Chapter Text
“Ummmmm…shouldn’t we go after him”, Dove nervously pleads, motioning his body slightly to the door. He was never one for violence, especially between his teammates. Especially between his friends.
But no one in the hall moves. No one tries to go after the great King.
Everyone is too busy fidgeting in their seats, replaying the last few hours. Some of them bite their tongues remorsefully, they wish they could've done more during the blackout. Others furrow their brows, suspicious and annoyed; they don’t understand why everyone wasn’t doing more during the blackout.
Atlantis was attacked. The world was attacked.
Kaldur is missing, probably dead.
And whose fault was it? Who’s to blame?
Who tried their best and who just didn’t care enough?
These questions only fueled the back and forth and the shifty eyes, all the best ingredients to the blame game.
And they weren’t even the worst question, the big question.
Because whose fault was it, doesn’t matter nearly as much as whose fault will it be.
The main question, the big question….. is the present question.
The question Dove just asked. The question no one knew the answer to.
Should they stop Aquaman? Should they help him?
The murmurs and the whispers divide them too quick for words.
And as everyone stills weighs the crisis, and silently argues their defense, Bruce discreetly watches the security cam on his wrist.
Because if there is one thing Batman is… it’s cautious.
So he watches, as Aquaman angrily stomps into the common room. His curly hair swaying as he takes long, reluctant strides. He watches as Arthur’s irritated glare shifts for a moment, shocked to see his wife Mira sitting there, waiting for him. He watches as Mira rushes to embrace the angry king, her voice soft but sad. And finally, he watches as the royal king tries to fight the hug, tries to keep his anger, and loses.
He doesn’t wait to see if Arthur begins to cry.
Instead, Batman breaks the arguments by walking center stage, his presence more than enough to silence the masses. “I’ve already contacted Mira, she’s waiting outside to accompany Aquaman home. We don’t need to stop Aquaman, Atlantis will not attack”, he declares, hoping his word would be enough.
It wasn’t.
“Really? You sure? Don’t ya think Queeny will see Fishboy’s point of view and water spell us to oblivion? Isn’t she like the kid’s mom or whatever”, Hawk grumbles back.
His obvious dislike of Aquaman was apparent, but his worries aren’t exactly biased.
It’s an honest concern, one not only he has.
How would Mira react, how would Atlantis react…. to Aqualad being missing?
To Kaldur being gone.
The hall erupts into more whispers, the flare of distrust growing.
Batman growls, he doesn’t have time for this. “Mira is already aware of the situation. And she is quite capable of isolating her feelings, more so than Arthur. In terms of war, an Atlantean attack is the furthest issue to evaluate. We need to discuss the UN attack”.
This time Batman doesn’t bother hoping, he knows his word is not enough.
The murmuring restarts, everyone arguing their points and whispering their fears. Well, almost everyone, Vigilante never one to shy from speaking out decides to address Batman head-on.
“The UN attack? You mean the shit Aquaman’s going to kill us for. I mean seriously Bats I don’t think the Ole fish was joking around. Sounds like we ‘bout to have ourselves a good ole shoot-out. Hope ya’ll got enough bullets”, he guffed, dramatically whipping out his guns and aiming both of them toward the sky.
Again, Vigilante rarely thinks before he speaks, so most of his jokes are pretty crude. And while the comedic gesture does gather a chuckle from some members, the seriousness and probability of his words do pierce most.
Aquaman. What is he willing to do? What are the Atlanteans willing to do?
How could they care about the UN right now.
How could they think about any else right now .
“As much as I hate to say it, the Cowboy’s right. Aquaman’s anger and abrasiveness are well documented. We should come up with an action plan in case he attacks” the Atom argued, enlarging himself a bit as if that made his voice a little louder.
As if that made his idea any better.
Prepare for attack, from their comrade?
From their friend?
How could any of them agree with that?
Why were some of them agreeing with that?
“An action plan”, Wonderwoman scoffed, “There is nothing to plan. We should be helping him, they killed one of our members. To leave that unaddressed is to shame to ourselves and Aqualad” she asserts. In front of her, some fellow members nod, and behind her others frown.
