Chapter 3

Alfred once again began to lead Persia through the confusing halls that made up the home that Batman had taken her to. The house that belonged to one of the richest men in Gotham, Bruce Wayne. Persia might've been kept busy because of the Greek world problems, and she might've been on the streets, but even she knew who he was. She wasn't a complete Seaweed Brain like pretty much everyone at camp thought.

She could hear voices coming from a brightly lit room that Alfred was obviously leading her towards.

"Guys, enough!" A male voice said, cutting through the arguing of three other voices. "Alfred said we were to be on our best behavior, for some reason, and even Bruce is joining us for supper tonight."

"Shut up, Grayson!" A young voice growled at the same time another voice said, "Oh, shut it, Golden Boy."

Alfred and Persia had finally reached the doorway. "Young Masters, our guest for the evening has arrived. Please be our on your best behavior."

Persia took a deep breath and appeared in the doorway to see the four 'Young Masters' that had been arguing. One thing she saw they all had in common that she noticed immediately that all four boys had black hair or borderline black hair with bright blue eyes. And then she noticed that the older two sat diagonally from each other and both of them had muscular physiques, broad shoulders and trim waists. Persia could tell that even though the younger two boys weren't as muscular, that all four of them were fighters.

"Who's this, Alfred?" The one that had stopped the arguing said, the one two of them had called Grayson.

"This, Master Richard, is Miss Persia. She is our guest for this evening." Persia waved a bit at the boys whom were staring at her silently.

"Hi. Um, thank you for having me." She said, her fingers messing with some of the oversized sweatshirt she was wearing. "And, uh, thank you, Richard, for letting me borrow some clothes. That was very kind of you."

Richard quirked his lips and stood to greet her, the others shaking themselves out of their own stupor. "You're welcome, Miss Persia. And call me Dick, everyone does, well except for Alfred. And it is our pleasure to have you joining us, we haven't had anyone new join us for dinner in sometime."

"Why are you here?" The youngest asked bluntly causing not only Dick to glare at him but also Alfred as he led Persia over to a seat beside Dick and an empty one that sat at the head of the table.

"Master Damian, mind your manners." Alfred chided. Damian flushed but didn't back down as his eyes met Persia's sea green ones.

Persia just smiled at the young boy. "Don't worry, I'll be out of your hair by morning. The Batman brought me here, his friend Bruce - who happens to own this house - is generous enough to let me stay." The interest of the boys were now piqued at her words and were now looking at her in sudden interest.

"Batman? Really? Why?" The second eldest asked.

Persia turned her gaze onto him. "You know, its been awhile since I've met someone new, but I believe it is common courtesy to introduce yourself before asking questions that are really none of your business. All you need to know is that Batman brought me here and that I will be leaving in the morning."

Silence befell them all before a deep chuckle sounded from the doorway causing all of them to look over. A tall, broad shouldered man with black hair and piercing blue eyes as well as a strong jaw stood in the doorway. Persia knew that this man without having to be introduced was the Bruce Wayne.

The Master of the House moved into the dining room and came to sit in the empty chair on the opposite side of Persia.

"Well said, Miss Persia, well said. But please try and not to get offended by Damian and Jason while you're here. The two of them just can't help themselves. I'm Bruce Wayne and it is nice to meet you." Persia smiled at him.

"Nice to meet you as well, Mister Wayne. And don't worry, I know several that are easily worse than the two of them combined. Thank you for letting me stay here for the night."

Bruce's brows furrowed for a moment before his face cleared as Alfred began to bring dishes into the room and setting them in the middle of the table for easy access. "It's no problem. I'm glad to be of help. Batman told me a bit of your situation and I can't help but wonder what you are going to do tomorrow… blame the father in me," he said at Persia's sharp look, "I can't help but to worry."

Persia nodded once as she picked up her fork after scooping some food onto her plate. "That's understandable. And don't worry about me, I can take care of myself. Have been since my mother and stepfather passed away."

