Chapter 34

Batcave; October 2nd, 05:08 EST

"Tim! Stop!" Bruce yelled as he lunged at Tim and grabbed him by the ankles to keep him from kicking.

"Tim…please!" Cassie cried as she slammed his shoulders onto the medical bed. "Stop fighting us!"

Tim laughed hysterically as he tried to fight back, craning his neck in an effort to get closer to Cassie. "Come on, Cass," he desperately pleaded with her between hysterical fits of laughter, his breathing growing ragged. "You know you love me. Let me go. I'm completely fine."

"You are not fine, Tim," she adamantly insisted, her blue eyes brimming with anguish at seeing him like this. She was beginning to fear that he never would the same ever again. "The Joker has control of your mind."

"I thought for sure I hit him hard enough with that baseball bat to keep him out for days," Damian groused as he jumped on Tim's torso to help hold him down.

"You didn't have to hit him with a baseball bat," Bruce growled, amazed by the amount of strength that Tim was displaying. Ignoring the pain and the blood from his bullet wound, he gritted his teeth as he struggled to hold his son down. "Alfred! Hurry!"

"Tim, stop struggling," Cassie pleaded with him, hoping to break through to him somehow. "We're trying to help you."

"I told you I don't need help!" he shouted. "Just let me go and I'll prove to you I'm fine!"

"Not gonna happen," Damian ground out as he struggled to keep from being thrown off Tim's torso. "You are seriously cray cray."

"Where's Dick?" Tim demanded to know. "He knows I'm fine. Ask him."

"He just got out of surgery," Cassie informed him. "You aren't going to be able to talk to him for a while."

"Alright, Master Timothy," Alfred gently said as he approached with syringe in hand. "How about we take a little nap?"

"No!" Tim screamed, doubling his efforts to escape. "I hate you…I hate you all! Let me go!"

"You don't mean that," Cassie tried to tell him as she fought back tears. His words were like dagger to her heart. "You know we all love you."

Tim laughed hysterically again, a wild gleam in his eyes. "You love me, but I'll destroy you all," he threatened them. "You have no idea what I've done to this house."

Bruce immediately looked up sharply at Alfred, a horrible sense of icy cold dread washing through him. His first thought was of his young children sleeping upstairs. "Jason!" he yelled.

Alfred quickly injected Tim with the sedative, hoping that they could find a way to help reverse all the damage that Joker had done to him. "Sleep well, son," he softly uttered, his heart hurting for what the young man had endured.

"I'm not your son!" Tim seethed, baring his teeth at the butler. "You're not my family!"

"What's going on?" Jason asked as he ran into the medical bay with Artemis right behind him. "Is he okay?"

"We've got it under control now," Bruce told him as Tim began to relax and give into the calming effects of the sedative.

Tim threw his head back, a sinister cackling escaping before he finally went limp. Cassie cautiously released her hold on him, watching him for a long moment before gently caressing his face. "I would love nothing more than to get five minutes alone with Joker," she angrily spat out.

"Don't worry," Jason told her with a smirk. "I beat him pretty good. He'll be eating through a straw for quite some time."

Bruce grabbed his arm, fear permeating his eyes. "I need you and Artemis to go upstairs and start searching the entire manor," he told them. "Tim said he's done something to the house."

Jason cursed, the urgency in Bruce's voice deepening his own sense of panic. "If he did anything, we'll find it."

"I'll go check on the kids," Artemis reassured him before they left to go upstairs.

"And now it's your turn, Master Bruce," Alfred announced as he approached his surrogate son.

"I'm fine," he bluntly said, his eyes fixed on Tim. "I have more important things to worry about right now."

"You have a bullet in your chest," Alfred reminded him. "I should say you are far from fine."

"It can wait," he retorted. "I need to see Diana."

"You can't see her right now," the British butler informed him. "She's in surgery with Leslie at the moment."

Bruce angrily clenched his jaw, his hands balling into fists. "I need to stay with Tim…make sure that he doesn't try to escape."

"Go, Bruce," Cassie told him. "I'm not leaving him. I'll let you know if I need you."

Bruce's shoulders fell minutely, knowing that he wasn't going to get out of this any time soon. He opened his mouth to protest again only for Damian to interrupt before he could utter a word. "Go already!" Damian cried. "You're postponing the inevitable not to mention you're bleeding all over everything…which by the way, I am not cleaning up. I'm going upstairs to help Jason and Artemis."

