Hi!

PhoenixxFlame here. Just want to thank everyone for the reviews for the previous chapter.

I don't know whether to be happy or slightly disturbed that you all loved the previous chapter. Poor Robin, it seems like people enjoy reading about your pain ;)

Anyway here's the next update for the next chapter,

I hope you all enjoy!

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Batman raced across the rooftops of Gotham city as he made his way towards where Robin's tracer marked his location, although his earlier talk with Alfred calmed him Bruce still had a bad feeling that he couldn't shake.

He had abandoned using the Bat mobile a while ago due to too many turns in the road to make good time, so he hid it in an alley way before taking flight onto the roofs.

Batman looked back at the tracer on his wrist and frowned, Robin had not move from his location for over half an hour since Batman first turned it on and it did nothing to settle Bruce's nerves.

As Batman pulled out his grappling gun to reach a taller building he heard the distant rumble of thunder, it was so faint Batman wasn't sure if he had imagined and as he glanced to the night sky he saw that it was overcast, the bright stars hidden from view. He shrugged it off and quickened his place, more eager to find Robin. Soon, he felt the first drop of rain splash on his face, cool and refreshing as he continued his way now only a few blocks away from Robin's location.

Suddenly his ears were overcome with a huge crash as a roll of thunder boomed overhead, deafening him. Batman threw himself over the rooftop and down into the alley where Robin's tracer lead him to.

He landed neatly on the dirty road and straightened to his full height. The alley was quiet, everyone who had any sense had already left and made their way to find some form of shelter. But unfortunately for Batman, he couldn't retire to the warmth of manor until he knew that Robin was safe. He could feel dread rise in his chest as he pulled out the tracer, it still hadn't moved from its previous location and was directing Batman to the nearby dumpster, with speed that The Flash would have admired he was opening the lid and staring inside.

The rain began to hammer down onto Gotham city and the thunder roared as Batman could do nothing but stare inside, his breath becoming shallow. Despair filled him as his hands began to shake when he reached in and pulled the object out. He couldn't believe it, only a few hours ago Robin had been alive and well and now…Batman wasn't sure. He didn't know, he had no idea what had happened and now something had happened to Robin. Why did he let Robin go off alone straight after their argument? Robin was angry and confused and Batman just let him leave. He should have known something would happen; it was obvious Robin wouldn't be thinking straight at that time.

Batman turned and walked out of the alley, questions began to rack their way back and forth in his mind and he had no idea of the answers, how could he have been so careless, Robin was in trouble or worse and Bruce knew that he was to blame.

The first thing Robin was aware of when he came to from unconsciousness was the enormous pain that tore throughout his entire body as he moved around on the floor. His muscles ached from being stuck in the same position for too long and pain still fluttered through his chest as he breathed in and out. Yep, there were definitely some broken ribs. Robin's cheek rested on the cool floor of his cell and Robin closed his eyes, trying to take his mind off of the pain.

He still couldn't believe how much he still depended on Batman; he was useless at the moment with no way out and no choice but to wait for his mentor to come and save him once again, just like when he was nine years old. Disappointment filled Robin as he realised that Batman was speaking the truth about trusting him, how was Batman supposed to trust someone who couldn't get out on his own? Why should he trust someone who can't take care of themselves? All that time Robin spent training was for nothing, moving away from Batman to work on his own team was for nothing. Batman didn't see Robin any differently. To Batman, Robin was still a child who needed to be kept away from dangerous men, even if Robin had his own team. Robin thought that his time spent with Young Justice helped to show Batman that he was strong and capable to function without him, but he was wrong. But Robin loved working with Young Justice, they were his second family and he would do anything for them, there was nothing that they couldn't do together. He hoped Batman would see that.

Robin groaned as his head began to pound and so he twisted his head so his forehead was pressed to the cool floor, helping to sooth him and calm his exasperated thoughts. He began to twist again in his bindings, his muscles were cramping up and his wrists burning, but surprise filled Robin as he felt his wrists begin to move more freely as the space between them grew. A surge of hope rushed through him as he came to a realisation, the ropes must have loosened while Joker continued to torture him but he was too weak to realise at the time. Robin quickly undid the binds around his wrists and moved to free his legs before raising himself onto his feet and do some stretches.

