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There comes a certain point where one must bring their beloved home for a proper introduction to their family.
For Damian, that point, ideally, was never.
Now, Nika and his family weren’t incompatible per se, its just that he preferred it when one was in Tokyo and the other was in Gotham. Damian liked it when his spaces were separate, it gave him the time to adjust to each one and the room to let himself breathe. His family was his family. Gotham High was Gotham High. Nika was Nika. Each was distinctly their own.
To be fair, Damian also wasn’t trying to keep his relationship with Nika a secret, either.
Between Damian’s overager babbling to a few of his friends after the Lazarus Tournament, him inopportunely announcing it to his father in the middle of the Shadow War, Nika’s brief stay in Gotham to find her sister and help with the Man-Bat case, and Damian’s quest for the perfect Valentine’s Day, it’d be more surprising that those close to Damian didn’t know about her.
Which is why, while browsing through a manga shop together one day, Damian asked her, “Do you want to meet my family?”
Nika blinked, “I thought I did.”
“I mean, properly,” Damian said. “Like normal people. You can stop by Pennyworth Manor for a few days, see Gotham, and get to know all of my siblings.”
Nika tilted her head to the side and considered it.
Despite being a hellhole only marginally better than Newark, Gotham was still a vibrant city with plenty of things to do. Nika’s brief time in Gotham was too short for them to do anything in the city together or for her to meet anyone besides his father. After a brief moment, she nodded.
Nika smirked, “You’re getting tired of their nagging, aren’t you?”
Damian’s shoulders sagged, “Please, it’s incessant.”
Although Damian had been trained to endure almost every from of torture, the questions his family has been asking were pushing him to his limit. Every other day, someone would ask him, “Damian, when are we gonna meet her?”, “Damian, did she really kill you?”, or after showing them a picture, “Damian, how did she get such a perfect wing on her eyeliner?”
(The answer was that Damian tended to do it for her, but they didn’t need to know that.)
“It’s gotten worse now that I’ve mentioned that we’ve had our one-year anniversary.” He said. “You would not believe the kind of questions they asked.”
“I uhh…” Nika looked at him in sympathy. “I think I can believe it.”
“Nika, whatever I’ve told you about them, it was worse.”
She laughed, enjoying the look of abject terror on Damian’s face.
“So, what? You’re gonna invite me over and hope that I take all of the heat off of you?” Nika teased. “You’re such a gentleman, using your lovely girlfriend as a shield.”
“Alright,” Damian smirked. “How about I sweeten the deal then?”
“Oh?” Nika raised an eyebrow.
“If you come over, I’ll let you see my pets.”
Nika’s eyes widened, “All of them?”
“All of them.”
Suffice to say, the pictures of Batcow, Titus, Alfred the Cat, and Jerry that Damian had strategically shown her of the last few months had their desired effect.
She chewed her lip for a moment, then said, “Throw in a visit to that underground bladesmith and you’ve got yourself a deal, bird-boy.”
Soon enough, Damian found himself in the Batcave’s training area with all of his siblings spread out around him. Or rather, spread out around Nika.
Nika had taken to his family like a duck to water.
Dick and Steph had immediately liked her lively manner and sunny disposition. Within moments, they were already cracking jokes and laughing until their sides hurt. Jason appreciated Nika’s love for knives, and seemed to take particular glee in how Damian got his ass handed to him the first time he met her. Tim was fascinated by her powers and had dozens of questions that she was ready to answer. As for Cass, she had found her new favorite sparring partner, despite Steph's rather emphatic protests.
And, of course, Damian’s pets all thought she was the best thing since sliced bread. Titus begged and whined to play fetch with her, Alfred the Cat made her lap his new sitting spot, Goliath loved taking her on flights, and Batcow and Jerry both appreciated the fact that she knew how to interact with farm animals.
(“One of the guys I killed grew up on a farm,” she explained. “Don’t ask me how to deliver a lamb, though. Eugh.”)
Presently, Nika and Damian’s family were having a group sparring session that had evolved into a “watch Nika and Cass duke it out” session. This was perfectly fine by Damian, who needed a break from the constant interaction. He sat off to the side on a bench and watched the two while nursing a bottle of water.
