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Chapter Text

It had been a number of years already and Delilah Al Ghul still missed them.

It had hurt, when she decided to run away from her father and siblings. But she knew it was for the best. She couldn’t stay there, not when they refused to trust her despite the many years she dedicated herself to learning under her father.

It hadn’t been obvious to her when she was a child. But when she entered her teen years, she quickly realized that their refusal to let her work solo was not a protective instinct for the youngest, but rather they wanted someone to keep her from undermining their values.

She had thought she proved herself to them already, but to discover that they truly believed she would just begin a killing rampage, it hurt.

And it showed her that her mother had been right. They would never truly trust her to succeed her father as she aspired to. 

Perhaps it was cowardly, to run away. But she had been a teenager and hormonal and felt betrayed. So she ran straight into her mother’s arms.

Talia Al Ghul may have been a hardhearted assassin, but she loved and adored her daughter. She welcomed her home with open arms.

Though her mother was rather disappointed when Delilah refused to take back her place as heir to the League. But no matter how upset she was with her family, she couldn’t in good conscience take over one of their enemies.

That, however, didn’t stop her from slipping back into what she was trained to do since birth. If they were so certain she would revert back to her assassin mindset, she may as well prove them right.

So she took a job of becoming an underground hitwoman. She did keep some morals though. If any, she took a lot of inspiration from Todd, targeting criminals and war mongers.

With this in mind, Talia suggested she move to a small country that was on the verge of war, Ostania. The League had been keeping an eye on the warring tensions of Ostania and its neighboring county, Westalis. While small, the two countries had a lot of power within their governments, and the League always kept watch of those who could tip the scale.

A war breaking out between the countries could spill into the other European powers and potentially cause another world war. 

That was not something Delilah would allow to happen. So, she agreed to move to Ostania under her mother’s guidance. Talia agreed to send her information and determine the threats that could affect the tentative peace.

With her mother’s assistance, Delilah was able to get a job at City Hall within the capital city. It was a low secretary job, but it was covert enough to keep her out of any main attention. 

With Talia’s help, she forged birth certificates and ID for Delilah to be listed as a born citizen of Ostania.

It worked well enough as Ostenia was becoming very paranoid about foreigners. It was already a slight issue that she took a lot after her mother. Delilah did take pride in her heritage and often wanted to mimic her beautiful mother.  

Ostania, however, didn’t have many dark skinned citizens, so she was already often looked at with suspicion. Thankfully, she could escape deeper inspection due to how intricate her mother crafted her backstory.

Talia had lived for centuries and she knew exactly how important it was to make sure nothing would be brought into question. And Delilah was trained well, so there was no chance she would slip up with the background she memorized religiously.

Delilah was born within the capital city, Berlint, to a middle eastern immigrant mother and a loyal Ostanian father. Her father was a nameless soldier who died during the last war against Westalis before the treaty was brokered when she was six years old. Her mother raised her alone within the capital until she was eighteen, to which Delilah inherited her father’s home and her mother left the country to travel.

Talia didn’t give her any school records, but that was actually the norm due to the war over a decade earlier. She did make false employee records for Delilah, claiming she began work as a clerk in the city archives before being promoted to City Hall. Of course, her mother made the records show Delilah worked in the most obscure of places, so it would be easily explained as to why no one knew who she was, aside from the obvious of her typically antisocial personality.

Her background was well made and air tight, an obvious showcase of her mother’s talent and the League’s influence. Of course, while that gave her an out in regards to the paranoid not-so-secret police, it didn’t really change perception of her with her coworkers.

The other secretaries were tight knit and wary of her. Well, two of them were. One was just indifferent, which did bode well for Delilah to become semi-friends with her as the two held similar personalities.

But Delilah knew social cues well enough to realize that the other two were less suspicious and more so jealous. Which was entirely understandable as Delilah knew she was beautiful. With both of her parents’ genes, it was obvious she would come into her adulthood as a gorgeous woman. 

And no, it was not ego. It was just facts.

Delilah easily ignored the two gossip mongers as she made coffee for one of the managers. Being a secretary was annoyingly simple, but Delilah couldn’t really make complaints. A low office worker was less suspicious than if she were in a high position of authority. More out of view. People tended to ignore the ones who served. A hiding in plain sight motif.

“Did you hear about the office break-in? Scary, right?” Camilla exclaimed, “Apparently, someone broke in and stole a bunch of information on the women employees! What kind of creep does that?”

“The section chief is pretty creepy” Millie stated, “He’s always ogling me!”

Sharon took a leisure puff of her cigarette, “Maybe if you wore longer skirts, he’d stop.”

“My boyfriend likes it when I wear short skirts, though!” Millie whined, “Hey, you’re pretty fit Sharon! Why don’t you try showing it off a little more!”

“I stopped caring after I had a kid” Sharon stated bluntly. 

“What about you?” Camilla asked, turning towards her, “You’re awfully quiet over there, Delilah. Does it creep you out too?”

“What? The break in or the section chief?” She drolled, “Honestly, I don’t particularly care. The break in probably won’t ever really affect me and as long as the chief keeps his hands to himself, what do I care if he stares at me.”

“Seriously?” Camilla wilted in annoyance. Of course that was her answer. She was so boring. She never really interacted with them aside from small comments, and she was clearly a homebody, as from what Camilla gathered, she never went out aside from work. Not to mention whenever they tried to invite her to gossip, she’d send them snide glances!

“Ooh, is that the section chief’s coffee? Blow some snot into it!” Millie suggested excitedly.

Delilah sent her a raised eyebrow, “And get fired? No thanks.”

Sharon snorted.

Millie whined, “So blunt.”

“Hey, by the way Delilah!” Camilla added in, “I’m having a party this weekend! You should totally come! Oh, and don’t forget to bring a date!”

“A date?” Delilah frowned, “Why?”

“Geez” The blonde sighed, “Come on Delilah. You’re like, what? Twenty four? You should really start looking into your prospects!”

“And why would I do that?” 

“From what I hear, you need to be really careful at your age, these days. There’s spies everywhere, you know. People have been reported for the tiniest little things, you know.”

“That’s right!” Millie added in, “I heard just the other day that a bachelorette in her late twenties was arrested because her neighbors thought she was being extremely suspicious!”

“They are right. Being single at that age is kinda eyebrow raising.”

Oh yes. She forgot Ostania had high values in marrying young. Delilah was not really on board with that idea. Not just because it was a rather archaic way of thinking, but also due to her being an Al Ghul. Al Ghul’s fall in love hard and fast, and once you love, that’s it. No one else will do it for you. It was why her mother has spent every moment being exclusively in love with her father, despite their differing values and frequent fighting. It was also why her mother didn’t exactly like her step-mother either.

Delilah did like Selina, though. The two had an understanding of one another, both typically walking that line of morality. Plus Selina understood her blatant adoration of animals. It broke Delilah’s heart to leave her animal companions behind, but they were safer and more well cared for at the manor than they would’ve been following after her.

Though she did hope that her father cared enough about her to not actually eat Jerry, despite her running away. 

“I see. Well, perhaps I will look into finding someone then” Delilah said, if only to soothe her three coworkers. 

“Great! So I’ll see you at the party then!” Camilla cheered, heading off with Millie and Sharon in two.

Delilah easily ignored Camilla and Millie hushedly talking about how she wouldn’t find a date. What did she care if the two peons mocked her. Their opinions didn’t really matter in the long run.

Of course, she also couldn't put it past either of them to not try reporting her as suspicious merely due to their petty nature. It may do her well to at least try finding someone who would attend the party with her if nothing else.

As Delilah prepared her nightly routine, her phone rang. Picking it up, she heard her mother’s familiar voice. “Hello Little One.”

“Mother” Delilah greeted.

“How have you been, my darling?” Her mother asked.

“Just fine. I have run into a slight issue with my life, however. Ostania is quite behind in terms of female independence. My coworkers are rather concerned regarding my unattached status.”

“I see. Yes, I did worry that it may become a problem. However, I had believed it would not affect you for quite some time. My mistake.”

“It is a simple solution. I merely have to find a date for my coworker’s party and that should get them off my case for a little bit” Delilah explained, “It should be easy, either way. I took the best of you and father’s genes after all.”

Her mother laughed, “But of course, Little One. Only the best for the Al Ghuls. Now then,” She mother’s voice changed to a more serious tone, “I have found a client that would like to see you. The Royal Hotel, floor thirteen. Do treat him well, my darling.”

“Of course, mother.”

The client mentioned was the Vice President of the auditing department. He had been embezzling money from the government and putting it towards an underground fund to restart the war with Westalis. Which meant he had to go.

Of course, it was rather easy to finish the job. His bodyguards were good, she would give them that, however, they had nothing on the League of Assassins, let alone the Bat Family. And it just so happened that she was trained by both.

They stood no chance.

Delilah easily slipped out the window she came in from, climbing up to the roof as she surveyed the city skyline. 

She missed her family. She missed racing across the rooftops with Todd. She missed flying through the air with Grayson. Hell, she missed her bantering with Drake.

She especially missed the proud headpats of her father after a job well done against whatever rouge decided to try their hand those nights.

But those times were over now. And she’s ruined her chance of getting that back. If she ever saw her father again, she knew he would hate her for reverting back to her assassin lifestyle. She made her choice, and it was time to lie in that bed.

Even if she spent a lot of her time regretting it.

Loid Forger, as his new identity claimed him as, was a simple man. 

If you exclude the fact that his name was actually Twilight and he was one of the top secret agents in existence, that just so happened to be on a serious mission that would make or break the world as everyone knew it.

A deep cover mission to prevent what could potentially start World War 3. A deep cover mission that included building himself a family to get close to his targets.

He had one part down. His adoptive daughter. Anya was a strange child, but she was obedient and damn it all if he couldn’t feel himself getting just a little bit attached. 

But he was missing a very important piece of that puzzle. Anya needed a mother figure. Mainly due to the fact that Ostania had a firm view on what a family should look like, and that included a mother and a father regardless of circumstances, however archaic that view was.

Anya needed to attend the highest profile of schooling to help get him close to his targets, and that school just so happened to be famous for those ideals. He felt it was rather ignorant, as there were many who lost parents due to either illness or accidents, or even assassinations. 

But such was the life for the rich, he would suppose. Eden Academy was a high profile and extremely prestigious school. Only either the richest of children or the brightest of children were allowed to attend.

Unfortunately for him, Anya was neither. She was a good child and she could learn well when she wanted to, but she was not the brilliant genius that Eden was looking for. So, appearing to be an ideal family would be the best to raise their chances of her getting in.

And that meant finding a woman that would agree to be his wife and become her step-mother.

Another part would be to make Anya look at least a little more presentable. She didn’t have much clothes, only a couple of dresses due to being raised in a scummy orphanage. So he needed to expand her wardrobe.

Hence why they arrived at a well known tailor. Loid was given a very high budget for Operation Strix, so he could afford to get her clothing from a good tailor.

“Come along, young lady. We’re going to take your measurements” One of the seamstresses guided Anya with a kind smile.

Again, however, Anya was a strange child, “I’m being sold to traffickers!”

“You won’t if you behave” Loid retorted easily. He had grown quite used to her strange outbursts over the last week since he adopted her. Still, though, “Honestly, where does she even pick up that kind of language?”

Then again, the orphanage he got her from truly was the lowest of the low. Maybe that was a possibility there.

He should mention it in his report to Sylvia. She equally despised mistreatment of children, so he knew she would spend some time looking into the orphanage to see if they had dealings with trafficking.

As Anya was taken to be measured, Loid discreetly examined the women working in the shop. Most were married, but there were some who were still single. However, the ones who were had issues of some kind that would make their family life suspicious. One had already been arrested before, and another had a family member in the ‘secret’ police. 

None of them would really be fit for-

“Excuse me” A sophisticated voice called out.

Loid snapped his head to where the young woman stood, expectantly waiting at the counter beside him.

How did she sneak up behind him?!

Twilight was known to be the best agent for a reason. His senses were unrivaled by any (though perhaps that ‘Batman’ character in America could best him, purely due to having more experience), and yet this one woman was able to glide past his notice.

It was intriguing, but most importantly, it was dangerous.

Either she was somehow well trained, or his training was beginning to relax. Both could be very bad for Operation Strix.

The owner of the tailor shop came over to greet the woman, “Oh, Delilah! How wonderful to see you again, dear!”

“Good afternoon” She nodded, “I came to pick up the new dress I ordered.”

The elderly woman nodded, “Let me go get it from the back.”

“Thank you” Delilah replied graciously.

Loid, meanwhile, was quickly reading through his mental files to locate the woman, quickly finding her record from the file Franky stole from City Hall. Delilah Al Ghul, daughter of Talia Al Ghul and Bruce Waldmann. Her mother was a middle eastern immigrant, who had moved to Ostania to be with her husband. Her father had been a simple soldier who died when she was a child during the war.

Delilah lived alone, she was twenty four, unmarried, and worked as a secretary at City Hall.

“Excuse me.” Loid’s attention was garnered when Delilah suddenly turned to him, “I couldn’t help but notice you staring at me. Is there something I can do for you?”

How did she sense him?!

Loid quickly recovered at being caught, easily slipping out the lie, “Pardon me! It’s just that you’re so beautiful!”

Delilah upturned her nose, a haughty gaze, “Of course. My parents have wonderful genes. It’s only natural.”

Loid easily held back the desire for his eye to twitch at the arrogance. He would grant her that she wasn’t entirely wrong. Delilah Al Ghul was a beautiful woman. Her long black hair felt down her back like silk, her caramel skin gleamed under the light and her eyes were a brilliant emerald green.

But could he really ask such an arrogant woman to marry him, regardless of if it was a farce?

“Papa! I’m this long! They told me!” Anya proclaimed, eagerly running to hug his leg when the seamstress was finished measuring her. She quickly caught sight of the woman he was speaking to, “Who’s that?”

“A fellow customer,” Loid explained with ease to his curious daughter.

Delilah sent the young girl a small smile. Which, in Delilah’s terms, was not really much different from her normal expressions. The only ones who ever really noticed the small twitch of the ends of her mouth were….

Well it doesn’t matter. She had debated on asking the man to accompany her to the party as her date. He was certainly easy on the eyes with blonde hair and ice blue eyes. And any man who was so confident to fully admit his attraction to her was certainly a plus.

Most men were cowards after all, and tried to play off staring. He was upfront about it and she admired that.

But that went down the drain as he was a father and most likely had a wife waiting for him and their daughter. And she knew some wives had a tendency to act violently if woman came onto their husbands.

Granted Delilah was a highly trained assassin, so there was no chance any simple wife could actually take her on, but still.

Anya Forger was an incredible little girl. Not entirely through her own abilities, however. When she was even younger, she had been taken care of by doctors which brought out her telepathic powers.

But for all her naivete, she knew it was in her best interest to run away. So she did. And then she was found by an orphanage and brought to be taken to a family.

She had been happy. At least until they found out about her powers and returned her. And then it happened again and again and again…

And then Papa found her! 

Papa was great! He may have been a big liar, but he was so cool! Because! Her Papa was a spy! Like in the cartoons!

And that meant Anya was now a spy! And she was helping bring World Peace™ through their mission!

But now Anya needed a Mama to help her and Papa with the mission!

And here was a pretty lady who wanted to ask her Papa to be together! And she was an assassin ! Like in the cartoons!

Papa and Pretty Lady already had so much in common!

Thanks to Anya’s telepathy, she heard every thought of the Pretty Lady. And she knew she had to fix it! Because if the Pretty Lady knew Anya didn’t have a Mama, then she might be okay with becoming her Mama!

Anya was a genius!

“Oh poor poor me!” Anya proclaimed, doing everything in her power to look just like the cartoon damsels in distress, “I’m so lonely cause I’ve got no Mama!”

Anya was not a good actress.

“What’s this about?” Loid raised his eyebrow. Anya was certainly an odd one. Though she wasn’t wrong. He needed a wife for Operation Strix.

“I just need a Mama so bad~!”

Delilah turned to the girl’s father curiously, “Are you not here with your wife?”

Loid sent her an uncertain smile. Anya may be odd, but perhaps it would work in his favor. “No. Sadly we lost her two years ago. It’s just me and my daughter. I’m raising her by myself.”

“I see.” This was good for Delilah. That meant he was equally unattached. She could work with this. He was already attracted to her, so it shouldn’t be terribly hard to convince him. “Would you mind if I asked you for a favor?”

“A favor?”

“Yes, you see, I have a dinner party to attend. It’s being hosted by one of my coworkers,” Delilah began to explain, “I was wondering if you would be open to the idea of accompanying me as my date. They have been rather hard pressed to insist I need to search for a man, so it would be a great help if you could help get them off my back.”

“Oh.” Loid was surprised at how perfectly this was playing for him. “Well-“

He was cut off when the shop owner returned with a wrapped package in a shopping bag, “Here you are, dear!”

Delilah took the bag from her, “Thank you again for the rushed service. The dinner party was sprung on me rather quickly.”

“Of course, dear! Anything for our best customer!” The owner then turned to Loid, “We’ll have some new dresses made for your daughter in a couple of days.”

“Ah. Perfect. Thank you.”

“It’s no problem, son,” the woman smiled, giving Anya a small head pat as well, “Have a good day, sweetheart.”

“Bye bye!” Anya waved to the seamstresses as her father guided her out with Delilah.

Delilah wasted no time in returning to the conversation after exiting the shop, “So what do you say?”

“Ah, well actually, I think it works perfectly. You see, I had been hoping to ask you for a rather large favor.”

Delilah raised an eyebrow, “Oh?”

“Yes,” Loid nodded, “It’s a long story, but I would like for you to be Anya’s mother for an important interview.”

Delilah couldn’t say she wasn’t surprised. Out of everything to ask for, that was not something she expected. “Pretend to be her mother?”

Lois tried hard to play up to the woman’s empathy, though so far she had been rather lackluster in the emotive department. “We live in such uncertain times, and I just want my sweet little girl to get into a good school. I have to try, as it was her mother’s dying wish.”

Anya stared up at her Papa with wide eyes. Papa was a really big liar.

Delilah was impressed. A good looking, confident man who was a dedicated father and committed to fulfilling a deceased loved one's promise. He was perfect.

“Understood,” Delilah nodded, “I accept your request.”

“Perfect! Thank you so much for your help!” Loid said happily. He’ll ease her into an official marriage either before the interview or after. Either way, his cover was nearly complete, “I guess we’ll see each other Saturday then!”

“Yes. I will meet you at the crossroad of Park Avenue and Hersh Street” she stated firmly.

“Sounds perfect. I’ll see you then” Loid nodded, the three then parting ways.

Saturday soon came and Delilah was a little surprised to find herself becoming just a little anxious.

She wasn’t usually, so she didn’t know what was so different this time.

Though she had never been on a date before, so maybe it was that. Loid certainly was a good man though, so Delilah was rather hopeful to at least make a friend in him. She missed Jonathan’s company terribly, so perhaps Loid could help fill that void.

So, Delilah waited at the designated meeting spot patiently for her date to arrive. The dress she bought was nice and complimented her well, but it wasn’t made for cold weather. Thankfully her fur (obviously faux) coat did well to keep in some warmth. But hopefully Loid would arrive sooner as opposed to later. He seemed reasonable, so she couldn’t imagine him being anything but punctual.

However, the longer she waited, the more irritated she became.

She initially had concern that he may have gotten into an accident of some kind, but the more she debated with herself, she found it much more likely that she had been stood up.

Which was not a happy realization. Delilah Al Ghul was not a person to cross, especially when she had become rather eager to have something that didn’t happen.

By the hour mark, Delilah felt humiliated. And she couldn’t just ditch the party altogether because she had already told her coworkers that she would arrive with a date in tow.

She could make up a lie, but she knew they probably wouldn’t believe her. But at least she could try to save some face if she went instead of running away. 

Frankly she had enough of doing that for her lifetime. 

“Well look who finally decided to show up” Camilla said teasingly. Though Delilah knew it was more of a mocking.

“I apologize for my tardiness. I brought a gift for you” she stated, handing the gift bag to the blonde. It was good manners to bring a gift to the host after all.

“What’s up? I remember you saying you’d be bringing a date with you tonight” Camilla remarked as Delilah closed the door behind her.

“Unfortunately he had a last minute situation” Delilah replied, doing her best to attempt not to appear disheartened. 

“Oh that’s a shame! I really wanted to meet this guy!” 

Delilah wished she had run away instead. It was better than being a wallflower. She could remember a time when she had hated being in the attention of the rich idiots her father had to interact with at parties, but she’d take that any day over the awkward feeling of being left out. 

She wasn’t entirely alone. Some of her other coworkers came up to talk to her briefly, usually a compliment from the wives and asking where she got her dress, but the three she knew the most were very blatantly ignoring her.

Well, Sharon did make some conversation before Camilla and Millie dragged her off.

She could just imagine the two joking around about how pathetic it was she came without the date she informed them about. And she certainly felt pathetic too.

And it was not a good feeling for her. Delilah was used to getting what she wanted. Even with her siblings, while she learned she couldn’t always have her father or Grayson’s attention, being the youngest meant she was oft spoiled even by them, even if they complained about how spoiled she was.

Even Drake gave her the last cookie when she pouted, purely because she was the baby of the family (which was a tool she utilized often when she realized being the baby wasn’t really a derogatory statement).

“Hey Delilah” one of her coworkers came by. Dominic was a good employee, hardworking and he was quite loyal to his girlfriend despite her being an absolute shrew.

“Hello Dominic.”

“It’s a shame about your boyfriend. I was looking forward to meeting him.”

Oh right. ‘Date’ had somehow been transformed to ‘boyfriend’ once word got out that ‘Ice Queen Delilah’ was going to Camilla’s party with a plus one.

The rumor mill truly was annoying.

“Ah. Yes. Unfortunately something had come up and he couldn’t attend with me.”

“Well maybe he can come next time” he suggested.

Delilah was very certain she would rather just miss any more parties than ask another man to disappoint her.

“Hey!” Camilla let out a clearly fake cheerful greeting as she latched onto Dominic’s arm, “So what are you two talking about?”

“Uh.” Delilah was rather certain that Dominic shouldn’t be surprised at Camilla’s jealousy, as she even became possessive at work when Dominic talked to other female employees. Which really solidified that he should break it off with Camilla, as that was not a healthy relationship, but to each their own.

“He was just asking about Loid.” Delilah stated. May as well throw his name under the bus. Not that it mattered anymore since he was a no show. 

“Loid huh? What, is that your dog?” Camilla let out a fake giggle.

“No, my dog’s name is Titus,” Delilah replied easily. Even if she didn’t have them with her, her animals were still her babies. “My cat is Alfred, my cow is Bessy and my turkey is Jerry.”

Camilla didn’t really expect a retort, clearly showcasing her lack of understanding that her insults and mockery only served to make her look foolish. However she merely sent her a feign smile, “Gosh Delilah, you’re so funny!”

“I’m not joking” came the blunt reply. “They live with my mother, however. I miss them dearly.” 

“Ah! How is your mother?” Dominic asked, clearly wanting the conversation to continue despite Camilla’s rudeness.

“She is doing well,” She replied, “I believe she is searching for true love once again.”

Technically true. Her mother did everything to find a way to reconnect with her father, despite him being married.

Well, no one could say Talia Al Ghul was not determined. Though if Todd was to be believed, she once tried to suggest to Selina that they share.

Delilah certainly didn’t want to keep discussing things with Camilla though, so she easily found an excuse, “I believe there’s a timer going off.”

“Oh! That’s the Grotten!” Camilla dragged Dominic off with her, her jealousy not wanting to leave him alone with Delilah.

Delilah examined the room, which was filled with conversation. People seemed to be enjoying their time well enough. But Delilah never liked crowds to begin with, and it had been such a horrible night already.

Sharon siddled up near her as Camilla and Millie gathered together again, “You certainly look bored out of your mind.”

“It has not been as enjoyable as I hoped. Though Loid’s absence does play a big part, I will admit” Delilah stated. She liked Sharon easily enough. She was a bitch but she owned up to it. It was something Delilah admired.

“So this Loid is the lucky man, huh?”

“Yes,” Delilah nodded. “Actually, I think I may just head out for the night. I’m going to give my thanks to Camilla and go.”

“Yeah? Get home safe then.”

However, before she could make a step, the door burst open. To Delilah’s absolute shock, it was none other than Loid, who shakily moved beside her, “Please forgive my lateness. I’m Loid Forger, Delilah’s husband.”

A shocking twist to their agreement, but considering he seemed to be covered in blood, she could probably forgive him for both that mistake and his tardiness. Clearly her initial thought of an accident was correct and now she was actually feeling a little bad for thinking poorly of him.

“I needed a date, or even a boyfriend. You’re the one who needed a spouse” she reminded hushedly.

He sent her a wide eyed look of small panic, “Wait, seriously.”

Damn. Those smugglers really did pack a punch. Knocked him so hard he mixed up their missions.

Dominc was the one who first spoke, “Mr Forger, is that…blood?”

“Oh!” He was in such a hurry he forgot about his horrid appearance. Hopefully that didn’t affect their regard for Delilah. “Yes! Pardon me, please. One of my patients had a violent outburst. Just one of the risks of being a psychiatrist.”

Delilah took out her handkerchief and carefully began to wipe the blood off her newly faked husband.

“Ah, thank you, dear.”

“You can’t be serious!” Camilla exclaimed, “Why didn’t you tell us you were married?!”

“Uh…” Deilah herself had trouble thinking of an excuse. A boyfriend was easy to explain, having a husband out of nowhere, however…

Loid saved her, however, by speaking up and appearing bashful, “It’s embarrassing but this is my second marriage and I have a child. Makes things a bit uncomfortable.”

Camilla was enraged. So this whole time, Miss Ice Queen had a hot successful husband and was just messing with them! Sneering at them for gossiping about men and the like while keeping something like this a secret! Gods, she really just kept pissing her off!

But Camilla didn’t know when to quit, so she quickly grabbed the Grotine she took out of the oven in a feign appearance of being a good hostess. “Well you’re just in time to try my famous homemade Grotine! Oops!” 

Delilah firmly believed Camilla was a horrible actress. That fall was not even the slightest bit believable.

Of course, even if it truly was an accident, Delilah could catch the pan without issue. Such as she proved when she easily held out her leg and balanced the pan from its fall, kicking it up to catch properly with her hands.

Loid was rather nonchalant about her quick save. “I love that you’re so mindful about not wasting food, but I don’t think it’s good manners to use your feet, you know.”

“Ah. Wonderful point. Apologies.”

Neither acknowledged the fact that some of the Grotine did in fact spill onto Camilla, mainly because both knew it was a purposeful fall.

It really only irritated her more. She waved off Dominic’s concerns and stood back up, trying desperately to show up her perceived enemy. “Tell me Mr. Ranger~”

“It’s Forger” he remarked in slight annoyance.

“Did you know that your wife has quite the questionable background?” Camilla all but interrogated. “I mean, just look at her!”

“Your racism is showing,” Delilah said bluntly, not at all affected.

Camilla flushed heavily, gritting her teeth as Dominic tried desperately to make her back off. “Did she tell you what her mother does for a living? What was it again? Oh right! Men would call her to their hotel rooms for massages !”

Delilah was rather irritated at that. Firstly, that had been made as a cover as to why her mother didn’t have many employee records. It was used to excuse why Talia was more of an unknown than Delilah, aside from being foreign. It also helped explain why Talia would be seen in high hotels whenever she herself took a job. While Delilah preferred the sneaky vigilante way, Talia was more for open ambushes. She claimed it was more fun for her that way, though Delilah was certain her mother just enjoyed being lusted after.

Delilah was not so much upset at the information as she was with Camilla just blatantly saying out in the open, to the face of what everyone thought was her husband. It really wasn’t anyone’s business whether her mother was a prostitute or not.

Loid frankly felt a little offended on Delilah’s behalf. She may be rather arrogant and standoffish, but she hasn’t done anything to warrant suspicion. Especially not just because of who her mother was. And it was rather admirable that she would place herself in that position to help care for her daughter, “I think it’s great.” Loid ignored the startled looks of the other guests, turning to Deilah with a small assuring smile. She appeared equally surprised, “Her mother had to raise her by herself after losing her husband. And to make sure her daughter was well cared for, she did whatever she could. She sacrificed a great deal. Be it for somebody else’s sake, or whatever reason, having to put up with such a tough job takes real grit and dedication. And that’s not something just anybody can do.”

Delilah….was impressed. Any man who can see the value of her mother, even with a false alibi, was immediately high in her books. Her mother had her faults. Many of them. But there was never any doubt that she loved her daughter and would do whatever needed to take care of her. 

If Talia truly did have to resort to prostitution to ensure Delilah was taken care of, she knew the woman would do it. 

And to hear that Loid didn’t judge her at all for that was quite aspiring.

“Let’s go home, Delilah” he suggested with a small smile.

“Agreed” she nodded, rather regally. She then turned towards Camilla, taking her hands, “Thank you for having us.” Of course, she then squeezed hard, making the blonde wince as she leaned closer, lowering her voice a bit with a serene face, “Also, if you ever try to insult my mother again, I will make you regret it.”

Camilla turned red with a mix of anger and embarrassment, and just a little bit of fear, as Loid gentlemanly placed her coat around her shoulders. 

Delilah left the party with her head held high, taking equal strides alongside her feigned husband.

She gave him her address as he drove his van down the empty streets. Loid kept his eyes on the road, though did take a glance at her, “Hey, sorry about the whole husband thing.”

“Don’t worry about it” she assured, “Actually, I was just thinking about this. You-“

She was cut off when out of nowhere, their van was crashed into from the side. “What the?!”

Loid quickly recovered control of the van, mind racing as he went into Twilight mode. It was the leftovers from the smuggler’s ring he just finished ambushing. He had been in such a rush to get to the party, he had left too many men alive. They must’ve left a tracker in the loot they had stolen to have been able to find him.

And now his failure was putting an innocent civilian woman in danger.

“Hang on Delilah!”

“What the hell is going on?!” She exclaimed as Loid quickly shifted gears (both physically and mentally) and made a sharp turn off the highway. 

Shit. What should he say?! When in doubt, fall back to what was already thought, “It seems like some of my patients are still having psychotic breaks.”

Delilah was suspicious but she really didn’t have any evidence otherwise. “I suppose being a doctor is rather demanding.”

Twilight was frankly shocked she believed that lie. “The best course is to avoid them for a bit.”

“I see. There’s an abandoned warehouse off exit 32” she offered. Mainly so she could find a way to split off from Loid and take out the threats. Patients or not, they’re clearly too dangerous to leave alone.

Twilight listened to her instructions and quickly parked the van in a somewhat shadowed corner. The two climbed out of the van and hurried towards a small alcove to hide. 

When two of the patients began to lurk nearby, Delilah watched in fascinated confusion as Loid grabbed a trashcan and slammed it atop one of the men before spin kicking the other. He then pried a pipe from the wall for future defense. “This way!”

Delilah easily kept her speed equal to him, “Should you be knocking your patients unconscious?”

Twilight floundered for only a moment, “Yes! I’m using a cutting edge technique known as the Concussive Recovery Method!”

Delilah had never heard of that but Ostania was rather weird, so perhaps it wasn’t all that strange.

“I see.”

Twilight was unsure if she actually believed him, but if she did, he may have greatly overestimated her mind. Still, it worked in his favor so he couldn’t really complain.

Sensing one of the smugglers approaching from behind, Twilight launched the pipe at the man, knocking him over. However, he was caught off guard momentarily by another smuggler leaping down from the roof immediately following.

Twilight cursed himself. Ever since he was assigned to Operation Strix, his training has constantly been failing him. Hopefully it was something he himself could overcome, otherwise he would need to inform Sylvia and he just knew she'd beat him into the ground.

However, before he could even think of a way out of the oncoming danger, Delilah intervened, jump-kicking the smuggler into a wall.

“Sorry” she said nonchalantly, “I’m not a doctor, but I am an expert of self defense.”

Loid let out a small surprised chuckle, standing up from his crouch, “Thank you Delilah. That was impressive. You sent him flying!”

“I’ve been training since I was young” She preened, “Mother wanted to ensure I would always be safe in this dangerous world.”

Loid would admit it made sense. Especially if her mother had to resort to the sex trade to provide for her. The world was already a dangerous place for a woman, but even more so for those in that sort of employment. Just being the daughter of a prostitute could be dangerous, even if Delilah never found herself in that workspace.

“There he is!”

Twilight grabbed Delilah’s hand and dragged her around the corner just as some of the smugglers began shooting, thankfully missing both of them.

Delilah caught herself up, racing alongside him. They were ambushed by two, but they dealt swiftly with them easily before continuing their way to escape.

“Ah, I almost forgot. Perhaps not the best time to ask, but how do you feel about marrying me?” Delilah proposed out of nowhere.

Loid was so startled at the proposal that he tripped over his feet, face planting into the stoned ground. He quickly scrambled up, “I’m sorry?!”

“Perhaps it was too fast, but I was just thinking it would benefit both of us” Delilah stated bluntly, “Anya already needs a mother for her to be able to attend her schooling. It would be rather suspicious if they delved deeper into her records and found that it had been a lie. And it would certainly help me as well. As you probably already guessed, some of my coworkers are petty busybodies. If they discovered we weren’t actually married despite the earlier confrontation, it would not do me any good.”

Loid had to admit, she wasn’t wrong in the slightest. And it saved him a lot of trouble in trying to coerce her into legitimately marrying him. 

So, he climbed back tk his feet, brushing the dirt from his clothes, “Let’s swing by City Hall to sign the paperwork.”

Delilah’s eyebrows raised in surprise, “Right now?”

“No time like the present,” he said, holding out his hand to her. 

Delilah was growing more and more impressed the longer she spent with Loid Forger. He knew what he wanted and had the drive to achieve it without the useless prattling most people did. 

Loid moved to present her with the ring he swiped from the smuggler’s ring he and Franky intercepted, however, as it turned out, his jacket had a small hole and the ring was gone.

It sucked, but they could pick up a new ring at the store. He’d simply put it on ‘Operation Strix’ tab.

Still, ring or not, he needed to showcase a proper effort to keep her happy. Even if she was the one who technically proposed, it would do well to get into her good graces by a proposal of his own.

“You bastard!” Yet again the two had to make a run for it as the smugglers caught up to them.

The two dove behind a steel storage unit for cover, Twilight quickly grabbing a lone grenade one of the smugglers dropped.

Maybe she'll consider it like recycling, but he’ll use what he has available.

“Delilah. Even in sickness or in sadness” Loid began, pulling the pin off the grenade and launching it behind him towards the remaining stragglers of the smuggler ring. “No matter what hardships we face,” he ignored the explosion that quickly followed, and surprisingly so did Delilah, “Let’s do it together.”

Delilah’s eyes widened when Loid placed the grenade pin around her ring finger in lieu of an engagement ring. 

Why was her heart pounding? It wasn’t adrenaline. This chase had nothing on battles against the likes of the Joker or Deathstroke.

No, there would only be one other explanation.

The fact that Loid Forger proposed to her in such a blatant act of passion, complete with an explosive end to their enemies, proved only one thing.

This man was her perfect match, her soulmate.

Only one day and he already understood the assassin's heart lurking beneath her, showing her his dedication in providing for her by doing whatever was necessary to be rid of those who would threaten them and their family.

Al Ghuls fell hard and fast, and once they loved, it was over.

Delilah would forever be in love with Loid Forger and she will do everything in her power to never stray from him.

“Yes. Beloved” Delilah accepted his proposal, feeling her face finally shift beyond her usual nonplussed expression, willing herself to let her Beloved see the happiness he brought her.

Loid felt his heart skip a beat when all of a sudden, Delilah beamed up at him, eyes wide and sparkling with joy. 

It was strange. He was at the peak of health. His heart should not be causing him problems. He may need to bring that up to Sylvia next time they meet.

But right now, he would focus solely on marrying his chosen wife.

Chapter Text

“Hello Beloved” Delilah greeted happily as Loid met her outside his apartment building.

Just as he suggested, the two of them had gone straight to City Hall after they got rid of his psychotic ‘patients’. 

She still had yet to determine if that was a truthful claim or not. She was leaning towards it being a farce, but she would need to do more digging to prove otherwise. She was a good hacker, but even she knew she was nowhere near the scale of either her father or even Drake. And she lacked the tech to make up for that. The Batcomputer was the supercomputer after all. She had nothing like it. 

Why he would lie about it, she didn’t know. Nor did she truly care. He was her Beloved, after all. And those thugs were clearly on the wrong side of the law anyway.

With their marriage certificate signed, Delilah went to her apartment to pack up her belongings, agreeing to officially move in come morning.

Hence, the small pile of boxes sitting at the base of the building.

Loid helped her carry everything into their now shared home, as Anya eagerly raced over to them. “I wanna welcome you to Anya’s house!”

Delilah smiled softly at the little pink hair girl that was her new daughter. She was rather happy to already have a child with her Beloved, blood related or not.

Not that it mattered to anyone in the Bat family. The only ones who shared blood was herself and her father. Growing up with the rest of the family meant she held a great appreciation and respect for bond-built families more so than ones built on blood alone.

“What a lovely welcome. Thank you, Little One.”

“I’m so happy to finally have a Mama!” Anya proclaimed, which only served to endear her further to Delilah.

“Oh, I nearly forgot” Loid spoke up, “The judge who married us is a friend of mine. He did us a favor and backdated our marriage certificate to a year ago.”

Of course, by that he meant Franky snuck into the records again to change the dates on their certificate and refile everything appropriately.

“I’ll show Mama around, Papa!”

“Alright ” Loid nodded, “Once you’re settled in, we’ll get prepped for the interview.”

Anya skipped ahead of her, stretching her arms out in a showy manner, “This is the kitchen! Papa cooks real good!”

“That’s wonderful” Delilah smiled. Mainly because she had a hard time simply boiling water. Cooking was a job that had always been done by either servants at the League or by Alfred. When she ran away, she resorted solely to take out using money she either swiped from strangers or an allowance from her mother when they reunited.

Anya guided her into the hall, turning on the light for the bathroom, “There’s the potty! And the bathtub!”

“It’s very nice” Delilah commented.

Anya then proceeded to pull out a small stool from under the sink, climbing atop to show off her abilities, “I can clean up all by myself!”

“You’re such a big girl, Little One” Delilah praised. 

They then moved to a room which was clearly her daughter’s bedroom. Proven by the small sign hanging with her name on it. It was an adorable room decorated in a lot of pink and toys, showing Loid’s clear, admirable spoiling of their daughter.

Delilah already plotted to expand the bookcase with more books that she herself read as a child and some more toys. Her mother kept the ones she used to play with stored away, so she will ask to have them shipped to their home.

Speaking of, she also needed to inform her mother of her new marriage.

“Your room is absolutely adorable,” she smiled.

Anya giggled as she reached over her bed to grab her most precious toy, “I want you to meet Mr Chimera!” The pinkette held up the plush, deepening her voice in play pretend, “My name’s Chimera! It is a pleasure to meet you, ma’am!”

Delilah gave a regal nod, “The pleasure is all mine. I am Delilah, Anya’s new Mama.”

Anya beamed at her.

“This is Papa’s room!” Anya guided her.

Delilah turned towards where Loid was moving, carrying some more of her boxes, “Are we not sharing a room?”

“Oh. No” Loid shook his head, a small smile on his face, “With our marriage being as it is, I didn’t want there to be any discomfort for either of us. Should we have guests, we will share a room for appearances, but we will have our own rooms.”

Delilah was a bit disappointed, but she was also flattered that he was thinking of not making her uncomfortable. 

She’ll get him to change his mind soon enough anyway.

Anya stared up at her Mama with wide but eager eyes. Mama loved Papa already! This was great!

“This room over here is yours!” Anya proudly showed off, opening the door to her new bedroom. 

“This is everything,” Loid declared, coming in with the final of her boxes. “Hopefully the layout works for you, and I made sure it’s nice and clean.”

Delilah nodded kindly, “It’s perfect. Thank you.” Yes, the room was perfect. 

For being her new art room!

It was brilliant plotting on her end. She'd get a room to work on her projects and be able to subtly start moving her personal belongings into her husband’s room! And then, she’ll have him on the ropes and use her pleading eyes to ask him to share the bedroom so that she can keep her ‘office space’!

She was a genius.

“I help Papa clean too!”

Delilah gave her daughter a fond nod, “You did such a good job.”

“Yeah I did! Thank you!” Anya said proudly, before sending a grin at her father, “See?!”

Honestly, it was nice of Anya to try helping. But she really just added to the work due to her small stature and clumsy nature. “You know all you did was knock over the mop bucket…”

Anya shrieked and froze in shock, making Delilah laugh at their bonding. It reminded her so much of her own family…

“Anya, dear, why don’t you help me unpack?” She asked. The parenting books she spent all night devouring said it was important to encourage kind manners and a good work ethic! And Anya clearly wanted to be a big girl and help around the house, so it was two fold!

Anya stopped her pouting and cheered, scurrying to one of the boxes to open it. 

Loid stood beside his new wife, the pair watching as Anya stubbornly tried to pull out all of the heavy sketchbooks, “Please make yourself cozy. This is your home too, so do whatever you need to do.”

“Thank you,” she nodded regally. That really just gave her the go ahead with her scheming! The foolish and lovely man would have no idea what was going to hit him! 

Best ask her mother what she considered the best pajamas a woman should wear in order to seduce her husband.

Anya let out a big gasp and held out a picture frame to her mama, “Is this my new grandma?!”

Delilah looked at the picture, “Yes. That is my mother, Talia.”

Loid examined the photo. It was very obvious where Delilah got her flawless appearance from. She was nearly identical to her mother, who also looked rather young for her age. The only difference was Delilah’s hair being black, while her mother’s was a dark brown. 

“I can see the resemblance.”

Delilah preened.

“After the interview is over, I would love to meet her,” he added. It was only appropriate for him to meet her family. It would appear strange otherwise.

Delilah lifted her chin proudly, “Mother would love to meet you both. I’m certain she will approve.” She then noticed Anya reaching a special box she packed, “Anya, sweetie, let me unpack that box. I have fragile heirlooms in that one.”

Actually it was where she hid her uniforms and weapons, so she couldn’t let her Little One risk injury in unpacking those.

“Okay, Mama!”

She’s such a lovely and obedient little girl! Delilah knew her daughter was perfect.

After she was fully unpacked, swiftly hiding her night-shift related items when Loid was distracted (as accepting as she just knew he would be, it was something she’d want to bring up later, when they were less busy with the interview and work), Loid began to bake cookies for tea time.

Delilah, meanwhile, prepared the kettle, waiting for the water to boil. “Would you like anything, Beloved?”

“Coffee, please. I take it black.”

Ah. Just like Drake and their father. She had tried to get used to the same taste, in an effort of being like her father, but she couldn’t handle the bitterness. 

“Ooh! I want some hot cocoa!” Anya proclaimed. That was reminiscent of Grayson and Duke. Damn it, she was going to upset herself with these constant reminders.

“As you wish, Little One,” Delilah agreed, shooing away the thoughts.

“Yay!” 

Loid set out the cooled cookies as Delilah placed the mugs with their respective drinks. She herself was having heavily sweetened chai. She enjoyed the familiar scent of freshly baked cookies. She missed Alfred greatly… “They certainly look and smell wonderful.”

“Hope they taste good too. It’s my first batch. I just followed a recipe recommended to me.”

Delilah picked up a cookie, while Anya was already on her third. Taking a bite of the sweet, she hummed with a smile, “ It’s delicious. Reminds me of my grandfather’s baking. And that is the highest praise, I assure you.”

“Thank you,” he smiled.

“I helped Papa in the kitchen, too!” Anya announced.

“What a good helper” Delilah praised, fondly.

Loid deadpanned, “By help, do you mean when you got flour everywhere? Or was it when you stopped to eat some peanuts?”

Anya let out a shriek and froze. Delilah chuckled. 

Their tea time continued in comfortable silence, the married couple simply enjoying the company, while Anya was rather busy stuffing her face with as many cookies as possible before her Papa could stop her.

“Alright. Now it’s time to start the interview prep,” Loid declared when they finished their snack.

Loid got completely into character, dressing up in his work suit, slicking back his hair and wearing his glasses.

Delilah found it very attractive, staring at him intently with what she hoped was a sultry gaze. She would admit to not being top tier in seduction, unlike her professional mother.

Anya gaped up at her Mama with glee. Mama was so in love with Papa!

Unfortunately, Loid was much too concerned with ensuring the interview would go well, so he was more focused on his clipboard.

“Eden Academy is perhaps the top school in the country,” he began, “The interview is not just for the child, but for the parents as well. It’s an evaluation of their social standing and level of culture. Understood?” Delilah simply sat still, elegantly crossing her legs. “Before we begin, I’d like you to please state your full name and address.”

“I’m Anya F-Horger?” She fumbled over their name, and tilted her head in confusion, “Address?”

“Where we live,” Loid prompted.

“Ah! Anya’s house!”

“That’s not what I meant,” he sighed, “So, tell me, Miss Anya, how do you spend your days off?”

“Sometimes Papa has to lock me up inside, so I just kinda watch TV all alone and sad!”

“Really now? Sounds horrifying,” he muttered. Honestly he never really considered how Anya would view it. Sure, she wasn’t really alone. Franky frequently babysat her when he had a solo mission. But she probably was still wary of him, as opposed to her adoptive father.

And the tv could be toned down, given he had already bought her plenty of books for her. She just wasn’t interested in them, for some reason. He didn’t understand that, though. What child wouldn’t want to read The History of Economics?

“Madam,” he decided to move the questions to his wife. She lifted her chin, haughtily, “Why Eden Academy, and how do you plan to pass?”

“Of course, given Eden’s prestigious accomplishments and extraordinary praise, it is only natural for a mother to want her child to have the best chance available to her. I plan to help my daughter grow under their teaching to become a capable adult, and ensure she understands the vast wealth such knowledge is sure to empower her with.”

Very lengthy and not a flaw in her delivery. He chose his wife well.

“Describe your parenting philosophy.”

“I believe children are in need of a firm hand to learn right from wrong, while also being encouraged to achieve past the limits of what is offered to them. They need a balanced schedule, as well, to prevent burnout.”

He let out a sigh as he ruffled his hair back into it’s normal state, “While Delilah’s responses are good, Anya still needs to work on memorizing hers. The child is easily judged more, as being the ones in attendance.”

“Beloved, I know it may seem disheartening, but I’m certain Anya will be ready,” Delilah assured.

In fairness, Anya didn’t have much chance to expand herself to everything the city had to offer. She was either studying with him, or watching Bondman. And that was due to his own busy schedule.

But he had the day off and Anya had already passed her pre-application exam. So this was the perfect opportunity for them.

“Let’s step out for a bit,” He suggested, “We can broaden our horizons, become versed in upper-class cultural lexicon, and experience their world together as a family.”

“What a wonderful idea, Beloved!” Deilah praised with a clap of her hands, “I suggest the museum. I am rather fond of the artistic landscape.”

“I thought so,” he smiled, “I did notice quite a few boxes filled with art supplies.”

Delilah happily helped Anya get properly dressed for the chill weather, and they were off. The parents of the excited child strolled behind her. Delilah had been quick to wrap her arm around her husband’s, not even noticing his startled glance, as her gaze was protectively focused on their daughter.

“We’re on a family ooting! La la la la la~” the little girl sang as she skipped in front of the two.

“It’s pronounced ‘outing’” Loid corrected.

Anya really wanted to hold Mama’s hand, but , she didn’t want to get between Mama and Papa! Mama was trying to win her prince! Just like Bondman did for his princess!

“Anya, dear, why don’t you hold me hand?” Delilah suggested, noting Anya glancing back at her and her hand. Her daughter was such a precious girl. And Delilah was walking on Loid’s right side, so Anya would not be beside the road.

Anya beammed and scurried beside her Mama, grabbing her free hand happily.

Twilight examined the two, thinking strategically. Anya was already very attached to her new mother, which was a good first step. Now, they simply had to expand her sights to things beyond her cartoons. After their outing, they will be seen as the perfect upper-crust family!

It helped that Delilah already had the makings of a lady, with her graceful stride, proud tilt of her head and sharp eyes.

“So, Beloved, what is the plan?” Delilah asked, as they continued their walk. She proudly noted the smiles and soft stares from passersby, no doubt thinking rightly of her perfect little family. 

“My connection at work got us tickets for a wide variety of events,” he explained.

“How fast,” she awed.

He nodded, “Yes. The hospital is quite efficient.” By that, he meant Franky scrambled at his behest. “We have an opera beginning soon, and I thought after that we could go to the museum, as you wanted.”

Her eyes sparkled excitedly. Like emeralds, he noted lightly.

Anya watched the two with a wide smile. Papa was already falling for Mama! Yes! Go Mama!

The opera didn’t pan out as well as he hoped. Anya quickly fell asleep against him, quietly snored throughout the performance. Delilah, on the hand, feigned enjoyment.

She was a good actress, but he could spot the boredom in her eyes. 

When the opera finally ended, he guided them to the museum. The moment they approached the building, he could already see Delilah having a slight bounce in her step.

“Anya, please remember not to yell while we’re here,” Loid warned.

While the finest music didn’t go well, hopefully the finest art would go better. Then again, Anya didn’t really have a good understanding of what ‘quiet’ meant.

“Papa, look! She has boobies!” Loid facepalmed, and refused to turn around.

