Disclaimer: not mine

I'm 4 Orichalcum+'s away from being able to make the Ultima Keyblade! Closest I've ever gotten. Though, I've put in about 30 postcards and haven't gotten the one from the mailbox yet. Other than that, it's all the hard-to-get ones which sucks. But hey, I've gotten Sora to level 99! So theoretically, I should be able to get through the DCL stuff, right? Last time I couldn't get any of Riku's fights against the data Organisation and that was at level 71.

Finally got 15,200 on the Cherry flan and still not enough, ugh!

Talk of Joker torturing Tim and Jason

Chapter 7

Tim woke slowly, feeling…fuzzy, heavy, and really warm. What…it was quiet…breathing behind him, the weight of an arm over his waist. He fought the urge to panic even as he forced his eyes open, taking a few seconds to realise he was seeing his own bedside table, his phone sitting beside a photo of him and Danny…Danny! That's who's arm was over him. He was safe and home. So why did he feel so…off?

"Tim?" Danny murmured.

Tim opened his mouth to answer but all he managed was a mumbled slur. Was he sick? He felt Danny move and then a hand was pressed to his forehead.

"No fever. You were pretty out of it when Batman brought you home last night though, guess it took a toll on you. I'll get you some water," Danny told him, voice soft. Lips pressed briefly to his cheek and he felt the mattress move as Danny got up.

Last night? He struggled to think, to remember. Had he been hurt on patrol? He never partnered with Batman, not in years… he didn't feel like he was injured, but if he'd been given the good painkillers, it'd explain his fuzziness. Very careful he tried to move, he felt lethargic, heavy, but he could move. So, he slowly pushed himself up until he was slumped against the pillows and headboard, looking down to find himself in sleep clothes and no sign of bandages…a few new bruises so there'd been a fight.

And then Danny was back, a glass of water in his hand, but he didn't hand it over, he helped Tim hold it and he needed the help. He sipped the cool liquid, knowing better than to drink too quickly.

"How do you feel?" Danny asked once he'd put the empty glass aside.

"Wh't happen'd?" he managed to get understandable words out at least, seeing the flash of worry in Danny's eyes.

"What do you remember?" Danny asked, tone going very gentle, and that had Tim really worried.

He closed his eyes, trying to focus like he'd been taught to augment his already excellent memory. Things were hazy…he felt his cheeks warm as he remembered them on his couch, shirtless, kissing and touching. He heard Danny chuckle, must be obvious he remembered that then. But after? He'd…he was meant to be on patrol…and Danny at work.

"No one said you took a hit to the head and you weren't showing signs of a concussion last night. Do you have a headache?" Danny's voice brought him out of his thoughts, and he shook his head.

"Fuzzy," he told him, reaching for his hand, and Danny let him, squeezing gently.

"I think you were in shock last night, you pretty much checked out for a while between the Nest and bed.

"Others?" if he was in shock then something bad had to have happened. Had someone…

"No one was hurt beyond bruises and a few cuts. Batman called to check in once they all made it back."

So, what…and then he cringed, hand flying to his head as he heard it, high pitched giggling. No…no…

"Tim? Hey, come on, breath with me. Come on, come back."

Danny's terrified voice had Tim's eyes snapping open and he realised the laughter wasn't just in his head.

"Tim, look at me," Danny demanded, and he forced himself to meet glowing green eyes, feeling a sudden shock of cold through his body and he gasped, laughter cutting off. "That's it, breath Tim."

He sucked in a breath and then another. "D…" he coughed and then he was being held, head against Danny's cool chest.

"Shh, it's okay Polaris, don't try to talk, just breath." Danny pressed a kiss to the top of his head, and Tim let himself go limp against him, just soaking up the love and safety even as he shoved the laughter back where it belonged.

He hadn't had an attack in years…had come home in shock with Batman…he could think of only one reason for the two things to happen. "Jjj…Joker?"

"Yeah, you rang me once you knew, had me come back here and down to the Nest to listen on your comm."

