First case.

[dorkwonder]

[As soon as Tim found himself suddenly transported to a strange new place, he scurried over to a shadow and began to gather intel. Wherever he went, a journal appeared at the area he was inspecting. After awhile he realized it was the same journal appearing over and over. So, he finally picked it up and began to read through it. The entries gave him a decent idea of what was going on. Combing the entries with the view of the sky made it obvious he was no longer on Earth. Tim was no stranger to the multiverse. He knew that the name “Wayne” was recognized in some of the alternative Earths.

When Tim finally dictates an entry of his own, his voice comes out sounding nervous and awkward. Instead of introducing himself as Tim Drake, the ward of multi-billionaire Bruce Wayne, he's Alvin Draper; confused high-school student.]

Okay, so I know there's the whole “be careful what you wish for”, but this is kind of overkill. And by “kind of”, I mean completely. I just wanted to get out of my Calculus test! A fire alarm or sneeze attack would have worked.

[His voice sounds increasingly nervous as he speaks.]

So, uh, my name is Alvin Draper and I'm not from around here. I don't even know if I'm from the same world as this place. This is what I get for wishing I was in all of those sci-fi novels I've read, huh? Ahaha. Seriously, I never going to wish for anything again. Anyway, um, if anyone could let me know what's going on here and how I get back home, that would be great. Thanks.

[ooc: Just as a side note, since Tim's father is in a coma and not dead in his memories, he currently thinks he's the ward of Bruce Wayne and not his adopted son.]

Comments

[dorkwonder]

We can handle it.

[His gaze lingers on the window for awhile longer, before he returns his attention back to her.]

I have a few more questions for you, but we should move somewhere more private first.

[secondchances]

We can go to my room. You've got one here somewhere, but we'll have to find it.

You can meet my roommate.

[A smile, and she starts heading back the way she came. Keep up, Tim!]

[dorkwonder]

Okay.

[Tim follows behind her and watches her thoughtfully. Three years is a long time to be away from home. He spent a few months away from home and was itching to return home. She spent a year away from Gotham, but this was different. At least back then she had a purpose for leaving and knew she could come back home whenever.

Despite himself, he also can't help but wonder what things had been like between the two of them here. With their history anything could happen. Then again, she's around three years older him, maybe more depending on when she arrived here. Does she see him as a kid?]

[secondchances]

[She keeps a step ahead of him as they head over to the tower, and then up the stairs. She hates silence like this, but she's busy trying to figure out how she feels. Nervous? Tense? Happy? Excited? Maybe all of the above.

Most of the complicated stuff she's been dealing with lately hasn't been her own. This could potentially change. Toss Tim into her life, and things ALWAYS change.

Time to break the silence with small talk.]

It's a few more floors up. The towers don't have elevators, but the main floors do.

[dorkwonder]

That's fine, I wanted to stretch my legs, anyway.

[Taps his fingers against the banister as they ascend the stairs.]

How old are you now? Does age matter here since time and physical aging works differently? I'm going to be eighteen in a couple of months, but something tells me the month here isn't the same month as back home.

[secondchances]

I either say I'm nineteen or twenty-one, depending on who I'm talking to and the situation. [Sometimes it's better to be younger. But she feels older, most of the time.] We don't physically age here, but most people just go by mental age, I guess.

Kara's getting cheated out a birthday, too, but there's no harm in celebrating it whenever. As far as I know, we don't have a birthday police.

And it's January, by the way.

[dorkwonder]

How old are you in this situation?

[Smirks at the birthday police comment.]

Even if there was one, they wouldn't come after me. I don't see the point of celebrating anything here.

[secondchances]

We'll go with nineteen. [It's too weird, being that much older.

She pauses outside her door. She can already see a problem.]

Celebrating is important, here. Keeps you sane. You might not be here for three years, but you'll need things to look forward to. Otherwise, you won't be a happy camper.

[And she opens the door. Her place is more or less a giant room with a small kitchen area, desk, bed, sofa, and other various things. Surfaces tend to have stuff in piles on them, but it's mostly organized since Kara's been over a lot. It's all very Steph.

Oh, there's also a fairly large dog hopping off of the bed to come inspect the newcomer.]

Ace, Tim. Tim, Ace. My roommate.

[dorkwonder]

Ninteen it is. [Feels better thinking of her as only a year or so older than him, versus three.]

What does it matter, though? I've been here before and I don't remember any of it. In some ways it's like nothing that happens here is real.

[Ah, good ol' logical, unfeeling side. Fortunately he pauses for a moment and realizes he just implied that three years of her life were more or less a waste.]

Then again, maybe when we get out of here, there'll be a way to keep our memories with us.

[Blinks and switches his attention over to the dog. Holds out a hand so Ace can sniff him and get a feel for him.]

Nice to meet you, Ace.

[secondchances]

[That hurt a bit. She bites her tongue so that she doesn't snap back without thinking--he deserves the benefit of the doubt. He just got here.

It's good he tacks on that bit about keeping memories.]

I hope so. A lot of people hope so, actually.

[After a sniff, Ace seems content.]

Would you believe me if I told you his original owners were an old, retired Bruce Wayne and a future Batman named Terry?

[dorkwonder]

Yeah, I read that some of the people here are dead. Something tells me they aren't in a hurry to leave this place. There's got to be some way to let the people who want to stay here,stay, and for everyone else to leave.

[Kneels down by Ace and scratches underneath his chin. An expression of surprise spreads across his face.]

Bruce was here before? [Instead of weirding him out, it's actually comforting to know that somewhere out there, there's a Bruce who lives to be old. It gives him hope that their Bruce will do the same.]

