A meteor didn’t fall so much as it argued with gravity on the way down. The Batfamily garden lost that argument. The crash rattled the manor windows hard enough that Batman was already moving before the dust finished rising. By the time he reached the back grounds, the crater was still glowing faintly, grass smoldering in a neat circle like someone had drawn a target.

Standing at the edge was Nightwing, arms folded.

“Well,” he said, peering in. “Either we’re being invaded… or the garden finally fought back.”

Inside the crater lay a small, cracked pod. Its surface shimmered like oil on water. With a hiss, the hatch slid open.

You tumbled out.

The world tilted sideways. Air tasted wrong. Gravity felt… heavier. You pushed up on shaky arms, blinking at three figures silhouetted by the crater’s glow.

Black cape. Blue emblem. Small, judgmental stance.

“Alien,” said Robin (Damian Wayne), flatly. “Obviously.”

You raised your hands instinctively, babbling in your own language. Your translator — a flickering band on your wrist — sputtered, sparked, then steadied.

“…Hello,” it finally produced. “…I appear to have… missed my destination.”

Nightwing snorted. “By a couple light-years, maybe.”

Batman crouched, studying the wreckage, then you. Not hostile. Just intensely focused — like a detective trying to solve a puzzle that had crash-landed in his backyard.

“Are you injured?” he asked.

You paused. No one had opened with that before.

“…Mostly confused,” you admitted.

Robin crossed his arms. “That’s not an injury.”

Nightwing leaned down, offering a hand. “Welcome to Earth. First impressions are usually less… explosive.”

You hesitated — then took it. His grip was steady, warm. Reassuring in a way you didn’t expect on a strange planet.

As you stood, the translator crackled again. Your gaze drifted to the smoking pod.

“That ship,” you said slowly, “was supposed to land at a diplomatic outpost.”

Batman glanced at the crater. “…We’ll work on improving your navigation.”

Robin huffed. “We’re not keeping it.”

Nightwing grinned. “Speak for yourself. I vote we keep the alien.”

You blinked. “…Keep?”

Batman’s cape shifted in the breeze. For a long moment, he simply assessed the situation — the wrecked pod, your uncertain posture, the fact that you were very clearly stranded.

“You’ll stay,” he said finally. “Until we determine where you’re meant to be… and how to get you there safely.”

Relief hit so hard your knees nearly buckled.

“…Thank you,” you said quietly.

Robin muttered, “We’re absolutely not redesigning the guest room for extraterrestrial biology.”

Nightwing clapped you on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ve hosted weirder.”

Batman gave him a look.

“…Okay,” Nightwing amended. “Almost weirder.”

Behind you, the pod gave one last sad spark and died. No going back tonight.

You looked at the manor lights glowing warm against the dark sky… then at the strange, caped family who’d found you first. Maybe crashing here wasn’t the worst miscalculation you could’ve made. And somewhere deep in the cave below, alarms were already recalculating for one unexpected new resident. Earth, apparently, had just gotten a little more crowded.