Chapter Text
When Batman and Robin drove away from the corner store to start getting the Walker children situated, Team B moved on to the other, more strenuous task of the night. From the low-levs they wound upwards (driving, grappling, hitching a ride on the vertical trams, what have you) until the city was shiner, the suspended walkways wider, the windows taller, there wasn’t enough smog to completely stain the gutter water and the people wore shiny modern threads.
“Well don’t these two sound delightful,” Batgirl drawled after Oracle had delivered the account Melanie and Jack had given on their parents.
“Positively,” Tallant replied, zooming in with his mask’s lenses to get a better look at their target’s penthouse apartment.
“Almost seems a shame to be surprising them with this little social call,” he continued, stretching his red-gloved hands over the ears of his cowl.
“Almost,” the elder agreed, setting his FOV back to normal and turning to his baby brother, who grinned up at him with an added head tilt that made him wonder why he didn’t do patrols with the kid more often.
“Soooo, I’m taking point, right?”
Oh. Of course. How could he have forgotten?
“No.”
“Aww, c’mon! We both know I always do better with the social stuff! Besides, we wanna make a good impression and villains say I always have the best entrances so can I-“
“No.”
“Please?”
“No.”
“Please?”
“No.”
“Pleeeease?”
“No.”
“Pretty pretty please with a cherry on top?”
“Still no.”
“Man, you never let me do anything,” he threw his head back in an overdramatic pout.
Then before the elder could warn him to step away from the edge of the rooftop he was falling backwards.
Damian’s heart felt like Titus’ chew toy during the whole moment between Terrence’s disappearance and the ‘wsh’ of a grapple gun firing. As soon as he registered that he shot off his own line, swearing to every deity he personally knew (and therefore was certain could hold him accountable) that if he ever found a way to rid the world of Batgirl’s puckish cackling he would consider it his civic duty.
Internally, he fumed. Terrence never acted this obstinate around Cassandra.
By the time Tallant caught up with Batgirl the twip was already halfway through a window, ruling out appropriate retaliation, as it would alert their targets. No matter. He would get them back later.
He slipped though the window after his companion. Together they made their way through the darkened apartment. It was rich. Not in the way the manor was with its handcrafted features, familial knickknacks and care carved into every banister, or even the Al Ghul’s private wing back on the compound had been with its fine woven goods and delicate scents. It was cold. Lacking in any of the richness that was used to describe things like dishes with exquisite flavors or good company. Opulence without life. Excess without taste. It grated at his nerves, but what really sealed the deal was when Batgirl pointed out that, had he not seen them earlier, he would’ve never guessed that two kids lived here.
“We’ve got eyes,” he said to Oracle and Hood when the benevolent Mr. and Mrs. Walker came into view. They were pouring over a datapad on the kitchen table, heads bent low and muttering fervently.
“Copy. I’m moving to engage their little android,” Hood replied.
“Got it. I’m-“
Batgirl held up a hand.
“Let me try something,” he whispered.
Tallant glared, opening his mouth to hiss a solid ‘No’, then thought over it again and sighed.
Batgirl grinned, snuck over to where the hallway opened up into the living space, stood in the shadows and shuffled his feet.
Reine huffed but didn’t look up.
“Yes, Melanie, you can come get a drink. Be quick about it now,” she said, sounding annoyed.
Tallant and Batgirl locked gazes. Batgirl shrugged. He then walked, keeping his footsteps at an audible level, over to a cabinet, grabbed a cup, went to the fridge, filled it up and came to stand beside the couple, manic smile growing at every step.
According to Damian’s counter, it took them a whole two minutes and thirty-one seconds to look up.
Sigourney sighed. “It’s past your bedtime, Melanie. What is so important that-“
They froze.
“Hi!” Batgirl chirped, then threw the water in his face.
He reeled back, spluttering, right into Tallant’s waiting strike while Batgirl connected the thick glass cup with the Walker matriarch’s head. Between the surprise, darkness, and advantage of equipment victory was hardly a question. They had the two bound on the ground in less time than it had taken them to attend to their “child”. Tallant couldn’t decide if he liked that or not.
“You can’t hold us,” Reine spat once she’d regained her bearings. She didn’t appear as regal as she tried to sound in stained pants and untucked blouse. “No charges you people could come up with would stick. Might as well spare yourself the trouble and release us now.”
