Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Timothy Jackson Drake could vividly remember when he first heard the news of what happened. He could remember almost exactly what the reporters said about it.
An unfortunate tragedy.
Lost too young.
A saddening accident.
They all spoke in hushed tones and solemn voices while reporting the death of the boy that not 8 months prior they callously tore into as Bruce's "charity case." All of it made Tim sick. He could only imagine what truly happened to his idol. Only speculate who stole his favorite Robin's life away.
There was only one person that Tim could think of who was insane enough to try this... and was clever enough to succeed. The very same man who was brought back to Arkham beaten to a bloody pulp almost a week later.
The Joker.
Idily, as Tim strolled down the decrepit streets of Gotham, he wondered how Dick Grayson was handling the murder of his successor. The man hadn't really been on good terms with his replacement until a month or two before his death. Was he mourning him? Or was he secretly glad that the 16-year-old was gone?
The sounds of fighting could be heard a few blocks away with accompanying screams of terror.
Tim didn't have to wonder about how Batman was handling his grief. Since his initial return to Gotham, "Brucie" had never been gone on such a long vacation. Batman had never yet been so terrifyingly vicious. The man was no longer the Bruce Wayne that Jason Todd had been adopted by. He was angry. He was destructive. He was more vengeful than ever before. You could argue that this is what Jason would want. He would want Bruce to avenge his death and finally end the madman that terrorized Gotham. The clown would never be able to hurt anyone else ever again. But would Jason really want that if it destroyed Bruce and consequently Batman in the process?
In truth, it doesn't really matter. Either way, the Joker would die tonight.
This was the first time since Jason's death that the Joker managed to escape from Arkham. 6 months since the incident was first televised and Tim Drake deduced who to hold responsible for Robin's death. Tonight, he was out for blood.
See, it doesn't matter to Tim if he gets his hands dirty. It doesn't matter to him if he has to live with his decisions for the rest of his life. This was him time to shine and enact his own justice. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and... a life for a life. All that matters to him is that his heroes will continue to be the beacon of hope for Gotham that they have always been. For them to shine just as brightly for the world and not have to worry about the Joker's death being on their conscience. Tim has always been ok with supporting them while staying hidden in the shadows. And now, he will avenge one of them so the others never have to suffer through the burden of that choice.
Tim had prepared for the last six months to carry out his revenge scheme. He calculated every possibility and planned for anything that could go wrong. He was ready to put everything into action.
He ghosted through Gothams' nightlife, weaving in and out of the crowds, able to pass by completely unnoticed by those around him. The guard of the shady nightclub didn't notice him either. And that was important. He was too busy paying attention to the girl hanging on his arm to see the 14-year old lift his gun off of him.
So far everything was going according to plan.

1. Distract the guard. (Hire someone too?)
2. Steal his gun off of him. Wear gloves.

Now he had everything he needed in order to make this work. Tim prayed those countless hours at the range paid off, he couldn't afford to fuck this up. All he needed to do was locate his target, get him alone and it would all be over. Luckily, a fair had just been shut down due to the Joker's escape, and the Clown Prince of Crime was never one to miss an opportunity. The chances of the Joker setting up shop there even just for a short time was extremely high. And so that's where Tim was heading.
Tim skateboarded to a large apartment building and hid his board behind a dumpster. The ride over had been uneventful but nerve-wracking, he had to make sure to dodge out of all the cameras' line of sight. He climbed up the ladder with a sense of urgency. If someone saw him, they would likely call the cops and this all would be for nothing. Tim couldn't let himself be caught until after the deed was done. While he would prefer to remain free, he didn't particularly care if he got caught. As long as he wasn't caught beforehand, he would be fine. The only one who would care about the Joker's death enough to investigate would be Bruce and he would have a hard time coming up with something that could link back to Tim, especially in terms of motive. He would have to prove that a 14-year-old who had never encountered the Joker before had for some reason decided to assassinate him. So long as Tim wasn't caught anywhere near the scene, he would be safe.
Tim cursed under his breath. Right now wasn't the time to be worrying about these things. On the rooftop where he now stood there was an old, large, and decrepit spotlight. While not ideal, it would work for Tim's purposes of getting the guards away from the Joker and making absolutely certain that both Batman and the Joker were distracted. He slapped the home-made bat symbol onto the light and aimed it onto the fairgrounds. It wouldn't take too long for the hero to see, today's patrol route typically passed by here in ten more minutes. Just enough time for Tim to make it into the vents on the side of the building.

3. Make a scene to distract the guards, Batman, and the Joker.
4. Go through the vents.

Almost immediately after the signal turned on some of the guards took off. Others were merely driven out into the open. It wasn't because they were eager to fight the Batman, no, the recent streak of brutality that the hero was displaying was enough to make any remaining lackeys want to have the option to run if things went wrong. They pooled out of the doors just as Tim was finishing replacing the vent covers. Everything so far was going according to plan.
As if on cue, the sound of a cape swishing broke through the silence and was soon followed by screams of terror and shouts of pain. Tim was on the clock now, at the minimum he would have ten minutes to carry this out. But that was okay, for the biggest threats to his plan bar the Joker himself were taken care of. The guards were distracted and so was the Batman, so there was no one to protect the Joker.
The sounds of crackling laughter were upon him now. Just across the room from Tim's hiding place stood the infamous madman. He was only 6 feet away from him. This was his moment. The Joker, in all his gruesome glory, was giggling while listening to the sounds of fighting through his walkie talkie. Time seemed to stand still like the world was holding its breath while waiting for what Tim would do. This was it, the moment where Timothy Jackson Drake would do what Batman could never bring himself to do. He would avenge Jason. He would avenge Robin.
He took a soundless breath and held it as he aimed the handgun. His heart seemed to be beating out of his chest and pounded in his ears, giving Tim a moment of irrational panic thinking his target would hear him. He took his shot.
The Joker's laughter was cut off as he crumpled to the ground and red began dying the area around his heart. Tim had hit his mark. But he wasn't going to be taking any chance. He emerged from the vent with the grace and stealth only gifted to someone who had been honing it for years. He stood in front of his dying victim and held the gun level with the madman's forehead.
"Last words?" Tim asked quietly.
"Who the hell a-are you supposed to be?"
Tim didn't respond. He merely sighed, and FIRED.

5. Kill Him.

Tim watched the monster collapse with a sense of morbid fascination. The corpse's forehead hit the ground with a sickening squelch. The blood pooled around it quickly. But Tim was out of time, for at some point between the first shot and the second, the white noise in the background of Batman fighting went silent.
Tim didn't waste a second longer. He disappeared back into the vents and out into the alley. The bodies of the broken and beaten mercenaries lay scattered around the open space and sirens could be heard in the distance. Tim slipped into the shadows once more, grabbed his skateboard, and went home.

Chapter Text

Bruce Wayne would not, could not believe what he was seeing.
After all these years, it was finally over, and not in a way he had ever imagined it. He had always thought that one day he would have to kill the Joker or that the Joker would kill him. There was no gray area. While of course there had been the possibility that someone else would try, Bruce never thought anyone would be able to succeed. Yet here he was, in a run-down carnival backroom with the corpse of his greatest enemy.
The crime scene wasn't anything particularly special, contrary to what one might expect. There were no outrageous decorations like the ones typically used in the Joker's hideaways which only went to show how short of a time he had been here. The only extraordinary thing about the scene was the victim. His mouth, despite being carved into a permanent smile, seemed unhappy, like he had been frowning before his death. There were two bullet holes in the corpse. One had struck the victim right next to his heart. A few centimeters over and the victim would have died within a moment, instead, he lived for a bit longer and was shot again through the forehead, execution-style.
The question was how did they manage to pull off such a feat? The Joker was known to have goons on call to assist him. As soon as he got out of Arkham, he already had 30 people waiting to pick him up and help set up shop. The infuriating clown always managed to stay alive so how exactly did this happen?

Did Bruce even really care?

Did it matter who murdered the Joker?

After all, this was the man who had taken his son away from him. The man who beat his child within an inch of his life with a crowbar and then decided to blow him up afterward.
An execution-style murder like this could be seen as a mercy. Others would have wanted the man to suffer for his crimes.
None of this mattered though, Batman would investigate either way, even if it were only to make sure that it wasn't just someone else trying to move in on some territory.
The Bat worked quickly as he photographed the scene and took some evidence to analyze. Everything here would somehow point him in the right direction. Now all that was left to do was to tell Gordon of what transpired.
Hours later found Bruce at home, restless yet determined. He stared ahead at the large computer screen that displayed the photos and what little evidence he could find without impeding Gordon's investigation.

The most notable facts of the case were:
- Someone had murdered the Joker in a clinical style. First disabling him, then killing him. The way he was shot suggested the victim saw the shooter's face.
- The Joker had hired plenty of guards yet someone got past them and to the Joker and then got back out without being seen.
- The gun used in the crime was a standard handgun.

Bruce thought these over and took another look at the photos on the screen. If it had been Bruce, how would he have done it? That was when the detective saw the small ventilation shaft opening located at the back of the room. Bruce would've gone for stealth, and it appeared this killer thought the same. But still, that vent didn't connect to the entire building. They would've had to go vent to vent without being seen so how did they accomplish that? That when another fact of the case struck him. The whole reason he was on the scene in the first place. The make-shift Bat symbol that was directing him to the carnival. It had stood on the roof of an apartment building not more than two blocks away. So was the killer responsible? Did they intend to lure the guards out and sneak in then? That seemed half right, but the only reason more of the men would leave their posts is if Bruce was really there. So why would the killer risk getting caught by the Bat? Unless....Unless this was also the plan to make sure Bruce was occupied for a while as well.
That meant the killer did this while Batman was fighting outside. But how did they know that Bruce would see the symbol in the first place? The symbol had flickered to life just as the worn-down carnival entered Bruce's sight, but had he been even just a few more streets away, he wouldn't have seen it. This of course could mean a number of things but the answer Bruce was leaning towards was that this individual knew his patrol routes. Which also meant that someone had been watching Bruce and he never noticed.
Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose as he deflated into his chair. Or it could just mean this person had noticed a pattern to the areas Bruce was active in. At this point, he couldn’t think straight, and the Bat knew he wouldn’t be making any more progress on this case tonight. He had other cases he could be working on and yet here he was trying to figure out who had murdered the man who murdered his son. His mind took a dark turn as his thoughts wandered to what the madman did to his adopted child. What Bruce failed to protect him from. Bruce nearly went over the edge that day. He almost gave the Joker exactly what he wanted and let himself dive down into that dark pit, the one that he would never be able to climb out of.

Thinking about it now often made the man feel regretful for not taking the plunge.

It was that regret that forced Bruce to shut down the Bat computer. Thinking about the past would not change it, and even though he had not been the one to do it, finally his son’s murderer was dead. Bruce steadily climbed the stairs out of the cave and decided he wanted to get some sleep. Tonight he would rest and tomorrow he would prepare for the fallout. While he slept Gotham's underworld would spread the news that the Clown Prince of Crime was dead.

--------The Next Day--------

Tim Drake was on edge. Apparently, the teen thought to himself, killing someone will do that to you. Especially if your neighbor is a vigilante that catches murderers. Tim's mind seemed to finally be catching up to what he had done. He had just carried out a successful pre-meditated murder, an assassination, of Gotham’s most notorious villain. The Joker was finally dead. The JOKER was finally dead. This morning, he knew, Gotham would collectively breathe a sigh of relief as finally, there would be no more Clown Prince of Crime. No more anxiously keeping an eye on the news to make sure the Joker didn't escape Arkham again. No more fearing that a toxin could be in the air that will make you laugh until you die.
Most importantly, Tim had stopped his heroes from crossing a line he knew that they might not return from.
Now, despite Jason's death, the Batman and his family would carry on without the burden and the regret weighing them down. And while Tim couldn't erase what had happened to Jason, while he couldn't stop them from regretting the events leading up to his demise, he could put it right. He could and did bring an end to the man at fault. Something that would've hurt Bruce irreparably.

Today, the city and its heroes could breathe a little easier.

Or at least, that was what Tim thought when he woke up that morning. As it turns out, the police were deciding to stay quiet on the matter for now. So no, Gotham was still just as tense as always and today was just another day. 'Maybe when the news hit things will be different', Tim thought as he boarded the bus to Gotham Academy, 'Or maybe nothing will change at all."

The idea of that was somewhat comforting to Tim. He had never truly liked change. After all, the familiarity and unchanged feel of the day was making it far easier for Tim to handle himself. He doesn't really know if he would've been able to keep it together amongst the celebrations that were sure to happen when the news came. Although, there also is the chance that the city hold's its breath. Hoping and praying for the best but preparing for the worse. For the Joker to have faked it all and only be setting up a larger plot. But Tim could breathe easy. He knew the truth. He had murdered the Joker.

At that thought, Tim’s entire world seemed to grind to a halt. Admitting to himself that what he did was murder was...harder than he expected. Oh god, what was he thinking?! He just took a life! He went against the very ideals that he KILLED to protect! What if he got caught? His parents would be mortified! They would be shunned by the socialites that they cared oh so much for..That gave Tim a slightly twisted sense of satisfaction for a moment. But just as it flared to life it was snuffed out. Tim paused. He had been panicking. He needed to breathe for a second. To remind himself where he was.

His name was Tim Drake, he was on the bus to Gotham Academy.

And he had just murdered someone in cold blood without a chance of retaliation.

And that's when the justifications came pouring through his mind. He had murdered the Joker! The one who murdered Robin! A mass murderer! Why should he feel guilty when he just saved all the future victims that man would’ve had? Why should he feel like it was a stain on his conscience when all he did was stop him from hurting anyone ever again?!

“Tim?”

And just like that Tim was snapped out of his thoughts.

In front of him stood Stephanie Brown, the current Robin. In one of Tim’s more misguided attempts to help the Batfam begin to heal, he engineered the meeting of Batman and the Spoiler. He had thought that maybe if Bruce had someone to help balance him out, he would allow himself to move past his anger. Tim figured out rather quickly that he was wrong. It hadn’t helped Tim when he saw her donning the colors. Jason’s colors. He doubted it helped Bruce much either, seeing another person donning the colors his son died in.

“Hey, Stephanie. What's up?”

The girl in front of him eyed him oddly. As though she knew something about him had changed but she just couldn’t pinpoint what. But that didn’t make any sense. Steph only ever talked to him during their shared science class. It was hard to even call her more than an acquaintance. As much as Tim cared for the BatFamily, he did not want to get mixed up with them in his and their civilian lives. That would end badly. It’d be a liability.

That and Tim doesn’t know if he’s up to lie straight to Batman’s face.

“Did you finish your half of the science project last night?” She asked after a brief pause.

Ah. Another precaution Tim took for last night’s escapade. They had a project due today that was worth 15% of their grade, so to make sure that Steph wasn’t out as Robin last night, and to give himself an alibi, he purposely destroyed a major part of it yesterday. Of course, he already made a copy of it so it wasn’t like he was risking his grade. He just needed to buy time to enact his plan. The dynamic duo would’ve cut down the goons in half the time it took the Bat alone.

That and he had been determined to make sure the Joker never got the chance to hurt her too.

“Yeah, I did. You all set for our presentation?”

“Yup! Had to stay up nearly all night for it though.” She smirked, “Now who’s fault could that be?”

