Merry belated Christmas! So I wanted to a Christmas-related fanfic, and then I got this idea - take my favorite comic Detective Comics and make a holiday spin on it. Now, there are references to other DC Rebirth books, but they aren't too important. Basically, all I want is for you hardcore DC fans like myself to enjoy this as we near the end of 2017. Happy holidays folks, and please review if you get the chance. Au Revoir!
Gotham, out of everywhere in America, was the one city to have the highest crime rate recorded. Of course, that was before Batman and the Gotham Knights began patrolling its streets as a team. In the several months since they'd started, relationships had been formed, enemies had been fought, and loved ones had perished. Gotham was changed, but at least some things stayed the same.
Take, for instance, Old Wayne Tower. To the average Gothamite, it was an old heritage building kept in good condition by Wayne Enterprises. But to those inside Batman's inner circle, it was much more; a modern and centralized Batcave in the middle of the city. Given the nickname "the Belfry," it boosted fighting facilitates, rooms for its members, and a training facility known as "the Mud Room."
Inside the seemingly-aged windows, Luke Fox, better known as Batwing, was sitting at the giant round table set up in the middle of the main lobby room. His hands were spread out as he viewed a three-dimensional hologram of a box. Nothing seemed unique about it, the box having no details as of yet. However, if anyone saw what he was actually planning, it would ruin the surprise of what he'd been working on.
"What are you doing, Luke?" Kate asked as she walked in. Her Batwoman wig and headset were hanging from her side.
"Nothing much," Luke said, a little startled at her unexpected entrance. "Just setting up a couple of…potential ideas for the future."
Kate sat down at her seat at the table, a couple ones further from him. "Could these "potential ideas" be related to the upcoming holiday?"
"Knew you'd be smart enough to see through it," he replied. "It's a boxed gift...for Bruce."
"You do realize he's the world's greatest detective, right?" Kate wisecracked. "And I'm not even joking when I say that. Last year, he went all Sherlock and guessed my gift was a pair of tree socks."
Luke smirked and closed the hologram. "But that's the really exciting challenge, isn't it? Trying to make a gift Batman can't guess until he opens the box?"
And then, Luke's mind suddenly came full circle and exploded into epiphany. He looked at Batwoman, who honestly didn't know whether to be confused or worried by the sudden happiness on his face.
"I just thought of something," Luke said, his eyes moving across the room quickly.
"Care to fill me in?"
"We should have a christmas party."
Kate took some time to take this in. When she responded, it was with the pure instinct of her militaristic past. "Luke, I get it's the holidays and all, but we're vigilantes. We don't stop even for Santa."
"Kate, c'mon," said Luke. "We've been through a lot this past year. The Victim Syndicate, the League of Shadows, Ascalon, and Evil future Tim; not to mention we just got our Tim, too. Isn't that something we should be thankful for? We could just have a small gathering - hang out and exchange gifts, that's all I'm saying." Luke walked closer to the windows and touched it to view the different lights obscured by the freshly fallen snow. To him, any drop of snow was a holiday miracle. "You're team leader and I'm not trying to go against you - I'm just proposing it."
The female vigilante gazed at her mask while trying to think about it all. Funnily enough, she'd actually not liked him the first time they'd met. She'd viewed him as a rich boy trying to have fun as a crime-fighter. But as they worked more frequently together, she came to understand that he didn't do it for glory; he did it so kids with backgrounds like his could live in a better and more fair world. That fact alone made him someone who could be trusted when push came to shove.
So was a christmas gathering really such a bad idea?
She sighed, then looked at him. "Alright. I'll talk to Batman about it. I'll try, okay?"
Smiling, Luke walked back to the table and opened the holographic box up again. "Thanks. That gives me plenty of time to work on this." Kate nodded and went off, dreading the conversation she was most definitely about to have.
…
"Christmas? Here?"
"It was Luke's idea."
"No." Batman stated the word like it was a death sentence, making sure to emphasize his seriousness on it.
The dark knight and Batwoman were located in the Belfry's equipment room. Computers and racks of various gadgets surrounded them. Before Kate had appeared, he had been sharpening the next set of batarangs. That had been postponed for the obvious reason.
"Why's that?" she replied. "You honestly need to give the holidays a break."
"Crime doesn't take breaks," he said. "I have to keep watching, even if the police don't." He focused on the batarang, but Batwoman swiped it from his grip before he could continue working.
"You're deflecting again. Look, we spend six to ten hours every week night fighting crime," Batwoman said. "I'm not saying we should pull back, but sooner or later we're going to burn out. Having a holiday break would help fight that."
