Chapter 9

"It was good talking to you." Thomas said, dismissing Commissioner Gordon, clapping him on the shoulder. "Tell Barbara I said hello." Upon the Commissioner's departure, Thomas resumed watching Richard with worried, observant eyes from his spot at the VIP tent. The teenager was curled up, no longer in the wheelchair but rather on top of a thick picnic blanket the VIP organizers had provided. He flinched whenever someone laughed too loud, or came too close to his bubble. Damian was next to him chomping happily on some shish kebabs that Thomas had grabbed for him from the VIP tent. There was a bubble around the children that no one was stupid enough to break. The bubble was mostly due to Thomas who would glare at anyone he caught coming too close. Every now and then, Damian would poke or nudge his brother with sticky fingers. It was like watching a backwards rolly polly. Richard would uncurl at the touch and then slowly fold in again. Eventually, Damian got tired of this, and crawled into Richard's lap while the teen was uncurled. He looked down at the remaining half a stick of kebab, and then shoved it towards his brother's mouth. Thomas could see Richard protesting as sauce made it onto his cheek.

"Damian." Thomas called. Damian perked up and met his eyes. "Eat your own food. I'll get Richard something else to eat." Damian slumped, but Richard shot him a grateful grimace, still far too stressed to smile, and Thomas found his own mouth turning down at that. Thomas sighed and turned back into the tent. Dodging a few elites, he reached the catering table, grabbed a plate, and put together a relatively balanced meal with small portions for Richard: grilled chicken, watermelon, fries, and some corn. He put it down and threw together a slightly less balanced meal for himself. He grabbed some plasticware and some napkins and headed back out, carefully keeping the plates level so that nothing would spill.

Weaving his way to their designated blanket, he handed Richard the teen's plate, and slowly sat down next to the boy. At a gentle nudge from Richard, Damian slipped off his lap so Richard could eat. Thomas handed him a fork and knife, as well as a napkin for the leftover sauce on his face from the kebab. Damian had one chunk of meat left to eat and was gnawing at it.

"No kebabs?" Richard asked.

"They were out." Thomas replied. "I thought you wouldn't want one. And it would have taken too long to go to a stand to get a lower quality one, longer than I was willing to leave you two alone."

Richard snorted. "Kebabs are kebabs." But he nodded his understanding. He started picking at his food, slowly eating it. Thomas watched him for a few minutes, before turning away to eat his own food.

"Are you feeling a bit better?" He asked after a few minutes. Richard seemed to hesitate for a moment before giving a sharp nod. Thomas narrowed his eyes at the obvious lie. "I'm sorry." He said. Richard's eyebrow furrowed. "I should have taken the crowds more into account when planning this. I should have considered that you might not be comfortable in them." Richard gave a snort. Understatement. "The sun's going down, so the fireworks will be soon. Think you can stick it out?" Another sharp nod, but the teen's hands tightened on his plate and plasticware. "I won't think less of you if you want to leave." Thomas said, gently taking hold of Richard's hands and loosening their grip. Richard's eyes flicked to Damian, who was trying to build… something with his two kebab sticks. "No." Thomas took Richard's chin and lightly turned Richard's face away. "You need to think of what's best for you, not Damian." Richard shook his head, freeing his chin, and looked back down at his plate. Richard softly pulled his hands away and ate some more fries.

I want… yo quiero to see the fireworks." He finally said, quietly. "I want… I need to see the fireworks. I. need. To do. This."

Thomas looked his grandson up and down. The boy had started to slowly curl up again, but he was still uncurled enough to keep the plate steady. His whole body was tense, but he was no longer shaking. Thomas could see some determination mixed in with the fear, although his whole body screamed that he was fighting a powerful flight instinct, and just barely winning out.

Thomas reached into his backpack, which Richard had been using a backrest, and pulled out the thin blanket he had stuck in there as a just-in-case. He draped it around Richard. The teen startled, and then looked at him in confusion. "If I remember my studies correctly, that should help." Richard nodded, and finished the last few pieces of watermelon on his plate. There was quiet for a few seconds. Richard put his last piece of chicken in his mouth, and then froze, and looked around.

"Thomas." He said.

"Yes?"

"Where Damian?" Thomas felt his eyes widen, and fly towards where Damian had been playing. He was gone, the two kebab sticks gone with him. He looked around frantically. "Damian?" He called. No one answered. Thomas climbed to his feet. Richard tried to follow, the blanket slipping from his shoulders. "No!" Thomas said, stopping the teen with a hand to the chest. "You stay here." Richard looked like he wanted to fight. "He might come back." Thomas added hastily. Richard reluctantly nodded, and sank back down. Thomas quickly picked up the blanket and gave it to the teen. He walked off to find the baby bat of the family.

Bruce huffed impatiently as he shimmed out of the Batsuit in his hiding spot. He tapped the comm in his ear again, making sure it didn't fall out. "Are you sure he hasn't contacted you, Alfred?" He asked the man over the communicator, voice strained.

"The trackers have not left the Fairgrounds, sir. I'm afraid I can't get more precise than the fairgrounds at the moment due to interference of the electronics and multitude of police."

