Notes: So, this story has been sitting half-completed on my computer for a while. I decided to post it next, even though a young Mar'i and angry Damian can be hard to write. Damian's about eleven in this story and Mar'i is seven/eight. Takes place during Dick and Damian's run as Batman and Robin.
Damian and Mar'i
The little girl had long dark hair and full green eyes. She stood there in a little purple dress, looking around the Batbunker hidden under Wayne Tower with curious eyes and twitchy fingers.
The full green eyes and orange-tanned skin betrayed her alien heritage.
"What is an alien doing here, Grayson?" Damian demanded to know. The little girl frowned at him and gripped the leg of Dick's pants.
Scaredy-cat, Damian deduced. He scowled as Grayson gave him a smile and knelt down. He placed his arms around the girl's shoulders and brought her forward.
"This is Mar'i," Dick said in his warm calming way, "Mar'i Grayson, my daughter."
Now, this was a surprise. Damian's eyes widened a little as he looked between the girl and his mentor.
Grayson had a kid? He was a father? Damian had heard nothing about that. He knew that Dick had an alien girlfriend at one point in time but not that they had a kid together.
"Mar'i, this is Damian Wayne. He's my brother, Grandpa Bruce's son and the current Robin."
The girl, Mar'i, gave him a curious look, tilting her head to one side. Damian felt like he was being examined and he didn't like it.
"Stop staring!" he barked at her. She shrunk back a little, her eyes narrowing.
"Damian," Grayson said in warning. "Play nice. Mar'i will be staying for a few days because I couldn't leave Gotham to see her."
"Why wasn't I informed about this?" he questioned, his voice rising in annoyance. He was Grayson's partner and the son of Batman! He should be informed whenever there was someone staying in the Tower, especially when they would be given access to the Batbunker below! And Grayson was a fool for bringing a little girl down here anyway, even if he claimed she was his daughter. "-tt- I wasn't even aware that you had fathered offspring."
Mar'i frowned in confusion and looked to her father for answers. Grayson smiled at her and placed a hand on her head.
"Don't mind him," he told her. "Damian is a little like your mother in that he speaks formally."
"I speak in a way which is befitting of my class and status," Damian responded.
Dick smirked, "but he's your 'Uncle Damian'."
"What?"
"Well, you are my little brother and Mar'i is my daughter. So, you are her uncle. Uncle Damian!"
Mar'i looked between her father and Damian. A smile mirroring her father's grew on her face.
"Uncle Dami!" she repeated, smirking at him. Damian realised that he needed to end this now.
"Do not call me that!" he yelled at her. "I am not your uncle! We do not share blood and I refuse to associate with you!" And he turned and walked out; so much for patrol but he wasn't going to stay and be insulted by Grayson and the little Grayson.
He ignored Grayson's calls for him to come back.
No matter what Grayson was saying, he was not 'sulking'. He was merely engaging in his own company and analysing recent events while taking precautions to ensure that no one could disturb him.
Unfortunately, his father's household was not one where a locked door could keep the truly curious out. His mother's wasn't either but at least most were too afraid to cross him and he could kill any foolish enough to breach his private sanctum.
He locked the door and jammed it with a chair. Then, he turned to the window to see the little Grayson outside his window. She knocked and he frowned and shook his head, moving to close the curtains.
He didn't see her shrug and decide to enter anyway. He only heard the sounds of splintering wood and glass as she punched through his window and flew in anyway.
"What the-?" he screeched as the outside air breezed into his room. "What are you doing, you fool?"
She dropped to the ground and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room with her hands latched behind her back.
"You seemed angry," she said, "and I wanted to check that you were okay with my presence here."
"-tt- I did not particularly care," he said, restraining himself from unleashing his anger upon her. Grayson would not be happy if he damaged his daughter. "Until you came smashing through my window. Do they not have doors where you're from?"
She paused and looked at the window and then at him.
"We do have doors on Tamaran. And windows. We just do not cover our windows with strange see-through stuff." She bent down and picked up a large piece of glass. Damian slapped it out of her hand before she could cut herself.
"It's glass," he hissed.
"It's very breakable," she lamented, looking at the shards of the larger piece she had dropped, which shattered upon hitting the floor.
