White Collar
Peter found Neal looking like he had spent the whole night up with Mozzie. And he had somehow made it to work before him.
"Neal, my office, now."
Damian was confused. Peter sounded angry but he was certain that he hadn't done anything to make him so. Lately at least.
"Were you up all night with Mozzie?"
"No." In fact, he wasn't certain where Mozzie was. That could be a problem, especially if it involved Damian's bat-gear.
"Okay." Peter seemed pleased with that response. There was another problem though. "Now, could you explain how Diana found a Batmobile on the roof?"
"What?" How did she find it?
"She ended up running into it. She doesn't know what the invisible thing was, but you just confirmed it for me." Peter seemed to realise something. "That Batmobile is yours, isn't it? Not Red Robin's."
"You think that-" Damian was offended that Peter would think that his batmobile was Drake's work! "I created that batmobile myself!" With some help from Grayson. Both Grasyons. Dick knew his way around Damian's machines and blueprints while Mar'i had literal fire hands she could use for soldering.
"Can you hide the batmobile somewhere else?" Peter asked with a suffering sigh.
Damian nodded and accessed the program from his phone. It synced with the programming in the batmobile and triggered the 'go home' program.
"Is this going to be a regular thing? Am I going to have to worry about whatever vigilante stuff you have stashed around?"
"No. Honestly, I haven't really done that much since becoming Neal Caffrey."
"Neal Caffrey isn't your real name."
"It's real enough." It was. Damian had created documents that were foolproof because he had registered a number of identities as a child and slipped them through the cracks before the cracks were sealed.
Peter looked him over. They both knew that Damian would refuse to answer if Peter asked. It seemed that he wasn't going to bother.
"Are you sure that Red Robin is trustworthy? I've looked around, his reputation is almost non-existent and those who have heard of him don't really want to talk about it. 'He's not Batman but just as terrifying so stay out of his way' seems to be the most common advice."
"He's fine. Remember how he told you about who I used to be?" And Damian was still annoyed at that. Not even a gaming session with Chuck was enough to convince him to not throw a knife in Red Robin's direction when he next saw him.
And Chuck tried to convince him.
Damian continued, "he also used to hold the mantle. Right before me actually. He took 'Red Robin' when I took over his role."
"So?"
"We're... brothers." And it still hurt to admit it. Family wasn't always made of the best people and while Drake wasn't the worst, he also wasn't a great brother.
"That's probably the most unconvincing sentence I've heard from you," Peter commented with a grin. However, "you don't seem to be lying," they both knew that Damian, that Neal, wouldn't lie to him.
"He didn't seem like a good person."
"None of us are good people." Damian pointed at his anklet to illustrate that.
Peter didn't quite agree. It was obvious from the way his face wrinkled. Damian was slightly touched that Peter thought that he was a good person but it was also weird. He bit back the urge to correct Peter.
Escape
Chuck couldn't sleep. He had thought that having his mother and Sarah back would be all he needed for a good night's rest but he couldn't help going over the last couple of days in his head.
He had taken down Volkoff and almost gotten himself killed more than once doing it. If Volkoff hadn't underestimated him, he would probably be dead now.
He had arrested Volkoff and secured transport to the hospital to see Ellie, who had given birth to his new niece. And he had to get rid of Jeff and Lester after they hijacked the hospital intercom in order to play music while Ellie was giving birth. He had been less successful there but it wasn't like the world would be in danger if he failed.
It had been so busy. Yet, he couldn't sleep.
"Can't sleep?" Sarah asked as he crawled out of bed. He had been hoping not to wake her while also knowing that she would wake up the moment he moved. "Yeah," he responded. "I think I'll just go for a walk or something." He slipped out of the room after assuring Sarah that he didn't need anyone going with him. After all, with Volkoff in CIA custody, there was no one after him.
It hurt that he couldn't tell her that he could handle it, even if there was someone after him. Because, to be honest, there always was.
Moments, and a single spoken word, later, Chuck hovered above the city. His half-cape fluttered in the wind and the city below him was spotted with lights. It was calming up here. His problems felt small as the world continued to turn slowly.
Even if his problems came from what he could and couldn't reveal to his family. Sarah probably deserved to know but he wasn't certain whether to tell his mother.
Come to think of it- he barely finished that thought before he stared flying towards Gotham's outskirts. It was good that he could fly just as fast, if not more so, as Superman. He could make it Gotham and back to Burbank in one night.
The Soap Opera of Chuck's Life
Chuck waved to Batman and Orion as he flew over to his father's cabin because both of them had been paranoid enough to set cameras up along the path. It meant flying below the tree tops and nowhere near his top speed.
But that was better than surprising his father or the bat. Both of them would not hesitate to fire upon an unknown.
His father was standing in the doorway before he even arrived.
"Dad."
"Son. You did it."
Slack-jawed, Chuck still managed to say the word to transform back before wondering how his father found out. "Did what?" Maybe he was talking about something else? Maybe this was related to Neal?
"Volkoff is arrested and your mother is back with us. Although," Stephen paused for dramatic effect, "there's still one issue."
"Huh?"
"Volkoff."
"But, but I already arrested him?" Why would that be an issue? And why wasn't the issue about how to tell his mum that his dad was still alive?
Stephen gave him a tight smile. "Do you really think your mother would abandon you because of a criminal mastermind? No."
Well, actually yes, they did think that. Parents abandoned their children for less. Chuck had seen that on the streets as Billy Batson.
"Okay, what's the real reason then?" he demanded to know. "You get one chance to explain before I go to Batman."
Stephen sighed. And took a seat inside. "Not even Bruce would be able to find out about this."
Bruce? Chuck would have to text Damian and warn him that their father's were getting along.
"We never told anyone but someone else tested the Intersect before you."
"What?" Chuck had thought he had been the first. He had downloaded a prototype Intersect as a child. Who could of had it before him?
"Volkoff is a result of the first human intersect testing and the main reason I kept my creation out of the CIA's hands."
Stephen told Chuck about testing a new way of sending agents undercover; downloading their new identities into their brains. However, Volkoff's identity took over the mind of the person it had been downloaded into. Orion and Frost lost their friend to the Intersect and had vowed to get him back.
"You're telling me that Volkoff is really MI6 scientist, Hartley Winterbottom?" Stephen nodded. The weight of the Intersect felt heavy as Chuck realised that this thing in his head had overwhelmed someone before him, completely destroying their original personality. "Right. We're fixing this." Chuck ignored Stephen's surprised look. They had all the pieces they needed. Stephen had already tried to take out the Intersect in Chuck's head, which meant he could do it. And getting Volkoff out of the CIA's clutches would be child's play. After all, they had already done it once with Bryce.
