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Oliver would like to say that he did not want to go to the meeting. His skin crawled just thinking about it. He didn’t like rumors, legends, or cryptids. Roy said that he was being a big baby, but Roy hadn’t seen what Oliver had. Mysterious people like the Batclan weren’t normal. They didn’t even try to be normal.
So, to put simply, Oliver didn’t want to meet up with Batman.
He had a bet with Barry that it was all a hoax. Barry was very adamant that cryptids existed, his eyes dangerous over the coffee pot that they shared. Oliver put one of his arrows down on the bet. Barry offered up his chipped mug. Either way, Oliver knew he’d win. Batman didn’t exist. It was a fable told to children in Gotham so they didn’t feel like they could die at any moment.
But then Diana and Clark started to campaign for Batman to join the League. “He’s great,” they said. “Strategic, smart, careful, amazing, handsome, way better than you could ever be,” they said, well, mostly. Oliver may be a bit bitter. So what? Sue him.
Then, finally, there was solid proof that Batman existed. A single photo provided by Wally was presented. It was hand-drawn but perfect. Barry had tried to catch a glimpse of the Batclan before, but they always seemed to know when he was there. In order for Wally to draw the scene, Barry distracted them by moving fruit stands from place to place and the like. It caused little mayhem, but was still seen as a violent assault so the Bats intercepted.
Oliver would like to say again, for the court, that Gotham was fucking weird, alright?
The hand-drawn photo was of a bulky figure, drawn almost elegantly due to the cape. He wore dark clothing, as if in a colorless world. Oliver didn’t understand it, just as he didn’t understand Gotham.
Of course, it surprised him when Clark then announced a few weeks later, “We’ve finally reached an agreement. Batman will think about joining the League, but only if he comes to the WatchTower first to assess it.”
Most people easily agreed. They were crazy. Barry was half-way out of his seat in excitement. Dumb fuckers, was what he thought. Oliver hated it. Cryptids did not belong in the Justice League. What were they going to do next? Invite Mothman into their ranks? Don’t answer that.
When Batman arrived with a small army, Oliver had to rethink everything he ever learned. Since when did Batman have so many mentees? He had heard about one or two that helped out around the town, but surely there were too many.
Clark and Diana didn’t bat an eye at it.
Diana said, “It’s great to see you here.” She guided them through the WatchTower. She showed them the rooms, how interrogation worked, then even added that her Golden Lasso would be used if needed. Oliver couldn’t believe it.
At lunch, there was a Q&A. Oliver thought that meant he could ask the Bats as many questions as he wanted. He soon learned that was incorrect.
“What’s the Justice League’s dental plan?”
“Are the coffee and pastries free? I may or may not have already taken a few of them. I don’t have cash on me but I’m sure dear ol’ daddy bat will pay.”
“I’m just wondering for, uh, others if the WatchTower has soundproofed rooms.”
“Why are we joining again? There’s no good music on the speakers. They should know better than that.”
“Does insurance cover third molar removal? Timothy’s jaw has ached off and on for 5 months already. He won’t tell his parents because he doesn’t want to be a burden. If he signs the contract, will the Justice League insurance pay for wisdom teeth dental surgery? You did not answer my earlier question; you ignored it. That is very unprofessional.”
“Do we have to sign the contracts in blood? If so, I’m going to think that you’re trying to bind me to a magical contract. I do not like magic. I may not sign based on principle alone.”
“Do the showers here have shampoo or do we have to bring our own?”
After a delightful(derogatory) hour of wasted time, Oliver continued to follow the group. Diana showed them the showers, bathrooms, and medical bay. There wasn’t an on-site doctor, but one could be called to the WatchTower in moments if needed.
During that time, Oliver spotted someone get left behind. He couldn’t believe that one of the little Bat members split off from the rest of the pack. Oliver sighed as he had to stay back with the straggler. He was obviously the weakest member— smaller, shorter, younger, and showed bruising along his skin that indicated that he wasn’t great in fights, mainly because the rest of the Bats had no obvious injuries at all. Not even a scratch.
Oliver found the perfect target to figure out if Batman was a nutjob in the suit, or maybe even a bat-human hybrid.
