{Hey guys! I think this chapter will be a long one so I hope you like it. I have kinda messed up the ages of some of the characters but idk. In this chapter I'm going to introduce Damian and he is a month older than Cathleen. Bear with me ~ Sugar }
Gray Dove was practicing her exercises in the Safe House when she heard the door open. She went to greet her visitor and saw that it was Fox and she was with a boy who looked to be about Cathleen's age. The boy had dark black hair and shiny blue eyes that reminded her of her brother. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt and black sweatpants.
"Gray Dove, I need you to do me a favor" Fox told her with a smile. Gray Dove was instantly suspicious but she nodded anyways.
"This is my son Damian. I was wondering if you could babysit him for a few hours?" Fox questioned. Gray Dove was shocked but then she remembered that Fox thought she was actually thirteen. She nodded and held out a hand.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Damian" Gray Dove said evenly. Fox tightened her hand on her son's shoulder and he held out his hand to shake hers.
"It's nice to meet you as well Gray Dove" he told her. His voice was icy but Gray Dove could detect some curiosity and she smiled at him.
"How long?" she asked as she turned towards Fox.
"Three days. You have told me that you have this weekend off so I hoped you might be able to watch him" Fox told Gray Dove. Gray Dove agreed and asked if he had any toiletries, Fox handed her two duffel bags and left without another word.
"Who are you?" Damian asked.
"I'm Gray Dove. The hero of Carriksvile" she replied as she set the bags aside.
"You're a hero?" he asked with a hint of disgust.
"I am, is that a problem?" Gray Dove questioned.
"Not really, I'm just wondering why my mother would trust you" he told her. She sighed.
"Your mother has been training me for the past three years" she told him.
"Really? She never takes pupils. She was forced to a while back but she threatened to kill her student" he said surprised.
"Oh" Gray Dove said equally surprised.
"Can we spar?" Damian asked. She gave him a shrug and walked towards the training mat. They both took up fighting stances and he came at her. She easily blocked and flipped him over. She let go quickly and he was up again in an instant.
"How did you do that?" he asked.
"Quick reflexes" she told him lightly. He asked her to spar a couple more times and she was able to beat him with few moves each time. Finally she asked him if he wanted a snack. He agreed and she got some Fritz's white chocolate covered pretzels out of the pantry. She poured some into a bowl and put them away. She sat down on the couch and asked him what he wanted to do. He seemed very taken aback by the question and didn't have an answer. She suggested they watch a movie and she pulled out the Princess Bride. He was very hesitant to take any of the food offered to him and she was shocked that this was one of the only times he had ever watched a movie.
Gray Dove asked him questions about his childhood and was saddened to find that he had grown up with the League of Assassins and that he didn't have any friends. She offered to be his friend and he accepted warily as if he expected her to pull a 180 and start treating him horribly. She decided that she would show him that she was a good person and that there were people he could trust in the world.
Around dinner time, she changed out of her costume, making sure to put on her tinted glasses so that Damian couldn't recognize her civilian identity. She grabbed some cash from her room and told Damian that they were going out to eat. He followed her and was surprised to find that she actually looked closer to his age. She asked him not to tell his mother that she was actually his age. She told him to pretend to be her boyfriend and hold her hand as she led them through the shops.
Damian's POV
He followed her orders and was curious to try pizza, which she claimed was one of America's greatest foods. They stopped at a pizza place and walked in. Gray Dove told him to call her Lina in public because that was a shortened version of her middle name. {Cathleen's middle name is actually Angelina} They got a medium cheese pizza to share and Lina was really nice to Damian the entire time. Damian couldn't help but be wary and look for a slip in behavior at any moment. He was used to instructors acting nice for the first day but he knew that no one could actually be as nice as Lina was acting. He really enjoyed the pizza, especially when lina started to explain the different types of pizzas and she went into a totally different world. She snapped out of her daze when the server came back and gave him a big smile. Lina got them a brownie sundae to share and he felt that he was actually starting to like her, even if this was just all an act. The restaurant only gave them one spoon so Lina would take a bite then pass it to him. He tried to refuse at first but she argued that since they were acting as though they were a couple, they shouldn't be that upset over sharing a spoon.
After dinner, she took him to the mall and showed him all these different stores that she loved. She took him to a candy store and they got really hyper. They were really giddy and she made him try all of the tiny roller coasters with her. They had a great time and she bought him a watch so that he could keep track of the time. She also bought him a comb because she said that "all boys should look nice at almost all times."
It was starting to get late when she led him back to the Safe House. She was really trusting and told him that she wasn't going to lock him in as long as he stayed in the Safe House. She left him alone to get ready for bed as she called her brother. He asked why she would need to call her brother and she said that it was because her dad was really overprotective and her brother needed to know to cover for her for the next few days. She went into her room to get changed then came out and set up two makeshift beds for them on the couches. She told him to wake her if he needed anything and then fell asleep easily. Once Damian knew Lina was asleep, he got up and looked around the safe house. He didn't want to disturb anything so mostly he just explored. He came upon a room near the back that had a ton of pictures of Lina in her Gray Dove costume with another girl who was in civilian clothes. In the pictures, The two girls were smiling and laughing. The photos all were taken in different places but in every photo, both girls seemed duper happy. Damian wished that he could have someone that he could smile with, but his studies with the League of Assassins were far more important. He was considering his training when he heard a scream. He frowned and rushed back into the main room where Lina was sleeping. She seemed to be having a nightmare and she kept thrashing and kicking. She was crying in her sleep and Damian instinctively brushed away her tears.
