A/N: Thank you so much to everyone following along my journey with this story! I'm so excited to share my plots and characters with you, and I genuinely hope you enjoy it all. Your support means a lot to me. :)

Watchtower

January 18th, 9:47 PM

The large marble doors leading into the meeting room towered over Dick like an overwhelming parent. Yes, overwhelming, it was one of the few times he allowed himself to consider feeling that way, but truthfully how could someone be just whelmed by a giant, glorified super-hero clubhouse... in space? Really he didn't know why he was so... emotional. He'd been in the Watchtower plenty of times over the past few years, but rarely ever to attend a meeting. Then again, he was never formerly invited to any of those meetings in the first place.

He tapped his foot quietly, his masked eyes glued onto the set of doors for a long while, despite knowing full well that the meeting had started over forty-five minutes ago. But what was he meant to say? He'd basically said all but 'fuck off' to the League when they had extended their invitation, and now here he was standing outside their doors like a little kid about to ask their parent to go out with friends.

Why was that the first analogy he thought of?

Dick frowned, drawing his gaze away from the doors for a moment as he crossed his arms tightly over his chest, pursing his lips. He was distracting himself from the matter at hand. The big... intimidating, stupid matter at hand. He did that too often... maybe it was psychological, or maybe it was-

Focus, Grayson!

As if on cue the small phone on his belt buzzed, prompting him to pick it up and check the screen. The letter icon blinked followed by a bat symbol, indicating the text was from Bruce. With slight hesitation, Dick tapped the message, a look of shock washed over his features as he read through it.

B: Are you going to join us or stay out there?

"How did he-" Dick scrunched up his nose slightly, slipping the phone back onto his belt before giving a small huff and rubbing both gloved hands over his face. He paused a moment, staring once again at the large marble doors with an unsure gaze. After another few moments of nervous brooding, he quietly stepped forward, reaching for the handle of the door, pausing, then grabbing it and giving it a small turn.

In all honesty he hadn't expected the Leaguers in the room to stop their conversation entirely and turn their heads to observe the young hero's entrance. Embarrassment began to wash over Dick as he flickered his gaze from person to person, noting both the familiar faces, and the new ones, immediately taking notice that the long meeting table looked extra cramped with new recruits. All for this new meta-human crisis no doubt.

"Nightwing, wonderful for you to join us.." Wonder Woman was the first to break the awkward silence, straightening her posture and offering a gentle smile toward the young man.

"I thought you were a no-show- ow.." Captain Marvel began to speak up but received a sharp elbow from Green Arrow.

"I have a right to change my mind, don't I?" Dick responded quickly, doing his best not to flinch at the harsh tone in his voice. Geez, he really wasn't helping his case.

"Yes. You do." Superman was the one to respond this time, nodding toward the slightly riled Captain Marvel. "And we're very glad you did so."

Rather than continue to speak, Dick furrowed his eyebrows and moved toward the table, looking for a way to dramatically sit down before realizing there weren't any remaining chairs. So instead, he stood in an attempted dramatic style, his gaze sweeping over toward Batman who sat rigidly, giving Dick a sideways glance. The young acrobat couldn't help but grimace slightly. Even with the cowl on, he knew when he was receiving the Batglare. The only real question was why he cared.

It took a few moments for Dick to realize the persistent silence, so he quietly spoke up, casting his gaze around to each of them.

"Well don't stop on my account, I'd actually like to be filled in if it isn't too much trouble."

It was no surprise that Batman spoke up, picking up a small remote to display various pictures of partially destroyed buildings.

"As you know the recent rise in meta-human crime is evolving into an international crisis. The reason for the increase is still unknown, but the United Nations is calling for a quick fix. They've proposed the idea of camps for young meta-humans to attend, the main focus to teach them to control their powers and offer mental support if needed."

As he spoke, the Dark Knight clicked the remote, displaying different designs and models of these summer camps, and then paused at an advertisement depicting elated children roasting marshmallows at a summer camp.

"However, these camps will not be optional. Any meta-human, eighteen and younger, will be forced to register and attend these camps until they reach the age of nineteen. They aren't to have any interaction with the outside world save for one visit a month for family members only."

