Chapter Eight: Strong enough
"We will tire each other out, making our homes
in one another's arms. We are not strong enough."
-Carol Ann Duffy, from "Deportation"
Jai sat on his bed, legs curled up into his chest, staring down at the sheets on the bed. "Yeah," he said finally, as if it were difficult to say the words. "I think…that's a good idea, Dad."
"I thought so," said Wally. "It's totally okay, alright? Don't feel bad. I was the first one to leave the Teen Titans back in my day too. And Buddy even mentioned he's pulling Maxine out, so you're not alone."
"I know," sighed Jai. "I don't even…I mean, I've been thinking about leaving for a while, you know? Maybe I should've done it earlier, I was just-"
He cut himself off, biting his lip.
"You were just what?" asked Wally, concerned.
Jai glanced up at him with dark eyes. Linda's eyes. "Iris really needs me on the team," he admitted. "She told me I couldn't leave before. She's right. I need to be there for her."
Wally hesitated slightly. He knew how deeply his children cared for each other, and how strong their bond was. He didn't want to bring that into question, but at the same time he didn't want his son to be overshadowed by his sister just because she had the powers and he did not.
"Look, Jai," began Wally. "Your sister loves you a lot, but that doesn't mean you have to do everything she says."
"I know that," replied Jai, almost defensively.
"I know you do," agreed Wally, nodding. "But don't let her guilt you into doing things you don't want to do, whatever it is. She's your sister, but she doesn't get to be the boss of you."
Jai met his father's gaze, worry rising in his eyes.
"I'll tell them you decided to leave the team," Wally reassured him. "Don't worry about it. If Iris bothers you, let me know. Just do your homework and don't think about it. Nothing to be ashamed of."
Jai looked away, his jaw clenched, no longer able to look his father in the eye.
Wally looked at his son carefully. "What is it?" he asked. "Jai? Do you need to tell me something?"
Nothing. Then, suddenly, Jai's head started bobbing as he nodded.
"What?" asked Wally, his voice softening. "What is it?"
"I…" Jai paused. "It's about-"
The door to Jai's room swung open suddenly and Iris stood there, still in her Impulse costume, grinning at them. "Hi boys," she said, pulling off her mask. "Am I interrupting something?"
"Could you give us a second, hon?" asked Wally. "Your brother and I were just have a discussion-"
"What about?" she asked, entering the room and sitting on the foot of Jai's bed. "Family meetings are supposed to be held at dinner, Dad."
"Iris, please, can you leave us alone for a minute?"
Iris made a face. "Is this a guy thing?" she asked, turning to her brother. "Are you talking about guy things?"
"Honey, come on, don't be-"
"No," interrupted Jai, glancing at their father. "It's okay, Dad. Thanks. I'm okay now."
Wally looked in between his children. "If you say so," he said, standing up. "Irey, can I talk to you for a second?"
Iris's face fell. "But Daddy-"
"Just a second. Come here."
She followed him out of Jai's room, then he turned to look at her, folding his arms across his chest, watching her wide eyes, the confused little smile on her face.
"Are you bullying your brother?" he asked.
The question surprised her. "What? No. I'd never. Did he say that?"
"No. But I don't want you pressuring him about anything." He paused, then added, "And I don't want you two keeping any secrets. I know the past few weeks have been stressful for everybody, but now more than ever, you have to communicate with your mom and me. We want you to be safe."
"I am safe," she stressed. "And so is Jai. I'll keep him safe. I promise."
"Right. Well. That's not gonna be entirely your responsibility anymore, okay?"
She stared at him. "What do you mean?"
"Jai's not gonna be a part of the Titans anymore, Irey. He's gonna stay at home and go to school. No more visits to the Tower."
"What?" asked Iris sharply. "You're kidding."
"From what I understand there's not really much of a team left. You, Lian and Damian, right?"
She didn't answer for a moment, then nodded.
"All right," said Wally. "That's fine. I know you three need each other. Just don't drag your brother into this."
"He wants to be a part of this."
"I don't think he does."
"I don't think you know."
Wally blinked, taken aback. "Iris. Please. You know he idolizes you."
"He does not."
"He does too. And that may mean that he's sometimes not one hundred percent honest with you. Maybe he tells you what you want to hear."
"No," said Iris, shaking her head. "You don't understand. No offense, but you don't have a twin, Dad."
Wally didn't reply to this right away. Then, "Just be nice to him. He's not as strong as you are."
