Chapter Text
Damian was very confused about what he’d found. He had been looking for a present for baba’s birthday and bought a rare vintage poster. A poster of “The Flying Graysons' — Sparrow’s Debut” from 1990. Damian had thought that it was about Baba's mother joining them as it was 11 years prior to his birth, but "The Sparrow” was a baby.... Baba had never told him of an older sibling. Also, this child would have been 20 when their parents died. Why did they not take Baba in after? He was not Tim or Barbara, but Damian knew how to research cases, and so, intending to solve this like a case, Damian dug into everything he could about the Flying Graysons, the Grayson family, and Haley’s circus. He did not like what he found.
The Graysons died at 45, much older than he had thought they were.
The Graysons were 36 when they had Richard.
When he was 7, Richard was introduced as “The Robin. “
When “Sparrow” was introduced as a baby, they were 25 years old.
Their wedding and its poster were when they were 19.
It was fairly easy to track several things. John and Mary Grayson married at 19 in Paris. Mary got pregnant and left the show. 10 months later, the show introduced “Sparrow.” The birth records showed “Danielle Maira Grayson” was 1 week old when the poster came out. This was where it got odd though. The Graysons took Danielle to the hospital in Star City when she was 3 weeks old. The doctor found she had a fractured wrist and family services was called, the Graysons had to stay for two weeks in Star City before they were let go with Danielle. Family services were called dozens of times by hospitals in the next year and cleared of wrong doing for lack of evidence every time. Then nothing. Danielle would have been 13 months old. When she should have been 7, there was no new poster announcing "Sparrow taking flight" like there was for Robin on Baba’s seventh birthday. No records of homeschooling. Not even further medical files.
It was as if she stopped existing after that last visit and investigation. Damian, reading about the frequent breaks, the grey sclera, hyper mobility wondered if she had osteogenesis imperfecta. It concerned him there was no report of her death though, nor was there one of her being surrendered or taken. Now, he didn’t know what to do. But Barbra wouldn’t be able to keep this from Baba, and Damian could not give him the poster, the hint of a sibling without having done everything he could to find them, so it was Tim he would go to. That night he said he was busy with a project and would not patrol. Barbra was out with the birds of prey on a mission, and so Tim was in the cave on comms. About an hour after everyone headed out, he went to the cave.
“Timothy,”
“Ya, Damien?” he responded distractedly.
Damian waited until Tim looked over at him and signed. Mute the coms, Privet talk please. Frowning, Tim did it.
“What’s up, Damian?” The tone of worry and seriousness was common for Tim; it almost helped him feel settled as he explained the situation.
“I bought a poster of the Flying Graysons introducing Sparrow for Richard’s birthday, thinking it was of his mother and father. It turned out to be his elder sister.”
“An older sister! Dick’s never mentioned a biological sibling, also why wouldn’t Bruce have taken them both?” Tim asked him.
“The sister is 11 years older. She could have adopted him; why she did not was my first question. But here is everything I could find.” He handed Tim his tablet.
Tim looked through it all quickly.
“I wonder if she was a pre-haven baby.” Tim mumbled.
“What do you mean?” he asked for clarification.
“Well, you know about baby boxes, and Safe Haven laws right? Fire stations, police stations, and hospitals have the baby boxes because babies and young children were often abandoned in those places. It’s possible that they decided she was too much trouble or they couldn’t care for her. With the hospital scrutiny already and not wanting to deal with more-because this was before safe-haven laws, abandoning a child like that would be a crime- they took her to another state or so and on the way through or while they had down time, abandoned her in a place the circus stopped.” Tim explained, deep in thought but sadness permeated his voice still.
“Do you think Richard knows about her?” he asked tentatively.
“I don't know. I know Bruce would have done anything to find out if he had, but he had only been Batman for a year when he took in Dick. It’s possible that neither of them do. Dick was 9 at the time. The Graysons clearly didn’t acknowledge her existence ever again. His birth was also so long after hers, then even more years before they were killed, it’s possible he didn't know she existed and if he didn’t know, Gotham's social services wouldn’t have known to look for her, they just put him in juvenile hall till Bruce put in the paperwork to take dick, even then they never went through the full process to vet Bruce for foster care before giving him Dick. There were never home visits or any follow up on Dicks care. Batman Year One didn’t have the resources or connections to look for a family, and he likely would have assumed they had already looked for a family before just giving Dick to a stranger.” Tim explained his thoughts further.
