A/N holy shit did I actually... finish this? before the deadline?
what is this weird feeling? This story is no longer a wip but a finished fic. Wow.
"I just want you to know I'm sorry about everything," M'Gann said, looking over to Conner standing next to her, "What went wrong with our relationship was all my fault."
Conner made no move to stop her or, god forbid, contradict her, so she forged on.
"and I know it's too late now, I know you're dating Wendy Harris-"
"what?" Conner turned to her, frowning, "me and Wendy? Dating? Uh, no."
M'Gann stared, confused.
"believe it or not she's started dating Marvin," Conner smiled, and M'Gann was perfectly fine with her momentary embarrassment purely because Conner earned a moment of relaxed amusement, "he's a little worried he'll mess it up and she's a little worried he's right, so I've sorta been a bit of, I don't know..." he cocked his head in thought, it was adorable, "a buffer?"
"a... buffer?" M'Gann asked, not quite believing it, "that's great! I mean... that's so nice of you."
They heard the clearing of throats and shuffling of papers and turned to the judges. They were finally going to tell them whether they had made a difference or just made themselves look like idiots.
"we have heard your unorthodox appeal and have reached a verdict," one said, "all charges are dropped, effective immediately." The platform from the floor pulled up, their mentors standing on it.
M'Gann almost yelled out of happiness, Conner looked just as shocked as she did. They fought back the urge to jump for joy.
"the former prisoners will be processed and released to your custody forthwith." People moved towards them to release them of their hand cuffs.
"we did it," M'Gann grinned, turning to Conner, "we did it!"
"we did it!" Conner repeated, just as excited.
"ha ha!" she gripped him in a hug, jumping about, unable to fight the relief.
"the justice league owes its freedom and reputation to you and the team," Superman began.
"yeah, yeah, get into the speeches later," Conner smiled and the two supers embraced.
M'Gann ran up to her uncle and hugged him, he smiled at her and she happily remarked, "I kept your plants alive!"
"get out of here, you lot!" one of the judges ordered.
"right, yes, thanks again!" M'Gann yelled back.
They all ducked out of the court room. M'Gann tugged on Conner's sleeve.
"uh," she whispered to him, "do you think we should tell Batman now or...?"
"might be a good idea," Conner said.
"yeah."
They glanced at each other for a few seconds.
"well, maybe..."
"shot not," Conner said.
M'Gann stared at his back, insulted, as he sped up, beginning to explain to Superman that he and M'Gann would have to zeta back to earth and make sure nothing had gone wrong just yet. The leaguers would be arriving by other means, it would take them longer. M'Gann drifted back to walk by Batman.
"so," she began, clearing her throat, "there's something I should tell you before you get to earth."
Batman frowned, "what?"
M'Gann almost felt bad for him. there was probably zero chance he had any idea about any of this. He was likely about to be surprised by something for the first time in years.
"well, uh, we kinda glossed over the Kaldur being a double agent thing, but uh..."
"spit it out," Batman said.
"have you heard of Renegade?"
"yes," Batman said, "efficient, got a name for professionalism in the business, works for Ra's Al Ghul, not much else is known."
"yes, well," M'Gann said, swallowing down her worry, "we can add a few more things to his resume."
"those being?"
"originally taught by Batman."
He stopped, frozen.
"it's Dick," M'Gann said, turning to him, "Renegade is Richard Grayson."
"what?" Batman said, staring at her, "how do you know this?"
"he was told to protect Kaldur, make sure he wasn't conning them."
"and he... introduced himself?"
"uh..." she grimaced, "I'm not entirely sure, but he persuaded Ra's to mutiny from the Light, we won the battle at the summit with only minor scrapes cause of that support."
M'Gann could see cogs turning in Batman's head, if she strained her ears she'd probably hear them, too.
"Jason is also alive," she said before she could stop herself, before she lost her nerve, "also... with Ra's."
Batman blinked. M'Gann had never seen him have a rug swept from beneath him before, she didn't like seeing it now. It seemed unnatural. Batman was supposed to know everything.
