It was Monday. Unfortunately, Alfred was sick and Bruce insisted he take a few days off to recuperate. Alfred would have objected but he was just that sick. Tim blamed Damian for not getting the flu shot.

Damian was content eating cereal. He never got to eat straight cereal for breakfast at the Manor because it wasn't 'part of a balanced diet for someone who burns 5000 calories a day'.

Jon took a bite of Coco Puffs (Jason picked it out after dinner last night, which consisted of slightly burned frozen pizza).

"And then it's chocolate milk at the end." Jon informed Damian.

Damian looked down at his spoon. "Commoner food is so interesting."

Tim was eating toast. "You're going to get a sugar high." He said to Damian. "Your body isn't used to so much processed sugar."

"YoUr BoDy IsN't UsEd To PrOcEsSeD sUgAr." Damian taunted.

Tim stood up and took his plate to the sink. "I don't know why I even try to communicate with you."

Jason laughed.

"Okay boys, grab your backpacks." Bruce said, pointing at Damian and Jon. "And Damian- wear a coat."

Damian drank down the rest of the milk and then set the bowl down. "It's only a 40-minute drive. We should have, like, ten more minutes."

"I'm driving." Bruce said. "I'm not taking the risk of being late."

Jon hopped off of the kitchen stool and put his bowl in the sink. "I'm ready."

Damian sighed. "I guess let's get our bags."

"Whoo!" Jon cheered. "Another school week."

Damian frowned. "Gag."

Jon handed Damian his backpack. "School is fun."

"If you say so..." Damian sighed. "I bet you're popular."

Jon shrugged. "I just make friends easily."

"Lucky you."

They loaded into the backseat of Bruce's car. Jon put his backpack between his feet on the floor. Bruce looked up the directions to Metropolis Tech. He turned out of the driveway and off onto the roads of Gotham.

When they arrived, Bruce pulled into the parking lot of the prestigious school.

He pulled out his wallet and handed a $20 bill to each.

"You're going to need to buy lunch today."

"Thanks." Jon said, "But I can go without lunch. I don't want you to have to pay for me. You already let me stay at your house."

Damian frowned and took the bill from his father's hand and handed it to Jon.

"He's a billionaire." Damian reminded.

"Right." Jon said, nodding. He looked at Bruce. "Then thank you, Mr. Wayne."

Bruce smiled. "Have a good day at school. I'll pick you up from the parking lot after school."

Both boys agreed and went their separate ways after agreeing to meet up in the cafeteria, which was in the elementary school building. (And the gym was in the middle school building).

School was boring and Tiana wasn't at school so he had no one to talk to in the halls. Damian knew everything but took notes to escape his boredom and honestly mostly spent time drawing in the margins. Finally, the bell rang which dismissed Damian to lunch. In 15 minutes, the elementary school kids would start their lunch and Damian wanted to make sure he would beat the line if he was going to have to buy food.

There turned out to not be a huge line. Being a rich private school, the food looked pretty decent. Damian bought a salad and a cup of chicken noodle soup. Low calorie- Alfred would have lectured him.

Anxiety set in. Where would he sit? How would Jon find him?

He walked towards the doors of the cafeteria and found a 2 person booth that wasn't occupied. Younger students filed in. He pressed the comm link in his ear. "I'm by the doors in a booth."

He found Jon who looked around until he found Damian. He gave a thumbs-up and Damian was relieved.

Jon came to sit down across from Damian. "How's your day going?"

Damian violently stabbed the salad. "Pretty shitty."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Jon said, honestly.

Damian shrugged. He looked down. "I forgot a spoon. Do you need anything?"

Jon shook his head. "Nope- I'm good."

"Okay." Damian said, getting up and crossing back across the cafeteria.

He came back and looked at Jon's tray. "What did you get?" Damian asked.

Jon smiled. "Tater tots."

"What?" Damian asked.

"Here." Jon said. "Try one." Jon said, passing one over to Damian and tossed him a ketchup packet. Damian looked it over.

"Is it made out of potatoes?"

"Yep." Jon said, dipping one in a pile of ketchup. Damian finally stopped examining it and popped it into his mouth. He looked at Damian. "What do you think?"

Damian swallowed. "It's pretty good."

That was high praise.

"Well I still have a sandwich and I'm getting pretty full. You can have the rest of them." Jon lied.

Damian thought for a second. "Of course- there's no reason to throw out good food."

Jon told Damian about how they were going to play dodge-ball in gym, which he had after lunch.

When school was over, the boys met in the parking lot and waited for Bruce's car to pull in. They didn't wait long- Bruce arrived, which was good because they were cold.

"How was school today?" He asked.

"Good." Jon grinned.

"Bleak." Damian answered.

Bruce raised an eyebrow and looked in the rear-view mirror. "What happened?"

"My friend- she wasn't at school today." Damian shrugged.

"Friend?" Bruce asked. He smiled. "Well hopefully she will be there tomorrow."

"Father." Damian began. "Can we go on patrol tonight? I finished my homework during study hall."

Bruce looked in the mirror. 

Jon shrugged. "Me too."

"Hmm." Bruce thought. "Do you want to take the early shift in Bludhaven? That's only if Dick says you can."

Jon held out his fist.

"What do you want me to do with that?" Damian asked.

"Make a fist and bump mine. It's literally called a fist-bump. It's like a hi-5 but cooler."

Damian rolled his eyes and bumped his fist against Jon's.

"What time does Dick get off from work?" Damian asked.

Bruce was surprised that Damian didn't know.

"Well it's a Monday, so he's staying late but he's coming to dinner tonight." Bruce added- "He's buying  take-out from the Chinese restaurant across from his apartment."

"D, aren't you part Chinese?"

Damian answered. "Yeah. And?"

"Did you ever have take-out food in the League?"

"No." Damian frowned. "Once my grandfather didn't like the food so he beheaded our head food servant."

Jon's eyes were wide for a second. "Ah." He said. "I see."

"Damian." Bruce lectured. "What did I tell you about hashing out gruesome stories to Jon?"

"Don't." Damian sighed.

Jon shrugged. "Well you've changed." He smiled. "And I like you just fine."

Damian rolled his eyes. He hated affection. He didn't know what to do with it.

"Well we'll talk with Dick at dinner." Bruce promised.

"Cool." Jon said.

"Cool." Damian repeated.