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Ok, so before I post this chapter, I would just like to say that I love it. A lot. It's one of my favourites. It is a rest chapter, so no action. Yet. Ok, boring bit over, let's have a chapter!

Spoiler: Chapter 17 - Coming Storm

Breakfast the next morning was an interesting scene to say the least. Alfred hadn't woken any of them up, letting everyone sleep in for a change. But as expected, around eleven, the telltale signs of life could be heard from upstairs. Bruce was the first to trudge into the kitchen, surprisingly. He had, of course, gone on patrol that night, as he always did in spite of any current circumstances, and his bloodshot eyes told of needing more rest. But that was how it always was, and Alfred didn't question his appearance. The man was almost supernatural like that. Maybe so many years of self-inflicted sleep deprivation had trained him in the art of functioning with minimal rest.

“Good morning, Master Bruce.”

“Morning, Alfred.” Bruce mumbled in response, sitting himself down at the table and grabbing the newspaper Alfred had left for him there.

It only took a few minutes for Alfred to prepare Bruce’s meal, as he had finished all the prep work nearly an hour ago. As he came bustling out of the kitchen with a steaming plate of bacon, eggs, toast, and fruit, he spotted both Tim already at the table, head resting on his folded arms, and Jason walking through the dining room entrance lazily.

"Good morning young sirs.” He greeted crisply, placing Bruce’s tray of food down in front of him.

Tim bolted up and Jason flinched at the butler’s disapproving tone. Bruce looked over his newspaper and at the two boys before giving the butler a questioning glance. Had they gotten into trouble the previous evening that he was unaware of?

Tim was the first to recover. “Hey, Alfred! Um, sleep well?”

“Indeed I did, thank you Master Timothy. But by the looks of it, you yourself are still exhausted.”

Tim gave a start. “What! No, I'm just...still waking up is all.”

“Surely.” The butler replied dryly before turning back into the kitchen.

Tim placed his head in his hands. “I'm so dead.” He moaned.

Jason came and sat next to him. “You really need to improve on your acting skills Timmy. But for what it's worth, thanks for taking his attention off of me.”

As if he could hear the whispered conversation from the other room, Alfred's voice rang out. “Master Jason, I do not remember giving you permission to be out of bed either!”

Jason paled, then abruptly copied Tim, burying his face in his hands.

“Serves you right.” Tim breathed.

The room was then graced with the presence of Damian who came walking in moodily, but looking fully refreshed, followed by a rather bleary eyed Dick. Damian gave one look at his two brothers seated at the table and snorted.

“It seems you two imbeciles have ignored Pennyworth's orders then?”

“Hey!” Jason answered uncovering his face. “I slept at least. He can't expect me to stay in bed all day.”

Dick and Damian both sat by Bruce, who was sipping lukewarm coffee and watching his sons’ proceedings with mild interest.

Alfred came out of the kitchen again, balancing four trays expertly. The boys groaned as their food was placed in front of them. All grain, heart healthy flaxseed flakes. Alfred's favourite punishment.

“Oh goodie, cardboard.” Jason complained, but was instantly silenced by one of Alfred's looks.

“Don't be ridiculous Master Jason, this cereal is extremely good for you. Why the health benefits of flaxseed are-”

But Alfred never got to list off the health benefits of flaxseed, for at that moment, heavy footsteps were quickly approaching the dining room. Sora came skidding to a stop in front of the entryway, his face covered in red, blue, green, and yellow. “Jason!” He yelped, pointing an accusatory finger at said young man while Bruce choked on his coffee. “You did this!”

Jason looked up grinning from his cereal. “Well I can't take all the credit kid. I had some help.”

The look of utter shock on Sora's face was enough to get some stifled giggling out of the boys at the table, despite Alfred's disproving glare.

“Guys!” Sora whined. “This stuff is permanent or something! It won't come off, I tried.”

“But it suits you so well!” Dick added unhelpfully.

At Sora's words, the kindly elder gentlemen walked over to him, ignoring the snorts of laughter issuing from the table. “Years of experience have taught me there is a trick to it Master Sora. Come this way, we will get you cleaned up in a moment.”

Sora followed Alfred out of the room, giving his friends an unusually dark look as he went.

After the boys had calmed down enough to realize they were no longer under the supervision of the all mighty Alfred, they took turns feeding portions of their cereal to Titus, who would eat anything despite its flavor. Bruce merely turned a blind eye to these proceedings, not wanting to ruin his boys’ fun. They deserved it after the other day. It was Dick who realized that they couldn't give all their food to the dog, or else things would look too suspicious, so by the time Alfred and Sora came back, the latter with a marker free face, all the boys had about half a bowl of cereal left. If Alfred suspected anything he didn't show it.