Oliver followed the straggler. He was surprised to see that the boy managed to find the security room. From there, the kid put in a pin number to unlock the door — because yes, why wouldn’t a kid know the secret pin number that only a few Justice League members knew — and walked right inside.
Oliver followed. He put the pin in, expecting to catch the little guy off-guard, only to be met with a cocky smirk. Oh, you little shit-stain!
“Hi,” he greeted, as if completely innocent. The boy stuck out his hand, so Oliver didn’t take it. The kid didn't even blink at the disrespect. He simply took his hand back, guarding his arms behind his back as if Oliver would see it as non-threatening. “I’m Tim.”
“Uh-huh.” Oliver hated the kid. Since when did I hate kids? Tim looked smarmy, probably plotting how many ways he could kill the League without any forensic proof of it. “How do you know the codes, shrimp?”
Tim looked at him blithely. Oliver tapped his first dramatically. He hated not knowing what was going on. He was waiting for the boy’s eyes to turn red, maybe even show some fangs or claws. Yet, all he received was a slightly judgemental stare.
If the rumors about the Bats were right, then they were some sort of supernatural creatures. Since Diana and Superman loved the idea of the Batclan joining, Oliver knew there had to be some truth to those rumors. They wouldn’t be so interested in Batman joining unless something more was going on… or he was really hot under the cape and cowl. Attraction clouded sound decisions, after all.
“I know many things,” whispered Tim. He smiled serenely, but it resembled a shit-eating grin at the same time.
Then, in a flash-bang-smoke, he was gone. Oliver cursed, staring at the ball on the floor. It was a flash bang or a smoke bomb. Maybe a mix of the two. He cleared the room out while he saw Martian Manhunter, J’onn gliding over to check things out.
J’onn greeted with a small jerk of his chin. Oliver pretended to not feel exposed. He was duped by a freakin’ kid. God, he was slipping man.
J’onn simply said, “I wouldn’t mess with them too much.” He left Oliver standing alone in the security room.
God damnit.
— — —
M’gann was interested. Batman and his previously unknown partners decided to join the Justice League. As members. As if they were all skilled enough to hold that power. M’gann scoffed in Titan’s Tower when she first heard the news.
Sooner or later, the other heroes would realize that making all of those vigilantes professional heroes would bite them in the ass.
But then her uncle said something to her. J’onn was very casual when he outlined the contract. He explained that Batman was the only one with a vote in League meetings, they would go on missions but always have operatives in Gotham no matter what, and would like to only do missions at night if possible.
Those were fairly standard. Sure, the whole night-only missions thing was odd, but everyone had researched the Bats by now. At Titan’s Tower, they even watched a young blond boy on Youtube explain what he believed to be Batman’s origins. It was highly entertaining but daunting at the same time. However, M’gann did reach the conclusion that the Batclan weren’t human, therefore their species must be affected during the day.
The odd part about the conversation was J’onn mentioning, “Their minds are all blocked, except for one. You may be tempted, but do not ever look into his mind. You are old enough now to block broadcasting without an issue.”
M’gann felt a little hurt at that. “You peeked into their mind,” she argued. J’onn confirmed so, but frowned slightly. “What’s so bad that I can’t see it?”
“Some things,” he said gently, “aren’t meant to be seen.”
It made her even more curious than she was before. Her talk with her uncle backfired in that way. M’gann went to the Tower and sat next to Raven.
“You look like shit,” was what she was greeted with.
“Shitty things happen,” replied M’gann, feeling like a child instead of an adult. Raven eyed her cautiously. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just… confused. Confuddled, maybe.”
Raven shrugged to the armchair across the room. “I think Superboy could help with those feelings. I don’t think he’s ever felt confident in his decisions. Not even with us around him.”
M’gann briefly glanced at Superboy. She knew the name given to him by Clark was Kon-El, but he was going by Conner while dressed as a civilian. She turned her head, giving Raven a shocked look.
“You can’t be serious. He can’t help me understand this.”
“It can’t be that bad, can it?”
M’gann was about to say that yes, it could be that bad, but Garfield ran into the room. Chasing after him was Victor. The cyborg at least apologized for making so much noise and chaos. Garfield was a cat, so he didn’t deem them with something like a verbal apology.
