After his mom dies, Garfield feels numb. He knows that's normal for when your parent dies, or at least that's what he's been told. That it's okay. Expected, even. But it feels so, so wrong. His mom wouldn't want him to waste any of his life missing her. Wishing for something he can't have.

After… after it happens, M'gann and Conner came to get him. He's not sure how they knew to come get him so soon, or how he ended up waiting in his room and not at the bottom of that waterfall. He does remember that M'gann had some forged papers saying she was his sister that the authorities believed.

When she comes into his room to get him, he launches himself at her, because for just a moment, he thinks she's his mom, and when he realizes she's not a second later, he doesn't let go. M'gann lets him sob while holding her tightly, whispering words that have no meaning into his ear.

They bring him to their base, and normally Garfield would be ecstatic, but he isn't. He just feels… drained. Or like he's in a daze. He knows what's happening, but it's too hard to process. So he stays quiet and waits for them to figure out what to do with him.

"Do you know who your father is?" Batman asks. "Or where he is? We can't find any record of him."

Garfield shakes his head. He's only just turned nine. His mom promised she'd tell him who his father is on his tenth birthday. And now that day will never come.

He knows they need to hurry and find his father. He knows they need to tell his father that something's happening to him. That it's important they let him know because he's Garfield's father.

It starts after they first land at the Mt. Justice. M'gann notices he's a little green. And slowly enough that it's hard to tell unless you knew him before this started, but fast enough that it'll be done by the end of the week, he's turning green. His skin. Hair. Freckles. Not eyes. After the transfusion from M'gann, his eyes had been green when he'd woken up. His mom had assumed it was a side effect, but she wasn't complaining after it saved his life.

Right now he can still pass as a normal human, albeit with a strange skin tone and green streaks in his hair. They're not sure what's going to happen when this transformation is complete, or why it didn't start after he first got the transfusion. He hears a few people guess that it's triggered by trauma or stress. But one thing is certain; he's going to turn green and he's not going to turn back.

"We're going to procure a blood sample from you and compare it to the national database now," Batman says. The 'before your biology is altered further' goes unsaid, but Garfield's smart enough to figure it out.

He holds an arm out and doesn't flinch when the needle enters his arm. He hates needles. His mom would always hold him or hug him when he had to get a shot. His mom's not here now though. He needs to be strong on his own.

One day after Garfield has his blood drawn, Black Canary arrives. She's dressed in normal clothes. Plain jeans and a jacket. She tosses him a sweater with a big hood. She looks sad.

"Batman found your father," she says. "He lives in Gotham City, and he never knew about you. He'd like to have you under his care. Is that okay with you, Garfield?"

He nods. There's not much else he can do. There's no point in even being mad about his father not knowing about him. His mother didn't tell.

Garfield is tired. He's so tired. He wants to wake up in his room and his mom will come in with a cup of hot cocoa. But people don't always get what they want.

"You should put the hoodie on. It's raining on Gotham right now, and your green hair isn't exactly something most citizens will appreciate, especially with Joker."

"Okay," he whispers softly. The first word he's uttered since this whole mess began.

They take a zeta-beam to Gotham City and appear in an alleyway. It's dirty and smells bad. The rain is pouring and he's more than a little sure he can hear police sirens coming from a few different directions. He misses Biyalia so much.

"Your father has a limo waiting just outside the alley for us." Black Canary points to the end of the alley, where the rain is pouring harder.

He follows Black Canary out of the alley and into the waiting limo silently. As soon as he reaches his side he leans his head against the window and stares blankly at the empty streets as they blur past. Black Canary is talking to the driver, but he can't bring himself to care enough to pay attention.

In what feels like second, but is most definitely quite a bit longer, the limo pulls to a stop.

"We're here, Garfield," Black Canary says softly.

He exits the limo, and for the first time he can ever remember it happening, his jaw drops. A mansion, the biggest building he's ever seen, is right in front of him. For a moment, just a moment, Garfield wonders just who his father is.

The driver comes up around them and opens the front door. He's an elderly man with a moustache and stiff manner, but Garfield thinks he sees the man smile at him briefly.

Once they're all inside, the old man closes the door and says: "Miss Black Canary, Master Garfield, if you will follow me. Master Bruce is in his study."

Garfield follows them closely. He doesn't want to get lost in this huge maze of a building. Then they reach a door. The man pushes it open and gestures for them to go inside. Garfield follows, and for the first time in his life, he sees his father. The man is tall and broad, with blue eyes and black hair and tan skin. Overall, Garfield doesn't look anything like him. Even before his powers started to activate, the only thing he shared was blue eyes.

It's a sobering thought.

The man stands up and walks over to Garfield before kneeling down on the floor and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Hello, Garfield. My name's Bruce Wayne."

So sorry this isn't any of my current stories, but I'm a little drained for writing FDaGBU, and LBB has hit a major roadblock. I'm still working on them, they're just taking a while. So enjoy this little piece of fluff and angst that I had fun with a wrote on a whim! This is only a one-shot, so there will be no continuation. Also, for the sake of this story, Marie was 37 when they met her in Biyalia, not 47. This means she was 28-29 when Garfield was born and Bruce was 24.

Make sure to leave a review and tell me what you thought of this! I know basically every single author says this, but they really do make my day brighter!