A Little Birdy Told Me (Bat Family)

Echo Location

Bruce

I treaded up the stairs and walked down the hall until I was met with my blood son's door. I sighed and knocked on the hard wood a few times. There was no answer so I knocked again. Once again there was nothing. I opened the door and saw it was empty of Damian. His book bag resting on his desk, untouched and unopened. His school uniform was folded crisply in his laundry basket. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Something had to be up.

I heard Alfred leave Michelle's room down the hall and I called to him to get his attention. He stopped in his traps and looked at me. "You wouldn't happen to know where Damian is would you?" I asked him, knitting my eyebrows. I was worried, the worst possible scenarios running through my mind.

Alfred's aloof expression didn't change. "Actually yes. Before he left a few minutes ago Master Damian informed me that he was going for a walk with Titus." My best friend said slowly and clearly.

I let out a deep sigh. That was normal, he took Titus out for a walk whenever possible, which wasn't too often, given his job obligations were pretty hefty for someone his age. Which would make me feel guilty, except he never complained. Believe me, the moment he tells me he's tired with the job I'd gladly let him retire the cape. That's all I want for him, for all my kids, to be happy. I swiftly walked to my underused bedroom to change into something more fit for a walk.

I was out the front door in less than five minutes. I knew Damian's route by heart and hoped he didn't decide to change it today. I was glad when I saw the hooded figure of my son and his dog sniffing a streetlight. I jogged to catch up with them. Titus heard me before Damian did and he started barking and tried running toward me, tugging at the leash which caught my son's attention. I couldn't read Damian's expression when he turned and looked at me but I assumed it was surprise. I smiled when I finally caught up to him and gave Titus a pat on the head.

"What are you doing here?" Damian asked grimly.

I put my arm around my son's shoulders and looked into his eyes, silently noting that my eyes were passed down to both of my biological children. "I thought I'd join you and Titus for your walk today." I stated.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Yes but why, shouldn't you be watching your daughter?" His last words came out like acid but I didn't flinch. He started walking when Titus pulled him along and I kept the pace with them.

"She'll be fine, I wanted to spend time with you." I told him.

His eyes looked straight ahead and his jaw was clenched. "No you want to know how I feel about this."

I raised my eyebrows. "That's was one of the conversation pieces I was going to bring up, yes." I nodded, there was no use lying to him. Damian's perception was top notch, much like my own, and he was my son, I didn't like keeping anything from him.

He stopped again when Titus stopped at a patch of grass. "I don't care." He said simply.

"What do you mean-"

He cut me off. "I don't care. And even if I did what would you do? Kick her out? No. So my opinion doesn't matter. Even if it did, I still wouldn't care." Damian said quickly. The dog pulled us along again when he was done.

I was stunned for a moment but got my bearings back quickly. "Your happiness is what matters, Damian, I never want you to be unhappy, I never want to put you in a situation that you didn't want to be in. So if Michelle being here is making you unhappy then talk to me and we can work something out." I spoke softly.

"I don't care."

I stopped us this time. Titus looked back at us in confusion. Damian kept facing forward until I turned him to face me. "But do you care about Michelle?" I asked him seriously.

He looked into my eyes, the frown on his face seemed permanent. "I just met her." He stated.

"But you realize she's family, she's your little sister. We don't have the full scope of her situation right now but if somebody is out to harm her we have to protect her." My hand squeezed his shoulder gently.

His eyes widened and he took a step back. "I understand that, of course I will protect her." He spoke like I had offended him. "I just.." He trailed off.

I was curious. "You just what?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"It's nothing." He shook his head.

"Are you sure?" I asked worriedly. He nodded. "Damian I want you to know if anything is ever bothering you I want you to come to me and I will do everything in my power to fix it."

His eyes dropped to the ground then. "Father?"

My eyebrows raised, was he actually going to let down his guard for a while? "Yes?" I asked.

"Why do you think Selina Kyle hid your daugh- hid Michelle from you for so long?" He looked back into my eyes.

That was an unusual question. One I wasn't fully ready to answer. I thought about it for a while. "I can only assume it was to protect her." I said gravely.

My youngest son knit his  eyebrows. "But that doesn't make any sense. The safest place for her is in your custody. Besides, why would Kyle send her to you now, when she's in trouble?"

I never thought of it like that. "Maybe I'm the only one she could trust?" I tried.

He shook his head. "If she trusts you now, why didn't she trust you ten years ago?"

He put more thought into this than I had, that's for sure. I admired his analytical mind. But his question left me stumped.

Damian

We got home about ten minutes ago. Father went to check on Michelle and I went to my room. Michelle. My sister Michelle. Maybe I should call her Wayne? Kyle? Kyle-Wayne? I was used to calling people by their last names. It was how I was raised. Though I have abandoned most things from my life before Gotham I always stayed true to that. It was expected from me where I come from. Although, this isn't the only reason I continued the habit. My mother told me my father was Batman, she told me he was Bruce Wayne. She didn't tell me he hoarded orphans.

So when I got to the manor I didn't expect to see the display cases of Robin uniforms. Back where I come from you displayed your greatest possessions to show off, to show you were superior. Everything about my former life was based on honorifics and superiorities. I saw the uniforms and felt the pride that engulfed them. I immediately knew I was better than any Robin he had ever had. There was no doubt about it. I am the one that went through vigorous training from the day they knew how to walk. I'm the one who was surrounded by death and violence from the moment they were born. I was his only blood child. I obviously had to be the best. That's why I stole the uniform, that's why I went out. I had to show him that I would be the best he would ever have. I was his only blood child.

That's why I call the rest if his family by their last names, to remind them, and him, that I am- was the only Wayne child. I was the only one.