Stephanie “They’re in my purse already, shut up!” Brown
Bruce: We can afford those just FYI.
“Silence rich boy, and put some in your jacket pockets!”
Bruce wasn’t entirely sure how he’d found himself in this
situation. He was standing in Costco, staring at Jason and Stephanie as they
stole (for that was the only word he could come up with to describe the scene
before him) samples. Steph with her purse open wide, and Jason scooping still
hot chicken sliders into wax paper before tucking them into her bag.
They’d made their rounds as they collected the groceries
Alfred had sent them for, trying everything once before moving on. Some of the
boxed foods even ended up in their cart, edamame chosen by Damian, fried tacos
for Steph, and some kind of instant coffee Jason swore Tim would love.
When they’d circled back a second time Bruce had assumed it
was because one of his kids had forgotten something they actually wanted. That’s
when his two supposedly responsible (and well fed) wards started stuffing their
pockets.
He cleared his throat, “You do know we can just buy a
package, right?”
Jason had moved down the line to the pot sticker samples
Bruce had favored fifteen minutes earlier. He glanced up at Bruce and rolled
his eyes. From behind him Steph shoved him forward, towards the table and his second
eldest.
“Hush rich boy and open your pockets.”
Caught by surprise, Bruce found himself opening up his
jacket for Jason to dump food into his inside pocket. He squirmed a bit, trying
to pull away from them without stepping on any toes or knocking the food all
over the place.
“Careful when you walk so you don’t break anything open.”
Jason grinned at him before holding up a hand for a high five.
Bruce gave it to him, still a bit stunned by the events
taking place around him. Jason’s grin widened before he turned and strolled
further down the aisle towards another table empty of employee but filled with
still steaming food.
Where was everyone? Minutes ago Bruce hadn’t been able to
walk without stepping over red vested people. Now everywhere he looked there
were only shoppers, not a single helpful employee in sight.
Bruce’s heart jumped not quite to double, but close enough
as he realized that Damian was nowhere to be seen. He’d been by his side the
entire trip, even allowing Bruce to hold his hand when they ran into
overexcited people, eager to meet The Bruce Wayne and doubly eager to pinch the
cheeks of the ten year old by his side.
“Where’s Dam—” the words broke as a laugh broke through the
90s rock playing overhead.
Bruce swiveled his head to see a cart hurtling towards them,
empty of anything but his youngest. Damian’s face was light with a wild grin as
he blew past Bruce, Jason, and Steph. Behind him came a stampede of red,
employees chasing breathlessly after the kid.
From his side, Bruce heard Jason whistle. “Remind me to get
the kid double what I promised him.”
“Promised him?” Bruce turned on Jason and Steph, unsurprised
to find Steph in the middle of eating one of the sliders from her purse.
Jason’s expression read ‘oh crap’ and Steph shrugged, still
chewing. Bruce ran a hand through his hair.
“This is why Alfred doesn’t take you to the store anymore,
you know that right?” he said instead of a reprimand. Maybe this wouldn’t fall
on deaf ears.
“And it’s why he sent you. Though heaven knows why he
thought you could stop it.” Steph grinned.
“He didn’t. He just knew B would bail us out when we got
caught.” Jason picked up the remaining tray of pot stickers and eyed it, like
he was trying to decide if they had room for the rest or not.
They were both right, and Bruce hated them a bit for it, but
it was tempered by the image of Damian racing past them on the cart, and the
bright sound of his laughter as he caused chaos. What would it take to get a
copy of today’s footage? He was sure Costco didn’t have any kind of real security,
which made getting a copy of Damian’s smile and Jason’s high five easy. Maybe
he’d take his kids shopping more often.
“Flood in the seafood section and all employees be on the
lookout for a boy carrying a bag of live crawfish.”
Then again, maybe he’d just ground them all for the rest of
their lives.
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