Blessing In Disguise

Eleven

We cross the Golden Gate around one am. I take a shift driving and Dick sleeps, with me glancing over every few minutes. I think a lot and decide some things.

First, that I will protect Damian. Ra's men are so close now. Secondly, I need to talk with my costumed replacement, because Dick explained that the kid idolizes me. I guess this is going to be a bit awkward, or maybe it will be cool? That might be a bit too much to hope for.

Somehow I still remember the way to the Tower. I drive down little streets to the tiny bridge, finding a gate. There's one of those monitor things that you speak into and announce yourself. It has a screen betraying the fact that Wally West is asleep on duty.

I roll the window down and press the little black button. It must make a sound on the other end, because the redhead jumps awake. "What the-"

"Hey. West. Let me in."

"Jason?!"

"The one and only."

The kid presses a button and says, "Drive straight. I'll be down and in costume."

"Sure," I say, easing the car through the opening black gates. I can't help but think, as they close in the rearview, that I'm never going back. Not that I want to, but still.

Kid Flash appears out of nowhere, pointing to a little driveway. I maneuver down it and see an open garage. The speedster gestures toward the black hole. I follow commands and park between new and old vehicles of many shapes and sizes. Then, I get out and Wally shakes Dick roughly.

"Get uh-huh-up, man! Come on!"

"Wha?" He blinks wildly and then realizes where he is. He shakes off the sleep and gets out of the car. I open the back door and look over Damian. He's still unconscious, which somewhat worries me, because he's been out since Dick and I started chatting back in LA.

I unbuckle the seatbelt that the kid is straining against and I pull him out of the car. The movement rouses him and my worry dissolves. "Hey, little D. You feeling okay?"

"I suppose so," he mutters, shaking the sleep off. "Where are we?"

"Titans' Tower. San Francisco."

"What are we doing next?"

The question catches me off guard. For once, Damian notices. "It is alright if you do not know. I imagine that... Dick, I imagine he knows what will occur after this."

"I bet he does. Come on, let's get inside. I wonder if there's something we can eat?"

The next little while is frantic. I freak out quite a few of my old friends, up to and including Donna Troy, who has a lengthy conversation with me. She's the only one who explains the situation to me, though it might be that most of the others don't know.

"Well, Bruce got a call from someone about fifteen days before you called, which was around a month and a half ago." The former Wonder Girl tells me with in-depth details. "Diana-now, don't take this as totally solid information, I don't know who she heard it from-but Diana said he had been hunting Ra's men, or Ra's himself, up until he got your email. Three days ago, when he received said email, the Batman left Gotham in the care of three teenage girls and a teenage boy. If that explains his desperation."

"Who did he leave in the city?" I ask curiously. Dick took Damian to meet some of the Titans and since the kid asked, to get everything mostly settled so we have a plan for at least the immediate future. Donna and I are alone now due to that fact.

"Batgirl, um... I think she was Spoiler when you died. She might've... No. She was Spoiler until you died and Tim took over right after and she changed. Yeah. And then Cassandra Cain, who he totally stole from Ra's. She's a ninja if I ever saw one. And Babs, I know you know her. And then Tim."

"Why am I always last?"