That day couldn't get any worse for Timothy Drake.

He had been informed that morning that the person who was going to buy Drake Manor had retrieved his offer and left Gotham. That meant the only source Tim had to obtain some money from to keep his father's hospital bills paid was also gone.

As a result, he had been called to the hospital where the doctors informed him that they would have to pull the plug from Jack Drake's ventilator if the bills weren't paid.

Distraught, he asked them to call his father's lawyer who was currently the only guardian and adult authority figure Tim had. 

"We have already discussed it with him," the doctor tried to gently break it down to him, "Mister Reid said that there's nothing he can do either. But we still called you here because even if Mister Reid is the one having the power of attorney for Mister Drake, you are his son and should know about this beforehand."

Tim was too stunned to speak.

That meant James Reid had already discussed with the hospital admin that he would not be responsible for paying any further medical expenses. And with Drake Manor unable to be sold as well, there was no way Tim could pay either.

"You can meet your father for the last time before we..."

"No," he spoke up, his eyes frantic as he registered the situation, "please don't do this. He will die..."

"I am sorry, dear, but we have no option," the doctor patted his shoulder to assure him but of course, the boy didn't need any false assurances. 

There was nothing she could do to help him, just like the many others around him.

"If I... If I somehow manage to clear these medical expenses, will you keep treating him?" Tim asked, his voice shaking in uncertainty, "if I pay the bills instead... Will you keep him alive?"

"It's more of a hospital policy rather than our own personal will," she resumed gently, "of course I want to help you and your father but I will not be allowed to keep him under treatment if his bills are not cleared. I am so sorry, dear."

"I... I understand," he seemed to be thinking his next line of action, "can you do me one favor, Doctor Martin? Please?"

"What is it?"

"Please give me some time," he requested earnestly, his blue eyes focused on her in a look that she couldn't say no to, "just a few hours, please. I will arrange the money and clear the bills. Please don't pull the plug from Dad's ventilator just now. Please..."

She couldn't say no. Plus they did have a clause in the policy to wait for a day if the patient's family members requested to arrange the money in that time period.

"Alright. I need you to sign a form, okay?" She took him to the administration, "and then we will talk to Mister Reid too since he is your legal guardian currently."

He nodded, taking the form and putting down his signature. 

He had to arrange that money as soon as possible and unfortunately, there was only one place where he could get it from. 

***

Black Mask was waiting for the boy to show up.

He knew it was only a matter of time before young Timothy Drake would present himself because there was absolutely no other place for him to go for help.

Roman's men had threatened Drake Manor's buyer into leaving the deal and chased him away as well so that Drake Manor wouldn't get sold. Word was spread in the real estate market that the Drake property was built on illegal acquisition of land and that ended up making other potential buyers stay away too.

He also knew from an insider that Jack Drake's lawyer wasn't willing to shoulder the financial expenses of his client and his son either. So it was only a matter of time for poor little Tim's burden to break his frail shoulders.

Every piece on the chessboard was aligning to be in Black Mask's favor.

Now all that was left to do for him was to wait until the pawn presented itself to him on his own.

A pawn whom he liked to refer to as Little Prince. A pawn that he would make the king of his chessboard if he agreed to sign the contract that lay on his desk.

Therefore, he had made sure that Tim would have no choice but to sign the contract. No plan B for him to choose, no other person for him to ask for help should be left so that Tim would eventually have to come to him.

And having taken care of everything on his end, all he was doing at the moment was waiting for the prey to surrender.

Timothy Drake was very valuable to Roman Sionis and the boy seemed to have a fair idea of that. Perhaps that was the reason he had run away from Drake Corporate that night even though his guards had chased Tim and he had gotten hurt in the skirmish.

Still, Black Mask knew he would come back. He knew that the youngest Drake wasn't foolish and he would do anything to keep his father alive.

Especially now that there was absolutely no alternative for him to consider.

The telephone on his desk rang and he picked it up, knowing it would be his secretary alerting him about the visitor.

"Boss, he's here. Shall I send him in?"

A satisfied smirk creased his lips as he replied, "yes."

Shortly after, his guards opened the door of his office, and in stepped the young and nervous Tim Drake. He looked even more distraught than earlier and seeing him as such made Roman more confident that his plan was working.

"Hello, Timothy, what brings you here?" He asked evilly, knowing the answer fully.

"I... I will sign the deal," he spoke up, clasping his hands tightly to hide the tremor going through him, "I accept the consequences."

"Good... Very good," he produced the contract from his drawer and placed it before him, giving him a pen as well. His guards were still there, ready to restrain Tim if he tried to escape like the last time.

But he didn't escape that once. He took the pen and after reading the document once again, he put down his dainty signature on the place Black Mask had indicated.

"Anything else you have to say?" Black Mask asked, noticing that the boy seemed to be holding himself back.

"Well... You do know that I am a minor, right? This contract still has no legal binding so how can I be sure that you will not fool me?"

He flinched as a gun was pointed right at him by the guard standing closest to the desk. But Black Mask dismissed him and looked at Tim again with that smugly terrifying look.

"Yes, you are not an adult yet and this contract holds no legal significance. This is why we will revisit the contract when you're eighteen and for now, you will just have to put a little trust here."

Those blank blue eyes stared back at him with a cold expression, "I don't trust anyone... I just don't want my Dad to die."

"Very well," he nodded, taking out a packet of cash from the drawer, "take this and pay the hospital bills. As for Drake Manor, you will find a buyer tomorrow and I suggest you sell it without any negotiation. He will buy it from you at double the market price."

"What...?" Tim found it absurd that someone would so quickly agree to buy Drake Manor at double the price even though no one had been interested in buying it earlier.

He felt as if that too was one of Black Mask's schemes.

"Ah, but you don't have to worry about that," Roman remarked, "he will contact Reid for all the formal settlements and I'll make sure that you get the money from the sale deed. True, it will be kept in a custodial account until you're of age but that's not something to worry about. You will have plenty to pay off your company's debt as well as your father's medical expenses."

Tim knew Roman Sionis said a lot of things were not to worry about but he disagreed with that. There was a lot to worry about in the legal aspects of the entire transaction but being just a fourteen-year-old, he couldn't do much about it either way.

"Don't fret too much, boy," Roman concluded, standing up as a cue for him to leave too, "you and I are now partners. I will look out for you and I expect you to do the same when asked."

Tim still felt there was a very ominous plan brewing up behind Black Mask's offer to help the Drakes but for the time being, he couldn't do anything but go along with it.

"Mister Black Mask," he spoke up at last, making the man halt, "where will I go once Drake Manor gets sold?"

He smiled but there was not an ounce of friendliness in that gesture, "my men will fetch you when the time comes. You will be taken to a safe place and stay there. Now go pay your father's bills and don't do anything until Reid informs you of the next step."

"So Mister Reid... Is he one of your men too?" Tim had been suspicious about the lawyer for a long time but right then it felt a little too obvious for his liking.

"Not yet but he soon will be," the crime lord remarked haughtily, "you see, there's nothing that can't be bought with money. And your Mister Reid is no exception either."

***