More Young Justice Trash

Separated (part 5)

-the plot picks up a little-

Bruce was up late after patrol, hunched over the little screens. On one monitor was the clip from the security cam, he'd found the most detailed frame he could. He couldn't clearly see any of their faces, but he could make a rough estimate of what they looked like. He could make out six children, two of whom he recognized from his encounter the previous night, one was little more that a blur, but the other three were easy enough to make out, a South East Asian girl with long blonde hair, a white girl in pink, and a bulky white boy who was a fair bit taller than the other two.

 On another monitor was a list of missing and runaway children in the same age range. Call him a pessimist, but there were only so many ways kids ended up on the street: children who ran away or got lost or god forbid got kidnapped...

"You'll need to sleep eventually." Alfred manifested at his elbow.

"I can't sleep while those kids are in danger." Bruce said dismissively. 

"I'm sure the children would excuse the batman for taking three hours off to sleep." 

Bruce shook his head, shrugging on his cape. "I'm going back out."

Again, Kaldur stayed up that night watching over his friends. Wally's head was resting on his lap, M'gann leaning into his shoulder. The day had been hot and long, Kaldur had slept through most of it in the shade, and now he was awake to guard them through the night.

They'd gotten some food, but they were still low on funds and supplies, Kaldur was sure he'd gained several grey hairs worrying about his friends on the street.

Somewhere nearby was an engine, one that tore above the other cars with ease.
Just as Kaldur realized what was happening, a long black car came tearing down the street. The batmobile. 

Kaldur cowered, gripping his friends, as the headlights passed over them. They were lucky tonight. He hadn't seen them this time.

Conner fussed in his sleep, disturbed by the noise. He rolled over, closer to Robin, and went still again.

Kaldur let out a breath, and returned to petting Wally's hair.

Bruce was frustrated when progress wasn't linear. Things were supposed to make sense that longer he worked, why weren't they? All he knew was that the children were being exploited by a gang, used as operatives.  It was the only option that made sense. The only issue being that besides their use of children, he knew nothing about this gang.

Alfred had cheekily proposed that it didn't exist, but that couldn't be. As long as those children were being used, there had to be someone who was using them.

His mind was brought back to the sixth child, the one on the tape that appeared as a blur... if they could have an Atlantean child, what else could they have? Metas?

He decided to search for the small, athletic brown kid. He seemed unique enough to track down.

Bruce narrowed down his search by south and south-east Asian kids, and began searching when something caught his eye; a young girl with long blonde hair. The photo was a few years old, but she was near identical to the girl in the video.

Artemis woke up craving a puff. Wally had already left to get more food and Kaldur was just going to sleep. She elbowed Conner awake, inviting him to join her. He shook off the other kids who were sleeping on him and followed her around the corner. 

"I've told you about my parents, right?"

"Mhm."

"Mum's getting out soon." She remarked. "I forget the day, but I might go visit her when she's back."

"Do you like her?"

"Enough." Artemis shrugged, lighting up. "What do those little patches feel like?"

Conner hissed as he smacked one on his thigh, taking a moment to pull his waistband back up and let the effects hit his veins. "...good."

"mhm." She nodded. "Can I try?"

"They suppress human DNA. I'm not sure what It'd do to you."

"Fair." She took a puff. "Want some?" Conner took a hit off her cigarette and immediately choked. "Yeah..." She laughed. "It can be like that for newbies." She inhaled some more. "Do you ever miss... wherever you came from?"

"Cadmus?" He shrugged. "Sometimes I miss my pod."

"You're weird." She snuffed out the end of her cig. "C'mon, let's head back."

"Don't tell me what to do."

She smiled a little, Conner always got cranky after taking his patch. "Suit yourself. I'm going back."

Bruce got his couple hours of sleep in, then dressed and got to work. He'd found one kid, he could find the others. He was actually starting to make progress. Those children needed him, even if they didn't think they did.

He'd put the news on in the background as he worked, the noise almost completely drowned out by the clacking of his keyboard. He was still waiting to hear back from Arthur about those records...

He'd started to expand his search out from Gotham-- some of the kids could be from New Jersey, or Metropolis-- a missing child here, a runaway there... now he was getting somewhere.

A single word cut through his thoughts "...metahuman..."
Bruce closed his laptop with a snap, his attention now fully on the TV set.
"...With what appears to be super speed. It last sighted on 42nd street, headed north."

The kids could wait. This was urgent.

Kaldur was awakened shortly before ten. The shitty burner phone that most of the team shared was ringing. He picked it up before the others got a chance. He didn't know what to expect, the only person with their number was Artemis' weed dealer. 

"...hello?"

"Hey man." Wally's voice came over the line, so calm it was obviously forced.

"Kid? What is it?"

"I've, uhm... I've been arrested."