Chapter Text
Barbara was at the library, feeling tired. Tim got Bruce to make her take break from the Tower.
They were worried that she was one computer crash away from becoming a Rogue, thus the well meaning benching.
She wasn't happy about it but she agreed that she needed a break and the library was a safe place where very little could get f*cked up on a city wide level.
No, for the next couple of days the most strenuous thing she had to deal with was helping people find books, walk children through reading time, and keep Damian off the computers so he couldn't headhunt a two-year old after getting benched for assaulting literal toddlers.
She might have laughed herself silly when Dick called and frantically told her Damian wanted to adopt one of these tots and would be trying to interview her along with the the others in his quest to get this baby into their family since Dick convinced him he was too young to be a father.
Still she made him get off when she saw he snuck to one of the computers further back in the library, causing him to storm off into the manga section. It wouldn't stop him but at least she could delay him from trying to find the family the baby came from, giving that poor family a bit of peace before they got the full brunt of Damian al Ghul Wayne's attention.
Teenagers, so moody. She smirked as she returned to the front desk.
The door opened and she smiled as Duke walked in with a friend, both talking animatedly.
She was glad to see Duke making friends outside of the mask, it was never easy to manage that with their night life.
The guy Duke was talking to wore baggy clothes and a backwards hat, a bag slung over his shoulders and was excitably talking, hands moving rapidly as he did. He was probably Duke's age, maybe even in his classes.
Duke waved to her before going back to talking with his friend, the two lowering their voices as they made there way further in.
I should call up Dad and see how he's doing, She decided, stretching her arms.
She was surprised to see Duke and his friend almost immedately come to the desk after only ten minutes and put on a professional smile as she eyed the stack of books in the other teens arms.
"HI, find everything you needed?"
"Yup!" New guy said cheerfully, gently placing the books before her. "Got a lot of younger siblings so I try to find things they'll all like. Need to distract them somehow, right?"
She chuckled at his cheerfully flippant words, looking over the stacks.
"This one for you?" She asked as she scanned the college level books on psychology and psychiatry.
"Nah, those are for my sister Jazz. She wants to be a psychiatrist and keeps notebooks on all her siblings mental health."
"Ah, not a normal study in Gotham."
"Well she is ten, most kids at that age want to know everything."
And he decided to get his ten year old sister college level books on psychology and psychiatry? Maybe he was trying to bore her out of the subject due to the negative view those subject can get. It was bullsh*t, but thanks to Harley and Crane people who show interests in the workings of the minds tend to get looked at funny at best and treated with hostility at worst.
"We have books on those subjects that are easier for children to comprehend."
"Trust me, she can understand those books just fine. She'd be in college already if she could." He said seriously, handing the next stack which was a series of advanced puzzle books and books on ghosts, a Gardening For Dummies followed by a massive book on space.
Barbara scanned them out, eyes narrowing as she spotted Damian whose eyes were fixed on Duke's friend. Duke must have noticed because he casually stood between his friend and his adopted brother, giving Damian a stern look.
She almost missed Duke putting the books on his card, smiling at his friend brightly-- oh?
The guy smiled back brightly, thanking Duke for letting him come here and Duke, causing Duke to rub the back of his neck as he stated it was no problem, face flushing even darker. His friend though was oblivious to Duke's blushing, too happy to be getting the books.
She shared a look with Damian who was now given Duke's friend a look like he was contemplating the best and most terrifying time to give him a shovel talk that he would absolutely deny giving.
She shook her head, looking between the two teens. She wasn't sure if Duke was even aware he was giving his friend googly eyes, but she wasn't going to be the one to point it out. She vividly recalled Tim's reaction when it was pointed out he was attracted to Bernard and the whole melt down he had at trying to figure if he was gay or bi (that had ended in Tim going on a caffiene bender that ended after going on a hour long tangent on love and then falling asleep in his salad in the middle of a gala) and had no desire to put poor Duke through that. Best let him figure that out, especially if she was reading this wrong.
Soon both teenagers left, Duke helping carry his friend's books and as soon as they left Damian left as well, waiting a few minutes beside leaving.
She sighed as she pulled out her phone.
Barbara: hey heads up Damian left immedately after you did and I think he's going to be following you.
*groans* thanx :Duke
She huffed a laugh, returning to her job and mentally cheered Duke on. Those two were adorable together.
Duke wasn't sure why Damian had decided to stalk him and Tuck but he'd really like it if he stopped, and did not like how Damian visably perked when Tuck started talking about his baby twin siblings.
He met Tuck a couple months ago, or rather Signal met Maurice Tuckmen after the poor guy was caught up in a robbery at his job and caught his attention.
Maurice Tuckmen had been the calmest of the hostages and managed to distract the guy watching him and the others long enough for the Signal to get to them.
And them proceeded to knock one of the robbers out with a massive jar of pickles.
