Archive of Our Own

(It was supposed to be temporary.)

Thanks to having skipped a grade when he entered Gotham Academy, Damian Wayne found himself continuously stuck in the same class as his arch-nemesis, Helena Kyle. The girl would forever argue with him, forcing them to be adversaries when it came to group projects, field trips, and especially recess. It was a rivalry that went back years, to the first time Helena had laughed out loud at Damian’s formal way of speaking. Ever since, the pair remained at odds, something that did not change even when they encountered one another once more at a party being held by one of Gotham’s numerous millionaires, which both the respective Wayne and Kyle families were forced to attend for mingling purposes.

Damian’s father laughed and charmed his way across the room to coax investors to his company and their cutting edge advances in medical science.

Helena’s mother prowled with a gleaming smile to encourage the upper crust to donate to a new animal sanctuary she was putting together.

The pair of fifth graders and their various adoptive siblings bemoaned not being able to come up with timely excuses to escape the torture.

The other two Wayne boys, Dick and Tim, were hiding from elderly cheek-pinchers by remaining within the shadows cast by the staircase leading down into the massive ballroom. Their sister Cassandra remained close to their father’s side, using her haunting stare to chase away any single ladies acting just a bit more friendly than was called for (which Bruce never actually said he approved of, but the grateful hand that occasionally patted her shoulder spoke volumes).

The pair of adopted Kyles, Jason and Stephanie, had taken a more sure-fire approach to avoiding company, by loading up a few plates with treats and then ducking underneath the buffet table’s long covering. (Selina saw them vanish, but decided not to bother with reprimanding the pair - neither were very well-adjusted to high society life just yet, after all. Or so they continued to claim.)

As for Damian and Helena... they were relegated to a specific portion of the room, one where all children beneath the age of thirteen had been forced to congregate. And there weren’t nearly enough small bodies in the space for the two to avoid one another for the course of the entire evening.

“Wayne,” Helena said stiffly.

“Kyle.” Damian narrowed his eyes. “Would you accept the proposal of a ceasefire until we can escape this ridiculous event?”

For the first time either of them could remember, Helena smiled at her rival in a way that wasn’t mocking or predatory. “I have a better idea - a temporary alliance so that both of us can get out of here sooner.”

Damian suspected a trap, but decided to ask anyway. “What did you have in mind?”

“If we fake having a fight, chances are that we’ll be asked to leave.”

“Oh, there’s no need to fake an argument with you, Kyle.” Damian smirked. “I’m always happy to demonstrate the ways in which you are an idiot.”

“I didn’t say argue, Wayne, I said fight.” And with that, Helena punched him.

“I don’t know what has gotten into you two, but it is going to stop. This. Instant.” Selina hissed, glaring at the two children being held back from one another by their respective siblings. At her mother’s order, Helena reluctantly fell limp in Jason’s grip, but Damian was still straining against Dick and Tim - and appeared liable to break free at any moment.

“Damian.” But then, the single growl from Bruce was enough to get the boy to relax a bit. Both children had thoroughly ruined their formal clothes with tears and the mashed remains of various foodstuffs formerly held upon the buffet table. The other little ones that previously occupied the kiddie area were scattered throughout the ballroom, clinging to their parents in terror. Damian and Helena had managed to cause quite an uproar, fighting each other and whatever servers attempted to break them up. It seemed as though they were going to trash the entire room before the other Waynes and Kyles arrived on the scene, using words and hands to force a surrender from both warring parties.

“Mr. Wayne, Ms. Kyle,” the party’s very flustered host approached them. “I apologize, but I’m afraid I’ll have to ask your children to leave my home.”

“Of course, Mr. Moore,” Selina graced him with a charming smile, not picking up on the smirks her youngest exchanged with Damian. “We’ll take our leave right away. I’m so sorry for the way they were acting...”

“Please allow me to reimburse you for the damages, Markus,” Bruce added. “It’s the least I can do for my son’s inexcusable behavior.”

“Yes, well, thank you both.” In the end, their host declined any monetary offers, eager just to get the troublemakers out as quickly as possible.

Once they went through the front doors, Helena and Damian’s respective elder siblings dragged them off in different directions to wait for their drivers to arrive. Bruce and Selina hung back by the entrance, the former holding up the latter’s coat for her to slip into.

“Thanks,” the woman offered him a tired look of gratitude. “And I’m sorry about my daughter-”

“Don’t be. This is, what, the seventeenth time those two have gotten into trouble together?” Bruce chuckled lightly. “I think both of them have to take an equal share of the blame at this point.”

“Mm, yes, suddenly those extra karate lessons seem like they were a bad idea.” Both single parents shared a laugh at that.

“Just be glad you don’t have any former acrobats in your household,” Bruce mentioned once they’d gotten their breath back. “Dick’s been teaching the others all sorts of tricks for years now.”

“Well, forgive me for saying so, but that doesn’t sound half as bad as Jason and Steph passing on all their street tricks for distraction and pickpocketing.”

“Yikes.” He snickered, before becoming suddenly serious and looking at her with an odd glint in his eye. “Ms. Kyle-”

“Selina.”

“Selina - would you care to have dinner with me next Friday?” She blinked at him, startled by the question, before responding with a sly grin.

“I think I would. DeLacy’s, at seven?”

“I’ll make a reservation.”

They parted ways after that, as two limos pulled up before the manor house, various offspring piling in. All the kids could tell something was up with their respective parents, but no amount of probing and pestering was able to pull forth answers.

Four months, sixty-two dates and fifteen family outings later...

“I blame you for this,” Damian growled as he and Helena sat off to one side of the ballroom in Wayne Manor, each doing their best to ignore the fact that they were at an engagement party.

Specifically, the engagement party of his father to her mother.

“Suck it up, Demon Brat, I’m not happy about this either.” Helena spat back. They’d been specifically instructed beforehand by their parents to behave at the party, or else suffer dire consequences. After disregarding a similar threat at the first joint outing of their families, the pair were set to cleaning the entirety of the bat-infested basement below the Manor, by themselves, under Alfred Pennyworth’s stern supervision. Those three days had been grimy, disgusting, and thoroughly humiliating.

The kids learned their lesson afterwards.

“Think there’s any chance we could cause them to break up at this point?” Damian asked halfheartedly after a while. Seeing the dopey, lovestruck expressions on Bruce and her mom’s faces as they twirled across the dance floor, Helena sighed.

“I seriously doubt it.”

“Pity.”

“Ditto.”

“...does this mean we need new ceasefire terms?” The children eyed each other warily at Damian’s question, the air around them filled with music and the chattering of several dozen guests.

“...keep your dogs out of my room, and I won’t use your art for kitty litter,” Helena eventually offered.

“Deal.”