Bruce saw the Shawnee village through the trees. It had been a long three days. They'd found a farmer and his wife at Fort Duquesne who'd described Wally perfectly. They'd mentioned two other teenagers, but they couldn't describe them as well. It sounded like Roy and Dick, though. From there the three heroes had followed the radiation trail. They'd lost the boys for a while when the Shawnee had taken to the river, but the places where they had stopped led the Justice League members on.

"Remember, we belong here," Bruce muttered under his breath as they neared the village. It had been easy to pass themselves off as French, and there was no reason the Shawnee should be suspicious of them. Hopefully, anyway.

They were met by a warrior, and once it was known that they were French traders, they were warmly welcomed. Bruce was looking for Dick everywhere, but no big, happy blue eyes met his. He didn't see Wally or Roy either. Where were they? They should have been there. The three Justice League members were led into the council house by the chief. Everyone crowded around them, trying to see what they had to trade. Bruce had brought some things at the fort to complete their charade. It was some time before Bruce was able to slip away to search the village, leaving the distraction of the Shawnee in Oliver's and Barry's capable hands.

The Dark Knight crept from wigwam to wigwam. There were radiation signals everywhere. The boys were there or had been there for an extended period of time. He entered an empty home, and the scanner indicated a strong signal coming from a small bed to the left of the door. Bruce examined it. He found black hairs, which in of itself wasn't much, but he had brought some semblance of a lab with him. He lifted a fingerprint off the bed fame and compared it to one of Robin's he had on file. It was a match. His son had been here, so where was he now? Bruce turned to go, continuing his search. He found Wally's and Roy's fingerprints in two different wigwams. He looked around a little longer before going back to the council house. Batman found Oliver and Barry waiting for him.

"Find anything?" Barry asked in an undertone. He'd been in the dark through most of what had passed between Oliver and the Shawnee.

"Fingerprints. They were here," Batman told them.

"The chief said they had five captives escape a few days ago," Oliver said. He'd spoken to the chief through a Shawnee villager who spoke French. "One was his adopted son, 'Sky Fox'. He sent warriors after them, but they had to return to protect the village. He offered to pay us in furs and skins if we went after the captives and brought them back. I told him we'd look for them."

"We're catching up," Bruce said. How much longer was it going to take for him to find Dick?

The figure stepped through the trees. The man's red coat made him a clear target in their dense green surroundings. Dick slowly made himself seen. He didn't want to surprise the English soldier and get shot. The solider jumped when he saw Robin and raised his rifle.
"Don't shoot!" Wally called from his hiding place. He came out with his hands up in a peaceful gesture.

"Who are you?" the man asked, wheeling his rifle in Wally's direction.

"I'm Dick Johnson, and this is Wally Allen. We were captured by the Shawnee and escaped with three others," Dick explained quickly.

"Where are the others?" the man demanded.

"Resting back there," Wally answered, pointing back the way they had come. He couldn't blame the man for being suspicious. The trusting did not live long in that day and age.

"How do I know you're not renegades, and there's an ambush waiting for me?" the man questioned, looking for any signs of deceit in the two teenagers.

"Because if we were renegades, we wouldn't have come out and made ourselves targets. It would have been much easier to shoot you from the trees, if we had anything to shoot with," Dick answered. "Now, who are you?"

"Major James Whitman of his Majesty King George's army," the solider said. He saw the reasoning in what Dick said, but he wasn't letting his guard down. "Were you followed?"

"We think so, but we never saw any Shawnee," Wally told him shortly. "Can we call the others? They will tell you the same thing we have."

"No," Whitman snapped. "Keep your hands up and walk back to your friends, slowly," he ordered, motioning with his gun the way Wally had indicated.

"Getting shot in the back would be the climax of this little trip," Dick huffed. He turned and headed off the way they had come.

"I won't shoot unless I have to," Whitman told him.

It wasn't far to their makeshift camp. Roy was on his feet the instant he saw the soldier. An arrow was fitted to the bow before anyone could speak. He was aiming for a lethal shot. The guy had one shot, but that was more than enough to kill one of them.

"Relax, Roy," Dick said, waving the weapon down. "He's English."

Roy lowered the bow, but he was still ready to shoot. "And exactly who is he planning on shooting?"

"No one. We're just having a bit of an identification issue," Robin said, smiling. He wondered briefly if Major Whitman was a jumpy man, and if he did shoot who would be hit. Those old rifles weren't accurate so maybe they could all get away unscathed. "The Major is concerned we are renegades."

A few minutes later Roy, Sean, and Heidi had confirmed what Dick and Wally had told the soldier.

"Alright," Whitman said lowering his gun, slightly. "Let's go. We aren't far from our encampment." He walked behind them, still apprehensive of an ambush. "How did you all manage to escape?" James had heard of one or two captives escaping, but never five together. The greater the number, the greater the risk of recapture.

Wally, being the best storyteller, recounted their capture, time with the Shawnee and their escape. "And that's how we ended up here," he finished.

"You were lucky. Most spend years in captivity," James told them.

