A/N: I don't own anything you recognize.
It's been a hot minute, hasn't it? I apologize for that. I've been working on future chapters that have changed slightly since I originally wrote them out. Also, I've been kinda low on motivation since I don't know what people think!
That being said, thank you to the comments I have received! They really do mean the world to me.
Gotham City
Thursday, March 17, 2011
0634 EDT
Bruce walked into the kitchen to find Alfred working over the stove.
"Breakfast will be ready in just a moment, Master Bruce," the older man said, glancing over his shoulder as he did.
"Thanks, Alfred." Silence settled over the kitchen and Bruce wrapped his hands around a mug of black coffee.
It was her birthday.
Usually, Bruce would wake up Dick extra early so they could help Alfred prepare the special birthday breakfast each of them got when it was their big day. But today...today, Bruce had decided to let Dick sleep in.
When Dick stumbled in a little later, he glanced around and seemed to remember afresh why he hadn't been awakened before dawn. He sat beside Bruce and both stared silently at Naomi's empty seat.
"Cheer up, Master Bruce, Master Dick," Alfred tried to say lightly as he set breakfast in front of them. "Now that the rest of the Team knows, we shall have her back in no time."
Both of them offered Alfred half-smiles, and the butler figured that was the best he would get. He nodded once before exiting the kitchen.
After a minute of silence, Dick asked the question that had been on both their minds:
"What do you think she's doing?"
Undisclosed Location, Somewhere in S.E. Canada
Thursday, March 17, 2011
0702 EDT
"Agent 23."
The agent in question glanced up from breakfast and found Irene standing behind her.
"You have an audience."
Agent 23 nodded and stood from her seat and followed the gray-haired woman out of the mess hall.
They entered Vandal Savage's office to find he wasn't alone.
"Ra's, this is Agent 23," Vandal Savage introduced once the door was closed. "Agent, I'm sure you're familiar with Ra's al Ghul."
"Yes, Sir," 23 nodded at Vandal before bowing respectfully to Ra's. "Great One," she addressed.
"Stand, child," Ra's said, and 23 did as she was told. Vandal gestured to the second chair across his desk and 23 sat obediently.
"I won't waste any time," Vandal said brusquely. "Ra's would like you to visit the League of Assassins' base."
For a moment, Agent 23 could only stare open-mouthed at The Great One. "I would be honored," she said once she had remembered who she was openly gawking.
"Yes, I thought it would be a fitting birthday gift," Ra's said with a small smile. "After all, seventeen is, for some cultures, the official age of adulthood."
"When-when would I leave?" 23 couldn't help but stutter.
"Today," Ra's said. "Right now, in fact."
23 turned to Vandal, who nodded. "I hate to lose my best agent," he said, "but I believe your time with Ra's will prove to be...eye-opening."
Agent 23 found his word choice odd but didn't make any indication she thought so. Ra's stood and she followed suit.
"I have a helicopter waiting," Ra's said. "There is no need to collect anything. You will be provided for entirely during your stay."
"Thank you," Agent 23 said as she followed a step behind Ra's.
The walk to the tarmac was uneventful, as everyone was now in a class. Agent 23 squinted as she approached the helicopter, its blades whipped the air and picking up bits of grass and small pebbles. Ra's offered her a hand before climbing in after her. She glanced out the window to Vandal. He gave her a slight nod as the helicopter began to rise.
"Make yourself comfortable," Ra's said, already reclined in a seat, his eyes sliding close. "It is a long ride."
Gotham City
Thursday, March 17, 2011
1203 EDT
"Hey, Morgan!"
The redhead turned from her locker to find two of her friends, Marion Gray and Alison Weber, hurrying toward her.
"What's up?" Morgan asked as she closed her locker.
"Dick Grayson!" was all Marion exclaimed.
Morgan couldn't help but roll her eyes. He was a grade below her and their schedules didn't overlap. "I don't have class with him," she reminded as the trio made their way to their usual lunch spot. As they sat at the table, she asked, "So, what about Dick Grayson today?"
"I just came from French and oh. My. God," Marion huffed. "I don't understand how he gets such good grades!"
"It's probably because of who his dad is," Ally commented with a shrug, pulling out her sandwich and unwrapping it. "If Bruce Wayne was my father, I would probably speak several languages fluently."
"You're fluent in German," Marion groused.
"You get what I mean," Ally waved off. "They travel all the time and entertain plenty of foreign businessmen. It makes sense he would be able to at least make small talk."
"Yeah, but why can't we all have Bruce Wayne as a father?" she pouted.
Ally rolled her eyes and said something else, but Marion stopped listening. Bruce Wayne...
She had never given much thought to Gotham's White Knight. Sure, he was on the news periodically and Lisa and David somehow knew him, but he was just another one of Gotham's elite.
But a memory had just resurfaced. Back when Morgan had been first telling Naomi about who her mother was, Naomi had left to receive a call. Morgan had jokingly asked if it was Batman, and Naomi hadn't said no. With surprising clarity, Morgan now recalled the name that had flashed across Naomi's phone screen.
Bruce Wayne.
"Morgan?"
"Yeah?"
"You totally spaced out," Ally said. "I just asked you if you finished the English assignment."
"Oh, yeah, sure." Morgan reached for her backpack and pulled out the asked-for papers. As she turned back to her lunch, Dick Grayson caught her eye.
He was sitting under a tree with Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Commissioner James Gordon, and Morgan found herself wondering if Richard Grayson was Robin. After all, it would make sense that if Bruce Wayne was Batman, Robin would have to be someone who was close to him in some way. And looking at him now, hadn't he been the one who had so confidently injected Naomi with that whatever-it-was all those months ago?
"Morgan!"
"What?"
"What's up with you?" Marion asked, half jokingly and half worriedly. "You keep spacing out."
"Sorry," Morgan said, shaking her head a little. "Didn't get much sleep last night. Can't really focus on much."
"You seemed to be focusing on Dick Grayson pretty well," Ally smirked, glancing over her shoulder at the young teen in question.
Morgan couldn't help the blush that started to spread across her pale cheeks and she inwardly cursed her father's Welsh heritage. "It's like you said: I just spaced out. I wasn't actually looking at him."
As Marion and Ally continued to tease Morgan, across the courtyard, Dick was only half-paying attention to what Barbara was saying
He remembered the redhead who had mysteriously had the vial of antidote after Naomi's run-in with Poison Ivy. The one who had turned out to be the daughter of a Greek goddess, and now, the most recent possible Team recruit.
Dick had noticed her gaze his way, and when he had glanced over, he had noticed that her apple-green eyes were furrowed slightly in thought and...realization?
Did she figure out who he was? That he was Robin and by extension, Bruce was Batman? There was no logical link between them and Naomi. She wasn't generally associated specifically with the Wayne name. Sure, the Scotts were influential, well-respected and well-liked, and were seen at the same galas and events as Bruce, but so were dozens of other families and individuals.
So, no, there was no way Morgan could know Batman's and Robin's identities. With that confident thought, Dick turned back to Barbara.
A/N: Another shorty. A little bit happens? This is definitely more of a set-up chapter, specifically with Daisy/Agent 23 and the League of Assassins.
I know that in the YJ universe, Ra's al Ghul runs the League of Shadows. But with what I want to do with the story, I need Vandal Savage to be in charge of the League of Shadows and Ra's to be the head of the League of Assassins.
Let me know what you think! The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Until next time.
