The Sleeping Drake

by hidden_eyeballs

Summary:

Tim had always been great at sleeping. He could get sleep anywhere at any time. Honestly it's a gift considering his social standing and his hobbies. A strange balance he somehow keeps despite his drink of choice.

He learned the truth in middle school. Why his parents would always leave him in Gotham when they traveled. His mother took him to a summer camp in New York. it was there that he learned about his father, his true father, a god.

Notes:

there's a ton of Percy Jackson and batman crossovers, many of them where Tim is a demigod. however none of them have him claimed as a child of Hypnos. so i wrote it.

im not much of a writer, and im making this up as i go along.

Chapter 1: prologue

The teachers no longer pay him any mind when he sits at his desk, fast asleep, coffee cup still in hand. He turns his work in on time and gets good grades while doing so. its honestly become some sort of inside joke among the elite that the young Drake eir cant go anywhere without napping at some point. And many speculate that he has a sleep disorder.

That is only half of the truth.

Around the time that he turned 10 he noticed it. The dreams. He saw things, talked to people, Visited others. It was very strange.

He brushed it off as something that everyone went through, part of puberty. Everyone talked about their weird dreams, there are social media accounts dedicated to dreams. But he still had this nagging feeling.

He started leaving the house every night, not like his parents were ever there to stop him. He would roam the streets of Gotham and take up midnight photography as a hobby. Using his afternoon naps to gain information before he ventures into the night. Not that he actually learned much, because he didn't know the exact location of the Batcave, so he couldn't see it unless someone was dreaming about the place. And even then, dreams are weird and sometimes locations will blur together in nonsensical ways.

He has known for a while now who Batman and Robin are, he didn't need his dreams to figure that one out. He would recognize those flips anywhere. So he knew whose dreams to search for. Although it seemed they rarely slept. They had very busy social lives, and very active night lives, it was a miracle that they got any sleep at all.

It's all fun and games until he witnesses Robin's death at the ripe age of 11 and wakes up screaming the one week a year his parents are home.

Chapter 2: more time

Notes:

the next couple of chapters are probably going to be very diallage heavy. mainly because i suck at writing.

enjoy :D

Tim sat up, his ears ringing from the explosion.

His mother rushed in and held him in her arms. Rocking back and forth, whispering soothing words into his hair.

Took him a while to realize that he was crying. “He's dead,” he whimpers.

Janet hums, “who’s dead?”

“Robin,” he sniffles, burying his face into her shoulder.

She stills, “You saw him?”

Tim nods, finally collecting himself enough to look at her face.

She looks into his eyes, suddenly serious, “how long have you been having these dreams?”

“I don’no, a year?”

She curses quietly, “I thought I would have more time.” She looks at the door.

“More time?”

She smiles down at him and kisses the top of his head, “pack a bag sweetheart, we’re going on a trip, just the two of us.” She leaves no room for argument as she stands and leaves the room.

She pauses in the doorway, “I will meet you in the entrance hall.” before she disappears to do who knows what.

Tim peels himself out of bed and does as he's told, he packs clothes for a few days just in case. He makes sure he has his camera and a semi formal outfit, along with comfortable clothes. He doesn't have a suitcase because they refuse to take him anywhere so he dumps out his school bag and stuffs it to the brim. Camera case hanging from his neck.

He finds his mother in the entrance hall, whispering to someone on the phone.

“I know it's dangerous but i can't do anything to help him-” she spots him, “he's here, were leaving now.”

“So where are we going?” he chooses to ignore her hushed conversion.

“Somewhere safe,” she promises him,”leave your phone and laptop here, anything that can connect to wifi”

“But-”

“I will explain in the car, you can keep the camera as long as it does not connect to the internet.” She doesn't leave any room for objections.

So he begrudgingly takes his laptop and phone, setting them on the table by the door. She raises an eyebrow and he pulls out a second phone, setting it down next to the first.

“I'm serious Tim, this is a matter of life and death.”

“That's all I got, I promise.”

“Good,” she places her own phones next to his, she had 3 of them. “Let's go.”

She leads him to the garage and directs him to a black Chevy Tahoe.

Notes:

when i tell you i had to look up "rich people cars" for this. i don't know anything about cars.

in my head they have a bunch of show cars, and usually use some sort of fancy car rental/taxi whenever they are in town.

Chapter 3

Notes:

ima be honest, ive been feeling shitty for a while, and its finally hit "I'm just going to sleep all day" levels.

couldn't eat anything, so that's fun.

I'm going to try to make each chapter at least 500 words, which is short, but will probably half the number of chapters that i would have posted otherwise.

this chapter is 568 words. mostly yapping, but im trying to keep things semi simple

In the car, Tim sits in the passenger seat, bag in his lap, hugging it like its a teddy bear that his parents have long since declared him unfit of owning because “boys his age” or something like that.

