sanctuary || d. wayne

SEVEN

WAYNE MANOR
SEPTEMBER 25th
9:32 a.m.

After getting a good look at Noelle (and studying the file he curated), he realized how pretty she actually was. Despite having only a few conversations with her, he felt a positive connection.

For the first time in forever, Damian felt...good. It wasn't until he entered the kitchen did he realize he must've looked good too. Dick Grayson raises a brow at the sixteen-year-old, stopping his conversation with Alfred.

"Holy shit," Dick curses, making Damian rolls his eyes. "You look...healthy..."

Damian scoffs. "What's that supposed to mean?" He stands beside the island in the kitchen, across from Dick. Titus sits beside him, waiting patiently.

"I believe Master Richard meant to say you look more rested than usual," Alfred clarifies, sliding breakfast to the youngest.

"Bruce commented on your performance," Dick explains. Damian tries to not any interest in his words. "He says you've been doing really good recently."

Glad he could tell Dick and not me, Damian thinks bitterly. Rather than saying that, he decided to not be completely rude and simply shrugged before taking a bite of his buttered wheat toast.

Dick pats Damian on the back, making the latter roll his eyes. "Any revelations about the Wayne lab thief?" Damian questions both Alfred and Dick.

"The blood result came back negative," a different voice chimes. Damian almost rolls his eyes again before going to the bag of dog food. Titus stands on all fours, wagging his tail as Damian pours the food into the bag.

Bruce Wayne enters the kitchen, already dressed for work. Damian makes his way to the sink to wash his hands before going back to his breakfast.

"Negative?" Damian repeats with a frown. Alfred hands Bruce a plate full of breakfast. "As in she's not in the criminal database?"

"As I'm not in any database," Bruce corrects, not touching his food. "The woman doesn't exist."

"Which means she's smart," Dick comments before taking a sip of orange juice, "She's covering her tracks."

"She's dangerous," Damian corrects. "She managed to get ahold of Scarecrow's venom and Joker's gas without getting caught either time. We need to figure out her plan."

"Agreed," Bruce says, "I'm going to Wayne Labs today to talk through the break-in with security. Tonight, Batman and Nightwing are going to scope out Wayne Labs."

Damian frowns as his brows furrow. "What about Robin?"

"Benched." Bruce hands the full plate back to Alfred before grabbing his briefcase. And just like that, Damian's good mood turned sour.

"What?!" Damian snaps. Titus sits up beside him, letting out a small growl. "Why? I've been doing an acceptable job with the past few days."

"She was able to paralyze you, Damian," Bruce snaps, making Dick frown. "We're lucky those effects were temporary. If she was able to do that, who's to say she can't kill you?"

"I wasn't prepared last time, but now—"

"There will be no discussion, am I clear?"