"Dick is that you?" Lina called. Damian didn't know what to do so he said yes and hoped that she would go back to a peaceful sleep. However, she started talking again.
"Oh Dick, it was awful. Damian was there and he was falling and I couldn't save him and then dad said that it was my fault" she cried out. There were tears running down her face again and he froze at the sound of his name.
"Lina, it's not your fault" he told her quietly.
"Yes it is! Damian is so nice and I'm an awful hero and I couldn't save him! It's all my fault" she cried again. He soothed her and sat with her until the nightmare was over. Then he went to his bed to sleep, but all the while the thought of how his 'death' affected her made him wonder. Was Lina actually real or was she just an act? Could she really be that nice?
Damian's POV
Damian woke up to the smell of eggs and toast. He looked over and found that Lina had slipped out to get breakfast for the two of them. He smiled and came to the table.
"What do you want for breakfast?" Lina asked. He shrugged and she let him have access to all the plates. He took a little bit of everything and chatted with Lina as they ate.
Once they were done, Lina put everything away and announced it was time to train. Damian was immediately alert and followed her on to the training mat.
"Okay, so I do these exercises every morning and today you are going to follow me through them" she told him cheerily. He nodded and she did her first stretch. She showed him how to do each stretch as they went and she told him that it was a bit like yoga.
After they had finished the exercises, which were easy if a bit exhausting, they moved on to acrobatics. She told him that she was going to teach him how to do flips and all sorts of things like that. He followed her examples and he felt proud when his flips improved. She congratulated him on his achievements but unlike his other instructors, she didn't punish him when he failed. She kindly showed him what he did wrong so he could fix it. The exercises and training wore him out but it was actually really fun and mostly painless. He was actually a bit disappointed when she stopped them for lunch. Later, they were walking down the street and basically just talking. They weren't holding hands but Damian was able to stay with her in the crowds. They were passing by an alley when someone grabbed Lina and pulled her into the alley. It took Damian a second to notice, but he followed them in. He saw a large guy holding Lina and muffling her shouts with his hand. Damian was completely surprised when two other men grabbed his arms and held him away from Lina. The man holding Lina was whispering things to Lina that made her eyes go wide with anger, but then it turned to fear when the man spoke out loud.
"I really do like you, girlie. But we can't have your boyfriend spoiling our fun now can we?" The man said in a malicious tone as he gave a signal to the other men.
"Now, if you come with us, we won't hurt him. But if you give us trouble my buddies snap his neck" the leader said while letting go of Lina. Damian wished that she would run, anyone else would have, but she stood there trembling. Not in fear of the men but of what they would do to Damian.
Suddenly a teen in a red and yellow costume swooped in from above. He took out the men quickly and Lina ran to give him a hug. Damian recognized the teen as Robin and he was confused at the affection which Robin showed Lina.
"You should have run" Robin told Lina.
"I couldn't leave my friend. You of all people should know that" Lina retorted. She pulled back and gave Robin a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Now go before B catches you out on patrol without him again" Lina told him. Robin shrugged then shot a grappling hook out of the alley. Lina watched him until he was gone and then turned to Damian.
"Are you okay?" she asked concerned. He waved her off.
"How do you know Robin?" he asked. She bit her lip then answered him.
"Robin is an acquaintance of mine as Gray Dove, he's like my second older brother" Lina told him. Damian nodded and offered her his hand. She accepted it gladly and they strolled out of the alley.
It had been three days since Gray Dove had been chosen to watch over Damian. She felt that he had truly enjoyed staying with her and she hoped he would be able to come again. She had been so focused on teaching him flips that she had not noticed when Fox came in. When Gray Dove had called for a break, they had both been stunned to see Fox watching them intently.
"Thank you for taking care of my son" Fox told Gray Dove.
"It was no trouble at all, he is a wonderful kid" Gray Dove replied. Damian gave Gray Dove a small smile and went to collect his things.
"Will I be able to babysit again?" Gray Dove asked. Fox cocked her head.
"Possibly, though I do not want him to miss out on his training" Fox replied. Gray Dove nodded and gave both of them a quick hug goodbye. They both nodded and then left silently. I feel so bad for Damian! How could he survive being cooped up like that? Maybe I can convince Fox to give him more freedoms . . .
Damian's POV
Damian was actually going to miss Gray Dove. She had proved that there were nice people in the world and he could see why his mother liked her. Not only was she an exceptional fighter, she was also loyal, modest, and kind.
"What did you think of my star pupil?" Talia asked.
"She had great potential, she seems like she is extremely loyal to those she holds dear, she would be one of the best agents if she were loyal to us" Damian replied.
"I suppose you have seen why I don't want to bring her into our business yet?" talia asked dryly.
"She is innocent. She sees the good in everyone. I can understand why you would want to preserve that" Damian answered evenly. Talia sighed.
"It is quite easy to grow fond of her isn't it? She accepted you and I without a single doubt because that's the kind of person she is" Talia told him.
"She needs time to mature before we bring her into the League of Assassins, otherwise, I fear that we may lose what makes her so special" Talia added. Damian nodded. He hoped that he would be able to see her again, she was a light that could shine through any darkness and he wanted to be able to keep that light in his life.
{ Okay, that's my chapter. I hope you all enjoy! ~ Sugar }