Sorry for the delay in updating, but I'm lazy. I was gonna update yesterday, but I was freaking out about yesterday's Young Justice and Legend of Korra until noon. And then I had an X-Files marathon. Anyway, I hate to disappoint you guys, but there's no Dick angst in this chapter...but I promise it'll be in the next chapter. So instead you get an awkward Christmas dinner at Wayne Manor...and yes, I'm totally serious.
Clark Kent stood on the front step of Wayne Manor fumbling with his dress tie. He couldn't figure out how to tie the stupid thing! Kryptonite was not his weakness, ties were. If Lex Luthor were to pull one on him he would probably drop dead on the spot. A small smile formed on his face at the thought of dying to a tie. When he finally got it in a perfect bow, he felt like he should have been doing a touchdown dance.
He had been quite surprised when he received an invitation to the Wayne Manor Christmas dinner and he almost hadn't come for he already had arranged plans with Lois. But his mind changed when he learned that Dick would be attending the dinner. He was fond of the young boy and had been extremely disappointed when he left without as much as a goodbye. Lois hadn't been happy at all when he called for a rain check, but she said he could go after he explained he was going to see family that he hadn't seen in a long time.
He was glad they were having a surprise dinner for Bruce. The man needed something to cheer him up, but he also knew he wouldn't be happy about the surprise part. Alfred and Dick were probably the only people who could pull a fast one over on Bruce, well other than the Flash who could literally pull a fast one on him.
Bruce was sitting in his study, reading the newspaper, when the doorbell rang. He thought nothing of it, Alfred would get it and send whoever it was away. He stared at the wrapped present that sat on his desk. It as a bird-a-rang he had designed himself. It flew back after it was thrown. He planned to give it to Dick, but knew that it wouldn't happen anytime soon.
The doorbell rang again.
"Alfred," Bruce called, "Are you going to get that!"
"My tie is caught in the sink!"
He thought for a moment. "But you wear a bowtie."
"I got too close to the garbage disposal."
Bruce rolled his eyes and stood up. He brushed out the nonexistent wrinkles on his shirt and descended the staircase. He was a little more than surprised when he found Superman at his door. He ushered him in and complimented him on his appearance, assuming Lois tied his tie. He led him into the sitting room and was even more surprised to see Barry Allen and Wally West lounging on his sofas.
"When did you get here?" he asked.
"We ran in when you opened the door for Supes," Wally said nonchalantly. "Where's the food?"
Bruce closed his eyes and willed them to go away. But when he opened his eyes, they were still there. They were like pesky bugs buzzing around his head. True, they were his friends, but he often thought of himself as a Christmas Scrooge. At least since Dick left. He shook the depressing thoughts from his mind and smiled at his guests, which scared the speedsters.
Alfred walked into the room with a large tray of food balanced in one hand and a tray of beverages in the other. Bruce took notice that his bowtie was perfectly fine. Of course it was, he knew that the older man had been bluffing, but he knew his motive. Alfred placed the tray in front of the Flashes and they ate every crumb in a nanosecond. He smiled at Bruce.
"I must have forgotten to tell you about the Christmas dinner I had planned," the Englishman said with a genuine smiled.
"Yeah, you must've," Bruce grumbled. "Alfred, look, this is nice and all, but I just want to be alone."
The doorbell rang.
"Master Bruce," Alfred said, "Would you mind getting that? I have to finish setting the table."
Without waiting for an answer, Alfred disappeared into the dining room. Bruce walked into the main hall, prepared to tell whoever it was that the dinner was off. He opened the door to see a beautiful woman with long black hair and bright blue eyes standing in his doorway. She wore a black dress that complimented her figure well and tall black high heels.
"Diana," Bruce breathed. "You look great."
"Thank you," Diana Prince replied. "Are you going to invite me to come in from the cold?"
"Won't you come in?"
Diana stepped through the doorway and gave Bruce a quick kiss on the cheek. Blood rushed to his face, causing him to be as red as a cherry. Diana wondered into the sitting room and began to converse with Clark. Before Bruce could even leave the main hall, the doorbell rang again. Sighing, he answered it to find Dinah Lance and Roy Harper awkwardly explaining that Ollie couldn't make it.