Tim gave an unapologetic smile but said nothing. The bus was pulling into the school lot and Tim wanted an excuse to leave the conversation. He wanted to just go through the motions of the day so he could put himself together again. It was tiring, acting all the time. Stephanie was about to try and talk some more but luck was on Tim’s side and the doors opened before she could finish her sentence and by the time she did, Tim was long gone. He had run the second he got the chance. Hopefully, she would pass it off as Tim just being scared he upset her by ruining their project. But right now, Tim just wanted to be gone, he just wanted to go home. He could always apologize to her later.

One of the many perks of being a student of Gotham Academy was its cafeteria, and for those few who could get there in time, they had coffee in the mornings. After the morning he had and the way the day seemed to be going, he was definitely getting that damn cup. When he arrived he surveyed the room quickly, it seemed he had managed to beat the rush. He quickly got in the short line and managed to nag a coffee and a bagel. Tim sat down in the far corner of the expansive room, doing his best to remain unseen. As previously mentioned, he was tired of acting, for just a moment he wanted to be Tim Drake, not the Drake Heir, Batfamily Stalker, or…. Murderer. Just Tim.

God, was every day going to be like this from now on? Was he going to constantly think about it? Will it haunt his every moment? He thought about it. He thought about how easy it was. How simple it had been to just pull the trigger. Committing the murder was far easier than acting like he didn’t. Was this why the Bat was so adamant about not killing the criminals? Why he didn't kill the Joker? Because of how easy it was? Tim wondered if he would do it over again, given the choice. Would he spare him now that he knew how it felt to take his life? Would he spare the Joker in hindsight?

No.

Tim shook his head violently. No he made the right choice. This was justice. This was to protect them. So they wouldn’t have to feel as Tim did now. He would do it again if he had to. He probably always would. After all, he was insignificant in the grand scheme of things. He wasn’t a hero. He didn’t have a cape or superpowers. He was just Timothy Drake, an heir to a company that didn’t really exist outside of Gotham. But even if he wasn’t someone important, he could still make sure that those who were stood tall. Tim would be their stepping stone if he had to be.

With that thought, he finished his cup of coffee and headed towards his first class of the day.

-----------

Tim didn’t have anything against science, he really didn’t, and it wasn’t his teacher either. But right now, there was no class he hated more. Sure, he had had the entire day to prepare for the presentation and think about how he should explain his actions this morning, but in the end, he just didn’t. He had more important things to think about! Like his moral dilemma! So now here he was, sitting in class with Steph in utter silence as the other pairs took turns presenting their projects. Steph sent him a sideways glance every now and then, but besides a quick ‘hi’ at the beginning of class, she hadn’t said a word. Granted, Tim hadn’t either but that was normal for him! They had been picked to present their project last, which had been both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, he had more time to at least try and talk to her about how they were going to do this, but at the same time, the anxiety was eating him alive. Finally, after nearly twenty minutes, Tim got up the nerve to ask her about it.

“So...how do you want to do this…?”

Steph turned to look at him and narrowed her eyes at him. “Oh, so we’re talking now?” She stated sarcastically.

“Look Stephanie I just…”

“I don’t care that we had to redo the project, Tim.” She cut him off with a sigh. “It worries me that your reaction to making an honest mistake is running though.”

Tim froze. He was confused, worried, and relieved at the same time. Relieved that that was all she thought it was, confused by what that last part was insinuating, and worried that maybe Bruce had given her a lecture on signs of neglect or abuse and she was seeing them here. Of course, Tim knew that his parents weren’t the best, but they tried..! Sometimes! Ok yeah so maybe ditching your kid while you go overseas for multiple months at a time isn’t the best parenting style, but Tim made peace with that a while ago. He had the freedom to basically do whatever he wanted without getting caught. He did not need Steph to use her amateur detective skills to figure this out and bring it to her bosses’ attention that his neighbors were guilty of child neglect. He had a good thing going now that he got through the loneliness!

Even in Tim’s mind, that excuse sounded fake and flimsy at best.

“What? Worried? Thanks but there's no need. I’m just...bad with people.” Tim chuckled, “Speaking of, would you do as much of the talking as we can get away with? I’m probably going to fumble through all my words up there.”

This time it was Steph who laughed, “Tim, I watched you give a whole-ass speech to run for class treasurer with the confidence of a peacock. I think you can handle it.”

“A Peacock?”

“Ya know they strut around and shit.”

They sat in relative silence for a few minutes until they were called up. It took a moment to actually set it up at the front of the class and the awkward silence only made it worse. Finally, they managed to set it up and the teacher calmed the few murmurs that started up in the meantime. Just as Steph went to begin talking the sound of the announcement bell went off. Everyone in the room froze. A chilling chuckle echoed through the building, one eerily reminiscent of a certain clown. But that was impossible. The Joker was dead.

“Hello!” The voice was deep and high pitched at the same time, garbled and distorted. Definitely a voice modifier. “Sorry to interrupt your daily dose of brain rot but I have people to do business with here!” The intercom cut off there but left the entire room in silence for another minute after. Suddenly, the spell seemed to be broken and students began to panic with everyone running into the back of the room, but alas, it was too late. The door of the classroom was open with enough force to make it hit the wall. Three guys with guns and red masks entered the room.

“Give us Stephanie Brown. Our Boss wants a word with her.”

The science teacher just looked away. He wasn’t going to stop them. Evidently, the smart rich kids weren’t going to either. Fear hit Tim for a moment. He couldn’t let another Robin die. But then he took a breath. Stephanie was Robin, she probably already signaled Bruce in the time it took the goons to get here. On top of that, she fought crime every night, she could take care of herself.
But she also wasn’t in uniform. She couldn’t risk exposing herself. She had to play the victim.

One treacherous thought crossed Tim’s mind.

What if Batman is too late again?

And in that moment Tim made his decision. He calmly stood from his former crouching position that all the students had assumed. Tim heard Steph hiss his name as he stepped out of the group and assumed a casual stance in front of them.

“Hello, gentlemen. It seems we are in a position to help each other.”

Chapter Text

“Hello, gentlemen. It Seems We are in a position to help each other.”

In response to Tim’s rather bold declaration, one of the men step forward with a no nonsense look on his face, or what Tim could see of his face anyways. The other two stayed behind him, making it clear that he was the leader of their small group.

“We don’t got time for your games, kid. Give us the girl and maybe, maybe we won’t shoot you all. You aren’t in a position to do shit.” The man easily towered over Tim and seemed to be looming in an attempt to scare him. And while Tim was indeed terrified, he refused to let it show. Tim took a minute to analyze him before responding. He was tall and muscular, seemingly perfect for his role as a hired thug. One thing that stood out though was the man’s posture. While he was definitely trying and succeeding at being intimidating, he seemed relaxed and almost amused. Tim was no threat to him and he knew it.

So instead of cowering as Tim so wished he could, he chuckled instead. The man’s mask wrinkled around where his eyebrows must be, indicating it was raised at the stupid teen who was staring up at someone who could very well kill him. “I’m sorry to cost you your time, but I assure you that this won’t take long at all. And while you can threaten me all you want, I happen to know a bit about your boss.” The man didn’t seem phased but did take half a step back so he didn’t have to look down as much to hold eye-contact. He understood Tim’s intended message loud and clear.

“Do ya really, kid? Why don’t you enlighten me to just what you think you know?” The other two men seemed to pick up on what was going on and holstered their weapons for the time being. No use in aiming a gun at people who know you aren’t gonna shoot em.

Okay okay, Tim could work with this though, the opening moves had been made and the most immediate threat was gone for now. The man in front of him was listening and understood what he meant. This all pointed to Tim being right about who exactly was after Steph. And if he was right, he could at least stall for time without risk of death.

“You’re working for the new crime boss in Gotham, right? The one who put eight heads in a bag right?” Tim needed to be cautious, he needed to play safe, if he was wrong here than he had nothing.

“Yeah. What’s your point?”

“Despite being new to Gotham, he’s caused quite the stir. Even built certain reputations. For one, he’s ruthless and wouldn’t hesitate to kill anyone. With only one exception. The Red Hood, as I believe he’s calling himself, doesn’t agree with violence on children. So, where does that leave us? In a position to negotiate.” Tim was channeling every bit of Janet Drake in this moment. His mother had a reputation of being cold and ruthless, even sacrificing those she deemed unnecessary or using them to her advantage. He needed every bit of that he could get in this moment if he wanted this plan to work.

The man in front of him however was quick to counter-argue. “And what makes you think that we listen to everything he tells us? So what if a few rich kiddos end up dead? Its no skin off my back.”

“Simple. You’re on his payroll. Not only that, but I’ve heard quite a few rumors going around about what he’s done to those who have broken this ‘little rule’ of his. I’m sure, for your sake and mine, that you wouldn’t find it in your interest to kill us.”

The man’s composure slipped then, leaving him chuckling in disbelief. “Ok. Alright. Lets talk about this. You win that round kid. We ain’t gonna hurt ya.”

Tim was the perfect picture of calm on the outside, and he’s sure that's what was helping him hold some ground with the gangster in front of him. On the inside though, Tim was just glad to be alive and that this entire spiel hadn’t backfired yet.

“Excellent! Then let's get right to business. We have Stephanie Brown here, whom your boss wants to meet with. Thinking about the phrasing and the whole no-child-harm rule, it's safe to say she is wanted alive. But I do have a question. Do you know which one is Stephanie?” Tim had his arms crossed as he stared up at the man he was negotiating with.

Once more the man laughed, “Lets not get too ahead of ourselves kid, while we may not be aloud to hurt CHILDREN. We don’t care about adults like say… your science teacher over there. Mr. Darby is it?”

Tim chuckled coldly in response. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think we needed to address the obvious.” Tim smiled up at the man, “He’s expendable.” Tim shifted his weight so he wasn’t really blocking the cowering teacher anymore. “I mean a teacher who would willingly sacrifice a student in hopes of saving his own hide? Why should I even attempt to help him when he would not do the same? Right now all he is….is a liability.”

Without hesitation, the man unholstered his weapon and shot the teacher in the leg. The other students fought to surround the man and try to stop the bleeding. Tim flinched at the noise but other than that, he didn’t show an outside reaction. Instead of thinking about how his actions led to his teacher being hurt, he thought about the man’s gun. The model and everything Tim could remember about it. It was very close to the weapon Tim had used himself.

Any distraction from what he had just inadvertently caused was welcome, even if it reminded him of the very thing he had been trying to put out of mind all day.

The man flashed him a toothy smile. “Is he still expendable?” Tim recognized what the man was doing and therefore was prepared for it. He couldn’t show any weaknesses right now or it could very well lose him all the ground he’s made by speaking up in the first place. So he would play his part and damn it he’d play it well.

“A bullet to the leg only decreases his value.” He smirked as he titled his head slightly, giving off an air of nonchalance. “Especially since he was the only hostage you really had. And now he’s bleeding out on the floor. If he dies, you have lost all leverage you could’ve had.”

That was when the goon’s walkie talkie crinkled loudly. “Where the fuck is the last group?” The same distorted voice from the announcement streamed seemed to echo through the room. The man reached for it and pressed the button to talk.

“Boss, we’ve got a little situation on our hands. Nothing Bat related.”

“What’s the situation?”

“Negotiations.”

The walkie talkie died down for a moment before flaring to life once more. “This is a hostage situation, who the hell is trying to negotiate?”

It was at this point that Tim held out his hand in a silent question. He knew this was a bad idea, but he had to take control somehow. At this point, meeting the boss of this operation was inevitable if Tim wanted to keep Steph out of harm's way. Surprisingly, the man acquiesced and handed over the walkie-talkie. Tim’s hands were trembling a bit but through sheer will power, he stilled them. All he could do was stall and pray that Batman got here soon. He took a slight breath and pressed the ‘talk’ button. “That would be me. I assume you’re the one going by the Red Hood?”

“Is this a motherfucking teenager?” It was said as a statement so Tim didn’t respond. “Oh my god it is. Hand the walkie back to my men.”

Tim did as he asked and tried to analyze the man from his tone. He didn't seem worried at all despite the risk of Batman showing up any second. There was no aggressive stress in his response to indicate needing to hurry this operation up. This line of thought forced Tim to pause, because even if the man didn’t realize he was after Robin and that help was on the way, he should still be worried about Batman finding out soon. Unless… Unless he made sure to prepare for that. Unless he was sure that word hadn’t got out yet. It all clicked in Tim’s mind. He looked at the clock in the corner of the room. It had been a solid half hour since this started yet there were no sirens to be heard.
They blocked the signals.
No one outside the school knew they were in danger.
No one.
No police, no ambulances, no help from the outside world.
No Batman.

The walkie talkie crinkled to life once more and it’s message only served to add to Tim’s dread.

“I’ll be there in a minute.”

Chapter Text

Fuck. Fuck Fuck Fuck. He should’ve backed down. He should’ve done everything he could to avoid the actual man behind this coming here. Yes, he knew it was probably going to happen with the way things were going but maybe...No it was going to happen either way. Even worse was that chances are, Red Hood DID know what Steph looked like and that was a piece off of Tim’s side of the board. Fuck. What could he do now? Could he coordinate some kind of surprise attack and hope for the best? No, that wouldn’t work either. Hood seemed to stick to his rules, but Tim doubted he’d let it be used against him which meant they had even less to negotiate with now. One wrong move and this entire situation could explode in Tim’s face. Quickly, he stepped back towards the group and motioned a few of his classmates toward him. They reluctantly did as he asked and got within whispering range. The henchmen made no move to stop the collaborating, likely due to the fact that even with numbers on their side, they were no match for three armed thugs.

“Shield our teacher and Steph. If their boss is coming, he probably knows what she looks like. Have all the girls switch jackets at the same time. Have them all put up their hoods and hide their faces and hair. We just need to make sure they can’t tell who she is.” They all shakily nodded and stepped back into the cluster to share the plan and enact it.

He was still surprised by the goon’s inaction. They were probably hoping that anything they did would give away the one they were looking for.

Tim was praying his plan hadn’t. He needed to stay cool in the face of this danger or else he would fall apart. Right now, he needed to stall for time. He needed Batman to show up.

Waiting in the near dead silence certainly wasn’t helping. The next time Tim looked at the clock, another 15 minutes had passed. School should’ve let out 10 minutes ago now.

Surely that would’ve made someone notice what was going on?

----------------------------------

Stephanie Brown was terrified.

Not only had her entire school been taken over by a rogue, it was the same rogue that had been rising to power in Gotham for the last month and a half. The one who cut Steph’s grappling line the other day. But it got worse, because she was in civvies and the rogue was looking for her civilian self. Worse than that is that this made it so she couldn’t effectively fight back.
Now maybe she would have handled that somehow. She would comm Bruce and then stall for time. But noooo….This person was prepared. The comm was jammed which sent a cold wave of icy fear down her spine. The rogue knew her identity. She was compromised. But worse than that was the fact that her sponsor to get into this school was Bruce. Anyone with a brain could connect the dots which meant they were BOTH compromised. The rogue knew who she was, knew who Bruce was, and blocked her from calling for help. She didn’t know what to do. Steph tried to calm down and think of other possibilities. They had called for multiple students right? Maybe they didn’t know? Maybe this was about something else?

Just as she finished thinking it through, movement caught her eye. Tim Drake was standing up. Why was he..?

“Tim!” She hissed at him as he stepped away from the group. What was he thinking? These goons could knock him into next week with one good swing! What the hell was he trying to pull?!

“Hello, gentlemen. I believe we are in a position to help each other.”

