"Who decided that not calling me immediately when the manor was under attack would be the most appropriate thing to do" Bruce glowered at them when they all walked in.

"Hey there old man!" Jason greeted brightly. "Fuck you too" his smile dropped before hefting the body over his shoulder to a move comfortable position.

"To be fair, we texted Alfred right away and he called you right away, sooooo by proxy, we did contact you immediately" Tim offered right behind Jason's towering figure.

"Everything was perfectly under control Father" Damian stated coldly. He crossed his arms and glared back at Batman.

Batman's face remained stoic as he raised one eyebrow. "Really".

"No one was hurt? Every one of you understand why and how an enemy entered our home, and had all possible bodies and weapons accounted for?"

Damian, Jason, and Tim said nothing, realizing that they missed something tonight that the Bat considered crucial.

Bruce sighed as he walked away, heading towards the containment portion of the cave. There were 5 one-way clear 10x10 containers side by side against the furthest wall. Usually meant for meta containment if required, they were most commonly used to store a Bat or ally when under the influence or in need of quarantining. Jason hated his time in here, he had spent about a total of a month in good ol'e box #2 when he first returned from the Lazarus pit but since then, it had become the go-to when he was at the manor but couldn't shake off the pit's rage and grip it had on his mind.

As they got closer, Jason froze, seeing another figure in the first cell. He was slumped over on his left side and was not breathing. "Where the fuck did he come from?" Jason growled. How many more of these guys were there? Vegas man and then these 2? Iit didn't make sense. Jason hadn't heard anything from Micky, his number 2 in Gotham, or Blud.

"Language," Bruce said without looking at them. "I would've been home in time to assist you on the grounds, but when I arrived I found him trying to access the Bat computer"

"God dammit" muttered Jason, they really slipped up and left a security point open or these guys were just that good at hacking and sneaking.

"There's more" Bruce said solemnly. "What" Tim asked, stepping closer to the figure. He was dressed the same as the figure that attacked Daian, down to a T. Similar build, with slightly more muscle. His head was shaved down to dark blonde stubble and his gloves and goggles had been removed so he was only in his all-black padded body suit and boots. He looked to be about 25 and a little under 6 foot.

For a moment, Bruce said nothing, still gazing at the figure before turning to Jason, "Place him in containment center #2 for now"

"Uhhhhh, about that" Jason said, "He might be a little dead".

"He's not", Bruce stated before motioning for the second holding cell again.

Jason furrowed his brow, confused and irritated that Bruce wasn't letting them in on his train of thought…again. Damian approached Tim's right side, "He is, father, we all saw his neck break".

By the time Jason had dumped the body on the floor, secured his hands with wire and his right foot to the corner of the cell, Bruce had started up the Batcomputer and was opening multiple files on almost every screen. Jason crossed his arms before plopping himself down in the chair beside Bruce and propping his feet on the least cluttered console. "Out with it old man"

Bruce ignored him, typing for another 2 minutes before he stopped and pushed back from the desk. He pulled back the cowl and rubbed his eyes and bridge of his nose."They were after Dick's body, blood, and files"

Jason, Tim, and Damian visibly froze. Bruce looked up at Tim and Jason sharply when no one said anything. "What happened"

"We thought he was spouting nonsense," Tim said in the silence. He opened his mouth to continue when Damian stepped in. "We know, the man that attacked me on the grounds and triggered the alarm, demanded to know where Grayson is and that he would drag him back if we did not deliver", he stepped up right next to Bruce's form, "What nonsense was he spouting father, why are 2 different men determined to collect Grayson or his files and how do they know who he was? The partner you conquered knew well enough to search for evidence in the Batcave!"

Bruce didn't look at Damian, holding his chin in his palm while he tried to focus on what connection they might be missing. Who were these people and why were they after his dead son? How did they know Dick was Nightwing and what did they plan to do with information on a missing/presumed dead vigilante?

