There was blood on his hands. Tim slowly rolled them over, feeling slightly confused at the thick coating of blood. There shouldn't be that much blood…

"Great job, kiddo!" the Joker declared, clasping him on the shoulder. "Ain't that right, Harley?"

"Sure was, Mista J!" Harley Quinn wrapped her arms around Tim and squeezed him tightly. "That was a great job, JJ!"

Tim looked up at her, face blank. "She's not moving anymore," he said quietly, looking down at the corpse on the floor. "She's not screaming anymore."

"Ah, Junior," the Joker said, smiling in a way that would have made the old Tim Drake want to run away. But this Tim Drake was cold and broken, and that smile just meant no more pain. "You still have so much to learn?"

"I do?" Tim asked, and his eyes lit up. He liked learning, that much remained of his former self.

"Oh yes!" Joker ruffled his hair. "Come on, kiddo, the family's leaving."

Family. Tim liked the sound of that.

His eyes flew open, and Tim woke up in his bed in Wayne Manor, drenched in sweat. "Just a dream," he whispered, clenching his fists, which were white, scarred and calloused, but definitely not covered in blood. "Just a dream."

He sat up, and glanced at the clock beside his bed. 12:14. He reached over, and grabbed his phone. He flipped open the device and quickly typed in a password—Robin's password, not Tim's.

He selected a contact, and pressed the dial button.

He listened to it ring; once, twice, three times…

"Hey Robin!" A perky, very female voice said.

"Hey Spoiler," he responded, a grin tugging at the side of his mouth. "Just wanted to know if you'd be up for patrol tonight."

She laughed, and he grinned fully. "Aren't I always?"

"I just thought that you might want to work on that history project of yours," he said.

"As if! It's completely finished," Spoiler laughed. She then paused, and he could imagine how she was narrowing her eyes at the phone. "And how did you know that I had a history project? Have you been spying on me again, Boy Wonder?"

"Only a little," he replied, not admitting that he was her partner for said project, and it was nice to hear that she was done with her half. "So, meet me on top of your apartment building in twenty minutes?"

"It's a date!" She said, smirk audible in her voice. "So, you going to let me peek under that mask tonight?"

"Not a chance," he said in a heartbeat. "Sorry." He added a second later as an afterthought.

"Nah, it's fine. Bat's orders and all that jazz. But I will succeed! One day!"

"Good luck with that," he said, allowing himself to channel Dick for a little bit there.

"I know you can't see it, but I'm sticking my tongue out at you." She then hung up.

He placed his phone back in its regular place on his dresser, and then headed down to the Cave.

Jason was already there, sitting in Bruce's big chair, alternating between playing video-games and looking at some weird things that looked suspiciously like some of Dick's attempts at costume designing. Somehow, Tim was not surprised.

"Hey Timmy," Jason called without looking up. "Going out tonight?"

"I'm surprised you hadn't already beat me too it," he admitted.

"Promised B I wouldn't tonight," Jason said, swiveling the chair to face Tim. "He gets worried if I go out when the Joker's not in Arkham."

"I think it's not just Batman," Tim said, glancing at the spot where Jason's memorial case stood.

"Yeah, well," Jason said, studiously not following Tim's gaze, "I thought I'd use the spare time to work on my new identity."

"Any luck with a code-name?"

"Not yet," Jason said. "I mean, I've narrowed it down to Red Robin or Blue Jay, but I can't decide."

"So, you're ignoring Dick's pleas for a Flamebird to his Nightwing then?"

Jason snorted. "Only in Dick's weirdest dreams would that happen."

"I don't know," Tim said, raising an eyebrow. "Did he ever tell you about the dream when the palm trees came to life and stole all of Alfred's cookies?"

Jason laughed. "What, did he eat all of Wally's pizza before going to bed or something?"

"He won't admit it, but that's probably what happened," Tim agreed.

Jason swung around again, squinting at what appeared to be a logo of sorts. "Well, have fun with Spoiler."

"How did…"

"She just texted Artemis, who texted me."

"Should we be worried about how well Artemis and Spoiler get along?" Tim asked as he went to get his costume.

"Eh, probably. But they said the same thing about Wally and Dick, and look how well that turned out!"

Tim snorted. "Well, see you later Jason."

"Be safe Timmy."