July 29th, 2019. 23:56
"I could have easily handled this on my own." Damian huffed, puffing out his chest a little. Tim didn't even look at him, rolling his eyes at the antics of his little brother. Because yes, he might be annoying, but he was still his little brother. He knew it wasn't Damian's fault that he was an asshole, that was all Talia's doing.
But that didn't mean Tim had to like him.
"Obviously not, demon." Tim shot back lightly, flipping over a goon and kicking him in the chest. Tim, in his Red Robin costume, whirls around, grinning slightly. "You're bleeding and in way over your head." Tim says, twirling his bo staff and whacking another goon upside the head. I mean, they weren't good, not by a long shot.
They were sloppy, untrained, unprofessional and not a coherent team. And Damian was right when he said he could've easily taken them down, but not when they were with this many. Their sheer amount would've defeated Robin, and if it hadn't been for Red Robin jumping in…
Red Robin shook his head quickly, not wanting to think about that. He still had a soft spot for the kid, ever since their discovery after the feargas incident. Damian.. hadn't changed much afterwards, not drastically at least. He got better, with Dick's teachings of course, and Bruce coming back helped him as well.
Robin narrowed his eyes, seeing a goon swing his weapon at Red Robin's unguarded back, and he quickly threw a batarang at him, jumping at the goon. The man beneath him cried out, and he quickly took him down to the ground, knocking him out on the stones. Robin huffed, clicking his tongue and glancing up.
Red Robin had turned around as well, observing their accomplishment with a proud smile on his face. It was then that he remembered that Robin had been injured in the fight. He glances at Damian, seeing blood soak the costume around his stomach and his left arm. Tim frowns slightly, walking over to his little brother.
"How bad is it?" Tim asks, putting a gentle hand on Damian's shoulder. The latter frowns, slapping the arm away.
"I do not need your help." He hisses, stepping backwards and seemingly unbothered by his own wounds. Tim feels a pang of annoyance go through him, but he pushed it aside.
"Remind me again when you don't need my help, gremlin." Tim retorts, and Damian shoots a glare over to him.
"Remind me again when Nightwing gives you the mantle of Robin back." Damian snaps back, and Tim can feel his stomach turn. Because that betrayal still stung, hard. Tim narrows his eyes behind his domino mask, taking a step backwards as well. Damian seemed smug about his comment, but there was something off about his body language.
And yet,Tim couldn't seem to care about that.
"I'm not doing this today." Tim sighed, reaching for his grappling hook and firing.
"Coward." Damian spat after him, but Tim ignored him, pulling himself up to the rooftop. Tim could feel tears burn in his eyes but he bit them back, leaping to the next rooftop. He knew why Damian acted like this, he understood and he felt sorry for the kid, but he just couldn't handle it, the constant belittling from him.
Damian acted like he was better than him constantly, and he knew how to press Tim's buttons every time he wanted to.
"Help!" A female voice suddenly echoed through the air. Tim immediately whirled his head around, looking down. There was a male figure, quickly approaching a young girl in the alley. Tim almost rolled his eyes at the cliché but he shook the feeling off, jumping down without a second thought. He felt wind rush past his ears and he carefully landed behind the guy..
Then as swiftly as he could he pounced on the guy, twisting his body and quickly taking him down to the ground. His head cracked against the ground, and he glanced down with a satisfied smirk.
"Are you okay, ma'am?" Tim asks, turning around.
"Better than ever." The female voice smirks, and before Tim could properly see her face, something hit him in the head. A loud yell escapes his mouth, but his vision darkened before he even hit the ground with a loud thud. He could hear a laugh, a male voice this time, before a cackle echoed through the air.
And he could only think about two things… He recognised that laugh anywhere and that voice… the voice of the woman…
That was definitely Cassandra.
Damian scowled, watching his older brother disappear into the night, watching him with a glare. His stomach was throbbing slightly, but he could barely feel the wound on his arm, even if he could feel that it was bleeding. He didn't pay attention to it, reaching for his own grappling hook and pulling him up to the rooftop as well.
