Left On Read // Book Two

» Chapter 20 - Part I

[Smut starts around "No you're not" and ends at "Hi" for those who wish to skip]

---- From chapter 18 ----

T: HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT
J: For fucks sake- what is it?
T: SO BEFORE MY ROOM WAS MY ROOM IT WAS YOUR ROOM AND BEFORE THAT IT WAS DICKIE'S CHILDHOOD ROOM
J: Yeah what the fuck is up with that?
T: I know but that's not the important part
T: I WAS CLEANING UNDER THE FLOORBOARDS IN THE CLOSET
J: Why were you cleaning out the closet at 3 am
T: Not important
T: ANYWAY
T: I FOUND AN OLD VIDEO CAMERA WITH HOME VIDEOS FROM WHEN DICKIE, WALLY, AND ROY WERE ALL KIDS
J: I'll get Roy, you get Dickie and Wally
T: Meet you in the living room in twenty

----

Tim's wrists are still burning, rubbed raw and red from the tightness of the layers coir rope Robin had begrudgingly cut him free from only an hour before. At the time he had smirked at Robin's clenched jaw and failing self-control, but now he found himself longing to have his wrists looped back through the painful, biting rope.

Truthfully, he didn't mean to get kidnapped, but he also didn't not mean to get kidnapped. Robin rescuing him from what was really rather an unpleasant- but not so unpleasant as to outweigh the adrenaline rush- situation was well worth getting abducted off the streets.

Robin doesn't seem to agree, and his grip isn't even a little merciful; he grabs Tim by the burning wrists the second paramedics clear him before the cops can even think about taking him in for questioning. He doesn't even have time to get the gag that was forced between his teeth until thirty minutes ago removed, only pulled out of his mouth and set around his neck like some sort of souvenir for his first time being kidnapped.

Robin dodges any cops who dare to try and stop him from dragging Tim away from the scene of the crime, insisting "Mr. Drake is very tired, I'll take him home," and "You can question him tomorrow." It's not the first time one of the Wayne-Boys has been kidnapped- is he a Wayne-Boy yet? Does he count?- even if it is Tim's first, so it's not like the cops really need to question him anyway. They have more than enough evidence to convict his would-be kidnappers, and it's not like Tim has much of a say in who drags him where at the moment. It's all he can do to get his feet under him and try to keep up with Robin.

He realized, belatedly, that Dickie is supposed to be on Robin-duty tonight and that Jason is supposed to be out with Roy. He thinks about bringing it up as Robin drags him, stumbling, less than a block away, but then he's being pulled into the first abandoned alleyway they pass and Tim almost laughs when he blearily recognizes it as Crime Alley.

Robin doesn't slow at all in the face of an industrial metal door that- it turns out- isn't so much unlocked but more so rusted to the point where the locks are worthless. The door shoulders open with a loud creak when Robin puts his weight on it and Tim wonders if Robin knew it would work out like that, or if he's so zeroed in on getting Tim away that he didn't even think he might have to stop.

Tim's head was still spinning, not concussed according to the paramedics but still sleep-deprived even after his forced unconsciousness and maybe still a little sluggish from the chloroform.

He doesn't feel himself breathing until Robin slams him back against the wall hard and his mouth, throat, and lungs start working again all at once- his back arching away from the door and his jaw-dropping open in a deep breath. Not that he has anywhere to go; Robin's what feels like less than an inch away from him, pushing him back against a wall and deflating his lungs again.