"M'Gann, we have to go!" Conner called over his shoulder. He and the rest of the leaguers were ahead by a bit.
"right, yeah!" she nodded, then turned to Batman, "figured you might... you know, want to know before you get home."
And then, before she died on the spot, she raced off to catch up with Conner so they could zeta home.
Dick cleaned off the gross ooze on his blades, beginning to wish he had opted for something less sharp and less likely to end up covered in Reach blood. The hall of justice was gone and mount justice was gone, so the team was stuck meeting in a warehouse while Kaldur and the other leaders met in the watchtower.
He didn't overly want to walk into the dull, cheap warehouse, he was happy waiting outside and doing his best to clean his gear. Blue Beetle had found information in Black Beetle's memory that was apparently world ending. If Dick was being completely honest he was kinda over the world ending plots. They were just boring, couldn't villains think of something new?
But nevertheless, when Kaldur had asked for his help attacking the Reach ship he'd said yes, and now here he was, Jason close by. He didn't know why Jay had decided to stick around, he'd thought he'd head back to Nanda Parbat after they were done at Santa Prisca, but here he was.
Kaldur walked out of the door and Dick stood straight from where he'd been leaning against the wall.
"Artemis told me you were here," he said, "not quite joining in yet?"
He shrugged, "seemed a little packed with people, figured I'd wait to find out what's going on."
"well," Kaldur sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, "we have a way of saving the world, but it requires trusting Lex Luthor."
Dick scowled, "why?"
"because there's twenty bombs scattered across the globe and he's the only one with tech that can deactivate them," Kaldur explained.
"oh, brilliant, of course he is," Dick pinched the bridge of his nose, "okay, I assume there's gonna be a big ol' meeting where you tell us the game plan, let's go."
Kaldur smiled, "let's."
"every single magnetic field disrupter must be disabled before they chrysalis to guarantee Earth's safety," Luthor said, "each MFD is protected by multiple beetle tech drones, and each drone is the equivalent of a beetle warrior."
Jason was standing next to Dick, mouthing along with Luthor while making faces. Dick was trying not to laugh at him. Kaldur looked over at them, Jay didn't stop, Dick made a face of long suffering.
"there's 40 of you here, so you'll be in squads of two, with locations chosen specific to your abilities."
Batgirl elbowed him in the side, grinning as if this was high school and the science teacher just said they could pick their partner for their experiment.
"all right, I have your assignments, we'll distribute these eggs and go," Atom said.
"ladies and gentlemen," Luthor said, "the fate of the world is in your hands."
"I hate him so much," Jason said, waiting as they went through the list of squads and handed out the eggs.
"that was evident," Robin said, "not that he doesn't deserve it, but is there a specific thing he did?"
"he was born," Jason snorted.
"he learned to speak," Dick said.
"he lived past the age of five," Jason said.
"one time he smiled and it ruined my life," Barbara joined in.
"I heard he once threw a cat at someone," Dick said.
"yeah, I heard he eats Kit-Kats by biting straight into them, like a maniac," Jason said.
"also," Dick laughed, "you know, racist, white-privileged straight prick who makes billions off the backs of his underpaid workforce."
"and he's killed like," Jason shrugged, "millions of innocent civilians."
"yeah," Barbara said, "you know, so he did everything."
"team sigma, Batgirl and Renegade," Luthor announced, Barbara got up to take the egg, "Northern Bialya."
Barbra groaned once she was next to him again, they headed off to where the bat-jet was, "great we're fighting in a desert."
"yeah?" Dick frowned, "wait, have you not done that?"
"are you kidding?" Barbara stared at the egg in her hands, "I work in Gotham. Why would I want to fight in a desert, all that sand? Gross."
Dick broke into laughter.
"what? What's funny?" Barbara asked.
Dick shook his head, "I've been living in a desert for six years, it's not that hard."
Barbara looked him up and down, "yeah, it's great for your complexion," she joked.
Dick snorted, "chill, the sand is only annoying if you start rolling around in it."
"great, so no getting thrown into rocks," Barbara said, "any more tips?"
