Chapter Text
The next couple of weeks were a bit chaotic, to say the least. Their teammates had started to initiate their infiltration plans, and Tim was already going insane. Tam was glaring at him,
hard—
probably wondering why he’d hired them in the first place. He hadn’t! Babs had hacked W.E. to ensure that Tim wouldn’t just put them in a low-tier I.T. job or something.
Duke and Damian, on the other hand, had a whole different problem. Since they were both kids and still in school (Tim had dropped out, and Steph had decided on taking an advanced placement program that allowed her to start university early), their teammates had decided the most reasonable way to befriend them was to enroll in their school. So now Duke was dealing with Jaime and Gar trying way too hard to befriend him while he did his best to keep up the awkward nerd act, and Damian had Jon, Lian, and Colin pestering him almost 8/5 (so every minute they were at school). Damian would be lying if he said he didn’t find his friends’ antics slightly endearing, which was a problem because he was supposed to maintain his cold, rich spoiled prince act.
Meanwhile, Dick was having a bit of trouble keeping up the dumb himbo act. Wally had transferred into the forensics department at the police station where Dick worked, and he and Artemis had moved into the apartment building right next to Dick. Not to mention Megan, Kaldur, Zee, and Donna continuously finding excuses to run into him. Though, to be fair, he thoroughly enjoyed messing with them by flirting with them. As a leader and role model that many of the younger heroes looked up to, he didn’t get as much of a chance to joke around and have fun with his teammates anymore. Granted, they were still his best friends, but he could never truly let loose around them, so this was nice.
At the same time, Jason, had a problem in the shape of a very hot redhead who had just moved in next door with his daughter and "wife" (Kori), and who were very intent on getting to know their new neighbor. It was starting to get hard for Jason to keep up the brutish thug act he had carefully crafted as his public persona while his neighbor often saw him reading classics like Jane Austen. Roy had even gone so far as to lend Jason his bike—which, as one of Roy's best friends, he knew was a monumental gesture. Roy must really be invested in the mission.
Simultaneously, Babs was getting overwhelmed with the amount of interns she’s had to train at the library. So far, Helena Bertinelli, Dinah Lance, Kara Danvers, and Jessica Cruz had all applied for the post at the library. So now Babs had to somehow maintain her annoying know-it-all act while still making sure the library didn’t get set on fire. Lucky for her (it’s not like she changed the mission files or anything), Helena and Jessica ended up on Steph duty, so she only had to deal with Dinah and Kara.
Speaking of Steph, she must be the only Wayne currently thriving. Her natural chaotic energy was perfect for messing with her teammates while maintaining the overworked and overstressed college student act. Helena, Jessica, and Cissie had decided the best way to get close to her was by joining her classes, and Steph had somehow roped them into a study session, which left the trio somehow more confused than when they started and covered in purple glitter. Jessica was convinced she was possessed and had somehow sold her soul to a demon.
Steph just cackled.
In the meantime, Courtney, Tatsu, and surprisingly Virgil had all hijacked Cass’s ballet classes. They decided it was the best option after realizing that Cassandra was not a very sociable person. Unsurprisingly, Tatsu was the only one who could even come close to Cass’s level of precision and grace, leaving Courtney and Virgil floundering around like fish out of water. Cass had to stifle a grin every time she saw them attempt to dance. So far, whenever they tried to talk to her, Cass simply danced away on the points of her ballet flats. Cass struggled with speech to begin with, so she preferred not to talk during her ballet lessons.
And finally, Bruce, since the start of this forsaken mission, Oliver had been pestering him nonstop to meet up. He’d been getting invites from Diana to go to various art museums and requests from Clark for interviews. Bruce didn’t know how much longer he’d be able to hold them off. Lucius had already started giving him the look that meant, you better start answering them or else. Bruce sighed and eventually decided that accepting brunch with Ollie would be the best option. Might as well catch up with an old friend during lunch. He just hoped Oliver didn’t invite Hal and Barry or that the brunch wouldn’t blow up in his face, as these events tended to do.
At the end of the week, they held another team-wide briefing. Superman started them off.
“Alrighty, what have y’all gathered so far?”
Artemis raised her hand, shooting conspirative glances at Zatanna, who was clearly trying not to laugh. Dick groaned internally and braced himself for whatever comment they were about to make about him. Babs was definitely going to record this for blackmail.
“Well, me and Zee have observed that Richard, or Richie as he likes to be called, is not in fact a threat but rather an empty-headed nuisance (ouch!) who thinks his sole purpose in life is flirting with women (and men, if the looks he exchanged with Wally meant anything).”
Clark looked slightly put off but moved on like a pro.
“Uhm, alright, would anyone else like to convey their observations?”
Bart raised his hand.
“Yes, thank you, Bart.”
“So you know how we’re interning at W.E? You know, now that I think about it, W.E. sounds kinda like D.C., you know, because of the two initials thing, which then reminds me of Washington D.C. Did you know they had a branch in Washington? Because I sure didn’t and...”
“Bart,” Tim reminded him while gently shaking his shoulder to calm him down.
“Oh! Right. What was I saying? Well, anyways, we’ve noticed that the rumors about him are true and not. For example, contrary to popular belief, he doesn’t let his assistant do most of the work for him—they are both equally stressed out of their minds. He is pretty cold and ruthless and all that stuff though. They say he was trained by his mom, Janet Drake, who was known as the Ice Dragon for her harsh and efficient ways of handling business. No wonder his poker face is unmovable.”
“Okay! Bart, I think that is enough for now. Would anyone else like to contribute their findings?”
Jon raised his hand. As one of the youngest teams working with the JL, they didn’t often get big jobs like this, so it was disappointing to not get results. Jon looked like a kicked puppy, making Damian’s heart pang with guilt.
“Unfortunately, me and my team weren’t able to gather much information on our suspect, other than Damian Wayne thinks he is royalty just because Bruce Wayne is his dad and, for some reason, is really close with his siblings.”
“That’s alright, Jon. I’m sure that information could come in handy someday,” Diana said calmly.
“Anybody else have something important to contribute?” Clark asked, clearly eager to move on.
Courtney nudged Virgil, who nudged her back. Jeff glared at the two to shut up while Tatsu decided to take the floor. Meanwhile, Duke, Jaime, and Gar were all trying hard to muffle giggles. Cass rolled her eyes at their antics, excited to hear what her teammates thought they had gathered on her.
“Our investigation into Cassandra Cain is proving to be quite futile. Any attempt we made at initiating conversation has been ignored. Though we have been able to note that, for someone so quiet, Cassandra is remarkably close with her siblings. During our observations, we often saw Cassandra being accompanied to and from ballet practice by at least one or more sibling, who often stay to watch her dance. In general, they seem quite encouraging and supportive of her.”
“Hmm. I’m sensing a common trend here. The Waynes seem closer than a pair of well-worn boots.”
“Clark, your country’s showing,” Hal teased lightly.
“Ope, sorry ’bout that!”