CONTENT WARNING: implied racism/speciesism (Zatara @ Danny, it's one line and very much ignored until later chapters in this arc but will be a reoccuring thing throughout multiple arcs as teased before during Zatanna meeting Danny. Warnings will be given every time it is brought up💜)

October 17, noon

It wasn't until noon that they finally decided to give up on their broken sleep pattern. Doing the absolute bare minimum to freshen up, it didn't take long before they were walking downstairs.

Danny was still heavily leaning on Cujo. The stabbing pain in his chest had come and gone in waves throughout the night. The only thing keeping him sane enough to not scream out was the fact he had Cujo and his brother right there with him. Though still there, it had notably lessened enough for him to power through it.

Dick walked along the other side of the hound, using him more as a guide than support. Though they had managed some good sleep in the end, it was still far from what they needed to feel even half decent enough to function.

Dick had fully expected to see Alfred in the kitchen, used to the man's routine and perfect timing. What he didn't expect was all too familiar dual yowling and an even more familiar woman sitting at the counter with them. He stared in confusion as Shiro and Nanaki made their loud complaints known. Neither feline caring much about the hound between the boys as they clawed their way up until eventually being scooped into their respective targets' arms.

"When did you get here?" The how's of managing to get both Nanaki and Shiro all the way over to the manor was a story for later as he knew it had to have been quite a struggle. As his hearing was being assaulted by the cats, Selina waved them over, pulling out a chair on either side of her.

Danny was the first of them to start moving, slightly struggling as he only had one arm to hold onto Nanaki as Cujo helped him walk over. "Last night." He answered absentmindedly before Selina could. He winced slightly as he had to adjust his supporting arm from Cujo's back to the table, already missing the comfort his friend gave him. The moment Danny was safely transferred over to Selina's guiding hand, Cujo looped back around to nudge Dick towards his seat.

Dick kept staring at Danny, only now realizing just how bad his brother looked. Did he also look as miserable? He surely hoped not. Looking over to Alfred, he motioned for his pseudo-grandpa to check over Danny. Maybe he was feeling the effects of being sick all night worse than a normal person would. Considering his rapid metabolism, he wouldn't be surprised. Feeling Cujo push on his lower back, he finally looked back over to Selina as he made his way to her other side.

With Dick finally settled as well, the cats switched sides, getting comfortable in their favorite boys' laps. Selina smiled apologetically as she helped Danny scoot closer to the table. "I'm sorry, darling. Did I wake you up?" She brushed his bangs out of his face, eyes softening as she looked into Danny's dazed eyes.

He tried smiling back but quickly gave up as he knew it wasn't believable at all. Instead, he leaned into her touch. The warmth of her hand caressing his cheek bringing more comfort than he thought it would. "No, we were already up. You guys are just really loud when you're fighting."

There was an ever so slight pause in Selina's movements, but it said enough for Danny. He pulled back, pulling Shiro closer instead as he sat straight in his chair. Maybe he shouldn't have said that, especially with how startled she seemed at the fact he could hear them the whole time. He didn't like upsetting her, not after he was so sure he'd lost somebody he grew to care for over only such a short time. Any happiness he felt at seeing her, physically, alive and well was squandered by his own stupid comment.

Selina sat back down, cradling her warm cup of tea as Alfred served the boys a light brunch. He'd told her how little they ate yesterday, and looking at them now, she'd be inclined to believe he overstated how much they had actually eaten. Both her boys looked paler than they should, their beautiful olive undertones nearly completely disappearing as even Dick looked sickly pale. The bags under their eyes doing nothing to make them seem more their age. If she didn't know any better, she would easily believe they were Bruce's kids with how much they resembled him after a week of putting a case before his own health. And what a daunting resemblance that was considering how relatively healthy they looked the day before.

Alfred seemed to have noticed the same, doing a small skin elasticity test on Danny's hand. The pinched skin didn't go back down, clearly indicating dehydration at the very least. Alfred frowned, concerned about how quickly the boy's health was declining.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that, darling." Selina sighed, looking over to Dick who was still just as confused as ever. "Alfred called me to let me know Bruce found out. At first I was worried about why you two didn't tell me yourselves, but looking back on it, that might have been for the best." She smiled as Dick leaned into her hand, not even giving her enough time to tuck a few stray strands away.

At least Dick looked slightly better than Danny, mostly as he didn't have a worse baseline than Danny had. Still, she wouldn't know what to do with herself if Dick's own health deteriorated even more than he already seemed. The horrible images of a newly orphaned boy, stick thin and underfed resurfacing against her will. She blinked hard, forcing herself to focus on the Dick in front of her instead of the boy that plagued her mind.