"Uh," Dick thought on it as they walked up to the jet, "it'll be dark, so don't worry about hyperthermia, worry more about staying still too long, you will get frostbite."
"cool, cool," she nodded, hitting a button on her glove. The glass windscreen opened up and the two climbed into the seats.
Barbara set the course for North Bialya and Dick stared at the interior. It had been updated and changed since he'd last been inside it. heck, the old one was probably blown up and this was just a very similar new version. Bat-jet 2.0. Dick had almost forgotten he was the one that made Bruce call everything by bat-whatever the hell it is. Before then it was just 'the jet'.
"okay, try not to get too nostalgic on me," Barbara said, taking the controls.
"why would I do that, it's just a plane."
Barbara snorted, lifting off into the air. As she did so the computer connected and the radio crackled.
"Miss Batgirl, I see we're headed for Bialya," a voice said, and Dick almost choked on air.
"that we are, Alfred, squad of two, say hi to Renegade," she grinned, looking over her shoulder at him in the co-pilots seat, "I already told him everything, don't worry."
"uh... hi," Dick said.
"eloquent," Barbara chuckled.
"hey, you didn't give me time to prepare."
"the feeling is mutual, master Grayson."
"uh, just Dick will do Alfred, it's fine," he said, "is this the part where I get to the apologies?"
"I'd prefer not," Alfred said, "perhaps you may attempt them over a cup of tea, face to face?"
"sounds like a plan," Dick said.
Dick hit the ground. Hard.
"wow, you good?"
He raised his head from the ground, blinking. Normally he'd probably have a concussion but he let the electrum take care of that.
"thank you for warning me," he said, playfully glaring at Barbara.
"oh no," she said dead pan, flipping out of the way of a laser-beam, "incoming, six o'clock."
Dick jumped and rolled out of the way right as a beam hit the ground where he was. He threw several explosives at the drone and jumped out of the way of the explosion. The bare bones of the drone remained and Barbara jumped and hit down with her Bo staff, the pieces crumpled.
"okay, one down, one to go," Barbara huffed.
"I'll distract it, you get to the MFD," Dick said, running for the remaining droid.
It aimed for Barbara but Dick threw several shurikens. It shot a sonic wave at him and he ran out of the range, but his eardrums still burst. The electrum rushed in to heal them and he winced slightly but ran back in. there were several giant rock formations and he scaled up them, jumped down and stabbed the drone, it shuddered in the air but stayed afloat.
"I did not think this through," he muttered to himself, wrapping his legs around the bottom of the drone as it started moving about and weaving through the air.
He got a good grip on the top of the droid then swung onto the top, twisting the hilt of his sword. The droid continued to shudder about through the air, sparking and whirring.
There were several holes in it, if only he could just shove his hand in there and pull out all the computer circuitry. If only he had a glove with claws on it or something. The one time the court had good ideas, god dammit.
Although, his ears were healed already...
He grit his teeth and took a deep breath, "why do I do this to myself?"
He shoved his hand in and grabbed hold of everything he could. When he pulled it back out the gloves of his gear were torn and a few cuts were healing. The drone was still moving.
"are you kidding?" he stared at it, "come on."
It kept on frantically moving through the air and he had to grab on with both hands again. His feet slipped and he was once more dangling. The guns of the drone were trying to move and point backwards at him. he twisted and wrapped his legs around one, held on tighter to his hilt, still embedded in the drone, and grabbed another knife. he pulled himself up and stabbed into the hole in the drone, twisted the knife. The drone kept flying.
"Jesus Christ, come on!"
He wrenched the blade out and threw it away. He grabbed his last handful of explosive projectiles, shoved them into the hole and let go of the drone.
He hit the ground hard once more, hearing the crack of at least three bones as he groaned.
But the drone exploded and broke into pieces.
Dick took a deep breath, getting a nose full of dirt, he coughed but struggled up to his feet, wincing and holding his arm.
He looked over to where the MFD was, Barbara had just managed to get the egg to it. she turned and gave him a thumbs up.
"Sigma to Watchtower," he said, "Batgirl has disabled the MFD, we're on our way back, ETA 25 minutes."
