Damian hurried back to the Batcave as quickly as he could, hoping to beat his father home. He figured that it would be better to explain the situation to his father when he returned, then to show up late and be caught with some strange girl.
However, his plan did not work out how he would've liked.
When Damian and the Tamaranean girl arrived at the Batcave, Damian mentally swore when he noticed the Batmobile already parked.
"Damian, you're home from patrol late," said the voice of Bruce Wayne, having heard his son come in.
Bruce was by the Bat-Computer, speaking with Alfred, with his back turned to Damian.
"Yes, I know, my apologies. But I had a reason," Damian said.
Bruce turned around to see that Damian had brought a girl, a complete stranger, into the Batcave.
"What is this?" He asked his son, his expression stone cold, but clearly repressing anger. "Who is she? Why is she here?"
"I believe she is the reason, sir," Alfred said.
Ignoring Alfred's comment, Bruce continued. "You know the rules, Damian. You can't just bring in any civilian—"
"She's not a civilian, Father. She crash landed in the streets, she's an alien." Damian replied.
"Then why didn't you call for backup?" His father demanded, folding his arms.
"I was going to. But I heard the sirens, I knew you wouldn't have had the time to deal with—"
"Tim was on patrol tonight, too. Why didn't you call him?"
"You know I don't need any help from Drake," Damian retorted.
Bickering between the father and son continued. The girl became uncomfortable from the yelling and drew further into herself.
"She's a Tamaranean!" Damian exclaimed loudly, stopping the overlapping of his father's voice and his own.
Bruce paused. He actually knew about this particular alien species. Now he was interested.
"Tamaranean? Like Starfire?"
"Yes, like Starfire. She—"
"Starfire?" The girl interrupted, suddenly. "You know Starfire?"
"Yes, we do." Bruce moved closer to her. "Do you know her?"
"She's my mother."
This shocked everyone. Starfire had a child?
"Your mother? Then... who are you?" Bruce asked her.
"Princess Mar'i of Tamaran, daughter of Princess Koriand'r." She said.
"A Princess!" Alfred said. "My, my. I don't believe we've been in the presence of a princess for quite some while."
"Why did you come to Earth?" Bruce asked Mar'i.
"I'm looking for my father," Mar'i told him.
"Who's your father?"
Mar'i frowned. "That's the problem. I don't know who my father is. I only know that he is from Earth."
"Father," Damian said. "I brought her here in hopes that Grayson might assist us, seeing that he knew Starfire."
"Who is that? And how does he know my mother?" Mar'i inquired, confused.
"Dick Grayson," Bruce responded. "He was...very close with your mother."
"Is he here?" She asked.
"No, not right now. He's in Blüdhaven."
"That's another city," Damian told Mar'i.
"Now, Mar'i, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions and run some tests on you," Bruce said. "Just a few simple procedures that might help us figure out who your father is."
Mar'i nodded in agreement.
"Alright," Bruce said. "Let's get this started."
******
Later that evening, Bruce had called Tim Drake over to help with some of the tests on Mar'i. He, of course, filled Tim in on what was going on.
With Bruce, Damian, Alfred, Tim, and Mar'i all down in the Batcave, the tests began.
"What is your full name?" Bruce asked her.
"Princess Mar'iand'r of House Tykayl, of Tamaran," She answered.
"Place of birth?" Tim asked.
"Tamaran."
"Age?" Bruce asked.
"Sixteen years of age."
"Mother's name?"
"Princess Koriand'r of House Tykayl, of Tamaran. She is mostly known as Starfire, or Kori, by your people."
"And father is unknown at this time..." Bruce said to himself aloud, writing it down.
"Powers and abilities?" Tim asked her.
"I can fly, shoot energy from my hands and eyes—"
"Starbolts, right?" Tim interrupted.
Mar'i nodded. "Yes, that's what we call them."
"Continue."
"My hair ignites into flames when I take flight and also when my emotions spike."
"Did Starfire's do that?" Damian asked Tim.
"Yeah, sometimes." Tim responded.
"I can also absorb any language through lip contact," Mar'i finished.
Heat rose in Damian's cheeks when she said this and Tim, noticing this, cast him a sideways glance.
"And how did you learn English?" He asked the half-alien teen, still looking at Damian out of the corner of his eye.
"Oh, that was thanks to Damian," Mar'i said. "I was surprised that he knew of Tamaranean language assimilation."
Tim snickered at Damian, whose cheeks were tinged red. He folded his arms over each other and diverted his gaze to the opposite direction. Bruce shot Tim a glare and he immediately stopped, awkwardly clearing his throat.
"Back to questioning," said Bruce. "How did you get to Earth?"
Mar'i hesitated.
"I... escaped," she answered.
"Tamaran?" Tim asked, confused, and Mar'i shook her head.
"I haven't seen Tamaran for an entire year. I was captured by Gordanians. They're an evil race, enemies to Tamaraneans. I was their prisoner. They were going to deliver me to the Citadel, where I would become a slave for... different purposes. I escaped their ship before they could take me there. Then I came here to Earth, hoping to find my father."
A tear escaped from Mar'i's eye as she mentally relived her imprisonment. Alfred came over to her and handed her a tissue.
"Master Bruce," he said. "I believe that is enough questioning for one night."
"Yes..." Bruce responded, slightly hesitant. He didn't know how to react to a crying teenage girl in his presence. He cleared his throat and stood. "Mar'i, until we find your father, you are more than welcome to stay with us."
Mar'i gasped. "Oh, thank you!" She ran over and embraced him.
Bruce Wayne wasn't really the type of person you'd call 'a hugger', but nevertheless, he embraced her. He knew how it felt to feel all alone and frightened.
"But, we'll need to take a sample of your blood so we can analyze your DNA from it." Bruce told her. "It won't take long."
Alfred readied the syringe and Mar'i glanced at it, warily. "Will it hurt?" She asked.
"A little," Alfred admitted. "But not for long. Just a quick pinch and it will be over. Are you ready, my dear?"
Mar'i nodded.
"One... two... three," Alfred counted before allowing the needle to penetrate the skin of her arm. Mar'i winced slightly. Alfred extracted some blood and removed the needle from her arm. "There. All done," Alfred said. "Now let's get you upstairs and draw you a warm bath, hmm?"
Mar'i smiled gratefully and nodded. "I'd like that."
Alfred led Mar'i up to the Manor. Meanwhile, Bruce stayed behind in the Batcave to make a phone call.
"Hello?" Answered a tired voice.
"Dick, it's me."
"Bruce, it's, like, midnight. This couldn't have waited?"
"No."
Dick sighed. "Fine, what's up?"
"We need you here. By tomorrow, if you can."
"Why? What's going on? Do you need help with patrol stuff?" He tried his best to suppress a yawn.
"No, it's not like that," Bruce said. "We... have Starfire's daughter here."
Bruce heard a thud on the other end of the line. Dick must've fallen.
"Whoa, her daughter? Since when does she have a kid? And what's she doing there?"
"Damian found her and brought her here. She's looking for her father, he's from Earth, apparently. We thought since you knew nearly everything about Starfire and her people, we figured you could help."
"I'll be there first thing tomorrow," Dick said and hung up.