Nika had shed her signature jacket, which was sitting on the bench next to Damian, and wore her sleeveless EKG-styled top with her pants rolled up to her calves. Everyone else was similarly dressed in light gymwear, which was practically a requirement given the Batcave’s underpowered air conditioner.
As much as Damian was a gentleman who tried not to stare, he was also a teenager who unashamedly appreciated his girlfriend’s beauty. The fact that she was also in the middle of a fight made it even harder for Damian to keep his eyes off of her than normal. If anyone asked, he was just studying her fighting style and the blush was totally from the heat.
A pair of footsteps sounded nearby and Damian knew what it was without looking.
“You didn’t think you’d end up here, did you?” Dick approached Damian from the side.
Damian watched Nika trade playful blows with Cass. Their movements on the training mats were fast and lithe. Although Cass had the upper hand, Nika was holding her own. “No,” he noted. “I didn't."
“I wasn’t talking about the girl, Damian.”
Damian turned to Dick, who was looking at him with an odd expression. “Explain.”
“Well, you know,” Dick cast a hand at the room around him. “Things are looking up now, aren’t they?”
Damian took a drink of water in lieu of answering. He swirled it around in his mouth and contemplated what Dick said.
“You look good and you seem a lot happier now,” Dick continued. “I’m proud of you, Dami. You’ve grown a lot, even if you don’t know it.”
Damian swallowed and kept his eyes on Nika. “I had to,” he said. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Dami, that's-” Dick sighed, his voice sad. He moved closer and sat down next to Damian. “That’s not what I meant.”
Damian looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “Then what did you mean?”
“What I meant is that I know you took Alfred’s death the hardest out of all of us, and I don’t blame you for acting how you did afterwards,” Dick said. Damian froze, his bottle halfway to his mouth. “I’m sorry we weren’t able to help you sooner, but I’m glad you were able to get yourself out of the hole you were one in despite that.”
Damian slowly set the bottle down and screwed on the cap. “It’s not your fault, Richard.” he said slowly. “I acted irrationally and impulsively. I turned my back on the family, on Father, and on you.”
“Damian, don’t-” Dick paused. Out of the corner of his eye, Damian could see him clenching his fist. “Don’t act like that.”
“Like what?” Damian asked. He turned to him, feeling defensive.
“Like you’re still broken!” Dick’s voice was tinged with pain. His gaze bored deep into Damian’s Lazarus green eyes. “You’re not who you used to be. You’re better, you’ve grown, so stop thinking of yourself like that.”
“Sorry,” Damian cast his eyes down and away from Dick. He stared at the ground. “I’m still getting used to all of this, I guess.”
“It’s okay,” Dick relented. “You were hurting, everyone was. Nobody expected you to just carry on after what happened.”
Damian stayed silent as Dick spoke, feeling pangs of regret for some of his past actions.
The period after Alfred’s death was a blur of pain, anger, and what-ifs. It was a miracle that the Batfamily didn’t collapse in the wake of it. Between the harsh accusations and the sharp verbal barbs, they had started tearing into each other before Pennyworth’s body was even in the ground. Nobody was innocent, especially not Damian. Stricken by grief and with his family coming apart at the threads, the walls of Damian’s world were closing in on him with seemingly no end in sight.
All it took was one particularly heated confrontation with his father for Damian to rip off his Robin patch and run away in search of something that could bring Pennyworth back from the dead.
“Father seems to think I believe myself to be responsible for what happened,” Damian said.
“Do you?” Dick asked.
“We all were,” Damian avoided the question. “The plans to rescue him were flawed from the start. Bane had set up a trap for us and we walked right into it.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Damian caught Dick’s eye for a brief moment. Guilt immediately filled him. He looked away.
“It’s been well over a year, Richard,” Damian said. “It’s time we move on.”
Dick moved to speak but paused, then backed down.
“Damian,” Dick broke the silence.
“Yes?”
“I just-,” Dick swallowed. “I want you to know how loved you are.”
Damian swallowed, clenching his fists. Something in his gut turned at Dick’s words. He thought of his friends, of his siblings, of his parents, and of Nika. In truth, he did know, but that didn’t make it any easier to acknowledge.
“Thanks, Richard,” Damian tore his gaze off of the floor and looked at Nika. By now, her and Cass’s sparring session had evolved into an impromptu knife fight. The corners of his mouth ticked up as he saw Nika use the same knife he got her for Valentine's Day. “I know. Trust me, I know.”
