A/N

Thanks for all the support so far guys, 300 views and we aren't even halfway through the month! It's such an honour for me. The only thing which I need to see is more reviews/PMs, as I don't know whether people are actually liking it/what I need to improve, so please let me know!

Episode VIX: Don't Know What You Are Talking About, Part I

Back at the bastion of the Justice League - known to it's inhabitants as the Watchtower - a ragged, hastily brought together group of individual attempt to somehow elude the world's greatest detective in the Batman. Many believe it to be impossible, but from how they are describing the situation, the best they can possibly do is stall him for as long as possible.

Kyle and Hal need time to galivant on their adventures, and time is what they shall gift them. Whether it is only a few days or a few hours, that's the hotly debated subject.

"The Batman, guys," the Flash shakes his head. "No way are we keeping this from him."

"Perhaps we take drastic measures," Hawkwoman offers, to the group's immediate dismissal. "What? The Batman cannot investigate if he is enclosed in one of the Watchtower's superpower cells."

"He'll find a way out within a minute," Green Arrow rebuts the suggestion with a wave of his hand.

"Green Arrow is right. We cannot contain Batman for long.. but neither can we out-smart him forever," Wonder Woman says to the group, hands on her hips as her brain racks through all the scenarios this could end in. All of them are terrible. "If anything, the best scenario is one we don't plan. Batman will know if things are amiss, but if we act as though this never happened.. we may keep him at bay for a while."

"If he isn't suspicious already," the Flash comments.

"Batman is always suspicious, Flash, it's part and parcel of the whole 'loner' character he has going on," Green Arrow jokes, giving Barry Allen a friendly nudge on the shoulder. Flash reciprocates his humour with a smile, knowing Green Arrow might have a unique way with words, but is true nonetheless.

Batman is a stereotypical detective. Give him a bone, and he'll follow it into whatever hellhole it was thrown in.

The difference between him and a cop is he relishes the chance to heat it up a little. Whereas the cop might avoid danger as much as possible, Batman sees danger as the only thing in the job which keeps him on his toes. It's training, and with training, comes experience. Experience he can later use against anyone he deems a threat, both ally or foe.

Barry has always admired that part of Bruce. The one which keeps those around him sharp and ready, even when there's nothing to be wary about. If anything, he's preparing them for the day Bruce gives up his cowl - though it's unlikely to be coming anytime soon.

At the end of the day, and every other member - except for Martian Manhunter - can only guess the machinations whirring around in Bruce's mind. No-one knows whether he's going to save the day or purposely lose it for the sake of a greater plan, and it's frustrating for a speedster to say the least.

Barry Allen is the fastest man alive, but even he isn't quick enough to out-run Batman's scheming.

"It's settled then," Wonder Woman begins, looking over his motley crew, "we act as though nothing happened."

"Hold on.. how are we supposed to do that?" Shazam astonishingly questions, "We just saw an alien - who happens to be the living personification of greed- and we just saw Kyle, and he's alive! Kyle is alive! He's in space! All of this is too cool!"

"Breathe Shazam," Green Arrow shushes the child, placing a hand on his immortal shoulder.

"Come now Billy, there's plenty more excitement in store for the future."

Aquaman joins Green Arrow and places a hand on Billy's shoulder, to which Earth's Mightiest Mortal smiles at the two. Billy Batson may only be a kid in a superpowered body, but he's got a lot to learn and he's got an infinite amount of time to learn it. Perks of being an immortal, not that Barry would know; no speedster has ever lived long enough to test out how their bodies age apart from Jay Garrick, and even he isn't that old.

"Thanks guys," Shazam says, mouth plastered with a wide, happy grin as he saunters out of the room and into the hallway.

Barry hopes no-one saw Shazam escape from Wonder Woman's room with that grin, because he's certain there would be some explaining to do.

"I'll head to the monitor room, see if anything comes up with the children," Hawkwoman states, joining Shazam in leaving.

Doing the same, Aquaman gives a half-hearted salute as he leaves.

And then there were three. Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Arrow - two founding members and a mouthy archer.

"I guess I'll head out.. leave all the planning and deliberating to the big-shots," Green Arrow jests, semi-mocking the seniority of the two other heroes in the room. "Me.. just nock me tight and set me loose."

Merrily strolling out of the room, Wonder Woman sighs at the archers antics. Moments like these are when the Flash reminds himself the amount of times Oliver has saved his life, and it goes the same for every other Leaguer too. Everyone owes each other their lives in one instance or another - some just like to brag about it more.

"So," Wonder Woman smiles at Barry, "How are you taking all of this?"

Simple questions usually require simple answers. Having the ridiculous processing speed of a speedster actually makes things more complicated than it needs to be, Barry usually finds. There's not much deliberation needed to answer the question, but Barry still cannot find the correct words to use.

