Chapter Text
Stephanie likes Danny, she decides. She finds something about the man to be entertaining, from the way he talks to the way he walks It’s proven even further when he joined them for dinner on his first day in the manor.
When the bell for dinner rang and the kids of the manor rushed and tumbled over each other to reach their seats, they were shocked at the scene before them.
The dining table was adorned with a multitude of dishes. All different kinds that must have taken hours to prepare. The expensive china lined the outer edge, mats and shiny silverware placed with precise precision.
But what shocked the kids the most was to see Alfred, smiling from where he sat next to Danny as the man talks animatedly.
It’s not often Alfred sets out such a lavish feast but it’s even rarer to ever see Alfred sitting at the table during a full house dinner. That’s not to say it’s never happened, but it usually takes much begging and corralling to even have Alfred consider it, and that’s usually halfway through dinner.
Seeing Alfred, already sitting and sipping water at the dining table is like watching an endangered species run in the wild.
“Oh, good your all here. Sit down then and we can start dinner.” Bruce’s voice floats through as he enters the dining room, taking his usual seat at the head of the table, Alfred sitting next to his left with Danny another seat down.
It snaps the kids out of their stupor and they rush to sit in the new available spots. As soon as they all are settled, they’re diving into trying the different dishes, and conversation passes around with each new scoop of a different dish.
“So.. Danny. Tell me honestly, do you have any embarrassing stories about Brucie over here.” Jason"s voice breaks through the quiet lull once they settle down, and the question tugs at the other kid"s curiosity, heads snap to attentively listen to Danny’s response.
A wild smile appears on his face, and he immediately launches into a story
The man talks animatedly, with exaggerated movements as he lays out a story of when Bruce accidentally ate a whole box of liquor chocolates and proceeded to get black-out drunk. The man in question jumps in at various points to defend himself, claiming he was fooled and that Danny was a traitor for telling the story. The shorter man simply laughed, explaining that Alfred had banned chocolates from the manor for a month due to the incident and the older man nodded along to the claim with his own bitting comment on Bruce should haven’t had the chocolate if he couldn’t control himself.
It was a fun story, entertaining as Danny jumped in to explain their apparent speed race in shopping carts down the aisles in a supermarket, including the loud sound effects they had made. He even used different pitches as he reenacted an argument Bruce had with a Karen who had tried to shame them for buying 40 cartons of eggs.
“But why did you even need 40 cartons of eggs.”
“We egged Oliver Queen"s house.”
“You drove over to Star City just to egg Oliver Queen’s house?”
“Yes, of course.”
And when Alfred finally huffs a rather loud cough, lifting an eyebrow, he asks,
“Is everyone finished with their meal, it seems your forks have stopped moving.” Everyone scurries to make some progress on their meal but Danny simply laughs.
Steph takes a sneaking glance as to why, she sees Danny is already done with his plate and is reaching for seconds! He managed to take bites between all that talking, and Steph didn’t even notice!
And when Danny launches back into his story, Steph can’t help but smile as she is soothed by another silly story with the rest of her family friends.
Stephanie likes Danny, he’s a very funny man.
-
Of course, it’s when Danny is out getting a tour of Wayne Enterprise by both Bruce and Tim the following day is when W.E. gets attacked.
What was meant to be a quiet afternoon for Steph, away from school, quickly turned into a full-scale operation.
"Oracle, Spoiler and Orphan here. We have eyes on the building now, what"s the plan?" Steph, currently Spoiler, tapped into her comm as she landed on the nearby building, Cass, Orphan now, landed next to her.
Wayne Enterprise stands in front of her, smoke billowing out of one of the higher floors. Below, Steph can already see the large gathering of police cars and ambulances at the bottom of the building, W.E. workers spilling out of the entrance of the building.
"Nice for you to join us Spoil, here"s the sitch. Scarecrow has doused the top floors with a potentially new Fear Gas variant. We need you and Orphan to go in and lead the victims out"
"Gotcha, Big Fart"s location?"
"Red Hood and Robin are tracking Scarecrow to the docks. The bomb he"s set off have effectively cut off the paramedics from safely travelling up and down with the Fear Gassed victims."
"Is it structurally sound?"
"Yes, but not safe to transport trashing victims over. They"re stuck on the other side.”
"You got it O. We"re going in." With the sign-off, Steph takes a few steps back and jumps off the roof. She doesn"t have to look back to know that Orphan is just a step behind.
