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“Do we really have to do this?” grumbled Danny as he fidgeted with the sleeves of his dark blue sweater. Sam had dragged him to Gotham, insisting that he needed a break from being Phantom. At first, he resisted, but then Sam did the unthinkable—she told the Fentons. Next thing he knew, he was at the airport, watching the GAV speed away, with Maddie wishing him to ‘have fun on his trip.’ One of these days, he would make his goth girlfriend pay for this transgression.
The true reason for going to Gotham became clear when Sam planned a double date with a girl she had met at ‘Socialite Camp,’ the place her parents had made her attend. It was something that both the Manson couple and Sam had agreed on after many family therapy sessions that Grandma Ida had forced them into, though surprisingly, it improved their relationship. Sam didn’t give him the details of what had happened at camp, but he knew her well enough—especially after seeing how pale the Manson couple looked weeks after her return. He could only suspect she and her new friend Nika had caused some chaos.
“Danny, you need to relax. A double date night is a must! Plus, you’re finally going to meet Nika and her boyfriend. Can you do this for me?” Sam said, giving him one of her rare, gentle smiles. That was just plain unfair, as she knew he couldn't think straight when she revealed this sweet side of hers beneath the sarcasm and goth aesthetics. Danny sighed and mumbled something in Arabic. That was his way of surrendering.
“Good! Let me finish my makeup. Wait for me in the lobby.” Sam stated and banished him from their shared hotel room. Danny grumbled and pouted as he took the elevator down to the lobby, where he found an empty fancy couch and sat there. He took out his cell phone and started texting the others.
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ShrodiggersBoy: Why am I doing this?
TFINE: Because you thought it was a great idea to date the rich goth girl.
RHuntrix: Because you thought it was a great idea to date the rich goth girl.
CassandraCurse: Because you thought it was a great idea to date the rich goth girl.
BetterMiniMe: Because you thought it was a great idea to date the rich goth girl.
BrainCell: Because you thought it was a great idea to date the rich goth girl.
ShrodiggersBoy: Geez, I feel your sympathies from all the way here, guys.
TFine: Come on, Danny, it can’t be all bad. You are in Batman’s city, and you might finally get to meet him if you're lucky.
RHuntrix: Or unlucky.
BetterMiniMe: Can’t believe that Jack and Maddie didn’t let you near Batman.
ShrodiggersBoy: It's mostly because they don’t trust the bat/vampire theme vigilante after I told them about Plasmius. At least Val got to meet him in person. To be in your shoes, Red.
RHuntrix: Well, surprising to see the JL finally helping us deal with GIW. Who knew that they were a rogue government agency? We can applaud our resident hacker for his feat of hacking into the Wachtower mid-meeting to send a message.
BetterMiniMe: Clap clap clap 🎉
TFine: Thank you, thank you, ladies, gentlemen, and ghost boy. It was a hard battle that will go down in our history books.
RHuntrix: Still surprised that Batman didn’t track your scrawny ass for hacking into their servers.
TFine: I wipe my signal cleanly, so he'd better work harder to find me.
CassandraCurse: Famous Last Words, Foley.
BetterMiniMe: :)
BrainCell: Going to save this for a reference of hubris.
ShrodiggersBoy: Anyway, just waiting for MY RICH GOTH GIRL to get ready for our double date.
BrainCell: Remember to be nice, Danny. You might be able to add more to your small friend group by the end of your trip.
ShrodiggersBoy: I know, I know, I know, MOM! But it still feels off being away from Amity…
RHuntrix: Don’t you worry your pretty little head, ghost boy. We got this.
BetterMiniMe: Yeah, Val and I are handling things back home. You just relax and spend your romantic trip with your goth sugar momma.
TFine: LOL
ShrodiggersBoy: Fuck you and bye!
BrainCell: DANNY!
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“I’m ready, Danny.” Sam was wearing what Danny could call goth casual. Black knee-length dress with mesh sleeves, ankle boots, and black crew socks. She had gone light with the makeup and opted for a ring choker. It gave her a softer look, but it was goth enough.
