Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Victor held the tray as best he could in his good hand. The tray is a lot heavier than he remembered but he refused to try and use the prosthetic one and get even more stares than usual. His steps slowed on approaching his usual table. His friends had placed a backpack in his usual spot and were rather obviously avoiding looking at him. Victor snorted. He’d assumed as much. It was amazing how differently people treated you once you were no longer a potential NFL star. Or a potential anything except maybe an IT guy.
He walked from table to table each one being full or else casting unfriendly glares his way. Victor knew where he’d have to end up but didn’t want to admit it to himself. He slid into the bench of the seat with his tray, watching out of the corner of his vision the wide eyed stare of the boy next to him. Victor started eating in hopes the other boy would pick up that he wasn’t in a talkative mood.

“Hey!” He noticed the boy’s nail polish first, bright red and chipped on his bitten short nails extended to shake his hand. “I’m Barry” he flashed a wide grin from beneath his long bangs. Victor awkwardly twisted around and shook with his good hand.

“Victor” he said quietly.

“Yeah I know who you are. Well kind of. I heard about what happened. I’m sorry. Are you ok? I mean like does it hurt? Oh you probably don’t like talking about it sorry again.”

Victor stifled a sigh. He looked up at his friends table and managed to catch a few of them watching and giggling.

“It’s ok” said Barry “ I know you’re only sitting with me because you have to. Did they dare you to sit with me? It’s ok you can tell me.”

“No they didn’t. Those guys….aren’t my friends anymore I guess.” Victor said peeling his attention away from the other table.

“Cold. Made you sit with the local freak.” Barry shook his head. “You know at my old school there was a whole group of kids like me. Well not like me but you know like me. There was Lily and Elliot. There was Cat and she was the coolest lesbian like ever she’d always like draw on me with glitter pens. And Tony was this big guy but he’d wear the most flamboyant outfits.” Barry laughed before freezing. “Oh I’m sorry I’m rambling. My foster mom says I have a mouth that could turn Mother Theresa into an axe murderer. I just...I miss my old school.”

There was a long silence. Victor shifted uncomfortably and searched for a topic. “You uh... used to run track right? Coach said you were the fastest un-trained sprinter he’d ever seen.”

Barry brightened up a bit “Yeah I used to love running the track. When you hit your stride it’s like you’re apart of something greater, some kinda speed force.”

“Why did you quit? Maybe you can pick it up again?”

Barry shifted uncomfortably at the question “I uh...I don’t think so. I don’t think the other guys on the team didn’t care for me that much.”

“Oh I’m sorry” Victor said meekly.

“No that’s ok” Barry interjected “ It gives me more time to focus on my science classes and stuff. I’m taking AP physics now and it's pretty intense.”

The shrill ring of the bell sounded from the speakers. Barry and Victor both looked down to the full plate of food on Victor’s plate. “Aw man they should really give us more time to eat lunch.”

“That’s ok. Buffalo chicken nuggets aren’t really my style anyways” sighed Victor.

“Here” Barry pulled an apple out of his lunch bag and handed it to him “They’ll let you leave with this.”

Victor smiled politely and thanked him before walking off. He couldn’t see them but he knew his old ‘friends’ were nearby so he turned around and very audibly said “See you tomorrow Barry.” Barry smiled gleamingly and waved.

Chapter Text

Barry tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for someone to come to the door. Eventually Mr. Thawne’s visage came into the door’s window frame and he opened the door and sighed disappointedly.

“Late again Mr.Allen. One more time and it’s a detention. You know the rules.”

Barry nodded avoiding eye contact. “I just couldn't remember my lock--”

“No excuses Allen. Somehow everyone else manages to get here on time. Take your seat.”

Barry sighed and shuffled to the back of the class, as far away from everyone else as possible. He put on his glasses. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a familiar unfamiliar face.

Victor was three rows ahead and across the room but Barry still felt a rush of excitement. “Psssst. Hey. Victor.” Victor didn’t budge, probably too far away to hear. Barry ripped a page from his notebook and started to fold a paper airplane.

“Mr.Allen?” Mr.Thawne was staring straight at him.

“Yes sir?” Barry reacted realizing very suddenly that he had lost focus.

“Well,” Mr.Thawne huffed impatiently “Answer the question.”

Barry felt his face burn. “What….what was the question again?” A giggle rippled through the class.

“You might know if you pay attention. Sit down Allen.” Barry’s eyes very briefly found Victor’s in the crowd looking distantly sympathetic. Barry took his seat to another chorus of giggling.His throat felt tight and he struggled not to say anything that might land him in further trouble.
---
After class Victor was busy talking to the teacher so Barry went on to his locker. Two new scribblings of slurs had appeared since last Friday. Barry sighed and twisted in his combination before removing the spray bottle and rag inside and he set about scrubbing. His locker slammed shut and a boy around his age leaned against it. “Hey Barry.”

“Fuck off Andrew.” Barry sneered.

Andrew did his best impression of sincerity. “Ouch. Mean.” Barry could hear his friends not far away snickering. “Prom is coming up” he continued “And I know you don’t have a date.” Barry felt a surge of frustration.

“Why do you guys even do this? You’re not funny.”

One of Andrew’s friends parroted him in a high voice. Andrew scoffed “What? You don’t like me Barry?” Barry tried to push past him but the other boy grabbed him and started touching him aggressively. “You like this f*ggot? You want me?” Victor pulled Andrew off Barry and decked him, instinctively using his now prosthetic arm. The hard polymer crashed against the boy’s nose and sent him staggering backwards. Andrew smirked.” A white f*g with a black boyfriend? That’s new.”

“Do you ever shut up?” Victor spat angrily. Andrew lunged at him and swung his foot at Victor’s stomach. Though winded Victor grabbed Andrew’s leg and pulled hard, yanking him to the ground.

“That’s enough!” shouted Mr.Thawne stepping between them. “All three of you. Principle’s office. NOW. Or I swear I’ll get campus police involved.”
---
They each had to see principal DeCarlo one at a time. While Andrew spun his side of the story Barry and Victor sat in uncomfortable chairs in the hallway. “Sorry I got you in trouble man.” Victor mused awkwardly.

Barry stared at his shoes and shrugged “It’s ok.”

“They shouldn’t just be able to do you like that. It’s messed up. Do the teachers know he-”

Barry sighed loudly “Yeah they do. They just tell me I should stand up to them, firmly say no and all that shit.” Victor noticed Barry fidgeting with a pen in his pocket. “Victor you and I have lived in very different worlds.”

Andrew walked out of the office sneering at the two of them. “Looks like we’re up.” Victor said and the two of them made their way inside.

Principal DeCarlo sat patiently her arms folded. “So which of you is going to tell me what happened?”

Victor turned to Barry who was now clicking the pen faster. “Andrew was being a…" Victor cleared his throat “ a jerk to Barry. He was messing with him.”

“Messing with him how?”

“Trying to ask him out but like as a joke.”

“How do you know it was a joke?”

“Well I-”

“Can Mr.Allen speak for himself?” she snapped.

Barry took a shaky breath and mumbled “He’s right.”

“Now is there some sort of reason you didn’t simply work this out with that student?”

“He wouldn’t listen to me.” Barry looked about to cry.

“Did you try and talk to a teacher?”

“I did but they won’t do anything! They see it happening and never care!” Barry blurted loudly.

Principal DeCarlo lowered her tone “Unless this boy is physically harming you there’s nothing we can do.”

“You can do something!” Victor interjected.

She turned to him sharply “And what business is this to you Mr.Stone? Mr.Allen needs to solve his own problems.”

“He shouldn’t have to-”

“That's enough. Both of you. We can not permit our students to solve disputes with violence. Now this is the first time I’m seeing of you boys in trouble so I’ll let you off easy. Detention. Tomorrow, nine o’clock at the library. Bring schoolwork to work on. You are dismissed.”

Chapter Text

Victor pushed open the door and locked it behind him. Any second now. He tossed his backpack on the kitchen table and flipped on the light. His father, Silas, was sitting on the recliner watching tv. Here we go. He clicked it off and stood up.