"Okay, Dad," said Iris, rolling her eyes, but with a smile on her face, as if she were joking. "Whatever you say." Then she turned and headed back into Jai's room, flashing him one last grin before she closed the door behind her.
Jai looked at her glumly. She'd only been speaking to their father for a few seconds; when alone, they instinctually spoke so much more quickly than they did around those non-speedsters. Sometimes it bothered Jai, but he couldn't begrudge them that; he could still remember what it felt like, to live in a world going half his speed.
Iris hovered by the door a moment, until she heard her father's footsteps walk away, down the stairs. Then let out a slow breath, and, in a flash, was suddenly wearing regular clothes, her costume discarded in her own room.
"I wish you wouldn't do that in my room," said Jai.
"Why not?" she asked. "Not like you can see it."
He said nothing, the taste in his mouth going sour.
She paused, then said, "Sorry. I'm…off my game."
"Yeah," said Jai. "Me too."
She sat down on his bed again. "Milagro, though," she said. "Can you even believe it?"
They were silent.
Jai murmured, "I feel so stupid."
Iris looked up. "For what?"
He shook his head. "I just…lost it," he said. "I completely lost it in front of everybody." He sighed, putting a hand to his forehead, covering his eyes. "So stupid."
"It's okay," said Iris. "Nobody's blaming you. It was really intense. I thought I was gonna start crying too."
"No you didn't," he replied. "You were in control the whole time, Irey. I don't even think you were vibrating." He tried to laugh, but it turned into a strange, strangled sound. "Guess all that hard work finally paid off."
"Nah," she said gently. "That's how you know I'm freaking out, Jai. When I'm completely still."
There was silence.
And then Iris murmured, "Dad says you're leaving the team."
"You should too," he said, without hesitation. "You're a target."
"They caught Milagro," Iris replied, her voice rising. "It's over."
"It doesn't matter," said Jai. "I'm off anyhow."
"Why?" demanded Iris. "Everyone loves you."
"Everyone. You mean Lian and Damian. You're the only ones left."
"And you," said Iris firmly. "You're a part of this team, Jai. I need you."
"You need someone to work the machines," said Jai lowly. "Get your boyfriend to do it. Or your girlfriend."
"Lian isn't-" Iris caught herself, a flush rising to her cheeks. "Stop it. You're not leaving me now."
"It's just a dumb team."
"No. Jai, it's more than that."
She stared at him, her bright eyes inches away from his dark ones. It took her a moment to realize she was no longer at the foot of his bed, but now directly in front of him, holding his wrist tightly.
Uncomfortably, she let him go and retreated slightly. "Sorry," she mumbled.
His gaze was fixed on her, an unfamiliar expression in his face. "You don't need me, Iris," he said quietly. "Let's leave it at that."
There was a long silence. And then, her voice burning, full of fury, she asked, "So what? So that's it? I walk out of your room and let you become the kid next door, while I go back to being Impulse? Is that what you want?"
"Kind of," said Jai, nodding. "Yeah."
"Well, that's impossible," she said quickly. "You're the Flash's son. You're a part of this, whether you want to be or not."
Jai looked up at her, frustration etched in the lines of his face, a steely determination set in his eyes. "Iris," he said loudly, powerfully. "Listen to me for five seconds." She said nothing, only watched him suspiciously. "I've spent most of my life so far being your sidekick. Your team mascot."
"That's not-"
"I can't fight. I don't have a power."
She looked at him uneasily. "Jai, I had to-"
"I know you did," he said, soothing her. "I've never been jealous of your gift, Irey. It's you and not me for a reason. You saved my life when you took those powers, and it's a big responsibility. I don't know if it's something I'd even want."
He paused. She didn't speak.
He continued, "But I'm not going to be Impulse's little brother. I'm gonna be more than that."
"You are more than that," she said suddenly. "I never meant to make you feel-"
"I just want to play my videogames," he said, speaking over her. "And I just want to go to school, and I want to do my homework, and I want to go over to my friends' houses without risking assault by a supervillain. I love you and Dad, but I just, I don't know." He paused, and then said, "I just don't love either of you like Mom does. I'm not going to be a part of this for the rest of my life. I don't think I could."
She didn't say anything to this.
And then she stood up. "You're wrong, you know," she said quietly, heading to the door. "I'm sorry, but you're wrong. You'll always be a part of this, Jai. And I will always need you."
