This story is rated M.
This story takes place in it's own reality as characters may be slightly older then they should be.
All characters (unless stated in author's notes at the end of the final chapter) are the property of DC comics.
Chapter 11:
"Well, Mr Kent." Tim said, as he glanced around the large sitting room, one of many in the manor. "I was just fortunate that Mr Wayne is as charitable as he is."
"Yes, of course." Clark said. "Is it true you knew Mr Wayne for years before the accident?" Clark had decided to be careful when bringing up Tim's parents. He had read the file about Jack and Janet Drake, there was a few questions he wanted to ask but Clark knew Tim wouldn't have the answers.
"Yes. I was close friends with Dick Grayson." Tim said, thinking about the time at the circus. "He was like my big brother." Tim remembered the killing of Dick's parents, he had been hidden in a corner when they had both been shot. The sounds of the pistol firing still rang clear in his mind. "He asked Mr Wayne to look after me when he went away. I was surprised that Mr Wayne took me."
"Mr Wayne does seem to enjoy the company of young men, doesn't he." Clark said.
"Pardon?" Tim asked.
"So, what do you do for Mr Wayne?" Clark asked as he picked up his cup of tea.
"Errands, mainly." Tim thought about how little he actually did for Bruce. He was meant to run errands and help around the manor but in reality, he did little of that. "He sends me places he can't go or if he doesn't have the time to go." 'I sound like a glorified gopher.' Tim thought.
"And what about when you're not working for Mr Wayne, I assume you have a life outside the manor?" Clark put his cup down and watched Tim's face.
"Oh yeah." Tim said. "I go down to the beach, surf and I enjoy the martial arts."
"I believe you went abroad to train in France?" Clark remembered reading an article about Tim and his tutorship under a Sensei. Clark could never find out why he'd gone there but he now had an idea why he'd gone for the training.
"Yes, Mr Wayne thought it would help me to learn how to control myself." Tim picked up the glass of cola. "I enjoyed it. Mr Wayne recommended the Sensei, he trained Bruce many years ago."
"I didn't know Mr Wayne had trained in the martial arts?" Clark ran through all the information he had absorbed about Wayne and his past and he could not remember anything regarding time spent training with a Sensei abroad. "But I assume the training comes in handy?"
"Well, it is good to know how to defend yourself." Tim said.
"Especially when you're out late." Clark commented as he drained his cup and placed it back on the saucer. "There's some vicious criminals on the streets of Gotham."
"Yeah." Tim said, thinking about the night he had been walking back from the Inferno Club and was jumped by three thugs with knives. He smiled as he recounted the story of how he disarmed them and tied them up with a few swift moves.
"Do you often moonlight as a crime fighting vigilantly?" Clark asked.
"Miss Gordon? Miss Gordon?" Peter said.
Barbara could hear the voice, she felt the wind on her face. Her vision was clearing and she could feel the hands gripping her arms.
"Miss Gordon, can you hear me?" Peter held onto Barbara's arms as tight as he could, he wanted to pull her backwards and away from the edge but he didn't want to risk her slipping.
"Officer Perkins?" Barbara turned around to see the young officer who was standing behind her. He looked petrified and she could feel the cold air stinging her face. "What's wrong?" Turning her head, Barbara looked down the side of the house to the street four floors below. "Hell." She stepped back, pushing up against Peter.
She turned quickly and felt the strong arms around her, his warm breath on the top of her head. "What am I doing out here?"
"I don't know." He said. "I think we should get you back inside." And with that, Peter lead her to attic skylight. He kept hold of her hand and tried not to look down. He wasn't scared of the height its self, just the fall.
Barbara climbed back into the attic and looked around. She hadn't been in this room for many years, she had almost forgotten it was even here. In the far corner she could see her old cot with the bedding still piled into it. Barbara could hear Peter hauling himself down from the skylight and turned to see her saviour. She looked into his bright blue eyes and tried to hold her gaze there so he wouldn't catch her looking at his body. "Why was I out there?"
"I don't know Miss Gordon." He said as he glanced around the room. "You came up here after the telephone call." He could see her face flushing as she rearranged her dressing gown.
"Why did you follow me?" She asked while thinking. 'What telephone call?' She couldn't remember getting a phone call, all she could remember was being in the kitchen one minute and the next she was on the roof. 'Was I about to jump?' A shiver ran down her spine at the idea.
"When you just walked upstairs and didn't answer me, I followed you." Peter decided that sounded reasonable, it was better than. 'I'm not sure why I followed you.' Which was the truth, he just felt like he had to. "I think you should come and stay downstairs with us, at least until the commissioner gets here."
"You've called my father?" The last thing she needed was for her father to be worried about her. She needed to figure out if something was wrong and what it was, without her father around, that would just cause too many problems.
"No," Said Peter, guiding her out of the attic. "But I was going to."
"Please don't." She looked into his eyes. "I don't want to worry him, he's got enough to worry about with the Hyper Link opening tomorrow. I'll be fine."
"If you say so, but, you can't be alone." Peter walked down with her to her room and opened the door. "You should stay within earshot of me or Michael, just in case." He had seen her glance down his chest and he could feel the heat rising in his body. She had smelt of roses and jasmine when he had grabbed her on he roof and when she had pushed back against him he had felt his chest thud.
"Do you want to come in with me?" Barbara asked as she stepped into her room. She wasn't sure if that was a request for him to watch her getting dressed or a sarcastic remark about him hovering at the door. She felt her cheeks flush when she realised it had been a request.
"I'll be out here, just shout if you need me." Peter said, turning his back to the door. He listened to the door close behind him and wondered if she had been asking him to go inside with her. 'If she wasn't, I would have had my ass handed to me by the commissioner.' He thought. He could feel his groin stiffen as he thought of Barbara getting undressed on the other side of the door and he knew if he couldn't calm down soon, he would have to go to the bathroom before she came out. He knew she'd been looking at him and he knew she hadn't caught him looking at her, something he was thankful for.
Baron Sunday stood up, the dagger in his hand was caked in dried blood and his mocha body was streaked with the crimson liquid that was now black. Stretching out his hands he reached toward the doors of the tomb doors in front of him.
"Awaken at my command. Walk this earth once more. I am God within God, I am God and you shall obey my words. Awaken and walk."
He felt the wind whipping around his naked body, the damp grass beneath his feet felt as if was shifting and the sun was dropping from the sky. The lights of the city behind him were slowly sputtering to life as night drew it's cloak across the streets.
"The time is approaching, you shall walk this world tonight. I am God within God, I am the servant of the Goddess and you shall obey my command." Sunday raised his hands into the air and stretched out his fingers as the wind howled around him. "Now rise."
The ground around him seemed to shift, cracks sliced through the grass and as Sunday watched, his servants in the tomb stumbled to the gates and started pounding their rotted fists against the metal.