It was a bit tricky getting the next scene done right with the way I've been writing him, but had to include as much as I could. Things are going to click now, but everything will be figured out tomorrow. Enjoy DaddyBats and Big Brother Dick! ^^V

Dick-16/17 Jason-13 Cass-11/12 Tim-9 Damian-3

Sacrifice

16 – Probes

Slade was going over security footage of the fight, pleased. This job was a true test for the lad. Not only did he have to steal from 'Daddy Bruce', but he also had to prove his resolve when he fought the Titans. Them or his siblings. Really shouldn't be a hard choice. Renegade hadn't held back except for not using the thermal blaster. One little push though and he did exactly as he was told.

"My apprentice is progressing even faster than I had hoped." He grinned as he spoke to himself. "All he needed was the right… motivation."

"Motivate this!"

Dick dropped right in front of him, throwing his fist clamping his mask, straight into his master's face. The anger coursing through the teen had built itself up all the way there. Slade had pressed the button. Slade had used the trigger. He used those probes he injected into his family and the Titans! The pain heroes near his age had endured was worse than anything he ever felt, ever seen, and he made a three and nine year old take it! Cass and Jason could handle it better, but he never wanted any of them to suffer again! They both endured so much… The stress of those probes would have killed the younger two! How dare he… How dare he!

Unfortunately Slade caught the punch and squeezed his fist until he was too far forward to keep balance. The man threw him backwards, forcing him to flip into a landing several feet away, too close to the monitors. He glared purest hatred upon his captor, wishing him dead in a million ways. How dare he… How dare he… They were just kids!

"And here I thought you'd grown past this stage," the man stated coolly, sighing a bit. "Then again, I hadn't tested you like this before. Should have seen that coming. Still," he got out of his chair and approached the teen, smirking to himself, "that was vicious, dishonorable, and ruthless. Excellent work. You're becoming more like me every second."

Horror filled him along with his rage. He was nothing like this guy! Nothing! He wouldn't threaten innocent lives! And he certainly wouldn't take any! As Dick drew back to launch another attack, Slade threw a punch towards him. Reflexively the teen dodged, missing another punch and a kick before trying to land a hit of his own. He lost control of his momentum and Slade slipped his arms under his and lifted him off the ground, putting both hands on the back of the kid's head to force him to stay in that position. The acrobat tried to struggle against it but the man whispered in his ear.

"Do you really think this is a good idea apprentice? Fighting me when I hold the very lives of your family in my hand? Defying me, after promising you would do everything I want?"

Dick froze, realizing he was the one putting his siblings in danger now. He started to tremble, then to shake as he stopped resisting the man's hold on him. His master held him like that a minute longer in silence before dropping him to the floor. His landing was less than spectacular and he felt weaker now than he had in weeks. The adrenaline he was running on was starting to drain away.

"Do not forget who you belong to apprentice. Your life, and their deaths, are in my hands." Deathstroke walked back to his favorite chair then looked back to the boy on the floor. "Now, the device from Wayne Tech."

The broken teenager had to take a deep breath before getting back to his feet and making his way to his master. He took the piece out of his belt pouch and handed it over, head down. He did not want to see the satisfaction in that man's eye. Nor the anger that was sure to come. "What's this? A piece is missing."

Dick didn't even get to put on a surprised look before Master grabbed his shirt and threw him into the chair. "Where is it?! Where is the guidance chip?!"

"Guidance chip?"

The man thrust him against the chair again, trying to jog his memory. "The red chip that was right there!" He pointed to an empty slot, barely visible to anyone. There was a place someone could slide the chip out from, but only if they had the technique right. "Where is it?!"

"I don't know!" Honestly, the teen had no idea what kind of chip it was. He just knew how Bruce was about security. Things floating in an empty room were usually distractions or something being presented to an investor. If there was anything of real worth floating though, it would be hidden within the display. He saw a chip, and figured that was it. He could trust Roy with it. Dick grew up in a circus and with younger siblings. He was showing off card tricks and sleight of hand for years. But lying convincingly like this was just starting to become second nature to him. "I swear I don't know! It was like that when I got it!"

Master glared at him for a moment before roughly letting him go. Whatever that chip was for or who was supposed to buy it, it had to be big. Dick would have grinned to himself if lives weren't in danger. He couldn't slip, he couldn't. Not even for a second. Not again. He got people hurt enough that night.

