Dick's POV

This is all my fault. I promised Damian everything would be okay, and I've failed at protecting him. But no more, I have to get Nagata off him, but he just won't budge!

"ARGH!" I grind my teeth as I pull with all my strength, I don't remember him being this strong...

"HAHAHAHAHA-"

SNAP!

"AAAAAAAAHHH!" screams Mr Nagata as he tilts his head upwards. I see his eyes fall back to their usual position before he finally lets go of Damian's throat, allowing my momentum to fling us backwards to the floor.

I immediately scramble back to my feet and run towards Damian, before cradling him in my arms. He clings to me as he coughs and wheezes desperately for air.

"I'm so sorry that happened, Dami," I whisper as I look down and notice the bruising on his neck. Tears build up in my eyes, "should I call an ambulance?"

Damian shakes his head in response, unable to reply through his attempts to breathe.

"This isn't your fault, I'm the one that should be sorry," says Mr Nagata, I turn to see him dripping with sweat as he leans against the table, "that was the strongest spirit I've ever dealt with, by far. It just took over me. How did you stop it?" he asks.

"I believe that was me," Alfred interjects as he holds up the feather, revealing it to be split in two, "I thought since the circle breaking didn't stop the connection with the spirit, perhaps this is what was keeping it going, so I snapped it. I suppose I was right."

"Good thinking," Mr Nagata replies before trying to shake himself back to his senses, "so listen, I screwed up here, big time. I've hurt the kid, which again I'm very sorry for, so as much as this pains me to say, I don't think I've earned my payment-"

"Wait, is that it? You're not going to help us get rid of this thing? What are we meant to-"

"Here's the problem," he says, signalling me to calm down with his hands, "that's going to be very tricky. Usually just ordering these things to leave does the job. But I don't see that playing out well here, not unless you're very forceful. I may have a few tools I can acquire that could help out, but I'm going to need around a day to retrieve them. So if you insist on me coming back to help, I suggest being very careful for tonight... and maybe don't sleep in this room," he warns.

I give him a nod before he wanders out. I turn back to Damian and see him staring up at me. He seems to be able to breathe a little easier now at least, the wheezing replaced with deep breaths.

"I suppose we should sleep together in my bed again tonight?" I say.

"No," Damian replies.

"We could watch a movie the-"

"No," he says again as his lip starts to quiver.

"Damian?"

"I just want this all to be over!" he cries as he leans his head into my chest.

"Me too, me too..." I whisper as I embrace him.

We sit there for a brief while before Alfred put his hand on my shoulder, "perhaps we should take Mr Nagata's advice and rest somewhere a little safer," he says.

"How about we go and relax in the living room, huh?" I say to Damian as I start to rub circles on his back. He doesn't reply, but his arms cling around my neck as I lift him up. Alfred gives me a nod as we make our way to the living room. I set us both down gently onto the couch, Damian continues to cry softly into my chest before resting his head on my lap. I try my best to comfort him, and after a while the sound of his sniffles is replaced by calm steady breathing.

"I'll protect you from here on, Damian, I promise."

Damian's POV

"Listen carefully, Damian. For I cannot protect you from death forever, there will come a time where like your grandfather, you will come face to face with what lies beyond."

Mother... you're back...

"What lies beyond?" I hear myself ask.

"Death is not the end, Damian. There is something beyond it, and once you have visited there, you always have a piece of it with you. That piece can act as a beacon for other beings that want to make their way back to this world, the living world."

I see...

"What kind of beings?"

"Every kind. Innocent, guilty, good, evil, as much variety as there are human souls, and possibly other souls."

"How does grandfather deal with that? If one piece is a beacon, he must be blinding."

"He commands the spirits to bow under his might, forcing some to leave and even uses others to increase his power."

"That's impressive, if he can do it, then I will just do the same. I'm sure I could force all of them-"

"It's not as simple as it sounds, Damian. There is a reason even your grandfather with his will of iron forces some spirits to leave rather than using them all, they vary in strength. Some are more difficult to handle, but if you're capable of showing enough resolve, any spirit can bend to your will."

My eyes snap open.

"Any spirit..." I say without thinking.

"Dami, are you okay? Did you have a bad dream?" Grayson asks as I realize my head is in his lap.

