Chapter Thirteen

Dick pressed play on a video file and instantly there was a negative reaction. Ellie gave a shout of horror. Batman flinched. Tim shut his eyes and looked away. Artemis covered her face with her hands. Wally grit his teeth. Agent A turned away and rested his hands upon his knees. Batman rested a hand on his back.

Barbara emptied her stomach upon the floor. Dick ignored the playing video and walked to his partner. He rubbed her back as she wretched.

On screen was Jamie. The kid was tied to the chair. His ankles had been rubbed raw from his tight bindings. As gazes travelled up belt marks could be seen on his shins, some were bruising, yet some were still a startling red. His lap was damp. He had wet himself. His shirt had tears, droplets of blood, and a substance that looked like dried vomit. His face and head were even worse. Around his neck was a shock collar. A regular, made for a dog, shock collar. When he shifted burns could be seen on his skin. His lower lip was cracked and bleeding. Bruises layered his face, ranging from his chin to his forehead. His nose looked like it had been broken then reset. And his eyes. Oh, his eyes were the worst. Bloodshot and bruised, the light that shone in that eight-year-old's eyes was diminishing. He was losing all hope.

He stared straight into the camera. It unsettled everyone.

"Start talking," a harsh voice barked.

A hardened resolve burned in Jamie's eyes for a moment.

"No." His little voice was cracked and hoarse.

"I said start talking little bastard." A fist flew out from behind the camera and backhanded the boy in the face.

There was a cry of pain. It came from Ellie.

Jamie slowly brought his head back to the forward facing position. He gave a small glare to the man behind the camera and spit out blood off to the side.

"Start talking," the voice growled again.

"No. You can't make me."

"Oh, god, he's cracked," Ellie wailed. She sank to the floor and hugged her knees.

"What do you mean?" Dick asked, pausing the video.

"Dad told us that if we were ever captured in our civilian identities, to do whatever the kidnappers told us to do. He told us that it would keep us alive until he got to us."

"Your Dad is…"

"He's a police officer," Ellie said. And she wasn't lying. Her dad's day job was a police officer.

Dick nodded and looked at the screen. That poor little red-headed boy. Wait. Red-headed? The last time he remembered seeing the boy he had dark black hair. Dick looked closer at the frozen screen. There were still dark strands of black. And it seemed like it clung to the ends. Only when he noticed that there was black ink on the boy's shirt did he put it together that the boy had dyed his hair before coming to this time.

He looked closer at the boy. The red hair looked a little familiar. The more he looked at it, the more he was certain of it. A slight movement caught his eye. Barbara wiped her mouth. Barbara. Dick's eyes jumped from her to the boy on the screen. That boy was Barbara's son.

Oh god.

"Finish the video," Batman requested.

Dick took a deep breath and pressed play again. He turned away from the video; he'd seen it already and had no desire to see it again. Especially now that he knew who that kid was.

Jamie would stare at someone behind the screen before speaking. And that's just what he did. It was more of a glare actually.

"You can't make me do anything. Daddy will come get me. And Momma will kick your butt."

There was another loud backhanded slap. Everyone flinched at the sound. A small bit of plastic flew from his ear, disappearing into the darkness.

"Don't talk about them. You know they won't come for you. They don't know you exist."

Jamie made no recognition to what he said.

"Answer me boy. Don't disrespect your elders in such a way."

There was a small beep and the boy's face contorted with pain. His mouth opened and there was a full two seconds before the scream could escape the mouth. The shocks continued and the screaming continued.

"Turn – turn it off," Ellie sobbed. "I've seen enough. Turn it off."

Dick obliged without any hesitancy.

"Why would he shock him? He's only eight. He didn't understand what he was doing." It was the first words Artemis had said since the greeting.

"Go back in the video. I noticed something," Tim said.

Slowly Dick inched the tape back. Frame by frame.

"There! Right there! Look, something flies out when the hand hits him, see?" Tim pointed.

They all looked. They all saw. Ellie got paler.

"Oh, dear god no. Not that. No, no, no, no, no, no," she muttered.

"What is it Ellie? What flew away from Jamie?" Barbara asked walking towards the girl. Her nausea was still acting up, but the girl needed her attention.

"His hearing aid."

There was literal silence in the room. Everyone stood up straight and looked at the future girl. Everyone's full attention was on this girl and her brother.

"His what?" Tim asked.

"His hearing aid. Jamie was born deaf, and when he was three he went through a surgery to repair it. Inside his brain is a mechanical device of some sort and it needs an outside component. That little device you saw flying was that component. Without it the circuit isn't complete and he's as deaf as he was when he was born."

"He won't be able to hear what his captor wants. He won't be able to do what he wants," Wally reasoned.

"We need to get him outta there," Tim said walking forward to the monitor and pulled up a keyboard. He began typing to try and figure out everything, anything, he could from the video.

"Tim, I've already run every single test that you could think of. There's nothing in that video that could give a location. There are no background noises, the room is completely sealed and there is nothing other than Jamie and the monster that captured him."

Tim turned the computer off and punched the wall.

"But I have an address. The video was shipped to me, at my house. It had a return address," Dick said.

"If you have an address, why are we here and not kicking ass getting my brother back!" Ellie shrieked.

"It could be a trap. Did you ever think of that?" Dick shouted back.

Ellie was quiet. She hadn't thought of that. And now that she thought about it, it probably was a trap. "But we are going to get him back right? Please tell me that we're going to get him back. Please."

She completely broke down. Barbara kneeled next to her and gathered her in her arms. Agent A walked over and gently brought both girls to their feet again. Dick watched as they shared tears. He swore, whatever it took, he would return that little boy to his mother. He would get Jamie home to Barbara.

A/N: Dun, dun, dun! Dick knows part of their secret. And I hated writing those horrible things that happened to Jamie, it made me sad. But please Review!