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Birds and Bees	By : defying3reason Category: DC Verse Comics > Batman Views: 2564 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Batman, or any aspect of the broader DC Universe, and I make no money from my fanfiction

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
Chapter 9
When Dick got to the Watchtower he fully expected to find his ex-sidekick glaring at him, ready to chew him out. Instead he found an abandoned monitor station. He poked his head around the general area, finding neither Robin nor Superman, and so assumed something had happened that required attention.
He played back the comm recordings and felt his stomach drop when he heard Lian's terrified plea for help. Dick was halfway to the teleporters before he heard Damian's final report, sending three to medbay. He sharply reversed direction and went off to the medbay.
He found Wally and Irey laid out on cots, unconscious and hooked up to equipment, but unattended. Dick looked around again, but found no sign of Damian. He returned to Wally's bedside and checked up on his and his daughter's condition. From the looks of it they'd been hit with a severe poison, but they'd also had the antidote administered. With their speed-healing, one of them was bound to wake up any minute.
Dick sat down at the foot of the bed to wait. He tried calling Damian and Roy, but neither of them answered their comms.
Then Wally let out a groan and clutched at his head. His skin was drained of all color and he was trembling, but as Dick watched he started to visibly strengthen. His eyes kept moving around the room, as though he were having a hard time focusing. "Urgh...I ever mention how much I friggin' hate Cheshire?" he slurred.
Dick's eyes widened. "Cheshire? Wally, what the hell happened?"
Wally sat up on his elbows and swallowed, clearly trying not to throw up. "She attacked the kids. Robin...urgh, Robin was fighting her. That fucking bitch poisoned us. Oh God. Is Irey okay?"
Before Dick could answer, Irey let out a whine as she returned to consciousness. Wally zoomed to her bedside, which turned out to be a mistake as the sudden movement had him retching. "You...urgh...you okay...princess?"
"I think I'm dying," Irey moaned. "Dad, I can't go to school tomorrow."
"Nice try kiddo. Your speed's gonna finish healing this up in a minute or two."
"Drat."
Dick snorted, and the two speedsters turned to face him. "Hi Uncle Dick!" Irey said brightly, sitting up in bed with color already returning to her cheeks. "What's up?"
"I'm looking for Robin. We were supposed to meet up, but..."
Irey shrugged. "Last time I saw him, he was kicking Cheshire's butt."
"Yeah, I figured he'd be around here somewhere," Wally said.
Dick frowned. "What happened to Lian?"
"Nothing," Irey said. "I grabbed her and brought her to our house. Cheshire never even touched her. She's probably still with Mom now. Ooo...you think Mom's mad?"
Wally nodded. "Oh yeah."
Suddenly, Irey's voice grew much weaker, and she laid back against the pillows. "You know what Daddy...I think I'd better stay here for awhile and...and try to recover my strength."
"Nice try princess."
"Double drat."

Dick's next stop was to his own apartment in Gotham for street clothes. From there he was faced with a dilemma. Roy and Damian both likely needed some kind of friendly support. He wasn't sure who to track down first.
Well, Damian was going to be somewhat more difficult to locate, given his tendencies towards solitude (it had taken Dick awhile to notice, though, that his solitary tendencies didn't mean he necessarily wanted to be alone when he was upset). Roy at the least would probably answer a ringing phone.
He sat down at the foot of his bed and picked up his cell. Roy answered on the first ring.
"Hey Dick, now's not the best time."
"I figured. You okay? Do you want me to come by?"
There was a slight pause. "Okay, what the hell is going on?"
"Huh?"
Roy sounded pissed, which was Red Arrow for terrified. "There are cruisers and firetrucks all around my neighborhood, and I'm pretty sure I saw an ambulance and stretcher on my way home from the store. Lian was supposed to go to her friend's house after school, but she's not there and she's not picking up her phone. What happened?"
"I'm not exactly sure, but she's okay. She's at Wally's-"
"Wally's? What's she doing there?"
"I'm not sure myself," Dick admitted. "Meet you there?"
"Yeah...I guess. Thanks Dick."
Dick hung up his phone and chewed his lip. After a few minutes of thought, he texted Alfred, warning him that he probably had an emotionally distressed Robin prowling the manor somewhere, then he grabbed his coat and had the Watchtower send him to Kansas.

