It's Saturday when it finally happens.
That's the day they're finally attacked. A group of guys dressed in black come running through the trees, and Superman just drops on them from absolutely nowhere.
Artemis pauses, bow swung up, and Kaldur keeps his Waterbearers out but close. Then they just sort of stand around and watch, because Superman's got them all.
Artemis sounds the mental alarm, and Wally runs perimeter a few times just to be sure these guys were alone.
Kaldur gathers up the groaning goons, and Artemis sets to tying them tightly. They both nod to Superman, but neither one want to meet his eye or ask just what the ihell/i he thinks he's doing. Superman carts the thugs over to the side door, where Megan and Mr. Bruce are waiting.
"Hello, Bruce," Superman greets, dropping the guys in the dirt.
Mr. Bruce raises an eyebrow and gives him a look.
There's a strained silence until Bruce finally says, "Wrong guys."
"What?"
"These aren't the guys we're after," Bruce says calmly. "This is just a third-party attack capitalizing on the timing for publicity."
Artemis says through the link, "He can't possibly know that," and feels the agreement reverberate back. But Superman doesn't question this conclusion at all.
Instead he says, "Well, damn."
In their shared mind, Wally says, "Wait, what?"
Bruce folds his arms, and Superman grins a little. "Oops?" he tries.
Superboy scowls, and the others aren't much happier. They close ranks around Mr. Bruce, letting Kaldur and Superboy take point. Wally flanks left, counterpoint to where Robin should be, and the girls take the back positions.
Superman raises his hands defensively and takes a step back. "Hey, whoa. What's wrong with everyone today?"
"This mission," Kaldur says.
"The children," says Mr. Bruce.
"What?" asks Artemis
"No offense to you, understand," Mr. Bruce supplies. "But your time could have been better spent than babysitting me."
"Not...really," Superboy says slowly.
Bruce sighs and drags his hand over his eyes. "Thank you, Superboy," he says, and then to Superman, "But that still doesn't give you to right to deploy the team on missions. Particularly not redundant ones that mess up their training schedule, or the lives of me and my own, especially since they could not stop me from taking drastic action in the event that it should become necessary. I know you have a brain; please be smart enough not to try outthinking me."
It's a good thing the threat has already been neutralized, because the team's too busy staring to react to much at the moment. Bruce Wayne is telling off Superman.
"Mr. Bruce is telling off Superman," Wally says in awe, though he remembers to project through their link.
"I thought only Batman could get away with that," Kaldur agrees.
"You're telling them?" Superman asks out loud, surprised.
"Telling us what?" Wally grumps.
"We're in Gotham," Kaldur says slowly. "We haven't seen or heard from Batman since we've been guarding Mr. Bruce. Robin's disappeared, and Mr. Bruce is telling off Superman. Could it be...?"
"You don't think-" Artemis starts, but they're interrupted by the other conversation.
"There'd be no living with Dick if I didn't," Bruce says a bit wryly.
"-holy shit," Aretmis finishes.
"We've been protecting Batman?" Superboy asks.
"Batman's actually human?" Wally yelps. "And he smiles?"
"It makes sense," Kaldur throws in. "The way he knew us, and the way he played us, and why we felt so comfortable around him."
"Does that make Robin Dick Grayson?" Megan asks. "Wait, he got shot—Guys, Robin isn't dead. Right? Someone tell me Robin isn't dead!"
"Breathe," Kaldur says, and Megan gulps a breath or two, though she's still got unshed tears in her eyes.
Mr. Bruce is watching them all closely, and he notices when their eyes go to M'gann. From there, it's not hard to extrapolate her thoughts. "Dick isn't dead," he says. "Though he might kill me if he has to hide another week. He's driving Alfred crazy."
M'gann breathes, and breathes again. "Not dead?" she asks in a small voice, and then throws herself at Mr. Bruce.
He tenses for a moment, but then wraps an arm around her back. Wally's hanging on to his other arm, and Artemis is at his side, and they've all got big bright eyes, so he says it again. "He isn't dead, just in hiding. He's fine."
Wally gets him around the middle, and Artemis turns her back and sags into his side. M'gann reaches out blindly, and Kaldur pushes Superboy into her grip, then goes to hold Artemis' hands himself.
Bruce looks down at the team, wondering how he'd become the core of the group-hug, and sighs. "He's not dead," he repeats.
These are his kids, as much as their anyone's, and now they trust him as Batman and Bruce Wayne. They had a bad moment when they thought they lost their friend, but they'll come out stronger for it. Dick will want to invite them over all the time, and he makes a mental note to ask Alfred to superteen-proof the Manor and make up their temporary rooms into real ones.
In the meantime, he explains the plan, quietly and calmly. They're already accustomed to his voice, so they listen. It was simple; they knew a certain group would take a shot at Dick, so the plan was to let them believe they'd succeeded. With victory comes sloppiness, and that would allow Batman to take the whole organization down, instead of just bits and pieces. It was a good plan, except for the bit where Dick and Alfred had to be dead. But now he's got a lead on their headquarters, and he and Robin will be going to take them down tonight. Hopefully, life will return to normal come Monday.
First things first, though.
He looks back up to meet Superman's amused gaze over the heads of his teenagers. "Don't you even," he says. "Don't you dare."