Hello, world! I decided to add a time interval before going into the second movie to develop their relationship...and to develop Delphinium, too. She has a role in this fanfiction too.
Enjoy as always. Tell me what you think, 'kay?
Chapter 7:
Daphne was cutting some tuna sandwiches she had made. Alfred was with her at the time, making sure she didn't strain herself too much. Besides, she hadn't fully recovered from the events last four days. Daphne insisted that Alfred, Bruce, and Dick were too worried about her.
"I'm fine, Alfred," she sighed, placing the sandwiches onto a plate.
She got everything ready on a tray and was about to head to Damian's room when she bumped into him. She looked up at him, giving out a smile. His brows were furrowed as usual. He took the tray from her, walking up to the counter where Alfred was.
He sat down and turned to the girl, saying, "From now onwards, I'll be having my meal here. You don't need to go all the way to my room."
"It's my first day after not doing anything…" Daphne muttered.
"You haven't fully recovered yet. I don't want him to worry about you," Damian explained.
Daphne knew he meant Dick and not Bruce. Damian had become a rival of the sort to Nightwing. They had been glaring at each other ever since Deathstroke's death. Daphne couldn't really find the reason of those glares.
"Okay…" Daphne replied, saying.
She excused herself after that to go back to her room. Once she was there, she stared at her reflection in the mirror. A scar on her right cheek was clearly seen. It was a scar she got out of protecting Talia from getting stabbed by her sister.
"Delphinium… Are you still alive? If so, where are you?" she sighed, touching the long scar which starts from her temple all the way down to her chin.
"That scar won't go away by just looking at it," Dick startled her.
"Master Dick! How long have you been standing at my door?" she asked.
"Half a minute maybe?" Dick replied, walking up to her, "Here. I bought this ointment for you. It can help with the scar…"
Daphne took the small bottle he gave her. She read the label. Suddenly, she widened her eyes. Dick wondered why.
She muttered, "There's my family name on this…"
"What?" Dick asked, making sure he didn't hear her wrong.
Delphinium put on a black blouse and a matching black skirt. Then, she put on a denim jacket. She combed her hair, tied it up and smiled at herself. She nodded a few times before walking to the kitchen.
"Good morning, Miss Aldrin!" Tiara greeted her.
"Good morning, Tiara. I have to head down to the office again today. Seriously, that man I hired to take over before me is so not good at this," Delphinium sighed.
"Well, just eat your breakfast first," Mana said, serving her a bowl of her favorite cereal.
Delphinium smiled. She started to eat, thinking about her family's business. As much as she was satisfied with what they already had, she decided to expand the business. Being with Deathstroke made her realize her real potential. Her family owns one of the largest medical companies around the globe. She decided to make it better than ever, adding a little diversity. When she was done, she headed straight to the office.
"Ah, Miss Delphinium! So good of you to come!" the man she hired, which goes by the name Arnold, said.
"Arnold…you're messing around again?" she asked him.
"N-No! There's someone here that wants to meet the real boss of this company…," there was a pause before he continued, "…personally…"
"Who's that person? How did he know who I am?" Delphinium asked.
She heard footsteps. It was uncanny because these footsteps can only be made if the person is wearing a pair high heels. Delphinium turned around to find a blonde woman in a black suit. She smiled sweetly at the girl.
"Hello, my name is Samantha Vanaver," she introduced herself.
"Oh…I heard of you," Delphinium blinked, asking, "So, What brings you here?"
"I have a proposal for you…" Samantha said, her smile turning into a smirk.
Delphinium was getting more interested in the offer as minutes went by. Samantha explained why she was here. She would like to form a partnership with the Aldrin. As much as Delphinium liked the idea, she knew what she had to do first. She told the woman that she wanted to reschedule their meeting after that brief explanation.
"I have a sister which deserves to know this as much as I do. So, I need to inform her first," she lied.
"Oh, I see. I would like to meet her too then. Well, until the next time," Samantha said, smiling again.
Delphinium nodded. Once the woman was out of her sight, Arnold came back from his coffee break. He was told by Delphinium to go and have one. She told him to take his post back. She headed back home. It was time for her old self to make an appearance. She had decided to crack some information on Samantha, information that even the internet doesn't know.
Daphne watched Damian training with Bruce, in the Batcave, as Robin and Batman. They were fighting barehanded. Even with one arm broken, Damian was winning…or maybe, Bruce was letting him win? Daphne was in no shape to train. After those stabs and gunshots, she was told to not strain her body too much. They had to make sure she fully recovered before she could do anything. She sighed.
"That's all for today," Bruce said, after getting one last kick from Damian.
"I haven't had enough yet," Damian complained.
"I think you did pretty well," Bruce said, smiling.
He turned to Daphne. She smiled at him, walking up to them.
"Can I go to school tomorrow?" she asked.
"If you want…but Alfred would have to drive you," Bruce replied.
Daphne nodded, looking down and playing with her hair. Bruce knew what those acts meant. It was her way of saying that she had more to say. He waited for one minute before asking her.
"Well… It's almost the end of this schoolyear and my school's going to have a Father & Daughter Dance. Since I don't have a father anymore, I thought you'd go with me," she explained, staring into his eyes, "Will you?"
"When is this dance?" Bruce asked. "What will the boys be doing?"