"we missed one," Atom flicked up a hologram, "the earth's magnetic field is still disrupted."
"Blue Beetle to Watchtower, I'm reading a 21st MFD in the Arctic," Jaime's voice played through the computers, Wally stared at the hologram screens, "hidden from my prior scans by the earth's magnetic pole, sending coordinates."
"there's no zeta tubes in the arctic," Artemis said, thoughtful, "how are we going to-"
"don't worry about it," Wally said, pointing to the screens.
"I'm on it," Flash said, and Impulse was quick to follow.
Wally stared as it was revealed they were too late to stop the MFD. Luthor's idea to run counter to the energy flow could work but Impulse and Flash wouldn't be enough.
"Do you think it'll be enough?" Artemis asked. But Wally had already disappeared and her only answer was the tubes announcing the travel of QuickStart.
As Wally got closer to his uncle and cousin he picked up their conversation.
"even at our top speed I'm not certain the two of us can generate enough energy to counteract the MFD," Barry said.
"then how about the three of us?" Wally grinned as he ran alongside his uncle, "can't let the new kid take all the credit for saving the world."
"so crash!" Impulse grinned, "try to keep up!"
He sped ahead and Barry stared at where he'd been with a sigh, "that kid is a handful."
"yeah, have fun dealing with him."
"what?"
"let's just say I'm interested in bringing back the yellow and red, and not wearing it myself," he grinned, then mock saluted, "anyway, more important stuff, gotta save the world."
He then caught up to Impulse, cackling.
"uh, so dude, question," Bart said awkwardly, "just a thought, the history books are kinda barebones on speedsters but I always thought you were slower than Flash?"
Wally frowned, "yeah, when I was Kid Flash I was way slower," Wally said, frowning, "why do you ask?"
"no reason, just worried about, you know, the giant bomb we're running around and the kinetic energy, what if you being slower than us cause problems, or-"
"don't worry about it kiddo," he smiled, "long story, but I didn't get the scar for no reason, I had a bit of an experience in the speed force," he chuckled, "wasn't easy, but I'm here now, aren't I?"
Impulse grinned, "hell yeah," he laughed, "well, then... race you!" he sped off once more, hitting his top speed.
"oh, I see how it is!" Wally kept running, approaching his top speed. Barry finally caught up.
"you want Bart to be Kid Flash?!"
"yeah, why not?" Wally shrugged, "the kid needs it, he's clearly hero material, he just needs a few kinks ironed out."
"I just... hadn't thought..." Barry stuttered, looking for something to say.
"hey, we've had multiple Robins, who says we can't have multiple Kid Flashes?"
"right, yeah," Barry said, smiling.
"you're thinking of something, what happened?"
"tell you later, Walls."
"yeah, well just finish up on saving the world, speedsters," Atom's voice played over the communicators, "cause our friends from Rimbor are almost home."
The leaguers arrived to find Mount Justice levelled.
"are we... too late?"
Superman stared at the landscape, eyes wide. His fellow leaguers just as shocked.
And then they were joined by the heroes they'd left behind. Flying in, landing on Sphere, all modes of transport from every direction.
Superman stared at Artemis, the leader of the team when they'd left. Aqualad was back, the original leader. But batgirl had also stepped in, according to M'Gann. Who was he supposed to...
"Aqualad," Batman said, "what happened here?"
"fear not," he said, "the crisis has been averted."
The moment of quiet was short lived, as proteges leaped into hugs with mentors, friends shook hands, beginning to spin tales.
Kaldur walked closer, stepping up to Batman.
"there are some people here to see you."
"M'Gann told me," he said, still not entirely believing it himself.
Kaldur nodded, "good." He gestured over to the side, away from the flattened piece of the mountain to where scattered rocks and boulders were, the blast uneven, "but hearing and seeing are two different things."
Kaldur lead him over to where two people stood, clad in dark colours and armed to the teeth. Batman just caught the end of their conversation as they noticed them there.
"look, I'm just saying, pirates are way cooler, okay," the shorter one said.
"you are literally an assassin, how can you-"
"yeah, and look at us, pirates look way cooler, have you seen their jackets, that's fashion."
