"I don't need a babysitter, Grayson. Besides, I have Pennyworth."

"Well yeah, but I'm sure Alfred has plenty of other things he needs to do while Bruce is away, and- Oh, one second," Grayson replies before I hear a loud splash from his end of the phone, "The puddles from this storm are huge, Dami. We should see what it's like at the manor together when I get there, it'll be fun."

"I'm not a child, Grayson. I don't play in the rain and I don't need a babysitter," I say as I start to scan the contents of the bookshelf in front of me, looking for something more interesting to waste my time with than this.

"I'm not coming to babysit you. It's just that if I didn't come, it would be your first time alone in the manor for more than a day. I don't want to you to get lonely."

"I enjoy being left alone-"

"No you don't, you can't lie to me."

"-tt-"

"See? Anyway, it's going to be great, trust me. Just you, me, and Alfred, it'll be just like old times. I probably won't be there until it's quite late with all the disruption this storm is causing. But if you need anyone before that, you can always find Alfred or call me, okay? Damia-"

BEEEEEEEEEEEP

I had to hang up, that was getting unbearable. I pull out a book.

"Hmm, I haven't notice this one before."

Wait, what am I doing, talking to myself now? Maybe Grayson has a point about being alone. I sit down in a comfortable chair and start to read, the book holds my interest for a while. But then-

RRRRUUUUUUUUMBLE!

The thunder starts to get louder... taking me out of my concentration. I don't like storms, they're a nuisance, I didn't have to deal with them much when I was with mother, but they're a frequent feature of Gotham. No wonder this place needs so much help. I plug my ears with my earphones and start to play some music, hoping to drown out the noise from outside. But I soon realize all I've done is replace one distracting sound with another, making me incapable of concentrating on my book.

RRRRUUUUUUUUMBLE!

And the storm starts to break through anyway. Ugh, I give up. I drop my earphones on the table and shove the book back onto the shelf. Stupid weather, stupid book, stupid Grayson. Why did Father have to go on such a long mission anyway? The Justice League didn't need him for any of them before, he hasn't been on any since, well since I've been here.

RRRRUUUUUUUUMBLE!

I shiver for a second, then take a calm deep breath. It's just a storm, I remind myself.

I wonder if it's still loud in the cave? I leave the library and walk down the stairs. I decide to check the kitchen for Pennyworth before I go below the manor, but see no sign of him. He doesn't seem to be preparing anything at all actually, which is strange with Grayson coming over. I suppose he could be cleaning somewhere else, or preparing his room instead, plenty of explanations. Besides, like I told Grayson, I'm fine on my own. I turn around to leave-

CLANG!

I freeze for a second before shivering again. That wasn't the thunder...

I turn around to see, nothing. Absolutely nothing has moved.

"PENNYWORTH?" I yell.

No reply.

Well, just because it wasn't the thunder. Doesn't mean it wasn't the storm, that was probably just some gutters or roof tiles falling, something like that. The manor is incredibly old... except Pennyworth makes sure it's maintained in perfect condition. I creep into the kitchen, anxiously twisting around to make sure I don't turn my back on any danger. I can't see anything out of the ordinary, so I make my way to the entrance of the dining room. I carefully peek around the corner to see one again, absolutely nothing. I don't know what I was expecting, or why I'm so nervous.

I try to forget the noise and turn back towards the entrance to the cave. Moving a bit more swiftly than before. I turn the handles of the grandfather clock, allowing it to slide open and reveal the stairs behind it. I walk down and feel a wave of calmness wash over me as I realize I can no longer hear the storm.

As I reach the cave, I stop for a moment and close my eyes, letting out a contented sigh as I take in the silence. When I open them, I take in the view as well. The cave's computer a little to my right, I realize how odd it is seeing it locked, father spends most of his time there when he's not training. The changing rooms ahead of me, with just mine and Grayson's costumes hanging there, not quite like old times. The training area to my left, with the long mirror across the wall of the cave and all the equipment put away. I look closer into the mirror, turning my head to see it reflecting the black void of the cave beyond the computer. That sight gives me an unsettling thought, if my father found this cave by falling in as a child, there must still be a link outside to the manor grounds. So why can I not hear the storm?

I try to push that thought away, maybe he just closed link, totally plausible. I should just be happy to be away from the storm. I head to the training area and decide to practise some ground moves on the mats, as I don't want to waste valuable training time getting equipment out, especially before Grayson arrives and likely forces me into doing something more ordinary with him. After a while, the silence stops being calming and starts to become boring. Just me, alone, in silence. -tt- I need to stop proving Grayson right. I get up and head to the speaker system to turn on some music, but before I get there-

RRRRUUUUUUUUMBLE!