The League quietly listened along, occasionally glancing over to Dick to try and read his reaction. He didn't have to, but he let them have it. He didn't stop himself as his face screwed up into a display of subtle disgust. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest as he listened to Batman, his eyes narrowing on the screen ever so slightly when he stopped at the image of the children over the campfire.

"So far the League is in favor of these camps." Batman concluded darkly. Dick caught on to the very subtle disapproval in his voice as when he spoke and he wondered if the Leaguers had caught on to it as well, or if Bruce was choosing to remain neutral on the subject.

Dick however, would not reciprocate this choice. Instead he gave a small scoff, glancing over the faces at the table before leaning in slightly.

"Yeah we've had these kind of camps before. They were called internment camps and they were built on discrimination." the young hero smiled in disbelief, giving a small pause before continuing, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "In case you're not familiar with that, it basically means imprisoning innocent against their will people because they're different."

Wonder Woman lowered her head in thought or shame, Dick couldn't decipher what she could be thinking at that moment. While the others seemed to quietly consider his words, Martian Manhunter glanced up.

"We understand this viewpoint, Nightwing, but it could be a chance for these children to learn and grow in an environment fitting for them."

"You mean in a prison disguised as some sort of peachy summer camp." Dick retorted softly, momentarily silencing the martian.

"No. In a safe environment with other kids who are going through the same hardships and the same changes. It could be stimulating and beneficial in the long run." Hawkwoman cut in, staring firmly back at the hero.

"Right... I guess it beats the alternative.." Flash added gingerly.

"What alternative?" Dick glanced toward him with narrowed eyes.

"Belle Reve." Superman was quick to come to Flash's aide. It seemed to Dick that his Nightwing persona was starting to have a slightly similar effect as Batman did. He wasn't confident in saying he was intimidating anyone in the room, not by a long shot, but there was a certain level of tension or perhaps respect when addressing him. He would find it funny if he wasn't so pissed.

"Belle Reve?" Dick repeated curtly. "You mean to tell me that if these kids aren't forcefully shoved in some summer camp with people they don't know possessing unpredictable abilities they'll end up in prison? Now we're supposed to judge character off if a kid has powers or not? I thought we were better than that."

"That's not what we're trying to say-" Green Arrow attempted sheepishly, but he was quickly shot down by Dick.

"You're saying this camp beats the alternative, but it sounds to me like you're imprisoning them either way."

Silence fell over the room for a long moment. The various Leaguers exchanged distressed glances, while Batman sat back in his chair, observing with a blank expression. However, Dick noticed a slight twitch of his lips, as if he were offering just the tiniest ghost of a smile toward his former protege. After a few more seconds of tense quiet, Hawkman spoke.

"I think they're more dangerous being unpredictable on the streets than with other kids like them..."

Dick frowned slightly as murmurs of agreement spread over the table.

"We can't be expected to babysit, there are other pressing matters than dealing with petty crimes and this is taking up all our resources..."

"Right... Even if we don't agree with some of the guidelines with the proposed plan we can tweak them to make them... more..." Green Arrow raised his hand slightly while speaking.

"Humane?" The young acrobat practically snapped out his response, his gaze flickering about the table.

Despite his initial belief that things were starting to go his way, he noticed the various heroes of Earth, although conflicted, seemed to have reached a decision. Batman however, was still stiff as a statue, his hands now folded in front of him on the table. Wonder Woman, after having remained silent for the majority of Dick's time in the meeting room, finally raised her head up from where she had lowered it to think.

"We'll hold a vote and see where we stand. We'll go with the majority and settle the disagreements with the U.N.." She announced carefully before turning her attention toward Dick. "I'm sorry, Nightwing, but you're not officially a member.. we welcome your opinion as our guest but can't have you participate in the vote. But maybe in the future you could-"

"Don't bother." Dick frowned, making sure his disappointment in his former idols would be obvious, even to Flash. "I'm not interested."

Without waiting for any sort of response, Dick quietly turned on his heel and stepped away from the table, keeping his posture straight and his head high. But deep down he was crushed. The people he had looked up to all of his life had just torn up his heart because they didn't want to 'babysit' confused metas. As he walked through the now quite whelming marble doors and back out into the open area of the Watchtower, he only had one thing on his mind.

For once in his life, he was confident the League was doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons, even if they thought they were right.

He just wondered how long it would take Bruce to come to him with the real plan.