Damian Wayne stared at the downtown core of Gotham in particular disinterest. During the day it seemed meek, one would dare say quiet. Nothing stood out of the ordinary, no high-speed chases, no muggings, no break ins, not even an armed robbery. Damian regarded the people downtown, the ones settled near alleys with small carts and puffy stained winter jackets to the ones ignoring the downtrodden. Holding expensive lattes and rushing around in business professional clothes, clean cut and looking miserable. Probably needing to meet some deadline that was important to quarterly sales.

The sidewalks were coated with a thin blanket of snow, often disturbed by the high levels of foot traffic coming to and from the shops and onto the streets. It was still daylight, but the hours were shorter this season. Something that took getting used to. After all, in the Mediterranean it was often daylight until late in the evening. In Gotham, the fall season ensured that the hours of the day were shortened considerably.

Damian sat on the bench, watching the city he only often explored at night. Oddly fascinated by the people walking by, he continued to observe those who walked by the black bench he had claimed.

He had told Pennyworth he would be in the downtown core. Damian remembered how that raised eyebrow of Pennyworth's demonstrated concern, yet Damian was unfazed. He was adamant on exploring and discovering the city from street level, not just the rooftops and high-rise gargoyles he frequented as Robin.

Pennyworth had instructed him to speak to his father about a trip downtown.

Damian remembered that conversation not going as smoothly as he would have liked.

Damian had walked down to the cave and watched silently as his father typed and regarded the large screen. Even with his back turned to his youngest son, he still knew exactly where Damian was standing. Briefly turning away from the image on the screen, he turned to Damian, the large leather chair letting loose a soft squeak.

Bruce greeted Damian with a soft smile, uncharacteristically breaking away from the somber look that he seemed to always have.

"Father, I wish to have Pennyworth chauffeur me downtown." Damian stated plainly, hoping his request would broker no argument.

Bruce's eyes narrowed considerably, "Alfred stays with you if you go downtown."

Bruce's response had Damian slightly irritated.

"Father, downtown Gotham cannot be as bad as you're thinking. I am not a child in danger of becoming a kidnap statistic." Damian retorted, annoyance marring his voice.

"Damian, you don't understand Gotham's downtown core. It's no place for a child to wander around."

"I am not a child!" Damian protested.

"You are a child, and you are my son, Damian. I understand that you are not like most children, but that does not negate the fact that I am not allowing you to go downtown alone."

Damian stood in front of his father, trying to remain calm before he spoke, "I have been in Gotham for three months, but I cannot name a single store downtown, not one that I haven't seen on a rooftop. I have been to one street where Wayne Enterprises sits, yet I know nothing more of that part of the city. I want to know the city that you have me living in."

Bruce closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, "Damian, I don't like the idea of you going downtown alone."

"The people of your city don't know I am your son! Where is the danger, Father?" Damian questioned hotly.

"Damian, that's not the point. I trust you, it's the people downtown I don't trust." Bruce replied honestly.

"Father, I have been in war-torn areas with mother, I have been in the middle of civil uprisings, and have trained with experts since birth. I believe I can handle downtown Gotham in the afternoon. It's an insult that you are doubting my ability to protect myself disguised as a civilian when you allow me to patrol alongside you as your partner at night." Damian argued.

Bruce sighed, "You are going to go even if I forbid you from going. If you promise to take a cellphone and check in with Alfred every hour I will let you go. But I want you home before five thirty."

Damian smirked, "Father, I will tell Pennyworth where I am at four forty-five, he can take me back to the manor."

Bruce, to his credit, nodded to Damian and turned back towards the screen.

"Take your bank card in case you see something you wish to purchase."

Damian broke into a sprint upstairs and smiled the entire way to the kitchen, informing Pennyworth right there and then.

Damian shook his head slightly at his father's concern, but Pennyworth had reminded him that it was completely natural for his father to worry about his son's safety, even if said son was trained to be an assassin since birth.

Damian loosened his grey scarf and adjusted the buttons of his wool coat.

As he sat, he wondered how Avery Williams was doing. He hadn't checked the files of Wayne Enterprises, but he hoped she had moved up in Lucius' team.

He knew that she didn't know who he was, she glanced at him by the elevator, but no one other than a few board members knew he was the son of Bruce Wayne. They all had signed confidentiality agreements, ensuring none of them spoke of Bruce Wayne's biological son.

Before he could think about her any more, he checked the time, two forty. About two hours before he would have to call Pennyworth to bring him back home.

