Chapter Text
Jason
Jason was told that Bruce wanted to talk to him, and he was supposed to stay in his room until he arrived. But Alfred’s small smile gave Jason a vague hope that he wouldn’t be grounded until college.
Jason was flipping through the well-read copy of Sherlock Holmes that Bruce had given him for Christmas when the door swung open, revealing a showered and slightly rested Bruce.
Bruce stood in front of him, arms folded, stance firm, and his best glare fixed on his second son. Jason clasped his own hands behind his back, and started his attempt to stare-down his father.
“So.” Bruce’s voice revealed nothing. “I come back to find out that you and the others had been taken hostage, and my covert team was sent to investiage. And then, I’m told that after a brief sabatogue attempt, Dick was taken hostage, and the Team—and Batgirl—were locked away. But despite this, Batgirl and Robin rescued Dick Grayson.”
Jason stared at his shoes, still feeling the furious glare on him. He nodded once.
“You deliberately disobeyed orders, and initiated contact the super-hero community. Your actions cearly overstepped the boundaries and roles of a civilian. You threw yourself into a hostage situation, which could have easily gotten Dick killed. And,” Bruce’s voice became deadly. “You acted as Robin, endangering all of our secret identities, and to make matters worse, you put yourself in grave danger.”
Jason opened his mouth to apologize, but found his throat as dry as paper.
“But,” it was still the Batman voice, but there was a softness to it that Jason hadn’t heard since Bruce had found him four years ago in Crime Alley, with the second Batmobile wheel half-off. “You took effective precautions. You successfully mimicked Dick, came up with a good strategy on the spot, kept yourself and Cassandra safe, organized your siblings, and took command. And no one was hurt. You did well, Jason.”
Jason’s head snapped up, green eyes wide. “You mean it?”
“I mean it,” Bruce said. “And so I’ve made my decision. For the next three months, whenever Dick has a mission with the Team, you will accompany me as Robin. If you prove yourself during that period, we will start discussing code names. Barbara is planning on joining the team, so the same arrangement can be made for Cassandra.”
Jason’s face was split by a huge smile, and he launched himself at his father, wrapping his arms tightly around Bruce. “I won’t let you down, Dad. I promise.”
Bruce froze slightly at the word ‘Dad’, but hugged him back. “I know you won’t, son.”
Jason’s smile grew impossibly larger at that, and the two remained there for a very long time.
Artemis
Artemis wasn’t exactly sure when she had moved into the Manor. It hadn’t been official or anything. There hadn’t been documents signed, and nobody went out and said it. It was kind of gradual.
It started off when Robin had invited her to his place after a patrol through Gotham with him and Babs. Alfred had set up a room for her, (Dick swore it was a coincidence that the room had a dark green theme) and she had stayed the night.
After that, it had just escalated. One night became once a week. Once a week became weekends. Weekends became any night we have patrol. That became virtually every night.
Her mom had started coming too, taking pleasure in Alfred’s company and spending the long evenings in the Batcave with the old butler, waiting for the people they loved to return home.
And slowly but surely, Paula and Artemis started thinking of the Manor as home, just as the Batchildren had planned.
The first sign that they had been fully adopted into the family came from Cass, one night at dinner.
“Cass, can you pass me the salt please?” Bruce asked, looking up from Alfred’s delicious meal.
“Sure, Batdad,” Cass said cheerfully, handing Bruce the shaker. Everyone exchanged looks.
“Batdad?” Bruce repeated, taking the salt.
Cass nodded in agreement, beaming.
Paula, Alfred, and Bruce all exchanged looks, and returned to their food. However, Cass wasn’t done.
“Aunt Paula?” Cass said, swallowing her mouthful of mashed potatoes.
Paula Nguyen’s eyebrows shot up at her new title, and she, Alfred, and Bruce exchanged another look. “Yes Cass?”
“Help me with training tonight?” Cass asked, smiling. Paula had also been trained by the Shadows, after all.
Paula smiled tentatively. “I’d love to,” she said, cutting herself another piece of meat.
A week later, after training, Artemis had been tackled by Steph and Cass, who declared her the “coolest big sister ever.”
And while she had to admit, having six ridiculously awesome younger siblings was wonderful (especially if one compared it to her prior experience with siblings), there were always a few road bumps.
For example…
“Crock!” Damian demanded, shaking her arm. “Crock!”
“Mmmph,” Artemis rolled over, opening a grey eye just a slit. “Damian, it’s two in the morning.” And she had just returned home an hour ago, she didn’t need to add.
In the dim light, she could see Damian looked embarrassed. Artemis forced herself to sit up, stifling a yawn, and looked at him. “What’s wrong, Little D?”
Damian scuffed his feet on the carpet. “I… had a bad dream,” he admitted.
Artemis wanted to bury her face in her pillow. This was why Dick should not be allowed to go to “Guy’s Night at Mount Justice”. It meant she took over Damian’s “responsible sibling” duties.
“Okay then,” she said, laying back down, and resisting the urge to bury her face in her pillow. “Come on kid.”
A small, shy, smile appeared on Damian’s face, and the smallest Wayne clambered under her covers, wrapping his arms around her.
Artemis hugged Damian closely. “Don’t worry Little D,” she muttered, stroking his hair. “I’ve got you.”
She closed her eyes, and did her best to go to sleep again.
“…Artemis?” Damian said after a little bit.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Miss Martian
“Wally, I’m so sorry!” M’gann blubbered, pulling the fastest boy alive into a tight hug. “I’m so sorry, I should have trusted you, I should have known you would never cheat on Robin, I should have known!”
