It had been a coincidence.
A fluke.
Damian hated that.
'Coincidences' were lazy. Excuses. Failures.
And yet… He had found Dick Grayson by accident.
He wished he could say he had tracked the man for weeks on end until he finally found him. That he had managed to do the one thing his father hadn't in over ten years -find Grayson- due to his skill, determination. That he had done it because he was better than the two leeches his father had developed such a fondness for.
Instead, he had left the manor unauthorized one night, in a fit of rebellion after he wasagaindenied the right to go out on patrol with Batman. -So what if he didn't have an identity?He should be Red Robin, anyway. Not Drake.
He had grabbed his katana and nothing else, not even a mask -not even a plan.
Criminals wouldn't see him coming, and his father would be forced to recognize his talent.
He ran into a man. Literally.
The man was sitting on a rooftop, his legs dangling down, like they weren't sixty feet off the ground. Damian wasn't scared of heights, the idea was ridiculous. But civilians usually weren't as comfortable when so close to the edge.
The man was swaying to an unheard rhythm as he watched the city lights, a thermos and a bag of fast food sitting next to him. Strange place for a picnic, Damian thought, dismissively.
The man spotted Damian and smiled.
Damian wanted to turn around and leave. He had no time to waste.
"Hey there!" The man said, a hand reaching to the side of his head to remove an earphone, leaving it dangling from the cord around his neck, a smile still adorning his face.
Damian raised his chin, if this individual thought he'd find an easy victim in him, he had another thing coming. "Such nice weather tonight, isn't it?" The man said, turning back to watch the city like it would disappear without him keeping an eye on it.
Damian didn't answer. But he didn't leave.
Instead he turned his face upwards; the moon was high in the sky, and for once, the stars could be seen. He hadn't seen them since he arrived in this god-forsaken city.
He saw the man wave him over, Damian was smarter than that. Thanks. He didn't move. He didn't leave.
"I'm Dick" the man said unprompted, undeterred.
Damian made a face, 'what an unfortunate name' he thought. He didn't answer.
He didn't leave.
The man laughed, like he had read his mind.
The silence stretched. But Gotham was never truly silent. There was always a voice, a siren, an alarm, a scream. True silence in this city was odd. And seldom a good sign.
Damian was comfortable in silence. Or he had been. In the past.
Silence back home -back in Nanda Parbat, was peaceful. It meant training, it meant concentration, it meant meditation. It meant growth.
Here in Gotham it meant something was about to blow up.
Silence at the manor meant… he's still unsure, the manoris oftentimes silent -unless father, Todd, and Drake were fighting.
Sometimes they fought each other, their voices so loud it sent the bats scattering around the cave. More often than not, the other two united against Jason.
Lately all of them had taken to arguing about him.
Maybe it means he doesn't belong. Or that he never will.
The man turned to look at him again, his smile still in place, but perhaps less wide. Damian didn't understand his reason for smiling. What did he want?
What purpose did his smile have?
"Still have some hot cocoa left, It's the good stuff, I promise" the man -Dick said.
Damian frowned at the odd observation. Why would he care if there's any left? He scoffed at the juvenile taste.
He still didn't leave.
"I ate the Bat-fries, but there's still a Robin's nest untouched, if you want it? Do you like chicken?" Dick patted the bag beside him. Damian didn't follow.
He rolled his eyes and parted his lips to answer when the look in this strange man's eyes changed, looking at something behind Damian.Dick frowned for a second, but then smiled once more, Damian detected a degree of awe in that look.
So he turned to look at what it was, and there, lit up high and bright, beckoning…
The Bat-Signal.
He had no time for this.
He started moving. Away from the man.
Damian could feel his eyes on his back, so he went for the stairs. Trying to be inconspicuous.
"Hey, catch,"Dick said. Damian turned, catching the small container with ease. It was a clear plastic ball, inside there was a small Batman figure with a batarang in hand -mid throw, and a sticker of Red Robin's logo. A label on the ball read 'BatBurger The Sidekick Combo: For the Hero in Training!' He frowned, wondering what he was supposed to do with this.
He put it in his pocket, then hesitated.
"Is Dick short for something?" He asked.
Dick looked startled for a second and then made a face "Richard?" He said, unsure for the first time since the whole encounter began.
But there was no more time.
Damian nodded, 'Richard' he thought. NotDick.
He didn't answer.
Instead he left.
Father had been most upset by his departure.
And then by his showing up on scene that night. Maskless. With a weapon.
He grounded him again.
It didn't stop Damian from leaving the manor again a few days later. Richard wasn't on the rooftop. Damian wasn't disappointed. Hewasn't.
Damian was back, on another night, and so was Richard.
This time there was a container of chinese food, but the thermos was the same.
Richard didn't startle when Damian sat down -a healthy length away from him, but close enough in case Richard felt like rambling at him again. If he had to.
He looked at Damian and smiled "Do you think Superman is faster than The Flash or nah?" Richard asked out of the blue, the phone in his hand showing an open conversation with a back and forth full of exclamation points before the screen turned off after a moment.
Damian noticed Richard's shirt underneath his jacket had a superman logo on it.
He frowned. He shrugged. He got up and left.
"There's a dojo nearby, is that where you go?" Richard said next time Damian sat on the roof with him.
Damian raised an eyebrow at him.
"You had a.. shinai? With you the first time we met here, no?" He asked.
Damian frowned, "It was a katana" he said, then regretted it.
"Ah… well, can you just carry that out in the open? Isn't it dangerous?" Richard asked, but he looked curious, rather than judgemental.
Damian didn't answer.
"Here" Richard said and took something out of his jacket's pocket.
It was another clear plastic ball, like the one he had thrown at Damian before.
This time, it contained a figure of Red Robin -Todd, given the rendition of the suit this figure was wearing. Damian squeezed it in his hand. "You eat this… often," Richard snorted, "is this food up to regulations?" He wondered.
He had done some research, a fast-food place named BatBurger. Widely popular in Gotham, but he failed to see the appeal. It cheapened Batman's mission.
He'd seen the pictures of the menu during his research too, it didn't look like something he would like to eat either.
Richard laughed and shrugged. "I'm trying to get Red Robin. The new one," he said with a smile "He's cool" he said.
Damian went back that night and challenged Drake to a sparring match. He didn't hold back.
It hadn't clicked.
It took him embarrassingly long to make the connection between the boy -man, his father was looking for, and the stranger he had met by chance one night.
About twenty weeks, to be more precise.
Grayson spoke about every subject under the sun, but never about himself. Nothing of substance anyway.
The name itself didn't clue Damian in. He'd heard it beforeof course, it just hadn't clicked at the time.
He knew this changed things. It changed everything, probably. Or it would. It should.
But Damian didn't know if he wanted things to change anymore, if he told his father about Grayson, Todd and Drake would inevitably find out. They weren't worthy.
Not of Batman's legacy. Not of Robin's title. Never had been.
But beyond that, they weren't worthy of Grayson. They would corrupt him, they would want to bring him down to their level. Damian wouldn't let them.
This was his chance.
To prove he was an asset. That he could be.
He could put an end to his father's search.
He'd run a DNA test on Richard three weeks ago -he wassure.
But Damian didn't like to share. And Grayson was his.
It had been eight more weeks, until his father caught him.