And with that, Steph’s jaw dropped as she gaped at the 15 year old standing in front of the cluster of students. She couldn’t believe her ears as she listened to him negotiate with their assailants. How did he know about their boss? How did he know the rumor about his rule on kids? And seriously, the Red Hood? One of Joker’s older aliases?

Nothing about this was making sense. Timothy Drake had always been kinda weird in Steph’s eyes. But she always assumed he had a crush on her or something, or that maybe he had it rough at home. She wasn’t expecting him to go and put his LIFE on the line! She wasn’t expecting him to act so distant and professional when talking to the guys holding guns! Tim’s voice then sounded through the room with a strange false cheer resonating within it.

“Excellent! Then let's get right to business. We have Stephanie Brown here, whom your boss wants to meet with. Thinking about the phrasing and the whole no-child-harm rule, it's safe to say she is wanted alive. But I do have a question. Do you know which one is Stephanie?” Oh. Oh that was smart. If they didn’t know which student she was then they could use that as a bargaining chip in negotiations.

The man’s humorless chuckle gave her pause though. “Lets not get too ahead of ourselves kid, while we may not be aloud to hurt CHILDREN.” Steph realized where this was going. They had just lost the ground Tim gained them. Fuck! Now what?! “We don’t care about adults like say… your science teacher over there. Mr. Darby is it?”

Steph wanted to move in that moment. Tried to will herself to DO something. Anything! But her feet wouldn’t move. She was glued to the spot. It seemed the entire room was holding its breath in wait of Tim’s reply. The unsettling smile that grew on the henchman’s face in that moment was haunting. The momentary lull seemed to drag on for ages. Tim’s reply didn’t do anything to relieve the tension in the room.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think we needed to address the obvious...He’s expendable.”

Steph was speechless as Tim’s words clicked in her mind.

“I mean a teacher who would willingly sacrifice a student in hopes of saving him own hide? Why should I even attempt to help him when he would not do the same? Right now all he is….is a liability.”

The gunshot that followed was what finally spurred her into action. She made it to the teacher’s side in an instant and worked on stopping the bleeding. This was insane! Tim had basically just served their teacher on a silver platter with no regards for his life! What the hell was wrong with him?! How could he do something like that?! This man was guilty of nothing more than trying to survive!

But that's when Steph saw Tim’s trembling hands just before they stilled. He was terrified. And all Tim was guilty of was trying to protect her and those he could.

“Is he still expendable?”

Tim had managed to keep his composure and suddenly it hit Stephanie again that a 15 year-old was staring down someone twice his size and still was trying to turn the situation around. “A bullet to the leg only decreases his value. Especially since he was the only hostage you really had. And now he’s bleeding out on the floor. If he dies, you have lost all leverage you could’ve had.”

Of course, that's when the main henchman’s walkie talkie went off, which meant one thing.

“Where the fuck is the last group?”

The real boss was getting impatient. Steph blanched as she tried to think of a solution. Something, anything to try and resolve this without her or anyone else getting hurt. Panic had set it and it was clawing away any illusion of calm she had had.

“Boss, we’ve got a little situation on our hands. Nothing Bat related.”

“What’s the situation?”

“Negotiations.”

“This is a hostage situation, who the hell is trying to negotiate?” A valid question, the part of her mind that coped through humor whispered.

Tim took the walkie from the tall thug and took a moment before responding to the person on the other hand. “That would be me. I assume you’re the Red Hood?”

“Is this a motherfucking teenager?……….Oh my god it is. Hand the walkie back to my men.” Tim did as he asked and Steph knew what would come next. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
Breathing became harder in that moment. She had expected it but it still struck fear into her. If only she had her gear! Anything! A mask of some sort! She could take these guys no problem but at the risk of her identity? Bruce would wait.

Bruce would’ve probably already thought of a solution.

But he isn’t here. He doesn’t even know what's going on.

Steph didn’t even realize Tim had had time to speak to the group until those he talked to came back over. Numbly, she switched hoodies with another blonde girl to her left. She didn’t even think about it as she hid her face and hair like all the other girls.

Steph only broke out of her stupor when she heard the door open.

Chapter Text

Tim Drake was utterly screwed. He just had to save Steph, didn’t he? Despite knowing her other identity, he just had to put himself in the line of fire huh? Whatever, he would figure something out. He had to. These were the thoughts that flew through his mind when the man in the red helmet entered the room. So far he hadn’t faced Tim yet, just his goons, preventing Tim from getting a good look at him. However, he could read his body language, which sadly revealed nothing more than pure aggression. Tim took a silent step back so he was more merged with the group and not the obvious leader. Anything to try and make the man underestimate him could help. Looking like he was hiding within the group and the fact he was shorter than most of his classmates could attribute to that. He quickly glanced around at his classmates to scan for Steph and saw that they had followed his instructions, he couldn’t tell which one was her and he saw her daily.

“Alright, which one of you is it?” The Red Hood was now facing the group, his hands resting on his, thankfully, holstered guns. But that was not the first thing about him that caught Tim’s attention. No, the detail that left him dumbfounded for a moment was the red batsymbol plastered on the man’s chest. Exactly where Bruce’s is.

‘What the fuck?’ It was because of this shock that Tim didn’t come forward or answer right away.

The man in the mask’s sigh managed to snap him back to the present and into motion. The teen took a step forward and stared into the white eyecoverings on the mask. It was unnerving how similar they were to the ones the batfamily uses. Not that he ever just stared into their eyes on patrol while he was stalking them. He choked on his words at first but got them out. “Me. I’m the one trying to negotiate.” And just like that, he let his emotionless mask slide back over his face and back in play, he was Tim Drake, heir to Drake Industries, and the son of a ruthless business woman. He could and would figure this out. Apparently that wasn’t how Red Hood saw it because after he regained his composure the vigilante/crime boss just stared at him for a moment before snorting.

Perfect. He was underestimating Tim. Hopefully he could use that somehow.

“You're telling me that YOU are the one who stared down my goons who have GUNS and managed to actually get them to negotiate?” The distorted voice was laced with amusement. Of course Tim wasn’t a threat to him. Why would he be?

Tim tried to think of the best course of action. The Red Hood was known to have a bit of a soft spot for kids, so if he could play this off of that then maybe…

“Yes” He made sure his voice wavered, using how scared he really was to his advantage. He was terrified but he was in control. Red Hood would see what Tim wanted him to and nothing more. He cleared his throat and fixed his posture in a show of pride, “I believe we can make a deal.”

Hood stared back down at him, or at least that's what it seemed like to Tim, the eyecoverings hiding where he was looking. It didn’t matter either way, even if he was checking the crowd behind him for Steph he wouldn’t be able to easily pick her out.

It seemed Tim was correct in thinking that because the man in front of him sighed in annoyance before nodding at him. “Okay kid, whaddya want?”

Tim didn’t waste a breath. “Our entire classes’ release bar the obvious.”

Hood titled his head as if confused. “Seems a bit cold of you….?”

“Jack.” Close enough, Tim thought to himself. It was technically part of his name.

“A bit cold of you, Jack, throwing Steph to the wolves like that. You have no idea what I might be after.” Hood rested a hand on his gun. “I could just be here to kill her.”

Tim snorted in response. “You came to a school of rich kids and over the intercom said that you were grabbing multiple students. Everyone knows who Steph’s sponsor to go here is. You just want to ransom them.” If Tim actually thought differently, now that Hood’s batsymbol had caught his attention, and figured he was here for entirely bat related reasons, that was none of Hood’s business.

Thats when sirens began to be heard. The police were outside. Which also meant that Bruce knew too. They were going to be okay.

But right now they were still inside, and Tim had another advantage. Hood was on the clock now and if he wanted Steph he was going to half to take the deal. Hood seemed to realize this too and laughed humorlessly, the distorted voice modifier making it all the more eerie. “Fine kid. You got yourself a deal.”

Tim paused for a moment. He couldn’t just hand him Stephanie. Especially when they didn’t know if he would keep his word or not. “Alright. Then I’m sure you realize I won’t tell you which of us she is until we reach the doors, right? No chance for double crossing.”

The Hood simply nodded and stepped back. His interest in Tim was lost now that they came to an agreement. Good, Tim thought, he put a lot of time and effort into trying to be forgettable. He went back to his classmates and the strongest ones lifted Mr. Darby from the floor to carry him out. Tim was heading the group with a few others. He had no doubt that Steph was one of them.

The walk to the front doors of the building were silent. The goons and Hood escorted them in utter silence. Nothing but the sounds of walking echoed through the halls. After what seemed like an eternity, they got to the lobby. Tim and his classmates had their back to the doors. Hood held his gun in an unspoken threat. He would disregard his own rule if he thought they wouldn’t hold up their end of the bargain.
“Steph?” Tim said quietly. The girl standing next to Tim removed her hood, confirming her identity. She looked terrified but gave Tim a serious look and a short nod. To her, none of this was personal. Tim just got their entire class out relatively unscathed aside from their teacher. The group began to leave, the police on the outside rushing to meet then to help the teacher. Steph stayed in place. Not daring to make the first move until everyone was out. Tim was the final person to walk out the door.

As he did a familiar figure swung onto the rooftop.

Tim dropped all composure in an instant. He had to warn him! He began to fight against the officer that was guiding him away. “NO! NO STEPH IS STILL IN THERE!” He fought the officer's grip and made sure to scream. Bruce had to know. “RED HOOD STILL HAS HER!”

Once the shadow disappeared from view Tim stopped. He got the message out. Batman was here to save Robin. She would be ok.

He had to believe that she would be ok.

-------------------------

Bruce felt as though his heart had stopped when he heard the news broadcast. Steph’s school had been taken hostage. A rogue had taken the building.

Something ugly and dark began to worm its way into Bruce’s chest. Morbid images and thoughts swarmed his mind as he hurried to the cave. He would save her. He had too, he would not lose another one. Especially not the day after the anniversary of her predecessors’ death. Bruce entered the cave and threw the suit on with little fanfare and was on the streets not a minute later. The school was 15 minutes away but the bat made it there in five. He quickly appeared behind Gordon for any information the Commissioner might have which wasn’t much. Just that there hadn’t been any communication with those inside the building since it was taken over. Not wasting any time he swung to the roof, and just as he did a class of students, some carrying a teacher, busted through the doors. The final kid to walk out began struggling against the officers and what the teen screamed made Bruce’s blood run cold.

“NO! STEPH IS STILL IN THERE! RED HOOD STILL HAS HER!”

That was all he needed to hear before he crashed through a skylight and into a main room. Just then the intercom went off. The telltale modified voice came through the speakers before extending an invitation. One to go to the school's gym.

He didn’t waste a second. He was there before the Hood even finished his monologue. When he entered the room, a cold rage swept through the vigilante. There was Stephanie, Robin, desperately fighting against the rogue. They were fighting hand to hand and Steph was barely holding her own. She was being worked into a corner. Batman let a batarang fly. The figure moved out of the way at last second, letting it harmlessly stick into the wall behind him.

“Batman! How prompt of you! You got here in minutes!” The masked man chuckled. “I’m not really seeing what's so special about this Robin that made you want to be on time to save her! I guess the last one just wasn’t that important to you huh?”

And with that, the fight had begun.

Chapter Text

Tim was outside with his classmates and wrapped up in a shock blanket. The entire set up felt like a cliche from a movie. The class was split up between multiple firetrucks, all having paramedics to look over everyone at least once. Mr. Darby had been carted off the moment they got him into an ambulance. No one from the school spoke, the only sound being the cops frantically questioning all of the near responseless teens. Some were just sobbing too much to answer questions.It stayed like that for a while, the doors to the school locked up tight from the inside after the class was out.

It was almost a half-hour later when the distinct sound of glass breaking and a grappling hook being fired cut through the dreary tension like a knife. The figure who was swinging away and making an escape was definitely NOT Batman, nor was there any sign of the vigilante being in pursuit. That much was evident when the figure wearing a bright red helmet disappeared over the edge of a nearby rooftop and a second grappling hook was never fired. As soon as he disappeared from sight, the school doors burst open and out streamed the students who’d been trapped inside. The wave of terrified teens and their teachers flooded the yard and effectively got in the police’s way as they attempted to rush into the building to apprehend the goons before they took off. However, despite all the commotion, Tim was focused on one thing and one thing only. Batman hadn’t emerged from the building yet and Stephanie was nowhere to be seen either.
If Bruce or Steph were gone….if this ‘Red Hood’ had…

Tim felt cold in that moment. Would he avenge them? Could he do that again?
The answer to that question shook him to his core. But that was what he had already decided wasn’t it? To be their protector. Their avenger from the shadows. The one who would make the call he knew they themselves couldn’t bring themselves to make.

I guess all that stuff about crossing that line and not being to go back had some truth to it.

His thoughts came to a screeching halt when Tim saw the large crowd starting to part for a figure cloaked in black. Just seeing him had filled Tim with relief for a moment, until he studied the scene in more detail. Batman’s head was down while he carried another figure to the ambulance in utter silence. A hush had fallen over the mass of people standing outside Gotham Academy. Frantic paramedics scrambled to meet the Dark Knight and help the unconscious girl in his arms. There was only one person who that could be and everyone from his class knew it.

Suddenly, Tim was on his feet and was pushing anyone in his way. He had to make sure! Maybe another student got injured?! Steph....She...she would be okay! Please let her be okay… He made it there just as the paramedics lifted her away from the Bat. The towering figure stood in his path, blocking his view of her, and just as Tim made it past him, the doors shut to race her to the hospital.

Despite how bleak it may have seemed, that gave Tim some hope. She wasn’t dead. She was alive. They were going to save her.

“You.” The gravelly voice startled him out of his thoughts and caused him to whip around to face the vigilante. “You are the one who was yelling about her still being inside.” The man dressed in black turned to take off but not before giving Tim a small reassurance. “She’ll be okay.”

Near immediately, Tim felt all the energy he had had previously leave him. Glancing up confirmed that the Dark Knight had disappeared into the city. At this point all he wanted to do was to go home, fall into his bed, and not wake up until tomorrow. Or better yet, wake up and have this be a creepy crazy dream. He observed the situation around him and saw that all of the cops were busy calming those who had just gotten out of the hostage situation and arresting the goons that hadn’t managed to escape. One in particular stood out to Tim, the one he had open negotiations with. He caught the man’s gaze for a moment as he was being loaded into a cop car. There was no malice in the other man’s eyes. He made a career of working for Arkham lunatics, he wasn’t going to blame a kid for his getting caught.
Eventually Tim, not caring how it reflected on him later, decided he deserved a break and he was going home and the cops weren’t going to stop him right now. He walked calmly over to an area close to the line the media were being kept behind, just out of everyone’s line of sight. The tired teen made sure no one was watching, ducked under the line, and began to make his way home. There was no use sticking around here anyways, right?

----------

Bruce carried Steph to the ambulance in utter silence. He had let another Robin get hurt. What's more, the one who did it knew their civilian identities. He had even acted familiar with Bruce. Something was going on here and the Dark Knight didn’t like it. First, the Joker was mysteriously murdered by someone who knew his patrol routes, and then Steph’s school is taken over by the strangely knowledgeable rogue who was targeting her specifically. There was more too! The masked man kept making jibe after jibe about Jason! Jokes about his death and the Joker.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the Batcave. “So have you figured out who our murderous friend is yet?” Dick Grayson was in full Nightwing gear and standing behind his adoptive father. The young man had taken over the role of protecting Gotham for the night while Bruce tried to puzzle out the situation. This sort of arrangement didn’t happen often, the Bat was usually rather reluctant to leave his city in the hands of others, but this was a special occasion since Robin was being treated for her injuries. Bruce side-eyed the clock in the corner of his screen. 3 am. He had lost track of time in his musings.

