Princesses of Gotham, a Batman / Disney crossover fanfic by Raberba girl
Part 3 (rough draft)
Bruce finally went downstairs to get ready for patrol, later than usual but not terribly so. He went out and had a pretty normal night, with no luck finding Hilda Blanchard or even any record of her leaving town. The woman seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Since he'd taken parental leave, he didn't have to go to work the next day, but he dragged himself out of bed before 10:00, anyway, because he needed to take Snow White shopping and figure out what to do about school until a more permanent foster placement could be found for her.
His mouth quirked when he came out of his room and heard the distant sound of a child singing. He followed the noise until he reached the kitchen, where Snow White was happily sweeping the floor as if she was dancing, and a slightly harried-looking Alfred was trying to corral a group of animal helpers and herd them out the window.
Bruce came up alongside him and asked in a low voice, so as not to interrupt Snow White's singing, "Need help?"
"They were 'cleaning' the plates by licking them," Alfred murmured back in quiet outrage. "Master Bruce, I must insist-"
"I got it, Alfred." Bruce walked over to Snow White and studied her for a moment, needing to get her attention but feeling too awkward to interrupt her. After a moment, he started humming along to her song, then began mirroring her steps, joining in with her dance.
He knew he'd gotten it right when the little girl beamed up at him, and then Bruce felt himself get caught up in a sort of spell of music - it wasn't quite like his body was moving on its own, because he sensed he could halt and break out of the dance at any time. However, doing so would ruin something sweet and innocent and beautiful that Snow White was weaving with her voice and her imagination, so instead, he carefully leaned into it, letting it guide him like an instructor or a muse directing his movement.
Without a second thought, he caught up a long-handled dustpan and held it for her as she swept debris into it (very odd that she somehow managed to generate visible piles of dust despite how diligent Alfred was about keeping the kitchen spotless). They waltzed back and forth together, Snow White singing and Bruce humming, gliding and twirling with frequent pauses to gracefully clean. When they reached the end of the room, Snow White brought her song to a close, curtsying playfully to Bruce as he elegantly lifted the dustpan for the last time and tipped the last of its contents into the trash can. He bowed back to her, they held their poses for a moment as the last notes died away, then they both straightened in unison and smiled at each other.
"Oh, thank you, Mr. Bruce," Snow White said earnestly.
"You're welcome," Bruce said. Then, remembering his original purpose, he added, "Perhaps you'd better leave the cleaning to humans rather than animals. I don't think they have the same standards of cleanliness that we do."
"Oh, certainly," she agreed. "They have such funny ideas sometimes! But they're learning, and they do so want to help, the dear creatures."
"Ah...yes, well, how about they just help with, er, your bedroom, I suppose, and we can leave Alfred's domains to Alfred." Bruce gestured around the room. "This kitchen essentially belongs to Alfred, so let's let him make the rules in here."
"Oh, I see!" Snow White curtsied to Alfred, who bowed back quite elegantly despite his stiff shoulders subtly betraying his disconcertment. "Of course, Mr. Alfred."
"Very good," Alfred returned.
"Have you eaten yet?" Bruce asked.
"Not yet! Oh, it smells so good," Snow White sighed, clasping her hands together as she gave a delicate, appreciative sniff.
"Take as much as you like, young miss," Alfred said, starting to carry platters and serving utensils to the table.
Bruce and Snow White took their time consuming a delicious breakfast, then headed for the garage. They drive into town and Bruce spent an enjoyable few hours shopping, stocking up on the list of essentials Alfred had given him and also adding anything else that Snow White took a fancy to.
Everywhere they went, Snow White attracted animals, from squirrels and pigeons in the street to mice in the stores. Bruce procured a box and started smuggling the vermin into it as quickly as he could, before the employees and other customers could identify the exact species of critter, pretending that Snow White was talking to and cooing over a service animal in its carrier rather than random furry friends.
"Oh dear," Snow White commented when their latest batch of shopping bags didn't fit in the trunk.
