Sorry for the delay. Beta's been having some medical problems. Please pray for undecidable and her family.

School was boring. He wanted to sleep. It was even more difficult to stay awake in class when he had patrol the entire night before. Well more than patrol. Jarvis Tetch was on the rampage again and while his mind controlled goons were busy fighting Batman, Robin was taking down the Mad Hatter. Normally it'd be the other way around, but Hatter couldn't fight worth beans and all he really had to do was destroy his control device to end the fight for the Bat.

Unfortunately the search and fight took all night long. He changed into his street clothes, grabbed his backpack, and was right out the door as soon as he made it back to the batcave. Didn't even get to grab a lunch on the way out. Thank heavens Alfred always thought ahead and put leftovers in his bag. The only reason Tim got a shower at all was because of PE and the class had woken him up for a while.

But now, at the end of the day in math, he was ready to pass out. At least it wasn't a test he was falling asleep in the middle of, just a basic overview of what they covered last term. They had to make sure the students hadn't forgotten the old material before driving the new stuff into their heads. Not like any of it was new to him though. Math was always an easy subject for Tim, and he used to look at his father's old textbooks at home when he was bored. It was always one class he could sleep through, if the teacher allowed.

This one didn't.

A ruler snapped against his desk, startling him out of his daze. A few students nearby snickered. His teacher looked down on him narrowly. "Problem twenty-seven on the board, Mr. Drake."

Tim blinked then looked at his paper. Nodding once he took his paper and got out of his seat for the routine humiliation of his age, which wouldn't be that humiliating for him. He quickly wrote out the problem (|-2x - y + 3| x = 3 y = 5) then solved it (8) with little to no work next to it. He only had to prove he didn't use a calculator for it after all. Once he was done on the board, he put the marker down and went back to his seat, certain he could make it through the rest of this class and to the bus to Wayne Tower. There he could crash on Bruce's office's couch until it was time to go back to the manor.

His teacher's eyes narrowed slightly, pouting a bit. The man wanted to properly humiliate the teen, like everyone else. This one was famous for giving out detentions and made it a goal to put everyone there at least once in his class. Other than dozing in class, Tim was a perfect student. He was this guy's ideal challenge.

'Maybe I should let him catch me sleeping in class just to get it out of his system.' The teen wonder was tired of it. All of it. If Bruce didn't need backup during that night's case, he would have been sent back around midnight. All nighters sucked.

Thankfully the last bell rang and he was free. Faster than most, Tim was out the door, grabbing his skateboard from his locker and hitting the streets. If he moved fast enough, he could make the next bus downtown. One transfer more and he'd be getting some much earned rest while waiting for his ride to be done playing businessman for the day. Alfred was watching Dick at the manor after all and he wasn't really ready to be left 100% alone in that place. Bruce slept while the butler dropped off Tim in the mornings and the CEO would take him back in the evening. It was part of a plan (or vain hope) to get the young man to finally face Bruce.

So far wasn't really working. If he wasn't half awake and terrified of the things running though his head, Dick wanted to be as far away from his former mentor as possible.

'There has to be a way around that,' Tim thought to himself as he passed one corner and spotted construction. He glared at the barrier blocking his usual route, hating how these things came up overnight. He turned into an alleyway to bypass it, still deep in thought. 'Maybe Bruce should start talking to him over the intercom. Get him used to his voice again. It's September for pete's sake. Does he plan on staying in seclusion during-'

"OOF!"

Without warning something appeared right at stomach level, knocking the wind out of him. His skateboard kept on rolling but he didn't. The thing was an arm, and it was very much connected to a man. A large one in a dark jacket. He had his arms wrapped around the teen's body before he could regain his breath, making it very difficult to move. Almost impossible to escape, even for Robin.

'Crap.' Tim focused on breathing and making sure he didn't pass out as two more men came out of the shadows, both wearing hockey masks over their faces. One had grabbed his skateboard. The only consolation he felt from seeing them like this was his chances of living and not dealing with a psychopath went down greatly.

Still, being kidnapped outside of costume sucked.

"Well well well! If it isn't the double millions boy! What are you doing outside your limo kid?" One of the men in front of him started.

The comment made him blink. "I think you've got the wrong guy."

They laughed, even the big guy holding him. "No, you're the right one. Timothy Drake, heir apparent to Drake Industries, ward of billionaire Bruce Wayne. You're worth ransoming twice."

'Double crap.' He forgot that people would be after him. Both his parents and Bruce had kept him out of the media so he could lead whatever life he wanted on his own. Very few people outside a certain circle recognized him in Gotham, and next to no one outside it. These guys had good intel, but didn't they know no one in Drake Industries would pay up? Not after what happened with his parents. And Bruce would just rescue him, forget money. "No! You're wrong! No one will- Mhmmm!"

The big guy covered his mouth, speaking at last. His voice was low and creepy, driving fear into the sleep deprived boy. "Shut up kid. Be good and you'll be able to see your sugar daddy in two days' time. Be bad and..."

One of the other guys laughed as Tim started to see dark spots. The big guy was suffocating him! "Yeah, we've got a great plan B for you kiddo if you make us mad or they don't pay up. You know what they make scrawny guys like you into in prison?"

Instantly the boy's heart jumped into a panic, making his lack of air even worse. He'd be blacking out soon, but what the man said next only confirmed his suspicions. "Hear pretty boys like you go for a good price overseas. We'll get our money, one way or a-"

Black took him and all his senses, except petrified dread.