Chapter 13: Life

Damian was just walking down the main corridor of the Manor's second floor, on his way to his room so he could tinker with some new gadgets. His father was on a business trip and wouldn't be back until nightfall and for the boy, this would be the best use of his time.

He had just arrived at the railing of the foyer when he noticed someone on the first floor.

Richard was putting on his shoes in front of the large entrance door. Apparently the older man was going somewhere.

Curious, Damian descended the main staircase while addressing him from afar:

"You're going out?"

Surprised, Dick turned around and replied only somewhat perplexed:

"Y-Yes...I have plans."

Now the boy only got more curious: "Oh yeah? What kind of plans?"

Damian now came to a stop in front of his counterpart and watched him closely. He seemed nervous somehow and his put-on smile wasn't as carefree as usual either. More artificial.

The taller one struggled with his answer and thought hard until he finally seemed to come to a decision and opened his mouth after all:

"You know what, why don't you just come with me?"

Damian just crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow:

"You serious Grayson? You want to drag me along on one of your chick dates? I really didn't think you were that pathetic."

Now Dick's eyebrows went up as well, because he was visibly puzzled by this sentence:

"Who said anything about any dates? I'm not meeting someone, if that's what you mean."

Damian just got more curious and snorted:

"Then where were you going?"

Perkily, Richard winked at him: "You'd have to come with me to find out."

With a "tt," the boy just turned disapprovingly: "I don't have time for your absurd shenanigans Grayson. There are more important things to do."

Damian was about to climb back up the first step of the main staircase when it was called out to him: "Well, I'd have been surprised, if you would have come. After all, Bruce was always afraid of it too, coward!"

Damian paused and turned slowly as he growled: "What did you call me?"

Dick just pulled his shoulders up innocently: "A coward."

A devilish grin spread across the taller man's face as he continued: "Like your father."

Incited, the boy stomped over to a nearby closet and pulled out a jacket, as well as shoes, before saying: "Nobody calls me a coward!"

Damian didn't see the amused grin on Richard's face as he donned both and vigorously opened the front door.

He faltered briefly as a strange blue-silver convertible at the bottom of the stairs caught his eye. Dick stepped past him as the smaller one inquired in wonder: "Is this...yours?"

The man addressed held up a small key:

"Yep, a Maserati 3500 GT. I put that thing together when I was still living here. You like it?"

They walked down the stairs together, while Damian just replied: "Isn't this thing a little to old for you? After all, there are enough sports cars in the garage that are much faster."

Dick just sighed in disappointment: "You're just as much of a philistine as Jason. They don't always have to be fast and loud. I have enough to do with such cars at night. It's nice to shift down a gear and just enjoy a car for its normality."

Damian just raised an eyebrow again: "But it's not particularly normal either."

Richard gave up: "Just get in."

About half an hour later, they pulled into the parking lot of their destination and Damian felt pretty screwed as he looked incredulously at the large colorful site in front of him:

"You can't be serious Grayson."

"What? Bruce never came here with me."

"And I know why now. I knew you were an idiot, but I truly didn't take you for such a big one."

"Well, you're here now, so you might as well go with it."

"Give me the keys."

"What?"

"I said give me the KEYS!"

"Forget it! I'm not letting you drive my expensive car!"

"Then I'll just stay here!"

"You know damn well you can't. It's the middle of summer and I'll get in trouble if I leave you here in the car."

Dick sighed and got out of the old-timer. He walked around the vehicle to the passenger side and opened the door:

"Look, I'll make you a compromise. We'll now spend the afternoon here together and then go shopping so I can make you pancakes for breakfast tomorrow. Isn't that something?"

Damian looked up at the taller man with crossed arms and annoyed eyes before getting out and raising two fingers: "Two hours, then we'll leave."

Dick just grinned at the boy and replied: "We'll see."

