The Arrangement

CH 4 - Family Portrait

Bruce was not pleased with Damian. He was upset with the knowledge that the girl had fled the city and angry when his son refused to disclose any more information about the girl. He hadn't spoken of her since that night in the cave. Although the others did try to get him to talk about her, they were unsuccessful. Eventually, most gave up. Bruce and Tim were still on his case. He was benched for a while, and he was pretty sure all his electronics were tagged and being spied on. All his gear had new trackers built in as well.

It didn't matter. Syn and Damian communicated via letters through Alfred. No one was aware of Alfred meeting Syn or the letters. This went on constant vigilantes and secret letters for several months.

-

"Why didn't you tell us?" Dick asked as he stole one of Damian's fries. "Why didn't you tell us you had a fiance?" Damian sighed deeply. Dick felt bad for asking as he watched Damian slump forward, then quickly tense up, squaring his shoulder in defense.

" She is from my time with the League. I knew none of you would approve. "

"were you going to hide her forever?"

"no, she's my fiance. I would have still married her once I came of age. The likelihood of you all being involved would have been...less."

That hurt. Damian was more than likely prepared to have a life without them or support. He didn't believe anyone would support him more in his relationship, and he didn't think they cared. " I'm sorry"

"You've done nothing to warrant the need for an apology."

"You don't feel comfortable telling us about your fiance-"

"I'm not uncomfortable. I just know you all well enough to know all the possible outcomes. And I don't want her involved. She's already dealing with one side of my family, the murderous, egotistic, dominant, delusional side. She doesn't need to get involved with the egotistical, obsessive, dominant, unrestricted side." his appetite was gone. His food was now a distraction for him to pick out. " She already has to deal with her family and my maternal family. I don't want her to... I want her to have peace. "

"you really care about her?"

"She's my fucking fiance." the duh tone and deadpan expression was too much. Dick bit back his laugh; a chuckle slipped through.

"Apparently," he said, "Will we get a chance to meet her ?"

"Can you guarantee everyone will be on their best behavior?"

"No"

"Then not likely."

-

Syn took a deep breath before she took off quickly and skillfully, jumping over the estate's wall and running across the lawn. She laid low and stuck to the shadows, avoiding the security system. Opting against the door, she found an unlocked window on the first floor—how convenient! She slipped into the manor. The manor was empty; everyone was gone for their nightly activities. Signal was included as he had been following a lead since this morning.

She walked the halls slowly, stopping occasionally to look at hanging photos and paintings. She stopped in front of a painting, a family portrait. Two older gentlemen, four young men, and one girl. Everyone had very similar features. The oldest three guys and a girl had eyes with varying shades of blue. And the youngest, her love, was a beautiful shade of green. Despite knowing everything about everyone in the painting, most were strangers she never met. She had only known Alfred and Damian.

"We'll be commissioning another soon." Alfred had seen her on the security cameras. After Disabling them before approaching. " Adding Duke"

"Why wasn't he in this one?" This painting was a few years ago, and Duke was part of the family then.

"He was still new at the time and still grieving his parent's situation. He still had hope they'd get better."

"And now?"

"Bruce is not his father, but he is his family."

Duke eventually accepted his parents' situation and its hopelessness. He knew the likelihood of getting his parents back was minimal and simply took what he could from them in his visits. He had accepted and was grateful this was his new family.

"You like it," Syn said as she started walking down the hall, looking at photos. " Having a full house. So many grandbabies."

"The manor has never been so full," he smiled. " You have yet to tell me why you're here," he said bring the focus to more important matters. Like her sudden appearances after months.

"I'd like to meet my future in-laws. Or at least get more information on them."

"And you can't learn from them in a more appropriate setting."

"If they are anything like Damian, No."

Alfred sighed. She was right. It would be a long while before she got behind the masks. Introductions were integrations. Greetings were intimations. Acts of affection were subtle pat-downs. No one in this family was normal.

"Alright, I'll try the normal way. These photos have given me enough information to understand the dynamics of the main household." Syn said, hoping to please Alfred. Maybe the family would get some semi-normal or could at least act like it. Duke wasn't fooling anyone anymore.

"How about dinner this Saturday?"

"I'll ask Damian. He's not aware of my presence yet."

"Understood." Comotion could be heard on his coms

"I'll show myself out. Goodnight, Alfred."

"Goodnight, Miss Syn"

-

Syn lay still. As she listened to the door open, she pulled her dagger to her chest and evened her breathing. Ready to jump. Ready to fight. "Why was I not made aware of your arrival?" the tension left her body. Relaxing her grip on her dagger and putting it back under her pillow. She took a moment before slowly sitting up and opening her eyes. Damian stood at the foot of her bed, arms crossed in his Gotham Academy uniform: Dark trousers, white button-up, blazer, and tie, all neat and tidy like she expected him to be.

"You look good," he just glared. " How was school?" he just glared some more. She sighed.

"I knew you would have said no if I asked or waited for some elaborate plan."

"My apologies for wanting us to be prepared."

"Will we ever be prepared?" she asked. " For your family, will we ever be prepared?" Damian sighed he saqt on the edge of the bed she moved to sit next to him.

"No...They're unpredictable imbeciles."

"We should start with proper introductions and go from there. AT least try for a bit of normalization. Alfred would appreciate it."

She was right. They couldn't continue their relationship without his family's involvement. They needed some kind of introduction, at least to make his family more aware of her, as she was going to stick around. He'd make sure of it.

Damian took a deep breath, standing and straightening his blazer. " Alfred has informed you of Saturday dinner?"

"Yes, he has."

"I'll arrive on Saturday afternoon to help you dress and prep."

Syn jumped out of bed and followed him towards the kitchen. She found a bag of takeout on the counter he unpacked it as she sat down. "How was school?" she asked her earlier question.

"full of imbeciles" he was going to leave it at that. I do not particularly like the place.

"I've never been."

At moments like these, Damian was reminded that despite growing up side by side for nearly a decade, he was still more privileged than she'd ever been. He had more titles, more rights, more teachers, he made more normal, more people that actually cared, more friends. He had simple things like pets, family outings(that didn't involve killing), school, and big things like forgiveness. Things she'd never be given.

He could tell her a little about school. And he did.