Sora took a seat at the table, still looking grumpy, however within five minutes, after Alfred had brought him a plate very similar to Bruce’s, he was laughing about it with all the others.

“And I didn't wake up at all!?”

“Nope, didn't even move. Not even when Dick started laughing.”

Sora grinned widely before shoving a fork of bacon into his mouth. “Thanks a lot Alfred, this tastes great!”

“I'm glad you think so sir.” The butler said happily as he cleared away Bruce’s dishes.

The rest of the meal passed quickly as they all sat there talking and joking. It was a light sort of mood despite all that had happened recently, though Jason and Dick sometimes shot each other funny looks. Bruce didn't leave, but sat with them, waiting until Alfred had checked that the very last remnants of flaxseed had been consumed before getting the group's attention.

“There's something you all need to know,” he said gruffly, even now feeling guilty about breaking up the pleasant atmosphere.

Everyone seemed to sense his seriousness and mellowed quickly, directing their full attention to the man.

“When I was patrolling last night... I found more Heartless.”

“What!?” they all bellowed in unison.

Wincing at the noise, Bruce continued. “Only a few, but they’re still out there. Mostly the small ones that I could see. Sora, any way to get rid of the remainder?”

Crossing his arms, Sora thought. “I think… The ones that are here are just the ones we didn’t beat yesterday. If we get rid of those, we should be good.” Relieved smiles across the tables. “But more might be attracted here.”

A familiar crease developed between Bruce’s eyebrows. “What do you mean? What could attract them?”

“Let me handle this one Sora.” The unexpected voice from the kitchen door had the entire family grabbing at the nearest objects, from kitchen knives to plates held like Frisbees. Sora broke into a wide smile and bolted for the door, tackle hugging the figure standing in the doorway.

“Riku! It’s good to see you again! Are you all healed? Where are Donald and Goofy?” Recognizing the teen, the other occupants of the room put away their makeshift weaponry.

Laughing, Riku returned the hug. “I'm fine Sora. Leg's all better. Donald and Goofy had to go to Halloween Town to help Jack with a small Heartless problem.”

Releasing his hug, Sora regarded his friend suspiciously. “Wait, how did you find me? I didn’t tell you where I was.”

Bruce frowned. “I’d like to know that as well.”

Riku’s eyes widened at the man standing just past his best friend. “Wait, you’re Batman?” He’d been bored in the gummi ship, so he’d downloaded some recent news articles from the world. Then the not so recent ones. Then the obscure ones. The more he read about this guy and the rest of the so-called Batfamily, the more impressed he became. Seeing the man – in person, and without a cowl – was a bit overwhelming.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Riku asked a question instead of answering. He pointed at the only person in the room with sunglasses. “Did you know he’s radiating darkness like an inverted lightbulb? The ship’s scanners could pick it up from orbit. That’s how I found you.”

Stunned looks all directed themselves towards Jason, who was a bit shocked himself. He was what? Riku just nodded. “Yup. And that’s going to attract more and more Heartless. That and having two Keyblade Wielders here.”

Tim frowned. “Two Keyblade Wielders? Sora definitely, then the other one is you, Riku? And what do you mean about Jason attracting Heartless?”

Dick smacked Tim lightly. “Again with the names.”

“Tt. He’s in the house, Grayson! It’s a little late to be worrying about keeping our identities secret.” Damian huffed and focused on Riku.

"Oh! Should I introduce you properly then?” Sora seemed incredibly excited to tell Riku his new friends’ real names. At Bruce’s nod, he beamed, pointing at each member of the family as he introduced them. “Batman is Bruce,” a nod, “Nightwing is Dick (yes, that’s a real name),” a happy wave and a snort at the latter comment, “Red Hood is Jason,” he simply grunted in acknowledgment, “Red Robin is Tim,” a smile and a nod, “and Robin is Damian!” arms crossed, Damian lifted his mouth in a quick snarl. “Oh, he likes you! Oh! And that’s Alfred!” The butler, having just entered the room, raised an eyebrow at the new addition to his kitchen. Grabbing an apron, he started a batch of biscuits for the visitor.

Riku waved to all of them. “Good to see you again!” Turning to Tim, he finally answered his question. “Yup, I’m a Keyblade Master. Heartless are scared of Keyblade Wielders and tend to follow them around, trying to… eliminate the threat, so to speak. They also follow darkness. They thrive in it. Plus, where there’s a lot of darkness, there’s a higher chance of more Heartless to be made. That tends to get their attention.”

“So just me being here is putting Gotham in danger?” Jason asked. He sat back in his chair, a distinctly unhappy expression on his face. “Of frickin’ course.”

“Well, if you’d just let me-“ Dick tried to grab Jason up in a hug, which the younger neatly dodged. “Jason! You heard Riku! The longer this is with you, the more danger you’re in! Those Heartless will follow you forever! Now just hold still!”

