Chapter 22: Zugzwang
Nina Thomas, age 11, left leg amputation due to osteosarcoma, in remission, wants to learn chess from Ra's al Ghul.
At first, Danny had wondered why someone had asked to meet a man that, by all his initial research, didn't exist. No news articles, no grainy photos, no conspiracy theories– nothing. But by this point, he knew the world wasn't that black and white. This child must have asked for the name Ra's al Ghul for a reason.
Harley and Ivy hadn't seemed to know anything about him (or at least wanted to admit they knew anything). "Ask Selina," was the response they both gave. He wished they had mentioned to remove any breakable objects from the room when he did.
"That bITCH!" Selina's first coherent shout had followed her lashing out and sweeping every glass from where they sat drying on the kitchen counter top. After a moment, her gaze surveyed the destruction she had just caused on the floor. "I'll buy you new ones."
"Without a doubt," Danny agreed, sighing defeatedly. "Can you tell me first who Ra's al Ghul is? From what I can find, the man's a ghost– meaning, I can't find anything at all."
Selina sneered at his remark. "The man's old enough to be one, too. His daughter's the one Bruce is always… tempted by." She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I can't believe he allowed this request to go through to you."
Danny silently agreed. With Wayne Enterprises now the parent company of World of Wishes, it didn't take long for him to figure out that Batman was now vetting all the villain requests submitted by these sick children. If anyone tried to search for someone at Joker-threat-level again, the Dark Knight would be handling the situation.
"Maybe it's a test of some sort? Or he might not be violent toward children?"
Selina shrugged. "Could be. Since clearly he's approved, you might as well join me for our next circus dinner. Damian will probably know something."
Danny cringed at her invitation. "Circus dinners," as they were called by the Sirens, were bi-monthly meals hosted by the Wayne butler, Alfred. His word was law, which meant everyone invited showed up and played nice for a few hours… usually. There had been the time Harley had come home covered in food from a "food fight that totally wasn't her fault!"
"Why would Damian the demon know anything?" he asked as he left the kitchen to fetch a broom. He had to clean up the broken glass before someone stepped on it.
The bite to the answer that floated back to him made Danny very glad he'd given Selina some space. "Cause Ra's is the little birdie's granddaddy!"
This Batfamily was crazy.
They proved Danny right once again when he showed up to Alfred's dinner with Selina a few days later. While the butler was nothing but lovely, the number of batkids (and other various heroes) running around gave him a headache.
After being introduced to Alfred Pennyworth ("so happy to have you here tonight, Mister Johnson") and the blonde Stephanie that was assigned to help him cook that night, Barbara had whisked him around to re-meet everyone properly. He remembered Cass from the gala with Joker, and the small Asian girl gave him a curt nod from her perch on the back of the main room's couch. Dick and Tim were locked in a fierce game of Mario Smash Bros, and their match had drawn the attention of a darker boy and blue haired girl ("Duke and Harper, nice of her to show up!" Barbara had informed him).
"Wait… I thought the black kid I met was Luke?" Danny recalled meeting someone familiar at the gala.
Barbara smirked. "You did meet Luke. There's also a Duke."
"This family makes no sense."
"You're still correct," she agreed with a laugh before dragging him around further. The two dark haired girls chatting in a corner were Helena and Zatanna; as he looked closer, he saw Zatanna's wine glass was actually floating in the air. "She does that a lot," Barbara waved her hand nonchalantly at the scene.
Danny had seen magic before – Constantine had even teleported him – but seeing it used so mundanely just made everything seem more real. "Are you sure I'm not still on the Watchtower in a coma? Because this seems like the result of some bad drugs."
Barbara shrugged. "It's entirely possible, but in the long run the cause is most likely you being overly dramatic," she proclaimed as she poked his arm teasingly. Like a mature adult, Danny responded by sticking his tongue out at her, prompting her to laugh.
"Danny!" Both of their heads turned as Selina's voice came calling from several rooms away. The two of them shared a confused look before heading back through the kitchen and into the dining room to find Selina and Damian sitting on the floor with their legs spread wide and feet touching to form a square enclosure. In between them, a small gray kitten was wobbling around, occasionally stumbling and falling. It couldn't be more than a few weeks old.
