Chapter 10: Gotham, Part 1
"Excuse me"
"Where are you going? We are in the middle of something here, Nyssa"
"And I will be back shortly, but I need to take care of something first"
"Your priorities still leave much to be desired"
Nyssa looked out the glass door to the bored looking boy sitting outside the office "I could say the same about yours, sister" she grabbed her purse and stepped outside, closing the door behind her.
The boy jumped off the couch excitedly "Khala!" he was about to run to her, but remembered all the times his mother berated him for doing so, choosing instead to stand there, fidgeting nervously.
The woman smiled and opened her arms "Come here, Damian!"
He sprinted faster than any ten year old normally could, and wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her tightly. Nyssa chuckled and hugged him back, kissing the top of his head before running her fingers through his messy black hair "How is my favorite nephew?"
The boy pulled away enough to be able to look up at her, giggling "I'm your only nephew!" he said in perfect arabic.
Nyssa smiled proudly and carried the conversation in the same language, the way she always does around her sister and nephew "Which makes you my favorite" both of them laughed as they pulled away from each other.
"Is Ta-er al-Asfer here, too?" he asked looking past her into his mother's office.
"No. And remember, Damian, her name is Sara" his aunt answered in English when she noticed Talia's assistant come back to her desk. It was a sign of respect she adopted a long time ago while in the presence of locals.
He nodded "Yes, I'm sorry"
"You do not need to apologize" she smiled warmly, making him smile, too "She wanted to be here to meet you, but her mother was visiting Star City, so she wasn't able to travel with me"
"I understand"
"However…" she paused and reached for something inside her purse "...she sent you this"
Damian smiled excited, reaching for the baseball cap his aunt was holding "Cool! Thanks!"
Nyssa chuckled at his expression "She promised to take you to a Rockets game, too"
"Really?" he looked up, his eyes filled with hope "It's summer break; can I go to Star City with you?"
The woman knelt down in front of him, adjusting the baseball cap, and spoke in a low voice "I will try to convince your mother to let you come with me. In the meantime, if you could stay out of trouble for the next forty-eight hours, that would help our case"
He blushed and looked down at his feet "I will do my best, khala"
"Thank you, Damian" she smiled and poked his ribs "Now go sit down and behave for a while longer, I have to make a phone call"
They boy nodded smiling and carefully turned around, walking calmly back to the couch and sitting down.
Nyssa took her phone out of the inside pocket of her jacket and looked at the screen, half smiling, half frowning when it read:
Sara 4min ago
iMessage (12)
She took a few steps away from the couch, putting some distance between herself and her nephew, while dialing Sara's number and waiting for the other woman to pick up.
"Did you see him yet? Did you give him my present? Did he like it? Is he excited? Did you talk to Talia about him spending a few days here with us?"
"Don't you need to breathe?" she could clearly hear the snort on the other side of the line.
"You know for a fact I can hold my breath for a surprisingly long time"
Nyssa cleared her throat trying not to blush "He is close by, so I cannot respond to that properly"
"Well, you can always call me from the hotel later and tell me what you're thinking"
"Sara, please?" she heard the other woman chuckle "He loved your present, beloved, thank you"
"Good! Is he wearing it?"
"Yes"
"Well, text me a picture! I wanna see it! Is he coming with you?"
"I still need to talk to Talia about that"
"What are you waiting for?"
"I had to step out of her office because I kept feeling my phone going off. Twelve text messages, habibti?" she paused, smiling and winking at Damian when the boy looked up at her "Are you hurt or dying?"
"No. I'm just excited! And a little bored, to be honest"
"Do you think you could entertain yourself for a few hours while I am busy here working?" and there it was, the same snort followed by a giggle "Sara"
"What?!"
"Don't"
"Don't what?"
"Do not say what you are thinking"
"Fine! We can discuss that later when you're alone. Oh! Wait! I've got an idea, is Damian still there?"
Nyssa looked at the very bored looking boy "Yes"
"Ok, cool!"
She moved the phone away from her ear when she heard the sound of the line going dead, and frowned confused, nearly jumping a second later when it started ringing again. She slid her thumb across the screen, holding the phone in front of her when Sara's face came into view.
"Hi, hottie"
The brunette rolled her eyes, but couldn't hide her smile "Was this your idea? FaceTime?"
Sara grinned "Yeah! Get Damian with you!"
Nyssa laughed and walked to the couch, sitting next to her nephew, who looked at her with a confused frown on his face "Damian, this is Sara" she said, holding the phone in front of both of them now "Sara, this is Damian, my nephew"
"Hi Damian" Sara said smiling "Dig the hat"
The boy giggled and readjusted it "Thanks! Hi Sara, nice to meet you"
"Nice to meet you, too, buddy. I've heard a lot about you"
"Yeah?" he asked, glancing up at Nyssa, who smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm sorry I couldn't be there today"
"It's okay, khala told me your mom was in Star City. You should be with her, family is very important"
The blonde grinned "Yes, it is. But I'm your khala's beloved, Damian, that makes us family, too"
"Yes, but my mom said there's no League anymore, thanks to khala" he paused glancing at the woman sitting next to him "So those rules don't apply"
"Is that what your mother said?" she waited for him to nod and smiled "Well, in that case, I guess khala and I will have to get married, huh?"
Nyssa chuckled and ran her fingers through Damian's hair again "Will you be alright here talking to Sara? Your mother is glaring at me, I should go back"
"Go, babe, Damian and I are cool. Right, buddy?"