Thankfully, Delilah swiftly corrected her, “Anya, darling, quiet voice.”

Anya’s voice dropped octaves, “Sorry Mama.”

She patted the pinkette’s head. “Now then, what do you think the artist was trying to do when he painted this?”

Anya looked confused, “I don’t understand, Mama.”

“Well, art is an outlet for the artist to express themselves. They put a piece of their soul into every piece. A way to tell the world something they hold dear,” Delilah explained softly, “So, what about this piece?”

Anya looked at the painting with furrowed eyebrows, “….the artist likes boobies?”

Delilah held back a snort, but smiled nonetheless, “I believe they were trying to explore the beauty of the feminine body. This was created back when women were viewed more harshly. There were strict rules and guidelines women had to follow as opposed to men. One such being the difference in bodies. A woman’s body used to be looked at as shameful. The woman in this painting is drawn to be beautiful, looking unconcerned and entirely relaxed in the privacy of her bedroom.”

Anya still didn’t really understand what her Mama was saying, but Mama looked happy, so she just nodded.

They soon found the children’s area of the museum, with a playground and a large tree, filled with white boards to be drawn on.

Anya was immediately enthralled, “Papa! I wanna do that!”

“You want to draw? Go ahead,” he approved, letting the girl run off happily, “Why don’t we take the moment to rest our legs?”

“Agreed,” She said. She wasn’t truly tired, having many years of being on her feet. But, she wasn’t going to pass up the chance to be beside her husband, and possibly ‘accidentally’ sit too close to him.

As Anya excitedly drew, Loid bought them some drinks.

“Thank you for bringing us here. I am enjoying myself greatly,” Delilah said, taking a sip of the tea he bought her.

“I’m glad,” he smiled, “I do believe Anya is having a good time as well. For as much as she doesn’t understand art.”

“Ah, she will learn. I had not developed my appreciation until I was entering my teenaged years.” Of course, that was due to the fact that there was no such thing as downtime and hobbies within the League. Unless you counted training and murder. Which, to be fair, most of them did.

But after she went to live with her father, she was able to learn how to be a child and relax, finding a better way to express herself other than battle.

Her favorite Christmas had been when her family reconstructed a storage room into an art studio just for her….

She truly did miss them…..

Lois glanced at his watch and realized they should head to the tailor so they could be done in time for dinner, “Ah. I suppose we should be going.”

Delilah nodded and the pair went to collect their daughter. 

Anya panicked. She had been so excited to draw her very special family, she forgot it needed to be hidden. Especially from Mama and Papa. If they saw her drawing, they’d want to know how she knew! And Mama and Papa were smart so they would easily figure out she had special powers!

She didn’t want Mama and Papa to leave her like the ones before….

Anya tried to cover her drawing, but she had taken up most of the board, and was too small to really hide much.

“What a masterpiece, Anya,” Loid praised. It was not the best work, but she was a child. For her age, it was rather good. Plus, even if it wasn’t, it was important to encourage her rather than put her down. “I see a pig in the forest?”

“That’s Mister Chimera and he lives in a cool castle!” Anya couldn’t help but explain, despite her panicked tone.

“Of course. And that’s Bondman, correct?”

“Yeah!” She agreed. It was actually Papa, but he and Bondman were practically the same person already!

Delilah nodded as she examined the drawing, “Amazing detail for the princess’ fight!” Truly, Anya was very much her daughter. An eye for the bloody brutality of battle. “And she has a loyal dog by her side. I very much approve.”

Anya pulled away, heaving a relieved sigh when her parents didn’t piece together the picture being them. Anya saved the day!

“My new ootfit is so cute! I love how it fits!” Anya cheered, twirling around in her dress. “I love how it fits! And I really love your tailor shop too!”

The seamstress smiled fondly, “Aw, thank you.”

“This is my first ooting in my brand new ootfit!” Anya sighed happily.

“Oh really? It must be a good day, then!”

“A good day for a good ooting!” She agreed.

Loid smiled. Anya was becoming more confident, which was good. He remembered how quick she had been scared of the workers here, believing she was being sold off.

He still needed to talk to Sylvia about that orphanage.

“Since you look so nice, why don’t we have our picture taken?”

“Delilah, dear. Please come with me,” one of the other women called. Delilah pecked her husband’s cheek and sauntered off.

Loid was very much in the opinion she was simply playing up their relationship to the employees. She was a regular here, after all. They needed to appear natural, especially to those who already knew Delilah, to avoid suspicion.

“I was thinking for a semi-formal gown, this color would do nicely,” the woman suggested, laying a beautiful deep blue fabric.

“It’s lovely,” She agreed, “I would also like to commission some dresses in green, gold and black. Preferably for more formal occasions.”

“Certainly, dear.” They would never pass up the chance for more sales. Especially from their best customer. “Green compliments your eyes beautifully.”

Delilah lifted her chin, nodding in agreement.

Once the orders were placed, along with a deposit, they packed up Anya’s new outfits and headed off for the portraits.

Delilah was particularly eager, wanting photos that they could decorate their home with. Wayne Manor had been filled to the brim with pictures and paintings of their large family.

Ostania had a tendecy to enjoy the old technologies compared to modern ones. So most of the cars were older models, and the photoshop Loid brought them too had also followed suit with that trend. The camera was one from the nineteen twenties, but it was in wonderful condition. It’s owner cared deeply for it.

Delilah was happy with the result, regardless of the stiffness in some of their features. Anya was clearly unsure and nervous, while Loid seemed just a tad unnatural. He must be photo-shy.

She, of course, was very photogenic, and looked entirely relaxed in her pose.

As they continued their walk, they soon came across a crowd listening to a speech from the Nationalist Party.

Delilah listened intently. The Nationalist Party was the one she needed to support in her mission. It was them who advocated for peace to continue by way of encouraging good relations with Westalis.

She was soon distracted when she and Loid realized Anya was becoming distraught.

She was clearly overwhelmed by the crowd and Loid swiftly picked her up, the small family swiftly moving further into the shopping district.

“Papa, I’m hungry.”

Loid had made a reservation at a more refined dining experience, hoping to get Anya used to high-class food and mannerisms. 

“I want peanuts!” Anya declared, not even looking at the menu. 

“You can’t have peanuts for lunch,” Loid said, holding back a sigh, “You need actual food.”

Anya pouted as Delilah examined the options. She focused on finding something for her daughter first and foremost, “They have potato pasta that’s garnished with roasted cashews. Would that be okay, Little One?”

“Nuts!” Anya cheered.

Loid did sigh that time, but more in relief at Delillah’s problem solving. She really did take well to becoming a mother to Anya.

“I must admit, I’m a little torn. They have many vegetarian options to choose from,” the woman remarked in thought.

Loud blinked in surprise, “You’re vegetarian?”

Delilah returned his gaze, looking a little stunned herself, “Ah. Forgive me. I had forgotten to tell you. We had been so busy preparing for the interview, it slipped my mind.”

“Oh, it’s no problem. I’ll just make sure our meals coincide with your diet” He smiled. 

“I do not mind eating differently from you, if you are concerned of that. My diet is my own choice, so feel free to prepare meals that suit your and Anya’s tastes” She stated firmly. 

“Mama doesn’t eat meat?” Anya asked with a tilt of her head.

“Not anymore, no,” She said, recalling how the majority of her meals in her youth included meat products. She understood the necessity of protein and such for their livelihood. And certainly she still needed those nutrients, but she did her research for the right supplements and foods that could be alternated for those when she made her decision. It was still, however, her own decision. She would not force it on her husband and daughter, just as she did not insist it for her father and siblings. “I had a pet cow and turkey when I was a child, so I had decided to not eat meat out of solidarity for them.” Especially given Batcow’s origins in the slaughterhouse, before she rescued her.

The conversation was mild and indulgent as they waited for their food to arrive. It mainly consisted of Delilah discussing the different art pieces at the museum with Loid, while Anya dazed off due to her own confusion of their discussion. 

When the food arrived, Anya awed over the yummy looking nuts and began to pick them up and eat them.

“Anya, don’t just pick the nuts off the top and please stop eating with your hands,” Loud lightly scolded.

Delilah began to softly teach Anya how to hold the fork and spoon to scoop up her pasta like a lady. Loid, meanwhile, began to debate just how well this mission would go, given Anya’s lackluster performance during their preparations. Delilah could bounce off of her, but if Anya was not up to the task, it didn’t mean anything.

Maybe he chose the wrong child.

Anya, hearing this thought, froze in horror. 

No, Twilight thought, it wasn’t Anya’s fault. Certainly any child he chose would’ve had the same issues. The fact of the matter was, this mission depended on the ability of others, who were not trained as he was. As it were, Anya was certainly trying her best. It may not be good enough, but she was trying.

It just meant that he needed to be better. He had the training and background to be prepared for all outcomes. His family , however, did not. He needed to come up with a plan for every possible scenario and have the other two memorize them perfectly. It was the only way to ensure success.

At the very least, he needed a system for them to be fed the right ones in case they could not remember.

Delilah, seeing the signs of stress growing on her husband’s face, knew he was spiralling over something. Most likely the interview. He was very desperate to make good on his late wife’s last wish. As his current wife, it was her duty to help him. However, her first job would be to help him calm down and relax. She knew what this kind of stress could do to a person, having seen it plenty on her father and brothers. 

They were good at hiding it, no doubt. But she was raised to spot those kinds of weaknesses, so they could not hide it from her. 

“Beloved,” Delilah’s soft voice caught his attention, “Why don’t we get some fresh air? I know a beautiful spot that has a great view of the city skyline.”

Loid, while not truly in the mood, knew better than to deny his new wife her request. It was best to listen to her in order to keep her happy.

So, they packed up their food and paid, before following after Delilah to a small park on a hill. As she said, they could see nearly the whole city from there. Loid held Anya atop the railing, both enjoying the view before them. Delilah took in the nature and calm wind with ease.

“People look like trash up here!” Anya said in awe.

Her parents looked at her in confusion, “Where did you get that from?”

“Cartoons” Anya answered.

Yeah, they may need to limit her television time.

Loid examined the sparse collection of people strolling the paths around them, “How did I not know about this park until today?”

“I like to come here after work sometimes. I can see all these people and remind myself that what I’m doing helps them. Makes me feel better and encourages me after a long day.” And by work, she meant her night shifts. She was going against her family’s code, went back to assassination work. But she could put herself at ease when she saw the innocent civilians of this city going about her day. 

Her job wasn’t pretty, and she knew it was disappoint her family. But, like Todd, she was keeping people safe by taking the harder path. Maybe not to the extent that he does, but the same nonetheless. Keeping criminals in check and ridding the world of them, to keep peace for as long as possible. 

The general people of Ostania did not deserve to be thrown back into war, for the sake of greedy warmongers that happened to live with them. 

“I like it better than the big crowds!” Anya declared. It certainly was easier on her mind. The crowds overwhelmed her with all of their thoughts.

“I’m glad to hear” Delilah smiled, patting the girl’s head. 

Loid himself was also enjoying the peacefulness of the park. Seeing the children playing, people going about their days. He didn’t hate the people of Ostania. He may be Westalian, and mainly doing this for his country, but he knew the citizens of Ostania were equally deserving of the peace they felt. 

Of course, not all of them deserved it. He frowned when he spotted a ruffian shove over an elderly woman and steal her purse, running off with his ‘prize’.

“She should’ve been more careful,” He muttered to himself. 

Delilah, on the other hand, saw the same crime, and immediately went into Robin-mode. 

There was no hesitation as she leapt down over the railing, easily maneuvering herself down the hill, eyes locked onto the path of the thief. Unfortunately, the alleys of Ostania were vast, much like Gotham. 

Her first order of business should be ensuring the victim’s safety. She swiftly helped the elderly woman off the ground, examining her closely for injury, “Are you alright, ma’am?”

“I’m fine. Simply gave me a fright” The woman smiled, voice at ease despite the assault. 

“I will catch the thief and ensure the return of your belongings” Delilah swore. “Afterwards, I will take you to the hospital so you can be checked up. There may be internal injuries that you cannot feel right now.”

“Oh, how sweet. Thank you, dearie.”

Delilah glanced back up the hill, but was unable to spot her husband and daughter. Perhaps they took the long way down to catch up to her. But she had no time at the moment. She had a thief to catch.

Atop the hill, Loid carried Anya down the path, scanning the area for the thief his wife was so intent on catching. Unfortunately, it was mid-day on a weekend, which meant the city was filled with people going about their day. The thief had already blended into the crowd. 

Anya, wanting desperately to help her Mama in crime-solving, focused her attention on the vast crowd below. It hurt, but she was determined to try finding the thief. And yet again, she was completely overwhelmed. 

Anya swayed in Loid’s arms, a stream of blood trailing down her face.

“It happened again?” He murmured in concern, spotting his daughter’s predicament. He fished out his handkerchief and carefully wiped her face. 

Ha! That old bag was rolling in it!

Anya caught wind of the stray thought passing by, and snapped out of her delirium, focusing entirely on him. She stared after him and tried to find a way to signal her Papa. Luckily, the man was passing a bakery, so she used that as an excuse to draw his attention. “Papa! I want to eat some cake!”

“But we barely left the restaurant” He argued, following her finger to the sweets shop she apparently now wanted. However, he then caught sight of the thief. He had an unusual way of walking, so now that he spotted him, there was no way he could let him get away. 

“Beloved.” Delilah appeared behind him, yet again sneaking up on him, just like their first meeting. She had been using the high ground for tracking, which resulted in her meeting up with her family.

“I see the thief. Watch Anya” he ordered, placing their daughter into her arms and leaping off the railing. 

Delilah watched, enthralled by his heroism and skill as her husband precisely landed atop the thief, apprehending him and taking back the purse he stole. 

“Papa’s so cool!” Anya cheered.

The assassin smiled, staring down at her beloved softly as he dealt with a nearby officer, who came to see what exactly was happening. 

After providing the proof that the purse belonged to the elderly woman, who had been slowly making her way after them (despite Delilah telling her she should stay where she was and wait for her to return. But she was used to older people simply doing as they wished. Their age let them get away with a lot of things), the officer arrested the purse-snatcher.

Following this, the family escorted the woman to the hospital, just as Delilah promised. 

“Thank you for walking me here and getting my money back,” The woman said gratefully, shaking Delilah’s hand with more force than she would’ve expected from the elderly woman. Then again, Pennyworth was about her age and somehow still in his own prime. “I was going to buy a present for my grandchild. I appreciate it. You saved the day!”

“The one who caught the thief was actually my husband,” Delilah stated, gesturing to Loid, “So he is truly the one who saved the day.”

“Ah, but without you, I probably wouldn’t have even gone after him” Loid argued softly. And it was true. He had been more than willing to brush off the crime that occured right in front of him. If Delilah hadn’t leapt into action, he wouldn’t have felt the need to get involved.

But the elderly woman either didn’t hear that or didn’t care, as she took his hand and began shaking it with the same force as she did with Delilah. “Thank you! What a fine, upstanding gentleman you are!”

Loid was startled. His work had always been a hidden one. The kind that never was seen and never felt appreciated. 

But this was….nice. To be thanked for a job well done. 

“Thank you, Delilah,” He said, looking at his wife with glittering eyes. Perhaps, just perhaps, it was [Redacted] shining through, feeling a deep emotion welling up inside him for the first time in so long. But he didn’t dwell too much on that, exchanging a soft stare with Delilah, “Today certainly helped to encourage me. It never would have happened if it weren’t for you.”

Anya glanced between them, the two becoming quiet as they gazed into each other’s eyes. She was so happy! “Papa and Mama are flirting!”

Loid immediately became embarrassed, switching his gaze to his daughter, “No, we are not!”

Delilah simply smiled widely, happy to have made such progress with her beloved. One step closer to admitting their bond aloud! Her mother would be so happy!

“Aren’t you gonna thank Anya for doing stuff, too?” The little girl pouted.

Loid sighed, “Well, I suppose we did find the thief because you were hungry again. So, thank you, Anya.”

The elderly woman, who had been watching with her smile and closed eyes, began to chuckle, “Oh my. You certainly are a lovely little family.” She then pulled out a small piece of candy from her purse. Because every dutiful granny carried a bunch of sweets for children, “This is for you, sweetie.”

“Candy!” Anya gasped excitedly.

“Now you thank her ” Loid guided.

“Thank you!”

By the time they reached home, the sun had fully set and the night had encompassed the city. Loid hummed as they reached the steps to their apartment building, “What a long day.”

“The big ooting’s over!” Anya cheered, “Mama! I want a big cup of hot cocoa!”

Delilah paused, looking up at her husband and daughter. A family. It had been so long since she came home to a family waiting for her. It wasn’t as big or nearly as loud and boisterous. 

But it was home.

She smiled, “Alright, Little One.”

Chapter Text

“The time has come at last!” Loid declared. After two tumultuous weeks of studying and training, it was finally the day of the interview. All three were dressed up in the new clothing they ordered from the tailor. Delilah had on a white blouse, with a black blazer and a matching pencil skirt. Anya was dolled up in her yellow dress with a red sweater overtop. And Loid was wearing a navy blue suit, his hair slicked back. “Do we have everything?”

Delilah nodded, having triple checked both of their bags to ensure their emergency sets of clothes were packed away, along with any other tools she believed they may need. 

“Appearances in order?”

Delilah examined them all closely, before making light work of straightening the bow on Anya’s red sweater, before nodding.

“And how will you be speaking today?” He asked their daughter. 

Anya straightened up, “Like this, please! Got it, please!”

He still had his sinking feeling that had been swirling in his gut since their first day of preparation. However, it was too late to change anything. They did the best they could with the time they had.

When they arrived, Delilah immediately scanned for any and all exits, ever prepared for attacks. Eden Academy was just as large as Gotham Academy had been, so Delilah knew she could easily figure out the proper pathways in case of an emergency. Gotham Academy had been attacked plenty of times during her childhood. She herself had been a victim of kidnapping multiple times as a result of those attacks.

And it always sucked afterwards cause she had to play victim instead of beating her kidnappers to bloody pulps. Not to mention the teasing she would endure by her siblings. Except Duke. Duke always felt weird after a kidnapping, having been so new to their life as a Wayne (foster or not, it was too late for him. He was a Wayne. There was no escaping father once he was emotionally attached. Which happened rather easily). So his response was more normal in worry and concern, despite the fact that Delilah was more than capable and rather used to torture tactics.

Anya squeaked and stared at her Mama in slight fear. She didn’t want to go to a school that she’d be attacked in!

But! But this was important for the mission! So she’d have to do her best! If anything happened, Mama and Papa would rescue her anyway, so she didn’t have to fear!

“Anya, are you going to be okay in this crowd?” Loid asked, having heard her noise and thought she may be having another episode. It was concerning, and he was debating on if they needed to bring her to the doctor. Large crowds made her pass out and have nosebleeds. That couldn’t be normal.

Anya stiffened, hearing that and knowing she needed to act more normal so Mama and Papa didn’t find out about her powers and leave her! So, she nodded hurriedly, “Think so, please!”

“Let’s move!”

Immediately after they crossed the threshold into the school’s courtyard, both Twilight and Delilah had a similar thought.

They were being watched.

Twilight scanned the area, pondering on if it was an enemy. But that thought was quickly waved away. They weren’t the only ones being scrutinized. Their observers were examining the other families just as much as them.

Delilah easily spotted the hidden staff, gauging them closely. She relaxed just a little. She had been concerned that it was an enemy that hunted her down. But it was simply the school instructors, clearly determining their behavior outside the interview room.

They certainly took their school’s attendance very seriously. Not even Gotham Academy was so anal about their students. And they were full of the richest brats America had to offer.

Then again, the fact that they were in Gotham may have made them just a little less desired by outsiders of the city, so they probably couldn’t afford being too harsh.

“I need you both to be on your guard,” Loid murmured to his family. “The examiners are everywhere. Stick to the plan.”

Delilah’s eyes sparkled at her husband. He was so observant!

The family gracefully made their way through the courtyard before stopping in front of the statue of the school founder.

Both Anya and Delilah followed Loid’s lead and paid respects to the statue, holding a hand to their chest in reverence.

Unbeknownst to them, this immediately caught the eyes of the Academy’s Housemaster, obsessed over the need for elegance within his school attendees.

The daughter barely passed the written exam and her handwriting was horrendous. But there seemed to be potential.

One concern was the fact that her family was of her father and step-mother. It would not be the first time applicants had a fake family for the sake of impressing their interviewers, so it was a large concern for them.

After all, if you had to lie about your home life to attend their school, clearly you lacked the proper kind of elegance needed.

Loid guided his family to where their interview would take place, based on their classification card.

“We’re still being observed. Keep your guard up,” he warned quietly.

“I kinda gotta pick my nose,” Anya murmured softly.

“No, you do not,” Loid scolded.

“Oh no!” A loud cry echoed in the courtyard. The family paused and looked over to where a boy was sitting within the gutter grates. “I’ve accidentally fallen into the gutter and I can’t get out!”

Delilah had seen better acting from Jon. Then again, the boy couldn’t have been older than five, so she’s excuse his poor performance.

Twilight easily concluded it was a test. No one had approached the boy to help him, merely sparing a passing glance. 

But the boy was being rather loud with his pleas of woe, so as he thought over it, it must be a test to see who would actually stop to help him.

Loid lightly patted Anya’s back as a signal.

She jumped into character, “Papa! Mama! Someone needs our help, please! Let’s save him, please!”

Loid nodded in agreement, playing his own part, and the family approached the boy, “Are you alright?”

“Ah! I’ve fallen into the gutter and I can’t get out!” The boy tried his best to act his part. Otherwise he may not get the extra credit he needed!

Loid handed his suitcase and umbrella to Delilah, before lightly kicking a grate away so he could step into the sewage to properly help the boy out. He swung him out of the gutter with ease, placing him safely on the ground.

“So. You’re alright?” Loid ignored the sewage water that clung to his cheek and around his leg. He had worse clinging to his body before (The ashes, the building rubble, the blood of [Redacted]’s mother, the bodies, so many bodies-) 

The boy seemed stunned by how quickly he was back on his feet. Anya held out her handkerchief, ignoring the sewage on her own clothes, “Here’s my hanky, please.”

“You should go to the nurse, just in case,” Loid said. Delilah was the only one unscathed by the sewage. 

Henderson, the Housemaster, was disgruntled by their lack of caution. Certainly the test was to help the boy, as a showcase of lending a hand to others, but there was no chance they would ever allow such a disgraceful appearance to enter their school.

However, he was immediately shocked when he turned back to the window, only to find both the father and daughter completely cleaned off with entirely new clothes.

“It is a good thing we anticipated an incident like this,” Delilah nodded, approving of their new appearance. Her close eye examined for any sign of gunk, but they were good. “And now that we’ve seen everyone else, I think your gray suit fits in better.”

“Yes, if we hadn’t changed, I’d have looked like a commoner for the interview,” Loid agreed, before turning to the startled boy, “Thank you for giving us the opportunity to reevaluate, lad.”

Henderson was immediately enthralled and excited for the family to continue on and impress him further.

Unless, of course, it was an act. The child was still unimpressive with her low score. And as children emulate their parents, that meant her parents would be worth just as low.

The tests were not finished and he was certain their true colors would reveal themselves soon enough. 

As the family continued their journey, they paused when a loud bell began to clang.

A man yelled, “The animals have escaped the farmhouse!”

Twilight gritted his teeth. He understood the need for testing their applicants but this was a bit much!

Families began to run away in a panic. As the mob was heading straight for them, Loid was quick to pick up Anya and run ahead of the crowd, Delilah right beside him.

Henderson looked back at his employees, “Who’s idea was it to release the animals as a test?!”

“You mean it wasn’t your idea?!” They were equally shocked.

Henderson could feel his own panic rising. This was an actual crisis! This was horrible! Their reputation would go down the drain if anyone got hurt! “There are very important people among the examinees! Go stop this mess before they’re hurt!”

Down below, Loid spotted a child falling, with a bull ready to trample him. He quickly handed Anya off to Delilah and leapt forward, swiftly grabbing the boy and barely dodged the bull’s horns. His suit jacket was not so lucky.

“Loid! It’s happening again!” Delilah said, carefully holding a passed out Anya in her arms.

Loid was pissed off. This test was taking it too far, and now Anya was suffering for it. He spotted the leader of the herd guiding the rampaging animals through its wreckage.

If the leader was stopped, so would the others.

He had to be quick and figure out how to take it out. He did have his gun, but-

He was brought out of his thoughts when Delilah placed Anya back into his arms. Without a word, she spun on her heel and strode towards the stampeding cow.

All it took was a simple glare from her cold, domineering eyes, along with exuding a harsh presence, to make the cow slide to a halt right in front of her out of fear.

With the leader of the herd frozen, the other animals stopped, unsure what to do without her guidance.

Delilah released her harsh gaze and calmly began to rub the cow’s muzzle, “Good girl.”

Anya wiggled her way out of her Papa’s arms, scurrying over to her Mama’s side. She began to pat the cow’s leg, the only thing she could really reach, “It’s okay, Ms Cow. You don’t need to be scared.”

Animals had a different way of thinking than humans. They thought more with emotions than words, but Anya was able to piece them together when she focused on them.

Delilah happily began to cuddle with the cow’s head, “You’re so beautiful. You remind me of my Bessie. I miss her a lot.”

Bessie being Batcow’s public name. Of course she needed an alias when Delilah wanted to rant about her to others. Otherwise people would know they were the Bat family, because Batcow was a great superheroine.

The cow mooed, licking Delilah’s cheek, and nuzzling Anya’s head, before she slowly turned around and led the animals back to their barn.

“They’re going home now,” Anya said.

“Appears so,” Loid murmured, picking her up. Delilah was truly fearless, facing the angry herd face on. And somehow was able to cower them into submission without a scratch on her.

“Forger!” An older gentleman slid out of the door near them, taking a few deep breaths. Loid recognized him as the Housemaster. “I, thank you for your assistance. Also, you have bested me for today. To give us all time to collect ourselves after this chaos, we’ll be briefly delaying the interviews. Return to the hall once you’ve had a moment to tidy yourselves. After today, your family has the right to apply to our school.”

“Sir?” Loid was just a little surprised by the fact that they had yet to fail. “Well, I thank you for your generosity, but there’s no need to delay. We anticipated this.”

Yet again, he swiftly switched out his suit. Delilah was very good about concealing him for his quick change with a sheet she packed.

Thankfully, so far, she had no need for her extra clothes.

Henderson was now just a little terrified of this small innocent family. Who prepares this much?! And so accurately?!

Twilight had put a bug under the table within the interview room the night before, so he spent their waiting time listening in on the other interviews.

So far, they weren’t going well. Mainly caused by a Mister Swan, who, from his research, was the epitome of nepotism.

Even after all his extremely dangerous missions, this was making him nervous. The terrorist organization and missile launch missions were nerve wracking, but there had never been a moment where he was truly this nervous.

Delilah herself was also concerned. She knew how important this was for her Beloved and Little One. And while she had confidence in her own ability to make this work, she did have concerns about the interviewers. She did her own research, after all.

Swan would be their biggest obstacle.

They were soon called in.

“Thank you for having us,” Loid said calmly. This was the most important moment for Operation Strix. If Anya didn’t make it in, he would need to completely reconstruct the entire plan.

The family settled into the room, each sitting a separate lounge chair, while the interviewers were across from them on the couch.

“Well then,” Evans began, “We usually like to start these off by asking a few questions of the parents.”

Evans was the Housemaster of Malcom Hall, the fifth dorm. He was mild-mannered, sincere and conservative. He would be easy to win over, as long as they portrayed a happy, healthy family unit.

“I was informed that this was your second marriage. May I ask how you two met?”

Right out the gate. Well alright then. “We met at a tailor shop. The very one this school uses for its uniforms, in fact. I was in awe at how gracefully she carried herself.”

Evans could certainly see how a young man would be attracted to Mrs Forger. She held an aura to her that screamed pure blood. Her father had been a well off soldier, but her mother was a foreigner. Even so, her fine clothing would suggest a wealthy lifestyle, along with her general demeanor.

Loid continued their ‘fairytale romance’, “Having lost my first wife with a daughter to take care of, I was hesitant to pursue a new relationship. But the more we spoke, the more I knew we were kindred spirits. She’s truly kind and cares dearly about family. I could tell she would get along well with my daughter.”

“Ah,” Evans nodded, and turned to the wife. He had to smile as seeing the sparkling, loving eyes the woman was directing towards her husband, despite her face staying pleasantly neutral. She clearly loved her husband deeply. It was more for formalities sake that he asked her, “And what do you think of him?”

“I was immediately drawn to Loid when we met,” Delilah stated honestly, “The more time we spent together, getting to know one another, I knew he was my perfect match. He’s a wonderful father, and very considerate of me as well.”

Evans smiled, “I’m happy to hear you have such an affectionate family.”

“Why would an attractive young woman such as yourself even want to marry a man with baggage?”

Swan. He certainly held a slimey aura to him. Delilah did not react beyond a cold glance.

Evans and Henderson, on the other hand, exchanged an uneasy look, as Henderson scolded the man, “That was rather uncouth, Master Swan.

Twilight eyed the slimy looking man. Swan was the Housemaster of the second dorm. He was also the only son of the former headmaster, and obviously a legacy hire. Arrogant, greedy and callous.

His wife filed for divorce and he lost custody of his daughter, thank God . There’d be no justice if such a man was able to keep his family, while people like [Redacted] couldn’t have one.

Still though, it was best not to provoke him.

Evans, wanting to brush past Swan’s uncomfortable words, began the next question, “Could you tell us why it is you chose to apply to our school?”

“For one reason,” To get close to Desmond, “The instructors here are second to none. Obviously, you’re all very knowledgeable and cultured, but more importantly, I want my child to stand among this country’s elite. And the faculty of the prestigious Eden Academy is the most qualified to prepare her for greatness.”

“I see. I would love to hear one of you describe your daughter in your own words. Strengths, weaknesses. Your honesty is a given, of course.”

“Of course,” Loid nodded, “Anya is an extremely curious child. I suppose one could argue that her nosy nature is a weakness, but it stems from her intelligence. Sometimes she sees right through me, and I’d swear she’s reading my mind.” Anya shot him a panicked glance, for some odd reason. “It keeps me on my toes. I’d say her main flaw is she’s a picky eater.”

Evans hummed, “And would you be so kind as to explain your parenting style for us, madam?”

“I believe children need a firm hand to help them grow into proper contributing adults of society,” she said, “Balance is important for them to grow. Discipline is needed to ensure they know right from wrong. Anya is a good girl with good morals, always willing to lend a hand. Her skills in doing so may not be up to the expectations of others at times, but her heart is always in the right place. And I believe that is the most important thing for a child to have.”

Evans nodded, taking note of her answer, “Your husband just mentioned your daughter is a bit of a picky eater, which begs the question, what kind of meals do you cook at home?”

“Ah, actually, my husband does most of the cooking. Though when he is too busy, I do fill in.” Honestly it hadn’t happened yet. Loid was typically home in time to whip them up a meal. But she was aware a medical emergency could occur and was trying to learn more about cooking.

It wasn’t going well.

Swan sputtered, “You’re joking! What kind of wife doesn’t even cook for her husband?! You should probably be stricter with yourself before you worry about that child!”

Loid could feel himself get annoyed on his wife’s behalf, “Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. She is extremely tidy and keeps our house spotless. She’s also an excellent mother to my daughter.”

“Yes, well, those are all things I’d hope a woman would excel at, don’t you agree?”

“That’s not-“ Delilah reached over and placed a calm hand onto his shoulder.

“It’s alright, Beloved.”

Right. Why was he so upset anyway? He’s never lost control of himself before. He has to make sure he doesn’t provoke Swan.

“After all, my pride as a woman does not depend on the opinion of a man I have no connection to.” Her smile was as sharp as her gaze, which held daggers towards the sallow man. “Not that it should matter, but I am not the best at cooking due to the fact that I grew up with my meals being provided by my family’s butler.”

Of course, he didn’t realize just how vindictive Delilah could be when it came to her family…

Swan began to sputter, his face turning red in either anger, embarrassment or even a mixture of both. 

Anya was horrified at how the mean man didn’t like her Mama and Papa. It was stupid! Mama and Papa were the best ever! He must be an enemy! Anya has to defeat him and beat the interview to help Mama and Papa!

Evans was quick to try keeping control of the interview, “Now, now. Um, anyway! Why don’t we ask the child herself a few questions now? First, could you tell us your name and address, please?”

“My name is Anya Horger,” Loid held back a wince at her mispronunciation, “And my address is in Berlint, West District, 120….8 Park Avenue!”

“Thank you very much,” Evans smiled kindly, “And what do you do on your days off?”

“We go to museums! And see operas!”

“What would you like to do, once you get into this school?”

“I, uh, maybe….” On no! She couldn’t remember what Papa said before! The mission is in danger!

Twilight pondered over his plans, waiting patiently for Anya to answer with their prepared answers. He himself will be ensuring they get close to Desmond, the boss of the enemy organization, at a social gathering and find out what he’s planning. 

“I’ll find out what the organization boss is planning!” Anya declared, just like her Papa wanted. 

Twilight nearly outwardly panicked at Anya’s answer.

“The organization boss?” Evans asked curiously. Children sometimes had a hard time understanding the titles and roles in their school at this age. So it wasn’t hard to deduce what she most likely meant. “Perhaps you mean the Headmaster?”

Twilight could play this off. Loid chuckles, slightly awkward, “I apologize. My daughter is rather ambitious, you see. She’s very curious about the lives of people in leadership positions.”

Henderson was impressed. The girl had some things that were lackluster, but to desire learning from her predecessors at such an early age was certainly elegant! “Then I trust you know the name of our headmaster, young lady?”

“Uh, yeah!” Anya said, trying to remember his name. Thankfully, Papa was thinking about it, so she could answer properly, “Mister Benedict Advent Goodbellow.”

Again her pronunciation was a slight issue, but she clearly held the knowledge. “How about this. Do you truly understand how hard one had to work to succeed as he has?”

“It’s like trying to get through a jungle with no supplies! Or dancing with death over and over to get brave, like disarming bombs and stuff!”

Twilight deadpanned to himself. Of course she would be referring to the training montage in her spy cartoon…

Henderson instantly had his opinion changed positively for the young girl. Such incredible resolve!

Evans chuckled, “Well I don’t think it would be that tough. Anyway, on another topic, what does your father do for a living?”

“He's a sp-spectacular psychiatrist!” Anya almost told them about Papa’s super secret special job! She had to be more careful!

“Well then, you have a new mother. How do you feel about her?”

Delilah looked at her daughter, lifting up her chin proudly as Anya answered, “She’s very nice! But she’s scary sometimes!”

Yes. A perfect answer, Delilah nodded to herself.

“If I were to ask you to give your parents a score, what would it be? Out of anything.”

“A perfect hundred points!” Anya answered honestly, blushing lightly as she considered just how much she loved her Mama and Papa. “They’re so much fun and I love them very, very much! I wanna be with them forever!”

Delilah and Loid looked at her, amazed and feeling heartwarming from her words. Loid, in particular, had a chord struck within him.

Swan was completely annoyed and disgusted. Such a lovely dovey family. It just made him sick. And the smug look on the woman’s face made him want to just put her in her place! “Well, between your new and old mother, who would you give a higher score?”

“Master Swan!” Evans exclaimed, horrified.

Loid narrowed his eyes, already feeling the atmosphere of the room twist horrendously, “May I please request a different question?”

“You may not. She answers or loses points!” Swan declared.

This was not good. Not at all. He didn’t know how Anya ended up in the orphanage, but there was a good chance her parents were…gone. Not to mention it was already an incredibly offensive question, even if Anya was really his daughter.

He and Delilah froze when they glanced at Anya. Tears rolled down her eyes as she seemed to completely disassociate, “Mom…my…”

“Anya,” Loid murmured.

Delilah stood up as Swan smugly began speaking again, “Well that answers that. So you do prefer your old mother! The children in these dorms rarely even see their parents! We don’t need crybabies! If that brought her to tears, she’ll never survive at our establishment!”

Twilight ordered himself to stand down. They had to remain calm for the mission. It didn’t matter that he was being slanderous. They were just a pretend family. 

It did not matter!

“That is enough,” Delilah commanded.

Evans hid his face in shame, rubbing his temples as Swan continued, “Woah, Second Wife . Don’t snap at me just because she loves you less!”

Delilah was infuriated at the very audacity of this worm. How dare he, with that pathetic smug face. Not even trying to hide his idiotic agenda.

To dare make her Little One cry!

Delilah, however, had an impeccable poker face. She was a top tier assassin and vigilante. She could control her emotions.

Loid, however, was ready to pulverize the man. 

She loved how passionate he was, but this required her delicate feminine touch.

Swift as a robin, she placed a gentle hand onto his shoulder, preventing Loid from leaping off the couch as he was about to do so, fist prepared.

She didn’t lift her steel gaze from the man who made her daughter cry.

She knew it was getting to him, as he began to shift uncomfortably, his smug face twitching. When Delilah deemed him suitably discontent, she moves her focus towards her sobbing daughter.

Without hesitation, she plucked the girl from her chair and coddled her close to her chest, gently brushing her fingers through Anya’s hair.

She turned to the men, and lifted her chin, fully embracing her heiress training.

“Unfortunately, it would seem we will be cutting this interview short. I had been under the impression that Eden Academy was a prestigious school and one of the best in the world. If this ,” she shot a narrowed glare to the cretin, still retaining her true sense of superiority, “is the behavior that you support and teach our children, then I had clearly been misinformed. We shall simply find a better school to allow our precious child to attend. I will ensure that my social circles are informed of this horrid slight. I would not want this poor institution to sully my own good name among my closest friends at Town Hall. Farewell, gentlemen.”

Delilah pulled her husband to his feet. He was trembling, most likely due to rage at the awful treatment of their daughter.

And while she was correct, Twilight was also feeling completely defeated at such a failure in his mission. His own wife declared Anya wouldn’t attend Eden Academy, completely defeating the whole purpose of Operation Strix. And yet….

And yet, Loid couldn’t find it in himself to be terribly concerned. They made his daughter cry. 

It hadn’t been long, but Anya squirreled her way into his heart easily. [Redacted] wanted a family so badly, it was reflecting in other parts of him.

Swan stood up, shouting, “Just where do you think you’re going?! Who do you think you are, disgracing Eden Academy like that?! Learn your place, woman!”

Loid slammed his fist into the coffee table, smashing it to pieces. He quickly gain his composure, “Apologies. There was a mosquito.”

Sure enough, the crushed, bloody corpse of the mosquito buzzing around was imprinted into the splinters of the table. That was only due to his training kicking in and swerving his fist away from Swan’s face.

Wouldn’t do them any good to be sued. Or arrested for assault.

Swan, meanwhile, had collapsed back into the couch, shaking in terror at how close that destroying punch had been to him.

“Let’s go, dear.” Loid pulled back up, fixing his tie and escorting Delilah out the door, “Please excuse us.”

As night came, the Forgers were silent, sitting in their living room. 

Delilah felt bad, that Loid’s chances to accomplish his first wife’s dying wish had most likely diminished. But she held strong to the fact that any mother would reject a school that would demean their child in such a way. Perhaps his first wife was looking down at them with pride, happy they prioritized her daughter above such a horrid establishment.

“I’ll make us some drinks,” she said softly, heading to the kitchen.

Twilight was in shock, and completely dismayed. They failed the mission. It was over. He let his emotions get in the way, and now Operation Strix was ruined.

“Papa,” Anya’s voice was barely loud enough for him to hear, wobbly as she began to cry, “I’m so sorry. I should’ve done better at the interview. I’m really sorry.”

Loid sighed. Anya was just a little girl. She didn’t need to feel so upset over something that wasn’t her fault, “It’s all right. You have no reason to apologize. You don’t want to go to a school like that.”

Anya grabbed ahold of his pants, crying softly into his leg. “But I do want to go to school…” if the mission failed….that meant Papa would leave her. He’d take her back to the orphanage and she’d lose him. Just like she lost everyone else. “I have to go to school there.”

Loid breathed out as Delilah carried over the tray of drinks, “Yeah. To be honest, things aren’t looking so good.”

Anya jolted in horror.

“Please do not be discouraged, Beloved. I’m certain things will work out,” Delilah said. She’d make sure of it. First order of business was to rid the school of that cretin.

Robin could make quick work of digging up any and all illegal dealings.

Regardless of if it was true or not.

“The grandpa with the glasses and the grandpa with the half glasses were really nice!”

“Yes. I’m sure they will vouch for us,” Delilah nodded. She could tell they were embarrassed by Swan’s behavior and had been coming to like them before their walk out. “We just have to believe.”

Loid hunched over, tightening his hands together. Spies only believed in themselves and their own abilities. And they always prepared for the worst-case scenario.

“I wanna be with them forever!”

Maybe, just this once, it wouldn’t hurt to believe in something.

“Yeah. Well, it’s out of our hands now anyway. All we can do is celebrate our hard work.”

For now….For now, he’ll just enjoy the feelings being brought out of him by his pretend family.

After Anya was tucked into bed and asleep, Delilah quietly knocked on Loid’s bedroom door.

“Delilah,” he said, allowing her to enter.

“Beloved, I wanted to discuss Anya’s emotional crisis.” 

Like usual, she was right to the point. Though he would admit, he appreciated that of her. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head, trying to relieve some of his headache, “Yes. I’m sorry about the interview. That was…a mess.”

“Do not apologize for that,” Delilah stated, “You had no control over that situation, let alone the cretin who made our Anya cry.”

Twilight refused to dwell much on the skip in his chest when she said ‘our Anya’.

“I wanted to ask, and I apologize if this is rude, but I wanted to know if Anya had any counseling following the passing of your first wife. I know you yourself are a psychiatrist, but I also know most reject the idea of treating someone they are close to.”

Shit. “Unfortunately, no. After,” Fake name. He didn’t know of a fake name for Anya’s fake dead mom. Why didn’t he think of that before?! “Anna’s death, I was so busy trying to make sure our home was stable, despite her absence. And Anya had been so young, she had not really understood what happened. She had never reacted like that before.”

Delilah hummed and nodded, accepting the answer. Anya must’ve not truly had the ability to comprehend her mother’s death before that horrid wretch made her face it head on.

She’d love to make him bleed some before she enacted her revenge.

“Regarding before, I also wanted to talk about how hard she was taking the perceived failure,” Delilah continued, “I know we are trying to accomplish Anna’s dying wish, however I do not believe it is healthy for Anya to be taking it so personally.”

Loid nodded, “Yes. I didn’t realize how much she was taking it upon herself. I never wanted her to have such a hard time over not getting into Eden.”

It was true that Operation Strix was dependent on Anya’s success, but she was so young and she wasn’t trained like him. She wasn’t able to prepare herself for the possibility of failure like him. And she was so observant, so of course she realized how important it was to him for her to succeed.

And the fact that she was probably returned to that orphanage over and over again before, perhaps she thought her failure would mean he’d take her back there.

He wouldn’t. He couldn’t do that anymore. His original plan had been so, but….

Anya didn’t deserve that. At the very least he’d take her to a better orphanage, after extensive research. Still, the new plan was to acclimate Anya with her pretend mother, and once they were attached and the mission was finished, he could leave them together.

It worked out, because Delilah clearly loved Anya already, so he could trust the two would be okay after he left.

“I believe the best course of action would be to encourage her, particularly if she does not get accepted. She should know that we love her regardless of if she attends the school of Anna’s dreams” Delilah affirmed. 

Loid nodded slowly, looking at her softly, “You are a good mother.”

Delilah blinked in surprise and averted her gaze slightly, “Truly? I was just….thinking of Anya’s wellbeing.”

“I know.”

A light blush brushed onto her cheeks, “Well…thank you. I will admit, I was a little worried that I was being too overbearing and nosy.”

“No. I appreciate the care and effort you’re putting in for Anya, even with our arrangement being as it is,” Loid stated earnestly.

Delilah straightened, returning his gaze, “Anything for you, Beloved. I love her already.”

He was a little startled by the sudden proclamation of loyalty to him. But, she was probably just grateful for helping her out in return, is all. Yeah, that must be it.

Delilah smiled softly, “Well then. Goodnight, Beloved.”

Loid returned her smile, “Goodnight, Delilah.”

Chapter Text

The day was entirely too stressful. It was the day they were to post the result of the interview. This would make or break the mission

Unfortunately, it seemed bad omen after bad omen would appear. First, their family picture fell off the wall. Then Delilah’s gold bracelet broke. Then a stray black cat walked past them (which Delilah ended up befriending). And then Anya stepped in dog poop.

Which all culminated in them discovering that Anya had not passed the interview, and was not accepted in Eden Academy.

Delilah was heartbroken for Loid and Anya’s sake. However, on the plus side, that Swan fellow was being investigated by the Secret Police due to some…unfortunate, evidence they received from an anonymous source.

“We failed,” Anya spoke their thoughts, voice shaking with held back sobs.

Both Loid and Delilah were quick to get her mind off it, “Hey, let’s just head home.”

“Yes. I’ll make our drinks,” Delilah said, taking a hold of the girl’s hand.

“I’m so sorry. It’s all because I stepped in that poopoo” Anya cried. Delilah and Loid shared a resigned, but amused glance at Anya’s thought process.

“A moment of your time, Forgers?” The elder voice of a familiar Housemaster called by them. They turned to see the man standing within the shade of a tree. He seemed to be trying to hide himself from public view, for some odd reason.

The couple exchanged a confused and slightly uneasy glance. Anya, despite spiraling in her despair, was happy to see them so attuned with one another. The family followed the elder man into a dark hall. He was being too sneaky for this to be something casual, and that concerned both adults.

When Henderson seemed to approve the lack of witnesses, he handed a paper to Loid, who examined it curiously, “What is this?”

“You see the name at the top?” 

Taking another look, Loid saw the name printed above the others, “Anya?”

“That is the waiting list of successful applicants. Confidential, of course.”

Delilah was beginning to like this man. He reminded her of Pennyworth, in some ways.

“So she’s an alternate,” Loid murmured. 

“Yes. Once all her scores were tallied, your daughter Anya was placed at the number one spot on the list. Which means if any of the current successful applicants were to withdraw, she will be offered their place instead.

This was good. This was great! Anya was so close to being accepted into the school! But he was still a bit confused, “But, I mean, after what happened…”

Henderson looked rather smug, “Care to guess which creature of this planet is the most lethal to humans? It’s mosquitos! Therefore, by saving Master Swan from that brutal killer, your score increased tremendously.” Well, there was also the fact that Master Swan was now under investigation as a traitor to their country, so his own opinion during the interviews were null and void. 

Loid deadpanned, “That’s just ridiculous.”

Certainly, the roundabout way he argued on their behalf was a little….eccentric, but it worked! “Stand proud, Forgers. Your family is worthy of joining our school.”

Delilah hummed in thought, “All it takes it one student to drop out to clear the way for our Anya?”

Henderson nodded, “Every year there are a few that withdraw for various reasons. So please, prepare yourselves for that eventuality.”

Oh, she certainly would be prepared. No use chancing on luck, though. She’ll simply have to find someone to target. With as many families there were attending, at least one should be dealing with some…unsavory, decisions. 

And if not, then Swan was a fine example of what she could accomplish in framing. Despite being an extremely unpleasant person, he actually had nothing on him she could’ve used for the police. 

Didn’t mean she was going to let him get away with making her Little One cry.

“Master Henderson, thank you!” Loid said in gratitude.

“Forgers, you should also prepare for the eventuality that I will not be here when you arrive. I was forced to give Swan a good thrashing.” Being investigated or not, it was not elegant for a Housemaster to assault another person. Let alone another Housemaster, for as much as Swan would most likely be fired at this rate.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Loid asked in concern. Henderson was proving to be a useful ally, given he was already on Anya’s side, despite her not even being a student yet. 

“Elegant attempt at comfort. I appreciate that,” Henderson sighed. “For now, simply await the call.”

“I’m gonna get into that school. I’m gonna get into that school!” Anya was dancing around the living room with Mr Chimera, chanting.

Delilah smiled fondly, as Loid huffed in amusement, “What is she even doing?”

“A prayer dance,” She stated lightheartedly, “Trying to convince the gods to let her get into Eden.”

“Ah, obviously” He chuckled.

It was then the phone rang. Loid bolted from the loveseat he was resting on to the phone. The force of his run knocked Anya off balance, and she began to twirl uncontrollably. Delilah swiftly moved to steady her as Loid picked up the receiver. “Yes? Speak.” He showed no emotion to the response, “Yes. I see. Goodbye, then.”

He hung up the phone and turned to the awaiting pair. He then pulled out the party popper and grinned as confetti exploded into the air. “Anya was accepted!”

Anya squealed, jumping around, “Papa! I passed! I passed!”

Delilah happily clapped as Loid plucked Anya into the air, “I’m so proud of you! Truly!”

“Me too!” Anya cheered. 

Delilah sauntered forward and gently took Anya’s face into her, nuzzling their noses, “I’m also proud of you, Little One!” And what’s more, she did not need to go out late into the night for a sabotage mission. 

It was then that their doorbell rang, startling the family. Loid handed Anya to Delilah, who cuddled with the pinkette as he answered the door. Waiting behind was Franky, holding a bottle of wine with a grin, “She got in, huh! Time to celebrate!”

“Word travels fast,” Loid muttered. He knew Franky tapped the school phone lines, but he should’ve had more awareness than showing up so soon.

