It was a common occurrence of late, ever since Superman had formed the Justice League, that Nightwing, Arsenal, Batgirl, Robin, and Huntress would find themselves watching over Gotham and Bludhaven and then meeting back at the Batcave for a late night/early morning snack that Alfred had made for them and then set in the cave. Sometimes Batman would be there and sometimes not. Other times, Flash and Batman would be there ‘unwinding’ after a particularly difficult League mission.

                Their definition of unwinding paralleled Arsenal and Nightwing’s definition and on those nights, they learned to stay in costume until *after* Bruce and Wally emerged from the changing room, freshly showered and looking pleased as punch with themselves. On those nights, Bruce and Wally would immediately go upstairs and leave the Batkids to their normal routine of snacks and chats.

                It was a tradition, with Arsenal and Batgirl drinking orange juice, Robin preferred apple, and Nightwing and Huntress would drink milk no matter what the snack. And things were getting a bit weird, because Barbara was obviously still in to Dick even though Dick was quite over her and quite in love with Roy. Tim, to be honest, liked talking to Helena the best. Helena loved Vic, she really did, but she enjoyed laughing at his paranoid theories with Tim.

                But they continued talking, Wally sometimes joining them if Batman was patrolling especially late. And then, Wally’s appearances became more and more frequent when he moved in to Wayne Manor. It was nice though, because Wally slotted in with their group nicely. Wally was an excellent brother type figure to Helena, Dick, and Roy and a good father/brother to Tim. He even treated Babs like an actual member of the family.

                And things got even more tense between Dick and Babs. But Wally managed to keep the peace between them because that was the type of guy that Wally was. And everything seemed to be going fine except when Bruce summoned the five of them to his office in the middle of the day.

                “Hello.” He said in a polite and even tone. Wally was sitting rather despondently in one of the chairs in Bruce’s office. Dick fidgeted nervously, because Bruce did not look happy. Wally didn’t either. He noticed Helena had a similar look of nervousness on her face, and Tim and Roy looked confused. Babs looked grim and wasn’t making eye contact. Dick knew immediately that whatever it was… Babs had something to do with it. Bruce threw the newspaper on his desk.

BILLIONAIRE BRUCE WAYNE EXPOSED

                The headline was accompanied by a picture of Bruce and Wally locked in a passionate embrace. Dick scanned the newspaper quickly and saw a lot of information from ‘unknown sources’ and that Lois Lane and some guy named Andrew Barret was on the Byline. Dick looked at the others gathered.

                “Would one of you guys like to explain how Ms. Lane and Mr. Barret got this information, as well as these pictures?” He asked in a tight voice. Tim was still staring at the article, presumably still reading it. Roy took a step back immediately, raising his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

                “I swear it wasn’t me, Mr. Wayne.” Roy said defensively. That was one thing that could be counted on… whenever Roy was feeling particularly threatened, in spite of the fact that Bruce had known him for almost ten years and had been a second father to him for most of that time, he always reverted to calling him Mr. Wayne. Bruce smiled tightly.

                “It wasn’t me either, Bruce.” Helena said as she sat down next to Wally, patting his hand gently. Wally looked at her with relief and then turned back to the proceedings.

                “I definitely didn’t do it.” Tim whispered softly. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but this could definitely cause a rift in Wally and Bruce’s relationship and if it did, Tim would be devastated. Bruce was a great man and a good father, but Wally was a *great* dad/brother type thing. Wally who watched sports with him (mainly Lacrosse, Hockey, and Football), who took him to the park to play catch, who had argued with Bruce for *days* until Bruce agreed to let Tim have a kitten, who took him to ballroom dancing lessons, let him borrow his nice car if he had a date, and generally… Wally was great to Tim. And to Bruce. And to Dick and Roy and Helena and Babs. So whoever had done this, Tim was going to beat them.

                “And you know I wouldn’t.” Dick was saying. “I’d never do anything like that to you, Bruce. I know how private you are.” Dick continued. Bruce’s eyes fell on Babs. She held her head up fairly high.

                “I know Roy did it, Bruce.” Barbara said, her voice completely even.

                “What?” Roy’s eyes widened when she said it. Dick glanced at Roy just briefly. He was sure that Roy’s surprise was not fake. Bruce was looking at Babs with the sort of silent contemplation. Babs was still not making eye contact with Bruce and Bruce folded his hands together, resting them on his desk.

                “Why, Barbara?” Bruce asked quietly. She sniffed a little. Bruce’s eyes narrowed, ice blue and glaring daggers. Wally continued to sit there, his face showing no emotion. Tim had taken the seat on the other side of him. Barbara crossed her arms over her chest.

                “Because, Roy is an ex-junkie loser who doesn’t deserve Dick or to be a part of this family.” She snapped venomously. Beside her, Dick tensed. Bruce’s eyes narrowed slightly and he shook his head, with either disbelief or the desire to pretend he hadn’t just heard that. Roy worried his lower lip slightly, closing his eyes. Bruce let out a slow sigh.

                “Well… I’m sorry you feel that way, Barbara… but Roy is as much my son as Dick is. He’s been a member of my family for a long time, almost as long as he and Dick have been lovers. If you can’t deal with that then…” He trailed off, spreading his arms helplessly. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to be the one to go.” Bruce finished softly. Barbara shook her head lightly.

                “That isn’t fair, Bruce.” She said. Bruce shrugged again.

                “Neither is what you did to Wally and I…” Before Bruce could speak again, the curtains were fluttering wildly and Superman landed in the room. The others looked on, Tim with unchecked adoration (Dick too). He brandished the newspaper.

                “I’m not going to say I’m surprised, but were you ever planning on telling me?” Superman asked. Bruce sighed a little.

                “We’ll have a League Meeting later, Kal-el. I’m busy right now.” He said, gesturing to the kids. Kal-el made a sound before darting off… Bruce sort of rolled his eyes.

                “How should we go about damage control, boss?” Helena asked. Bruce smiled tightly.

                “Well, now that the story is out, we might as well go public with it.” He turned to Wally. “I hope you don’t mind life in the spotlight.” Wally started at being addressed but smiled brightly.

                “I’ll do anything for you, Bruce.” He said sincerely. He grinned.

                “Great, I’ll schedule a press conference then.” He said. Then he turned to Barbara. “For the record, you’re no longer welcome in my home.” Barbara sighed and put her hands on her hips.

                “Fine.” She said. Bruce’s lips pursed tightly.

                “And Batgirl better go find some other town to protect, because she’s no longer welcome in Gotham.” Bruce hissed out. Babs’ eyes narrowed. She went to protest.

                “It’s for the best, Babs.” Dick said softly. “We can’t trust you anymore.” Roy gave her a wicked little grin.

                “They could use quality help in Star City.” Babs glared at him. He shrugged a little. “Just a suggestion.” Bruce picked up the phone and scheduled a press conference. Many months passed without a single sighting of Barbara Gordon or Batgirl. Batman was glad though, to see rumors of a woman dressed as a bat, keeping Los Angeles safe.