Jason left a trail of destruction, and this wasn't even mentioning the wreck he made of Tim's face, but it was way too long for Dick to follow. He wanted to yell at Jason now.
"You demented son of a bitch, did you spend the whole fucking day just waiting for me to leave to do that?! And stop destroying the fucking city, you moron! Ugh! I'm so dropkicking you on the throat the first chance I get."
"Grayson?"
Dick froze. "Damian? Oh my God, Little D, you're talking! How are you? Are you okay?" nothing "Okay, so not talking that much, then. Can you put Jay-Jay on the phone?"
A long pause. "Todd's not here."
Dick inhaled deeply and held it, looking up to the heavens to for some guidance and only finding a white ceiling "How long have you been alone?" there was just the sound of breathing on the other side. Shallow, erratic breathing "It doesn't matter, I'm coming over, okay?" faced with silence yet again, Dick added "Can you promise me you'll stay 'till I get there?" the breathing stopped "Please, Damian, don't you run out on me." he pleaded already heading for the door and having his hand yanked back by the forgotten phone cord "Please."
He pulled the receiver back to his ear just in time to hear "Don't make me wait." And the line went dead.
"I would never, you overbearing brat" he muttered with way more fondness than the words deserved, darting through the door with a smile splitting his face.
He didn't expect or want to see Jason on the way there, or even back at the safe house, really. Thankfully the Red Hood was being spotted everywhere around town, beating up whatever moved in his way.
So when he spotted Jason – how could he have gotten there so fast? He always had shitty timing – coming from the opposite way, but certainly going in the same direction to the safe house, no one could blame him when Dick started running towards him.
Jason lifted wild eyes at him, and had the nerve to look surprised before bolting to the door.
Dick missed him by a fraction of a second.
They ran up the stairs and through the hallway, Jason always managing to stay just out of Dick's reach.
Jason slipped into the safe house and as it was the norm with them, slammed the door as hard as he could, Dick only kept it from closing by shoving a hand in front of the doorframe.
A groan of pain ripped itself from his throat, but he didn't have time to recuperate as Jason threw himself against the wood, crushing Dick's hand further.
"You're breaking my hand!" Dick gritted out as Jason pushed the door harder.
"Yeah. I am."
"For fuck sake, Jason!"
"It will be interesting to see a one-handed Batman… Hey, maybe Two Face will even sign your cast!" Jason's laughter was cut short by a painful grunt and the door was being thrown open by Damian.
"What did you do to him?" Dick asked the boy when he saw Jason leaning his hands on his knees, obviously in pain.
"How can you help him, you little shit?" Jason was still slightly breathless, but there was no mistaking his angry stare.
"Leave him alone, Jason" Dick's hand was aching too badly and he had just about enough of Jason's erratic behavior "Oh, wait! You already have! You just went for a little stroll to raise some hell and fuck the city up."
Dick wanted to pull Damian closer, but Damian was taking an uncertain step towards Jason, obviously unsure about what to do next, only to see Jason sidestep him and move to confront Dick.
The way the boy blinked in surprise and turned his gaze away broke Dick's heart a little.
"We were all so worried that you wouldn't be able to fit into Bruce's shoes," Jason scoffed, completely unaware of what just passed "yeah well, joke's on us. You're exactly like him."
"What are you talking about?"
"People Batman's supposed to be protecting are getting hurt, and he's not only just sitting on his thumbs and doing nothing whatsoever to help, he's covering up for the fuckers that did it!"
"Well boohoo, Jason. I get it! You have a trauma, and I'm really sorry for it, but this isn't about you right now!"
Jason's eyes flared with barely controlled fury and he smiled sardonically "Finally got something right, didn't you? I'm dead, Dick. I've been dead for quite some time now."
"Jay-"
"And this isn't about me." Jason kept talking, unbelievably calm "It's about young Timothy being so desperate to pop his cherry he had to go and fuck the weakest link he could find, but hey!" he turned to Damian and continued with a condescending smile "That's what family is for."
"How could you say that? There was Sex Pollen, Jason! Tim wasn't in control of his own body, it isn't his fault!"
"Then whose is it, Dick?"
"Oh, so according to you we should do what? Kill Tim?"
Jason made a show of pretending to consider "You know, that doesn't sound half bad."
"You're not being fair." Dick said darkly, patience running thin.
