a/n: i feel like i need a six month vacation after this arc

~Jason's POV~

"I know that look, Jaybird. It's the same one Mae has when she's worried."

"You shouldn't have dragged Maeve into this, Dickbird."

"Believe me, the last thing I want us to drag her into this after she's been running for her life the entire night... But I quite literally can't do this without her. B trained us like that." Dick sighed, frantically moving around the living room of a safe house. "He trained us so each of us knows only one half of the contingency plan in case the other was compromised as well."

"The man is paranoid." I chuckled and heard a window open making Dick immediately rush to help Maeve slip inside. "You're late."

"I'm pregnant and have heartburn. It's getting harder to swing and leap from buildings." She grumbled and sat next to me on the couch. "You disconnected him?"

"Yep. All Bat systems are down so we're doing this the old fashioned way. Streets are clear so it's easier... what about you?"

"Communications are down except for our line and the one that connects to Babs but I cut Dad off from that one." She said and took off the metal plate covering her belly. "How did it happen? B's too careful for this to happen, especially with Tim down and a grandchild on the way."

"Scarecrow designed a special toxin for him. It's supposed to drive him to the edge of insanity until his heart gives out and dies. I... I had something to do with it." I admitted and they both sighed. "I'm sorry! I was just so angry at Bruce and the Pit madness got to me and-"

"Do you regret it?"

"I'm starting to."

"Then it doesn't matter." Maeve assured and I nodded, removing the plates of my suit to reveal countless needles. "Barbara told me but I didn't wanna believe it."

"Jaybird, please tell me that's-"

"I've been getting hit with fear toxin all night. When I saw you guys, I managed to break off the vials after Katie threw me off a building. It was the only way he could keep me under his control."

"And you willingly left those needles in you?" Dick grimaced and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not gonna run around Gotham naked, asshole."

"Get him a shirt from Bruce's closet or something while I do my part." Maeve waved him off and walked to the Batbox. "Batbox, activate Lights Out protocol. Authorization: MG-2."

Lights Out protocol: Activated
Recognized: Maeve Grayson, D-A

"Lights out?"

"City wide blackout. Believe it or not, it makes it easier for me to track him."

"His suit is black. Don't we need all the light we can have?"

"Mae's using Joker training for this. She has an advantage we don't." Dick butted and tossed me a shirt. "And turn because we don't want to see the autopsy scars. We already went through enough trauma about that years ago... your mother over here had to be dragged from the morgue because she refused to leave and almost performed the autopsy herself."

"Actually it's aunt Selina that taught me. Said I needed to learn to see in the dark in case the day came where I had to escape my dad." She shrugged and continued typing on the Batbox. "Dick... it's asking for voice recognition and I can't override it."

"The audio phrase?"

"Yep."

"What audio-"

"I vow to help make the world a better place. And I swear I will fight against crime and corruption and never to swerve from the path of righteousness." They both said in unison and I joined around the end.

What the hell have I done?

"You still remember it." Maeve chuckled and I shrugged.

"There are some things you can never forget."

"Seems so." She hummed, putting away the Batbox and walked to a different picture frame. "I really hope it doesn't come down to it... but if it does, I'll do it."

"You really think it'll come down to it, M? I mean, he's gone but not that far gone." Dick asked as she tossed me a taser gun.

"One of my fathers died tonight... I just hope my true father doesn't join him."

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"MAE, WATCH OUT!"

"DICK!" Maeve yelled as she fell from the ledge Bruce pushed her off from.

"I've got him." I called out as Dick immediately dove after her. "What the hell was that, Bruce!? She's pregnant!"

"The Joker legacy dies tonight." Bruce said, eyes going blank and I raised an eyebrow.

"Dammit, B... That's your kid!"

"Heads up, Jaybird!" Dick yelled. Him and Maeve jumped down from the building next to us and knocked Bruce down. "Y'know, normally I send people who try to kill my wife to a grave or a hospital. You're just lucky you raised me."

"You've had enough, Dad. Time to head home." Maeve sighed, charging up her static gun and I did the same.

"I'm not your father. I never was."

"That's the toxin talking."

"Is it?"

