It was nearly dark when they reached Los Angeles, and Batman took full advantage of that fact. Blacking the plane out, he skirted the city and descended slowly into an industrial district. Once they'd touched down on the rooftop of a factory, he shut the aircraft down and turned to his son. "Robin. Let's go."
The boy had been silent ever since they'd taken their seats for the ride to the Pacific. He had assumed that the pre-teen, who was no doubt just as exhausted as he was, had been sleeping. Now, though, he learned that Robin had been scheming and waiting for the proper moment. "No," his young, determined voice answered. "I'm not coming with you."
"...Correct," he arched an eyebrow under the cowl. "You aren't coming with me. You're going back to the cave, and I am going to the Watchtower." There was no telling how much time it would take for the task force to get itself up to speed and formulate a plan, and he didn't want the youth to be up all night trying to stay attentive. Go home and go to bed, Damian, he bade silently. Then I know you're safe.
"No," a protest was lodged. "Let me take the plane back out there. I can use magnification and try to find them while you work on the force field."
"You're not going to be able to find them from a thousand feet up, Robin. Even if magnification works, it's dark now, and we know that infrared comes back blank. You'll be blind."
"Infrared might come back blank, but regular light has to get through, doesn't it? Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to see the ground earlier. This thing has giant spotlights; if I use those and magnification together, I'll be able to see."
Yes. His heart leaped at the suggestion, but he kept his mouth firmly shut. To know that they were alive, that they were safe...there was very little he wouldn't have given for that reassurance. However, one of things on that very short list was the child facing him with petulantly crossed arms, and until he had a better idea of what was going on the risk was too great. "You're not going to be able to adequately search an area of over 700 miles, all of it mountainous, even with spotlight and magnification," he ruled. "Beyond that, we have no idea who or what is causing the force field, let alone what their intentions may be. No one is to go near that thing alone, do you understand? Not you, not me, not even Superman. No one."
"They're alone, Batman! Even if I don't find them, seeing the lights and knowing that someone is at least looking...well, how would that make you feel, if you were them?"
"Like someone was wasting efforts that would have been better spent trying to get through." It was a lie, but it rolled off of his tongue as if it were the truth. He knew that just the sight of search lights would mean the world to both Dick and Tim, and he wanted to give them that consolation, but the desperate parent clawing in his guts forbade him to let Damian go without further information and back-up. "...I understand your desire to help, however," he went on, knowing that he had to give the boy something unless he wanted to face total rebellion. "Once the task force has determined a course of action, I will ensure that you have a role. But until then, you are to go home and stay there."
He expected a counter-offer, and he got it. "Let me come with you to the Watchtower."
"No. You're going home. You need to eat and get some rest."
"Some rest? How long is this meeting going to take?!"
"I don't know, Robin," he growled, fed up. We're wasting time. For all I know everyone's already up there and waiting on me. "I hope it won't be long, but I don't know. What I do know is that if you want to be present when we find your brothers you will do as I said and go home."
The child whipped his face away, his jaw working angrily. "...Fine," he spat. "If you're going to threaten me, I suppose I don't have any choice."
"No. You don't. Now let's go."
They slipped down through the building, whose empty offices and halls were kept as such by a shadow account of Bruce's. It was from there that the money for the guards who walked the passageways came as well, and as they sneaked past several of them he was pleased to see that they looked like professional men. Finally they came to a distant laboratory with a wall full of built-in storage just a bit taller than the tips of the cowl's ears. Gesturing for Robin to follow him closely, he stepped up to the shelving and slid a secret panel aside. A key pad slid out to greet him, on which he entered a code containing not just numbers and letters in various scripts but symbols that the vast majority of humanity had never laid eyes on.
'Access granted,' scrolled across the screen. The floor beneath his boots began to move, rotating them through the wall and into a hidden room. They stepped off, and as the door clicked shut again behind them the Zeta tube that took up most of the space came on. "Give it a minute," he warned the boy, who he knew was used to tube stations always being up and ready for use. "This one is kept off when we don't need it."
"Mmph."
It was an unhappy sound, but he let it slide. He understood Damian's aggravation at being sidelined, but there really wasn't anything he could do to help at this point. While he held out hope that the task force would be able to find a solution, it was half-hearted. Force fields of the kind that were keeping him from his sons were something they had never encountered before; if he was at a complete loss, how would the others fare with the brain-teaser?
Shaking his head, he activated his radio and tried to fill the empty time. "Base."
"No change on the screen, sir. I've been watching quite diligently." A beat passed. "I don't suppose you've had some luck on your end?"
"...No," he ground out. "I have a task force assembling at the Watchtower. Superman has pulled his head far enough out of his...Superman finally consented that one is necessary. Robin is coming back to the cave, and needs to go about his usual routine until I call for him again."