"Yeah, you're right," Jason said distantly as if in deep thought "I'm not… Hey, do you know why the kid ran off when you asked if he wanted to come home?" he stepped closer to Dick with each word "You called him 'Little D'. And your darling Timmy called him by your pet name while ramming into him." he enunciated each word with slow precision, making sure each one felt like a well-placed blow "Again, and again, and again."
They were face to face now and Jason wasn't shy about making use of his extra inches on Dick.
"Stop it, Jason" Dick told him through gritted teeth "He's right there."
Jason turned his upper body to look at Damian who was staring at Jason with a hard expression, jaw clenched and a minute frown, his breathing was completely controlled; it wouldn't be unusual at all if it weren't too controlled. Deep inhale, slow exhale. Deep inhale, slow exhale.
"I'm even willing to bet he was afraid to go back because he thought it would happen again. As punishment for taking it like a little bitch the first time."
"That's it." Dick shoved Jason out of the way with little care and stepped closer to Damian, noting the way the boy's shoulders trembled with the force of his restraint.
"What?" Jason was right there pushing him back "Can't bear to hear the truth?"
"I think you've done enough." Dick nearly growled balling his hands into fists and Jason gave him a lazy, cruel smile.
"Yeah, I have. You've given me nothing but trouble from the start and I'm done."
Dick shielded Damian with his body, even if he knew that Jason's words would still reach him "What the fuck is wrong with you?" he breathed "I thought I could trust you."
Jason rolled his eyes "Oh, come on, Dickie. You never trusted me. You just didn't wanna deal with the burden." he indicated Damian with a jut of chin.
Dick only realized he punched Jason upon seeing him with his back against the wall, a hand covering part of his jaw and mouth.
"You sick fuck." Dick spat "I should leave you in a bloody heap on the floor."
"Go on, Dick. Follow Bruce's lead and blame me, the failure, it's just easier isn't it? You can blame the whole fucking world, but we all know the truth, don't we?" he wiped some blood from his lips with the back of his hand "Go back to your adored little rapist."
With one last dirty look to his fallen brother "You're a fucking idiot.", Dick pulled Damian to his arms and picked him up – briefly wondering if he had ever been carried without being gravely injured –, and when the boy went with no fuss he knew something was very wrong.
"This is my fault." Damian's whisper was barely there but it didn't keep Dick from picking up the complete certainty that came with the words and his skin curled, almost missing a step.
"No, it's not." he said a bit more harshly than he intended, but he needed to make sure Damian understood that "None of this is your fault, you hear me? None of it."
Damian looked up at him in surprise and Dick realized he wasn't supposed to hear that.
He pulled Damian closer and closed his eyes tightly for a second "Can you do something for me? Forget the last few minutes, okay? That right there, it wasn't real. Jason doesn't know what he's saying, he's an idiot, he…" he sighed remembering a distant talk "He overreacts."
Jason let his hand drop from his face when the door closed behind Dick and Damian, sliding down the wall and falling seated, his chest hurting way more than his face and damn if he didn't wanna put his fist through something. He wouldn't dare close his eyes, knowing that the last look he got from Damian was permanently burnt to his eyelids. Jason never meant to hurt the kid, he wanted to hurt Dick, he wanted to hurt Bruce – that ship has sailed – and he definitely wanted to hurt Tim.
The kid was just caught in the crossfire and Jason was known to shoot at will once he began. It didn't make things right, though.
And shit like that is exactly why Jason limits his human contact to thieves, pimps and drug dealers, no one got sad when he ran with mouth with them.
But this was probably for the best, now the kid was with the Golden Boy – the one who always made things right, the perfect little fucker, Bruce's favorite – and Jason couldn't fuck him up anymore then he already was. Damian didn't need him, never did really; the kid would get over this in the same brash, harsh way he did everything and would be chasing Jason down for calling him "sweetie" in no time. No time at all.
Is it possible to die from douchebaggery? 'Cause it didn't seem like such a bad thing at all right now.
Dick longed for the day when Damian would be easier to deal with, maybe even more childlike in some situations; he wanted to laugh with him and watch silly cartoons, then go out to patrol and help him kick the Riddler's ass.
But he never wanted the boy so pliant in his arms. At first he thought Damian was asleep, but a quick glance down revealed a pair of slightly glazed royal blue eyes and a slack expression – not so much relaxed as detached – peering up at him from his shoulder,.
