Chapter 27
Pick Up The Pace
One week two days ago
Once they were safely inside the Embassy walls, Charlie, Francine, and three random council members—Alby, John, and Nichi—left the crowd of kids under the care of the rest of the council and went to talk with the ambassadors about what happened to them and what could be done for the kids they'd left behind. They also needed to talk about getting everyone fed and watered, getting everyone medical attention and then home safely, bringing their tormentors to justice etc. etc. Not necessarily in that order.
All of the ambassadors wanted to help them, but they argued over how best to do it. Turned out, a video had been released a few days before they arrived that may or may not be related to the giant hoard of kids seeking sanctuary. The Justice League was publically not able to follow any leads lest they risk getting everyone killed. There went the easy option. Charlie was sure Dick and Roy would be incredibly disappointed in the Coward League. Worse, the ambassadors wouldn't let any of the kids see the video! Apparently it might "traumatize" them.
The embassy did not have a bunch of resources, and a lot of their money was now going to keeping everyone fed and clothed. The onsite doctor, as well as a few volunteer doctors from the local area, was swamped examining everyone for problems from the hike and in general giving a bunch of frightened children check-ups. They hadn't even been able to manage finding people to counsel the children yet.
About half the group had wounded feet from continuing to walk after they had lost their slippers. Luckily, that meant there should be a fairly clear trail to follow back to the prison. Charlie was also thankful the Trail of Slippers, as a few of the elementary schoolers had coined it, hadn't led the bluemen right to them. In fact, it could be how the kids that did disappear vanished in the first place. They lost more slippers in the beginning than later on. Granted, the embassy would have to quietly gather the resources first. The low chance that the other kids were still there was not helping their case in getting a relatively quick rescue.
When Charlie finally had a moment alone, without anyone looking for him in the near future, he locked himself in a closet. The second the door was locked and barricaded by a broom, he broke down completely, finally allowing himself to mourn for the friends he'd lost, the friends he'd left behind. Even if the bluemen had not killed his friends outright, there was no way they had much time left. Roy had mentioned his worries about the amount of white in Dick's hair. And Damian was only four years old. Alex might still be alive, but who knew. He cried for about an hour, and then forced himself to calm down.
Charlie left the closet completely composed with only red eyes hinting at his loss of composure. He launched right back into his negotiations and planning with the ambassadors to try to solve the many problems. They didn't take too kindly to having a sixteen year old join them, but seemed to acknowledge it could have been someone younger, which would have been worse to them. At least Charlie was respectful, polite, and clearly someone the rest of the kids looked to as a leader. Still, progress was slow.
A week passed. The doctors had finished initial checkups of all the kids and all the kids had been given new clothing to wear and had cleaned up. However, that was as far as they had gotten. No parents had been called yet and no more funding had been given to the embassy. Some of the embassy workers had found ways to discreetly collect food donations around town. While food was still a bit quite stretched, it was manageable, especially with a few of the culinary-inclined kids helping in the kitchen.
Still, not enough was being done for those left behind. So when Charlie spotted the two unfamiliar teenagers walking into the base to talk to the ambassadors, he instantly abandoned the card game he'd been guilted into and followed them. They might have a car. They could at least prove that the other kids were still there or not.
Finding out they were Aqualad and Kid Flash, two people—sidekicks according to Roy and heroes or partners according to Dick, cue the glaring contest—who most certainly could and would help with all their ability, unlike the Coward League, instantly helped that small hope erupt. Then, they said they were looking for kids with number tattoos on their left arm. The league could not formally help, but that did not extend to their partners and individual heroes.
Charlie immediately stepped out and volunteered to help.
It took a couple of days for the two heroes to gather everyone, prepare—which included creating a safe and more comfortable spot for the kids already there and the ones coming along with other preparations—and find the trail again. Meanwhile, the embassy got a superhero guard consisting of Black Canary, Icon, and Rocket and would include more heroes once the rest of the kids had been rescued. The heroes and some of the embassy workers started making encrypted calls to the kids' homes starting with the closest and youngest to start working on getting them home safely.
