Chapter Text
Din wasn’t one to judge people the second he sees them. Well, he was. His kids always told him so. But he was trying to be better, he really was. He has started off on the wrong foot in so many relationships, he didn’t want it to happen again.
When he was offered a place in the Justice League, he took it. There were a lot of very powerful people, but they did a lot of good. He didn’t like the idea of leaving Gotham un-defended at any point, but Ragnar was really coming into his own as a superhero, serving the city well. He’s sure that the city is in capable hands.
The supers are all pretty down to earth, actually. Their first meeting went well. He had fought beside a few of them, on the occasion where an extra terrestrial threat came to Gotham and he was able to help them. He liked them all well enough.
Except.
Except. The stupid blond hair, which shone in the sunlight. The blue eyes that were somehow brighter than the sky and deeper than the ocean. He was perfect, and he seemed to know that, and it left Din, who was very much aware that he was not perfect feeling more than a little self-conscience.
He knew that the Jedi didn’t mean anything by it. If you told him that you were self-consience, he would immediatly start showering you in so many compliments that you couldn’t help but feel good for the rest of the year. Which is another thing that bugged Din. Every time he tries to comfort one of his kids he ends up messing up and making it worst. He’s not good at talking. He's not good at a lot of things. And the Jedi is good at everything.
So he doesn’t like the Jedi, but they can work together. It’ll be fine.
Luke was so excited when the Beyora was going to join the Justice League. He loves the Beyora. He’s the perfect mix of strong, capable, and mysterious that Luke is big enough to admit that it a massive turn on for him. When he went to Gotham to help with a shapeshifting alien who disguised herself as a regular Gothamite to escape detection, he approached the Beyora offering his help, and was told that he would be welcome to help apprehend the alien, but that the Beyora will be the one finding him.
He was unsure about whether the Beyora would be able to do it, but was amazed when he was able to find the alien disguises as Din Djarin.
“He wears lift,” the Beyora’s assistant, the Apprentice, said. “Most people thing Din Djarin is 6 foot 1, but he’s actually 5 foot 11 and wears lifts. Here, he was barefoot and still 6 foot 1. That shouldn’t be possible.”
The Beyora shook his head. He was so smart, being able to see that Din Djarin was not himself because of a slight difference in height. And the Apprentice was start for seeing it as well. He’s had an Apprentice for about a decade now, and the Apprentice still seems to be a young kid.
“Well, here he is,” the Beyora said, handing over the criminal in special cuffs Luke had brought. He realized, then, that he had done nothing. The Beyora and the Apprentice did everything, from tracking the energy signatures, to narrowing down the places he could be hiding, to figuring out the reason why he came to Gotham to setting a trap and now apprehending the alien for Luke to bring back to his home planet. Luke had been to facinated by the efficiency with which the team operated.
“It’s a good thing Din Djarin’s vanity and obsession with height saved the day,” the Apprentice continued, elbowing the Beyora in the side. “I mean, if he hadn’t been overcompensating for his tiny, ineffectual di-stain for being short, we might not have caught the alien.”
“Luckily we did,” the Beyora said.
That night Luke recomended the Beyora for a spot on the league.
Now, it was happening and he was so excited. He seemed to be getting along well with the rest of the team. There was a little bit of discussion as to whether the Apprentice will be allowed to join too, and when asked the kid’s age, the Beyora cryptically responded: “Not as old as he seems.” When pressed, he only offered: “Not a legal adult,” which wasn’t very helpful.
Luke is curious about the Apprentice. He seems to be some sort of alien. He keeps growing and shrinking. Not in any sort of obvious way, but his armor changes every few months and occasionally, somebody will notice that he’s a foot shorter than what he was a few months ago. Always young, but sometimes he acts like a 12 year old and sometimes he acts like a teenager. If Luke had to guess, she’d say he’s about 12 now, though he might not actually be a he. He uses a voice modulator so that no one can know his identity, and batman calls him he but that could be another red hearing to distract from his identity.
Luke ended up recommending the Beyora to the League that very day. It was sponsored by Din Djarin, who had the league set up a few years ago. Luke was actually the first person to join, so he’s acknowledged as a founder.
