Chapter Innocence: Daddy Damian

Damian was back in his office.

Two months had passed since he had visited his father.

They kept in touch, mostly by e-mail. They were both far too busy to afford telephone conversations. (Rather, the truth was that they didn't know what to say to each other over the phone, so the written exchange was a more reassuring means of communication for them.)

Alfred, on the other hand, called him once a week.

That's how he learned that his father hadn't told anyone in the "family" yet. The main reason was that they might react badly to the news, but that he planned to do so at the next "family reunion," which would take place in a week's time.

Damian was not at all surprised. He remembered exactly what happened to Jason when he came back to life. Apparently, Damian was considered dead. He wasn't surprised. After all... he had effectively made sure that no one could find him, not even by using magic.

He watched as Marinette was preparing a bed for one of their patients, with Titus at her side.

Damian had been forced to take the dog with him when he learned that he had been crying all day after his visit. The dog had been so happy to see him, that he jumped on him and knocked him down. Titus then sniffed Marinette and spent the rest of the day following her.

Damian held his breath.

The time of peace he had had with Marinette seemed to be coming to an end. It was only a matter of time before the others arrived at his house, asking for "explanations" (that was the kind word for reproach) that he sincerely had no desire to give.

Alfred had vaguely implied to him that Dick had been most affected by his disappearance. The young vet had no trouble believing this. He was also not surprised that his older brother was the only one really affected by his disappearance. He had already been surprised enough to learn that his father wanted to keep in touch with him and wanted to get to know his granddaughter.

Alfred had also told him that the others had been affected by his absence. But he didn't believe him. They had no reason to be affected by his departure.

On the contrary, their lives must have become much quieter.

-XxxX-

Dick was a little nervous about coming back to the manor.

It was the day the whole family would gather for dinner. The dinner in question was once a month. He didn't like going back to the manor. The place was filled with memories... moments that would never return.

He'd heard from Tim that Bruce had been acting strange lately. Alfred seemed to know the reason, but he wouldn't talk.

Dick had a bad feeling. The feeling only grew worse when Barbara told him that Bruce had apparently given Titus away.

Bruce had been taking care of the dog as if it were the apple of his eye since Damian's disappearance. He was very worried when he learned that he had gotten rid of the dog.

As usual, he arrived at the Manor first, as usual...

One by one, his family members arrived.

As always, Jason was the last to arrive...

The evening was going well. However, nothing could have prepared him for the bomb Bruce dropped that night.

"I want to take this opportunity to announce something very important... I'm only telling you about it now, because I needed to check it out first."

Bruce took a deep breath. Everyone in the room waited with varying degrees of apprehension for what was to come next.

"Damian is alive. He stopped by the manor about two months ago."

A silence fell over the room. He was the first to react.

"What?"

"Damian's-"

"I GOT IT!"

"…"

Dick was still in shock. He had no intention of screaming. It was just... Damian had been missing for seven years now. According to Constantine and Zatanna (who later confessed to him), there was no trace of Damian. In other words, his little brother was dead.

Dick had been blaming himself for a long time.

If only he had been more careful...

If only he hadn't lost his memory...

If only he'd been a better brother...

There wasn't even a body. Damian was supposed to be dead, and no one knew what he died of... he must have died alone... without anyone.

And now Bruce tells him, the little brother he lost is alive?! Dick felt like he was reliving Jason's miraculous resurrection.

Tim spoke next. As always, he was the most rational of them all.

"Bruce, are you sure this is Damian and not a clone? Or someone impersonating him?"

"That's why I waited until today to talk about it. I ran all the tests. It's definitely Damian..."

"Why? If he's been alive all this time, why come back now?"

"That's the second thing I needed to talk to you about. Let's just say... his situation has changed."

"Bruce, you're beating around the bush. Why?"

Dick was silent during the exchange. He could clearly see the anger reflected in Tim's eyes.

Bruce sighed.

"Damian... has a daughter."

Dick couldn't help but widen his eyes. He wasn't the only one in shock. Tim had opened his mouth while opening his eyes wide.

Jason chose this opportune moment to "finally" make a point.

"So... To sum up, Demon Spawn found a way to disappear from the face of the earth and used that opportunity to make a Baby Demon... So what? He's been looking for a wife in hell the whole time?"

It was supposed to be a joke... But when Dick saw Bruce nodding his head, he knew the rest would be even more weird.

"Well, sort of."

"...What?! ..."

"Marinette is half human, half demon, half goddess."

"...Huh?!..."

Dick's brain only recorded two words that night:

- Damian.

- Baby.

Four months later.

Dick was in an airport. He had started by hugging his little brother tightly, not even giving him time to say anything. A "little brother" who now outgrew him. Then he turned his attention to the little figure beside him.

He was genuinely shocked when he saw her.

