"He is getting better," Superman commented as the Justice League Trinity watched Hawkgirl and Flamebird chase each other in the air. "She was the better option to mentor him in his flying abilities."
"Well, they both have wings," Diana commented with amusement. "Their method of flying is different from yours."
"You are right," Clark agreed. "Though, it does make me feel a little bit sad. Here I thought that I would finally be able to teach a bat to fly."
"You already have enough on your plate with Superboy, Bizzaro, and your son," Bruce grumbled. "Get your greedy hands off my son."
"Possessive," Diana teased laughing with Clark. "How is Flamebird dealing with his new physiology? Yesterday we were sparing, he could match me in physical strength, speed, and stamina. Though, I still beat him, as it was clear that he still has no complete control of them."
"It's challengingly," Bruce answered slowly. "His body changed from one of a human with magical fire powers to one with fire and the physiology of a nephelim."
"His control is outstanding," Clark praised him, chuckling when Bruce preened like a proud papa. "I was not at that level when I found out about my abilities. What is his secret?"
"A cup of tea, meditation, and yoga in the morning," Bruce answered in amusement. "He has a very healthy lifestyle, he wakes up with the sun and goes for a run with his pets, then finishes his morning routine with meditation. Then he has a vegan healthy breakfast with a cup of tea, and then meditates before starting with his day."
"Is he truly fourteen?" Clark asked his friend in disbelief.
"He will be fifteen soon, though I also ask myself that," Bruce agreed with his friend's surprise.
"I can't wait for the party, I am sure Flamebird will love my gift!" Diana exclaimed with excitement. "I also can't wait to meet Constantine's new kid. She is young Abuse and Shrike's age right?"
"Yes, she is 12," Bruce hummed, watching as Flamebird barely evaded Hawkgirl's grab and won their game of tag not by ability but by outsmarting her. Bruce could only smile in pride of his wonderful son. "Her name is Nika Constantine, her hero name is Flatline, and she used to work under Lord Death Man. However, Lord Death Man's immortality and powers came from the Lazarus Pits. With those gone..."
"Ouch," Clark winced. "How is she handeling his death? And what about her reaction to Flamebird?"
"She does not blame him, as she realizes that Lord Death Man's death was never Flamebird's objective. Honestly those kids are more mature than most adults I deal with," Bruce answered. "The two of them became quick friends really, I would even go as far as to say she has a crush on him."
"The Wayne charm strikes again," Clark teased wtih a chuckle. "What is it with you Waynes? Making us all fall for you as if it is a game to you. Poor Jon now has some competition."
"Us?" Bruce turned to Clark with a raised eyebrow, making him blush and stutter until Bruce had pity on the kryptonian. "I should say the same about you and Diana."
"R-really?!" Clark asked him in excitement.
"Really," Bruce agreed with a small, barely there, smile.
"Boys, what would you do without us?" Diana shook her head. "I love you, the two of you. And you both love me and each other. See? Simple!"
"Ha ha ha!" Bruce laughed, taking them both by surprise. "Yes, simple. We should talk about us when we return from Akropolis."
Right, the batclan was taking The Nest and traveling all the way to Akropolis for the signing of the Acrobaleno Alliance that symbolizes the unity of the Lantern Corps. They were taking Hal Jorda, John Stewart, and Guy Gardner with them. In Oa they would be picking up the new Earth Green Lantern Kyle Rayner. Flamebird's friends Da-kun, Pa-kun, An'ki, and Zanny, were already in Akropolis waiting. The Birds of Prey, the Constantine Coven, Arsenal, Cheshire, Batwoman, Signal, Agenct C, Spoiler, and Bluebird, were in charge of patroling Gotham City and Bludhaven until they got back. It truly showed how much Bruce has grown, as before he would have never trusted others like this before.
"You are dividing the new team!" Clark booed teasingly.
"New team?" Bruce turned to Clark confused.
"Well, yes, the future superhero team made of young warriors," Diana agreed with Clark, with a teasingly smile. "Flamebird, Shrike, Respawn, Abuse, Corvus, SomeBody, Signal, Flatline, Superboy II, and Lightning, Black Lightning's youngest daughter."
"What is the name of this superhero team?" Bruce asked them, barely hiding his amusement.
"It's still undecided," Clark hummed. "It will be up to them to choose."
"I believe that's fair," Diana agreed.
"Incorrigible, the two of you," Bruce shook his head, but he was smiling- wich Superman and Wonder Woman counted as a win.
"Baba!" Flamebird called out for Batman, gaining the attention of his father. "Redbird and Blackbird were finally able to drag Robin out of his Photography Black Room! They are waiting for us by The Nest!"
"So, you are finally going to see the famous Nest," Clark teased. "Lucky you, Hal called it a work of art and a beauty of no comparison."