Dick followed his gaze and looked at Nika too. “She’s good for you,” He said softly. “I’m glad you found each other.”
“Yeah, me too,” Damian said fondly, recalling their time together on Lazarus Island.
When he arrived, Damian was… volatile to say the least. It didn’t take much for him to start snapping at the other competitors and let the worst parts of his personality rear their ugly heads. Nika seemed to take that as a challenge, looking past that to stubbornly worm her way into his heart, after viciously humbling him of course. Nika liked to play with fire, and Damian burned hotter than the sun.
Trash-talk that had transitioned to banter somehow became their way of flirting. Quiet moments on the sidelines opened up windows into each other’s souls. Fighting was a form of dance for them, be it with or against each other. It was amazing how much could be communicated without speaking once you’ve found your other half.
Before either of them knew what had happened, they were on Corto Maltese and sharing a kiss before the fireworks.
“It’s interesting, you know,” Dick said after a while. “When you’re with her, it’s like you're a different person. In a good way, of course”
“How so?” Damian prodded.
“Well, when you’re with her, you’re a lot more…” He paused, searching for the right word. “Honestly, you’re a lot more normal.”
“Me?” Damian raised an eyebrow. “Normal?”
“Yeah, normal,” Dick shrugged. “You let yourself relax, you make jokes, and you’re a lot more talkative. It honestly reminds me of Jon, now that I think about it.”
Damian froze. His heart sank and a pit formed within his stomach.
“You should introduce her to him,” Dick carried on, oblivious to Damian’s turmoil. “I think they’d like each other.”
“Yeah,” Damian swallowed. “Maybe.”
There was also another reason why the hole that Damian was once in was so deep, and that reason was named Jonathan Kent.
Shortly before Alfred Pennyworth died, his best friend, his only friend, went to space and came back six years older. The young boy who was barely out of his childhood was now almost an adult, but Damian was still the same.
It was wrong, all of it.
Sure, it was still Jon. He still talked like Jon, laughed like Jon, and cared like Jon, but he wasn’t Damian’s Jon. That Jon was gone, and there was nothing that Damian could do about it. Eventually, Damian got used to him. He even became Damian’s friend again. But the new Jon would never be Damian’s best friend, only the old one could.
For that, Damian mourned him.
“How has he been, by the way?” Dick asked. “It’s been a while since I’ve talked to him.”
“Jon?” Damian blinked.
“Yeah.”
“Oh,” Damian hesitated. “He’s doing good.”
In truth, Damian also hadn’t talked to him in a while either. Lizzie, Wonder Woman’s daughter, was now old enough to begin school, so there wasn't much need for him and Jon to babysit her anymore. Before, going so long without contacting Jon would have horrified Damian. Now, it was just a fact of life.
Dick fell quiet and Damian felt his eyes on him. At that moment, Damian knew that Dick had right through him.
“You don’t have to lie to me, Damian,” Dick said softly. “It’s okay to not be okay with how he came back.”
Damian turned to him, “I’m still Jon’s friend, Richard. It’s just different now.”
“I know,” Dick held Damian’s gaze. “But you can miss someone even if they’re still here.”
Damian’s eyes unconsciously flicked back to Nika. Though he wouldn’t dare say that she replaced him, it would be a lie to say that Nida didn’t help fill the hole that Jon left behind. In a lot of ways, Dick was right. Damian could see the similarities between Jon and Nika. All it did was make him miss Jon even more.
“How’s Helena?” Damian asked, changing the subject. “Nika and I haven’t had a chance to visit them yet.”
Dick remained silent for a moment, but he accepted the diversion. “She’s doing good,” he said. “The doctors say she’s healthy, though they’re going to keep her and Selina at the hospital for a little bit longer just to be sure.”
Although Damian never fully approved of the marriage between Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, even he could admit that the Bat and the Cat took forever to get together. After the longest cat-and-mouse game since Tom & Jerry first aired, Damian’s youngest sister, Helena Wayne, had been born. In a twist of fate, both her and Nika had decided to make their entrances into Gotham at the same time, with Helena arriving a scant few hours before Nika made it to the Batcave.
