Chapter 10:
"Good morning…" Daphne sighed, rubbing her eyes.
She had just woken up and had reached the kitchen as Bruce was all ready to head out. She looked around in search for Damian but he was nowhere to be found. Alfred was preparing some breakfast for her, knowing that she would be waking up at the time.
"How are you feeling, Daphne?" Bruce asked.
"Still a little dizzy. Master Damian really outdid himself yesterday," Daphne replied.
Bruce nodded. "I'm sorry for leaving him to you."
Daphne smiled and shook her head. She replied, "That's okay…"
Bruce suddenly remembered something. "I got a call from the school board yesterday. They said your sister quit."
"Yeah…she did. The teacher said she had to take over the family business. I'm glad she's alive…" the girl smiled.
Damian made an appearance with a sword in his hand. "Why would you be glad? She tried to kill you," he interrupted.
Daphne jumped at his voice. She rushed behind Bruce when she noticed what he was holding in his hand. She was trembling. Bruce shook his head at her reaction. She was still afraid of swords even after all the days she spent with Damian. Damian sheathed the sword, acting as if he didn't notice how scared she was. He took the sandwich that was prepared for her before walking away. Alfred rolled his eyes at the boy's behavior. Bruce patted her head once and headed out after that.
"What will you be doing today, Miss?" Alfred asked, preparing another tuna sandwich for her.
She took a seat close to where Alfred was and replied, "I'll do my revision today. School is in a month's time and I still have a lot to cover."
"That is a good idea," Alfred agreed.
He handed her the new sandwich. She munched on it slowly, smiling happily. Alfred patted her head before exiting the kitchen. Daphne's smile turned upside down immediately. She was thinking of going out to find her sister. She wanted to know her whereabouts. She made her way to her room to change her clothes, but she bumped into Damian before she could reach it.
"I'm sorry!" she apologized.
"Going somewhere?" Damian asked her.
Daphne stared into his eyes. The boy raised a brow. She looked away immediately.
"Umm…I'm heading out. I w-want to find Delphinium…" the girl drawled.
"Why? Your sister wants nothing to do with you," Damian replied coldly.
"How did you know that?" Daphne asked.
"She would have tried to contact you if she wanted to, but she didn't," the boy replied.
The girl looked down sadly. She entered her room and closed the door. Damian stared at the door for mere seconds, confused. Then, he took the path towards the library. Meanwhile, Daphne lied in bed, thinking hard of what Damian had said. Was it true?
Delphinium tied her hair into a bun. She was in her office, scheming some new clients while waiting for Samantha Vanaver. The blonde had made an appointment with the girl to discuss their future partnership.
"Miss Aldrin, your guest is here," Arnold announced.
"Good, bring her in. I'm ready to see her," Delphinium replied, standing up from her chair.
Samantha came in after Arnold exited the office. Delphinium smiled to her and she smiled back.
"I thought I could meet your sister today," Samantha said.
"I have decided to not get her involve. She's happy with her life, living as Mr. Wayne's maid," Delphinium replied calmly.
"Oh? She's with Bruce?" the blonde asked in disbelief.
The girl nodded. "Well, I'd like to offer you something…" she smirked.
"Hmm? I like the way you think, little girl," Samantha remarked.
"Let's just say I'm always underestimated by people. They don't know my true potential…" Delphinium replied confidently.
Samantha sat with her on the sofa. The girl revealed that she knew about Samantha's secret and would like to keep it a secret. She had her condition, which was she wanted to join in the research department. Samantha agreed, considering that Aldrin is one of the wealthiest companies around the globe.
"I'm glad you'd take my offer. We'd need lots of your intelligence for our research," Samantha said.
"I know. I looked it up, no offense," the girl replied.
"None was taken, because you're one of us…and for a thirteen-year-old, you are one of our greatest assets now," the blonde smirked.
Delphinium nodded. Samantha explained to her what she had to do. The girl listened attentively.
Daphne watched Robin and Batman training together again. Batman was giving him some tips and insights about how to tackle the enemy, while Robin kept on repeating that he already knew. She just watched those two tongue-fighting and fist-fighting at the same time. It was an entertainment to her.
"That's enough for today. You never listen to me," Batman said, exhaling heavily.
Robin wiped his sweats and replied, "I told you I already know that!"
"You still think that vengeance is better than justice!" Batman said sternly.
"I do not!" Robin shouted.