"We'll see," Batman grunted. "Jordan likes to exagerate and act like a kid."
However, he would eat those words soon. The Nest was truly magnificent. It would be expected coming form a powerhouse galactic empire like Akropolis. But still, the idea of his son owning a mother ship like that... it blew Bruce's mind.
"Fuck!" Redbird cursed, jaw dropped.
"This is a beauty!" Robin and Batgirl praised, eyes shinning with stars in them.
"See! I told you!" Hal gloated.
"You do know this is my ship, right?" Flamebird turned to the Green Lantern with a raised eyebrow.
"I know! But you are a lantern from Earth, so in a way the ship is ours!" Hal answered cheekily.
"He is a bat!" The batclan was quick to snap back in unison, making Flamebird smile and blush slightly.
"He is a lantern, see that pendant on his neck?" John raised an eyebrow, pointing at the Grey Lantern Force hanging on Flamebird's neck. "Grey Lantern."
"He is the Flamebird of my Nightwing," Dick stepped forwards with a dealdy sharp smile. "He is a bat, no matter what powers he has."
"Hear, hear!" Redbird cheered.
"Ok, let's get inside," Damian stepped forward to stop the brawl that was coming. "How is it that my pets are more mature than all of you and are already inside the ship? Even Goliath is already inside and he had just reunited with his family!"
"Sorry," everyone mumbled ashamed, following him inside.
Soon Hal, Bruce, Tim, and Barbara were lost admiring the beauty of the ship and how advanced it was. They were in awe at how easily Damian set the automatic journey to Oa. The rest of them were discovering the various corners of the ship. Dick caressed the mural in the communal cafeteria gently with a soft smile on his face. It was clearly done by Damian.
"So much love," Cass spoke up softly, from behind him. Dick turned around to smile at his little sister, who was clutching the kevlar above her heart. "So much love and happiness. This place was home... is still is."
"We all heard the stories, from the lanterns or from Flamebird," Dick hummed. "But to see it is different. They had nothing but each other and created a community, a family."
"There are a couple of rooms situated as classrooms," Redbird told them as he entered the cafeteria. "That's where they must have learned about the different races, traditions, and languages in the ship."
"We saw a calendar filled with dates and anniversaries," Shrike informed them, arriaving next to Respawn.
"There was New Year written there," Respawn commneted. "And other celebration we do not know about, most likely of the various races that were in the ship."
"What should we do?" Blackbird turned to Nightwing, prompting the rest to turn towards their oldest sibling.
"Be there for baby bat," Dick answered simply. "He will be reuiniting with a family he found and made in a horrendous situation, but he will be very happy to see again. Leaving them after the signing is over will hurt him, so we need to be there for him." Dick looked at his siblings with determination. "We are his family after all."
They were determined to focus on Damian, that is untill they reached Oa and things got sidetracked to Hell.
"Wow!" Tim awed for the hundreth time as Hal finished giving them the tour around Oa.
"It is a beautiful planet," Damian smiled at his brother- he does not get to see Tim acting his age a lot. "Though, I did not get to see much of it last time I was here. The tour was well-appreciated."
"Well, I could not let an honorary citizen of Oa not know their planet," Hal teased with a smirk.
"You have an Oa citizenship?" Bruce turned to his son in surprise, but making sure to keep his expressionless Batman facade.
"He did not tell you?" Hal exclaimed in mock affrontation. "Then again you have so many citizenships that it is hard to keep count of them all."
"Stop it," Damian sighed. "Yes, I have an Oa citizenship, and one for every planet that has a Lantern Corp, Akropolis, and most of the planets of those I saved from Darkseid and returned home."
"How many planets in total?" Dick asked in disbelief.
"... 15," Damian admitted.
"Not bad, baby bat," Jason whistled impressed, while everyone else turned to him in stunned silence- even Hal, who had not known the actual number until now.
Luckily, John and Guy had returned with Kyle just then, changing the topic of conversation to the new Green Lantern. Damian could not stop himself from noticing how the White Force of his Grey Force reacted to Kyle, even now he was still chosen to become a White Lantern. Damian was very relieved that he had not changed his old friend's path irrevocably. Though, what came to a surprise was the Black Force also reacting to Kyle. Damian stared at Kyle for a long time, trying to figure out if this was something else he had changed or if this was something that was always suppose to happen and without the intervention of the Guardians would finally become true.
"Everything ok Dami?" Cass asked him, because, of course, someone in his family of detectives would notice it.
"Nothing," Damian sighed, entering his chamber in the ship, only to huff at finding his whole family in there. "What is this? An intervention?"
"Nothing of the sort, baby bat," Dick was rapid to assure him and come to his side, caressing his adored brother's hair gently. "We just wanted to know what is wrong with Kyle Rayner?"
