#there was somebody who took the words outta my mouth about jay which is what i tried to protray

[dnahelix]

some thoughts on jam that i want to share:

id say jay isnt really in touch with his emotions. throughout the series, he never really talks about how he feels aside from physically, and obviously if your blacking out constantly then you're going to be worried, but emotionally and mentally he never speaks about it. tim on the other hand; he speaks and is pretty open about his emotions once you're close. hes trying to get better, trying to find a solution, and is trying to live a normal life while mentally and physically getting better. theres many differences between those two, but i feel like the sole difference is how they handle themselves compared to the other. tim obviously gets worried about jays health as they begin to work together, and even makes jay get signed up for meds or therapy, i cant remember which one.

regardless—while tim is hard on jay sometimes, its mostly just to get him in touch with reality again. jay gets so incredibly unaware of how fucked up his actions are, but hes paranoid and struggling and doesnt know what to do. thrusted into a situation where a genuine child nightmare monster follows you no matter what you do and basically warpped your friends minds so badly that theyre just. a shell of the person they used to be. its not jays fault, but he makes it worse for himself because he desperately just wants answers and in the end, doesnt get any. and tim cant help. tim tries, he really does, but if somebody doesnt want help the only thing you can do is watch and hope they realize what they're doing.

they hold onto each other as they escape from whatever hell it came from, but never lay in the same bed and ask if this was really worth it.

[dylan-hague]

Chapter 19

Wayne Manor, Gotham City. January 13th, 2018. 9:40 PM.

"Jeez, man! You used to LIVE here??"

Damian rubbed his temple as Garfield gushed about the foyer of the mansion. Honestly, it wasn't even the most expansive place Damian had ever taken residence in; the League temple where he'd been raised had been much larger, and stood for much longer than this place. Not to say that Wayne Manor was small, by any means, but Damian had certain standards of living. Life here in the Manor had been easy in comparison to life with the League, sure, but the League had shown him a different kind of respect. In Wayne Manor, he'd been treated as a son; in the League, he'd been hailed as a prince.

Regardless, it made sense that his friends would be at least mildly impressed by his father's estate. Jon grew up on a farm, Tara never had a real home, Jaime lived in a trailer, and Garfield... honestly, it didn't take much to impress Garfield. The only ones who didn't seem quite so blown away were Raven and Starfire, which made sense; Raven had grown up in some otherworldly Paradise, and Koriand'r was a princess.

"He did," Damian's father said with a smirk. "Only for three years, mind you, but this was Damian's home. Still is, should he ever need a place to stay."

"This place is niiiice..." Tara's whole body seemed to wave as she nodded. "I think we can get used to crashing here for awhile!"

"Of course, Miss Markov," Alfred smiled as he gestured towards the main staircase. "You have the run of the mansion during your stay, of course. After you've all been debriefed, I'll show you all to your quarters."

"But first, we need to talk about what our assignment is," Kori stated, her arms crossed. "Mr. Wayne, why are we all here?"

"Have patience, Starfire," Bruce replied. "We'll discuss that in the Cave. Follow me."

"Wait..." Garfield paused. "Did he just say the Cave? As in, the Batcave? The Batcave??" Bruce chuckled as he led the Titans into the study and through the hidden passage.

Already in the Batcave, two people clearly around the Titans age were already in the training ring: the first was Carrie, dressed down in a t-shirt and jeans like a normal citizen. The other was a boy, about Jon's height, with black hair and blue eyes, wearing a red flannel with a yellow undershirt and blue jeans.

"Robin, Will," Bruce called out to the two, "these are the Teen Titans. We'll be working with them on this case."

"Coo'!" Carrie exclaimed, hopping out of the ring towards the group. "Good to finally work with somebody my own age!"

"Titans," Bruce looked back to the teenagers behind him, "this is Carrie Kelley, the new Robin. And over here..."

"Hey," the other boy called as he stepped out of the ring towards the others. "Will Batson, Justice League."

"Batson?" Damian crossed his arms. "I'm surprised you aren't on Thanagar with the others."

Will shrugged. "Guess I'm still too young to go off-world without a permission slip." He smirked as the words left his mouth. "So I get to join in on... whatever we're doing here."

"You're joking," Garfield crossed his arms as he grinned at Will. "Look, I'm not sayin' you're scrawny or anything, but you don't exactly look like Justice League material."

Will turned to the Changeling, a spark of electricity flashing in his eyes as he spread his feet to shoulder width, standing up straight.

"Shazam."

The whole Cave was engulfed in a blinding light, and the sound of thunder crashed through the cavern. When the lights died back down, standing before the Titans was a tall, black haired man garbed on a red suit, a white thunderbolt on his chest. On his back was a white cloak with a gold trim, held around his neck by a gold chain.

"Do I look like League material now?" the man's voice was deep, and seemed to reverberate within itself.

"Titans, this is Captain Thunder," Bruce said with a smirk.

"Whooooa..." Jon marveled at the man standing before them. "You're as tall as my dad..."

"Wait a minute," Damian stuttered, "I thought your name was Shazam?"

"Didn't have enough punch behind it," Captain Thunder said as he crossed his arms. "'Captain Thunder' just sounds more imposing. Some crooks will give up at just a name, after all."

"Focus, Titans." Bruce's voice was gruff as he began to pull his armor undersheath onto his bare chest. "We need to discuss our assignment."

"About that..." Jon turned to the Batman, pausing as he realized they were almost the same height. "... uhhh, we're still a little shaky on the details. Who exactly are we up against? It's not Bane, is it? 'Cuz I mean, I guess I can probably handle him, but..."

"No, Jon. Bane's locked away in Santa Prisca right now while we reinforce his cell here at Arkham." Bruce pulled his uniform on slowly, a grim feel to his movements.