That night in Gotham, underneath Wayne Manor, Dick Grayson was sitting in Batman's seat before the computers, rewinding and replaying a tape over and over again.
The sound of a boy crying, and Roy's tinny voice, "-the whole three seconds that you'll be gone. Go ahead." Dinah adding, "Give them both our love."
Dick stared at the screen silently for one minute.
Rewound. "Give them both our love."
Thirty seconds.
Rewound. "-both our love."
The same thirty seconds.
Rewound. Slowed the tape. "-ooouuuuuur loooooooooove."
The thirty seconds lasted longer, but he narrowed his eyes. Rewound again. Frame by frame, he watched the tape from the Watchtower, and then – oh, God – his eyes widened in disbelief, and then-
A shrill beeping filled the cave, and Dick swore, his heart pounding. He took a deep, calming breath, and then hit a button to answer the call. A familiar face filled the screen.
"Finally, Bruce, I-"
Barbara cut off, blinking down at Dick. "Hi Babs," he said, managing a weak smile.
"Where's Bruce?" she asked.
"Just went out on patrol."
"With Damian?"
Dick nodded.
Barbara glanced away from the screen, muttering, "Damn."
She said nothing more, so Dick ventured, "Why? Did you want to speak to him?"
"To the kid? No. Of course not. It's just that Bruce still won't talk to me about the tape."
"What tape?"
She glanced into the camera at her end, and he felt like she was staring straight into his eyes. "You know. The one about Damian."
"What one about Damian?" he asked suspiciously.
"From the-" she broke off, narrowing her eyes. "Bruce didn't show you?"
"Show me what?"
She shook her head, rubbing her forehead. "Somehow, this isn't surprising. Of course he didn't show you."
"Show me what?" demanded Dick, more urgent now. "Look, Babs, right now isn't really a great time. If we could just skip the banter-"
"The security tape," she said coldly. "From the night Damian was attacked."
Dick fell silent. He looked at her carefully. "I was told there were no tapes," he said.
"Bruce would say that, wouldn't he? I think he likes knowing that someone doesn't think Damian's a complete murdering psychopath."
"What are you talking about?"
"Here," she said roughly. "Just watch it for yourself."
Where her face had been, there appeared a very grainy, pixelated video. Bright yellow and red, Damian's costume. Farther away, something – a body, a man maybe – was running. Damian took out a grapple, aimed it calmly, and watched as the man fell.
Unflinching, Damian wrenched his arms sharply, and force of the wire tugged the man over the edge of the building, and Damian let go of the line.
Not a moment later, Damian collapsed, convulsing on the ground, attacked by some seemingly unknown force. Seconds later, everything was still, Damian lying on the rooftop, his yellow cape stained red with blood.
Barbara removed the video and her own face appeared again, looking at him gravely. Dick could hardly move. "What?" he asked, confused. "What the hell was that?"
"The only security footage I could find of the incident," answered Barbara, a hard edge in her voice. "And proof that your baby Robin Damian isn't as reformed as we thought."
"This is impossible," said Dick, still struggling to fathom what he had just seen. "He told me… there's no way he would've…not after…"
"I know," said Barbara gravely. "To be honest…I almost didn't believe it myself, at first."
"But what happened to him?" asked Dick. "He just went down. Something must've attacked him, his injuries were incredible."
"I can't answer that one," replied Barbara. "On the tape, he just lies there until Stephanie show up and bring him in." She paused, then asked, "But is that what we should be focusing on right now? I realize some stuff has just gone down with the Teen Titans, but Damian killed Zsasz. That has to mean something."
"Maybe the attacker was invisible…" murmured Dick thoughtfully. "No. That wouldn't make sense. He went straight down, way too fast for-"
He broke off suddenly, everything sliding into place.
"Babs," he said, "I need you to send this video to me."
"Sure. Just don't tell Bruce."
"I won't," said Dick, almost quietly, his heart sinking slowly into his stomach. "I don't think I have to."
Barbara raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"
"It means," answered Dick, "he already knows, Babs. He's known the whole time."
He ended the call. For a moment, he didn't move. And then he reached out to the controls, to make another call.
After a few seconds of connecting, loud, rushing sounds filled the Cave. "Hey Wally," Dick called.
"Nightwing, man!" came Wally's voice. He was in the field. "This a work call?"
"Kind of," replied Dick. "I need to talk to you about something."