“Knowing stuff is my gig” He remarked quietly with a waggle of his eyebrows. He then feigned not knowing who Delilah was, “Oh, hi there! You must be the Missus! It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Franky!”

“I am Delilah,” she nodded in greeting.

Franky grinned. Her pictures didn’t do her justice. She was a foreign beauty, even with Westlis’ high immigrant population. Her paperwork showed her mother was from the Middle East who moved to Ostania to be with her husband. It was also suspected that she did sex work in order to provide for her daughter following his death.

But even so, Delilah seemed to carry the air of a noble rich girl, which would fit well with the Eden crowd.

His main amusement was held in the fact that, despite only having met a couple weeks ago, Delilah was bringing a side out of Twilight that he had never seen before.

Sure, Twilight could play it off as simply being for the mission. But the man didn’t seem to realize just how much he talked about his new daughter and wife to him. And not in terms of ‘the mission’.

Just a few days ago, he was talking Franky’s ear off about how Delilah was sneakily upgrading his wardrobe with finer materials, as well as moving some of her own clothes into his closet. Which was being done under the claim that her room was getting crowded with her art supplies. Twilight was very startled by just how much she was able to get past him.

Which could be concerning for Operation Strix. But Twilight was talking about it in awe, like he was frazzled by the very fact that this trait of his wife was rather attractive to him. You know, without actually realizing it was attractive to him.

“Let’s get this party started! I got the booze and there’s food on the way!”

“Making yourself at home, aren’t you” Loid deadpanned.

“Oh come on man! You’ve been married for a couple weeks now, and you haven’t even thought about introducing your best friend to your wife!” Franky argued. Twilight would allege otherwise, stating that spies don’t make such attachments, but Franky knew better. They worked closely together and they were definitely friends due to that. 

Man lost the right to deny their friendship ever since he spared him that day they met.

And given Twilight had no other friends, that automatically made him the best friend! Take that, Mister Super Spy!

Anya nodded along with his thought process. Not that any of them realized that was why she was doing so.

“Ah, I apologize. Loid had not mentioned you before,” Delilah said bluntly.

Franky sent the annoyed spy a hurt pout, “How could you? After all we’ve been through?!”

Loid’s eye twitched. Delilah, spotting this, chuckled behind her hand. She leaned closer to him, “I like him. He reminds me of my own best friend.”

Loid was surprised, “Oh?”

Delilah nodded, more somberly. “Yes. I haven’t seen him in a long time, though.” She missed Jon as much as the rest of her family. Despite how annoying he could be. Then again, that just meant he blended in more with the Waynes. He even had the black hair and blue eyes her father seemed to attract like moths.

Soon enough, the food was delivered and Delilah set out the table with Anya’s ‘help’. She did accidentally break a few plates, but as Delilah said during the interview, her heart was in the right place.

A few drinks in and Franky was drunk. Loid was not affected at all, as he only had one glass and had a high tolerance.

Delilah, on the other hand, was simply buzzed. Alcohol did not affect her as much as it normally did for others. The use of the Pits actually made it very difficult for her mother and grandfather to get drunk. Todd himself was near a super level of tolerance because of his own use. Though not as much as her family, as their extensive use altered them more.

Delilah herself could only get tipsy due to the latent Lazarus Waters running through her blood. However, she also did not have much experience drinking, so she got to the point very quickly, even with two glasses.

“I can’t believe it’s all cause I stole the answer sheet!” Franky slurred.

Loid glared at him, growling under his breath, “Shut up! They’ll hear you!”

It didn’t matter cause Delilah heard it anyway. Her lightly flushed face contorted in thought, “Underhanded and using hidden resources. I approve!”

Okay, maybe he didn’t need to be as discreet as he thought? Unless it was the alcohol talking. It probably was the alcohol.

Then again, drunken words are sober thoughts.

Franky sloshed his glass with a drunken grin, “Is the party pooper even drinkin? Let loose won’t cha!”

“I’m fine,” he said. 

“Can you believe your daddy told me he’d buy ya whatever your cute lil heart wanted as a reward?!” Franky brazenly mentioned to Anya.

“Hey! I never said that!” Loid argued.

Anya stopped stuffing her face and beamed excitedly at the concept, “Papa! What I really want is to do something cool!”

Well…Anya did deserve a reward for all the hard work she’s done. “Well, as long as it’s something within reason.”

Her eyes sparkled and she rushed over to the television to play a recording of her favorite cartoon.

It was, of course, Spy Wars. The princess was kidnapped and the main character had to rescue her after a trying fight with enemies within a castle.

“That’s what I wanna do, Papa!”

“I…don’t get it. Can you explain it in your own words?”

“Play ‘Save Anya from the Castle!’” She cheered with an excited jump.

“No way,” he immediately shot it down.

And then Anya turned on the waterworks, completely heartbroken by his refusal.

“You’re such a big meanie!” Franky shouted, before stumbling his way behind Anya and pitching his voice, “If you don’t do this for me, I’m not going to school!”

“You don’t speak for her.”

Delilah swayed just a bit as she made to comfort Anya. She frowned up at her husband, “How cruel. She just wants to play make-believe.”

Damn. He really was outnumbered here. Not only was his daughter upset, but now, so was his wife.

Franky glanced at the tv and saw the screen paused on a random scene of the show. “Hey! That’s Newston Castle! Word has it, it was recently remodeled into some cartoon’s theme park, so that’s gotta be it! It’s rigged with traps like in the show and you can rent the place out!” He then leaned to the blond man’s head, “Hey Loidy-boy, the government doesn’t have eyes over there, so you can let loose for once in your life and have what we like to call fun.”

He grimaced, “I don’t know.”

“Anya worked so hard to pass! Getting rewarded is only fair!” Franky argued, gesturing wildly to where Anya was sobbing into Delilah’s arms.

Delilah shot him a glaring gaze, basically demanding he give in for the sake of their daughter.

He sighed harshly, “Fine.”

Franky pumped a fist, “Alright! Gotta strike while the iron’s hot! I’m gonna book the castle; you’re in charge of the ride!”

“What?! You want to go today?! And I’m handling?!”

“Of course you are!” Franky gasped, “I mean, it’s for your daughter !”

Delilah nodded with a satisfied smile, rubbing Anya’s head, “Hear that, Little One? Daddy’s going to rent the castle from your show and play pretend with us.”

Anya sniffled and moved her teary eyes to her Papa. He looked resigned but nodded. She rubbed her eyes free of tears and smiled happily, “Thank you, Papa!”

Loid ran a hand through his hair. The things he did for this mission. Honestly, he was a little worried on what his boss and fellow agents were going to think when the request was submitted….

Unbeknownst to him, given his renowned status among the spy world, and his extremely important mission currently ongoing (which he had updated firstly by sending the confirmation code that Anya was accepted into Eden), the request was thought to be an emergency demand. 

In the meantime, Franky had somehow gotten the blueprints for the castle already and their living room had papers scattered as he went over plans with Anya and Delilah.

Delilah herself was very happy to see the effort everyone was making for Anya. Only the best for her Little One.

“Just look at it! This castle is filled with cool stuff!”

“I’m gonna make a quiz!” Anya proclaimed excitedly.

“Wonderful idea, Little One,” Delilah cooed, kissing the girl’s forehead. 

Loid carefully ensured Anya was fully fitted with her plane uniform properly. No way in hell was he going to risk her getting hurt in any way during this….game.

Franky was fawning over the plane WISE delivered to the rendezvous location, the two pilots standing by dutifully.

“This is so neat! I’ve never been on a plane before!” Anya cheered, somehow staying still enough for him to check her suit and helmet.

“There you go.”

Anya beamed, twirling around, “Do I look cool?!”

“Extremely,” He assured, plucking her up and holding her atop one of his shoulders.

“Wonderful work, Beloved” Delilah declared, strolling over in her own flight suit. “How did you acquire this so quickly?”

“Ah,” he forgot she wasn’t inebriated like Franky was. “A couple of my esteemed colleagues are letting us borrow it.”

Delilah looked over at the two pilots on standby, and dipped her head regally, “Thank you.”

The pair flushed and exchanged a glance. Twilight was a lucky bastard. The woman playing his wife was one of the most attractive ladies they’d ever seen.

“Come, Little One. Time to go,” Delilah scooped Anya from Loid’s shoulder and carefully helped buckle her into the plane.

Loid sent the two agents who delivered the plane a grateful nod, dismissing them, before climbing into the pilots seat.

Franky and Anya cheered giddily as Loid flew the plane high above the city skyline. Navigating them over the heavy forest terrain of Ostanian, they soon spotted the brightly lit up castle of Anya’s dreams.

“There it is!” Franky exclaimed.

After landing the plane, the group were allowed entry into the castle, soon standing inside the vast ballroom.

Franky and Anya began chasing each other in a game of tag. Loid’s eye twitched, “You’re not a kid, Franky!”

The man ignored him, simply trying to catch Anya.

However, very quickly Anya’s mood diminished, leaving her standing somberly in the middle of the floor. Delilah crouched beside her, petting her head, “What’s wrong, darling?”

“It’s not right,” Anya murmured.

Loid frowned, “Not right, how?”

“Without enemies and maids and stuff like that, it’s just a big empty house. Feeling sad now,” Anya’s chin trembled, “I don’t think I can go to that school.”

Delilah quickly realized it wasn’t a genuine cry like before. No no, Anya was using manipulation tactics to get Loid to give into her demands.

She was a very fast learner and certainly her daughter!

“Yeah!” Franky proclaimed, still slightly drunk, “Not very castle-y, huh? Guess your daddy better step up his game!” Both he and Delilah stared dead over towards Loid, making his eye twitch again.

It took about half an hour, but soon the castle was filled to the brim with every agent available in Ostania, each playing the part of a servant or a noble.

They may not entirely understand exactly what the reason for this mission was, but if the Twilight made the demand, it must’ve been important! Why else would the mission rank Double S?

Franky whistled, “The agency really comes through for ya, huh? Give them the rundown, yeah? Leave everything else to me!”

Twilight sighed, wondering what kind of damage this would do to his reputation. Then again, he could try to conceal it enough that they didn’t realize this was all because he couldn’t say no to his wife and daughter.

He placed on his Loid Forger smile and took the microphone, “Evening. I appreciate you all coming tonight. Anya does, too.” And Franky, who seemed to be taking the most glee out of preparing all of this for Anya. 

To think he was the one who had the audacity to tell Twilight not to get attached. 

“We’ll be doing a bit of roleplay, with you posing as enemies of a spy on a mission to save a beautiful princess.”

As he spoke, Twilight made sure to tap his foot and finger in morse code. This would allow them to think better of second guessing this whole thing, or worse, affecting his reputation as the world’s top spy.

• ••Just listen quietly, this assignment is an imperative part of Operation Strix, and you do not need to inquire further about it. This man will explain the details. Follow his orders from now on•••

“Once again, thank you very much. My daughter’s going to love it.” Please, for the love of God, do not let Sylvia get wind of this.

Who was he kidding, she probably already knew.

The spotlight moved to a posing Franky. This was his moment to shine! Operation Strix was the best thing to ever happen to him! “Now! Ladies and gentlemen, meet the cast! Starting with our big star! Princess Anya!”

A spotlight shone onto Anya, wearing a small tiara atop her head. She giggled excitedly and bounced around, waving at the crowd of spies that came just for her! This was so cool! Papa was the best!

“This is the spy man who’s gonna save me!” She announced into her own mic, gesturing over to where another light appeared, revealing the very casually dressed, and bored looking Twilight, “Loidman! And the big boss of the baddies, Count Scruffy-head!” Franky swiftly wrapped a black cape around his shoulders, letting out an evil laugh.

“And Mama!” Anya cheered, with the last light appearing to reveal Delilah. 

She couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play dress up for her daughter’s party. And to make it work double in seducing her husband. 

So, she raided the clothes her mother insisted on sending her. She wore a green halter crop top with a gold collar and off the shoulder sleeves, as well as a matching split skirt with black armored legging beneath. Her assassin boots matched the outfit well, and also provided suitable comfort and ease for what they planned.

“Mama’s the evil princess lady who works with Count Scruffy-head and does all the cool fights!”

Loid did a double take when he saw Delilah, who flipped her hair back proudly as she heard awed murmurs from the crowd.

Obviously, it was only natural for them to be stunned by her beauty. 

“And now. Count Scruffy-head demands action from my loyal minions! By all means, get out there and sell this performance! So don’t be afraid to really go after Loidman, okay?”

Loid peeled his eyes off Delilah to glare at Franky, “Wait a minute-“

“In fact! How you try to jam him up will be your choice! Just give it your all! The success of this operation, and the future of our world, is in your capable hands!”

“Just where is he going with this?” Loid muttered, shaking his head.

“My loyal minions! Protect Anya at all costs! And make Loidman suffer as much as possible! Hope you guys are ready. It’s time to go!”

“Roger!” The room echoed. And immediately cleared out.

Everyone in WISE were damn good spies.

Admittedly, this was confusing for them. Especially given the high status of the sudden emergency mission.

But the chance to go up against Twilight of all people was the opportunity of the lifetime! 

Franky grabbed Anya and scurried into a ridecar. Delilah sashayed after him, making a pause to brush her hand across Loid’s chest, a smirk on her face, “Try to keep up, Beloved .”

Loid couldn’t stop the heavy blush that grew as she walked off, swaying her hips.

No, he was not looking!

Franky locked the car gate after Delilah settled in with an evil laugh, “Now, Princess Anya’s mine! If you want her back, you’d better get it in gear!”

“Please save me, Loidman,” Anya waved as Franky pulled the lever. Their car began to rise up from the stage, towards the ceiling.

“Wait! We’re going already?!” Loid raced into his own ridecar, pressing the button dictated on the control panel by a paper sign. The drawing was clearly Anya’s handy work.

Unlike the trio’s car, he only went up the wall halfway before trailing out onto a track. Anya called out to him from where their car was moving above in the form of a blimp.

“Alright Loidman! If you want to save the princess, you must make your way through my many fiendish obstacles! First up, we have a quiz in the garden that was devised by Anya herself! So pay attention, and if you fail, you’ll be putting that on!”

Loid glanced around and faltered at seeing pieces of a costume, “That?!”

“Yes!” Franky grinned, “Your very own Bondman costume! Question one! What does Princess Anya like about Bondman?”

Of all the things, it had to be her cartoon. He never watched the thing, nor did he really listen when she would bubble on about it. He just…it was such a childish depiction of the real hard work and dedication he and his fellow agents put into their job, okay?! He got that it was a kid’s cartoon, but still!

“His face?”

“Boo!” Anya stuck out her tongue, “I like that he has a pistol with a silencer!”

“Really?” He honestly  did want to know what her obsession with that weapon choice was.

Franky gave a mocking coo, “How sad. Can’t believe her own Papa doesn’t even know that about her.”

Loid’s eye twitched. Franky was lucky he was drunk, “Next one!”

“What’s Anya’s favorite food in the whole world?”

That one was easy, “Peanuts!” 

“He got it!” She cheered. 

How could he not? She demanded he buy her some every day.

“Final question! Get it wrong and that mask is going on your face, Loidman! What does Anya want more than anything right now?!”

How could he possibly know that?!

“Five! Four!”

“Hey! You didn’t say there’d be a time limit!” Loid argued.

“Well I’m saying it now!” Franky cackled.

Loid held back a frustrated groan. He could only really make a guess, “She wants Bondman’s spy gear!”

Franky turned to Anya, “Is he right?”

“What I want right now,” she hummed, “I want some water cause I’m thirsty!”

Delilah laughed as Franky whooped, “You got it wrong!”

“How could I have known that?!” Loid exclaimed in frustration.

“Them’s the breaks! Time to make good on your part of the deal!”

Loid gritted his teeth. Damn it Franky. He was never letting him drink around him again. Anya bounced around happily, “This is so cool! I’m gonna see the real Loidman! Yay!”

Loid flushed, this was definitely going to change the views his fellow agents had of him. But, Anya wanted it. He had to keep her happy. For the mission.

Anya waited with baited breath, before checking her spyglass again. Her Papa was wearing the black mask and gloves! She jumped with a gleeful squeal, “It’s Loidman!”

“Don’t be embarrassed, Beloved,” Delilah cooed into her own mic, “You look incredibly dashing.”

Loid grumbled, even more embarrassed at that point.

Anya giggled, “Mama is flirting with Papa!”

Delilah smirked and ran her fingers through Anyams pink locks. Franky cackled, “Time for the next game!”

“Wait a minute!” But Loid’s car harshly came to a stop at the end of his track. Surprisingly unprepared, he stumbled even so lightly. This whole day was just not going well for him.

He groaned in annoyance before exiting his ridecar, approaching the dark slide that was his only exit. Leaping down, he kept his mind focused for whatever ‘traps’ Franky decided to send his way next.

He was certain Anya would’ve loved to ride down this slide though.

At the end, Twilight swiftly landed on the large rubber ball closest to the slide, easily flipping off it to land gracefully onto the floor. A quick examination showed that this was a courtyard, which happened to be filled with other large circus balls. Across from him was a lit up stage, where a few costumed agents waited for orders.

“Loidman! Help!” Anya cried playfully. Their blimp ride car was passing over the courtyard. 

“You wanna save the princess, right? Well then get up here!” Franky demanded.

Upon that command, the stage cannons shot out more of the rubber balls. The agents raced towards Twilight, who swiftly dodged each attack as he ran towards the stage. Shockingly, many of the balls were rigged to explode with smoke and confetti. 

One agent was able to get the jump on him using the smoke as a diversion. Twilight moved with the force, falling onto his back and using his weight to stun the agent hanging onto him. As the agent got his bearings, Twilight rolled back to his feet and sprinted off.

“Yay Loidman! So cool!” Anya squealed. 

Delilah watched, besotted as her husband dodged and jumped through every obstacle, using either the balls or even the ‘henchmen’ throwing themselves at him as springboards. He truly was her perfect match.

Franky drunkenly growled, “Oh no! I’m just getting started!” He pressed a button which made the ridecar begin to lift up into the air again, just as Loid reached the top of the stage.

“Oh no!” Anya acted enthusiastically, “Save me, please!”

“What a pain,” the legendary spy grumbled, rushing into the tower. 

Anya and Delilah waved down at him from the open skylight above. Twilight sighed, before beginning to race up the spiraling ramp leading to the top. More costumed agents appeared, shooting colorful rubber balls at him (though much smaller than the exploding ones from the courtyard).

He effortlessly dodged the balls before ducking behind the stone railing for the ramp when more agents appeared. He waited for them to stop shooting (either to reload or to try spotting where he had disappeared to), grabbing a lone ball and discreetly making his way under the group. 

He kept an eye out for the opportune moment. When an agent peered over the wall, he launched the ball up to his face. The force knocked the spy out, sending his own blaster down to Twilight. He grabbed it with ease and began shooting at the remaining agents. His perfect precision meant he only had to shoot once per agent before his path was clear again. He chucked his blaster away when it was out of ammo. He then grabbed two new guns falling from above and shot at the other agents coming out of the woodworks as he ran.

“So cool! Papa is amazing!” Anya proclaimed.

Franky whined, “Let them hit you a little , Loid!”

Like hell he would. This was embarrassing enough. 

Just for that, Twilight aimed his two guns into the air, shooting Franky in the face with the rubber balls.

Franky collapsed backwards, and Delilah swiftly reached out to steady him. His face immediately began to well up with red marks as bruises most definitely would start forming. “Oh! Now I’m really angry! You won’t get me that easily!”

He proceeded to send their ride car to head across the castle, and Twilight was yet again just moments too late from reaching them.

“Bye bye!” Franky called back mockingly.

“Save me, Loidman!” Anya cried out.

Without hesitation, he leapt onto the cable, balancing himself while running until he was able to take off his belt to use as it as a zipline. Some of the agents proceeded to activate explosions from below, but none were able to reach him as he held steady to his belt, flying after the blimp.

“Loidman, you’re so COOL !” Anya shrieked with glee. Delilah was captivated by the sight, and could practically feel her heart trying to leap out of her chest. Anya giggled and bounced. Mama loved Papa so much!

As the three quickly took their places within the new tower they landed on, Twilight let go of the cable, maneuvering himself in the air while he put his belt back on, and landed onto the balcony, rolling with the momentum and sliding to his feet.

Franky and Anya were ‘hiding’ behind three red and gold sofas lined near the curtained doorway. Franky let out a cackle, “I’m impressed you got this far, Loidman! But you won’t have the princess!”

Twilight barely held back the sigh. Hasn’t this game gone on long enough?

The agents quickly reconvened onto the tower, surrounding the trio dutifully on guard.

“Loidman! Please save me!” Anya exclaimed.

Oh great. And now he had to act out the silly little play in front of all his peers. Wonderful. Lovely. Not humiliating at all.

Sigh. For the mission.

“Uh, hand over the princess, fiend.” Normally Twilight was a much better actor. But that was usually on undercover cases. And never with his actual face…

However, no one else noticed any issue. No. All the agents observing were in awe of his acting skills. Well, in awe of Twilight in general. It was an amazing opportunity that every single one of them would definitely hold over the rest of the WISE agents heads.

Franky let out his evil laugh, “You fool! I said this wouldn’t be easy! Meet your doom!” The curtain peeled back and Delilah launched herself above Anya and Franky, landing before them with a smirk. “Behold! Evil Princess Delilah!”

Delilah slowly sauntered towards Loid, a sultry smirk on her face, “I will not hold back on you, Beloved.”

“Wha-”

He was so startled, he was unable to dodge her round kick, sending him flying. Delilah shot forward, wrapping her arms around his waist midair and bending backwards to throw him into the ground. 

Twilight quickly regained his composure and caught himself, using the motion to fling her off him as he cartwheeled to his feet. She flipped to land primply on her heels before once again racing towards him. 

This time, he was ready as the couple began to exchange punches and kicks, neither willing to give as they dodged and parried. 

The agents all watched, enthralled by the sight of Twilight somehow having found his match in sparring. Twilight was known to be the best of the best, and even during training spars, rarely anyone lasted more than a minute. But here, it was obvious both were going all out and neither was yielding.

Just who was this beautiful woman Twilight was working on Operation Strix with? She must be another agent! Either new or perhaps so good that none knew of her! Only the best got to work with Twilight, after all. Fitting for his legendary status!

Eventually, after a stalemate between the two fighting, Delilah was able to surprise Twilight by dropping to the floor and tripping him over. She immediately jumped atop him after he landed on his back, grabbing his wrists to hold him down. 

She smirked as she straddled his chest, leaning forward with a seductive smirk, “I quite like having you under me.”

Loid choked, dumbstruck while she looked very pleased with herself. Shaking his head, he was able to surprise her, flipping their positions and holding her down instead. Never one to let another best him, he returned her former smirk, “I think I like this better.”

Her eyes sparkled with excited glee. 

“Papa and Mama are flirting!” Anya shouted out happily, which ended up echoing the whole chamber.

Loid shrieked and fumbled as he frantically turned towards her, “No I’m not!”

He definitely was, Delilah grinned. She then used his distraction to maneuver a leg out from under him and kicked up at his jaw. She got to her feet and allowed him a moment following his collapse to the ground. 

Then, to his surprise, she held out a hand to him, “Well done, Beloved. I am pleased to know you will be a wonderful sparring partner.”

Albeit slightly wary, he grabbed her hand and got to his feet with her help. 

“NOO!” Franky cried, “What are you doing, Evil Princess Delilah?! You are supposed to be on my side and help me take down Loidman!”

“I have fallen hopelessly in love with Loidman,” She bluntly replied, which also startled Loid. But he brushed it off as just being a part of the play, “Therefore, I have decided to change and switch to the side of good.”

Anya gasped, “Yay! Mama is a good guy now!”

Franky gritted his teeth, “Fine then! I’ll just have to fight you both myself!”

Loid proceeded to knock him out with a simple punch to the face. He moved to where Anya was waiting and cleared his throat, “Here to save you, Princess Anya.”

Her eyes sparkled and she beammed, running to cling to his leg, “Papa!”

“Oh. Are we done pretending now?” he murmured, patting a hand to her head. Delilah rubbed her shoulder as she curled an arm around Loid’s.

The agents all watching sniffled and cried at the heartwarming scene before them. One agent then dimmed the lights as fireworks were activated high above the castle. 

Anya was quickly drawn to the balcony to watch the lights, her parents following behind, “So sparkly!”

Loid was surprised when the agents all burst into applause, cheering as the game came to a close. Was it really that fun or were they just happy it was over? Then again, looking back at it, perhaps it could be viewed as a sort of training exercise for all of them, so maybe they were happy at a perceived successful exercise.

The agents all began to head back to their headquarters for their own missions as the small family rested against a fountain near the pier. 

Anya nuzzled into her Papa’s side, “I’m so happy I get to live with Papa and Mama. It’s all so exciting!” Loid hummed, rubbing her back absentmindedly. Delilah cuddled close to Anya, leaning over to rest her head atop Loid’s shoulder. “I promise to do my best at school.”

Loid smiled fondly, patting her head, “I know you will.”

Of course, he would later find out that the Chief nearly had a heart attack at his expense report. What he wouldn’t find out was that WISE, at that point onwards, had spiraling rumors of how Twilight had found and fallen in love with an unknown spy, who bested him in combat.

As well as a betting pool as to whether the ‘fake’ family for Operation Strix was, in fact, his real family that had been hidden this whole time for their safety.

Chapter Text

“Looks like, 99.5,” Susan, the proprietress of their tailor shop, took note of Anya’s new height. 

“That means I’m two whole millimeters longer than last time!” Anya proclaimed.

Loid examined his daughter, dubiously, “Are you sure?” She was still so tiny.

Susan chuckled, “It’s not unheard of. Kids grow so quickly at this age.”

Delilah nodded in agreement. She had noticed the minute difference in the little girl’s height. Though she knew why Loid would not be able to see so. He hummed in thought, “Then maybe it’s for the best if we get your uniform made a little bit bigger.

“I must admit,” the woman said as she began to work on Anya’s uniform, “Finding out you’ve been married was a shock, Delilah! I get not wanting to make a big deal about it and all, but you could’ve at least told me.”

“Apologies,” Delilah said. Though not really. She was cordial with them, but it wasn’t like they were friends. Still. They did good work. There was a reason she chose this shop to be her main tailor. So she could at least pretend for the sake of formality, “It never really came up and we were quite busy at the time, so it slipped my mind.”

Susan seemed to wave it off, smiling as she worked, “And to think that your adorable daughter is going to the prestigious Eden Academy! Then again, she is your daughter, Delilah.” Delilah preened at the compliment for both herself and her Little One. Loid sweatdropped at her smug conduct. “Is it safe to assume you're an Eden Academy alum?” She asked curiously to Loid.

He gave her a friendly smile, “No. I actually attended a little school outside the country.”

Her demeanor began more serious, sending the two a warning glance, “In that case, you’re going to want to be careful. There’s something of a wall between the alumni families and the first-generation ones at that school. I hear that it can even lead to bullying and discrimination among the children. As well as hazing from the honor students. Tension between the dorm kids and the commuters, too.”

Despite the fact that she was trying to be quiet for Anya’s sake, the girl heard every word from her mind, and was promptly terrified.

Delilah was immediately on guard. It was a familiar tale. Todd had horror stories of his time in Gotham Academy, also being looked down on by his peers for his status as a former street kid.

Like hell would she let her Little One suffer due to her ‘lack of pedigree’. She will have to make plans for this eventuality.

“Speaking of, I hear lots of those commuters have been kidnapped lately. But it’s no surprise since most of the students come from rich families.”

“I don’t wanna go to school anymore!” Anya sobbed, rushing into Delilah’s skirt for comfort.

Susan appeared apologetic and embarrassed at causing her distress, “Oh, dear. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you. I was just making sure your parents were made aware. There’s plenty of fun to be had at Eden, you know. I’m sure a lovely girl like you will make a lot of friends!”

Delilah rubbed Anya’s head, “Mama will teach you how to handle any bad guys that come your way.” The girl sniffled and peeked up at her, relaxing when she saw her Mama smile softly.

Meanwhile, Loid was at the register to pay for Anya’s school clothes. The only plus side was, as Delilah was a regular, they were high on the priority list for the clothes to be finished.

But he had no idea school supplies was so expensive. He was already on the accounting department’s hit list for their stunt at the castle.

As they made their way to the next store, Anya was frantically looking around while clinging to Loid’s leg. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m trying to not get kidnapped!”

“I…see. Interesting approach” he said lightly. At this point, he was rather used to Anya’s strange antics. He then focused on Delilah, “Would you mind if we eat out today?”

In truth, he had to receive the information for his next meeting with Sylvia, and they were using a high class restaurant as their front. Thankfully, Delilah preferred fine dining. And it worked to teach Anya table manners and have her grow a refined taste. 

“Of course not, Beloved,” she smiled.

Dinner was rather uneventful. He received the details of time and location for his briefing. Though he was going to have to ask them to change their methods. He really didn’t like the cipher recipes they made. Whoever came up with them was not a good chef. They all tasted unpleasant.

That night, Delilah snuck out the window. While she was still hoping to soon convince her husband to share a bedroom, it was rather convenient to not have to explain.

At least for now. She had no intent to keep any secrets from her husband.

Atop a nearby skyscraper, her mother waited. There had been no sudden assassinations needed from Delilah for the last month, which thankfully allowed her to spend that time bonding with her new family.

“Mother,” She greeted, voice only slightly muffled by her assassin scarf. Her current uniform had changed only slightly from her youth. She kept the colors out of nostalgia, though much more muted than the original uniforms. Especially Grayson’s first one. 

She loved and respected her brother, but he had the fashion sense of a baboon.

She added the scarf as a way to conceal her identity further. Not just visually but by also adding a voice modulator like her Todd had in his helmet. To her mother’s consternation, she did keep the bright gold R on her chest. It was nostalgia based, yes, but she also felt it was a true side to her. Unlike her siblings, she didn’t want to branch to another identity. She earned her right to be Robin and it was who she liked to be.

She was certain her father had more Robins after her, though. He never could resist handing it out like candy. But still. Now she understood what Drake had been feeling when she wanted to take the uniform from him. 

“Little One. How have you been?” Talia asked courteously.

Delilah brightened, “I got married!”

Talia’s eyebrow twitched. Following their reconciliation, one of the agreed demands Delilah had was that Talia could not do any of her normal stalking. If she wanted to know how she was doing, she had to reach out to her and ask. 

Delilah was firm in setting boundaries to make their relationship work, and Talia did not want to lose her again. 

“Excuse me?”

“I have found my Beloved!” Her daughter declared proudly, puffing out her chest slightly, “He is a wonderfully capable and caring man. He has a daughter from a prior marriage but his first wife passed away a few years ago. He wanted to find a mother for Anya, and, of course, he was immediately drawn by my beauty.”

“Oh really?” Talia hummed, “And how exactly did he bring that up to you?”

“It was the night of that party I mentioned to you. We met a few days before that.” Delilah seemed more than eager to share their love story, “He asked me to pretend to be Anya’s mother for a school interview. It was his first wife’s dying wish for their daughter to attend Eden Academy. Obviously he noticed my noble comportment and knew I was the best option,” Delilah preened. “In return, I had asked him to accompany me to the party in order to shut the mouths of those busybody coworkers of mine. He, unfortunately, had been late due to an outburst from a patient. He’s a psychiatrist, so sometimes he has long hours. But due to the altercation he had with this patient, he accidentally confused our requests and introduced himself as my husband. When we left the party, I decided it was best to at least make it official in the legal sense. It only seemed proper given the school’s studious research into their students, as well as to keep from any mix up with my coworkers. We got attacked by a group of thugs and during it, I proposed the suggestion to him. He agreed and proceeded to state his vows right there! He completed it by throwing a grenade at our enemies, blowing them up, and then used the metal pin as a ring!”

Even with the mask on, Talia could practically see the hearts in her eyes as she swayed with glee. Delilah then pulled a necklace out from under her uniform. A simple chain, with said pin hung onto it, as evidence of her story.

It was too late for her daughter now. This man, whoever he was, had captured her heart, and there would be no other to take it, even when he was dead and gone.

Her Little One was lucky, though. She had him with her now, through marriage.

Of course, that didn’t mean much. Talia and her own Beloved had been married as well, when Delilah was conceived. But he still left her.

“I’m happy for you, Little One,” Talia smiled. Delilah beammed in response. “What have you told him?”

“Nothing yet. I am waiting for the right time,” she stated.

Talia hummed, “Little One. Would it be alright for you to wait for me to look into him?” Immediately, she could tell she said the wrong thing, and Delilah puffed up like an angry cat. She quickly tried to ease her, “For my own sake of mind, Little One. I want to make sure nothing from his past will come to haunt you. I…do not want you to end up like myself.”

Delilah calmed down at that, feeling heartwarmed by her mother’s concern, but also just slightly guilty at having what her mother couldn’t.

Well, unless Father and Selina finally agreed to her sharing idea.

She paused in thought, before slowly nodding, “Alright, Mother.”

Talia smiled softly and placed a gentle kiss on Delilah's forehead, “I do wish to meet him and your new daughter, though.”

“Soon,” she agreed, “We’re just a little busy right now, preparing Anya to start attending Eden. She was able to pass the entrance exam and interview, so she’ll officially be a student next week.”

“Let’s say two weeks then,” Talia hummed. Delilah nodded in agreement. “I will see you then, Little One.”

Delilah watched as her Mother ran off, disappearing across the rooftops. She sighed and looked over the brightly lit city. The view was growing on her.

Five days later, they got the call from the tailor. Delilah chuckled as she watched Anya roll on the floor towards Loid. She then stepped forward to swing the girl up into her arms.

Anya giggled as she turned to her Papa, “So? Are my clothes done?!”

“Sounds like it,” Loid smiled. He pulled out the order ticket from the tailor and handed it to Delilah. “Would you be able to pick them up? I have a work meeting to get to.”

“No problem, Beloved,” Delilah said, putting the ticket into her pocket.

Loid put on his brown trench coat and grabbed his suitcase. Anya handed him his matching hat, “I most likely won’t be home until pretty late, so you two can go ahead and order in tonight.”

“Be careful, Beloved. Don’t overexert yourself,” Delilah reached out and straightened his coat collar.

Loid nodded at her with a smile. She certainly enjoyed playing the wife role.

Anya deadpanned. Papa was a dummy, sometimes. She waved as he left their apartment, “Have a rice day, Papa!”

“It’s pronounced ‘nice’, darling,” Delilah lightly corrected her.

“Yes, Mama!”

It took Loid half an hour to trail his way through the city, using the many alleyways. This was mainly to lose any possible stalkers. It was only practical for a spy.

When he reached a Photo Booth, he quickly entered before anyone could see him. He sat and allowed the camera to snapshot his blank face. Only a moment later, the access was granted, activating the elevator. When the doors opened, Sylvia was already waiting, relaxing in a desk chair.

“Good afternoon. Or rather, good evening,” she said. She enjoyed poking fun at his alias. “Nice to see you, Twilight.”

“Hello, Handler.” Twilight returned, taking off his hat, “What’s this about?”

Handler hummed, “Before we get into it….” She slammed a hand onto the desk, shouting at him in a frazzled anger, “What were all those expenses about that other day?! A castle rental fee and furniture for the whole place?! Do you think we’re made out of money here?!”

Twilight held back a smirk as he pulled out the newest receipts, “Here’s a couple more of them. Turns out school is expensive.”

Handler deadpanned, “You’ve got stones to hand me new ones like that.”

“Well, they’re all necessary, so…”

“Fine,” she groaned, swiping the receipts from his hand. “Anyway. Let’s review your next steps. This’ll be phase two of Operation Strix. Though, knowing you , I doubt you need it.”

“Thank you, but honestly,” he averted his eyes awkwardly, “I’m feeling a bit off my game lately.”

Alright. Guess that needed to be added to the list of the meeting’s requirements. Twilight was the most professional spy they had. He could and has handled every possible threat that had come his way. 

It was extremely dangerous for a spy to be ‘off their game’, especially a notorious one like Twilight. The fact that it was apparently bad enough for him to acknowledge it to her-

Not the time. They could revisit that once the main briefing was over.

“Phase two requires a social gathering. Before we talk nitty-gritty, let’s revisit how Eden works. There are about twenty-five hundred students ranging from ages six to nineteen, and the curriculum covers all thirteen years. Academics, sports, the arts. They offer a top-class education in every field. The students who manage to distinguish themselves amongst even their fellow elites join the honor program as ‘Imperial Scholars.’ As it so happens, the social gatherings that Desmond regularly attends are only open to the families of said Imperial Scholars. In order to gain this title, a student must earn eight merits known as Stella Stars. They’re rewarded with exceptional grades and contributions to society. Which means, first off, you will need to turn your daughter into an honor student. And if that necessitates underhanded methods, then so be it.”

Twilight nodded in thought. That may be the case for them. Anya, she was a good learner. But she was still rather behind for her age. Such as her pronunciations and spelling. No doubt due to that scummy orphanage lacking the care she needed, which probably stunted her growth.

“Be careful,” Handler warned, “Those with poor grades or exhibiting bad behavior are given demerits called Tonitrus Bolts. When a student receives eight of these, they are immediately expelled.”

Twilight knew that sinking feeling was returning. Anya….she always meant well. But sometimes….these Tonitrus Bolts concerned him.

“Now then, let’s talk about what you meant by being ‘off your game’,” Handler demanded, examining him closely.

“Ah. Well, it’s probably just the stress of this mission getting to me,” he stated, “I’ve had long term missions like this before, but rarely do I ever have to involve civilians. I’ve just really been concerned with making sure neither of them suspect anything. Anya is easier, being a child. But Delilah is incredibly observant, not to mention she excels in surprising me or sneaking up on me.” 

Handler hummed in thought.

The thing was, she knew Twilight. She had trained him, after all. They were practically family. 

This Delilah, whom he had met and chosen to be his fake wife, was growing on him. His fake daughter as well. So therein lied his concern for them. He had, in fact, involved civilians with his missions closely. He just never cared about them before. These two had changed that for him.

It wasn’t terribly an issue. It could work in making him bond more with them, which, in turn, would make them appear less suspicious to any keeping an eye on them.

(And a part of her, the family woman in her, wanted him to be happy. After everything he had done for the world, he, of all people, deserved it.)

But the wife was more dangerous than a child who could possibly be brought into WISE. Especially given the rumors now traveling throughout the agency.

Every spy that had been in attendance of his little ‘training exercise’ was insistent that the woman beat him in battle. It was unheard of. Some tried to brush it off as being a part of their act, but the majority were in agreement that neither held back whatsoever. 

Of course, those agents then also proceeded to make what could possibly be considered a cult surrounding the mysterious ‘spy woman’ Twilight was supposedly in love with.

They even had t-shirts and had weekly meetings going over theories of who she was, how they met, who confessed first, etc. 

But if their statements were true, it made her concerned about just who it was that Twilight had married (pretend or not, the certificates were real and filed legally. No use creating problems by cutting corners. They had to be prepared for every outcome). A woman like that would not go unnoticed by any agency. And as her records indicated, she was Ostanian, which could spell trouble.

Nothing had been found yet, but Syvlia wanted to spare no expense on ensuring their best agent wouldn’t be compromised.

“If you need us to intervene and help create distractions for her to be thrown off your scent, so to say, then let me know.”

He nodded.

Anya posed in her new outfit, “Do I look cute in my uniform?!”

“Very much” Delilah cooed, wishing she had a cellphone on her. Unfortunately, those were too trackable for her to risk, particularly immediately following leaving her family in Gotham.

She wouldn’t put it past Drake to still be searching for a digital footprint from her. After all, they would want to stop her from continuing her assassination work…

Well, her husband was also of the agreement to not be particularly wanting cellphones either. But that, Delilah assumed, was more of a monetary issue for him. She could, of course, afford them for the whole family, but her Beloved seemed fine with just their landlines being available.

“In fact, we should go to the portrait studio later,” she suggested, wanting a good picture of her daughter in her prestigious uniform. Oddly enough, now she understood why Grayson had taken a gajillion pictures of her when she first started attending Gotham Academy. Delilah nodded to Susan, “Thank you very much.”

The woman smiled, “Anything for our best customer. We’ll have those new dresses you ordered finished soon.”

She nodded and guided Anya out. Anya took her hand and skipped beside her, “I want to go on an ooting in my new uniform!”

“As you wish, Little One. Let’s go to the park first.” 

The moment they reached the park, Anya ran off to showcase her outfit to everyone she saw. Delilah watched closely to ensure her safety, but was glad the girl was enjoying herself.

“Your daughter is adorable,” another mother said kindly, drawing Delilah’s attention, though she still kept one eye on her child.

“And she goes to Eden? I’m so jealous,” the second mother said in awe.

“Thank you,” she replied graciously. 

The two mothers were distracted by their own children, complaining about being hungry, leaving Delilah to her thoughts.

She was so quick to get attached to Anya. It was strange for that to happen to her. Particularly with other humans. Animals, she had no problem forming an instant connection. But she had always been stunted in social cues and bonds.

Her Beloved was different. A special case that would never happen again. Yet Anya was so precious to her now.

Maybe…maybe this is what her father felt when he met each of her siblings.

“Mama!” Anya called, scurrying back on her tiny legs, “I showed everyone here how cute I am! We can go now!”

Ah. Anya truly was her daughter. She naturally felt the need to show everyone how superior she was to them. Delilah approved.

She spotted the grocery store across the street and made a snap decision. “Let’s go to the supermarket before we head home. Since your father will be out late, I can make us something.”

“You can cook, Mama?!”

“I can try.”

Anya was suddenly distrustful.

Especially after seeing an incident of her mother’s youth pass through her mind. How do you get burnt batter on the ceiling when trying to make a simple cake? How do you burn batter??

Unbeknownst to them, a small gang recognized Anya’s uniform and immediately began plotting. After all, what rich lady would shop at a grocery store? The woman with the girl was probably a nanny, especially given her darker skin. It wasn’t like the girl could be her child .

The pair made quick work of shopping, with Delilah deciding to make her favorite comfort food, maqluba. It was the one recipe she knew, because Alfred insisted on learning alongside her after Delilah declared herself vegetarian. It had been a big bonding moment for them.

And now she could share that with her daughter!

Anya ran past Delilah as they approached the register, “I’m bored! I’m gonna wait outside!”

“Stay right outside the door so I can see you,” Delilah ordered.

“Okay Mama!”

Delilah moved to grab her wallet from her purse as Anya opened the door. She skipped outside and was ready to start playing, when a hand grabbed her and pulled her aside, covering her mouth.

It was a blonde man, “Why hello there, little lady.

He was not alone, as another man with spiky brown hair spoke, “Be a good girl and come with us for a sec. Once your maid pays up, we’ll let ya go, so just sit tight.”

It was bad guys! They were kidnapping her! Mama! Mama, help!

Unfortunately, Mama did not have telepathy like Anya, and the girl could not yell for her, as the man covering her mouth had a tight grip.

The men dragged the girl around the corner where two more friends of their, a black haired man and a blonde woman, waited.

The woman leered over the trembling Anya. “You know, these uniforms go for a good price.”

“That right? In that case, little lady, why don’t-“

He did not get to finish his question.

See, Delilah may have looked away briefly to finish paying, but the moment she didn’t see her daughter, she knew something was wrong. Anya was a good girl. She heard her give her a rule and Anya had yet to disobey her.

So she grabbed her groceries and raced off.

Given they were only around the corner, it didn’t take her long to see the gang of thugs who dared to touch her baby.

Delilah flip kicked into one of the men’s head, sending him right into a tree.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she hissed out, her dagger eyes locking onto the man holding her daughter.

Surprisingly, it didn’t seem any of the remaining three had common sense, as their fight or flight response had not activated.

No. In fact, the blonde one manhandling her child only chuckled mockingly, “Uh oh. Looks like we need to tack on some medical bills now too. Let’s see your wallet, Miss Nanny.” The man handed Anya to the blonde woman as he sauntered towards her.

“Tt. So you are blind, as well as stupid. This is an original Gucci coat. As if a nanny can own this kind of piece, dumbass.” Delilah sneered, putting her bag of groceries onto the ground. She then allowed her oppressive aura to release as she locked onto the idiot before her, snarling, “That’s my daughter, and you, have made a significant mistake in targeting her.”

He had no time to react as she launched forward, punching him in the gut. The force immediately knocked him out.

Her neck snapped over to the blonde woman still holding her little girl. It seemed the woman was only doing so out of shock at that point. But Delilah was pissed when she saw the woman’s nails nearly dig into Anya’s shoulder.

She swiftly jabbed a number of pressure points, paralyzing her and sending her to the ground.

And with a simple roundhouse kick, the last man was also knocked unconscious.

Anya’s eyes sparkled as she looked up at her Mama. “So cool!”

“Are you alright, my Little One?” Delilah asked in concern, examining Anya all over for any sign of possible injury.

“I’m okay, Mama!”

She sighed in relief, hugging her tightly, “Good.” She picked her up and grabbed the bag of groceries from the ground, carrying both with ease. “Let’s go before the police show up and take too much of our time. I’m sure they can handle these thugs.”

“Mama! I wanna be just like you! Can you train me?!”

“Absolutely. Especially after today, there’s no question. We’ll have to start at the basics but I’m certain you’ll grow big and strong like me.”

When Loid later arrived home, he was a little surprised to see both his wife and daughter still up. “I’m home.” He paused when he saw the pair punching the air in unison, “What…are you doing?”

“I’m gonna be strong like Mama!” Anya declared.

“Welcome home, Beloved,” Delilah greeted. “Hiyah!” The two moved as though one, “Anya almost got kidnapped today.”

Just like that, his demeanor changed to fretful worry, “What?! Are you okay?!”

“Mama saved me!” Anya cheered, “She went super punch! Awesome kick! Kablam! She made them all fall asleep! And then we came home and she made dinner, which was really yummy even though it was made of vegetables! And now Mama’s training me so I can go super punch and awesome kick on any bad guys who try to hurt me!”

Loid felt his adrenaline leave his body, as he fell to the couch in relief.

“There’s some leftovers if you are hungry, Beloved,” Delilah said, moving to fix Anya’s form.

He silently got up and moved to the table. He certainly chose the right mother. Anya had been kidnapped twice since he adopted her. At least Delilah was very capable, as proven during their game of ‘Save the Princess’. 

He couldn’t really argue against Anya being trained for self-defense by her. In fact, that was probably preferable if she was going to be kidnapped so often.

It was a horrible thought, the idea of Anya constantly being put into danger due to this mission. It made him want scream at Sylvia for putting him on this mission in the first place.

But at the same time, any child and agent in his position would have to deal with this danger. At least he and Delilah could keep Anya safer than most.

“This is really good,” he complimented the meal.

“It’s the only thing I know how to make,” Delilah stated, beginning to show Anya a new move. “Learned the recipe with my grandfather. Thankfully, I can make it well. Anything else usually ends with a fire.”

That was…concerning. “Well, as long as you keep the fire extinguisher nearby.”

“Oh hardy har har,” she retorted sarcastically. 

He couldn’t help the genuine smile that grew at her pout.

Delilah kept a neutral, regal expression on her face, all the while blocking the pandering entrance speech from her mind. She didn’t care about their influence or whatever. All she really wanted was to use Anya’s time in this school to make work on seducing her husband. It would be prime alone time for them!

And for Anya to have a good education, of course, but still.

Anya, meanwhile, was looking around frantically. How could she be the cutest in her outfit when everyone was wearing it?! She hushedly whined to her parents, “Mama! Papa! All the kids are wearing the same thing as me!”

“Indeed. That’s how a uniform works,” Loid muttered. Sometimes she was rather dim.

Which did not bode well for Phase Two. Sylvia wanted him to turn Anya into an elite, but he’s long since given up on that.

Anya, hearing this, held back her normal shriek as she looked at him in shock.

On the plus side, he was able to manipulate the roster undercover to increase the mission’s chance of success. Now, Anya would be classmates with Donovan Desmond’s son, Damian.

If the Imperial scholar route doesn’t work, which he expected, he hoped Plan B would. The Friendship Scheme could be useful. If Anya could befriend Damian, the chances of him getting close to Donovan increased greatly.

“Anya Forger.”

Delilah smiled and pressed a kiss to Anya’s cheek as she hopped off her seat. Loid and Delilah watched happily as Anya made her way down.

She was a little awkward in trying to walk towards her class lineup, most likely agitated by everyone watching.

“She’s nervous,” Delilah cooed softly.

“Well, she still gets ill around crowds,” Loid noted in concern.

“I wish I had a camera right now,” Delilah hummed with a slight pout.

Anya stiffly made her way towards her class, quickly picking out the second son Papa needed her to befriend. Anya was not very subtle either, as he noticed her staring.

Of course, he was rather arrogant. His immediate thought process was that she had fallen in love with him at first sight.

That freaked Anya out, cause he wasn’t anything like Papa and she wanted to have a love story just like him and Mama!

So, she stiffly made her way to the back of line, refusing to look at him again.

“Hi!” Another girl walked up behind in line, “I’m Becky! What’s your name?”

Her thoughts were just as bad. She called Anya a baby! Anya wasn’t a baby! Anya might be younger than them, but only Anya knew that! Not even Papa knew! 

So, she decided to ignore her as well.

Loid was ready to puke when he, watching Any intently, saw her being rude to Becky Blackwell. Her family was just as prominent as the Desmonds!

Damn it, Anya! He thought she’d have better social skills from all the other kids in the orphanage!

