Archive of Our Own

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me?" Lee asked, already knowing the answer. Her husband could be a stubborn man on the best of days and this was a stance that he had taken long ago.

"You're sure you're going to be okay?" Jim asked, pacing back and forth as she packed a small bag. "I can..."

"Jim," she smiled, closing the medical bag and looking at the infuriating man in front of her. The years and the commissioner's office had aged him well, his hair was more gray than brown now but only just so, the wrinkles around his eyes and lips made him look distinguished, and he was in the biannual phase where he tried to get used to a mustache.

It had been a long road to get here, and Gotham was never going to be the easiest place to live, but they had carved out a happy life for themselves.

A medium-sized townhouse on the Upper West Side that was close enough to the precinct and enough guest rooms to house anyone who wanted to crash there instead of stumbling home from the bar (Harvey) or when they needed a quiet place to work (Lucius). Of course, even though Barbara Lee had moved out (temporarily, Lee always insisted through tears she refused to acknowledge), they still kept one room set up just for her. Usually, they could bribe her to visit twice a month with the promise of home-cooked meals and someone to do her laundry like she was in college again.

"I'm serious, Lee," Jim took her hands, his face haggard and gravely stoic, "I'll go with you."

She was taken aback by the words, not just because she was constantly reminded how fiercely Jim loved her, even after everything, but because he must have been even more shaken than she had realized.

Ever since the Waynes—all six of them—had disappeared from a charity gala in August, there had been a global search for them that had rested primarily on the GCPD's shoulders, which meant it rested on Jim's shoulders. Late nights had become common, and more than once, Lee had to pick up a call from a sleep-drunk Harvey to beg her to come pick him up from the station. There had been no clues left behind, every gala attendee had been interviewed a minimum of five times, surveillance footage had been requisitioned and combed through by the entire teams of cybersecurity experts at Wayne Enterprises, Queen Consolidated, and LuthorCorp, and had been examined by Lucius personally at least twice.

Every person, every lead, had said the same thing: Bruce Wayne, his four children, and an unknown bodyguard had arrived in a limo for the annual Wayne Foundation Summer Gala at eight-thirty PM, mingled with their guests for four hours, and left in the same limo together. None of them were even noticed to be missing until Alfred Pennyworth phoned the police at six-thirty the following morning.

Everyone connected to the Waynes, including Lee herself, had been pulled in for questioning at one point over the first month.

The Zatara girl Dick had been linked to in recent months had been distraught, but no one could rule out her magic. Selina, of course, had handled with the poise of someone who was offended they thought she would do this, leaving Bruce at the altar notwithstanding. Clark Kent and Lois Lane were known to be close to the Waynes, especially through their youngest son, but their questioning had been brief, no one could find any reason why the upstanding couple would abduct the Waynes. Every employee who worked with Bruce at WE or Tim at Drake Industries had been interviewed, the rec center in downtown Blüdhaven where Dick taught gymnastics was raided, and she knew that summons had been sent overseas for Damian's mother and Cassandra's biological father that had gone unanswered.

The "bodyguard" was a ghost: no papers, no official identification, and none of the regular security agencies used by the Waynes knew who he was. He should have been the prime suspect, but a cleverly worded article by Cat Grant (widely suspected to have been heavily edited by Lois Lane) moved public opinion away from him to such an extent, many forgot he had been taken as well.

Alfred himself had been questioned multiple times, some rookie detectives who read too many Agatha Christie novels thought the butler really did do it. After all, why else would Pennyworth wait so long to notify the authorities that his notoriously (thought slightly less so now that he had several children including a preteen) capricious charge hadn't come home that night. But Alfred was steadfast, bristling at the implications, but all his statement read was that he was used to Bruce keeping odd hours and his children were mostly grown, and that while most still lived in Wayne Manor, they were free to come and go as they pleased without supervision.

Of course, no one had been able to come up with anything to hold against the butler, and Jim had released him after only a few hours in holding.

Those few hours had been enough to do some damage, however. Lee still remembered Jim coming home that night, slumping down at their kitchen table, and downing almost a whole bottle of whiskey. She hadn't seen him so distraught in ages—not since they stood by Barbara Lee's hospital bed and were told their daughter would never walk again—and so she just held him, pressed his head to her stomach, and ran her fingers through his hair.

"You'll find them," she had promised, because if she didn't believe that she wouldn't know what to do. Bruce had been part of their lives since he was a teenager, and the both of them loved those kids like they were their own.

Even Dick breaking Babs' heart wasn't enough to shake their affection for the oldest, although that was mainly due to him doing the appropriate groveling and getting back into Barbara's good graces.

"What if I can't?" He had asked, and Lee had no clue how to respond. There was no world where Jim didn't find the Waynes.

"You will."

Someone will, she had thought, because she'd had her sneaking suspicions for years, especially when Batman didn't show the first night the Waynes were missing. Jim had stood on the rooftop with the Bat-Signal lit all night, but no one had come.

Gotham was a delicate balance and Catwoman, a Batman, Spoiler, Batwoman, and the Birds of Prey went out every night to keep the more opportunistic (idiotic) criminals at bay. Plus there was word that the Sirens were handling the Narrows and Crime Alley to the best of their abilities, so the city hadn't descended into anarchy in the absence of their Bats and Birds. Not yet.

But Lee knew that things couldn't have stayed that way for long, and so when she finally got notification from Wonder Woman (in the form of the Amazon hovering outside her clinic at midnight) that the Justice League was hoping she would help with the medical treatment after, she knew it was because she did more than let the Bats stop at her clinic in the dead of night and stitch them up.

Jim might not want to know their identities or why the Justice League had taken over the search for the missing Waynes, but Lee knew the truth. And it was more than the fact that Wayne Enterprises had close relationships with the League, financing them in some capacity and providing them with cutting-edge technology in another.

"I will be as safe as I can possibly be," Lee reassured her husband, pulling him in by the tie for a brief kiss. "I promise."

It was obvious that Jim didn't agree, but his principles were too strong to avoid, and besides, he couldn't argue with the fact that she was about to be sequestered in the safest place on Earth, surrounded by some of the most powerful beings in the world. Although, knowing Jim, that was exactly why he was worried about her going with Wonder Woman.

"I'll call you when I'm done," Lee replied, wrapping her arms around Jim, soaking in the last little bit of warmth from his steadfastness. She would need some of that soon enough if she was going to have to operate on a thirteen year old.

Eight months in captivity had to have wreaked havoc on all of them, and the thought of the state of those poor boys shook her to her core. They might be young men, but she still saw all of them as they were when Bruce first introduced them to her.

Dick, the chirping, mischievous nine year old who couldn't resist climbing the curtains even though she needed to check him over for injuries after his time in juvie, and who was more than likely to snap out in anger than his smile indicated.

Jason, the jaded, quiet twelve year old who had stolen the tires off of Bruce's car and whose ribs were sticking out in the most concerning way that had her putting a child on a nutrition plan, but he would sit with her and read so he didn't have to go to sleep.