“Not yet. A lot of details just don’t fit right.” He put his head in his hands while trying to think of a solution. Anything that could connect the dots. There had to be something he was missing here, some glaring detail that was staring him the face. How to approach this….work backwards….

The Red Hood escaped using a grappling line.
He and Bruce fought while Red kept hurling insults his way.
Hood fought Steph one on one and beat her badly. No fatal injuries, but meant to be painful.
Hood took the school hostage and targeted Steph, its obvious now that he knew her other identity.

Gah! What was he missing?!

“Well uh...Besides all this..How are you doing B?” Dick’s voice cut through the moment of silence that had lingered on while Bruce thought. The younger vigilante peeled his mask off and leaned against the table in front of the Bat-computer. After another pause, he continued, “I mean, with the anniversary and everything….and now..”

Dick’s hand gripped the back of the chair tightly. “God. Not a day goes by that I don’t wish I could murder that fucking clown.” That snapped Bruce out of his thoughts. In all the excitement of the last 24 hours, he had forgotten to notify Dick about the Joker’s death. He hadn’t told Barbara yet either….They both needed to know. For closure, if nothing else, to know that the one who caused them to suffer so much was finally dead. A few seconds later and a familiar red-haired tech-genius was on the screen staring back at them with worry. “Oracle.”

“Yeah, whats up B?” She made eye contact with Dick for a moment before bringing her focus back to Bruce. She likely knew about what happened at the school today and was hoping for an update on Steph.

“There is something I need to tell you both. Something that happened last night that I didn’t mention.” He paused and looked between the two. The tension in the room was near palpable as they waited for the worst. “The Joker is dead. Two gun shot wounds from a handgun. One to the leg, one to the forehead.” Silence met his declaration. A mixture of shock and relief played across Barabra’s face, Dick’s expression mirroring hers.

That's when clues and details started to come together in Bruce’s mind. There it was, the clue staring him in the face that he missed.

The gunshot wound to the head that killed the Joker.
The masked man’s knowledge.
The jokes and jibes.
His odd vendetta with Steph who swore she had never met him before.
The way he knew Bruce’s moves seemingly before he had made them.
He was able to cut his lines.
He wielded dual handguns.

The Joker was murdered on the anniversary of Jason’s death….and everything fit into place.

“Uce..? BRUCE!” The two he had been talking to looked at him with increasing worry. “What did you figure out? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Bruce essentially had. After all, Jason Todd was supposed to be dead.

Yet, somehow, the Red Hood was his dead son. He was somehow Jason Todd. His child was alive.

And since Bruce wouldn’t do it, he avenged himself.

Chapter Text

Normally, after a school-wide hostage situation, a normal school would shut down for a few days. Sounds pretty standard, right? Not Gotham Academy. They prided themselves on their resilience and ruthless ethic. So the day after the Red Hood took over their school, students were back to class.

But not everything was normal, especially for Tim Drake. As he walked the halls towards his locker, he could feel eyes following him. No cops had shown up at his home the day prior, hopefully meaning that no one ratted out what he did. From the coverage he saw of the incident, no one could figure out why the kidnappers had let a class of hostages go before the Batman had even shown up. Tim didn’t understand either, he had assumed he would have been snitched on almost immediately but no one in the class came forward to point the finger at him. It left him confused. He barely knew anyone in his class at all yet they remained silent about the incident which surely would get him some attention from the police. Tim made it to his locker and got his things and still, no one approached him despite the stares.

He made it to his first-class without much fanfare and sighed in relief when he saw how dead-eyed the teacher was. There was no way they were going to be learning anything new today, and if luck was on his side, the rest of his classes would be the same. Tim put in his headphones and decided to stalk the news for a bit. See if any new information was out, just to be sure that his name wasn’t mentioned….and to check if the Joker’s death was common knowledge yet. After surfing for a bit he could confidently state that no, nothing about himself or the Joker was being spread. He breathed out a sigh. He understood the police’s reasonings until there was no doubt that it was the Joker and his corpse was burnt to a crisp, he wouldn’t tell anyone either.

Classes continued mostly the same for Tim after that, he would just watch TV or mess around on his phone and let the time pass him by. It wasn’t until lunch that anything out of the ordinary happened and he got some answers for how everyone was acting. It started out as always, Tim sitting at the dark corner table closest to the exit by himself, but that changed when he was approached by another student. He recognized him instantly, a kid from his science class. One who was there when everything happened. But that wasn’t why Tim recognized him, no, it was because he was the son of Mario Falcone, grandson to Carmine Falcone. He was the only living heir left of the Falcone direct family line, and some didn’t even recognize his claim as legitimate seeing as his mother never actually married Mario. This was Anthony Greeves. He was smart enough to take his mother’s last name after Two-Face’s revenge murders began. Still, this didn’t change the fact that getting involved with him would mean trouble. Be it by gaining Two-Face’s attention or because ‘Tony’ was the heir to an Italian Mafia family.

The person in question sat across from Tim with a bigger kid standing behind him. Quite obviously a bodyguard likely descended from Carmine’s bodyguard. “Timothy Drake, right? My name is-”

“Anthony Greeves. I know who you are.” Tim regarded him with weary eyes. He did NOT want to get involved with the kid and intended to make that clear.

“Right. Well, as you likely are aware, I am in your science class. Your display yesterday was...quite impressive. I would rather like to have someone with your skills on my side when I inherit the family business.” Tim analyzed the 15-year old setting in front of him. He was confident but also observant, definitely inexperienced. Possible that this was the first time he was putting what he learned of the trade into action. Tim took note of the cafeteria. Those of higher standing had their eyes on them, but those who weren’t part of Gotham’s older families kept to their own business.

God, he hated the politics of this school.

“Oh? So that is something you intend to go for?” Tim asked with a small smile. “I’d thought after the Holiday incident and the events after that you would keep your cards a little...closer to the chest.”

“I have no problem announcing my intent, I intend to rebuild and rebrand anyway.”

“Hmm...Well. It's an offer to consider but I’m afraid will have to decline for the time being.”

The teen didn’t make a show of any disappointment or anger and simply nodded. “Well, perhaps we could be friends for now. Would that be acceptable to you?” He held out his hand like this were a business deal. Perhaps it was.

Tim blinked, he could use a friend in higher places. And it would probably make his parents happy. Might keep them off his back too. A perfect excuse. He took the offered hand with a genuine grin. “Friends, then.” The lunch bell rang a moment later and the two parted ways. Seems like after four years at this school his place in the hierarchy was going up. And all it took was for Tim to make a couple of stupid decisions.

---------------------------

Bruce stared at the man standing across the roof from him. His red helmet in place to cover his face and his hands hovered over the guns that were still holstered. The Dark Knight had chased him all around the city until the figure suddenly stopped.

“So here we are, huh? Have you figured it out yet, B?” The voice was garbled by the mask, but now that Bruce knew who he was talking too, he could hear the familiar inflections in his voice.

“Jason…” The man inquisition laughed a tired laugh. He raised his hands up to his head and finally removed his helmet. The face underneath was familiar, despite the time the two spent apart. He still had a domino on, a mockery of his old one during his time as Robin.

“Hey, dad. Been a while hasn’t it?”

Bruce took a tentative step forward. Jason didn’t back away, staring him down with rage and anger. Before he could react, Bruce engulfed him in a hug. This was his child, his kid had returned to him. Nothing on earth was going to stop him from hugging him right now.

Except for Jason himself. He pushed him off roughly. His eyes were angry but also hurt. “No! Don’t fucking touch me. You don’t get to suddenly decide to care about me!”

“Jason I-”

“No! I don’t want to fucking hear it!” He laughed mockingly at the Dark Knight. “How long did you wait, huh B? Did you wait a month? Or maybe just a week before you replaced me?!”

Bruce didn’t know what to do. He wanted nothing more than to take him back home. But that wasn’t going to happen. Not while Jason was like this.

He had broken Bruce’s one rule time and time again. He had blood on his hands now. And Bruce honestly didn’t know what to do. But he also didn’t have the time to debate internally over it because Jason had disappeared once more.

“Nightwing.”

“Yeah, B?” Nightwing’s voice crackled through the comm line but still conveyed the worry he was feeling.

“I confirmed Red Hood’s identity.”

“And…?”

“Dick... it's Jason.”

A sharp inhale was heard before the man on the other side responded. “What?!”

“Cover Gotham for me.”

“Where are you going?!”

The Batman thought it over. “To get some answers.”

Chapter Text

Day after day is starting to feel normal to Tim again. And by that, he means that it feels like each day is dragging on and on and on but nothing changes. It has now officially been a week since Tim has murdered the Joker, and six days since Steph was injured. As Tim makes his way into the school building, he finds himself wondering why he chose to kill the Joker on a Monday of all days? No one likes Mondays. Huh. Maybe that was why. 

He walks into his final class of the day, dead on his feet. It’s science. Thankfully, his teacher hasn’t returned to his position yet, if he will at all. Tim doesn’t know if he could look him in the eye if he did. He had basically said for the goons to shoot him. Offered up his life on a silver platter and it was the goon who decided to go for his leg instead. But there was someone else that Tim noticed when he got into class. Sitting in her usual seat at the back of the class was Stephanie Brown. Casually looking at her phone and ignoring the eyes on her from around the room. Tim took the seat beside her, causing her to look up for a second. 

“Hey Steph! You’re not dead!” Tim winced as the words left his mouth. That was articulate. 

Thankfully Steph only chuckled at his remark. “Yeah, it wasn’t as bad as it looked.” She looked him in the eye for her next statement though, her eyes narrowing as she gave him a quick once over with her gaze. “And you look alive as well. Which is more than I expected seeing as you stared down a GROUP of guys with GUNS.” 

Tim laughed nervously back. “I was raised to negotiate business deals, figured it was a good time to get some practice in.”

Stephanie stared back, obviously unimpressed with his answer, but said nothing as the substitute handed out busy work. Neither said anything until a few minutes later.

“Hey you’re neighbors with the Waynes’ right?” Tim was immediately on-guard at that. After what happened, she had a right to be suspicious of him, but he wasn’t prepared for something like this. Why would she ask that unless she was suspicious of his previous actions? Had he given away his knowledge somehow?

He decided to play it cool, because what else could he really do? “Uh...yeah? If you can call it that. Our properties are both large enough that you’d have to run awhile to get to the other house.” Not a lie, but hopefully enough to make her doubt whatever she was thinking about him.

“Good enough for me! I have to go there today, so will you walk with me after school?” That also gave him pause. Of course, Steph knew how to get to the manor on her own, she’s Robin after all, so why was she asking him? What did she know?!

“..Sure...I guess.” 

Path of least resistance, Tim figured. If he had said no it would’ve probably just encouraged her suspicions. An awkward silence settled between the two of them for the rest of the period. This was going to be a lonnnnng walk home. 

They split up after the class to go to their lockers and get their stuff before meeting at the entrance. They didn’t say much and it was extremely awkward for the first few streets. But that's when they both noticed something. A van had followed them from the school and was still tailing them now. They exchanged a look before Tim gestured towards a small alley that the van couldn’t follow them through. Steph nodded and they abruptly changed course but didn’t change their speed. They didn’t want to give away that they noticed the possible-kidnappers. 

Before they reached the alleyway, the van sped towards them, obviously recognizing their plan. The door of the van was whipped open and two figures grabbed them, dragging them in. Once again, Tim was in a situation with Robin where she couldn’t fight back without giving herself up. 

God dammit. 

The kidnappers made quick work of tying them up. Thankfully, they forgot the duck tape cliche, likely because both of them were calm and not making too much noise. Tim was especially relieved about this because that meant that Tim’s only weapon could still be utilized. His knowledge. That and they didn’t search them, so they didn’t find the pocket knife Tim keeps on him when he’s going through Gotham’s streets. It always sits in his back pocket, hidden by his oversized jacket. But Tim won’t reveal that yet, no he wants to know what's going on first. 

The ride to...wherever they were going, was uneventful at worse. The kidnappers didn’t speak so neither did they. Tim and Steph just sat in the silence, sending fearful, worried looks at each other. When they finally pulled to a stop, they had been inside it for about ten minutes. They hadn’t sped there or anything so that indicated they drove carefully, so they couldn’t be obscenely far from the school. Tim’s mind was working overtime. Had this been random? They were followed from the school and not after they had already left so the kidnappers could have just been looking for vulnerable looking students, but they also could have been waiting for someone specific. Steph maybe? It was possible that the Red Hood was still after her. But then why hadn’t he been left behind if they were only targeting Steph? To make it look random? To prevent witnesses? To stop anyone from alerting the Bat? 

The kidnappers dragged them from the car, they hadn’t been blindfolded so Tim knew exactly where they were. They were outside of Ace Chemicals’ old factory. The place where a sane man died and reemerged as the madman known as the Joker. Wasn’t this entire situation funny? The one who ended the Joker now visited the place where he was created. Now if only Jason were here...they’d have quite the morbid comedy going. 

The goons grabbed them by the arms and dragged them inside, further and further into the building they went until they reached a dimly lit room. The fumes from the since-removed chemicals lingered in the air making it seem suffocating. They were dragged to the center of the room before being thrown to the ground. Out of the shadows came the man Tim had initially suspected. The Red Hood. 

“What the hell is this? Why are there two?”

“You didn’t want witnesses right?” 

“You know what? Fuck it, the more the merrier.” Hood approached the men and handed the guy in front a few stacks of bills. “Here’s your cash. Now leave.” The men quickly grabbed it and took off. They didn’t want to risk staying around in case the Bat showed up. 

“I’m a very dramatic person. And I’ve always wanted to do the whole villain monologue thing. Sooo while we wait for the Bat to show up you are gonna listen, capiche?”

Tim blinks at him before nodding. Based on the fact that Hood hadn’t commented about the last time they met, he assumed the man didn’t remember or didn’t care enough to mention it. He decided he preferred it that way. It made him seem less likely to be the one sawing through the ropes with a pocket knife like Tim was doing now. He wasn’t bold enough to attempt escape on his own but if that Bat showed up, he needed to get out of the way as soon as possible.

“Oh um. You should probably ignore most of this, kid. You’re not gonna understand most of it. My bad. You kinda weren’t supposed to be here.”

Tim coughs and clears his throat before responding. “Nah it’s cool, go ahead I guess.” The ropes around his wrists were almost thin enough now to just be snapped off, but that would put the attention on him. Tim didn’t want that.

“Alright.” Red Hood takes a breath before beginning. “I have planned this for a while now. Taken everything into account. Just like he taught me. Or us I guess?  To make him fucking think for once. He doesn’t seem to understand that you can’t have it both ways! That sometimes, the only way to save people, is to kill the ones threatening them.” He pauses, “You know, I thought that maybe finally after everything that happened, maybe, just maybe he would see that. After Babs and after...after what he did to me. That I’d be the last one. The last one he ever let that MADMAN hurt. But no...he didn’t care. He let him go…”

Tim doesn’t hear the rest because his mind is racing a million miles a minute. He can’t breathe. He knows who this is. He understands why he wears that damn red symbol on his chest. It all makes sense. The rage at Steph, no at ROBIN. Everything he just said, the mentions of ‘Babs’ who must be Barbara Gordon, the allusions to the Joker hurting him, or should it be killing him….The rage at Batman for not avenging him. This is….. “You’re the second Robin.” Tim hears the words but doesn’t recognize them as his voice at first. He feels strangely disconnected. He can’t tell if he interrupted Hood but no one is talking now. He is lost in his mind for a moment. 

