Diabolical | T. Drake ✔

[47] Worst Fear

Tim had come to the Wayne Laboratories and Research Center for the first time ever since his admission to the university. He was welcomed warmly by the entire team and his eyes lit up seeing Jonathan there as well.

By then Jonathan and the rest of the team members had adjusted well with each other. They no longer viewed him as a threat seeing that he was trying to move on from his past. Jonathan also was a great help in research and pharmacology, enabling them to make use of his experience and proceed with their tasks effectively.

Tim was glad to see that progress as he excitedly inquired from every single person about what they were working on. He could see that in his absence, a lot of new discoveries were in process and he couldn't wait to rejoin them as a full-time researcher after the completion of his degree.

At lunch break, Tim approached Jonathan who was going to head to the cafeteria to pick something light to eat as usual. But seeing the exuberant young boy waiting for him, he paused, able to tell that Tim had already decided something else.

"We should go out for lunch," he remarked, his blue eyes twinkling, "I feel like I ought to treat you for looking after my team so well."

"I wasn't looking after them, in fact, it was the other way round," Jonathan answered but didn't object to Tim's suggestion.

"Nevertheless, I find all of you safe and productive just like I always hoped," he smiled mischievously, leading the way out of the research center, "so let's have lunch as a celebration for that."

"Shouldn't the others come along too then?" But as abruptly as he had suggested, the elder man changed his mind, "I mean... They all had their parts to play."

Tim was surprised but quite pleasantly so, "you won't be uncomfortable if I invite all of them for lunch?"

"I am not uncomfortable with them," he assured him, "at least not anymore."

"That's fantastic!" Tim looked almost ready to jump in joy, "wait here, I will call everyone then."

A small smile played upon Jonathan's face as he watched Tim rush around to gather the rest of the researchers and scientists to go out and have lunch with them. He knew Tim wasn't a very social person but once put in the company of people he genuinely liked, he could turn into an eager little enthusiast, just like he was acting at the moment.

After a while, all of them left for Tim's favorite restaurant together. It was close by so they didn't have to take a bus or any other form of transport. The walk to the restaurant was pleasant among the lively chatter and laughter of the people Jonathan had gotten accustomed to seeing every day.

Lunch that afternoon was a rather lively affair compared to the usual fifteen-minute break Jonathan took in the cafeteria, ordering only a sandwich and a cup of tea that he preferred to eat alone. Right then, he was surrounded by people but he did not mind their presence because none of them looked at him with contempt or any other judgmental expression.

He was among friends, an instance that he had long forgotten or perhaps never gotten to experience in his past.

And it was all thanks to Tim, the boy sitting on his right, who might not have the greatest of appetites but certainly had the most generous of hearts.

As lunch hours drew to a close, the rest of their colleagues went back to the research center but Tim asked if Jonathan could keep him company. It seemed like the boy had thought of quite a number of things he had to do before he got busy with his university life all over again.

He would have to shift to the hostel on campus as commuting daily to and from the Manor took time. Plus it would be easier for him to manage his studies away from home and then he would only be coming back on a few weekends or for the holidays.

Jonathan didn't have a lot to do back at the center as he had already submitted his report on the new toxin they were researching. So he stayed with Tim and that made the young boy even more cheerful if that could be possible as he had been in a very good mood already.

But unfortunately, there was something in store for them that would put a dampener on his delight quite soon.

"Where are you taking me now?" Jonathan asked as they stood at the bus stop.

He had learned to ignore the stares the people gave him and was getting comparatively better at handling himself in public. True, he still got anxious but with time he was learning to deal with it.

"To my old home," Tim replied, watching a flicker of surprise settle on Jonathan's face.

"To your basement," he interjected.

"Yup. The one and only, it's been long since you went to visit my rats. They miss you." He chuckled, seeing Jonathan shudder slightly. 

"Just because I said I can tolerate your rats doesn't mean I have to pay them visits."

"Aw come on, they love you," he teased.

"I hope not."

They got off at the stop close to Drake Manor and Tim led the way as usual, as happy as a swallow soaring through the sky. However, when they reached the property they were surprised to see a board erected with the word SOLD written in bold letters.

"Wait, when did this happen?" Tim looked quite surprised to see that, "I did not know anyone was going to buy this. And without my parents here, it's impossible to sell the property."

Tim might never have thought of the Drake Manor as his home but he had been intending to buy off the property for himself. He had been saving money from his allowance so that someday he would be able to clear the complications that were on that property case and buy the manor that he once used to live in. 

So seeing it get sold and without him catching a whiff of it made him suspicious. There were only three people who could sell that property, two being his parents who had left Gotham long ago and he was the third one himself. True, he had been proclaimed dead but that misunderstanding had been legally cleared up by Bruce and his lawyers back when he had joined high school.

Jonathan's eyes swept over the abandoned house, spotting a car parked in the driveway. Someone had gotten there before they did and he had a guess who it could be.

"Looks like you're right. Your parents are here," he remarked, pointing to the car in the driveway.

Tim followed his gaze and stilled, his grip on his arm tightening. The front door opened and a couple stepped out accompanied by a jovial man who seemed to be a property dealer. They were conversing formally with him and handed him the keys as they took a file.

If Jonathan's guess was right, the couple in question were probably Jack and Janet Drake and they must have finally succeeded in selling off Drake Manor. He turned to look at Tim to see whether he had recognized the people or not. But what he saw instead unsettled him.

For the first time ever, he saw Tim close off as if an impenetrable wall had wrapped around him. His cheerful blue eyes had gone dull but the lack of emotion in those irises even caught him off guard.

It was the look of a person facing his worst fear.

And it was tragic that for Tim, the boy he thought couldn't possibly be afraid of anything, the scene that triggered that feeling was the sight of his parents in front of him.

***