A/N: After weeks of interruptions, illnesses, and other crises, plus having to handle a succubus determined to take Tim's life force, the Bat Family finally gets a vacation, to the Bahamas, but is it the trip of their dreams? Warning some chapters contain explicit mature themes!
A/N: Correction: In Brothers, Portraits, and Messages, in my note at the end, I mentioned that Tim was recovering from an illness. That was incorrect. He was recovering from nearly dying at the hands of a Succubus. I have since removed the documents and cannot correct the error. Sorry for the confusion.
Serpent in Paradise
Part 2
"GET OFF! GET OFF!" Tim was thrashing about at some unseen force. Several nurses and doctors had come out of patient rooms to find out what was going on.
Dick hurried and went back into Tim's room.
"GET OFF . . . GET OFF! NOOO!"
Dick could see that Tim was swinging blindly. He had to get him under control. He braced himself and pinned Tim down. "Tim, buddy. Hey, come on, wake up!"
"NOOOHOOO! DON'T TOUCH ME! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Tim screamed.
"Tim!" Dick cried out, trying to wake him.
Tim was shaking like a leaf, tears streaming down.
"Tim, baby bird you need to wake up. It's only a dream," Dick coaxed.
Tim woke covering his face with his hands. He continued to shudder.
"Hey," Dick started to rub Tim's back.
Tim curled up against Dick recognizing who was comforting him. Dick moved Tim over and climbed into the hospital bed with him. Tim curled right up against him again.
Bruce had been watching from the doorway. That had been no ordinary nightmare. 'We need to get Tim away from this place. He has had too many nightmares lately,' he thought.
"Don't leave me . . . Don't let her get me," Tim said, breathy.
"No one is going to take you baby bird, I won't let that happen," Dick said. 'Damn that succubus for doing this to him.' Dick could not help but notice how Tim inched closer, like he was trying to hide under him.
Bruce had not seen Tim this terrified in a long time. "We need to take him home . . . I don't care if Leslie wants him here for observation, he needs to go home."
"Okay, I'll carry him," Dick said, despite the fact that his leg was hurting. "He's not going to let any one else hold him with the way he's clutching onto me."
Tim clung onto Dick, intertwining his fingers into Dick's shirt.
"I'll bring the car," Bruce said "You'll have to sit in the back seat with him."
Dick stood up awkwardly, picking up Tim. Tim wrapped his arms around Dick's neck refusing to let go. Dick had to carry him like a toddler on their mother's hip. "Come on Bruce. Let's get Timmy out of here."
"One moment . . ." Bruce stopped off at Sasha's room. "Dick and I are taking Tim home. Damian, are you coming or will you go home with Alfred? Jason, we'll see you and Sasha, later."
"I'll stay with Alfred," Damian replied.
"Okay, let's go. The sooner we get Tim home the sooner we can take care of these night terrors."
Tim clung onto Dick like a toddler clinging onto his parent figure as he was carried through the hospital. At that moment in time, it became more real to him that Dick was his older brother, taking care of him like he would have if he had remained with him in the circus, trying to protect him from the evils of the world. 'I wanted to go home and he was making it happen. I wanted to bury myself in his protective arms and not let go. I didn't want to grow up any more. I wanted things back the way they were, before Adriana, but that wasn't possible and I had to live with the fact that thing had taken something from me that I can never get it back.'
Dick held on tightly. He didn't want to put his brother down. It seemed as if Tim wanted his protection. 'I'll give it to him. For some reason a small part of me blames myself for trusting 'Adriana' too quickly. I should have studied her closer. Now look. My brother is fearful and crying on my shoulder. He's one of the bravest people I know. If I could kill her again I would.'
Tim shuddered as the cold air from outside hit him. All he had on was what the hospital provided. He tried to bury himself deeper more for warmth than comfort, though he wanted that, too. They made their way to the car, Tim trying to snuggle closer to Dick for warmth. He was shivering and it was starting to snow. "C-c-c-cold . . ." Tim said, his teeth chattering.
"Okay, hold on we're at the car now," Dick waited for Bruce to unlock the doors. "I'm going to place you in the back seat."