"The fairgrounds are huge. Can't you narrow it down a little bit?"

"He is on the East Side of the grounds, near the edge of the forest." Alfred said. "A more precise location should be available to me in ten minutes and 32 seconds." Bruce shoved the suit in the secret pouch of his bag, and zipped it up. He scrubbed at his face to try to discharge anything that reminded anyone of Batman.

"I'll head in that direction." Bruce said. He checked his phone again to see if Jason had at least seen his messages. The boy hadn't answered the phone for any of his calls and none of the texts had been read. The rudimentary GPS on the phone was glitching around the park. "Starting where I know that I saw him last, and working in the direction we were headed."

"Very good sir." Bruce could imagine the prim and proper look on the butler's face as he studied the screens. "I shall be ready for pick up when you are ready. Please do not try to hide your injuries. It sets a bad example."

Bruce took a deep breath as he slipped into the forest near the edge of the lawn. He could see the image of a trampled series of blankets and picnic baskets. Belongings that had been left behind were strewn everywhere. "Thank you, Alfred. Keep me posted." He scanned the ground as he walked for anything Jason may have dropped. Unfortunately, the stampede that had processed through the forest had destroyed any potential clues beyond the obvious. He could not follow footprints his son's size because there were too many. Ripped clothes on branches could belong to anyone. Hmm. Maybe he should make a star to put on the bottom of Jason's shoes. Then he could always pick out the boy's footprints…

Nah. If he could follow them that easily, a kidnapper could as well, and that was no good if the boy needed to hide. Maybe he could add a feature that Jason could press that only he could follow. Like an invisible trail. It could release a chemical. It could be good if he was ever kidnapped. Jason would just need to pretend to trip and voila. Instant trail. Anything to help him find Jason would be good.

Bruce slowed as he came to the spot where he knew that he had last seen his son. He made sure to scan the trees around in case his clever son had hidden in one. "Jason?" He shouted, squinting to try to make out a hint of Jason's red t-shirt. The thick summer foliage was making it difficult to search high and low.

"Jason?" He called again, keeping his eyes and ears peeled for any sign of a reply. It would be tough if Jason had been hit by fear gas. The boy wouldn't necessarily hear him, and Bruce would need to find him fast. Studying the ground, Bruce noticed a thinner trail leading deeper into the woods. Narrowing his eyes at it, Bruce decided to see where it went.

Following the footprints, one large set and one smaller set, Bruce soon came to the edge of a clearing. By that point, he was alarmed by the lack of any sign of his son. The footprints showed that the smaller set had been dragged at least a small distance and then put up a fight. Rounding the corner, Bruce reeled back in shock upon seeing a downed man, groaning and rubbing his head. The man pushed at his eyes, and then looked up hazily to see who entered his space.

"Oh shit." A rough voice grumbled through the man's throat. The voice and the visage, as well as the outfit, suddenly struck a chord in Bruce's mind. He saw red.

"YOU!"

Half an hour went by. Thomas searched all around the area of the VIP tent, occasionally stopping by the blanket to check on Richard and see if Damian had come back. He asked people if they had seen a small four year old boy with blue eyes about yah high. No one had, until he wandered over to search around the dessert table.

"Yeah. I saw him." The caterer running the sundae section said. "Not five minutes ago. He got two sundaes. One for him and one for his big brother. When I asked where his big brother or parents were, he kind of looked around, and then said 'That way,' and pointed, and then grabbed the two sundaes with spoons and headed in that direction." The man pointed in the direction Damian had wandered off in.

"Thank you." Thomas said, sincerely. He hurried off. He left the tent flap conveniently in the opposite direction of their blanket. He saw a dark head a bit away looking around, and holding two sundaes. The kid was tough to see as the sun had gone down completely, but Thomas was reasonably sure it was him. "DAMIAN WAYNE!" He called. The kid startled, and turned around, smiling. He wilted upon seeing Thomas's furious glare. "Come here." He barked. Damian obediently trotted over, glancing down occasionally to watch and make sure he didn't trip. When he was close enough, Thomas grasped his shoulder and led him back through the tent towards their blanket. "What did I tell you about wandering off?" He asked.

"Don't?" Damian asked.

"That's right. Don't. So why did you?"

"Well, there was this other person and he was playing with colorful sparkly stuff, and you were busy, so I went over to ask if I could play too, and the other person's Tati said yes, but we couldn't do it on the blanket, so me and the other person went towards the open area near the tent, and then I threw out my kebab sticks, but then we got yelled at for bringing the color stuff near the tent. We split up so we wouldn't get in trouble, but then I couldn't find you guys, so I went inside. And I got ice cream for me and Dick because he needs to eat more, and I like it. And look the ice cream guy gave us both three scoops. Three. So I went to bring the ice cream to Dick, but I think I went the wrong way, but then you were there, calling me, and that's it." Thomas nodded along, as Damian described his adventure. He debated if he should make Damian switch to English, but figured Richard could fill him in later, as Damian would no doubt relate the whole thing to him. Richard would also be able to figure out what Damian was talking about.

