Disclaimer: If I owned anything beyond what's in my house, I'd be floored. it'd be amazing if I could own his most of all. Think I'd get a stroke because of that. So no, I don't own young justice.
YAY! I's not dead! Well this wasn't really proof read, and I had another scene I wanted to put in this chapter, but it was getting long and I need to head for bed. Got a cameo or two waiting for you. =D
Where's Robin?
Ch. 13 – Lost Volunteers and Parties
"Where is he?" M'gann searched the entire mountain again and again, looking for her boyfriend. There wasn't a note telling her where he'd gone. There wasn't a sign in a struggle and most of his clothes were still there. He didn't even take any of the personal possessions he'd gained over the many months they'd lived there. So where was Conner?
"I do not know," Kaldur admitted, looking towards the ground. Neither of them understood why the young man had left the other night. He gave no sign of distress or wanting to leave for any reason. His disappearance was shocking to say the least.
The two of them were trying to keep this hidden from Red Tornado and the League. If any of them heard, there would be trouble. Superboy wasn't just with them because of his DNA, or because of a few heroes' sympathies. He was under constant watch to make sure he wasn't a danger to them or the world at large. Though they mostly trusted him, there was always a possibility Cadmus did more than give him life.
Vanishing like this could mean trouble for him in the future.
"Do you think he went to town?" M'gann wondered out loud. Mentally she conveyed another message. Or maybe to Gotham? Wally kept saying we should, so do you think he actually did?
"It is possible." Superboy did not express any interest in going yesterday, Kaldur agreed. But he is rather attached to both of them. And he does think of Batman as more a father figure than Superman I believe.
It's hard not to with the way he ignores Conner, the Martian noted. At least Batman listens to everyone and doesn't ignore our existence. Maybe he's trying to be helpful to him or something. "Hello Megan! We ran out of eggs last night! He probably gone out for some and got distracted by one of our classmates. We should probably go look for him."
"Agreed." I will try to contact Wally and Artemis as well. He started guiding M'gann to the zeta-tubes, ready to go with her to the crime filled city. They may know where to start looking for him. With any luck, we will find him before Batman does. "Are you certain you are dressed warm enough?"
Quickly M'gann shifted into her human guise, fashioning herself in much warmer wear than she'd normally go about in. "I am now! Let's hurry and get him. I wanted to try a new recipe tonight."
Recognized – Aqualad B03, Recognized – Miss Martian B05
"Hey buddy," some voice above Wally murmured. "It's past one. Time to wake up."
Wally squinted his eyes shut. "Five more minutes mom…"
"Should have thought of her before you ran off kid." Grudgingly the teen opened his green eyes and saw a strong armed black man looming over him with a friendly smile. He offered a hand to him in greeting. "Name's Riley. You?"
He rubbed his eyes before answering. "Easton. And I'm older than I look."
"Sure you are." Riley helped the boy to his feet, a knowing smirk on his face. "Let me guess, you're nineteen and just aching for independence."
"Something like that." Wally looked around, hoping to see Conner but didn't. Strange. "Hey, I came in with a friend. Seen him? Black hair, blue eyes, real moody, grip like a vice."
"Oh, Con. Yeah, he's out back helping with the repairs." The man thumbed over to the back entrance. "Last snow storm really did a number on the roof. Your friend didn't want to hang around useless until you woke up so he offered to help. Nice kid, but really needs to open up more."
"Tell me about it." Slowly the speedster stretched his back and other parts of his body. Gotham nights were cold, and even worse in the winter. Kind of made the guy wonder how Bats and Rob handled patrol this time of the year.
"He got some issue with his old man or something?"
Wally looked at the volunteer, wondering if he was psychic. Guessing by the way he looked at him, he could only guess it was a common theme among teenage visitors. "Something like that. His dad's not really around and he's some kind of big shot. I'm just trying to help him out to tell the truth. My parents know where I am."
"Really."
He tried not to roll his eyes at the obvious skepticism. Central was so much easier to deal with. Why were the people of Gotham so untrusting? If Batman really did grow up around here, he could hardly blame the guy for being paranoid. A byproduct of his environment. No wonder he fought crazies.
As if breaking any tension there was in the air, Wally's stomach growled loudly. Quickly he grabbed it then hunched over before giving Riley a sheepish grin. "Hey, mind if I raid the kitchen? I've got some seriously hollow legs that need filling."
