Chapter Text
They had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner together as a family. Alfred prepared an extravagant meal which Bruce, Dick, Jason, Tim, Percy, and Cass all enjoyed. Cass had been staying at the manor more and more and Percy suspected that Bruce was considering adopting her, even though she was an adult.
Jason informed them that he would soon be leaving that weekend for a mission with the Outlaws, a team he had joined which Roy was also on. Jay had already mentioned it to Percy, Percy was going to miss him.
They were just finishing up dinner when the doorbell rang, which was unusual. Alfred went to answer the door and returned with a kid who looked around 10 or 11. He had black hair and green eyes with tan skin.
The boy came into the dining room and locked eyes with Bruce. “I am Damian Al Ghul. My mother, Talia, sent me here to you, Bruce Wayne, my father. I am the son of the Batman and I come to take my rightful place as heir,” Damian said, his words accented. Percy had a bad feeling about this, specifically the way he seemed preoccupied with being the heir.
Bruce seemed to be in shock. “He does resemble you,” Alfred commented, “Perhaps we should go down to the batcave to do a paternity test?”
Jason spoke up, “The memories are blurry, but I do recognize him from my time with the league, it makes sense for him to be Talia’s son.”
The rest of the family went downstairs to the batcave, except for Percy. He decided it wasn’t his business. He decided to go swimming and he swam laps for a while. The house was quiet.
After a while, Jason came to talk to him and Percy got out of the pool. “So, paternity test confirmed that Damian is Bruce’s,” Jason informed him.
“So, new kid,” Percy commented neutrally.
“Yeah. You should know, the league I mentioned, his grandfather is the head of the League of Assassins, they have the Lazarus pits that revive people. His grandfather is ancient since he’s used it to extend his life. Anyways, you should be on guard in case any league shenanigans follow him into the city. You’re a civilian so it shouldn’t affect you but still, I wanted you to be warned,” Jason said.
“I’ll be careful,” Percy agreed.
“Well, I’ll still be heading out on my mission tomorrow, wanted to say bye before I left,” Jason said. Percy hugged him and they briefly kissed goodbye before Jason left. After that, Percy went up and went to bed.
Percy was dreaming of being trained by wolves, what a weird dream. Percy was suddenly woken to a knife to his throat. He grabbed the wrist holding the knife, squeezing it hard as he launched out of bed and pinned the attacker to the ground, wrapping his other hand around their throat and squeezing. He heard a crack as he fractured the attacker’s wrist as he bent the knife to be in their direction. He bared his teeth threateningly.
He opened his eyes properly, blinking the sleep from them. He saw the boy, Damian, pinned beneath him on the floor with a thin line of blood on his collarbone where the knife had hit him. The boy was starting to turn blue from Percy choking him. The boy was much weaker than him and struggled in vain. He relaxed his grip on the boy’s throat a bit, still pinning him by it.
Percy thought a moment. The boy had snuck into his room in the middle of the night and put a knife to his throat, he was raised by assassins, the boy had tried to kill him. He was a child but he was as much a warrior as he was a child and he would treat him with regard for his abilities. He needed him to understand that this behavior was not acceptable. He was worried this child might attempt to harm the others in their family, maybe harm Tim, and Percy was protective of his family, he would not see them harmed.
“Don’t you ever attack me again. You may be a child, but you are a warrior and a threat. I’ve been known to kill people in self-defense. You’re lucky I woke up and realized who you were when I did, I could just as easily have slain you in my sleep. Don’t attack any other member of this family either, I am protective of them and I am not above revenge if you harm the people I love. You may have been raised by assassins, but the rules are different here, your father certainly would not approve of you killing,” Percy threatened.
“Understood,” Damian said weakly. Percy took the knife from his hands and put it in his pocket. He kept a firm grip on Damian’s shoulders as he stood him up and marched him over to Bruce’s room.
“Bruce, wake-up. Your crotch-goblin tried to kill me,” Percy yelled, using one hand to knock loudly on the door.
Bruce stumbled over to the door and opened it. Bruce was wearing monogrammed silk pajamas. Percy shoved Damian over to Bruce, releasing him into Batman’s custody. Bruce grabbed Damian’s shoulder firmly yet gently.
“His wrist might be broken and there’s a small cut on his collarbone, I injured him before I fully woke up and realized it was him,” Percy informed him neutrally.
Dick had also been woken by the noise, he came out into the hall, “What happened?” Dick asked.
