Disclaimer: I don't own Batman Beyond, the Flash, or any of the D.C. universe.
Resurrecting the Red
Chapter 6: Secrets Revealed
"If you don't mind Mr. Wayne, how exactly did you escape again?" Commissioner Barbara Gordan asked suspiciously. Secretly she was really asking, 'What did you get into now Bruce?' Several police cars had arrived soon after the incident. Barbara had decided to come the moment she had heard that Bruce and Terry were involved.
Terry and David stood awkwardly off to the side as Bruce did all the talking. The confused red head was still trying to figure out how Bruce Wayne had figured it out. Granted, the speed was a dead give away, but still…
A calmer Terry on the other hand, had recovered enough from his shock to be able to stop gaping at his classmate. Red Hair was the Flash's grandson? It was...unreal. After discovering who Barbara and Clark really were, the teenager had made it a point to find out more about the other Justice League members. Barbara had told him a few stories from the short time that she'd been in the League. He'd even met John and Shayera Stewart briefly when they had come over with Rex to visit Bruce.
Now that he thought about it, David had been at the VR Room that night with Max. That meant that he must have been the one to help him against Debray.
Terry listened with half an ear as Bruce 'explained' how they had escaped the exploding car. According to him, the force of the blast had miraculously blown them free of the doomed vehicle. He watched as Gordan raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying one word of it.
David, who was still worrying about his predicament, gave a sudden jerk as he realized Commissioner Gordan was now eyeing him intently. Great. Did she know who he was too? His uncle was going to kill him.
Bruce followed Barbara's gaze as she silently studied the red haired teenager. His blue eyes glittered slightly in amusement but his stony face betrayed none of his thoughts. Barbara was intelligent; she had to know who David Kae looked like. She herself had served for a brief time in the Justice League, not to mention that Wally and Dick had been good friends.
Barbara looked back at Bruce and he could see the hidden question in her eyes. Good, so she had noticed. Perhaps he should drop her another clue.
"It's fortunate for us that David had such quick reflexes," he said quietly. Barbara's eyes narrowed slightly at that before a sly smile appeared briefly on her face.
"I...see," she murmured. Then, so that only Bruce could see, she silently mouthed the words 'I'll call you later.' That done, she finally asked out loud. "Seeing as how your car was destroyed, may I offer you a police escort home Mr. Wayne?"
"That would be fine, thank you." Bruce turned then to glance at the two teenagers standing behind him. "Terry, David, let's be going. Commissioner Gordan has kindly offered us a ride back to my house. You can call your guardians on the way." Besides, he added silently, I'm sure Mrs. McGinnis is a very unhappy mother right now. He wanted to leave before she decided to show up. The last thing that he wanted to do was deal with an angry mother.
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Mary McGinnis was indeed a very unhappy mother. She had proceeded to give her eldest son the once over as soon as she picked up the phone. It had taken Terry ten minutes of reassuring and five more minutes of pleading before he finally convinced her not to go charging straight to Wayne Manor.
David himself had an easier time with his uncle. He had only spoken for a few minutes before promising to be home by eight o'clock. Other than that, the three passengers were silent all the way back to the large mansion on the hill.
At least, until Ace saw them. He immediately growled at the sight of David.
"Ace, quiet," Bruce ordered. "He's a friend." The dog quieted down and trotted peacefully at his master's side. However, he still cast a warning glare at David every now and then.
"Nice dog," David muttered.
"Not really," Terry answered. Bruce smirked quietly up in the front. Why had that sounded so familiar? He had not so politely dismissed their police escorts as soon as they arrived at the main gate. The three young officers had insisted on staying...at least until Bruce had glowered icily at them.
The trio walked silently up into the house, with David lagging slightly behind Terry. He was finding the colossal house to be very intimidating.
"Mr. Wayne," David asked hesitantly. "How exactly did you..." A pair of stony blue eyes looked back at him and he shut up. The silent teenager continued to follow after the strange pair until they halted in front of an old clock.
"Are you sure about this Bruce?" Terry finally asked, eyeing David discreetly out of the corner of his eyes.
"He's Iris's son and Wally's grandson. He'll be fine." David gave another start at that. Had Mr. Wayne actually known them? He must have, otherwise he wouldn't have addressed them so familiarly. The now curious teenager watched as the aging billionaire reached up and pulled down a hidden lever.
David's eyes widened as a hidden door swung open to reveal a secret passage.
"Whoa," he muttered. Terry grinned at him then.
"Just wait until you see what's inside," he said. David looked at him curiously before following the strange pair down a set of stone steps. He halted suddenly in surprise as he caught sight of the contents in the dark cave.
