Avoiding Past And Future

(87) Intermediate

November 9

Waiting for training to start had to be the most awkward they had felt in a long time. Every new person that walked through the doors or ignition of the Zetas caused all heads to snap towards the poor soul entering. But it was never who they were actually waiting for.

It had been 3 days since that night. Since Robin's breakdown, since the conflict with Klarion and Dr. Fate, since Phantom nearly died for them. Since they were all haunted by what they witnessed and the fact their share of blame to it. Some mentors tried to step in afterwards, tried to mitigate what happened by overcorrecting their previous stances. But it was for nothing. They already lost Zatara, one of their own, and nearly lost two more.

Except for Zatanna telling them they weren't allowed to help her move, and Batman being spotted out on patrols, they hadn't gotten a single sign of life from them. What concerned them beyond words was the fact Batman had even taken an official leave of absence. Batman never took a leave without something being really bad. Hell, this is the same man who openly keeps working through concussions and broken bones.

And maybe worst of it, nobody on the team, nor the mentors, had heard from either Batling. Not even a confirmation on if they genuinely chose to leave the team or not.

The Zeta to the Batcave was shut down as well, but only a handful were aware of that fact. A fact Wally couldn't even discuss with anybody as the only team member in the know. Zatanna refused to be alone in the same room as him, her cat making sure ample warning was given for him to leave her alone.

Which was unsettling in and of itself. Wally knew Zatanna knew. The obvious Wayne funding of her stuff, or well Cicci's stuff, was more than obvious if you knew what to look for. But he didn't know if Zatanna knew he knew. And he can't just walk up and say anything just in case he was wrong and it was just Selina nabbing Bruce's card without the man being aware of it. They had been a whole lot closer than previous on again moments, but they still had a long spanning off again history as well.

What happens in Gotham usually stayed in Gotham.

But lately Gotham's secrets had a thing for escaping containment, leaving others even more confused on how to handle things as it wasn't something they had previous references for.

By the time Canary arrived, and got the entire collection of hopeful turned disappointed looks directed at her, she knew she couldn't get them to focus on training in this state. Hell, she could barely focus herself. What she heard from Oliver was already bad enough, but what little the kids had let slip when talking to her outside of therapy...

Well, let's just say she owed Selina a personal apology on top of everything else.

Looking between the kids before her, she knew they were hoping she had answers. Answers she would like herself but had no way of getting with the formal leave of absence Batman had taken. Nothing short of another Klarion crisis was good enough reason to break the rare moment the man took for himself.

That being said, he wasn't the only person they could try to contact. Trying a show of hands, she didn't know if she should validate or question why nobody tried to reach out to Robin or Phantom themselves. They had expected the birds to come back on their own, like they always had. Perhaps now was the perfect time to break the expectation of waiting for them to make the first move.

Going through the options, she figured linking up with the Batcave would be the best bet. It wouldn't disturb Bruce personally unless the man was in front of the damn thing. With baited breath, the teens gathered around her as the call struggled to connect. It was taking almost embarrassingly long, like a silent hint to give up.