Part 9 – Bat Clan and Teen Titans
Bat Clan ages:
Damian Wayne (Son of the Bat), 27
Colin Wilkes (Abuse), 25
Timothy Drake (Red Robin), 21
Jason Todd (Red Hood - Gotham), 18
Cassandra Cain (Black Bat), 18
Barbara Gordon (Batgirl III), 16
Dick Grayson (Robin), 16
Dick pressed himself up against the window, watching the world rush by. It felt weird being in the back seat of the Batmobile. They rarely sat in the back seats because there was almost never more than two people in the car.
"Faster than the T-car," Roy snickered from the front seat.
"Yeah, well, I take safety seriously," Cyborg responded from where he was squished up against the other window. Starfire was pressed into Dick's side while Beast Boy and Raven were between the Teen Titan sandwich.
"Dick, was it?" Cyborg asked the black haired teenager. Dick frowned at him.
"What?" he said. Yes, he was being rude but he couldn't shake the image of Bruce being carried away by someone connected to the Joker. He knew the stories of what the Joker did to Jason.
So he wasn't in the mood to spill his life story to the Teen Titans, even if they were friends.
"You share many features with Robin," Starfire said. Dick brought his feet up and curled into the window.
"Ain't that somethin'," he muttered.
"Although, you appear smaller in size," Starfire continued.
Dick glared or would have, if it wasn't Starfire and her big, green eyes staring at him honestly. There was not a drop of malice in those eyes, only interest and desire to know more.
Dick found himself smiling.
"If I say I'm Robin, can I do this?" he asked, pressing into her body in a kind of pseudo-hug.
"Oh! You are in need to of the comfort, yes?"
"Yes, Star," he responded with a fond sigh. Starfire curled around him.
"We're right here," Cyborg said at the visible display of affection.
"You know, he didn't actually say he's Robin," Beast Boy pointed out, "what if he said it just to get a Starfire hug?"
"It's more like a cuddle than a hug," Cyborg corrected him.
Dick sighed.
"Beast Boy, real name Garfield. Vegetarian who spends most of his mornings arguing about how we shouldn't eat meat with Cyborg, who cooks meat just to bug you. Raven should know that it's me due to helping me when I was hallucinating Slade." Raven nodded. "That enough proof?"
"Hey, I love meat!" Cyborg countered. "Rob, you don't know what you're talking about."
"Right," Dick said slowly, blinking his blue eyes. They believed him however he realised that wasn't the hard part.
The hard part was making sure they survived his family.
Wally was already waiting when they arrived. He was munching on some sandwiches Alfred was holding on a tray.
He waved.
"Kid Flash!" Starfire greeted in response.
The Teen Titans looked around. The place was high-tech and sleek. They could see the people they had met standing up by a large computer screen.
"The rest of the Bat Clan are already planning," he said as they walked up.
"How'd they get here so fast?" Cyborg questioned.
"The car was programmed to take the long way back," Barbara explained, "and they could cut over rooftops."
Damian walked over in his Son of the Bat uniform. A black and white bodysuit adorned his body while a dark cape hung over his shoulders and a hood was pulled over his head. His face was covered by a pointed, black domino mask.
"Get dressed," he ordered, looking at Barbara and Dick.
"There might be a problem with that," Steph called out while Jason and Cass discussed something beside her.
"Like what?" Son of the Bat growled back at her.
"Jay ditched the Robin uniform back near Jump."
"So? We have spares here."
"Leave him to figure it out himself," Tim said as he placed his Red Robin mask over his face.
"Master Richard," Alfred said, holding out the spare Robin outfit.
Dick snatched it and held it in his hands. His mouth twitched between happy and annoyed.
"What's wrong?" Raven asked.
Dick held it up to his chest.
"It's too small," he said.
Son of the Bat let out a grumble.
"It will take too long to get Dick a Robin costume which fits," Wally sighed.
"You can't get it?" Roy questioned. Wally should be able to get the tower and back in only a few minutes, at most.
