GOTHAM
WAYNE MANOR
EVENING
Damian sighed as he watched Helena play on the floor of the study. He'd been harassing his father and Selina for another chance to watch the toddler since "The Incident" when she was a baby. He could literally hear the quotation marks and capitalization whenever his father said those words.
As far as he was concerned, the whole situation had been blown out of proportion. Helena hadn't been harmed, they hadn't been seen by anyone outside the family, and the baby had a fabulous time. His father informed him that a six month old was not a suitable judge of what was or was not acceptable behaviour.
The whole family, and every single member was back at the Cave by the time he arrived with Helena and his brothers, was convinced Selina would flay him alive. Selina had been calm though, far too calm. She had simply taken the baby from him and taken her upstairs to the nursery.
Every member of the family had taken the time to give him a piece of their mind about what had happened. Worst had been Grayson and Pennyworth's disappointment. Or so he had thought.
Two weeks after "The Incident" Selina came down to the Cave and offered to spar with him. Now, he thought, she would punish him. He should have known better, a beating wasn't really her style.
"What if…" She leaned over to whisper in his ear after she had him pinned to the ground with her knee in the center of his back. "the League of Shadows found you that night?"
Damian's face paled. He hadn't thought, it simply hadn't occurred to him. Everything they knew pointed to Talia still wanting to get her hands on Helena and he had simply flown off into the night with her. Selina released her hold on him and he rolled over on his back. He thought he might throw up.
"Sunduq*, look at me." Selina reached to grasp Damian's hand. He looked at her, still very pale. "I'm not saying this too hurt you. I know it was fun for you and for Helena too. I wish that was all that you had to think about but then if you did you wouldn't know how to fly, would you?"
"No. My life would be completely different." The boy paused. "Let us be honest, I would not have a life. I would not exist."
"Oh, Sunduq." Selina's heart broke for him. "None of us would. Bruce would not have saved Dick or Jason or Tim. He would not have saved me."
"You saved all of them as well. You gave me a chance when I came here even though I tried to kill you. I will not put your daughter in danger again." Damian pushed himself into a sitting position.
"You will not do anything that foolish again to either my daughter or my son. Do I make myself clear? They would have killed you without hesitation." Selina cupped his cheek with her hand. Damian nodded and she pulled him into her arms holding him tightly.
"Dami?" Damian shook himself out of his thoughts and starred into the emerald eyes of the pretty toddler in front of him. "You look sad. You should smile." Before he could stop her both Helena's hands smashed into his cheeks with palms flat. They pushed the sides of his mouth up into what he was sure resembled the Joker's very unnatural smile. "There. All better."
"Helena, let me go." Those were the words he tried to get out but it was mostly a garbled mess. He glanced past her at Titus. He was sure the Dane was laughing at him. Traitorous dog.
There was only one thing to do. Damian reached out with long fingers and wiggled them near the little girl's waist. Helena shrieked and backed away from Damian but he kept advancing forward. Soon the chase was on. The siblings raced around the study leaping over Titus and furniture. Helena slid under the couch in an attempt to get away but Damian just hurdled it and met her on the other side.
They were at a stalemate on either side of Bruce's desk when the doorbell rang. Damian made a quick motion to his sister. Helena bounced to the top of the desk and flung herself into her brother's waiting arms. He caught her and settled her easily on his hip. Titus trotted along behind them as they headed for the front door.
Colin stood outside of Wayne Manor feeling vaguely uncomfortable. He knew he was more than welcome there. Even Mr. Wayne didn't make him uncomfortable. Spending more time there than anyone else on the team had made him see that Mr. Wayne was actually the right kind of dad for Damian and Helena was softening them both up.
When Damian had told the Team he wouldn't be able to participate in the evening's activities he'd been evasive about why. Sure, he'd been sent on special assignment by Batman before last minute but there was something about this that made Colin doubt he was telling the whole truth.
So now Colin was standing at the door waiting for someone to answer. He was sure Alfred, it had taken him awhile to get used to calling him that, would be the one to do so. He was shocked when Damian, with Helena on his hip, opened the door.
