Save The B(r)ats

nopity nope nope

"Are you kidding me right now? You've got to be kidding me, because that is the stupidest idea I have ever heard and I have been living with Damian since his mother kicked him out." Tim stared blankly at Bruce, a stare which Bruce returned.

"How is it a stupid idea? 'A life for a life' makes perfect sense. And out of all of our lives, it should be mine." Bruce retorted, making all his kids bark out a laugh.

"No, we need you. Gotham needs you." Damian spoke up.

"I'll do it."

"Grayson-"

"No, if I had been there for him after he came back the first time, maybe he wouldn't have gone down the path that he did and we wouldn't be here right now. I'll do it." Dick said definitively, marching up to the machine. "I'll do it."

When should we make our presence known?

I kind of want to see how this plays out.

That's sick.

Eh.

Wait a minute...

What?

I need to tell them something.

What is it?

M'gann didn't answer, instead she made herself and the team visible to everyone in the room. The Bat family was only a little shocked, whereas Lex Luthor looked amused. "Ah, the sidekicks. What are you doing here?"

"We're here to put an end to this sacrificial bullshit."

Language, M'gann.

Bruce stepped forward in between the team and Lex. "Thank you, but I've got this covered."

"Batman, with all do respect, no you don't." Bruce glared at M'gann as she side stepped him, walking towards Lex. "You are despicable. You weren't going to tell them that there are enough electrodes to attach to all of them, allowing them to all live through the process and bring Jason back, were you?"

Lex just smirked. "Guilty."

Bruce grabbed Lex by the throat and tossed him across the lab. "What happened to being an 'honest man', Luthor?"

Lex got up and rubbed his throat, shrugging a tiny bit. "So I lied, sue me."

"Don't give him any ideas, he may actually sue you." Barbara muttered, already working on attaching the electrodes to herself and her siblings. When she got to Stephanie, she backed up a bit, making Barbara frown. "What is it?"

"He shot me, Barbara. With a poisoned bullet." Stephanie snarled. "I am not going to potentially die for him."

"He died for you, Steph." Barbara pointed out, walking away with a shake of her head. "Think about that."

Stephanie rolled her eyes but stood her ground, going to stand with the team and watch the process.

Bruce and Dick attached the I.V.s to each of the family members, including Jason, before signaling to M'gann that they were ready for her to turn the machine on. M'gann counted down from three, hitting the button on one.

It whirred to life once more, sending jolts through each of the Bats. They let out shrieks, almost making Stephanie run over and turn the machine off. The only reason she didn't was she didn't know what the consequences of that would be and she didn't want to find out.

This is painful, watching them get tortured like this.

Weren't you the one that just said you wanted to see how this played out?

Well, I take that back now!

Can we go?

They were our ride...

And we can't just let them potentially die?

That too!

What do we do?

M'gann, alert Superman.

Done.

Stephanie decided she had had enough watching her family get shocked, making a break for the machine only to be held back by Artemis and Cassie. She squirmed against them, thrashing in their hold. "Let me go! Its killing them! I'm not going to lose my whole family!"

"You'll lose them for sure if you stop the process." Lex spoke up, startling the team as he approached them from behind. "Besides, the process is almost over."

Stephanie turned her thrashing towards Lex, trying to break free of the girls' grip to get to him. "You! If any of them get hurt, I will end you."

Lex just laughed. "You saw how the process worked before, I cannot guarantee that no one will leave unscathed."

Stephanie narrowed her eyes, about to snarl out more threats when the machine stopped making noises. Everyone turned their attention back to the rest of the Bat family as the machine powered down. Stephanie was the first one over there, checking her family for pulses. She hesitated over Jason but checked him anyways, letting out a tiny sigh of relief when she felt a pulse.

"Its faint, but its there. Looks like you get to live, L-" Stephanie was cut off by the sound of a shriek, whirling around to stare in horror as she watched her older sister begin to spasm, shock waves going through Barbara's body. "Barbara!"

"Don't touch her!" Wally yelled, speeding in front of Stephanie and blocking her path.

"Get out of my, I have to get those things off of her." Stephanie cried out, almost hysterical.

"If you touch her, you could get shocked too. And what good would two shocked Bats do us, huh?" Wally reasoned, watching as Stephanie weighed her options.

"I'll take my chances."

"But we won't. I'm sorry, Spoiler." M'gann apologized, walking up behind Stephanie and placing her hands on Stephanie's temples. Her eyes glowed a soft green as she used her telepathy to put Stephanie to sleep, knowing it was the only way to prevent her from potentially doing harm to herself. She gently laid her on the floor before focusing on Barbara, using her telekinesis to lift the  electrodes off her body.

Barbara's spasms lasted for a few more moments before she lay completely still. Fearing the worst, Artemis went over and checked for a pulse before breathing a sigh of relief. "She's still alive."

"We still need to get her to a hospital. All of them. Come on, to the batplane." Kaldur began undoing the electrodes from the rest of the Bats, stopping when Lex opened his mouth.

"I believe Batman owes me some kryptonite."

Conner smirked.

My time has come.

He whirled around and punched Lex Luthor in the face, knocking him out cold. The team nodded in approval before returning to their task of freeing the Bats, gathering them in their arms before making their way to the batplane.

M'gann got in the pilot seat and let out a little squeal, startling her friends. "Sorry, its just...I'm flying the batplane."

Oh, M'gann...