Well, I have to hand it to Dani. That was probably one of the best experiences I've ever had in Gotham. The look on that cashier's face when we pulled up to the window was priceless. As soon as he squeaked out "Batman", there was a scramble as the workers split between doing their job and coming up to talk to us.
My personal favorite part of the evening, however, was when a lanky teen went up to Dani's window and asked why she was a girl if the Robin that had been running around recently was a boy.
"I recently went through some personal changes," she responded, slightly deepening her voice. "Gender is a sliding scale."
I nearly lost it, picturing the media claiming Damian as a trans and fighting over which was his original gender. Damian would probably stab Dani, but with the smirk she was wearing, I'm willing to bet that was a risk she was willing to take.
After that, we drove up to one of the hills overlooking the city and ate our Wendy's on the hood, arguing over whether it was gross or not to dip the fries in the frosty. Dani had thought it was hilarious that the gloves were getting salty, rubbing her fingers together and randomly flicking fries on my cape.
I was right to bring her here. I hadn't felt like myself ever since I'd taken up Bruce's cowl. I'd been carrying the world on my shoulders. Still am. Probably always will. At least Dani can take it away for a moment.
"I wish you could see the stars," Dani murmurs, laying back to look at the dirty, low-hanging clouds.
"Me too," I agree. "Bludhaven and Gotham are both so polluted."
We're quiet for a second, until, "What did you do in Bludhaven?"
"I was a police officer," I reply, as if she didn't already know and if I didn't know what she meant by her question. She gives an annoyed sigh. "Nightwing. I was Nightwing."
She sucks in a sharp breath, sitting back up to look at me. "What, really?" I nod, and she lays back, frowning. "Then who is it now?"
"I have a friend filling in, but not for too much longer." Chris is a great guy, and he has some talents I really admire, but he's no Nightwing. He's not the acrobat, he's not the detective… "He's just making sure no one makes the connection between Nightwing and Grayson."
"Ah."
After another moment of silence, my glove vibrates, sending me an alert. I glance at the screen embedded in my forearm. It's a message from Damian: Where are you? Did you go on patrol without me? Grayson! Each sentence is a new text, and I hurriedly type out a reply before he starts spam-texting me.
no i took dani for a drive in the batmobile. i'll be back soon
What, why? How soon?
i'll be back soon chill
"Damian's freaking out," I inform her, "Let's head back."
She laughs softly, sliding off the hood. After disposing of our trash, we get back in the car and I kick the car into gear. "Do you want to get back dressed like that?" I ask.
Defensive, she glares. "Yes."
"Just making sure…" I focus back on driving.
She's quiet, thinking. "Is he really an assassin?"
Her tone is more curious than wary. She doesn't seem disturbed in the slightest. "Yeah, he is." She gets a thoughtful expression on her face, which I find amusing, and I continue with a story. "He was ten when I first met him. I saved the life of this other assassin and Damian and I got into a… tussle. I won, but he got some good hits in and man… those swords sting."
"Assassin to hero," she muses, prompting me to explain the transition.
"Ah, I love Damian," I sigh. "He was misguided after being trained from birth to be the ultimate weapon, but he's got a good heart. He grew up where being an assassin was the only path for him. When he discovered there was another side, he switched, even if there have been some setbacks. There was a period after we met where he tried to fight me every chance he got, trying to redeem himself after his defeat. But I never caved. The trick to Damian is treating him as an equal; not your superior or inferior. If you don't play along with his antics, he'll stop trying."
Dani observes my smile and reflects one of her own. "I get it. Not treating him like a mistake. Like a poor copy of his dad."
Not exactly what I was saying, but, "That's a big part, yes."
"And you really love him?"
"As much as he'll let me." I look at her faraway expression, thinly veiled by the mask. "What's up?"
The look vanishes and she fixes me with a more serious and resigned look than what I've learned to expect from her. "Nothing," she mutters, looking away. "Just reminds me of someone I know."
Know. Not used to know. Not knew. "Damian? Or me?" Her words aren't depressed or traumatized, and they don't inspire any suspicion in me. With the sheer amount of shields she carried around her secrets, I'd suspected it was marred by deaths similar to any of those living in the Wayne household. The way she said "someone I know", it was clear how much she cared for the person in question, and if that someone isn't dead… Maybe she's not traumatized. Maybe she has a whole other reason for being guarded.
She senses the hidden strain for answers underneath my faux-carefree inquiry. The mischievous quirk to her smile comes back as she regards me again. "Starting to wonder?"
"I'm always wondering," I sigh.
"Steady on," she prompts, leaning back into the chair as we re-enter the tunnels. "It'll be a while yet."
I'm not dropping this. "Until you trust me?"
She blows her bangs off her forehead, exasperated. "It has nothing to do with you. It has to do with the trust someone else has in me."
Unfortunately, we arrive back at the BatCave at this point, barring me from any further interrogation. I suppress a groan when I see Damian's incredibly ticked off posture awaiting our arrival.
Dani chuckles, adjusting her gloves. "This is going to be fun." Without waiting for another warning from me, she does a sloppy somersault out of the car, finishing proud in front of Damian.
