Kinda insecure about this chapter idk why so I had to force myself to post it lol.

Enjoy! <3

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The muffled thrum of helicopter blades overhead stirred Louis awake, but the rough hand over his mouth snapped him into full consciousness. His initial, instinctive cry for help was stifled as he felt something cover his mouth, his struggles only earning a low, mocking laugh.

"Morning, sweetheart," Harry's voice cooed darkly, his green eyes glinting like a predator's in the faint moonlight. "Miss me?"

Louis froze for half a second, his mind catching up with the situation, and then he thrashed violently—kicking, squirming, anything to break free. His efforts only earned him tighter bonds as Harry secured his wrists together, the tight pull of rope sealing his fate.

"Careful," Harry chided as he effortlessly hoisted Louis over his shoulder. "You'll wear yourself out before the fun even begins."

The cold night air slapped Louis' face when they emerged through the open window. The helicopter's blades whirred above them, and Louis' heart sank. He hadn't even heard it land. His limbs froze as Harry tossed him onto the cabin floor and slammed the door shut behind them.

Louis glared up at Harry, muttering something unintelligible through the fabric covering his mouth. Harry chuckled. "What was that? Didn't quite catch it," he teased, leaning closer. "Come on, sweetheart. Don't be shy."

Louis exhaled sharply, his eyes narrowing at the constant taunting.

Harry smirked as he reached out to trace a finger along the edge of the cloth tied around Louis' mouth. "Go on, sweetheart," he coaxed. "Speak for me. Don't you want me to take this off?"

"Lemme go," Louis managed, muffled but unmistakable.

Harry tilted his head, amused. With deliberate slowness, he removed the fabric, letting Louis gasp for air. "Come again?" he smirked.

Louis' gaze flickered with rage. "Go to hell."

Harry's grin widened. "Oh, we're well past that, darling."

The helicopter began to soar higher, the lights of the city fading beneath them and Louis twisted against the ropes binding his wrists, his panic rising. Harry, meanwhile, lounged across from him, his gaze lazy but sharp.

"You ran from me," Harry's voice sharpened. "This is just the beginning of your punishment, sweetheart. The fun is yet to come," he leaned forward, eyes gleaming. "I told you I'd catch you."

Louis glared at him, his chest tight, heart racing. Harry seemed to enjoy the sight, his smile cold and smug.

"You don't know what you're in for," Harry continued. "I don't take kindly to being abandoned, Robin. You think before was bad? Just wait until you see what I've got planned for you."

Louis' breath caught as fear washed over him, his pulse pounding in his ears. "No," he muttered, shaking his head.

"No?" Harry repeated, with amused curiosity. His grin stretched wider. "Oh, but I've got ideas, sweetheart. So many ideas."

The chill running down Louis' spine deepened. His stomach churned, the desperation in his veins only intensifying as he glanced toward the helicopter door. He shuffled backwards, his feet dragging awkwardly.

In a burst of reckless panic, Louis used his elbow to activate the door lock. Before Harry could react, it sprang open, and Louis made a move for it, his mind screaming for an escape.

"Don't move!" Harry shouted.

"Come any closer, and I'll fall," Louis threatened, his voice edged with defiance and a flicker of terror.

"Don't you dare!" Harry barked, fury flashing in his eyes as he closed the distance.

Louis' words were shaky, but they were steady with intent. "You're going to hurt me. I'd rather fall."

Harry froze for a second. Louis could feel the air shift as Harry's anger bloomed, but he didn't take another step toward Louis. His face remained hard, his expression betraying no sign of mercy or regret.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Robin."

The coldness was there, but Harry's tone softened ever so slightly.

Louis swallowed as he looked at Harry, eyes wide in uncertainty. "But you just said—"

"I said I won't," Harry interrupted firmly.

"You promise?" Louis challenged, looking at Harry with wide, vulnerable eyes.

"I pro—" The helicopter made an uneasy jerk, forcing Louis backwards and letting him fall from the edge.

For one terrifying second, Louis was free-falling, gravity winning, but Harry's quick reflexes kicked in. He lunged forward, grabbing Louis' calf and yanking him back inside with a jerk.

Louis gasped, his heart hammering as Harry hauled him safely back into the helicopter, slamming the door shut with a force that rattled the interior. Harry ripped the emergency handle off, ensuring the door wouldn't open again.

Breathing heavily, Louis was held there, disoriented and reeling.