Linda Park-West was not having a very good day. She'd spent the morning fighting with her computer before finally admitting defeat and setting it aside to have either Piper or Jai look it over for her, whoever she happened to bump into first (and sadly these days, she was much more likely to see her busy but good natured friend than her sullen and withdrawn teenage son, even though Jai lived with her and Piper didn't). She'd been trying to finish up her medical degree online, as she'd only been a few semesters away when the twins were born and she'd had to drop out, but it wasn't going very well. The online versions of the classes she needed were offered infrequently, and her duties as wife and mother to a family of superheroes made traditional school nearly impossible.
After the disappointment with the computer the mail had arrived, bringing her the twins' progress reports and further disappointment. Irey was failing three classes, and Jai was passing everything with nearly perfect grades, but nearly all of his teachers were reporting behavioral issues, and he'd apparently been to see the school social worker three times that quarter. Linda reread the reports a few times, then went into the bedroom and woke Wally up to discuss their kids.
Wally had put in a magnificent effort, trying to discuss serious parenting issues when he was clearly half-dead with exhaustion (he was working nights as a police mechanic again), but eventually Linda admitted defeat on that front as well and told him to go back to sleep.
When the twins got home she acted like nothing was wrong, since she and Wally hadn't come up with a unified parental plan of attack on Irey's horrendous grades and Jai's bad attitude. Jai went upstairs to do God knows what in his room, and Irey planted herself in the living room to watch TV and unwind. Linda went to make dinner, and was pulled from her bubble of tranquil domesticity by Irey screaming for her, accompanied by a traumatized looking preteen.
Thankfully, things went smoothly from there. Irey ran back into battle accompanied by her father, which soothed Linda's worries. And calming Lian down was well within her capabilities. She made them mugs of green tea, then sat down next to Lian with a box of tissues and reassuringly squeezed her hand.
"What do you need me to do to help you Lian? Do you want me to call your dad?"
Lian adamantly shook her head. "I can't talk to Dad yet."
"Are you sure?"
"If I see him, I'm going to ask him why the fuck he never told me my mother was a murderer. I don't think the conversation will go well until I can think of a way to start it that doesn't begin with swear words, or 'you fucking betrayed me you piece of-' oh look. More swear words. Can you call Dinah instead?"
Linda thought for a minute. "Dinah...that's Black Canary, right?"
Lian nodded. "My sort of ex-grandmother."
"Okay. I'll be right back."
Linda looked through every signal device they had, but she could not think of a way to get in touch with Black Canary. Dinah Lance just wasn't part of her and Wally's regular circle. Then she remembered that Black Canary was in the Birds of Prey, and she called Oracle (though Oracle was still keeping her circle small these days, she'd made her number available to most of the heroes who had kids at Dinah's request).
"What is it?" Barbara's voice came through filtered. It was a bit creepy sounding, and something she could see Jai doing once he figured out how.
"Hi...Miss G-"
"Oracle. Please. Hello Mrs. West. What can I do for you?"
"I'm sorry to bug you, but I've got Lian Harper here and the poor girl is really distressed. She wants to talk to Black Canary, but I have no idea how to get in touch with her. Could you..."
"Not a problem. She'd want to take this. Hold on one sec, okay?"
Linda heard the squeak of a manual wheelchair, and then Barbara's voice much more faintly coaxing a reluctant sounding Black Canary out of bed. Linda quirked an eyebrow and pursed her lips, and tried not to draw any conclusions from that...even though it sounded like the women were living together...and there were so many rumors about those two.
Eventually Oracle managed to convey her meaning through some combination of the words "Lian" and "upset", because after that a frantic Black Canary was on the line.
"What the hell's going on? Mrs. Flash? What's wrong with Lian?"
"She's fine!" Linda yelled, startled. "Just upset because her mother tried to-"
"Cheshire was there? Good grief, I'm on my way!"
Then the line went dead. Scowling, Linda went into the other room to sit with Lian.
About twenty minutes later, a jet set down on her street. Linda jumped to her feet and ran to the front window, eyes wide and heart hammering. "What the hell do they think they're doing?" She yelled.
Black Canary had just jumped out of the jet and was running up to their front door. Thankfully she wasn't in costume, though Linda didn't think the jet or a fully uniformed Lady Blackhawk following after Dinah was much more amenable to keeping a secret identity. "We're going to have to move again. Son of a bitch! I really liked this neighborhood."
Linda flung open the front door, ready to give Black Canary a piece of her mind, when Lian shoved past her and dove into the woman's waiting arms.
