Chapter 12

15 July 2013

"He ran into a wall, a wall Dick! I swear it's like he wasn't even looking."

"You're sure he's okay?"

"Absolutely positively. Checked on him earlier today. Bruce is being his usual overprotective self on your brother and keeping him home, but knowing your secret ids creates a nice little loophole around that."

Dick snorted at that. "Still, I thought… Logarithm didn't hurt him?" He ducked his head a bit. He and Artemis were sitting in the white world chatting, Artemis with her legs crossed and Dick with his knees loosely pulled up to his chest.

"No. Well, he drugged him, but it was just a fast-acting sedative. Jason is fine. No need to worry."

"He's my little brother. I'm allowed to worry."

"Fair. Fair." Artemis allowed.

"How did he manage to run into a wall anyways?"

"I think he was trying to impress Donna. Your brother has the cutest little crush on her. Even though she only comes by every once in a while." Artemis said.

"Aww. Tell me more." Dick grinned eagerly. Artemis laughed.

"Sure. But you'll have to tell me more about Damian in exchange. Cuteness for cuteness."

"Done." Dick said quickly.

"Well, the first time she visited, he was like you when you met Zatanna. Totally tripping over himself to introduce himself. Not as bad as you though. I mean, you just popped in front of Wally who was introducing himself and shouted Robin."

Dick snorted. "Good times."

"Yep. It was hilarious to watch, and so cute."

"Tell me more about Jason and Donna."

"Nope. It's your turn. Tell me about Damian."

"Umm. Well, he absolutely loves these Batman sneakers he found. They have little lights and he keeps stomping around and giggling when they light up."

"A baby bat stomping around? We might actually hear him sneaking off."

"I know. I really want to teach him how to walk silently, but then I also want to be able to hear him wander off."

"What? You don't want a taste of your own medicine?" Artemis asked, fluttering her eyes at him.

"Haha. Very funny."

"Seriously though. What are you teaching your protégé?"

"Nothing yet. I can barely walk and talk. I taught him some gymnastics before it got too bad. He loves to show off. I was complaining about not being able to do anything and he started practicing around me. Cartwheels, flips, roundabouts. The kid has so much energy. I can't keep up."

"You'll get there." Artemis said. Dick shrugged but didn't seem too bothered at the moment.

"Hey, I looked you guys up."

"In your alternate universe heaven thing?"

Dick hummed. "I wouldn't call it heaven."

Artemis waved her hand in dismissal. She leaned forward eagerly. "So, what are our alternate selves like?"

"Well, to start, Google does not exist here and it's annoying as hell to find stuff. The search engines are just jumbles. It was really hard to find anything until I found a social media site."

"Social media is a good place to go. I can't imagine not having Google though. Was there Bing? Yahoo?"

"None of the above."

"Wow. That sucks."

"Yep. It's also slow as all get out. It was a dial up computer, Artemis! Dial up!"

Artemis laughed. "Aww. Poor little Robin not getting spoiled with technology?" Dick shoved her, and she fell to the ground laughing. He started laughing too. After a moment, they both settled down, staring off into the white blankness. "So, us?" Artemis asked, bringing them back to the topic. She turned to face her friend, reveling in the improvement in health that showed on every part of him.

"Right." Dick said, settling into a comfortable position. "Wally doesn't seem to exist. His dad has been in three marriages and only has a daughter. I also found nothing on M'gann or Conner, but I couldn't even find their mentors. I did find some vague proof that Martian Manhunter and Superman exist on Earth, but not as heroes."

"Are they villains then?"

"I'm not sure. It seems likely, but they could also just be living their lives as civilians or they might be dead. I don't know."

"Hmm. And the rest of us?"

"Right. Zatanna exists, but her father is missing. She seems quite different. Umm. I couldn't find anything about Kaldur'ahm, but that doesn't mean he doesn't exist. There's no Justice League, so Aquaman doesn't really have a reason to come to the surface. I couldn't remember Raquel's last name. Umm. You and Babs exist."

"Babs as in Barbara Gordon?"

"Yep. Neither of you are really… good people. Barbara is off in Chicago involved in all kinds of sketchy things. I think you might have followed in your dad's footsteps. You have a boyfriend who looks an awful lot like Icicle Junior."

"Eww! Gross!"

"Yeah! That was my reaction too!"

