Authors Note : How 'bout that Christmas day release huh? Merry Christmas everybody. Also special shoutout to Ann-b010. Your review literally made my month. I couldn't tell you at the time because you're a guest reviewer but I'm glad your enjoying it. Any guests that leave a review could you also leave a name so I know who you are? Many thanks and I hope you enjoy :)
CHAPTER 2 – For Free? (Interlude)
"Heroes aren't born, they're made," Wayne said as they strode back to his house.
Damian was broken from his thoughts and he snapped upright then tripped away from Wayne and onto the road. His eyes shot to the gent, and he could see the weasel's breath in the cold night air. It sent a shiver right through his spine. "What?"
Wayne smiled and continued striding alongside Damian towards his mansion. "It's something my father used to say. I think it has a lot of relevance to your situation today. You were very brave."
The weasel was hiding something. No weasel were that nice, and every weasel had skeletons in their closets. The lads didn't see it, but Damian did. Who … who spent so many fucking guineas on four street lads? "Mr Wayne, I'm gonna walk ahead. Please don't talk to me."
"Wait - you're hurt. Let me look at you first."
Damian swatted Wayne's hand away with a tut, then he trudged ahead of Wayne and the lads. Damned if he were gonna let Wayne touch him. "No thanks."
"Eh Damian," Dick said and sprinted up next to him. "Let him look at you innit. You're hurt."
"He's not gonna touch me, Dick," Damian said.
Dick frowned. "Damian …"
"It's not even that bad, Dick," Damian said without looking at Dick, "honest it's not even that bad, it just looks bad to you. We been through worse, anyway."
Dick said nothing, and Damian knew he didn't believe him, but he didn't really care right now. He just needed time to think.
"Alright Damian," Dick said, "we're always here for you, yeah? If you need me, just give me a shout."
Damian nodded with a brief smile. "I know. Just give me some time, innit."
Dick smiled as well, thick black hair gleaming in the moonlight. "Alright," he said, then walked back towards Wayne and the other lads.
Damian lad had some peace and quiet now, and he needed this to ease his broken mind. His muscles dully thrummed in pain and he stretched his neck. He would do brilliant with some bloody sleep right now.
Most of the rest of the journey back was quiet, with Wayne talking to the other lads and Damian marching along in front. Wayne did eventually try to make efforts to talk to him about his bruises again, but Damian brushed him off – at which point Dick gave Damian an earache about being rude. Damian tutted and brushed Dick off too, striding even further away from them and wiping his nose with a murky sleeve. What did they not understand about peace and bloody quiet?
"Is he okay?" Wayne asked from behind Damian.
"Yeah," Dick said, "he's just a bit angry sir, is all."
"But he's hurt," Wayne said.
Damian tutted and carried on marching ahead of them. He were actually here. They didn't have to talk about him like he weren't.
"Awr he'll never admit it, sir," Tim said, "he hides his hurts from everyone else."
Jason smiled. "Like a rabbit, sir."
Like a rabbit? Damian tutted and continued walking. These lads were too bloody cosy with Wayne. It's like they didn't even think that people like Wayne were the reason people like the lads were living on the streets. They didn't even give a shit about that - all they cared about was the stupid bloody mansion they was about to go to. Damian grazed at the dried cut on his lip with his tongue and frowned. He nearly bloody died today and all they could care about was a stupid bloody mansion.
They came to Wayne's mansion quicker than Damian realised and the gentleman showed them in, shepherding them to the washrooms, the bedrooms, the kitchen and the dining hall. He only skipped over one door in his entire house but it still made Damian suspicious. 'It's not much,' Damian remembered Wayne saying, 'but this will be your bedroom for the night'. That were an understatement - it was bloody big. And nicer than any bedroom he'd ever stayed in. It just made him dislike Wayne even more though, because it were clear signs that Wayne was and always would be a weasel first. Born into money, and riches, and wealth.
And so when the youths took to ravaging their bodies in the silk sheets and exclaiming in luxury, Damian took a deep breath and walked to the window sill. He perched himself on top with a frown.
His brain was so alive, it hurt. Damian knew in his heart that he wouldn't let Pearce just get away with what he'd done, but he couldn't let his brothers stay here neither. Not when they were his life. One way or another, the lad was going to find out what was scratching at him about Wayne.