“Report from the beginning,” Batman instructed Percy.
“I woke up to a knife at my throat and reacted accordingly, fortunately I realized who he was when I did or I could have injured him worse in my sleep. Please be sure to educate your assassin-raised child that harming family members is unacceptable,” Percy said firmly.
“Ttt, you are not even adopted, you are not actually part of this family,” Damian said petulantly. Percy merely arched an eyebrow.
Bruce sighed, “Percy is part of this family as far as I am concerned. You are not allowed to initiate an attack on anyone until further notice, Damian. You can defend yourself from harm if attacked but that is it. We will discuss this further to make sure you understand.”
“Here’s the knife he used by the way,” Percy said, handing the knife to Bruce handle first, who took it and put it away.
Percy felt really worried about Tim for some reason. He went over to Tim’s room and opened the door, Tim was awake but blinking sleepily, “Wha’s up?” Tim mumbled.
“Just wanted to check that you’re okay, Damian attacked me in my sleep, I worry he might target you as well,” Percy said. He gave Tim a hug, wishing for him to be protected, his thoughts a blessing.
Percy went back out into the hall, Dick and Bruce had been talking with Damian.
“Why did you attack Percy?” Dick asked.
“Answer the question,” Bruce reiterated when Damian remained silent.
“I wish to claim my place as heir, that means taking out the competition, the imposters. I am the blood son, they are merely imposters,” Damian said.
“If you wish to challenge me to a fight then challenge me outright, don’t take the coward’s way out by attacking me in my sleep,” Percy grumbled.
“Percy,” Bruce reprimanded, “Don’t egg him on, you’re older, be the bigger person.”
Percy smiled slightly ferally, “I am bigger, and stronger, thus why I’m confident I can beat him in a fair fight, so he would be wise to mind his place and not pick fights with people stronger than him.” If Damian was taking out the competition, he wanted to make himself the biggest threat, so Damian would target Percy instead of targeting Tim.
“Ttt, I might be small, but I have been trained extensively, I could definitely beat you in a contest of blades,” Damian said.
“I bet you couldn’t,” Percy said tauntingly.
“Percy, why are you taunting him?” Dick asked.
Percy thought a moment, “He’s like a wolf cub, he only understands power and strength, the idea that only the strong survive. Which, that isn’t exactly true but it’s how he views the world. He needs to understand I’m stronger than him, he is too young to be picking challenge fights with his pack.”
“Tttt, were you raised by wolves or something?” Damian said.
Percy cocked his head, thinking of the dreams he had, “I wouldn’t rule it out,” he said a bit absentmindedly, “But it makes sense to you to use such a metaphor, doesn’t it? Anyways, you really should see to his arm, I heard a crack. The cub should have his injuries tended to.”
“I am not a cub, not a child,” Damian argued.
“You are a child and you are a warrior, unfortunately the two are not mutually exclusive,” Percy said.
“My kill count is higher than yours,” Damian insisted. Bruce inhaled sharply at the confirmation that his young son had killed people.
Percy smiled menacingly, “You don’t know my true kill count, only my official one.”
“Kill counts are NOT something to brag about. Let’s go down to the medical room, we’ll see to your injuries,” Bruce said firmly. He and Damian went downstairs.
Dick stayed behind to talk to Percy. “Raised by wolves, really?” Dick asked.
“I had a weird dream before he woke me, it felt like a memory. Maybe not raised by wolves but trained by, possibly. Or maybe my dream was just a metaphor of something else, I don’t know,” Percy said.
“I doubt you could beat him in a sword fight, he has been trained by assassins,” Dick said.
“You’ve seen me fence, you haven’t seen me in a true swordfight. And he’s small, I have longer reach; when blades are locked and strength comes into it, I’d win every time,” Percy pointed out.
“You shouldn’t antagonize him,” Dick cautioned.
Percy tilted his head, “He sees us as competition to eliminate, how long until he targets Tim to try and get Robin? Maybe the fractured wrist will slow him down. I’d rather he attack me than have him attack Tim. I’m guessing you are old enough and have already established yourself separately enough that he doesn’t view you as competition like he views us.”
“Did you break his wrist on purpose?” Dick asked.
“No, I was still partially asleep and acting on instinct. I gripped hard, sure, but I didn’t expect it to cause a fracture, but I also didn’t expect my attacker to be a small child. I think it would have been merely bruising or a sprain on an adult attacker,” Percy replied.