"Yeah, it's gonna have to wait. A little busy at the moment."
"It's important."
"I'm – yeah, League business right now, can't really take off – I'll call you back, okay?"
"I'll wait." But the line was already dead. Dick stared at the screen for a little, then slumped back into the chair, letting out a frustrated sigh.
In the city, Damian was crouching beside a stone gargoyle, high enough that he could see the layout of the streets for a few blocks. He squinted through the darkness, occasionally switching his mask's vision.
"Fauna's dad took her out," came Iris's voice in his ear. "And my brother says he's not interested anymore, but I don't believe him."
"No offense," Lian's voice; she was in on patrol in Star City, nocking an arrow in her bow, "but he wasn't really involved in our missions anyway. We'll miss him, of course…"
"But we don't need him," finished Damian.
"I need him," said Iris indignantly. "You two just don't get it."
"We don't have time to argue right now," murmured Damian. "We need to move. Have either of you found anything out about Bagheera?"
"No," answered Iris. "He's not one of my dad's rogues. That's all I know."
"Nothing on the name," said Lian, sending an arrow flying, then, the criminal secured, remotely sending the location to the police. "But I did find something."
"Go on."
"My dad is working on our case. Like the rest of the League, I bet. But anyway, he thinks he has a lead."
Damian's pulse quickened slightly. Iris said nothing. "And?" he asked.
"Deathstroke," Lian continued. "My dad thinks he's behind this."
"Deathstroke?" echoed Iris, surprised. "He's been off the grid for years. I thought he was dead."
"Slade won't die," said Damian lowly. "He's too good for that."
Lian closed one eye, aiming another arrow. "On a first name basis with a supervillain, Robin? Really?"
"He was a teacher of mine before I came to my father," Damian continued. "He and my mother once tried to use me to kill Batman." He added, "Nightwing, I mean. He was Batman then."
"Did your dad have any intel on Deathstroke, Arsenal?" asked Iris.
"Not much," replied Lian. "Just some shipping records that would suggest his involvement. But my dad was one of the last to fight Deathstroke before his disappearance, when he was undercover."
"That's right," said Damian, his eyes narrowed slightly in thought. "I remember that. Slade and his cronies caused that fiasco at Arkham. It was after you were presumed dead."
"Right," said Lian. "Batman – um, Nightwing – and my dad faked my death in order to infiltrate Deathstroke's team. He was going to take them down from the inside, and he needed me out of the equation for my own safety. You know how quick Deathstroke is to make it personal."
"That's how Jericho came back," said Iris, recalling the incident. "Deathstroke's whole mission was actually to construct the machine that saved his son."
"Which Batman and my dad had suspected from the start. It was as much a rescue mission as anything else. Joseph Wilson deserved a fresh start, but not under the thumb of his father."
"Should we contact Joey, then?" asked Iris. "Would he know anything?"
"I doubt it," Damian said. "Supervillains don't tend to be particularly communicative with their children."
Even though she knew they couldn't see her, Lian nodded all the same, a bitter smile on her lips. "Robin's got a point there, Impulse."
"Then where do we start?" pressed Iris. "Give me someplace general. I'll start looking. I'll look everywhere."
"No, Impulse," said Damian. "There are better ways."
"Like what?" asked Iris, and there was a hint of aggression in her voice. "What would you suggest, Robin? Sit around on our hands until our GL magically remembers how Slade Wilson got to her?"
"That's a good question," interrupted Lian, before Damian could speak. "We know Deathstroke has a drug that lets him influence and control people. But how did he get to a Green Lantern? And they tested her blood after they took her ring. She was clean, but somehow had no recollection at all of the attack."
"Slade's drug doesn't work that quickly," Damian said darkly. "I think you're leaping to conclusions, Arsenal."
"I'm not saying anything, Robin," replied Lian, a steely edge in her voice. "Just asking questions."
"Impulse, would you be – excuse me-"
The distinct sounds of a fist colliding with flesh, and some thug's rough grunts as Damian knocked him unconscious. Damian bound the man's hands and tossed a bag full of money back to the owner of the shop that had just been robbed. "Call the police," Damian said, sounding almost bored, then as he returned to his perch beside the gargoyle, he added, "Armed robbery, Arsenal. That's four points."
"We decided armed robbery was three points, Robin," said Lian, sounding almost exasperated. "Attempted homicide ups it to four."
"I think you're wrong," replied Damian. "Attempted homicide is a separate set of-"
"Robin."
