Chapter Text
Epilogue
Nightwing landed on the rooftop to catch his breath.
It was dusk, one of his favorite times of day. On the west coast, the sun set over the ocean, and from this view sun rays peaked out from behind the tower.
“Nightwing.” Starfire’s voice came through the comms with crisp clarity. “Did you need a ride home?”
“No thanks,” Dick replied. His next sentence - but you can come enjoy the sunset with me - was cut off by a black figure landing next to him. Instead, Dick switched his comms to standby.
“B,” he greeted, desperately squishing down the panic that something had to be wrong.
“Nightwing,” Batman replied. “We need to talk.”
“About what?” Dick asked. He was not going to panic until he had a concrete reason to.
“As you know,” Batman started, “tonight is the anniversary of the Justice League.”
Nightwing nodded. Someone - Luthor, usually - always had big plans for the anniversary. The Titans could assist with whatever happened, letting the League celebrate and do whatever public relations they wanted to do.
“We’ve decided to expand and offer membership to several heroes,” Batman continued. “More than doubling our numbers.”
“That’s a lot of heroes,” Dick noted.
“It is,” Batman confirmed.
He was silent for a moment.
“So, did you need our help with anything?” Dick asked.
“No,” Batman replied.
“Okay?”
Maybe he was just trying to make conversation?
Was this a social visit? From Batman?
“We agreed that the minimum age for league membership was eighteen,” Batman added.
“Yeah?” Dick prompted. And then, “that’s my age. B, are you telling me-“
“The Justice League would be honored if you accepted their invitation to join the,,” Batman finished.
“The Justice League,” Dick started, “wants me. To join them?”
“Yes,” Batman answered. “Superman or Flash usually handle invitations, but I wanted to be the one to tell you.”
“I- but I’m a Titan.”
“No one is expecting you to give up your work with the titans,” Batman replied. “Although, if you decided to go to college…”
Dick crossed his arms. “Which I’m still thinking about.”
“This would be a good way to continue helping people,” Batman continued. “A good way to continue helping others in the hero community. Especially with the large number of new members they’re planning on adding, they - we could use your help.”
“My help?”
“You’ve done a good job with the Titans. You’ve established cohesive communication procedures, organization-wide signals, consistent training, and this culture of constant improvement.”
“I had help,” Dick said. He was not blushing. The heat on his face was from the sun. “Cyborg is really talented at motivating people, and is a genius with technology.”
Batman nodded. “Superman is at the tower now, talking to Cyborg and Starfire.”
“Oh,” Dick said. “But you wanted to tell me yourself?”
“Of course.”
“Do you want me to join?”
Bruce tilted his head. “I didn’t think you cared.”
Of course I do. “Like, strategically.”
“The Justice League can only benefit from you being a member,” Batman said. “But if you decided to focus on college instead-“
“Maybe next year,” Dick replied. “Maybe. If Cy and I get accepted into SAU together.”
“In a year, you’d be an established member,” Batman said. “It would be easier to handle any extra duties.”
Dick nodded.
“You don’t need to answer now,” Batman said, grabbing his grapple. “You know how to reach me.”
Jinx leaned forward into their hands, elbows on knees, and took a deep breath.
They had known Barry had big news - good news - when he came home with a wide grin, but this?
“Wait, wait, wait,” Wally said. “I understand inviting Jinx, but why me?”
Which was wild, because Jinx had been thinking the opposite.
They were at the dining table, food cooking in the kitchen behind them. Wally was pacing, normal-speed, while Barry and Jinx were both sitting. Iris sat next to Barry, head on his shoulder and checked out of the conversation.
“And this isn’t a joke?” Jinx asked.
“Of course not,” Barry said. “Batman would kill us if we did a joke like that.”
Jinx snorted.
“Seriously,” Barry continued, “you’ve both proven yourselves ten times over. I didn’t even get a chance to recommend you, Hal did!
Wally smirked. “Should’ve been faster.”
“I still don’t understand why,” Jinx admitted.
