Dick stumbled, pushed and jostled about in the surging crowd, none seeming to care about the crying child in their midst. Eyes blurry with tears, Dick let himself be pushed with the crowd, not really paying attention to where he was going until the movement around him had come to a stop and he was left alone.

Still crying, Dick lifted his head, watery blue eyes taking in the darkened street what he was standing in. Fear hit him almost instantly, and Dick turned, eyes searching behind him for the familiar lights of the circus tents.

He could see them, flickering in the distance, and, with a choked sob, Dick turned back away, knowing that if he returned, all he would see were his dead parents. His family was gone. There was no place at the circus for him anymore.

He was alone.

With that thought, Dick broke into a fresh burst of tears, stumbling into an alleyway and sinking to the ground, pulling his knees up to his chest as his small body heaved with grief. What was he supposed to do now? Where could he go? There was nowhere. No one.

Dick was just a single orphan, lost in a smelly alleyway and surrounded by garbage.

Alone.

A sad meow sounded from behind a garbage bin, startling Dick out of his tears. He sniffled, wiping at his eyes and moving toward where the sound had come from.

"Hello?" He whispered, crouching down onto his hands and knees to peer into the dark gap between the dumpster and the building.

Another pitiful meow sounded, and Dick took in a shaky breath before squeezing himself into the tiny gap. Luckily, he was small enough to fit, even if just barely.

What he found there made him want to start crying all over again. Curled up in a dirty little heap was a clearly sick female cat, three little kittens curled up against their mother's matted fur.

Only one looked to be healthy.

"Hey there, little ones." Dick whispered, reaching forward and offering the mother cat his hand. She sniffed it hesitantly but made no move to attack. "I don't have anything to help you... but... but I can try to make you warm."

He scooted in closer to the cats, gently picking up the kittens one by one and situating them on his lap. The mother cat watched him suspiciously for a long moment before slowly scrambling up to her feet and staggering over to him. With careful hands, Dick helped her up into his lap, wrapping his arms around the cat as she curled around her kittens.

The cats smelled, but Dick did not care about that. Clearly, they needed help, and while he did not have much to offer, he could at the very least provide warmth. So, Dick did his best to move into a semi-comfortable position against the rough brick wall, ignoring how cramped the confined space really was.

As rain began to pour down, Dick was thankful for the small shelter that he had, letting exhaustion overtake him as his eyes slowly drifted closed, small body still curled protectively around the mother cat and her three bedraggled kittens.

"Why are we going this way?" Ivy complained, nose scrunching up in distaste as she eyed the piles of garbage.

Selina rolled her eyes. "I told you. One of my pregnant cats disappeared. She frequents this area, so we need to check for kittens."

"I don't know why you think we need more cats. There are plenty back home." Harley grumbled, although she was eyeing the garbage with clear interest. "Can I keep one of the kittens?"

"You are not feeding it to Bud or Lou."

Harley huffed. "Never said I was gonna."

A soft meow sounded from behind a dumpster, and Selina grinned. "Looks like we won't really have to be searching for long. Help me pull this back, would you?"

"Sure, sure. But I still want a kitten." Harley insisted, earning an eyeroll from Ivy as they all heaved the bin away from the wall.

However, the sight that greeted them was far from what they expected to see.

"That is not a kitten." Ivy pointed out, eyes narrowing at the child curled up on the ground, clothes filthy and hair an absolute disaster.

Harley took one look at the kid and squealed excitedly. "Ohh. What about the kid though? Can we keep the kid? I want the kid."

"Harls, we can't just go around taking random children." Selina chided, kneeling down in front of the sleeping child as her lips quirked upward into a smile. "He's keeping the cats warm."

The boy shifted slightly, letting out a soft whimper as his eyes blinked open, confusion clear on his face as he looked up at the villainesses.

Ivy blinked back at him. "Look at those eyes. They're so blue."

"See? Ivy wants to keep the kiddo too." Harley grinned, kneeling down next to Selina and holding out her hand to the kid, as if he was a stray animal.

