Gotham Untold #1 Dawn of an Age

Chapter 12: Unbreakable Bond

It had been a week since Daniel started school and he was fighting Oswald at every chance, not physically of course, his fathers had taught him better than that but instead he tried to bargain with him and even bribe him into keeping him home but every time no matter how tempting Daniel thought he was being Oswald looked at him and simply said "Go to school."

It was Daniel's first Friday at his new school. Daniel was sitting in the empty classroom sketching on his notepad with his headphones listening to classical music during recess. Suddenly the teacher came over and sat with him. "Hi Daniel, what are you drawing?" Asked the teacher as Daniel lifted his eyes from the page.
"A comic." He said softly.
"What's the comic about?" Asked the teacher with a smile.
"Why do you care, Miss Richards?" Asked Daniel as he slid his headphones off.
"Because it's been a week since the first day of school and I feel like you're the only student I don't know a thing about." Said Miss Richards as she smiled at him.
"That's because I don't want you to know anything because I don't wanna be here but my Dad is making me because he doesn't have the time to hone school me like my other Dad did." Said Daniel as he sunk into his shoulders and leaned back revealing his drawing. The comic he had drawn was of him and Oswald sitting together reading like when he was younger.
"You have two Dads?" Asked Miss Richards as he nodded. "Is he one of them?" Asked Miss Richards as she pointed at the drawing.
"Mhm, that's Oswald. He's the best Dad I could've asked for I just wish we spent more together like we used to." Said Daniel as she looked at him softly. She watched clench his fist then he ripped the paper out of the note pad and bawled it up then threw it in the trash. "I'm just so angry! Ever since Dad went away he's just left alone! I don't want to be alone! I wanna be with him!" Daniel growled as he kicked the trash can over then sighed and started picking up the trash.
"It's ok to be angry, Daniel. Ya know I think I have something that can help. Come with me." Said the teacher as she took Daniel down the hall and to the music room.

"Daniel welcome to the music club, it's a fun little club started by Mr. Klemens. He says that music is one of the best ways to express such violent emotions especially in a place like Gotham where kids with violent tempers and so much anger and rage built up turn into horrible people just because they didn't have the correct outlet for those feelings." Said Miss Richards as Daniel looked around seeing kids of all kinds playing all kinds of instruments from violins to trumpets to electric guitars it was all here and even though the sounds were all jumbled and no one was playing the same song it sounded beautiful to him because it was real. He could hear the pain being expressed in every note, this made him smile for the first time since he found out he was adopted. Daniel looked around then his eyes landed on a baby grand piano sitting in the far end of the room, it was old and dusty like no one had touched it in years. He went over to it and lifted the key cover then he pressed down a couple of the keys and he was in love with the sound it made. From that moment he knew he wanted to learn to play it. He spent the rest of recess learning to play the piano and after school instead of going out to meet Oswald he kept at it.

Oswald waited outside the school for an hour with no sign of Daniel so he begrudgingly decided to enter the school which he had hoped he would never have to do again after how uncomfortable he felt when he enrolled Daniel in the school. He went inside and stepped to the desk at the front office. "Hi can I help you?" Asked the young woman at the desk.
"Yes, I've been waiting outside for my son but he hasn't come out, where is he?" Oswald asked politely but threateningly at the same time.
"It's alright Sheryl I got this." Said a man's voice from behind Oswald. He turned and saw a strong, tall, young, man with a bright expression that didn't really please Oswald. "You must be Daniel's father, there's a lot we should discuss." Said the man as he gestured down the hall.

Oswald followed him down the empty hall and the man talked with him, though Oswald mostly listened. "Do you enjoy music Mr. Van Dahl?" Asked the man as Oswald surprisingly had to correct him as the man didn't recognize him which he found a little odd.
"Actually my last name is Cobblepot, Van Dahl was my father's name and I gave it to my son to avoid scrutiny." Said Oswald as the man nodded.
"That's very noble of you, Mr. Cobblepot." Said the man as Oswald smiled a little feeling proud of that decision to give Daniel his father's name rather than his or Edward's.
"But to answer your question, yes I do enjoy music." Said Oswald as they continued down the hall.
"Well I personally believe that music can do a lot for the soul so whenever a teacher finds a kid that seems shut off from the rest of the world they bring down here and just let them get out whatever has been eating them up and Daniel seems like he has a lot that's been bothering him." Said the man as Oswald sighed shook his head.
"I haven't been as attentive to him recently as I have been in the past, it was just easier to make him my whole world when I knew I wasn't completely alone but now everything is so much harder. I haven't meant to hurt him but obviously he doesn't see it that way." Said Oswald as they stopped at a doorway and heard small notes from a piano but they were out of sequence and stuttery like the player didn't know what they were doing. Oswald turned and saw Daniel sitting at a piano trying to play a song but when he missed a note he would get angry with himself.
"Ugh! I'm never gonna get this! It's stupid to even try..." Daniel muttered as Oswald came over.
"Well don't say that, you just need someone to teach you." Said Oswald as Daniel looked at him. "May I join you?" Asked Oswald as Daniel nodded and scooted over. Oswald sat next to him and placed his hands on the keys and played the song that Daniel had set out in front of them.
"I didn't know you could play piano." Said Daniel with a smile.
"There's a lot I don't want you to know about because I'm afraid you'll see me differently just like how I was afraid that if my mother found out who I was she wouldn't see me the same." Oswald sighed. "Daniel I am not a good person, in fact I'm among the worst in Gotham. This city sees me as nothing more than a monster and I hope that in telling you this rather than finding it out you won't think of me as a monster." Said Oswald as he continued to play.
"When I went to find my mom, she told me exactly why she didn't want me and it wasn't for any other reason than just that I was in the way and since I got sick it was a good excuse to abandon me. She actually hoped that I had died! That's a monster, a woman who sees the child that came from her as nothing more than an annoyance. The world may see you that way but I see you and Dad as the men who saw my actual worth. I won't ever see you differently because you chose to have me in your life and I wouldn't have it any other way." Said Daniel as Oswald hugged him.
"You know if you want to practice over the weekend I have a piano at the Lounge you can use during the day when we're closed, I can even teach you to play." Said Oswald as Daniel smiled.
"I'd like that." Said Daniel with a soft smile.

