Chapter Text
It’s right after a waltz that Bruce realizes they’ve got company tonight.
There are three humans—no, four humans to be more exact—surrounding him. They most likely don’t notice the way Bruce momentarily stiffens, too engrossed by mundane gossip, a topic Bruce has never been interested in.
Not that Bruce faults them for not noticing. They’re humans, after all. Blissful ignorance is a trait of their species, which Bruce sadly doesn’t share. Which is why, no matter how much Bruce wants to drop the issue, he can’t ignore the peculiar scent of non-human nearby.
The smell of something else among the people here.
Another creature, non-human, just like him.
His nostrils flare, with the intention of tuning in to the scent. It definitely does not belong to one of his children, Bruce is certain. He could differentiate the smell of his kids anywhere. It’s not a vampire or werewolf, or else his fangs would have dropped by now.
All he smells is a dull scent, so faint it almost feels like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Still, it makes the hair at the back of his neck stand up, because as far as he knows, there isn’t supposed to be any other non-human invited to this event, apart from them.
Bruce gazes over someone’s shoulder, aware of his surroundings in case one of the guests looks suspicious. It’s dumb—Bruce knows it is—because everyone knows better than to barge into a vampire’s den without warning.
More so, even, if said den happens to have children. Sadly, if life has taught him anything, it’s that one can never be too cautious. Especially when there's a possibility of non-humans amongst the public.
As expected, there’s no sign of pointy ears, tail, noticeable eyes or anything that might hint at magic around. There’s not a single speck of magic or blood in the air or anything that might suggest a hidden creature.
Instead all Bruce sees are humans and more humans with their respective human children. This information is duly cataloged, because whoever is hiding here is rather good at covering their tracks.
Good enough to almost fool an ancient vampire, like Bruce. He schooled his features quickly, so swiftly that only someone with training would have caught that brief micro expression of worry in his face.
Time for some action, then.
“Excuse me,” Bruce says out loud, doling out a quick apology to the small crowd of people he’s been collecting for a while. It’s a thing now, that people crowd him and drape an arm around him, still thinking he’s somewhat drunk.
As he walks to the other side of the room, looking for the non-human, Bruce can hear the others’ confused remarks about his sudden and somewhat rude departure. It’s not the most gracious exit he’s ever made, but he hopes it won’t result in too much of a backlash. Maybe he should sway a little more as he’s walking across the room.
It would definitely help keep up the infamous ‘Brucie Wayne’ charade. Too bad he doesn’t have time to dwell upon it right now. He’s a man on a mission who doesn’t have the luxury of time to waste. He walks from one room to another, searching for just that hint of magic or something, but nothing. There’s absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.
He swallows the rising frustration bubbling in his chest. It appears the non-human is smarter than he thought. There are of course other ways to attract the other’s attraction,p; Bruce’s an experienced vampire after all, but like everything in life, every action has its own cost.
Like freaking out humans by using allure. A risky action Bruce doesn’t want to deal with. So, he decides, old-fashioned hunting it is.
Craning his neck, Bruce closes his eyes to tune out the person he’s looking at. As expected, all he hears is a multitude of voices raised in laughter and enthusiastic chatter. Noise so loud it makes Bruce wish he was back two centuries ago. Back then, things had been far simpler, spending his days traveling around the world, and drinking blood without a care.
Now? It’s almost a miracle if Alfred, the family’s longtime household spirit, doesn’t orchestrate another ball. Sometimes Bruce can’t help but think Alfred hosts all these events just to get on his nerves and…
Who are you?
Eventually he narrows the sound down, until he can distinguish a heartbeat beating twice as fast as the rest. A bit more and—
Too bad a bright golden feather pokes him in the forehead, breaking his concentration at once.
“B’?” A voice speaks a moment later and Bruce finds his wrists getting grabbed. Next thing he knows, he’s staring at Dick’s slanted golden eyes and his fluffy feather-like ears.
Bruce is totally not impressed.
“Dick,” he says, cooling the irritation down.
“Bruce,” Dick parrots back with a grin. He tilts his head to the side and gives him an owlish blink. ”Where are you going?”
“I’m looking for something,” Bruce says off-handedly, only to frown a moment later, when he realizes Dick’s not only not bothering to hide his ears, but his wings either, the latter on full display. Big, powerful and bright wings that could easily freak a human out.
“Dick.”
As if knowing what Bruce is going to say, his eldest rushes to reply, “Babs is keeping the glamor on.”
Consider Bruce surprised. He could have sworn Barbara was still recuperating from her recent back surgery. “I thought she was taking the night off.”
“Black Canary needed her help with something,” Dick says with a shrug. That makes sense. Oracle’s still part of Birds of Prey, after all. Still, it’s not a good excuse. Dick should know he has to hide his non-human features. Sadly, like every parent on this earth, sometimes Bruce has to choose his battles wisely.
This is one of them.
“Make sure she takes a break,” he says tiredly. As skilled as Oracle is, the prolonged use of powers cannot be good for anyone. “And make sure to hide the—”
“Oh, c’mon B’! No one is going to notice.”
That is of course unless a curious human decides to invade Dick’s personal space. Or if Oracle’s concentration slips. The glamor is good at concealing, but like every other power out there, it’s not infallible.
Somewhat exasperated, Bruce replies, “Dick, you know—”
“That glamor isn’t totally human-proof and I can get discovered if I don’t take the necessary measures. Yes, I know, I know,” Dick says, rolling his eyes. “You’ve told me like a thousand times now.”