Kaldur cleared his throat and the two looked at him, smiling beneath their hoods. Batman's breath caught in his throat.
"I'll... leave you three to talk."
Batman looked between the two, completely at odds with the situation and how to control it.
The taller one dropped their hood and Bruce was frozen staring at him. the sixteen year old married up with the stranger.
"long time," Bruce said, trying to get an idea on how this would go.
Dick rose an eyebrow, "that's an understatement."
"and you've been... with Ra's."
"yeah," Dick said, "you're surprised?"
"a little."
Dick snorted, "you're kidding?"
"why would I not be?"
Dick stared at him, working his jaw. He shook his head, scoffed, "no of course not, I can't believe..." he laughed to himself, bitter, "yeah, no, I can't stop myself."
Bruce frowned, confused, he opened his mouth to ask a question-
Dick punched him in the face.
Bruce rubbed at his jaw, "what the hell was that-"
"I almost forgot why I started hating you in the first place," Dick scowled, "you knew, you knew all about my dad and my sister and you never fucking told me."
"I thought you wouldn't-"
"and what you thought mattered?" Dick laughed, "Bruce, it's my family history, you don't get to hide it from me just because you think I won't like it."
"I was protecting you."
"oh, yeah, you're great at that," Jason broke in scowling, "your protection has a pretty long track record of getting people hurt."
Bruce dropped the hand from his face, sighing, "yes, I suppose you're right."
Dick had never seen Bruce genuinely look apologetic. He supposed there was a first for everything.
Bruce pursed his lips, "I'm sorry."
Dick blinked, gaping, "what?"
"you expect me to believe that?" Jason asked, "I don't think you know the meaning of the word sorry."
"Jay," Dick said.
"no, come on, you can't really be buying this," Jay scowled, "this is the guy that tried to fire us from a job he had no right to control and-"
"I was trying to keep you safe."
"you were trying to control us," Jay scowled.
"Jason I-"
"and not even that, but it was mere months," Jason shouted, "months and you already had a replacement!"
"Tim isn't a replacement-"
"what, do you just grieve at record speeds?" Jason scowled, "you can mope about your parents for decades but I get a few weeks, trust me I got the hint."
"Jason-"
"no, look," Dick cut in, "Bruce you can't just apologise and expect it to go away, but we all made mistakes in this situation."
"I did not-"
"Jay you literally ran after the Joker on your own in a fit of rage," Dick said, "and I have a list as long as my arm of mistakes, but," he pointed a finger at Bruce, "so do you."
"but-" Jason blurted.
"Dick," Bruce started, "I know I should have told you but-"
"nope," Dick said, "no more excuses, no more debating on who's fault, how about..." Dick sighed, "we just agree to act like responsible adults who don't hold ridiculous grudges."
"well I'm not an adult so..." Jason held up a middle finger, "fuck y'all."
"okay," Dick pushed Jason's hand down, "come on Jay, you can't fester in hatred for the rest of your life."
"who says?" he grumbled.
"well, I can agree on my end," Bruce said, holding a hand out, "I don't expect a complete turn-around, but I hope we can at least... try."
Dick smiled and shook his hand, "I can do that." He sighed, "but, this isn't an easy decision, more so..."
"trying to keep things together," Bruce said, "you were always good at that."
Dick scoffed, "oh, yeah, evidently."
"don't force yourself to be civil if you're not there yet," Bruce said, "I'm sorry and I deserved the punch."
"oh, yeah, there was no doubt about that," Dick snickered, "but don't expect me to be moving back in. ever," Dick shrugged, "but I'll call you if I need a hand, I guess," he smiled, "to be honest I'm being civil with you so I can talk to Alfred again, I miss him."
"that's fair," Bruce allowed the smallest of smiles. He sobered, "are you... staying with the assassins?"
"you bet," Jason scoffed, "as soon as this mess is over I am out of here."
Dick smiled, "I started talking to Ra's about leaving."
"wait what?" Jason took a double take, staring at him, "you're what?"
"oh," Bruce blinked, "will he let you?"