And then he'd show his brothers.
He sniffed and clenched his fists.
ooooo
The lads took turns to have baths over the next hour, leaving only Damian cushioned on the floor unwashed. "You know what I don't get about Wayne?" Damian asked, watching Tim hurtle Jason into the wall with a grunt. The two older lads were sparring to keep fit, and they were bloody good.
"What's that?" Dick said from the window sill behind him, "eh, have a bath, innit Damian. You smell right rotten."
Damian shook his head. "What I don't get about Wayne is he beat the carriage faster than you all did."
"What you talking about?" Dick asked, "the carriage you were arrested in?"
Damian nodded and watched Jason counter Tim with a hook to his jaw, only to be jabbed in the chest by Tim. "I saw you and the lads sprinting for my carriage. So how did he catch it when no-one back at Lace Market can beat your lads' speed?"
Dick shrugged. "Maybe he had a carriage."
"I didn't see no carriage, Dick. He were on foot. He had to be."
Dick chuckled. "Awr is that right, yeah?"
Damian furrowed his brows. "I don't trust him, Dick."
"Yeah, I think we all know that, Damian. Look." Dick hopped off the window sill and down next to him.
Damian hesitated a glance at him. After a good wash, the elder lad's hair was looking right dapper and thick.
Dick clutched his arm around Damian. "I know you han't got that trust for Wayne, Damian, but this mansion is good. This is the best life we're gonna get."
"He knows Pearce, though."
Dick shrugged. "All these rich blokes know every other rich bloke. That don't mean he's in line with Pearce."
Damian said nothing.
"Would it make you feel better if we got back at Pearce?"
Damian's veins burned with rage at the mention of the name. "Na, his time will come. But not yet. Not right now."
Dick nodded, and the two boys were silent for a short while watching Tim and Jason spar.
"Eh do you know what's bugging me?" Dick finally asked.
"What?"
"It's that Wayne's got the same second name as you," Dick said, "ain't that a bit bizarre?"
Damian shrugged. He hadn't really given it much thought until now. "Wayne's a common name, innit?"
"Maybe," Dick said, "but didn't you say that you didn't know your dad?"
Damian grit his teeth. "Wayne's not my dad."
"Yeah, but Damian …"
"Wayne's not my dad."
Dick said nothing at that – clearly seeing the lad's discomfort at the question.
He were glad Dick chose not to prod that any further. The thought of Wayne being his dad made Damian shiver.
Dick chuckled as if out of the blue. "Go have a bath, Damian. You're dirty and bruised."
Damian tutted. "You're not my dad neither."
ooooo
The bathroom was bigger than their room, with a mirror and a tub in the middle.
And the bath was inviting, with a lavender smell emanating from the water.
Damian was bursting to leap in, and he tugged off sticky clothes and chucked them into the corner. He licked at the dried cut on his lip again and carefully fingered at it.
There was a little bit of blood on his fingers.
He frowned and looked in the mirror.
His body was looking sore. Small cuts and bruises had ripped the skin on his whole upper torso, and his shoulder roared in pain. He hadn't shown any of the lads - or Wayne - just how bad it was on the walk over, but now the pain made his muscles tremble.
He slowly fingered the bruise growing on his left shoulder and winced with a frown. Then he took a deep breath and leaned onto the bath.
Pearce.
The word itself tore into Damian's mind like the plague and he burned inside. Pearce were the reason he nearly died. The gent thought he had the upper hand back in the crowd. Back in the crowd, Damian didn't have the advantage, he'd admit it. But one on one, he'd show Pearce exactly what happened when you condemned to death street lads you didn't even know. Damian restrained himself from smashing his hand into the wall. The bastard didn't deserve to be alive. There was no justice system for people like him. But he wanted Pearce to rest assured, that he would see justice. Before Damian left Wayne's house, he'd go to the downstairs of Wayne's mansion and find a knife. Then he'd ram it into that blonde prick's throat. And whilst Pearce bled out on the floor, his eyes rolling into the back of his head, Damian would watch.
The lad sniffed again and seized one trembling hand with the other. He took a deep gulp and then climbed into the bath.
