Gifts From the Sea, a Batman fanfic by Raberba girl
Batfam Bingo 2019: AU: Zoo
Chapter 38 - "I'm Done Hiding" (rough draft 2)
It was a sunny afternoon, gulls calling in the distance and the TV playing quietly in the background. Bruce was feeling decent for once, sitting on the floor with Tim as they each worked on Lego constructions.
"Looks like you're making good progress, kiddo." Bruce had no idea what Tim was building - the boy hadn't shown any interest in the instruction booklets Bruce showed him - but the creation was getting bigger and more elaborate. Bruce himself had started out trying to build a car, but was now just aimlessly sticking bricks together, soothed by the clicking of interlocking pieces.
"...where it appears the gang has successfully been subdued..."
Bruce glanced idly at the TV, which had been covering the same unfolding story for hours. The new little junior superhero team in San Francisco had been duking it out with a group of criminals just as improbably colorful as they were, and apparently they'd finally prevailed. Bruce wondered how much collateral damage was left in the wake of the fight. The criminals had been using flashy guns straight out of a sci-fi movie, and two of those hero kids could shoot fiery bolts out of her hands.
"...when we come back after these messages."
"You ever wonder where their parents are?" Bruce asked Tim conversationally as the program broke for commercials. "Letting their kids fight bad guys with laser guns in the streets... Pretty dangerous, huh."
Tim raised a Lego piece and twirled the bit that stuck out, looking at Bruce expectantly.
"That's a propeller."
Tim gave the piece to a tentacle so he could sign the new word.
"Good. 'Propeller.' You can use it if you make a boat. Or...for whatever it is you're making. That works, too."
Tim returned his attention to his creation, tentacle hovering thoughtfully as he considered where to add the unusual piece.
"We're back with our coverage of today's top story-"
Bruce glanced at the TV again, hoping for more closeup footage of the hero kids. The blue snake-like one who kept getting thrown around by their teammates, whacking criminals with their long body, kind of looked like a mer from a distance, and was the main reason Bruce hadn't changed the channel. He was in the sort of mood where thinking about mer made him feel sad and fond and vaguely like he ought to call Arthur to let him know what one of his subjects was up to. It was a lot more tolerable than the other, more common thinking-about-mer mood, where he wanted to scream and cry and find a way to kill himself that wouldn't leave Tim abandoned and lonely.
"...calling themselves the Teen Titans, and we go to our very own Meredith Tready for an exclusive interview with one of San Francisco's self-proclaimed guardians."
And then Dick was on the screen.
Bruce spent several seconds just staring dumbly, trying to process the fact that Dick was on TV. Camera just. Right in his face. Or rather, pulled back enough to show his entire body in a wheelchair, which was even worse. He didn't even have a freaking sleeve on, he was gripping the length of plastic in his hands as if he'd taken it off for the specific purpose of displaying his lower body.
Dick, a teenager with a fish tail who was supposed to be in hiding, was glaring straight into the camera- Well, actually turning toward the reporter now, ready to answer her eager questions.
WHY THE HELL WAS DICK ON TV.
"...as our viewers will see in just a second, you're quite intelligent and articulate. Would you say you're an accurate representative of mer in general, or are you a very unique member of your species?"
"The only thing 'unique' about me," Dick said forcefully, signing as he spoke to further emphasize his point, "is that I can speak English and ASL. But no one taught my mer brothers and sisters, so they scream at you from their tanks but none of you learn our language, so you decide we're stupid and not people so you don't have to hear. But I do know your language, so I tell you that we are people, we cry for freedom and our families that you kill, and [beep] you all for not listening. I know your language, so you have to listen now."
"Dick," the reporter interrupted hastily, "is it true that you're the same famous merboy of Amnesty Bay Aquatic Zoo, who was released into the wild several years ago?"
"ABAZ. They suck. They killed my parents - it's on YouTube, you can watch humans shoot and beat my parents to death." Although it was technically a different park where Dick's parents were killed, he'd never bothered to distinguish between the two companies that had held him captive. "They didn't let me talk or sign, they tied me up and fed me GROSS fish, all dead and frozen. I screamed but no one heard me, they threw me in the ocean and I nearly died. Someone saved me, but he threw me away, too. King Arthur let me stay in Atlantis, but I was still all alone until I found my friends." He gestured back at the rest of the Teen Titans, who were milling around in the distance.
"And what of Bruce Wayne, known by some as the Mermaid Man of Amnesty Bay? Reports from the time suggest that you two had a close relationship."
"He's a human. I hate humans, except W- except Kid Flash and Speedy and them." He gestured at the Titans again. "Humans suck. You all suck."
"I take it you have a rather unflattering view of humanity?"
"Treat us like people. Then maybe I'll change my mind."
In the distance, a masked figure in a red vest and black cape yelled something to Dick, who waved in response. The Titans who couldn't fly were clambering onto the back of their furry red dragon-like beast. "I have to go," Dick said. "But I'm not hiding anymore. I'm Dick the mer, and we're people. Get with the program." He gestured at the camera and then started wheeling away. One of the flying Titans, the one with literal fire for hair, soared over and scooped him up in one arm, effortlessly carrying his wheelchair in her other hand, and took him to join the rest of the group.
The view switched to the news anchor in the studio. "Well, there you have it; an extraordinary-"
Bruce snapped off the TV. He started scrambling around, pounding up and down the stairs to grab a bag and start throwing things into it. When the landline started ringing, he yanked the cord out of the wall and then silenced his cell phone. Although he successfully kept on task, he was internally panicking. A small corner of his mind was hurt and confused that Dick seemed so dismissive of and even hostile toward him when he'd played such a significant role in the boy's life, but that wasn't important right now.
There was a reason Dick was supposed to be in hiding. Despite all the progress the Justice League had made with legislators, non-humans still technically didn't have full rights, and mer were still legally classified as animals. The law that had finally forced ABAZ to release Dick could conceivably be used to prosecute the Waynes for allegedly holding Dick captive afterward; ABAZ might also attempt to sue Bruce for theft of their 'property.' Not only would Bruce himself be in danger, but his parents could be targeted as well - the servants at Wayne Manor, Dick's old classmates and the other townspeople who'd known him, anyone could serve as witnesses that Dick hadn't been spending all these years 'free' in the ocean.
It was certain that someone in town had been watching the broadcast about the Teen Titans. People who knew Dick personally could be uploading posts to social media right now. A lot of them were only a short boat ride away from the house. It was only a matter of time before investigators tracked Bruce down; his parents were inevitably going to come under fire. He had to get himself and Tim out of the house now, he had to warn his parents-
A crash nearly gave Bruce a heart attack, and he spun around. Tim, looking ticked off in his blank way, was sitting in the middle of the pile of cans he'd knocked over to get his guardian's attention. "What is happening?" he demanded.
Bruce took a deep breath. "We have to leave. We're not safe here anymore." He grabbed a bag and plopped it down on the floor. "Put everything you want to keep in here. We might never come back to this house again."
They finished packing and Bruce bundled everything, including Tim, onto the yacht. He did a last check of the house and sent another quick message to his parents. Then he set sail, his heart thudding in his chest, heading toward San Francisco. He had no idea what he was going to do when he got there, but he didn't have anywhere else to go.
He felt a tentacle curl around his calf, and he looked down at Tim. The little mer's face was blank as usual, but his worry showed in the restless coiling and writhing of his limbs. Bruce picked up the child and held him close. "It's going to be okay, kiddo," he told Tim, feeling like a liar.
TBC
