"They did what?!"

Dick Grayson was furious. No, he was absolutely livid. 

He paced angrily back and forth as he tried to keep his anger under control, thinking of the information he had just been given. 

On the other side of the room, Bruce Wayne frowned, thinking of the phone call he had received just hours before that was the reason behind the tension that was growing within the room.

******

"Hello? Mr. Wayne?"

"Miss Kramer," Bruce greeted from over the phone, a frown showing his confusion. "I wasn't expecting a call from you so soon."

Bruce had asked her to keep tabs on Mar'i, like the concerned grandfather he was, but he certainly hadn't been expecting a phone call so soon. He was pretty sure that the flight had only even landed a few hours before. How much trouble can one French class get into within that time frame?

Then again, it is Gotham.

"Ah, yes, well," the newly dubbed Miss Kramer started nervously. She wasn't sure who Mar'i was to the Wayne's, but she was sure that they wouldn't be happy in any case about that information she was about to give them. "You mentioned to call you immediately if anything noteworthy happened around Miss Dupain-Cheng, and I, uh, I think there is something that you might want to hear about."

Bruce's frown of confusion turned to one of concern. 

"What happened?"

*****

Miss Kramer had gone on to explain everything that had happened at the hotel, from Mar'i and her friends being left behind to her teacher's and classmates' extremely rude and Karen-like behavior. Apparently, the teacher had even scolded Mar'i for not being responsible enough and getting left behind before giving a lecture about how she 'expected more.'

Honestly, the audacity. 

It was safe to say that Bruce had not been pleased. 

And when the others in the Wayne family had heard, they hadn't been either. 

"They just left her?" Tim questioned, just as angry as his brother and father. His coffee mug was gripped tightly in his hands, and he barely managed to stop himself from throwing it at the wall. 

"Along with three others," Bruce confirmed. "It would seem— Jason," the said boy looked up from where he could be seen looking through and grabbing weapons. "Put the weapons down." Jason grumbled in irritation but still put them down. "As I was saying, it would seem that there's more to this class than first meets the eye."

"Yeah!" Dick snapped. "Like the fact that my daughter is being bullied by her classmates and put down by authority figures!"

Yes, Miss Kramer had also noticed the animosity that a large portion of the class seemed to hold towards Mar'i and her friends and had also reported the matter to the Wayne's.

"Dick," Bruce placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "I understand your anger, but we need you to calm down so we can figure out what we're going to do about it."

The normally happy-go-lucky man only huffed in response and slammed himself into one of the spinny chairs nearby. 

"I say we take out the teacher and anybody else that bothers her and be done with it," Jason suggested with a scowl, also sitting down in one of the chairs. 

Bruce sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "We're not killing her teacher or classmates."

"Buzzkill."

"I'm with Jason," Dick scowled, causing the others to look at him in surprise. Normally, he'd be the last to agree to such a plan. 

Damian frowned from the corner he sat in, observing his brothers and father's conversation. He wasn't sure how to feel. On one hand, one of the main people in his life that had always discouraged killing was taking sides with Jason of all people. Sure, he used to be an assassin himself, so you would think that he would be down and all for some good ol' murder. However, he had changed in the ten years that he had been living with his father. He wasn't the same kid that would kill without hesitation. He had grown used to his family's morals, so, honestly, it was a bit nerve racking seeing one of the people most adamant about their morals speak of killing somebody so easily. 

On the other hand, it wasn't as if they could let the class of Dick's daughter off easily. They were Wayne's, and Wayne's didn't allow any insult on those they care about. 

"Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Tim spoke up in an attempt to placate the pair down for murder. "What if we were to shadow their trip or something? That way we can intervene in the event that something happens again."

"That's not a bad idea," Bruce started, eyeing Dick with concern. Understandably, the man's emotions had been all over the place lately, and everybody was starting to worry. So far, Kory has been the only to have any success in keeping him calm. "But we can't just follow them around or rumors might begin to crop up."

"They'll already be at Wayne Enterprises for a few days as well as at the gala," Tim reasoned. "And if Dick is okay with revealing his relation sooner than planned to Mar'i, there's a chance that one of us may be able to join their group as a chaperone on their other trips. It would really depend on how we played the situation."

There were both pros and cons to the idea, but…

"It could work," Bruce conceded. Of course, other details would need to be hashed out, but the idea was there. The main thing they needed to worry about, however… "Dick," the original Robin only gave a small 'hm?' from where he had buried his face in his hands. "How would you feel about going to see your daughter tomorrow?"

Dick's head snapped up, looking as though he didn't actually believe the question had come out of Bruce's mouth. 

"I—!" He cut himself off. He had been ready to answer with an immediate 'yes,' but he hesitated. "What… What if she doesn't want anything to do with me? What if she thinks that Kory and I abandoned her? What if—"

"Dick!" Bruce slammed his hands down on his son's shoulders in an attempt to ground him as he seemed to spiral. "I know that you're worried, but if you keep this up, all of those worries will be forever groundless." The family head sighed. "Besides, you had what Ladybug said. Right now, she probably needs you more than ever."

Dick looked away from Bruce's gaze, remembering how Ladybug had told them about Mar'i losing faith. Honestly, if it was up to him, or Kory now that he thought about it, they probably would have shown up at the airport when the class first arrived. Still, though, he wasn't sure what he'd actually say. He'd probably freeze before he even managed to get a single word in. 

No matter how much he wanted to see his daughter, he was also scared. He was scared of rejection, of her probable anger, and the chance of never being able to see her again because yes, if she asked, he would respect her wishes and stay out of her life. He certainly wouldn't like it, but it would ultimately be her choice. 

He let out a resigned sigh before looking at his family. 

"You guys up for a family trip to the museum?"

*****

1248 words excluding A/N's

Finished - September 14, 2021

Bye~