Damian fell silent at Iris's voice. Then he continued, "Anyway. Impulse, would you be able to speak with our Green Lantern?"
"Probably, yes," replied Iris. "I heard she's just with her parents. But if the GLC or the Justice League are watching her, I may run into some trouble."
"They can't object to you going to visit a former teammate, can they?" asked Lian, tugging a dart gun out of her belt and shooting it at someone running down a back alley, obviously stolen goods in their arms. She held the weapon in her hands, considering claiming her points.
"After what she did to Superboy, I'm surprised they're not keeping her in the Watchtower," said Damian.
"They're just being absurd," said Lian, pushing the criminal with a soft kick, rolling him onto his back and alerting the police again. "They've forgiven more than that before."
Damian didn't reply, fully aware that Lian's comment was directed at him.
"I think part of it has to do with her being a Green Lantern," said Iris fairly. "It's a lot of power, and you know everybody was saying she was too young. This just…proved them right."
All three of them were silent.
Then Lian said, "It's not fair."
Neither Iris nor Damian replied. They didn't need to.
"Impulse, if you can speak to her, then we need a detailed record of everything she can remember before she attacked Superboy."
"Do you really think that'll tell us anything?"
"We need everything we can get." Damian paused, then said, "Now that we have a suspect, I can do more research with my father's files. Arsenal, I expect you to do the same."
"I'll look at my father's case records for his last mission with Deathstroke," she said. "And I'll talk to Jericho if I get the chance."
"Wait," said Iris suddenly. "This still doesn't make sense."
"We're just going to have to go with it, Impulse," said Damian. "We don't have any other-"
"No," said Iris, cutting him off. "Our one clue. Bagheera. The name doesn't fit into any of this."
Damian ran his fingers across his sleeves, as if he could feel the scars beneath the Kevlar. "Perhaps it's Deathstroke's means of throwing us off his scent."
"That's not his style," answered Lian. She paused, then continued, "You know, I still don't understand how we even got that name in the first place. Somebody cut you, right, Robin?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "The wounds just appeared. One moment I was just sitting there and the next I was bleeding."
"Did you check your skin? For toxins, or any kind of microtechnology?"
Damian didn't reply immediately. "I couldn't," he said. "Using any tech in the cave would've alerted my father. I didn't want him involved in this."
"So crucial evidence was basically washed down the drain because you didn't want to tell daddy."
"If I'd known it would go this far, I would've found a way."
"Or you had no reason to."
They fell silent. Damian's body grew rigid, his heart tightening slightly.
"What does that mean, Impulse?" he asked quietly.
She didn't reply immediately. Then, "Nothing. It's just that if Deathstroke got to our Lantern, he could potentially get to any of us. I want you to keep that in mind."
"I'm prepared."
"But were you always?"
Lian was taken aback at the dangerous sincerity in Iris's voice. She said nothing. Slowly, Damian replied, "Slade had control over me once. I wouldn't let that happen again."
Lian took the silence as her cue. "Honestly, I'm inclined to believe him, Impulse," she said. "There are a hundred different ways of causing localized, remote injuries like that. Robin's been right from the beginning. It was a message."
"To me," said Damian. "To me directly."
He stopped abruptly, something suddenly connecting in his mind.
"I don't know about that," said Lian reasonably. "I'd say the message was meant for all of us. Someone's teasing us." She paused, then said, "Someone can touch us. On the job, in our homes, when we least expect it. We will always be targets. We will never be safe. That's what they're trying to tell us."
"You think the attacks will continue?" asked Iris seriously.
"I think so," replied Lian. "Robin, you may be clear, but I wouldn't bank on it." Another communicator on Lian's belt went off, flashing red. "Okay, I have to go, but I'll work on this. Be careful. If anything weird happens, don't keep it to yourself. Contact the rest of us immediately." She paused, then ventured, "Goodnight, then, Impulse."
Iris didn't hesitate. "Goodnight, Arsenal. Sweet dreams. Love you."
For a moment, Lian couldn't say anything, too surprised by Iris's boldness to reply. Damian could still hear everything they said. "Right," she said uncertainly. "Um, love you too. 'Night, then."
A gentle click and Lian was gone.
There was a long, tense silence.
"I love you?" asked Damian. It wasn't a statement, so she didn't reciprocate.
"I say that to her all the time," said Iris, rolling her eyes slightly, something in her chest burning. "It's how I say goodnight."
