Yes… "this chapter's obscenely late"… "How could you leave us with this?"… "Complete bull$hit"… yada yada. I've just gone back to school so my usual writing schedule is screwed up. Sorry! Anyways, here it is. I'm going to need some feedback to decide what the next chapter will be on, so please review!

By the way, I apologize if Tim is a bit OOC here, I've only read a few comics that included him and am only working off what I know from the animated series and those comics…. Also his brief appearance in DCnU. I know that Dami dislikes his existence... ^^" let me know if I've screwed him up, I've never written for him before… don't kill me…

Disclaimer: I do not own anything DC does, I own only the very few OCs that appear here.

Chapter 5

Tim stood outside his cell, discreetly turning over his last remaining object – his pillow – in order to obtain the final component to the plan: a modified egg beater. The other inmate handed the creation over, accepting the pillow with a long smile before moving away towards his own cell. Tim sighed, then shoved the beater under his sleeve before moving back into his cell to hide it. He had done this yesterday as well, acquiring all the other pieces of this particular puzzle in good time. The plan was moving together easily, now they just needed to wait for things in the prison to fizzle down, wait for the inmates to conveniently forget what tools they had traded away. Then they would be home free. Damian shifted in the bunk that used to be occupied by a certain acrobat. The two stared at each other for a moment.

"Why exactly did you choose to switch cells?" He asked casually, watching Damian's reaction carefully.

"-Tt- like I need to explain myself to you, Drake," He scoffed. Not for the first time, Tim found himself wondering how that kid got such a mouth on him.

"Are you serious? After all of this you're still going to hold up your little vendetta in here? Jesus, Dami, wise up." He spat at the younger boy.

"I'll make up my own mind, thanks very much." His voice rose in volume and Barracks' burly frame appeared in the 'doorway'.

"Quiet." He said. His voice betrayed no emotion.

In the days since arriving here and sharing this cell, they had discovered that the man was exceedingly quiet and stoic. If Tim didn't know better he would assume that Barracks was a simpleton that Jason had picked up off the ground like a lost puppy. After all, that was what Jason had started out as… However, sense had won out. Barracks was exceedingly intelligent, he just chose to display an outward appearance of stupidity. The man noticed movement, he noticed small tweeks and twitches in the body posture of others. He noticed individual components of moveable objects. From the time they had spent together, Tim had guessed the man was once a structural engineer and one of high caliber at that. Something had happened to the older man, something that had led him to believe he had to keep his identity and intelligence a secret. It was something about the way he carried himself, the succinct way he looked at everything. Whenever the stranger spoke it was an offhanded comment about others, or the configuration of something. These little comments were enough to lead Tim to his own private conclusions.

Still, the man kept up his guise well. Tim had to give him props for that. He wondered how the hell a man like Jason Todd had ever managed to get such an asset on his side.

He also figured that at this point, being discreet was pointless. He simply let the words come out, perhaps blatantly. "How is it that a structural engineer found his way inside of-"

He was cut off when Barracks' hand wrapped around his throat. "No talking." The hand was removed quickly and Barracks disappeared around the corner like a street mouse. The next moment Barracks was nowhere to be found.

Tim sighed dramatically before turning once again to Damian who simply clicked his tongue. "Very smooth, Drake. You continue to amaze me with your sheer level of idiocy."

Tim glared at his brother, but said nothing. He'd have to ask Jason about it then.

…

"We need to move up the date." He said.

Tim watched with piercing, smoky blue eyes meeting his older brother's royal blue gaze easily. "You can't be serious, Dick. Why the hell would we move up the escape? This could jeopardize everything we have going for us!" his tone was hushed, no one would overhear them.

"You didn't see him, Timmy. Whatever this is… if we don't bust out soon, Jay will be transferred and we won't be seeing him again, ever. I don't know about you, but I can't live with my brother's blood on my hands." His glare was unwavering – one that Batman would feel proud of.

"Dick—"

"Fine, Drake, you can stay. I'm not leaving without him though." To his utter surprise the voice that floated to his ears belonged to none other than Damian. "We'd all probably have a much better time planning another escape without your presence to muck everything up."

He took a deep breath, "Shut up Dami. I support this, I'm willing to do this. I just… I don't want to see this blow up in our faces. That includes Jason's." He managed a glance at Dick.

"-Tt- we all see right through you, Drake." Damian hopped off his bunk with a bit more force than was strictly necessary. "You want Ja – Todd – out of the picture so you can somehow steal Father's approval. Well, I've got news for you: I'd much rather leave you here drugged and vulnerable to all sorts of attacks rather than him." The boy raised his chin defiantly before spitting and exiting the makeshift home. Tim glared daggers at his brother's retreating form.

