The league's guide to your local bloodsucker

by IDKhow_iwrite

Summary:

Batman is so confused, every time he meets with the Justice league they seem to think he's a vampire. And it is a good cover so why not lean into it?
Then he gets kids, who become heroes, and find it hilarious to play along.
He should have just come clean in the beginning...

or

Justice league assume Bruce is a vampire due to rumours and he just rolls with it

Notes:

A huge thanks to Kakurosu for giving me these ideas

Chapter 1: First meeting

Batman watched the battle from the batcave. He’d heard of the Justice league when it had formed. It had worried Bruce, that there were so many people with incredible power he didn't know about. He had spent months following this revelation making plan after plan, device after device, until finally he felt safe enough to meet them for the first time. With his belt full of gadgets and a mind full of contingencies Bruce left in the Batplane to join the fight.

 

Bruce had to admit that individually the Justice league was powerful, each member having their own specialties that meant they covered almost everything they would need to. What they didn’t have was the camaraderie required to work as a team. He was watching the fight from the batplane’s screen as he sped towards Metropolis. Two of the members were missing, Aquaman due to the fight being too inland, and Martian manhunter for unknown reasons. Superman was doing his own thing, flying around and throwing things, leaving a little too much collateral damage for Bruce’s taste. Wonder Woman was showing off her incredible close combat skills, but occasionally she would seem to shout something and grow frustrated when nobody responded. Taking a few hits if she was distracted enough. The Flash was a blur as he took out alien after alien, but with nowhere to put them he settled to pile them in the square. Occasionally Bruce would see one wake up and re-join the fray. Green Lantern was swinging his glowing constructs so wildly he had almost taken out his allies more times than Bruce dared to count. It was clear to him that if this continued the Justice League would become public enemy number 1, threatened for their attempts to help that led to more damage than necessary. And even though he hadn’t met them yet, they made the world a safer place, not even Batman could be everywhere. 

 

The plane descended over Metropolis, landing on a skyscraper far away enough that it shouldn’t be included in the damage radius. The second the vehicle stopped Bruce was out of the driver’s seat. A quick scan showed Wonder Woman too distracted to notice one of the aliens sneaking up behind her. Making a split second decision (and preparing to maybe get punched for startling her) Bruce threw himself down, using his cape to glide silently and land behind her. The loud crunch of steel toed boots breaking alien bones as they fell to the floor alerted the warrior to his appearance. She spun, eyes wide as she noticed the crumpled creature as he lowered himself into a ready stance.

 

“Shit” She cursed, Ancient Greek curses spilling from her lips reflexively.

 

“Language.” Bruce responded on instinct, having been saying just that for the past year now with his ward Dick. He spun around and kicked another alien in the face, not realising Wonder Woman’s slackened jaw at his response. To ancient Greek. IN ANCIENT GREEK. Either way he had helped her twice now, and that seemed like enough for her to trust him with her back. They moved fluidly, making quick work of the remaining aliens that had started to crowd them again. Bruce matched her fighting style, defending when she attacked, and following through where she faltered. He got so into the flow he barely registered the language of the commands she threw until she threw out a hasty “Get down!”

 

Bruce didn’t think, he dropped, feeling the heat from the energy blast barely graze past his shoulder. A red blur quickly took down the alien and finally they were done. The sounds of fighting gone, replaced with their heavy panting as they came down from their adrenaline fuelled brawl. Bruce scanned the surroundings one final time before kneeling to check on the aliens, all alive. As he stood, Wonder woman turned towards him, a sparkle in her eye as she offered him her hand. 

 

“Thank you for your help warrior, what do I call you?” Batman tilted his head slightly, thinking, he was a bit rusty in ancient Greek. He shook her hand though, the gala politeness ingrained into his bones making it almost automatic. Only once his hand was safely under his cape did he reply.

 

“It does not translate well, but I am known as Bat male.” Wonder Woman’s eyebrows furrowed for a moment before she seemed to put together who he was. Her polite smile grew excited. She started to chat at him, words flying by far faster than Bruce was used to. He was able to grasp enough of the words to throw out a few short answers, and judging by how she continued to talk, he was answering well enough. Thankfully an awkward cough interrupted her in the middle of something about Zeus and grandfathers. They both turned and there floated Superman, a tight smile on his face as he floated a few inches off the ground. 

 

“Who’s your new friend Wonder Woman?” The man’s sky blue eyes darted over Bruce so fast most people wouldn’t have noticed. Bruce was not most people. He wasn’t offended though, Bruce was also eying the alien, cataloguing everything he could. The slight twitch of his hands, tightening of his jaw, shift of his centre of balance. The man of steel was nervous, prepared to fight Bruce if needed. Wonder Woman seemed to not notice these things. She pushed Bruce forward a half step with how heavily she thumped his back.

 

“This is Man of bats, he saved me from being ?backed? by the ?space?.” Bruce grimaced slightly at the words he was missing, he would have to brush up when he got back to the batcave later. Wonder Woman continued to inform Superman of Batman’s apparently reminded fighting style until a red blur halted a few feet from them, turning into a slightly frazzled looking Flash. Barry Allen, forensic scientist, central city’s hero.

 

“I love the sound of your voice WW, but could you maybe speak a language we understand?” Bruce felt himself frown slightly behind his mask. The justice league was unable to communicate properly? That could probably explain their complete lack of coordination, but even then, surely they could have started to learn simple commands for situations just like this.

 

“Apologies Flash, I did not realise as we had been talking Themysciran. This is Batman and he assisted me in the fight with incredible efficiency.” Wonder Woman smacked Bruce on the back heartily, making him stumble only slightly. He saw the two heroes before him raise eyebrows in either disbelief or awe. A green light crashed into the ground to his left and Bruce just barely stopped himself from grabbing his batarangs.

 

“No way, Batman is real?! That’s so cool.” Bruce stared at the floating man in green, one of earth’s green lanterns. A quick glance over his features confirmed it was the pilot, Hal Jordan, the newer one compared to their other lantern John Stewart. He must have been staring for too long because the man glided to hide behind The Flash, a slightly fearful expression on his face. “You’re not going to like, suck my blood or anything right? I am the only human here after all.”

 

“Why would I do that?” Bruce spoke to them in English for the first time, voice coming out slightly accented after having spent the past hour conversing in apparently Themysciran, which made sense why some of it felt more like Turkish than Greek. It still had his deep batvoice though thanks to the voice modulator he’d recently installed into the cowl. Green Lantern seemed to hesitate for a  moment before building up the courage to speak, clutching The Flash’s shoulders as he peeked at Bruce from behind him. Hilarious seeing as the man was two whole inches taller than the speedster And he was floating a little.

 

“Well cuz you’re a vampire and you just went through an extremely hard fight… are you not, uh, what are you then? Some immortal? Cuz there’s no other way you can speak the super old god language otherwise.” Bruce made a noise that Dick had started calling his ‘done with this shit™ grunt’ and crossed his arms. 

 

“That is a good question Batman, how do you know the language of my people? As far as I know it is not taught in man’s world.” Even Superman seemed interested, floating slightly closer to the group to listen in, not that he needed to, Bruce knows he has super hearing. 

 

“I simply picked it up here and there whilst I travelled the world. I like to know everything, so I spent a long time learning many languages. Now if this is finished I must be off” Brue gave them a polite nod and spun on his heels to stalk back to where he had parked the batplane. He made it a few blocks before Superman was suddenly flying beside him. 

 

“If you, uhh, are interested, the league could use someone with your skills.” Bruce stopped walking and turned to squint at Superman. Clark Kent, well raised midwestern farm boy and investigative journalist. A surprisingly good one at that, his articles were usually very informative and without bias. (Unless Lex Luthor was involved, then the proverbial gloves were off and the man would pick out every single flaw he physically could.) “You don’t have to answer right away, if you need time to think about it or anything we ca-”

 

“Alright.” Superman halted in his polite backtracking to stare at Bruce slack jawed, not having expected the acceptance so soon. But honestly this was a great idea. He could observe these heroes from up close, see if they really just wanted to help, and probably teach them how to fight in a team whilst he was at it. Superman’s mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally managed to squeak out a weak “oh cool…” 

 

The two stared at each other for a few heavily awkward minutes. When it seemed like Superman really wasn’t going to say anything more Bruce sighed.

 

“Well? Contact information, or maybe a date for me to meet one of you and get formally introduced to everyone? Anything for me to work with besides a vague word of mouth promise?” Superman’s eyes somehow widened even further and he dug around in his pocket for a moment before pulling out a phone. His civilian one Bruce noted with slight disgust. His location tracking must look interesting. After a moment of scrolling the man made an ‘ahha’ noise and turned back to Bruce.

 

“We have our next group meeting on the last Saturday of this month, so in two weeks. Does that work for you?” Bruce cocked his head slightly and thought that far ahead, it was enough notice that he could move anything around, he hadn’t planned any large Galas so all he had to worry about was an Arkham breakout. 

 

“Very well I shall meet you at the Justice league Headquarters at noon.” He then turned and walked off again. Ignoring Superman’s stuttered protests of “How he knew when the meeting was usually held.” He smirked to himself as the man seemed to buffer for a second before realising he hadn’t given Bruce the location either.

 

---

Diana turned to the two men who had stayed behind, watching the way Hal finally relaxed now that Batman had disappeared from sight. Superman had predictably gone after him to extend an invitation to the League after Diana filled him in on his skills with protecting her blind spot so seamlessly despite them never having met. To her knowledge at least. 

 

He was dressed strange, cloth all black and seeming to absorb any light that fell onto it. From what little she had seen of the armour under the cape, it was also the same colour. His gloves were tipped in claws though she wasn’t sure if that was aesthetic of an actual part of him. The horns on his helmet had seemed impractical to her, but once she had seen his head twitch at the slightest sound, they must have been some sort of ears. Probably something similar to a bat’s sonar, hence the name. He had also seemed to pull a seemingly infinite number of weapons from under his cape. A true warrior as he always seemed prepared for whatever the aliens had thrown their way. 

 

“So uhh, you notice how he didn’t deny the vampire rumours?” Hal’s voice broke through her musings and she turned to frown at her co-worker. Barry chewed his lip thoughtfully and looked at the man no longer cowering behind him.

 

“Well yeah, but he didn’t confirm it either so maybe he isn’t. Also the sun is out?” As if to prove his point the cloud cover broke and harsh sunlight reflected off the shattered windows surrounding them. Diana did not know much about Vampires so she felt she couldn’t comment on this point.

 

“Yeah but he had the full body cloak right? That was probably protecting him. Also how else can you explain knowing a language from an island locked away from people for millennia besides an immortal vampire with too much time on his hands?” It was Flash’s turn to frown as he stared down the street Batman and Superman had gone. He was a man of science, and mystical creatures like vampires? They couldn’t be real. Biologically though it could be possible for vampires to be real, if he could calculate the amount of nutrients in blood then… No, he was going off track now. 

 

“All I’m saying is, one instance isn’t proof enough. I say wait until he comes to an official meeting and denies it himself.” Hal spluttered before pointing a finger at Flash accusingly.

 

“You! What if he doesn’t deny it huh? Then what?” Flash turned to stare Hal dead in his mask and a wide grin broke across his face.

 

“Then I will owe you one favour, no take backs, no matter what.”

 

“Oh you are so on!”

 

Diana smiled at the two men’s camaraderie as she saw Superman fly back with a slightly sheepish look on his face. The addition of this Batman seemed like it would bring much livelihood to the Justice league. She couldn’t wait.

Chapter 2: What’s a few generations before Boomer?

Summary:

Batman meets the whole league, it goes… well?

Notes:

I couldn’t stop laughing writing this so it was delayed

My beta reader has not been able to final check this so anything spelt/written wrong is my bad but honestly I hate the english language
Please do tell me though so I can fix it

Clark and Diana arrived early, both eager to welcome their (hopefully) newest member and give him a tour of the facilities. It wasn’t until the clock struck quarter to 12 and there was still no sign of him that they thought he may have had to skip. Clark couldn’t deny the slight sadness that he hadn’t even gotten a ‘sorry won't make it’ message. (Never mind that he never gave Batman his phone number) The two made their way to the meeting room only to startle at the inky black shape hunched up in one of the chairs. The chair they had specifically set out for Batman of all places, between Superman and Flash. Neither of them were sure if it was coincidence or he sat there on purpose, either way they were happy he had shown. Neither thought to question how he had managed to get inside the building without alerting them.

 

The rest of the heroes slowly started to filter into the room. None of them seemed to notice the living shadow as they entered and made their way to their unofficial seats. It wasn’t until Barry arrived a few minutes late as usual, that he was noticed. Barry sat in his chair and turned, probably to say something to Clark, only to jump out of his chair with a high pitched screech. Arthur and Hal spun around, weapons drawn and ready, until they noticed just who was seated there. The light above Batman flickered before it lit again, slightly dimmer than the rest. His shadow lengthened and cast across the table slightly. Even J’onn seemed surprised at his presence.

 

“Thank you all for being here. I’ve invited Batman as a temporary member that we hope to eventually integrate into full leaguer status.” Clark stood and addressed the room, gesturing towards Batman as he did. Batman gave a slight nod towards the heroes seated around the table and nothing more. White lenses narrowed slightly as his head turned to face all the heroes one by one, examining them like bugs under a microscope. J’onn’s eyes narrowed slightly before Batman’s head spun around to glare at him. 

 

“It is rude to pry into someone’s thoughts without permission.” Batman’s voice sounded like he gargled glass for breakfast, adding to the inhuman air that seemed to settle around him. The temperature in the room seemed to be lowering with every second he held the Martian's stare until the man was able to stutter out a quick apology. Batman nodded and that was that.

 

“Uh right, well, here's today's meeting topics.” Clark handed Batman a cheap second hand tablet, already on and covered in scuff marks. It wasn't the best but it worked. They didn't really have the budget for high class stuff so they had to make do. Batman took the tablet and placed it on the table in front of himself, everyone caught a glimpse of the dark clawed hand and shuddered. Clark plastered on a bright Midwestern smile and turned back to the projected copy of his own tablet on the wall behind him and started to go over the information. 

 

As the meeting went on Barry noticed Batman's struggle to swipe along when Clark finished talking about each slide. He seemed to falter, staring at the page with a frown for a while longer, before reaching back out and tapping the device a few times. The speedster watched in confusion as the man poked the screen again, his frown deepening before he tried to swipe. Barry pitied the poor man and reached over to silently swipe for him. 

