Trapped Mermaid
Part 1
Title: Trapped Mermaid
Fandom: DCU/Kaizoku To Ningyo (Pirate and Mermaid)
Pairing: future JayTim
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,769
Warnings: Won’t make sense without first reading the manga and then part 1 of this. :V
Summary: How the man knew, Tim will never know. But he should never have doubted the possibility. Because now he’s trapped.
_
It had relatively calm in the mansion, perhaps too calm after what had happened.
Tim hadn’t stopped Bruce from filling in Dick and Damian on the situation. What could he have done? And it’s his family. Now that it’s out they might as well know the whole story.
Tim hadn’t dyed his hair back yet, mostly because someone had hidden his dyes. He also wasn’t being let near the disguise closet. Due to his hair, he hadn’t been able to leave the house to go to his apartment and use the stuff there. He rests his chin on his knees, curling up even more into the couch.
Were they trying to torture him?
Why were they keeping him here like this?
Tim buries his face against his knees.
_
Dick became more and more protective.
Damian… well, Tim wasn’t sure if the expressions the boy made were that of disgust or curiosity. Possibly both.
Bruce hadn’t really changed much.
Alfred had a glint in his eye and it made Tim wonder if the man had known - or suspected - all along. …He tries not to dwell on it.
He’d found his dyes in the bathroom again, however, after a few days had passed.
So he went about his life, dealing with his family’s changes and blocking the event from his mind.
_
But one morning, Tim was getting ready to go out to meet a friend. He’d showered and dressed, as usual, and eaten some eggs and ham for breakfast with a glass of orange juice. He took a gulp of his coffee, made from his favorite brand of beans that he grinds himself, and started to walk to his room…
And that’s all he remembers.
_
It’s dark, possibly because his eyes are closed, but he can tell that the lights are dim, wherever he is.
Trying to scan his surroundings brings nothing but the soft sound of running water and salty air.
Salty…
Tim shifts and focuses: it smells like seawater.
He finally opens his eyes.
And he chokes back a cry.
It’s a huge glass cage.
It’s perfectly clear on all sides, at least a good 6 inches thick, and Tim can see the room he’s in is not unlike a miniature ballroom. The… cage is closest to the wall furthest away from the door, like a display just waiting for the party.
He gathers the courage to look down.
Water.
Seawater.
It’s about 4 feet deep, he estimates, and would submerse most of his body. In the middle of this, is a large rock; a sculpture that curls fancifully with several flat sections.
Tim’s on one of them.
It’s covered in furs, with what feels like a padded surface of some sort between the rock and the furs to make it even more comfortable. There’s a waterfall coming from one of them, decorated to look natural and rather beautiful. The others have different things on them, but he doesn’t care enough to look more closely.
He looks at himself.
And he doesn’t know whether to shout in anger or cry in embarrassment.
All he’s wearing clothing-wise is a glorified loincloth. It fits more like a skimpy pair of panties. His dignity is somewhat retained by the long strips of fabric falling down the front and back. It’s white, embroidered with gold, silver, red, and blue, and reaches his calves. It’s ridiculously feminine.
But not quite as much as the jewelry he’s covered in. Anklets, fine chain belts, necklaces, bracelets, a choker (collar, his mind cries), wrist cuffs… Tim reaches up and yes, even earrings. His hands go up farther and feel decorations in his hair. It’s all silver or white gold, red gems scattered among them.
This is exactly what he had feared.
_
He’s not sure how much time has passed - his internal clock is out of whack - but he’s pretty sure it’s exactly five minutes after however long it took to compose himself that the door opens.
Tim is curled up on his side, facing the door, and so he simply opens his eyes when he hears it. His fists clench when he sees who it is.
“Ra’s.”
“Good to see you away, my Detective,” Ra’s casually makes his way up to the glass.
Tim glares fiercely, not moving otherwise.
“Now don’t be that way. You should be thanking me.”
“Thanking you?” Tim bares his teeth, “For what?”
Ra’s smile shouldn’t even be called such, “That I left you alone for so long. It was difficult, restraining myself, but I managed.”
Tim’s mind aches with the sudden implications and he sits up, “Wait… You… You knew?”
“Of course I did, dear songbird,” Tim twitches at the nickname, “Why else do you think I left you alone after you so cleverly proved yourself to me?”
“Obviously my hope that you had grown tired of me is groundless.”
Ra’s chuckles, “Oh, Timothy. You really don’t know me very well if you honestly thought that.”
Tim looks away. He truly had hoped Ra’s to leave him alone after ruining him like that. He still considered the possibility that Ra’s hadn’t moved on, but… He had hoped.