"What about your birth father?" The one boy that she had yet to be introduced to asked. "I'm Tim by the way."

"Replacement." Jason coughed discreetly. Damian smirked down at his food at Jason's 'cough' while Tim and Dick glared at both of them. Alfred sighed and shook his head as he sat on the other end of the table and began to join them in eating their supper.

Persia made a face at the mention of her father. She loved him, she did. But he was still a god and as such, Persia just didn't have the bond one should have with their father. "Eh, he's alive and I've only met him a few times. Pretty much whenever he needs or wants something from me."

Persia took a bite of the lasagna and had to bite back the moan of not only finally getting a home cooked meal after so long and actual food, but also at the flavors that exploded onto her tongue. "This tastes amazing, Alfred!"

Alfred looked pleased. "Thank you, Miss Persia."

"Do you have any siblings?" Jason cut in. All of them were very curious about their guest and wanted to know as much about her as she would allow in the short amount she would be staying.

"Two half brothers that I know of. They live with my birth father and so I don't see them that much."

"So your birth father couldn't take you in even though his two sons live with him?" Jason asked incredulously. Persia nodded. He whistled. "Well, that's a little messed up."

She shrugged, taking another bite. She was slightly disappointed, her food was almost all gone. "I've gotten used to it."

Bruce then cut in. "Is there anyone that we can contact for you? I know that you don't want to go back into the system and I know that Batman promised that he wouldn't take you back so I will uphold his promise, but I just can't in good conscience let you go back out on the streets of Gotham by yourself. You're a pretty young woman and all manner of things could happen to you out there."

Persia looked at him, faint surprise and gratitude lighting her face up. "Its been a long time since someone has genuinely cared about my well being, so thank you, Mister Wayne. And if it'll make you feel better, I'll give someone a call before I leave."

Bruce shot a look at Dick who immediately passed over a cell phone. Persia stiffened slightly knowing that she was about to put up a signal to all nearby monsters of her location.

"Here, use mine. I don't mind. I'm sure whoever you want to call must be worried about you. I know I would be if I were them." Dick said with a grin. Persia now stared at him.

"Why?"

Dick shrugged. "I just know that if you were mine, or our, sister, that I would never not worry about you and would never want you wandering the streets of a dangerous city like Gotham by yourself, and I'm sure your brothers must be worried about and your friends too."

Persia snorted at even the thought of Triton worrying about her. "Yeah, my older brother is kind of a douche bag and I've only ever had a few words exchanged with him. My younger brother, yeah, may be worried about me but he is easily distracted… but yeah, you're right about one thing. My friends would indeed be worried about me."

Persia took a deep breath and dialed the camp phone number, the number ingrained into every demigods' memory just in case there wasn't a safe place to IM someone.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

"Delphi Strawberry Services, how may I help you today?" A familiar voice drawled. Persia felt tears begin to bubble up in her eyes. A lump began to form in her throat, making it even harder to talk around. She hadn't been able to contact or see anyone for months from camp. And just the sound of that voice caused a wave of such strong homesickness to bubble up in her.

"Hello?"

"Chiron, it's me." She was finally able to rasp out. Silence filled the other side of the phone. "It's Persia."

Chiron finally got over the shock of her voice. "Thank the gods. Will, get Mr D now." Chiron turned his attention back onto her. Persia didn't even notice that five of the six members of the Wayne household were listening in as much as possible despite the quiet conversations that they had all begun to cover up their eavesdropping. "Persia, where are you?"

Persia reached up and wiped her tears away that had begun to fall. "I'm in Gotham. Gods, its good to finally hear a familiar voice."

She heard Mr D's voice now too as Chiron put their side on speaker phone. "What do you want?" The god grouched.

Persia laughed tearfully. "I even miss Mr D's moodiness." Whatever Mr D was expecting, it wasn't that.

