The last real chapter! I really worried over this one, but in the end decided to just keep it simple. Really, really simple. Like, end the story the second Damian is alive again, haha. I didn't want to do the whole fight with Kalibak thing and etc etc so I didn't go that far.
This is, of course, from Damian's point of view, so to fill in any blanks you may have, be sure to read Batman&Robin 37 and Robin Rises: Alpha for the actual whole event, superpowers and fights and all.
The main story is complete! But don't despair! Reminder there is still an epilogue to come (where the superpowers will be brought up). I'll get all my thanks and mushyness and shamless plugs out then.
Supplemental listening: 'Outro' by M83, title from title song, 'Ghosts That We Knew'
In the end, he was still taken by surprise.
There was no warning. No hint that it was going to happen. Damian and Aris were sitting on the floor of Dick's room, talking while they tried to develop creative and complicated weapons with their auras. Dick himself was sitting on the bed, alternating between fixing his escrima sticks, cleaning his gun and reading a book, all while humming some oddly bittersweet tunes. The Wayne boys had never specifically made their presence to the eldest known but, they had a feeling he'd figured it out himself anyway. He was actually smiling, and for no good reason this time. Just like the good old days.
For a moment, everything was…fine. Practically good, even.
And then it wasn't.
No tip-off, no red flags, not even a sense of foreboding, which in all honesty is what he expected. The stab was sudden, and felt like it was made of a thousand suns. He jerked backwards, tried to catch himself on his hands, ended up falling onto his back.
"Damian!"
Aris's voice seemed both distant and everywhere as Damian's vision blurred and blinked. Grayson's room, the Cave, the lobby of Wayne Tower, his own bedroom.
"Damian, can you hear me?!"
The flickering images stopped on Wayne Tower, they stopped on the massive hulk standing over him. Aris. Aris as he was, Aris as the monster the world assumed him to be, Aris as the murderer that he forced to act as, when he really wanted to be anything but.
The invisible stab in his chest pulsed. Damian heard his own pitiful last living words, mixed in with his father's voice. Bruce sounding like he was giving some sort of chant, some sort of wish or plea. Fierce and determined and urgent.
Aris's voice broke through the muddle. "Damian! Damian, brother, you are safe. I…I don't know what is happening to you, but you are safe."
The stab throbbed again, and Damian relived being killed, relived that sword slashing through his torso, so incredibly close to where this new pain was, relived that last gasp of air, the tears falling down his face as everything went dark.
He relived being scared. Being a failure. Being alone.
"Aris!" He gasped, reaching out blindly, throwing his hand in any direction until he felt tiny fingers wrap around his. That seemed to stabilize his universe a little bit. The flickering images slowed, started to switch between only two. His current location and the Cave.
"I am right here, Brother. I have you." Aris said calmly, his tiny voice seemingly free of any fear or uncertainty. Behind the voice, Damian could hear rattling, low thumps.
"What the…" That was Dick. Damian turned his face towards the sound, could see the nightstand shaking, Dick glancing between it and the rest of the room. "Damian? Damian, is this you? Are you okay? What's happening?"
"I…" Damian found himself answering. Image shift. He can see Bruce, leaning over him, staring expectantly, hopefully. His other brothers, and Gordon, and Pennyworth and Titus. Suddenly Bruce morphed back into Aris, who was also staring down at him with mild concern, though it appeared to be quickly transforming into a gleeful realization. "I don't know, Grayson."
"I think I do." Aris whispered. "Brother, you are…well, flickering."
"W-what?" And suddenly Damian felt like a five-year-old. Terrified and unknowing.
"Or perhaps fading would be the better word." Aris let his mask fall, let the bright grin wash over his face. "Damian, I think Father…I think he's succeeded."
The scene didn't change, but Damian suddenly felt hands on his shoulders, the sensation of being lifted. A distant excited bark. And with the sensation of new hands, Damian realized he couldn't feel Aris's anymore.
