A/N Well, I'd hoped to get this up early to make up for the long waits, but... that didn't happen. Anyways, it's here now and I hope you all enjoy!

As always, a special thanks to both Purplehood and Meritt for all their help and support.

Warnings for language, violence and some peril.

XxX

Looking back on it now, Dick really shouldn't have been surprised that the day had all gone to hell the way it had, but, in his defense, he hadn't expected such a simple thing as going out for ice cream to end so disastrously.

For what had to be the hundredth time in less than half as many minutes, Dick tested his bonds.

Nothing.

Go figure.

He grunted in frustration, lips curling into a snarl.

Why did they have to tie this so freaking tight?

"Dick?"

Dick glanced up at his name, trying and failing to smile reassuringly at his little brother.

Jason was seated across from him, at the other side of the room, his arms twisted back and bound behind the chair in much the same way as Dick.

"Hey, Little Wing." The nickname slipped out before Dick had much time to think about it, but, under these circumstances, Jason didn't seem to care. "Look, I… I'm gonna get us out of this, okay?" He flexed his fingers, striving for the knot. His fingers tips brushed against it. Barely. "It's just gonna take a while."

"Where are they?" Jason asked, ignoring Dick's comment and cutting straight to the point. "I haven't seen them."

"They" being the men responsible for grabbing the two of them. There were at least three by Dick's count. Masks, they were definitely all male… although… there was the driver. Had the driver been a female?

Dick really hadn't gotten a look.

Everything was already blurring together in his head.

And so far, since waking up in this barely furnished room, they hadn't seen any of them.

Dick found that only slightly worrisome.

He really had no idea how long it had been since they'd woken up in here, but… if they were looking at a kidnapping for ransom, then surely they'd have wanted to make their demands by now. And, knowing Bruce, he wasn't going to cave to anyone's demands unless he knew that both of them were safe.

Which meant that someone should have should have come in here now, handing out death threats and the evil eye while thrusting a phone at them.

But no one had.

It was likely they were letting Bruce stew, make him worry before making a phone call, make him more anxious, more willing to pay, but they were doing an awfully good job of letting them stew.

"Who knows? I don't think anyone told them they're required to make a villain speech. Or at least gloat," Dick said, trying to make light of a situation there really was no making light of. He'd have shrugged had the position he was in, not made the movement extremely uncomfortable.

"Bad guys actually do that?" Jason asked. He… he almost would have sounded amused had it not been for the faint tremor in his voice.

Jason was scared.

As much as he was trying to hide it, putting on a brave front much like Dick's, he was scared.

The realization made him work harder at striving to get his fingers on the knot. He'd been kidnapped before. Sure, that didn't make it any less unpleasant or any less scary, but he'd been in situations like this one before and he'd always gotten out of them, more or less unharmed.

And at the very least, the ones who'd grabbed them didn't seem like they were the type to hold a knife to your face and describe the ways in which they would kill you if ransom wasn't paid.

But Jason… Jason had never been in a situation like this.

Sure, he'd likely been in some pretty tough scrapes on the street, the knowledge making Dick clench his fists behind his back, but never something like this.

Kidnapped, with nothing keeping you alive but the fact that they wouldn't get their money if you were anything else.

It was a truly horrifying situation.

The closest… he realized the closest to this that he was aware of had been that time Jason had slipped out his window and wandered the streets of Gotham for several hours before he and Batman had found him at the mercy of a group of street thugs.

Jason had been scared then too.

Dick had seen it. Seen it and felt it for himself. He had been scared that night too. Scared of losing the kid who'd become his little brother in just about every sense of the word.

Jason might have spent a good portion of life living on those streets and he might have an impressively convincing brave front at times, but damn it all if he wasn't still just a twelve-year-old kid. One who'd just been snatched off the streets by a bunch of strangers and one who had no idea how the day was going to end.

"Jason," he said, his voice softer now, more gentle. "We can get out of this. See? Just feel for the knot and work on it. It will eventually come loose."

Jason squirmed, his expression telling Dick that he was giving it a try. He hissed in frustration, several creases appearing between his eyebrows.