The boy blinked at the offered hand, tilting his head to the side curiously. He spoke, but it was in a language that none of the women knew.

Selina frowned. "I think he's lost." She murmured, noting the boy's puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks. "Can I check on the cats?" She asked slowly, pointing carefully at where one of the kittens was poking it's head out in the crook of the kid's elbow.

Slowly, the boy nodded, uncurling enough for one of the kittens to start climbing his arm while the others simply remained curled up, clearly not doing well. The kid smiled at the kitten, picking it up gently and touching noses with the filthy animal. Purring happily, the kitten licked the boy's nose, making him giggle.

Harley awed. "Come on, Selina. Just look at him. That was adorable. Please can we keep 'im? Please?"

"He is very cute." Ivy agreed, joining the others on the ground in front of the still very confused looking child. "Do you have a name, bean sprout?"

The boy blinked at her, brows furrowing together. "Name?"

Selina grinned. "Yes. You... name?" She asked, pointing at the boy as she said the word 'name'.

"Dick." The boy supplied, giving them a timid smile.

"Dick? He thinks his name is Dick?" Ivy looked horrified. "What kind of monster would convince a child that that is their name?"

Harley's generally happy attitude had also seemed to tone itself down as she narrowed her eyes at the child speculatively, her phycologist background making a rare appearance. "It's hard to tell if he's been abused. I mean... he is on the street. But from what I can see, there are no signs of physical trauma. But mental abuse can be equally as bad. Especially if he thinks that is his name."

Selina sighed, reaching for the mother cat, who let herself be scooped up. "We cannot just assume that the kid has been abused. Maybe his name is Richard or something. Dick is a nickname for that."

"Shh. Don't say that word around the child." Ivy protested, glaring at her friend as she leaned in closer to the kid. "You come with us?" She asked hopefully, pointing from herself to the child.

The child did not look impressed by her question, simply shrinking further away, wrapping the squirming kitten up in his arms as he did so.

Harley frowned. "We can't just leave him out here. He's coming with us. Bud and Lou will love a new friend."

"Fine, fine... I guess one extra kitten wouldn't hurt." Selina murmured, honestly not that against the idea, especially after seeing how the kid had protected and warmed the cat and her kittens. They probably would not have made it through the night without him. She had always been a sucker for rescue cats.

Dick blinked at the strange ladies kneeling down in front of him, fighting back tears as they took the cats from him. Were they going to hurt them? He did not want the cats to get hurt.

The lady with pigtails moved closer to him, speaking slowly, even though Dick really had no idea what she was saying. Normally his parents translated the English for him, even though he was trying to learn. It was just hard.

But now his parents were dead. They would never teach him English again. Dick's lower lip trembled, and he sank his teeth into it, flinching away when the woman in the skintight suit reached forward in an attempt to take the kitten away.

"No. I... I safe. Kitten safe." He protested, shaking his head vehemently.

"Yes. Kitten safe. You... you safe." The lady told him, pointing to herself and then back at him.

Dick frowned. That made literally no sense. Was this lady trying to kidnap him? His parents had always told him never to go with strangers... even if the strangers did have kittens. Very, very cute kittens that Dick wanted to help keep safe.

The redheaded woman dressed in green sighed, reaching out a hand toward him. "You come. Safe. Kittens safe."

This definitely seemed like a kidnapping. Dick shook his head, continuing to hold the kitten away from their reach. But then the mother cat let out a sad meow, which the kitten responded to, and Dick could not help but feel guilty. The baby needed its mother. It was not fair to keep them apart.

Dick felt like crying even more then, tears welling up in his eyes as he sniffled and very reluctantly held the kitten out for them to take. "Needs mom."

Pigtail lady cooed at him, reaching over and patting his head.

Was patting people on the head normal here? Dick was honestly just so confused. And sad. He wanted to cry.

They were taking the kittens away. He would be alone again.

And then the tears really did start to fall, hot droplets hitting his cheeks as he sniffled and looked away.

The kitten was taken from his hands, but then the woman dressed in black moved forward, reaching for Dick and pulling him off the ground and into her arms. He honestly just felt too sad to protest.

