Warnings: Explicit sexual content; underage masturbation; extremely dubious consent; age difference; moral ambiguity; angst; canon-typical violence; canonical character death; mild gore; mental instability; self-harm; more warnings may be added per chapter
Pairings: Dick/Damian; references to other past relationships, including Dick/Barbara
Credits: This is a non-profit, fanmade work. All characters are owned by DC. The fanfiction was written and created by me, please do not repost without my permission.
A/N: This fic is ultimately its own AU but is heavily based off of the Damian, Son of Batman and Batman #666 timelines. Those storylines might be necessary to read in order to fully understand this fanfic.
In Morrison and Kubert's fiction, Damian develops healing abilities after selling his soul to the devil after Batman's death. In the canonical events, Damian is killed by the Heretic and resurrected by Darkseid, and only has superpowers for a temporary amount of time before they disappear. I've changed these two things to make it flow as a single timeline: in this fanfiction, Damian has instead been resurrected by the Lazarus Pit, giving him healing abilities but also damaging his sanity. There are still mentions of a "devil" but... that will be explored later.
This story contains a prologue, five chapters, and an epilogue. Each act takes places in the winter of a new year. So if you're wondering why the time jumps around a lot, its because this story takes place over several years.
I originally wrote this story as a way to explore Damian's violence and instability described in the Batman #666 issue. In the same timeline, Dick and Damian are described as being Batman and Robin again, and I wanted to also explore this dynamic. This story was originally posted to AO3 back in March, and it is my first and only multi-chapter Batman fanfic. I had a lot of fun with it and I'm hoping to do another multi-chapter fic in the future with Dick/Damian.
That being said, I put a lot of work into building this universe, and this fic holds a very special place in my heart. It's pretty angsty and I don't expect everyone to care for it, but I ultimately wrote it for myself, and I'm really glad to be sharing it with you all.
Prologue
The snow was falling down in Gotham.
Damian Wayne raised his head to the sky, snowflakes falling on his flushed face. Snow was a nuisance, especially on patrol nights. His father had been hounding him all night to be careful, afraid that he'd slip and fall any time he ran too close to a ledge or sprinted through a dip in the street.
What did he expect? The chase was part of catching the bad guys. Black ice didn't change that.
Damian sniffed once. His face had gone numb long ago. His hood had been replaced with a water-resistant one, and while it was dry, it felt thin. He didn't pray or wish, simply because he didn't believe, but part of him still thought about how nice it would be if the snow would stop.
He walked over to join his father at the edge of the rooftop. The freshly fallen snow was swept away by his boots. Batman's shoulders and cowl were already covered in a layer of white.
As Damian joined his father by his side, he looked out into the distance. The streets of Gotham seemed eerily quiet in the winter time, the streetlights shining light on the dust of snow carried by the wind. Cars were piled under blankets. Windows and blinds were shut.
It was a slow night.
"Let's go home," Batman decided. Damian yawned in agreement.
He had told him a thousand times to be careful. He hadn't shut up about it every single time they scaled a fire escape or crossed a rooftop. When Damian slipped, he could hear his father's words echoing in his head. Before he could react and reach for the grappling gun on his waist, he felt impact and saw a blur of shape and color.
He didn't hit the ground. He was caught. He was set onto a wet fire escape and expected his father to be behind him. But when he rolled onto his back, he was greeted by a smile.
A smile that was too soft and genuine to be Batman.
Damian stared, unblinking, even as a single bead of water dripped from long dark bangs onto his cheek. His rescuer hovered so closely that when he breathed, their breaths intermingled, white frost in the air.
"Careful, snow makes everything slippery," Dick had said, and even beneath the filtered lenses of Dick's mask, Damian swore he could see those blue eyes shine. "But it looks beautiful, doesn't it?"