"Prove it!" Batman stared at the boy, piercing his gaze on him, "Every time we went on patrol, you hurt the criminals as if you wanted to kill them. Daphne couldn't stop you at all."
Robin turned his back to his father and walked away. He passed by Daphne. The girl gave out a small smile. He exited the cave. The young maid turned to Batman.
"Go look after him… He needs you more," he muttered.
Daphne nodded. She rushed to catch up with Robin. Robin slammed himself onto his bed, groaning. He took off his mask and stared at the ceiling. Daphne stood at his door.
"Why can't he just leave me alone?! I've been following his rules all this time!" he grunted.
"He's just worried that you might make another mistake. That's what fathers do…" Daphne muttered.
"Yeah, right. The way I see it, he just wants me to play by his rule," the boy said, standing up.
He took off his cape, glancing up at the girl. Daphne bit her lower lip. She closed the door and turned her back to him. Damian took the time to change into his usual turtleneck shirt and black pants.
"I don't get why he wants me to be like him. What if I want to decide my own life?" Damian muttered putting on his shirt.
"I know…he doesn't have the right to decide for you, but he means well. He just wants the best for you," Daphne muttered, pulling at the hem of her dress.
She suddenly felt someone breathing behind her. She instantly turned around. She was facing Damian's chest. She bit her lips, faintly blushing.
"You really think so? Was your father like that?" he asked.
Daphne took a step back. "Umm…well, I guess. I'm not as smart as my sister, so he didn't really take notice of me… So did Deathstroke…"
Damian raised a brow. He didn't say anything after that. He exited his room and the girl followed him. They went to the kitchen. Daphne stared and yawned. It was almost her bedtime and she would get sleepy so easily ever since she started to be Phoenix again. Damian took his time, making himself a cup of tea.
"Are you sleepy?" he asked, handing her a cup.
"Yeah…I'm sorry I can't stay up with you. Master Bruce had asked me a favor for tomorrow," she muttered, rubbing her eyes.
Damian stared into his tea. "Yeah…you should go to sleep. I want to read some books first."
Daphne nodded. She washed her cup. "Good night," she said before walking away.
Damian was trying his best to be the son Bruce wanted him to be. They have been doing well at reducing crimes around town. Delphinium was always spying on them, being as sneaky as all the time. Daphne was told by Bruce to research about the missing children around Gotham.
The first night of March, she was waiting for Bruce to come back from his office to give her reports on the missing children. She was progressing very well and was proud of it. She decided to wait for him in the Batcave, but on her way she caught sight of Damian in his uniform. He glanced up at her. Feeling the urge to follow, she rushed to his side.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"Change into your uniform. We're going out," he replied.
Daphne followed him to the Batcave. It took her not more than two minutes to change into her uniform. When she was ready, Robin started the Batmobile. Damian caught the panic in her face.
"Are you coming?" he asked her calmly.
"I g-guess…" she replied.
He was headed towards a town called Ichabod. Daphne sat beside him, wondering whether he was going to contact Batman or not. He sent Batman a quick message.
Sensing something was off, "How did you know about this?" she asked.
"I've been sneaking into your room and hacking into your laptop over the past few days," Robin calmly replied without a second thought.
She didn't ask any further. She stared into the distance. They had just passed the welcome sign for the abandoned town. Batman was on the line. Robin spoke to him privately since Phoenix forgot her communicator. The boy stopped the car. They both got out of it.
"I'd like to hear that," Robin suddenly said, "Hello, officer, my son stole the Batmobile…"
Phoenix found that not amusing. She kept on listening. They soon came to a toy factory. Robin mentioned that all of the missing children owned toys made from the factory. Daphne puffed her cheeks, angry that he took all of the information she had about the missing children. He replied to Batman saying that he won't do anything. The girl assumed Batman told him to stay put. Being as reluctant as always, the boy sneaked into the factory anyway. Phoenix shook her head once, before following him. It was dark inside. She could live with that. Robin handed her a torch. She started to scheme around with him. Some faceless dolls were hung up on the ceilings.
"That's scarier than the pictures I've picked up…" she muttered.
"Stay close…" Robin said to her and then, replied to Batman, "Yes, she's with me, like always… No, I'm not gonna let her do anything dangerous."
They stepped forward, between the shelves. They saw more faceless dolls on the floor. Phoenix held Robin's hand, stopping him for a while.
"Scared?" he asked her.
"A little…" she said bluntly.