"What about your brother? Did you look him up?"

"Yes, actually." A mischievous grin crept over his face and his eyes brightened up. "Guess what came up!"

"Really, Dick? How am I supposed to know?"

"Come on. Guess."

"Alright. Fine. The little dweeb is a Mathlete."

"That would be awesome. But no."

"Uhh... You look happy, so it's something good. Umm. He's top of his class at Gotham Academy."

"Nope. I don't think he even lives in Gotham."

"Come on, Dick, just tell me."

"Fine," he whined. "Drum roll please!"

"No." Artemis deadpanned.

"You're no fun." Dick said with an exaggerated pout. "My younger brother… is a superstar!"

"A superstar?"

"Yep! YouTube exists here, so I looked up some of his music. He's actually really good. And really popular too."

"No way is Jason Todd, eleven-year-old menace, a superstar. Was he on Broadway or something?"

"Funny you should mention that. He has been on Broadway, but he's actually the star of their Disney Channel Equivalent. It's hilarious. They call it the Donsie Channel. It has a bit of a monopoly like Disney, but it's Donsie and the themes are off a bit. They don't have Star Wars here! Can you believe that?"

"Oh no. No nerd movies. How tragic."

"Shut up. We all know you love Star Wars."

"Yeah yeah. They're coming out with a new trilogy."

"They are?!"

"Yeah. Announced it shortly after… you know. Disney bought the Star Wars franchise and so there are new movies coming out."

"What about the cartoons?"

"Well, there are those too. I hope they keep them in canon. Ahsoka is amazing."

"Ahsoka? You watch the cartoons?"

Artemis blushed. "Yeah. Bette and I watch them together. Sometimes, Wally joins us."

"Huh." Dick said, tilting his head slightly.

Artemis cleared her throat. "I want to hear some of that music, Wayne."

"It's… Is it still Grayson?"

"Well, I suppose it's Grayson-Wayne now."

"I like that."

"Good to know. I'll pass that on, why don't I?"

Dick laughed. "I don't think Bruce would believe you."

"Yeah. Maybe not then." Artemis said. "Are you still going by Dick Grayson?"

Dick shook his head. "I didn't know if there was another me out there. Still haven't really looked too deeply into it, actually. Damian can't have a counterpart because Bruce died instead of our grandparents. I'm a bit more up to chance."

"Hmm. So, what are you using then?" Dick blushed a bit. "Come on. You can tell me."

"..." Dick muttered.

"What was that?" She asked.

Dick slumped with a sigh. "Richard Wayne." He said. "In my defense, I was not exactly of fine health when choosing the name."

"Dick, you are Richard Wayne. That is your name."

"Is it though? I mean, I went missing before the forms were complete."

"That's just paperwork." Artemis said, waving a hand to dismiss it. "No one who has seen you and Bruce interact in front of a crowd AND behind the scenes could doubt that you two are family. Stuffy Aristocrats aside. Our number one theory was that you were Batman's son. When we found out your identity, we didn't think 'oh. We were wrong.' We thought 'Ha! Knew it!'. She draped an arm around the tiny ball of bird, and squeezed a half hug in. "I think we were more impressed with your acting abilities and how you managed to make all of us question the truth."

Dick snorted. "We'll laugh about it someday." He piped up. Artemis was pleased to note a small sparkle of mischief had crept into his eyes, nearly invisible, but there.

"Well, it's someday." Artemis said. She sat up straight and said in a haughty voice. "I'd say it's about time to laugh about it!" Dick tried to hold his laugh in; he really did. Artemis met his eyes and then they both fell apart, laughing.

Artemis suddenly shivered, and cocked her head, listening to something only she could hear. "That sounds like my alarm. Keep improving, Dick. Let's do this again soon." She said.

"Mmkay." Dick said, as he fought to catch his breath from the laughing fit. His eyes showed his disappointment, but also how good it felt to laugh again. Artemis reached over and ruffled his hair, and then faded away.

19 July 2013

The room was on the 13th floor, which was only accessible by the staff elevator and a locked door on the stairs for safety and security reasons. It was not a large room by any means, but it did have a small kitchenette and a bathroom connected to the bedroom. There was a TV on the wall as well, with a comfy looking desk chair loosely facing it. The kitchenette had a full-size fridge, a microwave, a stove top, a toaster oven. There was a cabinet below the stove top and plenty of cupboards for cooking supplies, but no pantry.