He sputters, looking from her to me and back. "You said-" he begins, and I feel a little bit guilty at the betrayal in his voice.
"She's-"
"I'm the NEW ROBIN!" she announces, throwing her arms out behind her to rustle the cape. "With my amazing skills I protect all of GOTHAM and the whole world!" I stifle another laugh (feels like I'm doing that a lot lately, not that I'm complaining) as she struts in front of a ruffled Damian, highlighting her many features like some kind of action figure.
"You are not the new Robin!" he finally protests when he finds the words. "I could beat you in a fight in ten seconds. Probably less."
"Prove it," she dares, smirking.
Damian pins her before I can even finish thinking she might have a trick up her sleeve. With his knee in her back and her right arm twisted in front of him, Damian looks to me for either praise or scorn. I offer neither, tilting my head at the scene. With the confidence she had displayed with her dare, I'd assumed she would have some kind of trick to exploit Damian's rash decisions. But she didn't react; not even a flinch.
Dani wiggles her face until it's not pressed into the concrete, giving me a huge grin from her position. "Well, what'd you think was going to happen?" I ask her.
She laughs. Damian, confused, lets her go and steps back, looking between the two of us. "What's going on?" he demands.
"Nothing," Dani giggles, accepting my help up. She peels off the mask, showing her twinkling blue eyes. "I just thought it would be funny."
His scowl deepens.
"Relax, Damian. She has no interest in taking your spot."
"Nor the skill," Damian sniffs, turning his head away like a spoiled brat.
"Hey, I have skill! I just don't have your-" she waves her hands around widely "kind of skill!"
"Oh, really?" Damian turns to her and they stare each other down. I wonder if Alfred will bring me popcorn… "Like what?"
"I speak the many languages," she returns, voice lilting with several different accents all at once. "I know all about the world! And the stars! And…" She pauses. She and I both know she has a long repertoire of various skills she's picked up from all over the world, but they're all minor lessons. Things like picking a lock, recognizing certain illnesses, hopping trains, sensing danger. I've only met a select few others with her ingenuity for practical street smarts, but she can't claim to have mastered what Damian can boast. Finally, she decides on, "I'm a master escape artist."
"Really?" He doesn't sound convinced or impressed.
She nods once with an air of finality, adding, "And I'm great at dodgeball."
Damian rolls his eyes and throws a wingding in the same moment. I step forward, ready to intervene with what could be a very painful collision, but Dani swerves to the side, simultaneously clasping her gloved hands around the item. Swinging, she brings down its momentum, cleverly avoiding cuts from the sharp edges. She doesn't look surprised with herself but instead unimpressed, lightly glaring at Damian.
"Nice," I praise. I've known for a while that her reflexes are nothing to underestimate, but that move was really quite impressive. Not that I'm surprised.
Damian scoffs. "Whatever, I threw it slow."
Dani tosses the object back and explains, "When you've been where I've been, fast reflexes are a nice thing to have."
"Especially if Damian keeps throwing things at you." I stab a thumb towards the Batmobile. "Let's head out, Robin."
"I thought you guys were going to keep looking for clues about the big bat on your floor," Dani interjects.
I shrug. "We have to patrol first. Besides, the next clue would logically be down here, since the first was a bat. I have a drone seismically searching the area. It'll still be here when I get back."
There isn't much more to do. There are a few places we could search down here, like the unexplored caverns (hopefully not, since they are essentially the entire underground network of Gotham), the bat sanctuary, the underground river… But I can't delude myself into thinking I can find it by searching myself, or that Gotham's crime will wait while I do.
I look pointedly at Dani. "You can explore, but do not go where there aren't any lights installed. Not unless you have Alfred with you." Ha, like she'll take him with her.
She sniffs, indignant. "I'll be-"
"No, these caves are dangerous. Bobby-trapped. I'm serious, Dani. I didn't expect you to never find out about the goings-on down here, but I will not have you get hurt because of it. If I have to, I will lock you out of here. Understood?"
Her eyes narrow before she sighs, stepping down. "I swear you two are the same person…"
With that cryptic explanation, she stalks off, discarding her gloves and boots as she goes. I smirk, turning to hop into the Batmobile where Damian is brooding impatiently. "Finally," he complains.
"Oh, hush," I quiet, speeding off. From the corner of my eye, I see Damian watch the rear-view mirror and, coincidentally, Dani. His mouth is still pressed into a hard scowl, but I see the faintest softness in his eyes.
When we leave the cave, he readjusts forward and sniffs. He gets a confused look on his face, trying to place the smell. "Did you eat food in Father's car?" he demands.
Stoic, I stare ahead, deepening my voice. "I'm Batman," I answer instead.
"But this is Fa-"
"I'M BATMAN."
"Father's Bat-"
"BATMAN!"
Damian glares furiously at me before leaning back, folding his arms. "You're an idiot, Grayson." He quickly follows up before I can proclaim my position again. "Don't you dare."
I snicker.
"I miss Father," he grunts, sinking further into his seat.
"Shut up, you love me." He scoffs, but I like to think it was to cover up a smile.
~Disclaimer, Disclaimer~