"he's not sure," Dick shrugged, "Thalia would need a new guard and also I don't really have a plan as to where I'm going, but I think he'll say yes."
Bruce nodded, "well, if you need it you can... 'crash', at the manor."
Dick winced, "let's not take it too far."
"right, yeah," Bruce cleared his throat, "taking this slow."
"remind me again what I'm doing here?" Dick asked, leaning over to Kaldur.
"you helped us tremendously," Kaldur said, smiling, "you should at least be around for the final congratulations speech."
"yes, it was great, Superman is so eloquent," Dick rolled his eyes, "Look Kal-"
The two paused their conversations as Atom walked by with Canary, overhearing what they were saying.
"And on the note of Luthor and the secretary general, I officially turn my chairmanship of the league over to you." Atom said, smiling.
"wow," Canary said, voice dry, "thanks so much."
Kaldur turned back to Dick, laughing slightly, "Batgirl is stepping down as leader, Artemis is taking a leave of absence."
"and you?"
"may just follow her example, for a month at least," he shrugged, "just to get some time to... think."
"I see," Dick nodded.
"what will you do?"
"well," Dick sighed, "I have to finish my conversation with Ra's about resigning, after that..." he shrugged, "I'll pack a bag and trip it round."
"you would be... welcome on the team," Kaldur said, slow, "if you wanted."
Dick smiled, shook his head, "I don't think so. I think I'll go solo for a while."
Kaldur nodded, "I'm not surprised."
Dick looked at the zeta tubes, "anyway, I need to get going."
"right yeah," Kaldur said, then seemed to have a thought. "mind if I join you?"
Dick frowned but nodded, "sure, come along."
They went through without trouble, arriving at Bludhaven.
"how are you getting to Nanda Parbat?"
"someone will be picking me up," Dick said, likely Duvall, he pointed at the building, "from that tower, on the roof."
Kaldur nodded, took a deep breath as if steadying himself. Or looking for confidence.
"I've got a... safe house, I suppose you'd call it," Kaldur said, "in Nevada of all places," he snorted, shaking his head, "that's where I'm headed till I've got everything put back together," he stuffed his hands in his pockets, "I could give you the address if you wanted to visit."
Dick stared, slightly surprised for a moment, then smiled, "I'd like that."
Kaldur told him the address and Dick put it in his phone. He dug a piece of paper and pen out of his pocket and wrote something on it.
"figured I'd bring a sense of normalcy, I suppose," he said, smiling, he handed over the paper, "my number."
Kaldur smiled, laughing slightly, but he put it in his pocket.
"I've gotta get going," Dick said, not bothering to mask the fact he was slightly annoyed by that, "But I'll sneak up on you some time, we can get a cup of coffee."
"that would be nice," Kaldur said.
As Dick turned to walk away, however, he grabbed his hand.
"wait," he said, and turned Dick around. before he lost his nerve he leaned in and kissed him. when they pulled apart he rubbed at the back of his neck, "just, uh..." he had no explanation, he could only awkwardly smile.
Dick chuckled, "I'll come over next Friday," he said, then kissed Kaldur on the cheek and turned away.
"I'll see you then!" Kaldur called after him, grinning uncontrollably, face warm.
Dick turned down the end of the street, Ra's was standing beside a light post.
"oh," Dick said, staring, "I thought Duvall would be picking me up."
"I wanted to talk to you," Ra's said, "but I don't think there's much to talk about."
"what's that supposed to mean?"
Ra's smiled, nodding down the alley to where the phone booth housing the zeta tube was.
"he seems like a nice man," Ra's said.
Dick couldn't help but laugh. He ran his hand through his hair, "he is, yeah."
Ra's nodded. Then sighed. "you have my blessing to leave the league, if you so wish," he said.
Dick almost hugged him again.
"on the condition," Ra's said quickly, "that you come back to visit every now and then."
"can do."
"good," Ra's said, leaning on his cane, "now, let's head home, you can start packing, Alex can interrogate you about him."
A/N alright, guys, you got the epilogue next, this was... amazing to write and it feels so weird to be finishing.