[secondchances]

Dead, or come from terrible worlds. Some people like their lives here better than the ones they have at home. So, if a way out is found, it has to be optional.

[Stephanie nods, kneeling down to pet Ace, too.]

He was here a few times. Different universes, but still Bruce. There have been multiple versions of you, too. Same with Barbara and Dick.

[She misses some of them.]

The last Bruce that was here, he set up a room on top of one of the towers. [A Batroom, though he always refused to call it that. Too many bathroom jokes.] I'll give you the codes for it later. It's not much, just a lot of empty file cabinets, a big dusty computer, a white board, and a few training mats, but you might want it.

[dorkwonder]

[They've all been here before and none of them found a way out? As confident as Tim is, he knows he's not Bruce. No one's Bruce. If Bruce couldn't find a way out then...no. There has to be a reason why he wasn't able to find a way out. Maybe he lost his detective skills or something related to them.

Latches onto that thought and turns to look at Steph with a new found intensity in his eyes.]

Kara's entry detailed how people lose something when they come here. Do you know what they lost? Was it at all related to their detective skills or ability to gather information?

[secondchances]

[He's looking for an answer he wants. Something to make the answer to EVERYTHING easier to discern. She watches him, then looks at Ace.

He was looking for a reason why no one else found the way out.]

The last Bruce that was here couldn't aim. Batarangs, paper balls, whatever. He was always off. Dick, the one from our world, had no idea who me, Cass, or Barbara were. Batgirls were just not in his memory. It's always been stuff like that, with us. Detective skills seemed to be intact.

[dorkwonder]

[No, no, noo. Not the answers he was looking for. Tim quickly springs to his feet and walks away from the other two. Within seconds he's pacing and quickly becoming consumed by his thoughts and anxiety.]

I can't stay here for years.

[No one knows for sure that time freezes back home. From what he's gathered, there are a few people who don't believe it. What if his father wakes up and he's not there? Worse yet, what if his father passes away and he's not there at this side? He'll never be able to forgive himself if either of those things happen.]

[secondchances]

[She frowns, staying where she is as he paces. It's a lot to take in, even for Tim. Especially for Tim.]

You won't. The number of people who stay here for over a year is tiny. I'm not the rule, I'm the exception.

[She expects most of her friends to leave before she does. It's not always a pleasant thought, but one she's come to terms with, for the most part.]

[dorkwonder]

[Shakes his head, disregarding any reassure she's trying to give him.]

If time passes back home, then even months is too long.

[His voice comes out quiet, a little shaky although he's doing his best to cover his emotion up.]

What if my father wakes up and I'm not there? What if he doesn't...[Doesn't finish his sentence out loud, it's too painful.]

[secondchances]

[She stands up. That... doesn't sound right. Him knowing she's Batgirl, and him about to turn eighteen gives her a good time frame.

His father definitely wasn't in a state to wake up.

She hesitates, just long enough to assure herself that she didn't mishear him, and takes a step forward.]

Your father?

[dorkwonder]

Yeah.

[Pauses in his pacing to look over at her. Why does she sound surprise? Maybe she's from a few months before him and expected his father to have woken up by now...or maybe he's already woken up in her time.]

He still hasn't woken up from the coma Captain Boomerang put him in. At least not in the point of time I'm from.

[Still trying to keep his emotions in check, but if Steph looks hard enough she'll see a glint of hope in his eyes.

[secondchances]

[Steph can't stop the look of surprise from crossing her face. She never got the details of that night, only the general idea (and that was more than enough), but she knows his father didn't end up in a coma.

Her stomach churns, and for a moment she has to focus on something else so she doesn't vomit or freak out or... something. Was this his loss? He didn't know what happened to his father? Was now the time to try to explain, or does she hold onto this information and hope she never has to? The latter made the alarms in her head go off. No, probably not a good idea. The castle had a way of dragging things into light, and keeping things from Tim never worked well for her in the past.

Thanks for the anniversary present, Paradisa. Really. This is just wonderful.]

Do you wanna sit?

[dorkwonder]

No, I don't.

[Responds firmly and now he's staring at her, agitation creeping through his veins. The fact that she asked him to sit doesn't bode well with him at all.]

[secondchances]

I'm asking you to sit.

[She motions to the edge of the bed. She doesn't know why, but she thinks it'll be easier to tell him when they're both sitting. She's never had to tell anyone their father is dead, especially not when they think he's alive and might have a chance of being okay.

Her chest feels tight.]

Please.

[dorkwonder]

And I'm telling you I don't want to sit.

[Tim doesn't have time for this. He doesn't want to sit here and be told things that may or may not be true. After all, who's to say the two of them are from the same universe? Even if they are, the future version he's met of himself is proof that things can be different. By meeting their future selves, they changed the future and yet their future selves still existed. Which meant it was possible they'd created different reality.

Tim's mind clung to those thoughts because right now he couldn't face any more bad news. Especially not news of the magnitude he thinks she's implying.Not to mention the memories of the accident are so real. People here "lose" things, they don't gain things.]

I'm going to finish exploring the castle on my own.

[secondchances]

[And here they go. Steph situates herself between him and the door.]

Tim. Don't do this.

[She wants to help, but she wonders how much help telling him the truth is. What good would it do? Given his reaction, he has to know what she's trying to say.]

[dorkwonder]

[In true Bat fashion, neither of them can have nice things for very long.]

Steph, what the hell are you doing? Move out of the way.

[He doesn't want to have to force his way out of the door, but he doesn't want to listen to what she has to say either. There's no point in it. Because there's no way what she's trying to imply is true. She already told him there were multiple Bruces and Dicks and Babs out there, so why couldn't there be multiple versions of them?]