Duke decided he had to meet this guy off duty, and found that Maurice Tuckmen ("Please call me Tuck, my dad is Maurice.") was a absolute nerd, very skewed self preservation instincts and knew pretty much all the secret items in Doomed and how to obtain them.
After that he kept visiting the Qwik Mart, usually on weekends getting to know the overnight cashier. Tuck was eighteen, had six siblings (all fostered along with himself) and was helping support them while his foster parents worked out of city.
He was so ernest about helping his family out and trying to be a good role model for his younger siblings that Duke couldn't help but feel a kinship with him. Duke wanted to help his adopted family anyway he could andvalways stressed hevwasn't doing enough. Sure his family said he was and were proud of his work but some days he felt like he wasn't doing enough.
Tuck gave to his family and still asked how he could do more and Duke found that admirable.
"Hey uh, Duke? That kid over there has been blatantly following us for awhile now and I feel like I've seen him somewhere before. Do you know him?" Tuck asked, pointing to where Damian was standing in plain sight (so either he was being polite by not bothering to hide or wanted something, either wasn't great).
"That's my, uh, my brother. His dad adopted me a little while back. He's working on his people skills."
Damian marched towards them, a determined gleam in his eyes. He was barely five feet away before he started talking.
"Are you having financial instability?"
What the hell kind of conversation starter was that? And how long had he been listening to know Tuck was kinda worried about his finances?
"Uhhhh... no?" Tuck replied, looking thrown for a loop. "I mean, it's not a great situation but not problematic."
Oh please don't let this result in Damian belittle Tuck's family finances. Duke will risk getting stabbed to keep Damisn from mocking his friend like that.
"Would you say it be easier if you had less siblings to care for?"
What in the hell was Damian saying?
"Uhhhmmm. Why are you asking?" Tuck asked, giving Duke a questioning look to which he just shrugged.
Damian puffed up in a way that was similar to when Bruce was about to make a incredible bargain sale that hinted to people that under that playboy twit mask he was brilliant strategist who outsmarted and took down criminals nightly.
Or he was about to say something so fantastically dumb and unbelievably stupid his kids knew without a shadow of a doubt he only survived to adulthood because of Alfred.
"I believe I have a solution to your financial issues. I have several older adopted siblings who are currently childless and can be convinced to take your youngest siblings on as their wards--"
Duke all but threw Tuck's books in his arms and grabbed Damian, risking his hand getting bitten in order to silence his youngest brother, pinning him against his side in such a way it prevent the former assassin from using his arms.
Damian glared at him as Duke spoke in a loud and high pitched voice, "Ha ha HA! He's sense of humor needs work," he winced as Damian bit his fingers, "well gotta take my baby bro home-- Ouch, stop kicking me!-- see you later Tuck!"
With that he dragged Damian away, leaving poor Tuck standing there with his books looking gobsmacked.
"Danny, I think Duke's thirteen year old brother just tried to convince me to sell Jack and Maddie to him."
"What?"
"Yeah, it was weird. Duke's adopted and doesn't talk a lot about his family. I guess it's because he's the only normal one of the bunch. His baby brother sure seemed feral. And unhappy that Duke dragged him off before he could 'convince' me to hand the babies over."
"f*cking rich people."
"Yeah. And I swear I've seen his baby brother from somewhere but can't figure out where. Might be a stalker."
"Great, first fruitloop and now who ever Duke's adopted family is. When Elle and Sam get back we'll start going on the look out for crazy rich people that want to adopt us against our will."
Elle was waiting outside the Adonis Belt, hoping the stripper dude was working tonight. Sam wasn't far, standing by her motorcycle and ready to throw down if anything unfortunate were to happen.
When Elle and Danny got everyone home, Sam and Jazz pulled her off to downstairs and proceeded to yell at her for throwing ketchup at Booty Guy.
At least they did for five minutes until Danny popped his head through the floor and loudly yelled at their sisters to stop tearing into her and explain why it could be seen as bad because what ever look she had been wearing apparently screamed out her confusion.
"She knows better!" Sam yelled, fangs showing in her frustration, only to go quiet when her brother replied,
"Does she? She spent the first who knows how long of her life raised by Fruitloop and I seriously doubt he bothered to explain things like bad touch, stranger danger, sexual harassment or consent. And then I let her go off and explore the world by herself. That one is on me, but in my defense I was fourteen and lived in genuine fear my parents were going to kill me and thought her was safer away from all that crap. She explored a lot of countries and learned lots of different cultures but she never had a adult guide through most of it, or anyone to explain basic human rights or the consent. So kindly stop yelling at the kid who is even younger than she looks and explain why it was wrong."
Sam and Jazz must have seen some kind of truth in his words because the next two hours was them going over consent, sexual harassment, sexism, the double standard men go through when it came to abuse, and how she undermined the consent of the Booty Guy with what she did.