"Dami!" Richard called as they arrived back at the blanket. "Where'd you go?"

Damian's face lit up. He opened his mouth, and proceeded to repeat everything he just said with embellishments and large excited gestures. Richard gently pulled the child down to sit next to him. Damian wrapped his arm around Dick's wrist and continued to babble.

"So, Batman beat him up?" Commissioner Gordon asked, skeptically

"That's right, sir. I found him like that. When I was looking for my son. Have you seen him?" Bruce said, with a straight face that turned into worry as he remembered he'd started looking for Jason, and still didn't know where the boy was. "I've been looking everywhere for him."

"Jason's with the paramedics." Gordon said absently, looking accusingly at Bruce's bloody knuckles. "Batman beat him up?"

"Well, I might have thrown a punch or two when I realized who he was." Bruce said, checking his phone for any messages. "Could you point me in the direction of my son, please?"

"That way." Gordon said, pointing in the general direction of the medical area. "Someone got him with a sedative, but he'll be fine." Bruce's eyes narrowed. He started in the direction of the paramedics but 'tripped' over the prone form of the man who killed his sons. He kicked him a few more times as he 'stumbled' to the other side of the man.

"Oops. I'm sorry. I'm so clumsy." Bruce said completely unapologetically. "I'll see you soon, Commissioner."

Commissioner Gordon watched him leave, and shook his head. "Batman beat him up, huh? I'm sure Batman also has bloody knuckles and his sleeves rolled up."

Damian leaned against his brother contently. There was music playing down the hill. It was loud, but it seemed to be full of energy. People were getting up and moving their bodies weirdly. Kind of like Dick did sometimes when they were alone in their room. His amazing big brother would grab him by the hands and pull him to his feet and spin all around the room, while humming or singing in Romani or English or sometimes even Arabic. A couple times, they did it while Alex was there, and the teenager would laugh and play along with them.

There was a break in the music. "The Gotham City Fourth of July Fireworks will be starting in ten minutes. Please find a seat on the lawn." The DJ called one last song.

As the song came to an end, people began talking in a hush around them. Those standing settled down, toeing shoes off so they didn't track dirt onto the blankets. Damian folded his awesome-sneaker-clad feet underneath his butt, and nudged closer into his brother with his head. Grandpa Not-Batman put an arm around the two of them from Damian's other side, so that they were all a little huddle. A hush fell over the crowd as the lights on the side of the lawn dimmed and a hum started up. A soft breeze passed through and Damian snuggled in the tiny bit more there was left for him to burrow.

"Macy's Department Stores, Star Industries, and Wayne Casinos are proud to present The Annual Gotham City Fourth of July Independence Day Fireworks Spectacular!"

Damian felt Dick tense next to him. Pewwwwww! Damian heard. A thin stream of light rose into the air at a high speed. Damian followed the red light up high in the sky, and then he heard a 'pop' and the black sky burst in a large explosion of color. Damian flinched at the sound, but the color was very pretty. He put his hands over his ears. That was better. "Woah!" Damian said, as another three bursts flew up into the sky from the river. Damian stared mesmerized. He felt his brother shift next to him, tightening his grip.

The little kid turned to his big brother, and removed a hand from one ear to point towards the sky. "Did you see?" He asked. Dick smiled at him, although it didn't look overly happy. The teenager nodded at him. Damian turned back to the fireworks. A large golden firework rose into the air and burst into many different parts and those turned into smaller parts and fizzled down. There were red fireworks, blue fireworks, white fireworks, green fireworks, gold fireworks, and there were heart shapes and smiley faces and even a couple yellow Batman themed fireworks! And there was a lightning bolt and a rainbow of colors, and there was music all around. The colors were even exploding in time with the music!

Damian started humming a tune that Dick often sang to him to cheer him up, but the fireworks decided they liked the louder music better than Damian's, and ignored him. Damian puffed his cheeks up and hummed louder, but the fireworks still ignored him. Colorful lasers shot up across the river and made shapes like flowers and letters on the other bank.

Suddenly, a hundred pops started going off all at the same time. The colors lit the sky, overlapping and covering each other up. They spread across the dark night sky, covering the stars and making their own clouds of dark smoke and bright colors. They drowned the music out and all Damian could hear was pops and Pews. He kept his eyes on the pretty colors, mouth agape as a phoenix firework burst into being, followed by a bat and a lightning bolt. "Tati." He said to his brother, pointing at the bat before it faded. Dick didn't seem to hear him as the teen's eyes were focused entirely on the light show. Not to mention Dami couldn't hear Dami, so Dick probably could not either. Shame.

The fireworks finished with a loud series of bangs in a sharp climax. Damian and Dick sat together in the sudden silence that fell over the crowd as the show came to an end. When a cheer started to go up around them, Damian felt himself tugged closer to his trembling brother. He looked up with a smile.

"Can we make some?"

A/N

Here are the fireworks.

Jay's fine. He's just on overprotective house arrest for a bit.

Damian was playing with sparklers.