Jason dived away, tripping on Titus who had positioned himself very unhelpfully underfoot. While he was trying to regain his balance, Dick managed to get both arms around his brother. Light built in the miniscule space between them.

And Jason screamed.

Releasing his brother, Dick stepped back. Jason’s sunglasses had slipped during the scuffle. Eyes wide and face contorted in pain, he just sat on the floor for a moment, trying to catch his breath.

“Jason, what…?” Bruce started.

Riku knelt next to Jason. Sending them a look that clearly said “stay there a second”, Riku turned towards Jason and grabbed one of his arms. Taking a long look at the faint lines running just under the skin, he sighed.

“You spoke to your darkness?” Riku asked, his eyes boring into Jason’s. “How many times? And describe what happened each time.”

His voice was quiet, tired. “Three. Once just after Sora went out. It gave me power. Then again, when Baldie tried to kill Tim. It took control. And then in the medbay. It pushed the darkness down, so it wouldn’t worry them anymore.” Jason gave off a weak chuckle. “But I guess it lied.”

Snapping his fingers in front of Jason’s nose, Riku said sharply, “Focus Jason. That second time. Did anything seem out of the ordinary?”

Jason’s eyebrows came together. “Yeah actually. It shuddered, and then the stained glass got covered. When it spoke again, its voice was off.”

He nodded, like this was expected. “One last question. Any injuries between the first and second time?” At Jason’s nod, Riku said, “Let me see.”

Turning around, Jason lifted his shirt, showing off the still-healing stab wound in his back. Sora had done a great job with it actually. It felt like a week old injury, not one that had been there less than a day. Based on the scattered gasps from behind him though, it looked much worse than it felt. He twisted, trying to get a look at the… wound, with a spiderweb of dark, dark, dark lines surrounding it.

Riku placed his fingers lightly on the injury. “Thought so. He got hit by a container. And whatever was in that container aggravated the piece of Xehanort's darkness still in him, boosted its power. Do you still have it?”

Tim nodded and jumped up to fetch the knife Dick had brought home from the Cave. He had wondered why Dick thought they would need or want it, but now he was really glad he had. By the time he got back, Jason was sitting at the table again, Riku beside him. He passed off the knife to Riku’s inspection.

Holding the blade sideways, Riku leaned in close to examine it. “Yup. A container. You see, it’s a bit hollow here.” He pointed out a few grooves in the blade. “These used to hold darkness, Xehanort’s I’m guessing. But since Jason has already had a bit of that in him, he has a bit of an immunity. Not to mention the fact that his own darkness is trying to fight off Xehanort’s as we speak. That’s probably the only reason you’re still you at this point.”

Jason shuddered. He had come this close to losing who he was, again. “You said my darkness was fighting. What happens if it loses?” His eyes traveled up. The grim expression on Riku’s face was all the explanation he needed. “Oh.”

“Wait, so why can’t I just hug it out of him? Why did it hurt so much?” That would be Dick, always with the most affectionate questions.

Ignoring Jason’s startled yelp, Riku grabbed one of his arms again and inspected it closely. “Yeah, don’t do that anymore. The darkness has moved down from the surface of his skin into his bones. Technically you could still remove the darkness. It would just hurt. A lot.”

Dick recoiled, looking guiltily between his arms and his brother. “I didn’t… I didn’t know. Jay, I’m-”

“If you say you’re sorry,” Jason interjected, “I’m going to punch you. Right in your face. There’s no way you could have known.” He sighed, like this had just been a possibility he had known would come to pass.

Wait. Had he? He’d mentioned that breaking the “deal” might not have “pleasant side effects”. No, if he’d known, he would have used it in his argument. Knowing Jason though, he had probably suspected this, or something like it. A question burning in his throat, Dick turned to Riku. “Is there any way to fix this? Your files said that you had turned over to the darkness too.”

Not even surprised anymore – these people were really good at getting at his files – Riku simply answered. “It was a little different in my case. My entire physical appearance had changed. And what changed me back was a one in a million chance from the Kingdom Hearts Encoder exploding. Not to mention, I never actually made any deal with my darkness. I never spoke to it. It was always Xehanort’s darkness, in the form of Ansem, that I spoke to.” The mood in the room dropped significantly.

And was slightly lifted a moment later when Alfred placed his fresh biscuits and a pot of tea in the middle of the table. After a brief scuffle to grab the biggest one (they were all the same size), the group sat around the table, happily eating. Bruce finally spoke. “So, what can we do?”

Riku shrugged. “Not much from down here. We could get Jason off the world, take him to see Yen Sid. Maybe he’ll have some ideas.”

Before anyone could say anything else, Dick shot his hand into the air. “Wherever Jason is going, I’m going too!”

Sora seemed to bubble with delight. “Road trip!”