“Victor. I received a call today from your school about you getting into a fight with another student.Care to explain?”

Victor twitched with irritation. “ It wasn’t a fight. A kid was getting his butt kicked by some guy and I stepped in. That’s all.”

Silas shook his head “Victor they say his nose might be broken. I didn’t raise you to be violent.”

“Since when did you raise me at all?” he huffed “ That was mom’s job while you were at work.”

“Victor don’t turn this around on me…”

“And speaking of mom she raised me to stand up for people who can’t help themselves.”

“With your words yes. And with your mind.” Silas asserted.

”Yeah well words don’t always cut it dad. Sometimes you have to do something.”

“And sometimes” said Silas “it’s better to leave things alone.”

“Where was that mindset when I was on death’s door huh? When me and mom were at death’s door? You decided to drag me out of there and leave her to die and for what, for this?” Victor yanked down his sleeve to show his prosthetic. “Thousands of dollars, all this experimental bullshit turning me into another one of your projects?”

Silas shook his head “I had to save you. You’re my son Victor.”

“And she was your wife dad.”

“How long are you going to punish me for what happened to her?”

A long silence followed before Victor grabbed his bag and headed upstairs to his room. Another night, another argument going nowhere. He flopped down onto his bead and closed his eyes.

---
Barry filled out the detention sign in as fast as possible. He was late again. He glanced up and saw Victor across the room again but this time also looking for him. Barry smiled at him and Victor sheepishly smiled back.

Barry started making his way towards Victor’s row of computers but was intercepted by a teacher’s assistant. “You may sit at the end of this row right here” she said pointing to a close by computer.

Barry sighed and slumped down in the chair swinging his backpack off dejectedly. He logged in using his student ID and opened up the school’s website. A small bar popped up showing a chat message from Victor. Barry looked behind him to see Victor nodding subtly from his computer. Barry opened the message.

“Hey” the message said. Barry looked around cautiously and opened a school document as cover before typing his own.

B: hi

B: how did you chatroom message me? I thought the school’s firewall stopped this kinda stuff??

V: It’s actually not that hard to get past.

B: what r u some kinda hacker genius?

V: Well idk abt genius but yeah hacking is something I’ve always been into I guess. I like computers.

B: an athlete and a hacker? Supermans got nothing on u

Barry heard a stifled laugh from Victor’s corner of the room and felt warm. He struggled to even talk to people so to make them laugh was an especially sweet accomplishment. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed movement and his easily stolen attention fell on the librarian wobbling on the ladder.

In one long moment the ladder collapsed and Barry felt his body spring out of his seat. When he finally exhaled the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding the elderly woman was in his arms, her nails digging into his arm like the claws of a frightened cat. Every set of eyes in the room were wide.

“Oh. Oh my god” the teacher's assistant sighed and rushed over to them. Barry put the librarian down.

“Are you ok?” he squeaked awkwardly. The frazzled woman adjusted her glasses and clasped one hand to her chest.

“Yes, yes thank you. Thank you so much.”

The teacher’s assistant checked the librarian up and down and looked back at Barry with astonishment “How did you catch her?”

Barry shrugged “I don’t know I was over here, it was a lucky catch I guess.”

She shook her head “I could have sworn you were way over there when she fell. In any case very impressive Mr.Allen.”

Barry gave a half smile still coming off the adrenaline. “Well,” she said “unfortunately you do have to sit back down and finish detention.”

Barry suddenly became aware of how long he'd been standing there and nodded heading back to his chair. He pulled the chat up again.

V:WOAH DUDE

V: I THINK IF ANY OF US IS SUPERMAN ITS YOU

B: i was just in the right place at the right time

V: No way man I saw you! You totally bolted across the room like a red blur.

B: wish it would get me out of detention XD

Victor stopped typing for a minute and started again.

V: You like checkers?

B: are u telling me u can hack us a game?

An online checkers program pulled up on the screen, the red side of the board on Barry’s side and blue on the other. A blue piece slid up a space.

V: Your move Superman

Chapter Text

Another uneventful week passed by in school. Fortunately Andrew and his cronies mainly steered clear of Barry but just in case Victor walked with him when he could. He concluded that it was worth the detention.

Barry had invited Victor to his house for a sleepover tonight and that had made the week much more bearable. Victor usually wasn’t keen on going out on Fridays but Barry had seemed so eager to have him over that Victor thought it best not to argue.

Barry’s apartment was a fair distance away, a bit further into Gotham city proper and Victor became somewhat shamefully aware of the niceness of his own neighborhood. He checked the text again to be sure and pulled into the parking lot, grabbed his bag and walked up a flight of stairs to the first door on the left.

Victor hadn't gotten one knock in before the door swung open. Barry was inside bouncing slightly, his dark eyes flashing with excitement.

“Come on in! Oh let me get your bags. MISS DEBBY VICTORS HERE!” he called behind him.

Victor stepped inside and took in the interior. It was a small place but definitely homey. A warm scent of pasta boiling drifted from the open kitchen. The living room was cluttered with pillows and blankets on the couch. On the walls hung various pictures of an older woman short and stocky with greying blonde hair and a squinty smile with various children, Barry included.

It was a mess he’d almost forgotten about, very unlike the superficial tidy of his own house which was professionally cleaned bi-weekly. Since his mother died that's what the house had been, a dollhouse, always neat and straight, the refrigerator empty of all but brand name condiments.

The door to the back room opened and the woman from the photographs wandered out looking dazed but perked up immediately when she saw Victor. She shook his hand “ Hi I’m Deborah. I’m Barry’s foster mom it’s nice to meet you Victor.”

A foster mom? Barry hadn’t mentioned being an orphan. But then again neither did Victor. “Hi nice to meet you”

“ I’m sorry I was taking a nap. Barry talks a lot about you.” She clasped her other hand onto the handshake sandwiching Victor’s and leaned in earnestly “Thank you for standing up for him. He really needs more friends like you.”

“ Miss Debby? The pasta” Barry chimed in.

“Oh yes right” she perked up again and scuttled over to the kitchen where the pot had been over boiling onto the electric stove. “ You’ll excuse me we don't get company often anymore. I hope you like spaghetti dear. Barry didn't tell me you were coming over until this evening otherwise I’d have picked up a pizza. I know this excellent Italian place on the corner. What’s it called?”

Barry rolled his eyes. “Falcone’s”

“Falcone’s.”

Victor got the sense that the two of them did this a lot. “Ah spaghetti is fine ma’am.”

“Oh you can call me Debby.”she said sweetly “ Barry why don't you show Victor around I’ll have dinner on the table when you get back.”

And just like that he bounced off again giving the brief tour in wide gestures. Victor found himself smiling. Feeling at home.

---
After dinner, the two boys retreated to Barry’s room where Barry showed Victor his case files on crimes, solved and unsolved, of the 20th century. Like many of their conversations Barry did most of the talking but Victor didn’t mind. He was just floored at how much the kid knew about this stuff. The names of the detectives on the Zodiac Killer case, the date of Ted Bundy’s trial, Charles Manson’s favorite music. About 15 minutes in Barry froze “Oh am I rambling too much? You’re probably bored I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Victor half grinned “I like hearing you talk about stuff.”

Barry blinked in surprise “Really? You don’t think it’s...weird or morbid? You don’t think I’m weird or morbid?”

“No. Well, maybe a little” Victor chuckled “ but I don’t know I think it’s interesting. The mystery part of it.”

“Yeah and the heroes. The world needs more of those.”Barry said gaze wandering out of the window.Victor nodded in agreement.

“Hey guess what?” Barry spouted.

“What?”

“I actually saw Batman a couple times right over there through this window.” he said pointing to a rooftop outside about 10 yards away.

“The Batman? He’s real?” Victor questioned.

Barry nodded. “I heard about him when I first moved to Gotham and I almost didn't believe it. A shadowy masked vigilante and master detective. Sounds totally like something out of a comic book. But I’ve seen him and he’s just like what you hear, pointy ears and everything.”

