fenceposterror:

“Cave to B,  all communications are back online. — No, there’s no disturbance in the signals as of right now and the generators are running smoothly. — I… Yeah. Of course. I’ll keep you updated. Cave out.”

Swiveling, Tim cut the line, turning to focus on the computer to his right, fingers flying over the keys as he worked. He didn’t even need to think about what he was doing, not really. By now his fingers were simply automated extensions of his brain, and in front of the large screens, he knew exactly what he was doing. The evidence of that was more than clear in the rapid fire echoes of clicking keys throughout the cave. It had barely been an hour since Bruce had left the teen to his own devices, but he had already managed to get the backup generators in gear and redirect the energy to the communication servers. Now, everyone could be tracked. Batman would know where all his friends and allies were, and he could worry less over their safety and focus more on the mission at hand.

Leaning back in the large seat, dwarfed by the wide expanse of leather, Tim allowed himself a small self-satisfied smile. He had accomplished something his twelve year old self had only dreamed of, he’d been of use, and more exactly, he’d been of use to Batman.

"Not bad, Tim…” He congratulated himself under his breath, eyes tracking across the glowing monitors before him. There wasn’t much time to pat himself on the back, however, as a notification popped up on the front screen, Cass’ comm connecting with the cave’s.

“Black Bat to Cave.  Requesting hatch access.  Flying in on… Outlaw jet.”  Opening his channel to respond, Tim froze. Outlaw? As in the Outlaws?Red Hood and the Outlaws, Outlaws? Weren’t Starfire and Red Hood (mostly) retired now? What were they doing in a jet?  Perhaps the chaos of the blackout had brought them back out? Were they looking to help? Furthermore, why would they be coming to the cave, and with Cass in tow nonetheless..?

“Black Bat— go ahead.” He finally managed out, pulling himself together. If Cass needed him to do this, he couldn’t worry about anything else right now. He trusted her. “Hatch access granted, landing pad three is clear. Over.”

“This is Black Bat coming in with two friendlies. Over.”  

“Copy that. Over.” Shutting off the line of communication, Tim’s heart sped up in mild panic. Shit. He hadn’t expected anyone else to show up. Stupid. He needed to cover his face. If there was one thing he learned from watching vigilantes, it was that secret identities were key.

Digging through a set of drawers, Tim managed to find a pair of wide, reflective goggles, dark enough to hide his eyes, and even more so when he pulled up the hood of his sweatshirt. It was a good start, but the teen didn’t want to take any chances. Glad for Bruce’s short briefing on the cave’s layout, the young hacker quickly walked over to a table strewn with projects not yet ready for field use. Still, the teen figured now was as good a time as any for a test run. Picking up a small electronic half mask, Tim strapped the dark filter on around his ears, adjusting it comfortably over his face.

“Testing. Testing.”Oh. That was cool. Making a note to update Bruce on the progress of his voice distorter, Tim played with the settings, finding something less artificial sounding, as he walked back to the main console. Identity secure as he settled on something more feminine, Tim sat back down in Bruce’s seat, awaiting the arrival of the three vigilantes. The Outlaws were coming with Cass’ good graces, which was somewhat surprising to the boy.  Tim knew that Batman and Red Hood didn’t get along, clashing morals and whatever else might have happened between them… so why would Cass bring him?

Hearing the group approaching, Tim swiveled in his seat once again, nodding to Cass but never rising from his seat. Red Hood was big, bigger in person than the young teen remembered, and the last thing he needed to do was make a first impression based on his size. So he stayed seated, though he was still small in the chair, he felt comfortable there, confident where he resided in front of an electronic database.

“Red Hood. This is our Operator.” Looking at Cass, still uncertain of the situation (and not comfortable enough to look at Hood, the young hacker knew she wouldn’t be able to see his expression. Relying on her ability to read body language, he cocked his head to the side.

“Did you need something?”

Jason had barely set foot on the cave floor when the flashbacks started.

Blood. 

Blood covered the floor. Jason wasn’t sure who it had belonged to.

The Hood lay dented some distance away, where Jason had spiked it to the ground in anger. 

Bruce was breathing heavily opposite Jason, eyes boring into the Red Hood.

Cass was mere feet away from them, watching carefully to make sure neither inflicted any more damage on the other. She was torn, unsure. 

He was passing underneath an enormous penny, something that he hadn’t seen last time. As he took in his surroundings, in fact, he saw much that hat been overlooked from his original visit. What looked to be a life size Tyrannosaurus Rex. A playing card the size of a house. Glass cases containing costumes no longer used. Jason shook his head. Ridiculous.

Next to him, Cass nudged his elbow, asking without words if he was okay. He gave her outstretched hand a quick squeeze before letting it go, climbing up the steps to the computer monitors just as the massive leather chair swiveled to face the group.

Seated in it was…someone. Their gender was not immediately apparent, and the face mask and goggles, plus the oversized dark hoodie the person wore, made it impossible to guess. Still, they were tiny. Smaller than Dick. Probably a girl, which made things less intimidating for Jason. He’d half expected a fight with that new Bat when he arrived. 

The girl spoke. Her voice was oddly distorted, and came out synthesized, as if run through several filters and pitched upward. Odd, but not entirely unexpected. Cass had been born in a world without official documents, and there wasn’t a database on earth that held her identity. Jay, likewise, had only ever managed to track down his birth certificate-even that had been under his mother’s last name. Identities were important, and this child was no different.

Cass was hovering between the girl and the Red Hood, eyes flicking back and forth. She was clearly uncomfortable. Jason couldn’t exactly blame her either, considering his reputation with the Bats. He cleared his throat.

“B’s picking ‘em young these days, isn’t he?” The tone was sarcastic, biting. A little edgy. He wanted the girl to know he knew about Bruce’s identity. With no facial visibility between the pair, however, sarcasm was fairly pointless. “Cass here tells me you have a data network set up, something to track what’s going on. That true?”

Stupid kid.