It hurt, Robin wasn't going to lie. Every time he moved his muscles protested and every now and then a sharp pain raced through him when Robin moved a particularly tender part of his body. But with the glimmer of hope that he could escape right in front of him, Robin pushed his body and ignored the pain, making his way to the door and resting his ear upon it; trying to see if e could hear any movement from beyond the door.

A plan of action went through his head as he continued to listen through the door. It was quite a simple plan; as soon someone came through that door, jump attack them, race to the outside of where he was being held captive, work out where he is, contact one of the team to come and find him and escape. Robin cringed at the thought of contacting Batman to find him, he knew he was being ridiculous and maybe a little selfish, but he couldn't help it. He just didn't think he could handle the disappointed look in Batman's eye knowing he screwed up.

Quietly but steady growing louder Robin could here footsteps approaching his room, along with a sound of a tray being wheeled. Robin involuntary shivered, realising Joker was bringing more of his 'friends' for Robin to meet.

The remaining members of Young Justice sat on the green sofas in silence. They had all remained at the base after both Batman and Robin had left but they had not spoken a word to each other about them, still unable to come to terms with what had happened.

They were all quite shocked to find out so much of what happened in Robin's life at the moment they didn't realise. They're his teammates and they had no idea what was going on, they didn't push to try and find out what was really wrong with Robin. And now, they didn't really know. So instead they all left and went to bed, while Wally got his leg looked at. Not speaking of what happened.

So now they all sat round on the sofas, all wanting to talk about what had happened but no one knowing how to start it off. M'gann was the first to break the silence.

"Do you think Robin's going to come back?" She spoke quietly.

"I don't know. I mean, most likely yes but that was one hell of an argument last night. It might be a while before either of them come back." Wally replied, head resting on his hands.

"I've never heard Batman so angry before, it was terrifying." Artemis added, arms folded over her chest.

"How did we not see what was wrong with Robin? It was obvious something was wrong and we didn't do anything" Kaldur spoke.

"I don't know, but whatever was up with Robin, Batman was way too harsh." Superboy growled.

"Well there's not much we can do about it now. We hardly know anything about both Batman and Robin. Where they live, what they do, who they are for that matter." M'gann spoke. They all remained silent for a moment, each in their own thoughts. It was true they knew nothing about Robin, even though they had all been together for a year.

"I believe we should try to get answers. Next time either of them enters the cave, we should find out then." Kaldur concluded, coming to a decision. They all nodded in response; there was nothing much else they could do.

After another moment of silence, Red Tornado's voice echoed throughout the cave.

"Team, report for mission debrief." The team was hesitant at first but then rose from their seats. It felt weird not going on a mission with Robin, sure Batman and Robin sometimes went off to do their own thing, but knowing that this wasn't the case felt strange to them.

Wally groaned, knowing he was going to have to be left out due to his leg but stood with the others and made their way to be debriefed, they would continue their discussion about Robin later.

The Joker however was feeling great. He had loads of fun yesterday with his favourite bird and was eager to continue today, he was practically skipping on his way to Robin's cell. He had a whole tray filled with new toys he was itching to try out on the Boy Wonder and made a silent vow to himself that today he was going to make the boy scream. A giggle escaped his lips, he was so excited!

Joker reached the door, quickly unlocked it and flung it open.

"Hey Bird Boy! Ready for round three..." He paused as he stood inside an empty cell.

"Huh…" He said scratching the back of his head. "I could have sworn-" Out from the shadow of the door Robin sprang and swung a fist at Joker's face, feeling cartilage breaking underneath his fist as he punched the sado's nose; knocking him to the floor.

Robin wasted no time to admire his work as he raced down the corridor, running hard to find an exit. He could hear the chilling sound of the Joker's laughter as it echoed, catching up with him as he ran.

He ran as fast as he could throughout the facility, taking the twist and turns as they came, but Robin was getting nowhere fast. This place was a maze; Robin had been running for a few minutes and still had no idea how to find an exit. But the longer he ran Robin could feel his muscles begin to shake and fail and soon he had to stop, panting as he leaned on the wall beside him, his lungs burning. He was hunched over, desperate to take in enough oxygen to start running again. With each breath he could feel himself become more and more tense, eager to get moving again before Joker could catch him. After a while Robin couldn't stand staying there a moment longer and moved off again, pushing his body even though it protested. He continued to run and still hadn't come into contact Joker, but he still felt as though he was begin watched with every moment.