And now the Beyora is actually here. Becoming a part of the team. The Apprentice wasn’t allowed in just yet, though the Beyora did say that he would probably be joining them on missions, just not as a voting member in a decision making role.
Luke loved this. He was big enough to admit that he’s had a crush on the man for a while. He’s just so... strong. And powerful. Not in the way Luke is powerful. He’s from Naboo, and a jedi on top of that, which means he can fly and hear from far away and read minds and do about a thousand other things that normal humans can’t. But the Beyora is powerful in a way that he could never be, in the kind of way that requires years of training, scars, and discipline. Luke tries his best to be as unassuming as possible, so children can come up him and ask for a high five. The Beyora chose the opposite. He oozed intimidation. It made Luke feel like he could be taken care of. It’s a massive turn on.
And the voice! His voice is so sexy and deep and gravely. It makes a shiver run down Luke’s spine.
So when the Beyora joined, Luke made strides to befriend him. It’s not easy. The Beyora is not the easiest to befriend. But Luke was persistent. He would win the Beyora over in the end.
Luke didn’t really like Din Djarin. His reputation preceded him, and he was a playboy through and through. Sure, according to his friends Cat Grant, he was the best night of fun she’s ever had, and coming from Cat that’s saying something. And yes, he’s so handsome even Luke will admit that he’s occasionally thought about late at night when he’s going though a dry spell. But that’s not to say that he’s actually going to go for it.
When Leia assigned him to interview Mr. Djarin for the three part article they were going to do on Gideon, he wasn’t impressed. He wasn’t impressed when Cat flashed him a knowing smile and heavily implied that since Din wasn’t the subject of the article, and he was a witness, that it was totally okay for Luke to sleep with him. Leia told him that wasn’t true, and to make sure he had finished interviewing Din before they slept together. Any other piece, Luke would have refused the assignment, or asked that it be assigned to another reporter, but he knew how important this was to Leia.
Gideon was a bastard. He ran a laboratory that was another way of saying he did experiments to make even deadlier weapons to sell to the US Government. He hated the Jedi, and would take every opportunity to badmouth the hero. As the Jedi, Luke is partially offended, but he mostly finds it funny. There was a John Oliver “And now... this” that was a supercut of all the times he had tried to bash the Jedi playing over a compilation of Luke saving children and pets. Leia sent it to him.
She’s the only one who knows his secret, but that’s because she’s actually his sister. When he came to earth, so did she, but their pods got separated. One went to a farm in Arizona, the other landed on a penthouse in Washington. They found out about each other when they both turned 13 and got a vision from an old man about a fortress in the arctic and they met each other there. The old man was called obi-wan, and he became their mentor.
Today, they managed to get a job at the same place. Everyone understands that they treat each other as brother/sister, but assume they are just really good friends. Little did they know.
Regardless of all of that, Luke is here, in front of Din, a recording device between them.
“Djarin,” Luke greeted him.
“Skywalker,” Djarin answered. They were in his study. Luke was lucky that Metropolis and Gotham were so close so it was only two hours on the road. He had arrived at the Djarin Manor and was seen by Din’s housekeeper, a woman named Amara. He waited for about half an hour, which for a guy who’s richer than god himself was actually pretty good. As the most junior of the major reporters, Luke was often the one talked to wait to speak to rich people. He waited for 4 hours to speak to Lando once. Half an hour before Amara returned and brought him up to see Din was nothing.
“We are looking into Gideon,” Luke informed him. “We are looking to do a three-part exposé. The first part would look at his lab, looking into all of the environmental disaster, un-ethical practices, and employee complaints. You would be providing background for the second part, looking at the business side of things. How he’s a bad business man who doesn’t actually have any sort of degree.”
“He doesn’t?” Djarin asked. “Doesn’t he go on and on about his ivy league education?”
“We have found no evidence that he graduated,” Luke said. “According to our reporting, he went to Harvard for a semester and was registered for the next, but then he ended up failing a bunch of classes and dropped out.”
Din smiled. “Do you know how often he made fun of me for having a degree from a state school? He hadn’t even graduated and he’s making fun of me?” He chuckled. “Thank you, Luke. Whatever you need, I’ll be happy to supply.”
They ended up talking about a deal that almost went through between Gideon Industries and Mudhorn Enterprises. According to Din, he would talk down to anyone who he perceived as less important than himself, which meant everyone. He would ignore Din’s attempts to negotiate and would refuse to compromise on anything.