“Tt,” he would forgo answering her at all if it weren’t such a good intel-gathering moment. “We’re not interested in keeping you. We’re interested in taking from you.”
“Oh please, we have nothing here,” Sigourney scoffed, though it didn’t come off as very kingly when he was dripping wet.
Tallant made a pointed glance towards the hallway.
“What have you done with our children?” Sigourney hissed, eyes narrowing.
“Children?” he feigned surprise. “You mean the ones attending school in Paris as we speak?”
The “king” blanched, realizing his mistake. Tallant’s lips quirked upwards.
“Ooh, you guys are gonna visit the art museum? Take me with! I love that place! Looks like you got the route pre-planned and everything. Not always my cup of tea, but I can respect it,” Batgirl said by way of announcing that he’d finished hacking the datapad. His satisfied smile as he laid the mocking on thick matched Tallant’s own.
“Well, fear not. We’ll send someone to ‘Paris’ to break the news to them gently. You two, on the other hand…”
Batgirl and Tallant locked gazes. Their grins took on a predatory note.
—
“This is where the extra blankets are stored in case you get cold or one of you is a dirty blanket hog, this is a weird photo of a corn rave that was there when we got the place and there’s no way we’re taking it down, that’s a thingamabob called a DVD player- those little boxes over there have fragile disks that you put in the disk reader. And don’t worry, all of the buttons are labeled so they aren’t hard to figure out. The bed is- oumf!- great for bouncing! Which is good! I didn’t know that when I jumped on it so I was kinda just hoping I wouldn’t smash my face!” Robin called to their audience. Melanie and Jack laughed easier than they had all night. Batman and Robin shared a smile.
“Food and toiletries are also fully stocked. These kits here have everything you need if you were forced to leave quickly. You guys have your own clothes but there’s spares over here if you want any more. There’s cash here if you want to buy anything, but it might be better to wait until the morning to leave. You’re not trapped here, by the way. We won’t stop you if you want to go, but safety stuff works best when there’s a plan.”
“Yeah. And, speaking of, how are we supposed to contact you?” asked Jack, who then shrunk in on himself and muttered. “Only because I hardly think they’ll let us use the Batsignal, and all.”
He was answered when Batman held out two burner phones.
“Oh! I got this, Bats! Those are untraceable cells that have some of our numbers on them plus a feature that lets you send a distress beacon if you hold down the home button for ten seconds!” Robin said as the siblings accepted the devices.
“Wait, does that mean other people could find us?”
Batman shook her head. “It’s connected to our secure systems, and besides, we’re the only ones who know you’re here,” she signed.
“Okay,” he fiddled with the phone.
Melanie glanced from him to Batman, Robin, then back down to the phone in her own hands.
“What’s going to happen to us now?” she asked, shuffling her feet nervously.
“Now,” Batman kneeled to her level, looking less Legendary Defender and more Mama. “You’re going to stay here for the night while we make sure it’s safe. The kind of lies your parents have told about your whereabouts will mean that they’ll lose custody of you. You might have to testify at a trial for that. In the meantime you’ll be placed in a foster home. We’ll make sure it’s a good one. How does that sound?”
“No more Royal Flush?”
“No.”
“Then here,” Melanie’s Ten mask, which she’d shed as soon as they’d entered the safe house, was thrust into Batman’s hand. “You keep it. They can’t make me wear it if you have it.”
Batman hesitated before accepting it gently.
“Jack? How about-“
“Me too,” a second mask was shoved into her open palm. Robin giggled softly. It wasn’t easy to startle Batman.
She recovered with a graceful smile.
“Alright,” she said, cautious of any more surprise declarations of trust. “What you two did tonight was very brave. I promise it’s only going to get better from here. We’ll come by tomorrow evening with a social worker to get started on the next step.”
“Okay.”
“Sounds schway.”
Batman stood to leave. Robin fell in line beside her.
“Isn’t this the part where you tell us not to have too much fun?” Jack said. He was only half joking.
Batman and Robin shared a grin.
“You’re kids,” she said.
“Have as much fun as you want!” they finished.
The siblings relaxed.
