RESCUE
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— I do not want, I do not want, I do not want... — Damian murmured and shook his head from side to side, it was the little he could do since the rest of the body was numb and immobilized. They had taken him for an "urgent examination", they didn't even wait for Pennyworth to authorize it.
— He must fall asleep soon... — the nurse commented while checking some information on the monitor.
— If there are no results this time, I will have to be more drastic — Dr. Garner said annoyed, approaching Damian — It would be a shame to have to open you to get the answers I want, Damian. So be a good boy and collaborate this time — he threatened, holding the little boy's face by the cheeks.
— ... no! — He tried to sound brave, when in fact he just wanted to be saved.
— Increase the dose of the medicine, he should have already slept — the doctor ordered and, when he received no answer, looked around behind the nurse — What!?
Dr. Garner did not have time to say a word: he was hit with a left-hand punch fast enough that he could not react - just like the nurse. Now, without further witnesses, Batman's rebellious son dared to approach his younger brother:
— Brat?
— Take me home, please! Please! Jason, I don't want to do any more exams! I do not want! Do not let! — he despaired, afraid of being just imagination playing tricks. Damian hadn't even realized that he had been crying for a long time.
— Damian, be quiet! — Todd said, surprised when he was obeyed at the same time, despite some hiccups — I'm going to get you out of here, but you'll have to be quiet... and calm — he warned, looking for anything that could help him. He had arrived there in civilian clothes, he didn't want your image linked to the kidnapping of a millionaire's son — When Bruce knows... it's not like I care, but you're in the middle. And you are sick — he explained, looking even in the doctor's lab coat — It is not right to kidnap sick children.
— Yes it is! — Damian was shaking with fear of his brother leaving him there.
— Quiet! — Jason sent again, giving up the search — Can you walk? — When receiving a negative nod, Todd snorted and put his hands on his waist — Great, I love the hard way... — He rolled his eyes, still didn't believe he was "saving" Damian from that place, especially without even knowing how he was going to do it — Can you pretend to be... Damian? — The little one had fallen asleep, probably due to the medications that Dr. Garner had given him.
Jason released him from the examining table and placed him in a wheelchair, in which Damian had been brought there. The next step was to put on the doctor's lab coat and go out with Damian - the safety of that clinic was not so worrying.
When they finally reached the parking lot, in the backyard, the older guy noticed that he didn't think much before acting, in fact he hadn't thought about anything: he wouldn't be able to take his little brother on the motorcycle - even more with him sleeping. It remained, then, to take the car of the "father". He could already imagine all the topics that Bruce would address in the sermon when he took him away from the Batfamily again.
— It is for a good deed... — Jason justified to himself, opening the door with his tricks learned over the years.
He picked up Damian and put him in the passenger seat, strapping him on. He ran a hand over his brother's face, trying to wipe away the tear marks. As for the marks of the moorings that had been used on him in the exams, there was little to do but hide them: he put the jacket he wore before him, as if Damian were just a child who fell asleep on a car trip - which On the whole, it wasn't exactly a lie.
After that, everything went smoothly: the tension and adrenaline boiled down to a simple desire to get home right away. The drive through the bay that separated the two cities was relaxing and without traffic - there was no lunatic threatening people on that beautiful Tuesday night.
Everything continued on in the most extreme silence, until the child woke up scared, screaming, causing Jason to pull over to try to calm him down - luckily, there was no movement on that stretch of highway
— NO!
— Damian...
— … I DO NOT WANT!
— Damian!
The youngest fell silent for a few seconds, finally seeming to notice that he was no longer in an exam room. He looked around, looked at Jason and then tried to break free.
— What are you going to do? — the eldest watched him loosen his seat belt, imagined he would try to get out of the car, but Damian simply threw himself on top of him and hugged him as he could — hey, brat!?
— Thank you! Thanks for getting me out of that place! I-I... I...! — the child could barely speak, he still felt fear, nervousness... tears wanting to flow again.
— You need to calm down! — Jason warned, embracing him with some reluctance, seeing it only as a necessary measure to keep the brat safe from himself — And stop thanking me. And… and stop with that crying face!
— I-I'm sorry — he asked, trying to stay strong. The truth is that of Damian's strength he had absolutely nothing, on the contrary: if at some point in his life he was weak and helpless, it was that.
The two returned to silence.
Jason partly felt bad for the youngest, mostly because he didn't know how to comfort him. Damian kept hugging him trying to stop crying, which only made it worse: after everything he had done for that little boy, Jason was still seen as a savior.
— Brat... — he called, when he started to think that Damian had fallen asleep again.
— Hun? — Looked at him with green eyes, still red from crying. He was already calmer, but he still looked so… fragile.
Fragile like a child who has just broken - regardless of whether it was with a crowbar or a threatening doctor. In the end, it was not the means that mattered, but the result that those torturing monsters brought to the victims: the breaking of any hope they had.
At least Damian was being saved, an opportunity that little Jason didn't have, which he could give the other child now, however.
— I will not let you get there again, okay? — smiled in a corner, ruffling his brother's spiky hair.
— Kay! — was enough for him to smile, as if he had already forgotten everything.
— And now we go home.
The youngest, understanding what that meant, returned to the seat. His leg was still sore and he didn't know exactly how to keep it immobile without the splint, but he did his best not to give his older brother trouble.
— Very well, now the seat belt — Damian obeyed him, although he fumbled a little until he managed to fit the lock — Ok... and now the jacket — Jason said after picking up the jacket that had been thrown on the floor of the car during the little confusion.
— But it is not cold...
— It is not cold... yet — And, with a corner smile, he activated the best option that a BMW convertible could have: remove the hood.
It took a few seconds for Damian to look surprised at that and finally put on his jacket. He still had no real sense of all the luxury that surrounded him as a Wayne.
Jason, who was beginning to find that version of little Demon Wayne amusing, asked:
— Hungry? — When he received a positive nod, he put his hands on the steering wheel and prepared to take advantage of all the speed of that car in conjunction with a clean track — Let's solve this!
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NOTE
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Killing a curiosity that perhaps some people now have: after all, Metropolis and Gotham are how far away from each other?
As perhaps many know, comics are divided into several "ages", such as the Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age, Modern Age and so on. Writers usually need to make a big overview of the changes that have taken place in the characters from age to age. Many things start to "count" while others are "discarded". Add that to the fact that a "dark" city is next to a "cheerful" city and you will have a very difficult contrast to fit in - and because of that, so altered.
So, these two big cities are really close to each other, but they are DIVIDED by a bay (at least, most of the time). Some relate the proximity of the two to being between Oakland and San Francisco; others list them as Delaware and New Jersey. The only constant thing is that the two are close to the sea and that, in the words of Bem Affleck, "Metropolis as a successful and healthy city, and Gotham as a place where oppressed people live".
In the fanfic: the distance between the two, by car, is almost three hours. So Bruce chose to cut his way with his beautiful boat so he could get to the clinic soon.