Tim, who she thinks will be the first case study in a caffeine overdose one of these days, and who she's had to prescribe sleeping pills to more times than she really feels comfortable with, even though she knows he doesn't take them.

Damian, who she hasn't met much of, but the first time Bruce dragged his youngest in for a physical from her, there was a concerning number of scars covering the ten year old's body, who stuck his nose in the air but thanked her with a quiet, "Dr. Thompkins" every visit.

And Cass...poor Cassandra, the fifteen year old girl Lee had first met was wary of everyone and had no idea where she even was, the idea of hospitals foreign to her, but as she slowly grew, she would smile softly and hop onto the table with the grace of a ballerina. Lee didn't even want to know what had been done to the girl's body in the last eight months, but she was already mentally preparing for everything from delivery to an abortion.

"Be safe," Jim whispered in her ear one last unnecessary time, but Lee just grinned, kissing him again. The mustache really had to go sooner than later—it was way too prickly and hid too much of Jim's handsome face.

"I'm calling Harvey to make sure you get at least three hours of rest," Lee threatened, and although Jim laughed, she wasn't sure he realized that she was going to call the captain once she got the chance. "Go get those bastards."

"Yes, ma'am," he grinned, pecking her on the cheek and ushering her out into the family room.

Wonder Woman, Diana of Themyscira, the Princess of the Amazons, was sitting on a couch that Lee had liberated from the Sirens Club one night and was staring intently at the picture of Lee, Jim, and Babs at Babs' graduation a few years ago.

"I'm ready," she announced, straightening up and hoping that she seemed more confident than she sounded. "I'm assuming any equipment I could take from my clinic would be unnecessary."

Dia—Wonder Woman (Lee couldn't do it) stood up, standing almost a head taller than Jim himself, the golden tiara gleaming in her glossy black hair, lasso at a star-studded hip, and red bustier all painted an intimidating picture despite her gentle tone. "The League will provide everything we have for your use, and we have state of the art medical facilities. B—we were told you were the best."

"She is," Jim asserted, and she smiled, the love in her heart never having dimmed for this man in the thirty years they've been together.

"He has to say that, he's my husband," Lee teased him anyways, but turned back to Wonder Woman with a determined expression. "But yes, I think I can help. I want to help."

"Perfect," Wonder Woman grinned tightly, extending her hand. "We have limited time, it will be easier if you allow me to carry you."

"Sounds like fun," Lee tried to keep her voice steady, taking the Amazon's hand and stepping closer. She stole one last look at Jim and had the feeling that this was the last moment of peace she would get for a very long time. (Not that the past eight months had been very peaceful in the first place.) "See you later, honey."

"Have a good time at work," Jim fired back, the small smirk hidden by that awful mustache, but she didn't have time to laugh before Wonder Woman was wrapping an arm around her waist and flying out of the window.

It was a strange sensation, and Lee gripped the Amazon's shoulders tightly, wondering if it was the easiest way to just be held by the waist against Wonder Woman's side, but she wasn't going to risk shifting positions while in flight.

"Where are we going?" Lee asked, proud that she only sounded mildly terrified. For a second, Lee wasn't sure if the superheroine had heard her—it was quite windy at this altitude—but soon, Wonder Woman was alighting on a rooftop gently.

The Amazonian princess straightened up, and Lee knew that there was no time to lose and getting into an argument about what she needed to know and what should be kept secret would probably be detrimental to her goal of getting to the kids as soon as she could. (Later on, she would appreciate the fact that Bruce had so many good friends who were cognizant of his...secrecy issues but that wasn't where she was at right now.)

"I will need to—"

"I've been to the Batcave before," Lee interrupted, hoping it wasn't some major faux pas to interrupt a princess. And even if it was, she figured, again, that medical necessity and expediency overruled respect. "And I know that Bruce is Batman."

Diana looked taken aback, and that last little bit might have been a lie (well, an educated guess), but she nodded grimly. "Of course. That makes this considerably easier."

And Lee had heard the stories of Batman (Bruce if the lack of denial was to act as confirmation) vanishing seemingly into thin air after talking to Jim in the most cryptic of sentences, so she figured it had to be a superhero thing. Diana didn't say anything else, before tapping her earring and suddenly...

"That's a jet," Lee exclaimed, her head already spinning and she had lived in Gotham almost her whole adult life, but this stretched even her composure. "How—?"

"I don't think we have time for all of that, do we, Dr. Thompkins?" And now Lee was also wondering if all superheroes had the same infernal smirk when they refused to answer questions, but the woman was right. They didn't have time.

"This is so weird," she muttered, climbing into the jet with as much poise as she could with a full medicine bag over her shoulder and was approaching seventy sooner than she would like.

There truly was no other word but "weird" to describe the sensation of sitting on something she could see and she could see Diana and the controls and the inside of the jet, but when she looked out the window (why were there windows on this damn thing?) she could only see the clouds, no hint of an airplane's body or wings. And then Diana took off and they were punching a hole through the sound barrier and Lee just hoped she made it to wherever she was supposed to be in one piece and with enough of her mental faculties to work on the Waynes.

"I suggest closing your eyes if you do not like heights," Diana said, and although Lee couldn't see her from the seat behind the pilot's chair, Lee could hear the smirk in the other woman's voice.

And it was to Jim's enduring patience (adoration) that he made it thirty years married to "one of the most argumentative women he's ever met" because the first question out of Lee's mouth was, "Why would I need to—?" Trailing off as they started heading up into the clouds, Lee squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back the nausea.

The image of the Earth disappearing behind her and the emptiness of space was going to haunt her sleep for the rest of her life.

"Let me know when it's safe to get out," Lee bit out through gritted teeth, holding onto her seatbelt and saying a quick goodbye to Jim and Barbara Lee, she hopes she was a good wife and mother. She knows she was a good doctor.

She couldn't be totally sure, but the Amazon definitely laughed at her. But she did tap her on the shoulder gently when it was okay for Lee to open her eyes. "We've arrived."

Peeking one eye open, then the other, Lee let out a sigh of relief when the world outside the jet was not the void of outer space, but what looked to be a regular airplane hangar. Well, as normal as it could be holding several jets she knew could not be standard military issue and at least one Bat-Plane tucked in the corner.

"Where am I—?" She started but cut herself off at the soft shake of Wonder Woman's head as she helped her climb out of the jet. "Right, doesn't matter. The medical rooms?"

"Follow me," Wonder Woman said, hovering for the briefest moments before seemingly remembering Lee was totally human and sinking back to the ground. "We have had a medical staff on rotation, the League's personal doctors come from all over the world and are the top experts in their fields. We also have some of the best nursing staff we could afford, but when-when we found them, Cl—Superman said that Bruce would be more comfortable with you."

"Is it that bad?" Lee asked, glad that she wasn't going to have to deal with six injured, likely malnourished, highly traumatized, individuals on her own. If more than one of them were not in critical condition, it would end up being a miracle.

