Chapter 29: There Has To Be Hope
Like the message said, the only thing he should focus on now is survival. But then again, what else is there to do when you're trekking through heavy snow with severe bruising and body damage along with no energy. Damien couldn't understand how it all went so wrong so quickly, he didn't understand how the Justice League managed to lose. They never lose. He never loses. But now he has lost everything.
"Now isn't the time to think," Damien mumbled to himself as he wrapped his black cape tightly around his body as the cold wind scraped through his costume. If he was taught anything, it was survival, he was no Oliver Queen when it came to living on a deserted island but if that Robin Hood fanboy could do it then what was stopping the son of Batman doing it in the snow? Damien rolled his eyes at the thought of that brief compliment to the Green Arrow but then he gave a smirk upon remembering when he and Lian caught the Green Arrow without his hood up. It turned out that he wears the hood to cover up a bald patch. Lian hasn't let her father's mentor live it down since.
And then, as he travelled through the beginnings of a blizzard, the guilt set in. The guilt of what he said to Lian after what happened to Sophie; That he wished Lian was the one who was on the receiving end of The Man of Light. Damien wished he was able to go back in time and apologize but he doubted to himself that he would do so even then, he was too proud.
Despite his mind racing with all these thoughts his body was making no progress travelling in these severe conditions. He had no idea where he was, and his body had certainly taking its toll, he could barely feel his legs anymore under the thick layers of snow and his body was getting more and more exhausted with each passing minute. But in the distance, he saw either hope or danger as a small flickering light began to grow closer with two silhouettes in tow.
Despite wanting to be prepared for whatever he was about to face there was nothing he could do. His body collapsed into the snow and he barely held any consciousness at all and after what felt like eternity he heard a feminine voice called out in a foreign language, with Damien's training he was able to identify that she was speaking Russian.
Damien was soon rolled over onto his back to see the image of a burly, grey-bearded man pointing an old shotgun at him and a girl beside him holding a lantern and a small revolver in her hand.
In his native language the man questioned who Damien was and warned him not to make any sudden movements. Damien croaked as he tried to speak but the cold was getting the better of him and all he could do was close his eyes and sleep.
Before he opened his eyes, he could feel nothing but warmth and hear the crackling of fire. He pictured the time of when he and his father fell asleep in front of the fireplace in his home and waking up underneath the heat of the arm his father had wrapped around him and the blanket Alfred had covered him in. Just like then, he never wanted to feel the cold again.
Damien was more than willing to close his eyes and drift back to sleep, but he heard the sound of heavy footsteps moving across the floorboards. Damien turned his head slight and slowly opened his eyes to see a blurry, unfocused view of the old man from before he fell unconscious. He was a big man with a grey beard bursting out form his face as if it had never been maintained and covering his head was a brown woollen hat. The man placed beside Damien's bed a wooden chair and then took a seat and sipped the warm liquid from the mug he held in his other hand.
"Your name?" He questioned in a heavy accent.
Damien took a deep breath and whispered a barely audible answer, "Damien."
The old man simply answered, "I see."
There was a brief pause and silence filled the air, but it was broken as the man sipped loudly from the mug in his hands and let out and audibly sigh of satisfaction. "This is good, you want some?" he asked his guest.
Damien managed to hold back the grimace as he was sure whatever that man was tasting would not be up to the standards he set for what enters his body, but Pennyworth had always taught him to be a polite guest when possible, so he asked what the man was drinking. The man simply chuckled, "Is hot water," and gave a light slap on his leg, "but still, better than cold in this weather, yes?" he questioned.
Damien responded with a small laugh of his own, "Yeah, I guess so."
A few more moments past and the man finished his drink, then placing his mug onto the floor. The aura of him grew serious. "Who are you?" he frowned, "No lies or I throw you back outside," he then warned.
If anything, this question was to be expected for the obvious reasons, so Damien struggled in the bed briefly as he moved his body so that he could sit up a little against the wooden headboard. He took a small look around the shelter he was given, and he was surprised about the conditions of it. He was in a wooden hut, but the inside was cosy and well maintained, there seemed to be two rooms with another attached to one he was in.