Damian was quietly for a moment. Then, "That's not how you say goodnight to me."
"You're different."
"Don't lie to me," said Damian softly. "That was deliberate." He paused. "And it was cruel."
"It's different. Believe me."
"How can I?"
"Don't do this to me."
"Do what to you?" he shot back. "Do you resent the fact that it makes me uncomfortable when you flirt with her?"
"We weren't flirting-"
"All you ever do is flirt with her. It's like – it's like you're just waiting for her – I don't want to be your second choice."
Nothing.
He asked bluntly, "If she were honest with you, would you leave me?"
Iris had stopped running, but she felt a vibration in her very core, nearly beyond her control. "She's not trying to break up this relationship. It's not her fault."
"I'm not blaming her."
"Then there's nothing-"
"Iris, please."
There was desperation in his voice. Her resistance evaporated; the vibration spread through her limbs and into her heart, and she was on fire and only half in this plane, half in another, and then-
Damian murmured, "I love you."
His words brought her back, solidifying her shaking molecules. Her feet were planted steadily on the ground, and she swept a hand across her eyes, unable to find the words inside of her.
She said, "No real names in the field, Damian," and the line went dead.
Damian was left there alone in the Gotham night, breaking into pieces.
The next day, Dick left the Mansion, heading for the middle of the city. Wayne Tower. He descended into the Batbunker, for a moment savoring the dark and stillness, until the motion sensors kicked in and the bunker flooded with artificial light. It had been a long time since Dick had worked with Damian out of the bunker, but the memories it recalled were fond. He would've smiled, but he couldn't find the strength to do so.
He briefly worked on the computers, finding what he needed, and then he paused, glancing at the time.
A blur, and then red lights started to blink, the alarm tripping. Dick almost rolled his eyes and typed in a code to shut it down, then turned to look at Wally.
"You could've just knocked," he said.
"I thought you were in a hurry," replied Wally, shrugging. "So shoot. What did you want to talk about?"
Dick didn't begin right away. He looked back at the screen, then to Wally again. He asked, "Have you talked to Iris lately?"
"Yeah," replied Wally, slightly confused. "She's my daughter. I talk to her every day."
He paused, then said, "I'm really…happy about her and Damian, by the way. She is a light in his life, one that he really needs."
Wally couldn't resist a grin. "That's my girl," he said. "She's a lover, not a fighter."
Dick nodded. "Do you know how fast she is?"
"Not exactly," replied Wally. "She fluctuates. I'm thinking it'll get more stable with time."
"She faster than you?"
"I don't think so. She buckles somewhere above the speed of sound. So, no."
"Are you sure?"
"Pretty sure."
Dick looked at him uneasily. He hit a button and the screen of the computer was filled with a familiar sight: the meeting room of the Watchtower from a few days earlier, filled with the Teen Titans. "Watch this," said Dick quietly.
He played the video. It began with Black Canary's voice. "-our love."
Wally stared at the screen, at Maxine and her father, Milagro and her brother, Lian standing awkwardly beside Damian, and then Iris, sitting there alone.
It only took a few seconds, and then his expression changed. Dick paused the video, watching him silently.
He asked, "Did you see it?"
Wally ignored his question. "Play it again."
Dick did so.
"What is this?" asked Wally, squinting at the screen. "How'd you even get this?"
"Are you kidding? Batman has all the Watchtower security footage." He paused, then asked, "So? What do you see?"
Wally didn't reply right away, then, without looking away from the screen: "Iris moves."
"Yes," said Dick. "Iris moves. Here."
Dick pressed a few more buttons, pulling the video to a certain point and then clicking through, frame-by-frame.
"This security system is designed with speedsters in mind," he explained. "Bruce made sure it could capture movement well over your top speed."
"Bruce doesn't know my top speed."
"Believe me, Wally. He does."
Wally didn't argue, but stared straight at the screen. One frame, Iris was sitting there at the table alone. The next, she wasn't quite there, but she wasn't quite standing beside Milagro, touching her neck, either. Her path across the room a blur of transparent red from her costume. She had clearly been caught in mid-run.
Dick clicked to the next frame. Iris sat at the table again, in the same exact position as before. He looked at Wally.
"One frame," he said. "One."
Wally shook his head. "The cameras aren't as good as you thought they were."
"Or maybe she's better than you think she is."
"No," said Wally. "She can't go as fast as it seems she is."