“Whoa! No way!” Jason shouted, standing up so fast his chair scraped against the wooden floor behind him. “I'm not having my whole family tag along with me!”

Dick smiled and Jason stared at him. “What?'

“That was the first time you called us family in a long time.”

That took Jason back for a moment before he regained himself. “Look who’s avoiding the subject this time! You are not coming just so you can try to hug me again.”

Dick bit his lip. “Jay, I promise I won't do that again if it hurts you, honest. I just-”

“I think it's a good idea for Dick to tag along Jason.”

At this, everyone in the room, even Riku, stared at Bruce, completely nonplussed.

The man simply smiled at the boys’ incredulity. “I think you would enjoy the company, and who knows, you might just need his help.”

That was the wrong thing to say. Jason snorted. “You know I can take care of myself Bruce. You just wanna set a watchdog on me.”

“No.” Bruce countered. “You are considering traveling to completely unknown territory, and you have minimal knowledge of what you will face. Dick might be invaluable to you.”

“Uh huh.” Jason said rolling his eyes. “I'll already have Sora and Riku with me Bruce. And they’re experts. In fact, why aren't you offering to come with me if you're so adamant I have a partner?”

“Simple, I protect Gotham. I belong here. Leaving the city for an unknown amount of time isn't an option. You know that.”

And I belong with the Outlaws. Jason thought. Though he knew they were off busy kicking some serious bad guy butt right about now. Or relaxing on the island. Both sounded really good right now.

“How about the Replacement and Demon Spawn?”

“Robin stays with Batman!” Damian added suddenly. “That shall always be the case.”

Bruce glanced down at Damian with something some might just take for affection.

“And I really need to get back to the Titans.” Tim added. “I've been gone long enough as it is. Miguel and Cassie contacted me this morning and wouldn't shut up about needing my help on a mission.”

Jason crossed his arms. “I'm still not bringing Dick.”

A small deliberate cough directed everyone's attention over to Riku, who was looking from Sora's confused face, to Jason's look of defiance, to Dick determined scowl. “The way I see it,” he began, “you need to go to other worlds. And traveling between them through the connected darkness is no easy task. So I am assuming you are wanting to use our ship.” Now Riku couldn't help grinning evilly. “Our ship, our rules. Sorry Jason, but I agree with the big guy. Dick could help us a lot with all those Heartless your darkness is bound to attract. He's coming.”

Dick pounded a fist energetically into the air, while Jason groaned.

“Sweet!” he sang, swinging an arm around Jason’s shoulder that was instantly shoved off, none to gently.

Suddenly Alfred appeared from out of the corner. “I assume you will be needing some belongings to take with you, young sirs. I always keep extra uniforms packed down in the cave. Just give me a moment to fetch them and a few other things. I shan’t be long.”

“Thanks Alfie.” Dick beamed as the elderly gentlemen left the room. “Where would we be without you?”

“The idea is too dreadful to consider.” he called back.

The next few minutes were spent with everyone seated around the table, munching on biscuits and sipping tea while discussing there next plan of action. It was decided that Jason and the others would go straight to Yen Sid if possible, though Riku again pointed out that they could be pursued by any number of Heartless drawn to Jason. That could put a flaw into their plans at any rate. The only real development that came from the conversation was that Bruce made Jason and Dick promise to stay in touch regularly. Jason wasn't nearly as accepting of this proposal as Dick. By the time Alfred returned, handing both boys a heavy duffel bag, and even giving Sora a backpack with his original clothes, the topic of who would watch over Bludhaven if something happened was being finalized. Batgirl and Batman could split the responsibility if need be.

Without warning, and with tremendous force, the ground started to shake violently, making the chandelier above them sway from side to side, glass shards tinkling against glass. Standing up suddenly as the lazy atmosphere from moments ago melted away, everyone had to put their hand on the table to steady themselves (except Bruce) before staring around as if the cause of the shaking could be seen.

“An earthquake?” Dick asked shakily. The sensation of the ground – usually so stable and reliable – shaking like this was alarming to say the least.

“Unlikely” Bruce replied, even now walking a bit unsteadily across the room, his years of training the only thing keeping him up. “At least not a natural one. The likelihood of one occurring due to the positioning of the tectonic plates is extremely low.”

“Couldn't it just be a coincidence?” Asked Riku.

“I don't believe in coincidences.”

Amazingly, and with a lot of stumbling, the entire group managed to be standing in front of the multiple florescent screens in the Batcave five minutes later. The lights in the manor had been flickering, but the Cave’s power source was much more reliable.

Anxious figures watched, clutching desks and support beams for balance as Bruce began typing ferociously at his keyboard. Maps, satellite imagery, and radars flashed to life in front of their eyes before Bruce turned around, stony faced.

“Looks like Xehanort might not have left the world after all.”