Chapter Text
Mar’i Grayson floated into her parent’s bedroom, a flyer Alfred had printed out last night from the computer clutched in her hand. She really hoped she could convince her dad to go. Her mom was back on Tamaran, likely until Christmas. But this month, there was another Earth celebration: Halloween. The pumpkin patch outside of Gotham was holding a carnival for the next two weeks. It boasted hay rides, a haunted house, corn maze, and tons of kids activities, like pumpkin carving, a kid’s maze, scary stories and legends told by a bonfire, and a petting zoo. She really wanted to check out the animals. Uncle Damian was usually good about letting her play with his animals, but she wanted to see more!
Dick had just gotten off work and driven back to the manor where Mar’i was staying while he was at work. He had just sat back in his desk seat when his very energetic daughter burst into the room, hovering a few inches above the ground.
“Daddy! Can we go? Please, please, please?” she asked.
Huh? “Go where, starshine?”
She shoved the paper in his face so close he didn’t have a hope of reading it. It was touching his nose. He took it gently and moved it back. A pumpkin patch? It was holding a Halloween themed faire for kids. “Sure! Let’s go see if the others would like to join us. How about tomorrow when I get off work?” It was a Friday, he would be able to get off early.
“Yay!” she crashed into him and gave him a huge hug before flying off to the living room to tell everyone. He didn’t expect much resistance if she was asking.
~~~~
Dick rushed home as quickly as he could the next day. By the time he got there, Mar’i was already in her Halloween costume, ready to go. She made a wonderful princess. She was already one, technically, so she wasn’t really dressing up, but she had chosen to be Ariel in her pink dress. He was going as her prince, Eric, in the white shirt and blue pants he wore for the movie. Jason was dressed as a lumberjack. He guessed it was the closest thing he had in any of his closets. A red flannel shirt, rolled up at the sleeves, cargo pants, and an axe. Dick gave it a quick glance. Yep. Real. That explained the outfit choice. An excuse to have extra weapons with him. Tim was wearing a slightly more casual version of his everyday work clothes, with a piece of paper tucked into a hat that that said ‘PRESS.’ His camera was around his neck. A reporter. Damian was standing there defiantly, his arms crossed. Mar’i was pouting at him.
“You have to dress up Uncle Dami! You promised you would come!”
“Tt. I am coming to this inane outing. Is that not sufficient?”
“But it’s Halloween!” she shoved her lip out further and attempted puppy dog eyes at him. Dick would have been a goner for that face ages ago. He wasn’t sure how Damian stood it. They all watched for the moment Damian caved. Mar’i turned up the waterworks after a few tense moments, tears prickling the corners of her eyes and her lip trembling. Dick figured she was the only one who could pull this off with for him. He, on the other hand, didn’t see why Damian and Bruce had trouble dressing up for Halloween. They did it every night to put fear into the heart of Gotham’s underbelly – why not for one more night?
“No, it’s not. It’s Friday the thirteenth,” he countered. He glanced down at Mar'i again. “Ugh, fine.”
“Great!” Jason said, plopping giant, fluffy pink bunny ears on Damian’s head before he had the chance to fight him off. While they tussled with the ears, Tim darted in and shoved a tail that clearly had glue on it to his shirt.
“Gotta dress the part Demon Brat. If you had done it yourself, you would have had a choice,” Jason chided.
Damian turned around, the pink fluffy tail swishing behind him, ears flapping a bit, as he turned to face Dick, a glare plastered on his face. “This is all your fault.”
They all piled in the car, Jason and Tim cackling at Damian still, though quieter now, as they didn’t want to get stabbed by whatever dagger he had on him. Bruce was going to patrol alone that night so that they could all go and stay a bit later than they would normally be able to otherwise.
“Why do I have to go again?”
“It’s either this or the Halloween party that I originally planned Dami,” Dick tried to reason with him. “Or take Mar’i out trick or treating with me.”
Damian spent most of the trip grumbling after that, but cooperatng. When they arrived at the pumpkin patch twenty minutes later, Dick paid for tickets to everything for them, and they glanced at the map at the entrance. He watched them all go into emergency memorization mode for a minute as they all took in the information… just in case. He couldn’t imagine anything happening in the middle of nowhere like this.