She pointed out that Jack and Maddie had done it too but even she knew that was weak since as much as those two were incredibly intelligent that did not translate to maturity and both were not any good at making good decisions. The babies made it clear they saw the whole thing as a game because ever since then they've been throwing food and Jazz and the others were having a tough time getting them to stop.
Elle had seen and heard many things in her life that didn't make sense, but now she had better understand to the context and subtitles of some of those actions and words.
She felt bad for that and with Danny's help, wrote a letter of apology and had gone to Bubba's Motor Shop, asking him to create a toy since when he wasn't being a mechanic he created rubber toys.
It took him a couple of days but she now had an apology rubber chicken.
Danny had given one of her candles away as payment for Sam's wheel (she still hadn't forgiven him for that) and suggested something special as a apology to Booty Guy.
She wasn't giving up her ducks but she could get him something of his own, hence the blue rubber chicken with black legs and beak that had a tag around its neck that said "Certified Emotional Support Rubber Chicken" and a name tag.
Maybe she shouldn't have gotten one in Blüdhaven's own vigilante colors but if there was one thing she noticed in Blüdhaven was that Nightwing had a large and dedicated following there and about two out of three people had some kind of merch starring that guy. She just really hopes Booty Guy liked it.
She perked up when he came out, waving his buddies away and started walking away so she ran up to him.
"Hey! Hey Boo- Mister!"
Booty Guy turned, eyes lighting up in recognition.
"Oh! Ketchup Kid. What are you doing out so late? It's almost midnight!"
"Looking for you!" Elle exclaimed and bulldozed on before he could scold her, or worse, get worried. "I wanted to apologize for what I did in the Bat Burger, my family explained that it was pretty much sexual harassment and I never meant it like that!"
Booty Guy blinked rapidly before they went wide, waving his arms around.
"Oh no no! It's okay! You didn't mean it!"
"That still doesn't make it better so please know," She pushed the bag in his arms before continuing, "I'm very sorry and won't try to bounce anything off your butt ever again. I even got you an apology gift!"
Still confused and looking more worried, Booty Guy took the back and opened it, staring at the rubber chicken and reading the tag, a twitch developing as he read the name tag that read "HI! I'm Night-Hen".
He opened the letter and Elle hoped he liked it, it took her and Danny a while to get it right.
Booty Guy looked like he was fighting a laugh as he read it, eyes bright. "Uh, to answer your question in the letter I have no idea because no one has ever done that. And this gift? Absolutely amazing."
"So you accept my apology?"
"Water under the bridge kiddo. Also, it's late so I'm walking you home."
"Sorry, no can do. My sisters had to explain stranger danger to me and wandering off with a adult I don't know falls under that I believe." She replied, like a hypocrite. So many of her Gotham friends would have given her such a eye roll at that.
That and no way was she letting Sam or the others know about her buddies just yet. Elle befriended a lot of unsavory folks during her travels and she wasn't going to stop just because she knows better now.
"They had to explain stranger danger to you? Why hadn't your parents?" Booty Guy seemed both perplexed and worried, how sweet.
"Because my father is the stranger danger and my other parents are currently unavailable." Crud, that was too much info.
"Are you safe? Has he... has he hurt you?"
"Me, my real parents, and all my siblings. Why?" Stop talking, Elle. He looked even more worried, so Elle tried to distract him.
"You're still a stranger and that means a danger, so going with you is not happening."
"My name's Dick."
Elle slowly looked at him, to his workplace not ten feet away and back to him.
"Your stage name doesn't count as a actual name, you know."
"That is my actual name!"
"... your parents either hated you or were clairvoyant."
"Elle!" Sam yelled, interrupting whatever 'Dick' was about to say. "Come on, I got to start my new job in six hours and haven't slept since last night! Wrap it up!"
"Okay!" She yelled back, turning to 'Dick'. "Gotta go, get home safely!"
And with that she ran to Sam, feeling better.
She was going to visit Waylon tomorrow, he'd been helpful on how to approach Booty Guy (there was no way that 'Dick' was his real name, and if it was, he should probably change it... unless he was a career stripper, in which case it was probably a bonus).
Dick got home, shaking his head at his crazy night.
The Belt was hectic and the leers irritated but nothing compared to Elle and her apology.
He was touched that the kid wanted to make amends. Honestly, he hadn't taken her chucking ketchup at his butt as harassment, just a little kid being silly since he interacted enough with civilian children to know ones in Elle's age range weren't normally malicious.
Even his coworkers had been amused by the kid's antics when he told them (not that offical record that Duke had done, the one where it was just him and his fellow police officers where they all had a good laugh and those with kids shared their own stories of their mischief makers) and other than the fact his clothes still stunk of ketchup, he had already mentally written it off as a funny story to retell at a later date.