Aqualad’s death, Aquaman’s anguish.
They can’t ignore it.
But they can’t exactly storm into a government building.
They can’t free a fugitive just so they can question him themselves.
They can’t override every rule they’ve ever had, just for petty revenge.
Right?
“Okay, everyone. I know we’re all a little heated and tired. But we have to look at the big picture. We release Deadshot and everything the Justice League stands for, everything we are, would be a lie” Superman declares, softly keeping his voice poignant yet firm.
It’s his leader voice. One people like to hear, one they love to follow.
Usually, it would be enough.
But instead of complacent silence, his words only seemed to increase the worries and his voice only added to the noise. In an effort to stabilize the meeting and himself, Clark sends a pleading look Bruce’s way.
But the Bat ignores him, and Superman has to mutter to himself as he breaks up another yell match between two members. Flash and Green Lantern have to help him when it starts to involve two others, and even then Batman doesn’t bother intervening.
“I fear the time wasted could be used better” Jonn mumbles as he quickly materializes next to the brooding man.
Batman isn’t fazed, simply giving the Martian a side glance. “ My time is always used efficiently, if they want to argue fine. I’m not talking over thirty voices nor am I going to repeat myself. I don’t need them for the investigation anyways” Bruce grunts, once again paying little attention to the chaos around him as he scrolls through more files.
And really who could blame him for that? All this unnecessary fighting.
All of this back and forth.
When there were so many problems. So many variables.
So much unanswered.
He didn’t have time for this.
“You’ve been investigating by yourself for the past two hours, have you reached any leads”, Jonn quips. His voice was steady but sarcastic.
He didn’t need to look at the files to know the answer.
But before Bruce could usher out his most unimpressed glare, a red blur swings by, causing papers to fly and more than enough supers to roll their eyes.
“I don’t know about the rest of you but I kinda think we shouldn’t be wasting time. Correct me if I’m wrong but we’ve definitely been taking some L’s. An SME, multiple organized attacks, jailbreaks… the League of Villians is really stepping the fuck up. I say we set up the little meeting and see what Deadshot knows. He can stay at Cadmus so no kidnapping, but we still get info”, Red Tornado exclaims, sheepishly smiling as his movement yet again causes a heroine’s skirt to fly up.
Menagerie one of his many skirt victims, bristles. “Incase your brain is as scrambled as your room, breaking into a government building is still illegal hero . Regardless if we leave him there or not”, she argues, because of course the she-devil couldn’t help but point out the obvious.
And of course, Red Tornado couldn’t not tease her back. “ My brain is fine Mena, but I’m not sure if yours is. I mean seriously red panties with gunshot grey, can we say fashion disaster”, he quips, just barely being able to zip past her as she once again swipes her claws in his direction. He then unceremoniously sticks out his tongue and blows her a great big kiss.
Big as in it blew back the entire hall.
Fortunately, most of the supers braced themselves before the windy hit, they were used to Tornado’s antics.
Unfortunately, Menagerie wasn’t, the minute the wind hit her she flew to the other side of the room, crashing into steel tables, plated chairs, and even a few other supers.
To her credit, she barely winced as she kicked a table off of her body and popped her shoulder back into place. “Thats it, your fucking dead”, she screeched bracing herself for a run.
It was only at this moment Batman decided to glance up from his tablet.
Because as much as he hates to admit it, Jonn did have a point.
So before Tornado could make it worse, before Superman could intervene, before Jonn could make another snarky quip, Batman quietly waltzed next to Menagerie and addressed the room. “We shouldn’t be fighting each other, not when a new enemy is preparing themselves ”he mutters.
And finally, everything stops. Everyone stops.
The stream of anger, regret, and bitterness is finally dry.
The air of confusion, the need to know is the best silencer.
New Enemy? What is he talking about?
It’s the League of Villians.
Right?
Jonn groans, he can literally feel the tension and anxiety pouring from each mind. It’s…less than comfortable.