“Oh,” Delilah noted, “Henderson kept his job.”

“Teaching a new class must’ve been his punishment,” Loid remarked, “Though it could’ve been worse.”

“And now, the students will accompany their teachers on a tour of the campus, then head to their respective classrooms. While they are getting acquainted with the grounds, all the parents are cordially invited to get acquainted with each other in the lounge of Tower C.”

Loid was glad to have that opportunity. He doubted Desmond was here, oddly enough, but he could still connect with other high society members. Anya had ended up in a class filled with rather important figures in both politics and economics. He didn’t even plan for that, only focusing on Damian Desmond’s name.

He truly hoped Anya would do her best.

Anya, hearing this and wanting to assure her Papa, turned to give him a salute. And was promptly scolded for getting out of formation.

Loid twitched, “Starting to worry…”

Delilah hummed, under the assumption his concern was Anya’s wellbeing, “I know it’s hard to see her growing up, but she’ll be okay, Beloved.”

Anya had a hard time keeping up with everything Mister Henderson (Papa told her to stop calling him Half-Glasses Grandpa) was saying as he showed them around the school.

When they reached the dining hall, he began talking about that Scholar thingy her Papa wanted her to do, so Anya tried very hard to pay attention.

“Exhibit elegance in your behavior and grades to receive the eight Stella required to become an Imperial Scholar. So you must all do your very best.”

“Yes sir!” The kids all responded.

“However, those who miss the mark will receive Tonitrus Bolts and face punishment or expulsion.”

Wait, why was he looking at Anya?! Anya didn’t do anything wrong! Anya was a super spy on a super mission!

“Lord Damian is gonna be an Imperial Scholar in no time!” A buck toothed boy with a bowl cut proclaimed.

“I’m counting on it,” the boy raised his head haughtily.

Anya knew he was just like Mama in that regard. Mama was very prideful too. But Mama was also super nice to Anya! So it was okay for Mama to be prideful!

“You’re in for sure!” The other boy, with a pomp full of blond hair, declared.

“I mean, my father is the head of the National Unity Party.”

That immediately got the attention of all the other kids, who began to fawn over him. 

Anya didn’t get it. His dad was the bad guy! They shouldn’t think it was cool! If anything, her Papa was the cool one! 

“Silence!” Henderson called out, “No private chatting!”

Given they were children, rich children at that, they didn’t really listen.

Or rather, Damian didn’t listen, as he spotted the pink haired girl from earlier.

She was cute enough, sure. The dual buns covered in the black cloth added to a certain level of charm. She had been staring at him earlier. Of course, it was obvious she had fallen in love with him at first sight. 

“And what about you? What exactly does your father do?” He asked, approaching her. Anya didn’t like the condescending tone he was using! “If he’s important, you might just have a chance at being my friend.”

Okay Anya! Keep it cool! For the mission!

“A sp-“ NO! Bad Anya! “He’s a feelings doctor.”

Damian snorted. It would explain why he didn’t recognize her then. She must be a commoner, “Sounds like a nobody to me. You’re probably not very rich, either. Pathetic.”

Alright, well time to try the direct approach! “I wanna go play at your house.”

That won her no favors, as the two other boys (clearly Second Son’s minions!), stepped in, “No way! Why would he want you there, ugly? These little peasants are getting too bold!”

“We don’t want your grody peasant germs, loser!” The bowl cut boy pushed her.

That’s it! Time to use her super punch!

But then, Anya remembered what Mama said when she was teaching her.

“You must use these skills wisely, Little One. Someone treating you poorly is not a reason to use force. We may be Forgers, but we are also Al Ghul’s. It is important to keep a level head. If someone at your school tries to bully you, be the bigger person. If that is how they choose to hold themselves, then they are obviously not worth their pedigree. Show them you are superior by not giving them the reaction they desire.”

Mama was really smart and cool! And she wanted Anya to be a part of her super cool assassin family! So Anya must listen to Mama and not give these bad guys the reaction they wanted!

They probably wanted her to cry or get upset. So Anya must do the opposite!

The girl that called her a baby, Becky, had been hanging close to her and didn’t seem to like Second Son or his minions either. “Don’t just stand there and take it! At least call him dumb or something.”

“I don’t care what you have to say” Anya declared, straightening up with an odd smug looking smile on her face.

Damian was immediately angry at how she was mocking him. Becky, on the other hand, was in awe at how she wasn’t letting him get to her. She may be little and cute, but she definitely wasn’t a baby! She was super grown up and mature! “Wow! I’m really impressed at how grown up you are!”

Anya was startled by the words. She had been so distracted with getting back at Second Son, she hadn’t been focusing on the other girl’s thoughts. “I’m a grown up?” She gasped, her weird smile wiping away as she looked at Becky in awe. 

Now more encouraged to continue her smirking, she refocused back to Second Son. That just made him more irritated.

“Don’t get cocky, you dumb ugly, uggo!”

Pomp Hair boy spoke up awkwardly, “Lord Damian, please broaden your vocabulary.”

“For real? She may be uglier than me,” Anya let out a small shriek of shock, gaping at Becky, “But you don’t have to be so rude about it.”

“Shut up!”

That got Henderson’s attention, as he scolded Damian, “You! Must I repeat myself? You can be punished on your first day!”

Damian swore revenge on the pink haired girl for embarrassing him.

As they continued exploring the school, Anya was frequently being harrassed and teased by the three boys. Each time, she simply gave them her weird smile. Soon enough, Becky was frustrated on Anya’s behalf, “If you don’t stop right now, I’m gonna tell the teacher!”

“There’s no proof that we did anything,” Damian said smugly as they strode past her, “Just get outta my way.” He then leered over the smaller pinkette, “Listen uggo. Every day I’ll make it my mission to bully you. When I’m through with you, you’re never gonna smirk like that again.”

Bowlcut Boy giggled behind him, “If she cries, maybe her ‘feelings doctor’ daddy can fix her!”

“Good one!” Damian laughed, “Daddy’s little baby!”

Anya decided then and there that she had enough. Mama said keep a level head.

But Uncle Todd broke his bully’s kneecaps! And she knew Mama approved even if she told Anya to not do that!

Anya glanced down the hall, seeing that Mister Henderson was guiding the rest of their class around the corner.

Damian didn’t like that she was ignoring him, “Hey, look at me, Uggo! Or are you scared?!”

Seeing Mister Henderson was suitably distracted, Anya used Super Punch!

It was super effective!

Second Son was sent flying back into a garbage can. 

And immediately burst out crying, as a red mark welled up on his face.

Henderson bolted over, hearing the commotion and realizing a group of his students had fallen behind, “What’s going on?!”

Bowlcut Boy tattled, “Teacher! This girl just punched Lord Damian, sir!”

“I stuck out my hand and he just ran into it!” Anya lied, trying to exude innocence. She just looked awkward.

Pomp Hair Boy was trying to help the sobbing Damian, and growled at her, “Don’t lie! No one would ever believe that stupid story!”

“Yeah! You even made sure the teacher wasn’t looking before you hit him!”

“There’s no proof that I did anything,” Anya used the exact words they did when harassing her.

“We can all see your fist mark right there on his face, you know!”

Henderson did not miss the infighting of children from the time he had moved up to Housemaster. And it was the Forger girl. And while he did approve of her father’s bout of anger that resulted in the dead mosquito, it showed a possible track record Anya could’ve picked up on. “Surely you’re aware that lying is extremely inelegant, Anya Forger.”

Anya stared blankly up at him, unsure how to convince him. Mama didn’t teach her how to do that yet! 

Thankfully, Becky spoke up, “But sir, that’s not what happened! She was holding back all day but these bullies went too far!”

“So it’s true that you hit him?” He spotted the guilty looks of the two boys that weren’t crying, and was certainly no stranger to how the legacy children behaved towards the first generation. 

“In my youth, I often let my anger get out of control, and sometimes I hurt the people who cared about me. What I am teaching you should be used for times of danger, if you are going to be hurt. Or if someone else is in trouble, and you have to do what you can to help them. Do you understand?”

“I was saving her!” Anya declared, pointing to the surprised Becky. “He stepped on her foot, and that made me really angry. I’m so sorry…”

Becky was immensely heartwarmed and now completely enamored with the smaller girl. She began crying out of gratitude and holding onto the startled Anya as she bubbled her feelings.

Henderson deliberated over the information. Much like her father during the interview, she had a strong sense of justice and only acted on behalf of another. All the while using restraint to her own torment.

Truly elegant, Anya Forger. However….

Meanwhile, with the parents, Loid was correct in his assumption that Donovan was not there. So he was going to introduce himself to the other parents. But Delilah beat him to the punch. He mostly felt like he was a trophy husband here.

Delilah’s thought process was simple. Anya had a better chance to be more accepted if she did the proper networking with the parents of her daughter’s classmates. After all, if they respected them as parents, the more integrated Anya would be with their children following social gatherings.

She would do anything for her Little One. Even if it meant rubbing shoulders and playing nice with rich snobs. 

She may be richer, and yes, prideful, but she earned that right, damn it! 

“Yes, we’re very proud of our Anya,” Delilah said with a noble smile. She was surrounded by a collection of mothers, the center of their attention.

It had started by a few of them asking about her overcoat. Which Loid had noticed was rather pricey. But Franky had slipped him some info WISE caught and found that Delilah was actually well off from her mother’s family wealth.

Which certainly made more sense given the amount of clothes she commissioned from their tailor. And her favorite overcoat was Gucci’s black double G belted wool coat.

He didn’t pay much attention to that before, but he knew the coat alone was close to four thousand dollars.

And some of her favorite formal dresses were straight off the runway.

He did feel a little blindsided by just how wealthy Delilah was, but he figured she simply wanted to live a more simple life without her mother’s influence. She had no hesitation at using her money for him or Anya either.

The only reason she didn’t contribute to Anya’s school supplies was due to his own lie that it was being paid for by her mother’s inheritance. He would’ve liked to use some of that for the castle party, but he couldn’t ask that of her just because of his own inability to say no.

Though realistically, she also sort of strong-armed him into it, so maybe he should have asked her to help finance it. At least then he wouldn’t have Sylvia riding his ass on being more frugal.

Anyhow, Delilah’s fashion sense had simply drawn them in before she began subtly bragging about Anya. None of the other parents noticed, but he counted each time Delilah brought up something of their daughter. Either a commonality between her and their own children, or to make the parent internally compare the two, while putting Anya in a greater light.

She, herself, held an air of superiority that seemed to only intrigue the fellow mothers, as she carried herself as a proper heiress. To an outsider, the scene appeared more like a queen holding court.

It certainly was working in their favor, as they soon received invitations to have tea with the Blackbell’s and the Elman’s.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the students have concluded their tour of the school. Please head towards the banquet hall to greet them.”

Delilah wrapped an arm around his and followed everyone to the hall, where parents were reuniting with their children.

“Where’s Anya?” Loid wondered.

It was then that Henderson approached and took them to an office.

“She punched a boy?!” Loid exclaimed in horror. 

Oh for fucks sake, Anya!

Anya shook in guilt and panic. She ruined the mission! And now Papa would send her back to the orphanage!

“Usually an act of violence would result in three Tonitrus Bolts.” Loid felt his soul leave his body. “But it became one, at my discretion. That was truly the best I could do. And of course, I’ll have to have a word with his parents as well.”

First day of school and she’s not only lost a point, but she may have completely ruined his Friendship Scheme backup plan!

Delilah, however, was trying to get all the information. “Did he hurt you, Little One?” Anya shook her head. “Why would you punch him, then?”

She kept quiet, sniffling as guilty tears welled up.

“You will have to apologize,” Delilah stated firmly, “Unless they hurt you or someone else, you should not use physical force on anyone.”

Psychological, on the other hand. Much different story. She should teach that to Anya.

“I’m sorry, Mama!” Anya sobbed. Loid held in his own sobs. Operation Strix was going down the drain right before his eyes.

“I appreciate the gesture, Little One, but I was referring to the boy you assaulted.”

Henderson, having finished explaining everything to the family, guided them to the courtyard for the First Day photo of their year.

The picture would be discussed at length in Eden Academy’s future as the start of a great legacy. Despite the ill expression on the father’s face, and the teary one on the daughter. 

Chapter Text

Loid was desperate to make Anya reconcile with Damian Desmond. Delilah wasn't really desperate, not understanding the importance of them becoming friends, but she expected Anya to behave like a proper lady. And a lady knew when they made a mistake and how to own up for it.

“Good morning, Beloved,” Delilah strode into the kitchen. She leaned up and gave him a peck on the cheek, before grabbing the finished plates of breakfast to set the table.

It took him a while to get used to her sleepwear. Apparently she preferred silk nightgowns that left little to the imagination.

He worked to brush it off. Even though he really shouldn’t be affected by the sight. He’s seen women wear less than her before, why was this so different?

“Guess Anya must still be in bed, huh?” He remarked.

“Try again,” Delilah hummed, gesturing to the hallway. He turned to see  Anya partly hiding behind the wall, an expression of sad guilt on her face.

She was embarrassed about the fight. And while her behavior was disappointing, there was no use getting on her case about it. The best thing he could do was ensure she made up with Damian Desmond instead.

“Come on, Anya. I’m not mad,” he assured softly, “Now hurry, so you won’t be late.”

“I’m really sorry I’m already so bad at school,” she sniffled, mouth full of the eggs he made.

“We can’t go back and change it. Just be good and try not to get into more fights,” he ordered.

“We do expect you to apologize when you see him, though,” Delilah stated. Though personally, she was glad her daughter had a strong sense of justice like her. And she won that fight, which was equally an accomplishment. But the parenting books she read said that it was important to teach children that violence was not the answer to problems.

She, of course, agreed. Violence was not an answer. It was a question. And the answer was yes.

But she knew her Beloved was horrified by what had occurred. And while she did believe some instances required violence, Anya needed more restraint so she wouldn’t turn out like her when she was a child. 

Her family said she had been a feral bratty gremlin, and she really didn’t want her daughter viewed as such. Anya may have been defending another girl from the boy’s bullying, but she didn’t use her other options first. She should’ve told the teacher, and if that didn’t work, then Delilah would expect her to use force.

Anya perked up slightly at their reassurance. And from hearing that Mama didn’t really disagree much with her actions.

Loid nodded in agreement. “Cheer up. Your classes start today.”

The family finished their breakfast and Anya scurried off to get dressed. 

Delilah shot a glance to her husband and moved to lean against the back of her chair, slowly lifting a leg to cross over the other in an attempt at drawing his eye. “So, Beloved. What should we do when Anya is at school?” 

“Ah, well I actually have to go to work. An emergency came up with a patient,” he said, with an apologetic smile.

He had initially told her he had the day off, which was true. Mondays were technically the psych wards off days (don’t ask him why. It was strange but he had to go along with it to not be suspicious). But given the incident, he thought it best to sneak into Eden to encourage Anya to apologize.

Delilah was immensely disappointed. She had wanted to seduce her husband, damn it! She even took the day off so she could spend the day with him! 

“Oh. I see. Well then I will walk with you to the hospital before going out to do some shopping.”

“Sounds great!” He smiled.

The pair then went to get dressed. When everyone was ready, they went to the bus stop to wait for Anya’s ride. It didn’t take long for it to stop beside them. “Don’t forget to apologize to Damian at school today,” Loid reminded her.

“Yes Papa.” Anya hurried up the stairs.

“Be a good girl!” He called after her. The couple watched as she sat in a window seat and waved as the bus drove off.

“Don’t worry, Beloved,” Delilah wrapped an arm around his, “Our Anya will do fine. Yesterday was simply a small mishap.”

Loid sighed, as they began to walk in the opposite direction, towards his workplace, “I’m still worried.

She nodded, “Yes, I’ve been informed that it is hard to send your child to school. It must be more difficult for you considering, but I’m certain Anya will be okay and make friends. You raised her well. I know she will try to make amends with that boy, like we told her to.”

“I’m just concerned. The boy was a Desmond. They’re an influential family. After what the tailor said, I fear what the consequences of her behavior will be. I don’t want her to be outcasted from the rest of her classmates.” It was just a small fib. His main concern was Damian, due to the ease it would be for Operation Strix, but it was also bad if Anya’s classmates decided they wanted nothing to do with her. Many of those children had just as important families.

Delilah nodded. “I understand, Beloved. I too had been outcasted from my classmates when I attended school.”

Loid furrowed his eyebrows, “You were?” Honestly he didn’t even know she went to school. Her records didn’t include any school documents. It wasn't strange, due to the war. There were many children their age who were unable to attend schools or their records were destroyed by bombings.

With Delilah being four years younger than him, it was possible she attended after the bombings had come to a stop, but there were still no records.

Then again, her background as an heiress had also been hidden from the general public. Franky complained how hard it was to find that piece of information. 

“Yes. Of course, I suppose it was my own doing. I was rather standoffish when I was a child.” 

He eyed her in disbelief. Only as a child? He didn't see much of a difference in her adulthood, excluding their family, at least.

“I thought school was stupid and that everyone around me were idiots.” 

Now, Delilah was a professional. She knew her stories were not matching with her background checks. 

But why would Loid know anything about those records? And even if he did, somehow, she was determined to be honest with him. She did not want their marriage to be based on a lie, after all.

He was her husband, her Beloved, her perfect match. She knew she could trust him, regardless of her Mother’s fears. 

“Of course, not much has changed, but I know how to pretend otherwise now,” she sniffed haughtily.

Loid couldn’t help but chuckle. He knew his wife was a prideful one, and it was amusing sometimes. She smirked in glee at making him laugh.

When they reached the hospital, she leaned up to kiss his cheek, “Have a good day, Beloved.”

He smiled and nodded, “Have fun on your day off.”

Delilah sauntered away, leaving Loid to feign entering the building. Once she was out of sight, he hurried off towards Anya’s school.

Anya swore to herself that she’d do her best to help her Papa’s mission! And that meant apologizing to Second Son! Even if he really deserved the Super Punch she gave him!

And! And her new friend, Becky, even offered to have her driver take her home instead of the bus! So they were practically sisters at that point!

Anya also wanted a brother, though! Maybe she should ask Papa and Mama to get her one! Wait, how does someone get a brother anyway?

Oh! Mama had lots of brothers! She would know!

But there was no time to think about that anymore as she saw Second Son with his minions.

Becky hated them, though, and glared.

“Quick giving us the stink eye, you rude little uggos!” Bowlcut Boy yelled.

“How can you be this obnoxious so early?” Becky scoffed.

She proceeded to bicker with Bowlcut and Pomp Hair as Anya stared at Second Son, trying to figure out how to apologize properly.

“Um,” she stuttered, taking a few steps towards the boys, “I-I, uh…Yesterday, I-“ 

But before she could get the words out, Becky grabbed her hand and dragged her off. “Class is about to start. We should go in case being a moron is contagious.”

“What about World Peace?” Anya cried, stumbling backwards as Becky pulled her along.

Hiding above on the rooftops, Loid was watching Anya carefully, to ensure the success of her apology. He gritted his teeth when she was stopped by her new friend.

The Blackbell girl was a good friend for Anya, considering her family. And Delilah was already making acquaintances with her mother, so that would increase their connection. It would be helpful, particularly as the Blackbells were close business partners with the Desmonds.

It was just the fact that she was getting in the way of their mission now! The longer Anya didn’t apologize for her assault, the worse her relationship with Damian would become!

In class, Anya and Becky were already outcasts. Well, more so Anya, but as Becky was insistent to stay by her, she was outcast by association. The two girls sat in the front row, at the middle table.

And every child moved towards the back. Except for one girl with glasses, but she seemed to want to be up front for the purposes of seeing the board better.

Anya already hated school. All the kids were thinking about how scary she was and that she was gonna hurt them too. Of course, they were also saying those thoughts aloud .

Becky, noticing her friend’s saddened mood, deduced that she could hear their whispering. “I swear, people are so shallow. They’ll believe every little thing they hear if it makes somebody else look bad.”

Anya perked up, hearing the girl defending her, “You’re really smart, milady!”

Becky cooed, “I’m normal, but I appreciate it. Thank you! And I’d rather you call me Becky, not milady.” The teacher then entered the room, calling everyone to sit. Becky quickly whispered to her, “I hope that we can become best friends, Anya! I bet I'm the only one here who knows just how nice you can actually be!”

Anya was used to people saying one thing and thinking the complete opposite. It was normal for everyone to say nice things but think mean ones. But not Becky. Her thoughts were exactly the same as she was thinking. She meant every word.

The other kids scared her, but if she had Becky, then maybe school wouldn’t be so bad. And if she didn’t wanna hear the other kids thinking mean things about her, she just had to focus on Becky!

Her new friend then began to show off her new pen which had a penguin topper, further distracting the pinkette from their gossiping classmates.

“You should put them in their place, Lord Damian,” Emile said, as the teacher began taking roll call, “They’re too cocky!”

Damian huffed under his breath. Emile and Ewan were right. To think such a commoner had the audacity to strike him. He still had a bandage over the bruising! Not even his brother hit him before, an occurrence he knew happened between lesser families. 

She was strong, but her family was nothing compared to his. How dare she defy him! No one had ever done that before!

She was just so…so…!

Anya, hearing Second Son ranting about her in her head, turned to stare at him, fearful that this meant bad things for her apology.

He simply scoffed and moved on to other thoughts, so she focused back to the teacher.

Anya tried hard to follow the instructions the teacher was showing for a math problem. However, she had been so overwhelmed not just by the thoughts of everyone, but also the complexities of the math that she passed out in exhaustion.

Becky woke her up when it was time for their next class. Anya was startled, but quickly looked around for Damian, “Gotta say sorry to the Second Son!”

Becky had quickly gotten used to Anya’s quirks and nicknames, realizing who she was talking about, “You mean Damian? That jerk already left. I’d just leave him alone.”

“But we gotta make up for World Peace!” Anya argued, grabbing her book and pencil case, scurrying off to find him.

Becky hurried after her, confused, “You mean it’ll be bad for your peaceful school world, don’t you? I suppose there's no telling what a boy like that will try to do.” Wanting to make her feel better, Becky hopped onto Anya’s back with a happy hug, “Don’t worry, Anya! Because you’ve got me on your side all the way! And no matter what, I’m gonna help protect you!”

“Oh! It’s okay then!”

Loid, having snuck in disguised as a janitor, was glad the Blackbell girl was already feeling so close to Anya. But did she have to ruin her attempts to apologize?!

Anya, the brilliant esper she was, heard him frantically going over how to tell her the importance of the apology. Of course, Papa wasn’t a telepath like her, so he wouldn’t know she had been trying.

Even more than the mission, Mama expected her to do it! And Mama was super scary!

During science class, they were learning about light reflection. Anya spotted a lit up message shining in the shadows, and was immediately convinced it was a message from God.

And if God wanted her to apologize as badly as Papa did, then she had to do it! What would God do if she didn’t?! Was she gonna be hit by lightning?! Oh no! This was too much pressure!

In reading class, Anya tried to follow along, but the words in her book were very different from the ones being said. 

The bushes of the courtyard had the letters for Sorry spelled out. And an older kid walking by her had a message stuck to his back.

Clearly, the whole world wanted her to apologize!

For lunch, the meals were provided free of charge, prepared by world famous chefs. Anya was a simple girl, though, and wanted Omurice.

The food had the word ‘Sorry’ scrawled all over the plate in ketchup.

Becky was also confused by it, “How odd. I’m never ordering that.”

Lois, disguised as a waiter, was keeping a close eye on Anya, simultaneously acting his role. He perked up when Damian walked in with his two friends.

“Second Son!” Anya gasped, “Gotta apologize!”

Yes, Anya! Good girl!

“Ew! Go eat in your dorms!” Becky taunted, pulling the pinkette back to her seat, “No, Anya. It’s their fault, you know!”

NO! Shut up, Meddling Brat! 

This was not going well. That girl needed to get away from his daughter. 

Loid ignored his role and raced out of the dining hall. Reaching the building office, he was able to distract the secretary away from her post and quickly made an announcement over the speaker, “Attention. Becky Blackbell from Class One-Three, come to the student hall in Tower A immediately. Immediately! ”

In the dining hall, Becky let out a loud groan of frustration, stomping off. Hopefully it wouldn’t take long, cause she was hungry and wanted to eat her spaghetti.

Anya took the opportunity presented to her (also from God? No, wait. That was Papa’s voice! Wait! Was Papa God?!)

She ignored how silent the hall got as she firmly made her way to Second Son’s table. She stiffened her form, like Mana taught her for battle. This was the most important battle so she had to be ready!

His two minions stood up, fists ready for defense, “What do you want?! Here to fight again?!”

“I, uh…”

Bowlcut sneered, “The only reason Lord Damian lost is because you sucker punched him, weirdo!”

“Listen!” She pled.

“Just shut up, you two,” Damian demanded. It was more embarrassing to have them constantly bringing it up. And his cheek still hurt!

Emile laughed, “So you can personally teach this brat yourself, right?!”

They stepped aside, allowing Damian to walk ahead of them, staring the girl down. 

He could already feel his face heat up, freezing as he glared at her. Why couldn’t he yell at her?! Why did it feel like his heart was gonna jump outta his chest?!

Anya, meanwhile, was starting to feel the panic. The faster she apologized, the sooner she could run away! 

It didn't help that the two minions began thinking loudly about so many insults Second Son could use on her. 

“Um!” Creepy Girl. Shrimp. Super Uggo. Psycho Gorilla Girl. “Yesterday, I, uh!” Raccoon Face. Lame Horns. Stubby Legs. Stinky Raccoon. Stupid Stubby Legs.

Anya couldn’t help it. It was all too much for her. All she wanted was to apologize to Second Son for World Peace! But! But!

“I’m, um,” Anya sniffled harshly, fat tears streaking down her cheeks, “I’m really-I’m really sorry! For hitting you!” Damian froze as the girl sobbed helplessly in front of them. “All I wanted-I just wanted to be friends with you! Promise!”

Loid swiftly came back to the dining hall, seeing Anya already confronting Damian Desmond. She was using the crying manipulation technique. Perfectly executed Anya! He was so proud!

Anya began mumbling more apologies that didn't really make sense to him (stubby legs? Where did that come from?). But Damian didn’t care, stumbling back as his face grew more red. 

If she felt so bad that she was bawling, then she really meant what she was saying! All she wanted was to be friends?! That sounds so…so nic-

“Lord Damian, your face is so red!” Emile pointed out, snapping Damian’s inner ramblings.

“Of course it is, dummy! Cause I’m angry!” He declared. “Yeah! That’s it! I’m angry!”

That had to be why he was having problems around her! He was just so angry, he couldn’t properly articulate it before! And so angry that just looking at her frustrated him! 

Yeah! That was definitely why! 

It should be noted that, being only six years old, Damian did not understand feelings very well. 

(This would be pointed out as a reason why he fit in so well with their family very much later in the future.)

Anya rubbed her tears away as much as possible, her glistening, vibrant green eyes peering up at him with an adorable, pleading expression.

“Leave me alone!” Damian exclaimed in embarrassment, “I’d rather die than let you win! I will never forgive you! My pride won’t let me!”

Anya froze in shock, unsure what exactly was happening as his two minions chased after Second Son.

Loid proceeded to drop his serving tray and towel, collapsing to the ground in horror. 

After a long day at school, Anya barely made it through after the incident in the dining hall.

Delilah greeted her, wearing a paint covered smock, “Welcome home, Little One.”

Anya burst into tears again, making Delilah concerned as the girl threw herself into her arms, “Mama!”

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

Anya blubbered into her legs, not caring about the wet paint the would stick to her, “I apologized to Second Son! But, but, he ran away! World peace is ruined, Mama! I failed!”

“Little One,” Delilah murmured softly, picking Anya up. She moved to the couch, sitting back to cuddle closely with her daughter. 

She didn’t fully understand what Anya meant by world peace, but it was most likely just referring to her school life using her obsession with Spy Wars.

Her daughter wasn’t as disinterested in school as she had been in Gotham Academy. The fight must’ve caused a strain with her classmates and Anya felt outcasted.

“Oh, sweetie,” Delilah sighed, caressing her fingers through the girl’s hair. “Listen, Little One. I know it is probably difficult, but you still have that Becky girl, yes? If your classmates are rejecting you over this, then they are not worth your friendship.”

Anga shook her head. Mama didn’t understand. Papa was going to be so upset with her! She sobbed, “But I gotta be friends with him!”

Anya had only hit the boy because she didn’t know how to filter her emotions properly when the boy hurt her new friend. Delilah hadn’t realized it made things more complicated because Anya also wanted to be friends with him .

“I thought you didn’t like the boy,” she said, trying to understand more. Anya gave a shrug, sniffling into her chest. “Little One, if he said no to your apology, there really isn’t much you can do to force him. The only thing I could suggest would be to keep trying. But,” she gently lifted her daughter’s face to meet her eyes, “I am proud of you for trying. I know it can be hard to admit when you did something wrong.”

Delilah then pressed a kiss to her forehead. Anya sniffled, leaning into her touch. “How about we go make Baklava for dessert tonight?”

Anya nodded, despite not knowing what that was.

Thankfully, as she was learning, Delilah found she was better at making her childhood foods than anything else. She wasn’t the best, but they were passable.

They had finished the pastry when Loid finally got home. He must’ve had an exhausting day due to his work emergency, because he was trudging his feet across the carpet and slouching heavily.

“Welcome home, Beloved,” she greeted, pecking his cheek.

Anya fidgeted, playing with her fingers as she guiltily looked up at him, “I’m sorry, Papa. Second Son said no to my sorry…”

Loid held back a sigh. At least Anya tried. She couldn’t help that the boy had no manners. So, he patted her head, “It’s okay, Anya. I’m proud of you for apologizing, even if he rejected it.”

Anya sniffled and gave him a wobbly smile. Delilah watched the pair softly. Loid straightened up, “Alright. I’ll make dinner. Anya, do your homework.”

“Okay, Papa” she nodded, albeit a little reluctantly. But she messed up her mission, so it was only fair.

She certainly tried her best, but it was all just so confusing for her. And she barely understood the teachers when they were explaining. 

The next evening, Loid decided to take over to help tutor her. 

It wasn’t going well.

They were currently going through mathematics, while Delilah took to dusting the apartment. Anya, however, was seeming to get overwhelmed.

Delilah spotted this, but Loid seemed too distracted in trying to explain the solution to her, “The denominator is three, so one third, and if you add three thirds, it would equal to one.”

“Beloved, perhaps it would be time to take a break,” she suggested.

“Not now. We have to get through all of this today,” he retorted. With the Friendship Scheme being DOA, their best bet was to double down on the Imperial Scholar route. “Finish Anya, or no spy cartoon tonight.” Anya gasped in horror, “What’s this answer?”

Anya tried hard, but the only way she could possibly get it would be to read Papa’s mind.

Except he wasn’t thinking of the answer! Only thinking of ways for her to get Stella Stars! And how to avoid Tonitrus Bolts! And ways to tutor her! And ways to sneak in an alter her records!

Papa could think of so many things at once, it was overwhelming her.

Delilah stopped her chores and came over, seeing Anya struggling more. “Little One, are you okay?”

Anya turned to her, teary eyed as she pleaded, “Mama, can you help me?”

“Let’s see,” she hummed, glancing over the next problem, “The denominator is five. That means there’s five parts that equal a whole. So, let’s say I have five pieces of a puzzle. I lost two pieces, how many do I have left?”

“Um….three?”

“Yes,” she hummed, “That means I have three-fifths of the puzzle left. Does that make sense?”

“Um…a little” she murmured. But the more she looked over her paper, and the more she heard both her parents thinking about different things, she became dizzy.

It became too much for her and she ran off crying, “I don’t wanna study anymore!”

“Wait a moment!!” Loid stood up and moved after her.

“Beloved,” Delilah called.

He either didn’t hear her or ignored her, “Anya.” 

“Beloved-”

The girl slammed her door before he could reach her, which he didn’t particularly care for, “Anya Forger!”

“ Loid! ” He froze when Delilah’s harsh voice carried out his name. “Couch. Now .”

It was more so the shock that he slowly obeyed her, leaving Anya alone and stiffly sitting on the sofa. Delilah didn’t say another word, simply bustling into the kitchen to quickly make their evening drinks.

When she finished, she placed his mug into the coffee table, sitting in the loveseat. 

If her tone from before didn’t give it away, her body language did. She was upset. Was she also frustrated with Anya? But then why would she intervene as she did? What did he do? 

Delilah took a sip of her tea before focusing on him, “You’re pushing her too hard.”

Okay, so she didn’t approve of his methods? Though she was the one who affirmed that discipline was a necessity to child-rearing. That wasn’t even a false answer for their interview. He’s seen her parenting books on how to establish a balance with that.

“She has to study to become an Imperial Scholar,” he argued. She needed to be an Imperial Scholar. Operation Strix depended on it.

“I understand. However, it is not something that can be accomplished in a day. It takes time. It's not as though she’s going to become an adult in a week,” she stated, placing her mug down. She reached over and grabbed his hand, “I know you only want what’s best for her and that’s why you’re being so pushy. However, it will only stifle her. I’ve seen it happen plenty of times. You have to let her learn at her own pace.”

Loid began to calm down slightly. Still though, “You know Anya. She hates learning. All she wants to do is play and watch cartoons.”

Delilah hummed, “Yes, but do you think forcing her to leave that behind is going to change her mind on schoolwork? It’s only make her reject it more. And resentment will grow.”

She would know. The amount of bitterness that festered in her towards her Mother took time to dissipate. It took work and many years for her to fully accept her Mother back after facing the reality of just what she lost. Her innocence, her childhood. It was all stripped away from her. 

She was able to piece them back together with help of her father and siblings, but there was still so much she could never get back.

“We will help her along, yes, and make sure she develops healthy habits to keep up with her schooling, but she needs to have some freedoms. And some children have a harder time learning. We just need to find the right way that will help her grasp the concepts,” She assured. “Anya needs more encouragement and for us to meet her halfway. Especially if her school is going to be that hard on her. Not to mention the difficulty she’s having socially.”

Loid sighed, “Yes. You’re right. I’m sorry for my behavior.”

Certainly, he could’ve handled it better. Anya was still so young. And he kept forgetting that. His own childhood had been marred by the war and needing to focus on survival. Anya should enjoy what she can before she has to grow up.

“Not for nothing,” Delilah mused, “But I’m fairly confident that fractions are typically reserved for older children. Seems a bit advanced for first years.” Sure, she learned those around Anya’s age. But it came with the territory of being a child assassin princess.

And technically Anya was also a princess, being Delilah’s chosen heir, but, like hell she’d let the League actually use her in their lineage. Mother was more concerned about bloodlines anyway.

That did bring to mind when she and Loid would give Anya a sibling (and the demands she will make of her Mother to keep the League away), though her focus was more on Anya’s plight right now.

“That’s true,” Loid murmured, “Eden is not the most prestigious school for nothing.”

“Still,” She huffed. She then shook her head, “The best we can do is ensure she’s happy as well. It’s our job as parents to make sure she’s able to handle these responsibilities without being overwhelmed.”

He wasn’t even her real father.

But in the end, that wasn’t the point. He became her father the moment he took on the identity of Loid Forger. The moment he gave her the name Anya Forger. 

Operation Strix depended on him being a proper family man just as much as it depended on Anya’s academic success. And reviewing the past month, he has been failing at it.

Most of his actions were solely to keep the peace of their fake family. He wasn’t trying to be an actual parent to Anya, and that might be the issue. He was treating her as a subordinate, not his child.

He had never been a father before, and it was turning out a lot more difficult than he thought. 

Delilah picked up on his turmoil, and gently squeezed his hand, “Don’t be so hard on yourself either, Beloved. Parenthood is difficult, and we’re going to make mistakes. Anya will still love us, and she thinks the world of us. Remember the interview. Perfect one hundred points.”

Maybe….maybe he wasn’t as bad at this fatherhood thing as he thought.

He breathed out in amusement, “Thank you, Delilah. It means a great deal to hear you say that.” He could take his time with this mission. Things weren’t as simple to speedrun through it. He could use this time to get closer to Anya, to understand her better.

The couple were brought out of their musings by the bell of the grandfather clock.

“It’s late. I’ll get started on the dishes,” Delilah said.

Loid sighed, “I should go talk to Anya now that we’ve had time to calm down.” He moved to her bedroom and lightly knocked on the door, “Anya? Your spy cartoon is about to start.” There was no answer, but it was possible she was pouting. Or crying, which would be worse. 

Well, now he felt awful. He didn’t want to make her cry.

“I’m sorry about earlier. Let’s watch your show first and then we can figure out everything with your studies.” There was still no answer. Even when upset, Anya wasn’t one to ignore them, so he grew concerned. “Anya?”

He typically respected her privacy and only entered her room when she gave permission, but this would be a time he forwent that.

Peering into the room, he found the lights to be shut off. The desk lamp, however, brightly shone over Anya. The girl was slumped over her desk, lightly snoring. 

“That can’t be comfortable,”. He murmured, walking over to carry her to bed. He paused when he noticed her textbook and notebook were sprawled out beneath her.

She had locked herself away because she hated studying, but tried to do it anyway. Most likely because he wanted her to.

“Gotta get good grades” Anya mumbled in her sleep, “Do good for Papa.”

Lood felt a smile grow. She really was a good little girl. A good daughter.

Loid carefully picked her up, taking care to not wake her as he tucked her into bed. “Mama. Don’t kill Papa.”

He raised an eyebrow. Some kind of dream. Probably a leftover from Franky’s castle fiasco. Evil Princess Delilah and Loidman’s fight.

He shook his head, smiling. It felt nice. Delilah insisted Anya thought he was a good father. Seeing how dedicated she was to studying, purely for his sake, gave evidence of that.

Perhaps….it wouldn’t be so bad. To have a ‘real’ family.

“Papa, Mama,” Anya smiled in her sleep. “Give Anya a lil brother.”

Nope. He’s out. Not gonna open that can of worms.

Chapter Text

“Give me your honest estimate of your daughter’s academic performance,” Handler demanded. Their briefing was being held at a small coffee shop, under the guise of old friends catching up. “HQ estimated she’d need to acquire her eight Stella in about four months.”

Twilight shook, while trying to play cool. Handler terrified him, and he knew there was no chance in hell Anya could do that. “Yes. Won’t be a problem.”

“Interesting. Your deceptive skills have dulled.”

Damn it. She was probably lying about the four month time limit too! Just trying to throw him off his game! 

He knew no child had gotten that many in such a short time. Even the best of the best, which also happened to be a son of Donovan Desmond, took longer than four months. 

She was really just testing him. Probably a consequence of his admittance to being off his game lately. He really needs to work on that.

Her not so hidden smirk told him that his deductions were correct. Damn her.

“Moving on, our informant in City Hall has been compromised. The enemy has increased the pressure. So be on your guard, Twilight. Without his information, we’ll know even less about enemy eyes watching you. This country’s counter-intelligence agency is quite draconian.”

“Can you believe what happened this morning?!” Millie exclaimed in their breakroom. “It was just terrifying to watch!”

“I heard the guy they arrested was leaking documents from this office,” Sharon added, taking a drag of her cigarette.

Delilah hummed. Espionage was a difficult task when you had the SSS running around. While she knew of one agency from Westalis, known as WISE, was hidden away within the country, she also knew they were working to the same goal she had. 

Of course, just because her main concern was Ostania restarting the war, it didn’t mean those in Westalis weren’t planning the same. It was just that they got more intel that was more damning for the government of Ostania.

Delilah knew her Mother had League members within the Westalis government, in order to keep an eye on them as well. Just as she did in Ostania. Delilah had recognized a few League members visiting City Hall under pseudonyms.

The SSS did concern her, though. Not that she believed she would be in danger if they decided to investigate her. Her information was kept well hidden. Her Mother anticipated the possibility of the agency trying to dig deeper when she first crafted her new background.

In the many years she had lived, Talia long since came to the realization that the surface cover wouldn’t always work. Some would try harder, even if nothing seemed wrong.

So she added partial truths, squirreled away in the back of her ‘history’. That her family was wealthy, particularly her Mother’s side. 

It also meant Delilah could get away with having her finer wardrobe. Though she had yet to come across anyone who mentioned an inconsistency with the more public knowledge, it was more for agencies like the SSS.

Not even Loid said anything, and he lived with her, so obviously her Mother was a genius in how to craft a false identity and make it work. She counted on the oblivious nature of humans.

“Morning,” Camilla arrived with a yawn.

“Good morning, Camilla!” Millie greeted, as Sharon waved and Delilah simply nodded. “Did you hear what happened? A guy got arrested for espionage!”

“Geez, that’s scary” Camilla remarked, looking put off, “Like, you just don’t know who to trust anymore. The things I tell people, I’d hate for it to get out.”

Sharon sighed, “Enough of such a drab subject. I don’t want to think more about this kind of thing.”

“Yeah,” Millie agreed, before turning to Delilah, “Hey, so, how’s your daughter? You mentioned she was applying to Eden.” More like she told Sharon and the other two were standing by them. Delilah typically avoided talking to them. Mainly Camilla, after the whole party incident. She was very protective of her Mother’s reputation.

“She got in, of course,” Delilah preened. She may dislike the other two peons in this ‘friend circle’, but she’d never pass up the opportunity to brag about her family. “Though one of the interviewers certainly pissed me off.” The three women exchanged an uneasy glance when Delilah’s fist twitched and a small sneer formed on her face.

“It was that Swan guy, yeah? I heard a lot of people complaining about him,” Sharon remarked, “Luckily, our interview was with different teachers. I don’t know if my son would’ve gotten in if we had that guy.”

“Yes, well, I heard he got arrested recently,” Delilah shrugged, “So perhaps they threw out his reports on the potential students.”

“Seriously. They’re cracking down real hard recently,” Camilla muttered. She spoke up a little louder, “How’s your husband, then? He’s gotta be proud.”

Delilah lifted her chin haughtily, “Absolutely. He was so excited when we found out about her entry. He spared no expense in throwing her a celebration for her success. It was adorable how he insisted his coworkers and friends get involved in making her day perfect. He’s quite the attentive father, and the perfect husband. I can’t wait for Mother to meet him.”

Millie choked, “Wait, she hasn’t met your husband yet?! But you’ve been married for a year now!”

Ah, yes. The backdated marriage certificate for the interview. “Mother had been busy with her travels. She only recently returned to Ostania to visit me. I have told her about Loid and Anya, though. She’s looking forward to meeting them tonight.”

“Well I wish your husband luck in meeting his mother-in-law. Mine hates me,” Sharon remarked.

Camilla swatted her shoulder, “All mothers of the husband hate the wife. It’s usually the opposite in the reverse.” Delilah was a bit confused by that. “Speaking of, have you at least met his mother?”

“No. He doesn’t talk about her. And I have not seen any photos of his parents,” Delilah said, more somberly, “I believe his parents are no longer alive. I don’t know for certain, of course, but I do not want to bring it up in case it is a sensitive topic.”

Millie seemed understanding and quickly moved the topic to someone arbitrary before they had to get back to work.

Loid deadpanned, watching Anya be enthralled by her spy cartoon. If only she had that kind of focus towards her studies.

No, no. He and Delilah talked about that. Anya was trying, and that’s the best he could ask of her. Even if she seemed to not understand one bit of it.

“I only got two bullets left!” The main character of her show bemoaned. 

Damn, this show was so inaccurate to real spywork. Why did she love it so much?

Anya paused her show, looking back at him curiously, “How many bullets can Bondman’s pistol have?”

“If I remember correctly, I believe that it holds eight, right?”

“He’d got two-eighths!” Anya declared.

Loid was startled, but that quickly gave way to excitement, “That’s right! Good job, Anya!”

“He’s got two-eighths bullets left!” Anya affirmed giddily.

“So you actually know what that means?” He asked, thinking hard on the meaning of this new development. She was learning schoolwork from the cartoon.

Delilah said they just needed to find what worked for her. Maybe this was what they needed. Anya was obsessed with Bondman, so if they combine that with her studies, maybe she’d understand it more easily.

Delilah arrived home from work, carrying a bag of groceries.

“Welcome home, Delilah,” he greeted, his proud smile not wiping away.

“He’s got two-eighths bullets left!” Anya informed her Mama, pointing to the tv.

Delilah appeared confused as she handed the bag to Loid so he could start making dinner. He explained for her, “She figured out the fraction for how many bullets Bondman has left in his pistol.”

The woman smiled proudly at her daughter, “Well done, Little One! I’m so proud of you!”

Anya began to dance around happily, “Two-eighths bullets! Two-eighths bullets!”

“You were right,” Loid remarked, the couple watching the girl pick up Mr. Chimera and bounce around, “She just needed to find a different direction.”

Delilah nodded, “I myself needed a different perspective to learn, as well.” Granted it was by counting body parts of a corpse, but still.

Anya squawked and froze, catching the thought of her Mama. The two looked at her in concern, but she quickly played it off as simply tripping.

“Are you ready to meet your Jadda, Little One?” Delilah asked, getting out the dishes Loid needed as he gathered the ingredients.

“Jadda?” Anya asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“Your Grandmother,” she explained.

Anya squealled, “Grandma! Anya has a grandma!”

If she wasn’t certain before about the status of her in-laws, she was now. Anya's reaction meant either Loid lost his parents, or he went no-contact. 

“I’ve already set out the lovey-dovey couple stuff so that your Mother does not get suspicious,” Loid said, as he began cooking.

Right. Their ‘cover’. Certainly he had no reason to believe she'd been completely honest with her Mother about their marriage. Well, for his sake of mind, she’d let him continue thinking that.

After all, he was still under the assumption that their marriage was for convenience. Once she is able to fully seduce him, that would no doubt change.

For now, she’ll let him keep his silly little lie.

Peeking into the bedrooms, she giggled at the very pink and red bedding. The ‘Yes’ pillows were hilarious. She did very much like the photoshopped frames of them in various loving positions. She’ll have to convince him to make real ones with her.

For his ‘cover’.

He seemed a little embarrassed by the set up, though.

When Loid finished making their dinner, Anya, the good girl she was, helped Delilah set the table with four plates instead of their usual three.

Talia was a very punctual woman, as she arrived right at six.

Delilah knew the woman had been stalking them through the windows, though. She could also see her mother’s two ‘guards’ from the League.

Not that her Mother needed them, but she was always prepared for an ambush.

“Hello Mother,” Delilah greeted, letting her in.

“Little One,” the older Al Ghul replied fondly, pressing a kiss to her cheek. Anya scurried over, clinging to Delilah’s leg as she peered up at the woman who looked so much like her Mama. Talia met her gaze, “This must be the granddaughter you told me of.”

“Ah!” Anya gasped, “Hi, Ja-um,dah?”

“Call me Jaddati,” Talia cooed, tapping her nose. Her daughter was attached, so, despite her reservations, she would at least accept her stepdaughter. Plus the girl was rather cute.

“Jaddati!” Anya cheered. Grandma liked her already! This was great! 

“Mother, this is my husband, Loid,” Delilah introduced, gesturing to her husband as he stood beside her. 

He hesitated, but placed a hand around her waist, for appearance’s sake. He then held out his free hand, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, ma’am. Delilah has told me much about you.”

Talia and Delilah exchanged a discreet glance. At her urging, Talia reached out with a smile, shaking his hand, “Here as well. I’m happy my daughter has found someone to settle down with.”

“You’re just in time for dinner. Loid made mujadara.”

“It certainly smells good,” the assassin complimented.

Settling down at the table, Anya poked and prodded her bowl, pouting. Sure, Mama made her that one dinner with just veggies, but that had looked good! This looked like mush and she knew it was also just veggies!

Loid shot her a scolding look for yet again being picky. Usually he made a separate meal for Anya when Delilah was craving her native food, but he knew how important it was to impress his in-law. She could ruin things for Operation Strix if she disapproved of them.

Plus he worked hard to learn these recipes specifically for Delilah. A-and her Mother, of course! He needed to keep them happy, after all! That was the only reason!

“Anya, please at least try it,” Delilah said, having easily noticed the girl avoiding eating.

She pouted further, but she didn’t want to make Mama and Grandma upset. Plus the mission was at stake!

So, she reluctantly took a bite of her food. 

It wasn’t bad , but she still didn’t like it. She wanted peanuts!

“She’s like you, Little One,” Talia mused, gracefully eating her meal, “You were quite picky as a child.”

Delilah flushed. At the League she only liked certain food and would demand for it. It was usually granted to her, being the heiress of their sect. 

However, that had been a trait long since removed following meeting Alfred. The old butler always gave her the Look of Disappointment™ when she complained about what he made for dinner. It always guilt-tripped her into trying his food.

She cleared her throat, to avoid acknowledging her embarrassment, “Anya, if you eat your dinner, you can have peanuts for dessert.”

Anya gasped in excitement and began eating her food with more enthusiasm.

“I don’t like that we have to bribe you into trying new things,” Loid murmured in disappointment.

Talia chuckled, “Children are the best negotiators. Delilah tended to command the room when she was younger.” 

Said woman shot her Mother a raised eyebrow. It was odd for her to be so openly discussing the truths of her youth with strangers. Not that Delilah considered her Beloved as a stranger, and she certainly had already been giving hints of her real life to him, but her Mother had yet to actually approve of him.

Granted Loid most likely thought her Mother was using a metaphor for her general presence, not the fact that they had assassins and servants at their beck and call, but still.

Loid began to scold Anya for her poor table manners, as she all but shoveled her food into her mouth. Delilah chuckled and reached over to wipe her mouth, as well as attempting to teach her how to eat with more grace.