"I don't know," Diana said, and she turned her face, lifting off the ground again, a hand reaching up to brush at her cheek. "I was not part of the team that found them, but Superman said it did not look good."

"Okay, so ER protocol," Lee said as they got to the entrance of the medical bay which looked more than large enough for her purposes. "I can take it from here." She was sure that Wonder Woman had better places to be, and for a minute it looked as if the Amazon was going to argue but then a computerized voice interrupted.

"Recognized. Zatanna Zatara. B-08."

Diana shot back into the air, already flying out of the doorway with a concerned look on her face. "Brief the team, I will handle this," she ordered, and Lee wasn't one who was used to taking orders, but she turned to the medical team and left Diana to deal with the newcomer. Lee just hoped the woman wouldn't interfere before they could treat her...lover?

"Okay, I'm Dr. Lee Thompkins," Lee introduced herself, clapping her hands to draw the attention of the maybe ten people she had to help stabilize six Bats who were probably going to make it difficult to actually give them treatment. "I don't know the ETA on the patients or what their conditions may be, but we need to be prepared for the worst. I need six beds set up with all the monitoring equipment we have, space them out so we have room to work. We'll treat in order of severity, triage and stabilize them as best you can before we try anything fancy."

A quick headcount showed that there were actually twelve personnel she had to work with, which made things a little easier. There were enough beds to fit at least two dozen Leaguers and there were machines lining the walls that she had no clue what they did.

"Okay, we're going to buddy up," she announced, glad that she had experience working understaffed at the clinic. "I'm assuming they're going to be brought in by Leaguers and probably will not have had any emergency medicine. So pick someone you can stand to work with for the next two hours and get acquainted with a Wayne. They're your responsibility from now on. I'll be wherever I'm needed, so if you need help, feel free to ask.

"I don't know what we're going to be looking at, but severe malnutrition and dehydration is the best-case scenario," Lee continued, feeling her heart pinch at the familiar fear of what that family had been through in eight months. "At worst...broken or amputated limbs, severe infection, unconsciousness, brain damage, electrocution symptoms, cardiac arrest." Death, she didn't say, but the implication was clear.

It was going to be difficult to keep her voice even for this next part, but she had over forty years as a doctor, medical examiner, and freelance crime boss. She didn't get to be squeamish, not when it mattered. "Be prepared for sexual trauma as well, damage to the genitals, defensive wounds, aversion to touch...pregnancy. If you see the signs, pull me immediately, that takes priority."

Taking a deep breath, she met everyone's eyes, wishing she had her own team, feeling like it was a betrayal to prepare a room full of strangers for her close friend's family's potential intimate trauma. Because even if the Justice League had the most rigorous screening possible, you could never be sure how someone was going to react when faced with evidence of some of the worst crimes committed against another person. Lee, morbidly, selfishly, just had to hope it wasn't their first rape victim if it came to that.

"Any questions?" She asked, feeling a bit of the weight lift from her shoulders. "The hard part is still coming, so get set up, and I'll find a way to get you their charts...as incomplete as they are." The last little bit she muttered under her breath, but she had a feeling that no one would ever know the full extent of the Bats' medical history.

(Lee had needed to grab her own records anyway before she left because she's pretty sure she's the only medical professional who knows that Tim Drake has no spleen. And that was only because he once tried to pass off an infection as appendicitis.)

She nodded as her team went to work, figuring there was time to introduce herself later—probably not until this nightmare was over—but there was someone else she needed to talk to while she still could. And as many answers that she could find out beforehand, the better.

The Justice League base was confusing enough, a maze of metal hallways with variously spaced doors that she wasn't even sure she wanted to know where they led even if she could open the electronic locks, but she had a secret weapon.

"Barbara Lee!" She shouted, smiling slightly, knowing that there was no way her daughter wasn't going to be embarrassed by this. It was her right, however, as a mother to make her little girl's life just slightly more complicated at work. "I need to talk to you."

For a brief moment, there was nothing in the air, but Lee knew she hadn't overestimated Babs' importance. Even if she wasn't one of the smartest women Lee knew, there was no way she was going to sleep until Dick and Cass were safe.

"Hi, Mom," the crackling over the intercom did nothing to hide the embarrassment that colored her voice. "Take the elevator straight ahead, I'm on the bridge."

"Thanks, sweetie!"

Lee knew she wasn't going to hear the end of it when she got home, but she's fairly certain Jim would back her up. Their daughter had been hidden away in a clock tower for the past several years and when she wasn't there apparently she was on a...on a space station.

The elevator doors opened to a large circular room with a pillar in the middle that she stepped out of, monitors set up everywhere and on a raised second story walkway built out of the column. There were technicians manning their stations, large screens that were broadcasting everything from a disaster in the Indian Ocean to news footage from Metropolis, Gotham, Star, Central, and Coast cities. Craning her neck, she saw her daughter sitting at one of the monitors, headset on, and staring intently at a set of three holographic screens in front of her.

(Lee was not thinking about the very large, very glass windows that lined the entire area and were the only things that separated her and her daughter from the vacuum of space.)

"Fancy workplace, honey," Lee said, taking the stairs up to Barbara Lee. "How are you?"

"Oh, you know," Babs said, graciously allowing her to place a kiss on her daughter's forehead while still never looking away from the feeds in front of her, "just running a multi-continental effort to search for six of the most fucking annoying people on the planet."

Lee hummed, sharing a look with Lois Lane who was sitting right next to Barbara, the reporter rolling her eyes and saying something like, "kids" under her breath. (She was distinctly not thinking of the man sitting on the other side of Lois who had literally no features and was wearing a blue trenchcoat.)

"Who—?" Lee started, but a crackle of static interrupted her.

"Everyone has been evacuated from the danger zone," a warm female voice announced, and with a quick flick of Barbara's wrist, typing something too fast for Lee to even register, the feed of the tsunami wave forming outside of Sri Lanka was pulled up front and center. The first Wonder Girl and the two younger Atlanteans were flitting around on the screen, trying to battle the forces of nature. "Garth and Kaldur have this handled, I can get back on the search."

"Negative, Donna," Babs said, her voice cool and collected. "All six...Waynes have been found and are on their way here ASAP."

"Raven Express?"

Babs smirked a little, but there was no hint of laughter in her voice. "To the Hall of Justice's zeta bay once they get some clear air. Then it's directly into the wonderful Dr. Thompkins' hands."

"Either way, I think I might come hang out," Wonder Girl (she doesn't go by that anymore, Lee remembered Babs scolding her a few years ago, just Donna) said, a teasing edge to her voice that Lee recognized very well. "Between you and me, I think these two will want some alone time after everything."

The bad thing about having both Jim's light complexion and Barbara's red hair was that it was incredibly easy to tell when Babs was blushing, the tips of her ears turning bright pink and she adjusted her glasses unnecessarily. "Okay, copy, Donna. I'll, uh, see you up here. Soon."