"Okay, here's the truth. My name is Damien Wayne. Did you see the explosion in the distance? I'm sure it is plenty obvious by the gear I was wearing that I was a part of it. And if you must know, I was at the centre of it trying to stop that explosion from happening. Now, the Justice League has been more than likely wiped out and by 'wiped out' I mean hundreds of heroes killed but somehow, I'm alive. I have no idea why." Damien revealed.
The old man noticed the teenager's eyes begin to tear up, so he handed him a somewhat clean rag for him to wipe his eyes with. "These heroes… were some your friends?" he asked.
Damien's lips pressed together, and he simply nodded to the man and then managed to croak out a reply, "Some were friends… Others were family."
There was again another pause, this wasn't like the other two times, this was one of understanding. The old man was letting his guest release all of the emotion that were built up inside him after what he just went through. The silence was however broken when the door to the other room squeaked open and a girl around Damien's age stepped through in some old ragged pyjamas with a blanket wrapped around her. "Dedushka, I heard noise. Is he awake?" she asked in a tired voice yet speaking in English to not seem rude to her guest.
The old man turned behind him and raised an eyebrow to the girl, "I told you to sleep" he said in a stern voice. The girl ignored her grandfather and continued to step forward to them on the opposite side of the room, "I'm sorry but I was worried," she answered.
Her grandfather replied with a small smile and shook his head, "your soul is too kind for this world Katerina."
Damien looked at this girl and he didn't know what to make of her. She had long black hair draping over her shoulders and down her back along with a pale complexion and a slender build yet the look in her brown eyes did not match the rest of her. It was if she was filled with some sort of drive, as if there was something she was striving to do but on first glance Damien could not for the life of him figure out what it was.
Katerina looked at the boy sleeping in the warmth and gave him an even warmer smile, "I'm glad you're okay."
"Yes, I'm glad I am too…" he mumbled as the guilt returned but then he grew curious, how did they discover him?
"How did you even find me?" He questioned.
The old man took a deep breath and moved over to the fireplace to place another log to burn as he answered his guests' question. "The flash of light and sounds of the explosion woke us up, I'm sure it could be heard all across Russia. When me and Katerina went out to look we saw in the distance a small grain of light and a silhouette of a person appear from it, that is how we found you."
"Well then, you have my most sincere thanks," Damien nodded, "but I need to get out of here and head back to Gotham City" he announced.
The old man and Katerina exchanged looks of confusion, "Gotham City?" the girl questioned. Her grandfather then shrugged, "We are not good with other countries cities."
"It doesn't matter. Is there an airport nearby or anyway to travel to a city that has one?" The Boy Wonder asked as he attempted to climb out form his bed but as he did so Katerina rushed over with worry and attempted to hold him back from escaping the warmth, "No no no, you must stay in bed to regain your strength. If you go outside in the state you're in and try to travel, you'll end up dead."
Damien ignored her and attempted to push her aside as he flung the heavy covers from his body, "Then I die."
The old man stood up from kneeling and gripped one of his large hands over one of Damien's wrists, "Lie back down boy, you're no good to anyone dead. And if you touch Katerina again I'll kill you myself" he warned.
Damien scowled, "You don't understand! If I don't-"
The old man tightened his grip and pushed his guest's arm away from his granddaughter, "No you don't understand! We're trying to help you. I'm sure your first instinct as one of those costumed heroes is to help those in need, yes? So do you not see? This is what we are trying to do. So, lie back down in that bed and get some rest. When you are healthy we will find a way for you to get back home."
Katerina began to giggle at the sight of these two warring men, she hadn't had anything like this happen in her home for a very long time. "You won't win against Dedushka, Damien. So, do what he says, and we'll promise to help get you home" she smiled.
The Boy Wonder pouted in defeat and crossed his arms, "Fine, I guess I'm no used to anyone dead."