“You look great, Omir.” Danny softly grabbed her by the hand and kissed it. Sam giggled softly as she fixed his hair. “You as well, Hayaty.” Danny taught her some Arabic when they started dating, to the point that she could speak it fluently. So they decided to give each other pet names using his language. It was uniquely them.
They were too distracted to notice a paparazzo taking a pic.
“TT This is ridiculous.” Damian scoffed as he looked at Nikka, Flatline, his on/off girlfriend, who only smiled in a mischievous way that may or may not have his heart skip a beat. “Come on, Ice Prince, it will be fun. We both know that you will have been spending your days off brooding in your room if I hadn’t made this plan.” Nikka was unfazed by the glare her vegetarian boyfriend was giving her while they waited for Alfred to bring the car out. It was good that she went straight to Bruce and Alfred to let them know her plans. With their consent and Alfred staring, Damian begrudgingly agreed to go on the double date with Flatline’s newest friend, who was surprisingly a civilian. Damian didn’t want to admit that he was a little jealous of how easily Nikka managed to make friends compared to him. At least he was able to get his father to book the entire restaurant for themselves for privacy.
“Your friend's name is Samantha Manson, right?”
“Yup! Better call her Sam, though. She wasn’t a fan of being government-named in that Socialite Camp. I will not be surprised that most of the chaos done that day was out of spite.” Flatline sounded so proud about it. Damian didn’t get a full report of what happened, and when he tried to dig deeper, she would just kiss him stupid and coyly say, “What happens in Socialite Camp, stays in Socialite Camp, my prince.” He was in formal wear with a green turtle neck shirt and black slacks, while she was in a black mock-neck tank top with a chain leather jacket, black skinny jeans, and combat boots.
“Duty noted.” Damian blankly said. Alfred had already driven the car to the front, so they cut their conversation short and drove to the restaurant. Damian started to check on the messenger coming from the bat group chat.
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TheBloodSon: Why am I doing this?
FlyingWingWonder: Because you thought it was a great idea to date a social goth.
DeadRedRevenger: Because you thought it was a great idea to date a social goth.
DetectiveT: Because you thought it was a great idea to date a social goth.
ThePurpleMenace: Because you thought it was a great idea to date a social goth.
EyesInTheSky: Because you thought it was a great idea to date a social goth.
LightandShadow: Because you thought it was a great idea to date a social goth.
SilentDancer: 💀🎵🍆🧠
DeadRedRevenger: Cass, I don’t think that emoji meant what you thought it meant.
SilentDancer: ❓🍆
ThePurpleMenance: Nah, you fine, Cassy?
TheBloodSon: TT I can feel your care from here.
FlyingWingWonder: I can't help with your sarcasm, Dami. It will be great for you.
DeadRedRevenger: Yeah, demon brat, you need to act your age once in a while. Nika is going to help you make more human friends. Maybe your heart will grow three sizes larger by the end.
TheBloodSon: I will stab you, Todd.
DeadRedRevenger: No, you won’t. Alfie will be disappointed if you do.
TheBloodSon: TT
FlyingWingWonder: Come on, little bird, it will be fine.
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“We’re here!” Damian heard Nika shout when the car stopped at Tony’s Bistro. Based on how empty it was, that meant they were the first to get here. He let out a sigh as he got out of the car with Nika. She wraps her arms around his right arm as they enter the place first. The manager kept it professional with the greeting and led them to their table, handing a menu with a great selection of vegetarian options. He and Nika started with ordering appetizers.
“I’ll be heading to the bathroom for a moment,” Damian stated. He wanted to have a moment alone to mentally prepare to meet the friend and the friend’s boyfriend. Maybe to talk himself out of ditching the date altogether by climbing out of the bathroom window.
“My and I thought it was the woman who needed to powder their face, rich boy,” she teased.
