Author's Not: So, I know I should be working on my other story Dark Hearts right now but this idea has been bugging me for a while now and unfortunately Dark Hearts is a little harder to write than I originally though it would be so this is me taking a break from that story to try and reset my brain! This is my first Young Justice story so please forgive me for any mistakes and while I will try my hardest to stick to the characters as best I can I cannot promise they will be perfect! Reviews are always appreciated!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Young Justice or any DC universe, no matter how much I wish I did.

January 12, 2016.

Gotham City.

1600.

"Dick! Hey! Earth to Dick! Grayson!"

A raven head pops up, cerulean eyes wide with apology and a little bit of shock, "Sorry Babs, were you calling me?"

Barbara Gordon rolls her green eyes, a small smile on her face, "Yeah for like five minutes. What are you thinking about anyway?"

Richard Grayson shrugs, "This and that. Mostly wondering if the opposite of nonchalant is chalant and if you're being chalant does it mean you do care or you're just making a bigger deal out of something than necessary? Nonchalant means you appear calm and collected but that doesn't mean you are. So if you're being chalant then it would only make sense you aren't trying to appear calm but does that mean the emotions you're showing are fake or real?"

Barbara rolls her eye and settles on the edge of Dick's desk, "You know, if you focused this much on the lectures in school teachers might like you a little better."

Dick snorts, "They like me plenty. I get perfect grades and I'm on the Mathlete team. I don't need to listen to them lecture to ace their classes."

"Yeah but it makes them feel important. Imagine how delighted they would be if you made a comment or asked a question during class?"

"The only time I ever even feel like commenting is because I want to correct them and the only question I would ask is how they ever became teachers in the first place. I don't think they would appreciate that."

Barbara laughs, "No probably not."

Dick grins and grabs his bag off the floor, standing, "Come on. Alfred is probably waiting for me already and you can't miss your bus. Your dad will freak."

Barbara follows him from the room and the noise from the hallway washes over them. She winds her way behind him between students and faculty alike. While the two of them could easily hold up a conversation right now it would probably look odd to most everyone else. After all, how many teenagers do you know capable of carrying out entire conversations without actually saying anything? Yeah, that would only be a little strange. So they settled for saying nothing and moved toward their lockers.

They reached Dick's first and he was quick to unload all of his textbooks into his locker. He finished his homework two days ago in preparation for the weekend. Weekends meant more time for missions because his curfew was later. He couldn't spend any of that time doing homework of all things. Bruce was pretty understanding about most things but homework was almost sacred. If you don't finish your homework you don't go out on patrol. Alfred made that rule the moment Dick started school and Bruce didn't argue with him for even a minute. Dick argued constantly. It was an interesting dynamic in their home.

As he shuffled some things around in his bag a flashing red light caught his eye. He frowned, he made sure to turn off his communicator and wrist computer this morning before getting out of the car. Bruce would kill him if either one of those went off while he was at school and gave away their identities. So what was the flashing light coming from? He pushes a few things aside and realizes it's his wrist computer. His heart slams to a halt in his chest. If the red light is flashing something has gone terribly wrong. The light isn't supposed to ever turn on when the computer is shut down so why is it on now?

He glances at Barbara who's watching him in confusion. She frowns and he can practically read the what? on her face. He looks pointedly down at his bag, where the wrist computer is just visible. She leans over slightly and peeks inside. Her eyebrows furrow together and the confusion on her face when she looks back up at him makes him sigh. Without saying a word Dick grabs her wrist and drags her through the school to one of the less used wings. He shuts them in a bathroom and locks the door quickly once checking to make sure it's empty.

"Richard! What's going on?!" Barbara's voice is slightly higher than normal and Dick can tell she's a little freaked by his actions.

Dick takes a deep breath and brings the wrist computer out of his bag. He presses a button and a message pops up. His stomach drops. This was the thing he feared most when he saw that flashing red light. This was the message he hoped he would never see again because it isn't supposed to ever show up. Ever. He looks up at Barbara, panicked this time, "We have to get back to the cave. Now."

"Dick, what is going on?" Barbara has her no nonsense face on now and he knows the only way to get her moving is to offer some form of explanation.

