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!

Serpent in Paradise

Part 17

Samantha knocked on the door and the escort opened it up. "I'm going to Devlin."

"Took you long enough. Follow me."

Samantha rolled her eyes and closed the door behind her. She followed the escort to the elevators.

"I see you've been enjoying yourself quite well with our guest. Don't get too attached we may be leaving soon."

Devlin's words threw her for a moment. 'How does he know that I'm . . .' His other statement though got her curious. "Where are we going?"

"Back to Gotham. I'm going to have to pay my respects after all for the loss of the Wayne family and of course for rescuing Bruce Wayne's remaining son. You'll be coming with of course. You seem to have played a very important part in earning his trust. Keep it up . . . of course make sure you take your pills. I don't want any Wayne brats running around."

"Yes Devlin. Oh, Tim decided to cooperate with you. I don't think he cares for his family anymore since they haven't come for him. He wants to give you what you want now. He'll need a list of all the banks and people you wish to get money from." Samantha picked up something off of Devlin's desk and started to mess with it.

"Really . . . Now how did you manage that? Well," Devlin handed Samantha the laptop.

Samantha smiled. "I have my ways.

"The list is located in a folder on the hard drive under the name Clients. Let me know when he's completed it."

"I'll make sure he gets this done for you."

Devlin watched as Samantha walked back to the second floor. 'I might not have been able to hear what they were saying, but they were going hot and heavy with each other. The volume only carries so far. She's never responded to any of my men or me like that. I wonder what that boy has that I don't.'

Samantha arrived back at the room, opening it and closing the door behind her. Tim was sitting on the bed looking out the window.

Tim didn't hear Samantha come in. He was staring out the window into space. He could not help but be reminded that he was someone's prisoner. It wasn't going to be easy to admit to himself that his family may very well be lost to him.

'I can send them messages, but they can't respond to me. And I need them right now to know what the next step is going to be.' Tim reached in his pocket and pulled out something that Dick had given him. It was a keychain with a tag on it. It said Always A Flying Grayson. 'I miss my brother.'

Samantha watched as Tim pulled out something and stared at it. 'He must miss his family. I know the pain.' Samantha went over to the bed and placed the laptop down then made her way to the bathroom.

Tim could sense that Samantha had brought the laptop and placed it on the bed. From the corner if his eye, he saw her head to the bathroom. 'Probably to give me privacy.' Tim pulled out of his waistband the GPS device and attached it to the computer. He typed in Oracle's information and once again sent a coded message. When Samantha didn't come back from the bathroom, he put the laptop aside and went to look for her. "Samantha, is everything okay?"

"I'm fine," Samantha called out to him. She was sitting on the toilet lid and just got finished taking her pill. She wondered if she needed to cut again. 'These feelings are bringing up bad memories. I miss my family. I don't like how I was snatched away from them to become this.'

Something was wrong. 'Funny what you notice, but while we were making love I saw thin white lines on her arms. I didn't know what it meant at first, but I have an inkling.' Rather than pry Tim asked instead, "Did Devlin say anything when you asked for the laptop?" She didn't answer so Tim went back to the bed.

'One...one little one can't hurt,' Samantha pulled out a razor from her pocket and dragged it across my wrist, drawing a thin line of blood. She hurried and washed the razor, putting it back in her pocket and dabbed her newest addition to her arm with wet toilet paper then tossed it into the trash. She pulled a bracelet around it and headed back out to Tim. "What did you ask?"

"Did Devlin say anything when you asked for the laptop?"

"Something about going back to Gotham, paying our respects to the Wayne family."

"Did you say paying respects? No . . . No it can't be," Tim suddenly went cold inside. 'They were supposed to come for me. No, they can't be dead. My messages, they had to have gotten through.' Tears welled up. 'I don't believe it . . .I won't.' Tim threw the keychain across the room and let his knees buckle. 'No.' He crawled back over to the laptop and sent another coded message to Oracle. His only hope now was whether he could escape Devlin's clutches. Tim pulled out the GPS devise and slipped it back into his waistband. It seemed Batman's plan had backfired.

"Tim I don't know for sure if they are dead yet."

