Kaldur led both Assassins towards the interview rooms hidden deep inside of the Mountain. They were inside the mountain so deep that Kaldur actually had to stop for a moment and make sure he was heading in the right direction because of just how much they had walked.

Back when the Justice League still used the Mountain, these rooms weren't needed very much. And now that they had the Watchtower, they kept all interviews of villains to the prisons they were confined to. Still, when Batman had laid out the plans of the Mountain, he had decided to put them in just in case they would ever be needed.

Now that the Mountain belonged to the Team, though, the Bat thought he would have to fill those rooms up with concrete to ensure their use would never be found out. He had not wanted the teens to think they were allowed to bring villains inside of their hideout to interrogate them and had been meaning to wipe out all trace of those two rooms some time ago, but he had never fully gotten around to it.

At least now they had private rooms for these odd men and didn't have to take them up to the Watchtower to question them.

"Where are we going?" Shay asked after a few minutes of walking in silence.

Kaldur seemed to bristle slightly, but still answered, "Interrogation rooms. Batman has ordered me to bring you so you can be interrogated by him."

"Interrogated?" Shay repeated, "He is going to question us?"

But before Kaldur could answer the Irishman, Ezio asked, "Just who is this man, bambino? He does not seem to be as warm and hospitable as you and the rest of your team have been."

With a sigh, Kaldur nodded, "He is called the Batman. He is the unnamed leader of the hero faction that we operate under. And he is a cold man because... What was it that Robin had said?" But with a soft breath, the Atlantean shook his head, "I cannot remember the explanation Robin had given me. But even though he is treating us as children at the moment, I believe it is only because he cares about our team."

Both Shay and Ezio looked down at the boy as he muttered an 'I think' lowly and quietly, as if he didn't want them to hear, and they shared twin concerned looks. But by the time they had tried to ask Kaldur just what that was supposed to mean, the boy stopped in front of four doors that looked exactly like one another, if not for the numbers that distinguished them at the very center of them.

With another sigh, Kaldur motioned for Shay to follow him into the first door, which was marked with a bold '1' and opened it to allow him to step inside.

When Shay entered, he took note of the metallic table in the very center of the room, the two metallic chairs on either side of it, and at the mirrors placed right beside the door of the room. It covered the top half of the wall and he couldn't really understand why it was there. The rest of the walls were a mute gray, completely innocuous and not striking in any manner.

"Would you mind if you sit here until I am able to return?" Kaldur asked the man, who took one more look about the room before he turned and shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, kid. Go and do whatever you need to do. I'll stay here and behave."

Kaldur smiled softly at him with a nod, then closed the door behind him and Shay was left alone in this odd room. And after a few minutes of standing around and doing nothing, he moved over to the chair closest to him, sat down, and leaned back on it.

"If Master Kenway could see me now..."

~/~

"M'gann, please come out."

Ezio quirked an eyebrow as the young boy called out for the girl, but he was just a bit shocked when he found the girl suddenly appearing where there had once been the solid color of the wall. She looked down at the floor and had her hands clasped together, which made her seem as if she were already apologizing for having come where she was not supposed to have come.

"I am aware that you are worried for both Ezio and Shay, M'gann, but you cannot try to sneak around the mountain in this manner. Batman would not approve of it." Kaldur reprimanded, gray eyes soft.

But the green skinned girl shook her head, "It's not fair, Kaldur! I have already asked Shay about everything Batman could possibly need! He doesn't need to drag him all the way down here to question him further." Then she looked around where she found herself and questioned softly, "Just where are we, Kaldur? I don't remember seeing this in the schematics of the Mountain."

"That is because this was not a part of the schematics, M'gann." Kaldur told her honestly. "I believe Batman decided it would be in the best interest of the Team to keep this part of the Mountain a secret."

M'gann's face twisted slightly at her leader's words, and asked, "Why would Batman hide this from us? Does he not trust us, Kaldur?"

"I do not know, M'gann..." The teen shook his head, then looked up at the Italian man with them. "If you will, Ezio."

And with this, the boy led the Assassin into the room that was marked with a bold '2', where it was set up almost identical to the room Shay had been placed in. Ezio looked back at both teenagers behind him, as if asking them just what he was supposed to be doing there without ever speaking. But instead of fighting back and demanding to know why he was being forced into the room, Ezio took a step inside and made his way towards the chair.

"I shall be back in a few minutes." Kaldur promised, even though his voice lacked much of the conviction Ezio had gotten accustomed to hearing from the boy.

