Damian Wayne was annoyed.
His brothers were being absolute pains in the backside, and his father was away on a business trip. Because he wasn't there, they were off patrol until he returned. So he was bored out of his brains. It was slightly unfair that his brother, Richard, got to go out on patrol and tell their mysterious new partner of Batman's absence. He had yet to meet their new partner, but by what his father said, apparently it was a girl and she was a meta.
So walking through the school halls he was annoyed, and very tired from staying up late thinking. His ever present scowl made kids steer clear of him. Well, all except one kid.
So when he stopped at his locker and opened it he was surprised by the light tapping on his shoulder. Whirling around he spotted the only person who could truly brighten his day. Mercury Faith.
" My, my, what has you so down in the dumps, Dami?" Inquired Mercury with a grin.
" Nothing, at least not anymore," Damian answered cheekily.
Mercury winked at him with her one eye and then she handed him a slip of paper.
" What's this?" She asked curiously.
" If you accept, then it's the time that I will be picking you up from your house. My parents want to meet the boy they saw me kiss, so they are inviting you to dinner," Mercury explained, with a mischievous spark in her eye.
Damian felt his heart thud in fear.
" Will they like me? Won't it be a tad awkward?" Damian asked nervously.
Mercury put a hand on his shoulder and laughed brightly.
" Oh it won't be awkward, my Dutch and Romanian family are both in America to visit my mother for her birthday today. All my cousins are bringing dates, and I was hoping that you'd be mine. Besides, my parents really want to meet you," Mercury soothed, a smile still clear on her face.

At the end of the day, Damian went home to change in to something other than his Gotham Academy uniform. After telling Alfred where he was going, an ignoring the elbowing his brothers did at the mention of meeting her parents, he finally stood at the door of Wayne Manor, looking out the windows in waiting. He was sixteen years old, for goodness sakes, why was he so nervous about meeting parents?! Damian Wayne was never nervous.
The roar of a motorcycle made him turn in surprise. Stopping in front of the door was a sleek black motorcycle, that was a bit of an old model, but was still a beauty. The figure in a black helmet and a black leather jacket hopped off the bike. He felt his breath catch in his throat as the figure took of the black helmet and dark brown hair spilled out from under the helmet. Mercury's face peered towards the door as she started to walk over.
Damian hurriedly opened the door, clutching the blue papered present close to his chest.
" Hey Dami! You ready to leave?" Asked Mercury happily.
Damian tried to speak but his voice failed him, he'd never seen her out of her Gotham uniform, and as she stood there in her leather jacket, her black pants and black boots, he almost forgot how to breathe.
" Uh, yeah, of course I'm ready. I didn't know that you could ride a motorcycle!" Damian commented when he could speak again.
" Sure I can, just got my licence last year! Can you ride?" Asked Mercury.
" Yep, I've been riding motorcycles for years. Bruce taught me," Damian murmured.
" Good then! You can drive while I direct you to my place. My feet are killing me on those darn pedals!" Mercury said, with a sigh of relief.
" You trust me? You trust me to keep you safe?" Damian checked, looking forward to driving the beautiful motorcycle.
Chucking the keys at him, Mercury handed him her leather riding jacket.
" Of course I trust you, Dami, now why don't you hop on and I'll jump on once you're ready?" Suggested Mercury, gesturing to the vehicle.
Nodding eagerly, Damian got on, out the leather jacket on and starting the engine. She grinned and produced another helmet, that was dark grey. He put the present box in the compartment on the back and waited as Mercury skilfully got on the back. Turning around, he handed her the wool coat he'd been wearing before the leather jacket.
" Can't have you catching a chill," Damian chuckled.
Mercury snorted in laughter as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
" Just drive, Wayne," She said in mock severity, void muffled by the helmet.
Damian laughed aloud as he revved the engine and drove along towards the streets of Gotham, revelling in the stunning girl clinging to him with a death grip as he passed the speed limit on the country roads to Gotham city.

As they revved to a stop outside an old apartment complex, Damian got off and helped Mercury down as well. They traded jackets again and put the helmets away in the proper compartment.