"Out!" he continued, shoving aside his chair and opening his door. Hands came through and wrapped around him, only releasing a little pressure to also grip Mar'i and pull her close.
Damian's nose twitched as her hair pressed up against his face.
"Grayson!" he protested.
"Dad!" Mar'i protested as well but her voice had a giggle to it.
"I heard a crash and feared the worst," Grayson said, "are you both okay? What happened?"
Damian glared at him while Mar'i stared at her shoes.
"You owe me a new window," he informed his partner. Grayson's eyes widened and he looked to Mar'i.
"What happened?" he asked in a soft voice.
"I-I just wanted to speak with Dami," she responded, "but I didn't realise there was glass-" she said the word uncertainly, testing it out, "there and smashed through it."
"Oh dear," Grayson lamented. "Well, I'll tell Alfred and he'll know what to do. Meanwhile, we better give you a tour."
"As long as Miss Mar'i stays off the chandeliers, unlike her father," Alfred commented, suddenly appearing but startling no one.
Damian didn't see Grayson or the little Grayson until dinner.
They sat at the table as Alfred served up a roast and vegetables for them, a fuller meal than they had seen in a while. Mostly Dick and Damian ate down in the batbunker while working on cases or maintenance of the bat-equipment, which meant they rarely did this 'sitting and eating together in the dining room' thing.
Damian glared at Mar'i, not doubting for a moment that she was the reason for the alteration to his usual routine of eating down in the batbunker. Mar'i's full green, alien eyes glared back. Her father had told her to be nice to him and she wasn't taking it well.
"-tt- I am not missing out of patrol so you can watch a movie with your illegitimate offspring," Damian grumbled as Grayson suggested a movie for the night's activities.
"I never said you'd be missing out," Grayson countered, "just that patrol might be shorter tonight. Mar'i's only here a few days."
"-tt- I don't care."
"Can I come on patrol, Dad?" Mar'i asked, her eyes widening with eagerness.
Grayson's response was an instantaneous and flat, 'no'.
"Why not?" she demanded to know. Damian almost growled as a finger was shoved in his face. "Damian gets to go!"
"Damian is Robin," Grayson explained in a calm voice, "and I've explained this to you before. The streets of Gotham are not safe and your mother would kill me."
Mar'i sunk back in her chair with another glare for Damian. Damian glared back.
"Weak," he muttered.
"Meanie," she grumbled quietly back.
"Flat chest."
"Am not. I'll be like my mum when I grow up."
"-tt- Delusional too."
"I am not!" Mar'i slammed her hands on the table and floated out of her chair. "I am not del-del-oo-shun-cal!"
Grayson sighed.
"Mar'i sit while you eat and ignore Damian's comments," he said. Damian smirked but then Grayson turned to him with that stare which said he expected more. Damian didn't see it a lot and, for some unknown reason, it twisted something inside him. "Damian, you are not to speak to Mar'i like that. Now, you will be joining us for the movie and that is non-negotiable. And if you can't get through the movie like a civilised person then you won't be going on patrol."
Damian bit the inside of his lip to keep from retorting. Grayson couldn't keep him from patrol. Besides, he was civilised, it was Grayson's offspring who wasn't.
Dinner was eaten in silence with Mar'i and Damian glaring at each other. Grayson wasn't happy with how they seemed to be sizing each other up and wondered how he could get them to be friends.
Dessert was a disaster. Grayson glared at them with ice-cream dripping down his face and sprinkles dusting his hair. Mar'i froze and Damian backed off.
This was bad. Although part of him expected Grayson to smile and join in, another part recognised the glare as the Batman glare. It sent shivers down his spine.
"Uh, sorry Dad," Mar'i mumbled, looking down at her shoes. Damian glared right back at Grayson.
"What did you expect? I did not want ice-cream in the first place!" he shouted. "I do not want to watch a stupid movie and I do not care that your illegitimate offspring is visiting!"
Grayson raised an eyebrow. Mar'i glared at him, her cheeks puffed up and her mouth frowning in offence.
"And you are just mean!" she countered. "You get to see my daddy every day and you say mean words all the time. You are a bully and I don't like you!" Her hands curled into fists and started to glow.
"I don't like you either!"
"Both of you, go to your rooms!" Grayson ordered.
"But-" they protested in unison.
"Go! I will talk to you both later."