Harry brushed himself down calmly before walking to the front of the helicopter where he proceeded to shoot the pilot. Louis gasped loudly at this, breathing heavily when Harry walked back towards him with blood speckled across his suit

"Thank God for the co-pilot, huh?" Harry said with a chuckle, taking off his suit jacket.

"Oh my God," Louis choked out. "It was an accident, you didn't have to kill him!"

Harry's sharp laugh rang out. "An accident that almost cost my life," he said simply, without remorse.

"You didn't have to save me!" Louis cried.

"I did." Harry's voice dropped flatly, a finality in his words.

Louis shook his head, bottom lip wobbling. "You didn't have to kill him," he repeated.

"I did," Harry said again. The silence that followed felt suffocating, as if Harry's chilling words hung between them like the deadly air surrounding them.

"That wasn't fair," Louis' voice cracked, his chest tight with confusion and grief. His emotions were raw, and his anger grew like a storm cloud inside him. "It wasn't his fault."

"Life isn't fair, Robin."

"Only because you make it that way," Louis said weakly, looking up at him with a mix of hurt and anger. "You don't play a fair game."

"I've played fair with you," Harry countered.

"Then why am I tied up?" Louis shot back.

Harry tilted his head, watching Louis for a moment before he moved toward him slowly, kneeling to his level. He took the ropes off Louis' wrists with unnerving gentleness, watching him closely.

"Better?" Harry asked after the last rope fell to the floor. Louis tenderly rubbed his wrists as if to reassure himself that he wasn't still bound.

"Yes," Louis answered. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Harry said as he straightened up, though his eyes never left Louis.

Harry studied Louis for a long moment, his expression softening just a fraction as he watched the younger man. Something about Louis' fear reminded him of the first time he saw that look, the first time they'd ever met, back when Louis hadn't completely settled into who he was.

Louis noticed it, that touch of gentleness that he sometimes caught in Harry's eyes. It was one of the reasons that seeing him kill so easily, so carelessly, caught Louis off guard. That made him feel so betrayed.

Louis was tense, still shaken from the previous events. His hands trembled slightly as he rubbed his wrists. Harry seemed to read the subtle shifts in his body, and after a moment of silence, he finally broke it.

"Why'd you run?" Harry's voice was low.

Louis let out a bitter laugh, the remnants of his disbelief hanging on every word. "Are you serious?"

Harry tilted his head, the faintest smirk playing on his lips. "Enlighten me."

Louis' jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing, but he didn't answer immediately. The raw emotion roiled inside him, frustration mixing with disbelief. "Are you that deranged?" he asked, his voice dripping with disdain.

Harry's smirk only deepened, enjoying the emotion Louis was showing, the rawness in his voice. "Oh, don't tell me you're throwing tantrums over a man you met twice," he teased, the air around him almost palpable with arrogance. "He wasn't all that, sweetheart."

Louis' fist bawled involuntarily. The last remnants of his patience snapped, and he finally looked Harry dead in the eye.

"You're just sick," Louis muttered, his voice rough, thick with the words that had been building up.

Harry exaggerated a wounded gasp, pressing a hand to his chest dramatically. "Ouch," he teased. "I'm wounded, Robin. Really, that stings."

Louis clenched his jaw, the words crawling up his throat. "Let me go," he whispered. There was no force behind the words, just that dull, empty ache of wanting something different but knowing he couldn't have it.

Harry didn't react immediately, just standing there for a beat, as if to gauge Louis' desperation. And then, with a cold, almost absent gaze, he answered with finality.

"You made a deal, sweetheart. And we have work to do."

The words hung in the air between them, a painful reminder of Louis' powerlessness. They didn't speak for a moment as the helicopter continued its flight.

Louis kept his gaze on the floor, and Harry lingered near him, his eyes still on Louis as if he was waiting for something—waiting for Louis to speak, to challenge him, to break. But Louis was just silent, his mind spinning, a haze of emotions that threatened to suffocate him. The reality of what had happened... what was to come, weighed on him like a physical burden.

Finally, Harry's voice broke the quiet. He leaned in slightly, his words light but carrying weight.

"I've scared you, haven't I?"

Louis didn't reply. He just looked out at the city passing by below them, his shoulders rigid, the tension in his muscles a clear sign that even Harry's probing couldn't unravel him this time.

Another few minutes passed in silence before the helicopter began to slow, signalling their descent. Harry stayed back, leaving Louis to process whatever he was feeling before the landing.

The aircraft touched down with a slight jolt, the city noises now more pronounced as they reached Harry's building. The familiar hum of the helicopter's engines stopped with a swift click.