Robin soon came across a door and barged his way through, taking a chance that this was the way he had to go. He was met with a blinding light as he raced through, and a light breeze ruffled his hair as he blinked his eyes clear, it was a rare sunny day. Robin had made it outside and the scent of salt filled his nostrils. So he was by the docks, Robin thought. Most likely still in Gotham due to Joker never wanting to get too far away from Batman. He quickly took off to the edge of the warehouse to reach the wired fence but was cut short by a group of Joker thugs advancing on him.

Robin groaned, he was too weak from running through the warehouse to fight off all of these thugs so instead he continued to race towards them and leaped high into the air, landing on the closest thug's shoulders and knocking him out with a swift kick to the head. Without wasting any time he flipped over the oncoming attacks from the other thugs and ran straight for the fence.

But something wasn't right, the thugs made no effort to come after him as Robin sped past them and as he glanced over his shoulder he saw them casually watch him, some with smirks on their faces. But Robin had no time to wonder about that now and reached the ten metre high fence, he reached out with his hand to grab on to the rung so he could begin to climb when he heard a buzzing noise. Realisation hit him like a tonne of bricks but it was too late, Robin had too much momentum to stop himself in time and his hand touched the wire.

He told himself not to scream, but all thoughts of resistance left as the electricity coursed through his body. He screamed in agony, every part of his body was burning as electricity continued to shred through him. He twisted butwas unable to take his hand from the fence, his muscles were unresponsive and the pain continued.

Who the hell places that much electricity through a fence? Robin was beginning to struggle to breath, screams tore through him and Robin was unable to inhale enough oxygen before another scream escaped. Oh God, he was going to die if this lasted much longer.

But then all of a sudden the pain stopped and Robin fell back onto the hard ground, lying on his back. Robin was barely conscious after that ordeal and he stared dully at the blue sky above him; the sun was shining in his face but Robin was too weak to shade his eyes. He should have known that his attempt to escape was too easy, that Joker had planned something. He heard sniggers from the thugs around him as they approached him and the insane laughter of the man he had grown to fear.

"HAHAHAHAHA! I can't believe he fell for it, nice work boys!" The Joker danced into Robin's vision, ruining the calming effect of the sky. Robin felt his chest begin to tighten in fear but was unable to move.

"You really thought that you could escape so easily? My my Bird Boy, you really are more stupid than I thought."

Joker shook his head in mock disappointment and began giggling again. Robin mumbled something in response but was too quiet for Joker to hear.

"Huh, sorry I didn't quite catch that." Joker leaned in close and Robin spat in his face. Joker quickly recoiled and Robin saw the spit dribble down the side of his face, he couldn't help but smirk at the sight.

But the Joker's eyes narrowed dangerously and Robin felt dread rise in his stomach but he refused to let it show, continuing to smirk in rebellion.

"I was going to be lenient, but now I don't care." He spoke dangerously low and an involuntary shiver raced down his spine.

"Boys!" Joker called to his men. "Why don't you have some fun with Boy Blunder here? Beat him, do whatever you want to him! Just make sure you bring him back in one piece." He turned back to face Robin. "I want to have my own fun with him." Robin swallowed and watched as Joker sprang away back inside of the warehouse, leaving him alone with the thugs.

They chuckled and walked over to him. Robin recognised most of them as people he'd placed in jail more than a few times, all eager to get their revenge. Robin tried to move away but his muscles wouldn't listen to him and so all he could do was watch as they grew closer and closer, until their shadows blocked the sun completely. Blows rained down on him and Robin tried feebly to curl in on himself to protect his vital areas, but the thugs didn't care and continued to kick and beat him. Robin was beginning to feel that he wasn't going to make it out of this alive, and with one quick blow to the head Robin was out like a light.

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So what do you all think of this chapter?

It's a little shorter than others I've done previously but I hope you all still enjoyed it.

I'm interested to see what you guys think so review and let me know!

See you next time,

PhoenixxFlame