So, I was really excited for this chapter, so I actually sat down and wrote it. It also helped that I don't have any tests this week after hell week last week. That was nice :)

Just an acknowledgement: thank you to TSRowenwood for being my test bunny for this beginning part way back when. Yes, I did copy most of that, I just tweaked it a bit. Hope you like what happens after though!

A note- I suck at fight scenes. For those of you expecting an epic battle between Renegade and Joker... sorry about this. I cheated and did it from the perspective of Tim, who's just been tortured and is half unconscious, so I could get away with making it vague and blurry. Again, I apologize to those of you who wanted a decent description of the battle.

And that's it! So... read!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Can't think of something funny.

Slade shrugged. "Joker kidnapped him." He answered. "Apparently, he's a bit ticked off at Batman for ignoring him, and he's gotten jealous of how all the villains seem to be passing on their legacies through protégées and apprentices… he wants his own, and decided to kill two birds with one stone."

Renegade dropped his fork.

"WHAT?!" Renegade all but shouted. Slade shot him an odd look. "Joker kidnapped Batman's latest bird."

"Yes, yes I heard that. But you said he…" Words failed the young man. Slade raised an eyebrow at the odd behavior. "Intends to make him his own protégée, apprentice, follower- take your pick." He clarified. Honestly, he didn't see the big deal here. It was Batman's third Robin; one had disappeared, on had died, it didn't take much imagination to think of what the third one would go through, if the trend continued. However, Renegade seemingly didn't share his blasé opinion.

"Like hell." Renegade muttered, and made to get up from the table. Slade stopped him.

"What do you think you're doing?" He asked, honestly curious. Surely he didn't intend to do what Slade thought he did?

Yes, he was, as Slade found out with the next sentence. "To help him before Joker messes him up." Renegade said plainly. Slade just started at him for a moment before leaning back and sighing.

"Renegade, you're not a hero anymore. You can't just go running off to help them, especially if it ruins another villain's plans. Understand?"

"Screw being a hero, this isn't what this is about Slade! Joker's caused us enough pain already, like hell I'm going to let something like this happen!"

"Regardless, you can't just-" Slade started, but Renegade cut him off.

"Look, let me go help him, please. I'll wear your uniform, I'll tell you why this is so important, you can come chaperone, hell, I'll use a gun to do it! Just let me help."

Slade blinked. He'd use a gun?! Renegade had flat out refused to use a gun outside of the training couse, no matter what Slade had offered in return. And now he was offering to use one, on the Joker no less, to help Batman's sidekick.

That was what told him that even though he didn't quite understand what was going on, this was really, really important to Renegade. Who was he to stand in the young man's way, especial if he could get Nightwing to use a gun and take another step towards fully becoming a villain?

"…Fine." Slade finally said. "But you're explaining on the way."

"Yes!" Renegade leaped up from the table and ran towards the door. "Come on! There's no way I'm leaving my brother with him for longer than I have to!"

"HE'S YOUR BROTHER!?"

Well. That had been unexpected… and yet it explained so much.

Renegade had rushed Slade into the car in about 5 minutes, including time to change into uniforms and grab gear. True to his word, Renegade only carried a gun rather than his usual plethora of weapons. Slade was pleased to see how naturally he had handled it, prepping it with barely a thought while panicking over his brother. Progress.

They had a short drive to Gotham, and Slade fully intended to take advantage of every moment.

"Robin is your brother." He stated. Renegade nodded, giving him a did my words not make that clear? look.

"By blood?" Slade asked uncertainly. They didn't seem too much alike, but that didn't matter since Renegade shook his head.

"Adopted." He said shortly. "Same with Jay- Red-X."

Slade's eyebrows shot up incredulously. "Red-X was a Robin?" He had trouble believing that. The thief was just so far from a Robin… and besides, weren't only two of the Robins alive, including the current one? Did that mean that Renegade wasn't a Robin? Renegade picked up on his thoughts.

