The party looked as boring as it sounded. The Mayor's charity party was held in the penthouse of some sky rise apartment building. Harry looked around lazily, watching the stuffed up guests all looking equally boring and rich. This was the most terrible kind of people in Harry's eyes. The privileged and the famous. All stuck up and narcissistic.

"Hey there!"

Harry turned around and smiled when he saw Dick standing there. He wanted to jump on his friend and hug him, but he was in disguise. Harry tucked a strand of blond hair behind his ear and looked away shyly.

"Hey," he whispered.
"You're Richard Grayson. Bruce Wayne's adopted son, right?"

"Call me Dick. And you are?" Dick replied with a grin.

"Quinn," Harry replied.
"I'm here with my mom."

Dick nodded in understanding and looked around, looking really bored.

"This party sucks," he said.

"I agree. It misses some special entertainment or something," Harry replied.

Dick looked over at him and grinned widely.

"It's my best friend's birthday today," Dick told him.
"If I could find a way to sneak out of this place, I'd go look him up right now and spend the rest of the evening with him."

Harry's eyes widened and he grinned happily. Dick might not know it was him he was confessing this to, but that only made it so much better. Now he knew Dick really meant it. Then again…

"I'm pretty sure you'd want to be anywhere but here right now," he said jokingly.

"True," Dick shrugged, grinning at him.
"But I always want to be with Harry, and he's gone most of the year, so I take all the opportunities I can get."

"Sounds like the two of you are great friends," Harry mumbled softly.

"The best in the world!" Dick laughed happily.

Harry almost went to his mom to ask if they could still stop the raid, but he quickly shook it off. Dick didn't know it was him. He had no idea, and it would stay that way. Maybe Dick hated Child's Play, but Harry would do anything to make sure he wouldn't hate him.

"I have someone special too!" Harry said grinning.
"We're not friends per se, more like rivals, but I really love teasing him, and I like to think he feels the same way."

He was thinking of Robin of course. He was Child's Play right now after all, not Harry Riddle, so he couldn't be Dick's friend. No. As Child's Play, his special someone was definitely Robin.

The two boys fell quiet when the elevator dinged and Harry turned to look with a grin as the doors slid open, revealing a police officer holding his badge up. Behind him, to everyone's shock, stood the Joker with his clown gang members, wide, painted grin on his white face. He gave a low chuckle and released the corpse of the officer.

"We made it!" he said gleefully before stepping over the dead policeman.

He held up a gun and shot it ones before throwing it at Harry, along with his red goggles. With a grin, the temporary blonde caught them before pulling the wig off, revealing green hair underneath. He could hear Dick gasp in horror and he shot his friend a smirk and a wink before putting his goggles on.

"Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen!" Joker called as Harry and Harley joined him and the others collected the party guests.
"We are tonight's entertainment! It'll be a blast, I promise. Just one question though. Where is the mayor?"

Just like selfish, terrified chickens, the crowd parted to leave the mayor to fend for himself. Harry laughed at that and skipped over first, grinning widely as he pressed his gun against the man's back and forced him to step towards the Joker.

"There the old man is!" Joker cried out cackling.

"We're not intimidated by you thugs!" the Mayor growled.

Harry and Harley chuckled in amusement while Joker just stared unimpressed.

"You know? You remind me of my father…" Joker told him, grabbing the man by his collar.
"And I hated my father…"

For once, Harry knew the Joker wasn't joking. He was aware of the Riddle twins' childhood. Joker had told him before about how their father had abandoned their mother while she was pregnant, just as he had told him about the love potion his mother had used to force Tom Riddle Sr. into marriage. He also told Harry how he and Voldemort had killed their father and grandparents when they were 16.

"Stop!"

Harry tensed at Dick's voice and looked over to his friend, only Dick didn't know he was his friend. He almost wanted to beg Dick to step away, but it was already too late, since Joker had taken an interest in him now.

Grinning, he pushed the Mayor in Harley's arms and stepped up to Dick, who lifted his head bravely and glared at the Joker. Harry swallowed nervously, feeling fear in his friends place as he slowly trailed after his dad. He really hoped he wasn't going to end up having to choose between his friend and his dad…

"You're Wayne's kid, right? The adopted one?" Joker asked.
"The Juniors seem to like you for some reason."

