Pardon the delay in the chapter, if you follow my Tumblr you will know I took part in Invisobang this year! I got to create the cover art for the fic Kingdom Come by Bloggerspam, I highly recommend checking it out! I also started my first semester at my new college. I'm still figuring out the balance between homework and writing, but this fic is still a big goal for me. I'm thinking about the plot of this fic all the time and I'm very excited about future chapters! Speaking of future chapters, updates will be spread out once a month now to accommodate my new schedule and I will be applying small edits to previous chapters to fix spelling errors and formatting so expect to see notifications about that. Thank you all for the support and enjoy the next chapter!
Damian began his morning training like always. A sword in hand as he practiced katas at the break of dawn. Most of the family tended to be asleep at this hour if they weren't just arriving home by this point. Though with a new house guest at the manor, Damian had been benched for the time being. Even Duke had his time out lowered to reduce the chances of suspicion of the Wayne family's disappearances. Despite his annoyance, this "break" allowed Damian more time to train hence waking up at dawn to practice when others were least likely to bother him.
Though apparently, he was wrong, as he went through his forms a figure made its way around the side of the manor. The house guest in question, "Danny" appeared to be going on a morning jog. Still wearing the same ratty jeans and white t-shirt, his blue hoodie nowhere to be seen. The boy gave him a nod as he passed, continuing down the makeshift trail that snaked through the manor grounds. That was about all the two did when they ever saw one another, the last week being nothing but polite nods and quiet passings.
The whole thing had Damian on edge, the similarities in appearance had not gone unnoticed by him. Despite Danny's lack of emotional expression, his other qualities were too hard to leave ignored. The teen was fit, the muscle he had seemed to come from experience in combat, and the few scars on his arms seemed to back this theory. He was also extremely quiet, beyond that of a regular person or even an assassin. When Danny had discovered the library, he had gone to ask his father if he had permission to take books to and from. Damian had nearly spat out his water when he saw his father jump from being tapped on the shoulder.
He was sure Danny hadn't noticed the surprise as his father was excellent at hiding his emotions when he desired to. Damian, however, couldn't remove the shock from his face as the teen had just returned to the library to collect the books he wished to read. He finally wrote it off as a fluke, sure he must have imagined it until Duke entered the kitchen not an hour later clutching his chest. Danny had apparently tried asking if Pennyworth kept any homemade snacks around the manor.
"That kid is going to be the death of me, this is the third time this week he's scared the living daylights out of me just to ask a question." Duke complained hand to his heart.
"I think he's here as a test by my grandfather. He must be an assassin or a sleeper agent, he snuck up on father no more than an hour ago." Damian responded, crushing his empty juice box.
"Are you jealous?" Duke laughed.
"Never! I'm simply suggesting we keep our guard up!" Damian sputtered, throwing away the cardboard container.
"I'm pretty sure he's just a kid. Though there is something off, he could be a metahuman like me. The lights in a room always seem to dim slightly when he's there, not enough to be noticed by the average person but with my abilities it's hard not to notice." Duke explained.
"Grayson must have learned something at this point, even with Drake's help this seems to be taking too long." He complained, pulling out his phone.
"Good luck reaching him, he's been on daylight duty to help out with the new schedule everyone is on." Duke huffed, leaning on the counter.
"Well, something must be done, the Waynes never stay in the dark for long." Damian boasted.
"Do you mind moving? You're blocking the fridge." A voice broke in from next to Damian, Duke, and him to freeze. Turning their attention to the foster kid who somehow entered the room without either of them noticing. Damian gave a small nod before moving out of the way, watching Danny gather some ice for his cup and grab water from the sink. Finally leaving the room as quietly as he had entered.
"That kid is just creepy." Duke whispered, breaking the silence.
"Agreed." Damian's eyes were still focused on the door.
Danny's last week had been great aside from being stuck in another foster home. Of all the homes it definitely could've been worse. They let him wander the grounds as much as he wanted, not that his exploration had led to any promising escape routes. The home held a large library that Jazz would've been thrilled to see, a fully equipped gym with gymnastic equipment, a basketball court, and of course a large ballroom for parties. Danny had been tempted to ask if they had a pool, but his foster family seemed to be very jumpy. Whenever he went to ask a question, they seemed surprised to see him there. He didn't take it personally, it was a very large home, and they probably weren't used to having an extra person wandering the halls.