The water immediately enveloped him with warmth that tingled all the way to his ears. Every nerve and bruise lit up with the unknotting of stress whilst at the same time stinging with fire. It was a very strange feeling to him, but he practically melted into the warmth and closed his eyes anyway. All the muck and filth that had crusted on his body was being broken away by the water.
Now he had time. Time to think and reflect on what he were gonna do.
He let his body rest in the water and he began to think deep – like he liked doing. If he were gonna get to Pearce, he needed to leave Wayne's house first. The lads wouldn't stay one night – they would stay the whole rest of their lives if Wayne let them, and that thought made Damian shiver.
He focused his mind. If Wayne were hiding something, Damian would be able to find it in the house. But Wayne wouldn't hide it in plain sight – he'd hide it somewhere secret. Somewhere that no-one would think of looking.
But that were if he were actually hiding something, 'cause right now Damian were going on a hunch. He frowned and sunk further into the bath.
But what about if it were the door Wayne skipped?
Damian's eyes opened. When giving them the tour, Wayne had skipped straight past it – which was very bizarre because he had shown them every other room in the mansion.
Damian clenched his fists. He knew what he'd do. He'd check behind the door. If Wayne were hiding something, he'd be keeping it there.
He sniffed.
It were worth a shot.
ooooo
It was time to get to work.
Damian dabbed his hair with his towel and stepped out of the washroom, bare feet hitting the cold wooden floor. He was surprised Wayne had managed to find pyjamas for them all, but he guessed weasels knew connections even this late at night.
The door stood at the opposite side of the corridor Damian was standing in.
His heart started beating steadily and he crept through the corridor like a shadow. He stalked his way towards the door at the end.
It weren't exactly a different door. To be honest, it was completely normal.
He furrowed his brows. Why did Wayne skip this one? And was it such a good idea to be shimmying around in there? He'd get booted out by Wayne if he was caught, and then the lads would never forgive him. He looked across both sides of the corridor and focused on the door again. Then he walked towards it and focused his eyes on the handle. So he just couldn't get caught.
The door handle practically glowed when he looked at it.
He clutched his fingers on the handle and pulled down.
Locked.
The hairs raised on the back of his hand and he took a few steps back. There was no bloody reason for this door to be locked. Nobody ever locked their doors back at Lace Market – except when they had something to hide. So what were Wayne hiding behind this door?
Damian furrowed his brows again and studied all four corners of the door. His eyes soaked in every nook and crack.
Now he was definitely getting into this room. And when he found out what Wayne was hiding, he'd rub it into all the lad's faces. He paced back towards the attic bedroom and clambered up the stairs. Then he stepped into the bedroom and all the lads looked at him.
Tim smiled, his topless frame lightly covered in sweat. "Bloody hell Damian, you're looking right dapper after that bath. Did you use that fancy soap?"
"Something's scratching at my head," Damian said, "about Wayne."
Jason chuckled. "What? Really? Something's scratching at your head?! I can't believe it!" Jason's face went deathly straight again. "But seriously Damian, aren't you just gonna let us spend even one night here in peace, for the love of bloody Christ?"
Jason's sarcasm weren't appreciated. "No I will," he said with a frown, "I will. But I want to check something out first. And I need your boys' help."
"Alright," Dick said, "what do you need?"
Damian shifted in his place and scratched at the back of his neck. "Wayne's … got a locked room. And I want to jimmy it and find out what's inside."
Jason's eyes went wide and Tim came off the wall. Dick sat up and watched Damian.
A warmth crept across Damian's cheeks and he shifted in his place again. Maybe he were poking the bear right here, but he wouldn't be able to rest until he at least had a little look. "Look, you lads want me to live with him, nah? Then let's just take a quick look around the room."
"Nah," Jason said, the dark circles under his eyes accentuated by the lantern light, "there's no bloody way we're sneaking around this gent's house. If he catches us, we'll get the boot, for sure."
That weren't the answer Damian were looking for. He tutted. "He paid coppers off for us, idiot. And he didn't just bloody pay them off, we're talking enough guineas to buy a yard. Who does that for four street lads? Who does that for anyone?"
The black circles stood out under Jason's eyes. He'd had them circles for as long as Damian could remember. "Not everything is bloody logic, lass."
"I know that," the youngest lad said, "but there's too much that don't make sense."
"Like what?" Tim asked with genuine concern.