The superheroes made a plan with the ambassadors and the kids' council. Charlie got some clothes with embedded tracking devices, just in case. He was the only one going with them back to the prison because no one wanted to risk more kids, but they needed one to show them where to go. Also, the Flashes could really only carry one person if they were going to make maximum time. Kid Flash would take Charlie whenever Flash needed a break so they could keep going. Once they were ready, Charlie slipped on a backpack filled with trackers, emergency medicine, food, and other important supplies and then climbed onto Flash's back. Kid Flash and Flash took off with Charlie as a guide going from slipper to slipper, finding their way back to the prison much faster than the journey had originally taken.
They stopped at each grave site that the kids had hastily made, and dropped GPS markers, so the deceased could be returned to their families for proper burials after the rest of the kids were safe or cremation if that's what the family wanted to do with the body. They found two bodies in addition to the two graves Charlie knew of. Both seemed to have collapsed and died, probably from withdrawal or exhaustion, and then frozen partially before starting to decay. One was a bit off the trail, and probably got lost from the rest of the group, as if Charlie didn't feel guilty enough before that revelation. The other had been partially mauled by an animal that lay, also dead, nearby. It was as they were burying the second body that Flash got a communication from Batman.
"I don't understand. Why aren't we in Belgium with everyone?" Jason demanded of his father. "It's Dick! You know, my brother, your son! That kid confirmed he was involved. I understand why you pulled me from the mission—now that Alfred explained it anyways—but they know where he and the rest of the kids are. Why aren't we there?!" No answer. "Bruce!"
"The league needs to be visible until the last possible moment or they'll know we're coming. When we have the exact location, we'll take the zeta tubes. Alfred and the batplane are already waiting at the other end. Until then, we stay. Here."
"You don't sound happy about that." Jason could have sworn he heard the metal of the desk creaking where Batman was gripping it. Bruce gave him a look that practically screamed 'I'm not!'
"Keep looking for the anklet signal. Patrol in 20 minutes."
Jason sighed. "We already know where they are. Finding the anklet signal is a waste of time."
"No." Batman growled. "No information, especially not something as useful as a tracker anklet, is a waste of time. If they moved the kids, any of the kids, and one of the kids has an anklet with the same signal, we can find the location.
"Dick is not the only victim."
Jason hesitantly nodded his understanding, before turning back to his computer, frustrated. While Alfred had explained Bruce's silent thoughts on why Jason couldn't go 'traipsing all over Europe' with the rest of the team, it still irked Jason. He thought, no, he knew, Bruce would have let Dick go. Bruce had let Dick go to Haly's circus with the team. That was practically the same thing. Even though the circus was Dick's first family and Dick never actually got permission to go and had to clean all the cars when he got back… He still went "traipsing all over Europe" with the team!
Jason was so focused on his inner rant, that he didn't notice right away when the program he was running opened a map of the world and started searching for the signal again. He did notice, however, when it flashed and started zooming in on a spot in Luxembourg, not far from the corner of the map with Belgium met Germany and Luxembourg, buried deep in a forest.
"Batman?"
"What, Blue Jay?"
"Look!" Bruce glanced over Jason's shoulder at his screen, and then did a double take when he saw what was on the screen.
"Coordinates." He demanded.
"50.0 degrees North, 6.0 degrees East"
Batman pulled up satellite imagery on the Batcomputer and plugged in the coordinates. After a couple minutes of waiting for the satellite to move into position, they were able to zoom in on a maze-like building with hundreds of heat signatures inside.
"That's it!" Jason cried. "It has to be."
Batman searched the surrounding area. There were several vehicles nearby, including a couple of buses and vans. Zooming out a bit, he found the Flashes heat signature about 45 kilometers away. He lifted his hand to his communicator.