Maybe being kidnaped would be okay.

Not like his parents were around anymore to get upset with him for it.

Dick cried harder at that thought, burying his face into the woman's shoulder as he was carried away, the two others following with the cats cradled in their arms.

It was not a long trip to wherever his kidnappers were taking him, and soon he was carefully placed down on a couch and given a blanket. He curled up under the blanket, still sniffling softly. Dick missed his kitten friends, but when he looked around for them, they were nowhere in sight. Instead, a man with a very white face and green hair was staring at him, arms crossed over his chest and a wide smile on his lips.

Dick scrunched up his nose. The green haired man looked scary.

He started to cry again.

Heedless to the panicking villains around him, Dick continued to sob pitifully until, at last, someone placed a kitten on the couch next to him, the fluffy grey animal purring loudly as it waddled its way onto his lap and let Dick snuggle it close, eyes drifting closed.

Crying was indeed a very tiring activity.

"It's a child, Harley. A child." Joker whispered, eyes wide as he stared at the sleeping creature on the couch as if he was really not sure what he was seeing.

Harley huffed. "Yes, Puddin. A child. You made him cry."

"I didn't mean to make him cry." He protested, loud enough to make the others in the room hush him quickly. Joker huffed, sitting back with a pout.

Crane frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "I think what he means to say is why exactly is there a child here? Where did you find it?"

"Behind a dumpster, obviously. He was protecting some cats. It was adorable." Selina said with a shrug, smiling fondly at the boy. Anyone who protected cats was good in her books.

"Right... does he have parents? Shouldn't we be looking for his family?"

Harley huffed. "He thinks his name is 'Dick'." She whispered the word, nose scrunching up in clear distaste. "Whatever family he has, if he has any, doesn't deserve to keep him after doing something like that."

Riddler frowned, eyeing the sleeping child curiously. "So, what do you want us to do? We can't possibly keep him."

"That's exactly what we're going to do." Ivy insisted, moving to stand closer to the sleeping child. "Clearly this young sprout has not received the proper care and attention necessary. There are enough of us here that we will be able to provide him with what he needs."

"Sorry to break this to you, Ivy, but we're villains. Criminals. We are not in any position to raise a child." Crane grumbled, although he too was starting to feel an odd draw toward the sleeping child. He just... looked so fragile... Why did he feel like hugging the small creature? What a ridiculous notion.

Selina shrugged. "We found him. We're keeping him. We can make a roster or something... so someone always is out to look after him. Think of it as a group pet."

Nods and sounds of agreement sounded from the group, although all eyes were now focused in on the child who shifted ever so slightly in his sleep, curling up tighter around the kitten.

"I made him cry..." Joker mumbled, looking ashamed of himself as he stared down at the adorable little angel asleep on the couch. "How do I not make him cry?"

Harley looked thoughtful for a long moment. "Do we steal parenting books?"

Dick was honestly just very confused. What kind of kidnappers were these? They attempted to talk to him, not that he could understand most of what they would say, and then when he was unable to respond, they simply gave him things.

He had not really left the couch aside from bathroom trips since being placed there, and the space was growing very crowded. Blankets, random toys, candy, and pillows piled up around him, creating a nest-like situation where Dick sat curled up with his kitten and two others which had been brought to him.

Maybe this was some kind of cult?

They were certainly giving him offerings as if they perceived him to be some kind of deity. However, Dick hardly minded the presents and cats that were showered on him whenever he showed the faintest sign of distress. After all, he loved cats. Cats were great.

And, while he loved all of the little kittens, the grey fluffy one which had been given to him at first was his favorite. Her color reminded him of the elephant that the circus brought with them sometimes.

Oooh. That was perfect.

Dick lifted the sleeping kitten, nuzzling their faces together. "I'm going to call you Zitka." He informed her quietly, giggling when her rough tongue flicked out to lick his nose. "We need to name your siblings too." He ignored the intense stares of his kidnappers as he lifted the kittens one by one. "Your name is Cleo. And then you can be Leo." Dick petted the tortoiseshell kitten and the orange tabby respectively. The kittens purred, making him smile.