He sighs and rakes a hand through his unruly hair, making an even bigger mess of it, before turning the screen so she can read the message he typed up so many years ago:

If you're reading this something has happened. Someone managed to get into the secure Watchtower files and all of our identities could now be compromised. There are systems in place to eliminate any threats to the security firewalls but there's no telling at this point just how much information our enemies got their hands on. This is a warning to all heroes: you are in danger. Trust no one. An encrypted message will be sent to you at a later time with instructions on what to do next. Until then, stay safe and stay alive.

"Oh God. We have to go. Now."

Barbara grabs his hand this time and they're out the door faster than he can blink. He has to be quick, hiding the wrist computer under his coat as best he can. They're about halfway through the school when the ground shakes violently underneath them. Dick stumbles into Barbara who has to brace herself against a wall to keep from face planting. They look at each other in shock for a moment, neither one of them moving. And then years of training kick in and they sprint toward the cause of the sudden quake while everyone else runs the opposite direction.

In the courtyard there's a crater the size of a small house with smoldering debris scattered all around it. Among some of the debris Dick can make out bodies. Unmoving bodies. He feels his knees grow weak. He's not a stranger to dead people but it still hits him hard every single time. Innocents don't deserve to die like this. No one deserves to die like this.

"Dick, there," he looks to where Barbara is pointing, her hand shaking almost.

At the other end of the explosion a man is making his way across the courtyard. Directly toward them. There are two others behind him and those two are the ones who make his blood run cold in his veins. A flash of green hair, a maniacal laughter carrying on the wind and the purple suit he can't seem to forget. Joker. And next to him, Harley Quinn. This is very, very bad.

"Babs, we have to get out of here. They might know who we really are. That security breach could be them," Dick hisses, turning and preparing to make a run for it. There's nothing he hates more than running but they aren't supposed to act when dressed as civilians. Even if their identities could already be compromised. This was the moment contingency plans were made for.

Barbara hesitates for a moment before nodding, "Right. Right. We should go."

Dick takes off back into the school, Barbara close on his heels, and he prays Bruce somehow already knows about what's happened. Bruce was supposed to be in board meetings all day long and while his phone was synced up with the Batcomputer that didn't mean he was able to constantly check it.

They somehow managed to make it to the front of the school without running into anyone and Dick thanked whatever Gods were listening when he caught sight of Alfred. The butler was looking frantic, searching the throngs of people running through the front parking lot trying to get away from the villains in the back courtyard.

Dick can tell the moment Alfred spots them. The cold, hard fear is replaced with devastating relief. Dick worries for a minute the older man is going to collapse and he picks up his pace a bit, Barbara right behind him.

They break through the last group of people and that's when Dick feels it. Blinding, white hot pain. It shoots through his shoulder and a gasp escapes his lips before he can stop it. Barbara is screaming his name, grabbing at his uninjured shoulder and trying to drag him after her. He manages to get his feet underneath him and stumbles after her, blinking rapidly and trying to dispel the fuzziness in his vision. A simple gunshot wound shouldn't be causing him so many problems. He's been shot before and in much worse spots than his shoulder.

"Master Richard! Miss Gordon!" Alfred's voice rings out over the cacophony of noise surrounding them and the wavering tone terrifies Dick. So does the weakening in his body and the feeling of blood running down his arm.

Strong hands grab him and before he realizes what's happening he's being held against a hard chest with something cold pressed against the side of his head. It takes his sluggish brain a moment to comprehend what's happening but when he does finally catch up his blood turns to ice. Someone is holding him with a gun against his head, someone has managed to catch him.

Dick forces his mind to focus a little harder, makes his eyes actually see what's happening around and in front of him. Barbara's fiery hair is a tangled mess, catching in the wind as tears build in her bright green eyes. Alfred has one hand outstretched and his eyes are wide, terrified, as he stumbles forward a step.

"Richard John Grayson, such a pleasure to meet you in person. I've read so much about you. So many very interesting things Richard. Or should I call you Robin?" the voice in his ear isn't one he recognizes. He knows every single villain's voice by heart but this one isn't registering in his brain.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about. Please, just let me go," Dick doesn't have to work very hard to put the waver in his voice, the fear he's feeling deep down easily coming out. He's vulnerable here. He's not Robin right now, he's Richard Grayson. Just Richard Grayson.

The chuckle in his ear is dark and sends chills up his spine, "Oh, dear boy, there's no need to try hiding from me. I already read all your precious little files. I know everything about the circus orphan who became a crime fighter with the man who took him in. I know about the girl who runs around with you at night and lies to her father during the day. I know everything, Richard."

