Masks

Part Twelve

Its going doooooowwwwwnnnnnnn.

It was tense at dinner at Wayne Manor following the training exercise, Jason and Dick glaring daggers at each other while Damin and Tim made small talk, Bruce observing his children silently.

He cleared his throat, his boys falling quiet. "Does anyone want to tell me what is going on?"

"Dickie here is a traitorous fool." Jason snarled.

"Jay has no idea what he is talking about." Dick grit out, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the edge of the table.

Bruce, Damian, and Tim watched as the twins continued to glare. "Do either of you care to elaborate?"

"No." They both snapped.

Bruce nodded, making a mental note to do some further investigation into this matter. "Alright, well, there is something I need to discuss with you all. It is about your public images."

"Oh, geez."

"With being the sons of Bruce Wayne, there comes a certain...responsibility to maintain appearances in the public eye. That means showing up at events, such as parties, galas, etc...That being said, I am throwing a party to show off you four and welcome you to the Gotham elite. It is, obviously, mandatory that you be there."

Tim nodded. "What do we have to do?"

Bruce was slightly taken aback by how easily they accepted this. But then again, he realized, they are probably thinking of it as another mission.

"You have to socialize with the Gotham elite, tell them about 'yourselves', how you like living with me, etc. Which reminds me, we need to come up with a cover story for your backgrounds. We obviously can't tell the public that you grew up within the League of Shadows and that you were assassins."

The brothers exchanged glances. "We have already come up with a cover story."

Bruce raised a brow. "Oh? Do tell."

Damian cleared his throat. "What I have been telling my classmates and teachers, when pressed, is that my brothers and I grew up on a secluded island with our mother. We never knew our father. Our mother, wanting a better future for us, contacted you to take us in. With your bleeding heart, you accepted and came to get us. We've been living with you ever since."

Bruce blinked. "So, you essentially told them the bare bones of the truth?"

"Essentially, yes. The best lies have seeds of the truth in them."

"When asked how well educated you are-"

"Easy. Our mother holds several degrees and wanted to make sure we were educated." Jason shrugged.

"Okay, but you told your teacher that the subject was covered by the time you were eleven."

"It was. I never said we had other students with us though."

Bruce nodded slowly. "What if someone finds out about our relation?"

Dick smirked. "We never knew our father or why our mother contacted you specifically, so you decide how to handle that."

Bruce held back his own smirk of pride. His sons were good. "Alright, well, the party is going to be in a week. You are all welcome to invite friends if you want."

His boys nodded before getting back to eating, Tim, Jason, and Dick all thinking the same thing.

Wouldn't it be fun if we invited the team in their civilian identities?

- - -

At school the following day the team was surprised to see the Wayne twins approach them with eerie grins on their faces.

Uh oh, I don't have a good feeling about this...

Why not?

When siblings get along and have matching smiles? Run.

"Hey gang, what's up?" Dick asked, jumping up onto the wall next to Wally.

"Oh, you know, waiting for school to start." Wally replied, avoiding eye contact with Dick. Dick's grin grew.

"Great! So you have a minute then." Jason clapped his hands once. "My brother and I were wondering if you all wanted to come to a party that-"

"-our father is throwing for us next week! He said we could invite friends, and seeing as you five are the closest we have to friends, we figured why not, right?" Dick waggled his brow. "So, what do you say?"

A party? At Bruce Wayne's?

We're going, right?

You only want to go because you think Dick is hot.

I mean, he is, but it's going to be fun. Come on, guys. When else are we going to be invited to Wayne Manor?

He has a point...

So, do we accept?

I think we do.

Yes! Score!

Artemis turned to the twins, crossing her arms over her chest. "We'll go. What's the dress code?"

Jason and Dick exchanged a look. "Uh, fancy?"

"We think?"

"We'll get back to you on that."

"In the mean time, can we get your numbers to keep you updated?" Dick asked, pulling his phone out. Wally pulled his phone out and immediately gave his number, ignoring the knowing looks his teammates gave him.

Jason grabbed Dick by the arm after they got everyone's number, pulling him away from the group, calling over his shoulder to the group. "We'll see you in class!" To Dick he whispered lowly. "This is going to be more fun than the time I died."

Dick punched him in the shoulder. "You could've told me sooner that you know who they are, you know."

Jason shrugged. "What? I'm still kind of pissed at you."

"And now I'm mad at you."

"Why?"

"You know how I feel about you making light of your death." Dick glared at his brother. "I don't enjoy it."

Jason rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I got cool hair from it." He ruffled his white fringe. "Too bad I have to spray it for trainings and shit with the team."

Dick smirked. "Yeah, too bad."

They continued to class, taking their seats in the back as they waited for their team to show up.

The team was a few minutes behind them, staring after the twins.

Conner's eyes were wide, having caught some of what was exchanged but not all of it.

Hey, guys? I don't think we should under estimate the Wayne brothers.

What do you mean?

Dick just mentioned that he and Jason know who we are...

How could they know who we are? We are so careful!

Well, for one, Kaldur and Conner don't wear masks, so there's that.

But how would they even know about the team? We are covert.

Unless they have ties to the JLA.

How could they?

I'm not sure yet, still trying to figure it out. But I think it is imperative to go to that party. There is more to those Wayne brothers than meets the eye.

So we are going to snoop on them?

Think of it as another mission.

Operation Dig Up Dirt On Innocents?

I don't know how to feel about this...

If they are who I fear they are, you won't be saying that for long.