Damian twitched his lips to the right and licked at the dried cut on his lip. "Well, I were telling Dick earlier, but Wayne managed to beat the carriage, innit? Even though we couldn't."
"Look I'm not gonna lie, lad, it were suspicious," Dick said, "but it don't really prove much. He probably had a carriage."
Damian shrugged. "It might have been but …"
"I don't think it were a carriage," Tim said.
All the boys looked at him.
Tim licked his lips. "I think he did beat it on foot."
A bolt of adrenaline shot through Damian and his eyes focused on Tim. His fists clenched and he studied Tim carefully. What the bloody hell? Where did that information come from? "What?"
Tim shrugged. "Alright, look, before I start, I want you lads to know I'm not sure exactly what I saw, but … I think I saw him running over the opposite rooftops whilst we were chasing the carriage."
Damian's ears peaked at this. "What did you see, Tim?"
"Well it were dark," Tim said, "but I'm not normally wrong about what I see." He bit his lip and shrugged. "I saw a gent - at least I think it were a gent - moved more like a shadow, to be honest. But he were rushing over the rooftops on the other side of us. And he were fast."
Damian's adrenaline spiked again and he instinctively stepped closer towards Dick seeking comfort. Wayne were like a shadow? How much truth were there in Tim's words? The younger lad frowned. Tim wouldn't have said it if it weren't playing on his mind.
"What?" Jason said, "you din't think about telling us this before?"
Tim shrugged. "Well I'm not exactly sure what I saw, Jason. It might have been Wayne but I'm not definitely sure it were."
"Maybe it were your imagination," Jason said.
Dick shook his head, thick hair gleaming in the lantern light. "It weren't his imagination, Jason. He's not seven."
Damian licked his lips. There was only one way to be sure. "We need to check the room, Dick. We need to be sure it weren't Wayne."
"No." Jason growled and snapped towards Damian. "No we don't need to check the room, Dick."
Damian tutted and lasered in on Jason. "You just heard the bloody story, we need to be sure if it were Wayne."
"Exactly, we're not sure it was Wayne," Jason said, "but I'm sure we will get booted out when we get caught in that room."
Damian turned to Dick. "Dick."
Dick smiled at Damian. "Look, if the lad wants to check it out then …"
"Nah!" Jason snapped towards Dick. "I know what your gonna say. You're gonna go with him. And what you're asking, Dick, is we bloody scrap everything on a fucking hunch. Am I hearing that right, yeah Damian?"
Damian grit his teeth and pivoted towards Jason. "If he's hiding something, we need to know stand down Todd."
Dick smiled again and put his hand on Jason's shoulder. "Look, if our Damian wants to check it out, let's check it out. It'll only take us like two minutes, anyway."
Damian smiled again and went to stand next to Dick. He clasped his fingers into Dick's own, eliciting a smile from the elder lad. Maybe he couldn't understand why people did things sometimes, but he sure knew how to make Dick do what he wanted him to.
Jason's face was going red and it contrasted deeply with the black circles under his eyes. He shrugged Dick's hand off his shoulders. "You don't get to make that choice, Dick. You're not just gonna do whatever the fuck you want again and then get us to pick up the pieces."
Damian's fist clenched. Jason was a bit hot-headed when it came to Dick's choices, and Dick never backed down. This could lead to a fight. He stepped forwards between them. "Let's just go check the room and forget about this."
But Dick weren't having none of it. "You questioning my choices again, yeah Jason?"
The hairs raised on the back of Damian's neck and he stepped directly in between the brothers now. Damned if they were gonna fight today. "We don't need to do this right now, we just need to find out what's behind that door."
"You're damn right I am," Jason said, "you lads don't seem to get this, but I'm actually looking out for you all."
No no no, this weren't gonna end well for any of them. Damian clenched his fists and glared into Jason's eyes. "Stop."
Dick smiled that charming smile. "You sure, Jason? Because it sounds like your thinking about yourself again."
"Dick," Damian said, "leave it out."
"Alright look," Tim said, blocking Jason off. "This ain't the time for this. We keep peace." Tim shoved Jason back. "We're brothers first, alright? So we don't fight amongst each other. We stick to our principles and we follow what Dick says. Eh, Jason. You agreed to that just as much as me, Dick and our Damian."