Together they bought tickets and entered the colorful amusement park, which offered everything from roller coasters and carousels to a large Ferris wheel, to guarantee a fun-filled stay. Laughing children quickly ran from attraction to attraction to get as much done as possible in their remaining time. Only one thing was the exception.

The corners of Damian's mouth were already reaching the basement, while Dick was looking at the park map interested and talking to himself with anticipation: "So, where do we want to go first? The wild west? Pirate's Cove? Uhh, or how about the zombie graveyard? They have a new roller coaster there."

The boy just couldn't share Grayson's enthusiasm for these things. It was just a pointless waste of time to spend the afternoon here and would ultimately lead to no significant result.

So he just replied annoyed: "Whatever."

Dick, however, was not put off by this: "The new roller coaster it is then."

About ten minutes later, the two were just coming out of the said roller coaster. While Damian didn't make a face, Richard laughed in amusement and gave a brief summary:

"The section in the dark was really awesome! You couldn't even see where it was going next, could you?"

"Hmm."

Damian just snarled. He would never admit it openly, but this fast-paced ride actually wasn't as bad as he first thought. For once, it was quite pleasant to concentrate only on the ride itself, without an enemy breathing down your neck.

Dick's grin grew even wider, knowing that the lack of negative feedback only proved that the kid had enjoyed it at least a little. Finally, the older man noticed a booth across the path and pointed at it: "How about it, want to do that next?"

Damian just shrugged, so they went for the shooting gallery now. Dick pulled out his wallet and had the operator hand him two air guns with twelve shots each. He passed one to the boy, who only raised a brow in confusion.

Damian didn't understand what the purpose behind this was supposed to be. He knew how to hit the center of a target with all kinds of weapons, and the ones stretching out in front of him were anything but difficult. Just shooting at a distance of two meters. Ridiculous.

So he set the rifle and took aim at one of the many white plastic jars, each containing a flower.

He pulled back the long metal bolt to fill the rifle with air and then pulled the trigger.

A miss.

Visibly surprised, Damian looked up. He usually would hit the target. Again he reloaded and aimed at the same target. He exhaled and fired.

Missed.

"tt" Annoyed, he hissed at this circumstance. Damian looked over at Richard. The latter just made his first shot and hit the bull's eye, much to the surprise of the other two present. Now only more annoyed, the boy commented, growling: "Lucky shot."

Dick, however, grinned spitefully at him and replied: "Oh yeah? Well, take a good look."

Quick as a flash, the older man kept pulling back the bolt in a rapid succession of motions and pulled the trigger, causing flower after flower to fall on the ground with each shot. Both Damian and the operator looked in surprise at Richard, who didn't miss a target and ended up shooting down twelve flowers. Slightly gloating, he raised both eyebrows and looked with a grin at Damian, who now defiantly took his next shot.

Grazing shot.

This could not be true! This silly game was just like milking a mouse.

Suddenly Dick leaned against the shorter one and whispered something in his ear before this little demon would tear this place apart: "The barrel is warped."

Surprised, Damian first looked up at the taller man and then examined the long metal barrel. In fact, a minimally small bulge could be seen, which he had not noticed before. Of course, why did he only noticed it now?

The boy grinned diabolically before he too hit target after target at a rapid pace, causing the stall master's gaze to become increasingly incredulous as the floor continued to be filled with colorful flowers.

Finally, Damian had also shot all his bullets and looking at the stunned operator, contentedly laid his rifle on the counter.

"Want to do it again?" Dick asked him kindly and at the sight of the sweating booth owner, who guessed that they were both no ordinary gamblers, Damian almost had said yes:

"Nah, it's enough if one of us collects the grand prize."

Relieved, the operator said kindly to Richard: "Now that you've brought down a flower with each shot, you get to choose freely from the prizes hanging here. Plus, of course you will get the flowers as well."

Damian watched as Dick's gaze passed thoughtfully through the rows, looking around carefully. The boy was already sure on him taking one of those oversized plush dogs that hung out front as customer bait.