"Colin!" Helena squealed at a decibel guaranteed to make Damian's ears bleed. Colin merely grinned at her as she squirmed in her brother's grip planting her feet firmly on his solid abs and pushed off, launching herself at Colin.
With years of experience earned at St Aden's, Colin caught her easily. "Hey, Cub." He smiled at her. "You keeping your big brother out of trouble?"
"Uh-hunh." Helena's dark head bobbed up and down enthusiastically. "Dami is 'sitting me."
"Oh, he is, is he?" Colin smirked at Damian. "This is what the special assignment was?"
"What are you doing here, Wilkes?" Damian narrowed his eyes at Colin who slipped past Damian into the Manor. Damian closed the door and followed behind Colin and Helena, Titus trotting along happily with the pair as Helena directed Colin to head for the kitchen. Traitorous dog.
When Damian arrived in the kitchen Colin already had Helena sitting on the counter as he grabbed cookies and a plate. Making sure Titus was not forgotten he also grabbed the vegetable snacks Alfred dehydrated especially for the dog. Then he raided the fridge for drinks already knowing what everyone would want.
"Can you grab Helena, Damian?" Colin gestured with the plate. "Kinda got my hands full and I have to keep the goodies away from Titus."
"Titus knows better than to grab treats without permission." Damian told him crisply. As if to prove his master wrong on purpose Titus tried to nip a dried sweet potato off the plate Colin had for him. "Titus!" Titus eyed Damian as if he'd done nothing wrong but stepped slowly back from Colin.
"Dami!" Damian's attention was pulled from the dog back to his sister who wiggled her hands at him in an indication to be picked up. Sighing he swung her off the island and headed out the door with Colin. She giggled and hugged him. "Come Titus." The dog obediently fell into step. Damian glared slightly at the Dane. Whose dog did he think he was?
"You are not an infant, Helena. You can easily walk back to the study." Damian told her sternly.
"I love you Dami." Helena rested her head on his shoulder. "You're my favouritest big brother." There was a pause and Helena lifted her head. "Dami? Don't you love me too?"
"I.." Damian shifted his eyes to Colin who was watching the siblings with a smile on his face. "What are you looking at, Wilkes?"
"You." Came the honest answer. "Aren't you going to tell your little sister that you love her?"
"I…" Damian's eyes flickered to Helena then back to Colin. "I…" He heard a sniffle from Helena. Oh no. He looked back at her. There were definitely tears gathering in those emerald eyes. "No, don't do that. Don't cry."
"You don't love me." The little voice almost broke his heart.
"This is your fault." He hissed viciously at Colin.
"How is this my fault?" Colin looked at him confused. "All you had to do was answer her."
"Well, I would have if you hadn't been standing there looking all gooey." Damian snapped at him.
"Gooey? Really?" Colin rolled his eyes.
"Wilkes." Damian growled. "What are you even doing here?"
"How about we deal with that later?" He gestured to the sobbing little girl on Damian's shoulder. "Let's deal with the real problem right now."
Damian set Helena on the floor on her feet and proceeded to wipe at her tears.
"[Helena, look at me.]" The little girl stubbornly refused. "[Please, Helena.]" The little girl finally relented. "[I love you very much. You are my favourite little sister.]"
Helena frowned at him for a moment before answering. "[I'm your only little sister.]"
"[Are you? Then it should be easy for you to remain my favourite whereas I must fight three other brothers for my title. But never fear I shall remain the champion!]" Helena giggled at his declaration and threw herself forward into his arms. Damian felt Titus press up against his back and begin to lick the remaining tears off Helena's face, occasionally catching the side of his ear with a swipe. Helena laughed at Titus' ministrations.
"Titus, back." The big dog resisted Damian's command for a moment. Damian appreciated that the Dane cared for his sister but something really had to be done about his divided loyalty. Finally, he stepped back and sat waiting behind Damian. Damian pulled back to look at Helena. "Is all well now?"