"I," she swallowed, not really sure how many details would be appropriate to share with them right now. "I came over the moment we knew something was off. It took some...strong words to get Bruce to explain what happened and some even stronger ones to tell him how dumb it was to risk your safeties like that when he knew what was going on."

Danny snorted, the usual happy noise sounding hollow. "That's putting it lightly." The faintest of smiles ghosted his lips before it disappeared in a bite of red fruit oatmeal. It may not be one of the best things for them to eat, but right now, any and all calories counted for them.

Danny eyed Alfred, waiting for the man to present him with the dreaded cup of despair, until he spotted the mortar off to the side. He had a feeling Alfred left it out on purpose for him to see. Though they were told not to grind up the pills, as the effect would be lessened significantly, it still beat the reaction he had yesterday by a long shot. Maybe that's why his bowl was overflowing with more fruit than usual.

"Perhaps this is a conversation best continued when Master Bruce returns."

Dick looked up, eyes widening in shock before settling back into a downcast gaze. "Of course he isn't here." More words weren't needed as his disappointment rang clear. Why would he even have expected the man to be here? He hadn't bothered to wait for them like Alf and Selina did. Had it just been a lie when he said Danny could stay? To get them to come back voluntarily and not cause even more of a scene in front of the others?

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Alfred placing a glass of juice in front of him. "Please do not misunderstand, Master Dick. Master Bruce has been in an emergency meeting due to the current circumstances. It is unclear when it will come to an end as there were quite a few concerns to be discussed."

"Concerns about the training and the entire team as a whole, not just you, darling." Selina quickly added as she could immediately feel the shift in the air as Danny slowly started sinking through the chair. It wasn't even a lie. She had been there when multiple demands for his attendance came through. Had he not left to go deal with his impatient colleagues, there was no doubt they would have personally come over to demand answers or drag him up to the Watchtower by the scruff of his cowl.

Considering what they went through, albeit on accident, the ethicality of the Team as a whole was being put to question.

Neither boy looked particularly convinced, but nobody could blame them. Though he had important responsibilities as Batman and main supervisor of Team mission deployment, he also had other, equally important, responsibilities to his family. One he was currently failing while also defending it with all his might.

They continued the meal in relative silence, save for the soft purring of the feline lap warmers. Though nobody expected either to finish their bowls, both Selina and Alfred were elated with how much they managed to get down this time. Cujo most certainly did not mind finishing the left overs for them either. The minimal boost from Danny's medication helping to maintain his hound form just a tad bit longer until he eventually shrank down to his pup size.

Alfred had also taken the liberty to hook up an IV to Danny. Though he did manage to stomach quite some, it would be nowhere near what he needed to recover. It was also an extra insurance should he get nauseous again later in the day. The drip didn't get in his way too much, mostly leaving his right arm alone and relying on his preferred hand to eat.

Deciding they had nothing better to do, they, sans Danny, dragged down Dick's blankets to the theater room and built a cozy corner for them all. When Selina had left to help Alfred with preparing snacks, Dick hacked into the Cave security to wind back to the argument Danny had overheard the other night.

Just like Danny said, it really had been quite an understatement when Selina explained what happened. They skipped through most of the actual discussion, leaving that bit of information to the privacy they had last night. It was already comforting enough to know she would stand up for them even without being asked. Even with her confusing relationship with Bruce, she still risked a lot to confront him on their behalf. No matter how they twisted it, Catwoman was still a wanted criminal.

No matter that she had been patrolling with them lately and her last actual robbery being a couple months before.

Any logical thinking hero would have arrested her, even if it would just be for breaking into the Batcave.

And then the alerts started coming in.

Batman flinched every time the ping echoed from the cowl loud enough for the cameras to pick it up. Contact requests from half of the League, all demanding to speak to Batman about what happened. At first it was just the mentors, until Hal had gotten word from either Barry or Oliver.

Who in turn told his fellow Green Lantern.

Who told the Hawks.

Who in their turn informed Red Tornado.

Before they knew it, word of something having happened to the Team had spread like wildfire. By the time Clark and Diana reached out for the 4th time, and Zatara sent a particularly nasty message about daring to put his daughter at risk with a creature like that around, they knew he had to leave to deal with the fallout.

He almost hadn't though. They could tell. He paused too long between receiving the notification and announcing he was leaving. A pause long enough to weigh the option of staying and seriously considering it. A pause just reluctant enough, it proved to them he didn't want to go. But if he hadn't, it would have only caused more problems for the sleeping boys he was trying to keep safe. The quick glance at the camera proving he'd know Dick would check the security feed once they found out he wasn't there.

