Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Duke hated Chemistry.

Mrs.Lang was a demon of a woman, and Duke hated Chemistry.

She'd assigned a partnered project, with assigned partners, and it was way too much to do at school.

Duke had been partnered with Stephanie Brown, a rowdy blonde chick who was, thankfully, actually good at Chemistry.

Small blessings, Duke supposed.

Her schedule was, apparently, nuts, so they ended up planning to do pretty much the whole project in one day, on a weekend two weeks before it was due. They decided to meet up at the library rather than one of their houses, because Duke hated the foster family he was with and Stephanie apparently didn't want her mom assuming anything about their relationship.

Duke got to the Gotham City Public Library fifteen minutes before ten on the selected Saturday and sat on the steps outside to wait for Stephanie. He texted her when he got there and got a response saying she'd be there soon, as she was walking over with one of her friends.

That didn't bother Duke any, and he just sat outside to wait so it'd be easier to find each other rather than trying to find each other inside of the expansive building.

Ten minutes after he'd texted, Stephanie rounded the corner across the street from the library, talking animatedly with a dark-haired guy in an expensive looking suit.

Duke recognized him, it would have taken an actual idiot to not have.

It was Tim Drake-Wayne, the teenage CEO of Wayne Enterprises.

Duke had known, sort of, that Stephanie was friends with him, she mentioned him every now and again during class, but knowing and seeing are two different ballgames, and seeing normal, rowdy Stephanie Brown with the heir of two billion dollar companies was a hell of a trip.

He stood as they crossed the street, shoving his hands in his pockets, not exactly sure how to handle the situation. It wasn't every day you met one of Bruce Wayne's kids.

"Duke! Hey!" Stephanie waved at him as she and Tim got closer. "Sorry to keep you waiting, this idiot wanted to walk me here, but took forever on what he was working on."

She elbowed Tim in the ribs when she called him an idiot and he grimaced apologetically. "Sorry, man."

"No worries." Duke shrugged. "I don't have anything else going today."

"It's nice to meet you." Tim offered a hand to shake. "I'm Tim, but you probably already know that."

"Duke." Duke shook his hand and was surprised at the strength and callouses he found. "Didn't think I'd ever meet someone like you."

Tim made a face, but huffed a laugh. "Ugh, yeah, I get that. A lot of people expect me to be a snob, but it's not like I can blame them for it. Steph likes to make fun of me for it."

"Gotta keep you humble somehow." Stephanie grinned sharply.

"I'm plenty humble." Tim shoved his hands into his pockets. "You know that."

Duke was . . . pleasantly surprised at how laid back the dude was. He wasn't sure what exactly he expected, but it wasn't just a . . . normal-seeming seventeen-year-old.

"Yeah, because I put in the effort to keep you that way." Stephanie stuck out her tongue at him. "Anyway, see you later for . . . game night?"

She glanced at Duke during her pause and he wondered why she seemed unsure about 'game night'.

"Sure, meet at B's?" Tim didn't seem surprised at the falter in her sentence.

"I was thinking the diner near Jay's." Stephanie answered. "Y'know, the place with the really good lasagna."

"Oh, right, sure." Tim nodded. "Ten'o'clock?"

"Yeah." Stephanie nodded.

"Sounds good." Tim said and then nodded to Duke. "Nice to meet you, Duke, good luck with your project."

"Thanks." Duke bobbed his head in response.

"See you." Tim started to turn, raising his hand in a lazy wave and all of a sudden there was a chorus of car horns.

Duke, Stephanie, and Tim all looked to the street to see an unmarked black van skidding around the corner.

Tim grabbed Duke and Stephanie and jerked them backwards as the van hopped the curb and screeched to a stop in front of them.

"Shit!" Tim cursed as the side door on the van slid open and men in masks with guns poured out. "Run!"

He pushed Duke and Stephanie away from himself and Duke stumbled back, stunned and clumsy. Before Duke could get his footing back their trio was surrounded and men were shoving him and Stephanie along with Tim, towards the van.

"Let them go!" Tim pushed back against the men. "They don't need to be involved, let them go!"

Duke was hauled up by his backpack straps and shoved into the van.

"Fuck off!" Stephanie shouted next to him as a couple guys grabbed her by her arms and shoved her in next to Duke. "Get off me!"

"Let them go!" Tim clutched at the doorframe of the van, holding himself out as they tried to drag him in. "Let them go and I'll cooperate!"

One of the men cracked Tim across the jaw with the but of his handgun and Tim's hands slipped off the doorframe.

The door slid shut with a terrifying finality and Duke felt numb as one of the guys wrested his hands into a set of zip cuffs and the van lurched into motion. Next to him, Stephanie was kicking and screaming, resisting the men as they tried to cuff her too, and Tim was dazedly trying to fight off the guys jerking his arms behind his back.

The same guy who'd hit Tim slammed his gun against Stephanie's face too, stunning her enough that the other guys could cuff her.

"Fuck you!" Stephanie spit blood at the guy, fire in her eyes as she continued to jerk at the zip cuffs on her arms. "Let us go!"

"I suggest you shut the fuck up, unless you want your friend to get shot." The guy pointed the gun directly at Duke's forehead.

Every muscle in Duke's body froze.

All he could see was the black hole of the muzzle of the gun. Everything around him stilled, even Tim and Stephanie and Duke was heaving in huge, uneven breaths, staring down the muzzle of the gun.

He was gonna die.

He was gonna die.

"Tape them." The man ordered.

Stephanie and Tim didn't resist as the men tore strips of tape and placed them over their mouths and Duke's.

The gun didn't waver.

"Behave, or there will be consequences." The man said cruelly. "Blindfold them."

He finally holstered his gun as his people dragged bags over their heads.

XxX

"Sorry." Tim said once the men left the hall containing their cell.

The ride in the van had been long, easily thirty or forty minutes, and Duke and Stephanie and Tim had been stripped of their belongings as they were jostled about along the way. Then they'd come to a stop and been dragged out of the van and marched into a building. They didn't get the bags off their heads until they'd had their cuffs cut off of them and been shoved into a cell and removed the bags themselves.

Stephanie had ripped the tape off of her face immediately and shouted abuse after the kidnappers as Tim winced while carefully peeling away his own tape.

Duke was kind of numb, not quite processing everything that was happening when Tim apologized.

He went to respond and realized the tape was still over his mouth and he peeled it away. "Sorry?"

"It's my fault you're involved in this." Tim rubbed at the rapidly blooming bruise on his jaw. "I'm sorry."

"It isn't your fault, you idiot." Stephanie backed away from the cell bars. "It's the kidnappers' fault."

"Is this like, a ransom attempt thing?" Duke asked.

"Probably." Tim sighed. "Good news is, this shouldn't last longer than a week."

"We'll still have time to do our project, then." Duke smiled thinly.

"Hah!" Stephanie dropped to the floor between Duke and Tim. "Yeah, and Mrs.Lang probably won't even give us an extension."

"Shit." Tim dropped his head back against the wall. "Lucius is gonna be so mad that I didn't finish the reports I was working on today."

"Oh, so you like, actually work as the CEO." Duke was kind of surprised.

"Did you think I didn't?" Tim asked, looking over at him from across Stephanie.

"I dunno." Duke shrugged. "I guess not, considering you dropped out."

"That's not a measure of capability." Tim frowned.

"School is bullshit anyway." Stephanie looked up at the ceiling.

"Agreed." Duke picked at the hem of his jeans. "So . . . you've been kidnapped before."

Stephanie snorted a laugh.

"Yeah, a few times." Tim ignored her. "I took some self-defense courses after, but you can see how much that helped."

"I guess being rich has to have some drawbacks, for the sake of balance in the universe." Duke mumbled.

"That's what I'm saying." Stephanie giggled. "This is proof that there is some goodness in the world."

"Weird fucking goodness." Duke sighed.

"That's one way to put it." Tim said quietly.

They all fell quiet and Duke closed his eyes, trying not to freak out.

"You're handling this surprisingly well." Stephanie said a little while later.

"Am I?" Duke huffed out a breath. "I think I'm about to freak out."

"No one would blame you." Tim sounded tired. "Getting kidnapped sucks."

"I think . . . I'm good." Duke kept his breathing steady and even. "It won't be more than a week. So, just a week of being in a cell with armed kidnappers and people I barely know. That's not that bad. Comparatively."

"Compared to what?" Stephanie sounded curious.

"I dunno . . . the Joker, I guess." Duke couldn't help clenching his jaw and he opened his eyes again.

"Excellent point." Tim winced, hissing out a breath. "Joker sucks balls."

Duke couldn't help a laugh at how genuinely Tim seemed to mean it. "Christ. You met him or something?"

"Or something." Tim grumbled. "I'm just saying, I'd rather be here for a month, than with Joker for a minute. Fuck that guy."

"Your crazy is showing, Timmy." Stephanie punched him in the arm.

Tim hissed and flinched away. "Fuck!"

"Shit! Sorry!" Stephanie sat up hands hovering. "I forgot!"

"What happened? Is he okay?" Duke sat up as well, leaning over to see.

"I've got stitches." Tim was grimacing in pain, shrugging off his suit jacket. "Cut my arm at one of the engineering plants I visited last week."

He undid his tie and started working the buttons of his shirt to pull it off enough to reveal the stitches. "Not torn, which is good."

Duke was incredibly surprised at how muscular the guy was. Generally, when picturing a CEO, one thought of a slightly overweight old man with a bald spot and liver spotted skin.

Which was not what CEO Tim Drake-Wayne was.

Seventeen, built, genuinely attractive, apparently a really nice guy, and also scarred to hell, Tim Drake-Wayne was exactly the opposite of your average CEO.

Duke found himself to be incredibly curious about the guy.

"Wait, your antibiotics, you need them, right?" Stephanie asked suddenly, jarring Duke out of his thoughts. "When was the last time you took them?"

"This morning." Tim answered, redressing himself. "I'll be alright, Steph."

"Bullshit." Stephanie snapped. "You carry your prescription in your bag, right?"

"Yeah, but they took it." Tim finished with his buttons.

Stephanie jumped to her feet and charged to the bars. "Hey!"

"Why's she freaking out?" Duke shifted, unnerved.

"I don't have a spleen." Tim said, getting to his feet.

"Hey, assholes!" Stephanie shouted through the bars. "Hey! Tim needs his antibiotics!"

"Okay?" Duke stood as well, confused.

"It's an important part of the immune system." Tim explained. "So I'm technically immunocompromised, more vulnerable to infections."

"Hey! Unless you want him to die, you need to give him his pills!" Stephanie kept shouting.

"That's bad." Duke frowned.

"Generally, yes." Tim agreed.

"They're in his bag! He needs his pills!" Stephanie grabbed onto the bars and rattled them. "Hey!"

"It's alright, Steph, we won't be in here long enough for it to matter." Tim grabbed her shoulder.

"I'm not taking that chance." Stephanie said viciously. "Hey!"

"Shut it!" One of the men appeared on the other side of the bars.

"Tim needs his pills." Stephanie glared at him. "He could die without them."

"Sure." The man scoffed. "Now shut the fuck up."

"He doesn't have a spleen, dickwad." Stephanie snapped. "If you had two brain cells to rub together, then you'd be able to fucking google what that means and you'd fucking know he needs his pills."

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up." The man unholstered his gun and aimed into the cell. "I'll fucking shoot all of you, if you don't."

"He'll die anyway if you don't get him his pills." Stephanie didn't even flinch. "Then you won't get anything."

"Steph, Steph, it's fine, it's alright." Tim grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back. "I'll be alright for a few days."

"It's not-!" Stephanie began, trying to pull away from Tim's grasp to keep snarling at the man.

"Steph!" Tim grabbed her arm tighter and yanked her away from the bars as the man aimed at Stephanie. "Come on, Steph, it's not worth you dying over."

Duke felt sick, like his heart was in his stomach as the gun tracked Stephanie as Tim pushed her further from the bars.

"We're sorry, sir. She's just worried." Tim said softly, but his eyes were sharp. "We'll cooperate, I promise. I'll just need the antibiotics if I get sick."

"See that you keep her fucking quiet." The man snapped. "Or I'll fucking shoot her and your other buddy."

He gestured the gun towards Duke pointedly and Duke stayed frozen, not quite breathing.

"We understand." Tim told him, voice far too steady.

Stephanie opened her mouth to say something but Tim slapped a hand over her mouth as the man turned to walk back down the hallway.

"Are you suicidal?" Tim hissed at Stephanie. "Antibiotics are not worth this."

"We need to know their limits." Stephanie dragged his hand away from her mouth. "Now we know them. They won't accept requests, they're definitely interested in you specifically, and me and Duke are spares at best."

"You did not need to fucking do that." Tim snapped as Stephanie stepped away from him. "That was too fucking risky."

"It was necessary." Stephanie leaned against the wall across from Duke and slid down to sit cross-legged. "Sorry, Duke."

Duke's legs gave out and he collapsed back down against the wall. "How the hell did you have the balls to do that?"

Stephanie snickered. "I've faced worse."

"Steph." Tim snapped, warning.

"Worse?" Duke asked in disbelief.

"Forget it." Stephanie tipped her head back and closed her eyes. "We should try to rest, in case something nuts happens later."

"Nothing will." Tim said firmly, sitting down next to Stephanie. "As long as you behave."

"I always do." Stephanie grinned, eyes still closed.

"That is categorically incorrect." Tim sighed. "You've never willingly behaved in your life."

"Semantics." Stephanie dismissed with a wave of her hand.

Their relationship was so incredibly odd, Duke couldn't help wondering how it'd started.

"How did you guys meet?"

They shared a quick glance before Stephanie answered. "We dated."

"A couple years ago." Tim added on. "Not anymore."

"He was a shitty boyfriend, anyhow, always distracted." Stephanie snickered again, as if she was sharing a joke with herself. "Now he's like an annoying-ass brother."

"And she's the sister I never wanted." Tim dug his elbow into her ribs.

"You should feel blessed to have the wonder that I am in your life." Stephanie elbowed him back.

"Fuck you." Tim replied without heat.

"Isn't that like . . . weird?" Duke wondered.

"Only if you think about it too hard." Stephanie smiled, mischief in her eyes. "There are . . . weirder relationships out there."

"I know you're talking about Conner, and it is not that weird." Tim sighed, long-suffering.

"Conner?" Duke frowned, not sure of who that was.

"He's one of my other friends." Tim explained.

"Friend is certainly a word for it." Stephanie scoffed.

"Do we need to talk about your relationship with Cass?" Tim raised his eyebrows at her.

"Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne." Stephanie punched Tim in the gut.

"The full name? Alright, Stephanie Elizabeth Brown." Tim grabbed her thumb and yanked it back.

