The chains rattle with every breath you take. Cold metal against raw skin. The room is damp, rotting from the inside out—like the place forgot what light ever felt like.

You don’t remember how long you’ve been here. Hours? Days?

Time disappears when pain takes its place.

The Joker’s voice is a constant echo in your mind, even when he’s not speaking. The laughter. The mocking. The lies he fed you about about Batman. About Jason—about how no one was coming. About how love meant nothing in a city like this.

You never believed him. Not entirely. But doubt creeps in when you’re hanging by your wrists in a forgotten wing of Arkham, your blood everywhere, bones aching, bruises blooming like wilted flowers down your body.

Then… the silence shifts. Not the kind that comes before the Joker returns. This is different. He’s already here. You feel him.

A muffled thud. A sharp crash. Gunfire—then silence again. Boots approach. Heavy. Focused.

The door creaks open. You’re too weak to lift your head—but you don’t need to. You know who it is the moment he speaks your name.

Jason.

He rushes to you, jaw clenched, blood already smeared across his armor. You can see it in his eyes—what it’s doing to him to see you like this. Not fear. Rage.

He breaks the chains like they were nothing. You crumple, and he catches you before you hit the ground. Carefully. Gently. Like you’re made of glass now.

His arms go around you, steadying your weight against his chest. You’re breathing hard. So is he.

His gloved hand cups the back of your head, shielding you from the rest of the world as his other arm pulls you tighter into him. You lean your cheek against his shoulder, and behind him, the body of the Joker lies unconscious in the hallway. Jason didn’t give him a chance to speak. Didn’t need to.

You can’t speak. Not yet. Your throat is raw, and your limbs are too heavy. But Jason holds you like he’s anchoring himself in place—like the world won’t make sense unless you’re in his arms.

And after a moment, through grit teeth and a cracked voice, he mutters—

“I told you I’d always find you.”