His master left the chair, peeved as he made it back to a desk not too far off. "Get to the showers, now."

Dread and fear took over the boy again, making him freeze up, internally sick again as his body screamed in panic. Not again. Please not again! Master saw his stillness and glared. "Must have left Mexico too soon."

Setting the device on the desk, he grabbed the teen's arm roughly and pulled hard. Petrified, Dick tried to resist, struggling weakly against the stronger man's grip only to hear his master's voice drop to an icy tone. "You know what's coming apprentice. I do not tolerate disobedience, of any sort."

Dick flinched, every part of him rebelling as his master took him away. His strong mask, his stone mask he worked so hard to put up, destroyed so easily in one night. Why couldn't he just have those probes in him and die that night instead? It was far more preferable than this living hell.

Bruce brushed the hair out of his little boy's face soothingly, trying to comfort himself as much as he was his son. Damian had an oxygen mask over his face and was sleeping easier now, but the memory of the pain he had suffered was fresh in both their minds.

In the neighboring bed was Tim, resting as well. He didn't need the extra oxygen anymore and the other two didn't need any at all. Jason had walked himself into the ambulance even when it arrived, no complaints. Cass just needed someone to hold on to in order to make the trip. The younger two were carried.

He moved over to Tim's bedside, pulling his sheet over his sleeping form nervously. The boy had nearly yelled his throat raw during that strange attack, begging for his father. In the ambulance he was crying and asking for him, Alfred, Selina even, and Dick. Hearing his pleas for all those he trusted to take away his fears, and not being able to supply them, tore at his heart. Damian needed constant attention and the paramedics wouldn't let Alfred come with them.

The toddler had stopped breathing for a moment. It terrified him to the core.

Now in the hospital, all four children were being checked out and looked over. Blood work was being done as he sat there on each of them. X-rays, MRIs, every test they could do on children safely was being done. Jason and Cass were the ones going through most of them since they recovered faster, and their old friend Leslie Tompkins was with them the entire time. Alfred was going between the two parties constantly, keeping each side apprised of the other's progress.

Come to think of it he was due for another visit. "Master Bruce?"

The man didn't look up at his name, just brushed Tim's hair out of his face to calm himself down. The boy turned into his touch, breathing a little easier now. "Yes Alfred?"

"A car is waiting for you." Hearing this, Bruce jerked his eyes up and at the doorway, glaring slightly. His eyes softened to surprise when he saw Jason and Cassandra coming in with Leslie. Quite a bit of paperwork was in her hands, along with a confused and concerned expression.

What she had to tell him had to wait a moment. "Why? I have no intention of leaving."

"Your meeting with Mr. Yakamura and Mr. Turstile is in two hours sir." The butler's firm hand was still in place. 'Keep calm and carry on' played in his features. "You will need that time to compose yourself for the meeting."

The CEO's jaw clenched, highly perturbed. He would have raised his voice if there weren't children sleeping. "I'll have Lucius reschedule it. Under these circumstances, I'm certain they'll understand."

"Actually Bruce," Leslie started, motioning him out the room, "there's something I really need to talk to you about."

The man hesitated for a moment before looking over to the other two. Both were tired, barely staying conscious on their chairs. Honestly they should be laying down and recovering from all the tests they underwent and whatever had happened to them before dawn. But Cass was fine leaning back in her chair against the wall and Jason gave his father a look telling him they'd be fine for a few minutes, he'd protect them. The teen really learned to step up the past few months. He put a hand on both his older children's heads, gave them a slight smile, then followed the family doctor into the hallway.

"Okay, what is it Leslie? What happened to them?" The door closed silently behind him, keeping the conversation private. "Was it poison? An electric pulse? Some meta ability? Or do I have to go to the metaphysical to get my answers?"

"You might have to." Keeping her voice low so only the adults could hear, she passed him the test results and folded her arms, confused and concerned. "We've run every test we can think of and found nothing. At all.

"You said Damian had all the signs of a fever and a heart attack, except his skin glowed orange. And all the others right?" The men nodded as Bruce flipped through the results, taking everything in. "Well they certainly have the signs of surviving them, but none for a cause. I've never seen anything like this before. There is no reason I can find for four perfectly healthy children to have any of that damage.

