Author's Note: Thanks to soccernin19 (This time Bruce is in danger and the kids get to save him!), Wombo Combi (Tim came home in the middle of a mess so right now he's just hanging on for the ride. Thus Barbara not yet knowing that Bruce is actually alive), and MaikoYuukamiMegumi (I didn't intend for Barbara to come off as bitchy so that means I need to work on that part! Thanks for pointing that out! And that's fine! Ready and review or don't review however you want to!) for reviewing the last chapter! I own nothing.
Roy and Jade were sitting curled up on the couch when Tim came thundering down the hall yelling for his brothers. "What's going on?" Jade called, climbing clumsily to her feet. Roy steadied her and Tim paused by the door. "Bruce is in trouble," he babbled.
"What?" Jade and Roy demanded, shocked.
"Bruce is in trouble," Tim called, already running for the stairs.
"Tim!" Roy yelled back. "Bruce is dead!" Oliver, who had been in the kitchen sulking and nursing his wounds from their earlier argument, emerged looking startled.
"What is going on?" Jade asked, brown eyes wide as she studied the empty hall.
"I honestly have no idea," was the only thing Roy could say in reply.
"Did Tim just say Bruce was in trouble?" Oliver's question startled both of them. They turned to look at him but his eyes were fixed on the stairwell.
"Yes," Roy answered after a moment and then jumped when his former mentor swore. "What?" Oliver didn't answer, turning towards the kitchen again, his expression dark. "Oliver what is it? What's going on?" He glanced at Jade and she nudged him forward so he followed the man into the kitchen. "Oliver please talk to me."
"There was a signal," Oliver told him, voice rough with suppressed emotion. "Not long before Bruce was killed. The League wanted to inspect it but Bruce advised caution."
"You are saying that the League faked Batman's death," Roy said, leaning heavily against the kitchen counter. "And that they let his children believe he was dead all this time?"
"Yes. No. I don't know," Oliver said, putting his head in his hands. "I don't know what to think anymore."
"I believe," Alfred's voice announced from the doorway. "That now would be a good time for some tea."
Damian was curled up on his bed, head resting against Dick's shoulder, while the older boys talked over his head, throwing out ideas of how to draw out Deathstroke. They ranged from the ridiculous to the practical but none of them would work. Slade Wilson was only going to come out for one reason and that would be to capture Damian. To take back what he considered was his. Still he didn't interrupt them. He was going to enjoy what might be one of his last moments with his brothers because he was going to face Deathstroke. He was going to take care of this problem once and for all. That was when Tim came thundering up the stairs and threw open the door.
"Bruce is in trouble," he said, eyes wide with a mixture of fear and excitement.
"Replacement, I'm not sure you've noticed but Bruce is dead," Jason said, eyebrows rising toward his white fringe.
"No he's not," Tim replied. "It was all a lie. I hacked the Watchtower and found an encrypted file. Bruce has been alive the whole time and the Justice League hid it from us. He's been sending us messages and the League has hid them all. I found them and that's why I came back to Gotham."
"That's what you were trying to hack?" Damian demanded.
"Exactly," Tim said. "I was going to tell you when you arrived but then Dick and Jason lied to you and it wasn't the time."
"And it's okay now?" Jason demanded.
"Because Bruce just sent a new message. His cover has been blown." Tim's eyes fixed on them all. "And he's going to need our help."
The three of them exchanged wide eyed looks as they absorbed what their brother had just told them. Then Dick said, "Show us." Tim nodded and turned away, heading for the stairs. Dick, Damian, and Jason scrambled to their feet to follow him. They thundered past Jade, who was standing in the hallway, bemused and down the secret staircase into the Cave. The black screen for the video was still up. All Tim had to do was replay it. He had already seen the video so instead he watched the mixture of joy and terror on his siblings' faces as they saw for themselves that Bruce really was alive. When the message cut off the room was completely silent, as if they were all holding their breath. Then Dick let out a watery laugh. "He's alive. He's alive!"
"As of fifteen minutes ago, yeah," Jason agreed.
"Oh stop raining on my parade," Dick said, smacking Jason on the shoulder. "Let me enjoy it. Just for a moment."
