This probably isn't a good idea, but Jason knows that, okay? He knows it. He's known it the whole time.
He knew it probably wasn't a good idea when he first found out that Catherine wasn't his biological mother and he started having thoughts. He knew it probably wasn't a good idea when he researched how far he would have to go and how much he would have to spend to get to Sheila Haywood. He knew it probably wasn't a good idea when he lied to Alfred about going to hang out with Dick and lied to Dick about spending time with Alfred. He knew it probably wasn't a good idea when he booked the flight to Ethiopia. He knew it probably wasn't a good idea when he got on the flight, and when he wiggled with nerves for the whole flight over, and when he got off the flight, and, and, and whatever! He knew it probably wasn't a good idea, but he did it anyway.
And now he's here.
And Sheila Haywood isn't exactly what he expected.
To be fair, Jason hadn't been sure exactly what he'd been expecting in the first place. What kind of person would've given a baby to Willis Todd of all people, after all? So Jason hadn't been sure what he'd expected. Maybe he'd been expecting her to be outright mean. Maybe he'd been expecting her to be way too trusting. Maybe he'd been expecting her to be just not caring at all. So far, she doesn't seem to be any of what he'd been expecting.
And, well, he sure hadn't been expecting her to be blond.
Jason smirks to himself as he follows Sheila into the warehouse where she'd said they'd be able to talk, really talk.
"Sure is dark in here," Jason notes, squinting into the shadows. The only light comes from the open doorway behind him as he walks further in amongst the boxes.
"Sure is dark," Sheila says quietly from somewhere behind him.
Then there's footsteps, and the creak of hinges, and the light disappears.
"Sheila?" Jason asks, but her voice hadn't come from that far behind him. How had she made it to the door that quickly? Unless…
"Not quite," a different voice says, a voice filled with glee, a voice Jason knows and not in a good way.
Jason spins around as bright lights flare from everywhere. "Joker!"
"Ding ding ding, give the boy a prize!" Joker says, clapping his hands.
Jason's already in a fighting stance, feet steady and fists clenched.
Sheila, on the other hand, is very much not in a fighting stance. She stands between Jason and the Joker, looking back and forth. She seems a little scared, which makes sense.
But she doesn't seem surprised.
A stone drops heavily into Jason's stomach. "Sheila?"
"Sorry, kid," Sheila says, and to her credit, she does sound a little sorry, just a little. "But I don't even know whatever you got named after I left you. I don't know you, and you don't know me, and you offered to get to know each other, but a better offer came along. So I took it."
Jason feels his fists clench even tighter.
"Now, isn't this interesting?" Joker says, and he's twirling a little pistol around one finger. "A little family reunion, but not so united, hmm? You'd think spending time with family would make a person happy. You'd think it'd make them want to laugh!"
"I'm not hearing anybody laughing," Jason says flatly.
Joker grabs the pistol with his other hand. He points it at Sheila and says lowly, "You know, neither am I. So let's laugh."
"Joker!" Sheila says sharply, and now she seems way more scared. "That wasn't in the plan!"
"You know what also wasn't in the plan?" Joker says. "You weren't! Not in the real plan, anyway, ha ha!"
Sheila cries out, but it's in fear, not in pain. Joker hasn't pulled the trigger yet.
"If she wasn't in the plan, then let her go," Jason says, slowly edging forward while Joker's eyes are on Sheila.
"Mmm, no," Joker says, pistol still locked on Sheila but eyes locked on Jason. "Not yet, at least. Not until we're ready. Not until you're ready."
Jason considers that, and the stone in his stomach weighs more and more with each moment. Finally, he says, "What do I have to do to be ready?"
"Miss Haywood, if you would be a dear?" Joker says, tilting his head toward one corner of the warehouse.
Jason tilts his head too, but he can't quite see what's behind the crates over there.
Sheila slowly backs toward the corner and scoops something off the floor, then comes forward again, Joker's gun never wavering from pointing at her head. She's holding a bundle of ropes.
"Go on," Joker says.
"Sorry, kid," Sheila says again, and she sounds like she fully means it this time. But she still steps up to Jason and starts looping and fastening the rope around him.
At a loss at what else to do when Joker's gun is still pointedly facing Sheila's forehead, Jason lets Sheila tie him up. After a few moments, he's tied up from head to toe, and Sheila starts backing away again.
"Very nice, very nice," Joker says. "All right, Miss Haywood. Your job here is done."
Sheila freezes in front of a crate, staring at the pistol.
"Say goodbye," Joker says teasingly, and he pulls the trigger.
Jason screams.
Sheila screams louder and throws her hands up over her face.
Both of their screams peter out gradually.
Slowly, Sheila lowers her hands from her face.
The bullet ended up in the crate behind her, Jason realizes with a rush of emotions, and if it was anybody but the Joker he's facing, he would laugh out loud with relief.
"I said, say goodbye," Joker repeats. He gestures with the pistol toward the door to the warehouse. "Go on. Say it and go."
"Goodbye," Sheila manages to blurt, then sprints toward the door, never looking back.
Joker watches her go with a happy little sigh.
Jason watches too until she's out of sight, but surreptitiously tests the ropes all the while. They're tied so securely, he bets it would take him hours to escape.
It would probably take Batman or Nightwing only a couple of minutes, though. The thought twinges in Jason's chest with desire. He wishes Bruce was here. He wishes Dick was here. He wishes he'd never thought of this bad idea. He wishes he wasn't alone with the Joker.
Joker turns from the warehouse door and leers at Jason. "Well, well. Alone at last. Or maybe not so alone?"
Jason stares Joker down, trying his best not to give away the confusion that last statement caused him.
Joker laughs as he walks up to Jason. "Oh, poor boy, so confused."
Well, so much for Jason's best.
"Don't worry," Joker says, falsely soothing. "You won't be a confused you for long. Then you won't be you for long, because you won't be at all! Ha ha, here comes the end for Robin!"
As if it didn't feel heavy enough already, the stone in Jason's stomach now feels like it weighs about a million tons. The end. Joker is planning to kill him.
"Oh yes, poor boy," Joker says, and he strokes Jason's cheek with one finger.
As quickly as he can, Jason turns his head and snaps his teeth at Joker's finger.
Joker dances away, still laughing. "But not yet, not just yet. First, there's a lesson to be taught, and you're going to help me teach it to him, and he's going to help me teach it to you."
Confusion and fear clash in Jason's head. Joker keeps acting like there's someone else here, saying "not so alone" and "to him" and "he's going to" and those things. But it's just Jason and the Joker.
Having stepped away, Joker opens one of the numerous boxes littering the warehouse. He rummages in it for a moment, then pulls out-
A bomb. Jason wonders, maybe a bit morbidly, is an explosion the "he" that'll teach Jason a lesson?
Joker fiddles with the bomb and sets it on another nearby box. He stares at it for a moment, then nods decisively. "Good. All right, Robin's end is here. You know what that means, don't you? It means it doesn't matter if he sees you, JJ!"
JJ? Jason mouths the initials with a mix of curiosity and terror.
For a moment, nothing else happens.
Then Joker gives a huge, annoyed huff. "JJ! That's your cue, son! See, this is why you need to learn a lesson, you don't listen to your father when he tries to teach you how to be good. Now come on out, Joker Junior!"