If being kidnapped meant being given cats, Dick was totally for that idea. They helped keep his mind off the traumatic memories of his parents' deaths. He was young, and thus easily distracted, especially when the woman dressed in black approached him, another kitten curled up in her arms.

Dick grinned, taking the offered cat from her grasp. "Rio. You'll be Rio." He told the cat, placing him gently down next to the others. He looked back up, brows furrowing in confusion. The lady was still there.

Normally they moved away again after giving him something.

The lady smiled down at him, pointing at her chest. "... name is Selina..."

"Selina?" Dick repeated, only able to understand that brief section of what she had said. Still, the lady, Selina, nodded, smile widening. Shyly, Dick returned the smile. "Hi Selina."

An excited squeal sounded from the other side of the room and then suddenly the pigtail lady was standing in front of him, face mere inches away from Dick's. Dick scrunched up his nose, shrinking back. She was kind of scary, in an overexcited child way. Maybe she would play with him?

Then the woman was talking, words coming fast in a confusing jumble that Dick completely could not understand. He frowned, lifting his hand to stop her.

"Slow... don't... don't know words." Dick really was starting to wish that he had payed more attention to his parents' English lessons, but back then there had always been something more fun to do. Like play with the elephants or swing from random high up places.

Still, the woman seemed to understand what he was trying to ask, nodding and slowing down. She pointed at herself like Selina had. "Harley. Me Harley."

Dick nodded. "Harley." He pointed at her as he said the word, before pointing at Selina. "Selina."

Both ladies grinned down at him, nodding enthusiastically before Harley fled the room only to return moments later with a chocolate bar, which she handed to Dick.

Taking the bar from her, Dick gave them both another small smile, ducking his head shyly when Harley reached forward to pet him on the head.

Selina started talking then, but Dick simply shook his head. He really should have studied more English. She sighed, gesturing from herself to Harley. "We go. You stay." She pointed at the couch.

Slowly, Dick nodded. His kidnappers had somewhere else to be. That was okay. He had the Zitka, Cleo, Leo, and Rio to keep him company. Selina seemed to be waiting for some other kind of acknowledgment, so Dick lifted one hand to wave. "I stay. You go. Bye."

Harley beamed at him, leaning over to give him a quick hug before bounding out of the room, Selina following after her. Blinking at the door in confusion, Dick shrugged. They were weird. But that was okay. After all, they gave him cats. So, he turned his attention back to his fluffy friends, quite content to just sit and play with them.

Eventually, however, the kittens grew tired and fell asleep, leaving Dick alone and bored. He slipped out of his nest, tiptoeing around the room. He was not about to leave, but some exploration would be okay, right? Besides, he was bored, and he needed to move around, sitting on the couch for so long having given him far too much energy.

Consuming the gifted candy definitely had not helped either.

Bookshelves lined the walls, and Dick grinned. There was just enough space atop them for him to climb to. From there it would be easy to get onto the hanging chandelier, which had been practically begging him to swing from for days.

So, Dick climbed up, happy peals of laughter sounding through the room as he swung upside down from the chandelier.

Joker was definitely not expecting the kid to be hanging from his chandelier.

But then again, he was not really sure what kids were supposed to do anyway. Maybe swinging from high places was a normal thing?

Judging by how the kid was watching him, eyes wide and unsure, Joker figured it probably was not a normal thing. Not that he really cared though. Looked like the kid was having fun.

"You can stay there." He told the child, rolling his eyes when the kid just looked confused. Right then. Looks like someone needed English lessons. "Or you can come down. Do whatever you want, kid. I don't really care."

The kid continued hanging from the chandelier, so Joker just shrugged, moving around the room as he gathered up random objects before moving to sit in the middle of the living room floor, setting them down carefully.

"Come down now? You need to learn how to talk. Not talking isn't going to work." Joker tilted his head back, gesturing for the kid to get down.

