Chapter 7

"When's he gonna wake up?" Wally asked for about the millionth time.

"I've cleared his mind. He has to wake up on his own." M'gann informed him. "He'll be fine."

"You guys still up? You know, my ma always told me that a watched kettle never boils. Standing over him like that isn't going to wake him up any faster." Clark told them.

"He's right. We should really head to bed too. Roy will probably be awake in the morning." Robin said. "God, I hate sleeping here."

"What? You miss Batman's cave?" Wally teased.

"Yeah, I think that's what I miss the most. I hate sleeping up here." Robin sighed.

"I miss my room at Uncle Barry's. This place is so..."

"Sterile? Spotlessly clean? Annoyingly hygienic?" Artemis supplied.

"Yeah. Those are good words for it. There's no individuality."

Unbeknownst to the team, Superman sat outside the medical ward and listened carefully to each quiet complaint.

"Even the cave sounds nice at this point. We have our own space there." M'gann's shoulders slumped. "I could use the kitchen any time I wanted."

"Aw...you have no idea how good cookies sound right now." Wally groaned.

Superman finally had to leave them. What if they couldn't get them home? Where would the children go? Who would take care of them? Barry had completely dismissed the children and he knew he couldn't count on Bruce to take them in. They certainly couldn't stay on the Watch Tower.

"I have been thinking much the same thing. I would like to see my niece grow up happy, even if it means that she must stay with me." J'onn said.

"Sadly, I don't think the others would be so willing." Superman rubbed the back of his head. "I'm afraid to even bring it up."

"Do not be afraid, you may be surprised."

"Living arrangements? They aren't staying here." Flash cried.

"It's something we need to take into consideration! What if we can't get them home? Where are they going to stay?" Superman reminded them heatedly.

"You talk like this country doesn't have a foster care system. The government can find them a home." Hawk Girl cut in. As far as she was concerned, they weren't her problem.

"You honestly want to try to put a group of teenage heroes into the system? They'll rebel and we'll have another fight on our hands." Green Lantern warned her. He'd seen the foster care system at work. Those kids would have lost their minds in a heartbeat.

"He's right. This is something we need to start thinking about. They're used to having mentors; they'll need others to guide them." Wonder Woman added. "What about Robin and Kid Flash? They're used to Batman and Flash. They should be around the two of you."

"I don't have time for a child."

"He's not a child anymore, Bruce. He's in the business now. I'd imagine he's pretty mature." John reminded him.

"And he can hold his own in a fight. You would make a good team."

Before Bruce respond, Barry cut in, "I don't understand why this falls on us. We didn't bring them here."

"Until we send them home, they're our responsibility. We're going to do what's right Barry."

"And what's right is putting everything on hold for a bunch of kids?"

" Yes, in case you didn't notice, we had another kid pop up here today." Superman reminded him. "We need to figure out how they're getting here."

"He's right about that. And from what Robin's told us, this one isn't a partner anymore. He's not going to want to stay up here like a kid." Black Canary chimed in. "We can't control them forever."

"Exactly. They can't stay cooped up. We're going to have to let them move around a bit. The longer we try to cage them, the more they're going to fight us." Superman rubbed his forehead. Childcare was definitely not his specialty.

"That still leaves us nowhere. You can't force League members to take in children. No one's going to willingly step up to that plate."

"I will." Aquaman said. "Aqualad is welcome to come back to Atlantis with me should we not find him a home."

"I will also help. Miss Martian is welcome to stay with me." J'onn said.

"And I'd be willing to take in Superboy." Superman finished.

"That leaves Robin, Kid Flash, Artemis, and our newest arrival. Anyone else willing?"

"Robin said Roy knew Oliver and me best. He and Artemis could stay with us." Black Canary finally conceded.

"Hold up now, are we sure we want a kid who hates me around the house?" Ollie stopped her.

"Who knows, it could be a bonding experience for both of you." Dinah touched his hand. "We can't just leave him here."

"Still Robin and Kid Flash. Bruce..."

"No."

"The other you trained him. He can handle it Bruce."

Batman grimaced. He couldn't imagine having a child running around the manor. He loved his privacy, his quiet.

"Fine. But he will behave." He growled.

"I'm sure he'll be on his best behavior. He's a good kid." Superman couldn't stop his smile. "Keep in mind, you'd have to be on your best behavior too." He said gently.

"Do not push it."

"So looks like it's just Kid Flash now. Barry?"

"No."

