next few chapters are gonna be from Dick's POV and they're all gonna be flashbacks.

~Dick's POV~

"And it's decoding... again."

"We've got about six hours to kill if lucky." Maeve sighed, laying on the floor. "That thing's gonna be the death of me, I swear."

"Hey, I have a question." Our new recruit, Lagoon Boy, called out and we all turned to him. "How exactly did Nightwing and Domino meet? Because, and no offense, but how did someone related to a sociopath could-"

"Offense." Maeve narrowed her eyes and he took a step back. "How the Joker's daughter managed to run with the Bats instead of killing half of Gotham city?"

"Domino..." Zatanna warned as she stood up and walked to the kitchen, Artemis and Raquel following suit. "I swear, she wasn't like this yesterday. What happened!?"

"She's having a bad day." I said, not tearing my eyes off her. "And last night we were dealing with Scarecrow."

"Isn't she immune?" Wally butted. "The whole venom thing having traces of fear toxin?"

"Somehow, he knows about the little one. I don't know what she saw in those mirrors, but-"

"Hold up... he knows about him!?" Connor exclaimed, covering Jason's ears.

"Scarecrow said that he knows about Robin... three guesses on who it is."

"Does Batman-"

"Nope, and it's staying that way." Maeve interrupted, walking towards us with a sigh and gestured for Connor to uncover Jason's ears. "Sorry, LG... but you're new and don't know the story."

"It's a long one." I chuckled, pulling her to my side and kissed her temple. "You alright?"

"Brain's going haywire again... I'll get over it."

"I... I wanna know the story." Jason shrugged and we all turned to him. "What!? I've been living with the two lovebirds for almost a year and all I know is that Domino cheated death and had like five hundred surgeries to stay alive!"

"Robin, I don't think-"

"You tell it, Nightwing. Out of everyone, the only people here who know are Wally and Kaldur." Maeve assured and removed her mask. "And call me Maeve, Lagoon Boy."

"Can I take off-"

"No." We both replied in unison and Jason grumbled something under his breath. "Do as we say, not as we do."

"God, I hate it when the Wonder Kids sync like that." Artemis shuddered and we all laughed, moving to the sofas. "Floor's yours, Nightwing."

"Okay, okay... it was my first year as Robin... Batman and I just managed to take down Harley when..."

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Six years ago...

"Bats... you gotta save my baby! He's gonna kill her! She didn't mean to-"

"Slow down, Harley. What baby?" Bruce sighed, placing the handcuffs on her.

"My daughter. She's inside." Harley begged and I widened my eyes the moment I heard something crash from the warehouse followed by Joker's laugh and a scream. "Oh God... Ace!"

"Go, Robin!" Bruce ordered and I ran inside.

"Maybe in the next life, you won't mess up again. Sweet dreams, Ace... and tell the big man, I said hello." Joker laughed, walking out the back door as I followed the trail of blood to the middle of the warehouse.

A broken net and trapeze, and in the middle of it was a girl my age laying on the ground with blood spilling everywhere. She barely managed to cover her mouth and struggling to stay awake.

"Batman!" I yelled, immediately rushing to her and applied pressure on her neck to stop the bleeding. "Hey, you're alright... you're alright."

"H-help." Was all she managed to say before falling unconscious in my arms just as Bruce ran inside.

"Batman, we gotta take her to a hospital."

"What did he do to her..." Bruce trailed off in shock when the hand covering her mouth fell limp, revealing a freshly carved smile.

"Helloooo... the hospital?"

"Call the car while I make another call." He finally spoke and gently picked her up making the girl stir and attempt to scream in pain but spat out blood instead. "We're changing in the car. I don't want anyone to know about this until we have more information."

"She won't make it!"

"She will."

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"I came as soon as I could... is she-"

"She's out of surgery... they had to resuscitate her, Selina. Her heart gave out twice." Bruce explained and Selina choked back tears. "I need you to tell me who she is."

"When Harley joined Joker, he demanded an heir... manipulated her into giving him one. She feared that one day Joker will take it too far, so she insisted that, if anything happens to her, Pam or I should raise the kid. Then you started out as Batman and I prayed for the day you found out about Ace. Red secretly hoped Batman would take pity and place her in the System, but I prayed that Bruce would give her the life she deserves to live." Selina admitted, reaching out to soothe my hair with a small smile.

"They found an unknown substance in her bloodstream which caused her heart to give out during the operation. Any clue?"

"Joker Venom."

