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Batman and Robin picked their way through the remains of the structure, calling out for survivors. Dick had his lenses set to look for heat signatures, and with every step his heart fell a bit more.
“Anyone on your side, Robin?” Dick asked, voice quiet.
“No, not yet.” Damian sounded as upset as Dick felt.
His voice was still a bit shaky after the last aftershock almost caught them inside a building. Damian was not doing well with these earthquakes, and Dick felt bad for having him out and working in them, but it was good, distracting work, and if Damian were in the bunker he’d just worry.
Still, every time Dick glanced over at him, he felt a pang at seeing Damian’s pale, washed out face, and the way his hands shook just a little bit still.
“Keep an eye out then.” Dick said, then tapped his comms, “Red Robin, Batgirl, how are things on your end?”
“We’ve cleared out the school, there was less damage inside than we’d thought and all the kids made it.” Stephanie’s voice.
“Good.” Dick felt some relief at that, “We’ve had poor luck here, and we’ll be moving to the next set of apartments once we've cleared it out, in about twenty minutes tops. Meet us over here.”
“Perhaps they had already evacuated before the building collapsed.” Damian said, looking around.
The warning had gone out early that morning that Gotham was about to be hit by an earthquake, or series of them. Honestly, they were lucky they got any kind of a warning at all, especially with this one coming with so much time to get out. And things could have been much worse. Gotham had seen much worse during the cataclysm.
But Gotham’s citizens were tough people, and while many had evacuated for their safety, far too many had hunkered down to wait things out, either hoping that it wouldn’t be too bad, or simply in fear that they’d return home not to a collapsed building, but one emptied of their possessions.
Now, after the brunt of the earthquakes had passed --at least Dick prayed they’d passed-- emergency workers and Bats were all out trying to find and save as many of those people as possible.
“I hope so, Robin.” Dick said.
They searched through the building for another ten minutes before Dick called it. No one was in here, and they needed to get moving to meet with Red Robin and Batgirl.
“Alright, Robin, let’s head out.”
As Dick said the words, the building began to shudder around them. Dick grabbed Damian’s hand and sprinted. This building’s integrity had been broken by the quake and aftershocks, and it seemed like it was time for it to go. The last thing he wanted was a building crashing down on them.
“Richard I can--” Damian started, but Dick shushed him.
“Just run, I don’t want to get caught inside.”
They were almost within sight of the door they’d left open when the next aftershock hit.
The whole world felt like it was rolling again, and running was almost impossible as the floor under their feet buckled and rolled. Dick paused for one second to haul Damian into his arms and started forward again, knowing that if they didn’t get out they were done for.
Damian didn’t argue this time, only wrapped his arms around Dick’s neck in a death grip.
“Richard.” he said, his voice quivering.
“I got you.” Dick breathed, “I got you.”
It was like running over Clayface as he shifted and moved. Every step was a trap, every footfall painful as he hit the ground in different heights. At one point his foot slipped, and his ankle twisted painfully. Dick kept going.
And then, the roof fell.
All he could do was freeze and curl around Damian as the world collapsed around them, huge chunks of the ceiling and the floor above raining down.
When Dick came to, it was to pain. Pain and darkness all around him. He was face down, pressed into the floor by weight a weight so heavy he wasn’t sure he wanted to think about being here much longer.
One arm was free, while the other was pinned beneath him. He breathed for a moment trying to get control over his head as it spun. Something must have hit it in the collapse, when he’d--
“Damian!” he yelled, the name ripping from his chest, “Damian!”
He threw his free hand out in an arc, desperately searching for his baby brother. At last, it caught on fabric, and Dick kept shifting his hand until he found a face, Damian’s face, tilted to the side.
“Dames! Say something, please, I can’t see you. Damian!” Dick plead, his heart pounding against the concrete below him.
After a moment, Dick felt the face shift, maybe Damian’s nose? As he stirred.
“--ichard?” Damian’s voice was so quiet it did little to still Dick’s fear, “head hurts.”
“I know.” Dick soothed, “I know, kiddo. Can you tell me what else is wrong?”
Damian was quiet for a long second before, “I do not know.” he said, “Everything hurts, and I cannot move--Richard--” his breath hitched.
Dick shushed him gently, “It’s okay, hey, do you have an arm free? Take my hand it’s right by your face.”
After a moment Dick felt a hand grip his, small fingers tangling in his own.
“I got you.” Dick said, squeezing, “I’ve got you.”
Dick cataloged their options. Both of them were hurt. They were trapped under the remains of a building and there wasn’t a lot either of them could do. Tim and Stephanie knew where they were, and if they weren’t buried too deeply they had a chance of getting them out. Dick liked to think they’d be rescued before they were crushed or suffocated, or another aftershock hit and battered them to death.
He didn’t want to think about any of those situations, so instead he held Damian’s hand and tried not to focus on the pain in his leg. After his heart slowed down a bit upon finding Damian he'd noticed the pain. One of his legs was in agony. Every time he shifted the little bit the rubble allowed he could feel something. It hurt. It hurt like almost nothing he’d ever felt before. All he could do was focus on Damian’s hand in his and try to ignore the pain that felt like it just kept getting worse.
To keep them both distracted, Dick told stories. He told Damian about some of his favorite adventures as Robin. Every time he’d been to space, and even his few visits way down below to Atlantis.
After a long time, Dick wasn’t sure how long, Damian spoke up.
“Richard?” he asked, his voice so quiet Dick almost didn’t hear him.