And, surprisingly enough, the kid did, flipping off and tumbling into a rather graceful landing on the floor next to where Joker was sitting.

"Huh. Not bad. Not bad at all." Joker mused, patting the spot next to him with a grin. "I'm Joker. You can call me Joker. What's your name?"

The kid tilted his head to the side for a moment before moving to sit where directed. "Joker. Hi Joker. I Dick."

Joker frowned. So, this is what the others had meant when saying that the kid had probably been abused. He did have to agree... no kid should think that their name was Dick. "No. You are not Dick. We'll call you... um... Joker Jr."

"Not Dick?" Joker Jr. asked, looking honestly very confused. "Joker... Joker Jr? I Joker Jr?"

"Yes. You Joker Jr." Joker nodded, grin growing wider as the kid seemed to accept his new name. "Okay, kiddo. Now we're going to learn English. English."

Joker Jr. nodded, returning Joker's grin. "English."

"Good kid." Joker patted him on the head before picking up his first item, a bomb. "This is a bomb. B-O-M-B. Bomb."

"Bomb." Joker Jr. repeated, reaching out to touch it.

Joker quickly pulled the bomb away. "No touching bombs."

"No touch." Joker Jr. parroted, pulling his hand back.

Joker nodded enthusiastically. This was going to be great. Joker Jr. already seemed like the perfect child.

An hour and a half later, Ivy returned home to find Joker showing the child an assortment of knifes and carefully explaining what to do with all of them.

"Joker, what exactly are you doing?" She asked, moving closer to the kid, as if that would help. "He's a kid... he should not be playing with knives."

Joker frowned. "But look at him. He likes it."

The kid held up a knife, grinning at Ivy. "Throwing knife." He told her, practically glowing with excitement at the new word.

Ivy sighed. "Fine, fine. You can teach him."

"Good. Now, Joker Jr., this is a machete. You can cut off limbs with it." Joker explained carefully, handing the eight-year-old the largest out of the collection of blades.

"Machete. Off limbs."

"Oh no. No, no, no. Why are you calling him Joker Jr.? We are not calling him that. And don't tell him to chop off limbs. That's not how you raise a child." Ivy protested, taking the machete away.

Joker huffed. "But he's learning. I'm teaching him."

"Well, now I'm going to teach him something else." Ivy grumbled, grabbing the kid's hand and tugging him up. "I'm Ivy. We're going to learn about plants now, beansprout."

"Ivy. Plants." Beansprout responded, glancing back at Joker before shrugging and happily following Ivy off to look at her various plants.

"Bud Jr.? Where'd you go?"

"Here." Bud Jr. responded, swinging down from his perch atop the bookshelves, making Harley jump back in fright. He laughed, earning an exasperated sigh.

"You can't keep jumping up places like that. You'll hurt yourself." Harley chided, although it was clear that she did not really mind. "The others are gone... I want to dye your hair."

He frowned, tilting his head to the side. "Dye?"

Harley grinned. "Color. Like mine." She gestured to the blue and pink, grinning as Bud Jr.'s eyes lit up. "I've got a lot of colors."

"I like colors. Can... can it be pink? Like yours? And green? Like Joker's?"

"Of course, it can. Now come on. We've got work to do."

Two hours later and with all of their hands stained, because honestly, why would they use gloves, his hair was sticking in nearly every direction with random stripes of blue, pink, and green.

"Pigtails. Like yours." Bud Jr. said, after looking at his reflection for one long moment.

Harley grinned, nodding. "I don't think your hair is long enough for full ones... but short'll work." She got to work, tugging his hair up into as many different pigtails as she could.

While only long enough to fit into about three messy and lopsided pigtails, Bud Jr. was thoroughly pleased.

He looked like chaos incarnate.

It was great.

With this new hairdo, he looked like he actually fit in with his new family.

So, Bud Jr. turned, wrapping his arms around Harley's waist. "Thanks, momma."

Harley froze, body stiffening for just a moment before she returned the hug. "Of course, pumpkin."

As weeks turned into months, the child once known as Dick Grayson grew more and more comfortable in his new home; with his new family.