—
Rolling to a stop in the cave felt different, Carrie discovered, when they were doing so in the Batmobile. Stepping out onto the parking platform, sauntering over to their awaiting family, and being tackled in a hug by Terry felt different too. There was a satisfaction in the air that wasn’t new. That came with a mission well done, they’d seen it before. The looks of pride coming their way however, were, and they sent their heart abuzz.
“You! Were! So! Schway!” Terry yelled, pulling back to grab ahold of their shoulders.
“Wasn’t I?!” they hollered back, taking his shoulders in hand as well.
“The best! That was perfect! You totally just saved two kids!”
“Yeah!”
There were some chuckles by the computer terminal, so Carrie took their uncle by the hand and the two dashed over.
“Did you see me Gigi?! Did you? Did you see how great I did?!” they cried (though not shrill enough to hurt his ears).
“Yeah! Did you? What did you think!?” Terry said.
Gigi Alfred laughed lightly. “I think you did a marvelous job, my dear. A real hero.”
Carrie squealed and threw their arms around his shoulders.
“How did the suit fair?” Uncle Damian asked.
“Great!”
“And the tech?” Uncle Tim asked.
“Way schway!”
“Your winning smile?” Uncle Jay teased.
“Won all the awards!”
“It sure did,” Grandpa Bruce said, resting a heavy hand on their shoulder. They hugged him around the middle- not that they could reach any higher when he was standing.
“You did amazing, kiddo. Dick and Duke say so too,” Aunt Barbara’s voice rang from the stereo.
“Thanks!” they said, directed towards the computer’s microphones.
Then Mom and Mama approached, arm in arm, from where they’d been talking by the car.
“Sooo?” Terry prompted. Carrie appreciated it, since their throat had decided to close up all of a sudden.
Mama smiled, looking extra sweet now that her cowl was around her shoulders and they could see the way her eyes crinkled.
“You did a fantastic job, sweetheart. Though, as your mothers we feel the need to remark that we wish this was your actual first night out,” Mom said with a slightly bashful, self aware smile.
“At least it wasn’t like mine!” Terry cried, first to their defense.
“Yeah! At least it wasn’t like his!”
“At least,” Mom conceded, rolling her eyes fondly. “Aside from that though, we’re all very impressed with you. Not only did you give us a chance to stop the Royal Flush Gang, you met two people who looked like your enemies, listened to what they had to say, gave them a chance and came to us for help helping them even though you knew you could get in trouble for going behind our backs. That was an incredibly mature thing to do. Something that I’ve seen even fully trained adult heroes miss from time to time.”
Carrie preened.
“And tonight, the way you handled Jack and Melanie by making them feel comfortable and welcomed. We could’ve done it on our own in a pinch, sure, but having Robin there made it go a lot smoother than Batman and some random doctor could’ve managed alone. Having you gave them a way to gauge how they were allowed to act. You set an example and showed them it was safe to be themselves- which will go a long way to help them get better. Good job, hon.”
Their mothers brought them in for a hug that turned into another group pile-on. From there things slowly unwound. Gigi and Grandpa went upstairs to retire for the night. Uncle Jason, Mama and Uncle Damian left to go continue hero-ing it up in the city (though not before Uncle Damian could fake out pushing Terry off a cliff for some reason that Ter swore was completely unjustified), Uncle Tim and Aunt Barbara returned to terrorizing the tech world, leaving Mom to shepard the youngest two through post-patrol cooldowns, changing out of costume, then trooping up to Terry’s room since it was late and they were being allowed a sleepover.
After they were tucked in and the lights were turned off, Carrie heard the sound of Terry shifting around to face them.
“So? How was it to be officially Robin?” he whispered excitedly.
They shifted as well, abandoning any illusion of getting to sleep at a reasonable hour.
The ambient light level was low this far out from the city, but not enough to hide their grin as they whispered back, “Officially the best thing ever!”
—
“What about the Cheungs?” Mom was saying in the front of the car.
“Mm,” Mama intoned in reply, noncommittal.
“C’mon, Cassie, you know there’s nothing wrong with them,” Mom put the car into drive and rolled forward a whole five feet before the gridlock traffic halted them again.
“I know, but I just,” she sighed, carding her fingers through her hair- a huge gesture of unease for someone who’d been raised not to express any. “Worry. They have needs that no one will know quite how to handle. I feel like I won’t be able to calm down no matter who they’re placed with.”