"Maybe we'd better call it a day," Bruce admitted. "Come on, we ought to get lunch before we head home."
They stopped at Tiana's Place, a Cajun-fusion restaurant owned and managed by a very hardworking young lady who had won a Wayne Foundation grant a couple of years before. Bruce was too little interested in food in general to frequent the establishment just for himself, and it had a homey vibe that didn't fit his usual it's-about-time-for-Brucie-to-make-some-benignly-ridiculous-headlines-again dates.
However, the food was objectively excellent and it was in a convenient part of town, so whenever Bruce was in the area and in need of a proper meal, Tiana's Place was his default go-to.
"Well, long time no see, Mr. Wayne!" Tiana called as he walked in. She now had enough employees that she could spend some time making rounds around the dining area and chatting with customers, building rapport. "And who's your date today?" she laughed, catching sight of the little girl gliding along at Bruce's side.
"This is Snow White, I'm fostering her for a while," Bruce introduced. "Snow White, this is Tiana, she runs this remarkable restaurant."
"It's lovely to make your acquaintance," Snow White said, making one of her curtsies.
"Well, and same to you, sugar," Tiana returned warmly, making a bow instead of a curtsy but one that was no less elegant than Snow White's. Tiana straightened and turned her smile on Bruce. "What'll it be today, Mr. Wayne?" she asked as she started to lead them to a table.
"Oh, I'll let you pick mine, everything you make tastes delicious. Snow White, have you ever had Cajun food before?" Bruce asked, taking Snow White's hand to help her into her seat.
"I haven't," Snow White said interestedly. "What's it like?"
Bruce let Tiana explain the various options. Once Snow White had chosen one, he ordered coffee for himself, and Snow White asked for milk as her beverage. As Tiana turned away to convey their orders to the kitchen, Bruce's eyes widened and he stooped to catch the latest creature to be attracted by Snow White's literal animal magnetism. He had absolutely no idea what a frog, of all things, was doing in a spotless restaurant in the middle of a large city, but he managed to dump it into the animal carrier with the mice before Tiana caught sight of it.
"What a lovely place," Snow White remarked, admiring the glittering chandelier above. It was a holdover from Tiana's original vision of the restaurant as being a high-class establishment for the wealthy, but in practice, she hadn't had the heart to make her food inaccessible for working class people. Now, despite the trappings of glitz and glamour, the actual customers filling the tables were mostly ordinary people in ordinary clothes, enjoying an hour of great food before returning to the hustle and bustle of their lives.
"It is," Bruce agreed. "Tiana worked very hard to get this place up and running. She took two courses through my mother's charitable organization, the Wayne Foundation, one for cooking to broaden her skill set and another for the economics of running a business. She passed with honors and received a grant, but even before that, she'd earned enough money to put down a decent down payment on her own. She just needed a bit of help over the finish line to navigate the red tape and get some certifications to make the people in city hall happy."
"Oh," Snow White said politely. "Is a down payment better than an up payment?"
Bruce mentally chided himself for forgetting his audience, and spent the next few minutes trying to explain loan basics to a six-year-old.
After lunch, they made one last stop on the way home. As Bruce emptied the makeshift animal carrier into a park, Snow White spun in a circle with her arms extended, vocalizing, and so summoned what looked like an entire flock of birds, even more rodents, a couple of rabbits, and a pair of honest-to-God deer.
Bruce repressed the impulse to facepalm.
"Hello, friends!" Snow White greeted happily, stroking feathered heads and furry backs.
The contents of the carrier were still sticking around, too. The frog in particular kept hopping right up against Snow White's leg, croaking insistently.
"Hmm?" she remarked, bending to look at it. "Oh! My goodness, that's terrible. Why, certainly." She lowered her cupped hands, and the frog hopped right into them. She lifted the creature as she straightened up, and before Bruce realized what she was doing, she'd brought the thing right up to her lips and kissed the frog.
