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It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a paranoid Batman in possession of multiple vigilante children, must be in want of a contingency plan. Or, many contingency plans.
It all started, as many things in Bruce Wayne’s life often do, with Dick Grayson.
With Tony Zucco finally behind bars, Bruce had hoped that maybe Dick would quit Robin. Give up the mask, disregard his training with the Bat, and live a normal life. (Well, as normal a life as the ex-acrobat ward of an emotionally constipated billionaire who also secretly dresses as an oversized bat and beats criminals at night can be). After all, Dick only became Robin to catch his parents’ murderer. It was only natural for Bruce to assume (read: hope) that after they caught Tony Zucco, Robin would be retired for good.
Bruce had been very, very wrong.
Dick reveled in the ability to fly once more. The 9-year-old acrobat was convinced that what Batman needed, what Gotham needed, was a symbol of hope. The Dark Knight existed to strike fear into the hearts of the city’s criminals. His new partner, however, existed to give its citizens hope. Dick Grayson was stubborn on this belief and so Robin, much to Batman’s displeasure, was here to stay.
At 20-something-years-old, Bruce Wayne was not only a dad to a hyperactive 9-year-old, but he was also the dad of a hyperactive, vigilante 9-year-old with minimal self-preservation instincts and a habit of jumping off high places and doing flips without so much as a “Holy aerial backflip, Batman!” for a notice. Suffice to say, it did not take too long for Bruce to start growing grey hairs, no matter his youth.
Bruce would not call himself a paranoid man. His parents got murdered in front of his incredibly young eyes. His former best friend, Harvey Dent, became Two Face and tried to kill him. He lived in a city known for its high crime rates, in a world filled with unpredictable unknowns like magic and aliens. He was not paranoid, no matter what Alfred would say. He was vigilant. Rightfully wary of things and prepared for anything.
So, when more and more superpowered individuals in spandex started popping up around the world, gaining popularity with the public due to their ‘hero’ status, Batman started making contingency plans.
Most of said plans were ways to defeat them should any of them turn to the dark side, be it due to mind control, manipulation or whatever else. Some of those plans, however, were about keeping the heroes out of his city, about preserving Batman’s secrecy, and most importantly, preserving Robin’s secrecy.
His son ward needed to be protected from any and all unknown dangers, and the best way for that, in Bruce’s eyes, was for Robin to not even exist outside of Gotham.
A year after Robin’s debut, when the Justice League first formed, Batman still held the same beliefs. Which is why, even after years of working as a team, he never told them his secret identity and not a single Leaguer knew about Robin’s existence. (Clark knew, but only because Dick sneaked into the Watchtower before Bruce could install a machine to mask Dick’s heartbeat into Robin’s suit, and Diana knew, because Bruce came to eventually trust and respect her as a friend and not just as a formidable warrior and teammate). Dick was safe.
And as Robin became a legacy, so was Jason. And then Tim. And Stephanie. And Damian.
Cass and Barbara and Duke as well.
All the kids, including the ones that weren’t really his, like Harper and Luke, were safe. As far as anyone knew, Batman worked alone, and there were no other Gotham-based vigilantes.
His kids didn’t always make it easy for his contingency plans to protect them.
When Dick left home and became his own hero (Nightwing, he chose, because Clark had always been the favourite uncle and Bruce was definitely not jealous of how much Dick looked up to the man), he very quickly befriended other teenaged superheroes and formed a team of his own. And as always, his siblings followed suit, joining teams of their own and expanding outside of the protective walls Bruce had built around Gotham.
Surprising Bruce, however, none of the young sidekicks had told their mentors about the Bats and Birds in their teams. His children had earned their teammates’ respect and loyalty, and so his children’s existence remained unknown to most heroes.
(“They find it funny, B.” Dick had explained once.
Tim nodded. “Bart thinks it’s hilarious whenever Barry and Hal talk like you are some kind of cryptid.”
Jason snorted. “Roy keeps tally of how often Oliver complains about both Batman and Brucie Wayne. So far, Brucie is in the lead. Surprisingly.”
“Hn.” Bruce grunted thoughtfully. Then, the corners of his lips slightly twitched upwards, a ghost of a smirk on his face. “That might change after next week’s performance review.”)
All of this to say, due to his need to protect his children, the Justice League was not aware of his family. He had contingency plans in case any of the kids became compromised, but for the most part they were not needed, as his children knew how to stay in the shadows and (mostly) obey orders.
That all changed because of a stupid family tradition.
