House, Sweet Safe-House
Title: House, Sweet Safe-House
Author: Beriaearwen
Crossover: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Batman
Characters: Bruce, Buffy, Dick, Alfred
Rating: Suitable for all ages
Word Count:
Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Mutant Enemy, etc. The characters of Batman belong to DC Comics, etc. All are used here without permission.
Related Stories: A Different Start, Bringing Down The house
Notes: Just a short addition to this tale. On a different note, with 3 days left of writing in this year's challenge, if there is anything that you would like to see continued/added to, please let me know and I'll see what my muse is willing to do.
The Grayson twins huddled together in the back seat, as close as their booster seats would allow them, holding hands and drawing comfort from one another. Buffy seemed to finally build up the courage to ask a question. “Mr. Wayne?” she asked quietly. “What will happen to our stuff? Our pictures and... and... “ she cut herself off as tears welled in her eyes.
“I'll find out and get it for you,” Bruce promised hastily, panic rising at the sight of the tears. Tears were not something he knew how to handle. “And you can call me Bruce.” He watched the twins nod in agreement. “So, um, what grade are you in?” he asked, trying to find a neutral, child-friendly topic with which to distract them. He really needed to read up on this. Two kids shouldn't have him this thrown.
Dick shrugged. “We don't really have grades. We just have classes. Mami and Tati,” here his voice wavered and breath caught. Buffy squeezed his hand and he continued, “Mami and Tati and some of the others would teach us on the computer.”
“Dick's really good at math and languages,” Buffy added softly, sibling pride in her voice.
“Buffy's really good at history and science,” Dick countered.
“I can't wait to see,” Bruce replied with a kind smile, charmed by the twins promoting each other. “Is there anything else you like to do?”
“Trapeze,” came the immediate response from both children.
“We like tumbling and I like to spend time with Zitka,” Dick admitted.
“I like to spend time with Anaya,” Buffy added. “And we both do swords and fencing every day with Mr. Pierre.”
“Yeah,” Dick agreed. “Mr. Pierre said we would be a challenge for him in a few years.”
Bruce chuckled assuming that whoever Mr. Pierre was, he had been humoring the kids. Still, he knew fencing and, thanks to his training prior to becoming Batman, he knew his way around a sword as well. Maybe it was something they could do together to burn off some energy. He had a feeling from what he'd seen before the show that night that these two, after getting over their initial shock, would need a lot more to do than the inside of the manor currently offered. He also made a mental note to discuss with them boundaries and why they couldn't go outside. He might also have to see about having some changes made so Alfred wouldn't leave him or worse, deliberately burn his food in retaliation for leaving him with the twins while he was at work. Maybe they could find a nanny to watch them during the day? Shaking his head at those thoughts, he focused back on the twins. “I'll see what I can do about getting training swords to fit you. I have a gym area in the house with enough room to practice. Who are Zitka and Anaya?”
For the first time since earlier that night, Dick and Buffy's eyes brightened. “Zitka is the best elephant in the whole world,” Dick explained.
“Anaya is the cougar at the circus. She's my friend,” Buffy informed.
Bruce had blinnked at the explanation about Zitka. He had, after all, seen elephants put to work and around people on his travels, but cougars were an entirely different issue and somewhat worrying. “I see,” he responded slowly, processing the information. The information did give him some insight into the kids and reinforced to him that they had not grown up as normal children. In fact, their lives, now that he thought about it, made his almost normal. Clearing his throat, he mentioned, “We have bedrooms prepared for you across the hall from each other in the family wing. My room is there as well. The manor is pretty big and it's getting late, so we'll just show you how to find the kitchen and the bedrooms tonight and give you a more complete tour tomorrow, OK?”
The children nodded their agreement, their grief and shock were wearing off just enough to make them exhausted.
By the time Alfred pulled up in front of the manor, he wasn't sure if either of them had their eyes open. Still, as promised, they showed the twins where the kitchen was and then led them up to the rooms that had been hastily prepared for them. When they assured the men they would be able to get ready for bed themselves, Bruce and Alfred walked to Bruce's room to have a quiet discussion about that night. Bruce needed to go out and gather what information he could about Tony Zucco and what happened at the Circus.
After what they deemed sufficient time, the two men headed back to the twins' rooms to check on them. Looking first in Buffy's room, they saw the light off, but no child in the bed. A little worried, they exchanged a look and opened the door to Dick's room. There they saw the two children, huddled together in the middle of the bed, holding tight to one another.
