Chapter Text
Hal should be used to these by now. These monthly meetings for this new team thing he’s trying. The goal was to report suspicious activity that could lead to league intervention but it felt more like a chore.
The unlikely group of heroes sit around a round table, conveniently there is no head of the table, but of course the trinity is sitting closest to the large monitor screen on the far end of the room. The stiff prose of Superman’s speech is interrupted by searing noise, like the crackling of a firework.
In the clearing between the zeta entrance and the round table, a tear appears, warping the air around it like the warm haze above a fire.
2 figures stumble through, the first –in a skin tight black suit with blue accents– almost lands flat on his face but catches himself on his fingers, preventing what would have been a frankly hilarious fall. His apparent relief is short-lived as the second figure in a black and red uniform with a gold cross adorning his chest, falls onto the first figure's back, pushing him all the way to the ground with a groan.
“That really gets old after the first few times” The man Hal has aptly nicknamed ‘Blue’ grumbles into the watchtower floor.
‘Red’ has pulled himself up using his bo staff. Staring curiously at the tear which remains open. “well at least we are just on the watchtow-”
And as if the punchline to a cosmic joke, a final figure finds its way through the tear in space. The small man flips through the opening, landing gracefully, and painfully, onto Blue’s abdomen, who has yet to-wait is that a fucking kid?!
In his confusion, Hal failed to notice how he was the only Justice League member still sitting, the rest having assumed defensive positions, ready to neutralize at a single command. Man they are really good at looking intimidating.
By now the three strangers were standing, becoming slightly tense as the rift closes leaving them behind with the motherfucking Justice League, Hal feels a small smirk form on his face as he floats slightly, matching his fellow heroes with a display of power.
The literal child is the first to move, drawing a katana, the white slits of his domino mask narrow as a scowl forms on his little face.
Blue places a hand in front of the kid’s chest, “Stand down”, his voice is firm but not aggressive. His gaze reaches the league, “Stand down”
Red speaks while typing away on a screen of sorts projected from his wrist. I wonder if bats has technology like that.
“We have a code Delta-549” his eyes bounce between Flash and Batman, widening slightly at the blank stares he receives.
Blue whispers something to Red. It’s times like these when I’m glad we have supes on the team. His hands move out in front of him in a placating manor, “I know how this sounds but we believe we have traveled through time or dimensions, we-”
Batman’s gravelly voice cuts through the room, “Lantern”
The wake up call is much needed for Hal, Shit, "I'm on it”
A big green cage forms around the trio of time travelers(???), that’s honestly cooler than I could have hoped for. The cage is fit with iron bars, a rusty metal frame, and a large lock attached to the door. All green, of course. Some would call it garish and cartoonish. I call it creative and why thank you green lantern for adding some whimsy to this place.
One glare from Bats tells him that Spooky thinks the former.
“You’re no fun” he admonishes, but the green cage changes into a simple box, with green walls thin enough to see and hear through. More practical, albeit less enjoyable
---
Dick Grayson should be used to these by now. These missions that seem to go awry in increasingly creative ways. An overconfident rogue with an overzealous doohicky that lands him, this time, in a much younger watchtower with a much younger Justice League.
Diana approaches the box that Lantern generated, Frankly it took him way too long to contain unknown intruders in the watchtower. Even after all these years Diana still has a commanding presence, a reminder that she is truly a god. That fact is easy to forget when you grow up with her. “Do you have any evidence to support your claims?”
Dick stands across from her from the other side of the green light, not quite eye level —he never surpassed six feet— but his confidence reaches her. “It appears that the protocols we are familiar with have not been put into place, I volunteer myself for a telepathic scan” his eyes find J’onn among the gathered leaguers, “or you can test me with your lasso” he glances at the weapon hung at her hip, gesturing to his brothers he finishes, “they are young and do not need to be put under those conditions”
He can hear Damian huff a little but behind him at being called young, but he doesn't argue, even Damian understands now is not the time.
There is a subtle shift in the air, it seems he has succeeded in gaining the respect of the young heroes. By now most weapons have been lowered and shoulders loosened. Hal chooses this moment to remind everyone he is here, “Okay buddy, you do not get to go around making demands, we will decide wh-”
“We do not use the lasso of truth on children” Batman interrupts, leaving no room for argument. He walks closer to where Dick and his brothers are contained. As always, his approach is silent despite his heavy, tactical boots.
Dick suddenly remembers the logo woven on Damian’s chest, a symbol that this Bruce would have been familiar with for at least a year or two by this point. There is no way we are getting out of this without screwing with the time line, if we are even in the right universe.
“Green Lantern, would you mind?” Diana says kindly, reaching to her side where her lasso rests. I guess we’re doing this.
The wall in front of Dick dissipates, leaving them open to the league. He holds out his hand in offering, there is no need to make this any harder than it needs to be. You know If I blur my eyes I can almost forget I am about to be interrogated by younger versions of my friends and family.
Tim places his hand on Dick’s shoulder, shooting him a harrowing look. The message is understood immediately. Got it, fuck this up and we are timeline toast.
The rest of the league is sitting back in their chairs with Diana and Bruce sticking by the group. The glowing rope is gently wrapped around his extended hand. The effect is immediate, a hot pressure that he knows will grow if he doesn't choose his words carefully.
“Do you have any intentions of harming the Justice League or any innocent civilian parties?” Well that question should be easy enough
“No, never” this time he is spared the wrath of the lasso.
Tim speaks up, “Great, now that that’s out of the way, can you tell us what year it is?”, he glances between Diana and Bruce.
Diana presses on without acknowledging Tim, “You said there was a possibility of time or dimensional travel?”