"Okay, so who is it then?" Terra tilted her head to the side as she looked at the older superhero. "I'm sure whoever it is, we can handle--"

"Oh..." Raven's voice was a whisper, but the weight behind it drew the attention of everyone in the room. "Oh God..."

Bruce's brow furrowed as he looked to the mage girl whilst sliding his cowl over his face.

"It's him, isn't it?" Raven stammered. "... it's Joker."

The whole Cave fell unnaturally silent.

"... yes."

Damian's eyes squinted as everyone stopped to process the situation. The Joker was one of the most unpredictable, dangerous, and flat-out feared beings on the planet. Every time he returned, it seemed like he struck back in a way more destructive than ever before. And now, Batman was calling on them--teenagers--for backup.

Because evidently, he was out of options.

Crank Co. Toys Factory, Amusement Mile.

Everything ounce of her being screamed out for Harley Quinn to get as far away from here as she possibly could. She knew how dangerous he was, and he probably already knew she was here. But that's exactly why she had to be here; nobody knew him like she knew him. Aside from maybe the Bat, there was nobody in the world who would be better suited to stop him before he could hurt anybody. And really, she felt she had to try. If somebody didn't bring him down, there's no telling who he'd come down on. She had to keep him from getting to anybody she cared about. Ivy, Lawton... and especially Lucy.

These thoughts and more ran through Harley's head as she slid through the shadows deeper into the factory. She knew he was around here somewhere; he was always going on about how he wished he could take this joint from Bane's crew. But with Old El Paso locked up off in whatever hole they threw him in, the factory was crawling with thugs in clown masks toting AKs and S39s. With a reputation like his, Harley used to wonder how he managed to do business with any arms dealer in New Jersey. But after all the years she let him control her, she figured out exactly how he did it.

At last, she snuck into the Security office. Bigger than she expected it to be, with about a dozen screens lining the wall in front of the console, displaying a view of almost the entire factory. Harley noted that her path had taken her straight through a few of the cameras. But that didn't matter; there he was, pacing back and forth in front of the console. He would often send a decoy of some sort to throw off any attempts at preemptive strikes to take him down, but this was definitely him, Harley knew it. He was very, very careful not to reveal it to anyone, but he had a tell; a few years ago, the Police Commissioner shot him in the kneecaps, as some kind of payback for what he did to his daughter. He eventually recovered, but his right leg didn't quite heal right. It was barely noticeable, but she saw the slightest limp every time he took a step with his right foot. This was the real deal, alright.

Harley stood up straight, walked right up behind him, and held her pistol up to his head. Both of them stood unmoving for a moment, and a long rasp of air pushed its way out of his throat, and a low, ragged cackle began to fill the air around them as he slowly turned to face her.

"Well well well..." the Joker's scarlet lips stretched out, his opaque flesh wrinkling as he grinned back at his former protege. "Welcome back, honeybun."

Harley scowled back at the lanky ghoul before her. "Puddin'."

Joker cocked an eyebrow as he lightly touched the barrel of Harley's gun with his index finger. "Y'know Harley, I'm kinda gettin' a bad vibe from you today," he hissed, never breaking eye contact with her. "It almost feels like you're not happy to see me!"

"Look, I ain't in the mood for your routine tonight, so let's just cut to it," Quinn said bluntly, her accent thickening with her disgust. "Whatever ya got planned, call it off. I ain't lettin' it happen."

Joker cackled again as he stepped around her slowly, her gun still aimed at his head. "Oh Harley... Harley, Harley, Harley. You're so adorable when you're angry, y'know that?"

Harley's brow furrowed as she pressed the gun into his forehead. "I ain't playin' around here, Jay. Tell your boys to get outta here. I'll give ya two days to skip town, ya hear me?"

Joker's smile slightly retreated as he glared back at the woman. Harley pulled back the hammer with her thumb, the click as it locked into place solidifying her threat. His eyes began to squint as he took in a deep breath...

Harley felt the slightest prick on the back of her neck, and her eyes went wide. Gradually, her body began to feel weaker and weaker. She tried to squeeze the trigger, but found that her finger wouldn't move. The Joker's grin spread right back out as he gently took hold of the pistol, letting it slide of her hand as Harley fell to her knees, her head spinning.

"You didn't think I was about to let you walk in here and put one in me, now did you dear?" The clown's voice was dripping with condescension as he took a knee, holding Harley's pistol loosely in one hand. Harley slumped over, now unable to move at all. Joker pushed her onto her back, and a pair of bare feet stepped forward on either side of her head. Harley looked up to see a slim woman with short blond hair, wearing tight burgundy leather pants and a vest of the same, halfway unzipped to expose the extensive tattoos on her chest. Her forearms were covered with some light gauntlet, with a pair of long claws on each hand covering her first two fingers. Black paint was smeared across her eyes, and as she smirked down at Harley, a forked tongue slid across her lips.

"So sorry, grupa," the woman hissed. "But work is work."

"Excellent work, Miss Copperhead!" Joker smirked up at the assassin. "Keep this up, you might just be looking at a very pretty payday."

Copperhead winked at the green-haired creature before turning her attention back to the helpless woman lying before her. Her eyebrow raising just barely, she shifted her weight and slowly caressed her victim's face with her right foot, dragging her toes across Harley's lips and up over her eye. The assassin's forked tongue slipped out over her lips again as she turned, walking back into the shadows. Harley's eyes began to well up with tears as she knew there would be no escape; she should have listened to her gut instinct and ran away. But now here she was, unable to move anything but her eyes.

The Joker's grin extended out even farther. "You've been a very bad girl, Harley..." he growled as he began to pull the woman's top open. "... but don't worry... I know just how you're going to make it up to me."