Hi All, sorry again for the long pause between updates. I've been writing the story on my commutes to work but I haven't had the time to actually put it together and revise it, so I promise I'm still working on it! Lots of suspense, action and angst in this one. Enjoy :)!


Manhattan - Lower East Side

Dick utilized a small tool to unlock the window of the apartment. He was making his way through the side entrance of the kitchen. Quietly, he started to snoop around the apartment looking for any hints or clues as to what kind of person Tommy really was. He needed to find out who he might have been working with and if he had any further intentions of bringing harm to Bruce and those around him.

The apartment was spacious and neat, he would never had assumed Diana lived her. She always seemed the type to have some random clutter laying around, something to warm up the place. But everything was clean and perfect- almost too perfect. He couldn't help but find it a bit strange that an apartment that was searched by the police would remain this intact.

He figured his best chance was to quickly survey the apartment and get back to Bruce as soon as possible. He wasn't sure what was going on, but something was definitely up.

He walked around the corner to what he thought was the way to the bedroom. He pulled out his mini flashlight and turned on the night vision on the lenses of his mask, the light from the outside city didn't reach far enough into the halls. He cautiously opened the bedroom door and was met with a foul odor. He pulled his forearm up to his nose to prevent the stench of rotting flesh from seeping any further into his nostrils.

Dick suddenly felt a presence behind him and quickly turned to face it, but when he turned, he found nothing in his sights. He slowly turned back, waiting for the presence to reappear, but he couldn't find it. What was it?

His lenses picked up on something that was on the bed a few feet in front of him. He couldn't make out what it was, so he decided to take a few steps closer to it. He felt the fine hairs on his body rise as the adrenaline pumped through his body. What was going on here?

As he approached the body, his eyes widened as he recognized what it was that was on the bed-or rather who. Draped in scarlet red sheets was the marred and broken figure of Barbara. Her eyes were blank as they stared up at absolutely nothing at all. His heart pounded uncontrollably, threatening to break out of his chest. She wasn't breathing, there were no signs of life left in her. The tears broke their barriers and started streaming uncontrollably down his cheeks. He knelt by her motionless body, grunting and choking on his own tears.

"Barbara…" he whimpered as he caressed her cold face, "oh God, why…"

"Ah, so that's the name," a hoarse voice whispered from behind Dick. His eyes opened wide as he realized he was in trouble. He quickly reached for his baton at the small of his back, but his hands grabbed at empty air. Turning to face his adversary, he was met with a swift smack to the face by his own baton. He collapsed onto the floor, barely conscious from the impact. Blood spilled from his temple and seeped into his mouth. The taste of iron and the salt from his tears were the only things keeping him awake.

Dick felt the cold metal of his baton pushed up against his temple. He grunted in pain as they dug the weapon deeper into his skin. His eyes searched in the dark for clues as to who it was, his lenses were starting to malfunction.

"Look," the voice called out to him again, "there she is… There's Barbara,"

Her name slithered out of his mouth. Dick looked for her lifeless body, he would rather kill himself than let someone hurt her even more. But as he searched for her corpse, instead he found her sitting across the room. Her face in her hands, knees to her chest as she cried and sobbed about something. His eyes covered in blood, were in shock from the sight. Barbara was lying dead on the bed a few minutes ago, how was she there crying now? The silhouette of her started to fade into the darkness, she was no longer there.

"Fear is intoxicating…" the voice murmured once more, "makes you see things you don't want to…"

Dick felt the voice loom over him, they were getting closer. He started to put all the pieces together. He knew who he was dealing with.

"...Makes you say things you don't mean to…"

The fear gripped him. He feared that he just exposed the love of his life to a world full of dangers. He needed to warn her and the others. Needed to tell them that Scarecrow was back in town.

Bruce and Jason quickly navigated their way over the roofs of Gotham City, they were in a rush to get to the pier. Jason had told Bruce that a thug he had come across earlier than night had tipped him off that something was going down by the piers where Bane reigned. It was hunch, but one that they were hoping was the right one. Diana's life was on the line and Bruce needed to get to her as soon as possible.

Jason was a few feet behind Bruce as they leapt between buildings, he couldn't help but feel so powerless in that moment. Seeing Bruce so riled up and furious was eye-opening for him. He knew the man had a temper problem, but this was something different. He was worried that Bruce wasn't seeing clearly, that all this rage had consumed him. The possibility of Diana being hurt-or worse-killed was fueling him to become a madman. And Jason understood that more than anybody else, but he didn't want Bruce to lose himself. Not in the same way he did.