The days passed. M’gann thought about going to Gotham, just to see it for herself. Most heroes stayed away, saying that it wasn’t worth trying to save a doomed city. Even Superman himself said he wouldn’t go within the county lines of Gotham unless it was absolutely necessary.
When creatures from the sea attacked a week later, there was no need to stalk the Bats in Gotham. Two of them came to California instead.
M’gann peered at the two Bats carefully. There were no names assigned to them. Batman was the only one with a title, though even that was because he was named by the public. M’gann thought about taking a peek into their minds, but when she tried, she was blocked. It felt like someone was holding their hand around her throat. M’gann let her mental connection go, only to receive a hard glare from across the room.
Of the two Bats, one was a tall woman that projected danger and animosity, while there was a boy that was shorter, scrawnier, and gave M’gann the sense that he was there as backup— the woman was the calvary while the boy was there to look pretty. Not that M’gann minded. She liked the floppy dark hair he sported.
Once the Titan’s were assembled — only a small part of them since the rest were busy with other important matters — they started the plan. Wonder Girl, Donna, said that Aquaman was already on their way but he wasn’t sure if he could communicate with the alien sea creatures. So, they were to attack and protect civilians as a team. With two weird add-ons.
M’gann knew she wasn’t the only one unsettled by the Bats’ presence. Kon wouldn’t stop staring at the boy, Garfield looked at the woman with wide eyes, Roy was choppy and short with his sentences, and Bart was nervously eating fruit as quickly as he could.
On the field, though, magic happened. M’gann was shocked by how elegant the Bats moved. The woman, who introduced herself as Cass, was quick and smooth. She had taken out multiple aliens that were trying to kill civilians before M’gann was even in the air. The boy with good hair, Tim, was almost just as good. He was slow but more precise with his movements. Not a footstep was out of place.
Then, while they were fighting against a large Lobster-like sea alien that was snapping buildings in half with their claws, Tim shouted out a plan. M’gann followed it, seeing as she had nothing better in her head. They worked as a great team, all falling into place, in order to finish it off.
That’s when she tried to sneak a peek. Just to get a glimpse. Nothing major, she ordered herself.
After a fight, adrenaline was winding down. People tended to let down their guard in their physical prowess as well as their mind. M’gann was able to get flashes of an empty house and a screaming match, a boy standing above him with blood on his sword, a person concealed in a red helmet that laughed at his pain, the desert sand stained with blood, a frowning old man as he presented sandwiches, and a board meeting that turned into a feud.
Then, she was pushed. Not mentally, but physically. M’gann fell down, unable to catch herself.
When she looked up, it was Cass that pushed her. The rest of the Titans on sight got to her position immediately. They looked divided as Cass loomed over and M’gann remained in the rubble.
“Never,” said the daunting figure, “look into my brother’s mind again.” M’gann gulped as Cass stayed there, daring to be attacked.
Eventually, Tim crept up behind the group. He was holding his head, probably because she went too hard at it. M’gann cursed herself. She thought it would be a great time to strike, but she didn’t think that Tim would be affected so much. Maybe he had past mind-reading trauma that made him sensitive to it. His sister must have noticed and knew who to attack in order for the mind-link to drop.
“Cass,” ushered Tim, his voice gentle and soft yet commanding all at once. The Titans parted slightly so that Cass could look at Tim without them in the way. “It’s okay. Stand down. There’s no harm done.”
Cass didn’t waiver. M’gann watched as her claws grew longer. M’gann awed slightly on the inside. She hadn’t seen claws like that before— ones that retracted, grew, shortened, and sharpened all due to emotions. She wondered if their species were rare or maybe even close to extinction. Perhaps that’s why her uncle warned her about reading their minds.
Cass stepped back, allowing M’gann to stand up. They stayed there for what felt like eternity, neither one willing to let the matter drop. Silence preminted the air. M’gann heard Garfield sneeze, causing a few others to say “bless you.” Garfield thanked them as he wiped at his nose. M’gann felt awkward as she stared into the mask of a woman she couldn’t get a read on.
“My brother is forgiving,” was how she broke the silence. “Know that the rest of our family is not.”
Cass turned to the Titans. M’gann watched as Tim let out a sigh of relief once Cass walked towards him. They walked off together, as if nothing had occurred. As if moments ago they hadn’t performed well together as a team.