Dick placed Tim on the cold back seat of Bruce's car. He immediately curled up trying to keep warm, just as much as trying to comfort himself from the night terror that was still fresh in his mind. He had a hard time believing that it was actually over. He always thought that a Succubus was a mythical creature, but now . . . What if one decided to come after him again? The thought frightened Tim more and he buried his face into the car seat as if to hide from such a creature.
Dick climbed into the back seat and sat with Tim. He pulled Tim next to him to keep Tim warm, despite the fact that Tim wasn't wearing a seatbelt.
Tim continued to shiver, freaking himself out. 'Come on Drake, you're the god damn Red Robin, the scourge that brought down Ra's Al Ghul's organization, you should be able to handle something like this . . . But I wasn't . . . I didn't recognize the danger until it was almost too late . . . And I was reading about that very subject in Greek Mythology in my Literature class. Has it been just a week? It felt like forever.' Tim gave out a big shivering yawn. He needed sleep, but he was afraid to close his eyes, afraid he might dream about her, again.
"Baby bird, you need to sleep. I'm right here. Go ahead and close your eyes," Dick coaxed.
"I'm scared . . . I'll see her . . . again." Tim knew it was irrational, but that's what he was feeling.
"I'm here to protect you."
"You'll stay with me?"
"Yes, I'll be here when you wake up," Dick confirmed.
The car ride was making Tim sleepy. He rested his head on Dick's lap. At least that was warmer than the car seat. The dream though did not want to go away and Tim was thrust back into it. It was as if she was taunting him beyond the grave and his body once again shuddered and jerked at what was happening. Tim muttered in his sleep. "Go away . . . Leave me alone . . .you're gone . . ."
"Don't worry Tim, I'm right here. She won't bother you anymore. She's gone. No more," Dick said gently as Tim mumbled in his sleep.
Dick's words cut through the haziness of the dream state, and when they reached the Manor Tim had fallen into real sleep. Dick had a bit of a struggle getting Tim out the car since he latched onto him, again. His leg also made it more difficult. Once they got into the Manor, Dick took the elevator up to the second floor. He took Tim into his room and laid him on his bed, climbing in afterwards, and pulling up the covers. 'Guess it won't hurt to nap.'
With Tim sleeping next to Dick he was able to get into a deeper and longer sleep. By the time he did wake, Dick was gone. Tim didn't feel like going back to his room. It just didn't appeal to him right now. He didn't want to be left alone with his memories. His room also represented the first time he and Adriana . . . 'No, I don't want to think about that. It . . . it could bring the nightmare back. I just want to sleep . . . I feel so . . .' Tim gave out a huge yawn with a shiver. In fact he was shivering for no apparent reason. Tim buried himself back in the warmth of the covers and fell asleep once more. Tim continued to shiver. He felt cold despite the three blankets that covered him, and Dick wasn't back yet. Fever? He tried to sleep some more but he kept shivering.
Dick left for a couple of minutes. He needed a bathroom break and to grab something to eat. He came back to see that Tim was curled up and shaking under the covers. "Baby bird, are you getting sick?"
"S-s-still c-c-cold . . ."
Dick turned the heat up then realized Tim had several blankets on him already. Why would he be cold?
Tim was still shivering despite the blankets and the heat. It was as if his body was telling him enough was enough. His stomach didn't feel sick, but Tim knew he was running a temperature. And he felt excessively tired.
Dick went back out to the linen closet and picked up several more blankets and took them back to the room. He unfolded them and draped them around Tim.
After parking the car, Bruce had called the hospital one more time to check on Jason and Sasha. Jason mentioned that Alfred was bringing home Damian. He then did some checking on when Tim could test out of high school if he chose to do so. With that done, Bruce went upstairs to check on Tim and spotted Dick grabbing blankets from the linen closet and followed him into his room. He was piling them up on his bed. "What's with all the blankets?"
"Tim's cold," Dick said, trying to hide the worry in his voice.
Bruce went over and checked his forehead. "He is running a temperature. Timmy, does your stomach feel sick?"
"N-n-no . . ." Tim replied, his teeth chattering. "I j-j-just f-f-feel s-s-s-shaky and t-t-t-tired."
"Sounds like extreme exhaustion," said Bruce. "Everything must have caught up with him."
"He needs rest . . . and lots of it . . . right?" Dick asked.