He fights the urge to nod off, and waits for his mother to talk first. She's radiating nervous energy and it feels like hours before she finally decides to speak.

“Your father… isn't actually your father.” she begins, “I had an affair.”

Tim is very suddenly awake, it feels like someone dumped a bucket of ice over him as she lets the statement hang in the air.

“I met the man at some event, it was one night, and i never saw him again.”

Tim doesn't speak, causing his mother to glance at him to make sure he's awake for this conversation. He just stares at her.

She sighs, “what do you know about Greek mythos?”

“Mother, as much as I enjoy your riddles, I would much prefer you just tell me what's going on.”

“No riddles, I'm just trying to ease you into the truth. However absurd it may seem.”

“Truth? You're stalling.”

“Perhaps, but it's still relevant, and we have time. Have you at least read the books I've given you?”

Tim nods. He had read the books, he may have also taken advantage of audio books to make the task easier, but he read them.

“Good, those are your history books. Everything is real, and you are part of it.”

“Mom-”

“Dont “mom” me, you wanted me to be direct, yes? This is me being direct. Unfortunately I don't have all the information, so I'm taking you somewhere where they can tell you everything.”

The car lapses into silence as Tim thinks, but he's only left with more questions than answers.

“Rest my child, I'll wake you when we're close.”

You don't have to tell Tim twice, as soon as he's given permission, he loses himself in the land of dreams.

Of course he ends up exactly where he left off.

Tim watched as Batman carried his son to the batmobile. Covered in dust and blood, it's a sad scene.

He shakes his head to “change the channel” . He doesn't have a specific location or person in mind, just away. This is.. Too personal. He wants to give them privacy.

He finds himself sitting at a lake. The water is bright blue, the kind of thing he's only seen in pictures. Its… calm. Its bright. He can almost imagine families, normal families, laughing and playing in the water.

“Beautiful isn't it?” there's suddenly a boy sitting next to him. Tim doesn't look at him.

Tim hums, “water’s clean.”

“Probably the cleanest in the world, rumor has it even Poseidon's castle is surrounded by microplastics.”

“People are selfish, they take whatever they want and dump what no longer serves them on the side of the road.”

The boy huffs, “it's not only the mortals who are selfish.” there's a touch of humor in his voice.

Tim hums. It's calm here, he can think.

“Can you tell me the truth?”

The boy pulls a red flower out of thin air, spinning it between his fingers “you'll be claimed soon enough.”

“Cryptic.”

“Perhaps. But it's not my news to break.”

The boys sit in comfortable silence, the concept of time warping as the water laps at the lakes edge.

Notes:

im trying my damn hardest to balance well educated and literal middle schooler for Tim. had to rewrite the majority of the first half cuz it felt way too infodumpy and not cryptic enough. he will get his answers soon i promise.

also, i call my "mom" mother, to the point where it feels wrong to say mom. she's my mother and that how i refer to her to others.
i feel like Tim would have a similar issue, like yes, his mother is definitely the better of the two, but they are rich and she's never around.

i feel bad for Tim, everyone is being so cryptic, and he just wants answers. but they want him to be unaware for as long as possible to mitigate potential attacks. it may or may not help, we will see.

Chapter 4

Notes:

okay so I've decided when this takes place in the Percy Jackson universe, however ima need to re read the book because its been years. unfortunately my books are currently in a storage unit, until then im going to use online recourses to the best of my abilities. (the wiki mostly)

Tim is awoken by a hand gently grabbing his shoulder, he squints his eyes at the one who dares to interrupt…. Whatever that was.

“We're close.” she isn't looking at him, paying attention to the road.

Tim unfurls himself, stretching his legs.

He looks out at the treeline, there's a pair of teens standing on the side of the road, waving down their car. To tims shock and horror, his mother begins to pull the car over next to them.

“We are NOT picking up hitchhikers.”

she ignores him and continues to pull over

“Mother, what are you doing? You can't be serious. Aren't we going somewhere?”

“Yes, we're here, get out.”

“Wh-”

“We’re here, at the camp, go. They will help you.” her brow is furrowed but she's refusing to look at him.

Tim looks out at the teens wearing matching orange t-shirts. A tall dark haired girl, and a shorter girl with firetruck red hair. Both clearly armed, the tall one with a wooden staff of some kind, and the redhead with what appears to be a baseball bat.

He pulls himself together and exits the car.

As soon as the door is closed his mother is driving off. He's not surprised, it's no different than usual, he doubts she actually loves him at this point. Nice while it lasted he guesses.

“Hey kid,” a hand rests on his shoulder, gently pulling him away from the road, “I'm Elena, and tall, dark and brooding is Ruby. We should get going though, try to get you settled before dinner, yeah?” the shorter girl smiled.

Without much choice, Tim followed their lead through the trees, up to a large pine with a golden fleece hanging from its branches, and a dragon curled up around the base of it.