Daphne explained, "Oh, they'll be running the event. We'll be returning the favor during the Mother & Son Dance. I don't even know why the school would do this…but, it's this coming Saturday…"
"Hmm… I may not make it. I need to patrol the city that night," Bruce muttered. "Maybe Dick can take my place. Is that acceptable?"
"So, you'd let me go if Master Dick agrees?" Daphne asked.
Bruce nodded. Damian suddenly blurted, "Why Grayson? Why can't it be Pennyworth?"
Bruce and Daphne stared. Daphne giggled. As much as she knew Alfred was in shape to dance, she didn't want to trouble him. To top that, he rarely gets out of the manor. Even to do the groceries, Daphne would volunteer to do every two weeks after school. Bruce shook his head. Daphne excused herself to go and call Dick to tell him the news.
"What's the matter?" Bruce asked, noticing that Damian was scowling.
"Nothing. I just don't like the idea of letting my servant go off with Grayson," Damian muttered, exhaling angrily.
Bruce smiled at his son. He rubbed his head, ruining his hair and earning a groan from Damian. They both went up to the manor after that.
The next day, Daphne was all ready to go to school. When she got to the car, Damian was leaning on it with his arms crossed. It seemed his arm had healed. She stared, confused.
"I want to see this so called school," he said.
"Sure. I don't have anything against that, but you know that Master Bruce forbids you from going out," she replied.
"I'll just stay in the car then," Damian replied, opening the door of the car.
Shrugging, Daphne got into the car after he did. Alfred was smiling happily at the two children. Daphne was uneasy as to why he wanted to come with her, but she tried to ignore it.
"Miss Daphne, would you like to go shopping after school? I am sure you would need a dress for the occasion tomorrow," Alfred spoke.
"Yeah, sure. Will Master Bruce come with us?" she asked.
"I'm sure he will. Master Dick will be tagging along," Alfred replied.
"I'm the only one who can't go out!" Damian complained.
Daphne smiled guiltily while Alfred muffled a laugh. For once, Damian was acting like a real child. They soon arrived. Daphne said goodbye and then, headed straight to her classroom, ignoring the stares she was getting. Damian wondered why.
Afternoon came at last and the school had ended. Bruce's car was already waiting for her. She got in with a smile, excited for the dance tomorrow. Dick was in the seat next to Bruce's. He smiled at the girl. Bruce told her that Alfred had to babysit Damian and she nodded. He drove them to Daphne's favorite shopping complex. Well, they had only been there once or twice because Bruce couldn't supply Daphne with appropriate clothing for a girl.
"So, what kind of a dress are we looking for?" Dick asked.
"I want a strapless dress," Daphne said.
"It's too revealing for a girl like you. No," Bruce replied sternly.
Daphne puffed her cheeks. "What if I wear a denim jacket outside?" she negotiated.
"Okay, but the dress must be covering all of your thighs," the man replied.
Dick chuckled. "Okay then… Let's go to that boutique," he pointed randomly at one of the three boutiques he had caught sight of.
They ended up spending four hours searching for a dress for Daphne. Bruce kept on refusing to buy the ones the other two had chosen because they were revealing, the fabric's too thin, the color's too bright and many more excuses. In the end, Daphne chose a dress with a color quite similar to the wings decoration on her Phoenix uniform. Bruce approved. She told him she already had a denim jacket to wear, and Dick was free for the day. Only Bruce and Daphne returned to the manor.
"Welcome back, Master Bruce, Miss Daphne," Alfred greeted them.
"Where's Damian?" Bruce asked.
"In his room…" Alfred replied, rolling his eyes once.
Daphne rushed to her room to try on the dress again. She was too excited for the dance. The dress was really simple. It was a mix of red and orange in color with white butterflies coming from the hem up to the chest part of the dress.
"That's too revealing," Damian said, startling the girl.
She turned to him who was leaning against the door of her room. She looked blankly at him.
"Master Dick likes it. Besides, I'm going to wear a denim jacket outside. Your father approved," she replied, turning her back to him.
She was back to looking at her reflection. She smiled happily.
"Why do you adore him so much?" Damian suddenly asked.
"Because he's kind to me…" Daphne answered bluntly.
Damian made his way to the kitchen, ignoring her statement. Daphne smiled, satisfied that he left her alone. She wondered why he was concerned but she actually didn't care at all. She hummed a tune as she changed into her maid uniform before going downstairs to prepare dinner.
In the middle of the night, Delphinium, back in her old uniform, the one she wore when she was working under Deathstroke, was spying on a group of people which had a connection to Vanaver.
"What are they up to? Why are they meeting in secret here?" she mumbled to herself and kept on watching.
Soon, Vanaver made an appearance. They opened up a secret door and entered the place. Delphinium sneaked in before it was closed. She saw them putting on masks of sorts. She tried to listen to what they were discussing. She was aware that there were surveillance cameras around and she was careful. Her pursuit came to a stop when more cameras were spotted. She couldn't go any further, so she made her escape. It was a good thing she decided to wear a hoodie that night to cover her hair.
"White bird-like mask… Hmm…I should look into this more. I'll ask Tiara and Mana to help me," Delphinium muttered, climbing up a building so that no one could trace her easily.
As she jumped from one roof to another, she thought of her sister. What would she do if she ever had to see her again? She knew she would be the one who has to make the decision because Daphne would think that she had died in the crash.
"I should explain to her soon..." she muttered.