Sam and Tucker had made plenty of jokes that they should make him wear a bell. Jazz seconded this when he was almost hit in the head by a psychology textbook that she had thrown his way. Thinking of his friends and family back home was probably the hardest part of all this. Every time he looked at the computer in his new room, he thought about logging into Doomed to see if his friends were online or if he made a new email if he could reach out without the GIW taking notice. The risk outweighed the cost, unfortunately, even missing them was pushing the limits.
That fact was the only thing keeping him from dwelling on everything that happened. He knew if he thought back to his parents, every emotion he was trying to hold inside would rush out of him like a flood. He was fortunate no nightmares had come up while in Gotham, he wasn't sure how well the Fenton Finder would track emotions brought on by sleep. Thinking on the subject, Danny was reminded that it was now 11 am in the Manor. He had spent most of that morning lying in bed reading, he was running out of things to do without school lingering over his head.
Dragging himself from the warmth of the queen-sized bed, he dressed for the day in his old jeans and a Wonder Woman t-shirt gifted to him from Duke. They apparently had a lot of old clothes left by the previous kids who had lived in the manor that either no longer fit them or had been forgotten. Danny didn't mind and liked being able to learn a little about the heroes that the rest of the world seemed to enjoy. Not that he learned much aside from the hero's name when Duke gave him the shirt.
As he made his way towards the kitchen for some food, a voice he was unfamiliar with echoed from a room ahead. This room was one of the many lounges that filled the first floor. Making his way over he peeked inside to see Duke, Damian, and two other teens. They were closer to Jazz's age though a little older. One looked a little too similar to himself with tired icy blue eyes and a mop of black hair. Though unlike Danny's own hair which was parted to the side, his was parted to the center. Next to him was a girl with long blonde hair wearing jeans and a purple shirt.
"So, things have been boring city side?" Duke asked the tired boy.
"Pretty much, ever since the Riddler's attack last week, it has been quiet. Luckily no one had been hurt other than a few blocks of public property." The boy went on, eyes glued to his phone.
"We're more interested in what's been happening here. It's not every day the Manor gains someone new who spends most of their time at the Manor." The girl chimed in.
"He's pretty similar to what Dick mentioned; he's quiet, keeps to himself, and doesn't show any emotion. The no-emotion thing isn't even that bad, it's the other stuff that keeps us on our toes." Duke explained, a tired sigh escaping at the end.
"What do mean?" the boy asked, looking up from his phone.
"He was able to surprise Father without trying." Damian scowled. The other two mystery guests held looks of surprise. Guess they've never been able to scare their dad before, Danny thought to himself.
"Not to mention the thing with the lights—" "Hold on a second." Duke was midsentence before the black-haired teen shushed him looking at the door. Danny moved back from the door as quietly as he could, walking further down the hall in case anyone spotted him. He didn't back it more than 5 steps from the door.
"Hold it!" The girl from before called after him, he froze at her voice before turning to look at her.
"Yes?" Part of him felt guilty for eavesdropping but he couldn't let that guilt show, so he had to just take a deep breath as he turned to face her.
"You're the new foster kid, correct?" she asked, not waiting for his answer before dragging him by the arm back to the room.
"Yes, I am, but why am I being dragged in?" he questioned, sitting on one of the two couches in the room. Now having a better look at the room, he could see the few bookshelves lining a wall filled with knick-knacks. The couches were a deep brown leather that matched the wooden floors, with a pale green rug between them. The coffee table between the couches held a bowl full of randomly shaped wooden balls.
"We'd like to ask you some questions, but first introductions. I'm assuming Duke and Damian didn't really tell you much about the others." She went on, plopping herself on the couch across from him.
"In our defense, it seemed rude to interrogate the new kid on his first day." Duke refuted sitting next to the girl.
"Moving along, I'm Tim Drake and this is Stephanie Brown. While neither of us currently lives at the Manor we both tend to visit often. I work with Bruce at Wayne Industries and Steph lives on campus at Gotham University." Tim answered, choosing to sit in a nearby armchair to the left and Damian stood to the right of the couches. Truly closing him in and leaving him with no normal escape routes.