“TT” was what he could say in response as he stood from his seat and headed to the bathroom. Minutes after he left, is when the doors opened as Sam stepped in alone.
“Hey, Sam over here!” Nika called out to her friend. Sam let out a half-chuckle as she approached her friend and hugged her. “It’s been a while, Nika. I like what you're wearing.” Sam complimented her friend’s date outfit. Nika observes her bestie's clothes and lets out a whistle, “What about you, witchy? You went with the soft goth, I see. It suits you.”
“Yeah, you and Danny agree. Speaking about boyfriends, where’s your vegetarian prince?”
“Ah, you just missed him; he just went to freshen up in the bathroom. What about yours?”
“Paying the cab driver, he insisted.” Danny’s love language was acts of service, so he insisted on paying for transportation while allowing her to pay for the hotel and activities. It was an interesting way to entertain themselves while flying to Gotham.
“What a gentleman.” Nika teased.
“Uh…thanks,” Nika will never admit that she jumped when she heard a male voice respond to her, and when she looked for the source, she won’t admit that her heart stuttered when she saw a boy who looked like Damian. Well, if Damian were a lighter shade, had blue eyes, and was closely suspiciously lean, their genetic appearance would be to the Wayne bloodline with a hint of the al ghoul sprinkle here and there. Her first instinct was a Damian clone, but she knew her idol, Talia, would never let loose something that was not a perfect clone of her son. She wasn’t as smart as the Bats, but she was able to come to her conclusion. She decided to go with a wait-and-see approach. Her dear boyfriend was hiding secrets from her, and she would not forgive him.
She schooled her expression quickly, “Oh, is this the one and only Danny. The one you pine for during our adventure in Socialite Camp?” She dropped that and smiled like a cat who caught the canary as the couple blushed heavily. “Nika, shut up.” Sam choked out as Danny let out a sharp intake. Danny recovered quickly and realized what the other goth girl meant, and responded in kind. “Oh, is that so, my omir?” he grabbed her from behind in a hug. “I feel so special knowing that your heart grows fonder with the distance in time between us,” he waxed poetically, making the other blush. Nika couldn’t help but laugh and coo at how cute a couple her friend and not-a-Damian-clone made.
“TT, I was away for a moment, and this place became a love fest.” All eyes stared back to see Damian Wayne had returned, looking at them completely unimpressed. That is, until his green meant that familiar blue that haunted his dreams. The fun was suck out of the room as the two look-alikes stared at each other for a couple of seconds. Seconds for the ex-assassin to realize who he was seeing and for the halfa to mentally say ‘Oh Sugar Honey Ice Tea, that's Dami’ before letting go of his goth girlfriend and fleeing, or he tried to flee out of the Bistro’s door, forgetting who the other person was. Damian made a quick move to block Danny’s path. This started a cat-and-mouse game between the two. And at the center of the whole mess, the two goths just stare at the chaos, one with confusion and worry, while the other with manic glee. Nika guided Sam, her bestie, to the table in the middle of the ordeal just in time for the appetizers, which were popcorn shrimp for her and faux popcorn shrimp that were made using king oyster mushroom stems.
“Oooh, we are getting a dinner and a show. I knew it was a great idea to drag Damian into this double date.” She laughed as she popped a shrimp into her mouth. Sam was concerned at first, but it dawned on her that the other boy wasn’t going to harm her and started to eat, watching how Danny skillfully dodged every grapple and jump away from any tripping attempts. He wasn’t using any ghost powers, most likely due to forgetting to use them at the time.
“You made me believe you were dead!”
“Dami, please understa-”
“You made Jason worried.”
“It’s complicated!”
“I’m dragging you home!”
“I’m not going back to LoA.”
“I meant we are going to Father’s house.”
“Father!?” Danny's confusion was the opening that Damian was looking for, as he used it to finally tackle the other. They proceed to wriggle on the floor. Sam had had enough.
“Ok, ok, ok, girls, that's enough from both of you. We are here for a double date, not this telenovela drama of long lost twins.” Sam clapped as she reprimanded the fighting duo.
