Protect The Batboys

study buddies?

"So let me see if I got this correct," Kaldur rubs his tired eyes as he stares at the bullet points on the power-point in front of him, "Catwoman is not currently a threat to you?"

"Not at the moment, no."

"Define threat."

"She is to mother."

"Ugh, we've been at this for hours." Wally groaned. "I think we've got it down that with the Riddler, you just have to be smarter than him; Penguin, don't get shot; Poison Ivy, avoid the plants and chemicals. Mr. Freeze is cold, the Joker is crazy and murderous-"

"Are you even taking this seriously?" Dick snarled in Wally's face, making the speedster fall out of his chair from shock. He didn't even see Dick move.

"Dick, please-"

"The Joker murdered my brother in cold blood and you are acting like this is a joke?" Dick ignored Tim's pleading eyes, glaring at Wally instead. His eyes held a fury that made even Damian a little afraid. "If anything and I mean anything happens to either one of my brothers I will not hesitate to make your life a living hell. Death would be a gift when I'm done with you."

The room was silent for a long time until Damian cleared his throat. "So, with Catwoman we have a sort of truce..."

Getting the hint, Dick composed himself and went back to stand with his brothers, pointedly ignoring the shocked looks from his team.

Woah, who knew he was so fiery?

Did you miss the part where you blew off his brother's murderer?

Did you miss the part that they have a dead brother?

I find it odd that he said 'my' brother and not 'our' brother. Was this before he was adopted or before the others were in the picture?

Does it matter? Wally, you need to find a way to apologize.

Are you guys missing the facts here?! Look at what is right in front of you!

What are you talking about, Art?

They are from Gotham, so are Nightwing and Robin...

And?

They are seventeen and thirteen, just like Nightwing and Robin. Plus they know an awful lot about Gotham rogues...

Both coincides. There is no way these two are-

The second Robin after Nightwing was killed by the Joker, just like this mysterious brother...

And Nightwing and Robin aren't on this mission!

Art, Conner, you are both being ridiculous. They can't be them. You said so yourself not too long ago, Artemis. Remember, Tim got a phone call from Robin?

And Robin is notorious for being tech savvy! Tim was typing a heck of a lot on his phone before he got the call, he could have easily-

Now you are just stretching. Let's get back to the lesson, shall we?

The whole time during the mind link conversation, Artemis was staring at Tim. As the conversation went on, his tremble got more prominent and his coffee cup began to shake in his hand. With a smirk, Artemis decided to try something.

Hey Robin, how's the coffee?

Tim was mid-sip and nearly choked on the scorching liquid. Artemis eyed her team from the corner of her eyes, but they all just shook their heads.

Could be a coincidence?

Don't be daft!

Artemis groaned internally, looking forward and tuning in as Damian droned on about Selina Kyle. It was funny how they knew the identities of the criminals but didn't turn them over to police. She told her friends this in the mind link, but got the answer of probably not being enough evidence and of Selina Kyle being Bruce's girlfriend.

Internally, Tim was dead. He knew Artemis was a determined person. She was going to prove to their team who they were, one way or another. What if she stumbled upon the Batcave? Its not like they can move the Batcave.

Dick was resigned. So what if the team figured out their identities? It was about damn time. Screw Batman's rules, he was five seconds away from just telling them flat out. Not literally, but he was tired of keeping it a secret. And boy, the looks on their faces when they realized that they could hear everything they had been saying in the mind link all this time?

Dick scoffed with a smile, looking over at his friends. Sure, they got on his nerves, but they were still his friends. And he was fine with them knowing he was an acrobat-turned-orphan-turned-rich-kid-turned-vigilante. If that was the course this mission was going to take, so be it.

Everyone was taken out of their thoughts by Damian's cell phone ringing. He rolled his eyes and answered it with a sigh. "What do you want, mother?" There was a pause as Talia spoke on the other end. "If you need to get in touch with him so badly, as I have said before many a time, call him yourself." Another pause. "I don't care if he is blocking your calls, figure it out. You are Talia Al Ghul." Damian hung up the phone with an annoyed sigh, looking back at the power-point. "Screw this, I'm done for now. Began training."

With that, the ten-year-old stormed out of the room in a huff, leaving the teens behind with confusion hanging over them. Tim turned to Dick for answers, but all he got was a shrug in return.

Clapping his hands once, Conner stood up. "Alright guys, let's do this. Where is your gym?"

Tim made a 'follow me' gesture and the team was off, leaving Dick wishing he could join them to train and practice.