"How many of you are there? Does Mr. Wayne just collect orphans or something?" Danny asked, he remembered seeing Tim's name on the family tree on the first day. Damian had mentioned his father needed to expand the painting.
"Just about, it's more like we find him." Tim laughed. Sharing a look with Duke and Stephanie. "If we go by legal adoption there are five of us, if we go by who has rooms at the manor it's around eight give or take a few friends."
"Now it's our turn! I'm guessing no questions on home or personal life?" Stephanie asked, Danny nodded yes. At least their being considerate of boundaries, he thought. "So, Danny, right? Anything you like to do or have an interest in? How do you like Gotham?"
"Well, I like video games and comic books. I'm really interested in space and spaceships, got to see a shuttle on vacation one summer. Gotham is okay though the smog is annoying, other than that I haven't seen much of the city. I'm pretty sure you already know why I'm on a not-so-subtle house arrest." Danny checked off; he didn't see the harm in listing his interests, none of it would reveal his identity.
"Yeah, word spreads fast in this family." Duke laughed, rubbing his arm nervously.
"It's a shame though, other than the supervillains Gotham has some good spots to check out." Stephanie sighed, then a smile crept onto her face. "Do you have a favorite superhero?"
Danny had to think for a moment, he couldn't say himself obviously. No one outside of Amity Park knew who he was, but other than Batman and Superman Danny didn't know any other supers.
"Not really? I know of Batman and Superman but other than them I don't know anything about the heroes. I was usually too busy to look at the news and see what was going on. Oh! And Wonder Woman thanks to the shirt Duke gave me but that's it." Danny answered, everyone seemed to accept that answer except Stephanie.
"Wait, so you don't know anything about Justice League? Any of the founding members?" she clarified.
"Not a thing." Danny deadpanned. Stephanie gave him a look like she was going to make his world explode.
"So, you don't know that Superman and Martian Manhunter are aliens and that we're opening communications with Mars?" She blurted. Danny had to take a moment to process what she said, he knew Superman might be an alien but to have it confirmed.
Also, since when did the Earth have open communications with Mars? Since when did they know how to get to Mars? Did the requirements for astronauts change? He thought to himself, Do they let supers work with NASA? Can I go to space despite my grades because of my powers?
"Steph, I think you broke him." Duke stated as they watched the foster kid seem to spiral into thought, he had rested into the couch, his hands together as he stared into space lost in thought. Like many times before the lights in the room had been slightly dimmed with the appearance of Danny but now, they seemed to brighten and sparkle. Despite his lack of emoting Duke could tell Danny was excited at the news, an aura of blue swirled and popped around him like fireworks in a blizzard. He had never seen anything like it with the others. He'd have to bring it up when alone with the rest of the Bats.
"I know we can't leave the grounds, but do we have anything on the recent history of space exploration." Danny quietly asked, coming back from his mental rave. The group all gave each other a look before Tim spoke up.
"We can do you one better, one of the perks of having one of the richest parents in Gotham." He answered, "If you can prove you can handle going out on the town without trying to make a run for it, we can see if we can convince Bruce to pull some strings and get us a tour of STAR Labs in Metropolis."
"Seriously? I thought you were going to say NASA for a second." Danny said sitting up straighter.
"NASA is great if you go through the government, but STAR Labs is privately funded and though they don't have a branch that specializes in space exploration I know that they have a few teams dedicated to it in Metropolis. It is the home of Superman after all." Tim smiled.
Danny looked between them all considering everything. Yes, it was a chance to escape, but he hadn't had the time to explore his passions in so long. Could he really afford to stay longer? Keeping his emotions in check was getting easier, but was it because he was getting better or due to him being alone? Danny felt for the burner phone in his pocket, feeling reassured by its weight against his thigh. There was only one way to know for sure if this place was somewhere he could stay safely.
"Okay, so where do you want to go?" Danny asked.
"Welcome to Gotham Mall, imaginative we know." Stephanie waved to the large glass door that led into a large mall center.
"Isn't there a lot of crime here? How is this place still open?" Danny asked as they all exited the car.
