The Labyrinth

Chapter 10: Of Cat Tails And Tipping Scales

"Come along Timothy."

Janet Drake's voice was tight but none the less it's normal soothing silk she created it to be. Tim walked along with her fast pace, barely keeping up with her longer legs despite her four inch high heels. He was nearly yanked along half the time, his tiny wrist in her tight fist.

Tim was unsure of the purpose of this, his mom wasn't one to spontaneously give him attention, much less take him anywhere. He wondered if there was another gala to go to, or maybe another test. He liked tests, dad would be proud of him after successful tests, but not so much after unsuccessful ones. He wasn't sure mom liked the tests, she was indifferent to them.

Tim looked up at his mother, wondering if he could deduce where they were going. She didn't look down at him but he could tell she was upset. Her pace was too fast and her face had hard lines. Even her eyes seemed hard, they held a storm and that made Tim nervous. Drakes don't show when they're angry, what could cause his mother to break that?

"May I ask where we're going?" The five year old spoke aloud as he was lurched forward again. He knew it was a dumb question but he was testing the grounds around his mother. Because when his mother was tense like this it was the time for silence and obedience, he just wanted to know how severe or why.

"Drakes don't ask dumb questions Timothy," She snapped predictably as her grip on his wrist tightened, making the child's face twist uncomfortably. He schooled it though, Drakes don't show when they're uncomfortable either. "He's finally lost it." She snarled under her breath, Tim was sure he wasn't supposed to hear it, so he made no comment. Drakes don't make useless comments. But who lost what? And why was his mom so angry about it? And what did it have to do with Tim?

Tim's mom finally got them to the garage, he found it incredibly odd she was driving herself. Wasn't that what butlers were for? She took the keys for the Land Rover Range Rover SVAutobiogrpahy. The third out of character action from his mother, she would never ever set foot in this car. It wasn't a luxury car, it was a sports car, and it looked too much like all the other Range Rovers. Inside it was incredible though, screens on the headrests, deployable computers too. Dad was the one who usually used this car, it had a bottle cooler between the seats and a grill in the back.

Tim's wrist was finally let go, he was steered towards the passengers side in the back and he made himself useful by opening the door himself and climbing in. His mother seemed to appreciate this, she only huffed and twisted around to get to the drivers seat.

Tim put his seatbelt on and tried not to fidget, he was getting better at this, but his hanging legs started to swing without his permission. He didn't even notice, he was busy looking around the car, the screens were nice and so was the seat itself. He didn't expect anything less though, if it was a Drake car it must pass muster.

He was soon bored of the inside of the car though, he was still curious about where they were going. His mom wouldn't be caught dead in this car, much less driving it. He only took glances at her, she could feel his gaze sometimes and would snap at him for staring at adults at inappropriate times.

He looked out the window instead, watching the busy streets of Gotham and absentmindedly wondering if Batman and Robin would be out. Probably not, it was still daytime, more like dusk, but Batman and Robin didn't come out till much later into the night. Tim wanted to see Robin more often, but he was barely able to get a glimpse of Batman on a lucky day. The only time Tim saw Robin was once, the noticeably smaller vigilante had flipped between buildings, a quadruple flip. Tim already had suspicions about Bruce Wayne, but those theories skyrocketed in probability when he recognized that flip.