Heheh, so I have a long story, but I'll explain at the bottom, for now though:

Where the balls have fanfiction put the line breaks now? Like, seriously, my life depends on those guys. I'm sure you can work out where the line breaks were meant to be though!

Dick's POV

Although Richard John Grayson hadn't always been accustomed to a life of wealth and comfort, he'd never been as rudely awakened as he was in that particular moment. This wake up call came in the gruff form of the man who had dumped him into the pickup that brought him here. The man fired a shot over Dick's head, effectively jolting him awake and almost giving him a heart attack.

Rather than scream in return, as most people would in that situation, Dick shot the man an offended look, and said, "So you didn't poison me after all."

Now that Dick's vision wasn't marred by yellow spots like it had been when he'd first met this guy, he could take in his appearance. He wore a strange mix of military fatigues, a leather jacket, and a black flack jacket. His sandy hair was swept over his brow, and he appeared to be about twenty years older than Dick, if not older.

"Of course not. We think of you as our guest." He flashed a sharp toothed grin, slid from the stainless steel interrogation table he had been sitting on, and stood over Dick.

"Do you shoot all your guests?" Dick tested his restraints that bonded him to the chair. A shooting pain reverberated through his side reminding him that he'd been shot, but it felt as though the bullet hadn't hit an artery. He'd be fine, as long as he got medical attention soon. "Wait, don't answer that. Who are you?"

"Silas." He answered simply, and seemed to take joy in Dick's obvious frustration.

"Who are you working for?" Dick asked instead, filtering out one of his many questions from the confusion buzzing in his mind.

"I'm not working for anyone. I am, however, working with a certain scientist. I provide the forces he needs for his experiment."

"Strange." The word forced itself from Dick's mouth. Hugo Strange was the only evil scientist who would behave in this way. As stupid as it sounded, if it was Freeze, then the whole set up would be a whole load more ice-themed.

"Hello... Now how the hell do you know that, kid?" Silas dragged a finger along the blade of a dagger he'd fished from his belt. Dick really hoped he wouldn't use that. He was wounded enough as it was, and his vision was starting to cloud. He didn't know why they'd kept him alive so far, but it was obvious that they didn't intend to keep him that way. They would've treated his wound otherwise.

"...Lucky guess?" Dick tried uncertainly, knowing full well that there was no way Silas would buy that.

"According to your file, you're the adoptive son of Bruce Wayne, Richard Grayson. Tell me, can you see all the suffering in this city from that mansion on the hill?"

Dick decided to answer truthfully, "I'm waste deep in it."

Before he could compose his next sentence, Silas had the knife at his throat. "Why do you know about Strange?"

Perhaps it was the calmness in Silas's voice that scared Dick the most, as if he'd done this countless times before, and the novelty had worn off. Or maybe it was the knife at his throat.

Instead of giving him an answer, Dick used his negotiation skills and swung the conversation around, "Why do you know who I am?"

The knife was removed from his throat. Silas seemed to want to grasp at anything that may make him look smarter than Dick, and so shot him a smug look and replied, "I don't know who you are, Strange provides the information."

Dick frowned but tried to not outwardly betray his emotions. He wasn't scared when he'd first woken up in this room, but he sure as hell was now. Hugo Strange was bad news. Dick preferred the villains that smacked you around a little, but eventually went down easy. The guys that played mind games, the guys like Strange and the Joker, they were the worst.

"And how does Strange know all this? Why are we all here?"

He smiled, but didn't reveal anymore information.

"Fine. I hate to sound self centred, but people will come for me." Of this, Dick wasn't sure. He didn't even know where he was. How on earth would anyone else find him?

Silas suddenly flung his blade at Dick, and it planted itself in his arm with a thunk. He yelled in pain, but tried to look steadily at Silas. There was no telling what else he'd do.

"Speak." Silas said simply.

Dick bit his lip. He had to squeal, because in this instance, he was a civilian and no civilian was this resilient. Didn't mean he had to tell the truth, though.

"I know Strange because-"

Silas ignored him. He was listening to something being relayed through his ear piece. "What?!"

Dick sat oblivious to what was going on.

"No, I-" He turned back to Dick. "Seems I've got some new orders. You've outstayed your welcome."

He drew his gun, clipping the safety back and pointing it at Dick's forehead. Dick forced himself not to recoil, even with the metallically cold barrel pressed against his temple.

"Sorry."

The two way glass opposite imploded inward with a sudden impact, and a dark blur rushed in Dick's vision. His lips curled into a smirk. He didn't know how he did it, but he did it.

"Batman." Silas growled, holding the gun up at Bruce.

Bruce kicked him hard in the stomach, causing him to cough blood and fall to his knees. Silas barely had time to get to his feet when Dick smacked him round the back of the head with his chair.

"How's it going?" Dick asked, leaning against the chair as Batman tied Silas up. He cursed inwardly as hot liquid saturated his shirt. That trick with the chair had disturbed his wound.

