Because I haven't seen anything for this, yet. Mild language. No F-bombs, and it's from Damian. Ugh...this fits under sibling stuff (at least), right?


"Let me get this straight, Father. I come back from the dead, only to find out that Grayson, of all people, has taken my place? What kind of bullshit is this?" Damian pulled his hands roughly through his hair and stood up, nearly knocking his stool over in the process. Grayson wasn't supposed to leave him! He..he just came back.

Bruce reached over from his chair and tried to pull his youngest into a hug, "Damian…"

"No!" Damian shoved past his father and made his way to his room. He slammed his door and slid down against it, furiously wiping at any tear that dared to make it's way down his face. The boy knew his father was on the other side, wanting to come in, but Damian did not move from his spot on the carpet. Rubbing in between Titus' ears (who had been following him around ever since his return) methodically, Damian finally managed to ask. "...How, how did it happen?"

He could hear his father's forlorn sigh through the doorway. "I don't know if-"

"How did Richard die, Father."

"...It was a bomb. He- the Crime Syndicate had him hooked up to a sort of bomb that would detonate and blow up the whole base unless his heart stopped beating. Lex Luthor suffocated him to save everyone." There was a pause. "Lex Luthor suffocated and killed my son."

Damian could have roared with anger. Luthor! "Were you there when it happened?"

"Yes."

"You could have stopped him, then! Found some other way!"

Images of his first son's limp, beaten form flooded his mind almost immediately, but he chased them away. "There wasn't enough-"

"Enough what?! Time? You're The Batman," he cried through the wood, "you could have...you could have found a way to save him."

Bruce's heart ached for him to apologize and tell his son the truth. He didn't want to be the only one who knew this heavy secret, but he knew he had to carry the burden alone. If anyone found out, even his own family, Dick's cover could be blown away. His entire mission revolved around the fact that the whole world thought he had passed, and no one (besides himself) could be an exception. Bruce could not make the acception if he wanted Dick to return back to him relatively undamaged.

"Luthor is dead, Father. I'm going to murder him and I'm not going feel any semblance of remorse for it."

There was no response.