Summary
gettingcomfyinyourwalls' DP x DC Prompt #19
An incident occurred near the Waynes, and while they are confident in their abilities to protect themselves, they need to keep up appearances and hire a bodyguard.
Enter Danny Fenton.
In the doorway stood three skinny young people who looked to be just out of their teens. Two of them looked nearly identical. They must be siblings. They were all dressed in civvies and had no visible weapons on them. Good, Bruce requested no guns.
"Hi! You called Fenton-Foley Protection Services? We're the Fentons, we" one of the boys waves to himself and the nearly identical girl, "handle the physical protection and Foley will handle your cyber protection."
Notes
If you're interested in what's to come, scrapped scenes, or are curious about my other works, check out my creative tumblr hinacu-arts"
Really Bruce, this is getting excessive." Commissioner Gordon was of course referring to the four successful kidnapping attempts made on Bruce's family in the last month.
"Believe me Gordon, I'm not happy about it either." Bruce sat in the back of an ambulance as a paramedic cleaned the cut on his head. One of the problems about keeping a civilian identity meant you couldn't really defend yourself past a few sloppy hits.
Gordon sighed, "I must ask you to reconsider hiring personal security."
"My children don't exactly do what I tell them, let alone strangers."
"Bruce, at this point I have to assign a protection detail to you and your family. Either you can find your own guys to replace them or you're stuck with mine."
That wasn't good.
"I'll start looking tonight."
Two days later the detail Tim put together had arrived. Tim specifically looked to hire someone less competent. The GCPD weren't very competent themselves, but that's besides the point. GCPD are already short staffed anyways, no need to waste a team on babysitting people who are perfectly capable of protecting themselves. And that included Tim with his broken leg.
These people were fairly new, had little experience, and were young. They should be easy to distract or shake if needed, and more likely to listen to their charges' requests (basically let themselves get bossed around by a couple of rich kids).
The GCPD officers had gone outside, trading off info with FFPS. Tim could see what looked to be a modified RV parked in the driveway. Tim grabbed his crutches and began making his way to the foyer.
The doorbell rang. Tim could hear Alfred introducing himself as Tim rounded a corner.
In the doorway stood three skinny young people who looked to be just out of their teens. Two of them looked nearly identical. They must be siblings. They were all dressed in civvies and had no visible weapons on them. Good, Bruce requested no guns.
"Hi! You called Fenton-Foley Protection Services? We're the Fentons, we" one of the boys waves to himself and the nearly identical girl, "handle the physical protection and Foley will handle your cyber protection."
"The Waynes?!"
Danny and Tucker were on their weekly videochat with Sam. Danny knew the Waynes were fairly well known, but didn't expect that strong a reaction when they mentioned to Sam they had accepted a job bodyguarding some rich folks. He had figured there was a chance Sam had met the family before, she was always saying all rich people knew each other.
"Yeah, what can you tell us about them?"
"Well," Sam said, "Bruce Wayne is one of the richest men in Gotham. Everybody who's somebody wants to be him or befriend him. The media makes him out to be a serial playboy but also an eligible bachelor. He has kids but the number of kids keep changing. It's too confusing to keep track of. I've met him personally like twice? He seemed a little air headed. He can't be too dumb though, he's surprisingly knowledgeable about what goes on in his company and seems genuinely interested in taking care of his employees and his environmental footprint. But honestly I've acted stupid too to get gala guests to leave me alone before, so I can't blame him."
"Alright," Danny watched as Tucker typed the words 'Bruce = fake himbo' in his note document, "and his kids?"
"They're called the Wayne Wards, since almost all of them are adopted. The oldest one is Richard. He's mid-twenties now, I think, and doesn't live at home so you might not even see him. He also has a reputation for being a bit of a flirt, just like his dad, but the press isn't nearly as obsessed with him. He's a cop.
"The next oldest is also the newest official member: Cassandra. I'm not sure what the press says about her but rich people gossip can't get enough of her. She doesn't show up to a lot of public events and she didn't come into the family until she was almost a adult. She doesn't talk much which has fueled the rumor mill that she's deaf or mute. They love to throw the word 'disabled' around. She's the only girl."
Tucker added 'Rick = cop' and 'Cass = ?' to his notes.
"Then there's Jason. A few years ago he was announced dead and then last year they said he was alive again. He refuses to have anything to do with the press or the Wayne public image, which of course makes him the mysterious bad-boy the media is obsessed with getting a picture of. He also doesn't live at home.