Talia watched the small family, a soft fondness in her eyes. She could not recall a time where her daughter was so relaxed and just….happy.

Well, she would suppose that was her own fault. She had not been a good mother. Even now, she would be wary to say she was one. 

It would be a lie to completely blame her father. She grew up under his cruel leadership, and she knew that was certainly a part of where her behavior came from. But it was still her own choice to treat her daughter so harshly in her youth. 

She did acknowledge that her father would have shown no leniency, if she had been kinder and softer on Delilah. Either to herself or her child. Delilah was his heir, yes, yet even with everything that had occurred, he had still been so hard on her. It would have been worse if she had been found lacking in her position. So, for as much as her actions hurt her daughter, they also protected her. But it was still no excuse, and she recognized that.

She was getting better. She knew she was, as Delilah would have rejected her otherwise. Her Beloved knew that feeling well.

“Where is she?” Batman growled out, glaring down at the female assassin.

Talia cooed, “Why, Beloved, whatever do you mean? What ‘she’? Did your kitty cat go off without you again?”

“Don’t play games with me, Talia” he leered over her, “Where is Delilah?”

Talia narrowed her eyes, immediately on the defensive, “You lost my daughter?”

“Our daughter,” he corrected, on a subconscious level, “Did you take her?”

“Be as we may have our differences, I do care about you,” she huffed, “I would at least inform you if I had sent my assassins to steal her away. What happened?”

Batman snarled under his breath, though she could tell it was more so out of frustration. “She’s gone. We don’t know where or how. She didn’t show up for breakfast. The only ones capable of sneaking into the manor would be the League.” It was just the truth. They learned after testing each new security measure, so they tended to be a step ahead. 

Not to mention most common criminals were wary of attacking the Wayne family at their home base. There weren't many escape routes outside the home (given it being on the largest hill in Gotham), and it had already been a known secret that the family’s butler, old as he may be, was a crack shot with zero aversion to guns.

“Have you considered, perhaps, she left of her own volition?”

He averted his gaze, appearing to feel guilty. As her Beloved tended to do, he was blaming himself for that possibility. 

“I will search for her,” Talia affirmed, “And I will let you know when I find her.”

Because it would not be an if. 

The family soon found themselves sitting around the coffee table, with Anya scurrying to the television. Sure enough, Spy Wars was on. She hurried back and stood beside Talia, who was sitting on the loveseat. “This is my favorite show!”

“I see,” Talia smiled, patting her head, “Could you explain the show to me? I, personally, am not a huge fan of television, so I’m afraid I’m a bit lost.”

Anya began to spiral into a large rant about how awesome Bondman was and how he and Princess Honey were soulmates, and that the evil spy guys always lost to Bondman because he was so much cooler.

Delilah and Loid shared an amused glance as Talia played along with the little girl, nodding and humming at the right moments. 

“So, how did you meet?” Talia asked the couple as Anya went back to watch her show. She knew, yes, but she mostly wanted to hear the man’s side of the story.

“We met at a boutique Delilah frequents,” Loid smiled.

Delilah straightened up with pride, “He kept staring at me. Which is not unusual, of course. I am quite beautiful.”

Loid rolled his eyes in amusement. Talia chuckled, lightly primping her hair, “Of course you are, Little One. I am your mother.”

Well, guess that’s where his wife got it from. It was true, though. He’s met plenty of attractive women, but the Al Ghul’s seemed to be on another level. “I was just in awe at her beauty.”

Anya’s eyes sparkled with glee, glancing back at her parents. “Papa is flirting with Mama!”

Loid jolted, his face flushing heavily. He held back his automatic denial, if only for his mother-in-law’s sake.

Delilah giggled behind her hand as Talia smirked. 

The conversation turned meager as time ticked away. But as the cartoon came to an end, Anya perked up again, “Mama, it’s bedtime!”

As always, her little girl was very punctual with their routine. Delilah stood as Anya hurried over to Talia. “I have to go to sleep now. Mama said it’s really important for big girls to go to sleep on time.”

Talia nodded, “Sleep is very important.”

“Good night, Jaddati! I love you!” Anya proclaimed, hugging the woman’s leg.

Talia was stunned for a moment. Now she could see why her daughter became so easily attached. Just like her father. One clingy child and she was hooked. She patted the girl’s head, “Good night, Littlest One. It was very nice to meet you.”

Anya beammed and scurried to Delilah, tugging her hand, “Mama tuck me in?”

Delilah smiled, and glanced at the other adults, “Will you both be alright alone while I get her settled?”

“We’ll be fine, Little One,” Talia shooed her off. It was more so implied she wanted to use the opportunity to interrogate her husband.

Poor man wouldn’t know what hit him. 

Loid nodded when she glanced at him. So, she went off to tuck in their daughter. “I’ll be right back,” Delilah said, before leaving her mother and husband alone in the living room.

Talia’s eyes traced after her Little One, waiting for her to disappear from her gaze. Once she did, the assassin turned her attention to the (spy) man across from her. “So. You are my daughter’s Beloved.”

Of course she knew who he was. She was the acting leader of the League (as her father had, yet again, gone off into battle with her Beloved’s family and gotten himself killed). The moment her daughter gave her blessing, she sent any and every assassin she could to dig up his information.

The League had eyes and ears in all ‘secret’ organizations. WISE was no different. Why else would she allow them to find cracks in her and her daughter’s backstories? 

As if Talia was so incompetent to not cover all of their bases. No. She allowed it to falter for her son-in-law’s sake only. Best he understand just how far out of his league her Little One was.

Though she was rather amused to find her daughter had quite the following amongst many of the agents who had witnessed her interactions with their Legendary Spy. 

Loid (Twilight) sent her a (fake) smile, “Ah, yes, that’s what she calls me. 

A small snort escaped Talia, “Yes, I suppose you would be oblivious to the connotations of that name.”

His surprise and confusion were genuine, “I, I’m sorry?”

Talia placed her glass of wine onto the coffee table in front of her, “Tell me, has my daughter told you anything regarding our familial bonds?”

“You mean her father?” He attempted to clarify, “She told me that he was not very affectionate but he did love her. She also mentioned how much she misses him.” 

Talia sighed, “Yes. Beloved was never much one for obvious affection.”

Loid furrowed his eyebrows, “You called your husband Beloved?”

She didn’t bother hiding her sly smirk, “Oh, of course. It’s what all us Al Ghul's call the one whom we fall in love with.” Her smirk widened when the man choked. 

Loid’s mind began racing.

His and Delilah’s marriage had been for convenience. That had been the agreement they set out. To help him get Anya into Eden and to keep suspicion off of Delilah for the sole ‘crime’ of being single.

Those were the terms they laid out. And both were perfectly fine with the arrangement. After all, Delilah was the one to suggest it firstly.

It shouldn’t really shock him so much to hear those words from his mother-in-law. This could be easily explained.

Of course Delilah wouldn’t tell her mother she had entered a loveless, though amicable, marriage. To, at the very least, spare her the wariness.

So if she grew up hearing her mother call her father Beloved, knowing they adored one another, it would make sense she would naturally call him that out of habit and to keep themselves appearing a normal loving couple to her mother.

Yes, that’s right. It was merely part of the act.

Talia could practically read his mind as her newly minted son-in-law calmed himself, clearly mentally explaining away it being coincidence.

But Talia was stubborn, and like hell was she going to let this man take advantage of her Little One, whether he realized it or not. “You may think your marriage is simply for convenience, but I do not regret to inform you that my daughter has fallen hopelessly in love with you.”

Her smirk split open into a grin when he appeared to start seizing.

No. She had to be wrong. Delilah certainly wasn’t in love with him. That wasn’t part of the plan!

However, the more he thought about it, the more her behavior began to make sense. 

Delilah has shown time and again that she was not affected by much, keeping a near straight face with everything.

Except for him and Anya.

Her loving and caring for Anya was fine. It meant Anya was happy and a happy Anya meant good things for Operation Strix.

But falling in love with her fake husband was not!

Operation Strix would end, no matter how long down the line it may be. But no matter how many years it may take, it will end.

And when the mission was over, Loid Forger would disappear and Twilight would return to his normal missions. 

He planned on Anya being cared for by Delilah when he left. He planned for Delilah to know and be prepared to act the part of a grieving widow.

He did not plan for her to actually become a grieving widow. 

Twilight was top tier in his field. It wouldn’t be the first heart he broke. Karen being a good example (though he knew well enough she wasn’t actually in love with him, regardless of what she claimed.)

But…

“My daughter is brilliant and smart on her feet, but she is horribly naive and unaware when it comes to social cues. I blame her father.” And his brood, of course. Talia picked up her glass and carelessly swirled her wine, “Let me tell you right now, Mr Forger. If you break my Little One’s heart, I will break you. And no amount of protective detail will stop me.” Highly trained or not, Twilight was still under her centuries of training and experience. Her Beloved would also be able to handle him, though perhaps with more difficulty due to his older age and refusal of using the Pit.

“….noted.”

Talia nodded, proud of herself for intervening before her Little One could be hurt. “I care deeply for my daughter. And you deserve to understand exactly the kind of situation you have found yourself in. Even if you were to distance yourself or perhaps even divorce her, my Little One will not stop loving you. It’s a curse. Once an Al Ghul falls in love, no one else will do.”

Talia theorized it was a curse from the Lazarus Pit. An exchange for the eternity of use. The curse of falling in love with one you could not be with. Delilah had the blood of Pit users in her veins, regardless of the fact that she never used it. But perhaps that would be her saving grace. She certainly hoped her daughter would have better luck then her predecessors.

Loid was silent, mind debating how to proceed, “…And, how would you like me to continue.”

“Personally I would rather have you realize the perfect gem my Little One is and equally fall for her. One day perhaps” Talia shrugged, “But you aren’t an Al Ghul by blood. So that will just take some time. For now, I just ask that you care for her and keep her happy. She has been alone for a long time and she needs a proper family to stay with her.”

He slowly nodded. Care for her and keep her happy. He can do that.

But he would not fall in love. Never.

“Apologies” Delilah said, finally reappearing, “Anya had misplaced Mr Chimera. It took some time to find him.” She settled back into her seat beside Loid, not truly noticing the slight tension he gained by the brushing of their shoulders, “I hope mother hasn’t frightened you terribly much, Beloved.”

“Not at all” he sent her a (fake) smile. “She loves you very much.”

Delilah preened as Talia sent her a small smile. 

When Talia found Delilah, the seventeen year old was living within an abandoned house on the streets of Budapest. She hadn’t been there long, obviously.  Talia taught her daughter well. If she was avoiding being found, she would be constantly on the move. 

Of course, given their track record and Delilah’s volatile nature, she immediately engaged in battle.

Her time training under her father made them evenly matched, to Talia’s satisfaction. It had been precisely why she left her child with her Beloved. The two found themselves in a stalemate before Talia gained the upper hand.

However, when she found Delilah to have yielded, she withdrew, allowing her daughter a respite.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, Mother.” It was not a question, but a demand. Her daughter had grown more ornery as well. Just like her father.

“I have been searching for you since your father accused me of kidnapping you,” she shrugged nonchalantly, “And now I have found you.”

Delilah only became more adverse, “So what? You plan to take me back to him? Or are you going to drag me back to the League?”

Talia sighed, “No, Little One. If you wish to continue this path, I will not intervene. I just wanted to make certain you were safe.”

“Right” she scoffed in disbelief, “And I’m supposed to believe that because?”

Talia frowned, “Contrary to what you may think, I do love you, my daughter.”

“You tried to kill me and replace me with a clone,” Delilah deadpanned, referring to her failed cloning experiment. Though Heretic was truly only a failure in that he had turned out male due to a misstep in the process.

Well, and the fact that he just couldn’t measure up to Delilah in battle. 

Talia pursed her lips, “Well I won’t deny making mistakes.”

“Pretty big ‘mistakes’” Delilah retorted with a small sneer.

Talia lowered her gaze in a sense of shame, “I know. I….I am sorry, Little One. I’m not perfect. All I wanted was for you to succeed. To take your rightful place as Heir to the Demon’s Head. After searching for you for so long, I’ve….come to realize I have not been a good mother. And I am sorry.”

Delilah was quiet, examining her closely as she deliberated with herself. Soon, though, she spoke, “I…am okay with you, checking in on me. I love you, Mother. But, I’ve grown up. I know what a healthy bond looks like now. I need you to respect my boundaries for this to work.”

Talia nodded slowly.

Delilah sighed, finally relaxing her muscles, “I missed you.”

The older woman smiled softly, “And I you, Saghirati.” 

She was happy for her daughter. And she prayed to the gods of old that they would spar her the agony their cursed blood spelled for her. 

She may be dubious of how this man would treat her daughter, but it couldn’t be denied he at the very least cared about her in some capacity. So, for now, she could be agreeable.

“Oh my, I completely lost track of the time,” Talia falsified. She sent her daughter a quirked eyebrow when Loid turned to check the clock. 

Delilah brightened, easily figuring out her mother posing an attempt to help her. It was pretty much the closest to verbal approval her husband was going to get. Loid remarked, “I suppose we just got caught up in our conversations.”

“Mother, your hotel is rather far. Will you be alright getting back?” Delilah asked, voice tinged with worry.

Talia waved her off, “I’m rather spry. I’m sure it’ll be fine, Little One.”

Delilah sent a pleading look towards Loid, who was already seeming to waiver towards the conclusion they wanted. Thankfully, he was a very loyal husband. “We do have another room you could stay in.”

“Oh, but I couldn't,” Talia sighed.

“I insist” Loid argued. “It’s better to be safe than sorry. Delilah will be very upset if anything happens to you on the way back.”

“Please, Ummi,” Delilah pleaded, easily slipping into her role.

“Well,” Talia feigned being hesitant, “If you are alright with it, then I do not mind.”

“Of course not,” Loid assured, standing up from the couch, “I will go get the room ready.”

When he was out of sight, Delilah reached over to her mother, grabbing her hand excitedly. Talia exchanged a playful smirk with her, the two laughing quietly at how easily they lured the man.

“I’ve set out new bedding for you, ma’am” Loid said, returning soon to the giggling pair. 

“Might as well call me Talia, at the very least” she suggested, standing up. Delilah guided her to the room as Loid cleaned up the dishes. 

“Thank you,” Delilah said softly when the two were alone in her bedroom. 

Talia hummed and shrugged, “Yes, well. Who am I to refuse you your Beloved. Goodnight, Saghirati.”

“Goodnight, Ummi.”

Loid had finished cleaning up, so the couple made their way to his bedroom. 

“She likes you,” Delilah stated proudly. Not just of her Beloved getting approval, but also in scamming her husband into letting her sleep with him. In the most literal sense right now.

A true, ‘And there was only one bed’ situation, as Brown would call it.

“She does, huh” He murmured, not truly believing it. The woman would shoot him glares, with a mix of smug amusement in them. She didn’t really approve. Because she knew it was all fake, and she wanted her daughter to have a husband who loved her. “You, are rather close.”

Delilah smiled fondly, “Yes. At least, we are now. We were not so much in my youth.”

“Oh?” That surprised him. The pair had been rather affectionate, from what he had seen. Then again, he didn’t have much experience with a motherly bond, outside what he saw between Delilah and Anya. [Redacted] barely remembered his mother.

She nodded, “Mother had not truly understood much about family. Grandfather was a harsh man and had incredible expectations. Those expectations were placed upon my own shoulders from the moment I was conceived. Mother and I had, a falling out, of sorts, when I was ten. I had gone to live with my father’s side of the family for a while. I had a falling out with them as well, and decided to live on my own. After a year of doing so, Mother reached out to me and we were able to reconcile.”

“That’s good. I know many have a hard time fixing broken bonds” Loid remarked. However, he was swiftly distracted when Delilah brazenly took off her shirt. He yelped and quickly spun to face the wall, “A little warning, next time!”

She simply laughed, coyly asking, “What’s the matter? I’m simply getting dressed for bed.”

“Yes, but-” He choked, embarrassed. It was an odd feeling. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t seen women without clothes on before, so he didn’t really know what was wrong with him. Then again, he was typically prepared for the situation due to being part of a mission, so….

Delilah knew how to play to her strengths. One such, being an understanding of how her Beloved’s mind worked. He was dedicated to his ‘cover’, thus, until she could successfully seduce him properly, that was what she had to use to ease him into things. “You know, if you can’t handle so much as seeing me in a bra, I don’t know how people will take it when we inevitably go swimming. It certainly would be strange for a man who had not only been married before, but had married his new wife a year earlier, to get so flustered seeing her in a swimsuit.”

Loid realized the truth of her words. She was wearing what was tantamount to a bikini, after all (and knowing his wife as he did, she definitely wore one for swimming. She was very proud of her body). People would gossip about his inability to even glance at her without getting embarrassed. 

For the mission, Twilight.

Of course, Delilah enjoyed teasing him, so by the time he turned around, mentally prepared to see her in little clothing, she was already wearing her nightgown. It wasn’t much of a difference, given her legs were fully on display, but it was more than just her lingerie.

Loid slumped, mostly out of humiliation as she giggled at him.

She happily climbed into the bed, lounging suggestively as if she owned it, staring at him. She smirked and fluttered her eyes, “Well? Aren’t you going to join me, Beloved?”

He grumbled with a dark red flush across his cheeks, swiftly changing into his pajama pants and t-shirt.

She was a bit partially disappointed he didn’t sleep with his shirt off. She had seen glimpses of that eight pack, and was eagerly waiting for it to be full on display at some point.

“Do you, perhaps, want to move a pillow between us?” Loid asked. Or rather, nearly begged. Not that he would ever admit it. Not even to himself. 

Delilah beamed, “Nope! Goodnight!”

Brown would be so proud of her. Only one bed, indeed.

Chapter Text

Loid woke up the next morning to find his wife was actually a cuddlebug. He wasn’t really sure how to deal with the fact that certain….assets, of her had been wrapped around his body, like a sloth to a tree. 

So he carefully extracted himself from her and left the room, fully pushing it out of his mind. It was one of those thoughts that he was just not going to bother dealing with.

Like the possibility that his wife actually had feelings for him. Not going to think about that at all.

Delilah would love to say it was a planned effort on her end. That her husband woke up to find her body intertwined with his in a very suggestive way. 

But no. It was her deepest secret, even from her time in the League. She’d recieve no respect if any of them found out she cuddled whatever was closest to her in her sleep. Missions that required resting points? She’d volunteer to keep watch. Like hell was she going to fall asleep and have one of the other assassins discover her terrible secret. Well, there was also the fact that she couldn’t risk sleeping around them in general. Trust did not exist in the League. 

Her training meant she was a very light sleeper, so she woke up when her Beloved did. That was when she decided to just feign sleeping still, and play along, for the sake of her seductions. 

But he wouldn’t bring it up, and she couldn’t, given he thought she was asleep through his escape attempt.

Loid, meanwhile, had more concerning thoughts running through his mind.

Given he had a hard time falling asleep (don’t judge him, alright! You try sleeping with a woman that had the body of a goddess curling up beside you!), he was going over the evening prior.

And things weren’t adding up.

Yes, he knew Delilah wasn’t completely honest about who she was. Her fortune being a large piece purposefully hidden away. And while that could be explained with ease (she did so hate rubbing shoulders with the wealthy), she had been sharing more things that didn’t coincide with what he knew from WISE’s background check.

Talia’s background was even more muddled. They couldn’t find much aside from her birthplace being in Tibet, and that she was the daughter of a noble family. She had also tended to travel even before meeting her late husband.

Delilah had said she lived with her father's side of the family. But according to their files, Bruce Waldmann was an only child and had no remaining family on his side. She claimed to have attended a private school, but she had no paperwork of such. The war did have a big effect on records like that, but private schools were a little more anal about their files, even during wartime.

And there was the fact that she stood on equal footing during their sparring. It was a clear indicator of professional training.

There was only so much he could ignore out of good faith before he had to focus on the risks it poses for his mission.

He liked Delilah, he really did. She had her faults, as everyone did, but she was a wonderful mother to Anya and he would admit to viewing her as a friend of sorts.

But there was too much weighing against her. Operation Strix had to come first. He couldn’t take the chance that she wasn’t a spy or secret police.

There were a lot of arrests coming from her workplace at Town Hall. It could be a coincidence. It could be that the Secret Police were smart and expected spies to be working in government positions.

Except that dreaded question kept entering his mind. 

What if?

“Good morning, Mother,” Delilah said as Talia appeared, not a hint of sleepiness on her face nor a hair out of place. She was obviously a morning person like her daughter.

The same couldn’t be said about their daughter.

Anya was barely functioning as she waddled out of her bedroom. She even confused their living room plant for him.

“Go get washed up for breakfast, Anya,” he said, lighting pushing her away from the wall she was about to walk into.

She mumbled and wandered off towards the bathroom.

“You aren’t going to stay for breakfast?” Delilah asked, noting her mother already putting on her shoes. 

“No, Little One,” Talia said, a smile on her face, “I have business to attend to in the countryside, so I must head off now.”

Which meant she probably had a job for the League right now. Delilah nodded, hugging her lightly. “I will talk to you later then.”

“Wait!” Anya cried, rushing back into the room, clearly more awake than before. She scurried over to Talia and hugged her leg. This only slightly startled the woman, “Bye, Jaddati! Come back soon!”

Talia patted her head as Delilah smiled. She picked up her daughter and cuddled with her. The assassin used the other woman’s distraction to turn towards her son-in-law and narrowed her eyes slightly, raising an eyebrow. 

He cleared his throat awkwardly when she discreetly gestured to her daughter. He still had reservations on her claims, but it was best to just play along with her. He gave her a (fake) smile, “Have a safe trip, Talia.”

She hummed, exchanging an amused glance with her daughter, “I will, yes. Take good care of my Little One.” The ‘or else’ was left hanging in the air.

And with that, she was gone.

Leaving the Forger family to their morning routine. 

Settling at the table, the family began eating.

Talia was a frightening woman. Sure, she put on the air of being a normal woman, but something was putting him off. Perhaps it was how certain she was of Delilah’s ‘feelings’ and it was just making him uncomfortable.

Or, it was something more nefarious. Which would coincide with all the inconsistencies of Delilah’s stories of the past and her background check.

Anya gapped at her Papa. He was suspicious of Mama! This was bad! Really bad! Yeah, Mama was a super cool assassin, but she was working for World Peace™, just like Papa! And she was a superhero before!

Anya didn’t like thinking about superheroes. That place always told her how important it was for her to take over for them. That she had to be better than them. 

Anya didn’t like thinking about that place. So Anya won’t think about the superheroes either.

But Mama was different cause she was Mama, so it was okay! Mama was an Assassin now, which is so much cooler, ya know! 

Papa and Mama would have so much in common, but….

Papa would not wanna be with Mama if he thought she was a bad guy. And then Anya won’t have Mama anymore!

“Papa! Mama is-“ she cut herself off. If she answered, they’d want to know how. 

And if she told them, she won’t have either of them.

Her parents looked at her curiously, so Anya lied. “Mama is really pretty, right?”

Loid choked as Delilah sent him a sultry gaze, “Oh? Is that true, Loid?”

He stammered, avoiding her (beautiful) eyes, “Y-yes.” Nothing wrong with being honest. It was an objective fact, that’s all!

Delilah practically glowed.

As everyone prepared for their days, Twilight came to a decision. 

Operation Strix was too important to take the chance that Delilah wasn’t involved in shady business. Or even worse, an opposing organization.

“Delilah.”

“Yes, Beloved?” She turned to him as she buttoned up her coat. Her eyes were dazzling, full of trust that Loid immediately warred with himself about breaking it.

But Twilight forced himself forward, running a swift hand under her shirt, “You just have something on your collar.” 

“Ah,” Delilah blinked, confused, “How strange. I am usually better at spotting lint.”

“It’s no big deal,” he smiled.

Honestly, she was hoping he was going for a kiss, but she supposed it was still a bit early for him to try making a move. He truly was a shy one, after all.

As Anya prepared to board the bus, she glanced back at her parents cautiously. 

“Is….something wrong?” Loid asked, curiously.

“Papa, Mama, you two need to be good and get along,” she decided. 

The couple were confused, “We’re not even fighting.”

“Everything is fine, Little One.”

“Though, while we’re on the topic, you need to get along with your classmates.” Loid said.

Anya immediately began to climb up onto the bus, worried about their future, “Kay.”

“So, how’d your dinner go? Did you mom like him?”

Loid had been scoping Town Hall from afar, listening in closely as she went about her day. So far, it was just normal, average conversations with her coworkers. 

Or…it was more like they talked over her, and she stood by just listening. She only really spoke up when the one woman, Sharon, asked her something.

Delilah hummed, “Mother approved.”

“Seriously? That’s it?” The one woman, Camilla, whined. That was the one who tried to humiliate his wife at the party. Why she was still hanging around her was beyond him.

“What else would you expect?” Delilah drawled.

“I don’t know. An argument or an outburst or something! Ya know, I once heard of a mother-in-law who brought her daughter’s ex to the first meeting with the current boyfriend!”

“You say that like you’d know if Delilah had an ex” Millie remarked. Her statement was more innocent in nature, but Loid knew that would be used as ammunition.

“Oh!” Camilla giggled, “Sorry, Delilah. Guess your husband’s lucky to be the first, huh?”

“Camilla,” Sharon huffed.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but this is not my first relationship,” Delilah droned, sounding utterly bored. He could hear the light taps of her keyboard as she worked.

Wait. What?!

What about that whole, ‘Al Ghul's only love once’ spiel from her mother?! He was right! She was completely incorrect!

“No way! Seriously?!”

“Do you believe me to be solely incapable of gaining a romantic partner?” Delilah questioned, a small hiss under her breath at the woman’s audacity. “In case it’s escaped your notice, I am clearly the most attractive person in this building.”

Sharon snorted, obviously finding gleeful amusement in Delilah’s arrogance. But hey, it was true.

Camilla scoffed, taking offense while Mille tried to keep the peace, “So, uh, what were your other relationships like?”

Delilah sniffed, “Bland, compared to my marriage. My husband is so far out of my exes leagues.”

“Wait, how many boyfriends have you had?!” Camila gasped, sounding scandalized.

Which was rich considering the amount of relationships he knew she had from her own file.

“Two. One of them was only experimental, though. It was more out of a curiosity to see if it would work. Turns out our siblings were morons who don’t understand the difference between platonic affections and romantic ones.”

Yeah. See? According to Delilah’s file, she doesn’t have siblings!

“Wait, you have siblings?!” Millie gasped.

“No. I have idiots that claim to be my siblings.”

Oh. Okay, so maybe his assumptions were also misplaced. She seemed to be inferring that her ‘family’ were more so friends that simply view themselves as family. That wasn’t a suspicious thing. Plenty of normal people had friends close enough to be considered family!

“Hey! Enough chattering! Get back to work!” That was the office manager’s voice. Her coworkers must have scattered as he approached Delilah. “Delilah, could you drop this off at the post office for me?”

“Yes, sir.”

Well, while nothing concerning was said, it was better safe than sorry. Time to get Franky involved.

Delilah was making her way back to work after her errand. She was glad to have gotten away from the conversations beforehand. 

The two peons that usually yapped around her and Sharon were getting too nosey into her life, especially after finding out she was married. 

Sure, Millie wasn’t the worst. It seemed after discovering her marriage, the woman felt bad regarding her previous assumptions and gossiping about her. 

Camilla was still trying to push her buttons, despite understanding there was a line she should avoid crossing. She tip-toed that, which served to annoy Delilah, but she refused to give Camilla the reactions she desired.

The boyfriend topic was particularly irritating. They got too close to home and she nearly revealed too much about herself. That was incredibly unlike her.

But she had been rather nostalgic lately, and outwardly talking about Jon and Garfield didn’t help any. 

Plus, the night before had been rather pleasant (hello, warm body of her husband), and she was in a good mood. No wonder she almost slipped.

And he seemed agreeable to her advances too! Sure, he was very shy, but she was so close to winning him over! She could feel it!

“You there.” Delilah was stopped by a pair of uniformed men. “Could we have some of your time?”

“I suppose,” she said blandly, “But I do need to get back to work soon.”

“This way,” the scarred man gestured to the nearby alley.

“Ah yes. That’s not unsettling. Two strange men guiding a lone woman into an alley,” Delilah remarked sarcastically,. She followed them nonetheless.

“She’s a mouthy one, huh boss” the second man scoffed, sneering.

Delilah simply raised an eyebrow. “I’m married, just so you know.”

“We’re not hitting on you!” He retorted.

“Why not?” She seemed confused by the very idea. After all, why else would two men try to corner her alone? 

Twilight, disguised as the First Lieutenant of the SSS, wondered then and there if his suspicions were warranted. 

“We’re with the SSS, ma’am,” he explained, holding out his fake badge.

“Never would've guessed,” she remarked bluntly, gesturing to their uniforms.

Franky, also in disguise as his underling, scoffed, “I say we take her in just for all this lip!”

“Probable cause much?”

Franky sputtered. Honestly, if he wasn’t focusing on what was best for Operation Strix right now by investigating her, Twilight would be incredibly amused at just how nonchalant she was with what she thought were SSS members.

As it stood, however, it only made him more suspicious. Why would she be so unconcerned unless she had ties to the organization?

He pulled out the fake coded paper he wrote for this investigation. “As a part of our postal inspection duties, we read this. You just tried to mail it, didn’t you? We believe it obtains a coded message from the West. Is the sender, Burns, your superior?”

“Yes, he is.”

“What’s your name?”

“Delilah Forger,” She replied.

“Oh, is that right?” Franky grinned smugly, approaching her with the paper, “Well, your name is listed right here as a collaborator! That is quite the coincidence!”

Franky had the most reservations about this whole thing and now he was getting up in her face? He really was a hypocrite. 

“So you’re in on it together.”

Delilah narrowed her eyes at the two men before her. This was strange. Nothing had come up against Burns during her background check. 

Of course she did one prior to assigning herself to an office. She didn’t want to risk anyone being too connected to something and bringing attention to her.

And certainly, he could’ve been recruited afterwards, but her mother had been keeping an eye on her surrounding coworkers just in case. She would’ve mentioned it or left a coded message for her last night.

“I’m sorry but I believe you must be mistaken.”

“Lies are only gonna make this worse for you,” the curly haired officer smirked.

“We apprehended someone in the city hall financing department just the other day,” the scarred officer said, “It seems the corruption there spreads far and wide.”

“I heard about what happened to that guy! Nasty stuff! Apparently the torture left him so messed up that when he got back to his cell, he off’ed himself by tearing out his own tongue! And you know, there was another chick about your age that got brought in last month! That official secretary?”

Twilight shot Franky a guarded glance. He was making things up too much. He’d get caught in a lie or worse.

“Oh, yeah. Her. Turns out she worked for another department of ours. We let her off.”

Delilah deadpanned at the two, “Why are you telling me all this?”

Twilight shrugged his shoulders casually, “Just making conversation. But, unfortunately for you, we need to take you downtown.”

If she had any kind of affiliation with the Secret Police, or another intelligence agency of Ostania, she could tell them right there and go free. 

“I must refuse,” Delilah argued, “I work hard for the citizens of this country. And I have reason to believe your information is incorrect as I have no ties to any kind of espionage belonging to my boss.” 

Is it espionage if she wasn’t stealing information and giving it out to someone else? She was simply eliminating threats to peace. 

Her Mother, on the other hand. She would probably be guilty of espionage.

“There’s no use playing dumb!” The younger officer said harshly, “Just shut up and come with us!”

He attempted to grab her, but Delilah flipped him over her shoulder, “I told you, you are incorrect. Now, I am having a good day, so I won’t cause much problems as long as you let me go back to work without a fuss. But if you insist on starting something, I can assure you, I have no qualms ending a fight.”

“You realize you’re putting your family in danger by doing this?” The scarred officer asked bluntly.

Twilight only had the luxury of his training to not be affected by the sudden buzz in the air as Delilah became chillingly aggravated. Franky, on the other hand, whimpered in fear.

He may have been completely sloshed at the castle, but he did recall just how good of a fighter the woman was.

“Tt,” She clicked her tongue, a glare on her sharp face, “My husband is an upstanding member of society. My daughter is a little angel. If you so much as think of harming either of them.” Delilah grabbed a makeshift weapon from a nearby dumpster.

Todd would be proud of her using a crowbar to beat her enemies. 

“I will show you no mercy,” she stated firmly, holding the tool against the man’s throat.

Maybe he was wrong. She didn’t give any kind of signal or hint or confession to end this whole debacle. No. Her first thought was to fight anyone who threatened her or her family. 

Like a monsterous gremlin, Franky would later cry and shiver.

But in the moment, he scrambled to his feet and glanced warily at Delilah while sending Twilight a panicked look, unsure what to do.

With his new resolve, he spoke, not moving his blank gaze from his unaware wife. “Second Lieutenant Mop, are you certain about this cipher?”

Franky understood the code, “What? Well, of course I’m-“ looking at the paper, he acted perfectly, “Ah! What the hell?! This isn’t the racoon cipher! It’s the caterpillar cipher!”

Delilah pulled back, still stiff in preparation of a fight, but wary of making a move in light of the new attitude.

The scarred man examined the paper, “So, if I read this correctly, this is actually a letter to a renowned hemorrhoids doctor.” Delilah raised an eyebrow, “I see. He used a cipher because he’s embarrassed. He should know better.”

“Why would he know a cipher you use?” Delilah questioned blandly.

He shrugged his shoulders, “We’ll look into that, but this does mean we had the wrong idea. We apologize for the mistake. You’re free to go.”

Delilah humphed, “Obviously.”

“Word of advice, if you are confronted with other officers regarding suspicions, try not to be so hostile. Not all of them are willing to let that attitude go unpunished like we are,” he warned. 

“I do what I want,” Delilah retorted, spinning on her heel and strutted off.

Okay. Maybe that was concerning for their future. But….it was a lot better than her being an opposing agent.

“That felt like a bad prank,” Franky groaned, taking off his hat, “But if you ask me, she seems clear.” Twilight simply moved back into the shadows of the alley, pulling off his face mask. “Oh come on. Don’t tell me you feel guilty for doubting her.”

“I don’t.” He doesn’t. He doesn’t .

“I’ve warned you before,” Franky said firmly, “You gotta keep your emotions outta this. This is the job we signed up for. If you wanna stay alive, you can’t trust anyone. That’s just the way it is.”

Because while he liked Delilah and Anya, he wasn't as close to the situation as Twilight was. And for as much as he knew the man was quite literally the best spy in the world, he was still a man. He wasn’t heartless and he wasn’t emotionless.

He did a very good job in hiding his heart, in pushing away any feelings that would get in his way. 

But Franky had spent a long time working alongside Twilight in WISE. He knew the man when he was a simple soldier, angry at everything and everyone, and wanted nothing more than to wipe every Ostanian off the face of the earth. Sure he didn’t know him well . Only that one moment that changed Franky’s life.

But it was that moment that told him plenty about the man that was now his coworker.

Twilight cared about people. He tried to deny that fact, but he did. And now that he was living with a gorgeous woman who adored him, and a little girl who loved him, feelings were certainly going to grow from his hidden heart.

Twilight shot a glare at Franky, clearly in denial yet again. “Don’t lecture me with that face!”

He then tore the mask off of Franky, who shrieked as his face stung. “But you’re the one who made it for me! Damn it! I thought I could land a few chicks with that on! My precious hot-guy face is ruined!”

“Deceiving a woman you’re dating is a terrible idea,” Twilight scolded. You know. Like a hypocrite.

“Are you freaking kidding me?!”

Delilah made her way out of the subway.

She didn’t like the fact that her good day kept getting interrupted. First her idiot coworkers and then those idiot officers.

The sheer audacity they had, attempting to threaten her family . As if. She’d rip them to shreds. They could take her in and she would tear her way out. Casualties would very much be on the table. Many, many casualties.

She didn’t want to be on the SSS bad side. Obviously not. That would ruin the peace of her current life. And, well, possibly the rest of the world? The SSS were an important part of the Ostanian government.

Brutal and harsh, yes, but the power vacuum that’d be left behind was too much to chance. 

“Delilah! What a coincidence.” Loid met up with her at a crosswalk. 

“Beloved,” she perked right up. Usually he got home later than Delilah, but it must’ve been a shorter day. “How was work?”

“It was fine. My patients seem to be working well with their treatments,” he said goodnaturedly, “Oh. There’s something on your collar again.” He reached out and brushed it off.

She hummed. Probably from her incident with that one officer. Honestly, what a brute. “Thank you.”

“So, how was your day at work?” He asked, as the light turned.

She took the opportunity to wrap an arm around his shoulder, snuggling into it as they walked, “It was fine for the most part. That idiot Camilla keeps trying to find something to push me with. She failed. And then I had to deal with a rat problem.”

“Rats?”

“Oh, it was nothing,” she smiled. Loid already had so much to deal with. He would simply worry if she told him about the SSS. “Anyway, I was mostly just looking forward to coming home and being with you and Anya.”

Loid smiled. And in the back of his mind, he could hear Franky scolding him about whether he felt guilty for suspecting Delilah.

He knew, logically, his reasoning was sound. And he knew Operation Strix was not something he could allow to have any slip ups arise.

However…Delilah was an odd woman. And sure, some things she said didn’t really collaborate with her background….but that didn’t mean she was a bad person. That didn’t mean she had nefarious intentions.

Just looking at her now, he could see a difference from when she had been at work or in the alley. In both cases, there had been a certain level of reservation, a refusal to allow anyone close to her. 

But just by walking next to time, she was entirely relaxed. There was not a single hint of any kind of reluctance to express herself.

Maybe he really was just being paranoid. 

With that in mind, he crushed the listening device in his hand and threw it in a trash can they were passing.

Delilah didn’t care to notice it, merely basking in her husband’s presence.

In what was, perhaps, an effort to ease his sense of guilt, he decided to broach another topic he had been thinking about. “Delilah, I was wondering…”

“Yes, Beloved?” Delilah’s immediate attention was on him.

He would admit that following Talia’s blunt statement regarding how she thought Delilah felt regarding him, he was noticing more just how she looked at him.

It did make him feel a bit awkward. He honestly thought Talia was seeing things, or trying to make sense of their sudden marriage. But the more he watched how Delilah looked and acted around him…

But there was no time to think too hard about that. He had to keep focus on Anya’s schooling and getting close to Desmond. 

However, Operation Strix also depended on him having a good relationship with his wife (initial suspicions notwithstanding). So he couldn’t ignore her or her desires, whatever they may be.

And one step he thought would be helpful, particularly for public use, would be to act closer. “I was wondering, would you be alright if I began to use a pet name of sorts for you? I know you have been referring to me as Beloved due to the habit from your mother in regards to your father. I just thought it would make more sense to return the favor, in a sense.”

Delilah’s eyes practically sparkled with joy as a response, “I would like that very much, Beloved!”

How did he miss this before Talia pointed it out?

“Then…do you have a preference?”

She shook her head, “I will be happy with whatever you decide.”

“Alright. How about…Angel?” Admittedly, he was not the best at this. He certainly had to feign romantic relations before, but there was never this much ... .stress, he would suppose that was the right word.

It felt weird to use the same acting he had for previous missions with Delilah. A desire to be…just a little more earnest with her. 

Delilah didn’t have any objections. On the contrary, actually. She beamed up at him and took the opportunity to hug his arm tighter, gently nuzzling her head into his shoulder.

And if his heart skipped a beat, then it was simply because he was startled by the sudden contact. That is all.

When Anya got home, she was worried. She spent the whole day being worried. Becky noticed something wrong, but Anya wouldn’t talk about it.

Even Second Son seemed to realize something was up, cause he didn’t bother her at school either. And when Pomp Hair and Bowcut Boy tried to tease her about how quiet she was being, he told them to shut up.

She had been really worried about her Papa and Mama. That Papa would find out about Mama being an assassin and not like it. That Mama would hurt Papa if he tried fighting her.

“I’m home from school!” She announced, holding back her fears enough to make her greeting.

“Welcome home, Little One. How was your day?” Delilah smiled as she put away some dishes.

Loid noticed her pause, staring at them, “You okay?”

Anya, skimming over their minds, smiled brightly, “You’re getting along! Just like I wanted!”

“I told you we were even fighting in the first place,” Loid stated with confused amusement.

“We bought a cake on our way home,” Delilah informed her, setting out their tea time mugs.

“Ooh! I want cake!” Anya bounced giddily.

“Don’t jump. You’re going to bother the people downstairs,” Loid scolded lightly as the girl giggled.

She was just so happy Papa and Mama were still happy together. 

And she hoped they always would.

Chapter Text

Hendersen was a man of simply desires. His main one being spreading proper elegance to all of his bright eyed young pupils. And this newest class of youngsters were a very hearty bunch. There was great potential in all his young students.

Though the ones who he had the highest of hopes for were…

“Shut up! That happened because you picked a fight with me, you know!” Damian Desmond, second son of a high ranking politician, Donovan Desmond. 

“It wasn’t my fault.” Anya Forger, daughter of a rather elegant couple despite their humble background.

“She’s right! You’re the one who started it!” Becky Blackbell, best friend of Anya, and the heiress to a wealthy trading company.

“Hey! Zip it, Uggo!”

“You’re such a jerk.”

“Watch it, you stubby legged raccoon!”

This was fine. This was….fine….

“I have returned!” Anya announced dramatically. She was really excited to see her Papa and Mama! Papa was going to be super happy when he heard what she found out.

“Welcome home, Little One,” her sweet amazing Mama smiled

“I have some really important news!” She declared, rushing to the kitchen where her Papa was making dinner. “The top student in PE class next week will get a Stella!”

“Wait” he paused, turning to her, “Really? Where’d you hear that?”

“Becky told me!”

So it was just a rumor. It was more likely a child’s dream for it to be true spiraled into the other students. Still, it wouldn’t be bad to have hope.

Delilah perked up. She very much wanted to help her daughter get the Stella. Not just for Loid, but Anya was excited to win too. She wanted to encourage a healthy sense of competition. Much like her family. 

Alfred would argue otherwise. Would say that Game Night led to him trying to get blood out of the furniture. But in Monopoly, one must do as they can to watch the light in your siblings’ eyes die. It wasn’t her fault the dice looked favorably on her and sent her to jail as her siblings continuously had to pay her rent. 

Okay, maybe the first couple games she used weighted dice, but they didn’t know that. Not like it would’ve stopped Todd from bringing out the switchblade.

Anya was suddenly feeling less excited for a Game Night with her Mama.

“Then we must increase our training! What game are you playing?” Delilah questioned. 

“Dodgeball!” Anya stated.

“Perfect. We shall crush your opponents!” She was vibrant in her glee.

“I didn’t realize you were so into sports” Loid remarked.

“Yes. My siblings and I are very competitive,” She said firmly, “I had to destroy any hope they ever had, lest they get too cocky.”

Right. The not-siblings he only recently found out about. Also, very bold words from the most arrogant woman he knew. 

“I’m gonna catch that star and smash it!” Anya proclaimed.

“That’s the spirit, Little One!” She then turned starry eyes to Loid, “Beloved! You should join our training time! I have found that to be an excellent way for family bonding!”

“Ah, well, I’m certainly not against it,” he hummed. It would be good to help keep him in shape. Not to say he was slacking on his fitness routine. Hell no. Sylvia would have his ass six feet under if he dared to renege on his exercises. And Delilah was right. It would be a good way to bond as a family (and show what a good family they are to the neighbors). “When should we start?”

“Right now!” The two ladies declared.

“I’m cooking dinner…”

While they agreed that was an acceptable excuse, it didn’t stop the two from beginning their own work out.

“We must stretch first!” Delilah commanded, “It is a vital part of ensure your body does not become strained by your muscle movement.”

“Yes Mama!”

When dinner was ready, Delilah was already having Anya start sit ups. Loid almost had second hand-embarrassment as he watched Anya barely lifting her back off the ground. Delilah simply rolled with it, counting out the number of situps their daughter was only somewhat achieving.

The family went to the park the next afternoon, jogging along the path. Loid and Delilah kept an easy pace beside one another, whereas Anya trailed just a little behind, due to having less stamina.

Loid glanced over, but paused when he realized Delilah was gone, as was Anya. Looking around to find them, he deadpanned when he realized they both stopped far behind to pet someone’s dog.

Later on, Delilah had Anya practicing her throwing well into the night as well.

The day after that, they continued working on Anya’s strength. “Beloved, I will need your help.”

Loid was confused.

The Forger matriarch carefully balanced a couple of textbooks atop Anya’s back as she guided her through push ups.

And then Delilah all but forced him to sit upon her back and began doing push ups.

He will never tell Franky of this. Never. The man would not let him live it down. Not after the stammering mess he became.

( No. It wasn’t attractive! Absolutely not! He was just startled she could have him on her back and work out with ease! That’s it! His face was red because he was so surprised, is all!)

( Yes , it was part of her long plots of seduction. Her husband was attracted to strong women, as she determined following their first ever spar.)

Not wanting to disturb the neighbors, Delilah then had the idea to sign their family up for a gym membership in order to fully practice with equipment and each other.

As such, she decided the best way to use this to her advantage was to not only teach Anya fighting techniques, but also to seduce her husband. By having a sparring match in the martial arts room of the gym.

“Are you sure about this, Angel?” Loid had been making it a habit to call his wife the chosen nickname frequently. In order to make it as natural as possible, he needed to practice using it. Even if he got embarrassed saying it in public.

And no, it definitely had nothing to do with the way her face would light up in pure joy when he called her that.

“Of course, Beloved!” Delilah affirmed, stretching out her limbs. “This is a great way to keep in shape, and for our Little One to advance in her self-defense lessons. And I ask that you do not hold back like you initially did at Anya’s party.”

Loid sighed. Of course she knew he wasn’t trying to actually fight. At least, that was the case prior to realizing she could well and truly kick his ass with ease. “If you’re sure.”

Anya sat against the wall, watching closely as her parents loosened into defensive stances. A silent stare off began as both attempted to gauge and wait for the other’s move. However, after a couple minutes, Delilah rushed forward, having always preferred the offense. 

Twilight bent backwards into a handspring, lifting a leg to block the oncoming punches before darting out his foot to meet her face. Delilah, having anticipated this, swiftly ducked under, swinging into a roundhouse kick.

He twisted his body just in time, her leg slicing through the air where he had just stood. He then countered with a leg sweep, hooking his ankle around her heel. She was unable to avoid it, but merely rolled with the fall back to her feet.

He gave her no time to recover before using a jab-cross combination, fists snapping out at lightning speed. She mirrored his earlier block by using her forearms. When an opening revealed itself, she spun to deliver a backfist to his jaw.

As he fell, Twilight grabbed her wrist, pulling her down as he attempted to trap her in an armbar. She gritted her teeth as he tried to lock her down, her muscles straining as she fought against his leverage.

With a swift, calculated movement, she twisted out of his grip, her flexibility and experience allowing her to escape the hold. Before he could react, she was behind him, her arm snaking around his neck in a rear-naked choke. His breath caught as she tightened the hold, her lips coyly brushing against his ear, "Yield.”

He didn’t.

Instead, he drove his elbow back into her ribs, forcing her to loosen her grip just enough for him to slip out. They broke apart, breathing heavily, eyes locked in a silent challenge. 

Anya let out a loud excited squeal, which broke the couple out of their focus. She then rushed over to grab Loid’s leg in a hug, “That was so cool! Mama and Papa are the best! Anya has the best family!”

Delilah reached down to pluck Anya into her arms, “It will take time, but I will teach you everything I know.”

Loid smiled, patting the girl’s head. 

From there, the family fell into a nice routine, with evening jogs after work and school, as well as having a morning workout. The latter was harder on Anya, who was not a morning person like her parents.

But by the time PE class rolled around, Anya felt fully prepared and ready. She was gonna get that Stella and help her Papa with his mission!

Mama even gave her a strip of red fabric right from her assassin scarf after she was able to jog up the big stairs at Mama’s special spot! (not that Mama knew that she knew where it came from.) So Anya was definitely gonna be the best player!

Anya happily tied the new bandana around her head, using it to hold back her pink locks from getting into her face. 

“You got a lot of swagger for a shrimp!” Bowlcut Boy proclaimed.

“You just gotta make sure you and your stubby legs don’t hold Lord Damian back!” Pomp Hair added.

Becky sniffed, “Like we even want to be on the same team as you!”

If Anya had befriended Second Son like Papa wanted, she probably wouldn’t be scrambling to earn Stella Stars. But he was a big meanie, so forget that! She’ll just work super duper hard to get Stars! 

Damian gritted his teeth when Forger turned her back to him. But he didn’t have the time to deal with that frustration. It wasn’t like he wanted Raccoon-face to pay attention to him anyway! He had to focus on the game! He had to get that Stella and become an Imperial Scholar!

Because otherwise….if he didn’t, his father would never….

Gah! Whatever! Focus, Damian!

“Gather ‘round!” Henderson called. His normal suit was replaced with a tracksuit. It was an uneasy sight for the young first graders. “Unfortunately, Coach Bobby is out today. Meaning I will be serving as his substitute. Remember to behave in a sportsmanlike manner and, of course, to execute the most elegant of plays.”

“Yes sir!” The two classes exclaimed.

“Without further ado, we will commence today’s dodgeball match between Class Three, Cecile Hall, and Class Four, Wald Hall. You may begin!”