"You're shot." He observed, concern evident even through his feigned husky voice. "And stabbed."

"...yeah." Dick replied offhandedly, his hand subconsciously hovering over his wound.

Before he could protest, Bruce grabbed his arm and put it over his shoulders, holding his ward upright.

"That's really not necessary-"

"Let's get you fixed up." He tapped his comms unit with his free hand and spoke clearly, "Get the med bay ready, Alfred."

"Right. Med bay." Dick said weakly, his vision almost nonexistent. He was glad he was falling unconscious with Bruce, and not Silas. There was one question that swirled around his mind, though. "How did you find me?"

Bruce's POV

(2 hours ago)

Bruce waited for the others to catch up to him, and tried to pretend he was out of breath and scared. He counted them in as they ran up to him, Wendy, Ian, Jensen... Dick?

"Where is he?" Bruce demanded, looking frantically around.

"I-I don't know. I think we lost him." Wendy said, staring in the direction they'd just came.

"Look! There's a road here!" Ian yelled from behind them.

Relief flooded through him. He could get the civilians out of the way and fight whoever did this with no restraint.

Bruce spun around, ushering Wendy with him.

"What-" She began.

"Get out of here, and call the police." He gently pushed her in the direction of the road.

"Huh?" She realised he intended to go after Dick by himself, "No, you'll get killed out here on your own, Mr. Wayne!"

He turned away from them, heading back into the forest. "I've got to find Dick."

She tried to warn him against it, but her words died on her lips. She would do anything for her son, so she didn't blame him. She sighed, "Be careful, I'll know if your not, because you have to walk past me tomorrow morning."

He nodded, and disappeared into the darkness. Bruce sighed once he was alone. He could finally do what he'd wanted to do this whole time.

One thing that these men didn't take from him was his eye contact that connected him to the bat cave. He'd already sent out a distress call to Alfred, but he couldn't have him send the batmobile over. The civilians would've seen it and known it belonged to him. He sent the go ahead to Alfred, who activated his vehicle and sent it out to him.

Bruce waited where he was for the batmobile to come, happy to see that Alfred had taken the initiative to send over his suit in the back. While he changed, he explained to Alfred about what had happened over the last few hours.

"Masters Tim and Damian are both eager for your return."

So both Robins were at the batcave. He must've worried them.

"Grayson can stay kidnapped for all I care." Bruce heard Damian mutter in the background.

"Say that again, devil spawn!" Tim yelled.

Bruce almost chuckled, "Sounds like you've got a situation of your own over there."

"So it seems..." Alfred replied, "Good luck, Master Bruce."

Bruce shut down his comms and and slid into the drivers seat of the batmobile. He pinpointed the nearest building to his position on the navigation system, where he presumed the men took Dick, and followed the road round to a warehouse on the edge of the woods. Not suspicious at all.

He pulled up and snapped his utility belt. The trees around the warehouse were too dense to drive through, but thin enough that you could almost make out the building from the road. He walked the rest of the way, hoping that they didn't have vicinity alarms.

Bruce crept around the front, till he found a broken window and shot his grappling hook through, swinging up to the ceiling supports inside and landing on one of the catwalks that were suspended from the ceiling. He looked down at the room. There was a main building, about as big as a tennis court, then an office that overlooked the floor.

Bruce almost lost his grip and fell at what he saw.

Professor Hugo Strange, a scientist he often went against in battles of wits. He stood at a large computer by the entrance of the warehouse, ordering a dozen or so men. In the center of the room, a large machine that looked a little like a turbine stood with wires attaching it to several booths around the room. Within the booths...people?

Batman jumped down, using his cape to slow his fall and land silently, immediately knocking a guy unconscious with a sharp jab to the neck.

He picked up the ledger the man had been holding and flicked through it quickly. It was a list of names.

He found his and Dick's names in the 'to be collected' list. He didn't recognize any names in the collected list, apart from...Jason Todd!?

Bruce dropped the ledger, and edged around the machine, making sure to keep to the shadows. The nearest booth held a teenage girl, and seemed to be floating in some sort of suspended animation. She had electrodes stuck to her temples, and she wore a wetsuit kind of outfit.

What was going on here? And where was Dick?

A man was typing on a keyboard next to the tank with the girl floating within, Batman threw a well aimed batarang, knocking him out.

He stood by the keyboard and tried to let the girl out, but the machine asked for a passcode he didn't have. He would have to confront Strange.

"Batman." A voice that prickled at Bruce's skin floated from behind him. He spun, and saw the mad scientist standing, surrounded by a couple of burly guards.

"What is this?" Batman demanded, gesturing around the room.

"Wouldn't you like to know? Think of it as a little social experiment. How much fear does one have to experience before the mind shuts down, I wondered?" He smirked, and looked around him. "This machine registers the brain waves as my participants experience their worst fears. Of course, I had to get them all worked up with the kidnapping so my experiment would work faster."

