"So explain again why I'm in this dress, and why the others jokingly told me to 'enjoy' my night?" asked Ceridwen.

Bruce had an...odd look on his face. It was almost twitchy.

"The others, for varying reasons, have been mostly banned from these parties. That or they gave me very solid excuses not to bring them," said Bruce.

"Do tell."

"Well..."

By the end of it, Ceridwen was incredulous.

"So Dick has been known to hang from the chandeliers, Damien has threatened...and would have likely gone through with...killing people who called him cute, Jason was being a brat, and Tim fell asleep during an important dinner?" she said in disbelief.

"Stephanie laughed in my face when I suggested taking her, Barbara noped out of it, and Cass...Cass hid the entire night," said Bruce dejectedly. It wasn't like he enjoyed these stupid things.

Ceridwen patted him on the shoulder with very little sympathy.

"Don't expect me to talk much or socialize," she said flatly.

"I'll take what I can get," said Bruce.

To his pleasant surprise, Ceridwen was actually much better behaved than the others the entire night. Most of the attendees found her a pleasant conversationalist...and kept giving her new blackmail to use against her new 'siblings' over all the messes they had created until Bruce had stopped bringing them.

"How is it that out of all my adopted kids, you're the one who actually behaves?"

"I'm British," she deadpanned. "My method of annoying people is polite sass and sarcasm, hidden behind good manners."

As they returned from the gala, there was a bit of a surprise waiting for them.

"Damien, I thought I said no more pets," sighed Bruce.

"Hedwig!" said Ceridwen with delight and relief.

The snowy owl, which had taken up residence on Damien's shoulder, immediately flew to Ceridwen's outstretched arm.

Everyone stared.

"That's your owl?" said Dick in disbelief.

"I thought you were joking about people sending letters with birds," said Barbara.

Seeing how easily Hedwig setting onto her shoulder, Bruce stared for a second before sighing. He couldn't even blame Damien's love of animals for this one, and it was clearly well trained.

"I was going to call her Athena," pouted Damien.

Ceridwen laughed at that.

"I almost did too, but she preferred Hedwig," she admitted.

Ceridwen was so relieved she had a 'muggle worthy' spell on her trunk, because it hid most of the magical items inside. Hedwig certainly appreciated the climate controlled rooms, since she was a snowy owl and they preferred colder climates.

Oddly enough having her owl endeared her to the more prickly of the people living in the manor. Damien was absolutely smitten with her owl, and Hedwig treated him like another chick to dote on.

"I still can't believe the demon brat likes you so much," said Jason one night.

Ceridwen smirked at him, as she was the only one Damien seemed to withhold his usual snippy comments around.

Alfred knew something was up when he smelled something come out of his kitchen. The children did their best, but most of them couldn't cook if their life depended on it.

So you could imagine his pleasant surprise to see Ceridwen already mostly up and cooking breakfast for herself. Mostly at the fact the kitchen did not look like a disaster area, she was showing general competence with the cooking supplies, and from what he could tell she had some experience in the matter.

Without a word, Alfred began to pull out ingredients for everyone else, as she was mostly finished.

Ceridwen had the most amusing look on her face when she learned she was among the privileged few allowed entry into Alfred's personal domain.

And since she generally woke up a bit earlier than everyone else, she elected to assist Alfred in preparing breakfast, which he appreciated.

"Why does everyone sleep in so late?" she asked. Most of the people living in the manor (besides Alfred and Damien) were rarely up before eight.

"Late nights, mostly," said Alfred, passing her an ingredient.

"What on earth are they doing all night?" she asked.

"I'll let you find that out for yourself," said Alfred cryptically.

"...This have anything to do with the massive cavern under the manor that's decorated to the nines with a bunch of high tech equipment?" she asked.

"..."

"I've heard of 'man caves' before, but Bruce seems to take his to the extreme. Then again he has the money for it, so more power to him I suppose."

Alfred slowly put down what he was doing and looked at her.

"When did you find out about the cave below the house?"

"About thirty minutes after entering?" she said confused. "Aunt Petunia never bothered to get me a proper prescription, so I had to adapt fast. The echo effect of the cave was throwing me off for an hour."

Alfred had a headache, but was also somewhat gleeful in that no one would be winning the betting pool regarding when their newest member of the family discovered the Bat Cave.

The two finished making breakfast, and Ceridwen found it oddly relaxing to listen to the chaos of the breakfast table while eating her own meal.

Later that evening...

Ceridwen cautiously entered the in-home gym and was a bit intimidated by the sheer number of equipment in there. Worse, there were others in there.

Cass spotted her first, and Ceridwen found herself on a treadmill going a decent pace. It was oddly relaxing, and put to mind the times she had run from Dudley.

She didn't notice the looks she was getting from the speed it was going, or the fact she didn't look winded.

"Have you ever tried gymnastics?" asked Dick, openly interested.

