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They don’t wait to do it, but there’s also more pressing matters first. There’s the more pressing matters of ensuring Damian isn’t actively killing or maiming anyone to take care of, and then the legal proceedings and B feels like he sees his lawyers more than he does his own son. But papers get filed, Dick helps get Damian under control, and finally there’s peace. There’s time to actually sit down, and get things resolved.
And then, then there’s an explanation.
Alis- as Damian’s Batman will be the one to do it, with Dick present to help smooth and manage things. Dick and Damain have been- well ‘quick’ to bond is the wrong word but ‘quickest’ to bond is perhaps right. Damian seems to have some amount of trust in him which is worth something and a mediator will be good when Damian and their system’s conversations have always veered south.
“I haven’t killed anyone,” Damian pouts, as Dick sits him down, “And I’ve been following the rules for patrol.”
Both true things. Damian has been modeling true restraint and patience the past week or so, more than B, Alis, and the rest of the system had thought him capable of in such a short time.
“You haven’t done anything wrong,” Dick agrees, and takes his own seat.
B and Alis breath, trying to pass off front. Alis steps forward in their brain, and settles in her own chair.
“Damian,” Alis begins, “We wanted to speak with you.”
Damian snaps to attention, staringly intently at them at what he recognizes as Batman’s voice but is really just Alis’ voice.
“Yes Father,” he replies, “What seems to be the matter?”
“Nothing is the matter,” Alis explains, “We just wanted to explain something about ourselves. With you staying in our care-”
Damian bristles and Alis can immediately tell she’s hitting every vulnerable button this kid- her kid- has. There are deep insecurities there, trenches that Damian might not even know. Alis isn’t sure what has made Damian feel such a strong defensiveness around his place in this home- besides the obvious lack of living with them for the first decade of his life- but there will be time to explore that.
“Which we are more than happy about, you are my son Damian,” she confirms, “but it does mean there’s a few things about us you should know about too.”
Damian blinks.
“Like Grayson’s schizophrenia,” he answers simply. Damian keeps his gaze focused on Alis, not straying towards Dick, but he seems familiar enough with the word that Alis understands a full conversation had to have been had there.
Oh. They’ve had that talk. This makes this much, much easier.
“Like I’ve said before father,” Damian continues, “I think it unwise to employ those with physical and mental failings. Drake is a prime example of-”
There is much to unpack there. There is deep ableism that Damian expresses, things that will not be addressed or disappeared in a day. But that is not what they are here to discuss today. They are not here to fight or challenge those beliefs on day one. Instead, they are to introduce some humanity, just as Dick has begun to do by sharing his own experiences.
“Damian, I have one of those supposed mental failings,” Alis explains, “Have you ever heard of something called a dissociative disorder?”
Damian stills but does not give an indication either way, so Alis explains that it varies. She explains for them it means not having a core identity and that there is no real ‘Bruce Wayne’ to speak of. Instead there are alters- partly to full fledged identities that exist within what was named Bruce Wayne’s body.
“And this happened as Batman?” Damian asks “This is an ongoing mission.”
Alis shakes her head.
“No,” she explains, “Dissociative disorders are psychological.”
She explains that this wasn’t an alien or magic or some other Justice League threat. She doesn’t give details but she explains the prerequisites- extreme repeated childhood trauma at young ages. Damian nods his understanding, but Alis sees how his eyes dart to Dick as if looking for some sort of back up. He looks to Dick for evidence that Alis is exaggerating or wrong or crazy or something, something other than telling the truth. But Dick remains stable and supportive and lets Alis speak. It makes it hard for Damian to find holes in her story. It is why she had wanted Dick here.
“Fine,” Damian challenges, “Then if you’re not Bruce Wayne, who the hell are you? Batman?”
He’s looking to catch them on some sort of technicality. That they’re either Bruce Wayne or they’re Batman, but they’re still one, that they can only be one.
“Sort of,” she answers, “I fill in for the role of Batman in Gotham. I’m your Batman. But my name is Alis.”
“Alis?” stressed Damian.
Alis nods. There’s still a little bit of B there, but better to leave coconsciousness and all that for another day. They can start with the basics.
“Yes,” she agrees, “Short for ‘Alistair,’ technically but no one calls me that. I only go by Alis.”
“Alistair,” Damian confirms with a nod, and she had expected that, “So you are a boy.”
“No, I am a girl,” she tells him.
Damian frowns and Alis feels like they have another problem brewing. Well this conversation has been going surprisingly well. It was only a matter of time.
“Damian-” Grayson jumps in then, “Sometimes when-”
“Grayson, if you are about to tell me what a transgender person is I will leave this conversation immediately. I was raised by assassins, not genderless amorphous beings.”
