Demonfire: Welcome to the Family

chapter 10

Damian POV

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN JUMP CITY!"

I held the phone away from my ear when Jon yelled. I sighed.

"I told, I am accompanying Grayson on important business," I said looking absentmindedly around the hotel room.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!?!"

"Kent, observe your current reaction. You are acting like a girl."

"AT LEAST I DIDN'T LEAVE WITHOUT TELLING MY BEST FRIEND!"

"CALM DOWN!" I exclaimed and there was silence on the other end. "Now, I am only telling you this now because you would have wanted to come and this is private business."

"But I'm your best friend."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I understand that you are one of my common acquaintances, but this situation doesn't really concern me."

"Then why are you there?"

I sighed. "Because Kent, I-" I stopped as Grayson unlocked the door and walked in the room. He looked saddened. "We will speak later Kent," I said. I pressed the red button just as Jon started yelling.

"What is the problem Grayson?" I asked, "Are the results not what you were expecting?"

"No, Damian, they weren't," he replied, sitting down on the couch and running a hand through his hair.

I sat down beside him. "What happened?"

He sighed. "They want her to stay with me."

"Who?"

"It was in the will."

"Is this a bad thing?"

"No, I just- Jason was right, I don't know her and she doesn't know me."

"But you still want to see her, do you not?"

"Of course, but I just want what's best for her."

"The fact that you think that proves that you are capable of taking care of her."

"But...she's a teenager, I won't know what to do..." he sighed, trailing off.

I rubbed my neck, not sure how to phrase what I was about to say. I took a deep breath.

"Well...this may sound odd and displaced according to my nature...but I believe that you have been a wonderful mentor to me." I could feel his eyes on me, but I continued. "And although I would never admit it to my father, you have taught me much more than he has."

I finally looked back up at Dick and he was looking at me with tearful eyes. It took me a second to realize that my eyes were no longer dry either. He opened his arms for a hug and for once I complied.

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Mari POV

I couldn't believe this.

HOW COULD THEY SEND ME TO LIVE WITH SOMEONE THAT I HAD NEVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!?!

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. Roy and Jason wouldn't let this happen, they loved me. They would make sure that I stayed with someone I knew, like one of them.

I got online and started looking at some old pictures of my mom to calm myself down. For some reason, it helped me be closer to her. Because my mom didn't belong in the dirt. She was too bright for that. I wish that I could have put her someplace else. But that's where your body goes when you die. The dirt. And I wasn't getting much comfort knowing that her spirit was somewhere else too.

I heard a knock on my door and closed the window on my laptop. I opened the door. Roy was standing there with a folder in his hand. I silently let him, biting my lip. What was going on now.

He sat down on my bed and I followed suit, carefully sitting down while trying not to just burst out and ask what was wrong.

"I'm sorry mare."

"...what do you mean 'I'm sorry' ?"

"We really tried, we talked with all of the top lawyers in the city..."

"Are you saying...?"

"You have to go live with your dad."

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Damian POV

I woke up early the next morning and heard Dick talking on the phone with someone while walking around the living room area of our hotel room.

"I didn't know she would do this," he said, and I could see that his hands were shaking.

There was muffled talk on the other end to which Grayson replied by running a hand through his hair.

"I didn't ask her to do this."

More unheard speaking.

"Of course I will take care of her, I'm just worried that she won't like this."

At this I ran quietly and listened at the door. I couldn't quite put my finger on who was on the other end, but I did hear the last of the conversation.

"You think she will!?!" the stranger asked, "she just lost the only parent she's ever known and now she's being taken away from the only other people that she calls family, OF COURSE SHE'S NOT GONNA BE HAPPY!"

Dick was silent before responding with a quietly.

"I'll pick her up next week."

"Fine."

And then there was an awkward silence before I heard a beep on the other end.

I thought about the fact that Dick would be meeting his daughter so soon. I know that I had given him a lot of encouragement, but I honestly couldn't put all of my faith in his parenting abilities.

Dick is a good person, but he goofs around a lot. He tends to be  light-hearted but then again he can be very serious. (Which I suppose is courteousy of my father.)

I shook my head and let the doubt of my favorite brother go. If Grayson could get close to someone like me, I was sure that he would be fine handling a traumatized pre-teen.

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A/n
Yes, Damian has miscalculated Mari's age because Dick never gave him specific years when he would talk about her.

I am sorry about all of the late updates, I have school and then work on the weekends. Anyway, enjoy and don't forget to comment and vote 😁