Disclaimer: not mine

Replaying KH3, got the high score for the flan in Arendelle, the others really suck. I can get okay scores for Toy Story and Monsters inc but not the high score. Trying to get them to get the Orichalcum+. Then again, also have to beat the ice sledding and get all the prizes there so I doubt I'll ever get enough to get the Ultima Keyblade. Goofy's sled is horrible!

Chapter 6

Danny lay on his back on the couch, Tim straddling him as he ran his hands gently over his bare chest. He'd never dared to imagine that this would be possible, that he could show Tim everything and be accepted. But Tim had cuddled with him even in ghost form, never pulled away from his cool body. And without his shirt his death scar was very obvious, it had faded but it would never disappear, the Lichtenberg figures flowing up his arm and across his chest to his heart. It was one of the few scars he had, before the accident the worst he'd had was skinned knees and the like, and after he healed fast enough that very few wounds were bad enough to scar. He shivered when Tim leant in and pressed kisses along the trail of scars, his lips warm.

"Okay?" Tim asked, and Danny nodded.

"Feels good," he assured him, and Tim grinned, lowering his head again.

Things had been so much better since their secrets had come out. And he was seriously considering accepting Tim's offer to move in, he wasn't sure about sharing a bedroom every night but the apartment had three bedrooms so more than enough space. Sharing a place with someone else again was a little scary but with Tim…he loved him.

And then Tim moved, claiming his lips in a kiss and Danny stopped thinking, wrapping his arms around Tim to hold him close. He whined when Tim pulled back, getting a chuckle, but then Tim's shirt joined his on the floor. And then, oh, wow, yeah, that was really nice. Tim was so warm!

They kept kissing, hands wandering over chests and backs but no lower. They weren't ready for anything like that, not when being physically close was so new. Both of them had pretty bad dating history too, their relationship was really the best either had ever had and neither wanted to risk rushing anything. Plus, Tim had patrol soon and Danny had an evening shift at the coffee shop.

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Tim grabbed his bō and collapsed it, settling it into its spot at his back alongside his grapple. He double checked he had everything and pulled his cowl up, heading for his bike but paused as an alert sounded. He turned to check it, grimacing, Arkham breakout. Another one so soon? That was unusual and worrying. He got on his bike, heading out and towards the Cave since Bruce had put out the call for them to meet there, also unusual.

Thanks to bad traffic, even with his bike able to go around and between obstacles others couldn't, he was the last to arrive. Everyone was gathered around the Batcomputer, including Damian who stood stiffly beside Dick. Jason and Steph were on the other side, acting as a barrier and Tim appreciated it as he joined them, not liking the look on Bruce's face at all.

"Traffic," he murmured before anyone could ask.

"Understandable under the circumstances," Bruce answered, voice mostly Batman's growl.

"A second breakout so soon is unusual," Dick commented warily.

Bruce looked them over, his gaze lingering on Jason…and Tim. That could not be good.

"Who is it?" Tim asked before Jason could say something about the lingering look. He really hoped it wasn't who his mind immediately went to with the two of them involved.

"The Joker," Bruce confirmed, and Tim closed his eyes briefly.

Wonderful. He'd actually been pretty quiet within Arkham for almost two years now. To breakout so soon after the others had… a plan? Opportunistic? Jason was snarling something but Tim was moving away from them, pulling out his phone and tapping the contact.

It took a few moments to be answered, but he knew he would since Tim would not call him at work outside an emergency. And Danny knew he was patrolling tonight. "Tim?" Danny's voice was tight with concern.

"You're at work?" he asked for confirmation.

"Yeah, what's going on?"

"The Joker's broken out. Traffic's already affected but the announcement isn't officially out yet. Get to my apartment and turn the security on, head down to the Nest at the slightest sign of trouble. Please Danny." He knew Danny could fight, that the Joker likely couldn't touch him, but that didn't help the terror he felt at the thought of the insane man getting anywhere near Danny.

"Tim…"

"Please Danny," he whispered, glancing back to see Bruce watching, getting a slight nod.

"Alright, I'll tell the other staff and then leave. Any way I can listen in to you at least?"

"From the Nest, I can hook my comm into the system. You'll be able to hear me, we can talk." If that was what it took to get him somewhere safe then that was fine, he could mute it if they ran into the Joker. "Thank you." He took a deep breath. "I love you."

