Demonfire: Welcome to the Family

Chapter 13

Damian POV

The instant Grayson walked in the door with her, I walked out. She didn't notice. Everyone else, though, had given me odd and rude looks, but I just kept my pace. Past the dust-free hallways, high arches, and  oak doors. All the way to the clock that would help me get to the place where none of this was real. It wasn't supposed to be real. She was supposed to be a dream. Dreams aren't supposed to come true.

As soon as I had seen her it was like...seeing my life flash before my eyes. Yet it was unlike anything I had ever experienced. The images that were in my head, none of them had even happened...yet. But it felt as if I knew them so well. All of the things that had never happened, but seeing it all had left me breathless. This wasn't right.

The surprise was not necessarily seeing her face, but then again it was. Nine of the pictures I drew or the dreams I had could account for her real image. Not to me at least. It was hard to believe that j was the only one who reacted in such a way. They saw it too, didn't they? It couldn't have been just me me that had seen it. Right?

I opened the clock and walked down, quickly pulling off my shirt and heading towards the gym. Exercise would keep my mind off of all this. I refused to be choked up over some girl that had little importance to almost everyone in this house.

I started punching the bag, my hits getting harder and harder the more I thought about the girl. 'Mary' is what Grayson kept calling her. What an old-fashioned name. It was stupid. Another hit. But then again, it was so familiar. So homey. I punched the bag again, infuriated. No. She was probably stupid and idiotic just like the rest of the civilians. Blind to their own selfishness and gullibility. There was no way that she could ever be something that matters to me. Then again, I used to think of all my family in that way.

I punched the bag off of the ceiling, breathing heavy. I hated Mary Grayson. I had to hate her. It was the only way. No one could know.
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Mary POV

Everyone at the manor had greeted me kindly, giving me compassionate smiles, and Tim even offered his condolences. Everybody had froze when he had said this, but I gave him a sad smile. I wasn't mad, he had done what he thought was right. My mom had taught me to never get mad at people for caring. That's how you lose the ones that love you most.

We had a grand dinner in the large banquet hall at which I told them things about myself whilst sitting beside my father. Which was quite awkward. He didn't say much, but was always asking if I was okay, if the food was good, and told me to tell him when I got sleepy. I could see that he wanted me to know that he cared. I was just too emotionally tired to treat him the same.

After dinner we sat and talked in what they all called the living room. To me it looked more like the cover of a magazine. Not to say that it was uncomfortable, because it certainly was not. The couches were nice and soft and the walls were a comforting shade of brown. I could get used to it...over time.

As we talked, my 'granfather' seemed a bit detached from the conversation, looking around the room carefully. A few if us made comments, but I kept silent about it. I didn't want to overstep anything that I wasn't supposed to.

After a while, Bruce got up and we all looked at him.

"I'm going to get Damian to introduce himself to our guest," he said, and by the tone of his voice I could tell that he wasn't happy with his son's absence.

I honestly hadn't noticed. What with all of the talking and analyzing and observing going on. I had forgotten about my father's youngest brother. The one that was 'violent and mean'. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt though. Everyone has their own perception of how people should act. Maybe he wasn't actually that bad.

When Bruce walked back in with his hand on his son's shoulder, I just about choked. Damian was my age, which I had already known, but still. And even more so than that, he was so cute,or hot, or handsome. I really didn't know how else to say it. I tried to ignore the hair matted to his forehead and just avoid looking at him at all. This was embarrassing. Lord don't let anyone notice. Even more so, don't let them say anything.

"Couldn't I have at least showered first father?" Damian asked angrily.

"I'm sure our Mary doesn't mind, do you?" Bruce said, looking at me.

Couldn't he have waited for me to compose myself? I swallowed a lump in my throat. "No, I don't care, everyone sweats, right?"

Everybody looked at me for a second. I resisted the urge to facepalm. I sounded so stupid and I could tell that the others had heard it too. Please, don't let anybody say anything.

I looked back at Bruce to see him giving Damian a look. Damian sighed and walked forward, offering his hand to me with a pained look on his face.

"Damian Wayne," he said as I took his hand, " feel free to stay away from me."

"Damian!" a chorus of voices exclaimed as I stood there, shocked.

What had I done to offend him. Oh crap, he probably noticed. I could die right now. Out of pure and utter embarrassment. God, strike me down, because I'll never live this down.

Before anyone could sat anything else, though, Damian turned and walked upstairs.

What did I do?

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A/n

Glad that you all liked the  one shot, so I guess I'll keep doing those in between chapters. Not a lot of dialogue in this chapter, but I'm getting excited for the upcoming ones. Please review, I love seeing your comments. Bye.