Wally awkwardly tried to pat her on the back and ignore the glare Superboy was giving him. “It’s fine, M’gann, really…”
“But I should have realized. I mean, hello Megan, it was so obvious, and I’m such a horrible person, I should have known better than to judge by appearances, and I should have had more faith in you!”
“No one else figured it out either,” Wally tried to rationalize with the Martian who was crushing him. “Really, it’s okay…” He threw a desperate look to Conner, hoping his friend would rescue him. The amused clone simply shook his head and resumed the conversation he was having with Robin.
Robin wasn’t going to help him anytime soon either. He was laughing, and avoiding Wally’s eyes.
Brilliant.
“Artemis did,” M’gann said, squeezing him tighter, sobbing. “And I should have known better! I should have recognized Robin’s mind…”
“M’gann, it’s fine. Really. Now, can you please stop crushing me?”
“Oops!” M’gann let him go, wide eyes horrified. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Wally sighed. “It’s all okay.”
Superboy
“It’s good to see you Clark!” Steph said, bouncing down the hallway, trailing Clark Kent. “I’m so glad you made up with Bruce. I mean, I thought you two were going to stay mad at each other forever.”
Clark smiled at her. “Well, I’m glad to be here.” He avoided the questioning look in her eyes, which demanded to know why he had been fighting with Bruce.
Steph escorted him into a small sitting room, and the Man of Steel froze. Superboy was sitting on the couch in the room, staring at him and Steph with wide, shocked eyes.
“Now Clark,” Steph said, cheer replaced with a businesslike, authoritative voice. “You can spend half-an-hour getting to know Conner… or I call Timmy, and he releases the photos of the Cupcake Incident to the entire world.
Clark stared at her, horrified. “You’re lying. Bruce destroyed all evidence of that… event.”
Steph’s smile was absolutely terrifying. “He thought he had. We rescued some evidence.”
“You’re bluffing,” he accused, staring at her.
She stood to the side, leaving the doorway wide open. “So leave!” She smiled widely. “But can you really risk it?”
Clark and Conner looked at each other. Slowly, awkwardly, Clark sat on the couch.
Steph smiled. “Good. We’ll be watching.” She left with a flourish, shutting the door behind her.
The two Kryptonians sat next to each other in total silence for over a minute. The tension seemed to suffocate Clark. This was awful.
He swallowed, and broke the silence. “So… Conner, huh?”
“Finally,” Jason groused, down in the Batcave.
“Good job Steph,” Artemis told her fellow blonde. “You beat Superman.”
“Lex Luther, eat your heart out!” Steph cheered.
Later
“So… do you think we should tell them they’ve been talking for hours?” Dick asked, looking on as Conner smiled at something Clark said.
“Nah, let them figure it out,” Jason said, running his fingers over the length of his new cape.
Kaldur
“Robin, I understand that your siblings are enthusiastic about being allowed in the Cave, but I do believe that prior warning might be necessary.”
“Yeah, Kaldur,” Robin said, grinning. “I understand.”
Kaldur surveyed the chaos that filled Mount Justice, sighing. Jason was in the kitchen with M’gann, his feet dangling off the counter, and his mouth full of cookies as he chatted animatedly with the Martian.
Conner and Damian were playing with Wolf and Titus, trying to teach them to play tug-of-war.
Billy and Tim were sprawled out on the floor, legs in the air as they played checkers. Billy was losing badly, but it didn’t seem to bother the World’s Mightiest Mortal in the slightest. The two sixth graders cheerfully grinned at each other.
Artemis had armed Cass and Steph with bows and arrows, and was teaching them archery. The three of them cheerfully fired off arrows at holographic targets, Artemis giving out advice as she went, occasionally pausing them to correct their postures or grips.
“Does Batman even know they’re here this time?” Kaldur asked Robin, wincing as Steph fired off an explosive arrow that she had gotten her hands on, apparently without Artemis’s knowledge or permission judging from the shocked yell.
“Umm…”
“Wally, please stop distracting Dick while I am trying to talk to him.”
The speedster grumbled, but pulled away reluctantly.
“Thank you.”
“Kaldur!” Steph called, “Get over here! We’re having another ‘My Dad’s a Super-Villain and/or a Super-Assassin’s Anonymous’ Meeting!”
Kaldur sighed. “Coming,” he called, going to join the three girls who were sitting cross-legged on the ground, waiting for him.
“I’ll start this time,” Artemis said. “I’m Artemis. My dad’s Sportsmaster. My last contact with him was when he tried to blackmail me into joining him last week. I will not be like him when I grow up. Who’s next?”
“Ooh! Ooh! Me!” Steph said, waving her hand in the air. “I’m Steph. My dad’s Cluemaster. Last time I saw him, he was being dragged to Arkham. I will not be like him when I grow up.”
“I’m Cass. My father is David Cain. I am not going to be like him.”
“Good job Cass,” Artemis said, smiling. “Kaldur?”
“I am Kaldur’ahm,” Kaldur said. “I am the newest member. I recently learned that my father is Black Manta. I last saw him three days ago, when he revealed this to me. I will not be like him.”
“Good job!” Steph said, grinning at him. “You’ll get the hang of this soon!”
“What is the next step?” Kaldur asked.
“Ice cream,” Cass said with a smile.
Kaldur blinked, and reconsidered this whole thing. Maybe this had not been such a bad idea after all.