"We need a united front, Tim. This family needs to have one front to present to the others if this plan is going to work. We all need to play our part." Dick's gaze never wavered.

He opened his mouth to offer a retort, but decided better of it and instead shouldered his way past his older brother. If he was going to do this, he needed to know a few things from his 'brother'.

…

"Well, if it isn't baby bird himself, come to offer me words of wisdom and break my fast with me!" His innuendo was ruined when he was interrupted with a bout of coughing. Still, when the shakes subsided his face cleared there was a smirk firmly in place.

He was sitting next to Bruce and Barracks, across from Dick and Damian. To the untrained eye he appeared relaxed and comfortable, yet on edge and ready for a fight in a way only Jason Todd could manage… Yet Tim noticed the sweat beading on his forehead, the slight dilation of his normally bright and focused eyes, and the sluggish tendency of Jason's movements, all but invisible to anyone that didn't know the man well enough. Dick had been right, something was definitely affecting the rogue robin.

"We need to talk," Tim said. Jason's smile faltered. After a moment's hesitation, using Bruce's shoulder for support, he hefted himself out of the seat. Jason rubbed at the collar around his neck somewhat irritably before following Tim into a nearby crevice.

"We need to get some things straight here, I need to know…" Tim paused, eyeing the slight falter in Jason's usually confident stride. His gaze moved back to the gunslinger's green eyes. "How did you find Barracks, I need to know we can trust this stranger."

Jason's face contorted with anger, yet his voice was deathly quiet. "If I didn't trust the guy, why the hell would I let you and Little D sleep in the same cell as him?" His voice held an unspoken accusation: Tim obviously didn't trust his judgment. He narrowed his eyes.

"Did you know him before prison? Maybe he was one of your rogue buddies?" Jason's fist clenched at his side, but he didn't swing it so Tim took that as a good sign.

"We met up in here," Jason ground out. "Not that it's any of your business, but Barracks has had a hard time in and out of this shithole."

"And by 'hard time' you mean…?"

"I mean before he came here he hit a rough patch, then he was sent to the torture camps before he came to this prison. Sometimes it's easier to forget what you know about yourself, especially when you don't want anyone to learn what you know. He has his reasons for keeping quiet, respect them or you'll have to deal with me, replacement." Jason stared at Tim for a moment, letting the frustration boil over before taking a deep breath and continuing, "He's got just as much incentive as the rest of you."

"But how did you become friends?" He asked.

"Friends is a bit of an overstatement. I protected him while he was still gaining his bearings, when he was ready we made our plans. Thing was we were always missing the last piece of the puzzle. We needed you guys to for that." Jason smiled, but there was something off about it, not confident…

Tim's eyes widened. It all clicked into place. The plan, Jason's stepping up on their behalf, the way he goaded half the biggest fish in this place into all-out war against him. Now, he had intentionally distanced himself from his family and made an attempt to disassociate himself with them. He never planned on breaking out with them. He planned – "You son of a bitch."

But it was too late. The guards were coming towards him, his family was standing up and all sound in the room had risen to an almost unbearable level. The shock collar activated and Jason was falling forward into Tim's arms.

Border shoved the boy out of the way, and Jason's head hit the white tiles with a sickening 'CRACK'. His green eyes were dazed and he blinked rapidly, but before he could react, two of the four guards had taken hold of him. One lifted him from under the arms, the other from the feet. He was like deadweight between them as a prison riot broke out.

The Batfamily was rendered broken and useless when their collars were activated. Barracks stood back helplessly as the others fell around him. The perfect chaos of the moment made everything clear. In that moment Tim saw every inch of Jason's plan laid out before him like a paper trail to a seamless crime. His older brother's words echoed in his mind in summation of the events before them; "Because, if I die it makes no ripples. If the goddamn Batman dies, the world is screwed."

Tim wanted to cry out at the vivid stupidity of the moment. His stupidity, his blind and foolhardy actions, his thoughts up until this point. The point when the small family had to watch as their brother, Bruce's son, was dragged away, head lolling back and forth. Blood trailed him with every step and the serene features of Jason's face intensified the pain shared between them. Under the threat of electrocution, they could not move closer to help him. They were helpless.

"He planned it, right up to my reaction to him… all of it." Tim whispered in utter disbelief, he collapsed to his knees. The family could not move, couldn't hardly breathe. Jason had afforded them the opportunity to escape. The riot and subsequent lockdown would give them the time and cover to being digging into the wall – the blind spot – and escape within the next few days. It was perfect. Yet they would not stand and execute it. Not yet.

