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"Stephanie is my daughter."
"Then surely you wouldn't be opposed to a blood test?"
Edward felt his own blood turning into a flow of ice in his veins. What right does that flying rat of Vengeance think he has to doubt his... inexistent kinship with a girl he met nearly but not quite a year ago, for whom he faked identity papers in order to pass her off as his legal daughter after they bonded and became... inseparable?!
It had been much easier for Jason by the way, who was a street kid with no parents or relatives and long-lost identification papers: creating an entire new identity for him with 'Nashton' as his last name didn't require as much steps as it did for Stephanie.
Doing so was not even Ed's idea to begin with! Steph launched this possibility herself once she confessed over an heartwarming afternoon that she finally discovered what it feels like to live with a true family, and she didn't want to ever go back to being invisible and neglected at her parents'. One thing leading to another, Eddie became Jay and her's legal guardian.
"A blood test would be irrelevant, I adopted her," he retaliated, trying his best not to sound too defensive not to arise further suspicions. "I can provide certificates for proof."
For the first time since he became his ally, Batman's piercing gaze made Edward uncomfortable. At the moment, he wished he'd be anywhere but there, on the building where the Batsignal gets lighted.
He handled a tricky case with the Knight that got solved yesterday, he believed this evening the vigilante would... congratulate him, perhaps. Tell him he has done an incredible job.
Instead of which, Ed had to defend his made-up father status?! How disappointing. How... worrisome, as well.
Wordlessly, Vengeance produced the picture of a man incarcerated at Blackgate after being framed for an aborted terrorist attack against the former Mayor Don Mitchell. As to... carry on what should have happened all those months ago, starting over Halloween.
Edward highly contributed to his arrest, by providing evidences he was involved.
"This is Arthur Brown," the hero stated, his collected expression unreadable. "Surely a familiar face for you?"
"Yes he is," Eddie retorted, failing to sound as calm as he wished. "I wouldn't forget people I infiltrate the illegal networks of. Why do you talk about Brown, is there a problem with him?"
"I paid him a visit last week."
"For the case?"
"For a personal case. He mentioned... interesting things, about a man matching your physical description whom apparently 'stole his daughter'. A blonde, blue-eyed daughter named Stephanie. Brown was incapable to tell her exact age, but he was convinced she'd be around six to eight years old."
"What a model father," Edward scoffed, trying his best to sound dismissive rather than angry at his role model for investigating him. "My Stephie turned eight the 5 of June two weeks ago, and indeed, she has blond hair and blue eyes. Like... so many other Gothamite little girls. If that's your main lead, it seems a bit meagre."
The Bat hadn't stopped watching him with this x-ray glance that gave Edward the impression to be bare under the unforgiving judgement of justice. As if Batman... peered at his soul.
"When did you adopt Stephanie, Edward?"
Despite his willingness to keep his cool, Ed felt ire bulging inside him.
"What is this supposed to be? An interrogatory?! I adopted her when she was five, she is a precocious youngster with a developed memory for her age, so obviously she remembers her previous life and if you want to know, that's why she calls me 'Eddie' instead of 'daddy'. That she is blonde like that child Arthur Brown visibly knows so little about doesn't mean anything!"
That was the loudest he ever expressed himself next to the vigilante, anger making his tone curt and his limbs shake.
Vengeance shifted from one foot to another, nervous. Growing closer to the Nashtons, he felt like he... opened up to them. Like he entered their circle.
Right now, he realized he stepped past the comfort zone they established by being offensive when he simply wished to... highlight what he unearthed.
"Here's what I think," Bruce whispered, gathering enough strength to cross Edward's infuriated gaze again. "I believe you worked with Arthur Brown and other people on that plan that would have ended with the flooding of Gotham. No, let me finish," he ordered, gently but firmly upon seeing his accolyte ready to protest. "You had a dominant position in this scheme, maybe you were even the brain who crafted it. And then... something changed your mind. Someone, to be more specific. You met Brown's daughter before the execution of your plan, you bonded with her and your path crossed Jason's shortly after this major turn of events. You went from being alone, rejected by the whole world and desperately wanting to feel alive for once to being... loved, in a way you never experienced before, by a clever girl with a difficult home life and a boy who lived in the streets. I made my researches. You were a nobody no one knew about, and without a warning one day you became the most important person in two energetic, intelligent children's lives. You changed for them, you became their parent and you turned to my side to keep them safe... before faking their identity papers not to be hassled by judicial services for hosting and loving two kids not related to you. Am I right or wrong?"
Edward felt the sudden, critically unwanted urge to... curl up on the floor and sob. He became so much more confident now that he is a dad, these near-breakdown episodes spaced, to the point he was practically certain they would fully disappear.
Looks like this downside of his autism and PTSD is not about to vanish today yet.
"Batman, I..."
"It's alright."
Eddie froze when a strong gloved hand applied a pressure on his left shoulder. The vigilante offered him a genuinely comforting semblance of smile.
"I am... not good with all of that," the black-cladded figure reminded, sheepish. "Interacting with people I mean. But... what I was trying to tell you here is that... I know. I pursued my investigation, too. Thanks to you, those kids are happy. You gave Jason a roof and a home, which he was deprived of, and you showed Stephanie what a real parent, one who cares, should be like, unlike her absent, sometimes violent father and her junkie of a mother who couldn't even recognize her if she saw her again. I wanted to say I will... never reveal what I know to your children, to Gordon or to... anyone else. I covered your tracks, I made every single evidence you missed disappear. I guarantee no one will ever bother you and your family. I guess I just... hoped you'd trust me enough to tell me about this in place of letting me find it out on my own."
"... I don't even know your name or your face," Ed replied with delicacy, fighting not to fall on his knees to the ground under the crushing wave of relief that submerged his organism. "And I don't complain, I love... this version of you above any other. I love you and I have faith in you, but... how could I... I mean... I... I love them so much, Batman... Stephanie and Jason made me... they made me a better person, a person I love to be... For the first time in my entire life, I am... proud, and happy and... and I..."
Vengeance held him close while he cried, his face buried against the hard plates of the armor chest.
Whereas Bruce felt initially awkward due to the abrupt closeness, soon enough he relaxed into the embrace. He broached the sensitive family topic far too bluntly, he was sincerely sorry he got his ally worked up when in truth he meant to reassure him by promising no one will ever come after his children and him. Batman will make sure of that.
"Nothing will happen to you," he found a loophole to an apology by being... comforting. "Neither to you, to Stephanie nor to Jason. You are... under my protection. In every sense of the term. I promise you you are... safe."
This may not be a perfect pep talk, this was the most supportive pledge Bruce could convey.
Notwithstanding he lacked the words to phrase his thoughts, as he... hugged his friend, holding him protectively, he hoped the younger man was able to get he meant his engagement.
For a creature of darkness, Batman will forever remain the Nashtons' guardian angel.