Scaling the building, Steph enters through the huge hole the explosion left behind. She finds the large group of paramedics Oracle mentioned, discussing loudly how to solve their building issue on how to get to the victims.
They"re quick to spot her and Orphan, and even quicker to wave the hero"s over. It brings a smile onto her face, they may be illegal vigilantes but they"re no cops.
"Bats." An EMT greets them, she stands straight and tall with an obvious "no bullshit" attitude in her stance.
"Not Cops" Steph greets with a grin before schooling her face again, "We"re heading in to grab and haul out the victims. They likely gassed with a new formula. Sedate them if needed."
"We know our job, Bats. Send them over and we"ll take care of them. And don"t get gassed." The woman teases but still moves aside, gesturing towards the crumbling side of the building.
Steph gives a nod, putting on her rebreather with Orphan before their racing through the gassed building, moving up higher and higher.
"On your left, 2 people." Oracle"s voice breaks through her earpiece and Orphan’s quick to open and let them both slide into the room beside them, bracing to handle some violent Fear Gas victims.
The scene they are met with, however, is not what they expect of a typical Scarecrow attack.
Now, the usual scenes of Scarecrow"s attacks are gruesome, especially in the later stages.
Victims are subjected to their worst mind-conjured fears till they are left on the floor, screaming and crying. Some start running around, hurting themselves more, whilst others curl into a ball so tight they might as well be the gargoyles that decorate Gotham.
The scene they are met with is similar yet completely different.
Instead of losing their minds afraid, the two victims are running around, files in hand while murmuring to themselves.
Mind you, they still look terrified, but they still are reacting extremely off for Fear Gas victims.
One of them, a woman dressed in a black pencil skirt and blue blouse, hair tied in a bun, is sitting at what"s assumingly her desk, typing speedily on her computer as if the devil has come nipping at her heels.
The other victim, a man dressed in a normal white collared shirt, was running back and forth from the woman"s desk where a printer sits. Grabbing paper and then dashing over to a coffee machine as he sets it to run again.
He must have done this multiple times, as there are already stacks of printouts scattering the ground and the coffee machine was overflowing.
It"s honestly such a shocking scene, Steph can"t help the way she freezes at it with her mouth wide open.
Taking a look at Orphan, she can see Cass is also slightly confused in the way her head tilts ever so. After a quick exchange, Steph braces herself and takes a step further in.
"Hey guys… don"t worry, we"re here to help." Steph starts awkwardly, wondering if they still have a grasp of their surroundings as she approaches, hands poised up in what should hopefully be a non-threatening gesture.
The way the victims immediately snap their heads over made Steph cringe, that had to hurt.
"Oh jeez, listen Bossman. We got it, don"t worry, we"ve got it. All the stats and data lined up printed, triple each! Or at least it should be. God wait lemme double check— We need coffee!" The man leaves as quickly as he arrived, mumbling all the way.
Steph couldn"t help the way she stared as the man fell back into place, Going to and back from the coffee machine and printer.
"Uuh…" trailing off, Steph took to looking back at Orphan, who gave her usual, but currently unhelpful, shrug.
"I think they"re hallucinating. They most likely replaced you with the image of whoever "Boss Man" is," Oracle comments, the distant sound of clacking keys behind her, "Try acting as their Boss. Maybe they"ll respond."
"Heyy… Worker. You"re currently gassed to all hell with some really bad toxins, why don"t you follow me and Orph here, totally Boss Men"s, and we"ll help you get checked up? Will that be okay?" Okay, that made Steph cringe.
It"s not like she was never taught or had never handled Fear Gas victims. She"s done it multiple times! It"s just that they usually weren"t this coherent, or lucid. More screaming on the ground than anything.
"What Bossman? We gotta go? Are we getting fired?" The woman spoke up this time distraught.
"What! No no, Uh. You"re getting a raise?"
"A raise? A raise! Susan did you hear that, a raise! I can buy my little Joseph so much cereal. Oh, come on Susan!" The man was quick to throw his papers out the nearby window and grab the woman or try to. It smacked rather sadly against the closed glass and the lady had practically jumped out of her seat and out the door, the keyboard still in hand.
"Uh..?" Steph took a glance to see, yes, they were at least going in the right direction before turning back to Cass.
"Nice job." Orphan gave her a thumbs up, shoulders shaking a bit as though laughing.