M’gann dusted off her shoulders and thighs. When she looked up, Garfield was scratching his cheek. He commented, “I don’t think that was a good move, Megan.”
M’gann looked down. She knew it wasn’t a good idea. J’onn warned her, yet she still did it. She acted like a child— like a hero that couldn’t follow orders.
They went home to the Tower. M’gann got chewed out by not only J’onn, but Diana too. Apparently, one of the contract agreements with the Bats was the right for privacy, mainly concerning their youngest member. M’gann almost caused a world-wide incident, said Diana. Batman could kill us all if he wanted, added J’onn.
M’gann remained closed off in her room for days. She wanted to prove herself. She didn’t mean to muck things up. She just— why were the Bats a part of the League on the first day without proving themselves? Meanwhile, most of the Titans had been there for 10 years, helping out in any way they could, and not one of them was a League member.
Then, there was a knock on her door.
M’gann opened it to see an unexpected face. She wanted to look out the hallway to see if any of his siblings were around, but held herself back from doing so. M’gann stayed at her door, unsure of what to do next.
“Tim,” she said tersely.
Tim held onto a box. It was plain looking, but it had a small red ribbon bow atop its left corner. M’gann looked at Tim with uncertainty.
“I’m sorry about what happened on the field. It was unprofessional,” he said. M’gann couldn’t say a word, her voice was stuck in her throat. “Usually, I’m not the one with emotional maturity, but my family is concerned for my safety so all logic goes out the window.”
Tim was sincere. It befuddled M’gann.
“I’m the one who should apologize,” she said, her fingers ticking at her side. “I will not read your mind again unless you give me permission.” M’gann hated the way her skin crawled as Tim remained passive. “I’m sorry for that. I wanted… I wanted to understand why your family was special.”
Tim handed her the box. He clasped his hands over hers. He looked so frail up close. Within moments, she could be in her White Martian form and take him out without anyone able to stop her. He looked defenseless, which was never good on the field. But, she reminded herself, they weren’t on the field. They were in the Tower where it was supposed to be safe.
When Tim left, M’gann thought about chasing after him. She wanted to ask why he was apologizing for something that wasn’t his fault. Instead, though, she closed her door and opened her gift. She discovered that it was full of restaurant and fast-food pre-loaded cards. It was such an odd thing to gift.
— — —
Hal awkwardly sat with his hands intertwined. He heard that the Justice League was expanding. He just didn’t expect to see so many dark figures in one place. He liked color. He was sadly always covered in green, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want any color whatsoever.
Clark was talking at the front, making a speech about how they needed to be more professional. Something happened, Hal supposed, and now everyone had to spread the word about professionalism. Hal didn’t see why he had to attend it. It wasn’t like he was on Earth much to be inappropriate.
By the end, Clark had blushed numerous times when answering questions from other League members. Hal joined in and asked innocently, “How do I stop being so alluring? I just don’t know how to turn it off. Do I need to change my uniform?”
By the end, Clark looked ready to throttle the table. It didn’t help that most of the questions came from Jay and Steph, two of the Bat representatives. Batman couldn’t make it, something about Gotham’s gravity acting up in Bristol. Apparently, some pets floated away and a couple of kids almost died when they ran into some power lines.
Jay asked, “What do we do if you live with someone being harassed? Like, this person just keeps coming over and all of us can hear what goes on in the bedroom. Do we leave? Do we make the harasser leave? I’m just unsure of how to move forward.” He looked too innocent. Hal just knew something was going on underneath.
Clark’s ears practically shot out steam. He was red-faced. Diana had to cough, pat his back, and take over the meeting. Oh, it made Hal’s blood boil. Clark knew something about this “harasser” that visited the Bat nest. Hal smirked at Clark. The so-called golden boy was getting down and dirty! Ha!
Diana said diplomatically, “All further questions will be answered through email or phone. Until then, this meeting is over. Thank you all for coming.”
Hal watched people leave the room. He stayed in place, wondering why the meeting was posted anyway. He decided to ask the two dark figures across the room. “Hey, kids, do you know why this meeting was called? Who was unprofessional?”
