The next day, the team collectively sat in the common room in silence. Bruce had told them the basics of what had happened, but dared not go into detail. Some of them wouldn't be able to handle it. Black had slept in Robin's room last night, as per Bruce's suggestion. It seemed that after his retelling of his tortures, he seemed to overcome his fears of that room.

"It is almost noon, and he has not yet emerged." Worried the alien.

"I doubt if he slept at all last night." Bruce acknowledged. "I know I didn't."

It was just then that the doors to the common room swished open." Everyone turned to look.

"Dude…" Beast Boy breathed. Bruce dropped his coffee cup. Barbara tried to stand.

In the doorway stood a proud young man, adored with a brightly colored uniform of red, green, and yellow. His hair was perfectly spiked, and a wry smile shone like a beacon on his face.

"Black?" Asked Cyborg.

"No." the boy clenched his fists. "It's Robin."

Smiles and cheers broke out around the room. Starfire flew at high speed and knocked him off his feet in a bone crushing hug.

For the first time in a long time, Bruce let his emotions cloud his judgement. He started for the boy, but then logic kicked in. There was no way he had recovered that fast, especially since his chemicals were still off balanced.

"Please," Robin spoke up, gathering everyone's attention. "There's still some fuzziness in my memory, so if you could bare with me…"

"Of course!" Said the changeling, clapping him on the back. "We're here for you buddy! Just glad to have you back."

The slightest look of disappointment flashed across his face, and it did not go missed by Bruce. "Well, we'll have to train you all over again. To fight like you used to."

He scratched the back of his head. "Is there anything worth integrating what skills I've developed? As I recall, it's been effective."

"But it's not how we do things." Bruce said more stern.

"Right, yes sir."

As the little celebration was happening, Bruce slunk back and sided with Alfred.

"Everything alright sir?"

"No." He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "We're not out of the woods yet."

The day progressed, Robin being a little unsteady in his own shoes, and everyone began to shrug it off. Unfortunately, they all assumed he was just getting used to being himself again.

As he had finally got a moment alone, he paced the halls, just breathing. Around the corner, Starfire started to come towards him. And idea came over him and he smiled at her.

"Hey Star!"

"Hello Robin!" She eagerly replied. "It is so good to have you back, we sure did miss you!"

"Did you not like Black?"

"I liked him fine, he just…was not you."

"I understand," he nodded. "Can I…tell you something?" He came closer to her.

"You can tell me anything." She grinned.

"I've been here the whole time." He narrowed his eyes behind the mask, but it went unnoticed by her. "But you've been so far from me."

She shrugged, unknowing what else to do. "I am here now."

"Yes," he chuckled, "and we are alone." He backed her against the wall.

As soon as she felt the wall behind her, her smile faded.

"I love you, Star." He confessed. Then, without permission, he leaned in and kissed her. When he pulled away, he looked at her with a smug look on his face. But tears were in her eyes.

"You are not Robin." She stated.

"Of course I am." He urged, hurt. "You all have been telling me that I was for weeks now."

"Well, you are, but…" She couldn't find the words.

He cupped her cheek. "Do you love me?"

"I love Robin." She stated firmly.

He closed his eyes in shame. "Fine then. Don't believe me. Be my guest." He pulled away and started down the hall without looking back. Then he finished with, "Robin loves you, too."

Starfire never said a word to any of the other titans, afraid to ruin their happiness. And maybe she was wrong, maybe if Robin was back, but held firm to Black's confidence. Either way, she was feeling better about the situation as she watched Batman and Robin train together in the gym. There was a seriousness in his demeanor that had not been there before. No singing this time, but the insane moves that Black had been accustomed to slipped in every once in a while.

With no further warning, sirens were blaring, alerting the team to distress.

"Titans!" Robin yelled out, like old times. "Let's go!"

"No," Bruce said.

"Yes!" He argued back. "I need to lead my team, you want me to remember faster don't you? Then let me go, and stay out of our way!"

With that, the five teens fled into battle.

"Cyborg, break it down." Robin ordered as they drove into the city.

"Reports say that the criminal escaped after stealing a precious jewel from the museum, after tripping an alarm set under the jewel."

"And description?"

"A woman, all in red, short cropped hair, Russian accent, shape shifter."

"Madam Rouge." Robin growled.

"The old theme park is across from the museum, she may be hiding there." Raven speculated.

Beast Boy groaned from the back seat. "Why do all the villains hide out there? I hate that place."

"We'll get her." Robin said confidently.

"Dude, do you even have a plan? You know how hard she is to fight!"

"I know. Even if we can't capture her, we need to retrieve the jewel. I'll use some of my ice discs, Cyborg, if you lend me a hand with your sonic cannon, we should be able to stop her in her tracks.

"Raven, Starfire, I need you two to distract her from the sky. Hit her with everything you've got. Keep her concentrated on you. Beast Boy, I need you to use stealth and retrieve the jewel."

"How do we even know if this is where she is?" Star asked.

"It's the best place to hide in the city. Besides, her pride won't allow her to hide for long."

