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Damian decides that helping out the community isn't the worst thing... as long as the community is okay with accidental burned to the ground apartment buildings
Damian was beginning to think this had gone well past what he'd been intending.
Normally his plans were always perfectly executed without any hold-ups or issues. He was an Al-Ghul, perfection was expected. Even if his plans hit… snags, he was always very good at adapting to the new situation.
What was supposed to be him doing helping out the community as himself had turned into him standing in the rain, covered in soot and ash, with a cat and three dogs he'd pulled out of a burning apartment.
The cat yowled and thrashed wrapped in his jacket, the dogs were not any calmer. He'd found some rope to act as a leash until he found a safe place to assess them and return them to the owners.
Damian knew the couple that owned the apartment. They tended a small garden on the rooftop of the building. He knew these animals were rescued from the streets and were well taken care of. Damian himself (as Robin) had given them the cat, which they'd named Robin in honor of that occasion. They were a very nice older couple who worked at the Martha Wayne Foundation.
They'd gone out of town for a couple of days and had asked him to keep an eye on things while they were gone.
He watched the flames rise, the building was going to be a total loss. He'd already informed first responders of the situation. There were no fatalities, luckily.
All the plans for his day had been completely ruined.
The worst part being he wasn't sure where to go.
The dogs weren't exactly small. They ran around him pulling at the ropes barking and yipping anxiously making it very difficult to calm the cat.
The February air made the freezing rain even worse since he'd relinquished his jacket for said cat partly to try to keep the poor thing out of the rain and to also protect his skin from being shredded.
Everything had happened so fast, he'd realized he had left some of his own belongings in the apartment. He'd been focused on getting the animals out, and also making sure no one needed help getting out. It was unlikely that this fire was an accident but that was something for him to investigate later, when he wasn't being jerked around by three very scared dogs and scratched up by an equally scared cat.
"Ow, would you please stop? I am trying to help." Damian began his fruitless plea to the cat. It wasn't his fault that he didn't understand. He wanted to get to safety, to get out of the freezing rain. Damian also wanted those things.
The biggest of the three dogs, ironically named Bean (According to Shelby, he'd been the runt of his litter when they'd found him) gave a particularly strong tug causing Damian to lose his footing and almost fall to the ground.
It was enough for Robin to wiggle his way out of Damian's grasp and into the frozen night.
"Robin, no!" He shouted, forgetting himself for a moment. His grip on the ropes loosened slightly.
Bean took advantage, shooting off in the opposite direction.
"Damn it." Damian gripped the other two rope leashes tightly.
After Bean and Robin had taken off, the oldest dog (Brutus) calmed significantly. He sat looking off in the direction that Bean had gone. Klepto (Micheal had explained that she was a food thief, she would take things directly out of the skillet if you weren't careful. They'd caught her digging around in their cupboard) finally stopped barking standing on Damian's other side.
He'd never taken care of an apartment for anyone before. He liked Shelby and Micheal, they took good care of strays, were very helpful for the community, and were just all around nice people. He'd been more than happy to help when they'd asked, saying they're dogs really liked him and had wanted to make sure they were comfortable since they weren't coming with.
But this has to have been the worst apartment sitting job ever. Two of the pets were gone and the whole apartment building burned to the ground (although the fire wasn't his fault).
He's mad at himself. He shouldn't have let his grip go slack, really he should've tried to grab actual leashes. One with handles.
Damian didn't have his phone on him, he'd also left that in the now demolished building because this couldn't possibly get any worse.
He took in his surroundings.
First things first, get out of the rain then find Robin and Bean.
He needed to find a safe house to stash them in, that would be best. Of course he didn't want to just leave two large dogs alone in a safe house like that. Especially since he realized the closest place to him was Todd's.
He would not appreciate Damian breaking in and leaving two large dogs. Whether or not he was in town. Which he wasn't.
Not a viable option.
Drake was also within walking distance, but was terrible with animals, and would also never let Damian live this down.
The clock tower could work but it was on the other side of the city, he couldn't reasonably walk that far in his current situation. There were two safe houses nearby as well as a small emergency weapons vault he'd stashed his suit in before arriving this morning about a block and half away. At the very least he could change into his suit and get him and the dogs out of the rain.
The walk itself wasn't that bad. The dogs had lost a lot of their nervous energy and were no longer attempting to pull him all over the place. Something he knew Micheal and Shelby were still working on with Bean.
He ushered them inside and undid the rope.
He still couldn't leave them here so he could search for Robin and Bean. He needed help.
He changed into his uniform and pinged his comm. It took a minute to get a response.
"Robin? Is everything alright?" Grayson asked him.
Damian sucked in a breath. "You love me right, Richard?"
He didn't respond immediately. "Normally I'd say yes without hesitation but I feel like this is going somewhere and I don't like it." He finally settled on.
"I- I need your help with something."
"Vague, what do you need?"
"Help finding a lost dog and cat."
He could almost picture Grayson's face. "A cat and dog? Why, what happened?"
"There was a fire, I am fine, but in the midst of rescuing some of the pets out of one of the apartments one of the dogs and their cat got away from me. I would go after them but I have two other dogs and I can't just leave them alone."
"Okay, where are you?"
"The weapons vault on Park Row about a block away from the Iceberg Lounge."
"Alright. I will be there as soon as I can"
He arrived in under twenty minutes. Faster than Damian had been anticipating. He also came with help.
"I asked for just you." Damian told him
"And I decided that Gotham is just a little too big for you to find two animals on your own." Grayson responded, unfazed.
"Besides, don't act like you aren't happy to see us." Brown added pointedly while greeting, her tone overly sweet as she returned Kelpto's enthusiastic greeting.
Cain didn't comment. Not that Damian expected her to. She simply observed the situation in front of her, very clearly amused.
