More Young Justice Trash

Separated (Part 3)

The teens took most of their living supplies with them when they all left the house; it had no lock and they couldn't risk some other poor soul robbing them. So as inconvenient as it was, they packed up their food and made their way uptown.

"Jade tends to cut it fine." Artemis said as they piled on the bus without paying. "We might get there in time."

"I hope."

The shipment was in downtown Gotham, that was no surprise, but as they zeroed in closer on the tracking device, Bruce felt his chest tighten, barely daring to look at the coordinates. Chekov's gun: the same house he'd followed the boy to last night.

He couldn't let his soft side hold him back; the child's parents were their drug thieves. 

Along with hawkwoman and Captain marvel (not his ideal team), Bats returned to Gotham, following his footsteps back to the condemned house.

The door wasn't just unlocked, it didn't even close  properly, propped shut by a cinderblock.

The downstairs was vast and empty; the internal walls had been knocked out and the stucco-powdered carpet was thin and threadbare. Across he floor were scattered a handful of sleeping bags and clothes, there were defiantly at least four people living here, though where they were now was unclear.

"Maybe they moved out?" Marvel proposed.

"And left their clothing?" Batman shook his head. "They'll be back." He stooped, examining something protruding from one of the sleeping bags. A small, well loved, stuffed elephant. He suppressed the heartache; just because a child was involved didn't mean there wasn't a serious crime on their hands. Still, subjecting yet another child to the foster care system never felt good. "They'll definitely come back..."

"So what? Do we wait for them?" Hawkwoman said, checking the time. 

"I'll wait for them."

The mission had been overwhelming successful, which is to say, they'd inercepted Cheshire and at least delayed her assassination attempt. With the nonexistent resources they had, that's the most they could have hoped for.

They were almost home free when they saw it.

"Something's wrong." Kaldur said, noticing the open door from across the street. He ducked behind the corner, his friends following. 

"What is it?"

"There's someone in the house." He said, keeping his voice level despite his increasingly rapid heartbeat. He always did his best not to scare them, though his mind raced with possibilities: was someone else moving in to their shelter? Had the military finally tracked their deserter on land? He tried to breath slowly.

"What?" M'gann squeaked, clapping her hands over her mouth.

"I'll get them out." Conner said.

"No!" Kaldur grabbed his arm. "No, we need to be careful." He explained. "It could be police."

"Then I'll get the police out."

"No," Kaldur wracked his brains for how to explain this to his friend. "We can't return inside. We'll just wait until he coast is clear."

After all, they'd slept on the street before, what was one more night in the cold?

Artemis excused herself for a cigarette, Conner followed, leaving just the four of them on the sidewalk. The sky had dimmed and the cold of night had begun to seep into their bones. 

"Kal." Dick asked, drawing him aside. "I-- I need to go back in there."

"Why?"

"I left something important in my sleeping bag." He said, looking rather sheepish.

"I don't think that's safe."

"But it's been hours! there's no way they're still there." He pleaded. "Just in and out, that's all."

Kaldur thought it over carefully. "Just in and out?"

"Yes."

He nodded solemnly. "I'm coming with you."

The door to the house was ajar, no longer propped closed it swayed in the drafts. From where he crouched at the top of the broken stairs, Batman watched as the door was gently pushed open. Through the dark and the dust, he could faintly make out two short figures. The smaller he recognized; short black hair, light brown skin, no more than twelve or thirteen. The boy from last night

"...looks empty." The younger observed.

"Looks can be deceiving." The older, a black boy with close-cropped blonde hair, scrutinized the downstairs.

The younger hurried towards the crates-- no, towards the sleeping bags-- he stooped, rifling around for something. "Found it." He hissed.

"Come on!" The older gestured urgently to the door.

"No emergency, there's no one here... wait." The boy stopped, just below the stairs. He turned, looking up. Bruce could see his eyes reduce to pinpricks of horror.

With no more need to hide, batman leapt down, blocking the way to the front door.

The children staggered back. From down here he could see what the boy was holding: the small stuffed elephant. The older boy stood between them defensively. 

"Don't come near us." He warned, though there was a touch of nerve in his voice.  In the light from the half-open door, Bruce got a better look at him: eellike tattoos snaked down his arms, and petal-thin gills ringed around his throat.

"You're Atlantean." Batman demanded. "What are you doing here? How did you find those crates?"

There was a second of stillness, and then both boys were moving, shooting deeper into the house. Bats took off after him, but the children seemed to know the layout better than him.

He heard a latch click and ran to the bathroom door. The boys had locked themselves in. He braced one leg, kicking near the bolt of the door. Once, twice, finally the rickety old door snapped off its hinges, falling inward. Nothing. There was no one inside. A light breeze drew his attention to a small window just above the toilet. It was a tight squeeze, but the teens could have managed it. Not willing to lose them, Batman shot out the back door after them.

The two boys ran, difficult as it was, all the way back to the encampment. Huffing and wheezing as they skidded to a halt.

"Is he following?" Dick asked, sniffing into the back of his hand. 

Kaldur glanced around them. "I can't see him."

"We'd better circle the block just to be safe."

Kaldur agreed, and the two dragged themselves into an alley. 

"Did you get it?" 

Dick replied by holding up the stuffed toy. "might not seem like it was worth it, but..."

Kaldur held up a hand. "You don't need to explain yourself to me." He lead the way down the alley. "We must return before our friends start to worry."