-
Hal Jordan had known Wally West for a pretty long time, liked to refer to himself as the kid’s honorary uncle, and so, when Wally took up Barry’s mantle as the Flash and joined the League in his uncle’s stead, despite Hal being devastated by his best friend’s death, the Green Lantern could not have been prouder of his pseudo nephew.
After Barry’s return, both speedsters kept the mantle of Flash, being instead referred to as Central City’s Flash and Keystone City’s Flash. With Iris’ pregnancy, Barry and Wally decided to split their Flash duties with the Justice League to give Barry more time to be a dad. Hal only grew prouder as Wally continued to prove himself with the League as his own Flash, and not just Barry’s replacement.
Although, Hal had to admit, he sort of felt bad for the kid whenever he had to join the mandatory bi-monthly meetings the Trinity insisted on, instead of his uncle.
Barry had once explained to Hal that time worked differently for speedsters, that everyone else was much slower, and that having to sit still and pay attention to a boring meeting about ‘financial decisions’ or ‘proper procedures regarding various probable scenarios’ was basically torture.
Wally was even faster than Barry. Wally was the fastest person alive. Mandatory meetings must have been even worse for him.
Hal glanced over at his pseudo nephew on the opposite side of the table from him, a few seats further down. Wonder Woman had just finished talking about diplomacy with governments when it comes to representing the Justice League, and Batman stood up next to her, the screen behind him showcasing several number charts and percentages, and started lecturing them on property damage reduction when in active battle.
Unsurprisingly, Wally had not been paying attention. Surprisingly, Hal noticed that Wally kept subtly glancing around him, leg rapidly fidgeting underneath the table, and shoulders stiffer than usual.
Hal kept staring at him, trying to catch his attention. Wally noticed him pretty quickly, and offered him a forced faux-nonchalant smile. Hal’s eyebrows furrowed.
‘You okay?’ he mouthed at the speedster.
Wally nodded, and turned to look at the charts Batman was talking about.
Unconvinced, Hal kept observing him, and it wasn’t long before Wally started anxiously glancing around again.
Whatever Wally was wary of, didn’t seem to happen. Under the conference table, Hal created an arrow construct with his ring, and sent it directly to Oliver’s leg. If Hal wasn’t worried about Wally, he would have been very amused by the Green Arrow startling in his seat, a small yelp escaping him. Batman did not pause, but he did glare Oliver’s way before returning his emotionless expression and regarding the whole room again. Oliver did not bother sending Batman any apologetic looks, he instead looked under the table and spotted Hal’s construct. He immediately glared at it. Dinah, who was sitting next to her husband, raised a curious brow at him, but Oliver did not offer any explanations. He ignored her completely, and instead focused his glare on Hal. Having gotten Oliver’s attention, Hal quickly looked at Wally, then back at Oliver, and at Wally again. He did not need to repeat that action much before Oliver understood what Hal wanted and looked at Wally. Oliver must have observed his weird behaviour as well, because he then turned to meet Hal’s eyes with a questioning look. Hal shrugged in response.
Before the two could continue their silent conversation, a young man in a tight, black Kevlar suit with a blue symbol on his chest and a blue mask with whitened eyes just like Batman’s cowl had fell through the ceiling above Wally and stood on the table in front of him. He was facing away from Wally, head tilted upwards, staring at something in the distance. Wally’s eyes widened, and to Hal’s surprise, he leaned towards the intruder’s body, as if he was using the body in front of him for protection from a different threat.
Silence had never been so loud. The entire Justice League stared at the intruder.
“Dude! Are you okay?” Wally broke the silence, as he was wont to do.
It took a moment for Hal to realise the question was aimed at the masked stranger, but when he got over his shock, he finally noticed the red liquid that covered the intruder’s lower body in concentrated splatches.
Blood, was Hal’s first thought, quickly followed by, blood isn’t that bright. Blood doesn’t smell like that.
“Is that paint?!” Oliver voiced his own observation.
Hal was surely mistaken, but for a second he thought he heard Batman sigh.
The intruder turned his head sideways, bending his neck backwards a bit to be able to look at Wally. He smiled. “The suit is built to protect me from worse things than paintballs, Walls.”
Wally nodded, but his eyes still conveyed clear concern.
Only at that moment did Hal truly realise what had just happened. Someone had shot at Wally with a paintball gun, and this person had jumped in front of the speedster last minute to take the hit instead.
What. The. Fuck.