The old man pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head, "This boy changes with the wind Katerina."
The black-haired girl placed a hand on her grandfathers arm and smiled at him, "Now that everything is decided, we should get some rest." To which the old man agreed, "I'm already awake so I'll keep watch and make sure this one doesn't attempt to sneak off in the middle of the night."
Damien sighed as his simple plan disappeared, "figures."
Nearly five days passed of his recovery until his saviors agreed to let him out of the old uncomfortable bed to stretch his legs. Damien knew he wasn't nearly rested well enough but as someone who has trained to live on 4 hours of sleep he figured he's had more than enough of being lazy over the last few days, and he definitely is not the type of person to not keep his mind active. He isn't Don after all.
Each time he awoke in bed Katerina would come over to talk with him, she seemed like a happy enough girl and their conversations were only small-talk, but he had learned a lot about her. She's confident, capable, caring and certainly doesn't have any messing about. Damien learned that the hard way when he attempted to come up with multiple excuses to stretch his legs but each time she'd glare at him and tell him to rest. And the old man who has yet to reveal his name to Damien has been as pleasant as possible despite being forced to sleep on some furs since he had given the Boy Wonder his bed to recuperate in.
But today was the day where he was allowed to get some fresh air, the heavy snow had passed, and chores needed doing. Katerina had asked her grandfather if Damien could chop some wood with her while he went hunting which he hesitantly agreed to.
Damien sat on the bed in his borrowed and torn pyjamas holding a mug of hot water as the fire crackled in the corner of his eyes. The old man walked out from the small kitchen covered in layers of clothing and grabbed his rifle from a trunk in the room. He nodded at Damien, "Katerina will bring you some clothes in a moment. Now let's hope my traps have found us something nice, yes?" he grinned as he was clearly excited about finding out. His guest smirked at his enthusiasm, "You know, I could come and help you. I know how to shoot a bow if you have one."
"I'll tell you what, if you make one then you are more than welcome to come with me next time" The old man nodded as he opened the door and exited the wooden hut.
A few moments passed, and Katerina opened her door carrying some folded clothes for Damien to wear. She walked over to him and placed them onto the bed with a small smile, "I hope they fit, they were my cousin's"
Damien was going to ask what she meant but the look in her eyes told her everything, he had clearly passed before his time. "Thank you," Damien replied with a caring smile. Katerina then turned around and walked back towards her room, "I'll go grab you a coat and some other stuff to keep you warm so go ahead and get changed!"
Damien removed his shirt and pants and began to change into the borrowed clothes. The fabric was a bit rough, but it was clear that Katerina had washed the clothes recently and even patched up some holes and torn areas. Damien took hold of the dark green shirt Katerina had placed on the bed and just as he was about to put it on he heard her voice behind him.
"Your body, it's covered in scars." She said in a concerned tone.
She wasn't wrong, his entire life he was participating in combat. It only made sense that he'd have scars to bear. "It's what happens when you put on a mask" he simply replied to her as his back remained in her direction.
Damien then felt a cold hand placed onto his back and he quickly jolted away at the sudden feel of it, "Don't, Kat."
"I'm sorry," she replied, "it's just your body is covered in them."
Damien finished putting on the shirt and then took hold of the burgundy jumper that was left and placed that over his torso as well. He then turned to face the girl who passed to him a coat, a scarf, and one of her grandfather's woollen hats.
"If you're concerned then don't be. Every scar on my body is one I gained from helping people." He told her. "Now, don't we have some wood to chop? We can't do that with you gawking at me" he added.
Katerina walked to the fireplace and grabbed the two axes placed beside it and frowned towards her guest, "I wasn't gawking."
"You were gawking."
"I was not."
"You were."
"I look nothing like a bird."
"I said 'gawking' not 'hawking'"
"What's the difference?"
"One isn't a bird."
"Why do you have to use big words? Typical American."
"I'm only part American."
The two teenagers continued to bicker all the way to the two large tree trunks that were beside the hut and next to a big pile of smaller logs.
