This is my longest chapter yet...
In Dick's words, Jason was so not feeling the aster right now. He hated being chained up. Chained to a chair, chained to the ceiling (really painful btw), or like right now, chained to a wall, his back resting against the cold metal, legs pulled to his chest in an attempt to savor much-needed warmth. He sighed. He had already tried getting out of the chains, but every attempt had failed and left him with sore skin.
One day had passed since he and Dick had been kidnapped and the Joker apparently thought asking Scarecrow to join him seemed like a good idea. Jason's stomach grumbled, reminding him of the lack of food, but his hunger and thirst were nothing compared to his worry for Dick. Sure, Dick was older, but Jason would always see him as his younger brother. It was Dick's childish nature that made him so adorable, and Jason, with his 15 years, was only one year younger than Dick anyway.
Despite all attempts of murder, Jason admired him, had always admired him. The first time he had seen Dick Grayson was when his father had stolen two tickets for the circus and they had seen Dick perform with his parents that night. Jason had envied him, he'd appeared so... free. And then Bruce had taken him in and and the Golden Boy had become his brother (kinda) and when he figured out Dick was Robin, Jason was in seventh heaven. To top it all, he had gotten his own hero persona, Red Hood and had fought besides Batman and Robin... until he didn't, until he'd died.
He clenched his fists as he remembered the previous day's events.
The Joker cackled and dread pooled in Jason's stomach as Dick paled rapidly, all color draining from his face. "Do you know what I'm talking about, Boy Wonder?"
Jason gasped, heart skipping more than just one beat, and he stared at Dick disbeliebingly. No, no way in hell was this happening. This couldn't be happening! Being kidnapped for being the sons of billionaire Bruce Wayne was one thing, but being kidnapped by the Joker as Batman's partners was a completely different story. Everybody knew how obsessed the maniac was with Batman.
Joker's gaze shifted to Jason and he stiffed despite himself. Fuck it, why couldn't he get a grip on his damn fear? "And if I had to guess, I'd say you are Red Hood, ain't that right?" Jason stared at him, waiting for the clown to do something.
The Joker chuckled darkly, seemingly thinking this whole situation was absolutely comical. "My, my, how you have grown. I didn't expect to see you again anytime soon. Or at all, to be honest." Suddenly, he leaned forward faster than Jason's eyes could follow and he stared directly into the crazy eyes of his tormentor.
"Why aren't you dead?" demanded the Joker to know, his tone so dark and dangerous that Jason had to swallow hard and blink away sudden wetness in his eyes. He felt like he did back then, scared and dangerously reckless. He spit in Joker's face. "None of your goddamn business." And he knew, he knew Joker tolerated defiance to a certain point, he knew that by heart, and he also knew he had crossed that line. And he realised his fear had turned to hatred and that he just didn't care. He had cared for his well-being enough, he wanted the Joker dead and if he had to die to get it done, so be it.
Joker's usually grinning mouth twisted and he backhanded Jason, hard, and he felt his lip split, a short but sharp pain erupting in his skull. His head was jerked to the side and Jason felt dizzy. He spit out blood lazily and blinked, trying to clear his head. Fuck, that hurt.
"Do you remember Daisy?" the maniac asked out of the blue, caressing Jason's cheek. The boy scowled and turned his head away.
"Who?"
"Not who, 'what'. Wait a second, I'll be right back." He disappears somewhere in the dark.
"I guess we are in trouble now," he groaned. Dick snort humorlessly and Jason threw a worried glance at him. "Yes, trouble," said the older brother, sounding somewhat bitter, "I'm sorry I blew our cover... You okay? That blow sounded pretty painful." Jason shook his head. "'M fine. Just don't be sorry. The only thing I'm angry about is that you didn't tell me anything about the scar. I mean, a scar in a shape the Joker recognizes? He must have taken his time giving it to you, I'd know."
Regret filled Dick's eyes and Jason immediately felt guilty. Scars were always connected to memories, he knew that better than anyone and he could understand if Dick didn't want to relive those.
"Sorry," he apologized, smirking at Dick's shocked face. Jason apologizing, the world was ending. "You don't have to talk about it of you don't want to." A dry chuckle escaped Dick's lips and he sighed, not meeting Jason's eyes. "I am doing this since I was nine. It's no wonder I have scars." Jason scowled. "I know that, dumbass, but like I said, if Joker recognized you because of it, then it's not just the usual patrol 'I missed that guy' scar." Rolling his eyes, Dick tugged at his bonds. "What did you expect? That I have never been captured by the Joker before? That you're the only one he hurt? You know how Gotham's villains are. We all have scars, Jason, yours were just cut deeper into your mind than body."
Jason nodded. He got that. It's just been a long time since any Batfam member had actually been held captive by anyone.
"Sorry," he muttered.
"What for?"
"I've been so fixated on myself and my problems that I forgot this isn't your first Rodeo with that cockroach either."
Dick snickered quietly. "Yeah."
