Robins eyes snapped open, the ever present feeling of fear still lingering.

Tears tracks had dried into large streaks on his face from where they had leaked out from under his mask.While the cuffs that secured him to the wall had crusted with dried blood. The cuts on his chest and arms were now an ugly inflamed red, an infection probably setting in. All while the bruises from the Joker hitting him with a crowbar were now an angry mix of blue and black.

He had had worse.

Closing his eyes and forcing himself to take a deep breath, Robin attempted to calm himself before he flickered his eyes back open to take in his surroundings.

Everything appeared the same, except for the children who were now huddled together in one of the rooms back corners, sleeping.

'Good' He thought to himself, they probably needed the rest.

Glancing down at himself Robin began cataloguing his injuries. Nothing he hadn't dealt with before he thought with a critical eye.

Heart still hammering in his chest from the fear gas he looked around the room once more, eyes beginning to droop from sheer exhaustion. The camera was still in place, the red light that showed it was recording seemed to be glaring him down along with the bright set of reflective eyes behind the camera that seemed to be watching him from the upper corner of the room.

Robin closed his eyes and went to sleep.

BANG!

Robin jolted forward against the restraints with a yelp.

Joker stood in front of him, his purple suit seemingly freshly washed and pressed, along with a matching purple bowler hat on his head and cane in hand. All coming together to accent the charming smile that stretched the full way across his face.

"Well well Boy Wonder! Finally awake are we?" Joker said as he leaned in. The foul smell of his breath reached Robin and he crinkled his nose with disgust.

Remaining silent Robin glared at the Joker while the man licked his lips, eyes intent.

The children remained silent in the background.

"OH PUDDIN!" Came a high pitched screech from the rooms only doorway.

There stood Harley Quinn dressed in a small red dress, and for all intents and purposes looking as if she were ready for a night out on the town.

"Yes dear?" Joker hissed in annoyance, squinted eyes never wavering from the young bird.

"Time to go! You promised we could go!" she said a pout making its way across her face.

With a sigh of annoyance Joker leaned back away from Robin before turning and making his way from the room. An excited Harley Quinn on his trail.

Stopping just before the door the Joker turned on his heel making his way back to Robin. Hauling a large hunting knife from his pocket he proceed to jab it completely through Robins hand.

Robin let out a strangled gasp as the sound of Jokers laugh made its way across the room, causing the now awake children to huddle even closer together.

Stopping to scoop up the still rolling camera Joker made his way to the door laughter still booming from his chest.

Turning once more, Joker took in the rooms inhabitants. A sick smile still stretched across his face.

"Be good for Daddy … " he said in a sinisterly dark tone, a nightmarish grin spread across his face, before turning on his heel and slamming the door shut.

Minutes ticked by as the occupants of the room remained silent, listening as the sounds of footsteps and laughter got farther away. Finally when the presence of the two clowns could no longer be heard the children started to break away from each other, hesitantly making their way across the room to where Robin was bolted to the wall.

Deciding to try and ignore the knife in his hand as best as he could Robin turned his attention to the children. "Anybody know what happened while I was out?" He asked quietly trying his best to let a small reassuring smile that looked more like a grimace stretch across his face, which he promptly dropped when the children started to back away scared.

A small raven hair boy stepped forward. "He just came and watched. He watched for a long time.."

The thought of Joker standing and watching him while he was unconscious disturbed Robin a great deal.

"And you screamed… a lot.." The blonde headed girl supplied quietly, as she clutched her Batman plushie ever closer.

Robin frowned, thoughts swirling.

"How long do they usually go out for?" Robin asked, an idea beginning to form, as his eyes frantically skirted around the room. There were some low hanging pipes in the corner of the room that he could turn into a makeshift weapon… if only he could get away from these restraints. He gave another pull, wincing at the pain in his wrist, not to mention the pain from the knife still lodged in his hand.

The cuffs didn't budge. Robin frowned.

"Usually not too long." One of the kids spoke up, before quieting. "….they.. they like to be home for supper.." she trailed off.

The other children seemed to wilt.

Robin shivered. That wasn't good.