Standing up from the bench he had been sitting on, he glanced around before moving completely away from the metal seat. He didn't see too many people around, just the occasional homeless person and those who were on their lunch breaks. The street he was on had various shops, a small floral boutique, a few small businesses that dealt with different styles of clothing, a diner, and two competing pawn shops.

Trying his luck, he would see what was offered in the pawn shops before moving on and walking to a different street in the downtown core.

As he walked, he noted the people inside the shops, most of them were engaged with their customers, looking happy with business as usual.

The floral shop was bright and yellow inside, the woman handling a bundle of roses, placing them carefully in a bouquet. The man who was waiting looked sheepish. Damian pondered who he had angered, most likely his significant other. His apology had to be extremely grand for the mistake he had made, he was probably going to spend a fortune on the roses in the packaging.

Walking past the floral shop, he made his way up the cement staircase to enter the door of the pawn shop. As he walked in, the bell on top of the door rung, signaling his presence in the store.

The pawn keep smiled at the young man with the dark hair that entered his store. The man noticed the cashmere scarf and expensive wool coat and smiled. Perhaps he would finally make his first sale in the afternoon.

The man who owned the shop had greying brown hair and wrinkled skin that gave away his older age. His nose was larger than average and his mouth was small, but smiling, as if he smiled all of the time.

He welcomed Damian in the store, "Sonny, how are you?"

Damian froze in his tracks and stared at the man, "I am not your son."

He hadn't said it rudely, more out of curiosity and a hint of confusion.

The pawn keep merely shrugged, "It's just a figure of speech. Anyway, how is the weather out there? Isn't getting colder now, is it?"

Damian blinked, "The temperature is twenty-three degrees Fahrenheit. It's calculated to reach ten by tonight."

The pawn keep smiled with his brows raised, "Well, it looks like the boy is a meteorologist."

"I do not wish to become a meteorologist." Damian answered honestly.

The pawn keep nodded, "Well, you don't have to become anything you don't want to do boy, it's all your choice. Anyway, is there anything I can interest you in today? A gaming system perhaps, or some toys?"

Damian fought to keep himself from scowling. The man is only trying to be polite, he reminded himself.

Damian turned to the older man and shook his head, "No thank you."

With his question answered, Damian walked around the aisles of the store looking at various locked cases and trinkets inside.

There was a large selection of jewelry, electronics, and some instruments behind the counter where the man stood, reading invoices and papers.

Damian looked at the various board games on a wooden shelf in the corner. A worn box with the word MONOPOLY on the side piqued his interest.

Not wanting to disturb the other boxes on the high wooden shelf, he walked quietly over to the man behind the counter and cleared his throat.

The man looked up, reading glasses sliding down his nose. He spoke loudly after coughing, "You find something you want?"

"Yes, it's over here." Damian pointed to the stack of board games on the large wooden shelf.

The man looked somewhat disappointed, "Ah okay, well I well help you bring a few down."

"Just the MONOPOLY box will do. What is it?" Damian asked, looking at the man reach for the box.

Damian's question must have surprised the pawn keep as he turned without grabbing the box

The pawn keep looked utterly flabbergasted, "What do you mean? You never played MONOPOLY?"

Damian shook his head, "I didn't really grow up with these mindless games."

The pawn keep nodded, understandingly, "Okay, do you want to look at the others? Some of these are actually enjoyable, even if they are mindless." The man placed his hand on Damian's shoulder affectionately.

Damian saw the movement coming, but he wasn't expecting this level of kindness in a pawn shop owner.

Damian shrugged, "Could you explain how to play some of these?"

The pawn keep crouched to Damian's level, "Sonny, I can do much better than that."

…..

The two were seated in the back of the store, the front door locked and the shop closed to the public.

The two individuals locked eyes and stared at each other, trying to figure out their hands.

The man laid his cards down and uttered to word Damian was dreading, "Uno."

Damian looked at his hand and narrowed his eyes, playing out his hand he placed all of his cards down in the order he was taught. He had emptied himself of his hand although it had appeared he would lose the game.

The pawn keep laughed loudly, "Damn sonny, if I didn't know better I would have said that you were fooling me when you said you never played this game!"

"Tony, I will take all of these games. You have me convinced." Damian nodded, his respect of the man growing after each minute that had passed.

Tony, to his credit, asked if he needed his parent's permission to purchase all six board games.

Damian shook his head, "No, my father said it was permissible to purchase what I wanted. Thank you, Tony."

Tony smiled, "Kid, I haven't had fun like that since my grandkids came to visit from Florida."

