Damsel | T. Drake ✔

[14]

Tim was switching in and out of consciousness and his brain was not functional enough. His wrists and ankles were bound tightly by coils of rope and he was himself thrown away in a corner.

He could only hear snippets of conversation and the stinky chemical odour around him was enough for him to deduce that he was in some abandoned factory.

His body ached as if he had been beaten harshly and his spectacles had broken as well.

The only thing he remembered about getting kidnapped was a heavy blow to his head when he had gone to the warehouse at LexCorp and the next moment, he had found himself in that factory, bound so tightly that he couldn't even move.

Blood was dried up on his temple and forehead, while some of it was even trickling down from the corner of his mouth.

All of a sudden, the silence was broken as if a fight had broken out somewhere and he blinked twice to clear his vision as all he could see was the orange shades of fire in the distance. The noises drew nearer and there were even a few crashes and short explosions.

He had no idea what was going on and was having a hard time in keeping himself awake even.

Shortly afterwards, someone entered the dingy little room he had been thrown in and he drew back in alarm.

"Tim, it's me," Irina spoke when he flinched away from her touch. She had figured out that he had been abducted so she came for the rescue.

She had gotten suspicious that Tim had been abducted when he didn't show up to the meeting and later got confirmed when no one saw him leave LexCorp either.

So she had called the only person she knew who could help; Red Hood. After that encounter in Crime Alley, she and Red Hood had somehow come to agreeable terms such that the two had promised to help each other in need.

Therefore as Tim had gotten taken and she had no idea what to do, she had called him for help. The two had then worked together to track Tim out and reached ACE chemicals factory where he was kept hostage, according to Red Hood's trusted spies.

By then Red Hood was keeping the others busy in a flame fight while Irina had taken it upon herself to find Tim and escape.

She bent down so that Tim could see her and gently held his face in her hands.

"Ren?"

"Don't worry, I'm going to get you out of here," she deftly worked on slicing off the coils of rope.

"What... Why..." Tim tried to speak but ended up coughing, sputtering out a little blood as well.

"Easy there, Tim," she quickly released the bonds on his ankles and he fell into her arms in a lifeless heap.

"How...?"

"All in good time," she gently lifted him up, "we have to get out of here first. Hood is keeping the others busy so we'll have to leave as quick as we can."

His eyes were drooping close because he was still rather dizzy so instead of making him walk with her, she chose the alternative and gently sliding her arms down his neck and knees, she scooped him up.

He didn't weigh a lot so she managed to dash past the flaming fight going on between Red Hood and the gang and soon as she was out in the open, she used her grapple gun to get them both safely to the Manor.

It was a little difficult to manage but she somehow made it to Wayne Manor's rooftop. Very gently she laid Tim down but he was still not fully conscious.

His wrists were red from the rough binding and his eyes would flutter open and fall shut every now and then.

"Tim," she gently pushed his hair back from his face, fingers caressing his cheek, "can you hear me?"

As if in reply, he touched her hand that was still lingering on his cheek but couldn't speak.

"You'll be okay, everything will be okay soon," she spoke.

She knew she had to tell someone to get him so she searched his pockets for his phone and when she found it, she called the Wayne Manor's landline.

Seconds later, someone picked up. She didn't even wait for that person to speak up as she hurriedly spoke, "Tim was abducted by Black Mask's gang and held hostage in the ACE chemicals factory. Red Hood helped in getting him out of there and Tim is currently at the Manor's rooftop. Please come and get him as soon as possible, he's injured."

She quickly cut the call and soon afterwards she could hear footsteps as the door to the rooftop burst open. Alfred and Richard rushed through, but before they could reach her, she had to make her escape for she did not want them to find out she was there.

And even though she did not want to leave Tim like that, she knew that she couldn't risk having anyone suspect about her friendship with him either. The less people knew about it, the better it would be for Tim himself. He already had enough enemies for him to get targeted due to her as well.

***