This little girl was the perfect copy of Bruce.

The only noticeable difference was her eyes. She had blue eyes, but they weren't the same color as Bruce's eyes. The more Dick stared at her, the more he felt that the little girl's eyes were familiar.

"What? You got something to say, say it. Stop staring at me with those fried whiting eyes."

"Oh... uh... sorry. I'm Richard Grayson. You can call me Dick."

"No, thank you."

"Habibiti, don't be rude."

"TT."

Dick couldn't help but laugh out loud. The girl looked at him with the most serious look in the world, raising an eyebrow.

Damian facepalmed.

Yep, that's Damian's daughter.

-XxxX-

The meeting with the rest of the family took place in a tense atmosphere, only Jason was not present at that time. Damian was courteous. In other words, he spoke to them politely, as if they were strangers.

After all, after seven years of absence, this was probably what they had become to him.

Yet, to everyone's surprise, he apologized.

Tim was undoubtedly the angriest of all. However, Bruce could see how much Damian had changed.

Damian accepted Tim's anger, apologizing a second time. The tension between the two would probably take some time to ease, but Bruce was certain that the two had left on a new basis.

Cass gave him a monumental slap, then took him in her arms. Damian did not react to the slap, accepting the embrace of his sister.

Damian had matured.

"It's not that I'm not interested in your family drama, but can we eat now? I'm starving."

The little girl looked at them all, clearly bored. Titus barked at her side.

And that is how the rest of the family got to know Marinette.

Bruce and Damian facepalmed.

-XxxX-

Jason will never forget his first meeting with Damian's daughter. As soon as he walked through the door, his eyes fell on those of his "little" brother (the brat was taller than him!).

However, he was greeted by Bruce's female clone, a miniature version by the way.

"You are the strangest creature I have ever seen. You are both dead and alive. It's fascinating."

Jason honestly didn't know what to say.

He was staring at the kid.

But he could see how the girl's eyes lit up with interest. She turned to her father, who was quietly drinking a cup of tea. Completely unconcerned.

"Father, can I dissect it?"

"WHAT?!"

Jason was hallucinating, wasn't he?

Everyone at the table looked at the kid like she was completely insane. And Jason honestly wondered if the brat was crazy.

She was looking at Damian, and really looking for an answer from him.

"The day he died."

"Seriously?!"

"Mmmm. I see."

She turned to him, the most serious expression on her face. Jason couldn't help but think, she really looked like her father, with that expression.

"Can you die, please? I need to take a closer look at your body."

Jason thought his jaw was about to come loose. He wasn't the only one who was genuinely shocked by what the girl had said.

Damian seemed completely imperturbable, as if he was used to this kind of crazy request.

"You can die yourself, baby demon."

"I am "death". What you're saying doesn't make any sense."

"... Huh? . . ."

"I can program yours, though."

The girl came out with a voice from beyond the grave. And her eyes suddenly turned green.

There was a silence in the room.

Before a slight puffing drew everyone's attention to Damian.

He had his hand in front of his mouth and was desperately trying to hold back his laughter.

-XxxX-

When Dick entered the kitchen, he surprised Tim and Damian's daughter in the middle of a conversation.

"So you can see ghosts just like that?"

"It's just one of my many skills."

Dick smiles.

She had inherited her father's "modest" side.

"Hmmm... I see... And what else can you do?"

"I can take people's souls."

"…"

"You want to try?"

"I've got uh... Things to do, bye!"

Tim slipped out of the room, almost running.

The girl watched Tim leave, raising an eyebrow.

"Pussy."

Dick had heard the whole conversation and was curious.

"Marinette, can you really take people's souls?"

"Yes."

"Can you also communicate with ghosts?"

"Yes. Do you want to talk to someone?"

"No, uh, not really."

"Hmm. If you want, I can get you to meet your parents."

"W-What?! Really?!"

"Yes."

Marinette brought up a black paper with a funny symbol written in dark green.

"All you have to do is sign this paper."

An alarm bell rang in his mind.

"Uh... what for?"

"So, actually, you-"

"MARINETTE!"

The girl gasped.

Damian had just entered the room. He looked at the sheet of paper, then looked at Dick. He swung his head from right to left. Then he turned to his daughter.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Cursing people is NOT a hobby!"

The girl made the paper disappear.

"You're not funny, father. It's not my fault that everyone in this house are innocent..."

Dick felt a horrible shiver run through his whole body.

He avoided Marinette like the plague after this event.

And Damian facepalmed.

Again.

A/N:

- Marinette is absolutely not "death", she's just mocking them! Damian knows it perfectly well. He is amazed (even exasperated) to see that his family believes her. xD

- Marinette is not evil, however, she just has a completely twisted sense of humor.

- When Marinette says that the members of the "bat-clan" are "innocent", she's actually calling them "dumb".