Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There was a low kind of hum in the air in anticipation of the day’s meeting. Most of them had arrived a little early, even Barry, which was hilarious. For all his speed, it took a miracle for him to be on time for anything.

But that was today. A miracle.

Batman was not going to be at this afternoon’s meeting due to an injury. Anything that could keep him away from a meeting was cause for immediate concern, and a heavy feeling of foreboding permeated the air until it was overridden by something else - because Batman was sending a representative. Batman, who worked alone. Batman, who enforced his “no metas in Gotham” rule with an iron fist and a glare that could strip paint from a tanker.

Batman had someone he trusted enough to speak for him. He trusted the Justice League to an extent, that was true, but not like this. The excitement was palpable. Even the unflappable J’onn looked intrigued.

Barry bounced in his seat, a red blur, then rushed from the room. Apparently, all the waiting had created a need for the toilet. Diana and Clark watched him go, faintly amused. Shayera just snorted.

Seconds later, the Zeta tube announced the arrival of someone new. All heads turned towards the door, and the animated chatter hushed.

The figure melted out of the shadows in much the same way as Batman, striding towards the table smoothly and soundlessly. Naturally, Barry chose that moment to come barrelling back into the room, almost crashing into their visitor, who flipped out of his way with inhuman grace. It was impressive, though expected. Batman associated himself only with people worth his time.

‘Did I miss them?’ Barry said, just slow enough for the rest of them seated around the table to discern the words.

The figure, coming further into the light, laughed brightly. ‘Just about. It was a close one.’ He was shorter than Batman and less muscular, dressed head to toe in black kevlar, a bird emblazoned on his chest in midnight blue. In holsters at his waist were two metal escrima sticks, and a black domino mask covered his eyes, the blank white lenses eerily reminiscent of Batman. He cut an intimidating silhouette.

The league found themselves at a loss. Batman’s representative had just laughed. Barry, standing before him, frozen, looked as if he didn’t know whether to be horrified or delighted.

‘I’m Nighthawk, by the way,’ he continued, grinning. ‘B sent a message earlier - about me being his stand-in for the meeting? He said you’d replied.’

If Nighthawk registered the surprise on some of their faces at the casual use of a nickname, he didn’t show it.

Diana nodded and smiled, taking the initiative. ‘How is he? We were all worried to hear he was hurt. It is unlike him.’

‘He should be fine in a few weeks. There was a mass breakout from Arkham, and he tried to round them all up without backup, the idiot.’ Nighthawk sounded fond and exasperated at the same time. Hal barked a laugh from the other side of the table. It was the first time any of them had heard Batman called an idiot. Clark looked like he didn’t know whether to reprimand him or join in.

Nighthawk’s grin grew wider as he carried on, ‘His arm is broken in two places, he has four stab wounds and he was bleeding internally. He’s currently stable and conscious, but he asked me to cover for him for your next few meetings.’ He made his way over to Batman’s chair. ‘He is so going to regret this. This is the most fun I’ve had in ages - he thinks I’m going to ruin his “stoic image”.’ He accompanied his last sentence with honest-to-god air quotations. Hal looked like he was going to pass out. Shayera leaned forward, intent.

‘This is B’s chair, isn’t it? I’m not stealing anyone else’s? Is Aquaman in Atlantis? What about Green Arrow?’ Nighthawk asked, turning to Clark.

Clark cleared his throat. ‘That is Batman’s chair, yes. Aquaman’s is over there. He’s not here today. Green Arrow is on business in Star City.’

‘Aquaman’s got a kingly meeting to go to, or something,’ Barry said, eating a burrito he’d summoned seemingly from nowhere, while he watched Nighthawk intently like he was going to blow up.

Nighthawk nodded sagely, looking like he was trying very hard not to laugh. He then opened a compartment in the armrest of the chair (to everyone’s surprise - since when had they had those?) and pulled out a batarang to fiddle with. J’onn tried to do the same surreptitiously, to no avail. Apparently that was just Batman’s chair, which of course begged the question of how Nighthawk knew about it. No one asked. It was probably wise not to.

‘I’m glad he’s feeling better,’ Clark powered on, feeling like everything was starting to get a bit out of hand. ‘Shall we start the meeting?’

There was a chorus of “aye”s, and Nighthawk’s whole demeanour changed. The grin was gone like it was never there. He looked ready and capable. Dangerous.

The meeting carried on smoothly, with a few astute observations from Nighthawk. He remained mostly quiet, watching and waiting like a cat ready to pounce, in sharp contrast to his earlier good cheer. Clark, sitting by his side, felt a little nervous. Nighthawk reminded him of when he had first met Batman, before he’d gotten to know him a little better, though the grin and the laughter made the switch to seriousness a little more eerie.

The meeting was adjourned, the atmosphere still a little tense. Usually, the league would wander off to attend to business or to their rooms, but today they remained seated, watching the newcomer.

Nighthawk flipped the batarang over his knuckles repetitively, smiling around at all of them. ‘I should probably get back to Batman, summarise the meeting for him. You know how he gets.’ And then, in an incredibly accurate imitation of Batman’s gravelly voice, ‘I am the most paranoid man in the world. I must have all the information, always. I can’t even miss one meeting. I am allergic to fun. Mua ha ha.’

Barry choked on his own spit, Hal howled with laughter. Shayera and Diana exchanged glances and joined him. J’onn smiled and Clark looked pained, then chuckled.

Nighthawk looked delighted. ‘B said you were fun. It was nice to finally meet you after all we’ve been hearing.’

‘He said we were fun?’

‘We?’

Nighthawk allowed another of his bright peals of laughter to escape. ‘Well, he’s never said it directly, but you learn to speak Batman over the years. Forced exposure, and all that.’

Diana realised with a jolt that none of them had actually asked Nighthawk how he knew Batman. And she was just as curious as the rest of them about the “we”. It implied Batman worked with more people. ‘How did you come to know Batman, Nighthawk? Does he have any other friends?’

Nighthawk’s mouth fell open, and he snorted, which evolved into full-on laughter. ‘I’m sorry. Oh my god - friends?’

Diana felt a little hurt on Batman’s behalf. ‘Are you not his friend?’

Nighthawk shook his head. ‘Did B really not say anything? I’m hurt. No, I’m not his friend. I’m his son.’

You could have heard a pin drop.

J’onn bravely broke the silence. ‘I was not aware Batman had children.’

Nighthawk pouted. It was almost adorable, or would have been, if his ensuing smirk hadn’t spelled danger for the whole room to see. ‘Okay, now I’m really hurt. Does B not talk about us at all?’

Clark cleared his throat, feeling like something had died in it. ‘He doesn’t really talk much. I think it’s the secret identity thing.’

With a frown, Nighthawk snorted. ‘No, he’s probably just shy. And afraid we’ll embarrass him.’ He brightened considerably. ‘I’ll make sure the rest of us get to see you all at some point. B should talk more. God knows he needs some more fun in his life.’

Everyone else seemed to find their voices at once, talking over one another like children. Barry won the battle to be heard by virtue of zooming round the table to stand closest to Nighthawk. ‘How many children does he have? Why have we never met any of you before? Where are you all from?’

Nighthawk just grinned, looking ecstatic at the prospect of mischief. ‘That would ruin the surprise, don’t you think?’ He headed towards the door. ‘You’ll see us all soon, I’ll make sure.’

Barry turned around to gape at the others. When he turned back, Nighthawk was gone.

‘Fucking ninja.’ Hal growled.

Shayera hummed contemplatively. ‘They are most definitely related.’

Chapter Text

Clark

Clark had woken up that morning to the perfect Metropolis day. At the risk of sounding like a cliché (and here is where Barry would argue that Clark’s whole life was a cliché - his costume looked like an American flag and he smiled like a toothpaste advert), there was not a cloud in the sky, all of them burned away by the sun. There were no major incidents to attend to and work was calm, for once.

At about 11am, Clark was starting to feel a little suspicious. It turned out that his suspicion was not unwarranted, because exactly nine minutes later, one of the high rises a few blocks away from the Daily Planet exploded in a brutally beautiful billow of flames and uncountable shards of sparkling glass.

The sound was deafening, as was the screaming that erupted around the office, his shocked coworkers pelting towards the door to escape the office.

He saw Lois eyeing him from across the room. He nodded at her, then changed into his suit, escaping in the confusion. He had people to save.

Several hours later, he called the JLA for backup. What had started out a picture perfect day had devolved into a complete nightmare. Enormous alien machines, half sleek metal, half pulsing, oozing red flesh, trundled through Metropolis almost leisurely, smashing everything in their paths.

They also had lasers.

Clark hated his life.

Tokyo and Paris were likewise suffering from unwelcome guests. The league decided to split, some of their less active members leaving for Tokyo, while Arthur, Hal, Shayera and Ollie left for Paris.

Clark, Diana, J’onn, Barry and Batman were left to deal with Metropolis, where most of the aliens had landed (it was always Metropolis), but were making slow progress.

There had to have been thirty or forty rumbling through the streets, each of their six legs cracking tarmac and crushing cars, sending civilians screaming for cover inside nearby buildings, only to come screaming out again when they collapsed under the force of the robots’ lasers.

It had taken Clark and Diana working together a full ten minutes to bring one down. That was too long. Far too long.

The only way seemed to be destroying the laser guns, then taking out the legs. This had proved to be the hardest part. Each one was thick as a cathedral pillar, and caved only to their joint brute strength.

J’onn, Barry and Batman were having much the same luck. J’onn was visible only in darts and flashes as he worked on destroying the laser gun, phasing through the beams, drawing fire away from civilians.

Batman and Barry were busy taking out the legs, though without brute strength, they’d had to resort to… more interesting measures. From somewhere (Clark really did not want to know where, ever - he didn’t think the answer would be very conducive to sleeping at night), Batman had managed to produce what looked like several dozen metres of steel cable. He hefted it across the ground with startling ease, for someone who was entirely human (and Clark was not willing to admit that he was very surprised to learn that Batman wasn’t a meta).

Barry, impatient, sped around the legs of the robot, jittery with adrenaline as Batman uncoiled one end of the cable. Motioning to Barry, he passed it to him.

In less than a second, Barry had woven it around the trunk-like legs, leaving the whole thing to groan and whine, animalistic and grating as it fell to the ground. There was an enormous boom as it made impact, followed by a rush of air that whipped Clark’s hair around his head.

J’onn and Batman looked grim, already running towards the next problem, even as Barry celebrated their small triumph with whoops and shouts.

Clark put his head in his hands. In his peripheral vision, he could see Diana smiling as they headed off to help.

Diana

Diana was grateful for Barry, as frustrating as he could be at times. Even in situations such as these, he was a constant source of good cheer. Clark, beside her, looked like he was going to crack.

She was not sure if it was because of the general chaos of the situation, or if it was because he, like her, still could not manage not be distracted by the fact that Batman had multiple children even in a time such as this.

She did not need the Lasso of Truth to be very sure it was the latter.

Several weeks later, she was still wondering herself.

Forcing herself to get her head back in the situation at hand, she landed a devastating punch on the robot’s leg, close to the connecting joint. It cracked under the strain of its own weight as it crumpled from the top.

Satisfied, she moved on to the next, only to falter when an ominous click and whoosh sounded from all around her. The invaders the league had left in their wake, abandoned in a trail of destruction leading to their current point, were opening. The smooth tops of the main bodies split open, oozing out flying objects like pus from a wound.

A quick glance around confirmed that every robot invader was releasing smaller pests. This was a secondary defence tactic, then - a response to the threat they posed. They must have stopped playing around.

Batman looked up at her, obviously thinking the same thing.

It was time, Diana thought viciously, every fibre of her warrior’s heart tensed and ready, to show them what the Justice League was really made of.

*

An hour later, a dozen more walking invaders had been destroyed, but the miniature flying versions they had spit into the skies were proving to be a more annoying problem. While far easier to obliterate, they were fast, leading Diana on a wild goose chase as she flew in pursuit. They also had lasers.

Diana heard Clark swearing lowly as he chased a group of them northwards. Ironically, it appeared he was not fond of lasers. She made a note to tease him gently for it later.

J’onn had joined Diana and Clark in the air to fight the flying machines, Barry and Batman remaining on the ground to fight the walkers. The team moved together smoothly and effortlessly now they had found more weak points to exploit.

J’onn phased through the attackers, then smashed them with a fist. Diana herded large groups together, and Clark melted them with his eyes (perhaps too vehemently).

Batman and Barry now had a system down to a fine art, Barry using the steel cable and Batman launching explosive batarangs with deadly accuracy at the weak leg joints. They were downing each one in two minutes flat.

Just as Diana paused to catch her breath, her heart seized with terror. Batman was surrounded by seven of the flying robots, unable to dodge as he rolled out of the way of the giant robot’s screeching collapse.

She could hear the hum as they prepared to fire. Barry was further west, as was Clark - they hadn’t noticed what was about to happen. She herself was surrounded.

She wouldn’t make it in t-

Before she had a chance to finish the thought, there were seven sharp bangs, and the robots crashed to the ground. Gunshots. They were gunshots.

