25 Days of Batfam

Day 18

Another late night spent patrolling. Damian was currently alone in an alley, waiting for Batman to bring the Batmobile around to pick him up. It had been a busy night. The Riddler had escaped, but he was quickly apprehended. Then, the Dynamic Duo had to deal with a bank robbery, several muggings, and other small stuff. Even near Christmas, Gotham's crime rates didn't go down.

Damian ended up alone in the alley, after he and Batman had to split up to catch two crooks. The one Damian had been chasing was caught now, and was currently tied up, so again, Damian was waiting for Batman now.

Suddenly, Damian heard a small meow come from further down the alley. His heart kept slightly.  Was it another cat? Stray cats were numerous in Gotham, and it always made him sad to see them. All of these poor cats should have a home, and in Damian's mind, that meant they all needed rescuing.

He glanced at the tied up crook one more time, before following the source of noise from the meow. Once he arrived, his eyes widened slightly as he saw an abandoned litter of tiny kittens. They were in a large cardboard box, and there was a single blanket surrounding them, but Damian thought the poor things must be freezing in this cold weather.

Without fully thinking this through, Damian frowned and took his cape off. He then carefully put each tiny kitten (there were about six) onto his cape, and then hugged them against him, trying to give them warmth. At the same time he stood up, he saw the Batmobile pull up beside the alley. Damian glanced down at the meowing kittens, then sighed as he walked slowly to the car. There was no way he'd be able to hide this from Bruce. The world's greatest detective would surely notice several tiny lumps in the cape on Damian's lap. But still, he prayed he wouldn't notice. Bruce would never let him keep the kittens.

Damian got in the car, and was pleased to see that Batman looked distracted. Good, he might not notice the kittens. Damian carefully placed them on the floor of the batmobile, by his feet, but out of view from Bruce.

The car was silent as they rode back to the cave. Neither Damian nor Bruce spoke, but that was usually how things went. Neither of them talked anywhere as near as much, as say... Dick Grayson.

One they arrived back at the cave though, Damian wasted no time in grabbing the kittens again and bolting out of the door.

"Damian?" Bruce asked once he took his cowl off. "Where are you going on such a hurry? Aren't you going to shower off first?  And you know Alfred hates costumes upstairs..."

"I'm really tired," came Damian's short and simple reply. It was a bad excuse, and he doubted Bruce would believe it, nuts t the moment, he didn't care.

Damian practically ran through the manor up to his room, and then shut and locked the door. He gave a sigh of relief as he carefully dumped the six kittens onto his bed. They all looked up at him and meowed adorably.

Alfred the cat heard the noise, and curiously jumped onto the bed. He hissed as he saw the other cats, but then a second later, he walked up to the nearest one and nuzzled it affectionately.

Damian smiled. "Good. Now all of you get along."  He got right to work making a proper bed for the kittens, and getting them food and warm milk.  The kittens all seemed to settle in well, and Damian ended up falling asleep right by them. One of the kittens, an orange tabby with white stripes, curled up on Damian's stomach. All in all, the scene was adorable.

Damian slept well that night, knowing he had probably just saved these kittens the life of a stray. And near Christmas. Damian wasn't usually one to get in the "holiday spirit," as Dick called it, but it made him feel warm and fuzzy inside by helping these poor kittens.