"I don't know," he answers honestly, to which Diana nods in agreement.

"Why can't they go back to the old days? Back when there were seven."

He can answer that easily enough.

"Too lonely, Diana, too damn lonely."

With that sombre conversation, the Flash took his leave and left the Princess of Theymscira to ponder by herself. Maybe it was selfish, but the scarlet speedster has enough things to think about himself. Starting and ending with Kid Flash - he has to find someway to help him, or Iris may never speak to him again.

Barry might be all too willing to forgive, but his wife is another matter entirely.

Despite the fact he's been neglecting Wally ever since his relative joined Young Justice, he still feels as though it's been for the better. Without his interference, Wally has grown in leaps and bounds since leaving his care and into Batman's. Whether it's due to Barry's own over-protectiveness or Batman's intensity, the West is shaping up to be a fantastic speedster, and one day will hopefully have the full powers to accompany it.

Being something of a scientist himself, he's been attempting to solve the problem of Wally's limited connection to the Speed Force for quite some time, but cannot get past the initial stage of obstacles. It's as if the Speed Force is teaching both him and Wally a lesson in overcoming their own limitations, and it's doing a fairly good job.

Wherever his young protégé is, he hopes Wally is trying his best to become better at every turn. The others too. They deserve to become better heroes and people as well, considering the horrors and tribulations they've been through.

Young Justice has been a resounding success, both for the League and the aspiring heroes. He only hopes they manage to pull through one final time; if they succeed, there's no denying they are true candidates to join the League full-time, at least in his eyes.

The others may see it differently, however its been this way since the founding. Barry with his stubborn optimism, and the rest with their each own individual quirks. On the Battlefield, it makes for a formidable team, but on the council floor, debates generally end in a stalemate.

Politics have never peaked Barry's interest, but recently it's become a necessary evil.

Like most evil, it's been growing and becoming stronger, until the point it may consume the whole League. Inaction has become prevalent, and the only times the League actually acts on something is when it's a true emergency.

The others times.. Leaguers do as they please and when they please.

Fire in metropolis - let Superman deal with it. Anything outside of the city you patrol is always someone else's problem, and Barry isn't immune from this way of thinking either.

Central City will always be the home of the Flash, and he's keeping it safe for as long as these rapidly tired legs will carry him.

He can't help but believe these children will bring about the much needed change around the League, and it's what inspires him to carry on.

A founding member of the Justice League taking hope from a young group of kids. Times really are changing.

"You okay there Flash?"

Removing his eyes from their perpetual view of the floor, he turns them upwards to come across the mighty figure of Superman. Imposing, yet calm and friendly as ever, the Man of Steel looks worriedly at the speedster.

"Tired, amongst other things," Barry replies, making sure to avoid the gaze of Superman as much as he can.

The Kryptonian may not be a fantastic detective like Batman, but he has the empathy of a therapist, and always knows when something is wrong with one of his friends. Although Barry enjoys this about Clark, now is not the time.

"I was thinking about getting some rest for a while," the Flash adds on, much to Superman's worried confusion.

"I've know you for quite a while now, and I've never heard you say that you want to rest," Superman states, placing a comforting hand on Barry's shoulder. "Are you sure you are okay? I can have someone examine you."

"I'll be fine, really," Flash makes certain Superman understands, and the Kryptonian politely nods and moves aside for Barry to continue. Though appearing to be deeply concerned, Superman seems to be more confused than wondering about the wellbeing of his friend.

He's not an idiot, Flash ponders to himself, giving Superman a mental compliment and walking past the Man of Steel with a final wave goodbye.

Strange, Superman shakes his head, astounded the great Barry Allen was not only seeming exhausted, but was clearly wrapped up in his own head. Superman expects as much from some of the Leaguers, but not the endlessly cheery Flash. Something is amiss.

"Superman," Batman speaks to the Man of Steel through Superman's super-hearing. "Meet me in the training area."

Although Superman appreciates Batman would like to keep somethings discreet and simply between the two, it's beginning to become a little bit of an annoyance when he abuses the Kryptonian's sense of hearing to do so.

A simple text or call would do the job, but as always, Batman does as he wishes.

Sensing the two situations cannot be a coincidence - it never is where Batman is involved - Superman hurries over to the training area of the Watchtower, where the usually packed section was quiet and eerie, apart from a small group of individuals crowded around the Dark Knight himself.

"Didn't know you had friends, Batman," Superman smiles, though as usual the bat doesn't smile back. "Bad joke, I know."

"We have a problem," Batman responds with his usual serious tone, though Superman can sense an even greater level than normal. "It's come to my attention a group of us have been acting.. suspicious lately, and left the Watchtower some time ago in a group. They came back earlier, but one of them was missing. Green Lantern Hal Jordan."