The rest of the Leaguers must have reached the same conclusion as him, because most of them were on high alert, scanning the area with their eyes for the second intruder, ready for a fight should the need arise.
Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman were not on high alert.
In fact, Hal would argue that the three of them appeared pretty relaxed for the situation at hand. Superman and Wonder Woman, specifically, looked amused. Batman was simply scowling, but not with his usual amount of doom and gloom.
“Nightwing.” Batman’s stern voice cut through the room. He did not sound as furious as he did tired, which surprised Hal.
The blue symbol guy – Nightwing, apparently – turned to look at the Dark Knight. Instead of cowering under his patented Batglare, like any sane person would, Nightwing offered Batman a bright, wide smile.
“Hi, B.”
Well, if the guy was not dead before for breaking into the Watchtower, he sure would be now. Giving the big, bad, Bat a nickname was asking for the death sentence. Hal would know, he almost exclusively called the Bat ‘Spooky’ just to piss him off.
Batman did not react to the nickname. “You do not have permission to be in the Watchtower.”
What the fuck?
“Tell that to him!” Nightwing scoffed, and he turned to stare at the shadows in the far corner of the ceiling where the paintball, Hal noted, had come from.
“Red Robin.” Batman said the name like a command, and immediately, another masked figure fell from the ceiling.
This one was shorter than Nightwing, shorter than everyone in the room. He wore a black and burgundy Kevlar suit, with a black cowl similar to Batman’s covering his upper face. A cape fell behind him, and a golden and black symbol adorned his chest, where two golden utility belts met at a crisscross. Once he started approaching the table, Hal was able to spot the paintball gun he was carrying, half hidden by his cape at his side. He also gathered that the second intruder was most likely a teenager.
How did a teenager break into the Watchtower?!
The figure, Red Robin, frowned at Nightwing.
“You are playing dirty.”
Nightwing all but gasped at the accusation. “I am playing dirty?!” He pointed aggressively at the younger man. “You attacked Wally in the Watchtower!”
“Unsuccessfully.”
“Not the point!”
Hal couldn’t be sure with the whitened material at his cowl, but he thought the teen rolled his eyes. “There is no rule against attacking at the Watchtower.”
Nightwing stilled at that for a second, before composing himself. “Because we are not allowed at the Watchtower! It’s implied that it applies to the tournament!”
“Implications are not rules. I can’t be penalized.”
“Excuse me.” Hal finally had enough. “What the fuck is going on?”
The two turned to look at Hal, and then at the rest of the League, being reminded of their audience. They looked at each other for a bit, almost as if they were having a silent conversation, and both turned to face Batman at the same time. It was honestly kind of creepy.
Batman was pinching the bridge of his nose. Again, uncharacteristic behaviour from the Bat.
Superman seemed to lose a battle with himself and let out a chuckle. Batman quickly turned to glare at him. The Man of Steel simply smiled in return, eyes full of amusement. Wonder Woman was now smirking in mirth.
Batman turned to look back at the two intruders. “Nightwing, Red Robin, return to the Cave at once. I will join you shortly.” Before Hal could argue, Batman continued talking. “You too, Hood.”
At his words, Nightwing’s eyes widened. He quickly propelled himself in the air, jumping backwards and turning several times in the air in a feat of incredible acrobatics, before landing with his legs on the floor behind Wally’s chair. He moved to Wally’s side, put his palm on top of the speedster’s head and shoved him under the table, Wally willingly going along. Nightwing went down with him.
Green Arrow, who was sitting directly opposite from Wally, got hit in the face with red paint.
Oliver yelled as his head fell backwards with the impact, and immediately started spitting out the bits of paint that got in his mouth, gloved hands wiping away at the paint in front of his masked eyes.
Dinah was laughing at him. She composed herself to help him with the paint, but amusement never left her face.
“Dammit!” a low, annoyed voice cursed from where the shot was made.
Hal found that he wasn’t really that surprised any more when a third intruder fell from the ceiling, also holding a paintball gun. This guy was wearing a red helmet instead of a mask, but his clothes were still Kevlar. He was the biggest out of the three, shoulders broad and muscle evident. There was a red bat on his chest, similar to Batman’s symbol, and yeah, by now Hal was certain these intruders were all Bat-affiliated.
Hal did not have the mental strength right now to consider the implications of Batman not only having associates outside of the League, but those associates being clearly young.
