Chapter Text
Hal hated that he was in Gotham. The city felt alive. Oozing, pulsing, breathing beneath his feet, never mind that he hadn’t actually landed since he arrived in this cursed place. The very streets and alleys of Gotham intertwined in complex patterns like veins, all leading to the very heart. The Wayne enterprise building stood out like a shining beacon in the ever present smog, pale glow visible from everywhere so long as you looked up. Hal had half hoped, when he’d asked Batman if he could enter Gotham to hunt the rogue alien, that the bat would deny him. Then he could call Oa, complain that he’d tried, and that would be that. But instead the damn bat had agreed. Pulling an unreadable expression before nodding, disappearing into the shadows with nary a ‘by your leave’.
So now Hal was flying around the city, enduring the mistrustful side eyes from its people as he tried to do his job and leave as soon as possible. The alien shouldn’t be this hard to find, they were bright red with yellow luminescent stripes for fucks sake. And yet somehow the damn thing had disappeared into the Gotham night.
“Lantern” Hal did not scream when Batman suddenly appeared on a nearby rooftop, anyone who says so is a lying liar who lies and cannot be trusted. Changing trajectory Hal landed on the roof, a good few paces away from the living shadow just in case. “I’ve tracked your escapee to the north end of the diamond district, near the river. We should hurry.”
“Wait where-“ But Batman was off, swooping off into the night. Hal could just make him out between the buildings. He blended seamlessly as he flew. The way he did it seemed strange, more large swooping swings instead of a smooth flight path, but who was Hal to question him. Maybe all that gear was heavy on his wings. Wait, did Batman have wings or did he fly through magic?
Hal paused as something yellow caught his eye disappearing around the corner. The faint sound of retreating footsteps made Hal focus closely. Could that have been…? Hal zipped around the corner and sure enough, there disappearing down another alley, a rad shape with yellow flickering behind it. Hal had no clue how they had managed to stop themself from glowing but maybe it was a stealth thing. He’d seen weirder alien biology so he couldn’t judge.
“Hey Bats, I think I see it down this way.” Batman swooped up, a single clawed hand grabbing the edge of the roof so he could hang there staring at Hal. The sight of Batman, hanging single handedly from the roof, cape billowing out in the winds whilst backlit by the off-white glow of Wayne tower was incredibly unsettling. But Hal had a job to do so he shoved those feelings of terror in a box and proceeded to throw it where he kept his childhood trauma and gave chase.
Hal barely heard the bat’s cry of “wait” before he was swooping between buildings. He followed the fading sound of footsteps until he paused, buildings opening up to reveal a river. The water had a strange purple tinge and foamed slightly with each raging movement. Yuck he had to get out of Gotham as soon as possible that water definitely would have given him some sort of disease if not for his Lantern corps uniform.
From the other side Hal caught the fluttering of yellow material disappearing between the buildings, so with a quick prayer to the guardians, rocketed across the toxic waters. Strangely enough he didn't hear Batman following after him. Hal glanced over his shoulder quickly and saw Batman standing near the water’s edge, arms crossed and a slight downturn to his lips. Oh shit he’d pissed off the bat. Either way Hal didn’t have time, he could plan his funeral later. Like a rocket he shot between buildings, the only proof he had been there was the faint green trail of light he left behind. After Hal had searched the area what felt like a hundred times his phone started to ring. Hal floated up above the buildings as he pulled it out, frowning at the unknown number before answering. He didn’t even get to greet the caller before Batman’s tinny voice sounded across the line.
“Lantern we have captured your escapee, I’ve sent coordinates for pickup.”
“We?” Hal didn’t have time for questions though as a text message came through as the call hung up. Exact GPS coordinates. ok… that’s terrifying. Is this really the same guy who could barely use a tablet several months ago? Either way Hal took to the skies as he headed towards the location. Thank god he used maps because it was in a dingy alley hole-in-the-wall bar. The second Hal took a step inside a bright yellow/red/green thing flew at him, snarling and snapping its teeth. He quickly brought up a shield and the snarling kid bounced off, landing on his feet with his teeth still bared. wait a kid?
The child was somewhere between 4 and 5ft tall, all long spindly limbs as he stood half crouched on the worn wooden bar top. Short black hair topped his head and a black mask similar to Hal’s covered his eyes, it was slightly bird shaped in fact. His costume however was…impressive. A neon yellow cape was draped over his shoulders and fell to his knees. A bright red tunic with golden R emblazoned on the chest, and neon green, scaly panties. Hal had to blink a few times to make sure this wasn’t some strange hallucination. Just then the shadows came to life and Batman appeared.