He hopes Batman will alleviate it, or at least elaborate. But as time ticks and the silence builds, he realizes that was wishful thinking. So he sighs, and takes his turn to address the League, “Based on the gathered intel the League of Villians do not influence the current issues” he affirmed, and almost immediately the worries increased.
“What does that mean”, Superman asked, taking a break from playing peacemaker to finally address Bruce head-on.
He flies over, but doesn’t bother looking Bruce in the eye until they are but an inch apart.
His anger is apparent.
He’s been so busy flying around, fighting, rescuing, saving. He hasn’t slept in hours, he’s exhausted. Jonn and Bruce sent him to five out of the seven continents. They’ve mind message him nonstop with coordinates, and criminal activity but they couldn’t tell him any of this.
What do they mean Kaldur’s dead?
What do they mean the League of Villians aren’t involved?
What the hell is going on?
But Batman doesn’t falter at Clark’s glare, in fact, he catches it, reflects it even.
Because if Clark was angry, what the fuck did he think Bruce was.
“Bats right, we should be fighting the HIVE, not each other” Barry interjects, snapping Clark’s attention as well as the majority of the room.
HIVE?
What’s that?
Taking this as her cue, Oracle projects the infamous name. The label showing up behind Jonn in big, red letters.
“ HIVE like a bee nest. I like it, it’s catchy”, Shazam babbles, he then pauses as he takes in everyone’s glare. “Oh uh….sorry. Not catchy, not catchy at all. In fact, I hate it, boooooooo tomato tomato” he finishes, popping out an awkward smile and an even more awkward chuckle.
Great as if he wasn’t already the weirdo of the League.
Thankfully his embarrassment doesn’t last long. As soon as Batman loads a new file on the computer, and Oracle projects it on the largest screen, everyone’s glare shift, their heads snap, eyes focus.
The file itself is long and extensive. It’s full of numerous notes, and annotations from Young Justice, Jonn, and Batman. Personal accounts of where everyone was, basic maps, and timesheets of attacks. But that’s not the most surprising, that’s not the most shocking.
To the left of the file are three pictures.
One of them was of a beaten Killer Croc. Part of his reptilian skin peeled, the side of his skull full on display as one limb was broken and the other was missing.
The second picture was of Banes’s old cell. It was tattered, torn from the inside. And it also had burn marks on the outside . Clearly, Bane had escaped, what’s unclear is who helped him.
The final picture was of a Young Justice member, Superboy. He was covered in medical wires and needles. His right eye sported a bad bruise, and his nose was broken. The S symbol on his shirt had been torn, ripped off to the point where the injuries that surrounded the teen’s torso were easily visible. Bruises and blood marked his body more so than skin.
He was put through the wringer, that was for sure.
“Whew Wee”, Vigilante murmured. “I do think ya boy might need a hospital Supes”.
Clark ignores him, instead turning his glare back to Bruce. “You said he was injured, you didn’t mention any of this”.
Batman doesn’t bother giving back or acknowledging Superman’s anger. Instead, he continues to type before muttering, “I said he was injured and sent you his report. What you don’t read isn’t my issue”.
Standard asshole Batman, but there was a slight edge to it.
A fuck with me if you want to undertone.
And with the day Supermans had, he may just go there.
Luckily, before the two men could add to the daily argument count the Martian Manhunter takes center stage.
“Superboy was injured during the Arkham breakout. He doesn’t remember much of the incident but he did note Bane affiliated himself with a team called the HIVE. Kid Flash was injured during the UN massacre. After speaking to him we have learned Firefly, Deadshot, and Mammoth are also members of this HIVE.”, Jonn explains.
As he speaks Oracle once again highlights the name, the images, and the details.
“Members? So who’s leading them?” Wonderwoman asked.
“We’re unsure. Nothing is showing up in the database, no cult sightings, no unsolved cases, no gang affiliates. It’s like the HIVE is nothing but a name”, Batman replied, frustrated to the brink himself.
Because fuck, who is doing this?
What do they want?
And how, how could he let this happen.
His mantra of irritation is broken by Vixen’s petulant frown.
“How do we know it’s not a League of Villians faction or something. A mini-team like the one Young Justice fought on Sunday”, she questioned, while skeptically staring at the screen.
