Chapter Text
"DINNER!" Dick hollers, much to the disapproval of Alfred. The sound carries through the Manor, answered by several grunts and noises of assent, including but not unlimited to Jason's curses, Steph's delight, and Tim's silence because he's either absorbed in casework/schoolwork, knocked out, or just dead.
Cass slinks out of the shadows, the only other silent one currently in the house, easily grabbing a spoon and taste testing the food. Well, she likes to claim it's taste testing when really all it is is being unable to resist the temptation that is Alfred's food, but like every other time, Alfred simply smiles and accepts the kiss on the cheek that she plants.
It's Cass, man. You don't just stop Cass.
"Nice."
Alfred hums. "Any improvements, Miss Cassandra?"
Due to the fact that everyone in the family except Jason, Duke and Cass are banned from the kitchen (Damian is still on probation after the chaos that had been wreaked from the last prank war, Tim was banned after the fourth time he forgot to restock everything except the coffee, Dick after he blew up the microwave a sixth time, and Bruce had been banned long before anyone else came into the scene), Cass, consequently, is one of the only ones that knows how to properly make meals. Jason can, but prefers to bake, while Duke favours breakfast to dinner.
"Sugar," she suggests, because Cass has a sweet tooth like that. Alfred shakes his head in fond amusem*nt.
"I don't think that really goes with mac and cheese, Cass," Dick says. They're having Anna's - Annabeth's- favourite, or at least whatwasher favourite the last time she was here. It's probably changed.
(Though, Dick hopes it hasn't. He remembers a lot of things, most of them being from when he was still allowed in the kitchen and they used to make it together, sneak bits of shredded cheese when Alfred wasn't looking, the way that Annabeth always instinctively knew when the water was boiling and more than one time threatened to dump it on his head.)
Cass makes a shrug and a questioning motion. Out of all the people here, she's the one most likely to have noticed the change - in both the atmosphere and three of her brother's behaviours. Not just that, but Bruce has been up in his study all day, and so has Annabeth, which is worrying to say the least. His communication skills, though slightly better, cannot qualify their family ashealthyyet.
There hasn't been shouting, so that's good. But there are still rooms that are heavily sound-proofed (including, but not limited to, the Cave, Tim's blackout room when he eventually passes out from lack of sleep, Jason's Pit room), including Bruce's study, so really anything could have happened that they wouldn't know about.
But it's private, and though they're a family ofdetectives snoops, it can wait. Dick's just happy that Annabeth is home.
"It's a long story," Dick tells Cass. "But your sister is back."
The way her face brightens up is entirely warranted, in Dick's opinion. Cass has heard about Anna, who left so soon after Jason died and Babs was hurt, before she came and Dick mended his relationship with B. She's always been...he doesn't want to saysore topicbecause Anna was never something to be sore about, but her disappearance was painful.
There are a lot of things Dick regrets. Not seeing the signs, not stopping it, will always be one of them.
They avoided talking about her for so long, because knowing that they had caused it, that they had pushed her onto the streets, was as painful as the reminder that the Joker was still alive. Anna's presence was always sobig.She didn't quite know how to interact with others, having Bruce as a parent did that, but she always just seemed toknow.She read people, read him, like a book, without any prior training.
You could tell that something was missing, those first few months.
A son. A friend. A daughter.
Only two had come back, and even then the house felt too big for one lonely man and a lonelier grandfather.
It felt better, felt fuller when Tim came into the fold, followed by Damian, and though they never spoke about it, never knew if the younger ones felt it too, it still felt empty. Cold.
Like that room with the owl wallpaper was waiting for a person to live in it. Or the stove was waiting for pasta and cheese. Or the trees outside were missing a person to hang from them.
Duke comes down first, snapping Dick out of his thoughts, and he and Cass get to work setting the table. Damian, followed closely by Jason, is next, and he takes the utensils without a word. Jason frowns at the extra place set out, but doesn't say anything.
Tim and Steph come last, Tim yawning, and he doesn't even seem to notice the plate next to Bruce's chair. Steph though, with her sharp eyes, immediately catches it and sighs, "Who'd B adopt now?"
"I'd hope I wouldn't need to be adopted," an amused voice answers, and every head in the room with the exception of Alfred snaps towards her.
Annabeth doesn't look worse for wear, though her posture is tighter and her smile is more tired, B a shadow behind her. His expression is distinctly uncomfortable and the amount of relief written into his shoulders is immense.
"Holy sh*t," Steph breathes. "You're - "
"Annabeth Chase," Annabeth smoothly interrupts. She strides over to her seat, hand on the back of her chair but hesitating, as if she isn't sure if this is her place. Next to Bruce, on his right.
As if she's been replaced.
She's still wearing the sweater, despite the house being warm in contrast to the harsh winter outside, but Dick doesn't think things will go over well if he asks for her to take it off, so he just sits down and shoots her a smile. The rest of the family follows suit, Annabeth last, as steaming bowls are placed in front of them and Alfred takes the last place.
