Chapter Text
Bruce was having a hard time which little Soka found hilarious, judging by her loud and bright laughs, clapping hands and shinny ocean eyes. Bruce was fighting the rising panic that wanted to engulf him and make him curl in the floor and start hyperventilating like crazy. Soka's laugher had both a grounded effect in him and gave him a feeling like he was being mocked by a two-year-old little alien girl- "Do you enjoy my suffering?"- Bruce asked with mock anger and annoyance, Soka answered with laugher, little arms reaching for Bruce, demanding to be picked up. Bruce obliged, taking her into his arms.
Soka cuddled into Bruce's chest, she enjoyed being held and cuddled and getting lots of attention and skin contact. Babies and toddler were meant to be held at all times, something about being important for propper developement- "Let's see if you are laughing when we go to the doctor"- Bruce wouldn't be taking her to the doctor, not exactly. It would be him and Alfred down in The Batcave, running test and doing some experiments, as little invasive as posssible, he needed to learn as much as he could about Soka's species, to learn how to care for her properly.
Soka quieted down at the word *doctor*, it seemed children's fear of doctors was universal no matter the species, at least Bruce hoped it was that. Bruce still wondered how Soka could have possibly ended in a crashing spaceship covered in flames. There were dozens of innocent ways Soka could have ended in such predicament, innocent, completely accidental, tragic accidents and a thousands not so innocent ways, terrible ways, horrible ways, taumatic ways; Soka had no burn marks nor scars on her but maybe that spaceship was on route to some place... Soka began to whimper, reacting to Bruce's changing emotions, Bruce noticed that Soka reacted at his feelings; no matter how well he tried to hide them, she could sense them. Bruce carefully placed his big and scarred hand on Ahsoka's head, being especially carefull with her horns and headtails, Bruce had the feeling Soka's powers were much more than simply making things float.
That afternoon Bruce and Alfred took Soka to The Batcave, Soka was in Bruce's legs, she didn't feel like walking, considering the tantrum she had thrown when Bruce tried to make her take some steps. When Soka wanted to be held, she got to be held, a determined and willfull little girl; Soka would grown up to be a character of that Bruce was sure. She was already a little spitfire, she would be a terror growing up.
Bruce put Soka on the operation table of the medbay- "Is Miss Soka ready Master Bruce?"- Alfred asked, preparing syringe, Bruce looked at Soka who stared at him with her big wide eyes, the stripes on her head-tails and horns had grown a few shades bluer from a dark blue to a river blue, she seemed scared- "As ready as she will ever be..."- Bruce sighed, holding Soka's tiny hand, so tiny!
Alfred nodded in understanding, all too aware of childrens's fear of needles- "Alright Master Bruce"- Alfred approached Soka needle in hand, the needle wasn't taht big but for a toddler the sight of a needle heading her way, ready to draw blood was terrifying- "Nare!"- Soka screamed, jumping into Bruce's lap- "Nare! Nare!"- Soka yelled over and over, shaking her head, gripping Bruce's shirt with her tiny fist. Bruce felt his heart break at the sight of Soka's all too real terror- "It's okay Soka, Alfie is just gonna take a little blood"- Bruce doubted Soka understood anything he said but maybe the tone of his vouce could comfort- "Khos-Khos Nare!"- Alfred stood in front of Bruce and Soka, Bruce sighed, it hurt something deep inside him but it had to be done; Bruce gently took Soka's arm and stretched it towards Alfred- "Be gentle Alfred"- Bruce knew Alfred would always be gentle but he needed to say it outloud; Alfred nodded, he understood Bruce's sudden apprehension. Soka screamed raw and tearfull the moment the needle pricked her arm, Alfred worked quickly and carefully, it wasn't that bad, Alfred didn't even leave a scratch on her orange skin but she screamed as if her arm had been amputated.
Bruce pulled Soka close, bouncing her, patting her back- "It's okay, you are okay, you are safe..."- he gently whispered into her horns. Alfred analyzed Soka's blood in the batcomputer, Soka's blood was similar to human's blood, more protein rich and some different enzymes but oxygen rate and volume was quite similar.
Next Alfred took Soka's temperature, blood pressure and heart rate. Alfred auscultated Soka's heart and lungs, she was breathing fast and her heartbeat was also very quick, quicker than a human although that could also be a consequence of her young age (children's heart rate and breathing was faster than adults) the fact that Soka had been crying her little heart out just a few seconds ago could also be an altering factor, they would need to analyze her vitals again later.
Soka's temperature was two grades lower than a humans, Soka had good color, her orange skin looked healthy and glowing, the markings were well-defined and bright against her orange skin. All and all Soka was the picture of health.
Next step was X-ray, Soka was really still during the proceedure, it only took a few seconds, Soka's skeletal structure was similar to that of the humans, except of of course the jaw and the craneum were harder than humans, even so young one could tell the bones of the jaw were more dense than a human child's, the muscles of her jaw would grow to be as powerfull as the jaws of a timber wolf; Soka had a secondary set of fangs that had yet to come in and several set of replacement teeth that would replace her adult teeth should they break, each sharper than the last; the horns and head-tails were part of the craneum, solid bone, craneum already fussed together despite her young age, that craneum would be nearly indestructible by the time she reached her adolescence.
Soka's horns acted as her auditory system, much more sensible than human ears, they also where sensible to the changes in atmospheric pressure, for example she could tell if it was going to rain among other things; her sense of smell was also much stronger than a humans. Soka's eyes were sensible to movement but the color spectrum her eyes could see was inferior than a humans, she couldn't see the color yellow nor the pink, to put some examples. Alfred took Soka up back to The Manor while Bruce analyzed the results of Soka's tests more closely, his ice-blue eyes narrowed perplexed, there was nothing in Soka's charts that explained how Soka's powers worked, no special mental waves, no spikes, no special electric connection in the brain, nothing at all. It was baffling, Bruce knew what he had seen, he knew Soka's mind had to play some kind of part to make her able to make thing float and move without touching, such an action should be reflected in her brain, a spike, a part of the brain that was more active than the others and yet... he had found nothing.
Bruce leant back into his chair and let his head fall into his hands, feeling tired and defeated. The young billionare didn't couldn't believe it, was reacious to believe it, to accept it. The implications were terrifying, because if these analisis were accurate (and they were, Bruce and Alfred both had made sure they were) it meant whatever it was going on with Soka couldn't be explained by science.