This won him a cheery laugh and a quick guide to the kitchen. The man didn't believe him, but he wasn't about to let the kid starve either.
Conner actually enjoyed helping the other volunteers repair the roof of the mission home. The people there were friendly and didn't yell at him for breaking one of the beams they were working on. Apparently the Wayne Foundation was funding this so supplies were abundant, and besides, he was a kid just trying to help out. That said a lot about his character to them.
After bending half a box of nails when he hammered them into place, he finally learned how much pressure to put into each tap. The volunteer who helped him out was a shop teacher at Gotham East and also a part time councilor there. His patience and teaching reminded him greatly of Black Canary, making his whole day much brighter for him.
Wally finally came out to join them around three, but he mostly stayed in the kitchens helping the staff out there. He came out only a few times to talk to Conner, passing a message to call him Easton around the place (just in case). The last time he came out was to call everyone back in. The roof was repaired and ready for the next storm, and frankly the workers were idling about chatting about their families and their jobs. Conner didn't really want to leave them. The stories were fascinating to say the least, and all these men were very friendly with him. Despite Gotham being known for its crime rate, it had a lot of good people trying to make it better.
"Learn anything good?" Wally asked when Conner joined him for dinner. It was a light one for sure and the two would be eating when they hit the road in an hour to take on more bad guys, but a little more food there couldn't hurt.
"Yeah." The clone gave him a bright smile as he explained. "I learned how to measure twice, cut once, hammer a nail, use a saw, how to place a beam and how to whistle and hum at the same time. They also told me how to get rid of skunk smell, to let some small splinters fester if they're in too deep, and how to make a fire out of steel wool and batteries!"
"I meant," the redhead explained, flabbergasted that the clone was more interested in common lessons than in important intel for their job, "did you learn anything about Joker's whereabouts."
"Why would they know?" Conner stirred his soup as he explained. "They're school teachers, shop owners and just every day folks who want to help the community. Why would they ever deal with Arkham clowns?"
Wally sighed. "Good point. I was just asking in case we needed to know where not to go anyway. Bats is probably all over that clown." He looked out the window and the setting sun for a moment, thinking. "Well, think we should stay in this area for a bit longer or try another neighborhood?"
The clone scrunched his brow in thought before he took out his map and laid it before them. "Well, what do you know about Gotham?"
"We're lost."
"We are not lost," Kaldur insisted, glaring a bit at his map. "We just have not found them yet. Gotham is a big city and we do not know where to look."
Megan sat on the park bench, sighing heavily. She kept getting turned around in this place. There were no mountains to use as landmarks and many of the skyscrapers looked alike. Who came up with the gothic steel mill look for this place anyway? The greenery of this Robinson Park was the only wide spread area she could find. Everything else was industrial and suburb. Mostly apartment buildings and factories in some of the places she saw. It was easy for people to get lost there.
"Why don't we just wait around and listen to a police scanner?" she suggested. "They'll come if there's trouble, right?"
"Most likely they are keeping a low profile so Batman does not notice their help." He squinted at the map, trying to make heads or tails of it.
Earlier they asked someone where the bad parts of town were and they just said a bunch of names that weren't on the map. The Bowery, the Cauldron, Crime Alley, where did people get ideas for these names? At least East End was easier to explain. Apparently the whole eastern half of Gotham was in disrepair. Certain parts of the Northern and Southern ends were far better off, and the West side seemed decent. So all they had to do was keep towards the east side of Gotham and they'd find trouble.
And hopefully Kid Flash and Superboy before anyone else found out they were MIA.
Kaldur's call to his friend did not go well, and he couldn't get a hold of Artemis. The girl had mentioned the other day she'd be busy training with Green Arrow, so it wasn't surprising for her not to respond. But when he had called Wally, all he got was a voicemail. More importantly, it was one saying he'd be at his best friend's if they really needed to get in contact with him.
So it was obvious the teen was in Gotham too. Maybe even with Conner. Megan and Kaldur only prayed that was the case.
Megan looked at the sky, worry coming to her face. It was getting dark. They'd been there all day long. "We better pick a direction soon. I don't think we should stay out here too late. Batman might find us."
"You have not sensed them have you?"
