Chapter Text
Things were supposed to be simple. Really, they were. There was a plan, a good plan, too.
The Justice League was off in space for the week, leaving the Red Tornado and the Team behind to protect the Earth.
And, since the universe has a twisted, cruel sense of humor, an entire school got taken hostage.
And of course it had to be Artemis's school.
Artemis quickly contacted Red Tornado, who sent out a message to all the other Team members. Kaldur, Superboy, Miss Martian, and Kid Flash all quickly took the zeta-tube over to Gotham to help with the crisis. Artemis had managed to smuggle out boys' uniforms during the period that she was waiting for them, so the Team quickly disguised themselves and started to blend in with the other students.
Robin did not respond to his communicator. Although it was mildly worrying, it was not without precedence, so the Team decided to proceed with out him.
Dick Grayson, on the other hand, was currently hiding in an empty history classroom in Gotham Academy, just hoping that...
"There you are!" A small, red haired boy dashed in, grinning. "Timmy and Cass are on their way."
...That that wouldn't happen.
"Jason, you are not supposed to be here," Dick snarled, glaring at his oldest younger brother.
Jason snickered. "Yeah, like that's going to stop me. Or Timmy. Or Cass. Or Steph. Or even Damian."
Dick paled at the thought of their four-year-old, assassin trained younger brother attempting to take on the armed gunmen. (And worse, probably suceeding).
"Bruce is going to kill me," he grumbled.
"Not if we get to little D first," offered Jason, smiling innocently.
"Yes, we will sneak across campus, which we're not supposed to do, on pain of being shot, locate a four year old in a mess of preschoolers, and somehow manage to keep him safe--or more importantly, everyone else around him safe?"
"Wow, you really think it'll be that easy?" Jason said, eyes wide with false joy.
"I dunno Jay. He left out a bunch of air-shafts," Timmy said, slipping through the door with Cass trailing behind him.
"You guys do remember that we are in civilian mode, right?" Dick said, burying his head in his hands. "That means no air-shafts!"
Cass walked over to him and patted his shoulder. "Dick cry not," she said, smiling at him. "Things go well."
"Yeah, don't worry! The whole Batfamily is here! What's going to go wrong?" Jason said, throwing his arm around Tim and the other around Cass.
"How about my Team getting called in to help with the situation, and none of them knowing my identity?" he said, glaring at his red-haired brother. His siblings exchanged glances and snickered. "Wally doesn't count!"
"Tt. What are they going to do about this?" Damian said as he emerged into the room in Steph's arms. "We can handle this perfectly on our own."
"Hey, where's Babs and Artemis?" Steph said, setting down Damian. "All of us normals have to stick together."
"Babs isn't technically part of the Family, Steph," Tim said, looking at his sister skeptically. "And Artemis certainly isn't."
"We need to change that. Then we're even. Guys and girls," Steph said.
"We are not adopting Artemis," said Dick, cradling his head in his hands once again. "And can we focus on the fact that we, as the children of Bruce Wayne, are probably being sought after as hostages?"
The looks on their faces offered a great deal of pain to whichever poor fool tried to take them hostage.
Wally wasn't nervous. Nope. Not a bit. Not at all. It wasn't like one of his best friends, and two of his teammates, one of whom happened to be his boyfriend, were in incredible danger or anything. Nope. Not nervous. Or scared.
Wally tugged at the ill-fitting blazer that Artemis had managed to get him, feeling very conspicuous in this snooty rich-kid outfit.
"Wonder how Artemis and--Batgirl put up with this," he muttered, catching himself before he revealed that Robin went to Gotham Academy.
Artemis? Where are you? M'gann called out telepathically. There wasn't a response. She must be out of range. This school is huge, and if I don't project carefully, everyone in the school will hear, even the guards.
How are we going to find her? Wally demanded, looking around. We look suspicious as it is, and we have no clue where to find her!
They all ducked behind the trees in the courtyard as a bulky man with a mask and an AK-47 marched by.
"We will find her," Kaldur whispered, looking fierce. "We must."
Artemis decided she didn't like her Spanish class even more. Class had been abandoned, with most of the kids texting their parents or sobbing desperately. A few smarter ones were trying to figure out a place where they could hide if the gunmen came in, but there were very few of them. The teacher wasn't much help either, desperately pacing back and forth, muttering to himself while ruining his shirt by sweating straight through it.
Artemis resisted the urge to groan. It was pretty clear that no one had any idea what was going on. They were perfectly safe for now. It was when a guard got twitchy, or the ransom drop went wrong, or if someone saw the gunmen's faces that they were in trouble. As far as she could tell, they were just thugs after money.
And so, they had no idea that they were holding two super-heroes captive.
She exchanged a look with Babs. Babs nodded once. She twisted her hand in a method that looked like she was having convulsions. Artemis shook her head. Faking a panic attack wouldn't help. They needed to get off the radar, not on it. The Team would be here soon.
Artemis made another gesture by twisting her middle and ring finger together. Bathroom break.
"Señor Dumont?" Barbara asked, allowing fear and timidity to take over her voice. "Señor, I really need to use the bathroom. May I go?"
The man looked up, alarmed. "V-V-Very well... but take someone with you! It's not safe to go alone!" Babs flashed a smirk at Artemis and the two quickly left.
The two made their way into the nearest girls bathroom, where Babs set to work removing the grate to the air-shaft.
"Will it be big enough?" Artemis demanded, "I mean, most air-shafts aren't built for teenagers."
"I hope so, because I can't think of any other way to get around undetected unless you're the boy wonder," Babs said. "Do you have your Swiss Army Knife?"
Artemis searched her pockets and sighed. "No, I must have left it at home today."
"Dammit," Babs muttered. "Help me here?" Artemis clambered on top of the sink and set out to join her friend in the task of removing the metal grate.
"This is not going to work!" Artemis hissed after a while. "Can you think of any other way?"
"I can think of a few!" a small voice chirped from behind them. Artemis and Babs spun around, forgetting they were precariously perched on the sink, and fell to the ground. "Oops."
"Jason!" Babs said, scrambling to her feet as she stared up at the little red-haired kid who was dangling from the ceiling tiles, a huge smirk on his face. "You are so not supposed to be here!"
"Geeze. You guys weren't even using the bathroom," the kid said. "Now are you coming or what?" He disappeared back into the ceiling tiles.
"Who's that?" Artemis demanded, eyes wide.
"Dick Grayson's little brother," Babs said, rolling her eyes. "Come on."