Having her show up and apologize because she thought she had hurt him made him want to squish her chubby cheeks and coo at her, maybe feed her cocoa.
He grinned as he pulled Night-Hen out, loving the rubber chicken. He placed her on the shelf next to his kitchen entrance, a spot where he'd see it when he entered or left the apartment.
He pulled the letter out, rereading it.
To Booty Guy Stripper Dude Mister from the Bat Burger
I'm sorry I bounced ketchup off your butt and started a food fight. My sisters had to explain to me why that could be taken wrong, and I promise I had not meant it in any bad way, I just wanted to annoy my sister Sam (she's the goth).
My family said that they know I didn't mean it and are pretty sure you know as well and that I'm still very young and am still learning but that doesn't make it okay just because I didn't know better.
A letter seems too simple for how sorry I am so I asked a guy near our home who makes rubber toys to make you this one! She can safe guard your home and can be used to wack anyone who doesn't take "No" as a answer! Maybe not a normal weapon, but I'm pretty sure most people won't think a rubber chicken is dangerous, giving you the advantage!
Again, I'm sorry and I won't do that again and hope you and stay safe.
P.S. CAN you bounce coins off your butt? Don't answer if the question makes you uncomfortable, but I've been throwing nickels at my siblings butts and they don't bounce.
He couldn't fight the smile that found it's way onto his face, both touched and amused by the little letter.
He placed it behind Night-Hen and headed his bedroom to get dressed.
Blüdhaven's thugs weren't going to catch themselves after all.
Danny should probably be home, helping out since Jack and Maddie were having a bad day with their teething. But Jazz had insisted he go out and indulge in his obsession since Elle had gotten to fulfill hers. Tucker also was off so Sam could work her new day job without having to worry about picking Tucker up, meaning Tucker was helping Jazz care for the babies.
Sam offered to let him follow her invisibly when she starts her new job as a day waitress at a ma and pop restaurant called Bell's Cafe located in the Bowery, but that was still hours away.
So instead he was running around Crime Alley, beating up thugs who were targeting others.
He'd already stopped three idiots from beating up some of the night girls, and had gotten a would-be robber trapt under a dumpster when the guy tried to rob Señor Diaz.
He had spotted a cat trapped up on a windowsill when he heard a startled noise from below.
Looking down he saw the new prostitute staring at him with wide eyes and looking ready to climb up there and drag him down.
Crap, he'd gotten up there by floating. Getting down wasn't going to be as easy.
Eh, it was only a twenty foot drop. That was a safe distance to drop from for a normal human, right? He was like seventy percent sure that was a perfectly safe distance to drop from.
He petted the cat, trying to keep it calm as he judged the fall when the White Strip (it sounded better then calling this guy the new prostitute) visably relaxed.
"Hey," he called and Danny could practically feel the way this guy was forcibly keeping himself calm. "need me to come up there?"
"Nah, I was going to jump." He reassured, frowning as the man's left eye spasmed.
"Kid, that fall can kill you."
Ha, too late for that.
"But I jump off even higher than that and walked away just fine!"
Uh-oh, White Strip looked really unhappy about that. Apparently that was a normal ghost thing, not human.
"Let's not tempt fate. How about I come up there and help you down?" He reasoned, getting closer.
Danny opened his mouth to try and assure him he was alright when the cat jostled him, causing him to slip off the ledge he was on. Now normally this wasn't an issue but Danny was trying to pass off as a normal child so after a split decision he reluctantly allowed gravity to take him, mentally preparing himself to faking a convincing injury as well as apologizing to the now terrified cat that was clawing his arms up.
But instead of hitting the ground, Danny was caught in a pair of strong arms and almost immedately squished against a solid chest, his face pushed against collar bone.
It took him a moment to realize White Strip caught him and the cat. Which meant he hadn't had to fake a injury! Hooray!
"Oh thanks for the rescue!" Danny chirped, feeling relieved he didn't have to pretend he was hurt... well, except for the deep cat scratches but the poor thing had just fallen twenty feet. The cat jumped out of his arms and fled, screeching the whole way.
Danny expected White Strip to put him down now, frowning when a minute went by and White Strip was still holding him.
"Hey, uh, Mister? You can put me down now." Danny replied, gently patting White Strip arm.
The moment he touched skin, Danny's ghost senses went nuts. No fog escaped his mouth but it did tickling in the back of his throat, and he had a really weird moment where his core practically purred as a strange disembodied feeling of something curling around him, like a thick cloak or a blanket.
Or a really weird multi-person hug.
It felt rough, like hundreds of shades were stitched together into a semi-cohesive entity and then welded onto a single soul and then forcibly co-living in that single soul's body.
He pushed back just enough to look White Strip's face.
Oh, Danny thought as he stared into glazed ectoplasm green glowing eyes. That's concerning.