After several attempts at eliciting something from him, it was pretty clear that whatever prompted Damian to talk before, it was gone now. It didn't keep Dick from whispering any reassurances he could think of.
"You're gonna see Alfred now" he was murmuring as his hand reached the doorknob to the penthouse "And he'll be so happy to see you, he's totally gonna bake those cookies I love so much, and then we'll sit in front of the TV and-"
"Dick, how could you to Jason alone?" Tim was already asking before Dick had even walked in "He's so obviously out of control he could've killed you!"
Dick had to roll his eyes at that, and that's probably how he missed when the exact second where the compliant, silent child in his arms turned and jabbed his stretched fingers in Tim throat.
Tim stepped back, hand's around his own neck as he tried to breath in normally, but Damian was not through with him and tried to wrestle his way out of Dick's arm, growling in his attempts to reach Tim.
Dick battled between holding Damian back and trying not to hurt him. But after taking the second elbow to the face, he concentrated on dragging him to the boy's bedroom.
A mostly recovered Tim began to follow them, but stopped short at Dick's bark to "Stay there!" Alfred showed up just then, still clad in pajamas, and at the sight of the struggle pulled Tim back further.
And Damian's attempts to get away continued, but they lacked the force, as if Dick keeping Tim away was enough to appease him. Almost.
Dick paced around Damian's bed, not letting him go even as he still kept getting punched on the shoulder.
"You're home now." he chanted, holding Damian's head so their cheeks were pressed together "You're safe. Timmy wasn't in his right mind when he did that, and he'll never touch you again. No one will, I won't let them. You're home now. You're safe…"
It took some time, but finally Damian went limp, his forehead leaning on Dick's shoulder as his muscles shook from the former effort.
Dick laid him down on the bed, and Damian sat up instantly, crossing his legs Indian-style, and though his eyes seemed livelier, his expression was misleadingly blank.
"Try to get some sleep, okay?" Dick told him in a hushed voice threading his fingers through Damian's soft hair, not expecting or getting an answer.
He found Tim sulking in front of the computer again and for the sake of his own nerves, decided to leave him there for now. Alfred brewed tea and ordered Dick to retire to his own bedroom.
The thing is, his body was too wired to sleep but his mind was too exhausted to stay awake.
He did sit ups, one hand handstands on the headboard, practiced spinning books on the tips of all five fingers, but nothing helped. Wondering if Damian would be too freaked if he spent the night there, Dick stood up, throwing the book on his hands on top of the bed.
"Grayson."
Dick turns around to see Damian standing by the door, and again there is no sign of any mischief or mirth on his face as it had been on Jason's safe house. Dick can't help but think he looks disheartened.
"Hey, little D" the boy flinched almost unperceptively and Dick wanted to kick himself "Damian… Hey, Damian. What's up? You need anything?"
Damian's gaze dropped to Dick's feet "I've come to realize that my behavior has been less than commendable, and you must know that it's been rectified and will be no longer be an issue to you or anyone else." when he finished speaking, he shot a quick glance up through his lashes and down again "When will I be sent back to mother?"
It took Dick a moment to fully comprehend those words "What?"
"There is no need for pretense, Grayson. I failed completely to defend myself, not only it is very unbecoming, it was proof that I am as far from worthy to bear my father's legacy as I could possibly be." he shook his head self-deprecatingly "I understand the consequences of this, I am merely asking to know when will I be relocated."
Dick felt dizzy as if there wasn't enough air in the room "You were blindsided by someone who was drugged out of his skull with something you had no usable knowledge of, you didn't fail at anything. You get that, right? This isn't a test."
"Yes, I am aware of that now" now. He's aware of that now. Which means that all this time he's been thinking that- "It does not mean that I am any less inept to continue my work as Robin."
"Why do I get the feeling that this is about what happened with Jason? He overreacts monstrously, you can't take him seriously during a crisis. He just needs to-"
Damian interrupted with a wave of hand, "Todd has made it perfectly clear that neither my predicament nor my location are of his interest anymore." his voice sounded so strong it was impossible to tell he'd been completely mute not one day ago, if it wasn't for the way his eyes were still trained on Dick's shoes… "I've overstayed my welcome, and though his wording might be crude, it did bare some merit. I am to blame at this, Grayson. Being Robin, this… so called family, I've let it all make me vulnerable. It was a stupid mistake on my part and I've already paid for my weakness. As I've told you, it will not happen again."