Bruce scowled at his son who was already stalking away, grumbling under his breath. "Fine," he spat out, turning on his heel and storming towards a waiting medical bed. He hated being ganged up on.

He sat down on a medical bed with a curse and a huff of annoyance. He grunted in pain as he worked to remove his uniform top, fresh blood exuding from the bullet wound and dripping down his chest. He cursed as he tossed his uniform top onto the ground, his gaze immediately searching for Diana despite knowing he couldn't see her yet.

He knew she was in surgery, but he needed to see her… to touch her. Unfortunately, all he could do was stare at Leslie's shadowy silhouette against the medical screen in the surgical area of the medical bay and even that was somewhat difficult to make out.

Too much had happened since he had "woken up" in the Underworld. Too much had happened since Joker had taken Tim. Seeing Dick bleeding out on the floor…Diana being shot. It had been too much to deal with. The fact that Tim was still under Joker's control was more than he could handle, but the notion that Tim had possibly done something to destroy this family in their own home had just been the final stroke.

He stared straight ahead as Alfred began to dig the bullet out of his chest just below his collarbone. He was barely aware of anything that Alfred was doing at that point—the blood that continuously oozed from his wound, the glint of the fluorescent lights off the hemostats, the pain that pulsated through his shoulder in unison with every beat of his heart, the background noise of the steady beeping of the monitor of Diana's heart rate.

None of it affected him or stirred any sort of reaction in him as his brooding mood overwhelmed him. The armor penetrating bullet that Joker had used had caused a lot of damage and internal bleeding, intensifying his fear with every second that ticked by.

The night had not gone as he'd hoped, but it had gone as he'd feared.

Everyone kept trying to reassure him that Diana was going to be fine, but unfortunately, it had fallen on deaf ears. Even Diana had assured him that she would be okay at Joker's hideout despite the blood seeping past her fingers. Still, it had done little to settle his paranoid-addled brain that constantly conjured a variety of outcomes that only caused the knot of dread to roil in his stomach.

It had been the worst feeling to turn around to find Diana with her hands on her abdomen. She'd tried to reassure him that everything was going to be all right, but nothing had felt right in that moment…nothing would ever be right again until he knew that she was truly safe.

"She'll be fine, Master Bruce," Alfred gently reassured him. "She'll be up and challenging you to a sparring match in no time at all."

"Are you done yet?" Bruce demanded to know, staring listlessly at the medical screen.

"Just getting ready to stitch the wound closed now," Alfred patiently told him.

"Has Dick woken yet?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Alfred replied as he began the work of closing the wound. "Leslie gave him a pretty hefty dose of pain killers before patching him up. I asked Miss Donna to let me know when Master Richard awakens."

Bruce didn't respond, trying to focus instead on what was happening beyond the medical screen even though he couldn't actually see what was happening. He needed to be near his wife. He felt dead inside despite their success in capturing Joker and Harley Quinn. Too many injuries, too many near deaths…and the roller coaster ride wasn't over yet.

"I should say that the team did a remarkable job in apprehending the Joker and Miss Quinn," Alfred continued despite Bruce's surely mood. "I'm quite relieved we won't have to worry about them for a while."

"It wasn't good enough," he growled. "Tim is still under Joker's control and Diana and Dick could have died tonight. Now, God only knows what Tim did to the manor."

"But they didn't die," the British butler firmly stated, pausing to make eye contact with him. "Everyone is safe again, and you know we will do everything we can to restore Master Timothy's mind. The others are searching the manor. If Master Timothy did something, they'll find it."

Alfred could tell by the rigid way that he held himself and the steel set of his jaw that Bruce wasn't going to accept anything anyone said until he knew for certain his family was truly out of harm's way. He wasn't going to get past this very easily or any time soon. He hoped he'd feel better once he was able to see Diana for himself.

Of course, seeing the little ones wouldn't hurt either. They always had a way of putting smiles on the faces of everyone around them.

Alfred swore this family and their nighttime endeavors were going to be the death of him, but he also knew that he loved them all dearly. There was no other place that he'd rather be and there were very few others that he would ever entrust his family's care to.

"All finished," Alfred announced as he clipped the suture. "I just need to bandage it up and you'll be all set."

"No need," Bruce flatly stated as he got up off the medical table to move past the British butler.

Alfred sighed wearily knowing that he'd been able to detain Master Bruce as long as he'd allowed him to. He'd clearly run dry on patience, his resolve to see his wife and children taking precedence over his own wellbeing once again. He could hardly blame him. It had been a very intense night fueled by so much emotion. That tension was palpable…almost crushing even now.

