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Clark listened as the rest of the JL went through their reports. Well, half listened. He was anxious to get to their final matter of the day. They would be voting on who should join the Justice League next, and he was sure Nightwing would be a great fit. He was very similar to Batman, so he was eager to see what his friend thought. He hoped if he suggested it, the man might be more willing to hear him out.
“Thank you Green Lantern. Now, for our last point, nominations. Who would like to start?”
Clark stood. “I’d like to nominate Nightwing,” He began, “He leads the Teen Titans and I think he’d make a great addition to the League. I’ve worked with him before and can say without a doubt he is one of the best.”
A few others nodded, Batman included, much to Clark’s relief. “Yes, he operates in Bludhaven, Gotham’s sister city. He’s very good,” He agreed.
Even Clark was surprised at the acknowledgement. That ended any doubt among the other members. If he was capable of getting Batman to openly complement his skill, he was the real deal.
This thought process was, of course, proven when Nightwing officially joined the team. Normally, Batman would be strict and harsh with new recruits, but this time, he seemed to accept Nightwing almost instantly. Clark had once prided himself on being the only one who could really talk to the Bat. But Nightwing was sunshine personified, and even Batman let his walls down a little with the younger hero. The two were similar, and they lived in close proximity so no one thought to question it. In hindsight, they probably should have.
*****
Once again, Lex Luthor had managed to rile up Superman. Normally, he would’ve taken care of it himself, but now he had teamed up with Scarecrow, making it a League matter. Bruce had insisted he and Nightwing could handle it, but Superman had disagreed. Dick just wanted to get going, but Clark was ranting now.
Luckily for him, Bruce interrupted. “Thank you for the explanation, Superman, but we need to get back to the matter at hand,” He said. Then he pulled up a hologram model of Metropolis where Luthor was. “We have the element of surprise here. Luthor knows we’re coming, but he doesn’t know we know about Scarecrow. That makes him our main objective. If we take him out of the equation and recover the fear gas, Luthor’s plan falls apart,” He explained.
Dick nodded like he hadn’t helped make the plan. It was simple enough, and soon the team was making their way to the zetas. As usual, he basically clung to Bruce’s side the way he’d done for years. (The batkids would never admit to it, but they were clingy, and family was the easiest to latch onto without fear of consequence).
He noticed Hal looking at him and smiled. He’d been in the League for a few months and it still seemed to baffle Hal why Dick was allowed to get close to Batman but no one else could. He’d overheard the theories and they were far from the truth, but still very entertaining. Though most of the League seemed content to accept the odd warmness Bruce had for him, Hal, Barry, and Oliver were not most.
*****
Clark watched in horror as Nightwing fell to the ground. They’d been doing so well, they were almost done. That was when Scarecrow had slipped out of Black Canary’s grip and ran for Nightwing, laughing like a maniac.
The young hero turned, just in time for Scarecrow to inject something into his neck. Barry ran over and took the villain down again as Clark flew over and grabbed Nightwing. He sped towards the nearest zeta without a second thought and rushed towards the med bay.
Soon everyone else made it in too, just in time to hear Nightwing begin to scream. It was blood curling, sending shivers down everyone’s spine. The man shook and sobbed. He flinched away from Clark as he tried to help. It was an odd sight, seeing the sun eclipsed in such a way. Then he screamed again, “DAD!”
The room grew cold with terror. Nightwing was a ray of sunshine, but it suddenly came to everyone: they knew nothing about him. He was just as secretive as Batman himself, the only difference being Nightwing was otherwise friendly so it didn’t feel that way. Now they were faced with reality.
“DAD!” Nightwing called again. Clark tried to reach out again, but the younger man only flinched back at his touch. The older heroes stood around lost until Batman appeared, running past everyone else and straight to Nightwing’s side.
“Hey,” He whispered, “Hey, I’m here.” He reached out and began threading his fingers through Nightwing’s hair. The younger man leaned into the touch and calmed instantly.
If Clark could hear Nightwing’s heartbeat, he imagined it would’ve slowed. Clark stepped back and watched, confused. That wasn’t Batman’s voice . And why wasn’t Nightwing flinching back like before? He looked back to the rest of the League, who looked just as confused as him.
“I’m here chum. You’re safe, you’re gonna be okay,” The Bat assured.
“D-dad?” Nightwing whimpered, and the sound seemed to break the other man.
“I’m here,” He said again. This time, he sat up on the bed and pulled Nightwing into a hug.
It was the most expressive anyone had ever seen him. Nightwing curled into Batman (his dad?!) and slowly began to calm down. Batman looked to the rest of the League and suddenly his concerned expression was gone. He gave them a Batglare, and the other adults began to shuffle around nervously.
“What?” He demanded. His gravelly voice was back.
Clark glanced back at the JL and then back towards the Bat. Somehow, he seemed even scarier than normal with Nightwing in his arms. “I- um,” He tried, but Batman was glaring at them as though they were the ones who did this to Nightwing.
“Dad?” Nightwing whispered, so that only Batman could hear (and Clark but that wasn’t the point). “Can we go home?” He asked, and Batman softened.
“Yes,” The Bat answered and Nightwing curled into him further. He stood, not even having the decency to struggle with his grown son’s weight. He didn’t say a word to the rest of the JL as he walked towards the zetas.
*****
“Hey guys!” Dick smiled at the League, some of whom returned it curiously.
“Hello Nightwing,” Diana nodded. She hadn’t been in the last fight and hadn’t been there for the bombshell revelation about Nightwing and Batman.
Batman stepped out from the shadows and approached his seat at the table, Nightwing following him closely. The others watched intensely to see if they could pick up on anything. They couldn’t.
Dick was a performer and a diva, but he was a bat first and they’d been trained to not give away anything. He glanced at Bruce when they sat down and then looked back at the rest of the JL. They looked at Dick expectantly, assuming he was their best bet of getting answers.
“Is Batman really your dad?” Clark asked first. It wasn’t necessary, but he felt like they should start small.
Dick grinned and curled into his father, “Obviously."