"So how many do we need?" Damien questioned as he grabbed a log and placed it onto the tree trunk, "Just a few?" he then asked.
"We may as well just get as many done as possible" Katarina answered as she placed a log onto her tree trunk and brought her axe down separating the log in half in one go. Damien raised his eyebrows in surprise, he didn't expect a girl as thin as her to not have much trouble chopping wood. Katerina looked at him and winked, "It's all in the technique."
Damien rolled his eyes and then gripped his axe and brought it down onto the log… the axe only went halfway through. He paused for a moment and slowly looked back towards Katerina who was pressing her lips together trying not to laugh until a snort escaped, and she started to cackle which set Damien off in a chuckle as well.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh- "She apologised in between her laughter, "-but I thought you were supposed to be a super tough guy" she continued.
Damien began to slam the log onto the trunk to try and separate it from the axe, but it was having no effect, in fact it was probably just making it worse as well as making Katerina laugh even more.
"Come on you piece of shit chunk of wood" Damien grimaced as he placed one of his boots onto the log and pulled on the handle of the axe. "Be careful you don't chop your leg off!" Katerina warned as she began to move over to help the struggling teenage boy. Before she could get to him to help Damien dislodged the axe and fell backwards onto the cold hard ground with the axe landing beside him.
"Ow." He groaned.
Katerina stopped laughing and hurried over to him, "That was stupid."
Damien rubbed the back of his head, "Please never tell anyone that happened…" he groaned again.
The girl offered her hand to Damien, "I'll be sure to try and hold my tongue" she said sarcastically.
As Katerina pulled Damien up the two stood there with their bodies mere inches apart, they could feel the others breath on their skin. There was pause where their eyes locked.
"We shouldn't." Katerina whispered.
"You're right." Damien whispered in return.
But neither of them moved.
Katerina closed her eyes and slowly inched forwards with her lips and Damien did the same in a moment of weakness. But the boy's eyes darted open as he heard a feint noise in the distance, a light humming of an engine growing closer. He stepped away from Katerina who remained there for a few seconds waiting for him to press his lips against hers but when she opened her eyes she saw the black-haired boy picking up his axe with a fire in his eyes, "Are you expecting visitors?" he asked her.
Katerina's eyes widened, "Quick, hide!" she replied with urgency, "We must hide, if they see you they'll kill you!"
Damien gripped his axe and began to move forward to the trail of the road, "I'll take care of them."
Katerina grabbed Damien's arm and locked her eyes with his, "No. If they find you they will shoot you on site and then kill me. You and me must hide."
Damien tried to pull away from her but she wouldn't let him. He then turned his face back to hers and tutted, "If it keeps you safe."
Katerina took his hand and led him past the house and through the trees behind.
"This is too far, what if your grandfather comes back and we're not there?" Damien questioned as he followed closely behind holding her hand. The girl leading the way quickly looked over her shoulder to Damien, "He'll be fine, it's a long story" she said to him.
Damien ducked underneath a stray branch, "well now's the time to share the story, you know I can help" he said in a hurried tone.
"I'll tell you, just wait until we get to the cave" Katerina replied as she tightened her grip around his hand.
A few minutes passed and the two made it to the top of an incline where a small river flowed in front of them. The water was crystal clear as it flowed through the rocks barely making a sound.
"Wow…" Damien said in surprise.
Katerina gave Damien a small smile as she looked at the surprise on his face over the river. "Come on, no time for sightseeing" she half-joked as she pulled him down the incline and turned towards a cave that was to their right.
The boy stopped in his tracks and pulled slightly on Katerina's hand, "what about bears?" he questioned.
The Russian girl rolled her eyes, "there are no bears around here. Trust me."
Damien raised an eyebrow in protest but then walked beside her towards the cave and as they entered further into it their footsteps began to echo.
And then he heard it, a small grumble and snort. The sound of a bear. Damien grabbed Katerina's arm and turned to run but her feet remained in place as she began to laugh.
"That was a pretty good impression, right?" she snorted.
