The Line between, Man and Machine

The night it began...

     Tim curled up tighter into a ball as he tried to ignore the loud banging of the window shutters. He had always hated thunderstorms, they were loud and destructive.

     Tucked away inside the thick walls of the mansion Tim was safe, and logically he knew that. It still did little to comfort him, each roar of thunder was like a sharp pain in his chest. All he could do was wait it out, and that's what he would have done had it not been for the sudden loud sound that startled him right out of bed.

     'That wasn't thunder' He thought pulling himself off of the ground. Cautiously Tim snuck out of his room down the hallway towards the stairs. As he reached the stairs Tim looked over the railing to the side of the house. What he saw would be seared into his mind forever. His mother and a mysterious figure were in the living room. The unknown assailant held her up by the neck as Jack lay completely still on the floor, his limbs spread out in award positions.

     "Tell me where Tim Drake is" The stranger glowed holding her up to eye level.

     "As if I'd tell you" she hissed scratching at the side of his face. The man didn't even flinch as her nails ranked through his flesh, ripping out a chunk of his cheek.

     "Is that you're final answer?" Janet didn't respond, instead, she stared in shock at the spot where she scratched him. Tim's eyes traveled from Janet's face to the stranger's covered by shadow. A sudden flash of lightning lit up his face just long enough for Tim to take it in. The stranger's eyes held no emotion but that's not what had scared his mother. No the patch of flesh that she had torn from his cheek exposed a metal jaw. This thing was not human.

     "Then be it," the thing said squeezing his hand until Tim heard a stomach-turning snap. Tim let out a silent scream into his hands stumbling backward. Suddenly there was another flash and the robot was gone leaving behind the broken bodies of his parents. And a very broken Tim Drake.

Timeskip
    "I'm telling you the man wasn't human!" Tim yelled

    "Okay kid I need you to calm down," the officer said softly as he knelt down to the boy's level.

    Til felt his entire body trembling in frustration. The cops had seen the bodies, there was no way a human being could have done that. And yet they still continued to belittle him.

     "Why won't anyone listen to me" Tim demanded.

     "You've just been through a traumatic experience," The cop said gently putting a hand on his shoulder "You were a scared kid you probably weren't thinking straight"

     "I know what I saw!" Tim snapped pulling away from the officer. not able to take it and more he turned and ran, Not paying attention he bumped right into a man in a black suit.

     "Mister Wayne" The officer called running behind Tim.

     'Bruce Wayne?' Tim's entire body went numb as he looked up to see the man he had run into was indeed Bruce Wayne. His parents had offended and mentioned the man and wanted to make a business deal with him. And now he had ran right into the man, his parents would be so disappointed.

     "Good evening Sam" Bruce gave a friendly nod before turning back to Tim "You must be Tim your parents spoke very highly of you"

     "..." Tim froze in place, unsure of what to say.

     "You look just like them" Bruce smiled sadly "I have a son he's a couple of years older than you, would you like to stay with us?" Tim gave a small nod, he wasn't sure why but he trusted this man.