Helena smiled at him. Damian stood, holding out his hand to Helena who took it. She bounced along beside him as he and Colin headed for the study.
"What are you doing here then, Wilkes?" Damian questioned as they settled on to the couch with their snacks, Helena between them.
"You're not going to let that go." Colin glanced down at Helena who was distracted making Titus do tricks for his treats. "You seemed….off when you checked in to say you wouldn't be joining us tonight. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay."
"This the first time Father and Selina have been willing to let me watch Helena completely on my own since "The Incident" when she was an infant." Damian swallowed. "I do not want anything to go wrong."
"Yeah, I can understand that." Colin rubbed his head. "I gotta say I've never been tempted to take any of the kids at the orphanage out with me as Abuse before bedtime."
"Helena is not an ordinary child. She is a Wayne and a Bat." Damian stated superiorly. "She loved going out that night."
"Yeah, so you mentioned at the time." Colin bit his lip. "It could have gone bad. Not just League of Shadows bad. Someone catching a lucky picture of Robin with baby under his cape bad. Or having to pass up saving an innocent because you couldn't endanger Helena." Damian opened his mouth and Colin held up his hand. "Don't say you would have hidden her on a rooftop or on a fire escape or saved the person with her still in her sling."
Damian frowned at Colin just as Helena cut in.
"Can we watch a movie?"
"May we watch a movie? And yes, we may, Cub. Go pick one out." Damian responded. Helena picked out her movie and returned quickly to snuggle in between her brother and Colin. It didn't take long for her eyes to close and the little girl to be fast asleep.
"Out like a light. Exciting evening for her." Colin chuckled.
"Here, we can just curl her up under this blanket and we'll move over to the other side of the room." Damian grabbed the blanket as he spoke. The boys had no sooner moved away from the couch than Titus was up settling himself as close to Helena as possible. Damian scowled at the dog. Colin smiled slightly seeing the scowl.
The boys settled themselves on the other side of the room by the fireplace under the picture of Bruce's parents.
"You know, if you asked your Dad he would get Helena her own dog." Colin dug into the plate of cookies as he spoke.
"What? What are you talking about?" Damian's gaze snapped from the pair on the couch to Colin.
"You're jealous." Colin grinned at him around a mouth full of cookie.
"I am not jealous." Damian sniffed.
Colin knew his friend better than that. "Oh, yeah, you are. At least you know she's got the extra protection, right? But talk to your Dad. He won't deny Helena a puppy and then you can have Titus back."
"I suppose you have a point. The responsibility would be good for her as well." Damian nodded. "I will discuss it with Father." Privately he thought it might be better to discuss it with Selina.
"Great, this brings me to the other thing I wanted to talk to you about." Colin paused as he thought about what to say. "Earlier, with the "I love you" you had a really hard time with…"
"Wilkes, you making something out of nothing." Damian cut him off. "If you hadn't been standing there it would have been fine."
"Would it?" Colin countered. "I know that stuff is hard for you sometimes but you're Helena's big brother now and so you'll have to step it up. At least until she's old enough to understand better. I know you can do it and if you have problems you have three older brothers of your own you can look to for examples."
"Please. Grayson is adequate but Todd and Drake?" Damian sneered.
"Dick is an amazing big brother. He could give lessons. Watch Jason and Tim with Helena sometime. Jason never swears around her, ever." Colin knew he was deflecting, Damian adored Dick.
"Todd says that Grayson was a good big brother the first time but Grayson says he was not." Damian looked at Colin slightly shaken.
"You are a great big brother." Colin insisted. "Talk to Dick. He'll help you. You are the big brother who lives in this house with her, who she is going to grow up with, who she adores the most. She adores the others but they go home. You are home. Get used to it, Damian, for good or bad you are her Dick."
Damian's eyes flicked away to the couch. His mouth dropped open. Colin followed his gaze and his eyes went huge. The couch was empty. "Where did they go?"
"We have to find them." Damian leapt to his feet. "They could be anywhere."
"Won't Titus come if you call him?" Colin was standing up with him. "If we just start looking it will take forever. This is a huge house."