They went to the lounge where Oswald introduced Daniel to a few colleagues of his that he didn't allow around the house in fear they'd try something since they had betrayed him in the past. When they stepped inside sitting at the bar was Butch Gilzean and Victor Zsasz. "Daniel meet Butch Gilzean and Victor Zsasz, Butch is a very close ally and Victor's alignment is too chaotic to be trustworthy but he gets things done so." Oswald shrugged. "Boys, this is my son Daniel." Said Oswald as he put a hand on Daniel's shoulder. Victor didn't say anything or even really look at him it was like he didn't even hear Oswald but Butch smiled.
"Hey kid." Said Butch rather kindly despite his ghoulish appearance.

His appearance at this point had rather grown on him since he didn't feel pain and couldn't be killed which Oswald had consistently proven after Butch came back from the dead a second time. He had Butch tortured in every form of torture Oswald could think of and he underwent every way a person could die and he was still alive if he could even qualify as such in the first place. Oswald decided that someone who couldn't feel the effects of pain and couldn't die could be rather useful. Though he did knock the sense back into Butch after Edward said he found Grundy's simple mind endearing which made Oswald very jealous and worried that Grundy's "simple mind" would win over the heart of his husband and he just couldn't have that. So since he couldn't kill him he would just turn him back into Butch because he knew Butch hated Edward so there was no chance of him making any advances.

"Daniel this is Victor Zsasz and Butch Gilzean two old friends of mine." Said Oswald as Daniel looked up at him.
"If their friends of yours why is this the first time I've ever met them?" Asked Daniel Oswald sighed but all three of them responded identically.
"It's complicated." Oswald leaned down a little and pointed to the piano on the large stage.
"Why don't you go get started I'll be over in a minute." Said Oswald as he kissed the top of Daniel's head. Daniel rolled his eyes then ran over to the piano.
"And that is why it took 9 years for us to meet the kid." Said Butch as Victor looked over at Daniel and slowly back at Oswald.
"Yeah, you didn't want us to know you've gone soft." Said Victor as he looked at Oswald and Oswald didn't like the accusation he was making. Oswald walked up to him and made direct eye contact.
"Victor, the only reason I allow you to live after you betrayed me is because you're still useful but you can still be just as useful if I have Butch here, who understands it's a wise decision to respect me, rip off both your legs. So think before you speak especially about my relationship with my son because if you do anything to jeopardize the fragile relationship I have with my precious Daniel I will skin you and display those tally marks of yours like fine art on the wall of my office. Do we have an understanding?" Asked Oswald as Victor nodded.
"I'm sorry Boss, I would never try to drive a wedge between you and your boy, I know how important family is, won't happen again." Said Victor in his typical cold tone but Oswald had a feeling that his words were genuine because Oswald did know that Victor cared very much for his family.

Oswald went over to the piano and sat with Daniel. He sat and taught Daniel how to play for hours until the lounge had to be opened and Daniel was curled up asleep on Oswald's lap. "Boss we need to open the lounge." Said Butch as Oswald sat holding his little boy and running his fingers though his thick dark brown locks.
"Just a few more minutes, I haven't seen him this peaceful in a while, I don't want to ruin it, not yet." Said Oswald softly as he hummed a bit. Butch stepped back and took in the scene a bit and realized that Victor was half right about why they hadn't been allowed to meet Daniel. Victor was right that Oswald didn't want them to see him like this but it wasn't because he's gone soft it was because with Daniel he was vulnerable every emotion he kept locked away when he was apart from Daniel would come out when they were together. He didn't want people to mistake his love for his son for weakness because if anything Daniel made him stronger Daniel gave him a reason to fight, a reason to be more careful when doing bad things, a reason to get out of bed in the morning on days he just felt like giving up. Butch could see just how much Oswald loved this boy and in seeing that he was actually happy that Oswald found someone to love and someone that would love him unconditionally. It was a nice picture.