"Snow!" Bruce burst out in dismay, but then was distracted by the emergence of lights and sparks. Snow White was already backing away, and Bruce snatched her up in alarm. They both stared at the glowing shape of the frog, which rapidly expanded and then broke to reveal a disconcert-looking human man.
"What," Bruce said flatly.
"Oh, wonderful!" Snow White exclaimed, clapping her hands.
"You have my fervent thanks, dear lady," the man said, sweeping his hat off his head in order to make a courtly bow. "I was afraid I'd be trapped in that foul form forever!"
"I'm going to get you in touch with the police," Bruce said firmly, "and then I am going to take my daughter home."
"Oh," the random man who'd popped out of nowhere said earnestly, "but I must show my great appreciation to the princess who freed me from-"
"No, thank you," Bruce snapped, already dialing Jim Gordon's number.
Once that fiasco was taken care of, Bruce shooed away the last of the animals, eyeing them suspiciously for any signs that they, too, might be more than they appeared. He bundled Snow White into the car and drove her straight home.
o.o.o
The foster placement was supposed to have been temporary, but as days turned into weeks, the little's girl's presence in the house became more and more settled. Snow White was enrolled in Gotham Academy, filled the halls of Wayne Manor with music and animals, and seemed to bring light to a life that Bruce had thought would be forever doomed to grief and depression.
The nightly post-dinner singing sessions had become a fixed part of their routine, and it was on one of these evenings that Bruce, singing to Snow White as she sat in his lap and idly tucked wildflowers into his hair, realized he truly loved his child. He tightened his arms around her and leaned his cheek against her hair as he brought his song to a close.
"That was lovely, Papa Bruce," Snow White said with sincere appreciation. The term of address still lit sparks in Bruce's heart every time she said it. "Now it's my turn!"
Once she finished her song, Bruce decided to test out a suspicion that had been growing on him as he got more familiar with Snow White's supernatural-seeming musical abilities. "Snow White, I want to try a duet next."
"Oh!" The girl straightened and clapped her hands in eager anticipation.
"But here's the thing - I want to do one you've never heard before. Without any practice beforehand. Have you ever heard the song 'Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man'?" Snow White had rather classical tastes, so he figured country would be far enough out of her wheelhouse that she probably wouldn't be familiar with whatever he picked.
"Why, no, I haven't. Is it a nice song?"
Instead of answering, Bruce simply launched in. "[. . .]"
Even though he'd been half-expecting it, he was still astonished when Snow White broke in without missing a beat, "[. . .]"
"[. . .]" they continued together, Bruce incredulously, Snow White as enthusiastically as if this was her favorite song. "[. . .]"
Bruce sang his side of it for a while, watching closely when he neared the end of it to see if Snow White would somehow magically know the words to her own part without simply harmonizing the chorus.
Sure enough, "[. . .]"
'What the hell?!' Bruce thought silently. It had to be magic of some kind, there was just no way anyone could randomly know the lyrics to a song she'd never heard in her life before.
They finished the song, and Snow White laughed in delight at the end. "That was fun!" she exulted. "Now I have one for you, Papa Bruce!" Without giving him anymore preparation than he'd given her, she began, "[. . .]"
Bruce listened quietly, dreading the moment when he'd have to disappoint her - except that lyrics and a melody just sort of. Appeared. In his head. At the perfect moment for him to easily pick up right where she left off. "[. . .]"
Huh. So Snow White's gift of knowing the words and tune of a song she had never heard before apparently worked both ways.
"[. . .]" they sang together, "[. . .]"
They finished the song together, and Snow White smiled sweetly at him. "I like duets, Papa Bruce."
Bruce was, honestly, a little creeped out, but there was no way he was going to say that to his precious little girl when she was so obviously happy. "I enjoy singing with you, dear," he said. She leaned her head against his chest in contentment, and he picked her up to carry her to her room.
TBC
A/N: Yes, the frog was Naveen, and no, I don't currently plan for him to appear in this story again.