This chapter is going to be a little weird (and longer than usual) ... Enjoy! It was so much fun to write hehe~
"What's up with you lately, Dick? You've been acting kinda weird all week," Barbara noted as she sat at table in the cafeteria and took out her homework. She'd been staying after school a lot recently because a certain blonde did as well, and they'd always talk about random girl stuff.
Lucky him, said girl was approaching them as they spoke.
"It's nothing, really," Dick lied, "maybe I'm just coming down with something."
Barbara looked concerned and was about to respond but she noticed Artemis walking towards her and forgot all about him. "Oh, hey, Artemis! What's up?"
She sat down across from Barbara and gave a mildly interested smile. "Not much, to be honest." She glanced at Dick. "You know, you've never really introduced me to your friend."
Dick was a bit startled from being mentioned, and just awkwardly waved his hand.
"Ah, right. Well, you've probably heard a bit about him already. This is Dick. He's a third grader, and today just happens to be his birthday!" Barbara informed with enthusiasm.
Artemis's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, wow. Happy birthday, Dick! How old are you now?" She knew, but asked anyways. She knew a lot of thing about the kid. More than she wish she did; it was vexing. Yet she didn't know enough, apparently.
"Nine," Dick uttered. He didn't like how much attention he had gotten today just because it was his birthday. It was flattering but had gotten old really fast. He felt awfully uncomfortable.
"Ooh, nice," Artemis simply said.
Dick just stood there while the two girls began to chat. Should he leave? He wanted to tell Barbara something, though... Argh! Ever since Artemis came along, she's been so occupied with her that she didn't even talk to Dick anymore!
He tried to hide his annoyance as he held onto the straps of his backpack and spoke up. "Well, I guess I should go now."
Barbara, who was in the middle of a conversation about the newest episode of some TV show, glanced at him for a moment and distractedly muttered, "uh huh, yeah, yeah, see ya. Text ya later," and immediately continued to gossip with her new- and probably better- friend.
It felt like something was pulling at his heart. He had to do something. "Babs. Do you- um- wanna come over to my place? We could play the Wii or something..."
Barbara froze before inspecting the look on Dick's face. She broke out into a grin. "Yeah, sure. Whatever you want, birthday boy." Dick sighed.
Artemis's eyes widened. This was her chance! "Hey, could I come over, too? I'd love to get to know you more since you're Barbara's, like, best friend. Also, I've never played Wii, so it'd be pretty cool to learn."
Dick's dislike towards her lessened. She didn't seem like she was trying to steal his friend away from him. If anything he felt sorta guilty. Artemis was just nice and cool and Barbara's age, so of course she'd like her. He was lost in his jealousy, and fearful that he'd lose his closest friend. He was worried that she wouldn't care about him when she had the coolest fifth grader in the whole school right in front of her.
"Sure," Dick accepted with a small smile. As long as Barbara was happy...
- - - - - - - - -
Selina whistled. Dick sure had a thing with the ladies. "Barbara, hey, girl! How's it going?"
"Good," Barbara replied as she put on her seatbelt.
"Dick, who's the newbie?" Selina questioned goodheartedly as she drove towards the manner.
"This is Artemis," Dick introduced. What else could he say? He didn't know much about her, she wasn't even his friend. But Selina didn't need to know that. "She's a friend of ours." Saying that sentence physically pained him.
"Cool, cool," The cat-lover said. Just another guest to his party. She couldn't wait to see Dick's happy face when he walked in the manor to see everything they've do to celebrate his special day. She wanted to slyly hint something, but she might say too much and spoil the surprise by accident, so she decided not to do that.
Artemis, meanwhile, felt out of place. Truthfully, she didn't want to be here, but it was better than being at home. She shivered at the thought of returning back there without attaining any new information. Her father would be furious.. Well, that was if he was even home. If he wasn't, and was on a mission or something instead, then she'd probably spend another night eating an apple for dinner.
When they arrived at the manor, Selina asked, "Hey, Dick?"
"Yeah?" He answered.
"Could you, uh, go and... unlock the door for us?" She asked with an innocent smile. "We'll be there in a second. Don't get in without us!"
Dick gave her a puzzled look, but said, "okay" anyways. He grabbed the house key and went off.
When he was out of earshot, Selina put an arm around her seat and turned back to the girls. "Alright, ladies, listen up. Bruce and I planned for a surprise birthday party for Dick. Key word: surprise, meaning that when he opens that door, we're all gonna yell, 'surprise!' Got it?"
