Chapter 4 - Bloodlines

Damian won't come out of his room and Dick sends Tim to see what's wrong.

Tim's POV

He had only come to the manor for the fact that Dick was visiting for a couple of days since Batman needed help busting a drugs ring, who had also been suspected of stealing chemicals from Wayne Industries. Dangerous chemicals. Although Bruce needed Nightwing's backup, as well as Red Robin and Robin's, since it was quite a dangerous operation, Robin wouldn't be coming.

Not since he'd locked himself in his room and absolutely refused to leave. Not even for food.

Alfred had taken to leaving a tray of dinner outside his room and leaving it, only reassured when he saw that it had been taken and replaced, only minus the food.

Tim thought it was stupid. Damian was the sort of kid that made everyone else around him want to lock themselves in their rooms and not talk to anyone for days, not vice versa. Something must've gotten under the ex-assassins skin, but what? He seemed so angry with everyone all the time, so perhaps Bruce had finally put him in his place.

"Hey Timbo! How's it going?" He heard the warm voice of his eldest brother echo through the entrance hall as he made his way downstairs. Tim saw straight through his brothers cheery facade, it was clear from his anger blushed face that he'd probably just engaged in a full blown screaming match with Bruce.

"Dick!" He grinned widely, running at his brother with open arms and enveloping him in a tight hug. "I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Yeah," He mumbled into Tim's hair. "Sorry, it's just-"

"Bruce."

He withdrew from the hug and held onto Tim's shoulders, continuing in a cheery voice. "He's a pigheaded idiot and I want to break his face."

"Figures." Tim laughed.

"Oh, you could try, but I doubt you'd get very far." Bruce appeared behind them, cracking his knuckles for effect.

Dick snorted. "Speak of the devil."

"I think 'devil' may be an understatement."

"How about the manifestation of all things evil?" Dick suggested, hiding his mouth behind a hand.

"No, I think that's saved for his son."

"Are you quite finished?" Bruce demanded, his eyebrows twitching in annoyance.

"Sure, how can I help you Bruce?" Dick asked, a sarcastic smile on his lips and a mischievous glint in his eye.

Bruce rolled his eyes, but filled them in on the mission. "So all you have to do is cause a distraction while Tim searches for the chemicals and I find the leader, okay?"

Dick put a hand on his hip mockingly. "So all I have to do is flutter my eyelashes? I can do that." His expression turned serious. "What about Damian? Why can't he go with you?"

Bruce opened his mouth to explain, but Tim interrupted, "He won't come out of his room."

"Have you talked to him?"

"...no" Bruce admitted.

Dick rolled his eyes. "Tim, could you?"

Tim's jaw dropped. Was Dick serious? He was the least likely to pull the demon spawn out of his depression, the more likely thing to happen would be that they'd kill each other in there.

"Why can't you do it?"

Dick looked over at Bruce with an accusing glare. "Me and Bruce have some things to catch up on. Besides, you two would do well to get to know each other more. You are brothers."

"But Dick! You do the comforting, I do the science." Tim protested pathetically.

He seriously didn't want to pop in for a chat with his murderous younger brother at the best of times, but when aforementioned brother was pissed? No way, not at the risk of his life, no understatement.

"No buts, get up there, maybe you can coax him out." Dick ordered, pointing up the stairs.

Tim turned on his heel and stomped up the stairs.

Damian really was the last person he'd come to the manor to see, he didn't even plan on talking to his younger brother.

Tim was muttering expletives when he tripped over the dinner tray outside Damian's room. He kicked it to the side and knocked on the door carelessly.

"Father, I've told you that-"

"Damian, it's me."

Damian's voice dripped with resentment. "Drake."

"Yup, Drake. Anyway, do you fancy coming out and joining us on the mission tonight?" Tim asked nonchalantly, swallowing a 'you little brat' that he wanted to finish with.

"...no."

Tim smiled. "Okay, good talk." He turned and started to walk away.

"Drake." Damian called him back.

"What is it?" He snapped. He'd hoped to nip this conversation at the bud before it continued into an argument.

"Could we talk?" Damian sounded uncertain, and maybe even... Did Damian Wayne sound scared?

Tim sighed. Maybe it would be interesting to hear what the devil had to say, perhaps he even had feelings... "Could I come in then?"

Damian had already opened the door, and was standing in the doorframe. For once, the arrogant, judging frown that usually adorned his brow was missing, replaced instead with a neutral look of shock, as if he couldn't believe something.

Tim came in and shut the door behind him. "There." He found himself saying softly, "Now it's private. You can tell me anything."

Damian went a shade of red and sat down on the edge of his bed. "I can tell you as much or as little as I want, Drake." He said sharply, but clearly halfheartedly.

"What's gotten you so shaken up, Dami?"

Damian's expression flickered with annoyance, but he didn't say anything about Tim calling him by Dick's nickname. "As if I would tell you."

"Why else would you ask me to talk to you?"

"I didn't ask you for anything."

"Damian." Tim leaned in slightly and said seriously, "Everything that you say to me stays private."

Damian couldn't seem to refrain himself from being slightly childish, if only for a split second. "Promise?"

Tim nodded in reiteration.

"I saw mother in Gotham."

Tim's neutral expression faltered into a frown. Damian's mother never came to Gotham, at least, he didn't think she did. Damian hardly talked about her, and if he did it was only to reference to his pure bloodline.

When Tim didn't reply, Damian continued, "She asked me if I wanted to come back to live with my grandfather again."

What? Tim thought the whole reason that Damian was with Bruce was because Talia thought her son would do better with his father.

"And do you?" He asked, biting back a load of other questions that could come off the wrong way. He wouldn't usually be so careful about his brothers feelings, but his brother wasn't usually this upset.

Damian looked up at Tim with a confused frown, "I don't know. Don't you want me to go? You've never liked me."

"Of course I like you!" Tim did, he really did, it was just that Damian could be so volatile sometimes, only managed in small doses.

"You don't seem like it..."

Tim had never seen the boy so unconfident with himself.

"Mother also said that if I chose not to come back, she'd have no choice but to replace me." He said, his voice cracking at 'replace' as if the word itself was hard to accept.

Damian's mother wanted to replace him? That was a harsh thing to tell a young boy, especially a proud boy like Damian. Tim had no idea Damian's mother had been so harsh on him, and he's had to put up with ten years of her. No wonder he chose to live with his father in the first place.

"That's horrible. But how would she replace you?"

"She took samples of my DNA at the age of five and ten, and had them stored along with father's DNA." He replied, not seeming to realize that what his mother had done was wrong.

"So she can clone you. Creepy."

"It isn't 'creepy'. It's insurance in case I didn't do what she wanted." He snapped back, seemingly offended.

"How can you hold such a high opinion of her? She's been nothing but terrible to you."

Damian nodded, rather than arguing. "I know." He sullenly affirmed.

"So, do you want to stay?"

His younger brother nodded slowly, another blush creeping up his face. "If that would be okay."

"Yes." Tim got up to leave, opening the door to the hallway.

"Drake?"

He turned back, to see Damian look down, not meeting his eyes. "Thank you."

Tim smiled and closed the door, seeing that the dinner tray was gone. Alfred must've taken it, he was a demon when it came to cleaning. He made his way down the stairs, to hear Bruce and Dick yelling at each other in the kitchen. He walked in casually, leaning against the doorframe with a proud smirk adorning his face.

It took Bruce and Dick a couple of seconds to realise that he was standing there and stopped arguing.

"What's up?" Dick was the first to ask, though he kept glaring at Bruce.

"Damian's gonna be joining us tonight after all."

Boom! Any ideas welcomed, reviews would be cool too.