"Just keep working it," Dick encouraged, keeping his voice low. He didn't know if the kidnappers would be able to hear them, didn't even know where they were, and he didn't want to risk raising his voice any more than he had to. "It'll work." Even as he said this, he could feel his own fingers catching a hold on the cord and began to work at getting it loose. It would be long and tedious work and would likely leave his fingers stiff and painfully sore, but if he could get them out of here…

"Dick," Jason said softly, catching his brother's attention. "When do you think… I mean…"

The sound of a slamming cut off whatever he had been about to voice and he snapped his mouth shut.

Dick immediately found his senses on hyper-alert, straining to listen, to catch anything that might be going on outside their little prison and, with the new arrival of their captors, he felt a sense of dread he had been able to block out until now.

"… say we go in there now."

No. No, no, no.

There was a murmured response, something that Dick couldn't quite catch.

"…call now." The first voice. "Make 'em talk to the old man."

Bruce.

He was probably out of his mind by now, swearing the dark vengeance of the Batman upon whoever had dared to lay a hand on his sons, but knowing that the Batman couldn't take action until after dark.

And Alfred, Alfred keeping vigil with Bruce, waiting for that inevitable phone call, true feelings hidden beneath that ever present stoicism.

Dick swallowed.

The second voice answered again, before Loudmouth cut in, this time his words inaudible.

The voice was accompanied by heavy footfalls, which crossed the room, before the speaker seated himself on some creaky piece of furniture.

"Dick," Jason whispered. "They're not coming! They're not going to let us talk to Bruce!"

Dick found himself surprised by his desperate vehemence, but at the same time he understood it, remembering his own terror during his first kidnapping, how it was hearing Bruce's voice over the phone that kept him anchored.

A laugh, high and feminine sounded on the other side of the door. The driver, he realized.

And then another sound cut in and Dick realized they had turned on the television. They were watching TV.

They were out there, laughing and watching TV as if they hadn't just kidnapped two children, less than three hours earlier. As if they weren't just criminals.

"Keep working at the knot," Dick whispered back.

Jason glanced uncertainly at the door, before looking back at Dick. Dick noticed he was biting his bottom lip hard enough that it was already starting to lose its color.

"Jason," Dick said, fighting to keep his composure, even as he felt his own heart racing, "Think about what we know about them…" He allowed his eyes to roam the expanse of the room, taking in every detail. A ratty old carpet that, if he had to hazard a guess, had once been a dark blue, but was now a washed out gray. An old cot, most likely useless to everyone at this point. And, most intriguingly, the window. Old, the panes covered in mold, the one is lower left corner shattered, only a few jagged shards of glass remaining.

Yes, a window was definitely a very good thing.

"There are four of them," Jason said. "Three men, the ones who grabbed us. The driver, she's a… a woman."

"Yeah." Dick winced as he felt the rope chafing his wrists, but kept working. "And they're not guarding us. They're…"

"…not expecting us to be any trouble," Jason finished his sentence for him.

"Exactly." Dick grinned, glad to see his brother back. "And they've left the two of us alone."

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Four hours! It had been four hours. Bruce slammed his fist on his desk growling in fury, before sinking down into his chair with a low groan. "Four hours…"he moaned.

"Sir," Alfred asked, approaching, "might I inquire if there has been any word yet regarding the young masters?"

"None," Bruce answered grimly. He stood and, with one sweeping motion, knocked the papers and books from his desk, while Alfred watch. "Damn it!" he ground out. "Damnit! I shouldn't have let them go out alone. I should have been with them!" But he hadn't. He'd let them go. He'd trusted them. And now some bastard out there had his son. "I should have allowed for the possibility that something like this would happen."

"Master Bruce, please," Alfred reasoned, his pained expression giving away his own worry and helplessness, "neither boy is helpless and Master Richard is quite the responsible young lad. It was perfectly reasonable for you to allow them a bit of freedom. And need I remind you that it has been two years since his last abduction. You could not possibly have foreseen this."

Bruce shook his head, clenching his fists. "No," he muttered. "There's no excuse for letting my guard down. None of that matters. Not if the boys don't…" He stopped himself from going any further, unwilling to put a voice to his dark thoughts. Alfred pursed his lips, already aware of where his employer's thoughts were headed.

"Master Bruce," Alfred placed a comforting hand on the man's shoulder, "you have never failed the boys up to this point. I find it highly unlikely that you will begin to now. And need I remind you that Master Gordon has promised that his men are already doing all they can?"