Steph took her time to glare at her as she stomped off further into the building.
-
Moving further into the building and following Oracle"s directions revealed that the incident at the start was not an outlier. All other Fear Gas victims Steph and Cass found acted wildly different from the usual reactions.
They found victims who were terrified out of their minds about due dates to others rolling on the ground about whether or not their cat at home was okay, a photograph gripped in hand.
The funniest one had been when they rushed into a meeting room to be met by a group of 8 high-class personnel. All Steph clocked as the snobbish investors Tim complained about last week.
The group of snobs were like any other victim, terrified. Some of them had curled up into their chairs whilst others were screaming as they cried into their hands.
"Ohhhhhohoho." A man wailed as soon as Steph had entered, stumbling forward to grip her cape in a dramatic stumble, "Oohhhhoho."
"Sir, are you… okay?"
The man continues to bawl, he is inconsolable. It"s very embarrassing for the man.
"Sir?—”
"BRUCIE! They"re being so mean to me, Brucie, Ohoho." The man"s bald head shines light directly into Steph"s eye, "Ohhhoho, they won"t let me buy more shares! Bruce, they won"t let me! How will I buy Linda that new house she wanted? Bruce."
"This man, very sad," Cass speaks up from behind her, helping Steph slowly inch the man away with her foot.
"I don"t think his wife"s name is Linda either." Oracle"s voice crackles through the earpiece, and it honestly makes Steph cringe more.
"Right… okay? Why don"t you head down the hallway to where the medics are and they"ll help you… get your shares?" As soon as the words leave her mouth, the man pops up with hardly any tears, snot wiped away and lips pulled into a Cheshire grin.
"Brucie! Oh, I knew you were a smart lad, I"ll be going now oh yes, It"s always nice to have more money. Yes yes, thanks, Bruce." And just that he leaves, hands rubbing together like some kind of crook.
"Sad sad man," Cass comments, Steph giggles as she turns to help all the other shareholders out and back towards medical.
They all are very funny, over the top and very very pathetic. Each one was in some way, shape or form, crying about how little Wayne Enterprises was making and how they just needed more.
Still, even they were off in how they acted. Every victim they had come across was strange in a way, and Steph had reflected those thoughts to Orphan and Oracle.
“I’ve started listing down common symptoms they all share.” Oracle replied as Steph and Orphan moved further into the building once again, “They still act irrationally and have hallucinations, all of which stem from fear. However, the big difference is instead of multiple haunting fears they seem to be obsessing over one fear.”
“Making a guess here, I think they may be obsessing over a fear they had when they got hit with the gas. Most people you guys found were worried over either work or deadlines, with a few who were worried about things that you’d usually wait for when you get back home, like the lady who was terrified about what to cook for dinner and the guy who was crying of his cat Muffin.”
“So, Scarecrows fucked up the recipe this time round?” the joke tumbles out of her lips way too quickly but the way Cass takes the time to mime giggling makes the embarrassment worth it.
“Maybe, but I don’t trust it. Your off-brand Fear Gas victims are mostly secured and we got samples en route to the Batcave. Nightwing and Agent Penny will be able to tell give us more info on that.”
Steph nods her head along to the info before she stops.
“Nightwing and Agent A? What about Red Robin, isn’t he our go-to science-y guy.”
“Red Robin and Batman are out of commission. Tim Drake-Wayne and Bruce Wayne, along with one Danny, is your last group of victims, coming up right.”
“Oh, shit.”
-
Despite Steph’s many grievances, she was still slightly excited to see how Bruce and Tim were reacting to this new gas, especially with how the previous victims reacted. She imagined it to be a hilarious scene, with Bruce terrified of statistics or something whilst Tim would be sobbing over the coffee filter paper.
The reality, however, is not always so sweet.
The sight Steph is met with, breaks her heart and shoots ice up her spine all at once.
There, in a strewn-up office, sits Bruce. Back pressed against the wooden desk, body turned away with eyes locked on the door. He’s shaking like a wild animal and it’s a scene Steph never wants to see again. That’s her Batman. Her indestructible, stupidly irritatable but always trying wall.
It takes a while for her to even find Tim, and when she does it’s a sight that sends her stomach plummeting.
Tim is in Bruce’s arms. He’s curled up tightly and squashed directly into Bruce’s chest, shaking violently with soft sobs that make Steph want to run over and hug the life out of him.