Bruce stalked towards the surgical area just as Leslie rounded the corner of the medical screen. She gave him a weary smile as she removed her bloody surgical gloves and tossed them into the trash. "How is she?"

"I'm afraid she lost a lot of blood," Leslie informed him. "I'm afraid the bullet hit her spinal cord."

"Is she paralyzed?" he demanded to know, bile creeping up the back of his throat with the thought.

"I'm hoping it will be temporary," she reassured him. "I believe that her advanced healing ability should keep it from being permanent."

Bruce swallowed back the tangled knot of emotions that clogged his throat. "Thank you, Leslie," he managed to utter.

She laid a reassuring hand on his arm, squeezing it affectionately. "No thanks is needed," she replied. "Do I wish that you wouldn't risk your life every night like this? Most definitely yes, but I do understand why you and your family does it."

"I seem to remember your rather adamant disapproval of my decision to become Batman," Bruce fondly replied with a small smile.

Leslie's hand came to rest against his cheek as she returned his smile. "Your parents would've been so very proud of the man that you've become and the family that you've made for yourself."

"I hope so," he murmured, afraid to test his voice any further.

"Go…see your wife," she encouraged him. "You won't be settled until you do. I'm going to go check on Dick and Tim before heading home."

Bruce enveloped her in a hug despite the merciless throbbing in his shoulder. She returned his affectionate embrace, tears pricking her eyes. "Bruce Thomas Wayne," she scolded him as she pulled back. "You're going to pull out Alfred's fine suturing job if you're not careful."

He only smiled as he moved past her to peek around the medical screen to find Diana sleeping peacefully. She looked really pale but otherwise appeared to be well. He drew a deep breath as he silently made his way to her, sitting down in a chair beside her bed.

He kissed her temple before taking her hand in his. He leaned forward, pressing their joined hands to his mouth to kiss her fingers, wishing that she'd open her eyes. Seeing her like this tore at his heart, memories of what she'd endured in the Underworld flooding his mind and renewing his panic. He'd thought then that she was going to die before he'd gotten the chance to even know who she was. Now, he'd come close once again.

What if Joker's bullet had completely severed her spinal cold? What if her advanced healing didn't kick in and she was never able to walk or be Wonder Woman again?

Breaking out in a cold sweat, he squeezed his eyes closed against the pounding headache that seemed to refuse to leave him as he held their joined hands against his forehead. Memories of Barbara being shot by Joker unexpectedly appeared in his mind—her paralysis, giving up being Batgirl, taking on the role of Oracle. All of it rolled through his mind like a movie playing out before him…one that was strangely familiar to him and yet new at the same time.

It was like cracks in a massive dam had suddenly burst, all of his memories returning in a flash of bright imagery that stole the air from his lungs. He sucked in a sharp breath in an effort to replenish his supply, his lungs expanding once more. He shuddered with the flood of emotions that accompanied those memories, nearly incapacitating him.

After several long moments, Bruce finally lifted his head to find a pair of sapphire eyes gazing at him with such love and warmth that he found he could scarcely breathe again for a completely different reason now. "Hi, handsome," she murmured with a weak smile.

"Hi," he softly replied.

She pulled her hand free from his hold to stroke his hair from his forehead. "Hey…don't look so sad."

"You have got to stop scaring me like this, princess," he sternly told her with a frown as he recaptured her hand to hold possessively in his.

"We won," she reminded him.

"And almost lost you and Dick in the process," he bitterly replied, unshed tears shining in his eyes.

"Not even close," she insisted, her eyelids heavy. "I don't go down easily and neither does Dick. He's a fighter. Besides, Donna won't let him get away with dying…especially not with twins on the way."

"She's pretty mad at him," Bruce admitted. "I have a feeling he's in for a scathing lecture when he wakes up."

"How's Tim? Is he okay?"

"He's out at that moment," he revealed with a frown. "Cassie is sitting with him."

Diana attempted to sit up, the blanket slipping off her, but was stopped by Bruce who was up and out of his chair in an instant. "Where do you think you're going?" he demanded to know, his eyebrows knitted with worry. "You are in no shape to be out of bed yet. You just had surgery."

"I need to check on my boys," she insisted as Bruce pulled the covers back up over her.

"Diana, you can't use your legs yet," he pointed out. "Besides, the boys are fine. Cassie is with Tim and Donna is with Dick. Jason, Artemis and Damian are upstairs, and Nick and Kaia are still asleep so there's nothing you can do right now except to rest."

