I added a part about Delphinium training Daphne so that it makes a little sense in the next movie. The time skip is long because I need to develop these two girls' relationship with each other.
Chapter 14:
Daphne got down to the kitchen in her casual clothes. She decided to head to the office that day but didn't want to stand out too much.
"Good morning, Miss Daphne. Your sister had already left a few minutes ago," Tiara explained.
Daphne flashed a smile and said, "Morning. It's okay. I'll go there by myself. She did say she has an important meeting to attend to."
"I see. Would you like some toasts?" the maid replied and offered.
The girl nodded. She looked around. Not much has changed since she left. It was almost two years since her parents' death. Delphinium hadn't explained anything yet to her but Daphne was being patient. All she knew that the family's business is on the verge of bankruptcy and her sister is trying her best to prevent that. She knew she has to help in any way she can…but, what can she do? Her older sister has always been better at her in everything. A sigh escaped her lips.
Upon hearing it, Tiara asked, "Is something the matter?"
Daphne gave out a small smile, taking a toast and spreading butter on it. "I don't know what I can do to help the business. Delphinium has always been better than me at everything…" she muttered sadly.
"I'm sure you can do as much as she can. You're sisters…and I know that you haven't noticed, but you've been catching up to her," the maid said to comfort the girl.
"I hope you're right. I'll head there for now and see what I can do to help out…" the orange haired replied with a somewhat uncertain face.
After breakfast, she dragged herself to the office. It was located near some other tall buildings which Daphne could hardly recognize, but one of them belongs to Wayne Enterprise. She was amazed at how much fortune the Wayne family actually carries. She entered the Aldrin building for the first time, after five months leaving Wayne Manor. All eyes were on her. Since she was wearing a black A-line skirt and a maroon blouse, most people didn't think of her as someone important. She had never stepped foot in the building after all. That was her first time. Delphinium made an appearance down the escalator. She caught sight of her sister.
"Daphne!" she called out happily, welcoming the girl with a hug.
"Hello, Sis. I came by to see what I can do to help…" Daphne said rather awkwardly.
She heard some whispers. Delphinium nodded approvingly towards her. She took her by the hand and pulled the girl to follow her. Daphne obliged without even saying anything. She bit her lower lip as some clerks were giving her glares. They took the elevator up to the fifth floor.
"Well, for now, I just want you to sort some paperwork for me. I mean, I am good at it, but I am not as observant as you. I want you to choose some companies that we can form partnerships with…" the older orange haired explained.
They stopped in front of a glass door. Daphne could see what was inside. There was a desk with a hologram computer on it and beside the desk was a shredder. There were shelves on the wall and on it were papers, sorted out by alphabetical order.
"Those orders are sorted by me. I just need you to find the ones that have potential and can be trusted," she continued her explanation.
"So…this is like my office?" Daphne asked.
"Yes. Since you decided to quit elementary school, you can work… But I want you to go to school once the next Spring rolls by," Delphinium said to her sister, patting her head once, "Well, I have another meeting to attend to. See ya and good luck!"
Delphinium sighed as she listened to the demands of the partners that were involved in the late morning meeting. She flipped through some of the papers in front of her as she listened.
"So, you're saying that you're going to withdraw your sponsors for our Japan branch? May I know why?" she asked.
"Well, the Japanese have their own beliefs. They hardly need your pharmaceutical knowledge over there. Your company's growth seems to be stunted there," the woman, a representative from a company in Japan, explained to her.
"Miss Delphinium…" her assistant called and whispered some things to her.
Delphinium nodded to her assistant. She turned back to the woman who was waiting for her reply. She flashed a smirk.
She said, "I guess we can work on the papers of your withdrawal from being one of our sponsors. You have a point about the country."
"I see. Then, my assistant will contact you to work out the details," the woman said.
She stood up, bowed and took her leave with two of her colonies who accompanied her. Delphinium sighed and turned to the next person waiting for her, a representative from a cosmetic company in Malaysia. The man smiled and nodded as a greeting.
"What are your demands?" she asked.
"Well, we thought you should expand our partnership. Your knowledge and guidance are very well accepted in our company. It has been a great help," the man explained, showing her the company's profit margin over the years.
"Expand? We have nothing to offer much anymore. We haven't been getting any profits from our side… I know I shouldn't be saying that…and this, but our company is low on income right now," she explained.
"That is why I am here, with an offering…" the man flashed a smirk at her.
Delphinium furrowed a brow. She listened to the man's offer with her assistant jotting down notes for her.
Meanwhile, Daphne sank in her chair as she searched for information about a company she was reading. It was a cosmetic company around Gotham City which was still crawling its way to gain more profit. She thought that they could help the company and share the profits with them. Someone was at her door, chuckling at the reactions she was making as she scrolled the net.
"First time I saw you this messed up," a familiar voice said.
Looking up, she was surprised to see her visitor, "Master Dick! What are you doing here?"
"I thought I should visit you. It has been five months since you left Wayne Manor and we haven't heard from you. Alfred sends his regards," Dick explained his visit.
"Would you like some coffee?" she asked.
Shaking his head, he replied, "I thought we could grab lunch. There is something I'd like to talk about…"
Daphne furrowed a brow and muttered, "With me? That's unusual…"
She stood up and walked up to him. Dick kept the smile on his face. Delphinium suddenly came in with a groan, ready to complain to Daphne about the meeting she had just had. She stopped and stared at the unusual visitor.
"How did you get in here?" was what she said first.
"I just told them that I am a friend of their boss," he replied calmly.
Delphinium turned to her sister. Daphne shrugged. She turned to stare at Dick again. She made a dissatisfied face at him.
"Taking my sister on a date or something?" she muttered.