Jason roared and blocked the stairway. "That's bollocks. Dick, you've lost your fucking marbles if you think we're wasting this chance."
Damian's stomach churned and he bolted in front of Jason, looking into his eyes. "Jason, please get out of the way."
"Yeah, what is your problem with this, Jason?" Dick said.
"My fucking problem," Jason said, ignoring Damian, "is that you're gonna run us into the ground, Dick."
Damian stepped back and thought through his options. Why were no bloody options coming to his head? How did he defuse bastard emotions between people? Why couldn't he crack things like this?
"Every choice you make is a stupid bloody choice," Jason said, "and we lose out every time."
Tim came between them. "Alright, stop this lads. We're brothers, innit?"
"No, I make the best choices with what I have, Jason!" Dick said, "that's all I can fucking do!"
Damian's brain burned through the options he had and he watched Jason quickly.
"Your choices run us into the ground, Dick," Jason spat, "how much longer are we gonna have to keep suffering because of your ridiculous choices? It was your choice to leave the circus and it was your choice to fucking send Damian out there to die."
Dick's face was pale. "Jason, I do my best!"
"It's not fucking good enough!" Jason's face was thoroughly red now. "Damian nearly died thanks to you, and now you want to break into a room that's not ours for what? So we can get caught and kicked out of the only good fucking thing that's ever happened to us?"
A bolt of adrenaline shot through Damian and he glared into Jason's eyes. "I made that choice. Stop talking."
Jason tutted. "Arh, bone to you an' all, lass. You've had it in for Wayne since he's saved us and now you're stopping us from living the life we want because you lost your mom to weasel's mistakes. Well bloody news flash, Damian, Wayne didn't kill your stupid fucking mom …"
Dick's fist rammed into Jason's jaw from the side. "I had enough of you!"
It was a whir to Damian and his thoughts were lost on Jason's words.
Jason crashed to the ground, then he rose onto one knee rapidly.
Dick threw his fist into Jason's jaw hard, and then again for good measure.
Jason struck the wooden floor with his entire body and clutched his jaw.
Dick shook his hand off and pointed at Jason. "You're bloody dynamite, you are! And one of these fucking days, you're gonna go off and take us all with you!"
Jason sniffed from the floor and spat blood. Then he rolled onto his back and sniffed again.
"The only reason," Dick said, "we work well together is because of each other. And you are ALWAYS the weak link. Your talents don't mean shit if you can't control that flipping temper and go with the crew!"
Damian frowned.
Dick shook his head and then shook off his slowly bruising hand. He looked at the floor for a few seconds with a clenched jaw – as if deep in thought - and then he shuffled towards Damian and Tim with a sniff.
"Dick," Tim said.
"I know," Dick said, "I lost my temper I'm … I just need to watch out for you lads, innit? And I know Jason's not a threat but … look, let's just go check this room, yeah?"
Damian peered over to Jason.
The dark-eyed lad sat up onto his haunches and leaned against the wall. He looked off into the distance and rubbed his jaw with his fingers.
He looked like he were hurting. Maybe Damian couldn't read people, but he could read Jason. "You didn't have to do that, Dick," he said.
"He insulted your mom, Damian," Dick said.
Damian shook his head. "Jason din't kill my mom. Weasels did that."
Tim narrowed his eyes. "Dick."
"Look, he's uncontrollable," Dick said, "you saw it, none of us could calm him down. Let's just go check this room, yeah? I'll say sorry to Jason later."
Damian nodded with a frown. But he would still try and fix this. Jason couldn't be left out of their circle right now.
Dick strode directly past Jason and out of the room without looking at him.
Tim walked past Jason and saluted him with a kind smile.
Damian figured he should try to soothe the dark-hearted lad, but he didn't really know what to say. "I'll see you later, Jason," Damian said, "don't hurt yourself too much, yeah?"
Jason said nothing and kept his eyes on the floor.
Damian frowned again and then crept down the stairs and away from his brother. The lads didn't exactly see that the threat was out there, not in themselves. It were people like Pearce they should be fighting and not each other. He tutted and stepped out into the corridor.
Dick was leaning on the bannister next to Tim. "I hear that, Tim," Dick whispered, "I'm … I'm doing the best I can with this leadership thing. But I don't always get it right, y'know? Just … watch out for Jason, yeah? And let him know that I do love him."
