Prologue

A/N I was inspired to write this story after reading another, whose title I forgot so sorry to the author who wrote it. My story will however be different and have a character of my own creation. So basically it's as the summary says, Damian dies, Bruce is already dead, Dick is Batman, and Tim and Jason will disappear by the end of this chapter. Of course, they will eventually pop up.

Blood puddled underneath the body of Damian Wayne the current Robin. His hands were cuffed behind his back and his utility belt was missing. He could no longer feel the strikes of the crowbar hitting him across the face surely disfiguring it. His attacker, a man dressed all in black wearing a hoodie and leather gloves had already made it a priority to severely injure the rest of his body and was surely just finishing off.

His body at first could barely take the pain but already his immune system had numbed most of it away. It was just enough so that he could barely feel the touch of something on his body, but not necessarily the impact. That of course meant that he was not aware of the full damage but if his body had gone to such extremes to numb the pain then it couldn't be good. Yes, he had seen conditions of these before but they were always on other people. Usually, in fact he provoked most of it to a certain extent. He had learned from his father and eldest brother to show mercy.

This man, however, was ruthless. He asked no questions, didn't even utter a word. He just repeatedly broke tissue, bone, and vital arteries. Damian had already accepted it. He was going to die. There was no hope. Any hope he had left had been beaten out of him about half an hour ago.

Finally, the man hit Damian dangerously close to his right temple blurring his vision to almost undecipherable and his hearing to a clear buzzing sound. Smiling, the bastard basked in his work and casually while whistling walked out the front door. Surely Batman was near and the coward did not want to face the consequences.

As soon as Damian heard the door slam close he opened his swollen closed eyes and rolled forward while tucking his legs in so his hands would at least be in front of him. He looked around the warehouse he had been taken to, seeking a way of escape. The only exit he saw was the door the bastard had used to leave.

Against all pain, Damian dragged himself towards the door leaving behind a faint, from the little blood he had left, trail of red behind him mixing in with the dirty grease of the warehouse floor.

He reached up and tried to twist the knob but as expected it was locked from the outside. Feeling the tiredness of his current state, Damian slouched against the door trying to focus on his breathing. He inhaled and then exhaled. He repeated the process until his hearing cleared up and he no longer heard a buzzing sound but a beeping sound?

Damian's eyes shot open and scanned the room and yes of course, just a few yards away from him was a bomb set to explode. Knowing there was no chance now he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. Strangely, though, he felt an eerie sense of familiarity from this entire situation. It, however, didn't mean anything now. He was going to die and that was just it. Another Robin gone to the tribulations of this world.

Dick scanned the radar on the batcycle. He was nearing his destination. God how he hoped he wasn't too late. He almost lost his mind when Damian was captured. He just prayed that he was still around when he got there.

Never did he expect that taking up the Batman mantle would also mean repeating history. And really it did seem to be repeated. Ever since Bruce died, Tim had been gone, driving himself crazy with an obsession that Bruce was still alive. Dick hadn't seen him since and just made the connection that like him Tim also left when he was replaced. But in Dick's case Jason had not come into the picture until after he left to join the titans. Dick had blatantly replaced Tim and now that he thought about it was probably a big middle finger to the face.

Jason, well Jason had also not been seen since Dick won the mantle over him. All he knew of him was that he was still around but on the down low. No matter what happened though Jason would always be his brother and Dick would always be there for him. He just hoped that he would open his eyes and come home.

Seeing the warehouse get closer, Dick sped up until he was merely yards away from it. Without braking, Dick jumped off the batcycle hoping to God he was not too late. Next thing he knew, it exploded before his eyes and the impact caused him to fall backwards using his cape as a shield against the explosion.

Scrambling to his feet, Dick yelled, "Robin! Robin! Damian!" He dropped to the floor and started pushing all the rubble aside. "No," he gasped finding a hand with no pulse. Tearing up under his cowl, Dick pushed the remaining rubble of off Damian and picked him up like the most fragile thing in his arms. His eyes were still open and glossy. The body was frail and cold. All life was deprived of the body leaving an empty shell. And for a moment, just a moment, Dick felt true despondency but it was quickly replaced with something new. Something raw, something he had truly never experienced before. A new drive of hatred, anger, and revenge.

Blinking away the tears, Dick felt himself go blank. Now he knew what Bruce felt when he had lost Jason. He knew how losing someone could change a person in a matter of seconds. He knew, overall though, that the mission goes on.