As Danny spoke the memories started becoming clearer. The Joker…he'd finally worked out who Tim was, that the Robin he had…changed…was now Red Robin. He'd threatened…promised…no…

"Shh, it's okay. Red Hood shot him, as of last update from a lady named Oracle he's still in surgery and it's not looking too good. He will never hurt you again, I'll kill him first," Danny swore, a snarl in his voice, and Tim shuddered, pressing closer.

Even with Danny being more open about his powers and ghost half…it could be easy to forget he wasn't entirely human. Till something happened than threatened Tim's safety and then it was easier to see. Danny had explained that ghosts were possessive, protective, felt things more strongly. So, it didn't scare Tim, it actually felt kind of nice. Threatening to kill someone who was a long-term threat to protect Tim? Danny wasn't one of them, he wasn't bound by Batman's rules. Thanks to the Acts, he wasn't really inside human laws anymore since they didn't see him as human or even sentient. He was more bound by the rules of the Infinite Realms and they didn't seem to see anything wrong with killing.

Tim had tried to kill the Joker, when he'd told him to kill Batman, he'd shot the Joker instead. His aim had been off thanks to all the torture and chemicals so the man had lived. He'd arranged for Captain Boomerang to die and had only saved him at the last second. He'd blown Ra's bases and yeah, there would have been some warning, but not enough for everyone to get out, especially in the larger bases. He likely had quite a bit of blood on his hands. And he knew Jason killed, worked with him even when he had and hadn't done anything to stop him, not really. Really, despite the no killing rule, most of them had either directly or indirectly. And even Batman dropped people off roofs to get them to talk, beat people badly…especially in the time after Jason died…who was to say all of them had lived?

So, Danny threatening to kill the Joker? Not as shocking as it might have once been. How many times had he broken out only to kill more and more people until they caught him again and sent him back? It just didn't work; the Joker couldn't be rehabilitated. And Arkham couldn't hold him, but since he'd been declared insane no one would put him into a proper prison that might hold him or execute him.

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Danny held Tim close, pressing his nose to his hair, inhaling his scent, assuring himself that he was alive and safe with him. He hadn't pulled away when Danny threatened to kill the Joker, had pressed closer, and that just made Danny even more scared to find out what the monster had done to Tim.

He didn't think he'd ever been so scared as when Tim had started giggling and then laughing. He'd heard recordings of the Joker, of people who'd been hit by the venom and Tim…but there'd been no crazy grin or anything, just unstoppable laughter. And Danny had bet on a sudden burst of cold shocking him into stopping, thankfully it'd worked. He wasn't sure what he would have done if it hadn't…called Batman he supposed to ask for help.

"I love you," he whispered.

"No…matt'r what?" Tim asked shakily but at least he'd spoken again.

"No matter what you do or anyone does to you," he promised. "You could become a villain and I'd still love you; I'd disagree with anything really bad and try talking you around, but I'd still love you."

Tim was shaking now and all Danny could do was hold him and whisper promises to always stay with him.

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Jason paced the guestroom he used the few times he had to stay at the Manor. His childhood room was a shrine to the boy who died in Ethiopia and there was no way he would stay in it.

The Joker's shooting couldn't officially be linked to Red Hood, despite his presence being reported by the arrested goons, because there was no evidence that it was one of his guns thanks to Dick getting rid of the bullet. There'd been plenty of guns laying around and for all he knew Dick had added a few more before the cops got there just to further muddy the waters. Guns were always easy to find in Gotham after all. He didn't care if Joker died, though he wanted to know if the monster managed to survive the shot and fall.

No, what he was worried about…was Tim. Bruce had apparently called Tim's place at least once since dropping him off, he'd been sleeping at the time. Jason figured that if the guy from before knew Red Robin's id, then it was probably him watching Tim, otherwise maybe his assistant he'd met when Bruce was gone…Tam? So, Tim had someone with him which was good. But even he didn't react like that to the Joker, Bruce wouldn't talk about it…and Tim had been missing for what, weeks? Months? He should have asked Dick how long he'd been gone for. But did it really matter? The Joker had only had hours with him and he would never forget it, even if it hadn't killed him, he would have been a mess. That Tim survived and seemed totally normal, vigilante levels of normal anyway… was this encounter the final straw?