“That's Peleus, he's harmless, promise.” a hand placed on his back to keep him moving, “mostly.”

The dragon lifts its head at the mention of its name, he sniffs the air and settles back down. Similar to how a cat would.

Reaching the peak of the hill, that he later learns is called “Half-blood Hill” Tim can see the entire camp. Volleyball, arts and crafts, rock climbing, the lake from his dream, 12 cabins, and countless children and teens in orange t-shirts doing whatever activities they please. (and a partridge in a pear tree)

“Is that lava?” Tim says doing a double take of the rock climbing wall.

Elena grins, “yeah, makes things more challenging. Want a closer look?”

“Let's get you to the big house first, introduce you to Mr.D and Chiron.” Ruby says, steering them towards the big white country house.

Notes:

original characters?? sorry but i dont have any plans for him interacting with the main cast, hes just one of the random nameless background campers. so i gotta invent some friends. (the hardest part, ngl, i need help)

Edit: for anyone worried about the ocs, they are only relevant for a few chapters. Just to set up what I need to to get the ball truly rolling

side note, i was looking at campers and apparently there was a camper in the 50s, daughter of Athena, named Bea Wise. idk just found that way too funny, it just proves that even major authors have a hard time naming characters sometimes.

Chapter 5

Summary:

New camper orientation :D

Notes:

Happy holidays, I come bearing a gift.

Currently at my parents house for the week and my dad gave me a really strong gummy. I was astral projecting. Note to self, believe the label when it says "knockout" (how tf is that legal??)

Tim finds himself sitting on a leopard print couch watching the “orientation film” and it honestly leaves more questions than answers.

It was a lot so here's the cliff notes:

1. Apollo is a very energetic host.

2. The man currently sitting in a wheelchair doing paperwork is a centaur.

3. His mom wasn't kidding about “history books”

4. His father is a god, unclear which one (he might never know)

5. This thing needed to be updated

6. Apollo is a terrible host

7. Using cell signals basically doxes him

8. Seriously this thing is starting to get on his nerves

Having enough of whatever that was, Tim takes a better look around the office he finds himself in. The two girls that brought him in had been shooed away soon after they arrived.

A pair of large bookshelves, walls covered in pictures and newspaper clippings, grape vines clinging to the walls. A mounted leopard head above the fireplace. The desk that the apparent centaur was still busy with paperwork.

There's another couch with a blonde, cow-like teen sleeping on it. Orange tee, pajama pants, and socks. What Tim assumes to be the older boy’s shoes are discarded haphazardly on the floor. As if sensing that he's being watched the boy opens one of his eyes and smiles.

They stare at each other for a moment, the older boy seeming to be having a silent conversion with Tim, however Tim seems to have missed something because the boy suddenly sits up.

“I'm giving him the tour,” he declares.

The man -Chiron, they said it in the video- at the desk looks up at him, “Clovis, are you sure-”

He's cut off by a red glow enveloping the room. The blonde -Clovis apparently- simply gives the man a shit eating grin, as Chiron yawns.

He narrows his eyes at Tim, no he's not looking at him but above him. Tim looks up to see a bright red flower floating above him, a poppy his mind supplies.

“Fine, but you're drinking coffee beforehand, I don't want you putting anybody to sleep by accident again.” The man stands and he can finally see that yup, he's half horse. How he managed to squeeze all that into a wheelchair, Tim doesn't even begin to question.

Instead he looks to Clovis, “what was that?”

“You were just claimed by Hypnos, god of sleep. But I already knew that, he told me you were coming today.”

“My… dad.”

“OUR dad, I'm also a son of Hypnos.”

Before Tim could continue to question his apparent brother, a coffee cup is handed to him, and Clovis is quickly supplied one as well, “off you go, make sure you eat dinner.” Chiron quickly leads them out of his office.

Tim looks at Clovis, expecting an explanation, only to witness the older boy chugging his cup like it's the first cup of water he's had in days. When he's done he simply places the mug on a table and turns back to Tim, who is gently sipping on the blackest coffee he's ever tasted.

Notes:

I know that I mentioned Tim drinking coffee before, but I feel like Clovis/Chiron is the reason why his addiction gets REALLY bad

Clovis only shows up a handful of times and I have yet to actually read The Tripple Headed Godess. I know that he doesn't really do much outside of sleeping, so he's definitely out of character.

But cannon is merely a framework for my bullshit, so bare with me.

I probably got 1 or 2 chapters of setup before I'm forced to actually have plot, and I have a goal but no idea how to get there

Chapter 6

Notes:

i wrote most of this chapter on a plane. (over 500 words! yippee)

anyways ages (because its semi important):

Tim: 11
Clovis: 14
Chiron: who knows?
Elena: 21
Ruby: 17

The tour was… lacking. For all that Clovis was boxy it was obvious he didn't participate in many “camp activities” if the older boy’s lack of muscle mass and endurance was anything to go by. And for all of his initial enthusiasm, Clovis didn't get far, even with the most caffeinated cup of coffee Tim has ever tasted, he was losing energy extraordinarily quickly.

