{the poisoned ghost}
-Who now knows the word Comprachicos, and who knows its meaning?-
The fight had been irksome, and in the end it accomplished nothing. Damian had been at a loss by the time Grayson had whispered in his ear, "First chance you get, run." Damian had been unable to respond at the time, but if he had been able to, he likely would have made a biting remark, angry that the man was so keen on abandoning him. He was still numb from the revelation that perhaps Grandfather had been glazing over truths for many years now, and Damian was having trouble sorting out what could be lies and what could be truths.
When Damian had seen Grayson pinned under a slab of debris, fire licking up at the ceiling of the Rabbit Hole, he had stopped thinking. For a moment, he had forgotten that Grayson did not die easily. And it was a chilly revelation, a prickling fear in the pit of his stomach as he realized the inevitable. I'm going to be alone. That was something he was used to, loneliness. And standing in the burning Rabbit Hole shot him with clarity, and it was white hot and terrifying. He didn't want to be alone. The thought of going back to solitude was a horror that he could not fathom, and he would rather run again then live alone in a cell, and pretend that he didn't exist.
He'd been struck with terror when a woman picked him up, and he gave a wordless shriek, kicking at the air and twisting his head to look at Grayson. I promised I would kill him, Damian thought frantically. I don't want to kill him. I don't want to kill Todd either. I just don't want to be alone anymore. But it was impossible. Silly thoughts for a silly child, and he hated himself.
When the woman dropped him into the snowy darkness, Damian tore his tinted glasses off and whirled around to Nell, Colin, and Artemis, who were all staring up at their building with shining eyes. Damian was breathing heavily, smoke in his mouth and stinging his eyes, and Grayson's words were sharp inside his head, stinging harsher than any toxic fume.
"Run," he hissed, his breath unfurling into the night. They stared at him with large eyes, and he reached out, grabbing Nell's hand and starting forward, mindlessly trying to understand his new goal. It seemed that they had formed a human chain, and they were rushing out of the alleyway and into the streets of Gotham, four children without a thought or care about where they were going.
"Why are we running away from the heroes, again?" Nell asked as they ducked behind a stationary truck, huddling together for warmth. Colin was still clutching Damian's cloak, which struck Damian as oddly… funny.
"Because they attacked us." Damian looked around, his knees sinking into the snow, and he looked at the three of them. "I do not know where to go."
"Neither do we, genius," Artemis snapped. "Our safe house just got burned down!"
Something bumped against his hand, and Damian turned around. He jumped as Dog's hot breath misted against his face, and his great slobbery tongue glided against his frozen cheeks and nose. Damian grimaced, his face feeling sticky and icy as he wiped at it furiously.
"Dog," Damian said, rubbing the beast's head unthinkingly. He managed a small smile of relief. "At least you got out."
"Yeah, uh, we still have nowhere to go. Because you guys aren't bunking at my apartment. I don't even want to go to my apartment, but if my dad comes home early and finds out I'm not there… yeah, no. So anyone else? Colin?"
"The nuns… probably won't mind," Colin said slowly, scratching his head. "But, uh, no pets, sorry."
"Apparently the dog is Bruce Wayne's, Col'," Artemis said impudently. "Don't think it needs the shelter."
Damian continued to pet Dog's head, staring at him thoughtfully. It was an odd feeling, bonding with an animal. Damian had never met a dog before, and if the ingrate Grayson had saved was correct…
"Bruce Wayne," Damian said, watching Dog's head perk up, "is my father."
That sent a long, tingling silence through the group. The only thing that could be heard was the wail of wind, and the soft movement of wheels against slush as a car rolled past. Damian looked up, and gave them all a very hard stare, his palm resting on Dog's head. Titus, Damian thought, rubbing the beast behind the ears.
"Uh," Artemis said flatly. "What the hell?"
"But," Nell said, sounding distant as if she was deep in thought. "I thought Bruce Wayne's only kid was—"
"Jason Todd," Colin said, his eyes growing so large, they looked about ready to pop from his skull. "Meaning—"
"If you were Bruce Wayne's kid," Artemis picked up, her own eyes flashing wide as well. "And you're part of the League of Shadows—"
"You're jealous!" Nell gasped. Damian glared at her, and he looked away. "Ghost, why didn't you tell us before? You know killing Jason Todd won't solve this, right?"
"I am beginning to see my error," Damian said quietly. "However, it can't be helped. My Father does not know I exist, nor will he ever know."
"Okay, this is way weird," Artemis said, pushing herself to her feet and dusting the snow off her jeans. "I'm going home before I throw up."
"Artemis, wait," Colin gasped, jumping to his feet as well. He looked down at Damian, who was still rubbing Titus's head, but there was a sound that made him freeze. The sound of snow crunching underfoot, and the faint jingling of bells. Artemis had frozen in place, her eyes going big in the darkness. There was a terror that could be felt in her as she retreated back into Colin's arms, and it was then that Damian noticed she still had her bow with her.
"I thought they didn't come here," Artemis gasped as Colin pulled her down, his eyes darting fast.
"We've never been out this late, I mean... they have to come here sometimes," Colin whispered back, glancing at Nell. "Okay, let's stay calm. We can all defend ourselves."
"Thank you," Nell hissed, pouting up at the boy. "For looking at me. Yes, I am the weakest link, ha ha, Nell can't fight."
"Shh," Artemis hissed. She pulled at her bow, and drew an arrow from her quiver. The jingling was getting louder, and Damian could feel Titus getting tense as he bared his teeth and began to growl.