The deal had been a week. But he was leaving with ALL of them, not just a few. They needed to leave. NOW

… but how?

There was nothing he could do bolted to a wall like this. The children would never be able to free him, and there's no way he could get free.

Suddenly the click clack the sound of someone running towards them reached Robin's ears. Turning towards the children he gestured with his head, for them to get as far away from the door as they could.

The children scrambled, in a panic, as laughter reached his ears.

Joker dramatically yanked the door open in a flourish. "Oohhh little birdy boy!" He sang, as he strode forward, hands folded behind his back, his signature smile stretching across his face.

"I almost forgot your little present!" He said, yellow teeth gnashing together in delight.

With that he hauled a giant syringe filled with green glowing liquid from behind his back.

With no more thought than that, the Joker plunged the syringe into The Boy Wonders neck, all while laughing hysterically. If possibly the children huddled even closer together in the back ground.

"HEEHEEHEEE HAWWW HEHEHEHEEE"

After the contents of the syringe were emptied, Joker casually flicked the empty syringe over his shoulder, where it hit the floor with a loud clang, children skirting as far as they could from it, without even taking a backwards glance. Instead Joker stared forward right at Robin.

"HEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAWWWWW" Joker laughed. His smile stretched wide, bending over as he struggled to catch his breath, clutching at his stomach.

"Oh my little birdy .." He said more seriously, his voice taking on a dark sinister tone. "We are going to have so much fun!"

Joker reached out and caressed the young birds face. Eyes focused.

With that the Joker hauled away and swung, again, and again, ...and again.

His fists hit The Boy Wonder's face and chest, all while the childre. cowered in fright.

Robin tried to shield his face using his arms, but with the cuffs holding him in place there wasn't much he could do, but grin and bear it.

With one final hit the Joker sent Robin spiraling into darkness.

"HEEHEEHEEHAWWWWW!"

Bruce Wayne. Also know as Gotham's; playboy, philanthropist, and just plain idiot sometimes, was well known to the public. He could often be found at parties, always with a new girl on his arm. Oftentimes he would be found surrounded by the most influential citizens of Gotham, all vying for the attention of Gotham's resident billionaire.

People aspired and dreamed to be in the position of Bruce Wayne, but as Bruce Wayne sat silently, a small crowd of heroes surrounding him, it couldn't be further from the dream most people envisioned the life of Bruce Wayne to be.

It was a heartbreakingly depressing.

The residents of Mount Justice had watched as the screen went black, the sounds of Jokers laughter still ringing in their ears.

"… what have we done?" Came the strangled voice of Superman.

Meghan burst into tears. Again.

The team seemed to blink back into awareness. Robin had been there a day and already the team was terrified for their little Robin.

"It had to be done." Said Batman in a low growl.

Artemis felt her eyes bulge at Batman's Statement, but held her tongue. 'Unfeeling Bastard' she thought darkly.

Batman turned a glare on her that left Artemis wondering if she had said that out loud. 'Stupid Bats' she thought.

Batman growled.

Standing from his chair Batman pushed past Superman with barely a look at any of the rooms other occupants. "Let me know immediately if there are anymore transmissions."

With one last sour glance at everyone else, Batman turned with a flourish of his Cape and left the room. The echoing voice of the Zeta beam the only sound in the room of superheroes.

Robin felt like he was trying to swim through mud back to consciousness. He would get close then slip back down, over and over again. It was like climbing up a mudslide.

Sometimes he could swear he could hear the whispers of the children around him, and other times it was the drip drip drip drip of water from somewhere in the room.

Finally after ages the Boy wonder managed to crack his eyes open to take in the occupants of the room. The children as per usual were huddled together at the far end of the room.

Drip Drip Drip

The room looked the same. Nothing had changed there while he slept.

Drip Drip Drip.

The world seemed to take on a green tint, his eyes flicking about sluggishly as they tried to take the room in.

Drip Drip Drip

Eye twitching with annoyance at the irritating water, Robin cast his eyes up in search of the noise. Only to immediately turn his head away, as drips of water fell down over his mask. Blocking his vision.

Turning his head Robin did his best to wipe his face on his shoulder, trying to get his vision back.