Victor was going to say something disparaging about how a guy like that is probably gonna get himself killed but decided to keep it to himself.

Barry turned away from the window “Oh yikes I’ve been talking for ages. Sorry.”

“It’s ok, really”

“And what about you? Since when are there hacker jocks?” he asked teasingly.

“Well,” Victor started “ My dad’s been teaching me code since I was like 3. He works as a technician at STAR labs. I practically grew up on forums and stuff. The community is...surprisingly nice.” Victor shifted a bit, uncomfortable to be talking so much about himself. “My friends were all these 20 year old guys and we could get into anything it was like a game. I guess that was the issue though. We uh hacked the FBI website one time.”

Barry sat straight up “You WHAT?”

Victor chuckled a little “Yeah for a solid 46 minutes the site was Federal Bikini Inspectors of the United States. Their idea not mine.”

“Did you get caught?” Barry asked.

“Yeah” said Victor “A guy actually came to the house and gave me a whole speech but I was 11 so I got off pretty easy. I thought I was pretty cool and my mom did too but my dad was pissed. He and my mom had a whole discussion on it and they came to a deal; I could keep my computer but only if I get involved in something more normal at school and I liked football so. Plus when you start being a teenager you want to do something different than your old man. So that’s when I became Victor the jock. It had the same team dynamic only now I was the cool kid. You can get used to that kind of attention.”

Barry leaned back a bit “I wouldn’t know.”

Victor shrugged “ Well it wasn’t that great. Apparently one accident and now coach just doesn’t think I can keep up with the other boys and not a damn one of them would fight for me. Coach Jones was like my hero and the team was like my family. Not a single card or flower while I was in the hospital. I guess that’s when I gave up.”

“On heroes or on family?”

Victor blinked incredulously. Here he was sitting on the floor on jackets and Yu-Gi-Oh! cards with this some kid saying things he never told any of the therapists his dad tried to get him to see. It was just hard not to trust someone who trusts so easily.

After a long pause Barry figured Victor wasn’t going to answer. Barry sighed like he was trying to figure out what to say but failed. Victor opened his mouth to say something but was suddenly wrapped in a hug, sudden and kind of awkward position wise but warm. It took Victor a minute to even register what happened and in that time Barry got up and shut off the lights.

“Goodnight Vic.” he said and Victor heard a plop down on the bed. Either he forgot to set up a place for Victor to sleep or he expected them to sleep in the same bed. In any case there was only one place to sleep. Neither of them were small people but there was just enough room for them both to squeeze in.

“Goodnight Barry.”

---
Victor was just starting to get to sleep when a harsh stinging feeling split his skull. He got up and rubbed his eyes. The doctors couldn’t tell him whether these random headaches would ever go away only to use ibuprofen to manage them. Victor dry swallowed a few but he knew they wouldn’t work as they never do. He needed some space ASAP. Cautiously and as quietly as possible he snuck out of Barry’s room and out of the apartment itself.

With any luck a good walk would let him be able to sleep. “We really don’t understand as much about the brain as we’d like to” they told him, “ Damage to it affects everyone differently.” It really wasn’t a very comforting diagnosis. Just ‘damaged’. Silas had almost definitely convinced himself this was the cause of the rift between them, like Victor was the only one with a problem.

This neighborhood made Victor nervous but he chastised himself for being swayed by classist judgement. He tried to clear his mind, focus on the cracks in the passing pavement while his headache subsided. The murmur of voices close by got his attention. As they got closer Victor crouched behind some trash cans and listened.

“We can’t do this alone. I know its asking a lot of them but what other choice do we have?” asked a male voice.

“Bruce, I can’t risk people we don’t even know getting hurt. When you started patrolling the city looking for trouble how often did you find it?”

The male voice, apparently Bruce, sighed “ People needed help and no one, not even the police, was doing anything to help them. Now when people need help they call me first.”

Victor stiffened. Was this the Batman? Barry said that he’d seen him around so maybe he had some sort of base in the area.

“They called Clark too. And look where he ended up.” the female voice countered.

“It’s because of him that I need to do this. If we give them the choice and let them know what could happen here, what’s already happening, they’ll be in.” said Bruce.

“And if they’re not?” she asked challengingly.

“Then we’ll need a miracle.”

Victor peered up to get a quick glance. The woman he didn’t recognize, a tall brunette with her arms sternly crossed. Bruce however, looked familiar. He was sure he’d seen him on TV or something. There was a scuttling sound a few yards away and the two of them stopped talking.

“We should get home. Get some rest. I know you have class in the morning.” the woman said.

“What can I say? Bats are nocturnal.” Victor waited until the footsteps were long gone before getting up again. Batman is a student? This certainly piqued Victor’s curiosity. He made a note to investigate. Until the morning though he figured he better get back before Barry noticed.

Chapter Text

Barry wiggled excitedly fixing his bow tie in the bathroom mirror. He was wearing a pink blazer with a white blouse and white bow tie, a pink rose corsage pinned to his chest. His shaggy hair had been brushed and combed and gelled and tousled into its current suave state, his warm brown eyes accented by eyeliner. Pretty and handsome at once. The little side glances girls stole as he passed confirmed what they'd never admit maybe not even to themselves. He looked good and he felt it.

Barry strolled out of the bathroom, down the hall and back to the snacks table where Victor was waiting in a much more drab but definitely not thrift shopped outfit.

“Prom?” he had said incredulously 2 weeks earlier “Why do you want to go to prom?”

“Come on Victor we’re almost out of high school and I want to go to a dance.” Barry whined.

“Haven’t you ever been to a dance?” Victor asked. Indeed he hadn’t as he refused to go alone. Barry could tell it was somewhat begrudgingly but Victor agreed to accompany him. Now, toying with the blue jello with gummy fish suspended inside matching the years under the sea theme he seemed to be having a good time.

Barry grabbed a few more cupcakes. “Anything interesting happen while I was gone?” he asked.

“Yes actually.” Victor replied incredulously “Some girl brought alcohol of some kind and is currently spiking punch bowl number 3.”

“That’s pretty interesting.”

“What is that your fifth cupcake?” Victor asked, digressing.

“What? Oh yeah. I have like a super fast metabolism I have to eat like all the time.”said Barry.

They heard a loud eruption of laughter nearby. Some of Victor's old friends walked into the room and started lingering close by. Victor suddenly felt a spike of irritation.

“Look don’t even worry about those guys.” Barry said looking back at them. “They shouldn’t ruin the night.”

Against his better judgement Victor peeked at them seeing one sneak glances at him while talking to the others making broad gestures towards his face. Victor burned with self consciousness.

“I need a minute outside.” He said before striding out of the door and into the warm night air. He took a deep breath and noticed that his heart had been beating fast. Why do these guys still fucking get to me? He thought angrily. Something about the thought of them talking about him, looking at what was left of his half scarred face made him want to just disappear. Victor decided he needed a distraction.

After a quick look around to make sure no one was nearby he pulled out his phone and noticed he’d picked up a new feed. He opened it and it appeared to show the mysterious woman from the night at Barry’s. In the days since his encounter he’d done his research comparing who he saw that night with reports and blurry photos of the Batman and the woman in armor vigilantes. He had concluded that Batman was almost certainly Bruce Wayne and his base of operations was the basement of a building which used to be owned by Wayne Industries. The woman he knew less about except that her name was Diana Prince and she went to Gotham City University with Wayne.All of this knowledge was nearly untraceable but almost nothing was untraceable for a hacker of Victors caliber. Using some of his father’s equipment he was able to set up a net that would catch any signal activated in that rough area and it seems like he just did. Diana was conversing in front of the screen with an older man in what looked like the base. He decided it was time to send her a message.

HELLO DIANA

She looked surprised and then into the webcam. “You know who I am?”

I DO. YOU AND BRUCE WAYNE AKA BATMAN.

He sent the pictures he'd found of them onto her screen.She looked down thinking for a minute.

“ I know who you are Victor and I know you’re not a threat. If you were you could have attacked us that night.”