“What do you want from me, Damian? Do you want me to give you access and tips on searching other databases to find her? Do you want me to go looking? I'm sure you came to me, not Babs, because she’s Dick’s Fiancée and wouldn’t be able to keep this from him. So it's your case, what do you think we do next?” Tim looked at him with full seriousness.
There was no condensation, no test, no scrutiny. This was Tim completely looking to him for direction. He tried to ignore the way it made him pleased and proud and reassured him he was doing the right thing.
“I want your help looking for her and trying to find anything we can, even if we only give him leads; I don’t want to give him a dead end.” Damian was sure of this.
“Okay, let’s get started. I'm going to open a classified file and run Dick's DNA through every database in the USA, including the JL, and if there’s a match anywhere, we will find it. Under Birthday research, so no one will look at it either, we’re going to run the name just in case. They may have left a note signed with one of their names or hers. If they did it will be logged in any discovered child’s case file. I’m also going to run all the filters we have of the Osteogenesis Imperfecta type O1 database. All the medical notes make it look like a possible diagnosis. Even if she didn’t get a diagnosis under their care, she may have gotten one later.”
They got to typing up all the notes and evidence and running what they had, hoping for any findings. Shockingly, they got a hit within an hour from a family history site.
Estelle Bernadette Nightengale, born in Raleigh, NC, on March 19th, 2020, 11:49 PM, right on the Spring solstice. Attached was also an older brother. His information shocked them even more. Jaydan Dante Nightengale, born in Amity Park, IL, on December 21st, 2005, 11:35 AM. The Winter solstice. Danielle would have only been 15 when she had him. Sure enough, under father there was Danielle. Well, it seemed it was Daniel Jackson Nightengale now. Born on January 1st, 1990 *Estimated birth date abandoned at the Fuller Park Clinic Chicago, Illinois. 1991.
This data allowed them to seek additional information. Including that Daniel was on the Database for Osteogenesis Imperfecta type O1, Diagnosed at 15 months old. Damian began assembling a story and profile to enter the family data accurately on the genealogy website, intending to contact them privately, while Tim established social media, record, and name scrubbers to gather all available information on them. This way they could create files and be able to present them to Dick properly. Having as many answers as possible was important, and they knew some of them would be impossible to find without speaking to someone. They took three days to gather and put everything together as much as they could and make a clear plan for contact and what to do if it went well or poorly.
The first step was Damian sending a message to Jaydan as he was a bit separated from the issue, as well as an adult as even if Damian was 15 it would possibly be a red flag to contact Estelle as she was only 14 even if it said she was open to messages and contact.
DAGW: Hello, my name is Damian and I am 15. My previously believed eldest brother is getting married soon as well as celebrating his 33rd birthday, and an unexpected surprise from his birthday gift ended up with me finding your family and a connection to your birth giver. My brother was orphaned when he was nine, you see and as he and his parents were nomadic, he never knew of any family and DCFS did not do their duty in looking for family properly at the time so till now we never knew he had any. He is still unaware of our finding you, and if I may, I would like to ask some questions.
It took a full day before a response came, though someone read the message minutes after sending. Of course it was not a message but an email from Tucker Nightengale instead of Daniel, Jaydan, or Estelle and in the one way they had not expected this to blow up in their faces, had not been sent to Damian or Bruce but to Richard himself.
They were at the manor for the evening when Dick stormed into the garden. His hair was an absolute mess as if he’d been running his fingers through it and tugging on it, tears ran down his face, his eyes and cheeks and the tip of his nose were red and he was biting his lip but his eyes held anger not sadness or joy.
Jason and Bruce had jumped up first.
“What’s wrong, chum! What happened!” Bruce rushed to him.
“Damian…what the hell is this...” he choked out. Holding out some papers.
Jason took them gently as Bruce pulled Dick into himself and Dick sobbed into their father’s shoulder.
Babs pushed by an angry-looking Alfred, face red as well and arms wrapped around her, came into the garden next. Jason started to read aloud.