This guy was worse than Tim!

Tim followed Clovis across camp. Listening as the older boy pointed out landmarks in view. The strawberry fields, the dining pavilion, the amphitheater, the lake, arts and crafts etc. And gave his opinions on sleeping in various areas. But they didn't approach any of them, making their way straight to the cabins.

12 cabins for the 12 Olympian gods. Each cabin with a distinctive appearance related to the god who each child was spawned from. Unfortunately, Tim's apparent father was not among these gods so he had to stay in the Hermes cabin. Which is where Clovis is headed.

“Go ahead and pick a bunk that looks unused, or find somewhere on the floor,” Clovis instructs between yawns as he actively climbs into a bunk close to the door, “ and be wary of thieves, Hermes’ kids are known for sticky fingers.”

With that the blonde boy closes his eyes and is off to dreamland. Tim is only half surprised.

Looking around, the cabin was packed with dozens of bunk beds, and there were still sleeping bags on the floors. There were only a couple of kids hanging out inside the cabin, most presumably participating in various camp activities.

Tim spots Elena As he walks through the cabin looking for an Unused looking spot. She's sitting between a pair of beds, half hidden behind her knees as she scribbles in a notebook. Her dyed hair falling into her face.

She glances up as he passes and smiles, “Hey squirt, need help settling in?”

“It's Tim,” he glances around and nods, “just to find an unclaimed space.”

She nods, carefully closing her notebook before she stands, “Alright Tim, let's find you a sleeping bag.”

“No beds?”

“Trust me, if there was one, it has long since been claimed by another floor dweller.” She laughs, as she leads him to the back of the cabin, “you might be able to steal one from a part timer, but it's mostly first come first serve unless you wanna fight for it.”

“Literally or figuratively?”

“Depends on who you're up against.” She pulls a neon green sleeping bag from who knows where and tosses it to Tim, “there you go, you're all set.”

“Right….” Tim looks at the object, the idea of sleeping makes him feel ill. In the car he was able to sleep because he was still in shock, but now that he has time… he wrinkles his nose.

Picking up on his shift in mood Elena glances at Clovis, “did sleeping beauty give you the tour?”

“Tour is a strong word, but yeah.”

“No offense to him, but i'm giving you a tour. And we’re raiding the armory” her grin is infectious.

Notes:

i would like to show some love to my friend for lending me her character for this. seriously, she is helping me out so much (everything short of actually being a beta reader) Elena was not supposed to be important. but here we are. (its best to keep an eye on her)

this story has a mind of its own and im trying to gently lead it into the direction it needs to go. trying to figure out how to get this kid back to Gotham is literally impossible (im thinking quest but that requires a prophecy and lots of planning, how tf does uncle rick do it?)

Chapter 7

Notes:

i got super distracted playing the Batman Arkham trilogy.

obligatory strange life happenings of an ao3 author:
-I'm moving into my permanent house next month!!! (the people renting our house are moving out as we speak)
-im going to meet my bio dad's family this week. (minus the deadbeat dad)
-a drug deal gone bad happened outside my parents house. shots fired. none of my brothers noticed... somehow... nobody was hurt as far as i know.

enjoy the chapter! 510 words!!!!

Welcome back to Tim's sparknotes for infodumping segments. Where the author has decided details are tedious and hard to write.

The tour:

-These kids are literally training for an upcoming war.

-Elena is a daughter of Iris

-Different areas training Different skills (archery, sword fighting, climbing, smithing, medical training, etc)

-This also includes random crafts and hobbies (including, farming and painting)

-The woods are currently off limits because of monsters (not really off limits, but only pre-approved campers can enter)

They end the tour in the armory, which is really just a glorified weapons shed. Literally a shed, just full of magic weapons that can't harm mortals. There's not even a lock on it. That's unsafe anywhere, doubly so in Gotham. They just- waltz in, without a care in the world.

Well, Elena did, Tim couldn't help but glance around to make sure they weren't being watched. Nobody was watching, nobody was even looking. Everyone was so carefree, he’s going to need to get used to that. He shakes his head and finally enters the weapons shed.

A yellow light buzzes overhead,(an obvious later addition to the structure) illuminating the various blades and bows that line the walls and shelves. There are barrels of swords and piles of shields. A section of long sticks catches his eye, spears.

He approaches the line of spears and picks up one of the shorter ones, just barely taller than him, giving it an experimental twirl. Elena laughs at him.

“What?”

“That's not how you use a spear. Style points don't help in a fight, despite the protests of the Aphrodite cabin.”

Tim shrugs her off, “it just feels natural?”

“Okay, but you're also getting a dagger, spears are great but a dagger is portable.”