"I think our guardians would have showed up before long," Dick shrugged. Where was Bruce anyway? He'd never taken this long in finding him.

"And what could they have done against the Shawnee?" James asked, mildly sarcastic.

"You would be surprised," Roy said as they stepped into a large open field that was full of row upon row of white tents. Red coated soldiers were everywhere. Most looked up, curious of the five dressed in deerskin and covered in mud.

"This way," James said, taking the lead. "The general will want to see you."

"Who are your friends, James?" another soldier asked, walking up to them. He couldn't be more than twenty-five.

"Some Shawnee captives that escaped," Whitman answered shortly. He introduced the five captives. "This is Major George Washington."

Roy jumped, and Wally looked shocked. Only Dick held back any reaction. "It's nice to meet you, sir," Robin said, shaking the future president's hand.

"And you," Washington said. He walked with them to the tent of General Edward Braddock, who was sitting at a desk looking over a crude map of the area.

Whitman explained the situation and who the new arrivals were.

"I'm sure we are all relieved you have escaped unharmed back to your people," Braddock said with a tone that indicated he didn't care one way or the other. Something about the way he held his nose in the air made Roy want to punch the man. This general got killed in this war, didn't he? Speedy would ask Dick later or look it up when they got back home. "Major Washington, see that they get something to eat. They will be sent east as soon as possible, unless of course you three older boys would be interested in joining his Majesty's army."

"I can't speak for Sean, but as for me and Wally, our families are looking for us," Roy said shortly.

"Very well. I'm sure you would be happy to serve your king by telling me what you learned from the Shawnee," Braddock said. He reminded Dick of some of the people he'd met at Bruce's parties. The type that believed they were superior and knew everything. This guy had no idea about this country or the mess he was walking into.

"Not much," Wally said. "It wasn't as if they discussed their plans with us. I could barely understand them."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't tell you anything," Heidi said. She had spent most of her captivity working to ready the village for winter.

"Roy, you caught anything?" Dick asked, looking at the older hero. He didn't know anything, and even if he had, the upcoming battles were very important and the outcome could not be altered. They would shape Washington into the soldier and the leader that he needed to become to fight the British in later years.

"Nothing that would help," Roy answered. He understood the importance of this time.

"I trust you don't have any sympathy for your captors," Braddock said, probing for sedition. It had happened before after all.

"No," Roy answered. He understood their way of life and he respected it, but he doubted the general would understand that, so there was no point in trying to explain that. They turned to go, but Dick stopped.

"Just so you know, the red coats are the easiest thing to see through the trees. It's like holding up a sign that says, 'Shoot me'. You might want to rethink the color. I, for one, wouldn't want to walk through the woods like that when the other guy doesn't mind shooting from a sheltered position," Robin told him. He was tempted to also tell him that standing in a field and letting the other side shoot at you was stupid, not to mention suicidal.

"And who taught you military tactics, young man?" Braddock asked angrily.

"My guardian," Dick answered and followed Washington out.

"I have told him that, but he will not listen," George said as he showed them to the cook's tent.

"His funeral," Wally shrugged, sitting down at a long table. Dick kicked him under the table. KF almost said something, but stopped himself. Wait, Braddock was killed. Well, that was an untimely comment.

"And his men's" Washington frowned. "I hope your families escaped the attack," he said, changing the subject. He should not discuss the problems he had with his commander with strangers.

"They weren't there," Wally answered. "They're looking for us." There were so many miles of dense wilderness, he didn't know how Uncle Barry was going to find him. How long would they be trapped here? And how were their families going to explain their disappearance if this turned into a long ordeal? People were going to notice they were gone soon. It could only be hidden for so long. It was odd to think that their present was going on, and their absences from their time could be affecting the future, and the three of them being in the past could change the future. With any luck, they wouldn't mess up American history.

It had been four days since Bruce, Oliver, and Barry had left the Shawnee village. They easily picked up the three teenagers' trail, which ran in a mostly straight line east. It was bad when the boys had gone through a river or a stream and walked either west or south for some time in an attempt to throw off any pursuit. The three League members wasted much time walking up and down river banks looking for any signs of where the boys had turned east again.

"I think Victor should dismantle that machine when we get back," Green Arrow said, as they walked.

"Agreed," Bruce answered. He couldn't get rid of the horrible sick feeling he'd gotten when they'd unearthed the clothes. That one would be giving him nightmares for weeks to come. When they got home, Robin wasn't going on patrol or missions for awhile, just until Batman was able to get that image out of his head for a whole hour at least.

"I'm going to take a look ahead," Flash said, before disappearing in, well, a flash.

"Wait." Bruce ordered, trying to tell him not to go off on his own, but the scarlet hero was already gone. "I really hate it when he does that." Was this how the Commissioner felt? If so, he needed to stop vanishing in the middle of the man's sentences, because this was annoying.

"Not so fun when you're on the other end of it?" Oliver asked, smiling for the first time since this new disaster. Batman didn't even comment on that.

Suddenly Flash came flying back. He was talking at a ridiculous speed. Bruce doubted even Robin would have been able to understand him. The thirteen year old exceled in figuring out what the two speedsters were trying to say when they got excited. Considering he spent most of his time with one, it made sense.