"Do you not take pride in your own name?" Stephanie shook her head, wresting her hand out of Tim's grip. "Damian would be ashamed of you. You carry the names of two of Gotham's most powerful families."

"They're just names, it's not that special." Tim dismissed. "I'm not that special."

Duke was honestly surprised at how he said it, like he actually believed he wasn't a fucking marvel of a person.

"There are worse people you could be." Stephanie grinned widely, dangerous. "I mean, you could be Joker."

"Not funny, Steph." Tim bit out. "Incredibly not funny."

"It's a little funny." Stephanie met Duke's eyes with a twisted smile.

"No, you just enjoy making fun of people's darkest moments." Tim yanked on a lock of Stephanie's hair.

"What does that mean?" Duke sat up, curious.

"Nothing." Stephanie smacked Tim's hand away. "It's an inside joke."

A short silence took the cell.

"Do you have any siblings?" Tim broke it, eyes fixed on Duke.

"No." Duke leaned back against the wall. "It's just me."

"Lucky." Stephanie sighed, lips twitching. "I wish I could go back to that life."

"It's not all that great." Duke couldn't help curling his hands into fists.

Tim studied him, eyes sharp. "Sorry."

Duke forced his hands to relax, breathing out a heavy breath. "Don't sweat it."

"You still got your watch?" Stephanie asked, looking over at Tim.

"No." Tim held up his bare wrist, grimacing sadly and sounding regretful. "They took it when they cuffed me. B gave me that watch."

"They took mine, too." Stephanie flashed her wrist as well.

"Why does it matter?" Duke asked.

"It's easy to lose track of time when there's nothing to measure by." Tim gestured to the windowless walls. "Which can drive you crazy."

"Oh." Duke glanced around.

Their cell was small, not too small for three people, but not exactly large enough for three either. Duke would guess it was about twelve feet by ten.

It didn't even have a bed or a cot, just a toilet with a sink built into the top in the corner.

"You think Batman will come for us?" Duke asked.

"I'd say the odds are pretty good." Steph was grinning again.

"It'll depend on how involved the police are." Tim answered more seriously. "There's a pretty good chance they'll fuck up the investigation enough that Batman will have a hard time using the evidence to find us."

"You don't trust the police?" Duke scoffed in disbelief.

"Of course not." Tim's face twisted in disgust. "I'm in the rich people circles, dude. I know how fucked up everything is."

"You are pretty much the opposite of what I think I expected you to be." Duke told him.

"I live to defy expectations." Tim did an awkward half-bow, still sitting. "You can imagine how much the board at WE loves me for that."

"I'll bet." Duke huffed a laugh. "What are they, just a bunch of old farts with sticks so far up their asses they're using them as toothpicks?"

"You're great." Stephanie said firmly, pointing at Duke. "We're friends now. No getting out of it, no take-backs. We're officially trauma bonded besties."

"Steph . . ." Tim leaned his head back against the wall and put his hands over his face. "You can't just force people to be your friend."

"We're trauma bonded." Steph said adamantly. "That's not forcing anything, that's a bond which is formed through shitty circumstances and is unbreakable."

"How are you guys so . . . calm about this?" Duke studied them.

It was weird, to be having casual conversation as if they weren't being held captive by armed kidnappers.

"Freaking out just wastes energy." Stephanie shrugged. "Not much we can do if we did freak out, so it's best to just . . . stay calm."

Duke got the feeling that she and Tim had dealt with this kind of thing before.

He wasn't sure if that was comforting, or terrifying.

XxX

Jason was in crisis mode.

The whole family was in crisis mode.

Bruce had called just after one in the afternoon on a Saturday.

Phone calls, as a rule, were not to be ignored.

Phone calls meant emergency in the family.

Jason answered his phone on the first ring. "What?"

"Tim's been kidnapped." Bruce's voice was in public persona mode. "Him, and his friend, Stephanie, and one of their other friends."

"When?" Jason bolted up from his couch, dropping Pride and Prejudice unceremoniously on the cushions as he reached for his leather jacket.

"Near ten this morning. The police are here, they want you to come to the Manor." Bruce told him.

"I'm on my way." Jason got his jacket over his shoulders and made for the door. "Have the kidnappers made a ransom demand yet?"

"No, they've only just called." Bruce replied. "Please come home, Jason, we need to make sure you're safe."

"Cops are on your ass?" Jason stomped down the stairs of his apartment building, fingering his keys in his pocket.

"Yes, we're all worried." Bruce sounded extremely worried. "Please, come home."

Translation; yes, get here so we can talk in person.

"You been able to get down to the Cave?" Jason switched the call to the comm in his motorcycle helmet as he pulled it on.

"No, Jason, it isn't safe." Bruce was a hell of an actor. "Come to the Manor."

Cops are watching too close to get down there.

"Everyone else is there?" Jason straddled his bike and started the engine.

"Yes, I'm sure." Bruce intoned. "We don't know if they'll target anyone else in the family yet."

All present. It's not one of the usual threats.

"Why do you want me at the Manor? Shouldn't I start looking for them?" Jason took off like a shot into traffic, ignoring the cars honking at him.

"The police think you should come as well." Bruce said. "Not just me. I don't know if you'll be asked to stay, this might all be over by tonight."

We have to keep civilian covers. We'll start working tonight.

"Okay." Jason said. "I'll be there in twenty."

"Thank you. Drive safe."

No translation needed.

Jason got to the Manor exactly twenty minutes after he hung up with Bruce. The front drive was occupied by three police cruisers and two, supposedly, detectives' cars, so Jason went straight to the garage with his bike.

The moment he'd parked he abandoned his bike and charged towards the door to the kitchen, helmet still on. Eleven pairs of eyes flew to Jason when he slammed the door open, still in the process of getting his helmet off.

Five of them were the family, Dick, Damian, Cass, Alfred, and Bruce, all gathered at the kitchen table while six police officers and four detectives stood around them.

"Master Jason." Alfred recovered first.

"What do they want?" Jason demanded as he got his helmet fully off. "Why'd they take Tim?"

"We don't know yet." One of the detectives said. "Jason Todd?"

"Todd-Wayne." Jason corrected, setting his helmet on the counter as he walked closer to the table. "Bruce said they called, how do you not know?"

"The kidnappers have only declared that they've taken Tim and his friends." Another detective spoke up. "They haven't made demands yet."

"Who are you?" Jason crossed his arms, tone harsh.

"I'm Detective Lucy Reyes." The first one who'd spoken said. "These are Detectives Sandra Bolton, Jordan Keen, and Morgan Whitt."

She pointed to each of her colleagues as she named them.

"And those are officers Chandler Resch, Eliza White, James Houston, Phoebe Small, Max Winter, and Marco Martinez."

"What are you doing to find my little brother?" Jason snapped out, patience already thinning.

"We're doing everything we can-." Detective Keen began.

"I want to know specifics." Jason cut him off.

"Jason-." Bruce began in warning.

"I am not at liberty to discuss the specifics of an ongoing investigation." The man said hotly.

"Bullshit, you aren't." Jason snarled. "I'm family, I have every right to know what you're doing."

"Jason, that's enough." Bruce stood. "I know you're worried, but we need to work with the police."

"I need to know what they're doing to find Tim." Jason glared at the detectives.

"Jay, take a breath." Dick moved over to him and set a warm hand on his shoulder. "They'll find Tim and bring him home."

"You know that kid won't just sit back and behave for the kidnappers." Jason hissed, meaning both Steph and Tim. "He needs to be found before they hurt him."

"We understand your concern, Mr.Todd-Wayne." Detective Reyes spoke firmly, smoothly. "Right now, all the information we have is being put to use to look for your brother. However, at this moment in time, all we have is a few captures of the vehicle that took Tim, a few phone videos of the kidnapping, and one phone call from the people who took him. We're searching traffic camera feeds to track the vehicle and attempting to identify the faces caught in the cell-phone videos, but that's all we are capable of at this time."

"Thank you." Jason nodded to her, glaring at Detective Keen the whole time.

"As we were telling your family, we are expecting the kidnappers to call again within the next ten hours." Detective Bolton cleared her throat. "We believe they're delaying this out as a tactic to cause stress and fatigue to your family, so you'll be more likely to give in to their demands without resistance. It is extremely important that you do not agree to their demands immediately. Agreeing immediately to demands will give the perpetrators the impression that they can ask for more without releasing Tim."

"What do you suggest we do?" Bruce asked, pressing his knuckles against the table.

Dick leaned close to Jason, hand a firm weight on his shoulder. Damian and Cass were huddled close together, sitting next to Bruce and watching the events unfolding with dark eyes.

They needed to be careful in how they acted, what they said and did, and everyone seemed okay with letting Jason take the lead for the moment.

"When they call, do not let them get to you. As worried as you may be, it is important not to let them know that you're experiencing high stress." Detective Whitt answered Bruce's question. "They are going to taunt you, and they are going to threaten Tim to do it. You cannot lose your cool. Tim is very important to their plans, they cannot get what they want without him, so they will not do anything to jeopardize their goals."

"The first thing you'll want to do when they call is ask for proof of life." Detective Bolton advised.

"And if he's dead?" Jason snapped, Dick's fingers dug hard into Jason's shoulder.

"We have no reason to believe he is dead at this time." Detective Reyes cut in, voice firm and steady. "It is highly unlikely that he is. As much as you want this to be done with, so do the kidnappers. They want to get him out of their hands as fast as they can while getting what they want, so they will not do anything to complicate that process."

It was a good analysis, it might've even soothed people who didn't moonlight as vigilantes.

The Waynes were not those people.

Jason could read the underlying tension in everyone like it was written plain on their faces. To the cops, it would look like stress and worry, but to anyone who knew, it was frustration, plain as day.

"So, what? We just sit around with our thumbs up our asses until they call?" Jason dropped his arms to his sides, tapping his fingers against his thighs.

"Unfortunately, yes, that's all you can do." Detective Whitt sounded sympathetic.

"Fucking fantastic." Jason tossed his hands in the air and started out of the kitchen. "I'm going to the library."

"Jason." Bruce called.

Jason stopped in the doorway, turning back to the room.

"Take Damian and Cass." Bruce urged the pair up. "Look after them."

Jason nodded stiffly. "C'mon, you two, we can talk Shakespeare."

They walked over to him hand-in-hand and Jason slung an arm around Cass's shoulders when they were close enough.

"Officer Winter, please escort them." Detective Reyes said before they could get far. "We'll call you down when the kidnappers call."

Jason pressed his fingers tight against the outside of Cass's arm, but didn't say anything as they went upstairs, the officer just behind them.

Approximately twelve hours after the time of the kidnapping, the kidnappers called again. Jason and Cass were still upstairs and Dick had joined them by that point, but Alfred had taken Damian to get ready for bed, so the kid was elsewhere. Their accompanying officer had switched out four times, every two hours, making it so they couldn't talk openly for even a moment.

The second the officer's radio crackled with the message that the call was coming through, Jason, Dick, and Cass were on their feet charging towards the stairs. Officer Resch followed behind them, apparently surprised at their speed.

Everyone was still in the kitchen when they got downstairs, surrounding Bruce's phone, which was laid flat on the table.

"I want to know that my son is still alive." Bruce was saying when Jason trode in silently alongside Cass and Dick. "Let me speak to him."

"No can do, Mr.Wayne." The voice that came through the speaker was cruel sounding, rough. "He's too mouthy, can't risk having to hurt the kid for doing something stupid again."

Jason's blood boiled in his veins, but he stood completely still, arms crossed firmly in front of his chest.

"Th-Then a photo." Bruce's voice was unsteady as his eyes flew over to Jason and Dick and Cass. "Or a video, just something, please."

Bruce was furious as well, checking in with Jason and the others to make sure they knew they would go hard on the rescue, that they would not show mercy to the fuckers.

Jason was alright with that.

"We can do that." The voice sounded pleased with himself, as if the conversation was going exactly as he wanted it to. "Here you are, Mr.Wayne, a photo."

A message vibrated Bruce's phone against the table and he opened the notification with artificially shaking hands.

"Oh, god." Bruce let the words slip like they were an accident at the sight of the photo that had come through. "What did you do to him?"

Even from a distance, Jason could see severe bruising on the kid's jaw, a fresh black eye, and a split lip spilling blood down his chin. Tim's expression, however, was the mask of fear he used when he'd rather have looked bored. Still, Jason almost stormed out of the Manor right then and there to start tracking down the bastards to break his no-kill streak.

"Not to worry, Mr.Wayne, the kid's fine." The kidnapper said. "He just needed to learn a lesson on keeping his mouth shut."

"Let me speak to him, please, please let me speak to him." Bruce begged, voice watery as tears beaded in his eyes.

"No." Boredom soaked the man's tone. "We've got demands, Mr.Wayne, if they're met, we'll send the kid home no harm no foul. Well, no more harm."

"What do you want?" Bruce choked on the words. "What do I have to do?"

"Ten million for your boy. Fifty-thousand for each of the other kids." Steph would be pissed when she heard she was valued at less than a percent of what was being asked for Tim. "Secure wire transfer to an offshore account and we'll drop the kids off right where we picked them up."

Bruce looked to the cops. Detective Bolton shook her head.

Don't agree.

"I- I can't do that." Bruce said, voice tight.

"Mr.Wayne, are you aware of the situation you are in?" The voice turned deadly. "We have your son and two of his friends, and you have no idea where we are, who we are, or how to find us. Ten million is hardly pocket change for a man like you and you're willing to risk your son's life over it?"

Bruce looked, panicked, at the detectives. "It's- It's not that easy to move that much money. Banks- they get twitchy about it-."

"Mr.Wayne." The kidnapper cut Bruce off. "You are a man of great resources, you can do anything you like, and people will bend over backwards to accommodate you doing it. Why don't we try this again tomorrow, once you've had some time to think everything over, hm?"

"No- No, don't hang up-!" Bruce scrambled to get his phone off the table. "Don't-!"

The line went dead.

"Why can't we just pay them?" Bruce turned on the detectives, tears streaming down his face. "Tim is in danger and it's- I could just-."

"Bruce." Dick moved past Jason and slid an arm over their father's shoulders. "The police know what they're doing, we have to trust them."

"It's Tim's life, Dick." Bruce choked out. "He's already been through so much-."

"I know." Dick dragged Bruce into a proper hug.

The detectives couldn't seem to bear to watch the moment, averting their eyes to the embrace. Cass shifted next to Jason and he looked over to her.

Her eyes were darting between the cops and every exit to the Manor in sight.

She could certainly get out without notice if she wanted to, but she would need help, Gotham didn't rest just because Batman had a family crisis.

He needed to get out of the Manor with her.

Jason bumped her shoulder with his arm, nodding her out towards the foyer. When they were out of sight of the cops Jason started signing to her.

Get out there. I'll make my way out of here in the next hour. You need to start working.

Cass nodded quickly.