Wally spotted Roy and tackled him at full speed. They went sprawling onto the floor, both of them laughing. They picked themselves up and walked into the sitting room where the adults were talking. Wally began to tease Roy about coming with his "Mom", but was stopped by a whack to the back of the head from Dinah. The two boys moved to the back of the room and spoke in hushed tones.
"Is Dick here yet?" Roy asked.
"No," Wally replied, "he's late."
Alfred came in a few minutes later and led them all to the dining room where he seated them. The room was painted a rich red with gold crown molding. The table was beautiful mahogany, as were the chairs. The food consisted of glazed ham, mashed potatoes, garlic potatoes, cornbread, stuffing, beets, pumpkin pie, cheesecake, and other wonderful delicacies.
Everyone loaded their plates, but no one ate except for Bruce and the Flashes, but they moved too fast for anyone to see. They all stared at their food, every once in a while sending an awkward glance at each other. Dick had yet to arrive and they found it impolite to eat without all the guests. Truth be told, they were beginning to worry. Dick wasn't one for being late. Bruce stopped eating when he noticed the others weren't.
"Is something wrong?"
Barry and Clark shared an unsure look, but it was Diana who answered. "Dick was supposed to come."
Bruce waved her comment off. "He's still angry with me."
"Master Bruce," Alfred said, entering the room, "Commissioner Gordon is on your special phone line."
Bruce excused himself from the table and walked into the kitchen where Alfred had set down the phone. He silently hoped the Joker had not broken out of Arkham. If he had, then all of Gotham would have a not-so-merry Christmas. He hesitantly pressed the phone to his ear and heard Jim Gordon nervously telling him about a situation.
"We have a murder and a possible kidnapping."
"Can't the GCPD handle that without me?" Bruce asked in his Batman voice. "I only deal with the big game."
Gordon cleared his throat. "I think you'll understand when you get here. It's on 7th Street, please hurry."
Batman, Flash, and Wonder Woman stood on 7th Street less than fifteen minutes later. The sun was low on the horizon and the citizens of Gotham were shocked to see the Bat out in semi-daylight. They were even more shocked to see Wonder Woman and the Flash with him. They stayed respectfully behind the yellow police tape that was stretched around the crashed vehicles while the three heroes spoken with Commissioner Gordon.
Batman studied the crashed cars that were in the middle of the street. One was a plain Gotham taxi and the other was an expensive SUV. Both cars were empty, save for the dead taxi driver. The crash hadn't actually killed the man, as he was slashed ear to ear. The deep wound in his neck had sticky blood dribbling onto his shirt. He had been murdered after the crash.
The backseat was stained a deep scarlet red. The window had large cracks in it, blood was splattered all around like paint. The passenger had most likely hit his or her head off the window. Batman doubted that whomever it was was still alive. There was too much blood for the Flash. He did his best to hold down his dinner.
Wonder Woman, along with the others, listened closely to what Commissioner Gordon said. All of the street's cameras had been taken out before the crash and no one had been around to see it. They still did not see how the case related to them, but they were definitely interested. Gordon sighed deeply and handed Batman a black backpack that had been found inside the crashed taxi.
Batman carefully opened the bag as if he were afraid it would explode. Inside, he found a pair of blue jeans and a long sleeved navy blue shirt. He dug deeper and felt cold metal meet his hand. He pulled the mystery object out of the bag and was mildly surprised to see a utility belt. He gazed into the bag to have bright colors meet his eyes.
He pulled out the red, green, yellow, and black uniform and heard gasps from Wonder Woman and the Flash. Rubbing the material between his fingers, Batman sighed. It was real.
Robin was the passenger and he was missing.
Is it sad that the whole awkward dinner scene is one of my favorites in this story so far? Yes, probably. But I'm a sucker for any sort of awesome Justice League interactions. Well, I gotta go...I don't know when I'll update next. Hopefully soon. But I guess I gotta finish typing chapter 3 first.