Dick was confused, to say the least. He glanced down at the small boy in front of him, who was lying completely relaxed on Goliath, and sighed softly. Damian was so small compared to Goliath, who was easily six times the boy's size. Damian had always seemed small to Dick. Jason and Tim treated him like an adult, a person they could get angry with and fight. Dick saw a child, something completely different from his successors. Damian was small, and tiny, and short, with a shock of black hair and naturally tanned skin. He had bright blue eyes, and he seemed to like submerging himself in things bigger than himself, like his enormous hoodie collection. Almost like he wanted big, warm things. Sort of how children hold onto an object for comfort. Little did Damian know that Dick would give him as many hugs as he wanted, as often as he wanted. The man sighed and continued observing the child, noting the gentle look upon his face. It transformed his face from something resembling a grumpy pug after running into a glass door to a child. Yeah, a child who was grown up beyond his years, but still a ten-year-old boy who liked warm, big hoodies.

What Dick would never admit was he had been secretly putting in large hoodies into Damian's closet that used to belong to all of them - Jason, Tim, and even Bruce all had hoodies in there… without their knowledge.

Or consent.

But they weren't using them, so it was okay! Dick grinned slightly, thinking of the maroon hoodie Damian loved. It had been Jason's, passed down from Bruce to Dick and then Dick to Jason. Jason had never given it to Tim, however, due to the whole 'blown-up-and-resurrected' thing. Which, Dick always did his best to pretend didn't actually happen. Dick's smile fell, and he glanced down to the beast he was currently sitting on. He had been flying like his before, just on machines and not a living breathing animal. Anxiety and trepidation rose in his throat, burning his vocal chords to force him to be unable to ask the questions he wanted to. How had Damian even met Goliath? The beast looked like nothing Dick had ever seen on Earth, although, it resembled a species Dick had seen on another planet, when the Justice League had been deployed on a mission and Dick had gone with them just for fun. And there, those beasts were dangerous and deadly, and seemed to take a special dislike for humans anywhere near them. They were enormous and furry, with large, sharpened teeth and claws. When Dick had seen Goliath pressing his paws into Damian's lower back, he had been very confused. Also… there had been a flash of a strange marking on the palm of Damian's right hand. It was bright red and glowing, and Dick had only seen it for a moment before it disappeared. The same marking, appearing on Goliath's nose, was a dark blue. Both had disappeared, and Dick couldn't fathom what they were. Had he been a normal person, he would have worried about his eyes playing tricks on him. But he knew he wasn't seeing things… and they didn't know Damian well.

The only option to this oddity that Dick had thought of - when he was fighting a Winged a few months back, he had seen that same mark upon the person's wrist, only gold. A wolf, snarling and fighting beside her, had had the same mark, just in pink. Dick had researched and researched, but found nothing. So if that was the truth, Dick opened his mouth to ask the question, a bad feeling settling in his stomach-

When the first explosion went off. There was a cackle, a hiss, and then screams as one of the towers of Gotham shattered and exploded. Dick's eyes widened as bits and pieces of people flew out of the building, fire consuming the floors. His eyes narrowed as Damian sat up. There was no communication between them, yet Goliath followed the suggested course of action. Dick filed that information away for later as he leapt off of Goliath, heading straight for the burning building and helping pulling people out. The building was twenty stories high, and they were on the fifth floor.

"We have to get the people up top out!" Dick yelled.

"On it!" Dick watched, horror rising in his face as the little boy he was trying to protect crouched on Goliath's back, as if he had done it a thousand times. The monster took off, wings straining to gain as much altitude as possible. Dick reached a hand out towards the child, trying to stop him, but Damian was already gone. Dick swallowed his nerves. [em]Damian's fine. He's a smart kid, and used to these situations… I think? He'll be okay. It'll just be fine. Just focus on getting these people out.[/em] Dick nodded to himself and began pulling people out. He was clutching onto the windowsill, his feet having found a frame to balance on. Evidently, someone had been cleaning windows, so there was a large construction machine that held a platform and went up or down. Dick put the people he rescued on the platform, telling them to stay put while he grabbed more people. He stuck his head into the office building and, without his being used to these scenes, he would have puked. There were body parts strewn around, small fires starting and shattered glass everywhere. He didn't see any more live people, so after gently responding to all of the hystericals thanks from the people he saved, he hit a random button that, thankfully, started to slowly bring them down. As soon as they were close enough, he let the people out of the contraption and looked up. Dick's eyes could not have gotten any wider if he tried.