"What do you mean . . . Why would he say that if their not?" Then Tim realized Devlin would have boasted to him. 'Oh Tim, you big ass dummy . . . He's trying to cause you to doubt yourself. Trying to manipulate you. You just sent a text to Barbara about that . . .'

TBTBTB

Barbara Gordon, Oracle received two messages from Red Robin. She read them with great interest. 'Devlin wants Tim to continue stealing from accounts . . . When is your ETA for rescue. He has an ally.' She read the second one and her heart sank. 'Oh no . . . You must hurry . . . Tim believes they're all dead, I better send this one to Dick.'

Her computer chimed again when a third message came through. 'Sorry, mistaken about the second. Devlin heading back to Gotham . . . Me and ally will try to find a way out. Where are those pesky birds when you need them?'

STSTST

"Are you going to let who ever that is know that it's you jumping over your head right now?" Samantha asked.

"I just did. It's only one way. That person will pass it along," Tim said. 'If there is anyone to pass it along to. I've got to know and the only way to do that is to escape.' Tim disconnected the device and returned it to his waistband. 'It's looking like I have no choice but to go through that list. Lucius knows with regards to WE, that the money will be returned but . . . The others . . .I'll be committing a crime for someone if I do. I don't know if I can live with myself. My fingerprints will be all over this keyboard.'

Samantha could tell Tim was trying to decide what to do. "What if you make the downloads take longer than expected? Can't you do that? It gives us time and Devlin must wait until all that money is in his account so we won't be able to move. Gives your friends a little bit more to get to us."

"I already fixed it with Wayne Enterprise. They already know about the hack by now and they know it was me and for what reason. The money can be returned . . . But the others . . . Their systems I could easily crack, but there's no one at those places that know me . . . I'd be an accessory to a crime . . . With what I've been taught that goes against everything . . . I believe," Tim hesitated. 'Don't spill it Drake. It goes against everything too.' He sighed. "I'd rather have Devlin kill me than hurt someone else . . . I won't steal any more . . . I can't."

"Is there anyway to make it look like the laptop crashed? We don't have another one here, it's back on the island with your family."

'Man, this girl is smart. Why didn't I think of that? Maybe because I needed the laptop.' Tim gave a sideways smirk. "I can do more than that."

Tim typed a command that let him in to see the software of the operating system, especially the email software. He wrote a program that would go off like a virus that would shut down any unauthorized transactions by this computer. Then he wrote a virus that would cause a chain reaction and backfire only on this computer.

"There that should do it. I'll have to begin hacking the systems, but this should stop the transactions from going anywhere," Tim explained. "Luckily, the people on this list, they all keep their money in the same bank. Getting into individual accounts is one thing, taking everything in one fell swoop is another. The program I just wrote will make it look like someone tried to take each individually and was blocked out. That will take about six hours to complete. Then I instructed the software to send out a virus to this computer shutting it down completely unless it has the right command key.' Tim stated. 'I included some pretty incriminating evidence against Devlin as well. The command key will be sent to Commissioner Gordon with Red Robin's signature . . . If the computer isn't destroyed.'

Samantha nodded, awed at how he was able to do things all under Devlin's nose.

Something caught Tim's eye when he looked up, a reflection or a flash of light. He recognized what it was. He immediately looked down and typed a quick message on the computer, then turned it so only Samantha could see it. He was kicking himself mentally for not doing this. He should have been searching for something like this when he first found himself in the room. Better late then never.

=Does Devlin have security cameras? If so, I just spotted one in this room. He's been watching us.=

'Shit.' Samantha pretended to stretch and looked around the room. She leaned closer to Tim and acted like she was kissing on his neck. "I don't think he can hear us. He would have said something earlier."

"Well that's good. Keep doing what you're doing. I'm going to see if I can hack into the security system." Tim saw a folder that said cameras. 'Devlin, you're not very smart when it comes to labeling your folders.' Tim checked the folder and inside was several clips, primarily of the room they were in. There was a number attached to the camera. 'Devlin, you're going to keep getting an eyeful as well as something else.'

Samantha massaged Tim's chest. She didn't want to distract him that much. She left light kisses on his neck. "What are you doing?"

