Fic: Adventures in Death Traps
Title: Adventures in Death Traps
Characters: Tim Drake, Steph Brown
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None.
Word Count: 1, 864
Author's Notes: Written for iesika 's prompt at comment_fic and omg it got so long. The original prompt was "Robin(s), "only the two of us can disconnect the bomb, and save ourselves before the oxygen is gone" - Rope on Fire by Morphine"
Steph sat completely still as Tim worked on the ropes tying them together. She bit her tongue against any quips because Tim really didn't need the distraction right now. They were back to back, their hands bound together and both their belts had been taken. Steph knew for a fact that Tim kept spare tools hidden everywhere and he'd somehow manage to pull out a small blade from somewhere.
"Tim, baby, I hate to rush you but-" Steph started.
Tim cut her off, "Don't."
Steph pouted and went back to staring at the clock on the side of the room. It had started at ten minutes and was now at eight. According to the bad guy that had thrown them in here, the countdown represented how much oxygen they had left in the small room. Apparently it was also the timer of a bomb located somewhere in Gotham. The bad guy in question had deemed them unworthy of his time and had left them to their fate while he went and got ice cream or whatever it was the bad guys did to celebrate.
"You know Boy Wonder, whenever I tie you up it takes you less than a minute to get out," Steph commented casually.
"When you tie me up you aren't trying to kill me," Tim replied.
"Point," Steph conceded, then added, "but when I've got you tied up you tend to be a bit more distracted."
Tim huffed a laugh, but didn't reply.
"Maybe it'd help you work quicker if I tried to distract you?" Steph offered, grinning widely even though Tim couldn't see it.
"Yes of course, let's distract the person who is going to save your life, good idea Steph," Tim teased.
"If you don't save us in time at least I'll have some fun before I go," Steph joked, but couldn't help flicking her eyes over to the clock. Six minutes.
Tim must have felt her tense because he started working faster. Suddenly the bonds felt a little looser and Steph tugged experimentally, there was a little give but not enough. Both her and Tim sighed in frustration.
"I liked it better when bad guys didn't know how to tie good knots," Steph said, grinding her teeth in frustration.
"Hm," Tim said, and Steph knew he was plotting something.
She left him to his thoughts as she tested the give of the rope again, at the same time looking around for anything that might be remotely helpful.
Four minutes. It was getting kind of hot.
"Steph, can you do me a favor?" Tim asked conversationally.
"Now really isn't the time to be asking for blowjobs," Steph responded, ignoring the way her voice jumped with nerves.
"Now really isn't the time for jokes," Tim scolded and Steph made an apologetic sound, "I'm going to dislocate my thumb and pull my hand out of the rope, it should give you enough room to pull free yourself, the thing is, the bomb also needs to be disabled and even if I get my thumb popped back in my hands will probably be a little shaky."
"Right," Steph confirmed, even though Tim hadn't actually asked her to do anything.
Two seconds later she heard the dull popping sound, Tim wincing in pain and then the ropes around her wrists going slack. Steph happily pulled her hands free and sighed in relief. She stood and turned to haul Tim up.
He was pale and the thumb on his left hand was at an awkward angle, Steph tutted in sympathy but knew she didn't have time to fuss. Using his right hand, Tim dug around in his boots and pulled out a tiny pair of wire clippers.
Steph grabbed them off him and they both walked over towards the timer. Two minutes.
Steph pulled off her mask, despite the little sound of protest Tim made and she crouched down in front of the clock. She levered off the cover, exposing a mess of wires.
"So which one do I cut? The red one? It's always the red one isn't it?" Steph said, trying to keep her voice even.
Tim sucked in a deep breath and looked carefully at the wires. His brow was scrunched up and his body taught, his left hand cradled protectively to his chest. Using his right hand, he slowly traced the path of one particular white wire.
"This one," he stated calmly, holding out the wire for Steph.
She cut it after a moment's hesitation and the clock stopped counting down.
"Are we good?" Steph asked, giggling a little from her nerves.
Tim looked at her like she wasn't speaking english. Then he swayed and fell over. Steph took a deep breath and realised that she couldn't.
"Shit. Shit. The oxygen," she swore to herself and took a quick survey of the room.
It was sealed, that's what the bad guy had said. Oxygen tight.
"So I have to make it oxygen loose," Steph mused to herself.
She emptied the pouches around her thigh, which was mercifully still with her, pulling out a smoke pellet, a homemade batarang, an antidote to Scarecrow's fear toxin that Tim had given her, evidence bags and some zip strips.
"Entirely not helpful, thanks preparedness," Steph muttered angrily.
She had no idea how much oxygen they had left, it really was getting difficult to breath, luckily Tim was passed out and wasn't taking as much oxygen. Steph turned to look at Tim, then remember some of his hidden caches of tools.
