Chapter 4

Summary:

Why are they hunting a young meta? Batman doesn't know, but he's going to find out...

or: Batman's POV of the GIW's chase of Danny through Gotham.

Takes place at the same time as the last chapter.

Notes:

There were some questions about the timing of the rescue and things, so I decided to post this early. After this, I'll probably move to weekly or 2x/week updates. I want to thank everyone who has read, commented, and given kudos! You guys are amazing!!! 💙💜💚💙💜💚 you all!

👻👻👻

Chapter Text

Ten minutes earlier…

"Oracle to Batman, I've got a lock on some highly encrypted traffic coming from a trio of drones over by the Bowery."

"Have you cracked the encryption?" The sound of wind rushing by could be heard clearly over the comms. When the wind stopped, there was a soft thud. Batman stopped for details on the developing situation.

"Affirmative, Batman. Sending the primary video to you now."

Bruce flipped open his gauntlet to be able to see the video more clearly. The video feed seemed to be focusing on an exhausted-looking teen. Batman saw the moment that the boy noticed the drones. His eyes got wide and he ran towards the back of the restaurant like he was being hunted.

The view pulled back, and it appeared that the drone had landed on the roof of a white vehicle. Said vehicle began recklessly speeding through the streets, apparently without care for traffic laws or public safety. Bruce was about to alert the GCPD when two other vans appeared in the video.

The white vehicles on the screen were unmarked and had no license plates. A single drone sat docked on top of each van, right next to a satellite dish. What was horrifying to the Bat, were the men leaning out of the open side doors of the vehicles, shooting what appeared to be green laser weapons at a flying figure in front of them. The video feed showed quick flashes of the collateral damage as the vans roared through the streets.

"Oracle, who is closest to their location?"

"Robin and Red Hood are already in-route. I've sent a route and coordinates to the Batmobile. You should be able to rendezvous with them within a few minutes."

"Good work, Oracle. Batman out."

Bruce made it to the Batmobile in record time and was soon roaring through the streets himself. On the road ahead of him, he saw one van suddenly tumble off the road. A second vehicle soon followed the first in the wreckage. Batman could make out the taillights of two motorcycles speeding after the last vehicle, but the readings on his map showed that the remaining van had gathered quite a lead.

"Oracle, send the current video feed to the Batmobile. I want to keep an eye on the

situation while I'm in route."

"Affirmative, Batman. Will do."

Bruce watched as the lead van's occupants began focusing their fire on a spot in front of the speeding vehicle. His heart nearly stopped when one of the men brought out a larger weapon and landed a hit on the shadowy figure in the air. There was a flash of light and the outline of a body filled out into the form of a white-haired, green-eyed teen. The boy stumbled to the ground and began running.

"Hood. Robin. How close are you to the vehicle? They're chasing a young meta, and they aren't pulling any punches."

"Damn!" Hood's voice carried over the comms. "That van must have some kind of turbo charge—they've just about left us in the dust!"

"Tt. Speak for yourself, Hood. I am not having difficulty in my pursuit."

"Shut it, brat! You're only a block ahead of me!"

"Hood! Robin! Keep your chatter off the comms. Focus!" Batman's voice was sharper than usual, and it quieted the squabbling brothers.

Bruce turned his attention back to the road and kept driving. He had almost caught up to his sons' location when he noticed the video feed had stilled. The van had stopped moving, and he watched in horror as three men in white suits slowly approached the obviously wounded teen with their weapons raised. White hot rage filled the Bat when one of the men landed a shot on the unresisting figure in front of him. The suited man didn't stop, however. He pulled out a larger weapon and fired on the teen again.

"Team, report. What is your proximity to the location? The situation just turned critical."

The sound of a grapple gun going off met Batman's ears. "We're on site, about to engage." The rising hum of electricity told Bruce that Hood was using his crowbars on tonight's patrol.

