When Nightwing reached the Watchtower, he was surprised to find it so empty. From the way Starfire had sounded on the message she sent him, and the fact that it had been her to call, something serious had to be in the air. The crimefighter once again ran through the words he'd heard over the transmission as he hurried through the metal hallways towards the communications room.
I-I don't really want to bother you with this, Nightwing, but... Well, I c-can't really explain. Just, just come up here as soon as you can. I need to leave in another couple hours.
It had been a little over six years since the alien princess had left behind living on Earth, joining as a representative in a new Intergalactic Diplomats organization dedicated to solving disputes between star systems by acting as neutral intermediaries.
When he'd first heard it described, Dick though Kori' would be perfect for the job. She could talk sense into even the most stubborn Titans and Leaguers, and was tough enough to handle anything if talks broke down into violence. Even so, the knowledge that his longtime friend, teammate, and lover would be so far off in the reaches of space, only visiting Earth a couple of times a year at best... It was hard to come to terms with. They'd shared one last night together, before she left, and hadn't spoken much since.
So he had been more than a little worried by how nervous she sounded.
Finally, Nightwing found the room he needed, and burst inside to ask what was wrong, what had happened. Starfire whipped around from where she was standing on the other side of the communications panels, and just stared at him.
"Dick?" She asked uncertainly.
"Kori', I- um, well, I got your message." Nightwing returned, suddenly hesitant himself. "What's wrong? What do you need?"
"Well... It's a bit difficult to explain, but... I'm going on an assignment for the next few months, and I need... A babysitter."
That got a blink out of Nightwing. And another when a small voice piped up from beside Kori's feet.
"Mommy, you can do better than that!" Then, zipping up and over to him was a tiny girl with long dark hair and bright green eyes. "Hi, Daddy!"
-G-
"DAAAAAAAMIAN!"
"Shit." The nineteen year old muttered, backing slowly into library. His nightmare was hunting him again.
"Little trouble, Dami?"
"Shut it, Drake!" He snarled at the young man sitting on the sofa. Tim raised an eyebrow, keeping his face the picture of neutral indifference to hide the maniacal grin he felt inside.
"It wouldn't be so bad if you just didn't try to fight it, you know." Flipping a page in the book he was reading, Tim blatantly ignored the glare sent his way as Damian silently slipped away from the door. Every day about this time, he made a point of being where he could watch or listen to the teen's struggles and protests. It was almost as fun as observing the fights between him and Jason.
"Just have to make it to the window." Damian muttered. "Then I'll run for the woods, circle around to the gate, and hide out in the city until dark."
"Sounds brilliant." Tim piped up.
"Quiet!" His younger brother hissed. "Why doesn't she ever go for one of you guys, anyway?"
"Dunno. You might ask her, sometime."
Damian froze as tiny footsteps hurried past the library door, and relaxed once more when they faded away. He decided to skip the subtlety and just ran towards the picture window in the far wall. Tim sent him a smirk as the door began to open silently.
Just as Damian was pushing aside the glass panels to slip outside, a small form tackled him from behind. "Dami! Come play with me!"
"Ack!" He hollered, attempting to dislodge the short haired girl who'd begun scrambling around his body like a monkey. "Holly! If you don't get off me this instant, I'm telling Father who tagged along with my patrol last week."
She halted, craning around to look him in the eye. "You won't."
"And why wouldn't I?" Thinking he had won, Damian began to dislodge his little sister.
"Oh! Cause, if you do, I'll ask Alfred to skip you at dessert!" That got a groan from Damian and a laugh from Tim simultaneously. Everyone knew that little Holly Wayne had the grey-haired butler wrapped around her finger, even when it came to dishing out punishments to her older siblings and parents.
"Little monster." Damian growled, prompting a grin from the girl who readjusted her grip upon his shoulders. That was his usual way of admitting to being at her mercy for another day.
"Come on, Damian! We're gonna build a pillow fort by the front door!"
"Why?" He grumbled, stalking from the library with the cheerful five year old still perched upon him.
"Cause we gotta wait for Dick to come home! Now hurry up, slowpoke!"
"The things I do for you." Admittedly, though, once they two were out of sight and hearing from Tim, Damian proceeded to snatch his baby sister and began tickling her.
Squealing with laughter, Holly tried to wiggle out of his grip, but only succeeded in skewing her shirt around. Damian helped with that and started blowing raspberries onto her bare stomach.
"EE! Dami! Stop it!" Shrieking now, Holly managed to bop her brother on the nose.