Steph snorted while Jay grumpily folded his arms. The blonde smiled mischievously. “Apparently,” she drawled, “someone walked in on two other people, you know, going at it.”
“Where?” he asked, needing to know the gossip.
“WatchTower.”
Hal looked around the room, as if he could figure out which two heroes that had access to the WatchTower were together. He ended up asking, “Do you know names?”
Steph was happy to answer, “B and Clark. B won’t look any of us in the eyes while Clark has stopped visiting Gotham. B figured that if we did a professionalism seminar, then it would make us feel better.”
Jason visibly shook. “As if talking about it helps delete the memory from my mind.”
“You were the one that walked in on your dad?” asked Hal. He couldn’t imagine that. It was terrifying.
“Technically,” said Steph, her eyes glancing to Jay, “Tim was the one that walked in. He screamed, which caused Jason to run over to him. Then Jay screamed, which made Duke rush over. Duke, the great thinker he was, closed the door and made tea while Tim and Jay spiraled.”
“Tim’s the little dude, right?” Oh, man, an actual child walked in on their father doing the deed with Superman. “No wonder Bats didn’t show up.”
“He’s not even in Gotham,” said Jay. He looked head-on into Hal’s very soul. “We’re pretty sure he’s sulking somewhere. Clark won’t say wear, probably ‘cause they’re still fucking. So shameless, aren't they? Shitty deadbeats.”
Steph elbowed him with a laugh. “Just imagine, it could have been a lot worse. B could have walked in on you. Or, Tim could have. Did you want to scar him for life? Can you imagine him being unable to look you in the eye, or you him?”
Jay was pale, almost visibly sick. He nodded his head, clearly thinking things over. “I couldn’t do that to Timber. He’s already suffered enough.”
“Well, as someone that’s walked in on you… lock your fucking door, moron.”
The two siblings squabbled as they left the table. Hal shakily stood up. He learned too much. He wasn’t prepared for this sort of psychological attack. He turned to Captain Marvel, who kept quiet the entire meeting.
“You good?” asked Hal.
Captain Marvel nodded his head quickly before rushing out of the room. Huh. Hal wondered what that was about.
— — —
Billy Batson was having a terrible, horrible, no-good kind of day. He had a whole bunch of homework, his foster siblings were sick so he had to stay in a different room in order to not get infected, and he had a headache. Plus, like, there was a lot of noise outside.
Billy stumbled out, surprised to see that people were running. Billy was about to say his special word when a boy landed in front of him. In his hand was a grappling hook. He was only a little taller than Billy, but he had the authority of someone who could move mountains.
“Hey,” greeted the unknown hero, “there’s been an attack downtown. I’m on my way there right now, but I thought you might want to join.”
“Uhm—”
“Oh, I’m Tim,” said the stranger. He looked behind him when a water tower top was thrown into the middle of the street. Tim glanced around, then said, “You don’t have to, though.” He gave a thumbs-up while he ran away, pulling two kids out of the water that flooded the streets from the water tower.
It was only then that Billy noticed the power line. Moments later, it fell into the water that was pouring across the street. He watched in slight awe as Tim moved the power line out of the water carefully. He then took out some red tape, blocking the place where the power line was down so no one would accidentally stumble upon it.
Without thinking anymore, Billy shouted, “Shazam!” He didn’t have time to wonder how his identity was found out. People were getting hurt. He picked Tim up and flew to the chaos. Luckily, Tim didn’t struggle like most people who got picked up without their consent. If anything, he seemed resigned.
When the fight was over, Billy turned back into being a normal kid. Tim didn’t even blink. Billy internally cursed. He messed up big time if some strange hero he had only heard of once or twice was suddenly all up in his secret identity. Billy didn’t want to be treated like a kid. He guarded his identity because he could do so much.
Tim walked towards him with a smile. Billy wanted to run away, but Tim was nice. Billy wanted to believe that he wouldn’t get belittled.
Tim said, “Want to pick up some things from the drugstore before you go home?”
Tim showed off his wallet, shaking it as he walked beside him. Billy bit his lip. It must be a trap. People didn’t just do things because they were nice. There was always a bargain.