"All I can say for certain is," she looked at the door and the beds within, "if it happens again, Damian will die. It's likely Tim will either die or become a cripple. That's if the next event is as long as this one was. Longer, and I would say you'll have four dead and one missing."

The man's face turned white at her conclusion, his face freezing with barely contained fear. Looking through the results in front of him, he knew she was right. All the symptoms, all the end results, none of the causes. It didn't make sense! What happened to them?! According to these tests, nothing and yet something. Something bringing his kids to knock on deaths door.

There was something startlingly familiar about all of this, something he felt he should look into. He'd need more time to look it over and figure out why. He passed the papers back to his father's friend. "I want a copy of all of his sent to my email as soon as possible. There's something off about this."

"Agreed," Alfred butted in, "especially since I have never heard of any kind of sudden illness that makes a person glow orange."

"That is certainly the strangest side effect I've ever heard of." Leslie looked through the results, even more confused by the moment. Bruce never saw her like this. She was always the one with all the answers growing up and even now. But here, she was clueless. "I can't think of a scientific reason why anyone would light up like a light bulb like that, and orange of all things. You would need a strong yellow light to make a patch of skin change like that, and I don't think it could happen on four sleeping children without their knowledge."

"Have you shown these findings to Allen?" Bruce had called in the forensic officer once Damian was stable, wanting one of the best scientific minds he knew take a look at everything. A fresh point of view from someone who dealt with the strange daily helped too. And the man would want to know. He would have called Clark as well, but Superman was off planet taking care of some asteroid problem. Only a handful of Leaguers really interacted with the kids in the end.

"He came and went," she informed him. "Said he was getting straight to work comparing results, but it would take a while. Is he a doctor?"

"No, forensics. Different angle." He looked back through the door to where his children waited for answers. If only he had them. How many times had he failed to come through for them as of late? He was no closer to finding Dick than he was two months ago. All the clues he gained weren't enough to find him, at least not yet. And that brief magical visit he had with his eldest only added more questions and much more worry. Now the rest of them had suffered pains worse than death with no explanation. Some detective he turned out to be.

"Really think that will help?" Leslie tried not to look at the kids. She hated not getting to the bottom of a medical problem, especially for the Waynes. They'd suffered enough already.

"Possibly."

"But either way it will take time to find the source of this ailment," Alfred reminded them. "In the meantime, there is a crucial meeting for Wayne Enterprises in less than two hours that needs attending."

"I'll reschedule." He gave him a chiding glare. How could he think of a meeting at a time like this?

"Must I remind you Mr. Yakamura was extremely hard to correlate with Mr. Turstile? Mr. Fox was quite specific on how important this meeting would be to your employees and your stockholders." The butler's stare down had just as much of an effect on him now as it did when he was a child. The meeting really was supposed to bring the stock back to where they were last year, and they needed that in order to continue keeping League activities under the radar. Plus the jobs it'd provide people across the country and the security that came with working for a branch of his company would help the nation as a whole. He really shouldn't miss this meeting.

"But…" He looked over to where his children were, hesitant to leave them. They needed him, right then, right now. He couldn't just leave them in their time of need. What if there was another attack? Or some discovery explaining all this? Leaving them now would prove him a bad father, and he didn't want any of them to resent him in the future, or ever.

"I will stay with them sir." Alfred put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "We both will. As soon as Masters Timothy and Damian are ready to be moved, I will take them home. Should not be more than a few hours. I will inform you immediately if there is any change."

Looking at his surrogate father, Bruce knew he would do just that. This man was better at keeping his word than he. Furthermore, he would protect them in his place. It wouldn't be the same, but it would do. Slowly, he nodded before saying a word, guilt filling him slowly at the resolve. "I need to talk to them first. Exactly where is the car parked?"

He did not want to be there. His driving and his grumpy face were proof enough of that. The coffee he was holding onto while he reviewed the meeting's agenda was about all he was happy with. These days he practically lived off the stuff, and with how this one started…

A knock at the door nearly turned him into an angry beast. "What?!"

Lucius Fox slid into the office, concern and surprise on his face. He had a tablet in his hand, but nothing regarding that put him on edge. "I'm beginning to think you should have ignored Alfred's advice to come in. I can do the meeting without you if you—"

"I've spent most of today in the emergency room or ICU. Let's just get this over with. What is it you want me to look at?" Bruce looked at the iPad the man was carrying, glaring darkly. He was not in the mood for this. He just wanted to get back to his children and get to the bottom of this, the sooner the better.