He already lost one brother, but here another one was.

Dick felt his stomach tighten, fear making his vision got seemingly white, tunneling on the small child with his throat gripped in a Winged's hand. He wasn't struggling. He wasn't struggling. He… Dick snapped, screamed out desperately. His fear caused his heart to beat faster, the butterflies in his stomach turning to waves that crashed against his windpipe, cutting off his air and causing him to choke on his own words. He gasped in air, feeling none of the oxygen filling his system. He could barely see through the static, the horrible, awful, sound of his own heart as he watched another little kid die. He might not have known Damian for long, but he could tell the child had potential for good. With a snarl, Dick tried to futilely launch himself up towards the child, but it wasn't working. He was grabbed by the firemen who had finally arrived.

Someone was screaming and it sounded like him.

People were telling him to calm down, to breathe and that it was okay, but it wasn't, because another child was going to be killed and it was all Dick's fault for not stopping him-

There were tears on his face.

DamianwasgoingtodieDamianwasgoingtodieDamianwasgoingtodie-

And he hyperventilated himself to darkness.

Damian hadn't meant to get stuck like this. He had gone up there with the intent of saving people, and save people he did. He had clenched his fist and gone on, no matter the bodies and fires burning around him. Besides, Damian was used to both. So used, that he did not bat an eye. Phantom burns that ached from scars haunted him, and he shut out the memories of chains and a whip and that branding iron-

[em]Dami?.[/em] a voice sounded his head that was not his own, that came with waves of comfort and love. Damian had pulled the closest people out of the building and onto Goliath, who was bringing them all down. Damian hummed in response, refusing to hide from Goliath. He sent his memories, and Goliath swept them away easily and sent waves of comfort, protection, and love. He purred promises of never going back, and no words were required between them. Everything was going okay… until it wasn't.

Someone crashed into him, sending him sprawling. He sent reassurance down the bond, trying to tell Goliath that he'd be fine, but the beast was panicking. Damian kicked out blindly, smoke causing him to cough violently, almost damaging a lung. He wheezed in desperately, his foot not coming in contact. He had flipped around and was trying to see where this enemy was. He felt heat searing his skin, and then pain as hands grabbed him. He fought blindly, getting in a few pressure points, but balked when he realized that this was no ordinary human. His struggles increased, legs and arms flailing about wildly in an attempt to get away. He clenched his teeth and snarled, but was ultimately unprepared for the hand wrapping around his throat. The foreign Winged was coughing lightly, but he hadn't been there as long as Damian.

Damian cussed to himself as the Winged tightened his grip, stepping out precariously out into the open, Damian dangling from his grip. The wind reassured him, brushed up against him, but curled around his attacker. Damian understood. She could only be neutral, and try to catch him when he fell. Damian was not afraid of the height.

He had fallen off higher.

The Winged stepped out further into the ledge, the hold tightening. With a burst of panic, Damian realized that this Winged didn't intend to drop him - he intended to drop his dead body. He let his arms fall, forcing his body to relax. He could see the camera crew in a helicopter above him - it was way too risky to assume that he could show even a bit of his true nature. And even then, he'd have to answer questions of why he backed off without prompting. He forced his eyes to roll back and his breathing to stop.

He considered him briefly, and he could feel his gaze striking through him and assessing if he was really dead. He shrugged before the hold on his throat loosened, and he fell through his fingers. Damian smiled to himself, feeling the way the wind tugged on him, tousling the Winged above them as well. Seeing the wind dance in an unfamiliar pattern caused the Winged's eyes to widen as he watched him fall. He backed away and thrust his powerful, white and gold wings away from the ground, a singular feather speeding up towards Damian.

He knew what it meant.

It was both an apology and admiration. He had managed to stay hidden for this long. He respected that. He reached out and gently touched the feather, feeling his fading presence in it. He felt his pain and winced, knowing he had just been shot down. Tears dripped off his face, the wind brushing them and howling in anguish along with him. As he fell, he spied his reflection along the glass windows. He took a deep breath.

He knew he was fine.

And just like that, Goliath was underneath him. He flipped himself over, burying his face in Goliath's fur and crushing the feather between them.

Goliath had been the one to teach Damian how to fly.

And no matter what, he had never let the boy fall.

"Goliath." Damian murmured as the beast slowly came down to the ground, paramedics rushing in around them. "I will end this war. No matter what."