To her right Hal nods, “Yeah wasn’t Mammoth fighting YJ on Sunday. How are we so sure this ain’t the League of Losers”.
Batman sighs, and gestures to the first photo. “Killer Croc is a member of the League of Villians but was also attacked the day of the second blackout. Bane escaped through Croc’s sewer along with a series of other people, one of them beat Croc to the point where he doesn’t even remember his own name. Neuroscans show his brain has been damaged beyond repair, Jonn couldn’t even unearth what had happened without further harming him”.
As if to prove his point Oracle once again zooms in, only this time it’s a video. Killer Croc’s reptilian skin was broken and battered, his injuries were so monstrous, so grotesque. But Crocs screaming, his anguish, there was no mistaking the humanity in it.
The brokenness of it.
What could’ve done this?
Who could’ve done this?
Amethyst one of the most heartfelt and empathetic heroes winces, “That poor creature. Are you sure you can’t piece his mind back, at least so he’s no longer in pain”.
This time Jonn sighs, reluctant to show his own weakness, “I- I have tried. It appears they have someone with a more powerful mind-matter ability than my own. Every time I step in I feel the mind breaking even more”.
“I still don’t get it. They hurt the crocodile so we think it’s another team of baddies. That doesn’t make sense”, Shazam mused
“We know it’s a separate team because they went to strong lengths to make sure no one could remember their faces. They do not want to be discovered by us or the League of Villians. That’s obvious with the people they chose to put down. First Croc, then Meghan.” Jonn mechanically replies, shaking his head as Mari and a few others try to console him.
He didn’t need their pity.
And he doesn’t need their worries.
Megan is injured but she’s alive.
That’s better than a lot of others.
Vibe nods, understanding Jonn’s thinking more than he cares to admit. “A new group makes sense. If it was the League of Villians they would want everyone to know it. Definitely wouldn’t rename themselves”, he insisted, and instantly every doubter’s face fell. Everyone’s face fell.
Cause fuck, he was right.
Everything so far was so secret, so unknown.
So NOT like the League of Villains.
No TV takeovers, no theme-dressed minions, not even one long-ass monologue.
If this was the League of Villians, their name would be plastered everywhere. Luthor would be participating in an interview, Grodd would be broadcasting his human zoo, Joker would be taunting from a green screen-
Fuck.
This couldn’t be the League of Villians.
A fear-filled silence fills the room.
And as always Batman has to be the one to break it, “The Arkham breakout caused some issues but it appears the UN was the HIVE’s main target. Three hundred and eight-six world leaders were attacked. One hundred and fifty-one were injured, Forty-seven were killed, and fourteen missing. Jonn and I have analyzed the parties involved. It was systematic, many of the people killed were influential faction leaders with no visible replacement. Their deaths are spiraling their nations into chaos”.
“And the missing”, Superman asked.
Suddenly the file closes and pictures amongst pictures are displayed. The Martian Manhunter reads off each one.
“Dr. Lia Tang, General of State. North Korea”
“Marlize DeVoe, General of State. South Africa”
“Richard Swift, Prime Minister. Britain”.
“Kaldur’am. Representative. Atla-.
“Shit do we really need to go through the fucking list. It’s just a bunch of leaders, right”?, Hawk interrupts, not wanting to see another.
“I think their names matter”, Superman asserts but Hawk doesn’t back down.
“Then send out a fucking email, their names don’t tell us shit about where they are”, he growls, once again pushing his large body into Clark’s face.
But Clark doesn’t even get the chance to take the bait, Batman gets in front of Superman that second. “If all you’re going to do is bark, leave”, he growls out and for once the angry bird simmers down.
Once Jonn finishes the remaining list, a small voice utters out “Any leads”?
Batman shifts, moving away from Clark to fully address the Atom. “No, there haven’t been any sightings. Video coverage was blocked due to the SME. Mammoth and Firefly are nowhere to be found”.
“And Deadshot”
Batman shifts again, this time in irritation, “Recruited to join the Suicide Squad”, he bites out.
Bites out, meaning he truly didn’t want to disclose that bit.