Bruce growled, clenching his teeth. "It's still six hours before Batman can join the search." He wouldn't be happy until he himself could be out there searching for his boys.

"And the boys will be home long before then," Alfred said firmly. "But it will not help either of the young masters if you are off chasing dead ends when the… when that dreadful call comes." Because the call would come.

Anything else would mean that ransom was not the motive.

Anything else was unthinkable.

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"The broken glass." Dick gestured with his head towards the jagged edges of glass in the broken windowpane, even though he knew Jason's position would make it difficult for him to see it.

Jason twisted his head, trying to get a better look. "I see it, " he whispered.

"It's not that high." If he were standing, he'd guess it would only reach his waist. "If you can reach it, you'd be able to use it to cut the ropes."

Jason planted his feet on the carpet and pushed back, trying to slide his chair closer to the window. "Whoa!" Instead, his eyes grew wide as he felt the chair tilting backwards and he quickly leaned forward to avoid taking a very painful trip to the floor.

He winced as the impact jarred his bound arms.

"Careful!" Dick hissed, an uncomfortable mixture of irritation, amusement and hysteria churning in his gut.

"Okay, Mom!" Jason snarked, but he moved more cautiously this time, pressing his feet against the carpeted floor and slowly inching his chair backwards.

He was nearly there, shooting a Dick a look of victory, when…

Slam!

The door burst open and Dick felt his muscles stiffen almost involuntarily. Jason, on the other hand, froze, mouth agape in an expression of complete and utter panic.

If he noticed that Jason had moved… If he saw the broken pane of glass… If he realized what they had been doing…

Please, no.

The man moved into Dick's line of sight and Dick drew a stuttering breath, feeling the fear he'd fought to repress return in full.

The man was big, broad chested and tall, features hidden beneath a black ski mask.

Okay, so they weren't totally amateurs, he thought, ridiculously, given the circumstances.

The man's eyes, a cold, pale blue beneath the mask, narrowed. "Drink," he commanded.

Dick blinked, taking a moment to register what it was exactly that this man was commanding him to do. "Wh-wha?"

"Drink!" With surprising swiftness, the man grasped his hair, tugging his head back harshly. Dick's breath hitched as his throat was exposed, but before he could lash out, kick, do anything, something was forced between his teeth. Dick's eyes widened, but before he could jerk his head away, he felt something completely rejuvenating slip down his throat.

Water.

It was lukewarm, but it might as well have been the best he'd ever tasted.

All too soon, the man yanked it away, before turning to Jason and delivering the same treatment.

Jason coughed as the water bottle was yanked away, struggling to regain his breath.

"Call," he gasped out when he finally had. "You need to call!"

The man hesitated, already halfway towards leaving the room and something in this gave Dick hope.

Maybe they could talk to him. Convince him somehow that this is wrong. That he doesn't have to do this.

He's had that conversation countless times with the criminal lowlifes on Gotham's streets, though never from the position of the victim.

Ever the optimist, his inner voice mocked him and he pushed it down, choosing, for the moment, to ignore it.

"You…" No, it was coming out all wrong, all funny and choked up, like he was having trouble speaking. "You don't have to do this," he said and the man's eyes were instantly on him. "You can…"

Can what? Let them go? It really didn't seem likely.

He swallowed, twisting his wrists in their bonds to no avail.

"No," the man agreed, but there was nothing reassuring in his voice, "I don't have to do any of this, but don't kid yourself, boy. There are people who will do anything for the money."

"So why both of us?" Dick tried again, his voice stronger now. "You only need one. Bruce will still pay. You can let him go." He nodded his head towards Jason.

"Dick!" Jason snapped suddenly. "What are you…?"

"Trying to be a hero?" The man snorted. He shook his head. "Take my advice and don't waste your breath kid. Neither one of you is leaving this place. Not until Wayne pays up."

"You say that," Dick accused, "but have you even contacted him? Or are you just content to let us sit here and rot?" What he was saying was stupid, really stupid, he realized. He was pretty much goading the man, but he couldn't bring himself to care. This man had dared to take him and his little brother, had dared think he could use them for money.

"You never win," Jason sneered, speaking up for the first time. Maybe following Dick's example. "The bad guys never win. You slip up. You do something stupid. You lose. That's how it goes. You know it. I know it. We all know it."