"We'll be fine."
"Coming from the man who spent his entire adolescence training to be the perfect human crime-fighter," Batwoman replied. "Our team consists of yours truly, a teenage genius, a sane religious warrior, a hi-tech CEO, a former supervillain, and a mute girl who can kill people without effort. Oh, and I forgot Stephanie, who just rejoined because her boyfriend came back from being 'dead.' These people aren't you, Bruce. They should at least cherish being happy, being able to have some good times in our war." Batwoman folded her arms and waited for his answer.
"Hh," Batman grunted in his usual manner. He gazed around at the walls and came to stare back at the batarang his cousin held in her folded hands. "Fine. A couple hours, the same day as Christmas. But that's it."
Kate smirked and gave the small projectile back to Bruce, who take it promptly. "Great. Should I invite anyone from the family?"
"You're welcome to," he said as he began to walk off, "but I wouldn't be surprised if the others are too busy to come."
Batwoman was left to muse to herself as the door closed and she was the only one left in the room.
Still thick as ever, aren't you, Bruce?
…
"Christmas party?" Azrael looked more perplexed than surprised at the revelation of the event happening where he was currently living.
"Party?" Cassandra asked singularly. She too was interested in what was happening.
"Okay, let me go through it again," Luke said. "Batman and Batwoman agreed that we can have a Christmas party the day of Christmas. You know, so we can relax from all of our crime fighting? Don't you guys think that'd be good?"
"Better than in Arkham," Basil said. He hunched over the other two, as he had been watching the conversation with attention. "Every time it was Christmas, all we got was cupcakes, and bad ones at that."
"Don't worry, Basil," Jean-Paul replied. "I'm sure one of us can bake something better than prison food for Christmas."
"Yeah, about that," Clayface said. "Who else is coming to this?"
"Well, Tim and Kate sent invites out to the other members of the Bat Family," Luke said. "Robin, the Birds of Prey, Batgirl, Red Hood, the Signal...I think that's about it."
The massive mud man gulped. "On second thought, maybe I shouldn't be here."
Cassandra turned and looked up at her massive friend, putting a hand on his clay exterior. "Why?"
"No offense or anything," Clayface said, "but I'm an ex-villain most of those people - and everyone Batman works with - has fought. You really think they're going to be okay with me hanging around here?" He slumped a bit, and everyone pretty much knew what that was about. Just thinking about his past actions was enough to make him feel bad about himself.
"No. You...fine. I...protect you," Cassandra mustered out as hard as she could.
"I agree," a voice said. Everyone looked to see the figure of Red Robin walking in. He settled into the small tech room they were all bunched into, sitting next to Luke and leaning his long bo staff against the wall. "Ever since you joined up with us, Basil, you've done a lot to change who you are. Other people in the family might not known you as well, but they know what you've been doing for a while. And if anyone has an issue with it, they have to deal with us."
"That's nice," Clayface mused, then turned to Luke. "So, you need help putting up some decorations?"
A smile formed on the genius' face. "Y'know, I was just wondering about that…"
…
Tim walked from the elevator onto the top of the Belfry. Sitting several feet in front of him was the girl of his dreams, Stephanie Brown. Known to the rest as Spoiler, her blonde locks dripped down her black and purple spandex suit that hunched against a radio antennae. She was looking down on various skyscrapers encircling the Belfry's tower, each taller but still dark from the lack of people in them at the moment. The one major difference was that snow was falling slowly upon the roof, and her hood was up in an effort to prevent it from getting into her face.
"Steph," Tim said. "You know you can come down to help with the party. It'll be fun."
Spoiler didn't turn around, but still said, "I don't really feel comfortable down there, and I think you know why."
"Everybody understands," Tim said. He sat down and tried looking at her, but her eyes still were trained on the city. "You werent too well when I...was thought to have died."
"Batman doesn't, and I bet some others do too," she replied coldly. "I thought things were going to be different."
Both looked directly at the pitch-black buildings after that, not making effort to try to look at each other. Finally, Tim decided to break the ice.
"When I was in that...other place," Tim said, making sure to swallow and give himself time to do it, "I thought about you. Constantly. I pictured everyone moving on without me, searching or me, and it tore me apart. But what hurt the most was that I wasn't with you anymore. You made me whole, and whatever took me away shattered that."
"And when I got back and saw you, all of it was worth it because you were there. But now that I'm back, it's like you've changed. Things aren't the same..."
For a moment, their eyes looked at each other and didn't break; then Tim's did and looked to his feet.