Nor does he want to disclose how much he himself would like to interrogate Deadshot.
The last thing they need is to resurface the “Should we, shouldn’t we fight”
Cosmic one of the newer and more vocal heroes groans, ’“So what we just wait for the missing to show up and let the world go to shit”, he scoffed, and is nothing but shocked when it is Superman that replies to him.
“No. We support and we stay in the open so the people have nothing to fear”, he proclaimed.
Proclaimed. Like it was a fact.
Like he knew everything would be okay.
And maybe it would be.
“As much as I love this misplaced optomism, I think we’re all a little late”, the Question quickly murmurs, instantly breaking the sprout of hopefulness. His voice carrying an almost bored tone.
Diana doesn’t like it, “Another conspiracy theory”? she aggressively asked, hoping the paranoid freak would back down.
But the Question only smiles, happy that his mask is broken enough for the Amazonian to see it. He then raises an eyebrow, glances at everyone’s faces, and shrugs. “It’s more of fact than a theory. Take a look around, gorgeous. Ukraine, France, Brazil, Russia, Germany, Algeria, Britain, China, Japan, and now Atlantis have closed their borders. Some countries are declaring the UN incident as an attack from Metas. Fear is already rampant, people are already scared”.
As if to prove his point Oracle changes the screen again. Different news stations pop up in different languages. Even without the subtitles, it’s easy to see that each station was covering the UN massacre. The burned remains of the building are bright in every background.
The delivery may be different in each video, but the message is the same.
An attack from Metas?
How can humans cope?
How will humans survive?
What is the next step?
Superman is the first to tear his eyes away from the screen, “We need to alleviate that fear before it reaches a boiling point”.
Red Star, one of the few quiet members rolls his eyes, “Mother Russia has their militia patrolling, I think we’ve reached the boiling point”, he grumbles, adding to the air of fear and mistrust.
“Hmmm so Word War 3 with every single country’s militia plus metas, that should be fun” Hal sarcastically quips.
To his left, Fire shivers, “Count in the fish people, his royal Highness doesn’t strike me as the kind to bluff”.
Sensing another spout of arguments brewing Jonn tries to rebuff this, and explain Mira’s position, but he’s drowned out amongst the squabbling.
And the screeching.
And the blaming.
“Enough!!” Batman commanded, “ We need to focus. The problem is we don’t know all the affiliates in the HIVE nor who is leading it. This global fear is an issue to discuss at a later day. We need to stay in the open, to get information, and to retaliate when they attack again.”
Amethyst frowns, she can hear Batman but she can’t understand him, “But what about the innocent scapegoats, we don’t stop this and it can get messy really quick. People could be hurt, they’re already calling it a Meta attack”.
“And how do we know it isn’t”, the Atom asked.
And just like that the room is more divided than ever.
“Excuse me”, Vixen seethed, ready more than anything to sink her claws in his throat.
The Atom, isn’t scared. Sending her and all the other offended Meta’s his most unimpressed shrug, “Oh come on. We’ve all seen this movie before. Power structures, fragility. Maybe the metas got tired of letting the weak ole humans rule”.
He’s not making sense, at least not to her.
But to people like Wildcat, and Terrifc….well.
“Metas are human”, Superman interupts.
And again, the Atom isn’t fazed. “You’re right, they are in the worst of ways……Look all I’m saying is we share just enough similarities in the mind for it to be a possibility”.
Barry frowns, shaking his head at the stupidy of this argument and the fear around it.“Most metas view themselves as human, they want to be human”.
“But you aren’t, are you”, the Atom pressed, again looking nonchalant and so self- righteous.
“This whole thing is stupid, the public outrage is stupid this new group is stupid. This HIVE their just a bunch of villains fucking shit up, nothing new”, Fire exclaimed, frustrates and furious.
She’s right of course.
This whole thing is stupid.
This argument is stupid.
But at the same time.
“Mmmm I don’t know”, Red Tornado, mumbles. “Three orchestrated events. Same time, and correct me if I’m wrong but it looks like every member of their little team is a meta”.