"Huh, well I'll be. You aren't dead yet, it seems."

"Nope, I'm not dead yet. Maybe you should adjust your bet of my death to a couple years instead of extending it by a month every time." Persia joked, ignoring the slightly horrified looks being shot her way at her words.

"I'll have you know, I don't have you dead until the end of the year, thank you very much. You did however make Ares lose. So thank you for that, now I can rub it in my brother's face."

Chiron interrupted their banter. He knew if he let them they would all night. And he knew Persia didn't have a lot time as she was using a cellphone.

"Where are you exactly in Gotham? And why are you there? Why aren't you with Sally and Paul?"

"I'm staying in Wayne Manor… Chiron, I've been trying for months to get back but whenever I freaking try to get the hell out of dodge, something always happens and I'm brought right back to where I started… and Chiron, Mom and Paul were killed months ago. I've been put in the foster system and when I kept running away in New York, they brought me here to Gotham where I've been living on the streets for a few days now." Persia said in Ancient Greek, not wanting the people surrounding her to understand her. Persia smirked at the disappointed faces of the boys which caused Dick to stick his tongue out at her.

Silence.

"I am sorry to hear about Sally and Paul, they were truly some of the kindest mortals I've ever had the pleasure to meet. And that is certainly odd that you can't seem to leave." Chiron mused. Neither spoke about the switch in language she had and followed her lead. Both Mr D and himself were now puzzled.

"I'll have to call for a meeting tomorrow with the full Olympian Council. I have a feeling that if we send someone to get you, they will not be able to do so. Something or someone wants you to stay in Gotham for some reason." Mr D suggested.

"Hmm." She said in agreement. Although she wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of dodge, she just like Mr D, knew that the powers that be wanted her to stay here and would not let her leave until she did whatever she needed to do. "And where am I supposed to stay? Back on the streets of Gotham starving and homeless?" She quipped.

"Ask the family you're staying with now if you could stay a little bit longer. Say that it'll take some time for someone to come and get you or something. Just make something up, you're quite skilled at that. And I'm sure your father would be furious with me if I knowingly let his only daughter roam the dangerous streets of Gotham." Mr D said. Persia grumbled but turned to Bruce whose dark blue eyes met her's.

Persia, since the first time she had met Alfred, and then the sons of this man, and then the man himself, had immediately felt a connection begin to grow between them. She had a feeling that finding this family was apart of whatever wanted her to stay in Gotham.

"Mister Wayne, the camp director of my summer camp wants to know if it would be alright for me to stay a little bit longer. They are going to be arranging for someone to come get me tomorrow morning but would feel better if I had shelter until that person arrives."

Bruce smiled and so did the others of the family, something that Persia did not notice as her head was to the back of them. "You can stay as long as you need to. I'm sure the boys would love to have someone new to hang with instead of each other." Persia smiled at him in thanks.

She turned her attention back to the phone. "He said it was fine. I'll give you a call in a couple days to check in, Chiron… let me know what they say, Mr D."

"Will do, Prissy Johnson. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a game to get back and a satyr to scare into submission." He must have taken the phone from Chiron as a dial tone sounded in her ear.

Persia removed the phone from her ear and handed it back to Dick. "Thank you, Dick. You don't know how much of a relief it is to finally get in contact with them. And thank you, Mister Wayne for letting me stay longer than planned. And thank you, Alfred, for a wonderful meal. I haven't been this stuffed in months."

"You're welcome, Miss Persia. It is always a pleasure to find someone that enjoys my cooking." Alfred said with a soft smile as he began to clear the table.

"And it was no problem using my phone. Glad to be of help and I'm also glad that you're sticking around, it'll be nice to have someone to hang out with besides these losers." Dick said with a smirk.

Bruce interrupted before his sons could start arguing once again. "Miss Persia, call me Bruce and it's no trouble, truly. Stay as long as you'd like."

"Thank you again, I really appreciate this."