I jump, my hairs on my neck stand up as I shiver. How did thunder get through here? It was completely silent before! I take a deep breath again before turning to myself in the mirror. The first thing I notice are my eyes, they're wide open, I can't help it. I start to feel sweaty, I'm even panting... stop it!

"This is ridiculous," I tell myself, "I'm Damian Wayne, Son of Batman, and there is nothing I am afraid of. Especially not being home alo-"

I notice something, out of the corner of my eye in the mirror. Movement. I hesitate to look over there. Instinctively I hold my breath, my heart starts to beat out my chest. For a second I wonder if it's just a bat, I'm getting worried over nothing yet again. But then I give in and look, as a white figure starts to dash out of the shadows towards me.

I turn around, completely panicked but ready to defend myself. But there's nothing there... No bat, no white figure, nothing. My eyes dart around the cave, looking for signs of anyone hiding. I don't let my guard down until I'm certain I can't see anything. I realize I'm panting again and feel like I'm drenched in sweat as I'm finally sure I'm alone.

"It's okay," I tell myself as I lean into the mirror behind me, "I'm alone and I'm not afrai-

RRRRUUUUUUUUMBLE!

There's a bright flash.

I turn towards the stairs back to the manor and sprint, I'm not thinking anymore, I can't. Every time I try to something happens. I need to get out of here, I need to breathe. I don't look behind me as I dash up the many stairs before I open the entrance to the manor and close it behind me. I stop but I don't have time to try and calm down this time, as I hear what sounds like the front door opening. But it's not followed by Alfred's voice, which keeps me on edge, he always greets people at the door...

I think to call his name but stop myself, maybe there really was something or someone in the cave. I didn't see Pennyworth before, and I heard that noise from the kitchen, perhaps this is a coordinated attack on the manor! Someone found Pennyworth and knocked him out before he could get to the kitchen, to me... then they followed me down into the cave and waited for a moment to strike. It all makes sense. Which means that person at the door could be part of it! I need to hide before they find me again, no wait! I'm no coward, I need to sneak up on them and find out what they want. And teach them a lesson for what they did to Pennyworth.

I start to creep towards the front door, sticking to the wall and hiding behind various pieces of furniture as I do. I peak around the corner and notice the door is now closed with seemingly no one around it. I look for anyone that could be hiding, waiting for me to reveal myself, but I don't spot anything, so I approach the door.

As I step onto a puddle on the floor, soaking my feet, I have a great idea. The intruder didn't dry off, the fools, they've created a perfect trail of water for me to fol-

I feel a hand on my shoulder and instantly spin around, using the momentum to punch forward with my fist.

"Whoa!" they say as they dodge out of the way, "is that any way to say hello to your brother, Dami?"

Stupid Grayson.

Dick's POV

"-tt-" Damian replies as he looks around, is he trying to avoid my eyes?

"Are you okay?" I ask, kneeling down to his level, which I instantly regret as my knee gets drenched from the water across the floor.

Damian doesn't respond as he continues to scan the room, he looks pretty shaken up over something, so I try to lighten the mood, "when I mentioned checking out the puddles at the manor earlier, I didn't mean on the inside," I say as I point out my knee, he starts to pay attention now, "your feet must be soaked. This is all my fault, Alfred will be disappointed with the mess I've managed to make just by walking in. How about I clean up while you go settle down in the living room? We could watch a movie together?"

He takes a deep breath then slowly walks towards the living room, grabbing a towel on the way to dry his feet.

"I'll be with you in just a few minutes," I assure him before turning to clean up the floor.

As I make my way into the living room, I see Damian flinch to the sound of some thunder outside. Oh, so that's what's been bugging him, he always did seem a little bothered by storms but never this badly, I guess this is the first time he's had to deal with it alone. Well, not anymore.

I sit beside Damian and place my arm over his shoulders, "So how about that movie, huh?" I say as I grab the controller and start to scroll through a list of stuff to watch, "anything look cool to you?" I ask.

"That one looks acceptable," he replies as I stop on an action film.

"Perfect," I press play and start to turn the volume up. Hopefully drowning out the sound of the storm will help distract him from it.