The rest of Damian’s family had visited Selina and Bruce in the hospital shortly after Helena was born. When they returned, they all said the same thing- Helena’s resemblance to both of her parents was uncanny. Though Damian’s siblings teased him endlessly about no longer being “the blood son”, he took it in stride. As much as they ribbed him, Damian was just happy to have another sister.
Nika had wanted to meet her as well, but both her and Damian agreed it would be best to wait for Selina to bring her home first. They both looked forward to it, with Nika excited to play big sister for once and Damian eager to put the skills he learned with Lizzie to the test.
“Oh good,” Damian said. “Don’t expect me to call Selina ‘mom’, though.”
Dick snorted, “I think the only person who’ll be doing that is Helena..”
Selina Kyle may not be Talia Al Ghul, but it was abundantly clear that Bruce loved her, perhaps just as much as he once loved Damian’s mother. As much as Damian hoped to see his parents reunited together, he knew that their rocky relationship had taken too many turns for that to be possible. But things had calmed between them, and now they were amicable with each other.
That was perhaps as much as he could hope for.
“Speaking of, how’s volunteering at the hospital going?” Dick asked.
Damian smiled, “It’s going pretty well. I think I’ll take Nika with me one day so she could check out their morgue.”
‘Yeah, she’d probably like that.” Dick agreed. “But would the staff allow it? I can’t imagine that the morgue is a popular place to volunteer in.”
Damian shrugged, “Probably. I think they’d just be happy that anyone would want to.”
“I can imagine,” Dick chuckled. “Though, to be honest, I’d be more worried about the gossip.”
“The gossip?” Damian looked at him quizzically.
“Yeah the gossip,” Dick said. “Nurses gossip worse than schoolgirls. Being there as the son of Bruce Wayne is probably bad enough. Add to that the fact that you’re bringing in a girl who wants to work in the morgue of all places…”
Damian’s mouth dried, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Dick patted him on the back, “Best of luck, Baby Bat. You might want to ask Bruce for some lessons in PR.”
“I’m sure he’d like that,” Damian smirked. “But I think that Father will have his hands full with Helena.”
“Oh yeah,” Dick agreed. “Big time. Luckily though, she’ll have an amazing big brother to grow up with.”
Damian’s heart fluttered in his chest. A soft smile grew on his face, “You think so?”
“Absolutely,” Dick affirmed. “If Bruce were here he’d say the exact same thing.” Dick paused, “I don't know if he's told you or not, since he can be astoundingly emotionally constipated, but your father is proud of you, Damian.”
Damian’s eyes involuntarily flicked away from him.
His relationship with his father had always been a tenuous thing from the start. Alfred’s death in particular created a new low for them, perhaps the lowest it had ever been. It was under his father’s orders that Damian tried to rescue Pennyworth from Bane-occupied Gotham, only to be captured and forced to watch his surrogate grandfather’s brutal execution. Without a clear person to blame, Damian took it upon himself, worsened by the poorly-timed words and grief-driven responses of his father.
This drove Damian to flee Gotham, hopping on the boat to Lazarus Island and stumbling right into Nika.
Inadvertently, she had actually helped to save their relationship, providing Damian with companionship, purpose, and affection at a time where Damian believed he had none. By the time the tournament was over, Damian returned to Gotham rejuvenated and ready to reconcile. Though that road wasn’t easy, Damian didn’t want to think about where he and his father might be if Nika hadn’t helped him.. .
“Don’t worry,” Damian reassured Dick. “He has.”
By now, the fight between Nika and Cass was beginning to wind down. Nika had been on the defensive for a while and was showing signs of fatigue. To her credit, Cass was also starting to tire, but she still had the advantage.
WIth a sharp movement and a flick of her wrist, Cass sent Nika’s knife flying and pinned Nika to the ground. The blade arced in the air and spun, carving a path straight towards Damian.
“Look out!” Tim shouted from the sidelines.
DIck shot forward to catch it, but Damian was faster. He deftly caught it by the handle, its tip hovering mere inches in front of his face.
Looking back, he saw Nika and Cass looking at him with worry. Seeing that he was alright, the two relaxed and Cass lifted her blade from Nika’s jugular. If it wasn’t for the fact that Damian almost lost an eye, the sheepish looks they were giving him would’ve been funny.
Actually, it was funny, and Damian had to stop himself from laughing.
