Avoiding Past And Future

(63) Secrets 1

October 31

"Remind me again why you have to go to that meeting?" Danny complained as Dick helped with fixing the messed up part of his suit. He was getting better at getting it on himself but today was not one of those days.

Bruce sighed, running a hand through his hair as he pushed himself off from the BatComputer. "Roy asked for it. He had intel about a mole in the team and that has yet to be properly discussed."

A discussion Dick would have been a part of had he not been forced to step down. With how temperamental Roy had been lately, chances were that he'd raise a stink about that as well. But, as it stood, Roy had no say in any of that. He had refused the offer to join the team and after distancing himself from Oliver, he wasn't exactly a League associate either.

Dick rolled his eyes, tightening the chest clasps a bit too hard. "There wouldn't have been a need for a discussion this late on if all of you would have just told us from the start. At this rate he'll think I could have been a mole too because the League hates Danny so much." He grumbled, sending a halfhearted apologetic look at his brother.

Bruce rubbed his face tiredly. "They don't hate Danny-"

"Pretty sure they do, actually."

"They hate the lack of accurate info they have on you." Bruce finished, ignoring Danny's interruption. "They would have made similar assumptions if we had done a proper introduction, anyway. Conner's existence put the whole 'hidden people' on the forefront of their minds and there is no escaping that."

Danny pouted, glaring at the mask glue like it had personally offended him. "I wouldn't have been such a hidden person if they were nicer about it."

Selina finished up his braid, holding his cheeks in her hands as she inspected her work. "You can't expect those people to be nice when they turned away a scared child to fend for himself." Selina had been trying to stay out of the hero politics, preferring to mind her boys and leaving it at that.

But there is only so much looking away one can do when those same heroes abandoned one of their own already. There was only so much even Bruce could do, silently advocating for his stay at Mount Justice and going to school like a normal teen for one, without overstepping any clear boundaries. The boy obviously wanted Clark's attention and validation, and the already stubborn Kryptonian wasn't going to provide any of that if Batman stepped in too heavy handedly.

As much as they all hated it, there was only so much they could do while still trying to tear down Clark's obnoxiously dense wall.

Danny eyed the headset left at the Batcomputer, the one Batman had subtly recommended to Conner after initial testing of his powers. It had good reviews online from hypersensitive people, but that paled in comparison to superhearing issues. He didn't feel good about the way the League treated Conner either, especially not with him still trying to do the best he can. But the dude was an ass as well and he didn't have the spoons to spare.

Then again, maybe rewarding that bit of kindness would do better than constantly butting heads. It wouldn't interfere too much with Clark's shit if it came from them rather than Batman. But it was still quite a gamble with how brutish the clone reacted to anything surrounding the twins.

"Do you really have to go?" Dick pouted as he watched Bruce pull on the last bits of his suit.

"You could come along and go to the party with the others."

Danny snorted as Dick just completely turned away from the man for even daring to offer. "Nobody even asked us to come, so what would the point even be? To give them more reasons to hate us? No thanks." He grabbed some extra supplies, arming himself for the chaos they were going to face out there tonight.