A darker part of Bruce was glad that the most violent of his sons were the ones to respond to this incident. His rage had been building since the moment he realized that these people were hunting a child. He would make sure that the boy got justice.

The Batmobile slid to a near-silent stop next to Hood's abandoned bike. The door flew open. Batman was now on the scene. There was a bright flash of light, and Bruce's heart sank. The boy had been shot again. A quick glance to the side showed that Hood and Robin had already engaged with two of the men. Two shots from a grapple gun later, and the final man was left dangling from the nearest light post.

The teen's agonizing convulsions made guilt flare in Bruce's heart. He watched on in horror as the teen began to shrink. Soon, he was smaller than Damian was when he had first come to Gotham. The young boy started pulling at the clothing that now dwarfed him. He began to wobble, and Batman reached out to steady the child. The boy's unfocused eyes stared past him before rolling back in his head. His body went limp and slumped on the dirty concrete.

Bruce's first thought was to take the child to the hospital, but then a bright white ring appeared around the child's waist. It quickly moved across him and left a rather small, unconscious, black-haired boy laying on the ground. Bruce took a deep breath and thought about the video images Oracle had sent him over the comms when he was racing to the child's side. Four minutes earlier, this boy had been a teen with glowing, Lazarus-green eyes and white hair. He wasn't sure what the weapon had done to change and de-age the boy, but he decided not to risk any civilians if the situation became more dangerous. He had no idea who had been hunting the boy, after all.

He decided that the best option would be to move things to the Batcave. Bruce motioned for Red Hood to grab the weapons from the men. He belatedly noted that Robin was taking out his frustrations on the man swinging from the light-pole. Batman shook his head. "Robin! Secure the prisoners."

Damian scowled. He was fourteen! He knew what his job was. He also knew that the monster-in-human-form deserved a far worse beating than had been given. With a final huff, Robin kicked the man in the stomach and turned to the unconscious men in and near the van.

As he closed in on the white vehicle, something made the hairs on the back of his neck stand to attention. Robin shook it off. He was above being "spooked" by things. He pulled out his zip-ties. He reached for the first prisoner. Something about the man's demeanor seemed familiar to Damian. It might have been a bit unnerving for the youngest vigilante in the family. Not that he'd ever admit it.

Damian finished securing the prisoners quickly. They were surprisingly cooperative. Instinct honed over four years of being Robin screamed at him that something was off. He whipped his head around to look at his brother. "Hood! Do you notice anything unusual about their equipment?"

Jason scowled at the teenaged terror standing several feet away from him. "You mean other than the fact that these stupid space weapons are filled with Lazarus water?"

Something ugly in Damian shifted. "What are you talking about, Hood?"

Even though Jason was wearing his hood, Robin could tell that the other vigilante was off his game. Jason nearly growled at his brother. "All of these weapons and equipment are full of Lazarus water. They're making the Pit go crazy."

"We need to tell Batman."

Batman heard his name and walked over to the duo, carrying the unconscious child. "Robin, report."

Damian huffed. The whole situation felt off to him. "Batman, Hood feels the presence of Lazarus water in the weapons and equipment that was used in pursuit of the boy. He is being affected by it. We need to confiscate it before the police arrive. They do not need to get their corrupt hands on this level of technology."

Batman nodded. "Good call, Robin." He turned to his other son. "Take the boy back to the Cave and radio ahead for the doctor to meet us there. Robin and I will finish securing the prisoners and bring the tainted equipment back in the Batmobile."

Jason was too unsettled to argue. It told Bruce just how serious the situation was. He watched as Jason pulled a harness out of a side compartment on his motorcycle and attached it to himself and then to the child. When the boy was firmly secured, Jason sped off into the night. Once they were safely away, Batman and Robin made quick work of immobilizing the prisoners. The two masked vigilantes gathered the weapons and equipment and put all of it in a lead-lined box in the trunk of the vehicle. Once they were en-route to the Batcave, Oracle allowed reports of the incident to get through to the police.