Wally shook his head.
"Titans East are there. They have Más y Menos," he said by way of explanation.
"I know that. So what?"
"What do you think will happen if they catch Kid Flash in the tower?" Dick asked.
"Um...don't know, don't care?"
"Think interrogation. They'll want to know what he's doing there and a whole lot of other things. It will take a lot of time for Kid Flash to talk his way out of it."
Roy thought about it remembered what Bumblebee could be like. She took leading Titans East very seriously and would make sure to ask Kid Flash a lot of questions.
"Okay. I get it. But, it's better than nothing."
Son of the Bat tilted his head.
"Abuse thinks he has something. I'll go check it out," he reported, summoning his bike with a hidden button on his wrist. He jumped on and roared away without waiting for anyone to react.
Not that they did. The Teen Titans figured that Damian did this often.
"We might have something as well," Jason said, pulling on his Red Hood helmet. "Let's go, Black Bat."
Cass nodded.
Steph watched them go with a wistful look. Then her gaze sharpened as she wheeled around to face the screen, her Oracle symbol screensaver giving way to maps and information.
"Where do you want me, O?" Batgirl asked.
"Check out these warehouses," she responded as a few locations lit up in red. "These are places were Harley's been known to hang out."
"Got it," Batgirl said, giving her a salute. "I'll get Mr. Wayne back."
"Teen Titans," Red Robin addressed them, "there's a gym, training room, medical bay and a number of other rooms to explore. Enjoy."
"Say, wha'?" Cyborg muttered.
Dick sighed, Beast Boy's ears drooped, Starfire looked confused and Raven's dark aura flickered around her.
"Come on, guys," Dick said. "I'll show you the gym."
The Teen Titans followed him, although Beast Boy and Cyborg complained about being dismissed and not given a job to help. Starfire nodded and frowned. Raven said agreements where appropriate, although she disagreed with Beast Boy's idea of knocking out the other heroes and going to save Mr. Wayne themselves. They had no idea where to start.
"Are we really going to just hang around here while someone needs help?" Cyborg asked Dick.
"Yeah! He's like your father, right?" Beast Boy commented. "Don't you want to help?"
Dick had ignored their whining. He tried to ignore how his family had stuck him on babysitting duty looking after his team. He also tried to ignore the clenched feeling.
But all three together were eating away at his self-control.
"Of course I want to help!" Dick bellowed at them. "Bruce is my mentor. Without him, I wouldn't be standing before you all today. Which is why I brought you here."
"To the gym?" Cyborg and Beast Boy questioned in blunt confusion.
"This is going to involve sneaking out, isn't it?" Raven commented.
Dick smirked and nodded.
"Ah, Master Richard," Alfred said from the door, causing the Teen Titans to jump in surprise. He was carrying something black in his hands. "I do hope you weren't going to do something silly like sneak out to save Master Bruce. Not without a mask." He placed the black outfit on a nearby bench and left.
Dick looked over the outfit. A simple black piece which would cover his neck down to his wrists and ankles. Alfred had even provided gloves to cover his hands and Dick glanced at the entrance of the gym to see a pair of black boots.
It would be enough.
Enough for him to search for Bruce and save him.
Dick picked up the mask which had been placed in the folds of the clothes and placed it on his face.
"I'm going to save Bruce. Who's with me?"
"Alright!"
"Yeah!"
"I am, I guess."
"Of course, Robin."
Kid Flash raced through the streets of Gotham before coming to a stop in front of an Orphanage.
"Hello!" he greeted the children. They stared at him for a few moments before one of them recognised him as a hero.
Then a swarm of children rushed towards him, asking questions, telling stories and giving hugs.
"Can anyone take me to see Father Wilkes?" Kid Flash asked quickly. He received variations of 'he's with Damian'; although the children called him 'Uncle Damian' and 'Mr. Damian'.
Roy fiddled with his arrows, trying to create some new trick arrows. He was working in earshot of Oracle and Red Robin.
