A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, you totally made my day since I'm rather nervous about this sequel. :) Also, I would like to say a big, massive thank you to my new beta, Haleykim, who is proving to be invaluable. Editing is what really slows me down when writing as I'm such a nit-picker and I'm always afraid I'm going to miss my own mistakes. So, Kim, you rock. Thank you. :)

Finally, there is some strong language in this chapter as the bad guys make an appearance and they are not nice people who do tend to swear a lot. Fair warnings on that peeps. :)

oOo

Jason stood bleary-eyed outside his apartment building, clinging to his take-away coffee while he waited for Bruce and Dick to arrive. It was after two before he had managed to get away from The Gotham Regency and after seven when he finished patrol. He was tired, cranky and most emphatically NOT in the mood for tree shopping, but he didn't want to disappoint Dick. Besides, tree shopping might be fun…despite what Bruce claimed to the contrary.

While on patrol the previous night, Jason had asked Batman about Bruce's headshake after Dick had asked him to come tree shopping. The only response had been a cryptic, "Trust me, you don't want to go tree shopping with Dick."

Jason was putting it down to Bruce's Scrooge-like mentality. Dick was one of the most fun people Jason had ever encountered; why wouldn't he want to go tree shopping with the boy?

He caught sight of Bruce's dark Porsche weaving its way through traffic and tossed the almost empty coffee cup in the trash before wriggling his fingers to coax some warmth back into them. It was freaking cold and weather reports were predicting snow.

Jason would never admit it but he was actually hoping for snow. He'd never had a white Christmas before; it usually rained in his Gotham.

The car pulled up and Jason climbed into the back, rolling his eyes as a way-too-hyper Dick beamed back at him complete with Santa hat pulled down over his dark hair. "Dick, don't you think the hat might be overkill?"

"Nope. Tis the season. Want one?"

Jason snorted in response. There was no way in hell anyone was decking him out in Christmas paraphernalia; not unless they wanted to be doused in gasoline and set on fire.

"So, where are we going to get the tree?" he asked, as Bruce guided the car back into traffic. He was mildly curious about this as he'd never been tree shopping before. Back in his world, that job had always been carried out by Dick and Alfred. He and Bruce had never been all that interested in what Bruce termed 'the silly season'.

"There are a couple of really good tree farms outside Gotham," Dick answered. "They've got several acres of trees and they'll let you browse for as long as you like. You can even watch your tree being cut."

It sounded like a lot of unnecessary work to Jason. "Couldn't you just buy a tree from a lot here in Gotham?"

Dick looked horrified. "You don't buy your Christmas tree from a lot! Those trees could have been cut ages ago!"

"So?"

Dick rolled his eyes. "Jay, it's only the eighteenth of December. The tree has to be fresh so it'll last into the New Year."

"Don't the trees from those lots usually last? I mean, it's not like they die."

"Yeah but they wilt," Dick said with an expression of distaste. "And Christmas trees look awful when they wilt."

"They all look the same to me, Dick."

"But they're not all the same!" he protested. "Christmas trees can be tall, thin, fat – not to mention the different types!"

Jason raised an eyebrow. "There are different types?" He regretted asking the second he saw the gleam in Dick's eyes. He had a horrible feeling he was about to get a crash course in the species of Christmas tree.

"Dozens! Balsam fir, Scotch pine, Leyland cypress– oh! And Douglas fir! They're my favourites because they smell the best…"

Jason settled back against his seat with a sigh and allowed Dick to educate him on the art of picking the perfect Christmas tree. Now he knew why Bruce was being so silent, and why he had tried to warn him off going tree shopping with them today; Jason strongly suspected that tree shopping with Dick wouldn't be as fun as he had initially thought.

His suspicions were proven correct when, after several hours of traipsing around tree farms in the freezing cold, they still hadn't found a Christmas tree.

Actually, scratch that, they had found several. Jason had never seen so many damn Christmas trees in all his life! In fact, if he never saw one again, it would be too soon. And every one of them had been big, green and, as far as Jason could see, perfect.

But not according to Dick. The boy had found fault with every single tree that Jason or Bruce had pointed out; they were either too small, too thin, not green enough or they didn't smell right. Jason – for the first time ever – was ready to kill Dick.

