'Time flies fast. One day I was yelling at my mother about school, and the next day I'm standing in front of an angry staff-wielding child in my towel surrounded by men. What an amazing concept that time is.'
Aria gripped the edges of her towel, slightly afraid that any movement she would make would cause it to fall. At this point, Alfred and Bruce were inside the room but did not venture into the bathroom—though, through the crack of the bathroom door, they could see Damian in his stance.
Bruce placed a gentle hand on Tim's shoulder, who was still turned around with his hands over his eyes, muttering how much hates Damian and oh G-d what did we do?
"Damian," Bruce called to his son in as much of a calm manner that he could within the situation, "Come here son."
"Tt"
"That is not a request, Damian." Bruce held his ground, "Leave Aria to dress and we will meet up in the dining room."
"And why can we not do it here?" Damian replied, although he did lower his staff and let go of his stance.
It was Tim's turn to groan, "Please tell me you don't want us to answer you that seriously, Damian."
"Must I remind you that you are in the presence of a lady, Master Damian? And in the bathroom, of all places?" Alfred glared at Bruce, "Have you not taught him manners, Master Bruce?"
Bruce in his defense rubbed the back of his neck, "To be honest, I never thought I would need to have this conversation…Or, be in this position."
"Fine." Damian left the bathroom, "But, I suspect an answer as to why there is a stranger in the house. You know that I will inherit this house. I need to know."
"Yeah, yeah" Bruce grabbed hold of Damian and gently shoved Tim out of the room as well. While Alfred greatly apologized and thus, he too left.
Aria, now alone, leaned against the sink, "…What the fuck!"
"I have never been more shocked than when I caught Master Bruce with a—"
"Alright, alright" Bruce waved a hand to Alfred as Alfred took the time to make a pot of tea, figuring that the family would be up for a while as they waited for Aria to come into the dining room.
"So, what is her story?" Tim looked to Bruce, already out of the shock of a random person in the house.
Clearing his throat, "What do you mean?" Bruce frowned.
Tim gave him a blank stare, "Do you serious?" Sighing, "Is she an orphan? Criminal parents? Did you find her stealing your Batmobile?"
"Yes father, did you invite another thief into the home?" Damian growled. The family was already too large to his liking.
Bruce shrugged, "I don't actually know, to be honest."
"What?!" Both boys shouted.
"She's…" Bruce leaned back in the chair, trying to figure what would be the best way to explain Aria's circumstances, "not exactly from this world."
"Oh," Tim replied while Damian was the confused one, "Why didn't you just say that Bruce? She's from another Earth. Like Power Girl."
Bruce shook his head, "Not exactly that either. She exists…Differently from Power Girl."
"Father," Damian looked at his father sternly, "Stop beating around the issue and tell us. Or tell me, you can send Drake to bed."
"I'm older than him!"
"And I'm the blood s—"
"Yeah, yeah" Tim rolled his eyes, "We get it, we get it."
"I must say," Alfred interrupted the conversation by placing the tea set with some lady-fingers, "What is taking Miss Aria so long?"
"Well," Bruce blinked, "We never gave her the tour of the house." Frowning, "I'm not sure she knows the way to the dining room from her room."
"So, we have a lost stranger roaming the home? Father, have you hit your head during patrol?" Damian stood up, "She could find the Cave! You're always telling us to be careful!"
"It wouldn't matter if she did find the cave, in fact, I'm sure that she knows where the cave is," Bruce looked at the grandfather clock that was standing against the wall of the living room.
"You told her?" It was Tim's turn to be stunned.
"No," Bruce reassured the boys, "Like I said, she's not exactly from this world."
"Tt. If she's lost, then we should find her." Damian told them as he took a tea cup. "We can't have a stranger randomly walking in the house."
"Bruce, you said that she's not from this world." Bruce nodded at Tim, "And, you said that she is not from another Earth." Bruce again nodded, "And you said that she knows the Batcave. Which means that she also knows that you're Batman." Tim, wrinkling his nose, "She could be from another plane of existence."
