Expanded Summary: An unexplained uptick in young meta-human crime worldwide has caught the attention of the world. The U.N. proposes the creation of 'training camps' for young meta-humans to keep them out of trouble and teach them to use their powers. Nightwing sees this as imprisoning innocent kids. When one of the training camps is attacked by a mysterious crime syndicate connected to meta-human trafficking, Nightwing and Oracle recruit a small group of young meta-humans to keep them from the camp and help investigate the strange occurrences surrounding metas; all while operating under the Justice League's radar. In doing so, they discover a shocking new plot, proving to be a much bigger problem than a meta-human crime wave.

Nightwing, without help from his usual colleagues, calls in the Batfam to help him train his newest team.

Set around Season 3

*Jason Todd is already Red Hood

*Tim Drake remains Robin

Blüdhaven, January 18th, 2:01 AM

Striking sapphire eyes swept over the flickering screen mounted on the wall in the small base the Nightwing called home. The call from Bruce was an unexpected one, but the reasoning behind it wasn't a surprise. The screen flashed from news station to news station, the headlines all basically the same. He paused on a channel and quietly set the remote control onto his desk, leaning forward slowly, elbows resting on the table as he folded his hands in front of his face. A ginger haired woman with sparkling emerald eyes spoke into the camera with a composure the past few reporters on other stations possessed. Behind her was a vicious-looking young woman with glowing red eyes pressed up against a brick building as an officer secured a pair of thick metal cuffs onto her wrists, a blinking inhibitor collar already around her neck. Dick narrowed his eyes behind his mask, deducing that the girl must've only been in her late teens or early twenties.

"This is Iris West-Allen reporting live from Central City where yet another meta-human has been arrested, thanks to the Flash, marking this the seventh incident this week alone. The sudden uptick in meta-human related crimes is not exclusive to our city. Crimes of this nature have begun to ravage cities across the country, including Star City, Jump City, and Gotham. Despite the best efforts of the Justice League, the crime wave shows no signs of slowing."

Click.

"Emmy Dexter here in Star City, where a young meta has just destroyed a local restaurant-"

Click.

"Live from Jump City where we're following a path of fiery destruction left behind from a young me-"

Click.

"-police are worried about a shortage of inhibitor collars and the packed cells at Belle Reve-"

Click.

"-where Batman thwarted an attack on the Gotham City bank by a telepath-"

Dick rubbed a hand over his face and released a quiet sigh when he noticed a soft lavender glow behind his eyelid. He opened his eyes to find a message from Oracle flashing in front of the contact lens.

Oracle: You seeing this?

The young hero couldn't help but give a soft smile as a sudden warmth began to wash over him. He leaned back in his seat, putting his hands behind his head and propping his feet up onto the desk before he responded in a soft voice he knew would only come across as a text.

NW: Wish I wasn't.

Oracle: The Justice League hasn't even made a dent in the crime spree. They want you to go to their next meeting to weigh in on the U.N. proposal.

NW: So I've heard.

Oracle: And I've heard the big bat himself called you personally. Is that enough to get you to that meeting?

NW: You know Bruce, he-

Oracle: Don't dodge my question, Dick, I asked about the meeting.

Dick quietly slid his feet off the desk and allowed himself a small grimace. For the past month the Justice League had been scrambling to recruit more people to their side to help keep the metas at bay. He had politely turned down all of their requests but even then they wouldn't stop calling. That's when he just ignored them all. That is, until Bruce personally called him about a few days ago. His relationship with the Bat wasn't too bad, they were actually on good terms for the most part, but it was still weird. Bruce had distanced himself from Dick, just like Dick had distanced himself from Bruce, and they both respected that space. The fact that he called shouldn't have changed anything, but it did.

Oracle: You still with me?

Dick blinked quietly and responded.

NW: Yeah.. Just thinking.

Oracle: The one time I'm going to say this, but stop thinking and do what your heart says. You used to be good at that.

NW: I am thinking with my heart, Babs, they're proposing "summer camps" for these young metas as a precaution. The majority of them haven't even done anything wrong. These camps, they may not be doing any good. If anything, they'll be giant targets. The U.N. should be focusing on collaborating with the League and figuring out why the crime rate went up. Something like this doesn't just happen and sticking a bunch of scared, super-powered kids in a summer camp isn't going to do anything.

Oracle: And that's exactly why they need you at that meeting, Dick. You're a voice of reason. Or maybe you'll be surprised and understand something about that plan you didn't think of before.

NW: Maybe you're right.

Oracle: Of course I'm right, now pick up the phone, call Bruce, and tell him you're in. Or at least just show up and crash a Justice League party, alright? You're one of the few in there that can see the big picture, they need you.

NW: We'll see..

Oracle: You'll see. I'll talk to you later tonight. Cya cutie.

NW: See you... cutie-er...

NW: ;)

Oracle: You're getting there.

The connection between the two shut off as Dick rose to his feet with a small chuckle, flipping open a pocket on his belt and taking a burner phone out of it. The smile on his lips slowly faded as he looked down at the phone now in his hand. He scrolled through the contacts, pausing on one titled 'B' then stopped short, his finger hovering over the 'call' button. But he couldn't do it. He then quietly slipped the phone back into the pocket on his belt, feeling almost sick for a moment. After all that encouragement from Barbara and he still couldn't find it in him to actually call him back. It was sort of embarrassing, ghosting the whole Justice League like that and only acknowledging them when Batman got involved.

But maybe showing up unannounced would be a better idea anyway, maybe he could listen in before they knew he was there and see what they had to say at their most secretive. He glanced back at the news channel still displayed on the large screen, picking up the remote and switching it off and stepping away from the desk.

Within a matter of minutes Dick was outside, perched on top of one of the tallest buildings in the area, overlooking the city street below. The phone was back in his hand once again, the vigilante grumbling unhappily as the game of tug-of-war in his head raged on. To be fair, showing up unannounced would probably look worse to the League. Not like he head anything to prove to them of course, but it would still probably seem unprofessional. He should at least call and let them know he was going to go to the meeting, it wouldn't take more than a few seconds, then he could just hang up. It really wasn't a big deal.

Dick gave a quiet groan as he caught himself trying to slip the phone back into the pocket again. He slowly moved to swing his legs over the ledge of the building and sit there for a moment, releasing an almost childish huff as he stared at the 'B' on the phone screen, his thumb brushing over the 'call' button once again. He took a deep breath, taking in the damp scent of the rainy city evening before pressing the button hesitantly.

"Damn..." he quietly hissed and put the phone to his ear.

A/N: Ayyy, thanks for stopping by and giving this a read! I hope you enjoyed this short introduction, but yes, the plot will thicken in the coming chapters... as will Batfamily heckery as a sort of subplot

As much as this is a predominantly OC focused team, Nightwing and Oracle play a big part and there will be cameos from characters from the series along with quite a few reoccurring appearances from various members of the Batfam.

I hope you enjoyed the beginning of this journey and please drop a review if you feel up to it, they really are inspiration.

- Puggle