Why Heroes Can't Sip Champagne and Apples are a Girl's Best Friend –
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Chapter 25: Where is my Papa?
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This is more than sad. Like a puppy searching for its deceased caretaker, M'ari is told that her father…
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At five, it had been a very long birthday as the youth peeked in to her mother's phone one day and saw the image of a man she had seen in a dream once, or so she'd been told by Uncle J'onn.
"Mommy?" The model mother had returned as Donna smoothly curved round the corner and the two heroines smiled at one another. "Was she not any trouble to you, dear Donna?"
"None. She was sweet as could ever be. I had not one peep while she was in the bath. It'll be time to go to sleep soon for her –
"Moomma!!" M'ari came bounding over with a torn image of a photo in her hands. Kori quickly snatched it up and took it to her chest. "M'arian!" She gaped. "You should not be taking things from my room. Did Aunt Donna not tell you this as well?" Kori tapped her foot while Donna had only turned her head for a second. "I'm sorry, she must have gone in when I came to greet you –
"This was from last night, mama."
The little girl pointed to the man she'd seen in more than one place. "Who is he, mama?"
Kori needed time as Dick's memories were only taken from M'ari by J'onn Jhones to protect her. If anyone found out about the child being Nightwing's she would have to go with her mother under witness protection. In space.
"She cannot be sad. I am already –
"I know, Starfire. You have to stay calm. We'll talk to the others and…"
M'ari was told to wait in her room as she pouted and crossed her chubby cheeks together, dour in her expression. "Mama won't tell me about him….why is he so nice in my head?" She scratched her long dark black hair and sighed. "Mama told me I am so sweet, but why do I feel like I'm not being a bad girl right now to her…."
She wanted to know who that man in the photo was. Even if she had to try to cry and get her way…he called out like a cat to the moon. "Even if I don't know who he is, I want to…but I don't know what to do…. if he doesn't like me…" She sniffled, and his memory inside her came to light.
"No, no…..he…he is?" She touched her cheek and felt a wetness there. "Dad….he's my…."
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Dick was swept into a role that could have lasted much longer. Damian as his new Robin, and he, the new Batman until the elder was found. "Bruce…" Dick scanned every ounce of files to find the man. He was gone. Gone. Talia, maybe? Someone in the –
"Grayson."
Dami's directness had him shut down and keep his head off of more pressing matters.
"Busy." Dick muttered as he kept tapping keys. The clacking of each made Damian wonder about more than Richard's mental state.
"So, are you handling it? Being Fa –
"You're mistaken, Lil' D." Dick sighed and combed back a few streaks of black from his face. "I'm not Bruce, never will be. I'm here as long as the job goes in finding him and unmasking his abductors. You can't do much alone as a minor. This is what I'm doing."
"You're not the Batman." Damian asked, questionable. "How is it after one year you still refuse to fully be absorbed into the mantle's presence. He must have chosen you, so why can't you admit defeat and –
"I had a family." Dick growled out over his neck. "I had one, and Bruce…. he was careless. He left you, like his own parents…" Dick let his emotions nearly tumble until he got up to throw off his sweat top and boxed the brains out of a punching bag set up for his fits.
"You're a warrior, not a nanny." Dami kept on talking. "Why not stop? Call in your bro-
"Jason is a wild card." Dick snapped and dropped his hits to rebuke. "If you try that, Gotham is damned as we are not finding who took – Our! Father!"
The bag swung with sand dribbling out of it. To and fro as a pendulum, Dami had his answer. "Why not visit –
"Not an option."
"Family is always an option." Dami shot at the older hero. "You said that I was family, but I'm not her. I'm not the one you coupled with and had a child with. Alfred for one day can look over arranging Kate or Tim to take over if you need to talk to them. You ran off to save them from what?? There is no threat, Batman –
"Kept his enemies just as close." Heaved the former boy wonder. "Slade went along with keeping me in a rut, and even Midnighter won't stop to tell me that he's not fond of my choices. What about Blud? Jump? They aren't safe, not anywhere in the universe…and if I were connected, the Bat's secret would be out. I'm protecting him too." Dick put off the bravado and shoved a mop of sweaty locks from his brow. Damian still doubted his composure, as the acrobatic son was an A - class actor.
Dami went quiet as Dick stripped off his gloves and got into the cowl and boots to swap gears. "You coming on patrol, or should I have you calculate the search?"
