A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for the amazing reviews, you guys rock! I know I said I would start using requests this chapter, but I got this plot bunny and it wouldn't go away! That doesn't mean I don't want requests! I love requests! Leave them in a review, and I'll get to them as soon as possible. Enjoy!
The doorbell rang, shattering the peaceful calm of the Sunday morning at Wayne Manor. Dick ran down the stairs, wearing a white t-shirt with black flip-flops and swimming trunks, and sprinted to the door. He grasped the cool metal handle and swung it open, grinning at the person on the other side. "Hey Wally."
Said teen smiled in return, his orange-red hair glinting in the sunlight. "Heya Dickie!"
The Boy Wonder stepped to the side, allowing his friend to enter the air conditioned manor. The speedster was wearing yellow swimming trunks with a bright red t-shirt and red flip-flops with little yellow Flash symbols on them. The two teens strolled to the den and made small talk while waiting for the last member of their party to arrive. The doorbell rang a second time, but they heard the ringer let himself in. Not too long after another redhead entered to room.
"Hey guys."
"Roy!" The ebony tackled the older boy in a hug, only for the other teen to pile on top of the two. Red Arrow laughed as he stumbled back with the weight, eventually tripping and falling back on the couch.
"Woah! I knew you two squirts would be happy to see me but geez!" He patted them both on the back. "Okay guys, can't breathe! Lemme up!"
"Aww man!" Wally pushed himself off the two other boys, and Dick followed, letting Roy stand back up. "So, what now?" He asked.
"Well, I invited you here to swim. Let's swim!" The older Grayson lead the two redheads to the back patio, where a swimming pool sprawled out before them. The three kicked their shoes off and shamelessly stripped themselves of their shirts, tossing them into one of the three empty lounge chairs. The older two were just about to jump into the cool water when the youngest stopped them. "Guys, swimming wasn't the only reason I invited you over."
"Oh?" Roy's eyes narrowed slightly with concern. "Are you okay Dickie? Are you sick?"
"What? No, no, nothing like that. It's just…" The Boy Wonder rubbed his arm nervously.
"Just what?" Wally prodded gently.
Dick looked up at them, dead seriousness in his sapphire eyes. "You have to swear that you won't tell a soul. Swear on anything and everything there is. This does not leave this house."
The older heroes glanced at each other, than back at their little brother. "We swear." They said in unison.
Robin nodded and took a deep breath, then crossed his arms over his chest. "You can come out now. I promise they won't bite."
Wally and Roy looked at each other, eyebrows raised. Was their friend going nuts? Neither of them heard a quiet voice say, "I feel naked in this."
Dick rolled his eyes and sighed. "It's fine, you look great."
This time the older two did hear a soft sigh of resignation, and saw a figure moving the the shadows of the building. Roy instinctively reached for where his bow and quiver should have been, and cursed under his breath, remembering he didn't have them in his civvies. Wally got ready to run and tackle the figure or grab his friends and flee. Both stopped when the figure stepped out of the shadows.
It was Serafina, though neither of the older boys knew who she was. She was a secret, after all. She was wearing a lapis blue bikini with a halter strap. Her tan skin glowed in the summer sunshine, giving her an ethereal appearance standing in front of the large glass windows leading from the patio to the Manor. Crimson locks spilled down her back, glinting like a million rubies and swishing over her shoulders in a wave. The blue of the swimsuit brought out her eyes, emerald green seeming to stare right through their souls. Red Arrow's jaw hit the ground. Who… how… damn. Their little brother was holding out on them.
Wally however wasted no time with gaping at her. He was by her side in an instant, a flirtatious arm slung over her shoulders. "Dang, Dickie. You got something you've been meaning to tell us?"
Serafina laughed, much to Wally's delight, and Dick jokingly pushed him away from her. "Come on dude. That's my sister you're talking about."
If he had been drinking something it probably would have been squirted out his nose. Wally stared with wide eyes at the two. "Sis-Sister?!"
Dick flashed that devil-make-care smile. "Yep. Wally, Roy, I'd like you to meet my twin sister, Serafina."
She bobbed her head at the dumbfounded pair before her. "Nice to meet you both."
Roy nodded slowly, regaining his bearings. "Twins?"
She nodded. "Fraternal. I know it doesn't look like it, but we are."
Roy leaned over to Dick. "And why is this such a big secret?"