Barbara gave a toothy grin and nodded, excited. Artemis flashed a cheeky, close-lipped smile that disappeared the moment no one was looking. Must be nice to have a loving family, she thought bitterly.
They got out of the car and met up with Dick, who was waiting and watching them curiously.
Selina for some reason knocked on the unlocked door before opening it slowly. Dick was the last one to talk in the house. The sight he was greeted with brought tears to his eyes.
Colorful streamers and balloons were placed around the walls, the tables were covered with birthday themed cloth with birthday themed plates and napkins on it, and a large, delicious looking cake lied in the middle. Bruce, Alfred, Oswald, Selina, Barbara, and Artemis, at once, shouted, "SURPRISE!"
Everyone was there, smiling and cheering for.. him. Everyone but who was supposed to be there. Mami and Tati..
How could he be happy, celebrating his birthday, when his parents weren't there to celebrate it with him?
"Aww, buddy.." Selina cooed, "don't cry."
They thought he was crying from joy. He wish he was, he really did.
Oswald began to notice that he was crying for too long and a little too hard. "R- Dick. What's the matter?"
"Dick?" Barbara voiced her worry.
Everyone began to huddle around around him, calling his name out and just wondering what they did wrong. Weren't people usually happy about surprises?
Dick just brought his hands to his face. He hated himself for crying. Everyone was being so nice, this was all for him, yet here he was, being a baby again.
"Okay, okay- guys, give him some space," Bruce's voice cut in. "Would you like to go somewhere private?"
Dick just nodded through the tears.
Bruce brought him upstairs, in the boy's room, where it was quiet and peaceful. Dick sniffled and wiped his face with his arm. "Sorry.." he mumbled.
"Don't be," Bruce said, "do you want to tell me what caused you to cry?"
He gave Dick a minute to calm down and blink away some tears. "It's stupid," the nine-year-old claimed.
"No, it's not. C'mon, Chum, you know you can tell me anything," Bruce stated. The hand resting on Dick's tightened.
Dick inspected the floor as he spoke. "I just... This is the first birthday I've ever spent without my parents. A-and it hurts to know that I will never be able to spend another one with them."
Bruce's forehead wrinkled. He had told Dick before about how he, too, had lost his parents. Turns out they were also murdered, and when he was eight years old, as well! This strengthened the bond between the two. However, Dick still learned more about it everyday.
"I felt the same way when it was my ninth birthday. Looking back on it, I regret how I behaved and handled it. I locked myself in a room and brooded all day until Alfred finally convinced me to get out to at least eat," the owner of Wayne Enterprises revealed. "I don't want you to make the same mistakes as me, Dick. You need to make every birthday count, because just like the last one, you never know if it'll be the last one you spend with someone."
Dick nodded. "I know. It just surprised me and then I started remembering stuff-"
"I'm sorry, I should've thought of how you'd might react," Bruce apologized.
Dick got off the bed. "It's okay. I think I'm ready to go back to the party."
"You sure?" Bruce questioned.
"Mhm," Dick hummed and grabbed the man's hand, wanting to change the topic and head back downstairs.
Everyone watched the two walk down the stairs. To reassure them, Bruce said, "everything's fine." Dick stuck two thumbs up to emphasis his point. The mood was suddenly lifted and the environment felt less tense. At last, the celebration started.
Random popular songs were played through the blasting speakers and tons of pizza was shared. Dick caught up with Oswald (to Bruce's and Selina's displeasure), and he even got to know Artemis a little more. She was impossibly cooler than he expected.
Artemis joked around and actually felt like she was having a good time. The only thing that made her feel uneasy was the fact that Oswald Cobblepot was there. Barbara was equally as confused and unsettled, but they shrugged it off. Whatever.
That's what they thought until the doorbell rang.
"Who the-?" Bruce questioned as she glanced at Selina. She smirked and opened the door. A green lady with red hair walked into the house like she owned it and had a wrapped gift in her hand.
Bruce and Oswald simultaneously coughed on their drinks.
"Where's the boy?" Ivy questioned as she scanned the room.
Bruce was about to threaten to throw her into jail when he realized he was supposed to be some billionaire. "Um? What's a famous criminal doing in my house?" He asked like a normal, confused civilian at an attempt to get Selina to explain. "Well, another one, I mean," he muttered.
Selina wrapped an arm around Ivy's shoulders. "She's been wanting to see Dick for a while now, so now's the perfect opportunity. Oh and look! She brought a gift! How kind. You didn't need to do that, Ivy."
"How could I attend a party without a present for the special boy?" Ivy asked rhetorically.
