Dani's To-Do List

- hair cut (begrudgingly)

- Blüdhaven tour by a ~native~

- visit Danny

"You didn't get burned, did you?" Dick asks later from where he's scrubbing soot off the ceiling. Dani's tackling the dishes, trying to clear off the counter so they can start scraping off the caked batter.

Neither of them even want to look at the stove area.

"Nope," Dani replies, popping the 'p'. She keeps merrily arranging the dishes into one big pile in the dishwasher. She has no idea if any of it will actually get clean, but at least it's out of the way.

"No casualties except your hair?" he rephrases.

"And your stove," Dani quips back, flicking some suds on her soapy hands in Dick's general direction. He just grins down at her and goes back to scrubbing.

Dani puts some tabbed soap into the dishwasher's designated spot and then grabs the shining-dish-stuff and sprays half the bottle over all the dishes before shutting the door and pushing the start button. The machine starts to churn and Dani wipes off her hands on her already-ruined cargo pants.

Speaking of, what a shame. Dani was starting to like them. Maybe she'll spring for another pair next time she runs out of shorts.

With a sigh at the persisting mess, Dani wipes some of the hair off her forehead and grabs a spray bottle to apply cleaner liberally on the whole countertop.

"Should we put on some music?" Dani thinks aloud as she pulls out some scrubbers from under the sink.

"I thought you'd never ask," Dick gushes. "Alexa, play my music."

"Alexa?" Dani wonders, looking around for her. She jolts in surprise when an automated voice replies from the room's invisible speakers. "What in all the realms?!"

Dick laughs as the rifts of a guitar start playing. "Have you never heard of Alexa? She's a voice-activated AI. Like Siri or Google."

Wow, Dani is really out of the loop. She's only heard about Siri in passing and never questioned what it was. She only knows of Google as a search engine. The only voice-powered AI Dani knows is the one Tucker has in his lab at the Keep, and its name is Bethanne.

Dani doesn't answer Dick's question and turns her back to him, picking up the heavy-duty brush to start scrubbing down the counter. It's music time, no talking allowed.

Except, what exactly is she listening to?

The guitar rifts had drifted into some kind of high-energy dance music. It reminds her of disco, but if it was eaten by a synthesizer and spit out covered in electric punk. Dick seems to enjoy it though, bopping to the beat from his precarious position perched between two adjacent edges of the counter.

The music is straight up diseased, but oh well, Dani can roll with it. She scrubs at the counter until it's back to its spotless self. By the time she's done, Dick has finished the ceiling and has hopped down, nearly slipping on the mess on the floor. He just laughs and does a little twirl while Dani giggles at his antics and keeps scrubbing.

Dick starts wiping down the counters with a wash rag, occasionally dancing to the music. Dani doesn't even know where to begin with this music. How is she supposed to dance to bubble sounds? Why did she trust this guy again? He's clearly unstable.

When done with the counter on the island, Dani moves to the parts of the counter around the extinguisher foam and soot.

Dick is finally the one to brave the oven, and Dani cleans around him to finish up the rest of the counters and eventually clean out the sink. The music finally gets on Dani's nerves and she tells him to switch to a different playlist, which he turns into some kind of illegal breeding mix of bluegrass and reggae.

Dani is halfway out of the kitchen when Dick laughs and tells her she can pick the music.

"80s and 90s classics," Dani requests. "And don't you dare use your own playlist. I need some normal tunes."

Dick laughs. "Alright, you DJ."

Dani pauses for a second before realizing he's telling her to ask Alexa for the playlist. Given that the worst technological interference shows up in empty space (such as cameras or microphones), Dani doubts it will recognize her request. "You do it," Dani demands stubbornly.

Dick shrugs and complies, but he does look a little curious at her refusal. "Alexa, play Dancing Queen."

Rip. Dani loves this song.

They end up dancing around the kitchen, bare feet kicking up some of the leftover flour and water mixture, a broom in Dani's hands and a mop in Dick's. They belch out the lyrics into their broom/mop-microphones, so off-key it borders on blasphemous. Their rendition is an abomination.

Dani is having the time of her life.

Afterlife, whatever.

And then Sweet Caroline comes on, and the cleaning spree is all but forgotten.

An hour of dancing later, Dani and Dick end up slumped on the kitchen floor, breathless. They had to turn off the music to prevent another banger from coming on and forcing them into another dance. Dani is idly drawing lines in the mess on the floor.

"We should take showers," Dick suggests. He's wiggling his toes, which are caked with flour.

