Hi guys. I'm making this short because I have a horrendous headache. This is a little later than usual, but I went to a camp this weekend and just got home a few hours ago.

Thank you all so much for reading this! Silent readers, followers, favorites, and reviewers are all appreciated :)

Guest review:

Guest: Thank you! I hope you continue to enjoy it :)

Some of your guesses on who the villain is were pretty close. Mickey's Girl was closest. VIRTUAL COOKIES! (::) (::)

Read onwards. :)

Disclaimer: Sadly, my job is a lot less exciting than owning Young Justice. And I think it pays less. Also, if I owned Young justice, we'd be done with season three and at the very least VERY least, working on season four.

Chapter 2

Unknown Location

Unknown date, Unknown time

When Dick woke up he didn't open his eyes, didn't move, and made sure to keep his breathing deep and steady. He ached everywhere, and he could tell that his shoulder had started bleeding again. This was not good.

He could hear soft voices talking somewhere nearby, but they were far enough away that he couldn't hear any of the words being said. One of the voices was rather familiar however, and he shivered. If he could just hear it better . . . he shifted slightly, turning his head towards the sound, and then cursed inwardly as he realized his mistake.

"Milady, I think the boy is awake," a soft voice said.

Immediately the conversation cut off, and Robin heard the sound of high heels clicking towards him. His mind scrambled for the facts: He knew he was lying on a hard floor, his hands were tied behind him, his feet also tied, and he knew that the main person behind his kidnapping seemed to be a woman. He was pretty sure that whoever it was was powerful, or at the very least had connections. And he guessed that whoever it was didn't want the usual ransom. Most kidnappers tried their hardest not to injure the person they were kidnapping for money.

Dick froze as the high heels clicked to a stop next to him, and he waited with baited breath as his captor stood over him. "Hello Richard," a soft voice whispered, and he stiffened. He knew who had captured him, and this was bad. This was very, very, bad.

He opened his eyes, staring up into the soft green eyes of Talia al Ghul.

Gotham City

April 21, 12:00 EDT

Commissioner James Gordon was an unusual person to be working in Gotham's police department. When he'd first arrived it had been so thoroughly corrupted that he'd been sure it was beyond all help. As the years went on however, he was able to bring about several changes. For one, some of the criminals they caught actually stayed caught. Also, the people of the city were far more likely to trust the police, which made it easier for him to do his job.

He worked pretty well with Batman, Gotham's hero, and although many before him and after him had tried, he was the only one who even had a chance at guessing the hero's identity.

That didn't mean he wanted to, or needed to.

Even so, deep in his subconscious he knew who it was. So the immense sympathy he felt for Bruce Wayne given Richard's recent kidnapping was magnified tenfold as Batman was forced out every night to fight of a slew of villains who just couldn't seem to give him a break. The hero seemed to be a little bit more violent than he was usually, but most people didn't notice.

Jim Gordon was not most people.

He'd set everyone he had who was free searching for any sign of Richard Grayson. Most people thought it was just because of the power of Bruce Wayne's position, and of course Commissioner Gordon was denying it even to himself, but in all honesty he was doing a favor for a friend.

It didn't hurt that Dick was Barbara's best friend either.

When he'd finally come home the day he found out Dick was missing, he'd been prepared to deal with Barbara's worried questions, the fiery anger that often accompanied the news that her best friend had been kidnapped again, or even the cold silence that she'd once met him with.

He wasn't at all prepared to find her curled up on the couch under a blanket in tears as she watched the news.

"Babs?" he said softly, using the nickname that Richard had given her. She sniffed as she turned to him, her blue eyes shimmering with tears.

"Daddy," she whispered, rolling off of the couch and onto her feet, and heading straight for him. She'd turned fifteen four months before, but still Gordon couldn't get that thought through to his heart. She would always be his little girl.

"Are you alright sweetheart?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her.