“You do a lot of good,” Barry responded. “Both of you. You work well with others-“ and wow Jinx had never expected to hear that “- and can handle both large crises and delicate situations.”
“Most of the titans can,” Wally said. “Nightwing-“
“Can only do so much by himself,” Barry finished. “You’ve both put the work in. You train, you research, you coordinate. And you care.”
“I-“ Jinx started. “I, I never felt like I was doing anything before. Like I had nothing to show for my life, and everything to prove, and when I started doing this hero thing, and seeing everyone I was saving and helping, I thought, ‘this is enough.’”
“And it is,” Barry said. “You don’t have to accept the invitation. But it is there. And the Justice League would benefit from both of you.”
The Titans North Tower stood on a small island on the northeast shore of Hagensby, overlooking the city and docks.
The view from the roof of the tower was lovely, and the late July temperatures were not too cold, even though it was still early morning when Green Lantern Jordan landed.
Leonid was already at the rooftop, in his Red Star outfit, trying to convince himself not to panic. Jordan had said it wasn’t an emergency.
And he clearly wasn’t in a hurry, spending a moment to do the motions of small talk. To be fair, the weather was nice this time of year, and Leonid didn’t mind talking about his girlfriend.
“Anyways,” Jordan said, “I didn’t call you to just catch up.”
“I figured not,” Leonid replied.
Jordan nodded. “Today is - well, yesterday, I think it’s already the twenty-third here? The Justice League met up for our anniversary celebration, and we discussed adding new members to the League.”
“Oh?” Leonid had no idea where this was going. What did this have to him?
“And we’ve decided to offer you an invitation,” Jordan said.
“Me?” Leonid asked.
Jordan nodded. “Since becoming a Titan, you’re frequently responding to crises, assisting with our missions, and pushing yourself to be a better hero. We firmly believe that you would make a good addition to the League. You don’t have to make any decisions now, but think about it. You’re already doing a lot of good, and we think you could do even more if you joined us.”
“I-“ Leonid started, “this is unexpected. I will have to think about it.”
“Of course,” Jordan said. “Just let me know what you decide.”
“I don’t know what there is to think about,” Wondergirl said. “This is the Justice League.”
Nightwing, Cyborg, Starfire, Aqualad, Arsenal, Bumblebee, Jinx, Kid Flash, Red Star, and Wondergirl had all crashed in the Titans Central training room. All of them had received the same invitation, and Wondergirl was the only one who wasn’t shell shocked by it.
“I just don’t get it,” Kid Flash said, for the millionth time. He was still in denim shorts and a t-shirt, not bothering with a mask around the occupants of the room.
“Aquaman’s already a league member,” Aqualad added. He’d just returned from a mission, so was still in his uniform and slightly wet from the decontamination shower. “Why do they need me?”
“Because we’re all talented and powerful heroes,” Wondergirl said. She was up and pacing, dressed in her sparring gear. “You should be proud of the work you did to get here.”
“She’s right,” Nightwing said. He was the only one still in a mask, although he had a big hoodie and sweatpants on instead of his Nightwing suit. “I’m still struggling to process this too, but we did earn this.
“Now, it’s only a question of whether we want this.”
“I do,” Wondergirl stated.
“So do I,” Cyborg said. “The more I think about this, man, I really want this.”
Bumblebee shook her head. “I’ve worked so hard on getting into college for this fall - I think I’m going to say no.”
Nightwing glanced over at Starfire. He wanted to say yes, too, but only if-
“Only if you join,” Starfire said, meeting his eyes through his mask.
“How can you all be so sure?” Jinx asked.
“They said we could take our time,” Arsenal replied. “I’ll be taking mine.”
“Yeah,” Jinx replied. “I need time.”
“Me too,” Red Star said.
Aqualad sighed. “I - I feel like I should, but. Yeah, I think I’m in.”
“Me too,” Kid Flash decided. “I still don’t get why, but I know I do want it.”
“Take your time if you need it,” Wondergirl said, “but those of us who do know, let’s tell them now.”
“Together?” Starfire asked.
“Together,” Wondergirl said.