"Okay," was the obliging reply. There was a long minute of awkward silence and then, "Moment's over. Now can we come up with a game plan before whatever organization he's infiltrating kills him."
"We need a plan for Gotham too," Tim cut in. "Batman can't just disappear. Especially not with Scarecrow on the loose."
"And Deathstroke," Damian added, voice dark.
"Okay," Dick said, pressed his head into his hand for a moment before straightening. "Let's go upstairs and get some rest. We'll plan in the morning."
"How do we even know he'll still be alive in the morning?" Tim questioned, baby blue eyes worried.
"Because," Dick answered with a wry grin. "He's Batman."
Roy and Oliver found themselves sitting back in the living room with Jade watching them from the doorway. None of them were talking and the silence was growing uncomfortable. Jade surveyed them both for a long minute, rolled her eyes, and then snapped, "You two are ridiculous. It's like sitting in a room with a bunch of middle school girls. Just man up and talk it out." Oliver startled and Roy started laughing. Jade grinned at him, sauntering over to lean down and kiss his cheek. "I'm going to bed. You can join me when you're finished." Then she turned on her heel and silently exited the room.
"Quite a girl you've got there," Oliver said after a moment and Roy snorted.
"You're telling me. First time we met she was trying to kill me. Almost did too." Oliver arched an eyebrow and Roy shrugged. "Didn't you tell me once that there was always someone who was going to be better than you?"
"Probably," Oliver agreed. "I was probably also annoyed because I'd done something stupid around you and almost gotten both of us killed."
"Most likely."
There was another awkward pause and then Oliver sighed. "Look, I'm an idiot sometimes and I was wrong to say what I did."
"I was wrong too," Roy admitted. "I shouldn't have brought Felicity into it. Especially when she's not around to defend herself. So..." He hesitated a moment and then asked, "Truce?"
"Truce," Oliver agreed with a wry grin. Roy felt some of the weight lift of his shoulders and he stood, bidding Oliver good night before heading for the stairs.
"So you worked everything out?" Jade asked when he opened the door.
"Yeah," Roy said, gently shutting the door behind him and then leaning down to kiss her on the forehead. "We did."
"Good. Now get some rest. I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be a crazy day."
Barbara Gordon couldn't sleep. This wasn't unusual considering her night job but normally she didn't feel so worn thin. Since Bruce's death, the red head had been working what would, in a normal job, been considered overtime. She'd been hacking every camera she could get her figurative hands on, running communication for the boys so they had one less thing to worry about while Jason adjusted to being Batman, trying to spend time with her father, and worry kept her up most nights. She'd thought she could handle it all but she had just been reminded that she couldn't. It had to do with the argument she'd had with Dick and Jason. Well, actually it hadn't been much of an argument, more like her yelling at them. At the time she'd thought it was justified, despite Steph's wide eyes at the end of the whole debacle.
The two of them had put Damian in danger, and yes she knew they were trying to protect him but Bruce had done the same thing to the youngest Wayne. Actually he'd done it to each one of them and they'd all hated him at one point or another because of it. That Jason and Dick had dared to do that to the boy, especially after the many times she'd heard Dick insist he didn't want to be like Batman, had galled her in a way that nothing else had. In retrospect, between her exhaustion and irritation she had gone of the deep end on him. Sure, he had needed to be set straight but she hadn't had to yell at him. She sighed and ran a hand through her messy red hair and decided she probably wasn't going to get any more sleep that night.
Leaning over to the bedside table, she grabbed her phone and dialed the number she knew by heart. It rang or what felt like forever and then the voicemail picked up. "Hey," Dick's cheerfully voice announced. "You've arrived at the voicemail of Dick Grayson. Go ahead and leave me a message so I can get back to you as soon as I can find my phone." Then there was a pause and then an electronic beep. Barbara took a deep breath and then ran a hand through her hair before beginning.
"Hey Dick, and Jason since I don't really have his number and this is or him too, it's me. Look, I was too harsh on you earlier and I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled and I shouldn't have gone off the deep end." She hesitated a moment and then added, "And Steph isn't coming in the morning. That was a ridiculous and empty threat. And also an immature one. I'm sorry." She hung up before she could ramble on and possibly ruin the apology. Then she placed her phone back on the bedside table and closed her eyes, determined at get at least a little sleep.