Inside Arkham Asylum, Batman came out of Bane's cell without any useful clue about Renegade.

Batman discovered that all of Gotham's crazies had met Renegade at least once, respected him greatly -or at least most of them- but would have preferred a violent beating from the Caped Crusader rather than betray Renegade.

Apparently they not only respected him but were absolutely terrified of the young mercenary, much more than they were terrified of Batman.

Bruce hated this.

Batman was pretty sure that none of them knew Renegade's civilian identity, including the Sirens of Gotham who were closest to Renegade but they were still unwilling to reveal anything about him that might help the vigilante understand who he was.

There was only one person left who Batman had not yet interrogated but who in the end, ironically, was the one with the best chance who would help him.

The last person he hoped to meet that night.

Batman stopped in front of the last cell in the entire asylum and stared directly at the camera pointed in his direction. It took a few seconds before he heard a click that suggested the containment door was opened and Batman entered the cell.

His gaze instantly fell on his nemesis's maddening eyes, his green hair and his smile that frightened anyone.

The Clown Prince of Crime himself.

"Joker."

The smile on the psychopath's face increased in size and he burst into his trademark laugh. "I must be dreaming! Or maybe not because I know you actually missed me, Batsy!" he chuckled, sitting in a chair heavily shackled from top to bottom.

"I'll get right to the point. You know Renegade?"

The Joker tilted his head to the side, his eyes showing curiosity and interest. "Little Ren? Of course I know him! Who doesn't know a super-villain of his caliber, after all?" he laughed again. "Although I'm beginning to think he's all grown up now and he's not little Ren anymore." he murmured reflectively and then shook his head. "How quickly children grow up, eh?"

"What do you know about him?"

"Now now, why should I tell you?" asked Joker with a growing smirk, his eyes sparkling with mischief and madness. "Where would be the fun in that, Batsy?"

"Because otherwise I will force you to be locked in here for the rest of your life in a full cast!" growled Batman, advancing menacingly.

The Joker threw back his head and laughed madly as if Batman had just told the funniest joke ever. "I like the darkness around you, Batsy! It makes you more fascinating and mysterious but most of all" he flashed all his yellow teeth in a crazy grin. "it always makes you more like me."

Batman involuntarily stepped back at those words, doubts that began to eat away at him from within.

It was impossible for him to become a monster like the Joker.

Right?

"Isn't it wonderful, Batsy? You and me having fun throwing Gotham and the whole world into fear and terror! Both of us sowing fear in our own way into the hearts of criminals, heroes and innocent civilians! We are like twins separated by birth! Amazing, isn't it?"

Gotham's vigilante shook his head, reproaching himself that he was falling for one of the clown's usual mind tricks. He took a step forward and growled dangerously, clenching his fists menacingly. "Renegade. Talk about him. Now."

The Joker pouted. "You're a real party pooper. No fun this way."

The Batman threw a violent uppercut at him that knocked the chair backward and the Joker with it. The clown chuckled as he spat blood, watching Batman tower menacingly over him.

"Now you're speaking my language, Batsy!"

"TALK!" Batman roared angrily, delivering a vicious kick to the back of the clown's head, who could do nothing but take his blows.

Joker spat more blood and chuckled, his crooked teeth stained with blood. "All right all right! I'll talk like a bird!" he hummed. "What do you want to know, Batsy?"

"How and when did you meet him?"

"In one of the meetings between some supervillains, about four years ago. Only at that time Ren was still a child accompanied by his parent." he chuckled at his own words.

"How old was he?"

"I'm not a child expert but I think he was..." Joker began to ponder this for a long time, which began to irritate the vigilante. "thirteen years old, probably. It barely reached halfway down my stomach." he chuckled.

"Specify what you mean by accompanied by his parent."

"Well, I'm talking about Deathy of course!"

"Deathstroke?" asked Batman in clarification. The Joker nodded with a chuckle. "He is not a parent. Renegade is just his former apprentice."

"That's what Deathy wanted the others to think!" spoke the Joker enigmatically, irritating the vigilante who squinted his eyes.

"Explain."

"Our dear mutual friend clearly wanted everyone to believe that little Ren was just an apprentice to him, someone he doesn't care much for. But guess what happened?" Batman remained silent and stared at him impassively. The Joker sighed dramatically but continued. "During the meeting I approached Little Ren because I wanted to meet him and become his Uncle J!

"But apparently he doesn't seem to like clowns very much... or maybe I'm the exception?" wondered Joker rhetorically, shrugging lazily as best as his chains would allow. "Anyway, I really wanted to meet the little Ren who was talked about a lot! You know, it is said that he is even more ruthless than his daddy! Can you believe it? A little boy more ruthless than Deathy! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he burst out laughing.

"Joker." Batman warned in a snarl.

"Damn, you know how to kill humor." muttered the clown. "Just when he wasn't expecting it I sprayed him with Joker Venom!" he laughed. "And you know what happened next?" he thrust his head forward as if revealing the world's greatest secret. "Deathy almost killed me!" he threw back his head and laughed.

"You're still alive."

The Joker contemptuously waved a hand as if that were a superfluous detail. "You have Harley to thank for my still being with you, Batsy!"

"That doesn't prove, however, that Deathstroke is like a parent to Renegade."

"Deathy is definitely little Ren's parent." Joker nodded, his eyes wide and grinning broadly. "Why else would you teach everything you know to a little boy? And although the boy is a little paler than normal, it is obvious that Deathy really cares for him even if he will never admit it out loud. So if that's what you're worried about, I'm sure Deathy is not exploiting or even abusing little Ren."