"Ow!" Startled, Dami relaxed his grip long enough for the girl to slip away and take off for the front hall.
"Can't catch me!" She called back, and he gladly took up on the challenge. Just as Damian was about to catch her around the middle, the oak door opened, and he was forced to pull up short. Holly, however, simply shifted her course to come around to the doorway.
"Dick, you're home! Do you want to- Who are you?" She skidded to a stop as another girl came inside. This one was a little taller than her, and had green eyes instead of brown.
"I'm Mari'ander."
"Oh. My name's Holly. Do you want to come play with me?"
"Sure!" And just like that, the two started running back across the floor towards the rest of the mansion. Damian blinked as, halfway, the newcomer lifted off into the air and started flying. He turned to face a weary looking Dick coming in the door, a small purple bag the same color as the girl's clothes slung over his shoulder.
"What the hell, Grayson?" Damian asked, mystified.
"I'll... Explain later. To everyone. Promise." The older man was still staring after the two kids. "Hey, does Jason still have that stash of beer in his room?"
"Yes... I mean, not that I would know, but Pennyworth keeps admonishing him about it."
"Good. I think I need a drink."
-G-
"... And she'll be here for the next four months, until Kori' gets back to Earth." Dick finished, standing before the assembled Bat Family. Damian, Cass and Tim had studiously blank faces, Stephanie and Jason were both grinning at him, Selina and Bruce were frowning, and Alfred had on the blank expression that the other three must have studied from.
"Where is the young Miss now, may I ask?" The stoic butler asked.
"Upstairs in Holly's room; I think she's getting the 101 Guide to Disney Princesses, or something like that."
Jason snickered. "Okay, funny as this is, I've a couple of serious questions here. One," He held up an index finger. "Are you seriously going to just had this kid back over to Starfire without a fight?"
"It's not that simple, Jason." Growled Dick.
"Sure it is. She's just as much your flesh and blood as her mom. Plus, you've got the stable home and family, whereas the whole point Star brought her by was because she's going into a non-kid-friendly environment for an extended period of time."
Cassandra raised an eyebrow at him. "You sound adamant about this, Jason." He just frowned at her before continuing.
"Look, all I'm saying is that the kid deserves to grow up around her dad. And as weird a family as we are, if Holly's turning out okay, Mari' would too - better than bouncing around from one planet to another, anyway."
"And just why are you being so trusting towards this child after only an hour?" Damian asked, wrinkling up his nose.
"For crying out loud, Dami, do you even remember how fast you got accepted in here?" Tim asked, glaring at him. "Already this girl is way more polite than you, and hasn't tried to kill anyone yet. I won't be surprised if she's made herself right at home before the week is out, and has us doing her bidding just as much as Holly."
"If nothing else," Selina interrupted before the two youngest could start arguing full out. "We see what Mari'ander wants to do after the four months are up."
Sighing, Dick nodded in agreement. "Fine. That's fine."
"Hold up!" Stephanie suddenly said. "What was your other question, Jay?"
The man smirked and turned to Bruce and Selina. "How does it feel to be grandparents?"
"Jason!"
-G-
The weeks fell away quickly as Mari' Grayson did, indeed, make herself at home in Wayne Manor. By day, she played and learned about Earth culture alongside her technical-aunt, but closer to foster-sister Holly. The two girls began spending more time in each other's company than anyone else in the family, with the possible exception of Alfred, when the three would make things in the kitchen together. Mari' didn't have all of her mother's powers yet, but she could still retrieve ingredients and utensils from anywhere in the kitchen faster than the others, and catch the things that Holly dropped before they made a mess.
By night, the girls stayed up as late as they could, sneaking down to the Batcave to listen to all the missions and patrols their family members were on, or else slipping out of the mansion altogether to follow Damian, as Renegade, whenever he just did routine rounds of the city. Being able to take off from the roof or a bedroom window worked a lot better when sneaking out, allowing the two to go out much more often than when it had just been Holly by herself. Their respective fathers didn't approve of this, and neither did most of the other Bats, but Jason would help cover for the girls sometimes. On one occasion, when Renegade had to meet with Batman and Nightwing in the Narrows, he dropped the two of them off at Jay's apartment, where they fell asleep and Cass discovered them the next morning, side by side, covered with Red Hood's leather jacket.