"WHOA."
Terry flashed him an 'I told you so' look before sticking out a hand.
"Welcome to our world David," he said, echoing Bruce's earlier words to him. David stared first at him and then at Bruce as he absentmindedly shook Terry's offered hand.
"You...you're Batman," he stuttered as he stared at the old man. But he was too old to be the current caped crusader, which meant...
...Which meant that Delinquent was also Batman.
"Mr. Kae," Bruce commanded, forcing a stunned David out of his thoughts. "I want to know the complete truth. Now."
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"Are you okay Clark?"
Clark Kent looked up to see an anxious Aqua Girl hovering near him. The poor girl, with her father missing she seemed to have unofficially adopted him as a father figure.
"I'm fine," he assured her. Bruce is going to kill me, he moaned silently. His friend had warned him about eavesdropping on Luther. Oh yes, Bruce might physically be older than him, but that wouldn't save him from the billionaire's wrathful temper.
The Kryptonian stood up and began to button on a civilian shirt. There appeared to be no major damage from the weapon discharge. He was on his way out of the infirmary when the faint dialogue of a far away television caught his sensitive ears.
"...Gotham police aren't certain as to the cause of the explosion, however, foul play has not been ruled out. Miraculously though, the three passengers, billionaire Bruce Wayne, his young aide, Terry McGinnis, and another teenager, David Kae, survived without the slightest scratch..."
Clark followed the direction of the sound until he was staring wordlessly at the screen. A grim faced War Hawk and Static were watching the news as well.
The smoking wreckage of Bruce's car lay in the background as a group of reporters attempted to interview Bruce, which was a futile attempt as Clark had long ago learned. Having given up on the old man, the reporters had turned to trying to talk to the teenagers. Terry brushed them off as Clark would expect. He didn't a good look at the other teenager, other than a flash of red hair. The young man was too busy trying to discreetly hide from the cameras behind Terry.
"I'm sure my mom's freaking out about now," Rex Stewart muttered.
"Shayera freaks out?" Virgil asked curiously.
"Let me rephrase that, she's probably trying to find her mace right now."
The Kryptonian narrowed his eyes and ignored the other two men as he silently watched the news for a few more minutes. Anger began to rise in him as he recalled his earlier encounter with Luthor.
"I do know that two...associates of yours in Gotham are poking their noses into my business. And I don't appreciate it."
Luthor.
Perhaps he'd better give Bruce a call.
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"My dad and Uncle Barry died about a month before my mom did," David said. "And my Grandma, Linda West, died not long after."
"Yes, I know," Bruce answered. "What I want to know is how you survived. Your mother was about five months pregnant with you as I recall."
The three of them were sitting around the computer console down in the batcave. Bruce was in his chair, with Ace laying at his faithfully at his feet. Terry and David were both seated on the floor by the dog.
"I...was removed surgically from my mom about three weeks before she died."
"At five months?" Terry asked suddenly. "Isn't that too early?" Bruce hushed him with a glance before he leaned toward the other young man intently.
"Is Amanda Waller the one that helped have you removed?" he asked.
"I...I don't know," David admitted. "Uncle Evan never really told me. I know I was removed early because my mom was afraid she'd lose me. I'm not really sure who she went to, but about seven months after she died, some lady gave me to my uncle to be raised."
"But your uncle's not really your uncle, is he?" Bruce asked.
"No sir, Uncle Evan's my dad's second cousin. A month after my mom was killed by Grodd, he got a call from this lady. I don't know what her name was. Several months after that, she showed up with me at his house."
Bruce sat silently for a time as he regarded the young man in front of him. It must have been Waller; no one else could have pulled this off without his knowledge. Even so, why hadn't he looked more into Iris's death? He should have at least suspected it.
Iris had still appeared to be with child when she had died. Waller must have somehow faked the continued pregnancy to protect the boy.
Terry stared in fascinated amazement at David as he thought about this new turn of events.
"Your mom was killed by who?" he asked. He'd never heard of Grodd before.
"Grodd," David said. "But I don't really know the full story. In fact, I don't even really know how my grandpa died." Bruce's eyes softened a fraction at that as he turned back to the computer console. Within seconds, he'd brought up an image of a strange looking gorilla.
"Your parents were both killed by Grodd, as you know. As also were your uncle and grandmother. But you don't really know why, do you?" Bruce asked.
"No sir," David answered. "I'm not really sure what Grodd was."
"Grodd was a super intelligent gorilla that had been exiled from Gorilla City."
"Gorilla City?" Terry asked. He was starting to get intrigued.
