"What the hell do you mean, you're benching us?!" Jason snapped angrily, following after Bruce as the man made his way down into the cave. The cool air blowing through the cave brushed against Jason's bare skin, making him shiver slightly, but he ignored it; the heat of anger more than made up the difference. "Roy and I cracked this fucking thing open! You can't fucking bench us like we're your god damn sidekicks!" Jason snapped. Bruce made his way down the stairs and to the equipment lockers. He turned to Jason and pointed at him, giving him the batglare.
"You and Roy are still recovering! You can't be out in the field in your shape. You'd only get in the way."
"Fuck you. You forget who the hell you're talking to? I pretty much made a career out of ignoring your orders. And in case you forgot, I'm not one of your little wind-up soldiers you can just order around," Jason snapped back, storming back up the stairs. Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.
"Wow. That was a marvelous performance, Bruce. A+ dad material right there. 'You'll only get in the way'?" Dick said, arching an eyebrow.
"I don't have time for this, Dick."
"You know, maybe you should just try telling him you care about his well-being, instead of treating him like a soldier. He is your son after all. You literally adopted him," Dick replied. Bruce glanced over his shoulder at him, then made his way to the Batmobile.
"Get ready, and meet me in Metropolis. We have work to do," Bruce replied. Dick heaved a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose; he swore that sometimes, he'd make more progress with a brick wall.
"Fine," Dick shot back, grabbing his gear.
Bruce made his way through the Wayne Enterprises building located in Metropolis. It was relatively new and secretly served as a means of keeping an eye on Lex Luthor. It was an easy cover though, because business wise, it established a rivalry of sorts, what with there being a Lex Corp building in Gotham. But the real gem was located beneath the building; a backup Batcave, right underneath Lex Luthor's nose.
Over the years, Bruce created several, smaller Batcaves all over the globe, in case he needed to be away from Gotham for extended periods of time. Having bases every where was extremely useful. He even had a secret base on the moon; one could never be too careful, after all. Even the Justice League wasn't privy to its existence.
He wasn't after Lex Luthor this time though; in fact he was almost certain that Lex had absolutely nothing to do with this latest…case? Conspiracy? Regardless, his focus wasn't on Lex, and he suspected that Lex was just another in along line of unwitting pawns in this shadowy organization's game.
Bruce pushed the door open to his office, closing it behind himself, then made his way over to the book case. He tugged on a book "The Art of War" by Tsun Zu, and the bookcase moved to reveal a hidden elevator. He stepped inside and pressed the button on the panel and waited as it took him down, deep underneath the building to a secret bunker that acted as a Batcave.
He stepped out to find Dick working at the computer and coordinating with Oracle, with Tim by his side, and Damian talking with-
"Clark," Bruce said evenly. Clark, or rather "Superman", looked over at Bruce and flashed a smile.
"I was just telling Superman that we don't need his help," Damian said sourly, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Damian is correct. We have this under control, Clark," Bruce replied, making his way over tot eh equipment locker. Superman followed him over, boots tapping across the stone floor.
"You're in Metropolis. My City. It would have been nice to know you were coming. And what you're doing here," Clark replied, in an oddly friendly tone. Bruce, now in full Batman gear, sans the mask, turned to Clark.
"We're investigating something linked to an incident in Gotham-"
"Involving Lex Luthor?" Clark asked, arching an eyebrow and crossing his arms over his chest. Bruce pulled on his cowl and shook his head.
"No. Involving Lex Corp," Batman replied. Clark frowned a bit and followed Batman as they made their way over to the computer.
"So it involves Lex."
"No."
"Then why-"
"Someone has infiltrated Luthor Corp and was aiding GothCorp in gathering intel. They were caught, and in response, they bombed GothCorp, and framed Garfield Lyns for the attack," he interrupted, staring at the screen. Dick got up from the seat and let Batman take over.
"Clark, hey! How are you?" Dick asked cheerily, patting the man's shoulder. He too was in full gear, sans the domino mask. So far they hadn't found anything suspicious going on at Lex Corp.
"Dick, it's good to see you again! How's Bludhaven?" Clark asked with a bright smile, patting Dick's back. Dick grinned from ear to ear and gave a shrug of his shoulders.
"Oh you know, the usual. It's pretty much Gotham Lite over there, 24/7," Dick replied with a chuckle of amusement. Clark laughed and gave a nod in reply.
"I see. Well if anyone can sort it out, it's you."
"If you're done, we have work to do," Batman answered with turning around. Clark and Dick shared a look, then the Kryptonian shrugged his shoulders.
"Alright, well, just give me a call if you need any help," Clark called as he made his way out of the bunker.