 

Batman turned to stare at him with those blank lenses, and for a second Barry feared for his life, all the ways this man would gut him and feast on his innards ran through his mind (damn it Hal and your stupid vampire comments) but the bat simply nodded his thanks and turned back at the tablet. Following along with whatever Clark was saying. Barry however noticed that Batman still struggled with the device, tapping at the screen a few times with an angry huff before wordlessly sliding it slightly closer to Barry who then swiped for him. After that the two seemed to find a flow. Every time Clark finished and swiped to the next slide Barry would silently reach over and do the same for Batman. Hal seemed to notice if the pointed glances he kept giving Barry meant anything, but didn't say anything whilst Clark was still talking. At one point Batman held the tablet up at arm's length, tilted slightly, and glared at it. At this point everyone noticed and Clark halted mid sentence.

 

“uhh, Batman? If you need help with the technology I’m sure Flash can assist.” Diana was looking at him with a concerned furrow in her brow. Batman pulled the tablet so his nose was practically pressed to the screen before huffing in irritation. 

 

“It’s fine I get it now. I just needed a closer look.”

 

“oh you can zoom in on the tablet to make it bigger if you need.” Barry helpfully reached over and pinched the screen, zooming it in on the diagram everyone had left behind a good 10 minutes ago. Batman’s squinted frown somehow became even frownier as he stared at the screen for a few seconds. 

 

“That’s stupid.” He muttered but copied the motion himself after he flicked to the next slide on his screen. He had to repeat the motion a few times but eventually it did in fact zoom. He glared at the screen as he read the data before trying to tap the screen, letting out a frustrated huff when it didn’t do what he wanted.

 

“If your claws are getting in the way I can help. I’ve already read through everything.” Barry slid his chair slightly closer, ignoring the fear that had his hair stand on end at being so close to the possible cryptid. Batman glared at him only a moment before acquiescing the device and watching as Barry flipped through the slides on his command. Soon enough they were able to catch up with the presentation and Clark continued.

 

The rest of the meeting was uneventful besides the constant jolt of terror Barry seemed to get every time Batman's clawed hands reached towards the tablet, and by proxy his wrists, to point out something he wanted a closer look at. Soon enough the meeting was over, but the heroes didn't filter out like they usually would. They were curious about their new possible coworker, especially after that strange display with the tablet. Batman seemed oblivious to this, looking back over the first half of the presentation now that he could zoom into the graphs. It was Arthur that broke the silence.

 

“So Batman, wouldn’t it be easier to read that without the cowl covering your eyes?” The question seemed reasonable, in fact Barry himself had been thinking it over the last 15 minutes but about the claws. Why not retract them? Unless he couldn’t. Batman stopped his scrolling to slowly look up at the Atlantean, the light above him flickered out a few times before returning to its previous dim state. Before the bat could speak however Hal butted in, literally, jabbing Arthur in the ribs with his elbow.

 

“Cmon man don’t ask him that, super insensitive.” Arthur grumbled as he held his ribs but didn’t say anything else. Batman turned to look at Hal and somehow was able to exude pure judgement from behind the unmoving mask. The lantern cowered slightly in his chair and refused to look at the bat. Batman seemed to want to say something when he froze, tilting his head slightly before he stood up.

 

“I am needed in Gotham.” And just like that he left. Inaudible footsteps as he disappeared into the shadowed hallway, not even switching on the lights. Everyone waited a few minutes, for some indication the man was gone, but there was just silence. Eventually Hal spoke up, hissing through his teeth at Arthur.

 

“Dude you can’t just ask a vampire to take off their only covering from the sun! There are windows in here, are you trying to kill him!” Arthur furrowed his brows and tilted his head in clear confusion.

 

“Is the bat a vampire? Theme wise it makes sense but he didn’t really stick around long enough for introductions.” 

 

“Well what other explanation would you have for not understanding modern technology.” Hal gestured to the abandoned tablet on the table, zoomed in obnoxiously close to a graph on… something Hal didn’t actually care about. Barry glanced over and shrugged one of his shoulders.

 

“Or he could be alien, or some other race that stays hidden from modern science like the Atlantean’s and Themescerans.”

 

“LIKE VAMPIRES!” Hal slammed his hands on the table, making the cheap wood rattle dangerously. From the head of the table, Clark sighed and turned off the projector.

 

“Hal, we shouldn’t assume things no matter what your ‘evidence’ says. How about we ask next time we see him?” Hal grumbled and sat back in his chair, arms crossed and pouting like a petulant child.

 

“Yeah and when’s that? we can’t contact him, he just shows up and someone will magically be here to talk to him?” 

 

“We’ll figure something out.” Diana said in her ‘no nonsense’ voice. One that said this argument is stupid and now over. And if Wonder Woman said so then it must be. Hal rolled his eyes but wisely gave up arguing the matter.

 

---

 

“It was awful Alfred! Their wiring was shoddy so the lights kept flickering, the equipment looked like someone dragged it right out of a dumpster AND their tablets were ancient! Ancient I say?!”

 

“Is that so?” Alfred mused along to his ward’s complaints as he gently rotated the man’s head, checking the large bruise on the back of his head he’d received not too long before he had to go to the meeting. Bruce huffed but kept on his spiel.

 

“The Air conditioning unit couldn’t detect the temperature so it just kept dropping until the room was practically icy, and the hallway didn’t have motion sensor lights! They had switched Alfred, Switches!”

 

“Appalling.” Said the man in mock sympathy as he shone the pen light in Bruce’s eyes. He frowned and pocketed the device. “Well I do believe you are moderately concussed Master Bruce, it would explain your difficulty reading the information on your tablet.”

 

“At least that’s one thing they have that works, even if it’s so outdated it’s touch function barely worked and it didn’t work on tap to zoom.” 

 

“Quite Master Bruce, though the Justice league doesn’t have a backer, so I assume funding for them is probably scarce and needs to be used carefully.” Bruce chewed his lip as he thought for a moment, taking the pills and swallowing them without question when Alfred handed them to him. He opened his mouth to speak but hesitated a few seconds, closing it again before he finally managed to force the words out.

 

“What if I funded the Justice league? It would give me a chance to observe them up close and perfect my contingency plans.” Alfred rolled his eyes and helped Bruce by unlatching the large cape so he could remove the armour himself.

 

“Jolly good sir, do however give me advance notice if your friends will be visiting.”

 

“They’re not my friends Alfred!”

 

“If you say so sir.” Nobody does the judgemental eyebrow raise like the British.

 

Chapter 3: The Justice League is a bisexual disaster, signed Batman

Summary:

Batman walks into Mount Justice just as they’re interrogating someone. They’re bad so he employs a few Gortham methods to get the information they need…

Why do they think he’s still a vampire? Oh well this could be useful why not

Notes:

I decided to torture Hal because it’s funny. Let me know in the comments if I should eventually have Bruce romance someone or keep it as all just friends

Barry glared through the one way glass into the brand new interrogation room, something that had recently been installed courtesy of Batman getting Bruce Wayne to invest in the Justice League. Barry had no clue how but he wasn’t planning on questioning it. Most people in Gotham whispered rumors of the Wayne head funding/working with/fucking the mysterious Bat demon. Barry didn’t believe in rumors but with such clear funding it was hard to deny the connection. Everyone had been excited, thinking this meant Batman would join the league, but the cryptid had said he was still thinking about it but willing to work alongside them for now. They had even gotten a phone number from him, hilarious. 

 

The suspect in the room sat back in his chair lazily, smirking despite the thick metal cuffs. His lip was split and chin smeared in blood from where he had fought earlier, but once he had realised he was being arrested by heroes he had given himself up easily. Too easily. Barry's entire body was buzzing with suspicious energy as he watched the man's relaxed stance, as if he wasn't sat in an interrogation room with the lasso of truth wrapped around one hand and being stared down by Wonder Woman.

 

“Let's try this again shall we, why were you at the docks when we apprehended you?” Diana held the other end of her lasso tightly, knuckles white as she held herself back from further action against their suspect. Barry could sympathise, she had come from an island where they were taught the art of war, not interrogation. 

 

“Cuz I was supposed to be.” The man shrugged his shoulders lazily, grinning up at the window as if he knew someone else was there. The lasso lay dormant in both their hands. Truth. 

 

“And why were you supposed to be there?” Diana was tapping a finger against the table impatiently, eyes narrowing as she gave a glare that the man ignored like he wasn’t being borderline threatened by a demigod.

 

“Because I was told to be there.” The man shrugged again and somehow smirked wider, clearly enjoying toying with the hero’s patience. Barry was about 2 seconds from going in there and just hitting the guy when the door opened and closed behind him. But no footsteps were heard. Turning slightly Barry couldn’t help the slight jolt when he realised Batman was standing right there behind him all of a sudden, the white lenses were creased slightly in what looked like a scowl. Had he updated his cowl to be more expressive? 

 

“Her interrogation skills could use some work.” Barry hummed an agreement and stared back at the two in the little room. The man was grinning, eyes shining with mirth at his smart use of wordplay. Diana’s free hand had gripped the table so hard there was a slight dent in the metal. “I’m going in.” 

 

Before Barry could say anything Batman swept out the room and reappeared in the interrogation room. Both people in there were startled at his sudden appearance but Diana quickly managed to pull back a smile. Batman leant down and whispered something to her. The man seemed slightly nervous but managed to hold his facade of calm control well, until Batman sat himself in his lap. Three pairs of eyes widened and stared at the dark knight who sat in the man’s lap like it was the most comfortable place in the world. Then it got scarier.

 

Batman smiled sweetly and wound one of his arms around the man’s neck, fingertips gently caressing the skin between his neck and shoulder. The other was placed on the man’s chest. He then leant in and started to whisper something in his ear. Barry and Diana watched as the man’s careful confusion shattered into sudden dread, before falling into a pale but blank expression. The entire time Batman kept up his ministrations, hand gliding up and down his neck, only stopping briefly around halfway up before continuing. Finally the vigilante stood up and then moved behind the man, placing both gauntleted hands on his shoulders.

 

“You are going to tell us everything you know.” 

 

“Ok….” The man’s eyes were glazed over, hands white knuckling his own restraints as he rattled off information so fast Barry felt his head spin. The entire time Batman loomed behind the man like a shadow, tapping his neck gently if he seemed to be slowing down or faltering, only once the man shook his head and practically cried that he knew nothing more did Batman step away. Like a puppet without strings the man sagged in his seat and fell forward onto the table. 

 

“Damn, that’s vampire seduction if I've ever seen it.” Barry shot a foot in the air as Hal’s voice materialised from his left. The green lantern was hovering in place, bag of popcorn in hand as he watched Diana. The demigod was trying to untie the rope from the now completely cooperative man’s wrist as he trembled slightly.

 

“I don’t know, didn’t really look like seduction, more mental domination.” Hal shrugged, taking a handful of popcorn before holding it out for Barry. Barry took a handful himself just as Diana walked into the room. She placed the recording device down and turned to the side.

 

“Mental manipulation is not condoned in Man’s world for this kind of thing last I checked.” Barry and Hal glanced at each other in confusion before they both flinched as Batman seemed to magically appear where Diana had been glaring. 

 

“I did not manipulate him.” Diana frowned further before she held out her lasso. Batman seemed to sigh slightly but held out his arm. He rolled down his glove slightly, revealing far too pale skin, and allowed her to drape it across him. “I solemnly swear I did not mentally manipulate him…” He glanced over at the two men. “Nor did I use any seduction ability on him. You would know if I did, it is not subtle.” Hal gulped audibly and hovered away from the bat slightly. The lasso did nothing, no glow or movement, all of that was somehow the truth.

 

“You couldn’t seduce me if you wanted to, you’re too creepy and broody and frowny.” Batman seemed to raise a brow (He’d definitely made this new mask more expressive) before he gently slipped the golden rope off his wrist. Then in what seemed like a second, his entire demeanor changed. Squared shoulders seemed to slouch into something softer, his rigid stance becoming fluid like water. Batman stalked towards Hal, hips swaying slightly as every step he took made the audible sound of clicking high heels, despite the man’s usually silence. 

 

“Lantern~.” Batman practically purred in that baritone of his, but instead of gargled glass it sounded like honey, deep and rich. Barry watched the way Hal stiffened as Batman came to a stop mere inches from him. His right hand came to rest on Hal’s shoulder whilst his left reached out and ran through Hal’s hair, the sharp nails making the man shiver slightly. His tan skin was already sporting a bright red tint that only darkened as Batman seemed to grip his hair and pull his head back slightly. 

 

“I don’t need a seduction ability to get you all hot and bothered Hal.” Batman whispered into the lantern’s ear, making him shudder. Hal’s hands clenched and unclenched where they hung loosely by his sides. Then like a switch, Batman was back. He stepped away and he was all sharp edges and no nonsense once more. “I’ll work out a training regime to help you avoid seduction in the future. All of you.” He turned and glanced between Barry and Diana as he said that last part. Probably noting Diana’s slightly flushed expression and Barry’s sudden need to be sitting and slightly hunched over. With not even a final word, he left, Disappearing from the room as silent as he always did. A few minutes later when everyone had been able to take a few calming breaths Hal let out a high pitched screech.

 

“How does Batman know my name?!”

 

---

 

Bruce walked into mount justice and frowned, there was nobody around. He had only come here to check the league’s security and already he was disappointed. Had he not given them enough funding? Maybe a visit as Bruce Wayne was warranted to make sure he could double check where his money was going. He didn’t want to join the league just yet, and even if he did there was no guarantee they would let him handle their accounting.

 

Checking his wrist computer he soon found that Flash and Wonder woman were in the new interrogation room that had been installed. He may as well use this chance to watch how they handled information gathering. He also noted Green lantern was in the cafeteria but that didn’t seem important and quickly dismissed the information. Walking into the onlooking room he noticed Diana’s irritation first. Jaw tensed as she tried to get the man to answer her questions. It was kind of cute actually, compared to Gotham criminals this looked easy. Bruce then eyed the gold rope warily. The lasso of truth. He didn’t know much about the mystical object besides when holding it you could only speak the truth. 

 

“Her interrogation skills could use some work.” He was mostly muttering to himself, a habit he’d picked up thanks to Dick’s want to know everything Bruce figured out. It saved him hours of re-explaining his thought process. Barry gave a half assed humm of acknowledgement as his hand twitched before curling into a fist. Not good, Bruce would have to intervene before this became physical and the government labeled the Justice league as violent. “I’m going in.”

 

Not bothering to check if Barry had heard him, Bruce exited the room before walking into the interrogation room. Despite the bright white walls and extreme lights it took both people a few seconds to notice him. 

 

“I have a way to get information, just sit back and keep an eye on the lasso for any lies.” Diana gave him a nod and Bruce made his way round to the suspect. He couldn’t turn them around as they were cuffed to the desk so he did the next best thing to be able to watch his facial expressions, he sat in his lap. Diana made a choked off noise of surprise but Bruce ignored her. He placed a hand on the man’s chest, feeling his heart jump, he didn’t trust the rope so this would be the next best way to check for lies. His other hand went to the suspect’s neck, the sharp points of his gloves gently scratching along his jugular vein.

