Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Pru doesn't know when she lost her loyalty to the league and gained it for Timothy Drake.

Probably somewhere between being saved by him and saving him. He's ruthless in a way she has only seen in the Demon's Head himself which explains the respect that Ra’s holds for him. He knows only the mission, but also manages to care so much about the trivial, worthless things as well. Like the lives of others. Owens and Z practically worship him. Pru wouldn't hesitate to take on the bat himself with nothing but her will and her fists if Tim so much as gave her that look he gets when he expects a fight to break out soon; and he's usually right about those things. He is still only human though, albeit a human without a spleen.

The four of them went their own ways only a few months ago; however, she knows that if Tim were to call her she would be there in a heartbeat or less. She doesn't expect him to call though, he's always trying to do everything on his own. Which is why when she gets a call on the burner he gave all three of them with only one number on it before leaving, she's already on her feet pulling the laces up her boots as soon as she picks it up. It's not him on the other end though. One of his brothers she thinks, (he's got like twelve she can’t keep track.) All she knows is that the person on the other end thinks he's calling Tim who has supposedly “not checked in for a while.”

Tim wouldn't leave his burner lying around for someone to find like that. Especially not in his personal apartment. “Something is wrong,” She says aloud while hanging up.

She finds Owens and Z in an hour and they’re on a jet to Gotham within the next 20 minutes. Pru assumes the worst of course, he might be the most ruthless and trustworthy and smartest or whatever but he's also completely stupid and reckless all wrapped up in one. Not a preferable combo.

Gotham is the same as it was the two other times she's been here, gloomy and misty in a way that makes you think the city itself is stalking you, watching you. The Batcave is where she knew it would be, where Tim told her it was when he was drunk out of his mind and she asked and he didn't lie.

“Who the fuck are you and how did you find this place?” A tall blue man pulls himself into a defensive position as Pru strolls into the cave with the other two on her heels.

“One of you called me from his phone.” She says coldly while looking around. The “batcave” is a dumb name even if it does live up to it. “Where is he?” Owens and Z stay posted behind her. Both of them tense and ready to defend if needed. All three know they are in unfamiliar territory.

“Drake is friends with League members,” a short green child off to the side asks, trying and failing to hide his shock. Damian al Ghul, Pru’s subconscious supplies.

“We are not League,” Owens bites out,”not anymore.”

“Then why do you wear their fugly ass clothes?” a broad red one coming down the stairs chimes in. He stands in a way that looks relaxed but Pru can tell he's ready for a fight at any moment's notice.

“They're comfortable,” says Z who has somehow gotten herself halfway across the room to the insanely and honestly kind of dramatically large computers. “He's been missing for almost a week,” she whispers as she slinks back over to their group.

He’s what? “He doesn't go missing unless it’s on purpose.” Pru muses, “what did you do?” she demands of the blue one.

“Hold on,” hes obviously trying to bring down the slowly rising tension in the air, “we don't even know who you are or how you know Tim,”

“Or what the hell you just downloaded off the batcomputer.”

Pru turns just as the bat himself crawls out of the fucking tank sized car and stalks towards the group.

“What have you found?” He growls, literally growls it, at the blue one. Pru almost laughs but Tim is missing and she can't stop herself from worrying.

“I don't know B-man, Timbit left a phone with one number on it when I checked—” “Broke into”, the red one interrupts and is promptly elbowed in the side, “---his place earlier tonight and calling it brought three assassins to our doorstep”

“You called an unfamiliar number, on an unfamiliar phone, and when three strangers showed up you brought them to the cave?” The Batman looks like he's shocked anyone could be that stupid.

“I already knew where the cave was,” Pru cuts in before Batman has a stroke, this is a worthless conversation they're having. Tim is missing and they are wasting time watching Batman's children age him five years in five minutes. They've got whatever information the Bats have on his disappearance anyway, “And since we're obviously not welcome, we’ll just find him on our own.”

Pru knows that she needs to think fast if they want to make it out of the cave without injury or a big dramatic fight but the good thing about being loyal to someone is that they tend to share secrets with you. Which means that all three of them know what kind of fighting styles the Bats tend to use. She's not worried about the green or red one, both are league trained which is easily predictable, but the blue one and the bat won't be easy, so instead of trying to fight them, she pulls out a gun and shoots the green one in the leg. Chaos breaks out and through some miracle sent by the spirit of Gotham probably, they manage to escape into the city.