They took a total of maybe 10 minutes, running around and guiding people. They took only 10 minutes, a new record. They took 10 minutes and 10 minutes was too fucking long .
“Stay back.” Bruce’s growl stops Steph’s outstretched foot in midair, halting her in her steps.
That’s right, they"re still Fear Gassed to all high hell.
“It’s okay Bruce. It’s me, Spoiler. I’m a hero. I’d never hurt you or Tim.” Steph tries to calm him down, but Bruce gets more agitated at her voice, digging his back further into the furniture behind him.
“I said stay away!” The voice is commanding, with that deep growl Batman always used. Steph should count her lucky stars that Bruce hasn’t started throwing hands but how in the world is she supposed to help them?
She goes to speak again but this time, it’s Orphan who stops her.
“No, don’t see you, see only not us. We need him to move forward on his own.” Cass explains and it makes sense. It’s a perfectly reasonable explanation. But the fact Tim is sobbing in that quiet, silent way he used to always do and Steph can’t even step forward and squeeze his heart back together in her arms makes her want to throw a fit, break a wall and shake Bruce till he can see it’s her and she wants, needs to help.
But no, it’d be unfair to blame Bruce, not when he believes Steph isn’t Steph. Not when he sees someone who would hurt them, would hurt Tim.
It’s unfair.
“Okay, okay yeah.” Steph sighs as she takes a step back and Cass gives her nod before lowering herself to the ground. She hums softly, trying to bring Bruce’s attention to her and it works.
It’s then though, do watery blue eyes peek from behind Bruce’s hold. Tim catches sight of Cass and for a second Steph feels a rising hope that maybe, just maybe, Tim might recognize them.
A high pitch whine fills the room as Tim scrambles to push him and Bruce further away and it sends Steph almost spiralling down a slope she refuses to go down.
Bruce, however, looks even worse than Steph feels. He looks heartbroken at the sound as he gathers Tim and hides him further away from the world.
And then he does something Steph never thought she’d ever see. Bruce starts pressing kisses to the crown of Tim’s head as he mumbles incoherently, frantic hands running through the young man’s hair and rubbing the boys" back, as if desperate to reassure Tim and protect him from any fear he may be having currently.
The bits and pieces Steph could hear, thankful for Bat-tech, make her world tilt slightly on its axis.
“It’s okay Timmy, no one will hurt you. They won’t hurt you sweetheart, promise. I love you so much, sweetheart. I love you, I love you.” Whispers and hums follow as the caring respite and Steph stills once again.
Bruce is comforting Tim. Bruce, who must be terrified by whatever hallucination he sees, is comforting, covering, and hiding Tim from the world of hell he sees.
The resounding whispers Tim spills of " Don"t let them take me away, I don"t want to go. Don"t make me go. Dad, please don"t go. " kills Steph more than she"d ever like.
It reminded her of when Tim was younger and she was smaller. When under the safety of darkness and when she and Tim were worn down from a day of running and jumping.
Under that darkness, with only the gargoyles of the city ever being their 3rd witness, they share a small secret in exchange to lighten the weight of the city.
Steph"s fear of citrus and Tim"s fear of big rooms. Small, small secrets with bigger, larger meanings.
"Deepest fears in the moment. I guess it applies to constant fear too." The conclusion is hard to swallow but Steph does it anyways.
Right, less self-wallowing, more getting them out and to somewhere not filled with contagious gas.
"Oracle, we have a problem. We can"t get Bruce and Tim out of the room. Whatever they"re seeing, it isn"t us and Bruce is being a full Mama Bear." Steph tries to keep her voice steady and it"s only Cass" warm presence at her side that keeps her from hitching and the particular whine Tim gives, "We need help, backup. I don"t think Cass and I can take on both Batman and Red Robin, not without hurting them."
"Shit—"
"Oracle, that"s not very helpful."
"—I was hoping that they"d be using the spare gas mask hidden there, I’m guessing they were too far away or taken by surprise. Signal"s suited up now and will be at your location in 5. Can you keep them calm until then?."
"We"ll try Oracle, Spoils out." 5 minutes , Steph turns to Orphan, "We can do 5 minutes."
Cass mimes a booing crowd, Steph scowls at her but lowers herself down to where the other girl is. They need to at least somewhat convince Bruce and Tim they"re safe.
"Hey, Tim. It"s just Steph and Cass." She tries to be calming, small and non-threatening. She hums softly and Cass does the same, little chuffs and coos as though trying to gain the trust of a cat.
