Across || Tim Drake + Avengers Crossover

Chapter 2

Tim gingerly held the device in his hands.

"Well at least we know that it isn't designed to harm people."

Damien uncrossed his arms and stopped leaning against the wall. Tim was surprised he hadn't run off with Jason or made as many biting remarks as he normally would as Tim worked on figuring the machine in the past few minutes. He would even go as far as to say Damien was being strangely cooperative. Maybe Dick really was rubbing off on his demon of a brother.

"It's about time Drake." He said disdainfully with a sneer. Oop, there was the Damien everyone knew and loved.

Tim secured the device in a compartment in his belt and moved towards the window. Damien followed behind him.

"I've made sure all trackers on this thing have been disabled and I get the general idea of how it's supposed to work, but we'd better get this back to the cave to take a better look at it."

Damien tutted in response and the two of them left through the window, swinging past the buildings towards the direction of the manor.

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Tim turned the machine in his hand, examining the underside of it. It had been several days since they'd returned with the device and they'd gotten no closer to finding out who had made it and what for. He'd already figured out that it was a transportation device, similar to that of zeta technology, but why anyone would need to make this was unknown to him. Not to mention whoever made this was extremely smart, but dumb at the same time, considering that they'd just left the device in an abandoned building without any security measures.

It was all one big puzzle to Tim. He had a growing idea of what may have happened to the maker, but couldn't be sure. Mainly because no matter how he looked at it he couldn't understand why the machine itself would be designed to remain in the starting position and not go with the user. It would have actually been easier to transport the device as well. Ever since realising that he had the potential to be transported somewhere unknown without a definite way back, Tim always made sure his gear and other necessities were close at hand whenever he had the device on him. It was always better to be prepared than stranded.

He wasn't too worried though. As long as he didn't land in some place that was filled with criminals out to get him, he could always make it back somehow, whether it be calling Bruce to pick him up or hitching rides back to Gotham. Even if criminals got to him, if he was in his civilian identity, they'd probably call Bruce for ransom or something, which honestly wouldn't be too bad either, because then at least Bruce would know where to find him.

It was currently the awkward time between dinner and patrol where dinner was over, but it was too early for patrol and Tim was sitting inside the Batcave, wondering if it'd be worth his time if he disassembled the device. He really didn't see any reason not to, seeing as he had all the blueprints scanned and examined anyway. Besides, he was curious as to how the insides looked like in person and it certainly beat doing paperwork for Wayne Enterprises. Tim yawned and debated on getting a cup of coffee but quickly shot down the idea, being too lazy to go back up to the manor to get a cup. A voice inside his head that vaguely sounded like Dick told him to get more sleep, but he ignored it, opting to get out tools from his belt. He laid them neatly on the table.

Tim felt a slight sense of excitement rise within him as he unscrewed the panels and carefully placed them out of the way. The contraption was meticulously made, care taken in arranging every wire and every tiny screw and bolt in place. He worked around the wires to extract the circuit board, trying not to tangle the wires and keeping track of where each screw came from and in which order he was taking the device apart.

He was just removing the power source when he heard an unexpected click from the machine, causing him to freeze up. Whatever it was, he was sure that it wasn't written in the blueprints. Tim peered around inside the device to spot what the click was from, dread slowly rising from within his stomach. If he'd broken a part, he'd never forgive himself. Luckily, after a close examination of the machine, it seemed to be in good condition. He passed the sound off as some part becoming undone (or a hallucination, since he wasn't too sure if he'd actually heard the sound or not. Damn he should really get some sleep.) and continued to work on it.

It wasn't until a minute later when he noticed that he was glowing. And not in a good way. The glow was gradually getting brighter and Tim momentarily panicked and quickly moved away from the device, knowing that glowing hardly ever meant anything good. He grabbed the backpack he'd filled before and paused, unsure of what to do or what was going to happen. His heart thumped increasingly harder in his ribcage. Since the machine wasn't fully put together, he really had no idea where he'd end up, assuming he survived whatever he was going through. For all he knew, this may as well make him permanently glow for the rest of his life.

He knew in his gut that something big was going to happen. It was going to happen soon and it was all because he made the dumb mistake of fiddling with the machine. What was going to happen to him? What if he died? Suddenly hit by the realization that he was faced with the unknown, Tim quickly turned to the closest camera in the Batcave. If something did happen to him Bruce would find this footage sometime or another. Hopefully. He breathed in and tried to say something, anything, but for once, he didn't know what to say. Should he say goodbye? That he'd be back soon? That he's sorry for suddenly glowing and potentially dying in the process? Tim grimaced.

"Uh-"

He was cut off as the glow suddenly became stronger, engulfing his vision and turning everything white in a giant flash.

The Batcave was left empty with the dismantled machine laid neatly open on the table. The elevator dinged and Dick got out, carefully balancing a cup of coffee and cookies in his hands.

"Hey Tim, Alfred wanted me to- Huh? Where'd he go?"