"There is something crucial we are missing here, and it has been going on for a while," Bruce said, sliding back into Batman mode. "These people or their organization have known about Dick and something about him for long enough to connect the dots between him and Nightwing. There might even be a connection to the thief from the other da-"

Bruce stopped before jerking back to the computer and typing furiously. Jason watched as article after article popped up on the monitor.

"The Flying Grayons" were spread across the screen in videos, pictures, and even as a child drawing. Their past performances, ticket prices, their world championships, their deaths, and the court cases that their only surviving child had wrought, and finally articles depicting Bruce taking in his first ward.

"What the heck does Dick's parents have to do wit-" Jason cut himself off as Bruce started pulling up Bat files now. Articles about missing children and violent murders all across Gotham. There were scanned handwritten notes about Owl-dressed-meta humans and historical accounts of cults and assassins protecting and attacking Gotham's elite. There were even scanned images and scientific reports on something called electrum, the images suggesting it was injectable.

"The Court of Owls" Tim read. "What the hell is this Bruce?" What does Dick's past as an acrobat have anything to do with an unconfirmed assassin cult of birds?"

Bruce pushed back the chair before looking back at his 3 remaining sons. "When Dick was Robin, he was moderately hurt about once a month, he lept in without thinking quite a bit. But the one time he did it without me, I lost him, he died"

He didn't look up, knowing he might not be able to stomach the looks on his children's faces, especially Damian's. "Father, I think I speak for all of us when I say, that you need to start filling in gaps and clarifying. Right. Now." Damian rarely ever ordered the Batman around.

"When the Joker killed Jason, before I had taken in you, Tim, or knew about you, Damian, there was about a week where Dick and I were not fighting. We were suffering, together."

"Dick did not attend school and I didn't go to work for a while but on day 9, Alfred told me Dick had disappeared…..By… by the time I tracked him down he had found the Joker. The Joker was able to escape and Dick chased him to the old business district, GPD got there just before me and it was reported that they shot and killed the perp that had killed the Joker"

"WHAT" Jason stood up before he even knew he had. Bruce continued without reacting to Jason's outburst, "Without telling me, Dick had cornered and killed the Joker at 14 years old, he was not in uniform, he had gone out in just a hoodie and beanie so GPD didn't think twice about shooting when they saw Joker go down.I-" Bruce didn't get to finish because Jason had punched him so hard in the jaw his head violently whipped to the side, both began to bleed.

"FUCK" Jason bellowed, his knuckles had a long trail of blood where the skin had split. Bruce quickly wiped the blood away from his nose and lip before turning back to Jason. " I know you're mad bu-". "mad? MAD?" Jason spit, his voice rising as he flung his arms out.

"How could you keep this from me?! I tried to hurt Dick when I came back! How could he keep this from me? Why didn't it get documented? What the fuck Bruce? This is why I should've never come back, you think we all live in your world and revolve around your timeline!"

Jason paced away before clenching his fist like he would swing on Bruce again before he sucked in a breath, "Jesus!"

Tim approached Jason without touching him, "Jason, there has got to be more to the story, Bruce just said that Dick and the Joker died, but they obviously survived, and Bruce thinks this has something to do with those guys back there. You can get mad at Bruce all you like, but I think it's fair to say we are all shocked and hurt that Bruce didn't feel the need to share this tidbit with us" he glanced back at Damian's form who had stepped away from Bruce, "But right now, we need to get everyone on the same page, especially because this really looks like it might be about Dick after all"

Jason shoved past Tim with a snarl before walking back over to his chair and leaning on the back of it "Speak" he spit out at Bruce.

Bruce narrowed his eyes before continuing, "It's not reported or documented because Chief Gordan assisted me in pushing everyone back but him and 3 EMTs, we were able to revive both Dick and the Joker. If you look for it at the GPD records building, there is a single file dating back to July 14, stating that the Joker was killed by an unknown assailant and revived on sight before being transferred to Arkham Asylum hospital"

Bruce looked at Tim, ignoring Damina's gaze, "We revived Dick on the scene and were able to transport him back to the cave where Leslie stayed with him for a solid 4 days before he was stabilized. It's what came after that is relevant to the present situation"

"How did he die"

Bruce looked up to Jason on his right, "How did he die", Jason repeated firmer as he clenched the leather on the chair.