 

“Did you know, with a gentle press of my fingers I could have you bleeding out and dead before anyone else could even realise?” Bruce gave the man a sweet smile, a gala smile, all teeth and no sincerity. “It would only take you a minute to experience heavy blood loss symptoms, only one more for you to be considered in critical condition. I don’t know about you but I think I can hold them off for a minute. But honestly, would they care enough to help you, you haven't bothered to help them? So why not be helpful alright?” Bruce halted the hand sliding up the man’s neck to gently press the pointed end into the tender flesh, feeling the skin stretch but not split before he slowly stood up and none too gently placed his hands on his shoulders.

 

“You are going to tell us everything you know.” 

 

“Ok…” The man shuddered as he started to rattle off locations, dates, names and objects. Bruce couldn’t help the slight victory smirk at how easy this had been, he hadn’t even needed to act on his threats, criminals outside of Gotham were so sheltered. The man’s words started to fade so Bruce gently tapped his neck, letting him feel the sharp metal claw, feeling satisfied as he started back up with more information. After a few times the man sobbed that he knew nothing more. When the rope confirmed it as truth Bruce let go and took a step back, watching the man press his forehead into the cold metal to probably cry, might want to check if he’d pissed himself… Not Bruce’s problem. He quickly exited and returned to the observation room only to catch Hal and Barry talking.

 

Damn, that’s vampire seduction if I've ever seen it.” Barry jumped, startled by Hal who had seemingly been there for a while now. Bruce felt himself frown as he slinked further into the room. A seduction ability? really? He knew the all leather looking suit made people have certain… assumptions… but he rarely used seduction to get what he wanted as Batman. That was saved for when the leather was replaced for overpriced fabrics in rooms where the rich brushed elbows and flaunted their brand new one of a kind jewellery. Also, Vampire? He thought they had given that up after their first proper meeting last week when he had arrived, at midday, in one of the sunniest cities this side of the country. Well if anything it helped further separate Bruce Wayne and Batman, maybe he could lean into this a bit more? Plus it would give him and his ward something to bond over. Bullying the justice league seemed healthy so long as they learnt from the adult heroes' mistakes. 

 

“I don’t know, didn’t really look like seduction, more mental domination.” Bruce felt himself nodding along with Barry. Yes exactly, in what world was threatening someone seduction? (Well… Let’s not go down that route.) He was glad someone in this group of heroes had a few brain cells. Just then Diana walked in, she clearly noticed him standing in the corner and placed the recording device down before turning to frown at him.

 

“Mental manipulation is not condoned in Man’s world for this kind of thing last I checked.” Bruce stepped slightly into the light, both men seemed to flinch at his appearance. Bruce made a mental note to add observation training to the list of things he had to suggest to Superman the apparent leader. He tilted his head slightly at Diana. Would you consider threatening someone manipulation? No this was regular interrogation practice in Gotham.

 

“I did not manipulate him.” Diana frowned deeper and held the lasso out towards him. Not a demand but a request, it made Bruce sigh all the same. This would go a lot easier if they just trusted him. Rolling his left glove down just enough to reveal skin he let her simply place the rope on his skin. He heard someone gasp when they watched this, what was this Victorian england, it’s a goddamn wrist. He tried to say he didn’t manipulate the man but he found himself unable to speak. Huh, threatening someone’s life was a form of manipulation, who knew.

 

“I solemnly swear I did not mentally manipulate him.” This time his voice came out clear, guess it was considered physical manipulation. Emotional? whatever. He then remembered what Hal had said earlier and glanced towards where the two men were snacking on popcorn like this was some sort of strange comedy. “Nor did I use any seduction ability on him. You would know if I did, it is not subtle.” He did not mean to add that last part. Guess he could add ‘makes you slip easier’ to his file on the lasso. The green lantern seemed unnerved and hovered so he was half hidden behind Barry.

 

“You couldn’t seduce me if you wanted to, you’re too creepy and broody and frowny.” Oh, that sounded like a challenge, and Bruce hated being challenged. (Dick had taken great pleasure in challenging Bruce to silly little contests which were fine, but this? This was a grown man and Bruce would CRUSH him.) He threw Hal a questioning look as he gently handed the rope back to Diana. Taking a breath he allowed the mask to wash over him. Not quite playboy Bruce Wayne but something similar. The modulator kept his voice deep as he took a few catwalk-esque steps towards the now slightly panicked looking hero.

 

“Lantern~” He watched Barry jolt before quickly shimmying out of the way. Hal seemed to freeze in place. Bruce would think he was a statue if not for the very faint movement of his chest as he breathed, hands twitching before the empty popcorn bucket fell to the floor. Even that seemed to stop when Bruce stopped mere inches from Hal’s face. He gently placed his right hand on Hal’s bicep, squeezing slightly and hearing the man gulp audiably. Bruce’s other hand dragged through the lantern’s hair, sharp claws drawing a shudder as his head was pulled back slowly, exposing the long line of his neck. It was almost sad how easily Hal allowed himself to be moved. Putty in Bruce’s grasp. 

 

“I don’t need a seduction ability to get you all hot and bothered Hal.” He whispered in the man’s ear, satisfied at the dark red that covered his face and dipped down his neck, disappearing beneath his flight suit like costume. He waited a beat longer to see what Hal would do. When all that happened was his jaw flapping like a fish Bruce let go, stepping away so the man could breathe and re-centre himself. He was disappoint how the other heroes in the room also seemed a little flushed just from being on the sideline of this little show. From what he could see Barry would have passed out if Bruce had targeted him instead.

 

“I’ll work out a training regime to help you avoid seduction in the future. All of you.” Bruce gave a pointed look at the other two before turning and leaving, his cape snapping behind him with a loud crack at his sudden movement. As he was halfway to the door, wrist computer pulled up with a list of things to do, Bruce heard Hal screech from where he had left him. He noted down that Hal would need extra lessons if it took him a whole minute to recover from such a basic honey pot act.

Chapter 4: Identities and a bird's shenanigans

Notes:

Short chapter because I had doctor over past few weeks.
Beta reader said I was hit by 'Ao3 curse' and is a good reason for not posting
Currently writing next chapter and should post this week some time

After Hal had sufficiently freaked out about Batman knowing who he was to Barry, then Diana, then Clark, they soon discovered that the Bat actually knew all of their identities. The following weeks of observing him made it obvious. How Batman commented on a museum in Washington Diana frequented, praising their newest display. Or how he seemed to always ask Barry about anything crime related. Or even how he once made a request of Clark to please ‘rein in Lois whilst she's in Gotham.’ Clark himself hadn't even known she was in Gotham.

 

After those revelations everyone stopped bothering to hide themselves from Batman. Not once did they ask if he had a civilian identity, after all, what Vampire could keep one when they couldn't go out in the light. Gotham might be perpetually gloomy but it still had occasional sunlight. Clark had been very curious, and maybe it was that journalist in him peeking out, but he was soon hounding the Bat for more information. That led to their current situation. 

 

Batman was knelt on the ground, gloved hands elbow deep in a computer system that Clark couldn't even begin to understand. Clark was leant on the wall nearby just watching him work. Fascinated at how those clunky looking gloves didn't seem to be getting in the way. The pointed ends of his claws being used with such precision it looked like second nature.

 

“Come on please Batman?” Clark knew he was begging now, but he hoped it would eventually have the man break and reveal what he wanted. “Please? Just tell me how you knew? I won't tell a soul, cross my heart.” Batman slowly took a half shuffled step back before turning to stare at Clark with his dead eyed lenses. Clark refused to back down, holding the man's gaze with what he hoped was a pitiful pout until finally, finally, he won.

 

Batman's shoulders sagged slightly and he sat back so he was more seated on his feet than his legs. Clark waited, a wide grin on his face. If Batman needed a while to figure out the words Clark was happy to wait, seeing as the guy apparently had to filter through Rao knows how many languages he knew, either way Clark got his information. 

 

“You all are very bad at hiding it.” When a few minutes of silence followed Clark raised an eyebrow, clearly asking for more. He watched a muscle in Batman's jaw twitching as he clenched his teeth before he spoke again. “Hal always complains about Ferris air and Carol, Barry once came in with his ID badge pinned to his suit, Diana never bothered to hide it along with Arthur and J’onn told me in person.”

 

Clark nodded at each reveal Batman gave until he stopped talking once again. “And me?”

 

Batman's jaw clenched again and Clark felt a little sympathetic for his teeth, they must be almost ground to nothing with how often he does that.

 

“I deduced it.” Now both of Clark's eyebrows were threatening to fly off his forehead. He blinked a few times as he stared at Batman. This time he didn't offer anything else.

 

“Deduced it?” Batman's lip twitched down slightly before returning to its neutral line. 

 

“Yes, yours was the… hardest to figure out, not including J’onn but he never hid it from me.” Clark felt a little flare of pride at having been the best at hiding his identity. (He refused to acknowledge that those examples were just because the others were comfortable around each other.) 

 

“I see, how did you do that?” Clark couldn't help it, this sounded like investigative journalism and he loved a good story. Knowing how Batman did his deep dives into information would definitely be fascinating to hear. Surprisingly the man's shoulders tensed and hiked up a half centimetre. His hand gripped his screwdriver tighter.

 

“I'm a detective, I deduce things. I learn everything and anything that may help me in the future.” He then turned back to the gutted server, sticking his screwdriver somewhere Clark wasn't angled to see, clearly having used up his daily allotted socialisation ability. In a way that explanation made sense. If Batman was a vampire (and really he still hadn't denied it) then it made sense as an immortal creature with many weaknesses to always be on the lookout. And over the years, when he had nothing to do, look up things he might consider interesting or useful.

 

Clark nodded, brushing off this small shred of information as a little fun fact. It wouldn't be until later he would realise just how random and informative Batman's knowledge could get.

 

---

 

 

Bruce grimaced as he heard Clark leave the room, his death grip on the screwdriver loosening along with his tense posture. It was too embarrassing. No way would he tell Clark Kent, star reporter of the Metropolitan times, that the only reason he found out he was Superman was because of Dick trying to pull a prank on Bruce.

 

Bruce had woken up late, wandering into the dining area like a zombie. Humming his usual greeting to Dick and Alfred as he cradled his coffee cup like a lifeline. It wasn't until he was halfway through it that he noticed Dick was acting strange. Glancing down at Bruce's usual Gotham Gazette before quickly looking away and snickering. He looked over at Alfred, who held a fond little smile on his face. Ah, teenage rebellion was it?

 

Placing his cup down Bruce reached for his newspaper, barely hiding his own smile as Dick attempted to muffle his giggles. Whatever prank he was about to be hit with would be worth it if it cheered up his ward. Holding his breath in case of glitter or confetti Bruce opened his paper with a little extra flourish, frowning when his usual greyscale of information was coloured.

 

“Chum.” Dick snickered but quickly pulled on a confused face.

 

“Yes Bruce?” His lip was still half curled into a grin and his eyes slightly damp with unshed tears from how hard he was trying not to laugh.

 

“Did you replace my Gotham Gazette with a Metropolis paper?” Bruce put on an exaggerated face of disgust, holding the paper out between thumb and forefinger like it would infect him with that cursed Metropolitan cheer. Dick couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter, the sound making Bruce's own façade crack as he soon found himself grinning back. He left his ward to his laughing fit as he eyed the paper with distrust, placing it on the table. Until his eye caught something.

 

On the front page was an article about Superman, and Dick had clearly doodled all over it in black marker. Stink lines coming off his cape (or were they speed lines?) along with plenty of floating hearts and stars. Superman's bright smile had been vandalised with a pair of circular glasses and a long handlebar moustache. Bruce blinked. He recognised that face.

 

Pulling out his phone he quickly pulled up the Daily planet's reporter list and gaped, eyes darting between Superman's visage and one Clark Kent. They were the same. Holy shit. Dick had figured out Superman's identity through a prank.

Chapter 5: Running water cleanses them of sin

Summary:

Hal is an idiot in Gotham, introducing Robin!

Notes:

*writing crack fic*
*spills some angst in there*
oops... oh well

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!”

Chapter 6: Fuck Batman! yeah! wait what?!

Summary:

Bruce + sleep deprivation + fear toxin = chaos

The league is shook

A few of the league members were having a casual get together to celebrate the new members that had joined. Whilst many were still sad that Batman had refused their invite once again, they were happy he was still helping them at least. He had even said he was thinking of joining soon! So in the lounge sat Clark, Diana, Hal, Barry and their two new members. Black canary and Green arrow, Dinah and Ollie. Ollie had tried multiple times throughout the afternoon to flirt, until finally she had said to his face she wasn’t interested in dating her coworkers. He had then migrated to join Barry and Hal on one of the couches, the three of them getting along like a house on fire. Ollie had been pretty quick to reveal his identity to them so they felt no need to hide their own. 

 

The topic eventually switched to what the leaguers each thought of each other. All shouting about their first impressions and how they thought they each presented themselves. 

 

“I used to think big blue here was the epitome of the perfect saviour. You never got mad or anything. Being in the league with you was… humanizing” Clark gave Hal a slight smile. He still felt alienated most days, praised as the perfect saviour whilst yelled at for being an alien on a human world. So for someone he was starting to consider a friend calling him human? He was tearing up a little.

 

“When I first met you I thought you were cocky and abrasive.” Hal nodded at Barry, waiting for him to continue. The speedster instead took an extended sip of the fizzy drink in his hand. After a few seconds it clicked for the pilot. 

 

“Now hold on a second!” The two of them descended into petty squabbling as Ollie called out bets on who he thought might win. He changed his mind every three seconds so either way he would probably lose. As the trio descended into chaos the door opened and in glided the league's resident cryptid.

 

“Batman! Come join us for team bonding with our newest members.” Batman turned to stare blankly at Clark for a moment before huffing and approaching, seating himself as far away from the now brawling trio as he could. Dinah eyed Batman for a moment before leaning over to Diana.

 

“I wasn't aware Batman was part of the Justice league.” Diana glanced over at Batman, the man being assaulted by Clark's cheerful greetings and nonsense Midwestern pleasantries. He seemed to have gone completely still, statuesque even, like a corpse. She turned back to Dinah, satisfied that he wouldn't overhear them despite being barely 5ft away. 

 

“Batman is not an official member of the league. He did however secure a steady source of funding and agreed he will join at a later date.” Dinah nodded, both women turning to watch Batman's soul slowly leave his body with each further word Clark spoke. One of them was about to step in and help him when Hal yelled from the couch, face pressed down into the cushions as Barry sat atop him triumphantly. Ollie was strangely missing. Oh never mind his foot was poking out just there, he had been shoved between the couch and the wall.