One of these days, Dick is really gonna make Bruce pop a vein. “Then you know—”
“That if I feel like the glamor is fading and a human notices me, I gotta notify Alfred immediately so he can daze a human off and blah blah blah. Yes, Bruce. I know the rules. Now, can I ask why you smell weird?”
Bruce does a double take. He could have sworn he had his emotions under control with all the blockers. “Weird?”
“Yeah, like…“ Dick trails off and sniffs at him, only to scrunch his nose in distaste. ”Worried?”
Ah. Right. There’s a non-human running around that Bruce has to catch.
“It’s nothing,” Batman replies and sighs when he sees Dick’s eyes squint at him, in that way his kind has. Sometimes he really hates the fact Dick can see through his emotions. There’s no way he can lie, not without Dick knowing.
So Bruce decides to tell him the truth, for once.
“I smell a non-human,” Bruce tells him tiredly, and doesn’t flinch when he sees a puff of smoke appear. He coughs and waves his arms to dispel the smoke, unimpressed to see a small yellow tail appearing from Dick’s back, swaying from side to side.
“Sorry,” Dick says, surprised, but sounding not sorry at all. He can barely hide the excitement. Bruce can almost see the way his eyes are gleaming. It screams ‘catch! all over. “Non–human you say?”
Is Bruce starting to regret telling him? Kind of. Very much.
“Yes.”
Inching forward, Dick asks eagerly, “Can I…?”
“No,” he says and watches how Dick practically deflates. Over-theatrical, really. “You cannot hunt them.”
“Why?”
“Because, one,” he raises a finger, ignoring the pleading look Dick gives him; after a few years one grows immune to it. “You can’t stop shifting when you hunt. And two, much as I trust Oracle’s glamor to conceal our natures, I’d prefer to not deal with screaming humans right now.”
Dick pushes his lips out in a pout.
“B’, you’re no fun.”
Shaking his head, Bruce sighs. He’s not going to humor this argument again. There’s a reason why non-humans keep their nature a secret. Why there are rules for people like them. You can’t shift amongst humans and not pay the price.
His parents’ death is proof of that.
“Where are your brothers? I thought you were looking out for them,” he said, changing the subject with a frown. It’s rare to see Dick without Damian trailing behind him. Despite his rocky upbringing, his youngest is quite fond of Dick.
Which is why it is so strange not to see Damian tugging at Dick’s sleeves. As if reading his mind, a flying feather pokes him in the cheek. The frown turns into a glare, at which Dick whistles innocently.
“He’s upstairs.”
That makes him raise a brow. “Upstairs?”
“Dami went to bed earlier. He didn't like the noise.”
Oh.
Oh.
“Understandable,” Bruce replies sympathetically. Considering how sensitive Damphirs are when it comes to sounds, he can only imagine the headache Damian’s going to have tomorrow. His youngest is going to be cranky for sure.
“What about Jason?”
“He’s probably outside… I think.” He shrugs. “I kinda lost him a while ago.”
Bruce lets his eyes fall close at this new piece of information. So now he has to find a lost son… and a mysterious non-human as well. Great. He hopes Jason hasn’t done anything stupid in his absence. Tanukis are deeply tuned for getting into mischief.
As long as Jay doesn’t prank a human, it’s going to be fine.
Or well, as long as he doesn’t bother Damian.
Bruce hums, pondering about his options. before he finally decides to ask Dick, “Can you help me find your brother? I don’t think Alfred will be pleased if he finds another of his plants munched to death and…”
Suddenly, the scent he’d been chasing earlier hits him in the square in the face. He stops talking and breathes deeply again. The scent is close, a mixture of rich lavender and a woodsy scent coming from the left.
There aren’t many creatures that have that sort of scent. More precisely, there’s one off the top of his head, but surely it can’t be… right? Last time he checked, the whole race was almost extinguished due to humans, but if there’s a slight possibility of it being true, someone needs to contact Alfred now because…
A hand grasping his shoulder startles him. It takes everything to not show his fangs and straight-up snarl.
“Bruce, long time my friend!” he hears a friendly voice speak, one that belongs to none other than Jack Drake. Besides him is his wife, Janet. Both of them are human, if his senses aren’t mistaken, but… it’s not them who catches his immediate attention.
No, it’s the little child who’s grasping his mother’s dress for dear life, looking at them through wide and frightened eyes. One doesn’t have to be a genius for the remaining pieces of the puzzle to click together.
“Fae,” Bruce and Dick murmur under their breath, staring with surprise at the peculiar picture in front of them. Because it is one thing dealing with an adult creature, and another altogether dealing with a non-human child.
And a Fae on top of that.
Bruce struggles to put on a smile as he accepts Jack and Janet’s respective hugs. Dick, however, remains at an arm's length from the pair, eyes locked on the Fae’s eyes on him. Bruce sincerely hopes Dick’s predator instinct won’t manifest.
It’s clear the little one is terrified, from head to toes.
The biggest question that remains unsolved is how? How the hell did the Drakes of all people end up with a Fae? It couldn’t possibly be some sort of accident. Last time he checked, humans didn’t know how to wield magic, let alone perform rituals.
So how? And most importantly why? What could possess a human to cage one of nature’s most beloved beings on Earth?
Bruce wants to get to the bottom of this.