Bruce looked away, "Dick broke his neck with a crowbar"

Jason took a shuddering breath before pushing off the chair and storming off. Ever since Bruce had casually announced that Dick died and had killed in one sentence the pounding in his ears had increased and hadn't stopped. The lights above them had taken on a greenish tint and Jason couldn't ignore it any longer.

"Todd" Damian called out. Jason whipped around, about to snarl and spit every emotion out to the little demon brat, but when he saw Damian's face, he stopped. It might've been the lighting, maybe the fact that Damian was choked only an hour earlier, but either way, the watery shine in Damian's bright green eyes stopped Jason and brought him back to earth. The green in the corner of his vision dimmed slightly and the rushing blood in his ears abated. Jason ground his teeth together, goddamnit he thought, Dick would be furious with any of his brothers or dad for making Damian cry and then storming off. He was always going on about how emotional support was key for people in their field and emphasized it nonstop for their family and even more so once Damian joined their rag-tag bunch. No one was blind to how close Damian and Dick had become, the little demon brat relying on Dick for genuine brotherly support and fatherly guidance.

Jason looked away but re-approached the group. He came back and crossed his arms, widening his stance before he made eye contact with Bruce, not saying anything.

Bruce understood and sat straighter before continuing, "It was only after Dick was back in the field, a little before Tim joined us, that Alfred and I started noticing some strange things. Something changed in Dick's blood after dying and being brought back. Injuries that would have had Dick down for a month, healed in 2-3 weeks, broken bones that should've had him in bed for 8 weeks, healed in 5. We dismissed it at first because Dick's personality and demeanor made us feel as if he could bounce back from almost anything but Leslie took notice at check-ups and the longer time went on, the more we couldn't ignore it." Bruce sighed before steepling his fingers, " By the time Dick was 17, he hadn't been sick in years once, nor had he been down for longer than a week."

"Leslie asked for samples of Dick's blood to analyze, she came back to me 2 days later and was very troubled. She informed me that Dick's DNA had changed. It was very subtle but conclusive. She said there was another layer within his RNA that she had never seen before, even in metas or non-humans like Superman, and that his white blood cell count was through the roof. To this day we can't say for sure, what changed about him-

"Bruce…. DNA. it. No, it can't just change without anything actually being added or edited on a molecular level", Tim said. "You missed something, you had to have. Someone had to have injected him with something or, I dunno but it's just not possible."

"That's what I told Leslie" he responded firmly. "But the reports we have taken together spanning from ages 14 to 17 confirm our suspicions, just now how or why. There was nothing foreign forcibly introduced to his system. This change happened from within, his own cells and molecular makeup evolving, and his death was the kick-off his body needed to do it"

"How does any fast healing or possible lies have anything to do with the Court of Owls" Damian interjected.

"The Court of Owls isn't even proven to be true" Tim stated. "They're a scary story for kids growing up in Gotham, but a bird cult has never been proven or found, no matter how many accounts have been recorded or reported"

Damian frowned, "They're real Drake, I've trained with them, from ages 7-8." Tim and Bruce turned suddenly to Damian with wide eyes."Mother left me with 2 supervising bodies from the League and informed me I was to learn all I could from the Court. I trained with an individual named Lincoln"

"Lincoln?" Bruce repeated. He spun back to the keyboard and quickly brought up a scanned article and birth certificate reading Lincoln March. "This individual trained you for 1 year? In Gotham?" Damian nodded.

Bruce marked the file as significant and added it to the growing list on the monitor, "Lincoln March was born 1912, in 1932, he made 2 reports of strangers with owl masks following him and his family, in 1935, he disappeared. If this is the same man who trained you, he is either a clone or he is 111 years old"

Bruce continued, "From what I can tell, he is probably just that old and not a clone. It has not been proven because until now", he motioned to Damian, "No one has ever found them in person or documented anything without their consent, but the court uses something called electrum to prolong their assassin's lives and elevate their capacity for strength and injuries."