 

“Hey Batsy, we were talking about first impressions. No thinking, just first thing that comes to mind, opinion on big blue boyscout over there.” Everyone froze, silence so prominent you would hear a pin drop. 

 

Nobody was prepared for what the man said, the single word he spoke that caused panic for many in all kinds of ways. Batman, the dark Knight, living shadows and (possible) vampire. Barely a second passed before Batman was opening his mouth and uttering that single word. Nobody breathed.

 

“Scrumptious.” The word was breathed out, not in the gravelly Bat voice they had all slowly gotten used to, but in a sultry yet rich tone. Sickly sweet like honey and just as addictive.

 

A loud clang was heard as Superman's head collided with the table he sat at. Everyone, Bat included, turned to stare at Clark. Only his ears could be seen from where he had decided to bury his face in the now crumbling metal, and both were a bright flaming red. Batman seemed confused at everyone's sudden silence and stood up with his usual smooth grace.

 

“If that is all I simply came to check some league files for a case.” And he glided out of the room as if he hadn’t just left a mental bomb in his wake. For several blessed seconds there was silence, then the pandemonium started. Hal practically faceplanted as he wriggled his way out from under Barry to try to get closer to Clark, the speedster getting off at the last second to pull Olli out from where he had managed to wedge himself further down between wall and couch.

 

“Oh my god, is he going to eat you? Or maybe he is trying to hint he prefers extraterrestrial blood?” Hal floated his way over to Clark, wide grin on his face despite the slight worry in his tone. Both women at the table raised an eye at each other before turning to stare as well. Clark muttered something into the table that the others couldn’t hear before he raised his face, showing off the incredible red that seemed to cover every inch of visible skin. Thank god Martian Manhunter wasn’t here or he would have been assaulted like a brick to the face with the sudden split second of filth that was travelling through almost everyone’s mind at Batman’s voice. Hal leaned in closed, hand at his ear as he spoke again, tone now syrupy sweet. “Sorry what was that Clark? I didn’t catch that over your obvious teen crush.”

 

Clark’s mouth opened and closed a few times before he glanced over at Diana, wide eyes pleading for her to do something. Diana, the traitor, simply smiled at him and sat back. If the lasso on her hip happened to brush up against the man’s leg as she readjusted her seat that was nobodies business but her own. With a defeated sigh Clark turned a weak glare to Hal.

 

“I said I wouldn't mind Batman getting his teeth on me so long as I get a taste in return.” Hal nearly fell as his concentration wavered at the sudden filthy confession from Superman, big blue boyscout and puppy dog like hero. The man’s eyes widened more than before before he quickly glanced down and noticed Diana’s leg gently pressing the lasso of truth against his leg. Diana glanced down and covered her smile, pretending to be surprised.

 

“Oh I apologise Clark, my mistake.” She quickly moved her leg away so she was no longer pressing their knees together. Olli and Barry’s wheezing laughter could be heard form the other side of the room as the archer was finally able to crawl out from where he had been stuck, doubled over as they tried to breathe through their hysterics. Clark’s blush came back full force.

 

“I uhh, there’s an issue in Romania i think i’ll go help with okthenbye!” And with his rushed excuse Clark flew out of the room so fast the wind whipped the few loose papers onto the floor. Leaving behind the wheezing trio and grinning women.

 

---

 

Bruce was exhausted. A new rogue by the moniker of ‘Scarecrow’ had created a syrum that made people see a threat in everything. Higher doses even led to auditory hallucinations that ranged from haunted screams to sudden noises. Bruce had managed to get clipped by the man’s scythe at the end just as he was bringing him to Arkham, which was apparently coated in this liquid, leading to Bruce hearing senseless whispers. But he could ignore it at this level, those Tibetan Monks had practically beaten mindfulness into him. Mind over body and all that nonsense. But he didn’t even have the luxury of resting after such a grueling few hours as he had a Gala to attend. A Gala he himself had organised so he couldn’t even show up fashionably late as he had to greet guests. 

 

Then came the mental gymnastics of still acting as Brucie Wayne, Gotham billionaire and rich part boy, whilst maintaining enough sense that the city would allow him to keep Dick in his care. It was a very fine line he was toeing that night that was made all the harder by the sound of dripping blood, frantic clawing and pained sobbing behind him every now and then. The new scarecrow toxin not seeming to weaken despite the many hours Bruce spent schmoozing the Gotham upper crust for their money towards his newest charity scheme.

 

Finally he was considered appropriately ‘intoxicated’ and could escape in the early hours of the morning, sunlight starting to stream through the large windows in the ballroom. But there was no rest for Bruce, he had a case and his mind would not stop until he had all the clues. So down to the basement Bruce went, donning his armour and breathing a sigh as he fitted the mask into place. The rigid material hiding the occasional flinch as feminine whispers turned to masculine screams to ‘stop don’t touch them.’ Taking a moment to allow the screams to fade back into the background Bruce hopped into the Batwing, (Yes Bruce, everything is Bat themed so it HAS to be Batwing), and soon he was on the short flight to Mount Justice. Leather creaking as he gripped the controls hard enough to hurt to ignore the sounds that muttered just out of his peripherals.

 

When he arrived and walked into the main room he froze for a split second. The room was filled with a few leaguers as well as the two new members. Shit he forgot that was today. Mental note, scarecrow toxin impaired memory. Bruce continued, praying that he could make it to the main console in the other room without someon-

 

“Batman! Come join us for team bonding with our newest members.” Bruce stopped walking and turned to stare at Clark, his bright smile making his resolve crumble. Oh well Alfred kept calling them his friends he may as well try be… friendly. With a slight huff of amusement Bruce sat beside Clark, eyeing the brawling trio and almost smiling as he watched Hal suplex Olli between the couch and wall head first. The man wiggled a bit to escape but only managed to get himself further stuck. Bruce didn’t even realise he was relaxing until the fear gripped his lungs and froze him in place.

 

Nails clawing on wet brick, the sound of someone choking on their own blood. A gunshot and then the faint clinking of pearls as they scattered, their wearer falling to the floor with a pained wheeze. Batman’s body went rigid and he quickly defaulted to his previous mindset. Channelling all his Brucie Wayne cheer to mentally beat back the phantom feel of fingers gently brushing against his cheek. He was snapped from his mild panic attack by Hal Jordan’s obnoxious voice. 

 

“Hey Batsy, we were talking about first impressions. No thinking, just first thing that comes to mind, opinion on big blue boyscout over there.” Now Bruce was a smart man, but after nearly 3 days of no sleep and the weighing mental exhaustion of his trauma dragging his mind further and further into a dangerous mindset, as well as having just spent the last 9 hours pretending to be bumbling fool Brucie, he hadn’t quite shaken the drunk playboy mask. So his mouth responded automatically before he could really think it over.

 

“Scrumptious.” He spoke not with his Bat growl but the breathy flirty sex-now voice that he had trained his public persona to have. He hadn’t even realised his mistake until the loud clank and shaking of the table his hands were resting on registered in his half-asleep mind. He glanced over at Clark, Superman, face a few inches deep in the metal table he was seated in front of. Everyone in the room was frozen, the only sound being the crumbling of metal when Bruce realised Clark had also gripped his chair just a little too hard and shattered the armrest. 

 

With no other way of joking his way out of it he did the next best thing, tactical retreat. (No it was not running away.) He stood up, managing to do so despite the slight head rush and pins and needles in his legs. He would have to check if he had finished synthesising an antidote to this toxin, losing control of his limbs would be concerning.

 

“If that is all I simply came to check some league files for a case.” Then without another word he made his way back the way he came, files be damned. He was halfway down the hall when he heard the explosion of noise from the room he’d just escaped. Sighing Bruce got into the Batwing and quickly turned back towards Gotham. After a few seconds of deliberation he opened the security feed for the room. He may as well see what they’re saying to make sure he hadn’t broken his, admittedly impromptu, cover of being a vampire.

 

Five minutes later Bruce wished he wasn’t so nosy and had simply ignored them and not watched the aftermath.

Chapter 7: Batman is a bat? yeah? Vampires just kinda DO that

Summary:

Batman and Manbat are the same people, Barry has connected the dots

Notes:

My notes document for this fic, notes only and not written chapters, is 17k words long. Averaging about 100 words per idea per chapter that comes out to usually 2k, you people will be eating good for the foreseeable future

“Hey Hal?”

“Yeah Barry?”

“Well, it's basically confirmed that Bats is a vampire right?”

“Yeah, and you still owe me a favour for that. Anyways, what brought this up?”

“Well, Vampires can turn into bats right? And Gotham apparently has Manbat… Is that just Batman but as a vampire? So they just swapped the name round…”

“... Barry what the fuck it’s like 2am.”

“I KNOW but like-”

“GOODNIGHT BARRY! You have work in the morning and I just got back earthside so shut up and sleep!”

 

---

 

And yet Barry couldn’t stop thinking about it. He was a forensic scientist after all, his whole thing was to get information broken down to the very finest details, to map everything out and read the evidence until he had one irrefutable line of events. So Batman and Manbat being from the same city? Obviously it was how the Gothamites referred to their protector depending on how he wished to show himself at the time. And the fight he had just been in was definitely further proof.

 

The league was fighting some sort of magic user. Well saying ‘the league’ implied everyone was there, but it was only Barry, Arthur and Batman(Who technically is still not part of the league on paper, but is in everyone’s hearts). Everyone else either couldn’t be contacted or was simply busy with something else. Besides Batman had said they would be enough, and if The Bat said so, then it must be true. Barry was very much cursing himself for following the cryptid with a taste for his species’ blood at this exact moment, because he was currently running from his worst nightmare. A giant swarm of cockroaches with super speed. (Ok maybe not his WORST nightmare but still terrifying all the same.) Everytime Barry felt like he’d gained some distance from the flying immortal cloud of eww they appeared anew, evil buzzing sounds as their freaky little wings moved at mach 5. 

 

Barry risked peeking at Arthur, who was currently staring, mystified, at a very angry swarm of fish he couldn't commune with. Said fish were also all wielding tiny spears and swords and trying to stab him but they were honestly too small to even pierce the Atlantean’s armour. The main problem was he couldn’t help because the school of fish was surrounding him so well he couldn’t move in any direction.

 

This left Batman, who was missing. Ever since the wizard (that was probably the right term, he didn’t remember what Batman had called him earlier) had cast a spell yelling about their worst nightmares he had gone missing. Slinking into the shadows just as the spells came into effect. Spawning the strange hell the two heroes were now suffering from. Barry had even tried running towards the magician, but every time he got closer the cockroaches swarmed from the ground and got in his face and he had to turn around. Either way he would like to complain to superhero HR, his hell was a lot worse than Arthur’s, this was species favouritism or something.

 

A sudden screeching sound startled Barry enough that he almost tripped, stumbling and having to catch himself. His heart hammered in his chest at the idea of the bug army catching him. But they were gone. When he looked back to see how much they had gained on him the floating buzzing swarm of fear had just… vanished? Instead the magician was focused on a large thing hanging off his face. Both man and creature screamed loudly, though at least the wizard’s words were English, the creature just kept saying ‘EEEEEEEEEE’ over and over again.

 

“Get it off get it OFF GETITOFF AAAA!!!!” The wizard waved his hand and Arthur’s evil fish mutiny disappeared. Both heroes walked towards the wizard, aware of this being a trick just in case. But as they approached they realised it probably wasn't. Because attached to the Wizard’s face was the largest bat Barry had ever seen in his life. It was about the size of a medium dog. Clawed hooks on the tips of its wings curling into the Wizard’s hair as long fangs were lodged deeply into the poor Wizard’s nose. Large leathery wings blocking the man’s sight and little back talons rested dangerously on the man’s neck. 

 

“DON’T JUST STAND THERE, YOU’RE A HERO! SAVE ME!” Arthur frowned but relented, walking forward to gently attempt to pry the feral looking mammal off the wizard’s face. But it was latched on hard. Wide white eyes seemed to lock directly onto Barry as it snarled at being gently manoeuvred. No way…

 

“Batman?” Everyone froze with growing horror as the Bat finally released the Wizard’s nose and turned to stare at Barry, chattering slightly. Wow ok, he could see why he was called Manbat now, he was the most strangely human looking bat he had ever seen. Also he was huge for a bat! The wizard spluttered and waved his hand, probably casting some sort of spell to force Batman back into his human form. It worked. However, Batman was still perched on the Wizards face. Except said face was now buried under several hundred pounds of Vigilante. 

 

Barry focused on getting a pair of magic cuffs, tastefully ignoring the way Batman swiped the blood dribbling down his chin. Arthur helped him haul the now unconscious Wizard to his feet and the two of them dragged him to a containment place. Batman stayed behind, staring at the small spot of blood where the Wizard had collided with the floor. Barry grimaced, poor guy probably didn’t like having been forced into his bat form, if that was what the magic did. Barry imagined being stuck as a bat and unable to turn back to a human and shivered. He could ignore the slight snacking Batman had of the wizard, guy deserved it for traumatising them.

 

---

 

“Now watch as your worst nightmares come to life!” The wizard then chanted something, his hand waving twice as he aimed spells at Bruce’s two colleagues. Thankfully the man was chanting in pig Latin, a language Bruce learnt when he was in Med school then got bored and dropped out. For barry the spell was simple, ‘Be chased by pests as fast at you forever’, For Arthur is was a simple ‘Your people revolt’. The the Wizard turned to Bruce, mouth already moving and chanting but faltering slightly.

 

“You will be stuck in the form of a…” The wizard froze, clearly not being as up-to-date on Pig Latin as he pretended. Bruce used this opportunity to swing from the shadows, managing to get a well timed punch on the man’s face. This unfortunately had the side effect of the man yelling “Bat-!” at him when startled. Bruce’s punch landed square on his jaw before he could finish saying his name. And just like that, poof, Bruce felt himself shifting.

 

His suit started to grow, or maybe he was shrinking? Either way it didn't fit anymore and Bruce could NOT risk someone seeing his face. He quickly jumped back into the shadows, hiding behind some rubble just as the suit disappeared completely with a small puff of grey smoke. Now Bruce would have to worry about public indecency. Except, when he looked down, he couldn’t see a human body. It was all soft black fur and supple leather. He had been turned into a bat. When the wizard went to yell at him he had finished the spell and turned Bruce into a bat. Fucking Fantastic.

 

Peeking back at the mess Bruce watched as the Wizard seemed to be preparing some sort of spell to fire off at Arthur, clearly unhappy at how little the fish armada was affecting him. He waved his hands as if he was about to start chanting about screaming louder making him stronger, but Bruce reacted before he could utter a single word. He charged from the darkness, yelling for him to stop, sadly he did not seem to have the ability to speak like most magic creatures. The Wizard startled, turning to stare in wide eyed fear as Bruce slammed into his face. Something crunched but he ignored it, straddling with his wings and feet to grab something, anything, to stop him from being thrown off. It seemed flying wasn’t something he had a hang of, which was fine for now. Finally getting his wings hooked, one in his hair and the other on his ear, he watched as the wizard opened his mouth to chant again.