Batman rolled to his feet, his cape flaring as he whirled to see his saviour.

‘I swear you used to know how to dodge, B. Have you forgotten everything in your old age?’ the man said, lowering his guns.

Diana startled as she deflected laser beams off her gauntlets. There it was again: “B”. That was the same nickname Batman’s son, Nighthawk, had called him. Was this another of Batman’s elusive children?

As far as she knew, Batman did not use guns. However, the man who had just so casually insulted the Batman did resemble him at least somewhat in appearance. The same black kevlar, the same bat on his chest, though the newcomer’s was bright red.

The similarities ended there. He had no cowl, instead a bright red mask covering his whole head, various guns and knives about his person. Perhaps the most different was the leather jacket, looking almost comical stretched across broad shoulders when it was all business underneath.

‘Red Hood,’ Batman acknowledged, nodding his head towards him in thanks.

‘I’m only here because Nighthawk forced me,’ Red Hood said, moody tone betrayed by how easily he fell into step beside Batman, like he was born to be there. Bullet and batarang flew in sync to destroy a robot with almost careless grace.

If Diana had any doubts about their relation after that, they were swiftly assuaged by Batman’s answering smirk.

Red Hood’s indignant huff was grating, scrambled by his voice modulator. ‘Don’t you dare laugh at me, old man, you know how he gets.’

‘I do,’ Batman replied, sounding fond. He grasped Red Hood’s shoulder for a moment in a distinctly fatherly gesture, then marched onward. Red Hood’s answering grumble was lost to an earth-shattering crash as Barry felled another robot.

Diana smiled from the air. There was no doubt in her mind that Batman loved his children very much, even if he had kept them secret. Diana was most definitely going to ask him more about that later.

As if sensing her determination, Batman glanced upwards at her, and had the gall to look faintly worried.

As well he should be.

Barry

Barry headed back towards Batman, punching two of what he had dubbed the “babies” out of the air as he left their “mother”.

There was someone new with Batman, fighting alongside him. They were almost back to back, each covering the other, destroying the invaders with vicious precision.

Skidding to a halt beside them, Barry heard them exchange a few words, Batman’s usual baritone growl clashing with the slightly robotic voice of the man beside him. A voice modulator?

‘I can’t believe I’ve been dragged into this shit. I have leads I was following,’ the man in the red helmet said, sounding like a whiny child even as he destroyed the invaders with swift brutality.

Barry kind of wanted to laugh. He choked on it when Batman replied with ‘Agent A is making dinner tonight. Come and work on your leads there.’

‘This is bribery and I’m pretty sure that’s illegal. I thought you were all about justice, old man,’ Red helmet guy said, and then more quietly, ‘What’s he making?’

‘Roast beef,’ Batman replied, hauling the broken remains of one of the robot babies up from the ground to deflect a laser beam headed for them both. ‘I have also been informed,’ he continued, moving smoothly out of the way of the other man’s line of fire and launching an explosive batarang at another leg joint, ‘that there will be cookies later on.’

Barry almost got his arm taken off by a passing robot as he stood watching the conversation in part horror, part fascination. He was saved by several of red helmet guy’s bullets, the robot exploding behind him. Barry zipped away from the blast before it could burn him.

Red helmet guy sighed. ‘I thought B’s new friends weren’t idiots.’ Another robot fell to a hail of bullets. ‘I mean, when he neglected to tell you about us,’ he continued, glaring pointedly at Batman’s back and raising his voice, ‘I thought it would be for an important reason. But clearly it’s because none of you have a pair of brain cells to string together.’

This was so definitely Batman’s kid, Jesus Christ. ‘Hey!’ Barry squawked indignantly, ‘That is not true! And who are you, anyway?’

‘Yeah? Then why were you standing still in the middle of a fucking invasion? And I’m Red Hood.’

Barry tried his best to glare down Red Hood. He lost, because the only thing he had to glare at were those creepy white lenses Red Hood shared with Batman.

Barry had no idea how Batman had children. He really did not seem like the type. But in all honesty, it wasn’t as if any of the league knew that much about him to know if he had what Hal liked to call “dad vibes” or not.

Whatever the case, Batman and kids seemed like a terrible mix. Nighthawk was freaky enough, but at least he’d seemed friendly. Red Hood (while admittedly kind of badass, but you’d have to torture that one out of Barry) just kind of seemed like an asshole.

He hoped this whole mess would be over with soon. He was too scared to ask Batman any questions about his crazy family, but he could probably get someone else to.

Never let anyone say that the Flash was a coward.

*

As time went on, Barry occasionally saw flashes of what looked like Nighthawk in the distance, flipping gracefully off buildings and downing robots like flies.

Once, he saw Nighthawk laughing with glee as he contorted his body impossibly around one of the flying robot babies, riding it to the ground like a theme park attraction. Barry was at least glad to see that he wasn’t the only one that enjoyed having fun in battles, if the opportunity arose.

*

Hours later, the sun was beginning to set, the broken remains of the robots scattered across Metropolis. There was an awful stench of burning flesh from inside the larger ones. When Clark had opened one up completely, it had turned out that the robots were a kind of suit of armour. Inside were long snakes of flesh with several floppy limbs.

They seemed intelligent, but mostly gross.

Barry stood to the side with J’onn as Batman did about twelve things at once, contacting the rest of the JLA in Paris and Tokyo, interrogating the aliens, making room for ambulances and recovering civilians trapped by rubble. It was dizzying to watch, and Barry was a speedster.

Red Hood lounged on a piece of concrete, managing to simultaneously look relaxed and awkward.

He looked up as Diana and Clark edged towards him, no doubt to ask him questions about his relation to Batman. Barry kept an ear open, curious to hear if they’d get any answers.

Red Hood was saved by Nighthawk, who grappled down from a building to stand beside him. Barry watched as Nighthawk swung an arm about Red Hood’s shoulders with a deliberately obnoxious grin. That was interesting. Barry had kind of forgotten that two sons of Batman would be brothers.

Wow. That sounded stupid even to him.

‘Jesus fuck, get off, dickhead, you’re like an octopus. Christ,’ Red Hood snarled, making a halfhearted attempt to shake him off, no real anger behind it.

Nighthawk laughed loudly into Red Hood’s ear. ‘You know Agent A’s making cookies tonight?’

Red Hood growled at him. ‘B told me. And fuck off.’

Nighthawk pouted, then turned to the league with a grin. ‘See! I told you all you’d meet more of us soon.’

Red Hood did something complicated with his helmet, removing it to show a domino mask covering his eyes underneath, much like Nighthawk.

Interesting. He had the same black hair as Nighthawk, though his skin was lighter. Different mothers?

Barry had no more time to think, as Batman strode over, hand to his ear as he spoke to someone. ‘Boys,’ Batman growled at Nighthawk and Red Hood, who turned to him like flowers towards the sun.

Nighthawk gave a cocky salute, and Red Hood snarled at him. ‘Yes, dad.’

Diana bulldozed through the tension in the air, turning to Batman. ‘Are you not going to introduce us?’ She said, gesturing elegantly to Red Hood, who went still and started muttering to Nighthawk. ‘That’s Wonder Woman, holy shit, why did you not tell me she would be here, I’m gonna kill you later -’

Nighthawk grinned back, oblivious to the rest of the Justice League watching them. ‘Then you won’t get cookies.’

Barry had the distinct impression that Batman kind of wanted to scream. He eyed the Dark Knight with something like schadenfreude as he looked on. It was nice to see even he had normal people problems. Namely annoying kids.

Batman cleared his throat. ‘You all know Nighthawk.’

Nighthawk smiled around at them warmly.

Batman eyed him warily. ‘This,’ he said, gesturing to Red Hood, ‘is Red Hood. My second son.’

None of the League were overly shocked by this. It really was obvious. Red Hood, however, whipped his head to Batman, watching him closely. Batman looked back at him steadily. Nighthawk looked delighted.

‘So, how many siblings do you have?’ Diana asked, trying to weasel more information out of them.

‘Oh, gosh, would you look at the time,’ Nighthawk and Red Hood said simultaneously, looking at their wrists. There was nothing there that could tell the time apart from kevlar and leather respectively. Diana narrowed her eyes at them.

‘We really have to go,’ Nighthawk said apologetically. It was so earnest and genuine Barry would have almost believed it, if not for the fact that Red Hood was smirking right at him.

Both of them took a running start, firing off their grappling hooks and swinging up onto a nearby building, disappearing out of sight.

J’onn broke his silence. ‘I must admit, Batman, I am also curious as to the number of children you have.’

Barry internally screamed in frustration as Batman was spared from answering by the arrival of the police.

He looked around at the rest of the League, who looked like they were feeling much the same.

They’d get their answers. Batman had a storm coming, that was for sure.

Chapter Text

Barry

As soon as Barry had heard about the murders in Metropolis, he’d sped over to see Clark. Only weeks after the recent invasion, a serial killer was not something Metropolis could weather. There was a reason why people joked about the stark difference between Gotham and Metropolis - murders like these were much more Gotham’s style. They didn’t belong in Clark’s clean, bright city.

Despite the often gruesome nature of his job, Barry was glad to be a forensic investigator at times like these. This was closer to his area of expertise than Clark’s.

Clark was glad for the help, if a little awkward at first when Barry showed up to his apartment. Supes needed to ask for help from time to time.

Because Barry was a kind and generous person, he brought pizza (and it was mostly all there when he arrived with it, which was something Barry felt people should appreciate more - a speedster sharing food was no small thing). It seemed to defuse some of the tension as they pored over the limited information Clark already had, laid out in neat piles on his coffee table.

‘It’s impressive you have all this already, but what we really need are the police reports and whatever forensic evidence they’ve managed to get so far. This killer’s a smart one,’ Barry murmured, staring thoughtfully at the Daily Planet’s headline from the day before, “Three Murdered in Less Than 48 Hours, Police Admit Possibility of Serial Killer”.

Clark looked uncomfortable. ‘Most of it’s from Lois’s article. I just collected what I could.’

Barry smiled at him grimly, then tried to cheer Clark up. ‘At a time like this, all you can do is brainstorm and have more pizza.’

Clark smiled back at him, ever the optimist, but it didn’t reach his eyes. ‘We might have to get the Bat in on this one.’

‘Are you sure?’ Barry asked, a little nervous. Only because of the murders. Not because he still wasn’t convinced that Batman wasn’t an angry goth vampire. Barry was momentarily distracted from Clark’s reply by wondering whether all vampires were goth by default, and he must have had a sheepish look on his face because Clark laughed at him.

‘It’s the only thing I can think of at the moment,’ Clark sighed, ‘unless you know how to hack into the Metropolis Police Department’s case files?’ he added hopefully.

‘I’m decent, but I don’t know enough to get in there. I imagine it’s locked down as much as they can manage.’

Clark nodded. ‘Probably Lex’s fault they were forced to do that.’ His lip curled.

Barry hummed, distracted again. ‘Time for a league meeting?’

‘Yeah, I think so. I have a feeling this case will get worse.’

*

The League looked a little restless where they sat. While the point of the League was to create backup for other heroes, it was unusual for Clark to ask for it (hypocrite, Barry thought, then immediately felt bad and grinned at Clark encouragingly, giving him a thumbs up).

Even more unusual was the case - Superman was seen battling giant robots and bloodthirsty invaders, not something like this. Something quieter, messier, colder. Sinister.

As Clark finished his little presentation of the information he already had, ending with a request for help, everyone turned to Batman as one.

Batman’s usual stoic visage did not change.

Everyone looked back to Clark, silent and unsure. None of them were stupid, but detective work was one of the clear strong points of only one person at the table.

Barry made eye contact with Hal across the table, who nodded at him and took one for the team. ‘I don’t know about you guys, but I’m no detective. And I can’t hack, either. Is there maybe anyone else here who knows how to do that? Someone with the title of “World’s Greatest Detective”, perhaps?’

Barry made frantic motions at Hal to stop as subtly as he could, but Hal must have interpreted his expression as constipated as he looked over in concern.

Batman remained stubbornly silent, but glared at Hal from beneath his cowl, mouth twisted into a grim line. After a moment, he relented. ‘I am… indisposed, at the moment. I would like to help you solve this case, but I have eight others in Gotham I need to get back to and Poison Ivy is planning something.’

This admission of his inability to be everywhere at once seemed to irk him, though it was almost impossible to tell. Barry privately thought Batman could put stone walls out of business.

‘However,’ Batman continued, ‘I know someone who can help you. He has fewer active cases at the moment, and may be able to assist.’

Clark looked a little more optimistic, as did everyone else. Diana, however, looked positively gleeful.

She cleared her throat. ‘Batman, who is this person? When will they be able to help?’

For a moment, it looked as if he wouldn’t answer. Diana stared him down from her seat, refusing to be cowed by the Batglare. For a moment, it looked as if Batman would win, but hurricane Diana could not be stopped when she wanted something.

Batman grunted, and finally answered her. ‘He’s my son.’

‘Nighthawk? Or Red Hood?’