The man's attention was all on Jason now. "No," he said, reaching out and grasping Jason's chin between his thumb and forefinger. He tilted his head back, forcing him to look him in the eyes. "Those are a child's words."

"Don't touch him!" Furious, Dick struggled unsuccessfully to break free.

Blue Eyes ignored him and his grip on Jason's face remained. "No… the bad guys do not always lose," he snarled. "Because the cops… and those costumed freaks they support… they can't save everyone."

Dick watched the emotions flicker across Jason's face.

No, they couldn't. No matter how much they wished they could.

Jason had been on the streets far too long to not know that.

Blue Eyes released Jason's chin and the boy instantly dropped his gaze, glaring sullenly at the floor. The man backed away a step, satisfied.

A voice called to him from outside the room… one of his comrades. The woman's voice. She wouldn't step in. Only one of them at a time.

Was there supposed to be some sort of advantage in that?

Dick didn't know.

The man took a moment, meeting Dick's gaze steadfastly as the boy glared at him.

Then he was gone.

"Jason?"

"He's still gonna get his butt kicked," Jason muttered, assuring Dick that regardless of what had been said, he still had his spirit.

"No doubt about it," Dick agreed slowly. "Are you… okay?"

Jason snorted and looked away. "Yeah. Fine." Tone suggesting he was anything but.

"Ja…" Dick started, unconvinced, but Jason was already working to cut through his ropes. The word died before leaving his mouth.

Jason grimaced, no doubt due to the discomfort his attempts were causing him.

Then, he gave a small cry of triumph and his hands were free.

He turned victoriously towards Dick, face shining, and Dick couldn't deny it when he felt his own heart soar.

They were getting out of this.

Jason stood, attempting to take a step towards Dick, and stumbled. He caught himself on the edge of the chair, hissing in surprise.

"Careful," Dick whispered. His fists clenched behind him as his stomach lurched. Any noise might bring Blue Eyes or one of his cohorts here to check on them. And if someone did come and found Jason loose… Dick felt his jaw tighten.

That couldn't happen.

Jason climbed unsteadily to his feet.

"How are you feeling?" Dick asked.

Jason groaned, making his way to Dick. "Stiff."

He moved behind Dick and Dick could feel him tugging on the knots. 'Should've grabbed one of the shards," he muttered.

"You'd have cut yourself trying to get one." Dick flinched as Jason's finger slipped, nicking his wrist with his fingernail.

"Did they have to tie it so damn tight?" Jason swore under his breath, right before Dick felt something loosen. "Wait, I got it!" Hurried hands were at his wrists, pulling and tugging, and suddenly, he was free!

He rubbed his wrists, trying to get circulation back, shoulders aching.

"Now what?" Jason whispered, as Dick forced himself to stand up, grimacing as his muscles protested painfully. Dick didn't miss the way Jason eyes the door as if someone is about to come bursting in on them.

The door was out for sure, but… his gaze fell upon the window.

The window was old, the frame falling apart.

And… he was pretty sure this was the second story.

He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself, readying himself for what had to be done.

And then he slammed his foot into the glass.

There was a shout from outside the room and Dick realized they only had a few seconds.

"Jason, go!" Dick grabbed his brother's arm, not bothering to be gentle, and yanked him forward, shoving him towards the window.

"But…!" Jason stared at him incredulously, even as he was thrust forward, as he climbed up onto the sill, avoiding the glass as best he could.

Dick offered what he really hoped was a reassuring smile. "Do you really think I won't follow you out?"

"There's a fire escape," Jason gasped out.

The door crashed open behind them.

"Stop!"

Dick didn't even bother to turn around. "Go!" He gave his brother a shove, knowing he wasn't going to be able to keep his promise. He wasn't going to be able to follow him out.

His brother cried out and a large crash sounded beneath the window.

Dick was just able to catch a glimpse of him, before hands grasped his shoulders, his wrists, and he felt himself pulled back away from the window.

"Dick!" Jason shouted, voice frantic as he realized Dick was not coming after him.

No!

Jason couldn't be caught again. And that is what would inevitably happen should Jason try to return for him out of a sense of loyalty.

He only had time for one word before he was dragged completely away from the window.

"RUN!"