While Linda had been sitting with Lian, she'd looked sullen but generally remained calm. As soon as she saw Dinah, she burst into incomprehensible sobs.
Linda decided her issues could wait, and went into the kitchen to make a couple more mugs of tea.

Dick got to the West home shortly after Dinah and Zinda. He spent a few minutes just staring at the jet at the end of the street, wondering if he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. Then he wondered if Babs was around, and if so, if that meant he should leave.
Roy walked up behind him and grabbed his shoulder. Dick spun around, aiming a hit, but Roy grabbed his wrist and rolled his eyes. "Lookit me, I just snuck up on a Bat."
"Sorry, I was a little distracted by the random jet in a suburban neighborhood."
"Yeah, that is a little odd."
They walked up to the house and knocked on the front door. Linda answered, looking frazzled. She stepped aside to let them in, then marched towards the kitchen. "I'll make you guys tea."
"That's okay Linda, I don't really-" Roy started.
"Everyone's having tea!" Linda snapped before disappearing through an archway.
"I think we should just take the tea," Dick muttered. "So...any thoughts about the Birds being here?"
Roy shrugged. He walked into the living room, and was shoved out again by Zinda. "Hey there Red Arrow, Nightwing. Nice to see both you fellas, and I'll be happy to let you in real soon, but what we got going on in there right now is a ladies moment."
"Is my daughter in there?" Roy asked in a low voice.
Zinda's faux-cheerfulness didn't alter in the least in response to Roy's staredown. "As a matter of fact she is, and the little lady's crying her pretty little eyes out, wondering why her daddy lied to her about what kind of person her mother is. Now, I think we'd best leave Dinah to work her magic and let you come up with a good explanation before we bust in there. Sound good?"
Roy looked like he'd just been punched in the stomach. He stiffly nodded, then stalked off for the kitchen. Dick looked between Zinda and Roy's retreating form for a moment, then hurried after Roy, all the while wishing he'd gone to track down Damian instead.

It didn't take Dick long to realize that he was more of a hindrance than a help. He spent a little while talking with Roy, then told him he'd try to keep the night open in case Roy wanted to talk.
Roy gave him an odd look for a second, then shook his head. "That's a nice thought and all, but we both know you're either going to get pulled into some crazy mission, or your psychotic ex-sidekick is going to monopolize your time again. It's okay. If I need a friendly ear, I can call Donna."
Dick wasn't sure why he felt stung by that, but he was. He let it go though, and headed to Gotham.
He let himself into the manor and poked his head into the few rooms regularly frequented by its inhabitants (considering the size of the place, they only actually used a very small portion of it). Dick found Alfred dozing in an armchair in the den, a bucket of cleaning supplies sitting at his feet, and tip toed back out of the room, deciding to leave the butler to his nap.
Sighing, Dick then made his way to the Cave, wondering why he hadn't just started there to begin with.
Damian was on one of the lower levels, pushing himself through a particularly brutal looking training routine. Dick leaned against the stairwell railing and watched him for a few minutes, countenance growing more troubled the longer he observed. Damian wasn't training, or even just expending energy. Dick recognized a workout like that: the kid was punishing himself for a perceived failure that likely only existed in his damaged mind.
In some ways, he and his father really were very similar.
Dick finished the walk down to Damian's platform and stage coughed.
"I saw you…four minutes ago when you first came down here," Damian informed him.
"Cool. Y'wanna stop so we can talk?"
"Not interested."
Dick sighed. Even considering how impressive Damian's stamina was, he was clearly exhausted. His normally tanned complexion was quite a bit paler than normal, and he was dripping with sweat. Whenever he stopped moving long enough for Dick to get a clear look at him, his limbs were faintly trembling. The angry red scratch on his cheek stood out in stark contrast to the rest of his skin.
"Damian, I think you need to rest."
"I'm fine."
"Fine," Dick returned. "I just got back from Wally's. I take it you don't want to hear how Lian's doing?"
Scowling, Damian turned off the training program. He remained at the console for an extra minute, leaning heavily against it while he got his breathing under control. Dick pretended not to notice, since the sociopathic Robin was probably interpreting his understandable exhaustion as a display of weakness.
"You know Grayson, I really don't appreciate it when you attempt to manipulate me so blatantly."
"Doesn't the word 'attempt' imply that it's not working?" Dick returned.
Damian glared at him. He shrugged it off, far too used to the glares after so many years of them.