"What is it?" Damian whispered, placing his free hand on his sword. The jingling was becoming an eerily shrill pang in the night, every sharp sound a knife of panic through Damian's heart.
Nell bit her lip, and he noticed she was shivering, hugging her knees to her chest as she stared ahead in terror. "Comprachicos," she murmured, as the jingling was cut short.
Damian could hear them breathing. One moment he could hear four people and one dog breathing, and the next he heard twelve people and two dogs breathing. He jumped to his feet as Titus bolted out from behind the car, and there was a sharp sound of snarling as two dogs clashed, Titus, the great black beast, and a gray, skinny looking monstrosity. Damian had his sword out and pointing at the eight looming figures of various sizes.
"Well, well, well," a low, spine tingling voice breathed, cocking his head. He was a skinny one, tall and lank with bulbs of bells hanging from his neck. "Lookie here. A little nest of kiddies!"
"Leave," Damian demanded, raising his head high. "You would do best to leave right now, before I make you regret it!"
"So… pretty," purred a woman, plump and smiling in the light of a streetlamp. Damian glowered at her as she stepped closer, and he pointed his sword at her with defiance glowing in his bright red eyes. He was glad to be able to see, but he itched for his glasses. The world was a hazy blur, and he didn't understand it.
"Hey, back off," Artemis snapped, jumping up and notching her arrow, aiming at the shadowy figures. The sound of Titus's jaw snapping against the neck of the poor gray beast made Damian feel sick to his stomach. And then Titus gave a sharp whimper, and Damian jumped, his eyes flashing to the dog. And just as his attention strayed from the so-called "comprachicos", he felt the rush of an attack.
The first one that got near him ended up with a sword in his gut, and after Damian shoved him to the ground, he twisted to look at Titus. Get up, Damian thought frantically. Please get up, don't leave me, please! Damian listened as Artemis released an arrow, but Damian didn't look to see where it went. He ducked an attacker, and danced away, his eyes only on Titus. He looked to Colin, who was shielding Nell with his body. Damian noticed he'd clasped Damian's ruined, bloody gray cloak over her shoulders, and pulled its hood up to cover her eyes.
Damian ducked and slashed at the throat of another assailant, watching it open with a slice, and a burst of red spilt out into the snow as he crumpled to the glistening white ground. Damian looked to Titus, and saw the dog moving feebly. That sparked a great deal of hope within Damian, and he backpedalled so he was standing in front of Colin.
"Go," Damian said, his voice sounding hoarse. He listened to Artemis gasp and shriek, and he watched her bow fall into the snow. Damian gritted his teeth. "I can handle this. Take Do— Titus, take Titus home. To my father." For a moment, Damian glanced at the cloak Nell wore, ignoring Artemis's shouts. He pressed his palm to the blade of his sword, and he sliced it open, feeling the cold bite of it as pain shuddered through his hand. Colin gasped, and leapt to his feet, but it did not matter. Damian clenched his fist, wincing in pain and feeling hot blood squelch between his fingers. He pressed a bloody hand to Nell's head, watching his handprint glisten darkly against the light gray hood. "That should suffice enough as proof."
He spun around, flicking the blood from his hand, and he dove at the men advancing on him. He had to snap at Colin and Nell to leave again when he killed the man, and went after the plump woman. And then, after much goading, the two children hurried to their feet, and went to Titus. Colin looked desperately onward, and he called to Damian, his voice thin and squeaky.
"You know I can help!" He had Titus in his arms, and Damian didn't even want to ask how he managed that feat. Damian was struggling to see which humanoid figure had Artemis, because she was not on the ground, and therefore one of them had her.
Damian gritted his teeth, sheathing his sword in the breast of the horrible woman, yanking it out and snarling at the boy, "Get away from here, you imbecile!"
By that point, he was surrounded, and even still the bodies were piling around him. Five, Damian thought. One, two, three—
He blinked fast as he felt an arm sling around him, something scratching his mouth and nose for a moment. He elbowed the man back, a swarthy older man, but his fingers pressed the stinging rag to Damian's mouth, and without realizing it he sucked in the fumes, ammonia stinging his mind and senses as he slid a kunai out of his sleeve and stabbed him, gutting him and whirling around.
Poison, Damian thought frantically, feeling lightheaded and panicked. Oh god, I am so stupid, I should have…
Damian fell face first into the snow, shaking as he realized his fatal error. I'm going to die, he thought, tears in his eyes. He barely had the strength to reach into his tunic, bloody fingers grasping a piece of folded paper. He pulled at it, watching half-blind as it fell into the snow, and his lips trembled pitifully. Mother…?
Wow I don't even know what to say about this chapter. All around, very dark, huh?
Comprachicos is a term the Victor Hugo coined, and it means "child-buyers". In the book, Hugo makes a point to say that they didn't steal children, just bought and tortured them. Well, interpretations vary. See, I think The Man Who Laughs is like, probably a best seller in Gotham. LET'S BE REAL ABOUT THIS. There was someone in Dick's Batman run who was disfigured by his father who was inspired by the Comprachicos, or something? Like, I'm not making this shit up, Gotham seems to have a sick fascination with this damn book. They totally don't seem to grasp its meaning at all though.
Anyways, the line between child stealers and child buyers is super blurred here. They chose the name Comprachicos bc if you're going to be part of child trafficking, that's a good fucking name for it.
My reasons for adding the Comprachicos to the plot is pretty simple. I needed a conflict that would push everyone together. And basically it makes The Man Who Laughs an actual plot point.
Victor Hugo was a mad fucking genius, and probs really mentally disturbed. Read some of the shit he wrote about Comprachicos. It's fucked up, man.
