Chapter Twenty-Five

Alfred's long hug went a long way to helping me feel a bit more normal again, to say nothing of the cocoa he gave me. It was what I imagined a hug from a grandfather would feel like, with his usual scent of sandalwood and lemon furniture polish, and just a hint of gingerbread, wafting over me. "The others should be here shortly, but we could retire to the kitchen to wait for them," he told me, after I finally released him. "And you're more than welcome to join us, Master Wally."

Wally grinned. "Ah, Alfie, you do know the way to a man's heart."

"It's been the same since you were fifteen, and I doubt anything will change in the future," Alfred declared, still looking as serene as ever as he led us to the kitchen, even for the mad twinkle in his eyes.

"Food and snark do it for you, I'm guessing?" I joked, trying to push past my residual terror. "I know Artemis has the snark in spades, and I've tried her food, so that must be how she won you over."

"Absolutely," Wally chirped. "Though it really was the snark at first. We both pretended to hate each other for a long time."

"With a heavy emphasis on the 'pretended to' part of that statement," Alfred broke in, handing us each a cookie. It was still warm, so I figured he'd had to have just taken them out of the oven. The timer went off, proving me right as he went to the oven that I could nearly stand up in and removed several more trays of cookies. "I predict we'll have a few guests after everything's been cleared with the police, so we'll need nibbles for them all," he continued, pulling things from the giant fridge next. He put Wally and me to work, cutting vegetables and fruits while he slipped into the oven as many casserole pans as he'd removed cookie sheets. "These should only take about half an hour to heat through," he said proudly.

Out of all the things that I had seen that night, that was the one that surprised me the most. "Do you always have seven casseroles on hand?" I asked him, around the cucumber slice in my mouth. After all, I never had gotten to eat my lunch. I mourned my tacos as I moved to cut the carrots.

Wally laughed at me. "That's Alfie's superpower," he joked. "Always being prepared, no matter the situation."

"When one has as much experience feeding large groups of supers as I do, one learns to keep some things on hand, Miss Genevieve," Alfred said sedately.

And it turned out that it was needed. Less than ten minutes after the casseroles left the oven, the hordes descended. Between the front door, the garage, and the Batcave (still weird to think I'd been in it!), a fairly steady stream of people joined us in the house, including most of the Justice League, all of Damian's friends on the Titans, and several others who weren't currently on any team but had been team members with one of the Bats at a past time. I was introduced to so many people, people who regularly and routinely saved the day, that my head swam. Once Dick was home, he didn't leave my side for a second, and the only time he let go of me was when I received hugs from someone else, like the very enthusiastic one that Jon Kent gave me, or the stern/relieved one from Sel. I met more of Dick's teammates from back when he was Robin, and yet another one of his exes, Starfire, who had apparently also dated Jason. And I was introduced to the remaining founding members of the Justice League who I hadn't met yet, along with the rest of the members who had come to help.

Between all the various people I talked with, I figured I got at least most of the picture of what had happened after I'd been taken. Dick had realized I wasn't at the manor like I should have been, and it only took the entire Bat clan about thirty seconds after that to realize the Arkham breakout was a distraction from my kidnapping. It was about then that Babs called and let them all know that Shaitan Enterprises had rented out a warehouse along the docks, through numerous shell companies, and Damian swore profusely in Arabic. Somehow, through sheer, dumb luck, no one had mentioned Shaitan around him, which is a real shame, given that he could have answered everything surrounding the first attempt to kidnap me in less than ten minutes. Shaitan Enterprises was the company his mother used for her unapproved-by-her-father schemes. On the plus side, if it wasn't approved by Ra's, that might mean he would be willing to let her rot in jail for a few days at least, but no one was counting on more than a week, at most.

Bruce called in the JL, and everyone else called in favors. The Bats came to rescue me, with everyone else cleaning up the breakout. When I realized that Bruce had actually handed over the breakout to come get me, I nearly cried. Batman's dedication to Gotham was legendary, and for him to willingly leave the safety of the city to come rescue me let me know exactly where I stood in his eyes.

The JL had everything straightened up at Arkham and joined us at the warehouse just after the explosion Talia's dulajs had made. And with their help, everything was neatly tied up, with a bow on top, by the time GCPD arrived. After that, it was mostly a matter of getting everyone's statement and making sure all the goons were loaded into prison transports. Though, to be honest, no one really expected any of them to last the night. Talia was well known for not allowing failures or mistakes of any kind, and kidnapping the wrong person and then allowing the JL to completely unravel the operation sort of screamed failure. I knew I probably should feel bad that all those men would die, but somehow, I couldn't. They clearly knew what they were signing up for when they agreed to work for Talia, and I knew that a friendly chat to try to convince Sel not to marry Bruce wasn't exactly the plan after getting a hold of her. So, no, I didn't feel too bad for them. And it meant none of them could spill anything they might have learned about my family, which meant their identities were still safe.

The impromptu party finally wound down around three. The last guests were Superman as he slung a sleeping, seemingly boneless Jon over his shoulder and Wonder Woman, who gave me a hug (squee!). "I'm glad you're unharmed," she told me, just before heading into the zeta tube.