‘Neither.’

Diana’s smile was ecstatic. ‘I am very much looking forward to meeting another of your children, Batman, however unfortunate the circumstances.’ She turned to Clark. ‘I will assist you on this case.’

Clark wisely did not argue.

Barry kind of wanted to meet another mini-bat (Batkid? Batchild? Demon spawn? Baby bats were called pups, right?) himself, but decided that he definitely didn’t want to get into whatever Diana had going on.

Probably best to go home and hope nothing would explode. Everything would be fine. (Sometimes Barry really needed the lies he told himself - for his own sanity.)

Batman produced some sort of communication device from his belt and typed something into it. He stared down at it for a moment, expressionless as ever. A few seconds later, he looked up.

‘He’ll meet you both on the roof of the Daily Planet at 10pm.’

Clark looked determined, pleased to finally be making progress. Diana’s smile had grown sharper, in preparation for a hunt.

Batman stood. ‘I need to leave. I have cases to solve and I’ve already lost time. I move to adjourn this meeting.’

‘Motion seconded,’ Barry said hastily. It didn’t look as if anyone disagreed.

And with that, Batman left, cape flowing dramatically behind him as he headed for the zeta tubes that would take him back to his home turf, where he could stalk the streets like the overgrown emo panther he was.

Barry was starting to think he had a problem.

*

Diana

Diana was fond of children. And of a good mystery, though the latter was less obvious. The current situation ticked both boxes, which meant she was likely to have a very interesting few days.

They arrived five minutes early for the meeting, flying in quickly and silently. The roof appeared to be empty and silent in the still, muggy air.

The hairs on the back of her neck prickled.

Clark turned his head sharply towards a particularly deep patch of shadow. He’d heard something.

A figure melted out of the shadows and slid towards them like a ghost. It was unnerving, like watching something that wasn’t quite real.

As the figure came into the light, Diana was shocked. He was so young. From what she’d seen so far, both of Batman’s sons had been older than twenty, Nighthawk by a few years at the very least.

The vigilante approaching them was a boy, a teenager. Maybe sixteen or seventeen. He was well-muscled in a wiry way, short and still growing into himself. His skin looked paper white in the moonlight, hair as inky black as his brothers’.

His suit was also very interesting. Bandoliers crossed his chest, pouches attached, likely filled with similar things to Batman’s utility belt. The body armour underneath was thick and plated, red as blood and black as the shadows he seemed to belong to.

Diana was a little disappointed to see that he seemed not to share his brothers’ flair for the dramatic (fingerstripes and a certain expressionless red helmet came to mind) until she saw his cape, styled to look like the enormous wings of a predatory bird.

This was certainly Batman’s son.

Clark was the first to speak. ‘Are you the one Batman arranged for us to meet?’

Diana glanced sharply at him when Clark’s voice was coloured subtly with doubt. The newcomer was obviously associated with him, but more importantly, it would not do to underestimate a son of Batman. It was impolite as well as unwise.

The teenager smiled politely, giving no indication that he had noticed Clark’s tone. ‘Yes. I’m Red Raptor. Batman has informed me you need help on the recent murders here in Metropolis. What do you need?’

‘We do not have much information as of yet - we cannot gain access to the files from the police department,’ Diana said, smiling at him warmly, trying to make up for Clark. ‘Would you be able to help?’

Red Raptor hummed lowly. ‘Where would you like me to send the case files to? I haven’t printed the crime scene photographs, but I can send them to the same place.’

‘You have the information already?’ Diana said, impressed.

‘I hacked into the MPD’s database on the way over,’ he replied, smile a little more genuine. ‘I haven’t yet analysed any of the information, but I can put together some notes on the way to the crime scenes.’ He jerked his head sharply. ‘Shall we go?’

Clark nodded. ‘The first murder was in the alley behind the Paradise nightclub. It’s not far from here.’

Red Raptor shot his grapple line to a nearby building. ‘I’ll meet you there.’

Diana and Clark followed, watching his cape snap out behind him, helping him glide over.

Diana found she didn’t know quite what to make of him.

*

There wasn’t much left at the crime scene, only police tape. There wasn’t even a guard.

Red Raptor was already flitting around the area, looking at everything at once. Occasionally, he murmured something to himself and typed something into a tablet.

Diana thought he was fascinating to watch, but Clark looked a little awkward, unsure of what to do, tension pulling his muscles taught.

Red Raptor turned to them after a few minutes. ‘There’s nothing much here, but I was able to pick up some things. The killer is from the area, at least. This crime scene and the others are all quiet and tucked away, but near enough to large groups of people for an opportunistic killing. The crime was planned, but the victims were random. An organised killer not afraid to take a chance.’

Clark nodded.

Red Raptor carried on. ‘The police files say the cause of death was strangulation - the victims were dismembered post-mortem. Their hearts were shoved into their mouths, and their arms and legs were laid around their torsos “like wings”,’ he quoted, looking down at his tablet.

Diana felt faintly sick, as did Clark, from his expression.

Red Raptor grimaced back at them. ‘Hand spreads on their throats indicate a male, most likely large and muscular. The damage to the victims’ throats was significant.’ He ran a hand through his hair. ‘Usually, I’d visit the other crime scenes, but we won’t find much else. There are no security cameras where the murders took place.’ He typed something into his tablet with feverish speed. ‘However, there are some further out. I’ll analyse the footage and try and find out who came and went - see if there’s any commonality. The rest of this case will be computer work, I think, unless there’s another murder.’

‘I hope not,’ Clark said, hands in fists at his sides. ‘I’ll keep watch. If I hear anything, I’ll contact you.’

Red Raptor turned to him. ‘Please do, though I doubt you’ll catch anything, no offense to you. Death by strangulation doesn’t make much noise. And this one is smart. No common traits between victims, whether it’s race or age or gender. He was angry about something, or excited - certainly some extreme of emotion to have killed three people in such quick succession.’

Diana could almost see him thinking, much like Batman, making connections and collecting answers faster than Barry could run.

Red Raptor ran his hand through hair to move a few strands off his forehead. It flopped back to exactly how it’d been before, and he sighed almost imperceptibly. Diana could sympathise - if everyone knew the ungodly (ha) amount of hair mousse she had to use to keep her hair in check, they’d be shocked.

‘Any evidence I have, whether or not I’ve solved the case, will be with you by the next league meeting.’ He frowned minutely, suddenly looking more like the teenager he was, in a strange, bat-like fashion. ‘B wants me to make a presentation.’

Clark and Diana looked at him quizzically. Red Raptor grimaced. ‘It’s only because he doesn’t want to do it himself. He’s not fooling anyone.’
Both of the elder heroes neglected to mention to the younger that Batman was in fact excellent at fooling absolutely anyone. Apart from his children, apparently.

Just as the mask had cracked to show a sliver of the person underneath, it smoothly healed itself, and the vigilante was back, stoic and calm. He nodded at the other two politely, then shot off his grapple, and disappeared into the night.

Apparently, that was genetic.

*

Four days later, no new murders had been reported, but the atmosphere in Metropolis (and therefore Clark’s mood) remained tense.

It was with relief that Diana sighed when she received a message from Batman on her league communicator. Red Raptor had solved the case, and there was to be a meeting in six hours, complete with evidence with which to convict the murderer.

She wondered vaguely if Batman was still busy. Would he be presenting the compilation of evidence? Or would she get to see more of his elusive third son? She certainly hoped so.

*
Clark

Clark had not expected Batman to be at the meeting, having thought he was still busy with his cases and trying to stop Poison Ivy before she turned downtown Gotham into a rainforest (again). However, he was early as usual, a forbidding shadowy figure somehow managing to loom from his seat.

‘Batman,’ Clark greeted politely. ‘Have you solved your cases already? I was under the impression that Red Raptor would be presenting the evidence for this case.’

‘Superman,’ Batman acknowledged. For a moment, it seemed as if he wasn’t going to answer Clark’s questions, but then the corner of his mouth twisted into something like frustration - and weirdly, amusement. ‘I have made some progress on my cases, yes, but they are proving to be…’ he trailed off with a scowl. ‘They are more difficult than anticipated. I expect outside involvement in at least two of them. And to answer your other question, Red Raptor will be presenting the evidence - despite my best efforts.’

Clark raised an eyebrow at him questioningly.

Batman sighed and carried on. ‘He’s been working himself entirely too hard these past few days, patrolling and solving cases. He needs to rest, but he insisted that it was his case and his business.’ Batman’s mouth quirked once again in amusement, and Clark almost wanted to laugh. All of his children sassed him, then. (And that probably made them braver than most of the Justice League.) ‘I’m just here to supervise,’ Batman continued, then added so quietly that Clark would have missed it if not for his super hearing, ‘and make sure he doesn’t keel over. When will that boy give up and sleep?’

Clark thought that was quite hypocritical coming from a man who was most likely born nocturnal, and had more than once not left the Watchtower for several days using its computer for some case or another. Red Raptor had obviously inherited that from his father. He was debating whether to call Batman out on this, but was distracted by the arrival of the rest of the league, who seated themselves, talking to each other in excitement once again.

Clark took his customary seat between Batman and Diana, while Batman cleared his throat and announced gruffly that Red Raptor, his son, would be arriving momentarily to brief them on the case and his findings.

Diana and Barry were both grinning at Batman with barely restrained amusement, as was Hal (trying his best to look unaffected). Shayera, Ollie, Arthur and J’onn were waiting for the zeta tube to announce the newcomer with bated breath.

Everyone had arrived extremely early in anticipation of the meeting, however gruesome its intended subject. It was always a special treat to learn something new about Batman; it would have been easier to make a mountain move by sneezing on it.

Therefore, when the zeta tube announced Red Raptor, a respectable five minutes early, the silence was so charged and absolute that it was almost as if a blanket was settled across the shoulders of every member at the table.

Red Raptor, however, appeared not to notice this. He swept into the room, his wing-like cape flaring behind him and the lenses of his mask glinting sharply. The effect would have been very intimidating if the teenager had not been holding a venti Starbucks black coffee in one hand and a Red Bull in the other.

His eyes slid smoothly and analytically about the room, taking in everything at once. Clark wondered if the drinks served somewhat as a distraction, making him look less threatening while he scanned the room, looking for weaknesses and escape routes. Like father, like son.

At least, Clark thought that was the case. He became more confused when Red Raptor stopped, seeing Batman, and frowned almost imperceptibly.

Batman’s mouth tilted downwards, and he glared towards the coffee. Red Raptor stared him down fearlessly, expression unchanging.

Barry’s head swivelled between them like he was watching a soap opera. Diana looked like she wanted to say something to diffuse the tension, but also like she wanted to pepper Red Raptor with questions.

Red Raptor, reaching the presentation podium, pulled out a tablet and pulled up the first slide of his debrief on the screen behind him, but before he introduced himself and started the presentation, as was customary, he put his coffee and Red Bull down.

He then made direct eye contact with Batman, flipped the lid of his coffee off with practiced ease, and downed half of it in one go, despite the fact everyone could clearly see that it was boiling hot. Then, maintaining eye contact with Batman, he cracked open the Red Bull, poured it into the half-full coffee cup, swilled it around, and downed the concoction in three horrifying, yet somehow dignified, gulps.

Clark looked on in terror and something like awe. That stuff was probably the closest to rocket fuel you could get. He wouldn’t drink that, and he was a kryptonian. (It was becoming abundantly clear why Batman had felt he needed to be here to supervise - Clark could hear Red Raptor’s heartbeat speeding up to a frankly alarming rate. Didn’t people usually need an ambulance when it was beating that fast? What the fuck?).

Red Raptor, looking refreshed, smiled serenely at Batman and the assembled league members. Then, his demeanour changed so suddenly Clark got whiplash, an aura of complete calm and professionalism seeming to emit from his very pores.

‘Thank you all for having me here today,’ Red Raptor began smoothly, showing absolutely no sign that the complete insanity that had just occurred was anything but completely normal. ‘And I’m sorry that I get to meet you in these unfortunate circumstances, but hopefully there will be no more murders to follow. At the end of this debrief, all information pertaining to the recent murders in Metropolis will be sent to the Metropolis Police Department, along with the culprit.’ He grinned a razor-sharp grin. Clark looked over at Diana, and she met his gaze - he’d caught him already?

Batman suddenly cleared his throat. ‘Red Raptor, you've worked yourself far too hard. If you’ve already apprehended the murderer, please go home. I can finish your presentation for you.’

Red Raptor smiled the kind of mischievous smile that only teenagers disobeying their parents are capable of, and said simply: ‘Ok, Boomer.’

Barry, Hal and Ollie burst into laughter simultaneously. The reference appeared to have flown over the rest of the league members’ heads, but they were all smiling, too. Thank god there was a teenager under all that knife-sharp intelligence, intimidating caffeine habits and eerie professionalism. They’d all been slightly worried.

Clark was so impressed at his sheer nerve (this kid was rebelling against Batman - in the weirdest way ever, but still) that it took him a few seconds to register what Batman had said. Four days?! The kid hadn’t done that because of the case, had he? Could Batman not stop him? Clark, beginning to feel guilty, looked over at Batman, who was looking distinctly chagrined.