Jason hugged her tightly, a close, short embrace before he let her go. "Go ahead and go to sleep, Cass, it'll be better to be rested tomorrow."

She nodded with a sad, twitchy smile and started up the stairs.

"Where is she going?" Officer White had stepped out of the kitchen to keep track of them.

"To sleep." Jason said gruffly. "She's a kid, too."

He turned and made his way back into the kitchen. Bruce's eyes landed on him immediately and he reached out towards him. Jason went into the offer of a hug without protest.

"I sent Cass to start working." Jason breathed into his ear. "I'm going to find a way out of here in an hour to go help her."

"Well done." Bruce replied, just as quiet.

Bruce let him go and Jason turned to Dick, pulling him close next.

"You and Bruce need to keep the cops occupied." He told his brother. "So they don't get too worried about Cass."

"And you?" Dick murmured.

"I've got a plan." Jason told him.

An hour later, after a single text to the right person, Jason's phone rang as he, Dick, Bruce, and Alfred sat silently in the kitchen.

Jason answered it quickly. "What's up?"

"You asked me to call, babe. I have no idea what's up." The redhead snarked.

"No, I'm at the Manor, Tim's been kidnapped." Jason said. "Isn't it on the news?"

"I haven't checked the news." Roy sounded confused. "Why did you need me to call if you're dealing with a kidnapping issue?"

"No, I can." Jason stood from the table, grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair. "We aren't doing anything at the Manor except sitting around with the cops anyway."

"You're using me to get away from cops." Roy caught on.

"Yeah, I'm sure, baby." Jason dragged his jacket on. "I'm going nuts over here, I can at least help her over there."

"You need me to drag this out?" Roy asked.

"No, I'm coming over there." Jason said firmly, starting towards the garage door. "I'll see you both, soon. Love you."

"Good luck, Jaybird." Roy sounded soft. "Love you."

Jason hung up the phone, jamming it into his back pocket.

"Jason, who was that?" Bruce frowned, worried as Jason adjusted his jacket and reached for his motorcycle helmet.

"Roy." Jason answered. "Lian's sick and he needs someone to get her meds and food and such."

"Mr.Todd-Wayne, we cannot advise-." Detective Whitt began.

"My boyfriend's kid is sick." Jason snapped. "I'm not gonna sit on my ass, doing nothing, when I can help them."

"Jason, we're just concerned for your safety." Detective Reyes said gently. "We don't know if the kidnappers might go after you, too."

"I can handle myself." Jason said coldly.

"Jason, please." Bruce stood, moving over to hold Jason by the shoulders. "I need to know you're safe. Please."

"I'll fucking- I'll text or call every two hours." Jason said. "I can't just sit here, B, or I'm gonna go crazy."

"Every two hours." Bruce said firmly. "Promise?"

"Promise." Jason agreed easily.

Bruce hugged him tightly. "Be careful."

"Sure thing." Jason stepped back and pulled his helmet on, heading for the garage.

XxX

Jason met Cass on the roof of the library.

"Oracle, what have you got?" He asked as they perched on the edge of the roof, studying the crime scene below them.

"Steph and Tim's emergency beacons are both in the harbor, sans wearers." Barbara began. "The driver of the van that took them knew what they were doing and avoided what few traffic cameras that are actually functional in this hell city. I wasn't aware of the calls that were made, so I couldn't trace them, and facial recognition is struggling with the low-quality videos we have of the kids being taken."

"So, a grand total of nothing." Jason hissed. "Fantastic."

"Even worse, the cops didn't get to the site of the kidnapping for a while, so most of the physical evidence is compromised and there's a shootout across town I need you at, now." Barbara was audibly mad. "Get moving, I'm gonna keep working at the cell-phone videos. We still need to identify the other kid that got taken with them."

"On it." Jason said, leading Cass away from the building's edge. "Let us know what you find."

"Copy." Barbara disengaged her comm.

XxX

It's gonna be okay.

Tim had smiled when he said that as the kidnappers ordered him to walk backwards to the door of the cell with his hands behind his head. Duke and Stephanie had been ordered to stand against the back wall and each had at least two guns trained on them through the bars as Tim moved away from them and Duke could tell Stephanie hated it.

She had an expression on her face that could only be described as contemptuous as she glared through the bars at the kidnappers. How she had such brazen audacity, Duke didn't know, but she obviously didn't fear the guns as much as she should've.

Duke, himself, had been frozen at the sight of the muzzles trained on them. To be on the wrong end of a gun was terrifying and he went stock still every time, even as his . . . friends, had the will to test the people holding the weapons.

Tim had even tried to reassure them, as if there wasn't a gun leveled at the back of his head. He'd genuinely seemed to mean and believe the reassurance, but Duke was still worried.

It had been hours since they'd been taken, was probably near midnight or something when the kidnappers took Tim, and Duke found that his companions had been right.

He was going nuts for not being able to keep track of time.

Maybe half an hour after Tim had been pulled from the cell, he was back, being shoved roughly along the hallway with his hands zip cuffed behind him. The kidnappers trained their weapons on Stephanie and Duke.

"Against the back wall." The leader of them ordered.

Duke moved as fast as his shaky legs would let him, pressing himself flat to the wall. Stephanie moved slower, but did obey, eyes trained on the men aiming at them.

Duke's vision tunneled to the deep, black hole of the barrel of the gun aimed at his head as the kidnappers fussed with Tim and the door. The clatter of the door opening made Duke flinch, and then there was a body moving in front of his vision-Tim-before the door clattered shut again.

The guns lowered and the men disappeared back down the hallway and Duke could breathe again, could focus on and process the sight of Tim.

"What happened?" Stephanie demanded, pushing off the wall and lifting her hands to cradle Tim's face.

It looked like he'd been hit hard. More than once if the black eye and split lip meant anything.

"I got mouthy." Tim shrugged, letting Stephanie examine him. "Couldn't help it, they're stupid."

"Now who's the suicidal idiot?" She snapped. "I swear-."

"I'm fine, I don't even think I'm concussed." Tim cut her off, smiling gently.

"Wow! What great news!" Stephanie curled a hand into the collar of Tim's shirt. "The idiot who got his face beat in didn't get a concussion while he did it!"

"You're not a very charitable person when you're worried." Tim hooked his fingers gently around her wrist.

"You do realize that this is just another avenue for you to get an infection, right?" She shook him, furious, but gentle.

"Come on, Steph, you know how Bruce is." Tim disentangled her hands from his shirt. "We won't be here long enough for me to get infected."

"I hate you, you stupid, idiotic, genius." Stephanie let Tim sit down against the wall.

"You're my best friend, too." Tim grinned and then his eyes fell on Duke and his expression sobered. "Are you okay, Duke?"

Duke was still leaning heavily against the wall, not quite daring to breathe, the image of the guns still burning in his mind.

"Not really." He managed to answer, letting his legs give out to drop down to the floor. "I don't like guns."

Tim winced. "Sorry."

"You aren't the one pointing them at me." Duke shrugged. "You didn't happen to get a look at a clock or something when you were out there, did you?"

"Yeah, actually." He answered as Stephanie sat down against the wall across from him. "When I saw it, it was ten twenty-three. That was like . . . twenty minutes ago, I think."

"Jesus." Stephanie sighed. "It feels like it's been so much longer than twelve hours."

"Yeah, I thought it was like midnight." Duke ran a hand over his hair. "This sucks."

"Without question." Tim nodded.

"We should sleep." Stephanie said.

"I don't know if I can." Duke curled his arms around his stomach.

The cell was cold and had nowhere comfortable to lay, just concrete floors and walls and a toilet.

"We can cuddle, if that'll help." Stephanie suggested, grinning tiredly.

"Thanks, but no." Duke huffed a sort-of laugh. "I don't know you well enough for that."

"What do you mean? We're trauma bonded." Tim snickered. "That's the strongest kind of bond."

"We might be trauma bonded, but that does not translate to wanting to sleep next to you." Duke smiled wanly. "I mean, what if you snore?"

Stephanie laughed. "I don't snore, but he talks in his sleep."

"I do not." Tim squawked, affronted.

"My buddy, my friend, my good bitch, you do." Stephanie told him. "I have years of sleepovers in experience and I've got recordings on my phone."

"What the fuck, Steph?" Tim sat up.

"I sent the audios to Dick and Jason all the time. Turns out you're actually funny when you're asleep." Stephanie snickered.

"You told my brothers before me?" Tim half-lunged across the cell to grapple Stephanie. "Is that why Jason makes weird comments about my nightlife when we hang out?"

"He'd probably do that anyway, but yeah." Stephanie caught Tim's hands in her own and held up his weight as he beared down on her.

"You're an asshole, Stephanie Brown." Tim let her dump him onto the concrete next to her and didn't even wince when he landed hard. "But . . . we should try to sleep."

"Yeah." Stephanie agreed, settling back against the wall.

Tim scooted into her side, leaning close against her. Duke noticed him letting his hand fall into Stephanie's lap. She folded their fingers together, tapping her thumb against his in an odd pattern. He leaned his head against her shoulder, closing his eyes.

Over the next ten or twenty minutes Duke watched as Tim slowly relaxed, breathing deepening.

"Is he asleep already?" Duke asked quietly.

Stephanie glanced down at Tim. "Looks like it. that offer for cuddling was genuine, by the way."

"I'll be alright." Duke hummed and then paused. "You sure you guys aren't dating?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Stephanie laughed quietly. "He mentioned it earlier . . . I've kinda got the hots for his sister."

Duke racked his brain for the name of Bruce Wayne's daughter. "Cassandra?"

"Cass." Stephanie corrected with a small smile.

"You've got a type, huh?" Duke teased softly.

Stephanie huffed a laugh. "Yeah, I guess so."

They went quiet for a while.

"Are you trying to stay cheerful for him or for me?" Duke shifted against the wall, moving to sit cross-legged.

"For all of us, I think." Stephanie tilted her head back against the wall, rubbing her thumb over Tim's. "If I keep joking and making fun of stuff, then I won't worry about my mom. I know she's worried about me. She's always worried about me, because I'm always doing stupid shit, and now I've gone and gotten kidnapped, so . . . yeah. I'm just hoping she's with the Waynes. They're good people, they've done a lot for us."

"Have they?" Duke looked down to where his hands laid limp in his lap.

"Yeah, more than I can say." She hummed.

Silence fell again.

"What about you?" Stephanie broke it. "Your family?"

Duke sucked a breath in through his teeth, considering what to tell her. "My parents are . . . they're in a psychiatric hospital. Joker toxin."

"Oh." Stephanie breathed out, sounding gutted. "I'm so sorry."

"Not your fault." Duke breathed out slowly. "I'm with my . . . twelfth foster placement, I think? I'm too much for a lot of them, apparently."

"That sucks." Duke looked up to find an actually painful expression on Stephanie's face. "I can't imagine how awful that must be."

"When you're going through hell, keep going." Duke fought the burn of tears in his eyes as he repeated his Mom's old adage. "I'm alright."

"My Dad's a serial killer, if that makes you feel any better." Stephanie offered.

"You're what's a who?" Duke looked up at her in disbelief.

"He gave himself a dumb name and everything." Stephanie smiled somewhat sadly. "He's either in jail or dead, now. I stopped keeping track of him a few years ago. It's a part of why my mom worries so much about me. I'm a lot like him, apparently."

"That's . . . insane." Duke struggled to figure out what to say. "You don't seem like you'd be a serial killer to me, if that makes you feel better."

"That's really nice of you to say." Stephanie's smile turned a lot more genuine. "Thanks, Duke."

"Okay, so this is kind of . . . not related." Duke said stiltedly. "I've been calling you 'Stephanie' in my head, but Tim calls you Steph, and we're trauma bonded and all . . . Basically I was wondering what you want me to call you?"

"Just Steph is fine." She laughed again. "Stephanie is for when people are annoyed at me."

"Steph, then." Duke smiled as best he could. "What a way to speedrun making friends."

"We'll have to send them a card after we get out." Steph snickered. "'Thanks for kidnapping us so we could become trauma bonded friends'."

Duke huffed a laugh. "I don't think they sell that kind of card at Hallmark."

"We can have it custom made." She suggested. "Make Tim pay for it and send it to them in jail."

"You think they'll get arrested?" Duke asked.

"Batman's coming for us." Steph said in full confidence. "I've no doubt they'll get arrested, and since Tim's rich, the justice system will actually work."

"That's so fucked up." Duke stifled a yawn.

"It sure fucking is." She sighed. "But that's Gotham, our best DA is a fucking nutjob villain who flips coins to decide on what to do with people's lives. Anyway, I'll let you sleep."

"You too, then." Duke told shifted against his wall.

"Me too, then." Steph agreed, closing her eyes.

Chapter Text

Every inch of Duke ached when he woke up.

He stretched slowly, groaning lowly as his muscles twinged in pain.

"You alright?" Steph asked.

Duke looked up, surprised. He hadn't known that she was already awake. She was in about the same position as when he'd gone to sleep, Tim leaning on her shoulder, their fingers intertwined.

"Achy." Duke answered.

She grimaced in sympathy. "Yeah, we'll have to sent them a bill for the chiropractor appointments we'll need along with the thank you card."

Duke laughed in surprise. "I guess so. How long has it been?"

"Six or seven hours, I think." Steph answered. "Not sure though."

"So it's . . . five? Six'o'clock?" Duke pushed himself to his feet to stretch properly.

"If the clock Tim saw was right, then . . . maybe." She agreed.

"He still asleep?" Duke nodded at the other boy.

"Yeah." Steph glanced down at Tim. "I'm not sure we should wake him up. He usually doesn't sleep much, so I don't want to steal hours he needs from him while we're in here."

"Right." Duke sat back down. "How long have you been awake?"

"I'd guess about half an hour." She told him.

Duke nodded. "Seen any of the guys?"

"Nope." Steph yawned.

They let silence fall again and Duke leaned back against his wall, tipping his head back to look up at the ceiling.

A little while later Tim started stirring, head slipping from Steph's shoulder as he shifted towards awareness.

"Hey." Steph grinned at him as he sat up properly. "Morning Mr.Sleep-talker."

"I don' talk in m'sleep." Tim slurred, still halfway under as he rubbed at his eyes.

"I have proof." She rolled her eyes, letting his hand go as he started stretching.

"No you don't." Tim grumbled.

"Not with me, but I do have proof." Steph stood up and stretched as well.

"Fuck you." Tim started getting up and lost his balance.

He'd have fallen hard to the ground if Steph didn't grab his arm to steady him. Duke jolted halfway to his feet, concern hot in his blood.

"Whoa, buddy." She frowned. "Are you sure you don't have a concussion?"

"I'm pretty sure." Tim leaned back against the wall.

Steph examined his face, eyes sharp as Duke got fully to his feet. "Your eyes look glazed."