 

“Not on my watch!” Bruce snarled, but it came out as more of a SCREEEEEEK. Then he just, bit him. It was dirty fighting, but as he’d taught Dick, do everything you can with the tools at your disposal. Rather come out alive than dead on the moral high ground. The Wizard screamed now, too occupied at the pain to bother to chant anything else, waving his hands and yelling a few times until Bruce felt gentle hands try to remove him from the man. “Contain the criminal first!” Bruce snarled, turning his gaze onto Barry as much as he could without releasing the Wizard’s nose. (His sobbing had turned into blubbering, apparently his mum would kill him over his new nose piercings.) 

 

“Batman?” Bruce rolled his eyes, unsure if it would show with a bat’s features. He released the near catatonic villain and turned what he hoped was a Batglare at Barry, trying to exude unimpressed with every fibre of his fuzzy little being.

 

“Obviously, help me bring the suspect in for questioning on how to reverse the spell.” Barry stared at him for a few more moments in shock, he shouldn’t be, he clearly had the smarts to realise Bruce was the bat, and now he was wasting precious time. What if the villain escaped whilst Barry did nothing.

 

Almost as if Bruce was prophetic, the wizard managed to shake off his stupor and waved his hands, yelling a quick word Bruce wasn’t able to catch. It wasn’t much to worry about however as Bruce quickly felt a burst of something similar to growing pains as suddenly he was falling. Another loud crunch and Bruce found himself crouching on the ground, the Wizard’s face in the dirt beneath him… Oops? The sound of the wizard’s breaking face was apparently enough to shock Barry into action, zipping away for a moment to return with a pair of cuffs. They would have to find a way to stop the man from speaking, his magic was clearly connected to his chanting. He brought a hand up to his chin to think, only to grimace when his fingers came back covered in blood. Drawing his attention towards the coppery taste of fresh blood in his mouth.

 

He stared down at the perfect face imprint in the dirt, small spatterings of blood pooling in the craters. Oh god, what if this man had blood diseases! Bruce did not want to deal with the disapproving look Alfred would give him if he came home with some strange illness…Again… He glanced up, Arthur and Barry had the wizard under control. Bruce disappeared into the shadows, quickly swiping the blood into an analyser and praying to any gods that cared that it would be clean.

 

---

 

“And then this massive furry thing appeared and just, bit his face. You should have seen it Hal it was legendary.” Barry was zipping from one end of the room to the other in his strange form of pacing as Hal lay face down on his living room floor. He raised his head to speak only for Barry to talk over him. He dropped his head back onto the floor with a thud.

 

“Like, I knew Manbat would be large as it is literally just Man and Bat, but that bat was huge Hal. Largest thing I’ve ever seen!”

 

“Have you thought that maybe that’s just what Gotham bats look like Barry?” Barry froze in his pacing to stare at Hal like he was a genius. And then just like that Barry was gone in a flash of yellow and red lightning. Hal loved the guy but he had to stop bothering him at ungodly hours. Nevermind it was already 10am, it was the principle of it anyways. Maybe he could use his favour to ask Barry to… Nah these were too funny to miss. That morning Hal’s dreams were haunted by Massive mutated bats with Batman’s seductive voice chasing him into the void.

 

---

 

“Master Bruce, would you like to tell me why an analyzer was used yesterday to check for, many, venereal diseases.”

 

“...no I would not like to.”

Chapter 8: So, when will you have friends?

Summary:

The league meet Dick, and like the true gremlin he is, he puts the fear of the bats in em.

Notes:

I am not really happy with this chapter but beta said i should just post it, so if it read different or weird, i agree
I have added extra tag, autistic Bruce wayne, it fits

“Hey Batman, do you have any friends?” The entire meeting room froze. Hal slapped a hand over Barry’s mouth as the rest of the room slowly turned towards Batman. He stood, hands frozen over the paper documents he had brought to the meeting about some new toxin that had appeared in Gotham that he wanted everyone to be aware of. A muscle in his jaw twitched and Barry quickly peeled Hal’s hand off to further shove his foot in his own mouth. “Cuz, like, as a vampire you should have a few right? Some other vamps you hang with whilst the sun is up and you can’t move around too much?”

 

“No.”

 

“Hey wait, what about your son?” Now it was Hal’s turn to get a hand slapped over his mouth. His own, but still, dramatics. Batman turned to glare at him and dropped the papers onto the table. Each organised into neat little piles for them to read.

 

“You have a son?” Clark frowned, clearly upset his self imposed ‘best friend’ hadn’t told him. Batman turned his glare at Clark, who impressively only flinched slightly, then sighed.

 

“He is not my son.” Everyone’s face fell and Clark tentatively spoke up.

 

“You didn’t steal him though, right Batman?” Batman’s following silence was heavy and very stressful for all involved. Except maybe J’onn who didn’t understand the earth customs and faux-pas behind the word. 

 

“Hey Spooky, can we meet your Pup? Properly without him trying to eat me?” Barry snorted, having already been told about that. Everyone else gulped a bit in slight fear at the thought of a small vampire child trying to take a bite out of them. Wait, half the people in this room would probably allow it if it was a certain dark and brooding vampire they knew. Batman still said nothing so Hal floated across the table and clasped his hands together. “Cmon pleeaseee? I pinky promise not to feed him after midnight.” He stuck out a hand and grinned. Batman stared at it for a moment before glancing at the varied pleading looks around the room.

 

With a slight sigh he nodded to Hal, who leapt into the air, summoning little green confetti pieces to rain down all around them. A thought suddenly struck Barry and he turned to Batman, only to pause. He was gone? But the meeting was meant to start soon? 

 

“Uhh guys, he isn’t bringing him right now is he?” A few murmurs ran across the room as people shared glances. It wasn’t until Olli leapt from his chair, gloved hands slamming into the reinforced table loudly.

 

“The sneaky Bat! He didn’t answer if he had any other friends!” People frowned and shared confused looks, realising that, yes, Batman had just dodged their question. Though he had technically answered their question, if the first No was to be taken at face value. 

 

“I do not expect he would. I myself struggle with regular humans due to my differences. Being surrounded by people that could take him down should he become too blood crazed is a requirement I assume, and not many out of the cape community would fit this mould.” Everyone turned to J’onn who had just metaphorically dropped the mic as well as everyone’s hearts. Batman didn’t trust himself to have normal human friends, and was apparently an outcast in vampire society. The remaining half hour until Batman returned was silent, as everyone promised to be an even better friend to Batman to make up for what he lacked.

 

---

 

“Dickie, you said you were interested in meeting the Justice League. W-”

 

“YES!” Dick jumped up and down with delight. Performing flips and rolls in quick succession to stave off some of his excited energy. Bruce smiled at his ward and held out a small box to him. Dick grabbed it with excitement, but hesitated slightly when he saw what it held.

 

“Come on, get dressed and I’ll show you how to put that on. Remember what I told you when you met Green Lantern?” Dick nodded and Bruce patted his head, earning an even bigger grin from the boy. “Well we have to do that there too. Up for a little prank chum?”

 

The malicious smile hidden behind teen innocence was answer enough for Bruce.

 

---

 

Exactly 27 minutes and 39 seconds later - not that anyone was counting - Batman walked back through the door. Clark stood to greet his friend, only to freeze as a small face half peeked out from beneath his cape. The innocent face had everyone almost immediately drop their guard. All beside one already traumatised Hal, who was leaning far enough back in his chair to be dangerous if he couldn’t fly. The child glanced around the room quickly before hiding back beneath the black material. Nobody moved, unsure if they had spooked the clearly anxious child.

 

“This is Robin.” Batman spoke before he walked over to his seat. If they hadn’t seen it, not a single hero would have been able to tell that there was a person hidden under that cape. Instead of sitting, Batman stood beside his seat. Clark was confused until the cloak ruffled slightly and out burst the brightest child any of them had ever seen.

 

The child cartwheeled onto the table before dropping into a crouch, his back to Batman, and grinned. He had black hair that messily pointed in every direction. His costume, because it was definitely a hero costume, was bright primary colours. Tomato red tunic, neon yellow cape and the greenest pair of scaly green shorts any of them had ever seen. He also had a pair of very pointy fangs now on display. The child’s masked eyes scanned the room, bouncing from member to member behind the same white lenses as the bat.

 

“Hello, I’m Robin. Nice to meet you.” Everyone greeted Robin pleasantly, introducing themself one by one. Hal couldn’t help but think the kid already seemed to know them but was nodding along and pretending he didn’t. When the circle finally reached Hal, Robin’s smile fell and he stuck his tongue out at the lantern. “I remember you, your magic tastes gross.”

 

“It’s not magic! It’s a physical manifestation of my willpower!” Hal spluttered as he tried to explain himself to the child. And god he was a child. He barely looked 10, hopefully vampires aged differently and Batman wasn’t allowing a child to run around fighting crime. Clark would have a serious chat with Batman about it later. Robin frowned at Hal before turning back to Batman.

 

“He is not feeling whelmed B.” And Batman grinned, actually smiled teeth and all at the small ball of bright coloured child. And for the first time the league got to see Batman’s teeth and they were… normal? No fangs like the small child had but his canines did seem slightly sharper than a normal human’s. 

 

“No he isn’t Robin. Are you ok to explore the room whilst I give them the information we found on Crane?” Robin nodded excitedly and leapt from the table. No less than three leaguers jerked to catch him, all watching in shock as the child flipped three times before landing on his feet with perfect grace. He gave a small bow to the watching heroes before wandering around the room and examining each hero up close one by one. Batman went on to ignore him, immediately starting an extremely informative spiel on some guy called Scarecrow who was apparently causing issues in Gotham. Clark was only half paying attention to the lecture when he felt a gentle tug at his cape. Clark turned to look at the small vampire child that was staring at him with wide eyes. 

 

“You are the Super man correct?” Clark smiled at the child and nodded, losing all interest in Batman to focus on Robin. Clark had always had a soft spot for children, and the fact he was his friend's child made him all the more adorable. Robin’s face brightened and he grinned before clambering to stand on Clark’s lap. Even like that he only barely could reach his head to poke at the iconic Superman curl. Robin frowned as it kept bouncing back into place, poking his tongue out slightly as he concentrated on trying to get the hair to stay brushed back. Clark chuckled and turned his attention back to Batman, if the kid was happy to mess about with his hair it was probably fine.

 

---

 

Hal watched the child bounce around the room, every bright smile flashed those pointy teeth that Hal swears weren’t that sharp last time. Robin bounces from Aquaman to Martian Manhunter, chattering about aliens and different cultures and other stuff Hal couldn’t care less about even if it was technically in his job description. Making sure to keep the small devil in his sights, Hal leaned towards Barry.

 

“The kid’s teeth are sharper than last time.” Barry glanced over at Robin who was waving his hand animatedly. His open mouth showed the two, completely obvious points of his canines. 

 

“They look like normal fangs to me. What I’m curious about is why Batman doesn’t have any.” The two men glanced over to Batman. For the first time ever they really paid attention, not to his words but to his mouth, catching glimpses of his teeth. And whilst they were sharp, they were a normal length. Hal glanced back at Robin who had now moved on to bother Clark. He watched the child bounce on the spot before clambering up the man to poke at him.

 

“Maybe it’s because he’s young and can’t control it?” The two glanced back at the child who was now messing around with Clark’s hand. The super was focused back on Batman and letting the kid do as he pleased. The men watched the child play around with Clark’s hand until he paused, tilting his head and staring down at the appendage before quickly glancing around. His masked eyes met Hal’s, and with a grin, the kid lunged. Clark jerked back, pulling his arm away from the now bloody mouthed demon in angel form.

 

“Ow!” Clark stared down at his hand in shock before something seemed to click. “Ow? You… you pierced skin?!” Barry and Hal watched the child as he wiped his mouth and grinned, sharp fangs retreating until they looked like just slightly too sharp teeth. Batman sighed and put down his papers, rounding the table to grab Robin by his scruff. The kid grinned as he dangled in Batman’s grasp like a particularly excited puppy. His gloved hands covered his mouth as he started to giggle. The sight of the child, blood soaked gloves covering his mouth as he giggled, was only slightly unnerving. Hal had totally dealt with far worse on outer space missions. The creepy factor was totally not made worse by the big bad Bat, holding the child like a wriggly kitten whilst having a look of exasperation. (Though it is hard to tell with Batman, even with the new expressive eye lenses.)

 

“Robin, what did we say about biting my colleagues?”  The child blinked up at Batman with what would probably be a pair of very convincing puppy dog eyes if he didn’t have the mask covering them. He opened his mouth to speak, but instead of words, he giggled again. Except this time the giggle echoed throughout the room, bouncing around the stone walls and sounding nearly haunting. Hal swears he saw Barry flinch and almost launch himself into hyper drive to escape it. Immediately Batman flicked Robin on the nose and he stopped, covering his face and glaring at his … mentor? They really needed to figure out what their relationship was if not father and child, the kid was far too calm to have been kidnapped. 

 

“We do not attack people we work with. Remember the phrase? Heroes are friends, not food.” Robin nodded looking thoroughly chastised. Hal swears he had heard that phrase before but used in another context, though where exactly seemed to slip his mind. Batman simply sighed and moved Robin until he was holding him how a normal person would hold a child. Robin happily wrapped his arms around Batman’s neck and buried his face in the costume. Batman then turned to face the league.

 

“We’re leaving. It is my fault for not realising Robin was hungry.” Batman then turned to Superman and eyed the no longer bleeding bite. “He has had all his shots so you aren’t at risk of catching anything.” And then, child in arms, Batman turned to leave. The league watched the small boy, so childlike against the mass of black that was his carer. The child glanced up at the last moment and grinned. The sharp bloodied teeth on display barely peeked out from Batman’s neck as the two disappeared around the corner.

 

That night the entire Justice league gained a new fear. Clark especially had nightmares of small vampire children in ridiculous costumes, foaming at the mouth and snapping at his heels.

 

---

 

The second Bruce got to the batplane Dick started to laugh. He reached into his mouth and pulled out the small piece of reinforced white metal. Bruce piloted the plane into the air and took Dick’s fake teeth, turning them over and frowning at the small pieces of Green Kryptonite attached to them that he had definitely not put there.

 

“I thought it would make the story more funny, if they thought you could bite them.” Bruce sighed and handed the teeth back to Dick, who happily put them into a little pouch on his utility belt Bruce had made especially for them. He loved his son, but his pranks were something else. Oh well, at least it gave him something to do, adding the kryptonite to his own false teeth so they would look natural. Feeling along the roof of his mouth with his tongue, Bruce found the small bar and pressed it, feeling the fangs slide down in his own mouth. He looked in the mirror at them. Maybe he could put the kryptonite along the back edges. Yeah, he loved a good challenge.