"And quiet as well . . . He shouldn't be moved right now."
"All right," Dick said.
"S-s-stay . . . K-k-keep me c-c-company," Tim pleaded.
"I do need to borrow Dick for just a moment," Bruce said.
"I promise, I'll be right back," Dick bent down and gave his brother a kiss on the forehead and followed Bruce out to the hallway.
"I checked the schedule when Tim would be able to test out."
"Okay and when will that be?" Dick questioned
"There are testing dates April 13-18 when Spring break is in session."
Dick nodded in agreement.
"It would mean several weeks of intensive study. With him exhausted he's going to need recovery time. Despite the exhaustion, I'm going to take Jason's suggestion. I'm going to book all of us a flight to the Bahamas. I think Tim needs it along with all of us. I'll clear it with his teachers this afternoon."
"Should I let him know? Or would this be a little surprise."
"Let it be a surprise. While he's asleep, pack his clothes as well as yours, enough for two weeks. As soon as Jason and Sasha get home, I'll have them to the same. We'll leave tonight. We'll actually take the jet."
"Will do," Dick was getting excited.
"Go back to Tim, keep him company . . . Um on second thought, have Alfred pack bags, you better get off that leg."
"It's feeling better," Dick argued.
"You've been on that leg for several hours. I'm sure it's killing you. Don't try packing bags when you can't stand. Get off of it. Do some work on the computer and watch Tim."
"Okay," Dick said defeated, though he knew Bruce was right, There was no arguing with Bruce. And he had to admit that his leg was starting to hurt again. Dick went back into his room. Grabbing his laptop, Dick crawled on top the bed to be next to Tim.
"Ugh . . . " Tim was tossing and turning in his sleep. " . . . No . . . Mmmm . . .ugh . . ."
Dick placed the laptop down and went to pull Tim into his side. "Hey, calm down. I'm right here, Tim."
The dream was different, more like Tim was arguing with himself about something, like he had something on his mind. "School . . . drugs . . . Has to be it . . . Got to stop them." He tried to rise.
So, Tim wasn't totally asleep. "Oh no you don't," Dick pulled Tim back down. "You aren't doing anything but sleeping."
"Drugs at school . . . Got to . . . Find out . . . Who . . ." Tim fell back against the bed. He turned over and this time, he actually fell asleep, but it wasn't long until he started dreaming again. " . . . No . . . No . . . Don't . . . don't . . . g-g-get off . . . g-g-get off . . . No . . ."
'He can't get any sleep with out having a nightmare,' Dick thought then pulled Tim against him, rubbing his back to keep him from struggling.
" . . . no . . ." Tim tried to scramble away from the person touching him, but the blankets wrapped around him kept Tim from moving too far. He tried to roll away. " . . . Aaaaa . . . " And landed hard on the floor on the other side of the bed. " . . . Ugh . . . What?"
"Tim, are you all right?" asked Dick.
"How did I get on the floor?" Tim asked as he stared up at the ceiling.
"You pushed away from me, trying to get away from whomever it was in your dream," Dick replied.
" . . .Oh . . . I was dreaming about Adriana, again." Tim got up slowly and crawled back into bed. He was feeling really shaky.
Dick placed the blankets back over him.
"I'm not getting any sleep, am I?"
"No, and you need to." Dick could see the rings forming around Tim's eyes. "You almost look like a raccoon."
"Every time I close my eyes I keep seeing her, and what she did to me."
"Tim, if I could, I would go back and make sure you never met her, again. I feel awful because I couldn't do anything to help you."
"It's not your fault. You might have been able to help, but your leg is broken . . . And she probably would have found some other way to get me to forget everyone else . . . And the next time I smell strawberries, I'll be sure to run in the other direction, even if they are real."
Dick wanted to tell Tim it was like he gave her permission to hurt him. 'I gave her my trust. She broke it. And I couldn't do anything to stop her.'
Tim could see the pained look on Dick's face. "Hey . . . Talk to me . . . Please . . . This is helping."
"Well, I just feel like I gave her the okay to hurt you. I gave her my trust."
"When you talked with her, what did you smell?" asked Tim.
Dick took a moment to think about it. There was a weird scent when she entered. "I thought it was her perfume, but I did smell peaches?"