The helmeted guy – Hood, Hal assumed – stomped towards Red Robin, stopping only when he reached the teenager’s side. He balanced his paintball gun on his shoulder with one hand, and reached into one of his many pockets with the other, all while facing Batman. “You couldn’t keep your mouth shut, could ya?” He took out a phone and took a picture of Oliver, red paint still on most of his face. Hood snorted as he started typing on it with one hand. “Arsenal will love this.”
Oliver’s eyes widened at the mention of his ex-protégé. He stared at Hood. “What?”
Nightwing stood up, but kept Wally under the table. He faced the two paintball shooters. “You were a decoy!” He exclaimed at Red Robin.
“Of course I was.” He replied. He then turned to Hood. “What took you so long? You lost your window of opportunity by ages! You are supposed to be a marksman.” he scolded.
Hood returned his phone to his pocket. “O was in my ear. We were negotiating.”
Nightwing smiled at that, and Red Robin gasped. “I cannot believe you would betray our alliance like that!”
Hood shrugged. “Hey, O can be persuasive. But B cut our chat short, so I still shot.”
Nightwing stuck his tongue out at Red Robin.
“Remind me to tell Oracle how much I love her, next time we see her.” Hal heard Wally tell Nighwing.
Suddenly, a heavily modulated voice sounded throughout the room. “Redhead solidarity.”
Hal had no idea where the voice came from. Wally replied to it, nonetheless.
“O, I love you!”
“Oracle,” Batman spoke up, “the Watchtower comms channel is for emergency use only.”
“Just leaving, B.” the voice, Oracle, said. “Signal is attempting to break through my security, anyway. Have to monitor it.”
“I thought Signal allied with Black Bat and Spoiler.” Nightwing said, head slightly titled to the side as his tone became questioning.
“He did.”
“Aren’t you allied with the Batgirls?”
“I am.”
Red Robin spoke up. “Spoils and BB are allied with Singal and with Oracle, but Signal and Oracle aren’t allied. They aren’t allowed to help O if she gets targeted by Signal, nor Signal if he gets targeted by Oracle.” He explained. “Signal and O are allowed to attack each other.”
Nightwing made an ‘O’ face in understanding. “O, before you leave. Is anyone else out?”
“Signal got Batwing, and Spoiler got Robin.”
Wally’s head shot up from under the table. “Robin’s out?”
Nightwing shoved Wally under the table again. “Can’t imagine he’s happy about it, but at least he can help me protect you now.”
Okay, Hal was starting to lose track of all these new names. Was Batman affiliated with all of them? Mister ‘I work alone’? And none of them had known? How long had this been going on, anyway?
Hood snorted. “Brat’s definitely not happy.”
“Enough.” Batman’s low voice caused all of them to still and look at him. “Cave. Now.”
“Now, just one second, Batman.” Aquaman spoke up. “I think we are all owed some explanations, first.”
“Yes.” Hawkwoman agreed. “Who are these people, and how did they break into the Watchtower?”
“And why the paint?” Hal often spoke before being able to filter himself. It got him into a lot of trouble when he was in the military, and it still got him in trouble with the Guardians, but he didn’t really care much. He was asking the important questions.
“Hn.” was Batman’s only reply. It was the most Batman thing he had done since this madness started.
Superman shyly raised his hand. “I’m also a bit confused.” Hal was not expecting that, given how calm and entertained the man had been the entire time. “Why is Wally part of the tournament?”
“Yes.” Wonder Woman spoke. “When I asked to join, I was told it was strictly family only.”
“He is not part of it.” Nightwing replied, arms crossed. He looked at Red Robin and Hood, and Hal was certain he was glaring at them. “These two are breaking the rules.”
“As of last June, Wally is family.” Red Robin argued back. “So, he is fair game.”
“I don’t see anyone targeting Roy!” Nightwing shot back. They all ignored Oliver’s “What?” again.
Hood placed his elbow on top of Red Robin’s head, casually leaning on it as he replied. “Roy’s my boyfriend. Wally is your husband.”
“What?!” this time, both Oliver and Hal exclaimed that, but for different reasons.
No doubt Oliver was surprised about the Roy part. Hal, however, was stuck on the second sentence. Because Hal knew who Wally had married, he even met the guy a few times, though he had to miss the wedding for a last-minute mission from Oa. Hal knew that Wally’s husband was Dick Grayson, son of billionaire Bruce Wayne. That meant that Nightwing was none other than Dick Grayson. That meant that Wally’s husband was also a cape, and an apparent associate of the Bat, and no one had bothered to tell Hal.
Did Barry know about this?