"I love you too, I'll see you later."

They hung up and Tim moved back to the others, seeing and ignoring Dick and Steph's curiosity.

"Red Robin, with me," Bruce surprised everyone by choosing him as his partner for the night.

Robin was paired with Dick, leaving Spoiler and Red Hood together. Signal was being left to the dayshift since Joker didn't only work at night, whoever was most awake would be on call to back him up. If they couldn't find him then Black Bat would be called back from Hong Kong rather than risk giving him time to get some big plan underway.

He got into the Batmobile and they were soon racing back into Gotham. Tim kept his eyes on his gauntlet and the computer there, searching for any sign of activity that could be the Joker. Word was spreading through the city, the streets gradually emptying as people made it home or chose to shelter in place for the night.

"Is he safe?" Bruce asked.

Tim looked over at him warily.

"Nightingale, you're together, aren't you?"

Tim sucked in a breath, pushing down the panic, there was no reason for it. And his gauntlet beeped, the codes he'd given Danny had just been used to access the Nest. "He just entered the Nest."

"He knows?"

"Since I was hurt. I was unconscious when I crashed through his window and he patched me up. He left the cowl on but…he'd seen my scars before, recognised me through them and I didn't deny it when I woke up." He waited for the anger at revealing his id, but there wasn't any.

"How long have you been together?" the question was a surprise, surely Bruce had already thoroughly researched Danny.

"We've known each other for fifteen months. Our one-year anniversary is in a few months. I trust him, he has his own secrets and he told them to me. I love him Bruce," he finished in a whisper. And then he heard the soft chirp of his comm activating. "Hey Phantom," he murmured to let Danny know he was aware he was listening.

"I'm here and safe Red," Danny answered.

"He's on your comm?" Bruce glanced at him.

"Private channel," Tim shrugged slightly. "I'm with Batman in the Batmobile," he told Danny, knowing he'd be worried he was either alone or partnered with Robin again.

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Bruce fought the urge to focus on Tim's murmured conversation to his partner. To have allowed the other into his Nest, he must trust him completely. More than he trusted the family since none of them had been inside. Once he would have barked at Tim to focus on the job, but he could tell he was, he'd always been the best at multitasking. The majority of Tim's focus was on his computer, looking for any leads to the Joker even as he assured the other that he was safe.

He was glad that Tim had found a way to balance his life, that he had a partner who knew his identity and accepted it. He did wonder at the secrets mentioned but he would keep himself from prying, he would. He didn't want to do anything to push Tim further away. He wanted better for his children than to be alone. Just because none of his relationships worked didn't mean no one in their family could manage. Others in the business did after all. Yes, it was a security risk, but he had to trust that Tim had contingencies.

"Got something," Tim suddenly announced. "Chemical shipment came in two days ago at one of the Joker's hideouts, some of the main ingredients needed for Joker Venom."

The last thing he wanted was for Jason or Tim to end up fighting the Joker, especially when it was Stephanie with Jason. But he wanted either Tim or Jason with him for facing the Joker for his own sake of mind. And Jason did not work well with him, it was better than it had been but they still weren't a good pairing. Tim and Jason worked the best together but that was too dangerous at the moment, against any other Rogue yes, but not the Joker. It had been years but both had been badly traumatised, Jason had died and Tim…he was good at hiding it and he had received therapy to help him recover from what he had gone through.

Tim had been very lucky, the physical changes made had been reversable, he might be a little paler than he would have been naturally but with how little sun he got there was no way to truly tell. And the 'attacks' had stopped after the first eight months, that or Tim had managed to completely hide them from everyone. He'd never forget the screams as Tim thrashed on the bed while the antidotes ran through his system, the hysterical laughter… he knew that they'd been given a miracle when it came to Tim recovering, just like Jason's return to life. And if the Joker realised Red Robin was the Robin he once tried to make his own…but there was no evidence he knew that.

"Nightwing and Robin are closest," Tim informed him, so he sent the two to investigate and not engage.

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Danny listened as Tim talked with Batman. Joker venom…he had yet to see its effects on someone in person and he didn't really want to, it was bad enough with the warnings posted in the city and online. It made him sick. If any of Batman's enemies deserved death, it was the Joker. Danny was tempted to hunt the man down himself and deal with the issue, but he'd promised Tim to stay. Then again, he'd be easy to deal with in a cell and no one would ever know it was him. Or he could get in contact with Fright Knight via Technus, have him deal with him.

