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Where were you?“ Damian mumbled, burying his head in Dick’s chest. The boy was crying, his breaths coming in ragged bursts as he clung to Dick in a desperate hug.
Dick embraced his little brother gently stroking his back and leaning his cheek against the teen’s head.
“What took you so long?”
The uncharacteristic whine in that last word nearly broke Dick. Tears stung his eyes at the injustice of their current situation. It wasn’t fucking fair how so much damage had been caused by one bullet. One bullet had caused a chain reaction of unfortunate events that had ripped Dick from his family and left in its wake nothing but the complete destruction of trust and contentment.
There was nothing Dick could say that would make up for the time lost between them and it was killing him. There wasn’t an apology good enough to heal the damage he had caused by separating himself from his family. But he at least had to try.
“I know you’re angry with me, but I’m here now,” Dick soothed. “It’s not too late. We’ll figure this out. It’s gonna be okay.”
“No it is not, Richard,” Damian blurted, still holding onto Dick. “You don’t understand. You don’t know what I did…you would…be disappointed in me.”
“No I wouldn’t.”
Dick knew everything that had happened with Damian since he had been away in Bludhaven. Jason and Tim had filled him in. There was much to unpack from the exploits that Damian had executed with his team, but none of that compared with the guilt and grief the teen still carried from Alfred’s death.
“Everyone hates me,” Damian hiccupped. “And they finally have a justifiable reason to hold that conviction.”
“No one hates you, Dames.”
Damian broke the embrace and faced Dick. The teen’s eyes were watery and red rimmed. His signature scowl plastered on his face.
“Yes they do. I’m the reason Alfred is dead. I’m the one whose actions fractured our family.”
It broke Dick’s heart to hear Damian say such a thing. How could Damian think that he alone was responsible for what had happened to Alfred? Had no one in the family talked to Damian to assure him that he wasn’t to blame for Alfred’s death?
“No, you did not break the family.”
“I was the one who entered the city –.”
“Under Bruce’s orders, and he was told by Alfred that he was safe. It wasn’t your fault what happened to him, Damian.”
Damian shook his head and averted his gaze to the ground.
“Look at me, Damian, please,” Dick asked, moving his hand to Damian’s shoulder. He needed to make sure that Damian heard his words and believed them to be true. “This wasn’t your fault. This is not your burden to bear. You did nothing wrong.”
Dick maintained eye contact and waited for the words to sink in.
“You did nothing wrong, Damian,” Dick repeated. “You were following orders. This was not your fault.”
“But if it wasn’t for me –.”
“No, Damian. This wasn’t your fault.”
Dick waited again for Damian to grasp his words and believe them. This wasn’t lip service or spoon-fed lies Dick was giving him to make Damian feel better. No, these were truths that Damian had needed to hear spoken to him months ago.
“This wasn’t your fault, Lil’ D.”
Damian’s face crumped as fresh tears flowed and his sobs filled the air around them. Dick embraced him again and cried along with him.