"I don't want to go home."

Tim was forking at his breakfast, face set into a slight frown as his attention was elsewhere.

Alex and Dora exchanged a look before the elder one remarked, "at least eat your breakfast first, Timothy, we can discuss whether or not you should go home later."

His blue eyes flickered towards Alex in alarm, as if suspecting that he knew the reason to why he was so troubled. But Dora squeezed his hand reassuringly, letting him know that wasn't the case.

She had briefly told Alex that Tim had been troubled due to some family issue but hadn't elaborated on what the reason was exactly. While Alex thought he had probably gotten into an argument with either Bruce, Jason or Damian which was honestly not uncommon.

However, Dora noticed that his phone was on silent mode and he was intentionally ignoring the calls from his family. Before he could reach out for it and shut it off, she took his phone, looking at the number of calls he had ignored.

"Dora, don't..."

"You really shouldn't ignore them like this, they're probably getting anxious about you," she remarked and his phone vibrated again on a call from Steph, so she picked it up.

Tim let out a disappointed groan, his head dropping onto his hands, "it's no use listening to what they've got to say..."

"Pull yourself together, kid," Alex patted his back, honey-shaded eyes flickering in concern, "I know you're a dramatic ass but right now it's not gonna help with anything."

"You know nothing, Alexander," he mumbled, burying his head deeper into his palms.

Steph, on the other hand, didn't know that it was Dora who had received the call and not Tim as she started talking immediately. Her voice clearly sounded worried, "Timothy, where are you? Do you have any idea how worried we've all been? And how dare you ignore all our calls like that?"

"Steph," Dora spoke up, attempting to calm her down, "he's here at the shop. And he's fine, you can tell the others there's no need to worry."

She let out a sigh of relief, "oh Dora... Thank God he's with you, we've all been so so worried that he might have..." However, she stopped herself in time, realizing that probably Dora wasn't aware of the situation. "Can you give him the phone? I want to talk to him."

"I don't want to talk to anyone," Tim groaned again, pushing his breakfast plate even further from him.

Alex was looking at him just like a tired mother looks at a stubborn toddler. He pushed the plate back towards him, giving him a glare that clearly meant either he started eating or he would suffer consequences. "Timothy, stop being a stubborn little nuisance or I will ban you from getting any coffee or sweets from here."

Tim flinched at the threat, picking up the spoon but still couldn't bring himself to eat anything.

"I guess you heard him," Dora spoke up, though she felt bad that Steph was worried yet she couldn't do anything about it.

"Well, tell him he better come home quick because he's got a visitor." The call disconnected and Dora could sense Steph was ticked off at Tim by then.

Dora glanced over at Tim who was looking back at her with an unfathomable expression. "Tim, she said you should come home. You've got a visitor."

She watched him stiffen at that remark, his blue eyes hardening and his fists clenching such that his knuckles had gone white. He knew very well who that visitor was and he didn't want to go back at all.

Isadora didn't know if he was angry, pained, frustrated, or all three. But she could see it wasn't going to end well.

"Timmy," she reached out towards him but he stood up, hastily getting away from her.

"I'm sorry..."

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Anywhere except home," he replied vaguely, stepping further away from the siblings.

Alex too was quite confused about what was going on, "Dora, let him be. He probably needs time on his own to figure things out."

Her eyes followed him leaving the kitchen but she couldn't let him leave on his own, knowing that he was unstable. "Al, I'll tell you everything when I get back but right now I have to go after him."

***

Mona's blue eyes were wide in curiosity as she sat in the living room of Wayne Manor, taking in what seemed to be the place she would be staying in from then onwards. Udit was talking to Damian in Arabic, telling him how Talia had let Mona go because she feared for her safety.

Damian's emerald eyes were narrowed in deep thought as he listened carefully to the man's account. Bruce was not yet home however, Richard had called to let them know he was coming back from the GCPD as soon as he could.

Right then the people Mona had met included Alfred, Barbara, Steph and Jason. Damian and Cassandra were the only ones she recognized as she had met them at the base before as well.

However, the green flecks in Jason's steel blue eyes reminded her of the Lazarus Pit and how her own irises held those flecks by then as she had once been healed by the mysterious green liquid. But an instinctive feeling told her that he wasn't the one she was so uncertain to meet.

She hadn't yet met her father.

Richard had arrived by then and Mona noticed his eyes were blue too, though a lighter shade of azure, making it seem as if his irises held the light sky within. The man smiled at her, holding his hand out for her to shake.

She hesitated but took the offered hand, concluding that he wasn't the one she had thought of either. There was no way possible that he could have been that cheerful and welcoming if he had been told that he had had an assassin kid who, after remaining out of sight for four years, would immediately be thrown at him as an unwanted responsibility.

"He's not who you think he is," Damian spoke up, using his native tongue because he knew Mona would have trouble understanding English.

"I know," she mumbled back, retrieving her tiny hand from Richard.

"She doesn't understand English?" Richard asked, turning to face Damian.

