This takes place in a universe where the disaster from The Ultimate Enemy occurred, but Vlad never took out Danny's ghost half, and it takes place when Danny and Dick are 16. Here we go.
Bats wasn't going to lie, this was one of the most insane things he had ever been witness to, which was saying something; seeing how he fought insane people every day, but this, this took the cake. Although his perception may have been skewed due to the fact he hadn't slept in a week. But then again, there were two Dick Grayson's sitting at his dining room table working on a project.
And not only were there two Dick Grayson's sitting at his table, but they appeared to be building a 3d model of Superman's rocket. Part of him was just a slightest bit irked that not one, but two of his adopted son had chosen the man of steel over him. But overall he was baffled at why there were two kids working on this project.
Now that's not to say Bats wasn't used to Dick working on a project with other people. He was quite used to coming down the stairs and having Dick's project mates react to the legendary Bruce Wayne. But for the first time in a long time, Bruce was shocked. He was wondering how on earth someone had managed to clone Dick without him finding out. Honestly, he was more surprised at his lack of knowledge of the cloning of his boy than the cloning itself.
He didn't show his surprise though, not even a little bit, and he coughed to get the boys attention. It was only after they had turned that Bruce realized that his sidekick had not actually been cloned, which he had honestly believed to be the truth. Bruce looked between the two, analyzing the minuscule differences between them. Dick had darker eyes, the other boy had gleaming ice tones in his gaze, in addition; his jawline was more defined, with cheekbones that cast slightly deeper shadows than Dick's.
And the Batman could see a shadow of fresh grief in the boy's eyes. He could see the guilt written in his movements. And he decided that he would figure out the stem of this boy's grief. Pushing the thought from his sleep deprived mind for later, he marveled at how the boy's small differences only highlighted their remarkable similarities.
Both had ebony colored hair that stuck off their heads in gravity defying angles and they both had taught lean muscle that pulled against their school uniforms. They both moved with a fluid grace that spoke of incredible athleticism and power. Not to mention that they had the same smirk. Honestly, if Bats had been more superstitious, he would have thought one of the two was bound to keel over dead after meeting their Doppelgänger.
Almost eerily in their sync, both boys stood up as Bruce made his way into the room and Dick's look-alike surprised him by stretching out to a height that flat out dwarfed his robin. The boy walked towards Bruce and held out his hand with an easy confidence that few possessed in his presence. Shockingly, Bruce found himself barley looking down at the boy who was probably 5'11" and, judging from the fact that his pants had obviously been hemmed several times in the last year, still growing.
Bruce didn't reveal a hint of his unsettledness as he grasped the boy's outstretched hand, and found himself in a firm grip. The young man smiled warmly as he let go and began his introduction with "Hi Mr. Wayne, it's an honor to meet Gotham's white night. My name is Dan. It's a pleasure to work with your son on our history project."
If he was just Bruce Wayne he would have been charmed by the young man's smooth deep voice and seemingly mild demeanor, but because he was the Batman, he could see the slight darkening of his eyes as he spoke his name, the way his shoulders tensed as his eyes almost imperceptibly flicked around the room as if searching for an exit before realizing there was only one.
But Bats pushed his doubts aside, he didn't want to see this young man as a threat because of some assumptions that probably came from his sleep deprivation, and proceeded to address Dan "A pleasure to meet you as well. It's not often Dick has people over, even if it's just for school." The boy would have looked like he genuinely smiled if it wasn't for the fact that it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm afraid the same goes for me sir, I don't have too many friends in Gotham," Now Batman was sure that he saw the boy tense up, except now at the mention of friends, which drew Bruce's doubts to the front of his mind.
He needed to go and do some research on "Dan," but he couldn't be too abrupt or he would raise the boy's suspicions. Not to mention he needed some sleep. He decided to use the usual, "work calls" approach that had gotten him out of many situations. "Well then Dan," Another tense up, "you must excuse me, I don't mean to be rude, but I must be getting to my own project." Dick looked at him questionably, Bruce only ever referred to his work as a project when he was talking about his night job, and half of Dan's smile drew into a smirk, "Of course sir, I get it. My father is also busy with his 'projects'." There was a slightly knowing glint in his eyes that was unsettling for Bruce, and he decided right then that he needed to figure out what made this kid so hard to be around.
And to think, that was before he thought he heard a quiet, "after all, all billionaires have their secrets, be it Lex, Oliver, Vlad, or Ra's," as he left the room. But then, how would a teenager know about every one of those billionaire's secrets? He must be going crazy; after all he could have sworn the kid's eyes flashed green as he left, yeah definitely crazy. That or this kid was meta that just happened to be a better detective than he was for unmasking both him and the Green Arrow, not to mention finding the dirt on Vlad Masters that Bats had been digging for, to no avail, for months. But there was no way this kid was that good. He had to be hearing things, seeing things, he was severely exhausted. Truthfully, he had to be crazy.
So, my wonderfully lame quote for this story is... Drum role...
"A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing." -Emo Philips