Superman dismissively scoffs. Here come Batman with his conspiracy theories again."

"Batman, Hal Jordan is more than likely the busiest hero in the entire Justice League. He has thousands of planets to patrol, so there's a perfectly good reason for him to leave," Superman returns, shaking his head.

"That explains one person," Batman shoots straight back with his inquisitive mind, "what about the Flash? Green Arrow? What explains them going into space, other than they know something we don't."

"You mean.. something we don't. I'm sure you have some idea," Superman smiles, enjoying their usual back-and-forth conversations. Batman forgets that Superman isn't someone he can leverage into agreeing with him, and it's often led to minor conflict between the two.

Normally, a tense silence would break out between them at this point, broken only by the intervention of some fortuitous emergency or the passing by of another Leaguer. However, this time Batman is stubborn and carries on attempting to persuade Superman to his vague cause.

"They are up to something, Superman, and you aren't stupid. I'm assuming you have noticed something odd since they have arrived back?"

There he goes again with that superhuman intelligence. Even Superman cannot hide his thoughts from Batman.

"Flash may have been acting more down than usual - a by-product of his protégé being potentially severely injured or worse."

"You know that's not true," Batman glares at Superman. "If he thought any of them were hurt, you'd be scouring the entire planet and nearby systems for them. So, I'm assuming you believe they are perfectly fine."

"Kryptonian's don't get hurt by large explosions. Even a clone of one," Superman fires back, returning the gaze of Batman completely. To back down to Batman is something he will never do unless he deems it necessary. If he doesn't, no-one else will dare.

"Wonder Woman, The Flash, Shazam, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Hawkwoman, Green Lantern - all of these have in common one thing, and that is a connection to at least one member of the team, be it a protective nature of familial ties. My guess is: they know where the team is, or at least have some idea," Batman explains his theory a little bit more clearly than he did at the beginning, and Superman begins to see the point in it.

"You think they know where the team is?" Superman questions, still doubting they would hide this from him.

"Maybe even helping them evade our detection," Batman answers, pressing a button on his gauntlet and a large holographic map displays in front of the gathered heroes. "Both Themyscira and Atlantis reported attacks, both meant to destabilise them and leave them defenceless to an invasion. The culprits? Both Black Manta and Circe, and both are rumoured to be apart of the Light - or what's left of it."

"How did they stop these attacks?" Superman asks, furrowing his brow and concentrating on what he believes Batman is implying.

"That's just it, Superman, as far as Queen Mera and Hippolyta are concerned, they didn't know anything about how it was stopped."

A trace of an arrogant smile fade away from Batman's face as Superman comes to the conclusion Batman has been thoroughly implying. Clearly, the team has been busy since they went off the radar, and if Batman can prove this, perhaps he is correct about the other Leaguers as well.

Annoying, they would hide this from him. Still, he can understand their apprehension in bringing this towards the Man of Steel, as it would also mean bringing it to the attention of Batman, who actually found out anyway.

Bringing his full focus back to the Dark Knight, Superman asks, "What is the plan now? Confront them with this?"

"Why would we do that?" Batman incredulously responds, as though the answer was much more simple than that. "We observe them. Learn what they know. If they are hiding something, letting them know we are investigating is a terrible idea. Even for you."

"This is the Justice League, Batman, not Gotham. We do things out in the open," Superman says, making certain the Batman understands the foundations of this League are built on trust and a shared view of justice.

"That didn't stop them," was Batman's simple, irritating answer.

Knowing Batman may be incorrect in his methods yet right at the same time, Superman is caught between his friends on the outside of the door and duty he has within. To abandon the openness of friendship for the skulking and loneliness of the Batman has never been a hobby Superman was in a hurry to indulge in, but as the situation allows, perhaps he can make a small sacrifice.

"Do it," Superman grounds, striding out of the room and listening to Batman as he leaves.

"Captain Atom, Hawkman - keep an eye on Wonder Woman and Green Arrow. Be careful. Green Arrow might act like a clown but his skills are not; the same goes for Wonder Woman. Manhunter, Stewart, Canary and Icon, your task is to spread out and learn as much as you can from the others."

Batman might be in his element as a detective, but there's no denying he also commands respect and discipline unlike many others Superman has witnessed in his life. In some ways, Batman is more akin to Lex Luthor than Superman. Both are strong, smart humans who know what to bend others into doing what they need them to do.

Batman is more dangerous.

Batman isn't blinded by his arrogance like Lex is.

There's a reason why Superman always keeps his cards as close to his chest as possible whenever Batman is around. Whilst these two factions are squaring off, he's going to do what he needs to.

Find the team.

A/N

Things are getting interesting inside of the Justice League as of late. As I stated earlier, please let me know how you feel through reviews/pms just so I can improve both as a writer and and a comic fan.