"Alright boyfriend, I hate to invade your privacy but I'll have you know that I'm not taking advantage of you, I'm just trying to save your life. And my life. I'd quite like to save my life too," Steph chatted to herself as she rifled through Tim's costume.
She finally found what she was looking for in the lining of his glove.
Clutching the tiny laser cutter in hand, she looked around for the best place to cut. Her eyes flicked up to the low ceiling, and she found her solution. There was an air vent in the centre of the ceiling, it had been sealed over with a thin sheet of metal but Steph could still clearly see it's outline.
She reached up and hastily cut away the metal, holding it in the centre as the laser melted it away around the edges. Once it was done, she lowered the piece to the ground and sucked in a deep lungful of slightly stale air.
She waited a few minutes for the room to ventilate, then poked Tim in the side with her foot.
"Hey lover boy," Steph leaned in close to Tim's face as he blinked lazily at her, "Did you have a nice nap?"
Tim scowled and sat up. He popped his thumb back into place, his nose twitching a little as he suppressed a wince. He took in the surroundings, looking pointedly at the various gadgets laying about the floor.
"You've been going through my uniform," he commented, his voice flat.
"Don't worry Boy Virgin, I didn't take advantage of you," Steph plastered an innocent look on her face.
“Oh well thank goodness, because that was the primary concern on my ‘Oh-God-I’ve-Been-Unconscious-What-Happened?’ list,” Tim shot back sarcastically.
“Aww, don’t be like that, you’re just disappointed you didn’t get to save the day,” Steph grinned and offered a hand to help Tim up.
“I did save the day, thank you very much,” Tim told her, and Steph laughed at his petulant tone.
“In case you didn’t realise, you were unconscious whilst I did all the necessary Day Saving work.”
“And in case you didn’t realise, if I hadn’t gotten us out of the ropes you never would have even gotten the chance to save the day.”
“That’s totally not the point,” Steph pouted.
“It really is.”
“Next time I’m just going to leave you unconscious on the floor.”
“No you aren’t,” Tim stated matter-of-factly.
Steph had her back turned on him whilst she picked up the contents of her pouches and his uniform. When she turned around Tim was gone.
“I’ll kill you,” Steph threatened the empty room.
Tim’s head popped down from the air vent, “You’d have to catch me first.”
“Oh god, ceiling Tim is watching me masturbate,” Steph joked.
Tim raised an eyebrow.
“You need to spend less time jumping off buildings and more time being a teenage boy on the internet. At least tell me you know what a cat macro is?” Steph’s tone was exasperated.
“I can has kisses?” Tim asked in an overly sweet voice.
“No, no you can not has,” Steph stuck out her tongue and made her way over to the vent.
Tim shifted out of the way so she could grab hold of the vent and pull herself up. She crouched so she was facing Tim and grinned at him.
“Ladies first,” she instructed, motioning for Tim to take the lead.
Tim frowned but turned around and started crawling forward, “You just want to check out my butt, I know you, I know how you think.”
“Your creepy stalker instincts are wrong Boy Basket-Case, maybe if you were Nightwing,” Steph let her voice drop and hummed thoughtfully.
“I hate you,” Tim said, in the tone of voice that was usually accompanied by a face palm.
Steph spanked him lightly on the ass, “Love you too Wonder Boy.”
Tim stopped and rolled around on his back so he could face Steph, his lips quirking into a teasing smile. She eyed him speculatively and crawled forward so she was half lying on top of him and half straddling him. He pulled her down and kissed her hungrily, she responded eagerly, opening her mouth for him. He pushed her off gently after a second and licked his lips.
“You’re so annoying,” Tim told her, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Thank you,” Steph grinned, “now as much as I enjoy your kinks, I don’t really want to have sex in an air vent, also, Batman is probably looking for us.”
Tim made a disgusted face at the mention of Batman. Steph chuckled.
Tim prodded her lightly in the shoulder and she got the message, manoeuvring backwards until he could turn around and start moving forward again.
“Thanks, by the way,” Tim called over his shoulder.
“Hmm? For what?” Steph murmured back, Tim’s cape had slipped to the side and despite her earlier comments she was getting a lovely view.
“For saving my life,” Tim said softly, and he stopped to look back at her, “I couldn’t have done that alone.”
Steph considered dismissing it with a pat on the backside and a joke, but Tim’s tone was serious so she decided to take a different tactic.
“You’re welcome,” Steph replied.
She reached forward and squeezed his ankle, Tim smiled at her warmly and then continued ahead.
Steph couldn’t help the warm feeling pooling in her stomach. Maybe she wasn’t as good as Robin, but she was still a hero. She’s saved the day, she’d saved them and now she was going home to celebrate with Robin.