"I have a feeling I'm going to be getting the talk again about professional channel etiquette."

Thankfully, that seemed to spark a little bit of fire in Babs, "The slideshow about no flirting on open League lines? Yeah, that might be on the schedule."

"Can't wait!" It was hard to tell, but Lee was pretty sure that Donna Troy winked at the GCN helicopter camera that was capturing footage of the tsunami relief efforts as she flew up in an arc towards the sky.

"Not a word," Babs said before Lee could even open her mouth, which was as good as an admission of guilt from her normally composed daughter.

"I just wanted to check up on my only child," Lee protested with a grin, and the corner of Babs' mouth tipped upwards as well so she wasn't going to have to cook all of Barbara's favorites for the next calendar month to make it up to her.

"We're good," Babs said, taking the briefest break from her work to spin her wheelchair around to take a quick glance at Lee. "Q should've zeta'd down thirty minutes ago but is now embroiled in the conspiracy of...bird migration?"

"It is curious, is it not, that the Waynes were all found in the intersection of the traditional blackbird and robin migration patterns?" The faceless man asked in a deadly serious tone.

Now, Lee's a Gothamite, she's seen more batshit crazy stuff in her life than she knows what to do with. But even knowing that the featureless face was almost certainly a mask, hearing a smooth baritone come out of somewhere that was not an obvious mouth was something that was going to keep her up for a little bit.

"Right," Barbara said, adjusting her glasses to hide her eye roll. "And Lois..."

"Is just finishing up this article," the dark-haired woman replied, waving a pen in the air and ferociously typing one-handed. "I know, I know, no civilians up here, but I'm seeing Clark and Bruce and then I'll zeta to Metropolis."

Barbara looked like she was going to argue, but considering the fact that Lee was standing somewhere she certainly had less clearance to be than Lois Lane, decided against it. "Question and Lois were helping with the search," Babs explained. "Pulling strings, contacts, investigative hit pieces, you know, the works."

"Perry should be happy that the Planet gets the exclusive," Lois interjected, and on closer inspection, the woman had dark circles under her eyes that rivaled Jim's, and her hair was scraped back into a ponytail that was half-falling out. "He's pissed enough about this taking up all my time, but if I have to share the by-line with Cat Grant, he can shove it."

"Right," Barbara repeated, turning back to her own screens.

"Superman was the one to find them?" Lee asked, looking for the Big Blue Boy Scout on the newsfeeds and anything that could indicate when her patients were returning. "What's the ETA?"

"Teams all over the world and of course Superman was the one," Babs muttered but there was no denying the relief in her voice. "And ETA—"

"Recognized. Superman, 01. Batman, 02..."

"Right now!" Lee finished, sprinting for the elevator. "Can you—?"

"I'll send you to the zeta bay," Barbara said without hesitation, her fingers already flying over her keyboard, likely hacking into the Justice League's secure subsystems to send her where she needed to be as fast as possible. "Just please..."

"Of course," Lee promised, turning around before the elevator doors closed. "They're going to be okay."

In her line of work, it was a bad idea to make promises, especially ones that you could never be sure you could keep. Like she told the medical staff earlier, they could be staring down the barrel of some of the worst torture that you could imagine, the only saving grace was that they were abducted as Waynes not Bats, so whoever had taken them might not have known about their above average (above healthy) pain tolerance.

(But that didn't meant they didn't learn. Maybe they took the six Waynes because it was easier than taking six Bats. Maybe they were able to figure it out over time for themselves.)

One or more, maybe all of them, could have serious trauma. One or more, maybe all of them, could be dead.

As the doors opened, she stepped out into a room that was similar to the hangar bay except instead of bay doors there was a giant circular tube that was whirring with golden light.

"Who's here?" Lee asked, demanded really, scanning the room.

Superman was supporting Bruce who was still standing. Somehow, Dick was also still on his feet for some reason, being supported in between Green Arrow and Black Canary. There were two Flashes, each with a Robin, Tim leaning heavily on one Flash (broken leg) and Damian was clinging to the other Flash like a koala. Lastly, there was a boy with an S-shield under a leather jacket holding Cass gingerly while Jason went unsupported, bouncing on the balls of his feet, eyes wild and unblinking.

"All accounted for, ma'am," Superman said.

Lee nodded, hitting what she hoped was an intercom button on the wall. "All available medical personnel to the zeta bay, we need six gurneys!"

The two Flashes didn't wait, zipping the two Robins down to the medical bay, and she could tell that Superman was tempted, but she hoped her look quelled that idea.

"Four gurneys!"

She ran over to Cass and the Super...boy? (She didn't keep up much with superheroes outside of the most famous Leaguers and the capes in Gotham.) The rest of the gurneys would be here any second, and she could already feel the calm settling over her. "Cass, sweetie, can you look at me?" Lee asked, rubbing the middle of the girl's chest with a closed fist.

With a wince, the young woman opened her eyes, and although they were blurry, she nodded so Lee would take that as a win.

"I need to ask you something very important," she started, because although Cass looked just as malnourished as the rest of her family, you could never be too certain. "I need an honest answer, do you understand?"

Another firm nod, and Lee was glad that the medical team was already here, helping Superboy load Cass onto a gurney, and a sharp look in the young hero's direction was all he needed to vanish...somewhere. She heard the commotion of the rest of the Waynes getting settled (and likely resisting treatment until someone else got it first), voices starting to grow louder. Not unlike my rotation in the ER at Gotham General, she thought, taking a deep breath.

"I need to know if you're pregnant," Lee stated bluntly. It wouldn't do to infantilize Cass right now, she was an adult, and even if Bruce was emotionally stunted, she had faith that Dick would've gone through the finer points of the birds and the bees. "It will affect what medicine we give you, okay? And it's okay if you don't know, we can run tests, but I need to know if anyone touched you...sexually. With or without your consent."

No. Cass didn't speak often, so it wasn't surprising that the shake of her head was accompanied by a sharp gesture in ASL, reinforcing her point. No baby.

Thank God, Lee didn't say, but her entire body released the smallest bit of tension at the admission. Cass hated lying and dishonesty, so there was no reason not to believe her, but her next words froze Lee in her tracks.

Dick. Check.

"Yes, I'm going to check on Dick, on all of them," Lee promised, going to straighten up, two nurses holding a gurney, ready to run her back to the med bay. And at the mention of the others, she saw that Bruce was still trying to push up from the bed but losing the battle with Superman. Jason was having to be restrained by Green Arrow and Black Canary, shouting something at the two superheroes about his brothers.

Maybe she meant that Dick was the worst off? It certainly looked like she was the worst, almost unconscious on the gurney as the nurses rolled him away.

"I'll check on him," she replied, patting Cass on the hand once more. "I'll be back to see you soon enough."

Ignoring the protests—she could only be in so many places at once—she nodded towards the staff, and Cass was quickly whisked out of her view. Three down, three to go.

