Sun Burnt | Batfamily fanfic

3. The Beach House

"This place is a dump," Damian exclaimed as he walked into the unused beach house. "Father, why do you even own this?"

"Tax revenue. I used to use this place. Then I became Batman," Bruce replied with a shrug of his shoulders. He began helping Alfred tear off the plastic that covered the furniture.

"Looks like Bruce uses black leather for all his decorating," Jason whispered to Roy, causing the red haired man to chuckle under his breath.

Damian began to wander off into the three story beach house. Although Bruce said it wasn't up to date it actually was. The utilities weren't, but the house itself was. The LED lighting guided Damian down to the basement, a game room being shown. It was nothing like their house. There no sign of the Batman. No invisible viewable signs of blood, tears, sweat, and other bodily fluids that is apart of the job. There were no memories that would haunt here. No nightmares whispering in the teenage boy's ears.

He didn't like it.

Tim also ventured on his own. He went out to the beach, a grin on his face. He was happy to be with his family on this holiday for Shark Week. It was exciting to put his feet into the water, the same water the beasts swam in, ate in, dreamed in. He knew there was going to be bumps in this trip but it didn't matter to him. He just wanted everyone to be happy and hang out together.

Later that evening, when Dick, Bruce, Jason, Roy, and Alfred got everything running and cleaned up again, the family gathered for dinner. Because Alfred had been helping set up bedrooms Barbara and Dick made dinner together.

At first Cassandra was suspicious of the food presented to her, but after a few bites she was relieved to taste something that delicious. As long as she didn't think of the fact the two lovebirds made it she could manage to stomach it.

Damian was less willing than Cassandra. "No way I'm letting my body be poisoned by something Grayson made," the teenager hissed, getting up from the table.

"Damian, that was very disrespectful, apologize," Bruce demanded.

The black haired boy looked right at his older brother, he was about to snarl something rude but then he changed his mind. "I'm sorry, Grayson. I'm sorry, Gordon. It was rude of me to say such an insulting thing, even if my mind believes it to be true. Please do not take it personal if I don't eat the food you have made for me."

Dick accepted the apology, whispering to Barbara that on the select few times Damian has eaten something someone other than himself or Alfred made he ended up being sick.

"Wait, Damian is allergic to peanuts?" Tim snorted.

"It not that bad, but he does get sick to his stomach. I don't think his body is allergic, I think it's his mind," Bruce answered. "He has a very rude way of pushing his fears out, so his lashing out in that way was him trying to cover the fact that he doesn't want to be sick again."

"So if the kid was about to die from starvation, would he eat it then?" Roy asked.

"I'm sure he would. His fears would be blocked out by his desire to survive. It's in his DNA."

Cassandra nodded in agreement. "He acts like a child when he chooses, but when it gets down to it, he knows how to survive. If he had to he would work with us and be nice to us. Since he doesn't have to he feels like he can be as childish and rude as he feels."

Bruce confirmed Cassandra's theory with a curt nod. "Wow, you two, this spaghetti is just magnificent."

"Thanks, Bruce,". Dick grinned.

"Yeah, thank you. Also, thank you for allowing me to come with," Barbara smiled.

"Thanks, Bruce," Roy joined in.