The young psychic shook her head sadly. Try as she might, she hadn't been able to find even one of the boys. Sadly she made her suggestion again. "I bet if we find some trouble we'll find them. It's getting dark, so someone will be breaking the law soon, right? Like a thief or a mugging?"
"It is possible." Kaldur gave a heavy sigh as he oriented the map to their location. "The east side is our best bet, but the financial district seems a likely target. Maybe even the fashion district. We should head south for a bit, then head up the east coast for a while until we reach Sprang River. Crime Alley does not sound like a pleasant place to be at night."
"Some superheroes we turn out to be," Megan muttered in disappointment. "Scared off from a crime infested place just because of some rumors."
"You are beginning to sound like Artemis."
"We're supposed to be a team Kaldur," she insisted, still worried. "A family. We shouldn't be running away from each other, keeping secrets like this. We should be able to talk to each other freely. We should be honest with each other. We should tell when we're planning on heading out of town. We should—"
"You are upset Conner ran off without telling you," Kaldur surmised. He gave her a knowing look, causing her to blush furiously in response.
"He should have told me," she whispered with a growl, glaring at the ground. "Why didn't he tell me? We could have worked this out, found a way to do this. He should have—"
"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride." The Atlantian gave her a tired look, reminding her he'd been searching with her all that day. He didn't like this either, but right then they had to focus on the task at hand. "You two can work this out after we find them. But first we have to find them before Batman and the League does."
He looked back to the map as Megan let his words sink in. She really was worried about her boyfriend, but she was also getting mad at him. Taking off like that, not saying a word to her, she was ready to let him have it. It was bad enough that Wally shot Robin, his best friend, into another universe. Now Conner was keeping secrets from her and running off! Something had to be done about this team of theirs.
"We should head out now," Kaldur suggested. "Pick up some food along the way. We will be in the Fashion District by seven and work our way up from there."
The Martian girl nodded, leaving her bench to join him in the long trek to the more likely to be hit parts of Gotham that night. Hopefully they'd find their friends soon, before things got hairy.
Bruce adjusted his collar probably for the fifth time that day. Cheryl kept pulling it down every time she tugged on his arm for her attention. Which was far too often for him to like. Some nights he liked having a beautiful lady on his arm. This time though, he had his attention on other things.
Security at the Mayor's home should have been better. There were dozens of prominent families at this dinner party, each of them influential in either economic or political circles. Furthermore, the whole thing was being televised. Seeing how this event was going, Bruce was almost glad Dick wasn't there. This place would be far too tempting a target for Joker.
Did the Joker have enough time to set up a stunt for tonight was the question.
He kept making sweeps of the place, identifying every person there and reassessing what he knew about them. And that was everyone, from the guests to the caterers to the security. So far everyone was on the up and up. He only hoped it stayed that way.
"Brucie!" the blond on his arm whined. "Lets get something to eat! They have really good caviar and shrimp cocktails as appetizers!"
"I thought you were more the salad type?" 'Brucie' joked, giving her his most charming smile. That was all the girl ate earlier that day. Maybe it was so she could fill up at this party.
Cheryl gave her most dainty smile in return. The little gold digger was trying to go the extra mile to milk him dry. He'd say he'd call her in a few days and 'forget' her number before the evening was out. Besides, her gambling brother was the real reason he tried dating her. He needed to know how desperate the man was becoming and if he was working with the Falcones. Looked like he was. Shame.
"I have my moments."
"Bruce!" The man in question jerked his head around as a small child's body slammed into his legs, hugging him briefly. A black haired six year old grinned up at him a second later, his father chasing after him seconds later. "Where's Dick?"
"Who's this?" Cheryl asked, indignant. She hadn't missed Bruce's slight genuine smile when he locked eyes with the kid, or how his free hand was moving to the boy's head.
"Timothy!" the boy's father caught up to them, an exasperated glare on his face. He was clearly the boy's father: his hair and skin tone matched perfectly and one could easily pinpoint other facial features between them. The rest of him must have come from his mother or his grandparents. It was just the startling affection coming between the kid and Bruce that'd warrant any question of his origins.
"Cheryl, meet my neighbors, Timothy and Jack Drake." Little Timmy sheepishly let go of Bruce's leg and looked back to his dad, attempting to behave himself.
