A few minutes after the chatter between Bruce and Clark finally slowed to a close, everyone settled down in one of the manor's smaller living rooms. Dick and Bruce sat on one couch, while Clark and Lois sat on the other. Lemon drizzles sat on a low table between them.

"Alright." Lois pulled out a small notebook. "Let's get the most basic question out of the way: why?"

"Why what? Why am I choosing to adopt Richard?"

"Alright, why are you choosing to adopt Dick? But also why are you choosing to adopt, period. You never mentioned this was something you were interested in."

"No, but mom and dad did. Don't you remember?"

"That was years ago and I thought, wait-" Lois turned to Clark. "Do you have the notes on the foster care investigation?"

"Yes? Why?" Clark quickly flipped through his notes. "Oh! They were the family that was considering- Wait, I have a new question. Why you, when the original plan was for your parents to adopt him?"

"When we found him again I was the one who got to know him first so it made sense. Besides, I am an adult now."

"Found him again?" Lois asked. "How?"

Bruce looks over at Dick, who had been sitting quietly the entire time. He had looked Lois and Clark over when they sat down though his eyes kept flicking back to Lois. "Do you want to answer this one, chum?"

Chum? Bruce was definitely embracing fatherhood already.

Dick sucked in a deep breath before he answered the question. "I was the one who saved Bruce from getting shot."

"Bruce!" Lois flung her hands in the air. "What the heck!"

"Someone had to do something!" Dick protested. Which was not the point. The point was that Lois's cousin had gotten into a really absurd situation. If she thought about it, it did make sense that if any teenager was going to save someone from an assassination attempt it would be this one. Actually, wait-

"Didn't you get shot?" Lois turned to Dick. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Bruce patched me."

Lois turned to Clark to check to make sure she was not the only one finding this situation slightly absurd but he was still looking at Dick. Dick watched as Clark seemed to give Lois a subtle shake of his head. How was he able to confirm the healing?

Dick ducked his head at the scrutiny, "It was a light graze anyway, according to Mr Thomas. Grandpa I mean."

Bruce grinned, "Dad did say you can continue calling him Mr Thomas if that makes you more comfortable."

Lois didn't let the heartwarming scene distract her. If Dick was diving in front of bullets intended for Bruce that meant; one, this was probably connected to that bird group he claimed was secretly controlling Gotham and two, the aforementioned bird group wanted Bruce dead. Nothing about that was good. Neither Bruce nor Dick had mentioned anything about that but they needed to talk about this.

She put her notebook down on the table. "Okay, we're going to go off the record for a bit here because I need to know: Does this have anything to do with anything else mysterious that might be going on in Gotham?"

"Something else going on in Gotham," Dick frowned. "That sounds absolutely ridiculous."

"Maybe not. The Waynes are public figures."

"Lois," Bruce interrupted. "You don't have to be an investigative reporter about everything."

"Alright, for once there isn't any great conspiracy." That anyone here wanted to tell her about, at least. She and Clark could still continue their investigation later. "I'm not going to make you two go over that whole incident. So my next question

is, if you don't mind me asking, Dick, where have you been these past several years?"

Dick's eyes flicked back and forth. "I've...been on the run mostly. After…"

"After what?"

"I escaped from them." Dick whispered.

You don't need to go there, chum." Bruce said softly.

"But I do! There are other people trapped in there. Maybe if my story gets out, then it'll be easier for them to get out." Dick turned to face Lois, "When I was ten, I ran from the detention centre. Bruce told me that what was done to me by the CPS, by that woman specifically, wasn't right and that the investigation was… I don't know, it took a long time."

"It did." Bruce added sadly.

"When I ran from the Centre, I thought I would spend some days on the streets. Figure out where Haly's went and go home. Instead, these people snatched me off the streets. Brought me underground and…" Dick let himself get overwhelmed by emotion and 'broke'.

Clark, who had mostly been quiet until this point reached out a hand to try and comfort him at the exact same moment Bruce did. Dick leaned into Bruce for comfort, though, he did give Clark a small nod of acknowledgement.

"I think they must have been a cult," Dick said. "I'd rather not talk a lot about what happened, I didn't see the sun in years. There was this… thing. Beneath the city. It got you so lost, you couldn't tell what way was up and down. I met other people going around in circles till we got delirious. And then, when you were about to break they'd give you a kindness."

"Why do you think they must've been a cult?"

"They were a very insular group that didn't like it when people even considered leaving.

"But you got out."

"I did. I think I just got lucky. There was a passageway that… I don't know, it led outside." Bruce was rubbing his hand in circles on Dick's back to support him. Dick took a deep breath before continuing. "I had a chance and I took it. I want to get my story out there, so that other people know that they're out there. And know to be careful."

"Do you have any advice for people trying to stay safe from them?"

"Don't go out alone, especially at night. If you have to, make sure someone knows where you are. I...I don't actually know. I was a kid when they grabbed me. I just think it's important that people are aware. That they know. And that it's possible to get away. I'm sixteen, going on seventeen and I got away. If you're out there, and you're stuck, you can too."

"I think that's enough for today." Lois tucked her pen back into her pocket and closed her notebook. "I've got enough for my article and I'll definitely be able to warn people about this 'cult.'" She grabbed one more of the lemon drizzles and smiled at Dick. "I'm sorry our first meeting had to be all business like this. I'm looking forward to getting to know you."

Clark quickly wrote something down on a blank page of his notebook before tearing the page out. He dropped on the table. "So you can contact me again, Bruce."

The two reporters said their brief goodbyes to the older Waynes and Alfred. They turned down the offer of a couple of the guest bedrooms since they had gotten a room in a hotel closer to the center of the city.

"So," Clark said when they got back into the car. "I think that was more than either of us was expecting."

"Yes," Lois said. "And thank you for the assist in there." Her sarcasm was palpable.

"Hey! You were doing just fine on your own."