him off.
"If even Vicki Vale can tell there's something wrong, something has to be really wrong. Barbara told us that Bruce's vitals were elevated. Something's going on there, and he needs help. Fast." I said, climbing on the Red Bird and riding out of the cave.
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Tim's POV, After His Conversation With Bruce in Arkham City
As soon as Bruce told me to get his poisoned blood to the hospitals, I knew why I felt so sick. If Joker's telling the truth and he's been poisoning the blood supply a month, I've been getting more and more poison injected into me…
"Bruce, how much of Joker's blood did he put in you?" I asked over the comms.
"One bag so about a pint. Why?" Bruce asked.
"If someone at a hospital got more than that, do you think it would be worse? Would it affect them quicker?" I asked. I can't have him worrying about Gotham, himself, and me. He'd get too distracted…
"I don't think they would be affected faster, but it would definitely be worse. The only thing getting more would speed up would be, once it began affecting them, the symptoms and death." Bruce said.
"Okay. I'll talk to you later. Be careful, B." I said, heart sinking.
"You too."
I dropped the blood off at the hospital that Leslie is working at right now. People have been getting sick lately, probably from the poison. "Available units: respond. Black Mask is robbing the Gotham National Bank. We know he's got at least twenty guys in there with him. We need all available units." The police scanner in my comm. said.
Once again, I was on my own. I managed to get into the bank from the roof and land on one of the gargoyles. Seriously, who puts gargoyles inside a building? I turned on my infrared and looked at the men, counting as I went and trying to pick out Black Mask. 23 guys, Black Mask in the manager's office with 5 of his guys. One of the thugs in the main part of the bank went to one of the sides to get the safety-deposit boxes. I drop behind him when he gets inside and put my arm around his mouth, muffling his shouts and stopping his air flow. Once he went unconscious, I set him gently in a corner and stood up, only to get hit by a worse dizzy spell than I've had yet. "Robin! Tim!" I heard Oracle's voice yell over the comm.
"What?" I asked, groggily, leaning against one of the safes to avoid falling over.
"Your vitals are going crazy! It almost looks like… Bruce's… Tim, why the hell do your vitals look like Bruce's when he's been poisoned?!" Barbara hissed.
"It's in the blood supply of the city." I said, blinking away the dizziness and grappling back to a gargoyle.
"Tim! Get the hell back here, then! With all the blood transfusions you've had-"
"Gotham needs someone right now, Oracle, and I'm the only one that can do it." I said, maneuvering my way to a different gargoyle where a thug was going into the teller's office.
"You're no good to Gotham dead!" She yelled.
"I can't stand by and do nothing. Once Black Mask does something once, he does it again. I can't just let him keep robbing banks. I'll call you when I'm done." I said, turning off the comm. link to Oracle and the batcave.
The thug had finally moved behind the counter of the teller's office so I jumped down behind him and knocked him out. One by one I picked off the thugs in the room. Three of the guys that had been guarding Black Mask had come out and were looking for me, shooting the gargoyles one by one. Suddenly, I got hit by a weak spell and I had to lay down on the gargoyle to stop myself from falling off. Gordon's voice rang from outside over the bullhorn. I couldn't really pay attention because I was too busy trying to get my strength back. Finally, the spell ended and I jumped to the ground where none of them were looking, and slipped into a floor grate. Two of the men walked right over the grate so I took them out quickly, making my movements unpredictable. When they went down, the third started shooting. I quickly ran up to him, making the gun useless, before knocking him out.
Now, Black Mask. I crawled into a vent and began moving towards the manager's office. For once, my size actually helps! The bank's vents were smaller than most vents, but I managed to fit. I looked down on the office from a vent in the ceiling. Mask's on the computer, two thugs on either side of the desk. Easy. I pushed the vent cover off, grabbing the slats and throwing it at Black Mask while I took out his two guards with one hit each. Mask aimed his gun at me, but I grabbed his arm and, using a move I learned in the cage fights, snapped his arm. "Arghh!" he yelled, dropping the gun. I tied him up, being careful of his arm, and got out of the bank the way I came.
Gordon had walked off a bit from the other cops, standing by an alley. "Expecting someone?" I asked, dropping down next to him.
"Robin! I heard Batman's in Arkham." Gordon said, looking me over.
"We're working on it. Black Mask and his men are unconscious; most in the main room but Mask and two of his thugs are in the manager's office." I said.
"Thanks." Gordon said.
"Hey, kid." Bullock said, walking into the alley.
"Bullock." I said, nodding my head in greeting. Suddenly, my world started spinning and my legs gave out. Vaguely, I could hear voices, but my head was too foggy to make out what they were saying. When the spell finally ended, Gordon was telling me that Bullock was getting a medic. "I'm fine." I said, standing shakily.
