Chapter Text
What should have been a relatively quiet day for the superhero community, had to be turned on its head. Of course. The afternoon started simply enough. An assembly of the Titans, both current and past, were piled into Titans Tower after finishing an off world mission the day prior. Sprawled over the couches in their sitting area, the young heroes were doing anything but finishing the open reports on the laptops in front of them. While their costumes were still half on, none of the team was even pretending to work anymore. Dick is sitting on the end of the couch, legs propped up, TV remote in hand to try and find something to get his mind off the mission. Next to him, well, more on top of him lies Wally scrolling through anything that might be interesting on his phone. Cyborg sits in a chair close by, tinkering with something on his arm. Kory is laying on her stomach on the floor in front of the couch, looking about five seconds away from falling asleep. Donna sits on the floor next to her, complaining about every movie choice Dick tries to play. The arguing of the two is muffled by the conversation Roy is having loudly on the other end of the couch. Practically yelling into the FaceTime call is what finally gets Dick to pause his debate with Donna to scold Roy.
“Do you have to take this call in here? I don’t want to hear my brother’s voice this early in the morning.”
“Fuck off Dickhead, it’s 5 pm, not even morning in vigilante hours anymore,” Jason calls through the phone.
“Yeah Dickie, can’t a guy be loud on a call in the middle of the room? I think it’s my right as an American,” Roy laughs.
Dick rolls his eyes and looks back at the TV screen, when suddenly a loud alarm goes off in the tower prompting the team to become alert.
“Jay, I’m gonna have to call you back,” Roy says instantly, before hanging up the phone. Just before the call disconnecting Jason was heard cursing an alarm going off where he was too.
The Titans scramble to properly wear their costumes again while rushing to the briefing room, where an All Hands Alert from Batman has been issued. Once the team has seated, Nightwing joins the briefing started by the Justice League. Standing in front of his team, he is met with Superman and the Justice League, Redhood with the Outlaws, and Red Robin with Young Justice.
Superman begins quickly by stating, “Batman has issued an All Hands Alert due to a mass rogue escape in Gotham. All we know is that eight rogues have escaped, and are currently causing mass chaos. I am unsure if this is related to a larger plan they have, but we are waiting for more instructions from Batman.”
“We don’t have time to wait idly,” Nightwing quickly states. In the 30 seconds it took Superman to explain the situation to the gathered heroes, Red Robin had already sent him a list of escaped rogues and their last known locations.
“Bludhaven is close enough to Gotham for me to know what kind of trouble we are dealing with, and we need to act fast,” Nightwing continues, “Hood, you and the Outlaws take care of Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, last seen in the Narrows.” Redhood gives a salute before dropping from the call. At the sound of his team’s assignment, Roy also gets up and quickly leaves the room.
Looking back down at the list Nightwing assigns the other teams with rogues to catch. “Young Justice, you’ve got Riddler and Mr. Freeze, seen in the Diamond District and the Fashion District respectively.”
Red Robin nods. “Batman is in the process of tracking Joker through Amusement Mile,” he states before his team also clears the call.
“Titans, we will take Black Mask and Scarecrow at the docks. Which leaves The Penguin and his goons in the East End for the League, good luck” Nightwing finishes off with a wink before ending the call and jumping into action.
- - -
The Justice League sits in stunned silence, their baffled face staring back at them from the recently ended call. Not used to other teams taking charge, the League is unsure how to feel.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen the next gen teams in action,” Superman muses, “I sometimes forget they know how to work quickly and not just goof off.”
“Man, for such a lighthearted guy, ‘Wing can really act like Batsy when he takes charge,” Hal said, almost to himself.
The mention of Batman reminded the heroes that they should actually go help their teammate. Practically jumping out of their seats and running to the Zeta tubes, the League finally arrived in Gotham to utter chaos.
In the East End, they try to find Penguin’s goons first. After an hour or so of finding and subduing the goons, they eventually track down the Penguin himself. The League learns there was never a real plan behind the mass breakout. Just confusion and mass hysteria, every rogue for themselves.
With no formal plan and minimal prep time, the rogues stood no chance of keeping their freedom for much longer. By the time the League finished asking the Penguin about the breakout and handing him over to the GCPD, Batman had met up with the team.
The League gathers near Batman, expecting him to send them out of Gotham quickly. Instead he surprises them by saying, “We will have a quick debriefing back at the Cave before you are dismissed. Follow me.”
Batman Begins walking towards the opposite side of the building they were standing near. A rush of emotions go through the group, they had never been allowed to stay in Gotham this long, much less be invited to the infamous Batcave. Though the excitement was there, the waning adrenaline reminded the League of the others that were contacted to help.
“Can we pause for just a minute, I need to text the kids and make sure everything went okay for them,” Barry calls out to Batman. The other mentors in the group voice similar sentiments about wanting to check-in with their former proteges before the team meeting.
“The other teams will be present for the debrief,” was the only reply from Batman on the matter. The Leaguers exchanged glances with each other, surprised that all of the hero teams got to finally see the Batcave.