"Then there's Timmy. I've met him a few times but I don't think I've seen him since I was like ten or eleven. He's the current CEO of Wayne Industries. And he deserves it. That boy is smart. The media love to talk about how handsome and eligible he is but the truth is nobody really knows much about him outside his job as CEO. They love to tear him apart for drama since he's a CEO but also around our age. I don't think he lives at home full-time but you'll definitely be seeing him.
"Next in age is the kid Bruce is fostering. I'll be honest I know nothing about him. My parents have never met him and he's a minor so he spends most of his time in school. I think he's only been with the Waynes for a year. He's pretty new."
'Jason = Danny 2.0', 'Timmy = ceo', and 'new kid = ?' joined Tucker's list.
"And lastly there's Damian. He's the youngest and a real piece of work. Supposably he's mellowed out in the last couple years. He's the only kid biologically related to Bruce. Since he's in his teens now gossip has moved away from how rude he can be to how good looking he's becoming. That he's bound to be a rich bad-boy heartthrob."
'Damian = little shit' finished the list.
"Well it doesn't sound like most of them will be a problem," Danny said, 'just the youngest and maybe the CEO if he refuses to change his schedule around."
"We can't count the two unknowns out," Tucker added, "but we can probably count on the older kids either not being home or having gotten their own separate security team. Actually the CEO probably has his own team, since he's a CEO."
"Don't let your guard down," Sam moved the laptop to reposition it, "the Wayne Wards are known to do some pretty stupid shit. Mom says Richard used to climb on the chandeliers at events, and that some of the kids burned half the manor down in a cooking incident turned food fight. And Damian has been known to pull knives on people."
"Sounds like these people are more of a threat to themselves than these kidnapping attempts."
"Yeah. Well enough about us, tell us how building houses in South America is going."
"Central America."
"Same thing."
Sam rolled her eyes, "Central America is located in North America. So no, Tucker, its not the same thing."
"Whatever. You haven't caught malaria yet have you?"
Jason slouched on the couch next to Cass and groaned when the doorbell rang.
"It sucks but it's not that bad Jason," Dick said from his armchair.
"I can't wait to go home and get away from all of you."
The GCPD had forced them all into one house in order to 'better protect' them. Meaning everyone was home. Except for Stephanie and Babs. Lucky bastards.
Cass poked him with her foot and pouted.
"Except you Cass, you're great."
Cass smiled and leaned against him, dropping her head on his shoulder for a moment, before sitting back up.
"Even me?" Dick whined.
"Especially you, Officer Grayson." The only person who got some respect from their GCPD babysitters was Dick, and that was because he was also a police officer. They treated the rest of them like idiots. It was irritating as hell.
Dick gasped in offense.
Duke and Damian entered the room and sat down on the couch opposite Jason and Cass.
Jason heard Bruce's voice getting closer. He must be escorting their new 'guests' over to them. Tim crutched past the newcomers before sitting next on Cass' other side.
"And these are my children. Children, this is Mister Foley and Mister and Miss Fenton."
Foley had a bag slung over his shoulder and a laptop in his arms. Mr. Fenton was looking at a lamp and Ms. Fenton had her hands in her sweatshirt pockets.
Foley waved, "Call me Tucker. They're both Danny. He's Danny-with-a-Y and she's Dani-with-a-I."
"Wait," Duke asked, "you both are named 'Danny Fenton'?"
"Yeah," Danny-with-a-Y shrugged.
"It's a family name," Dani-with-a-I answered as her eyes searched the walls, seeming bored.
Tucker placed the laptop on the coffee table. "Alright, first order of business I need you all to hand over your phones and other personal computers."
Not good. Although they tried to keep separate personal and 'work' devices there was always some bleed over, not to mention Oracle's touch. The rest of the house security was tied directly to the Batcave.
The family shared alarmed glances with each other.
"I need see what security you have on there and what I need to add," Tucker continued setting up.
"Oh, that's not necessary, we already have excellent security-" Bruce tried to deflect.
"Well it is protocol and I will not be able to move forward until I see what I'm working with."
Tim sat forward some, "All of our devices have both classified and experimental Wayne Tech on them. Letting you see any would be a serious breech and goes against contracts we all have signed."
Thank fuck Timbo had a brain.
Tucker did not look too happy about that. "In that case I have to ask you to not leave the manor grounds with any device. Devices can be used as trackers, and if you won't let me install hardware against that than you shouldn't be carrying them when you go out."
