A silence crept through the bat cave as Damian's whispers faded away. No one knew what to say.
Damian took a step back, his muscles tensing like he was about to run away. He turned around when Bruce grasped his wrist and pulled him close into a hug.
Damian froze, unsure what this meant.
"Damian…" Bruce said quietly, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"I… I was afraid you would never allow me on patrol again, because I'm weak," Damian admitted.
"I don't think you are weak Damian. You kept this from me the entire time and I've never seen you have problems on patrol. If anything you are strong," Bruce said.
"Really?" Damian asked.
Bruce nodded, "Yes."
"Thank you father," Damian said quietly, hugging his father.
"Now, this doesn't mean I'm letting you off easy for not telling me about this," Bruce said sternly once they had let go, "All four of you are grounded from patrol from the rest of the week."
Damian nodded, understanding.
"Say what?!" Jason was upset, "You can't keep me from patrol. That's not fair!"
"What's not fair is that the three of you assisted Damian in keeping his secret from me," Bruce countered.
"Bruce has a point," Tim said.
"In my opinion Jay and I are too old to be grounded," Dick said.
"Think of it as a recovery week or a vacation. None of you will be going on patrol after all. Including Master Bruce," Alfred stated.
"Now hold on Alfred," Bruce cut in.
"I think that's fair enough," Jason said, Dick nodding in agreement, "If Bruce doesn't get to go either than its all equal."
Bruce tried and failed to protest.
Damian had moved away a bit from the group.
Alfred walked over to where he was standing, "It is good to see you opening up to your father more," The kind butler said.
"It's something that needs to happen," Damian responded.
"Indeed it is sir, indeed it is," Alfred stood next to Damian, with a hand on the young boy's shoulder while they watched the others.
And that was most likely the last chapter. Sorry it is so short, my ideas and inspiration for this kind of ran dry. If you have any ideas on what kind of other things you would like to see for this story please let me know and I'll take the ideas into consideration. Thank you everyone for your support. Until next time.