He relents and allows her to drag him over to the shelf of daggers, giving a few of them a little twirl, much to her disappointment. He eventually settles on a slightly curved blade, and she helps him situate the sheath on his belt, before dragging him out to teach him the basics before she sets him free.

By the time they hear the conch announcing dinner, Tim has been through it. He's tired, sweaty, and just wants to pass out.

And now he's being dragged to the dining pavilion.

How long has it been since the car? Tim regrets following her out of the cabin. He should have gone back to sleep when he had the chance.

His eyes are half lidded when he's guided to a seat, he stares at the plate and to his shock its quickly filled with BBQ and fruit by invisible…. People?? He's too tired to really ask. So instead he blinks at his empty cup. Genuinely expecting it to just fill on its own.

Someone elbows him, “it's enchanted, say what you want and it wont run out.”

“Oh…” he whispers, bringing the cup closer, “coffee.. please.”

He eats, fumbles his way through an “offering” that is apparently a required performance every night, and sneaks off to the cabins to sleep.

Notes:

my only goals for this chapter was:
1) give tim a weapon
and 2) have him eat

great success!! i actually did some research on weapons and found a video of how i imagine Tim and Damian would spar in future
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wALQlCwKhUo

and heres a link to some doodles in did because of this fic www.tumblr.com/hidden-eyeballs/771404267561091072

next time: small time skip and actual plot... hopefully...
it will be posted when i write it

Chapter 8

Summary:

Tim tries to get Nightwing to help Batman.

Notes:

great success! time skip!

however this chapter got out of hand and i somehow wrote 651 words of completely unplanned character interaction in a single day.

is this plot? maybe? its not the plot i wanted/planned but here we are.

It's been 2 weeks and Clovis has not allowed Tim to snoop on whatever is happening in Gotham. Clovis being the more practiced and older of the two, he easily drags Tim though various dreams and places.

And when Tim is finally, FINALLY, allowed to dream for himself again, he does not like what he sees. Batman is angry, very angry, and robin is nowhere to be seen. Tim makes the connection, realizing that Jason died, and decides that he needs to be there YESTERDAY.

Clovis appears next to him on the Gotham rooftop overlooking the alley, “the only way you're going to be able to help is to wait for fall. Unless you can manage to get a quest.”

His head snaps to look at the older boy, “how do I get a quest?”

He sighs, “In the morning, go to the Big House and tell Chiron that you want to see The Oracle. If you're lucky, you'll be given a quest.”

Tim hums, focusing back on the poor sap in the alley. The man was in rough shape after his run in with the bat, wheezing with probably broken ribs.

Tim strengthens his resolve and grabs Clovis’ arm, shifting locations. Now they stand in Bludhaven, outside the door of an apartment. He leads the way inside and makes his way to the main bedroom. The bed is empty.

“Who’s house is this?” Clovis looks around, there's clothes everywhere.

“Nightwing,” Tim checks the clock, “he should be back soon.”

“You know he can't see us, right?”

“I have a plan, don't worry,” Tim flops onto the bed, the sheets don't shift, “just gotta wait.”

Clovis leaves and Tim waits.

 

Dick gets back to his apartment exhausted, it's nearly 3 am and he's been up for more than 24 hours at this point. He showers and eats on autopilot before he flops in bed, asleep before his head hits the pillow.

There's a knock at his door. He squints his eyes at the clock, 4:27, he turns over to go back to sleep, ignoring it.

There's another knock, this one louder and more urgent.

With a groan, Dick peels himself out of bed and goes to answer the door, “what could you possibly-”

There's a child at his door. He blinks down at the kid, “you know it's way too early to be selling girl scout cookies.”

The kid glares at him, “you need to go back to Gotham.”

“Wha-” the kid holds up a hand, apparently not done.

“Batman is going on a rampage and its only a matter of time before he breaks his no killing rule. Bruce NEEDS you.”

Dick pinches his nose, “look kid, i don't know why you think that's my problem.”

“Robin’s DEAD, Nightwing! And B is not taking it well.” tears start rolling down the kids face.

He crouches to be eye level with the kid, ignoring the obvious info leak he's going to need to report later, “Me and B aren't on good terms. I can’t go back to Gotham right now.” he speaks softly.

Doing his best to comfort the kid, he reaches out a hand to wipe the kid's tears when the kid’s hand snaps out and grabs his wrist. Suddenly he's in a Gotham alley.

There's a man breathing ragged breaths, crumpled in a heap on the floor. Dick rushes to start basic first aid only for his hands to pass uselessly through the man. He curses as he hovers uselessly over the man.

He’s snapped back to his apartment, child gripping his wrist and glaring into his eyes, “Bruce NEEDS you.”

“I-” Dick stammers, feeling insanely guilty, “I can't… i just…. B is an adult, he can figure it out.”

The kid frowns at him. “Fine.” the door is suddenly slammed in his face.