He glanced around, but he couldn't see Red Robin anywhere already.
"Nightwing." Robin spoke into his communicator, putting a hand on his stomach. His glove came back red, even if it was barely visible in the dark.
"Robin, are you okay?!" Nightwing's anxious voice rang through his ear, and he was slightly panting from the other side. "I sent Red towards you for-"
"So that was you." Robin interrupted bitterly. "I did not need help, Nightwing. I work find by myself." Robin scowled, and he could hear Nightwing let out shaky laugh at the sentence.
"I'm glad to hear you're safe." Nightwing chuckles, and Robin could hear him firing his grappling hook again. "Where is Red now?" He continues, and Robin scowls even harder at the same.
"He ran off like the coward he is."
"Robin." Nightwing sternly warned, but Robin didn't pay attention as suddenly a scream echoed through the air. Robin's eyes widened behind his domino mask. Tim. "Robin?!" Nightwing shouts but Robin tunes him out, already gone before Nightwing could finish his sentence. He just ran, not caring about anything but the scream.
That scream was definitely Red Robin's, he could recognise that scream anywhere. And it was his fault that he was alone. Robin jumped across a rooftop, rolling swiftly across the pavement before sprinting further. His stomach protested and even his arm complained at the abuse as he shot his grappling hook.
But that didn't matter all that mattered was getting to that scream as fast as possible.
He jumped again, stopping abruptly when he saw a man on the ground, unconscious. Damian frowned behind his mask, stashing his grappling hook and jumping down swiftly. It was then as if his heart stopped beating, a nauseating sense of deja vu washing over him, or rather, familiarity washing over him.
Like big icy waves that destroyed anything in its path, just relentlessly raging through his entire body. Because that's what it felt like. Damian took a hesitant step forwards, legs almost giving out as he slowly crouched down to pick up the item that was so close to the man that was, luckily still breathing, in that alley as well.
Damian felt his stomach turn, not because he remembered the story behind it, because he never lived it fortunately. But because he knew it all too well, too much that he would like to admit. He brings a shaky hand to his earpiece, activating it. There was a soft, static, sound from the other side to signify the connection.
"Robin?" Nightwing's voice was hesitant, filled with fear.
"Red Robin… he's gone." Damian forced himself to say, hand clenching around the item in his hand. "Joker has him."
He disconnected before he even got the answer, and he wasn't sure if he wanted a response, especially not when there were more people listening in, one of them being Jason.
Damian unclenched his hand, scowling before turning around to find the quickest route back home.
The crowbar still in his hands.
"We should head back." Nightwing whispers softly. Damian doesn't react, staring down at the city he had sworn to protect, but could now be burned down to the ground for all he cared. Nightwing sighed behind him, and Damian could hear him stand up, walking over to him. Damian tensed slightly, but he didn't react.
There was a silent moment, before Nightwing carefully puts his hand on Damian's shoulder. "Robin." He whispers again, but Damian slaps the hand away the moment the name leaves his oldest brother's mouth.
"I'm not going anywhere." Damian hisses, glaring up at his brother. "Not until we find him." He adds with a mutter, looking down at the street again. The same alley that he had found the crowbar, but was now empty. Even the man had been arrested by the police, but Damian couldn't care less about him now.
Nightwing stayed silent for a short moment, wanting to give his little brother a moment. But they needed to get back home. The sun was already poking its head out, and the sky was illuminated by an orange glow. It was already becoming light in Gotham, and they obviously couldn't stay outside for any longer.
"Robin, let's go back." Nightwing insists again, and Damian scrunches up his nose at the sentence. It wasn't a command, but Damian understood the tone behind his brother's voice; It kind of was a command. And Damian's body followed before his mind truly did, sluggishly stepping off the ledge as a shiver wracked through his body.