"Here we are," Harry said, his voice strangely quiet now, a cold calm settling over him.

Louis stood as the door was opened for them. He glanced at the cockpit, seeing the slumped body of the pilot. Blood stained his shirt, pooling beneath his unmoving form; Louis swallowed as he stepped outside.

"Don't look so gloomy, sweetheart," Harry's voice broke through, sharp and cruel. He was walking a few paces behind, his footsteps unnervingly silent on the damp concrete.

"You're fucking twisted," Louis muttered under his breath.

The two walked across the concrete towards the familiar sight of Harry's apartment. Once they stepped inside the apartment, Louis felt his skin crawl. He made a beeline for the bedroom, his footsteps quick but deliberate.

But before his hand could even reach the doorknob, a voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Not so fast, darling."

Louis' heart pounded as he turned, barely holding in his annoyance. "What now?"

Harry stepped closer, his eyes never leaving Louis'. "You didn't think I'd just let you run off, did you?" there was a coldness in his voice that made Louis weaken at the knees.

Louis swallowed, looking down at his feet and avoiding The Joker's heavy gaze.

"Look at me," Harry commanded softly, his voice low, almost lazy in its power. Harry moved to stand directly in front of him, hand reaching out. "I said, look at me."

Louis felt like he couldn't breathe. Harry's hand cupped his chin, lifting his face, forcing their eyes to meet.

Louis took a shaky breath, standing his ground even though every part of him screamed to get away. He was terrified, he realised. Genuinely scared for the first time in so long.

Harry watched him intently, as though feeding off the fear building up in the room between them. Finally, Harry softened, a thin smirk curling at his lips.

"You're not the one I want to hurt," Harry's voice took on an almost surprisingly gentle tone. His thumb brushed lightly along Louis' cheek. "Stop acting so scared."

Louis inhaled sharply, biting back the fear bubbling up in his throat. The anger from before warred with the paralysis inside him, and he barely whispered, "I'm not acting."

Harry faltered for a split second, his expression twitching, but it passed just as quickly. His grin grew even sharper, bloodthirsty in its teasing.

"Oh, don't go making it too easy for me," he drawled. "I don't enjoy it when you act like this. Makes it boring."

Louis couldn't suppress the shiver that ran through him. "You're disgusting," he said, the words pushed out harshly, his voice barely staying steady.

Harry's smile only widened at that, his eyes flashing dangerously as he leaned in just slightly. "I'll take that as a compliment, sweetheart."

He stepped back, dropping his hand from Louis' face and straightening himself up. Louis looked away and Harry's nose twitched as he sighed in frustration.

"Get some rest," he waved at Louis dismissively. "We start early."

Louis walked into the bedroom and didn't look back.

***

The early morning air in the Batcave was heavy, the faint hum of computers and the flicker of the massive screens casting the room in a cold blue glow. Liam paced near the main console, his jaw clenched as he tried to focus on the task at hand, though the weight in his chest made it hard to breathe.

"Any sign?" he asked, his voice tight as he glanced over his shoulder at Niall, who was hunched over a secondary console, furiously typing.

"No alarms," Niall muttered, his voice tinged with disbelief. He tapped frantically at the adjacent console, trying to recover more of the footage. "They shut down the sensors, overrode the internal security... This wasn't some amateur job, mate."

Liam gritted his teeth, his fist clenching at his side. "That doesn't make sense. Nobody but us can access those codes."

Liam's frown deepened, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. His eyes darted to the feed they had managed to recover—a series of stills from before the cameras went offline. 

"You think he just... walked out?" Niall asked cautiously, sparing Liam a glance.

Liam shook his head. "No way. Not without a reason. And certainly not without saying something to me."

Niall tapped at the keyboard again, pulling up a log of system activity. "I don't know, mate. If someone took him, we'd see some kind of struggle, wouldn't we?"

"He wouldn't just leave," Liam snapped, his frustration bleeding through his voice.

Niall paused, leaning back in his chair and running a hand through his hair. He studied Liam carefully, choosing his next words deliberately. "Are you sure about that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Liam asked, his tone sharper than he intended.

"Louis has been... distant," Niall replied carefully. "And with everything that's been going on, you can't exactly blame him, can you? He's under a hell of a lot of pressure."

Liam's jaw tightened. He didn't respond immediately, his gaze fixed on the still image of Louis frozen on the screen; the last picture of them entering the apartment together last night.