Dick, startled, sits up in bed. He blinks in confusion. “Was that a dream?”

Notes:

i had zero plans for Dick to be in this fic, apparently Tim had other plans.

how will this effect things? who knows? not me!

Chapter 9

Notes:

im not dead! I've just been super busy finally moving into my permanent address!! there was a lot of work to do, and there still is, but we are mostly settled now.

and now that i have access to my books again i can reference them as needed, which i immediately put to use in this chapter.

happy reading :) <3

Tim roused himself from sleep, far too early for anyone. Except maybe the Apollo cabin, because the sun is just barely peeking above the horizon. There are several personal lights on where various people fell asleep working on whatever they were working on, probably battle plans if he's being honest with himself. The war is definitely looming.

He drags himself out of bed, he has things to do. He rubs his face as he makes his way to the Big House.

He stands at the door, debating on knocking. It's technically a public area so he decides to just open the door.

He enters the office from his first day, empty.

“Of course,” he sighs as he claims a couch and takes a nap while he waits.

 

Chiron is not one to consume mind altering substances, but when he walks into his office to find a 11 year old sleeping on his couch, who wasn't there when he went to bed, he runs through the list in his head of every drug he knows and how it might help him deal with this situation.

The list is surprisingly long, guess his party pony days aren't far enough behind him.

He's considering nutmeg intoxication when the kid suddenly sits upright.

This, of course, triggers his camp therapist instincts and he is prepared to calm the kid down from a panic attack. The kid however looks straight at him, not a hint of fear.

Chiron knows all the kids at camp, it is his job after all, (despite Mr. D's insistence that it doesn't matter) but it isn't until this moment that he fully recognizes the child in front of him. One of their newest campers, a rich kid from Gotham who ended up being a child of sleep.

He honestly Wasn't expecting to see much of the boy after he'd been claimed, but he has been seen around the training grounds and spending a lot of time with the Athena cabin.

“I want to see The Oracle.” The kid, Tim, tells him.

 

And that's how Tim ends up in the attic, face to face with a mummified corpse of a hippie. The dried out husk of a woman in a tie-dye dress sitting amongst various nick knacks and souvenirs from previous quests. He wrinkles his nose at the sight, feeling bad for the woman that used to inhabit the bones before him. Such a careless way to treat your dead.

Tim stares at the woman, debating on storming down the stairs and giving the big horse man a lecture on how to treat the dead, when suddenly it moves.

She sits up, green smoke pouring from her mouth and covering the floor. Tim steps back as tendrils of smoke reach for his ankles. They twist around his body, they're not constricting him just ensuring he can't leave. And that's when he hears her.

“I am the spirit of Delphi,” her words are less spoken and more like snakes that slithered into his mind, “speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo. Approach, seeker, and ask”

A small tug on his leg has him stepping forward, “how can I help Batman?”

Smoke coils around him, and a dozen voices speak in unison,

 

“Return to Gotham and help the bat after,”

“The baby bird was taken by laughter,”

“The son of sleep helps manage grief,”

“The joker’s son brings true relief.”

 

Prophecy complete, the snakes of smoke merge and return to the open maw of the woman.

Notes:

Look! its the plot I've been talking about for the last couple of chapters! the oracle's self intro is almost directly from The Lightning Thief (page 140 for those who care)

after last chapter i started using tumblr a lot more, there's bits and bobs, more lore and some art for this universe on there. my username is "hidden-eyeballs" if you want to check it out. I'm also planning on posting some of my scrapped prophecies (it went through like.. 5 different drafts)

Chapter 10

Summary:

try to convince dick part 2 electric boogaloo

Notes:

im not giving up, it might take me a while but ima finish this fic, i just made a checklist for myself and everything for major plot points

i will persevere!!

After the fastest and most chaotic taxi ride of his life, Tim finds himself… back home. To nobody’s surprise, his parents have long since left on another expedition.

He quickly makes his way inside and to his bedroom, lifting up a loose floorboard and sifting through photos. He knows it's cliche to hide things in the floor, but he didn't have any better ideas and he cannot risk these photos being found by just anyone.

He finds his thumb drive of video evidence and pockets It along with a couple of photos just in case. He's going to attempt talking to Dick again before he goes after Batman and The Joker.

He grabs his casual backpack(aka his stalker backpack), his laptop and phones, then he makes his way to the nearest bus station. It's not a short ride. And actually involves 2 transfers. It takes far too long, and Tim sleeps most of the way there.

 

Dick slept in, its his first true day off since he's gotten back to earth. Its already afternoon when he flops over and rubs the much needed sleep out of his eyes.

He eats a very late breakfast and gets ready to chill on the couch for the rest of the day. But because he cannot have anything nice, he gets a knock on the door as soon as he sits down.

He elects to ignore the visitor, anybody who knows him personally would have just entered the apartment without asking. It can't be that important.