Steph doesn"t smile at the imagery, she does not.
And it works, for a second where Tim lifts his head and Bruce watches closely. The boy"s eyes are shining and he moves further out of Bruce"s reach.
A soft whistle comes from above Steph and she jumps up and away. Orphan a step ahead of her as they move in sync to block both Bruce and Tim from view.
" I didn"t even hear anything!"
There, in front of the entrance stands a figure, the light that spills out behind him blinds Steph. She can hardly see his face.
Another whistle, soft and low is made as the man steps forward and Steph tenses, arms raised and ready to beat whatever driving audacity the man has to step closer .
She takes a step back, keeping her distance.
"Not a step closer or I"ll send your ass all the way to Arkham—"
"Danny?" a voice cuts in and Steph makes the amateur mistake of taking her eyes off the enemy to take a glance at Bruce.
And the man looks relieved .
He’s shoulder drop and his grip is loosened. Steph can finally spot Tim’s full face through Bruce’s hold and the sight of red-rimmed eyes and cherry stain cheeks sends a pang of guilt.
But he looks overjoyed, both of them do.
“Hey, Brucie.” A soft voice sounds out behind her along with another whistle as the man steps forward.
It hits her at once that the man she was about to bash was their most recent, or she guessed old, addition to the house.
Danny crouches down in front of Bruce, in his ugly flannel and dirty sneaker, and is not one big bad guy.
She can feel her face heats up from the embarrassment but she shoves it aside instead to watch Danny successfully approach Bruce and Tim.
As soon as the man is even in distance, Bruce lunges forward to drag him into what has to be a crushing embrace. Danny, to his credit, simply huffs with a pat on Bruce’s arm.
“Come on then Bruce. The heroes are here, let"s not make their job any harder.” It comes out much more muffled than intended but Bruce simply shifts a bit to let Tim latch onto Danny as well, who only laughs at the predicament he found himself in.
Danny pulls himself up instead, tugging Bruce to lie against his shoulder. The man whistles in that high pitch but low tone again and Tim seems to sink further into his hold. They’re relaxed, much more than Steph ever thought possible.
“Right then. Let’s get you guys out and to some doctors or something,” Danny"s eyebrows scrunch together, in a way that is too cute for an old man, and turns to Orphan, “That’s what we’re supposed to be doing?”
Cass gives him a nod and he smiles. He starts to stand up but Bruce’s quick to pull him back and Tim whines that heartbreaking sob.
“Danny, Danny it’s not safe. We can’t. Danny. They’ll take you.” Bruce is trying his hardest to shuffle the man back into a grip, but Danny instead smiles and pats the man"s shoulder.
"Bruce, remember the first time we skated? Do you remember what I said?"
Bruce"s protest dies as he takes a moment to recall, a nod " yes" .
"And what happened afterwards."
“I, I was safe,” Bruce replies, shoulders fingers clenching and unclenching but never digging. Danny bumps his shoulder to Bruce’s,
“And your safe right now. Trust me, or you’d be making a grave mistake.”
Bruce smiles like he’s been told a joke, and maybe he was.
Bruce moves to stand as Danny drags both him and Tim up and it looks for a second that Danny is about to start shuffling his way through the building with both of them in his arms, but Bruce halts for a second before moving Tim to more secured in Danny’s arm whilst he moves to stand behind Danny, gripping his left sleeve.
It’s a hilarious sight, with Tim, having hit his growth spurt, being held securely against Danny’s chest whilst Bruce, a 6’2 foot full grown man, standing behind Danny and holding tightly on his sleeve. It’s funny and adorable at the same time.
To Danny’s credit though, he carries Tim like he weighs nothing to the man and simply holds out his hand for Bruce to grip with his other one.
“Right then, we’ll be off. Thanks, heroes.” Danny nods to them with a smile, walking with sure footsteps out the door and down the hallway, Red Robin in hand and Batman trailing behind him.
Steph can only stare as the trio leaves. Her brain feels like it’s doing cartwheels trying to wrap itself around the whole situation. At how easily Danny managed to pull Bruce out of his hallucination, of how easily he pulled Tim out of their hallucinations. How easily he snuck up on them, at how easily he calmed them down.
At how easily he calmed Steph’s beating heart down.
“I’m here! Do not worry, backups here!” A crash echoes down the hallway, a scuffle follows and finally Signal slides in front of them from the hallway.