Finally, the taller one suddenly started grinning and pointed between the many rows: "I'll take the little plush Robin back there."

Damian, puzzled, followed the pointing finger and saw the man pull out the little figure, which he hadn't noticed before, and set it on the counter.

Disapprovingly, the boy raised an eyebrow: "You serious Grayson?"

Richard took the little thing and turned it in Damian's direction: "What? He's cute and looks just like you."

With such kid nonsense, all he could do was roll his eyes and responded:

"I have nothing in common with that stupid looking thing."

"Well, for me you do."

Damian just growled at that comment.

Armed with a bouquet full of colorful plastic flowers and a small plush Robin, they left the booth again and Dick asked: "So, what do we want to do now?"

Damian pondered before smiling devilishly and answering: "Are there any more of these cheat booths? I have to say, there's something to it seeing those stupid faces on the cheating operators."

Dick laughed out loud: "But only if you know their tricks."

Damian's smile turned into a knowing smirk: "I assume they are no secret to you."

"Pease, you're talking to a circus kid here. If anyone knows the methods of such scoundrels, it's me!"

Richard winked once at the little boy as he said this and together they walked exited to the next booth.

Like this, they spent the afternoon alternating between giving lessons to cheating operators and riding various roller coasters and carousels.

The two hours quickly turned into three, then four, and finally five, so that the sun was already beginning to tilt in the sky and everything was soaked in a warm light.

Damian sat on a park bench at the edge of a square, which was adorned by a fountain in the middle. Lightly, the gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the bush behind him as he waited patiently for Dick who visited the restrooms in the meantime and reviewed his day.

The silly faces of these monkeys were exactly his taste. Everything from pure fascination to angry expressions had been there. Wonderful.

Although he and Grayson had won a lot of prizes, they had no use for all these cuddly toys. So they had simply given them away to the next best children crossing their path. Shall they struggle with them.

Only this ridiculous little plush Robin was still there, sitting next to him on the bench. That jerk Grayson actually wanted to keep that piece of junk. He probably just wanted to always remember who was ultimately the better one of them.

Damian laid his head back contentedly and closed his eyes.

It had really been...a nice afternoon. Even if he could have used the time more sensibly in the end, he had still had fun. Even those rides had been quite a pleasant change from his daily routine.

Damian would never admit it, but he didn't regret coming along.

Suddenly he heard footsteps approaching. It could only be one: "Is it so boring without me that you're already falling asleep?" purred Dick, who had just come to a halt in front of Damian.

"I was just enjoying the silence without your non-stop talking mouth." Replied the latter calmly and without giving him a glance.

"Well, anyway, I brought you something."

Curious, the boy opened one eye to investigate. Richard was holding a stick with a pink fluffy thing stuck to the end of it. Puzzled, he looked at it before his counterpart also explained himself:

"I thought you might like some cotton candy."

Dick pushed the stick into his hand before the boy could even resist, and then sat down relaxed at the other end of the bench, next to his new doll. Perplexed, Damian looked at this strange mass more closely before asking:

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

Richard could only answer with amusement: "Well, eating it. This is caramelized sugar. A typical snack you get at amusement parks like this."

Once again, the boy looked at the fluffy candy before hesitantly taking some of the weird stuff between his fingers and curiously popping it into his mouth. Puzzled by the fringy consistency, his head tilted slightly. It was just strange how little by little the sugar melted on his tongue and slid down his throat. Not the greatest achievement for Damian, but it could be eaten.

"Tastes good, doesn't it?"

Damian said nothing in reply, but instead put another pink mini-cloud in his mouth. A pleasant silence arose between the two, which was partially interrupted only by the laughing children playing at the fountain.

Finally, after a few idyllic moments, Richard reached into his pocket and pulled out a small object before starting a conversation: "I bought this for you as a little thank you earlier."