“Dear Richard John Grayson-Wayne,
It has been brought to my attention by my son, your DNA has been taken and shared with at least one genealogy site without your knowledge. Your youngest brother Damian’s message contains personally identifiable information and therefore presents a security risk. The poor wording is also inadequate, and the transmission of such a message to my son, even though he is an adult, was a significant lapse in judgment. Henceforth, should you wish to communicate with any member of my family, all correspondence must be directed through me, owing to the considerable emotional distress this matter has caused. I shall respond to inquiries that I deem appropriate.
Please inform your brother that communication from your siblings is not welcome currently, specifically if directed at our children. Provided that my understanding of the message’s aim is correct. His genealogical investigation, undertaken in consideration of your birthday and wedding, revealed a DNA connection with my husband, Daniel; subsequently, he intended to engage with our son, premising his decision on the fact that our son was not the party abandoned by the Graysons and may not harbor such resolute feelings regarding the circumstances. It was, however, taken as we found out there was a dirty secret in the family, and I desire to poke and prod with no care for your family’s or my brother’s feelings. I have attached a screenshot of the message he sent.
Tucker Foley-Nightengale
DAGW: Hello, My Name is Damian and I am 15. My previously believed eldest brother is getting married soon as well as his 33rd birthday and an unexpected surprise from his birthday gift ended up with me finding your family and a connection to your birthgiver. My brother was orphaned when he was nine you see and as he and his parents were nomadic he never knew of any family and DCFS did not do their duty in looking for family properly at the time so till now we never knew he had any. He is still unaware that we found you, and if I may, I would like to ask some questions.”
Everyone in the room looked stricken. Damian felt as if someone had punched him in the gut. He had not wanted to cause anyone distress.
“Dames, now you've gotta come clean. This is now an issue. The courts also sent a letter warning that we face federal charges if anyone leaks any communication or the connection in any way.
Damian and Tim looked at each other and swallowed.
“Let’s go to the cave,” he said and led them all down.
“Three weeks ago, I was looking for a birthday present for Baba. I found a listing from a reputable circus collector for a poster for “The Flying Graysons-Sparrow’s Debut,” so I purchased it. When it came, however, I realised Sparrow was not Baba’s mother; it was a baby. On the screen was now a blown-up image of an old fabric circus poster that was titled “The Flying Graysons - Sparrow’s Debut” and sitting on a trapeze were his mother and father holding a tiny baby.
"I researched what I could find. I got a birth registry for Danielle and many hospital records as well as DCFS reports; then, they just stopped. There were no more records, and then came to Tim for help. In less than an hour of running Baba's DNA, we got a match to Estelle, Jaydan, and Daniel Nightengale. We used their names to gather everything we could. Then, once it was all together, I sent the message. I wanted to be clear I wasn’t baba, but was trying to do something for him and hoped for some answers for when I told him.” Damian felt guilty he hadn’t thought of them being so upset they basically told them to go away before they even spoke.
“I see what you were trying but, Dami, I wish I’d been involved or even Babs had been made aware to try to set this up better. Now. Now I have a-a brother and a niece and nephew and they-they want nothing to do with me…. I don’t know what to do.”
“You could always have the league step in. Someone being an intermediary.” Steph chimed in.
“No. No, this needs to be authentic. I'm gonna invite them to meet up on neutral ground, Happy Harbor Mount Justice. It’ll be public, open, and neither of us has connections the other knows of there.” Dick said.
Then a whoosh of the elevator doors opening was heard. none of them had noticed Barbara Moving.
“Come on, Dick, let’s write that email,” Babs said
They all trudged upstairs and placed themselves in the sitting room. They all sat down in their favorite places, though Damian hesitated to sit himself. He’d always sat on the floor in front of Baba, but he’d made this mess. The worry was quickly cut off, however, when he called him over and pushed his shoulder down to sit on the floor against his legs. They spent hours that night just listening and trying to help when asked as Dick glued himself to a computer. After a few hours and several emails back and forth, they would meet at Mount Justice in two weeks with everything they had on Mary and John Grayson. Likely they would have plenty already now knowing Dick had been the “older brother,” and that they somehow had his public Dick Wayne email. But still it was all they had. All they could admit they had at least.
Dick refused to read the full dossier unless something was easy public information. He wanted to meet his brother for the first time in the right way.