"No, kid, you're not. You looked like you were about to pass out and, considering we've seen you get shot in the leg and walk on it with barely a limp, something's very wrong." Bullock said with a medic following.
"I already know what it is." I said as the medic started to take my pulse.
"Then why haven't you fixed it?" Bullock asked, looking annoyed.
I let out a humorless laugh. "As soon as we find the antidote, believe me, you'll know."
"You're poisoned?! What are you doing out here, then?!" Gordon asked, yelling. Like daughter, like father.
"Gotham needs help, especially with the recent rise in crime. No one else is available. We have the JL working on a cure and I delivered a vial of infected blood to the hospital to work on a cure. One of them will find something." I said.
"How can you be so calm about this?! How aren't you scared?! You could die, kid! Is that what you want?!" Bullock yelled at me.
I let out a humorless laugh before raising my head to look at him. "I'm scared as hell, but I've learned how not to let fear change what I do. I've faced Death so many times that I'm not afraid to die. You always get on Batman about letting me be a vigilante; well did you ever think that, maybe, being a vigilante at night is safer than being at home? That Batman has been saving me? That even though I fight crime now, I might once have been a criminal myself? I've done horrible things in my life. I wanted to die then. Now, Batman's giving me a chance to finally make up for some of what I've done and I'm going to live that until the minute I die."
"We don't want you dying. You're no use to anyone if you're dead." Gordon said, kneeling down in front of me.
"Look, what happens if they don't find a cure, at least in time? The poison is being spread through blood bags. DO you have any idea how many blood bags I've had to use while Batman's been out? A lot. People all over the city, including Joker, Batman, and civilians, have the poison inside of them. One blood bag gives enough to kill you within a night of the symptoms showing up. I've had at least twelve blood bags since what happened at Arkham Asylum. I'm as good as dead, Gordon, but wouldn't you rather be able to say that you died fighting for justice, than on a hospital bed, watching as your city tears itself apart?" I asked, looking into his eyes.
Gordon gave a small nod. "They'll find a cure, kid. Just… be careful until then."
"Got it, Comish." I said, finally standing up and grappling into the air. I turned my comm. back on and said "I'm back online, Oracle. What missions do you have for me?"
"Tim… I hacked one of the police cameras." Barbara said, voice filled with shock and grief. "Y-You're going to be okay. The JL will find a cure and you'll live for years and we'll finally be able to convince you that you have nothing to make up for."
"Sure, Babs, whatever you say." I said. Yeah, right. By the time they find a cure, it'll be too late for me.
"Robin, why the hell didn't you tell me you were poisoned?!" Bruce's voice growled over the comm. link.
Shit. "Because you had enough to worry about already." I said, turning the comm. link back off. He needs to focus. I can find plenty of crimes to stop on my own.
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Tim's POV, A Few Hours Later
I laid on my back, head spinning, as I tried to stand up on the rooftop. It was no use; I was too weak. Well, I did the best I could… I tried to get up again and managed to get my feet under me before I fell. My heart was beating erratically, completely out of rhythm and my breathing was the same. Black began to take over my vision as the hallucinations of Two Face, Black Mask, Falcone, my dad, and random thugs faded out. The last thing I remember was a bright light shining above me and a roaring noise before I closed my eyes.
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Gordon's POV
"Gordon to Oracle, we found him! He's on the roof of the Blue Note Club and he's unconscious!" I yelled into the comm. link, motioning for the helicopter to get as low as possible before I jumped out. I ran over to the kid and shook him "Come on, Robin! Wake up!" It was no use. Tearing the cape and hood off his head, I reached into his collar and felt for a pulse. Nothing. "He has no-" I felt a slight flutter under my fingers. "He has a bit of a pulse, but it's very weak. We need to airlift him, now!" I yelled, picking Robin up and going towards the latter and basket the men in the helicopter dropped.
"Alright. Our identities aren't worth his life. Take care of him and Nightwing is on his way to Gotham General." Oracle said in his/her scrambled voice.
"Got it." I said.
When we got to the hospital, they were expecting us. Several doctors and nurses quickly took him from me and put him on a rolling bed, giving him an injection and rushing him into a room. They hooked him up to a heart monitor, which, about 10 seconds later, showed his heart giving out. Nightwing ran into the room, looking panicked and scared, as they gave him the second defibrillator shock. No heartbeat. Thankfully, the third shock got his heart started again. Unlike the erratic heartbeat he'd had before, this one was steady. "Thank God…" Nightwing said, sighing with relief. "Nightwing to Batman and Oracle, Robin's alive."
"I need to check if his eyes are dilating… Everyone out, except Nightwing." A doctor said, motioning for the others to leave. Nightwing and I stayed and the doctor motioned to me, asking Nightwing if he wanted me to leave. Nightwing just shrugged. "Alright. I swear, I won't tell who he is, if I know him. If I don't, I won't tell anything about him or try to look up who he is." The doctor told Nightwing. Nightwing just nodded and looked threatening.