Eventually rounding the corner of the office building into an alley, the League saw a beat up phone booth that must be the Zeta Tube they were looking for. Leaning against the frame of the booth was Nightwing, seemingly waiting for the group to appear. At the sight of Batman, Nightwing cartwheels before skipping towards the Bat.
“Full team?” Is all Nightwing says to Batman, with a nod of his head towards the other heroes.
“Full team,” Batman states, “confirm proper hand off before meeting back at the cave.” Nightwing gave an over exaggerated salute.
“’Twas my plan, everyone should be accounted for,” Nightwing grinned before shooting his grapple gun and disappearing above the building. The Justice League watched him carry out the order, murmuring to each other still about getting to see the Batcave.
“How is ‘Wing and his team gonna know how to get into the cave if they aren’t here with us and Batman,” Hal whispered to Oliver.
Oliver just shook his head. And whispered back, “Maybe he is going to each team to let them in separately?” The pair looked up at the sound of the Zeta Tube powering on, and the members of the League filing through.
As the team entered the cave they were in awe. They were in a literal cave. It wasn’t called the Batcave as a joke, they were legitimately in a huge cave, covered with the most high tech equipment they could fathom. The largest computer they had ever seen, the largest penny they had ever seen, more iterations of the Batsuit than they could count, a hospital-grade medley, an olympic level gym and training area, a scientific lab, a lounge, and a dinosaur statue stood before them. The first surprise to the team was the vastness of Batman’s base of operations, which shouldn’t be a shock considering he funded the Watchtower as well.
But their second surprise was that the cave was already occupied. By the next gen teams. When did they get into the cave? And why do they look so… comfortable here?
The Titans, minus Nightwing, are sprawled out over the sectional in the lounge. Flash (2) is lying across the couch, scrolling on his phone and laughing out loud at whatever reels he is watching. Troia is sitting on the ground with her back against the couch and the TV remote in her hand. Starfire is lying on her stomach on the ground as well, conversing with Troia over what movie to watch. Cyborg sits on the arm of the couch trying to reason that they don’t have time to start a movie before the meeting begins.
Arsenal and Artemis stand behind the couch, paying little mind to the Titan’s antics. The only acknowledgment between the two groups is Arsenal’s occasional comment on the reels Flash is watching.
Young Justice is overshadowed by the massive Batcomputer they are sitting near. Red Robin is sitting in a large desk chair and typing away on the keyboard. Superboy is squished into the seat with him, while talking to Impulse who is hanging off the back of the chair. Wondergirl sits on the desk next to the keyboard Red Robin is using, with Arrowette leaning next to her, both girls listening to the story Superboy is recounting.
Suddenly a new hero appears. A hero covered by a purple hood and jumpsuit skips into the cave from the garage. She comes to a stop next to another hero, in all black with a full face covering, that the League could swear just appeared there. The purple hero chatted to the fully masked hero, who was perched on the railing near the computer. Next to them, in full yellow armor stood another newcomer the League had never seen.
Still standing next to the Zeta Tubes, the League doesn’t know what to focus on first. After taking in the scene before them they see Nightwing pop out of the tube behind them. Nightwing gently pushes his way through the starstruck Leaguers and jogs over to the lounge. The League watches as he knocks Arsenal’s hat off before jumping over the back of the couch and onto Flash. Flash immediately wraps his arms around him and laughs while Arsenal just curses.
Barry looks shocked at the slight, glancing towards Hal and Oliver who also look puzzled by the interaction. Batman is then the last hero to step through the Zeta Tube. He circles around the frozen League and walks towards the center of the cave like nothing is a miss. Hal catches Clark’s eye, and opens his mouth to ask what is happening, but Clark just shrugs, in just as much confusion as they are.
Batman comes to a stop in the middle of the cave, near the computer. The Justice League watches as Batman gives a short, low whistle that causes the other heroes to fall silent. With the younger heroes now looking at him, Batman just slightly tilts his head to the side and the teams quickly jump up. The Titans scramble off of the couch. The Outlaws turn around and stand closer to Batman. Young Justice straightens up, as Red Robin turns his chair towards the center. The three new heroes step into place at the end of the row. The next gen heroes all fall into line, facing Batman and their mentors.
Batman turns slightly towards the Outlaws and opens his mouth to speak. As he does, an engine is heard tearing through the garage before cutting off. Red Hood is seen jogging into the room before taking the open spot in the line next to Arsenal. Arsenal slings an arm around Hood’s shoulders in greeting, causing Oliver to make a noise from his spot across the room.
Barry turns to Oliver and asks, “Hey, isn’t that Red Hood? Like the crime lord Red Hood?” Oliver just whimpers as Hal snickers next to him.
At the slight of Red Hood, Batman’s shoulders drop just a touch in relief. He then turns to look at Nightwing. At the look, Nightwing takes an exaggerated step forward out of line.
“Titans secured Black mask and Scarecrow. Both are currently in custody with the GCPD, and expected to return to Arkham. No infrastructure was damaged, and no toxins were released. Both were strictly in their planning phases when they were apprehended.”
As Nightwing finished his report he jumped back into line. Batman just made a grunting noise, causing Nightwing to quickly come forward again.
“Oh yeah, and uh, no notable injuries. Some light bruising, but not skin broke. The rest of the Titans were cleared by Agent A.”
