Bruce and Tim met in the hallway just as Bruce emerged from the Batcave, having changed his clothes.
He had spent some time dealing with the aftermath of Mr. Freeze and his wife. In order to take the little girl home, Bruce left the unconscious Mr. Freeze for Gordon to handle, and he had been promptly re-incarcerated in Arkham for containment.
But Nora's situation was dire. According to medical staff at Gotham Hospital, Nora's cryogenic system might have been offline for an extended period, leading to a localized thaw — which proved fatal for her. Even with Mr. Freeze fixing the cryo-equipment, it couldn't prevent her rapid deterioration.
What would Mr. Freeze do if Nora died? No one was sure.
For now, the cryogenic equipment preserving Nora's body had been temporarily transferred to Gotham Hospital, funded by Wayne, to see if there was any solution.
The mansion was well soundproofed, so they didn't have to worry about Baia overhearing them even if they spoke loudly in the hallway, but Bruce still subconsciously mouthed to Tim.
Is she asleep?
Tim nodded.
Bruce gently pushed down the door handle, cautiously opening Baia's bedroom door. The girl was curled up under thick blankets, looking small.
He sat down beside her bed and tucked the covers around her. Alfred had left the nightlight on, casting a soft glow that outlined Baia's profile.
He tested her smooth forehead with the back of his hand; her fever seemed to have subsided. Bruce's steel-blue eyes were very gentle.
Goodnight, my girl. May you have a dreamless night.
But Baia was dreaming.
It was more like an indescribable place, with the sky enveloped in hues of dreamy violet and deep blue, slowly spinning above her head, as if she were standing at the edge of the world.
She heard the roaring of waves.
It was the sound she always heard whenever the system malfunctioned.
She wanted to see that river.
"If I were you, I wouldn't look down," a voice said.
Baia turned around to find a man in a red cloak, dressed like a wizard, sitting cross-legged in meditation on a nearby rock.
"Who are you?" Baia asked, finding the man seemingly harmless, so she skipped over to sit beside him, "What's down there?"
Since he didn't allow Baia to look down, she had no choice but to lift her face and look at him. The wizard didn't change his posture, not even opening his eyes.
"Is this question important to you?" he asked quietly.
"Yes, very important."
They listened to the waves for a while, and the wizard whispered, "That's the danger you cannot peek into."
"It's history, it's the collection of all possibilities, it's the causal variables of the multiverse."
"It's the end of time."
Baia didn't understand a word, she just tilted her head. The wizard finally opened his eyes and looked at her for a moment, then sighed helplessly and patted her head like soothing a dog, "Alright. What I mean is: all of this is just a dream for you, and you don't need to remember anything."
"Now," he said, clasping his fingers together and gently pushing Baia, "return to your reality, girl."
Baia woke up.
She sat up suddenly, vaguely remembering that she had dreamed something, but couldn't recall the content at all.
Afternoon sunlight streamed through the curtains, casting a strong light on the exquisite fabric, making the subtle patterns faintly glow.
With mint-green eyes, she stared at the intricate patterns for a while before turning to the tall wardrobe. A delicate dressing table, the new pajamas worn by the great detective sleeping beside her pillow.
She remembered now, this was Wayne Manor.
No one woke her up, and she slept through the entire morning on her first day. Baia rubbed her face, feeling a bit embarrassed.
She tentatively called out: System?
Not disappointing her, the system chimed: Some components are not updated yet, wait a bit, and we'll talk in the evening.
The system's recovery reassured Baia, and she decided to go downstairs first.
Opening the wardrobe, although there were not many clothes inside, it was obvious that they were all prepared for her. There were also new toiletries on the washstand, indicating that whoever prepared them was very attentive.
But the styles of these clothes were slightly different from what she usually wore. After picking and choosing, she selected a beige winter dress and paired it with a red knitted short coat, looking particularly cute, like the kind of outfit parents would buy for their children to dress up as Barbie dolls.
Dressed neatly, Baia went downstairs.
Alfred had told her that there was nowhere she couldn't go here, and she was very welcome to explore around, but it seemed like there was no one in the house now.
After wandering around for a while, she ended up in the kitchen.
Alfred was preparing lunch, although it was hard to say whether it was lunch or breakfast.
After all, Bruce and Tim hadn't gotten up yet.
If things weren't particularly busy, Batman's work usually ended around three or four in the morning. Tim, who was still growing, might rest even earlier, but they both stayed up all night yesterday.
And today was the weekend, so Alfred indulged the night owls in the house.
"Master Pennyworth?" Baia peeked into the doorway.
"Oh, Miss Baia," the butler with a British accent sounded in a good mood as he nodded to Baia while whipping cream, "You're up earlier than I expected — Master Bruce and Master Tim are still asleep. Do you feel better today?"
"I'm completely fine now," Baia bounced, "Do you need any help?"
"I think I can handle it. If you're hungry, how about having a couple of pancakes first?"
While they were chatting, a bell rang in the kitchen.
"Oh, it's Master Dick coming back."