Victor’s mask of bravado shattered instantly. How did they know who he was? That he’d been watching? Maybe this Batman really is a detective.

WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?

“ We were going to wait to contact you but I see you’ve made the first move. You’re curious Victor, admit it. But this needs to be said face to face. Meet me outside the gas station on 52nd tonight at 12:30. I know you won’t keep me waiting”

She turned the webcam off. Victor put his phone away. Caught. She was right about one thing he certainly wanted to know. But is it worth it to chase this thing any further? Victor checked the time and realized 20 minutes had zipped by. He quickly shuffled back inside to find Barry not in the same place he'd left him. Victor leaned over the table and asked a PTA assistant if she knew where a kid in a pink jacket went off to and he was pointed towards the dance floor. Great.

It was extremely loud in there. Victor could feel the bass of the speakers in his chest from the back of the room. The DJ was playing Despacito, of course. The air was extra humid from all the sweaty teenagers dancing and felt thick enough to swim in. Victor squeezed in and around groups of dancers, scanning for Barry's face in the flashes of red and blue and yellow. Victor found him spinning some girl he didn’t recognize in his arms. He almost didn't want to interrupt them but Barry saw him and broke away easily from his partner.

“Victor! Hey!” Barry grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to them. “ Victor, this is Iris, she asked me to dance!” he yelled over the music. The girl laughed and waved hello coyly. “Iris, this is Victor. He was my ride here and he is SUPER cool.”

Victor muttered a simple “Hi.” Before she could say anything back she was whisked away by two other girls, presumably her friends. “What did you have some of the spiked punch or something?” Victor asked jokingly.

Barry made a semi guilty expression.

“What? Oh my god are you drunk?”he asked.

“No no no I mean like a little but but like I’m fine I didn't go crazy or anything.” Barry backpedaled. Victor couldn't help but laugh. 20 minutes he was gone and Barry had already become the life of the party. Drunk was pretty much the only party the football team would go to, the only way they knew how. Something seemed sort of ironic about Barry drinking because of how much he didn't rely on it to be interesting company. He recognized the opening notes to a familiar song coming on.

Barry audibly gasped and jumped up and down “Holy SHIT COME ON EILEEN I love this song!” he yelled and grabbed Victor’s hand and led him to the dance floor.

Now he knew a thing or two about dancing and, at first, that's exactly what they were doing but that quickly evolved into a sort of chaotic thing. They became a hurricane of hips and arms and kicks. Barry was singing at the top of his lungs. And almost all at once they were dancing together, spinning while holding hands like Jack and Rose in Titanic until they both fell over dizzy and smiling. Apparently people had been watching them because there was a small eruption of cheers and applause. When the room stopped spinning Victor noticed the shapes of some police officers talking to the girl with the flask from earlier and some of her friends. They had breathalyzers. Party’s over. Victor slapped Barry’s arm and gestured over in that direction.

“Oh shit what if they start checking everyone?” Barry said over the music.

“We gotta go” said Victor and the two of them scrambled to their feet and as casually as possible made their exit. The night air was brisk but it didn't slow their speed walk like a determined mom at a theme park straight to Victor’s car. Victor just hoped that Barry didn't have to face his foster moms scrutiny in the middle of the night. Lord knew he’d been there before. On these nights an empty house was a good house.
---

Barry made sure to push down the door handle as softly as possible before carefully closing it behind him. Debby didn't mind him drinking, so long as he was sensible about it but she did not like to be woken up on a work night. His room was on the other side of the apartment so he took a little less care in opening that door. He was barely inside when a hand covered his mouth and a large shape loomed over him. Barry let out a muffled yelp in surprise.

As his eyes adjusted to the low light he recognized the face of Bruce Wayne of all people shushing him. He let go of Barry's mouth and leaned off him. “Do you know who I am?”

Barry nodded, still very confused.

“Why are you in my room? Am I in trouble? Does my foster mom know you’re in here? How did you get in here anyways-”
Bruce shushed him again and pulled his phone out of his long black coat. He turned the screen around. “Is this you?” It was a video of Barry catching the librarian recorded from what looks like the library security cameras.

Barry squinted “ Yeah that’s me. I was at the right place at the right time so what?”

Bruce raised an eyebrow. “You put yourself at the right place within a very small amount of time. I've never seen someone react that fast much less run.”

“Ok are you trying to recruit me back to the track team because I’m not--”

Something went flying in Barry’s general direction and he caught it instinctively. It was cold and metal and in the shape of a bat. “Hey where did you...oh my god” Barry’s mouth gaped open as he realized who he was talking to. “It’s you, you’re the Batman oh fuck oh my god this is so cool I have so many questions.”

“And they can wait. We need your help.”

“Yes.”

“I didn't even say what we needed your help for or who ‘we’ are.”

Barry smirked “You and Wonder Woman right? I knew all you guys hung out with each other. Oh my god am I joining the superhero club?”

Bruce smiled a bit and handed over a card. “Go to this address tomorrow morning and I’ll pick you up.”

“Wait, why tomorrow?” Barry asked.

Bruce smirked “You have to be sober to join the superhero club.”

Barry bit his tongue embarrassed.“The door is uh the other way”

Bruce opened the window and hopped into the frame “I know” He turned and climbed off. Barry ran to the window to look but the billionaire was gone into the night, like a dream forgotten in the morning. Barry couldn't help but laugh a little at the drama of it all. Aside from the batarang in his hand he'd have thought he dreamed the encounter.

Chapter Text

The next morning Victor woke to quiet. Well, not the morning, it was well past noon. He figured his father must have left. He groaned and got dressed before coming downstairs to eat. He popped open another day on the pillbox and drank them down with some orange juice before downing some leftovers from the other day in the fridge. Always eat after taking medicine. He’d learned that the hard way. Mentally, the fog started to clear and Victor put together the events of last night. The look of disappointment on Diana’s face when he declined her offer. Victor huffed. Those guys were just gonna get themselves arrested or worse. Good intentions or not regular people can’t put themselves above the law. Who did they really think would be stupid enough to be a part that? His phone buzzed. Victor checked his missed calls expecting a list of “Dad”s but found Barry’s name instead. He tapped the call back button and it didn't take long before his friend picked up.

“Victor oh my god. I’ve been calling you.”

“Yeah I saw that. What’s up?”

“ Don’t you know what's up?I thought Diana told you?”

Victor’s eyes widened “What? Diana Prince talked to you?”

“Yeah. I mean no. Bruce did. But he told me you blew her off last night.”

“Don’t tell me those two weirdos are trying to get you involved too.”

“ Dude this is serious. Did you even listen to her? GCU is in danger, people could die.”

“Barry even if they’re right and an army of armed reddit creeps is gonna descend on GCU’s campus they need to go to the police.”

“They tried that they got turned around because its a ‘protest march’”

“Well until Joshua Steppenwolf and his so called army actually do anything wrong they have a right to do whatever they want.”
The line went quiet.

“Hello?” Victor asked.

“You just...don’t get it do you? This is it. This is real. Somebody’s gotta do something or we’re gonna end up on the news like Atlantis or Themyscira. These guys aren’t done yet they’re terrorists.”

Victor was taken aback by the legitimate cold conviction in Barry’s tone.
He sighed.
“Barry I-”

“I have to go. We’re meeting someone important. I really hope you change your mind.”
He hung up.

Victor found his father's number and dialed it. No response. He tried it again. Nothing. It was now officially weird. He flopped down onto the couch and flipped on the tv to pass the time. The news was on and footage of STAR labs was showing.The headline read ‘Star Labs Employees Missing”. Victor felt like a rock settled in his stomach. The phone buzzed again. It was three texts from Barry.

‘They have your dad’

‘We know where they are’

‘There’s a vest for you in the car’
---
Victor slammed the car door shut as he got into the minivan and Bruce stepped on the gas. Victor ran his hand over his face and scrunched his eyes together. “Ok” he said “let’s just say you’re somehow right about where my dad is. Why don’t we just oh I don’t know call the police?”

“Commissioner Gordon was the one who gave me the tip.” Bruce said steadily.

