Robin and Kid Flash – The Proposal.
A/N: This starts during Chapter 3 of the vignettes, and picks up where that chapter ends. There's mentions of things explored in other stories I've written set in the DCU...mostly stuff about Tim and Tam. Damian's 23 in this, Irey and Jai are 22, and Lian is 21.
Tim Drake-Wayne leaned back at his desk and considered the file before him. It was late and Tam was away on business, so he was in no rush to return to his empty home. A knock on the door surprised him. "Come in," he called out. The door opened and Damian Wayne quietly stepped into his office. Damian closed the door behind him and turned to face his elder brother. Tim could see something was bothering Damian. "What's up?" he asked, gesturing to his brother to take a seat. Damian sat on the sofa along the far wall; he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "Damian?" Tim asked.
"When did you know?" Damian murmured in the semi dark office.
"When did I know what," Tim asked, shutting his computer down and getting up to go and sit with Damian.
"That Tamara was the one for you?" Damian specified.
Tim took several slow deep breaths as he leaned back on the sofa. "When I realised that she held my heart in her hands," he replied. Damian furrowed his brow as he considered the answer. "Is this about Irey?" Tim asked. Damian nodded.
"Yes," he admitted. "She haunts me." Tim waited, feeling that Damian was going to take his time revealing the reason he'd visited. "When she's not with me…I feel empty. Like I'm incomplete." Tim made an encouraging sound. "When we're together, I feel as though I can conquer the universe," he smirked at that. "I suppose traces of Mother's influence remain within me."
"I'd say so, if you're idea of happiness is universal domination," Tim teased. They shared a chuckle. "So when did she steal your heart?" he asked after a moment.
"I'm not certain," Damian replied solemnly.
"When did you realise she had?"
Damian smiled softly. "Six months ago at Father's summer fundraising gala."
"Jase has commented on the rare occasion that you looked pretty smitten at the gala," Tim smirked. Damian glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Their elder brother Jason Todd hadn't stopped teasing Damian about it.
"A few days prior, we had gone to the Gotham Natural History Museum," Damian stated. "She got bored, and before I knew it, she had zipped us away to Hawai'i and a lonely beach on Kauai."
Tim laughed. "I've been best friends with a speedster for well over a decade…they tend to have impulsive streaks."
"Especially if they started their heroic careers using the moniker Impulse," Damian wryly added. Tim groaned and it was Damian's turn to chuckle. "She said that she had always wanted to enjoy her own private beach."
"So at the honeymoon capitol of the world, you decided that you were head over heels in love…okay," Tim smirked.
"Actually it was as we were looking down into one of the volcanoes on the island of Hawai'i, that I began to realise what was happening," Damian corrected. "It wasn't until after the gala that I was certain," he added.
"I won't ask," Tim said.
"I wouldn't tell you even if you had asked," Damian told him. Tim held his hand up. "I had envied you," Damian admitted, changing the subject.
"Envied?"
"For several years now, I had envied you. You and Tamara," he specified.
"Why?" Tim asked, clearly perplexed.
"The way you complement each other," Damian said. "The way you ground each other. I see you both on your way to some meeting or another and you both have this air about you, that life is but a joyous game."
"Uh…Tam and I consider board meetings, sport," Tim admitted. "Of course we look like we're having a ball when we're heading to one."
"Sport?"
"You are aware that my wife and I are completely nuts, right?" Tim asked.
"I had come to that conclusion," Damian agreed. "Considering that your idea of interior decorating includes skulls with holes hacked into them," he added with a shudder.
Tim laughed. "I loved that when you were a kid," he said. "I referred to her collection as 'Damian repellent', back then."
"An apt sobriquet," Damian admitted. "Tamara's curios aside…I do envy what you have with her."
"And you're thinking you might want a chance like that for yourself?" Tim asked. Damian nodded. "And Irey's the one you want to try it with?"
"And that terrifies me," Damian quietly admitted. "I'm twenty three years old and I have never been in a serious relationship before. I mean, Iris and I only recently established ourselves in a formal relationship, and I haven't been happier in my entire life than I have been these last few months."
"Oh…can I relate," Tim sighed.
"Which is why I came to you," Damian stated. "By the time you were my age, you were already wedded to Tamara. How were you so certain that you would both manage to make it work?"
Tim leaned back and considered the question. "Well she already knew about the night job side of things," he said. Damian nodded. "I'd had a few relationships by the time I'd met her," he paused as he considered where he wanted to go with the conversation. "A couple of them, I even considered serious."
"What was the difference with Tamara?"