"And get lunch," Dani adds, letting her head fall back on the counter behind her. "I'm famished."

"What'll it be today?" Dick asks, reaching up behind himself to fumble for his phone. "Arabian? Ethiopian?"

"Sandwiches," Dani replies. It's the only acceptable lunchtime food. "I want a Philly cheesesteak." She pauses, looking down at her stomach to consider her hunger levels. "Make that two."

"Three it is." He taps on his screen while Dani hauls herself to her feet. "It'll be here in a half-hour. Let's see if we can get all the flour off. We can deal with the floor later."

The two split into their respective bathrooms. Dani regretfully leaves behind her clothes for a more boring pair of blue shorts and a plain beige tee shirt. She's disappointed in the lack of design on it until she fully unfolds it to find brown waves and ships on the hem.

Ugh. Why does she have to fall in love with every shirt Dick gets her?

In the shower, Dani gets frustrated trying to get all the flour out of her hair, especially with the burnt chunk down at the bottom.

She ends up cheating a little bit, slipping into intangibility for a couple of seconds to let all the debris fall to the bottom of the shower and wash down the drain. She releases the power and stays under the stream of water for several seconds, searching her body for any hint of strain or ache. There's a slight relief from her core, like a stretch of a tight muscle, but otherwise, she still feels stable.

Now free of her breakfast mishap — excluding the hair — Dani finishes up in the shower and gets dressed in her new ship-shirt and shorts. The shorts even have decently-sized pockets. Dani approves.

She heads back out into the main area to find Dick sweeping up the mess in the kitchen.

"You said we were going to do that later," Dani accuses.

"I couldn't stand not being able to walk in the kitchen," he explains. "But look, I'm wearing protection!" With a dopey grin, he swings his leg straight up to his face to show her the plastic lab-booties over his bare feet.

Dani takes it back. Dick's tastes are garbage.

Dani doesn't offer to help, because there is no way in all the realms anyone could make her wear lab-booties over her bare feet. She does agree to get the elevator when their sandwiches get there. Dick even opens his cash-drawer and hands her a twenty for the tip.

Rich people. Delivering food in this city must be quite lucrative.

Dani gets out their sandwiches while Dick finishes up mopping. The floor will definitely need another pass with it, because there's still some flour sticking to the corners, but it looks leagues better.

Dick gets them water and they bump their sandwiches together in a toast to their successful cleaning endeavors before devouring their food in two minutes flat. Dick also ordered another sandwich, and they eat the second more slowly.

The Philly cheesesteak is divine. Hunger is the best ingredient, after all.

They unwrap their third sandwiches and pick at them. Dani manages another half before she feels sufficiently nourished. Dick doesn't seem willing to risk losing the rest of his lunch for a few more bites, the weakling.

"What are you going to do about your hair?" Dick asks after they spend a few moments in a food coma.

Dani grumbles at being interrupted and tugs at one of the wet curls dangling in her line of vision. "Hand me some scissors, would you?"

Dick sits up. "You're going to cut it yourself?!"

The younger girl lazily rolls her head resting on her arms to get a better look at him. "Uh, yeah? I'll just chop off the burnt parts."

"That'll make it uneven," he points out, scandalized.

"Then I'll cut off all of it at the same length," she replies.

"Are you going to brush it first? How will you know it'll be straight?"

"I will survive," Dani stresses. "Nobody will be able to tell!"

He looks at her like she's the crazy one. Then he gets up and goes into his bedroom. Dani loses interest and snuggles back into her arms.

When Dick returns, he sets down a bundled towel and unrolls it on the counter to reveal a line of combs, scissors, and tubes of gel. Dani immediately jolts up.

"No!" she cries, and when Dick picks up a wide-tooth comb, the hunt is on.

Dick chases Dani around the apartment. Dani's fast and desperate, but Dick shows impeccable reflexes and flexibility, hopping over any furniture Dani attempts to hide behind, dodging projectiles she hurls at him (only pillows, come on, she's not that desperate), and ultimately succeeding in cornering her against the couch with the comb in his teeth and his eyes laughing.

"Let me brush it!" Dick demands from around the comb, holding his hands over her threateningly, fingers wiggling.

Dani giggles nervously. Death by tickling or brushing?

"You'll never take me alive!" she howls, and then shrieks as Dick mercilessly tickles her. She tries to squirm away but this cop is too flexible for it.

"Let me brush it!" Dick says again. The comb has fallen out at some point in Dani's majestic rendition of a fish trying to free itself from a hook. "Let me brush it or SUFFER!"