It snaps Steph out of whatever mood she was in and she smiles wide at Signal"s very un-bat-like appearance. His suit is slightly skewed from whatever scuffle he had earlier and he’s breathing very heavily from behind his helmet. It makes Steph’s heart swell at his worry.
“Hey Newbie, they just left.” Duke’s shoulder drops at the words and it sends Steph into a fit of giggles as she moves to leave the room. Cass instead takes pity, patting Duke’s head as she passes him as well, miming a giggle behind her hand.
“They just leave? By themselves? Shouldn’t you go with them? What if they attack the EMTs?” Signal is quick to rapid-fire questions as he follows behind them, his hands fidgeting in worry.
“Don’t worry, Danny’s with them.”
“Like, Danny the strange mysterious guy we have never heard about that Bruce brought into the house?”
“Yes, Danny,” Steph knock Signal"s helmet, “Who we know isn’t any kind of wizard mind controlling Bruce and Alfred, we checked before and after he arrived. Remember? What’s wrong with him?”
“It’s just, he feels off.” the answer leaves Steph thinking again. Danny is a bit strange, but it’s also nothing new with this family. Cass adds her own two cents with a few gestures,
“He’s been honest with us the whole time.” she signs. Duke nods but he doesn’t settle and Steph can’t blame him. Their Bats, after all, take a while for anyone of them to settle and feel safe with a person. It’s surprising to Steph how quickly she took to Danny but then again the man had somehow stayed Bruce’s best friend for years.
Once again in her life, since she became a Bat, Steph feels inclined to give Danny the benefit of doubt. She can’t see a situation where Danny would ever hurt them, purposefully or accidentally, especially with how he handled Tim. How well he handles everyone in the Mansion, including Steph.
It’s so strange, the constant feeling of ‘Safe-Safe-Safe’.
She resolutely denies that it may also be because Danny promised to take them diving after his story on his and Bruce’s own fishing adventure turned on the run trip after finding a ring that belonged to the wrong crowd.
Hearing the story of how Bruce Wayne , not Batman, had to go on the run after an international mob assumed Bruce to be the newest husband of their boss thanks to the small ruby ring with their old insignia carved into it that Danny had found snorkelling was hilarious.
( “It turned out fine, it was the huge mob boss’s grandma’s lost ring and we became pretty good friends afterwards.”
“I think Anthony has since gone into much more legal things, less laundering money and technology, more environmental improvements and forest restoration, last he wrote. I’ll have to pay him a visit next time.”
It was only after dinner did Steph and Cass approached Danny asking for more stories like that. Danny had simply smiled at her with a wink,
“I’ll take you all diving next week, how about it? We’ll visit Anthony and it’ll be nice to get out of the mansion.” the smile grows mischievous, “So, want to meet an ex-mob boss?” )
It shouldn’t have sounded as exciting as it did at the moment, or even now. Steph has fought mob bosses and even bigger badder villains but the way Danny speaks promises nothing but fun.
And Steph trusts that Danny would keep them safe.
"—so you don’t find it weird he just storms in, suspicious gas mask and all, into the room. Picks up the Batman and Red Robin and goes on his merry way? Don’t you find it strange?” Duke’s voice breaks Steph out of her musing. His words stop her in her track
“He didn’t.” Cass signs, Duke nods and continues,
“Well, no I guess Batman would be kind of heavy to carry but that’s basically—”
“No, he didn’t have a gas mask.” Steph cuts in.
A silence settles over them, as they stare at each other. Duke stares as Steph and Cass stare back.
“So he’s an alien—”
“How’d you get that!”
“Atlantean.”
“Cass, don’t encourage him!”
“Danny’s from Pluto—”
“Pluto’s not even considered a planet anymore—”
-
What wakes Bruce up the next morning, is what he will now deem the world"s most annoying stream of light escaping through the curtains to lay directly on his face. Still, he surrenders to the sun and moves to pull himself up and away from his bed.
He notes, he doesn’t remember how exactly he got in his bed, but he pushes it aside in favour of some morning coffee.
Batman works on logic, Bruce Wayne will do a triple backflip for some of those good beans about now. But Bruce Wayne is sadly no meta that can fly and must use the two limbs he calls legs to go get some.
When he does finally reach the kitchen, he’s met with a new usual sight of a full dining table. A smile rises on his face that he doesn’t bother to hide as he makes his way to his seat, a cup of gold already waiting for him.
