"…All right, then. Meeting adjourned," Superman released them. "See you two over in medical?" he asked Batman and Flash as the others filed out.
"Yeah."
"Be right there." When they were alone, the speedster turned to the cowled man. "You know, this is the second meeting in a row you've wanted to talk to me afterwards; people are going to start thinking we're friends or something."
"…Mm."
"Hey, I'm just letting you know. I thought you might be worried about your image."
"You're in a good mood."
"I'm trying to use it all up in case we go down the hall in a minute here and find out we're still capable of being remote controlled by a lunatic. D'you mind?"
"…No."
"Good. So, what did you want to talk about?"
"The boys know each other."
Flash blinked several times. "Excuse me?"
"I gave Robin permission to share his identity with Kid Flash."
"…Excuse me?" he repeated, unable to believe his ears.
"You heard me."
"Oh, I heard you, I just don't believe it." A slow grin spread across his face. "He pouted, didn't he? I'd just bet he's got one hell of a set of puppy-dog eyes. Did he call you 'daddy' again? Was that it?" His mouth sealed itself as he saw the other man's lips disappear into a thin white line. Oh, shit, too far?
"…None of those things were required." Goddamn it, Clark.
Damn, that kid is good. "Oh," he said lamely. "So…huh. What…what happens next, then?"
"…I have no idea." They were quiet for nearly a full minute, thinking.
"Well, we could try getting them together like normal people," Flash suggested finally. "That would be a start."
"You'd have to arrive by Zeta tube."
"We could run and come in through the cave mouth."
"No. I prefer not to disarm the entry defenses unless necessary."
"You did last weekend, didn't you? What's different about now?"
"They weren't disabled, but both the car and Robin's costume would have been recognized by the system."
"Um…and if Kid had needed to get back in without either of those things?"
"…There was a reason I told them to stick together, Flash."
"Aaand now I'm regretting asking," he groaned. "Okay," he threw up his hands. "So we come through the tube."
"Yes."
"The boys go play, or whatever."
"Correct."
"Enjoy each other's company."
"Ideally."
"And we…?"
"We?"
"What, am I supposed to just drop him off and go home?" he crossed his arms. "Leave him with such a terrifying, difficult host?"
"Robin is neither of those things."
"Robin's not who I'm worried about."
"…Just bring the boy, Flash. We'll work it out from there."
"You want to play it by ear?" he raised both eyebrows. "Batman playing it by ear?"
"Drop it."
"Okay," he shrugged. "But don't get mad at me if we end up glaring across a table at each other for half a day with nothing to say."
"I find it difficult to imagine you going half an hour without having something to say."
"…Did you just make a joke?" he stared at him.
Why did I say that out loud? "…They're waiting for us," he stood up.
"You did make a joke! Maybe that serum of Sawyer's isn't such a bad thing, after all." The cowl's lenses didn't have to be up for him to feel the burning glare that comment was rewarded with. "Yeah, okay, too soon. Sorry."
"I'm going to check on the boys. You should go ahead."
"Hey, wait. What day did you want to try this, uh, 'being regular people' thing?"
"…Next Saturday."
"Sounds good." Passing him, he almost clapped a hand on his shoulder, then thought better of it. "See you down the hall."
"Yeah." When Flash had disappeared towards medical, he sighed. What did I just agree to? God, I hope I don't regret this… Shaking his head, he made his way back to the lounge. Entering, he suppressed a snort. Infomercials. I should have known that was what Robin would want to watch. I don't know why he derives so much pleasure from gimmicky advertisements. He could see just the top of Kid Flash's head over the back of the couch, and approached silently. Asleep, he noted the older child's closed eyes. And you, too, little bird, his mouth softened beneath his cowl as he looked down. Robin had curled up with his head on the other boy's knee, clutching his bad arm against his stomach, and was utterly passed out.
Batman glanced around, searching for something to cover them with, and was disappointed. This place is poorly stocked, he realized. Something ought to be done about that if there are going to be children spending time here. And after tonight's revelation I doubt we'll be able to come to a meeting without them, even on top of allowing them to see each other in the civilian world…
Unable to do anything to make them more comfortable, he left them alone, all but dragging his feet towards the medical section. If it didn't work, he mused, there's nothing more I can do except monitor Sawyer. It was the same thing he'd told Robin, and he knew it to be true, but it left him with a bitter taste in his mouth. Robin, he breathed silently. What do I tell you, kiddo? If the cure didn't work, what do I tell you? You're still having nightmares, I know that now, and they'll only get worse if you know it's permanent. You've been better the last few days, all except this thing with Sawyer. You can't start at a new school exhausted from bad dreams; you need to be able to concentrate on your studies and on making friends. I can't knowingly hinder that. Not if there's any other option.