"I think she understands but doesn't speak it properly," Damian replied, "back at the base, we all speak Arabic."

"But Aleama could..."

Udit's head snapped up upon hearing about Aleama.

"Aleama didn't always live as a member of the League," Damian replied, "she was taken captive when she was very young and her parents surrendered, her father joined the League but her mother couldn't make it. Ever since then she had stayed at the base, looking after me and then Mona too."

Udit spoke up in Arabic as he couldn't speak English properly either though he could understand bits and pieces of their conversation, "Master Damian, may I know where she is?"

"I will take you to her," he replied, "she's safe and there's nothing to worry about."

He nodded though a wave of relief had coursed through his veins. He had been very anxious that Aleama might not be able to reach Gotham but knowing that she had met them and was safe made his worries lessen.

However, the doorbell rang and Alfred went to answer it, all eyes in the living room focused to see who had stepped in. Mona's curious blue eyes locked upon the two entrants; a girl with light brown hair who was holding onto the arm of a person who looked exactly like her own self.

Mona watched as Dora was talking to Alfred in a really sweet voice and her features had a soft smile evident though her gaze traveled back to the boy beside her, having the same shade of cerulean blue eyes that were no different from Mona's own.

Realization dawned upon her, knowing that the person who had just stepped in was none other than her father and she felt fear dig its claws deep into her heart, uncertain of how he was going to react upon seeing her.

The rest of the Waynes felt uneasy as well because they hadn't expected Dora to come with Tim and as they didn't know that she was aware of Mona's existence, they were also worried that seeing the little girl who looked so much like a miniature version of Tim would send her into a shock.

Dora and Tim had come to the living room and though Tim had stiffened to see Mona, Dora's coffee-brown irises looked at the girl almost wistfully. The little girl, Mona, looked exactly like Tim and had bright blue eyes just like Isadora had imagined their own child to have.

Seeing her sent a mixture of feelings in her heart, both longing and sadness as she reminded Dora so much of the child she had to let go of.

She hadn't let go of Tim's arm knowing that he would run away if she did so. While Tim looked sick, his features paling even more and his wide blue eyes freezing in shock.

Mona had stood up from the couch she was sitting on earlier, hesitant to go up to the two of them but at the same time dying to know whether her father just thought of her as an unwanted burden or if she still stood a chance of being accepted.

Steph stepped forward and gently placed her hand on Dora's shoulder, "Dora, I'll explain everything. I know this might seem like a shock..."

But Dora shook her head, her voice was soft and slightly sad as she replied, "it's alright, Steph, I know."

They were all surprised to hear that but then Tim hardly ever kept anything secret from her so it wasn't that shocking for her to know that too.

She had stepped closer to Mona though Tim hadn't moved an inch, even though Dora had briefly let go of him and he could dash up to his room if he wanted to. But it seemed as if he was just too shocked to move even, standing there with his eyes fixed on Mona.

"Hi Mona," Dora smiled gently at her, bending down on her knees so that she could be face to face with her, her hand reaching out towards the little girl. Mona took the offered hand, looking at the sweet girl who was looking back at her with a friendly smile. "You don't have to be scared, sweetheart," Dora resumed, squeezing her dainty hands tenderly, "we're all your friends here."

She understood her and nodded her head but she could see that Tim, or rather her father, had still not reacted to her presence at all as he just stood there like a ghost, his eyes wide as if he was facing something that had invoked fear in him.

"Baba," the word escaped Mona at last as she looked at Tim again, her hand held in Dora's but her eyes locked upon him.

He felt nauseous, taking a step back and though Jason had tried to stop him, he retreated further.

"Tim stop..."

But the boy couldn't stay there even a minute longer, the rush of past memories that he had tried so hard to bury deep down, resurfacing again and making him feel sick.

Mona watched Tim disappear up the stairs, her heart shattering as she realized that she had been right in thinking that he would never accept her. Even though he hadn't said anything to her yet, the way he had quickly left the room indicated that he was not willing to have to interact with her for even a second.

Dora saw the hurt in her eyes and pulled her close, her hands gently stroking the soft brown tresses, "everything will be okay soon, trust me. I will make him understand."

"He hates me," Mona mumbled though the words were in Arabic so Dora looked at Damian as she knew he was the only one along with Udit who would have understood what she had said.

"She said Tim hates her," Damian replied, emerald eyes flickering in slight sympathy.

Dora's eyes softened even more as she looked at the child's tear-filled blue eyes. Her lips had quivered slightly, a tear escaping those wide eyes and Dora couldn't bear to see the girl in pain, "hey, don't cry. Give him some time, okay, he does not hate you."

Damian approached the two, translating Dora's words for Mona who looked up at Dora gratefully. She held the child close to her though with every passing moment, the pain in her heart was also increasing because if for Tim, Mona was a proof of his traumatic past, for Dora she was a child that she could never have her own self.

She knew that in all that had happened, Mona had no fault. But it was going to take a lot of time to make Tim accept her. 

***