“He calls himself a deal maker, but the fact is that I wanted to make a deal and was willing to compromise and he couldn’t. He’s not a business man, he’s a baby.”
Luke nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Djarin.”
“My pleasure,” Din said back, and Luke reach forward and clicked the recording device off. He leaned back in his seat. “So, what’s the third part going to be?”
“Huh?” Luke asked.
“3-parter. First part is his lab, second part is him as a business man, what’s the third part about?”
“Oh, that.” Luke shouldn’t say. He really shouldn’t say. But Din was looking at him with such an easy smile, Luke felt his resolve crumble. “You didn’t hear this from me, or any of the other reporters at the daily planet. I could lose my job if this gets out.” He looks over his shoulder, slightly paranoid given the fact that they are closed off in Din’s office. “He’s working with the government. Or not the government exactly, but some sort of para-military group. We don’t really know yet, we’re still looking into all of this, but there’s something going on, some sort of contract or handshake deal. Our goal is to prove that he is un-trustworthy, un-intelligent, dishonest cruel so that when we give evidence he is working with the US government, they will have to distance themselves and we can throw a wrench in the gears. That’s the hope at any rate.” Luke sighed.
“In bed with the government,” Din said. “Ya don’t say.”
“We’re gonna have a hard time proving it,” Luke told him. “But if we can, hopefully we can do some good.”
“Allow me to escort you out,” Djarin offered, rising to his feet.
“Ragnar, I need a favor,” Din said, the second Luke had left the property. He was back in his office.
“Good morning to you too,” Ragnar said.
“It’s 4 in the afternoon,” Din pointed out.
“Well excuse me, I was up till 6 in the morning on a steak out.”
“Gideon Industries?” Din asked.
“Yeah,” Ragnar confirmed. “I know all the major players, I just am trying to figure out what they are doing. What they want.”
“There’s a man in town, his name is Luke Skywalker. He’s a reporter from the daily planet. They are working on a story to take down Gideon. Find him, and give him everything you have.”
“Why should I?” Ragnar said.
“Firstly, because I raised you and I said so. Secondly, because they need the proof that you have gathered. Thirdly, you haven’t gotten any new intel in a month. Nothing substantial anyway. They’ve retreated inward. This article will rattle their cage, and you can seize the opportunity.”
“Fine,” Ragnar finally agreed. “But I want something in exchange.”
“What do you want?” Din asked.
“It’s your turn to pick the next movie night, right?”
“Yes.”
“I want you to pick The Matrix,” Ragnar told him.
“Is that really the best choice for Rey? She’s a baby,” Din objected.
“She’s not a baby anymore, you just baby her. The ban on anything that’s not animated has to stop at some time.”
“Not this week,” Din insisted.
“Then looks like your reporter friend has to find his own way thr-”
“Fine, fine. The Matrix it is. Happy?”
“Very much so.”
“The reporter is only in town for one night. Do you need help figuring out his hotel?”
“I got it. See you Sunday for family night.”
“See you Sunday. I love you, Ragnar.”
“I love you too, Din.”
Din leaned back in his chair, content. He liked this Luke character. He had an easy, southern charm to him. His smile was radiant, and reached all the way up to his eyes which shone like diamonds. Actually, Din’s seen his fair share of diamonds, and they paled in comparison to Luke’s eyes. He blushed so deeply when he made an off-handed comment about “going deep” before he realized what it sounded like and tried to apologize. Din couldn’t help but chuckle. He really wanted to see what he could do to make Luke blush even deeper.
If this was a normal situation, Din would have absolutely invited Luke to spend the night. A few things stopped him. Firstly, Luke was on-duty and would never sleep a source. Din doubted that Luke even broke the speed limit. Secondly, he had already agreed to go patrolling with Finn tonight and he did not want to re-schedule. And he did not want to fool around with Luke and leave him. Whatever he and Luke would do, they would do all night long. Thirdly, now that Din knows who Luke is, there are plenty of ways to manufacture scenarios to meet outside of Luke’s work. In fact, there’s an invitation to the head of the Daily Planet’s 50 th birthday sitting in some drawer somewhere. He should probably RSVP to that.