"Maybe-"
"I'm not talking about her abilities," he said. "In the Watchtower. In the space of what, ten feet? Logistically, it's impossible. Physics don't work that way."
"You bend the laws of physics all the time," replied Dick. "The whole concept of the Speed Force relies on ignoring every law of physics there is."
"She can't access the Speed Force like that," said Wally emphatically. "Nobody can."
"Maybe her connection is something special," said Dick. "Her whole life, she's been the ultimate conduit for the Speed Force. Isn't it possible-"
"There's something wrong with your camera," Wally replied with finality. "What would she even be doing? Touching Milagro? That doesn't make sense."
Dick turned back to the screen. "Yeah," he said. "I don't know."
Wally asked, "Is that all?"
"No," said Dick. "I have something else I want you to see."
"About Iris?"
Dick glanced at him. "I don't know," he said. "You tell me." He pulled another video on the screen. This one was much more grainy, the quality not half as good as the last one. Dick had carefully cut this one so it began just a moment after the other man vanished off the side of a building.
Wally watched carefully, concern knitting his brow as he watched. "Jesus," he murmured. "Is he having a seizure?"
"No," replied Dick. "Something's attacking him. We just can't tell what it is. I thought if it was a speedster, you'd be able to tell us."
"I can't really see anything," said Wally. "The video quality's not any good. Too slow."
There was a silence. And then Dick asked, "But a speedster could've done this, right? The way he's getting knocked around, like somebody's running circles around him."
"I guess," said Wally, giving a half-hearted shrug. "But they would have to be going pretty fast. Anything artificial, like a speed suit or something, probably would've been caught by the camera."
Dick looked at him.
Wally returned his gaze.
Gently, Dick said, "Wally, if Milagro was somehow compelled to attack Chris, then we need to entertain the possibility that other members of the team could also have been vulnerable to-"
"What?" asked Wally, looking at Dick, his eyes wide in confusion and something like alarm. "What?"
"I'm just saying," said Dick, "maybe Milagro isn't the only one of them who was compromised."
"Excuse me?" asked Wally, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "Are you accusing my daughter?"
"I'm not accusing anyone," replied Dick cautiously. "I'm just saying that we may be a little blind to-"
"No," said Wally. "Iris was at the Tower that night, with Jai and Lian and Sin. The Tower is designed to track anybody who enters or leaves. There was no record of her leaving, she couldn't have done it."
"Unless she was faster than the sensors."
"Except she isn't!" said Wally loudly. "I know how fast she is, and it's no faster than I am. And let me just say, this is real big talk from the guy whose kid is a trained assassin."
"That's not fair," protested Dick.
"Why not?" asked Wally. "You're blaming my kid for this. You should've seen her face when I told her about him that morning. She was devastated. She couldn't have done it. And you saw how aggressive Damian was in the Watchtower, you saw the way he went straight for Milagro."
"He only started accusing her because she was accusing him," said Dick defensively.
"Or maybe he knew," replied Wally. "Maybe this," he gestured at the screen, "is his fault. Maybe – maybe he did this by himself, and made it look this way. Just so you'd suspect my daughter."
A look of fear passed over his face.
Dick began, "How would he even-"
Wally asked, almost faintly, "Is he dangerous?"
Dick fell silent. Wally finally looked back at him.
"You asked me that when Iris first started seeing him," said Dick quietly. "My answer hasn't changed."
Wally didn't take his eyes off Dick's.
"And I'm not talking about any of them consciously betraying the team," he continued. "This isn't Terra all over again. But if somebody's controlling any one of them, then they're all at risk. They're all in danger."
Wally met Dick's gaze warily. "There aren't a whole lot of mind control techniques that would work on Irey," he said. "Any kind of drug would go straight through her system. Somebody would have to be inside her head."
"So it's possible."
"No," said Wally, shaking his head. "But instead of punching you in the face for even suggesting it, I'm trying to humor you."
Dick bit back a retort. "Wally-"
"Look, Dick," he interrupted, "I'll talk to Iris. But I can't believe you'd suggest this. I know my daughter, and I know how much she, for some insane reason, loves your little brother. Your brother, the assassin."
Dick looked away, clenching his jaw to keep him from saying something he'd regret.
Wally turned away, as if to leave. "Maybe it's best if my family just stays away from yours," he said. "At least until this is over."
"Don't do that to her and Damian," said Dick.
