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Bruce had barely noticed them at first, in fact, had he been a regular human he certainly wouldn’t have noticed the stowaway in one of his safehouses. He had a few set up around Gotham in the unlikely circumstance he couldn’t get back to the cave. Today was simply a routine check, every month or so he checked in on them, replenished stock where needed, all the likes. In this one though some of his stuff had been rummaged through, clear signs of entry and now there was a scent hiding in a cupboard. Surely a shifter since the cupboard was small, too small for any human, so not only was his stowaway hiding, they were also a shifter. Bruce huffed out a noise, tired, pondering his next steps.
The scent was strong, overwhelming, one that had Bruce wrinkle his nose up from under the cowl once he detected it. He couldn’t, with the overwhelming smell, begin to fathom what sort of shifter lay in wait. It was potent, highly. Was it a feral, one waiting to pounce and attack once he got close, or one who was hiding, small and harmless waiting for him to leave to flee. Bruce couldn’t tell from the scent and that was the most irritating thing. He could always tell. Bats, despite their vision issues, had amazing hearing and smell and for Bruce, with his heightened senses even in human form to not be able to distinguish the smell that made his nose twitch… Well, of course he was going to be concerned. Still, even if the shifter was feral, if Bruce stayed in his human form, he’d have little trouble fighting off anything, be it a wolf or something equally daunting. His body armour would be thick enough against teeth and claws and he carried a variety of antidotes on him, including those of venomous creatures because Gotham housed all kinds of shifters and those with venom were usually on the wrong side of the law.
So, he’d made the decision to fight.
“I know you’re in there. Come out. I can smell you.” Bruce calmly ordered, facing the cupboard. A muffled screech that transformed into a whimper was all the warning Bruce got before the door was stomped open and-
A skunk. A baby skunk at that. A baby skunk that was stomping its feet, fluffing up its tail and- oh no.
Bruce let out a muted cough at the smell. The skunk had sprayed at him and then ran its way under the couch in a hurry. A child. It was a child who’d broken in. Despite the lingering scent, the smell that had Bruce’s keen sense whining internally, he softened. He didn’t have a fight on his hands, just a shifter child who’d likely broken in for food or warmth.
“I won’t hurt you. Do you know who I am?” Bruce asked, because surely the child knew Batman didn’t hurt children? A snuffle under the couch wasn’t an answer per se but the child had offered up his location so that was the tiniest of trust, he supposed.
“I’m Batman. I won’t hurt you, I promise, I’m a shifter too.”
Another screeching sound, Bruce had never heard a skunk make so much noise, usually they were silent unless spraying but here he was with a child who made too much noise, who clearly hadn’t spent long around any other skunks… either his parents weren’t shifters (which was possible, sometimes generations were skipped, so maybe one of them had the gene but no ability?) or he’d been alone so long he’d forgotten… or perhaps they’d just never taught him?
“I swear, I will not harm you, but I need to make sure you’re okay and you can’t stay here alone. Please, let me take you somewhere safe?”
A hiss, a ferocious hiss for a child no less, and a swipe of tiny claws at Bruce’s boots had him crouch.
“Can you shift for me?” Bruce asked calmly despite the little feral skunk child under his ratty sofa. The skunk only hissed and swiped a claw again. Bruce sighed. Okay so the child wasn’t going to cooperate, which was fine, understandable if they were truly alone. Of course they’d be apprehensive of adults. His terrible idea that came next was exactly that, a terrible idea.
He stepped back, up as far as he could go, grateful when the tiny snout peeked out from under the couch, black eyes peering at him in caution as Bruce let the change ripple through his bones until he was the biggest fucking bat ever. It was a terrible idea because of course his shifter form would terrify the child, even if it was the only way he could prove he was genuine, that he too was a shifter as claimed. Still, Bruce felt bad considering he was a Golden Crowned Flying Fox, literally the biggest fucking Bat possible (the irony of being Batman was not lost on Alfred.) He’d picked his vigilante persona before he’d actually mastered shifting. He’d been a late bloomer.
So here he was, a massive ass bat, probably traumatising the poor child-
Bruce let out a screech as the Skunk bit into the leg. What?
The Skunk was staring up at him, teeth bared and an almost grin on his face. Oh right, Skunks could eat Bats… And this child…thought he could take on Bruce? While he looked like this?
The skunk hissed and tried to bite again, little fangs doing little other than a bit of pain. Bruce softened even further because this child was now his own. A fearless little skunk, the only kid he’d met other than Dick who didn’t flinch in fear at the massive bat form.
Bruce tilted his head, lowered his stretched wings and let out a trilling chirp, grateful Skunks could hear the frequency Bats operated at (where Humans couldn’t,) the skunk hissed, stomped their feet and stared at Bruce.
Bruce took that as a good sign… Right?
Eventually the skunk calmed down enough to step back and sit. Bruce let the ripple slide over him until he was back in his human form, crouching to the skunk who didn’t move.
“Are you sure you won’t shift back? I promise no harm will come to you, but I’d like to check you over for any injuries and give you a meal if you’d let me? I assume you’re alone?” Bruce asked, the skunk reluctantly nodded and Bruce hummed behind the cowl.
“Will you permit me to carry you? If you’d feel safer I can remove my gloves?” Bruce offered, knowing the child's fangs wouldn’t do anything through the armour but they would to his bare hands. If the child felt threatened at all, Bruce was giving him the option to bite him and flee.