"I honestly couldn't tell you," Tim admitted. "I've thought about it over the years and the only thing I can come up with, is that she and I just…fit. Like puzzle pieces or something." Damian chewed at his lower lip as Tim continued. "And you know how I felt about the possibility of ending up like Bruce or Dick. At least Dick's pulled his head out of his ass since then. Tam just felt right, so I took my chance."
"You complete each other?"
Tim nodded. "That's pretty much it." Damian reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. He opened it and handed it to Tim to look at.
"I saw it several years ago and got it," he said. "I figured that it was a worthy treasure for the woman I would eventually want to call 'wife'."
Tim held the box up against the light to better study the blue diamond solitaire inside. "No grey mask," he complimented. "You found a treasure alright," he added, handing the ring back to Damian. Damian thanked him as he returned to the ring to his pocket.
"For almost a year now, I've considered how it would look on Iris' finger," Damian said. "I rather like the picture that comes to mind."
Tim raised his eyebrows in consideration. "Seeing as you've known each other for nearly a decade now, I won't say that you're rushing into things. I will tell you though that Wally might have an issue or two with the idea," he added. "He's from Nebraska…they tend to be really old fashioned when it comes to their daughters in the Midwest."
Damian rolled his eyes. "Tell me something I don't know." He had mentioned on several occasions that he'd found Iris' father a little over protective of her, despite her proving time and again that she was quite capable of taking care of herself. "I think the only reason he agreed to allow her to take that holiday with her former classmates, is because Jai was going too."
"Holiday?" Tim asked. He wasn't aware of the West twins taking a vacation.
"Some of their former classmates suggested a trip to Florida to celebrate the five year anniversary of their graduating high school," Damian informed him. He suddenly rose to his feet and turned to face Tim. "Tell Father that I have gone to Keystone City on business."
"Whoa…just like that?" Tim asked, also getting to his feet. Damian let his head fall forward.
"I fear that if I don't do this now, I never will," he whispered.
"I understand," Tim offered softly, placing a hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "Look. I was in your shoes once, so I won't tell you anything except good luck."
"Thank you," Damian replied, as the two embraced.
Damian Wayne arrived in Keystone City several hours later and retired to a company flat that his father maintained in the city. He waited until evening, when he was fairly certain that Wally and Linda West would both be home, before heading to their house. Linda answered his knock and greeted him in genuine surprise.
"Damian, hello," she said as she ushered him inside. "Irey and Jai are in Florida at the moment," she added as she led him to the sitting room.
"I know they are," Damian replied. "I came to speak with you and your husband, if he's home."
"Okay…" Linda murmured. "Wally?" she called out. He replied that he would be down in a minute and Linda rolled her eyes. "Anything I can get you?" she offered.
"Water would be fine, thank you," he replied. Linda went to the kitchen to get him a glass of ice water. She returned just as Wally came downstairs and spotted Damian.
"Hey kiddo, the twins are in Florida," he said as he took a seat across from Damian.
"I'm aware of that," Damian replied. He thanked Linda for the water as she took a seat next to her husband. "I came here to speak with the both of you about Iris."
"Is everything okay?" Wally asked in concern.
"I assure you, everything is fine," Damian told him. He paused before deciding to get straight to the reason for his visit. "I came to ask you both for your daughter's hand in marriage."
Wally and Linda both gaped at him. "I'm sorry…you what?" Wally stammered.
"I wish to marry Iris and I've come to ask you both for your blessing."
Linda held her hands up. "I know Irey and I can get carried away with the retirement plan joke sometimes," she blurted. "But it's just that, a running joke we have to get on his nerves," she added, jerking her head towards Wally. Damian smiled softly.
"I know it is. Iris and Jai frequently assure me of that," Damian told her. "My intentions are quite serious though." Wally fell back against the sofa and looked up at the ceiling. He returned his gaze to Damian after a moment.
"How long have your intentions been serious?"
"I've been considering the idea for nearly a year now," Damian replied. Wally let his head fall back again.
"Did you talk to any of your family about this?" he asked.
"I spoke with Timothy before coming here."
"The sensible one no less," Wally muttered. "Does Bruce know?" he asked after a moment.
"Father is aware that I'm in Keystone," Damian replied. "I'm also fairly certain he has figured out why, as well." Damian took a deep breath before continuing. "My family isn't exactly known for excelling at personal relationships…of any kind." Wally barked a laugh at that. Damian waved towards Wally, conceding his point.
"Tim's the only one you talked to though?" Linda asked. Damian nodded. "What did he say?"
"We spoke about how he had made his decision to marry his wife when he was my age. He has told me in the past that he does not regret his choices either. He had feared becoming like our father and eldest brother, unable to commit to the one we truly love. We spoke for some time, but he essentially gave me his blessing and wished me luck."
"How old was Tim when he got married?" she asked.
"Twenty. Tamara was twenty two," Damian replied.