"Or, an undiscovered world." Bruce also took a tea cup, ignoring the lady-fingers. "We only have a few worlds due to interactions with them. There could be more, perhaps hundred more or even thousands that we might never make contact."
"If she's from another existence, how does that explain how she knows us?" Damian did not care much about the existence of other worlds. He cared about his world. The world where he lives. If people came from other worlds, that was their business. Damian needed to keep his world, this world, safe and himself safe.
"Well, now is a good time as any," Bruce muttered, "Where she lives, we are comic books."
"Excuse me?" Tim raised an eyebrow, "Like, comic…books?"
"Yes Drake, that is what father said," Damian never missed a chance to throw a dab at Tim, "Are you also going deaf on us?" He turned to face his father, "What do you mean a comic book father?" Tim sourly looked towards Damian.
Knowing that this would not be easy, Bruce continued, "What I mean, is that we do not exist in her world. We exist in the form of a comic book. We are characters."
"Dear say, that is unusual." After years working for Bruce, Alfred was seldom surprised. He faced: aliens, people from different worlds, sons and daughters who only exist in other Earths, demons from underground. However, this branch of news, to know that is another area of existence, he exists as a character, in a book.
"Now," Bruce spoke up, mostly towards Damian, "Now do you understand why she is here? Why she must stay here?" To this, both boys agreed, "I don't know who or what brought her here, but whoever did, if she is captured by them, we can be doomed." Bruce with a dark and stoic tint in his eye, "I am trusting you in your hands. We must keep her protected. It can be safe to assume that whoever brought her here knows of her world's existence, and therefore knows that she knows secret identities."
Damian moaned, "So, this is a babysitting mission."
"Think of it as a protecting mission. We can't risk her falling into the wrong hands. I need you to take this seriously, Damian" Bruce gently pulled Damian towards him in a sort of hug fashion, "I'm trusting you, my son." With his free hand, he reached over to Tim, "And you too. I need you two to be working together."
Tim agreed, "Well you tell Dick?"
"Of course, well," Bruce exhaled, "Whenever I get the chance to see him."
"Awww" Aria giggled as she came into the dining room dressed in white socks, a mid-knee white skirt, a light purple shirt and her towel wrapped around her hair, "This is so adorable!"
"GAH!" Damian sprinted from Bruce's arms and landed in front of Aria, glaring for all that he is worth, "Listen here girl!" He scowled, "I already do not like you, but father gave me an important mission. Do not get in my way, and do not do anything stupid. I'm forced to babysit you."
Aria could have rolled her eyes, or scowled, or yelled, instead she kneeled down so that she was in eyesight with him, "How about this, don't even barge into my room like that again and I won't make your life harder than it has to be?"
"Your room?" Damian challenged her, "This is my father's home and as his heir, this will soon be mine."
"Oh, great" Tim groaned, "Damian…please."
"I'm sure that they will get along quite well, Master Bruce"
Bruce couldn't tell if Alfred was being sarcastic or serious. In fact, he had a difficult time reading Alfred—probably, the only person that could throw Bruce of his feet.
"I have no doubt about it Alfred…" Bruce looked at the scene in front of him and Tim his hand placed over his forehead, "…No doubt…Not at all."
"Did it work?" An off voice sneered, "Tell me, did it work?"
"Yes," another voice chimed, "We invested a lot of money and it would be a shame for it to go to waste."
"Do not worry," a more innocent voice called out, "We sent our best to collect. He should not disappoint. Unlike the others."
"And should he fail?" The first voice, sinister and cold.
"Then we will dispose of him like the others."
"Should it be so quickly though?" The third voice, soft, "Are we not running low on supplies?"
"Are you afraid that we will run out of children?" Laughing, "The world is littered with homeless and lost children. It does not have to be Gotham, we can go to Moscow and pick any child up."
"And risk picking a damaged one? Or one on drugs?"
"A supply is a supply, what is the difference?"
"A child on drugs is harder to break and control than a clean one. I'm sure you understand as your division works on medicine and the effects of prescription drugs. Are you falling behind in your own field?"
"Quiet!" Someone shouted, "He has returned…"
A door opened, allowing the darkness to disappear, replacing it with light. The light cast upon the voices showed them in various elegant attire that appeared to be from another century.
