The Desert of the Mind
Chapter 2- Two Days
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"Tea?"
"No-white ginger?"
A raised eyebrow.
"...Sure." A reluctant answer.
"As I thought."
Tim quirked his eyebrows together in a questioning way.
"You still have a headache and white ginger is a remedy not known by many for just that. Then again," a chuckle, "you've never been like many."
Quirked eyebrows turned to a frown, but he didn't deny it. "I had too much time on my hands to be like everyone else." Tim said, slightly disgruntled, but resigned by now to the fact that Ra's would know more about him than he'd like.
Tim missed the gleam of satisfaction in Ra's eyes, concentrating on the board in front of him.
"Yes... yes I suppose you did." Ra's mused, giving the younger male a once over, his lips curving upward at his unwilling guest. Tim finally moved his piece and leaned back in his seat, glancing up. As Ra's regarded the board and contrived his next move, Tim tried to remember exactly how he came to be sitting down, playing a game of chess, with one of his most feared enemies.
"Sleep well?"
Crap.
High walls and earth tones decorated the room in a clearly middle eastern design. The scent of incense in the wind was ever present yet subtle, like the richness in each design throughout the room. Light streamed through wide, open windows, and the sound of nature was a permissible yet prominent background noise.
There were three things Tim noticed almost immediately. One, he was alone in the room, save the Demons Head, sitting next to him. Two, he was maskless, as well as lacking the much-needed set of clothing. Lastly, it was morning.
How long had he'd been out?
"Two days." Came the baritone, slightly accented voice.
Now, Tim hadn't trained nearly as long as Dick, or Jason, not even mention Cass or Damien, but he still had years of training instilled in him at a young age. And with this, a normal person would have missed his flinch, but Ra's al Ghul was anything but a normal person. And a suppressed flinch was pretty much equivalent to a gasp.
How this man, if he could be called that, always seemed to know what he was thinking escaped Tim. And scared him more than he'd like to admit.
Never let your feelings control your actions. Especially in a hostage situation, should you ever find yourself on the receiving end. Though if you're careful, you won't. A memory, years old, back when he was training as Robin, hit him sideways.
Sorry Bruce, a little late for that… Tim thought with humorless resignation.
The first thing you need to do is assess the situation. Are you injured? If so, to what extent? Can you move? Fight? Are you alone, or are there other captives or captors in the room? How many? What kind of room are you in? All of these are important questions, and need to be answered as soon as possible, but the most important is this:
Are you in any immediate danger?
No. Ra's wouldn't have saved him if he was and though he wasn't fully certain that nothing had been done to him internally, that had never been the older man's MO.
Tim's peripheral vision caught movement, and his head snapped toward the door opening to his right. He immediately regretted it. Once the swirl of colours settled down to their respective shapes, Tim recognized Ubu, right hand man to Ra's, enter and deliver what looked like an envelope to the Demon's Head. For such a big man, Ubu was ridiculously quiet.
Ra's received it with a slight frown and Ubu exited the room, sparing a single glance toward Tim's direction.
"Where am I Ra's?" Tim demanded. Or would have liked to. Instead of words, a broken, barely audible sound came out of his mouth. "Ehrnn?" Tim made a noise of astonishment with his throat, digging his fingers into the pale expanse of his neck, cobalt eyes wide at the sound of his voice. His throat was so dry, he was surprised that his vocal cords still worked.
"You are very far away from home, that is plainly obvious."
Tim flinched yet again, just barely, but he knew the older man hadn't missed it.
Sharp green eyes, as if cut from diamond and smouldered in a deep fire, ran up and down Tim's body, taking note of the many injuries littered up and down his body. Setting the white envelope on the side-table to his left, Ra's got up from his seat and walked towards the bed stand where a beautifully carved clay jug sat with a cup at its side. Pouring clear water into it, he walked towards the bedside Tim was strewn across.
"Drink." He didn't need to be told twice.
The cool water tasted like Heaven, running down Tim's dry throat, and after he downed the contents of the cup, the young vigilante felt 100 times better.
After drinking two cups of water in what felt like seconds, Tim turned back to his so-called saviour.
"Why am I here Ra's." He needed information, he needed to know what on earth was going on and what exactly Ra's wanted. Because he never did anything without strings attached.
"I have a… proposition. And I think you'll find you'll be very interested.
"...with Riddler and Bane, and Deathstroke is also unaccounted for." Dick finished, saving the most troubling for last. Deathstroke was pretty much impossible to find when he wanted to hide.
Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Anything else?" Came the familiar growl of the Dark Knight.
"Dinner, a shower, and a minimum of eight hours of sleep are all that are left on your agenda. And are at the highest priority, might I add."
"Alfred, you know I can't-"
"Non negotiable." The British voice was unmistakable in its firmness. "Master Bruce, do understand that I wish to locate Master Tim just as quickly as you do. However, you cannot do that if you are not in optimal condition, especially after a 46 hour battle, in which you received no food or sleep, minimal water, and no sleep for the past three days." The voice was softer this time, but left no room for debate.
Batman locked eyes with his butler, age old friend, and father figure, looking up at him standing on the steps of the cave.
"No." The deep voice echoed off the cave in a responding rumble.
"I'll take the food and water Alfred, thank you." The sincerity in his voice was evident, "But I can't wait any longer than I have. Civilians dead and missing, criminals on the loose, global states of emergencies… and Tim is gone." Bruce looked deep into the old eyes above him.
"I have to find him."
Before I lose another one.
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Hahahahaha, okaaayyy, so I KNOW how long it's been, and gosh, what a year. Honestly, I didn't know if it would end. Y'all, I could go over the CRAZY school semester, trouble at work, my house flooding, abundant trips the ER which are thankfully resolved now, and the rest of the stuff that happened, but lets not make this longer than it has to be. To sum things up, I' for such a break in my updates, but don't worry, I'm am NOT that author that drops a story (my brain wouldn't let me even if I tried) and I plan on seeing this badboy through to the end, so even though its almost been a year, I would like to continue, if y'all are interested. I know that this is super short and again, I'm sorry! This is just a little bit of what I have, there is more material I'm working on and will be out soon but I figured I should get this out ASAP!
Thank you so, so, so much to everyone who has liked, viewed, and most importantly, left a review, it means SO much to me, and honestly, the reviews were my biggest motivation.