Bruce was having secret meetings. Jason was sure of it.
Every night this week instead of going out as 'Batman' Bruce had instead been staying at the manor and meeting with a group of people. Jason wasn't supposed to know about it, technically he was meant to be in bed but something mysterious was going on and he was determined to know what.
He snuck closer to the door where the meeting was taking place, leaning in to peer through the crack.
There were two men and a woman in addition to Bruce himself; Jason could only hear snippets of conversation.
"…run…so fast your head will spin." The guy in the red t-shirt was saying, a wild grin on his face. The man almost seemed to vibrate with excitement.
Bruce nodded in approval, then turned to the other man who Jason could only see from behind. He was wearing a bright blue t-shirt and was freaking built, he held himself tall. "You can handle it?" Bruce was asking.
Blue nodded and Jason strained to hear "…smash the roof off…bring it all down…"
"Be careful." The woman told him firmly.
"…no…worry…literally can't hurt me…"
Bruce was moving now, gesturing for the woman to follow him to the drawing desk to look at something, his voice loosing some clarity as he turned away from the door.
"Diana, I need you to...fly…invisible…"
The woman followed to stand next to him more quiet words were exchanged.
"Will…wrap up…confess the truth…"
The door suddenly pulled open and Jason felt his heart racing a mile a minute as he almost fell through into the room but caught himself at the last second. Busted.
Glancing up he saw the guy in blue peering down at him with an amused grin, Jason was shocked to see him, certain that the guy had been on the other side of the room just a second ago; he didn't look surprised to see Jason though. Almost like he had known Jason was there. Weird.
"I'm just gona head to the bathroom" Blue called back over his shoulder slipping out the door and closing it gently behind him as Jason retreated to the other side of the hall. He waited until they were a few meters down the hall before suggesting pointedly that Jason should probably head to bed before Bruce caught him. Jason nodded, relieved that blue had decided not to snitch.
"Thanks." He muttered, still a little embarrassed before running off.
Back in his room he compiled a list of everything he had heard.
Red – Runs fast. Super-fast.
Blue – Strong. Can't be hurt. Smashes roofs. Can fly? Can see through doors. X-ray eyes? Also, fast.
Lady – Can fly. Invisible. Invisible plane maybe? Can make people tell the truth. Wraps them up? With what? Rope? Like a cowboy?
This was awesome.
….
It was Barry who had noticed the problem first, inconsistencies in reports passing through his own forensics' lab and upon further investigation several others. Evidence vanishing. Details changing. Reports being lost and re-tests producing different results.
He brought it to Bruce.
They had become aware of each other's work some time ago and knew that the corruption in the legal system went well beyond mob interference and bribes.
Bruce did his own investigation and arrived at the same conclusion. Something shifty was going on and it all linked back to crime scenes connected to the same organisation. A full scale coverup.
Clark knew why he had been brought in. There were too many officials involved in this, very few in the legal chain could be trusted. Prompting an internal investigation into the evidence tampering wasn't going to cut it. That would just be swept away like the rest.
They needed the public to be made aware.
Only full-scale outrage was going to route this out. Lois was going to be furious when she learned she had been kept in the dark on this one.
"Barry, we know where their next move will be, when the evidence comes into the lab you need to be efficient, get everything tested and reports submitted to our own guys before they have a chance to intercept."
Barry grinned bouncing a little on the balls of his feet "I'll wait at the station, as soon as it's in my hands I'll run the tests and have the results to you so fast your head will spin."
Bruce nodded and Clark straightened up as sharp eyes turned to him; he subconsciously flexed his shoulders under the scrutiny "We need to provoke enough of a stir that there will be investigations happening before they have time to cover it up. You think you can handle it?"
Clark nodded eagerly "Absolutely, I already got the first draft written up. Should cause a real frenzy, we're gona smash the roof off this operation and bring it all down."
"Be careful." Diana told him; her concern shared by everyone in the room. These were dangerous people and it wouldn't be the first time a reporter was targeted for getting too close to something like this. They were all at risk realistically but Clark more than the others since his name was going to be publicly attached to the story.
"I will." Clark assured her with as much bravado as he could muster "No need to worry, this is going to be so outrageously public that they literally can't hurt me, not without further implicating themselves."
It was an optimistic outlook but Clark had always been a glass half full type and wouldn't be in his line of work if he wasn't willing to take risks.