"I...I'm trying to figure out what to do after I saw Evil future Me try and kill Kate," he said slowly. "I'm going to try and finish up some things here, and then we can go to Ivy University, like I said. Plus, I'm sure than in the end, Batman will realize that you're a person just as committed as he is, too."
He moved his hand to grab hers, gripping it like there was nothing else to do in the world.
"Tim, there's something I should-"
"Steph," Tim said. "It's okay. Whatever you were dealing with while I was gone, it's over with now."
Both of them moved in to hug, but it was a bitter one for Spoiler, for as she looked at the elevator back down, all she could think about was how she had allied with Anarky. Would Tim ever find out? And even worse…
Why did Lonnie want to work with me?
…
"That's it, Basil," Jean-Paul directed. "Just a little bit to the left and you're good."
"Great," Clayface groaned sarcastically," this is killing me." His clay arm stretched several feet into the air and attempted to hold up a small orb that was magnetically attractive. After he stretched a few more inches, the orb flew from his grasp and attached to the ceiling.
Retracting his arm, Clayface asked, "What are those?"
"According to Lucas," the religious zealot stated calmly, "these orbs are small metallic balls that glow with christmas colors. They are inclined to magnetically fit on parts of the lobby and hallway to the other rooms."
"Well, as long as you got me, you can probably put them up fine," Basil retorted.
"I think that's the last of them, so we should be good."
He turned and began to exit towards his room, but a massive mud hand caught his shoulder.
"Wait," Clayface said. "There's something I need to ask."
"What is it?" said Jean-Paul.
Gulping, Basil looked down at him nervously. "I...I want to get a gift for someone, but I don't got a clue on what they might like."
Jean-Paul smirked. "Might This someone be a girl with black hair?"
"Aw, cripes," Basil said. "Yeah, it's Cass."
"Well, what do you know about her?" Jean-Paul questioned. "You are her friend, after all."
Basil thought long and hard before responding to the question. "She fights a lot, she isn't good at talking to people...and she's really loyal to her friends."
"Then you should probably get her something that sums that up neatly," Jean-Paul stated. He put a hand on him and looked up. "You'll figure it out."
After a couple of moments passed, Clayface's face lit up like a christmas tree. "I got it! Thanks, man!" With that, he turned and walked away in a happy hurry.
"You're welcome."
…
The black limo pulled up to the bottom of Old Wayne Tower carefully, making sure to align with the sidewalk in a manner that allowed for some flexibility in its wake. The passenger door opened to allow Bruce to step out. Despite the cold temperature, he was dressed in a blue sweater and black jeans. Alfred opened his door and followed him to the seemingly-abandoned entrance, holding a tray in his hands and a bag on his arm.
"Relax, sir," Alfred said calmly. "This is a good idea, especially for all this program's members. You don't need to overanalyze it or try and make it better."
"I get that, Alfred," Bruce replied. He held the door open for his butler, peering into the worn-out lobby that once held such esteem. "We both know that Christmas...just isn't my favorite time."
"Don't forget," Alfred said clearly this time, "You have a new family now. Enjoy that while you can."
They'd reached the elevator. Bruce put a finger against an aging block, which soon scanned his finger and then his face. When the process was complete, mechanical sounds greeted the relevance of a revealed elevator. Bruce turned to Alfred, who gave him the tray in his hands and then swerved the bag handle onto his pinkie. Managing a grim smile, Bruce went into the elevator and pressed the button to go up.
"Make sure the others get to try my cucumber sandwiches," Alfred called.
"I'll try," Bruce managed to say before the elevator closed and began going up.
…
Now fully armored, Luke stood across from the elevator and waited patiently for the guests to arrive. He checked the time on the inside of his helmet; it was 7:13, the beginning of it all. He was wondering how people were going to take the idea of a party when they otherwise would be searching for crimes to curb, but Batwoman had told him not to worry about it.
The elevator opened to reveal seven people. The first three that walked out were Red Hood, Nightwing, and The Signal. Their colored costumes of red, blue, and yellow clashed with the black each possessed. Following them were Batgirl and her allies from the Birds of Prey, Black Canary and Huntress. Once everyone was out of the elevator, they all gazed at Batwing.
"Nice to see you," Batgirl commented.
"Likewise," Batwing responded. "Was it alright getting here?"
"Just some snow and cold wind," Nightwing responded. "Pretty natural for christmas in Gotham."
"Hey, where's Robin?" Signal said, looking around for the boy wonder.
"The runt'll be here eventually," said Red Hood. "Let's check out the christmas digs."