Why the hell didn't I wear a warmer jacket? he groused, wedging his hands deep into his pockets. "I can't believe you're letting him do this," he hissed to Bruce as Dick darted forward to examine another tree.

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "I did warn you."

Jason grumbled under his breath, he had no response to that. He shot Bruce a curious glance. "Why are you letting him do this? You hate Christmas." He was surprised that Mr. Scrooge was willing to let Dick drag him around tree farms for hours without complaint.

"I don't hate Christmas," Bruce responded, watching Dick circle a large, dark fir. "I just don't enjoy it." He turned back to Jason and his expression was slightly sad. "Christmas is Dick's favourite holiday. It's also the time of year when he misses his parents the most. If finding the perfect tree makes him happy then I'm not going to object. He asks for so little as it is."

Jason's irritation with Dick lessened. "You've got a point."

They both returned their attention to the tree that Dick had been circling but the boy had disappeared. Jason felt a frisson of alarm. "Dick?" he called, stepping forward. There was no response and he exchanged a frown with Bruce. "DICK!" he yelled again.

The boy appeared suddenly between two trees. He was pink-cheeked with excitement. "I've found it! I've found the perfect tree! Bruce, Jason, you gotta come see!"

He turned and vanished into the trees again, leaving the two men to roll their eyes fondly at one another before following.

Pushing through the trees after Dick, they emerged into a slightly bigger clearing where the boy stood beside a large tree bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Bruce, look! Wha'd ya think? I think this is gonna be our best tree yet!"

Bruce smiled at him as they drew level. "It's a very nice tree, Dick. Good call."

The teenager beamed up at him before turning to Jason. "Jay, what do you think?"

Jason thought it looked identical to the thirty or so trees that Dick had already rejected, but he wasn't going to burst his bubble by telling him that. "Very nice, Kid. What type of tree is it?"

"A Douglas fir," said Dick excitedly, turning back to the tree again. "Smell it, Jason."

He complied, surprised by how good the tree actually did smell. "Nice. Will it smell like that all Christmas?"

"Yup!" Dick answered gleefully, gazing up at the tree.

"I'll go find someone to cut it for us." Bruce smiled, turning and following the trail back down towards the entrance to the farm.

Jason looked up at the tree and frowned. "How do we get this thing back to Wayne Manor? Somehow I doubt it will fit on the roof of the Porsche."

Dick chuckled. "The tree farm will deliver it –" he looked at his watch "– tomorrow. They don't usually deliver after three." He looked up guiltily at Jason. "Sorry, Jay. This probably wasn't the most fun way to spend your Saturday."

Jason smiled down at him and ruffled his hair. "Just so long as you're happy, Kid."

oOo

Justin Lee was deep in thought as he stepped into the dark, smoke-filled bar. Absently, he glanced around, rubbing his right temple; he'd had a headache ever since the attempted robbery at The Gotham Regency the night before. Talk about a total and utter fucking disaster.

He spied Lori flirting with a couple of customers over by the bar counter and scowled. Stalking over, he seized her arm and dragged her away without acknowledging the men. "What do you think you're doing?" he hissed at her.

"My job," she retorted, pulling her arm from his grip. "These morons leave bigger tips when I flirt with them."

"Except you have a boyfriend!" he reminded her harshly, jealousy gnawing in the pit of his stomach.

She crossed her arms. "A boyfriend who had me make out with some junior security guard so a bunch of hoods could get past him!"

"That was different – you know I had no choice!"

She laughed and patted his cheek. "Relax, Sugar. I didn't mind. Anything for you, right?" she purred seductively and leaned closer.

Justin's mind went blank as Lori's perfume washed over him, then he moaned with pleasure when she nibbled on his ear. "Uh…you're coming over…after work tonight…right?"

She entwined her fingers in his hair. "That depends. What did you have in mind?"

"I–"

"Well, well, what do we have here?" a hard voice interrupted him.

He turned and his heart plunged when he saw Adam Thorne standing there. Thorne was a knee breaker and enforcer for Joe Minette – one of Gotham's biggest mob bosses. During their last encounter, he had broken three of Justin's fingers.

"Thorne…I…uh…what are you doing here?"

"Been following you, Lee. Minette wants us to have a little chat."