"Dick!" A female voice shouted desperately, and Lee had to internally groan. Why are heroes so dramatic? Can't they tell she's trying to run some semblance of an ER operation here?

They did not need any more people in the zeta bay, in fact, she was hoping everyone would be in the medical bay by now, but she didn't get what she wanted all the time. But there was a blur as someone crashed into the area, and Lee could see Wonder Woman swoop in and grab them by the waist.

"Zatanna!" Diana exclaimed, looking like she was struggling even as she had a dark-haired woman in some kind of cobra hold. "Calm yourself!"

"Stop, no," Zatanna pleaded, tear tracks clear on her face as she tried to get free. They were drawing way too much attention, Green Arrow and Black Canary losing their grip on Jason and now they had two charging bulls as the second oldest Wayne child went careening towards the med bay.

"Someone sedate him!" Lee shouted, waving her arms frantically, running over to Zatanna and Wonder Woman. "Look," she put her hands on Zatanna's shoulders, trying to soothe her and keep her in place at the same time, "we need to work on Dick, he needs help. I'll come find you when it's over, okay? But you cannot be here."

Lee was used to some vitriol from patients, adrenaline and worry and fear made people act irrationally at the best of times, and after eight months, she would be the same way if someone kept her from seeing Jim. But considering that the Waynes couldn't wait any longer for treatment, Lee was going to be the cold-hearted doctor right now. Not a woman who has sat by the man she loves' bedside, wondering if he would pull through.

"You don't understand," the younger woman said, another fresh wave of tears crashing over her cheeks, "I need to tell him—"

"You can tell him later," Diana gritted out, not loosening her grip. "Let Dr. Thompkins work."

"No, no," she shook her head pleadingly, "he needs to know..."

"Zee," a faint voice echoed in the loud room—Bruce was still arguing with Superman and there was a fight happening down the hallway—and it was about the worst thing that could have happened at that moment.

"Teg ffo em!" The magician exclaimed and suddenly Lee was on her back on the cold, unforgiving metal floor.

"Ouch," she grumbled, getting to her feet. She would give the woman a pass just this once because she was distraught but that was it. Luckily, nothing was seriously hurting so Lee figured it was not as powerful a spell as it could've been. Still enough to put Wonder Woman on her ass, she thought as she stood up, watching the Amazon do the same across the room.

"Hey, it's okay, I'm here," Zatanna was saying, having thrown herself across Dick's gurney, not jostling him, thank God, but clutching one of his hands in both of hers. Her face was open and confusingly happy and sad and relieved and reassuring all at once.

"You f—" Dick was clearly struggling to speak, and Lee quickly ran over to the girl. He was going to be fully in shock in a few seconds and the stress of seeing his girlfriend attack his doctor and a Justice League member was not helping.

"Let's go, girlie," Lee replied, and she might not be nearing seventy, but she had more than enough strength to haul one hysterical young woman away from the gurney. Or she should, but Zatanna was staying firmly planted by Dick's side, shaking Lee off a little more roughly than strictly necessary. "Hey!" She snapped, because the girl had already used her freebie. "You need to leave."

And the other woman simply ignored her or didn't hear her, choosing instead to clutch Dick's hand even more tightly, breathing out, "Yes. Yes, of course I would say yes."

Dick looked even more confused than Lee was, but that was apparently what the girl had wanted to say because she went willingly when Lee pulled her away.

"Wait with Diana and Lois," Lee ordered, glad that the reporter hadn't made it down to see Superman yet.

She didn't wait for an answer, taking Dick's gurney herself and sprinting to the medical bay. They were the Justice League, they could handle one of their own, and right now, she had patients to see.

The medical bay was as chaotic as any ER she has ever been part of, orders for medicines and saline flying around, shouts from Jason who was being strapped to the bed (that's not going to come back and bite us in the ass, Lee grimaced even if it was standard procedure for someone who was a danger to themselves and/or the medical staff) by Green Arrow and a nurse, sobs as apparently Damian had reached his considerable breaking point, and demands for answers from various non-injured heroes who were congregated around their friends. And that wasn't counting Bruce who was still trying to tell Superman that he wasn't injured even as the Kryptonian kept one hand planted on Bruce's chest to keep him in the bed.

One problem at a time, Lee reminded herself, trying to center herself using one of Jim's old army buddy sayings. You can only solve one problem at a time.

"Everyone who is not a doctor, get the hell out of my med bay!" She shouted, whistling to make sure she got the attention of everyone here. As expected, that declaration was met by copious protests, but she did not give a shit. "I'm serious! Out!"

Thankfully, Superman was the first to nod in deference to her authority, shooting Bruce one last glare before grabbing Superboy by the shoulder and maneuvering him away from Tim's bedside. "You heard the woman, Superman said as if it needed repeating. "Debrief on the bridge in five."

"Thank you," Lee said quietly as he left. "Lois is waiting for you."

"I guess I should head off the interrogation," Superman replied with a grim grin and Superboy rolled his eyes. "Especially why this one wasn't in the fortress like he had said he would be."

Lee let the Supers continue their argument out into the hallway, giving significant looks to the Flashes and nods of thanks to Green Arrow and Black Canary. Now that she had free space to work, she needed to do damage control before she could even think about what they really needed for the long-term.

"Get the intake on injuries and then sedation all around," Lee instructed the nearest doctor. "Spread the word. Who's the worst off?"

"Drake has a broken leg that healed incorrectly," the nearest nurse rattled off, gathering syringes and IV bags in her arms. "Grayson is barely conscious as it is, Todd has been given some kind of stimulant...no one is good right now. You were right, malnutrition, dehydration, mental injury, and that's not even counting the physical trauma."

"Yeah, their bodies are beat to hell," Lee said, grabbing a fresh pair of gloves, "it's going to be a long night. Drake?"

The doctor nodded and then they were off.

It had been a long time since she was in an ER properly, the clinic mostly seeing people who had nowhere else to turn, lack of insurance barring them from hospitals, and they were untrusting of doctors at best, derisive of them at worst. But everyone deserved to be healthy, so Lee took any and all with open arms, expanding her staff of volunteers and interns until they had a good little operation going in the Narrows. She had the money to open up a second location soon if she wanted. And while the rare gun violence victim came through, the majority of their patients needed a prescription of two for antibacterials or antivirals, some stitches, and a hell of a lot of vitamins. Nothing like the chaos of trying to treat six patients who needed her full attention at all times, all of whom were severely wounded but none, thankfully, near death.

All it took was looking at Damian Wayne's young face scrunched up in pain even as he was put under anesthesia and she was compartmentalizing. Focusing instead on the three most important things in any case: patient, diagnosis, and treatment.

Patient: Wayne, Bruce (44)
Diagnosis: Severe contusions and lacerations to entire body, primarily located around the upper torso and back; fracture to sixth and third right ribs; deep lacerations around wrists and ankles, including abrasions consistent with rope burn; muscular atrophy of legs; malnourished and severe dehydration.
Treatment: Surgery to set fractured ribs and decrease danger of lung puncture; suturing of most severe lacerations; full course of antibiotics; rehydration protocol; PT, OT, and nutrition plans.