Sighing slightly, the man passed the tablet over. "Footage from a robbery early this morning. One of our buildings on the west coast lost an important government contracted guidance chip meant to guide space probes. LexCorp was our lead competitor for that contract but—"

"Can't this wait?" Seriously, with everything going on around him, losing a chip that probably had a self-destruct encoded into it was hardly worth his time. He eyed the tablet but didn't grab it yet.

"Your instructions were to bring up any criminal event that involved vigilantes or metas, especially if a member of the Justice League was involved immediately." Lucius set the tablet on his desk, serious yet even doubting his own decisions. "The Teen Titans fought the perpetrator on top of the building and there was some serious damage done to the sign. And the guy got away with the device. Half of the team is associated with the League so I thought you'd want to see the footage yourself. Everything about the break-in is included, but the fight was quite interesting. I heard the press is calling this guy the 'I'm Sorry Thief'."

Bruce's eyes narrowed a fraction before looking away from his files to the tablet screen. It was his duty as the League's watchdog and lead information source (and technically owner) to keep informed about all their activities, especially when it involved one of his buildings. Even the Titans, a group he largely left alone, were of interest to him when they fought on his roof. He had to hold the screen up for a better angle then pressed play.

Ten seconds into the feed his eyes widened in surprise, his coffee falling from his hand and spilling all over his desk. "Dick…"

"Bruce? What's wrong?!" His second in command nearly gaped at him in his stunned state, ignoring his ruined cup flooding his desk and hot liquid ruining the wood and papers thereon. His boss didn't respond to him, just kept watching the video feed. One hand started to cover his mouth as he started to breathe hard, caught between disbelief, joy, and shock, his heart in his throat. Tears were even springing in his eyes. Lucius grabbed his shoulder and shook him slightly to get his attention, worried about him. "Bruce!"

"It's him," the man murmured. "It's Dick."

His coworker blinked in confusion. "What?"

"Is this all the footage?" He kept his eyes on the acrobat, watching his every move. Though the mask hid his identity rather well, it couldn't hide his movements. Bruce taught Dick most of those strikes and punches, even the tactics, but that wasn't what cinched it for him. The boy always moved with grace through the air, soaring like a bird in flight. His technique was unique, and he knew it better than anyone. This was his son.

"No, just the best angle. What did you—"

The CEO jumped to his feet and quickly grabbed his suitcase and keys, tablet still in hand. "I want all the footage and anything else you have about this thief's activities. Every recording, every image, every mention on every site and paper. Every rumor there is, I want it sent to my computer before I arrive home."

"Wha—But the meeting!" Lucius was seriously confused now. What had Bruce seen?

"Cancel it, or you take care of it." The man was nearly to the door, practically running. His lead executive nearly had to chase him down for answers. Nothing was stopping him now.

"Bruce, what's going on?! Why are you—"

The billionaire practically shoved the tablet into his face, freezing the image on the teenager who was stealing from them. "He's Dick. Dick's the one fighting the Teen Titans in San Francisco. And winning."

Lucius blinked, taking the tablet in hand and seeing the image in a new light. "Oh my G-d…"

Bruce was out the door before the other man could even look up, moving with a speed that'd make Flash jealous. He knew where his son was as of that morning, and if he saw the timestamp correctly, that fight was around the same time the others suffered that attack. Batman never believed in coincidences, and Bruce learned long ago they rarely ever occurred. They were linked together, somehow.

A/N: And now he knows! everything will be put together in the next chapter, and after that we have the rescue and recovery. Which will be interesting. *evil laugh*

So the probes lasted two minutes and their full effects will be explained later. Damian and Tim won't have any long lasting effects so long as this is the only time, but it was a close call. It was kinda hard trying to figure out what happened to the Titans except for pain, so I did my best. Leslie is a character I should use more but haven't found opportunity to. Don't know her very well.

And Dick tries to take on Slade, realizes his mistake and shatters all over again. the only thing he succeeded to do was protect Bruce's company, to a degree. Roy kept the chip for a bit FYI. Dick did his best to do what he could. Ah well. Tomorrow then!