He loathed the thought of lying to his son, though. Yes, he was only a child, and sometimes it was best that children not know the travails of the adults in their lives, but there were other factors beyond that to be considered. He's frighteningly precocious, Batman acknowledged. He may very well just know if I try to lie to him about it. I can lie easily and convincingly to virtually anyone, even some mind-readers, but him…he's different. And I swore to myself when I allowed him to become Robin that I would not lie to him unless telling him the truth put him at risk. It was true, he supposed, that telling him the cure had worked would protect him from the potentially damaging night terrors he'd been experiencing of late. On the other hand, Robin needed to know that Sawyer could hypothetically manage to get control over his mentor again in order to protect himself and others in such an event. I don't know what to do, he grimaced angrily as he turned into the scanning room. Curse you, Daniel Sawyer.
"Batman," Superman addressed him first as he entered. "We've got some good news."
"It worked!" Flash grinned deliriously. "Sawyer's serum was no match for J'onn's cure."
"…Your scan was clear?"
"Completely. Right back to normal."
"The machine is ready for you, Batman," Martian Manhunter informed him.
"…Scanning me seems superfluous, since we know your solution worked," he countered, suddenly not wanting to know. It worked on Flash. That's…that's good enough. I can tell him it worked, and it won't be a lie, because I won't know if the truth is any different. I can still monitor Sawyer and otherwise act as if it didn't erase the serum effects in my brain. We avert the possibility of a takeover, and I don't have to lie to my son.
"You showed more advanced development, though," Superman reminded him gently. "We know the cure works when administered at the stage Flash was at. We need to know if it's effective later on, too."
I know that, he wanted to growl. If he stated as much, though, they'd want to know why he'd suggested he didn't need a scan. He didn't feel like arguing, and he sure as hell wasn't going to explain, so he had no choice but to go along with it. "…Fine. But make this quick. The boys are both asleep," he informed Flash.
The speedster's smile broadened. "Are they curled up together again? Because I've been keeping a camera around since the night of the mission, just in case."
"…No. They aren't." He turned back to J'onn. "You said it's ready?"
"Yes."
"Good." Trying to keep his mind blank, he swept into the next chamber and positioned himself on the table. As it slowly rolled back, he closed his eyes. I don't know what to tell him if it didn't work. Please, please don't make me have to come to a decision on that. Just…show up clear. I don't want to have to lie to him, and I don't want to watch him deal with any more nightmares than he already has to, either.
Next door, the other three men huddled around the monitors. Flash tapped his fingers against the counter, speeding up unconsciously as the images seemed to take forever to come up. He's got to be clear, he fretted. I am, and I know there were differences, what with my faster healing abilities, but…he's got to be cured, too. It's not right otherwise. What's he going to tell Robin if he's not?
"Aah…Flash?" Superman was looking at him sympathetically.
"Yeah?"
"Your hand?"
"Huh? Oh, hell." He'd been so distracted by his thoughts and waiting for their answer that his fingers had vibrated their way almost a knuckle deep into the surface they'd been drumming on. He pulled them back out with a glare. "Sorry."
"It's all right," the Kryptonian said.
"No, I'm afraid it isn't."
Both their heads swiveled back to J'onn. "What?" Superman asked him to clarify.
"Look." The Martian's face was grim as he indicated certain parts of the image that had finally appeared.
"…Please tell me the computer screwed up and we're looking at his last scan," Flash begged numbly.
"No. This is live. The structural changes are still present. Comparing them to the previous picture," he pulled it up quickly, "you can see that the process was very nearly complete when we administered the solution. The only thing that kept you from suffering the same fate was your faster immune system response, which managed to greatly slow the progression. His, being normal, was overpowered by the speed of the serum." He shook his head. "I will continue to work with what's left of the sample, but I don't believe that there is any way to reverse it now."
"…Get him out of there," Superman ordered quietly. No one spoke as the table rolled back out and the black-clad man climbed off of it.
He didn't have to ask; the atmosphere of depression when he entered the observation room told him all he needed to know. "…No one is to mention this to Robin," were the first words out of his mouth. "Nor to anyone who might let it slip to him," he turned pointedly towards Flash. He hadn't known what his decision would be until the words were leaving his mouth, but once he'd spoken, it was final in his mind. I have to protect him from what I know will happen rather than what might happen. The nightmares are the more immediate danger right now.
"…You can't not tell him, Batman," the Kryptonian argued. "I know it's not what you wanted to be able to announce, but he needs to know."
