- Ch. 7 - The Canary meets her Captain

When Panacea was finished putting away Dinah's complete Status sheet, they all left her office and went to the dining room. As Panacea lead the way, Dinah; with Conner who was once again awake in her arms, struck up and continued their running conversation.

"...so there's Familia Captains, and our Familia has a basic hierarchy down. That's understandable and it's good that we have a command structure, but I'm guessing I'll be outside the current structure."

"The Familia Captain will have to decide that.", Panacea informed her.

"My eldest; before you joined, was Faith Mably. She's 17, an exceptional healer, and a maker of potions, elixirs, and tonics. The basic ones anyways. Everyone is still Level 1, but they all have potential. Their potential leans towards the healing and support type of things though. Faith will be my Familia Captain for the foreseeable future, and I hope that you won't try to usurp her command. You might be the oldest of my children now, but Faith has seniority and she's been performing well beyond my wildest expectations.", Panacea bragged proudly with a wide grin.

"She's in charge of the day to day assignment of work amongst the Familia, and she acts like even more of a mother than I do towards the others. She can always be found either in her office on the 2nd floor or at the Medical Ward at Babel. She's such a responsible girl. And she helps me balance the books too."

"You don't have to worry about a thing. I'd rather learn about this City, read up on the monsters at the top floors, spend more time with my new Familia, and relax first, before I go dungeon diving. I don't want to ruin the Familia dynamic and it sounds like Faith's got everything handled. She's earned their respect and trust and she grew up with them. I'd be fine with being an underling and gathering monster cores, drop items, and ingredients.", Dinah replied with a shrug while she kept Conner from eating her hair.

Panacea nodded in approval and continued with her spiel, and bragging, while they turned another corner. "Besides Faith, the childrens ages range from 3 to 15 years old. The older kids take care of the young ones when I'm busy, but now that I've recruited a heroine like you, then I can spend more time with everyone at home."

'That's right. Panacea's been roaming the city looking for more people to join. Now that she's got me, she can help out her Familia more. This woman's dedication to her family is truly awe-inspiring. It's a lot of responsibility on my shoulders, but I'll make sure she knows that she chose right.', she looked down at Conner's expressive, chubby, face and her resolve hardened. 'And Conner likes her a lot. It says a lot about her since Barbara Gordon, Harley Quinn, and a few of the others were the only ones he was ever comfortable with.'

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Within moments, they entered a big dining room with a couple of long wooden tables, long wooden benches, a few wooden stools, dining chairs, and a lit fireplace dominating the room. The room looks like it's connected to a kitchen, pantry, and... 'Is that a fridge??? Magic, it must be magic.', Dinah thought to herself profoundly.

Dinah's head count gave her 2 dozen heads occupying the room. The aroma of the food smelled very appetizing and Dinah could see a full spread of foods of different types all over the tables.

The moment they entered, there was a chorus of excited shouting and a stampede of feet as 2 dozen kids and teens moved towards us with haste.

"Mother Panacea! You're back-"

"Mom, who's with you?!"

"Oh my god, her outfit is so tres chique!"

"Is that a baby? Oh my gosh, he's so cute!"

These were some of the exclamations that Dinah could understand amongst the loud rabble of excited kids and teens that encircled them. Dinah could do nothing but smile while Panacea tried to calm them down while her arms were currently holding a 3 year old, black-haired, cat girl who was burying herself into Panacea's warmth.

After what felt like an eternity, but was actually a few seconds later, a loud -

"THWACK THWACK THWACK!!!"

- resounded throughout the room. The gaggle of kids and teens stopped all at once and then they parted like the red sea for a blond-haired teen who was slowly walking towards them with a staff in hand.

Dinah gave this 5ft 5in tall teenager an appraising look, and what she saw pleasantly surprised her. 'This must be Faith.'

She held herself with calm poise and a stoic nature. Her lips had an almost imperceptible smile tugging one of its' corners. She had long, wavy, blond hair, intelligent emerald eyes, fair skin, a regal air about her that highlighted her aristocratic features, a slight swimmer's build, a budding chest, and she had slightly pointed ears. 'She must be a half-elf.'

She wore a mainly white cloth robe with red trim and with the hood down. On her left hand she held a gnarled wooden staff; of which towered over her by a foot, that was clacking against the wooden floors as she slowly approached us.

Dinah didn't make a big deal out of it and she made sure to be subtle, but her heart ached a little bit when she saw the state of some of the kids' clothes. There were some rough patch jobs, worn and different colored stitches and seams, non-matching buttons, subtle rips and tears, and other irregularities that slowly twisted her heart and stoked her resolve to blazing levels of intensity. 'I might just visit the dungeon tomorrow after lunch. My Familia needs better and deserves better.'

"Okay everyone, please go back to your seats and eat your dinner. Jillian and Sam worked hard on them, so don't be rude. We can all talk with Mother Panacea some more after dinner, got it?", Faith ordered while she swept her cool gaze over her siblings.

