Chapter 30: Definitely a Disaster

Batcave

Year 2011

December 30th

Jason is 11

Cass is 9

Tim is 8

Stephanie is 7

Robin is 13

Batgirl is 14

Batman is 30

"Turn it up! I can't hear what superman's saying."

"It's just Uncle Clark's usual BS about truth, justice and the American way, timbo. Calm down," Jason said with a shove.

"Master Jason!"

"Sorry Timmy."

Tim looked at him warily, then shrugged before sitting himself on the arm of the monitor chair. Stephanie had squeezed herself in beside Barbara in the chair itself, leaving plenty of room. After all, the thing had been made for a man of Bruce's size.

"So, Superman is reporter Clark Kent. No wonder Lois Lane works with him so much." Stephanie squirmed in the chair and squinted to try and look closer. "You guys really know all of these people?"

"Most of them," Barbara said putting a hand on Stephanie's shoulder and pulling her back down. "Well, Jason and I do. I don't think Cass and Tim have met everyone yet."

"John Stewart is always on a mission when we come. And I don't think Hawkman likes kids."

"Master Carter likes you just fine, Master Tim. It is your older brother he is wary of."

"Dick?"

"No, dumbo. Me," Jason said leaning back into the seat as he crossed his arms. It was a struggle keeping his balance on the chair's arm as he did so, but Dick made it look easy, so he had to be able to do it too.

"Wait, what happened with you and Hawkman?"

"Shh! I can't hear!" Stephanie turned from one side to the other to glare at both of them.

"They're adding a lot of people to the League this year. Dick says Plastic Man is hilarious. I think they met at Wally's once."

"That's Kid Flash, right?" Stephanie said bouncing up and down. "So, Dick's met all the new people too?"

"We've all met Fate when he was Zatara, and we all know Roy. Dick's just probably meeting everyone else as Robin now," Barbara explained as Superman handed out each membership card. She shook her head watching Roy walk up for his. "Roy's actually in the League now. I can't believe it."

"I don't. get why they still won't let any of us join," Jason said. "I mean, Billy's even younger than me and he's in the League."

Steph turned to look up at him. "Who?"

"Turns out that Captain Marvel is ten, he becomes an adult with some magic word or something. So unfair, not like he has as much training as any of us. Neither does Roy!"

Alfred put down the tray of celebratory cookies. "Master Jason, you know the League accepts only people over 18. Billy Batson is on probation according to Master Bruce. And Master Roy is now a full-grown adult, he has been a hero for nearly five years, the League was happy to accept him now that the time has come as it may for each of you one day."

"Fine. I get it," Jason replied shortly turning back to the screen. But he didn't, it just didn't make sense. Roy had been acting like a jerk since the whole mess in July. July 4th had changed everything, for all of them, Dick, Barbara, Wally, the entire group. The team. All the sidekicks and partners. Roy had been the oldest, the one they looked up too, even if Dick was the most experienced. Roy was supposed to be the big brother, to encourage and protect them. That was what he used to do.

Now he just acted like they didn't exist, at least not Jason. It was the worst. That used to be the best thing about Roy, even though all the others were younger than him, he gave them his time and attention. There was no more Redhead Club, no more of any of that.

Last year, Roy and Wally had been there as all the Batkids watched the induction on the monitor. All of them talking about the day they'd join the League themselves. Now, it was actually happening, and Jason wasn't sure if his older friend actually deserves it.

Maybe the guy was right. It wasn't fair that he and his brothers, sisters, Barbara and now even Stephanie got to know all the League's secrets. The watchtower for example, he'd watched the induction there with Dick once, the year Red Tornado joined. And he remembered how his brother said he wished his friends could be there, that they could be welcoming their new family member together.

But now Roy joining the League didn't feel like him joining their family. It felt like him leaving it. That was what the secrets did. All of them sitting here were secrets, hidden from the world as heroes. They deserved to be part of the league and team just as much as anyone else. But the world only knew and loved Robin. Dick had changed everything, and now so had Roy. Children heroes and now a team of teens.