The doctor gently took off Robin's mask and said. "Poor kid. I know him. He used to come in after his dad beat him when it was really bad. When I didn't see him for a few years I hoped he'd gotten out of there." Damn. Poor kid… Wait, if his dad is Batman… wait, that's Tim Drake…
"He has." Nightwing said, with a firm nod.
"Good." The doctor said, holding Robin's eyelids open and shining the flashlight in his eyes. "His eyes are dilating. Hopefully, that means that his mind will make a full recovery. I'll leave you to look after him. I trust you could figure out what button is used to call us if you need anything." With that, the doctor walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
"Thank you for saving him." Nightwing said, sounding like he was about to cry. "I-I can't lose another little brother and I know B can't lose another son."
"He's a strong kid, but he's smart too. I have a feeling that he'll be just fine." I said.
Nightwing let out a small laugh. "Yeah. We actually had a family bonding night with the whole 'who would be the best/worst _' out of us. We actually said he's the most likely to survive. He even figured out who B was years ago."
"Wow, smart kid, especially considering how he grew up."
Nightwing laughed again "No kidding. So, you do know now."
"And I'll pretend I don't."
"Thanks."
"No, thank you. I have to go to round up the rest of the Tyger guards in the city. Look after him." I said, putting my hand on Nightwing's shoulder before turning to the door.
"Thanks and don't worry, I will."
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Tim's POV, Two Days Later
The first thing I heard was an annoying beeping sound. Beep. Beep. Beep. Then I realized it was a heart monitor. I survived? I tried to sit up, but the world spun around me and I had to lay back down and close my eyes. "Robin." Batman's rough voice said.
"Ba'mn (batman)?" I slurred, trying to shake off my drowsiness.
"Can you open your eyes?"
I struggled to open my tired eyes and finally managed to pry them open. Batman's blurred shape was slightly leaning over me and another form quickly leaned over me too. Nightwing. The walls and ceiling were odd looking, bright blue blurs as I blinked and looked around, trying to figure out where I was. Once my vision finally cleared, I realized what was so odd about the walls and ceiling. "Why is the room covered in bright blue post-it-notes?" I asked, voice still slightly slurred but definitely rough. My hand went up to my throat as I coughed and another, ungloved hand handed me a glass of water which I quickly drank. "Gordon?"
"Yep. Good to see you awake, Robin." He said, smiling at me. I reached up and, feeling my mask in place, felt myself relax.
"As for the post-it-notes, kid, Nightwing decided to put them up all over your room-" Bullock's voice came from by the doorway until Nightwing interrupted.
"Because blue's your favorite color!" Dick yelled, happily.
I burst out laughing, head spinning again, but I couldn't stop laughing. "They gave me vicodin, didn't they?"
"Yeah… You should've told me it was this bad here! I would've come to help! They had to give you surgery because of your broken rib, which punctured your lung when you collapsed." Nightwing yelled, lightly hugging me.
My head spun and I felt my stomach lurch. "Wing." I said, still giggling a bit. He immediately understood and held the trashcan up while I got sick. As soon as I was done, it was back to laughing… "I… hate… Vicodin…" I managed to get out between laughs as exhaustion began to set in.
"I know you do. Now, go to sleep Robin. You deserve a good night's sleep." Batman said, brushing a bit of my hair out of my face. It really is getting to long…
"M'kay." I slurred, passing out.
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Tim's POV, The Next Day
This time when I woke up, I was at home, in my bed with the blue, techno-looking bed spread pulled up to my neck. I was feeling much better, but, when I sat up, I did so slowly. Someone, probably Alfred, had changed me into a comfortable pair of sweatpants and a tee-shirt. I slid out of bed and padded down the hallway towards the library. Out of all of the rooms in the Manor, it was definitely my favorite. Plush, soft rugs were scattered all around the various shelves and chairs placed sporadically around the room. Bruce was sitting in the chair he always sat in when he came in here, reading a book. A quick scan showed a few scratches and bruises that were healing and some bandages poking out of the edges of his grey tee-shirt.
I walked over and laid down on the couch like I always used to do. "Feeling better?" Bruce asked, raising his head from the book to look at me.
"Much. No more dizzy spells and no more vicodin. Ever for the last one." I said, giving a small smile.
"Good, but next time, tell me if you get poisoned or injured." He said, raising an eyebrow.
"Okay. What book are you reading?" I said.
"Gulliver's Travels." Bruce said and began to read it out loud, starting from where he had left off. I let Bruce's voice reading the familiar words lull me to sleep.
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Well, I finally finished this… I hope you liked it!