"Lead the way, Batwing," said Black Canary.
Obliging to do that, Luke turned and led them into the hallway. They passed several hanging christmas color orbs that radiated it around until they finally arrived in the Belfry's main lobby room. There was plates of christmas cookies shaped like bat-signals on the round table, festive gear was loaded onto the walls, and the computers were playing swirling red and green bats.
"This is Batman's doing?" Batgirl asked. "I'm impressed."
"Well, we all did some of the heavy lifting," Batwing said, "thought truth be told, Batman did bring some cucumber sandwiches."
Huntress walked to the round table and snatched a bat signal. As she munched, a faint smile appeared on her face. "Never had a zucchini cookie at Spyral," she said, "but its not bad."
"I wonder who made them," the Signal mentioned as he got one as well.
"I did," said Batwoman as she walked in. "Happy holidays, everyone."
Following her were the rest of the team. Batman, Azrael, Orphan, Spoiler, Red Robin, and Clayface proceeded from the elevator and began to fan out. Small conversations about various things began to circulate, from the latest bad guys the Birds had fought to hairstyles and costume choices.
Red Hood walked up to Batwing as he was adjusting something on the computer. "Luke, you got some toons? A little music doesn't hurt."
"Way ahead of you, man." He pressed a button; instantly, a modern version of Baby, It's Cold Outside began to play from the speakers. While it might've been just sound, everyone seemed to liven up a bit more as a result.
Spoiler and Red Robin were chatting with Nightwing when a hand tapped her shoulder. Turning around, she was surprised to see none other than Harper Row, blue hair and buzz cut included, standing there. "Harper!"
"Steph!" she hugged her tightly. "it's so nice to see you, and Tim too."
"Thanks," he replied casually. "Coming back from being 'dead' has its merits."
"Oh?" inquired Spoiler playfully. "And what's that?"
"Getting to be with you all again," he said. He pointed to a small green leaf that was coincidentally hanging over them. "Y'know, there's mistletoe here…"
"Oh, shut up and kiss me, Tim Drake," she said urgently, grabbing him and pulling him into a passionate kiss. Nightwing and Harper watched, obviously taken aback by the sudden action.
"Well, that's…" Nightwing couldn't find the exact wording.
"Schway?" Harper said. After a lack of response, "C'mon, let's get some food. They can have some time."
Several feet away, Clayface shrunk one of his hands and use it to grab a small cookie off the table. He'd nearly gotten it to his giant mouth when he saw a certain vigilante stand right next to them.
"Hey, Clayface," Signal said. "How are things going for you?"
Basil gulped, then said, "Uh...pretty well. I'm getting better at fighting, and Dr. October and me are working on mapping my brain for a cure."
"Hmm," pondered the Signal.
"Look," Clayface said, "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I know that you never really fought me, but working with Bats and the team - it's just made me regret all that I've done in the past. And I-"
His words were cut off by the other putting a hand on his chest thoughtfully. "It's all right, Basil. The others might not show it, but they're proud of who you are now. You keep this up, and you'll be the first real bat villain to turn his life around completely."
"You really think so?"
"Yep. Say, you had one of the cucumber sandwiches? I hear they're great."
"Not yet," said Clayface, "But I sure will."
The two laughed in unison, unaware that Orphan was watching them. She smiled, happy that Basil had managed to find himself at this party. She considered to go up and join them, but felt it would interrupt the fun. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Azrael at her side.
"You should join the party," he said.
Through her mask, Cassandra smiled and went off. "Thanks," she said briefly before going to chat with her muddy friend. Azrael then went off and did the same, walking to Batwing and Red Hood to converse about recent villains.
That only left Batman and Batwoman perched near the entrance to the hallway. His arms were folded and he looked at the floor; however, he wasn't nearly as serious or surly as he normally was. Kate looked at him with curiosity.
"So, what do you think of this party now?" Kate asked.
"...It's adequate," Batman replied. He saw Tim and Steph conversing with their friends, Basil and Cassandra playing rock paper scissors, and Azrael and Red Hood casually moving to the beats. A part of him was actually impressed by how warm this gathering was making him feel.
"Wait, isn't Robin supposed to be here?" Batwoman wondered. Batman was about to respond when he heard a small whoosh behind him. Turning around, he saw two childlike figures standing in the hallway; his son Robin and his best friend Superboy. Damian's face was scrutinized in a childlike way similar to his father's while Jon's was full of optimism.
"Father," Robin said to the dark knight.
"Damian," Batman said back. "You came for the party, I assume?"