“What?! You work with the police? Why doesn’t he send actual officers into these situations, why would he send you?” Victor snapped.

Bruce stopped the car and whipped around in his seat “Because he knows Steppenwolf has sympathisers on the force. Do you know where we are right now? This is Gotham, this is America, corruption happens all the time! There are fascists in office, Nazis with badges, everyday people with dangerous ideologies that could turn to action at any time. We recruited you two because we thought you guys had what it takes to step up and do something about it.”

Everyone in the car looked in stunned silence at this outburst of emotion from the notoriously stoic young man.

Bruce took a deep breath and looked forward before starting the car again.“ Do you know how many times I’ve been pulled over? How many times I’ve been asked to step out of my car? None. Not when I was speeding, not when the car smelled like weed, never once. So yeah I don’t have a lot of faith in Gotham PD.”
“There’s a vest and a mask behind you” said Diana “Put them on and don’t take either one off until we’re back in the car. You’re just here to get as many people as we can to safety, find your father. Then we give the police a chance to get these guys. If they feel up to it.”

Victor wanted to say something but gave up. He shuffled into the bulletproof vest before pulling his hoodie back on. Only in Gotham.

“This is crazy you know that right?” he said to Barry who was more fidgety than normal in the other seat.

Barry managed a shakey smile. “Beats calculus.”
---

As Victor worked on the security system, Bruce flipped his cowl hood over his head and it once again hit Barry that he was helping Batman. “Um excuse me?” he waved to gain Bruce’s attention. “Hi yes um, I don’t actually have any like, combat training or anything and I was wondering about…”

“ Don’t worry about it. Leave that to us. Just get as many people out as you can.” Bruce said.

“Ok uh but what if I get too scared and,and I freak out and I can’t...help at all?” Barry stammered.

Bruce rested a firm hand on his shoulder. “ Take a deep breath. You've got this. Just save one person alright?”

“One person? What difference does that make?”

“To that person? A world of difference.”

The light on the door turned green and he heard an unlocking sound. Slowly they snuck into the facility and immediately heard the echo of voices off the brick walls. Barry felt the occasional drop of water reminding him that the harbor was above them now. As Bruce and Diana went around to take out the cronies Barry spotted a woman tied up close to him. He hesitated on the best way to do this and tapped her on the shoulder.

She turned wide eyed. “Who are you?” she snapped.

Barry shushed her and went to work with wire cutters “ I'm with Batman and Wonder Woman. Come on let's get out of here ”

She shook her head “What about the guards?” They both looked over to see one knocked out and slumped against the wall. He grabbed her hand and navigated her through the dark structure and to the stairs the way they came in. The humidity lightened until they were outside. He could see she was panting and tearing up in the low light.

“Thank you” she huffed “ Oh, God bless you.” The woman gave him a brief but firm hug and headed off towards the city.

Barry stood there blinking for a minute, heart racing more from adrenaline than activity. Just one person. He knew immediately that this is where he was supposed to be and sprinted back inside.
---

“Shit!” Diana hissed and banged on the elevator door with her fist. “It’s locked”

“There should be a staircase somewhere around here.” said Bruce.

The three of them began running down the hallway when a blast knocked the wind out of Victor. A sharp pain split his skull and his ears rang louder than usual. He gripped his head and felt it sore from where something had hit it. As the initial shock of pain subsided Victor noticed a cool, wet feeling rising over his hands and knees. The harbor. They were below the harbor. He looked up and saw Bruce’s form crawling toward him.

“Are you ok?” he shouted above the rush of the incoming water.

“Yeah” Victor replied but couldn't keep from grimacing. Probably the worst time for a headache.

The water was up to their knees now bubbling and sloshing from the force of the spray. Victor made out Diana coming closer to him before his vision started white out. He felt her strong arms under his back as a wave of pain overtook him again.

“Victor are you alright? We have to get out of here, come on!” she pleaded.

“ I can’t… I can’t…” he muttered before losing consciousness.

Chapter Text

Victor groaned and blinked awake to see the roof of Bruce’s van and Barry peering over the seat at him.

“How..what happened?” Victor asked effortfully.

“You’ve been asking that for the past 10 minutes.” Barry said. “Bruce said it’s probably just a concussion but I still think we should take you to the hospital, I mean you looked like you were in a lot of pain.”

“I get headaches. I must have gotten hit by a piece of something so that must have triggered one.” Victor said plainly feeling his wet clothes “I wanna know how we got out of there.”

Barry turned back around and Victor noticed a burly figure with long wavy hair sitting in the front seat.

“You idiots are lucky I got there in time” he said in a gruff voice.

“Arthur here was approached by Bruce before you two were.” Diana explained.

“I can see why.” Victor said looking at the man’s immense tattooed arms. “Where’s my father?” Victor asked.

“Home” chimed in Bruce from the driver’s seat. “Same place you’re going. Both of you. Never should have brought you into this in the first place.”

He swerved right sharply and Victor almost fell out of his seat. Out the window he recognized the familiar colonials of his neighborhood.

“ Hey that’s not fair I thought you needed our help!” Barry protested.

“I messed up. Again. You guys could have been hurt back there. You could have…” Bruce trailed off. The car stopped. “Get out.”

The sliding door to the car opened and there was an awkward silence.

“Barry move to let your friend out of the car. Now.”he snapped.

Barry unbuckled his seatbelt and slid out and Victor climbed out after him. Barry gave him a sad look but got back in the van and shut the door. Victor tapped on the window of the driver’s seat and Bruce rolled down the window.

“What did you mean by ‘again’?” he asked.

Bruce sighed. “Go home. Your dad is worried about you.”

The black van pulled out of the driveway and took off down the road.

---

Barry peeked around through the crowd of dispersing students to pick out Victor’s half scarred head. He went in for a hug immediately and this time felt Victor’s arms tentatively wrap around him reciprocally.

“Hey how’s your dad? Is he ok?” Barry asked.

“He’s good, he’s good. He uh...had no idea it was me under that mask.” Victor said trailing off.

“Kind of feels good doesn't it? So what do you say, do you want to stay in the Justice League?”

Victor laughed a bit “The Justice League?”

“Yeah that’s what I’ve decided to name our little group. You and me and Diana and Bruce and Arthur, that big guy with the long hair from yesterday.”

“We’re hardly a group man. We barely know anything about them.”

“Oh I know.” said Barry reaching into his backpack and pulling out a manila folder “ That’s why I grabbed this from the batcave.”

Victor blinked in surprise “I’m guessing you stole that?”

Barry nodded.

Victor rolled his eyes “Stealing from Batman. We are gonna be in so much trouble.”

“Look it’s just to level the playing field a bit I mean Bruce knows all about us so why can’t we know who we’re running with next time.”

“If there is a next time.” Victor pointed out.

“There will be. The League has to stick together.”

The two of them found a table outside to sit at and laid the folder out.

“And you’re sure he’d keep this kinda stuff in a folder? Not on his computer or anything?” Victor asked.

“I don’t know” said Barry “He kinda strikes me as old fashioned in some ways.”

The first file inside was Diana’s.

Name: Diana Prince
Summary: Art History major, graduate student, moved to Gotham from Themyscira, a small island off the coast of Greece. She works at the on campus art museum. Began her vigilantism back in Greece. During this time her American friend Steve Trevor went missing. After this she left her university in Athens for his, GCU, which is a sister school in 2016. We met around the time the incident happened with Lex Luthor. She fought bravely by my side and Clark’s.

Skillset: Well educated in an ancient form of martial arts endemic to the women of Themyscira.
Skilled with a lasso, uses one of some golden fiber (investigate further), Ancient Amazonian armor

Allyship: Likely

“Wait, Clark? That has to be Superman right?” Barry asked.

“Yeah.” said Victor “Hang on he’s got a file in here too.”