He freezes. The message, the compromised files. This was the man behind it all. He struggles against the grip holding him but the arm over his throat just tightens until he feels like he's choking. He stops struggling, stars dancing across his vision from the blood loss and sudden lack of oxygen, "What do you want?"

"For now, I simply want you. You designed the Watchtower security which means you can rebuild it and that would make my future plans all but useless. I can't have that. So you will be coming with us and they," he waves the gun toward Barbara and Alfred, "will get to live, so long as you don't fight. Put up any resistance though and I will not hesitate to kill them right here and right now. Do you understand?"

Dick hates giving up but in this situation, with Alfred and Barbara on the line, he's pretty sure he doesn't have any other options. So he stops. Stops planning, stops struggling, stops thinking too hard. Right now, the only thing he can do is stop. The man holding him chuckles and Dick feels it vibrate against his spine. He looks to Alfred again, taking in every detail of his face and wondering if he's ever actually going to see him again. Then he shifts his gaze to Barbara and tries to see her smiling face instead of the horror in her gaze right now.

"Listen up girl! Go to Bruce Wayne, tell him we have his ward. His partner. Tell him he won't be getting him back until my plans are completed. If anyone tries to come for him before I've finished," his arm tightens again and Dick struggles to breathe, his good arm clawing at the man holding him, "I will not hesitate to kill him."

Alfred's expression changes from shocked and afraid to outright angry, "You listen to me, sir. You will remove your hands from him at once. If you know as much as you think then you know who will become your enemy if you go through with this."

"Oh, I know exactly who I am making enemies with right now. And I'm counting on you to relay my message to them."

"I will not be your mouthpiece. If you want to speak to Master Bruce and his friends you can do it yourself."

Another chuckle vibrates against his spine, "Oh, you foolish old man. You will do exactly as I say or your young ward here," the arm tightens once more and Dick is gasping, "will pay the price."

Alfred looks like he wants nothing more than to argue against everything that's happening right now but Dick can see the resignation growing in his eyes as well. There's no easy way out of this situation. No way for all of them to escape unscathed, "Very well. If you promise not to hurt the boy I will pass your message along. But Master Bruce will want to know he is alive."

A maniacal cackle rings out and Dick winces. He hates that laugh, "Brucie is going to love all the games we play with little Dickie here. I promise to send him a video of alllll the fun we have!"

Dick's stomach drops and he feels like he's going to pass out. Joker's "games" are not what he would call fun. Painful, horrible, sadistic those are words he would use to describe Joker's idea of a game but not fun. He already knows this is not going to be a pleasant kidnapping. Not that kidnapping are ever pleasant but this will be one of his least favorites by far.

Alfred seems to share his opinion on the matter, "If you harm him it will only make things worse for you in the long run."

"But it will be so fun in the meantime, wouldn't you agree Harley dear?"

A high pitched giggle answers the Joker followed by the crazed voice of Harley Quinn, "So much fun! Mistah J always comes up with the best games!"

"Why thank you Harley, you are too kind," another crazed laugh and Dick knows he's going to hurl from the anxiety rolling in his stomach if this conversation continues for much longer.

Dick can hear the whirring of a helicopter close by, growing closer with every second, "There's our ride. We'll be in touch before sunset. Be ready."

The arm over his throat is removed and the gun is no longer pressed to his forehead but he doesn't even have time to contemplate getting away before his hands are being yanked behind his back painfully. Some type of cord is wrapped around his wrists and he can already feel blood beginning to pool. The cord is thin and tight and digs into his flesh.

The man behind him spins him around and he gets a look at his captor for the first time. White hair and strange white eyes meet him. The man has a scar stretching from just over his right eye to his left jaw and something about him seems almost inhuman. He can't put his finger on it but something is not right about this man. And suddenly, he's more terrified than he has ever been before. This is a villain he knows nothing about. Normally he knows what to expect with Gotham villains but this is someone he doesn't know. Someone he can't predict.

The man smiles but there's no emotion behind it. And then Dick is being thrown over his shoulder and carried back toward the school. He lifts his head and sees Alfred crouching down beside Barbara, his eyes glued to Dick as he carried away. Dick gives his best brave smile but he's terrified and he's sure Alfred can see it. At least they're both safe and not in any real danger for the time being. He has no idea what this man has planned for his friends but he knows it can't be anything good. He just prays they all make it out of this alive somehow.