“C’mon Daddy! Let’s go see the animals!” Mar’i grabbed his hand, pulling hard to get him to go in the direction of the petting zoo. Damian tagged along wordlessly as Mar’i grabbed his other hand. He figured Damian would want to see the animals, but Damian was trying his best to look uninterested. It was failing.
“We’re going this way Timbo.” Jason grabbed Tim by the arm and started dragging him in the direction of the food tent. Tim flinched momentarily before brightening at Jason’s next words. “We can get you some coffee.”
~~~~
Mar’i led him straight to the goats. There were little containers with food to purchase for the goats. Damian had branched away silently the moment they were through the ticket booth for it. He wasn’t sure where he had gone.
They weren’t the only ones there. A small girl, maybe Damian’s age, was feeding the goats already. She had dark black hair that looked like it had a blue tint to it pulled back into pigtails, and the biggest blue eyes he had ever seen. They radiated innocence at the moment. She was dressed in a costume as well. A red dress with white lace trim around it, and a red cape with a hood. She had a basket on her arm. Little Red Riding Hood.
“Bonjour- hi! Did you want to feed them as well?” the girl asked.
“Sure!” Mar’i reached out to grab some food from the girl, when she paused and asked, “Can I daddy?”
“Sure thing starshine.” He handed her some quarters as well for the two to share. Though he mostly stood back and took videos and pictures, he could see that the girl was good with kids.
“What’s your name?” Mar’i asked after a minute.
“Marinette. My friends sometimes call me Mari though.” She glanced over at Dick, who was observing. She was clearly getting an okay to ask for his daughter’s name. He gave a subtle nod. His daughter’s face had lit up when she heard the other girl’s nickname. “What’s yours?”
“My name’s Mar’i too!”
“That is so cool! I’ve never met another Mari before!” Marinette said back cheerfully, with as much energy as his daughter. He didn’t think anyone could rival her energy. It seemed maybe she had met her match.
“I’m Dick. Dick Grayson,” he chimed in when the two had settled down from their excitement at meeting another Mari.
The two chatted about the goats, and how funny it felt when they nibbled the food off their hands. Dick used a couple of quarters, subtly handing the food to both of them. He tried a couple of times. Their tongues really did feel weird as they scraped the palm of his hand. They were going to need a lot of hand sanitizer after this. It was amazing how quickly Mar’i had bonded with Marinette. Unusual even. Kids and animals were often decent judges of character. Maybe the innocence Dick saw in Marinette’s eyes wasn’t as temporary as he had thought. She just seemed to be a good person.
Mar’i went off to see the goat on the far side of the pen. “You’re very good with kids, Marinette,” he said, trying to strike up a conversation with the girl that had so easily enraptured his daughter.
“Oh I babysat all the time back home. I love kids. I want my own some day,” her gaze turned somewhat wistful.
“Where’s home?” He guessed either Canada, France, or somewhere else that spoke French.
“Paris. I miss it, but I really needed a change of scenery.”
There was definitely more to that, but he didn’t need to pry. He wasn’t conducting an interrogation.
“I moved around a lot as a kid before coming to Gotham. My parents and I were in the circus, and when they passed, I moved here. It’s as much a home as anything now.”
Marinette had opened her mouth to say something, when Mar’i returned. “Daddy! Daddy! Come and see!! They have ponies. And you can RIDE them!” She grabbed at his hand again.
“I’m going to go see some of the other animals. You guys have fun!” Marinette said.
Mar’i paused a moment, looking at Marinette, before rushing over and giving her a big hug. “Bye Mari! I hope we see each other again soon!” Then she went back to dragging Dick along to see the ponies, leaving Marinette behind, waving as they went.
They had almost made it to the pony rides, when a boom went off near them. They both whipped around to see a pumpkin flying through the air, exploding, spraying the area near them with pumpkin bits. That must be the pumpkin cannon they had seen on the flier. They got in line, Mar’i giggling each time the pumpkin exploded in the air. They each shot off a couple pumpkins (Dick having more fun than he would ever admit to as he laughed along with his daughter), before moving on to the next thing. A kid’s haybale maze. Parents could see over the tops easily, but the kids were able to wander around trying to find the exit.
