Damian looks at the body of his father, the standard, generic, issue batarang dug deep in his throat and can't do anything.
He hadn't known his father long and now he was dead. Murdered by one of his own with the back-up, emergency batarang that every single person every apart of the batfamily used. This one was dug into his throat.
Suddenly his knees gave out and he let out a choked sob.
He would not cry.
Fisting the black cape in his hands he swore he would avenge his father and destroy the person who did this.
Suddenly a hand was on his back and pulling him into a hug.
"It's okay to cry Dami." A familiar voice whispered softly into his ear.
Letting his sobs out he gripped the only other person he trusted besides his father and in Dick Grayson's arms he cried long wrenching sobs and keens because his father was dead.
After he was done crying, lying exhausted in Grayson's arms he whispered out, "I'll find who did this."
Grayson pauses in his soothing motions and Damian felt a soft sad smile against the top of his forehead.
"I know you will Dami.
"I know you will."
Damian nods and lets exhaustion take over.
Sitting at the dining table staring at the big plate of fluffy pancakes, warm syrup and soft margarine Damian sulks and stares at the others, every single member of the batfamily, from the Batgirls to the Robin's. Even Katherine Kane is sitting there but Damian figures she might be here in wake of a fallen soldier than to actually mourn and mull over the demise of Batman. Bruce.
Staring at all the faces he tries to think of who did it and who's innocent.
The first face he looks at is Grayson's, his face somber and the rest of him wrapped up in his Kevlar suit. He almost scoffs to himself because he knows that Grayson at one point had a better relationship with his father than he could ever secretly hope for, and even though he would gladly stand against his father to protect others and there relationship is a little rocky Damian knows that Grayson doesn't have the backbone to kill someone especially father.
His eyes flit to the butler and he immediately writes him off as innocent because the butler is old and probably too weak to actually kill him, then Damian reconsiders because if anyone had his father's complete and absolute trust it was Pennyworth. Damian thinks about it and decides that he is a person of interest, not a suspect because with all that trust came with heaping piles of loyalty from the butler.
The next person he looks to is also immediately suspect number one. Jason Todd. How many people had he killed? How many times had he tried to end Grayson's or father's or Drake's life? He glares at Todd who's sitting as somber as anyone mask and uniform on.
The next people he judges are Drake and Cain. Though Cain definitely has the skills to kill father she has both loyalty to father and an alibi. The same he grudgingly accepts of Drake, because although he hates him, Damian doubts he would kill father, not enough backbone and there's no reason. Besides Drake has brains. He knows better than to leave the weapon at the crime scene.
Brown, he thinks for one second has potential, she is the daughter of a criminal, and father did fire her. But then he thinks it was to protect her and then she got herself 'killed'. He decides she's a person of interest.
The last people he sees at the table are Gordan and Kane. Kane has an alibi though and has no reason to kill father, Damian doubts she's a jaded lover, and Grayson trusts Gordan, whatever that means, but then so did father so he decides she's the third or fourth least suspicious person in this room.
The first person to speak was Todd and he almost growled at him.
"So what are we doing in our costumes, the big man's dead and we're all in uniform sitting around the table eating pancakes."
Even though he doesn't want to, he agrees with Todd.
"We're waiting for the Justice league."
Everyone looks to him except Gordan who is sitting next to him, a hand on his shoulder and the other on his hand.
Todd stands violently, the table jerking, plates cackling, silverware jumping, and chair falling.
"What?! I'm not waiting for the Justice League to come and arrest me!"
"Jason!"
Grayson's gruff tone is reminiscent of his fathers and it's something he's never heard before, at least, not from Grayson.
Todd freezes.
"Sit down. I'm calling a truce. Don't kill anyone and they won't arrest you. This is a matter of family and you. Are. Staying."
Todd doesn't say anything but he does concede, sitting back in his chair that Pennyworth had picked back up.
Everyone's kind of frozen in the moment until Drake makes a noise in the back of his throat.
"Don't kill anyone? Don't kill anyone?! I think it's pretty obvious who killed Bruce!"
Grayson scowls at him and Todd makes a disbelieving noise.
Drake opens his mouth to rant at Todd and Todd opens his mouth to argue with Drake.
"Tim! Jason!"
Everyone's eyes are locked on Grayson because he slammed his fists on the table.
"Not now!"
Grayson sighs and cradles his head in his hands, Gordan's hands running through his hair and whispering comforting things into his ear.
"He's dead. Please don't argue."
They both give worried looks to Grayson, even Todd, and then glaring at each other they both sit down and pick at the cooling pancakes.