"Well? How is she?"
"Upset, but okay really. She doesn't have a scratch on her, and once she calmed down she was really grateful that you and Irey responded so quickly," Dick explained. "I didn't get a chance to see her, but she told Black Canary to tell me to thank you."
Damian nodded, and he and Dick made their way to one of the main levels of the Batcave. Damian sat heavily in the computer chair, almost as though his legs wouldn't support him any longer. Again, Dick didn't say anything about it, but he passed the kid a water bottle he'd thought to grab before heading down. Damian drained at least a third of it in one sip.
"So what happened?" Dick asked. "The others couldn't tell me much. Just that Cheshire attacked Lian. Do you know why?"
Damian shook his head. "I heard her rambling before I started fighting her. She said something about not being able to take it if Lian died again, so she was going to kill her daughter herself. Gently, of course."
"Sounds like Cheshire, unfortunately. Well, at the risk of you snapping something petulant or downright assholish at me, I gotta say Damian, I'm really proud of you. Cheshire's one of the deadliest living fighters on the planet. You held your own, and you protected Lian and Irey-"
"And Flash," Damian said with a disgusted snort. "If it weren't for the speedsters, I would have had her! And then Lian would be safe."
Dick tried not to wince. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then sat down across from Damian. "Yeah, we need to talk about that."
"No we don't."
"Yes we do. I promised Roy."
Damian pried his mask off so that Dick could get the benefit of his full glare. His narrowed brown eyes were as hard and unyielding as stone. "I don't care what that irresponsible oaf made you promise. We do not need to discuss my feelings about Lian."
"She's a little girl and you're sixteen. Almost seventeen. We've got to have some discussion here. Roy appreciates everything you've done for her, don't get me wrong, but…he's getting a little worried. You can kinda see where he's coming from, right?" Dick asked. Damian didn't say anything, but he broke eye contact and gazed off into space. "What exactly do you feel about Lian? This can be between us. I won't tell Roy."
"I…I'm not sure, exactly," Damian admitted, expression troubled. "When she died, I felt it as a keen injustice. And it wasn't just an injustice for her…I felt it against myself as well. She never judged me, or tried to change me. She just shared things with me that she thought I'd like…"
"She was your first friend," Dick supplied.
Damian nodded. "I wanted that back, so I arranged to make it happen. You can reassure Red Arrow that I have no romantic intentions towards his child," He said, carefully emphasizing the last word.
"Alright, I'll let him know. Now, I think you should go upstairs, shower, and rest for awhile. Otherwise you're going to be useless on patrol."
Damian quirked an eyebrow. "And what business of yours is that?"
"It's very much my business since I'm patrolling with you tonight. Your dad's got business in Tokyo, so I'm gonna hang around for a few days and keep you company."
"I was aware of the business plans. I don't need a babysitter."
Dick laughed at that. "Y'know, somehow we got that impression. I just figured it was a good excuse to hang out with you."
Damian's expression finally softened to its normal-level glare, and he regarded Dick with some small measure of fondness. "You don't need an excuse to 'hang out' with me. I do miss you from time to time, particularly after a series of head blows."
"Yeah, well I never thought I'd say this, but sometimes I really miss my little sidekick."
That brought the glare back to its above-average level. "I'm almost taller than you now Grayson. You'd better watch it with the s-word."
Dick grinned at him. "Grow as much as you like. You'll always be my angry little Robin to me."
"I'm going to eviscerate you."
"Yeah, well, you'll have to catch me first."

As soon as Roy and Lian got back to their house Lian went upstairs and shut herself in her room. Though it pained him to do it, particularly after a brush with actual danger, Roy gave her her space. It was what he would have wanted at her age, and Ollie not giving him the respect of distance when he needed it had been a factor in the breakdown of his relationship with his mentor during his own adolescence.
The last thing he wanted was for Lian's teen years to be anything like his.
He paced around the living room for a bit and thought. They should probably move, though Jade would likely find them wherever they went. He still couldn't quite believe she'd tried to kill their daughter. It just didn't seem like Jade...
Of course, it was completely like Jade to test him. That made a bit more sense, Jade wanting to make sure Roy could protect Lian this time. Well, he'd failed that test. If it hadn't been for Robin...Roy pushed that thought away before it could finish.
Dinah had reluctantly informed him once that Jade had tried to kidnap Lian when she'd been a toddler, and now he wondered if she'd try it again.