He knew what his new parents did, knew that sometimes they were gone for a while because they had to go to jail, but he was okay with that.

Because at least now he had a family. A family who were willing to do anything to protect him and keep him safe. He really did love his new parents, weirdness and all.

Perhaps the only thing that he did not like about the situation was the random and spontaneous name changes. None of them ever believed him when he insisted that his name really was Dick, and so, he started just going by everything that they could come up with.

Until, two months into his stay, the group as a whole took to calling him their little veggie after he dyed his whole head green and started to only wear green clothes and eat vegetables. Ivy was very proud. From this group pet name, he formed a new name for himself.

He was Veggie, the most precious and well-kept secret of the Gotham crime world.

He, a single orphaned child, had unconsciously managed to wrap the worst criminals in the world around his little finger.

And... well... he did love the attention.

"Dad? Can I be the battleship?" He asked, pleading blue eyes looking up at Riddler, who simply shrugged.

"You can be whatever you want. Just as long as I get the top hat."

Ivy laughed, scooping up one of their many cats and coming to sit down on the floor next to the board. "The battleship is a good option. I approve of that as our team piece."

"Ohh. We're a team?"

"Of course, we are. It's my turn."

Crane frowned. "Wasn't it your turn last week?"

"It was. But I was in prison last week. Which means that this week it's my turn." Ivy insisted, helping Veggie dish out the money.

"That's not fair. Why do we get our weeks pushed back just because Batsy caught you?"

Ivy shrugged. "Because I said so. Now shut up. It's time to start playing."

Like most family game nights, the simple game of monopoly quickly turned into who could successfully steal the most money while secretly trying to help their child win. Everyone liked seeing the happy smiles that came with the boy winning, especially when keeping their help a secret became more and more of a challenge as the kid grew up and became more astute.

Veggie narrowed his eyes at Harley, pointing an accusatory finger at the hand that had been slowly inching back from the bank pile, two five hundred bills clutched between her fingers. "Momma, you can't just take the money from the bank. That's cheating."

"The kid's right, Harls. He caught you. Getting caught is against the rules." Selina said, sneaking some of the colored bills out from Crane's pile while he was not paying attention. "Time to go to jail."

Harley huffed, reluctantly moving her player piece into the jail. "Fine, fine."

"Wait. Where'd my five hundred go?" Crane asked, glancing around the circle suspiciously.

"You can't leave it unattended. You should know better." Joker smirked, waving his own money in front of his friend's face. "You snooze, you lose."

All the parents pretended not to notice their little veggie slipping a stack of hundreds into his pile.

"Do you have to go out tonight? I wanted to make gingerbread houses..." He pouted, giving Joker his best puppy dog eyes.

Joker had to force himself not to meet the child's gaze, knowing full well that would happen if he looked at him. No one could say no to those eyes. "Crane and Selina are staying home. You can make gingerbread houses with them, okay, my little clown? I'll be back soon. Just going to have some fun with the friends."

Veggie huffed. "I know you're going to go pick a fight with Batman."

"Yes, well, Batman has been especially annoying lately. It's my job to make sure he stays distracted and out of the way." Joker told him, ruffling the boy's hair, or at least the parts that were not stuck up in random pigtails. "It won't be long."

"Fine... but can you bring me back a batarang? I need to work on my collection. Mom brought me back three last time."

Joker laughed. "Sure thing, kiddo."

Veggie watched with a pout as Joker left, sighing and heading into the kitchen where Crane and Selina were gathering up the necessary gingerbread house supplies.

"What's wrong, kitten?" Selina asked, brows drawing together into a frown as she stepped around the counter and pulled him into a hug.

"He didn't want to stay... says he has to fight Batman. But... but he always has to fight Batman. Why can't he just make gingerbread houses with us?"

Crane sighed. "He's trying to distract them tonight. Riddler and Ivy are breaking Harley out of Arkham. You want her out, don't you?"

"Of course, I want her out." Veggie huffed, returning Selina's hug with a sigh of his own. "I just... I just want us all to be able to get ready for Christmas together."