“Yeah, Dami, Alfie would be so disappointed at you.” Nika laughed as she downed her soda as if it were a shot. Damian glared at her, but stood up and fixed himself as much as he could. Then he grabbed Danny’s hand and squeezed it as a way to confirm to himself that his twin was there and alive. Danny squeezed back in response, happy to know that his twin was away from the death cult. They sat down as the wait staff fixed the chairs and table into place, all too familiar with what had happened since anything could happen when one does business in Gotham. With that, the double date proceeded with great fanfare, and Damian and Danny got the entire story of what happened in Socialite Camp, which had Danny laughing and Damian face-palming on the sheer stupidity of the campers and a newfound respect for his twin brother’s chosen paramour. When it was time to leave, Damian forcefully got Danny to agree to hitch a ride with him to the hotel he and Sam were staying at, with a promise of brunch the next morning.
Alfred didn’t seem to be surprised when Damian asked him to give a ride to the other couple. He was surprised to see Damian holding hands with a boy who looked like a mini Bruce with a little. He put two and two together, “I presume that master Bruce has no idea about this?” Damian looked away sheepishly and gave a quick note of what happened. Alfred was not impressed.
“I will not speak of this, but you must tell master Bruce about master Danny's existence tomorrow.” Damian could only nod in agreement.
“I hope to see you often, then, Master Danny,” Danny mumbled in approval. Alfred drove the couple back to their hotel, Damian never letting go of his brother's hand throughout the drive.
“Geez, sweetheart,t if you keep holding his hand, I will start thinking that you and your long lost twin are the couple.” Nika teased, but Damian knew that she was mostly happy for him, and she would most likely ask questions once they were alone. He will stall her, but he knew his girlfriend had a way of making him spill with little to no effort. He wouldn’t lie and say he was looking forward to their battle of wills.
Compared to his twin, Danny was more open about his past with Sam, but he had the language skills to avoid letting her know about the whole Batman is my father by making it look like Sam had him spill the information.
It was a normal morning in the Wayne household. Surprise since the whole family was in the manor for breakfast. Even Jason, who would rather fight Condiment King than be there in the mornings, was here and helping Alfred with the cooking. Bruce was reading the newspaper at the same time, keeping an eye on his kids. Everyone was chatting about last night’s patrol while Tim was scrolling through the tabloids for anything that happened in their civilian lives. He also noticed that Damian was giving him hesitant looks as if he wanted to tell him something important. Alfred also seemed to notice the youngest conundrum and decided to lend a hand.
“Master Bruce, it appears that young master Damian wants to tell you something important.” It was loud enough to make the others quiet down, and even Tim gave a curious look at Damian, his fingers still scrolling down.
“What’s wrong, chum?” Bruce started giving the youngest space to speak up.
“Father, there was something you didn’t know about my time at the league… something that Mother made me not speak about…” Damian was nervous, which was a rare thing to see. Now, everyone had their eyes glued to the situation.
“Father… I was-”
“Damian Clone on the tabloids,” Tim announced. But the moment everyone snapped their heads to the CEO for ruining the moment, Damian was on him, yanking the phone from his hands and getting far away to look at the picture in the tabloids. It said, “Like father, like son: Damian Wayne on a Date!” The article was made last night, and Damian recognized his twin brother and his girlfriend in the lobby of their hotel.
“Fuck!” That was all that the young Wayne child could say. No one corrected him since they were surprised that the always proper speaker, Damian Wayne, swore.
Damian flinched but quickly composed himself, acting as if they didn’t see him drop the f-bomb and stare them down as he let out a sigh. “I think it will be best for everyone to sit down. Especially you, Jason.”
Somewhere in Gotham, in a fancy hotel room. A rich goth girl got her money's worth for buying a room with good soundproofing, as she enjoyed herself laughing as her half-alive boyfriend, now confirmed son of Gotham royalty, screamed into the room.
“FUCK!”