"Fuck!" Jason swore loudly, grabbing up the nearest object, in this case, his helmet, and winging it across the room. The helmet slammed across the concrete wall with a loud smack, and Roy jumped up, the sound startling him awake. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and the first thing he saw, was Jason pacing back and forth, clawing at his hair.
"Jason-" Bruce began over the link. Jason spun toward the computer, slamming his hands down on the console.
"No, fuck you Bruce! I'm not having this conversation! I'm going to find the Joker, and I will kill him. Your way doesn't work with the Joker," Jason snapped angrily, shutting the link down. Jason's anger seethed as he stormed across the bunker, grabbing up his gear.
"Jason, what's going on? What's wrong?" Roy asked, jogging over toward Jason. He placed a hand on the man's shoulder and flinched when Jason spun around, shooting him a seething glare. Jason's expression softened and he took a breath, relaxing a bit. He took a few deep breaths, but under the surface, his anger was reaching peak levels. Anger, and anxiety. Barbara had been paralyzed by that fucking clown before. She barely survived the attack! And now, the Joker had her again.
Jason was pulling on his body armor when he heard Dick groaning from the bed. He glanced over in the man's direction and moved over to the bed, kneeling down beside him. Dick rubbed his head, squinting as the light hit his eyes. He scrubbed his hand, noting that his mask was missing. When he opened his eyes, he saw Jason kneeling beside him.
"Jason," Dick breathed. Before anyone could get a word out, Dick lurched forward and hugged Jason, then kissed him. Jason stumbled back a bit, taken aback by the sudden motion. But after the initial shock subsided, he relaxed, wrapping his arms around Dick and kissing him back.
Roy smirked at the sight, but then turned and moved over toward the computer, seating himself in the chair and re-opening the communication link.
"Hey, Arsenal again," Roy began.
"Jason…I'm sorry," Dick said softly, pulling apart from the other man. Jason chuckled in amusement.
"Are you kidding? Watching you beat the Joker was really hot," Jason joked, and Dick chuckled in amusement, stealing another kiss.
"What did I miss?" Dick asked. Jason frowned at the question and gently pushed Dick back onto the bed. Dick arched a black brow and gave Jason a quizzical look. He sat up again and looked himself over, noting he was still in costume. He touched the back of his head next; he was sure the joker had shot him.
"Paint ball," Jason said smoothly, answering Dick's unasked question. Dick gave a nod in reply.
"Jason, what've I missed?" Dick asked. Jason's expression darkened, but he chose not to answer. Instead, he moved back over toward the equipment locker and continued gearing up, pulling on his black leather jacket and holster, grabbing his black and red dual action Jericho 941's and holstering them. Dick was concerned now, both by Jason's expression and his silence. He pushed himself up off of the bed, looked around for his mask and put it back on.
"Jason, what aren't you telling me?" Dick asked, moving toward Jason. But still the man refused to answer. For Jason's part, he didn't want Dick to know. The less he knew, the better, because he was planning to end this, permanently. The Joker was going to die this time.
He was sure Dick would be furious with him, and maybe he'd break up with him, but Jason decided in that moment, he'd rather Dick hate him and be safe, than love him and be dead. He'd rather kill the Joker than let him continue to torment people. He'd rather kill the Joker, than to let him continue tormenting his family. Yeah, he was the black sheep, the Robin nobody trusted, and the one who didn't see eye-to-eye with the others. He may have complained about them, attacked them, professed to hate them, but they were the closet thing to family he ever had. Well, aside from Roy and Kori, of course. Despite everything, despite the fact that he was distrusted, despite the fact that they were less than welcoming of him at times, the one thing they didn't know about their brother, Jason Todd, was that he would always have their backs, even if they didn't realize it.
"You're going to kill the Joker, aren't you?" Dick asked softly. Jason froze for a moment, but didn't turn to look at him. He didn't want to see the look on Dick's face. He heaved a sigh and finished grabbing up a few more pieces of gear for his utility belt, then moved across the bunker, toward where he'd thrown his helmet and picked it up; the thing was tough and took the beating without so much as a scratch. Jason stared down at the helmet, into the blank eyes of the red mask with a solemn expression. The he turned to Dick and frowned.
"He took Barbara, Dick. He took her, and I'm going to get her back," Jason said firmly. Dick flinched noticeably at the news, eyes widening in shock and fear. As Jason moved toward the vehicles, putting on his helmet, Dick jogged after him, grabbing up his escrima sticks on the way.
"Wait, Jason. I'm coming with you," Dick said. Jason turned and thought about arguing with him, but he already knew there'd be no point; they had both been Robins, so ignoring danger and doing what you were told not to anyway, was part of who they were. But he had to ask anyway. So Jason sighed and shrugged his shoulders.
"I suppose asking you to stay here and take some time to recover a bit would be pointless?" he asked. Dick smirked a little, crossing his arms.
"Yup," he replied. Jason chuckled a bit and nodded toward the motorcycles.
"Well, alright then. Let's get going."