Chapter 9: Batman joined the league! wait what’s with the pitchforks guys?!?

Summary:

A bunch of shorts that all make one bigger picture, I’ve actually started to make plot for this stupid crack fic

Notes:

I landed safely home, my train was 2 hours delayed, take the chapter.

This is the official end of the first arc, this is the smallest one. Next is Bruce in league and making Watchtower.

“Superman, it’s good I caught you. I wanted to talk to you.” Clark froze where he hovered. Over a skyscraper in Metropolis of all places, The Bat had found him. He gulped and lowered himself to meet the man, eyes scanning for Robin, sighing with relief when he couldn’t find his brightly coloured ward.

“Sure Batman, what can I do for you?” He smiled, accidentally letting a bit of his midwestern accent tinge his voice. If Batman noticed he didn’t mention anything. Actually, he wasn’t saying anything, staring at Clark with such intensity he would be sweating buckets if he could. After the longest 2 minute silence of Clark’s life, Batman broke their stare off.

“I’ve come to say I am accepting my place in the Justice league.” Clark beamed and was about to give a spiel about how excited he was when Batman raised a hand and he stopped. “However, I would like to be in charge of managing things. I’m sure you are all busy with your jobs so I want to… make sure everything is running smoothly.” 

Wow. Clark didn’t know how to react. Batman had basically hinted that he had no secret identity and wanted to help so they could live theirs. Clark was tearing up slightly at how thoughtful Batman was being. He couldn’t help it anymore and grabbed Batman in a hug, careful to not crush him. Almost as soon as he’d grabbed him Clark let the man go and smiled.

“That’s great, I’ll let everyone know and organise those files for you. It would be a relief to no longer have to go through the budget reports.” Clark flew off to Mount Justice to get everything ready and let everyone know that Batman had finally accepted his open invitation. Little did he realise just how, odd, the following months would be as everyone would be seeing the supposed cryptid more often.

 

---

 

“It’s not fair! I am The Fear Bringer! You are meant to FEAR ME!!” The demon roared at them from his flaming crater, magma pooling at his feet as he waved his sword at them with two of his four arms. Arthur and Barry shared a glance before turning back to the now pouting demon that was still yelling obscenities at them.

“Well, no offence dude, but after we met Batman. Stuff just isn’t that scary.” Barry shrugged his shoulders as he spoke and the demon threw his sword to the floor, crossing his many arms over himself in irritation.

“Also his child. They are a terrifying duo.” Barry nodded along with Arthur and the demon frowned. Eyes darting between the two of them before he threw his hands in the air.

“This is so stupid! I hate your stupid world. I don’t want to conquer it anyways you all suck!” And with that parting cry the demon sunk into the magma below him, probably going back to hell or something. Barry had no clue he wasn’t a demon expert.

“Should we maybe tell someone about this?” Barry turned to Arthur who was channeling some water to put out the still bubbling lava. Arthur frowned before shrugging.

“Well I guess, we have to write it in those mission reports anyways. Just pray Batman doesn’t read it.” Both heroes shivered at the thought of Batman confronting them over this.

 

---

 

The woman smiled, ruby red lips pulled over glistening white teeth. She twirled round to face the lantern and smirked. He was just a man, she would have him kneeling at her feet in minutes.

Half an hour later Temptress found herself in a pair of meta-handcuffs and sat in the back of a prison transport van. She fumed, brushing a stray black hair from her face. This was unacceptable.

“Of all things, charm training with a goddamned vampire. There’s no way my abilities could beat that.” She huffed as she leant back against the cool metal. One of the men opposite her perked up at that, leaning forward slightly to whisper with her. Not that the guard cared, he had fallen asleep the second the doors had closed.

“Are you talking about Batman maybe? We just got caught by him actually.” Temptress raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow and leant in herself. This is exactly how men should act in her presence.

“What makes you think Batman is the vampire, they could have outsourced.” The man glanced at the passed out guard briefly before turning back to her.

“Well, my boss was cooking stuff up near a tomb, lots of graves and stuff yaknow. Said it made the fear ‘sweeter’ or something. I dunno I was just hired to guard him. Anyways, I hear a noise so i go investigate like I’m paid to. So I’m walking down this path with graves when i notice one that looks dug up, guess they have a funeral planned soon or sumthin. But at the bottom was a coffin. And as I’m staring at it these black claws slowly reach out and open the lid. And he’s just, laying there. I swear he was as white as the pillows he was laid upon. Next thing I know I wake up with a headache and I’m in this van.” 

Temptress frowned, that was pretty convincing. She’d have to look into this when she escaped. She was too pretty for jail.

 

---

 

Bruce stared at the office Clark had cleared out for him. ‘Cleared’ being generous as the entire room, floor to ceiling, was filled with paperwork. The only good thing was there were no windows, nobody to watch him while he worked. He turned to give Clark an unimpressed raised eyebrow. The super seemed to sense it as he grinned sheepishly and gestured to the stacks.

“So that one is mission reports, that's letters from civilians and that I think is all money stuff.” Bruce could feel a vein bulging in his forehead.

“Civillian letters… Just left out here and possibly laced with who knows what.” Also money stuff? MONEY STUFF?! Bruce was about to have a heart attack from the sudden blood pressure spike. Thank Gotham he’d decided to join the league when he did, if he’d left it any longer the place would have been seized for failing to pay property taxes or something equally as stupid.

Clark handed something to Bruce, still talking, but the man was no longer paying attention to him. The disarray in this room was upsetting Bruce and he was three seconds from a mental breakdown if he didn’t sort this out soon. Bruce was too focused on reading through everything to notice if the man said anything more to him, but he came out of his paperwork fueled stress read nearly 4 hours later with the stacks finally organised to his standard and a cup of now cold coffee on the desk. He frowned at the mug before pouring it out in the kitchen sink. He would not be trusting anything they eat or drink here with what he’d seen in those purchase reports.

 

---

 

Clark watched as he slowly lost Batman’s attention, the man immediately zeroing in on the stacks of papers and reading with incredible fervor. Batman was muttering to himself as he started to place the papers in piles on the desk that made no sense to Clark, though apparently there was a system from the few words Clark was able to catch. 

“This doesn’t seem right, this is paperwork from before the league was founded. Where’s the paperwork that shows when this place was bought…” Batman muttered as he turned towards the piles of paper he had yet to go through. He probably wasn’t talking TO Clark, but super hearing meant he heard it anyways. Clark actually remembered where that was, it was very important paperwork so he’d put it in a little ring binder before he got overwhelmed by the never ending influx of papers and tax records and fan mail. He zipped over to the corner, careful to not knock over the mountains of legality, and grabbed the little blue book.

“Here Batman, this one?” 

“Thanks”. Batman took the paper, glanced at it for maybe a half second, then pulled a pen out of nowhere and started writing on the other papers. But Clark wasn’t focused on that. Because when Batman had taken the papers from him he had been careless and caught him with the tip of his gloves. Now Clark knew that Robin could bite him, and by association probably Batman. But his claws? Apparently Batman was a more powerful vampire than he’d thought. Clark watched the small droplets of red drip down his fingers before panicking. If he ruined these documents Batman would definitely kill him.

“I’ll be in the other room if you need me!” And he quickly rushed out. As soon as he was out of the dingy little room the cut closed up. Clark wiped the red across his palms and frowned. Maybe Batman was excluded from Vampire society for being too strong? Or for being overly friendly with humanity? Clark made his way to the kitchen. He didn’t know if Vampires could drink coffee but Batman would probably appreciate the gesture either way.

 

---

 

It was only the next day when Batman had a mission for them. Specifically he’d chosen Barry and Olli. Olli was positioned on the opposite building’s rooftop, scope drawn and watching as Batman seemed to glide through hallways silently. Easily avoiding the patrolling men as if he knew their exact locations. Barry stood beside him, pacing the rooftop and checking with Olli every 3 seconds on Batman’s status, despite having his own comm.

It was a pretty simple mission in Bludhaven, Batman’s sister city, but he’s said he wanted backup just in case as he didn’t know the place as well as Gotham. Olli could see Barry vibrating with nervousness out of the corner of his eye and sighed, rolling his eyes at his friend’s nervous energy. Olli turned back to watching Batman just in time to see him slip into a tiny service closet around the corner. He couldn’t see into it but the blueprints in front of him showed it was barely big enough for the adult man to fit in. Seconds later a pair of goons turned the far corner and strode down the hall, guns held to their chests and eying the hall nervously. The two men stopped outside the closet and chatted for a bit, then one of them gestured towards the door and Olli’s heart started to race.

“Hey Bar, heads up but Batman might need assistance in a second.” Olli had barely even spoken the first few words when the speedster was pressed up against his side and trying to stare down his scope.

“Omg is he ok? what’s happening? Where am I going?” Olli shoved the chattering man off himself with a grunt and quickly turned back to watch the confrontation.

“That window there, 5th floor far right. He’s hidden in that supply closet that they’re about to check.” Barry faded for a split second before being stood almost exactly where he had been before, now a pair of binoculars in hand. The two men watched with bated breath as the larger goon stood behind the door, the shorter one opened the door and stared up slightly before closing the door and shrugging. The larger one nodded and they continued on.

“Wait… are you sure he’s in there?” Olli glared at Barry, there was no way he could have been wrong. He was an Archer, he prided himself on his eyesight. They watched the two men turn the corner and continue walking. A few seconds later Batman exited the closet. The two heroes watched in silence as the Cryptid simply walked off as if nothing had happened.

“Did he… hypnotise them?” Barry shrugged at Olli before sitting himself back onto the roof they were on, all the tension leaving his body.

“Dunno, maybe it was invisibility or something. Vampires can do that right? Or turn into like a gas or a swarm of bats.”

“No Barry that’s not real that’s a dnd thing.”

“Oh… I still think Invisibility. If it had been hypnotism then it would have taken time for the-” Olli groaned and did his best to not bash his face into the concrete he knelt on. He loved Barry, really, but he was such a NERD.

 

---

 

Bruce rounded the corner and paused when he heard footsteps approaching. Two pairs, one booted one slightly lighter, trainers maybe? Either way the ceiling here was too low to cling to, and the last lavatory was too far away. Bruce eyed the supply closet he’d stopped beside and sighed, it would have to do. He slipped into the cramped space and waited. The footsteps approached before pausing outside the door. Shit, guess he’s have to fight and take them out quickly. At least he would be able to see what The Flash’s response time would be. 

Bruce stood as close to the door as he could and stood up to his full height. He clenched his fists as the door slowly started to open and tensed himself to throw a punch the second he saw movement. But as the door creaked open the man outside faltered for a half second before his eyes slowly moved up to Bruce’s face. Bruce recognised the guy from Gotham, apparently he had branched out to Bludhaven for new job prospects. After a good second of very uncomfortable eye contact where Bruce was actively watching the light leave the man’s eyes he slowly shut the door.

“All clear, no way a person could fit in there.” He heard a second voice confirm and then the twin footfalls slowly faded around the corner. Bruce waited a good few seconds more before he slowly exited the room, making sure to turn to glare where he knew Olli and Barry were before continuing on his way. 

Honestly, were they going to wait for Bruce to start throwing punched before they came in? He would add this into his training notes for the next league meeting in a few weeks.

 

---

 

After that mission, word seemed to spread in the outer villain community about the Bat being a vampire. A woman with long black hair told her tale of woe facing against him, apparently she had inside sources from staff that took care of Mount Justice that the league both KNEW and WEREN’T DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT. Unrest started to grow amoungst the people. If Batman was a vampire, was he planning something sinister with the heroes that protected them? Or maybe he was using the ruse of goodness to harm the innocents he was ‘saving.’

In Gotham, the people saw the sudden influx of people talking about The Bat’s vampirism and shrugged. People were always late on Gotham news.

Chapter 10: Twillight beef 2.0

Summary:

Were-wolves in Star city.
Batman, a vampire, scared them away with a glare????
No Hal, Twilight is not a realistic portrayal of Vampire/were-wolf relationships
No Batman is not a good example of a vampire he's actively helping humanity

Notes:

This was going to be longer but it's perfect as is

Aliens had attacked earth again, and they were were-wolves. Well, they were were-wolves if you considered 3ft tall wolves on their back feet that were about as wide with muscle as they were tall, werewolves. Sharp snapping fangs that could bite through concrete and long shaggy fur that was giving Flash carpet burn from how fast he was punching them. Someone forgot to tell the aliens that invasions are a metropolis thing, Olli was muttering to himself as he loosed another arrow, upset that these things had chosen Star city as their hangout.

 

Above, the full moon shone bright, casting long silvery shadows where the street lights had long been chewed through by the over eager canids. Just then a shape passed overhead, everyone turning for a split second to make sure it wasn't another enemy. It wasn't. The sleek black shape of the Batplane could be seen landing on a rooftop not too far from the centre of the fight. No sooner than the cockpit slid open, Batman himself vaulted out and was soon standing on the corner, staring down at them.

 

"You gonna come help or are you here to watch your fellow cryptids take over Star City Bats?" Hal quipped as he made a glowing green leash, wrapped it round the neck of several wolves and dragged them off into a large green crate he had made. There were at least 20 of them in there now. Each clawing at the bars and frothing at the mouth trying to reach the glowing green chew toy. Batman said nothing, instead he simply held his cape out to his sides, the moon behind him sending his bat shaped shadow looming across the battlefield.

 

Then as if by magic, all the wolves froze. Each one cocked an ear to the side before all zeroing in on where the bat stood. Batman still said nothing, flaring his cape wider before leaping down, everyone scrambled to get out of his way as he landed surprisingly gently on a pile of concrete. Batman turned towards the wolves, pulled his cape closer and stalked towards them. The ears on his cowl had pulled backwards similarly to the wolves.. 

 

"Leave." Batman snarled with his voice deep as gravel, white lenses narrowing at the creatures that barely came up to his waist. And surprisingly enough, they did. The wolves all let out a yelp, tails tucking between their legs as they turned and fled back to their ship, running on all fours to get away from the bat even a second faster.

 

Silence hung heavy as the heroes watched the small ships shudder to life and take off into the skies, soon disappearing and becoming a speck amongst the stars. Nobody said anything as Batman put a finger to his ear, reporting the situation to someone before turning to the rest of them.

 

"Anyone not injured shall stay for clean-up. Everyone else head to Mount Justice for a check-up, debrief in 1 hour." Then he turned on his heels dramatically and disappeared into the night. His dark cape absorbing the light around him so he became one with the shadows almost immediately.