A cruel laugh interrupted the brotherly moment. "How touching," snarled the Joker, stepping back into the dim light. "But I'd like to reintroduce dear Mr. Todd here to my dear old friend Daisy." He pulled a crowbar from behind his back and Jason sucked in a sharp breath. He hated crowbars. It's not that he was overly afraid of them or anything and he usually didn't have a problem with using crowbars, but when they were used as a weapon, especially against him, he felt like dying all over again.
Dick eyed the weapon carefully and saw dried blood coating the metal. "Is that...?" He wasn't able to finish his sentence, but Jason- and sadly the Joker- understood what he ment just fine. The maniac laughed one of his typical shrill laughs and nodded.
"Yes, yes, it is. This, Ladies and Gentlemen, minus the Ladies, we're all Gentleman here, after all, is the blood of oneJason Todd, or better known as the Red Hood. You know," he said, turning his cold eyes on Jason, "she really missed you. We both agreed that blood really suits your handsome face and now it will stand in contrast with those white streaks in your hair. How'd you get those, btw? Isn't that great, a real masterpiece! Maybe I should call my crowbar-baby 'Whack-a-bird', what do you think?"
Jason wanted to spit a snarky reply, but Dick beat him to it. "I think that you are a disgusting piece of garbage that better stays away from my brother." Joker laid a hand over his heart in mock hurt and took a sharp breath through his teeth. "My, my, Boy Blunder, have you forgotten everything I taught you about respect?" Jason clenched his fists as Dick shuddered. Joker's teaching methods weren't... pleasant for the student.
"Leave him alone, you pale bastard!" he growled, teeth grinding in anger. The Joker groaned in fake annoyance. "Don't tell me I have to teach you the same lessons! Are all of you 'Batboys' so disrespectful?" Jason decided to play dumb, furrowing his eyebrows. "What others?" That resulted in a harsh slap to his cheek. Jason tasted blood. Fuck.
"Hey!" yelled Dick, but Jason just rolled his eyes. He had had worse, far worse. "I mean," explained the Joker, eyes fixed on Jason, "Red Robin and Batman, or should I say Timmy and Brucy? Wasn't hard to figure out their identities."
Jason lowered his eyes. The Joker had figured it all out. Who knew what the manic would do with that kind of information? The deranged man cackled. "And what about the last boy? Damian? He's not a Bat?"
Dick glared at him and demontrativly snapped his mouth shut. The Joker just smirked wickedly, pacing around the two. He hugged Dick from behind, who stiffed visibly. "You know, Bird Brain-" Jason scowled at the insult, whilst Dick just kept his eyes on the wall, "I love you all- I love Batman the most of course, but you come right after him. You could say you are my little... favorite." Dick flinched at the word, head snapping around to glare sharply at the Joker. "Shut up!" he spat.
Joker giggled uncontrollably and gently kissed Dick on top of his head, who seemed more grossed out than afraid. Noticing Jason's confusion, the Clown Prince of Crime pushed himself away from Dick. "Oh dear, I think our little Hood is confused. Why don't we enlighten him, Robin?" Dick just shook his head. "Stay the fuck away from me."
Wow, if Dick was swearing, than he was serious about this, he didn't want Jason to know whatever Jasons wasn't supposed to know. And he didn't want Joker anywhere near him. Jason could relate to that.
The Joker shook his head sadly. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, Bird Boy. I thought I taught you how to behave around your olders." Dick snort. "Hell will freeze over before I listen to you." A dangerous glint was in the Joker's eyes as he paced in front of the brothers. "Is that a challenge?" He sounded truly excited, rubbing his hands together like a child on its birthday. "Dick," hissed Jason warningly, struggling to free his limps from the heavy metal chains. His brother was moving on very thin ice there.
Ignoring Jason, Dick just stared angrily at his captor. He was so done being afraid. Joker started laughing again and moved Dick's chair so he was facing Jason.
"So," said the villain, bouncing on the balls of his feet, "Who is ready to reveal some secrets?" Jason frowned. "What the fuck are you talking 'bout?"
Joker tutted and wiggled his finger at Jason. "There shouldn't be any secrets between brothers, but our dear Birdie has a few things he doesn't want to share. I am just trying to strengthen the bond between you two. I'm trying to help!" Jason glared at him and snort. "We don't need your help, so thanks, but no thanks."
Another slap to his cheek. It was really starting to sting now. What's up with people hitting him in his beautiful face?! "I am not giving you a choice," growled their captor.
He took a pocket knife out of his lilac suit jacket. Jason eyes the blade warily, but the Joker strode over to Dick, who started to struggle in his chair. "Hey!" cried Jason, glaring daggers at the Joker and trying to get out of his bindings. "Leave him alone, you freak!"
The Joker just laughed. "Oh, I don't want to hurt him, I'm just going to cut open his shirt, that's all." If Dick and Jason would have been in any other situation, Jason would have said something stupid about the Joker wanting to see Dick shirtless, but Dick looked really panicked, so Jason bit his tongue and kept quiet. As their tormentor started to cut away on his shirt, Dick struggled even harder, but the chains kept him in place. "Now, now, Robby, stay still or you'll hurt yourself."