"No, I." He rolled, tried to sit up. Lashed out with his other hand, taking Aris's elbow. He could see it, he was holding him, gripping his little brother as tightly as he could. But he couldn't feel him.
He heard the squeak of Dick's bed as the man stood. "Damian?"
Damian stared at Aris, stared as he realized the child was correct. But it wasn't him fading. No, Aris was. Grayson was. This room was. Damian squeezed Aris's arm and hand tighter. Could feel himself starting to slip through the little boy's skin.
"…I'm not ready."
It blurted out before Damian even attempted to stop it.
Aris laughed, legitimately amused. "I don't think you have a choice, Brother."
Damian frowned, stubbornly pulling Aris into an embrace. This, he could feel. Barely, but it was enough. "I'm not leaving you here. I won't."
"Damian-"
"Either you come with me or neither of us go." Damian declared with an air of finality, hoping to trick the gods with his confidence, but knowing he couldn't.
"That's not how this works, I don't think." Aris said gently. And for all his own bravery, Damian could tell the boy was already beginning to mourn his loss. He held Damian so tightly, he began to glow with his purple aura. "Go, Damian. You deserve this chance. You deserve to be with Father."
"So do you." Damian muttered, a slight tremor in his voice. "So do you."
There was another burst from the stab in his chest and suddenly everything stopped. There was no more flashing between scenes, no more overlapping voices. It was suddenly black, and there was just him and Aris.
"Take care of Father for me." Aris breathed. "And tell him I'm sorry. For taking you away from him in the first place."
Damian nodded silently.
"I love you, Damian. I'm so glad I got the chance to properly meet you. Even if it was in the afterlife."
"And I to you, Aris." Damian gave him one final squeeze, one final kiss on the temple.
"Please don't forget me." Aris asked softly, like he wasn't allowed to do so. "Promise me you won't, Brother."
"Never." Damian swore as Aris pulled back, staring up at him with watery brown eyes. "So long as you don't forget me either."
And despite it all, Aris smiled. Laughing as tears dripped down his cheeks. "Never." He repeated. "I will never forget you, because I will never leave you. I will go find Grandmother and Grandfather as soon as I can and we will return to the manor right behind you."
And Damian felt relief at that. He didn't know why, but he did. He reached up, wiping away one of Aris's tears as the boy slowly dissipated. "Until next time, little one."
Aris opened his mouth to respond, but was gone before he could.
Slowly, Damian swallowed the lump in his throat, leaned back so he was lying flat in the darkness and closed his eyes. Nothing touched him, but he could feel the atmosphere changing. Could feel depth appearing around him, could hear the breathing of other beings, the beeps of a computer, the dripping of faraway water.
One last pulse of the pain between his ribs, only this time it continued. One after the other, badump-badump-badump-badump. A rhythm he'd forgotten he'd ever owned. A heartbeat.
"…Damian…"
There were hands on his face. Large, gloved hands. Familiar hands. Hesitantly, Damian opened one eye, then the other. Bruce stared down at him, eyes wide and light. Nervous. Hopeful. Excited.
But Damian still wasn't sure. No way. They weren't this lucky. Bruce wasn't this lucky. He wasn't this lucky. This had to be a trick. Some sort of malicious vision. He'll pop out of it soon, and Aris will be right there to comfort him.
Gradually he reached his hand up. His hand that actually had weight, wasn't light as a feather, wasn't transparent. He touched his fingers to Bruce's face, felt his father's stubbly cheek, even pushed against it to make sure. And Bruce's face melted. His shoulders dropped in relief as he closed his eyes, as a small smile twitched onto his face and he leaned into the touch.
Damian heard Titus give a short whimper. Heard at least two people gasp behind them. And that's when he knew.
Without another thought, he lurched upwards, wrapping his arms as tightly around Bruce's neck as he could. Bruce instantly returned the gesture, holding Damian in a grip that threatened to never be released. Damian was okay with that, because he never wanted to let go either.
"Father."
He was alive.