Dick scowled and looked over to Harry. The green haired boy's breath caught in his throat and for a moment, when he thought Dick recognized them. He relaxed again when Dick didn't react otherwise and looked back at the Joker with a deep scowl marring his face.

"If you hurt my friends, I'll hunt you down and kill you," the boy warned lowly.

Harry tensed again and was about ready to interfere if Joker would try to kill Dick, but instead, his dad threw his head back and laughed.

"That's great!" he cackled.
"I like the ones who got fight in them!"

"Then you're going to love me!"

With that, Batman swooped down and kicked the Joker in the face. Harley shouted in anger and pushed the Mayor to the ground so she could shoot at Batman. Many people had to jump to the side to keep from being hit, though not everyone was able to get away in time and Harry could see three people fall down, either wounded or dead, he didn't really care.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Dick duck away and run out of the room and he couldn't stop a sigh in relief that at least his friend had gotten out unharmed. At least if Dick was smart enough to leave the building while he still could because Joker and his men had planted bombs all over the building before joining the party and Harry rather not have his best friend explode.

"Get the car, kid!" Joker called out while Harley was fighting Batman on her own for a moment.

Harry nodded and turned away, just as the Bat roundhouse kicked his mom in the side and send her flying. From the noises coming from behind him, Harry knew that Joker had started fighting again and he took off. This whole thing was very time-sensitive, after all. If he was too late with the car, his parents would blow up along with the building.

He didn't use the stairs or the elevator, those were for stupid muggles. Instead, he just jumped through the window. In the middle of his free fall, Harry pulled his wand out from inside his sleeve and waited until he was nearly at the ground before casting a spell.

"Aresto Momento!"

His fall ended abruptly half a foot off the ground and Harry slowly lowered himself down so he was properly standing on the ground. He was damn lucky that the street was deserted, otherwise, he'd be in really big trouble right now.

Humming under his breath, Harry skipped over towards where the Joker had parked the Joker Van two blocks away. Harry pulled out the reserve key from his pants pocket as soon as the bright poisonous green van with purple and orange stripes came into his sight.

"Child's Play!"

The green haired teen tensed and slowly turned around, scowling when he saw Robin standing there, his stupid Bo-staff in hand and ready to use. For once, Child's Play hadn't really looked forward to coming across his nemesis. Dick and Robin in the same space was just wrong…

"That's rude!" he said, pulling out his juggling pins.
"This is a private party you know. You weren't on the guest list."

"And you are?" Robin growled back.

Child's Play grinned darkly and shrugged.

"Well, I'm the villain, right little hero boy?"

Robin rolled his eyes and charged at Child's Play, who stepped aside just in time and swung his pin in his enemy's back. Robin staggered, but didn't fall. He turned around to face Child's Play again, but the young villain had already abandoned their fight to get to the car again. He had to hurry if he wanted to pull Dick out of the building before it would go boom.

"We'll play some other time, ok~?" he sang.

Suddenly, he found himself hurtling towards the ground face first as Robin's Bo-staff ended up between his legs, tripping him up. Child's Play quickly continued rolling and jumped back to his feet before turning back towards Robin with an annoyed growl. Pain exploded around his left eye as soon as he did and he staggered back. The 'tock' of the staff making contact with the glass of his goggles was ringing loudly in his ears.

"Fuck!" he cursed loudly, pulling his goggles off.
"That shit fucking hurts you asshole!"

Robin just stood at the ready to start fighting again while Child's Play gingerly touched the inflamed skin around his eye. He scowled when his fingers came back smeared with blood. He saw red – literally and figuratively – and pulled out his cards.

"Do you see me trying to take your eye out?" he hissed, glaring at Robin as he threw a card at his enemy.
"Cheater! Dirty, evil, mean cheater! Play fair and keep below the neck like a proper hero!"

"At least I didn't try to electrocute you!" Robin shot back heatedly, dodging the object.