With that clear order given, everyone scattered to return to their places, and the dining room was now returned to some semblance of order. There was an excited chattering at one corner, a few 13 year old's were helping and feeding the younger kids at another, and the rest were talking quietly to each other while they ate. They were still treated with occasional curious glances, but the 3 women and the baby ignored them at the moment.

Faith was the only one left standing in front of them and she swept her gaze towards Dinah, Conner, and then Panacea. Her lips tugged slowly upwards before she greeted them with a warm welcome. "Mother, welcome home.", she nodded to Panacea before her gaze completely focused on the young mother.

"Greetings, I'm Faith Mably. You can call me Faith. I'm the Panacea Familia's Captain. If you're here, then that means that mother gave you her blessing and that you're a new member. It's been a while since we got a new sister, so from all of us here, welcome.", Faith finished her greeting with an elegant bow, before she straightened herself out.

"Hi Captain Faith, I'm Dinah Laurel Lance. You can call me Dinah. This little guy here is Conner.", after saying that, she lifted Conner up and waved his tiny arms at Faith's direction.

"Ahhh gahh ohhhh.", Conner gurgled with excitement.

After hearing Dinah's reply and seeing Conner act adorably, Faith gained a slight blush to her cheeks without her carefully schooled expression changing.

"Thank you for that warm welcome. We're happy to be part of the family.", Dinah finished with a warm grin while she slowly rocked Conner to help him calm down.

Faith nodded at her before gesturing with her free hand at the food with a relaxed flourish, "Feel free to enjoy some dinner. We'll be talking in my office with Mother Panacea afterwards."

Dinah thanked her with a nod before she walked with Conner towards one of the tables that had a free plate, utensils, and a place to sit. Dinah spotted a young, 10 year old, hume bunny girl; who had short silver hair, a 15 year old, human, teen; who had short cropped black hair, and a cat-eared boy of the same age with brown hair, sitting together and talking animatedly.

As she walked towards them, she heard the words, "Mother, can we eat and chat. I have a few questions...-"

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When Dinah walked away with Conner to eat some food and mingle with a few of her children, her hardworking Faith asked her, "Mother, can we eat and chat. I have a few questions for you about Dinah and Conner."

"Of course, I'd love that Faith. It feels like we haven't talked in a long time.", Panacea answered cheerfully. 'She's so adorable when she's acting cool and composed.'

Panacea and Faith wasted no time at all in commandeering a table by themselves in the corner, as well as a few plates of steaming rice, pork cutlets, and mixed vegetables.

"So Faith, what did you wanna know?", the Goddess asked her beloved, half-elven, child while she dug into the food with grace.

"Is she the one?", Faith asked with a gleam in her eye and a serious look on her face.

"Yes, that's right." Panacea stopped eating before she looked into Faith's green eyes with a soft and loving expression. "I have a very good feeling that she'll be a very welcome addition to the family. You'll still be and always will be the Familia Captain. Now, let's enjoy the good food in front of us. We can talk more about business afterwards."

Faith returned her expression to her usual calm and collected one before she started on her food. Panacea watched on before she continued eating her own dinner. 'Oh Faith, my beloved daughter. You've been working so hard and you grew up too fast. You never got to enjoy your childhood because of your failure of a Goddess. I'll make it up to you, I promise. It may take some time, but I know that Dinah can help me think of something. You've always wanted to help out more and with Dinah now part of our family, then that purpose and drive that you've been wanting to cultivate will truly blossom. We've got an honest to goodness experienced heroine in our Familia. The thought of that bright future slowly dawning on us gives me hope.'

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When Dinah sat down to eat, the table grew quiet. Dinah placed some rice, salmon, and some mixed vegetables on her plate and then she watched the 3 kids struggling to start a conversation with her, so she decided to stop the slowly growing atmosphere from getting more awkward, but before she could, someone interjected and beat her to the punch.

"Gahhhh gahhhh ahhhh ooohhhhh!", said her beloved Conner. He was pointing and waving at them with his tiny little arms and the tension broke immediately.

"Awwww, he's so cute. What's his name?", asked the small, bunny-eared, girl with sparkles of adoration in her eyes as she watched Conner with her hands on her cheeks.

Dinah smiled at them gently before she took out Conner's milk bottle and popped it into his mouth. "His name's Conner and I'm Dinah. I'm a new member of the Familia."

"Really? That's so cool! Hi, I'm Zack.", greeted the human teenager. He then pointed to the cat-eared boy; who waved at her before he continued eating his dinner, and said, "This is my brother and friend Gil." He then pointed towards the bunny-eared girl who was still watching Conner with awe and introduced her as, "And my little sister over there is Lianne."

"It's nice to meet you all.", said Dinah with a fond smile. 'It's been a long time since I've interacted with kids and young teens that weren't Robin, and the other Teen Titans.'

With great ambidextrous skill, Dinah held and fed Conner his milk while she ate her food. She was also slowly getting to know these adorable kids and slowly opening herself up to them.

