Dani's To-Do List

- become a pearl scavenger

- do some thinkin'

- plot

- ask questions

Gotham is so smoggy, Dani thinks to herself as she balances on a curb embedded in the damp sand. The beach itself is covered in trash and seaweed, choked with pollution. The sky is gray, and the ground black, the water some murky in-between. The bitter almost-winter wind smells like salt and oil.

She spent the day wandering through the pockets of sea caves, admiring the departure from urban influence in the deep, dank caverns that would normally be too dark to navigate.

Dani misses her sweatshirt already. She has another, because she has enough duplicates of all her clothes to last her a month –thanks, Cass – but her other one was her favorite. It was the one she'd traveled with all her life, and now it was covered in blast holes and soot. Maybe it could be salvaged, but Dani went with one of her new ones.

It was warmer, but it felt and smelled wrong.

Her injuries finished up their healing around noon, like she'd predicted, and Dani exercised her newfound health to try scaling the side of a cliff, slipping, and promptly covering herself in bloody scratches. They don't take longer than an hour to heal, but Dani's still annoyed that she managed to get injured twice in less than twenty-four hours.

As she had been all day, Dani is thinking. Plotting, some might say.

She has questions for the Bats, just like they had questions for her. She had to really consider what she should ask them, and she thinks she has pretty good idea of what she wants to know.

She's also just been kind of… digesting.

Dani's never told anyone about her whole half-dead status. Not anyone alive, not anyone who really mattered to her. Jason maybe, but the whole situation with him is kind of gray, somewhere in-between. Him knowing hadn't affected her.

But Dick knowing is a whole other story. He's going to worry. People get weird about dead kids, kind of like Jason had when he found out. Jason worrying was suffocating enough; Dick would be a nightmare to deal with.

And Dani doesn't really want to deal with it, honestly. Being aloof and distant is an easier existence. Being cared about is exhausting. Worrying about others is exhausting.

Life was simpler before she met Dick.

But it was also a lot less fun.

For the first time in her (admittedly short) life, Dani didn't feel the need to run away. Well, sure, she kind of did, considering she's wandering on the beach instead of at home discussing things with the Waynes, but she doesn't feel like leaving. Dani doesn't want to have conversations with them, but she also doesn't feel flighty from the pressure of them knowing.

What a novel experience.

She needs to talk to Danny, though. Ultimately, how much she tells the Waynes – and more importantly, their alter egos as Bats – is Danny's decision. If it was just a random civilian family, maybe it would be different, but the Bats can do things with this information. Dani needs to make sure she doesn't spill anything Danny wants to keep hidden.

The murky clouds finally start to release some of their acid rain, sprinkling droplets down onto the damp sand. Dani sighs, glaring up at the sky, considering how much longer she can stay out here before getting completely soaked.

She hears a car door shut, an engine idling in the background. Dani turns to the sound of footsteps approaching her, instantly recognizing Dick as he steps across the strip of beach separating Dani from the road. He's holding an umbrella.

When he's close enough, Dani asks, "How did you know where I was?"

Dick gives her a light smile, tilting the umbrella over Dani to block the light drizzle slowly dampening Dani's hair. "Babs has a program that keeps track of cameras shorting out in the city. And Tim likes to fly drones."

"That does sound like Tim," Dani concedes. "So I guess the real question is, 'how long have you been here'?"

"About an hour," Dick confesses. "You looked like you needed the time to think."

"I did," Dani agrees. "But I think I'm good now. Can we go back home?"

"Of course." Dick shifts so Dani can fall in at his side, the umbrella held between them. "Did you have a nice day?"

"Yeah," Dani says. "I did some 'splorin'. Didn't find anything super cool. Oh, except this pearl." Dani shoves her hand in her front pockets and fishes around for the marble-sized gem. When she grabs it, she hands it over to Dick for inspection, who studies it with fascination.

"This is one of the biggest pearls I've ever seen," Dick says, trying to adjust it in the dim light to get a better angle. "And it looks flawless."

"Obviously," Dani scoffs. "I didn't keep any of the lumpy ones."

"You found more?"

Dani hums in confirmation. The car is still idling on the side of the road, and Dick swallows his surprise to open the back door for her. She climbs in, spotting Alfred in the driver's seat, which makes sense, considering they're driving the city car.

Dick shakes out the umbrella and climbs in after her. "Alfie, check out this pearl Dani found." He leans forward in the seat and stretches his hand through the service window. Alfred frowns at Dick's behavior but accepts the pearl, flipping on the overhead light to inspect it more closely.