"Yeah!" he smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Alright" she stood up and kissed the top of the boy's head before looking at the phone "I will call you tonight, beloved"
"You better; we still have to discuss that thing I mentioned before; that thing we haven't discussed in five days? Not that I'm counting..."
Nyssa blushed and groaned, shaking her head and walking back to her sister's office without saying another word, afraid her voice would betray her in front of her nephew.
"What is that ridiculous hat you gave my son?" Talia asked, never lifting her gaze from the papers in front of her.
Her younger sister sat back down across her desk smirking "A gift from Sara"
Talia looked up at her with one eyebrow raised "How is Ta-er al-Asfer nowadays?" she smirked at her sister's eyeroll and looked back at some other papers "I believe she told you we met before?"
"She did. I found it..." Nyssa grabbed a pen from her sister's desk and started signing the pile of documents still waiting for her "...amusing, to be quite honest"
"Amusing?"
"Of course" she tried not to let her smirk show "If I am not mistaken, there was 'much you could learn from her', Talia" she saw from the corner of her eye her sister's head snap back up, and could feel her stare burning through her. To say she was enjoying this, would be a massive understatement "Which is interesting, considering I was the one responsible for her training" she looked up at the other woman "So, apparently, that makes me partly responsible for your training, as well"
Talia narrowed her eyes, glaring at her "Don't forget I was partly responsible for your training, sister"
"Mh…" Nyssa contemplated smiling "...so, what you are implying is that, basically, I'm the one responsible for training all three of us? It would make sense, I am a most excellent trainer, after all"
Talia rolled her eyes with a groan "Just sign those documents, Nyssa. I do not wish to prolong this conversation more than necessary"
There was a soft, almost timid knock on the door, and both sisters looked up to see Damian standing on the other side "Come in, Damian"
The boy opened the door, bowing his head respectfully, silently thanking his mother for letting him in. He then handed the phone back to Nyssa, who took it with a smile, and folded his hands behind his back; his stance resembling one that Nyssa had seen others, and even adopted herself, when in front of her father "Auntie Sara said you should call her as soon as you are back at your hotel, khala"
"Excuse me, 'auntie Sara'?" Talia asked raising one eyebrow, looking from her son to her sister.
The boy looked at her and bowed his head again "She said I should call her that, since she and khala will be getting married"
His mother opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She tried again, with the same result, and that second time made her younger sister laugh "Do you have a problem with Damian addressing my fiancée in such manner, Talia?"
The woman narrowed her eyes again, but sighed and shook her head after a few moments "No, I do not. I believe congratulations are in order, then"
"Thank you"
There was a hint of a smile on Talia's lips, but Nyssa wouldn't dare to comment on that just yet. Instead she went back to the last documents that needed to be signed.
"Dinner tonight?" her older sister asked "On me, of course; to celebrate your engagement. Just the three of us"
"I would enjoy that very much, thank you"
Damian smiled, excited at the idea of having dinner with just the two of them, and leaned closer to his aunt whispering "Khala, did you ask her?"
"Ask me what?" his mother asked looking up and closing the binder she was holding.
Nyssa looked at him and roller her eyes "You know…" she said still looking at the boy "...if Sara was here she would say something close to 'seriously, dude?'" she said in her best american accent and sighed "No, I did not have the chance to ask her, Damian"
"Again, ask me what?"
The boy nodded encouragingly, and Nyssa sighed again "Do you believe it is possible for Damian to spend a few days with us in Star City?"
"No"
"Why not?!" the boy blurted out and immediately regretted it when his mother glared at him.
"Excuse me?"
He looked at the floor and swallowed hard, resuming his previous stance "I apologize, mother"
"Damian, do you mind leaving us alone for a few minutes?" Nyssa asked the boy, who looked at his mother for instructions.
"Leave us" she said, and he walked out bowing his head again.
"I am fully aware you are his mother, and I do not wish to intrude. But may I ask what the reasons behind your decision are?" her younger sister asked calmly once the boy was sitting on the couch out of earshot.
"I do not look forward to have my son running around Star City with poorly trained, weak men wearing ridiculous hoods" she said sternly "He is League trained, and I am familiar with the way your 'friends' feel about the League"
Nyssa took a deep, calming breath "I do not 'run around with men wearing hoods', if you must know; there is no reason to assume I would expose Damian to that. Sara and I are League trained, in case you forgot. And I trained Laurel Lance and Thea Queen myself"
"Isn't that the usurper's daughter?"
"Are you implying she should be judged by her father's actions?"
"Not at all, I was merely curious"
Nyssa smirked, knowing her sister too well to actually believe she was 'merely curious' "I hope you know that regardless our…" she paused looking for the right word "...differences, I love Damian dearly and, both Sara and I, would do anything to protect him from harm"
Talia looked down at her hands, deep in thought. After a moment she looked back up into her sister's eyes "I do wish to put our differences aside for good, if I am being entirely honest" she smiled at her sister's surprised expression "Don't give me that look, Nyssa, I never wished you harm. Regardless our youthful discrepancies, I would like to believe we can be civil with each other now as grown women. We are family, after all"
"We are" the other woman agreed with a nod "I'm glad to hear you see it that way, too"
"And, despite my previous…" Talia smirked, amused with herself "...childish attitude toward her, I do like Sara. She is a most excellent warrior, and anyone can see how much she loves you"
A/N: Media available for this chapter. If interested, PM for details.