One boy was picked for both classes to fight for the first throw. When Henderson tossed the ball, it was Cecile Hall that was able to win, with Damian grabbing it as it bounced his way.

“Show them how it’s done, Lord Damian!” Emile cheered. 

“Come on Damian!”

“You got this!”

The other children cheered encouragement to their favored classmate.

Damian tapped the ball in thought. Emile and Ewen had gathered information in preparation for this battle. Some may think it a game, but not to him. This was going to be one of the hardest fights he’d ever face!

From their information, Wald Hall had a vital player on their side, which would make or break their chances. 

The son of a Major General in Ostania’s army, Bill Watkins. Getting him out was the only chance their class had of winning. Everyone else would be easy pickings after he was gone.

With that in mind, Damian summoned all his strength and launched the ball towards the largest target.

Unfortunately, Bill was a very difficult opponent. He caught the ball with ease, even as it spun harshly in his grasp.

Becky flinched away, “I don’t believe for a second he’s our age!”

Sure enough, Bill was much larger than any of the other six year olds. He easily was double their height, and his limbs all had bulging muscles.

Frankly, Damian wouldn’t be surprised if he had been some kind of experiment.

Anya shrieked and flinched at the thought. Though her classmates thought it was a response to seeing Bill for the first time. Which, fair enough.

Damian refused to let Bill’s intimidating figure get to him, merely smirking despite the boy catching the ball, “Wearing glasses in this game is rather dangerous, Old Man.”

“Thanks for that, Damian.” Even his voice was much deeper. The boy was a super early bloomer, and seemed to be on the cusp of puberty despite their young age. “I’d expect no less from Desmond’s son. But I’ll be fine, because that ball won’t hit me. Besides, you know any hit above the shoulders doesn’t count.”

Bill’s mind was extremely fast. He took in his enemies positions quickly, and with a swift throw, he hit four students.

Henderson blew his whistle, “That’s four hits!”

The Wald Hall students all cheered excitedly.

The Cecile Hall students began to realize their dismal chances. Damian, however, was quick to try bolstering their spirits, “Calm down! That was just a fluke!”

Bill simply smirked, cracking his neck in a stretch, “That was definitely not a fluke. Wherever I throw that ball, every imaginable detail has been calculated. Besides running simulations, I’ve tested the limits of my body through extensive training. I even bent a lamppost with one of my throws. So, my path to victory has already begun.”

The Cecile Hall students shivered. They were unsure how much of that was just talk but…well just look at him! There had to be some truth to what he was saying!

“That’s crazy! If the ball hits any of us that hard, we’ll die!” Becky shouted

“No need to be afraid. I’ll try to hold back on the girls.”

That did not assure Becky at all. No, actually, it just made her angry! Was he saying girls were weaker, huh?! Anya said her Mama was the strongest person she knows! Even stronger than her Papa! And yeah, Becky hasn’t met her yet, but Anya wouldn’t lie to her! 

So, in an effort to prove him wrong, she threw the ball at him.

He caught it more easily than Damian’s throw and tossed it right back at her, knocking her down.

Henderson whistled as she slowly trudged off the court, “One hit.”

“You sure talk a lotta smack, don’t you?” Damian scoffed, picking up the ball. “But if you think we went into this without a plan, you’re wrong, you big oaf! And in dodgeball, nobody can win all by themself!”

He, Emile and Ewen spent all week training together at the playground. From agility in climbing the jungle gym, to stamina in hanging onto the tire swing, then finally to strength in holding onto the merry-go-round as it spun really fast, the three boys were more than prepared for this!

“Formation G. Go!”

Emile and Ewen quickly moved into place. Damian then ran towards them, using Emile’s hands to boost up towards Ewen’s hands above his head. From there, he leapt high into the air, slamming the ball down at Bill. He was also able to land back to his feet easily.

Anya gaped in shock at how easily Second Son pulled off such a move. She’s only seen Mama and Papa do that sort of maneuvering! She’s gotta train more to be better than him! Otherwise he might get the Stella Stars before her!

However, Bill caught the ball yet again, throwing it at the other students standing around the court.

“Four hits!”

Damian gaped at the monster of a boy. But he couldn’t dwell on it! He had to focus on outwitting his opponent. “Formation S!”

The three boys gathered into a line. Then, they began moving as one, trying to confuse the visuals of the other players. When they believed to have distracted the enemy enough, Emile and Damian feigned throwing the ball, only for Ewen to jump from behind and throw it.

Ewen was not as much of a hard hitter as Damian was, and Bill, as with Becky’s throw, had no issue catching it. He smirked at the three boys, who were clearly exhausting themselves, “Let me show you how it’s done.”

With that, he hugged the ball to his chest. After squeezing it tightly, he released the ball forward. It sprung out, spinning chaotically towards Damian.

Emile, seeing this, and knowing how important it was to his best friend to win the Stella, leapt in front of him, taking the hit right to the face.

“Emile!” Ewen exclaimed in horror. He raced over, kneeling beside the boy who looked ready to pass out, possibly in a concussion, “Emile! Say something!”

“Ewen” he gasped out, “You’re such a dummy. Don’t you cry over me.”

“I’m not crying!” He hiccuped.

“This isn’t the end. So promise me, swear that you won’t give up on the dream.”

“Yeah! Okay! I promise you! Because once we give up, it’ll be game ove-“

Bill took that moment to hit Ewen in the back.

Young children could be so dramatic over such simple games, Henderson mused as he made a call to the nurse. That harsh of a hit to the face would probably require medical attention.

Damian was pissed. It was just him, Raccoon-face and one other boy left. Meanwhile, Bill had practically his whole class remaining.

Still, as long as he was the only one left standing, it didn’t matter who got out!

Anya deadpanned at him. Bowlcut Boy and Pomp Hair deserved a better friend than Second Son. 

She then, however, caught Bill’s thoughts.

My next target is that little stubby-legged shrimp. 

Okay, seriously?! Anya wasn’t that short! And Mama said she didn’t have stubby-legs! So all these mean bullies were liars!

I’m gonna aim for her feet!

Anya gasped and jumped right as Bill threw the ball. Due to this, it bounced off the floor underneath her and the third kid on their team grabbed the ball.

He, however, missed his own throw. Bill was given the ball again. He quickly shook away his shock at how she jumped out of the way before.

I’ll aim for her right arm!

Anya moved away from the ball yet again.

Left arm then!

With a lift of said limb, she once more evaded the hit.

Bill was very frustrated. How was this little shrimp able to dodge all his throws?! Everyone else got hit just fine!

He would just have to use his secret move on her! A curveball that would change its course without notice until it was too late!

Anya didn’t move a muscle as the ball swerved away from her. Though it did end up knocking out the third kid on their team, leaving only Anya and Damian left.

Bill was ready to start bawling, unable to handle the frustrated emotions welling up inside him as the one girl proved to be his biggest enemy.

Damian had to hand it to her, “Hey, you’re pretty good at this.”

“Heh!” Of course, he deadpanned when that brought out her stupid looking smirk.

Henderson was extremely proud of Anya’s elegant evasion techniques. Becky, however, spotted a boy from Wald Hall about to throw the ball back to Bill right behind her. It was most likely an attempt to distract or injure her so Bill could get the hit. Becky couldn’t stand for such underhandedness! “Anya! Behind you!”

Unfortunately, Anya was startled by the call and tripped over her feet when she moved to check what Becky was warning her of.

“Get up!” Damian urged, seeing Bill begin to wind up for a throw when she was on the ground.

“ DIE! ”

Damian could see the force in that throw. Yeah, Bill was a hard hitter, but aside from Emile, all the other throws were weak enough to only stun, not injure.

If this ball hit her, Anya would be hurt.

But! So what! It wasn’t going to kill her! It would probably hurt like hell, but as long as he could stay in the game, he knew he could lead them to victory!

Anya could only watch, frozen in place as the ball spun its way right towards her face.

She flinched at the last moment, moving her head down to protect her face. 

However, no hit came. She carefully lifted her head and peeked open an eye, only to see Second Son standing in front of her, taking the full force to his stomach in her stead.

When the ball finally lost its momentum, it fell to the ground, Damian collapsing to his knees in suit.

“Lord Damian! What on earth are you doing?!” Ewen exclaimed in shock.

Damian was stunned at his own actions. His body, had just moved on its own…

“Did you really just protect me?” Anya gasped, equally stunned, “Does that mean you’re a good guy?” She had thought, since his dad was the big bad enemy guy of her Papa, then he had to be the big bad enemy guy of her.

But….but a big bad enemy guy wouldn’t have jumped in front of her to keep her safe. So…was she wrong? Was Second Son a good guy with a bad guy dad?

Like Jaddati?!

Damian became flustered, scrambling to his feet. “Don’t get it twisted! I was just frustrated that he was taking out our team! So I tried to catch the ball, and well-“ gah! She just kept looking at him with those wide, pretty green eyes and-and- “UGH! This stinks!” He stomped off the court, ignoring his hot cheeks, “You’re the only one left, so don’t mess this up, Uggo!” 

Anya blinked, watching him walk off. But there was no time to think more about her new revelation. She had a game to win and a Stella to earn! The future was in her hands!

Time for her killer shot!

“Listen Anya. The key to throwing the ball is to put your whole body into it. You have to keep your arm steady. Make sure to move with your hips as you take aim.”

“I’m not gonna let your death be for nothing!” Anya declared, picking up the ball.

“I’m alive, you dummy!” Damian snapped.

“I will avenge you!” She ignored him, focused on moving into the proper position as her Mama taught her.

She took deep breaths in preparation.

All the students watched with bated breath. Damian had a big higher hope. After all, he knew how powerful her right hook was. So this should be easy for her. Right?

Just like her Mama taught her.

Anya lifted up her leg, shifting her weight as she took a big step forward. Twisting her hips, her shoulder tightened, as power grew in her hands, “Killer Shot! Star Catch! Arrow!”

Unfortunately for Anya, she held onto the ball for too long, and it hit the ground, bouncing high over to Bill.

It was a very anticlimactic end when he threw it at Anya, who was immediately flung back.

Henderson whistled, “The game is over.”

The students of Wald Hall all raced over to Bill, cheering wildly.

Anya was in shock at her horrible defeat. She trained so hard with Mama, and she failed!

The only good thing was that the whole Stella Star thing wasn’t true. 

“Don’t worry, Anya!” Becky rushed over to where Anya was bemoaning herself. “You did absolutely amazing!”

Henderson was proud of both Anya and Damian. Despite their rivalry, the pair were able to put aside their differences to try to achieve victory for their team. Damian’s self-sacrifice was very moving. 

He had to afford Bill a Tonitrus Bolt for his lack of proper sportsmanship (yelling ‘die’ at his opponent during a game? Completely inelegant.) However, the actions of both Anya and Damian proved that this class did have young ladies and gentlemen who were worthy of a Stella.

Damian approached Anya as Becky rubbed her head comfortingly. Anya had hope that, given her newfound realization about him being a good guy, he too would comfort her.

She had no such luck as he immediately began berating her, “What is wrong with you, you idiot?! That was the worst throw in history! I should’ve never defended you!”

“Hey! It’s not like you hit anyone, so shut up! ” Becky snarled.

“I don’t like you, after all,” Anya muttered with teary eyes.

Damian jolted back as if she punched him again, horrified by her words. Not like he would say that though. “W-what?! What did you just say, stubby legs?!”

“I told you not to talk to girls like that!”

Henderson decided he was wrong as the two friend groups continued shrieking at one another.

Chapter Text

As Loid had predicted, the dodgeball game did not result in a Stella Star. Not that it would have mattered, as Anya had lost the game. 

So, he decided to continue the studying route. 

Which would’ve been fine…if it wasn’t for the fact that Anya’s grades were already horrible. Her first set of tests came back in a collection of zeros and F’s.

Anya was staring at the tv, refusing to acknowledge the large elephant in the room. Even as Spy Wars played before her, she was mostly focused on ignoring her Papa’s mind.

“So about your grades.”

“Anya isn’t here right now,” she deadpanned.

Delilah sighed as she finished washing the dishes, and flicked the lights on. Anya, realizing what that meant, cried and scrambled to her feet, “No! I don’t wanna study!”

“Hold it right there!” Loid swiftly grabbed her before she could even make it to the hallway. “We made a deal! Five pm is study time.”

Anya wailed, trying to wiggle out of his arms. Despite this, she knew it was pointless. Papa was too strong. “You’re a demon!”

Delilah came over as Loid plopped her onto the chair. Anya made to jump off and run but her Mama blocked the path, a disappointed expression on her face. Anya froze and sniffled, tears welling up at the sight. Mama had never been disappointed in her before! “Anya. You made a deal. You can’t go back on it, young lady.”

“But-but Mama!” Anya’s voice wobbled.

“No buts,” she said firmly. She knelt beside her as Loid laid out her schoolwork, “You are a smart girl, Little One. I don’t know what happened during these tests, but I know you can answer them.”

Anya sniffled. She only failed cause she read the wrong kid’s mind! But she had a better plan now! She just had to figure out which kids were good at what class and read their minds for the answers! 

“We just want you to do the best you can,” Loid added in, recalling Delilah’s insistence that she needed encouragement as well. Balance and all that. 

“All we need is to focus more on what works,” Delilah stated, picking up her math test, “You did better with math than the other subjects.”

“He’s got two-eights of his bullets left,” she nodded.

Loid hummed. That was right. Anya was able to understand things better when applied to something she was interested in. Which was mostly anything to do with Spy Wars.

So, like Delilah said, he tried to make things work with that, “You know, this question is the same that Bondman had to answer in episode sixteen.”

“I don’t remember,” Anya whined

“Well, try to” Loid said, exasperated, “It was the episode with the guy that had the sideburns.”

Anya grumbled and whined under her breath, shaking her head. 

Loid rubbed his temple as Delilah tried to help Anya work through it, “That episode, Princess Honey had tricked Sideburns Guy into letting her out of her cell. Remember that? You were so excited at what she did.”

Anya glanced between the paper and her Mama with uncertainty, slowly nodding.

“And then, when Bondman got there, Honey had left a coded note for him to help him find her, right? That’s the same question as this one.”

Loid thought over their options as Anya continued to try working it out with Delilah’s guidance. It probably would’ve been easier to just sneak in or hack their mainframe to change her grades.

But that was also a bit too risky for his comfort. For one, her classmates might become increasingly jealous if she began to do so much better than them. Anya already was dealing with social problems due to her fight with Damian Desmond, as well as a general dislike of middle-class students. 

There was also that the faculty would get very suspicious if she suddenly started getting perfect scores. Especially after this last testing period. So he had to at the very least make it seem natural.

Anya was horrified at the very idea that everyone would hate her for getting good grades. Now what was she supposed to do?! Papa needed her to do good in school, but she didn’t want everyone to hate her!

“Little One? What’s wrong?” Delilah asked in concern as Anya began to withdraw into herself, shaking as she sniffled.

Loid decided that maybe Anya needed a break. If she was this distraught, she definitely wasn’t going to learn anything. “Alright. Why don’t we take a break and do some drawing?”

Delilah brightened in excitement, “Let’s have art time in my room. I’d love to share my love for it with you!”

Loid was curious as well, joining the ladies of the household to Delilah’s bedroom. Inside, she appeared to be in the process of remodeling. 

She had moved her bed against the wall to make room for her supplies, which seemed to be growing. The corner by the window was where she kept her easel and painted. 

But she was branching out more. There was an area set up for pottery and sculpting. She even had a woodcarving table. 

Basically, it was starting to get crowded in her bedroom. Which was exactly what she wanted. At some point, she would run out of room for her personal effects, and slowly start moving her way into her Beloved’s room. Already she was sharing some of his wardrobe space, and he hadn’t complained about it, so obviously he was open to the idea!

“There’s quite a lot in here,” Loid remarked, astounded by the sheer amount of space her art supplies was taking up. No wonder she asked to move some of her clothes into his closet. He wasn’t much into fashion and had minimal suits and other clothes for work, so he didn’t mind.

“Yes, well, I enjoy all branches of art,” Delilah said, brushing it off so he would not be suspicious of her true intentions. “Here. You can use these. I bought them for you.” Deilah pulled out a small smock made for Anya’s height.

“Mama, I wanna draw,” she declared, seeming to perk up more from her previous downtrodden mood.

“As you wish, Little One.” She laid out a paper and a collection of drawing utensils onto her desk for Anya to use. “What of you, Beloved?”

“Ah. Well. I suppose painting would be rather calming.” Not to mention all the stress from the last few weeks. Like dealing with Damian Desmond and Anya’s relationship. Snot nosed little brat still couldn’t take a damn hint and appreciate an honest gesture of goodwill. His daughter even cried damn it! How did he not fall for those tears?!

“Certainly!” Delilah agreed, pulling out a spare easel she had in the closet. She happily set it up beside her own.

The family proceeded to enjoy a calm eveing filed with artistic endeavors. When Anya deemed her picture was complete, she proudly showed it off to her parents.

“It’s beautiful, Little One,” Delilah complimented with a smile.

Loid, on the other hand, couldn’t really tell what it was. “Yes. It’s, lovely.”

“This is Mama!” Anya explained, pointing to the green figure, “And this is the cow from school!”

It looked like a mix of a giraffe and an elephant.

Anya, hearing this thought from her Papa, sent him a look of betrayal. He didn’t understand why , but he could tell he upset her somehow.

Delilah, however, took hold of it, “This deserves a place on the fridge!”

Anya looked confused, as did Loid, “The…fridge?”

She nodded firmly, “Yes! This is her first official picture made during family art time! That’s a big deal.”

Loid was even more confused, but Delilah simply left the room, Anya in tow. “Why’s the fridge a big deal, Mama?”

“The fridge is a place of honor,” she stated, “Our greatest achievements are displayed on them!”

Loid just went with it. It seemed to mean a lot to Delilah.

Anya, meanwhile, got a glimpse of why she cared so much about the idea.

“Tt.” Delilah pouted, her small arms crossed over her chest as she slouched in the chair, “This is stupid.”

Dick held in a groan, and rubbed his temples. He was trying desperately to get her into a hobby that did not involve murder sprees, but it was difficult. They attempted pretty much everything. 

He tried to get her into gymnastics. She was absolutely perfect at it, but it sparked nothing in her. She did it for the sake of mobility and usefulness, unlike the joy he felt with it.

He tried to get her and Tim to bond over hacking, but she ended up insulting Tim. (Dick didn’t know what he really expected. The two hated each other. Well, Tim had a good reason considering Delilah was still trying to murder him, but…yeah. At least her attempts were slowing down?) The two then got into a brawl and he figured it was best to not bother with hacking again. He didn’t want Tim to think they were letting Delilah encroach on all of his territory, especially with how Delilah was determined to take the mantle of Robin from Tim, whether he liked it or not.

Thankfully, Delilah seemed to be getting it into her head that she hasn’t earned the title and that they won’t let her take it without Tim being ready to move on.

He then tried to see if she’d enjoy reading the same books that Jason loved, but she didn’t appreciate the wordsmith talents of either the Bronte sisters or Jane Austin. And Jason took offense to that, which started a brawl between them .

They tried music. And Delilah was completely tone deaf. 

He made sure none of the other boys made fun of Delilah for her….singing. Though that was hard. Tim, especially, wanted something to hold over her head. But Dick knew that would only set Delilah back in trying to bond with them.

Then they tried dancing, but, like gymnastics, she would just go through the motions. There was no passion. Just perfect movements.

She saw no use in television, believing it was brain rot. Video games were also considered as brian rot.

She was useless at gardening, basically killed everything unless it could be used as a poison. He and Bruce had to stop her from planting a hidden garden of Nightshade and Belladonna.

They only succeeded by telling her that it might hurt Ace, whom she had grown attached to. He also made a note to suggest they look into finding her a pet of her own to care for. It would work in helping her learn empathy.

Finally, Dick tried art. So here they were, in the library, at a table covered in art supplies.

And Delilah was sick and tired of their attempts. Frankly, she thought it was insulting that her training wasn’t good enough to be a hobby. She was excellent at it, and she enjoyed it. But no. Grayson said she needed to “branch out” and find “normal hobbies”.

Like his trapeze would be considered a normal hobby. Hypocrite.

“Please, Deli?” Dick pleas, using the nickname he insisted on, despite her refusals to acknowledge it. As if she wanted to be nicknamed after a sandwich shop. “Just. Just try. Please .”

Delilah huffed. He was lucky she had grown to respect him following the few spars he had managed to beat her in.

(Drake was insistent the times she won was purely due to Grayson going easy on her. How dare he look down on her obviously superior talents!)

If only to make Grayson back off, Delilah gingerly picked up a paintbrush, holding it with only her forefinger and thumb as a sneer of distaste grew on her face. “What am I even supposed to do with this?”

“Anything!” Dick proclaimed, happy she was at least going to try. “Make whatever you want! That’s the beauty of art!”

Delilah eyed the blank sheet of paper and the brush. She pursed her lips before swirling the brush into a random paint on the pallet.

She then haphazardly hit the brush against the paper, making a small splatter of watercolor.

She looked up at Grayson and blinked, “I’m done.”

Dick’s smile faltered just slightly, but he kept it up enough, “Great! It’s perfect!”

Delilah raised an eyebrow and glanced at the paper dubiously, “Really?”

Dick nodded, trying his best to encourage her. She at least made some kind of effort. “Yes! That’s the great thing about art! It’s entirely subjective and anything you make is already perfect!”

“That doesn’t make sense,” she disputed.

“Well, an artist always puts something of themselves into their pieces,” he explained, “So regardless of if other people don’t like it, it will always mean something, even if it’s just to the artist!”

Delilah hummed with a confused frown.

“Here!” Dick then put a blank piece of paper in front of her, “Try making something else. Or the same thing! Whatever you want!”

“Master Dick,” Alfred cut in, “Apologies for the disruption, but Master Bruce would like to discuss something with you.”

“Ah. Okay,” he nodded, before turning back to Delilah, “I’ll be right back. Go ahead and get started. I look forward to seeing what you create!”

He then hurried out after Alfred, leaving Delilah alone in the library.

She glanced around at the paints and other supplies with curiosity. Well, she certainly respected Grayson enough to give it another go.

Not that she’d ever tell him that.

Dick came back to the library a good hour later. Joker had escaped again and was planning a mass team up with some other major rogues. Which was also partly why he had been distracting Delilah for the last week (outside a general desire to help her find something to enjoy that didn’t involve training). So he could focus on Joker’s big plots, and so Delilah wouldn’t get it in her head to go after the clown.

Jason was being especially protective, for as much as he seemingly disliked her. Joker wasn't going to hurt any more kids on his watch.

When he arrived, Delilah had specks of paint on her cheeks and hands, but looked satisfied.

“You look like you had fun,” he smiled. This was great! She was making more of an effort than anything else they did.

She simply held out the paper to him.

He took it and froze. 

Delilah frowned up at him, “Did I do something wrong?”

“Wrong?” He gaped, “No way! This is amazing! It’s beautiful!”

It really was. It was a landscape painting of their garden, a mixture of watercolor and acrylic. You’d have never known it was her first time painting.

“Really?” 

There was a look on her that none of them had seen before. The innocence of a child seeking approval of something they were proud of. A vital point of childhood that he knew had been taken away from her at an even younger age.

It melted his heart as a soft smile grew. He gently patted her head, “You have a real talent for this.”

Her eyes gleamed with innocent joy, which only endeared her to him more.

“You know what? This deserves to go on the fridge!” He declared.

She tilted her head in confusion, “Why?”

“It’s basically a right of passage!” Dick nodded firmly, “All of our achievements get a place on the fridge. Basically an honor, you know!”

Delilah looked intrigued by this.

And from that point on, the landscape painting remained on the fridge, right beside the simple sheet of paper with a small watercolor splatter in the middle.

Anya was incredibly happy, after seeing just how important it was to have things on the fridge. She must be amazing at drawing if Mama thought it deserved to be up there!

Loid, meanwhile, decided to have her try other talents. 

Those did not turn out well.

“How about music? I have a violin for children.”

Anya broke the violin in one go.

“What about sports?”

She missed every shot. Though he didn’t know how much of that was because she insisted on keeping her eyes closed.

“Gymnastics?”

She face-planted right into the vault table, and rolled off onto the ground.

Anya burst in wailing sobs, her face bruised with red marks. Loid held back a sigh, carefully plucking the girl off the floor, attempting to soothe her, “Come on. Don’t cry.”

Delilah, having rushed off with an idea, came back with a rope, “Why don’t we do some jump-rope? It’s a lot of fun.” Anya was physically fine. Sure, her face may be a little bruised, but she could tell her daughter was mostly just upset at her failures. She could understand. She, as well, disliked failure. Anya was young, though. The best thing would be to distract her and have her find something to move on to.

Twilight needed to calm down. He was pushing her too hard again. It wasn’t like the war would just start out of nowhere. It takes time for a country to prepare to ignite warfare, and Desmond was unlikely to make any sudden decisions before they were ready.

Certainly Sylvia’s claim about Anya needing eight Stella’s in four months was her messing with him. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t truth in the urgency of her becoming a Scholar.

He was brought out of his thoughts when Anya fell to the ground, tangled in the jump rope. Despite this, she peered up at him with a determined gaze in her eye, “Papa….I’m gonna do my best.”

That’s right. She was trying hard, for his sake. Because she understood on some level how important this was to him. Of course, she had no clue the real reason he wanted so much out of her, but she never questioned his demands of her.

She really was the best child he could’ve picked for his mission.

“Can you untie me?” She murmured.

“Right.” He knelt down to help Delilah carefully get the rope off her, “Anya, how about we go somewhere tomorrow?”

“An ooting?!” She gasped in excitement.

Delilah also looked excited, “I will take the day off as well! It’s been a couple weeks since we last had a family outing.”

“Are you sure?” Loid asked, “I was thinking about Anya and I volunteering at the hospital.”

“Oh, Beloved,” Delilah looked at him in awe, “What a virtuous idea. You have such a giving soul.” 

Okay, well now he felt a little guilty. But there was no use dwelling too much over that. 

(He would later make donations to a few charities, after dozens of background checks to make sure they weren’t covers for anything, to assuage his guilt.)

“Thank you all very much for agreeing to volunteer at our hospital today. You’re quite a generous bunch,” the head nurse said happily. She then pulled up her clipboard, “Now then, I have a list of tasks we’d like your help with. They’re not pretty, but that’s the job.”

Delilah was quite used to volunteering at the hospital. When she first began living with her father and siblings, she quickly learned they were not the kind to simply hand out money to people. If that was the case, they would not be the most beloved wealthy family in Gotham, let alone America.

No, their family were the ones getting their hands dirty and dealing with the nitty gritty work of volunteering. Soup kitchens, homeless shelters, hospitals, they did work at them.

She had always thrown a fit due to her former belief of being above such things. She was, quite literally, a princess, after all. 

Her father had forced her anyway, stating it was their way of giving back to the community. She saw no point in such things.

It had been Pennyworth who used her mindset at the time against her. He claimed that, being royalty, it was only right for them to take care of their subjects in the ways they needed. That it would ingratiate the people to their family and recognize them as better than them.

It worked and she had been very eager to start helping. Because while her family were clearly of higher class, being royalty (as much as her father refused to see that), what better way to prove it than to do more work for their subjects than the other mere nobles.

Looking back now, it was definitely manipulation on Pennyworth’s part, and damn if she didn’t respect him immensely more for that.

Loid, however, was more concerned with the volunteer work being counted towards Anya’s record. Aside from good behavior and grades, students can also earn Stella Stars by altruism and heroic acts. Theoretically, WISE could manufacture those kind of events, but the risk of Anya getting hurt outweighed his willingness of doing so.

“First off, if I could have the Forgers clean this dressing room right around the corner.”

“They have a pool!” Anya gasped when they looked at the map.

“It’s just for physical therapy” Loid said, as the family made their way towards the room they were assigned.

It wasn’t bad, in Delilah’s opinion. Much better than taking care of the patient's pans, which she had been forced to do in place of her siblings after losing a few bets.

Unfortunately, Anya was overeager and slipped when trying to fix a vase, breaking it.

So they had been reassigned to the library.

And then they were yet again reassigned when Anya made piles of books she wanted to read, as opposed to actually putting them away.

The cafeteria resulted in food being wasted, again due to Anya’s clumsiness.

And then she fell asleep in the laundry room.

“I’m bored with chores,” Anya declared, after they were once again forced to leave the room they were supposed to be helping in. “I wanna do the job where I give the doctors their scalpels.”

“I appreciate your determination, Little One, but that is a job you need training for,” Delilah stated.

“Oh, okay,” she nodded, “I’ll ask them to train me in the operating room!” 

“No, wait-“ Loid was too slow for Anya’s excited sprint, and she slipped away from his grasp, scurrying ahead. “Anya!”

The girl sped around the corner, only to collide with none other than the head nurse. Clearly it was the final straw as she snapped, “I’ve had enough! Will you please leave?! You’re doing more harm than good!”

Anya despondently walked between her parents, “I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay,” Loid assured, despite his disappointment, “Everybody makes mistakes.”

“Your father is right, Little One. Besides, this would not be the first time I’ve been kicked out of a hospital,” Delilah said flippantly. Could one even call themself a Wayne if they did not cause chaos when attempting to help? 

Of course, it was more so early on when she fought with her siblings during volunteer work, but still. 

Unbeknownst to the Forgers, the little boy they passed by in the hall would become a firm figure in their lives. 

Ken Gardner was only eight years old, but he knew exactly what he wanted to be when he grew up. He was gonna be Ostania’s best soccer player in history. 

He had been playing since he was six and his dad took him to a game, and he knew he was one of the best players on his team. 

The only setback he’s faced was breaking his leg. It had been completely unrelated too. One of his friend dared him to climb to the top of the tree by the field when they were waiting for the coach. Unfortunately, he came across the weakest branch and it broke under his weight. 

He landed on his leg wrong and that was it. 

Thankfully, the doctor said he should make a full recovery after six months. He was four months in, and the doctor wanted him to start physical therapy.

His nurse, Maria, was really nice and she was going to be the one helping him in the pool. He wasn’t that excited for it, though. 

“Is the pool gonna be cold?” He asked, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else.

“It’ll be fine,” she assured with a smile, “Go put your swimsuit on and I’ll do the same.” With that, she entered the women’s changing room.

Ken, however, decided to test the water first. Just to make sure, and get ready for it, you know.

There were two pools. One of them was unoccupied, as they were probably separated by age, Ken assumed. So, he moved to check the empty pool.

Carefully kneeling down, he dipped his hand in and whined as he pulled back, “I knew it’d be cold.”

However, it was then that his good leg slipped and he immediately fell into the water.

He struggled, trying desperately to get back up to the surface. But it was with no avail. His broken leg would not respond, and his good leg was not enough to help. 

He continued to sink to the bottom of the deep pool, realizing that no one noticed and help would not come.

Except one did.

Anya heard his mind, and froze, hearing the panicked thoughts. 

She couldn’t tell her parents the truth. If she told them someone was drowning in the pool, they would want to know how she knew, and then they’d find out about her powers and then she’d be alone again!

….but she couldn’t do nothing.

“Mama, Papa, I know I’m bad at volunteering, so I….” She lost her nerve, unable to say exactly what she planned to. Instead, she spun on her heel and began sprinting down the hall, “I’m gonna become a pro swimmer and get Stars that way so I hafta go practice in the pool!”

“Wait! I told you that wasn’t for recreation!” Loid called after her. But she ignored him, disappearing around the corner. He sighed, “Just what has gotten into her?”

Delilah hummed, the pair hurried after their daughter, “She wants to make you proud.”

“I am proud,” he refuted.

“Yes. But she knows how important these Stella Stars are to you.”

Loid ran a hand through his hair, “I’m trying to not push, but…”

“I know,” she assured, placing a hand onto his arm, “You only want her to have every opportunity available, so a good school record will open more avenues for her.”

He felt just a little bad at how much faith she had in him as a father. Because it was only for the mission. None of his attempts at getting Anya to the top were for her sake.

But neither could ever know the truth. Not just for the danger it’d present the mission, but he just knew they would be so disappointed…

When the parents reached the pool, however, their mood dropped when the adults in the room seemed to be in a panic. Instinctively knowing something was wrong, they raced over to the gathering.

Loid was the one who caught sight of the floating pink hair beneath the depths of the water. Without hesitation, he pushed past everyone and dove in.

It was not just his daughter sinking to the bottom, but another young boy as well. 

He quickly grabbed both and pulled them to the surface, hurriedly moving them into a better hold above the water as he waded back to everyone fretting.

“ ANYA! ” A cry ripped from Delilah’s throat as she slid beside the little girl. Anya hacked and coughed, trying to get the water out of her body. 

Loid took a few breaths to calm his own racing heart as his wife gathered their daughter into her arms, an uneasy pain on her face. She was clearly unsure if Anya was truly okay and trying to convince herself that the girl was fine.

“I was…trying to swim,” Anya said weakly, leaning into her Mama’s chest, “I saw the boy sinking…”

“Ken! Are you alright?!” The nurse was quick to maneuver the boy to his side as he began coughing up water. When he caught back his breath, he began sobbing and clung to her for comfort.

“How did none of us notice?” A woman questioned, relief slowly replacing the panic.

“Children tend to drown more quietly than you expect,” Loid said, pulling himself out of the pool, “Please make sure you keep your eye on him.” He then patted Anya’s head, “Good job spotting him, Anya.”

“I saw the bubbles,” she murmured.

Delilah carefully ran her hair through her wet locks, “You need to be careful too, Little One.”

“Thank you,” Maria said, her voice filled with gratitude, “Thank you so much.”

The other adults proceeded to praise Anya as well, while a few doctors arrived to ensure the two children were okay.

And Loid was extremely happy that Eden Academy proceeded to have its first Stella Assembly of the year, rewarding Anya for her heroic actions.

The same day she got her Stella, the boy she saved also came over for dinner with his parents. 

“Go ahead, Ken,” his mother, Grace, urged, lightly tapping her son’s back.

Ken blushed, and fiddled with his fingers, “Um, do you wanna sign my cast?” He had gotten his old one taken off for physical therapy. Unfortunately, his near drowning had caused his leg to strain and become inflamed, so the doctor wanted to be safe and put on another cast. And so, this one was bare of any signatures or drawings.

Anya gasped, nodding emphatically, “Yes! Mama!”

Delilah understood what she wanted, swiftly grabbing a spare marker she had from the kitchen counter.

Anya wrote her name in large letters, a happy grin on her face. Ken had a shy smile on his face in response. 

“It’s with a ‘Y’ not an ‘I’, Little One,” Delilah corrected lightly.

Not really, Mama, but that’s okay. Anya simply wrote a y on top of the i, not wanting to argue otherwise.

Dinner passed with light conversation. The adults were more content to watch and listen to their children interacting. And of course, when the meal was finished, Anya urged Ken to the living room.

“This is my favorite show!” She said, turning on a recent recording of Spy Wars.

Loid shook his head in exasperation. Sure enough, the first thing Anya ever wanted to show off to friends and family was her favorite cartoon. In fairness, Ken looked enthralled as explosions lit up the screen.

“We truly cannot thank you enough,” Grace said softly, as the four parents watched the two children fondly.

“Our Anya was simply doing the right thing,” Delilah assured, “I’m glad we were able to help your son.”

“Thanks to your daughter,” Austin, Ken’s father, insisted. “She’s a child and was the only one able to notice he was in trouble. And she dove in without hesitation. She put herself in danger for his sake. I’m just relieved they both were okay afterwards.”

Loid smiled. Yes, Anya truly was a good girl, and he was incredibly proud of her. Was that what this feeling in his chest was? You’d think he’d be used to it by now, with how often Anya seemed to be drawing it out of him.

“Though we certainly need to push forward in teaching her how to swim properly to prevent that danger again,” Delilah stated. Loid nodded in agreement before she continued, “I know Ken was in the process of physical therapy for his leg. I wanted to discuss the possibility of having him join Anya in the exercise class I have been teaching her. I have experience in doing so with broken bones, and I believe it would be helpful in rehabilitation.”

Grace smiled brightly, “That sounds wonderful. Especially since Ken already is rather fond of Anya. He’s been having a hard time making friends since he changed schools. I’m happy he and Anya get along so well. We will just need to get his doctor’s approval”

With that, a new friendship was made.

A couple days later, Twilight, disguised as an old gentleman, sat aboard the subway train. Close, though not directly beside him, an equally disguised Sylvia sat. “I heard your daughter earned her first Stella. That’s good news, Agent Twilight.”

“Agreed Handler. Against all odds, she did it.” Honestly, he had been concerned the chances of her achieving even one were nonexistent.

“Though I was thinking. Couldn’t we simply create additional opportunities for her to earn the rest of them? We’ve certainly got the resources.”

“People would get suspicious, and we shouldn’t send the other agents on unnecessary missions.” And he was wary of risking Anya being put into too much danger. She was already a trouble-magnet. He didn’t want her to be injured. “It’d up the chance of their cover being blown.”

“You do have a point there.”

“Is HQ getting impatient?”

“No.” Hence why they didn’t actually insist on a four month deadline. They knew it was unlikely and extremely suspicious if such a young child earned so many so quickly. The eldest Desmond son was the youngest in history to be an Imperial Scholar and even he hadn’t earned enough Stella until at least his third year. “But there are several businesses linked to Desmond that are making shady financial transactions as of late. This is no time to relax. Try to make contact with Desmond fast. Just, give your daughter some candy or something to get her motivated.”

When Anya arrived at school, she was very happy. She had earned her first Stella and was so much closer to helping Papa with his mission! 

And! Everyone in school was talking about her too! Becky even thought that she’d be able to make so many more friends!

Which meant that Second Son would be so awed by her Stella, that he might even invite her to his house! And then she could bring Papa, and he would stop the Evil Guy and they would get World Peace™!

That daydream was crushed when Second Son confronted her with Pomp Hair and Bowlcut Boy, “Don’t get a big head, kid!”

Welp. Guess the world’s doomed.

In class, though, Anya was disheartened to hear the whispers and thoughts of her classmates. 

“What does she think, she’s hot stuff or something?”

“Just look at her.”

“She keeps showing off that stupid badge.”

“As if any of us care.”

“Who comes to school wearing it? It’s like she’s shoving it down all our throats.”

Actually her Mama wanted her to wear it. She said it would make everyone know she was a true Al Ghul. And Anya wanted to be a part of Mama’s family! So…so! She gotta wear it! 

“I, for one, don’t believe it for a second. She’s too violent to be some big hero!”

“They told us she saved a kid from drowning. But she probably kicked him in there herself and watched him sink!”

No! Anya wouldn’t do that! Not ever! Anya was a good girl! And Ken was now Anya’s friend!

“Maybe her parents actually paid the school a bunch of money for her Stella.”

“You think? She certainly doesn’t look that rich to me!”

Mama was a princess! Papa doesn’t got a lot of money cause the mission needs him to be ‘middle’ or something, but Mama’s got lots of money! That’s why she’s got really pretty clothes that make Papa think about her more!

Anya sniffled, chin trembling. Becky was wrong! Anya wasn’t going to make any friends!

Becky felt horrible. Their classmates were so mean, just like Damian! They weren’t even trying to be quiet! They wanted to hurt Anya! She glared at the other kids, “Don’t pay any attention to them. They’re all just jealous of you!”

Damian refused to admit it, but he felt a little bad. Like, yeah, he was upset she beat him at earning a Stella, but he didn’t wanna make her cry again! 

“Damian, I bet you agree with everyone, don’t you?” One of the girls at the desk beside him asked. She had an ugly looking smile on her face. Anya had a prettier one. 

Not that he meant she wasn’t an Uggo! Cause she was!

“She totally cheated, right?” Her deskmate asked.

But that made him angry. On behalf of Eden Academy, that is! Not because they were making Anya upset! That had nothing to do with it! “Do you really think we go to some third-rate school that would hand out Stella to someone who doesn’t deserve it? This is Eden Academy.”

“Uh, no! I know!” The girl was obviously shocked he didn’t agree with her. That just showed how much lacking her pedigree was, though.

“If you’ve got a problem with our school, then why don’t you take the transfer exam and leave?” Not to mention Anya was too much of a goody goody to cheat! If she cheated, it would’ve meant he was better than her! But damn it! He lost to her fair and square!

The girl stuttered and flushed brightly, embarrassed at being called out by Damian.

“I didn’t expect that,” Becky remarked lightly, shocked the boy spoke up in defense of Anya, “Maybe there’s more to him than I thought.”

Anya was awed by Second Son defending her. And he wasn’t being mean while thinking about her!

But the teacher then arrived and she had to focus on the lesson before she could give him more thought.

During lunch, Becky brought up something Anya never thought about, “Have you decided? What’s your reward gonna be?”

“My reward?”

“Yeah! Whenever you do well on a test of a recital or something, you’re supposed to get a reward, right?”

Oh yeah! When she got into Eden, Mama, Papa and Uncle Franky planned a huge spy party for her! Though she didn’t think Papa would do that again. The red haired boss lady in his mind had been upset about how much it cost. 

But then again, Mama could probably pay for it!

“I don’t know what to get,” Anya said.

“Well don’t waste it on anything cheap! My reward for the test the other day was a cute dress and a tiara!”

“Mama buys me cute clothes all the time,” Anya remarked, “But I don’t think that’s a reward for anything. She just likes shopping. And making Papa turn red!” 

“Well there’s gotta be something special that you want?”

Anya hummed, “What about a castle?” Jadati had a lot of castles in different places.

“That might be a little much,” Becky said, “Where would you even put it?”

Maybe next to Jadati’s favorite castle? Then she and Jadati could be neighbors and see each other all the time!

But if Becky thought it was too much, then she should think of something else, “Then, peanuts for, like, ever?”

“I mean, that’s easier to do, but is that really what you want?” Anya pouted, unsure. “Well, I think the reward that made me the happiest is my sweet little Wiesel!”

“Weasel?”

“That’s the name of my puppy!” Becky said happily. “He’s the cutest thing you’ll ever see!”

In Becky’s mind, Anya could see her friend playing in a yard with a little brown puppy. And he really was cute! 

Spotting Second Son, she called out, curious, “Do you have a dog too, Second Son?”

Oddly enough, he paused and didn’t immediately start yelling, “A dog?”

Becky scoffed, “What are you asking a jerk like him for?”

In Second Son’s mind, Anya could see him hugging and playing with a bigger doggy, talking about how he loved him so much.

“Who cares?” He said, refusing to explain aloud that he did have a doggy too, “And don’t talk to me, okay?”

And just like that, Anya’s mind began to dream. Anya could ask for a doggy, and then show Second Son! Then he would invite her and her doggy to his house, and she’d bring Papa, and then they’d have World Peace™!

That very night, Anya began to plead her case, kneeling on the floor in front of her Papa with a serious look on her face.

“You want a dog as a reward?” Loid questioned curiously. 

“Yes! Having a dog will bring peace!”

“You mean…peace of mind?” Well, dogs were known to bring comfort to people with stress or dealing with hard times. And while he and Delilah were now doing everything to give her a good and safe home (for the mission), he didn’t account for any lasting trauma that scummy orphanage may have given her.

Sylvia had dug up enough to make him very glad he took Anya when he did.

“Well, I was thinking of buying something for you soon anyway.”

“Anya,” Delilah knelt beside Loid, “Having a pet is not a game. It’s a very big responsibility.”

“Responsible!” Anya nodded.

“Having said that,” the woman hummed, swiftly spinning on her knees to kneel beside her daughter. She stared up at her husband, eyes sparkling with hope, “Beloved, can we please get a dog?!”

“You too?” Loid jolted.

“I had many pets as a child. Given our apartment, only one animal would truly have the proper space, however. And Anya has already determined she wishes for a dog.” 

“Alright then,” He agreed. Besides, a nice trained dog could provide their home some security. And for Anya, given she tends to get caught up in trouble. “We can visit some pet shops this weekend.”

Deeper within the city, a dog waited patiently. Soon. His family would come for him soon.

Chapter Text

Despite the fact that Sylvia and Franky believed Twilight needed less missions due to the potential of burn out, the higher ups were much too satisfied with his work. Not to mention the fact that the WISE agents in Ostania were limited due to the Secret Police. And so, he was given yet another mission while in the midst of what was arguably their most important one.

While he finished this newest mission and met with another contact, Delilah and Anya both were content with their time at home together. 

Delilah never thought she’d have been happy being a housewife, but love really puts things in perspective for her. Certainly, she didn’t mind her work at City Hall, or her assassin work, but there was something to be said about keeping a home that made her happy.

Perhaps this was why Pennyworth firmly stated he would never retire, despite her father’s insistence that he take less work the older he became. Providing and helping her family gave her a peace of mind she had been lacking for a long time now.

And soon they would have a pet to add to their family, which only increased her glee, being the dedicated animal lover she was.

As Twilight made his way to their apartment, he could feel the exhaustion settling deep in his body. Given the personnel shortage, it was not possible for them to lighten his workload just yet. 

However, Sylvia promised once they fixed their current situation, she would get him off the mission list. But that didn’t help him right now.

And even as he made his way to his house, work would not be done. He was assigned the role of a ‘family man’, so there truly was no time for resting.

As he entered the apartment building, he came across a group of housewives gossiping. “I’m not getting a good feeling about that husband across the hall. Even though it’s the weekend, he’s out, quote unquote ‘working late’ again!”

Oh great. This is about him. Which was not good at all. 

“And that poor, sweet little girl. She must be starving for attention!”

“I can hardly recall a time I saw all three of them spending time together,” the third woman remarked, “His wife must be a saint, with that amount of patience.”

“He must be leading some secret double life. Maybe he’s cheating on her!”

“Oh, could you imagine?” One woman said aghast, “She’s such a beautiful young lady, too. If she could be cheated on…!”

“Maybe he got fired and just can’t bring himself to go home and tell her!” Another woman suggested.

Oh lovely . Now the extra missions are intruding upon his main one. His time had been so taken up, and exhausting him so much, he’s been neglecting his role as a loving husband and father. This was not good. Not at all.

And now it was at the point where the neighbors had taken notice. It’d be bad enough if Delilah and Anya were the ones who thought he was failing their family. But now this was going to affect his public image as well. Both pieces were crucial to Operation Strix.

Sliding past the women without notice, he hurried up the stairs, ready to do everything possible to improve their status as a family.

Bursting through the door, and startling both ladies of the house, he announced, “This weekend is family day!”

“Beloved,” Delilah greeted, examining him closely. Even as he hung up his coat and hat, he was swaying heavily. Obviously the late hours were taking a toll on her poor husband.

“We’ll have a great time together!” He continued, “So, where are we going?” Loid noted the drawing Anya was making at the coffee table. Clearly the pair had been having a mini art time, and Delilah was helping Anya improve her artistic skills. At least he could tell what the picture was showing here, “Is that a penguin? I know! Let’s go to the aquarium!”

“Beloved,” Delilah said in concern, “You’re exhausted. Perhaps it would be better to rest this weekend.”

He, however, shook his head. He would’ve explained the gossip with the neighbors, but following the whole confrontation with Talia, he was wary on whether he should mention the fact that their marriage wasn’t real. He had told her before the shotgun wedding they had that night, but it seemed like something was lost in translation now, and he just couldn’t deal with that at the moment.

It was probably all just miscommunication, anyway. He didn’t truly think Talia was correct, but it wasn’t a risk he was going to take. Operation Strix was already in danger with their current situation, he could not exasperate it on the off chance that Talia was right, and upset his wife.

Instead, he played into it. Until he brought it up with Delilah, he would go along with their fake marriage even in the privacy of their home. 

“Well, I’ve been so busy lately. I will admit, it’s quite tiring work at the hospital, but I won’t let that get between our family time. It’s been a while since we did anything fun together. And given our last outings…incident, I thought we deserved a nice time this weekend” he explained with a smile. 

He would just need to get all his other missions taken care of before then.

Delilah was very concerned about her husband. Despite needing to work even harder and later into the night, he still insisted they go to the aquarium together.

But she was well aware of what exhaustion did to the body. Drake was a prime example, the absolute insomniac he was. He had the added bonus of somehow being immune to coffee side effects, and survived on both that addiction, and pure spite. 

But her Beloved had none of that. She could see the stress settled deep in his skin and bones. Even his legs were shaking under his weight, obviously not having the strength to move.

“Beloved, please. I think you need to rest. We can go to the aquarium another time,” she tried to insist.

“We’ll be alright!” He assured, putting on a pair of sunglasses to hide the dark bags around his eyes. 

She sighed as he ignored her advice and opened the door, allowing Anya to skip out of the apartment first. 

“Oh my. If it isn’t the Forgers!” One of their neighbors, Sally, greeted, “Been a while since I’ve seen you all in one place.”

Loid let out a chuckle, placing the happy father smile on his face, “It just seemed like a good day to go to the aquarium together! I know Anya’s excited!”

Anya nodded happily, “Mama got me a new dress and hat so we could go see the fishies and penguins!” 

Because Delilah would always find an excuse to dress up her little princess. She also made sure to take many pictures of the young girl in her sailor dress and sunhat.

“Well, we should hurry along,” he said, before tipping his hat in a gentlemanly manner, “Ladies, it was good to see you.”

“Let’s go, Papa!” Anya cheered, tugging the pair along.

As they reached the train, Twilight felt dread shiver down his spine. At the concession stand, the small, nearly unnoticeable sticker was placed. The sticker was a signal to WISE agents that there was a mission to be done. This sticker also had the mark that showed it was a mission for him specifically. He desperately wanted to pretend he hadn’t noticed it.

