Chapter Text
Danny took a flute of champagne and gulped down at once before anyone noticed that a fifteen-year-old was drinking. He needed it to get through this gala. Besides, it’s not as if alcohol truly affected him. He could drink the whole lot of champagne that was being given out, and all it would do was make him tipsy.
Stupid halfa biology.
Why was he at a gala?
Well, it’s because he was an idiot with a bleeding heart.
After Vlad told him about his lost son, a silent agreement passed between them; they stopped hunting each other down, and Vlad stopped being a creep. He showed Danny the only picture he had of his son. Danny could admit it, at least to himself, that Vlad’s son looked a bit like Danny’s baby pictures.
That didn’t mean he was ready to be the man’s son. They settled on godson instead. Hey, at least he had the word ‘son’ in it. Damn, he had thought the word so many times now it didn’t even sound like a word anymore.
Vlad had been invited to a Wayne Gala. The first one after years of trying to do business with Bruce Wayne. Unfortunately, something had come up that only the mayor of Amity Park could solve. So, after getting a promise from Vlad that he wouldn’t overshadow Bruce Wayne and he was trying to do legitimate business with the man, Danny had been guilted into coming to the gala as a representative of Dalv Co.
Ugh, that’s what he got for deciding to let Vlad name him his heir. After being there for only thirty minutes, he wished he had said no.
Still, Danny knew the actual reason Vlad wanted to do any business with Bruce Wayne was to find out what happened to Jason. How could Danny say no to that when the man wanted to find out what happened to his son? He wasn’t heartless and, putting their past behind them, Danny thought Vlad deserved some closure. So here he was, enduring extreme torture to help a man who once hunted him down.
Whatever, he took another flute of champagne and drank it in one go.
“You are definitely not legal enough to be drinking that,” a deep voice said behind him.
He turned around and faced a walking brick wall. The man was huge! He had black hair with a white streak and unsettling green eyes. He wore a red suit that fit him perfectly. He had a shit eating grin spread across his handsome but scarred face.
Something about the man looked vaguely familiar, and he was giving off some weird vibes.
Danny scowled at him.
“Yeah, what are you gonna do about? You don’t look legal yourself.”
And he didn’t. If one were to take away his bulk and look at his face, it was easy to see he was still a teenager. Maybe twenty, maybe.
The guy smirked, took a champagne flute, and drank it in one go.
“Maybe you’re right. It’ll be our little secret.”
He looked Danny up and down, making Danny feel like a worm that was being dissected.
“So, who are you? I’ve been to many of these galas and never seen you.”
“Why do you care?”
The guy shrugged, “Just curious, I guess. Well, nice meeting you.”
He patted Danny on the shoulder, then winked and walked off. Weirdo.
Danny decided to walk around. Many of the guests looked down on him. After all, most of these people were old money. They didn’t associate with the nouveau riche, such as Vlad Masters, and those who did talk to Danny were the aforementioned nouveau riche trying to make connections.
Ugh, Danny hated business talk. Still, he did what Vlad taught him. He laughed at jokes and gave a fake smile.
After another half hour, Danny decided to loiter around the snack table. He looked around as he munched on a cucumber sandwich.
His real target was Bruce Wayne. He wanted to establish some connection with the man. Vlad hadn’t asked explicitly told him to do so, but Danny knew Vlad would appreciate it. Still, it was hard to find the man. Maybe he’d get lucky and Wayne would come to him.
He snorted.
Yeah, right, the Prince of Gotham had better things to do than talk to some random teenager.
Danny sighed and bit into a shrimp. This was gonna be hard.
Danny was eyeing the champagne again when a voice introducing Bruce Wayne came over unseen speakers.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, I would like to announce your host for this charity gala for underprivileged youth, Bruce Wayne.”
Polite claps went around. Danny decided to step away from the snack table and go to the crowd. He pushed himself to the front and saw Bruce Wayne standing at a podium. So, this was the infamous Bruce Wayne—Jason Master’s Todd’s adopted father.
“Thank you all for coming today and for donating. I want to admit, though, that there is another reason for this gala. As many of you know, I have children—both adopted and biological—and I have, unfortunately, lost one of my children. Or so I thought.”
Murmurs started in the crowd, and Danny felt a chill go down his spine.
“A few years ago, my son, Jason Todd-Wayne, went to Ethiopia and was presumed dead in a terrorist attack. A while back, we found out that Jason had not been killed, but had been caught up in an explosion and suffered amnesia. He came back to us.”
The murmurs in the crowd got louder. Danny felt he was going to faint.
“I would like to reintroduce my son, Jason Peter Todd-Wayne, alive and well. Jason, lad, come out here.”
From the side, the guy in the red suit walked up to the podium and stood beside Bruce Wayne. He gave a smile to the crowd and hugged Wayne.
Danny’s heart was pounding.
Jason Peter Todd-Wayne was alive.
Vlad’s son hadn’t died.
Vlad was going to freak.