‘Red Raptor,’ he said, with dark promise. Clark snorted. Batman sounded exactly like his own dad when he’d done something wrong. Clark silently thanked Rao that his dad was normal, and not a tall, dark gremlin-man. Batman glared at him.

Red Raptor, however, beamed at the league, taking their laughter for support. Clark tried his best to look disapprovingly at him, but couldn’t.

*

The rest of the presentation slash debrief went smoothly, and Clark readied himself for a swift departure in order to help the Metropolis police and make sure they received the evidence that would put away the murderer for life. Clark was suddenly more grateful than ever for Red Raptor’s help, remembering the description of the murder victims.

Batman had swept the teenager away before he could be mobbed by the rest of the league, but not before both he and Diana had thanked him profusely, smiling, Barry had shot Red Raptor a thumbs up, and various other leaguers had grinned at him on their way past, impressed.
Clark followed behind father and son to the exit into space, near the zeta tubes, planning to fly back to Earth. Before Batman and Red Raptor left, Clark wandered over. He smiled at them both. ‘You have amazing children, Batman.’

Red Raptor blushed scarlet, but Batman gave Clark a rare real smile. ‘I know,’ he said, looking at his son proudly. Clark could see Red Raptor smiling back at his father as Batman put an arm on his shoulder and they disappeared back into the zeta tube together.

Clark laughed a little, then turned to see the league standing further behind him, still with amazement.

‘Holy shit,’ Hal said softly, ‘Batman is a caring dad.’

Chapter Text

Clark

Batman was missing.

While it was exceptionally unusual for him to miss a meeting (Nighthawk’s first appearance came to mind), he wasn’t always reachable for any requests or inquiries between meetings. So, at first, the league simply assumed he was busy and left it at that.

However, after two weeks passed and several messages asking for his input on rising tensions between two alien races with a long history of conflict remained unanswered, Clark started asking other league members for news, without much hope. Batman generally didn’t talk to anyone privately. (Part of Clark thought that he had some sort of Bat-rule against making friends. He’d crack one day, though, if Diana had anything to say about it).

Seventeen days passed, and finally Clark had had enough. Something was obviously going on, and Batman could be hurt or worse. Diana was busy doing ambassador work on behalf of Themyscira, J’onn was busy with police work as John Jones - in fact, almost everyone Clark could reach seemed to be busy. He knew for a fact that a great many of them were less busy than they claimed, and just were reluctant to go to Gotham.

Part of the reason that Clark had taken so long to realise that Batman was human was because it didn’t seem possible that anything could go up against Gotham’s particular brand of rampant insanity and come out on top. In all honesty, he didn’t blame the leaguers for being reluctant to go. Oblivious as he sometimes seemed, Clark knew he was highly persuasive - but even when it was him asking, most anyone with any sort of common sense equated visiting Gotham to visiting the bottom of a very large vat of acid, and politely declined.

There was nothing in the news that indicated anything out of the ordinary for Gotham. Only the usual explosive chaos, psychopathic Arkham escapees and nonsensical crimes that gave the city its… unique atmosphere. (The latest news headlines said there was a moat filled with very large eels surrounding Wayne Tower, courtesy of some sort of magic. Harley Quinn had taken to sailing around it on a little boat, accompanied by Poison Ivy, who was enjoying growing aquatic plants. The Arkham employees hadn’t the heart to put them back in confinement; the only problem they’d caused since escaping was putting up signs around the banks of the moat that proclaimed “The Joker’s a Bitch” in pink sparkly lettering.).

The only people in the Watchtower who seemed relatively unoccupied were the three Diana had lovingly dubbed the Chaos Trio. Clark felt a modicum of guilt referring to them that way, but he could not deny its accuracy.

Hal, Barry and Ollie were eating in the cafeteria when Clark approached them to ask for assistance in finding Batman. Hal looked up and yelled “HA!” in Ollie’s face loud enough to make Barry jump. Ollie groaned and passed over a wad of notes to him while Barry laughed at them both uproariously.

‘Were you… betting on when I’d ask you for help?’ Clark asked, perplexed.

‘Yep,’ Hal said, with absolutely no shame, counting his money. Ollie and Barry nodded in solidarity.

‘Gotham, huh?’ Ollie said, tipping his chair back on two legs and tugging at his beard. ‘Awful place. But I suppose we’ve got to go and see what tall, dark and goth is brooding about now.’

‘It’s not that bad,’ said Barry, in a valiant attempt at positivity.

Even Clark looked at him in disbelief, and Hal snorted so loudly it echoed. ‘Last time I was there, someone shaved the back of my head. I didn’t even notice until it was pointed out to me. What the fuck? Who does that? How did they get close enough? I was airborne the whole time.’

‘I’m not even going to ask you if that’s true or not. It happened in Gotham, so I know it is,’ Ollie replied, letting his chair clang back onto all four of its legs.

Clark found himself nodding along with Barry, then stopped himself as he realised the conversation was getting out of hand. Batman might be in danger and they needed to do something about it.

He cleared his throat. ‘So, are you coming with me to find him?’

Barry gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up, as he was now eating a sandwich that he hadn’t had a half-second before and couldn’t reply. Hal and Ollie grimaced at each other but stood.

Clark smiled his thanks, and they all left for the zeta tubes.

He wondered distractedly if he should bring a helmet or something. He liked his hair.

*

Hal

Hal didn’t care how many history books were shoved in his face or how much proof was provided to him - there was absolutely no way anyone anywhere could convince him Gotham was on the mortal plane. It had to at least be built on some sort of crazy dimensional portal. Too much weird shit happened there. Way beyond the normal, run-of-the-mill weird shit.

To put it mildly, he wasn’t jazzed about visiting. He didn’t even like Batman. He was creepy, and goth, and had managed to get the league to accept that melting in and out of the shadows in an armoured fursuit was a normal and acceptable mode of travel.

(What had he expected? Batman was only a product of his environment, after all. Was Gotham an environment? Or a hellscape?)

Stupid Clark and his stupid puppy eyes. And stupid Batman for being a league member important enough that his loss would be devastating.

The upside to this trip, he thought, as the four of them stepped out of the zeta tube and into the muggy Gotham night, was that he might be able to catch a glimpse of Batman’s kids. The best meeting they’d ever had was when Red Raptor had shown up. However weird it was for Batman to have kids, seeing him failing to get his kid in line had been hilarious. Afterwards, he’d seemed more normal. More human.

‘So what’s the plan, Big Blue?’ Ollie asked Clark. ‘Are we just wandering around until he shows up to tell us to get out of his city, or did you have something else in mind?’

Clark looked at him reprovingly. ‘He might be hurt, you know.’

‘His kids would’ve said something if he was in serious danger. I hope,’ Barry said, recoiling as a rat the size of a small dog scuttled past a few metres away.

That was a good point, actually.

Clark nodded at Barry. ‘I’m sure they would. But what I was actually planning was for us to split up. Hal and I in the air, you and Ollie on foot. No need for stealth - I’m hoping we’ll be noticed by someone Batman works with - the Red Hood, maybe, or Nighthawk. Or if the worst comes to the worst, whoever might have harmed Batman might try taking us out too, meaning we can find and subdue them and hopefully get some information.’

‘So I was right, then,’ Ollie said, his head in his hands. ‘We’re just gonna wander around until something shows up.’

’Hopefully?!’ Hal gaped incredulously.

‘Yeah, uh, no offense to you, but that really doesn’t sound like a good idea,’ Barry said.

‘I’ve gotta agree with Speedy Gonzalez. Sounds like the kinds of ideas Nighthawk comes up with when he’s drunk,’ said a voice from behind them, echoing slightly down from the mouth of the alleyway they were in. They were all tensed and ready to attack in less than a second, eyes trained unerringly towards the voice.

‘Red Hood?’ Clark called with surprise, lowering his fists.

Hal had heard about him from Barry - he was another of Batman’s kids. As Clark and Barry relaxed, so did he and Ollie.

That was a dull smacking noise and a small ‘Ow!’ from Red Hood, as a smaller figure that Hal hadn’t noticed before punched Red Hood in the arm. They said something too softly to Red Hood for Hal to hear, and Red Raptor laughed from where he was standing on Red Hood’s other side.

Red Hood beckoned to the four of them imperiously (to Hal’s annoyance) and they exited the alley and out onto the deserted street.

The Red Hood was a large man, broad and muscled, Red Raptor somewhat shorter and muscly in a wiry way. Next to them both, the third figure was tiny, but somehow more intimidating.

She appeared physically female, with a body built for speed and efficiency, lithe but hard with muscle. A long-eared cowl covered her whole head and neck, blank and expressionless. The outline of a yellow bat sprawled across her chest, with a yellow utility belt to match. Her cape was long and ragged at the ends, and armoured gloves with talon-like spikes fit snugly up her forearms.

Hal repressed a shudder. She was… wraith-like, if he had to put words to it. He could read nothing of her expression, and her jagged cloak stayed as eerily still as she was, despite the gentle breeze. Red Hood and Red Raptor next to her looked unnatural, like two suns next to a black hole.

Hal tore his gaze from her and back to Barry, Ollie and Clark. He was glad to see that he wasn’t the only one who looked a little spooked - Ollie was looking back at him with a kind of deer-in-the-headlights expression. Barry and Clark, on the other hand, looked interested to see who the newcomer was.

Red Raptor smiled politely at them all. ‘Batman’s fine. He just got called away unexpectedly due to… unforeseen circumstances.’ His mouth twisted. ‘Ra’s Al Ghul is threatening to blow up Gotham. Again.’

Hal looked at him with alarm. He may not be on Earth that often, but he’d heard that name. Ra’s Al Ghul, the head of the League of Assassins. That guy was meant to be insane. Not someone who was overly bothered by collateral damage if he wanted something, even if that collateral damage was innocent people.

Clark must have also looked worried, because Red Raptor nodded at him and said ‘It’s all under control. Ra’s hasn’t got the manpower right now to do any serious damage to the city. A lot of his best assassins are out of commission,’ he grinned savagely.

‘No need to brag, Baby Bird,’ said Red Hood, trying to get Red Raptor into a headlock, which he dodged with ease that spoke of much experience. ‘He’s all proud of himself, ‘cause he was the one that took ‘em out,’ he carried on, nodding conspiratorially to Barry and Clark like they were the best of friends.

Red Raptor jabbed Red Hood in the kidney and moved closer to the black-clad figure they hadn’t yet been introduced to.

Slinging an arm around Red Raptor’s shoulders, Red Hood leaned heavily on his younger brother. ‘I bet you’re disappointed you didn’t get to go with Nighthawk and the others. Could’ve decked the bastard right in the face then.’ He sighed with exaggerated theatricality and looked at Hal. ‘I don’t blame him that much. Ra’s Al Ghul has the world’s most fucked up crush on him. Dude doesn’t seem to realise that an age difference of, like, 600 years and a penchant for murder doesn’t really scream “life partner” to most people.’

No one really had any idea what to say to that.

Red Raptor sighed and looked imploringly over at the shortest of them, who said nothing but moved with liquid fluidity over to Red Hood and delivered a nerve-strike expertly to his shoulder, making his arm go limp. She put an arm protectively on Red Raptor’s shoulder and looked at Red Hood. ‘Be kind.’

Her voice surprised Hal. It was soft and high and young. She sounded the same age as Red Hood. He’d half expected her to sound like a demon or something.

‘Sorry,’ Red Hood said, grinning. She patted his arm forgivingly, then turned to Hal and the other Justice League members.

‘I’m Black Bat,’ she said, and left it at that.

Red Raptor smiled at her, then back at the leaguers. ‘She’s my favourite sister.’

Was that a pout under Black Bat’s mask? ‘I’m your only sister.’

‘You’re also my favourite sibling,’ Red Raptor said reassuringly.

‘I feel like I should be mad,’ Red Hood said, ‘but she’s everyone’s favourite.’

Black Bat patted his arm again in a pleased sort of way. It was hard to tell.

Hal probably should’ve guessed she was Batman’s daughter. She was dressed similarly to him, just smaller and scarier. Wow, that was a horrible thought. Scarier than Batman. Yikes.

Clark cleared his throat awkwardly. ‘Do you know when Batman will be back? We need his input on a situation in another galaxy. Or Nighthawk? He stood in for him that time he missed a meeting.’

It was Black Bat who answered. ‘Nighthawk is with Dad and the others. Back in a few days.’

‘Our other siblings,’ Red Raptor added for clarification.

How many of them were there? Was there, like, a Bat-spouse? What the hell?

Red Hood fiddled with one of his thigh holsters. ‘We’re looking after Gotham while he’s gone.’ He scowled. ‘B’s gonna pay for that when he gets back. He didn’t even ask.’

‘You look after Gotham anyway?’ Black Bat said.

‘Yeah, but it’s the thought,’ said Red Hood. ‘I’m just glad it’s not me by myself, if only to see you moping about getting banned from the mission “for your safety and my peace of mind”,’ Red Hood continued, grinning at Red Raptor.