Dani is laughing so hard she can't breathe, but she taps out. "Fine, fine, let me free!"

Dick stops tickling her, but he doesn't let her up. They just stare at each other, gasping for breath. "I'm not gonna let you free," Dick tells her. "You'll just start this whole thing over again."

…Dani's plans have been thwarted.

She concedes and lets Dick pick up the comb and haul her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Dani lets it happen; she's lost, and she must accept her fate.

See, Dani isn't a huge fan of getting her hair brushed. She insists on keeping it long, but it's so thick that brushing it is a huge undertaking on a good day. The last time it was properly brushed, her hair reached her hips. It took two and a half hours (not at all because Dani kept trying to escape) and a full Phantom-team manhunt through the Keep to get it done. That was three months ago, during her recovery period.

Dick only got her because she wasn't using her powers. No other reason.

Dani gets sat in the chair and she collapses on folded arms again. She may have lost, but she's certainly not going to be helpful.

The young man just laughs at her antics and brushes her hair back with his fingers to get all of it out from under her arms. Dani shifts a little to free some of the trapped strands, but no more. Dick doesn't seem phased. He just pulls her hair back and ties up most of it up with her hair tie on the top of her head. Just a thin layer of the bottom of her scalp remains, and that's where Dick starts to tackle his arduous task.

With gentle tugs, he starts pulling a comb through the bottom, slowly making his way up as he gets out tangles. It's not like last time she got her hair brushed, with the painful yanks that were entirely Dani's fault from constantly trying to pull away. This is soft; a satisfying pull-release that is honestly pretty soothing. Once the layer is all detangled, Dick picks up a spray bottle and wets her hair.

Surprisingly, when her hair is all brushed and pulled straight, it almost reaches her tailbone. She had no idea her hair was that long.

"How much off?" Dick asks as he switches out the spray bottle and comb for a towel and scissors.

"Just above the burnt part," Dani requests as she begrudgingly lets him pull a towel around her shoulders. "About… Fifteen centimeters?"

Dick hums in agreement and picks up the comb. He manipulates her hair this way and that, snipping periodically. "I noticed you have these kind of layers. Do you want to keep them? They're kind of messy."

Considering the last haircut Dani got was hacking it off with a machete in the Mongolian jungle to get out crystalized tree sap, she thinks "kind of messy" might be a bit of an understatement. "Uh, sure," Dani agrees. "Um, what are layers?"

Dick doesn't stop snipping as he responds. "Just a little variety in the lengths so that the hair isn't all one straight line. Some stands are a little longer, some are a little shorter." He runs the scissors down in a bit of a diagonal, giving Dani's hair a slight V shape. "There. That layer's done. Is that length okay?"

Dani reaches behind her back and tugs on the ends of her hair. Where it was once brushing the bottom of her back, it was now laying around her waist line. It'd do. She gives him a nod and lets Dick re-section her hair to start on the next portion.

Other than the burnt part, which Dick just cuts out entirely, each of her knots are gently untangled until her hair is lying soft and fluffy on her shoulders. It's really thick —which she already knew — but Dani is almost shocked by how much there is. And Dick is careful with every strand! When he runs into an impossible knot, Dick just does his best to get it to the end of the strand and then snips it off as "part of the layers". He cuts as he goes until finally, two solid hours later, Dani has brushed and trimmed hair.

"Alright, ready to see?" Dick asks. He pulls off the towel and shakes off the lingering hair onto the piles littering the floor. "I'm no hair stylist, but I think I did pretty well."

Dani runs her fingers through her hair. It's softer than she remembers. Must be due to the recent shower. "Alright."

She lets Dick sweep her a path through the hair and wanders into the guest bathroom. Dick follows behind her with a huge, excited grin.

Dani's hair looks nice. It's long and shiny (possibly due to the water from Dick's spray bottle) with a bit of a curl to the parts that are starting to dry. Two shorter sections frame her face and Dani… well. She likes it.

Dani has always insisted on long hair. She's not entirely sure why, since she has little patience in styling it or even giving it basic maintenance. She thinks it has something to do with distinguishing herself from Danny, though.

But she actually likes this look. She feels more like a girl, more like her own person and not just a poorly pasted copy.

So she just rolls her eyes and shrugs, and Dick hears her underlying thank you and gives her a hair ruffle in reply. When he leaves to go clean up the rest of the hair on the floor, Dani lets herself give her reflection a tiny smile.

HackerBuddette: look how cute

HackerBuddette: [attached: ] [attached: ]

[Video shows Dick chasing a blurry figure around the room with a comb in his teeth. He tackles the figure onto the couch in a flurry of limbs.]

