Damian as Selinas Sidekick AU
This can go one of two ways. Either Damian gets left with Selina instead of Bruce by Talia for some reason and is a little shit. There's a few fics about this, and I love them.
But maybe funnier and more interesting is that Damian becomes Silenas apprentice out of rebellion and spite.
So in those first few weeks after he arrives, where Bruce avoids him, and the other batfam members treat him like a ticking time bomb. Damian, who is ten, traumatised and fresh from a cult, is left alone in a strange country. He only has Alfred the butler and his new kitten to keep him company.
So, in his loneliness, his talks to his kitten about how he is feeling and all the things he learns about this weird new city and people. The kitten sits on his chest and purrs while he wonders why his father doesn't love him when he's supposed to be the perfect blood son.
It's during one of these conversations that he meets Silena Kyle. She just snuck into the Manor to see Bruce about a case when she comes across a little boy who sounds like he should be crying but doesn't let the tears fall, pouring his heart out to a sleeping kitten. Silena decides she is going to steal this precious boy from Bruce until he learns to treasure him properly.
Damian, understandably, attacks her, but is hindered by the fact he won't risk Alfred the Kittens' safety around a stranger, so Silena manages to pin him after a long struggle.
The boy hisses threats and demands to know why she's here in his fathers house. When she lets him up, he asks whether his mother sent her.
Silena stays quiet and assesses the kitten he keeps bundled up carefully and protectively. When Damian notices what she is looking at, he tells her that her fight is with him and only scum harm the defenceless.
Silena smiles and agrees. She uses what she has overheard and makes Damian an offer she hopes he won't refuse. Come with her, and she will let him go wherever he likes and she will train him properly. Damian, who is reluctantly impressed by her skill and so isolated, agrees after she lets him bring the kitten. He figures that Bruce will come for him eventually, so what's that harm in getting a small reprieve from the Manor in a way he won't be blamed? (This is technically a kidnapping. Father can't berate him for that.)
Silena helps Damian pack his belongings. He has very little in Gotham enough to fill one bag, and she takes note of his sketch book and other art supplies. After she explains that she is the world's greatest thief, he asks her to liberate his swords from where Bruce has locked them away. She does so gladly while he tells Alfred the plan.
Alfred promises not to say anything unless Bruce asks. He smiles at Silena when she comes in with Damians swords and sends them on their way. (Bruce goes on his mission without asking Alfred where Damian is, not because he doesn't care, but because he is not used to having to anymore. Damian isn't Robin, so how much trouble can he be getting into without Bruce knowing?)
Damian settles in with Silena quickly and begins to train with her, getting good at using a whip and practising his swordsmanship. Silena compliments his technique but makes him rest after every session. Eventually, Damian starts honing skills in infiltration and social exploitation. He learns to assess people without as much trauma clouding his judgement. He gets so good at it that interacting with strangers feels less like a minefield and more like an opportunity to learn. Silena praises his patience and progress.
He loves Silenas' never-ending parade of Strays, and after a few weeks (Bruce is still away), he doesn't want to leave. Silena is patient and kind in the face of his insults and listens when he tells her that at Nanda Parat, things worked differently. If she can, she alters her language and home to suit him better and explains those differences to him without making him feel like a monster or an idiot. The first time he makes a mistake and expects punishment, he shouts at her. He makes himself look larger and stares her down like an abused cat expecting to be hurt, and Silena, she understands. So she sits with him, and they talk about what he considers fair rules and boundaries, and they negotiate relevant and just consequences.
He opens up to her about how he misses his mother but doesn't want to be an assassin anymore, how he never chooses to be violent without cause but still does not understand his fathers refusal to kill. Silena hugs him gently, and he just melts. The cats join their cuddle pile.
He goes outside and finds restaurants that serve dishes from his home and buys clothes that keep him warm and dry in Gothams permanent overcast weather. He goes to school and gets the teachers to give him advanced work while he interacts with people his age for the first time. He decides that he wants to be a doctor like Talia and Ras and provide health care for the people of Gotham who are not as lucky as him and Silena.
Silena brings him on jobs after he asks to join and agrees to her rules. They are gone with jewellery long before they need to be, and Damian finds it fun? Like an adventure, no one gets hurt, but he still scratches that itch to challenge himself and grow more competent. He starts to have real fun!
After a few jobs, and a camera catches a photo of him, he decides his name will be Stray. Silena helps him design his cat themed costume.
When Bruce gets back from space or wherever he is, he is stressed to find his son missing, and no one knows where he is!!