Vixen growls the last thing they need is Meta agreeing with this bullshit, “Deadshot isn’t, he’s a fucking human ass assasin so there”, she snarled. Her immaturity as high as her anger.
And who could blame her. The nerve of them.
The fucking audacity.
As if she would ever, as if Metas would ever.
Vigilante shrugs,“Eh tell that to the public”, he murmers, purposefully keeping his voice low in order to avoid an argument between himself and his Meta girlfriend.
Luckily, she didn’t hear him.
Unluckily, Amethyst did.
“That’s perfect!”, she beams, crushing both Vigilante and Fire in a super hug. Both the Brazilian beauty and crazed cowboy yelp, trying their hardest to break away from the purple clad girl.
Flash winces, speed intervening before Fire burns them all to a crisp, “Uh Amethyst any reason your crushing the lovebirds”, he asked after blowing his arm cold.
“News outlets”, Amethyst happily explained,“We control the narrative. Make sure we let everyone know that Deadshot was involved, that a non meta was involved. Make him the mastermind if we have to”.
Bruce nods, instantly understanding, “That’ll minimize the meta hate”.
“Also might make Cadmus a little more reluctant to keep him”, Cosmic adds, chuckling himself at the revelation. “The squad of villains idea is already bad, but one mass murdering wanted by multiple countries villain, can we say liability”.
Vixens eyes glint, feeling free and light all at once. “ I can’t imagine them keeping him for a week”, she smirks.
And for the first time that day Clark smiles, “I’ve got a friend at the Daily Planet. I’ll have her rush the story by this afternoon” he chirps.
“I can get a reporter in Central City to broadcast around the same time”, Barry happily adds
Hal shrugs, “Eh I might know a Youtuber or two who can help us out”.
And just like that the League is back accords. The arguments, the mistrust and shifty eyes take a back seat as members choose their assignments, bicker on team-ups, and rub the sleep out of their eyes.
Seconds pass and people begin leaving. The room feels lighter, brighter somehow.
And when its completely empty the Question hangs back, analyzing Batman. After about three minutes of just silence and stares, the man shrugs his coat off and addresses the brooding Bat.“Not gonna ask me what I want”.
“It’s none of my concern what you want”, Batman gruffs. Always straight to the point.
Immediately the Question chuckles, “Hmm, guess I should’ve expected that. But I do think the info I have might pique your interest. Say even concern you a bit ”.When Batman does nothing but continues to punch in his report, Question shrugs.“ Not one to rise to bait huh. Classy as always. Anyways I heard your kid was injured”.
Batman doesn’t even blink, “Nightwing and Robin’s injuries are mild and none of your concern”.
The Questions reply is instant. “Good to know, but I was talking about the other one”.
Batman..no- Bruce pauses. Tears his eyes away from the computer to glance at the Question.
The man was in his usual trench suit, but it was scrapped up, tattered. His tie was missing, and a tightly wound bandage replaced his beloved fedora. He was in a bad fight, a bloody one.
Immediately Batman wonders who all were involved.
He wonders how bad was it?
Who was hurt more?
And why he doesn’t already know about it.
If there was one thing Batman prides himself on, it was his knowledge. He likes knowing things, he enjoys being one step ahead, which is why The Question has always intrigued him. He carries a mist of anonymity, a center of mystery that Batman doesn’t quite like, but Bruce respects.
That being said he’s not particularly sure if he’ll be too respectful if the man lets him know how he harmed Jason.
Villain or not. Killer or not.
Jason was his problem to deal with, not Questions.
As if sensing Bruce’s anger, The Question immediately holds his hands up in surrender, “Hey, hey don’t shoot the messenger. I didn’t even see the kid, just heard he was in Hub City. And anyways from the sound of it kid walked off with a bum shoulder nothing too severe”.
This doesn’t soften Bruce’s glare the slightest. The lack of info makes him even more annoyed. He already knew the Red Hood was in Hub City during the second blackout. He already knows Jason is trained enough to walk away from any incident with just a hurt shoulder. So why was Question dancing around how he got injured?
Did the man even know himself?
“You’re wasting my time. Get out”, Batman gruffs, already turning back to the computer.
