Chapter 2: An Awkward Dinner

[Alfred's POV:]

I must say, it was good to see Bruce take the initiative with this. He won't admit it but he yearns for a family of his own, someone who can tether him down from his dangerous theatrics. Right now he's trying to gut a Cod for young Helena only he's using a bread knife. Bruce may be a genius in the field, but he is definitely not one in the kitchen.

"Master Bruce, if I might say, I believe you'll find gutting the fish easier with this rather than a bread knife" I'm not the butler of a superhero just for show I'll have you know.

"Thanks Alfred, this is all rather new to me" and I'm genuinely happy that's the case else I'd be worried he would never be able to cook.

"Now, slice horizontally from below the fish's skull, to where it's belly fin is located" Bruce followed my instructions quite well and gutted the fish perfectly.

"I'll let you handle the sushi Alfred, that's something out of my skill set hahaha" It was good to hear Bruce laughing so much. Perhaps the appearance of these children was something Bruce needed more often. I was cut from my musing when an alert from the Bat-cave came in on my watch. The children were entering a light sleep based on their vitals and would wake very soon. I predicted we'd have enough time to finish up and dish up before any eyes opened. Though I was curious as to how the children would react as based on the footage from the bat suit, it definitely seemed as if the kids were attempting to hide from the henchmen rather than being looked after by them.

[Batman's POV:]

I had just finished prepping the fish and had put it in the frying pan to be fried, Alfred seemed quite pleased with how things were turning out. While I was inexplicably excited for this, I was also worried about how it would go. Out of all of them, I expected Lucy and Duela to be quite tame while callous and Helena would be the troublesome ones.

Dinner had finally been finished. Me and Alfred had started dishing up and setting the table. I just hoped their hunger would outweigh any hatred they held for me.

"Sir, I believe the children are waking. You should go collect them now before they attempt anything" well seems like it was time to face the music.

"Thank you Alfred, I'll head to them now" walking down to the holding bay, a place I recently built for the purpose of containing unstable or unpredictable people that didn't necessarily deserve a prison cell. The rooms had a nice bed, a tv and it was a large room preventing claustrophobia.

I unlocked and opened the door. Only to be attacked by a flying shoe and wow was it thrown hard.

"Bats? What's he doin here?" Yup Lucy's got her mother's voice that's for sure. The others got into a fighting stance, all of which were very lacking. They were trying too hard to mimic their parents and it wasn't working for them. I chuckled lightly, confusing them before speaking.

"I promise you no harm, while I may have put most of your parents away in Arkham Asylum, you are only children and as such I wanted to make sure you were safe. Come dinner has been prepared. Oh and Rose, may I have a word? Oh and here's your shoe back Helena" She stormed up and snatched her shoe away, I had hoped explaining these things quickly would help them to process it all rather than letting them get angry partway.

"Woah woah woah. Why should we trust you?!? You are the reason I won't have a dad for most of my life! I should kill you!" I see Callus is behaving as I anticipated, but surprisingly he seemed conflicted. I was also pleasantly surprised that Rose had simply nodded her head at me. I decided to speak to them to build some base trust first before I asked Rose what she wanted to eat.

"Your father had committed grave crimes against Gotham. He had to be stopped, but I do regret having taken your father from you. I promise you shall be allowed to visit him" his expressions darkened confirming my suspicions, he was angry at the prospect of losing A father. Not at losing HIS father Basil, this could work heavily in my favour for rehabilitation.

"Right follow me, and touch nothing, it's all genetically imprinted and will deliver a shock strong enough to even knock out you Callous" they nodded, I found their compliance very peculiar.

We walked in silence except from the occasional rumbling stomach. These kids were seriously malnourished and I was worried it had been drastically impacting their health, what had those Goons been doing?

"So err, how long have you kids been with those goons?" It was risky asking them questions as while they may have followed me this far without much resistance, it didn't mean they held any trust in me.

"Why should we-" Callus was interrupted by Rose "a month and 3 weeks we tried to escape a few times since they had been giving us scraps of food while living like kings themselves" I guessed she was the responsible one of the group and Callus the impulsive one. it was strange though, why had they done this? Surely they'd be far too worried that their bosses would escape like they have so many times and punish, no torture and kill them for this. Finishing up my inner monologue, I realized we had reached the dining table that me and Alfred had set in the bat-cave, with their meals by their respective chairs.

"Thank you Rose, now everyone take a seat by your meals. Callus you have a pasta dish with a lump of clay on the side. Nora, you have near frozen sushi with some chilled rice. Helena, for you we have some fried Cod and rice. Duela and Lucy, I wasn't sure what you'd like so I made some pasta for you two as well" their eyes gleamed as they dashed for their seats eager to tuck in.

"Umm what about me?" Rose spoke with a more timid voice and cowering demeanour as if expecting I'd get angry. I hope this wasn't a sign of neglect, Who am I kidding of course that is.

"Ah yes, sorry about that. It's why I asked to speak with you before. I'm not entirely sure what it is you eat, your mother was initially a vegan, but after her transformation, she relied more on the sunlight than meals alone" me and ivy had a strange history, before her turn to villainy we were actually friends and very likely could've been more. Well Bruce could've been.

"Oh thank you.. I'll have a salad, is there a vegetable patch? Mom told me I should always check if the plant is happy to be eaten" in that one moment I felt my heart skip a beat with a weird prideful sensation.

"Sure, follow me. Bat-computer, enclose area b5" after the command was said the floor panels around the dinner table moved to enclose the children. It was very wide and had reinforced windows so that they wouldn't feel too freaked out.

"Don't be alarmed children, while I want to care for your needs I also have my identity and safety to uphold when I'm back with Rose, I'll have it removed" it was then I realised the kids weren't actually listening as they were too busy scolding their food down. I quietly radioed Alfred to prepare seconds and possibly thirds with a giggle. Rose heard this and gave me a curious look.

