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Chapter Text

"Excuse me, could you repeat that?"

Diana paused in her statement, having not expected to hear Batman of all people question, adding an extra meeting time to the basic ones. She glanced at Clark, who was just as confused as she was. That wasn't including everyone else at the table. The rest were either looking at Batman with pure fear, pale-faced, or some even had tears in their eyes. Diana would sigh at the reaction from her coworkers towards the man, but she couldn't say anything because they were just as terrified of her.

"I want to add another meeting on April 28th," she had not thought Batman would be capable of interrupting someone who hadn't been acting stupid.

"No."

Clark was the unlucky one to respond. "Uh, Batman. May we ask why?"

The man grunts, avoiding looking at any of them while answering the question. "That week in general is not going to work for me. You can set a meeting for that day, but I won't be there."

"But why?" Hal Jordan had gotten over his shock of Batman refusing to come to a meeting, only to immediately regret his decision when the infamous 'Batglare' was directed at him.

After a few seconds of no one speaking, Batman stood up and glided out of the meeting room. No one moved until Barry jumped in his chair when the Zeta Tubes announced Batman's departure.

"What was that all about?"

Diana didn't know what to tell Oliver. She was not the only one worried, given that J'onn had been staring at the door Batman had left through, a contemplative look on his face.

"J'onn?" She questions, gaining his attention. Diana hated having to ask this, but it had to be done in case their friend and coworker was in danger. "Is Batman compromised?"

That got the attention of everyone still sitting at the table, snapping them out of their collective shock. Hal couldn't believe that Spooky would be willing to miss a meeting. Even when the man (who was still in question in Hal's opinion) had to stay in Gotham during most of the meeting, he'd finish everything as quickly as possible before showing up to go through the rest of the meeting. He slotted himself into his chair and acted as if he hadn't missed almost the entire thing.

J'onn looked as if he didn't wish to answer that question as he sighed. "He is not compromised in the way you are thinking." That didn't help them; it only made them more confused and worried. "Batman is emotionally compromised, and that is all I will say on the matter as it is not my place."

Clark was the one to speak up after a moment of silence to digest that information. "I think that we should leave him alone for now," he held up his hand when Captain Marvel went to argue with worry written on his face. "However, I know someone who would potentially answer our questions."

"Who might that be?" Dinah spoke up for the first time since before Batman left.

Clark pursed his lips, wondering if he should simply go alone instead of risking the small amount of trust Batman had shown him when he introduced the alien to the boy. Well, he wasn't much of a boy anymore. With a sigh, he decided that it was a risk he was willing to take. "He's a vigilante from Bludhaven named Nightwing." Okay, so he was going to be paranoid with this, but he wanted to have some plausible deniability when Batman inevitably found out. Nightwing and Batman might be on at the moment, but he doubted that the vigilante would inform the man if he thought it would risk their identity.

"Bludhaven? Gotham's sister city?" Oliver asks. When he got the nod of affirmation from Clark, he continued his line of questioning. "Wouldn't that be included in 'No Metas in Gotham' rule?"

Clark shook his head. "No, Bludhaven is Nightwing's territory, and Batman doesn't go in unless asked, and vice versa. However, he is more amenable to the meta rule as long as we are in civilian clothes and don't do hero work." 

With that, the Justice League (minus Batman) decided they would risk the Bat finding out about their snooping and find Nightwing. 

Chapter Text

To say Dick was frustrated would be an understatement.

He had just taken down some random D-List Villain and his goon. Dick was glad that the goon was Bill because at least that meant they could have an actual conversation while waiting for them to be picked up.

That was until Clark Kent showed up with his merry band of Leaguers. Now, Dick loved getting visits from Clark, but the fact that he brought the entire League and based on the day it was? Well, he was not looking forward to this conversation.

“Nightwing,” Clark addresses him with a bright smile.

The villain blinked, looking between everyone present before turning to face Nightwing. “He does know that he’s not very good at this whole secret identity thing, does he?”

Clark wasn’t the only one who tensed at that, but Nightwing simply sighed. “Dude, it’s not going to do anything to deny it. He might be a D-Lister, but he sure as hell isn’t stupid.”

“Preach!” Bill smirked. “Let’s not forget Queen in the back there acting as if that same ugly ass blonde goatee isn’t on only one other person in the world.” Nightwing snickered, covering his mouth before fist-pumping with Bill.

Oliver was about to deny the accusation when Dinah patted him on the back, whispering into his ear. Whatever she said caused him to lower his head in dismay.