Name: Clark Kent

Summary: Journalism major, graduate student at University of Metropolis. One of the only known survivors of the Kryptonian genocide of the 90’s. Born Kal-El, his family managed to sneak their baby out of the fighting and to a hiding place where he was discovered by American UN aid worker Jonathan Kent. He was raised by the Kent family in Smallville, Kansas. Donned signature cape around 2013 and began making appearances around U of M,doing what he could to help people. In time he was embraced by the students. Admittedly I was suspicious of him. In light of recent events something about him rubbed me the wrong way. I was defensive and afraid and for that reason Lex Luthor was able to manipulate me leading to the events of summer 2016. After the fight against Zod he was expelled from U of M and hasn’t been seen since.

Skillset: Extremely strong and agile, well liked and trusted, powerful force for hope

Allyship: Failed

Victor slumped back. “Kryptonian? That’s in Europe right?”

“Yeah I read about that in my AP European History class. Krypton was this small area in the former Soviet Union with a semitic population known as the Kryptonians. They had their own language and everything.” explained Barry. “ It was always a sort of turbulent area but in the 90’s it got really bad and generally it's believed no one got out of there. There aren't a lot of numbers on it because Western Media wasn’t very concerned with it.”

“Jesus.” sighed Victor. “So that’s what happened to Superman? I heard he died or something.”

Barry shrugged. “Maybe he just got tired of trying to be a hero.”

“Who the heck is Arthur? That dude looks pretty serious. Is he even a student?”

Barry pulled Arthur’s file next.

Name: Arthur Curry

Summary: Psychology major at GCU. Originally from the island of Atlantis in the Hawaiian archipelago moved to New England. Instances of interventionism are rare with him but I’ve heard from the locals he’s swam out on a couple of occasions and rescued people who've fallen into the harbor even a fisherman whose ship went down in the harbor. I’ve yet to get into contact with him but I see potential here.

Skillset: Very physically strong, excellent swimmer

Allyship: Unlikely but possible.

Victor looked up from the paper “It says here he works at the Gotham Aquarium. That’s not too far from here if you wanna check it out.”

Barry grinned excitedly “You know I do! I’ve never been there since I’ve lived here.I might have to ask Miss Debbie for some money but-”

“Don’t worry about it man I got it.” Victor interjected.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah I mean we get student discounts anyways.”

Chapter Text

Barry jiggled the door to the aquarium while Victor examined the note on the door.

“Closed.” he said “They don’t open again until next week.”

Barry groaned and put his hands on his hips. “Well fuck then.”

After a minute he started walking away along the side of the building.

“Where are you going?”asked Victor “My car is that way.”

“All these cars in the driveway? They’re here. I’m gonna find Fish Man.”

Victor ran to catch up with him. “Breaking the rules again are we?”

“We’re already vigilantes Vic, why stop there?”

They came upon a yellow gate blocking off what looked like some sort of delivery truck entrance. Barry climbed up to the top without much difficulty. Victor looked down at his prosthetic hand and wondered what its strength was in these kinds of situations. Nonetheless he hooked his fingers into the holes of the fence and pulled himself off the ground. He felt a sudden rush of awkwardness and nearly fell off but Barry’d hand grasped his.

“Grab my other hand, come on.” Barry half whispered bent over the top of the fence.

Victor unhooked the grip of his prosthetic hand, reached up and was pulled to the top almost immediately.

“You’re stronger than you look, you know that?” Victor remarked.

“Yeah I get that a lot.” Barry confessed and hopped to the bottom.

With less grace and more thump Victor followed him.

The garage was open and some large containers were stacked by a door. They hid behind them and within a few minutes the door opened and two employees walked out carrying a large crate over to the back of one of the trucks. Swiftly, they snuck into the door and down a small hallway.

“Barry what if we get caught though for real?” Victor whispered.

“It’s fine, just act like we belong here.” Barry said.

With the help of a directory board they navigated to the dolphin room. Arthur in an orange and green wetsuit kneeled beside a wide pool, little gray dolphin snouts poking out of the water. He jumped in and disappeared beneath the water in a flurry of bubbles and resurfaced on the other side of the pool, dolphins in tow.

“Alright now James, Jason get ready to take me around and don't mess up this time.” He held onto their fins and the dolphins jetted through the water, around the edge of the pool back to where they started.

“Wow” Barry sighed and Arthur looked up at them startled.

“Hey you kids aren't supposed to be in here.” He growled.

“Wait wait we’re from Saturday, in Bruce’s van remember?” Barry exclaimed.

He squinted at them and grunted. “Oh great. Did he ask you to stalk me or something? Because you guys are doing a piss poor job.” Arthur pulled himself out of the water and rang out his long blonde tipped hair which had been pulled into a ponytail. He stood not much taller than Victor but somehow felt much bigger.

“We just wanted to see you in action again….Aquaman….hey I like that one. You should go by Aquaman.” Barry mused.

“You're the ones who should be going.” said Arthur tossing the dolphins some fish. “And quit talking to that bat guy. He’s a nutcase, thinking he’s in some kinda comic book. And what’s with the gothic get up did he happen to mention that?”

“Bruce is a vampire goth I think. What’s wrong with having a style?” Barry said defensively.

“How did you know where I work?”

“I found Bruce’s files and checked them out.”

“And you really believe he just left those there unguarded, in paper form? Someone so paranoid as to do all this research would just leave it for some kid to find?”

“I’m 18. And Victor is too.” Barry huffed.

“You two are lucky I’m not calling security. I have work to do.”

“How come I’ve never seen you out there at the dolphin shows?” Victor chimed in.

Arthur closed the fish container. “We have mic tests. Apparently I don’t come off as approachable and friendly enough.”

“Can’t imagine why…” said Victor under his breath.

“Look kid, I-”

Several phones buzzed and hummed at once. Barry and Victor pulled out their phones. “It’s Bruce. He wants to meet again.” said Barry.

“Tonight at 10 at a cemetary on 52nd?” read Victor quizzically.

Arthur laughed a little“Remember what I said about him being a nut?”

“So I guess you’re not going?” Barry asked.

“I said he was crazy,” replied Arthur “ I didn’t say he was wrong.”

Chapter Text

The ground was wet and muddy at the cemetery and a slight mist from the earlier rain settled among the headstones. There was a slight chill in the breeze and it made the hairs on the back of Barry’s neck stand up. In the low light he made out two frames in the distance.

“This feels weird. Like we’re gonna dig up a body or something.” Barry remarked to Victor beside him. Upon closer inspection it was Diana and Arthur.

“Where’s Bruce?” He asked.

“Right here.” said a voice from behind them. Barry yelped and sprang up ungracefully.

“Sorry.” Bruce said bashfully “I uh...forget how not to do that sometimes. Diana?”

Diana gave him some sort of look and turned to address the group.

“Bruce thinks it’s a good idea to try and bring Superman back.” she said reluctantly.

“What? Do you know where he is?” asked Arthur.

Bruce nodded. “He’s where he’s been this whole time, in an apartment not far from here.”

Arthur scoffed “And let me guess starting a fight with him in the middle of campus last year put you two on the outs?”

“That’s why I’m here.”said Diana “That’s why we’re all here actually. We need to be ready in case he...in case he’s not quite the Superman we remember.”

Arthur looked squarely at Bruce “In case he tries to wipe the floor with your ass. Of course. Yeah alright I’m in.”

Bruce sighed and stifled a sarcastic “Thanks.”

“Just one question.” Victor proposed “ Why are we in a graveyard having this conversation?”

Bruce thought on this for a second. “Why not?”

---

Sneaking into the aquarium was one thing. Sneaking into someone’s home especially when that someone is Superman? An entirely different experience concluded Barry, mentally and emotionally. Somehow he had lost the conversational drawing of straws and had to be the one to wake him up.

He was just lying there, barely moving feet hanging off the edge of the bed, face buried in the pillow beneath his black curls. Fuck. Should he say something? No that might be too startling. A gentle touch maybe. On the shoulder or something. Just a tap and it would be done. Barry cautiously extended his hand. Suddenly a spark of static electricity jumped from his fingers to the sleeping man and they both screamed. Barry fell backwards and glanced up in the low light to meet the eyes of Clark now standing on the bed in nothing but some jeans. He wasn’t as tall as Bruce or Arthur but very stout muscular like Diana. Barry could see Clark’s chest rise and fall quickly and his eyes looked wildly around the room to each person giving the impression of a cornered animal.