He picked up his phone, hesitating, but then he called, waiting for someone to pick up.

"Tim Drake's phone," a male voice answered, the same one he'd recorded at the apartment.

He didn't know how much the guy knew, but at the moment he didn't really care. Who would believe him if he claimed a dead man called anyway? "This is Jason, Tim's brother. Is he alright?"

"Uh, hold on a second." Nightingale, that was the name, right? He had obviously muted the phone and then sound came back.

"Jason?" Tim's voice was shaky and hoarse.

"Hey kid," no way would he call him Replacement or something at the moment, he wasn't cruel thank you. Well, not anymore, not to his brothers.

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Lois looked at the information she'd been given and then gathered since her meeting with Diana. It wasn't easy, a lot of it was very well hidden, but she was tenacious and never gave up. What she'd found…she had a strong stomach but some of the pictures had her nearly throwing up. Whatever they were - ghosts, ectoplasmic entities, whatever…some of them looked like kids and they were restrained to tables being cut open. Her digging into the GIW, the Acts, and then Amity Park had gotten attention, thankfully from a friendly hacker. He or she had sent even more information, especially on the vanished hero of Amity Park – Phantom. A ghost as well, but one that seemed to protect people and ghosts from each other.

And yet he was top of the GIW's capture and dissect list. They blamed him for a lot, but the evidence was severely lacking and the testimony of anyone between the ages of six and twenty-two was that he was a hero. He'd done a lot to protect the schools which made sense to her, if he was a dead teenager then surely, it'd make sense that he'd be focused on others like him, so kids. The footage of him supposedly taking the mayor hostage had so many red flags in body language and the like, it was obvious the kid was terrified, if anything he was the hostage. And the footage of those robberies, in every other image Phantom had green eyes so why were they suddenly red? Someone pretending to be him to frame him? Mind control?

She did wonder what had brought it all to Diana's attention, had she met Phantom somehow? An interview with him would go a long way to helping disprove the non-sentient or echo of emotion claims after all.

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Danny grabbed Tim's phone as it rang, hesitating but the caller id said it was one of his family. "Tim Drake's phone," he answered.

"This is Jason, Tim's brother. Is he alright?" The caller asked immediately, concern clear in his voice, which meant he knew something about last night, but how much?

"Uh, hold on a second." He muted the phone and looked down at Tim who blinked groggily at him. "Hey, you have a brother named Jason?"

Tim frowned but then nodded, looking at the phone, so Danny took it off mute and lowered it to Tim. "Jason?" Tim's voice was shaky and hoarse, probably from the laughter.

Danny leant back, staring up at the ceiling, focusing on any noise elsewhere in the apartment, not wanting to eavesdrop. He felt Tim's shaking get worse though and carefully tightened his grip, moving a hand to run through sleep messed hair, trying to calm him down.

"Come?" Tim asked, then waited. "'Kay." He dropped the phone, and Danny caught it, seeing the caller had hung up so he set it back on the table.

"It's okay Tim."

"He's coming," Tim murmured, trying to sit up.

"Jason?" Danny asked, and Tim nodded, so Danny helped him sit up.

Tim tried to get up and stumbled, legs buckling. Danny caught him, easily picking him up. "Why?" Tim buried his face in Danny's shoulder.

"Your body was under a lot of stress last night and then that…"

"Attack," he mumbled.

"That attack would have been draining too. Laughing takes a lot of muscles and seriously affected the way you were breathing. And that bastard was trying to mentally torture you before he got shot which also doesn't help," Danny explained, normally Tim would know that but he wasn't really with it, not fully.

Was this the best time to have someone visit? It'd depend on how close they were and how patient his brother was. Tim didn't talk a lot about his brothers and Danny had been purposely ignored all press on the Wayne family since he'd met Tim. Even then, the press wasn't likely to have an accurate picture of their relationship, just whatever the family showed them.