"Very good. I will see to the young master, of course. As for Superman..." Batman braced, wondering if he was about to be lectured for his near-swearing episode. "He did what he felt he needed to do, I'm sure. Try not to hold it against him; you know as well as I do that he cares very much for our missing boys and will be happy to see them home safe."
"Mm." He has an interesting way of showing it sometimes, his lip curled. "...I'm sending Robin through now. He can explain what we've learned so far." A fresh harrumph came from his side, but he ignored it. As unhappy as the boy might be about being sent home, he wouldn't object to sharing the details of their efforts with Alfred once he got there. The butler was no dummy, and Damian knew it; with the proper knowledge, he might be able to help.
"Excellent. Good luck in your efforts. I will continue my monitoring here and hope for the best."
"Good. Batman out." Ending the call, he glanced down at the figure beside him. "It's had time to warm up. Go ahead."
"Fine." Stomping forward, the child passed into the glow of the tube.
"The cave, Robin," he warned. "I'll know if you put in any other coordinates."
"I know! I'm not an idiot." He paused. "I'm going to help you find him, Batman. Them, I guess."
He gave him a single short nod, pleased. 'Them'. That's an improvement. Dick...Dick will be happy with it. "Good. Now go; you'll need rest if you're going to help me to your best ability."
"...Right. Just..."
"Yes?"
"Just figure this out quickly. I don't see how the prattle of lesser minds will help you do that, but...just figure it out." His imperative issued, Robin fingered several numbers and disappeared.
An amused little hum escaped Batman's lips once he was alone. There was nothing to laugh at in their current situation, but the youth's order had struck him as funny. I wonder if he realizes he complimented me just now, he mused as he walked into the cylinder. If he does, he's no doubt kicking himself...
The vague levity that had been injected into his mood fled as the Watchtower traffic room came into focus. Superman was waiting, talking tersely with one of the controllers as he did. "Batman," he cut off to greet him.
"Are the others here?" he asked, already moving towards the hall.
"Yes. It's a small group," the Kryptonian advised, matching his pace, "but I think we'll be able to come up with something."
"We'd better."
They stepped into one of the smaller conference rooms a minute later. Five people looked up, key among them Wonder Woman. She had clearly been given at least a partial briefing already, and when their gazes met she gave him a sympathetic smile. He grimaced back and dropped into a seat. I don't want commiseration, Diana. I want results.
"...Okay," Superman rubbed his hands together. "We're all here, so...Batman, why don't you explain the purpose of this group?"
He wasted no further time. "I assume you are all aware of the earthquake that occurred earlier today in the western United States. There have been ongoing signal issues in that area ever since, not unlike those that were noted after other, smaller quakes that occurred around the world over the last six months. These issues were reported on by Wonder Woman several Big Seven meetings ago, and she will give us an overview of what we know about them in a moment. What is different about this instance, however," he drew a breath, "is that there is a force field of approximately thirty miles in diameter covering the area of the epicenter."
There was a moment of shocked silence. "A real force field?" someone asked skeptically.
"I thought we couldn't make those?" another voice pitched in.
"Yeah, wouldn't we know if-"
"Quiet," Batman rumbled. "Yes, it's real. No, we can't make those. And yes, hypothetically we should have known if someone was developing that technology. But it got by us, evidently, and now there is one – a real one – over the epicenter. We've tried numerous ways to get through or around it, but to no avail. That being said, the purpose of this task force is to defeat the force field, discover who or what is creating it, and-"
He stopped speaking as the door opened. "Sorry," Flash poked his head in and searched the assembled faces. "...Damn. Someone told me you three were in a conference," he gestured at Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, "and I thought you might have pulled Nightwing in with you. Um...do you know where he is? No one's seen him, and we've got some people trapped in tight spaces that only a contortionist can get through."
Superman's brow furrowed. "...Batman? Your call."
He thought quickly. It often seemed that there was no one in the JLA who didn't know and respect his eldest son, and he had no doubt that any one of the heroes sitting around the table would do whatever they could to help Nightwing or Red Robin. However determined the group would be once they understood the full extent of the situation, though, adding Dick's best friend to the mix seemed likely to do nothing but strengthen their resolve. Besides that, while Wally wasn't always the brightest bulb in the box he had an off-the-wall way of thinking that had yielded solutions in the past, and at this point Batman would take what he could get. If nothing else, he knew that the speedster would be just as unwilling to give up without bodies as he was, and that by itself was enough impetus to include him in their project. "Come in and shut the door, Flash."
"Uh...okay. Should I sit, or...?"
"Yes. You'll have to catch up as we go." I'm sorry, he apologized silently to the man who had been an integral part of making his firstborn's adolescence a happy one. I know this is going to hurt you almost as much as it did Alfred, Damian, and I. But you deserve to know, and to be a part of this. "As I was saying, the purpose of this task force is to defeat the force field, discover who or what is creating it, and...and to rescue Nightwing and Red Robin, who are trapped underneath of it and with whom no contact has been made since the quake hit."