“You are co-parenting his daughter!” Nightwing’s voice snapped him back into the conversation. “You’ve been raising her for years!”
“WHAT?!” Oliver, ignored once more.
“Look,” Red Robin spoke up before Hood could reply, “since you are so adamant that Wally is not even officially participating in the tournament, then there is no harm in us marking him. Let us shoot at him and we’ll leave him alone. By your logic, it shouldn’t matter anyway.”
Wally raised his head a bit, looking up at Nightwing. “Babe, maybe we shou-“
“No.” Nightwing told Red Robin. “I didn’t sacrifice myself losing first to protect my husband, just for him to also lose without a fight.”
“So he is playing?” Hood said.
“No.” came Nightwing’s reply.
Red Robin’s mouth turned downwards. “You’re contradicting yourself.”
“You-“ Nightwing hesitated, clearly having backed himself into a corner, “You cheated by targeting him in the Watchtower! He was forced to be here in an official League capacity and you took advantage of that!”
“The rules don’t say-“
“Oh, so this is allowed but attacking you at W- at your day job isn’t?” Nightwing smirked. “Maybe next year I will corner you in one of your mandatory meetings.”
“He got you there, Red.” Hood said.
Red Robin looked up at the man, and you did not have to be able to see his glare to know it was there. “I am never making an alliance with you again.”
“Boys!” Batman cut through once more, desperately trying to gain some control over the situation, and holy shit Hal recognised that tone. That was the tone of an exhausted dad trying to control his kids. These were Batman’s kids.
Batman was a dad.
Hal might have short-circuited at the realization, because the next time he looked up at the room, Red Robin and Hood were suddenly by Batman’s side, each begrudgingly giving him their paintball guns. Wally was now sitting on his chair normally again, looking much more relaxed than he had been since the meeting started. Nightwing was sitting on his lap, arm around Wally’s neck, satisfied smirk on his face.
“I am initiating a peace period. The peace will end once you have all relocated to the Cave.” Batman was saying.
Hal noticed Wally leaning next to Nightwing’s ear, though he didn’t really bother whispering. “Is that his first one?”
“Second.”
Wally nodded. “Only has one left, right?”
Nightwing hummed in agreement and kissed his cheek. “The sooner they go away, the bigger the chaos.”
Wally chuckled in shared amusement, and did not drop his smile once he spotted Batman glaring at him.
That was what marrying into the family must have meant, Hal supposed. You become immune to Batman’s glare.
Batman regarded his kids again. “I expect the rules to be amended and specified by next year’s tournament.”
Black Canary finally spoke up. “Can someone explain what this ‘tournament’ we keep hearing about is?”
“Annual family paintball tournament. Last person unmarked is the winner, and gets special privileges for the rest of the year.” Red Robin explained before Batman could stop him. “First one out,” Red Robin looked at Nightwing, who in turn childishly stuck his tongue out again, “gets a punishment decided by third and second places.”
“It started as a training exercise.” Nightwing smiled at Dinah. “But it quickly escalated. Our family’s kind of chaotic.”
Hood snorted. “Doesn’t help that B keeps adopting.”
Both Clark and Diana chuckled at that. The rest of the League stared, dumbfounded.
“Wait,” Oliver said, “you mean Batman’s your dad?”
All three nodded at the same time. A single nod, curt and clear. Like Batman.
“How many of your children are vigilantes, Batman?” J’ohn asked, not really nosy, more with a kind curiosity.
“Better yet,” Arthur interjected, “how many children do you even have?”
Batman stayed quiet. Hal thought the man looked almost embarrassed. It was the best thing Hal had seen in his life.
All three of his kids were staring at him. It was like watching a telepathic conversation, only, Hal was 99% sure at this point that Bats was definitely human. He did not know about his kids, but he did know that Batman famously disliked metahumans in his city, so it was a fair guess that the kids were ordinary humans as well.
“…Six.” Batman finally answered. “Legally.”
“Legally?” Dinah raised an amused brow.
All three batlings, along with Wally, let out amused snorts and chuckles.
“Seven if you count Spoiler, who refuses to be adopted.” Red Robin said.
Batman grunted. “I pay for her food, shelter and education. She spends more time at home than Red Hood, who is actually adopted, does.”
Okay, so Batman is a serial adopter, got it.
“She still has a mum, B.”
“There is such a thing as partial adoption…” Batman mumbled.
Nightwing ignored him and carried on. “If you count emotionally, he has like, eleven kids.”