And that left me with my family, and a very full heart. "Thank you, guys, for sav-"

"Don't even finish that sentence."

"Stop right there."

"It's what we do."

"Of course, we came for you."

"I'm not leaving anyone in my mother's clutches if I can help it."

Their assurances warmed me, but I still needed to say what I had to say. "I don't care if I don't have to say thanks, I'm going to anyway!" I said, rather loudly. That shut them up. I saw Alfred's lips twitch in amusement. "I appreciate you all coming to save me, for risking your lives to get me," I continued in a much more normal tone. "The fact that you were willing to save me, even with the breakout, that means a lot, so thank you."

I knew it was awkward, especially since I could see Jason smirking at me, but I really didn't have words for how I felt. They'd saved me, at tremendous risk to both themselves and the city. I'd never had people like that in my life before, though I really knew that there weren't other people like them. Not really. "Thanks," I said again, still clutching Dick's hand like a lifeline. "I love you guys."

Damian, predictably, wrinkled his nose in disgust, while Jason and Steph made kissy sounds and obnoxious coos, also utterly predictable. Dick kissed my temple and pulled me in closer. Sel just blew me a kiss from by Bruce, who looked rather softer than I'd ever seen him in the Batsuit, even sans cowl. Cass grinned and gave me a thumbs up. Tim simply blinked at me, like he couldn't quite comprehend what I'd said. Alfred simply looked rather pleased with the whole lot of us.

…

I had just slipped into bed, waiting for Dick to join me, when a knock sounded on the bedroom door. "Come in," I called, grabbing my glasses from the nightstand, since without them, I would only have a vague idea of who it could be based on general blurry size and shape.

Damian slipped in the room, closing the door behind him like he was worried someone would see him. But then he just stared at me, or rather, a spot near me, with intense concentration. I could see one hand clenching and unclenching just the slightest, which in anyone not raised as a ninja would be a nervous twitch.

After about two minutes of this, I couldn't handle the suspense. "Dick is downstairs with Bruce still," I said, since I couldn't think of anything he would want from me.

"I know. I wanted to speak with you, Thornton," he replied, still seeming a bit uneasy.

Which made me uneasy. "Okay, what about?" I asked slowly.

Damian sighed. "My mother. I came to apologize for the way-"

"Whoa, whoa, back the truck up, buddy," I cut him off, scooting toward the edge of the bed to be closer to him. When I finally caught his eye, I continued. "Damian, I want you to understand something, okay? I don't hold you responsible for what your mother did. Every choice she made is her own, and you have absolutely no accountability for this at all. Not only are you still a child, as much as you don't want to hear that, but your mother is her own person. You cannot be held accountable for what any other person does, do you understand?"

He stubbornly looked down. "But she's my mother, and-"

"And my mother was a crack whore who left me with my car thief of a father when I was nine," I interrupted again, surprising him enough that he looked at me. "I don't care who you are, or who your parents are. There is nothing a child can do that puts responsibility for their parents' actions on the child's shoulders. Absolutely nothing, Damian. Your mom… Your mom has her own issues, but it's not your fault, kiddo. Take it from someone who also learned it the hard way. Your mom, and only your mom, is responsible for her actions. You can only be responsible for your choices and actions, for the things you say and do. And from what I've seen, you're a pretty great kid."

Damian looked away again, but not before I saw a tear slipping from his eye. "Then why did she leave me?"

I could barely hear the words, but it was enough to send me flying from the bed. I wrapped my arms around him, smothering him with a hug he probably didn't want. "Damian, it's not your fault," I whispered, choking back tears of my own. Not only for him, but for my own little nine-year-old self. "Parents aren't perfect. They screw up, sometimes big. But I can't help but think that Talia's best decision was to bring you here to Gotham, to your dad and this family. Even if it was for selfish reasons, it still ended up being the best thing that could have happened to you. You have a family who loves you, and a dad who would literally move heaven and earth to do whatever he needs to do to keep you safe. Sel loves you, and you have a whole team of friends who have your back. Plus, Jon seems to think that the entire world revolves around you. So, while giving you up may have been the absolute stupidest thing Talia could ever have done for herself," I said, emphasizing those last two words specifically, "it was the best thing in the world for you. And I'm pretty glad she did, since it means I get to spend time with a pretty amazing kid."

Damian held himself perfectly still throughout my entire speech, until he suddenly melted against me. His face went into my neck, his arms went around me, and he sobbed.

I held him for a long time, but I really wasn't that strong, and he was almost as tall as me and probably weighed more than I did. Very slowly, I maneuvered us toward the bed, continually petting his head to reassure him that I wasn't about to let him go. I leaned against the headboard, bringing him with me, and the poor kid simply curled up nearly in my lap.

Which is how Dick found us. His worried eyes found mine, but I reassured him with a simple shake of my head. So, he simply climbed in bed next to me and wrapped his arms around the both of us, and between the two very warm bodies, I soon fell asleep.

AN: Poor Damian. He needs more love in his life. But Gen's a softie, and she's softening him up for the rest of them. Anywho, thanks for reading, and we have one more chapter to go!