Jason Todd is alive?

He’s not dead?

Tim snaps back to reality only because there is a gun pointed at his face. 

“And how the fuck would you know that?” At this point, there is no secret. Red Hood takes off his helmet to reveal only a domino mask obscuring his face. Steph’s eyes are wide in shock. She had no idea. Does Batman even know? 

“Simple deduction.” Tim is using everything within him to channel his mother’s cold facade she uses for business deals once again. He smirks mirthlessly. “The second Robin disappeared after the dynamic duo followed the Joker overseas. The Batman grew far more ruthless afterward, crippling some criminals for life. Most think the Joker killed the second Robin, and if that’s true it explains most of what you just rambled about. Nothing more than an educated gamble on my part, but seeing your reaction, I’d wager I’m right on the money.” 

Tim tries to think fast. Steph doesn’t seem to be in immediate danger at the moment so should he play his hand now? While Jason doesn’t seem to like her, it doesn’t seem like he intends to kill her...for now. But there is no telling how he’ll react when Bruce shows up. So that is what this all hinges on. Getting through this before Batman arrives.

He didn’t think he’d be doing this again so soon. 

Tim rises to his feet and uses his now freed hands to straighten his jacket, Red Hood’s gun trained on him the whole time. “And now, I do believe we are in a position to negotiate.” 

Jason laughs out loud, using his free hand to push his hair back. “Now I remember you! You’re the kid who bartered with using Steph as a bargaining chip! What was it….Jack? It’s Jack right?” 

Tim simply nods with a slight smile, but it slightly falters when Jason glares back at him. “What could you possibly have that I would want?”

“Information. On the man who killed you.” Tim was putting everything at risk here. Steph was pretty much obligated to rat him out to Batman so he needed to play this as carefully as possible. “I have information on the Joker.”

Slowly but surely, Jason lowers his gun and holsters it. The threat is still there but Tim is as unthreatening as can be without a gun of his own. “Alright. I’ll bite. What do you want in return? You have to know that I won’t just let you both go, no harm no foul.”

“No. I don’t expect that at all. I simply have two requests. One, Steph and I make it out of….whatever this is, alive. And second, you owe me a favor. Within reason, of course.” 

“A favor? Rather ambiguous of you. Why’s that?”

“Gotta keep somethings close to the chest.”

“So the only thing you want is a guarantee on your lives and favor?”

“Rather reasonable for what I’m going to tell you, I promise.”

Jason stopped and looked like he was thinking it over before he reluctantly replied. “...We got a deal, kid.”

That is of course when a crash is heard overhead and a dark figure lands behind the two hostages. Jason has leveled his guns on them once again, an empty threat if he intends to keep his word, but the vigilante doesn't know that. 

“Let them go, Hood.” The Dark Knight growls out. 

“No. No, this time you will make a choice.” Jason tosses one of his pistols over to Bruce while keeping a gun trained on Steph. “This is the second time someone has aimed to end Robin’s life. So who will you let live? Will you kill me to save her? Or will she die at my hands because of your damn code?” 

“You won’t.”

Jason just laughs. “Are you sure about that, Bruce? The Lazarus pit has some...severe side effects. I’m capable of quite a lot right now.”

That's when Nightwing crashes through the window behind Hood, tackling him to the floor. He recovers easily and throws the elder vigilante off, the fight just starting up. Not wasting any time, Tim grabs Steph’s arm and starts dragging her out. She still looks shocked. Seems Bruce really didn’t tell her anything about Jason. 

They make it outside within a few minutes but Steph stops cold. “Tim-”

Tim comes to a stop as well. “What is it?” 

“We can’t just lea-” She starts but Tim cuts her off. Every inch the scared civilian he should be.

“Yes, we can! They are vigilantes! We’re kids!” 

Steph stands there stubbornly. Tim thinks it over. It’s actually...kinda perfect. He gets out and doesn’t have to try and explain himself. Alrighty then. “If you want to then fine, but I am outta here!” 

He bolts and doesn’t bother to look behind him to see if she’s followed or her reaction in general. Tim just runs until he’s out of the cursed warehouse. He runs even after he’s out, getting about three streets away before crashing down by a wall. He mutters out a broken laugh as he tries to catch his breath. His little morbid thought for earlier came to pass. Tim doesn’t know how long he sat there, but it was at least ten minutes. 

Until someone stopped in front of him, causing him to look up. 

“Alright. No one is dead, and you have an IOU. What do you know about the Joker?”

Tim stands up and straightens his jacket out again. 

“You’re not gonna like what I have to say, Jason.”

And immediately Tim’s hands fly to his face. As if somehow he could magically shove the words back into his mouth and lock them away in there. 

This...was decidedly not good.

Chapter Text

A million different solutions to the problem he had just caused flowed through Tim’s mind. He stared at the man in front of him and took a second to try and analyze his reaction. His posture wasn’t overly angry or anything, just confused and a bit shocked, nothing that would mark him as a threat...yet. All around the response was understandable, in Tim’s opinion, especially seeing as, at least to Hood, this random kid he doesn’t know just used his first name out of the blue. Not even a second after the teen finished that thought, Jason had pushed him into the wall and held him there, preventing any chances to escape before answering to the man in front of him. Was Jason a man? How old was he now?

“How the hell do you know my name?”

Tim flinched back slightly, being startled out of his musings. He took a moment to regain some sense of composure. He needed to play this carefully, very carefully if he wanted to get out of this unscathed. He needed to think. He needed time to think!

“I guess you’re not gonna believe me if I say it was a lucky guess?”

The silence in response was expected but it still bought Tim a few precious seconds to think up what to say. What to do? To tell the truth or to lie? The teen sighed in slight annoyance. After all these years of keeping their secret, now he was finally about to expose his knowledge. After all this time he was going to step out of the shadows and tell a vigilante just what he knew.

Not.

“I thought you wanted to know about the Joker? The deal was for that information. Anything else that I may or may not know is none of your business, Hood.” Tim replied calmly, but inside he was praying that Jason would let it go. He really was too fucking tired to deal with his fuck-up right now.

Jason looked at him through his domino mask, calculating and debating over what he had proposed. The man sighed. “I guess it doesn’t matter. I’m legally dead anyway so people wouldn’t believe you even if you blabbed.” Tim wasn’t entirely too sure about that. Crazier shit had happened before. But if it meant that he wouldn’t have to explain himself right now, then he would go with it. “Now, as I asked before. What. Do. You. Know?

Tim breathed in. It was almost funny. The person he killed the Joker for was standing right in front of him. “The Joker is at the station. Has been for a bit now.”

Jason barked out a laugh in response. He stepped back and let Tim go. “The hell did you hear that from? Whoever you’re getting your info from almost just cost you your life.”

Tim stared back, unamused. That had sounded dangerously close to a challenge and he didn’t respond well to challenges. Especially of the intellectual sort. “Make sure to keep an eye on the news in the next few days. We’ll see just how unreliable that information really is.”

Jason stopped and stared back at the kid. Amusement was gone now, just curiosity. “You’re pretty strange, I’ll give you that. At least you didn’t try to tell me the same bullshit as everyone these last few days... Congrats I guess. You bought yourself some time, Jack. ”

It took Tim a second to realize that that was the alias he had given Jason at the school. “I thought you didn’t kill kids, Hood?”

“Doesn’t mean I won’t, or I could just have someone else do it for me.” The younger of the two just stared back unimpressed for a moment before the sound of grappling lines were heard not too far away. Without so much as another glance tossed in his direction, Hood walked one way, Tim walked the other. And somehow, yet again, he was remarkably unscathed.

How the fuck did that happen when he just messed up that bad?!

Tim began the trek home. He was tired and sore from how the kidnappers had grabbed him when they first caught him and Steph. Probably had a few bruises, but he made it home with little fanfare. No more surprises.

Tim really didn’t know if he could handle any more of them tonight.

-----------------------

Jason Todd was really fucking confused. But he didn’t let that bother him. Not while his technically-adoptive-father was chasing him down the streets of Gotham along with his two sidekicks. Bruce? Jason could probably handle getting away from just him pretty easily, but with both Dick and the replacement? Well, let's just say he was getting a bit of a workout.

But while he wasn’t letting his confusion bother him or affect his actions, he did find his thoughts straying away from the matter at hand when he got a spare second. How the hell did that kid know his identity? Did he know the others’ too? Even Bruce had to admit that the moment one of them was found out, they all were going to be screwed. Safer to assume the teen did know about them all. The next thought that entered the rogue’s mind was that the kid was a liability. If word got out somehow that a defenseless child knew the Bat’s identity….The kid would be hunted down, tortured for what he knew, and then killed.

Maybe Jason should speed up his plan...After all, if you can’t beat crime, maybe you can control it. That was the basis of Jason’s entire plan. Be the one in charge and control the crime he could. Batman’s fight would never be over, but this way, maybe more innocents would be saved from getting caught in the crossfire.

And that was a batarang headed for his skull.

Jason was violently shaken from his thoughts. What happened to not letting it distract him? He needed to focus. The glint of a metal ladder caught his eye as he headed down an alley. Without much thought, he changed directions so he could go it. In seconds he was scaling it and running along the rooftops, the sound of footsteps not far behind.

They kept on going for a while, rooftop to rooftop, with the Bats slowly gaining on him. It ended up not mattering when they reached a skyscraper with a giant TV hanging on it. It was playing a news story, one that made the man in a red helmet stop dead in his tracks.

“A man known only to us as ‘The Joker’ was murdered in an abandoned carnival last Monday. Police are being very tight-lipped on the matter which is why we are only now just hearing about the event. Most of Gotham will rest easier tonight with the knowledge that the infamous Clown Prince Of Crime is finally gone.”

What. The. Fuck.

I guess that fucking kid was right. The Joker was at the station.

In the morgue.

A hysterical laugh left the masked man as his pursuers came to a stop behind him. He whipped around to face them.

“Did you know Bruce?!” He yelled, angry and stricken at the perceived offense. “When we were on that rooftop after you finally figured me out. Did. You. Know?”

Bruce stared back grimly, no expression crossing his face, only the slightest deepening of his typical frown. It might as well have been an answer.

“You knew then and you didn’t say anything?!” Jason was furious. Not because of the Clown’s death though. No, he was angry because he’d been dead for a week now and Bruce, despite knowing who he was, said nothing. He lowered the guns he hadn’t realized he’d pointed towards them. “So who finally managed it, B? You? How about you, Dick? Or maybe Barbara managed to get her revenge?”

The Dark Knight sighed but made no indication of answering and it all clicked for Jason. “You thought I did it.”

The replacement looked up at him, no fear at all to be found in her posture. “Did you?”

“No.”

Dick took a step forward towards him with his hands up like he was approaching a wild animal. “Then...maybe you could help us find who did?”

Jason only barked out a laugh in response. “To do what? Congratulate them on a job well done? No. I don’t give a fuck who killed him. All I care about is the fact that someone finally had the stones to end him. Ding dong the bitch is dead and all that.”

And with that, Jason had said his piece. He took a smoke bomb and smashed it on the ground in front of him, giving him an opening to escape.

It didn’t take him long to make it back to his safehouse, they’d only been a few blocks away from the place anyways. Jason flopped onto the couch and grabbed the remote to put on the news. While it was true he didn’t particularly care who had killed the Joker, he did want to know how it happened. For the longest time the man had seemed unkillable and had dodged death like it was his profession.

“This just in, the Police have released a statement about how the Joker was murdered, switching over to footage of Commissioner Gordan now.”

“Citizens of Gotham, I know that many of, if not all of us have been hurt or affected by the Joker since he first appeared. Today I am here to report that he is dead. Shot twice. It is somewhat surreal to know that despite how much of a monster he was, he died the same as any other man could’ve….”

Jason tunned out of the rest of Gordan’s speech, he heard what he’d wanted to know. There was something that was bugging him about all of this, everything that has happened since the Joker’s reported demise. There was something that was connecting everything and for the love of god Jason couldn’t think of what it could possibly be. His first thought had been that strange kid, he kept turning up for some reason. But there was nothing to connect him to the Joker. He’d just known the same thing Gotham’s underground had been gossiping about since the incident happened.

He decided it didn’t matter. He had his own plans to set into motion, and now that the Joker was dead, there was nothing to really distract him from his goal. No revenge plot, nothing except he own self-appointed mission.

-------------------------------------------------

The other members of the Batfamily were gathered in the cave, Bruce sat at the computers with the others around him. They all stared at the numerous screens in front of them in slight disbelief. While Jason had seemed genuine in his reaction towards the news, there was always the chance he was deceiving them.

But here it was. Irrefutable proof that Jason didn’t murder the Joker.

He’d been too busy that night working his newly claimed gig as a crime boss, beating those who wouldn’t back down into submission, all caught on CCTV. Jason has been on the opposite side of town when the Joker has been murdered.
But that left the family back at square one with no answers. No clue as to who could’ve murdered the madman. The one with the most obvious motive and means to do so had an alibi. Not that there wasn’t anyone else who had a grudge. The Joker had irreparably damaged so many people and their loved ones that it would probably be harder work to find someone who didn’t have a motive to kill the clown.

But again, there was no obvious clue as to who had actually done the deed. The murder itself seemed so….emotionless. Joker was executed, yes, but with a strange kind of detachment involved. There wasn’t a big show of it at all. If Bruce’s current timeline was right then the killer had to have broken into the Joker’s temporary hideout, murdered him, and escaped between the time the home-made batsymbol went on and the time Bruce got to the crime scene.

So the killer went in, shot him, and left. Nothing more, nothing less, no fanfare or outright mutilation you see in enraged killers, just death. The Joker died frowning.

Bruce furrowed his brow at that. In a way, the killer murdered the Joker in the worst way possible for the man. No show, no shocking scene, the only thing extraordinary about the case had been its victim. The man, were he alive, would’ve hated it.

The frown still was persistent in Bruce’s mind. Why had the man been frowning? Even if he had a gun to his face, the Dark Knight couldn’t imagine his former foe doing anything aside from smiling. There were no other wounds on the man, so it wasn’t that he was in pain or anything. So what was it?

Maybe it was the fact that he was clearly going to die?
No, that wasn’t right.
Was it because Batman wasn’t going to be the one to finish him off?
While more likely than the first, it still didn’t seem completely right to him.

He was missing something here, and despite reviewing the evidence he was still no closer to figuring out who murdered the clown. There seemed to be nothing to point to any one person!

That gave the man pause. There truly seemed to be nothing to really point in any direction. All they had was the corpse to go off of. A frowning corpse.

But what if…

What if the reason the Joker was frowning….

Was it because he didn’t know who his killer was either?

He didn't get the joke?

Bruce was pulled from his musings by the chatter that started up among his family members.

“I know we’re all trying to figure out who killed the Joker right now, but I think we should also talk about Tim,” Steph said from his left.

“Tim?” Bruce asked with a raised eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes before responding. “Tim. You know, the one kid who has twice now tried to negotiate with his captors? Both times being Red Hood? Weirdly knows things about Gotham’s crime world?”

“What about him?”

“Is that not concerning to anyone but me? I mean he even figured out Hood’s identity before I did!” She shot a look at Bruce. “No thanks to you, by the way.”

That caught their attention. “He what?!”

