The team walked into the cave, walking out of the zetatubes on tired feet bruised and battered after a more difficult mission, but the mission was done, they were victorious, and the most important thing was that the problem was fixed.
The first thing they saw when they entered the cave was a whole new problem.
His hair was black and hung in front of his eyes, which were covered by a domino mask, well over wide shoulders was a well-worn brown leather jacket, underneath was a tight fitting T-shirt, tucked under his arm was a red motorcycle helmet, a utility belt was clasped loosely around his waist, black jeans hung lazily on his hips, and black fingerless gloves held a cigarette, which was caught in between his lips and his side.
He may not be in full costume, but it was obvious. This was the famous Gotham villain; Red Hood.
Most of the team hurried into fighting stances, tense and prepared for a battle. Red Robin pushed his way to the front- paying no mind when he stepped on Wally's foot- his cape swishing as he walked, and his black hair slicked back out of his face, not far behind him was Nightwing, a disarming smirk playing on his lips, and Batgirl, her red hair laid out across her back and red lipstick on her smiling lips. The team assumed they were going to confront Red Hood, he was their villain after all.
That's not what happened.
"Gimmie one" Red Robin said excitedly, extending his hand and grinning up at Red Hood, who rolled his eyes, patted Red Robin on his head, messing up his hair, as if he were a small child, and walked past him. Red Robin whined, again like a small child, and rushed to fix his hair.
The team looked to Nightwing- Megan had her hand on Wally's shoulder, making sure his foot was okay, Conner was staring at Tim with a love-struck and confused expression, Artemis had a untrusting arrow trained on Red Hood, following his movements- only to see him with Red Hood's own smoke between his teeth and Red Hood's arm wrapped around his waist, pulling the hero flush against him.
"What are you doing here Jay?" Nightwing asked sultrily, leaning too close into the touch as Red Hood planted a single kiss on his lips, then again, and again, the team watched baffled, Megan with a confused look, Conner blinked, and blinked again, Artemis and Wally physically jaw dropped.
"I wanted to know how your mission went," Red Hood answered simply, tunin his head away from Nightwing's lips, and paying no mind to the hero as he continued to press his lips to the villains neck, the team almost believed it,
"Bullshit!" Red Robin shouted from the other side of the room, still upset, where Batgirl was tempting him with a red sucker. There was a muffled 'language' from Nightwing, but he was too preoccupied to properly scold the younger,
Red Hood was silent for a moment, lips pressing into a thin line, before he added; "and I ran out of cookies at my safe house."
"Which one?" Batgirl asked, speechless, as she and Red Robin- Who had the end of a sucker sticking out from between his lips and his boyish grin back on his face- crossed the room to join the rest of them by the zetatubes. Red Hood dramatically placed his free hand- the other still wrapped protectively around Nightwing's waist- over his heart,
"The one on twenty-second street," another gasp from the bats, as well as one from the team, not believing a villain had given away the location of his hideout.
Megan had taken to floating in the air and watching the new guest with an alarmed and interested expression, Artemis was looking at Conner for help and cursing Kaldur absence, Conner was deciding the best way to tell his boyfriend that he never wanted to meet the rest of his family, and Wally was trying, and failing, to remember a time where Dick had mentioned going crazy.
"I thought Agent A gave you a year's supply," Red Robin said suspiciously, around his sucker, Red Hood looked down to glare at him, reminding the younger of his height,
"He did, and it would have lasted a year if you guys would stay out of my place!" he accused, pointing a finger at them when he said 'you guys' and one at himself when he said 'my',
"I'm there all the time anyway, when are we going to start calling it the place?" Nightwing said tilting his head and lacing his fingers with Red Hood's, who paused to smile at him'
"I would be comfortable calling it our place" Red Hood claimed a moment later, Nightwing nodded in agreement and made a mental note to stop picking the lock and ask for a key.
"Why is nobody doing anything?" Conner yelled- deciding that he would tell Tim quickly and gently, like ripping off a Band-Aid, a Band-Aid that had relatives that could kill him- the team snapped out of their various reactions and Artemis finally let her Arrow fly,
Red Hood ducked under the arrow and it sunk into the far away wall with a thud, much to their surprise the bat's also snapped to attention and took fighting stances besides Red Hood.
"You really want to do this kiddie league?" Red Hood asked, his voice deeper than when he had been talking to Gotham's heroes, Wally sped away to the wall, next to Artemis arrow, Conner shook his head no, Megan was curious to see the mental strength of Red Hood so she held her stance, and Artemis was just plain stubborn, notching another arrow and taking aim.
"We all know how this ends," Batgirl sang, reminding Wally of painful sparing matches.
"Bat's always win." Nightwing pointed out, Megan did not miss how they counted Red Hood as a bat and Artemis was suddenly very unnerved, deciding to take the safe route they dropped their fighting stances. The bat's smirked and walked towards the living room, Batgirl gave them a teasing smile as she passed and high-fived Wally before she entered the living room. The team looked to one another and followed after.
They found Batgirl sitting on the couch, criss-cross and flipping through TV channels, as if looking for something, she eventually paused on a drama show, the main character had short black hair and a steel gaze, Megan recognized her as Gotham celebrity Cassandra. Nightwing had his back against Red Hood's chest and commenting on the show, showering the actress with praise, Red Hood sat on the opposite end as Batgirl, his hands running rhythmically through Nightwing's hair, and Red Robin sat on the floor with a scowl, despite the fact that there was room on the couch and a nearby chair.
Recognized spoiler B09
A girl with blond hair done up in a tight ponytail, wearing a purple shirt, and lighter purple pants, paired with a purple domino mask walked into the room as the shrill and annoying voice of the zetatube announcer died down, and over to the back of the couch, brushing past the team. She placed a kiss on Batgirl's cheek then took the last open space on the couch.
"Hey guys," she greeted, waving towards the team, only Wally waved 'hey' back and watched as the bat's watched the show with complete focus.
"So, did you know Ivy and Harley are together?" Spoiler asked during a commercial brake, her tone rising in excitement, nearly squealing, and lips spreading into a grin,
"I called it" Red Robin announced leaning over to Batgirl with an open hand,
"Two-hundred, if you will," he opened and closed his hand, she rolled her eyes and mumbled a 'could have sworn it would happen sooner' but handed him money from seemingly nowhere, he smirked and took it.
"Ahem" everyone looked up to see Batman standing in the doorway, right beside Wally, who had never looked so shocked, "trouble let's go," he said simply, giving the team a calculating once over and walking out of the room. The bat's detangled themselves and they all walked into the zeta tubes, Red Hood and Nightwing hand-in-hand and the blond girl poking and teasing Red Robin mercilessly. They disappeared into the bright light of the zetatube, leaving the team to wonder what else they didn't know about the bat's.