Chapter Text
It was one of those days where Dick was just stopping by Gotham. There wasn't much fanfare about it; he just wanted to check on his siblings for a sec, making sure that Bruce wasn't adopting more children. The usual works and Tim along with Steph and Cass had asked him to get them their coffee run. He isn't a glorified barista but they sent them an address to a random Cafe that actually took Tim's order for some reason.
So here's Dick was waiting for his siblings' orders while munching on a Muffin. Now it's definitely not the first time that some random patron catches his attention. Dick was not only a vigilante but he was also a trained cop by day, so it wasn't out of place for him to try spotting pick pocketers or robbers. What truly caught his attention was seeing a guy fidget from the corner of his eye.
An older man probably in his late 40s to early 50s with long black hair and a Rubik's cube. Now nothing would have been very out of place if it wasn't for the fact that the older man was solving and then proceeding to solve the same Rubik's cube multiple times within the few minutes of Dick just staring at him. Which considerably is very impressive since he wasn't being slow about it either. Also Dick has never seen a Rubik's cube that looked like that before, it was all cool looking covered in Stars and each side looked like a different constellation.
He double checked the stand and realized that his drinks weren't going to be done for a while probably because of Tim's. This guy fascinated him so he scooted closer towards the table to get a better look at his handiwork. Though he wasn't as subtle as he thought he was, because as soon as he got close enough the guy stopped. He puts the cube on the table and pushes out the chair in front of him before gesturing to Dick to sit down.
"You know you could just ask instead of sliding over like a creep. Do you mind shuffling it for me? I keep getting it on the first try, I need a challenge, you seem to be good with your hands right?" Dick wasn't sure about what he did for this guy to assume that he was good with his hands but he wasn't going to say no. Definitely intriguing. As Dick shoves the rest of his muffin in his mouth, he finally gets a good look at that guy and he had one of those looks of seeing it all.
"So how did you know I was good at using my hands? My name is Dick by the way." Older people always fascinated him and this was definitely one of those moments where he met an older person that seemed to have a thousand experiences. The older gentleman snorted at his name and Dick was not surprised that's a normal reaction.
"Danny. Your fingers twitch as if you're used to holding something constantly. If I were to take a guess by your physique, government worker? Not a utility one because your hands would be more steady. Officer? The pointer finger is the one that normally twitches so I'm going to guess it's used to pulling a trigger or at least resting on the trigger." Dick wasn't sure if he should be offended so he decided to call out his trigger finger. He didn't think that he was that easy to read but this guy seems like a very nitpicky civilian. He finished jumbling up the Rubik's cube before handing it back to Danny.
"I didn't think I was that easy to spot in a crowd. Normally people don't assume an officer off of a first guess, my point of the finger?" Dick looked at his hands and didn't really see what he meant.
"I like watching people in open spaces. You can learn a lot of people using their hands, like musicians having calluses from where they pluck the strings or those who tend to rest their hands when writing down. You know that they are some sort of Illustrator. Understanding touches is important especially when it comes to diversity. Steady hands can do steady jobs and shaky hands can do creative jobs. Or they tend to be a bundle of anxiety and worry for the slightest of things." Danny chuckles before handing back to the Rubik's cube. Dick didn't even realize he finished it.
"Well since you're so skilled with your own hands what job do you do?" He was rather quick and precise with his hands, Danny also thought quickly too.
"I don't actually have a job. I'm currently looking but I am either too old for hiring or not exactly what they're looking for. My last interview did not appreciate my ramble about stars. They asked me what I liked and I told them what I liked." Now that was just sad, the sweet old man was just trying to find work but clearly no one was accommodating for him.
Then an idea came to mind and Dick realized that this guy has a chance to get the job with Bruce. Of course before he got out his idea his order came out as well and their time together came to an abrupt end. That doesn't stop Dick from leaving a card behind with his phone number and the phone number to Wayne Enterprise's hiring team. They could always use some extra hands and the benefits would definitely benefit him.
He arrives at the manor in a timely manner, finding the trio who had asked for their beverages sitting around a laptop in the living room. Dick was not going to ask and he was just going to go around give them their coffees and just leave but what they had on their screen was interesting. Old Man Danny had a file in their system for some reason and that alone started raising some red flags. Not for the old man but for whoever decided to put him into their system.
"Who added that sweet old man into the file?" Dick cut in while Tim started doing grabby hands for his coffee.
"I'll give you one guess and me saying that should be enough for you to know who I am talking about. All the evidence that B has collected on this guy just screams neurodivergent, unemployed and failed by the system." Stephanie scrolls down the file as they look at Bruce's conclusions. It was obvious that Bruce hadn't even spent a minute with this man before he started immediately conspiring against him.
"Does that say 'an alien trying to collect data on humans'? Now how on Earth did he get to that conclusion because not even I get that." Dick paused Stephanie's doomscrolling just to point that one piece of information out. The brightest idea has now come to mind solely because Bruce cannot handle a neurodivergent clearly. "What if we all hang out with Danny because that sweet old man has literally done nothing wrong. Since we hang out with him and we would know him better than Bruce does cause he doesn't want to hang out with him. We could just give random info to B and he would believe us."
Now that idea got a universal agreement from the sibling group chat that included Barbara. Apparently Damian has already come across Danny and for Damian who likes to pretend that he hates everyone, Danny got a glowing recommendation. Here comes the start of chaos with the bat siblings and Dick was 100% down for that.
______________________________
Initial report for: Danny Fenton
Name: Daniel James Fenton (?)
Age: 51
Gender: Male
Species: Unknown
Alignment: Unknown
Weaknesses: Unknown
Notes:
____ New!
- Possibly an alien species that has traveled the stars for millions of years. With the ability to shapeshift and has faster motor functions and reflexes than an average human. - N