Protect The Batboys

tim...c'mon

Tim hurriedly slammed the gym door shut and locked it, turning to his teammates with a pale face. He was met with an assortment of shocked and smug expressions. Tim gulped and decided to jump head first into it. "You absolutely cannot tell anyone that you know who I am. I mean it. Not even Nightwing or Batman. Especially them. Got it?"

Artemis grinned wider, slowly standing up as she got feeling back in her body. "Don't you mean Dick and Bruce?" Tim paled even more, if that was possible. "C'mon, its obvious that this is a family business. Are Damian and Cassandra in on it too?"

Tim shook his head as he sunk to the floor, numb. How could he be so stupid? Dick is going to kill him! Bruce is going to fire him and promote the little demon to Robin, probably kick Tim out of the house and he was never going to see Alfred or Cass again.

"Woah, Tim, take a deep breath." M'gann was by Tim's side now, taking his hands in her own. Tim did as he was told, breathing deeply and holding it for a few seconds before releasing it. "There you go. Tim, we aren't going to tell anyone. You've seen how well we can keep secrets from Batman."

"But what about Nightwing? We still have access to the mind link, you know. He is bound to find out." Tim sounded so defeated, it almost made Artemis feel bad for being so proud about figuring it out. Almost. "And you can't cut him out, he'll know something is up."

"We'll figure it out. Don't worry, we're your friends. We've got your back." Tim smiled appreciatively at Conner, finally uncurling himself from the tight ball he wound his body in.

Little did any of the team know, Damian happened to be walking by the gym and over heard the whole conversation. With a devilish grin, he was off in the direction of Dick's room.

Unceremoniously, Damian barged into his brother's room and startled Dick, who was doing some homework. Dick smiled when he saw who it was. "Hey, Damian, what's up?"

"Drake told the team." Was all Damian said. He expected Dick to freak out, to start cursing Tim and plotting his demise.

Instead, Dick smiled. "That's great!"

"What? Father will not be happy, Grayson."

"So? He doesn't have to know they know. Besides, its about time they found out. I've been getting tired of keeping it secret from them." Dick sighed, standing up from his desk with a big stretch. "Come on, little D. Let's go say hi to the team."

Damian grumbled under his breath but followed his brother towards the gym nonetheless. Once they got there, Dick knocked on the door and waited until he heard Tim unlock it. Tim's face contorted with anxiety when he saw it was Dick on the other side. "H-hey. We just finished the training. What's up?"

"I know you told them about us, Tim. It's okay, I'm not mad." Dick smiled, hugging Tim. Tim melted into the hug absolutely relieved.

"I can't believe all it took was one slip of the tongue." Tim mumbled into his brother's chest.

"Well, you can't be a genius all the time." Dick chuckled, entering the room to face his team. "Hey guys, I heard you found out our secret."

Wally was at Dick's side in an instant. "Why didn't you just tell us, dude? I mean, I get why, but you know what I mean. Its not like we are going to judge you for being super rich or anything."

"Bruce's orders." Dick shrugged simply, feeling as if a giant weight had been lifted off his chest. "But now that you know, we can cut this bullcrap and stop acting like we need protecting, yeah?"

"Are you kicking us out?"

"Never!" Tim looked appalled. "What he means is, now the real fun can begin. Right, Damian?"

Damian glared at Tim. "Father will not be happy when he sees the tapes."

"Good thing I will get rid of the evidence." Tim winked at his little brother, making the ten year old huff and cross his arms over his chest.

"So, what did you have in mind?" Kaldur asked, looking at the trio of brothers.

Tim and Dick exchanged looks, smug grins forming on their faces before Dick shoved Tim to the ground. "Tag! You're it!" Dick ran from the room, grabbing Damian and yelling as he did so. "Scatter!"

The team caught on pretty quickly and they all ran from Tim, dispersing through out the ginormous mansion. Tim was smart, he went after Artemis first.

Argh! I've been tagged!

Art is It! She's in the library!

Hey, no far! That's cheating!

Is it?

No.

Yes it is!

I call it helping.

I call you It!

Eff you, Artemis.

Dick is It!

Hey, should we include Damian to the mind link?

No.

Yes.

Ugh, fine.

What is this?

Called a mind link, for long distance communication and gossip.

Heathens.

I agree with you now Tim.

Told you.

Dick flipped over the banister in the main hallway and landed silently behind an unsuspecting Wally, tapping him on the shoulder. "You're it."

Wally grinned mischievously, rushing off to go find his target. A moment later Dick heard Conner curse loudly and he let out a chuckle before taking off running in the opposite direction of the yelling, one thought on his mind.

It was definitely more fun with the team in on their secret.