The annual Wayne Enterprises ball; the highlight of the year for many of the high-class men and women of Gotham City. The one event where security was so tight, no one could blink an eye without having a guard breathing down their neck. The rich were dressed to impress; long elegant dresses and handsome suits, millions of dollars wrapped around bare necks and wrists.

Bruce Wayne, the man of the night, the man who made it all happen, stood, tall and proud, watching the many men and women float around the floor, dancing. Among the many faces, two who made him smile were exact opposites. Richard Grayson was twirling the unimpressed and furious Damian Wayne around the dance floor. Bruce could see the amusing smile Dick had plastered on his face, almost hearing the twinkling laugh escape him as Damian furrowed his face further in irritation.

Bruce watched in amusement as Damian finally had enough, shaking Dick off and leaving in a huff, not glancing back to see the acrobat with the biggest pout Bruce had ever seen to date on his lips. Damian approached Bruce with a singular irked glare.

"Don't ever let me dance with Grayson again."

Bruce let out a chuckle at Damian's request before placing a hand on his son's shoulder. "Perhaps next time you'll heed my warning."

Damian scoffed, shrugging the hand off him and headed back into the crowd. Bruce took a sip from his glass, eyes landing once again on the cheerful acrobat who was talking to a man Bruce had never seen before. His brow creased and observed the man glance around; his gaze always ending up eyeballing the same three men around the room. Bruce could tell something was wrong when the three strange men began to close in. Dick seemed pleasantly oblivious to their odd movements, which to Bruce, meant the acrobat knew exactly what was happening. Bruce excused himself from his current company and began his descent down the perfectly polished stairs; sights set on his oldest ward. He watched Richard excuse himself, beginning to walk away, before jolting to a halt as the man grasped his wrist. Bruce skipped several steps at a time, not acknowledging the expectant greetings thrown his way. He was almost to the bottom step when the lights suddenly went out. Screams and bodies began to rush around the room, banging into one another causing some to fall and others to increase in hysteria. Bruce attempted to navigate his way through the panicked crowd, his thoughts on the man he had seen just vanish from his sight. Shots rang out and Bruce froze along with everyone else as the light flashed back on. The man who had been talking to Dick was standing boldly- rifle in hand- eyes slit with venom that spilled into the already tense atmosphere. How had he been able to enter? And so easily at that. Bruce noticed the men standing behind the thug, the guards that Bruce, himself, hired especially for tonight.

"Everyone on the floor." He shot the gun in the air in warning. "Now!"

Bodies quickly hit the floor as quiet frightened cries began to fill the room. The guards began to walk around poking at people's backs with the muzzles of their guns, causing a deep wave of fear to cross the room. Bruce quickly surveyed the room, his eyes finding and locking on to his sons. Damian was scowling at him in anger and demand for an explanation. Their silent glaring conversation was cut short as a scream ripped through the room. A woman Bruce recognised from many board meetings was dragged from her spot to the small group of hostages.

Among them were two men who Bruce had appointed head of separate departments at Wayne Enterprises, two women who were also employees of Bruce's, and the man he hoped had gotten away. Richard had his hands tied behind his back, his eyes darting between the men, analysing their every move. Bruce knew neither he, Richard or Damian could use any of their trained abilities, having to keep up their rich personas. Bruce felt helpless as the intruders tossed the men and women aside after they ripped the fortunes from their necks and wrists. Bruce kept his composure as foreign fingers clutched at his hair. His upper body was lifted from the floor with the stinging pull of his scalp. He caught Damian shift out of the corner of his eye and gave his son a stern gaze causing Damian to bow down and return to his convincing cowardness. Bruce felt his wrist being examined and found himself being relieved of his rather expensive watch. The man gave him a quick cheeky slap to his cheek before letting his hair go.

"Sorry for interrupting the party." The leader spoke out as the thugs began to retreat. "We'll be on our way."

The men grabbed their hostages and made to leave when a man spoke out in the choking silence.

"My wife, please let her go."

A shot rang out and the thud of the man's body echoed before blood seeped onto the polished floor. The dead man's wife cried out in anguish as tears fell down her cheeks.

Bruce watched on uselessly as the men carried their hostages away, his own blue eyes meeting Dick's. It was evident from the guilt littered in the acrobat's eyes that he felt it was his fault. To being captured so easily and without a struggle. Bruce shook his head, this wasn't Dick's fault if anything, it was his own. He had interviewed and cleared each guard for the event. Bruce vowed he get his ward back and was determined to right his horrific wrong.

The unwelcome visitors vanished and people began to rise from their positions, cautiously at first before rushing and running to the doors as police cars and fire engines began to appear.

Damian had managed to stalk to Bruce's side, keeping his building anger at bay. "Tim is tracking them as we speak, Jason is heading to cut them off. We should be going."

"Let's go."

***

Following the obvious black van was easy. It was crystal clear that it was a trap. Batman and Robin had met up with Red Hood and tailed the van to a small warehouse, while Red Robin was currently on-route and warned them to be cautious.

Batman waited for either the good news or the bad when Damian's voice flittered through the radio.

"Grayson isn't here."

The Dark Knight's heart sunk, quickly joining the boy on the roof, and glanced below letting a small growl emit from his throat. Joker's fools of a gang were moving loudly and uncaringly, their unique masks causing Batman to clench his fists. Robin went to move in when Batman grabbed his arm to stop him.

"What are we waiting for?"

"We must wait for Red Robin."

"Oh, come on, they're just some fools in masks that we've beaten multiple times with ease."