"Get away from me," hissed Dick, his voice laced with anger and hatred and an underlying sense of terror.
Jason had never seen his brother like this, so panicked and helpless. The Joker ignored Dick's protest. Once he had fully stripped Dick off his shirt, he stepped aside to show Jason the bare chest of his older brother. Jason gasped. Scars. Scars littered Dick's body like a second skin. Jason let out a choked sound, a mix between a whine and an angry growl. Yeah, they all had scars, they all had been hurt, hell, he died, but Dick's injuries... it was a whole new level of disturbing. Some of those scars looked really old, like from the beginning of his time as Robin. The psychos of Gotham had obviously no qualms cutting up a nine-year-old kid.
The Joker looked at all the scars in glee. "Beautiful, aren't they?" Jason couldn't agree. His definition of beautiful was defenitifly different from the Joker's. The maniac brushed over one of the scars with his finger and Dick shuddered. "I like this one the most," said Joker, pointing at a scar right over Dick's heart. Jason narrowed his eyes. There, carved deeply into his brother's skin was the word 'favorite'. Jason's eyes widened in realization. That's why Dick had reacted so violently when the Joker had called him that, because he was already marked as such.
"Dick," whispered Jason in horror. He wondered what scars the others were hiding. What reminders Damian had of his childhood training and the Replacemt's encounters with Ra's and Gotham's craziests.
The Joker laughed happily and raging fury filled Jason. Screw Bruce and his no killing rule. He was gonna put a bullet in that asshole's head and splatter his brains on the damn floor. "I swear to god, I will kill you for this, I will rip you ap-" A knife at Dick's throat stopped his rambling. "Tsk, tsk, I don't like being threatened and you don't want me to add another scar on your brother's body, do you?" Jason gritted his teeth in anger but shut his mouth. "Good," purred the crazy man in front of him. "And now apologize." Jason almost laughed. Yeah right, as if. The knife was pressed deeper into Dick's skin and droplets of blood ran down his neck. Jason clenched his fists. "Come on, Jay Jay. I just want to hear those little words. It's not that hard. C'mon, be a good birdie and do as I say. Please... It won't kill you-," he whined. Then a smirk split his face. "But disobeying will kill your precious brother."
And as he pressed the knife even deeper into Dick's neck and Dick hissed in pain, Jason finally lowered his head, eyes burning with rage. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, hands clutching the arms of his chair. "What was that?" mocked the Joker, cackling as Jason glared at him and yelled, "I said I am sorry! Are you happy now? What else do you wanna hear?"
"Oh, yes I am happy. As happy as Voldemort was when he killed that Potter kid and won the war."
"That's not how the book ends," muttered Jason, surprised Joker even knew what Harry Potter was.
"It's not? A shame. Maybe I should kill the author, torture her and force her to rewrite it. Not necessarily in that order."
He took something out of his pocket. Jason realized that it were two masked, similar to the ones Red Robin and Robin wore. The Joker grinned and put them on the brothers' faces, who were struggling the whole time, but they couldn't do much with their bound hands and feet. Then he turned to his left- Jason suspected the door to be there- and whistled once. A second later, they could hear the creak of a door and another figure stepped into the light. Jason did a double take. Scarecrow. Looks like the Joker brought his friends, but wanted to be the only one who knew their secret identity.
The villain smirked. "Who do we have here? Two of the Bat's boys?"
"Yes, yes," answered the Joker in a song-song voice. "Red Hood and our little Birdie."
"Who is who? They l look the same to me. And why is Red Hood wearing a mask? What happened to his helmet?" The Joker shrugged innocently. "I don't know. I guess they were trying to confuse me. Didn't really work," he added the last part quietly, voice dangerously low, sending shivers down Jason's spine, then he pointed at Dick. "This one's Robin."
The smile that crept on Scarecrow's face couldn't be a good sign. He had never directly interfered with Scarecrow's work while becoming a crime Lord (If Black Mask were here, that would be a different story) but the villain was still no fan of him. "The little Birdie in chains, huh, and no Batman to save you." He turned to Jason, "Both of you."
Jason glared at him and the Joker. "What the hell do you want?" Scarecrow smirked. "Information. We want to know where the Batcave is." Jason glanced at Joker and the glint in his captor's eyes told him that he already knew the answer. The Joker just wanted to see how long Red Hood and Robin could resist the pain that was to come. It was no surprise, really. The Joker had never cared for secret identities. Scarecrow on the other hand... Damn, what had Dick gotten Jason into this time.
That was the last time he had seen Dick. Scarecrow had taken Jason to the cell he was currently in and the Joker had taken Dick somewhere else. That bastard had but speakers inside Jason's cell and the next few hours were torture.
Jason was forced to listen to Dick's never-ending, horrible screams of pain. Jason was sure that he was going to go insane if he had to listen to his brother's anguish any longer. One day and Jason was already cracking. They needed help, asap.
A/N: Pleaseeee don't kill me. I have to admit that I didn't really plan this chapter and I kinda got off track, but yeah... What do you think?