"This is a truly astounding find, Miss Dani," Alfred praises, admiring the way the iridescent pearl shimmers in the overhead light. After another moment, he hands it back to Dick, who gives it back to Dani. She tucks it back into her pocket, grinning.

"I'm guessing you were messing around in the cliffs, then?" Dick wonders, looking pointedly at her bloody knees.

"Yep!" Dani smacks her knees to show him they no longer hurt. "Just a little slip, nothing big."

"I'm guessing you just mean there's nothing big now," Dick teases.

Dani huffs. "Well, there's nothing at all now," she stresses. "But it was nothing big a while ago."

"Your healing factor is ridiculous."

"Jealousy doesn't become you, Dick."

"I'm not jealous!" Dick holds her eye contact, but then looks away with a sheepish grin. "I guess a little bit. It would just be so convenient." Then he pauses. "Wait, when we first met, your ankle took days to heal!"

Dani looks away, trying to act innocent.

"... You were just pretending, weren't you."

"Maybe…"

Dick hums. "You are a menace."

"It's true."

"Did you think of a question for me?"

"Yep." Dani wasn't planning on asking it today, but she guesses now is as good a time as any. "Okay, my question is easy: why were you Batman while your dad was gone?"

"You don't have to use your question on that," Dick says. "I can just tell you."

"Is there any question you won't answer?" Dani challenges. "Like, any question I could possibly ask."

Dick considers this. "I guess not. But there are some that are definitely more–"

"Just answer the question!" Dani rolls her eyes. "It's the one I chose."

Dick holds his arms up in surrender. "Alright, alright. It's pretty simple. I match Bruce best in height and stature, so I fool people more easily. I've also worked with him the longest and can act as him the most naturally."

"What do you mean, that you've been working with him the longest?" Dani asks. "Doing what?"

"I was his partner," Dick explains. "The first Robin."

Dani's mouth drops open into an 'o'. "Wait, really? So Damian is your successor?"

"The fourth, actually," Dick corrects, his eyes twinkling with mirth. "Once I retired, Jason was Robin. Then Tim, then Stephanie – for a short time – and now Damian. It's a bit of a legacy in our family."

Honestly, Dani's seen weirder family legacies. She knows of one where the father would pass down a gold tooth from his mouth to his firstborn son's. That tooth must have been in half a dozen mouths by now. A hero name and costume isn't so strange in comparison.

But, wait: "Tim went from Robin to… Red Robin?" At Dick's nod, Dani laughs in delight. "And I thought my brother was unoriginal! Oh geez, there's already red on the Robin costume, he really didn't think that one through!"

Dick's interest is obviously piqued at her mention of Danny, but it needed to be said. Seriously, a ghost hero named Phantom? That's obviously just a pun on his civilian surname Fenton? C'mon, Danny. That's just sad.

"Your brother?"

"I've mentioned him before," Dani comments off-handedly. "So when did you stop being Robin? When Jason showed up?"

Dick chuckles without humor. "No, Jason came later. I started to clash with Bruce as I got older, and by the time I was sixteen, I needed to stop being Robin. I made my own costume and became my own hero. Jason showed up a couple of years later. Bruce kind of just picked him up off the street and took him home, like a stray cat."

Dani glances at Alfred, but he doesn't deny the comment. Maybe that is how it actually happened. "What hero were you? How long were you that one?"

"I've been Nightwing since I set down Robin," Dick says, casual, as if he didn't just blow Dani's mind.

Dani whirls on him, her seatbelt locking at the sudden movement. "What?! So you were Nightwing that time on the clocktower?"

Dick smirks at her. "Yep. You scared the tights off of me for some joke about pancakes."

It is him! Wild! "That's insane," Dani says, sitting back and letting the seatbelt retract. "But you were reading a paper just a couple weeks ago with Nightwing on it!" Dick had been keeping track of the news in Blüdhaven while in Gotham; a stack of "Bludhaven Bulletin" sat next to his placemat every morning that he'd try to read through between bantering with Dani and his siblings.

"A friend of mine," Dick explains. "Nightwing is easier to play than Batman, and we try to stagger appearances and disappearances of the vigilantes and our civilian identities. For instance, Bruce will start going out as Batman again tonight, and we'll announce Bruce is back from his vacation-slash-sick-leave sometime next week."

"What about you?" Dick tilts his head, so she further clarifies, "Are you going to go out as Nightwing?"

"No, I need a break," Dick says. "Just one week doing nothing." Dani notices Alfred's eyes shifting to look at the other man in the rearview mirror, one eyebrow raised, and Dick huffs. "Okay, probably only a few days, but I'm going to try."