"Not really?" said Ceridwen. "My family refused to let me participate in anything that required money. They barely tolerated me doing track."

She was rather baffled to find herself being put through a series of stretches, which Dick told her were essential if she didn't want to pull a muscle.

It was strange, but at the same time rather fun as well.

Even if she found Dick's enthusiasm to the subject to be rather exhausting.

Alfred frowned when he saw a light on in the library. Most of the teens would be either asleep or finishing up patrol at this hour. So you could imagine his surprise finding their newest resident sitting on the couch quietly reading with a single lamp on.

"Isn't it a bit late, young lady?" he said sternly.

"I can't sleep," she replied. "Jason recommended this series, so I figured I might as well see what it's about."

"It's three in the morning," said Alfred sternly. However he recognized the haunted look in her eyes.

He had seen it often enough in the children when a patrol or a case went bad.

Instead of chastising her, he took a chair opposite.

"What happened?" he asked.

Ceridwen had a slightly trapped look in her eyes.

"You don't have to explain everything, but getting it off your chest will help. And then I'll make some chamomile tea to help you sleep," said Alfred, his tone gentle and coaxing. Unnoticed, Alfred the cat jumped in her lap, and she petted his coat absently.

Perhaps it was the fact no one knew her here, or that someone was willing to listen. Either way, Ceridwen began to talk. It almost came out in a torrent, as if she was relieved to be rid of the memories of that night.

"There was a tournament, in my school. I was chosen as an unofficial champion against my will, and forced to compete. The official champion and I made it to the final round, only to walk into a trap. He was killed in front of me, all because I was stupid enough to tell him to pick up the trophy with me since it would have been a win for the school regardless."

Now Alfred knew what was going on. Most teenagers had never had to deal with someone dying in front of them...and this was one area he was sadly an expert in handling.

Ceridwen cuddled with the cat a bit.

"It wasn't your fault. You had no idea you were walking into a trap, and that there would be a killer at the end," said Alfred gently. "If anything it was the teacher's fault for not putting better protections around the last round."

Ceridwen scoffed derisively.

"The teachers? It was a fake teacher who got us captured in the first place, and then took offense when I realized I survived, yet again! None of them lifted a single finger to keep me out of that bloody tournament or when the school ostracized me because I was forced to compete despite the fact it was the fake that put my name in! Even the damn Ministry wouldn't help, saying it was 'good publicity' or some such rot because I was a champion!"

It was clear Ceridwen had a lot of pent up anger, and for good reason at that.

Alfred nudged her to the kitchen, where he made her the tea he promised. Once she started to look drowsy, he motioned for Bruce...who had been listening outside the door after coming in from a late night patrol...to carry her up the stairs. She was out like a light within minutes.

Bruce look to Alfred.

"I think the young lady might benefit from some therapy. I believe she has a strong case of survivor's guilt," said Alfred quietly. Bruce nodded.

It was a good thing they had a lot of experience handling things like this. Far too much, in Alfred's opinion.

The next morning...

"So...why am I holding a bo staff?" asked Ceridwen to Stephanie.

"Alfred told us you have survivor's guilt," said Barb from the side.

"Easiest and best way to vent is beating the shit out of something," said Cass sagely.

Ceridwen froze.

"I...what?"

"Here, hold the staff like this," said Cass eagerly.

Ceridwen was very, very confused. But even she could admit it felt good to be allowed to actually hit something and not get yelled at for it. Even weirder was the two girls would pause to correct her grip, and would resume basic defense lessons.

Very strange family, but she was enjoying herself.

"So...what was your old school like?" asked Barbara out of the blue, once Ceridwen was "in the zone" so to speak.

"Ugh...don't get me started on that place," said Ceridwen without thinking.

"Well what about the people? Got any boys...or girls...you're crushing on?" asked Stephanie.

Ceridwen perked up at that, but rather than go on about a crush she decided to speak about her closest friends.

She completely missed the looks shared between the older girls, who knew she was holding something big back. Also, all three came to the silent consensus they'd like to have words with one Ron Weasley for basically abandoning his best friend over something stupid.

On the plus side, Bruce's girlfriend Selina did mention the possibility of letting her adopt one of her cats as a therapy animal.

An undisclosed time later...

Jason had to blink, mostly because he only saw stuff like this when Tim crashed from sleep deprivation and far too much caffeine.

There, on a high shelf was Ceridwen taking an odd nap. Someone else must have noticed because there was a pillow, blanket and Alfred the cat napping on her. There was also a discreet nest of pillows in case she fell off.

He was more curious as to how she got up so high.

He was also not surprised to learn that this would be the first of many times he would find the newest member of the family in weird places, napping like a content cat after a therapy/training session. Apparently she had sleeping issues, but it was getting better. At least she generally woke up in time for dinner, and no one said a word.

On the plus side, the Bat family had a new game to play when bored.

He was still wondering when she'd find the Bat Cave and what sort of cape she'd end up being.