Both girls panted heavily, a thin sheen of sweat shining on their skin. They bore ear-to-ear grins and looks which said that a rematch was all but certain. Cass stood and offered Nika a hand that she readily accepted. She pulled Nika to her feet and gave her a respectful nod.
“Same time tomorrow?” Nika asked eagerly.
Cass smiled in agreement.
Nika turned to Damian and jogged over to where he and Dick were seated. As she approached, she reached up to brush back a few errant locks of hair that were stuck to her forehead. Their eyes met and Damian’s heart skipped a beat. Warmth spread throughout his body and he unsuccessfully tried to fight off a blush.
The day that Damian grew tired of the sight of his girlfriend fresh out of a fight was the day that he died.
“Hey,” Nika panted. “How do you think I did?”
Damian blinked, his mind still preoccupied by Nika’s beauty. “Uh,” He swallowed, then his brain started working again. “Well, you lasted longer against her than anyone other than Father, so… pretty good.”
“How did you learn to use a knife like that?” Dick asked. He raised his eyebrows, thoroughly impressed. “I don’t think even Cass expected some of what you did.”
Damian and Nika shared a look.
Neither of them knew how to say “because I killed some dude who was good with knives” politely.
A beat.
“Oh,” Dick realized. He coughed, “Still, well done.”
“Hey!” Steph suddenly called out. The three of them turned to see the rest of the Batfamily packing their things and heading upstairs. “We’re gonna watch a movie. Any recommendations?”
“A Silent Voice,” Nika and Damian said simultaneously.
“Weebs!” Jason yelled from the top of the stairs.
Steph ignored him, “Alright, we’re gonna hit the showers first. Are you guys coming?”
“Yeah,” Damian stood and handed Nika her jacket. He looked at Nika, “Do you know where the bathrooms are?”
“Uh,” Nika scratched the back of her neck. “Not really.”
“That’s alright, I’ll show you,” Steph said. “Follow me.”
Shortly thereafter, the Batfamily was sprawled out across the various couches and chairs that surrounded the big screen. Damian sat alone in one of the loveseats while he waited with a fluffy blanket spread across his lap.
Soon enough, Nika arrived. She was dressed comfortably in a pair of shorts and a shirt that Damian had graciously “gifted” her (Read: refused to take back). Damian’s face heated up at the sight of it, and based on the glint in Nika’s eyes, she knew exactly what she was doing.
Damian lifted the blanket next to him and Nika sat down, immediately splaying herself out. She turned sideways, resting her legs on one arm of the couch and her setting her head on the other, letting Damian’s lap serve as her back pillow.
“Hey,” Nika smiled up at him.
“Hey,” Damian beamed back. “What kept you?”
Nika shrugged, “Cass wanted to know how I did my eyeliner.”
“What did you say?”
She smirked, “I gave her the same advice you told me.”
“You know,” Damian lightly traced his thumb underneath her eye. ‘If you want me to do it for you again tomorrow, I’d be more than happy to.”
Nika reached up and gently placed her hand on his cheek. She studied his face briefly, “Only if you let me do yours as well.”
“Deal.” Damian said without hesitation.
Nika let her hand fall and turned to face the TV as Damian ran his fingers through her hair. Her hair smelled nice, with a fresh scent that seemed different, but familiar.
“Is this a new conditioner?” Damian asked, playing with one lock. Her hair was still damp, feeling light and silky on his fingers.
“Yeah, actually.” Nika said. “Cass let me use hers. She said it was only fair after I gave her the eyeliner tips.”
Damian hummed, liking the change.
Soon enough, the last few members of the family took their seat and Steph started the movie. As the opening credits began to play, Damian said softly, “Nika, I- I’m really glad we met.”
Nika looked back up at him, surprised by the sudden tenderness.”Me too, Damian,” She said. “What makes you say that now though?’
“Nothing, just-” Damian paused. “I’ve been thinking.”
“About what?” Nika asked curiously.
“About us, the past, and life in general. Things used to be really, really bad, but now I see why they’re so much better.
“And what reason is that?”
They locked eyes.
“You.”
Nika raised her eyebrows. “Me?”
“Yes, you.” He gazed at her with warmth in his eyes. “It’s amazing how much life improves once you have somebody to love.”