I sit up, "I wasn't sleeping, I was merely meditating," at least I think I was...

"Then why'd you mention spirits?"

"I had a vision, or I remembered something, I'm not entirely sure... Mother explained some things to me. It seems Nagata was correct, the way to remove spirits is to command them to leave. We just need to be more forceful... I think I have a plan, Grayson."

He places a hand on my shoulder, "perhaps we should wait and discuss that with Mr Nagata when he comes back tomorrow."

"No, I can do this, Grayson. I... I want this to be over," I say as I gently touch my neck, "it won't be easy, but I need to go back down to the cave. I'm going to tell this thing once and for all that it doesn't belong here. It's the only way."

He pauses for a second, looking intently at my face before giving me that smile of his, but it's different this time, there's a look in his eyes. Is that pride?

"No, Dami, not I, we can do it. I'll be right there with you, all the way."

As we open the entrance to the cave, I can feel tension rising up in my chest once again, but this time I push it back down. I can't let fear control me, I need to will myself to be brave.

When we reach the bottom of the stairs, I head straight for the changing room, refusing to look anywhere else. I'm going to be prepared this time, the spirit may have bested Damian Wayne, but it's yet to come up against Robin. I wait for Grayson to enter and close the door behind him. I begin to get into my outfit, Grayson follows and gets into his Nightwing gear. I take a deep breath and grab my sword, Grayson takes his escrima sticks and I grip the door handle. But I can't bring myself to pull it, I can feel that tension rising again. I close my eyes. It's okay, I know I can do this, I just need to be so confident that the spirit has no choice but to leave immediately. Nothing bad will-

I immediately jump and almost throw a punch as I feel a hand on my shoulder, before I realize it's just Grayson behind me.

"I'm here," he says with a smile.

Which as much as I'd hate to admit it, is just what I needed to hear. So with that, I turn back to the door, take a deep breath and kick it open.

"I know you're here Court, come out, I'd like a word with you!" I yell as I stride into the cave, looking around for any signs of response. But there's nothing. I look into the mirror, but all I can see is the reflection of the cave.

"I SAID, COME OUT!" I yell, pushing myself to be forceful, expending as much air as possible.

SMASH!

Suddenly we're plunged into darkness. All of the light in the cave disappears, it sounds like even the computer shuts down, which never happens. I can't see a thing. What am I going to do? How can I make it leave if I can't see it, I can't-

"Damian! Are you there?"

Grayson, he's still here. Just focus on that, we can do this. I will not let my fear take over, that's exactly what this thing wants.

"I'm here, Grayson. Where are you?"

"I'm just looking for a light switch."

I start to walk forward, slowly and carefully, gripping my sword, "I'm not scared by your antics, spirit! Now, show yourself!"

No response.

"These little tricks mean nothi-"

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!

I jump as the speakers blast that sound again. I steady myself and shake my head. Focus, ignore the sound, feel strong, brave. If I just keep telling myself I'm brave, maybe my heart rate will slow back dow-

CLANG!

What was that? Did something fall? All I can let out are short shallow breaths now. I look all around me but I still can't see anything. A bead of sweat drips down my forehead.

"Grayson, are you-"

The hairs on the back of my neck go up as I feel a hand on my shoulder again.

"Grayson, stop doing tha-"

I freeze and my eyes go wide as I feel gravelly breathing next to my ear.

"I'm not Grayson," says a deep gruff voice as whatever's grabbed me starts to squeeze my shoulder.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I let out a high pitched scream, I hear a crack as pain shoots through my shoulder. I start wildly kicking behind me, I think I hit something as I feel the hand let go. I immediately run forward. I still can't see anything, but I just go as fast as I can. I hold my hands out in front of me looking for a wall. But only a few seconds after escaping that thing's grip, I can feel that deep breathing coming from behind me. It's so close to me, I'm sure of it. If it catches me, I-

A wall! But now there's nowhere left to run, I have no choice. I spin around, swinging my sword behind me.

But I don't hit anything, there's nothing there... I know I wasn't imagining that, my shoulder's still in a lot of pain. So where did it go? No, it's okay, it doesn't matter, just breathe. Try to calm down, you need to be brave, remember? Brave, just like Grays-

"Damian!" I hear to my right from a distance.

"Grayson?" I yell back.