"Tell that to the little girl you adopted thirteen years ago." She shrugged and shocked him. "Boys, now!"

Dick charged his escrima sticks as I grabbed Maeve's crowbar and we both managed to knock him out.

"Mom, are you-"

"We're taking him to Arkham. I have shit to do."

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~Maeve's POV~

"I don't like the fact that we're leaving him like a pig for slaughter."

"It's my part of protocol Failsafe. Scarecrow is the only one who can give me what I need to fix him." I stated and helped Jason strap Bruce onto a bed. "I knew he wouldn't stay down for long."

"Mom, I'm-"

"Jason, you've been apologizing for the past forty minutes. If another apology leaves your mouth, I'm gonna lose my shit and nobody likes it when I lose my shit... especially after a night like this."

"Yes, ma'am." Jason mumbled and tightened the restraints on Bruce.

"He's here..." Dick announced and threw me a gas mask. "No use in hiding, Crane!"

"The trio back together again." Scarecrow taunted and I rolled my eyes.

"Enough with the bullshit, Crane! You've pissed me off enough for one night!" I yelled and fired a shot to the ceiling. "Haven't you heard!? Don't piss off a pregnant lady!"

"How does it feel? Both of you becoming the thing you promised yourself you wouldn't become?"

"Yawn. Give me another story. Heard that one when we were fourteen."

"No? Then why don't we dig deeper?" He asked, emerging from the shadows and I rolled my eyes. "Your child."

"Leave the fetus out of it."

"Does it scare you that you'll never be able to keep them safe, Ace? Just like you couldn't keep Jason safe in Arkham."

"I did my best!" I yelled, pointing the gun at him. "Haven't you tortured him enough by sticking needles and toxin in him all night?"

"Hey, Crane!" I heard Stephanie yell. "What do you get when you lock a psychologist in a room with a traumatized family?"

"God, she's just like Jason." Dick grumbled, pulling both of us back just as Damian landed on Scarecrow's shoulders and pressed a katana to his neck.

"You get a death sentence." Damian finished and I raised an eyebrow. "We sensed trouble... I was right."

"And you left Red Robin alone!?" I yelled and heard a laugh. "Correction... YOU BROUGHT HIM WITH YOU!?"

"We tried to sedate him again and it didn't work." Kate defended, kicking the back of Scarecrow's knees. "We saw the alarm go off and that's all it took for him to snap back to normal... well, as normal as he can get right now."

"At this point, I'm too exhausted to question what the hell is going on in this family since I died." Jason sighed and stepped forward. "You've fucked up my mind for long enough, Scarecrow. Now it's time I take matters into my own hands."

"You've already lost." Scarecrow laughed and pointed behind us. "I broke the Bat!"

We all slowly turned around to see that Bruce broke the restraints and was currently struggling against Tim's chokehold on him.

"Red! Let him go!" Dick yelled and Tim started laughing again. "LET HIM GO, RED!"

"This is officially the night from hell!" I yelled, grabbing my crowbar to try and separate them. "Let him go before you kill our dad, Red!"

Bruce somehow managed to pry Tim off him and throw him to the other side of the room. He grabbed one of my guns and pointed it at my belly, making everyone grab their weapons immediately.

"Put the gun down, B!" Jason ordered, pressing his own gun to Bruce's temple. "Put it down!"

"Dad, you don't want to do this!" I begged, taking a step back and noticed his hands were shaking. "Dad... you don't kill. You've never killed."

"Fear is control, Ace. And I control him now." Scarecrow cackled. "Kill the bastard, Bruce."

"Bruce!" Dick yelled and shielded me. "Your fears don't control you... Don't let your fear take your soul."

"Kill it!"

"You brought us all together because you understood our pain... our fears and loneliness better than anyone! We needed a family... we all needed you." He continued and Bruce bared his teeth, hands still shaking and losing grip on the gun. "You're not the mask, you're a man... the best man I've ever known."

"I... I can't fight it." Bruce managed to say and took a step back.

"Yes you can, dammit!"

"I... I-"

"For the little boy who lost his world in that alley."

Cass dropped down from the ceiling and kicked the gun away from his hand just as Alfred busted down the door with a shotgun in hand.