Then it was pumpkin bowling. Dick never thought someone could have so much fun with mini pumpkins before. Then there was a corn silo filled with dried corn. They took turns burying each other in it.
The whole time was just what he needed. Some genuine time with his daughter. He probably should have nagged the others to do something together. Maybe they could do the hay ride together later.
They finally made their way over to the pony rides. Mar’i had barely gotten in line when Jason showed up. He groaned as he sat next to Dick.
“Ate too much pie. Mind if I sit with you guys a bit?”
Dick tried to stifle a laugh as Jason sat down clutching his stomach.
“At least tell me it was worth the stomachache.”
“Oh, it was. Best pie ever. Don’t tell Alfie I said that. You should go grab a piece. I can watch the kid.”
“You sure?” Dick asked.
Jason nodded. “Yeah. Timmers was still there when I left.”
“Take lots of pictures and video for me?”
“Course.”
He quickly told Mar’i that he was going to go grab them some snacks and be right back, before heading in the direction of the food tent.
As he entered, he almost ran smack into Tim.
“Hey!” Tim said, looking much more alert than when they arrived. “Try the lattes, they’re amazing.”
“I will. Where are you headed?”
“Corn maze. The map showed it as gigantic. I’m hoping I just get challenged enough in it.”
Dick laughed. It would take a lot for any of them to have a hard time in a maze like that. “Have fun.”
Tim gave a smirk and headed out.
Dick headed hungrily over to the snack table. There was one piece of pie left. One. He had promised Mar’i some. Looked like he wouldn’t get to try it after all. He grabbed the pie and some cookies for himself, before heading over to the drinks.
The pumpkin spice lattes were all gone. This really wasn’t his night. Luck was definitely not on his side. He wondered vaguely if Friday the thirteenth really was unlucky. Maybe they should have stayed home and gone another night. He grabbed two cups of apple cider that had green food dye added to it so that kids could call it witches brew instead for himself and Mar’i. It was good. Made up a bit for the lack of pie and coffee.
Dick got back in time to see Mar’i go around on the ponies one more time.
“Thanks for watching her,” he said to Jason when he got back.
“No prob.” He started fiddling with his phone, sending the photos and videos he had taken. Dick’s phone started going off with notifications of Jason’s photos. “I’m going to go check out the haunted house. See how lame it is.” He waved his hand in a 2 finger salute, and took off.
They found a bench to eat their snacks. All in all, it was a good day with his kid, even if his brothers had bailed. Mar’i was very happy. She loved her pie, and even shared a bite with him. He could definitely have more days like this.
“Can we do the story maze now?” she asked when she was done her snack.
The story maze wasn’t really a maze. From what the map said it was a path with parts of a story on it, with different activities to do, like stations. The story was about a brave pumpkin who didn’t look like the other pumpkins, but saved them all from a bad storm. Dick thought it was weird. But she wanted to go, so they did.
Mar’i had just finished the fifth station, a giant Connect4 board that had coins the size of her head, when they heard it. Screams.
He looked over at Mar’i, who instantly went into a fighting stance, scanning the area for danger. His heart broke a bit that she even knew how to do that. She shouldn’t have to.
It didn’t take long to discover the cause of the screams. Killer Croc burst through the trees at the sides of the path. He began smashing the displays apart as he made his way towards them.
“Run. Go get your uncles. Any of them,” he said quickly and quietly.
“But-”
“Go starshine. Now.” He gave her a small smile.
“O-Okay.” She ran through a thicker area of trees behind him. He knew she would use it as cover to fly up and see if she could spot her uncles.
There was whimpering off to his left. Some of the kids hadn’t run. They wouldn’t make it out in time. Killer Croc was barreling towards them. Dick gritted his teeth and put himself in front of them. Not what he wanted to do to defend himself, but necessary.
“You need to leave. Now. I’ll hold him off as best I can,” he urged a parent that had been clutching their small child, trying to look unimposing, as if that would help. They came to their senses and took off, but two somewhat older kids had just frozen in spot. Great.
Killer Croc spotted them at last. He barreled down the path towards them, a feral growl echoing through the trees.