But this obvious dismissal does nothing but make the Question roll his eyes and sigh. Batman’s attitude was expected, normal with what he knew of the man.
But he wasn’t too keen on arguing with a concussion.
As he was still being ignored, the Question rubs his bandaged head, he then finds a seat closest to Batman, and pulls up a Holo-file from his phone.
It takes about 2 whole minutes before Batman even spares it a glance. And even then he doesn’t bother to stop his typing or wipe the disinterest off his face.
The file itself is of a tall man with a large mustache and a stern frown. Behind it is a series of notes and highlighted names.
The Question waits for a bit, hoping the Bat will at least try to read the file. When another minute passes and Batman doesn’t, the Question annoyingly decides to summarize it instead. “I’m working a case against William Toler. He’s a Supreme Justice. The guy has multiple connections to hospitalized villains and I think-.”
“I’m aware of Toler’s influence as well as his payouts. None of this is a pressing concern of the League or myself”, Batman gruffs, closing the holo-file and swiping to his next report.
This time the Question actually groans, Batman always made everything so hard.
He instantly re-pulls the file and glares back at the Bat,“Toler’s home was attacked the day of the second blackout. SME’s a good blindfold for any thief, but this just looked a bit more…. personal. I found Deathstroke and Killer Moth mangled up at Toler’s home, heard your kid was there too. There were a lot of dead bodies around, tried to figure out why. The moth was delusion mumbling about a HIVE. At the time I thought it was more of his bug jargon, so I knocked him out to shut him up”, he pauses and bites out a bitter chuckle. “Tch, you can’t imagine how angry I was when I realized it was an actual group”.
Batman doesn’t say anything at first but he does press the keypad a tad harder.
Toler’s corrupt, stupidly obviously corrupt. The kind of corruption that leaves broken homes, damaged families, and early releases.
The kind of corrupt the Red Hood would go after.
Of course, Jason’s a part of this.
Bruce wants to yell. He wants to scream, shout, punch Question in the mouth and forget this whole conversation.
But he doesn’t, he can’t.
So instead he swallows his anger, trudges it to the lowest part of his spirit, and bites out, “The Red Hood is a mass murderer. I’m not surprised at the bloodshed, his poor choice of comrades nor your incompetence”.
It’s a bad insult, a worse lie.
The Question doesn’t even acknowledge its malice, “From what I heard, your kid is not exactly buddy-buddy with them. He was fighting against the HIVE. I mean at least that’s what I gathered. Deathstroke barely gave me anything, really….. ‘Cept how proud he was of the other Robin, kid outsmarted him I guess. Took a bullet but won somehow. Couldn’t really get the full story, got knocked out from behind”. He finishes, motioning crudely to his bandaged head.
He starts speaking more, but Batman doesn’t hear him. He can’t hear him.
The HIVE, Red Hood fought the HIVE. Jason isn’t a part of this, he’s not a part of them.
Thank God.
A second falls into the air before Batman is already back to typing, “This is…good work. Intell partial or not is necessary, I’ll add it to the reports” he notes, half expecting Question to take the praise and leave. But the Question doesn’t even lift up from his seat. He just glances back at Bruce and bitterly laughs.
“Oh don’t think you’ll want to put this out for everyone Bats”.
Batman frowns, cause what the hell does he mean “It further proves the theory that the League of Villains is not associated with the Hive. It needs to be noted Mammoth joined up with another team. Besides keeping Red Hood’s actions a secret is not of my interest. His behavior has always been heavily documented”.
The Question actually has the good sense to not mention how much of a lie that was.
Seriously, it’s not like the kid had an extensive file, just the basics.
Hell, his identity as the second Robin still isn’t there.
Instead, The Question pauses for a moment choosing his next words very carefully.
“It’s not the Red Hood bit I’m worried about….. Look, whoever knocked me out patched me up before they left. My head was fucked, whatever they hit me with put a hole through the side of it. By the time I woke up, I would’ve bled out, I’m hemophilic. Not too many people know that. League medicals I guess, but you’d have to look for it. You’d have to have access to my file”.