Damien glared at her, "Are you serious?" he said with defeat on his face. "I'm trying to protect you and you're doing shit like that at a time like this?!" he complained with his voice growing louder.
Katerina simply gave a cute smile as she tilted her head. "Come on, it was just a joke!" she said with a chirp.
"There's a time for jokes and now isn't one of them," he grimaced as he walked deeper into the cave.
Katerina's lower lip quivered, "I'm sorry… I was just trying to-"
"Lighten the mood?" Damien said finishing her sentence. "I get it, I have a friend like you." He added.
Katerina raised an eyebrow in interest and questioned who Damien was referring to as she jogged ahead of him to a rucksack she hides at the end of the cave and where she keeps a lantern and some matches for the makeshift firepit.
"Well, there's two of them. One is called Don and the other is called Jonathan. The difference between them though is that Don doesn't have a filter with some of the things he says… much like me I guess. I'm not really good when it comes to people." Damien admitted.
"I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit," Katerina replied as she lit the lantern and kept the flame dim. "I've known you for nearly a week and I can already tell what kind of person you are" she continued.
Damien released a tut, "Oh really? And what kind of person is that?" he replied as he took a seat against the cave wall.
Katerina smiled and walked over beside him and sat down. She then turned her eyes to him and answered his question, "The kind who fights for people in need. And people like you are the best of us all."
Damien turned his face and gave her a small smile, "Huh, you remind me of someone else I know. She's always saying stuff like that and telling me that I can be better."
Katerina could hear the admiration in Damien's voice, whoever he was speaking of he clearly liked a her a lot. She placed one of her hands onto Damien's cheek and pulled him closer, "She sounds like quite the girl."
The boy smiled and looked into her eyes, "she is."
Katerina moved her lips closer to Damien and whispered, "I can be her…" before pressing her lips against his. Damien felt her hand slowly glide around the back of his head pulling him in as he returned the kiss. She then moved and positioned herself on top of Damien as he sat against the cave wall and placed both of her hands on his cheeks as she continued to battle her lips with his.
Damien moved his face to the side, disconnecting his lips from hers, "We shouldn't," he whispered. Katerina moved her head back and gave a look of defeat. She sighed as she climbed down from his waist and sat beside him. "You're right, I'm sorry. That was bad of me." She apologized.
The Boy Wonder shook his head, "No, it wasn't." he said to her. "I like you, I do. I think you're great despite the bear impression. It's just…"
"You like someone else." Katerina shrugged. She then let out a sad and short laugh, "Who am I kidding? I thought things were finally looking up for me. I find an extremely handsome boy my age who appeared in a spark of light. I thought you were an angel, you know. Can you blame me for jumping ahead like that? There has to be hope." she confessed with a tear escaping her eyes.
Damien put an arm around her and pulled her in, "No, I don't."
"I thought you were going to better my life…" she then admitted. The boy then rested his cheek onto her head and rubbed her arms to try and keep her warm in the dark and damp cave, "I will," he promised.
"I'll deal with those men and I'll help you and your grandfather find somewhere better to live, somewhere safer. I swear" he said with warmth in his voice.
"But how?" Katerina questioned in disbelief.
Damien moved his head from resting on hers and then moved her face with a finger so that she was looking at him, "Because I promise. That's how."
Despite that promise he had never felt so guilty in his entire life. He just survived a war and he is sat here playing house to avoid the harsh reality. This was the wake-up call Damien needed, people need his help. He couldn't hang around in Katerina's hut forever and a day. He had to deal with the men harassing her and her grandfather, and find a way back to Gotham. If there was going to be a rally point for the Justice League or for the team, that's where they will be headed because there must have been other survivors, Garth had to have had a hand in saving Damien's life as well as others.
There has to be hope.
A/N: So I managed to write this over the weekend and I was going to wait a bit to add it to the story but nah, have it now. Enjoy! :D
See what happens when Damien has time away from beating up thugs and criminals? It's like he becomes a normal person. Weird.
~FarmingPirate