All and all, it was a decent, excellent really, set up. The colors were cool and calming with no sharp contrasts. The ceiling was high enough to allow some claustrophobia to dissipate and the windows were large enough to seem to further open the room.

"The laundry room is at the end of the hall, three doors down on the left. The trash chute is the other way. There is a bulk laundry service for uniforms and any clothes you'd like bulk washed, but no colors. Put any personal effects in at your own risk. Wash the rest yourself. Things get lost a lot.

"There are random inspections a few times a month. We don't allow illegal drugs or smoking inside the hotel rooms, so that goes for this room as well. The discovery of illegal substances in your room will lead to an eviction and termination. Meaning you'll be fired. Cigarettes are allowed in the casino, and there are lockers down there if needed."

A soft meow followed a rustle in Sigmore's knapsack. The kitten poked his head out and sniffed the air. He turned to face Thomas Wayne, gave a pleased meow, and scrambled out of the bag. Sigmore just barely managed to catch him by his collar before the kitten attacked the man again.

"Kitty no!" He scolded. The cat meowed sheepishly. Thomas raised an eyebrow. "He likes you." Sigmore assured, his shoulders hunched slightly. "A bit enthusiastically, but he does."

"Meow."

"Or you smell like someone he knows. Either way, he doesn't dislike you." Thomas kept his judging gaze on the cat. Sigmore shifted awkwardly, prodding the cat into a less awkward position. "Thank you so much, Mr. Wayne."

Thomas grunted in acknowledgement. "I expect you'll be in the lab promptly at 9 am Monday morning. Carl Stuart will be your guide. He'll show you around and update you on the progress we have. I want a report from you once a week to me directly in addition to any other reports your team may require. Understand?"

"Understood." Sigmore confirmed. "Thank you again." He hesitated. "Sir, about the kids, it's been almost three months, is there any way we could—"

"That is not your concern at this time," Thomas interrupted firmly.

"But sir—"

"Get settled." He said. "We can discuss this issue later." Thomas turned abruptly and left before Sigmore could get another word in edgewise. Sigmore sighed and released the cat onto the bed. He sat down next to him. The kitten meowed and rubbed against Sigmore's hand until the man pet him. Then, the cat jumped off the bed to go explore.

23 July 2013

Damian hummed happily when he felt a hand land in his hair and ruffle it a bit. His little burrow was safe and warm. Not to mention how soft his pajamas were. They even kept his feet nice and warm. The hand in his hair pet it a bit and it felt sooooo good.

His pillow moved slightly, a rumble of a laugh passing through. Damian hummed again and hooked his small arm around his pillow's wrist when it started to move away from its place. Another chuckle vibrated beneath his head. Damian plopped the hand right back where it belonged, his hair rustling slightly at the movement.

There was a snort from outside his cocoon. So many good words for laugh. All good. It felt nice. This latest laugh didn't come with a rumble, so not from his pillow. Not important. The bed moved a bit as Grandpa's weight settled on one end. The hand in Damian's hair paused its petting but resumed when Dami let loose a mewl of protest. Good pillow.

"Well, he looks comfy." Grandpa said. Yes. Dami was very comfy. Oh! Another laugh rumble!

"Yeah." The rumbling was so nice. It was like, it was like an electric buzz zipping through the air. He could just stay here all day. Warm and comfy. "I don't even remember him coming over here." Dick said. "I just woke up and…" Damian whined when his big brother removed his hand to gesture at Dami. He blindly reached out for his brother who obediently plopped his hand back on Damian's head. "I'm not super inclined to get up." Dick sounded out in English as his fingers rubbed a lock of black hair. He'd been able to hold one language for a conversation for a week or so, but he still had to concentrate. "It's not every day your baby brother turns 5 after all." Grandpa snorted at that.

"Little bugger could have been 5 for weeks now, even with our guesses." He said. Damian opened his eyes curiously and moved a little. He placed his head a little firmer on his pillow while still turning to blink up at Grandpa.

"Come on, Dami." Dick nudged Damian until the little one moved off, with a whine and pout of course, couldn't make it too easy. Dick gently pushed Damian into a sitting position. Damian didn't want to leave his cocoon so was un-co-op-peer-tiv-ee. He was nice and relaxed. No need to leave the cocoon. Pillow should lie back down.