Thorne's eyes were hard and Justin's alarm grew when he spotted Jake Elliot and Snake Hooper lurking in the shadows behind him. They were Thorne's right hand men and every bit as sadistic and dangerous as he was.

Justin swallowed. "If this is about last night– "

"Of course it's about last night!" Thorne snarled. "What the fuck else would it be about?!"

Elliot and Hooper came forward and strong-armed both Lori and Justin into the nearest booth before sliding in alongside them, trapping them on the inside.

Thorne pulled over a chair from one of the tables and placed the back of it against their booth before straddling it. He fixed Justin with a dangerous smile. "Mr. Minette is very unhappy with you, Lee."

"But I did what he asked! I gave him the information!"

"Except you never mentioned anything about the Goddam Batman!" Thorne spat.

"How was I supposed to know he'd show?!" Justin asked desperately. He could now feel the barrel of Hooper's gun digging into his ribs.

"That was the whole point of last night's operation, Lee," Thorne reminded him. "You give us all the information on the security detail, plus the list of the most valuable items for auction and in return, Mr. Minette would write off your debt."

"But I kept my end of the deal! My debt should be clear!"

"We lost four men last night and we didn't even get a single item from the heist!" snapped Thorne. "Your debt is far from clear! In fact, I would say that it's even higher after what last night's fuck up cost us!"

"Please, Thorne! Tell Mr. Minette I'm sorry, I'll make it up to him! I swear!"

The three thugs laughed. It was a distinctly cold, unpleasant sound.

Thorne leaned forward, his trademark knife in his hands now. Justin couldn't take his eyes from the blade twisting on the table and marking the wood. "You owe Mr. Minette nearly four hundred thousand, and you haven't been able to pay even one dime of that for the last two months! Tell me, Lee, what makes you think he should take the word of a loser like you?"

"I…I…" Justin glanced around wildly, his heart pounding. He needed to come up with a plan. From somewhere on the periphery of his memory his father's sneering voice echoed suddenly; Are you really suggesting that Bruce Wayne would place a higher value on those antiques than the life of his son?

He started. The Wayne kid! Or whatever the hell his surname was. "I know a surefire way for Mr. Minette to get his money back – with interest!"

Thorne cocked an eyebrow, his lips curling in a sneer. "Oh really? Just like you knew how last night would be the perfect way to clear your debt to him?"

"This is different! It only involves one security guard!"

Thorne's jaw tightened. "I'm listening."

"Bruce Wayne has a kid – adopted or something – but if the kid were kidnapped, Wayne would pay any money to get him back and–"

Thorne snorted. "Wayne is the richest guy this side of the eastern seaboard. You don't think it hasn't crossed Minette's mind already to snatch that kid? It's not possible; Wayne keeps him too well protected. Face it, Lee, you're screwed. We should just kill you now and get it over with."

"But I know his bodyguard!" Justin cried desperately. "What if I could get him to hand the kid over to us?"

Thorne looked as though he were seriously considering that possibility when a tinkling laugh sounded. The men looked at Lori in surprise.

"What's so funny, Babe?" Elliot leered, pressing against her.

She gave him a disgusted look before turning to Justin. "Sugar, I love you, but you really are an idiot. You work with Jason Todd and you still think you can talk him into turning over his precious little charge to you?"

Justin stared at her. Why was she saying this? "Of course I can. We'd have to offer him some of the ransom to get him to agree, but Wayne would pay enough to keep everyone happy."

Lori shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Why not?" Thorne demanded, staring at her intently

She gave him her slow, lazy smile. "Because I can read men like a book, Honey and Jason Todd is not most men; he has no interest in money– "

"Then we find another way to get him on our side!" Justin interrupted, glaring at her. He had never seen this side to her before…why was she making things harder for him?

She tilted her head, still smiling. "You won't, Sweetie-pie. Todd is a man who values very few things, but he cares for that kid. He'll destroy anyone who tries to hurt him." Her beautiful face twisted in a scowl. "I should know; he wanted to break my wrist just for touching the kid!"

"So getting him on our side isn't an option," Thorne mused. He was looking at Lori with interest. "Why would you want to show us how useless your boyfriend is?"