At least Tim was with Batman, the best back up he could have if they found the madman. Though…Danny wasn't sure he was actually crazy and not just sadistic or something. Jazz would have known the correct terms. And there'd been something in Tim's voice on that call…something…more personal than just the reaction to any Rogue, even one as dangerous as the Joker.

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Tracking him was not easy but he was patient, he had to be. He was in a relationship with a mortal human, that was doomed to end in heartbreak. So obviously, something had to be done to ensure the young man would remain at Daniel's side forever. It would take time to prepare everything but the best way would be through the same method. So much had been taken already, there would be no more grief.

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Jason lowered his gun, staring at Tim who had crumpled against the rail, panting audibly even from where he was. Thankfully, the kid hadn't gone over the rail too, with how out of it he seemed he wouldn't have managed to land that kind of drop well.

"Red!" Dick yelled, dropping down to their level, reaching for Tim who jerked back.

Jason holstered the weapon as the last goons fell to Steph and the Brat even as Bruce was checking on the Joker. He didn't care if he'd killed the clown, he'd shot to keep Tim safe. He hadn't heard what the psycho had said to Tim but his reaction had been terrifying and so he'd taken the shot as soon as he could without risking hitting Tim.

"Nightwing, deal with the Joker," Bruce growled as he moved up to where they were.

Dick hesitated but then leapt over the side even as Bruce slowly approached Tim. Jason had a very sick feeling in his stomach. He knew Tim had dealt with the Joker several times over the years but the way Bruce was moving…there was no way that sick bastard had done something…was there?

Bruce looked up and Jason really wished that stupid cowl was gone, to see his full expression. Had he killed the Joker or just wounded him? Even he didn't know. Surely, he'd understand that Jason had pulled the trigger to protect Tim? "Go."

"B?" he asked warily.

"The police are on their way. We'll destroy the bullet so it can't be linked to Red Hood."

Oh. Well, that was unexpected. Yeah, they worked together at times, but he'd always made his thoughts on Jason shooting people very clear. Jason looked at Tim, not liking the way the kid was practically hugging himself. "Sure," he finally agreed, forcing himself to leave.

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Bruce cautiously approached Tim, wanting to rip both their cowls off but he couldn't take the risk with the Joker's goons scattered about. He hadn't been close enough to hear what the madman had said to his son, none of them had, but he could make some educated assumptions. Tim was pale, trembling slightly, and Bruce knew if he could see his eyes, they'd be wide.

"Red Robin, can you hear me?" he called as gently as he could.

Thankfully, Tim jerked his head in a shaky nod. Better he be heading towards shock than a few of the other reactions he could have had, ones that would have given away his secret. Not even Dick knew, he'd been off world for most of Tim's recovery time and had been busy when Tim had gone missing. He'd helped search but it had been Barbara with Bruce when they'd finally found Robin and she would never speak of it to anyone for Tim's sake.

"The rest of you clean up, I'm getting him out of here." He glanced at Dick and tapped his comm, getting a nod from his eldest, he'd update him on the Joker later. "Come on," he murmured, slowly reaching out his hand to Tim who thankfully didn't flinch, letting him rest his hand on his shoulder, gently guiding him back to the Batmobile. He had to strap Tim in though, the teen slumping as soon as he hit the seat.

Bruce got in and started the engine before removing his cowl and turning towards his son. "Tim?" he called gently, breaking protocol but there was no one who could see or hear inside.

Tim scrambled at his own, hands shaking, and Bruce reached out to help remove it. "He…he…"

"Shh, he won't touch you," he murmured, taking Tim's hands. "Just breath with me," he coached him through old familiar techniques. "Let's get you back to the Cave."

"No," Tim shook his head. "Home." He brought his gauntlet up and a few seconds later a new route was programmed into the Batmobiles' navigation, as well as access codes.

Bruce hesitated but then activated it, letting the system guide him through the city. He knew the Nest was under the apartment but he didn't know how to access it with a vehicle, one access point was obviously through the apartment itself. "Does he know?" he asked gently, and Tim flinched.

"He does now," he whispered, staring blankly out the front of the car.