She hates dolls, not to mention the ones in front of them were faceless. Sighing, he held her right hand in his left one. She started to walk again with him. They went down some stairs. Robin started another conversation with Batman, saying that the factory was once belonging to a man named Winslow Schott. Phoenix blocked out the conversation because she knew he stole the information from her laptop. She kept on looking around. They spotted a desk with a white cloth, stained with blood, covering something. Phoenix held his hand tighter.
"Just…calm down," Robin sighed, not expecting it would turn out this way.
They soon came to some cages, where children were held captives. Robin was a bit surprised. He squatted down to look at all of them.
"Victimized…children," he muttered.
"Oh, my…" Phoenix breathed.
"You're worried about the little ones?" a voice spoke.
Robin stood up and looked around. They searched for the owner of the voice. A light lit up in another room, right across the one they were in. All of the children hid deeper into their cages. A man stood at the entrance, with a bucket in his hand. Phoenix couldn't bear to see him.
"Don't be. You see, I love them more than you could ever know," the man said.
"Schott?" Robin asked.
The man stepped forward. "Anton Schott died when he was a little boy when the monster took away his innocence. I'm not Anton. I am the Dollmaker," he said.
"Go hide…" the boy whispered to Phoenix.
"But…these children," the girl replied.
"Batman is on his way. They're safe as long as they're in the cages. I can fight all I want…"
"But, you're fighting children too..." she replied, as children were released from their hiding spots and were now standing between the two and the Dollmaker.
"Just go hide," Robin slightly raised his voice.
Phoenix let go of his hand. She backed away, before rushing into the darkness.
"Robin…remember, justice, not vengeance…" she whispered.
"Oh…there's no use in hiding. These children knew every inch of this place," the Dollmaker said.
He ordered the children to attack Robin. Phoenix tried her best to hide but was with no luck. One of the children did spot her. Some of them rushed in to attack her. She jumped away on time and knocked the children unconscious one by one. Batman made an appearance from above.
"I can take care of myself," Robin said.
"An alternate response would be, 'Thanks, Batman'. I guess I expected too much," Batman muttered.
Amidst the fight, the Dollmaker made his escape. Robin noticed and followed him.
"Robin, no!" Batman called out, turning to Phoenix, "Stop him from doing anything rash."
The girl nodded and rushed outside too. When she got there, she saw the Dollmaker with a sharp tree branch, ready to stab Robin. Before she could warn him, a man, dressed in a brown suit, wearing an owl mask, stepped in. He ripped out the Dollmaker's heart with his talon glove. Phoenix covered her mouth to muffle her scream. She immediately hid, so that the man would think that he was alone with Robin.
"Don't doubt your instincts," he said before leaving.
Batman came just after he left. "What have you done?" he asked his son.
"You think that I…?" Robin was speechless.
"All these months together, all that I've taught you, you revert to the assassin your grandfather wanted you to be," Batman said.
Phoenix came into the picture to stop him from lecturing Robin any further.
"I could've done it easily, but I didn't…out of respect for you," Robin replied.
Hearing sirens not far from where they were, Batman asked Robin who killed the Dollmaker. He replied coldly that Batman should figure it out himself. Then, he ran away to escape. Phoenix wanted to follow him.
"I'll give you a detailed report after this, I promise!" she said to Batman before following Robin.
Robin ran deeper into the forest behind the factory. Phoenix was right behind him, or it should be Daphne since she had taken off her mask.
"Robin! …Master Damian, wait up!" she called, catching her breath.
Robin stopped. He clenched his fists angrily. "He never trusted me!" he shouted, letting out all his anger on her.
She stood there, listening. "I never break the rules! I've been constraining myself from killing anyone…! All for nothing!"
He fell to his knees, inhaling and exhaling angrily. He was trying to calm himself down. Daphne looked at the boy. She approached him, intending to place her hand on his shoulder as comfort. She hesitated. She decided t comfort him with words instead.
"He was just worried about you. He was worried that you didn't change at all…" the girl spoke up.
"I'm trying! I'm trying my hardest damn it!" Robin turned to her.
"I know. I've been watching over you, remember…?" she replied.
Robin's anger died down when she suddenly sneezed. He stood up and faced her. She gave out a warm smile to him but she was trembling.
"L-Let's just go back to the manor for now, okay? Take a nice long bath and calm yourself," she stuttered.
Robin nodded. He didn't know why, but he wanted to take care of her well-being, so he would do whatever it takes to make sure she is fine.
And thus, we enter the second movie with a distant Damian and a very concerned Daphne. Don't forget to review! If you want that is... :)