"Slow down," Batman ordered. Flash ended up taking more time than if he just explained himself in a coherent manner.

"The British army is eight miles away. Do you think the boys ran into them? There is strength in numbers after all, and they might have stuck with them," Barry said, his voice full of hope.

"Maybe," Bruce said. That would be the smart thing to do, and Dick would take into account that they had a better chance of surviving if they were surrounded by an army. He wasn't allowing himself to become hopeful just yet. He started walking rapidly the way Flash had gone. It wasn't long before they came across the marching army. They made enough noise to be heard two miles in every direction. Maybe this wasn't the safest place to be after all, but still it was worth checking into.

Bruce stepped out of the trees and onto the small trail the army was following. It could hardly be called a 'trail'. It was beautiful how untouched the land was, and at any other time he would have been enjoying the scenery, but right now he just wanted to break the bones of anyone who stood between him and his son.

"Halt!" the leader of the procession ordered, his horse rearing up slightly as he pulled the reins. "Identify yourself."

"I am Bruce. My friends and I are looking for our children, who were taken by the Shawnee," Batman answered. He could have been shot, but he definitely would have been, had he tried to sneak up on the soldiers.

"Where are your 'friends'?" the soldier asked, his eyes darting about at the surrounding trees.

"Oliver. Barry," Bruce called. The other two heroes stepped out as well.

The soldier looked over at another man who was clearly the general. "I am General Edward Braddock. One of my men did find five escaped captives. You may speak to them if you wish. I must ask that you lay down your weapons before you come closer," the general said.

Now Bruce really wanted to get out of there. Braddock suffered heavy losses on his way into the Ohio valley and ended up getting killed. It was best not to be there when things started going bad. Knowing that, would Dick and the others have gone on?

Bruce hadn't bothered to make a show by carrying a rifle. All he had was a knife, a hatchet, and his belt. Seeing as his belt didn't appear threatening, he just set down the other two weapons. Oliver did the same with his bow and quiver of arrows, and Barry carried nothing.

"You carry no guns?" Braddock asked. That seemed like a foolish thing to do in this place.

"Don't need them," Bruce answered. He walked through the soldiers looking for a short figure with jet black hair.

"Bruce!" Batman heard Dick's voice, and turned just as Robin shot into his arms. "What took you so long?" Bright, happy blue eyes pierced his own, asking for an explanation.

"Well, it would have been easier if you'd stayed in one place," Bruce answered. He was exhausted from stress. The fear that had been building in him from the moment Robin had disappeared was gone. "Are you hurt?"

"Nope. We're all fine," Dick answered.

Bruce looked away from his son for a moment to see Barry talking at the speed of light to his nephew and Oliver stumbling over words of happiness to Roy. He hadn't even heard the other heroes. Batman wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. He thanked General Braddock for keeping the three heroes safe, while Dick, Wally, and Roy said good-bye to an older boy named Sean and a young lady named Heidi. Lastly the boys said good-bye to George Washington of all people. Once they were out of sight of the army Bruce pulled out the time machine's remote and recalled all six of them to the Watch Tower.

"That was wild," Dick said, sitting down. He wondered what ended up happening to Sean and Heidi. There had to be a record of them somewhere. He'd find out later.

"It was, and I even remembered to get a souvenir," Wally said proudly.

"I think our clothes cover it," Roy said pulling off his moccasins. It was time for that shower he'd been waiting who knows how many days for.

"Nope," Wally answered, reaching into his pack and pulling out a tricorne hat.

"A hat?" Dick asked. "I thought you weren't getting hats after you gave yourself lice."

"Well, this is George Washington's hat," Wally shot back.

"You stole the president's hat," Barry said. He didn't know whether to be amused or upset.

"He wasn't the president then. Besides, it's a piece of history," KF answered.

"You're all grounded," Batman said. "Robin for not getting out of the lab when Wally was messing with the machine and for scaring me out of fifteen years of my life, Speedy for letting Wally touch Cyborg's machine, and Kid Flash for disobeying Cyborg, messing with equipment you had no right to and for putting yourself and the others in a dangerous situation that you had no control over," he stated each reason before the boys could complain. He, Oliver, and Barry had had a lot of time to think of punishments while they were wandering around the wilderness.

"That's not fair," Roy complained. "I can't be held responsible for Wally's stupidity."

"You can. Now all of you hit the showers," Bruce ordered. He went to call Alfred.

"Could have been worse," Wally said as he and the other heroes walked out of the lab. "Maybe we could go back again and see some other important times in history."

"What did you have in mind?" Dick asked, laughing. It would be cool to see Lincoln give his Gettysburg's address, see V-E Day or a million other things he'd read about.

"No way. That's not happening. I'm not going to get dragged into anymore insane situations with you two," Roy said. That had been more than enough of an adventure for him.

"Just keep telling yourself that," Wally said. It was bound to happen again either in that time line or another.

THE END

Sorry for the two week delay. I had no intention of that happening. I hope you all enjoyed the story. :)