"Again! I'm the villain! It's expected of me!" Child's Play screamed, throwing three more cards in quick succession.

"You think we'd keep to proper fighting when facing scum like you?!" Robin shouted back.
"You're stupider than you look! To get you and your owner off the streets, anything goes!"

Child's Play scoffed when Robin called the Joker his 'owner' and glared hatefully at the other boy with bright blue eyes. Well, if Robin was going to play dirty, then so could he! He charged the next card in his hand with magic before hurtling it towards Robin. The young hero's sidekick dodged again, but couldn't get out of the magical blast. Grinning at his now downed rival, Child's Play quickly rushed towards the car and jumped into the driver's seat.

He started the car and immediately drove at breakneck speed back towards the building. He heard the 'thump' on the roof, indicating that Robin had decided to hitch a ride, but Child's Play ignored him. He had to hurry and because of that bastard, he might be too late already.

His guess was right when the building suddenly exploded. Rubble, glass and fire showered over the entire street, forcing Child's Play to swing the car wildly from side to side to avoid getting hit. He kind of hoped that Robin still got burned, but it didn't look like he was that lucky when the other boy swung away on his grappling hook.

"Batman!" he heard his rival scream in worry.

Child's Play grit his teeth and tightened his hands around the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white beneath his gloves. Fucking asshole! Calls himself a fucking hero but only cares about that overgrown rodent!

"Fuck!" he cursed as he stomped on the gas again.

He drove straight into the flames and through the front doors of the burning building. His parents just came running down the stairs, only three of their Clowns remaining. Several of the guests came running down as well, screaming and coughing.

Child's Play quickly moved to the back of the car as the only one of the three crooks that wasn't seriously injured took his spot at the driver's seat. Joker had climbed into the back first, covered in sooth and laughing in joy while Harley helped the two wounded Clowns in.

"Nice timing, kid," Joker told him, ruffling his son's green hair.

Child's Play scowled and turned his eyes and hair back to their original color.

"Dick better have survived that," Harry muttered frowning.
"If he didn't, I'm fucking retiring and moving to England to live off my wizard money."

Joker rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat while Harley pulled her little boy in her arms.

"Don't worry, hun! Ya friend disappeared after the Bat showed up!" she said.
"I bet he and Wayne took off as soon as they saw the chance!"

Harry nodded reluctantly. He sincerely hoped that his mom was right and that Dick was safe.

. . . . .

"… When the Mayor's Charity Party was suddenly crashed by none other than the Joker and Harley Quinn!"

Harry's eye twitched in annoyance when the newsreader forgot to mention him, but he was too wrung up to really be bothered by it at the moment. He hissed angrily when the phone once again went to voicemail and ended the call before trying again.

"C'mon, Dick! Answer the fucking phone," he muttered.

"Sixteen of the guests died in the explosion and another twenty-one were injured. Luckily, the Mayor escaped with only a few minor injuries thanks to the Batman, who valiantly pulled him from the building right before the explosion!"

"Fucking Bat!" Joker growled, glaring at the television.

Harry ignored him and tapped his foot impatiently. The phone was ringing, but still no answer. After the second to last ring, there finally was a click of someone answering.

"Hello? Harry?" Dick's voice rang out, making Harry sigh in relief.

"Please tell me this is really you and not some apparition from the afterlife answering my desperate call!" Harry exclaimed dramatically.

"It's all me. I'm not dead," Dick chuckled.

"Thank… Something!" Harry sighed.
"Are you ok? You're not in Intensive Care, are you? Is that why it took so long to answer your damn phone?"

"I'm fine. Bruce got us out before the explosion, luckily," Dick assured him.
"I'm sorry I didn't answer sooner, but we were being interviewed by the cops and Bruce is currently giving a statement to the reporters swarming our house…"

"And now we go straight to our reporter who is talking with Bruce Wayne, who is one of the survivors, along with his foster son, Dick Grayson-"

Harry looked over to the TV and scowled. It showed Bruce standing in front of his own front door, smiling tiredly and waving at the many reporters. Dick hated that kind of attention with a passion, Harry remembered. And now he was stuck in the house with all those vultures trying to get in.