“You were always oddly beautiful. Your fighting and thinking is smooth and natural, it flows like water in you. Your intelligence so surpasses those you surround yourself with. I always wondered how you could be so intriguing.” Ra’s places a hand on the glass, “So I watched you. Tested you. And you overcame every obstacle; passed every test… And then I found a tome from ages past and I remembered.”
Tim bites his lip.
Ra’s watches the action, “You see, I remember those days. When mermaids were discovered. When they became treasures. Pets.” Tim - doesn’t quite flinch. “And I remember when they seemed to die out; fade away and become nothing more than legend. A slowly forgotten legend.
“But then you come along.” Ra’s smirks and slowly rakes his gaze over Tim, making the boy cross his arms over his chest in a defensive gesture. “Your ability to hide is very impressive. How unfortunate that it should be revealed in a ridiculous manner, even just to your ‘family.’” Tim’s eyes widen fractionally.
“Oh yes, I saw what happened that day,” Ra’s chuckles.
“…What exactly do you want, Ra’s?” Tim manages not to stutter.
Ra’s flicks his wrist, opening his palm towards Tim, “You, of course.”
This is everything he had been dreading.
_
Dick slams his fists against the table before crossing his arms and resting his head on them. His words are muffled when he speaks, “Why?”
Even Damian, who never really liked Tim, looked a bit worn out.
Bruce is at the computer, tirelessly searching for Tim.
They’ve run into every dead end, with nowhere to go. The last place they can track them to is Istanbul, but after that they disappear.
There’s a harsh scrape and a clatter. Bruce and Damian look and see Dick standing, the chair he’d been sitting on tipped over.
“Jason!” Dick yells, and stares at Bruce, “Maybe Jason has something!”
Bruce winces, but stays silent for several moments. Then he nods, “Dick, take Damian with you and go see if you can get anything from him. I’ll monitor you from here.”
The two nod and run off to change.
_
The days pass slowly, time becoming warped and useless with the lack of natural light or other time-telling devices. From the best he can tell, it’s been a few days already. Each day is spent simply. Ra’s visits regularly and he talks at him, sometimes managing to coax him into participating in conversation. New books appear almost every day, as well as little hand puzzles, made of plastic and of no use for escape.
The walls are too high - he can’t reach them, by jumping or climbing or anything. They’re too thick - can’t be broken with what he has access to. There are no guards to trick and Ra’s is too smart for any kind of attempt at such.
And Tim has learned that not following Ra’s commands leads to painful results. The man hasn’t asked for anything drastic, but it took a while before Tim finally gave in and slipped into the water. Ra’s likes it when he does so in front of him, saying he enjoys studying the transition.
There are no towels in his cage, so it’s hard for Tim to dry off. The furs work well enough for his body, but not for his hair. So no matter how much he wants it to change, to stop being that scarlet color, he can’t do anything about it.
Tim’s sitting on the furs, knees up and resting his chin on them, while he runs his hands over his smooth shins. He supposes he should thank the man for being so considerate as to hide the toilet in the rock, but the fact that he has to use the waterfall as a shower overpowers that.
Never has his privacy been so violated.
The glass does nothing to help him. Instead it amplifies the feeling of being watched.
He doesn’t cry, but he does bury his face in the pillows.
_
Jason had been minding his own business when they had shown up. Fuck, he hadn’t even killed anyone today! But there they were.
And Jason immediately wonders where Tim was. But he pushes that thought from his mind.
At least Bruce hadn’t joined them.
“What do you want?”
Dick steps forward, “J, we… we need your help.”
He snorts, “My help? Why would you need help from the reject Robin?”
Dick frowns, obviously distressed by the nickname, “J, please, it’s about… Red Robin.”
“Yeah?” Jason eyes the brat, wary, “What about the Replacement?”
“He’s gone, J.”
No one moves for a minute.
“Gone how?” Jason frowns.
“Tt. Fool. What he’s trying to say is that he’s been kidnapped. And we can’t find him. So we need your help tracking him down.” Damian’s sneer is angry, but somehow half-hearted.
And Jason’s heart lurches, “What?”
“Are you deaf?” Dick covers Damian’s mouth with one hand.
“Look, J, we understand if you don’t want to help. But please, if you could just… give us anything you may have, we would appreciate it.”
Jason crosses his arms and runs his thumb over his chest holster, “How long has he been gone?”
“…4 days, 13 hours.”
“Fuck,” Jason sighs and scuffs his foot, “Fine. But we do this my way.”
The way Dick’s face lights up is obvious, not at all hidden by the mask. And surprisingly, the demon brat’s posture relaxes slightly.
“Let’s do this.”