"Because no one outside this building knows she's real. She doesn't trust anyone." Roy glanced uneasily at the youngest Grayson as Dick continued, addressing Wally now as well. "Look, she's had a rough life, and she's put her trust in people who threw it back in her face. The only reason she's standing in front of you right now is because you two are my best friends and she wanted to meet you. If I can trust you, she's sure she can. But no one can know just yet."
The other two redheads nodded, slowly digesting the new information. They stared at her for a good five more minutes before she sighed at put her hands on her hips. "Look, I know all this is new and everything, but you boys are shirtless for a reason, and if you're not gonna get in now, then I guess I'll have to do it for you." With that she stepped toward them and planted a hand firmly on each of their chests, giving then a strong shove into the water. They both splashed into the pool, coming up sputtering and coughing. Dick laughed as he too jumped in with a loud cry of "CANNONBALL!" and a big splash in the water. Serafina smiled and shook her head at her brothers' antics before sitting in one of the unoccupied lounge chairs. She would join then in the water later. For now she would just watch.
The three wrestled and played in the water for about an hour and a half before Wally decided that he wanted to try the new diving board that had been installed. It was a springboard diving board, about ten feet above the water. Wally had thought that ten feet would be enough space to do some of the cool stuff he had seen on TV until he actually launched off. Then he realized how wrong he was. Roy, Dick, and Serafina all cringed at the sound of Wally hitting the water in a belly flop.
"Ow." He said, wincing. He was lying beside the pool, propped up on his elbows after hauling himself out of the water. Serafina was kneeling next to him, right on the pool edge, dipping her hand into the cool water and dribbling it of the smarting skin of the speedster's bright red stomach. Dick and Roy were both still in the water, their arms up on the edge as they watched, trying and failing to hold in their laughter. Finally they couldn't take it anymore, and doubled over in the water with laughter. Wally groaned and Serafina splashed water in the other two's faces. "Now you two, be nice. Even though that was an epic fail."
The speedster glared at the redhead girl. "Oh and I suppose you could do better."
"Um, yeah, I could."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Prove it."
"Fine." Wally arched an eyebrow as she stood and made her way toward the board. She climbed to the top and stood on the edge, looking down calmly at the crystal clear water beneath her. The 16 year old was sure she would never be able to do anything better than he had done, but just then she leapt off the edge. The first thing he noticed was that she sprung about 3 feet higher in the air right off the board than he had, then he saw what she could do. First she tucked her knees up to her chest and did a couple of flips before going into a a few twists. To finish she did a split in the air and then twisted downwards into a diving position, sliding into the water with only a small splash. Wally's and Roy's jaws hit the ground for the second time in a day, too dumbfounded to speak. Serafina swam to where the other teens were and hauled herself out of the pool, her hair glistening in the golden rays of sunlight like a solid red sheet. She smirked at the expressions of the older boys and lightly kicked Wally's shin, water rolling down her smooth legs. "Told you I could do better."
"And you weren't kidding! Geez, where'd you learn to do that?"
She shrugged. "Hey, I'm a Grayson. I taught myself the gymnastics, but I guess the flexibility just comes." She took all her hair into her hands and brought it over one shoulder. She twisted it, wringing as much water as she could out of the blood red curls before tossing them behind her. She heard the smack of her hair meeting flesh and turned to see Alfred standing with a tray of food in one hand and another tray with four drinks on it in the other. She could see the wet mark from where her hair had hit his cheek, and the impact had thrown the Englishman off balance, causing him to spill one of the glasses of soda down his crisp white shirt. Her hand went to her mouth as her eyes got wide. "Oh my gosh, Alfred I am so sorry! I didn't 't hear you and-"
"It's quite all right, Miss Serafina." He handed one tray to her. "Purely accidental."
"Well look on the bright side Alfie." Wally said brightly. "Pepsi looks good on you."
Serafina sighed as Dick pulled Wally back into the water by the arm, using the speedster's back as a springboard to jump up on the ground and join his sister. He took the other tray from Alfred, who went back inside, but returned seconds later with four narrow cardboard boxes piled up in his arms. "Master Bruce asked me to deliver these to you."
The redheaded girl put down her tray and took the boxes. "Thank you, Alfred." The butler nodded in reply and strolled back into the house, shutting the patio door behind him. She set the boxes down of the ground and squatted next to them, cracking one open. She sucked in a breath and slowly let it out. A smile broke out on her face. "Oh. Bruce, I love you."
"What is it?" Dick asked, leaning over her shoulder.