The one who stood before them was clad in metal and wide red goggle eyes with tiny knives shaped as feathers.
"Were you successful?" A woman asked, her face obscured by a white mask shaped as an owl.
The man clad in metal nodded.
"And where is this person?"
"She escaped from me. Then Batman got to her bef—"
"Excuses!" Someone shouted, "You failed! You are a failure!"
The man, lowering his head, nodded, "I understand, masters."
"Then," The woman who spoke to him first, "You must understand what happens to failures." Again, the man nodded. "Very well, dispose of him. We have no need for disappointments."
Behind the talon, crept another person who looked more owl than human even without a mask as he stabbed a syringed filled with blue liquid into the Talon's neck. An easy and simple design. There was a small flap, exposing skin. It was small, and the feathers worked as a distraction so opponents would be fooled into believing that there was all armor, no skin. Of course, the small exposure worked in the favor of the Court, rather than the talons.
The Talon fell to the ground as the doctor stepped away, allowing the body to fall with a clang. He clapped his hands, alerting other helpers to come by and drag the dead weight out of the room. The doctor did a short bow and left, closing the door, letting the shadows fall, closing the members in darkness.
"So…" Aria awkwardly sat down at the table, all eyes on her, "What do we do with me?" It felt odd; for, her to ask a question about her.
"You'll have to remain here," Tim said, "I'm sure you understand."
Aria sighed, "Of course I get it. But I can't just stay here!" Aria cried, "I have to get back home! I mean, don't get me wrong, I had dreams about meeting you guys but those are just dreams! I have a family! I have a best friend!"
"And we will work on a solution for you to return to your time line but for the right now, you have to stay here." Bruce expressed to her. "You have to trust us. We will find a way for to return but since we know so little about your position here, you can be in danger."
Aria, now calm, and in a slightly defeated pose, "I can't go outside? I'll have to stay here?"
"Have you seen this place? It has everything you could ever need," Tim snorted. Alfred sent him a 'you're not helping' look.
"Yeah, everything but conditioner" Aria grumbled. "Look, I get that I can be dangerous and all, but I also have a life too."
"We can't keep you, prisoner, here," Bruce spoke up, ignoring the glare and protests of Damian who was forced to stay locked indoors for his first weeks. "But, it is easier to keep you safe if at least one of us is around you."
"That makes sense." Aria smiled, "I just don't like feeling like a prisoner, especially when I did nothing wrong."
"My home is welcome to you. I told you this before"
"Yeah, and when you're not dressed in Batman you don't look as intimidating, might I add" Aria playfully rolled her eyes up to Bruce who put his hands up in defense, "Hey, I try."
"Does this mean that we can return back to our quarters, now that answers have been given?" Alfred suggested.
"I don't know, will I have rouge birds in my bathroom again?" Tim laughed at Aria, forgetting that he was also in the room and just as guilty.
"If you just told me who came Pennyworth, then I would not have barged into the intruder's room." Damian defensively crossed his arms, "I was doing my job guarding the home."
"And yet she's still here" Tim flicked Damian's nose.
"Alfred is right," Bruce helped Alfred move the tea cups to the kitchen sink, "We can continue this tomorrow. " He turned to Aria, "You'll be alone here for a while in the morning. I have a meeting and both Damian and Tim have school."
Aria blinked, "What do I do then?"
"Perhaps, I could take her shopping? I have a feeling that Miss Aria will be staying here, with us"
"Yeah Alfred," At this Bruce yawned, "That would be good."
"I don't have…any…" Aria embarrassingly looked away.
"No need for that Miss Aria" Alfred smiled softly, the same tender smile he sends to all the children, "Master Bruce has no problem in helping with the finances."
"That's still not right"
"Just accept it," Tim grinned, "Bruce lives to spoil people. Where he lacks with words he makes up for in other ways."
"Now, now" Bruce snapped his fingers, "Let's go to bed. You're not missing school just because it is late."
"Beware The Court of Owls, that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadow perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed, speak not a whispered word of them or they'll send The Talon for your head."