Bruce suddenly came to a stop at the edge of the building, Jason soon followed and stopped right next to him. The building was one of the last ones before they hit the piers. Bruce surveyed the area with this tactical goggles and searched for any possible threats. Strangely, there were none.

"No security? Something's definitely up," Jason muttered as he propped his leg up on the ledge and leaned on it. He changed the setting on his binoculars to search for any heat signatures, but came up with none. The warehouse itself appeared to be have some sort of block on it that prevented him from peering into it.

"Let's split up, I'll take the east end, you take the west. We'll meet on the second floor by the middle. Radio silence unless it's an emergency," Without waiting for confirmation from his younger ward, Bruce jumped off the edge of the building and grappled to another.

"Sure why not," Jason grumbled, rolling his eyes at how pushy Bruce could be. He soon followed suit and jumped to the next building, making his way to the west entrance. He could only pray that Bruce still had some self control and that he wouldn't take matters into his own hands. He was genuinely worried he might kill someone tonight.


-Gotham City: 15 Minutes Later-

Bruce quietly slipped into the warehouse through the open ventilation box towards the top of the building. He crouched and made his way around the ventilation system before coming across a grate that opened downwards toward the ground floor. Before jumping down, he searched for any signs of hostiles but there appeared to be none. He slid through the grate and opened his cape to soften his landing on the concrete floor.

It was too quiet. The entire warehouse was nearly pitch black, thankfully his lenses had a combination of thermal, night and sonar vision which allowed him to practically see everything in the dark. He slightly regretted not gathering more intel before entering the warehouse, but he needed to make sure Diana was ok. His jaw clenched involuntarily at the thought of Diana in danger. She was powerless now, and although she could take care of herself just fine, he couldn't help but think that this was all happening because of him.

He navigated through the warehouse and came across a door, there was a faint light seeping through the small opening between the door and the floor. His goggles couldn't see past the door, but he could hear some faint noises from behind it. It sounded like footsteps and some whispering.

Bruce looked around for some other sort of entry way, but he couldn't find any. The ventilation system ended before the door. For some reason, this room appeared to be cut off from everything else. It was almost like a safehouse of some sort. Why would Bane install a safehouse inside of a warehouse?

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a loud slap and then a grunt of pain-it was Diana. His blood boiled as he envisioned what could possibly be happening to her. His fists were ready to pulverize whatever threat awaited him beyond the door. If it weren't for the fat chance that Diana might be held at gunpoint, he would've busted through the doors right at that very moment. He took a second to try and calm himself down, he wasn't thinking clearly. He was putting Diana's life at risk if he decided to do something rash.

"Bruce," Jason's voice rang through the communicator, "There's no way into the safehouse other than that door,"

Bruce looked at his synchronized GPS to see where Jason was located. He appeared to be standing on top of the building, directly above the safe house. He sighed as he tried to play out all the possibilities, but it was impossible, they had no idea what was going on past those walls.

"What should we do?" Jason asked, his voice remained un-wavered, but Bruce could tell the younger man was also worried. They didn't know who or what they were facing up against.

"Let's draw them out. We just need an opening," Bruce pulled out a small object from his utility belt. It was a contraption the size of a fingernail. He pushed a button to turn it on and the object sent out a high pitch frequency that the human ear wouldn't be able to pick up. The frequency flooded the room and the feedback was picked up by Bruce's lenses, allowing him to see the details of the room.

Jason swiftly jumped from the ventilation grate above and landed quietly next to Bruce. He pulled out his guns and put enhanced silencers on them. He noticed how Bruce stiffened up at the sight of his weapons.

"Don't worry, they're dart bullets-they'll only paralyze them," He reassured him, "Besides if one of us were to kill someone today my bets on you,"

Bruce just glared at him in return, the white slits of the lenses on his cowl narrowing down on the young man. Jason chuckled lowly.

"Pull them when they come out, I'll cut the lights and then we'll move in," Bruce instructed. He received a nod from Jason as he acknowledged the plan.

Bruce placed the small device by the side of the door. The device wouldn't slip in the space between the door and the floor so he had to think of something else. He backed up into the corner and wait for Jason to create a diversion.