"Are you going to stay in Gotham?" Dani asks, suddenly worried. If he decides to go back to Blüdhaven, would she go with him? Would she stay here? She doesn't like the sudden possibility that she would have to choose. And with her impending trip to Danny's… "I don't want you to be gone when I come back!"

"Where are you going?"

"To my brother's, remember? I need more ectoplasm."

"You said your doctor's."

Oh, that's right. "Well, I visit them together."

Dick's gaze sharpens. Dani kind of hates how much she has to tip-toe around her words with them. Can they just not notice every little thing? "Is your brother…" He trails off uncertainly, pointedly.

Dani rolls her eyes, but she doesn't really know how to respond. She can't say Danny isn't a ghost, and she probably shouldn't say he's like her and Jason, but she also can't say he's human. There's really no way to evade this question, so Dani just answers with, "He's on the way."

Dick looks very unsatisfied with this answer, which, fair. Why would Danny be on the way to Frostbite's, a doctor Dani has already told them is a ghost? Oh, well. Until Dani finds out more about what she can reveal, she's not going to risk spilling any secrets. "When are you going? And for how long?"

"I think sometime tomorrow, maybe?" Dani considers this for a moment, trying to plan for the trip in her head. She needs to visit Frostbite for a check-up, ask Danny for more ectoplasm and hopefully for another watch, and gather info on the GIW for Tim. She's also decided that since Christmas is coming up, and she's actually going to celebrate this year, she needs to get gifts. And not just any regular old gifts (although maybe those too). She needs gifts that no one else can get, gifts that come from someone with access to the Infinite Realms, gifts that'll just make them cry. In a good way, but still. Dani needs to see literal tears or she'll have failed.

She's never done Christmas before, and Dani is determined to show them all how much they mean to her with gifts more thoughtful than any that they have ever received before. They're billionaires, so it's not like they can't get pretty much anything money can buy. She needs something more. And that'll take time. If she leaves tomorrow, she'll have almost four weeks to find everything. It may not be enough time, but she has to give it her best shot.

"And I'll be back before Christmas," Dani concludes, nodding her head to herself.

"Are you aware of the holiday this coming Thursday, Miss Dani?" Alfred asks mildly from the front seat.

Dick is staring at her wide-eyed.

"No…?"

"I believe missing Thanksgiving would be the most grievous of insults," Alfred says, voice as dry and sarcastic as ever. "It is, after all, a holiday of family."

Thanksgiving? Shoot, was that in November?

"Do you not think of us as family?" Dick whines, giving her his best puppy-dog eyes. He's doing his best not to smile, but Dani can feel his mischievous mirth. "You wouldn't abandon us on the day of family and food, would you? It's Alfred's favorite holiday!"

"I have been told my roast duck is a far cry from adequate." That sounds like Damian, but isn't he a vegetarian?

Also, food? She can't miss that. But still: "I know what you're doing," Dani accuses Dick, pointing a finger at him and giving him the stink-eye.

His grin is unapologetic. "Is it working?"

"Yes." Dani groans and sits back, smiling at Alfred where he's looking at her in the rearview mirror. "Is there really going to be roast duck?"

"Of course, Miss Dani. I am hardly one to make a promise I don't intend to keep."

"I guess I can postpone for a few days," Dani agrees. It'd shave off some time on finding the gifts, but she would figure it out. Ooh, or, she could visit the Zone for a couple of hours and send ahead a message to Danny, see if he could start working on the watch? That would give her more time…

"Why do you need to leave for so long?" Dick asks. "Last time you went, it was only a couple of weeks. Do check-ups usually take that long?"

"No, they only take like an hour. I need to run a bunch of other errands, and those will take a long time."

"What tasks?"

Man, Dick's so nosy. Dani lets out a heavy sigh, but still answers: "Well, Tim's question for the GIW information, for one. And I need to get another watch for Jason, and then there's some Christmas presents I need to round up."

Dick blinks. She can feel his surprise at such a conclusive answer, but what can Dani say? She's feeling generous.

"Watch?" His eyes flick down to where Dani's watch hides under her sweatshirt sleeve. Dani peels it back so he can inspect it. "It doesn't tell the time, so what does it do?"

Yeah, Danny couldn't figure out for the life (ha) of him how to get the time to work again. But hey, it's right twice a day, and that's a win in Dani's book! "It masks my ectoplasm. So I don't light up on the GIW's sensors."

Dick looks back up at her. "And you want to get one for Jason? From whom?"