"This is a massive house." Damian snarled. "Haven't you been paying attention? That traitorous dog listens more to my little sister than he does me. If she doesn't want him to respond he won't."
"Oh, this is bad very bad." Colin followed Damian as they headed out into the hallway.
"Well, it certainly is not good." Damian responded as they checked rooms.
"You're positive they wouldn't have gone downstairs." Colin questioned.
"You mean, aside from the fact she is not remotely tall enough to reach the numbers on the clock?" Damian's voice dripped sarcasm. "Yes, I'm positive. There is no way she could have gotten the passage open without me noticing."
"Fine. Then where are they?" As if in answer to the question both boys skidded to a halt as they entered the foyer to find Titus curled up in the center of the floor but no Helena in sight.
"I'm going to guess that isn't good either." Colin stared at the Dane as he spoke willing Helena to appear.
"Titus." Damian waited as the dog slowly lifted his head to look at his master. "Where is Helena?"
The dog languidly got up, stretched and then sat back down. He looked back at Damian and then straight up at the chandelier above his head. Damian and Colin looked up at the chandelier as well. Alfred ensured that it was kept from of all dust so it sparkled faintly even in the evening gloom. It's most precious gem, however, was grinning down at them from its center.
All the blood rushed from Damian's head and he was sure that the pains in his chest signaled a heart attack. He heard Colin speaking as if from a great distance and then suddenly everything snapped back into focus.
"Damian! Hey, Damian!" Colin was waving his hand in front of his face. "Are you in there?"
"Of course I am!" Damian scowled at him.
"Okay. You just seemed gone there for a minute." Colin looked back up at Helena. "How did she get up there?"
"This is all Grayson's fault." Damian growled.
"Umm, how is this Dick's fault?" Colin looked confused.
"He has been teaching her acrobatics since she could walk. Never too early to, he said. Same time he started. Somehow she's used that to get up there."
"Great." Colin tried to smile. "Do you suppose he taught her how to get down or should we call him?"
"We are not calling him." Damian scowled. "We will figure it out on our own. None of the family can know about this."
"Okay. Well, I have this really crazy idea but it just might work." Colin said.
"Well? Spit it out!" Damian crossed his arms.
"We could ask her if she knows how to get down." Colin's look was hopeful.
"Wilkes! That's brilliant!" Damian grabbed Colin by the shoulders. He released him so quickly that Colin stumbled backward. Damian looked up Helena. "Cub, that's quite the place you've gotten yourself too."
"It's so pretty up here." Helena giggled. "Dickie said it was."
"Grayson told you to go up there?" Damian cursed his brother. They had all heard the stories of the young circus boy who played in the chandelier and almost gave Pennyworth and his Father heart attacks doing it.
"No." She giggled again. "It's so pretty though."
He was well and truly going to kill his brother, provided Gordon did not stop him. "I do not suppose that our big brother mentioned how to get down when he was telling you his story?"
"No." Helena's face scrunched up. "You get me down."
"Well, that's just it I really don't know…" Damian jolted as Colin grabbed him by the shoulders.
"Which way he wants to get you down." Colin spun Damian around. "Just give us a minute, Cub. We're going to decide which one to use." Colin hissed at a surprised Damian. "Never ever tell a trapped three year old that you can't get them down from somewhere. You thought the tears before were bad? You haven't seen nothing yet."
"Well what do you suggest we do Oh Great Child Whisperer?" Damian hissed back. "We do not know how to get her down. If I grapple up there the chandelier is going to sway for sure and could knock her loose."
"Dami?" Helena called softly.
"Yes, Helena?" Damian looked back and up over his shoulder.
"I want Dickie." Her lip trembled slightly. "Dickie can get me down."
"It's okay, Helena. We have this under control." Damian smiled encouragingly.
"We could call Dick." Colin pointed out.
"No. Absolutely not." Damian was adamant. "They'll never let me have her to myself again if I even get to live this time."