Nightwing watched silently with sadness in his eyes. Damian walks over to him, not even glancing at him. His older brother put a careful hand on Damian's shoulder, but be immediately shrugged it off, sending a glare to Nightwing. He didn't say anything, neither of them did, for which Damian was glad right now.
Damian shook his head slightly, jumping off the roof and making his way over to the Batmobile.
Nightwing joined him minutes later, but neither of them said anything. The engine of the Batmobile echoed through the air, and Damian stared out of the window. Buildings shot past him as his brother raced home, and he couldn't take his eyes away from them because of the small chance that one of them would show him his brother.
But he knew that wouldn't be the case, he knew Tim was gone.
And it was his fault.
The ride was tense, but Damian just stared, brows knitted behind his domino mask. So hard that the spirit gum was starting to irritate his face, but he didn't pay attention to it. He couldn't pay attention to it. All that flashed through his mine was Tim… Drake. He scowled, leg twitching at the sudden thought that rang through his mind.
He could only think about his immediate older brother..
"Robin." He could suddenly hear a voice say, and he blinked into focus again, staring at the face of his father, cowl resting on the back of his neck. He seemed pained, and angry, and it was obvious why he was feeling those emotions. Damian grumbled, climbing out of the batmobile and ripping off the mask from his face.
"I am fine." Damian snarled, brushing past his father and over to the exit.
"Perhaps it is wise for you to sit down momentarily?" Alfred suggested, and Damian send a glare his way.
"I said I was fine Pennyworth." He hisses, but Alfred was unfazed, already too used to all of the kids, including Bruce. There was a flash of doubt, perhaps regret, across Damian. but just for a split second, and nobody besides Alfred even noticed it. The boy turned away without wasting another second, storming out of the cave.
Alfred sighs, turning over to the two remaining members currently in the batcave. Dick had also removed his domino mask, pinching the bridge of his nose as he stood behind Bruce, who had now taken his place again behind the computer.
"He's just frustrated Alfie, he didn't mean it." Dick says, but Alfred shakes his head.
"I am well aware of Master Damian's tendencies to lash out should he feel frustrated." Alfred tells him, and Dick cracks a small smile.
"That he does." Dick mutters, and Alfred turned to the screen.
"Do you have any luck locating Master Timothy so far?" Alfred asks, but Bruce sighs, shaking his head.
"His comms were taken out and his tracker is offline." Bruce looks at Alfred, who raised an eyebrow. "Both trackers." Bruce affirmed, turning back to the screen himself.
"And the crowbar?" Dick asks softly, putting a hand on Bruce's shoulder. His dad's muscles were tense underneath his hand, and it only served as another reminder what was going on here.
"Running scans on it right now." Bruce said, gesturing to where the crowbar was indeed being scanned. It wouldn't take long before the results would come back.
"Hopefully it will tell us who got him." Dick muttered, rubbing his own neck.
"We know who took him Dick." Bruce shot back, but Dick shook his head.
"We don't know for sure Bruce, it might be something to distract us." Dick shot back, Bruce glanced back at his oldest son.
"No one else knows what that crowbar means, Dick. The Joker wants to know it's him."
"He could've told someone about the crowbar." Dick mutters, crossing his arms on his chest and turning around. "I don't know Bruce, something just doesn't feel right, I don't think it's the joker." Dick says, but all he got from Bruce was silence. It showed he wasn't certain either, but one thing was clear to all of them.
No matter who had Tim, they had to find him fast.
First chapter done! What do you think about it so far? The story will have 9 chapters in total, and they've already been pretty much completed. I will update every Saturday and I want to do something along the lines of an extra chapter on Wednesday should the chapter get a certain amounts of comments, but figuring as this is my first multi-chaptered Damian centric story… we'll see what the response is to this.
This chapter is not posted on Saturday (obviously) but I'll be going on a holiday tomorrow morning for a few days and I wanted to get this story up and running. So if the response is good, there will be an extra chapter on Wednesday.
See ya!