The Champagne Case
One-Shot based on fanart
Italicized words = communicator conversation
Damian was taking the tuxedo out on patrol today
though it wasn't actually patrol, more of an investigation. Damian decided to take the case while Bruce was abroad. It was about a high positioned drug dealer who plans on taking down a new champagne product. Now what would a drug dealer want with a bottle of sparkling wine from France? Damian had his suspicions, other than the opinion that Gotham could be poisoned overnight.
Unfortunately, Dick had already gone out on his own when Damian contacted him. His older brother told him to take the night off and Damian heard punches being thrown and gunshots in the background. Dick hung up before Damian could take note of the noises. A sort of a Grayson way of telling him that Dick would be kicking ass alone tonight.
Alfred was asked to stay with Damian in the manor. A way of his father telling him that, 'I trust you, but don't do anything stupid while I'm gone'. Damian thought Bruce would learn by now that he wasn't the evil spawned brat he used to be, he was sixteen. He had Bruce believe he traveled alone to London when he was ten.
But Alfred seemed to be in a good mood this evening because he told Damian Bruce's least investigated case, the champagne case. The company is holding its grand opening of the product being finally sold in stores. Yes, another useless gala to be held.
Sadly, to investigate further on the dealer, Damian would have to go in and grab a sample of the drink, which would be offered in trays all over the event, and test it. If this dealer plans on either boosting the company's market or crashing it, a drug is never the answer.
Bruce Wayne was invited to the party, which was ironic for him because he doesn't drink alcohol. And since he is away, Damian Wayne would be attending on his behalf, along with Alfred.
So here he was, sitting on the Rolls Royce, wearing a tux. He didn't have many suits, but you must always come prepared when you're the son of Bruce Wayne. A black tuxedo and a white polo, with a forest green bowtie on top, Damian found to like the color. Alfred of course, did the bow tie, as with all the residents of Wayne manor.
"Now be careful, Master Damian, the people here would do anything to get Bruce's attention by you." The butler warned from the driver's seat.
"Tt, when am I not careful, Pennyworth?" The fifth wonder replied, still retaining the attitude after all these years.
As they arrived at the hotel, Damian saw a bunch of paparazzi and thought how good is this champagne? To attract Gotham's richest with a complete set of cameramen. Then again, free drinks would be all over the place, an easy way to dress up and get drunk.
"Please don't tell me we're passing that entrance." Damian complained.
"I'm sorry Master Damian, you confirmed you were coming, the paparazzi wouldn't miss you."
Damian grunted and stepped out of the car. White flashes from the cameras immediately came to his vision, he almost couldn't see where he was going. The guards were able to push away the press fast enough before Damian could strangle them all. Questions and shouts in air as the son of the billionare rushed past the reporters and photographers. But that wasn't the most annoying thing he would experience that night.
A lady was in the lobby, she was talking with the waiters and someone that looked like a the manager for the hotel. When she spotted Damian she shrieked for joy that made Damian immediately want to stab her.
"Damian Wayne, so glad to finally meet you!" The woman was shorter than Damian, and probably in her late 50's. Her blonde hair was mostly gray. Damian could tell she was the organizer for the event.
"When I hear Bruce couldn't come I was devastated! Luckily you're around to attend for him." She had a bit of an English accent. "How old are you? "
"Sixteen" he answered bluntly.
"Well, we could make exceptions to the age appropriation for our champagne. We won't tell Bruce"
The lady led him to the ballroom where most of the guests were doing whatever rich snobs do. This is going to be one hell of a night. Damian hoped the event didn't have any more of the people like the organizer, he had thought it would be filled of more young women. He found Alfred a few meters away, trailing behind him.
"One moment, Mr. Wayne, I'm going to get you a glass of our finest champagne, only start with one now!" The organizer said before disappearing into the crowd. The room wasn't really big, big enough to hold an orchestra, a bar, and a bunch of people in formal wear. Almost everyone in the gala had a glass of the new product in hand, and the bar was teeming with alcoholics. The band played jazz music in one side of the hall.
That's when the communicator in his ear beeped, he was expecting Alfred. Instead he heard a female's voice.
"And just when the party started getting interesting." Damian recognized the voice before she could even finish the sentence.
"I believe you are the true spoiler of this evening, Brown."
"Did Damian Wayne just make a joke?" Stephanie Brown's voice rang through the comm.
"Just stay out of my way, Fatgirl.""Not until you tell me why you're here." Stephanie Brown was suddenly beside Damian. She was wearing a purple dress that went way up to her neck, with a tiny V opening. Typical Damian thought.
"Shouldn't I be the one asking why YOU are here, Brown?"
"Fair enough, I'm working on a case."
Some of the ladies in the party started looking their way, and Damian tried so hard not to break anyone's necks tonight. His comm beeped again
"I forgot to tell you, sir but Ms. Brown will be joining you tonight." He could almost hear Alfred laugh.
"Well played, Pennyworth." Damian shot back.
"And I'm guessing Barbara set you up on this expensive event?" Damian said, looking at Stephanie, who replied.
"That girl can go through Gotham without moving. And I'm guessing you're not here just to bring someone home."
"A drug dealer-"
"Funny, I was looking for the same person." Stephanie replied before Damian could say more. Great, Fatgirl's here with the same case.
"Maybe we can team up for this" Stephanie suggested what Damian hated to hear. "I know we can't stand each other but it's just one night, besides, do you even have any leads?"