"Never on your life, Grayson." Dami snorted as he hopped over to join his teacher. His only reason to keep going since Bruce had run off to fall away into nothing without his say. "I want to know more about your version of "M'ari." I only think I met her when she was born, call me careless..."
Dick didn't move yet as he tried to recall it too. She was five, maybe older. A year and a half too late to change things. "Forget it, time's wasting. We're moving out, Robin."
Robin, he was putting up walls and Dami was the one who'd instigated too much while Dick could very well lose possession of his post.
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Over the soundwaves, a rather reluctant soul felt himself drifting from sleep to a lucid state of head and mind. Duke Thomas opened his eyes – what he thought was his room, was below him. Was he dreaming?
The was changed shades as he felt something circulate through him as a hundred living lights. The lights went on, and his mother had her worst, frightened face on. "Again? You can't go screamin' in the apartment, (changing this) Duke." The teenaged meta fell back to earth as the caregiver had some care left since leaving her husband. "You'll go to see these nice folks from Wayne Labs in the morning. Are you sure you –
"No, mom." Duke sat up and tried to see if his body was solid again. "I was, like light. I saw every shadow in my room, it was crazy! I'm not crazy, mama…"
"You're not, baby boy." She sat at his side and patted the teen's back. "They'll find a cure, they've gotta. Your mama put her life into that job before the….Anyway, sweetie. If you can, try to sleep again. I'm right down the hall. They even said they'd bring someone in the morning to bring us to the place…you'll be ok." She pecked him on his crew cut scalp as Duke tried to believe that his powers were still, fixable. The fact that Wayne's people were so invested had to be something else. No other kid would have the chance to be inside a sector with the innovations of tomorrow in mind. "I will, mama. Dad didn't stay around for this. Seein' his own son get better…"
"He doesn't have to worry, because I got you." She went the door and hey just parted by then. Duke slumped into the sheets and stared at the ceiling with some desire to meld into it. He was, not light. Not darkness. He had no idea where the in-between was. Not until tomorrow, when he'd get to say goodbye to this boogey man forever.
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Dick was up with coffee in hand, Lucius Fox on his right with the reports on the next event in hand. "You should also know –
"I heard we might have visitors today, according to what Bruce jotted in his log." Dick took a swig of his joe and downed the rest, looking more appealing than the board would have wanted. He looked more Steve Jobs rather than an Elon – groomed to do a job he found most uneventful.
Until he'd seen a file of the person Bruce had been watching out for.
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She was there beside the ones to bring the two in; mother and teen geek. He was nearly a Tim Drake copycat by how shy he seemed. Tim, was dry in his sarcasm, so this kid just looked nervous to Dick as he sat in his seat and had the two enter his office. Duke's face lit up a little at the windows, décor and the man in charge of it all staying pretty together.
"Welcome." Dick moved more fluid in his frame than Bruce's sturdy posture. He was born to this feat. "I'm head CEO here at Wayne Enterprises. You may not know me, but I'm in charge of my father's assets only until its official. I know he gave your father and mother a lot of forward praise in his notes. "Biochemist and Nuclear –
"We don't really stay in touch; not after the removal of the unit I worked on with my partner." The mother, Mrs. Thomas had only to seem reluctant in how that unit had come to crumble. "We saw that in that report, your son…I mean, he said you'd been gifted." Dick looked over Bruce's report. "Under that same time frame. May I ask if they are in fact meta powers, Duke?"
Duke was afraid that if he spoke, they'd call in the feds. Yet, something about this man…he was, sincere. Offputtingly so.
"I tend to have out of body experiences, but when I'm not awake I have these weird…. can't call em sensations. Like I'm made of ten billion particles. It's not normal. Can you fix it? Is Mr. Wayne –
"Your son, ma'ame." Dick cut the boy off. "He's gifted, but I know a few characters that6mhn could be a great support. I don't think looking for a cure is impossible, but it will take time. The most I can do is offer this. We want, or I want to have custody of your son to help him overcome what he's dealing with as a meta teen. The truth, Mrs. Thomas?" Dick pulled something out of his pocket, a cell with him beside the Titans. "I'm pretty close to knowing how we can help Duke out. Is that an ok on your part?"
A million dollar smile, Duke and his mom were opened up to a bright new future. Only Dick had clearly closed off his own, in a way to finish Bruce's chores. While M'ari grew up, he grew distant. He just…
Burst into a million different light particles and scattered into dusk.
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