"Want to meet up?" he suggested.

"Sure! The park in half an hour? Same place as usual."

"See you there!" Harry said before pressing the end call button.

. . . . .

He was first to arrive for a change. Usually, Dick always made it at their meeting spots first. It was understandable of course. Dick's house was swarmed, it would be hard to escape there without being seen right now.

"Harry!"

He looked up when he heard his friend call out his name and grinned at the sight of Dick approaching. He jumped up right away and skipped over, taking Dick into his arms in a tight, bone-crushing hug.

"You made it!" he cheered happily.
"I'm so happy to see you! You have no idea how scared I was!"

"Harrison Jack Riddle? Scared? Never!" Dick joked as he hugged him back.

The two friends laughed and sat down on the ground.

"It's good to see you're alright," Harry told Dick sincerely.

The other boy smiled softly and looked down for a moment before he started scowling.

"Hey. You know Joker, right?" Dick suddenly asked.

Harry scowled confused at the sudden question but still nodded.

"From pretty up close if you remember," he replied.

Dick frowned deeply and nodded, probably thinking of when Harry had been 'kidnapped' by the Joker at Christmas Break.

"Did you ever meet Child's Play?" Dick asked quietly.
"I-I don't mean to accuse you or anything! But you said yourself that one day you'll work for the Joker and he-"

"I didn't," Harry mumble, which was technically true since he couldn't meet himself.
"But can you do me a favor Dick? As my best friend? Don't talk about him, or the Joker. No Batman or villains or vigilantes. Let's just be you and me and forget about anything else, please?"

Dick looked down for a moment before looking back towards Harry with a soft smile.

"That sounds perfect," he said quietly.
"Just you and me. Between us, no one else matters."

"Awesome! And just as my best friend, you'll never believe what an asshole I met!" Harry exclaimed.
"Like, I don't even know who send the stupid moron to me, but he said he's some kind of servant or butler I guess? And he decided it as his job to protect me from some lame bullies at school, so he intercepted all my mail! Can you fucking believe it?! To try and make me not want to go back!"

"No way!" Dick gasped horrified, eyes wide.

"Yes way! He even went as far as ruin my fucking birthday and-"

Halfway through Harry's rant, Dick surged forward and grabbed his face, turning it to see the left side properly. Harry tensed when he realized his friend was staring at the black eye.

"Not enough concealer?" he asked jokingly in an attempt to diffuse the tension.

"No! what the heck happened?" Dick demanded to know.
"If your dad hits you, you have to tell someone, Harry!"

"Dick, calm down it wasn't-"

"He can't do that, alright? I swear if this keeps happening we should call the police!"

"Dick! It's not-"

"You can stay with me and Bruce, I'm sure he won't mind letting you stay while we work this out-"

Harry grabbed Dick's face and moved forward, capturing Dick's lips with his own. His friend's eyes widened in shock and he moved back quickly, a hand covering his mouth and a bright blush on his cheeks as he stared wide-eyed at Harry.

"Calmed down?" Harry snickered.

Dick nodded numbly, slowly taking his hand away as he kept staring at his friend.

"Good, then maybe you can listen to me now when I tell you it wasn't my dad who did this."

"Then who did?" Dick asked worried.
"And don't give me any crap about walking into a door, because I swear I'll-"

"Do I have to kiss you again?" Harry threatened teasingly.

That immediately shut Dick up and the boy glared at a smug Harry. The young prankster just chuckled.

"I got into a fight with some kid last night," Harry confessed.
"I was just having some harmless fun when he showed up!"

"With harmless fun you probably mean ruining their night, right?" Dick deadpanned.

"Eh. They deserved it," Harry shrugged.

Dick laughed quietly and shook his head.

"And here I was getting worried for nothing," he chuckled.
"Obviously, you deserved a black eye."

"Hey!" Harry shouted mock offended.
"You're my friend! You're supposed to be on my side, remember?"

Dick smirked and threw an arm over Harry's shoulder.

"Oh, trust me. When I see this kid, I'll beat the crap out of them," he said.
"But that doesn't make it any less your own fault for getting hit."