"Not attending at all is an option," Bruce deadpanned.
Ivy rolled her eyes. "Aren't you a lovely host?"
"I know right?" Selina added with a teasing smile directed towards said host.
"Selina.." Bruce growled as a warning.
"Oh, there he is! Dick say hi!" Selina shouted as she completely ignored Bruce and guided the metahuman towards his adopted son.
Bruce was going to kill Selina when all of this was finished.
Oswald got in front of him and glared before Bruce could even take another sip of his drink. "What the hell is she doing here?!"
The poor billionaire sighed. "It was Selina, she must've invited her without me knowing."
"You hardly even let me talk to Dick, and probably almost didn't invite me, but when Poison Ivy- for Pete's sake- comes along, you allow it?!" The criminal argued.
"Listen, if I knew beforehand, I wouldn't have let it happened, but now it has, so I can't do anything about it. Look at him- Dick's already happy to see her. I can't just kick her out," Bruce explained tiredly as he gestured towards Dick, who wore an astounded grin and spoke to the newest guest of his party.
"You know what? Fine," Oswald snapped as he took out his phone. "I have to use the restroom." He then waddled away with his phone in hand.
Did Bruce even want to know-?
Barbara was in shock and awe. She was seeing Poison Ivy in the flesh! She felt like such a rebel right there and then. If her dad found out that she had gone to a party where two notorious criminals were, he'd ban her from ever visiting Dick's house again. That's what made it so exhilarating, though! She did not intend on telling James Gordon about this.
Artemis stared. What kind of party was this? What- who- why-? Dick seemed so comfortable talking to a woman who could kill her with a touch, but- but instead, she was squeezing his cheeks as he giggled!
"I wanted to do this last time we met, but annoying Oswald was eying me like I was about to.. to kill you or something!" Ivy stated like the thought was absurd.
"I can't imagine where he'd ever get that from," Selina quipped.
"Ha. Ha." The woman who seemed acquaintances with vines unhumorously uttered.
"Ivy, I've been wanting to see you use your powers for forever! Could you please use them!?" Dick asked.
Ivy grimaced slightly. "Ah, I don't think so-"
"Plllleeeeaaaaasssseeee!!" Dick begged. He looked at her with large, hopeful eyes.
"Oh, dang. I see what Bruce meant about the puppy dog eyes," Selina muttered under her breath.
Ivy huffed and put a hand to her hip. "Well, fine. I don't like to use my abilities for show like I'm some cheap magician, but I'll do it because it's your birthday. That's the only reason why."
"Thank you!" Dick hollered as he braced himself for whatever Ivy was about to do. His smile couldn't get any bigger.
She fondled the leaves of a nearby house plant and it began growing bigger and bigger until Selina had to nudge her shoulder to wordlessly advise her to stop.
The three students' jaws were on the floor.
"That was so cool!" Dick exclaimed.
"Am I dreaming?" Barbara exhaled.
"Seeing that in person is way different than on TV," Artemis declared.
Ivy smiled and shook her head, amused by the reactions she received for something so simple. She already knew how amazing plants were; apparently they hadn't realized it yet.
Bruce tried not to pay too much attention to the small house plant that became the size of a small tree in the few seconds he left to throw out some trash.
He felt his fingers twitch dangerously as the door bell rang again.
Bruce shot Selina a murderous look. She raised her hands up in defense: wasn't me.
Oswald came out of nowhere and smirked prissily at Bruce and Selina. He opened the door and-
A normal looking guy stood outside with something in his hands. At least to Barbara and Artemis he was normal.
Bruce groaned and Selina snorted. Was Oswald truly that petty?
Unlike the green lady, he waited for permission before walking into the household.
"Ed!" Dick called out and waved at him wildly. The man smiled and handed him the gift.
"Why are you here?" Selina asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oswald told me there was a party with free cake." Edward explained. He glanced at Artemis oddly and the girl blinked at him, trying to remember where she's seen him before.
"Ohhh..."
The students and criminals began blabbering wildly while Alfred walked behind Bruce and commented, "this is.. unexpected."
Bruce squeezed the bridge of his nose with two fingers. "Agreed. I'll let them hang around for a while for Dick's sake. Then we cut the cake before lex Luther and the Joker decide to invite themselves in as well."
Dick never forgot about the Wii suggestion from earlier. He, Barbara, and Artemis decided on Mario Kart, and played on their own until Ivy became curious. They gave her a remote and showed her how to play. She gave up on her first round, claiming that it "just wasn't her style." She handed the controller to Oswald who kept holding it upside down. He rage quit and threw the controller to Edward, who was surprisingly good at the game.