None of it made sense, but they should still try to move. Lian didn't seem happy living in the suburbs anyway. She was a city kid, like him. He decided to talk to her about it soon, and get a little more input from her about where they should live. She was friends with Wally's kids. He really didn't want to move to a city with an established dynasty of superheroes, but if that's what she wanted, he'd think about it. And at least the Flashes pretended to be friendly most of the time. Their judgement was much less overt than the Batfamily's.
Roy glanced down at his phone and thought about calling Dick. A small smile started on his face without him realizing it. Dick had acted like they were dating again.
This was how they always started though. They found themselves single at the same time, and started hooking up a lot. Then eventually they'd start feeling sentimental, and one of them would suggest monogamy. If the familiar pattern was starting itself again, it had probably been a bad idea to shrug Dick off by saying he'd call Donna, even though Donna was way more dependable.
Even though he knew better, Roy tried calling Dick and tried not to be surprised when the phone went straight to voicemail. He did an equally bad job convincing himself he wasn't disappointed, and tried to remind himself how easily Dick emotionally attached himself to, well, anyone. He was just that kind of person. Friendly...empathetic. Roy's bond with Dick may have felt unique and significant to him, but on Dick's end it probably wasn't that different from the bonds he had with any of his exes. Hell, it probably wasn't even as significant as the bonds he had with Korey and Babs, considering he'd tried to marry both of them.
"Daddy?"
Roy turned around and willed an encouraging smile onto his face for his daughter. "Hey Peanut. Still pissed at me?"
She was standing in the entryway fidgeting with a bracelet on her wrist. Her long hair was pulled back in a messy bun that had a paintbrush stuck through it, and her t-shirt was splattered with the stuff. In fact, she smelled faintly of acrylics and turpenoid.
They'd discovered about a week ago that her passionate love for crayons as a child had transferred to a love of art in general as a twelve year old. Ollie had gifted her with the supplies, and Lian was teaching herself with lesson books and online tutorials. It looked like art was going to be an emotional release for her, and Roy inwardly thanked every deity he could ramble off the top of his head that his daughter had picked a safer release than he had.
"I'm not mad anymore. I...I get it. You didn't know how to tell me when I was little, and a lot's happened recently. I still think it was really stupid of you to tell Mom about me before you told me about her though."
Roy nodded. Just about everyone who'd gathered at the West house and cared to share their opinion on the subject had agreed with Lian on that. "I didn't think she'd hurt you. I'm sorry."
"Dad...how did you ever fall in love with someone like that?"
Roy smiled bitterly. "There's...there's a lot more to her than what you saw today. She just makes it hard to see."
"Well I don't approve of Mom. You should marry Auntie Donna or Uncle Dick instead," Lian said.
Roy laughed. "You've already mentioned that. Believe me, if I thought for a second I was good enough for either of them I'd go for it. As is, I don't think they'd take me."
"Wouldn't hurt to ask."
Roy wasn't sure he agreed with her, but he kept it to himself. "So, how goes the painting?"
"I'm just about finished," Lian answered. She sat down on the couch next to him and curled up against his side. He stroked her hair with the good arm, and things felt almost normal. "I wanted to make Damian a present...to thank him for saving my life. Do you think this counts as twice now, since he resurrected me too?"
Roy sighed. "I wouldn't know. What'd you paint him?"
"An abstraction of Gotham's skyline. I think he'll like it."
Roy was sure of it, and it bothered him. But on the plus side, there was nothing overtly romantic about a city skyline (unless he was way out of touch with what kids were doing these days. Really, after sparkly vampires he honestly couldn't put personified architecture outside the realm of possibility for mainstream teenage romances).
"So Li...do we need to have a talk about you and Damian?"
"Dad, you really wanna go there when I still have some righteous indignant highground on you right now?" Lian countered.
"You're going to make the teen years a real nightmare, aren't you?" Roy asked.
"Of course I am. I'm just as rebellious and independent as you," Lian responded smugly.
"And smarter," Roy lamented. She made an affirmative noise, and he lightly whapped her paintbrush bun. "You're not supposed to agree with that." She laughed, and he felt a weight lift from him. Good. Once again, Lian didn't seem to suffer the emotional damage one would expect someone in her situation to. "We can visit Gotham tomorrow and drop it off if you want."
"Sounds good." She pulled his hand down from her hair and twined their fingers. "Dad...thanks for not being a psychopath."