A couple minutes into the film-

"I see you've made yourself at home, Master Dick," Alfred says as he walks into the room with a tray of snacks. Damian jumps as he hears Alfred's voice, which is odd, maybe it's not just the storm that's bothering him. Alfred seems to notice too, "are you alright, young sir?" he asks.

"Fine, Pennyworth," Damian replies unconvincingly.

"Yup, thanks for the snacks, sorry about the volume by the way," I add.

"Nothing to worry about, that's actually what alerted me to your arrival. I heard there was a chance this storm could last a while, so I was just busy preparing for if that turns out to be the case. Now, I shall leave you to your entertainment," he says as he leaves the room.

After a while, Damian seems to calm down and relax, even squeezing in closer to me.

"So, are you going to tell me what's been bothering you, Dami?" I ask.

"Nothing's been bothering me, Grayson. You're imagining things."

"If you're sure."

RRRRUUUUUUUUMBLE!

Wow, that must have been loud to get over the surround sound, and yet no reaction from Damian... It can't just be the storm, there's something else, but he really doesn't want to tell me what it is right now. So I'll just have to do my best to comfort him and hope he can deal with it himself.

As it starts to get late, I notice Damian having trouble keeping his eyes open, "maybe it's time to go to bed?" I say, poking his nose.

"No, I- uh... want to watch the end of the movie," he replies.

"The end of the movie? This is pretty predictable so far, Dami, I think we can both guess-"

"I don't want to go to bed, Grayson," he says more forcefully.

I switch off the movie and stand up from the couch, "come on," I say as I stretch, "I'm pretty tired too."

He gives me a glare, but as I hold out my hand, he takes it and reluctantly stands up. As we walk upstairs, I pass my room and continue towards Damian's. When we arrive at his room, I wait in the doorway. He scowls at me as he passes and I assume he's about to remind me that he's not a child, but instead he just walks in without closing the door. When he's done preparing for bed, I walk over to tuck him in. The fact that he makes no attempt to stop me confirms more than anything that something's going on.

"Goodnight, Dami."

"Goodnight, Grayson."

I go back to my room and get ready for bed myself. I'm probably lying down for around fifteen minutes before-

"Grayson!" I hear Damian yell, I immediately sit up as he runs into me, burying his face in my chest.

I place my hand behind his head, "what's wrong, Dami?"

I can hear his rapid breathing and sniffing before he explains, "I was- I was trying to sleep. But I hea- heard scratching at the window, like cla- claws."

"Aw, I'm sure it was just the storm, Dami. It's fi-"

"B-but, I went to the window to ch-check and it- it flew open! And knocked me over and- and then the door opened too and I just- I ran here."

"Shhh," I carefully pull Damian's head away from my chest as I kneel down, looking him in the eyes as tears trickle down his face, "I understand why you're unsettled, but I'm sure it's nothing, everything's okay. It's really windy, you probably just hadn't closed the window properly last time you opened it. But I know how you feel, come here," I say as I give him a big hug, "you can sleep here tonight."

"I don't wanna sleep," he replies before sniffing.

"Then we can carry on watching the movie up here instead, does that sound good?"

I feel Damian nod before I lift him up onto my bed.

"Come on, let's get you comfortable," I say as I scoot next to him and cover us both with the bed sheets. He leans into me and places his arms around my waist. I start to stroke his hair as I put the movie on. It's not long before he starts to get tired again and rests his head in my lap, before falling asleep.

I sit there for a while just watching him. I don't want to leave him in case he wakes up, but I have to make sure the open window isn't letting the rain soak his room. I gently lift his head and place a pillow under it instead as I get out of the bed and head to his room.

I can already feel the chill as I reach his door, the window is wide open, so Damian was right about that. I close it as I check the carpet with my feet to see if the rain has done any damage, thankfully there don't seem to be any seriously wet patches. As I look out the window, I realize there aren't any trees or branches anywhere near it... so where was the scratching coming from?

CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!

I freeze.

Well that was from behind me... I'm unable to turn around as I panic, my mind racing to think of the possibilities of what could have happened here. The most logical one being that maybe the storm allowed an intruder into the manor grounds, he climbed up to Damian's window, managed to shove it open and then went to... hide in the cupboard right behind me. But if that was the case, why hasn't he just attacked me yet? Unless-

SLAM!

The door! He closed it, I'm an idiot, he's not targeting me at all, it's not my room he climbed into. He's just stalling me while he goes after Damian! And I left him alone... what have I done?

Hope you guys enjoyed that first chapter. I aim to have this and one other Halloween related story finished by the end of the month, so expect fairly frequent updates.