Batman glowered as he leaned against the wall, mentally going over all the things he'd rather be doing with his time that waiting for a stupid League Meet and Greet event. But, as an official member now, he had to be around - or so Aquagirl had insisted, while Warhawk snickered in the background. So far, he'd managed to gain a lot of stares from heroes around the meeting hall, most inquisitive, some awed, and a few irritated. His constant aura of general pissed-off-edness had done wonders in terms of keeping them all a bay, something Terry was appreciating while he could.
What was that saying, though? Oh, yeah: all good things must come to an end.
"Hi there, you're the new Bats, right?" A bright and decidedly too cheerful voice suddenly asked from beside him. Batman turned his head slightly, wincing internally at the eye-searing red that entered his vision. The Flash suit he recognized - the woman wearing it was someone he'd heard about, read about, but hadn't actually met yet, partially in thanks to the Old Man's warnings about how irritating her family members had a habit of being. Stiffly nodding, Terry returned his gaze to glowering at the crowd in general. "Nice to meet you. I'm Flash, but you're welcome to call me Irey."
Sighing, he reluctantly shook hands with her. "Thanks. You'll understand if I prefer to just go by Batman, though."
"Sure, sure, I've heard enough stories about the old one's paranoia to figure that would be the case." She grinned at him. "After all, it took an alien invasion in order to get our dads to officially share their secret IDs."
Terry nearly choked. "Uh, the Old Man's not my dad."
"Really?" Flash's head tilted to one side as she studied him. "I thought for sure that glare of yours had to be genetic. Lord knows I was on the receiving end of it enough when I was a kid..."
He couldn't help the curiosity jumping on that. "You knew the Old Man before he retired?"
"Oh sure. Lots of us got dragged to the Metrotower when our folks couldn't get a babysitter before an emergency - plenty of them also figured it would be the safest place for us in the case of an Omega Level alarm, which I have to agree with now that I'm a parent too."
"No offence, but you don't seem that old."
Irey smiled at him. "Aw, see, you can be nice when you want to be. Surprisingly enough, though, my twin brother and I are pretty close to hitting forty. He got hitched a bit earlier than I did, though - my niece and nephew are in their teens, while my son Liam's still just nine. You ever dealt with a hyperactive toddler with superspeed, Bats? Not fun. I never recommend it."
"My little brother might not be a speedster, but he's still a pain to babysit." The instant the words were out of his mouth, Terry was berating himself for them. Thankfully, Bruce hated these kinds of get togethers even more than the current Batman, and wasn't listening in like he did on missions or patrols.
"Little bro, eh? How old is he?"
"...Ten."
"Ah, baby brother then. Would I be right in guessing he's the one behind the new Robin that's been seen fighting around Gotham lately?"
"How did you-?"
"My dad, Wally, has always been a horrible gossip, in or out of uniform. I swear the only thing he does now that he's retired from both hero life and his civilian job is watch the news feeds to keep up on what other capes are up to, you guys in Gotham included."
Greeeat. Wasn't the Old Man just going to love learning that bit of news.
"Anyway, it's good to know that even if you aren't related to the old Bats, you're still doing something about keeping this a family business."
"What do you mean by that?" One of these days, he swore to start controlling his stupid mouth and slagging curiosity. Irey swept her arm in a wide gesture, indicating in the entire room.
"Most of the folks in here are second or even third generation heroes. Uniforms and powers tend to get passed down through families, and while plenty of people like my brother Barry choose not to take up their parent's mantle, there's a lot more who do commit themselves to this life. Me and my son included."
"Is that another reason why you thought I was the Old Man's son?"
"Kinda, yeah. I had a really hard time picturing him handing the suit over to someone not already a part of the Bat family."
"Well, he didn't exactly hand it over willingly." At her questioning glance, Terry decided to take a risk and elaborate. "The first night I put this thing on to go stop a murderer, I stole it out of the Cave."
Irey's jaw dropped. Then she threw her head back and howled with laughter, gaining the attention of everyone in the hall. "Oh-! Oh I can just picture the look on the old man's face! Ha! That, my friend, is hilarious."
"What is, Flash?" A woman wearing the Shining Knight armor called out.