Bruce let out a sigh of relief when the Skunk hesitantly dipped his head into a yes, teeth still bared in threat though. Bruce took off the thick gloves, putting them in one of the many pouches around his belt. Then he slowly dipped down, hands cupped together as the Skunk carefully climbed into, little claws digging warningly into Bruce’s bare fingers.
“I am going to take you to my house, if that's okay? Robin might be close to your age, I’m afraid I can’t tell without you shifting, he’s a shifter too. If you’d feel more comfortable around him then me that is okay.” Bruce explained because he really did need to assess the human’s state, if they were hurt or malnourished (likely) or had anything else he might need to worry about, because he’d already internally adopted the child. Alfred wouldn’t be happy with him. Skunk nodded again (Bruce had taken to calling it simply Skunk until he could figure out their gender or name.)
The journey back to the cave was rather uneventful, Bruce carried the child back to the Batmobile, letting it curl up on the passenger's seat rather cutely under the heat of the radiator fans. The drive was short and once back in the cave he carried the child once more out into the hide-out, watching as the Skunk perked up in awe, looking around.
“Whose that?” Because of course Dick was there, in casual clothes no less, he'd taken the night off patrol to study for a test the next day.
“This is Robin.” Bruce indicated to Dick, the Skunk scrunched up its nose and let out an adorable sneeze-like sound. Dick cooed.
“They’re cute! A shifter? Am I getting a sibling? C’mon B, tell me!” Dick asked, coming closer, the skunk stomping in Bruce’s hands, tail fluffing. Bruce had already learnt the signs and quickly made Dick back up.
“What’s wrong?” Dick asked sadly.
“I’ve already been sprayed once Chum, don’t make me get another dose.” Bruce chuckled, letting the Skunk down to the floor. “I found them ransacking one of my safehouses, they seem to be alone and refuse to shift back. I imagine they’re close to your age. I’m hoping you can convince them to shift so we can feed them and get them checked over?” Bruce asked and Dick beamed.
“Sure!” He grinned and crouched down, slowly approaching the skunk while Bruce slipped away to shower off the skunk stench on his person and to change out of the batsuit. It hardly mattered about their identities if he was planning on keeping the child.
“Hi. I’m Dick… Are you a boy or a girl? I’ve always wanted a brother.” Dick rambled as he edged closer and closer, the skunk tilted its head and sat down, as if to indicate it was safe to get closer. “I’m a shifter too, I’m a sugar glider, do you know what they are?” Dick asked, earning a shake of the little black and white head.
“Oh, I’ll show you sometime! For now do you think you should shift? B worries, he probably wants to make sure you’re not hurt.” Dick explained. The skunk shook his head.
“You don’t want to?”
Another shake.
“You can’t?”
A nod.
“Oh… You’re stuck?”
Another nod.
“Oh… Is it… just you or?” Because sadly there was drugs traffickers used to trap shifters and sell them… The skunk nodded and Dick let out a sigh of relief that it wasn’t anything nefarious beyond child inexperienced. (Children had a tendency to get stuck without proper guidance and teaching.)
“So um, are you a boy then?” Dick repeated and earned a nod, to which Dick did a fist bump to the air. “That’s awesome, if you decide to stay here, which Bruce is totally going to ask you to, I’d love to be your brother!” Dick smiled, blindingly. “Oh, I’m 14.” Dick added and the skunk let out a nuzzling noise from the back of its throat and tapped a paw on the ground. It took Dick a moment to realise what the skunk was doing but eventually he realised he was counting. Twelve little taps later and the skunk stopped.
“You’re Twelve? We’re super close in age then!” Dick smiled in the one sided conversation.
“No change?” Bruce asked as he reappeared, in casual clothing. The skunk widened its eyes slightly because of course he recognized Bruce Wayne. Bruce only gave a sheepish smile.
“Nice to meet you properly, I’m Bruce.”
“He’s stuck.” Dick explained, “But he told me it wasn’t traffickers or anything, he just got stuck.”
“He?”
“Yup! Are we going to be brothers? Please can we? He’s twelve and that’s super close to me, and I promise I’ll-” Dick got cut off by Bruce raising a hand in pause.
“Slow down Chum. You can’t just adopt someone without permission.” Bruce spoke like an absolute fucking hypocrite because he’d totally already adopted the boy.
“Aw, but he’ll stay here for now right? Until we can help him change back?”
“Of course. That’s what I planned. You’re okay with that right?” Bruce asked, the skunk reluctantly nodded.
“Wait, we need to know your name! I can’t just call you Skunk, that’s rude!” Dick blurted, once he’d got confirmation his new brother wasn’t going to leave (he too, had Bruce’s adoption tendencies and the child was officially his brother in his head already.)
The skunk let out a whimper noise and Dick frowned.
“What if I did letters and you let me know which is your first one?”
A nod.
“Okay, A.” A shake. “B…” and so on, until Dick reached J (Thank God his name wasn’t something like Zac…)
“J! Okay, second letter.. A?” A nod straight away surprised Dick but he took it in his stride.
“Jamie? Jake? Jared?” He started guessing names which the skunk turned his nose up at.
“Jason?” Bruce asked and the Skunk let out an adorable cheep, feet stomping as he twirled in a happy circle. Bruce didn’t coo. Shut up.
“Jason! It’s nice to meet you.” Dick smiled and the Skunk hesitantly replied with his own dipping head and toothy grin. It was a start. Dick couldn’t wait to get to know his new brother better!
But there’d be plenty of time for that…
Or so they thought.