SECTION 1; Marriage Outline

1.1 This arranged marriage between Mr Richard John Grayson (Party 1) and Major Cleopatra Xanthe Perich (Party 2) is for the purpose of joining Wayne Enterprises and Perich Incorporated.

1.2 Marriage will commence on the twenty fifth of April and will end after a six month period, on the twenty fifth of October. The two parties will live in the same apartment in Gotham City, 2654 Riverside Avenue, floor 26.

SECTION 2; Public Image

2.1 An advanced period of two weeks is required for the media and public to become aware of Party 1 and Party 2's relationship. Following this period Party 2 is required to wear an engagement ring publicly to inform of the engagement. The engagement is to be publicly announced two weeks before the wedding with implications that Party 1 and Party 2 have been engaged for a total of five months.

2.2 When questioned by the media, Party 1 and Party 2 must use implications which label their relationship as one of happiness and love. No comments are to be made that may allow the media to interpret the marriage as fake or unhappy.

2.3 A compulsory two nights a week must be spent having dinner together, in public. Three lunches may also suffice if the two nights can not be reached. Weeks including Christmas Day, New Years Day and Valentines Day require the agreed two nights, plus a third night.

2.4 Each party must have a social media presence, depicting their happy romance with the opposite party. This may be through any one or more of the following; Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Snapchat.

2.5 Each party must spend public time with the opposite party's family, once a month. This may be any type of outing, so long as the media make record of it.

2.6 Wedding rings must be worn in the eye of the public.

SECTION 3; General

3.1 Party 1 is not to be alone with one Barbra Gordon, in the public eye or at any other time, without Party 2 also present.

3.2 Party 2 is permitted to bring their two cats and may be accompanied to Gotham by Mai Shinshou.

3.3 Party 2 is not required to change any Marine/Elite records or paraphernalia to that of 'Grayson' from 'Perich'.

SECTION 4; Honeymoon

4.1 A two week honeymoon to Paris is required following the marriage. This will require all of the above in SECTION 3. 

SECTION 5; Divorce

5.1 Due to an agreed upon reason at the time, the marriage will break off in divorce on the twenty fifth of October. All joined items of the marriage will be split evenly.

SIGNED (Party 1) Mr Richard John Grayson ____________________________

SIGNED (Party 2) Major Cleopatra Xanthe Perich ____________________________

I sit in my own office at the Perich Inc. building. It's on the same floor as my father's, across from Ethan.

Austin is across from me, watching me read the contract summary. Behind the two pages are small font texts that go into detail about each section and its demands.

"The summary is pretty straight forward, but you are most welcome to read through it before signing."

I'd rather die. 

"I think I'll leave it for now. Just tell me if you think I'm about to violate anything," I say, flipping through to the last page. Austin points at it the signature line and I sign off, beneath Richard's.

"Thank you," he says when I hand it back to him. I want to laugh. What's he thanking me for? Signing my fate?

I can never be angry at Austin, however. If it weren't for his strength in court I might be in an asylum somewhere, dealing with doctors working on my 'illness'.

PTSD is best dealt with in other ways.

"The Wayne's lawyer will have Mr Grayson sign off. The contract states an advancement of four weeks before the wedding on the twenty fifth of April. Two weeks for public dating, then two weeks for public engagement."

I lean back into my chair, casting a glance out of the wall-window. It overlooks the city and I have the perfect view of the beach. Dad arranged it that way.

"Remember the time when he would not forsake any of his children for a business deal?" I hear myself say. I don't feel the motion of talking.

"He's not selling you Cleo," Austin says softly.

"You've been best friends since Harvard. I know you've seen a change in him. The way he treats us, treats mom." And deep down, perhaps I know why. It's a part of the nightmare appearing at the edges, like frost on a window. "Was it my fault?" I whisper.

My eyes should be filling with tears, but the rage keeps them at bay. This is really happening. Once a valued member of the Elite Marines special forces, now a mule to be sold for good faith in money by my own father.

"Cleo. If you don't want to do this, he will not force you."

"He will," I say, looking at him. "They've both had a death grip on me ever since I returned." I stand up, brushing off my skirt. I lift my handbag onto my shoulder. "I had more freedom serving my country."

Serving my country. The term is loose. There were times when I was over there that had me questioning who I was truly serving.

Those times have changed now; now I question my decision to lie to my family.

A lie such as this weighs down on the soul like a ball and chain, tied to your insides, holding you under the water.

"Stay here Mai. Please," I tell her as I pass by her office. She often serves as my secretary as well. Having stood up, she gives me a wary look, before sitting back down.

I need to see the only person who knows the truth.

◊

◊

Dick watches as Bruce's lawyer leaves the hotel living-room, signed contract in hand.

"Guess you better start planning another date," Tim says from a desk covered in tech and papers.

"Or at least buy a ring. Have you got that yet, Grayson?" Damian chimes in, barely looking up from his drawing book.

"Or, go back to Gotham for one more night with Babs before the contract begins," Jason suggests lewedly without looking up. Damian and Tim give him stupid looks.

Confused attentions then turn to Dick, who does not seemed fazed by their attempts at drawing any reaction from him.

Instead, he's staring down at an image of his fiancée. Long, brunette-chestnut hair, vibrant lilac eyes and a scar over her cheek.

"Ever seen those pictures where they compare before-service and after-service images?" He suddenly says out of the blue.

"Of course," Tim says, giving Jason and Damian a weary look.

Dick shuffles around the papers on the table in front of him, before holding up two pictures. One is a picture of Cleo on the beach, looking around eighteen years old.

The other is the image Dick had been looking at; taken last year.

"Wow," Tim says quietly, standing up to get a closer look.

Jason merely glances at it, before shrugging.

"That's called an eight year age gap. I bet if you compared pictures of us at eighteen and pictures now we'd look more dead inside as well," he says, almost like a joke.

Dick frowns at him, getting ready to defend her when Damian speaks up.

"A lack of light," he murmurs, looking at the image with concentration. He stalks towards them.

"Yeah, lighting changes how some loo-" Damian interrupts Jason's comment.

"In her eyes. There's no light in her eyes in the second one. Like...she's lost it," he says, reaching out and taking the image out of Dick's hand.

He stares at the picture of his future contracted sister-in-law.

"I feel sorry for her," he says, noting the tags around her neck. "Gotham and Sunset are very different."

Damian holds his breath, waiting for Jason to say something. He doesn't however, his only reply being the locking of the guns he is cleaning.

"I was reading her file and I noticed some strange things about the codings in her Elite Mission info," Tim says, tapping away at his computer again.

Damian returns to the sofa.

"What do you mean?" Dick asks as he puts the papers back into their files. Tim shrugs.

"The coding, the stamps. It almost looks forged. The Elite's need to brush up I guess," he says dismissively.

Just as he finishes talking, the door to Bruce's room opens and he walks in, drawing all attention to him. He looks directly at Tim.

"I noticed this too," he says.

"Aha." Jason places his last gun down. "I knew you had more of a reason to ship Dick off to the family way. Is our new sister-in-law under investigation?" He asks spitefully.

Bruce glances at Dick.

"No," he says, thinking of the files he has tucked away. "Not yet."