“Kal-El,” said Diana calmly “Semodh kryp fazhurajah. Tulemodh kryp vokeiehd rroap i.”

“Kryptonian is a dead language.” said Clark, slightly impressed.

“Not where I come from.” countered Diana.

“Some things should stay dead.” he huffed. “Where is he? I know he put you up to this.”

Nervously Bruce appeared in the doorway. “Hey.”

Clark leapt at him instantly knocking Bruce over. As Clark began pounding on him Diana and Arthur moved to drag him off.

“Why can’t you just leave me alone?” Clark roared “I was trying to do something good! You don't want Superman, you don’t want me being Clark, what do you want?!”

Bruce didn't do much to defend himself as the Kryptonian’s hands wrapped around his neck.

“I’m….ech...sorry..ch..ch” He choked.

Diana tugged Clark’s grip loose and got shoved into the wall.

“ Hey!” Barry grabbed a nearby plastic cup and launched it at Clark’s head where it landed with a satisfying bap.

Slowly Clark turned his gaze on Barry like a lion poked with a stick. Barry stared back wide eyed and pale.

“Shit.”

A chase ensued which undoubtedly woke whoever lived on the floor below, up onto the sectional, around the kitchen island, Barry narrowly avoiding getting grabbed by an inch or two.

The lights flicked on from the doorway where a girl with reddish hair stood gripping her bag.

“Clark?” she asked plainly.

“Lois.” said Clark breathily.

He dropped from into a more relaxed stance and the two met each other in an embrace in the center of the room before walking out as if no one else was in the room.

“Who the hell was that?” asked Arthur, pulling Bruce to his feet.

“That was Lois Lane. Not-so-former girlfriend of Clark Kent. I had Alfred bring her over in case we needed a little extra help.”

“It’s a good thing she got here when she did or you'd be even worse for wear.” said Victor succinctly.

“Him? What about me?” Barry chimed in. “ I’d be a fricken pancake!”

“Uh Bruce” said Arthur “ you’ve got a little uh…”

Bruce put his hand up to his face and felt the stream of blood pouring from his nose casually as if he hadn't noticed it there before.

Diana looked concerned. “ Batcave. Now. Everyone.” she ordered.

Chapter Text

After a brief drive back over the bridge to Gotham the team as it were gathered in the Batcave. The Batcave as it turns out was genuinely a cave under one of the Wayne properties, accessible via an elevator to the basement which opened up into the cave proper. File cabinets and shelves lined the edges of the more developed area which also featured a series of computers set up, a bathroom, and a small kitchen. Victor estimated that not counting the expanse of cave leading elsewhere the place was at least twice as big as Barry’s apartment maybe three times.

“Jesus, a person could live down here.” Victor remarked surveying the place.

“Oh trust me, Master Wayne certainly tries.” snarked Alfred dryly.

Arthur helped himself to a coke in the fridge upon concluding that there was no available beer.
Victor and Barry settled on an old sofa and Bruce reclined into an office chair, still holding his nose and bending forward a bit.

Diana walked directly up to Bruce, her strong arms folded. “Bruce we need to talk.”

Bruce blinked and stood up but she pushed him back down.

“No not just you and I. The entire team deserves to know why you were so reckless back there. You just stood there and let him hit you.”

Bruce shifted uncomfortably. “Clark is strong. And besides it’s not like he has no reason to be angry.”

“So you screwed up. We all do it.” Arthur grumbled.

“No you guys don’t get it-”

“What? What don’t we get Bruce?!” Diana nearly shouted looming over him.

“I ruined his life!” Bruce interjected standing up again.“ I did that to him. Just like Robin. I keep ruining good things and good people and I…. I deserve to pay for it.”

Diana looked sternly at him. “Bruce. You can’t keep blaming yourself for the actions of others.”

“And what if tomorrow when it all goes down one of you ends up hurt or worse?” He asked bitterly. “What if I can’t live with that?”

A coke can sailed directly into Bruce’s head.

“Listen nutcase, the only reason we’re all here is because we know what the risks are. And we’d rather be between bad people and civilians than anywhere else in the world. You’re not alone Bruce. You think you’re the only one with problems? I don’t even know where I wanna be; here, Atlantis, Maine, none of it home for me! I just want to have-”

Arthur stopped looking at the blank stares across the room.

“Ahem I...I uh...I’m pretty tired. I’m gonna crash here for the night.” Arthur said quieter before shuffling off to pull a duvet from the closet.

“We could all use some rest. I’m gonna stay here for the night as well.” said Diana. “There’s enough space here for all of us if you guys want to stay.”

“Yes Captain.” Barry said yawning and curling up in the couch corner. “ I told my mom I was gonna spend the night with Vic anyways.”

Diana and Barry turned to Victor expectantly.

“Uh let me call my dad and tell him I’ll be out for the night. “ he said.

“There’s service on the ground floor.” said Bruce.

Victor got up and walked to the elevator. Silas most definitely was asleep right now unconcerned with his whereabouts. Victor just felt like he needed a minute or so alone. He wrestled with the lingering temptation to leave. If they got busted somehow, exposed to the cops or worse, everyone else, forget college and forget getting a job, it’d all be over. Maybe Bruce Wayne has nothing to lose but the non billionaires...well. He took a deep breath. And if they don't do anything people could get hurt. These freaks believe it's their personal right to “take back” the country. Maybe the appropriate way to deal with fanatics is with a little fanaticism of the hopeful kind.

Am I really as screwed up as these people? Thought Victor.

He rode the elevator back down to the cave and immediately his attention was drawn to a flutter of green. Bruce was shaking out an old blanket while Barry lay dozing on the couch. He draped the blanket over him and motioned for Arthur to be quiet. There was something….surreally domestic about the whole scene. This wasn’t a family but somehow the pull to home was tying him right here.

Chapter Text

The next morning, after a breakfast of pizza rolls and flat coke, Bruce laid out the plan on the drive to Gotham City University campus. Steppenwolf had been able to disable local electronics and cell phone signals via the use of a military developed EMP weapon called a motherbox. He and his followers had obtained one at the military base in Themyscira and another at the base in Atlantis. The most recent one they acquired was located at STAR labs thus being why the scientists were interrogated. With the combined power of the three of them at GCU they'd be able to affect a massive radius even beyond campus. The primary mission was to retrieve and disable them. That would be the assignment of Victor with Diana and Arthur accompanying to take care of any hostiles in the way. Bruce would take the Batmobile and draw the attention of as many ralliers as he could. Barry would again have the job of getting people out of harm’s way until the motherboxes are disabled and help could arrive.

“Everybody got that?” asked Bruce, pulling the cowl-hood of his jacket over his face.

“Just one thing” proposed Barry “Shouldn’t we have code names so that we keep our secret identities? I was thinking I could be The Flash, Vic is Cyborg of course and-”

Several gunshots echoed from in the distance.

“It’s time to go.” said Diana.

She pulled open the sliding door and everyone tumbled out ungracefully. The car roared to life and headed straight into the direction of the shots.

“He didn’t say where he was going to lead them.” questioned Barry.

“That’s because he’s being reckless.” sighed Diana.

“I’m going to go follow him for a few just in case.” Arthur said.

“Good idea”

Arthur picked up the large trident he'd brought with him and headed off.

Victor turned to Barry and nodded “See you later man. Be careful out there.”

Barry pulled his red mask over his eyes.“You too.”

---
Barry’s phone was still. So much for the emergency alert system which had sent test texts every other month.

Ok. Think. Think. The center of campus. The library and the cafe would be crowded around this time of day, and it was the usual spot for assholes yelling about Hell and trying to turn people to their cult or whatever. His thoughts were broken when a girl barreled past him. He caught up with her and held her by the shoulders.

“Where are they?” he asked as gently as possible.

