This was not how Tim had hoped things would go. It had started well enough: the guards had been distracted at the cost of a few broken ribs on Jason's part, the second they opened the room where Talia was being held she'd barrelled out the room, refrained from shooting them in the head with a gun she'd somehow acquired and disappeared into the woods. That had all gone well or at least as well as could be expected. The problem had come when they'd moved onto the next part of the plan: eliminating Joker and the warehouse once and for all. He'd been ready for them. five steps ahead the whole time, probably been watching their every move since they'd gotten into the forest. They'd laid the explosives and set the timers no problem but then the doors had all slammed closed, and all the locks had engaged. Joker, his only visible weapon a crowbar strolled into the room, trailed by ten of his mooks, all with semiautomatics.

Next to Tim, Jason giggled, slightly hysterical. "I warned you, didn't I? I…" Jason coughed roughly, cutting himself off.

Tim rubbed Jason's back awkwardly. Broken ribs were rough. You could fight through them, but it wasn't a good time.

"My naughty little prodigal Robin and his funny red replacement," Joker exclaimed. "I wasn't sure exactly what I would catch when I baited this trap, but this isn't a bad haul. It's not Batsy, but not a bad haul at all. Now the question is just what to do with you."

"You can send me to hell for all I care, just as long as you come with," Jason choked out.

"Oh, that's sweet, my lost little Robin and I together forever."

Jason shuddered but nodded. "Might as well let the replacement go though. Send him back to Gotham to tell everyone what happened, right?"

Joker laughed. "Oh, but why would I settle for just one birdie when I've got two in the hand? I know we have a history together, but I don't see why we can't include one more in our special little relationship. I brought the crowbar for old time's sake."

Tim tried not to shiver. Joker was scary in a way very few of the criminals he faced were.

Jason nodded. "Fine, it's only fair that I'm first."

"Well I wouldn't want you to get jealous," Joker said, his grin stretching even wider as he approached with the crowbar.

"I'm buying you time, moron," Jason whispered to Tim. "Don't you dare waste it. And I'm keeping him busy until… the end."

Tim nodded (probably only ten minutes left before detonation) and tried not to look as the crowbar collided with the side of his brother's head, shattering the mask he was wearing.

Tim tried to block out the sounds of the strikes and whimpers next to him. There was a window to his left. Impossible to tell the thickness of the glass, but it was his best shot. He knew they were on the second floor but he could handle the drop, or he could do something better.

Tim dove at the window. He could hear the spray of gunfire as he leapt, and the shatter of breaking glass. Mid air he rotated, firing his grappling gun at the roof and praying it would grip onto to something. He got lucky.

Relatively concealed on top of the warehouse he paused to catch his breath and consider his next move. He had a feeling that Jason wasn't expecting a rescue. But that was just too bad because Tim didn't leave people behind, regardless of if they wanted it, or even if they deserved it. Tim could hear Joker's men searching the surrounding area. Peering out, he tried to get a count of how many were out there. At least five. Tim wondered how many were still left with Joker. Impossible to say. Reinforcements could have been called in. It didn't matter anyway. Tim wasn't worrying about the odds of success, some things just had to be done. Only around five minutes left. He couldn't spend too much time congratulating himself on his morality.

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