A few seconds after having said this, the door closed and Ezio was separated from both teens.

M'gann looked at Kaldur, "This is not right. They should not be treated this way: as if they were common criminals!"

"I know they are not, M'gann. But Batman has a reason to distrust them." Kaldur told her with steely eyes, even though on the inside he too felt annoyed with the Bat treating his Team as if they were nothing more than just children to be taught and guided, "They arrived out of nowhere, M'gann. And while their stories do add up, we can never be sure of who is here with pure intentions and who is here with cruel ones."

The Martian did not like the fact that the Atlantean was actually giving some explanation as to why the Bat would do what he was doing, but instead of arguing further with him, the girl nodded and looked in the direction they had come from.

"Are you going to tell the rest of the Team about these rooms?" She asked, glancing back at the other teen.

"I am not sure. I do not think Batman would want the rest to know of this place." He answered, looking around the halls they were surrounded by before began to walk back in the direction of the main spot of the Mountain.

But before he could get too far, M'gann appeared in front of him and stopped him by splaying her hand out in front of him, motioning for him to stop immediately.

"My question was not if Batman would like us to know about this place, Kaldur." She told him with a stern gaze, lips drawn tight, "My question was if you were going to be telling the rest of the Team about this place." She finished, looking somewhat annoyed at Kaldur's own words.

For a moment, Kaldur looked right at her eyes. But after a second or two, he shook his head and looked down at the floor with a shake of his head, "I am not sure. I do not know what I am to do now, M'gann. If I tell the Team about these rooms, Batman will most probably punish me... But if I keep this secret from them... I do not want to think of what they might do..."

M'gann's eyes softened at her leader's admittance, "Don't think like that, Kal. I highly doubt the Team would do anything to you for following Batman's rules..."

"Are you so sure?" He asked suddenly, looking at her with turmoil raging inside of his eyes. "Do you not remember how you confronted me not more than a few minutes ago for following his orders and bringing Shay and Ezio down here?"

Then, without allowing her to say anything else, Kaldur walked back to the main room of the Mountain, feeling deep inside of himself the inner turmoil Batman had most probably unknowingly unleashed. What was he to do? Tell his team about where he was to take Connor and Desmond later or keep quiet about it and hope they did not question him about it?

With a sigh, he brought his hand up to pinch at the bridge of his nose and shake his head. The Bat did not make anything easy, did he?

"He's not a very chipper person, is he?" Desmond had asked as soon as the Bat left the kids with Robin following behind him.

Artemis had rolled her eyes but nodded as she began to cook up the food for herself and their guests.

"He only means the best." Zatanna told them in a soft tone of voice, as if she herself did not fully know if this was true. But it was what Robin had told her once. "I'm sure he's only worried about us and Robin."

"Yeah, that's why Kaldur looked so happy when he walked out here." Wally muttered as he made his way over to the kitchen, lips pursed and eyebrows drawn in because of annoyance. "Just what could the big bad Bat have told him that would have him looking as if he's favorite candy had been stolen from him? Not that he likes candy, or whatever, but... You know..."

Con looked at the red head then shook his head and shrugged, "Kaldur's the leader. He most probably got punished for having allowed us to keep Desmond and the rest here for 'so long' without alerting the League."

"But it was only two hours! It's not as if we kept their presence hidden for a day!" Wally argued back, which made the superpowered clone look at him in slight annoyance.

"You don't have to tell me that! Why don't you try and explain it to the Bat?" Con growled in frustration, which made Wally take a step back and raise his hands in defense.

"Sorry, Con... Didn't mean to set you off." Wally apologized.

Con looked at his friend for a second, then his face fell and he crossed his arms, "I'm sorry too, Wally. It's just... It's kind of early to deal with everything."

Wally nodded at him, then looked over at the two guests that had been allowed to stay with them for a while longer. "How are you two holding up?"

Connor quirked an eyebrow at the almost innocent question, but answered with, "This Batman does not seem like a nice person. Who is he to you?"

All of the teenagers exchanged glances at that point, and Artemis breathed out softly, "He's the... Well, he's the person that sends us on all of our assignments."

"But apart from that, he's Robin's mentor." Zatanna added as she began to help Artemis with the pancake mix. "We don't really know too much about them other than that they are the Dynamic Duo from Gotham and that Batman is scary."

"You know nothing of them yet you work with them?" Connor inquired, head cocked to the side. "Do you trust them?"

