My first months at Wayne Manor could only be described as tense. If it wasn't my night terrors keeping the house from sleeping at night, it was Bruce and Jason, who now seemed to be at odds with one another on a constant basis. Jason didn't seem to care for my presence much either. It took quite some time before I would finally figure out why. Too much time.
"There we go Miss."
I looked down at my hands as Alfred removed the last stitch. My wounds had healed quickly under his care, but it didn't stop them from leaving the scars behind. "Is Bruce home today?" I asked, flexing my fingers.
"He's already left for the office. We're only left with Master Jason's company I'm afraid."
"Oh, joy."
"Joy, indeed."
I twisted in my seat, looking out into the garden where Jason was crouched on the grass, his back to the kitchen.
"Would you like to request your father's presence at lunch?"
"I-I don't want to bug him." I said, sliding from the stool.
"Very well." He sighed.
Bruce and I had been tip toeing around each other. I think it bothered Alfred more than he would say. I took the chance to slip out to the garden. Jason peered over his shoulder at me, but looked back down the lawn.
"What'cha doing?"
I was immediately shushed. Unperturbed, snuck around him, noticing that there in the grass at a struggling form of a bird. I squatted to the ground beside Jason. Watching the bird awkwardly drag it's wing, it was apparent that something was wrong. Jason had his hand resting on the ground, bird seed piled in his palm, but the bird didn't seem at all interested.
"That mangy stray tom must have gotten a hold of it."
I reached over, and took a pinch of the seed out of Jason's hand, paying no mind to the death look he shot me.
Slithering onto my stomach, I stretched out on the damp grass, letting some of the seed fall on the ground around my hands. The little red breasted creature was unsure at first, but slowly it at its way around my fingers, and when there was nothing left, it cautiously walked into my palms, seeking what I had left.
"Now, how the hell did you do that? Do you know how long I've been out here?" I stifled a laugh as I carefully moved back to my knees. "Mom taught me. She was really good with birds." I offered, watching him stare at me with a tilted head. "I probably shouldn't be holding it though. Put your hands underneath mine."
He hesitated at first, but finally begrudged me. His hands were freezing. I let the robin trade hands, by letting my fingers slide slowly out from under it. I didn't want to make any quick movements; the creature was already terrified enough as it was. "Your mom was a nice lady."
That stunned me. "My mom? You met her?"
"She's been here a few times." He said, rising to his feet, the robin resting in his hands. I must have been making a face.
"What? They didn't tell you?"
I shook my head.
"At first I thought she was just one of Bruce's flings…but I guess not." He shrugged. "Anyway. She was nice to me. Like I said I only met her a few times." Something in his tone was telling me to drop it.
I clamored to my feet, scrambling to get the door to let him in, trying to banish the thoughts about my mother. Why didn't Bruce ever mention it? Or Alfred? "Alfred! Jason found a bird."
"Master Jason found what?" Alfred asked as he walked back into the room.
"A bird."
"A robin." He corrected me. Alfred looked a little miffed to see the bird sitting in Jason's hands. "I see." I could feel like there was something being unsaid here, but there are so many moments like these I never saw the meaning in until so much later. My life happens to be filled with so much irony.
"Think you could help it?"
"I'm not a veterinarian." He stated, but as he looked at us he sighed. "But I shall try."
With some work, Alfred had the bird's wing bandaged. "Nothing looked broken, so I'm sure it'll be ready to fly again no time."
When the sound of the front door reached my ears, I darted for the foyer. I think it was the first time I had ever grabbed Bruce by the hand. "Come see! Come see!" I jabbered, leading him to the kitchen. I don't think I even gave him enough time to get a word in. "Look what Jason found." Jason, who was now sitting on a stool, eyes on the bird and its new antique cage, snorted.
"Huh." Bruce shed off his coat, and set his briefcase down. "How did you manage that?"
"I didn't." Jason pointed at me. "She did. Pipsqueak's a bird whisperer or something."
"Hey!" I saw fit to spit my tongue out at him. "But he found it."
"Yeah, yeah." He started to walk for the door when I cut into his path.
"Forgetting something?"
"What?" He looked over his shoulder. "The bird?"
"Yeah."
"You keep it."
I shook my head. When he stepped to the right so did I. He jived left, I followed. It was definitely pissing him off. "You found it. You should let it go when it's ready." I can't describe what flickered across his face before it twisted into exasperation. He turned, and picked up the cage.
"Happy now?"
"Yup." I then moved out of his way, letting him and the bird hightail it out of the kitchen.
I felt Bruce's hands give my shoulders a squeeze. "A bird whisperer or something…"
In the few weeks that passed, our small feathered friend grew stronger. Jason even started allowing me into his room, but only for a few minutes at a time. After that he'd swiftly kick me out.
"Hey."
I looked up from the feeder, prepared to make a quick exit. "I need you to take care of the feathered thing for a few days." Easing myself to the floor by the cage, I waited for him to elaborate. "Going out of town with Bruce for a few days."
"Can I go?"
"No."
Around that time I was starting to see a pattern. Jason and Bruce were gone quite a bit. Though they never really divulged to me where it was they went, one thing was always a constant, I was never allowed to go with them.
"Who's going to take care of the bird?"
