Green eyes looked at the mansion with some distrust. She was the lone survivor of the incident, as the diner patrons were all locals and thus had the sense to get out of the building and keep it between them and Bane. Her so-called 'family' weren't so lucky, and had been in the middle of a dine-and-dash when Bane had grabbed their car and had physically thrown it at the 'batmobile'. It had missed, but had hit a fire hydrant which had all but imploded, flooding the car in seconds with thousands of gallons of water.
The Dursleys had drowned before they were able to turn off the water to that section of the street, though they had suffered several injuries from the car's flimsy roof crushing inward. It was doubtful they would have survived without permanent scarring at the very least had they not drowned.
She hadn't escaped the incident unharmed though...some of the debris had crashed into the diner, and she had gotten clipped pretty good when it crashed through the window.
She had woken up in the hospital a week later, only to learn her 'family' was dead and Aunt Marge absolutely refused to take her in. Not that she cared much about that...Aunt Marge had always hated her presence in the house, especially after third year.
She had been dubious about the offer of the local billionaire's offer to adopt her...at least until she found out that he had a habit of taking in strays who had lost their family thanks to the actions of the local Rogues. Particularly when they were the lone survivor.
So here she was, entering the imposing mansion. She had only a single cheap duffle bag that the Dursleys had bought. She had to downsize what was in her trunk to fit into the bag, and even then had to be selective of what she put into it since she didn't want to be held up at customs.
She had suspected they were planning something when they took her on this trip, so soon after Cedric's death.
Walking through the manor, she was grateful for her new glasses. Her old pair had been pretty much ruined when the debris hit the diner, and had been crushed beneath some heavy pots when they found her. It was the first time she had been able to see clearly, and the frames were much nicer than the cheap pair Petunia had gotten out of the bargain bin.
Her new room was very nice, and much bigger than the one she had at the Dursleys or the shared dorm at Hogwarts.
Ceridwen resisted the urge to push up her new glasses, since these actually fit.
"How are you feeling?" asked a voice. It was the eldest of Bruce's strays, Dick.
"Still in shock, but I'm not surprised karma finally caught up to them," said Ceridwen.
"Alfred's making a full British spread for dinner. If you need any help settling in, just ask," said Dick.
Ceridwen calmly patted her bag.
"I'm fine, thanks. Not like I had much to put up to begin with, since most of my things are still in Surrey."
She was aware that Bruce had already sent someone to retrieve her things, but couldn't care less. Marge was already talking about selling the house and anything left in it anyway.
Coming downstairs, she was met with a fanfare of noise. Apparently the others had decided to visit at the same time to welcome the newest of Bruce's strays. Well, except Damian who was apparently Bruce's bio son.
He gave her a firm glower that made her want to coo at him, because she'd seen worse from Snape.
The table was loud, noisy and full of life. However there wasn't a single person who treated her differently because she was the 'new kid'. If anything, they were very welcoming and warm.
She went to bed with a full belly and a small sense of ease.
The next morning...
Ceridwen was exploring the grounds, and found herself in front of a barn. The oddity of it's presence in such a stately manor threw her off considerably, and she carefully opened the door to see the contents inside.
She came face to face with a cow. She blinked. The cow blinked. The cat on the cow's head blinked.
She considered her options for a bit, then noticed that the cow's feed tray was empty.
Very slowly, she opened up the door, and went to find some more hay for the thing. The cow and cat observed her for several moments, before it let out a low "Moo."
She turned, and saw that the cow was leading her somewhere in the barn. Further inspection revealed it to be where the feed was stored, as well as several other items.
Damien came in fifteen minutes later, and stared when he realized the new girl was giving Bat-Cow and Alfred the cat a thorough brushing, to their pleasure.
He then noticed how well groomed Goliath was.
Ceridwen paused in her brushing of Bat-Cow's fur.
"Did you need something?"
"Breakfast is almost ready," said Damien.
Ceridwen finished what she was doing, before noticing the mess she had made of her clothes. Barbara, Cass and Stephanie had said something about a "shopping trip", but until then she had to make do with her usual outfits.
"I'm impressed. Goliath normally doesn't let people groom him so easily," said Damien. He thought a little better of the new girl, since she hadn't run screaming from his pet dragon-bat.
"I've seen scarier," she admitted.
Steph took one look at the mess Ceridwen was in and gave Damien a Look.
"Did you rope the new girl into helping with the animals?"
"She was already there when I got there!" he protested. "Besides, Goliath was smitten with her."
That got everyone in the room to pause.
"I'm sorry, did you just say that oversized dragon bat likes her?" said Tim incredulous.
"He was an absolute darling and was such a good boy while I was grooming him," said Ceridwen with a sniff.
The girls all shared a Look with each other, then at Ceridwen. She was covered in fur and muck from the barn.
Ceridwen's face was a bright red. To be fair, she had never really gone shopping for new bras or anything, and the girls were relentless about giving her a proper wardrobe that fit. She was already grateful for the new glasses...having actual clothes besides the usual sweaters was more than she could handle.
