When Worlds Collide

106) A Casual Conversation

-Bruce POV-

Bruce felt like a failure. He had failed as a hero, a mentor, and a father. His son needed help and he wasn't there, and now he was missing. He could be being tortured or killed for all he knew, and they had no idea how to save them.

"Blood work is back," Tim said after a beeping sound came from one of the computers in the lab. He grabbed the tablet and typed for a minute before looking at Bruce with a concerned look.

"Is it poison? Do we need an antidote?" Bruce immediately asked.

Tim shook his head, looking back at the screen. "It was a knockout gas, but... they all have morphine and ketamine in their system."

Bruce's eyes widened. That was the medication that Nico had taken after the Black Mask incident.

"So the effects aren't going away any time soon," Bruce said, stress filling his brain. "How could that have known-"

"I think they know who GK is," Jason said as he entered the room. "And what  he is."

"What? How could they possibly know either of those things?" Tim asked.

"I don't know, but think about it. They knew how to specifically target the Team— not based off their fighting weaknesses, but based off their physiological weaknesses," Jason said, looking exceedingly stressed.

Tim looked at Bruce, eyes wide. "The meds... they were in Nico's chart at the hospital. If someone were able to get access to that, they could rationalize that the meds were the reason he took to long to heal— not to mention the fact that the raids stopped for a bit after the Black Mask incident."

Dick, who had followed Jason in, ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, but how would they even know to look into Nico? The media hasn't even whispered about it being a possibility."

They were silent for a while because there was no answer. Obviously the leg should have been a dead give away, but the media had assumed that GK had an above knee amputation, not below. Because Leo extended the prosthetic above the knee in order to keep it more secure, he inadvertently gave Nico a cover.

"Slade," Damian said, jumping down from the rafters of the lab. Bruce hadn't even noticed he was there.

"What?" Dick asked, his eyes flashing with fear.

Damian walked over to one of the computers and began typing. "My mother is in a... leave of absence from the League, but she still is aware of what happens within. I contacted her to confirm a theory."

"You reached out to Talia?" Bruce asked, momentarily distracted by not only the fact that Damian had a way to contact his mother, but that she willingly gave over information.

Damian just nodded. "I believe that Slade was working with someone before his death-"

"Well we knew  that," Jason said, interrupting. "He was working with Vandal and the League of Assassins— not to mention the rouge regime."

"Tt— congratulations Todd, you know how to state the obvious," Damian muttered before turning the computer screen to face the others. "I am talking about someone else— someone secret. He was spotted with an unknown individual a few times over the year before his death."

Bruce's eyes widened slightly as he looked at the photos. The person looked young, probably around Nico's age based off height and build, and wore what looked to be a League of Assassins training uniform— however their surrounding didn't look anything like any of the League bases they knew of. "How come we never heard about this?"