"TIM!" I yelled over the emergency sirens, "Tim, are you there?" The EMT's had begged me to go to the hospital, but I assured them that I was fine and I had no medical care anyway. They gave me a wooden crutch for free and as I hobbled around the grounds of the school I started to worry.
An hour later, I found him talking to the police. Unharmed.
"You jerk!" I yelled.
He turned around quickly. He was covered in dust, except for some bits around his eyes. A little odd I'll admit.
"What?" he asked, looking surprised.
"I looked everywhere for you" I said, punching his shoulder.
"I'm sorry. I was…busy"
"Busy my ass. You're not even hurt!"
"And you are" he said, pulling me aside and away from the cops.
"Yes, I know. I got rescued by some bird boy in a mask!" I said, after that third explosion I'd totally lost him and now he was here, not even hurt, just a little dusty.
"Are you ok?" he asked.
"What?" I said, pausing on my rampage.
"I said, 'Are you ok?'"
"…Yeah. I'm alright"
"Do you need a ride home?" he asked. I looked at him, unable to find anything to say. Somehow he'd turned this conversation back on me. "I can take you home"
"I…" as much as I wanted to say no, I was a little scared about walking home again. It could only be a little past one and my mom definitely wasn't coming to get me, "…yeah, I guess I do need a ride"
He smiled, "Alright"
"Aw, Alfred I told you to bring the other car" Tim groaned. A shining, silver Lamborghini pulled up to the curb.
An old man in a tailored suit stepped out, "Sorry, sir. When you said 'low profile' this was all I could think of"
"Alright" Tim said, as the man opened the backseat door, "Alfred, we're driving someone else today"
"Ah, a pleasure I'm sure" he said, giving me a smile.
I returned it shakily. I think half the people outside were staring at me as the butler held open the other door for me. This car was probably worth more money than my whole house and belongings put together. The leather seats were soft and seamlessly clean. I winced when I sat down and dust puffed out around me.
Tim put his feet up on the center console. "Sorry, but we're a little dusty"
"So, I've heard. I'm glad to see you all are alright" the butler said, pulling onto the highway.
"Did you bring food, Al?" Tim asked.
"No, sir"
"Aw"
"We can stop by somewhere on the way back to the mansion"
"Alright"
"Master Wayne would like us to stop by the mansion before we do anything else." The man said, "He said it was imperative"
"Is it about the tapes?"
"Yes, sir. Where do you live miss…?"
"Zwinger" I lied, "Maddeline Zwinger" Too many people judged me by my family name, I was tired of it.
"She lives over by the park" Tim said, rummaging in the center console for something.
"Yeah—" I stopped. "How did you know that?"
"Everyone at that school lives by the park. You can ask anyone" Tim said quickly.
"Oh, I didn't know that" I also didn't notice the look that Alfred sent the boy from the rearview mirror.
"I am sorry Miss Zwinger, but I'm afraid we'll have to make a small stop before we drop you off" Alfred said from the front, weaving professionally between cars.
"Oh, that's fine" I leaned over to Tim and whispered, "You have your own driver?"
"Actually he's our butler, but yes, Alfred goes everywhere with us. He's practically our father" Tim said, "Isn't that right, Al?"
"Yes, sir" the butler said, "I suppose I've been here long enough"
"Our?"
"Yeah. Mine and Bruce's" Tim said, putting his feet down after retrieving some old candy from the console.
"I'll go in and get the tapes, sir"
"Nah, I'll go get 'em. I don't mind"
"Are you sure, Master Tim?" Alfred asked, pulling up to the dark, dreary mansion. It looked more like a castle to me, looming over Gotham City like a watch tower.
"Yeah, I'll take Maddie up"
"I'll just wait here then, sir" Alfred said as he opened my door.
"Thank you" I said to him. He gave me a smile and returned to the driver's seat as Tim beckoned me towards the stairs to the front doors.
It was hard for me to climb up them, considering my leg was hurt, but I managed. Reaching the top was probably the most relieving time in my life. "You okay?" Tim asked, glancing at my leg.
"Yeah, I'm fine" I gritted out. I'd left the crutch in the car.
Tim searched through his keychain for awhile until he found the right one, then opened one of the doors.
I held in a gasp. The entry-hall had to be the size of my whole apartment. It was almost empty, with a small table in the center with flowers on top. A beautiful chandelier hung above us.