And so, he left and had yet to send word on when he would be able to come back. Come home to them and tell them it'll all be okay.

All they could do now was trust that he was doing whatever he could to do just that.

When Selina returned, they were slightly surprised Alfred had followed suit. It hadn't taken long for them to all get comfortable. While Selina, Dick and Danny had cozied up in a cuddle pile, Alfred had opted for the recliner they had dragged over to be right next to them. It wasn't often Alfred participated in watching movies so there was not a single chance they would let the man feel left out.

Even Cujo, Nanaki and Shiro had huddled up together on a pillow to relax alongside their mismatched little group of humans. Danny had half the mind to ask Selina why Nanaki and Shiro seemed to care so little about Cujo, when all the other cats openly hated when even his sent drafted into the apartment. The likelihood of anybody knowing what goes on in those chaotic little brains of theirs was slim to none, however. Cujo hadn't seem to mind them whatsoever so it wasn't causing any trouble on either side.

They had eventually settled on a Kung Fu Panda marathon. Although the main objective was just killing time, they still managed to fall asleep here and there. Of course, always prepped for the occasion, Alfred had made sure to take a few pictures as the boys cuddled into Selina for a nap. She hadn't minded either, mostly just thankful they were getting some more rest and feeling comfortable enough to do so.

As the hours trekked on, they started to grow more worried. Still they had yet to receive even a single message from Bruce or any other Leaguer for that matter. Dick had been tempted to text Wally, see if his best friend knew anything. But he didn't dare. He didn't dare because he had seen the way Wally looked at them when they passed by. He had seen the hidden glares from Barry and Oliver. They tried to hide it from the others, but Dick had practically grown up around the men. BatTraining wasn't even needed to be able to read their body language after years of sleepovers.

If they were against the Team, or even Danny, what would that mean for him?

Would the people he saw as his uncles take his friends away in an effort to keep them safe from his brother?

Would they abandon him, just like that?

Would they force him to choose between his own brother and the people who became like family to him?

Before they started up the next movie, Dick decided he couldn't take it anymore.

He stormed out of the theater room and headed straight for the study. Danny and Cujo were hot on his heels, well mostly Cujo as Danny was practically coming along for a ride across Cujo's back in an effort to keep up. At least Cujo had been smart enough to grab Danny's IV bag as the boy would surely have forgotten.

Selina called out for them, but Dick was on a mission and not stopping for anybody. "No! I am done waiting. What could have possibly been so bad it's taking almost a whole day for them to finish? It can't just be the failed training. Something else happened or Barry, Oliver hell even Clark would have reached out by now to at least check in. Radio silence from Bruce is one thing, but the entire League is just ridiculous!" Angrily he typed away at the BatComputer, only stepping back when he found the security feed he was looking for.

Everything seemed perfectly fine, his own memories and what Bruce recounted to them the day before all lined up as it should. Sure, it was beyond odd to watch what the mentors were doing while also being able to see where in the simulation they were. But he tried to not focus on it too much, trying to keep those memories at bay until at least the night when he couldn't escape them anymore.

With baited breath he fast-forwarded until the point of failure. Artemis' death.

The telepathic pulse hadn't just pushed them off balance. Almost down to the millisecond of the wave passing over where Danny had been hiding, the camera started malfunctioning. Not the entire frame of footage, however, just the exact spot where Danny had been standing. It reminded Dick a lot of the security footage they recovered from the Belle Rêve breakout, before they even knew Danny was there.

Access denied

"Tabarnak." Why weren't the League clearance codes working? He helped program them in himself, he knew he didn't mess up! Letting out a string of curses under his breath, he was thankful Alfred didn't feel the need to reprimand him. Even the usually prim and proper Englishman had no patience for whatever was blocking their access.

"Wait, go back." Danny asked, scanning over the footage right before it was blocked. About 5 seconds before the footage cut out, he spotted Batman twitching ever so slightly towards his arm. Everything seemed normal until it all suddenly cut out exactly 5 seconds after Batman pressed a button on his gauntlet.

Now, Danny may not be as used to Bat level tech as Dick was, but he did spend a good few years surrounded by incredible tech built out of kitchen appliance scraps. And one can only listen to Tucker yapping for so long before you start picking things up yourself.

Bruce had definitely activated a security command that would guarantee privacy. Now knowing what they were actually looking for, Dick checked the coding, or rather, the hidden backdoor codes they always added. Just where they thought they'd find it, hidden in plain sight, was one of Batman's hidden protocols. No wonder the standard access code wouldn't work, the clearance level was raised to Bat-only.

Now sure they were in, he wound the footage back a few seconds before letting it proceed again.

Immediately they knew why the footage was locked down from general access.