"Thanks, Alfie," she says quietly. Her voice is much softer than it was a few hours ago. She picks up a spoon and starts eating. Cass and Steph exchange looks with Duke, the atmosphere tensing with every passing second. Annabeth's eyes are closed, but she feels it change, as glances are passed around and acknowledged.
"Are we doing icebreakers?" she says, amused, and gets to watch a family of eight vigilantes startle and jump in their seats (with the ninth being Alfred, who stays supremely unconcerned and continues eating. This is why she loves him.) "I'll go first, then. Annabeth Chase, almost eighteen, and my favourite colour is blue. I've been staying in New York for the past decade, having run away at seven, and my favourite Justice League member is Martian Manhunter." Partly true - she doesn't know much about the others, Wonder Woman is still a firm 'no' unless the Amazon decides to explain herself, and J'onn simply seemed wiser than most. She appreciates wisdom. Also, shape-shifting was cool as f*ck.
"I know lots of embarrassing stories, such as: B once tripped off a roof three times in one night on patrol, Jason has read every one of Jane Austen's works,and Dick has broke a grand total of twenty-six chandeliers."
Three things occur at the same time. Dick, Bruce and Jason simultaneously choke on their food, along with Duke, though that's probably more out of shock, Steph bursts out into cackles, and Alfred raises an eyebrow.
"Annabeth," Jason wheezes, still trying to get his breath back. "Why." Annabeth shoots him a saccharine sweet smile.
"That's for not telling me you were alive."
Jason coughs again. Tim, who had taken a sip of water, chokes on his.
"Twenty-six, Master Dick?"
Dick winces, sending a scandalised look to Annabeth and mouthing, 'Traitor'."Uh. Sorry?"
"Wait," Steph interrupts. "You knew? About - " she gestures to the table in its entirety, "the nighttime activities?"
Annabeth raises an eyebrow. It's eerily similar to Alfred. "B couldn't keep it from me if he tried. And trust me, he tried."
Bruce winces. Either because of his failure to keep his young child away from the most dangerous part of his life, or Annabeth using B to address him. Annabeth smiles brightly, and waits for the next one.
It seemed to be instinctive to go from her right, so Duke is next, and he starts slowly with, "Uh. Duke Thomas, I'm going to Gotham U right now, and I'm a meta. Signal."
"How does that work?"
"I can, uh, see all the spectra of light. Into the future and past, too, and the dead."
Nico would love him,Annabeth thinks, but she doesn't say anything. Not yet.
Steph introduces herself with a loud, "Stephanie Brown. Spoiler, if we're going by our fursonas - " she smiles faintly, in contrast to the hissed, "Steph!" from Tim; Leo would love her " - and I'm not actually part of this family. I'm just here for the food and money."
"Smarter, not harder," Annabeth agrees, and Steph shoots her a thumbs up.
"Cass," Cass introduces, slowly, picking out the words. "Black Bat. Selectively mute." Her mouth still does an unhappy twist when she says it, frowning at the words. But they are the appropriate words for it, so Annabeth sends her a sympathetic smile and an ASL sign for 'hello'.
Cass perks up. "Do you know?" she asks.
"A little," Annabeth admits. "One of my cabinmates is deaf. We're all learning, but ASL is still a different language. Could you teach me?"
Cass nods decisively. "Maybe can meet. One day."
The blonde's smile turns strained. "One day."
Tim waves. "Tim. Red Robin. Head of R&D, now that Bruce took away CEO." His voice turns mock-bitter at the end. Bruce sighs, and puts his head in his hands. "And do you want to keep your old ID or make a new one? Because I can do either or both. And if you want to go to school, you'll need one - "
"Tim," Bruce says, muffled by his hands. "Please. Not at the dinner table." Snigg*rs round the table.
Tim shrugs.
"My old one will be fine," Annabeth says, suppressing her own giggles.
Damian doesn't say anything, even when Jason prods him, and the silence turns awkward. They finish up quickly and leave for their own respective things - she notices that Tim and Bruce and Damian almost immediately head for the study where the cave is.
"You guys are going patrolling tonight, right?" she asks. They freeze, purely on instinct. In some other case, she would find it amusing. As it is, a stab of hurt slices through her. "We've established this. I know. Don't worry, I don't want to go out."Yet."But I could help in other ways."
"Annabeth, I don't think - "
"B, when I was younger, you forbade me from going to the Cave." Her voice is deadly calm, like the kind that says,Don't interrupt me. I have a point, and you are going tolisten. "I listened to you because I was a child, and I trusted my father to know what was best for me. I am not a child anymore, and I can make my own decisions. This is my house, too, and if you really think you can stop me, by all means, try."
The silence is deafening for a moment, neither of them backing down, until Bruce rubs his brow and sighs. "Okay. Okay."
The tension dissipates. Annabeth shrugs. "Jason would've helped me get into the Cave either way."
"I know," he says softly. Annabeth strides towards the stairs.
"Call me when you go down."
They watch her leave, each of them wrapped up in the enigma that is Annabeth Chase.