"Where else was it going to be?" he replied arrogantly. His scrunched eyes surveyed the room in a flash and turned back to the caped crusader. "I see that Drake, the Clay Man, and the rest of our allies and your team is here."
"Robin, look!" Jon pointed to the bat-signals playing on the screens, drawn in like it was a toy display. "Let's check it out!"
"Alright, Jon. See you around, father." He walked away and headed towards the heart of the party. Jon instead flew into the air to get a better scope of it all, attracting some gazes in the process.
"Cripes! Ain't that Superman's kid? Clayface said in shock.
Batwoman smiled. This was going to be one fun evening.
And indeed it was. The party went on for a few more hours, and several things of importance happened there. The Knights and Birds traded various stories regarding battles and villains they'd fought. Red Hood challenged Nightwing to a game of cards, with others joining in to piggyback on the fun. Clayface impersonated Santa Claus for Superboy, who laughed happily at the result. And then Batman ate a cucumber sandwich and smiled, happy at the taste and that he'd saved himself from Alfred's wrath.
Eventually, it came to eleven o'clock, and people had to start leaving. The Birds said their goodbyes, then Signal left with Harper, and Superboy and Robin headed back to their respective homes for bed. Red Hood and Nightwing stayed a bit longer, then went on night patrols for the holiday. That left the entirety of the Knights at the Belfry, huddled around the roundtable with the leftover cookies and holiday garb.
"Well, me and Steph are going to head back to our place," Red Robin said suddenly. "But the party was fun. We should do this again sometime."
"Yeah," Spoiler added. "Pretty cool." They began to head out towards the exit, holding hands as they went.
"Safe travels," Batwoman said and waved.
"Good night," Batman said.
When they were completely gone from view, Clayface looked at Orphan suddenly and sighed shyly. "Cass, there's something...I need to tell you."
She looked at him in a questionable gaze underneath her mask, then asked, "What?"
Slowly, he began to divulge something out of his large left hand. A gift-wrapped book slipped out and went right in front of her. "It's okay," he said. "You can open it."
Cassandra took off her mask and began to unwrap the gift quickly, leaving wrapping paper in her wake. When a pile of it covered her area, all that was left was an untouched book with the title "MY BADASS DIARY." She turned to her friend, asking "Diary?"
"It's a thing that you write your feelings down in," he said slowly. "This one just felt like...so much you, because you're confident and a great fighter and an even better friend. I can help you learn some basic writing, and then it's all a piece of cake."
Tears began to form from her eyes. Cass wiped one off as she said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome, kid. Really, I'm the one who should be thanking you. You've been such a help, especially with everything regarding my-" His words were cut off as she dived forwards and hugged him. Unable to say any more, Basil patted her on the back.
…
Twenty minutes later, Orphan, Clayface, and Azrael had all gone home. Batman, Batwoman, and Batwing were the only ones left, standing near the windows in the darkened room.
"So, Bruce," Luke said, "Ready to at least get my gift before your midnight patrol?"
Batman said, "You have my attention."
Luke smirked under his armor and pulled out the gift before the dark knight could change his mind. It was a black box that had no ribbons or designs - it was completely solid in its color. He handed it to his friend, who found it to be heavier than expected.
"I bet your inner Sherlock is finding nothing," Kate surmised.
"I think you may be right," he said. He proceed to open the lid of the box, but when he did, his face fell. His black fingers pulled out a small but dense photograph that had a digital image of three people in a black-and-white background.
"Is that-" he began to say.
"Yep. That's the same photo from Wayne Manor of you, your mom, and your dad a month before...the Monarch," Luke said. "It's been digitally restored to 4K picture quality, the best Wayne Fox Tech can offer."
Batman looked at it for several moments, hsi face almost seeming to freeze. It was them, his family when they were so happy and pure. Then he did something he never did; he walked over and hugged Batwing, much to his and Kate's surprise.
"Thank you, Luke."
"No problem, Bruce," he said after being released. "Say, need a hand or two with the patrol?"
"That could work," Batman replied with a smirk. "Kate?"
"Renee says the latest I need to come back is 1 AM, so I've got some time to kill." She walked over and opened the side exit hundreds of feet above the ground. Her lips curved into a porcelain smile, and she got out her grapnel as she said, "Let's hit it, guys." Then she leapt off and shot a line into the night sky.
Batman took off next, readying his massive cape as he shot his own line. Luke was the last left, getting a final glance at the now-darkened Belfry before he flew off into the cold, snowy night. The door closed, and all that was left was a vacant building.