Damian came up and stood next to him. "I'll let him know."
Tim stood also leaning on the bannister and nodded. "We've got your back, Dick. Whatever happens, he's one of us."
Damian full-heartedly agreed with that. "What do we do, Dick?" Damian said quietly.
Dick said nothing and watched over the bannister.
Was Dick doubting himself? "You're a good leader," Damian said, "even the best of us make mistakes sometimes."
Dick nodded and smiled. "Alright, I'll … go downstairs and keep Wayne busy. You lads check that room and see if there's anything going on. You find anything fishy, you come get me and tell Jason too. And Tim - look after our Damian, yeah?"
Damian tutted. "I can look after myself, Dick."
Dick smiled that charming smile. "Even so – look out for him, yeah Tim?"
"I got you," Tim said and fished into his pocket for a bobby pin. "Come on then, lad."
Damian joined Tim.
"Good luck, lads," Dick said from behind them and then started down the stairs.
They nodded to Dick and then walked side-by-side to the mysterious door.
"That were bad, weren't it?" Damian said to Tim.
"That were bloody bizarre," Tim said with a smile, "I saw Dick sock Jason and I was like 'bloody Mary, that was harsh'."
Damian smirked and walked towards the door. "I ain't seen Dick angry like that in a while."
Tim nodded again. "I know, I was looking at Dick and it was like fire was coming out of his nostrils and I was shitting bricks thinking 'is that lad alright?'"
Damian chuckled with his eyes on the floor. Trust Tim to lighten every mood. "Here, give me the pin, I'll do it."
Tim nodded and gave him the lockpick, then he leaned against the door. "Hurry yeah, Wayne's just downstairs. We stay in here for the littlest time we can. Even if Dick's got a silver tongue, he won't be able to keep Wayne downstairs forever. You reckon you got this lock?"
Like a painting in motion, Damian visualised the lock in his head. Five points whereas he were used to three. Damian started working the lock quickly and his brows were furrowed in concentration. "I never done it before. It's got five points, this one." He smiled. Maybe he couldn't work out how to get people to calm down, but he were right dapper with things like this. "But I'll get it."
Tim chuckled quietly. "It's bloody good how you can learn things so easily like that."
Damian worked the lock with his tongue slightly out of his mouth in concentration.
"There's only so many times Dick's gonna tolerate Jason," Tim said.
Damian stopped for a second and looked to Tim. "What? D'you reckon?"
"It's building," Tim said, "the tension between the two of 'em. You could probably cut it with a knife. And there's only so many times Jason's gonna be overruled by Dick before he does actually go off like dynamite."
Damian shook his head and started working the lock again. "Jason's one of us. He always has been. You notice how he gets violent but he never hits any of us back? Like ever?"
Tim nodded.
"It's because he'll always pick us before everything else," Damian continued, "he cares for us too much, and even Dick knows that."
The lock clicked and Damian pushed open the door.
"Nice job on the lock," Tim said, "I really hope you're right."
Damian were right. He knew he were.
Tim stepped into the room and looked around.
Damian's stomach churned and he stepped into the room as well. Here it was. The secrets to Wayne were behind this door.
"Eh lads," Jason said from behind them.
A bolt of adrenaline burst through Damian and he pivoted around to face Jason. His eyes darted between Jason's own and Tim swerved around too.
Jason had his hands up in surrender. "I figured you lads could use a hand."
Tim cocked his head. "What? You had a change of heart, yeah?"
Jason looked into Damian's eyes and the black circles under his eyes resonated in the light. "I'm sorry, I'm just … I was trying to look out for you lads, y'know? Wayne's house is better than the life we got out there."
Damian said nothing.
"It's alright," Tim said with a smile, "no-one's dead, innit?"
Jason nodded and sniffed. "Do you … d'you reckon I'm dynamite as well?"
Nah, Damian didn't think he were dynamite, just … a bit rash, innit?
"Nah," Tim said with a smile, "you're just a retard."
Jason chuckled and stepped into the room. "Let's check it out."
Damian nodded, part of him glad for Jason being there too. Wayne still put him on edge, and he liked the extra support Jason would be able to give. He turned around and took in the room.