Danny carried Tim downstairs and settled him on the couch, tucking a blanket around him. "No coffee, I don't think you need the caffeine at the moment. Juice?" he offered, and Tim nodded. "What about food?" that got a head shake. "Okay, for now."

He grabbed the juice and then sat on the couch, figuring it'd take time for the man to arrive, and Tim curled against him. Thankfully, Tim was able to hold the glass himself now, even if he was shaking a little still, the sugar in the juice would hopefully help. He'd need to eat soon though; he was not letting Tim fall back into bad habits when it came to eating. It'd taken him months to get Tim to eat regular meals and not just forget about it, finding out he was a vigilante explained it a bit, he didn't always have time to sit and eat.

"He have a key?" He asked after a while and Tim frowned before looking for his phone. "I'll get it," he rushed upstairs and then handed it to Tim.

"Thanks." Tim dialled a number. "Hi, this is Tim Drake, Penthouse, I need to authorise a visitor. Name is Jason Peters; he'll be here soon. Thanks." Tim hung up and Danny put the phone on the table. Tim was definitely sounding better which was a relief, obviously the juice was helping, and maybe the cuddling too.

And with his brother coming, there'd be someone to stay with him if…no, not finishing that thought…Tim hadn't objected when he threatened to kill the Joker if he hurt him…but doing it pre-emptively?

A knock sounded on the door and Danny got up, permission would get him up in the elevator but not a key to the front door. Of course, he had to gently remove Tim first, he'd started to doze off and whined in complaint at being moved. Danny smiled and kissed him softly. "Your brother's here," he murmured, and Tim opened his eyes, moving to sit up.

Danny went to the door and opened it, finding a guy almost half a foot taller than Tim at the door.

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Jason nodded to the guy who opened the building door for him, heading for the reception desk and the woman seated at it. "Hi, I'm here to visit Tim Drake."

"Name please."

"Jason Peters," it was his Id for when he was out with family since bringing him back legally would be very difficult and honestly, he didn't want to be Jason Todd Wayne again. Red Hood being connected to the Bats could be hard enough at times, there was no way he was dealing with the press as a civilian.

"Yes, Mr Drake called down a few minutes ago. May I see some Id?" she asked, and he handed over the driver's licence he had in the name. He followed her directions for the elevator, heading to the top level.

He'd never been to Tim's apartment before, he'd been in the Nest twice but never upstairs. Though he doubted the others knew about those visits. Once had been because he'd been hurt and the other because of important intel during a gang case. He'd been very impressed by the underground base, it fit what Tim needed very well, it had everything he could need to work independently which was what he did most of the time, but also to work as a team if he let anyone in. And Jason figured the kid snuck his old teammates in at least occasionally. All three of them could easily slip into Gotham without being noticed with their powers, or simply by doing the unexpected and coming in like civilians.

It was a smooth, fast ride up to the Penthouse and then Jason found himself in front of a door that he knew was reinforced beyond belief. And he didn't have a key so he knocked. It took a few moments but then the door opened to reveal a black-haired teen, taller and broader than Tim, it had to be Nightingale.

"Hi, I'm Danny," he offered his hand, and Jason shook it.

"Jason," he offered, following him to see Tim sitting up on the couch, a blanket pooling around him. He walked over and crouched down in front of Tim, seeing how pale he looked, though he was always the palest out of the family. "Hey," he murmured.

Tim managed a smile that was more of a grimace than anything, but then leant forward, wrapping his arms around Jason's shoulders. "Thanks," he whispered, even as Jason lifted his arms to hug him back.

He blinked, was Tim thanking him for what he thought he was? He remembered when he'd thought Tim was the perfect Robin, had hated him for it. But he wasn't, no one was perfect. "What did he do to you?" he whispered before he could stop himself, feeling Tim flinch slightly before the kid tightened the hug.

