"There it is," Robin pointed through the windshield at a silvery glint below. "That's the tower. That's where they're going."
"I see it," his father acknowledged, slowing the plane. "Do you know where we are? Is it near the trail?"
"Yes," he swallowed. "It's right by Asperity Falls. I think that big drop there used to be it, see?"
The water-polished cliff he had picked out was visible even without magnification. Flash leaned forward to look, then frowned. "It's dried up," he commented. "The river beds above and below it are empty."
"...No," Batman said a moment later as he peered at a screen. "Not dried up. Dammed. Here." Turning the monitor towards them, he indicated a bluish glint on the horizon. "It's difficult to tell from this distance, but it looks like a rockfall blocked the flow from upstream. That's why the falls have stopped."
Damian hadn't thought his stomach could sink any lower than it had during the two hours he'd sat lambasting himself for telling Grayson and Drake that they were the only people who could save the world. As he stared at the blockage, though, he discovered that he'd been wrong. "...Batman?"
"Mm?"
"If...if those rocks move...like if there's another major quake and they're shaken out of position..." He couldn't finish the thought. It was obvious what would happen if the dam broke; everything in front of it would be swept away to its death.
"...Let's just hope that they're out of the way when or if that happens," the cowled figure said firmly.
"Yeah," Flash contributed, his tone positive but his face disturbed. "It's withstood aftershocks already, so...maybe it'll just stay like that."
Damian doubted it, but he bit his tongue. Despite not being a superstitious child, he didn't want to speak his thoughts out loud only to have them come true down the line. Jinxes are impossible, he tried to scoff at himself. ...But then again, he had to allow, so are impenetrable force fields. In this case, he supposed safe was better than sorry.
They landed near the spot where the pole jutting up from the earth ended. The stairs clunked down onto the barrier in the same manner as they had been the day before, and all three of them moved to the door. "Stay here, both of you," Batman bade. "I won't be long."
"Stay here?" the younger man objected before the boy could. "Why? It's solid out there."
"For now, yes. But whoever is controlling it seems to be becoming more aggressive. Think about the India-Pakistan quake; many, many more people will have died there than here. I consider that an elevation of hostilities."
He removed his cape as he spoke and replaced it with a flattish black backpack from a nearby compartment. "If they know we're here – and they likely do, unless they have no one on guard below – then they might consider blinking the force field under our boots to be an excellent way to cull our numbers. The plane will continue to hover regardless, but if you come with me there will be three people trying to get back through a very narrow opening very quickly. This way, I'm the only one who has to scramble." He cast a glance over them both, then turned away. "Stay here," he reiterated, and walked down the half-deployed staircase.
"...Shit," Flash muttered. "What good does it do us if he falls a thousand feet? I can't fly this thing."
"I can," Robin said irritably. "Obviously. Besides, he's wearing a parachute." He paused. "He's probably hoping he'll fall." I would be. In fact...
Batman had left the cabinet open, and it took him only a second to shrug on a pack of his own. "Stay here."
"Uh, no." A strong grip on his shoulder stopped him. He yanked out of it, but the speedster, who was far too fast for him, grabbed his wrist instead. "You're not going out there."
"Let go of me, West," he glared. Let me have a chance to go down to them. Let me fix what I've done...
"Are you kidding? Whatever was left after Batman finished tearing me a new one wouldn't be able to stand the look of disappointment Dick would give me for letting you fall a thousand feet from a perfectly good airplane. You're staying here, little man. Sorry."
"...'Little man'?" Gaping, he launched an angry assault. "No one calls me-"
"Chill, dude, okay?" Flash urged, ducking. "If it helps, I get it." He shot right, bumping into the bulkhead. "Ow. I get that you want to help-" he dodged another blow "-get them back. I do, too. It's why I'm-"
The man vanished, and before he knew what was going on Damian found himself on the floor with his arms and legs pinioned from behind. "-Here," the man finished. "So just relax, alright? I know it's tough, but just relax."
"West," he spat, "when I get up, I swear I'll-"
"When you get up, you'll thank him for keeping you from doing something else stupid today," Batman's voice broke in. Robin tried to crane around to see him, but there was a wall in the way. The sound of the door slamming shut reached his ears, and he slumped in defeat. "...Let him go, Flash."
"Sure."
He was instantly free, but he took his time getting up. That was pathetic. I should have known he wouldn't let me go without a fight. Next time, he made a mental note, I knock him out before he realizes anything's going on. He can't move fast if he's unconscious.
"Give me the parachute," Batman went on once Robin was on his feet. He complied unhappily, gazing at his feet the whole time, and then the man went on. "If you attempt to disobey me again, I will send you home to Alfred. If I have to do that, rest assured that you will not be able to sneak away again. I don't want to have to go to that length, but if that is what it takes to ensure your safety then I will." A gauntleted thumb and finger gripped his chin and gently turned his face up. "Do. You. Understand?"
There was no doubt in his mind that he would be cut from the mission and grounded for many weeks – maybe even months – if he didn't straighten up. "...Yes," he ground out.
"Yes what?"
"I understand." I just want to help, he moaned internally. Don't you understand that this is all my fault? If I'd just kept my mouth shut...just told them that you were on the way and you'd get them out... But he hadn't, and now they were lost again and on their way towards an opponent that not even the best and the brightest of the JLA could figure out how to overcome. It's all my fault. "...Now let me go."
The hand holding him in place retreated, and he swiveled away from the cockpit. "Where are you going?" Batman asked.
