Slowly the skyscrapers of the city were replaced with the rolling hills as the car made its way to Crest Hill. They hadn't told Danny much about his new foster home, leaving it vague. The only things he could get out of them was that the man ran his own business, and he had many successful adoptions in the past. At this point he thought he was going to a farm, being forced to do chores early in the morning. The further they went the less sure he was, as houses began to periodically appear he began wishing it was a farm.
The homes they passed were large, fashionable manors with acres of land in between. Gated fences and lavishly long driveways sat in front. Not a single other car appeared in the streets as they quietly made their way deeper in. It took about twenty minutes to get from the city to the last house in the neighborhood. Similar to the others a wrought iron fence blocked the driveway in, the car pulling up to a grey speaker just outside the gate. Mr. Densen, the man put in charge of Danny's case, rolled down his window and buzzed the button on the speaker box. A voice answered but it was too quiet for him to hear.
"It's Chris Densen with the Gotham CPS. I was informed you were expecting our arrival with a new foster placement?" Densen answered, the voice responding in time with a positive tone. The gates creaked as they opened wide enough for the car to pull through. The manor ahead of them was the largest of those they had passed, even larger than Vlad's back in Wisconsin. It stood four stories tall with light colored brick making the walls. Large windows reflected the rare morning sun, smoke flowing out of the chimney among the dark tiled roofs. The driveway went in a circle around a large patch of grass with a fountain nestled in the center.
Standing on the patio atop of the stairs leading to the manor was two men and a kid. The oldest was dressed in a fitted suit with a small mustache and a balding head. Next to him was a man around his parents age with black hair and tired blue eyes. He wore pressed black pants and a light grey turtleneck. Finally, standing back towards the door was the kid, his skin was tan with black hair and green eyes. Dressed in shorts and a hoodie he stood with his arms crossed as he glared at the car. They all began walking down the steps as the car came to a stop.
"Hi Danny, I'm Bruce Wayne. I've been looking forward to meeting you, I've heard a lot about you." Bruce smiled, offering his hand as Danny exited the car. Danny looked at the hand and back at him, first impressions were okay. He didn't seem like Vlad, there was no smooth-talking flattery or blatant evil tone, but he was rich. If the house was anything to go from and though being rich didn't make you evil, it didn't help you in Danny's book. The whole situation was just dredging old memories leaving a bad taste in his mouth.
"Hi." Was all Danny could offer in return while shoving his hands into his hoodie. Bruce gave a small laugh and brought back his hand.
"Well, I hope you enjoy your time here at Wayne Manor. If you need anything feel free to ask myself or Alfred; he may be the butler, but he deserves the utmost respect. He'll be able to show you your room later this evening. The one lingering behind us is my son Damian, he'll be giving you a tour of the grounds while I speak with Mr. Densen here." He watched as the butler took his backpack from the car and headed back inside. The kid finally approached; a look of disinterest glued to his face.
"Welcome Daniel, follow me. Let's get this tour over with." Damian drawled.
Isn't he a peach, Danny thought to himself rolling his eyes. "It's Danny. Just Danny." He repeated.
This kid ignored him as they made way for the front doors. Inside was the entrance hall, it was fairly large with white tile bordered by wooden flooring along the walls and staircase. The staircase itself was two separate stairways that connected at the top of the second floor. The walls were covered with red wallpaper, paintings, and portraits. Most notable was a large frame with a velvet background. It held six ovals each with its own silhouette and name. The first was Bruce's name and portrait, followed by three more underneath that said Richard Grayson, Jason Todd, and Timothy Drake. Below them were two more that said Cassandra Cain and Damian Wayne.
"Is this painting your family?" he asked.
"Some, yes. It needs to be updated but it has the elder children of my father. All adopted except for myself, I am my father's only biological son." Damian explained proudly, not before his eyes went wide and adding, "Don't get any ideas about being adopted. I have enough brothers as it is!"
"Trust me, I don't plan on it." Danny answered, as proud as the kid was, he's still just a kid.
"Good. Let's continue," He led them through a door to a large kitchen, it was as nice as a five-star restaurant with expensive stoves and appliances. "This is the kitchen, it's Pennyworth's domain. If you cause any trouble here, you will be banned. My father is an unfortunate example."
"Understood." Danny continued, following Damian further into the building. It had been nice being able to eat food that didn't fight back. It was good to know that it would continue. The tour went on through the manor with small comments here and there. Apparently, Bruce was a well-known figure in Gotham with him hosting parties on occasion in the manor. They did in fact have a barn on the grounds though Damain mainly spent the time there introducing Danny to all the animals. The Bat-Cow being the most interesting, named for the city's protector and the bat marking on its face. They ended the tour in the garden just behind the mansion.