"We both were." He explained quietly. "X was the second one. Yes, X died- turns out Ra's is fonder of us Robins than you would think."

Slade nodded thoughtfully. That explained the behavior at the meeting with the al Ghuls. And the behavior with Red-X- they certainly acted like brothers. He opted to pursue another avenue of questioning rather than those thoughts.

"So that's why the League is paying so much attention to this."

Renegade shrugged. "I was the original sidekick, the baby of the League. They all watched me grow up- it's natural to assume that they're just a hint attached to me." There was a slightly sarcastic edge to his voice. He was understandably a bit on edge, you know, because his little brother had been kidnapped by a psychopath dressed as a clown.

Slade blinked. "You…. you were the first Robin." He realized. Renegade rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath, but Slade was too busy appreciating the irony of the situation to notice. Turns out that the two candidates for his apprenticeship were one and the same, which meant that Renegade had caught his eye two separate times in two completely different settings years apart. If that didn't mean that he was the perfect apprentice for Slade, he didn't know what did. This only made him more determined to hang on to his apprentice, which of course was why he was going along with Renegade. Everything was going right, up 'till now, and now he and the heroes were on semi-even footing, knowledge wise, and he would do his very best to have everything keep going right.

Slade and Renegade crouched on the ledge overhanging the room where the Joker currently was monologuing to a bound Robin on a lab table about how they 'were going to be a family, little JJ, don't you worry, just as soon as you break!' and so on. Renegade frowned as he looked over at his brother; Tim wasn't looking very good. He was obviously in pain and tired, but had stayed strong up until then. Joker had had him for three days already, and Renegade shuddered to imagine the type of tortures he'd been through.

That was all going to end now.

He withdrew from the edge somewhat and glanced at Slade. "So, are you here to help, or just to watch?" He asked. Slade thought for a moment.

"Watch." He decided. "It wouldn't do for me to been seen fighting him." Not to mention the fact that he wanted to be able to enjoy watching Renegade use a gun in the field for the first time, rather than be distracted by fighting. Harley Quinn wasn't there, anyway, so Renegade didn't really need backup. Renegade nodded and opened his mouth to respond when he was distracted by a distinct lack of monologuing, replaced instead with insane laughter as Joker skipped over to a console and pulled a lever.

Electricity arced through wires onto the table where Tim was. Tim screamed in pain.

Renegade threw a swift glance at Slade before getting up and striding quickly to the edge of the ledge again. He pulled out the gun and aimed at the console, pulling the trigger once. The bullet slammed into the screen and short circuited the computer, making the electricity stop. Robin slumped against the restraints, half unconscious. Joker looked around for the gunman, spotting Renegade just as he flipped off the ledge into the room, gun still in hand.

"Well, that wasn't nice." Joker pouted. "Who are you?" Without waiting for an answer, he pulled out some laughing gas bombs.

Robin tried to lift his head somewhat to see what was going on. He could just barely make out the two figures through his blurry vision. His vision cleared enough to see the strange man fighting the Joker. After a few moments of what looked like hand-to-hand fighting, the man evaded a flag shot from Joker's gag gun and decided to use his own gun. He pulled the trigger on his gun again and shoot the Joker in first one leg, then the other, while dodging mini gas bombs and other attacks. Evidently, his aim had been good despite the distractions as the Joker collapsed, clutching at his legs. The man holstered the gun and walked over to the Joker, kneeling down next to him.

"Next time, you might want to think before kidnapping my brother." He hissed. Robin's eyes widened. Jason?

Joker let out a wheezy laugh. "Boy Blunder! Where have you been? I've missed you! This new one isn't nearly as fun as you were." He cocked his head to the side. "Since when do the Boy Blunders use guns?"