"Are you sure you've never played before?" Artemis questioned suspiciously.
"I'm certain," he answered, "I'm just a quick learner. Once you understand what the controls do, know the best vehicle options, and have a good strategy, you are practically invincible."
Everyone stared at him like he had two heads. He sure took gaming seriously...
Even Bruce gave the game a shot. He did so poorly that Selina snatched the controller and managed to get the character in third place.
"I could've done that," Bruce claimed.
"No," Selina said, "you would've gotten him in, like, eleventh place I bet."
The adults somehow managed to steal all four of the controllers so that Selina, Bruce, Edward, and Oswald were propped on the couch, playing against each other.
The experience felt surreal to Bruce. He was literally playing Mario Kart with a bunch of criminals at his house. He didn't want to admit that he was actually having fun and told himself that he was only doing this to make Dick happy, which was partially true.
After the competitive gaming, everyone started chatting crazily again. Bruce finally decided to cut the cake when he heard a part of Ivy and Selina's conversation where the redhead said, "I feel like Harley would hate to be left out of this."
"Then we should invite her over!" Selina suggested.
Bruce nearly dropped his cup and called for everyone to gather up. He was just kidding about the Joker thing from earlier!
The cake was great and Dick knew instantly that Alfred had made it. Artemis left after the singing Happy Birthday and eating some cake because she insisted on walking back home, and didn't want to be outside when it got dark. She was satisfied; she'd gotten some food and Dick's phone number. Her father couldn't tell her that she wasn't making progress if she had his number, right?
People soon followed her lead and said their goodbyes- and by that, It means that Ivy, Oswald, and Edward said goodbye to Dick and didn't bother with anyone else. Well, Ivy had a word with Selina before leaving- they seemed to be friends- but that was it.
Dick asked Barbara not to spread word of the party to avoid unwanted attention. She assured him by saying she had no intention to do that at all. Alfred later went to drop her off at her house, leaving Dick, Bruce, and Selina alone at the house at last.
"That was really fun, guys. Thanks so much!" Dick said as he ate another slice of leftover cake.
"I'm glad you liked it," Bruce stated with a relieved smile.
"Oh, and I didn't know that you were friends with Ivy, Selina!" The boy brought up.
Selina walked up to the gift table and put an envelope on it. "What can I say? I like being a mystery." She ruffled Dick's hair from behind. "I'm gonna to start heading out now, bud. See you soon."
Dick got up and gave her a tight hug that she returned. "Okay, thanks for everything!" He said. And with that she left.
By now, Bruce was tired, and just wanted some peace and rest. He'd scold Selina a different day. He sat on the couch and turned on the TV. Dick joined him and leaned against his side, watching as he switched to the news.
"Earlier today, The Penguin, Poison Ivy, and The Riddler as Edward Nygma were found entering Bruce Wayne's home," a news reporter announced as the screen showed a recording from a distance of the villains waiting for the door to be opened. It, as always, seemed to be recorded from a personal cellphone. While Edward was waiting, he noticed the person recording and waved casually. The camera was immediately aimed to the floor and shook wildly as the person ran away hastily, obviously in fear. "The reason is unknown, but there are many theories."
"Oh my goodness," Bruce uttered in disbelief. He sounded more annoyed than worried.
"Personally," a man in a hoodie began, "I think that Bruce is corrupt and is working with them for something related to money. I always knew he was shady."
"I'm worried for the Wayne guy!" A teenage girl exclaimed, "like, what if he's being threatened or something!?"
"Isn't it his adoptive son's birthday?" An old lady pondered. "What if they wanted to steal all his expensive birthday gifts?"
"Those aren't very smart guesses," Dick truthfully stated. Those Gothamites weren't very bright, were they?
Bruce sighed and turned off the TV. "Lucky us, I suppose."
"By the video, someone was spying on the manor!" Dick added. Bruce should be concerned than he was now.
"I know. I'll have to check up on the security and find out who it was and how they got on the property," Bruce tiredly informed. Going to work tomorrow was going to be such a pain. He could hear it now, all the nosy questions he'd receive... the disapproving glances...
"You're going to get a lot of attention tomorrow at school," Bruce notified.
Dick thudded his head against the backrest of the couch and let a groan escape his lips. "Wasn't today enough?"
Bruce smirked at him. "Today was just the tip of the Iceberg, Dick. Trust me, you'll know what a lot of attention is really like when you get into your first scandal or dating rumor."
The birthday boy stared, wide eyed.
What!?