"Not nauseous." Tim told her.

"Dizzy? Brain fog? Blurred vision?" She pressed the back of her hand to Tim's forehead.

"No." He shook his head. "Well, maybe a bit dizzy."

"You're warm." Steph said firmly. "Might be a fever."

"Isn't that a sign of infection?" Duke asked, heart pounding.

Even if he'd only met the guy the day before, Duke did not want to see him suffering a major illness while being held captive.

"It can be." She frowned. "Or it could just be natural body temperature fluctuation. Or that my hands are fucking freezing. It's not enough of a sign to actually worry."

"I'll be fine, either way." Tim said, smiling reassuringly.

"I'm gonna kick your ass if you're sick." Steph threatened as Tim pushed off the wall, standing far more steadily than his first attempt.

"That seems counterintuitive." Duke shifted his weight, anxiety still thumping in his chest. "How do you know so much about this stuff anyhow?"

"He's an accident prone idiot who doesn't take care of himself." She crossed her arms, giving Tim an unamused look. "I picked up how to make sure he didn't die pretty quick."

"I can take care of myself." Tim frowned.

"And you never do." Steph rolled her eyes. "You're always working."

"Do you have any idea how much time and energy it takes to run a multi-billion dollar company?" Tim kicked at her shins.

"Make Lucius do it, that's what Bruce did." She kicked him in return.

"Then what's the point of being the CEO?" Tim glanced to Duke with an expression like 'Can you believe this shit?'. "Bruce was only ever CEO in name anyhow."

"Bruce had other shit to deal with, hence his year-long vacation, soul-searching, thing." Steph huffed.

"That is not what we're calling it." Tim kicked her again.

"It's what it was." She danced away from his foot.

"It's not." Tim pursued her, kicking at her ankles. "It was child and job abandonment and a pain in my ass."

"A midlife crisis?" Duke suggested.

Steph barked a laugh, stalling in her evasive movement. "A midlife crisis!"

Tim cackled as well. "Fuck, that's funny."

"Was it not a midlife crisis?" Duke half-laughed.

"No, it was!" Steph kept laughing, wiping at tears spilling up on her cheeks. "It was!"

Duke felt there was a part of the joke he was missing, but Tim and Steph's humor was infectious, so he chuckled along.

They all ended up sitting on the floor, catching their breaths from slightly hysterical laughter.

"This is fucking insane." Steph said once they'd all calmed down.

"Beyond insane." Tim agreed.

"Weirdest weekend of my life." Duke sighed.

"I've had weirder." Steph shrugged.

"How?" Duke asked, incredulous.

"My Dad's a serial killer, man." Steph grinned. "There's true crime podcasts and documentaries about him. There was one really weird weekend where like three different TV studios were trying to figure out who me and my mom are and where we lived. We were at Wayne Manor tor almost a month to avoid them."

"Jesus." Duke ran a hand over his hair. "That might actually be crazier than this."

"You would not believe some of the weekends I've had." Tim puffed out. "Crazy, crazy shit, man."

"Like what?" Duke wasn't sure how anything could top Steph's story, but he was starting to believe anything was possible with these people.

"I guess . . . the week I lost my spleen was incredibly special." Tim hummed. "Incredibly special."

"How so?" Duke needed to know what 'incredibly special' could mean to a guy like Tim Drake.

"Well, I was overseas at the time, doing work for WE, and it had been about a year since Bruce had gone on his little midlife crisis." Tim began. "I was working with this jackass company leader who actually wants me dead and bored out of my skull in this boring-ass hotel room. And I had my skateboard with me. So I figured I could make some fun for myself while I waited on the asshole to come around to talk about this huge business proposal, and I started trying to do tricks. I ate absolute shit off of one of them, just bombed it massively, and literally, as I was still on the ground trying to catch my breath, the guy knocks on my door."

Steph watched Tim with interest, even though she'd probably already heard the story before.

"So I get my bruised ass up, still wearing my helmet and pads, and I open the door, and he looks at me like I've offended every single one of his sensibilities just by looking at him." Tim continued, gesturing with his hands. "He's got this business competitor with him, who he hates almost as much as he hates me, and they both look at me like they think I'm an idiot."

"You are." Steph huffed, leaning back against the wall with her arms crossed.

"Shut up, Steph." Tim barely faltered. "So, they come into the room and we sit down at the coffee table to start talking, and I was pretty sure they were both trying to fuck me over so I'd be out of the way for them to fuck each other over, but like, I couldn't let that happen. So I was kind of acting like an idiot asshole to stall things a bit. While we were sitting there talking I started feeling kind of sick, right? I thought it was just that some of the food was disagreeing with my stomach, so I didn't suspect it was anything. But then my stomach started really hurting, and I'd hit a table when I fell for the last time, so I kind of thought it was just that."

"So fucking stupid." Steph grumbled.

"Shut up." Tim repeated, but stayed focused on his tale. "But then I started getting light-headed and kind of dizzy, and, this is nuts, one of the symptoms of a burst spleen is left shoulder pain, so my shoulder had started hurting and I'm dizzy and trying to talk to these two guys who hate my guts without letting them screw me over, but I'm getting brain-fog and it's just shitty as hell. I guess I started looking like I felt like shit at that point, cause both of the assholes are asking if I'm alright and I straight up just projectile vomit all over them."

"Oh my god." Duke pressed a hand over his mouth, embarrassed on Tim's behalf.

"It gets worse." Tim said brightly. "So they're freaking out, and I'm freaking out, and my shoulder is hurting, and my side is hurting and then hotel security bursts in with the police. Turns out, both of the assholes I was meeting with were involved with this money laundering scheme and they were being arrested. But the police hadn't expected me to be there and they hadn't expected me to be sick, so they start freaking out, and we're all freaking out and a lot of people are screaming and at that point I just pass out."

"No." Duke whispered in horror.

"Yes." Steph nodded, something between awe and disappointment in her expression.

"I wake up in the hospital and a whole bunch of doctors are everywhere and they tell me they have to take out my spleen and they're asking if I have a parent, but I'm a legally emancipated minor, so I tell them I'm in charge of myself and of course they don't believe me, but they have to rush me into surgery anyway." Tim continued. "I wake up again in a hospital bed with social services in the room and like, the foreign embassy and police and everyone. The police think I might be involved in the money laundering, and the foreign embassy are trying to interrogate me about my parents, and social services are wanting to take me into custody, and I'm still coming out of anesthesia, so nothing was making sense to me at the time."

"Isn't that like, a violation of patient rights?" Duke asked.

"Probably." Tim nodded. "Eventually I'm conscious enough to tell them to call Lucius, so they do, but it was like, three in the morning in Gotham, so he's pissed, and they're pissed, and I'm somewhere between hungry and high, but they eventually get Lucius onto a flight into the country so he can get everything cleared up. Lucius lands and they grab him and bring him to the hospital, and he explains that I'm the CEO of WE and it was my first time dealing with the money laundering guys and I'm legally an adult, and all of the foreign officials are like, mind blown."

"What happened next?" Duke held his breath.

Steph sighed. "Just wait."

"Because Lucius is there, they let him take me back to a hotel once they discharge me from the hospital, so he gets me back to a hotel, and they brought my stuff over from the old one, since it was technically a crime scene, so my skateboard is there." Tim grinned wildly.

"You didn't." Duke gasped out.

"I did." Tim laughed. "I immediately started trying to do more tricks on my skateboard when I could stand again. Lucius had to take me to the hospital three times before they let us come home."

"And this wasn't in the news?" Duke scoffed in disbelief.

"The families of the guys who got arrested paid to keep it out of the news in the hopes that I would be thankful and wouldn't say anything." Tim explained, leaning against a wall and sliding down to sit. "Now we have great deals with their companies that they hate."

"That's gotta be some kind of illegal." Duke told him.

"The other companies were too scared of us mentioning the scandal of their guys getting arrested to negotiate the deals we offered, so not illegal, but potentially unethical." Tim shrugged. "The deals were mostly to make their companies operate in more ethical ways if they wanted to continue dealing with WE, so I feel like it wasn't that bad."

"The board hates him." Steph sat across from Tim again. "He straight up just forced changes to the company through that Bruce had been trying to get them to pass diplomatically. Stuff on renewable energy and salaries and benefits for employees and stuff."

"You can do that?" Duke sat against the back wall.

"You can if you hold a majority of the stocks." Tim snickered. "I inherited fifty-one percent of the stocks of WE from Bruce and decided to be a problem about it."

"No wonder you're in the news so much." Duke sighed.

"Still not as much as Bruce is." Steph said brightly. "Everyone loves talking about that slut."

"Steph, you know he prefers the term 'whore'." Tim corrected jokingly.

"My bad." She snickered.

"You guys are really weird." Duke told them.

"We sure are." They said at the same time.

The cell sat in surprisingly comfortable silence for a few minutes after that.

Sounds started echoing down the hall shortly after they fell quiet, footsteps and low conversation and Duke, Steph, and Tim glanced at each other before they stood, gathered near the center of the cell.

Tim and Steph shared a look, conversing without the use of words, and they both turned to look at the cell door with squared shoulders. Duke stood behind them, unsure of what they were planning or doing, but ready to back them up.

The kidnappers came from the right side of the cell, four of them in a group, two of them carrying trays with food. One of the two carrying the trays had a pedo mustache and the other was short and built like a brick. The two without trays were pretty similar looking white guys, only differentiated by their height.

They seemed surprised to see Duke, Steph, and Tim on their feet.

"Already awake?" One of them asked, voice rough.

"Yeah, don't know if you'd noticed, but it's not exactly the Ritz in here." Steph snarled.

"Watch your fucking mouth." The taller of the guys not carrying trays took out his gun and aimed it through the bars at them.

Duke's mouth went dry and he clenched his hands into fists, heart pounding.

Steph tilted her head down, glaring at the guy. "I was just making an observation."

"Steph." Tim said in warning, putting an arm in front of her.

"Food." Pedo-stache guy shoved the tray in his hands through a slot in the cell door.

Tim and Steph did a talking glance again and Tim stepped forward to accept the tray. Duke's heart was in his throat as the short guy shoved his through too and Steph stepped forward to receive it, teeth bared at the kidnappers.

"Watch it, little girl." Pedo-stache snapped at her. "You're unnecessary, disposing of you is always an option."

"If you touch her, I'll hang myself with my tie." Tim snarled at him. "Then you won't get jack shit except for Batman up your ass."

The guy reached for his gun, but short-trayless dude grabbed his shoulder. "Leave them, Rook, they're just smartass kids. It's an empty threat."

"Wanna find out?" Tim bared his teeth as well.

Rook slammed his hands against the bars and Duke flinched back while Steph and Tim stood steady.

"Watch your-fucking-self." Rook warned. "You think just cause you're some rich fucking kid with every-fucking-one in the world at your beck and call you can't be hurt, but keep testing us, and you'll fucking learn how much daddy's money can protect you in here. How long he been grooming you huh? That freak, Wayne?"

Tim's face twisted, an expression of fury taking hold before he smoothed it over with something calm, but dangerous.

"You watch what the fuck you say." Tim's voice was low and steady. "I can do a whole lot more to you than you think."

"Tim." Steph curled her fingers over his shoulder, warning.

The kidnappers appeared to be almost as unsettled as Duke was at the threat.

(It was less about the words and more about how confidently Tim said them. Add to that the glimpses of scars and muscle that Duke had gotten and Tim seemed dangerous.)

"Shut up." The one who already had his gun out trained it on Steph and Tim. "You've got no power here."

Tim bristled, shoulders shifting. Duke held his breath, terrified he'd see him get shot.

"Tim." Steph tugged on his shoulder, pulling him away from the bars.

Tim resisted for a long moment, jaw set, but when Steph tugged again, he went. They fell back to Duke's side and the kidnappers stared for a minute longer before they went back the way they'd come.

Duke let out a shaky breath once they were out of sight, but none of them spoke until they couldn't hear footsteps anymore.

"That was fucking dangerous, Tim." Steph hissed at him.

"I don't like people threatening my friends." Tim lowered himself to sit cross-legged, setting the tray in his hands on the floor.

"So, you guys just . . . take turns doing crazy shit, then." Duke managed to croak out.

"Sorry, Duke." Steph bit her lip, sounding genuinely regretful. "I keep forgetting you haven't dealt with this kind of shit before."

"Because your Dad's a serial killer and he's been kidnapped before." Duke felt kind of numb as he sank down to sit next to Tim.

"Something like that." Tim said as Steph sat down as well, setting her tray next to Tim's.

"What did you mean when you threatened them?" Duke suppressed the shiver that rattled down his spine when Tim's eyes shifted to him.

"I know a lot of people who can do a lot of things and a lot of them owe me favors." Tim's voice was carefully measured.

"What kind of favors?" Duke asked.

"The kind you don't tell the police about." Tim's gaze was sharp.

Duke rolled his next question around in his head, not certain if he wanted to know the answer.

He asked it anyway. "What did you do to earn those favors?"

Tim's gaze slid to Steph.

She glanced between Duke and Tim, head tilted to the side like she was considering the question as well. After a few moments, her gaze settled on Tim and she shrugged in a movement that conveyed 'why not?'.

Tim's eyes moved back to Duke and a sharp grin split his features. "A lot of illegal shit. Breakfast?"

The food was unremarkable, bland, lukewarm and all about the same texture, even though there were four or five different items on the trays. Steph and Tim split it all up evenly and they ate mostly in silence.

Duke was . . . unsure of how he felt about them.

Tim was a self-admitted criminal, Steph was insane and they both kept challenging their kidnappers head-on.

As crazy as that was, it wasn't what set Duke on edge.

They had these moments, these terrifying instances of intensity that couldn't be explained away by a serial killer father or weird rich-kid experiences.

Some of it could be explained as just weird shit, but not nearly enough to set Duke at ease with them.

The spleen story seemed legitimate, and Steph's knowledge of injuries and wound care and illnesses was also explainable by her worry for Tim. Stuff like that made sense, they made sense in those moments.

Until they did that thing where they talked to each other with just a glance or paused a little too long when answering a question or one of the other million things which demonstrated they weren't normal.

They didn't scare Duke, but . . . they were scary people.

If he didn't see the small moments, the petty digs at each other, and the quiet, soft concern and fierce protectiveness, Duke would have been scared of them.

There was just too much he couldn't explain for him to be fully okay with them as people.

After they'd finished with their food, Steph stacked the trays and put them next to the cell door.

"So . . . this is incredibly awkward." Tim rubbed his hands over his knees. "I have to pee."

Steph made a face. "Ew."

"It's a natural bodily function." Tim defended himself. "I can't help it."

"I gotta go, too." Duke fought down a blush.

"This is hell." Steph grimaced.

In the end, they worked it out so that the two not doing their business stood at the cell door, looking out while the other took care of things, and rotated through until all three of them had done what was necessary.