Batman, seemingly satisfied, starts to turn. “Straight to med to get cleared after this talk,” he comments while setting his sights on Red Hood next.
Nightwing nods and steps back into line as Red Hood steps forward. Nightwing leans against Flash as Red Hood begins to speak.
“Outlaws secured Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. Both are currently in custody with the GCPD, and expected to return to Arkham. No infrastructure was damaged, and no toxins were released. No notable injuries, just a bullet graze that was dressed in the field. The Outlaws were cleared by Agent A.”
Batman gives the Red Hood a long look, and Hood just stares back. After a few moments of silence, Red Hood sighs, “I will get rebandaged and assessed by A after the debrief.” He steps back into line.
Batman moves his gaze to Red Robin, who is still sitting down in the desk chair. Without standing, Red Robin gives his report.
“Young Justice secured Riddler and Mr. Freeze. Both are currently in custody with the GCPD, and expected to return to Arkham. No infrastructure was damaged, and no toxins were released. Written reports have been started for each team, but not formally signed off by their leaders. No notable injures, Young Justice doesn’t get hurt,” he finished with a smirk
“And a lack of injury is what kept you seated during your report?” Batman asked him pointedly.
Red Robin rolled his eyes, “Ok fine. Yeah, I dislocated my knee. But I popped it back in so it’s fine. It isn’t even swelling that badly and I won’t need antibiotics like other injures so it doesn’t really count.”
At the revealed injury, Suberboy, who had been all but draped across the back of the desk chair leaps up and exclaims, “What do you MEAN dislocated knee? When did that happen? How did it happen?”
Impulse turns to his leader with wide eyes and calmly states, “Yeah dude, you weren’t even limping, what the hell.”
Batman just sighed, looking at the Young Justice now fussing over their leader.
“Agent A, would you please bring an ice pack and a compression.”
At this an older man who the League had never seen suddenly appeared with an ice pack and a compression bandage, and he began looking at Red Robin’s leg.
Batman lastly turns to the unknown heroes. The purple hero, the masked hero, and the yellow hero are joined by a young boy in a colorful uniform that the League had not seen walk in. The boy was holding a cat and wearing a katana. The four heroes look at each other, before all turning to Batman and giving him a thumbs up.
Batman finally turns around to face the Justice League, who are utterly baffled. Batman gestures for the League to start talking, but they are speechless. Superman is looking back and forth between his son and Red Robin. Oliver has his head in his hand, overwhelmed with the sight before him. Barry is staring at his proteges in confusion. Wonder Woman is nodding thoughtfully.
At their silence, Roy clears his throat, “This is the part where you state if your mission goals were accomplished, and your resident Bat shares the level of injuries they received.”
Red Hood slaps him on the back of the head while Wally bursts out into giggles.
“Their resident Bat would never disclose any injuries received,” Red Robin muttered under his breath.
Kon glares at him before responding, “Well it’s not like our resident Bat discloses his injuries either.”
Nervously, Clark tries to give a verbal report like the other teams had.
“Uh, the Justice League, um secured the Penguin. We handed him over to the GCPD, and uh we didn’t ask about Arkham I don’t think. Uhm, I don’t think any buildings or anything was damaged? And, well, I don’t think anyone got hurt.”
Listening to Clark stumble over his report makes the next gen heroes giggle. As their laughter grows, Batman quickly glances back and the heroes are effectively silenced again.
Seemingly satisfied Batman turns on his heel and walks towards the Batcomputer. He gives a short, high whistle causing the younger heroes to break their ranks. With the meeting formally over, the teams break out into full on laughter.
By now the Justice League is tired of being left in the dark. All at once questions from the League start flying at the younger heroes and at Batman.
Hal shouts, “How did you all know to give a report like that?”
“Why do you act so comfortable here,” Barry questions, “is this not your first time in the cave?”
Oliver looks ready to scream, “ROY! Why do you know a Crime Lord?”
“Kon, since when are you so close with Red Robin,” Superman asks in disbelief.
“Yeah why is a crime lord being let in the cave?”
“Why has no one asked about these other four we’ve never seen before?”
“Oh and what about the old guy? Is he a hero too?”
“What do you mean Bats?”
“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?”
At all the commotion, Wonder Woman stepped in front of the group to get their attention.
“Please please, let us conduct our questions more civilly than this. Batman, it would seem that the League is confused about your relationship with the Next Gen hero teams. We seem to have been left out of the protocol training for debriefing meetings.”
Batman just looks utterly confused now. On one side, he has every younger hero laughing hysterically at his teammates, and on the other side he has the Justice League that look like they have lost their minds. Batman stares at the League in silent judgement for a long moment. He then lets out a long whistle.
At the tone Nightwing stops leaning on Wally to stand at attention. Red Hood untangles himself from Roy’s grasp to help Red Robin stand properly. The purple hero falls into place beside Red Robin. The masked one steps between Nightwing and Red Hood. The yellow hero and the youngest have also joined the line standing directly behind Batman. The line of heroes just grin at the Justice League as Batman sighs once again.
“These are my children.”
Chaos erupted in the cave.