"Batman to Justice League. Batman to Team. We have a lock on the anklet signal. Coordinates 50 degrees North and 6 degrees East."
"Sir," one of the security guards said, waving his boss over. "It looks like someone's hacked our signal."
Logarithm swept over, a crooked half scowl half smirk on his face. "Which brat do I get to discipline?"
"Well, you can discipline whoever you want, Mr. Burton, sir, but the hacker signal seems to be coming from outside the building. They're good. The hack is almost invisible. I wouldn't have noticed it if it didn't happen during a routine anklet check.
"Do a radar sweep of the area."
"Yes, boss." The guard did so, and soon zoomed in on two blurred signatures moving quickly towards the building, about 43 kilometers away.
Logarithm cursed. "I thought they would know better and listen to our warning."
"What should we do, sir?"
He was silent for a moment. "Sound the alarm. We'll evacuate and get as many kids as we can on the buses to the backup location. We should have enough time. They won't risk making a move without backup."
"And the kids we don't fit on the buses?"
"Kill them."
"Yes, sir."
Logarithm paused. "And make sure 169 and 214 don't make it on."
"Yes, sir."
Dick was forcing his sluggish body to do the allotted jumping jacks under the watchful eye of a blueman when the alarm went off, startling Dick and causing him to topple. Damian, who was sitting on the bed kicking his feet back and forth, jumped as well, and started searching the room for the source of the noise. Dick's head spun, but he forced himself to get to his feet because it wasn't worth getting punished over. To his surprise, the blueman shoved him back down before he could get up.
"Stay, brat." Then, they left the room, causing both Dick and Damian's anklets to go off, beeping loudly and burning slightly. Damian hopped down and crawled over to him.
This was weird. Dick didn't think he and Damian had been left alone without being restrained anywhere except their dorm room, with the window that didn't open and the triple locked door, since before the escape attempt however long ago. The anklets served as a reminder if they strayed too far even in the same room as a blueman. It didn't make sense that the bluemen would just ditch them. Well, no use worrying about it. It's not like they could go anywhere outside the prison anyways. Dick squashed his unease
The two boys listened as a storm of people passed in the hallway. The anklets would flicker whenever someone came close enough to their door, but no one entered the room. Dick closed his eyes as he waited for the buzzing electricity to slow down. Damian had his hand over the anklet and his eyes closed. It looked like he was waiting for it to pass as well.
"It'll pass." Dick whispered to him. Damian's eyes popped open met Dick's.
"I know." Damian replied, serious as a four year could be. "I like the buzzing. It feels nice. Sounds nice too."
"Alrighty then."
After about three minutes, the anklets shut off along with all the lights except the emergency lights, but the bluemen had not returned. It was eerily quiet, as the last set of heavy footsteps in the hallway faded. Dick hesitantly got to his feet and pulled Damian up. Holding Damian's hand—even with a broken/healing ankle, Damian still liked to walk places—Dick carefully led his brother to the door and nervously tried the handle.
It was unlocked. Dick's felt his stomach clench. Shouldn't he see an unlocked door as a good thing?
They eased into the hallway. Dick looked both ways and saw no bluemen. He turned towards where he was pretty sure the stairs were, and headed in that direction.
They hadn't walked more than ten feet when Damian suddenly tugged his arm and pointed at the wall.
There was a blinking knob with a clock on it. He could hear a faint ticking. 17 minutes 52 seconds and counting down. Okay. Maybe now was the time to worry.
So, what do you think? Who thinks they know what's going to happen next?
Review, Favorite, Follow.
I think if Batman had his way, Dick and Jason would be locked in the cockpit with Alfred for the duration until they can sneak away home.
Life lesson: Wear sunscreen. If you think you have enough sunscreen on, put more on. It's not enough. It's never enough.
Oh! And Logarithm's name is Logan Burton. That was the winner. I made several combinations of names from the reviews, but the final combination came from Dragonfan47 and ShatteredIce18. Thanks!