"I promised him," Liam said quietly after a moment, his voice rough. "I promised him he'd be safe here. I told him I'd protect him. And if someone took him right under our noses, that's on me."

Niall sighed. "It's not your fault," he was running another scan of Louis' picture through the public security cameras in the area. "I'll keep looking if you're sure he didn't leave on his own," he said quietly.

"He wouldn't," Liam said finally, shaking his head as if to banish the thought entirely. "Not without telling me. Not without saying goodbye."

"And what if..." Niall hesitated again as if weighing whether to push further. "What if he didn't want to say goodbye?"

There was silence for a moment. Liam looked away.

"Run another trace on his comm frequency," Liam ordered stiffly, deflecting. "We'll cross-check known locations for Joker activity in the last 48 hours."

Liam inhaled sharply, forcing himself to straighten, to push the growing despair to the back of his mind. The screen flickered as the tracer software attempted another sweep for Louis' comm frequency. He barely registered the sound.

Instead, all he could hear was the promise he'd made, repeating in his head like a taunt. And now, all he could do was hope he hadn't failed.

***

Louis' hands trembled as he pressed himself against the door, his weight holding it shut. His breathing was shallow, his chest tight, as if the walls themselves were closing in. Every creak in the floorboards, every distant sound, made his stomach twist in panic.

In his pocket, he gripped the slim communicator he'd tucked away before going to sleep. Just in case. He didn't even think when he grabbed it—an instinct, a silent refusal to completely give up his connection to home.

His other hand shakily brought the device to his lips. "Liam," he whispered, his voice a breath of sound. "Are you there?"

The response was almost immediate."Louis?" Liam's voice came in sharp, urgent, but barely above a whisper. "Where are you?"

Louis tightened his grip on the comm, swallowing the knot in his throat. "I don't have much time. He might—" He stopped, biting the words off as his heart slammed against his ribs.

"What the hell happened?" Liam pressed, urgency breaking through. Louis could hear faint background noise—a monitor beeping, the murmur of Niall saying something quickly—and then Liam's voice again, hard, clipped. "Did he take you? Are you hurt?"

"No." Louis hesitated, his grip on the comms tightening. "I mean, yes, he he took me. He came in the middle of the night. There was no alarm.  The cameras—"

"All out," Liam cut him off. "Damn it, Louis, why didn't you call sooner?" he snapped, anger and fear bleeding into his voice. "I thought—" he composed himself. "Are you safe?"

"I'm fine," Louis promised. "But you can't do anything. Don't come looking for me. Don't... don't make a move," he pulled away from the door but kept his eyes fixed on it nervously. 

 "What are you talking about? I can—"

"No!" Louis said sharply, his voice hitching. He took a deep breath, glancing nervously at the door as though expecting it to swing open at any second. "Listen to me. I can't leave yet. I'll gain his trust. Then I'll figure out how to take him down."

"Louis, this is insane," Liam's voice dropped to a desperate whisper. "He's dangerous. Whatever you're planning—"

"I don't have a plan!" Louis snapped, too loud. He froze, sucking in a sharp breath, eyes darting toward the door. "I don't have a plan," he repeated, quieter this time, his voice breaking slightly. "But I'll figure it out. I just need you to trust me."

"Louis..." Liam's voice softened, but there was pain beneath it. "You don't have to do this alone-"

"I do, Liam," Louis said, his voice frayed at the edges. "I'll reach out when I can, I promise. I just need to build his trust. Then I'll come to find you. We can work together."

Liam's silence felt like a weight pressing against Louis' chest. Finally, he spoke, his voice rough. "We'll take him down," he promised. "For good."

Louis heard movement from outside the door. "I have to go," he whispered. The comm beeped as the connection ended. Louis shoved it back into his pocket, his breathing unsteady.

A sound outside the room made his entire body lock up. His pulse roared in his ears as the door opened.

Harry walked in, leaning against the doorframe with raised eyebrows. "Well, don't keep me waiting, sweetheart."

Louis glared at him. "What, no privacy in this place?"

Harry smiled faintly. "Would you like me to knock next time?"

"I'd like you to stay as far away from me as possible," Louis retorted. "But knocking with do."

Harry chuckled, looking Louis over. "Come on, we have a list to finish," he held Louis' gaze for a moment, firm and pressing. 

Louis swallowed, nodding. He pushed past Harry, walking straight by him and out of the room.

Anddd he's back with Harry :(

I wrote the kidnapping scene like 5 years ago lol crazy.

Thoughts?

Vote? Comment? Ilygsm. Mwah x