"Sorry about this Bruce," the man started as he grabbed his boy's shoulders.
"No trouble really," Bruce waved off. He was actually getting quite used to kids ramming into him and giving random hugs. Dick and Timmy were just two frequent attackers. Lucius Fox's girls were just as bad. Then there were those random energetic ones that had courage to grab him at the orphanages he visited.
Looking his boy in the eye, Jack started his lecture. "Timmy, you know better than to run off like that."
"But I wanted to see Dick!" Timmy said with a pout.
"No buts. You gave me a heart attack back there. There's a lot of big people around and I don't want to lose you."
"You won't lose me," the boy insisted, looking up to the giant behind him. "I said I wanted to see Dick and Dick's with Bruce so all you had to do is find Bruce! And he's easy to see. He's way big!" He emphasized his last sentence by reaching towards the ceiling dramatically.
"He's got a point there Jack," Bruce chuckled.
"That's Mr. Wayne to you Timmy," his father insisted. He gave Bruce a you're-not-helping glare. "And that still doesn't make up for running off like that. You're my son, and I worry about you when you aren't with me. Vanishing like that scares me to death. Heavens knows how much that'd scare your mother."
A little guilt entered the boy's face at the statements. Timmy looked down to his polished shoes for a quiet moment, his bottom lip beginning to tremble. "I'm sorry."
Jack gave out a heavy sigh before sliding his arms around his boy and enveloping him into a tight hug, which the kid eagerly returned. "It's alright. I forgive you. Just don't go disappearing on me like that."
"Okay." With his silent agreement, Jack lifted his boy up and turned him for easy transport as he stood back up to talk to Bruce and his lady friend. "Sorry about being rude Mr. Wayne," the kid added quietly.
"It's quite alright Timmy," Bruce sadly chuckled, ignoring the woman on his arm entirely. Watching the two, hearing Jack's words, it just reminded him of his aching feelings these past few days. Dick's temporary absence wasn't quite the same as Jack losing sight of Timmy in the crowd, but it was close enough to home for him to be troubled once more. "I really didn't mind it."
"Really, I'm so sorry that Timothy interrupted your evening," Jack insisted, nodding over to Cheryl who was still tugging on Bruce's arm.
"Seriously Jack, it's alright. I quite enjoy seeing friendly faces like your and Tim's at events like these. Where's Janet anyway?" He took a quick look around for the woman of the Drake house hold.
"She's making her rounds while I watch him," Jack explained quickly. "We planned on switching off until after dinner, but this little ninja-in-training," (Timmy snickered mischievously. Dick was giving him lessons in sneaking around, and he was almost to Robin's level.) "had his own plans."
"Where's Dick?" Timmy asked again, looking around from his perch in his dad's arms. His innocent question struck needles into Bruce's chest, reminding him yet again what was happening beyond this high class world around him.
Dick and Timmy were very close friends, almost brothers, and primarily because Bruce had coerced his teen to baby-sit on occasion. Whenever the two of them were at a function together, Timmy sought him out and the two of them would play around the adults until either the six year old fell asleep or they were each taken home. Occasionally Barbara Gordon would join in their fun and the threesome would somehow manage to stay out of trouble while causing it. In a way, they made their own kind of family between them, one that made would-be dreary nights enjoyable for once.
It pained Bruce to shatter the boy's hope for an enjoyable evening among all the formalities he'd have to endure. "I'm afraid he caught a cold Thursday night. Alfred and I thought it was best to keep him home until he's all better."
"What?" Timmy cocked his head and blinked owlishly for a moment. "He's sick?"
Bruce nodded. "Yep. Our good friend Leslie is with him right now, making sure he actually rests. You remember the last time he caught a cold, don't you Timmy?"
The boy nodded energetically, humoring his father a great deal. Jack decided to comment. "If I remember right, Dick was only a little sick last time, then started a snowball fight and caught pneumonia. Don't want that to happen again."
"Will he get better soon?" Timmy pleaded.
The billionaire smirked. "I hope so. We're keeping him in for the week, and that should make him healthy again. But," he emphasized, making eye contact with the kid, "he needs his rest. So you can't sneak in to see him, got that?"