"See you later, Clark!" Dick called after him with a wave. Dick turned to Bruce and leaned against the back of his chair. "You know, you could try be less of a Richard-"
"Please not with the puns," Batman said, pinching the bridge of his nose. Tim snorted with held back laughter beside him, silenced with a batglare. Dick just grinned widely and turned his attention back to the screen.
"So, do we have anything yet? I planted all of the monitoring devices while you distracted Lex with your "meeting" with him. It's been a few hours. Surely we've got something by now, right?" Dick asked.
"No," Batman replied simply.
"Still working on it. I've got an eye on Lex Corp in Gotham and The Question is snooping around for me, too," Oracle answered.
"We might have some answers for you," came Jason's voice over the computer.
Red Hood and Arsenal both made their way down to Lex Corp in full gear. They were still a bit banged up and sore, but neither of them were really the "sit-around-and-do-nothing" types. Besides, Bruce told Jason 'no', so disobeying him was kind of a bonus.
Once they arrived in the area, they spotted The Question sneaking around the perimeter. They shared a glance before they snuck down to meet up with him.
"Red Hood, Arsenal. I was under the impression you were both resting and recovering," The Question said in a hushed tone without looking away from the dumpster he was currently digging through.
"Yeah, well, we're not exactly the do-nothing type," Red Hood replied evenly. Arsenal and Red Hood shared another look.
"Why are you-"
"Digging through the trash? You'd be surprised what people throw away. There are more secrets buried in the garbage than you realize," The Question interrupted. The duo shared another look.
"That so? Well, I figured a group like this is a little more careful than to just throw evidence away," Hood replied. The Question stopped what he was doing and brushed himself off.
"So it would seem. Still, a good detective-"
"Keeps an open mind, yeah," Red hood cut in, reminded of his days as Robin. He mentally reprimanded himself for doubting The Question. Granted, he still thought the guy was a little nutty, but he had a point. And he was pretty good at detective work.
"Alright. So what can we do to help?" Arsenal asked. The Question brushed his jacket off, then hooked a thumb over his shoulder toward the entrance of the building.
"I'm glad you asked. How good are you at making a distraction?" The Question asked. Hood and Arsenal shared a look.
"We might have some answers for you," came Jason's voice over the computer. Batman's eyes narrowed as Jason, in full Red Hood gear, appeared on the screen. "We bagged us a suspicious looking scum bag, and beat some answers out of him. He works for 'The Broker'. Sound familiar?"
"Hold on-" Oracle interrupted "I think we've got something on one of the listening devices! Patching you in!"
"-the information on Lex Corp's latest innovation. Orders, sir?" came a woman's voice. A deep, synthesized voice spoke in reply to the woman.
"Good. Maintain your cover. I want full, detailed reports every twenty-four hours. Do not disappoint me, or you will be replaced. Am I understood?"
"Yes sir."
"Good. Broker out."
A silence filled the air as everyone, save for Batman, exchanged looks. What exactly did they just stumble onto?
"Well, it's safe to say that there's definitely something going on here," Dick chimed in.
"But we need more. We need to find this woman and capture her. Interrogate her for information," Oracle said.
"We've already got someone here!" Jason replied.
"But the more we have, the better!"
"We-" Jason began, but his communication was interrupted.
"Hood?" Batman asked. Suddenly, the entire computer screen started to flicker. Then, a silhouette appeared on the screen.
"Batman, or should I say, Bruce Wayne?" the synthesized voice said. "You walk a dangerous path. You may think the shadows are your ally, but they are not. There are things in the dark places better left hidden. I know who you are. I know where you are weak. Abandon this investigation. Go about your business. The only reason you are receiving this warning and not a sword to the throat, is because you are an important piece on the playing field. I admire your work. However, should you persist in this line of inquiry, there will be…consequences. Consider yourself warned."
The silhouette disappeared and the screen went back to normal. Communications were restored as if nothing had happened.
"Bruce! What the hell is going on?!" Jason called over the comm link.
"Yeah, I got cut off too. What's going on?" Oracle asked. Bruce pulled off his cowl and steepled his fingers, glaring at the computer screen.
"The Broker knows we're on to him. He's given us a warning," Bruce replied. "Worse, he seems to know who we are."
"What? How? And how did he hack your computer?" Oracle asked in shock.
"It would seem our quarry is more dangerous than we suspected," came The Question's voice over the comm link.
"I don't know," Bruce began, setting his hands down on the console and getting to his feet. "But The Question is right; this raises the stakes substantially. We're not dealing with your run-of-the-mill villain. Whoever they are, they may very well be on par with us."