Disclaimer: I don't own 'em.

Author's Note: This one is shorter and more hastily written than the others. Sorry about that, guys. I just felt bad about leaving you with nothing. Anyways, sorry about its crappiness. I probably won't post again until next year, so have a very happy New Years!

Robin stared up at Wayne Tower in disbelief. The icon of peace and prosperity for Gotham that had been a landmark of the city his whole life was burning. And this was not just arson- it was sabotage. The fire had begun on the very top floor of the building, where Bruce Wayne's office was.

If his father had been at work, he would be dead by now.

Just to make sure, he used his communicator to get in touch with Batman. "Hello?" No answer. "Batman, come in."

A second later, the communicator crackled to life. "This better be an emergency," Batman sighed.

"Just making sure you're alive," replied Robin cheekily. "Afraid to tell you Wayne Tower's on fire. Harley Quinn and the Joker are probably behind it, but don't worry, Red Arrow and I have got it."

"Be car-" Robin cut off the call before Batman could finish his warning.

"So what's the plan?" asked Red Arrow as Robin revved the motorcycle. "Your city, your call. I'm just here to kick some ass."

"We're not the fire department," the Boy Wonder said with a grin, kicking up the gear. "They can take care of that little debacle. You and I are-"

"-going after Harley Quinn?" the other finished hopefully.

"Oh, yeah."

"While she was talking, I used my glove to track the signal," Robin explained as they sped through Gotham's bright city streets, running red lights and earning themselves angry shouts from pedestrians and drivers alike. "I narrowed it down to the radius of about a block. She's somewhere near the Clock Tower, which makes sense, because she'd need to be close by to monitor her little fire."

"And what makes you think she'll still be there?" Red Arrow shouted over the wind.

"Hey, fuck you!" yelled a driver as they nearly clipped his fender.

"I don't," answered the Boy Wonder, ignoring the man. "But if I know Harley Quinn and the Joker, they'll want to play. They're not just going to set a fire for a few laughs and then run away. This is just the beginning. They'll know we're coming, and they'll have left something behind for us."

"So we're basically walking into a trap."

Robin shrugged, nearly throwing Red Arrow off the back of the motorcycle. "There's no other way to deal with pyschos like them. They know we can find them, so they'll be expecting us. They'll be disappointed if we don't show up, but whatever game they've prepared will still go on. This usually involves the death of civilians, which we try to prevent as often as possible, so..."

"So we walk into the trap." Red Arrow sighed. "Better than sitting around nursing my bruises and watching you write code all night, I suppose."

The Clock Tower emerged from the indistinct mush of skyscrapers, set apart by its grey stones and metal spire. On its front was the round, white clock face, a mirror image of the full moon, staring down at Gotham's antlike citizens dispassionately. Its hands pointed to the one and the four- 1:20 am.

They leapt off the bike, abandoning it by a lamppost. "Aren't you afraid of it getting stolen?" asked the archer in a low voice as they walked up the steps.

"Nah. I programmed it so that it only responds to my touch. I guess a thief could try dragging it off, but-" he grinned- "Lighting wouldn't like it very much, and they might be in for a nasty surprise."

Right then and there, Red Arrow decided that he would never touch any of Robin's things with his explicit permission and a guarantee that it was safe.

Somewhere high above, a small voice wailed high and thin, and they quickened their pace. The Boy Wonder put his hand on the handle of the Clock Tower's door and pushed. Locked. He pulled a set of lock picks out of his belt and began to work, muttering about "unnecessary hold ups." A few seconds later, they were in.

The interior of the tower was dark and shadowy, its large hall full of echoing whispers and things that lurked in the imagination. They dared not speak, lest it be heard by some hidden enemy. Instead, they advanced in cautious silence, one with an arrow nocked to his bow, the other with a glinting birdarang held ready to strike.

Nothing jumped out at them and yelled "Boo!" but the oppressive silence, their footsteps nerve-wrackingly loud, was almost worse. Unchallenged, Robin reached the stairwell at the end of the room first and ascended, Red Arrow on his heels. Here, they were at a disadvantage, for any waiting foe could drop down upon them and have them at his or her mercy in seconds.

But no one did.

The suspense was murderous, and Robin forced himself to calm down. Imagining all the possibilities would only distract him from the reality of his mission. He needed to be aware of the dangers, but focused on what was right in front of him. Right now, the next step was right in front of him, and so that was what he concentrated on.

"Shh! Do you hear that?" The younger boy stopped when they were two-thirds of the way up, holding a hand up to halt the archer's progress and his questions. A faint, muffled groaning floated down to them, eerie in the enclosed stairwell. It was a familiar sound- the cries of someone gagged.

In soundless unison, they bounded up the rest of the way and burst into the room right behind the clock face, weapons at the ready. Red Arrow did a quick check off all the shady corners as Robin rushed to the woman tied to a chair in the middle of the room. She gasped as he ripped the gag off her mouth, and began to babble at once.

"Annie!" she cried, "Annie, my daughter, she's got her, outside, you must have seen her, you have to save her-"

"Calm down," urged Robin, kneeling in front of her and slicing through her bonds. "You're not making sense. What happened to Annie? Tell me slowly."

The woman took a long breath through her nose, then spoke. "The clown girl got her. She tied her outside- to the minute hand. When it hits thirty, she'll slip off a-and- fall... Save her!" She seized Robin's arms, pleading with her eyes. He exchanged a look with Red Arrow.

"How are we going to get out there?" he asked, twisting his mouth worriedly.

"Batman would do it," said the woman.

Robin's face hardened. He brushed the woman off and stood up. "No we. You stay here and take care of anyone who comes up here. I can do it." Red Arrow said nothing, only watched him.

A small door next to the clock face led outside, to a small balcony that tourists had been allowed on before a boy fell to his death from it in 1989. Since then, it had fallen into disrepair, the paint peeling and the stone molding over.

That didn't matter. He was only going to be on it for a minute.

From here, he could see what he had missed before. The cries they had heard from down below came from a small girl, no more than four or five, who dangled helplessly from the minute hand. The balcony he stood on was all the way by the eleven, meaning that Quinn must have abandoned the girl there half an hour ago.

Taking a deep breath, he flung himself off the edge of the balcony, free-falling down towards the girl. She screamed as he approached, shielding her eyes. He let the grappling hook fly, snagging on the very center of the clock. Left with several yards of slack, he swung in a wide arc towards her, grabbing her by the hand. They were brought to an abrupt halt by the rope that still held her to the minute hand, ticking closer to the thirty, and as it pulled them back, Robin switched hands, holding the girl with the same hand he clung to the grappling hook with. With the now-empty hand, he pulled out a birdarang and sliced cleanly through the rope.

She shrieked loudly at the sudden release, left hanging hundreds of feet above the ground in the single-handed grip of a young boy. A wet stain spread across the front of her pants, and Robin grimaced as he grabbed her more securely around the waist, pulling her closer to him.

"This is going to scare you, but don't worry," he warned her, and then released the grappling hook from the center of the clock. Another hoarse cry was yanked from her throat, and then they were hooked to the balcony and he was pulling them up to safety.

"I told you you didn't have to worry," Robin admonished, setting her down on the balcony. She clung onto his gloved hand, shaking violently, and he shook his head. Her mother was going to have years of therapy to pay for after this.

"Annie!" The woman flung herself at her daughter, cuddling her close to her breast and sobbing into her shoulder. "Thank you so much," she said, turning her tear-stained face up to the two heroes. "And if you catch up to those bastards- kill them."