"They are not going to kill you for this." Colin rolled his eyes. "They might if your father and Selina come home and she's still up there or she's gotten hurt getting down."
"That is not going to happen." Damian looked back over his shoulder, calculating. "Could she jump?"
"Are you crazy?" Colin stared at him horrified. "You are not going to have you baby sister jump."
Damian looked back at Colin as if he was an idiot of the highest order. "I am not going to have her land on the floor. I would catch her."
"That's still a big distance." Colin considered it. "I could do it, as Abuse. Less distance for her to go and I'm bigger, stronger."
"Logical." Damian answered. "Except that she's never seen you as Abuse. The change is fairly startling the first time. I don't know that she would trust you. For that matter, neither has Titus. He won't handle it well. If we take him out of here before you change she may take that as sign something is wrong. If he stays she definitely will panic."
"Okay. Then our only real option is calling Dick." Colin stated.
"We are not calling Dick." Damian clenched his teeth. "I can attach a line to the upper bannister. If I time it right when Helena jumps I can swoop down and catch her midair. She loves to fly. She will think it's a game."
"If?" Colin asked uncertainly.
"I will time it right." Damian insisted. He turned back to Helena. "I have to run downstairs for a moment. I will be right back. Colin will keep you company. Is that alright?"
"Okay." The little girl answered softly.
Damian ran down to the Batcave, grabbed a line, and ran back upstairs. He skidded to stop in the foyer as he watched the chandelier falling to the floor. It took a moment for his brain to realize that the chandelier was falling very, very slowly and Helena was not panicking. She cheerfully waved at him. The chandelier stopped a couple of feet off the floor. As if on autopilot Damian walked to the chandelier and pulled his sister out of it. He looked around the foyer for Colin.
Colin stood on the far side with his hand on a control panel looking sheepish. Damian walked over to him holding Helena tightly.
"I, ah, forgot." His face was flushed with embarrassment.
"Forgot what, exactly?" Damian asked.
"I was here one day but you weren't home." Colin shifted. "The chandelier was being cleaned and it looked like that. Alfred was showing me how he had this motor installed to raise and lower it. It's much easier to maintain and clean it, safer for the crew too. He had it installed while everyone in residence was gone on missions. You guys are probably never home when it's being worked on so you didn't know."
"Again!" Helena clapped her hands. "Let's do it again!"
"No." Damian eyed his little sister. She frowned at him. "We will never do that again."
It was considerably later that night when Bruce and Selina came home. Colin met them in the hallway outside the study.
"Colin." Selina greeted him warmly. "Did you come to help out with the babysitting?"
"Oh no." He hastened to reassure her. "Damian was good on his own. I just came to hang out. I should get back though."
"Good night Colin." With that, Selina slipped silently into the study.
Bruce opted to walk Colin to the door.
"I think you underplayed your part in tonight, Colin." Bruce handed Colin a fifty dollar bill. "Your share of tonight's earnings."
Colin stared at the money. "No, really, I didn't do anything."
"Just make sure next time that the chandelier goes all the way back up." Bruce smirked and closed the door.
Selina met Bruce as she came out of the study with a sleeping bundle of Helena in her arms. Bruce ran his hand through his baby's hair and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"I have her but we have another sleeping angel in there that's going to need an assist to bed." Selina whispered to him. He nodded and slipped into the study.
Bruce crouched in front of the couch and marveled at his youngest boy who looked so peaceful in sleep. The boy had come so far in the past few years. He was no longer the angry, mistrustful assassin his mother had dropped on them. Bruce slipped his arms under Damian to lift him.
"Father?" Damian's eyes fluttered open slightly, his speech slurred with sleep.
"It's okay, Damian, I've got you." Bruce murmured.
"Selina took Helena." The boy responded.
"Yes, she did. She's putting her to bed, just like I'm putting you to bed."
"Don't need to be put to bed, not a baby." Damian protested. Bruce stood up and Damian snuggled into his Father's arms.
"No, you're not but indulge me." Bruce smiled. "Titus, come."
"Not with Helena? Traitorous dog."