This entry was originally posted at http://avanalae.dreamwidth.org/10849.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Title: Trapped Mermaid
Fandom: DCU/Kaizoku To Ningyo (Pirate and Mermaid)
Pairing: future JayTim
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,769
Warnings: Won’t make sense without first reading the manga and then part 1 of this. :V
Summary: How the man knew, Tim will never know. But he should never have doubted the possibility. Because now he’s trapped.
_
It had relatively calm in the mansion, perhaps too calm after what had happened.
Tim hadn’t stopped Bruce from filling in Dick and Damian on the situation. What could he have done? And it’s his family. Now that it’s out they might as well know the whole story.
Tim hadn’t dyed his hair back yet, mostly because someone had hidden his dyes. He also wasn’t being let near the disguise closet. Due to his hair, he hadn’t been able to leave the house to go to his apartment and use the stuff there. He rests his chin on his knees, curling up even more into the couch.
Were they trying to torture him?
Why were they keeping him here like this?
Tim buries his face against his knees.
_
Dick became more and more protective.
Damian… well, Tim wasn’t sure if the expressions the boy made were that of disgust or curiosity. Possibly both.
Bruce hadn’t really changed much.
Alfred had a glint in his eye and it made Tim wonder if the man had known - or suspected - all along. …He tries not to dwell on it.
He’d found his dyes in the bathroom again, however, after a few days had passed.
So he went about his life, dealing with his family’s changes and blocking the event from his mind.
_
But one morning, Tim was getting ready to go out to meet a friend. He’d showered and dressed, as usual, and eaten some eggs and ham for breakfast with a glass of orange juice. He took a gulp of his coffee, made from his favorite brand of beans that he grinds himself, and started to walk to his room…
And that’s all he remembers.
_
It’s dark, possibly because his eyes are closed, but he can tell that the lights are dim, wherever he is.
Trying to scan his surroundings brings nothing but the soft sound of running water and salty air.
Salty…
Tim shifts and focuses: it smells like seawater.
He finally opens his eyes.
And he chokes back a cry.
It’s a huge glass cage.
It’s perfectly clear on all sides, at least a good 6 inches thick, and Tim can see the room he’s in is not unlike a miniature ballroom. The… cage is closest to the wall furthest away from the door, like a display just waiting for the party.
He gathers the courage to look down.
Water.
Seawater.
It’s about 4 feet deep, he estimates, and would submerse most of his body. In the middle of this, is a large rock; a sculpture that curls fancifully with several flat sections.
Tim’s on one of them.
It’s covered in furs, with what feels like a padded surface of some sort between the rock and the furs to make it even more comfortable. There’s a waterfall coming from one of them, decorated to look natural and rather beautiful. The others have different things on them, but he doesn’t care enough to look more closely.
He looks at himself.
And he doesn’t know whether to shout in anger or cry in embarrassment.
All he’s wearing clothing-wise is a glorified loincloth. It fits more like a skimpy pair of panties. His dignity is somewhat retained by the long strips of fabric falling down the front and back. It’s white, embroidered with gold, silver, red, and blue, and reaches his calves. It’s ridiculously feminine.
But not quite as much as the jewelry he’s covered in. Anklets, fine chain belts, necklaces, bracelets, a choker (collar, his mind cries), wrist cuffs… Tim reaches up and yes, even earrings. His hands go up farther and feel decorations in his hair. It’s all silver or white gold, red gems scattered among them.
This is exactly what he had feared.
_
He’s not sure how much time has passed - his internal clock is out of whack - but he’s pretty sure it’s exactly five minutes after however long it took to compose himself that the door opens.
Tim is curled up on his side, facing the door, and so he simply opens his eyes when he hears it. His fists clench when he sees who it is.
“Ra’s.”
“Good to see you away, my Detective,” Ra’s casually makes his way up to the glass.
Tim glares fiercely, not moving otherwise.
“Now don’t be that way. You should be thanking me.”
“Thanking you?” Tim bares his teeth, “For what?”
Ra’s smile shouldn’t even be called such, “That I left you alone for so long. It was difficult, restraining myself, but I managed.”
Tim’s mind aches with the sudden implications and he sits up, “Wait… You… You knew?”
“Of course I did, dear songbird,” Tim twitches at the nickname, “Why else do you think I left you alone after you so cleverly proved yourself to me?”
“Obviously my hope that you had grown tired of me is groundless.”
Ra’s chuckles, “Oh, Timothy. You really don’t know me very well if you honestly thought that.”
Tim looks away. He truly had hoped Ra’s to leave him alone after ruining him like that. He still considered the possibility that Ra’s hadn’t moved on, but… He had hoped.