The first question is an easy nod, but for the second, Dani considers for a second. She still doesn't know how much she should say, so she settles for, "A ghost expert. But if Jason has one, they won't randomly attack him on the streets anymore."

Honestly, Dani was wondering about how he managed to evade them for so long. The GIW's movements had skyrocketed months ago, so it's weird that they only really started hunting him down recently. Just another question to ask Frostbite/Danny about.

The car finally pulls into the Wayne's driveway. Dani had apparently walked a great distance today, if their long drive is any indicator.

Before Dick can follow up on his questioning, Dani asks Alfred, "Is Bruce here?"

"Master Bruce is catching up on the work he missed over the past few months. He will be joining us as soon as he's able."

"We'll see him on Thanksgiving," Dick translates. "Probably."

"If he still wishes to live in this house, he will make an appearance," Alfred comments in that mild, deadly tone of his. He must really love Thanksgiving.

Dick has a wicked smirk at the comment, but it softens when he looks back down at Dani. "He's trying to catch up on all the GIW nonsense. But since he's back, you and I can do some serious hanging out!"

That did sound phenomenal.

"You may do so after dinner," Alfred chides. "Tonight's menu includes chicken cordon bleu, a dish you have implied heavy interest in before, Miss Dani."

"The chicken stuffed with bacon and cheese?" Dani clarifies.

"The very same."

"Awwww yeah! Nothing's more American than stuffing meat with more meat! And cheese!" Dani makes a beeline for the dining room, Dick trailing after her with laughter.

"It's Swiss!"

Dani knows he means from Switzerland, but she decides to play dumb. "I like Swiss cheese!"

Dick rolls his eyes, but Dani knows he's amused. Dick's always amused. It's something she likes most about him. He's like sunshine, warm and bright.

And she's really, really missed him.

The next few days with his undivided attention were going to be so much fun.

Especially since when he's busy, she has some questions to ask.

The days leading up to Thanksgiving are filled with preparation on Alfred's part, dodging private questions from the Waynes, and asking her questions in return for her honesty that Sunday night.

Dani asks Jason – who, despite his best efforts at escaping, was trapped (guilt-tripped by Cass) in the Manor until the GIW were dealt with (or until Dani could get his watch, which she would be doing soon but not too soon, since she likes having him around) – her question after he's finished reading her another chapter of Pride and Prejudice, Alfred the cat sprawled on her stomach from where she's resting with her head in Jason's lap. There's a throw blanket on her legs, and the fire in the study is crackling cheerily behind a black wrought iron grate, throwing shadows around the dim room as the flames twist.

Jason had shooed Titus out when he followed Dani in, and Dani wondered. She asked him why he hates Titus.

His answer was, "I don't. I just… don't want to get attached to another dog, y'know?"

Which led to her real question: for him to tell her about Ace.

Jason told her what a good dog he was. That he played "Bat-Hound" in their little vigilante play, wearing a mask and vest to conceal his canine identity (to track him and protect him from gunshots, Jason admitted) when they went out investigating, a well-trained search-and-rescue, bomb-sniffing, and combat trained dog.

"Smartest dog anyone'd ever met," Jason explains, a bittersweet smile on his face. "Trained him myself… well, with some help. But he was my dog, y'know? Any trick I could think of, Ace knew. He picked them up with no hesitation. Helped us find bombs, victims, guns, drugs… everything. He saved my life more than a few times, too."

Jason eventually trailed off from all the funny and endearing stories of his dog, punctuated with pictures and videos that he had saved to a hidden file on his phone. She can feel the rising sadness in him as he looks on at his beloved deceased pet, and he finally sits back into the couch, tucking his phone away.

"He was only six when he died," Jason says. "I saved him from the streets, like Bruce saved me. He was my best friend." Jason sighs, looking deep into the flames. "I miss him every day."

Then he looks at her with a strained smile. "That answer your question?"

It most certainly did.

Cass's came next. Dani asked her why she couldn't speak while watching the older girl stretch for her ballet practice.

In the wall-length mirrors, Cass tells her the story of a girl raised to kill. A girl denied speech and communication of any kind, forced to read the language of bodies and expressions where words couldn't fill the gaps. A girl that found Bruce, reading the good intentions on him before she understood the assurances he sent her way.

She is a girl who could speak, but didn't.

"Remember past," Cass explains with her hands. "Speak without words. Listen to silence. No lies. No deception."

Cass shows her how she communicates through dance, then shows her how to do a switch kick. Dani thinks she likes dance.