"Well." Steph plopped to the floor of the cell. "That was mortifying. You feeling the bond yet, Duke?"

Duke grimaced, sitting next to her. "I wish I wasn't."

"Incredibly relatable." Tim sat down as well. "Thought game?"

"Ooh, yes!" Steph's eyes brightened. "It's been forever since we've played."

"Thought game?" Duke frowned.

"It's a game we made up when I was still in school." Tim explained. "We pick two random items or ideas and then we have to go one word at a time to try and connect them in a logical way. It's more fun with more people, but three is a good number to start with while you're learning how to play."

"Okay, Tim and I will choose the first two subjects, and then we'll go in a circle." Steph decided, scooting until they were in a better sort of circle. "Got mine."

Tim hummed, thinking for a moment. "Got mine."

"Right, Duke, you choose who we start with." Steph directed.

"You, I guess." Duke shrugged.

"Alright, I chose hot springs." She announced.

Tim's face shifted into an odd mix of humor and shame, as if he was trying not to laugh at a really dark joke. "I chose zombies."

"No." Steph looked shocked, stifling a horrified laugh. "No, you didn't."

Tim nodded, pressing a hand to his mouth. "I did."

"Is this another inside joke?" Duke asked.

"Yeah." Steph laughed incredulously. "Kind of a fucked up one, but yeah."

"Do we want to stick with them?" Tim asked.

"Might as well." Steph shrugged. "Alright Duke, you go first. Start with hot springs and lets see how we can get to zombies."

"Okay . . . uhh, Yellowstone, I guess." Duke said.

It took them a while to get to zombies from there, maybe an hour, if Duke had to guess. It was fun, more fun than Duke had expected from just trying to connect concepts.

After the first round, they moved on to another, that time, trying to connect snowmen and escargot. That round took a lot longer, long enough that Duke had actually begun to forget they were kidnapped.

They'd made it to foxes when they heard footsteps coming down the hall again and they all jolted to their feet at the noise.

"What do you think it's for, this time?" Steph asked tersely.

"Another ransom call, probably." Tim answered, just as tense.

"Is that why they took you yesterday?" Duke tried to breathe steadily through the fear in his blood.

"Yeah, for proof of life photos." Tim agreed.

"Don't get your face beaten in this time." Steph curled a hand around Tim's forearm, fingers digging in enough to wrinkle the fabric of his shirt. "Promise me."

"Can't." Tim shook his head. "If they say stupid shit, I'm gonna be an asshole about it."

"Tim." She hissed.

"Against the back wall!" It was the same four guys who'd brought them breakfast.

"Do not get yourself hurt over semantic bullshit." Steph gripped his arm tighter, voice low and tight.

"Listen to her, man." Duke said quietly as they all shuffled towards the back wall. "You could get hurt bad if you push it too far."

Tim glanced between them. "No promises."

"Drake!" Rook snapped. "Hands behind your head, facing the back wall, walk backwards to the door, slowly."

"No promises." Tim peeled Steph's fingers from around his arm. "I'll try, but no promises."

"Drake!" Rook snarled. "Do as I say, or they die."

Built-like-a-brick and Tallest pulled out their guns, aiming at Duke and Steph through the bars. Duke clenched his jaw, heart jumping, but refused to let himself freeze. He stood with Steph against the wall and tried to match her glare at the kidnappers.

Tim laced his hands behind his head and started a slow tread backwards towards the cell door. His eyes were darting between Steph and Duke, expression serious, but with a twitch of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

"Stop." Rook ordered when Tim was a few steps from the door. "Don't move."

Tim froze in place and Rook and the short guy dragged the cell door open.

Duke fixated on the guns aimed at him and Steph, at the unwavering hands which held them, and anger started boiling in his gut. It surprised him, more than anything, at how fast the rage filled his blood and made his hands start shaking. He took in long, shaking breaths and let them out slowly as his vision tunneled on the guns.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Steph glancing over at him as the rush-tingle-burn of his power itched under his nails. He could use it, could make them disappear and . . . and . . . and what?

Escape?

Without Steph or Tim knowing what was going on?

Without making any sort of plan or knowing how to get out?

It wouldn't work.

It couldn't work.

Duke curled his hands into fists until his nails bit into his palms painfully.

Tim's hands were wrested down behind him, zipped together, and he was jerked backwards out of the cell. Shorty rattled the door closed as quickly as was possible and the quintet shuffled off down the hall.

Duke sighed heavily, not quite daring to move from the wall yet.

"You okay?" Steph stepped off the wall, examining Duke with a strange look in her eyes.

"Not really." Duke flexed his hands out, stretching his fingers. "I fucking hate them."

Steph's eyes flickered around Duke oddly and he realized his power was still burning at his fingertips.

"That's not that surprising." She spoke slowly, carefully. "I'd say I hate them, too."

Duke breathed out another heavy breath and shut down his power. "I just hate feeling so powerless."

He slid down the wall to sit, head buzzing.

"That's life." Steph's lips twisted as she sat cross-legged near the center of the cell.

They fell silent, each caught up in their own thoughts.

An indeterminable amount of time later, Tim was marched back into the hall and Rook barked at Steph to get to the wall.

She moved slowly, dragging her feet, literally, to sit next to Duke.

The kidnappers shoved Tim into the cell unceremoniously, clattered the door shut, and disappeared down the hall without another word spoken.

Thankfully, Tim seemed to be in about the same condition as when he'd been taken and he shoved a hand through his hair as he walked over to drop to the floor between Duke and Steph.

"This fucking sucks." Tim huffed.

"Truer words." Steph hummed.

They all stayed quiet after that.

XxX

Two-ish days passed in just the same way, one meal in the morning, one in the evening, the kidnappers taking Tim out at one point or another to do another call, and then bringing him back with hardly a word, filling the hours in between with the thought game or meaningless conversation.

Tim apparently, managed to behave well enough that they didn't hit him any more, but as the time passed, he was starting to get . . . concerning. He was getting paler, his skin taking a sallow pallor that Duke didn't like, and he seemed distracted, taking more time than usual to think of words for the game.

On the, maybe, fourth day, Duke woke up to Steph sounding incredibly worried.

"Tim. Tim, buddy, wake up." Steph was shaking his shoulders somewhat frantically. "Tim. Earth to idiot. Wake up!"

"Wh's happening?" Duke jerked himself halfway to his feet, half-stumbling towards the other two. "Steph?"

"Tim!" Steph's voice rose, sharp.

Tim jolted like he'd been shocked, eyes flying open with a sharp breath. "Sp-."

"You idiot!" Steph dragged him into a fierce hug.

Tim's arms rose, sluggish to pat at he back. "Idiot?"

"You wouldn't wake up." Steph said, voice tight.

Duke watched mutely, still halfway asleep as Steph pulled far enough back to press her hand to Tim's forehead.

"Jesus." She hissed. "You're burning."

"I feel cold." Tim mumbled.

"That's the fever, you fuck." Steph dropped her hands to the buttons on his shirt, working them open.

"Why are you taking off his clothes?" Duke asked as she peeled the shirt down.

"To check his arm." Steph got the shirt far enough down to examine the stitches.

Even to Duke's eyes they looked bad.

The skin around the threads was red and puffy and it looked like there was streaks of red going up Tim's veins.

"What is that?" Duke got closer, eyeing the inflamed area.

"Blood poisoning." Steph said grimly, her lips pressed into a firm line.

"Shit." Tim hissed. "That is not good."

"No fucking shit." Steph snapped. "Put your clothes back on."

"You're the one who took them off." Tim grumbled, obviously dazed.

"Just get dressed." Steph moved fast to her feet, going to the cell door. "Hey!"

Tim grimaced as he pulled his shirt back up his shoulders, fingers fumbling on the buttons. "Fuck."

"Here, man." Duke shifted close enough to help him start working the buttons.

"Thanks." Tim let his head fall back against the wall.

"Hey, you motherfuckers!" Steph kept shouting. "He's sick! Tim is sick, like I said he would be! He needs his pills!"

"You feeling okay, man?" Duke finished with the buttons.

"Kinda cold, kinda achy." Tim shrugged. "Tired."

"He'll fucking die if you don't get him his pills!" Steph slammed her hands against the bars. "They're in his bag! Get him his pills!"

"You'll be okay, man." Duke wasn't sure what else to say or do. "We won't be here much longer, alright? We'll get out soon."

"Thanks, Duke." Tim grinned, twitchy. "You're a good dude'."

"Hey!" Steph rattled the bars hard. "Tim is gonna die! Hello!"

"Shut up!" Rook was at the bars, slamming a baton against the metal in front of Steph's face. "Shut your damn mouth!"

"I will, if you prevent him from fucking dying." Steph didn't even flinch. "He's immunocompromised, he needs his antibiotics."

"Shut the fuck up, bitch." Rook snarled.

Tim shot to his feet, bowling Duke over as he moved to the bars. "Watch your mouth."

"Tim, sit down." Steph grabbed him by the shoulder, trying to push him back to the wall.

"He doesn't seem all that sick to me." Rook sneered.

"He has blood poisoning." Steph snarled as Duke regained his feet. "That's not something he can survive without medicine."

"Oh, boo-fucking-hoo." Rook hit the bars again.

Tim swayed on his feet and Duke reached out to steady him.

"I'll show you boo-fucking-hoo when he dies and you don't get anything." Steph left Tim to Duke, fully facing the bars as she spit venom. "Get. Him. His. Pills."

Rook grabbed his gun, aimed it directly between Steph's eyes. "Shut. Your. Damn. Mouth. Or the back of your pretty little skull is gonna get splattered all over your friends."

Steph stood stock still, hands curled into fists so tightly her skin went white. Her eyes were burning and she looked ready to tear Rook apart with her bare hands. Tim stumbled, leaning heavy against the wall. Duke shuffled over with him, trying to brace him.

"Good girl." Rook's face was disgustingly pleased. "Now keep it shut, or I'll come back and kill you."

Steph didn't budge as Rook put his gun away and stared unwaveringly as he moved back down the hall.

"Son of a bitch." She snarled when he was out of earshot, turning sharply to face Duke and Tim. "I'll kill him, I swear to god I'll kill him."

"Don't." Tim snickered, sliding down against the wall. "Or Batman will get you."

"Not funny." Steph hissed, kneeling next to him, checking his temperature again. "Duke, will you grab his tie and soak it in the sink?"

"Sure." Duke went over to where the tie had ended up in the corner and grabbed it.

He heard Steph muttering something to Tim, but couldn't make it out over the water as he ran the tie under the sink.

Their conversation ended as Duke returned with the tie. "Here."

"Hold onto it for a sec." Steph retrieved Tim's suit jacket and folded it before urging Tim to lay down with it as a pillow. "Alright, tie."

Duke handed it to her and she laid it carefully over Tim's forehead.

"Thanks, Steph." Tim mumbled. "Sorry."

"No apologies." Steph said firmly. "Now, thought game, since we need to keep you awake."

"Alright." Tim's eyes, usually incredibly clear and focused, were glazed. "Who's picking?"

"You and Duke." Steph answered. "Start with yours."

"Okay . . . Red Robin." Tim decided.

Steph huffed, somewhere between exasperated and amused. "Alright, Duke?"

"Uh . . . the sun, I guess." Duke was far more worried than he could say at the gentleness Steph was showing.

She wasn't a particularly gentle person, even if she was kind, and she ribbed Tim more often than she treated him gently, so this sudden overflow of gentleness meant it was bad.

XxX

Four days into the kidnapping, Jason went back to the Manor.

The ransom calls had apparently, not been going well, considering Tim and Steph and the other kid, Duke (as Barbara had found out), were still being held who knew where.

According to Cass, the kidnappers never called at the same time between days , they only ever sent pictures for proof of life, never videos, and Tim was the only person in any of the photos.

The kidnappers were good, careful and professional and dead the minute Jason found them.

Fuck his three month streak of no murders, the bastards had gone after Jason's kids.

(As much as Damian (and Jason) belonged to Dick, and Cass and Dick belonged to Bruce, Tim and Steph belonged to Jason.)

Jason was protective of all kids, but if someone was stupid enough to go after his kids, all bets were off, identities be damned.

Had Jason gotten even less sleep than usual while searching for the kids?

Maybe, but he and Cass had been splitting the jobs of seven overworked vigilantes between the two of them and that meant there just wasn't time to sleep.

Gotham didn't rest just because Batman was on house arrest, after all.

Not that Gotham knew Batman was on house arrest.

As far as Gotham was aware, Batman had taken most of his sidekicks and was halfway across the planet and/or universe to deal with some bullshit and had left Red Hood and Black Bat (two of Gotham's top three scariest vigilantes, according to the Gotham Gazette (oddly enough, Red Robin filled out the top three and Batman was settled at fourth place (Damian was pissed he was ranked as the least scariest))) to take care of the city.

It still meant more work for Cass and Jason.

Jason got to the Manor near nine in the morning, parked in the garage, and got a call before he could make it to the kitchen.

"Jason, I found them." Barbara sounded triumphant when he answered the call. "They're in an abandoned detainment facility that was meant to replace Blackgate before it got blown to hell by some terrorist group halfway through construction. It's only about twenty minutes outside of Gotham proper, I can send you the coordinates now."

"I just got to the Manor." Jason told her, setting his helmet on the seat of his bike. "I'll brief everyone here and then Cass and I will head over to get the kids."

"Understood, I'll send over everything you need immediately." Barbara said. "Bring our kids home safe, Jason."

"No question, Barbie." Jason confirmed. "No question."

She hung up and he stuffed his phone in his pocket as he trotted into the main part of the house.

"Jason!" Bruce rose to his feet as soon as he saw Jason.

"What's happening?" Jason examined the room.

Everyone was gathered around the kitchen table again and the aura was tense.

"The kidnappers called again." Bruce said tightly. "They've made a direct threat against you. I was just about to call-."

"Me?" Jason was, honestly, flattered that the kidnappers thought him worthy of a direct threat. "Why me?"

"We suspect it's due to the location of your current residence." Detective Reyes said. "Park Row is . . . known for it's rough spots."

"It's called Crime Alley for a reason, you don't have to sanitize it." Jason crossed his arms. "So, they think I'm an easy target, but why threaten me at all?"

"They're frustrated with the state of negotiations." Detective Keen didn't quite meet Jason's eyes. "And . . . Tim has . . . allegedly . . . been difficult."

"That's how he always is." Jason snipped. "This should have been expected."

"Jason-." Dick began.

"So, what's the next course of action?" Jason cut him off.

"We'd recommend you stay here until further notice." Detective Bolton leaned against the edge of the table.

No one else said anything and the tension in the kitchen rose.

"That's it?" Jason barked out. "That's your whole plan? What about Tim? What about Steph and the other kid? What are you doing about them?"