“Look,” said Tim, staring at Billy with patience and understanding, “I know I’m unfamiliar, but let me help. I have a lot of money with nothing better to spend it on. We can pretend that this never happened, if you want.” When Billy continued to stay quiet, Tim said, “I’ll just drop off the bags at night when you can’t stop me.”
Billy sighed. “Fine. I’ll go.” Tim smiled above him, accomplished and happy. “Wipe that look off of your face. I will leave—”
“No, don’t!” Tim controlled his facial features. Billy noted that he was good at concealing his emotions when he wanted. “I won’t say anything more. We’ll get some medicine and then be done.”
When they got to the drugstore, they got a lot more than just medicine. Tim took out a cart when they got there instead of a hand-held basket. He put a whole lot of different snacks in it, added cans of food, tissues, toothbrushes and paste, and then multivitamins. Billy wanted to say something about it, but Tim dismissed every word out of his mouth.
When they arrived at the coughing medicine aisle, he asked, “Do your siblings like pills or liquid more?” Billy shrugged. “Both, then.” It continued like that for a while. Cough drops, fever relievers, pain medication.
When Billy was back home, his siblings were confused as to where they would put all of the bags. Billy suggested that they hide it in drawers. It worked for the most part. With the medicine, his siblings got restful sleep. Billy didn’t like how Tim cornered him into it, but he appreciated it nonetheless.
The next time he saw Tim was at the Titan’s Tower. He was playing board games with the rest of the group. When Billy caught his eye, Tim excused himself. Billy left for a quiet room, one with insulators so no one, not even Superman, could listen in unless the door was cracked.
“Thank you.”
Tim awkwardly scratched his arm. “Yeah. No problem.”
After that day, Billy knew not to be scared. Tim was the most approachable out of all of the Batclan members. He didn’t ever insult him or make him feel like a kid. Out in the field, Tim treated him as a superior. He didn’t question Billy’s plans or ideas. Billy knew that any other adult would talk down to him if they learned the truth.
When Billy asked him about it, Tim said he had a heart of gold, a good head on his shoulders, and morals that no one could bend. Billy shared that information with his foster siblings. They all laughed as he retold the story with rosy cheeks. He was too embarrassed by the sincerity and respect that was in Tim’s voice.
— — —
Clark knocked on the door to Wayne Manor. Damian opened the door with a snarl. Clark couldn’t blame him.
“Interloper,” accused Damian.
Clark simply said, “I’m here for Bruce.”
Damian raised a brow. “For what?”
“A… date.”
Damian’s glare was deadly, even if he had a cat in his arms that purred.
“You haven’t even been courting him.”
Clark blinked. Surely he was joking. Courtships were so out of style. Ages old.
Damian lifted his nose up, as if dismissing Clark. “You’ll either court my father correctly, or feel my wrath.” He slammed the door to Wayne Manor shut. The cat never stopped purring, even when Damian trotted up to his room.
Clark turned around after a minute of shock. He was half-way about to take-off, maybe stop by Ma and Pa’s for dinner, when he felt something wrap around him. Clark leaned into the arms.
“Bruce,” he whispered, “your children are menaces.” Bruce, the accidental asshole he was, simply hummed as they embraced. Clark continued, “I’m not sure if me coming to you is a good idea. They clearly disapprove.”
Bruce held his hand tightly as they walked side by side, out of the grounds and along the road.
“They’ll get over it,” he replied. His bright blue eyes held the truth. Clark felt better about that. “We just can’t ever do anything where they live.”
Clark coughed. “Yes, erm, that’s a great idea.”
Clark could still see Tim’s bright red face as he opened the door. He had a file in his hand. Tim was listing off a few things about how weird the serial killer was before he looked up. When Tim screamed, Clark felt like he needed to scream too. When Jason ran there and screamed as well, Clark was already somewhat modest compared to what Tim saw. When Duke arrived, they were almost completely dressed.
Clark still couldn’t look Tim in the eye. Every time he tried, all he saw was Tim’s horrified expression as he screamed and held the case file over his eyes.
“We may have to cross the ocean,” said Bruce, completely serious. “They have good hearing.”
Clark nodded along. “I don’t want any other Kryptonians hearing us either.”
“... Their hearing is that good?”
“They’re like me, Bruce. We can memorize heartbeats and hear them all around the globe.”