"No," she whispered. "Dick called me last night dad. He was fine at 10:00 when we were talking about the math homework Ms. Simons assigned us. He-he sounded happy. You know that Bruce just officially made Timmy his ward . . ." Barbara trailed off, and started crying again.

Gordon winced. That news had only been announced a few weeks ago, and it was true that the entire Wayne household had been over the moon ever since. Dick had in fact come over almost immediately to tell Babs the news before any reporters got ahold of it.

"Did you find anything?" Barbara asked, going back to the couch as her dad shrugged off his jacket.

Gordon sighed, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes with one hand. "No," he'd whispered. "Nothing."

And it hadn't changed since then. In the five and a half days that had passed since the boy's disappearance, they hadn't found even one lead, which was not only unusual, but was frightening.

It was shocking. Dick Grayson had never stayed in captivity for this long. Either the police found him, or Batman did, and always within a couple of days at most.

So it was a complete shock when Sera Michaels called him over. "Gordon, I have something on the Grayson case," she whispered, knowing to keep her voice down. If she'd said it any louder than she had, everyone would have been swarming, and they would never have gotten anything done. Also, it was likely that someone would have leaked something to the press, and then they would be even less likely to get something done.

He was over there in a heartbeat, taking in Sera's pale face and horrified expression, and prepared himself for the worst.

A few minutes later he had his cellphone in his hand and was speaking rapidly. "I know you can't reveal his location to me, but tell Bruce Wayne that I have information on his son, and he needs to see it, so get him to the my office at the Police department as fast as you can," he hissed in an undertone.

He didn't have time to deal with overprotective and thickheaded bodyguards right now.

Within thirty-five minutes Bruce Wayne was standing across from him, looking completely exhausted, and more worried than Gordon could ever remember seeing him. The deep shadows under his eyes and the way he swayed slightly told the Commissioner that he was in need of sleep, something that he most likely wouldn't get much of until his son was back with him.

"I was told you had news Commissioner," Bruce said softly. It didn't quite sound threatening- Bruce Wayne was rarely threatening- but Gordon knew that the man was impatient to hear any news of his missing son.

Gordon sighed. "Of a sort. We've been scanning any and all video messages, as well as phone calls, to make sure that if anyone slips, we'd catch them. Instead, we were sent something."

"A ransom?" Bruce said immediately. "I'll pay it, whatever it is."

Gordon gave him a look of pure sympathy. This man had paid more than once to get Richard out of the hands of lunatics who wanted the money, each time getting his money back when the kidnapper was captured.

If only this could be that simple.

"Sit down Mr. Wayne," Gordon said softly, turning his chair so that he was facing the screen behind him. He pressed a button on the remote and the video he'd watched forty minutes before appeared, relieved to see Bruce drop into a chair. Then he turned his attention to the woman on the screen.

The woman was beautiful, there was no denying that. Her green eyes were set perfectly in her face, and her long brown hair fell to just past her shoulders. Her face was set into a pout.

Gordon could have sworn he saw Bruce's face twitch when he saw her.

"I know you'll be seeing this Bruce. I'm sure by now at the very least you've noticed someone's missing from your life. And I don't mean me," she added viciously, turning the camera so that it fell on Richard Grayson. His wrists were chained to a post in the ceiling so that his feet were dangling several feet off the ground. He was breathing heavily, and there was a bruise on his forward, blood on his left shoulder, and a dazed look in his eyes.

"Here's your little boy Bruce," the woman said, her voice sickly sweet. "Isn't he precious?" She moved back into view, moving towards the boy and stroking his face with the tip of a delicate knife.

Bruce was on his feet now, Gordon noticed out of the corner of his eye. His face was horrified, and the Commissioner was startled to see tears in the other man's eyes.

"My father just barely gave me permission to do this Bruce. He wasn't happy, but he allowed it. Of course, after he gave in the first time he was only too willing to let me do whatever I like with your boy. And trust me Bruce, I'll do whatever I want with the little bird.