 

"Is anyone going to comment on how the vampire chased away the werewolves in an obvious territory battle?" Olli spoke first, clearly trying to parse whatever he'd just seen. Hal nodded seriously as he floated over, already making constructs to clear the debris around them.

 

"Is it like, a twilight situation? Batman had to warn the werewolves this planet is vampire territory?" Barry scrunched up his nose in distaste.

 

"Wait you read Twilight?"

 

"Nah, I watched the films."

 

"You do know that's worse right?"

 

"..."

 

"No GL get back here that's worse you do know that?! Hal?!?"

 

---

 

 

Bruce glanced over at the nav system in his plane, 3 minutes until he arrived and would have to disengage autopilot. He checked his cape again, making sure no wires were torn, hand running over the small remote in one of the edges. When Olli had sent out a message on the League communication system saying he was being attacked by werewolves, Bruce had half a mind to laugh it off, until the first news report showed images of the creatures. Long dog shaped faces with ears just a little bigger than normal and large glistening teeth. Long spindly arms with pointed claws that seemed capable of ripping through solid steel. Shaggy matted grey fur that hung off their muscular frames and made them almost as wide as they were tall. They were genuine little werewolves. Little ankle biters even, as they were barely 2-3ft tall. 

 

The Bat-wing beeped once to alert him of his arrival and Bruce grabbed the controls. He expertly manoeuvred the vehicle on a roof near the edge of the battle and quickly jumped out once the glass cover slid back. He could see everyone below, friend and foe, glancing up at him occasionally. Waiting for him to join the fray. Bruce crossed his fingers and hoped this worked. Grabbed the edges of his cape he lifted it up, small metal plates locking together and making a large dish of sorts. Pressing the button on the remote he felt the humm of electrics come to life as the speakers in the modified cape burst to life. Bruce couldn't hear the noise they made, but clearly the frequency was high enough with how every single creature's eyes snapped up to him.

 

Pressing the button again the frequency raised in pitch, sound echoing off the metal cape and (hopefully) being amplified down at the wolves below. They came to a standstill, they weren't retreating but they weren't attacking anymore either. Running through his wolf mannerisms in his mind, Bruce hoped these things communicated similarly. Pressing the button again shut off the noise and unlocked the plates, letting him glide down to the ground on a pile of rubble near the largest group of them. He pulled his ears back in a clear sign of displeasure and bared his teeth at the creatures, watching them all bristle at his sign of hostility. Good.

Bruce pulled the cape around himself, creating an echo chamber of sorts, and pressed the button again. This time, a too low for human ears growl ripped through the sound system, echoing through his cape and making the wolves eyes widen. Ears pinning back as their hackles raised in fear to make themselves appear bigger.

 

"Leave." He pitched his voice as low as he could, trying to make it rumble through his chest as animalistically as he could. The wolves shrunk in on themselves, tails between their legs as they backed away. Then one ran. The rest soon followed, falling to all fours to dig their claws into the ground and run away as fast as they could. Bruce watched them take off and sighed in relief, thankfully it had worked.

 

 Bruce watched until the final ship disappeared into the great blue above before turning to the league, who all stood staring at him, jaws slack. He rolled his eyes beneath the cowl and reached to his own comm, connecting to the Batcave.

 

“All clear, aliens have fled. Good idea with the sounds chum.” Dick started to chatter excitedly about the nature documentaries he’d watched and all about wolf habits as Bruce turned to the still gobsmacked league. All were staring at him with that strange confused face they got any time they did a mission with Batman and saw just how efficient he was. Thankfully it had made convincing them to let Bruce manage the league’s funds very easy.

 

"Anyone not injured shall stay for clean-up. Everyone else head to Mount Justice for a check-up, debrief in 1 hour." He then turned around and headed down a nearby alley that was minimally damaged. Once he was shrouded in the darkness he waited to see how the league would react. Surprisingly Olli was the first to react, saying something to the heroes that broke them all out of their stupor. Hal soon followed and started to clear the wreckage efficiently with his ring. Bruce made a note of that to maybe go a bit easier on the lantern, seeing as he knew when to actually focus and when to mess around.

 

The rest of the league slowly got to work, helping clear the streets or assisting their fellows to lie down if they were injured. Suddenly squabbling broke out and Bruce turned to see Hal fly off, a green streak soon followed by a red blur as Barry took off after him…

 

You know what, ignorance was bliss.

 

Bruce left his teammates to get back into the Bat-wing. He had to change his cape out for his regular one and quickly head back so he could write up his report. The sooner this was all done the sooner he could get back to Gotham, after all He’d promised to help Dick practice his acrobatics tonight and Bruce wouldn’t miss that for the world

Chapter 11: The man's bat (Singular???)

Summary:

Batman has a bat who is his son, who wasn't his son last month? Also more bats

If you saw that edit, no you didn’t. I totally didn’t miss posting a whole paragraph as it was 1am

Notes:

This chapter is both longer and shorter than i thought it would be

A lot changed after Batman officially joined the Justice League. The first monthly meeting was filled with at least an hour on how he had changed everything. And honestly, it was impressive. The previously clunky way of running things was streamlined with scary speed. Batman apparently was so incredibly proficient he had managed to sort out all their issues in the few weeks he had, and still had time to go on missions AND patrol Gotham.

 

So now with all the paperwork and legal issues sorted the money was starting to go places it was actually needed. The break room was stocked with proper food, Barry would often be seen in this room crying as he stuffed his face with whatever strange protein bars Batman had prepared. When questioned he simply called them ‘An experiment’. The outdated tech was slowly replaced over time with little user manuals for anyone unused to modern technology. But best of all, the toilet had that nice toilet paper!

 

One other major change from Batman joining the league was the protests. The first day it was officially announced there was nothing. After all, who bothers to check the online league roster for new members every day? But slowly, after he started to join them for missions, things started to change. Word spread across the internet like a wildfire. People stood outside with signs calling Batman a monster, a danger, a threat to humanity. Never mind all he had done was try and protect them. Sure he was a bit gruff and standoffish but that was probably just social awkwardness. 

 

So now the league sat in the meeting room, fully decked out with proper tablets and comfy spinny chairs that didn’t squeak when you tried to roll them across the floor. It was two minutes until the meeting and Batman still hadn’t entered the building. Clark would know, he was listening for the tell tale near silent footfalls of Batman’s boots. Outside the yells of the people were louder than normal. The Justice league didn’t hide when their monthly meetings were so it was easy to find with a quick google search and a reddit user who went off on an all night hero hunt.

 

30 seconds till meeting start time and Clark perked up when he finally heard the sound of the Batplane landing on the roof. The people outside got louder and he had to quickly focus on just the room he’s in to avoid a migraine. Others must have noticed his change in posture as people hurried to their seats for Batman’s second official meeting as a member (and manager) of the Justice League.

 

The door slid open soundlessly before shutting behind the man as he moved to the head of the table in quick even strides. Clark smiled as he spun in his seat to greet Batman before he went into full meeting mode, but paused. Batman’s armour had changed over the roughly a year he’d known him. The bulky design became sleeker, using different materials and darker capes. But right now Clark was certain something was off. Batman swept past him and pulled a tablet out of his infinite storage cape and started to pull something up on the large screen behind him. Clark tilted his head and frowned, listening to the tiny heartbeat hammer away on Batman’s shoulder. As Batman started to talk about the monthly budget Clark focused on his shoulder, frowning when he watched something small and fuzzy shift on the thick shoulder armour just by his neck.

 

“Superman, do you have an issue with my reports or is there just something on my face?” Clark startled slightly at being called out, giving a sheepish smile as he put a hand on the back of his neck to hide the blush.

 

“Gee I’m sorry Batman, I was just curious what’s on your shoulder.”  Batman stiffened slightly before his whole body seemed to deflate. The thing on his shoulder wiggled slightly before a head popped out from the small mound of fluff. The small creature looked around the room with startlingly blue eyes before they locked onto Clark, and a familiar sinking feeling settled in his stomach. “Is that…”

 

The small bat chirped, turning around clumsily until he was now standing facing the man of steel, mouth grinning in an uncanny way that showed off a little too human teeth. Clark could feel himself rapidly pale as he recognised the strange black marking that covered the face of the small brown creature. The almost reddish brown that covered its body and the paler nearly blonde colour running down its back. Batman sighed again and scooped the small bat into his comically large looking hands.

 

“This is Robin, I’m babysitting.” Robin turned to face Batman and started to chatter at him, waving one of his wings dramatically before miming falling down on his back, his other wing covering his face. Someone suppressed a laugh that sounded deafening in the near silent room. Batman simply rubbed the little bat’s head and safely deposited him back onto the shoulder he had been perched on earlier. “Now if that is all I have a few mission reports I would like to go over. Hal, what does, ‘She tried to breast boobily but I’m too alpha’ mean?” 

 

Clark watched Hal attempt to sink into his incredibly comfortable chair as Arthur and Barry exchanged worried glances. But Clark was too busy spending the rest of the meeting keeping a watchful eye on the little bat, whose crystal blue eyes were staring holes in him as he licked his lips like the evil little gremlin he was.

 

---

 

The meeting ended an hour later with several members of the league leaving with their tails tucked between their legs after the verbal beatdown Batman had just given them. Many swore in their mind to write strictly facts in their future reports. Batman followed after them all, walking out the doors from the meeting room into the main museum hall where a few permitted reporters were allowed to stand around and wait to catch a glimpse of the many heroes that walked these halls, and the many more that would soon come. 

 

Bright lights flashed as people took photo after photo of the league, who all quickly perked up and pretended they hadn’t just been lectured on the proper way to format their reports. You’re a reporter Clark for fucks sake, know the difference between a colon and semi-colon. People shouted questions and shoved their microphones uncomfortably close to Clark’s face as he attempted to smile and placate whilst also shielding Batman from the worst of it.

 

He was too distracted to hear the whispering just near the end of the room, or to hear the snapping of a lock as something was opened. But he definitely noticed when several fuzzy brown shapes suddenly swarmed around them, circling and screeching as more cameras flashed and confused the poor creatures. Reporters were chomping at the bit to take a  photo of the supposed Vampire surrounded by his ‘brethren’ as one reporter called them. Just then Robin shifted from his place on Batman’s shoulder, his eerie eyes staring down the two people near the door holding the wooden box before he stood up and faced the swarm of terrified bats.

 

Taking a breath the little batling opened his mouth and screeched, calming the frenzied animals into swooping down and attaching themself onto Batman’s cloak like strange decorations on the world’s darkest Christmas tree. There was silence for just long enough for Batman’s sigh to be audible before he gently patted the little bat on the head.

 

“Thanks son.” The little bat puffed out his chest and started to chatter away happily as the reporters lost their minds. Batman had a son? Who was also a bat, or possibly even a vampire like him! The people screamed their questions, clambering over each other like sharks smelling blood, each trying to get the controversial Cryptid to say something, anything to them. To their dismay Batman ignored them, walking through the crowd with incredible grace for a man covered in bats before disappearing down a darkened corridor Clark swears used to be lit. Taking a breath to steady himself he also quickly rushed out of the room. If this was what people felt like being questioned by a reporter, Clark had to send personalised gift baskets to anyone interrogated by Lois. Being on the other side of the paparazzi was terrifying.

 

---

 

Bruce walked up to the Bat-wing and sighed, reaching out of his cloak to scoop up the little bat on his shoulder that huffed at him indignantly.

 

“I know chum, but your friends should probably head home now.” Dick deflated slightly but quickly started to chirp at the bats that had hooked their little claws into Bruce’s nice new cape. Alfred would have his head if he found the tiny little punctures in the brand new kevlar lined fabric he had just finished making. Slowly one by one the little bats unhooked themself from Bruce and flew off into the evening sun, back to who knows where. Dick looked off into the distance until the last one disappeared and chirped sadly. Bruce smiled and took the boy into his hands, opening his mouth to say something when there was a sudden puff of smoke and the small thing in his hands became a much heavier and wrigglier pre teen boy. 

 

Both stared at each other for a moment, processing the curse undoing before the boy grinned brightly. The small cloud of smoke blew away in the roooftop breeze and took with it whatever spell had been cast. But Bruce didn’t care because his boy was back to normal. When he had seen that ball of light hit Dick on patrol and had been left with a small bat with robin coloured patterns Bruce had feared it could be permanent. the mage that had cast the spell had escaped after all as Bruce was too busy fussing over his now extremely small and fragile child. He had been planning to ask Wonder woman if nothing had changed after a few days, Vampire cover be damned, he didn’t care about a secret identity if it meant Dick had to spend the rest of his days stuck as a bat. Bruce was also slightly concerned by the wizarding population’s desire to turn people into bats, seeing as they had done it to him barely a month ago.

 

“Gee whizz Batman, I’m me again. It sure is nice to have an actual voice.” Bruce chuckled as his ward clambered all over him, getting out his manic energy after having sat so well for the meeting earlier. He continued to clamber all over the man until he finally finished sitting on his shoulders, each hand grasping an ear of the cowl for support as he swung his legs in thought. Bruce let the boy think as he prepared the plane for the trip back to Gotham. Eventually the boy spoke up, his voice nearly a whisper.

 

“Do you remember what you called me earlier?” Bruce paused for only a second, but he knew Dick had seen it. The very training Bruce was giving him ingrained into his tiny mind.

 

“Remind me.” 

 

The silence that followed wasn’t quite heavy, but there was definitely a nervous energy to the way Dick’s hands drummed against Bruce’s cowl for a few minutes.

 

“You called me son. Was that on purpose or…” Bruce stopped his fussing over the plane and reached up to grab Dick. The boy went easily, allowing Bruce to put him on the floor before the man knelt before him. He wasn’t sure this was the best place for this conversation, but Dick was 12 now and he felt it may be time to mention it. See what he thinks.

 

“Robin, I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable by saying that. But know that I think of you like a son. I don’t have to be your dad, I know you had one, I’m happy to say as B forever if you want me to. If you want me to stop just tell me and I will ok?”  Bruce waited anxiously as he watched Dick go completely still. No shuffling feet, no taping hands, not even a head tilt. Like a picture he stood frozen. Bruce was starting to worry it may have been too soon when Dick surged forward, wrapped his arms around Bruce’s neck and squeezed tightly. 

 

“I’m ok with having a dad now B.” Bruce held the boy, his boy, and continued to hold him the entire way back to the manor. All the way until the two had sat down with the adoption paperwork and gone over it a million times. Until they had curled up in one of the drawing rooms with cups of hot cocoa and had fallen asleep all over each other. Because now the bat and bird really were a family. A broken, messed up but loving family.

Chapter 12: Media is a powerful tool, and you have a reporter in your pocket

Summary:

Batman gets captured! Oh no!
RIP Hal Jordan, not dead, but might as well be with how useful he was

Notes:

I had to beat this chapter out of me with a stick, but finally it finished

The people’s opinion on Batman changed slowly, like a trickling stream steadily crafting its own riverbed. 