Then the knocking turns to someone pounding on his door and he has no choice but to peel himself off the couch and answer the door.

He's greeted by a familiar prepubescent kid wearing a bright orange t-shirt, “we should talk inside” the kid tells him as he glances around.

“Whatever it is, we can talk here.”

The boy sighs, pulling a printed photo out of his pocket, “i really think we should talk inside.”

Dick goes to snatch the photo from the kid, but it's pulled away far too quickly.

“I got video evidence too, so i would really recommend letting me inside,” the kid states, pocketing the photo once more.

With a sigh, he allows the kid to enter his apartment, “make yourself at home, i guess.”

“I can't stay long, just learned that whenever I leave Gotham I could be hunted for sport.”

“You're being followed!?” Dick quickly shuts the door. He hopes its not assassins.

“Less followed, more…. tracked. But that's enough about me, I need to ask you to be Robin again.” The kid turns on him jabbing a finger into the older Man's chest, “Bruce needs someone there for him while i look for a suitable replacement.”

“Why don't you do it then?”

“What-” the kid stops, and takes a minute, mumbling to himself, “but she said- what about…. I would be better equipped to find… she did say i would help…”

The kid looks up at him and he just shrugs, “he could probably help you with whoever is hunting you.”

The kid frowns, “Not really, but it will help me with something else….”

The kid’s eyes sparkle with an idea and he quickly shoves past Dick and out the door, slamming it

In his face

again

Notes:

this chapter is just delaying the inevitable. ngl.

i am actually excited to write a certain part, its already partly written i just gotta get there first :)

Chapter 11

Notes:

Oh my… it’s been….. 5 MONTHS??!?!! I’ve been busyyyyy

A lot of family stuff. 8 planes in 3 months is WILD. I even wrote half of this chapter in Germany. (My uncle got married, I didn’t have a ton of time to be a tourist)

Speaking of travel, I had the displeasure of going to the Paris airport for a layover. -100/10 worst airport I’ve ever been to. The Amsterdam airport was fine tho

And finally a quick shoutout to my friend for kicking my butt into gear by recommending fics for “inspiration”

Being the one and only child of the Drake family comes with certain… advantages… not being well known while maintaining that position however, does not.

Tim is well aware he has more freedom than the average socialite. Can't ruin a reputation if nobody knows what you look like, right?? But you also can't use that reputation….

Not that it matters when face to face with the bat.

The cloaked figure in question seems to materialize on the roof behind the small boy, and hesitates.

“You shouldn't be here,” he growls.

The boy simply turns and, with all the seriousness a middle schooler can muster, simply glares. Doing a pretty good impression of his disappointed mother.

“Go home.” The shadows seem to grow around the cloaked man.

The kid’s scowl deepens, arms crossed, “you first.”

The world seems to stop around them as they stare at each other, both unwilling to give an inch.

They stay like that for a long time.

The boy clicks his tongue in disapproval, “Go home, Bruce.”

The man makes a noise akin to a growl, “where are your parents?”

“Out.”

“Out?”

“Yes, out. Where's your butler?”

Batman stiffens, his voice measured, “is that a threat?”

The boy shrugs, "I can't ask you about YOUR parents, now can I?”

Batman huffs, quickly closing the distance to grab the kid.

The kid stumbles back a half step, “I'm just trying to-”

As soon as Batman gets hold, the boy goes limp in his arms. He almost drops him because of how suddenly it happens.

Quickly looking over the boy, there are no obvious wounds, no physical explanation for the sudden loss of consciousness. He's just… asleep??

Shit.

______________________________

 

Tim stumbles backward away from Batman. And just as a hand grasps his arm, he's falling into the abyss.

He lands on his back hard enough to knock the air out of him. Spots dance across his vision as he tries to catch his breath. Rainbows filtering through trees come into focus as he regains his composure.

He's in a forest, almost that of a fairytale. Warm and inviting, with minimal undergrowth.

Whispers tickle his ears

“not yet”

“it’s not time”

Before Tim can turn around someone grabs him from behind, wrapping arms around his middle, pinning his arms to his sides.

He squirms. And the whispers continue

“soon”

“not much longer”

He tries to get a glimpse of whoever is holding him, but even their arms seem to be redacted from his vision, leaving nothing but a fuzzy dark blob.

Suddenly the whispers stop and shout all at once,

“WAKE UP”

Notes:

What’s B gonna do to/with him???

Where will our young demigod awaken???

(Seriously this story is getting away from me, idk yet either)

Hopefully I will update again soon <3

Chapter 12: He's in the walls

Summary:

Tim has the survival instincts of a wet cat

Notes:

I want to publicly apologize to my friend, because while I seem to be unaffected by any curse, he has the worst luck imaginable in my stead.

Meanwhile me and my writing advisor(im giving her a permotion) have had this theory for a while and hes just now come to accept it.