"That's how she did it . . . She worked her way so you would trust her using her scent . . . You had no control over that."
"Huh? I thought you needed to . . . you know . . . that," Dick didn't want to say it out loud.
"When she came over with my homework and we were sitting in the living room, I smelled strawberries, a very strong scent. Then I found myself kissed her. On you, she must have used just enough scent to get you to trust her. She wanted me, but something about you was different."
"She saw me as a threat," Dick surmised.
"Maybe because we're brothers and she could tell that you would have protected me," Tim added.
"I wanted to tell her to go away and don't ever pursue a relationship with you." Dick looked away. 'I know he's probably going to hate me for telling him this," he thought. "I didn't trust her. She had a bad vibe from the beginning."
"I wish you would have told me, but I probably would not have listened. All I saw was Adriana. I didn't see the danger. I probably would have ignored it even if you had tried to warn me. She might have found another way to persuade you. You were already helpless with a broken leg. There was no need to attack you," Tim said. 'Talking about this was helping me to see that the person I had been with wasn't who she was, but a Succubus who took on Adriana's form. Adriana was long gone and I'm sad that she was, but I don't feel so heart broken.'
Dick sighed. "I just wish I could have protected you better."
"Hey, you're the one who should be comforting me," Tim joked then became serious. "There will be other times. I don't think I'm ready to go out in the field any time soon. You might be protecting me from vicious paper cuts from studying. I'll have a lot to catch up on, again. Probably received a couple of "Fs" from tests that I missed."
"Yeah," Dick smiled.
Tim wiped his brow. He was sweating. "Why did you pile so many blankets on me . . . There must be eight here . . . I'm really sweating . . . And I'm thirsty," Tim said with a yawn. 'I'll probably sleep much better since we talked.'
"You were complaining about being cold. I can grab you a glass of water if you'd like."
"Thanks . . ." Tim felt real thirsty, like he was still dehydrated. Dick handed him a glass of water and he quickly drained the contents. He held out the glass for more.
"Alfred didn't leave a pitcher of water. I'm going to have to go to the kitchen," Dick said. 'Bruce is going to kill me for being up again, but it can't be helped Tim is still thirsty and he needs water.'
Dick went to the kitchen, grabbed a pitcher and filled it with water and made his way back up to his room. He refilled Tim's glass. Tim drank that down and held it out for more.
"Thirsty aren't you?" Dick smirked as he refilled the glass, again.
Tim drank four glasses before he stopped.
Dick took the glass from Tim. "I think I know why I'm so thirsty," Tim surmised. "She was draining me not just of my energy, but it felt like I was drying up. I tried to stop her, tried to hold back."
"I'm glad you did. I would have lost my brother."
"I didn't want to be lost. I would never see you. Or any of you, again."
Dick pulled Tim into a hug. "I would hate to never see you, again."
The hug felt good. Tim sank into the thug. He didn't want to ever lose that feeling.
"I'm worried for you and the others," Dick confessed.
Tim started to cry. He almost lost this. He almost chose that succubus over his own family, but he realized before it was too late.
Dick let Tim cry onto my shoulder. 'He needs it and I'm going to be there.'
'Dick had been my lifeline when Bruce was lost in time and despite the fact that I had to go it alone,' he thought. 'I didn't like what I was becoming. I like myself even less now after what the succubus did to me.' Most of all, Tim wanted reassurance that he would not be alone. "Dick, do me a favor. Next time I tell you Bruce is alive please believe me. I can't bear working alone like that again."
Dick tensed at his words. Talk about a total change in topic. 'I . . . I gave up on him.' He felt ashamed for having done so. "I won't, I promise, not again."
"It was hell not having you there. I had to do things I'm not proud of. You're my moral compass and I need you."
Tim's words made Dick pull him closer. "I will always be with you. I promise. I don't think I could leave you alone, baby bird. I'm too protective."
"That's fair . . . Right now I feel like I need protecting." Tim felt so vulnerable in ways that he really didn't expect. 'I had my heart and nearly my soul torn from me.' He felt like he needed sheltering for a time, to go back to the nest until he was ready to fly again. And he felt like he was ready to sleep. While his brother still held him, Tim relaxed and fell asleep, feeling safe under his brother's wings.
Continues with Part 3