"It didn't take Tim long to find several clips of him working at the computer and him and Sammie doing their thing. 'Jeeze Devlin, you're one pervert aren't you.' Tim worked up a loop file that would run for several hours. He knew they will catch on once the light didn't change in the window, but it might buy them some time. 'I'm supposed to look like I'm hacking into people's accounts. Tim set it in motion. "Good. Now he can't watch us. And, just maybe we can escape on our own this way too. Ask the escort inside."

"He has a gun on him," Samantha quailed. She didn't want Tim to get hurt. "He could shoot you."

"He's not going to shoot me," Tim said. "I won't let him. Give me a minute." Tim looked around to find something he could use as a weapon. There was nothing in the room itself. Devlin saw to that. Tim looked in the closet near the bathroom. Inside he found a long pole, just the right length as his bow staff. It had a hook on it. This was a much older building with double sash windows. The pole must be used to open the top one. Tim grabbed the pole and waited by the door. "Okay, ask him in. Give him any excuse."

Samantha walked over to the door and knocked on it. "Hey, can you come in here. We need you to look at this laptop for a second. I think it's broken."

"I don't know anything about computers except playing games," the escort answered. "Hand it over and I'll take a look at it."

Tim could see that the guy wasn't budging. 'He's got to come into the room.'

"We need you to come in. If there's a delay, Devlin won't like it. Besides if you look at it in here I'll let you have some fun with me." Samantha said seductively.

'The boss might see, but I can't let that guy know there's a camera in the room,' The escort thought. "Okay, but make it quick Hey, where's the kid?"

"Right here," Tim struck out with the makeshift bow staff. The guy didn't fall at first. He started to pull his gun. "Sorry, no gun play here." Tim struck the guy on the hand where the gun went flying across the room where it fell behind the bed."

"Why you little . . ."

Tim spun the pole and smacked the escort across the face. "No swearing, there's a lady present."

"I don't care of you're Devlin's golden goose, I'll kill you with my bare hands."

"I don't think your boss would like that." As the man leapt to grab Tim by the waist, Tim leapt aside using the pole then bringing it down hard on the back of the man's head. That was enough to knock him senseless. 'At least now I feel like I'm doing something to aid in my own escape,' Tim thought. "We need to hide him."

Samantha stared at Tim surprised at what just happened. 'He's a trained fighter?'

Tim picked up the man using the fireman's carry and moved him to the bathroom and put him in the shower. He took the man's keys. "Come on we're getting out of here. Grab the laptop. We're going to need it as evidence. Is there a back stairs?"

Samantha had the laptop in her hands. "Yes, no one uses it though." Samantha exited the room first and went left.

Tim stopped and locked the door, then tossed the keys on a nearby table. He kept the pole because it gave him a sense of security and he felt more like Red Robin. 'I just hope there aren't any security cameras. They're going to learn soon enough that we flew the coop.' Tim followed Samantha down the back stairs.

Once they got all the way down the stairs Samantha led Tim down the hallway to an exit. "Once we leave, we need to run to the nearest boat and get back to my island home."

"So where do we go from here?"

Samantha pointed straight ahead. "This walk way right here would lead us down to the docks, I'm pretty sure Devlin has it guarded though. We could sneak onto a boat if we/re careful enough."

"Wait what about my family? They were on Fortune Island."

Samantha looked at Tim. "That's where we are headed."

'I just hope I find them alive' Tim thought.

"You ready?" Samantha asked, holding the door ready to push it open at any minute.

"Yeah, let's go."

Pushing the door open, Samantha slipped out and started to head down the walk way with Tim behind her. They spotted two guards standing around talking to each other on the docks.

"Let me take care of them."

"Okay, be careful."

Tim felt the best defense was an offense. He rushed the two guys pushing one into the water and the other striking him with the pole staff. Neither expected the sudden attack. They were both incapacitated in record time. While Tim was taking care of the two men, Samantha headed over to a boat. She waved him over once he was done.

"It's a good thing I took them by surprise. We better get going the other guy is almost out of the water."

"Can you start this? I'm little to no help when it comes to boats...even if I lived on the islands my entire life."

"Sure . . ." Tim started the motor with no difficulty. 'Bruce taught me how to drive all kinds of vehicles, including boats.' Tim turned the boat headed out towards more open water.

Continues with part 18