"It's a hidden city in Africa of an advanced race of gorillas," Bruce answered. "Grodd had been exiled from there. The Justice League battled him a few times. Grodd despised all of us, but he had a special hatred for Wally."
"Why?" David asked.
"Because Grodd had the mind of a genius and your grandfather, shall we say, was never the most intellectually gifted person. This fact made Grodd's defeat at the hands of Wally all the more unbearable. Of all the members of the League, Wally was the one he targeted the most. However, your grandfather always managed to defeat him in the end. Grodd found out your mother's true identity and killed her and the rest of your family out of revenge."
David sat quietly as he stared at the picture up on the computer screen.
"What happened to Grodd?" he finally asked. The lines around Bruce's eyes tightened as he turned back to the computer.
"Superman killed him," he answered quietly. Terry and David stared up at the old man, but he refused to say more. Bruce was spared further questioning when his cell phone rang. He could see from the caller ID that it was none other than Clark himself.
"Bruce, I know who was behind your attack." Bruce's eyes flickered down to the teenagers before looking back up.
"Luthor?" he asked.
"Yes, and Bruce...she knows who you are. She even knew my name." Bruce's eyes narrowed slightly as he listened to Clark explain what happened.
"You charged her even though she had kryptonite? That was stupid, even for you..." David's eyebrows shot up at the mention of kryptonite. Was he...was he talking to Superman?
"She was talking about Jon," Clark protested. Bruce briefly rubbed his eyebrows as he listened to his friend. Jonathan Bruce Kent, Clark's dead son, was a sensitive subject for the Kryptonian.
"Of all the stupid, idiotic..." Bruce started to say.
"You can yell at me later Bruce, now's not a good time. Did you come up with anything?"
Bruce looked down at a wide-eyed David and wondered if he should continue. The boy may be Wally's grandson, but he was still a stranger. A pair of gray eyes locked with his and after a moment, Bruce nodded slightly in approval.
There was a quiet maturity in those gray eyes that Wally had lacked at that age.
"Luthor has the same political objectives that Lex did. I also believe she wants to resurrect Cadmus. Derek Powers may also have been involved with it before he died, but I have yet to figure out how," he admitted. There was a pause at the other end of the line.
"Have you contacted Amanda Waller yet?" Clark asked. Bruce's eyes hardened at that.
"Not yet," he answered. "But I will. Waller and I have several other things to discuss as well."
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Alexandra Luthor tapped her chin with a long fingernail as she studied the computer screen. Wayne and McGinnis had survived, had they? Unfortunate. It was unlike Chameleon to botch one of his jobs. Wayne would be even more on his guard now, but even so...
How had they survived?
One moment they had both been in the car and the next they had been halfway down the street. The old Justice League Watchtower had been equipped with transporters, but they had always been only partially reliable at best. Had Wayne improved the technology?
There had been another passenger in the car as well, a teenager by the name of David Kae. Luther had done a background check on him, but it had revealed nothing spectacular.
The boy's parents had died in an accident when he was a baby and he had been adopted by a distant relative. The teenager had grown up in St. Anthony, Iowa and had recently transferred from Cornell High School to Hamilton Hill High in Gotham City. He was also classmate of Terry McGinnis.
As she had said, nothing extraordinary.
Then why had he been alone with Bruce Wayne and Terry McGinnis? She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something about his face seemed oddly familiar.
She had the unpleasant feeling that an unwanted variable had been thrown into her plans. No matter. The boy should prove no threat. If he did, then he could be eliminated as well.
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Fernand Debray gave a cocky grin as he sauntered up the green skinned metahuman down the hall. The other man noticed him coming and shot him a cold glare. Sharp green eyes glinted dangerously underneath a shock of long blonde hair as Debray approached.
"I hear dat you failed t'kill off Wayne, Monsieur Chameleon. Such a shame," the European taunted. "Perhaps Mademoiselle Luthor will give de next job t'me. Talent such as mine should be…"
A rough hand gripped him by the throat and shoved him up against the wall. Chameleon's gold trimmed white garments blazed brightly in the light filled hallway as he brought Debray's face up to his. The metahuman smirked darkly as he shape shifted into an image of Luthor.
"Enough of your tongue idiot," Chameleon warned. "I know that you desire my 'sister', but know this. If you try anything on her, I'll gut you. That is, if she doesn't do it first." He shape shifted back to his normal appearance as Debray's cybernetic arm transformed into a plasma gun. The green skinned man only squeezed his neck harder.
"If you cross me again," the metahuman warned. "I will kill you…and Alexandra won't stop me."
Debray painfully gulped in gasps of air as Chameleon finally dropped him onto the floor. The French man glared hatefully at the other man's back as he turned and walked away. This was far from over.