Letting out a sigh of relief, I ran up to him and hugged him tight.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry." He choked out.

"It's okay, Dad. We're all okay." I assured and pulled away to stare Scarecrow down making him flinch. "You got the butler here... you fucked up big time, Crane."

"I still did it. I'm the one who broke the Bat."

"You forget one thing, Crane." Bruce smirked, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "I'm not afraid."

"Impossible." He spat and managed to stand up. "Without fear, life is meaningless."

"Is it?" Alfred taunted and aimed the shotgun at Scarecrow while Stephanie and Tim grabbed his arms to inject him with his own toxin.

"What's wrong, Crane... you scared?" Dick and I mocked in unison and laughed.

"Enjoy your own personal hell, Scarecrow." I grinned and kicked him across the face, finally knocking him out. "He knows our identities..."

"Let him. It's not like anyone's gonna believe him with all that toxin permanently running through his veins and nobody to snap him back to reality." Jason shrugged and Alfred gasped. "Hey, Alfie! You missed me?"

"When I saw it, something in me didn't want to believe it." Alfred managed to say before pulling Jason into a hug. "It's... it's good to have you back, my boy."

"Should we activate protocol Knightfall?" Bruce offered.

"Why? There's no evidence about our identities and no one's gonna believe that Bruce Wayne and his family full of orphaned children are Gotham's heroes." Dick scoffed and I nodded in agreement. "It was a close call, but we're in the clear."

"And consider this my leave of absence until the acrobat is born." I added and they raised an eyebrow. "The world might not know about us, but the threat on this child still remains. It's best that I hang up the mask for a bit. At least until I can see my feet again and don't get winded from literally walking up a flight of stairs."

"Wasn't Jade supposed to handle that with Artemis?"

"If it was Jade alone, there won't be any more crime in this town until the cows come home! But if Artemis decided to stay... we're gonna need to build a new asylum and prison."

"Huh... so you're the famous Jason Todd." Stephanie said and I stifled a laugh.

"You're the one she officially adopted?" Jason asked, crossing his arms.

"Yep. Which means I won and she's legally my mother."

"I was the first and died in her arms."

"I'm her protégé."

"I was her Robin and protégé."

"There's two of them now and they're gonna live with us." Dick groaned and I laughed, reaching out to hold Tim upright when he started losing consciousness after Kate gave him a sedative. "Mae... two of them and a newborn are gonna live with us! TWO OF THEM!"

"That's payback for the hell you two put me through." Bruce smirked.

"And yet you keep adopting children like Pokémon cards."

｡ﾟ•┈୨🃏୧┈• ｡ﾟ

"I thought I put you to bed half an hour ago while I talked to Bruce about Tim and Jason."

"Can't sleep alone and the acrobat's doing flips in there apparently." I grumbled and rubbed my eyes. "Everyone's asleep?"

"Bruce is sleeping in Tim's room to keep an eye on him and Alfred left his door open in case Jason needs anything... Tim's sedated and I redid his stitches, gave him some antibiotics, changed the IV of anti-venom to a new one and bandaged him up. Steph helped Alfred patch up Jason." Dick sighed, closing the door to his bedroom and I nodded. "Your boy's home where he belongs, M. He's safe and sound now." 

"This night doesn't feel real, Dick."

"Tell me about it. When the sun came up after we left Arkham, it felt like waking up from a nightmare." He sighed and laid down next to me. "But it's over and all of us came back safe... traumatized, but safe. The triple headcount you did is proof of that."

"My worst nightmare is finally over." I blinked back my tears and Dick smiled softly. "It's really over."

"It's over, sweetheart. Now you can finally close that chapter and move on." He whispered, pulling me close and placed a hand on my belly. "Today's the first day of a life without death breathing down your neck, Mae."

"It still doesn't feel real." I cried, hiding my face on the crook of his neck. "When he first died, it didn't feel like this."

"Like how?"

"It felt like I was five and drowning in that acid pit... now, I can finally breathe and live my life without looking over my shoulder."

"It's called freedom, Maeve. And it's been long overdue."

"Today's the day, bird boy. The day I can start living again."

"Today's the day, funny girl."