Dick kept a steadying hand between Damian's shoulder blades while he repositioned himself so that he was sitting as well. Damian leaned against his pillow's chest. It wasn't quite right, but close enough.

"Happy Birthday, Dami." Dick whispered. Damian looked at him in confusion, so Dick translated to Arabic. Still nothing. It took 3 more languages for Dick to stop and think. He realized quickly enough that Mother would not have celebrated Damian's birthday. What even was a birthday? A date of birth? What was celebrate-able about that?

Damian could read the expression on his big brother's face. It was his 'Time to fix good thing' face. Today would be fun.

"Are you sure you don't want any help?" Barry asked skeptically for, like, the third time. "Because I can do it?" He was hovering a little too close and vibrating too. Dick ruthlessly crushed the urge to snap at him.

"I've got it." The young teen said. His tongue was poking out the slightest bit as he concentrated. His hand shook, a tremor running through them. The line of frosting on the 'y' in 'Birthday' went down a bit further than intended. Dick huffed but did his best to change the mistake into a happy mistake, a thick underline with little gaps in it when his hands had unclenched randomly. A moment later, the teen made a pleased note of triumph.

Setting the Ziplock bag he had made into an impromptu pastry bag down next to the lopsided cake, Dick took a step back to observe his creation. Barry sighed. "You could have at least let me level it." He complained.

"Ni. C'est mon gateau." Barry raised an eyebrow. The cake looked more like a mound than a cake. It was held together by frosting, hope, and willpower. The chocolate cake mixed with the vanilla frosting to give it an Oreo or cookies and cream like appearance. The chocolate frosting shakily spelled out a barely legible 'Happy Birthday.' There were cracks in the upper layer, the cake threatening to slide down to the counter by splitting itself into pieces.

At least it would be easy to eat.

Barry watched as Dick opened the Ziplock bag, unsticking it the best he could. He took a spoon and globbed more chocolate frosting into the bag. The stubborn kid's hands were covered in it, but he *seemed* unbothered. Barry shook his head fondly. Dick twisted the bag and pushed the frosting down to the corner that he had open already. The teen somehow managed a messy… well… he was probably going for 'Dami' or an ambitious 'Damian', but it came out more like ՈO|nj, and that was if Barry was being generous, which he always was. Not the point.

Eh. The kid didn't know how to read yet anyways. It would be fine.

Barry went ahead and snapped a couple pictures, keeping the flash off, of both the cake and the teen making the cake, for proprietary purposes. Not for something as horrible as blackmail. No, of course not Richard. Who would do such a thing?

There was chocolate frosting everywhere, the kitchen was a mix of brown and white, globs everywhere. Barry did not look forward to cleaning it up, but at least it would be over fast if he did it. Hopefully, Dick wouldn't attempt to do the cleaning by himself.

Speaking of the teen, he seemed to be more frosting than skin. It put some much-needed color onto his face. A good chunk of his hair looked brown with little powdered sugar like clumps of white sticking out of the hoard. There were streaks all over his face from the teen pushing his hair out of the way. It looked like Dick had a third eye with the streak slowly inching down his forehead.

"You need a bath, kid." Barry said. After he took pictures from all angles of course. He wasn't a monster. Well. That scowl though. It looks so cute with all the frosting. Last photo. Okay. Good. Barry grinned as he, relatively carefully, put the top of the cake carrier over the cake. Hopefully that would help keep it together until Damian and Thomas returned.

"Happy Birthday to you!" Damian was studying all the tall people around him for guidance on what to do. He looked at Dick a little more often because Dick knew everything. Dick would tell him.

There was a messily frosted volcano on the table in front of him. 1-2-3-4-5 candles were in a lopsided circle near the top. They should move those. The lava would make them catch even more fire and fall and crush the sugar village around the base of the mountain, again. They were flickering merrily, as if they didn't know what they did.

Dick squeezed Dami's shoulder. "Make a wish, Dami." He said in Arabic, a jumbled accent coloring the words as they rustled through the air. Rustled was such a fun word. It was an ono… ahno…mat-uh… Umm. A sound word.

Damian cocked his head sideways, big puppy dog eyes blinking occasionally as he tried to figure out what his big brother meant.