"And I will not send you back to your mother" Dick stated, his blood ice cold and boiling at the same time "There is not one single thing that's been your fault on this fucked up situation."
Damian stared at him in confusion for a moment, then frowned at the carpet "You can stop now, I-"
"No." Dick walked forward and dropped to his knees in front of the tiny, confused, misguided, broken boy, tilting his head so they could lock eyes "Shut your mouth for a second and listen to me. There's no test, no punishment, you're not leaving this place." Damian shifted uncomfortably, eyes too bright, but there weren't any tears "How is Batman supposed to defend himself without Robin?"
Damian closed his eyes, clenching his jaw "Don't patronize me, Grayson, that is-"
"When are you going to understand that you're mine now? I've always wanted a kid, and though your mom had her plans for you, she had no idea you'd fit right into mine. And I won't give you back. Ever."
"You're lying. I know you are" Damian whispered through gritted teeth, his eyes wouldn't stop moving now, not knowing where to focus, but never looking up as he spoke "You've never wanted a child. Not me. Not when I'm so… weak and… tainted."
Dick couldn't listen anymore. He threw his arms around Damian and pulled the little body close, pressing the boy to his chest and feeling when his breath hitched. He buried his nose on Damian's soap smelling hair and wished that just this once the kid could take some comfort from the contact.
"Dick? You there?" Tim's voice drifted from somewhere in the penthouse and both Dick and Damian turned their heads in its direction.
Damian took a step back.
"No, no, no. Listen to me!" Dick tried, keeping his hands on his brother's shoulders "Please, just listen" Damian paused, wired tight "Do you trust me?"
Damian's lips parted and he sucked in a shallow breath, Dick tightened his hold on his shoulders, and begged silently for him to answer, but Damian's attention was drawn to Dick's hand to which he muttered "Why would I?" then he was gone.
Dick told Tim that Damian was under control, and that he should for now. Tim thought he should stay away from Damian forever, and yet, there he was, by the brat's bedroom door.
It was slightly ajar and he could see Damian sitting on the bed, playing with the zipper of a red hoodie laid across his legs, looking almost sad.
"Can I talk to you?" Tim asked pushing the door open, and stepping back, giving himself enough space to maneuver in case of an attack.
Damian tensed, but didn't seem scared by any stretch of the word, he merely kept toying with the zipper.
"I just wanted to tell you that… I'm working on an antidote for whatever we could come by during patrol, but specifically to Sex Pollen. Actually it's more like a vaccine, it will make up immune to… well, everything. Dick thinks it's impossible, but I gotta try, I guess." he breathed in slowly "I don't remember, you know? I have no recollection whatsoever of what happened on that rooftop, but I'm sorry. And I don't want you to be scared of me, because if you think about it, I didn't do anything. The Sex Pollen turned me into… someone else." Damian was staring at him now, but Tim had no idea as to what he was thinking "So I get that you wanna hit me, and you should want to hit me, just know that… I didn't do it."
Damian placed the hoodie on the bedspread and jumped down the bed, his eyes narrowing and turning thoughtful as he moved closer to Tim. He stopped beyond arm reach "If your doppelganger ever comes near me again" Damian enunciated sarcastically slow, as if Tim wouldn't be able to understand otherwise "I will kill you. Both of you."
This wasn't a temper tantrum or a show of power. Looking at his eyes, Tim had no doubt at all that there'd be no stopping him. Damian would kill him.
Then Damian tore his gaze away jerkily and swallowed hard, closing the door with a soft click, and for the first time Tim understood the damage he had done, even if he didn't remember it.
"I hope you do."
A/N.: Goddamn it, Tim! Do you even listen to yourself? It's all in the wording, jeez!
Are you taking lessons from Jason? You two suck. (I still love you, Jase! I've never loved you, Tim. Sorry.)
Have I told you guys how amazing you all are? Because you're amazing! I've gotten huge reviews on the last chapter, I loooove getting huge reviews, seriously! I get so inspired when I see that people are actually enjoying my work, I honestly started writing this like... two days after I posted the last one.
So thank you! A lot!
And sorry there was little to no cuteness in this, there was supposed to have one fluff thingy, but it was getting too long and really, I wanted to see if I could actually manage to write something sad, so yeah... Sorry, but not really.