Jason took a deep breath as he readied himself, he didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of his boss and his lady. He glanced over at Bruce and gave him the OK signal with his fingers. The Dark Knight gave him a nod. Jason took another deep breath and reminded himself not to mess this up. He then walked over to the nearest shelf which had boxes lined up on it. He picked the box that looked the heaviest...and pushed it off the shelf. The box fell down with a large thump and dust flew around everywhere.

Jason listened quietly for a reaction from behind the door, but there appeared to be none. He quickly glanced over at Bruce whose white slits were even narrower than before. He wanted to murder him so badly, he could tell. But what better diversion than stuff randomly falling off some shelves? Jason placed his hand on the next box in line. He saw Bruce's lenses narrow even more, almost to the point that they were nonexistent. Finding it somewhat entertaining, Jason shoved the box off with a quick flick of his wrist. This time the box tumbled over and a flood of glass shattering noises filled the room.

"Whoops," Jason whispered. He heard voices start to stir in the room and he quickly made his way deeper into the shadows and prepared himself.

Bruce inwardly groaned at the childishness of his younger ward.

The door opened slightly and a nozzle of a gun peered through the opening. The hostiles were being apprehensive, they knew that there was a big chance that Batman was out there lurking.

"Can't we just stay in the saferoom?" A deep voice asked hesitantly,

"It's not exactly safe in the saferoom either, and besides, with these new suits we should be fine," another voice replied quietly. The two of them appeared to have mustered up the courage to exit the room. The heavy door swung open and two large bodies stepped out of the room.

Bruce focused his attention on the small device he placed by the door. As he had planned, one of the goons stepped on it and pushed it back into the safe room when they stepped out. It took a few seconds for the frequency to fill the room and send feedback to his lenses. But soon he had a clear visual on what the room looked like. As he scanned the room for strategic points, he duly noted that the two hostiles from before were wearing some sort of suit. He trusted that Jason would know how to handle them once they made their way to the distraction point.

Bruce quickly memorized the layout of the floor and noticed how there appeared to be 7 figures still in the room. One of them seemed as though they were laying down on the floor. His heartbeat quickened as he realized that was most likely Diana. The frequency wasn't strong enough to pick up on whether she was breathing or not, but it didn't seem like she was moving at that moment. He prayed to whatever God there was that she was still alive. He needed her to be.

A light thudding noise came from his right side and he looked over to see Jason handling the two thugs with some difficulty. He wasn't using his guns. Bruce realized quickly that Jason was using darts, which would prove useless against their armor. Regardless, he knew Jason would be able to handle it. If he really needed help, he would call for backup.

Bruce pinpointed the main light source inside the room and used his remote batarang to break the bulbs. Gasps and yells from surprise were heard from inside, and Bruce took this chance to make his way into the room. He was covered by the dark as he grappled his way towards the ceiling where he could get an aerial view of the room.

"Shit, shit, we're gonna die," one of the henchmen cried out. Bruce's thermal lenses were picking up the heat signatures of the bodies in the room. However only 3 of them were emitting heat. The other 4 weren't being picked up, but they were showing movement. Bruce put together that they must be drones or robots. He decided to make quick work with them. He readied his EMP disks and positioned himself at a vantage point above the 4 drones.

He threw the tiny disks in a formation so that they'd surround the machines. The blast went off immediately after they landed, immobilizing the drones. Bruce quickly turned his attention towards the other 3, one of them was still laying on the floor motionless. The other two were scrambling around, it was too dark for them to look for escape. They knew the inevitable was coming for them.

Bruce jumped down from his vantage point and opened his cape to help him steer towards one of the thugs. His cape silently caught the air as he was pulled down unnoticed. As he narrowed down on his target he pulled his cape in and streamlined his body. The thug let out half a grunt before Bruce muffled his cry of pain with a swift push of a pressure point to his neck, rendering him unconscious. He knew his window of opportunity was starting to narrow, he had to get Diana ASAP.

His lenses picked up the location of the last enemy who was blindly trying to make his way back towards Diana. Bruce needed to get to her before he could try and use her as a hostage.

With both great ferocity and silent dexterity, Bruce zoned in on his target. He was intent on ending this right here and now. The flutter of his cape was inaudible and the sound of his steps lighter than dust settling to the ground. And yet the thug had known that Batman was a mere yard away from him. He cried out and begged for him to stop.

The white slits of Batman's cowl widened in surprise before narrowing quickly in recognition.