"I told Damian about your search. This was his payment," Selina explained with a mischievous smile, one that Damian mirrored as his new kitten let out a small mewl.
"Ra's will be in the courtyard at Gotham Children's on Thursday at five." An area with no cameras and the time when the nurses' shifts change over, that's clever. "He'll only play with a glass chess set," Damian informed him. "This makes us even."
And to think, Danny had been about to thank him. "You literally kidnapped me. Thanks for the help, but this does not make us even; you got a kitten out of it!" He met the kid's glare head-on until Damian huffed and turned back to his new pet.
Barbara moved to crouch down and gently pet the kitten. "Have you named it yet?"
"Maybe Diamond, since we already have Ace," Damian mused. Danny could've swore he heard Selina purr in approval.
The four of them looked up as footsteps alerted them to someone entering the room. "Oh dear," Alfred sighed as he took in the scene in front of him. "I wasn't informed of our new guest's arrival. I'm sure some warm milk will suffice as dinner for now. However, someone must inform Master Bruce of our new house pet."
Danny wished he could've taken a picture of the dread on Damian's face. It would've made a great portrait to hang on his wall.
Damian was true to his word, as Ra's al Ghul was patiently waiting at a picnic table in Gotham Children's gardened courtyard at five o'clock that Thursday. Danny had placed the glass chess set on the table before he had left to fetch Nina, and Ra's had appeared and set it up in the five minutes Danny had been gone.
"Señor Ghul," Nina grinned, bouncing in excitement in her wheelchair as he rolled her to a stop at the table. "Are you really gonna teach me?"
The secretive man gestured in a welcoming manner at the board. "White moves first."
What transpired in the next two hours was both fascinating and boring at the same time. Ra's patiently explained every piece's name and movements as the two of them played through a few slow games. Nina didn't win any of the matches (Danny wasn't surprised, Ra's didn't seem like the type to let someone win just for the sake of it), but by her smile at the end, you'd think she won every time.
(The thing about chess, however, is that it was about as interesting as watching paint dry when he wasn't the one playing it. He did his best not to fall asleep… it might've worked, but the game was slow enough that he couldn't tell if he had missed them making any moves).
Before he knew it, Ra's al Ghul and Nina had finished for the day. He made sure to become distracted by a rather plain rosebush when Ra's said he would send something along to further aid Nina in her training. He was only required to be involved for this visit, and he wasn't about to spoil any good that had been accomplished by tattling to the authorities about anything further. After a minute, Danny made his way over to bring Nina back to her ward, but Ra's held up a hand asking him to pause.
"I have one thing to ask of you, before I depart." Ra's laced his fingers together and leaned forward to rest his chin on them as he surveyed Nina. "I take great care to make my presence amount to mere whispers. How did you learn of my name?"
The young girl broke into a innocent expression, with a polite smile and eyes wide. It took everything Danny had not to burst into laughter at Nina's deviousness. "I'd visit my grandpappy at his nursing home down the street. Señor Duvall told the best stories about the Wild West. You're his father, he mentioned you a lot." She waved at Ra's, and Danny took this as his signal to wheel her away. He was sure he heard Ra's al Ghul laughing as they left the courtyard. She hadn't beat him at his own game yet, but she was certainly proving to be a strong player.
*Mr. Arkady Duvall was Ra's al Ghul's son in Batman: The Animated Series, which fits as many things in this story are based off of all DCAU shows. "Zugzwang" is a real word, it's the name of a chess situation, it's worth a Google (Thanks for the correction Easedude!).
A/N: Funny story: about a week after my last update (in February, it's now June), I got a severe concussion. I was out of commission for a long while and had to take a break from electronics, academic work, basically anything that would further strain my eyes and brain. It's been a long road to recover but I'm pretty much healed now. Thank you for sticking with this, every review I got really helped encourage me to get better and thus I wanted to give y'all this chapter now that I can. It was inspired by several reviews, as most of these prompts have.
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