"We wait," Batman spoke calmly leaving Damian little room to argue. Tim pulled up not two minutes later and joined the two upon the roof with Jason close behind.

"So, what's the plan?" Red Hood asked.

"Turn the jewellery into police and find out where the hostages are."

"Great. Let's go." Jason smiled leaping down from the open window followed closely by Damian. The fight was quick and painless with Robin dragging a writhing body across the floor. Batman hung the man by his feet and began his interrogation.

"Where are the hostages?"

"Look, I'm just a thug! The Joke's don't tell me shit!" The thug panicked.

"Let me rephrase the question," Batman spoke deadly, letting the suit do the intimidation. "Do you know where the hostages are?"

"Oh, come on. I have no idea. Shit man!"

"You must have overheard something." The thug gulped and let out a small squeal when Batman grasped his head in his hands. "Where are the hostages?"

"I just overheard the Joker talking to his right-hand man about some apartment in downtown Gotham. That's all I know, I swear!"

Batman let the man drop as Jason cut the wire and presented him along with the other thugs and bags of jewellery waiting neatly in pile for the police to arrive.

"Okay, so an apartment in downtown Gotham," Tim spoke rather hopelessly through the radio as he followed Jason on his motorbike. "There are thousands of them."

"Trial and error," Damian spoke, eyeing his father as he drove. "If we split up it'll be easier and faster to find Grayson."

***

When the hood was yanked from his head, Dick squinted, blinking several times to let his eyes adjust to the light. He glanced to his left to find the other hostages lined up beside him. To his right, the man who caught his arm at the party stood rigid, hands tight around his rifle.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

Dick froze at the sudden new voice. The icy yet hysterical unique tone of the Clown of Gotham echoed through the room, ending with a wicked spine-tingling laugh. Dick watched as The Joker appeared through the darkness, clapping his hands slowly in emphasis; each clap sending shudders through the acrobat's body.

"Good catch lads. Looks like we have ourselves a party." The Joker eyed his prey up and down, revelling in his masterpiece. Dick kept his features nonchalant, not letting The Joker take pleasure in making people tremble in terror.

"Wayne's ward," The Joker announced, flicking his shoulder lightly before bowing in mock respect. "It is an honour to finally make your acquaintance."

Dick shifted slightly on his knees as the man grasped his face. He reluctantly let Joker twist his face from side to side, scrutinising every aspect of his features. The clown then slowly caressed his jaw and a terrifying grin made its way to his face. The red paint of his sinister smile sent an involuntarily shiver down Dick's spine.

"It's a shame that I'll have to kill you. But first, let's have some fun."

***

"Any luck?" Damian asked, hearing a disappointed grunt on the other end, he sighed. "I'll take that as a no."

"No luck this side either Robin."

Damian clicked off the radio and stood up, glancing across the city, the shining lights almost blinding. "Where are you, Grayson?"

***

"Hey wait, what are you doing?"

Dick watched helplessly as The Joker all but dragged one of the protesting hostages- an important-looking man- across the room bringing him to the center and tied the resisting man to the chair. Clicking his fingers, The Joker summoned a thug who handed the clown a huge and heavy-looking bag. All eyes widened in both fear and alarm as The Joker heaved out what looked like a chainsaw and froze as the clown began to talk.

"Director of Wayne's Toys, you have something that I need."

Dick flinched and his breath hitched as The Joker hacked off the man's hand; the clown almost falling in love with the man's excruciating screams. The Joker tossed the bloody hand to a big burly man who stuffed it into a plastic bag.

"Next." He giggled, turning to the blonde lady who Dick had met briefly. She was the executive of some part of Wayne Enterprises. Dick was never one to be interested in Bruce's work, it was all the man talked about, and Dick had learned to either block it out or change the subject.

Now the acrobat had to watch as The Joker hauled the woman to yet another chair. This particular seat had head restraints which had Dick questioning the crazy man's tactics. The woman was choking back tears as the chains and leather straps were tightened, and visually gulped as The Joker laughed maniacally the whole time. The red-lipped clown plucked a small screwdriver like weapon from his bag, delicately flicking it between his fingers as he smiled wickedly. He pressed a button on the weapon, and the small metal rod split into five and began to whirl around at a great pace causing the woman to yelp in horror.

"What are you going to do?" She cried, attempting to flee from the chairs harsh clutches but unable to lift even a finger.

"An eye for an eye." Joker sang out, cackling as the woman screamed with pain as the clown dislodged the woman's eye and brought it to her face. "Don't you look lovely."

Dick was forced to watch as he continued to torture the hostages, removing both the governor's ear and his finger to get the man's ruby studded ring and shot the second woman for no particular reason.

"Last but not least the man of the hour. The piece to complete the puzzle. The one. The only. Richard Grayson!"

The Joker sang a small drum roll, skipping over to Dick and licked the side of his face. The Joker giggled at Dick's disgust and leaned in close only to repel backward when the acrobat's head-butted him hard in the nose. The Joker snarled and rushed at him, roughly lifting the man's head by his hair and letting the knife nick at Dick's throat.

"You're walking on a tight line, my pretty bird." The clown threatened. "I'd kill you right now, but I need you."

"How so?" Dick managed to spill from his lips, brow raised in challenge.

"You can get me what I want. And for that, I won't kill our party guests."

Dick quickly dove into silence, his sudden confidence evaporating instantly. The livelihood of the people before him depended solely on his actions. Dick didn't reply and cursed himself when The Joker seemed pleased with his answer, and patted the acrobat's cheek a little too hard. The Joker grinned widely, arms flung out, head tossed back and let out a hysterical cackle.

"Let's see how flexible you really are!"