“Eleven?” it was Hood, apparently Red Hood, that asked.
Nightwing nodded at him. “Bluebird’s brother.”
“Oh.”
These people did not even know how many they were. Wow.
“Are we counting Jarro?” Hood asked then.
Red Robin scrunched his nose. “I am not counting Jarro.”
Nightwing looked thoughtful. “He did wear the Robin costume.”
“Half of Gotham wore the costume during Signal’s little revolution.” Red Robin countered.
“Okay, time out.” Oliver spoke up. All three batlings turned to look at him in that creepy way they did. Oliver startled for a moment, before composing himself. “Can we circle back to the fact that you,” he pointed at Red Hood, “a son of him,” he gestured at Batman, earning him a glare from the man, “are apparently in a serious, long-term relationship with my son?”
“Fuck you from Roy.” Was Hood’s cheerful reply.
At Oliver’s words, Hal got reminded of another thing. He turned to look at Nightwing only to find the man already looking back at him from where he sat comfortably on Wally’s lap.
Hal was staring. I know who you are, he tried to convey.
Nightwing only smiled and waved at him in return.
“Wait.” Hal suddenly said out loud. His eyes widened as he stared at Nightwing. “But, if you are…” he turned to look at Batman, “and he’s your…” he then blinked a few times, shock evident on his face, “that means…” his eyes were stuck on Batman. Batman stared back. The man was emotionless, but Hal could tell he was silently considering him. Hal looked back at Nightwing. “Please tell me you have two dads.”
Nightwing’s smile widened. “Nope.” he popped the p.
Hal stared at Batman. There was no way that the emotionally constipated, emo nightmare before him was charismatic and dumb, ex-playboy celebrity Bruce fucking Wayne.
Oh, Hal realised then, if this was true, he could gain so much pleasure by making fun of the Bat now.
His shocked expression quickly turned into a smug one. Batman glared at him in return, but Hal was too excited to let it affect him.
I accept death if I get to go down pissing off Spooky.
“Lantern.” Batman spoke, low and dangerous. “You are to remain here after the meeting adjourns. I wish to speak to you. Privately.”
Nightwing laughed. “You’re getting the talk.” he snickered with Wally.
Wally offered Hal a kind smile. “Don’t worry, it’s just a few threats. Barry recovered pretty quickly after his.”
“Barry knows?!”
“I mean, yeah.” Wally answered. “We had to tell him after the wedding. Got the Bat’s blessing and all.”
“What just happened?” Oliver sounded confused.
“I think Hal just figured out the Bat’s identity.” replied Arthur.
“You three.” Batman faced each of his children. “Cave. Now.” he then turned to face the rest of the room. “We have a meeting to finish, after which you may ask any questions you desire. It is my choice whether I answer them or not.”
It took some complaining, a lot from his kids, but also some from the Leaguers as well, but eventually everyone complied with his orders. Nightwing kissed Wally’s cheek goodbye, and when Hood walked up to Diana to bid her goodbye personally, she placed her hand on Hood’s shoulder and told him that they should spar soon, before letting him join his brothers. The three batlings made their way to the Zeta Tubes, and everyone stared after them as they disappeared from the meeting room.
What Hal expected, as only the Leaguers remained, was for Batman to immediately attempt to continue their meeting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. When he turned to look at Batman, however, the man had his index finger pressed on the comms on his ear.
“Agent A.” he said to whoever was on the other side of the line. “Peace period ends as soon as they enter the Cave. They will have their guard down. Be ready to engage.”
Clark laughed. “You were planning for this the whole time, weren’t you, Batman?”
Batman, honest to whatever gods existed out there, smirked back at Clark. “Hn.” He replied, and that seemed to be enough for Clark.
The smirk then disappeared from his face, and the professional, no-nonsense Batman they were more accustomed to returned.
“What to consider when combating an enemy in heavily populated areas.” Batman started, and the entire Justice League settled in their seats as they went through the rest of the meeting.
And if no one was really paying any attention anymore, minds running rampant with theories and questions to ask Batman after the meeting was over, none of the Trinity commented on it.
(And if Hal stood staring mouth open at a Batman sans his cowl after everyone else had left, having just gotten threatened in ways that made him wish he was still a rookie recruit at the military, because even that experience had been less scary than the detailed ways in which Bruce Batman Wayne had just threatened to ruin his life should he ever tell anyone else his secret identity, then Barry owed him one. It was the guy’s fault that he even had enough context clues to figure out Batman’s identity in the first place.)