"But aren't you worried that she'll try to kill him again?"
"I'm sorry, okay? Don't take this out on them."
"I just don't know if I want my daughter around the sort of people who think children are capable of this-"
"Milagro was!" said Dick, and his voice had risen, and it rang through the bunker. He stood up and took Wally's arm, but the other man brushed him off. "Listen to me! Do you know how long it took Iris to get to the hospital room in Gotham from Keystone City the day Damian was attacked? Less than a minute. Almost instantaneously. How fast can you run that?"
Wally just watched him.
"And," Dick continued, "when she was in the hospital room with him, she did something. She healed him, or something, because we took him home that same day. His injuries should've put him into a coma. She did something."
"What?" asked Wally. "What could she have possibly done? She doesn't have any healing powers-"
"Wally," interrupted Dick loudly, staring into his eyes. "What if she can redirect the Speed Force? She took it from Jai, right? What if she can connect other people to it?"
"That's impossible," said Wally. "Jai was a completely different situation-"
"You saw that video from the Watchtower," insisted Dick. "Stop lying to yourself. You know how fast she went, and you know that she shouldn't be able to do that. And, by the way, I checked the security records at the Tower the night of Chris's attack. It said Iris was there the whole night. That's proof that she's faster than the security."
"Proof?" echoed Wally incredulously. "Of what? She was there the whole night!"
Dick pulled away slightly, taken aback. "What?" he asked. "No, she wasn't."
"Yes, she was!" continued Wally shrilly. "I dropped her off, I watched her walk in, and Roy went and got her and Lian in the morning. She was there the whole night."
The dark-haired man stared at him. "She didn't tell you," he said, and it wasn't a question.
"Tell me what?" demanded Wally. "What the hell do you know about my daughter?"
Dick didn't say anything, internally struggling with his conscience. Wally took hold of Dick's shoulders, his fingers digging into his flesh.
"Dick! What are you talking about?"
"Damian and Iris had a date," said Dick, his voice quieter now, more in control. "On the night of Chris's attack, they were here."
"Here?"
"In the penthouse," Dick explained. "I checked the security footage. They were here almost the whole night."
"The whole night?" echoed Wally, as if he didn't understand. "That's…that's not true…"
Dick pried Wally's fingers off of him and went to the computer, typing something in. Another video appeared. It was dark, but the camera quality was nearly as good as those in the Watchtower. The date and time appeared in the corner.
The camera faced an elevator, and Damian appeared, wearing nothing but a pair of pajama pants, slung low and uneven across his hips. When Iris appeared, she was fully dressed. He spoke to her wordlessly in earnest; they both glanced at the cameras, then a moment later, she drew him in for a long, deep kiss, and then boarded the elevator that Damian had just opened.
Damian stood there for a moment, in full view of the camera. The camera was so fine that, despite the darkness, there were clear, visible marks on Damian's chest, tiny red half-moon semicircles. Fingernail marks.
Wally looked away.
"She was here," said Damian. "I just assumed she talked to you. Or Linda."
"You knew about this?" asked Wally.
Dick nodded. "Damian told me."
"Damian told-?" Wally shook his head, his whole body trembling slightly. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Like I said, I just thought she'd already talked to you. It's not my business to-"
"You left them alone together?" he asked, fury rising in his voice. "On the night of the most serious attack?"
"They didn't know," said Dick. "Nobody knew."
"They're kids!" Wally shouted at him. "They're children!"
"They can make their own decisions," replied Dick stubbornly. "We did when we were their age!"
"This is different!"
"How?"
"Because they're our kids!"
Wally's voice rang out through the bunker, and Dick fell silent.
"This is my daughter," he said, more weakly now. "There's nothing on Earth I love more than my children, Dick. How could you…" He looked away, shaking his head. "You don't understand," he said. "You don't have kids."
Dick took the blow, swallowing the sting. "Wally-"
"Just stop," said Wally. "Stop."
He let go of Dick and took a few steps back.
"I don't know what you're trying to do here, Dick," he said. "Because you're sure as hell not helping them. And I don't think I want you around my daughter, if you're so sure that she's guilty but so convinced that Damian is innocent." He glanced at Dick. "I trusted him with her because she believes in him," he said quietly. "But that kid has it in him. You know he does. He always has."
"Wally," said Dick, reaching out to him. "Come on, Wally-"
But he was gone, and Dick was alone, a sinking, creeping sensation crawling up his spine.