“How high is your kill count?” Dick asked.
“I don’t know, I have amnesia, remember? How many by your count?” Percy said.
“Uh, at least 13?” Dick said after thinking for a moment. Percy nodded, he was still missing the 8 of Black Mask’s men that Percy had killed. “It’s still weird that you’re so casual about having killed people,” Dick said.
“Well, what’s weirder is the child who’s been assassinating people on purpose because he was raised by an assassin cult,” Percy pointed out.
“Yeah, I don’t really know what to do about that,” Dick said, “I guess I should go downstairs and check on them.” Dick left.
It was like 3am but Percy knew he wouldn’t be going to sleep anytime soon, he was too wired. He went to his room to change into his exercise clothes. He then went downstairs. First he stretched and then he performed some sword choreography free-hand. He then taped up his hands and went to the punching bag.
He punched the bag for a while, alternating hands. Afterwards, he just did general workouts, pushups and crunches and such. Then he did more fight choreography, fighting past battles only he could see. Eventually he had worked out enough to get his adrenaline out.
He went to the kitchen, planning to heat up some leftovers to eat for now. Alfred was in there, sipping at his tea.
“How’s the kid?” Percy asked. He did feel slightly bad about injuring him but also the kid shouldn’t have attacked him in his sleep. He started making a plate.
“Fracture in the radius of his wrist, but it was a clean break and it wasn’t all the way through, so it should heal well. We’ll call for Leslie to come by today to assess it more thoroughly and get him set up with a cast,” Alfred informed him.
“And the cut, it wasn’t too deep was it?” Percy asked as his food heated up.
“It needed a few stitches but he will be fine,” Alfred said.
“Kid’s scrawny, needs more meat on his bones so he doesn’t get hurt so easily,” Percy commented, begrudgingly expressing concern.
“Yes, Leslie and I will be sure to put a proper meal plan together for him,” Alfred said.
“What do you think of all this, Bruce having a surprise kid?” Percy asked as he started eating his food.
“It is certainly a surprise, Talia had told us she’d had a miscarriage. It is unfortunate that we did not know, I know Bruce regrets the years of the boy’s life he had missed. The league is no place for a child to be raised,” Alfred said.
Percy ate his food. He then decided to go swimming for a while until breakfast. He swam until 11am then got out of the pool, putting his shirt back on. He’d worked up an appetite and he went into the kitchen where Alfred had breakfast ready for them.
They were eating omelets with bacon, sausage, cheese, and peppers. There was also more bacon on the side along with toast for them to eat. Percy got two loaded omelets plus a fair bit more of bacon and sausage with a couple pieces of toast and dug in. Dick came down and shortly afterwards Bruce came down with Damian. Tim came down a bit after them. Damian made a plate with just a couple pieces of toast and he grabbed a banana.
“Is that really all you’re gonna eat?” Percy commented, “You need protein if you want to build muscle. I, uh, didn’t mean to fracture your arm but you’re pretty scrawny.” It wasn’t exactly an apology.
“This is all I want to eat,” Damian said primly.
“Master Damian, are there any allergies or dietary restrictions I should be aware of for you?” Alfred asked.
“No, I do not have any allergies,” Damian replied.
“I mean, I don’t have allergies either but I don’t eat fish. Are you avoiding meat or something? You could still have eggs,” Percy said observationally.
“I would prefer to avoid animal products,” Damian reluctantly admitted.
“I mean, I can understand why you might avoid meat but avoiding eggs and dairy makes it really hard for you to get the protein you need,” Percy said.
“Master Damian, I would be happy to make an omelet for you that just contains cheese and peppers, if that would be to your liking,” Alfred said.
“I suppose that would be acceptable,” Damian replied. So, the kid was vegetarian. Damian ate his toast and banana while Alfred made his omelet. He then tentatively ate the omelet.
“So, should we take Damian out shopping for clothes and stuff?” Dick asked.
“I think it would be best to avoid him going out into public until we get his documentation in order, I will work on that today. Also, Leslie will be coming to put a cast on his arm,” Bruce said.
“I will get your sizes and order some clothing for you, let me know if you have any preferences, in the meantime some of you boys older clothes should fit him,” Alfred said.
Percy ended up hanging out with Tim and playing video games. Dick was helping Bruce with Damian, they apparently had a lot to talk to him about to try and help acclimatize him.