Under the Mask

Chapter 5: The Bat Brothers

-ARTEMIS-

4:00 P.M., Tuesday, Bioship (Gotham)

Artemis stared out of the window. She snorted, No fair. Why does Boy Wonder get a special mission while the rest of us have to protect some snobby little rich kids.

She glanced at Wally, "You must be sad that your best friend's not going on this mission."

Wally blinked, as if coming back to reality, "Huh? Oh, um. Yeah."

Artemis' attempt to start a conversation obviously failed. 

M'gann looked at her teammates, clearly concerned. After all, in every mission, they would all chat and make jokes. So she attempted to start a conversation (again), "So, Artemis!"

"Hmm?" the emerald archer asked without looking back to glance at M'gann.

"You know one of the kids, right? Which one is it?"

"Richard Grayson."

"Oh." M'gann blinked, clearly unsure what to say next.

Wally glanced at everyone, "What do you think the kids would be like?"

"Snobby," Artemis frowned.

"Angry," Superboy stared at the bioship's wall. 

"Interesting," Kaldur looked thoughtful.

"Kind," M'gann looked a bit to enthusiastic.

"Hm." Wally grunted.

4:30 P.M., Tuesday, Wayne Manor (Gotham)

The heroes stepped out of the bioship.

Artemis gaped at the Wayne Manor- it was huge! She couldn't believe that only 6 people lived there. 

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash that came inside the house. 

They paused outside the manor, listening.

After a while, Kaldur asked, "Do you think they have some kind of pet?"

Wally looked in another direction, while Superboy frowned, "I don't think so..."

Kaldur looked dubious and walked up the steps to the front porch. He rung the doorbell once, and almost immediately, the door swung open to reveal a 13 year old kid that looked familiar to Artemis. 

She realised that this was Dick Grayson. 

But, he looked different.

His hair was mussed up and his clothes were rumpled (well, he was not wearing his school uniform, of course). He wore black jeans and a blue hoodie. His blue eyes looked tired. Still, he welcomed the heroes with a dazzling smile.

"Welcome to the Wayne Manor!" Dick smiled, "You must be the heroes that Batman sent to look after us. There's actually no need, we can take care of ourselves."

"Uh huh," Artemis narrowed her eyes.

"We will take care of you and your family," Kaldur insisted.

"Oh," Dick's smile faltered for a moment, "well then, in any case, please do come in!"

The heroes walked in the living room, and Artemis (and everybody else except Dick) winced at the sight.

Two young kids were wrestling on the floor. One had a knife in his hand. The other kid, was sitting on the sofa, stabbing a sharp object into it and making the fluff come out. The whole living room was wrecked.

"Damian! Tim! Stop fighting! C'mon guys, you're bleeding! We just bought that mat!" Dick yelled towards the two kids fighting on the floor.

Artemis raised an eyebrow, clearly concerned that Dick was more concerned about the mat than his brothers.

He then turned to the one on the sofa, "Jason! Alfred's gonna kill you!"

The boy named Jason glanced at Dick shrugged, and went back to stabbing the sofa.

Damian and Tim, who paused when Dick told them to stop, decided to take Jason as a role model and continue. 

Dick sighed and turned to the heroes who were visibly wincing, "Sorry about them. They hardly listen these days."

He then hollered at the top of his lungs so loud that Artemis thought every window in the manor would shatter, "GUYS! WE HAVE VISITORS! CAN YOU JUST STOP FOR ONE MOMENT?!"

The three kids sighed in unison and reluctantly stood up.

Dick smiled again, as if nothing happened, "Guys. Thank you. Anyway," he turned to the heroes, "I'm Richard Grayson, but please call me Dick."

He then gestured to Jason, "This is Jason." Jason wore a dark crimson jacket and a black shirt with brown cargo pants. He had pale blue eyes that looked dull, and no where as lively as Dick's. He had a streak of white hair that contrasted his black hair.

"This is Tim," Dick went on and gestured to a smaller kid that looked about 9 years old. He too, had blue eyes, but they were sky blue. He wore black leggings and a red hoodie. He looked very, very tired. 

"I need coffee," Tim decided.

Artemis raised an eyebrow, "I don't think 9 year olds should be drinking coffee."

Tim glared at Artemis, "Excuse me, but I'm 9 and THREE QUARTERS." Without saying anything else, the boy stomped away towards the kitchen. 

Dick stared after Tin for a while, then cleared his throat and smiled again, "And this is Damian."

Damian looked as if he was ready to chop Artemis' head off. With a green t-shirt and blue pants, he glared after Tim as if he would very much enjoy crushing his brother's skull in. 

"And I'll show you your rooms," Dick announced cheerfully. 

He led the heroes up lots of stairs, and Wally once had to lean against the railing to catch his breath. 

Finally, they reached five rooms. "Make yourself at home," Dick smiled and gestured to the rooms. Artemis glanced at Dick and wondered if he was ever tired of smiling.