The car came to a halt outside of the old park.

Moments after a long and unexpected fight, four teens laid on the ground in defeat. They severely underestimated her capacity to multitask. None of the teens had even touched her, but she certainly touched them; pressure points and fatal spots.

"You fool titans! Thinking you could beat me so easily!" Then a final resolution came over her. "Where is your leader?" Of course, she wasn't afraid. He had no powers after all, and he would be no challenge to beat alone.

"Dude…" Beast Boy groaned, nursing his stomach. "He didn't ditch us…did he?"

Suddenly, the lights turned on over the entire park. Rides activated and creepy, out of tune music echoed all around. The speaker system came to life with high ringing.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" A familiar voice shouted. "Welcome! Let's party!"

Madam Rouge readied herself. "So, this is the mysterious insane hero I have heard so much about. Come out and fight me! Or I'll kill the Titans!"

A wicked cackle came out from the darkness. "You don't have the guts!"

"Try me!"

Four birdarangs aimed at her from all different directions, but she knocked them easily out of the air.

"You thought that would stop me?! You're more foolish then I thought!"

Suddenly, smoke leaked out of the rangs and surrounded her.

"I can still fight without seeing, you know!"

Then from the speakers came a horrendous blench that echoed on and on, hurting everyones ears. That's when Black swooped in a stood in front of her. She had just enough time to widen her eyes before he punched her in the gut and returned to the shadows.

The thief grimaced, but hissed in reply. "That will be your only hit you fool!"

"And how many hits have you given me?" He snarked back.

"Only a coward hides behind tricks! Come and fight me!"

"Correction, a wise man hides to fight another day."

"You don't seem so tough. All you do is talk. If you really want to stop me, why don't you do something about it?"

"Who said I was trying to stop you?"

Madam Rouge took an unsteady step backwards.

"Let me correct that." He spoke from the smoke. "Who said I wasn't trying to kill you?"

Gunshots rained out from the clouds.

"Holy crap! He's got a gun!" Cyborg ducked in terror.

"Who gave the psychopath a gun!?" Beast Boy cried.

Black's laughter boomed as more random shots went out. "I'M BACK!"

Madam Rouge still managed to dodge every single one. "You'll not beat me with bullets."

"Oh, there's more then that, sweetie." A skin crawling giggle vomited from his mouth.

Raven covered her friends with a protective barrier before an explosion went of.

"A fricken' bomb?! Black! What are you doing?!"

The teen just kept laughing as he moved through the park, his smoke clearing. Madam Rouge made a run for it.

"It's show time!" More explosions went off as Madam Rouge came to a stand off with the boy.

She stared him down, her outwards appearance not showing the true fear she was experiencing. This boy was not human.

Black tilted his head as he smiled at her with his wild eyes. "Won't you play a game with me?" Seemingly out of no where, he withdrew a knife and licked it.

"No." She launched her hand out to attack at the same time the knife went sailing through the air.

The Russian was much more capable of fighting, and that was evident by the sharp, blade like fingers that tore through his arm, leg, and side. She expected him to scream or double down in pain, but he simply looked at her and ground his teeth, still smiling.

She retracted her hand quickly. "He's mad! Utterly insane!" She dropped the jewel and withdrew into the shadows.

Black seemed to take notice to his wounds and looked down. He pressed a hand and observed the red liquid upon it. As soon as he realized it was blood, his mouth let out a choking sob. He sunk to his knees and then onto the ground where he rolled and howled in pain.

"MOMMY! MOMMY! IT HURTS! MOMMMY!" He shrieked. Hopeless, he flailed his arms and pounded against the ground.

The teens looked in sorrow. Back to stage one.

Starfire approached him and knelt, touching his shoulder. "Black, we are going home now. We are going to get you healed."

Black nodded, reaching out his hands for her. She lifted him and cradled him.

Back at the tower, Black sat highly sedated in the medical room, stitches in his sides.

"I knew it." Bruce sighed. "He was just pretending, just to make us happy."

"How are we to get him to return?"

"I suppose tomorrow, we start him on a treatment for his thiamine low. After we fix that, he may get better."

"Haven't we waited long enough?" Beast Boy shrugged. "What if he never gets better? We can't just put him out on the streets! He can't fend for himself!"

Bruce stood and shouted. "I know! Okay?! We're not going to put him out. He deserves better then that. We'll find him something." He looked pointedly to Barbara.

"Don't look at me." She raised her hands defensively. "I have all my sanity."

"Dick's too important to us to just put him out on the streets." Bruce sighed, "I don't know what to do anymore. I thought he was getting better…" He took a seat in the medical room and put his head in his hands. Everyone else stayed quiet, too afraid to disturb him. Then he spoke, "He said something about his 'masters' injecting him with poison. Why don't we do a blood test tomorrow and see if that makes a difference."

Tired and relieved sighs went around the room as they all got up and left. When he was alone, Bruce approached his injured son, checked his bandages, and gave him a soft pat on the head.

"You'll be fine."