The first grader looked away for a moment, pouting a bit as his own plans were easily foiled. This won a smirk from both men and an exhausted eye roll from the woman easily forgotten on Bruce's opposite side. "Okay…"
Unconsciously, Bruce smiled at the boy and placed his hand on his head. He almost ruffled the boy's hair, but remembered in time where they were and how much the Drakes liked keeping up appearances. If they were just at their homes, no one would have minded, but this was a public party. Completely different rules there. Didn't stop the boy from smiling at his touch.
Jack smirked at the two before an idea flashed behind his eyes. "Hey Bruce? Mind watching Timmy for a bit? A few of my contacts are headed out in the morning and we have to put him to bed before eight."
"Aw…" Bruce pouted as he let go of Timmy's hair. "You'll miss half the party."
"Better that than a wiped out first grader in the morning," he explained. Timmy looked like he was going to pout his disapproval when Bruce laughed.
"Okay, I'll keep an eye on him. Cheryl, can I have my arm back?" The playboy billionaire turned baby-sitter/father figure gave the gold digger a slightly pleading smile, mentally thanking Jack for an excuse to get rid of the human accessory who weighed him down unpleasantly. The woman gave an indignant look before smiling sweetly and letting go.
"Of course Brucie. I was just thinking about getting some appetizers anyway." She kept up her pleasant face best she could while Jack handed the little boy over to the giant CEO.
"Thanks Bruce. I owe you one. Now Timmy," Jack started, eyeing his boy firmly, "I want you to stay with Mr. Wayne here until I or Mommy get back, you understand? Don't go wandering off, and don't make a mess of things for him either."
"Okay," the boy answered easily, a pleased smile on his lips. "You'll be back soon right?"
"Of course I will." The father smiled warmly to his boy before depositing a kiss on his forehead. "Remember to be good while I'm gone."
"I will!"
"I won't be long." Jack looked back up to Bruce, an appreciative smile in his eye. "Thanks again."
"No problem." Soon the entrepreneur was off to make his rounds among the rich and powerful of Gotham City. For a moment Timmy looked after his dad, then looked at Bruce and started to squirm. "Feel like taking a walk?"
"Yeah!" Quickly the kid leapt out of the man's arms and to the floor, tugging on Bruce's hand to get him to move faster. "Let's go! Let's go!"
Bruce gave a soft laugh, genuinely amused by the kid's actions before looking back to his date. "Sorry Cheryl. Duty calls. I'll meet you at the table okay?"
The blond tried to hide her contempt for the boy stealing her meal ticket as she answered him. "It's okay Brucie. I just never thought of you as the neighborly type is all."
The man gave a helpless shrug. Five years ago he wasn't. A lot of things changed after Dick came into his life.
"Hey hey!" Timmy started again, his tone telling the detective he was about to ask a million questions. "Why do I have to call you 'Mr. Wayne'? Daddy and Dick call you Bruce. Why can't I? And why does she call you 'Brucie'? Is 'Brucie' like Timmy?"
A/N: I think I'm going to sneak as much of the Batclan in here as possible, but all within reason. Guest stars Tim and Jack Drake! =D Mentioned Leslie again. Riley is also from BTAS, same ep as the mission home. all the other characters are purely for this story. Fun times.
Okay, Conner is in more trouble with M'gann than anyone else, and reportedly White Martians are more aggressive and temperamental than the greens, so her being mad at him like this, then being filled with some kind of depression I think is very reasonable. He did run off without saying a word after all. He's got a lot to answer for. But he did start getting into his "dad's" farm boy habits with learning how to fix a roof. Thought he might like that. Wally giving out a false name sounded reasonable too, and since East is opposite of West... *shrug*
now back to the Tim/Jack cameo. I thought it was appropriate for something on the smaller scale of what's happening to Bruce and Dick to happen before him, kinda torturing the man for a minute or two while giving him a small bit of hope for the future (plus got rid of the idiot on his arm). Since Earth-16's version of Bruce is a warmer, more fatherly version, I thought in my 16.23 version where he knows Tim since he was little, he'd show some fatherly/uncle-ish affection to him. I'm a firm believer that Batman's real weakness isn't just Dick and his Robins, but kids in general. Kinda obvious to me since in the trinity arch he (as a god-like being) made sure an antagonistic father/daughter stayed together in the end. Others no doubt can name instances where he helps kids out and families stay together. Guess that's the real reason I like him so much. Everything boils down to family with him. ^^V