“Ah Green lantern, come we left it over here.” There it was again, ‘we’, was this child associated with the Vampire bat of Gotham? Was this child a young vampireling? Spawn? Pup? whatever the term for baby vampire is. The pup bared its teeth and Hal gave him a wide berth as he followed the bat, mini bat following behind them. Hal followed Batman until they entered what was probably once the kitchen, metal counters covered in rust and broken dishes scattered across every surface. Dark blue blood was splattered against one wall, and further inside, the missing alien was curled up in the corner. Purple eyes widening when he saw the green lantern enter. The alien practically threw himself at Hal, blubbering too fast for the ring to translate as he sobbed. Hal blinked, taken off guard by the alien’s complete 180 in attitude.
“Spooky, what did you and mini-vamp do to the guy?” Batman made one of his non-answer grunts, but the small child tilted his head inquisitively, almost birdlike in fact.
“Mini-vamp? I do not know that word.” His accent was heavy, clearly unused to speaking English with the way he pronounced his words. Hal decided that was very much not his problem and conjured a containment cell for the thankful alien whilst Batman crouched down and started whispering to the child. Probably speaking their weird grunty bat language. Holy shit was this kid Bat’s kid?! Did Batman spawn a sire or something to take over his mantle in the future?!
Hal of course said none of this out loud, instead choosing to finish containing his escapee and turned to throw a grin at the two vigilantes.
“Well thanks for the assist Bats, see you at the next league meeting.” Batman gave one of his signature grunt answers and the child nodded along as if he perfectly understood him. (He probably did) Hal then turned to the child, offering his fist and the kid bumped his own against it. “See ya too creepy kid, make sure to listen to your dad.”
“My dad is dead.” The kid responded with a matter of fact tone. Hal was experiencing so many types of whiplash from this one venture into Gotham he would probably go bald from all the stress at this rate. All he could do was nod and glance at Batman out of the corner of his eye. Bats seemed to be cagey about his status as a half-dead/undead hero. Yet when the man said nothing Hal decided to also pretend he hadn’t heard him.
“Right, uhhm, see you then?” And with that extremely awkward goodbye Hal flew back to Mount Justice to stow the alien until someone could bring him to Oa to answer for his crimes.
Batman and Robin watched as Hal flew off into the sky, a green star shooting off in the direction of the League base. Bruce let out a sigh, mentally noting to remind Hal that he glows VERY brightly, and could lead anyone back to their base like that. Dick stood beside him, unusually still, hands clasped behind his back as he toed at the loose bits and bobs that were scattered across the long abandoned floors.
“I’m sorry.” He muttered, voice soft enough it was almost carried away by the winds that whistled by the opened windows. Bruce gave the boy a smile, knelt down beside him and placed a gentle hand on Dick’s shoulders.
“It’s alright chum, I wasn’t expecting him to spot you and give chase. I’m not mad. If Hal paid more attention he would have noticed the alien never crossed that river. ” Dick sniffled and shook his head. From this close Bruce could see the tears welling up behind his masked eyes.
“That’s not why.” Bruce frowned for just a second before realisation washed over him. Oh, the dad comment. Bruce scooped Dick up into his arms, cocooning him from the world with his thick cape and Kevlar clad arms. The young boy gripped him tightly, holding onto the unforgiving material like it was the only shelter in a flood, keeping him safe.
“It’s ok, I don’t have to be your dad. I can love you as we are now. Come on let’s go home.” Dick nodded into Bruce’s shoulder but held on tighter, refusing to be put down. With a smile on his face Bruce made his way through the alleys back to the Batmobile. Alfred would be pleased they were back early, and maybe he could beg some hot chocolate out of the man for the kid, he needed it.
“BAAARRRYYYYYYYY!” Hal screamed as he barrelled into the startled speedster, knocking the two of them onto the floor. Green and red skidded across the surprisingly smooth surface until they gently bumped into a wall. Barry let out a sigh.
“Yes Hal?”
“Batman has a spawn! Or like, a kid? I don't actually know for sure if it’s 100% his but still! He said his dad was dead so he’s probably Batsy’s kid right? But he’s definitely some kind of vampire, tried to snack on me, and those fangs!” Barry blinked vacantly as his brain sped through the information that had been practically word vomited onto him. The forensic scientist in his brain decided to organise in facts.
Fact - Batman has a kid (?!?)
Fact - Said kid apparently has vampiric traits (trying to eat Hal? Bad choice kid)
Fact - Kid called his dad dead, whilst being seen with Batman, a very much adult man (again, ?!?)
“Holy Shit Batman is a dad, and dead. Your Vampire theory was right.” Hal grinned down at him from where he had moved into a sitting position, happy to crush Barry’s ribs as he gloated. He then leant down, cocky grin growing dangerous and Barry felt alarm bells going off in his head. Whenever Hal had that look it never ended well.
“So about you losing that bet and now owing me a favour. Because as far as I’m aware not crossing running water is a vampire thing.”
“...FUCK!”