Justice League: Generation Worth Millions

Chapter 8: Task Force

Batman narrowed his eyes, a resolution had been made. In Metropolis, the Hall of Justice was going to start construction, with permission from the city, of course. It was going to serve as a front headquarters for people to see, and even visit for a fee. The real headquarters was going to be a newer, better Watch Tower. The Green Lanter corps. was to help start on that project immediately.

He thought it was stupid, the "Hall of Justice". A missile had been shot at the original headquarters, so why build a new one in the middle of a city? Superman was adamant about the public feeling safe though, and the city officials only agreed because of the money that could be made from tourists.

Batman had to bite his tongue to keep from scowling at them when he saw dollar signs glow in their eyes and cloud their judgement. But, nothing could be done, the plan was a go. Now, all he had to worry about was solving this case. He would start by talking to the Department of Defense, then he'd look for clues at the launch site. There was also the issue with Flash that he needed to investigate, too, and the Robot scheme. Someone had planned to hurt all those children, he needed to figure why. There was nothing to connect these events, but he didn't believe in coincidences, so he was determined to find the link between them.

Before anything, he had to get Batgirl and Robin home.

 "I'll retrieve them", J'onn said. He turned around and made way for the base of the statue, no doubt also reaching M'gann telepathically.

Wonder Woman appeared behind him with a hand on his shoulder, she knew what he was thinking. She didn't need to be a mind reader for that.

"You know where you're going to start?" She asked.

Batman glanced at her. The tiara sparkled, her hair fell over her shoulders in a perfect mess of waves, and she looked into his hidden eyes daringly. Her strength always shocked him, not just the physical strength either.

He turned away, "Almost, I think its important for us to deal with Wally first, his", he paused searching for the right word, "Situation, isn't one to push aside."

She nodded in understanding. Then both their eyes fell on the red Speedster on his haunches on the floor. Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Hawkgirl stood above him like sentries.

"I didn't do it", Flash muttered, "I'm sure of it."

"No one's blaming you", Hawkgirl said, "We just need to be careful." She  patted him on the shoulder.

"That's for sure", Superman said. He'd just returned from an interview with Lois Lane, "If the media got a hold of that, who knows what they would do with it, what they would say."

Flash nodded but dropped his head sullenly. Batman studied his actions carefully. Wally was much too childish to be a good liar, if he had done the crime that the video suggested, there was no way he meant to.

J'onn pushed into their circle, his often expressionless face looked worried.

"What's going on?" Green Lantern raised an eyebrow at him. Even Flash looked up at the martian curiously.

"The Children", J'onn said, "They're gone."

Batman sucked in a breath, his gloved fists clenched. Flash hopped off his bottom onto his feet, Superman's eyes became saucers.

 "And I can't reach M'gann, she's out of my telepathic range", J'onn continued, "I've no idea where they could be."

"Are you sure they're not in the crowd somewhere?" Wonder Woman asked.

J'onn nodded gravely, "If they were, reaching M'gann would be easy, she's far away, and I'm positive the others are with her."

Superman closed his eyes and concentrated. After a few moments he opened them again and shook his head, "I can't hear Kara or Conner either."

Batman's lips stretched into a thin line. He had an idea of how he could locate Batgirl and Robin. Odds were the rookies were traveling together too, they rarely left each other.

"Let's get to the Batcave", he stated.

Half an hour later, the League was standing in front of Batman's computer. They'd been there before, but each time its contents shocked them. Flash always commented on a new trophy he would notice that hadn't been there before.

"Did that dinosaur get bigger or is it just me?" He asked.

"It's just you", Alfred placed a tray of drinks on a table, "It was, however, relocated since your last visit."

"Thanks, Alfred", Batman said.

Flash grabbed a glass of water and joined everyone else in front of the screen.

Batman typed in a command. Each suit had a homing device. If it hadn't been disconnected, he should be able to track down his young partners. Sure enough, two blinking bat symbols appeared on the screen over the state of Nevada and zoomed in.

He stood up from his chair, adrenaline rushed through his veins but he breathed deeply keeping his calm. "Its looks like they're just outside of Las Vegas." He murmured.

The heroes spoke all at once.

"That's the other side of the country!"

"Why on earth would they go there!?"

"What are they thinking?"

"These kids just can't stay out of trouble can they..."

"I don't believe it!"

"They must have some explanation."

Superman cut through the voices, "Who know's what they could be up too, but one things for sure, they're up to no good, and we have very important matters to tend to. We'll split up, half of us can go retrieve them, the rest of will get to the bottom of the bigger task."

Green Lantern scoffed, "I bet Kara dragged them over there for another party. That girl has got alot of growing up to do."

Superman glared at him, "She just wants to have some fun. Can you blame her? Most of the time she either has homework or a world to save."

Batman shook his head slowly, staring at the blinking beacons. They were hypnotizing, rythmically fading away and then bursting into color again, over and over. "No."

They all looked at him expectantly.

"The missiles were launched from Nevada, outside of Las Vegas. They followed Batgirl and Robin to solve the case on their own."

The air stilled. The darkness in the cave seemed to swell around them, while the glow from the screen trapped them. Their colorful costumes brightened and darkened with the beacons.

Wonder Woman broke the silence, "She is your daughter."

Batman tightened his jaw, "And she is going to be in trouble."

"What if she's already in trouble?" They turned to look at Flash. He swallowed, "What if they're all in trouble?"

That was the inevitable. None of them wanted that to be true, but it was a very real, high possibility.

"I guess its settled", Superman said. He locked his gaze on Batman, "They're our responsilbilty. You, Flash, J'onn and I will go after them. Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Aquaman and Green Lantern will stay to handle everything else for now."

Batman nodded. They parted ways immediately after that. Martian Manhunter and Superman took to the skies, Batman climbed into the Batjet with Flash as his copilot. They started for Las Vegas.