"We're doing our best to track down where they've been taken-." Detective Whitt started.

"Do you have any leads?" Jason demanded, waving his arms around. "Do you have any idea where my brother is?"

"Jason-." Bruce's tone was admonishing.

"At this rate, we might as well just wait for Batman to get them!" Jason snarled, knowing Bruce would pick up on the hint. "Hell, he might have already found Tim!"

"Jason." Cass was suddenly at his elbow. "Be calm."

"No, I will not calm down." Jason hissed. "Tim is in danger and these useless fucks are just standing around waiting on fucking phone calls that get us nothing."

"Don't be mean." Cass frowned. "You're worried, but you don't have to be mean."

Jason glared at the cops again, but let his voice soften. "Sorry, Cassie."

She curled a hand around his forearm and tugged him towards the foyer. "Read to me?"

"Sure." Jason went with her easily. "I can stay for a while."

"Hold on a moment." Detective Reyes said before they got to the foyer. "We need to discuss your safety, Mr.Todd-Wayne."

"I'm here, I'm safe, done." Jason went to leave the kitchen.

"And what about your home?" Detective Reyes pressed. "Your boyfriend and his child?"

Jason took a few steps back into the room. "It may be common knowledge that I live in Crime Alley, but I can guarantee you that the only people who know the exact location of my home are people who can be trusted with that information. As for Roy and Lian, I am beyond certain that they are as safe as they can be. Therefore, there is nothing to talk about."

Jason walked into the foyer with Cass on his arm. As he expected, an officer fell in behind them, and followed them up the stairs to the library.

"What do you want me to read?" Jason asked Cass as they started perusing shelves.

Cass hummed contemplatively, eyeing the spines on the shelves in front of them. Jason ran a hand along the shelf, tapping out a message for Cass.

Babs found them, she's sent us the coordinates. We go tonight.

Cass's eyes darted from the books to Jason and back before she stopped in front of a shelf. Jason stopped with her and she reached out to trace over the spines in front of them.

They will not let you out of the Manor.

She selected a book and pulled it from the shelf, presenting it to Jason.

"White Fang? Good choice." Jason took it from her, and slung an arm around her to guide her towards one of the couches.

He drummed his fingers against her shoulder.

They won't be able to keep me in.

Jason sat on one end of the couch and Cass laid herself down with her feet in his lap, leaning against the other arm of the couch.

She tapped the toes of her shoes together.

Covers.

Jason held the book open with one hand, laying the other on her shin as he started to read the book out loud.

Babs sent me the most recent pictures of Tim. He's obviously sick. That cut on his arm from Ivy.

Cass tapped her toes again.

Steph will take care of him. One more day, he'll survive.

The cop who'd followed them up sat in the armchair across from them. Jason glanced up at him, but didn't pause or falter in his reading.

I'm tired of sitting around. He needs us.

Cass tapped one of her feet against his stomach, admonishment.

Impatient. It will be okay. They are good, skilled.

Jason pinched her shin through her pants.

What about the other kid? Duke?

Cass's expression dipped, worry creasing her brows.

They will protect him.

Jason flipped a page in the book.

Steph can only do so much. She cannot take care of Tim while he is sick and make sure the civ is safe and keep him in the dark.

Cass didn't answer immediately, feet still in his lap.

Tim takes care of civ, she takes care of Tim, they'll be okay.

Jason stroked his thumb over her shin for a moment, considering.

I still want to go tonight.

Cass sighed.

We can try.

Jason shifted back against the couch cushions content with the compromise for the moment.

XxX

"We cannot let you go alone Mr.Todd-Wayne." Detective Keen blocked the door to the garage.

"You can't keep me here against my will." Jason snarled. "I'm not under arrest or detainment and I refuse protective custody, so you can't keep me here."

"Mr.Todd-Wayne, you understand that we believe there's a credible threat to your health and safety, so you have to understand why we think you should stay here." Detective Bolton was careful with her words.

"Sure, I know." Jason snapped. "Just like I'm sure you know I grew up in Crime Alley. I'm not scared of some punk ass kidnappers. I guarantee you I'd seen worse than them by the time I was eight."

"Jason." Bruce's voice was impossibly soft as he laid a hand on Jason's shoulder. "Please stay. If only for the night, please stay."

Jason met his gaze, jaw clenched.

He didn't know what exactly Bruce was thinking, so he didn't know if he should trust in him, trust in whatever plan he had in the wings.

Bruce had to know Tim's situation was dire, had to know Jason needed to get him and Steph.

But Bruce was telling him to stay.

"Fine." Jason bit out. "But Lian is still sick, so just for the night."

"Thank you, Jaylad." Bruce smiled softly.

Chapter Text

Tim deteriorated fast.

By the time Rook and his buddies brought dinner, Tim could barely sit up and what little food Steph could get him to swallow came back up almost immediately.

Duke's stomach dropped as Tim retched and he looked to Steph.

Her face was grim, lips pressed into a tight line, eyes sharp, but guarded.

"Alright, Timmy, it's okay." She kept her voice even, steady. "That was gross, but it's okay."

"'M sorry Steph." Tim croaked, coughing hoarsely. "You're . . . I can't help you."

"Duke, water?" Steph asked.

"Sure." Duke grabbed one of the plastic cups Rook's crew had brought them and went to the sink to fill it.

He heard Steph murmuring something to Tim behind him, but couldn't make out the words until he was moving back to them."

". . . get us soon, you know they will." Steph glanced up at Duke as he knelt next to them with the cup of water. "Thanks. Try and drink, Tim."

She helped tilt his head up and put the cup to Tim's lips. Tim was sweating profusely, shaking when he tried to do anything, and his breaths were shallow and fast, but his eyes, though glazed, were still so aware of everything.

It unsettled Duke and he felt bad about it, but the fact that Tim was still incredibly cognizant made the goosebumps boil over his body. Something instinctual told Duke Tim was dangerous, even while the guy could barely lift his head enough to sip water.

"Steph-." Tim choked out in warning and then he was hunched over vomiting again.

Steph hopped to the side to avoid the mess, but stayed close, rubbing a hand over Tim's back as he heaved.

"It's alright Timmy, it's gonna be okay." She caught Tim as the arm he was supporting himself with gave out. "We're gonna get out of here."

"What . . . are you Jason, now?" Tim panted at her, shivering violently. "What's with the nicknames?"

"I'm trying to be nice, on account of you dying right in front of me." Steph sounded truly stressed for the first time since they'd been kidnapped.

That put Duke on edge too.

He thought he'd seen her at the limit of her ability to manage stress when she'd been blustering and angry, demanding Tim's prescription, but no.

No, this was her stresssed.

Quiet, tension in every movement she made, voice devoid of the throughline of humor that she always seemed to have.

Tim's face twisted oddly and he glanced between Duke and Steph. "Sorry."

"No." Steph snapped. "No. This is the part where you say you aren't dying and that I'm being dramatic. This is not an apologizing moment. Apologizing . . . No apologizing."

Her voice trembled on the order, but her expression stayed steady.

"But you're right." Tim swallowed thickly. "I'm dying."

A visceral bolt of fear made Duke's nervous system light up like lightning.

Tim was gonna die.

Duke was going to have to watch Tim die and he wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

"Yeah, fuck that." Steph's expression hardened. "Duke, can you carry him?"

"What?" Duke was slow to react, brain still processing the idea of seeing someone die.

"Steph-." Tim began.

"Shut up." Steph grabbed Duke's forearm hard. "He's a hundred-fifty-five pounds soaking wet, can you carry him?"

Duke looked between Tim's pale face and Steph's stone expression. "Yes. Yeah, I can carry him."

"Alright, get ready." Steph released Duke and got to her feet, turning to the cell door.

"What are you going to do?" Duke got halfway to his feet to follow her. "I mean, how can we possibly get out of here?"

"Duke, I swear I will explain everything when we're out of here." Steph looked back at him. "For now, do exactly as we tell you to."

"I . . ." Duke cut himself off, considering his options.

Either he argued and they didn't make an escape attempt and Tim died, or he went along with whatever Steph was planning and risked all of their lives.

"Okay." Duke set his jaw, determined.

They were going to get out together, or they'd all die.

Steph smiled grimly before she turned to the bars. "Hey! Hey, get in here!"

"Duke-." Tim hissed as Duke shifted him into a sitting position against the wall.

"We're doing this, man." Duke cut him off. "We're not gonna let you die in here."

"Hey!" Steph shouted again. "Get your lousy asses in here!"

"Okay." Tim nodded. "Alright, I can probably walk a bit if you help me, and that'll be faster."

"Okay." Duke nodded in return.

"How many fucking times have I warned you?" Rook charged into view of the cell, gun already drawn. "It's time for consequences, bitch."

He aimed at Steph through the bars, but before he could shoot her arms bolted through the bars.

She dragged his arm with the gun between the bars and broke it, wrenching it against the bars so violently Duke heard the bones snap.

Rook screamed and dragged himself backwards as Steph plucked the gun from his limp hand. Steph aimed between the bars and two gunshots made Duke's ears ring.

Rook went to the ground, blood spurting from both legs and Steph shot out the lock to the cell door.

"Time to go." She clattered the door open.

Duke's entire body felt numb, but Tim's nails bit into his biceps, so he took a breath and hauled Tim up.

Tim hooked an arm over Duke's shoulders and Duke curled one around Tim's ribs and they followed Steph out of the cell.

"Do that and you die." Steph stomped Rook's unbroken arm, aiming the gun at his head.

The guy had been reaching for a walkie talkie at his belt and he froze, sweating.

"Steph, no." Tim was hot where his body pressed against Duke's, fever well beyond concerning.

Steph slowly reached down to take the walkie, aim never wavering.

"Put pressure on those, or you'll bleed out." She told Rook, voice barren of emotion. "Let's go."

Duke followed her as she started down the hallway, stepping over Rook with only mild sympathy for the asshole.

He was pretty sure he was in a state of shock as he followed Steph down the hall. His ears were still kind of ringing from the gunshots and his breath felt too big in his lungs and everything felt just to the left of real. It was like he was dreaming and he'd wake up at any moment.

"Alright Timmy, navigate." Steph looked back to them. "Where's the door?"

"They never took me anywhere that had a clear path out of the building." Tim's face was creased with focus and his footing was almost steady as they hobbled down the hall together. "Just to some kind of security room."

"Of course." Steph grumbled as they came to an intersection in the halls. "Because they'd never make it easy for us. Alright, which way to the security room?"

"To the right." Tim puffed out, pulling away from Duke to lean against the wall.

"Okay." Steph glanced down the three halls available to them. "You guys stay here. I'm going to check out the security room, see if I can find some kind of map or something."

"Be careful." Tim reached out and curled a hand into Steph's sleeve. "You need to be careful."

"I know." Steph nodded smiling grimly. "I'll be back soon."

Tim let her sleeve slip from his hand as she darted into the hallway, gun held carefully down at her side.

Duke's heart was pounding in his chest despite the short distance they'd traversed.

He didn't know that Steph's plan was a good one, or if it was worth the risk to her. She was going into unknown territory, with an unknown number of kidnappers already there, with a gun she'd stolen and apparently knew how to use, and there was no guarantee that she'd get out of there unharmed or even alive.

"Should she really go alone?" Duke peered around the corner after her.

"She'll be fine." Tim pushed off the wall and stumbled across the hall to lean against the opposite corner. "She's . . . she'll be fine."

"That's not as reassuring as I think you're hoping it to be." Duke followed him.

"Look, it's . . . it's like Steph said, we'll explain everything when we get out of here." Tim edged closer to the corner, head tilting towards the hall on the other side. "Don't freak out."

"What?" Duke frowned, not quite understanding what Tim meant.

Instead of answering, Tim leapt into the hall, arms locking around the throat of a kidnapper who'd just passed the corner. Duke stumbled back as the guy started panicking at the sudden teenager latched onto his neck.

The struggle was furious, but near-silent as Tim kept his grip around the man's throat, even as he was slammed backwards into a wall. Duke forced himself to approach them as the guy slid down the wall with Tim pinned behind him, face reddening severely.

"What . . . the hell?" Duke choked out as the man went limp. "Did you just kill him?"

"It's called a blood choke." Tim wheezed, shoving at the guy who was now pinning him against the wall. "He's just unconscious. Give me a hand?"

Duke was . . . freaking out.

Tim Drake was apparently a teenage ninja-CEO-genius-gunman-crazy person who's best friend had anger issues and more crazy ninja skills. They both kept their cool in incredibly dangerous situations and handled dangerous people without breaking a sweat. Between the two of them, they certainly could've gotten out of the cell at any point before Tim was too weak to do so, but hadn't, presumably on account of Duke's presence.

Which meant they wanted to hide their abilities and skills and that scared Duke.

But they were both obviously trying to protect Duke.

He moved over to help Tim get the guy off of him.

"Thanks." Tim sucked in a deep breath.

"How did you know he was there?" Duke hadn't even heard the man walking down the hall.

"That falls into the 'explain later' category." Tim got himself into a crouch and started pawing through the man's gear. "Which you're probably tired of hearing, but it's a long fucking story and this is not the place."

Tim took the man's gun, handling it with expertise that, at that point, shouldn't have surprised Duke.

"Y'all's skill with guns is a part of that, too, huh?" Duke breathed out shakily.

"Yeah." Tim grimaced, shoving several things from the man's belt into his pockets.

"Alright." Duke rubbed a hand over his hair. "Can you even aim that thing right now?"

"If you can keep me upright, I can shoot." Tim looked to Duke with a close-lipped smile.

"What are you guys doing?" Steph trotted back down the hallway, gun still in hand.

"Did you want me to just let him find us and raise the alarm?" Tim lifted a hand, asking Duke for help up. "We're doing what we have to."

"Okay, smartass." Steph hissed as Duke hauled Tim to his feet. "I'm surprised you have the energy to waste on being a dickhead, considering you were dying fifteen minutes ago."

"It's my last wind." Tim winced, leaning heavily on Duke. "Adrenaline, and all that."

Even as Tim made the joke, Duke could tell he was getting weaker, as he was supporting more and more of Tim's weight every minute. Steph appeared to see it as well.

"We'd better get moving, then." She said. "Before the winds change."

"Which way is the way out?" Duke shifted Tim to hold him more securely.

"That way." Steph pointed down the hall opposite of the path to the security room. "I found a floor plan, and that's the way to the garage. I figure I can hotwire a car and drive us to the hospital."

"Jesus." Duke couldn't help a sharp laugh. "Of course you can hotwire a car."

"You're doing great, Duke." Steph smiled kindly. "Really just rolling with the punches."

"Yeah, cause if I stop to think about what's going on, I'm gonna have a panic attack and get us all killed." Duke answered honestly.

"Well, points for self-awareness." Steph shrugged. "Let's go."