Turning his eyes upwards again, but making sure to avoid any potential dripping water, Robin searched for the annoying source of the dripping.

Only to turn away. Bile building up in the back of his throat.

The young boy that The Joker had dragged away earlier was there. Well pieces of him.

Joker must have taken some leftover pieces and pinned them up on the ceiling above Robin's head, forming a crude smiley face from the pinned up parts.

Drip Drip Drip

Robin must've been coated in blood at this point.

Robin turned away in disgust, watching how the blood dripped down from where his hands were cuffed and his head.

His hair was slicked to his head from the blood coating it. He must have been a sight to see.

'Wait a second!' He thought. Head swiveling so fast, Robin thought he might get whiplash, he turned to watch the blood as it ran down his hand in under the cuff, then down his arm.

A feral grin crept across Robin's face. This he could work with.

Robin began twisting every which way to get his hands loose, popping his thumb out of the joint and using the blood that was lubricating his wrist, he began to ease his hand out of the bolted cuffs.

Although there had been blood from his wrists before it hadn't been enough to really get loose.

The young children in the corner turned to watch his struggle with curious expressions on their faces. But when Robin finally managed to get one hand free, excited grins broke across their faces.

Looking down at the cuffs on his feet Robin could see that the cuffs, although securely in the wall, could definitely be pried from the wall with some work. And he had just the tool to do the work.

Turning to his other hand, Robin gingerly began to pry the knife from his hands that Joker had put there.Even though common sense dictated to leave the knife in place as long as possible, Robin would use it to pry the cuffs from the wall.

Slowly, face scrunching up in pain, Robin removed the knife from his hand, inch by inch.

When the knife waa free, he Ignored the agonizing pain in his hand, and set to work. Using the knife, Robin started prying the metal from the wall.

Stopping to listen every time he heard so much as a squeak.

Finally with one last almighty pull, Robin's hands and feet were free.

Rubbing his now raw wrists, the children then began talking among themselves excitedly.

Putting his fingers to his lips, Robin gestured them to be quiet. The children crept over towards the Boy Wonder, waiting to see what he would do next.

"We're getting out of here… now." He said. Turning to survey the room.

Spotting his half shredded shirt up from where Harley had thrown it earlier. He proceeded to rip off some fabric, which he then used to tied off his injured hand.

He took in all the children around him. Although excited grins were beginning to creep across their faces, Robin knew that there was still a lot he had to do before they would reach anything that was remotely safe. Joker would not have left this place unguarded.

"You need to listen to me now, okay?" Robin started off quietly, his face serious, as blood dripped down from his hand, wrists, and still bare chest. Joker could be close by.

"We're leaving this place. But you need to listen to every word I say. Do not speak. Do not wander, do not make any unnecessary noise, walk quietly, and just do whatever I say." Robin watched the kids, half terrified, as they gave him their attention. " Joker could be close by….. We don't know what he's planning…. This could all be a trap. So I'll repeat again do not wander do not talk, and please listen to everything I say. Don't question it, even if it's something crazy, just do it. Okay?"

Little heads nodded their understanding.

With that Robin turn and made his way to the door. Would he be so lucky that the Joker would have left this open?

Tentatively he laid his hand and pushed. With a loud screeching grown, that seemed to echo all around them. Robin cringed internally, the door swung wide open into a pitch-black hallway.

Eyes narrowing suspiciously Robin stuck his head out into the hallway and looked left and then right. Aside from the light that seem to leak out from the room that they had been held in, there was nothing but absolute pitch black darkness.

Robin felt fear clench his gut. Nothing left, nothing right….

He was going to have to guess and hope he took the right direction.

Turning and gesturing to the children with his good hand, Robin looked out into the darkness once again. Left or right? Left or right?

Looking Back and Forth One More Time Robin made his decision, and with one more guilty glance back at the young boy (or what remained of him) Robin turned and went right. The children stayed on his tail quietly not a sound was made.

They disappeared into the darkness. The room that had held so many before, now was left empty and silent, blood stains scattered across the floor. Body parts still pinned to ceiling. The crude smiley face taunting.

DRIP DRIP DRIP