"Just because he won't be able to get Todd on your side doesn't make him useless," she pointed out. "There are other ways he can get you the kid."

They were all looking at her with interest now. "Why don't you explain it to us, Beautiful?" Elliot leered again.

She ignored him, keeping her eyes fixed on Thorne. "I know Todd from around; he comes here with the Wayne Security team sometimes. But I've also seen him at Inside Scoop over on third."

"Todd doesn't exactly strike me as the ice-cream type," Justin muttered. He wasn't sure he liked this new side to his girlfriend.

She stretched her arms upward like a cat. "No, I don't suppose he is. But I bet that little doll he babysits just loves it."

"Have you seen the kid there with him?" Thorne demanded sharply.

She shrugged. "From time to time. I'm sure Justin could find out when they're next going to be there and give you the heads up. Wouldn't be hard to take Todd by surprise and snatch the kid at an ice-cream parlour now would it?"

"No," said Thorne, giving a slow smile. "It wouldn't."

oOo

Dick stared at the Robin costume in his hands while his heart thudded in his chest. It was the first time since Joker had tortured him three months ago that he was donning the uniform and he was surprised to discover that he felt slightly sick.

Swallowing hard, he caressed the yellow R of his costume. Ever since last week when Bruce had finally agreed that Robin could get back out on the streets, he had been looking forward to this. He missed being Robin. The problem was, now that the moment had come, Dick was afraid to put the costume back on.

He had guessed he would feel a little nervous about becoming Robin again, but he hadn't expected to feel this rattled…or this vulnerable.

Dick knew being a crime fighter made him a target – that was part of the gig – but what Joker had done to him was more personal. The clown had taken him and tortured him, not because he was a crime fighter but because he was Robin. It cut deeper and got under Dick's skin in a way that other attacks never had. Most criminals tried to kill him for what he did, whereas Joker had tortured him for who he was; it made him wonder exactly what kind of a target being Robin made him.

And much as he hated to admit it, that scared him. Dick didn't hate many things but he really hated Joker for taking away the freedom that being Robin had once brought him.

"Dick, are you okay?" the deep voice of his guardian sounded behind him and he turned to find Bruce in his Batman garb with the cowl pulled back.

Dick tried to appear unconcerned. "I'm fine."

"Then why are your hands shaking?"

Crap! Dick dropped his hands out of Bruce's line of sight. "They're not shaking!"

The man came towards him and put a hand on his shoulder, staring down at him in concern. "Dick, if you're not ready–"

"But I am!" Dick burst out in frustration. "I want to be Robin again! I miss being Robin! Bruce, please don't make me stay in again!" He stared up fearfully at his guardian, hoping he wouldn't change his mind and forbid him from going on patrol. He knew Bruce was only doing it because he cared, but his overprotectiveness of the last few months was driving Dick crazy.

"Dick, you don't have to prove anything to anyone, including yourself," Bruce told him quietly.

"I'm not trying to prove anything, Bruce, I promise. I just…I…I really want to be Robin again," he said, his voice dropping to a whisper. He really did, but why the hell was he so scared?

"And you will be. But why push yourself before you're ready?"

"But I feel ready! It's…I just…" Dick bit his lip. "Bruce, I'm…I'm afraid of how criminals see me now…that never bothered me before."

"You mean before Joker made it personal?"

Dick nodded. "I don't understand why it…excited him so much to…to torture Robin."

Bruce squeezed his shoulder. "And I know that's scary, Dick, but what you need to understand is that it says more about Joker than it does about you. Violent sociopaths like that are rarer than the media would have you believe; even our Joker isn't as twisted as the clown from Jason's reality. Most criminals are more concerned with what you're doing to mess up their plans than who you are."

"But what happens if we meet someone like that again?"

"We'll cross that bridge if we come to it," Bruce answered. Then he leaned down and gave Dick one of his rare hugs. "But I think Batman and Robin are up to the job, don't you?"

Dick nodded into his shoulder and hugged back tightly, breathing in the familiar woody smell that defined Batman and made him feel safe.

After a minute, Bruce pulled back, both hands on Dick's shoulders. He looked the boy straight in the eye. "What do you say, Partner? Feel like catching bad guys tonight?"

Dick smiled, the beating of his heart slightly less. "Always."