There's a soft vibration that runs through the house and sighing Grayson stands.
"That should be them."
As if to prove his point there's a rapid knocking on the door.
Grayson looks at them.
"Stay here, we'll all go down to the cave together."
Everyone nods and Gordan and Drake flinch at the prospect of going back to the place where the body was and has remained since being found. The rest look down at their hands or scowl.
After they here the door open theirs a 'whoosh' of air and suddenly it made since why Pennyworth made an ostentatious amount of pancakes as West grabs some and stuffs some in his mouth.
The energy in the room increases as does the warmth but even the loud and noisy speedster must notice the quiet, cold, and somber feeling of the room. Or he maybe he doesn't.
"So Dick, what's up? It's not like you Bats to call us, well I guess you call me and Linda but why is everyone here? And isn't he a criminal?"
Todd growls and West squeaks, grabs a handful of pancakes, and runs to hide behind Grayson's back.
Grayson sighs.
"Jason…"
Jason snorts.
"Why did you call longjohns?"
Grayson sighs again.
"I called him, Clark, and Diana."
Prince and Kent stand behind him to confirm this.
They all have worried looks and West's face eventually follows suit.
"Is everything okay?"
Damian wants to scream at Prince that no, everything is not okay.
"Just… Just follow us."
Everyone gets up and the Justice League trio follow Grayson uneasily.
"Dude your freaking me out, where's the big bat?"
"Dick, what's wrong? Where's Bruce?"
When Prince opens her mouth to address the issue they're in the dark about, he turns and snarls at them.
"Be quiet! You'll see in a second."
They all flinch, even a few of the bats.
Because this is Grayson and he's acting worse than father.
Grayson sighs and continues to the batcave, going down the winding stairs because the door to the cave was left open.
When the body first comes into view the three leaguers gasp and get down there faster in their metahuman way.
West examines the body in the way his uncle probably taught him.
Prince looks over at Grayson and Kent keeps staring at his fallen friend.
"Do you have any idea who did this?" she questions.
No one responds until West say's something.
"It…. Was a bat. I'm guessing this is the scene of the crime and this is one of your weapons."
He looks to Grayson.
"Right?"
Grayson nods.
West is suddenly on the opposite side of Grayson, putting what was supposed to be a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry. We will find the person who did this."
There's silence as West glares at them all accusingly. Mainly him and Todd.
"There's no need."
Everyone's heads snap to look at him and immediate protest from Todd. He doesn't say anything because he has a horrible feeling in his gut.
"What do you mean Dickhead? We're going to find the son of a bat who did this!"
Grayson just shakes his head.
"Jason, no. We're not."
Grayson shrugs the hands off of him and steps forward.
Jason barrels from the back of the crowd.
"No. No! You are not doing this by youself! This affects all of us Dickhead! Not just you Goldie."
Grayson shakes his head.
"No. There's no reason for an investigation. I know who did this."
Everyone's looking at him waiting for an explanation and Drake must have figured it out.
"Dick. No."
Grayson smiles sadly at him.
"I did it."
The rooms quiet until he screams, his fist following the sound to Grayson's face.
"How could you!"
He's screaming and punching and kicking and scratching in a way that's not any formal method he's been trained in, it's just meant to hurt.
"He trusted you! I trusted you!"
Cain pulls him of off Grayson (traitorbrother).
Gordan looks shocked and her hand is shaking.
Cain's expression is hidden by the lenses of her mask but he can hear quiet whimpers and mumbles of 'why' and 'brother'.
Kane is shocked but in a more detached manner.
Brown, Drake, Todd easily shoulder their way to Grayson (nonono) and surround him protectively.
Grayson's (why) face has scratch marks and his nose is puffing and probably broken.
Brown and Todd place a hand on either shoulder and Drake stands between him, and Prince and Kent.
"I'm turning myself in. Tim. Jason. Stephanie."
Drake concedes with glares to the leaguers and Stephanie gives him a hug before going to stand apart from the group with Drake.
Todd tightens his grip and growls.
"No."
Grayson lets him hold on for a moment before shrugging his hand off.
Todd hesitantly lets go and goes to join the group of Drake and Brown.
They're whispering to each other and shooting looks at him and Grayson and the body.
Grayson glares at them.
"Leave it alone."
He shoots a quick glance at Damian.
The glare at him and Jason's mouth quirks into a small smirk.
Grayson sighs and goes with the shocked leaguers as they silently take him away to imprison him in the Watchtower.
Damian sobs in Cain's arms because he just lost the person who has always been there for him. More than father and his betrayal hurts more than father's death.