Red Raptor flipped him off.

Black Bat ignored them and turned to Clark. ‘Batman said if you came, we had to show you something. Come.’

She shot her grappling hook into the side of the building, Red Hood and Red Raptor following suit, effectively ending any protests they had to her statement.

Barry zipped after them, Clark following by air. Hal and Ollie exchanged glances and sighed in unison. Hal quickly made a construct and Ollie stepped on.

‘How much d’you wanna bet whatever it is the Bat left for us isn’t anything good?’ Ollie asked as they rose into the air.

‘Hey, you never know. It could be batarang shaped cookies.’

*

It seemed the various bat-children were heading for the docks, or at least they were.

Just as they were close enough for Hal to be able to smell the salt in the air, Red Hood, Red Raptor and Black Bat dropped so suddenly from the roof a warehouse Hal almost thought they were falling.

The reason turned out to be a fight. Two groups of roughly a dozen each were facing off on opposite ends of a deserted street lined by warehouses, each bristling with various guns and knives.

They were yelling at each other, but neither group looked like they’d fired yet. Either way, Hal did not foresee this ending well.

‘Rock, Paper, Scissors?’ Red Raptor was saying to the others.

‘I’ll win anyway,’ Black Bat said to him. ‘You two go left, I’ll go right.’

Hal suddenly caught on to what they were discussing. He wasn’t sure if it would be polite to offer to help them subdue the gang members or not - Batman was always territorial about Gotham, and for all Hal knew his kids could be as well.

Clark looked like he was going to fly down there and help, but before he could do so, Black Bat turned around and said softly, ‘Wait here, please. Back soon.’

This was not a request, however politely phrased. Her voice was like iron. The four leaguers stayed put and watched as the three bats dropped silently to the ground. Red Raptor and Red Hood were soon cloaked in shadow behind one of the gangs, and Black Bat must have been behind the other (though Hal had lost sight of her almost immediately) because smoke billowed across the street from each end, hissing softly as it was released from smoke pellets rolling to a stop across the asphalt.

A few shots were fired in surprise, followed by sharp metallic bangs as the gang members were disarmed and guns tossed aside.

The smoke soon cleared, revealing more of the fight. Red Raptor and Red Hood were knocking out the last few men with brutal skill. Red Hood was all swift ruthlessness, firing at kneecaps and pistol whipping them into unconsciousness without remorse. Red Raptor was graceful yet economical in his movements, every move calculated, his bo staff like an extension of himself.

When the two brothers had two men left to subdue, Hal saw that Black Bat had also nearly finished. If Red Hood and Red Raptor had been impressive, their sister was just as proficient - if not more so.

Clark and the others could hardly look away. It was as if she was dancing, as if she knew her opponents’ every move before they made it. She was simultaneously beautiful and terrifying.
She delivered a swift kick to the temple on one man and punched a woman in the solar plexus almost at the same time. It was so fast, Hal almost didn’t see it.

Not even Batman fought like that. He had some of the same deadly grace, but Black Bat was different - a breed of her own. God, if Diana ever met her...

The last of the gang members slumped to the ground, and Black Bat was soon zip-tying their hands and feet.

At the other end of the street, Red Raptor was calling the Gotham PD to come and pick the unconscious criminals up. Meanwhile, Red Hood was stalking back across the roof towards the league members, holstering his guns.

Hal had to ask. ‘Is she-’

‘Human?’ Red Hood finished for him, grin clear in his voice. ‘Yeah, and we’ve got the DNA tests to prove it.’

Red Raptor alighted softly on the roof with Black Bat and walked over to join them. ‘We do still wonder, though.’ He looked at his sister, pride all over his face.

Black Bat huffed softly, a half-laugh, and patted Red Raptor’s shoulder. ‘Shh. Secrets.’

*

The thing that Batman had left for them to see turned out to be fancy new computer hardware for the Watchtower, in a warehouse by the docks. It had looked abandoned at first, but was soon revealed to be under frightening levels of security that Red Raptor had had to unlock, revealing crates of electronics covered with tarpaulins.

Ollie nudged Hal and Barry. ‘Cyborg’s gonna be pissed. I think he wanted to do the next upgrade.’

Barry ran a hand along his jaw and grimaced. ‘I’m not even getting into that. I don’t even know what team he’s part of at this point. And I’m not getting into a pissing contest between computer nerds. Someone might die.’

‘Don’t worry,’ said Black Bat from directly behind the three of them, making them all jump. Hal could see nothing of her face, but got the distinct impression that she was amused by their reaction. ‘Dad said Cyborg’s too busy to mind. Red Raptor might install it.’ She nodded, as if deciding something with herself. ‘Oracle will help.’

Red Hood snorted from where he was lounging on a precarious pile of wooden pallets, looking for all the world as if he were a king upon his throne. ‘She’ll drive a hard bargain. The old man’ll either be buying her pizza for a month or supplying her with more blackmail. Probably pizza. She knows everything anyway.’

Ollie looked very interested. ‘You can blackmail Batman?’

‘Who’s Oracle?’ Barry asked, but was ignored.

‘It’s not even hard,’ Red Hood continued with false nonchalance. ‘If he doesn’t want to be blackmailed, he should stop doing stupid shit. He’s finding it harder to cover up in his old age. Sad, really.’ He blew some non-existent dust off the fingers of one of his gloves.

Black Bat came over and sat primly next to Red Hood. ‘Mean,’ she said. ‘Not that old.’

To Ollie, she said: ‘We have a group chat. Nighthawk took a good photo last week. Dad tripped on his cape,’ she giggled.

‘Oh my God, is that the one from the night where you got a pic of him mid-sneeze next to the Batsignal?’ Red Hood asked her, choking back laughter.

‘Yep.’

‘Ha!’ Hal said with delight. ‘So Batman isn’t as serious as he makes out.’

‘The plot thins,’ Ollie said.

‘No, he is,’ Red Raptor grinned from where he’d been discussing the transportation of the new hardware up to the Watchtower with Clark. ‘He’s just also an idiot.’

‘He’s got emotions and everything, it’s crazy. You’d never know,’ Red Hood added, a slight undertone of bitterness colouring the humour in his tone.

It was eventually decided that Hal would make a construct and fly the boxes of equipment back to the zeta tube entrance, and they’d take them up to the Watchtower that way.

The Bats followed them back to the alley they’d emerged from, watching from a roof overhead. As soon as Clark and Hal had finished piling up the boxes to carry, they turned to say goodbye, only to find all three of the Gotham vigilantes already halfway gone.

For a moment, Hal thought he saw Black Bat fighting someone again, only to realise that this time, she really was dancing. She spun and leapt over the rooftops, fairylike - her own unearthly ballet of one. Her brothers flanked her with the flash of a smile and the glint of a helmet.

The last the leaguers saw of the elusive batchildren was Black Bat firing her grapple and arcing across the skyline, finally disappearing, ghostlike, into the shadows and clamour of Gotham proper.

Chapter Text

The largest monitor in the Watchtower blared the news from Gotham, spelling disaster for all the League to see. The lurid colours of the headline that screamed “Gotham Zoo bombing” were quite at odds with the frozen atmosphere of the room.

Moments earlier, as the news had come in, the members of the Justice League present had turned with grim expressions to Batman to ask if he wanted help (deciding as one - yet without communicating at all - that they would ignore him if he refused their offer) only to find what was visible of his face had turned white. He was frozen, the arms of his chair in danger of being broken in the strength of his grip.

He had been presenting some information on a situation that the League had been asked to intervene in, only to be interrupted by the news of the bombing. Now, he abandoned his post, leaving case files scattered in his wake, running for the zeta tubes.

For one long moment, no one stopped him. The situation was undeniably urgent, but something was wrong.

Clark and Diana sped after him, the only ones brave enough to do so. Before either of them could ask, Batman slowed slightly.

‘My children are there,’ he said. There was little trace of his usual growl, voice hoarse and faint. His tone was laced with something horrifyingly like despair.

He moved the final few metres to the zeta tubes so quickly he was almost difficult to see, and disappeared, presumably to Gotham.

‘Jesus fuck,’ Hal said quietly, and ran to the zeta tubes to follow him, Clark and Diana either side of him.

‘Fucking shit goddamn,’ Ollie agreed, and the rest of the League crowded together to accompany them.

*

They caught Batman swinging himself into the Batmobile before it had even screeched to a halt from wherever he’d called it from. He must have thought they’d come to stop him because he whipped his head around with an expression so full of unadulterated fury every single member of the Justice League present took a step back.

‘I’ll fly you - it’s faster,’ Clark said, looking to Diana to back him up. As much as they all wanted to help, no one was particularly eager to face him. He wasn’t Batman at the moment, but rather an extremely worried father. He was all the scarier for it.

Batman, seeing the merit in this, nodded mutely. Clark hauled him up into the air by his hands, flying as fast as was safe for his human passenger towards the plume of smoke in the distance scarring the overcast sky. Those who could fly or were fast enough on foot followed, the rest stepping onto Hal’s construct.

No one spoke. There was nothing to say. What if..?

No one wanted to say it. These were Batman’s children, not helpless civilians. They’d be fine.

They had to be.

*

One of the bombs had gone off at the centre of the zoo, where there was a cluster of restaurants, gift shops and cafes, and therefore the most people gathered together. The motive of the attack was becoming clearer.

Batman let go of Clark’s hands while still fairly high off the ground, Clark too surprised to catch him. Batman didn’t seem to care - he merely rolled to absorb the impact and sprang to his feet again, head swinging wildly as he scanned the area for signs of his children. When he found none, he pressed something on the side of his cowl, probably some kind of thermal vision, then started keying something into his wrist computer.

The rest of the League arrived, some hefting rubble aside to release trapped civilians and working with the paramedics who were already on scene. Clark, Diana and Hal remained close enough to Batman to see faint traces of indecision - it seemed as if he was torn between staying to help with the civilians and finding his children.

‘There are enough of us here to help with the damage. Find your children,’ Diana said. ‘Are all of them here?’ she asked, saving Batman from the indignity of having to thank them by providing him with something to answer. They thought he looked grateful anyway, in his own way. They knew he’d do the same for them.

‘Only two,’ he said, collecting himself. ‘Red Hood, and… Robin. My youngest.’

(Another one!? Thought the League members that had heard him.)

Diana smiled kindly. ‘I am most excited to see another of your children that I have not yet had the chance to meet. Perhaps the Red Hood can introduce me, when we find them both.’ Her tone left no questions about whether or not they’d turn up. She had decided they’d find them safe and sound, and they would.

Such was the power of Wonder Woman.

*

Clark stayed where most of the damage was, as his x-ray vision was best utilised finding trapped civilians and moving rubble to save them.

Diana, Hal, J’onn and Ollie went with Batman to search the rest of the zoo. There had been three more bombs, all where there would be the most people - the more popular exhibits and places to eat and drink. Their frantic search was interrupted often by people fleeing from the wreckage, obviously anticipating more blasts, and twice by panicked animals.

J’onn rounded up a herd of terror-stricken gazelles that had escaped from their damaged exhibit and Diana was forced to use her lasso to restrain an angry bull elephant, hefting him as gently as she could manage into the Arabian Oryx enclosure. They’d just have to get on with each other - there were more pressing matters at hand. (Much to her relief, when asked to move the elephant later on by a nervous staff member who looked close to fainting at the idea of talking to her, she found that the elephant seemed to have enjoyed the change of scene. The oryx looked to have made friends with him.)

Due to this, their search was slow-going - or as slow as a search by five heroes could be. Ten minutes after their arrival, they reached the third bomb site near the ever-popular big cat enclosures. The pathways were blackened and one of the nearby restaurants was in ruins, but there didn’t seem to be any injured.

It was deserted but for two figures, one very large and one very small. The smaller one looked to be crouched down, in pain or due to something else, it wasn’t clear.

Batman let out a kind of aborted half-cry - more of a shout - and pelted towards them. As Diana and the others approached, they could see the two figures were in civilian clothes but sported domino masks to hide their faces. Red Hood was instantly recognisable due to his towering, bulky figure and the fact that he had somehow managed to produce his signature red helmet from somewhere and was holding it under his arm.

The two figures turned at Batman’s call, the smaller one standing to their full height (which was not very much). Luckily, neither of them seemed to be hurt, or at least not badly.

Batman had a hand on each of their shoulders and was raking his gaze up down each of them, checking for injuries. When he found none, he dragged them both into an awkward half hug, Red Hood releasing a soft ‘Oof!’ of surprise.

’Why,’ Batman began, some of his usual baritone growl creeping back into his voice, ’did you not contact me? I thought-’ He cut himself off abruptly, dragging his hand down his face.

‘Sorry, Dad,’ Red Hood said gruffly. ‘We’re fine. We were… distracted.’

‘I can see why. Just… send me some sort of message next time. I can’t… explosions.’

Red Hood stiffened. ‘You’re not the only one, B.’ There was a story there, but no one from the League was about to ask.

