Recognized

Batman, 0 2

Robin, B 0 1

Robin, B 0 1

The first thing Bruce heard as he materialized in the Batcave was the clattering of a platter and breaking cups.

Batman stumbled forward. His grip on the two unconscious boys was anything but stable as he felt the white haired boy slip out. All the moving around had undoubtedly opened some of the boy's wounds again. The putrid smelling goo that leaked out of the wounds acted as some sort of disgusting lubricant. Holding a grip on the boy seemed near impossible as the goo spread.

Luckily, Alfred was there to take over before any more of his injuries could be jostled. Together the men worked together to move both boys onto a bed in the Cave's infirmary.

With both training and habit kicking in, Alfred was already preparing some medical equipment to do a full check on both of them. The elderly man stepped towards Dick's bed before Batman stopped him. "Check on him first. I suspect his injuries got reopened when we tried to move them here. Major injuries both old and new. Likely more hiding under grime and clothes. There wasn't enough time nor supplies before we had to move." Batman pointed towards the wounded boy on the other cot. Alfred nodded solemnly as he got started on cutting away the old and tattered remains of clothing still on his person.

Batman, not taking a break to even remove his cowl, started hooking Dick up to the usual machines as well as an extra bioelectric sensor. As the machine came to life, so did the unnaturally high levels it was reading. Batman sighed as he ran a gloved hand through his ward's hair. "We might need to call in Leslie." He called over his shoulder to his pseudo-father. "Dick needs to de-charge first before we try anything else. Kid didn't mention any injuries nor did we see any at first glance."

As Alfred continued with his laser focus dressing the other boy's wounds, Batman placed a C-collar over Dick's neck just in case something had happened.

With the bird now secured, he carried Dick over to the pod that was hidden in the corner by the infirmary. Carefully he opened the pod and placed Dick on the floor. He did his best to place the younger in a comfortable position, propped up against the inner wall. Brushing a strand out of the young boy's face, for just a second he allowed himself to feel the worry he had been pushing down.

Worry for his partner and the child he was tasked to take care of. How could he have failed him so much.

Worry for what will happen once Dick awoke again. How would the little bird feel now that the others knew his secret? What would he think of the other currently being taken care of by Alfred in the infirmary?

Worry for the emotional wounds this event undoubtedly caused.

Taking a deep breath, he stood back up and started the pod up to syphon off any remaining excess energy Dick had built up again. While he likely did burn off all he had before, there was currently no way of knowing how fast it would regenerate after such emotional distress. At this point he didn't want to take any more risks than they already did. It wasn't the first time Dick had lost control but he'd rather keep this as the last time.

With one child being taken care of and the other in a safe place, Batman set out to secure the area. He rushed over to the Zeta tube and disconnected the cables that powered it.

Just to be safe.

Not paranoid at all.

No proof of such allegations.

Wally had already done what he could to block the League from following them from the Mount Justice location codes. That, however, didn't mean others didn't still reach the Batcave. He'd have to send code out later to block all access to the Batcave, but that was a concern for later.

Right now, he had other, more important things to handle first.

Things in the shape of a speedster rapidly running out of energy again.

Back in Batman mode, he ran to the batcomputer and pulled up a map. Typing somewhat frantically, he located a blinking red dot. The dropping vitals of a suspiciously fast travelling teen boy showed on the right side of the dot.

With the taps of a few more buttons, he summoned the Batwing from its parking spot. Pulling up the interior gps of the jet, the dark knight started programming the onboard computer to hone in on the signal from Kid Flash's tracker. Logs of the onboard rations showed him it wasn't prepared for a speedster pick up.

Hastily, he ran back over to the medical bay. Alfred stared for just a moment at the vitals on the main computer before gesturing to a cabinet. "Top row, on the right. Speedster bars and electrolyte water bottles." Batman grunted in response as he rushed to get the plane stocked up with enough calories to feed a nation.

"Has a meeting point been agreed on?" The brit called out. Of course, Alfred already had a solid guess to what the answer would be considering the utter abruptness of the entire ordeal.

"No. Communication is also cut off as his phone broke during whatever the hell happened there. Had the League not tried to ambush us, we would have been able to prepare better." Batman grumbled as he rummaged through the closet behind Alfred. Picking up some extra medical care and a blanket, he speedwalked back to the Batwing. Loading up most of the stuff in the pilot seat, he made sure it would be in easy reach of the starving speedster.