Pru pulls herself through the window of one of his safehouses that she hacked the address of, Owens and Z directly behind her.

“They’re better than we gave them credit for I suppose,” Z smirks and holds in a sigh, “the red one was hot though, I would take a punch from him.”

“Oh my god, shut the fuck up,” Owens laughs

“You first, bitch you know I'm right”

Pru suppresses a smile as they bicker in the background, she’s worried about Tim but she knows he's capable of handling himself, if only he was here for their untimely reunion. Turning towards the beat up desk in the corner Pru knows they need to get to work. He left the burner behind for a reason; there's always a reason with him. Always. She pulls out his dated laptop and plugs in the flashdrive Z brought back with them. The keys are dusty and Pru mentally vomits knowing that she is probably younger than the computer. The info is sparse but Pru has worked with less. And she's found where to start. Miami, Florida; home of too large reptiles and old people with nothing left to live for.

“God I hate him sometimes,” she mutters and then calls out over her shoulder, “pack your shit we’re headed to Florida.”

Chapter Text

Tim opened his eyes to darkness.

Which isn't necessarily strange in general, he falls asleep randomly all the time, but it is strange that his feet are chained to his hands.

Wait what? “Aw shit,” he mutters. Ok take stock, he thinks. He shuts his eyes and focuses, wherever he is, is a cold, slightly damp, somewhat cramped stone brick room; cramped if the lack of air flow and sound have anything to say about it. There's no noise except for the even state of his breathing. He takes stock of his body and despite a little grogginess that definitely came from being knocked out, there are no injuries.

Tim blinks his eyes and notes how fuzzy they feel. The cuffs around his wrists and ankles aren't as cold as he would expect meaning he's probably had them on for a while. He doesn't know who took him but he does remember the paranoia he had experienced over the last couple of days. The feeling that something bad was going to happen soon or that someone had been keeping watch of him.

He feels along the edge of his handcuffs, although they may be described better as shackles. Unfortunately they feel unfamiliar, Tim knows how League cuffs feel as well as a handful of other villains and rogues that he has had the displeasure of tangling with, which means that he is now dealing with someone new or worse, someone old who decided to rebrand.

Tim starts, “Oh holy fuck,” he says far too loud as he realizes he’s not wearing his suit. What the hell do these people want with Tim Drake? He moves his hands and feet across the floor to the right as he rolls off his back and onto his side. They hit a wall almost immediately causing the rising panic in Tim to rise just a little bit faster. He rolls back over onto his other side and scoots until he hits the far wall. Three feet maybe. Stretching up as much as he can, he brushes the wall at what he assumes is the front of the tiny room. Five by four feet give or take.

He sucks in a shaky breath. Tim doesn't consider himself to be claustrophobic but a lot can change when you've only got four senses and your hands and feet are tied together. The issue is that Tim knew something was going to happen to him soon. He figured it would be more like a big showdown that ends in a bloody fight where his whole family joins him rather than his abduction in his civilian identity but at the end of the day, he's not surprised. Which is why he left the burner phone in his civilian apartment where he knows Dick or one of his other nosy brothers slash friends (Steph) will see it. He tries not to consider the fact that they might not call the number. Hope is dangerous and objectively Tim knows this but it's not like he has a lot of other options in this situation.

He thinks about Pru and how she might react to him going missing. “She'd probably break into the bat cave,” he mumbles to himself trying to get comfortable on the cold stony floor. The phone being left behind was purposeful of course. Tim doesnt know who took him but he knows the kind and he also knows that while his family would do a lot to get him back, Pru would do a lot more.

He thinks about Pru and Z and Owens a lot these days. Sitting in the darkness he shoots a prayer up to whatever godforsaken higher power might have it in them to listen. Truthfully, Tim doesn't expect Pru to figure out that anything has happened to him and she probably never will.

Pru is willing to cut people down in order to get to him, to make sure he lives and Tim wants to live. Which is something that he's still getting used to and definitely not something his family ever knew he didn't want at one point. Not that it had been hard to see, Pru had seen it and she was a complete stranger at the time. The point is that Pru and the others held a significant part in him getting better; or at least better than he was.

Tim sniffs, the harsh smell of rot erupts in his nostrils, his eyes shut as he leans his head back against the floor. The fear hasn't left him fully but he knows that somehow, someone will get him back. It may be his dead body they get back but at least he'll be buried properly.

Distantly Tim can hear the thud of two pairs of heavy boots walk towards his lonely cell as he feels his consciousness slip away.