Steph took a step back and crossed her arms over her chest. “Jason was monologuing and Tim interrupted him and called him out for being the second Robin. Explained why he thought so too. Nothing about real ids or anything.”

Dick sighed in relief, Bruce didn’t express it but he felt the same. A civilian knowing their identities was dangerous, for the family and for them.

Bruce took a second to think. “Nightwing. Steph can’t go talk to him in costume for obvious reasons. You should talk with him.”

“What? Why can’t you do it? I have to get back to Bludhaven now that Steph’s back on her feet.”

Bruce turned to him with a deadpan look on his face.

“Okay yeah, point taken. Having Batman randomly show up to interrogate you is terrifying. I’ll talk to the kid tomorrow.”

——————-

The next day was actually going okay for Tim despite everything that was going on. News had finally dropped about Joker the previous night and it had felt like a weight off of Tim’s shoulders. It was officially confirmed. Joker was dead. No coming back from it, no weird unexplainable return from the dead for the madman. He was shot and killed, had an autopsy, and finally, was cremated. There were no plot holes for him to jump through, nothing that would change the fact that the Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime was dead. Dead as a doornail.

Gotham’s citizens, Tim included, could breathe a little easier.

Until the power vacuum in Gotham’s crime world started up at least. But Tim had high hopes for that now. Jason was the Red Hood, a crime boss, and likely the one who was going to take control. By now, Tim was pretty sure he had figured out Jason’s whole plan. Control crime in Gotham and save a lot of people doing it. He’d already put a damper on crime that targeted kids, so Tim was fairly certain that he would be able to do a lot of good if he could take over.

Batman was not going to like that at all.

Maybe he should try and find a way to get the two to broker some kind of peace…

Or he could stay out of it. Tim had been taking a lot of risks recently, a lot more than he typically took. Fading back into obscurity was probably his best bet for the time being. After all, his goal was to protect them, to do what they couldn’t in order to keep them in the light. Tim had already crossed that line, but he wouldn’t let them do the same.

Tim entered Gotham’s park in high spirits. He may not have wanted to admit it but...the people celebrating what he’d done was kind of...nice. He KNEW that killing wasn’t something he should be proud of but with everyone around Gotham smiling and happy instead of the usual depressed and on edge, well...he was proud that he’d brought that to them.

Or at least he was until he came across a familiar crying lady with blonde hair, sitting alone on a park bench.

Harley Quinn.

If you asked Tim latter why he approached her, he probably wouldn’t answer. It was guilt. Here he was celebrating the fact he murdered someone. Maybe the Joker had deserved it, no he DEFINITELY deserved it...but he had people who cared about him just like anyone else.

Tim sat down on the bench next to her. “Hi...um...you ok?”

Harley looked up and seemed to size him up for a second. “Not really. If you couldn’t tell.”

“Yeah...sorry. Standard question. Um..wanna ramble about it to a stranger?”

Harley laughed sadly about that. “Why not?” She wiped her eyes before starting. “My abusive ex-boyfriend was murdered and despite the fact that I wish I killed him myself, for some reason, I’m still crying over it. Over him.”

“Oh shit. That's...not fun.” He takes a breath. “Do..do you miss him..?”

“Fuck no. I’m glad he’s dead.” She looks down for a second. “But for some reason, I’m upset about it. I don’t want to be.”

And Tim really doesn’t know what to say to that. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. I think my girlfriend’s going to be here soon and she’ll have something for us to do. And things will be fine.”

As if on cue, Poison Ivy appeared and started heading towards them. Tim decided at that moment that he’d had enough time with Gotham rogues for one day. Even if they hadn't outright threatened him, he wasn't trying to do this right now.

“Seems she’s here now. It was nice talking to you Harley. Sorry about your loss.” Tim got up and was about to walk off before he was stopped.

“Thanks for listening, kid

And with that, Tim made his exit.

Chapter Text

The whole park incident aside, Tim had had a decent day. People were happy and celebrating the end of someone who wrought so much suffering. Overall, things seemed to be looking up. Until he got home that is.

At first, there wasn’t anything obviously wrong with his house. He went in per usual and shed his coat, hanging it up as he passed through the entryway. Everything was normal. Everything was fine. Until he reached the kitchen.

Something about the Drakes’ kitchen is that it had a glass sliding door that led to the backyard. It was an obvious entry point for anyone who wanted to break in though, so they had an extra wooden door added to it so they could lock that when leaving. It was intended to make it harder for someone to break it because you could no longer just break the glass to get inside.

The only problem there is that you could pick the lock fairly easily. Tim would know, he’s done it himself on multiple occasions. But despite the minuscule protection the door provided, he always made sure to lock it.

But that wasn’t the case now. The wooden door was wide open, the glass door still shut.

Someone had broken in but still tried to conceal their presence by closing one of the doors again.

Strange.

And terrifying.

Immediately, Tim went to the knife block next to the sink and grabbed two, a smaller one he could fit in his hoodie pocket and a larger one that would be the more eye-catching threat to any attackers. They wouldn’t expect the second one.

He turned back around, ready to fight his way out of this.

Until he saw just who had broken in.

There in all his leather-suited glory was Nightwing.

“Hi, there! Tim, right?”

Tim stared wide-eyed at the vigilante in front of him. What the hell was Nightwing doing in his HOUSE?! This was supposed to be his safe-ish place! Frick! The knife in his hand clattered to the ground, narrowly missing his foot.

“What...what are you doing here?” Tim finally asked after an awkward moment of silence.

Nightwing took a step forward so he was more illuminated by the kitchen’s light. “Just doing follow up with you. You came in contact with the Red Hood twice now, right? Scary stuff getting taken, hostage.” He paused for another second. “Twice within two weeks. That's pretty terrifying.”

Tim wrapped his arms around himself in a show of nervousness that wasn’t really all that fake. Nightwing was the reason Tim was involved in all this in the first place. Both Robin and Dick Grayson had performed the same trick that no one else in the world could do. It’s the whole reason he knew who everyone was under the mask.

Tim had hero-worshipped him for the longest time! Before he was even Robin! He had been a fan of the Grayson’s in general.

He wondered for a brief second if Dick remembered the moment his parents fell as clear as Tim had.

“Yeah...I just hope he doesn’t remember me enough to come after me. This little visit is proving to me that we need security upgrades.”

Dick glanced around. “So...where are your parents? I noticed that uh...their rooms were...dusty to say the least.”

“Archaeological dig. Should be back soon.” Tim was used to responding to questions about his parents. It was familiar and helped him relax a little. He wondered if that was Nightwing’s intention. Make him let his guard down.

He wasn’t going to let that happen.

“Really? Got anyone looking after you while they're gone?”

“Yes.” Tim hadn’t meant to snap that out as defensively as he did, but if anything it would probably help him manipulate the situation a bit. “What is this about again? If I’m traumatized? I’m fine. You can leave.”

Nightwing held his hands up in mock surrender. “Alright alright. Got it. No asking about parents. But I do have a few other questions for you.”

“Like?”

“Why you tried to negotiate with him? Both times?”

“I was trying to save myself. Simple as that.” Tim shrugged and made sure not to make eye contact. He doesn’t think he could lie straight to the guy’s face.

Just then, a quiet beeping sounded out from Nightwing’s wrist. Nightwing smiled at him for a second. “Duty calls. And I think you were right earlier. You should probably look into better security for this place.”

And just like that, he left.

Tim let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. That was more nerve-wracking than facing down the goon who shot his teacher. Holy shit. At least this time he hadn’t fucked up and did a name slip as he did with Jason.

The teen was actually kinda surprised that wasn’t mentioned. He knew that the family and Jason weren’t on good terms at all but he figured he would tell them if their identities were threatened by some random teen.

So right now, Tim was being screened by them because he knew things he probably shouldn’t, but nothing bad. They didn’t know he knew who they were. And the police hadn’t visited him, so he hadn’t been connected to anything yet either.

So far, it seemed that no one had connected him to the Joker’s murder at all.

Good.

Tim shut the wooden door and locked it. No reason he shouldn’t, it would deter the less motivated at least. The teen moved back to the front door as well, checking to make sure that it was also locked. He stopped cold in his tracks.

The door was locked like he remembered it, but on the ground below the mail slot was a small envelope.

Tim’s hands shook slightly as he reached for it. He had crime TV before. He was praying, desperately, that this wasn’t going to be the cliche that typically followed in this kind of scenario. Just as the killer thinks they are going to get away with it and an envelope arrives that says…

“I know what you did,” Tim read aloud in slight hysteria.

Chapter Text

A strange man sat in front of numerous screens, all lit up and illuminating his face. The screens were covered in images of documents and photos, but there was one clip on the center screen that kept on looping. It showed a boy, a teenager, appear from a vent within an old rundown carnival building. It showed that he had a gun.

Apparently, despite all the other precautions the boy took, he neglected to check if the Joker had his own security cameras set up. He had made a fatal error.

The man was under no illusion that the teen would actually be prosecuted, especially not in Gotham. Any juror they tried to bring in would probably have some reason to want the clown dead. No, the reason he was doing this….holding this knowledge over the boy’s head was because he was intrigued.

The figure smiled as a notification appeared on his screen. A message from the one in the video. He clicked it and was brought to a message window where one word awaited him.

“Proof?”

A simple response. One that could be explained away if necessary. It didn’t reveal anything about whatever it was that he knew. The boy was once again being cautious. The figure’s smile only grew wider. While this opponent was not his usual foe, he was an interesting one. He had even the man who knew of his crime stumped on why he had done what he did. There was no motive that he could find. Interesting.

Maybe he was just what was needed to make the game a little more interesting than usual. The typical cat-and-mouse chase was starting to bore the man and he didn’t like boring. That was part of the reason he had joined in on Gotham’s criminal stage in the first place. He wanted to be challenged and to prove himself. He was above the rest, and he was desperate to make that know. Or at least he had been.

He still hadn’t succeeded at that. But that was okay because that just meant it was time to change his agenda. To start up a newer game.

The clip was sent through the message board to the teen it showed in it. A few seconds later and it disappeared from the chat log. After a brief pause, the figure sprung into action and tried to recover it but nothing was working as it usually did. A second later the man realized that he had also made a grave mistake. He underestimated his opponent.

And it just cost him.

Somehow the person on the other end had managed to embed a virus within that one message because suddenly he had lost control of the system. Programs were crashing, files deleting themselves and everything was being wiped clean. Everything he had analyzed and gathered about Timothy Jackson Drake was gone. Including the video that he had used to threaten him in the first place.

It was a good thing he’d kept a hard copy.

--------

Tim was freaking the fuck out. He closed down his computer as his mind and thoughts started to spiral. The events that had just taken place could’ve been stolen straight out of a spy movie. He tried to take a breath and calm down, after all, he just eliminated the most pressing issue. He’d deleted the video and the man’s entire system with it. Unless of course he’d had a backup plan and expected Tim to react like that. Dammit! He had been so careful! What did he miss?! How the hell did that footage even exist?

Tim thought about the clip. He’d carelessly deleted it without trying to analyze it first. From the angle it had been shot in, the camera had seemed to be located inside the room where he killed the clown, but it hadn’t shown the man himself. Just Tim firing his first shot, popping out of the vent and raising his arm again. Decidedly not good. He really didn’t want to deal with the circus that would go on if anyone found out. Not to mention the fact that his parents would murder him for tarnishing their good name.

Maybe he could convince Gordon not to arrest him? It was no secret that he had beef with the Joker.

Or he could just go to the source and try to eliminate the threat entirely. Take out the one person who knew.

God had he just really considered that?! Killing again to cover his own damn tracks that he forgot to cover?!

Okay, Tim. Breathe. Think about this calmly.

Someone out there knows that Tim murdered the Joker and has proof that he did so. If Tim does nothing about it, then there is a possibility it will get into the hands of law enforcement. He wasn’t particularly worried about that. He could get a good lawyer. But it could also be seen by Batman and any hope he had for fading back into obscurity would vanish. Tim didn’t think he could handle the Batfamily hating him though. They were his idols. He had done this for them! So Bruce wouldn’t continue to be so angry about not avenging his son’s death and constantly debating killing the madman himself!

The other option was to hunt the mysterious person down. Find them, and destroy any copies of the footage that remained. He could end this without bloodshed. Whoever this was had to know that there was nothing else to link Tim to the crime. The footage was all that there was and if Tim could get to it….

No. He WOULD get to it. Time to hunt the bastard down.

Tim started his computer back up. He’d just destroyed the man’s entire system but he should be able to trace the connection that he used to do so back to the man’s location.

Or at least that was the plan until he looked at the clock and winced. He’d start tomorrow. It was 5:00 AM after all.

-----------

After a long night, the Dark Knight was ready to call it quits. He’d been tracking down a recent shipment of suspicious origin down at the docks. He hadn’t realized it belonged to Killer Croc and Penguin. They had been working together on this one and Bruce hadn’t been prepared for it. Which led to him calling in Nightwing who was supposed to be talking to that kid Stephanie mentioned.

They managed to lock down the two villains fairly easily after Dick arrived.

So this all leads us to where Bruce was now. The Batcave, once again pouring over the crime scene of his infamous foe’s murder and making sure he hadn’t missed anything. He was sure he had looked over everything countless times now. He had to be missing something!

“Alfred.” He said to the man only a few feet away. “I know I am not seeing something here. Something obvious.”

“Perhaps a fresher pair of eyes would do you some good?” Alfred responded while walking over to the screens. He stared intensely at each, looking for anything that seemed out of place. That's when the older gentleman spotted it. “That corner of the room, just out of frame, something is casting a shadow from the ceiling.”

Bruce saw it as soon as he pointed it out. It could be nothing...or it could be something extremely important. He resolved to return to the crime scene the next day. Whatever was on the ceiling there could be what solved this entire case.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow he’d find out who murdered the Joker.

---------------------

Jason was still bothered by that nagging feeling of something being off. He did his best to ignore it and focus on his goals but it wasn’t really working. There was definitely something wrong and soon, something was gonna go down because of it. He didn’t know what, when, or where, but he had a feeling that shit would hit the fan soon.

All of this seemed to have started with the Joker’s death. Maybe Jason would visit the scene tomorrow. To check things out so whatever happened, he wasn’t totally blindsided.

----------------

Stephanie didn’t know what the hell was going on with Tim Drake but it was definitely something going on with him. The last few weeks had proven that. But now, she had probable cause to figure out exactly what that something was.

She smiled. Tomorrow she would commence operation Find Out What Tim’s Hiding. The first objective is to follow him. It wasn’t creepy, she told herself, just necessary. After all, Nightwing’s little interrogation attempt hadn’t told them anything because it was interrupted, and she HAD to know the why behind his behavior.

Tomorrow was going to be fun.

--------------

The morning sun rose in the distance but any beauty it may have had was ruined by the ghastly city it overlooked below. A strange man stared out the window to survey the streets below. Not many people were on the street yet, it was rather early but soon the streets would be busy and full of cars and traffic jams. It was like any other morning in Gotham. An ordinary start to what would be an unusual day.

The man’s smirk grew as he thought over his plans. Everything was in place, the scene was set, the trap and bait laid out. Now he just had to wait for them all to arrive.

Secrets would be revealed and just maybe, he would find yet another worthy opponent to satisfy his need for a challenge.

Either way, he was looking forward to the game. With so many players it was bound to get interesting...and the best part was that at least one of them would not leave unscathed.

Chapter Text

This was….certainly strange.