Damian was resolved. Grayson was right, Gotham was huge it would be next to impossible to find Bean in this city let alone Robin.
"What do the animals we are looking for look like?" Grayson asked after a moment.
"Bean is a brown Great Dane, he's huge. A small child could ride him. It's unlikely you'll miss him if you see him. The cat on the other hand is all black. He is going to be the more difficult one. They both have collars with their names on them."
Brown inspected Kepto's name tag. "Now why would they name you something like that? Are you a thief? Bet you're a good thief aren't you?"
Damian was beginning to be concerned she may attempt to kidnap the dog when this is all over.
"Steph, how about you take these two back to the clock tower, Duke can keep an eye on them, and then you can join Cass to find Bean. I'll go with Damian to find the cat." Grayson delegated, which Damian was appreciative of.
"And what if I want to find the cat?" Brown countered.
"Cass is gonna need your help calling the dog once you find him. Besides, you're great with dogs and allergic to cats."
"That's a lie."
Grayson was unimpressed.
"Fine, ping me your location."
He and Grayson wandered along the rooftops for a few hours as the night slowly turned to morning.
"Okay, we can't wander aimlessly forever. Where might the cat go?"
Damian thought. He wasn't sure.
Cats had a strong sense of loyalty and can remember homes when they run away. But Robin was cold and scared. His home had burned down, if the cat even considered it home. He hadn't been living there for very long.
"It's a cat Grayson. They're not known for being cooperative." Damian stood on the very edge, observing the sidewalk hoping the cat would just appear.
"What about that alley full of strays Selina showed you that you think we don't know about?" Grayson asks him.
Damian turns to face him. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You take food to them all the time. Jason has pictures you know. Proof Damian Wayne is just a big softie as he put it."
He'll need to find those images later. He didn't know Todd had done that and isn't surprised about it either.
"I suppose the cat may return there."
Grayson followed him landing smoothly when they reached their destination. Some of the cats hissed and scrambled away at their appearance.
Damian scanned the area, a lot of black cats but none with a collar. Yet
"That fire was no accident." Damian commented as he slowly stepped around.
"Oh yeah? Meth lab?"
"I don't know. This neighborhood is pretty quiet, it could be anything."
"Sounds like it needs to be looked into. Should I be doing that instead of being here looking for a cat?"
"It does need to be looked into. Time is of the essence."
Grayson turned slightly to study him. "You don't want me to leave." It wasn't a question. Damian hated it when he did this.
He scoffed. "I can find the cat on my own, I can also investigate the likely arson that took place that caused this whole situation-"
"But you can't do both." Again not a question.
"No I cannot."
"So do you want me to look into it? You'll have an easier time finding the cat since you know what the cat looks like and it likes you."
"You will do as you see fit." Damian snaps. This night has been beyond frustrating.
"It wasn't your fault."
"I should've been more aware of my surroundings, I should've spotted the reason for the fire long before it happened and I wouldn't- we wouldn't be in this mess."
Grayson put his hand on Damian's shoulder squeezing tightly. "You can't live your life with your head on a swivel. Despite what we do. You wanted to help out a nice couple who was going to be gone for the weekend, if it hadn't been for you they're pets might not have survived. Yeah it sucks that a couple of them got away, but, we'll find them. You'll find them."
Damian took in a breath to steady himself before nodding. "If you could please get started on the arson investigation. I will join you once Robin and Bean have been located. I don't like loose ends."
Grayson smiled. "Me either."
He shot a line before heading to the smoldering remains.
Damian glanced around before reaching in his belt for cat treats. He crouched low and stretched out his hand for whatever cat would be brave enough to approach him.
A gray cat came out and took some followed by a calico. Damian stood back up walking a few more feet before repeating the ritual. It's how he'd caught Robin the first time. Theoretically he could do it again.
Twenty more minutes passed before he heard a small bell from underneath a pile of crates. Damian watched closely as the cat ever so cautiously approached, smelling the goods being offered.
"There you are." Damian mumbled. The cat wasn't close enough yet. Just a few more feet.
A black cat stepped closer, wearing a red collar, and accepted Damian's peace offering. He gently scooped up the cat and made his way towards the street.
"That was not appreciated." Damian scolded before turning his comm on. "Any luck on finding Bean?"
"Um, maybe." Brown replied, sounding out of breath. "We're chasing a large dog down Maddison. Hang on."
Damian began walking towards the clock tower to reunite the cat with the two dogs he did still have.
"Okay, we have Bean." Brown announced. "Orphan caught him. We'll meet back up at the clock tower with Signal and the other two dogs."
"So are we just going to keep them here?" Duke asked, after being overwhelmed by the Bean saying hello. Robin had immediately hid in a closet.
"Just until their owners return." Damian explained.
"Okay. I don't think Barbara will approve of this."
"Don't worry about her." Grayson replied easily upon his entrance. "I'll deal with her if anything happens."
"Did you find anything?" Damian asks almost immediately.
"Yeah, I think we have a Firefly situation. Got some leads for us to look into later."
"Thank you."
Grayson smiled. "No problem."
"When are their owners supposed to get back?" Brown asks, still enthusiastically providing Klepto with belly rubs.
"Tomorrow. I feel bad. They don't have a place to stay."
"I think we can figure something out." Grayson assures.
The help, Damian had learned, was unneeded. They were beyond grateful that he'd been able to get the animals out despite how out hand the fire had become.
When he asked if they had anywhere they could stay Shelby had said they would just go back upstate and stay with her sister.
Damian surmised that despite this whole thing getting majorly out of hand, it was still a success.
He was Damian Wayne after all. He didn't do failure.
Sorry for the late post, got kind of busy today. I'll be back tomorrow