Author's Note: Thank you to soccernin19 (I'm having a lot of fun writing Damian and Jason interaction! And I'm glad you liked Tim. I was a littler nervous writing from his point of view for the first time) and Guest 1 (With Jason having trained with the League I figured he'd at least be able to read Damian's cues and understand him. And neither Tim nor Ollie has exactly had a good time) for reviewing the last chapter! I own nothing.
Damian was unused to physicals sign of affection. He was a child that had been raised by a string of distant, nervous nannies until he was old enough to begin his training. Mother had often been distant and she had been most affectionate during the few occasions he became ill. Damian had no doubt that she cared for him deeply but she rarely allowed any emotions free of her tight control. Grandfather was a completely different matter. The man was cool, calculating, and ancient. He cared very little for Damian past the fact that the boy was Talia's only child. Grandfather had ensured Damian had the best caretakers and teachers available but wanted nothing to do with the boy until the point where Damian would be ready to take his rightful place in the empire.
After moving into Wayne Manor very little had changed. Bruce Wayne was not a man who seemed to believe in signs of affection and Drake did his best to emulate Father in every way. Brown had attempted to hug him once and Damian had almost stabbed her. She had never tried it again, although every once in a while she would reach out to ruffle his hair, even though it always earned her a painful slap. Grayson was different. In the last couple days Damian had been hugged and cuddled almost more than he had been his entire life. When the boy had been ill this had been acceptable but now that he had recovered, the boy knew he was required to behave properly. Todd was ruining all that.
Damian had somehow found himself pinned against the older boy's side as he was tugged down the hall to a room he'd never been allowed to enter. Drake had explained, in clipped sentences just a few days after Damian had arrived at the manor, that ever since Todd had been killed by the Joker no one had been allowed to enter the room. Damian had scoffed at the idea of keeping a shrine for a dead boy, especially one that was no longer dead. Drake had looked as if he had been contemplating punching the younger boy.
The ten year old squirmed when Todd stopped in front of the door but had surprisingly little luck breaking free. Instead he found himself tugged into a bedroom that, compared to Grayson's, was incredibly spartan in look. Everything was tucked away in its proper place, the bed was made without wrinkles, and the closet door was shut. It reminded Damian of home. Todd pulled the bedroom door shut behind them and tugged Damian across the room. The boy found himself perched almost nervously on the edge of the bed while Todd pulled of the helmet, revealing dark hair with white fringe at the front. Damian frowned as he considered the hair, recalling the few pictures he'd seen of Todd. Hadn't the older boy had auburn hair?
Todd was smirking and Damian realized he'd been staring in absolute puzzlement at the older boy's hair. "Apparently the Lazarus Pit didn't like my natural color," Todd commented dryly. Damian clenched his teeth, silently furious at himself. He was supposed to be better than this. "Hey, kid." Todd was suddenly crouched in front of him, just within striking range. Damian locked his muscles in place and tried to hide his uncertainty as he focused on Todd. "Got your head in the game?" Damian nodded, grateful that Todd had not asked if he was okay. Even the young assassin wasn't ready to face the truth of how he really felt. "Good. Now be a good little ninja and go to bed."
"You are not my father," Damian snapped simply for the sake arguing. He had an appearance to keep up after all.
"No," Todd replied with a smirk. "Your father's a man who ran around terrifying villains in a bat costume and was terrible with emotions. Now go to bed short stuff." Damian tried to growl but ended up yawning instead. Todd pressed a palm against his chest and Damian allowed himself to topple backwards, heavy eyelids already drifting closed.
Barbara watched from the safety of the clock tower as Tim and Stephanie headed back towards their respective bases. Stephanie was swinging towards the clock tower so the girl could change into street clothes and help Barbara home while Tim was only a few minutes away from the safety of the Batcave. The red head knew they were both still in turmoil over Bruce's death but they had done good work tonight. For the time being, Gotham was safe and sound. She could only hope it would last long enough for the Batclan to sort out what their roles would be in a world without Bruce.
The woman was just moving to shut down her computers, Stephanie only a few feet from swinging into the tower, when a window opened in the corner, and Barbara found herself looking at Felicity Smoak. The blonde's face contained a mixture of worry and utter irritation as she met Barbara's green eyes. "Dinah driving you crazy?" Barbara questioned, glad to have an excuse not to think of Bruce and her own problems, even if only for a few minutes.
"Everything has to be done her way," Felicity groaned. "And Dinah's way is definitely not the way Team Arrow normally works."
"Sounds stressful," the red head told her friend.
"No kidding," the blonde continued. "I'm going to kill Oliver when he gets his butt back here."
"And who's going to protect Starling?"
"Roy can be Green Arrow," Felicity replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. From behind Barbara's chair, Stephanie giggled. Barbara shooed the girl away to change and grinned at Felicity.
"Does that mean you're going to be Arsenal then?"
"As if," Felicity snorted. "Roy's girlfriend can come be his partner once the baby is born and I'll babysit." Both Felicity and Barbara knew about Roy's relationship with Jade Nguyen, also known as Cheshire, but neither one felt it was their place to tell anyone. Roy's secret was safe with them. "But that wasn't why I called. I wanted to see how you were doing."
"I've been better." Felicity's eyes narrowed at the distinct non-answer and Barbara sighed. "I'm trying not to drown here. Robin and Batgirl came flying into my home because they'd gotten into an argument with Nightwing." Felicity knew each of the Batclan's secret identities by now but using their hero names gave Barbara the courage to admit how bad the situation really was. "The only thing we seem to be missing is an Arkham breakout and we'll have a complete disaster."
"You know I'm here for you, right?" Felicity asked.
"Yeah," Barbara replied, managing a weak smile for her friend. "I know." Felicity had been there when the red head had first become Oracle, still upset about her new life confined to a wheelchair. The blonde was a good listener and, in Barbara's experience, gave good advice.
"Hey Babs," Stephanie called from the next room. "We going?"
"Yeah," Barbara called back. "We're going." Then she turned back to Felicity, "Thanks for checking up on me."
"Any time Oracle," came the casual response before Felicity signed off. Barbara shut down her computer with a smile that was small but happy none the less.
Cassandra Cain's flight arrived at the Gotham International Airport at just after 4:45 in the morning. The dark haired young woman gathered her belongings silently as people chattered to one another and stood in a single fluid motion that drew the attention of many around her. For a moment they could only stare at the woman in their midst, bemused by the fact that someone real could contain that much grace. She stared past them all while they observed her, not moving a muscle, and eventually they turned back to their own conversations.
The plane emptied slowly, Cassandra being one of the last people to exit. She made her way through crowds of people greeting one another, boots clicking on the grey tile, and headed for the baggage claim. As she waited for her bags to arrive she typed out a text message to let Alfred know she had arrived. Once she gathered her bags, the woman made her way to Pick Ups and Departures. She waited outside, bag resting by her side. After five minutes a man approached her, eyes on her purse. He had just reached for it when a slender hand with a grip like steel seized his wrist.
Cassandra turned cool brown eyes on him and she twisted his wrist warningly, waiting until his face paled before releasing him. The man scurried away and the young woman turned her attention back towards the road. An expensive black car pulled up in front of her and a slim smile crossed her face, fading so quickly that if one were not looking for it they would have missed it. An elderly man stepped out of the driver's side and walked around to embrace her. "It is good to see you Miss Cassandra though I wish your return was not under such terrible circumstances." Cassandra Cain hugged Alfred back and for the first time since she had heard the news she found herself fighting back tears.