'All right', Tim thought as he approached the decrepit carnival once again, 'Lets just hope I haven't just sent myself on a wild goose chase.' While he may have been confident in his skills most of the time, a little self doubt never hurt anyone and could probably even save his life one day because.....Gotham. He looked around the area, making sure that no one else was around as he slid through a gap in the wire fence that surrounded the area, and then entered through the door of the building where the Joker met his end.

Be it by fate or some other reason, Tim Drake managed to arrive at the scene of his own crime at the same exact time as Stephanie Fucking Brown who was currently dressed as Robin. And where Robin is, Batman could not be far behind. Tim’s mind began running wild with panicked questions. Why were they here? It had been two weeks since the murder and they were visiting the place where the Joker breathed his last, but for what? Any evidence should’ve been cleared out by Gotham P.D and even if something escaped notice, it should be contaminated by now. If Tim knew that, then so did Bruce, so what drove him to be here? 

Most importantly….did they notice the camera? Did they manage to obtain the same evidence as the one who led him here in the first place?

Tim shook his head slightly. Now was decidedly NOT the time to be obsessing over this, not with the vigilantes nearby. Right now, he had to find the strange witness or at least a clue that would help to find him. It didn’t seem like Robin had seen Tim yet so...maybe he was safe? Maybe he would have time to search?

“What are you doing here? This is a crime scene,” Robin said from behind the teen.

Annnnd he spoke too soon. Of course. It seemed Murphy’s Law was being put into effect today.

“G-G-Good question, Girl Wonder! I’ll answer you. I-I-It would appear that our dear friend T-T-Timothy here was lo-lo-looking for me!” Both of them froze as a glitchy speaker sounded from an old intercom system. The setups’ age was showing as the man’s voice distorted and glitched during his sentences. “But I’m a-a-afraid you’ll have to wait until the other play-y-yers arrive.” And just like that, instantly, the doors leading out of the room slammed shut, and steel coverings slid over the vents and windows, completely locking them in. They were utterly sealed away from the outside world.

“I-I-I hope they arrive soon, or else the oxygen in there might run o-o-out.” 

Fucking. Brilliant. Tim put his face in his hands with a groan. There was no mistaking who this was anymore, his voice having confirmed Tim’s earlier suspicions about who had set this up.

The Riddler had ensnared them.

“FUCK! B is going to kill me…” Steph was already pacing and it had been a whole 20 seconds. Tim has decided today just wasn’t his day. 

“Well at least we have one thing going for us, Robin.” 

“Yeah and what's that? The way I see it, we’re both trapped in the room the Joker was murdered in with limited oxygen and no hope for rescue!” She turns towards him sharply. “My comm isn’t working and neither is my panic button!”

“Obviously, it is the Riddler after all. He’s not stupid like some of the other rogues.” Tim scanned the room as he spoke, looking for any possible cameras or bugs. No cameras so far...The one that took the video of Tim had been quite obviously removed with a black residue marking wear it had been. He put his finger to his lips in sign to be quiet before pointing at the center of the ceiling. 

Evidently, Riddler had been a little...absent minded when setting this room up, because there on the ceiling in plain view was an open vent with a cool breeze drifting through. In retrospect, it made a form of sense seeing as the Riddler wanted them alive to play whatever ‘game’ he had set up. All of this was spelling trouble for Tim though. Even if he made it out of this relatively unscathed, he was going to be on the Bat’s radar once again. For the third time in two weeks. That's...not going to be taken as coincidence. 

Steph took the hint and spotted the vent as well and fought down a laugh. The other teen glanced around one more time before sitting down in the corner, no point in wasting energy by standing and they could be here a while. His movement caught her eye and Steph took a seat across him. 

“So what now? We wait?”

“I thought this was your thing? You ARE a vigilante right?”

“Well- I- um! Yes!”

“Are you trying to convince me or yourself…?”

“Ti-! I mean. What..is your name?”

Tim fought down his own laugh at that. “It’s Tim. And I’m going to guess you’re Robin?”

“Yeah.” Steph let out a sigh. “Sorry about all this. I was just really caught off guard.”

Before Tim could respond, one of the double doors that was locking them in opened. However, instead of the Dark Knight appearing, it was someone else. Someone wearing a now familiar leather jacket.

Red Hood. 

“What the fuck are you two doing here?” The man entered the room fully, clearing out of the doorway. Fuck.

“WAIT DON’T LET THE DOOR SHUT!!” Tim called out in vain and could only watch the heavy metal slam shut once again with the telltale click of a lock following it. “Dammit.”

Despite the odds, Jason tried to open the door, and yup it was locked again. Before the helmeted vigilante could ask, the younger boy cut in, “It’s Riddler. Trying to rope us into some ‘game’ of his. Locking us in here until ‘all the players’ get here.”

Jason let out an annoyed groan. They all knew who at least one other player would be. The Dark Knight. Tim would be surprised if they weren’t immediately at each other’s throats. He didn’t have time to make a bet with Steph over it though because not a minute after Jason’s arrival, the door swung open yet again and revealed Batman standing there in all his ominous glory. 

Despite not being able to see his eyes, Tim could tell he was surveying the room. “What. Is. This?” 

Thankfully, no one had to answer him because the vigilante’s arrival was the cue for Riddler to cut in. “Hel-l-lo Detective! How nice of you to finally j-j-join us! Now we can begin the game!” One thing was clear for Tim as the audio cut off once more. The stupid fucking glitching was grating on his nerves each time the mad genius spoke.

“Nigma. What do you want?” With his words, Batman stepped into the room and away from the doorway, this time, it remained open.

“R-R-Riddle me this, Batman! There are thousands of me out there they say, I cure boredom when you choose to play, what a-a-am I?” 

Batman sighs in response, so Tim decides to answer. “A game. We get it, you want to play whatever game you have set up here.”

“Y-Y-Yes but thats not all, because at the end of this game….is a prize I know you want-t-t, Dark Knight.” Tim’s heart nearly stopped at that moment. So this was it then. That was his move. “I know who ex-x-xecuted the Joker.”

Jason had remained silent through the exchange up until this point, but now spoke up. “Hi. Do I need to be here for this or can I go? I don’t give a damn who killed the bastard.” From his body language alone, Tim could tell that that wasn’t entirely true, but the Riddler couldn’t see them so that didn’t matter anyways.

Edward’s irritating laughter echoed through the old intercom in a manner eerily similar to another’s. “No? You don’t care about what will happen to them once the Dark Knight knows?”

Oddly enough, Jason actually seemed to think about it. The room was silent for a brief moment before he came to a decision. “Whoever finally took out the bastard deserves a damn reward. Yeah I guess I’ll stay if it means B doesn’t get to find out. That is what you’re proposing right?”

“Y-y-you catch on quick, Hood.” Without warning, once more, the metal door swung shut, but that wasn’t as alarming to Tim as another thing that caught his eye. Through the small vent he’d noticed earlier, colored fumes were pouring into the room at a rate too fast for him to really do anything about it. Within seconds, Tim and the Batfamily present were unconscious. 

_______________________

When Tim came too, he was laying on one of the most disgusting floors he had ever seen.

Unsurprisingly, he was the last one to awaken after the knockout gas, not having built any form of immunity to it. Bruce, on the other hand, seemed to have been the first on his feet as he was searching the room while Jason and Steph were still sitting, regaining their bearings. 

Speaking of, Tim's head hurt like hell, almost like someone had taken a baseball bat to his head...multiple times. 

What he’d do for some ibuprofen right now.

Tim did a once over of the room they were in. It seemed to have once been an autopsy room or something of the sort, complete with a table like the ones you see in crime shows. However, the most attention grabbing aspect of the room was the...mannequin on the slab.

A very familiar looking mannequin. 

“You’re awake.” A mechanized voice called out from across from Tim. “Think you can stand?”

Tim brought his attention to Jason and got to his feet with a bit of effort. “I’m good.”

Jason chuckled in response, “The ankle explosive strapped on ya says otherwise.”

Tim’s gaze shot to his ankles and saw the black band. Wonderful. A sweep of the room revealed similar devices marking the rest of the room’s occupants as well. They seemed to have electronic locks and no ports as well. No getting them off for now. Ugh. 

Tim took a step forward and swayed dangerously for a second. An arm helped him get steady and he looked over to see it was Steph. She looked as groggy as he felt right now....ya know, as far as Tim could tell with a mask covering her face.

"hm."

Annnnd that's all it took for all eyes to be on the Bat, now standing in the middle of the room waiting for their attention to be on him. For some reason it reminded Tim of those teachers who would talk really softly or would just stay silent until everyone got the memo and shut up.

"There's a digital 4 digit lock on the exit, and the same with the safe. Look for clues." 

A little rude, but this was Batman, a man of few words....when he wasn't putting on his public persona, anyways. Tim walked over to the desk on the far right side of the room, opposite of the mannequin. Searching through the drawers only turned up one thing, a clipboard with a partially filled out autopsy report attached to it. Two X's marked the report. One over the chest area, one on the forehead. Flipping over the paper revealed a messily scribbled message. "Spot the difference?" The question mark was weird though, instead of a little dot, someone had taken the time to draw a little hexagon.

Tim kept the clipboard in hand as he finally approached the mannequin. He felt a strange kind of numbness come over him for a moment as he stood over it. A painted red smile, gaudy green wig and an equally as tacky purple suit made it painfully obvious who this was meant to be. 

However, there was something strange about this scene. Two black X's were painted onto the figure. One on his forehead...and another on his leg. Strange....But how could he explain why to the other occupants in the room? 

Afterall, according to the GCPD the Joker was shot in the leg and then the forehead....but that wasn't true was it?

No, Tim shot him in the chest first. He didn't want to give the murderous madman a single chance of retaliation. The shot to the forehead was to make sure the son of a bitch stayed fucking down. 

But he couldn't just tell Batman that now could he.

"Whatcha got there Jack?"

It took Tim a brief moment to realize that he was the one being questioned. Jason still didn't know his name. "Autopsy report. Couple of Xs on it but they don't line up with the ones on the mannequin."

Hood took the clipboard. "Well, wasn't he shot in the leg not the chest?"

"No."

Ah...Tim had forgotten. Someone else in the room had seen Tim's handy work first hand. Batman.

"He was shot in the chest and forehead within minutes of each other." Said caped crusader had begun to open up the suit jacket on the mannequin, revealing two letters painted on the inside of the coat, AC. 

Bruce was silent as he walked over to the safe and punched in random digits, earning no response. He then entered 0103, this time, the screen displayed NO on the screen. But this didn't feel right to Tim. No way would Riddler make his life this easy. There had to be something else....Maybe a different conversion on the letters to digits? It probably isn't a substitution...there's nothing that would hint at it....but wasn't there something weird about the question mark on the autopsy clipboard's message? A hexagon....A way of converting letters to numbers...

Hexadecimal?

Tim walked over to the safe while the others followed Bruce to the door. He quickly punched in 1012 and low and behold, a sharp click rung out in the room. The safe was open. 

"Tim got the safe open B!" 

Tim held the only contents of the safe in his hand, a simple notecard with the digits 0462 scribbled on the upper half and a message below it. "This is only the beginning."

Jason snatched the card before Tim could hand it over to the Dark Knight and punched the code into the door, allowing it to swing open, the group following close behind him as he stormed into the hallway outside the door.

As he walked, Jason flipped the card back and forth absentmindedly before bright red caught his eye. There was more writing on the back he hadn't noticed at first.

Clue #1 "The murderer entered through the vents." 

------

At the end of the short hallway connected to the first room, a rusted metal door stood. Not one to waste time, Jason yanked it open, the others still following his lead in silence. There was nothing to talk about at the moment after all. 

Bruce was the last to enter and the door slammed behind him, seemingly screaming at the 'players' that there was no returning to old rooms in this game. 

A quick glance around the room told Tim two things. One, his hastily pieced together theory about this place actually being an abandoned hospital or another building that typically had its own morgue had no real basis anymore, as this room looked just as realistic as the last one, and two, those were definitely authentic electric chairs sitting in the middle of the room. The room was modeled after an execution chamber, again, like one you would see on TV. There was a sector that made up a spectator's area, separated by slightly shaded glass, where those wronged by the one being executed could watch it happen. There were even a couple rows of folding chairs stationed around the window. Currently, they were on the spectators' side of the glass, looking in on the two chairs, but there was something....unique about this room. Two panels with a couple keyholes noticeably visible on their surfaces and a tiny horizontal screen, both connected to a small steel box with an electronic lock that lay in between the two. The next part of Riddler's game. 

The group wordlessly walked to the door that led to the execution chamber and went to examine the chairs. A thick cord led from each of the two chairs to the wall with the window. The holes in the wall they went through lined up with the back of the panels. 

A pale sticky note was stuck on the wall just below the window. "Someone will fry for this."

Suddenly, a sharp ding sounded from the explosives around the groups' ankles, a glance toward the objects showed that two of them now had a little red and blue light glowing from the device, while the other two bands shone yellow and blue. They weren't the only things that now had the colors shining from them. The panels in the next door room now had their screens lit up, each panel matching one of the pairs of colors, the glow bright enough so that it was reflecting on the glass. 

"Two of us will have to sit in those chairs won't we?" Steph finally broke the silence that had ranged over the past few minutes. 

"G-g-gIVE the Girl W-Wonder a gold star! Yes, one from each pair will have to sit while the others find out how to release them and escape the room."

Tim frowned. "It's unlike you to just tell us the rules, Riddler."

"Well how can you play the game right if you don't know what you're risking?"

"Seems pretty clear to me." Tim couldn't help but snark back. 

"Well did you know that if you put in the wrong key your teammate will receive a nasty shock?" The smirk could be heard in the rogue's voice before it took on a darker tone. "Two is enough to kill the average person. Happy hunting."

Bruce grunted before, out of nowhere, he grabbed Jason and forced him into the green and blue-lit chair, strapping him in before he knew what hit him. "What the HELL, B?!"

Bruce only sighed before sitting in the chair next to him and strapping himself in. "They're children, Hood. Who's more likely to survive being shocked a couple times?"

 In response to the straps being fastened on both chairs, a loud clicking noise was heard in the opposite room, followed by the clang of something heavy hitting the floor. Tim grabbed Steph's arm before she could start ripping into Bruce herself for just doing what the Riddler told them and yanked her out the door they came through. A large metal box was sitting on its side in the middle of the room.

"Well that wasn't there before." 

"Gee, thanks Tim. I didn't know that." 

Tim just sighed before walking over to the box. Just as he went to open it,  Steph grabbed his arm and yanked it away. "Steph...?"

"Are you even a Gothamite?! Don't just open the strange box that a rogue left you! It could be a bomb."

"Ya know, I don't think it is." Tim stood up and backed up anyways. "But I guess that means you should open it instead then? Seeing as I'm just a poor civilian and you're the vigilante?"

Steph apparently hadn't caught his sarcasm as she immediately opened up the box herself, took one look at its contents and sighed a suffering sigh. The kind of sigh Tim does when his parents force him to some event. Pure internal suffering. 

He went over to the box and peered inside. Keys. A box full of different kinds of keys with all colors and shapes. Sorting them by color alone would take at least ten minutes, then would come shape which would take another ten and they still would have no idea which one they really needed. Or the two they really needed. 

"Alright....by color it is then," Steph announced as she dumped out the box and settled on the ground and began methodically sorting the keys. 