Tim pulled back and then held his hand out to Danny who quickly joined him on the couch, holding hands. Huh, so Timmy really was dating someone. Well, from the little he'd seen, he seemed good for Tim. He'd looked after him when he was hurt and was now taking care of him again.

"Tim?" Danny asked softly.

"You…you should both hear it."

Jason didn't think he'd ever heard the kid hesitate like that before. He really wanted to go put a few extra bullets in the Joker now.

"It won't change anything Polaris."

Tim shrugged slightly, looking at the carpet, and Jason moved to the armchair to give him some space. "Batman…didn't want another Robin, but he eventually took me on. He did some basic training with me and then sent me overseas where I studied under several different teachers. When I came back to Gotham I started going out as Robin, six months later Batman was letting me patrol alone."

"He what?" Jason snarled, hands curling into fists. Tim had been what, thirteen, fourteen? Jason had only been allowed on solo patrols for a few months before he died! Hadn't Bruce learnt anything?

Tim shrugged slightly, gaze distant, so Jason forced himself to keep quiet, even as Danny gently pulled Tim into his side, pulling the blanket up…Tim's hands were shaking.

"I'd been back about nine months when I saw a lady being attacked so I stepped in, it was a trap. I woke up strapped to a table with the…with him leaning over me, an IV in my arm and electrodes on. He'd gotten me out of my suit somehow and into…other clothes. Apparently…Harley wanted a family so he decided to give her one…using me. I don't remember a lot of what happened, between the chemicals and torture…but in the end I was telling him anything he asked just to make it stop."

"Not even adults can hold out under torture indefinitely Tim, you were just a kid," Jason told him firmly but gently. "Hell, I was screaming and begging within twenty minutes." If Danny knew Tim was Red, then he could probably work out who the rest of them were, and Tim trusted him. "If he'd tried it with me, I would have given in to stop the pain."

"Joker Junior…JJ…that's who Batman and Batgirl found in the end. He…he bleached my skin, coloured my hair…I looked like a mini him. But they knew it was me, tried to talk to me, but I…if I listened then they'd make it hurt again," Tim choked out, cringing back into Danny who tightened his grip.

"It's okay, you're safe with me and your brother. He's not here Tim," Danny murmured.

Jason was going to be sick…or shoot something. Tim was pale…but Jason remembered the Drake's, they hadn't been pale and…he could vaguely remember a little Tim, he hadn't been as pale as he was now. He'd always put it down to being nocturnal and Gotham's lack of sunny days. Knowing the Joker had bleached his skin, Tim was lucky he wasn't white like that monster.

"I called them Mom and Dad," Tim whispered, looking sick. "I'd do anything to make them happy…but…he…he told me to shoot Batman and Batman…he just…stood there. He said it was okay…that he wouldn't hurt me…to come home…I didn't recognise him!" Tim was shaking his head almost violently, and Jason moved, crouching in front of him again.

He reached out and took Tim's hands before he could do something worse than shaking his head. "Hey, come on Timmy, look at me."

Wild, glassy blue eyes looked at him, almost through him, but it was a start. Danny pressed closer, kissing Tim's skin where he could reach, whispering too softly for Jason to hear. But ever so slowly, Tim came back to them.

"That's it, we're in your apartment Baby Bird. He's not here and if he even tried it, I'd shoot him again, and there's no way I'd miss."

"See, between the two of us, he'd be dead long before he could ever get to you," Danny promised, surprising Jason, but there was a real threat of violence there which was interesting.

"Big bad bat got through to you somehow, didn't he?" Jason asked, surely if Tim had shot Bruce there'd be a mention of it somewhere.

Tim looked at him and shocked him by managing a shaky smile. "You did," he whispered, and Jason blinked, what? "B told me to remember you, what Joker had done to you, why I'd become Robin. It hurt so much but it managed to break through just enough that I didn't shoot him…I shot the Joker. Was too messed up for a good shot though, didn't kill him, got his shoulder. I…I remember crying, collapsing, Batgirl catching me. Everything blurry after that, there was lots of pain and screaming. Detoxing and Joker venom antidotes I guess, never looked at the records. They managed to fix my skin a bit, died my hair black till the colour could grow out…but…he's still in here, JJ…even with counselling and years. I used to get…attacks, I'd laugh and laugh…hadn't had one in years…."