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He stared at the results and swore softly, clever but very frustrating. He added a message to the next update. It looked like Vlad might not be dead after all. Or had he been messing with cloning again or something? Great. Just when he thought Danny was free of the Fruit Loop. And…there was updated paperwork. If Mads Masters died then one Daniel Nightingale was his heir, which meant he'd found Danny, or at least some of his records. Enough to realise it was him.

He'd hidden his tracks really well, it was going to take time to find him, time Danny might not have if Vlad went after him. He'd been so obsessed with Maddie and Danny…with her dead who knew how much crazier he might be now, or what he'd do to get to Danny.

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Dick watched as the Joker was loaded into the ambulance, the paramedics assisted by cops with hands on their side arms. Not that he blamed them but…there were good odds the man wasn't going to make it, not with that shot. Not that he blamed Jason, not with Tim in danger. Hell, he'd beaten the Joker to death once, even if he had been resuscitated.

What had he said to Tim to freak him out so badly? Tim who could keep his cool bantering with Ra's of all people!

He wasn't looking forward to telling B that the Joker was likely going to die and even if he lived, it wouldn't be much of a life. His days of breaking out and causing havoc were over, the most he'd be able to do was tell others what to do on his behalf. He really hoped Bruce wouldn't lash out at Jason for it, yeah, Jason wanted the Joker dead and they all knew it. It had been the whole source of conflict between them when Jay first came back after all. But he didn't believe that was why he'd taken that shot, no, he'd taken the only one he could that wouldn't risk hitting Tim. He didn't want Bruce and Jason to go back to how things had been before.

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Bruce pulled into the Nest, impressed by what he could see of the three levels from the vehicle bay. Tim's bike was at the Cave but there was a spare and a car ready to go if needed. He turned the engine off and turned to see if Tim would undo his own belt or not, but he remained still so Bruce undid them before going to get out. He looked up at movement to see a young man appear at the railing before simply jumping over and landing well on the vehicle level.

Bruce opened Tim's door and then stepped aside, allowing Nightingale to approach. The young man did, crouching at the open door, and Bruce watched their interactions, ready to intervene.

"Hey Polaris," the boy murmured. "You with me?"

"Danny," Tim whispered, voice shaking slightly.

"Can I touch you?" he asked softly.

Tim didn't answer that Bruce could hear but he must have indicated agreement and soon he was being helped from the Batmobile.

"Thanks for bringing him home," Nightingale looked over at him. He really did look a lot like most of his children, when the others met him, Bruce would likely be subjected to lots of adoption jokes.

"You heard?" Bruce asked, and the boy nodded, eyes flashing with rage.

"Yeah. It doesn't change anything," he swore, looking at Tim who finally raised his head, hesitantly meeting the other teens eyes.

"Sure?" Tim asked, and Nightingale nodded.

"Whatever he did to you or made you do, it doesn't change anything." He slowly lifted a hand to gently brush sweaty hair back from Tim's face.

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Danny was enraged by the Joker's words but he never wanted Tim to think he was angry at him. He'd gotten very good at controlling and hiding stronger emotions because it tended to make those around him nervous. Ghosts felt emotions so strongly and that affected him too. It was a big part of how they communicated, of their very existence.

He mostly ignored Batman to focus on Tim, not liking his condition at all. "Are you hurt?" he asked gently, keeping his arm around Tim. He looked shocky, not surprising though.

Tim shook his head, leaning more heavily against him, Danny easily supporting his weight.

"Okay, let's get you changed and upstairs. Thanks," he glanced at Batman before leading Tim away to the changing area.

"Call if you need anything," Batman called and then the Batmobile was driving off.

Danny got Tim sitting and then went to work peeling him out of his uniform, keeping every touch gentle. He began talking about his classes, trying to keep Tim from thinking too much about what the Joker had said to him.

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"Master Bruce?"

"Tim is at home with someone he trusts," Bruce answered as he changed out of his gear.

"What the hell was that?" Jason demanded; hands locked into fists.

"If Tim wants you to know, then that's his choice." He looked at all of them, he would not let them demand answers from Tim.

"This…this has to do with when Tim vanished, doesn't it?" Dick asked softly.

"What?" Jason looked at Dick in confusion.

"About nine months after he got back to Gotham from training overseas. He disappeared, I helped search when I could but it was during a bad time with the Titans…and then I was off world. When I got back, Tim was here and things seemed fine."

"Bruce?" Jason looked to him.