"Come on Barry, Bruce said yes. You're practically a teenager in man's body." Clark laughed. "You never know, you might actually end up liking him."

"I'm hungry. We should go get food." Wally whined.

"You already cleaned the cart Superman brought. How can you still be hungry?" Artemis demanded.

"I have a super-fast metabolism remember? And besides, I don't think Roy would want me to starve." Wally shrugged.

"I don't think Roy would want a lot of things right now. I think he'd want to be conscious." Robin glared at him.

"True, I think he would want that. C'mon Roy." Wally shook his shoulder again.

"God! Will you just leave the guy alone? This is probably the most peaceful sleep he's had in a while. Let him enjoy it." Artemis growled.

"She's right. I thought we were going to bed." M'gann yawned loudly.

"I can't spend another night sleeping here." Wally complained.

"It does not matter whether we like it or not. We must do what we have to do." Aqualad sighed. "We do not have a choice."

"Actually you do." Superman smiled at each of the kids.

"What do you mean by that?" Robin looked speculatively at the man of steel.

"Your friend is well enough to be moved. Oliver has a rather decent medical ward in his home. We were hoping to move you all to earth." Superman grinned.

"Earth. Like, our earth or this one." Kid Flash's eyes grew wide.

"This one. We haven't figured out how to send you home yet but we thing you would be so much more comfortable on earth. I hope I was right."

"Like a hotel or something? That'd be better than this place. At least we'd have somewhere with some personality." Artemis stood and stretched. "This is going to be fantastic."

"No, I didn't mean a hotel. You see, the Founders and I have been talking and we thought that maybe you would like it better if you could be with your original mentors…just this world's version of them." Superman explained.

"No way. He's already made it clear that he doesn't want me around. Why would I want to subject myself to anymore torment?" Kid Flash crossed his arms defiantly.

"You know, I'm with Wally on this one. You don't like us. Why would you all the sudden want to take us in. I doubt it's out of the kindness of your heart." Artemis stood next to him.

"We aren't letting you take Red Arrow. He's staying with us." Superboy stood up as well. The three teens formed a protective wall around the unconscious hero.

"Hey now, I'm not trying to force anything on you. we're just trying to make things more normal just in case…"

"Just in case of what? What Clark?" Robin stood as well.

"Just in case we can't get you back. That's a possibility guys. For all we know, cross dimensional travel only works in one direction. There's always a chance that you might have to stay here with us here forever." Superman looked to each face. "I don't want you all to be surprised."

Kid Flash's breath caught. In another dimension forever? Without his real family. "No. Barry won't let that happen. You may not care enough to try and save us but…our families won't leave us high and dry. They're searching for us. They're going to find us."

In Another Universe

"Ted? Have you found anything?" Superman asked. Ted Kord lifted his goggles to face the man of steel.

"Nothing more than when you asked me ten minutes ago, Superman." Blue Beetle had been called in to look over the situation. J'onn had traveled, stretching his mind as far and a wide as he could in an effort to locate the missing children.

"They are no longer on this plane." He said. "I cannot detect them anywhere." He informed the League.

"You mean…you mean they're dead?" Barry cried out despondently.

"No. I would be able to sense them if they were dead. They're bodies would still give off an energy for me to sense." J'onn said. "They seem to no longer exist in this dimension. I cannot sense them anywhere."

"What about the other kids and Roy." Ollie asked.

"Roy has vanished as well. As for the children…it is strange. I can feel a hum but I cannot pinpoint it. It is as I their minds are no longer their own." J'onn attempted to explain.

"That's just great. We've got some really freaky stuff going on." Ted said. "But don't worry. I can probably make a device powerful enough to rip a decent size whole in the space time continuum. Chances are that if they're in another dimension, we'll be able to lock onto them and pull them back to safety." Blue Beetle swung his wrench around. "It'll take time though. Time and a really large energy source."

"But you think you can get it done." Batman pushed.

"Oh, I can get it done."

"Good, get finished. Clark, leave him alone and let him work." Bruce snapped.

"Okay. Okay I'll let him work. How about we go check out that hum your felt J'onn?" Superman suggested.

"Yes, we should go."

"Lantern and I will see what we can do about a power source." Diana said.

"Then let's get moving. We've got a lot of work to do."

AN: Okay. So guys, I hope you've been enjoying this story. I'm thinking about doing some art for it but I'm not sure. Leave me a review and tell me what you think. BeeTeeDubs, if you want to do art, just message me. I love art! Deviantart is my other baby.