She could get used to this.
Characters: Tim Drake, Steph Brown
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None.
Word Count: 1, 864
Author's Notes: Written for iesika 's prompt at comment_fic and omg it got so long. The original prompt was "Robin(s), "only the two of us can disconnect the bomb, and save ourselves before the oxygen is gone" - Rope on Fire by Morphine"
Steph sat completely still as Tim worked on the ropes tying them together. She bit her tongue against any quips because Tim really didn't need the distraction right now. They were back to back, their hands bound together and both their belts had been taken. Steph knew for a fact that Tim kept spare tools hidden everywhere and he'd somehow manage to pull out a small blade from somewhere.
"Tim, baby, I hate to rush you but-" Steph started.
Tim cut her off, "Don't."
Steph pouted and went back to staring at the clock on the side of the room. It had started at ten minutes and was now at eight. According to the bad guy that had thrown them in here, the countdown represented how much oxygen they had left in the small room. Apparently it was also the timer of a bomb located somewhere in Gotham. The bad guy in question had deemed them unworthy of his time and had left them to their fate while he went and got ice cream or whatever it was the bad guys did to celebrate.
"You know Boy Wonder, whenever I tie you up it takes you less than a minute to get out," Steph commented casually.
"When you tie me up you aren't trying to kill me," Tim replied.
"Point," Steph conceded, then added, "but when I've got you tied up you tend to be a bit more distracted."
Tim huffed a laugh, but didn't reply.
"Maybe it'd help you work quicker if I tried to distract you?" Steph offered, grinning widely even though Tim couldn't see it.
"Yes of course, let's distract the person who is going to save your life, good idea Steph," Tim teased.
"If you don't save us in time at least I'll have some fun before I go," Steph joked, but couldn't help flicking her eyes over to the clock. Six minutes.
Tim must have felt her tense because he started working faster. Suddenly the bonds felt a little looser and Steph tugged experimentally, there was a little give but not enough. Both her and Tim sighed in frustration.
"I liked it better when bad guys didn't know how to tie good knots," Steph said, grinding her teeth in frustration.
"Hm," Tim said, and Steph knew he was plotting something.
She left him to his thoughts as she tested the give of the rope again, at the same time looking around for anything that might be remotely helpful.
Four minutes. It was getting kind of hot.
"Steph, can you do me a favor?" Tim asked conversationally.
"Now really isn't the time to be asking for blowjobs," Steph responded, ignoring the way her voice jumped with nerves.
"Now really isn't the time for jokes," Tim scolded and Steph made an apologetic sound, "I'm going to dislocate my thumb and pull my hand out of the rope, it should give you enough room to pull free yourself, the thing is, the bomb also needs to be disabled and even if I get my thumb popped back in my hands will probably be a little shaky."
"Right," Steph confirmed, even though Tim hadn't actually asked her to do anything.
Two seconds later she heard the dull popping sound, Tim wincing in pain and then the ropes around her wrists going slack. Steph happily pulled her hands free and sighed in relief. She stood and turned to haul Tim up.
He was pale and the thumb on his left hand was at an awkward angle, Steph tutted in sympathy but knew she didn't have time to fuss. Using his right hand, Tim dug around in his boots and pulled out a tiny pair of wire clippers.
Steph grabbed them off him and they both walked over towards the timer. Two minutes.
Steph pulled off her mask, despite the little sound of protest Tim made and she crouched down in front of the clock. She levered off the cover, exposing a mess of wires.
"So which one do I cut? The red one? It's always the red one isn't it?" Steph said, trying to keep her voice even.
Tim sucked in a deep breath and looked carefully at the wires. His brow was scrunched up and his body taught, his left hand cradled protectively to his chest. Using his right hand, he slowly traced the path of one particular white wire.
"This one," he stated calmly, holding out the wire for Steph.
She cut it after a moment's hesitation and the clock stopped counting down.
"Are we good?" Steph asked, giggling a little from her nerves.
Tim looked at her like she wasn't speaking english. Then he swayed and fell over. Steph took a deep breath and realised that she couldn't.
"Shit. Shit. The oxygen," she swore to herself and took a quick survey of the room.
It was sealed, that's what the bad guy had said. Oxygen tight.
"So I have to make it oxygen loose," Steph mused to herself.
She emptied the pouches around her thigh, which was mercifully still with her, pulling out a smoke pellet, a homemade batarang, an antidote to Scarecrow's fear toxin that Tim had given her, evidence bags and some zip strips.
"Entirely not helpful, thanks preparedness," Steph muttered angrily.
She had no idea how much oxygen they had left, it really was getting difficult to breath, luckily Tim was passed out and wasn't taking as much oxygen. Steph turned to look at Tim, then remember some of his hidden caches of tools.