The two vigilantes, Nightwing and Red Hood, had found it easier to navigate the city via the rooftops. The streets had become almost impossible to navigate with debris and ruined cars everywhere. Even despite all of the convicts and escaped Arkham patients they'd rounded up thus far, there were still plenty of them all over the streets, wreaking havoc, and the majority of them hopped up on Strange's Delirium. The two of them wanted to stop and help as many people as they could, but they had a difficult decision to make; they could either stop and help, or save Barbara. Their options were limited, but fortunately, Dick had come up with a compromise, a way to do both, to an extent. He'd borrowed Roy's bow, as well as some trick arrows; he'd trained with various ranged weapons as Robin, including bows. He wasn't as good as shot as Roy or Oliver, but he was good enough. As they crossed the roof tops, Dick would fire a polyurethane or knock out gas arrow at any sign of trouble. He had about a dozen of them, so as they tracked Barbara's tracking device, he'd fire them on any Delirium victims or convicts they passed.
However, both he and Jason were definitely concerned by the fact that her tracking device was still active. It meant that the Joker wanted them to find her; they feared the worst, but neither of them voiced their concerns. They couldn't. They wouldn't.
"Bruce, where are you? We're closing in on her signal," Dick said over the link. He glanced over at Jason, who gave a derisive snort and nothing more. He heard a grunt from Bruce, followed by the sounds of combat.
"I'm dealing with League Assassins. They're-" Bruce paused, as another series of impacts sounded over the comm link "-actively hindering me. Holding me back. I'll meet you as soon as I can."
Dick and Jason exchanged a glace before each firing lines to a building across the way, swinging through the air. The two of them landed near an abandoned warehouse where the tracker said that Barbara was. Again, the two of them exchanged a look, but not a word between them. Neither one of them had to, to know what the other was thinking; they were both afraid she was dead…or worse. But Dick could see it in Jason's eyes; this was affecting him far worse than it was him. So he pushed the door open and entered first. Jason followed behind him and they began looking around the warehouse for any sign of the Joker, his gang, or Barbara.
"Nightwing, you got X-Ray vision in that mask of yours, right?" Jason asked quietly, having heard something moving inside the warehouse. Dick glanced over at him and switched to X-Ray.
"Yeah. You got Infrared?"
"Already ahead of you," Jason replied. The two of them moved through the warehouse, but found nothing aside from old, rusty metal shelves and broken crates. Dick found something though; a trap door in the southeastern corner of the building.
"Hood, over here," Dick called, waving Jason over. Jason followed him and together, they found the trap door. It was hidden beneath a rather heavy crate, but together, the managed to move it. They exchanged another glance before pulling the door open, revealing a staircase down into a sub-level. Drawing their weapons, they carefully descended the staircase; they could hear crying from deeper inside. They followed the concrete corridor, dimly lit by old ceiling lights. Some of them flickered, others were no longer functional. There were a few crates here or there, a tool box occasionally, and even a couple of skeletons.
"This place is eerie. What is it?" Dick asked in a hushed tone.
"Secret passage most likely. The Older Gotham gangs used to have these in a number of their safe houses if they needed to make a quick getaway from the cops," Jason answered. Dick glanced back at him over his shoulder. Jason gave a shrug. "Used to be a drug lord, remember? Well, that and because I like to be informed, you know? I might be reckless, but I'm not stupid." Dick smirked a little at the reply, but offered nothing else. As he and Dick rounded another corner, Jason picked something up on the infrared.
"Hey, I got something," Jason said, the crying growing louder. He moved past Dick, taking point and quietly gesturing for the man to follow. He held both his guns at the ready, then kicked down the door to the next room. He and Dick rushed inside. The room was dark, save for a projector, showing something on the wall. Jason took off his mask and glared at the video on the wall; it played Barbara's attack by the Joker on repeat and in the middle of the room, Barbara was tied to a chair, her cowl discarded on the floor and her eyes taped open, forced to watch it over, and over. Worse yet, pictures from when she was in the hospital, hooked up to machines, were plastered all over the walls with the words "HA HA HA" spray painted in red all over them.
"Ah shit, Babs!" Dick called, putting away his escrima sticks and rushing to Barbara's side. He quickly freed her, removing the tape holding her eyes open, and collected her into his arms. She cried while he held her, but Jason didn't budge. The grip on his pistols tightened as he glared at the video, at the collage on the walls, his blood boiling in his veins. A quiet fury built up inside him as he glared at his surroundings.
"Jason!" Dick shouted, pulling Jason out of his thoughts. Jason glanced down at Dick who'd picked Barbara up and placed her cowl back on. "We have to get her out of here," Dick said, after finally having gotten Jason's attention. Jason didn't say a word, merely putting his helmet back on and nodding in reply. The two of them went back topside and Bruce arrived moment later in the Batmobile. He hopped out and moved toward the two of them.
"Is she-"
"She's alright. We should take her to the manor," Dick said firmly. Bruce said nothing, but gave a nod, gesturing toward the Batmobile.