But he had no choice.

“I’ll go grab us some drinks.” Delilah nodded, though, ever since they left, she was keeping a close eye on him. It seemed to be out of worry, so that wasn’t a bad thing. It did make him feel just a little warm inside, seeing the concern she was feeling.

He approached the undercover agent, tipping his hat in greeting. She murmured his codename in greeting, “We’ve got another additional mission for you today.”

“Can’t.” He immediately denied.

She was a little startled. Usually the legendary agent never refused a mission. Some said he could go a week with back to back missions and not feel a bit tired. “It came directly from HQ.”

“I can’t,” he said firmly. “Operation Strix needs my full attention today.”

“Papa!” Anya whined back to him, “We need to hurry or the aquarium will go out of business!”

“They just remodeled the place, so don’t worry,” he called back, “Wait, please.” Delilah placed a gentle hand on Anya’s shoulder, urging her to exhibit patience. Truly, she was the perfect choice for his mission. He turned back to the elder agent, “You see what I’m dealing with.”

“Your preparedness is astonishing, as usual!” The woman said, “The mission just so happens to be taking place at the Berlint Aquarium.”

Oh for fuck’s sake!

“You’re mistaken,” he refuted, “Can I just get some-“

“There’s gonna be some important intel trading at the aquarium.” She wasn’t listening to him. “This intel contains instructions from an enemy country for making a new chemical weapon. If the terrorists get their hands on this, there’s no telling just how many of our fellow countrymen will die as a result.”

Damn it all to hell!

Fuck it. Whatever. This was just his life now. He resigned himself to taking this mission. 

Loid handed the tea he was finally able to order to Delilah, and giving Anya the juice.

“Are you okay, Beloved?” Delilah asked, examining him closely. He merely popped off the lid to his coffee and chugged it down in response.

She’d be more concerned if she hadn’t once seen Drake consume two full brews of coffee in one sitting.

Alright. So, maybe he should’ve said no to that other mission. The moment they reached the aquarium, Anya began zooming around excitedly. Whereas he felt ready to kneel over and die. Or maybe just, hibernate for a year. Bears do it, why can’t he?!

At least the neighbors saw them leaving together. So he could quickly take care of the mission and then just relax. Delilah wouldn’t argue with taking Anya by herself, especially considering she was still trying to get him to go lay down on a bench.

“It’s the Forgers! How do you do?” Another neighbor, Elsa, called over. She was there with another neighboring family, who were Dora’s (Elsa’s daughter) family. Her son was a little too young to be in Anya’s playgroup though, so they didn’t really interact much.

He hated it here. Please, for the love of God, can't he just catch a damn break?!

Well, no chance of relaxing now. 

“Hello,” Delilah greeted. 

“We just arrived as well,” Elsa said brightly, “Why don’t you join us?”

Delilah would rather not, but she also knew Loid had wanted to maintain good relations with their neighbors. It was mainly for the sake of Eden Academy’s background checks, but it wouldn’t hurt to continue them. Who was to say Eden would not check in later? They were rather anal about their reputation and that of their students.

“I suppose we could for a little while,” She agreed.

Loid wanted to die.

Loid put up another act of being just fine. He played the role well. Aside from Delilah, who kept shooting him concerned glances, so he wasn’t actually fooling her.

Thankfully, she decided to take charge with interacting with their neighbors, not wanting them to bother her exhausted husband.

He had suggested they visit the penguin exhibit first. This worked in getting Anya excited as well. She started loving penguins since the animal had appeared in the latest episode of Spy Wars.

Because of course she did.

However, the newest mission entailed him tracking down a specific penguin that had ingested a capsule that contained the information being traded.

Obviously he should’ve guessed his luck would be horrendous. The zoo had dozens of penguins. How the hell was he supposed to find the one he needed?!

“Welcome to the world’s largest penguin exhibit!” That announcer woman was just mocking him at this point. “People come far and wide to see our playful penguins in action!”

Delilah smiled as Anya squealed and gazed at the large penguin exhibit. She glanced up at her husband, checking in on him. He was leaning closer to the exhibit as well, gazing intently at the animals.

Perhaps he also liked penguins? Or, it could also be he was trying to focus on not passing out. Which was her main fear, at the moment.

But she couldn’t blame him if it was the latter. She also had a fondness for the bird. Penguin had a flock of his own that he cared for at his lounge. She was usually the one who took responsibility for them when the man was in trouble with the law.

He would argue she was actually trying to steal them, but he had no proof of that. She always failed anyway. Father refused to make room in the Batcave for them.

Anya, meanwhile, knew Papa was trying hard to find the penguin for his mission. So, as she always did, she decided to help him. Maybe then he would rest like Mama wanted him to. 

So, closing her eyes, she focused intently on the flock of birds ahead of her. Animals were a lot harder to read, but she did her best.

Thankfully, it wasn't too difficult as she took notice of a sickly penguin. She just knew it was the right one. “Papa! Look at that penguin. Can it breathe?”

Loid examined the one Anya pointed out her concern regarding. The penguin was hacking and constantly drinking water. But it also kept spitting it back out. Something was blocking its esophagus. Not enough to suffocate, but that meant it was planted more securely.

It had to be the penguin the terrorists were using. At the very least, it was worth checking out.

“I’m going to get us some more drinks,” he told Delilah. She nodded and he hurried off.

Delilah firmly believed he was thirsty due to his exhaustion. Or he was going to pull a Drake and inhale a shit-ton of coffee.

It wasn't difficult to knock out an employee and disguise himself as the boy. After so long in his profession, it was second nature to apply cosmetics properly.

He also had little problem acting the part, pitching his voice and acting like a new worker.

“Now, it’s important for you newbies to learn to put a name to the face of these penguins!” The manager of this team declared, guiding Twilight and another worker to the open enclosure. “I hope you’ve tried to memorize the roster!”

That was practically child’s play for him. On a belated note, the poor kid he was disguised as was going to have a hard time explaining the sudden change in work ethic.

Also, the Zoo had a bad habit of using names that began with the letter ‘P’ for all the penguins. To the point that they started using other names and just replaced the first letter.

“All right, time to get these guys fed” the manager said, not addressing the envy he felt at how easily Twilight remembered the names of the penguins. 

As he followed the older man, his eyes gazed out among the animals, searching. The coughing bird was Parles, one of the emperor penguins. So, he just needed to grab him and hurry to a solitary place to examine his throat.

Unfortunately, he was quickly swarmed by the other penguins, eager to the bucket of fish in his hands. 

“Now, they’re all a little different,” the manager said, not caring as Twilight stumbled briefly by the sudden stampede of birds. “Gluttons, picky eaters, you gotta pay attention to their unique needs.”

This was supposed to be a training exercise of sorts for the new employees, but Twilight didn’t have time to spare. He needed to finish this mission quickly so he could get back to his family. The neighbors would get suspicious if he suddenly abandoned their outing, and Strix would be ruined.

“Hey boss! Allow me to do the honors!”

The chart he memorized with their names also detailed the dietary needs of each penguin, by species and medical conditions. Perhaps he was a bit overzealous with the speed in which he threw each bird their meal, but that was the least of his concerns.

With the path towards Parles clear, he swiftly stepped over to the hacking penguin, feigning worry, “Uh-oh. Apparently, Parles isn’t very hungry today. I think he’s feeling sick. I’ll just take him to the clinic.” He plucked up the ill penguin, rubbing it’s back. The poor thing seemed relieved by the touch.

Sadly, the comfort wouldn’t last as Twilight found a place with no cameras and passersby. Instead, he had to keep Parles’ beak open wide as he peered inside his throat. “Sorry, buddy.”

A tiny metal glinted in the light as he examined the bird. Another glance towards the bottom of his flailing feet also showed a red marking on the bottom. “Hold on, little guy. I’ll fish this out real quick.”

“Hey. you.” Oh, how wonderful. Company. “There a problem? What are you doing with that?”

“Taking him to the clinic,” Twilight replied in the soft voice of his disguise, “He’s sick.” He only turned to observe the newcomer. This area was restricted, so it had to either be an employee, or worse, one of the enemies. 

The man was pale and swallow. And his eyes were disturbingly wide. His suit said he wasn’t really an employee, but Twilight needed to take precautions, as a higher up would not necessarily need a uniform.

“Ah, well, hand him over and I can take him,” the man said.

“I’m sorry, sir, but the rules say only qualified staff can handle the penguins.” Thankfully, this rule was true and would put the man in a bind. He would need to prove himself with identification now, and Twilight had an excuse to refuse.

“Apologies,” the man said, reaching into his jacket before bringing out a wallet to showcase, “I should’ve said, I’m a professor from Berlint University’s marine biology research lab, and as part of my job, I’m in charge of the marine animals here.”

Twilight carefully took the ID. However, instead of reading it over, he sniffed at it. What an amateur. The ink was fresh. Dipping his gloves fingers into some water, he proceeded to give a small rub to the ID. It easily smudged. “This ID is fake, not to mention poorly made.”

The man knew he was caught by another spy, frantically drawing his gun, “Who do you work for, you-“

Twilight swiftly grabbed a lone bucket and whacked it into the man’s hand, knocking the gun away. Easily figuring he was outmatched in that moment, the man spun and began to run away.

Twilight grabbed Parles to give chase, but the penguin did not appreciate being manhandled, and began fighting and squawking at him. “Quit squirming, will you?!”

The man leapt over the rails and scurried off as another entered the area. Thankfully, it was the manager, and not another terrorist. “Hey newbie! What the heck are you doing with that penguin?  The clinic is that way!”

Alright, fine. His main concern should be getting the capsule anyway. He’d let the man get away for the moment, and simply work to keep a hold of the penguin.

Unbeknownst to Twilight, his daughter was on a walkway above, watching in awe as her Papa did his cool spy stuff.

Delilah, on the other hand, was dutifully trying to track down where her daughter ran off to. Their neighbor was quite the talker, and while she was amusing the woman, Anya slipped off under the claim of needing the bathroom. The restroom had been by them anyway, so she didn’t think there was any harm in letting her go alone.

Honestly, she should’ve known the girl would wander away instead. She was so proud of her Little One. Deceiving a parent was the first steps to achieving greatness. She recalled the first time she tricked her mother at the tender age of three. Her mother still did not know she had smuggled a fish into her palace wing to keep as a pet.

Granted, it died within a few days, but the sentiment remained.

Regardless, Anya had a tendency to get herself into trouble, a danger magnet, one would say. So, Delilah was quick to make an excuse and leave to find her wayward daughter.

Said daughter, wanting to help her Papa catch the Bad Guy, chased after the enemy man. Good thing too! Cause the Bad Guy wanted to get more enemies to come kill her Papa! She had to stop him!

It was pure luck she was able to intercept and grab onto the edge of his jacket, hanging on for dear life.

And even better, she was able to catch her Mama’s thoughts, which meant she was close! Mama would take care of the Bad Guy! 

“ Mama! I’m being kidnapped!” She screamed over the man yelling at her to let go.

Sure enough, Delilah was search the hall nearby, and heard her daughter’s cry for help. 

Zeroing in on the scream, she raced after them. Sliding into a crouch as she cut the man off, she pounced as quickly as a viper. A harsh kick to the jaw sent the man into the ceiling plaster. Anya let go of his jacket the moment her Mama attacked, freefalling into the woman’s awaiting arms.

“Are you alright, my Little One?” Delilah asked, brushing a hand over her hair.

“Yes, Mama! You caught the Bad Guy!”

“Um…” Two other men appeared. Only Delilah was unaware that the younger man was her husband. 

“He tried to kidnap my daughter,” she explained bluntly, unconcerned by the older man’s gaping and, possibly, growing fear of her.

Twilight determined the man had been desperate to escape and tried to take a hostage. Unluckily for the terrorist, his wife was an excellent and protective mother. 

“Sir, why don’t you get security to take care of this man while I take Parles to the clinic,” he suggested. This would also allow him to remove the capsule without witnesses.

“R-right.”

Delilah only stayed long enough to explain the situation to security before she slipped away with Anya.

“I apologize for our delay. We had run into a situation that required security to get involved,” she explained to the other family when they met the group back at the lobby.

“Oh dear! Are you okay?” Elsa asked in concern.

“Yes. It was nothing serious. I had it handled,” she nodded as Anya happily held onto her skirt. She didn’t think it was wise to alarm the family when the kidnapper had been taken care of. 

“Meanwhile, I have not seen hide nor hair of your husband since earlier,” the elder woman remarked with a frown. She then urged Delilah closer, “Not to mention the late nights. My intuition just screams cheater. Please just be careful, dear.”

“I appreciate the concern,” Not really, but best to play nice. “But Loid isn’t that kind of man. His job is just, unfortunately, very demanding.”

Before Elsa could respond, Loid conveniently appeared, carrying a giant penguin plushy. “I’m so sorry! That took way too long!” He showcased the stuffed animal as Anya squealed and raced over to him, “Ta-Da!”

“Big penguin!” She squealed, bouncing on her toes.

“Oh my,” Delilah awed, “Where’d you get this, Beloved? I hadn’t seen this in the gift shop.”

Loid handed the plushy off to the excited Anya, who giggled and stuffed her face into the fluffy fabric. He let out a sheepish chuckle, gesturing to the game booths,  “I won it in the penguin name guessing game over there. It certainly took some trying, but I just knew Anya would love it, so what could I do? Finally got him, though!”

Papa was such a liar. He knew the penguins’ name long before he played the game. But it’s okay. Anya will forgive him cause he got her such a cool present!

Delilah huffed, a fond smile on her face as she crossed her arms, “You spoil her.”

He returned her smile with a smirk, “Like you don’t? Exactly how many different outfits did you buy her for our one trip to the aquarium?”

She lifted her chin with a haughty sniff, “Well, that just means we need to visit here more often so those clothes can be put to good use.”

“You just want an excuse to wear your own new clothes,” he retorted in amusement.

She batted her lashes, “You love seeing me dress up.” He sputtered and blushed, while she giggled in gleeful mischief. 

“Mama! Mama! Look! It’s so fluffy!” Anya cheered, dancing as best she could with the giant penguin in her arms. It was even bigger than her.

Delilah placed a small kiss on Loid’s cheek before moving her attention to her happy daughter.

Elsa watched with curious awe, “I must admit, I misjudged you.” She had growing concerns that the man was a distant uncaring father, and, as horrible as it sounded, believed he merely married sweet Delilah to have a trophy wife (after all, she was a very beautiful woman. Many single men in their building were jealous of Loid’s marriage with her). 

But that look on his face, the dazed smile, bright red cheeks, stunned eyes locked onto his distracted wife, it was the look her husband used to give her when he was alive. No man that much in love would dream of cheating.

And he spent his whole day trying to win a simple toy for his daughter, just because he knew she would love it. It certainly must’ve been a boring task, but he was more than happy to accomplish it for little Anya. 

“You’re a wonderful father, and husband,” Dora remarked, equally softened by the sight of the other family.

“Ah,” Loid feigned surprise and sheepishness, “Oh, well, I’m just trying my best. Honestly, I’ve been flailing around in fatherhood, and I was very lucky to have met Delilah. I’m just doing what I can to provide and protect my family.”

Elsa and Dora were both awed, and, in that moment, finally realized that Delilah was just as lucky to find such an attractive and attentive man.

Loid, meanwhile, determined that his day was successful. And that he needed to have a serious talk with Sylvia about stopping all the missions being thrown at him.

“Papa! The dolphin show is about to start!” Anya called out urgently, as she hurled the giant penguin into her arms.

“Yes, yes, Anya. I’m hurrying,” he said placatingly.

It was annoying and exhausting work, but all of this was for kids like her. So they could live in a world where they could laugh without fear, and war was simply a fact of history.

He could content himself with that.

Delilah made their usual drinks while Loid did some more work from home. Anya was happily playing with her new toy, playing spy, as she typically chose to do, “This is our hideout’s central command room! And we use this machine to gather some new intel every day!” 

She then pointed to the tired Loid, “This is Agent Papa! He’s a super elite that can do anything!” She then moved to point at Delilah, “That’s Agent Mama! She’s strong and pretty and even better than Agent Papa! Both of them are Agent Anya’s most trusted lackeys! Now, let’s move on!”

The little girl then proceeded to drag the toy off towards the hallway, while Delilah settled onto the couch with her tea, “Seems like she loves the new plushie. Excellent choice, Beloved.”

“Why is Agent Mama better than Agent Papa?” Loid grumbled under his breath as he shuffled through his papers.

Delilah smirked and crossed her legs, leaning towards him suggestively, “Because Agent Mama can convince Agent Papa to do her bidding.”

He rolled his eyes, “Oh really?”

She hummed, “Would you be a dear and turn on the AC, Beloved?” 

“It’s not so bad inside,” he refuted, “If you really want, we can just open the wind-“ His words were cut off with a strangled choke when she proceeded to slowly pop a couple buttons of her blouse off. 

She smirked and leaned towards him suggestively, displaying a heavy amount of cleavage, “If you ask me, it’s a little hot in here.”

Loid all but leapt off the couch to fiddle with the central air unit, stuttering an incoherent response.

Delilah smirked and lifted her chin haughtily. He made it so easy.

However, it was then Loid noticed Anya reaching for his bedroom door. Quickly forgetting his embarrassment, he rushed over and grabbed her, holding her up with a stern glare on his face, “What are you doing?! How many times have I told you not to go in there?!”

Anya trembled at her Papa’s angry face, before letting out an ear piercing wail, sobbing harshly.

Loid yelped and quickly put her down, waving his hands as he tried to calm her. He lost his temper and clearly frightened the poor girl, “It’s just, there’s scissors and heaters and stuff that can hurt you in there.”

That didn’t matter to little Anya, who only continued her sobs.

Delilah frowned as she came over, “Little One, please stop crying. Your father is just worried about your safety.”

She wailed, “I hate you, Papa and Mama! I’m gonna run away from home!”

Loid wheezed in panic. Code Red! Code Red for Operation Strix! Family unit is in danger! 

Delilah, however, was having none of it, putting her foot down as she gently took hold of Anya and carried her back to the living room. She was unconcerned as the girl struggled in her grasp and screamed in her ear. Loid scurried close behind, eyes wide with fear and uncertainty as he glanced between her and their inconsolable daughter

Settling herself onto the couch, she sat patiently and waited for Anya to wear herself out. It took some time, with Loid fiddling with his hands glancing around to try finding something that might calm the girl down. But even the sounds of Spy Wars weren't distracting her.

But that was fine for Delilah. She learned well from those parenting books. Distracting the child in times of tantrums typically leads to them either connecting the tantrum with getting something they wanted/like, or allowing the problem to go unattended and fester.

Loid had a strict rule about Anya not going into his bedroom due to the files he brought from work, and the previously mentioned dangerous objects. Anya knew that and tried to disobey. Yes, Loid probably got more angry than he should’ve, but it was out of concern. Anya didn’t understand that, and was reacting out of an emotional response.

And Delilah had a personal investment in this kind of reaction from her own youth….

After all, she herself had run away from home.

And yes, she was going to ignore the guilt that was now starting to grow after her own brief moment of fear at hearing those words. Her mind went straight to wondering if that was how her family felt when they realized she was gone. 

When in doubt, ignore.

Wow, she never realized how much of a hypocrite she truly was until this moment. Well. Time to ignore that, too.

Anya’s wails soon dwindled down to small hiccups and sniffles. Delilah hummed, “Are you ready to talk now?” The pinkette pouted but gave a small nod. “Why did you say you were going to run away?”

Anya sniffled and shrugged, not really able to give an answer. The words just tumbled out. She didn’t wanna leave Mama and Papa. Not like the other mama’s and papa’s that were mean to her. It was just, this has been the first time Papa really yelled at her. He got loud and shouty after he first adopted her, but he had always been quick to calm down before getting real mad at her.

“That really scared Mama and Papa,” Delilah said, making Anya flinch, “I know you got upset that Papa yelled at you, but he only did it because you were misbehaving. You know you aren’t allowed in his room unless he lets you in himself. And it’s the same for my room. We have dangerous things that can hurt you in our rooms.” Particularly if she somehow found her katana collection. Though that was unlikely, as Delilah had discreetly added a wall to her closet, where she kept the blades with her Robin uniform and tools. “We have rules to protect you and keep you safe. And it scares Mama and Papa when you disobey them, because it means you might hurt yourself.”

Anya sunk into her shoulders, hiding her face in Delilah’s chest, “I’m sorry, Mama…”

Delilah hummed, running her fingers through her daughter’s soft hair, “I also want you to let us know if you think a rule is unfair. The rule about our bedrooms is for your protection, and I know you understand that, because you are our smart little girl. But if Mama and Papa make a rule that you don’t understand, ask us about it and we’ll talk, okay?”

It was also important to make sure children understand the rules aren’t in place to make them upset or to punish them. Explaining rules is a good step to helping them learn the meaning behind it. 

Anya nodded, “Okay, Mama.”

Loid deadpanned when Delilah preened, no doubt being prideful in how well she handled the situation, or internally boasting about her parenting books.

Which was fair, because his first instinct was to panic, but still.

When Delilah determined that Anya properly calmed down and understood what she did wrong, the small family took the time to watch an episode of Spy Wars together. Loid didn’t really pay much attention to the show, but he was satisfied with the calmer and more comfortable atmosphere.

After Delilah had tucked Anya into bed later that night, Loid broached the incident, “Thank you for handling Anya. I, froze. She hadn’t ever really thrown a tantrum with me before.” Granted he didn’t have her long before Delilah joined the family, yet even so, Anya had been a happy and content child.

He expected the preen this time, “If we allow that kind of behavior to continue, it will only exacerbate the problem. It’s important to address the issue, while also ensuring the child understands what they did wrong.”

“Which of your books is that from?” He chuckled, a small smile growing.

“Tantrums and What You Should Do,” she automatically quoted, proudly pulling said book from the shelf to showcase. She slipped it back into place and hummed, “Though, the runaway part was new. Haven’t read that anywhere. Maybe it’s in the teenager books.”

Loid let out a small groan, “I’m too young for this.” At this rate, he was going to get gray hairs. He was only twenty-eight years old! Then again, it was more shocking that he hasn’t started going gray with all the missions he’s sent on.

Delilah chuckled, settling onto the sofa beside him, “Well, it’s only going to get worse from here. But I think I can have a good handle on it. I was the most difficult child in my family. My siblings hated it.”

“Really?” He hummed. Ah yes. Her ‘siblings’, the ones he hadn’t technically been told about. She didn’t seem to realize or care that she had not brought them up to him before.

She nodded, “Though I believe they were unfair in their assessment of being better than myself. Certainly I caused trouble, but I have plenty of blackmail on each of them, as well as stories from my paternal grandfather of their own youths.”

Okay, that was new. Since when did Bruce Waldmann have living parents?

“But enough about that,” Delilah waved it off, swiftly distracting the agent when she struck. By which he meant, she wrapped her arms around him and cuddled into his side.

Loid.exe stopped working.

Reboot. Reboot.

Loid’s face turned bright red as she giggled and somehow pushed closer. He stammered as she leaned up and brushed her lips against his ear. And then, “Goodnight, Beloved.”

A prick to his neck and he was out like a light.

Delilah giggled as she maneuvered him to lay in her lap. Silly man. Yes, he was quite easy. Now he could sleep properly.

Loid did not wake up for a good three days afterwards, catching up on some well needed rest.

Chapter Text

Anya was practically inhaling her breakfast, eager to finish and leave. Today was finally the day.

They were gonna get a new puppy! 

“Anya, slow down. You’re going to choke,” Loid warned. Of course, that was right when Anya began to cough after nearly having her food go down the wrong pipe.

Delilah chuckled and rubbed the girl’s back as she hurriedly drank some water, “I am also excited, Little One, but please don’t hurt yourself.”

Anya finished her food and leapt off her chair, bouncing on her toes, “We gotta go now! Hurry Mama! Papa!”

“So much energy,” Loid sighed. 

Delilah and Anya’s hands swung as they walked through the city. Anya herself was giggling happily, “Do you think Mister Doggy can eat peanuts?”

Loid shook his head, “I’d be careful trying to find that one out.”

Anya was devastated that her new friend couldn’t eat her favorite snack. Delilah chimed in, “Remember what we talked about yesterday?”

Anya perked up, “Doggies have special foods they are allowed to eat or else they’ll get sick!”

“Very good, Little One,” Delilah praised, rubbing her head.

Loid held open the door of the shop, allowing his wife and daughter to enter the pet store he chose. Kimono Park was another front for WISE operations, which made it the perfect place to find a properly trained guard dog.

“They’re very…special…” Delilah remarked, sending a critical eye on the three dogs in the kennel area. The bulky muscles of the dogs were…more than a little concerning. Either unnaturally given via steroids or perhaps even due to over breeding. 

Neither of which were very good and now she must investigate to ensure the health and safety of these poor animals.

Loid could already feel the disapproval from his wife. Anya herself didn’t spare a thought before sending him a look filled with absolute disgust.

He shot the WISE agent a slightly panicked glance, “Do you have anything smaller? Or cuter?”

“I suppose I can consult with a breeder that I know,” the man hummed. Loid waited anxiously as the shopkeep dialed the phone. Getting a dog Anya wanted was crucial in establishing a positive motivation with earning Stella’s. “The shelter nearby is hosting an adoption event right now.”

“Sounds good! We’ll try our luck there!” Loid said, pleased with the outcome. Unfortunately, he then spotted an agent in the back hallway, who proceeded to signal him for an important mission.

Lovely. He had no choice. Best let Delilah take charge in finding a pet for Anya while he handled this.

The amount of humiliation he would have to endure, though….

He doubted he would live down the absolute shame he felt in convincing her he was having stomach problems. Anya certainly did not help by claiming he takes too long in the bathroom.

Oh well. If he ignores the whole thing, Delilah is the kind of woman that would allow it to fade into obscurity. If not for anything, but to spare his ego.

“You didn’t say anything about going to headquarters,” Twilight said indignantly, “If I’m gone for too long, they’ll start getting suspicious.”

“You can take that up with Handler,” Agent Red remarked. He understood the frustration, as Operation Strix closely involved civilians (unless one believed the rumors that Agent Twilight’s fake wife was actually an agent higher than him. Or, even more unbelievably, his actual wife that was kept secret from everyone). Still, this was not a mission to take lightly. It was a Code Black. “This is an emergency. The file is in the glove compartment.”

Twilight pulled out the papers hidden in the compartment and scanned over the information. His eyes sharpened as he read, “A plot to assassinate Foreign Minister Brantz?”

“It’s likely they’re planning to target tonight’s event. We believe it’s a group of isolationists, all young people, mostly students who are attending Berlint University. The Secret Police has had their eyes on that group as well. Luckily, we picked up one who was casing the embassy. He’s currently being interrogated. But he’s not talking, won’t give up any info on his cohorts.”

Twilight scowled, “And that’s the reason I was called in?” Realistically though, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for him to be assigned interrogations. He had a way of making his suspects talk. Still, Handler was the best at that, so if she can’t convince him...

Agent Red hummed, “Being an agent and a dad sounds like a tough balancing act to me.”

Twilight groaned under his breath. Just being a husband to Delilah was a job in it of itself. Purely from the stress her mother gave him. 

Delilah herself was a blessing. Talia….He’s fairly certain Talia had been the one sending near threatening letters to his work. They weren’t signed, but…

He was the world’s greatest spy, but that woman…she frightens him. Then again, Franky said every man was terrified of their mother-in-laws so, perhaps, it wasn’t all that concerning.

(It was, actually. Unbeknownst to him, Talia already snuck into his office multiple times just to prove she could take him out at any moment if he dared hurt her Little One. Not that he ever caught her. She was centuries ahead of him with his trivial training.)

“Being a father is a big part of the mission,” he remarked casually, studying the report. 

He had to be getting old. That or his job simply weighed down on him terribly. The arrested terrorist was barely nineteen years old. He was basically a child….

Sylvia entered the interrogation cell, a disinterested expression on her face as she approached the boy.

Yes, he was just a boy. A child who knew nothing of life, who pretended he was so big and important in a world that had no patience for such arrogance. Where he would sooner be hit with the steel bat of truth and hardship the moment he sputtered out his idiocy for all to hear.

True to his own perceived integrity, he began snapping at the sight of her, “Keep coming back all you want! I’ll never talk! I won’t rat out my friends!”

In all honesty, she could appreciate his sense of loyalty. If only he hadn’t fallen into such a foolish crowd. 

“That’s fine. You’re no longer necessary. At least, now that we've captured your leader,” she replied blandly. The boy looked at her in disbelief as she snapped her fingers. On command, an agent grabbed his arm and began guiding him out of the room.

As they made their way down the hall, another pair of agents were taking the disguised Twilight to cross their path.

The boy saw him and immediately called out, “Keith!”

‘Keith’ snapped his head over to them and began ranting to his own guards, “Hey! That’s the guy! He’s the one who planned the entire thing! He tricked everybody else into helping him do this!”

The boy became stricken with shock, “What the hell are you saying? You know it wasn’t me!”

‘Keith’ ignored him, shrieking, “I’ll tell you everything, okay? I’m willing to make a deal if you let me go!”

“Shut up, will ya?” His own agent guard replied, pushing him forward, “Keep walkin’, punk.”

Discreetly, ‘Keith’ shot the boy a malicious smirk, sticking out his tongue.

Sylvia knew Twilight enjoyed acting immaturely in these disguises, even if he pretended otherwise. Perhaps a result of needing to grow up so quickly.

But that was enough psycho-analyzing her agent. She had a terrorist organization to take down. “Some friend he turned out to be, huh. Honestly, we don’t care which one of you is the leader,” she stated, leering over him, “We just want to talk to whoever gives us the intel we need. Now, what shall we do with you?”

As she expected, the apparent betrayal was enough to break the boy, “Please give me the chance! I’m not the one in charge! I swear on my life! All of this was his idea! He’s the mastermind!”

Sylvia smirked, “Perhaps we can have a nice conversation, then.”

Behind the glass of the interrogation room, Twilight watched the confession intently with Agent Red, “I gotta say, it was a stroke of luck that we had some footage of this Keith character to go off of.”

“It’d be luckier if we had a bit more footage so I could play the role perfectly,” Twilight retorted, while pulling off his prosthetic mask and wig. Thankfully, his lackluster performance was enough to coerce the boy into giving them everything. “A true professional would’ve been on to us.”

“How was the assassination to be carried out?” Sylvia asked.

Kris hesitated. It was the one part of the plan that he was uncomfortable with. But even so, he had decided to go along with it once Keith insisted. Because he trusted the traitorous bastard . “With dogs. I don’t know how many they got, but the plan was to strap some bombs onto a dozen or so dogs and then they’d ambush him while he was on the move.”

Twilight paused. He always considered the use of Bomb Dogs to be unnecessarily cruel. Man’s best friend betrayed by the ones they trusted. 

“You’re using bomb dogs?” Sylvia confirmed.

Red hummed, “Doesn’t bode well. Stopping trained dogs will be no easy task.”

“It’s impossible,” Twilight remarked, “The kind of money all that would involve, for the cost of training one dog, you could purchase a small missile. I can't imagine ordinary students having those resources at hand.”

“They must have some deep pockets backing them,” Red discerned, “Like a far-right group or maybe even another foreign government…”

Following the confession being wrapped up, Sylvia had the boy transferred to a cell as she had her agents gather for a briefing, “We’ll have to make the first move in order to head off the attack.”

“Could they just cancel the summit?” Twilight suggested.

“Doubt it,” she refuted, “Not only would it be an embarrassment for Ostania, it gives the opposition exactly what they want.” She turned to Red, “Covertly leak this intel to the ruling party. I’m sure they’re in no mood for this kind of international incident.”

For as tense as their countries may be with one another, neither would want to be the inciting party of war. It would not look good on either end by the rest of the world, who were already watching closely.

Sylvia turned to Twilight, “Sorry, but we’ll need your help for a bit longer.”

“Understood.” He may have a hard time explaining to Delilah and Anya, but this was more important to Operation Strix at this time. Strix would become meaningless if this assassination attempt succeeds.

“East-West relations are in exceedingly thin ice. If this reaches the public, even a failed assassination attempt may cause that ice to break,” Sylvia affirmed to the agents, trying to push through just how important they must take this situation, “Whatever it takes, we’ll stop them.”

Anya was in heaven! There were puppies and kitties and bunnies everywhere!

“There’s so many animals here,” Delilah remarked happily, as her daughter gasped and awed at the sight, “And they all look very well cared for. Already, this place is much better than that store.”

Anya was already zipping between each animal pen with abundance excitement. Delilah kept a close eye, “Little One, do not run around terribly much. You will get lost in the crowd.”

She held the girl’s hand and brought her to the dog section of the event building. Before she allowed the girl to start searching for her perfect pet, Delilah knelt down to speak to her eye to eye, “Anya, promise that you will not leave this area with the dogs, okay?”

Anya nodded firmly, “I promise!”

“Good,” Delilah nodded proudly, patting her head. “Let us find a good dog for our family.”

With that said, the pair began to wander the pens. Delilah already felt herself becoming more and more relaxed as she saw all of the dogs well-cared for.

“What do you think of the dachshund?” Delilah asked.

“He’s got stubby legs,” Anya stated. She’s got stubby legs too! 

“It certainly makes his breed look cuter, but they are ultimately hunting dogs,” the woman explained, “They were bred to be able to enter the burrows and dens of small animals and catch their prey.”

“Ooh!” Anya gasped. Mama said the stubby legs make the puppy look cute. That means Anya is also cute! And this puppy can help Agent Anya track Bad Guys in their hideouts!

As they examined each breed, Delilah made certain to share her animal knowledge to Anya, so she could make an educated decision on which breed would be best suited for her.

However, Delilah was distracted when they came across a wide dog pen, which had a certain breed of puppies, just as all the others. 

Great Danes.

Even as pups, the lot were bigger than most of the other dogs here. They were completely excited at all the people around, stumbling about on their large, knobby legs.

And just like that, a fond memory was forcibly thrust to the forefront of her mind.

It had been nearly a year of Delilah living with the Waynes.

She still seemed to hate everyone but Bruce. Seemed, as in, she was just trying to hide the fact that she respected Alfred and Dick. 

Of course her relationship with Tim and Jason was horrible, given her attempts to kill Tim and her tendency to pick fights with Jason. Though, it really appeared like Jason was simply humoring her. 

Cass didn’t seem terribly concerned with her feral behavior either. Sometimes, Dick would coo over how Cass would simply pick the raging girl up and throw her over her shoulder, wandering off with her struggling in the older ninja’s grasp. 

But, it was agreed that she was definitely calming down. She actually started to listen when they told her she couldn’t patrol with them until they agreed on an identity for her.

Which meant she was not going to go on patrol until Robin was hers, because she refused to accept anything else.

And her murderous tendencies were slowing down. Except for Tim, but they were working on that.

As such, Bruce determined she deserved a reward for working hard to adapt to their views.

He knew, as she had been raised since birth to be an assassin, it was extremely difficult for her. But she was trying, and that’s truly what he wanted.

So, given her care for animals, he figured it was time for her to have her own pet to be responsible for.

Ace loved her, and she returned those affections, but it was still obvious that the german shepherd was his dog. Ace liked to stick closer to him than anyone else.

He and Dick took a day together to go find a pet for her.

They agreed a dog was the way to go. They weren’t sure if she would want to try caring for an animal outside a canine (they would later laugh at their ignorance following Delilah’s attempts to adopt every animal she saw).

Their first thought was the Martha and Thomas Wayne Humane Society. After all, it was where they got Ace.

And luck was apparently on their side, as a new litter of puppies had been rescued from an underground puppy mill. 

Dick immediately chose the runt, making a joke that the smallest dog would be fitting for the smallest bird.

They also agreed to not say that in front of Delilah, who did not take well to teasing.

“Did you need me, Father?” Delilah questioned, entering his office. 

He desperately wanted that blank expression on her face to go away. To show the child that had been locked away beneath. Dick was able to make some progress with her following their exploration of art, but Bruce was never the best with social interaction, even with his own children.

“I have a gift for you,” he said, placing a wrapped box onto the desk. The box had holes, of course, but Delilah would be unable to see them with the wrapping paper.

A minor glint of curiosity appeared  in her eyes as she examined the box, “What for?” 

Bruce shrugged, “It’s been a year since you started living with us. I thought it’d be fitting to celebrate in some capacity.”

She looked intrigued by the statement and moved to open the lid. 

Bruce watched intently as her blank expression gave way to slight shock. She glanced between the small puppy and him, seemingly unsure how to react.

“He’s yours. A great dane,” he stated awkwardly.

Delilah glanced at him warily before slowly reaching into the box and picking up the dog.

It broke his heart to see her hesitation, putting together the pieces that it stemmed from uncertainty of if this was some kind of demented test or a lie. As if she was fearful he was only getting her hopes up to crush them.

The League would not hold back in providing that kind of ‘training’.

The puppy let out an excited whine, wiggling in her arms to lick her face.

“Thank you, Father.”

In an instant, his heart recovered from the previous ache, seeing a small, but genuine smile on her lips.

While Mama was distracted, Anya spotted a big doggy outside through the window. However, the doggy stopped and looked back at her.

Anya didn’t really mean to see other people’s thoughts. And it was the same for animals. So she was not surprised she could read the big doggie’s mind. 

What did surprise her, was that doggie was thinking about her and her family. But only Mama was here! So Mister Doggy shouldn’t know what Papa looks like!

Anya glanced over at her Mama, who was still lost in her own thoughts and memories. If she told her Mama that Mister Doggy knew about their family, she’d want to know how Anya knew and then she’d have to tell Mama about her powers and then Mama would leave her!

Mister Doggy went into the building across from the shelter. So, Anya could go find Mister Doggy and find out how he knew about Anya’s family. She’ll be really quick! That way, Mama won’t even notice!

(Anya knew deep down Mama noticed everything . But her curiosity was way too strong to ignore.)

Anya easily slipped out of the shelter, carefully scurrying across the street before she entered the opposite building. 

It was really quiet in here, Anya mused, tiptoeing her way up the stairs. This must be a place for Secret Business™.

Quietly, she peeked through a partially open door, and found a bare room with Mister Doggy and other doggies tied up inside. Mister Doggy stared right at her expectantly, whereas the others laid around looking exhausted.

Anya lightly stepped closer to him, “Who are you, Mister Doggy?”

Mister Doggy let out a low whine and bowed his head.

However, Anya let out a small gasp as loud voices echoed from a closed door nearby. “You better not have done anything to draw attention to us!”

“Don’t worry, Keith,” Another voice said, “This place with crawling with dogs because of that adoption thing.”

Secret Business™!

Anya slowly walked closer to hear inside better.

“This big day’s here at last. Once our plan goes down, the facade of peace between the East and West will explode, right along with the Foreign Minister. If we wanna restore Ostania to its former glory, it’s clear what has to be done. Give Brantz the honor of being the catalyst for war! We’ll bring those arrogant pigs of the West to their knees!”

“Bring ‘em down!”

Anya gasped. They’re Bad Guys!

She fell back in shock, except, she hit something. Turning around, a large, scarred man leered over her. 

She let out a small shriek when he grabbed fhe back of her coat, slamming the door open, “What the hell were you thinking?! This little brat heard everything you just said!”

“How’d a kid get in here anyway?” A man wearing glasses pondered.

“What do we do?”

Anya struggled in the larger man's grasp to no avail.

The Leader, Keith, stood up, with a huff, “What do we do, huh? Well, we just need to take care of her, don’t we?” He pulled out a switchblade, easily showing his skills as he spun it in his hand and brought out the knife seamlessly.

Anya’s jaw wobbled as tears gathered, a whimpering sob escaping her.

While Keith was unmoved, Glasses Bad Guy stepped forward, a concerned look on his face, “Hey, calm down, okay? She’s just a kid, man.”

“And if she tells her parents, we can kiss our plans goodbye!” Keith argued with a sneer, “Kurt, make sure she doesn’t scream.”

However, before he could try hurting her, a loud bark resounded. The scarred man, Kurt, was shoved away when Mister Doggy barreled into him. Mister Doggy growled and crouched protectively in front of Anya.

“Mister Doggy!” Anya gasped.

Mister Doggy began barking more, barring his teeth as he snarled.

“This one has a real problem with listening.”

“Maybe instead of training him, we should just put him down!”

“You picked the wrong guy to bark at,” another Bad Guy scoffed, grabbing a long pipe to weld, “I’m gonna shut you up for good.”

Mister Doggy froze, trembling before he slowly moved to hide behind Anya. 

“Mister Doggy!” She wailed, offended.

“Don’t hit him. We can’t have you damaging the goods,” Leader Keith ordered.

“But what about all the noise he’s making?” Glasses Bad Guy 2 questioned.

“Nobody’s gonna notice that,” someone else assured, “With all the dogs over there, this one barking isn’t a problem.”

Back at the shelter, Delilah paused from her reminiscing. Her Anya senses are tingling. 

Where is her daughter?!

Delilah’s sharp eyes scanned the area, trying to spot the bright pink hair. How difficult could it be to see a little girl with cotton candy locks? It wasn’t like anyone else in this country had them!

Finding a near empty spot, Delilah scurried up a pillar, perching onto a sprinkler pipe with ease. With the higher vantage point, she had perfect sight of the whole building.

But no luck. Anya was gone.

Anya was a good girl. She disobeyed on occasion, but usually, she was very obedient. Delilah told her not to wander off. Anya agreed. Which meant one thing.

Some bastard kidnapped her daughter. And now? 

Now they were going to face the wrath of an angry mother assassin.

Chapter Text

Even while hiding behind her, Mister Doggy still let out small growls, in an attempt to warn and deter the men from harming them. However, he paused and then chuffed at Anya, garnering her attention.

Within his mind, she saw a fuzzy image of the men and the sound of a telephone ringing.

She looked at Mister Doggy in confusion, right before the phone let out a shrill ring. She had no chance to react as, when the Bad Guys were distracted, Mister Doggy grabbed the back of her jacket and took off running.

While bolting down the stairs, he tossed her light body onto his back. 

Anya, however, was in awe of the whole situation. Mister Doggy really was her friend cause he saved her from the Bad Guys! But he knew the phone was gonna ring before it did! So…

So, Mister Doggy has superpowers like Anya! 

Mister Doggy slid out of the building and raced down the street, far away from the hideout. “Wait, Mister Doggy! Go to that building! We can find Mama and she’ll save us!”

Mister Doggy did not understand what she was saying and kept running, despite her cries.

Within the shelter, Delilah’s ear twitched at the familiar sound of her daughter’s shrieks. Head snapping towards the window, she saw her daughter shrieking as she was riding a large dog down the street.

Despite Anya’s attempts to get someone to help, both she and Mister Doggy were ignored by the adults they passed. Though, that was probably because Mister Doggy was super fast and refused to stop running.

Anya thought it was really scary. But, it was also super cool too! Just like Mama and Papa were both super scary and cool!

And! This was her chance to get another star! “Okay Mister Doggy! Let’s go to the police, stop the Bad Guys and save the day! Starlight Anya will shine bright again!”

That was better said than done, as Mister Doggy had no sense of direction. He kept running in a circle through the same alleys, until he eventually stopped from pure exhaustion.

Anya deadpanned at Mister Doggy. 

“You saved us alotta trouble.” 

Anya yelped and tried to steer Mister Doggy away when she realized two Bad Guys were waiting for them at the end of the alley. 

Unfortunately, another doggy cut in front of them with a growl, and Anya was pushed off Mister Doggy when his leash was grabbed by Bad Guy Leader Keith. “You’re not getting away, pipsqueak. Do it, quickly.” Anya scrambled on the ground, trying to crawl away when the big Scarred Bad Guy approached her.

“It’s nothing personal,” The man said, looming over the shivering girl and reaching for her.

Anya sobbed in fear.

And then…

A shadow zipped from above. 

A loud crack echoed through the alley, when heel met skull. 

Delilah had no care to acknowledge the blood that splattered onto her from the man’s cracked head, throwing the man into the wall. If he was deceased, then so be it. 

Her dead glare locked onto the remaining man, who was frozen in shock. 

The silence was broken when Anya began loudly sobbing, clinging to the woman’s leg, “Mama! I was so scared!”

Delilah immediately moved her attention to her little girl, kneeling down and wrapping her arms around her in order to comfort her, “It’s okay, Anya. Mama’s here.”

Keith gritted his teeth. Great. A mother bear. No matter. He had the advantage. She was only able to take out Kurt because she had the element of surprise. Now, she was open for his attack dogs, “Get them!”

The shepherd immediately moved, whereas the white mutt refused to budge. But it doesn't matter. The shepherd was good enough to-

Delilah’s sharp glare held onto the dog’s eyes, willing him to submit, “Down!”

The shepherd whined and laid down.

Keith was dumbfounded.

However, the shouting and barking garnered way too much attention for Keith’s liking. He tried to drag the white mutt away, “Come on!”

The mutt simply snarled and pulled against him. Unwilling to take the risk, Keith kicked the mutt in frustration before taking down the alleyway, leaving the dogs behind.

Delilah allowed him to go. After all, he would not be able to escape her wrath once she ensured Anya was safe and cared for.

The mother put her child down beside the abandoned canine, before moving to the slouched body of the man she attacked. Grabbing his wrist, she was honestly surprised there was still a pulse, as weak as it was. 

Fine. At least it saved her uncomfortable questions regarding a dead body. She wasn’t disguised here, and there were passersby that were gathering near.

Taking the dog’s leash, she securely wrapped it around the man to keep him from escaping. Not that she really thought he’d be able to. He most likely had a concussion.

Grabbing his coat with one hand, and taking Anya’s hand in her other, Delilah led her daughter to another location, planning to head towards the hospital. The two dogs followed right behind without any command.

“Anya, do you have any information on these cretins?” Delilah asked as she guided the pack.

Anya let out a gasp, “Mama! They are the Bad Guys! They are gonna use the doggies to carry bombs and destroy World Peace!”

Delilah froze. Damn. A terrorist attack. No doubt to be some kind of assassination of the visiting Prime Minister. How lovely.

“Anya, I need you to tell me everything you can remember.”

Anya had relayed as much as she could to her Mama as they made their way to the hospital. When they arrived, Delilah handed off the Bad Guy to the doctors and demanded police involvement.

This was mostly for the sake of her own alibi, really. As if she would just let this kind of thing be handled by civilians (yes, the police count as civilians when compared to her, obviously.)

Anya sat right outside the doors with the two doggies. The doors were clear, so Delilah kept a close eye on her daughter as she explained the situation to the officers, who arrived swiftly upon her warning to the doctors.

Anya kicked her legs as the two Mister Doggies sat on both sides of her.

She watched as the dog’s ears perked up, his kind racing with flashes of scenes.

The sight of the Forger family shifted. Instead of the happy family of three, Papa was gone. Papa was gone and Mama was crying. Anya stood before a destroyed clock tower, her Papa’s body still and halfway crushed beneath the bricks. War is announced on tv. Buildings were crumbling and smoking.

A green lake. Mama crying. Blood, lots of blood, lots of bodies. Mama standing above them, sword in hand, a wild look in her eyes.

Mama sat on a throne, glaring down at a group of superheroes. Anya was partially hidden behind Jadati near her.

“Delilah, this is madness!” The one with a blue stripe on his outfit.

“I prefer being called Demon’s Head, thank you,” Mama drolled, “And I have created peace.”

“It’s not peace if you control the world with fear,” the one in all black stated firmly.

“And yet, there is no more war,” she waved him off, leaning back into her throne as she gazed at them nonchalantly. “Leave. Or you will be a lesson for my daughter.”

Anya glanced over to where Mama was still talking to the officers. 

She had to save Papa! Not only because she needed him, but Mama needed him too! Otherwise Mama is gonna go crazy and take over the world!

“You can still run, right Mister Doggy?” Anya asked the big white dog. He barked. She climbed up onto his back, urging him off, “We gotta save Papa! Let’s go!”

With that command, White Mister Doggy howled and bolted off, whereas Brown Mister Doggy whined, glancing back at where Alpha was and ultimately stayed in his place.

Delilah noticed immediately when Anya climbed onto the dog’s back, and quickly excused herself from the police, despite their calls.

Rushing out the door, she saw Anya and the white dog disappearing around the corner, “Anya!”

Delilah clicked her tongue. She and her Beloved are going to need to have a very serious talk with their daughter. But right now, she unfortunately didn’t have time for this. Not with a terrorist organization out there, ready to attack at any given moment.

The shepherd that stayed behind quickly stood and followed her to a payphone. Easily dialing the number her Mother ingrained into her head at a young age, Delilah didn’t wait long for the phone to be picked up.

“Fang Security Services, how may we assist you?”

Ah yes, one of the many different cover names the League will cycle through to avoid detection. They’ve been getting lazier with every year. Or maybe they just grew tired of Drake constantly figuring it out regardless and gave up being too creative.

“My alarm requires maintenance work to be done. The Model is D-3-M-0-N-H-3-4-D.”

“Understood. A technician will arrive shortly.”

Her mother was a paranoid sort (granted, she had the right to be. They had many enemies), so obviously there were league members all around Ostania to be at her beck and call. 

An assassin arrived within a minute, dressed casually due to their public location. Well, casually enough. She appeared to have a preference for the goth look, which did stand out just a tad in the more conservative Ostanian population. Granted, it was toned down greatly to not be too noticeable. Black jeans, t-shift with a skull decorated on it, and a simple black leather jacket. At worst, she'd get a second glance before being ignored.