“Good Morning…” He greets them as he takes a sip of his cup. It’s nice and quiet this morning he notes.
Nice and quiet?
Bruce snaps his eyes open to finally take in the scene in front of him. Sat around him as usual are his kids, staring.
“Bruce! Good morning!” Danny steps out of the kitchen, he’s wearing an apron and has a tray filled with various dishes. He’s also wearing that shit-eating grin Bruce doesn’t trust.
“...Danny.” he gives Danny a nod of thanks for the eggs and bacon he slides onto the plate, never taking his eyes off the man even as he takes his sweet time rearranging the food into a smile.
“You look better than you did yesterday.” So something happened yesterday. But racking his head, Bruce can hardly remember yesterday. He remembers waking up, eating breakfast, and taking Danny on another tour this time to Wayne Enterprise—
“I was Fear Gassed.” Bruce lets the realisation slip out and Danny"s smile widens.
“You were! Both you and Tim were while I was in the bathroom. Imagine my surprise when I return from the powder room to find you and Tim curled in a corner with two heroes at the door.” Danny continues down the table, serving the rest of the kids at the table.
“That… doesn’t sound like a usual Fear Gas victim.”
“Oh no, apparently it was a new version that caused you guys to fear whatever fear you had at the moment.” Bruce may not be able to see Danny’s face but he can hear the small huffs of almost laughter coming from his friend.
“All it did was make you super clingy.”
“No.”
“Yes,” Danny sings as he moves on to the other side of the table, “It was super cute. When I got you and Tim finally back home, you just wouldn’t let go of each other. Everyone was very lucky only Dick was home ”
“I didn’t.” Bruce decides that very moment Batman carries the brain cells, Bruce Wayne carries possible deniability of any actions he made.
“Oh, but you did. In fact, I remember a few of the nicknames you kept using.” Danny hums as he moves to set the empty plate aside in favour to grab a jug of apple juice. He turns to walk around and serves the drink to everyone
“Like, Sweetheart .” a squeak forces Bruce to tear his eyes from Danny to look at Tim. The boy"s face is completely red and his shoulders are hiked up to his ears. The boy is vehemently not looking at Bruce and Bruce can feel his face start to burn.
He didn’t.
“Or Bud and Princess.” Duke coughs on his sandwich and Cass beams.
“Peanut, Chum, Bubba. ” Steph is laughing, Jason is looking away and Damian is trying to kill his crepe with his eyes alone.
“And you even introduced me to Sweetie Pie when she called to check up on you, Barbara seems like a lovely girl.” Bruce is sinking like Jack in the titanic and Danny is Rose the asshole hogging the door.
“It was adorable. ” Danny declares as he takes a seat, drinking his juice with the smuggest smile. Bruce sighs as Steph"s laughter grows louder and Jason"s shoulders are shaking. Traitors, that"s what his kids are.
A set of stumbling footsteps sound from the hallway and when Bruce lifts his head he’s met with the sight of his eldest son, wrapped up in a dark blanket and sporting the world"s messiest bed-head.
Dick, ever graceful, huffs as he takes his seat. The sound of shuffling fabric fills the room before he finally manages to pull an arm out, gratefully accepting the juice Danny passes him.
“Bruce,” Dick finally speak his first actual words this morning, “never call me clingy again.”
“What?” The request is so bizarre the words slip out of his mouth on instinct.
“Timmy can’t either. He has no rights and neither do you.” Dick declares with a grumble, Tim’s pulled his knees up and buries his face into it as a response.
Bruce feels like his grasping at straws at the sudden declaration, wracking his head for whatever he could have done yesterday for that response. Thankfully, Danny seems to be adamant about listing down all of Bruce’s embarrassing sins.
“Mhm, you wouldn’t let either Tim or Dick go after I got you home. I had to haul you all to bed.“
“I was stuck, sandwich between you idiots, for 18 hours ,” Dick growls out and Bruce swivels his head to his eldest. He realizes now that it’s his blanket Dick’s carrying around and looking over to Tim he realizes he’s carrying his own bed hair.
He didn’t .
“Oh! And how could I forget your favourite nickname!” Danny claps his hand together and Bruce suddenly feels like he’s opened up Dr Seus"s book, The Grinch.
“ Baby.”
Dick groans and Steph is cackling. Tim has gone ball and Bruce for the second time today wants out now .