She started down the hallway and Duke glanced at Tim to make sure he was ready before they started after her. They moved quickly and Duke focused on keeping up with Steph more than how much Tim was starting to sag.

As they approached the end of the hallway, the sound of gunshots started getting closer and closer. Duke's chest raced in his chest and he stared at the back of Steph's head as she kept her pace. She slowed as they got closer to the corner and waved at Duke to get him closer to the wall.

He tried his best to breathe quietly as he shuffled as close to the wall as he could with Tim.

Steph came to a stop at the corner, holding her gun in both hands, ready to shoot. Tim readied his gun as well, holding it in a tight grip, breaths even and eyes sharp.

Heavy footsteps came louder and louder towards the corner and Duke held his breath, holding onto Tim probably a bit too tight.

Steph lunged into the hallway, gun coming up to aim at whoever it was.

Steph's face broke into a surprised expression and she bounced off of the wall on the other side of the hall, lowering the fun to point at the floor. "Ja-!"

"Names!" An artificial sounding voice crackled, cutting her off.

Tim went stiff next to Duke and then jerked forward, pulling Duke with him around the corner.

Red Hood was the person they found on the other side. He was huge, incredibly tall and wide and holding a brutal looking blade with traces of blood on it.

"Hood." Tim extracted himself from Duke and stumbled to the crime lord with outstretched arms. "You're here."

"Timmy." Hood caught Tim before he could eat shit, carefully keeping the knife away from Tim's body. "God, you're burning."

"He's dying." Steph steadied herself. "Blood poisoning."

"Fuck." Hood held Tim up with one arm and sheathed his knife. "I knew moving today was best."

"Who's with you?" Steph moved to look behind Hood.

"Black Bat, she went the other way." Hood hooked an arm under Tim's knees, lifting him like he weighed nothing. "Did you shoot anyone?"

"Just one guy." Steph answered. "In the legs. He deserved it. What did you guys drive?"

Duke had seen a lot of crazy shit in the past couple days.

Stephanie Brown having a casual conversation with Red Hood in the middle of their escape attempt topped all of it with ease.

Tim Drake going to Red Hood as if he was familiar with him topped that without question.

"Bikes." Hood's attention moved to Duke. "You good, kid?"

Duke nodded stiffly, not sure he'd be able to speak if he tried.

"You came in through the garage?" Steph came back around the giant man cradling Tim.

"Yeah." Hood turned his gaze to her.

"Alright, have Black Bat rendezvous with us there." Steph directed. "Me and Duke can ride with her while you take Tim."

"Okay, bossy." Even Hood's voice changer couldn't cover the snark in his tone.

"Dying idiot, remember?" Steph gestured at Tim. "Tell Black Bat."

"I'm . . . only dying a little." Tim huffed, annoyed, head lolling against Hood's shoulder.

"Black Bat, I've got the kids." Hood let Tim use him as a pillow and started talking to his ally. "Rendezvous on the bikes."

"Why do you still have a gun?" Steph suddenly lurched forwards and tugged the weapon out of Tim's hand. "Take this, Duke."

"Me?" Duke found his voice in his surprise at the request.

"Shit, wait, you're not trained." Steph grimaced, examining the second weapon in her hand. "Alright, just hold it for a minute, the safety is on, so it's safe, but don't point it at anyone."

"Wow, well done, Blondie." Hood kicked at Steph's shin.

"Fuck you, dude." Duke let her set the gun in his hand and he was surprised at the weight of it, but aimed it at the floor like he'd seen Steph and Tim doing before. "I've got other things on my mind right now."

The moment both of her hands were free, Steph started disassembling the other gun with incredible efficiency.

"You're losing your edge." Hood turned to gaze back down the hallway he'd come from.

"In my defense, I've been held captive for the last five days." When the gun was down to its parts, Steph tossed a few pieces down each hallway and plucked the other gun from Duke's hands. "Now, let's go."

"You realize there's gonna be a lot you have to explain to him, right?" Hood nodded at Duke as he started stumbling after Steph.

"Tim and I think we should tell him everything." Steph looked over her shoulder, smiling thinly at Duke. "Just . . . not here."

"Is that wise?" Hood fell into step behind Duke.

"You know Tim doesn't fuck around with this kind of thing. If he agrees, then yeah, it's a good idea. He can be trusted." Steph was focused on the path in front of them again. "You clear everyone out on your way in?"

"Went for the tendons in elbows, knees, and shoulders, so yeah." Hood answered.

"Elbows and shoulders seems excessive." Steph slowed as they approached another corner, pressing her back against the wall and peeking around it carefully. "Sounds like some new friends have joined the party."

Sure enough, shouts were coming down the hall, several different voices raising the alarm.

"Fucking, great." Hood lowered Tim to his feet next to Duke. "Take this."

Duke scrambled to get an arm around Tim's ribs to keep him upright.

"ETA on Black Bat?" Steph checked over her gun.

"Bat, ETA?" Hood growled, then a moment later. "Two minutes."

"Let's get these guys taken care of before she gets here." Steph looked to Duke. "You guys stay put, one of us three will come and get you when it's time to go."

Duke nodded. "Okay."

"Ready?" She looked to Hood.

The man drew his knife again, flipping it in his hand. "Go."

Steph nodded and they both charged around the corner.

Duke's heart was in his throat as he held Tim up against the wall. He could hear more gunshots and screams and he felt sick to his stomach. Steph didn't have any body armor or protection, like Hood. All she had was a gun and herself and Duke thought about her bright eyes going dark and he was almost tempted to do something stupid.

"It's gonna be alright." Tim slurred next to Duke.

Duke looked over to him and found Tim's ice blue eyes were still somehow clear despite the heat Duke could feel radiating off of him.

"She's got Hood and a weapon." Tim continued, eyes fixed on Duke's. "She'd be fine even without those. Having them means she's got a huge advantage."

Duke believed him and something in his chest settled a bit.

Tim's eyes moved from Duke's face and his expression shifted. Duke followed his gaze and everything slowed to a crawl.

There was a man, a kidnapper with a gun, coming down the hall opposite of the path to the garage.

The gun was moving up in slow motion, aimed at Tim.

Duke reacted before he could think.

He pushed Tim forward, past the corner, and found himself in the space Tim had just been occupying.

Tim's eyes met Duke's and he was reaching out towards him when the sound of gunfire made Duke's teeth rattle. Some force slammed Duke into the wall, a heavy pressure on the back of his right shoulder pinning him to the plaster for a moment.

I just got shot, Duke thought, Why doesn't it hurt?

He's gonna shoot again! His instincts screamed.

Duke pushed himself off the wall with his left hand, his right arm not responding to his instructions the way it should. Tim was sprawled on the floor in the hall, eyes wide, staring at Duke as Duke turned to look for the kidnapper.

Black Bat was putting the guy down hard when Duke got eyes on him again and then the pain registered.

"Fuck, oh fuck." Duke slid down the wall, legs turned to jelly. "Holy fuck."

"Duke." Tim dragged himself over to Duke. "Hey, man, hey. That was really brave, man."

"I got shot." Duke told him, voice coming out slightly hysterical as Tim's face blurred in his vision.

"I know, man." Tim looked away from Duke and he followed his gaze.

Black Bat was kneeling in front of Duke, terrifying mask only inches from his face. He choked on his spit and flinched back against the wall.

"It's okay." She said. "I will not hurt you."

"Tim, Duke!" Steph rounded the corner. "Holy shit!"

Steph dropped into a crouch next to Black Bat, eyes wide, reaching for Duke.

"What happened?" Hood appeared a second later.

"He took a bullet for me." Tim said as Steph pulled Duke away from the wall so Black Bat could look at his shoulder.

"Am I gonna die?" Duke felt tears on his face and he thought about his parents.

He wished he could see them, could say 'goodbye' if he was going to die.

"No." Hood said firmly. "No one innocent dies when I'm around."

"It really fucking hurts." Duke choked out, gaze sliding from Steph to Tim to Hood and back, eyes not focusing quite right.

"Course it does, you got shot." Steph clung to his hand. "You're as stupid as Tim is."

Black Bat was moving, grabbing things from her belt and touching Duke's shoulder, putting pressure, making the pain spike, but he was too stunned to move.

"I couldn't let the sick guy get shot." Duke hissed as firm pressure was put against his shoulder and stayed. "Th-That would be f-fucked up."

Black Bat was quickly wrapping gauze around Duke's shoulder, keeping the pressure on his shoulder.

"Well, he's fucking crazy enough to get told everything." Hood's tone held dark humor.

"Hood-." Tim suddenly swayed, face gone bone white.

Hood caught him as he went down, evidently passing out.

"Black Bat, will that hold until we get to the hospital?" Hood hauled Tim into his arms.

"Yes." She nodded firmly, tying off the gauze around Duke's shoulder.

"Alright, kiddies, it's time to go." Hood stood up. "Steph, you'll be with me and Tim, I'll need someone to keep him on the bike. Black Bat can manage Duke."

Steph nodded. "Okay."

She and Black Bat stood, and Black Bat reached down to offer Duke a hand. "Up."

Duke clasped her hand with his left and let her draw him to his feet, hissing in pain. Steph steadied him as his knees almost buckled again.

"You okay?" She asked. "Need me to carry you?"

"I'm- what?" Duke asked her, brain still not working right. "Could you even lift me?"

"She can lift me." Hood scoffed. "You'd hardly be a challenge, small-fry."

"Oh." Duke didn't think he was surprised. "No, I can walk."

"Then let's move." Hood demanded.

They started moving again, slow, but steady towards the garage. Steph and Black Bat stayed on Duke's shoulders as they moved, Hood leading the way.

They passed a handful of people on the floor as they walked, most of them groaning in pain and bleeding.

Duke couldn't find it in himself to feel sorry for any of them.

When they got to the garage, Steph moved from Duke's side and followed Hood to his bike. The bikes were parked side by side and Duke watched as Hood handed Tim over to Steph so he could climb onto the bike. Steph put Tim on the bike behind him, leaning him forward against Hood's back before she climbed on after.

"Duke." Black Bat drew his attention.

She was holding up a loop of fabric.

"Sling, for your arm." She explained.

He ducked his head, letting her hang the sling around his neck and arrange his arm in it so he didn't have to hold its weight with the agonized muscles in his shoulder.

"Just a little while longer." She told him, voice gentle. "You're doing well."

"Thanks." Duke croaked.

"On the bike, now." She swung a leg over it, nodding to the space behind her.

Duke moved over to do the same, but found his balance was so offset by his arm that he stumbled.

"Use my shoulder." Black Bat advised. "To balance."

Duke awkwardly set his left hand on her shoulder to steady himself as he swung a leg over the bike behind her.

"Hold tight." She instructed. "It's okay."

Duke slid his arm around her waist, holding as tight as he dared.

"Tighter." She said firmly. "Lean close."

He followed her instructions, sliding closer to her on the seat and clinging tighter.

"Good." Black Bat nodded. "We are ready to go, Red Hood."

"Take it fast." Hood ordered.

They both started up their bikes and Hood peeled out first, tires screeching against the concrete of the garage floor. Black Bat followed close behind, moving so fast Duke couldn't help grabbing her tighter in surprise.

Duke had never ridden a motorcycle before, but he was pretty sure most motorcycles weren't anything like the ones Batman's crew drove. They took corners with incredible speed and handled it easily, accelerated faster than made sense, and braked with astounding efficiency.

The ride to Gotham General should've taken easily forty minutes, but they got there in about twenty. It was exhilarating and enough to distract Duke from the throbbing in his shoulder right up until they screeched to a stop in the emergency bay of the hospital.

The moment they stopped, nurses and doctors swarmed the bikes

"Red Hood called ahead." Black Bat told Duke as several people reached to help him off the motorcycle. "You will be okay, now."

"Thank you." Duke told her as he was ushered away from the bike.

He only just saw her nod before she was out of sight and he was in the emergency room.

XxX

Steph was shouting from the moment the hospital staff swarmed out of the building.

"This is Tim Drake-Wayne!" She released the hold she had on Jason's jacket around Tim's unconscious body. "He doesn't have a spleen, he has a cut on his right arm that has stitches! He has blood poisoning and a high fever! He's allergic to penicillin!"

"Get a stretcher!" One of the doctors yelled as Steph dismounted the bike and hauled Tim off with her. "How long has he been unconscious?!"

"Thirty minutes!" Steph got an arm under Tim's knees and lifted him up to set him on the stretcher that was rushed out.

"Are you hurt?!" A nurse grabbed Steph's shoulder as Tim was wheeled quickly into the emergency room.

"No." Steph looked back to Jason and nodded.

"Alright, we're still gonna look you over." The nurse curled an arm around Steph's shoulders and guided her towards the emergency room.

"Let's split." Jason said over comms to Cass.

"Yes." She agreed.

Jason led the way out, revving his bike to clear the bodies in front of them. Cass followed close behind as they made their exit.

"Go back to base." Hood told Cass. "They'll look for you first. I'm headed back to mine."

"Understood." She split off from Jason, headed back towards the Manor.

Jason turned his bike towards Crime Alley. He'd made his escape from the Manor with another call from Roy, using Lian as an excuse. The cops had wanted to escort him, but he'd lost them quick on his bike, taking paths they wouldn't fit in with their cruisers.

He made it to his apartment in five minutes, stripped out of his gear in two, and was waiting for six until Bruce called him.

"Bruce?" He answered.

"Red Hood and Black Bat got Tim and Stephanie and their friend." Bruce sounded incredibly relieved. "They're at Gotham General."

"Are they okay?" Jason asked immediately.

"They haven't told us, yet." Bruce told him. "We're all about to head to the hospital, can you meet us there?"

"Yes, Roy and Lian are okay, I can be there in twenty." Jason grabbed his dark leather jacket and the keys to his civilian motorcycle.

"Be careful, Jaylad." Bruce said. "I love you."

"Love you too, old man." Jason hung up.

He drove at a far more sedate pace on his way back to the hospital, taking the full twenty minutes that traffic laws demanded.

Jason parked, dragged off his helmet and rushed into the hospital at a frantic pace. He found the front desk quickly and charged up to it, shifting his weight back and forth, doing his best to appear worried rather than intimidating.

"Hi, my Dad just called me, my brother was brought in by Red Hood and Black Bat." Jason rushed out. "His name's Tim, can I see him? Is he okay?"

"Sir, I need you to slow down." The man on the other side of the desk said. "What is the name of the patient?"

"Tim Drake-Wayne." Jason answered quickly.

"And your name?" He prompted, typing.

"Jason Todd-Wayne." Jason reached for his pockets, fumbling for his wallet. "Do you need my ID?"

"Yes, sir." The man took Jason's offered card. "Alright . . . I'm gonna call someone down to escort you to a waiting room."

"A waiting room? Why?" Jason demanded, shoving his ID back into his wallet.