 

What started the shift in opinion was a pair of pictures. Not the ones reporters were using to scaremonger people, Batman stood half hidden behind Superman with several bats swarming him as others looked about panicked. No, it was different. These pictures appeared online. A social media account called HJ_flyboy that took pictures of different cityscapes and made up solar systems posted a pair of pictures.

 

The first picture that they posted seemed unassuming at first, just a simple shot of the hall of Justice from the roof of a nearby highrise. But centred in the shot was a shape. Batman, kneeling beside his plane, a boy no older than 13 standing before him wringing his hands. The second photo was zoomed in, or maybe taken from closer somehow. Batman was standing now. His cloak open to reveal the child now clinging to him. Large arms wrapped around the boy like he was the most precious thing in the world, the child’s own arms clinging on just as tight.

 

It started to gain traction when someone pointed out the child’s costume seemed similar in colouring to the little bat that had been on Batman’s shoulder in the reporters’ photo. Blonde back for a yellow cape. Red tunic for the brownish fur. Eventually someone noted how Batman, a supposedly emotionless vampire, was holding the boy the way a parent held their child. Was this really the face of a cold hearted monster that wanted nothing more than the destruction of the human race? The deniers pushed back. Claiming it was an animalistic instinct to care for your young.

 

And so the two different sides of a secret war were born. They were near evenly matched, both at each others throats on what the Batman wanted with people and their planet. Until one day, Batman got caught. 

 

---

 

It was meant to be a simple mission, he and Green Lantern had been following… something. Hal didn’t actually know what they were following, but Batman seemed hell bent on something being here that they needed to look into, and after the dressing down he had received at the last meeting, he wanted to win a few brownie points. 

 

The two of them snuck into what looked like an abandoned warehouse, Hal floating behind Batman as he swept silently across the floor. It was a little unnerving how he almost lost the massive man several times when he slipped into shaded spots to check for anyone. Hal wasn’t quite sure why he was doing all this sneaking instead of jumping out as a bat, unless maybe the sun affected him whilst he was in bat form and he had to keep his protective armour on. Several parts of the ceiling were missing, large holes where god knows what had weakened the structure enough for the concrete to crumble around them into a faint dusty mist. Up ahead, near the door they were approaching, a large portion of the ceiling had completely caved in.

 

“Lantern can you stop.” Hal stopped following Batman and frowned, crossing his arms as he continued to hover a few inches off the ground.

 

“Stop what Batman, I thought you wanted my help with this?” Batman stepped slightly out of his shadowy corner to stare at Hal with those emotionless lenses before gesturing vaguely at Hal’s entire body.

 

“The glowing, Green Lantern. It is compromising our position. Especially in an environment like this where something glowing is more obvious in the dust cloud.” Hal looked down at his suit and then his ring. Was he really glowing that brightly? It wasn’t really something he could control though. In deep space missions where battling in large groups was always a threat, being able to spot your allies from a distance was crucial. Especially in the deep depths of space where nothing but the dark void and the pinpricks of distant galaxies could be seen. 

 

“I can’t really stop it Spooks, glowing is like, a big part of being a lantern. It’s in the name dude. Green Lantern.” Batman gave a humm before turning back to the task at hand, sneaking across the clearly empty room. It only took a minute for Hal to fly across the room to the large metal door they were aiming for. “Look, I don’t see what’s so hard about opening this door here se-”

 

“Lantern no!” Batman jumped forward to try yank Hal away from the door but it was too late. His glove closed around the pristine handle and a sudden jolt of electricity surged through him. At the same time the walls started to close in until the two of them were stuck in a 10ft by 10ft room. Hal faintly heard something beep before he was finally able to let go of the door handle and collapse to the floor. He could feel his costume flickering, the ring fighting to keep the suit activated despite its wielder's condition. Hal didn’t even have the energy to panic about his identity being out in the open before he felt something getting pushed against his face.

 

“Stop struggling, it's one of Robin’s spare masks so it might be a little small for you but it's enough to hide your face.” Hal mumbled vague gratitude before promptly passing out. Batman would probably have it handled from here right?

 

---

 

Bruce frowned as Hal lost consciousness. His right hand up to his elbow was red with lichtenberg marks that definitely were going to hurt when he woke up. He had thought Hal’s lantern constructs would help with whatever these people were planning, but he forgot about his inability to be stealthy. Hal was a good hero, compassionate and willing to put his life on the line for others, but he was also headstrong and extremely forward. If he thought he could brute force an issue he would try. And now Bruce was trapped in what was essentially a large concrete pit with his unconscious backup. The ring Hal wore probably was the only reason Hal wasn’t a pile of charcoal right now.

 

Bruce had originally come here after following an alarmingly large sale of garlic. Apparently with Batman’s reputation as a vampire, villains were starting to bulk buy garlic and crosses to try and prevent him from interfering with their nefarious plots. This however meant Bruce could just track the mass imports. Every few times he would end up following them to a restaurant, but it was still incredibly alarming just how much money they were sinking into these purchases just to keep the mythical Vampire Batman away from their plans. At least he discovered a few really good places to eat with Dick.

 

This group Bruce had tracked had been buying a lot of mechanical parts as well as various vampire hunting paraphernalia, so Bruce had bumped them up to high priority. He had originally wanted to bring Olli with him but the archer was busy in star city with some new villain that had shown up. So Hal Jordan had been selected. And now because of that Bruce was trying to figure out a way to get out of this pit. He tried his comm device, but clearly something was jamming the signal with the way it fed him nothing but static. 

 

Bruce paced around the perimeter of the room, one hand against the wall as he scanned what he could. No footholds, unless he wanted to use the debris that had been pushed into the centre with them when the walls closed in. Actually, all the walls had pushed them so they were stood right by the door. The polished metal door that was clearly newly installed. Footsteps approached from behind before something like keys could be heard jingling on the other side. Bruce quickly crouched over Hal, covering the unconscious man in his cloak, at least the semi-everything prof material should protect him better than the leather jacket and jeans he now wore. 

 

The door opened and several cloaked figures walked in. Bruce would have attacked them were it not for the hostages they had. Each one with a glistening dagger to their throat. Bruce instead re-adjusted his cape to cover more of Hal whilst still keeping as many of them in his line of sight as possible. Eventually they formed a half circle, a man in a pure white robe stood in front of Batman. Only the lower half of his grinning face could be seen.

 

“Batman, lovely to finally meet you. Me and a few associates decided you’re too dangerous to be allowed to live. Now we can’t kill you, so we will instead expose you to the world, show the Justice league your true beastly nature.” The man made a gesture and the robed people threw the hostages towards Bruce. Unable to move and risk exposing Hal, Bruce caught them before they all jumped up and pressed themself against the far wall. Hopefully he was imagining the way they seemed to flinch away from his touch.

 

The cloaked figures all shuffled towards the door, leaving one by one until only the main one was left. He pulled what looked to be a remote from his pocket and waved it up at the ceiling. A thick layer of glass slowly covered the opening. That meant he couldn’t grapple out either, damn. The man gave a bow before leaving out the door like his colleagues, just before he left he turned to face Bruce, throwing him one final bordering manic grin.

 

“That’s in case you tried to fly away. And it has the added effect of magnifying the sun rays. Let’s see just how sun-proof your suit really is Vampire scum.” Then with that the metal door slammed shut and locked. Bruce scanned the room once more, really paying attention, and noticed the hidden cameras built into each wall. Fantastic. Hopefully he had covered Hal enough for his face to not be seen by them. Bruce checked his watch, 10am. He had 2 hours before it hit noon and the sun would shine through the glass ceiling and burn them all like ants under a magnifying glass. Bruce’s only hope would be that the cameras were live and a Justice league member would be able to find them before then.

 

An hour passed with little happening besides the temperature slowly rising. Bruce had only moved twice. Once to try lock picking the door. Unfortunately the lock was blocked on his end. And once to try checking on the hostages. There were four in total. Two children, a man and a woman. Based on their facial structures they were probably a family. The two adults had hidden the children behind themself the second Bruce had turned to face them, despite the kids attempts to wave at him. Bruce simply offered them a wry smile before checking back in on Hal.

 

His burns were no longer hot to the touch, but still looked to be very painful. He had attempted to bandage them earlier, but without him being conscious, he couldn't get him anything for the pain. He didn’t want to risk an allergic reaction to Bruce’s specialised burn salve. After a few more minutes one of the children managed to escape their father’s grip, running over to Batman despite her parent’s yells. The little girl stopped beside Bruce, staring down at the unconscious masked man before her.

 

“Is he dead?” Bruce startled back at the sudden voice as well as her unexpected appearance. Were all children so sneaky? Maybe Dick wasn’t special and they were just built like that…

 

“No, but he is hurt.” The child nodded at his answer and leant down to poke at Hal’s face mask. The sleeping lantern didn’t even flinch, too deep in unconsciousness to react.

 

“Minster bat guy, when can we leave? It’s really hot and daddy has diebeetus but no snacks.” Bruce frowned and turned to look back at the father, who was looking a lot paler than he should for the current temperature. Bruce reached into his many pockets and pulled out a handful of brightly coloured lollipops, holding them out for the child.

 

“Here, these should help. And one for you and your brother for being so brave.” The girl’s face lit up as she carefully chose four blue coloured ones and happily skipped back to her family. The four of them started to whisper frantically, probably about whether or not it was safe to consume. Bruce ignored them. He wiped the sweat that was starting to pool in uncomfortable places. It may not be that hot yet, but in a full titanium kevlar weave suit that was painted nearly all black, it was hell on earth. 

 

A few minutes later the little girl came back to sit beside Bruce. Either because she found him comforting or because she wanted more sweets he wasn’t sure. He smiled at her, reaching out to ruffle her hair. The girl frowned and smacked his hand away.

 

“Don’t mess up my hair. Daddy spent all morning trying to plait it.” Bruce removed his hand as asked, watching as the girl tried to smooth out the loose bits of hair.

 

“I can re-braid it for you if you want?” The girl stopped messing with her hair to stare at him, then his hands.

 

“Fine but don’t scratch me with your super long nails.” Bruce took the offered hairbands from her and carefully brushed out her hair with said nails. It was a bit harder whilst wearing the gauntlets, but eventually he managed to braid her hair into a pair of braids. They were called waterfall or something like that, Barbara would tell him when he got back. The sudden sound of shattering glass startled Bruce and his instincts of being out with Robin took over. He grabbed the child and quickly pulled her under his cape, pulling the material over himself as well as making sure Hal was mostly protected. Someone screamed, probably the mother, before the sound of someone walking over had Bruce looking up.

 

---

 

Dick was happily enjoying his Saturday morning cartoons when a breaking news alert interrupted him and his cereal. Dick had to blink a few times as he processed what he was watching. It was a live news cast of his dad, Batman, trapped with an unconscious Hal Jordan and 4 civilians. He could already make out the edges of the room where the sunlight was starting to burn the floor. He had maybe a half hour before all of them would be dead.

 

Dick quickly threw his spoon into his bowl and sprinted down to the cave. He grabbed his mask and belt, ignoring the rest of his suit for time's sake. One button press later he was behind the wheel of the Batmobile as it raced down the underground cavern roads Bruce had made for appearing randomly all over Gotham. As soon as the mask had dried enough he exited through one of the doorways and scrambled onto a roof, screaming the whole way.

 

“Superman! Clark! Help!!!” Dick yelled for almost a whole minute before a slightly frazzled looking Superman was floating before him, nervously glancing around the city. Dick didn’t hesitate and threw himself at the man who caught him easily. Dick vaulted up until he was seated on the now very confused man’s shoulders.

 

“Batman got kidnapped and is going to die if we don’t save him! Go!” Clark tilted his head, similar to a puppy that was given a command it didn’t quite understand. His eyes widened as he probably heard whatever the news stations were saying.

 

“Green Lantern is down and there are hostages. Hold on tight Robin.” No sooner had he finished talking did the two of them speed off into the distance. Dick covered himself with his cape as Clark smashed through the glass, burning sunlight stopping barely centimetres away from burning away at Batman’s cape. The woman started to scream, tried to scramble over to Batman, but the man held her back. Both were teary eyed.

 

Dick ignored them to walk over to Bruce, tapping him on the shoulder once as he slowly lowered his cape. There, clutched protectively to his chest was a girl, maybe a few years younger than Dick was. Hal was also unconscious on the floor but Superman quickly swept him off the floor and sped him off to who knows where. The little girl started to cry before running off to the civilians, blubbering about how scared she was when the glass had exploded. 

 

Dick simply hugged his dad, his heart frantically beating in his chest as he clutched tight his second father figure who he had almost lost.

 

“You’re an idiot. I’m better help than a stupid Lantern.” Bruce chuckled and stood, lifting Dick with him.

 

“That you are chum. Though maybe next time you can help with shoes on.” Dick looked down at his own feet, the soles cut open thanks to the glass, and ducked his head in embarrassment. Dick felt Bruce pull out his grapple and get them both out of the hole. Bruce gently placed him down before jumping back down to help the hostages out. Soon the two of them were headed back to Gotham, even if the flight back was made awkward with Clark’s constant apologies about how he should have noticed sooner. Bruce simply crossed his arms and sulked at having to be princess carried, but Dick knew Bruce didn’t mind as long as Dick was enjoying himself.

 

---

 

The media storm that followed that live stream was cataclysmic. The culprits were caught and arrested. Their leader was a man who spent his time on forums openly criticising Batman. Further investigation by one reporter, later learned to be called Clark Kent, discovered the man to be part of a meta hate group. 

 

Interviews with the kidnapped family were enlightening. The mother spoke about how scared she had been watching that ceiling come down with her child so far from her. She spoke of how Batman hadn’t hesitated to protect her child from the sharp glass, pulling her under his cloak. It was also revealed that Batman had saved her husband’s life, he had been on the verge of a diabetic crash when he had pulled out a handful of lollipops for them. When Clark later asked Batman for why he had lollipops on him, he simply took one out of his belt and handed it to one of the many children that had crowded him when he had landed. 

 

So thanks to the villain’s attempt to reveal Batman as a monster, more people were praising him for his willingness to save humans despite his own injuries. 

 

Not one news station mentioned Green Lantern, though there was a single paragraph about the faceless injured human Batman had tried so hard to protect on the daily planet’s pages.

 

One effect that nobody had expected was the start of a fan-group in Batman’s name. The people that had been touched by the bat’s selflessness to help others before himself had people standing up against the hate even more than before. Protests filled the streets for the equal treatment of the bat, no matter his species.

 

This soon led to a meta-rights law being made that covered not just humans, but all sentient life that posed no harm towards humanity. Not that Bruce ever found out.