‘I apologise, father,’ said the shortest figure in what had to be the poshest voice any of them had heard outside of television.

So this was Robin? When Batman had said his youngest, they’d all expected another teenager, someone closer in age to Red Raptor. But no, the reason why Robin was so short was apparently because he couldn’t have been older than ten. He was simultaneously physically very different and decidedly similar to his father and siblings. Dark skin, more so than his siblings - a deep, warm brown. He had black hair that was gelled hilariously up into spikes, the beginnings of a jawline square as his father’s, and a rather imperious expression.

He was adorable in the most peculiar way any of them had ever seen, especially since he had civilian clothes on, as did Red Hood, but also had a katana strapped to his back. Knowing his father, he definitely knew how to use it, and use it well.

Terrifying.

‘Hood is correct, we were distracted,’ said Robin, continuing in the same posh, haughty tone. ‘Fortunately, we managed to evacuate most of the civilians from the area. There were two trapped in that cafe,’ he pointed, indicating the remains or the building, ‘though we managed to remove them and they have since received medical help. Their injuries were not serious. Hood and I are unhurt - we were outside of the blast range. We have no leads on the perpetrator as of yet, but I suspect Oracle and Red Raptor will have information soon. We were about to call you, but another situation arose. That concludes my report, father.’

Batman ruffled Robin’s hair, at which he huffed indignantly. ‘Thank you, Robin.’ He smiled down at him, the height difference comical. Red Hood was grinning unabashedly, looking like he was trying with great difficulty not to laugh. Batman smirked back at him. Luckily, Robin seemed not to notice.

Batman cleared his throat. ‘This other situation that arose, Robin. You dealt with it?’

Robin nodded slowly. ‘Yes.’ The tone in which he said this was so natural it was extremely suspicious, and sounded very much like he had done something Batman would not at all approve of.

If this was obvious to the Leaguers, it was even more so to Batman. ‘Care to elaborate?’ he asked, raised eyebrow clear even when covered by his cowl.

‘Not especially, father. There was a problem, and I have since fixed it.’ He crossed his arms very deliberately across his chest, obscuring the Nighthawk logo emblazoned on his hoodie. Robin’s brother’s logo. Hal and Ollie snickered softly.

Robin delivered what he clearly thought was a crushing blow. ‘I am sure you have better things to do, father.’

Diana, J’onn, Hal and Ollie could almost hear the second raised eyebrow. ‘Not when it comes to my children, Robin. What have you done?’

The front pocket of Robin’s hoodie moved.

To his credit, Robin did not react.

Red Hood had dissolved into silent peals of laughter, shaking with mirth from where he stood behind Robin. When Batman raised his head to look at him questioningly, Red Hood simply shook his head back at him. No help from that corner, then.

‘Robin,’ Batman probed, with practiced calm, ‘what do you have in your pocket?’

Robin remained unmoved. ‘Nothing of importance to you, father. Do you require our assistance with relief efforts?’ His attempt at deflection was fairly well done - or would have been, if the pocket of his hoodie had not moved once again and made a soft sound. A weird, mewling sound.

‘I don’t think you’re gonna win this one, demon brat,’ choked Red Hood, clearly restraining himself from laughing out loud, expression alight with (slightly malicious) glee.

Robin turned to Red Hood, clearly giving him a poisonous look from behind the white lenses of his domino, and, noticing Red Hood shaking with suppressed laughter, scoffed in annoyance. ‘Stand up straight, Hood. It is unbecoming.’

Red Hood’s only response was to lovingly and tenderly flip him off, to which Robin’s hand strayed worryingly close to the hilt of his katana and Batman sighed.

‘Please tell me what you have in there,’ Batman said, sounding very tired.

Robin seemed to give up. ‘As you know, father, Hood and I came to see the clouded leopard exhibit, as there have recently been cubs.’ The Red Hood chortled. Robin ignored him loftily. ‘It so happens that this is where we were when the bombs went off. It appears that,’ he sniffed imperiously, ‘the blast caused damage to some of the big cat enclosures, allowing for some of them to… escape.’

‘And?’

‘Luckily, only one escaped. All of the larger, more dangerous cats have remained safely within their enclosures, and as such pose no danger to each other or to civilians.’

The front pocket of Robin’s hoodie wriggled ominously.

‘Robin.’ Batman said flatly. ‘Is the animal you are currently hiding in your pocket dangerous?’

‘Not at this stage in life, father, no.’

‘Robin. You are being deliberately obtuse.’

Hal, Ollie and Red Hood shared a look and burst into laughter. Diana was smiling widely, as was J’onn. The Batglare, usually effective in all situations, was rendered slightly less so due to the fact that he was having trouble persuading his ten-year-old son to remove a wild animal from his pocket.

Robin sighed, and, with great dignity, reached into his pocket to gently extract its contents.

Batman’s growl was coloured with something like misery. ‘You have a clouded leopard cub.’ It was not a question. ‘You’re telling me that the blast just so happened to damage the enclosure of the one exhibit you came all the way here to see, allowing you to see one of the cubs up close.’

‘Are you suggesting I took a cub away from its mother, father?!’ Robin exclaimed, offended. ‘I would do no such thing!’

‘I know it doesn’t seem like it, B, but he is actually telling the truth,’ Red Hood said, still grinning. ‘There’s a fucking massive hole on the other side of the cage, and he picked it up to go and give it back to its mother. The other cubs and the mother haven’t left, I don’t think. Must not like all the noise.’

‘Language, Hood. Your brother is ten.’

‘He’s heard worse. From you.’

‘I have.’

Hal and Ollie erupted into laughter again, and this time Diana joined them.

Robin gave Red Hood a look that could have been interpreted as thankful, but it was really anyone’s guess.

He cradled the cub carefully in his arms and walked off around the side of the cage, presumably to put the cub back with its mother. He emerged a minute or so later, cubless, and nodded at Batman solemnly, looking a little sad.

Batman put a hand on his shoulder. ‘Thank you, Robin. I’m glad you managed to save it.’

‘Her.’

‘Hm?’ Batman grunted.

‘The cub was female. I have taken the liberty of naming her Sofia, though undoubtedly she will be named some other, inferior, name by the zookeepers. Still, no matter,’ he added, in a tone that showed it did in fact matter very much.

Now he didn’t have the cub to think about, Robin appeared to focus more on the others - namely Diana. ‘Ah, Wonder Woman. Father speaks highly of you. You are very skilled.’ He did not say anything to J’onn, Hal or Ollie, but nodded to them as politely as he seemed to be able to manage. ‘Father has not suffered any life-threatening injuries while working with the Justice League, and he has been able to do much good with your help. I suppose you can be allowed to continue to operate.’

He said this as if he would have dismantled the Justice League had it not adhered to his standards. For all the leaguers knew, he might well have attempted it.

‘It is a pleasure to meet you, young Robin,’ said Diana with a smile, clearly flattered at the praise and highly amused by his otherwise abrasive nature. ‘It has been wonderful to meet so many of your siblings. We still do not know how many siblings you have in total.’

Robin nodded seriously. ‘Yes, Nighthawk informed me of this. You have met him?’

Diana, J’onn, Hal and Ollie nodded. ‘And I believe you have met Red Raptor and Black Bat also?’ Robin continued. The league members nodded once more. ‘You have not met all of us yet, then, no. Though you have met Batman’s only biological child. Me.’ Robin seemed inordinately proud of this.

Red Hood’s eyes were covered by the lenses of his domino, but it would have been clear to anyone looking at him that he was rolling his eyes. ‘And that doesn’t make you any better than the rest of us, demon brat.’

Robin sniffed haughtily.

Hal choked on nothing. ‘But… we just assumed… you all look so similar!’

‘Yeah, B’s just a weirdo like that. We’re all adopted apart from the bat baby. He wants us to believe that it was all coincidence, but I’m pretty sure that it’s part of bat training to learn the adage: “once is incidence, twice is coincidence, but three times is a pattern”, except our version carries on to say “though you shouldn’t believe in coincidence”. So he shot himself in the foot there.’ Red Hood said casually, looking like he was very much enjoying the shock of everyone there apart from himself, Robin and Batman.

Batman grunted in a vaguely annoyed way. ‘You’re right, Hood, but in this case it really was coincidence -’

‘Keep telling yourself that, B, Red Raptor and I have a bet going that this is all a conspiracy and I don’t think I’m gonna lose. However, Red’s bet is also that it’s not a coincidence but you’re just an idiot that attracts dark-haired orphans and you did it subconsciously. So, I don’t really think either of us can really lose, here.’

Robin fingered a batarang he’d unearthed from somewhere thoughtfully. ‘I was unaware of this bet, though it is not entirely implausible.’

‘When the demon brat can’t deny it, B, you know know there’s something going on.’

Batman sighed again, looking extremely put upon.

The moment was interrupted by a voice, growing louder as its owner approached from around the side of the clouded leopard cage. ‘I must admit, Detective, I myself have wondered the same thing.’

A man was advancing upon them, flanked by a dozen figures dressed head to toe in black. His accent and cadence was eerily like Robin’s. As he came closer, they could see he was wearing the most ridiculous assortment of Obviously Villainous Clothing any of them had had the misfortune of seeing, but managed to pull it off quite well due to the sheer evil drama of his presence.

‘Ra’s,’ Batman growled furiously. ‘I should’ve known this was you.’

‘Grandfather,’ Robin said, looking uncomfortable.

Ollie goggled at Batman, momentarily forgetting the danger. ‘Ra’s Al Ghul is your fucking dad?!’

‘No,’ snapped Robin, Batman and Ra’s Al Ghul in unison.

‘Then wha-’

Ra’s Al Ghul ignored Ollie grandly, as one might ignore a housefly. ‘Yes, well,’ he said, inspecting his impeccably manicured nails, ‘I am rather disappointed you did not - I was hardly subtle. Though I suppose you can be partially excused since you were not on the planet at the time.’

‘And what shitty excuse have you got for blowing up one of the few actually nice areas of Gotham this time?’ Red Hood drawled, replacing what looked like rubber bullets in a handgun he’d produced from somewhere within his leather jacket with real ones.

Ra’s Al Ghul turned his creepy green eyes towards the Red Hood as if he’d only just realised he was there, supremely unconcerned that he was facing five powerful members of the Justice League, a murderous looking Red Hood, and Robin, who was apparently his grandson.

‘I think it’s high time my grandson stops playing around and increases the intensity of his training. Why he is wasting hours of his time at a zoo of all places, I have no idea, but it is unbefitting of one of the Al Ghul line.’

Batman had gone still, and Red Hood was shaking, apoplectic with rage. Ra’s continued, oblivious to the fact that he was beginning to anger the league members present, especially Diana, who loved children and had already decided she rather liked Robin, peculiar as he was. How dare he try and destroy a place where his ten year old grandson found joy? Robin obviously cared deeply for animals, if Sofia the clouded leopard was anything to go by.

‘Therefore, should I not see any improvements in his training regimen soon, I shall be taking him ba-’

The mighty Ra’s Al Ghul was knocked to the ground brutally by Red Raptor, who had ostensibly jumped from the top of the clouded leopard cage, choosing Ra’s to cushion his landing. ‘That’s enough out of you!’ Red Raptor said cheerily, and stepped neatly off Ra’s’ winded body to allow Nighthawk and Black Bat to also use it to soften their landing as they jumped down.

The figures in black that had surrounded Ra’s were poised to attack, obviously awaiting his signal. He swayed ungracefully to his feet, looking furious. The three newcomers ignored him, greeted the leaguers politely, and made their way over to Robin to stand around him like a pack of wolves surrounding their cub, teeth bared and ready for a fight, Red Hood and Batman slotting neatly into their ranks.

Nighthawk ruffled Robin’s hair, then hugged him tightly enough to choke. ‘We’ll take you to the zoo in Metropolis next time, I think,’ he said sunnily, which juxtaposed eerily with the way arcs of electricity crackled menacingly down his escrima sticks, pointed unerringly towards Ra’s.

Ra’s waved a hand to the assorted Bat and Bird themed heroes, and the black-clad figures attacked. The Justice League surged forwards to help, but Batman held up a hand to stop them.

‘Needs to let out some rage. Ninjas are very good for that sort of thing,’ Black Bat said, almost apologetically, indicating Robin, who had run forward, drawing his katana with a cry.

The rest of the bats stood back and watched with the league as Robin destroyed what were apparently ninjas with extreme ferocity. He made expert, yet non-lethal blows, severing what seemed to be the achilles tendon on one of the ninjas, who fell to the ground with a cry. A few minutes later, every single one was laid out flat in various states of injury, bleeding from shallow cuts and nursing their wrists and arms from where Robin had hit them with such force with the flat of his blade in order to get them to drop their weapons that he’d broken bones.

It was intimidating, yet mostly frightening, to see that kind of brutality from one so young, even restrained as it was. Nighthawk, perhaps sensing what the league members were thinking, smiled a little sadly. ‘B didn’t always know about Robin. It’s a long story-’ he said, seeing that Hal was about to ask, ‘-but Ra’s trained Robin in his early years. Taught him to kill.’ Nighthawk paused, looking vaguely sick. ‘What you’re seeing now is tremendous restraint, for him. He’s made so much progress. Don’t judge him too much.’