“Then why don’t we foster them?” Carrie finally chimed in from the back without lifting their head from where it was pressed to the window and wondering why no one had mentioned the obvious solution yet. “Maybe it’ll help your worry too. You guys always say adopting kids calmed down Grandpa Bruce.”
Mama and Mom shared a wide-eyed look.
“…This is what we get for making jokes about that, I guess.”
—
Upon first glance the apartment Mr. Dashaun Franz, the social worker Batman had introduced them to early that morning, didn’t seem too bad. It wasn’t on as high a level as their parents’ apartment, but high enough to still be clean and new. There were some scattered play equipment off to the side of the door that must belong to the foster kid this couple had adopted a few years earlier, as Mr. Franz had said.
The man had them stand a bit back from the door while he knocked. Jack played with the hem of his new hoodie with one hand while Mel clung to the other. The weight was causing the duffle bag strap to dig into his shoulder painfully, but he pushed it aside, busy worrying about more (figuratively) pressing matters.
Then the door swung open to reveal a short, pale ginger kid with green glasses and a smile so familiar that Jack froze. Behind them was Dr. Brown-Wayne and a woman in her thirties who didn’t spark recognition until she met his eyes and gave a soft smile and holy slag there was no way this was happening. And if there was then he might just collapse because he was already feeling a little faint.
Beside him Melanie gasped, probably putting the pieces together as well. Then Robin was bounding up to them and saying “Hi, I’m Carrie! My pronouns are they/them. What about you?”
He thinks he stuttered out an answer before Dr. Brown-Wayne and Batman herself were inviting them in. To sit. And set their stuff down. And talk. Because the doctor and her wife were their new foster parents.
Was he glitching?
“It’s wild, I know, but pretty slammin’ once you get used to it,” Robin- Carrie. Carrie was saying next to him and Mel.
“This is who you got adopted by?” Mel breathed in awe, brushing aside the strands of hair she usually let fall in front of her face (unless mother forced her) for once.
“Mhmm! Mama’s the one who has assassins for bio-parents, by the way,” they responded, ‘Mama’ presumably being Batman, since Dr. Brown-Wayne had already told them about her parents.
“Oh,” Mel said, which summed this up nicely.
“Wanna tour the apartment?” Carrie said next, so off they went.
The adults talked for a long time, but eventually Mr. Franz bid them all good luck and goodbye. Then Cassandra and Steph (as they had requested to be called- which was a whole level of weird in of itself) explained that they could stay here as long as they liked, attend any kind of school they liked, ask for anything they liked and go anywhere they liked within reason.
“For what?” Jack asked, though he almost didn’t want to. It would be nice to live in this too good to be true world a moment more.
“For nothing,” Cassandra signed while her wife interpreted, smile going a little sad. “There is no price. You’re kids. You’re supposed to have as much fun as you want.”
“Yeah! We’re family for the sake of being family! You can be too, if you want,” Carrie said, one hand rubbing at some bad burn scars on their arm.
Jack felt a tug on his hand. He looked down, was met with his little Mellie Nellie’s big pleading eyes and felt his heart do something funny. All this time. All the planning and dreaming and praying to wild chance. He’d never liked mother and father, but watching the way they pushed Mel into training this year even though they could see how much it hurt her had been the final straw. He’d had to learn when to talk, when to smile, when to lie and when to shut it all down for the sake of protecting them. He’d never thought that he’d be able to trust anyone else with that role but… if he was going to give it a shot, Batman, Robin and Dr. Brown-Wayne seemed as good as any.
“Yeah,” he choked up. His parents would’ve rebuked him for how unsteady he sounded, but the Brown-Wayne’s just waited patiently. “I think, um… sure. We’ll try.”
—
Months later he finally gathered up the courage to express his gratitude to Carrie.
“Hey, you were the ones taking the leap of faith,” they replied, tone light but smile conveying their sincerity. Softly, they said, “Thanks for trusting me. I know how hard that part is.”
“How could I not trust my fellow secret cape kid?” he couldn’t help but tease.
“Ugh, you’re never going to let me off the hook on that one, are you?” they groaned.
“Hey, you were the one who signed up to have an older brother,” he said, a mockery of their earlier mistake (being heartfelt).
“Uuuugh. Mom!”