[Picture shows Dick holding a comb in his teeth and holding up a strand of hair in one hand and scissors in another, a look of intense concentration on his face.]

HackerBuddy: BABS LET ME BACK INTO THE SERVERS

HackerBuddette: no 3

Dick loves having Dani around.

They settle into a strange routine: Dick continues his insane work schedule, but every couple of days he'll get an alert that Dani is headed into his apartment. It's not always at a time he's off shifts, but it settles something ruffled inside him that worries at her being out on the streets. When she's at his place, his anxiety at possibly finding her injured or worse is appeased.

In the three weeks since their waffle mishap, they'd managed to hang out four more times.

As a cop and city native, Dick knows some of the best spots in the city. So first, he took her to a gymnastics building he helped establish back when he was fresh out of high school. He never had the patience for college and went from gymnastics coach to police officer. He can tell Dani finds that particular career change fascinating.

They spend that whole day trying out all the different equipment. Dani insists Dick show her all his circus moves… of which there are many. He doesn't even manage half of them before they grow hungry. They pick up pizzas and head back to his apartment to eat while watching a reality TV show about competitive glass blowing.

A few days later Dick gets another day off. That morning, he rents out a sailboat and they go whaling. They don't end up seeing any whales, but they did see some dolphins that made Dani jump around excitedly, her eyes sparkling like the ocean around them as she demanded he take pictures of the scene. They eat sandwiches under the shade of the sail and take turns driving and stand on the bow of the ship to let the wind tear at their hair and clothes.

They manage another outing the week after that, where Dick borrows a bunch of fishing supplies from a coworker, and they go to the lake Dani said had a forty-foot monster. She'd gone three times already, but hadn't found anything. According to her, they had to recreate the conditions where it was last spotted, and that meant fishing in a creaky row boat Dick prayed wouldn't capsize during their short trip. The only fish they manage to catch is the small trout that Dick reeled in, spooking Dani so much she ended up upsetting the boat and sending them both into the lake (but luckily not tipping all of their supplies in as well). She apparently felt bad about soaking them both and proffers her own bounty once they miserably wade themselves back to the shore: a fist-sized red quartz-looking rock with concentric white lines. Dick loves it and accepts the apology before they abandon their fishing expedition for nachos and guacamole.

A couple of days later they go on a hike through the coves around the beach, which was altogether uneventful except for the massive starfish Dani found and promptly adopted as her child Gregory. She made Dick take pictures of him and tearfully said goodbye when it started getting late. Dick ordered some school picture merch parents usually buy of their kids for her, and she literally squealed in excitement when she got the little wallet pictures. She said she didn't have a wallet, but that she'll get one specifically for her son Gregory's photo.

Between outings, they manage a couple of meals together between Dani's erratic visits and Dick's insane sleep schedule. But they're bonding. Dick's ever so slowly chipping away at her walls. He hasn't pried any personal information out of her, but he thinks he's earning her trust. She will be his little sister.

Unfortunately, along comes a perfect storm, and it all comes crashing down.

Dani is waiting for him when he comes back from a double shift, and Dick is immediately wary when he notices a worn backpack at her feet. He guessed she had somewhere to store her stuff, since he never saw her with the maps she collected or her Gregory photos. A backpack makes sense, but it doesn't bode well for her to bring it here, not when they weren't close enough for her to tell him her last name, let alone show him her every possession.

But she smiles when he walks in, giddy and excited, and Dick tries to squash the unease.

He's too nervous to take a shower, so he just warms up some soup they had a few days ago and sits with her at the table.

His leg bounces. Dani is chattering away as she always is, telling him about her run-in with a deli worker on 5th street that she befriended and ended up eating snickerdoodles with.

"He used to be in the mob, too! Told me all about how to spot a drug front. They really like dry cleaning, did you know?" He did. "Unfortunately, I don't have anything worth dry cleaning, so I didn't get to check it out. Hey, don't look at me like that! They don't shoot just any old customer that walks in, that's why it's a front. They're trying to blend."

Ugh, she is going to be the death of him.

Unable to stand it any longer, Dick interrupts her story with a gesture at the bag. As expected, Dani pulls it closer defensively, just as any street kid would for their meager possessions. "Are you going somewhere?"

Dani loses the irritation that'd appeared when he switched the topic and immediately grows a huge grin. "I am!" Her smile dims when she sees what has to be the kicked-puppy look Dick feels his face fall into and she's quick to elaborate. "Nono, wait, I'm just going for a week. It's just a quick trip and I'll be right back!"