Batman bristled where he stood, staring at Strange with a look that could've wilted flowers. "Why orphans?"

He laughed at this, as if he found it humorous that Batman hadn't worked it out yet. "Orphans have already experienced loss in their life, and they have more deep fears for me to access. Why not orphans? Plus, no one will miss them when they're gone."

Bruce could no longer hold himself back. With a deep growl, he launched himself at Strange.

The guards started to shoot at him, but he threw down a smoke pellet and crept past them. He took them out silently, pinching a nerve cluster in their shoulder. He reached Strange, and grabbed him by the lapels.

Strange was so lost in his insanity, he simply laughed as he was slammed to the ground.

"The password for those suspension tanks. Now!" He yelled, spittle flying from his lips.

Strange chuckled and shrugged.

Bruce slammed his fist into Strange's face, and he fell limp. He strode toward the computer, almost stopping short as he saw Jason in the tank nearest to it. He looked almost peaceful, reminding him of the boy who used to live with him and Dick at Wayne Manor. Those few years had been some of the best of his life, and although Jason didn't admit it, they were his most cherished memories.

He shook the thoughts from his head. If what Strange had said was true, then Jason was currently experiencing his own worst fears. Bruce wondered briefly what they were.

He brought up the controls for the tanks, relieved to see that Strange was still logged in and he didn't need to hack the computer. Setting all the tanks to release, he jogged back to Jason's tank and caught him before he fell out. The fluid had drained through the bottom of the tank.

Jason spluttered, and his eyes opened wide as he gasped for air. "B-Bruce?"

Batman helped Jason up to his feet, and held his shoulders, forcing him to look into his eyes, "Get these people out of here." He gestured to the other people who were just waking up after falling from their containers, "I need to find Dick."

Jason's brow screwed up in confusion, before he seemed to grasp the situation. "Where's Strange?"

"He's out. Go."

"Why's Dick here?"

Bruce didn't answer, instead he looked pointedly in the direction of the civilians who were still recovering across the room.

Jason looked as if he was going to argue, but thought better of it. He ran over to a girl who was just waking up, and started to help her to her feet.

Bruce nodded at him, before turning back, looking up at the office. It seemed to be the only place he hadn't checked, Dick wasn't in any of the tanks. He took the steps up the the office two at a time and shot his grapple up to the ceiling supports above, using his momentum to swing through the one way glass window that overlooked the warehouse floor.

He collected Dick from the office, who'd fallen unconscious as they walked down the stairs from the office. He noticed Strange had regained consciousness and was frantically collecting his data while a couple men prepared a truck as a getaway vehicle.

Batman shifted Dick in his arms, Strange hadn't seen them yet. He could take him down, and call the cops.

Dick groaned in his arms, his hair slick with sweat and his white shirt almost turned crimson. He wouldn't last much longer without immediate attention. He'd overexerted himself by putting on a brave face and helping take down the man in the office, but paid for it in time before he bled out.

Bruce wouldn't have time to take Strange out, and he couldn't very much leave Dick while he fought. One of the hired men might find him, and it wouldn't take much to end him in his current state.

Batman sighed, and slipped past Strange, carrying Dick out to the batmobile.

Dick's POV

(Three weeks later)

"So Strange got away?" Tim asked, briefly regarding the news, turning it off after it offered no new information.

Dick nodded. "Bruce said Strange slipped away while he was finding me. We'll find him later, he's bound to resurface."

Damian sat on the couch opposite, staring him down.

"What's up, Dami?" Dick asked.

He regarded him with a sour look. "How is your wound, Grayson?"

"Better, thanks. Where'd the concern come from? Alfred put sugar in your cereal or something?"

Damian simmered, but didn't quip back, "I just don't want you to go dying. That would hinder me somewhat."

Tim almost laughed, "Just admit it, Damian! You appreciate Dick. You'd totally miss him if he died."

Damian looked away, but didn't deny Tim's allegation. He looked up and nodded in respect as his father walked in, closely followed by Jason. Wait.

"Todd?" Damian spluttered. His surprise was not unnoticed by Jason, who sneered at his younger brother.

Dick stood up and tensed, as though waiting for Jason to attack. Tim looked as if he was about to try to hide behind a book he'd been reading.

"Father, what on earth are you thinking bringing him in here?" Damian demanded, but Bruce held a hand up.

"It's just for a while. Jason has agreed to help us find Strange. We have reason to believe he was working for a higher power."

So I know only a few people read this, but I feel as though I should explain my lateness with this chapter anyway; I've been in hospital for a while, I won't go into details, but it's a pretty legit excuse anyway, right? I'm fine now, I just thought you should know, and I'm so sorry that I left for a couple of months but this is like a three thousand word chapter so I'm sure you can forgive me. Also, this one-shot business has turned into a mini story, so... sorry?

Finally; line breaks man. Line breaks.