When she first met Oracle, Mari' thought the woman kept looking at her with a strange expression; part joy, part annoyance, and part something she couldn't put her finger on. Although, being slipped a little bat-communicator and whispered the instruction to call her Aunt Babs had the girl dismiss any negative thoughts about her.
Then there were all of the friends of both her father and mother who insisted on meeting the six year old: members from everywhere in the superhero community, from the Justice League, the Outsiders and Titans to solo-heroes from various cities and even other nations. Mari' had a hard time remembering all the names, at least until Alfred and Holly made her a reminder scrapbook - a late birthday present, they called it.
That set off everyone in their family to start getting her gifts, to make up for the six celebrations they missed in the past. By the end of that particular week, Mari's bedroom was fit to burst with all the sudden presents. Most of them she had to learn to use (like the bicycle and skates, along with numerous board games and other toys), but there was one favorite Mari' was determined to keep forever.
It was an old photograph of the group of Teen Titans who turned the team into a gathering like the League: there was Cyborg, and Raven, Beast Boy when he was going by Changeling, Wally West as Kid Flash, Donna Troy as Wonder Girl, and best of all, her parents. Dick Grayson and Kori'ander, Nightwing and Starfire, young and happy and looking like they could, and would, take on any challenge in the universe.
Mari' wondered what had changed between them, and if it had anything to do with her.
-G-
"Can't catch me, Holly!" She called down with a grin.
"No fair, Mari'! Come down from there!" Her foster-sister did a pretty impressive impersonation of the Batglare (at least for a five year old). The sight of it just made Mari' grin from her perch at the top of the old oak tree.
"Why don't you snitch a grappling line from the Cave, then?" Eyes widening, Holly thought about the idea for all of two seconds - then she was off and running back towards the Manor. Mari' laughed, planning to wait for her companion to vanish inside, then move to a different hiding place and make her start the search all over again.
Just as she was lifting off from the branches, though, a shadow fell over the girl. She tensed and turned, prepared to fight if need be. Her home was outside of Gotham, after all, and part of the requirement for her and Holly to tag along with Damian's patrols was learning how to defend themselves.
In this case, at least, it turned out to be completely unnecessary.
"Mommy!" Kori'ander opened her arms wide, and the child happily flew into them. "You're back early!"
"Well, negotiations went better than expected." Laughing, Mari's mother held her at arms length. "X'hal, is it my imagination, or have you grown?"
"Almost a whole inch!" The girl grinned at her. "Alfred measured me and Holly on the same door as Daddy, and Grandfather. Then we baked cookies to celebrate, and Daddy said they were the best he'd ever had!" Mari' continued to ramble on about all the things she'd done, and all the gifts she'd gotten and people she'd met. Kori'ander listened patiently, though throughout the explanations and cheerful descriptions the woman found herself growing a bit tearful.
Suddenly, Mari's words halted as she studied her mother's face. A moment later, the girl started speaking again, but in the Tamaranean tongue she'd first learned, before English. "Mommy, why did you leave Earth? Was it because of me?"
"What?" Shocked, Kori'ander struggled for a moment before also shifting to her native language. "X'hal, no, little one. I didn't even realize I was going to have you until after I'd left."
"Then why? It's so nice here."
"It's... Difficult to explain, my little one. I'd been asked by the Justice League to assist them with more and more space missions, and it got to the point I was spending more time off-world than on. Then I was approached about taking my job, and well, it seemed like a positive step for me." Carefully, she lifted a hand to cup Mari's chin. "Little one, I love Earth, and I always will. It opened my eyes to so many things... But it is not home anymore."
Mari' mumbled something under her breath.
"What was that?" The girl lifted her gaze to meet her mother's.
"It feels like home to me." She said softly, and Kori'ander's heart fell. The alien woman knew it had been a risk to leave her daughter here, but at the time, she'd had no choice. The planet she had been asked to journey to was not a place for families, and Mari' had been asking about her father anyway - Earth had been closer than Tamaran.
Now, her fear had been realized, that Mari' would fall for the planet as Kori'ander herself once had.
Sighing, she dropped her hands from the startled girl, who looked at her questioningly.
"If you want to stay... I understand." Mari's gasped at her mother's simple declaration, then grabbed her in a massive hug.
"Thank you!" She whispered.
"I love you so much, Mari'ander."
"I love you too, Mommy. You will visit?"
"As often as I can, little one. Now, why don't you go and tell your father I'm here - I want the two of us to spend some time flying before I leave again." Cheering, Mari' zipped down and towards the door of Wayne Manor: the place that was now, officially, her home.