He chuckled and replied, "Yeah…something like that. May I?"
Daphne stepped up, "He came all the way here after all… Can I go?"
Her sister sighed. "Okay…but be back for dinner. Mana and Tiara are cooking your favorite," she gave in.
The younger Aldrin nodded. She smiled at Dick and followed him out of the office. Delphinium sighed again. She decided to eat lunch by herself. Daphne took the extra helmet Dick had brought. They rode his motorbike to a small café. They sat down and ordered some snacks.
"So, care to explain?" Daphne asked.
Dick nodded. "You still keep yourself in shape?" he asked.
"Yes. I played around with my sister. She told me I have to be ready in case there will be another 'kidnapping'… She said it sarcastically," the girl replied, smiling at the waitress who had brought their food.
She started to eat her cake, waiting for Dick to react. Dick sipped on his coffee.
"I see. That's good then. I thought of training you…" he muttered.
"Why?" she asked, rather surprised.
Dick smiled and explained, "This is just a thought, though, maybe making you stronger would not drag him down too much…"
"He's in the Himalayas…" she said, looking down at her tea, "I…do not need to care about him anymore."
Dick chuckled at her reply. "I hope you're right…" he muttered, munching on his donut.
"Besides…I will never be Phoenix anymore. I'm just training for fun now since Delphinium won't stop bugging me to be her sparring partner," she replied coldly.
The young man nodded to her explanation. He finished his donut and looked at her face. He noticed something was different on her hair.
"Why are you wearing the Phoenix hairpin…?" he suddenly asked.
Daphne looked at him and touched the hairpin. "I couldn't find the one I used to wear. That was actually a matching one with my sister's hairband. We had it since we were three…and I lost it," she sighed.
"What was her reaction?" Dick asked.
"Hmm? She said it was okay…she'd buy me a new one but it'll be hard to find the exact same one…" Daphne explained.
Furrowing his brow, he suggested, "Don't you think Damian may have taken it?"
The girl gave out a frown. "Why would he? It's not like he can wear it…" she scoffed.
"As a memento maybe…like how Bruce gave you that hoodie," he teased.
"Haha…very funny…" she replied, a bit anger in her tone.
They finished their food and Daphne paid for it. Dick insisted that she should visit Bruce and Alfred. She nodded to his words, saying that she would think about it.
"How are they, by the way?" she asked.
"They're doing fine. They just missed the squeaky voice a certain girl would always make…" he teased her again.
"I will get you for that…" she said, gritting her teeth to hide her anger.
It was true. She had a sort of squeaky voice. It shows how spoilt and carefree she used to be. She couldn't change the voice at all. Her sister, on the other hand, has a deep and far more mature voice. She sighed again. Dick sent her back to the Aldrin building after their discussion.
"Thanks for the food," she said to him.
"I should be thanking you. You paid for it after all," he replied.
He patted her head once and then, left the place. Daphne looked down sadly. It was a lie if she had admitted that she didn't care about Damian. Damian had never left her thought. She just didn't want to think about it. He was the first boy to have caught her attention.
"How are you doing there, Master Damian…?" she uttered, touching the Phoenix hairpin.
"Hmmm…" Delphinium hummed, looking at the folders that her sister had brought for her.
It had been a week since Dick came to visit her. Daphne was progressing with her search for business partners for the Aldrin Pharmaceuticals. Delphinium was retracting any partners who are no use to them and also who they thought they cannot help. It was late at night and they were still at the office, sorting out some more details.
"I'm getting good at being evil…" Delphinium joked, staring at another paper her sister showed her.
"Aren't you always good at that…" Daphne laughed.
Delphinium started laughing too.
"Well, let's get going home. Tomorrow is Saturday. We can do some light sparring," she said to her sister.
"Fine…" the sister sighed.
They packed their things and headed straight home. Once they had arrived, they went to the kitchen to have their supper prepared by Tiara. After that, they went straight to bed. Daphne tossed and turned in her bed, thinking about Damian. She soon drifted off to sleep.
The next day, it was Delphinium's turn to make breakfast. She only made some toasts and fried bacon strips. She didn't want her sister to eat too much because she would be training her afterwards.
"Seriously, I don't get why you wanted me to stay in shape…" the younger Aldrin complained.
"I just want you to show Damian that you can fight too," Delphinium hummed happily.
She was busy preparing some things she wanted Daphne to try out. After breakfast, they went straight to the lawn or what Daphne would call the training grounds. It was full of obstacles and dummies that Delphinium and her two maids use to stay fit.
"Here," Delphinium handed her a small bag.
"Hmm? What's in here?" Daphne said, checking it.
She took out a stun gun. She frowned at her sister. Delphinium smiled, satisfied of what she had chosen for her sister.
"Since you're not the type to kill people, I thought stunning them is the most appropriate thing for you to do," she explained, pulling a dummy in front of her sister.
"So, should I just aim at it?" Daphne asked, confused.
"Nope…" her sister started, jumping up onto a tree and getting a target board ready on the branch.
"Then?" Daphne asked, playing around with the gun.
"Today," Tiara made an appearance beside the younger Aldrin, "We're going to teach you how to throw the gun towards your enemy…"
Daphne blinked, disbelieved that her maids were onboard with the idea. Delphinium jumped back to her sister's side. She nodded to what Tiara had said.
Daphne shook her head and blurted, "Why would I throw this? It is not for throwing!"
Tiara and Delphinium turned to look at each other.
"Mana is working on a design to make it easier to throw. For now, we have to use this one," Delphinium explained.
Daphne sighed. There was no arguing with her sister. She knew that she could never win. Delphinium smiled happily. She explained to Daphne what the girl had to do. Tiara stood by and watched the two. She was happy that the sisters were back together.