Comic Relief

3.

It had been days since the deal between him and Gordon, and since he had told Alfred the upgrades he needed for the safe room. The room was almost done, only a few things needed to be added now. Alfred had done all the programming for the automatic locks and lights. The rest of the bat family had seen the project and grown suspicious, not getting a straight answer from Bruce or Alfred.

This wasn't the first time they had been left out of something by Bruce. However, this was the first time that it had been something so odd. The safe room was just being remodeled, which wasn't abnormal for someone as secretly paranoid as Batman, but what made it suspicious was that he wouldn't tell any of them anything about it. That made them think that it had to be for some other reason and not just the normal upgrading. Which meant that Bruce was hiding something that was likely very important from them. The fact that Alfred wasn't telling them either made them all the more worried.

"What do you think he's hiding?" Barbara asked, being the first one to speak. The family - excluding Bruce and Alfred - had all gathered to talk. To try and figure out at least something about what was going on, maybe a way to find out exactly what too.

Before anyone else could answer, Jason spoke, "Something bad."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious." Damian commented in his usual rude tone.

"I don't hear you coming up with anything better." Jason shot back.

Damian stood up and opened his mouth to say something more but was interrupted by Barbara. "Guys, stop! Fighting isn't going to help us."

Jason crossed his arms and Damian sat back down, both remaining quiet and glaring at each other. The two of them had never gotten along and seemingly never would. They were both hot-headed and snarky, refusing to work together or play nice. That left the room in awkward silence once again. Everyone standing while the fire crackled, no one really wanting to talk. No one except Barbara, that is.

"We need to figure out why they're rebuilding the safe room." She said, trying to break the silence. "What if it's dangerous?"

"It's obviously dangerous," Jason stated. "Why else would he be hiding it from us?"

"Not only dangerous, but something he knows we'd disagree with." Dick added. "He's always hidden things to get around us. He knows that whatever he's doing is a bad decision so he's keeping it a secret."

"Maybe it's a new Robin." Tim suggested. He chuckled and smiled as he said it, his expression quickly falling as he saw the disapproving looks on everyone else's faces. "Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood."

"Wait," Barbara said, her eyes locked to the floor in thought. She looked up, eyes traveling to the others in the room. "Maybe Tim's onto something."

"No way," Damian exclaimed, "he's never onto something!"

"Barb's right," Dick said. "Maybe not on the new Robin part, but what if Bruce's hiding someone?"

"Someone he knows we'd freak out about." Barbara stated.

Damian's face shifted to one of confusion rather than disbelief, starting to see what the others meant. It wasn't impossible that his father was hiding someone. In fact it was very possible that's what was going on.

Tim nodded in agreement, attempting to seem like that's what he meant all along.

Damian crossed his arms, furrowing his brows in thought. "But who?"

The room went quiet again, each member of the bat family pausing to think the question over. It was obvious that if Bruce really was hiding someone then it had to be someone he knew that they'd be apprehensive about at the least. That, and the fact that the safe room in the Batcave was being remodeled for this mystery person. Those two things combined meant it was someone who knew Batman and not Bruce Wayne. With all the upgrades and locks being added to the security of the room they couldn't help but assume the worst. Bruce was bringing a dangerous villain into the cave.

Tim stood up, "I might know who."

The rest looked at him, waiting for him to continue. He had had one good idea and as unlikely as it was for Tim, he might have another.

"I saw a file open on the Batcave's computer, actually multiple files." Tim said, "All of them were files on the Joker."

"Are you suggesting my father would bring that freak into the cave?" Damian spat.

Tim put his hands up defensively, "I mean, think about it! Joker is the guy who's hurt all of us, so he'd be the one Bruce would try to hide the most!"

"Bruce wouldn't." Barbara argued, her tone laced with uncertainty.

"He might," Dick sighed. "Bruce has always had some weird obsession with Joker, ever since he disappeared he's been nonstop looking for any sign of him. Reading all the old files, looking over all the old evidence, everything the clown left behind Bruce has spent hours just staring at."

"My father wouldn't do that- he wouldn't bring him here!" Damian asserted.

"I'm not saying that's what for sure happened, but..." Tim trailed off.

"Shut it, Drake!" Damian shouted, glaring at Tim. With a simple 'right' Tim quickly sat back down and avoided Damian's eyes.

Barbara stepped forward, trying to deescalate the situation, "Listen, I don't like this anymore than you, but Tim has a point."

That's when Jason walked into the light, grabbing his coat and Red Hood mask. He quickly put both on and kept walking. He didn't say anything or look at the others as he made his way toward the front entrance.

"Where are you going?" Dick called out after Jason.

Jason didn't bother looking back as he responded, "Away."

Barbara tried to follow him but was stopped by Dick, who knew that that would only lead to more fighting. This is something that Jason did often. He would leave whenever he was faced with something he didn't like, run away from the problem and go get drunk at some bar. This time, however, no one could really fault him for that. There was a chance that Bruce was bringing the man all of them hated into their home. The man who had wronged all of them, hurt all of them. Gotham's greatest villain - Batman's greatest villain. He could be putting them all in danger.

They all understood that, they understood why Jason was so upset. Out of all of them Jason was the one that hated Joker the most. He was the one Joker had hurt the most, too. It had to be devastating to know how much Bruce obsessed over the clown even after what he did to Jason. What undoubtedly hurt more was knowing that Bruce could've brought Joker into their home without caring enough to even discuss it with them. That's why they let Jason go, why they didn't try to stop him. This was his coping.

The others stopped as Damian stormed away too, huffing and grumbling as he left in the opposite direction as Jason. Damian, similarly to Jason, had a personal issue with Joker. He hated him not because he had been wronged like Jason had, but because he was jealous of him in some odd way. He would never admit it but he hated the idea that his father believed that Joker was too smart for Damian to fight.

Standing quietly in the middle of the room was the remaining bat family; Dick, Barbara, and Tim. Tension lingered heavily in the air. Dick sighed as he rubbed his temples, stress emitting off of his form. Not only did he have to deal with whatever Bruce was being so mysterious about but now he had to deal with Jason and Damian having their tantrums. He had been the first ever Robin, so naturally he was assumed to be the most mature and level-headed. He had always been the second in command next to Batman; even after he took up his Nightwing persona he was still the boy wonder. Truth be told, though, he was just as lost as the rest of them here.

Barbara watched Dick with sad eyes, a small frown etched on her face. She could see that Dick's patience was wearing thin, that this whole situation was taking its toll on him. She couldn't help but feel the same. While Dick had always been the leader, Barbara was always peacemaker. She was the one who always held hope even in the worst situation. Whenever a fight would break out between the family Barbara would solve it. But now, with the looming dread, she didn't know what to do- what to say. What could she say? No one would believe her if she said everything was or would be okay. Her ever-staying hope was draining as she thought more about what exactly Bruce was hiding. Her stomach twisting in knots.

Then there was Tim, who stood fidgeting with his fingers. Both Jason and Damian had left because of him and the information he brought forward. From a single joke he had made everyone's normal demeanor crash and slump to the bottom of their stomachs with worry. He cleared his throat, "So...What now?"