With a few final touches and a double check of all the necessities, Batman jumped out before sending the Batwing off after Wally.

"We'll have about an hour and a half before he gets here." A second dot appeared on the map, headed straight toward the first dot. It didn't move as fast but definitely would catch up with Wally slowing down the more he burns energy he already didn't have.

Batman, yet again, walked back to the infirmary. He picked a spot where he would have a clear view of both boys. He wanted to be sure he would be within Dick's line of sight should he wake up. At the same time, his gut was telling him to also be there for the other boy. That nagging feeling in the back of his brain, the one he felt while in the Mount Justice medbay as well, was crawling its way back again.

Could this really be-surely there had to be signs if it really was-after being gone for so painfully long, it couldn't really be- Right?

"Master Bruce, if I may?"

Oh boy. Batman mentally prepared himself for the Alfred scold™.

Batman spared a glance at the butler as Alfred dropped yet another goo covered gauze into the bin next to him. Without even looking up to the vigilante, the man continued. "Lest you want to join the lads on the beds, I strongly suggest you take a break yourself. A shower and a nice change of clothes would be quite beneficial." He wanted to fight, to demand to stay and keep an eye on them, maybe even help Alfred with the medical care. But he knew the elder was right. He had to keep himself together and take care of himself so he would be a better support for the boys.

Especially with another on the way.

The shower took longer than he initially expected, mind drifting at finally, possibly, having both his boys back under the same roof. The horrifying memories of that night playing over and over again. Always followed up by seeing his body collapse in the zeta tube.

Still, as he walked out in a comfortable pair of sweats, he placed a pair of clean clothes next to Dick's pod. As he walked back into the medbay, he placed a second pair of clean sweats on the foot end of the injured boy's cot. By now, Alfred had done what he could to clean up the wounds and redress them. There were more bandages than boy laying in the bed. A sight none of them would ever forget.

In somewhat of an attempt to keep himself busy, Bruce had tried to get a better look at the collar. From what little Alfred could tell him, the skin around the thing had been the worst affected by necrosis. Unfortunately, that was only part of the reason his poor boy reeked of rot. The green goo and old blood weren't doing him any favors either. Still, the collar had to come off if they wanted to be able to treat his wounds better.

Removing it outright didn't seem like an option. He couldn't tell how long it had been on there, but it was long enough for the skin around it to have tried to heal around it before getting infected over and over again. From what he could lightly feel without hurting his child, the metal had sunk in quite a bit into his skin. Removing it without proper surgery materials and Dr. Thompkins there, as well as the severity of his other injuries could be fatal.

So, in an attempt to yet again change his train of thought, Bruce started to try and clean up what little skin he could still get to with a damp cloth. Better he be clean than risk any more infections from who knows what was all on his body.

The sound of the Batwing landing snapped Bruce out of his trance. Taking a clean towel with him, he dried his hands as he went up to the speedster. Wally stumbled out of the jet and let himself get caught by Bruce. "Are they okay?" Were the first words out of his mouth. Eyes already going straight towards the medbay.

Bruce helped the teen walk over as he gave a short rundown of what happened, one which Wally followed up with his own side. "I'm not sure but I think uncle Barry let me go? I know he is faster than me but I don't think he even tried to chase me after I got out. Still had to run though, never knew who was keeping track." Bruce hummed along as he started an IV with a special blend of nutrients made just for speedsters to recover quicker.

Three boys acquired, two still out but at least they're safe now.

Alfred came back down with some tea and a light snack, almost forcing some food down Bruce's throat the second he opened his mouth to protest. Again, the butler left no room for arguing.

They sat in relative silence, save for the medical equipment attached to their fallen bird and the pod Dick was in. A buzzing interrupting every few seconds. Wally looked down guiltily as he gave his phone to Bruce. "I- It might be auntie Iris. We were supposed to have dinner at some fancy place later. I'm…not sure how she took the news to be quite honest." The teen dwindled with his thumbs, expecting to be told to burn the device or some other extreme measure Batman was known for.

Instead, however, Bruce handed the phone back to the red head with a soft smile. "Let her know you're okay. Don't worry about anything else for now."

Wally nodded and got up to go out to the main room again, just in a good spot he wasn't too far away should anything happen but still have some privacy. Taking a deep breath, the young speedster picked up. "Hello?"