Serafina grabbed whatever was in the box and stood, hoisting the thing up to her chest level. The dark blue plastic reflected back the sunlight. "Grab one, boys. I've always wanted to have a water gun war."
Grins split onto the faces of the ebony and two other redheads. Before too log they were all armed; Roy with a red water gun, Wally with a yellow one, Dick with a black one, and Serafina with a dark blue one. They all loaded their weapons and gave one minute for everyone to scatter and hide. Once that was up, the shooting began.
Bruce Wayne took a seat in a comfortable chair in the sunroom, gazing at the water fight through the glass door leading to the patio. He could hear everything through the glass, from the water guns being reloaded time after time to the manly if a little high pitched screams from Wally whenever one of the two Grayson's would hit him in the rear with a powerful spray of water. One time he watch Roy dart across the open patio o the pool to refill his tank. He was immediately under fire from Wally, who charged out into the open like a ticked off bull. Roy squirted blindly, and somehow managed to hit Wally the one place a man never wanted to get hit in. To his credit, it gave Roy an excellent escape strategy, sprinting past the other redhead, who was double over with pain. But the sounds that Bruce heard the most often were delighted peals of laughter coming from his daughter. For once he was glad that his initial reluctance to let Wally and Roy in on their secret had been proven wrong. That giggle made everything it took to get here seem so insignificant. The time it took to get her to look another male other than Bruce, Alfred, or Dick in the face, the weeks it took to get her to not begin every sentence with "sir" and not to answer any request they asked of her with "if it so pleases you." The long months it took to get her to even step off the Manor grounds alone. The nights trying to convince her that she didn't need their permission to sleep, that they weren't going to hurt her if she nodded off. After everything she had been through, it was good to see her laugh so easily and smile so freely.
The World's Greatest Detective was draw abruptly from his thought by the patio door opening and slamming shut again. He looked up to see the aforementioned redhead panting with her back pressed against the glass. She carded her fingers through her damp crimson curls, water running down her mostly exposed body. Bruce chuckled. "Enjoying the water guns?"
She gave him a look. "No, what would have ever made you think that?" She said sarcastically.
"Just a hunch." She laughed and glanced out the window, watching for her twin and his friends.
"You wanna come out? The lounge chairs are an off limits area, no one will shoot you there."
Bruce opened his mouth to refuse, but sighed in resignation when he saw his daughter giving him her own version of the puppy eyes. "Fine."
She grinned in delight and opened the window, motioning for him to follow her lead. He stood and followed her in the general direction of the lounge chairs. Just before they got there she yelled, "Go!"
Dick dropped from a tree, Roy and Wally sprang up from behind chairs, and Serafina turned abruptly to face him. The next thing he knew he was being attacked on all sides by water gun. "AUGH!"
He stumbled back and heard Dick yell, "Now! Go go go!" followed by a loud splash and the absence of one of the guns attacking him. He continued to be forced back towards the pool, raising his arms to protect his face when the bombardment suddenly stopped. He glanced up to see all three boys holding their guns and grinning like madmen. Dick waved at him.
Then he felt a pair of warm, wet arms wrap around his legs and yank him backwards. He fell with a shout and splashed into the water, his eyes stinging from the chlorine. His legs were promptly released, and e kicked to the surface, couching and choking on pool water. Another person rose to break the smooth water surface. A female laugh rang through the patio. He looked and saw Serafina trying to hide her smile behind her hand and failing. "You mad, Dad?"
For a moment he glared at her before chuckling himself. "I should have guessed."
"Yeah you really should've." They were interrupted by a loud cry and bare feet slapping against concrete. Dick jumped into the water with his family, splattering them both with water. He too surfaced, only he had his water gun with him, and began another water war.
Hours later, after everyone had come inside and showered and changed, Alfred walked into the den to tell the group that dinner was about to be served. He however was not greeted by the chatter and banter he expected.
Wally and Roy were both on the floor, Wally lying down with his head in the older redhead's lap while Roy had his back facing the couch, his head lolled to the side. Dick sat on the left, his head resting on Bruce's shoulders with Roy sitting against his legs. Bruce was next to him, his own head leaning on his son's and an arm around his daughter, a hand resting on her shoulder. Serafina was curl up against him, her legs folded to the side. Soft snores emanated from the group.
Alfred smiled and quietly shut the door behind him. Dinner could wait.
A/N: Well, that's that, and now the plot bunny went away! Yay! Sorry if it was too long or too short. Please leave a request and please review!