Boy Wonder pointed at a man wearing a gray suit a meters from them "see that man? He hasn't had a drink since I arrived. And for some reason, he keeps avoiding the organizer. He picks up a glass of champagne, sniffs it then offers it to some other person."
Stephanie squinted her eyes, "well you definitely found my guy, well an accomplice"
"Dealer just couldn't come himself"
"Yeah, how deep are you in this case"
"I just picked it up tonight, under Bruce's 'least checked cases' according to Alfred."
"At least I'm finally faster than you, D."
"So you admit you were slow?"
Before Stephanie could make her reply, the lady appeared again, holding a clipbook and a glass half filled with champagne.
"There you are, Damian I've been looking for you! Here is your drink, I'm sure Bruce will allow his son one glass." The organizer exchanged the glass into Damian's hands and looked Stephanie. "Is this your escort, Mr. Wayne? Why I didn't see her come in with you, she is very pretty."
Damian's ears turned pink and Stephanie smirked. "No she's-"
"Taylor, so nice to meet the organizer to this great event" Stephanie said, pulling off a fake name and shaking hands with the lady.
"You can call me Linda, now I have a dance to supervise, have you ever danced before?" Linda smiled at Damian.
"Well yes, but I'm not entirely in the dancing mood right now." Damian replied, trying his best to act like the son of a billionare.
"Well I am sort of short of dancers, but if you want to dance, just bring your escort to the dance floor. I'm sure you're remarkable at dancing." Linda made her last fake smile before heading to the band.
"Quite the woman, you've got there" Alfred came beside him.
"Just get the sample" Damian said and he exchanged glasses with Alfred. He peeked at his drink, apple juice.
"I used to play with apple juice, pretending it was beer. " Stephanie joked.
"If we're going to work together, keep an eye on the suspect, Taylor."
"Suspect's moved, wonder boy."
"He's lingering near the exit, follow him."
The duo didn't have much space to walk anymore, as people were moving to the sides of the rectangular ballroom, making a bigger dance floor. Meanwhile at the other side of the hall, the man was just beside the exit, meaning something bad is going to happen.
"Only one way to the other side" Stephanie breathed. Damian growled, sipped what's left of the apple juice, gave it to Alfred and took Stephanie's hand and led her to the dance floor.
"Mr. Wayne, so glad you could join us" Linda the organizer said at the edge of the circle the crowd made. "I hope you're a fan of Nat King Cole."
Suddenly Damian's bowtie seemed tighter than usual. "Alfred"
"I've got this one, young sir, just keep an eye on the suspect." The butler replied through the comm.
Music started playing of what sounded like Let's Face the Music and Dance, Damian could tell this was a fast one. Pairs of dancers started filling the circle and Linda looked eagerly at Damian and Stephanie.
"Let's just copy the dancers, how bad can it be?" Stephanie squeaked. Damian would've laughed if he wasn't as nervous as he was. They started walking slowly to the dance floor, he awkwardly put his hand on Stephanie's waist and they locked hands again. His cheeks were flaring red. Dancers all around were moving in circles, doing what looked like a cha-cha between spins. Damian and Stephanie tried their best to copy their moves, it was actually working and Alfred was just directing Damian if they were about to bump a couple. Stephanie laughed,
"Hey, we're not half bad, D" she stated after twirling, her skirt flying. And Damian found himself staring into her eyes. He tried his best not to smile when she laughed, because her eyes sparkled.
Eyes on the dealer Damian's head seemed to snap him back to reality. He glanced at the exit, the man wasn't there anymore. He looked at Stephanie and found her staring at him.
Somehow a part of him wanted to stay and keep dancing, and the two parts of his mind argued until the serious side said fine, after this song. There wasn't any singer, so it was Alfred who reminded him that the song was almost over. Damian was annoyed to find his heart sinking.
As Alfred signaled to do the last move, Stephanie extended her arm and twirled away from Damian, then twirled back in his arms. Damian cursed to himself before laying her close to the ground when she stopped spinning, at that moment, the orchestra played their final note. The pair looked started at each other for a moment, still locked in position.
"That was marvelous footwork!" Linda exclaimed, Damian and Stephanie stood up to find the short woman clapping. "You should come to these parties more often, Mr. Wayne. And bring your lovely escort too."
Unfortunately, Damian couldn't stop his cheeks from reddening ever since the start of the performance. "Thank you, but if you'll excuse me, I should go-" before Damian could finish his sentence, a scream filled the hall. A lady near the bar dropped to her knees and fainted. Damian and Stephanie were already heading to the lobby by then. It was only thirty minutes until midnight, perfect timing for the real patrol.
Damian stopped on his tracks and found his heart sinking again. What happened back there, Damian? His serious side spoke to him. Stephanie Brown was his rival, a sloppy, overweight, beautiful vigilante.
"Race you back to this hotel after we get out of these civvies!" Stephanie called from the entrance. Damian smiled
"You better not be late, Fatgirl." He felt his chest lighten,
Maybe after all this he could get Brown to dance with him again.
I apologize if there isn't enough Dami/Steph, I got carried away with the story… and my sucky dance scene. I hope you like it though. For the dance scene, I was looking at this video and the first and last couple were sorta my reference when I was writing this.
"So while there's moonlight and music and love and romance
Let's face the music and dance..." –Nat King Cole