"WALLY!" Iris yelled out. "Honey, are you okay? Barry told me you weren't coming today and-"

Wally tried calming her down enough so he could explain in broad terms what happened. He had tears welling up in his eyes as he explained the condition both little birdies are in. He knew Iris saw Dick as one of her own, so she was undoubtedly worried for him too.

From on the other side, he could hear the telltale sign of a speedster being in the area as a very distinct static came over the call. "Iris?"

"Uncle Barry?" Wally's mouth moved before he even realized it. As the words left his lips, he saw Bruce get up from his seat and stand in the doorway of the medbay. Safe and secure, should it be necessary he could take over the call. Wally's breath got caught in his throat as he waited for his mentor to say anything.

"Walls? Are you still there?" There was a little tremble in his voice, no doubt having the same 'running on fumes' issue Wally had earlier. A strangled noise escaped the teen's throat, too scared to say the wrong thing. He heard his uncle sigh in relief. "Wally, I need you to listen to me okay? Whatever happens, do not answer any more calls." At a fearful hum, Barry continued. "Good. Are you safe right now? All of you?"

Wally glanced over at Bruce still waiting in the doorway. They had a protocol. They prepared for this should it be necessary to get somewhere safe. They just didn't factor in that he'd be running from his own family. With a deep breath, Wally finally uttered a "Yes."

Right as Barry was going to continue talking, Wally's attention snapped to the pod as Dick started to wake up. Stuck between a hard space and an even harder one, Wally froze as his brain couldn't pick which to focus on. Luckily for him, both adults had noticed. "Wally?" A noise he couldn't even describe was the only reply he managed. "It's okay Walls, just please stay safe and don't forget that we love you, no matter what."

Wally's brain snapped to the phone, knowing full and well what a goodbye sounded like. "I love you too, uncle Barry, and aunt Iris too."

Barry's warm chuckle came over the phone, somewhat helping the tears stop from falling down. "It's okay, Wally. It'll be okay. Could you hand the phone over to B? Go help your robin." Without really realizing they wouldn't be able to see it, Wally nodded before walking over to hand the phone to Bruce. Before he could leave, Bruce put a steadying hand on Wally's shoulder. "You did good. Can you help Dick shower off? Your spares are in the usual spot." The teen nodded and slowly made his way over to the pod Dick was sitting in.

Wally powered down the machine and slowly opened the door. Dick was still quite out of it. His little powernap seemed to have not done him much in terms of getting some rest. Still, the young speedster crouched in front of the door so he would be at eye height with the black haired boy. "Hey birdie." He whispered softly. "How are you?" Still somewhat sleepy, Dick crawled forward to hug Wally.

"I'm sorry." Dick muttered over and over again as warm spots started to cover the red head's shoulder. Wally rubbed comforting circles on the younger's back. "It's okay, birdie, it's okay." Dick sat back up a bit, bright blue eyes staring up at him. "H-h-how is-" Before he could try to stumble his way through the sentence, Wally shushed him again as he helped the younger stand up. "Don't worry about him. Alfie patched him up. How about we get you cleaned up and then you can stay by his side as long as you need?"

Dick wiped some tears off his cheeks as he let Wally guide him to the showers, picking up the stack of clothes Bruce had left for him earlier.

Bruce watched the two boys walk over to the showers as he turned his attention back to the phone. "Allen." He said curtly. Barry wasted no time getting to the point. "Bruce, you need to get the boys out of there. The League is pissed and are waiting for the testimonies of the team before deciding on whether or not to issue an arrest for all of you."

Bruce's blood ran cold. Contingencies could only do so much if he had to keep the boys and Alfred safe as well. Alfred might be able to lay low in England for a while but the League knew where to find their own.

Barely giving the senior hero time to let the words sink in, Barry continued again. "They, Bruce, they think either a Robin clone attacked the team. Either a new clone that just showed up or-"

"Or the Robin they knew was the clone."

"Yeah. All they got from the team for now was 'white haired Robin'. B, that kid. Is it…?"

Bruce sighed, looking back towards the cot. Fresh blood already starting to seep through the new bandages. "We're…They're not taking him away from me again. Not until I know what happened to him. Not ever." He could hear Barry sign defeatedly. "I know, B. I'll do what I can to keep them off your back but I can't promise how long I can buy you. They already seem convinced you and Wally are compromised due to the nature of the supposed clone. Pretty sure they also suspect me, just don't have any concrete proof yet."

Bruce could feel a headache build up as his stress and heart rate started to skyrocket. "I won't let them take Danny away again."