Wally sighed. "Personally I think you two are a bit young, but," he exclaimed to cut off any argument, Damian raised an eyebrow at that. "I know for a fact that your family doesn't just jump into things like this without considering every possible little thing. This also means I believe you when you say that you've considered very carefully, what you want out of coming here and asking for Irey's hand." Wally swallowed hard before speaking again. "You've known each other for a long time…and I have seen how you two are with each other. Bart tells me that you both carry on like a married couple at the Tower."
"And Jai second's that," Linda added. "I agree about the young bit," she added. "I got married at a young age and it didn't work out. But then you and Irey have seen the very best and the very worst of each other. Your lives have matured both of you far beyond what most kids your age are. And like he said…you've known each other nearly half your lives."
"I can't believe I'm going to say this," Wally sighed. "But I don't see any reason why you can't ask her."
Linda pointed at Wally. "What he said. You have my permission and my blessing." Damian sagged slightly in relief. He'd imagined this going a lot worse that it had.
"Thank you both."
"Hurt or disappoint my daughter in any way," Wally added. "And I will make god damn sure that you regret it for eternity."
"I would deserve nothing less," Damian conceded.
"Remember that you said that," Wally warned darkly.
"The only thing I can add to this is, is good luck getting Irey to let you spoil her silly with the ring," Linda laughed. Damian removed the velvet box from his pants pocket.
"I've had the ring before I even knew who I would be giving it to," he stated, handing it over to Wally and Linda to inspect.
Wally scrutinised the stone and frowned when he couldn't immediately recognise it. "What is it?"
"A five karat blue diamond," Damian replied. "I liked the rarity and exotic nature of the stone, so I bought it when I saw it a few years ago."
"Wow," Linda exclaimed. "You Wayne boys don't half ass anything do you?"
"No," Damian replied crisply.
"When do you plan on proposing?" Linda asked, handing the ring back to Damian.
"Next time I see her."
"God…I'm not ready for this," Wally groaned.
They talked for a little while longer before Damian got to his feet and thanked them again for their blessing. After vowing that he would never harm Iris, and promising to cherish her, he left. It was mid week so he called Tim to let him know that he was heading on towards San Francisco and Titan's Tower. Tim guessed by the tone of his voice that it had gone smoothly and Damian confirmed that it had. Friday afternoon rolled around and Lian was the first to arrive at the Tower. Chris wouldn't be coming that weekend due to a Lane family reunion planned for the same time. Lian and Damian knew that Iris and Jai would be flying in straight from their trip to Florida and would be in later that evening. Lian suggested some sparring practice, which Damian gladly accepted. Iris and Jai arrived at the Tower just after six in the evening. Lian and Damian had been waiting for them in the control room to hear how their trip had been.
"I gotcha something," Iris grinned as she handed over a plush fox in a Robin Hood outfit to Lian.
"Aww, he's adorable!" Lian gushed as she cuddled the toy to her chest.
Jai watched the two girls for a moment before rolling his eyes and shaking his head. Turning to Damian he smirked. "We were right…Disney is a cult," he chuckled.
Damian snorted. "Any organisation that requires one to be that perpetually happy has to have sinister motives."
"I can't believe you guys actually set foot in Disneyworld," Lian snorted.
"It wasn't our choice, but the majority of our buds wanted to, so we caved and the Magic Kingdom was the first stop on the trip," Iris said, rolling her eyes. "Universal made up for it though," she added with a waggle of her eyebrows.
"Really?" Lian grinned.
"You'd like it," Jai added. "You'd point out how obviously wrong everything was," he teased Damian.
To prove the point Damian remarked about a shark themed ride at the park. "There aren't enough rows of teeth in the automaton."
"Plenty enough, if you hit that ride at night," Iris countered as she wandered over towards him. She bent down and kissed his cheek, before leaning against the chair he was in. "Unfortunately, Florida is almost pure gitch, but I did find something you might like," she said as she rummaged around in her backpack. "Ah! Gotcha," she said when she found her gift for him. Damian opened it to find a handmade journal. He scrutinised the craftsmanship and thanked Iris for the gift. "There was an arts festival in Orlando that we wandered into while driving around one day."
Taking his cue from his sister, Jai tossed a small parcel to Lian who opened it and glared. "Oh no you didn't," she growled when she pulled out the bright pink glittery tee that read 'Princess'.
"Oh yes I did," he smirked as he tossed a similarly sized gift to Damian. Damian groaned when he pulled out a black tee emblazoned with 'grumpy' on it, above a picture of the dwarf.
"You are totally hopeless," Lian snorted as she held her tee up against her torso.