"Wow" was all I could manage.
"We're really not this eccentric." Tim said, throwing his coat on the floor next to the coat-stand. Then reaching for mine. "If Bruce had his way we'd be in a small house near town"
"What keeps him here, then?" I asked when Tim pulled off my jacket, hanging it up.
"It was his parents' house" Tim said, leading me towards the stairs. They were huge and gothic, there had to be at least thirty of them. I held in a moan.
We started up them. I made it to the top painfully, but that's when my vision started to blur. I lost my balance then caught it quickly, trying to stay on my feet. Tim hadn't noticed, he was walking in front of me. We stood in what I would consider to be a living room, with a large mushy-looking couch and a big-screen TV.
"Hey, I'll be right back. Okay?" Tim said, "Make yourself at home"
He walked off down a hallway and I gingerly sat on the sofa. My leg was throbbing with pain. Finally I glanced at it. I noticed a dark red patch on my jeans and I lifted them up carefully. I pulled the pant leg down twice as fast, wincing. My leg had been practically sliced open and was bleeding freely. Hopefully I could deal with this once I got home.
"Alright" Tim said, coming from the hallway with a few tapes tucked under his arm, "You ready?"
"Yeah" I said shakily.
He looked at me, "You okay?"
"Yeah" I lied.
We made our way to the stairs. I hobbled down them. I made it halfway before my vision went out. I lost my balance and fell backwards. Tim caught me and I tried to open my eyes. I groaned, my world was spinning. It was like the Victorian stairs were above my head. I swayed, putting a hand to my forehead.
"Maddie?" Tim said. He lifted me up into his arms, much to my dismay, and carried me back into the living room, setting me down on the coffee table.
"I'm alright" I managed, "Really"
"Sure you are" Tim said sarcastically, "I'll be right back" I lost sight of him. My leg was throbbing, I could feel the blood seeping from the slice in my leg. He came back a few minutes later with some wrap and antiseptic.
I was too out of it to realize that he knew exactly where I was hurt. I hadn't told him. He pushed up my pant leg carefully and I winced, of course it hurt. I was so dizzy that when he reached out in case I wanted to hold his hand, I took it without hesitation.
"This is going to hurt" he said, squeezing my hand a little.
I nodded blearily. He poured out almost the whole bottle on my leg and I held in a yell of pain, involuntarily squeezing his hand while trying to hold back the tears. The pain was terrible, but I managed to keep the tears at bay.
"I need my hand back" he said quietly.
I released it quickly, glad he was paying too much attention to wrapping my leg to notice my blush. He finished the wrap with great precision.
"Thanks" I said, moving my leg a little.
"It's no problem" he smiled a little.
"You're good at this" I said as he helped me up.
"I suppose" he said nonchalantly.
We walked down to the car and Tim opened my door. I smiled, "Such a gentleman"
"I try" he said, laughing.
Alfred woke with a start. "I'm sorry, sir. I must have dozed off."
"It's alright, Al" Tim said, "We're ready"
We drove towards my apartment, it was already almost three. That's when the rain started. It was around April so the rain was cold and heavy, soaking the dirty Gotham streets. It didn't take us long to reach the apartment when I gave Alfred the directions. As soon as I stepped out of the car I was soaked through. I limped only slightly up the few stairs to the front door and when I opened my front door someone grabbed my wrist.
"Hey" Tim said. His brown hair was plastered across his forehead.
"What?" I asked, praying that my mother was asleep.
"I was wondering…" he trailed off, rubbing the back of his head. I was startled to see a slight blush on the bridge of his nose.
I slid my hand into his, comfortingly smiling at him.
"Would you like to go out to the movies or something? Next weekend maybe?"
"Yeah" I said, "That'd be really nice"
"Okay, good" he smiled, looking relieved.
"MADDELINE BROOKE!" my mother yelled from the living room, "Get your ass in here right now!"
"I'll be there in a minute, mom" I said. I turned back to Tim, "You should probably go"
"MADDELINE! Where have you been? I want my food! NOW!"
"Yes, mom" I said, closing my eyes. "Thanks for taking me home, Tim. I really appreciate it. I'll see you tomorrow at school" As a last minute decision I leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. I closed the door on a very wet, very surprised, and very ecstatic Tim Drake.