"Alright boyfriend, I hate to invade your privacy but I'll have you know that I'm not taking advantage of you, I'm just trying to save your life. And my life. I'd quite like to save my life too," Steph chatted to herself as she rifled through Tim's costume.
She finally found what she was looking for in the lining of his glove.
Clutching the tiny laser cutter in hand, she looked around for the best place to cut. Her eyes flicked up to the low ceiling, and she found her solution. There was an air vent in the centre of the ceiling, it had been sealed over with a thin sheet of metal but Steph could still clearly see it's outline.
She reached up and hastily cut away the metal, holding it in the centre as the laser melted it away around the edges. Once it was done, she lowered the piece to the ground and sucked in a deep lungful of slightly stale air.
She waited a few minutes for the room to ventilate, then poked Tim in the side with her foot.
"Hey lover boy," Steph leaned in close to Tim's face as he blinked lazily at her, "Did you have a nice nap?"
Tim scowled and sat up. He popped his thumb back into place, his nose twitching a little as he suppressed a wince. He took in the surroundings, looking pointedly at the various gadgets laying about the floor.
"You've been going through my uniform," he commented, his voice flat.
"Don't worry Boy Virgin, I didn't take advantage of you," Steph plastered an innocent look on her face.
“Oh well thank goodness, because that was the primary concern on my ‘Oh-God-I’ve-Been-Unconscious-What-Happened?’ list,” Tim shot back sarcastically.
“Aww, don’t be like that, you’re just disappointed you didn’t get to save the day,” Steph grinned and offered a hand to help Tim up.
“I did save the day, thank you very much,” Tim told her, and Steph laughed at his petulant tone.
“In case you didn’t realise, you were unconscious whilst I did all the necessary Day Saving work.”
“And in case you didn’t realise, if I hadn’t gotten us out of the ropes you never would have even gotten the chance to save the day.”
“That’s totally not the point,” Steph pouted.
“It really is.”
“Next time I’m just going to leave you unconscious on the floor.”
“No you aren’t,” Tim stated matter-of-factly.
Steph had her back turned on him whilst she picked up the contents of her pouches and his uniform. When she turned around Tim was gone.
“I’ll kill you,” Steph threatened the empty room.
Tim’s head popped down from the air vent, “You’d have to catch me first.”
“Oh god, ceiling Tim is watching me masturbate,” Steph joked.
Tim raised an eyebrow.
“You need to spend less time jumping off buildings and more time being a teenage boy on the internet. At least tell me you know what a cat macro is?” Steph’s tone was exasperated.
“I can has kisses?” Tim asked in an overly sweet voice.
“No, no you can not has,” Steph stuck out her tongue and made her way over to the vent.
Tim shifted out of the way so she could grab hold of the vent and pull herself up. She crouched so she was facing Tim and grinned at him.
“Ladies first,” she instructed, motioning for Tim to take the lead.
Tim frowned but turned around and started crawling forward, “You just want to check out my butt, I know you, I know how you think.”
“Your creepy stalker instincts are wrong Boy Basket-Case, maybe if you were Nightwing,” Steph let her voice drop and hummed thoughtfully.
“I hate you,” Tim said, in the tone of voice that was usually accompanied by a face palm.
Steph spanked him lightly on the ass, “Love you too Wonder Boy.”
Tim stopped and rolled around on his back so he could face Steph, his lips quirking into a teasing smile. She eyed him speculatively and crawled forward so she was half lying on top of him and half straddling him. He pulled her down and kissed her hungrily, she responded eagerly, opening her mouth for him. He pushed her off gently after a second and licked his lips.
“You’re so annoying,” Tim told her, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Thank you,” Steph grinned, “now as much as I enjoy your kinks, I don’t really want to have sex in an air vent, also, Batman is probably looking for us.”
Tim made a disgusted face at the mention of Batman. Steph chuckled.
Tim prodded her lightly in the shoulder and she got the message, manoeuvring backwards until he could turn around and start moving forward again.
“Thanks, by the way,” Tim called over his shoulder.
“Hmm? For what?” Steph murmured back, Tim’s cape had slipped to the side and despite her earlier comments she was getting a lovely view.
“For saving my life,” Tim said softly, and he stopped to look back at her, “I couldn’t have done that alone.”
Steph considered dismissing it with a pat on the backside and a joke, but Tim’s tone was serious so she decided to take a different tactic.
“You’re welcome,” Steph replied.
She reached forward and squeezed his ankle, Tim smiled at her warmly and then continued ahead.
Steph couldn’t help the warm feeling pooling in her stomach. Maybe she wasn’t as good as Robin, but she was still a hero. She’s saved the day, she’d saved them and now she was going home to celebrate with Robin.
She could get used to this.