Bruce moved over to the set of blueprints he had prepared of the gallery where the Star City commissioner was due to be on the day the story broke, they were confident he was the head of the operation within the police department. With any luck his subordinates would waste no time informing him of the expose and they were hopeful they could catch some snippet of conversation tying him to it "Diana, I need you to stick close to him but don't be obvious about it, be a fly on the wall, all but invisible."
Diana nodded, moving to stand beside him, both of them reviewing locations in the gallery where the man might go to have a conversation he didn't want heard and where someone else might stand to hear it.
"If he says anything incriminating, I will hear it and once we wrap up everything, they will have no choice but to confess the truth"
Clark moved quietly towards the door as the discussions carried on, already regretting the three cups of coffee he had gulped down since arriving and praying he wouldn't get lost on his way to the bathroom again, stupid giant maze house.
He grinned at the sight of a slightly shifting shadow under the door, it would seem they had a little spy. Yanking the door open just enough to startle the kid but not expose the eavesdropper to the others in the room Clark stepped out, calling back over his shoulder to let them know where he was going and leading the boy away.
Clark hadn't officially been introduced to Jason yet but Bruce had mentioned he was a bright kid, not quite as outgoing as Dick had been but still brave and kind.
Knowing Bruce, he wouldn't get mad if he knew the boy had been listening in on them but this operation was delicate and really not safe for a child so Clark just gave his best (sadly poor) impression of his mother's 'do as I say' face and quietly suggested that;
"Maybe you should head up to bed before Bruce catches you snooping around hu?"
He felt a little guilty at the wide-eyed panic on the kids face before Jason thanked him and ran to comply, disappearing up the stairs.
Clark shook his head in fond amusement. Nice kid.
Now…where the heck was that bathroom?
…
"Dick, I'm telling you, he's got a whole team! They can fly and run fast and one of them can see through walls, and he's indestructible."
Dick bit into his fist, overwhelmed by the cuteness he was listening to. Due to his position in the police department, he was well aware of the operation Bruce was currently involved in and even had a minor role to play in things, but of course he couldn't tell Jason that.
On the other end of the line Jason grinned, bounding across the living room with the phone pressed to his ear, cape fluttering behind him and a wide array of craft supplies spread across the floor.
It had taken him a while to figure out all the names and costumes for his 'Justice league' and was proud of what he had achieved so far. He'd been introduced to the woman, Diana, when she came to dinner a few days after the secret meeting and learned that she was born on a Greek island where she was raised by her mother and had left home to join the army, which was totally awesome.
He'd even met the guy in blue again when Bruce took him along to a meeting he had in Metropolis. Apparently, he was a reporter, which was pretty cool. Jason never would have guessed that and thought it was a perfect secret-identity for Superman, especially since he looked so different in a suit and glasses. Jason almost hadn't recognised him at first. Only when Bruce went over and talked to him, grinning and shaking his hand. Bruce told him they had been friends for a long time. Ever since Clark had interviewed Bruce once years ago.
Red, Jason wasn't sure about yet but he'd figure it out eventually.
Logically Jason understood there was more to the meeting he had overhead than he really knew, but Superheroes was a way cooler explanation and he wasn't going to be swayed from it.
The sound of footsteps approaching caught his attention.
"Bruce is home, I gotta go."
He barely heard Dicks hasty "Ok, talk to you later." when the door opened and Bruce strolled in, his eyes widening at the sight of the chaos all around and Jason in the centre dressed in his inherited costume.
"What are you up to J-bird?"
Jason smiled, proud to show off all his hard work, he held up the drawing he had put together.
"What's this?" Bruce asked, obviously remembering all the bad guy's Dick had invented once upon a time for Batman to battle with "More villains to fight?"
Jason rolled his eyes, obviously they weren't villains, they were too cool!
"No. Not villains. This is the Justice League."
"The Justice League hu?"
"Yeah. Every good superhero needs a superhero team."
So obviously Batman needed the best team.
He pointed to the middle of the drawing where Superman was floating, mostly blue but with a red cape for flare.
"That's Superman. He's Batman's best friend"
Bruce smiled at him looking delighted.
"Is he now? Well then you need to tell me everything about him."
…
Listening to Jason explain to him about the Justice League was exactly what Bruce needed after a stressful few weeks. It was made even better later that night when he got to call up Clark, Diana and Barry and inform them all of their new superhero status.
It was hard doing this job sometimes, but moments like this made it worth it.