Birdflash oneshots 2

Rich brats

Dick was always lumped in with other rich kids when it came to anything. They were seen as snobs who only cared for themselves. They were seen as a quick cash grab for villains and thugs. They were valuable hostages. They were people who had everything handed to them and never had to work for everything. Or at least, that's what people saw. 

They didn't see the impossible standards the kids had to live up to. They didn't see the horrible home lives they had, where they had thousands of lessons piled on them by parents who had their lives planned out. They didn't see the hundreds of people who wanted to be friends only because of their money and status. They didn't see how parents and advisors would watch their every move and judge any mistake they made.  Dick had learned a long time ago that he had a good life compared to the others. He often made an effort to talk to them, to try and offer any comfort he could. Being watched 24/7 would make anyone go nuts.

However, when twenty different rich kids ranging from twelve to eighteen went missing in one night, the world panicked. Hundreds of police departments started a search for them, and every civilian kept an eye out for the valuable children. Many parents offered a reward for the return of their children. Bruce kept an open mission for the kids, looking whenever he had free time. Dick, although he was seventeen now, was still his kid and had gone missing with the other kids. Dick was a strong boy, and knew how to take care of himself, but he'd have to watch his cover as Dick Grayson. He couldn't give away his secret identity by escaping, which meant he was stuck until someone found and rescued him. Bruce was determined to find his son quickly.

Two months passed before there was any sign of the rich kids. The team was infiltrating a laboratory called  Odos. It raised several red flags, reminding the original team of Cadmus. One of their files mentioned an experiment about a new breed of soldiers. One: there were twenty test subjects. Two, there was no mention of any volunteering anywhere. Three: every name matched a rich child who went missing. The team was only supposed to be doing recon, but as always, that didn't work out. The leaders had all agreed before the mission started that if there were any kids here, they were getting them out. There was no time to wait around for the Justice League, especially if they got caught. They somehow had an uncanny ability to get caught everywhere they went. Dick always called it the "first mission karma." They'd been caught on their first mission, so they had to get caught on every mission now. Wally missed Dick's laugh. 

"Artemis and I are about to drop into the containment unit. Robin, are the systems down?" Aqualad asked over the mind link, looking down into the room from the air vent. The room was a giant circle, filled with white walls and several containers that were locked with thick glass panels. He could hear soft whispering below, as well as soft sobs. "You're all clear. Be careful, though. Looks like Odos is in the middle of some sort of test. Be quick about whatever you're doing. I'm going to try to find out more." Robin frowned. They were using one of the test subjects in the test, but there was no identification of which one. Tim was worried that they were using Dick. Files indicated that they'd made some sort of change to the test subjects, and were now trying to find the limits of those changes. It was all too vague for his liking. 

Artemis and Aqualad dropped down into the room, which quickly fell silent. Each container contained two slabs for beds, a sink, and two strange creatures. Aqualad assumed each was between six and eight feet tall, skin colors ranging from pink to blue. Long, pointed ears stretched out from their heads, all pressed back at the sign of intruders. Yellow eyes stared into their souls, and sharp teeth were barred. They bodies seemed almost human, except for the long tails winding out from their backs and the animal-like hind legs they possessed. Long claws adorned hands and feet, and webbing connected fingers. Artemis looked around, softly counting to herself. "Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen. There's nineteen in here." "There is also one more in the test. We've found them." "Who the hell are you?" One of the tall purple creatures growled, hiding a smaller creature behind them. "My name is Aqualad. This is Artemis. Are you the twenty missing teenagers?" A small pink creature scoffed. "All but one. They keep taking him away because he's different. We just wanna go home." Artemis frowned. "What do you mean he's different?" "His skin is a darker blue than ours, and he's taller. Got blue eyes, too. Not sure why." A purple creature growled.