Dick breathes deeply and steels his expression, “Yes, based on the portal we traveled through, your suits, the Watchtower technology, “ he glances toward the big screens and control panels. But the heat and pressure around his hand grows, forcing the remaining truth out of his mouth, “and the fact that you don't recognize us.“
It hurts a bit, you know, when your dad but not really but yes really doesn’t recognize you. When your mentors and idols draw their weapons when you appear, but Dick can’t think about that right now. not when his filter is gone and one wrong word could fuck up everything.
“Are you a member of the justice league in your time?” Clark asks, he is serious but a small smile appears. The idea of this team growing and sustaining for years into the future is comforting. Buddy, you don’t know the half of it, Dick thinks.
“yes” Brevity is key when you are dealing with the lasso. Don’t ask how he learned that.
Batman asks, “We don't admit children. What is your relationship to the other travelers?” As Dick suspected, Robin did not escape Batman’s notice. Nothing slips past this guy huh
He can feel the sweat forming on his forehead, good ol Bruce always asking the right questions aye? His heart rate is going up and he knows that Clark is picking up on it. “They are my…” He bites his tongue, feeling pressure growing in his head. He can faintly hear Tim talking over him, something about asking careful questions and personal information. He sounds quite a lot like Bruce, actually.
“We work together” is what he manages to say. I mean it’s only technically true but hey I’m not complaining. He runs his free hand through his hair, hoping Tim was able to dissuade them of more vaguely personal questions.
Hal speaks again, Jesus Christ, “Hold on if these kids are from the future then we could probably prevent some bad stuff from happening later on, right?” He nods and glances around at other leaguers as if trying to rally them together. He fails.
Before Hal could be let down gently by Batman or Tim or literally anyone else, Dick’s mouth just had to run. His composure lost for just a second but it was too late. He lolls his head to the side in annoyance, “God shut up Hal”, mostly to himself but the sound seemed to echo in the moment.
Dick’s eyes shoot open, while his free hand covers his mouth. Tim only holds his face in his hands, letting out a string of curses. Damian sighs and mutters to himself in Farsi. fuck fuck fuck fuck
The boy’s reactions are nothing compared to the renewed looks of panic on the leaguers faces. At this point, secret identities were a sore subject, with only a few members feeling comfortable enough to share. Wonder Woman shared her status as Diana, the U.S. ambassador. Martian Manhunter had been open about his name J’onn J’onzz. But they understood that everyone else had lives to hold close, and people to protect.
Green Lantern floats over the round table and toward the group of gathered strangers. Glowing green with the renewed will and concentration his panic and anger had given him. “How the hell do you know that? Why would I tell you that? Who are you?” His voice is low and serious, or as low and serious as Green Lantern could get.
Tim reaches for the lasso as Damian slaps his hand over Dick’s mouth. Diana quickly pulls the lasso off of his hand and scolds Lantern. “You cannot ask another member of the Justice League for their secret identity when they will be compelled to answer”
Hal’s voice returns to its normal pitch, maybe slightly higher because he is being admonished by Wonder Woman. “I don’t even know this guy!”
---
Batman is used to this by now. He’s Batman. But that does not mean he is necessarily ready for the symbol of his chil-I mean his partner to appear on the uniform of this unknown boy from an unknown time and/or unknown world.
He brushes past Green Lantern and Wonder Woman while they argue and approaches the strangers, if you call it arguing. Wonder Woman had won before the fight even started.
“What is the protocol for returning you to your home?”, he asks. Batman was inclined to believe the story of the intruders before Diana had brought out her lasso, partly due to the codes one of the vigilants had spouted shortly after their arrival. In fact, Bruce was in the process of designing codes similar to the protocols these boys cited, but no one knew that except for him.
The teenager in the red and black suit sighs, “The protocol is to find a Flash to ask for help but your Flash is too young and most likely not fast enough to time travel or dimension hop”
“hn”
He adds, almost as an after thought, ”Luckily, we were with a magic user and a flash when we were forced through that portal. All we have to do is wait for them to track us down. This kind of thing is a bit too common where we are from.”
“How long will it take for them to locate you here?”
The eldest responds from his place on the floor having recovered from Wonder Woman’s lasso remarkably well, “Could be anywhere from a few minutes to a few weeks,” he sighs “time is relative, as they say”
Bruce’s eyes fall again to the ‘R’ on this young boy’s uniform. I am envious of the Batman that this child is associated with, at least he was able to get this kid to wear pants. The uniform itself is glorious, protective, while still mobile. Well insulated, efficient. It is colorful enough to still be Robin while dark enough to achieve stealth. He appears to be lost in thought while polishing his katana but Bruce recognizes the way his ears and eyes move, he remains vigilant while appearing defenseless.
He steps out of his conversation with the two oldest and stands a few feet away from his subject. His curiosity gets the better of him.
“Robin, Report”
The child stands at attention, arms dropping to his sides and meeting Batman’s eyes without hesitation, on instinct. “A simple mission was interrupted by an unidentified, idiotic new rogue with an unidentified device.” In the corner of his eye, Bruce can see the teenager gape, and the young man produce a small smirk, the boy continues without noticing, “The nature of the device is unknown other than its ability to produce apparent rips in time and/or space. There are no injuries or casualties to report other than Drake’s pathetic excuse for a plan, serving as an injury to our mission.”
He finishes his report with a smug glance back at the teenage vigilante, presumably Drake. The returning look of disbelief causes the boy’s eyes to widen behind his domino before hardening into a wary glare at Bruce.
The older man nods, his small experiment proving more successful than he could have hoped. Not only was this child some universes version of Robin, but likely trained by a Batman very similar to himself. “It is likely you are from an alternate dimension” he concedes, “you are very different from my Robin” he affords the group a small smile before rejoining the rest of the league around the round table.