Diana scowled as she averted her eyes in frustration. She hated being injured and forced to rest. "Fine," she reluctantly relented. "For now."

"You need to worry about you for once," he told her, moving to sit on the edge of her bed.

"You should talk," she said, her gaze falling on his wound. "Didn't even give Alfred a chance to bandage your wound after he stitched you up, did you?"

Bruce had the decency to look sheepish. "I didn't have the time to wait for him to do it."

"Bruce, what aren't you telling me?" she asked.

He drew a breath, releasing it slowly through his nose. "Tim woke up just after Leslie took you to surgery. We had to sedate him."

Tears blurred her vision as she gazed up at him. "We have to help him, Bruce…help him remember who he is and what he believes in."

"We will, Diana," he reassured her, leaning down to gently kiss her. "We'll find a way."

"Were they able to find an antidote at Joker's hideout?"

"We're still analyzing everything at this point," he replied. "Barbara is going to call us as soon as she finds anything."

"I wonder if maybe my lasso could help him."

"How so?"

"It's the Lasso of Truth," she explained. "It forces a person to speak only the truth. Maybe if I use it on Tim and force him to speak the truth, it will clear his mind of Joker's control."

"It's definitely worth a shot, but not now," he told her, a spark of hope springing anew in his heart now that they had an option that might work. "Tim's going to be out for hours and you need to rest. You lost a lot of blood. Are you able to feel your legs?"

"Not really…they feel dead," she admitted as she tried to move her legs only to find that she couldn't.

Bruce recognized the fear that flashed through her eyes, nearly overwhelmed with it himself. "It's all right, Diana," he reassured her, gently kissing her cheek. "Leslie thinks your advanced healing will repair the damage that Joker's bullet did to your spinal cord."

"I'm sure it will," she replied, trying to sound confident for Bruce's sake.

The corner of his lips lifted slightly as he caressed her cheek. "My memories came back," he told her.

Diana's brow furrowed as she stared at him disbelief. "How?"

He shook his head, uncertainty causing him to frown. "I don't know," he admitted. "Leslie told me about the damage to your spinal cord and I suddenly remembered Barbara being shot by Joker. They just all came like a waterfall after that."

"Your headache is gone too," she noted, relieved. "I can see it in your eyes."

"You think you know me so well," he groused with a mock glare that quickly melted away. "You need to rest."

"Stay with me," she softly requested, grimacing as she attempted to inch over on the medical bed to make room for him.

"Always, princess," he readily agreed as he carefully laid down beside her.

Diana turned her head and captured his lips, sharing a kiss that hinted at promises of more later as she teased his lower lip. His fingers slid into her hair as he returned her kiss, not wanting it to end, but knowing she needed to rest right now. He pressed his forehead against her cheekbone, releasing a ragged breath.

She sighed contentedly as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him, knowing this had been very difficult for him. "It's okay, Bruce," she softly reassured him. "It's over now."

"It's never really over, though…is it?" he asked her. "There's always going to be someone new to challenge us and try to destroy us. How do we keep fighting when everything seems so hopeless?"

"We rely on each other to be our source of strength and faith," she replied. "When you feel like you can't fight anymore, I'll fight for you and I know you'll do the same for me."

He chuckled softly, sighing as his forehead came to rest against her temple. "You always know the right things to say, don't you?"

"I am blessed by Athena," she reminded him as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Sleep, princess," he told her.

"Will you be here when I wake up?"

"I'll try, but I can't promise," he admitted, wishing he'd get an update from Jason. He needed to know that Tim hadn't sabotaged the manor.

"There's more going on that you're not telling me," she flatly stated, finding it difficult to keep her eyes open.

"I promise I'll tell you later," he swore. "Just worry about you right now. I need you with me."

"Always," she softly murmured.

He watched her as she quickly fall asleep once more, not wanting to think about what could be happening upstairs or that she might not walk again. He knew that Jason would contact him the second he found out something. He just hoped it was sooner rather than later.

Wayne Manor; October 2nd, 6:02 EST

"Find anything?" Jason whispered into his commlink, doing his best not to wake Nicholas who was still fast asleep with his beloved stuffed bunny clutched to his chest.

"No…nothing," Artemis whispered her response as she silently closed Kaia's bedroom door behind her. "Kaia's room is all clear."

"So is my room," Damian added.

"You checked your room first?" Artemis asked with a scowl as they met in the hallway.

"Hey, he hit me over the head and knocked me out," Damian groused. "I figured he'd try to take me out first."