After a while, everyone was finished eating, and she was also done feeding Conner. Before she could pick up her finished plate to put away, Zack stopped her. "I'll take the plates away. Just take care of little Conner and relax big sis, I've got this!", Zack finished his proclamation with his right thumb pointing towards himself with baffling confidence.

Dinah's smile grew wider and she looked at him with great fondness. "Thank you, Zack. That's very sweet of you."

Zack quickly took everyone's finished plates and he stacked them next to a growing pile near the sink at the connected kitchen.

When Dinah looked around, she saw that almost everyone was already done eating while some of the older kids and teens were cleaning up the area in a very practiced and coordinated manner. Everyone else was just chatting and enjoying the pleasant and amicable atmosphere.

Lianne and Dinah were now sitting together and playing with Conner, of whom was trying to grab and hold onto her fingers which she was playfully waving near his face.

"So big sis, how'd you meet mommy Panacea?", Lianne asked, while she kept playing with the bundle of joy that was Conner.

Dinah smiled at her actions and reminisced about that fateful meeting, before she told her story to the cute little girl. While she told her story, she didn't know it yet, but all the other kids were slowly hopping seat to seat and getting closer to listen to her.

She mentioned how she and Conner just arrived at the city today, meeting Jacob and Gabriel at the southern gates, going to the library at the Guild Hall, reading all sorts of cool books, and her meeting with the other nice people at the Guild Hall.

"...and then, I was feeling sad because Conner and I lost our home and friends. That's why we're here, you see. We were looking for a home, and I was looking at him and then I just sang. My mom always told me that, 'If you're sad, then singing will always make you feel better.' So, I sung to my little Conner and felt all better."

Dinah looked at the astonished face of Lianne and she continued with a gentle smile, "And then l, when I finished my song, there she was, asking me if she could sit down next to us."

"Wow, and that all happened today?"

"You better believe it. Isn't that right Conner?", she asked her son in a baby voice.

"Gaaaahh oooohhh.", he replied. Conner then yawned adorably and there were a few "Awwws" in the background.

"Are you going to sing a lullaby?", Lianne asked her softly while she gently stroked Conner's short blond locks. The sounds in the background slowly dropped off as if waiting for Dinah's answer.

Normally, Dinah would've been more aware of her surroundings and she should've realized that everyone was really close by and encircling the table she was on. But her focus was completely taken by both Conner and little Lianne. The lost yet hopeful look she gave Dinah clenched her heart painfully, but she was very careful as to not convey her sadness. She smiled gently at Lianne and said, "Of course, do you want to have a listen?"

Lianne gave her a small smile with tear-filled eyes and replied with, "Uhh huh. Please."

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Panacea and Faith were watching the scene with different expressions that conveyed fondness, gentle melancholy, and hope. It's been a while since everyone in the Familia heard a song, as well as a genuine story.

"How good is she?", Faith whispered her question to her Goddess with obvious curiosity.

"She's not just good... She's amazing.", Panacea whispered back with a fond look.

Just like at the park, Dinah's voice reached everyone in the room. The beauty of the voice, the timbre, and the emotion flowing through the air touched each and every one of them like a mother's kiss. They felt a warmth caressing them softly; like a hug. And most of them were getting misty-eyed.

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~ A dream is a wish your heart makes ~

When you're fast ~ asleep ~~

In dreams you will lose your heartaches ~

Whatever you wish for, you keep ~~

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As she sung, Dinah gestured for Lianne to scoot closer towards her and Conner with a gentle smile. Lianne did so without hesitation and leaned against her while she watched her with wonder.

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Have faith in your dreams and someday ~

Your rainbow will come smiling through

No matter how your heart is grieving ~

If you keep on believing ~

The dream that you wish ~ will come true ~~

~ A dream is a wish your heart makes ~

~ When you're fast ~ asleep ~~

In dreams you will lose your heartaches ~

Whatever you wish for, you keep ~~

Have faith in your dreams and someday ~

Your rainbow will come smiling through

No matter how your heart is grieving ~

If you keep on believing ~~

The dream that you wish ~ will come true ~~~

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When Dinah finished, she held the now sleeping Conner closer to her as well as the softly crying Lianne. She kept whispering to her gently and kept wiping away some of the tears falling down her fair and slightly chubby cheeks.

"Please don't cry, little one. You should be smiling. Okay?"

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While Dinah was trying to comfort Lianne, Faith and Panacea were slowly ushering everyone else out of the dining room. Zack, and a 14 year old girl named Ashley; who sported shoulder-length black hair, bronze skin, and golden-brown eyes, were on dish duty. So besides them, Dinah, Faith, Lianne, and the slumbering Conner, everyone else left to prepare for bed. Panacea decided to accompany each of her children to their rooms and wish them good night, before she would meet Faith, Dinah, and Conner in her Familia Captain's office.

Not a single one of them had a dry pair of eyes, because Dinah's lullaby and angelic voice affected them all.