Dick and Alis share a look.
“You know what?” Dick says as he raises his hands, “That’s fair.”
“Does mother know?” Damian demands, “That she- That you and her-”
“That is not your concern,” Alis quiets immediately, “but yes, enough.”
Damian nods. And that seems to soothe whatever worries he has there. It at least makes his shoulders relax minutely from where they had started to raise when Alis had revealed she was a woman.
“And why,” Damian says, “Are you telling me this?”
“Damian,” Dick pushes forward once more, but Alis waves him off.
“It’s important for you to know,” she explains, “because at home, everyone refers to me by Alis, or whoever is fronting- who’s in control’s name. In public they call me B, or Bruce, and on patrol they call me B, or Batman. B fronts the most, so he gets named the most when you might not be sure who is out.”
Damian’s nail scratches at the wood of the chair. Alis knows Alfred is listening, and is probably watching but he doesn’t interrupt to tell Damian to stop the behavior that is slowly going to destroy the furniture. He lets Alis take the lead. For now, Alis doesn’t comment on the scratching.
“Do I have to do that?” Damian asks, “Call you Alis or whoever? Instead of ‘father?’”
She’s half-suprised Damian asks to be honest. But an ask doesn’t mean one will follow the answer. Damian might just be curious.
“I’m fine with either,” she explains, “we agree as a whole that if you want to call us father, that is fine. But I think some others would prefer other things.”
“What about ‘mother?’” Damian asks.
“What about it?”
“If you are a girl. Is that what you would prefer?”
Alis considers, and shrugs.
“I prefer she/her pronouns,” she explains, “but father I don’t mind. Mother, parent, they’re all the same to me. Whatever you pick. I would prefer father in public, as I keep this identity secret in the same way as we do our night time activities. If that is not something you can manage, you will need to inform me of that, so we can plan accordingly.”
“I can keep it secret,” Damian says swiftly, and he puffs up, Alis watches it all, as he grows taught and tense in his defensiveness.
Alis nods.
“Do you have any more questions for us?”
This time she watches as Damian’s eyes light up with realization that she’s talking about herself and her system, not about Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson in the room. Damian’s begun to recognize the plural system ‘us’ and with time he’ll only get better.
“Should I?” he asks, and Alis thinks.
“Would you like to know the names of the main alters and a little about them?” Dick offers, “I found that helpful.”
Damian hesitates, and then nods. Alis smiles, and gives her intros. She rattles through their active list, which isn’t too long. B who Damian will see for most of the parenting at home. Her, who is the Gotham Batman for the most part. Addena, a traumatized part that Damian will see infrequently. Neither the system or Dick tell Damian this- but Addena isn’t to be alone with Damian for the time being, until everyone is in a better emotional headspace. They don’t think interacting with the traumatized part alone would be healthy for Damian at this stage. Then GP, who’s the Justice League’s Batman and who’s found around home at times. Finally, Lior the little who enjoys wandering the grounds.
“They can be different ages too?” Damian asks with a frown. B is learning it means he is considering.
“Yes,” he smiles, “Different ages, different body types, skin tones, heights, species. They can be animals, thoughts, dreams… anything.”
Dick is watching him and has catalogued the switch with a soft smile, giving him a nod in greeting.
“Alright,” Damian nods, “I understand. I see it as a severe liability, just as the previous mental and physical failings of the families have been explained to me, but I also understand that I am unable to change your mind on this matter and this is how you operate. It is suboptimal at best, but if you are correct in saying this psychological issue has no fixing- no cure- then we must move forward with what we are given.”
“Damian it is not suboptimal to be neurodivergent.” Dick protests as Damian turns away in his chair. Dick goes to continues, but B shakes his head. This is not a war they will win in a day. Damian has been more receptive then they both thought and that is something to take and keep for now, to work with, not against. Dick sighs, but nods and relents.
“Thank you Damian,” B says, “I appreciate your understanding. You may go.”
Damian nods and stands, bows to them both and then exits, leaving just the two of them.
“He doesn’t understand-” Dick says mournfully, “He’s-”
“He’s learning,” B says and Dick shoots him a look.
“He’s learning that his new family is brainweird and physically disabled in ways he wasn’t expecting and he doesn’t know how to process that,” Dick says flatly, “He needs a crash course.”
“A crash course would overwhelm him,” B argues, and GP agrees. Addena wants to throw him in the deep end.
“Well he took it better than I thought.”
“Me too,” B agrees.
Dick nods.
“Night B,” he offers, as he turns away.
“Night chum.”
There will be time for growth and learning and changing mindsets from prejudice to pride. For now there is a little boy, learning that his father is multiple and accepting that.