TW: This chapter contains content that might be upsetting, including mentions of suicidal thoughts, depression, and similar themes. Read at your own discretion.

***

Jack Drake had been in a coma for five months, two weeks and four days to be precise. 

He was unaware of how much the world had changed in that time period. He was unaware that he had lost his wife as she had died the day they had been attacked and he was unaware that their son was struggling after that accident.

In Jack's absence, his company Drake Corporate had disintegrated and Timothy was left to deal with the mess of bankruptcy and defamation. It certainly didn't help that the boy was too young to handle such troubles on his own and was still reeling from the loss of his mother.

The associate partners of Drake Corporate had been discussing splitting up the company and dividing the shares to avoid further increments of debt. In that way, they wouldn't have to bear the financial risks that came with keeping the company afloat and all the debris would fall on the Drakes or rather on Tim instead.

It was a cruel decision, really, considering that Jack was in a coma and Tim had no experience nor authority to deal with the mess that he would be left with.

But in the business world that runs solely on profit and loss, the partners could see their loss in staying connected to Drake Corporate so they were slowly drifting away one by one.

As a result, the company was drowning in debt and there seemed no way to keep it running. 

Tim visited his father very often, hoping each day that the man would give him a sign that he was still there and would recover. That day too he was sitting beside his father's bed, feeling downcast after a board meeting with the rest of the partners of Drake Corporate.

As he was the only living and responsive member of the Drake family, he had been made aware of the decision taken by the partners. His father's lawyer had been with him and explained everything in much simpler words so that the boy would understand what was going to happen.

But even if he hadn't done so, Tim knew that meeting spelled doom for him and his family. The company was bankrupt and there was no way to repay the debts. He also knew that meant all of their assets would get compromised one by one.

So that day as he sat beside his unresponsive father, he recounted everything that had happened in the meeting, hoping he would hear him and come to his senses.

But his hopes were crushed as there wasn't even a single stir in that stiff body. The vitals shown on the screen indicated that Jack Drake was alive but Tim could see that he was no different from a corpse that was still able to breathe.

And breathing was the only thing Jack could do at the moment. He could not take any action to prevent the demise of the company he had built from scratch. He could not even open his eyes to see his son almost in tears beside him.

Tim had forgotten how many times he had come to the hospital just to be met with the same sight over and over again. He would sit by his father's bed and try to talk to him, tell him about everything he was going through but would be met with no answer.

And it was tragic because Jack Drake was the only person Tim talked to those days. Otherwise, he would be silent all the time, only listening to things he was told, mostly dreadful things about the company and his future.

Just like his father was a breathing corpse, he too wasn't much different. It seemed as if he was a corpse who was seemingly alive, walking and breathing but slowly edging to his own destruction.

He hadn't said a single word in the meeting he had just come back from. But there in Jack Drake's hospital room, the desperate words escaped him as he hoped his father would listen to the impending doom their company was about to face and somehow wake up from that stupor.

If that couldn't wake him up, Tim wasn't sure anything else ever would.

"They say Drake Corporate will have to be shut down. Mister Reid told me that if things stay this way, we will have to sell the Manor to pay for the debt. And if that happens then there will be nothing left... Nothing... I won't be able to go to school anymore, I won't be able to keep you here... I have no idea what to do," Tim's voice cracked but there was no sign of acknowledgment from his father, "Dad... Please wake up. I need you. Please..."

No response. 

Just the faint line on the heart rate monitor indicating that Jack was barely alive, suspended into a state of permanent slumber with no awareness of whatever his son had just told him.

***

Six months and all that had happened was an addition to the number of trialing days Tim had to go through.

There was still no improvement in his father's condition. Although there had been a noticeable decline in his own health.

Drake Manor was put up for sale, the company had been shut down due to a lack of investment and employees so young Tim Drake had no means to support himself or his father. All the medical expenses of keeping Jack in the hospital under care were also piling up and he did not even remember the last day he had gone to school.

In that state, there was nothing he could do and it seemed as if there was no way out.

No way out except one that he had been painstakingly fighting off ever since the day he had heard about his mother's death.

But how long could he keep fighting it off?

He would be left on the streets the day Drake Manor got sold. He knew the orphanage in Gotham was already full and wouldn't accept him. His future had gotten even darker than he could have ever predicted earlier.

His hands clenched the metal rails tightly, peering down at the endless darkness that unfurled beneath him.

There was only one way left but was it the right one?

He didn't know.

He had come to the tall abandoned tower of Drake Corporate for one last time and as he stood at the rooftop, the temptation of ending it all burned inside him with a much greater intensity.

The ground looked so far from up above. There was certainly no chance of survival if he let go right then.

There would just be eternal sleep and perhaps in that way, he would be able to see his mother again. Perhaps then he would be able to hear her voice, beckoning him closer to her.

Tears welled up in his eyes at recalling his mother. His hands itched to let go of the railings and just end everything but then a blinding light flashed in his eyes.

He let go of the rails but stumbled back, unable to throw himself off the roof.

He felt that someone else was there in the building at that very moment.

The sound of a helicopter whirring close by alerted him and he ducked, taking refuge in the corner of the parapet. His head was whirling with the thoughts of almost taking his own life as well as the anticipation of being watched.

The light that had flashed in his eyes couldn't be a coincidence. And if someone was really there, he would rather know the reason for their presence first and finish the deed someday later.

Weighing out his options, he decided to go back into the building and left the roof. He descended the steps carefully, following the light that was switched on that he didn't remember lighting up himself.

At last, he reached the main lobby and froze to see that there wasn't just one person in the building other than him.

A bald man in a suit was standing accompanied by his personal bodyguards. The puff of smoke indicated that he had lit up a cigarette but his face was turned away from Tim so he couldn't see who it was.

"Excuse me... Who are you and what are you doing here?" His voice came out in a timid and slightly frightened whisper, seeing the guns the guards were holding.

The man turned to face him at last and a shiver ran down his spine to see the infamous Roman Sionis aka Black Mask standing in front of him. He couldn't see what his features looked like as he was wearing his trademark skull mask but he could tell that his lips were set in an ominous smirk.

As if Tim was the prey he had been waiting for to fall into his claws without any resistance and he was the predator circling him and blocking his ways of escape. 

Black Mask was the controller of Gotham's underworld; a crime lord with his claws dug deep into the heart of the city's evil links. So why was he there at the abandoned building of Drake Corporate and why had he gotten his men to stop Tim from committing suicide felt quite strange to the boy. 

There had to be a reason behind it that Tim was unable to see at the moment. And soon enough, the man disclosed it himself.

Suicide wasn't the only option Tim had at the moment. The other option had presented himself right before him.

"Timothy Jackson Drake," the deep voice sounded at last from behind that frightening skull mask, "I have a proposal for you."

***