The funeral was a week later. Dick had to plan a lie to feed the press on how the son of recently diseased Bruce Wayne just happened to die. He said it was supposed to be a vacation to help the boy get over his father's death but the private jet malfunctioned and blew up. It wasn't the best cover up but it would have to do. Then he had to go to the trouble of telling everyone what had happened. He started with those not in the family, they would the hardest to break it to. So he started with the league, personally calling a meeting on the tower to inform everyone. Although, everybody sympathized with him, the only two who really knew what he was going through were Clark and Diana. They had seen Bruce go through the same thing with the loss of Jason.

Then he told the titans. They handled it well given that they barely knew Damian and what they knew wasn't exactly his shining qualities. After them he told his friends from the original titans. They all tried comforting him but he had none of it. Nothing could comfort him. Not now, not ever.

And finally the moment of fear came. He tracked down both Tim and Jason and forcibly took them to the manor. Tim was easy to take given that he was always the most vulnerable but Jason…well Dick had to literally drag him into the property and sit him on a chair. He called in Alfred and just spoke away. It had taken them a moment to react but it happened. Tim had gone stern, visibly stiffening at the news. He had never gotten along with Damian but that didn't mean he wanted him dead. Jason had gone berserk yelling profanities and threatening everything in sight. It took a while to calm him down and move everything breakable away from him to ask him why he cared so much. His answer was, "Nobody deserves to die like I did. Nobody."

Alfred had in Dick's opinion the worst reaction. He had already seen multiple members of the Wayne family die and surely felt it was his curse to see them all go before him. The old butler just listened, and stayed still, calm, and collected. When Dick finished speaking, he stood up, excused himself, and walked into his room. He didn't come out the whole day. Dick guessed it was his way of mourning. Seeing the youth of the family die, must take its toll on him.

But now, Dick was alone by the gravestone. Everybody had gone already. Well everybody but him, Jason, and Tim.

Tim walked up to the stone read the inscription, turned to look at Dick for a second, and forced a smile. At least it seemed to be forced. He put his hand on his shoulder and said, "It'll be ok Dick. Everything will be fine." With that he turned and left, leaving Dick to reminisce about his words. They were odd even from Tim. They seemed cold, empty, vague, but somehow appeared to be hiding a deeper meaning.

Not long after Tim left did Dick feel another presence beside him. He didn't even have to turn to look. He already knew who it was. Jason.

"So now what?" Jason asked, uneasily.

"Nothing changes," Dick answered without looking up.

For some reason, Jason expected that. He always knew that for Dick to truly become Batman he would have to lose a Robin. He just never knew it would truly happen but now that it did there was nothing he could do to change it. There was nothing he could do to change Dick. It didn't work with Bruce and would not work with him. Why? Because in the batfamily words were only the foundation of an endeavor. What goes on top was the action. Only action could solve their problems. It was the only way and would remain as is.

So instead of pleading with Dick to not let this tragedy change him, Jason said, "I'm leaving Gotham." And the way he said was just so plainly that Dick turned to look him in the eyes.

He never thought Jason would leave Gotham. He just seemed like the most likely person to stay. Although his methods weren't the best in fighting crime, no one could deny that Jason made a change in the rate of criminal activity on the city that was considered hell on earth.

"Why?" Dick asked, searching Jason's teal blue eyes for an answer.

Jason pondered for a moment trying to find the right words. "I'm starting all over," he finally said. "And to do so I have to be somewhere else. This place is filled with too many…memories."

"A fresh start huh?" Dick asked rhetorically. "Will you come back?" He hoped for a yes.

"I don't know," Jason admitted. He turned to walk away but was stopped short by Dick embracing him in a hug.

Burying his face into Jason's neck, Dick said, "Take care of yourself Jaybird."

Returning the embrace Jason replied, "Is there really any doubt Dickie-Bird?"

Yes, Dick wanted to say but didn't. Instead he watched Jason jump onto his bike and drive away. "Come home soon," he whispered. Taking a final look at Damian's gravestone, Dick exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding and headed for his car.

A/N And here it is. It was bugging me for a while now to write it out so I did. So anyways I'm trying to write Dick more like Bruce but not completely. So next chapter will be up soon. It'll take place six months later and have the return of Jason with his new sidekick. So tell me what you all think.