"I need some help, something fell on me when I was looking for a light, I can't get it off!"

I hesitate for a second, feeling too nervous to move. But I have to do this, so I start creeping along the wall towards him, "I'm coming!"

Of course he'd be stupid enough to let something fall on him. I'm making sure we don't separate once I-

"Damian!" I hear from behind me this time.

My heart drops. That's Grayson's voice... from the opposite side of the cave, how could he get all the way over there-

"Don't go over there!" Grayson's voice from behind me continues, "I heard that too, but it's not me! Come over here and help me up, we can do this together, Damian!"

I can't move as my heart beats faster and faster. My hands start to shake. I don't know what to do, one of these is the real Grayson, but the other is that thing, and I can't tell which, I can't breathe. I just... I just...

"I JUST WANT THIS TO STOP!" I scream as tears fall down my face, "THIS SPIRIT SHOULD LEAVE! I COMMAND YOU TO LEAVE, RIGHT NOW!"

I kneel over, out of breath and sobbing. But maybe that finally did-

"It's okay, Damian! Don't cry, I got myself out, I'm coming to get you!"

No! It's coming for me, that can't be Grayson! My commands didn't work, why won't it just leave... Stop it, I have to go towards the other one, the real Grayson. I have to move, come on legs, get up!

I manage to lift myself through the shaking, and turn around to run towards the Grayson that still needs help. The only Grayson, the other one is just the spirit, I know it is. But my legs are trembling so much that my knees bash into each other, making me stumble.

"Damian! Is that you?" I hear ahead of me.

Grayson, I have to do this for him! I know he'd be able to push through for me. I lift myself off the floor and start running again, following his voice and searching for him with my hands.

"Damian!" he yells as I wander into whatever's fallen on him.

"Grayson, I've found you," I take a deep breath and feel around this rectangular metal thing, is this a locker? How did that get knocked over? Doesn't matter, not enough time, need to get this thing off him, "I've got you, Grayson. Are you ready?" I ask.

"Yeah that's it! Let's lift it together."

I drop my sword to place both my hands beneath the locker, "Let's do this quickly," I say as I attempt to lift it. But it's not actually as heavy as I expect-

Grayson grabs my wrist, why'd he- Oh god, no no no, I picked the wrong one!

"AAAHHH!" I scream as the fake Grayson slashes at my face. I drop the locker and fall backwards. I can feel blood trickling down my face when suddenly I'm blinded, as all the lights in the cave switch back on. I get off the floor and rub my eyes, as they adjust, I look down to see nothing under the locker.

"Damian!" I hear from behind me.

Dick's POV

He stands there for a few seconds, not moving. Come on, Dami, I know you're scared but just turn around. I'm sorry I let us get separated, but we can do this together, I know it. I stop walking as I see him bend down to pick up his sword, he swings around with it, but as he sees me, he allows his arms to drop back down.

"I found the light switch," I say as I walk towards him. I try to cup his face with my hand when I see the scratches across it and the tears in his eyes, he flinches at first, but soon melts into my touch.

"Grayson," he whispers, catching his breath as tears drips down his face.

"Those are some nasty scratches on your face, Dami. I'm so sorry I let that happen, but that's the last injury you're going to get today. The spirit deliberately separated us, because it knows we can get rid of it if we work together. And that's what we're going to do now. We're going to tell this thing-"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" yells a deep gravelly voice, resonating through the cave. Damian whips his head to the mirror, I follow and see it, the figure. It's flying towards us! I notice Damian lifting his sword, and leap backwards out of the way as he swings it around to meet the spirit. As they collide, there's a bright flash.

I shield my eyes as I hear Damian's high pitched scream, but it gets lower, and lower, and lower, until it abruptly stops. I uncover my eyes to see Damian kneeling on the ground with his head down, his sword on the floor beside him. I slowly get back to my feet, he doesn't move an inch.

"Damian?" I ask.

"HAHAHAHAHA," he lets out a low disembodied chuckle, "I'm not Damian."

Thanks again sooo much everyone for reading, reviewing, favoriting and following. And especially for waiting longer for this one, very sorry about that, had some surprise guests over for a few days which really threw off my schedule. The next chapter will be out much faster! I promise ;D. I hope you all enjoyed this and that it was worth the wait.