Patient: Grayson, Richard (28)
Diagnosis: Severe shock (was unconscious upon arrival and only briefly regained consciousness before anesthesia), probable head injury; multiple contusions and lacerations across body; hairline fracture to cheekbone and nose; dislocated jaw; multiple lacerations consistent with fingernail marks on inner thighs; malnourished and severe dehydration.
Treatment: Concussion protocol when awake; jaw realignment; full course of antibiotics; suturing for lacerations; rehydration protocol; nutrition plan. Full STD screening. Sexual violence kit?

Patient: Todd, Jason (22)
Diagnosis: Stimulant dependency, potential opiate dependency; elevated heart rate, heart palpitations; extensive contusions across body; defensive wounds on hands; multiple fractures in the nose and cheekbone; laceration on the temple; probable concussion (MRI shows no brain bleed); bruised ribs 4, 5, 7, and 8 on both sides as well as hairline fractures consistent with CPR; damage to kidneys and liver; sprained wrists; malnourished.
Treatment: Withdrawal protocol for opiates and stimulants, mandatory 72 hour hold; stomach flush; reset nose; splint wrists and wrap ribs; concussion protocol; monthly MRI and CAT scans to ensure proper healing of ribs and internal organs; full course of antibiotics; rehydration protocol; nutrition plan.

Patient: Wayne, Cassandra (22)
Diagnosis: Second-degree burns on the soles of her feet; first degree burns (cigarette) scattered around body; crush fractures in the metacarpals of right hand; electrical burns to temples, shoulders, and abdomen; severe, irregular heart palpitations; general bruises and lacerations; severe Vitamin D deficiency; malnourished and severe dehydration.
Treatment: Burn treatment (skin grafts unlikely to be needed); splint of the entire right hand; heartbeat monitoring for six months (pacemaker unlikely to be needed); concussion protocol and cognitive assessment; full course of antibiotics; rehydration protocol; Vitamin D-specific nutrition plan.

Patient: Drake, Timothy (20)
Diagnosis: Incorrectly healed left tibia; severe infection originating in the left leg including appendix, stomach, and gallbladder; severe contusions to abdomen and back; lacerations to arms and legs (appear to be self-inflicted); severe Vitamin D deficiency; malnourished and severe dehydration.
Treatment: Realignment of the left tibia including re-break procedure; mandatory 72 hour psychiatric hold; appendectomy; intense antibiotic and antiviral course to combat infection; rehydration protocol; Vitamin D-specific nutrition plan.

Patient: Wayne, Damian (13)
Diagnosis: Severe lacerations on back (layered); multiple lacerations and contusions on entire body, concentrated in arms, abdomen, and legs; sprained right ankle; hairline fracture on the nose; first-degree burns to arms; missing back two molars (junior); malnourished and severe dehydration.
Treatment: Burn treatment protocol (skin grafts unnecessary); sutures for lacerations on back, ankle wrap, and stabilize nose; juvenile psychiatric evaluation; full course of antibiotics; rehydration protocol; nutrition plan.

The worst was over.

Well, she was out of the critical danger zone where she could lose a patient—Tim ended up being the worst off, the infection just barely missing any important organs, leaving the rest to be treated by the strongest antibiotics the Justice League had access to, which meant they were the strongest antibiotics on the planet. Now she just had to go tell a group of superheroes that their friends had been tortured for eight months straight in a variety of gruesome and horrific ways.

It never gets any easier, Lee told herself as she tried to gather her strength to walk out of the med bay. Because as traumatic as the last three hours were, it was nothing like what the six in there had experienced...and she really didn't want to be the one to break that news to Superman, never mind Alfred.

Pushing the door open, she was unsurprised to see Barbara parked in front of the doorway, tablet in her lap and face unbelievably pale. (Lee really hoped that she wasn't listening in when they had to rebreak Tim's leg. The poor boy had been awake, drifting in and out of sedated sleep—damn Bats and their immunization training—and his scream was still ringing in Lee's ears.) "How'd it all go?" Babs asked, her voice shaky but eyes bright and determined. "Are they...?"

"All six are fine...relatively," she reassured Barbara, leaning down to wrap her arms around her daughter's shoulders. "They should all stay here for a little while longer, maybe a week, before they're ready to be released. But it's not technically a necessity for anyone other than Tim and Jason. No one is in danger of dying."

"Thank you," Babs whispered, her entire body slumping forward as she took a shuddering breath in and out, taking her glasses off to wipe at her eyes.

"You did good, baby," Lee murmured, kissing the crown of her daughter's red hair. "You found them in time."

Despite the shake of the head against her stomach and the small, "It wasn't just me," Lee knew that no one else would have been able to find the Waynes within a year with the lack of evidence given. Only the genius that was Barbara Lee Kean Gordon could have spotted just the right thing at just the right time that gave the Justice League the edge. Only Oracle could have seen enough to put the pieces together.

"I'm your mother," Lee shrugged, pulling back and looking at Babs, meeting her watery gaze. "I think you're the cat's meow."

"Ugh," Barbara wrinkled her nose in disgust, finally turning away and setting off down the hallway, the soft noise of her wheelchair echoing with Lee's heeled footsteps as she followed, "you've been spending too much time with Selina, haven't you?"

Lee laughed, but let her daughter deflect the compliment, because there was only so much she could get away with in public. "We go way back, you know. And she's been visiting us more often...recently. I think she's trying to see how long she can go without visiting the Manor."

"I think that was everyone's idea," Babs muttered darkly. "It's been too...empty in Gotham without all of them."

Humming in agreement, she knew not to mention to fact that Barbara hadn't been in Gotham except when forced in the past five months. "Has anyone told Alfred?" She asked gingerly, not envying the person in the slightest who had to break the news to him.

But with a nod, Babs said, "Yeah, Dad did. I sent him a message right after Diana picked you up. Um...he said that it was dicey, but Selina was there too."

"Dicey how?" Lee asked, feeling her heart seize in her throat. If she had to walk into that med bay and tell six people that their one constant was...it didn't even bear thinking.

"I think Selina almost took Dad's head off, thinking it was a trick," she shrugged, as if it was a funny story, "but Dad thinks it was probably because she had some latent fear gas in her system from patrol. But...Alfred...he only had a minor cardiac episode after hearing the news."

"Great, I gave Alfred a heart attack," Lee groaned. When Bruce woke up, she knew there was going to be a lot she'd have to answer for, and while she thinks that the cast on Tim's leg, the restraints around Jason's wrists, and asking if Cass was pregnant would still be at the top of the list, almost killing the beloved butler with news of their return would be a close second.

"And now you have to go tell Superman that his best friend was tortured in a lead-lined bunker along with all of his kids."