Dick held it out to Damian, who just looked at the little thing in confusion and then looked questioningly at the larger one, who also explained himself:

"Well, because you came along today."

He accepted the small keychain and looked at it more closely. It was a wide green leather strap with a silver metal D worked into the end. Useless, in short. But Damian had to admit to himself that he kind of liked it.

"You know, it's the first time in years that someone has accompanied me to this place. When I was little Alfred used to come here with me on this day, but that was a long time ago."

Damian got curious: "On this day?"

He noticed a slight melancholy take possession of Dick's face before the taller man replied:

"Well, today is the anniversary of my parents death. I go to an amusement park every year on this day to remember the good times I had with them. Since we often performed in amusement parks like this with our circus, I spent a lot of my childhood there, and used to stroll around these places all the time with my parents during our free time."

Dick relaxed and leaned his head back, enjoying the warm rays of the evening sun as he continued: "It feels like they're more tangible here than in some cemetery."

Damian said nothing at first. It did surprise him that Richard would take him, out of all people, on a day like this, with him. But then a question did occur to the boy:

"You said when we left that Father avoided this place. Why?"

"What's true for me is not true for Bruce, I'm afraid. According to Alfred, he too used to go to parks like this with his parents, but for him the memories only bring pain. It's hard for him to see the positive in things. That is why he never accompanied me. Although he was able to help me do justice and understood my sufferings, what he couldn't do was show me how to deal with them and let them behind. Someone else showed me that."

Now Damian became curious: "Who?"

Dick smiled wide:

"Alfred. He once told me that I should celebrate my parents for how they lived and not let their deaths steer me. Also that it's important not to forget the pain anyway. And that is exactly what I have taken to heart. I don't go to their tombstone to mourn there like Bruce does. I prefer to go where I feel closest to them and remember the good times we had together, like Alfred had advised me to do. I think that's what they would have wanted rather than their son standing dejectedly in front of two rocks. After all, I wouldn't want that either. I should be remembered as how I lived, not as how I died." *

Briefly, Damian faltered at these words. Something about it struck him as odd. But before he could think about it any further, Dick continued:

"By the way, this has turned into another tradition."

Dick pulled out of his pants pocket another keychain that resembled Damian's. Only this one had a black ribbon with a silver A:

"I bring Alfred a souvenir every year." Grinning, he held the small pendant in Damian's direction, who just looked perplexed at it before the small object went back into his pocket.

"But let's not talk about such things. It's only depressing and not very interesting anyway."

Damian looked to the ground and considered for a moment before hesitantly speaking:

It...is an interesting way of looking at things. When I lived in Arabia, we merely burned our dead and forgot about them. They were soldiers, nothing more, and even if I met the same fate, I doubt my mother would remember me. After all, she made that clear more than once, and I too believed that life didn't had much meaning."

"And yet here you sit with me now, enjoying having become part of a family, aren't you? Even though I have to admit we're not particularly normal, but we don't forget each other."

The corners of Damian's mouth moved upward as he thought about it, but he quickly noticed that the taller one was eyeing him with a smile. The boy realized that he was getting more and more into the mood and was about to enter the same emotional zone as that dumb grinning horse right next to him. So he blocked again:

"Oh don't give me that crap Grayson. We're not even blood-related."

Dick stood up and stretched once his tired body, as he replied: "That may be the case, but you don't have to be related to be in the same family. Blood isn't everything you know?"

He looked down at Damian smiling:

"So, shall we go shopping now? After all, it's already getting dark."

Damian also rose from the long bench, nodded to him once, and tossed the now empty stick into a nearby trash can.

Satisfied, Richard took the little plush Robin in his hand and said casually:

"It's been ages since I've taken a souvenir for myself. This one gets a nice place in my apartment." Before he turned and headed for his car.

Damian was about to follow him when he heard a strangely familiar voice from a distance.

"Damian."

Surprised, the boy turned around, but saw no one behind him.

"Damian!"