"Tim doesn't hate you," Jason reminded him as he came to stand before them. "He's just not in his right mind right now."

"Yah, but how do you know that subconsciously he doesn't have it out for me, and those emotions are finally coming out now?" Damian demanded to know.

"I think you need your head checked too," Jason readily decided with a pointed glare.

"I'm going to check Bruce and Diana's room," Artemis said with a frown as she pushed past them.

"I'll check Tim's room," Jason announced.

"I'm going to go check my room again," Damian said as he turned to walk away.

Jason grabbed him by his cape, pulling him to an abrupt stop. "You can check your bedroom again later, Boy Wonder. Start checking the guest rooms."

"Fine," Damian grumbled as he stalked down the hallway with a disgruntled glower.

Jason went to Tim's room, opening the door and wondering what his brother had been up to in here that they'd had no idea about. Cassie had been with him the majority of the time, but she couldn't be with him every second of every day and neither could they.

What had happened in those precious few minutes when Cassie went to get him a drink or when one of them had left to get him something to eat…when they left him for a little while because he was sleeping?

They had granted him a small measure of trust despite their suspicions and now they were quite possibly paying for it.

Jason began looking through the dresser drawers, hoping to find something soon so they could set all of their minds at ease. He couldn't help wondering if maybe Tim had said that just to frighten them and send them on a wild goose chase. At the same time, he knew that they couldn't take the risk.

Finding nothing but clothes, he moved on to the closet. Sliding the door open, he began rifling through his clothes, discovering several Batarangs and other weapons. He wasn't completely surprised by the finding, knowing that Tim always wanted to be prepared for anything no matter where he was…even if it was in his own bedroom. He wanted to be able to protect their little brother and sister if an attack ever occurred inside the manor.

He chuckled softly, deciding that Bruce's paranoia had definitely rubbed off on Timothy Drake. He was certain that Artemis would find a whole arsenal of weapons in Bruce and Diana's bedroom. At least he didn't have to worry about Nicholas and Kaia being protected if someone did manage to get past Bruce's security system that surpassed Fort Knox.

Closing the closet door, he moved on to the bedside table, pulling the draw open to find a couple of books and charging cords as well as various other things that didn't equate to anything dangerous. Grabbing a pack of gum from the drawer, he pulled out a piece and popped it into his mouth before closing it.

"Okay, Timmy," he said to himself, his hands finding his hips as he looked around the bedroom. "What have you been up to?"

"Let's see what you're hiding under your bed."

Jason got down on his knees, flipping the bedspread up and finding a box under the bed. He pulled it out with a frown, panic spiking as he peered inside. "Definitely not a secret collection of Playboy magazines," he grumbled as he tapped his commlink. "Bruce, found a partial bomb under Tim's bed. Disposing of it now."

"Are Nicholas and Kaia okay?"

"Yah, they're good," he confirmed.

"Keep me posted if you find anything more."

"Roger that."

Jason carefully picked up the box before making his way to the doorway of Tim's bedroom. Entering the hallway, he was greeted by Artemis. "What did you find?"

"Timmy's been busy," Jason stated. "He was building a bomb, but thankfully he wasn't able to finish it. Did you find anything in Bruce and Diana's room?"

"It's all clear," she informed him. "Let's get rid of that thing before we check out the rest of the manor."

"I have a feeling this is as far as he got," Jason suggested. "We would've known it if he was roaming about the manor, but we should check out the rest of the house just to be safe. Don't want Nicholas or Kaia finding a bomb to play with."

Batcave; October 2nd, 12:34 EST

"Cassie," Tim murmured her name as the sedative finally wore off.

"I'm right here," she reassured him, tightening her hold on his hand.

Tim tried to move to find that he was completely strapped down with no where to go. "Cassie, let me go…please," he pleaded with her, keeping his anger from reaching his voice. "I promise you it's really me."

"I wish I could believe you," she replied. "I really want you to be yourself again, but I know that you're not. You're still under Joker's control."

Tim growled low in his throat, his frustration palpable. "Cass, I'm telling you the truth," he insisted. "Let me go and I'll prove to you that I'm really me."

"Tim, we found the bomb under your bed that you were making," she told him. "What were you going to do? Blow up the manor?"

Tim tilted his head back, laughing hysterically. "The manor goes boom!"

"And what about your family?" she pressed him, furious with the way that Joker had brainwashed him. "What about Nicholas and Kaia?"

"Nick and Kaia?" he softly repeated, swallowing hard as tears suddenly brimmed in his eyes. "Are…are they okay?"

