𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧 𝙂𝙞𝙧𝙡 ʳᵃᶜʰᵉˡ ʳᵒᵗʰ

✧𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐩✧

It had been one week since Dick had left them.

And Leo's one singular goal for the week was to distract herself as much as possible, so she wouldn't miss him as much.

It wasn't working well.

She's been training twice as hard as usual. Going out on night patrol more often to try and help fill in Dicks roll in the team, so Bruce wouldn't be as stressed. She even taught Pringle some tricks like sit, roll over, and high five.

Bruce has been oblivious as to what Leo was trying to do, writing it off as 'Leo being Leo' But Alfred was quite more observant as to why she was trying to take on all these different tasks.

Every day at two thirty Alfred would go searching throughout the mansion to tell 'Miss Leona' it was time for tea.

It wasn't an unusual sight to see the duo sitting in the kitchen having their daily tea. In fact, they had been doing it ever since Leona was eight.

Alfred would sit the small girl down on the counter, give her a teacup with chocolate milk in it, and try to connect with the shy eight year old during this time.

Alfred had learned sign language a long time before he met Leo, so everyday during their tea time he would teach her ten new words.

Leo had never known there was even a way for her to communicate with other people. She knew she could write it out, (which she hadn't been taught to do either) but that takes too long when your trying to tell someone something.

So when Alfred would call her down for tea everyday her heart would leap with excitement.
She could finally talk! She could finally tell people what was wrong or to tell them to stop.

She could finally thank Alfred for being the parent she never had.

He would fuss over Leo when she came home from patrol with new bruises. Or scold her when he found her up late drawing and facetiming Drew.

Most would think of it as annoying, but to Leona, it was every thing.

To know someone cared about her, and to know someone was there for her meant the world.

Alfred was the first to actually have a conversation with her. And when Alfred wasn't teaching Leo sign language he was teaching Dick sign language.

Dick was the second person in Leo's life to have a conversation with her. After he had learned to sign his name and that it was nice to meet her, he immediately went and introduced himself to the girl.

Leo had been ecstatic to have another friend. Having two friends? It seemed impossible to her.

Soon Dick and her had their own little thing, much like Alfred's tea time.

Every night they would gather blankets and pillows and sneak out of Dick's window to get to the roof.

They would lay one blanket down flat against the roof, then Dick would roll Leona up in her own blanket and make a 'Leo burrito' to keep her warm. Then after they were all snuggled up in their blankets, they would look up at the stars for hours on end.

Bruce never found out (or so they thought) but Alfred did. He nearly had a heart attack when he went to wake up 'Miss Leona' and her, along with all her blankets were gone.

He quickly scrambled across the hall and to Dick's room to ask him if he'd seen her, when he had another mini heart attack.

Because sure enough 'Master Grayson' and all his blankets were missing too.

He was debating on how to tell Bruce he'd lost children to Peter Pan, when he saw 'Master Grayson' and 'Miss Leona' climb through the window.

They all stared at one another for a good forty-five seconds before anyone said anything. And just when Alfred was about to scold eighty years of life out of them, when Dick grabbed Leo's hand and they ran.

They ran all the way down to the stairs and to the kitchen, coming face to face with a confused Bruce who was just trying to drink his coffee.

Alfred had bolted after the pair as fast as he could, coming to a quick stop behind them when he realized that Bruce had witnessed it all.

Alfred had dismissed the three of them as quickly as he could by saying "Good morning Master Wayne, the weather's quite nice today isn't it?" And walking out of the room shortly after.

Alfred never spoke of their nights spent looking at the stars again.

Alfred had been the one to find her on the streets while he was going to the grocery store. But it had been Bruce, or Mr. Bruce as Leo called him, to approve of her staying at the mansion.

When Alfred showed up to the mansion without the grocery's, but with a little girl who had the biggest puppy eyes Bruce had ever seen, he couldn't say no.

Alfred immediately smiled one of the biggest smiles Bruce had ever seen. And then he led Leo to the kitchen, where she experienced the mind blowing taste of a pop-tart for the first time.

All the while Bruce just stood at the entrance of the doorway, wondering what he had gotten himself into.

A/N
First chapter! What did you think?