Chapter Text
It’s a relatively slow night. Nothing out of the ordinary. A few simple muggings to stop and a rendezvous with Jason to discuss the case they’ve been working on. Tim pauses in his patrol to eat an energy bar he pulls from his utility belt. It had been a few days at least since he’s last slept. He’s beginning to crash, and he knows he can’t afford to. Tim just knows that the minute he even thinks of turning in early, something is going to go wrong.
He hears the crackle of his comm unit coming to life, alerting him of Oracle’s presence. He yawns so wide, he feels his jaw crack. “Hey Oracle, got something for me? It’s a pretty slow night. I could use a bit of action.”
The silence is tense. “Red, there was an Arkham breakout and B is calling all hands on deck. There were multiple escapees to include Crane, Clayface, Ivy, and Joker. We could use an assist.”
Tim feels his blood run cold. Joker escaped. Jason is in Gotham. What is that going to do to Jason’s psych? He was just being welcomed back into the family. With Joker out, Jason might follow through on his threats to put him 6 feet under. Really, Tim wouldn’t blame him… but what would Joker’s presence affect Jason? What if he- “and ‘Wing are tracking down Joker, Clayface is being handled by Batgirl- Red? Are you even listening or did you space out again? I really need your undivided attention right now.”
Tim snaps to attention at the mention of his code name. “Im sorry, what? All I got was that Nightwing is dealing with Joker and Clayface is being handled by Batgirl. Where is Jason?”
There’s an audible sigh from Oracle. “You would know if you didn’t keep leaving the comm frequency everyone uses-“ Tim cuts her off with a growl.
“You know why I don’t use that frequency. Same reason I don’t live at the manor anymore. Same reason I don’t let B get away with putting trackers on my suit.”
Babs sighs and simply continues. “Jason is handling Ivy but needs an assist. That’s why I’m contacting you. You’ll find both Jason and Ivy in Robinson Park. What she’s up to is unknown.”
“Got it. Red Robin out.”
He sighs heavily, switching com frequencies, listening to his family as they deal with the chaos and turns to make his way towards Robinson Park.
“This is Red Robin. On my way to Robinson Park to help Hood deal with Ivy.”
He makes his way to the edge of the roof before freezing at the sound of a familiar laugh coming from behind him, making his body stiffen and blood run cold.
“Hee hee hee! Look what we have here? Seems like a little birdy was abandoned by its flock! Hmmm what should we do about that?”
Slowly, Tim turns around. He lifts his fingers to his comm, quietly stating, “Unable to assist Hood. I have my hands full here.”
As he turns to face Joker, he sees another familiar face. shit! Why is Crane here too?
Taking a deep breath, Tim reaches for his Bo staff, quickly whipping it out before he gets hit hard with a nauseating gas that brings him to his knees.
“Oh I know ! Let’s show him what becomes of wayward birds since he didn’t seem to learn from the previous little robin.”
Tim tries to stand up, but finds that his limbs won’t work the way they need to. Over his comm, he hears worried voices shouting for him to come in. Specifically, he hears Jason’s worried voice. Had he already finished up with Ivy? Looks like no one needed his help after all. Story of his life. Before he has time to stop himself, he begins to laugh. His laugh grow louder and more hysterical the longer he lets it go on, yet he can’t stop himself. Fear wraps itself around Tim like a blanket of icy thorns. His vision begins to sway and shift. Fear toxin mixed with Joker gas? That’s a new one.
Tim could hear Jason’s panicked voice yelling, “Red? Red! What’s your location?! ‘Wing and I are coming to you! Red, can you hear me? RED-“
“So noisy. I can hear them all the way from here. Wouldn’t want them to ruin our fun, would we, Red Robin?” Joker leers, yanking the comm out of his ear with a grin and crushing it under his shoe.
“Shouldn’t we be leaving before the Bat arrives?”
That’s Crane’s voice. It seems so far away. Tim’s vision is tunneling. His laughs become more like screams as he looks around and sees not only Joker and Scarecrow, but also himself as a mediocre replication of Joker. Oh god, what were they going to do to him? Why couldn’t he fight them? Why was his body so useless ?!
“Oh you just like to take the fun out of everything, don’t you? Fine. Let’s go. Grab the boy.”
Tim looks up just in time to see a crowbar swing at his face. He feels blinding pain for a split second before his vision goes black.