"I have Richard, and you will never get him back," the woman hissed sharply, then she smiled in a sickly sweet way. "At least, not in one piece." The video faded to black with the sound of tinkling laughter still ringing.

Gordon shut it off with a heavy heart, and turned back to face Bruce, who had slumped back into his seat with his head in his hands. He could only imagine the horror of watching his child hurting in front of him without being able to do anything about it. Knowing that somewhere someone was hurting them and he wouldn't be able to save them.

"Can you track it?" Bruce said hoarsely, looking up. His brown eyes were temporarily hopeful, but Gordon knew he would have to crush that hope.

"Doubtful. This woman managed to completely erase any sign of where Dick is, or that she even captured him in the first place. I'm not sure that we have any chance at all. We'll definitely try though," he added at the horrified look in Bruce's eyes as he stated bluntly what his feelings were on the subject. With almost any other person he might have sugarcoated it a little, but that would have been the wrong path to take with Bruce Wayne. "And I'll try to get it through to Batman, maybe he'll have more luck."

At that Bruce adopted a grateful expression. "Thank you," he breathed. "For everything Jim. Tell Barbara to call Tim's cell when you get home. He wanted to talk to her about something." The two men stood up, shook each others hands, and with that, the worried father left, immediately surrounded by bodyguards. His face had become passive, unreadable. No one would be able to tell if the news he'd received was good or bad.

Jim Gordon sighed, leaning back in his seat, and wondering what in the world he was going to tell Barbara.

Gotham City

April 21, 15:00 EDT

Knowing that Talia al Ghul had Dick did nothing to make Bruce feel better. In fact, it made him feel a hundred times worse. It was all his fault that his son was missing. Not only that, but the last time Bruce had seen him, he'd been mad at him for getting himself injured. He didn't listen to him, and instead was furious, saying things he didn't mean. And now it was uncertain whether or not he would ever see his son again. Dick's last memory of him might be that.

The second he got back inside the underground safe house that they'd been staying in ever since the kidnapping, he let his whole facade drop. His guards stayed outside, and the only ones inside were Tim, Jason, and Alfred. He groaned and his shoulders slumped. This was bad. No, this was beyond bad. Richard was in the hands of the daughter of Ra's al Ghul.

"Master Bruce, is everything alright?" Bruce winced at the worry in Alfred's voice. He'd heard it every day for the past five days, whenever he got back from patrol, or from interviews, or even when he woke up.

"Talia al Ghul has Dick," he forced himself to say, knowing that keeping that to himself would be in no way helpful.

The horror that spread across Alfred's face made Bruce feel even more guilty. This was all his fault.

"Will he be alright?" Tim's quiet voice startled Bruce, and he realized that his remaining two sons were watching him with hopeful (but worried) eyes. They obviously hadn't heard what he'd just told Alfred, although at the very least Jason knew that something was up, because Bruce could see anger building in the back of his eyes. His dark reddish black hair was falling into his blue eyes, so much harder and colder than Dick's, and Batman was reluctantly reminded once more of the reasons he was uncertain of someday allowing Jason to patrol with him.

He was also reminded that if he didn't let Robin out, people would start to wonder where he was . . . And with Richard Grayson's disappearance, people would make connections.

Ignoring Tim's question, he moved down the hall. "Jason," he said quietly. "Come with me." His second oldest deserved to know the truth. And Batman was in need of a Robin.

Ah the joy of being me . . . . . . I figured Talia would be a fun bad guy to use, since she knows the identities of Batman and Robin, has a grudge against the Bat, and you know, has a crazy powerful dad. However I know almost nothing about her. Obviously she's Damian's mom, but that's about it. So, I'm sorry if she's a little bit out of character.

Also, I know a lot of people make Barbara older than Dick, but in the Young Justice universe she is younger than him by at least a month.

Thoughts, ideas, suggestions, freaking-out-mode-because-oh-my-gosh-what-are-you-doing-this-is-a-cliffhanger, then just leave a little

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