His brother wasn't just a part of their family's team anymore, and neither was Roy. Apparently, growing up wasn't everything people said it was. There were still good parts, solo patrols, more freedom, even the chance to be Robin on some nights. But apparently, growing up also meant growing apart and Jason hated it.

Hall of Justice

Washington D.C

Inside the Hall, Robin was watching the monitor as Roy achieved what they'd all said they wanted, joining the League. At least now he was part of his own team, and they even had their own member inducted today in the form of Icon's apprentice Rocket. (Not sidekick, never a sidekick.) The poor girl had stumbled into a mess, as evidenced by Wally's comment about Billy. Wally excepted Dick's adoption of team as family a little too easily, trusting Rocket with that secret before there was even proof, she could be trusted.

It was the secrets again, the rules and expectation, the ones keeping them from being outside with the League, the ones keeping Batgirl, Red Hood and all the others from standing beside him right now. This year had given him a chance to see what others did, see how much they didn't know and just how much he was different because of his experiences since that night in the Circus.

No one else here was able to understand the people and things around them like him, the words, speeches, actions and little movements like Zatanna looking away as the camera focused on Doctor Fate. She might have it harder than him, with no Bruce to take her in, and a father who was right in front of her but didn't even acknowledge her. Robin stepped forward to put a hand on her shoulder, the physical contact reminding her that someone was there and seeing her in that moment.

Rocket gave a whole speech about the invisibility that came with being a kid, a teen when Icon was handed his card. It was lucky his sunglasses covered the way he rolled his eyes as Wally made a sage nod as he munched on an apple. Kaldur looked to the girl with a smile.

"Welcome to our world."

"Well, I suppose there's an upside, too."

They did not need more drama on the team right now. Even Kaldur seemed to be losing his modicum of sense.

He was distracted from this line of thought by Roy being zoomed in upon, as Green Arrow handed him his card. Wally cheered and the three of them, the ones who had been there that day exchanged looks.

"Way to go, Roy!"

"At last he has his wish.

"The first of us to make it. No one will call him a sidekick anymore."

"Wait, since when is being a sidekick a bad thing? You sidekicks were my inspiration."

And maybe the new girl had a point. Because Roy might have been the first to make it, but Robin was the first. None of them would be standing here without him. He'd had to prove himself, over and over before Batman acknowleged him as his partner. That's what he was, even if the world just assumed, and the rest of the teen heroes were never equals, but apprentices, students. Robin was more, and now they all were. They'd proven that several times over during the past six months.

And the beep from his watch meant they'd need to prove it again today. It also meant a whole lot more drama, secrets and revelations. Jade Nyugen, Jade Crock, whatever you wanted to call her had just been ID'd, That meant a family reunion and fight, and when one secret came out, others usually followed.

"Guys, heads up. We have a lead on that case. I've just got an alert that Chesire has been identified."

"Dude," Wally groaned. "Did you just make that pun?"

Robin rolled his eyes but snickered. "I'll have to remember that one. Wasn't even on purpose."

Kaldur stepped between them. He looked at the rest of the team. "Enough. Everyone, we leave in five minutes. M'Gann, prepare the bioship."

"Got it!" The martian's voice still had a smile with it as she floated off to find the ship where it had been cloaked in the Hall's garage.

"Wait, we're leaving? What about Icon? And the League?" Rocket asked as they separated.

"You're part of the team now. Unsactioned missions are kind of are thing." Wally wrapped an arm around her as he zoomed back in. Raquel gave him a look of disgust and shrugged his arm off.

"Yeah. Okay. Not like Icon needs me here now. But seriously, will someone tell me what the hell is happening with this team?"

In fifteen minutes, they were off. He had a feeling they didn't need to be so timely, which was good because it took over an hour to fly to their destination. Most of that time was taken by introducing themselves to Raquel, again, and explaining everything, leading to where they were now.

There was no way he was the only one pegging the anxiety in Artemis's voice as they entered the mountain range. Everyone would probably just attribute it to her failure on the last mission and previous experiences with Cheshire, but Robin knew that tone. High-strung and secretive, protective and worried, scared and angry, all at once. Something only siblings made you feel.

"I mean, are you absolutely positive?"