The man narrowed his eyes and stood up. "We don't usually, but I made an exception. Don't you feel special?" He kicked the Joker in the leg before hauling him up by his collar and punching him in the jaw, knocking him out. He unceremoniously dropped the clown and glanced up to the ledge before hurrying to Robin. He quickly undid the restraints and caught him as Robin slid to the ground. Robin tried to stand, but his legs wouldn't hold his weight and he collapsed against the man.

"Who-?" He managed to croak out through a throat rough from screaming.

"Shh." The man- Jason?- said, slowly lowering him to the ground. "It's ok, Timmy, I'm here now." Robin squinted up at the man. His brain refused to function and tell him who the man was. The man must have sensed this and his lips quirked up in a smile. "Don't recognize me in my new duds?" He teased, then he looked back up at the ledge. "Do you have a water-bottle up there or something?" He called. Robin looked in the direction that the man was looking. His eyes widened as a man dressed in black and orange nimbly jumped down with a water bottle in hand.

"Thanks." The man holding him said, taking the water bottle and opening it before putting it to Robin's lips. Robin gulped down about half the water before pushing it away. His gaze returned to the second man who had retreated to the other end of the room once he had handed over the water bottle. "That's-" Robin coughed and cleared his throat. "That's Slade." He whispered. He looked up at the man still supporting him. On closer inspection, he didn't look much like Jason, which meant… "Dick?" He whispered. The man glanced over at Slade to make sure that he wasn't watching them and then pulled up his mask a little to reveal Dick's blue eyes. "It's me, little bird." He confirmed. "And yes, I'm sill kidnapped- I made another deal."

A sudden fear overwhelmed Robin. "What did you give up?" He asked. Dick looked at him and shook his head. "Doesn't matter. We got to you before Joker could do much harm, that's the important thing." Renegade evaded. Before Robin could respond, Renegade gently released him and turned to Slade. "Toss me my bag?" He requested. Slade complied and tossed it to him. Renegade caught it and rummaged inside for a moment before pulling out a Bat-communicator. Slade raised an eyebrow. "Did I know you had that?" He asked mildly. Renegade shrugged. "You didn't know to look for it, and if I gave it to you before it would have raised some awkward questions. Namely, why I had one if I supposedly hated Batman and the League. So I didn't tell you."

He fiddled with the back of it for a moment before looking up at Slade. "Once I reactivate the GPS, we'll have to leave quickly." He stated. Slade nodded and began to gather up their stuff. Renegade hesitated and then knelt back next to Robin. "Once I activate this, Batman will be here within minutes. You'll be alright." He said quietly. "Say hi to him for me?"

Robin's eyes widened in slight panic. "You're not staying until he come? I thought…" I thought you were coming home. Renegade smiled sadly and shook his head. "Sorry, Timmy." He whispered. "I told you, I'm still kidnapped. The deal I made included me returning with Slade immediately." He gave his little brother one last hug before getting up. He stopped again and opened his mouth as though he was about to say something, but Slade interrupted him.

"Renegade." He called. Renegade glanced over at him and nodded.

"Bye, little bird." He whispered, then activated the GPS on the communicator, hit the emergency button, dropped it near Robin, and disappeared with Slade.

Half a city away, Superman was briefing Batman about what had happened with the search for Nightwing while Batman had searched for Robin. Their conversation was interrupted, however, by a beep from the Batcomputer, signaling that the emergency button of a communicator had been pressed. Batman quickly brought up the GPS coordinates of the communicator and the details on which communicator it was while half-listening to Superman. His breath caught in his throat.

It was Dick's communicator.

He cut off what Superman was saying.

"That's Dick's comm. Lets go."

So, next chapter is Bats and Supes again with some Robin thrown in. Say 'aye' if you think I should put in Tim's perspective of the above scenes.

We're drawing close to the end, people. I've got to wrap up the end of the Tim thing and then we're going to the big rescue. If there's anything- anything at all- that you want to see, please tell me. I'm open to putting in some chapters between this and the rescue, I just need to know what you want! Even if you just want to see a specific hero/villain join the party.

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