Baby Hood

Chapter 10

The group of Justice Leaguers, team members, and Bat family members gathered around the Batcave to discuss the huge elephant in the room, all of them having been unsuccessful on their trips to their various leads. 

"So...the Joker." Tim cleared his throat.  "What we know so far is-"

"He broke out of Arkham...three days ago." All eyes turned to Roy as he scrolled through his phone, turning the screen to show everyone the news article that was alerting Gotham citizens of the crazed clown on the loose. "I'm surprised you guys didn't know about this."

"We are a little preoccupied by Jason." Dick semi-snapped. "So, if the Joker broke out then that means he could plausibly have the boys, right?"

"But is he sneaky enough to get past our security and get the boys without any of us noticing until we did? No." Bruce sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair. "Its not him."

"But we still need to check, Bruce." Tim spoke in an exasperated tone. "And at this point, who else could have Damian and Jason, huh? Who would want them?"

Once again, the obvious was staring them in the face. But the group was too stressed to think straight, still on the Joker train. 

"I'm not sure, Tim. Let's go back to the drawing board if it turns out the Joker doesn't have them, okay?" Bruce got up, leading the charge towards the cave exit. "Split up, we'll cover more ground. If anyone finds the Joker, call me."

- - -

Surprisingly, it wasn't them finding the Joker, but rather, Harley Quinn finding them.

She had flagged down Kori as the alien princess was flying by, asking if they had found the missing boys yet. This had enraged Kori, making her think Harley had something to do with the disappearance of the boys. So she attacked Harley, demanding the location of the missing children.

Harley confessed rather quickly that she had no idea where they were, she had heard through Ivy that the hero community was searching for two missing boys and that one of them was Red Hood de-aged.

Batman was there in no time, asking Harley for everything she knew.

"Why are you so interested, Harley?" Bruce growled.

Harley held her hands up in a defensive position. "Look, Batsy, I have a soft spot for children. I don't want any harm to come to them, especially Jason. He's a good kid, y'know?"

Bruce didn't question how she knew Jason's name, knowing his son was less secretive with his identity than he was. "Do you know who has them?"

Harley shook her head. "I know it ain't me or Pamela. Mista J has been working on building his empire since he was in Arkham for so long, so I doubt him. But ya never know." She shrugged. "Sorry I can't help more, I hope you find them though."

Bruce sighed, asking Harley to let him know if she hears anything. Harley nodded, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I get it, I'm a mother. If anything happened to my kid, I'd be freaking too."

With that Harley stalked off into the night, leaving Bruce with a nagging feeling in his mind. "Mother...oh, my god. Talia." Bruce was on the comms instantly, demanding everyone converge on the Batcave pronto.

- - -

Everyone was at the cave, antsy to hear the important news Bruce had to tell them. He was currently pacing the floor, cowl down with a scowl on his face. Tim and Dick had never seen him look so agitated and so...nervous.

Diana cautiously approached the Dark Knight. "Bruce, what is it that has gotten you so tense?"

Bruce paused his pacing, turning to face the group. All it took was the muttering of one name for everyone to understand what was going on. "Talia Al Ghul."

A shudder went through the group. Tim stood up and went over to the computer, typing for a few moments before pulling up everything they had on Talia, letting the others read it over. He turned to Bruce. "Why don't we just call her? Aren't you currently on civil terms with her?"

"That will surely change after this." Artemis snorted.

Bruce pondered it for a moment before nodding at Tim. Tim then typed away for another moment before a video chat screen popped up, dialing Talia Al Ghul.

It was barely a minute later that she answered, a cool expression on her face when she saw Bruce and the gathering of heroes behind him. "Hello, my love. To what do I owe this call?"

"Cut the crap, Talia. We know you have Jason and Damian." Dick snarled, fists clenched at his side.

Talia raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"So return my boys home to me or so help me-" Bruce was cut off by Talia shushing him.

"My love, the children are sleeping. Let them be." She adjusted the camera to show the two brothers sleeping peacefully, cuddled close together. Jason had his thumb in his mouth as his head rested on Damian's chest, Damian's arms wrapped protectively around Jason's tiny body. Talia turned back to the camera with a soft smile on her face. "As you can see, they are both unharmed and at peace being here. If I recall, Jason had been having night terrors at your place. Here, none whatsoever."

Bruce could feel his blood pressure rising by the second. "Talia. Return the children to their home, now."

Talia sighed, shaking her head. "What aren't you understanding? They are home. They love it here with me, or do you need to hear them say it for themselves?" Bruce just stared at Talia until she got his point and she tsked. "Making me wake our children, really Bruce."

Talia went over to the bed and gently shook the two boys awake. Both of them let out a big yawn, smiles on their faces when they saw Talia. It sent a shiver down Bruce's spine, especially when Damian hugged Talia.

Jason crawled right into her arms, cuddling close to her. "Hi, mommy. What's going on?" He blinked sleepily, looking around the room until his eyes fell on the computer and he saw his father and brothers. Jason was taken aback for a moment before his smile grew and he waved at the computer, staying firmly planted in Talia's arms. "Hi, daddy! Hi Dickie! Hi Timmy! I missed you."

"We miss you too, Jay." Dick had tears in his eyes as he watched his two little brothers snuggle close to Talia. "Please, come home."

Jason and Damian both got confused expressions on their faces. Damian looked between Talia and Bruce. "But we are home. We want to live with mommy now."