"Again" Jason breathed out heavily, "HOW…How does this relate to Dick".

Bruce brought forth the original documents of the Flying Graysons, "There has been enough overlap between Haley's Circus and the Court of Owls for me to deduce that they have either killed or taken members of the circus since its beginning in Europe in the 1800s" Each year, the Circus made a stop in Gotham or close by, and about every 20 to 50 years or so, a member would disappear. This was written off as a runaway circus member, but Dick's great grandfather Willaim Cobb was an acrobat at Haley's circus who made a report to the police about masked men following him. 2 days later he was never seen again. The circus returned to Romania without him"

"So you're trying to tell us that, the circus Dick grew up in is a killing/breeding ground for eternal assassins and that they use magic juice to never die and somehow gave that fucked up apple juice to Dickie without ever actually giving it to him right under your nose?!" Jason threw his hands up angrily, "You don't even hear yourself, do you?!"

Bruce got up from his chair and made his way over to a container the size of a filing cabinet, "Due to the fact that there was never enough recorded reason for the court to have an agenda against circus performers, I can only suggest that missing members were inducted into the court; forcibly. After finding some of this out for myself, I was hesitant to inform Dick as it might only tarnish his view of his parent's and legacy. But shortly after, he began healing too fast to ignore, I think that the court was preparing to abduct him and induct him into the court as part of the circus's legacy but Deathstroke's hit on Nightwing ruined their plan"

Tim's brow furrowed in a Bruce-like fashion, "They did call Dick the Gray Son and not Grayson".

"He might not be gone". Every head whipped towards Damian in the corner of the room. Damian's eyes were wide and wetter than ever, his fists clenched at his sides. "Grayson might be alive somewhere and you did not think to inform us", he snarled at Bruce.

Bruce sighed, "There is less than a 1% chance Dick survived being shot point blank in the head and drowning. It is more likely that Deathstroke was given a financial offer and decided it was worth disrupting the peace he and Nightwing seemed to have settled on. The only alternatives would be that Deathstroke has him, which has been disproven multiple times, or that the Court has him, which they don't if they are coming to us for information"

Bruce looked down, fists clenched, "He is most likely really gone"

Tim looked towards the 2 figures contained, "Wait, they're from the court of owls? Jason killed one and-"

"He said they're not actually dead dipshit" Jason said to Tim while looking at Bruce.

Bruce pulled out an empty vial from his pouch before reaching into the cabinet beside him and pulling out a cooling tray of other vials from the cryo mist that spilled out. He pulled a blue vial from the other before replacing them and turned back to his sons. "I used one of the vials we retrieved last night to subdue the first opponent. He seized, became abnormally cold, and collapsed. I have a broad theory that these are inexperienced court members who have gone through the transition process of becoming assassins for the court but were only sent to gather intelligence and report back. I can only hope it was not a fluke that he responded poorly to the vial, similarly to the thief the other night."

"This means that if they have gone through the process of having electrum introduced to their systems, this vial inhibits something about that superhuman formula. The ability to create superhumans or metas is another topic we will need to discuss if this injection and electrum are true"

"Originally, I assumed that he was just meta but he was healing too fast, which is not a given with every meta like Wonder Woman or Deathstroke, but I am not certain of much at this moment. We need to wait until they wake up until we can question them but these 2 and the thief are most likely scouts for the court."

Bruce placed the vial down on the table before crossing his arms and frowning in concentration, "Our priority right now, is to confirm what and why they wanted Dick's files and old blood samples-" "And why they're so behind on the memo and think Dick is still alive" Tim included quietly.

Behind them, Damian growled in frustration before storming away and up the stairs. Jason watched him go, his chest tight but not tight enough to follow him. Tonight had been a shit fest but it's not like they discovered Dick was alive, just that Golden Boy had broken the number 1 rule for Jason's 13-year-old honor and worked with Bruce to hide it from them. Oh and that Bruce had been hiding a possible history to Dick's happy-go-lucky Legacy as well.

Jason felt himself deflate, there was never an end to Bat drama.