Dick smiled warmly at him, but his eyes did that thing they did when Dami didn't know something that he should know already. Dick normally followed that with something fun, but Dami didn't like the eye thing.

"It's your birthday, buddy. It's the day you were born. You make a wish, and then blow out the candles." Dick explained.

"A wish?" Dami asked.

"Yeah. It's something that you want. But you can't tell anyone your wish, or it may not come true!"

"Come true?"

"Can- may! Not happen."

"Not happen?! But. But… How do you know what I wished?" Damian asked.

"Umm." Dick answered smoothly. "Well, birthday wishes are special. The, uh, the birthday wish fairy takes them and works them magic so your wish comes true. To the best of… the best they can." Barry snorted, and Dick paused to glare at the man, who put his hands up in surrender. Damian tugged on his brother's sleeve. The teen turned back to Damian and smiled a genuine if shaky smile. "You can. You can wish for it again at another time. And… I think you can tell me then? Birthdays… Birthdays are special because, umm, the birthday fairies are listening extra hard on your birthday."

"So, I tell you tomorrow?"

"Umm. Yeah. Sure." Grandpa groaned and put a hand over his face and Barry laughed a bit. Damian frowned at them. If the birthday fairies were listening to Damian, then he could wish them to attack the tall people if he wanted. He didn't though. Dick was a tall people. Can't attack big brothers. They were on lava anyways. Dick was smart enough to not be on the lava.

"Go on, Dami." Dick encouraged. "Blow out the candles when you have your wish.

Dami frowned once more, eyes scrunched up as he focused his thoughts. Wish. Wish was something Dami wanted. Dami wanted… Cartwheels! He wished Dick was better soon Damian's big brother could teach him more tricks. Like cartwheels! And flips. And karate like the pretty spotted one in the Panda movie. Not like the Panda. The Panda was awkward klutz. Gray polka dot lady knew what was up!

Dami concentrated very hard on his wish and released all his breath on the cake. The huff didn't work. His big brother made a face like he was blowing, like he did with straws sometimes. Damian copied him. The candles went out. Good. The sugar village was safe from the lava. For now.

Grandpa and Barry clapped, obviously thankful that the lava went away. Dick though. Damian's big brother had his 'love Dami' face on. Dami was perfectly happy with that.

A/N

Hey everyone!

It's been a while. I don't really like giving excuses for really late chapters because life happens. Life happened.

Thank you all so much! I really appreciated all the reviews. I haven't been typing too much, but I had little handwritten writing spurts after each one.

General Update about what I've been up to:

Fanfiction Related:

I've mostly been writing in an actual notebook. I have several chapters written for this story, maybe one or two for Code Black, and some work on a couple others that I don't know if I'll ever publish. I have the next chapter almost ready, but not quite yet. I almost jumped over the date I decided for Dami's birthday back in 2014. Baby Bat's finally 5. I know his segments aren't totally in character for angsty preteen and teenage Damian Wayne, but this is a 5 year old whose main influence has been, well, Dick Grayson. The effect that his big brother had on him in the comics is astounding. Having that exposure 5-6 years early, the kid is a fluffy kitten.

Because I've been writing so much, I might win Nano this year, but I don't know if it will be one connected story or a bunch of ramblings that I somehow tie together. Also, may or may not be fanfiction related. We'll see. I'm still brainstorming.

Life Stuff: (This is all gushing. Feel free to skip.)

I'm a Senior! In College! I'm getting my degree in Rocket Science! Well, Mechanical Engineering, but I'm going on to do my Masters of Engineering (MEng) in Aerospace, so it still mostly counts. Speaking of Rocket Science, I'm in the upper level classes for my major, and I'm taking actual rocket science classes now. I took Bioastronautics and Aerospace Propulsion last Spring and I'm taking Spaceflight Mechanics this semester. I'm designing a mission proposal out of a prompt, including a conceptual rocket design, and next semester I get to design the subsystems. I picked the Rotating Skyhook. It's chaos. I love it. Feel free to pm me if you want details.

Not going to lie, I get a huge confidence boost every time I get a decent grade, or even a just passing grade. I just think to myself 'It's rocket science. Of course it's hard!' And boom, instant self esteem bonus. Also, somewhere between a third and a half of the class has dropped out, but I'm still in it, so. :D Mad respect for the GN&C people.