" Prepare yourself, Wayne, this is going to be the most nerve inducing night of your life. Nothing can prepare you for a family birthday party in the Faith family," Mercury warned jokingly, and yet something about her expression told him that he didn't quite believe that it was a joke.
" Beware my brothers," Mercury whispered mischievously as she rang the doorbell to the right apartment.
Damian chucked down his rising nerves and stood close to Mercury as the door was suddenly thrust open sharply, almost torn off its hinges and four young men with dark brown hair leapt out of the room.
Mercury squeaked in surprise as she was smothered by the combined crushing hug of all four men. They looked to be in their early twenties and two of them looked so remarkably similar in the fact that they could only be twins.
Damian didn't know what to do, and just stood there awkwardly, mentally berating himself for not asking Richard if there was some sort of traditional greeting to do when meeting Romanian relatives.
Mercury finally managed to squirm out of the hug and glared in mock severity at the four young men whose smiles were incredibly wide.
" John, Jackson, James, Jupiter, it's nice to see you too, but could you not crush me before I enter the apartment?" Mercury asked in exasperation.
The four men laughed at the exact same time, making Damian feel like he wanted to phase through the floor, like Richard's friend Meghan could. Maybe her warning from before wasn't so unfounded?
" Little Sis! We haven't seen you in ages! When mami and Tati asked us to come to the party and we brought our families with us we were so excited to see you again!" The guy pointed out to be, James cried in a booming, heavily accented voice.
" I've missed you guys too," Mercury sighed, opening her arms wide.
Instantly the four men, who Damian realised were her brothers, all hugged her tight yet again, and Mercury tried in vain to breathe as the air was crushed out of her.
Damian shuddered as the men finished hugging their sister and stood back. He could see that under their different coloured formal shirts, they were all incredibly muscled. Bruce would have been impressed. Damian was just intimidated.
" Who's the boy little sis? You finally bag yourself a guy?" Asked John, pointing out Damian.
Damian plastered on a friendly and confident smile as stood as tall as he could, which wasn't very tall since he was naturally short.
The four brothers all eyed him critically, eyes narrowed and arms crossed. Jupiter pulled Mercury a little closer to him.
Clearing his throat, Damian decided now was the time to make an impression.
" Hi, I'm Damian Wayne, Mercury's friend from school," Damian greeted, offering his hand for a handshake.
No one shook it and he awkwardly let it drop to his side.
Mercury glared at her brothers as they all took a few steps closer to Damian, looking over him threateningly. Even after facing Gotham's worst villains, he could honestly say that he was more nervous than ever before.
" Friend?" Asked Jackson in his deep throaty voice.
" Well...... we are a bit more than friends......." Damian rephrased nervously.
" Oh, so you'd been checking out out little sister, have you?" James inquired icily.
Damian felt his heart thudding madly but relief hit him as Mercury intervened.
" Hey guys! Stop messing with Damian, you'll scare him off. Besides, I can judge my own dates thank you! So quit interrogating him before he's even stepped inside!" Mercury scolded, her face showing a protective ferocity he hadn't seen in her before.
Damian shot her a glance that showed his gratitude as the men all stood back and smiled at their sister again.
" We want to make sure you're okay little sis, now I think there's a whole lot of relatives in there who would be very eager to meet Damian here," Jupiter consoled, putting an arm around Mercury.
With a sigh she led the way inside and Damian followed close behind her, just as John leant down and whispered in his ear.
" You hurt her, and we will come all the way from Romania and track you down. But hey, no hard feelings huh?" Jackson hissed in his ear.
Damian nodded profusely and stayed close to Mercury.
She looped an arm through his as they entered an apartment that could only have belonged to lovers of space.
All the decorations were planets and glow in the dark stars. In the small but posh apartment crammed at least fifty people, half were light brown and blonde haired with blue eyes, while the rest were dark brown and black haired. All eyes turned to see Mercury and Damian enter with the brothers and Damian yet again felt his heart thud wildly.
" MERCURY!" Yelled a cacophony of voices all at once.
Instantly there were men, women, teenagers and children swarming the two of them, hugging them and clapping them on the back heartily. The normally antisocial Damian was very embarrassed with the amount of hugs he was receiving and the kisses of older women who kissed his cheek affectionately in greeting, causing him to grimace.