Damian's brow rose questioningly, "Tony, when did you last see your grandchildren?"

"Eh?" Tony shrugged, "I think it was three years ago, Anthony is 8 now, and Maria is turning five this year. Their parents can't afford to take too many vacations nowadays."

Damian nodded, "I understand,"

The two had spent a good chunk of the afternoon playing board games, and Tony explaining how each game worked and how to be strategic about playing them.

Monopoly, Life, Risk, Clue, Scrabble, and Sorry were all games in the pile.

Damian knew he didn't have time to play them all on account of his curfew, but he asked Tony to take a few minutes to explain each. Tony didn't even hesitate, he explained all of them to the young boy across from him.

Damian appreciated his kindness, he didn't have to shut down his shop early, but Tony had said it had been a rather slow business day anyway.

Tony said he valued playing the games more than conducting business as usual.

Damian nodded cordially at Tony and picked up his coat and scarf to put on before he went out in the blistering cold.

Tony went to the front of the store and unlocked it before heading back to the counter and calculating Damian's total, "That'll be ninety-five dollars, Sonny."

Damian plucked his debit card from his coat pocket and placed the card in the machine.

As he was typing his pin, the machine prompted him to tip, before he could ask anything Tony piped up, "Sonny, it'll ask you for a tip, don't worry about it. I can't get it to stop doing that."

Damian didn't say a word, but when the tip amount was still there, he pressed several buttons and quickly made his transaction.

Seeing as though it was time to go, Damian ran out of the store quickly, calling behind him that he didn't need a sales receipt.

The bag was a bit heavy, but it was a reusable one that housed all of the game board boxes. Carrying the bag over his shoulder, he brusquely sped walked to Alfred's parked car and jumped in the back. The tinted windows hid his small body from Tony, who was now looking for the small boy.

The pawn shop owner looked anxious and kept glancing at the sales receipt, unsure of its content.

Alfred noticed Tony's demeanor and asked, "Master Damian, is that man looking for you?"

Damian spoke up, "I may have given him a large tip that he feels compelled to return. Drive Pennyworth, drive."

Alfred hid his smile, "As you wish Master Damian,"

….

Back at Wayne Manor, several hours later, Damian unloaded his reusable bag in the living room and spread out the game boxes, carefully looking at each one. Although they were used, Tony had replaced some pieces and bought new MONOPOLY money for the game.

Smiling to himself, he hardly even noticed his father standing in the double doorway of the large recreational room.

Bruce walked forward softly, "Damian, what have you purchased there?"

Damian smiled at his father from the floor, "Tony told me about these games. Do you want to play father? Do you want to?"

Bruce noticed Damian's behavior and smiled rarely, "How about a game of MONOPOLY before our patrol?"

"Ah, wherein the game symbolizes the ruin of friendships and relationships as a result of greed and capitalism. I will bury your property."

Bruce chuckled dryly and sat across from Damian, moving many of the other boxes out of the way so they could both have some room to play efficiently.

Some time passed as they played the board game, both were happy and content.

After a few more times around the board, Bruce asked, "Damian, who is Tony?"

Damian looked up after grabbing his metal car, "He is the pawn shop owner two streets away from Gotham Square, near Baudelaire Boutique."

Bruce's eyebrows rose, "And the reason you spent three thousand dollars?"

Damian's eyes widened, "I didn't know you could see the transaction."

Bruce narrowed his eyes, expecting an answer.

Damian shrugged, "Tony is an older gentleman who can't see his grandkids because his son can't afford to fly to Gotham from Florida. He originally lived in Naples, but moved to America with his parents so he could have a better life. He used to be an automotive worker, but the work was too much for him. He later opened a pawn shop here after investing in downtown property. He said he was lucky to buy before the real estate crash. He seems like a nice man, he also shut down his shop so he could teach me how to play this game in particular. And Uno, we also played Uno."

Bruce's visage was unreadable, but he seemed to take no issue with Damian's actions.

"I see," he said plainly.

Damian looked at his father, his eyes glancing into Bruce's, "Are you mad at me, Father?"

"No Damian, not at all. Do you want to visit Tony tomorrow and pick up the game Uno? You don't have it here with you."

Damian asked hopefully, "Will you go with me?"

Bruce nodded, "It's about time I introduce you to Gotham as my son. This way I can also thank Tony personally for showing you Gotham hospitality. Not all of our city is plagued by crime, there are some good people out there Damian. It would be nice to take some time to do things like this," Bruce explained, gesturing to the now-finished game in front of them.

"But Father, I just bankrupted you."