Bruce had given Barbara a card with the explicit instructions that she at least had three full outfits and some new shoes.
This was beyond embarrassing, and hearing the girls critique over what looked good on her and what didn't made things a hundred times worse. Thankfully, not a single one said anything about the scars on her back or how skinny she was.
Walking out with a new outfit that actually fit and looked good was a major novelty to her.
She completely missed the way the other girls looked over her head and made a point to keep her plate full.
By the time they left the mall, she was beyond full and was carrying several bags full of new clothes and a stuffed toy.
"So where do we go next?" asked Cass.
"I vote movies."
"Riddler took them over last week, remember?" said Steph.
"Ugh, don't remind me," said Barb.
"Who's Riddler?" asked Ceridwen.
As one, all the girls looked at her incredulous.
"You don't know who the Riddler is?"
She shook her head.
"What about Catwoman, Joker, Poison Ivy?" said Steph incredulous.
Her blank stare said volumes.
"We are so having a movie night back at the manor," said Cass firmly. The other girls nodded. Stephanie was already texting the others.
"How are you doing that so fast?" asked Ceridwen.
"What, you mean text? It's easy," said Stephanie.
"That reminds me, they never found your phone," said Barbara.
"I don't own one. I have a post owl," said Ceridwen.
Dead silence.
"I'm sorry, did you just say you don't have a phone and have been communicating through birds?" said Barbara slowly.
"It's fairly common where I'm from, and I doubt half the students at my school would even know how to call someone on a cell...much less know what one is."
The looks she got from the girls were rather weird, and she soon found herself being dragged to an electronics store and listening to Barbara and Stephanie debate on which model was best for someone who clearly never had a cell phone. Just watching her attempt to turn one on and open an app was downright painful for them.
"We are so having a movie night," said Cass firmly.
"Yeah, but what should we watch?" asked Stephanie.
Barbara looked to Ceridwen, who was mostly quiet during this whole thing.
"Are there any books you liked to read?"
"Why?"
"You'd be surprised at how many books get a movie adaptation," she replied.
Ceridwen thought for a moment, before she timidly asked...
"Does Lord of the Rings count? I know it's a bit wordy but..."
"Wait...you haven't seen any of the Lord of the Rings movies yet?" said Stephanie.
"They actually made a proper adaptation of it?" said Ceridwen.
Stephanie looked to the others.
"Lord of the Rings marathon?"
They nodded in firm agreement.
Stephanie was already texting the boys, and got a thumbs up in return.
"Bruce will get the snacks, Jason and Dick are doing a drink run, Tim and Damien are getting the place set up for a marathon," said Cass.
"Do I get a say in this?" joked Ceridwen.
"You're being outvoted," said Barbara.
Back at the manor...
Ceridwen felt a little weird showing off her new clothes. She personally liked the clunky knit sweater, and found it very comfortable.
"Movie night!" cheered Dick.
Ceridwen was entranced by the first movie, and did her ardent best to stay awake through the third. To be fair, everyone had opted for the extended editions rather than the theatrical ones, which was close to twelve hours straight.
She didn't notice when Alfred the cat curled up on her lap, but she ended up falling asleep around the time Frodo got on the boat to the Gray Havens.
Dick carefully scooped her up into a princess carry.
"I'm surprised she lasted that long," he said quietly.
With her safely in her room, Dick went to talk with the girls.
"Well?"
"Definitely abused," said Barb. "She had no idea how to work a cell phone and was openly against buying new things."
Cass nodded.
"Pretty sure this was the first time she's ever gone shopping for clothes at all...she had no idea how things worked, and looked incredibly guilty about having the staff put the unwanted things up," said Cass. "She was also highly attuned to where all the exits were."
"Don't get me started on her eating habits. She wouldn't go for seconds unless someone filled her plate for her," said Stephanie.
"So...how long until she finds the Bat Cave?" asked Jason.
Dead silence, before Dick spoke up.
"Two weeks," he said.
"A month," said Cass.
"Two months, tops," said Steph grinning.
"How do you know she hasn't found it already?" asked Damien.
"Who would keep that quiet?" laughed Dick.
"Probably someone who didn't even know who the Riddler was," snarked Stephanie.
Dead silence.
"You're kidding," said Jason.
"She knew who Zatanna was, but had no idea who Wonder Woman or Superman are," said Barbara.
"What kind of rock has she been living under?" said Jason, incredulous.
The group looked at each other, then had a sudden realization that they might need to teach the newest member of their group about the Rogues of Gotham before she got into some real trouble. Especially considering the unhealthy fascination the Joker had with Batman. He wouldn't hesitate to use her ignorance to draw out Batman, and that could prove deadly.
The look on her face when she was being given a crash course on the Rogues and Capes of Gotham (among others) was fairly entertaining. Her snarky comments about their powers or outfit preference, more so.