"They're safe, Tim," she told him. "They really miss their big brother Tim. They want him to play with them."

"I miss them," he murmured as he desperately tried to fight the affects of Joker's drug on his mind. "I love them. My family means everything to me."

"I know they do, Tim," she told him. "That's why we want you back with us where you belong."

"I'm so sorry, Cassie," he murmured as tears escaped his eyes. "I would never hurt any of you."

"We know," she assured him. "We just want you to be well again."

"Help me…please," he begged. "I don't want to hurt anyone. Keep me from hurting someone."

"Diana had an idea," she replied. "We're going to use her Lasso of Truth to see if it can help you."

Like a light switch being flipped, an eerie grin spread across his face as a dark gleam filled his eyes to replace his tears. "I'm too far gone, Cass!" he crowed, laughing again. "I'm the new Joker!"

"Okay, Tim," Donna said as she approached with Diana's Lasso of Truth in hand. "Time to exorcise the Joker out of you."

"You can't touch me!" he yelled, trying to kick and jerk his way free. Unfortunately, he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. "I will take you all out!"

"Tim, don't fight it," Cassie told him as she stroked his cheek. "We just want to help you."

"I told you I don't need help," he seethed.

Bruce stood a few feet back, watching intently and silently hoping that this worked. If this didn't work, he had no other ideas left. Maybe Zatanna would be able to do something, but he wasn't sure that her magic would even work in a situation like this.

"Get away from me!" Tim screamed as Donna drew closer to him.

"We love you, Tim," she told him. "My twins are going to want their Uncle Tim to play with them. I already have you and Cassie picked as my babysitters."

"The twins?" he murmured, momentarily calming down.

"Just a few more months before they're finally here," she replied as she carefully looped the golden lasso around his wrist. "Dick and I were thinking of making you their godparent."

"Really…their godparent?" he whispered as tears pricked his eyes once more.

"Yes," she confirmed as she tightened the loop on the lasso. "Tim, tell me the truth. Do you belong with us…your family who loves you and cares about you or with the Joker?"

Tim began to shake his head, gritting his teeth as he struggled and fought against the magical power of the lasso. He cried out as the lasso glowed brightly. "You…I belong with my…my family," he choked out as sweat broke out across his brow.

"Are you Joker's partner or Batman's?"

Bruce held his breath as they waited for him to answer. It was obvious that Tim was fighting a great battle inside of his mind, one that was causing him immense pain. He wanted to stop it, but he knew they had to do this in order to save him.

"I…I'm…I'm Batman's partner," he yelled, his chest heaving as he sucked in air.

"Do you want to hurt us?" Donna demanded to know.

"No!" he screamed. "Never! I love all of you…you're my family!"

"Tim, the Lasso of Truth compels you to tell the truth," Donna firmly stated. "Tim, are you really you now?"

"Y…yes," he gasped. "I'm me again. I hate the Joker. I want him gone forever."

"Do you want to serve Joker?"

"No…please no," he cried as tears streamed down his face. "I'm so sorry…I'm sorry. Please…please, forgive me."

Bruce quickly made his way towards Tim's bed as Donna began to remove the lasso from his wrist. He swiftly removed the straps holding his son down. Tim instantly flew up, wrapping his arms around Bruce. "Please…I'm so sorry," he sobbed as he buried his face in the crook of his father's neck. "I…I never meant to hurt any of you. I tried so hard to fight it."

Bruce enveloped him in his arms, holding him close as he swallowed back his own tears. "It's okay, Tim," he reassured him. "We know it wasn't you. It's not your fault."

"I'm so sorry," Tim wept, his entire body shaking uncontrollably. "Is mom okay?"

"She will be," he reassured him. "She's been so worried about you."

"I never meant…to hurt her," he told him between gasping sobs. "I…I couldn't stop myself."

Cassie and Donna silently cried as they watched Bruce hold Tim, relief overwhelming all of them now that they finally had their Tim back where he belonged. Unfortunately, no one had any idea the depths of the emotional and mental scars that he would carry within him after what he'd endured at the hands of the Joker.

Only time would truly tell.

A/N: I LOVE how this chapter turned out! It's what I had pictured when I first started this fic.

UP NEXT: One more chapter to wrap this one up! The sequel Family Crisis will take place several months later. I can't tell you anything about the sequel only because I can't decide which direction I'm going to go. I have three different plots to choose from.

Hope you're all staying safe. Have a happy Easter weekend! :)