"Your brother is receiving emergency treatment at this time, there is no space for visitors." The man said calmly. "The rest of your family has already arrived, they are in the waiting room."

"Right, okay, thank you." Jason bobbed his head. "Sorry for being rude."

"You're okay, I understand why you're worried." The man smiled at Jason. "Extenuating circumstances and all."

"Still, I'm sorry." Jason pocketed his wallet again. "You probably already deal with a lot of bullshit, I shouldn't have added to it."

"I appreciate that." The man said and then looked past Jason. "Joan, it'll be this gentleman."

Jason turned to find a woman who'd obviously come down the hall.

"Follow me." She beckoned him.

"Sorry again, thanks." Jason lifted an apologetic hand as he followed after Joan.

She led him to a waiting room on the third floor of the hospital.

Just like the man at the front desk had said, the whole family was already there.

"Jason." Dick jumped out of the chair he was sitting in and dragged Jason into a hug immediately.

Jason tolerated the clinging embrace for a long minute before he extracted himself.

"What's wrong with him?" Jason asked. "Why is he getting treatment?"

"He has an infection." Bruce was sitting with Cass and Steph's mom. "Nearly sepsis."

"Jesus." Jason ran a hand over his face. "Will he be okay?"

"He was in bad shape when they brought him in." Bruce told him. "The doctors said they were most concerned about his fever, but if they can get it down, he'll more than likely be fine."

"Good, that's good." Jason went with Dick to sit with Damian. "What about Steph? And the other kid?"

"Steph is getting checked over right now." Her mom said. "The doctors said there weren't any emergent injuries, but they're taking a look at her just in case."

"The other boy was shot." Cass told Jason. "In the shoulder. He is in surgery, I believe."

"Where are his parents?" Jason rubbed a hand through Damian's hair just to be annoying.

Dick and Bruce shared a look before Bruce answered. "Social Services will be here in the morning for him, along with the police for interviews."

"So we're just staying here for the night?" Jason interpreted.

"Yes." Dick nodded in confirmation.

"Alright." Jason shifted in his chair next to Damian.

Steph was brought to the waiting room about an hour later, declared unharmed except for a bruised jaw. Her mom hugged her incredibly tightly at first sight and Steph buried her face in her mom's shoulder, obviously relieved.

They talked quietly for a bit and her mom wanted to take her home, but Steph insisted on staying so she could check on Duke and Tim in the morning.

She settled in with her mom and Jason shared Damian with Dick as they got as comfortable as possible to sleep until morning.

XxX

Between the cops and Social Services, it was a few hours before Steph managed to get into Duke's room in the morning.

"Hey." She smiled thinly at Duke, in a fresh set of clothes, but otherwise looking about the same as she had when they made their escape. "Looks like you managed to survive."

"Looks like it." Duke agreed. "Tim?"

"Alive." Steph perched in the chair next to Duke's bed. "Awake, even. Jason's been chewing him out for the last half-hour."

"Ah." Duke rubbed one of the thin hospital blankets between his thumb and pointer finger. "Is . . . Is this the part where you explain things?"

"There's someone I have to talk to first." She said carefully. "Then, yeah, we explain everything."

Duke nodded in acceptance.

"Where are your foster parents?" Steph glanced around the empty room.

"I'm getting a new placement." Duke couldn't help bitterness leaking into his tone. "They . . . They apparently don't want to deal with me anymore."

"That's fucking stupid." She bit out. "It isn't your fault you got kidnapped."

"Yeah, well . . . what can I do?" Duke shrugged.

Steph set her jaw. "Look, I gotta go talk to the person I mentioned, but I'll be back later."

"Alright." Duke nodded, not sure of why exactly she was so determined.

Steph reached out and squeezed his hand firmly. "Thanks for taking care of Tim."

Duke shrugged again. "He was already in a shit position, I'd have felt like an absolute dick if I'd let him get shot. I didn't necessarily mean to do it, either. I kind of just . . . moved."

She smiled, genuine. "It's a good thing we're explaining everything, then. I'll be back."

She squeezed his hand again and then went quickly out of the room.

For a while, Duke stared at the ceiling, suspecting, in some measure, what Steph would be explaining to him. Her connection to Red Hood was . . . damning, for lack of a better word, and Tim obviously knew him, too, and there were only a few ways that could be explained.

"Duke." He just about jumped out of his skin when a voice spoke up next to him.

He looked down to find Cassandra-Cass-Cain sitting in Steph's chair.

"Uh, hi?" He manged to say, even as his heart thundered away in his chest.

"Thank you for protecting my brother." She said. "I heard he would be dead without you."

"I . . . um, you're welcome?" Duke was unsettled by her gaze, by how she'd managed to get right next to him without him noticing.

She nodded. "Take pride in your bravery, it was beyond the capabilities of many."

"Thank you?" Duke frowned.

"I will see you again, soon." She stood. "Goodbye, for now, Duke."

Duke couldn't find words before she was out of his room. It was so odd, she behaved so strangely, it left him feeling off-balance, and he turned his gaze to his hands in his lap, picking at his blankets.

After everything, after all he'd been through, he was more scared now than he had been in the cell. At least in the cell, he knew what to expect.

Now, he was at the mercy of the foster care system again. He was running out of options, as his caseworker liked to remind him, and his next placement could easily be one of the group homes infamous in Gotham for pumping out petty criminals and drug addicts. It made Duke anxious and he tried not to think about it, instead focusing on tracing meaningless patterns on his blankets.

A few minutes later someone tapped at the doorframe to Duke's room. He looked up to find Dick Grayson standing there with a sympathetic smile.

"Can I come in?" The man asked.

"Sure." Duke nodded.

He smiled a bit wider for a second before he took the chair Steph had vacated. "Tim told us what you did to protect him. I wanted to thank you."

"It was . . . I moved before I could think." Duke said honestly. "If I had thought about it, I'm not sure I would have done it."

Dick smiled kindly. "That's more impressive, I think. Your initial reaction, your instinctive reaction, was to protect someone you'd known for less than a week. It takes a special kind of person for that to happen, a really brave person."

Duke shook his head. "I dunno."

"I do." Dick said firmly. "I was a police officer for a while, I've seen all kinds of things, and people struggle to do what you did instinctively, on purpose. It takes a lot of training for cops to not run at the first sign of a gun, much more run toward people who they know have them. You're a really brave kid, Duke."

"Grayson." A middle schooler appeared in the doorway.

It took Duke a second to process that it was Damian Wayne.

"Hey, Damian." Dick smiled at him. "What's up?"

"Drake requested that I get you to stop Todd from scolding him." Damian answered, gaze darting over to Duke.

"He's still going?" Dick stood.

"Yes." Damian stepped into the room, leaning against the wall next to the door.

"Right, well, I suppose I should take pity on the kid." Dick tucked his hands into his pockets. "Take care, Duke."

"Sure." Duke said somewhat dumbly.

Dick made his way out of the room, rubbing a hand through Damian's hair on the way. Damian didn't immediately follow, instead staring expressionlessly at Duke.

"Uh . . . You want something?" Duke asked him.

"You protected the idiot." Damian said plainly. "You have my thanks. I still have much to learn from him."

"You mean Tim?" Duke was off-guard at the kids bluntness.

"Yes, the idiot." Damian repeated. "He often has little regard for his own safety and risks his life because of it. It is . . . reassuring to know you can be relied upon to mitigate his idiocy. However, in the future, I would recommend avoiding detrimental injury to yourself in the process."

"The future-?" Duke was incredibly confused at the way Damian was speaking.

"Alright, scram." A figure filled the doorway, scrubbing a hand roughly through Damian's hair. "You're freaking him out."

Duke's heart jolted in his chest, certain that the guy was Red Hood based on size alone, and then his brain processed the guy's face and voice and he realized it was just a really tall man.

Damian scowled up at him. "I am not, Todd."

"Scoot, go stop Dick from smothering the idiot." Jason Todd-Wayne steered the kid out of the hospital room with a hand on his head.

"I am not an errand boy." Damian grumbled, but went easily.

Jason stepped into Duke's hospital room, crossing his arms over his chest.

Duke met his gaze somewhat anxiously. Jason was huge, incredibly tall and built and . . . about the same build as Red Hood, actually.

What had Steph started to call Red Hood?

'Ja-!'?

That could have easily been 'Jason' and the way they'd bantered, talked at each other with familiarity, and snarked at each other like . . . like siblings. Added to how Tim and Steph had talked about Jason in the cell and the way Hood and, apparently, all of Tim's family called him 'idiot' . . .

Duke didn't want to make the connections, but with all the pieces basically handed to him . . .

"So." Jason began. "Steph says-."

'He can be trusted.'

"I won't say anything." Duke said quickly. "I know how to keep my mouth shut."

"Steph says you were pretty level-headed in there." Jason's eyebrows shot up, but he continued slowly. "Seems you're clever, too."

Duke's heart was in his throat, he'd accidentally revealed his knowledge before Jason had even suspected he knew anything.

"I swear I can keep a secret." Duke reaffirmed. "You don't have to worry about me."

"I don't doubt that." Jason stepped a bit further into the room. "Steph and Tim are excellent judges of character. I came in here to thank you for helping my kids."

Duke wasn't sure that he'd ever been more surprised. "Your kids?"

"They're mine." Jason agreed forcefully. "Steph and Tim are my kids, Bruce can get fucked."

Duke laughed in surprise. "I wasn't aware Bruce Wayne had taken Stephanie Brown in."

"It's a matter of time, Duke." Jason grinned crookedly, cutting the tension. "Bruce kind of has a problem with adoption."

Duke huffed another laugh. "Four isn't that many."

"It's a fuck-ton when it comes to kids." Jason made a face. "You'll get it, soon."

"What?" Duke asked, frowning.

"The big man is gonna get a real kick out of you." Jason snickered, turning back towards the door. "See you later, Duke."

Duke didn't get a chance to say anything before Jason was gone.

Duke felt . . . he didn't know what he felt.

He'd been let in on Gotham's most sought after secret, been shot, been given up by his foster family (thank god), and made conversation with every Wayne except Bruce Wayne within the span of twenty-four hours. It was a lot to handle, to think about and experience.

Duke was kind of overwhelmed.

He didn't even get much of a break after Jason left his room before Bruce Wayne stepped in.

"Mr.Wayne." Duke sat up as much as he could.

"Please, just call me Bruce." The man smiled sort of sheepishly. "Can I sit?"

"Uh, sure." Duke said somewhat dumbly.

Mr.Wayne-Bruce-stepped in and took the chair Dick and Steph had each occupied earlier. "Thank you, for looking after Tim."

"He's a pretty cool guy." Duke told him. "I, uh, I was gonna say I'd do it any time, but I don't want to get shot again, actually."

Bruce smiled, puffing out a laugh. "I can't imagine that anyone would."

"Are you the person Steph said she was going to talk to?" Duke rushed out, tongue numb.

"I am." Bruce said evenly, eyes bright and assessing.

"Can I say what I think I know before you say anything?" Duke asked.

"Feel free." Bruce nodded.

"Jason is the Red Hood." Duke stared, swallowing hard. "They . . . They've got the same build and talk to and about Tim in the same way."

Bruce tilted his head slightly back, eyebrows rising as his lips parted in surprise.

Duke pressed on. "Tim and Steph did things that normal people can't do, so I'm guessing they're Red Robin and Spoiler, respectively. Tim isn't tall enough to be Nightwing and he's too tall to be Robin, which leaves Red Robin, and there's only one blonde vigilante, so Steph isn't much of a question."

Bruce's lips tilted up in an almost smile.

"Dick is friendly enough, tall enough, nice enough, and famously an acrobat who is more than capable of being Nightwing." Duke kept talking, not daring to pause in case he lost his nerve. "So Damian is definitely Robin, because he's about the right height and skin tone, and he got to Gotham around the time the new Robin showed up."

Duke forced himself to meet Bruce's eyes.

"Cassandra is Black Bat, she's the only other girl, and she's . . . odd, like Black Bat." He took a deep breath, not looking away from Bruce's piercing gaze. "You're Batman, because no one would ever expect it, and I can't imagine your kids could run around with some weird guy in spandex without you knowing and stopping it, unless you were in on it."

Silence fell in the hospital room and Duke held his breath, terrified.

"Well done." Bruce said finally, seeming pleased. "I would have suspected Dick to be the weak spot, again. I'm surprised it was Jason that tipped you off."

"S-Sorry?" Duke stammered. "You're not gonna . . . argue? Tell me I'm wrong?"

"You aren't wrong." Bruce sat back in his chair. "Steph wanted to tell you the truth, anyway. That you figured it out first only proves you deserve to know."

"Oh." Duke almost couldn't believe it. "So . . . what now?"

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked.

"Well . . . I know." Duke said. "Doesn't that make me . . . I dunno, a risk?"

"Sure." Bruce shrugged.

"So . . . what are you going to do?" Duke was confused at how Batman was behaving.

"Well, my plan was to offer to foster you." Bruce answered easily. "The kids like you, you're smart, and you've been in a bad spot for a while. I've the space and resources and you already know about our nightlife, so that's a major problem out of the way."

"I'm a meta." Duke blurted out.

What the fuck, Duke?! He thought. What kind of idiot tells Batman they're a meta? Batman hates metas!

"I know." Bruce smiled. "I'm Batman, Duke, knowing things about people is the greatest power I have. I'd actually like to know more about your abilities, if you'd be willing to tell me."

"I don't understand." Duke told him.

"Duke, you've already proven you're a good, kind, intelligent young man. Steph and Tim believe you are trustworthy, and you have impressive composure and willpower." Bruce said kindly. "You've had a tough run at life and if I can make it easier for you, if I can help you, I'd like to."

"You want to adopt me?" Duke thought back to Jason's parting words.

"Only if you want me to." Bruce stood. "Think about it, you don't need to answer yet. We'll be here for at least a few more days, I'll come back before you're discharged."

Bruce started towards the door.

"What if I want to help?" Duke asked before he could fully leave. "With the night stuff."

Bruce smiled over his shoulder. "I suspected you might. Tim and Steph seem to think you'd be extremely helpful, once you get a bit of training. I agree with them."

"Yes." Duke swallowed down the fear trying to bubble up in his chest. "I want to and . . . I'd like it if you fostered me."

"I'll talk to your caseworker." Bruce said and disappeared through the doorway.

Duke . . . hadn't expected any of this when he'd gone to meet Steph at the library.

He hadn't expected to be kidnapped, or to make friends with Tim Drake-Wayne, or to be shot, or to learn the most dangerous secret in Gotham. He'd just wanted to do his chemistry project and get a half-decent grade while avoiding his foster parents for a day.

As for how things had turned out . . . he wasn't all that upset, all things considered.

He had Batman on his side, now, after all.