It was a cold, windy night in Gotham. In a dark alley, lay a small, unconscious boy. The boy suddenly came to his senses with a big gulp of air. He felt each drop of rain on his face. He shifted and felt a deep pain in his side. He'd been stabbed. He tried to lift his arm to get to his transponder, but his movements were sluggish. Blood loss was already hitting him, so he'd been here for a while. He again focused on getting to his transponder, only to notice his transmitter had been broken. No help was coming anytime soon.

Damian's mind was foggy, and he couldn't remember exactly what happened. He must have been on patrol because he was in his Robin uniform. Suddenly a vision of him and Grayson in the Batmobile came to mind. Them fighting Deathstroke and his goons. Then another memory came of Damian alone, fighting Deathstroke one-on-one. 'How shameful that Deathstroke could wound me like this.' Damian thought bitterly.

He'd rested enough. It was time to get himself to safety. He tried to get up. His vision blacked out and the pain in his side intensified. He doubled over and sat back down. It was then that he realized how deep he'd been cut on his side. He had to stop the bleeding quickly, or any possible chance at survival would be dashed. Taking out some gauze from his belt with shaking hands, he began to wrap his stomach tightly. Every movement hurt and his vision was getting blurry, but Damian was raised in pain. For his entire life he has been in pain and trained to deal with that pain. He could take this. This was nothing.

Eventually, the gauze was fastened, and Damian was ready to move. He had to get to a safehouse quickly, where he could contact help, although he hated to admit that he needed it.

It took a while for Damian to position himself against the wall of the alley. Blood was already seeping through the bandages. He was dizzy and barely conscious when he heard fast footsteps coming down the alley, towards him. He got a batarang out as fast as possible and put on a menacing face, which was only possible due to his extensive training. He knew he was fading though. All he could see was blurry shapes. The person stopped in front of him.

The person was speaking, but Damian didn't react, he was waiting for movement so he could strike. He'd only have one chance in the condition he was in. The shadow of the person began bending down and reaching toward him. He took the chance and slashed at the descending arms, but they dodged and knocked his weapons from his weak hands. He was disarmed and at the mercy of an enemy. All Damian could think is, 'Mother would be so disappointed'. The arms went under his knees and back and the little boy immediately used all his remaining strength to struggle. But it was all in vain, as Damien quickly passed out to soothing words.

When the black faded from his mind, Damian listened to assess his situation. He expected to hear the sounds of an empty warehouse or cell, but instead heard a familiar sound: the sound of the Batmobile. He opened his eyes quickly and found that he was correct.

"Grayson?" He asked roughly, glancing to his left.

"Hey Little D. We're almost to the cave. Hold on. Just hold on." Dick replied as he stepped on the gas.

Damian, even in his weakened state, could see how genuinely worried Grayson was. His voice sounded strained and panicked, not normal for the original boy wonder. His hands were wrapped too tight around the steering wheel and his arms were as tense as steel. Damian wanted to ask what was wrong with him, why he seemed to care about Damian, but opening his mouth was too difficult and the darkness called again.

Dick squealed to a stop in the cave and jumped out of the Batmobile. He went around to the passenger side and gently lifted Damian out of the car, careful of his injury. He ran as fast as he could to the med table without jostling the unconscious boy before gently laying the boy on the table. He immediately set up a blood transfusion into Damian's arm, then worked on getting the stitches ready. As he was about to start sewing up Damian's long gash, Damian shot up and would have crumbled to the ground if not for Dick's strong arms.

"Whoa, slow down Little D. I gotta stitch you up." Dick said gently, and pressed slowly on Damian's chest to get him to lay back down.

Damian would have continued to struggle, if not for the feeling of lead in all his body parts. He decided that obediently lying on the med table would be acceptable this once. He watched Dick carefully place the first stitch. Although the man's punch could take down the nastiest villains, his hands were steady and smooth while stitching up flesh. Dick moved onto the next stitch, and Damian watched just as carefully. This process continued in silence until Dick was done. The silence was suddenly heavy in the air as Dick cleaned up the bloody gauze and extra supplies. Damian was shocked to find he was relieved when Grayson finally spoke.

"So, are we going to talk about what happened today?"

Damian swiftly regretted his initial relief. He sat up and said nonchalantly, "Nothing happened. I saw Deathstroke running into an alley and followed him. There is nothing to talk about."

"Ok. What about the part where you almost died?" Grayson asked, frustrated.

Damian's brows drew together. "I was just distracted for a millisecond. It was a lucky shot. I will have to train harder. Anyway, why do you care? You're not my brother or even my friend." Damian said darkly.

Dick sighed as he rubbed both his eyes with one hand. "Damian, today really scared me. I thought I was going to lose you." He looked straight into Damian's eyes, "I know you're not used to having a family that cares for you, and I know it's been tough with Bruce...gone." He looked away sadly, and Damian felt a strange desire to comfort him, but resisted.

Dick looked back at Damian with fire in his eyes, "But when I took up the cowl, I took you on as my responsibility too, not just as Robin, but as a human. And since then, I've come to see the goodness in you." Dick came up to Damian and put his hands on the boy's shoulders. Damian did not resist, looking confused. Dick continued, "I know how difficult it is for you to change your ways: to not kill. And I see you trying to be the best you can be every day. I see the purity in your love for animals and the need to escape your dark past. And as I've been watching you change and develop, I've changed too." He squeezed Damian's shoulders, "You're not a lost cause. You're my little brother, and I'd do anything for you." He looked at Damian pleadingly.

Then he carefully pulled Damian in for a warm hug and whispered, "I love you Damian."

Damian was shocked. Grayson might be very open with his emotions, but he's never talked about love before. As Damian stood with his arms at his sides, Grayson's strong arms gently wrapped around his small torso, he came to realize something. Maybe it was his injury talking, or how comforting Grayson's touch was, but he likes it here. He likes being Robin, and he likes his Batman. He wants to stay here, and join this dysfunctional family. And it felt nice to be rescued for once.

He figured he should throw Grayson a bone, so he slowly wrapped his arms around Grayson's torso, feeling it tense slightly, then melt to Damian's touch.

The two brothers stayed like that for a while, one relieved that his younger brother was okay, the other promising himself to live up to the other's expectations.

And Damian didn't enjoy being hugged by his big brother. Nope, not at all.

Hi hi hi! Reviews are super appreciated and suggestions even better! Hope you enjoyed :)