For the most part, it was an ordinary room. A simple bed was in the corner of the room, and a bookcase on the far side. A simple rug also lay in the middle. Only one small window let in the moonlight from the far side.
It was all a bit perfect for Damian.
Tim's eyes scanned around the room. "It's a bit odd that he'd keep this behind a brand new lock, nah?"
Jason nodded. "Yeah, very odd. Let's check about."
The boys started searching around the room, with Tim checking the bed and Jason checking the desk.
Damian carefully crept over to the bookcase on the far side. What were in these books? He carefully fingered the covers like they were precious jewels and tried to read some of the book names. The … he squinted, trying to read harder, The Long Hall … he pulled the book out and squinted even harder. The Long Halloween? He frowned. It would be bloody dapper if he could actually read what were inside these books.
"What did you find?" Jason asked.
"Nah, nothing," Damian said, "just a book."
Jason looked to the rest of the books whilst Tim checked carefully under the bed. His eyes went to a bright green covered one and he pulled it out. "Eh, what's this one?"
Behind the book was a little button.
Jason didn't straight away see it, but Damian did. He furrowed his brows. It were just hidden behind the book. Why was it hidden behind the book? "Eh," he said to Jason, "what's that?"
Jason looked at it from the book and his brows furrowed. "What the bloody hell is that?" He tried pushing it in.
Nothing happened.
Damian stood on the bookcase and looked at it. "It looks like a normal button."
Jason kept pushing it and nothing happened.
Damian pressed it once.
The bookcase clicked and pushed slightly out of place.
A pulse of adrenaline pumped through Damian and he leapt off the bookcase with wide eyes. He jumped back away from the bookcase and then watched it like a hawk.
Jason just stared at the book case, the green book still in his hand. "What the flipping heck?"
Damian's heart pumped in his chest. There was no bloody way this was a secret passage.
Tim crept over to it. "Alright I'm … that's a bit odd."
"Yeah," Jason said, "no shit."
Tim's eyes went wide. "Lads, there's some kind of passage behind it."
"I told you there was something fishy about him!" Damian said.
Jason dropped the book he was holding and motioned to Tim to pry open the bookcase. They both stood next to it and carefully pried it open with their fingers.
Damian's heart steadily beat in his chest. It were time for some answers.
They dragged it open, and a stone passage led the entire way down behind it.
The hairs on the back of Damian's neck stood on edge and his brain felt like it was on fire. "Where do you reckon it leads?"
The newly revealed passageway immediately lit up with torches of fire on the walls.
The brothers all ducked at once, then slowly rose and looked at the new flames. "What the fucck?" Jason said.
Damian breathed and pressed his hands into Jason's shoulder, watching over him and at the passageway. "What … what do you reckon is down there?"
Jason's eyes darted between the walls of the narrow passageway and studied the new torches. "Damian … you … you stay here."
Damian tutted and glared at the torches over Jason's shoulder. "I'm coming with you."
Tim was pale. "There's no holding back our Damian, Jason."
Jason's eyes were fixed on the passageway. "I guess not."
Tim slowly took a step forwards into the passageway and checked both ways so as not to alert anything that might be in there. Then he began creeping down the new passageway with both Jason and Damian lurking behind him.
"Stay quiet," Tim said.
Well, obviously Damian were gonna stay bloody quiet, it weren't like he were gonna let off some fireworks in this passage or something.
It was cold in the passageway, with the walls lit up by torches that provided the only warmth and light.
Damian instinctively stepped closer to Jason and they crept forwards. He didn't know how much he actually wanted to know what was behind here now. "You sure Wayne ain't gonna come?"
"Nah – Wayne won't …" Jason stepped out of the passageway and his eyes immediately widened.
A bolt of fear rushed through Damian and he furrowed his brows at Jason. What? What was in there? He peeked out into the new room with Tim.
The room was a cave with a waterfall in the back. Large assortments of weapons lined the racks along each side and little bat shaped pieces of metal were stuck to the racks as well.
Damian's hands clenched into fists and his eyes were wide. Oh, fuck.
A/N - I really hope you enjoy this one and I'm aware it started off a bit slow. I need a beta to fix problems like that. If anyone could beta for me I'd be crazy grateful :)
Don't forget to leave those reviews for speedy updates! They're literally the only payment I ask for if you're enjoying these stories :)