‘I would never!’ said Diana indignantly. J’onn, Ollie and Hal nodded fervently in agreement. They’d decided they quite liked Robin. This was the correct answer, as Nighthawk grinned blindingly at them.

‘Well, anyway,’ the Red Hood half-laughed, ‘he’s not called the demon brat for nothing.’

Robin flicked a ninja’s broken hand away from where they were going for their weapon with his katana, smiling madly. The ninja moaned in pain.

Meanwhile, Red Raptor and Black Bat had incapacitated Ra’s for the second time, and were taking turns kicking him in the head. ‘No, after you,’ Red Raptor was saying to Black Bat, who was giggling. She kicked him brutally in the ribs. Ra’s huffed with pain. ‘Want a turn B, Robin?’ Red Raptor said, looking around at them.

‘I wouldn’t want to get my boots dirty.’ Batman replied, sounding every bit as prim and proper as Robin. Red Raptor and Black Bat laughed heartily.

‘Hood?’ Black Bat asked.

‘Nah, same here. These are Gucci.’ Hood said. Everyone looked at his mud-stained combat boots. They were not Gucci.

The leaguers and Nighthawk laughed. ‘Anyway,’ Nighthawk said, as if Ra’s Al Ghul being kicked in the head was less interesting than the morning crossword, ‘wanna get a Batburger after this?’

‘Sure, why not,’ Ollie said. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

And if Clark was particularly delighted to write the Daily Planet’s front page article the following day, complete with a picture of half the Justice League and a good few Bat heroes crammed into a Batburger restaurant, then that was his business.

Chapter Text

Clark

The Batmobile was in Metropolis. This was not a common occurrence.

In fact, this had never happened before. If Batman ever chased a criminal to Metropolis, his only transport was his grappling gun, or else he stood on top of trains or buses, dark and grim as the gargoyles that grew from the buildings of Gotham.

Clark liked to think that this was Batman’s version of politeness, since Metropolis was Superman’s city and it was much more obvious other heroes were in it when they brought their giant, bat-themed, incendiary device-encrusted supercars with them. (Ollie had once joked Batman was compensating for something, which, while funny, no one else thought to be true. Diana had said it was far more likely that he just wanted to make the car look cool since he had a theme going, which had been agreed upon as the correct answer. And it was cool, in a goth way).

Clark shook these thoughts from his mind, since said supercar was in fact in Metropolis now, and he would rather like to know why. Was there some Gotham rogue here powerful enough that Batman needed his car? Did he need to tell Clark something? Why not just zeta here, or send him a message, or arrange a meeting at the Watchtower?

What the hell was going on?

The Batmobile didn’t seem like it had any particular destination, though it was going very fast, so Clark could only assume something urgent was going on. Though, if Clark didn’t know any better, he’d think that Batman seemed to be out for a joyride. This was of course ridiculous - and even if Batman was inclined to do such things, why would he be doing it in Metropolis?

Hovering a few hundred metres above it, Clark followed the Batmobile until it had roared (and that was another thing - Clark was fairly sure it was capable of being silent, so why was Batman going around disturbing everyone?) into a quieter area of the city that would soon melt into the suburbs, then floated down in front of it, waiting for Batman to notice him and stop.

The Batmobile screeched to a halt. Clark raised an eyebrow, unable to help himself.

The car’s roof popped open. No one emerged.

Clark raised his other eyebrow.

Then, so softly Clark wouldn’t have heard it if not for his super hearing, ‘Shitshitshitshitshit...What do I do? Fuck…’

That wasn’t Batman’s voice.

Alarmed, Clark started to float closer, stopping when he heard someone else within the vehicle reply to the first voice. ‘We love you, and you know this, but this one is so on you. You can explain.’

Was that..?

‘So I’m on my own?’ The first voice responded. ‘Where’s your heart, ex-boyfriend? I thought we were best friends, ride or die, to-the-ends-of-the-earth kinds of bitches?’

‘We are, you moron, you know I’d die for you. But that doesn’t mean that either I or Black Bat have to stand up to Superman for you. I hate saying “I told you so” -’

‘Liar, you love sayi-’

‘But I did tell you this would happen.’

Clark was sure of it now. One of the voices was Red Raptor’s, and he’d mentioned Black Bat, so she was there too. But who was the last one?

The first voice, who was neither Red Raptor or Black Bat, sighed deeply. ‘Fuck you, and fuck your mother-’

‘She’s dead. And she was homophobic when she was alive. You’d never have managed it. She wouldn’t have been your type, either.’ Red Raptor said devastatingly.

The unidentified person gasped. ‘Low blow. And on my birthday, no less? I’ll remember this, you snake.’

‘It’s not your birthday until tomorrow-’

Clark, who had just about decided to stop deliberating and actually see what was going on, blinked widely in surprise.

Someone’s head popped up from the car. ‘Hello!’ They said, nervously, and then under their breath: ‘Fuck, that was stupid. But, like, what am I supposed to say to fucking Superman, anyway? Can anyone blame me?’

While this mysterious new figure was having a crisis about what to say to him, Clark took a moment to take in their appearance. Right off the bat (ha), Clark knew they were connected to Batman somehow. The bright yellow bat emblazoned on their suit made that one pretty obvious.

She looked to be female in stature, and was dressed mainly in black and purple kevlar weave - Bat-grade body armour. Her cape was long, black and lined with more of the same purple that accented her suit. A bright yellow utility belt and thigh holster, matching the colour of the bat on her chest, was cinched tightly around her hips.

She looked young, about Red Raptor’s age, but younger than Black Bat by a few years if he had to guess. He’d never seen Black Bat’s face to be able to tell.

Her cowl also didn’t cover her eyes, a bright blue, or her hair, which tumbled long and blonde around her face. Somehow, it was still hard to tell what she truly looked like.

Going by historical evidence, it would be fair to assume she was another one of Batman’s endless children. She didn’t look like the others, but then again Hal had told him after the whole Gotham zoo fiasco that they were all adopted aside from Robin (Clark was secretly very disappointed he’d missed meeting Robin - he’d heard he was very entertaining. Diana had also said Robin was “most adorable, though undoubtedly very dangerous” which Clark didn’t want to dive deeper into - for his own safety).

However, he’d just heard the newcomer call Red Raptor “ex-boyfriend”, which would be weird if they were siblings. He couldn’t have heard incorrectly. He was Superman, after all, and if there was one thing he could be confident in, it was his hearing.

The new Bat-person had finished panicking. ‘Er...I’m Batgirl. And, er, sorry about the… noise.’ She continued lamely. ‘We’ll be going now. Get out of your hair. Okay. Bye.’ She made to pull the door shut, but Black Bat stood up from her seat so she was visible over the roof of the Batmobile.

Red Raptor joined her. ‘He deserves a bit more explanation than that, Batgirl, after we’ve been driving around his city making noise for the past hour.’

Batgirl whacked Red Raptor on the arm, who winced. She turned with a pained look to Clark, who was now thoroughly confused - and also highly amused, if he was being honest.

Some of this amusement must have shown on his face, as he thought he saw Black Bat’s mask twitch like she’d smiled fleetingly. Apparently taking pity on Batgirl, she saved her from answering. ‘Birthday.’ She said abruptly. ‘Early birthday present from Batman. To drive the Batmobile.’

‘Just not in Gotham.’ Red Raptor added helpfully. ‘B said she could drive it, just - and I quote - “not where I can see you making the trouble you will inevitably cause”.’

This wasn’t really what Clark was concerned about, though he did appreciate the explanation. He cleared his throat. ‘So - is there anything...wrong? In Metropolis? Do you need help with something?’

‘Oh!’ Batgirl said, sounding more confident now it appeared that Clark wasn’t angry. ‘No! There’s nothing wrong. Sorry if we freaked you out, or anything. It’s just that it’s my birthday tomorrow, and I’ve been begging the B-man to let me drive the Batmobile for years, and he finally gave in. And. Uh. It’s pretty fast. We’ve only been out for a few hours and we managed to get pretty far down the coast, and Red Raptor said he’d get us waffles at this great place in Metropolis, since we were close anyway, and uh, we had them.’ She grinned. ‘They were pretty great, actually, have you had any from there? You should try them, it’s that place on 14th…’

She trailed off, evidently realising she was rambling. Clark smiled at her kindly, feeling slightly guilty he’d intimidated her, even if by accident. He couldn’t help but continue to wonder, however, if she was Batman’s daughter. He pushed it to the back of his mind.

‘There are still some waffles left - do you, uh, want one?’ She was evidently kicking herself before she’d even finished her sentence, and this time Clark laughed out loud.

She grinned brightly again, sunny and wide and reminding Clark strongly of Nighthawk.

Clark grinned back, shaking his head. ‘That’s very kind of you, Batgirl, but I wouldn’t want to take any of your birthday treat. And happy birthday, for tomorrow.’

She looked highly embarrassed for a moment. ‘Thanks. For, um, the birthday wishes. And sorry about the noise again. We’ll go now.’

‘I do have a question, before you go.’ Clark said, unable to help himself. ‘Though don’t feel like you have to answer it.’

Batgirl looked at him expectantly.

It was Clark’s turn to look embarrassed. ‘Well, we’ve been seeing a lot of Batman’s children, lately - that is, the Justice League and I - and we’ve been trying to figure out how many of you there are. So are you..?’

The three Bat vigilantes laughed uproariously, and Red Raptor said ‘We’d tell you, but we’re under strict orders to keep it a secret.’

‘Bribed.’ Black Bat said. Batgirl and Red Raptor nodded in agreement.

‘I’m not his daughter, anyway.’ Batgirl said. ‘I’ve got a parent and everything. I’m more like..?’

‘Niece?’ Black Bat suggested.

‘Nah, that’d be weird.’ Batgirl said, shaking her head. ‘We dated.’ She said at the same time as Red Raptor, by way of explanation.

‘Emotionally, though, you’re his, and there’s probably paperwork somewhere ready to be filed.’ Red Raptor added.

‘You think so?’ Batgirl replied doubtfully, looking like she’d forgotten Clark was there, so engrossed was she in the new topic of conversation.

‘Definitely.’ Black Bat said definitively. ‘Trust me. Expert.’

‘She is.’ Red Raptor agreed. Black Bat patted his arm affectionately.

‘Huh. Okay. So what am I then? A pseudo-batchild?’

Black Bat and Red Raptor nodded enthusiastically.

‘We’ll go with that, then.’ She turned back to Clark. ‘There’s your answer.’

Clark didn’t even bother to try and hide his confusion. ‘It’s hard for us, too.’ Batgirl said conspiratorially.

‘Uh, anyway, nice to meet you, Superman. We really should get going, now.’ Batgirl said.

She waved slightly awkwardly. Red Raptor and Black Bat opted for finger guns instead, giggling.

Batgirl shoved them both into the car. ‘Jesus Christ, the two of you. I hate you. You’re worse than Hood.’

Black Bat and Red Raptor gasped in mock affront, sitting back in their seats as the roof of the Batmobile closed.

As the Batmobile zoomed away (quietly this time), he found he was a little sad to see them go. They were good kids, he thought.

Crazy, but good.

Chapter Text

Diana

Today was highly unusual. Most people would have said this was because all of the outdoor light fixtures in Star City had suddenly become sentient and murderous, and the Justice League had been forced to intervene.

The members of the Justice League were not most people. They felt the day was unusual because Batman had not only answered the League-wide call for help despite the daytime being outside of his usual operating hours, he had also brought someone along with him. (Someone dressed in bright yellow, no less.)

Before even talking to the various Justice League members on the scene, Batman and the newcomer had had a conversation in low voices, culminating in the newcomer shaking their head and Batman smiling at them briefly and reassuringly.

‘I didn’t think so.’ Batman said, his voice less rough than usual, perhaps since the new figure seemed nervous. ‘That’s fine, Signal - don’t worry. I’d have brought you anyway. You’re our only daytime Bat. This works out well for us, in the long run - the daytime is just about the only time I can introduce you without your siblings causing chaos.’

The newcomer in bright yellow - Signal, apparently - grinned at that, flashing straight white teeth and relaxing marginally.

Diana, tearing a lamppost that had grown sharp, knife-like appendages apart with her bare hands to prevent it from spearing a father and his young daughter, looked over with interest. ‘Batman!’ she said loudly and delightedly, ushering the two civilians inside a building. ‘I did not think you would come! The situation is hardly dire enough to warrant you coming out at this time of day! The sun is out!’

Batman grimaced at her teasing, and threw an explosive batarang at a set of traffic lights with legs that were coming up on her from behind. The glass in the bulbs shattered, which caused it to slow but not stop. Diana whirled and kicked at it, bending the metal as easily as butter and sending it down the street to lay mangled and still up against a wall.

It was at this point Diana noticed Batman’s shorter companion. She smiled at him warmly, taking him in, then approached the pair.

