The Joy's Of Brotherhood
Dick woke up to the sound of footsteps outside his room. He waited to see whether the intruder (who rudely woke him after not sleeping for 3 whole night) would decide to come in or just leave. The footsteps stopped outside him room. After a few minutes the footsteps went back down the hall.
Dick sighted contently, glad that he could finally go to sleep. Before Dick could sink into his bed, the intruder full out ran back towards his room and slammed his door against the wall, leaving a hole from where the door handle slammed into the wall. Dick sighed, 'this is the 3rd time this month that I have to fix the wall' he thought. He sat up and was very surprised by who was standing in the doorway to his room. There stood, "The son of the devil," as Tim called him, with his head slumped down and his arms crossed over his chest.
Dick's surprise faded away and was replaced by a brotherly concern. Dick scanned over Damian's body language. He could not detect the arrogance, the pride, or the competitiveness Damian always had. All he saw was…a very lost child.
A gentle smile spread across Dick's face. He stood and walked towards Damian. "Hey kid, what's up?" Dick asked while laying what was meant to be a comforting hand on his shoulder. Dick gasped. What he couldn't see lying on his bed, he know felt. Damian's shoulders were shaking, and as he played more attention, he could barely make out soft, strangled cries coming from his little brother/partner.
Dick led Damian towards his bed. He was surprised Damian didn't protest or struggle the way he usually does. As he reached the bed, he looked down at Damian, "Ok, come on, what's wrong?" Damian didn't answer, he sat on Dick's bed and stared at the patterns the marble floor made. Dick, knowing how Damian was, waited patiently for him to speak on his own. A few minutes passed before Damian took a shaky breath. "well, don't you dare laugh Grayson or I will snap your neck then throw you off a cliff!(kid has issues) …Anyway, I…had a…nightmare…" Damian said, his voice turning to an almost inaudible whisper near the end.
Dick blinked. Did he really just hear what he thinks he heard coming from Damian? Trained by assassins, problem child Damian? Dick couldn't believe his ears! But, considering how he was trained by THE Batman at the age of 9, of course his hearing was more acute than the average person. His shock soon faded and was replaced by a fatherly instinct. He sat down and pulled Damian into a tight, comforting hug.
"GRAYSON! Let go! I don't need your pity!" Damian protested. He struggled for awhile longer until he went completely limp. After a minute, Damian hugged Dick back tightly, gripping the back of his shirt with his head between the joint of Dick's, shoulder and neck.
Dick smiled at this, petting Damian's hair. "I'm not hugging you out of pity Damian, why would you ever think that? You know I'm not like that. All I'm doing is caring for my little brother. Nothing wrong with that." Dick assured him. Damian hugged Dick even tighter.
Dick sighed. "Do you want to talk about it lil bird?" Dick questioned, using Damian's pet name. Damian pulled back sharply and directed his best Bat-glare towards Dick. "How many times have I told you? DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Dick, having been the victim of the real Bat-glare many times, was unaffected, so he laughed and pulled Damian onto his lap, continuing the hug. "What? It's a cute pet name for my adorable little brother." Dick grinned. Damian huffed and arranged himself into a comfortable position on Dick's lap, knowing very well that no matter how much he struggled or protested, Dick would not let him go. Might as well give in know and not waist any energy on a futile attempt. Dick repeated, "So, do you want to talk about your nightmare?" "I…I don't remember it very well." "It's fine, just tell me what you do remember." Dick said gently.
Damian took a deep breath and started, "Well, you, me, and Drake were out patrolling together, when we heard screams and gunshots coming from an alley. We went to check it out and we saw a family surrounded by a gang. But it wasn't a regular gang, it was a gang of our most dangerous villains. There was the Joker, Two-face, Clay-face, , etc. Anyway, they had already killed the father, and 2 sons. We jumped down and fought them, letting what was left of the family run away. We had knocked out most of them and we were each fighting one of the villains that remained, when something moving in the shadows caught my attention. I hit a pressure point on Two-face and he was out. Then, I turned towards the shadows and tried to locate whatever was there. I couldn't see anything, but then I heard you and Drake scream. I turned around to try and help, but you and Tim were in the air, limp, with the shadowy figures arms through your guts. I knew right away that you were both…gone…and I felt outraged. I tried to attack the man but some kind of force pushed me back. I couldn't do anything. The man laughed darkly, and dropped your and Tim's lifeless bodies by my feet. I shook you and Tim, trying to wake one of you up even though I knew as a fact you both were dead. I heard the man chuckling and I turned towards him. He thrust his arm forward, ready to kill me. As his arm and claw like hands were centimeters away, I woke up screaming, and then I came here." Damian finished, his body quaking.
Dick was stupefied. What could have made Damian have that dream? He could tell how much it had bothered him just by recalling how he had changed from calling Tim-Drake, to Tim, half way through telling him his nightmare.
Dick's state of shock disappeared as Damian continued speaking, "Dick, you and Tim won't go away like Dad right? I don't think I'd be able to take it if you guys were gone…" Damian finished with a choked voice. Dick's eyes widened, was that the cause of Damian's nightmare, his insecurity? Was it all Bruce's death?
Dick had a sad smile on his face. He scooped Damian into a tight hug and whispered soothingly into his ear, "Damian, hey, it's ok alright lil bird. Everything will be fine. Me and Tim won't go away, never. We will never leave you alone, alright? Nothing can take us away from you. Not even death."
Halfway through what Dick was saying, Damian had started to cry loudly. Dick rocked him back and forth, whispering sweet nothing's into his ear. "I—I don't w-want to go to s-sleep Dick. I'm a-afraid." Damian said, his voice breaking. "It's alright lil bird, you don't have to, you could just stay here with me alright? Come on, how bout we lay down?" Dick finished, guiding Damian into a laying position on his bed. Damian hiccupped and clung to Dick. "Thanks for letting me stay here Dick, I'm sorry for being a bother." Damian apologized.
Dick looked down at Damian. "What? You're not a bother Damian. You're my little brother, and since Bruce isn't here, you're like my son, I'm responsible for you. There's no way that you would ever be a bother. Not to me. I care about you lil bird." Dick finished, reassuring Damian that he wasn't a bother. Damian was able to direct a small, soft smile towards his brother/father figure. Damian scooted closer to Dick and clung to him again. He shut his eyes and just before he fell into a deep sleep, he whispered "Thanks Dick."
Dick smiled down at the sleeping form in his arms. Being responsible for Damian wasn't that bad, if he didn't count the 90% of the time when Damian was being a stubborn brat. Although, Dick loved those times to. Dick made himself more comfortable but did not let Damian go. He sunk into the mattress and laid his head on his pillow, slowly drifting off to sleep. Before he was surrounded by Darkness, he whispered out, "I love you Damian" very softly but genuinely.
Hi! It's been FOREVER since I've put anything on here! So! I posted this up, just cause I wanted to! (smile) Anyways, please tell me what you think of it! Could be a good or bad review (although I prefer good! SO PLZ SEND ME NICE REVIEWS! Oh yeah! Almost forgot! Here are Dick and Damian to tell you, cuz I gotta go! BYE!
Dick: Yes, well, Yuuri here, does not own me or Damian or any other character she's mentioned here. So please dont sue the girl.
Damian: Yeah, dont sue 'er or else you'll have to talk to me if you do! (glare)
Dick: Damian, do you actually like Yuuri? Wow, she'll be extatic when she hears about this. (starts to run after Yuuri)
Damian: GRAYSON! GET BACK HERE! SHE'LL NEVER LEAVE ME ALONE IF YOU TELL HER! (chases Dick)
Random person: ...well, uh, bye!