Dick suddenly wished he had done like Jason, and chosen an outfit with a weapon. As it was, he had… nothing. Yep, nothing. He managed to use the charging crocodile man’s momentum to deflect the first hit, sending him careening into a pile of hay bales. It didn’t stop him much. He bit the hay bale in anger. He spit some hay out and growled at Dick again. This wasn’t going to be fun.
Croc lunged at him again, but Dick couldn’t dodge this time. He was right in front of the kids, and if he did, they would be his next target. So he braced himself, blocking the worst of the punch from hitting his left side of his ribcage. His arm screamed in pain, but he could tell it wasn’t broken. That was a plus at least.
Dick tried to use his speed against Croc, whirling around him and kicking him in the back of the knee. Croc was front-heavy with his giant mouth and upper body, and destabilizing his legs shouldn’t be too hard. He did stumble, giving Dick time to take up a better protective stance. He just needed to buy time until someone showed up with actual weapons. Without them, it was only a matter of time until he lost. Dick had no protective gear. No weapons. No real way to fight back. Killer Croc was far stronger than he was. He could outsmart him, sure, but that assumed he had something to work with. But this was a kids area. The most he had were the Connect4 discs.
He grabbed two of them, flinging one at the back of Killer Croc’s head, getting his attention back to him. He could see the last family with kids finally snap out of it and run. Good. Just the two kids that were alone to go. Croc turned around, and Dick threw the other disc at the crocodile man’s face. It hit him straight in his open mouth. He looked like he was choking for a second, before he bit down on the disc. It snapped in half, and he spit it out with a toothy grin. He didn’t know crocodiles could grin, but he had managed it. It was not something Dick enjoyed seeing.
Killer Croc was mad now. He grabbed Dick by the arm and threw him roughly into the hay bales. He landed against the middle of the giant stack with enough force to send them, and him, crashing to the ground. The top bales landed on top of a tractor and its trailer in a huge, echoing crash.
Dick groaned as the bottom of his legs were trapped underneath a hay bale. Damn they were heavy. Hay was falling around him like the leaves were falling off the trees on the path. It would be pretty if he wasn’t under attack and trapped.
Killer Croc stalked forward, a piece of rope unfurling from around his waist. He grabbed Dick’s arms and tied them behind his back before removing the hay bale from overtop of his legs and proceeding to hog tie Dick. If he wasn’t as flexible as he was, the position would hurt.
“May not the find jewel, but you smell like money Wayne, and if I can’t have a snack, I’ll make some cash.”
Dick struggled with his restraints as Killer Croc dragged him somewhere. Croc was right. A Wayne, even just him, would be good leverage. But why was he here at all? What possessed him to attack this far out of town? What was the jewel he was talking about?
He was just about to ask him some questions in the hope of tricking him, when his head knocked against a rock that Croc had just stepped over.
Everything went black.
~~~~
Dick woke to Tim standing over him with some smelling salts. His head ached. His side ached. What the hell was going on? He glanced around, but his head was spinning a bit.
“We need to go. Now,” Tim said in a rush. “Hurry.”
Tim yanked him to his feet and practically dragged Dick out. As they ran through the tree cover, Tim started to explain.
“The pumpkin patch has been attacked by Dr. Hugo Strange, Scarecrow, Killer Croc and Joker. Robin is the only one suited up. He’s got some strange girl with him in the clearing where they all are.” He pulled Dick through a clump of bushes. “Hugo is down. But Robin can’t take all three of them on his own, no matter how good he thinks he is.”
Tim was right. Damian was going to get himself killed. Either with arrogance on thinking he could do it alone, or to protect the girl with him.
They weaved through the rest of the trees until they hit the parking lot. The dashed to the car and pulled out their cases to suit up. Robin’s and Red Hood’s cases were already empty. Looked like Jason was somewhere out there too now. Hopefully they could hold out until Dick and Tim got there.
They got to the clearing that served as an entrance to the pumpkin patch just as a flash of light lit it up. Dick could just make out a portal closing. Shazam maybe? Why had he been here?
The Rogues were all out cold, lying on the ground in front of Robin and the girl, who seemed to be talking animatedly.
They walked up to Red Hood, who was lurking in a nearby tree cover. “What the hell happened? Why were they here? Who beat them?”
Red Hood shook his head at Nightwing and Red Robin and gave them a shrug. “No clue.”