I would also like to add, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. So much fun that I absolutely demolished my goal of 500 words a chapter by writing 916!!! (Yall should be really proud of me)

Tim sits up, very suddenly awake.

He clutches his head, his brain swimming, “that’s new,” he whispers to himself. He’s always been able to semi control when he falls asleep. So to just…. He’s never actually passed out like that before….

He blinks away the brightness of the room and it takes him a minute to realize that the walls are actually white. A hospital room?

As he takes in his surroundings he notices a dark shape near the door. Tim’s blood runs cold, Batman took him to the hospital.

They stare at each other for a long moment before the dark knight speaks up,

“How are you feeling?” His tone is soft and warm, he sounds nothing like the man who he confronted on the roof. He almost sounds like he cares.

Tim narrows his eyes, “I’m fine, Bruce. Where are we?”

He stiffens, “I took you to Leslie’s clinic,” he says slowly, “who’s Bruce?”

“Who’s Bruce? WHOS BRUCE!? Is That Your Best Defense!?”

“Im going to go get the doctor, you need to be double checked for a concussion.”

He slips out of the room before Tim could voice any objections. Not that it matters, he’s leaving.

Thankfully they didn’t attach him to anything yet, so he can slip out without alerting any monitoring system. Unfortunately there’s no windows in the room, and he really doesn’t want to risk running into anyone in the hall.

In a sudden strike of genius, he looks up. The ceilings are those weird plaster tiles, it just might work.

After gathering his things he approaches a countertop with a cabinet hanging above it.

“Can’t be worse than the lava wall.”

Being a scrawny 11 year old, the cabinet shelves easily hold his weight as he slides a tile out of place and scrambles through, only barely replacing the tile before he hears a knock and the door open.

“Good evening, I’m Dr.Les-“ a woman announces, cutting herself off.

Not good. Not good. Not Good. Tim was hoping to put a little more distance between himself and this room before anyone entered again. He’s frozen, rooted to the spot, heart pounding in his chest so hard he’s afraid it is giving away his location.

There’s movement somewhere below him. Hushed voices likely discussing his disappearance.

Tim needs to MOVE before anyone else thinks to look up. He slowly breathes out, forcing his body to calm down, before he starts picking his way across the hidden structures of the building, careful not to step on anything that might not hold his weight.

He cringes as he moves through a spiderweb he didn’t see. He dares not make a sound, even as his skin crawls with phantom spiders. (He may not be a child of Athena, but spiders still freak him out a bit)

He decides to stop at what he assumes to be a small supply room, after finding no other exit options. He waits a few minutes, listening for any signs of movement before he shifts a tile to look into the room.

It’s an office, dimly lit by a sliver of the hall light from the ajar door. Not ideal, but he couldn’t find any less obvious exits, so creepy office it is.

He pulls the tile further aside and carefully drops down, dangling from his perch before landing on his feet and rolling onto his back with a quiet “oof”. He quickly scrambles to his feet and peers through the gap in the door. Only to be greeted with the sight of Batman standing against the wall across from the door.

Tim, startled, jerks back, bumping the door in his surprise, very quickly gaining the dark knight's attention.

The man is on him in an instant, quickly grabbing Tim by the hood of his jacket.

Tim doesn't hiss. HE DOESN'T. Even if B is holding him like he's a feral cat.

Tim flails in his grip, kicking out at the man in hopes of landing something and being able to escape.

Unfazed, Batman brings him back to the room he woke up in, and plops him down on the bed once more. Retracting his hand before Tim can bite it.

Tim crosses his arms and glares at the man.

This time he doesn’t leave Tim completely alone in the room, simply sticks his head out and flags down a nurse. Who swiftly leaves to inform the doctor of his recapture while Bruce takes his position by the door to watch him.

Tim loses the staring contest when there’s a knock at the door and he shifts his attention to the newcomer.

A woman enters with an easy smile and a clipboard, “hello, I’m Dr. Leslie Tompkins, I’m just here to take a quick look at you. Is that okay?”

Tim wrinkles his nose at the woman, no, it’s not okay he’s busy.

With a significant amount of grumbling from the boy, she’s able to check him over, unable to get him to answer any questions outside of a yes or no.

Soon enough Dr. Tompkins gives him the all clear. Giving the kid permission to go on his way.

Unfortunately, Batman disagrees with letting him run off on his own, something about “observation.”

So Tim is once again grabbed by his hood as he tries to make a break for it. This time being brought outside and sat in the batmobile's backseat.

Batman makes sure his seatbelt is on before he starts driving, essentially kidnapping Tim.

Notes:

You know... I did not expect this to happen. The story continues to get away from me as I attempt to reel it back in.

 

I am an unreliable narrator and it SHOWS

 

Thank you guys for your continued support, every comment helps :)

Notes:

You've reached the current end of the fic,

Any ideas and theories are always welcome, thanks so much for reading :D

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Sleeping Drake extended universe