"That's the entirety of the grounds. It's quiet for now but Duke will be home later this evening for dinner and the others will surely visit once they know of your stay." He went on, Danny had been mostly quiet during the tour, only offering responses and questions that would help him later. Danny hadn't seen much that would've stood in his way of leaving. In fact, with little to know security around outside of cameras it should be as simple as any other home they put him in.
"By the way, I know why they asked my father to take you in. I thought I'd save you the trouble and let you know there is no way off the grounds without getting caught or falling into a booby-trap. I should know, I've tried." With that Damian headed inside the building, leaving Danny outside the manor. How did he know I was thinking about leaving? Also booby-traps? Danny wondered, making his way inside. They'd expect a runaway to go at the first chance he got, best for him to wait till later that week.
Danny was eventually shown to his room on the second floor, which happened to be across the hall from the other resident Duke. Apparently, everyone who lived here at some point still had a room for themselves and could come back to it whenever they visited. He had double-checked his backpack which had been placed on top of the desk next to a computer. Everything seemed in place, next he checked the room for any cameras and recorders. He didn't really expect to find anything, but it was better to be safe than sorry. This took up much of the afternoon leaving him to read on the bed when he was done. Around 6pm there was someone knocking on the door to his room.
"Danny? It's time for dinner," The door opened to reveal another teen around Danny's age, his skin was dark, and he was wearing jeans with a red t-shirt, a lightning bolt on the front. "Better hurry Alfred made some cookies for your stay. Trust me, you don't want to miss them. I'm Duke by the way, nice to meet you!"
Danny gave him a nod and followed the guy down the hall and stairs to the dining room. Already sat around was Bruce at the head of the table and Damian in the seat to his right. Duke took a seat across from him and gestured for Danny to seat beside him. As soon as he took a seat Alfred placed a serving of pasta and salad in front of him, a glass of water already on the table.
"Thanks." Danny said, grabbing a fork and digging in. As the food hit his mouth Danny had to keep himself from scarfing the whole thing down. The pasta had a creamy sauce of cheese and marinara with well-seasoned chicken shredded and mixed in. It was delicious, he could only imagine the cookies Duke had mentioned.
"So, Danny how was the tour Damian gave you?" Bruce asked from across the table.
"Good." Danny answered in between bites. Duke gave a look to Damian almost surprised at the kid.
"If it was anything like mine, I'm sure he threw some odd comments in." Duke chimed in.
"Excuse you, Duke. Both of my tours for you and Danny were quite excellent. We even gave a visit to the animals." Damian smiled pointing his fork at the teen.
"I'm sure, did he tell you about the booby-traps on the grounds? Loves to mention them but not which ones are real or not." Duke said elbowing him. Bruce smiled at the antics between the two.
"He is right though, most only get armed at night though so there is nothing to worry about." Bruce went on. "Most are there due to large amount of villain attacks in the city, though we're far from most of the dangers you can't be too safe."
"Yes, very safe with the laser grid that got installed over a month ago." Duke tagged on sarcastically, Bruce giving him a quick look. I thought I was done with lasers, Danny thought sinking into his seat. Things continued like this for most of the meal and he was starting to get some sense of what everyone was like. Damian, being the youngest, tended to boast about his skills and achievements. Duke was like Danny in being new to the manor but was more familiar with everyone than he was. Bruce was still a bit of a mystery; he was trying to be a positive influence in the conversation but seemed to be holding back. They all were in some way, dancing around a topic none of them were willing to bring up. It was probably due to him just showing up, the people at the CPS had told him the home he was going to didn't normally foster random kids.
Alfred was just bringing out the cookies when he stopped by Bruce and whispered something in his ear. Danny watched as Bruce's face shifted from the smile he had been wearing all night to something more serious. He almost looked like he was brooding as he listened to what Alfred said, Damian and Duke looking at him waiting.
"Sorry Danny, but something has come up at Wayne Enterprises. It's nothing to terrible but as CEO of the company I need to look into it." He rose from his seat; Damian was following suit.
"Do you need any help, Father? I will one day work at the company so it would benefit for me to accompany you." Damian was practically already out the door when Bruce responded.
"No Damian, I need you here. It's a school night anyway so you'll need to get some rest." Bruce reasoned, meanwhile Duke held back a laugh. Damian scowled at the two before returning to his seat and grabbing a cookie from Alfred's tray.
"I'll see you all tomorrow." He said before continuing out the door. Danny didn't give it too much thought, he had never owned a multibillion-dollar company so who knows what stuff that entailed. So, he grabbed a cookie or three and made his way back to his room. As he went, he thought for a moment that the grandfather clock at the top of the stairs was off. Its face read 10:48, taking a look at his burner in his pocket it read 8:06. It must be broken, Danny thought and returned to his new room for the rest of the night.