End
Author: Beriaearwen
Crossover: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Batman
Characters: Bruce, Buffy, Dick, Alfred
Rating: Suitable for all ages
Word Count:
Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Mutant Enemy, etc. The characters of Batman belong to DC Comics, etc. All are used here without permission.
Related Stories: A Different Start, Bringing Down The house
Notes: Just a short addition to this tale. On a different note, with 3 days left of writing in this year's challenge, if there is anything that you would like to see continued/added to, please let me know and I'll see what my muse is willing to do.
The Grayson twins huddled together in the back seat, as close as their booster seats would allow them, holding hands and drawing comfort from one another. Buffy seemed to finally build up the courage to ask a question. “Mr. Wayne?” she asked quietly. “What will happen to our stuff? Our pictures and... and... “ she cut herself off as tears welled in her eyes.
“I'll find out and get it for you,” Bruce promised hastily, panic rising at the sight of the tears. Tears were not something he knew how to handle. “And you can call me Bruce.” He watched the twins nod in agreement. “So, um, what grade are you in?” he asked, trying to find a neutral, child-friendly topic with which to distract them. He really needed to read up on this. Two kids shouldn't have him this thrown.
Dick shrugged. “We don't really have grades. We just have classes. Mami and Tati,” here his voice wavered and breath caught. Buffy squeezed his hand and he continued, “Mami and Tati and some of the others would teach us on the computer.”
“Dick's really good at math and languages,” Buffy added softly, sibling pride in her voice.
“Buffy's really good at history and science,” Dick countered.
“I can't wait to see,” Bruce replied with a kind smile, charmed by the twins promoting each other. “Is there anything else you like to do?”
“Trapeze,” came the immediate response from both children.
“We like tumbling and I like to spend time with Zitka,” Dick admitted.
“I like to spend time with Anaya,” Buffy added. “And we both do swords and fencing every day with Mr. Pierre.”
“Yeah,” Dick agreed. “Mr. Pierre said we would be a challenge for him in a few years.”
Bruce chuckled assuming that whoever Mr. Pierre was, he had been humoring the kids. Still, he knew fencing and, thanks to his training prior to becoming Batman, he knew his way around a sword as well. Maybe it was something they could do together to burn off some energy. He had a feeling from what he'd seen before the show that night that these two, after getting over their initial shock, would need a lot more to do than the inside of the manor currently offered. He also made a mental note to discuss with them boundaries and why they couldn't go outside. He might also have to see about having some changes made so Alfred wouldn't leave him or worse, deliberately burn his food in retaliation for leaving him with the twins while he was at work. Maybe they could find a nanny to watch them during the day? Shaking his head at those thoughts, he focused back on the twins. “I'll see what I can do about getting training swords to fit you. I have a gym area in the house with enough room to practice. Who are Zitka and Anaya?”
For the first time since earlier that night, Dick and Buffy's eyes brightened. “Zitka is the best elephant in the whole world,” Dick explained.
“Anaya is the cougar at the circus. She's my friend,” Buffy informed.
Bruce had blinnked at the explanation about Zitka. He had, after all, seen elephants put to work and around people on his travels, but cougars were an entirely different issue and somewhat worrying. “I see,” he responded slowly, processing the information. The information did give him some insight into the kids and reinforced to him that they had not grown up as normal children. In fact, their lives, now that he thought about it, made his almost normal. Clearing his throat, he mentioned, “We have bedrooms prepared for you across the hall from each other in the family wing. My room is there as well. The manor is pretty big and it's getting late, so we'll just show you how to find the kitchen and the bedrooms tonight and give you a more complete tour tomorrow, OK?”
The children nodded their agreement, their grief and shock were wearing off just enough to make them exhausted.
By the time Alfred pulled up in front of the manor, he wasn't sure if either of them had their eyes open. Still, as promised, they showed the twins where the kitchen was and then led them up to the rooms that had been hastily prepared for them. When they assured the men they would be able to get ready for bed themselves, Bruce and Alfred walked to Bruce's room to have a quiet discussion about that night. Bruce needed to go out and gather what information he could about Tony Zucco and what happened at the Circus.
After what they deemed sufficient time, the two men headed back to the twins' rooms to check on them. Looking first in Buffy's room, they saw the light off, but no child in the bed. A little worried, they exchanged a look and opened the door to Dick's room. There they saw the two children, huddled together in the middle of the bed, holding tight to one another.
End