"Yeah, I'm trying not to think about that right now," Lee said, stopping in front of the doorway Barbara indicated. "Anyone else I should be worried about, or just the obvious Kryptonian elephant in the room?"

"Zee hasn't been able to cast a cell in months," Babs stated matter-of-factly and Lee wasn't sure if she should be impressed or scared how clinically she delivered the information, "so she'll probably just cry, which you're great with." Lee clearly was not, so this was probably payback for teasing her earlier. "Superboy has been arguing with Superman for the past half hour about going back to the Fortress of Solitude or Mount Justice. And Arsenal and Kory—Starfire—are still MIA, they would probably be the ones to break out the superpowers so thank goodness for that. Everyone else should understand what's going on. At least...intellectually."

Lee looked at Barbara as the redhead looked at her tablet, biting the edge of her mouth like she had ever since she was ten years old and didn't want her parents to know that she was about to cry.

"Compartmentalization always fails at some point," she said gently. "And especially after eight months of uncertainty. I wouldn't be surprised if Zatanna wasn't the only one to break down."

"Yeah, well, good luck with that," Barbara tossed her hair as if she was unbothered, but it was painfully transparent.

"Dad has really been looking forward to some downtime after this gets wrapped up," Lee tried for a more casual approach. "Maybe we could take a trip up to the lake house, just the three of us. Take some decompression time. I'll even let you and Dad bring your work phones and only enforce a ban for six hours a day."

For a moment, she wasn't sure if Barbara was going to agree, probably citing some Bat activity but considering that none of the primary Bats would be out in the field only three weeks ahead of schedule, they had a bit of time. Gotham would still stand if Oracle took a little bit of time off. (And she would be using the same argument vis a vis Jim and the GCPD.)

But with a small nod and tentative smile, the plans were made. "Three hours."

"Four, and that's my final offer."

"Fine, now go tell everyone that they're okay," Babs nudged, hitting the access panel on the door and then there was no going back. Even if there were several metas with super-hearing abilities, she would hope there would be enough courtesy to not eavesdrop on her and Barbara's conversation.

Sure enough, Lee didn't get the chance to take one step into the room before she was being swarmed with superheroes demanding—begging—for answers about their friends.

"Is everyone okay?"

"Please, is Dick still alive?"

"What happened?"

"Can we see them now?"

"Okay!" She clapped her hands, feeling the déjà vu hit her hard, and there was nothing she wanted more than to sleep for six hours after this. It had only been a few hours but dealing with superheroes usually made everything feel at least ten times as long. "I'm going to tell everyone here, but I actually need to hear myself think, okay?"

There were some muttered apologies from Supers and everyone backed off, drifting back to sit around the conference table in the middle of the room. Lois was standing at the head, Superman's head resting on her stomach, one arm wrapped around Big Blue's shoulder, the other rubbing Superboy's upper arm, but maybe also holding him back if the younger Super's stormy expression was any indication. Wonder Woman was at the front of the room, ushering Lee in, but it was easy to tell her distress from the look she exchanged with Babs. Green Arrow, a de-cowled Flash with sandy hair, and Black Canary were sitting together, having clearly been talking together, Arrow taking Canary's hand gently. The other Flash—a younger redhead who looked to be Dick's age—was sitting next to Zatanna, rubbing the girl's back, both of them obviously holding on by a thread. The magician looked as if she hadn't slept in weeks, her hair tangled from where it fell out of the hood of her Blüdhaven University hoodie and...

And the light of the conference room glinted off a small diamond on her finger, as she clasped her hands in front of her face as if she was praying.

"Okay," she took a deep breath, forever grateful that not only did she not have to tell Superman that his best friend was dead, but she didn't have to break the news that Zatanna had lost a fiancé. "I'll say what I have to and then we can have questions, but the headline is that they're all going to live."

A collective sigh went around the room, Superman, the younger Flash, and Zatanna all breaking out into fresh rounds of tears (silent ones, thankfully).

"Thank Hera," Diana exclaimed, sitting down across from Superman.

"And the damage?" Green Arrow asked. "I can't imagine they're all peachy keen with some surface wounds after eight months."

"You would be correct," Lee sighed, looking at the table briefly before raising her eyes. "All six have clearly been tortured, but the extent and the effects are varied. We can't be sure what happened until they wake up and can tell us themselves—"

"Yeah, as if the Bats are super forthcoming about that information," the redhead Flash interjected with a false laugh, and Lee had to agree. There was a high chance no one would ever know exactly what happened to the six Waynes except the six of them.

"Everyone was dangerously malnourished and dehydrated," Lee continued as dispassionately as she could. Although she had her team take tissue samples in the hopes that it would have forensic value, the most evidence would come from her analysis for a psych profile and where they were found. "Cassandra and Timothy were also severely deficient in Vitamin D, indicating they were held away from natural light for maybe the entire eight months. Timothy also had a severe infection stemming from where his left leg was broken...it was a miracle we didn't have to amputate."

At that, Superboy crashed to the ground, nearly pulling Lois down with him, and although he was pale, Lee figured it was because of the shock and not anything medically pressing.

"We did have to remove Timothy's appendix, however, and with his missing spleen—"

"He doesn't have a spleen!" Superboy shouted incredulously, but Lee had faced way worse in her time.

"For several years now," Lee shrugged. "But moving on, Jason had been dosed with some kind of stimulant I've never seen before, not even in Venom used by Bane. We're having blood samples sent to STAR Labs in Central City for analysis to find the best approach to weaning him off or countering the effects. Or else..."

"The fight we had when we got here could happen again," Black Canary finished, rolling her shoulder with a wince.

Lee nodded sympathetically. "Jason also exhibited signs of intravenous opiate usage, potentially as a counter to the stimulants, a way to bring him down most likely, but he will also need to be monitored for withdrawal symptoms for the foreseeable future. Richard...Richard, Cassandra, and Damian had symptoms of torture. Contusions, burns, battered limbs...Damian looked like he had be-been whipped repeatedly and had two teeth extracted. Baby teeth, thankfully. Cassandra seemed like she was used as a human ashtray and had her hand crushed. It will take them all a long time to heal and that's just from the physical wounds."

"And Bruce?" Superman croaked out, finally looking up to meet her eyes. "Is Bruce...?"

"What happened to Bruce?" Lois finished, her voice strong even as she wiped a tear from her cheek where she was crouched with her arms around Superboy, the younger Super still white as a sheet and with tear tracks carving their way down his face.

"We had to perform emergency surgery to set some broken ribs that were close to puncturing his lungs" Lee said. "He looked as if he had been tied down for an extended period of time, he had muscular atrophy in his legs which means he might not have been able to move around as much as the kids. Severe knife wounds, like someone had carved into his back—"

She cut herself off as Superboy turned a horrible shade of green and Superman stood up to face the wall, a hand reaching up to wipe at his face.

"Is that all?" Diana asked gently.

