When Worlds Collide

88) Romani Rage

Nico walked downstairs one day to a full blown fight. It wasn't the Riddler or Penguin or even Damian. It was Bruce and Dick... in Romani.

Nico walked up to Tim who was just sitting in a chair on his phone, as if nothing was happening. Damian and Jason looked stressed, but Tim looked like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Why are they fighting over a mission?" Nico asked, eyes trained on the duo.

Damian and Jason immediately turned to look at Nico in shock. "You know what they're saying?"

Nico raised an eyebrow. "You don't? None of you learned Romani?"

"I know conversational Romani, but I am not fluent," Damian said, looking slightly offended.

Jason shrugged. "I only know how to talk about hacking in Romani."

Tim just laughed, still just scrolling on his phone. "I speak it."

Jason and Damian's heads whipped around again to stare at Tim. "You have known what they were saying in every fight and you never told us?"

Tim just scoffed. "This is barely a fight."

Nico watched as Dick's face turned red while he was yelling, not stopping to take a breath lest Bruce have an opportunity to interrupt.

"You should have seen them back in the day. They used to fight like it was the end of the world," Tim said dreamily, as if he missed it. "Dick once crashed the Batmobile on purpose because Bruce was being an ass. They used to get in fist fights."

Jason rolled his eyes. "They used to fight all the time when I was Robin... at least when they were on speaking terms during that time... Anyways, this is bad."

Tim rolled his eyes and gestured at the fighting duo. "You think they fought bad before you died? You should have seen them after. It was bad, like near murder. Hell, Dick and I used to fight worse then this."

Jason 'hm'ed in surprise while Damian just rolled his eyes and looked to Nico. "What are they saying?"

Nico looked back the duo. "Bruce wants to do a mission to see what Lady Shiva is doing, but he will be gone for a while. Dick is mad because he wants to do an Operation Wayne while he's gone so that Alfred has a few days off to visit his daughter."

Jason looked surprised. "Why does he want to tell the team everyone's identities? I thought he was on bad terms with the League."

Tim and Damian stiffened while Nico just scoffed.

"Ooooooh, so that's what he's up to," Jason said with a laugh. "But my question still stands."

Nico just nodded towards Dick. "He just asked the same thing..." Nico listened for a moment before scoffing. "Bruce says it's actually for safety this time. Hush is on the loose and since he knows that Bruce is Batman, he would most likely come after you all out of costumes since it would be easier."

"But the only 3 on the team that don't know are Virgil, Cissie, and Traci and, no offense, but they'd be pretty useless against Hush," Jason said, watching the duo continue to yell. "Also, didn't Cissie walk off the team when Green Arrow left the League?"

Damian nodded. "They would only hold us back."

Nico shrugged, eyes still trained on the fighting pair as he mentally translated what was happening before giving the quicknotes. "Dick said the same, and then Bruce said that Arthur agreed to let Cissie rejoin... and that their presence gives us a safety net."

"Oooooo, poor choice of words," Tim muttered right before Dick went off.

Nico frowned. "Yeah... we should give them the room."

"Or the house," Tim said, standing up.

Jason looked between his younger brothers. "What's he saying? What's going on?"

Nico and Tim shared a look before deciding together to ignore the question. They led them out of the room, going towards the garage.

"This is totally unfair. You both know what's going on," Jason complained as he got into the driver seat.

Nico just shrugged. "You should have learned Romani."

Jason just groaned. "It's not exactly an easy language to learn. The stuff I know was learned out of necessity and even then it's pretty broken."

"Naj trutno te sichol," Tim muttered as he scrolled on his phone in the back seat. (It is not that hard to learn)

Damian and Jason made a sound of annoyance while Nico chuckled lightly.

"You think YJ will actually come?" Nico asked after a long stretch of silence.

Jason shrugged. "I don't see why they should, all things considered, but I think they will. Dick may be stubborn, but Bruce is worse."

Tim nodded. "If he has his mind set on them staying at the manor while he's gone, then they'll be here. It'll probably be the newest three plus a few senior members stationed near by."

"If father is truly worried about Hush, then it'll be an interesting week. Elliot is a challenging opponent." Damian looked out the window at the passing buildings. "Father has called him a tactical genius whose skills are on par with his own."

"Who even is Hush?" Nico asked, not remembering his file from when he first became a vigilante. "I remember that Bruce fought him in Markovia, but I don't know much else."

"Hush, also known as Thomas 'Tommy' Elliot, was a childhood friend of Bruce," Tim began. "He tried to kill his parents when he was younger in order to inherit their fortune, but Thomas Wayne saved his mother's life. That was the start of his grudge against all Waynes, but it got worse after Bruce's parents died. He was angry about B's 'good fortune'. He became a surgeon and kinda went crazy with his idea of revenge against Bruce."

"And his hatred for B extends to all of us," Jason chimed in. "He also hates all the bats by extension. It's mostly B and Kate, but he never turns down an opportunity to come after one of us. He also really hates Selina cause she helped Bruce try to take him down a while back."

Nico nodded, taking everything in. "Does he have any allies?"

The car went silent, everyone looking as far away from him as they physically could, their shoulders tense.

Nico immediately knew why. "Black mask."

Jason nodded slightly. "They might not be working together, but... they have a common goal."

Nico nodded slowly. "So that's  the real reason he wants the team there. He wants as much as possible for us to stand behind in case they're working together."

"I still think it a useless job for them. They won't be any help against either villain," Damian said with a scoff.

Nico looked out the window. "I won't be either if they're working together," he said quietly, but all of them heard him. They opened their mouths to protest, but none of them made a sound. They knew he was right. 

A/N: I am writing this at 12:14. talk about racing the clock lol

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