“So,” Dick clapped, drawing the attention back to himself. “What are you here for? I usually don’t get visitors here. Understandably.”

Clark looked a bit uncomfortable, but squared his shoulders and asked, “I know you and Batman are on the outs right now, but we are worried since he had just denied attending any meetings for an entire week.”

Dick sighed deeply, bringing his hands to his face. Even Bill and the unnamed villain winced at that statement. “Oh, that’s not a good thing to bring up,” Bill muttered.

Diana turns her attention to him. She knows he is a criminal, but based on how Nightwing was treating him, she believed that they had known each other for quite some time. She would give the man the benefit of the doubt for the moment. “What do you mean?”

Bill looked each hero in the face and spoke calmly, “Do you even know what week this is? Let alone, do you know why Nightwing and Batman aren’t exactly talking to each other?”

Dick was blushing from both embarrassment and anger. He would have preferred not to have to talk about Bruce at all for a long while, but the man was so inept with emotions that he didn’t see that his teammates were concerned for him, or he didn’t care. For what it was worth, Dick hoped it was the former. However, asking him these questions this week? No, this was not the best time.

“The reason that Batman and I aren’t on good terms is not relevant right now,” Dick responds, glaring at Bill, who pretends as if he hadn’t spoken. Turning back to face Clark, “Do you remember when Batman went to Iran and almost started a war to kill The Joker?”

Clark nodded, gaining a dark look to his face. Diana was no better. They were the ones who had to make the call to stop their friend, and it was not an easy choice to send either of them.

Dick nodded slowly, “Yeah, that was because of something The Joker did, and quite simply, I don’t blame him for going psycho, there.” When Clark goes to ask the question that was on all of the League’s minds, Dick held up his hand before continuing. “On April 27th, Batman’s partner died.”

“Partner?” Hal braved the question.

“Yes, partner. Sidekick is a very derogatory word for it, so Batman didn’t want to use it. I didn’t know that Batman had a partner,” Clark was surprised, but shook his head. “But that’s besides the point. You just said that his partner died?” Looks of horror appeared on everyone’s face.

Dick nodded sadly. “I was off-world, irrelevant,” he added when Barry was about to ask what he meant. “And The Joker was the one who killed him.”

The eyes of the League members widened. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Bill responds when Dick sits down next to the goon. “It was something that every villain and goon knew about it and those who weren’t absolute dicks, left him alone.”

Dick snorts. “Yeah, and those who didn’t get the hint ended up in the hospital with broken bones and maybe a few missing ones.” Bill nodded towards Dick with a look that said everything.

After a few moments of silence from the Justice League, Dick spoke up once again. “You might want to either leave him alone or go to Gotham Cemetery on that day. He’ll get over you going into Gotham, even if he won’t want to.”

Chapter Text

The Justice League knew that arriving in Gotham while in costume wouldn’t be a good idea. After all, Batman didn’t like them there on the best of days, let alone on one of the worst. So, they decided to show up in civilian clothes. They doubted it would change the bats’ irritation at them showing up, but it might lessen it, especially with the knowledge of why they were there.

Clark could only hope that his friend wouldn’t instantly kick them out, though he would understand if they were.

Diana insisted on finding their way to Gotham’s Graveyard by the back alleys. Oliver didn’t think that was such a good idea due to knowing Gotham better than many of them. Dinah agreed with Oliver but decided that Diana’s strategy was the least likely to get them killed.

Arriving at the Graveyard was a shock to their systems.

Oliver and Dinah had been there during the joint funeral of Robin and Jason Todd. The Joker had kidnapped the poor boy, and Robin had attempted to save him, causing the Joker to kill both of them by exploding the warehouse. The clown left before Batman even knew where to go to avoid his wrath.

When they were asked why they didn’t say anything before they went to see Nightwing, their only answer had been, “We didn’t know that Robin was a vigilante. We thought he was another child, a friend of Jason’s who had seen him get kidnapped and wanted to help. It didn’t help that Batman wasn’t seen during the funeral.” At that, most thought the Bat was hiding in plain sight, either in civilian clothes or behind a tree or something.

None of them thought of the most likely answer, but that was besides the point.

Coming up to the entrance of the Graveyard proved difficult. None of the Leaguers were used to Poison Ivy’s plants, so they thought the plants growing on the stone fence surrounding the graveyard were normal Gotham plants. Technically, it wasn’t wrong, but they should have remembered that Ivy existed.

Oliver and Dinah regretted not mentioning that, as they had slowed down to end up at the back of the group. They were, after all, two of the normal humans. Or in Dinah’s case, mostly human, and she knew her scream wouldn’t do much of anything against plant-life.