Alfred knew that Dick was Baia's favorite, after all, she hadn't interacted with Bruce and Tim. For Master Bruce, he and Baia were not unfamiliar at all, not only had they met several times as matchsticks and toy soldiers, but he had also studied her records and behavior patterns in the Batcave.
For Baia, Bruce Wayne was a complete stranger, but not Dick.
Sure enough, Baia perked up immediately, "I'll go and get him!"
As soon as Dick walked in, he noticed a small figure rushing towards him. He bent down to catch Baia and lifted her up.
Today, Baia seemed particularly cute.
Even if he closed his eyes, Dick knew that the clothes were chosen by Bruce.
Dick thought for a moment and felt that Bruce's behavior was worth encouraging, so he praised Baia's cuteness even more.
Just then, the busy updating system chimed again.
The UI interface still couldn't be opened, and Baia asked it: What just happened?
System: I already said it's not updated yet... Ah, the chime just now meant Nightwing's approval reached the standard.
Baia: ?
Sudden approval? She looked at Dick, feeling that something was off.
It seemed that Dick's arrival had triggered something in Wayne Manor. Soon, Ace and the great detective also came over. Ace pounced on Dick, enthusiastically licking his face with a big tongue, forming a sharp contrast with the always sullen great detective.
Mainly because the great detective's face was rather dark.
Before long, the other two members of the Wayne family also came down.
Normally, Dick wouldn't be surprised to see Bruce shuffling in his slippers, and Tim yawning, but because there was a new member in the house, both of them dressed very neatly.
To prevent Baia from feeling too restrained, they weren't particularly formal.
Baia had been secretly sizing up Mr. Wayne since he came down the stairs. A person she usually only saw on TV suddenly appeared in front of her, and they were to some extent going to live together for a while. This feeling was quite strange.
Unlike some small stars who relied on retouching, Bruce Wayne, who had always topped the Gotham gossip charts and was the dream lover of all Gotham women, had a truly handsome face from every angle.
But if Baia were to evaluate, she would say that Mr. Wayne looked a bit stern when he wasn't smiling — or perhaps too serious.
Dick's interpretation of Bruce, on the other hand, was quite the opposite: he seemed to be in a good mood.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Wayne." Baia stood up and greeted, feeling a bit awkward, fortunately Dick nudged her, so she sat down smoothly.
Bruce smiled at her, and the atmosphere immediately became lighter, "Hello, Baia."
Alfred's lunch was soon ready, steak, baked lobster, and the aroma of mulled wine made one's mouth water, and the food was served to everyone.
Later, Ace and the great detective also got their lunch.
The great detective sniffed the smell of the cat food, wrinkled his nose: Well, the treatment has dropped again.
He glanced at Ace, who was happily eating dog food with a wagging tail.
The great detective walked over.
Ace stopped, facing him.
Ace: This is mine, I'm eating, you back off.
The great detective slowly wagged his big tail: Let me taste it.
Ace: Okay, bro.
However, Ace was a very, very smart dog. He circled twice, then sneaked under Tim's legs and wagged his tail happily against the boy.
Tim cut off a piece of steak, scraped off the sauce, which was too salty for a dog, and inserted it under the table.
Bruce was a master of micro-expression observation, he had to keep a straight face.
"Are you doing okay here?" Dick first glared at Tim, then had to help attract the attention of others, and Bruce immediately looked at Dick and Baia.
"Everything's fine here," Baia replied, "Thank you for temporarily taking me in."
Out of the blue, Bruce said, "It's not temporary."
Baia was stunned.
"If you're willing," the head of the family elegantly put down his knife and fork, and looked at her seriously, "you can become a part of this family."
"Uh..." Baia didn't know how to react for a moment.
"Don't worry," Dick reassured her, "If you're not willing... cough cough, anyway, it will take a long time to process the paperwork, so you can take your time to consider."
The reason for the sudden change in tone was that when Dick said "if you're not willing," Bruce glared at him in shock, so Dick had to cough repeatedly.
"Okay... okay." Baia nervously poked at the food on her plate, "I'm not unwilling—"
Bruce decisively intervened, immediately cutting off her possible "buts": "Dick will stay with you for a while, and Tim doesn't have much going on lately, he can accompany you around Gotham."
Baia was tempted, and she nodded.
Dick and Tim, who had no idea they would stay, because there wasn't much going on for them lately: ??
But they didn't raise any objections.
Dick always took care of family matters, not because he really had the temperament of a mother hen, but he felt responsible for doing so, and he was basically the one in the family who was best at expressing emotions.
After dinner, Tim stopped Bruce, who was about to go to the study.
"Bruce," Tim said, "It's not that I don't like Baia, or don't want to get along with her."
Bruce looked at him.
"But you're the one who decided to let her stay, and it's your responsibility to help her integrate. You can't avoid these things just because it's difficult to get along with the girl. I'm willing to help you, but... ultimately, this is something you have to handle yourself."
"I know," Bruce sighed softly, "This is a first for everyone, isn't it?"