Tim and Babs made sure their phones couldn't be tracked by an outside source years ago. This was just another waste of Jason's time.
Suddenly there was a yelp, everyone turning to see Duke jump in his seat. Danny was behind him.
Danny leaned over the love seat Duke was sharing with Damian and pointed at Duke's phone, "You need to go left. Keep going right and you'll keep losing."
"How did you get here? You were over there!"
"I walked."
"Duke," Bruce cut in, "are you playing games on your phone right now?"
Duke hesitated, "No?"
"Damn dude your situational awareness sucks," When did the girl get behind Jason?! Cass placed a hand on his leg and Jason quickly aborted the subconscious movement of grabbing the knife hidden on his belt. "Is this why you all keep getting kidnapped?"
"Dani," Tucker said in a scolding tone. Dani made an exasperated gesture that conveyed 'well I'm right'.
Jason felt his muscles tense and his hair stand on edge. It was strange. There was nothing in the room to cause that type of bodily reaction. Yeah, Dani had snuck up on him, but he was just startled, not scared. Why did he feel like prey? Cass touched the goosebumps on his arm. Jason didn't relax until the Fentons had moved to the other side of the room, and repressed as shiver as Danny walked past by, the motion sending cold air in his wake.
"This guy has a creepy underground lair one hundred percent," Danny said.
"Oh yeah," Dani replied.
"Guys, can we focus?" Tucker shoved his laptop back in his bag, "So all the kids are here, which we didn't plan for. We'll have to call for assistance."
"Nooooooo," the Dannies groaned.
"That means we'll owe her. And you know what happens when we owe her," said Danny.
"I know you can duplicate yourself but most people can't be more than one place at the same time. We need more people. What happens when four of them leave the house at the same time and all go to different places?"
Danny crossed his arms and pouted in defeat. Dani nudged him with her elbow, "Maybe she'll be too busy?"
Tucker scrolled to the V section in his contacts and pressed call.
"And Fenton-"
"Which one?"
"Danielle."
"Which one?"
"This is going to get confusing really fast."
The bats had reconvened in the cave. Thankfully their new babysitters were fine with giving them space as long as they stayed in the house and away from the large windows. And Alfred should be giving them the very long tour of the grounds right now.
"Both Fentons may be metas. When we shook hands they felt unnaturally cold and had quite a strong grip," Bruce said.
"Shit. Okay, that could complicate things," Tim adjusted the boot on his leg.
"You all noticed them moving quietly right? We just had test day, you know my situational awareness is better than that," Duke tried to defend himself from his slip up earlier, "I wasn't looking at him, yeah, but Danny-with-a-Y didn't make a single sound. I never heard him come up on me, not footsteps and not breathing. And I never felt the air shift until his arm was coming over my shoulder."
"I witnessed Fenton walk over, but I must admit it was strange. He is quieter than the average human."
Duke pointed at Damian, "Thank you!"
"Do you think they're a threat?" Dick asked.
"No," Cass said, "No bad intentions at this time."
"There's something not quite right with them," Jason added.
Tim swiveled in the computer chair to face him, "How so?"
Jason's face did something complicated. "I don't know how to explain it. Did anybody else get weird vibes coming from them?"
There were a chorus of 'No'.
"Well, when they stood in one place long enough, when they got up the light was all weird," Duke looked like he also didn't know how to explain it. The rest of the family was always lost to some extant when it came to understanding the finer details of his meta ability. "It was like they left a dark spot but it was also brighter? I've seen it before but I always thought I was imagining it, or it had to be specific to that environment. All three of them had it, but the spots were bigger and more frequent and very noticeable with the Dannies."
"Keep an eye on it," Bruce said, "tell us if anything changes."
Duke nodded. Unfortunately the conversation quickly devolved back into squabbling. Bruce began the mantra of 'I love my children. I love my children' as the urge to fake his death and run away overcame him.
"I don't see why me and Dickhead have to be here. We both have our own places."
"I have my own place too. And I could certainly get more work done without-"
"Because," Bruce cut in, "Dick Grayson the police officer would want to be with his family if there was a threat. Tim you will be staying home where Alfred can keep an eye on you and assist you until your leg heals, because you promised him. Bruce Wayne the civilian would be concerned for his children's lives and want to keep them close and protected, which is why Jason and Cass have to be here."
None of Bruce's children looked enthused at the prospect of more forced family time.