We walked out the back. I knew this was a high risk as she, like her mother could control and communicate through plants, but the potential trust outweighed the risks. I watched as Rose bent down and started caressing the plants. They began growing faster and larger, I almost went into a fighting stance, but calmed down when I saw there was no suspicious growth and she had plucked the plant from its stem.

"The plants say you care for them well. They wanted me to thank you for that on their behalf" That was a relief, the cost of the plant's upkeep was no joke.

"They're welcome. I agree with Pamela's views on how plants are treated, I simply couldn't go along with how she had decided to fix that" Rose nodded her head in what I could only assume was understanding. We walked back to the dinning area where the kids were on their 3rd helping. The automated serving system was a definite help, I couldn't have Alfred do it and risk exposure. The walls retracted and Rose joined them after having the salad chopped up and doused in a sauce made from some of the other veg she had pulled up as well as some fruits. In my eyes all that was missing was a helping of small cheese blocks.

"Batman, how do you even know so much about us? None of us even told you our names" this was a question I expected quite some time ago and one I had to be very careful answering.

"When I found you at the warehouse, I had a quick look at your belongings to check for anything dangerous and also for your names. That helped me to figure out exactly who your parents were rather than just a guess. Using that information I could figure more about you a lot.

"DID YOU GO THROUGH MY DIARY?!?" the right answer for this one was clear.

"No I didn't touch it" yeah I lied, but it would've only created unnecessary conflict.

"Wait where is our stuff?" Asked Helena.

"It's in the scanning room to detect dangerous items. I won't destroy or take away any directly harmful items, but I need to be aware of it for your safety" I felt oddly guilty even though what I had said was actually true this time.

"No one asked you ta protect me bats, I can live on me own fine" It sounded so much like Harley, that I took sneak peaks around to make sure it wasn't actually her.

"No one asked me to fight crimes, no one asked me to be batman. I chose that, like I chose to protect you and the others. Nothing more nothing less" again a strange sensation filled me as if I was not being entirely true to myself... Was I? Did I have another reason for this? If so what?

"Hmm fine I'll let ya off this once Bats since ya made such a tasty meal only one thing missing though" It was good to see Lucy let go of this so fast, but I wonder what was missing.

"And what is that Lucy?" I asked in the most welcoming and therefore least batman and Bruce voice I could muster.

"PUDDIN!" I never thought I'd hear that word so soon.. Like mother like daughter I suppose. Hopefully this pudding is an actual dessert and not some Psycho clown boyfriend I have to meet and beat.

"Sure what flavour do you want? That goes for the rest of you too. We have puddings, Ice cream and more. Just take your pick" Harley looked as though she was making life choices while Rose simply shook her head.

"I'll have some ice cream style clay, oh with some chocolate coating and a chocolate flake and a chocolate scoop…" ok so callus liked clay and chocolate a lot, I didn't know how much soft clay we had left but I sent the order to the kitchen and art department anyway.

"I'll have an extra cold vanilla ice cream, but no toppings! Oh and some icy water I'm parched" I decided to get them all some water though not as cold. Helena and the others except Rose all got varying flavours of ice cream. Helena going for the extra creamy variety with cream on top. Definitely her mother's child.

While we waited for the desserts, I tried to drum up a conversation to get to know them better.

"So, What do you lot enjoy doing for fun?" I was just hoping there wouldn't be any sadistic responses. This time Nora was the first to answer.

"Well, I used to enjoy Dancing with dad before.. Umm before I got too old for it" I could tell she was lying, I'm pretty sure she was gonna say something along the lines of before he started ignoring me.. We will have to change that. Next Duela spoke.

"For me It was using my chemistry set with mum…" I could see bringing up her mother was a saw spot so I didn't question her on it. I simply gave her as best a reassuring smile as my lips could allow. She smiled back less than half-heartedly.

"Thank you for that Duela, Rose? Callus? Helena?" Callus answered next.

"I loved playing clay-dough. It was my spin on clay and playdough. I would use my arms to make these super cool things!.... Err that is until you ruined it by taking away my dad!" I took note of not only the pause he made but the lack of mention of his father before the pause. Hinting that his play time was alone anyway and he was trying to cover up that fact.

"I'd like to see that sometime Callus" for a brief second his eyes light up, before he caught himself and gave a humph.

"If I have to" I was surprised he didn't outright say no, and by extension that he even responded at the start. There was a lot more to this boy than what he showed.

"My turn, I liked stealing pretty things! For my collection, though I give some away to the poorer ones so they can enjoy them as well" while It was not a good hobby, It emphasised just how old the kids were and how mature they are. Their concepts of right and wrong were completely skewed. I'm just lucky that was the extent of it. That said I did pull out that Helena added in giving to the poor as something she enjoyed, which is a very good sign.

Rose answered very concisely, stating she simply loved farming and cultivating plants with her mother, she was going to say and father, but stopped herself, comforting a few suspicions of mine.

Finally Lucy, who had been intently listening, spoke up.

"I love to play games! Mummy always used to play games with before, she would play cards, gymnastics and Pattycake mum liked that one the most, daddy J changed it to PattyBats, it's like Pattycake only the song is about you going boom bats! Though mum didn't like me singing it when daddy J wasn't there" Yet again, it seemed The father figure was the one doing the most of the corrupting, I was surprised at how diligent Harley was as a mother. Excluding the whole psycho villain part.

We began chatting more about things they enjoyed and didn't enjoy until desserts arrived, everyone scoffed there food while me and Rose had some small talk, she was by no means trusting of me, but definitely less reserved.

I think this was going rather well.