Batman’s frown hardens. The last thing he needed was The Question broadcasting a leak.
“We have the most secure medical files, encrypted by the best. Every doctor is mind-scanned free of records after termination. If the system were compromised I would know it. You had a bleeding heart villain patch you up, I wouldn’t focus on it”, Bruce gruffed out. His next report popping up as his body turned back to his computer.
He hopes the conversation will end now. The conversation should end.
But the Question doesn’t leave.
“You know I thought the same Bats,”, He starts with a smile, frowning as his next thought sinks in, “but then you called this meeting. And I heard everybody yell about where they were. Moan about how every time they saved one city, another one was in danger. Did you notice how none of our big hitters manage to get a second to breathe? How hard it was for everyone to stick with the evacuation plans. Sure we didn’t have comms but we did have our mindlinks. Jonn was doing pretty good at reporting everyone’s status, trying hard to make sure if someone needed backup, they had it…... I know for the most part I knew where everyone was. I have to assume everyone else got the same messages”.
Batman doesn’t stop typing, but he does slow down. He does listen harder.
He does not like where this is going.
“When I heard about the UN thing I thought shit, how’d we let that happen”, Question adds after a moment, pausing more so for his own confusion than theatrics. “How the hell were three villains so comfortable enough to attack the fucking UN. It’s like they knew we wouldn’t be around”.
He leaves space once again for Bruce to speak, to intervene. To give him some logical explanation.
But Batman doesn’t. He can’t.
So the Question just smiles, it’s bitter and grim. “And then Aquaman.. he said Atlantis wasn’t attacked until after he sent some of his best sorcerers. As angry as he was, I know he’s not one to exaggerate. Only members of the League and Young Justice knew he was sending backup. We knew how many, we knew how strong they were and we knew Atlantis would be severely weakened without them…. A patch-up, I could understand but timed attacks”.
This time when Bruce pauses the keys stop clicking, silence fills the air and Batman waits a full minute before asking, “What are you saying”.
“Nothing that you're not already wondering…. Catch you later. I’ll wait for my assignment in the lounge. Thanks for the chat”.
And with that the Question was gone, and Batman was alone.
He stared, stopping his report to glare down and process the last few minutes.
He should be delegating, he should be working.
He should write off The Question and all his stupid theories as paranoia.
Add it to the list of shit NOT to think about.
But deep down he knew.
My god he knew.
The second he heard of the UN massacre coincided with the Arkham breakout. The minute he heard Atlantis had been attacked as well.
Batman knew.
A traitor.
The Justice League has a traitor.
Somebody with all of their resources and then some.
Somebody working for the enemy, for the HIVE.
Somebody who was able to hide, even from him.
This was serious.
“Oracle, analyze the last three hours of the meeting. Determine changes in inflection, tone, and heart rate throughout proceedings. Find any discrepancies and report” he ordered, his files now forgotten.
“Analyzing”, the computerized voice echoed, as holographic images of the last three hours popped up and pixelated.
Some portions were replicated, some zoomed in, and some zoomed out. Bits and pieces of the footage were highlighted in red, green, and yellow. Finally, after what felt like ages, the images stopped and Oracle’s mechanical voice rang out once more.
‘213 discrepancies detected’.
“Correlate with the current issue and behavioral response, and eliminate all neutral factors”, Batman orders again and watches as video after video is sorted and deleted.
‘1 discrepancy detected, proceed for analysis’.
Bruce swallows, he’s not sure if he really wants to know. “Proceed”.
“Young Justice League member present. Heart rate increased 87 percent, perspiration increased 43 percent, and breath intake increased 29 percent. Increases correlate with the usage of the verbal label: HIVE”.
Batman frowned, there shouldn’t be any Young Justice members present at this meeting.
He didn’t see anyone.
He didn’t notice anything.
How could he miss that?
“Classify”, he murmured, voice steady, assured.
And once again Oracles perfectly computerized voice rang out.
‘‘Designations B17, Alias Karen Beecher. Government name Unknown. Place of Birth Unknown. Age Unknown. Current Residence, Unknown.
Codename. Bumblebee.