Again it sounded, but now louder than before, and Damian turned to Richard:

"Did you hear that?"

Puzzled, the taller man paused and listened for a moment before replying: "Hear what?"

"Damian!"

Again he turned around: "Someone's calling my name."

Dick just smiled as that voice continued to call out to him.

"Damian!"

Suddenly Damian felt a stabbing pain take possession of his hand and the left side of his body and he slumped to his knees in shock: "Arg, what the...?!"

But Dick did not seem to notice this. There was some kind of bang in the distance and Richard pulled out his cell phone as if nothing seemed to be wrong:

"That's Bruce. Apparently he finished up his matters earlier than expected and is texting for us to come home now."

Richard looked up from his phone and smiled apologetically at Damian:

"Sorry D. I guess the pancakes will have to wait."

Flashes of blue and red began to dance around the boy and he reached out his hands in search of support. Damian saw Dick turn away and saying:

"Come on buddy, let's go home."

Before he was swept away.

"DAMIAN!"

Gasping, Damian awoke from his delirium and struggled desperately for air. Through veiled eyes he could make out, with difficulty, the blurry figure of the Batman. But why was he here and where was Dick?

"Thank God, you're alive!"

Dazed, he felt strong arms pull him into an embrace and hold his body upright. However, this whole thing didn't make sense to him right now. He had just been to this amusement park with Grayson and now his father was here? What was happening?

In a still fragile voice he tried to bring light into this darkness: "F-Father? W-why are you here, where's Richard?"

Damian was aware of his father's body tightening somewhat around him at these words and he wondered why there was such a constant loud crash and glow here. Red and blue, like those lightning bolts in the park.

Bruce released his son from the tight embrace and leaned him carefully against the thick tree to which Damian had been pinned earlier by the monster. The boy didn't seem to be fully present, so Batman explained briefly:

"Now listen to me carefully. We're on a mission to catch a monster and it almost killed you if Superman hadn't gotten there in time."

Damian felt his father begin to wrap something cool around his aching hand as he continued:

"Your injuries have been treated provisionally and are not life threatening. You're going to wait here now while we finish this, understood?"

Bruce could tell by the veiled eyes that they didn't caught up everything he was talking about. But the main important thing was that his son was alive anyway.

Batman rose and resumed the fight behind them, where Clark with his laser eyes and Diana with her sword, were just trying to keep the blue flashing beast in place. The bat called out to both of them:

"Wonder Woman, same plan as before! Superman, grab my rope when I give you the signal and keep your distance!"

Both Justice League members signaled that they understood and Batman ran toward the monster, who was busy bombarding Clark with lightning. Still running, Bruce pulled a few small bullets from his belt and threw them at the snarling beast. He would take no more chances now. "Wonder Woman, get back!"

Diana gave up the near fight and put distance between herself and this beast.

The small capsules opened and instantly the creature was enveloped in a thick sticky mass. It tried to catch the bat, but he slid away under its claws in an evasive maneuver and placed an explosive device at its feet.

Finally, he also sought the distance, before Batman pressed the trigger and the huge explosion set the screaming monster on fire.

"Keep your distance and don't get too close! Wonder Woman, try to catch it with your lasso!"

Somewhat perplexed, the woman first stared at the extremely hot wall of fire in front of her before complying with the demand. While Diana couldn't see where this critter was among all the fire, she heard its angry screech and used them to locate the beast.

As she was confident, the Amazon lashed out and let her lasso disappear among the blazing flames, and sure enough, Diana did caught something.

Firmly she pulled on her golden rope and incidentally noticed a change in the sounds of this creature, as well as a strong pull that fought against her.

"Batman I got it!"

Bruce noticed Diana straining against her lasso, the intense heat bringing the first drops of sweat to her forehead. He didn't hesitate:

"Superman, blow away the flames and smoke!"