Dick feels a bit better. Dani may keep a lot of things a secret, but she's never outright lied. "Where are you going?" he asks, more curiosity than dread now that he's confident she's not disappearing forever.

"I'm visiting some family," she answers. "I have to check in every once in a while so they don't get too worried. And I have to drop off all the souvenirs somewhere, y'know? I have too many to lug all around the world."

"Your home, then?" Dick clarifies. His mind is whirling with this information. She never gave the impression she had a home with a family. She always seemed so… alone. She never mentioned anyone other than the odd companion on one adventure or another, and they never had a repeat performance.

"It's not my home," Dani says. Dick can't place the emotion behind that phrase. It's somewhere between longing, disdain, and confusion. He can't make heads or tails of what that combination is alluding to. "I mean, it is, but it isn't, y'know?" She glances around the apartment. "It's like this place, I guess. It's where you come back to, but it's not home."

Ah. It's not where she belongs. Not where she longs for when she's at the end of a long day, wanting nothing more than to kick off her shoes and curl up somewhere comfortable in a place you're wholly content to be in. That abstract concept of home that Dick knows is a combination of family, safety, and familiarity.

"Where is home?" Dick asks.

Dani smiles wryly at him. "I guess I haven't found it yet." They look at each other in mutual understanding, for Dick himself had wandered aimlessly as she did until making a home in a big empty manor with an emotionally distant adoptive father and an immensely kind but equally terrifying British butler. Then Dani shakes her head and ends the moment. "So anyway, I'm just headed out for a few days. I'll be back by this time next week, at the latest."

"Do you need a ride or anything?" Dick asks, knowing she'll probably decline. "Money for a ticket?"

Dani's already shaking her head before he finishes the question. "A friend's picking me up. No need to worry."

Fat chance of that happening. Dick wants to vet this "friend" to make sure they can be trusted with Dani's safety. He knows that probably won't go over well, so he just nods. "That's today, then?"

"Yep! I got the message this afternoon, and my friend will drop by soonish. I haven't seen him in forever!" She looks so excited Dick decides to put away his worry to be happy for her.

"Have you mentioned this friend before?"

Dani shakes her head. "He's an older friend. We traveled together for a bit until there were some health… issues… don't ask." Dick is concerned, because it sounds like they were her health issues? "Anyway, it's been a while since. He's picking me up because it's so much faster than traveling by myself."

"What's his name?" Preferably his full one, along with his age, where he's from, and what his current residence is.

Dani gives him an innocent smile. "It's a secret."

"You're killing me," Dick groans, leaning back in his chair and smashing his palms into his eye sockets.

Dani laughs, bright and loud. "I know, it's so much fun!" Then she gives him a more sober look at his genuine worry. "I'll be fine, Dick. I trust him, and I don't say that about just anyone."

Dick grumbles a little into his soup as he scoops up another bite. "Alright, if you say so. But what if he has a secret criminal past? I could just do a quick search in the database…"

Dani's laugh this time is louder and more amused. "Oh, Dick. Didn't you know? He's actually an escaped convict with like a hundred life sentences!"

He levels an unimpressed glare at her. She's still laughing hard. Dick doesn't get what's so funny.

"Fine, fine, I'll leave it be." Dick doesn't want to leave it be. He's worried, even though Dani is clearly unconcerned with her impromptu trip. "Then I'll see you next week?"

Dani nods. "This is just a small detour. We can play more Minecraft when I get back?"

She's making a plan so Dick knows she's serious about returning. It makes him feel warm, and his returning smile is softer, more genuine. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

That was a mistake, because at six in the evening the next day, Dick receives an urgent text from Bruce that just reads: Work emergency. Home, now.

Hey guys :D

It's another update :) I hope you guys like this one, even though it's mostly just fluff. Wait what am I saying fluff is the BEST PART.

Anyway, Dick's on his way back to Gotham, and Dani is headed to Danny for a little bit. Most of next chapter will be Dani and Danny, but it's actually pretty cool. I liked writing about her in her map room.

I have zero thoughts so I'm just gonna drop this update and go back to writing a grant proposal. I spent the day at home so I would work on it all day but I did like fifteen minutes and then my roommate and I went out to a dog shelter to walk a dog, and then I took a nap, then played a ghost game with some friends, and now I'm here, lol. So, we'll see if I get any of it done. Here's hoping tho

Thank you for all your comments. Seriously, they make my day. It's a pleasure writing for y'all 3