Despite the pain elicited by the collar Bruce stood, he rushed the guards holding Jason. He brought one down, the second was easier, but the other guards were on him in seconds. It took three more sentinels with the electrified rods to bring the man down. As he lay writhing on the floor, he watched Jason's eyes cloud with tears as he watched his father. Bruce closed his eyes. As a father he had failed, and now so had the Batman.

Dick stood abruptly, spurred into movement by Bruce's action. The guards spared not a moment's hesitation. Border slammed his prod into the acrobat's kneecap, bringing him down as swiftly as he had risen.

Damian sat frozen watching the scene, unable to make himself move, while Tim shouted something that brought his brothers' attention. Dick, Tim, and Damian said the words as one. "JAKE?!"

They screamed the words, their volume and panic rising above song of the riot. The guards did not cease their actions.

Bruce, in pain and shock could not stop the cry from flowing out of him. It was a plea that no parent could stop themselves from making, and his was full of the desperation of a parent about to lose their child for the second time. "JASON!"

Bruce, the empath, the Batman, cried. Sobs racked his body as Jason, who was wordlessly reaching out towards his father, disappeared around the corner. The sight broke something in him.

Paper fell all around them, the inmates tore at books from their cells, punches flew this way and that, and blood coated the floor. None of it registered.

The riot surrounding them continued on like nothing was happening, and perhaps it was nothing. To those inmates, this was routine. After all, Jake Forrester had never been a popular man. He would not be missed. He would not be mourned.

He was simply gone.

…

The next day "Jake Forrester" was no longer on the board, and Jason Todd was no longer at the prison. It was as if he had never existed, and that was the point. The family, despite their usual outward aggression towards the fallen Robin, was damaged by this. They wondered briefly whether they would ever see that familiar white streak of hair again.

They had drilled into the wall yesterday, in the midst of the disorder. Despite their battered ad broken nerves. Bruce had insisted that they make use of every second Jason had afforded them. In the middle of their drilling Damian had stopped, refusing to leave without Jason.

That was an improbability. Their brother would not be back.

Jason had worked with Barracks for months, they had discovered that behind the wall of the single blind spot in the entire building was a guards' break room. From in there they would be able to access more equipment. With that equipment they had a chance at breaking out without making any fuss. It was brilliant really, brilliantly simplistic.

"We should wait. We have to wait and see if he'll come back." The youngest of the family said defiantly, yet his words were strained, almost painful. "You would never abandon your son…" He choked out, staring at Bruce intently. There were tears in his eyes, yet none fell to his cheeks.

"No. No, I wouldn't unless it meant saving the rest of my children. We can't stay here."

In that moment Damian looked every bit the child he was. "No, Father, we can't just let him die!" The words were filled with raw emotion; Bruce cringed at the last word. "He could have just let those prisoners… He could have left me, but he didn't. I owe him. You all owe him." He was shaking now.

"Shut up, Damian. Just Shut up." Dick said quietly. The little boy closed his mouth abruptly. The tears that had been threatening to fall were making tracks now. He rushed forward and landed a solid kick to Dick's chest.

The older boy stumbled, leaning too much weight on his injured knee, before taking hold of his brother's ankle and swinging him into the neighboring wall. Damian let out a muffled cry as he slumped to the ground. His father and brothers stood by, eyes downcast and brooding. In that moment he hated all of them.

"Why don't we take a break, huh?" Tim spoke up from the corner. The walls that surrounded them were all brown brick, leading to the showers to the left and the mess hall to the right. This little crevice was designed to hold storage, but the fourth wall (which would have held a door) had never been built. The walls seemed to contain the tension, building pressure until it seemed an explosion was inevitable.

"He can't be dead," Damian said. "Todd always had a sense of self-preservation… He couldn't…" He was fumbling for words now and the little family, for all their sleuthing skills could not figure out the best way to approach this situation without walking away more fragmented than they had ever been before.

Tim's head snapped up suddenly, causing all eyes to turn to him. "What if we prepare everything, but then wait? We have almost three more months before we're transferred. We can wait and see if he's brought back, if not then there's no harm done." He was determined. For the first time in the past few days they each shared a moment of hope.

"We will wait. If he isn't brought back in two months, we leave." Bruce said, and he choked on the trail end of his words, but they held meaning nonetheless. The father had made his decision and the sons agreed. They would wait for the wayward Robin.

All right! Next chapter posted… Now I really need some feedback here, I'm trying to decide which version of chapter 6 I will post… do you want to read about what's happening to Jason or do you wanna skip to after that? Depending on feedback I'll be posting the next chapter sometime next week… Thanks for hanging in there, guys.

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