"I know, little one. But we can decorate these while they're gone, and then once they get back, we can all eat them together. How does that sound?"

Slowly, Veggie nodded. "That sounds good."

They were only halfway done with the gingerbread house decorations when he started to feel seriously unwell. Pain shot up his side, making him gasp sharply as he clutched at the counter.

"Kid? What's wrong?" Crane hurried to his side, placing a hand on Veggie's forehead and cursing. "You're burning up. You were fine earlier. I don't... This doesn't make sense."

Veggie hummed weakly, another wave of pain crashing over him. He whimpered, reaching up to touch his shoulder only to have his fingers pull back sticky with blood.

Selina gasped. "He's bleeding. What on earth..."

"I'm moving him to the couch." Crane said hurriedly, scooping him up and moving him onto the nearest couch.

Just in time too, as another wave of pain hit, and Veggie cried out. His leg was twisted. How did his leg get twisted? It made no sense.

It hurt.

With his parents panicking over him, Veggie found himself slipping into unconsciousness as wave after wave of pain wracked his body.

Nothing made sense. Or at least, nothing that they could think of.

Selina and Crane were panicking, trying to bandage up each wound only to find more randomly appearing, all the while their child was growing more and more pale, more and more out of it.

When Ivy and Riddler arrived back with Harley, the panic only seemed to escalate, even though at that point the wounds had stopped appearing and some had stopped bleeding altogether.

Still, it was not a pleasant sight, to see their child injured and unconscious for seemingly no reason.

"What's going on here?" Joker asked, stepping through the door, a bloodied crowbar tucked under one arm, his once white gloves completely soaked in the red liquid.

"Injuries just... started appearing. We aren't sure what's happening." Crane told him, placing a gentle hand on the kid's forehead. "He's been out of it for hours."

"Puddin!" Harley launched herself at her boyfriend, kissing his lips before pulling away. "We've been back for forever. What took ya so long?"

Joker's concern for their child faded slightly as a smirk spread across his lips. "The little birdy came out to play. It's odd, how alike he is to our Veggie. I didn't like it. But, sadly, Batsy came to stop me before things went too badly for the bird."

"Their voices do sound awfully similar." Ivy mused, leaning over the couch to look at the beansprout as the faintest of ideas began forming. "Joker... come here for a second."

"What is it?" Joker asked, stepping around the others as he too looked over the couch, eyes widening as he saw exactly how injured their child was. "That looks painful."

Ivy hummed, green eyes taking on the faintest glint of danger. "Take a careful look at his injuries."

Joker frowned, but did as Ivy said, gaze roaming over the bandages. It took a few moments for everything to click, but once it did, he stumbled back. "How is that possible? I would never hurt him."

"They have the same voice. They both do acrobatics." Ivy said, tone definitely dangerous now, the plants scattered about the room starting to tremble and grow if only slightly. "We've told you before that it was strange and to leave the kid alone, especially after what you did to the last one."

"I didn't mean to kill the last birdy. That was an accident." Joker protested, honestly looking horrified. "I swear, I didn't know that hurting Robin would hurt our little veggie."

Selina stepped forward then, eyes narrowing. "It doesn't matter if you didn't know. You hurt our child, Joker. He was bleeding because of you."

Joker shook his head. "I didn't know."

"I don't think you should be near him at the moment." Crane spoke up, tone cold and harsh as he moved closer to their kid's unconscious form, clearly ready to protect him in necessary.

"Harley, come on... you know me. I would never hurt the kid. I like the kid." Joker pleaded, turning to his girlfriend, hoping at least one person would be on his side.

Harley simply stepped back, shaking her head. "You hurt him, Puddin'. You hurt my kid. You hurt our kid."

"Go, Joker. Clearly you're a danger to him."

Joker snarled, glancing down at Veggie one last time before he whirled around to leave. "Fine. But you'll regret this. I'll show you... you'll bring be back in. Just wait. I won't be gone for long."

And then he was gone, leaving the rest of the distraught parents to help nurse their little veggie back to health.