The Bat and The Bird

Origins

~Backstory~

"Here Batman! Take her! Hurry!" Diana, Wonder Woman, yelled out to Bruce, placing a small child in his arms as the flames started to engulf her.

"Diana! What I am suppose to do with her?! Diana!" He shouted back, shielding the infant from the flames.

"She's yours Bruce. Make her proud. Show her what we do. Don't worry about me, I'll be okay" She said softly before she was gone in a flash of light.

Batman stared incredulously down at the small child in his arms. She looked... weird. He didn't deal with children very often, especially such... tiny ones. So he did the most logical thing--he brought her to Alfred.

The child had started crying on the ride there, and she simply wouldn't shut up. He had tried everything from music to talking to... well that was it really, but he was quite tired of the noise and wanted it to stop at nearly any cost.

"Alfred!" Bruce called impatiently as he entered the house.

"Master Wayne? What do we have here? A child?! Well hello there" Alfred cooed as he took the child from an irritated-looking Batman and rocked her. She fell silent instantly and he sighed, relieved.

"May I ask how you came upon her?" Alfred raised an eyebrow at him.

"Diana" Bruce answered simply.

"And why did she leave this child with you? Is she okay?" Alfred inquired curiously.

"I don't know. I need to go back and find her. Stay here with the kid. I'll be back soon" He said hurriedly.

"She gave you this child for a reason Bruce, she trusted you to look after it" Alfred stated.

"I can't have a child in my way" He grumbled.

"We'll keep her here, hire a nanny" Alfred proposed, looking at the child. She was quite adorable.

"She can't be here, Alfred; no one can. We need to get rid of her, somehow. We need to get her somewhere safe until I can get her back to Diana" Bruce said firmly, not budging in the fact. Alfred sighed, giving up for now.

"Do you know her name?" Alfred asked, Bruce shook his head and Alfred rolled his eyes.

"Just put her to sleep for now. I should be back before sunrise" Batman nodded.

"Alright, if that's what you see fit" Alfred nodded back.

"Don't condescend me Alfred" He growled before going off into the night again.

"I'll do as I please Bruce" Alfred grumbled to himself before heading upstairs to set upon the task at hand.

~~~~~~~~~~

Batman returned home at half past four in the morning with no sign of Diana. He decided to check on the child once he had changed out of his suit and had properly readied himself for bed. She was fast asleep due to whatever magic Alfred seemed to have performed on her. He was about to leave when something red in her blankets and cushions of white caught his eye. He lifted a corner of the soft, white blanket in which Diana had given her to him, and embroidered on it in red, was the word 'Celestielle '.

"Celestielle" He whispered aloud. The child stirred. It was no doubt a beautiful name. The name seemed to strike a nerve in him, a familiar but distant memory.

And that's when he knew. It was his daughter's name. This child was his daughter and she was already in danger because of her parents. Despite the little contact he had had with the child, he hated himself for that.

Bruce suddenly left the child's room and walked down the hall to the door of a room he hadn't entered in who knows how long; he had even asked Alfred to leave it alone. A human soul had not been in that room for more than fifteen years. But here he was, putting his hand on the doorknob and opening the door into the dusty, preserved room all because of a baby. His footsteps spread dust as he walked over to the jewelry dresser. He opened it slowly, as to not disturb anything. He remembered staring at the jewelry dresser as a young child, amazed at the glint and gleam that every item gave off, and how elegant they had made his mother look. He found the necklace he had been searching for quickly and easily, as it was one of the first items to catch the eye. Respectfully so, as it shined and glowed and glimmered like no other thing he had seen before. The necklace consisted of a silver chain, on which hung a gleaming, shimmering ruby. It was an incredibly beautiful gem stone like none other. He took the necklace gently in his hand and quickly left the room, restoring it to its former solitude. He took the necklace to the child's room, where she was fast asleep. He looked down at the small girl.

Celestielle.

It fit. Somehow. He didn't know how Diana managed to pick such a suiting name, but she was Wonder Woman, after all, and she nearly never did anything wrong.

Celestielle had dark, raven black hair that was already starting to form waves like her mothers. Her skin was slightly darker than either of theirs, and her eyes were a dark sea blue. He gently tucked the necklace into her blanket. He didn't quite know why, but he wanted her to have something, and this way he could track her down too. As he was placing the necklace in the blanket, she stirred and opened her eyes.

"Shhhh, go back to sleep Celestielle, everything is okay. You're safe with me" He said gently.

Celestielle stared at him for a moment, then fluttered her eyes closed.

~~~

The next morning, Bruce drove Celestielle to Clara's house. Clara was a strangely spitting image of Diana, the two could've been sisters; but most importantly, she was an incredibly trusted friend of Bruce's.

He had decided to not be a part of the child's life, it was safer that way. He stopped by every so often, but as much out of Celestielle's view and life as possible, and only to check up on how she was doing. Most of Bruce's visits had to do with Celestielle's activity and interactions with other things and people. Because Diana was superhuman and had powers, he had assumed that Celestielle would develop them as well, but in all her years, she never showed any signs of superpowers. She was simply a normal girl, living her life in the slums of Gotham. Or so he knew.

So his visits became less frequent, he watched over her from a distance, and Celestielle forgot all about the man who used to stop by and talk to mom.