He searches everywhere before Alfred has enough of seeing him brood and gives him the lecture of a lifetime. It has been over two months, and Bruce only noticed now?! Only after hours of berating and forcing Bruce to make several therapy appointments does Alfred tell him where Damian is and what he has been doing. He's both relieved to see Damian alive and with someone he trusts but also jealous of the fact he looks so happy in his little cat hood and goggles
Bruce is prepared to plead and grovel for Damian to come back. But Silena denys him. Damian doesn't want to leave, so he won't. The rest of batfamily receive their own lectures and start trying to meet Stray during his robberies, where he easily escapes capture (or attempts at apologies for how they treated him).
It's not until Tim hunts him down that he has a proper conversation with any of them. Damian apologizes to Tim for hurting him and explains how what the League taught him about his family and how he knows now that it was wrong and cruel. He tells Tim how he is trying to find his own path, with Catwoman to guide him. He may not be a bat, but he is also no longer an assassin. Tim is confused, feeling a little guilty, but touched as he stares at this small child with cat ears on his hood and paw pads on his gloves.
Tim knows what neglect feels like and is horrified that he let it happen to another kid, even one that tried to kill him. Tim accepts the apology and, on the advice of Alfred Pennyworth, asks to visit him soon. Damian allows it as long as he teaches him how he tracked Damian down in the first place.
Tim and Damian become friends in no time, with Dick joining them later, after he convinces Tim to help get Damian to trust him so he can say sorry for not trying harder to get to know him.
Silena still will not return her kitten no matter how much Bruce begs. He eventually argues for visitation roghts and makes up with both Silena and Damian. A lot of bribery is involved, and large donations are made to all Gotham no kill shelters.
When he and Silena start dating again, Damian holds him at sword point and delivers a horrifying shovel talk. Bruce pouts about his own son telling him he will never deserve the gift that is Silena Kyle, so he better work every damn day of his life if he stands a chance in keeping her. When he proposes Damian battles Harley and Ivy for the right to be her best man. Years later, Catwoman and Stray are common members of the Batfamily.
Talia accepts Silena in time after she sees how at peace her baby is. They have tea every few months and swap stories about their favourite men. Damian grows up so pretty with both his moms, influcing his looks and style. He is a beauty, and it makes him even more dangerous.
The Justice League meets Damian after Tim calls him in on a mission that requires infiltration and recovery of highly delicate materials. Stray gets the job done in a few hours and strides into the hall of justice and the Watchtower with a grace only a cat possesses. He waves at Tim and Dick. Bruce thanks him for a job well done, and even after all these years, Damian preens under his praise. He gives his report and the stolen material over and charms everyone before disappearing back into the shadows in front of everyone. How?? Only Cass can do that? Right? (Damian insisted on training with his family for them to earn his forgiveness, and now his siblings know that if they need a favour, they muster offer a skill.)
The younger members of the League develop a collective crush on Stray, much to the horror of his family.
Jon Kent meets Dr Damian Kyle-Wayne a week later when he brings a teammate to the hospital and recognises his hypnotic heartbeat and pretty green eyes.
Jon then does his level best to court the cat themed anti hero without being found out by his overprotective family. Jon is a simp for this man, and it's not long before Damian returns his intensity.
He showers Jon with gifts and flirts shamelessly. Jons' poor Midwestern heart can only take so much. Jon teases him back, of course, but is a lot more physical. He hugs Damian and runs his hands over his cheek before kissing him. Both delight in trying to get each other to blush and often end up in a state themselves.
Damian charms all the Kents and has fun getting to know them all after bringing him to a family dinner. After a while, Damian brings Jon home to meet the family, and Jon survives the gauntlet that is the bats and cats.
Superboy is a clingy little puppy the next time Stray visits the Watchtower, much to the confusion of most other hereos. But no one is stupid enough to risk trying to get close to Stray with his guard dog nearby. Bruce, while hesitant about their relationship at first, (he wept at the idea of losing his darling baby boy to a super of all people). Looks at Jon approvingly all meeting long.
Bruce, Talia, and Silena all give Jon permission to marry Damian after he saves him from a hostage situation at the hospital. Tim and Dick never let Jon forget they will destroy him if he ever messes up while Jason and Stephanie welcome him to the nut house.
Stray and Superboy are the JL OTP after they announce their engagement, even if a few people glare at Jon with envy. Jon knows and is so proud of himself for landing such an incredible husband.