"I'm...going to get something to eat," he made a lame excuse. He'd never been less hungry in his life, but it was the only thing he could think of that might earn him some time alone. "I suspect low blood sugar may have been a factor in my...disobedience." It hadn't been, he knew, but he wasn't going to let an opportunity to reassign blame for his misstep go by.
"For which you still owe Flash an apology and a thank you."
"I..." That's cruel, father, he stewed. He isn't even inside the family. Well...Grayson says he's as good as, but it's still not the same.
The speedster solved his problem for him, however. "C'mon, Rob," he smiled kindly. "You know me. Just show me where this food you mentioned is and we'll call it fair and square, okay?"
"...Fine." Putting up with the presence of his brother's friend for a few minutes in order to avoid speaking sentiments that he didn't feel would be an acceptable enough trade. "It's just energy bars, but...they're in the medical bay." Maybe if you're with me I won't see that awful vision again, he shivered as he led the way towards the rear of the jet. That would make the annoyance of your company worth it, at least.
"Sweet, s'more flavored," Flash said a minute later. He took a huge bite, chewed, and then wrinkled his nose. "...Or something like that. Ugh."
"I said it was sustenance, not that it was good." Skirting the table on which Dick had given his final shudder in his dark premonition of the day before, he moved to the window. "You may as well take them all if you're hungry."
"I thought your blood sugar was low?" a teasing tone answered.
It was exactly the sort of thing that Grayson would have said in this situation, and it nearly made him choke. "...Stop it," he whispered, the request coming out weaker than he would have liked. I know what you're doing, but...stop.
"Stop what?"
Baring his teeth, he shot the redhead – now leaning lazily against the counter and working on his second nutrient stick – a nasty look. "It's clear that you've studied his tactics for getting me to talk, all right? And you and he are enough alike in character that you can deploy some of his tricks fairly well."
"Thanks," Flash nodded. "That's a pretty big compliment, you know."
"Well, this isn't; you aren't him. You aren't him, and I don't want to talk, so just leave me alone." With that he balled his hands into tight fists at his side and stared out the window again. Go away, Wally. The only person I want right now is limping along with a stick crutch somewhere below us. You can do nothing for me.
The air stirred beside him. "...Okay, Damian," the man, now only inches away, spoke plainly. "You're right; I'm not him. But you're not the only one who wants him back in one piece. You, me, Batman, Superman-" the boy snorted "-Wonder Woman, Alfred...we all have the same goal right now, and a big part of that goal is getting Dick and Tim both home safe.
"I meant it earlier when I said I know how tough it is; remember, I argued about going out onto the force field, too. But the trick is to look past what you want to do and instead consider what you can do to help the mission as a whole. Sometimes that means taking a chance, like when Batman stepped out that door a few minutes ago. Other times it means accepting a logical, prudent argument and staying behind in the plane, even if that's the most frustrating thing in the world at that moment. The point is, the mission is bigger than any one of us. If you can help the mission doing something you want to do, that's great, but if you can't, then you just close your mouth and do what you've got to do.
"That's a hard lesson, Robin, I know. I wasn't so great at following directions and seeing the value in listening to my elders when I was a kid, and believe me, I got into trouble as a result. Sometimes Dick dragged me out of it; sometimes I dragged him into it. Every time, my uncle – the old Flash, he was before your time – would put on this funny look and remind me that sometimes you just have to shut up and color, even if you disagree. I hated it, but he was right, and the sooner you accept that fact, buddy, the easier some things are going to be."
"It sounds like capitulation," Damian said mockingly. "I would think you would know by now that we are not the kind of people who roll over and give in."
"And I think that you know that I'm not like that, either. But that's not what this is. This is tactics, Robin; just tactics. I've never been good at them, which is part of why your brother is such a godsend as a friend. But you are good at them, and that's why I'm telling you all of this. Save yourself some serious stress and learn how to shut up and color when the time is right. You won't be giving up, you'll be saving yourself for the battles that are really worth fighting. It's...shit, how did Dick say it? Proper application of force," he snapped his fingers. "That's the heart of tactics, at least according to Nightwing. You don't have to make a stand on every hill to win the war; just on the important ones. Make sense?"
Damian was too busy processing what had been said to answer. 'Shut up and color'...it was an odd thing to say, but he rather liked the way it sounded like advice wrapped in an insult. It certainly wouldn't be an easy thing to put into practice, but if Nightwing did it, and if it would keep him out of trouble for the rest of the mission, it was worthy of consideration.
"Well...think about it, anyway." Flash's hand landed on his shoulder for a moment, then flew away before he could even consider whether he wanted to try and shake it off or not. "I'll see you up front in a little while, maybe."
He watched his reflection recede in the window. "Flash," he called him back at the door.
"Yeah?"
"...There's something he said to me once, too, you know. Nightwing."
"Oh? What was that?"
"He said that your children were very lucky to have you as their father."
The speedster's lip trembled suddenly. "He...he really said that to you? I mean, he tells me that all the time, but...he says it to other people, too?"
"Yes. He does." A beat passed. "If you speak to them the way you just spoke to me...well...suffice it to say that I think I might know now why he feels as he does. That's not a compliment," he made clear, "just an observation."
"You know...you're a good kid, Robin. I didn't believe him when he told me that at first, but he was right. You're a pain in the ass sometimes, but...still a good kid."
Now Damian's mouth was the one in danger of giving away his emotions. He twisted the tremor into a bitter smirk with great difficulty and pointed it at the world below. "Perhaps," he conceded. "...But good luck getting anyone else to agree."