“You were always oddly beautiful. Your fighting and thinking is smooth and natural, it flows like water in you. Your intelligence so surpasses those you surround yourself with. I always wondered how you could be so intriguing.” Ra’s places a hand on the glass, “So I watched you. Tested you. And you overcame every obstacle; passed every test… And then I found a tome from ages past and I remembered.”
Tim bites his lip.
Ra’s watches the action, “You see, I remember those days. When mermaids were discovered. When they became treasures. Pets.” Tim - doesn’t quite flinch. “And I remember when they seemed to die out; fade away and become nothing more than legend. A slowly forgotten legend.
“But then you come along.” Ra’s smirks and slowly rakes his gaze over Tim, making the boy cross his arms over his chest in a defensive gesture. “Your ability to hide is very impressive. How unfortunate that it should be revealed in a ridiculous manner, even just to your ‘family.’” Tim’s eyes widen fractionally.
“Oh yes, I saw what happened that day,” Ra’s chuckles.
“…What exactly do you want, Ra’s?” Tim manages not to stutter.
Ra’s flicks his wrist, opening his palm towards Tim, “You, of course.”
This is everything he had been dreading.
_
Dick slams his fists against the table before crossing his arms and resting his head on them. His words are muffled when he speaks, “Why?”
Even Damian, who never really liked Tim, looked a bit worn out.
Bruce is at the computer, tirelessly searching for Tim.
They’ve run into every dead end, with nowhere to go. The last place they can track them to is Istanbul, but after that they disappear.
There’s a harsh scrape and a clatter. Bruce and Damian look and see Dick standing, the chair he’d been sitting on tipped over.
“Jason!” Dick yells, and stares at Bruce, “Maybe Jason has something!”
Bruce winces, but stays silent for several moments. Then he nods, “Dick, take Damian with you and go see if you can get anything from him. I’ll monitor you from here.”
The two nod and run off to change.
_
The days pass slowly, time becoming warped and useless with the lack of natural light or other time-telling devices. From the best he can tell, it’s been a few days already. Each day is spent simply. Ra’s visits regularly and he talks at him, sometimes managing to coax him into participating in conversation. New books appear almost every day, as well as little hand puzzles, made of plastic and of no use for escape.
The walls are too high - he can’t reach them, by jumping or climbing or anything. They’re too thick - can’t be broken with what he has access to. There are no guards to trick and Ra’s is too smart for any kind of attempt at such.
And Tim has learned that not following Ra’s commands leads to painful results. The man hasn’t asked for anything drastic, but it took a while before Tim finally gave in and slipped into the water. Ra’s likes it when he does so in front of him, saying he enjoys studying the transition.
There are no towels in his cage, so it’s hard for Tim to dry off. The furs work well enough for his body, but not for his hair. So no matter how much he wants it to change, to stop being that scarlet color, he can’t do anything about it.
Tim’s sitting on the furs, knees up and resting his chin on them, while he runs his hands over his smooth shins. He supposes he should thank the man for being so considerate as to hide the toilet in the rock, but the fact that he has to use the waterfall as a shower overpowers that.
Never has his privacy been so violated.
The glass does nothing to help him. Instead it amplifies the feeling of being watched.
He doesn’t cry, but he does bury his face in the pillows.
_
Jason had been minding his own business when they had shown up. Fuck, he hadn’t even killed anyone today! But there they were.
And Jason immediately wonders where Tim was. But he pushes that thought from his mind.
At least Bruce hadn’t joined them.
“What do you want?”
Dick steps forward, “J, we… we need your help.”
He snorts, “My help? Why would you need help from the reject Robin?”
Dick frowns, obviously distressed by the nickname, “J, please, it’s about… Red Robin.”
“Yeah?” Jason eyes the brat, wary, “What about the Replacement?”
“He’s gone, J.”
No one moves for a minute.
“Gone how?” Jason frowns.
“Tt. Fool. What he’s trying to say is that he’s been kidnapped. And we can’t find him. So we need your help tracking him down.” Damian’s sneer is angry, but somehow half-hearted.
And Jason’s heart lurches, “What?”
“Are you deaf?” Dick covers Damian’s mouth with one hand.
“Look, J, we understand if you don’t want to help. But please, if you could just… give us anything you may have, we would appreciate it.”
Jason crosses his arms and runs his thumb over his chest holster, “How long has he been gone?”
“…4 days, 13 hours.”
“Fuck,” Jason sighs and scuffs his foot, “Fine. But we do this my way.”
The way Dick’s face lights up is obvious, not at all hidden by the mask. And surprisingly, the demon brat’s posture relaxes slightly.
“Let’s do this.”
This entry was originally posted at http://avanalae.dreamwidth.org/10849.html. Please comment there using OpenID.