"It's Tim's choice to speak of it or not." He had done far too much over the years that he would take back if he could, like that disaster on his birthday with the fake message, he would not add them all finding out about Junior to it. Tim had never wanted them to know before. "Joker's condition?"

"In surgery still," Barbara answered over the Cave's comms. "I'm monitoring and the police are there in force. From the sound of things, he'll probably survive but he'll be a quadriplegic."

Bruce nodded, feeling Jason watching him warily. He hated guns, always would. But Jason wasn't the same as he had been when he'd first come back, he took a lot less lethal shots, often didn't even have lethal ammunition in his weapons. And this time…he'd shot to protect his brother.

"You protected your brother Jason, good work." He patted his son's shoulder and then moved to go upstairs, exhausted.

He was very worried about Tim but for now he would have to trust Nigh…Danny to look after him. He seemed a very level-headed young man with enough trauma in his past to help Tim deal with everything.

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Tim knew he should be helping but he couldn't make himself move. It was so stupid to let him get to him after so long. They'd interacted since then and it was always tense but…something had been different this time. There was something far more threatening in Joker's words, his threats today. Things had shifted when he became Red Robin, the Joker not sure he was the third Robin or a brand-new vigilante, but somehow, he'd gotten confirmation. He knew and wanted Tim back or dead.

Had Danny worked out fully what Joker was talking about? Did he think he'd just been caught and tortured? The threats could be taken that way. How could he tell him the truth? How could he tell Danny that he'd broken, given in and become someone else? He'd told the Joker everything he'd wanted to know, no matter how sensitive the information. His left ear was still ringing from the shot that had hit Joker and as wrong as it was…he hoped Jason had killed him. Danny said it didn't change anything, but how couldn't it?

He blinked and realised he was on his bed; a mug of hot chocolate being pressed into his hands so he took it and sipped at it.

"Back with me?" Danny asked gently, kneeling in front of him, and Tim nodded. Slowly Danny reached out, gently brushing his damp hair back from his face. He'd showered? He didn't remember that. "Drink that and then you should sleep."

"Danny…"

"Shh," Danny stroked his cheek and for once he didn't really feel cold…which probably wasn't a good thing for his own state. "There's no danger, nothing that can't wait. You'll feel better when you wake up."

Tim forced himself to drink, knowing the warmth and sugar would do him good. And then Danny was shifting him into bed, blankets piled on for warmth. He picked up the mug and went to leave and Tim lunged to grab his arm. "Stay," he pleaded. Let him have one last night if Danny was going to leave him.

"I'll be right back, promise. Just going to double check the security." Danny leant in and kissed his forehead before slipping away.

Tim lay on his side, curled into a ball, waiting. He was almost asleep when the bed dipped and a cool hand settled over his own. He rolled over to face Danny, pressing close but Danny was on top of the covers and he whined softly, barely able to keep his eyes open.

"You need to keep warm Tim. Sleep, I'll be here."

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Danny held Tim, soothing him every time it seemed like a nightmare was starting. He'd known the life of a vigilante was a hard one, that they saw and went through things most would never imagine…but he'd never imagined Tim would have something that traumatic. He knew he'd lost his spleen thanks to getting caught between two groups of assassins while searching for Batman who'd been lost in time (and why hadn't Clockwork done something about that or used him to fix it like he'd done before?).

But the Joker's words…they had a past and finding out the whole story kind of scared him. What had that monster done to Tim? He could think of a lot of things…but he was trying not to, because if he did, he'd be leaving a duplicate to care for Tim while he went to the hospital and made the Joker's end painful. One thing everyone knew, the Bats didn't kill, Red Hood was kind of an anomaly since he did work with them at times but his methods were also very different. But that was also holding him back from going after the Joker, would Tim want him to die?

Danny knew people had died in Amity Park, caught in the crossfire despite how much he tried to keep them safe. Surprisingly, the ghosts had been the cause of the least while his parents and the GIW, even Valerie, had been responsible for the majority. He didn't blame Val; she'd been a teen given too powerful weapons without the full understanding of the damage she could do when she missed him or any other ghost. But the others? They had known and hadn't cared so long as they got what they wanted. The only human deaths Danny could be held accountable for were among the GIW, just after the house had blown. He hadn't killed them but he could have saved them and he didn't. Could he kill the Joker to keep Tim safe? Yes, he could. But would it be the start towards becoming someone like Dan?

TBC…