"What if Sawyer comes back?" Flash pressed. "He knows the boys exist, he could go after them next time."
"The risk of Sawyer taking control of me again is something I've already considered," he said roughly. "But I have the remote, and I will monitor the situation."
"He has to know," Superman insisted.
"No, he does not. The odds of this becoming an issue in the future are far lower than the odds of him being hurt by the information you want to give him." I shouldn't have to explain this. He's my child, I can tell him what I choose. He needed the complicity of the others, though, if he was going to truly keep Robin safe from the information that he knew would haunt his sleep. He'd been difficult enough to soothe when there was still a possibility of a cure, and even with Bruce's confident reassurance he was still worrying. Telling him will only terrify him needlessly. Sawyer could die in a federal cell, for all we know, and then I'll have hurt my son for nothing. No. He can't know, not until the threat is real again.
"I don't understand," J'onn broke in. "In what way would he be hurt by knowing about a potential danger?"
"Nightmares," Flash murmured, his experience with Kid Flash giving him an edge over the other two in understanding what such knowledge would lead to in a young mind.
"…He's already had a few," Batman disclosed grudgingly. "In which I'm on an uncontrollable rampage, destroying things and killing people. I won't watch him go through another of those if it can be helped. No one," he growled, "is to tell him. My scan came back clean; that is the story he will be given. Flash…"
"I know," he interrupted. "The boys are too close for Kid to know if Robin doesn't. So you want me to lie to him."
"…Yes." I'm sorry.
"And what if I say no?"
Batman froze. Damn it, Barry. Don't be like this. "You don't think Kid Flash is likely to have nightmares, too?"
"Yes, but not as bad as Robin's." Although he's not going to be very happy having to lie to his friend, especially if Robin finds out he's been hiding it from him. "I don't like to lie to him, Batman."
"And I dislike lying to Robin. But in this instance it's necessary." He steeled himself. "…I'm asking for your help, Flash," he muttered, not looking directly at him.
Oof. What the hell do I say to that? Batman, literally asking for help. He didn't want to do it. At the same time, though, he remembered the helplessness he'd felt under Sawyer's control, and the threats that had been made. Sawyer was tempted to make him beat Robin himself, he recalled. I know he remembers that. And I'm sure Robin remembers being hurt, and Batman not being able to move a finger to help him. That alone, plus the idea of him being ordered to kill…shit, I might have nightmares from that stuff now. He closed his eyes with a frustrated sigh. I'll never be able to sleep at night if I tell Kid and it gets back to Robin. Just the thought of a nine year old trying to deal with those kinds of night terrors…what if the situation was reversed? What if it was Wally and I in their places? "Fine," he caved exhaustedly. "I agree. I won't tell him. For now," he added an addendum. "But…I think we should talk again down the road, when they're a little older."
"…Agreed." He paused. "Thanks."
"J'onn?" the cowl turned towards the Martian.
"…Forgive me for having noticed, but you and Robin have a unique bond. I believe that you know better than anyone how he is likely to react to such news. I also sense that putting him through the visions that you fear will visit him would cause you a great deal of stress and pain. That would be detrimental to your skills as well as his, especially if it continued over a period of time, as you suspect it would. You also truly believe that this is the better path. And, as you pointed out, Sawyer's return is uncertain, if not unlikely; Robin's nightmares are all but guaranteed. As such, I must agree with your decision. But please keep in mind that he must be told eventually, and that at that time you will have to explain to him why you spoke an untruth."
"I know." I'm not looking forward to it, to say the least, but…hopefully he'll understand. He understands so much already, I think he might be able to forgive me for this. "Superman," he said finally, his voice more a threat than a question.
"I think you're making a mistake," he opined frankly. "Both of you. It's your decision, though. But if Sawyer is freed, or escapes," he crossed his arms, "then you have got to tell them. For their own safety, you won't be able to hold it from them then." If it comes to that, I'll tell them myself.
"Agreed," Batman nodded tersely.
"Of course we'll tell them in that case."
"Okay. Well…I guess we're done here, then."
Without another word, Batman turned and walked out. Flash followed him towards the lounge. "…Batman?"
"What?"
"Stop a second."
"…What?" he repeated, coming to a halt.
"…I stood up for you in there. So…I'd like you to answer a question for me. Honestly."
"…What?" he allowed.
"Are we really doing the right thing, with them?"
The lips beneath the cowl tightened. I don't know. I really don't. "We're doing the only thing we know how to, Flash," he answered brusquely.
"…Yeah," the speedster breathed as the other man continued down the hall. "I just hope it's enough."