Batman remained silent, contemplating his enemy's words. It was clear that he could not blindly trust the Joker's words but he could find no sign that he was lying.

"I hear now Ren is flying alone like a little bird." Batman returned his gaze to his nemesis. "And I also heard how Ren is described as Deathy's former apprentice." he huffed. "I have to admit: It was clever of Deathy to use the apprentice thing to make others think he doesn't care about Ren. At least it worked this time."

"What do you mean?" Batman asked gruffly.

The Joker tilted his head, a genuinely confused and surprised twinkle in his eyes. "Don't you know?"

"Know what?" the Caped Crusader growled in frustration.

Joker burst out laughing. "I can't believe you don't know!"

Batman menacingly raised a fist but before it could land violently on the clown's face he blurted out.

"Ren was Deathy's second apprentice!"

Batman stared at him surprised and skeptical. "Deathstroke had another apprentice?"

"Son but that's the concept."

"Go ahead."

Joker shrugged his shoulders. "I can't tell you much about the first one but I know he didn't last as long as Ren. Two years at most."

"You mean he was killed?"

"Yep." he snapped noisily. "In a contract. You can obviously see for yourself that Deathy wasn't very happy."

"What was his name?"

The Joker pretended to think about it and it was only when Batman growled that the clown replied. "Ravager."

"So you don't know their identities."

"As if Deathy was so crazy to reveal that to me." scoffed Joker.

"Anything else useful?"

"That's what I know." admitted Joker honestly, shrugging his shoulders. "I therefore advise you to investigate Deathy as well. If you find out anything about him-"

"-I will find out something about Renegade." guessed Batman, mentally scolding himself for not getting there sooner.

He was so focused on Renegade's identity that he had not thought at all about trying to look at the whole picture from another perspective.

"That's right. See? We make a good team." Joker chuckled. "However, there are many rumors circulating about the figure of Ren, each one darker than the last."

"I don't care about rumors. I just want facts and evidence." lied Batman, already mentally thinking about Matches Malone's next appearance in the criminal world. He turned and began walking toward the exit.

"You're welcome, Batsy!" laughed the Joker, still lying flat in his chair. "Um, a little help?"

In response Joker got the door to his cell abruptly closing.

"I should have expected that."

Dick chuckled when the tiny figure of Damian Al Ghul-Wayne raised his arms with an adorable frown, silently asking to be picked up. The acrobat complied with the five-year-old's request and took him in his arms, cradling him gently. His heart warmed when Damian snuggled against his chest, letting out a blissful sigh.

Dick kissed the top of his head. "I love you, Dami."

"Love you, Baba." murmured Damian cuddling even more on the older boy.

The Talon smiled softly and stared ahead at 12-year-old Cassandra Cain, who stared tenderly at him. Her hands moved deftly in the sign language Dick himself had patiently taught her.

I love you too, Dad.

No matter that for some years Cass and Damian clearly saw Dick as their father figure, whenever they called him Dad and Baba respectively he felt the happiest person in the world.

Dick was literally both like an older brother to them but more importantly like a father.

And he could not have been happier than that.

It was also quite hilarious to see the reaction of Slade, Talia and Sandra when Cass and Damian referred to Dick in this way for the first time.

"Come here Cass." murmured Dick and immediately Lady Shiva's daughter crashed into his leg. Dick adjusted Damian's position in such a way as to gently ruffle her hair, loving her smile that brightened.

Suddenly his phone rang in his pocket and Dick silently cursed. He sent a grateful smile to Cass when she handed it to him and he briefly but lovingly kissed her forehead -and how beautiful was her bright, radiant smile!- before accepting the call from his father.

"Hey Slade." he greeted him casually.

"Batman is looking for clues about you." Slade declared without wasting any time.

"What?" asked Dick taken aback.

"Batman has already interrogated Selina, Harley and Pamela and the rest of the Gotham Rogues to see if any of them would give him anything useful to work with. Obviously they didn't." Dick emitted a murmur of acknowledgement and Slade continued. "From what I understand Wayne is researching all over the criminal world to figure out who you really are and it seems that he will stop at nothing and no one."

"Damn. He can't digest the fact that a teenager kicked his ass easily, huh?"

Slade snorted in amusement. "Typical Bat. He is so obsessed with figuring out who you are that he will probably work day and night on finding out your civilian identity."

"Does Bruce also have a social life?" asked Dick sarcastically. "...Don't answer that."

"How are things in Nanda Parbat?" asked his father, changing the subject.

Dick brightened up. "Great! I'm glad the school is closed for a few days due to construction so I can spend some time with my kids!" he smiled bouncing Damian on his chest -who in the meantime had fallen asleep and was fucking cute- and lowering himself gave another kiss on the forehead to Cass who emitted a delightful giggle.

"...You're only seventeen and already have two kids."

"You don't have to be so surprised, Slade. You know me very well."

Slade grunted. "True. However, Rose and Joey miss you."

Dick's heart warmed at the thought of his little siblings. "Tell them I'll be back soon!"

"Already done. See you soon, kiddo."

"Bye, Dad!"

He put his phone back in his pockets and sent a smile to Cass. "How about we put your little brother to sleep and then play hide and seek?"

Cass nodded frantically with a beaming smile and eagerly she took his hand. Dick giggled as she quickly led him to Damian's room.

Dick loved his family and children so much.