“Hmm?”
“Will it happen again?” Damian asked, “Do you think we will be trapped down here when it--” he gasped and then let out a sob that he didn’t even bother cutting off.
“Oh, Dames. No. No Tim and Steph are going to find us, alright? We’ve got trackers on us, and they knew we were here. We’ll be fine.”
It was telling that Damian was only worried about another earthquake. He hated them, and Dick hated himself for dragging his brother out here. If he hadn’t then Damian at least would be safe. He’d be out of here and safe and sound and not buried under a whole building.
The real miracle was that they hadn’t been killed in the collapse. Though Dick wasn’t sure how good that would turn out to be if all they had to look forward to was being smothered.
Damian, once he'd started crying, didn't seem to want to stop. Dick did his best to soothe him, but he felt like crying himself. Out of fear, and out of self loathing. It was his fault. His fault Damian was trapped down here, terrified of another quake, of them dying. If Dick had just asked him to stay home. Just decided not to let Damian's bravado win for once.
At some point, the boy quieted down from sobs to little hiccups, and then nothing.
“Richard?” Damian said after another long stretch.
Dick hadn’t even realized that neither of them had spoken in a while.
“I’m here.”
“I don't feel good.” Damian’s voice was tiny, and wobbling, “My legs hurt for a while, but I--I’m not sure I can feel them anymore. And my back really hurts.”
Dick wasn’t sure he could feel the pain in his leg yet anymore either. But maybe that was just the fact that the air was growing thinner too. He was pretty sure the pressure on his own back was half a second away from splitting him in half.
“That’s alright, I’m sure Tim and Steph are almost here.” he promised again, “We’ll be okay.”
They lay there again, in silence, with Dick squeezing Damian’s hand every few minutes.
“Hey Damian?” Dick asked, unable to keep things in any longer.
He had no idea if they were going to make it out of here. And he couldn’t let that stand without making sure Damian knew how much he cared. At the very least, Damian needed to know that.
“Yes?”
“I love you more than life itself.”
“I love you too.”
“And even if we’ve had some rough times, I’ve loved watching you bloom and find yourself, and open up. I’m so so proud of you kiddo.”
“Richard.” Damian squeezed his hand, “I would be none of that without you. Thank you.”
“Course, Dames. It’s been an honor.”
With that, they went quiet again. Only, this time the silence dug at Dick. And he couldn’t leave it. He didn’t want them to fade into silence with goodbyes on their lips.
“Did I ever tell you about the time the Mad Hatter took your dad hostage and demanded Batman show up?” he said, starting into another story, intent on telling as many as he could as long as he needed to.
~
“Batman! Robin!” Stephanie yelled, with her hands cupped around her mouth, “Answer me, please!”
She gazed out over the mound that was the apartments they’d said they’d been searching with growing dread. Their trackers were still here. They’d been here when the aftershock had hit, and the moment they were able she and Tim had bolted for the place with Oracle screaming over the line that she couldn’t get in contact with them and someone needed to get over there now.
But it had taken so long. They were halfway across a city that’s infrastructure was shattered. Roads buckled, cars turned over, even their trusty rooftops inaccessible in most places.
“Red Robin, any sign of them?” Steph asked.
Tim shook his head, and kept moving. Steph understood the drive. The thought of losing Dick and Damian was something she didn’t even want to consider.
“Here!” Tim’s voice screeched after a moment, “Steph here, there’s a heat signature down here.”
By the time Stephanie made it to his side, Tim was already on his knees digging away at the rubble. She joined him, and for what felt like an eternity they dug and shifted, doing their best to get both Dick and Damian free, because it had to be them. It had to.
They got to a particularly large slab and heaved, shifting it up and away to reveal two sets of bodies, Dick with his cowl pulled back and then Damian close by. Blood matted the back of both their heads. The two of them were connected by hands, tightly held together.
“Dick!” Tim ran around to where he could face his brother, and knelt again, “Dick, look at me. Damian? Someone.”
He reached out and pressed fingers first to Dick’s throat, then Damian’s. The way Tim jerked his hand back from Damian's like it was on fire told Steph all she needed to know.
“Both of them?” she asked.
Tim shook his head, swallowing, “Just Damian. Dick’s heartbeat is there, just barley.”
She pressed her fingers to her face her heart racing. No. No. It couldn’t be. Not Damian. Not that bright boy she’d only really just got to know. That was--
Dick stirred and gently Tim tilted his face up. Dick’s eyes were glazed, and it looked like he was looking past them. He squeezed Damian’s hand again.
“Hey.” Tim said, and Steph wondered at how firm his voice sounded.
“Damian?” Dick asked, then, “Damian!”
He thrashed against the rubble, if his weak movements could be called thrashing. He kept trying to turn his head, but Tim held his face firm, so they were looking at each other.
“Shh.” Tim lied, “He’s fine, Dick. He’s fine.”
Dick stilled at that, an he smiled gently, "Good." he said, "I was afraid--" he didn't finish the sentence, instead he let his eyes flutter closed again.
Tim held him for a moment, "Dick?" he asked, voice warbling, "Dick?"
They waited a long moment, and nothing happened. Stephanie wasn't sure her own heart was still beating when Tim gently brushed his fingers against Dick's throat again. Then he leaned down to press a kiss against his forehead, and laid him back down, before he sat back, and dropped his own head into his hands, sobbing.
There wasn't anything Stephanie could do but kneel by his side and pull him close, and whisper promises neither of them believed.