Bruce leveled a glare at Clark. Clark gulped. Bruce never looked upset. If anything, he always looked like he was about to break down and sob. Sometimes from happiness, often times from anxiety, but usually because he was so happy.
“If I were to say that one of my children has been talking to themselves a lot more over the past few weeks, is it possible that a Kryptonian is listening in?”
Clark considered it. After a few moments, he said, “It is possible, but I don’t see why they wouldn’t simply call or text.”
Bruce’s face fell. When he eventually looked back up to Clark, he said, “If things don’t work out between our sons, I’m afraid I may have to cut off all contact with you. My clan is first and foremost.”
Clark processed that, his ears and cheeks tinted pink. Even his chest had a bit of color. “Surely you don’t think that—”
— — —
Diana watched as the blood bath happened before her eyes.
It started as a normal attack. It happened in New Jersey, so the Bats were closest. They seemed hesitant to go out at first, but then reports came in about the portal that unleashed the army of attacking creatures that had covered the sun from looking down at the city.
Diana, Wally, and Clark assisted, just in case. Normally, that many Justice League members wouldn’t be called in all at once, but the reports said that there was an army of bats with supersonic yells that not only could kill people in range, but shook the Earth itself.
Everything went as well as expected for the first few hours. The sun had set, turning the day into darkness. The bats were ruthless in their attacks, size, and numbers. Diana was working her way to the eye of the hurricane where the bats were being portaled in from. If Diana could close the portal, then no more supersonic bats could feel free to terrorize the city.
However, things changed when she saw Tim get picked up by two of the bats. Diana wondered how they learned so quickly. They were predatory at night, yet during the day they seemed dull as a sphere. Each bat had their claws into the young human’s shoulders. Diana prepared to lasso him in. Tim was struggling in the air, but he managed to take one of the bats’ eyeballs out.
Then, the bats let go. Tim’s eyes widened. He was at least 300 feet into the air. Diana rushed forward at the same time as she heard a supersonic boom. Diana expected to see Clark catching Tim, but instead she was met with Kon. Diana didn’t remember calling in Superboy, but she was grateful.
As Kon lowered Tim down, it was obvious that the human was hurt. His shoulders were bleeding profusely. Kon shouted for a medic, which made Wally arrive with an EMT from a few towns over that wasn’t being attacked. Diana turned back to the portal, knowing that she couldn’t do anything more.
She didn’t expect to turn around only to be met with a bloodbath. There were red lights flickering around her. Diana had never seen such carnage. The screeching bat creatures stood no chance. The Batclan slaughtered every being in sight without a second thought. Their eyes glowed bright red while they fought, their claws were long, and for the first time, Diana saw their fangs.
By the time she closed the portal, the city was bathed in the yellow-green blood of the bats. Diana almost felt sympathetic towards the creatures, but they hurt someone that the Batclan treasured. There was no chance that it would go unpunishable.
— — —
Cissie sat down next to Anita. They watched the training mats with interest. Duke, Stephanie, Tim, Damian, and Cassandra were there. They spared against each other all at the same time. Their workout gear left little to the imagination. Cissie understood why Anita wanted to watch. She passed her a bottle of water and took a sip of her own.
Cissie saw Duke brutally hit Stephanie. They both grinned at one another. It looked like it hurt — maybe even broken a few bones — but they didn’t stop. They continued to fight. Then, Cissie saw Cassandra delicately with suaveness land a pointed kick into Damian’s chest, pushing the other flat into the mat a few feet away.
Yet, as soon as Cass landed a hit on Tim, the entire mat seemed to freeze for a moment. If Tim continued to fight, they would resume. It was peculiar.
Anita offered, “I’m pretty sure that Tim’s human while the rest of his siblings aren’t.”
Cissie hummed at that thought. It made sense, she supposed. Tim was almost always getting bruises or lacerations while the rest of his family never had so much as a scratch. Cissie would know, she’s shared the med bay with Tim enough to know that he liked to binge-watch conspiracy videos and talk about a guy called Bernard.
Cissie turned to Kon, who was staring at the training mat with vigor. She asked, “What do you think, junior?”
Kon didn’t process her for a few seconds. He eventually said, “He’s not human. Maybe a siren or demi-god or something. Tim’s too alluring to be completely human.”