Morning rolled around, and Bruce was the first one in the medical room. Black was still laying down, but he looked around the room.

"Hey there," Bruce spoke casually. "How you feeling?"

"I feel like a nice tub of good things." Then he winced. "Owie."

"Do you remember what happened last night?"

Black looked at the ceiling and tapped his fingers on the mattress. "Yeah. I was being stupid and careless."

He took that as an apology for scaring him half to death.

Cyborg came in next, followed by a sleepy Beast Boy. "So, did you start yet?"

"Nope, just came in. He seems to be doing better."

"Oh good," Cyborg said as he prepared a syringe.

"Why are you in here?" Bruce asked the green boy. "It's not like you're forbidden, but I don't think this interests you."

"It may not." Confessed Beast Boy, "But I get great enjoyment out of Black's clever quips."

"So, you're basically being the good friend now?"

"Yeppers."

Black looked between the three. "What are you guys talking about? What are you doing?"

"We're going to run a blood test. I want to see if you have any trace of that poison you were telling me about."

"Oooooooooooohhhhhh."

"So why don't you just relax, and I'll just stick this in your arm." Bruce wiped his skin with an alcohol swab.

"OO! It's cold!" Black laughed.

"This may pinch a bit." And he stuck the needle through his flesh.

Black was silent for two seconds before screaming like a baby. Bruce filled the syringe and pulled it out quickly.

"PINCH? PINCH!?" Black snapped out his hand and pinched Bruce in the arm. "That's a PINCH! You stabbed me with a tiny sword."

Bruce was unfazed as he rubbed his arm. "Well, I'm sorry you're so sensitive." He looked over to Beast Boy who was giggling. "Hey kid, why don't you go ask Alfred to make Black some breakfast."

Beast Boy saluted. "Aye aye capi-tan!" He left.

Cyborg and Bruce went to work deciphering the chemicals in the blood that were not supposed to be there. Cyborg left after not so long to help on a mission, and Bruce was alone. Black's body needed time to heal, so he slept on.

Late afternoon rolled on and the teens came back. Titans, Jason, Barbara, and Alfred crowded into the medical room to visit the invalid.

"How are you feeling?" Starfire asked.

"Everything is hunky dunky!" He cheered before wincing. "I'm fine on the inside at least. I got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart!" He sang. "Then you say, 'where'," he told Beast Boy.

"Where?" Beast Boy smiled.

"Down in my heart!"

"Where?"

"Down in my heart to staaaaaay!

Meanwhile, Bruce sat with his head on his hands, miserable.

"Everything okay?" Cyborg asked coming up behind him.

"I figured it out." Bruce groggily replied.

"Oh good, what is it?"

Black continued to sing. "And I'm so happy! So very happy! I have the love of Jesus in my H-E-A-R-T, and I'm so happy! So very happy! I have the love of Jesus in my heeeeaaarttt!"

Bruce spoke louder. "Eleven percent sodium hydroxide, thirty four percent sulfuric acid, five percent hexavalent chromium solution, and zinc sulfide doped with copper."

"What? I've never heard of that combination before..."

"Yes, extremely rare, but there is one thing that's bothering me..."

"I've got the peace that passes understanding down in my heart!"

"Where?"

"Down in my heart!"

"Where?"

"Down in my heart!"

"There's an ingredient missing from this." He continued.

Cyborg waited, seeing the wheels in his head turning.

"The derivative of diazepam. I believe what we're looking at is a binary compound. The toxin adjusts the Troponin levels, but masks the effects with an hallucinogen. The later compound, was the activating."

"So, you're saying that the missing ingredient is a anxiolytic?"

"Precisely. Toxin 32 can't function without it."

"Toxin 32?"

"I'm the expert on this toxin." He narrowed his eyes. "I've only seen one person effected by it."

"Besides Black?"

Bruce rubbed his face, obviously frustrated. "A normal, ordinary man came in contact with this, and he turned into the Joker."

"I've got the wonderful love of my blessed redeemer way down in the depths of my heart!"

"Where?"

"Down in the depths of my heart!"

"WHERE?!"

"Down in the depths of my heart!"

The teen was obviously in shock, not really knowing what to say. "So, where's he getting the diazepam?" Cyborg questioned.

"The valium."

"Oh…" The cybernetic teen scrunched his nose. "So, if we just keep him off of it…?"

"In theory, it would work, the side effects will negate, but we need a equal dose of sodium thiosulfate to neutralize the sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid to neutralize the sodium hydroxide."

"What about the hexavalent chromium and zinc sulfide?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out…"

"And I'm so happy! So very happy! I have the love of Jesus in my H-E-A-R-T, and I'm so hap-…"

Bruce turned around, having enough. "Black! For once in your existence, will you just shut up and let me think?!"

The boy was still as the grave, hurt and terrified.

"I need to get out of here. I can't look at him." Batman declared as he stormed out.

"It is the 'oh' and 'kay', Black." Starfire said, trying to comfort him. "He did not mean it."

Black's eyes narrowed. "Oh, I know exactly what he meant."