"Nothing is wrong with him," Damian huffed, but leaned in Dick's touch, making his brother smile and snuggle him even closer.
"Then why are you staring at him so much?" Alec asked him with a pointed glare.
Damian mumbled something in Nightwing's kevlar that no one could understand. "Akhi, speak up," Mara chided him. "It's unbecoming of you."
"I said that the Grey Lantern Force is reacting to him!" Damian admitted, taking his face off Dick's chest.
"The Grey Lantern Force?" Batman was quick on the uptake. "As in his lantern color is changing to grey?"
"Is that possible?" Jason asked surprised, he did not know much about lanterns even with Damian being the guardian of a Lantern Force- Batman made sure his clan did not interract a lot with the annoying lanterns.
"There has been many cases of that," Tim pointed out. "Razer turned from a Green Lantern to a Red Lantern, and there's the most famous case of Siniestro leaving the Green Corps to create his Siniestro Corps, the now Yellow Lantern Corps."
"I can feel the Grey Lantern Force demanding me to create a grey lantern ring for him," Damian told his family, plopping himself on his bed next to Bruce- who rapidly covered him with his Batman cape and cuddled him to his side. "However, I also know that he is not ready to be a Grey Lantern... he has a lot of potential, but he still needs to grow as a hero before moving into the care of the Grey Force."
"Then what is the issue?" Barbara asked him, almost as good as Cass in reading people.
"The Grey Lantern Force calling for someone like this has never happened before, the pull is strong," Damian confessed with a frown. "It took me by surprise."
"That means that you've felt this pull before," Jason pointed out with a raised eyebrow- looking a lot like Alfred.
"Yes, with Alfred and Cassandra," Damian told them to his family's surprise. "Both of them already figured it out, even without me needing to tell them," Damian chuckled when Cass smirked victoriously. "I can't do this baba," Damian whined, allowing himself to behave as his physcical age. "My flames and nephelim physciology are already enough things on my plate. I can't add creating grey lantern rings to the mix right now."
"Then you do not, we'll figure something out together," Bruce assured him firmly. "I'll talk to John about this and have him keep Kyle away from you until the mission is over."
"I think he can feel it too," Damian said softly. "Maybe I should tell him, otherwise he might think he is going insane. It is my duty..."
"Baby bat," Dick called out softly, kneeling in front of Damian and putting his hands on his little brother's knees. He only started speaking again when Damian turned to look at him. "You told me once, years ago, that overworking myself will do no one any good. So, do not do the same. It is not your duty, you owe no one nothing. Dad and I will talk with John and explain the situation, who in return will explain it to Kyle. He is a good guy, I'm sure he'll understand and wait for when you are ready. Ok?"
"Ok," Damian sniffled with a small smile.
"Good," Dick leaned foward to kiss Damian's forehead. "Tonight we are have having a puppy pile! The bed is large enough for all of us!"
Damian laughed making his family smile, they had been worried about Damian's strange behavior. That night they did all sleep together and a batglare from Bataman stopped Hal from making any comments the next morning. The batkids were sure to keep Rayner and Damian separeted at all times, it was easier once Kyle understood the situation (Damian had been right and he had felt the pull too) and once they had reached Akropolis. In there Flamebird was quick to be dragged by the lantern survivors. Batman did not like having strangers take his son away, but seeing Flamebird's carefree laugh and smile stopped him from saying anything. He had never seen his son look so relaxed.
"Their bond is something special," Guy commented, coming to stop next to the Dark Knight as An'ki threw himself at Flamebird. "They've all survived something that it would have killed anyone else. By all accounts it should have destroyed them! But they came out stronger and better. Most likely thanks to Flamebird. He became the Galaxy's Guiding Light, at the helm of the Acrobaleno Alliance."
"He is a boy, he shouldn't have to carry that weight!" Batman growled wiht a batglare.
"Can you honestly call him a boy after all he went through?" Guy turned to Batman with a sad expressionn on his face, one that brought Batman to a sharp stop. "In a fair world he should be in high school right now, focusing on his studies and what to do about the girl or boy he likes. But this is not an ideal world, much less a fair one."
Batman could not say anything bout that, not even as he watched his son stand alone in the middle of the castle's main hall signing the Acrobaleno Alliance. The lantern groups having divided in colors, leaving Flamebird on his own. But instead of that being what stood up, it was how every lantern, veterans in their own right, turned towards Flamebird as flowers to the sun. Their looks of respect and adoration made Bruce's skin crawl.
That was a kid.
His kid.
Not the savior of the fucking universe!
But Guy was right. This was not a fair or ideal world, and there was nothing Bruce could do about it but keep on watching.