He let out a startled laugh. "You're welcome."

Lian had never seen a house like Wayne manor before. The few times she'd visited Damian, he'd been living at a penthouse downtown, back when Bruce Wayne had still been "dead". The isolated mansion on the outskirts of the city gave quite a different impression from the other building. It was very lonely, but still intimidating.
Maybe it was because she was older this time, and didn't have the comforting confidence of a five year old that had always been petted and protected from sadness, but Lian was nervous. The scrap of canvas under her arm felt cheap and pathetic when she passed through rooms full of artfully arranged antiques and pieces of real artwork.
Her father hung back in one of the massive sitting rooms, and she crossed her fingers, hoping that Dick would go keep him company, and that if her dad didn't make progress on that front, that he at least wouldn't say something to hurt his chances with the other hero. She really wanted to see her dad settled down and happy, and frankly after seeing what kind of woman her mother really was, she didn't trust him as a judge of character anymore and feared the prospect of him trying to date without help.
Alfred led her to Damian's room. She thanked him and he left with a polite remark, then she swallowed nervously and knocked on the door.
Damian looked a bit startled to see her, though to be fair Lian felt startled even though she was the one who'd planned the visit. She'd only really seen him twice since her resurrection: right after it happened, and for a brief moment when her mother tried to kill her. It wasn't enough exposure to get her used to seeing Damian as a sixteen year old. A flawless looking sixteen year old, at that.
Besides which, one of his eyes was bruised shut and he had a nasty looking gash running across his collar bone.
"That wasn't from my mother, was it?" Lian asked, already feeling guilty.
He glanced down at the cut, and then smirked at her. "This was from her," he said, indicating a fainter scratch on his cheek that she hadn't noticed, what with how distracting the other injuries were. "These other inconveniences came from patrol."
"Oh. Um...well hi. Can I come in?"
"Of course." He stepped aside, and she walked into his bedroom.
It was a bit nicer than the old penthouse one, though Lian had a feeling that had more to do with Damian's very old family living in a very old house than it had to do with him. She guessed he just wasn't one to leave a personal mark on a dwelling space. "You still don't have any pictures up," she teased.
"The ones I have don't really match the decor of my father's home. I've chosen to keep them someplace safe," he answered. "Lian...not that I mind, but what are you doing here?"
Lian took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "I just...I wanted to thank you for saving me."
"Don't bother. It was nothing to me."
Lian's eyes widened in shock. She turned to face the window on the pretense of admiring the view until she could get her composure back.
Of course it hadn't been personal. He was a hero, that's what they did.
"Well it meant something to me," she finally said, once she was sure her voice would remain even. "I made this for you to...to show my appreciation." Lian presented the painting, and as soon as his eyes were fixed on the canvas she chewed her lip nervously, not sure how he'd react to such a humble gift.
Damian's eyes quickly raked over the canvas, with the same sharp focus he must use while working as a detective. After a moment, his eyes met hers and he quirked his lips upwards into a very slight smile. "Thank you very much Miss Harper. I'll put this with the others."
"Oh." Lian felt her stomach lurch. Of course...people must do these sorts of things for him all the time. In fact, he probably had lots of tokens of appreciation that far surpassed a two hour attempt at abstraction with cheap acrylics. Still, he was being polite about it. "Y-you're welcome."
Damian set the painting on his desk, then turned to face her again. An awkward silence settled between them.
When Lian couldn't take it anymore, she mumbled something about her and her father needing to leave. That forced look of polite interest finally left Damian's face, and he said something courteous about wishing she could stay longer.
Lian all but fled the room.
When she got back to the sitting room, she found her father doing exactly what she'd hoped. He was talking to Dick, and they were sitting unnecessarily close together considering how large the room was. Dick's handsome blue eyes were blazing with the same sort of interest that she belatedly realized she'd wanted to see Damian's honeyed brown reflecting towards her.
She'd really thought somewhere in the back of her mind that the older boy might like her like that, even though she was just a kid, and a weak one besides that. Someone he needed to protect. Well, she wouldn't make that mistake again.
"Come on Daddy, let's go."
"Lian?" Roy scooted away from Dick, then stood and walked over to her. "Everything alright Peanut?"
"Yeah fine. Let's just go."
Roy turned back towards Dick and shrugged his shoulders apologetically, but allowed himself to be pulled from the manor by his suddenly distressed young daughter.
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Birds and Bees