The debrief hadn't taken very long, there was a long list of injuries that she hadn't even started to cover, but listing every cut and bruise on the six's bodies would only disturb everyone. It had been a long day already, as much immediate heartache as she could spare them, she would.

"Not really, but that's the worst of it, I think," she sighed, even though she wasn't sure, going back and forth on her last note for Dick. If anything, she couldn't say it in a meeting with this many unknown quantities. "I'll send over my full report within the next day or two for informational purposes. All of them should stay here for at least five days to recover, but...if they're insistent...technically Bruce, Dick, Cassandra, and Damian could be released tomorrow. I highly recommend that they don't. We need to monitor for signs of infection and brain injuries."

"But Jason and Tim have to stay?" Zatanna asked, surprisingly.

"Mandatory seventy-two hour hold for the both of them for the withdrawal and...and psychiatric reasons." She winced, another question of how much to tell with so many heroes in attendance—the long slices on Tim's arms that were more than likely self-inflicted were concerning. "And Tim should stay until his infection is cleared too, maybe another week."

"They'll all stay as long as you need them to," Diana declared and it wasn't like Lee was going to argue. The rest of the Leaguers in attendance agreed, Lois thumbing through something on her phone as Clark finally turned back around.

"When can we see them?"

It was certainly the question on everyone's mind, so she nodded encouragingly. "As soon as we're done here, but I'm recommending only two visitors per bed at a time. And wear masks to prevent exposure to infection. Yes, even the Kryptonians," Lee knew she had to head off the question that was clearly on the tip of the Supers' tongues. "We don't know what diseases you carry and are immune to, and they really can't afford an infection before we can get their bodies and immune systems back up to strength."

"But we can see them now?" The redhead Flash stood up, keeping one hand on Zatanna's shoulder, practically vibrating with energy.

"Yes," she had barely finished the word before both speedsters were out of the room. "Just...Superman and Zatanna, could you stay back?"

Zatanna hadn't moved, but as the rest of the Leaguers cleared the room—Superboy actually jumping off the ground and trying to fly before slamming into a wall and choosing to walk the rest of the way—Superman turned to Lois, the two having the kind of conversation only two people who have been together for a very long time could have.

"Jon needs to know."

"I'm not leaving Conner."

Several seconds of intense eye contact before Lois seemed to give in.

"I'll check on Bruce until you're done here."

As much as Lois gives into anyone, which Lee figured was not at all.

Once she was faced with Superman and Zatanna, the words sat heavier in her stomach. This was always one of the worst conversations to have with a family, and she wished she could use the excuse of HIPAA and medical disclosure, but Dick named both Zatanna Zatara and Clark Kent on his medical proxy forms. Selfishly, she was glad that Barbara wasn't with him anymore because it was difficult enough information to digest without being romantically involved with the person. At least she was confident that Superman would be compassionate and be able to support the family.

"It's about Dick, isn't it?" Zatanna breathed, the tears on her face were dried, but there was a haunted quality in her grayish-blue eyes. "Something is worse about him."

"Clark, Zatanna," Lee started, looking at the two in turn, "Dick...he exhibited minor signs of-of sexual activity. Likely some form of non-violent assault, but Stockholm Syndrome is a potential. They were in captivity for eight months; that's more than enough time to...to form a bond—"

"Dick isn't a cheater," Zatanna said with unearned confidence. Even as little contact as she had with the superhero world, Lee knew that both Dick Grayson and Nightwing had a lurid history and several long-standing rumors about his fidelity (and lack thereof).

"I'm just saying," Lee cautioned, because while she couldn't imagine Dick being enamored with a captor, there were clear indications of sexual activity on his person and while she knew that not all rape was violent, there was no way to draw a definitive conclusion without speaking to him. And there is no way he would give a straight answer."

"No! You don't!" Zatanna shouted, standing up and slamming her palm on the table, the diamond on her finger smaller than the son of a billionaire could afford, but no less brilliant. "I think I understand what you're saying just fine and Dick...doesn't...cheat. If he had sex...there was a fucking reason. Coercion or threat, I don't know! If he had sex, he was...he was..." the magician choked on the word, falling into Clark's arms, the Kryptonian looking distraught, but held Zatanna with all the comfort of a father.

"If you could give us a minute," he said a little icily, and Lee was more than happy to escape this room.

"I'll be in the med bay if you need me." With that, she ducked out of the conference room and rushed back to the medical wing.

Barbara wasn't waiting, so Lee assumed she was already in the med bay or back up on the bridge working. She was probably trying to get in some overtime before the lake trip, which reminded her...

"Hey, baby," Lee whispered, pausing outside the doors to the med bay, the faint whispers of voices coming from inside, but she leaned against the wall, trying to take some pressure off her feet, but if she sat on the ground, at her age, she wasn't getting back up. The adrenaline crash was going to hit sooner than later, and she had to inform Jim that he was taking a mandatory two-week sabbatical with her and Barbara Lee to the lake house.

"How was your day at work, honey?" Came Jim's dry response, and she couldn't help smiling. Thirty years of marriage and he could still make her laugh.

"Oh, you know," she mused, wiping a hand across her eyes, "just the usual."

"What time are you coming home?" He asked tiredly. "Alfred and Selina aren't letting me leave until they get word of where they're going and...they're anxious to know where to go."

"Not much longer," Lee said with a small laugh. Selina might be a grown woman with six ("not her") kids, but she was still not quite taller than five foot five. "I'll get the night shift settled in and send my report in the morning, and then I'm all yours."

"Sounds tempting," he hummed, almost without thinking.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Commissioner Gordon," Lee teased. "We'll have plenty of time for that at the lake house next week."

That got him to pay attention, probably ready with a multitude of arguments. "What did you do, Lee?"

"Nothing," she laughed honestly. "But I did get Barbara to agree to four whole hours of mandatory no-work time, so it's a done deal."

"Sounds like fun," Jim said dryly, and if he was anyone else, she would assume he didn't actually want to go and was just placating her. "Let me wrap things up here, Harvey's going to love taking over the investigation."

"He can handle it, I'm sure he'll be glad that he won't be in charge of making sure you sleep and eat for a little while," she countered. As Jim laughed, her heart panged in longing. What she wouldn't give to be where he was, to have him hold her and kiss her just because they were there in the same room. Their relationship had ups and downs the same as any couple—and maybe a few downs that were not normal. but it was Gotham, what could you do—but she never doubted that he loved her or would protect her even if she didn't need it.

She knew who would search the ends of the earth for her if she ever vanished without a trace and she was so glad she hadn't had to find out what that would truly be like until now.

"I love you, Jim," Lee said, closing her eyes just briefly.

"I love you too, Lee," was the ever-reliable, ever-amazing reply. They didn't have much to say after that, but Lee was more than happy to stay leaning against the wall of a space station owned by the Justice League and listen to her husband breathe and talk a bit about work, not the Wayne investigation, but just a small routine drugs bust in Crime Alley that Harvey was working on.

That was all she needed.