So, when they reached the entrance of the Graveyard and saw Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn standing guard in front of the gate, everyone froze.

“The graveyard’s closed,” Ivy states calmly, petting the vine of one of her plants.

Harley cuts in after her, raising her bat. “Yeah, Bat’s doesn’t want to see anyone.”

The look Ivy gave her told the League that she wasn’t supposed to mention that part, but it was out in the open now and couldn’t be taken back.

Clark was the one who decided to step up, with Diana by his side for support. “We don’t want to hurt him in any way. We are here because Nightwing suggested it.”

That got the women’s attention. “Nightwing sent you?’ Harley questioned. When they got the nods of assent, she continued, more to Ivy than the League. “I’ll call him, but if what they’re saying is true, we should let them in.” Ivy gave a nod and waited while the blonde made the call.

“Nightwing speaking, what’s going on, Harls?”

“‘Hey, ‘Wing. I’ve got a group of people who are requesting entry into Gotham Graveyard, saying you sent them,” Harley informs the vigilante. Then, in a whisper that Clark and Diana especially could still hear, “I think the woman at the front is Wonder Woman, and I’m definitely going to freak out later if you tell me she is.”

Nightwing laughed upon hearing that. “Yeah, I did. Let them through, and yes. That is Wonder Woman.”

The Justice League was finally let through the gate and made their way towards the joint grave stones of Robin and Jason. Following Dinah and Oliver, since they were the only two who knew where to go.

Upon seeing Batman, draped in his suit but without the cowl covering his head, they stop moving. This was not a problem they had expected to run into. They didn’t have to worry much about what to do since Batman picked the cowl up off the ground next to him, replacing it on his head.

When he turned around to face them, they could see tear tracks drying on his cheeks, leading them to believe that if they could see his eyes, they would be red and puffy.

“What are you doing here?”

Clark, who up until this point had been ready to speak for the entire team, gulped and froze up in the face of the infamous ‘Batglare’. Diana was also having some problems when faced with the glare.

Due to this, J’onn stepped forward to speak for the group. “We had been worried about you,” he trudges through, even as Batman opens his mouth to retort. “Even though I told them that it wasn’t going to harm our teamwork, they still wanted to help.”

This time, Batman gets his words out before J’onn can continue. “That was not your decision to make-”

J’onn doesn’t let him go on with that line of thought. “I know, but we were advised that we needed to come here to be with you.”

That confuses Batman. While they couldn’t see his eyes, the lenses of his cowl narrowed, widened, narrowed, and widened again. From what the League could guess, that meant the Bat was blinking. Then, his voice turns darker than usual, and the lenses of the cowl narrow. “Who?”

Clark gulped again, stepping forward, flinching at drawing Batman’s attention. “I might have remembered Nightwing-” the growl that came out of Batman’s throat at hearing the younger vigilante startled the alien into silence.

Instead of lashing out or leaving like most of the League expected, he leans his head back and lets out a deep, frustrated sigh. “Why are you like this, ‘Wing?” A few Leaguers looked around, expecting to see Nightwing somewhere nearby. Instead, they notice Clark’s eyes widen as he hears a response come from Batman’s comms.

“Why not, B? You’re the one who refused to tell them anything. This is on you.”

Batman groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. He turns back to the graves, motioning for the group to take a seat around him.

No one wanted to speak, so they waited to see if Batman would make a sound.

They were lucky that he chose to speak up at that moment. “This is my youngest son’s grave.”

“What?” It was whispered, but Batman still heard as he nodded.

“Yes, this is one grave. My youngest.”

“But-” Dinah looks between the two grave stones, and Batman finally puts the pieces together. Oliver was slower to the realization, but he still figured it out. And when he did, he almost screeched.

Brucie Wayne was Batman. Batman was Brucie Wayne.

They were the same person.

Oliver Queen had been friends with Batman since childhood, and he never knew. He wanted to be mad, furious with the man, but he couldn’t bring himself to make a sound. There was no way he was going to bring up something like Batman’s identity around others who don’t know about Bruce Wayne adopting Jason Todd.

All he and Dinah could do was move closer. Sitting on either side of the Bat, they wrap their arms around him, holding him tightly and close.

What was surprising was when Batman’s lip started to tremble, and finally, tears began to stream down his cheeks from under the cowl.

Nothing could be done besides sit there with him and make sure he was going to be fine.

Hopefully, once all is said and done, they will be closer.