"Take her home," Bruce said firmly. Dick nodded and hopped into the Batmobile; he'd driven it a few times so he was familiar with its systems. He gunned the engine and took off, heading back for the manor. Bruce turned back Jason, but before a word could be exchanged between the two of them, Jason's phone rang. He sighed and fished it out of his jacket pocket. He flipped it on and a live feed appeared on his phone.
"Joker," Jason snarled, glaring at the clown's demented face.
"Hello internet! I've got a special treat for you today!" The Joker said with a demented giggle. He turned the camera onto Red Robin, who was bound and beaten, tied to a chair in the middle of some dark room. "Today we have a special guest on our lovely little game show "Kill That Bird!"" The Joker practically singsonged. The camera shook again and it now faced him again. "On tonight's episode, I thought I'd ask the audience! Should bird boy live to fly another day? Or should we clip his wings and serve him up as the main course?!" The Joker let loose a demented cackled, turning the camera back to Red Robin. He moved toward the teen and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at the camera; fortunately, he still had his mask on.
"Nngh," Tim groaned, regaining consciousness. Music started playing in the background, the theme music to 'Jeopardy' as the Joker spoke again.
"Make sure to place your votes! We'll count ;em in an hour! Now I'm not telling you how to vote, but I'm hopin' we have ourselves-" the Joker paused, getting an up close shot of his face "a blast! Bwuahahahahahaaaa!" The feed went dead and the music continued as a poll came up with two options; Kill Red Robin, or Let Him live. The votes were already coming in, and the Kill option was already in the lead.
Jason hit his breaking point.
"Enough is enough. That fucking clown dies. Now," Jason growled, glaring at Bruce and daring him to challenge his decision.
"Jason-"
"No! I don't want to fucking hear your excuses anymore, old man!" Jason shouted, showing him the poll on his phone. "The Joker is going to kill Red Robin, and worse, the people he's fought so hard to defend are fucking voting for it! I'm done. Done. The Joker dies," Jason snarled, storming past Bruce. Bruce grabbed him by his arm and spun him around, glaring at him.
"You can't let this become personal. You can't let yourself get emotional. It's what he wants," Bruce replied.
"I don't fucking care anymore!" Jason shouted, throwing a punch at the man and hitting him square in the jaw. "He has Tim, and he's going to kill him!" Jason gritted his teeth and took of his mask; he wanted to look Bruce in the eye, with his own, uncovered eyes. "How many Robins will is take, Bruce? How many Robins does The Joker have to kill before you finally fucking act?" Jason snarled angrily. "How many sons are you going to let die before you do what you should've done years ago?" Jason hissed in a low tone, not caring if it was a low blow. He put his helmet back on and jogged toward his motorcycle and took off.
Red Robin grunted as he tried to free himself from his bonds, but he was weakened from the beating he'd taken. He'd been on his way down into Old Gotham via the underground tunnels and caves when the Joker's and his gang ambushed him, taking him by surprise. When he woke up, he found himself tied to a chair, with a bomb ticking down underneath him.
The Joker left Tim in front of a monitor that showed people actually voting for him to die. Tim tried not to let it get to him as he tried to worm his way free, but to no avail. As for the clown himself, he was currently amusing himself by torturing a couple of GCPD officers he found poking around nearby. He tied the three cops up and threw them in the corner and beat each of them in turn while telling bad jokes.
"So three highly decorated police officers die in a wild shootout with narcotics dealers and go to heaven. God greets them and asks, 'When you are laid out in your casket, and your fellow officers and family are mourning you, what would you like to hear them say about you?' The first cop says, 'I would like to hear them say, that I was the bravest cop on the force.' The second police officer says, 'I would like to hear that I was a terrific cop who died in the line of duty.' The last cop replies, 'I would like to hear them say ... Look, He's Moving!'" The Joker said, followed by a wicked laugh. When he stopped laughing he glared at the cops.
"I don't hear you laughing!" he said. The cops glared back and refused to play along, so the Joker grinned from ear to ear. "Oh don't worry, I know how to fix that!" he said, tossing a canister of his Joker Toxin at them. The greenish gas started pouring out and the cops started to laugh hysterically. Minutes later, they were dead. "I really slay 'em, don't I?" the Joker said with a demented giggle.
"You know I'm going to get free one way or another and kick your ass?" Tim asked with a snarl, glaring at the Joker. The Joker giggled and practically skipped over to Tim.
"Oh that's where you're wrong little birdie! You're going to go boom! Just like your predecessor! Only this time, you won't come back!" The Joker cackled, leaving Tim alone again.
"What about you? What do you get out of this, Strange?" Tim asked, turning his head as best he could. Hugo Strange came out of the shadows with a smug grin on his face.
"Why, the death of the Batman, of course. With all of you out of the way, and Ra's al Ghul and Sensei poised to kill each other, there will be no one in my way," Strange said in an even tone, patting Tim's shoulder. "It'll all be over soon, my boy. Take solace in the fact that you were a worthy adversary, for someone of your age," he added smugly.
"Wait, what do you mean 'no one in your way'?" Tim asked. Strange stopped and glanced over his shoulder.
"Why, to becoming the most powerful man in the world, of course."