She looked up with eyes wide “There’s - There’s guys with guns and they’re- torches and they're in the chemistry building we gotta go get help.”

Barry nodded understangly “Go, get outta here.”

“Wait what are you doing?”

“I’m help” he said and took off in the direction she came.
---
Victor jogged to keep up with Diana.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“In Themyscira they hid out in the school’s radio station room. GCU’s is in the basement of Student Services.” she said.

As if on cue they caught sight of the glow of tiki torches in the corner of their eyes.

“Together?” Diana asked, reaching her hand out.

“Together.” Victor agreed, slightly confused.

She took off, dragging him with her towards the men and dropped into a slide tackle in the grass and swung their arms at their legs. They hit the ground and the yellow torch fell onto their faces. A white leg swung towards Diana kicking wildly. Victor swept his prosthetic leg into the man’s body until he heard a yell. Some arms grabbed Victor from behind and an elbow pummeled into the back of his neck. Pain shot through his body and he collapsed. He squeezed his eyes and fought back tears. The pain rippled through again and he winced. Victor drew a deep breath in and opened his eyes. Diana moved back and forth between two men landing blows until they both fell. She flipped her hair back and helped him back to his feet. There would be more where they came from.
---

Barry slunk around to the side of the building and peeked inside the window. The classroom doors were closed but the lights were still on inside. He headed towards the door but froze when he saw a man with a gun pushing open the door.

Barry took a deep breath and took off as hard as he could and slammed into the man’s back. He didn’t slow down for a second. His hands were sweaty and shook but he wormed them to the gun and shoved the muzzle into the man’s cheek. The man went still for a second then writhed. Barry flinched and squeezed the trigger and the gun went off, almost flying out of his hand. Some of the hiding people screamed and so did the man beneath him. Barry blinked and saw that the gun had pulled to the side and spared this asshole’s pathetic life. He smirked and bashed the barrel into the man’s head with a satisfying thunk. Barry tossed the gun into the bushes outside and walked back in and knocked on one of the locked doors.

“Hey you guys gotta get out of here. The guy is knocked out, it's safe but not for long, come on.”

Slowly, the door opened and an older woman poked her head out of the door before motioning to everyone else inside to follow. She kept looking back to the man on the ground.

“Are you a cop?” a kid asked, squinting at him.

“I’m the Flash actually now get out of here, go on run towards Finger Hall I just came from there, go.”
---
Bruce pulled the wheel as tight as he could navigating the night campus streets. He could almost feel the fury from the cars on his tail. He had rammed one that had some of them pulling up to campus and now that car was joined by more of Steppenwolf’s cronies following Bruce in what they saw as a challenge but what Bruce knew was a distraction. The more of the Parademon vehicles he led away from campus the fewer of them would be there to protect the motherbox.

Bruce had heard gunshots behind him so he knew that no matter where he turned a dead end was likely. Somehow...he was ok with that. This was it. His penance. The day his “interventions'' caught up to him. Bruce hovered his foot above the brake as he and the followers barrelled down a hill. He took a deep breath approaching the cliff face,and slammed on it, screeching to a halt. In a few seconds, they wouldn't be able to turn in time and there’d be a pile up. He closed his eyes.

But before any impact he felt a hand reach through the window and pull him out. There was a loud crunch of glass and metal and then a second one. Then he heard a third set of wheels squeal and hit something. He opened his eyes and saw broken glass and crashed cars and Arthur wrapped around him protectively. Small water droplets started raining on Bruce’s head and he saw one of the cars had wrapped around a fire hydrant.

Arthur brought them both up to their feet and smiled at him. “Somehow I guessed your crazy ass wouldn’t be wearing a seatbelt.” he said.

Bruce blinked “So much for following the plan and helping Diana.”

“She can handle these guys. Somebody had to make sure you didn't do anything stupid. Now come on.” said Arthur “This isn't over yet”
---
“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” Victor called over his shoulder.

Diana kicked Steppenwolf into the wall and pinned him to it. “You need to disarm that thing, I can handle him.” she grunted.

Victor looked back to the complex device before him hooked from a laptop to the wall. Wires snaked in and out of sockets and it was impossible to tell which ones belonged there and which ones didn’t. Admittedly he had never seen technology like this.

“I don’t think I can fix it I-” he gulped “I don't even know where to start”

“Try unplugging it or something then!”

Victor grabbed onto one of the devices and pulled straining the various cords but they pulled taught. They were thick and there were so many of them. He pulled again harder feeling his fingers go numb from effort. Suddenly a few of them snapped. Victor blinked and saw Clark in full Superman attire wielding some wire cutters.

“Need a hand?” he asked jokingly.

Together they made quick work of all the wires and wrecked the laptop as well for good measure. Sparks went flying and Victor felt a jolt of electricity shock him for a second.

Steppenwolf hollered in a gutteral expression of anger.“YOU RUINED IT YOU FUCKING RUINED IT!” He yelled and lunged at Clark.

Clark sidestepped him easily and swung the wire cutters into his head with a deep ‘thunk’ sound. Steppenwolf crumpled onto the floor.

“Is everyone alright?” Clark asked.

Victor shook out his prosthetic hand and thankfully found it still functioning.

“All things considered? Yeah.”

The door swung open urgently and Arthur and Bruce jogged in panting heavily.

“What’d we miss?” Arthur asked between breaths.

“We won.” said Diana triumphantly.

Bruce’s eyes didn't leave Clark. “Glad you could make it.”

Clark smiled at him. “I am too.”

Arthur looked down to the figure on the floor bleeding. “Is he dead?”

“I hope so.” Diana huffed.

“We gotta get out of here.” Bruce said curtly “ The cops are gonna be here soon and since we’re short a ride we've gotta find a place to disappear while Alfred gets here.”

The five of them shuffled out of the building hurriedly.

“But wait where’s Barry?” Victor asked.

As if on cue Barry came bolting towards them and jumped right into Victor almost bowling him over. Barry squeezed him in a hug and this time Victor squeezed right back. Barry opened his mouth to form some sort of reply but found nothing but a teary eyed smile.

“ I missed you too.” Victor sighed.

Chapter Text

Victor sat down in his space in the church pew still buzzing from all the noise and lights of the stage. He couldn't stop thinking about how he must have looked under all those lights with his new scars. His mind kept wandering to Barry who would be holding his clammy hand right now. Allen and Stone were on opposite ends of the alphabet which meant seeing Barry before he walked across the stage was next to impossible.Sitting shoulder to shoulder with strangers he just felt small.

"And now it gives me great pleasure to segway into the next portion of tonight." Announced the speaker "We have a very special guest here tonight. As you all know higher education can be difficult to afford these days."

Victor squirmed in his seat.

"Fortunately the Wayne Foundation believes that the youth of today can become the leaders of tomorrow. Please welcome Bruce Wayne."

When the applause died down Bruce stepped up to the podium. He cleared his throat and looked down for a moment as if to gather his courage. Victor found something humorously ironic in the same Bruce Wayne who leapt off buildings without hesitation getting nervous at public speaking.

"As some of you may remember my parents believed in the future of Gotham and of the world." He began. "They're not here tonight but I am. And I still believe that when we come together we can change the world. That's why starting tonight the Wayne Foundation will be partnering with Gotham City University to award full scholarships to young rising stars. For their service to the community I'm proud to award these scholarships to Bartholomew Henry Allen and Victor Stone."

Applause thundered all around Victor. The co-ordinator motioned for him and Victor squeezed past the rest of the row to enter the aisle. Barry was waiting for him grinning under the hot lights.

"Bartholomew?" Victor jabbed.

"Shut up." Barry chided playfully.

Bruce shook Barry's hand and leaned in to whisper something.

When Bruce extended his hand to Victor he noticed the same shade of red nail polish that he first saw on Barry. After shaking his hand Bruce leaned in and whispered:

"Bottom row of the balcony to the left. Don't be too obvious."

Victor took the certificate and looked up. Diana, Arthur, and Clark were standing and cheering for them both.

Bruce placed a firm hand on Victor's shoulder. "Welcome to the Justice League, Cyborg."