Behind The Mask • [YoungJustice/BatFamily] (SLOW UPDATES)

Four

Dick quietly closed the door to Terry's room once he had put him to bed. He quickly scanned the hallway as he walked briskly back to the staircase. Glancing over his shoulder-- there was the woman in the red dress, tailing him again.

She was smart, kept her distance. There was a black strap at her thigh just where her dress opened up, made of a very familiar material to Dick. Jason used that same material in his knife sheath. She seemed to be wandering idly, holding a glass of champagne loosely, but her eyes alway trailed back to Dick and her steps followed his.

He took out his phone, quickly unlocking it and going to the family groupchat. He glanced over his shoulder to catch a better look at her for when his brothers would ask for a description. She was rather pretty, but held a dark look in her eyes she hid behind a soft smile.

Me : catwalk on my 6 i'm headed towards kaldur

Jaybird : claws?

Timbo : describ

Me : yea

Me : 5 10, red dress, black stilettos, black choker with a gem, pulled back brown hair, blue eyes

Dami : I am with Jon and Miss Martian, we have visual. Drake, she's on your eight.

Timbo : jays getting the tag

Timbo : give us a minute

Across the room, Tim looked back. Sure enough, there was the woman and Dick. He handed Jason a small device as he passed, "I'll distract her, you tag her."

Tim turned, weaving through the crowd. He pretended to be scrolling through his messages, then ran straight into the woman. They both stumbled and he caught her wrist, helping her stabilize. He apologized profusely, stumbling out a false explanation. Jason slipped behind her, nodding to Tim. He apologized once again, before disappearing from her view. She looked around and then continued watching Dick.

Dick tapped Wally's shoulder, excusing himself for taking so long. He picked up the discussion from where they left off, subtly shrugging in the catwalk's direction. Wally murmured, "She's been onto you since about halfway to the stairs." Kaldur nodded in agreement.

Jaybird : she's tagged.

Dami : Grayson, when did you first notice the catwalk?

Me : the stairs. wally says he saw it halfway

Jaybird : demon spawn, do you still have visual?

Dami : Of course I do, Todd. Why?

Jaybird : I'm watching another catwalk by Jaime and Bart.

Dick sparred a glance towards the front of the room where the two aforementioned where talking. Lagaan joined in, looking around. Behind them, there was another woman identical to the one watching him. He tapped Kaldur's arm, gesturing their way. He looked back down to his phone, letting Wally put his arm around his shoulders and pull him just a bit closer.

Me : i see her

Me : identical

And if there were two, there was bound to be another somewhere.

Jaybird : Timbo, B's 5.

Timbo : on it

"We count three," Dick said quietly motioning his friends to follow him around the perimeter of the room.

"Hi, I'm Tim. Would you mind if I stole Bruce for a bit?" Tim asked the couple that was talking to Bruce. He held Bruce's arm, tracing the numbers five and three on the inside of his wrist. "I need to talk with him."

"Do excuse us," Bruce said. He pressed his open palm over Tim's shoulder blades, leading him away. "Have you tagged them?"

"Working on it."

Dami : I am sending Miss Martian with two more tags.

Damian pressed two small devices into M'gann's palm. He briefly explained who she was to tag and how. She pulled up her hood, disppearing. Jon looked around, scanning the crowd for the others, worried. Damian shuffled closer after a moment, folding his hand into Jon's for reassurance.

Jason moved quickly, grabbing Bart's arm and dragging him into the sea of people. As expected, Jaime and Lagaan followed, though probably for different reasons. Bart looked up, confused. "Keep walking," he whispered. Bart simply complied.

"Hey!" Jamie shouted over the noise, "Where are you going with my friend!"

"You have a hostile on your ass, you'll thank me later--"

"You!" Lagaan hissed, giving Jason a rageful glare.

Jaybird : can we get a link up? lagoon brat is gonna throw a fit.

B : Get ahold of anyone you can on the team. Keep them in your sights and out of reach of the catwalks. Be careful, watch each other.

"Hey, listen to me, you--" Lagaan snapped, getting right up in Jason's face. M'gann appeared behind him, pulling him away before he started screaming. She whispered something to him before she disappeared again. Lagaan scowled, glaring in Jason's direction, though the recipient was still walking and staring down at his phone. "Next time you won't be so lucky."

Me : form a grotto perimeter, lure them into the center

Me : does anyone have eyes on artemis or connor?

Dami : It appears Harper had that under control. Todd, on your left.

As if on cue, Roy appeared out of the crowd and slung his arm around Jason's shoulders. "Heya, Jay, long time no see," he chirped.

Jason moved his hand up to brush against Roy's neck without looking up as he typed his next message, expecting to brush through his hair. He frowned, looking up. "You cut your hair," he said softly. "I liked your long hair."

"I know," Roy sighed. "Sorry. It just got a little too long, so I got it cut maybe ten weeks ago?"

Jason glanced over to the left, a little bit ahead of them. Connor and Artemis were talking, sticking close. Artemis looked back at him, clasped her hands in front of her, and started signing out in shorthand, 'danger? should we start a perimeter?' She probably wasn't saying it to him, seeming surprised when Jason signed back, 'affirmative. get into grotto formation, leave us to lure them.'

"Have you told Kori? She loved your hair," Jason said.

"That's what I'm dreading! She's off-planet right now, but I'm gonna have to tell her as soon as she gets back." Roy's hand moved down to settle on Jason's waist, above the handprint burned into his skin from that one time Kori asked them to teach her some Earth customs for her first Wayne ball. "Well you can still braid her hair at least."

"Maybe I'll teach you sometime," Jason said, motioning for the others to loop around the perimeter behind his back. He and Roy kept walking towards the perimeter, meeting up with the other batboys in the center of the room.

Dick put his back to Jason, discretely handing off the handgun he carried. "Chandelier," he whispered, smiling politely to a lady passing by. "Can you make the shot without looking?"

"Do you truly doubt me that much?" Jason muttered back, aiming upwards. He pretended to laugh at something Roy said, tilting his head back a little. He shifted his aim a little, and fired.

The gunshot echoed and the chandelier came crashing down in the middle of the crowd. The small area in which it had landed had been cleared by Wally just seconds before it hit. The crowd gasped and moved away. Bruce directed everyone out and slowly the panicked people shuffled out of the house.

The three identical women seemed surprised. The team, positioned in a wide circle across the edge of the room, started closing in. These girls were trained, but not nearly enough to beat the team and present batfamily members. They were doomed the moment they drew their blades.