Clark took a deep breath and, as requested, blew away the thick veil so that they now had a clear view of the struggling monster. He wondered why, despite his strong breathing, the flames on the creature's body would not extinguish. But before he could inquire, Batman ran at the beast again, re-functioned his grappling rake into a lasso, with which he now also bound the beast from afar, and tossed its end up to the surprised Kryptonian, with the instruction: "Pull!"

Superman didn't hesitate and tightened the rope as he placed himself across from Diana so that this monster could be held in place. Fortunately, this time both pairs of wings were firmly fixed, which meant that Batman could now let his gas bombs work unhindered, without annoying fluttering blowing everything away again.

The beast shrieked and tried to defend itself with all means, but against the combined power of Superman and Wonder Woman even this monster had no chance.

Gas cloud after gas cloud found its way into the creature's lungs and when Bruce already doubted that the concentrated isoflurane was working at all, the still burning beast suddenly fell to its knees.

Finally.

Relieved, the bat continued this act and more and more the initially muscle paralyzing effect set in, so that after a few moments the creature was held upright only by the ropes around its upper body.

Finally, the second phase of the effect began to appear, gradually calming the screams until they finally fell completely silent and the creature went into a deep slumber.

Batman instructed his comrades to not abandon their positions just yet. He first wanted to make sure that there was really no more danger.

Carefully he approached the limp burning body. When there were only a few meters between them, Bruce first looked at the tail, which was still flickering with eclectic tension.

However, it did not stir either, so Bruce continued to advance and finally came to halt directly in front of their bounded target. Batman watched it closely, but there was no sign that it was still awake. However, what he didn't like was that despite the 1200°C that this gel was partially emitting, this critter had no injuries whatsoever. As if the body was immune to such heat.

"It has fallen asleep. Superman, there should be a capsule in the wreck of the jet. Go get it. Wonder Woman tie it up with your rope, but be careful not to touch the gel."

As instructed, Clark released his steel rope and immediately flew to the crashed plane, while Diana tightly wrapped her lasso around the feathered creature's body several times, when the Amazon also remarked:

"Bruce, what is this burning stuff anyway that we're not supposed to touch? It won't go out at all."

Dryly, Bruce just replied: "Napalm B."

Diana was blindsided: "You have napalm in your pocket? Are you crazy?"

"I had it with me for an absolute emergency."

The bat pulled a spray bottle from his belt and used it to extinguish the burning areas as he continued to talk:

"Besides, I don't use anything without having a suitable countermeasure for it. This is a concentrate I developed myself that can be used to extinguish napalm."

Diana, however, did not agree to use this devilish stuff. She had seen during the Vietnam War what it could do and deeply disapproved of any use. But before she could give her friend a telling off about it, a sudden jolt went through the limp body in front of them.

Immediately Batman jumped back and Diana began pulling on her rope again.

They heard dazed growling sounds coming from the beast's throat.

But fortunately, Clark returned with the capsule just in time and the Kryptonian placed it carefully next to Bruce and Diana.

Quickly, Batman ran to his machine and entered some commands into the small computer on the side before the steel vessel opened and he shouted: "Quick, put it in here!"

Without hesitation, Superman and Wonder Woman grabbed the already slightly struggling creature and throw it inside the open tube onto a stretcher.

Bruce closed the capsule again and entered the start command for the gas, finally putting an end to this whole game.

The sounds from inside died away and Batman knew they had finally made it, but still looked through the small window in the top of the lid for safety.

Then, when he saw the deeply slumbering head below him, he sighed with relief.

What an evening, but it wasn't over yet:

"We need to get back to the Batcave quickly before I run out of anesthetics and so Robin can be treated. My replacement jet will be here any minute. Can I count on your escorts?"

Both Clark and Diana nodded resolutely at him, while they already could hear the new jet flying towards them in the distance.

Notes:

It is true, that Dick visits the amusement park every year on that day. That was a little detail once mentioned in the comics. Also the Words from Alfred for him are from the comics too. (Nightwing#0)