Bruce and Jason arrive at a refugee camp outside of Magdala, Ethiopia. They feel overwhelmed by the rampant starvation and illness of the refugees. Bruce resolves to send financial aid to the camp when he returns to Gotham. He and Jason then locate Dr. Sheila Haywood’s office tent in the camp. Jason rushes inside to meet her. Sheila recognizes Bruce due to his public persona, but when Bruce introduces Jason, Sheila becomes shocked at the mention of his last name. Jason realizes at once that she is his birth mother.

Bruce gives Jason and Sheila space to reconnect with one another. Privately, he worries that he has lost his partner once again. Sheila tells Jason that she had been a medical student when she fell in love with Willis and gave birth to Jason. After a critical mistake during an operation, Sheila was forced to flee the United States and settle in the United Kingdom. Willis and Jason were supposed to follow her, but then Willis met and fell in love with Catherine, who raised Jason as her own. Sheila resigned her hopes of seeing Jason again, knowing that it would cost her too much to sue for custody. Jason acknowledges the difficulty of Sheila’s life.

When Sheila excuses herself to deal with some business, Jason goes to help with food distribution and sees that Sheila is meeting with the Joker. He eavesdrops on their meeting and learns that Sheila and the Joker are conspiring to traffic medical supplies out of the camp. The Joker continues to blackmail Sheila into cooperating and instructs her to accompany him to the supply warehouse. Jason steals a motor scooter to follow the Joker’s convoy to the warehouse.

At the warehouse, the Joker orders his men to unload several boxes into the warehouse, replacing the ones he will steal. He explains that the boxes are filled with his laughing gas, which will kill Sheila’s fellow social workers as soon as they open them, leaving Sheila distraught and Jason alarmed. Jason returns to the camp to get Bruce’s help. When they return to the warehouse, they see that the humanitarian trucks are already carrying the laughing gas to a refugee outpost. Bruce suits up as Batman and then implores Jason to wait while he pursues the humanitarian trucks in his mini helicopter. Jason obeys, but as soon as Batman leaves, Jason quietly apologizes, knowing his mother’s life is at stake.

Jason confronts Sheila when she steps out of the warehouse for a cigarette break. Sheila initially refuses to admit anything, but when Jason reveals that he’s Robin, Sheila instructs him to follow her inside, claiming that she has something to show him. The Joker emerges and holds Robin at gunpoint, revealing that Sheila has deliberately led Robin into a trap. Sheila explains that she’s been embezzling the humanitarian organization’s funds and that the Joker has threatened to expose her if she doesn’t enable his plan. The Joker whips Robin with his pistol, and his henchmen take turns beating Robin. Finally, the Joker takes a crowbar and starts beating Robin with it. Sheila turns away to smoke another cigarette.

Meanwhile, Batman chases down the humanitarian convoy, who mistake him for a hijacker. Batman abandons his mini helicopter and incapacitates the humanitarian guards. Afterward, he tells the social workers what they’re carrying and has them unload the boxes. Using one of the trucks, Batman drives back to the warehouse, hoping that Jason waited as he instructed.

Covered in Robin’s blood, the Joker warns Sheila that Batman will be angry once he finds out what happened to his sidekick. The Joker resolves to destroy any evidence of his actions and has Sheila bound to one of the warehouse beams. He then plants a bomb next to Sheila, indicating that she and Robin have 10 minutes left to live. Distraught over the Joker’s betrayal, Sheila is shocked to see that Robin has survived his brutal assault. With only two minutes left on the clock, Sheila urges Robin to disarm the bomb. Robin elects to rescue Sheila instead and unties her from the beam. Sheila carries him over to the door so that they can escape together. When Sheila tries to open the door, she discovers that it’s locked from the outside. 

Batman sees the Joker driving away from the warehouse and finds himself faced with the choice of either pursuing his nemesis or checking on his sidekick. Batman proceeds to the warehouse, but by the time he reaches it, the building explodes in a ball of flames.