"Wouldn't believe me if I told you, Gwen." Irey made a shooing motion at the heroes still watching them curiously, getting most to turn back to their own conversations. A few, though, decided that if the Flash had braved Batman's presence, they would as well. Leading the others over was the tall, armored woman who'd called to Irey, followed by a man wearing a cowboy's outfit, a horned, red-skinned man in black leather pants, and a woman carrying practically an entire hi-tech laboratory on her utility belt and harness.
"You are the newcomer to the Bat mantle." Shining Knight said when she reached them, bowing her head slightly in Terry's direction. "It is an honor to meet one who would continue a noble, if pig-headed, line." The cowboy behind her snorted into his mask.
"Hope you don't mind my wife talking like her out-of-time pa," He chuckled, nudging her. "I admit to having encouraged it when we were growing up, just 'cause I'd always get a kick out of her occasionally breaking character and dropping some modern phrase in there."
The woman sniffed. "Pig-headed is not modern. It's been an insult since my father's days in Camelot."
"Suuure it has, sweetheart. I'm Garry Saunders, by the way, also known 'round these parts as Vigilante. This here's Gwen, current Shining Knight since her brother stepped down a few years back, to whom I've been married to these last fifteen years. That's Edward Bloomberg, the Red Devil-"
"I just go by Eddie when not in the field." The red-skinned demonic hybrid reached forward to shake Terry's hand, and even through the suit's protection he could feel the heat given off.
"-and Rebecca Foley, Gadget, who for some reason tends to only show up at these things when food's been promised."
The slightly chubby woman chuckled as she adjusted her visor. "That's the same way my husband gets me out of the workshop at home, otherwise I tend not to emerge for days at a time."
"Your dad was the same way, wasn't he?" Irey inquired.
"Mm, yeah. Sometimes my uncle Virgil still likes to gripe about how much of a pain it was to get him to shut up about some new invention and focus on homework not for math or science class." That was the last clue Terry needed to realize why the name Foley was familiar - this was Gear's daughter now standing before him. After the misadventure a few months before with a time-traveling Static, he'd done a little research on Dakota City's current superheroes and their bang-baby relatives. They'd impressive work for being so few in number, though their ranks were growing with each generation.
Irey had been right. This really was a family business.
Suddenly Terry felt a lot less like he had a place among these people. Trying to wrestle back his sudden unease, the nineteen year old nearly missed what Red Devil was saying.
"...And she just insists she's going to teleport herself up here sometime if I don't arrange for the two of us to spend some more time together. I don't suppose any of you have any suggestions?"
"Eddie, if the kid's feeling that lonely, then maybe you should bring her by sometime." Irey told him. "I know Marsha has a hard time making friends her own age, but surely she'd have better luck with other metahuman kids."
"I suppose that's a fair point..." He replied slowly.
"Of course it is. Let me know if you decide to do it, and I'll bring Liam with me too. Hey, maybe we could pester the head honchos into letting us have a Bring Your Kid to Work day!"
"You are just as crazy as your dad." Gadget said bluntly, before smiling. "That sounds like a great idea. I'll pass it along to the others in Dakota - I know for a fact my boy and his friends would love to see the inside of the Metrotower."
Shining Knight and Vigilante exchanged a glance. "If we make them promise not to start dueling one another or anyone else, I don't see the harm in bringing our pair of miscreants up." Gwen reluctantly agreed.
"What about you, Bats?" Flash nudged him. "Think your paranoid boss would allow your kid brother to tag along with you some time?"
"Doubt it. But I might sneak him in anyway, just to tick the Old Man off." He might not be able to fit in with these people in terms of having inherited the Batman suit - but if Matt stayed in the business as long as the boy said he planned to, then Terry might just be able to give him a chance at belonging with the next generation. Why should every member of the Bat family grow up lonely, after all? Especially when friends could make all the difference in the world.
...
(Not to mention, he and his little brother did enjoy occasionally driving the old man up the wall. If Matt gained them some superpowered allies, then Terry could just sit back, grin, and enjoy the ensuing chaos.)
A/N: First Batman Beyond story down! More to come, following along with some of my other DCAU blended tales. Be prepared for Matt and his peers to take the Justice League by storm soon!