The names introduced to him went in one ear and straight out the other and he found it incredibly add to remember anyone.
When everyone had greeted them, Mercury led Damian over to a quiet side of the room as the relatives talked amongst themselves again.
" I am so sorry, I didn't know my brothers would be so protective, and my family are just so wild and crazy. I'm sorry if you feel so awkward," Mercury apologised profusely, gazing at him in anguish.
" No, no, Mercury, I don't mind. Your brothers scare me, but I know they just love you a lot, and your family are really nice, there are so many though!" Damian confided.
" I should have warned you," Mercury sighed sadly.
" No, no, I'm here with a beautiful girl in a beautiful outfit, and I'm meeting a loving family. I wouldn't care if I were in a sewer system, if only I was with you," Damian consoled, looping his am around hers again.
" You really are a sweet talker aren't you," Mercury murmured quietly as she leant in and kissed him on the lips.
She hugged him tight before suddenly her gaze was reverted to someone standing behind him.
" Mercury dear, this must be the boy you were kissing the other night," A beautiful voice said casually.
Damian and and Mercury turned to face a man and a woman who were staring at them curiously.
The woman was beautiful, and looked a lot like Mercury, except that she wore a pair of glasses and a blue knit sweater. The man with her was seriously tall and immensely strong looking, he also wore a similar pair of glasses around his short dark brown hair.
" Yes mami, Tati, meet Damian Wayne," Mercury introduced.
" Hi Mr and Mrs Faith, happy birthday Mrs Faith," Damian greeted.
Mr Faith shook his hand, his strong grip almost seeming to squeeze the life out of Damian's poor hand.
" Oh thank you dear, it's so nice to meet the boy our little Mercury has been fantasising about this last month," Mrs Faith gushed, giving him a small hug.
Damian raised an eyebrow at that, and turned to face a very embarrassed looking Mercury, whose cheeks were turning an adorable shade of pink.
" Thank you Mrs Faith, for letting me come to your birthday celebration. I uh, got you a gift," Damian murmured with a small smile.
Mrs Faith accepted the gift box and opened it to see the bottle of perfume that Mercury said was her favourite type.
" That's mighty thoughtful of you, Damian, thank you," Thanked Mr Faith, his voice deep and rumbling.
Damian looked up at his face, hating how short he was and gave him a smile.
Mrs Faith grinned happily and hugged him again, before excising herself to place the bottle somewhere safe. Mr Faith looked around the room and grimaced.
" Hope you aren't too put off by all the relatives, lad, I think that all the uncles and my boys might come off as a bit over protective and threatening at first but once they see that you have no intention of hurting their Little Mercury they're as nice as any men," Murmured Mr Faith, his gaze sweeping the room before resting on Damian again.
" Oh they're fine, Mr Faith, they seem like good men," Damian murmured, still unnerved by the protective glances being shit his way by most of the men in the room.
" Oh come on Tati, you know they're just surprised that I actually brought a guy along," Mercury sighed, shooting her brothers a glare.

Throughout the rest of the night, Damian actually had an amazing time. He quickly realised that the Dutch and Romanian relatives were incredibly friendly and very interesting. Most of the men were tall and strong bodied, while a lot of the woman were petit and small. Except for Mercury, who was broad shouldered like her father.
They were so nice now that they had established that Damian wasn't going to be hurting Mercury any time soon. Now that they were on good terms, he found it easy to talk to them, even if they were a bit fiesty, but then again, they were all a bit awkward around Americans, and hoping to get home soon.
When Mercury and Damian reached Wayne Manor, and hopped off the motorcycle, Damian was actually sad that the night was ending.
And yet the kiss that they shared made it all worth it.
They stood there kissing under the stars until someone cleared their throat behind them. Turning they saw all of Damian's brothers standing there.
" Ummm, hi guys. Nice night huh?" Mercury asked awkwardly, when they noticed the onlookers.
" Didn't think that you and Dami noticed," Sniggered Tim.
Damian glared at him before Mercury kissed him again, not caring about their audience. In that moment, Damian didn't care either.