Surprisingly, the box was far shallower than it appeared with no mechanism to lead them to believe they needed anything else out of it. This meant fewer keys than they thought and thus sorting only took them about five minutes. 13 Purple, 12 yellow, 6 green,  4 red and 7 blue. The next part was the hard part, figuring out which key they needed.

Tim wordlessly discarded the red, blue, and yellow keys, shoving the pile of them to the side, after all they only needed the purple and green ones. His elementary school art classes had prepared him for this moment. Once again, Riddler seemed to be trying to remind Tim of what he had done, however Tim was lost on the reason why. He knew he had killed the Joker. He would do so again. Any remorse he felt would never be for the man he killed, but only for his own loss of humanity in the process. Riddler didn't seem to quite understand that.

Steph understood immediately why he had discarded the keys, so at least he didn't have to explain anything. Small mercies. 

That left them with 19 keys left in total....now they had to  figure out what to do with them. Tim picked up a key and studied it for a moment, that is when it struck him. The ends of the keys were simply stylized numbers. This was a code. There was a rhyme and reason to this. 

That honestly probably should've hit Tim sooner. Of course the Riddler wouldn't leave anything up to a guessing game, he only cared for tests on intelligence. Which once again nagged at Tim...what could he possibly hope to gain but playing this game? What did he want to find out?

"Tim? You've been staring at that key for almost three minutes now."

Steph snapped him out of his thoughts, bringing him back to the task at hand. "We need the keys with the stylized  0 on the ends of them."

"huh...? How do you figure?"

"This is all about the Joker right? The Joker has no number, so most of the time people just use zero. We have no other clues to go off but the Joker, I'd say this is right."

"If you're sure Tim....I can believe it."

They both approached the key panels with the matching colored and numbered keys. They glanced at each other nervously for a second before placing them in the keyholes. 

Tim heard the buzz a split second before he registered what was going to happen. 

"TAKE THEM OUT! STEPH, TAKE THE KEY OUT!"

Panicked, she yanked the key from the socket as fast as she could. 

Tim immediately tried to puzzle out what went wrong. He was certain they had the right keys so what was wrong here?

"Tim the wires...they're crossed. We need to swap keys."

A quick glance at the panels revealed what she said to be true. This was definitely not Tim's day.

After a quick key swap, they tried again and were rewarded with a soft click from the other side of the wall as well as a louder one, coming from behind them.

A small cabinet stood next to the door they entered through, two keyholes clearly visible on its door. Steph walked up to it without hesitation and fit her key into the lock, gesturing to Tim to follow suit. The door opened, rewarding them with a small card. "Try as you will, failure is all that lies ahead."

Jason plucked the card from his grasp before he could inspect it further and flipped it so Tim couldn't see the back. The same red writing drew the former Robin's attention.

Clue #2 0115011601140116012101100122016

“Hmm..” Jason crumpled the note in his hand and stuffed it into his pocket before going back into the execution chamber. “There was a hidden door that opened once we got out of the cuffs. Lets go, brats.”

They both followed the anti-hero to the next room where Bruce stood, impatient, ready to get this whole side-show over with. “Hm.”

And with that the group pressed onwards to the next room.

The site they were greeted with seemed to be a 160 from the previous rooms, as it was clearly decorated to mimic a game show. Bright lights strung up all around and four podiums placed beneath a huge screen mounted on the wall behind them. Of course, as with the previous room, the door slammed shut behind them, trapping them once more. That's when Riddler's face lit up the large screen.. "Congratulations on making it this far so quickly! Of course, I expect nothing less with the Dark Knight as apart of the group. This will be the final room before the finale, and you now are all competing for the grand prize! Good luck!" 

The group warily approached the podiums in the room, glancing around at the rest of the area as well. There was a large door on the wall to the left of the whole setup, one with a keypad and scanner hooked up to it. Interesting….

Tim reached a podium and saw the screen was lit up. Two options appeared  for him to choose….Ally or Betray.

Tim’s heart stopped for a second under the implication. Was he betraying Batman by protecting himself? By competing against him to keep his secret safe?

“B?” Steph asked her mentor as they all now stood behind their own individual podiums. 

“We’ll all choose.” 

Tim didn’t hesitate to press ‘Ally.’

On the giant screen behind them, the results of the game were displayed. Tim and Steph gained two points because they both picked ‘ally.’ Bruce and Jason gained and lost nothing as they both picked ‘betray.’

A little point counter on the corner of Tim’s screen displayed a little 7. Tim could only guess that Bruce and Jason had five and Steph also had 7.

This was a game of trust and deception when they were meant to compete. It was specifically meant to turn them against each other.

Tim’s eye flitted about the room. While he knew the amount of points he had now and could guess at the other’s total in his group, he had no idea what his target number was meant to be. A zero would be the obvious choice given the previous game but that seemed far to easily obtainable in a game like this. There had to be a clue. Tim tapped ally on his screen again before starting to wander the room, looking for anything that might hint at what their target was. His search ended with him finding a small safe, similar to the one in the first room and the cabinet in the second, as well as finding half of a playing card. 

In truth, that was all he needed to find to get his answer.

The screen lit up once more with the results and Tim wasn’t disappointed by the results. Jason and Steph were paired, bringing Steph down by two points, as Jason chose to betray. This left Bruce and Tim as paired for the round. Since Tim had chosen Ally so quickly the first time and hadn’t hesitated for the second vote, Bruce thought he’d chosen ally. There was no reason for him to believe otherwise, and because of this he knew he had a greater chance of gaining points by choosing Ally with both Tim and Steph giving him favorable odds.

The payoff here though was for Tim.

The target number was nine and they started with 5 points. Tim gained two bringing him to seven. Two more from this round meant victory for him, and him alone. 

But the others didn’t notice this. And they wouldn’t until it was too late.

He walked over towards the door nonchalantly, the same walk he walked the last round. Once in range he scanned in his anklet explosive bracelet, and the door opened allowing him to bolt inside and slammed just as quickly once he made it to the other side.

Banging sounded on the other side of the door, muffled shouting barely heard through the thick door.

Tim pulled himself away from the door and turned to look around his new surroundings. It appeared to be the hallway of a normal house. Nothing about it seemed off like the other hallways Tim had gone through. After following the hallway for a moment, Tim found a living room, one with a lit fireplace and a large chair.

Tim had done it. He’d found the only person who knew exactly what he’d done.

"You're quite the actor Mr. Drake." The self-styled villain called from his place on the chair, still facing the fireplace. “You certainly strung them along until the last minute.”

Tim paused slightly at the comment before responding. "What do you want Mr.Nigma?" 

"With you Mr.Drake?” Finally, after what felt like ages, Riddler stood up and turned to face Tim, “  I simply wish to figure you out."

"I don't think I'm all that complicated."

"Aren't you?” The man drawled mockingly. “I still don't know why you did it."

Tim shifted uncomfortably. "I did Gotham a service."

"That you did....but why? You said it yourself. This is Gotham. No one acts out of the goodness of their hearts.” Without missing a beat, Riddler scooped up a tablet showing various different squares of footage from the cameras that had littered the game rooms and hallways. “ Not even the Dark Knight in the next room over. I sincerely doubt the girl wonder's resolve as well."

Tim decidedly didn’t like where this was headed. "I guess you'll have to live not knowing."

A dark chuckle filled the room. "Ahahah. You see, I thought you might say that. The plan was if you failed to hand over the informationally knowingly or perhaps unknowingly, than I'd just keep you here until I could figure it out...but I have a better idea." Tim felt his throat tighten in panic. Bruce and the others were in the next room over. Trapped in the next room over.

"What..?"

"I have shut the game consoles down and as we speak a slow acting poison is being pumped into the room those three are in…” He brought the security camera footage of the group up on the screen. “Of course, I'm not heartless. There is another way for them to escape, if they can figure it out in time. The passcode to the panel on the door that is."

Tim’s panic was quickly turning to terror and fury. "Why?! What purpose does that serve?!"

"I told you what I'm after, but I'm not a madman like the Joker was, I won't torture it out of you. But if you refuse to tell me, then your secret will either die with you....or with them."

"That makes no sense! Why would you want me to tell you?! Isn't your whole goal to prove your intelligence?! Why would you ask me to tell you?!"

The Riddler pauses, a grin overtakes his face. "You're right."

Tim froze. "I...am?"

"Yes. But tell me, if there are no clues given in the riddle, then what is the point?" A beep echoed into the room from the device, a notification appearing on the screen. Riddler’s smirk only grew in response to the interruption. "Oh! It looks like they were able to open the safe in this room! Oooh but it seems like they only have about three minutes before they pass out. I wonder if they'll figure it out before then?"

Tim’s mind was spiralling. What could he do? Would he give him what he wants? No. He couldn’t. All of the Batfamily’s secret identities were on the line! But was it worth their lives to keep this secret? Could he really not think of a vague enough clue to keep them protected? From both the truth and the poison?

What should he do?

Tim had already made up his mind from the start. 

He told himself he would be their protector even if it put himself in danger. He had already decided that. Now it was time to keep that vow.

"I'll give you it."

"Hmm?" The Riddler brought his attention away from the device and back to Tim.

"I'll give you a hint."

"Oh?"

Tim steeled himself, let his emotions drip away from his expression and let a familiar blank mask overtake his features."Give me the tape and let them out and I'll give you a hint."

Riddler snorted in response. "And why should I believe you'll tell me the truth? That this little hint of yours won't be a red  herring?"

"Why would I lie?" Tim deadpanned in response, no hint of the panic or terror from earlier present. He would suppress it as long as he had to. He was going to come out of this interaction on top. 

"Do you want the short list or the long? You are on a time crunch here."

"I mean it. If I lie, when you're out of Arkham in a few months, I'd be a target."

"Then you have to choose." And just like that, the mask Tim was depending upon cracked a bit. If he refused, there was no guarantee he could negotiate a better deal. If he refused...if he pushed on this...he’d be risking their lives. He’d be risking them….and for what? So they wouldn’t reject him? Wouldn’t see him as just a murderer?

It wouldn’t matter if he kept his secret if they were all dead.

Then this would all have been for nothing.

"What is more important to you?”

"...."

“Your secret or them?”

“...”

"Tick tok."

Tim glanced at the screen. They only had 1 minute and thirty seconds left according to the countdown on the screen behind the rogue. Tim had made his choice already...he knew what he had to do but...

"Them."

"Come again?"

"I choose them."

The Riddler's hand fell on the switch next to him and seconds later the grinding of the rusty doors sounded out through the room. 

"Now for your part of the bargain Mr.Drake." Riddler put his hands on his head preemptively, and thunderous footsteps grew close.

"108518254."

The Riddler’s face immediately took on a look of intense focus. "...We shall see if you've kept your word in due time."

Riddler made one last move before Bruce entered the room. He taped a button on the device he had been using since the teen had gotten there. On the opposite side of the room from the door Tim had come from he saw a small old TV connected to an old cassette player.

"Sadly....you will not be coming out of this unscathed."

Bruce burst into the room not even a second later, slugging a punch to Riddler’s jaw before Tim could even register he was there. Bruce was clearly not happy. 

When Tim thought about it though...it made sense. Riddler’s game almost lead to Bruce’s childrens’ death….and for Jason...again.

 Jason and Steph entered seconds after Bruce slightly coughing before they caught a glimpse of what was on the TV….then they just stared.

Tim knew what was displayed there without having to look. The image was undeniably grainy, and it would take a tech genius to get it any clearer. It likely wouldn't hold up in court but.....given the clues.....it was undeniably Tim in the video.

Jason took off his helmet and stared at the looping video clip. Tim fires out a shot from the vent, he gets out, fires another shot, and leaves the way he came. 

Tim can feel the weight of the stare Steph is giving him right now. She doesn’t say anything to him though...he can’t tell if that's worse or not. 

This is it. The moment he’d been dreading since he began planning the murder in the first place. The cat is out of the bag. The Batfamily know. 

But Tim can’t let them get any further than knowing. He was the closest to the cassette player and he’s already destroyed the Riddler’s digital copies. There was only one thing left to do now. 

Tim lunged for the player and smashed it to the ground. He yanked the broken up cassette from the pieces and threw it in the fireplace. He watched as the only evidence against him went up in smoke.

“Tim?! What. the. FUCK?!” Steph stormed over to him. “What the hell was that?! You killed the Joker?!”

After everything that had just happened in the last few hours Tim felt...drained. He was so tired...He felt kind of disconnected to what was going on. Maybe that's why he turned to the young vigilante with a deadpan look. “Well Batman clearly wasn’t going to.”

He vaguely registers Red Hood making a sound somewhere between a laugh and a scoff. 

Of course, that's when Bruce approaches for his own interrogation.

“You killed him.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes.”

The man infront of him towered over him but Tim wasn't fazed. “....why?”

And that truly is the question of the night isn’t it?

“He was tearing this city apart. He was tearing your family apart. He was tearing Batman apart. I couldn’t let it continue.”

“Hm. Would you kill again?”

This is where Bruce would really not like his answers, but he trugged through anyways. “If it were to protect you all, then yes. Without hesitation.”

“You know I can’t allow you to continue like this.”

Tim chuckled darkly. “You can’t really stop me either. In the eyes of the law, I’ve done nothing wrong. There is no evidence to convict me..” Tim stepped towards Bruce. “And I might be the only citizen of Gotham who you will not be able to find a motive for killing him.”

Jason stepped in between the two, facing his old mentor. “He’s right, B. You’ve got nothing. And I think its time for us to go.”

Jason roughly grabbed his shoulder and lead Tim out of the building. More time must’ve passed then Tim thought because the sun was beginning to set behind the horizon. It felt like an ending. The closing on a chapter. Perhaps the start of something new. 

“So…..You’re real name is Tim huh?”

Tim looked over at Jason. “Yeah. Tim Drake. We met at some galas when you were younger.”

“Huh. And you just up and shot the Joker?”

“Yup.”

They both stayed silent for a moment, just watching the sun fade away the moon begin to rise.

“.....Thanks, kid.”

“....I couldn’t let it happen again.”

After that, Tim and Jason split up. Jason went back to his hideout for the time being and Tim had to trudge back to Drake manor. 

That should’ve been the end of it.

At least that’s what sleep deprived Tim thought.

That thought lasted until he was back in school. In class. With Steph.

“B wants to talk to you today.”

Tim raised his eyebrows in confusion. 

“You called me Steph yesterday...So yeah...Wants you to come over to the manor after school.”

Tim feels a stab in his chest. “Steph I did it to protect people. I don’t regret it.”

She sighs. “I understand Tim. I do, I just need a bit ok?”

Tim tries for a reassuring smile that falls flat. “Yeah of course.”

The walk to Wayne manor that afternoon is awkward and stilted. Tim had always made sure to only talk about school with Steph before these past few weeks so now with the immense tension between the two, becoming real friends would be a bit of a challenge.

Eventually they made it to their destination and Bruce awaited Tim in his study.

“Tea, Tim?”

“Thanks but no thanks, Mr.Wayne.”

“B works if that's easier.”

“...I’m good. So what am I doing here?”

“I...wanted to thank you.”

 If there was anything Tim was expecting out of this it was not that.

“I don't...agree entirely with your actions but ....you did what I refused to...and have likely saved hundreds of future victims as a result.”

“...Thank you..?”

“But that's not all. You didn’t lose sight of yourself afterwards, and that speaks of a strength I’m afraid I don’t have. ”

Tim clears his throat. He never expected this to happen.

He fumbled a second before he found the words to say, "If anything, Mr. Wayne...Thank you...for protecting us all."