Diana had been correct; the situation, while odd, was not terribly urgent. The Justice League made short work of what later turned out to be an accidental curse from an extremely apologetic and rather inexpert sorcerer, and soon congregated around Batman. Many of them cast curious glances at Signal, but knew better than to ask - Batman was looming a little more than usual, like he wanted to protect his new companion.

Signal tensed under the league’s not-so-subtle scrutiny, but did not move from Batman’s side.

The newcomer’s armour was vastly different to any of the other bat-adjacent people. Thick and plated, it was mostly a lively sunshine yellow with black on the arms and legs for contrast. A white bat, outlined boldly in black, was displayed proudly across his chest, yellow bladed nunchaku attached to a utility belt. Finally, a helmet in the style of Batman’s cowl covered his head, though bulkier and brighter. The only visible skin was around his mouth and jaw, a rich dark brown.

After Batman had received a short summary of the events prior to his arrival, he could hover menacingly no longer. Wavering under Diana’s intense stare, he gave in. He looked to the shorter figure at his side, who nodded and squared his shoulders. Batman nodded back, trying to comfort his companion in a gruff way that was oddly endearing. ‘This is my son, Signal. My newest. He works during the daytime - I thought he could be of some assistance with this case.’

‘Greetings, Signal! I take it you are the newest of Batman’s children, but not the youngest? Unless Robin is rather older than he looks?’ Diana said warmly, shaking Signal’s hand with a smile.

Signal, who had smiled back politely, looking slightly starstruck, grinned brilliantly when she mentioned Robin. ‘He’s short for his age, though don’t let him hear you say that. But yeah, he’s younger than I am. I’m, uh, newly adopted.’ There was a distinct note of melancholy in his voice as he finished that brought out more of his Gotham accent, though it vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared.

Batman raised a gauntleted hand to his shoulder, squeezing tight. Signal looked back at him, and Batman did something that startled the assembled members of the Justice League. He smiled.

It wasn’t as if the leaguers hadn’t seen him smile before - he had, and usually only when one of his children was present - but this one was different, not one they saw often. It was a little sad, but also proud and full of love.

Diana, who was closest and had the best view from where she’d been shaking Signal’s hand, watched Signal closely. Newest of Batman’s peculiar children he may be, but it was obvious he was loved as fiercely and devotedly as the others. She hoped Signal knew it. She wouldn’t pry, but it seemed that Signal needed someone to love him right now. Maybe Batman was even the right person for it.

Signal smiled faintly back at Batman, then cleared his throat unnecessarily, like he was trying to clear his mind and not quite succeeding.

The rest of the Justice League present came closer, taking Signal’s answer as permission to ask more questions.

‘Always cool to meet another batkid. How are your siblings doing?’ Hal said cheerfully.

(It seems the league had picked up on Signal’s nervousness, and had all decided not to needle him too much. They were heroes, after all, and being kind is what they were good at.)

Signal looked taken aback, then pleased. ‘They’re okay, thanks - I mean, I don’t know if anyone in this business can really say that they’re okay, but, well. Crazy as usual.’

Hal laughed. ‘I like this one, spooky.’

Diana wondered absently if Hal knew how many points he’d just earned with Batman for cheering up his son. Hal would probably secretly be pleased, but pretend to be horrified.

Perhaps it was best he wasn’t aware.

Barry blurred next to Hal, Ollie not far behind him. ‘So,’ Barry said excitedly, ‘you work in the daytime, huh? Better than the dark, right? Is that what the yellow’s for?’ Barry grinned as Signal looked amused at the barrage of questions. Emboldened by Signal’s good will, Barry carried on before he got any answers. ‘I heard that Gotham’s still batshit crazy in the daytime, too - is that true?’

‘Pun most definitely intended.’ Ollie whispered to Signal. Barry gave him a thumbs up.

‘Yeah, I’m on the day shift.’ Signal said with a chuckle. ‘It’s an important job, I think. Gotham’s still pretty insane in the daytime, too. It’s probably better than the night, though, I think. Maybe it’s easier, as well.’

‘Don’t sell yourself short, Signal. You do good work.’ Batman rumbled from where he towered behind him.

‘Thanks, B. But don’t go getting any ideas about me needing extra help; I don’t think the family needs to get any bigger. Red Raptor’s wide-angle lens isn't enough to get all of us in the family picture unless we start stacking ourselves on top of each other.’

Several people snorted, Diana included.

‘Like Bat-Jenga, or something?’ Hal asked, smirking at Batman with the kind of malicious glee that meant that this particular titbit of information was going to be known to absolutely everyone in the league who wasn’t currently present (probably within the next five minutes).

Diana knew the only reason why Hal didn’t have his phone out right now was because he was on the receiving end of the full force of the batglare and was too intimidated to try it. Its effects wouldn’t last, however, and whenever Hal was far enough away there was no doubt the Justice League group chat would be informed.

(Diana would make sure of it. This was hilarious.)

‘Nah, Bat-Jenga is a different game.’ Signal said nonchalantly, smiling. He appeared somewhat oblivious to the raptness of his audience. ‘Nighthawk takes it very seriously.’

‘I thought I told you all to stop playing that game.’ Batman growled.

‘It is healthy to play with one’s siblings, Batman!’ Diana said reproachfully. ‘Why deprive them of this?’

‘Red Hood broke both his ankles. And somehow Batgirl sustained a stab wound.’ Batman replied drily.

’What the fuck?’ Ollie said softly to Barry.

Evidently not softly enough, or perhaps Batman was living up to the “bat” part of his moniker, because Batman said ‘My children are not normal, Green Arrow.’

‘I’m glad you admit it.’ Ollie replied.

‘And we mean that in the nicest way.’ Barry said hurriedly to Signal, who waved his hand dismissively.

‘Don’t worry, you won’t offend any of us with that. It’s the truth. Anyway,’ Signal added, with a sharp grin that belied his Bat status, ‘normal is boring.’

‘Normal gets you killed.’ Batman said in a low voice. ‘My children are all highly trained. Unfortunately, that training sometimes makes them excellent at getting into trouble, and making it when there isn’t any.’

‘Ah, youth.’ Diana said, lightening the mood Batman had just ruined. ‘I was much the same a few hundred years ago. It is natural, I think.’ She smiled at Signal, who smiled back.

Another round of questions started, many from Clark this time (who was very determined to get to the bottom of the mystery of Batman’s children - it must be the reporter in him), Signal answering them all with good grace and humour, still always just a little unsure of himself. Batman loomed like a shadow behind him, which Diana was coming to realise was the bat version of hovering in the way most anxious parents did.

In the second or so Barry had paused for breath in the midst of his talking, Signal stilled suddenly and unnaturally. Then, in one fluid movement so fast it was difficult to see, Signal detached one of his nunchaku from his belt, spun around so he was facing Batman, and threw it in a deadly arc upwards, into - thin air?

What was he throwing at? He wasn’t attacking anyone, was he?

Two seconds later, an illuminated hotel sign with long, sharp metal legs and arms sprinted lankily into view, heading straight for Batman. It was promptly felled like a tree by Signal’s nunchaku, which hit it at the joint of one its legs, sending it skidding across the road.

It was one of the enchanted outdoor lights they’d missed. How had Signal known it was coming? It hadn’t been loud or obvious, or Clark would have done something about it. It was true Clark had been distracted by asking Signal questions, but he’d have caught it eventually.

What did Signal know that the rest of the league had missed?

As the sign lay struggling on the ground, Signal launched his other nunchaku at it, smashing the glass and neon light inside, which seemed to stop it.

Diana was impressed and puzzled, and by the looks of it was not the only one. Clark looked at her, head cocked to the side like he was asking her what he’d missed. She raised an eyebrow in return. She didn’t know, either.

‘Thank you, Signal. A good save.’ Batman said, then made a complicated expression the league could only half see due to his cowl. It seemed questioning, if Diana had to guess. Signal seemed to understand it just fine.

‘I’ll tell them, B.’ Signal said, sounding determined.

‘Tell us what?’ Clark asked.

‘No metas in Gotham.’ Barry breathed. ‘Made an exception, did you, Batman? This isn’t some freaky bat training thing?’

Diana caught on to what Barry was implying, the realisation hitting her like a shockwave.

‘Don’t go getting any ideas, Flash. This does not and will not ever apply to you.’ Batman grumbled, which was as good as confirming it.

Signal looked slightly uncomfortable. ‘I’m a meta. My powers are mostly to do with light. There’s a lot I don’t understand about them yet. But I can see into the future a little since I can see where the light will be, and it works the same way with the past, too.’ He gained confidence as he spoke, then lost some. ‘There are… other things, too. Anyway, I saw that thing coming, so I stopped it. Would have hit B, otherwise.’

‘Impressive.’ Diana said, both since this was true and because Signal seemed nervous. It struck her suddenly how young Signal was. A teenager, like Red Raptor - perhaps a year or two younger.

The rest of the league nodded their agreement. Signal seemed relieved.

‘Naturally, that rule has exceptions.’ Batman said. ‘“No metas in Gotham” would never apply to my children. Signal may be a Bat, but he is my child first and foremost. Do not take any liberties with the information that I have made an exception. Gotham is still my city.’ Batman warned.

The leaguers nodded mutely. From what little was visible of his face, Signal looked very touched.

‘Calm down, Batman, we won’t be visiting anytime soon.’ Hal said.

‘Keep your cowl on.’ Ollie added.

Batman glared them silent, the effect of which was again ruined by the actions of one of his children as Signal snorted loudly, then looked sheepishly back at his father.

Batman sighed without making any noise, shoulders slumping slightly.

The league and his children were breaking him down day by day. Diana would make a friend of him yet.

Diana decided to save Batman. For now. ‘Let us not be distracted any longer. We must clean up the city.’

The Justice League muttered their agreement, dispersing. Signal proved to be very useful, as he turned out to have enhanced vision, much like Clark, and could see through solid objects. Any civilians trapped in buildings by the rampage of wayward strings of outdoor lights and the destruction caused by mobile street lamps were easily found and freed. Diana found herself impressed yet again.

Soon, the league had done all they could do, leaving the rest to the emergency services. Everyone there said their goodbyes, only to find that Batman and Signal had disappeared silently. As was the nature of the Bats.

How rude.

(Signal was wearing bright yellow. Even if it was daytime, one of them should have been able to spot him leaving. No one held out any hope of being able to spot Batman, whatever he was dressed in. But someone dressed like one third of a traffic light should not be able to disappear that easily. It just wasn’t fair.)

*

Justice League Group Chat

jolly green giant sympathiser: so anyone got any ideas on what bat jenga is

jolly green giant sympathiser: just normal jenga but with batarangs?

off brand robin hood: no that’s boring - didn’t bats say red hood broke his ankles? there’s got to be more to it than that

supersmallville man: I think Hal's right on this one

speedy gonzalez: bats mentioned a stab wound and i can see that coming from batarangs

off brand robin hood: THANK you

speedy gonzalez: but not the broken ankles

off brand robin hood: they say betrayal comes from those closest to you. I shouldve expected this but im still broken

jolly green giant sympathiser: go and be dramatic somewhere else i want to get to the bottom of this

J’onn: Perhaps they stack themselves? Climb on top of one another as they do in gymnastics?

speedy gonzalez: finally an idea that’s actually good

speedy gonzalez: thanks j’onn

off brand robin hood: fuck off

supersmallville man: Maybe let’s move away from this topic?

Best JL member: Cease this arguing in the group chat. It is annoying.

jolly green giant sympathiser: sorry diana

J’onn: I apologise, Diana.

speedy gonzalez: sorry diana

supersmallville man: Sorry, Diana

off brand robin hood: sorry diana

jolly green giant sympathiser: does anyone remember when red raptor, red hood and black bat were talking about their gc

jolly green giant sympathiser: the one where they put these alleged stupid photos of batman

speedy gonzalez: YES I DO!!!

off brand robin hood: i swear black bat got a pic of him sneezing or something? lol

jolly green giant sympathiser: i cant express how much i want to be in that gc

supersmallville man: You’re aware Batman is in this chat, right?

jolly green giant sympathiser: i fear nothing

off brand robin hood: thats literally so untrue i dont even know where to begin

speedy gonzalez: do you have a head wound again hal

jolly green giant sympathiser: he doesnt check this chat ANYWAY back to the topic at hand!

speedy gonzalez: smooth

off brand robin hood: you just wanna be in a chat with cooler people than us

jolly green giant sympathiser: that’s literally so fucking rude diana is in this chat?

off brand robin hood: oh fuck sorry diana

Best JL member: Apology accepted. However you’re on thin ice.

off brand robin hood: i wont be sleeping tonight

jolly green giant sympathiser: STOP GETTING OFF TRACK

jolly green giant sympathiser: i want to see stupid photos of batman

Oracle: that can perhaps be arranged

speedy gonzalez: what the hell

jolly green giant sympathiser: who are you?

off brand robin hood: fucking hell the chat’s been hacked what do we do

speedy gonzalez: glad staying calm is first on your list

off brand robin hood: now is NOT the time

supersmallville man: Well, Batman’s not going to be happy