She also wore a black fang choker with the Demon’s Head marking carved into it. It indicated this assassin worked exclusively for her family. 

“Find and keep an eye on my daughter until I return,” Delilah demanded. 

“I shall watch the princess, Heiress,” the assassin stated lowly, bowing her head slightly. Just enough to be respectful while also avoiding being suspicious for any possibly onlookers.

“If anything happens to her, I will have your head.”

“Understood.”

With that, Delilah strutted off to gather her uniform. And to find an outfit for the dog that insisted on following her.

With Loid, things were going better for him. The two hideouts given to them by their prisoner were long since abandoned. Thankfully, he finally made some headway by tracking down vehicle numbers that were rented by what he suspected was another terrorist. 

Sylvia, meanwhile, found the most likely source of all the dogs the terrorists planned to use. 

Project Apple. It had been a government sanctioned laboratory organization experimenting on animals in the hopes of producing highly intelligent creatures that could be used for military purposes. 

They had to be shut down quickly only months before the former government regime collapsed. It had been discovered they were stealing DNA from Metas to inject into the animal test subjects, and when that information went public from a Whistleblower, the Justice League had been ready to intervene. 

Ostania had not wanted to deal with that kind of scandal (and the consequences that would come at being under watch from the international hero association) and Project Apple disappeared into the midst of obscurity. 

Instead of the animals being put down, however, they had been sold to the Black Market. Clearly, it would be easy for the terrorists to gather many canines for their bomb plot as long as they had a ton of money. This led to suspicions that the terrorist group had financial support. Who that was would be investigated by another agent group.

But after they discovered all of this, the other teams were able to corner a majority of their suspects.

Sylvia had never been prouder of her agents for how quickly and swiftly they worked. Less than half an hour, and they already caught four of the idiot children trying to cart around a box of explosives.

Granted, they had a large help in the police, as their monitors caught information through the police radio about a terrorist being hospitalized, with the eyewitness informing them of the man’s identity and plan.

Another team was also able to find three more conspirators who had more dogs in another safe house. 

Sylvia arrived when a member of the Alpha team was attempting to interrogate one of the terrorists. Unfortunately, they were just as smug and stupid as Kris.

“Leave the howling to the dogs. This is unbecoming,” Sylvia scoffed as she arrived with Twilight. “Educate me, students. What exactly do you want?”

The best way to get arrogant scumbags talking was to let them think they were bragging about their ‘brilliance’.

Sure enough, one began spewing his moronic nonsense with a smirk, “A war! To exterminate the West and restore an era of Ostanian supre-“

Sylvia couldn’t hold herself back. Not as a real war veteran. Not when most of her agents were traumatized war veterans. Not when this idiot looked so excited to bring about more pain and suffering under the guise of moral superiority.

So, she kicked her foot into his face, slamming his head into the wall as his nose crunched beneath her heel. She pulled back as she flopped forward, groaning in pain. “Any of you actually killed a person before?” She then pressed her foot upon his head and forced him to meet the ground, “Have you ever been killed in combat?”

“What kind of stupid-ass question is that?” Another snapped. The three others looked fretful. They couldn’t see what she was doing, as all of them were blindfolded, but the sounds very much gave them the right idea.

“Ever had a bomb tear off one of your limbs?” She ignored him, taking out her pistol, as she changed the magazine, “Had to listen to bones being shattered? Or had the smell of rotting flesh penetrate your nostrils?”

“What the hell are you talking about?!” 

Of course none of them ever actually considered what war would entail. They never do. “Have you ever watched your closest family members get buried under a crumbling building? Any of you had to scrape a piece of your lover’s flesh off of the wall? Or been so hungry you actually tried to sink your teeth into a tree? Gone so far that you stewed human flesh in a pot? Have you had to deny the humanity of your enemy just so you could keep on slaughtering them, only to become so broken in the end that the shame and regret physically makes you sick?”

The first half of that question was obviously being consciously made. These children simply haven’t had the chance to get to the end, where all they would want would be to turn back time and change their decision. Only it would be too late. The blood would already be on their hands. And their dreams would be nightmares, forced to see every face they watched the life drain from again and again and again.

Sylvia cocked her pistol, “Have your so-called friends who walked the same path decide that suicide was the only way out?”

Already the four morons looked defeated the more she solemnly spoke of the true terrors of war, but she wanted to ingrain this into their empty minds. So, she held the pistol up against one of their foreheads, “It’s clear to me that you’ve learned nothing about war at your university. Foolish children.”

Keith was lucky he found another dog at the last remaining safe house with what was left of the explosives. 

He would just have to strap in as many bombs as he could to have the biggest effect. With his team all captured, most of their plans would be ineffective. Worse of all, they were captured by agents of the West. 

The most he could do now would be to lure in as many of the West Pigs as he could and get rid of them!

Meanwhile, Anya and White Mister Doggy arrived where the big clock stood. She clamored off of him as he collapsed in the shade, heaving.

Unfortunately, Anya had no idea when the clock would make that loud sound. Which was very important to know cause that would tell her how long she had to save Papa!

“Mister Doggy, let me see the future again!” White Mister Doggy only let out a bark and fell to the ground. “We don’t have time for this, Mister Doggy!”

Looking around, she saw an old man resting on a bench and scurried over to him for help, “Excuse me, sir? When does the big clock go ‘bong’?”

The man hummed, “You mean the bell in the tower? The bell rings every hour, so we have about thirty minutes left.”

“Okay! Thank you!”

Anya and White Mister Doggy hurried closer to the tower, “How long is thirty minutes?” However, White Mister Doggy caught a whiff of an unfortunately familiar scent. He quickly grabbed Anya by the coat and raced behind a wall. “What is it, Mister Doggy?”

She carefully peeked out, only to see Bad Guy Leader Keith!

Anya focused on him, urging her powers to read his mind for information.

‘Gotta get the hell out of here quick, before anyone sees me. I threw that thing together in a rush so I hope it works. At least now, the trap is set. Just try to come after me you idiotic swine. The moment you set foot in there, kaboom!’

“The esplosion is in that building!” Anya gasped, seeing the image in the Bad Guy Leader’s mind.

‘The explosion is bound to cause some collateral damage, but sacrifices like that are just part of it. At least they’ll be dying for our country. They should consider it an honor.’

Bad Guy Leader Keith drove off, leaving Anya and White Mister Doggy to try and figure out how to stop the bomb.

Anya and White Mister Doggy raced into the building and up the stairs. It was one of the floors that White Mister Doggy stopped and sniffed, focusing on a door.

Anya knew that meant the bomb was there. She hurried over and was about to open the door when White Mister Doggy let out a loud bark. She froze and panicked, “Right! If I open the door, we go boom-boom!” She desperately searched around for something to help, and luckily spied a small window leading into the room.

She scurried up the surrounding boxes and pulled herself half-way through the hole. She got stuck for a moment, but White Mister Doggy pushed her in.

Anya easily saw the bomb, as it looked just like Bad Guy Leader’s mind showed her. She pulled out her gloves, remembering that’s what Bondman always did when disarming bombs.

It was then that she realized, she had no idea how to do that. Bondman always cut the red or blue wires, but all the wires were black! And she didn’t have scissors!

Well, if Papa shows up, then she’ll just tell him he can’t go in!

But if she did that, he’d know she wasn’t normal and not want her anymore….

But if he opened the door, he’d be gone! She would be sad, there wouldn’t be World Peace, and Mama would go crazy!

Anya fretted and paced, trying to think of what to do. 

“That is the worst bomb I’ve ever seen.”

Anya let out a shriek.

Twilight arrived at Point B-1 with Red and another agent, Junior. Reaching the fourth floor, they each had their guns out as a precaution. Peering from behind the corner, Red paused, “Is that blood?”

Twilight sniffed, and shook his head, “I think it’s ketchup.” They warily approached the door and examined the dripping message. 

No!

Bomb inside.

~A friend

In the corner, it held a circle with the letter ‘R’ inside. 

Twilight was wary, but not one to simply ignore what could be an important clue. Spotting a small, partially covered hole near, he picked up a shard of glass laying around and used it to peer inside the room. Sure enough, a messily taped bomb was hanging beside the door. If they had turned the knob, they’d have been blown up. “It was a trap.”

“Could’ve been real bad if this code wasn’t here,” Red remarked.

“I guess that means somebody was expecting us,” Junior remarked.

“But then who wrote this message?” Red questioned.

Twilight spied out the window and gritted his teeth, “We don’t have time to figure that out. The Secret Police are here. Leave the message and let them disarm the bomb. We need to get away from here, quickly.”

Outside, hiding behind a wall further away from the building, Anya glanced between the clock tower in the distance, and the new lady that showed up through the window. 

Anya let out a shriek. She spun around to see a lady climbing through the now open window. Despite the fact that they were high up. 

She had very pale skin and near white blonde hair. Aside from that, she looked like a normal lady. But obviously not, considering she just climbed the outside wall. “Sup, little Princess.”

“Princess?” Anya frowned, but glanced over at the bomb. Was this lady a Bad Guy too?! Was she gonna stop Anya from saving Papa?!

“Calm down,” New-Maybe Bad Guy-Lady cooed, sauntering over to the bomb, “Geez. Whoever made this did ruddy work. Or maybe they’re a genius, cause hell if I know how to disarm this monstrosity.”

“Disarm?” Anya gasped, “Are you a Good Guy?!”

New-Maybe Good Guy-Lady chuckled, “That’s a bit of a stretch, but I won’t hurt you. Your Mother would kill me.”

“Mama?” Anya murmured, eyes wide with awe. New Lady was a friend of Mama’s? 

“Yep. She sent me to chase after you while she takes care of some business,” New Lady hummed, “But, we should really be worrying about what to do about this thing, right now.”

“It doesn’t have red or blue wires and Anya doesn’t have scissors!” The pinkette declared.

“Right. Well, can’t do anything about it,” New Lady shrugged, “No way in hell am I going to risk touching that thing and setting it off. The Heiress will revive me in the Pit just to kill me again if you get hurt or die.”

“But Papa is gonna blow up if he opens the door!” Anya wailed.

“Yeah, that’s also not good,” New Lady hummed, “The Heiress will just kill me anyway if she finds out I let her hubby go to pieces. Aight, well, guess we just gotta leave a message or something. Probably shouldn’t be caught here.”

“Um….” Anya glanced around and gasped, grabbing a bottle of ketchup that was sitting on a box, “We can write with this!”

New Lady laughed, “I like your style. Let’s go!”

Anya let out a yelp when the clock began to ring. Seconds ticked by as she clung to White Mister Doggy in fear, waiting anxiously for the ringing to stop. 

When it did, nothing happened. Which meant Papa didn’t open the door and make the bomb explode!

White Mister Doggy’s ears perked up, as the former image of a crying Mama and Anya disappeared, replaced with them being happy with Papa again. 

“We did it! We saved Papa and the future!” Anya cheered, hugging the dog tightly in glee. 

New Lady hummed, raising an eyebrow. Anya pretended she didn’t see her reaction and continued cheering. Thankfully, New Lady didn’t ask how Anya knew.

In the blonde’s mind, it wasn’t any of her business how the little Princess knew the bomb was going to be disarmed. Probably some kind of power that she wasn’t aware of, but hey, not her kid. The Heiress probably didn’t want anyone to know until the Princess could protect herself. 

Anya was too busy in her joy to catch any of those thoughts.

Twilight arrived at the Prime Minister’s hotel room, and swiftly requested (read, strong-armed) that he be given his clothes. After a quick change, and a prosthetic mask applied, he exited the hotel under the disguise of the Prime Minister.

Sylvia would probably get a phone call from Brantz soon, as the man was ranting as Twilight left, but the more important fact was that the man was still alive.

“Minister, step into the car and my team will drive ahead of you,” The youngest man of the three officers said. This must be Yuri Briar, an up-and-coming officer within the Secret Police that was rumored to rise in the ranks very quickly due to his strength and willpower (and being the best at dealing with interrogations). His elder sister was a secretary at the City Hall, just as Delilah was, albeit in the archives.

He waited for the three officers to drive off, allowing the disguised Twilight to leave behind the Prime Minister’s bodyguards and driver as he entered the car on his own, driving off before they could argue.

If their suspicions were correct, Keith would be following behind while using a dog to track his scent. 

Twilight drove around, taking a long way to guide the enemy towards the river. The waters would be the best place to dispose of an explosive. Agent Red began speaking over their connecting radio, as he and Agent Junior were to keep lookout for their suspect. “Got eyes on Keith. Car, gray coupe. From what I can tell, he’s got one dog with him. We’ll start boxing him into Blue-four.”

Junior quickly began tailing the gray car, speeding them closer for Agent Red to take the shot. Keith spotted them before he could get the right aim, making the elder agent shoot up the car instead. 

Keith, however, throws a stick hand grenade out his window, speeding away as the bomb explodes into their car. 

Agent Red coughed, trying to get his bearings from the explosion. Their car had flipped and was pretty much entirely destroyed. Junior was beside him, unconscious, but luckily was alive. Carefully grabbing him, Agent Red slowly began to crawl out of the car.

But as the smoke cleared, a dog appeared, grabbing Junior’s coat and dragging him out of the car at a much faster pace. Red had no time to react as a person also appeared, pulling him out soon after.

Red coughed as the person laid him against the chain link fence across the road from their crash. The dog trotted over, dragging Junior along with it. “Are you alright?” Agent Red moved his gaze to the newcomer. 

It was a woman, dressed in a hero costume and wearing a mask. The dog, similarly, also had what looked like a very hastily made outfit to match the woman’s, complete with its own cowl. What really got Red’s attention, was the bright yellow circle in the corner of her chest, with the letter ‘R’ within. 

This had to have been the person who made them that warning note. 

She examined him, grabbing his face and prying his eyes wide, most likely to check for a concussion. “I need to go after that terrorist, so unfortunately, you will need to call for help yourself or wait for me here,” The woman stated, not truly giving Red the chance to respond as she raced off. The dog let out a baying howl and chased her heels.

Red spotted his radio near and quickly grabbed it to warn Twilight, “He got us good and he’s still packing firepower. He’s heading your way. And keep an eye out! The woman who wrote the warning note at Point B-1 is also following you!”

Robin raced after the car that she was able to throw a tracker on. She had been waiting at the Prime Minister’s hotel, keeping an eye out for any shifty looking characters. When the Prime Minister had driven off in his own car (honestly, she respected the confidence), she was able to find a car that kept to the same strange route. 

It was much too suspicious, so she shot a tracking tag at the roof of the car as she chased over the city rooftops. 

Also, she was very surprised how well her new canine sidekick was keeping up, even as she leapt from roof to roof. Clearly, the dog was advanced in some capacity. It fit her well, as she had plenty of experience with intellectually and physically advanced animals. 

“I may just keep you after all of this,” She remarked as they chased down their target towards the riverbank. The German Shepherd let out a happy bark.

While they did not match the speed of a car, there were not any roads in the area the target drove through, making it much more difficult for it to maneuver. This, in turn, meant Robin was able to catch up with ease.

She shot past the car, into the alley where the Prime Minister had been cornered. With the ease that came from years of perfecting her craft, she slipped the blade of her sword between the dog and the explosive vest it wore. Her katana was sharper than ever as it sliced through the fabric as if butter. Not a second more, she grabbed the vest and threw it (yeeted it, as one Drake would say) into the river.

The moment the vest was away, her new dog darted over and tackled the other dog, grabbing its neck into his own jowl, fighting it into submission. 

Robin then spun and bolted towards the car, taking advantage of how her target seemed frozen in shock at her appearance and swift take down of his plot. She threw two daggers at the tires, popping them so he could not have the chance of driving away should he regain his bearings. 

She didn’t bother with opening the door, simply smashing her fist through the window (her gloves were reinforced with kevlar, obviously. She’s a professional). One punch and the man was out like a light.

Honestly, she was expecting more from what was considered a big threat. She was a bit disappointed at how easy this was.

Making her way back to the Prime Minister, he also appeared frazzled by the end of this. Which was fair. He was a civilian, after all. She focused on the pair of dogs. Her partner seemed to have won out over the other, but just in case, Robin administered a light tranquilizer to the dog.

The poor Doberman didn’t choose to be involved in all this, after all. 

Her canine happily sat at her heels with a bark. She patted his head, “Good job, Sparrow.” 

Well, she wasn’t going to call him Bat-Hound. That name was taken. Titus and Ace were gone, yes, but her father had a tendency to make sure that alias would always be used.

Plus, it would be like a giant beacon to anyone that may be searching for her if she used that moniker. Robin was different. Robin….Robin wasn’t a public figure here. She dealt with the shadows enough that, any who may know her alias, could easily be forced quiet. And she really couldn’t bear to part with the name.

“Apologies for the fright, Prime Minister Brantz,” She said, “But you should be safe now.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you,” Twilight blustered in his disguise. Honestly, when Red warned him of another arrival, he hadn’t thought much of it. Clearly, they truly did have some kind of accomplice trailing after them for added assistance.

“I must admit, you are well fit for a man your age,” She remarked. She could compliment people when she thought it was warranted. After all, he was able to evade his pursuer on foot. She had done it easily, with her training, but this man was decades older and not even close to her profession (Pennyworth, meanwhile, could easily overwhelm her if he truly wanted to. He knew her weaknesses).

“Right,” He coughed, “And…you are?”

“Don’t worry about it,” She stated, picking up the unconscious dog, “I doubt we will meet again.”

She carried the dog out of the alleyway, towards the car with the terrorist passed out inside, Twilight quickly following her. 

It was then, however, that cars quickly arrived. Twilight could recognize the agents within to be from WISE. Red most likely contacted them for backup. 

“It would seem help has arrived for you. We shall be off then,” The woman stated, placing the bomb dog down and whistling for her own. Her dog leapt up into her arms and she moved him around to carry with ease as she aimed a grappling hook at a building.

“Wai-”

She flew off with the dog in her arms, ignoring his call. 

The thing was….she sounded so familiar….

Chapter Text

“Anya.”

Anya perked up from her spot on Mister White Doggy, seeing her Mama approaching them with Mister Brown Doggy beside her, “Mama!”

The assassin bowed her head as Delilah approached. The Arab woman plucked her daughter off the large canine, “You, Little One, are in big trouble.”

Anya winced, and nodded mournfully. But, saving Papa was worth being in trouble, so this was okay. 

Delilah settled Anya onto her hip, turning to the assassin, “You. What’s your name?” 

The assassin smiled, baring her teeth as she did so, “Nika. Codename Flatline.”

Delilah raised an eyebrow, “New arrival?” It was an oddity that she did not know a codename that would work closely with her mother. Certainly she has never met any of them, but she knew their code names as her mother kept her informed in case of necessity. 

“Technically, I’m on loan,” Nika hummed, leaning on her toes, “Your great-granddaddy wanted me to get more experience.”

Delilah paused and stiffened, horror growing, “Oh God, no!”

Nika cackled as the woman paled, “Lord Deathman says hi and he wants to visit for Christmas with your great-granny!”

Delilah hissed, spinning on her heel, “Dismissed!”

“Yes ma’am!” The Death Apprentice took off in the shadows of an alley. Delilah shivered. Please, for all that is right in this world, do not let Lord Deathman ever come to Ostania. That would be a nightmare. 

She will need to have her mother send as many gifts as possible to great-grandmother and plead on her behalf to not let that cretin come close to them.

“Thankfully, we were somehow able to avoid a huge commotion,” Sylvia sighed, while Red was bandaged up. Junior regained consciousness and was cleared by their medics to have only a minor concussion. Most of his injuries were burns and bruises. Her men got lucky this time around. That crash could’ve been fatal. “The East wants to keep this quiet, so they’ll clean up any lingering mess.”

“Are we handing over the dogs?” Red questioned.

“Not on our agenda. We’ll keep them here until the higher ups tell us otherwise,” she stated, “Though there will surely need to be some kind of plan in place for them.”

Twilight decided that this was the end of his involvement. Sylvia could deal with the aftermath on her own. He had simply been called in for the emergency. It was nearing the evening and no doubt his family would be concerned. He had no idea how he was going to play it. “Well, I’ll be off. I need to get back to my family as soon as I possibly can.”

“Good work, Twilight,” Red complimented. This whole mission could’ve gone to the dogs if he hadn’t been there, pun very much intended. And now he was heading right back into his deep cover mission. What a pro!

Loid didn’t have to go very far after exiting the pet shop, as his wife and daughter also arrived, two large dogs in tow. “Ah, I’m surprised to run into the two of you here. What happened at the adoption event?”

“Much, Beloved,” Delilah said, holding up their daughter for him to take. “Anya is grounded for a week.”

Loid easily positioned the girl onto his hip, sending her a stern glance, “What did you do, young lady?”

Anya pouted.

Delilah, seeing the girl unwilling to speak, answered, “She ran off to find a dog she saw outside the shelter. Unfortunately, the dog was a part of a terrorist plot and she was nearly killed.”

Loid choked.

“It’s okay, Papa! Mister White Doggy saved me!” Anya exclaimed, gesturing to the large white dog. Possibly a Great Pyrenees mix, given his fluffy white fur and large stature. “And Mama rescued us when the Bad Guys tried to hurt us! And she got her own Mister Doggy!”

The German Shepherd sitting diligently beside his wife let out a bark.

Delilah caught Anya when her husband’s muscles seemed to grow lax in his shock at their adventurous afternoon. “Do not fret, Beloved. I informed the police. I am certain they have taken care of it.” More like picking up her leftovers, but that was okay. They could take credit here.

Loid recovered quickly enough to start scolding his daughter, who is most definitely grounded as her mother declared!  “How many times do I have to tell you it’s dangerous to run off on your own?!”

“I'm so sowwy, Papa!” Anya sobbed.

Loid sighed and rubbed his temple, “But you’re okay, right?”

Anya immediately stopped crying, and nodded firmly, hugging the white dog beside her, “Because Mister White Doggy saved me!”

Twilight examined the dog, who let out a ‘borf’. No doubt it, as well as the other dog by his wife, were test subjects from Project Apple. It would not be a good idea to have them running around. 

He spied Sylvia watching them from the Pet Shop’s window, most likely having been informed by their lookouts of his family’s arrival and wanted to make sure his cover was okay. He discreetly gestured to the pair of canines and she nodded slightly.

Delilah saw the exchange regardless, but brushed it aside. She recognized the woman as a friend of her husband, whom he tended to have lunch with on occasion. (So she wanted to spy on her husband during her breaks, sue her.) Though she had yet to meet the woman proper. Perhaps the woman was interested in also procuring a pet. Delilah certainly couldn’t blame her. Animals were the best kinds of companions.

Loid rubbed the white dog’s head, a smile on his face, “Thanks for all your help today. You saved her life.”

“Excuse me.” The small family turned to see a man and woman, both suited up and wearing sunglasses despite the evening darkness. The woman held up a badge, “State Security. Investigating the incident that occurred in City Center. Do you mind answering a few questions?”

“Ah,” Delilah blinked, “You must’ve been called by the officers I spoke to. There really isn’t much else to say about the statement I already gave them. I assume the group has already been taken care of, if you have come to question us about it.”

The woman, who was definitely the same woman from inside the pet shop, her husband’s friend, nodded, “Yes. We just need to finish covering our bases and ensure all the information we’ve gathered is correct.”

Delilah figured the woman’s job had little to do with her husband. She already checked his background when she first asked him on a date. She may not be as good as Drake, but she was fairly well trained in hacking. They may simply be friends, but it was most likely they met through their jobs. Her husband certainly had enough nutcases assigned to him that would require State Intelligence.

She was intrigued by his one patient that had apparently torn off the ear of a governor. Very much reminiscent of Quinn, actually.

Still, Delilah merely repeated the events that transpired, marking the tale just as she told the police and her husband.

“I see,” the woman hummed, “Then it’s safe to assume these two dogs were also some of the animals trained by the terrorist group. Which means we’ll be taking them with us.”

Twilight nodded slightly, “Please, take good care of them.” 

“This is a delicate matter,” The woman continued, “Given the tenuous relationship between East and West, we’ll need to keep this under wraps, so your silence is crucial.”

Anya turned to Mister White Doggy with a sad frown. Despite the lady’s words, his mind was still showing her family, together and happy. Was it just a picture of them, or was it a picture of them looking back at him ?

The Shepherd whined and pressed into his wife’s legs. The mix let out a sad borf, cowering to the ground. Anya began to cry and clung to the white dog, “I wanna keep Mister White Doggy.

Delilah narrowed her eyes at the pair, making Loid sweat as feeling the heavy gaze, despite it not even being directed at him. Damn it. His wife was also attached. This was not good.

“I agree with my daughter. I also intend to keep this dog,” she declared, patting the shepherd’s head. It let out a happy whine and wiggled, licking up at her hand. 

“Wait-“ Loid choked when his wife turned her gaze to him, daring him to deny her.

He kept silent.

Sylvia refrained from facepalming at just how whipped her best agent was in the face of his wife. Surely he wasn’t compromised, yes? It had to be part of his cover.

(She knew deep down that Twilight had finally unlocked his heart, but she was also willfully ignoring that.)

Her backup, one former unbeliever of the Real Wife Cult, was promptly converted upon seeing Twilight concede to his wife’s demands at a single glance.

(He would later regale exaggerated tales of the incident to his new allegiance, proclaiming how the Legendary Twilight was so enamored with his bride, he would bow to her every demand without hesitation. This would only further the worship felt for the new Legend among their ranks.)

“Ma’am, I’m very sorry, however, we cannot-” Delilah sniffed, upturning her nose haughtily, practically looking down on the other woman from her side eye. Syvlia gritted her teeth, her brow twitching, “Please be reasonable. These animals were to be-“

“Unwilling innocents in the ploys of manic humans? I absolutely agree,” Delilah hummed, nodding and making it clear she would not take arguments, “Do not worry, my family and I shall take them and ensure they are properly cared for.”

“If you don’t let me keep Mister White Doggy, then I’m gonna turn bad and stop going to school!” Anya added. She knew the Suit Lady was Papa’s boss. She wanted Anya to do good in school for World Peace™. And Mama told Anya to do whatever it takes to use your every advantage! Anya had the cards now! Just like Bondman always says to the Bad Guys!

Loid and Sylvia both choked.

“Why would you do that?!” Loid exclaimed in horror, while Anya began to bawl her eyes out, “This has nothing to do with school!”

Anya simply wailed louder as Delilah huffed, sneering down at Sylvia, “Now look what you have done. My daughter is absolutely distraught.”

Sylvia just wanted to be done with these two. Twilight had his hands full, that was for sure. Glancing over at the undercover agent, he looked to be hyperventilating, not knowing how to handle his irate wife and hysteric daughter.

“Alright! Fine!” She groaned, rubbing her temples. Her backup and Twilight sent her a look of pure shock at how she relented. She sighed, crossing her arms, “I highly doubt two of these dogs going missing will be an issue. The terrorists have been taken into custody, and these two pups don’t seem to have caused any harm.”

Delilah flicked a lock of her hair proudly, kneeling beside her daughter as the two exchanged a fist-bump before cuddling their new pets.

Twilight discreetly leaned towards Sylvia, “Are you sure?”

“We can’t risk putting Operation Strix in jeopardy. Our hands are tied,” she explained quietly.

“That may be, but-“

“You have no room to argue. You gave in the moment your wife looked at you,” Sylvia said, heavy judgement in her voice. Loid averted his eyes awkwardly. Sylvia didn’t live with the woman. Delilah could be as terrifying as her mother. “Besides, this also means that you’ll be able to keep an eye on them. We have plenty of dogs to keep our investigators busy. So take them.”

“I have enough on my plate,” Twilight muttered. Having two dogs would’ve been fine if they were small. It was just his luck that his two family members wanted the largest dogs they could find. Their apartment wasn’t exactly the biggest place…

“What about all those other Mister Doggies?” Anya asked in concern, “Will the police officers be mean to them?”

Delilah narrowed her eyes, standing to stare down Sylvia yet again.

The agent sighed and knelt down to pat the pinkette’s head, “Don’t worry, sweet thing. The dogs are gonna be well taken care of. They’ll all be given warm beds to sleep in and nice, yummy food to eat. But this pup of yours, he didn’t have easy lives before he met you. So it’s very important that you’re always extra good to him. Both of them,” she added, glancing at the Shepherd. “And I know they’ll be good to you. Can you do that?”

Anya’s eyes sparkled with awe, “Fanks a lot, Boss Lady.”

Sylvia paused beside Twilight, a smile on her face, “She’s a good girl.”

“You don't know what she puts me through,” Twilight retorted, eye twitching at just the thought of the trouble Anya gets into.

“I’ve got a pretty good idea,” the Handler replied, the pair looking over to where Anya and Delilah were fawning over their new dogs. “I once had a daughter her age.”

Twilight was surprised at the personal information that was revealed. Sylvia always kept her past close to her chest. So much so, that there were rumors that she was actually a test tube baby made by WISE Scientists to create the perfect Handler.

Now that he thought about it, a lot of their agents were big conspiracy theorists…Oh well, that probably wasn’t important. Let them have their fun if it helps them cope.

“What matters is peace won the day,” the redhead declared.

Loid let out a small breath, his heart settling in relief at the end of the stressful mission, “You’re right.”

The agent then turned towards the other ladies, “We do need to take the dogs for the night, however. Give them a health screening to ensure the terrorist group did not implant anything harmful.”

Delilah eyed the female agent closely. Whatever she was searching for, she didn’t elaborate and merely exhaled, handing the leashes to the male agent.

“Once they’ve been cleared, we’ll bring them over to your family’s home,” Sylvia explained.

“Works for me,” Loid smiled, “Shall we head back?” 

Delilah nodded, “Yes. I’m sure Anya is tired from this long day. And she needs to begin her punishment.” 

Anya let out a whine.

Robin easily blended into the shadows of the night. She kept her eyes locked onto the building before her, spying through the windows with her night and heat vision goggles. 

It was nice to have reconnected with her mother. Partly because she got to get new gadgets for her vigilante assassinations.

But this was not an assassination. Nope, this was a simple observation task. A self-imposed one.

This group had her dogs, after all.

“Wow. You really are obsessed.” The only reason Robin didn’t react was because she heard the very light footsteps of Flatline’s arrival.

She was good, but Robin was better.

“Hush,” she hissed, not removing her gaze from the building. The Pet Shop had another room in the back where they were keeping the dogs. Thankfully, the agents were still there with the canines when Robin was able to slip out of her apartment and come back.

Of course, she could’ve tracked them down if they had moved before she arrived, but this just made her job easier.

She could tell the woman hadn’t been lying about doing a health check, nor when she told Anya that the other dogs would be well cared for. But Robin had trust issues, so she was going to ensure the agent followed through.

She was not going to risk her new partner’s safety or his new brother’s.

“Ya know, your mom said you have an unhealthy attachment to animals. I thought she was exaggerating,” Flatline said, plopping down to the ledge she was perched on. The woman flippantly kicked her legs as she sat.

“I do not see how it is any of your business,” Robin stated, glancing at the woman. Like her, the apprentice was dressed up in uniform. Well….okay, it wasn’t really a uniform. She was wearing black leather pants decorated with white bones, and a matching jacket over a corset top. She was really going all out with the goth aesthetic.

She’d say the woman was not very well disguised, considering her ‘mask’ was just white painted skull on her face that seemed to blend into her already pale skin.

Then again, it wasn’t like she was actually a part of the League. She was just a guest.

As if reading her thoughts, the pale woman smirked and sat on the railing, lightly kicking her feet carelessly, “You’re funny. I think I’ll hang around some more. We can be friends.”

“Joy,” Robin drolled.

“I know,” Flatline lifted her chin playfully, “Obvi you don’t have any other friends. So, you’re welcome.”

Robin sneered and rolled her eyes.

Flatline just giggled, before rolling back, letting out a small cheer as she was sent free falling off the rooftop. Robin finally removed her sights from the pet shop to jolt forward, a heroic attempt to save the careless woman. 

Her fretting was for naught, however, as the apprentice easily landed on a balcony rail below, leaping off to other balconies and lamp posts as she disappeared into the night.

She must have some kind of powers to be able to be so agile and skilled in her landings.

Robin shook her head and focused back into the pet shop. The other woman distracted her so much, it seemed the agents within finished with their deliberations on the canines. The dogs were being moved to a disguised truck, with the exception of three. Her two dogs and the doberman she fought off that day.

“I think I’ll keep this one,” Sylvia stated, lightly petting the doberman’s head.

Robin hummed under her breath. Well, if the woman was willing to take responsibility for the one dog that had actually been forced to participate in this whole ordeal, then surely she could be trusted with where the other dogs go.

Though she would certainly keep a check for a little bit. Just in case.

“Please come home, Mister Doggies~” Anya had been chanting and dancing since they woke up. Much like when they were waiting for her entrance announcement, she was carrying Mr Chimera and prancing about.

Loid had been trying to watch the news, mainly to see if there was any leaks or hidden info slipped through, but Anya was more distracting.

Delilah was busy making lunch when the doorbell rang, so Loid got up to answer. She decided part of Anya’s punishment was that her meals had to be vegetable based for the whole week. 

All that really meant was that she was taking charge of meals instead of Loid, and that Anya had to try new things instead of getting her favorite foods. Mainly peanuts, but she also really liked burgers.

He did learn that Delilah grew up eating a complete mixture of middle eastern food, though. 

Delilah, for her part, was having fun experimenting with her childhood meals and trying to get Anya to enjoy them as well. She was still hesitant due to her aversion to veggies, but this was a good opportunity to have her branch out. 

Delilah was glad the sect was multicultural. They were mostly middle eastern, but all the countries had different foods. Her family didn’t have roots in any specific one, as Grandfather was from a time long before they were even established. So this meant she had many recipes she could try making.

At the door, an agent had both dogs leashed up. Anya squealed, rushing over, “Mister Doggies!”

“Please take good care of them,” the agent smiled at the little girl as he handed the leashes to Loid.

“Thank you,” Delilab smiled, coming over after she placed the pan into the oven.

Once the door was closed, Loid removed the leashes from the two collars. The German Shepherd immediately went sniffing around the living room and kitchen. The white mix smelled the floor a bit before focusing up on the three humans. It was the exact image as his vision.

Anya beammed, “Welcome to Anya’s house, Mister White Doggy! And now it’s your house too!”

The Shepherd finished his scenting and scurried over to Delilah, pressing into her leg. Loid smiled, “I think it’s time to give them proper names.”

“I have already decided a name for this one,” Delilah hummed, scratching under the shepherd’s jaw. He panted as his tongue lolled gleefully. “He shall be Anthony.”

Loid tilted his head, “Any particular reason why?”

“My first dog was Titus, after Titus Andronicus. I want to keep the theme of Shakespeare’s geo-political plays.” 

Loid stared at her, deadpanned, “Those both end in tragedy.”

“Yes. And?”

He simply sighed.

The newly dubbed Anthony panted happily. The white dog, however, stared at the small family. Delilah noticed the anxious look in the poor canine’s eye, and tilted her head, “It’s alright. You are safe here.”

“You don’t gotta be nervous! You just need a treat!” Anya declared. Anthony’s ears perked at the word, “Everything’s okay. You’re one of the Holgers now!”

Anya scurried over and wrapped her arms around the dog’s big neck, not really able to reach around entirely due to his size.

And the dog, formerly only called Number Eight, wagged his tail, letting out a happy bark.

Anya was really happy she saved Papa and got two new doggies. She was less happy that her school won’t give her another Star for saving the day.

Something about it needing to be a secret. Which sucked! Anya needs to earn Stars to help bring World Peace™!

Guess that meant she needed to go back to her first plan, the Friendship Scheme!

All she had to do was brag about having two big new doggies to Second Son, and he’ll get all jealous and demand she bring them to his house to prove his doggy was better than hers!

Not that he could. Her doggies were superheroes. But still.

Becky was just glad Anya stopped demanding she call her ‘Starlight Anya’. 

“Guess what, Becky? They gave me two doggies as a reward!” 

“Wow, really? That’s great!” The other girl awed. She only got one dog as a reward! Anya’s parents must be really cool! “What kinda dogs?”

“Uh…the white kind? And Mama got a brown doggy too!”

“Well…how old are they?”

“Dunno, but they both are real big!”

“I wonder if they are cute as my precious little Weasel,” Becky cooed, scooting closer, “Maybe all three can play together! Hey, how about I come over to your house and we-Uh, Anya?”

Anya had already gotten out of her chair and rushed out of the classroom, having heard Second Son’s passing thoughts. Becky just proved her plan would work too! 

Damian was squaring up, fully ready to fist fight the girl when she approached. Which was a fair reaction considering the amount of times she physically harmed him. “What do you want from me?”

Anya smirked evilly, “I have a dog. Two dogs! And they both are big and fluffy!”

Damian deadpanned, “And why should I care?”

Anya was so shocked and horrified, she fell to her knees in anguish, “The world is doomed…”

Damian was very confused upon seeing the girl’s reaction. Beside him, Emile smirked and laughed, “You brought that stupid peasant to her knees! Way to be savage, Lord Damian!”

He….he wasn’t trying to be mean…

“You’ve got a razor sharp wit!” Ewan added, “Probably some fleabags from the street!”

Now, normally, Damian actually enjoyed the fighting and banter he exchanged with Anya. Not that he’d ever tell anyone that! But, she was really one of the few who ever fought back (aside from Becky, but that nuisance doesn’t count! ). So a part of him really did like their fights.

But this one just seemed….well, he wasn’t even trying to start a fight in the first place. He really didn’t understand why she thought getting new pets was a big deal. Like, he loved his dog, but Anya got that weird smirk on her face when she said it, which she usually only did when she was trying to start something. So it had to be more than just telling him about her dogs.

Maybe she wanted to brag? 

Well, either way, it’s not like it’s all that serious to fight over. He’d give her some bragging time, if she wanted that. Besides, dogs were cool.

“So, uh, what’s their names, huh?”

Anya looked at him in surprise alongside Emile and Ewan. But her surprise quickly gave way to a large, sparkling smile, which shot right through Damian’s chest. Obviously her bragging attempts must be getting under his skin, but whatever! He’ll just ignore it like usual and it’ll go away!

Anya stood up and wiped her face, “Their names?”

“Yep. That’s what I asked you.”

Anya….Anya didn’t give Mister White Doggy a name yet. 

“Doggie?”

…..

Damian spun around and stalked off with his two friends/lackeys, “You don’t deserve a dog. What a waste of time.”

Anya shrieked in horror.

She brought this lack of name up to Becky during lunch. “You don’t know how to name a dog?”

Anya shook her head. She didn’t really know what to name things. Anya didn’t have a name, really. Anya was what Anya decided when she learned how to read her door sign at That Place….

Moving on!

“What about a cute name, like after a food or flower?” Becky suggested.

“Food name, huh?” Anya hummed. Well, there was one food she loved! “Peanuts?”

“Isn’t your pup big, though? ‘Peanuts’ is weird. What kind of name fits that way he looks?”

Anya thought hard, “Old Fluffy?”

Becky grimaced. “Maybe see what your mom and dad can come up with and go with that.” Honestly, she’s doing that dog a favor by not letting Anya come up with the name by herself.

“Am I that bad?!” Anya cried, hearing the thought.

“Papa! Mama! I have returned!” Anya announced.

Mister White Doggy greeted her first, tackling the little girl to the floor and licking her as his tail wagged. Anthony trotted over and gave her a sniff, not at all bothered by Mister White Doggy being very much in the way.

“He’s trying to wolf me up!” She shrieked.

Delilah smiled, peeking out from the kitchen, “They are greeting you home. A very healthy pack mentality.”

“It’s still a lot of energy for this time of day,” Loid remarked, “Perhaps we should take them for a walk.”

Delilah nodded, “I walked them this morning before leaving for work, but with their size, they should have at least two walks a day. This will also be good for Anya’s exercise routine.”

“Walkies!” Anya cheered, pushing up from Mister White Doggy.

After bundling up, as the weather has become rather cold recently, the family was ready to take their walk. Delilah also suggested a dog park she found near the library.

Anthony dutifully walked beside Delilah, as Loid had Mister White Doggy’s leash. Anya bounced between her parents and their dogs, “Papa, I wanna hold Mister White Doggy’s leash too!”

“I don't think you’re quite ready. He’ll drag you around,” Loid refused, “He may be somewhat trained, but he still needs discipline. You’ve got some training of your own, Anya. Learn how to feed him, reward him, scold him, things like that. He’s your responsibility to care for until the end, you know.”

Anya nodded firmly, “Yeah.”

Delilah patted her head, “I will teach you everything, Little One. Anthony shall be my responsibility, so you may follow as I do with him. Just be aware that the two dogs are not the same. They both will have their own needs as well.”

“Okay, Mama!”

Loid added, “Do you have a name for him yet?”

“No, because I’m really bad at that,” Anya said mournfully.

“Oh,” Loid sweatdropped, “Well, we want a name that is simple for us to say and for him to understand. According to my sources, dogs have a hard time telling consonants apart, so we should probably give him a name with a strong vowel. Something with A, U or O.”

“That’s kinda rough,” Anya muttered, clearly thinking hard as they reached the Dog Park.

She very quickly got distracted at seeing the many dogs around the park. “It’s full of doggies!”

The girl rushed off as Delilah and Loid unleashed their dogs. The two were trained well enough to be trusted off-leash in this area. 

Mister White Doggy trotted over, watching Anya run, roll and bounce around. Delilah, having packed toys she already bought for the two dogs, was busy getting Anthony interested in the ball before throwing it.

Anya saw Mister White Doggy was not playing, unlike Anthony who shot past them to get his new ball, and scurried over to him, “You gotta play, otherwise it’s just an Anya and Anty Park!”

Mister White Doggy tilted his head at her. Anya saw her Mama throwing a ball for Anthony and smiled wide, “Let’s try that!”

She quickly took off her shoe and threw it for Mister White Doggy to chase. He just stared at her, wagging his tail.

“Anya, sweetie, don’t use your shoes as toys. We don’t want him to think he can chew on them,” Delilah called over, “I have other toys he can play with in my bag.”

Anya scurried over to her Mama, Mister White Doggy following her, “Mama, he doesn’t wanna play. I think he’ll only play if he has a name.”

Delilah hummed as she took the ball from Anthony and threw it again. “Well, I don’t think that would necessarily make him want to play. He could be nervous around so many people and dogs.” She examined the large white dog. He didn't have any signs in his body language to suggest that, however, “Or, he may not know how to play.”

Anya scrunched up her face in confusion, “How does he not know how to play?”

“Well,” Delilah began, crouching down to the girl, “You know the doggies were being mistreated by the Bad Guys? They weren’t allowed to play and be like other doggies. He probably needs you to show him how.”

“But Anty knows how to play,” Anya argued, pointing to the running shepherd.

“Remember what I said on the way here?” The woman asked.

Anya paused and tilted her head, “The doggies are different?”

Delilah gave her a proud smile, “Yes. Anthony is adapting more quickly. But Mister White Doggy might need some more time, and that’s okay.”

Anya nodded slowly, “Okay….But he needs a name too!”

Delilah hummed, “Why don’t you ask some of the people here what they named their dogs? It could give you some ideas to work with.”

The pinkette beamed, “Okay Mama!” With that, she bounded off, the white dog close behind.

Of course, Anya just ended up trying to mash together a bunch of names. None of them sounded right to her, thankfully.

Loid had been spending his time in the shade as his wife and daughter played with the two dogs, lost in thought. 

He was such a hypocrite. Telling Anya that her new dog was a responsibility she needed to take care of to the end.

What kind of responsibility did that leave him with? A wife and a child, for all that they were made under false pretenses. Only he knew this would end when his mission was completed. Anya didn’t know she would stop having a father. Delilah didn’t know that she would stop having a husband.

The only safe extraction route would be faking his death, saddling a mourning woman to be a single mother, and an already orphaned girl to be fatherless yet again.

He could only content himself with the assurance that even when his mission ended, and Loid Forger faded away back into Twilight, he would ensure they were taken care of, even from a distance. Sylvia should not have any grievances with that either. 

Drawing out of his thoughts as he noted the time, Loid made his way over to the rest of the family. “Alright, Anya, time to go. You have studying to do.”

Anya yelped at the idea. She and Mama had finally got Mister White Doggy to start playing and now they had to go?!

But she knew Papa would not change his mind and simply whined with a nod. However, she then noticed that her gloves were missing, “My gloves! Where’d they go? I just had them and now they just went poof!”

“You probably dropped them somewhere,” Delilah remarked, glancing around the area they were playing the most.

“But they’re my favorite pair ever!” Anya cried, rushing off to search.

Mister White Doggy sniffed and easily caught the scent of her missing gloves, wandering over to where a bulldog was being led off by his elderly mistress.

Anya saw him and hurried over, seeing her gloves in the other doggy’s mouth, “My gloves! Gimme back!”

However, she immediately heard the dog’s mean thoughts, ‘Me find! Mine!’ Pair with his intimidating appearance, Anya cried and rushed away.

Mister White Doggy did not like that, and stood over the other dog. Strong and intimidating, the bulldog might be, but he was still rather small compared to him. 

The bulldog froze at the leering from the much larger canine, and dropped the gloves as he whined. Mister White Doggy gently pressed a paw into his side, sending the dog flailing to the ground in fear. 

The elderly woman caught sight of this and picked up her dog, scolding the white dog as she huffed away.

Mister White Doggy didn’t care about that, as he picked up the gloves and handed them over to Anya. She beamed, “Thanks, Mister White Doggy!”

It was then that she remembered a scene from the most recent episode of Spy Wars, where Bondman got back a piece of clothing that had been stolen from Princess Honey. Then, an idea struck her.

“You’re a lot like Bondman! You saved me and found these! And you got gloves like him too!” She proclaimed, pointing at his black paws. 

“Is something wrong?” Loid asked, making her way over to the pair after he and Delilah stopped searching. Though, it appeared Anya already found them.

“I have the perfect name for Mister White Doggy! We gotta get him a bow!”

Loid was worried she was going to name him something like Princess Vanilla Sugar Plum. Because no way in hell would he let Sylvia ever catch him saying that kind of name. She’d never let him live it down. 

However, at home, Anya tied the new bowtie collar around the white dog and happily proclaimed, “Mister White Doggy’s forever name is Bond!”

Loid was very relieved, “Like Bondman from your show. Well, it seems to suit him.” 

The newly dubbed Bond also appeared to like the name, proceeding to lick Anya.

Anya then began to show both Bond all of the new stuff Mama set up for the doggies. “This is where you eat!” Bond had a silver bowl on one side of the kitchen, while Anthony had a red one on the other side. Mama said it was better to keep them far apart to prevent the doggies from being upset if the other one got close during food time.

“Your first mission is to eat all the doggy chow in the bowl!” Anya declared. Mama helped her measure the amount of food Bond is allowed to eat for dinner. She said Bond and Anthony had to eat the right amount to keep them healthy!

Bond eagerly began devouring the food, as Delilah monitored him and Anthony, keeping an eye for signs of food aggression. Thankfully, neither were reacting to the other. 

Anya swiped a piece of dog food to try. Bond looked at her in confusion. Delilah sighed, “Anya, do not eat the dog food.” She gave the dogs a raw mix that was also human grade, so Anya wouldn’t get hurt by eating it, but it still isn’t good for her.

At least Bond didn’t react to her stealing food either, so she could probably count food aggression as being a non-issue.

“Not bad, but not good either,” Anya commented on the taste. Delilah merely shook her head in exasperation.

Bond tilted his head at Anya, and she read his thoughts, “You gotta potty! Please follow me, Mister Bond!”

Anya pointed to a box Mama set up for the dogs, “This is your potty! If you go anywhere else, Mama will get mad cause she wants things clean!”

Delilah came over, “This is just for night when we go to bed. Otherwise, I want to train them to ring the bell and I will take them outside.” She called Bond over to the door and rang the bell string she attached to the knob, before leashing him and taking him out of the apartment building to go. 

After she brought him back in and then repeated the same with Anthony to take him outside, Anya rushed to the tv. She turned it on to Spy Wars, “Your next mission is to watch this cartoon so you can learn about your roots.”

“I thought I told you to study,” Loid scolded, as he heard the tv when he exited his room. “You better be cracking open a book by the time I get out of the bath!”

Even in the bath, he heard Anya laughing, clearly still playing around instead of studying like he told her to. 

When he got out, he saw his wife leaning against the wall as she stared into the living room. Delilah silently gestured him over. Loid peered over her head, spotting Anya and Bond curled up against one another in the middle of the floor. “They wore themselves out while playing.”

Loid couldn’t help but smile at the sight, “I suppose we can give her a pass tonight.”

Delilah nodded, moving to give Anthony a pat on the head. He was laying on one of the cushions Delilah got for the dogs, chewing on a rope he must have taken from the toy box.

She then moved to head towards the bathroom. Of course, ever one to try her luck, she brushed a hand against Loid’s shoulder, a smirk on her face, “If you had waited for me, we could’ve saved water and shared the bath.”

Loid face heated up very quickly. She let out a small giggle and winked, “I wouldn’t mind if you decide you need another one and join me.”

He let out a wheeze as she quietly cackled, sashaying into the bathroom. 

Loid did not appreciate the look from Anthony, who stopped his chewing to stare at him in judgement.

He also did not go any better when Delilah came out of the bathroom in just a towel, ‘innocently’ stating she forgot to grab her clothes.

That woman was going to be the death of him.