"It's..." Artemis began to say, but Wally cut in.

"Confusing. But they're both people that work for the greater good." The red head spoke in a kind and calm tone, which made sense because he was the one on the Team that knew the most about the duo from Gotham. "We don't have to know all of their secrets to trust them. It doesn't work like that here."

After a moment of thought, Desmond spoke up, albeit slowly, "Well... If you think you get it all... Do you know where Kaldur took Shay and Ezio? Because I really wanted to be able to speak with all of these guys after breakfast..." Then he cracked a smile, "I'm starting to get the feeling that you don't want me to have any alone time with them. Isn't that silly?"

All of the teens remained silent for a moment, then Wally chuckled. "Completely silly, Desmond. Why would we do that?"

But the teenagers all knew Robin well enough to have known what his intentions had been when he had first indirectly denied Desmond the chance to speak alone with the other three men. They were not fools, after all. And they understood why the bird didn't want to give them any chance to plot or align their stories. It was just a bat thing to do to always distrust any newcomers.

"Now are you guys as hungry as I am? 'Cause I feel like I'm about to die from hunger!" The speedy teen groaned out with a smile, glancing over at Artemis to see how far along she and Zatanna had gotten with the pancake mix.

"It's just a few more minutes." Zatanna answered with a roll of her eyes, smile in place. "You can wait them, Wally."

The boy groaned once more and threw himself at the counter dramatically, but eventually turned around to continue speaking with their guests with a smile. Desmond was amused by the kid's antics, but he knew for a fact that he had been kept from speaking with the other three visitors because Robin did not want them to get together and speak.

He would just have to find a way to speak with the other three. His mission depended on acquiring all of his ancestors that came from the past before they returned to his world. And he would have to get them all on the same page if he wanted to succeed.

At thinking about his mission, Desmond began to think about all of his friends back home. Shaun, Rebecca, and, even though it kind of hurt to admit, his father... Lucy was long gone... And Desmond resented Juno for having made him kill the woman he had loved. But now he couldn't change any of the past. The only thing he was able to control, actually, was the fate of the planet. And for that he would have to return all of his ancestor's to their rightful to prevent the world from ending.

The more he thought about what his life had become, the sadder he became. He had never asked to have the weight of the whole world on his shoulders, yet there it was... Pressing over him like an overbearing restraint he would never be able to get rid of.

So deeply he had been in his own thoughts that he didn't notice when Zatanna placed a plate of four large pancakes in front of him. But he did notice when Connor nudged him softly with his elbow. Dumbly he glanced over at his ancestor, slightly confused, but then saw him motioning for his plate of food and he noticed that his breakfast was ready and already in front of him.

"Thank you." He told the girls in a tone of voice that let them know his mind hadn't fully caught up with what had happened, and they only smiled and nodded at him.

The teenagers and the two adults fell into a comfortable silence as they ate their own breakfasts, and Desmond noted with slight amazement that Wally ate a whole lot more food than a teenager that skinny ever should, but didn't comment on it. Instead he found himself sinking back into his saddening thoughts, soon enough the smiling face of Lucy suddenly at the very front of his mind.

He ate his food without barely tasting it, but still thanked the girls for the delicious meal once he had finished and handed them back their food. And, after a second of them having given the plates back, Batman appeared with Robin at his side, the kid frowning deeply as they neared.

"Have they finished eating?" Batman asked the teenagers, "Kaldur informed me that he had left them here to allow them to eat."

Wally ran to stand beside Conner, then nodded, "Yeah. They finished right now."

"Good." The Bat nodded stiffly, "Then they can come with me. Robin, stay with your team. Run your drills." He commanded, which made the boy nod stiffly.

Desmond noted this with uncertainty, for he did not know if he wanted the kid to be in a good or bad mood, but stood up and motioned for Connor to follow.

Batman turned his back to the two and began to walk away, even though he didn't even make sure they were following. But Desmond had enough sense to know to follow the man that seemed to control everything the kids did, and Connor followed Desmond because he knew this was a man he could trust in this strange world.

But the deeper both of them were led inside the mountain, Desmond was not sure if he had done right by following the man clad in black. Because he had the distinct feeling growing in his gut that he would not enjoy whatever was going to happen next.

And when he was told to enter the room with a bold number '3' on it, Desmond was more than sure that he was so not going to enjoy whatever came next.

Please review. And I'm sorry for not updating in such a long time. This chapter was unbelievably and inexplicably hard to write. Still, here it is!