"Well, this mall is located near the GCPD headquarters so if any crime does happen it tends to be on the small end. Gangs and thugs mostly, plus they opted for bulletproof glass and reinforced the walls so they're less likely to collapse in the case of explosives." Tim explained, leading the group inside. The inside was no different to any other mall Danny had been to, off-white tile covered the floor, and the walls were lined with shops. Mostly clothing and tech stores but a few novelty stores were sprinkled in, and he didn't recognize a single store.
"Where to first?" Stephanie chirped, grabbing him by the arm, Duke following by his side as he was dragged into the first clothing store that caught their attention. The following hours were a dizzying whirlpool of clothing and shops. The group had decided that handy-downs and the whole two outfits he had brought were not enough.
They had him looking and trying on so many clothes that even if he wanted to there was no way he could have snuck away without using his powers. It eventually bled into everyone trying on clothes, Damian was even caught in the crossfire. The older teens mentioned he needed to dress less like a mini-Bruce more often and offered a variety of clothes. Steph won him over with a few animal-themed pieces though they were very subtle.
Danny was about to question how they were going to pay for everything at check out when he saw Steph holding a debit card with Bruce's name. He had forgotten for a moment who his new foster family was. It was constantly thrown back into his face as they made their way through the mall. Slowly people began to recognize the small group, a few double takes at Tim and Damian and photos being snapped of the whole group. Danny pulled up the hood on his new hoodie that he'd bought at the last store. Trying his best to block his face from the onlookers.
The others shared a look before deciding to go to the food court for a late lunch. They found a table towards the back corner. Tucked away from the entrance with fake plant décor blocking their view. Duke and Tim went off to buy some pizza for the group leaving him with just Stephanie and Damian. The silence was daunting as Danny waited for the inevitable questions regarding his attempts to hide himself.
"Well, got to love the paparazzi making a family outing awkward." Stephanie laughed trying to lighten the mood. "I don't think I'll ever get used to having all of Gotham's eyes on me."
"Agreed, it's even worse at the galas when the other socialites expect you to entertain the thought of enjoying their company." Damian grumbled. Danny felt the tension in his shoulders dissipate, he hadn't even considered they probably didn't want the attention either. Vlad always basked in the attention of other powerful and influential people. Danny mentally face-palmed himself; he needed to stop assuming every rich person was like Vlad, it made him just as bad as his parents.
"Though the gossip the Gotham Gazette tries to start is hilarious, their social media threads couldn't fool anyone," Steph smirked pulling out her phone. "I remember when they covered Dick's return to Gotham after he moved to Blüdhaven, all smears about a secret love child he had to be hiding there."
"Wasn't last week's post about Drake's most recent kidnapping? I remember him fuming over getting caught by those buffoons again." Drake smiled.
"Let's see what's up now." Steph went on scrolling through her feed. "Okay, we have the top ten photos of Bruce Wayne from the last charity ball, the best moments of the Wayne family caught on film… oh! We have a few from earlier up, though the only thing trending on them is the fact Tim and Damian are both here and not fighting." She frowned as Damian looked at the phone.
"Tch, we haven't fought in public for at least a year. You point a katana at someone one time!" Damian huffed. The two of them were still scrolling through the most recent posts with the others returned with the pizza. They called out the ones that were actually funny and were amazed at how quickly video edits had been made of them. To Danny's relief, he was not mentioned in a single post and had been cut out of many of the photos. He finally was able to relax again and enjoy a normal afternoon.
Tim was happy Dick's lost kid seemed to be enjoying himself, though unlike Stephanie he went searching for the photos about him. Only one or two posts seemed to be centered around him, people asking who he was and why he was there. None contained a clear photo or answer, it was like every time the camera was about to have a clear picture before something got in the way. The weirdest photo he was able to find contained no blurb above the photo and didn't reference the Waynes at all.
The photo was of Danny with his hood up turning to look behind him, it was blurred leaving his face unclear even though everyone around him was unaltered. The lighting was strange, making it seem his eyes were green and glowing. It was getting little to no attention aside from a few comments talking about it being fake and edited. Still, he screenshots of the post and sent both the image and the link to Babs and Dick before rejoining the table's conversation.