I gave up. "Okay…okay." But when he grabbed his bag and started for the door, I followed. "Alfred said he should be ready to let go soon. So maybe when you get back-"
"Yeah Kid, when I get back."
Alfred caught me at the bottom of the stairs, by putting an arm around my shoulder.
"Keep Alfred company for me." Bruce told me.
"Yes, Sir." With that he patted my cheek, and left.
"Don't forget about the bird, Pipsqueak."
I never did. Even when Jason never came back.
Sitting at the piano, Delilah piddled with the keys, watching the black suits and skirts mill about the house once again. There weren't many people this time; though there weren't many people for the first wake she had witnessed either. Bruce had returned but he certainly wasn't the same man.
"Hey, Kiddo."
Dick slipped onto the bench beside her. "How are you holding up?"
Del let her fingers slip off the keys, and smoothed the black material of her dress with her hands. "I'm okay." She murmured, watching Bruce and a man named "Clark" exchange words.
"Worried about him, huh?"
"Yeah."
"Me too."
"He's been acting weird." If weird meant not leaving the house for days, throwing things and yelling at the top of his lungs, then yes, it was weird. Not that he said anything to her. Come to think of it, it was almost as if he was avoiding her.
"I know." He said, giving her a squeeze. "He's just really sad." That was a serious understatement. Laying her fingers over the keys, she mimicked the hands of a pianist. "Alfred's been giving you piano lessons hasn't he?" Dick asked, watching the girls fingers move in the air. "Yeah…"
"He tried that on me once. It didn't work out." He bumped her shoulder. "I'll keep an eye on him, if you will."
"Okay."
"What's that sitting by your foot?" Del's fingers stilled as she reached down to pick up the small black iron cage, revealing the wide eyed robin inside. "Jason found it right before they left…I was kind of hoping he'd be ready to fly by the time they got back." She shrugged. But they didn't come back. Not really.
"I'm sure he will, in his own time." With that Dick slipped from the bench, giving the girl's cheek a pinch, he wandered back into the crowd. However small it might have been.
Del stopped counting the minutes that she sat there. It was easier to tell the passage of time by how the people would leave. Soon, the house was void of quiet whispering that seemed to accompany these functions. The girl's fingers danced on the keys, emitting a trio of notes from the piano. The robin chirped. "Alfred!"
"Yes, Master Bruce?"
"I'll be going. "
Hearing him speak, Del rushed from the bench. The sound of her shoes, hitting the floor echoed through the empty halls as she ran. "Bruce. Wait!" But Alfred was the only one to be found. How did he keep doing that? How did he keep disappearing so quickly? "Everything alright, Miss?"
Letting her shoulders slump and her breath free, the girl simply nodded. "I just wanted to talk to him, but I guess it can wait." She amended, missing the look that passed across the old butler's face as she turned and went back from where she came. How many times had he seen that look of disappointment on Bruce's face as a child?
Returning to the piano, Del, fiddled with the keys, letting the notes echo throughout the room. As she got ready sit back down, she realized that the base of the grandfather clock had sprung open. The piano was quickly abandoned.
Pulling the hidden door open just a little further, she found nothing but stone stairs leading down into the earth. An old basement maybe? At the piano the robin chirped. Delilah quickly went back for her feathered friend before quietly closing the door behind her.
The walls felt rough and weathered beneath her hand, stranger still with the new scars. The robin was eerily quiet as if it too were trying to hone in on the soft squeaks and chatter she could hear below them. Delilah followed the stairs down, the moment the stairs ended, the girl could feel metal beneath her feet. Suddenly light flooded the darkness, revealing to her an entirely different world.
Computers. Cars. Motorcycles. Weapons. Costumes. Del looked up, watching the small dark bodies above her head. Bats. Thousands of them. Setting the bird cage down by the largest computer she spotted, she immediately moved to the platform, painfully aware how her footsteps echoed throughout the entire cavern. It was almost as if she were trespassing on sacred ground. She walked carefully, eyeing the bat suits. Who knew he had gone through so many? Batgirl. And of course…Robin.
It was nearly four in the morning when Bruce finally returned to the bat cave. But it did not slip his mind that someone else had been there first. It wasn't unusual for Alfred to wait up for him, Delilah was another story. He did not expect to find his small daughter, asleep at his computer, using her arms as pillows. Looking up at the screen he realized she had managed to find her mother's file, but hadn't been able to dig into it very deeply, or had only opted to go through the photos he had of her.
Reaching over her, he backed out of the file, watching as Paige's face disappeared into the screen. From the cage by the chair, the robin twitched. Simply blinking it's small round eyes at him. He had crouched down beside the chair just as Delilah lifted her head. For a long moment, neither said a word. He should have scolded her, but when her small hands reached up, to push the cowl from his face, any words he had planned to say faltered before they could make it from his lips.
"Jason was robin, wasn't he?"
Bruce simply nodded, not expecting the girl to put her arms around his neck.
Below them, the robin chirped, rivaling the chattering bats above their heads. "The robin's bandage came off a little while ago." She said releasing him from her hug and reaching down to show him the cage. "Jason was supposed to let it go…but-"
"I'll help you."
"Thanks, Dad."
A/N Prepare yourself. Damian is appearing in chapter 5. Mayhem, murder, hell, it's just all out chaos.