"I don't wanna die," the man cried out in fear. "I didn't know it was going to be like this I-I swear,"

Bruce just stood there glaring at a familiar face. A man he once thought he knew, but one he wanted to break at that very moment. The man who Diana had once trusted and loved as though he was her own father. It was Jack.

"It's too late," Batman growled, he could barely keep his anger and betrayal to himself. He wanted to rip the man's heart out for hurting Diana like this.

"I loved her like my own daughter… I just… I just lost my head for a little bit," Jack stuttered, his voice shaky and soft. Jack started to kneel down towards Diana. Bruce's body stiffened up, Diana was unconscious. He was close enough to see her chest rise and fall as she breathed evenly.

"I'm so sorry Diana, I didn't mean for any of this to happen," Jack whimpered as he started to choke up. Bruce took a quiet step towards Jack and Diana, hoping he could safely pull away the mentally unstable man from her.

"Stay back," The older man warned the cape crusader. Bruce heard the venom in his voice.

"Step away from her," Bruce growled back as he stood in place not wanting to try the crazy man.

"I wouldn't dare hurt her. All I wanted was to feel fulfilled. To fill the void in my life...," Jack whispered, "Diana was… She was like a daughter to me,"

"Then check yourself into a ward, the damage is already done," Bruce tried to convince him, "Don't make this any worse for you… and her,"

"None of this would've happened if it wasn't for that arrogant bastard," Jack's voice coiled with spite, "If Bruce Wayne hadn't tried to get us involved, none of this would've happened,"

Bruce clenched his jaw as he took in the older man's words. It's true, if he hadn't been so intent on bringing in Diana, all of this might not have happened to her. He was constantly putting her in harm's way.

"You should be punishing HIM, not me, not her, not Harvey and especially not Tommy!" Jack spun and glared at Batman, his eyes were wild with fury, "This. THIS IS ALL HIS FAULT!"

Bruce lowered his chin, suddenly his bat suit felt heavy. The burdens growing on him steadily as he took in the estranged man's words. He didn't know when Jack allied with Tommy and Harvey, but these feelings and his motive had to have been something that simmered below the surface for a while. Bruce was too preoccupied with other matters to see it all happening. All the time Jack spent in the Wayne Labs and not actually doing his assigned work, the notable discouragement. All the signs were there, he just didn't bother looking into it.

"Jack," Bruce said sternly, his voice staying in his Batman persona, but his heart hoping to be able to reach out to the man one last time. He took a step towards him but stopped immediately when the older man pulled out a knife from his pocket and placed it on Diana's neck.

"Who's Jack?" Bruce couldn't see his face anymore but he could hear a menacing smile in his voice.

"Put the knife down Jack," Bruce's voice was stern as he readied to disarm the older man.

"Jack doesn't exist anymore Batman," he snarled as he slowly turned his head to glare at the vigilante, "It's Toymaster now,"

Realizing Jack was too far gone, Bruce reached into his utility belt to grab some knockout gas. But he paused when he heard Jack click his tongue.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned, "Diana is quite literally living life on the edge,"

Bruce watched in horror as the deranged gentleman pulled the knife towards him and there was a thin trail of blood streaming from Diana's throat. He started to see red, he felt himself losing his grip-his control.

"If anything happens to me, then your faithful sidekick will lose his life," Jack threatened. Bruce's eyes widened behind the lenses of his mask as he realized what Toymaster was implying. He turned his head and looked for any traces of Jason but he was nowhere to be found or heard. His heart was racing faster than ever as he realized he put himself in a compromising situation.

"Not that one," Jack laughed at Batman's confusion, "Your other one,"

Bruce turned back to him as he realized he was talking about Dick.

"Where is he?" Bruce demanded. His fists shaking from the anger and fear he felt.

"He's fine for now, you have more pressing concerns on your hand for now,"

"What is it you want?" Bruce decided to try and level with the madman.

"I just want to feel… fulfilled," Jack shrugged his shoulders, "Anyways, my new toys will take care of you while I do some work,"

Bruce's cowl picked up noises coming from behind him. He turned and saw the drones he took out earlier come back to life. They started walking towards him. Bruce noticed the Waynetech emblem on some of their parts. Jack had been doing all of this right under his nose. He was using his resources to create these drones and to hurt Diana.

"Don't do this Jack," Bruce tried once more to reason with him.

"As I said before, you will refer to me as Toymaster," he brushed off Bruce's plea, "Please don't struggle. Otherwise I'll have to kill Diana and we both don't want that to happen,"

Bruce tried to think of a solution but nothing came to mind. He was cornered, there were too many lives at risk. All he could hope was that Jason was okay and he'd come around to save them. The drones grabbed his arms and pulled roughly, causing him to arch his back towards them.