Dani asks Alfred how he came to work at the Manor when they're elbow-deep in flour getting dough ready for Thursday dinner. She's a bit helpless in the kitchen, but she can at least knead the dough. It's hard to ruin dough.

(She still manages her first try since she "over kneads" it, but at least she gets to eat her transgressions. It's delicious.)

Alfred tells her the story of an Air Force medic in the Queen's army, on the front line in many conflicts that never made the news, handled quietly and without hassle. He tells the story of a man skilled in espionage and medicine, tasked with protecting a man richer than the Queen herself, a kind doctor with a smile for everyone. He regales her with the shenanigans they managed to get themselves into, how he left the Queen's force to act as the man's trusted bodyguard (friend, Alfred confesses, smiling at her with flour streaked across his cheek), how he watched the man fall in love with his wife and was the best man at their wedding, the first to hold their son.

Alfred teaches her that happiness is found with family, and that no matter how quickly the Waynes had brought about his gray hairs, he would serve them for the rest of his life, as their butler, their medic, but most importantly, as a member of their family.

Dani didn't think she could have more respect for Alfred, but here she is.

Damian asks her while she throws the ball around for Titus during one of Dick's debriefings with Bruce why she hasn't asked him a question yet.

Dani tells him she's not ready to ask, but she has one in mind.

He's unsatisfied with waiting, but Dani doesn't break beneath his thinly-veiled whining.

Dani asks Tim her question as he's headed down to Bruce's study, probably about to start whatever night-time vigilante tomfoolery he usually gets up to. When Dani phrases it like that, Tim laughs and pokes fun at her, mentioning the loss of couple of dozen boots from the car garage that had Certainly Not ended up on each tire of an 18-wheeler that Dani and Steph were pissed at after the driver screamed at them for taking off car boots on illegally-booted cars.

But Dani doesn't know what Tim means. That wasn't tomfoolery. That was Serious Business.

She asks him how he became Robin, since she was under the impression Tim had parents and a home when he became Batman's third partner.

Tim told her the story of a young boy, too smart with too little supervision and too much time on his hands. The little boy noticed Robin performing a certain gymnastic move only a handful of people could perform, noticed a million little things that lined up the Waynes with the Bats after you knew to look for them.

A little boy who would go into the city at night, lay down on the rooftops, and take pictures of a father and son inflicting justice on the whole of Gotham City.

A little boy who saw Robin stop coming, a grieving and terrifying Batman, and a city crying out for its second protector.

A little boy a little too smart, with too little supervision, and too much time on his hands, who blackmailed Bruce Wayne to become his next partner and clawed his way into a family he had to hold together with inexperienced hands. A little boy who grew into a strong teenager, worthy of standing at his father's side and leading teams of heroes on his own.

But those were stories for another time.

For the night before Thanksgiving, Tim showed her how to be a nighttime stalker with a camera worth more than a good car, showing her all the best places to take pictures and how to capture pictures without much light.

Dani manages to get a good shot of Tim yeeting Damian off the Gotham Gazette building. She and Tim might have set the scene for it, made sure there was good lighting and such. But under the threat of torture, she and her unhinged brother swore it was candid, and anyone who says otherwise is a filthy liar.

As Tim said, flipping through the shots with a manic grin on his face, "Haters will say it was staged."

And Dani ain't no hater.

After an eventful week of spending time with each of her siblings, Dani's first real Thanksgiving rolls around.

It's about as chaotic as everyone expected.

Okay I have GOT to stop waiting to crank out the whole chapter in the three hours before I go to bed. I'm sorry this one is short/unsatisfying, but I will do my absolute bestest to make sure I actually get the chapter for next week written over the week so I have more time to ruminate and make it better (and longer). Ugh, I'm salty at myself XD I'm also really tired from cranking this out, so.. possible edits tomorrow, who knows?

- How Jason managed to stay under the GIW radar for so long is gonna be explained later

- Is Alfred's favorite holiday Thanksgiving? No clue, but it's in character. Food and family, that's right up Alfred's alley.

- Dani's question for Damian? You'll see :)

- Dani's avoiding Bruce a lil bit. And the Batfam is threatening Bruce that if he chases her away with his innate Bruce-ness, they'll make sure his body is never found. And Bruce isn't afraid. He's just… approaching his deadly children with a bit of caution. Yes, caution.

- next chapter: Thanksgiving! In February, I know, but oh well, this is just how the timing is going to work out XD

- is this fic getting too long? Like, is the word count too daunting for new readers? Idk. I see fics this long and I'm like yaaas, but I don't want to deter anyone from trying it out because there's so many words and no end in sight lmao