"Irey called it man…that whole state is pure gitch," Jai confessed. "So I just went the gag route with the presents, because there was no way in hell I'd find anything halfway decent." He suddenly snapped his fingers and grinned. "But! I do have a funny for you." Iris started laughing as Jai began telling Lian and Damian about how he'd been kicked out of the Magic Kingdom. Iris picked up the story after he finished explaining how he'd been roughly escorted from the park.
"So the stupid ride finally starts up again and I am finally out of 'It's a Small World After All' hell, when these two pastel coloured security guards come over and inform us that our 'friend' has been escorted from the premises and will be waiting for us outside the main gate," she explained. "We were going to continue screwing around for a while and make him wait, but then he hacked the sound system…and let's just say that the tune was not exactly family friendly." Jai beamed with pride as the others howled in laughter.
"You are my new hero," Lian laughed, throwing her arms around Jai's neck and planting a kiss on his cheek.
"The only reason either of us even agreed to go on the damn thing in the first place, was so we could get this one chick to shut up about it already," Jai said. "I wasn't expecting it to get stuck."
"What did you change the music to?" Lian asked.
"I was gonna put Nine Inch Nails' Heresy on, but it is family oriented, so I went with the Happy Happy Joy Joy song instead," Jai laughed.
"Why would you even hack it in the first place?" Damian asked, shaking his head.
"Dude, you don't wanna know how badly they butchered your maternal heritage," he told Damian. "Let alone ours," he added for Lian. "And by ours, I mean Asian."
"So you hacked the music system after being escorted from the park," Damian snorted.
"Sanity needed to be saved," Jai nodded solemnly.
"Or completely ruined," Lian snorted.
"Besides, I was dealing with a wicked hang over and the Magic Kingdom is not the place you want to be when you're as messed up as I was," Jai added with a shudder.
They continued to chat for another hour or so before Damian excused himself to head to the roof. Iris followed and Jai would occasionally look over his shoulder as he caught up on what had happened while he and Iris had been on their trip. Damian smirked in the dark when he heard Iris coming up behind him. She sat down on the edge of the roof next to him and sat in companionable silence with him for a while. "Do anything interesting this week?" she asked after a while.
"I went to Keystone City to visit with your parents," he replied.
"What the hell for?" Iris asked in bewilderment.
"I was curious if they would consent to me presenting you with something," he said, getting the small ring box out from his belt and handing it to her.
"Why would they care…oh my god is this what I think it is?" she stated when she saw the ring.
"Care to make your mother's retirement plan a reality?" Damian asked. Iris responded by pushing him back onto the roof and straddling his lap. She then proceeded to kiss him thoroughly for an answer.
In the control room, Lian noticed Jai's distraction and narrowed her eyes at him. "Okay, what's up?" she demanded.
"I got a call from Mom yesterday," Jai replied. "Damian was at the house earlier this week and asked for Irey's hand in marriage." Lian gaped.
"He what?" she yelped. "Get out of the way," she said as she rushed over to take his spot at the computer. Jai didn't move fast enough and Lian snorted as she fell into his lap and pulled up the security cameras. She found them on the roof and her hands shot to her mouth in excitement. "I think she said yes!" Lian was bouncing in joy as she watched the screen.
"Lian," Jai grunted. "I hate to tell you this, but your ass is bony," he added, grabbing her by the waist and moving her further down his lap. "And I really don't need to see my sister making out with Damian Wayne thanks." He reached around her and changed the view back to an interior one.
"Oh boy," Bart Allen sighed when he entered the control room with Tim. "Roy's going to pump your corpse full of lead if he ever finds out about this Jai." Tim snickered beside him. Lian leapt up and ran to hug Bart and Tim. Jai sagged in the chair and groaned in pain.
"Damian proposed to Irey and I think she said yes!" Lian exclaimed excitedly.
"What?" Bart gaped.
"That was quick," Tim remarked.
"You knew?" Lian, Bart, and Jai all turned to look at him.
Tim nodded. "He came to me first to ask if he was crazy for thinking about it."
"I'm wondering if your parents know," Bart said, looking at Jai.
"Mom and Dad already gave him their blessing," Jai informed his cousin. "Mom called and told me that he'd shown up at the house and formally asked for her hand in marriage."
"That explains why Wally's been so out of it lately," Bart muttered as he folded his arms across his chest. "D must have had some pretty convincing arguments if Wally gave his blessing."
"Remember what I told you when I was going to propose to Tam?" Tim asked. "I said I didn't want to become like Bruce and Dick?" Bart nodded as he recalled the surprising lunchtime conversation. "Damian feels like that about Irey," Tim added. "And he wants with her what I have with Tam." Tim placed a hand on Bart's shoulder as he finished.
"We're going to be related," Bart murmured after a moment.
"Frightening, isn't it?" Tim snickered.