"Joker venom?" I called out and she gestured for us to sit outside Ace's room.

"It's derived from Scarecrow's new fear toxin. J was injecting her with it since birth... she'll die without it, Bruce. It'll drive her insane to the point where it's gonna kill her!"

"Dick, why don't you go inside while I talk with Selina?" Bruce offered and I nodded slowly. "We won't be long. Go see if she's awake."

"She has a tube down her throat, Bruce. I doubt she's awake." I pointed out and he sighed, gently pushing me inside.

"Just go check, please."

I entered the room only to see Ace struggling against the restraints and trying to scream but her jaw was wired shut and the tube down her throat kept her from doing so.

"Hey, hey! Don't do that." I said, rushing to the bed and tried to gently push her back down. "My name's Richard, but everyone calls me Dick. I'm Robin and I rescued you from him... You're safe now, I promise."

Ace slowly managed to calm down and lay back down until she started choking on the tube and gripped my hand tight.

"Bruce! She's choking!" I yelled and he immediately rushed inside with Selina, a doctor and a few nurses.

"Oh my God..." Selina cried, clinging to Bruce as the nurses worked on getting the tube out.

"Kid, I'm gonna need you to step back and let us work." One of the nurses said but Ace tightened her grip on my hand and shot me a pleading look.

"Dick, let them work." Bruce called out.

"I don't think she wants me to move, Bruce." I mumbled, wincing as they slowly removed the tube from Ace's mouth and gave her a normal cannula to help her breathe. "Ouch..."

"Do any of you know her?"

"No... we just found her in Crime Alley on our way back from the diner." Bruce lied before Selina could talk. "She's my partner and he's my ward."

"It's a good thing you did, Mr. Wayne... two more minutes and she wouldn't have made it." The doctor said before turning to Ace. "Can you tell us your name, sweetie?"

"You really think she can talk? Her mouth is wired and she has stitches on her neck, for crying out loud!" I exclaimed.

"Dick!" Bruce warned and I tensed. "How was her surgery, doctor?"

"Surgeries, plural. Open heart to repair her collapsed lung and torn ventricle, ruptured kidney and multiple stab wounds... I'm the one who did the facial reconstruction to close up the scarred smile. I suppose they told you that her heart gave out twice?"

"Yeah... I was also told that she's gonna need brain surgery?"

"She was under anesthesia for too long and had multiple surgeries performed at once, but yes. I'll have the neurosurgeon talk to you soon."

"There's a social worker here for you, Mr. Wayne." A nurse called out and Bruce nodded.

"Dick, I called Alfred... he should be on his way now." Was all he said before walking outside with the doctor and the rest of the nurses, leaving me alone with Selina and Ace who still had a death grip on my hand.

"M-m-mom?" Ace managed to say, looking at Selina which made her immediately run to the bed and hold her other hand.

"We'll get your mom and Red and we'll leave Gotham for good, kitten. The moment you're out of the hospital, we're leaving Gotham... even if it's just you and me for the meantime, okay?" Selina assured as Alfred walked inside. "Alfred..."

"Dear God..." Was all he said when he looked at Ace. "Miss Kyle, who is-"

"She's the Joker's daughter, Alfred. We found her in the abandoned warehouse by the pier. He... he beat her to death." I explained and Alfred widened his eyes taking a step forward. "Ace, this is Alfred. He's our butler and-"

"Okay, I begged for temporary custody until they figure out where to place her. That way I can keep my eye on her and-"

"Experiment on her?" Selina spat and Ace widened her eyes, struggling against the restraints again. "And why is she chained down like an animal!?"

"She was pronounced dead for two minutes when she arrived and then tried to stab someone after they revived her. The only reason there's no cops around is because I coerced the nurses to think it was the fight or flight and the shock."

"Calm down, it's okay... you're fine, Ace." I whispered and she stopped struggling. "Bruce, you can't possibly-"

"I just think she needs a hot meal and a good shower, that's all." Bruce assured and we raised our eyebrows. "Look, Joker escaped and he's on the search for her, probably. Harley's in Arkham and-"

"You locked her up!? Without Joker!? Have you lost your mind!?" Selina whisper-yelled and punched Bruce in the arm. "The only thing keeping him from killing Ace is Harley, Bruce! You can't-"

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen." He said and turned to Ace with a small smile. "I promise you, kid. Joker won't lay a hand on you again. You're safe now."

"Safe?"

"Yeah, kid. You're safe now."