Cissie sighed. She rubbed circles on Kon’s back. “I think you’re biased, hun.”
Kon shrugged.
Anita offered nicely enough, “I’m afraid he may have a boyfriend already. I’ve seen his photo. He’s blond. Ben or Brian or something is his name.”
“Bernard,” corrected Cissie. Kon and Anita both stared at her. “Tim talks about him sometimes.”
Kon looked slightly heartbroken before he turned back to the training mats. Cissie felt for the guy. He was still getting used to having his own free will. Cadmus had him for years, developing him into the perfect weapon with a business person outside. Supposedly, Lex Luthor was going to claim Kon as his son eventually, but the Titans broke him out before that happened.
It sucked when your crush didn’t like you back, she knew. Cissie couldn’t imagine finally experiencing the world first-hand, getting a crush, and that crush being as oblivious as Tim. Honestly, it was pitiful. Plus, the Bats were so overprotective. Yikes. Red flag, bro.
Cissie took a sip from her water while Anita patted her thigh to get her attention. Cissie looked up just in time to see Cass and Steph go head-to-head. It was hot. They pushed at one another’s hands while the rest of the Bats backed away to give them space. It was a test of strength until Steph kicked at Cass. They ended up tumbling to the ground together with a laugh.
Then out of nowhere, Kon announced confidently, “Tim has two hands.”
Cissie could not stand this boy. How dare he say anything with confidence. Hadn’t he learned his place?
— — —
Bart stared at the scene in the Titan’s Tower living room. They returned from a mission about an hour ago. It was nearly 7 A.M. by then, so everyone stuck around for breakfast. Tim and Stephanie were the Bats assigned to go with them. Stephanie was technically the leader because she was a League member and more experienced, but Tim made the plans on their missions.
Steph was massaging Tim’s scalp. It turned the boy into goo. Bart wondered if he could switch places with the blonde. It looked interesting. Tim literally melted. If Tim was a cat, Bart was sure that he would be purring. Bart wanted to experience the feeling of having Tim, who was usually so professional, melt into his arms. It looked wonderful.
Tim seemed to doze. Bart couldn’t take his eyes off of the scene.
Bart had to force himself away. He turned to Cassie, Wonder Girl in training, who was the same. He wondered how they met. Bart met Tim in the middle of the night. He had just broken his left leg on a mission and called the Titans for help. Tim was there in minutes, set the break, dressed it, then carried Bart on his back until they made it to the ship where everyone was meeting up.
Bart may have found that very cool. He may have been purposely going through Gotham outskirts at night to get a glimpse of his knight in shining armor. Either way, Bart wondered if Cassie had a similar experience.
“How’d you meet Tim?” he asked in a whisper.
Cassie, seemingly on the same wavelength as him, answered, “He gave me a hair tie then told me to punch the first person that looked at me in a pervy way.” She smiled at the memory. “I was a distraction while he stole from Luthor’s labs during a gala. I got to punch that bald mother fucker. It was nice.”
Bart replied, “He carried me on his back for 20 minutes. I was mostly healed half-way through, but I didn’t say a peep.”
They continued to stare. Stephanie, with her free hand, waved at them as Tim’s eyes stayed shut. Bart waved back with a relaxed smile while Cassie tilted her head to get a slightly different perspective of the view.
Bart glanced at the clone sitting next to him, who was suspiciously quiet. Bart ebbed, “Dude, are you drooling?”
Kon wiped at his mouth, getting rid of the evidence. Bart huffed but relaxed into the couch. Cassie and Kon followed his lead. Bart ate his plate of fruit and waffles slowly. He was too entranced by the scene. Cassie reached onto his plate and stole a blueberry. Bart didn’t mind. Sharing was caring. With friends, that is. Bart wouldn’t let most people take his food.
Abruptly, Stephanie flipped them off. Bart heard Kon make a choke-like noise while Cassie whined in the back of her throat. Bart ripped off a chunk of his waffle with his teeth. He was liking the Batclan more and more each time they interacted.
Steph smiled smugly as she continued to run her fingers through Tim’s hair as he slept.
Yeah, Bart was pretty sure that they would all kill for Tim, even if he didn’t ask.