"See for yourself,"Robin said pulling up the footage while studying her out of the corner of his eye. If this got bad, her anxiety and family troubles could put the whole team into even more danger. Analyzing and strategizing was his job, even if it meant unwraveling all of his friends' secrets and strifes. And he was done with all these secrets. Once his friends revealed theirs, he'd start working on giving up his own. By then, trusting his team would never be in question again. He was sure of it.

"This is the security footage from the Ashfield Regional Airport. Facial recognition confirms that's Jade Nguyen. But you've seen her without her mask. What do you think?"

That was easy, Artemis was terrified of her secret and her sister at the moment. But she seemed resigned to there being a revelation of all of that now as she confirmed her sister's identity as Cheshire. It was the way Wally was looking, betrayed and suspicious that made Robin nervous.

"Agreed, but focus on what she carries." At least Kaldur had regained his objectivity. He was focused on the mission and the details. "Is that the case you saw in New Orleans? The one that got away?"

"Okay, I'm guessing from the mugshot that this Cheshire's the bad guy. But what's so important about that case?"

"Isn't that the case," Robin chuckled to himself. At least the rest of them were just as clueless as her here. Still, their garbled story and recapping of events hadn't been super clear. That's why he always liked to use a visual presentation when he could to. A few taps of his gloves brought up a new map and pictures.

"Remember the Injustice League?"

"And their giant evil plants? Uh, yeah."

That day was especially memorable for several reasons. For his siblings and their big chance at heroics, for Icon at finally getting enough recognition to be placed in the League, and for the Team, for putting everything together. Or so it had seemed.

"The team and the league put them in prison, but their allies still scheme and whatever is in that containment case seems important to their plans."

Allies, yeah right. It seemed the Injustice League were the allies or more likely minions here, or at least now it did. He was starting to be fairly sure.

"We had a chance to grab it New Orleans but someone screwed up."

It was lucky M'gann interrupted with an update when Wally said that, because the guy was just digging the hole he was in deeper and deeper. Feeling betrayed was understandable, but they couldn't let their hormonal drama mess with the rest of the team. If this didn't end this week, Robin was pulling an intervention and literally slapping sense into his best friend.

Artemis had flinched at the statement, but now was even worse. Her shocked gasp, and the way she turned her head away almost shattered things as much as the crash in front of them. "Looks like there was no survivors."

And he couldn't comfort her without giving what he knew away. Robin shook his head. Wally spoke up. "Split up and take a look around?"

"Yes," Aqualad agreed. "That sounds like the best course of action."

Did none of his friends notice anything? If they hadn't been suspicious with the whole Artemis thing, why not the crash sight? And when they did question it was all the wrong things.

The plane hadn't crashed. The angles were off just a bit, the way things were thrown around meant something had interfered. This wasn't just bad flying from being under the radar. He managed to find a piece of the plane's flight computer mostly intact, but it had been erased. The question was to reveal the play or wait for them to do it? He kind of wanted to see how long it would take the team to figure anything out.

Kaldur was way too focused on the case and their 'unfinished business.' Rocket and Wally were more focused on questions involving their own interference from his hacking. Surprisingly, it was Connor who figured it out. The quiet ones were always the most observant.

"Where are all the bodies?"the angry teen yelped throwing a piece of the wing away.

A flash of movement caught Robin's eye. Of course, the quiet ones were also the most dangerous too. Cheshire stood on a ledge above them. "Here's one. And it is stunning."

Artemis seemed to let go of a breath she was holding, only to gasp again at the next sound. Robin groaned inwardly. He'd had enough of stupid clues and riddles this December with the Sportsmaster mess. He did not want to deal with Nygma now.

"I am flora, not fauna. I am foliage not trees. What am I?"

Seeing the thugs, Riddler and other two bad guys above him with a shield generator made him rethink this whole mission. "Hey, c'mon. You can get this." Even if Ed was annoying, he was one of the nicest to Robin and the other kids, at least in Gotham. During one of his better months, he'd left a riddle scavenger hunt for the new kid, when Jason had just started out. Of course, Batman had solved all of it and double checked the probability of it leading into a trap first. Like this one. "I am shrubbery, not grass. What am I? I…"

"Am..bush." And it was definitely official, he should have said something.