"Till this morning," Danny finished for him, and Tim nodded.

Jason grimaced, but it made sense, if anything was going to cause Tim to have issues, it'd be after what had happened last night. And hearing a shot so close probably hadn't helped since Tim had shot the bastard last time. Drugged out of his mind and he'd still managed to hit the Joker, that was impressive. How good a shot would he be normally?

Tim blinked, staring at him, before sighing. "Dad took me shooting when I was eleven, male bonding or something. Better with a rifle, sport shooting."

Huh, Timmy never stopped surprising him.

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Danny held on tight to Tim, glad he was managing to talk with Jason about shooting. He was fighting not to let his more ghostly attributes show, to give into the rage at what that monster had done to Tim. He knew it was amazing that Tim was sane, that he'd recovered at all from what had been done to him. He didn't care if something of JJ lingered in his mind so long as it wasn't hurting Tim. They could deal with crazy laughing if it happened again and Danny was strong enough to restrain Tim if he became violent or anything. Danny figured that if this was his first attack in years, then hopefully they should be past any danger within a few weeks, months at most, so long as the Joker remained in hospital…he really, really wanted him dead now, worries about Dan shoved aside. If given the chance, he seemed the type to come after Tim again, there was no way he could let him have that chance.

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Tim slumped against Danny. They knew now, they knew and hadn't left, hadn't looked at him in disgust. Jason even said he couldn't have held out as long! That helped quiet the voice in his head, it'd been louder than it had been in years but now it was becoming quieter again, not the silence he'd gotten used to, but better. It only used to appear softly when the Joker broke out of Arkham, hopefully it'd go back to that in a while.

"Some more juice, then maybe something light to eat? You haven't eaten since before patrol, Tim," Danny told him, and Tim grimaced.

"I'll sort something out, you just relax," Jason told him, patting his knee before standing and moving to the kitchen.

Tim twisted around to see Danny, searching his face for any sign of disgust or distrust but he couldn't see any. Danny smiled softly, sadly, and moved one hand to gently cup Tim's face, Tim leaning into his touch. "You…you don't…"

"What? Hate you? Think you're disgusting or weak?" Danny asked, and Tim couldn't help the small flinch. "No Tim, I think you're incredible and so strong. So many people would never have recovered from all of that, but you have. You're an amazing person and even if you gave up being a vigilante and WE tomorrow, I'd still think that. I love you."

Tim swallowed, trying to believe it, how could anyone just be so accepting of what had happened, what he'd done? He leant forward, resting his head against Danny's shoulder, feeling him run his fingers through his hair, and Tim closed his eyes, resting. Soon enough, Jason returned with a new glass of juice and some food for all three of them. He didn't want to eat but he had to and he knew it.

Jason just settled in with them, the tv on some wildlife documentary in the background, and Tim found himself drifting, not asleep but not really awake either.

"Can you stay with him for a while?" Danny's voice brought him closer to awareness.

"Something wrong?" Jason asked.

"I want to stay here for a while, I need some things from my place to do it."

"Yeah, I can stay. Better wake him up first though."

"Leaving?" Tim mumbled, and then he felt Danny press a kiss to his cheek.

"Just for a while, then I'll be back. I need clothes and stuff. I'm not leaving, Tim," Danny promised, and Danny never broke his promises to him.

"Kay, Jay?"

"Staying right here till he gets back, longer if you want me to."

"Patrol?"

"I can skip a night or two," Jason's voice was closer and then Tim felt himself being moved, the cool replaced by warmth. A larger hand petting his hair. "Go back to sleep," Jason whispered.

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Danny left the apartment building and slipped out of sight of any cameras, immediately transforming before going invisible, taking to the air. It was easy to get to the hospital and find the room the Joker was in.

TBC…