"Now then," Jack cleared his throat as he put down the knife and reached into his pocket, "I never had a problem with you Batman, if anything I admired what you did,"

Bruce grunted as the drones pulled tighter on his arms. He watched carefully as Jack drew what appeared to be a needle from his pocket.

"But there's someone I admire more…" He took lifted the syringe and admired the neon green liquid inside, "Superman...All that power and strength. I want it all,"

Bruce realized what the liquid in the syringe was. It was the serum that somehow allowed these villians to have their powers back. But Jack didn't have any powers, so what was he going to do with that?

"Thanks to Dr. Strange, this serum will allow me to get powers of my own," Jack explained as he pulled off the cap of the syringe, "It's supposed to reveal dormant powers. What do you think my power will be Batman?"

The madman turned to Bruce as he tilted the needle towards the inner bend of his arm. Bruce watched intently as Jack was about to give himself the serum. There was no knowing what would happen to him. Hugo Strange was a brilliant man, but he was known to be ruthless as well. Whatever he promised Jack, it could all be a lie or a scheme of his.

"Jack it's not worth it, don't do it," Bruce called out, "You don't know what's in it, there's no telling what'll happen to you,"

"What else is left for me in this world Batman? If I give up now you'll just take me in and I'll rot in a cell!" Jack became more agitated by the second, "I'm willing to take the risk,"

"You might die,"

"So be it," Jack pulled the needle up into the air before swinging it down towards his arm. But instead of the needle piercing his arm, it pierced another's.

Bruce and Jack looked over at Diana in shock as they realized she intercepted the needle with her own arm. Her pained expression only grew worse as the serum started to spread through her veins.

"D-Diana!" Jack screamed, realizing what he just did, "Why...Why would you do that?! YOU COULD DIE!"

Bruce felt himself snap, he was on the verge of losing her. The only light in his world. He saw red, his blood boiled with rage as every bone in his body ached for redemption. The drones tightened their grip on his arms, but he pulled even harder against them. The main was excruciating, but he needed to get to Diana no matter what.

Bruce let out a loud growl as he pulled himself away from the drones. A loud crack filled the entire safe house. Bruce had intentionally popped his shoulder out of it's socket so he could turn and kick one of the drones off of him. He ripped the head off the drone with a swift kick. The other drone was still holding onto his good arm.

Bruce glanced over quickly and saw Jack trying to wake Diana, but she was unresponsive. Her face was pale and her lips turning blue.

He felt his eyes turn wild as he abandoned his self-control. With all his strength, he started running towards her, the drone still holding his arm. The drone held its ground as it pulled tightly on Bruce's arm. But as soon as Bruce felt the drone lose its footing, he pivoted himself and turned back to the drone. Going bad shoulder first, he rammed into the drone, popping his shoulder back into place. The drone flew backwards. As it tried to recover from the blow, there was a rapid high pitch beeping. The drone looked downwards towards its chest and noticed a small device that was planted on it. As it reached up to grab the device, it suddenly exploded. The drone immediately powered down in defeat.

Without taking a second to rest, Bruce quickly sprinted over to Diana. He ripped Jack away from her and threw him back. The old man grunted in pain as he looked up and watched the vigilante gather up Diana in his arms.

"Diana… I'm so sorry… I-I didn't mean to…" Jack started sobbing uncontrollably, "I didn't mean for this to happen,"

"Enough," Bruce growled as he lifted Diana in his arms,

"Batman, I-I really didn't mean for any of this," he pleaded for him the understand,

"I SAID ENOUGH!" Bruce yelled. As he examined her face for any signs as to what was happening to her body, he felt tears pushing at the back of his eyes. He was losing her, and he couldn't bear the thought of it.

"What happened?! Is she okay?!" Jason ran into the room, his suit riddled with scuff marks and openings. It took him longer than anticipated to deal with the two goons because of their suits.

"I'm going back, take care of him," Bruce swiftly walked past the two men, "He knows where Nightwing is. Find out where,"

Bruce quickly grappled up to the ceiling and called the Batwing to his location. Jason turned back to Jack who sat trembling on the floor.

"Just so you know...You deserve what's coming for you," Jason muttered, "Don't say I didn't warn you,"


Thanks for reading, until next time! :)!