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“Drake, I know that you lack much in the area of competence, but this plan is-”
“Is the one that’ll get us the best results! Don’t give me shit about ‘competence’ when you know that you would have thought up a similar plan! You just don’t agree with anything I-”
Ten...nine...eight...seven...six…
Breathe in….breathe out….breathe in...and out...
Damian didn’t regret leaving his father when he did. Yes, he did technically hold love for the older alpha due to their blood relationship and the pedestal that his mother had placed him on, but that held no strength against the anger that drove them both apart. The two of them were close to tearing each others’ throats out nearly every night and the following day was spent trying not to break the delicate peaceful balance that Alfred tried to maintain. The beta, bless his heart, was probably one of the sole reasons that the younger alpha didn’t consider returning to the League of Assassins altogether when things were at their worst. By that point, Damian could acknowledge that there were many things he’d fall back into that would...disappoint...the elderly butler.
(He shouldn’t have cared, he knew that, but he felt somewhat indebted to how much patience the other tried to exhibit during his stay.)
However, that didn’t mean that he’d stay with his father. He could follow the man’s path in fighting crime without creating a massacre, but he refused to be Batman’s partner when it was clear that there was no trust. Though, in his defense, when he made that decision he didn’t count on Bruce finding his replacement only two years later. A replacement in someone like Timothy Drake, of all people! What his father was thinking was something that Damian had yet to understand, not that he wanted to 100% of the time. Lord knows that they already had enough similar habits and thought patterns, he didn’t want to become some sort of carbon copy.
“-are you even listening to me?!”
Damian quirked a brow. It should have served perfectly for an answer.
“Seriously?” Drake threw his arms up, nearly smacking into the corner of the chair he had previously been sitting in. His face was screwed up into one of the most unpleasant expressions that Damian had ever seen gracing his features, though he couldn’t say it was anything new. As intense as it may be, this wasn’t the first occasion it had made an appearance. They hardly let anything too positive make way when it was just the two of them. “You know what, nevermind. I don’t even know why I try anymore, honestly!”
“Forgive me, but we’ve had this conversation 129 times.” Yes, Damian kept track because it had gotten ridiculous after the tenth screaming match. At this rate, he might as well start keeping track of how many times a week it occurred. Maybe he and Drake could set a goal of some sort as a way of trying to improve. If only because it would get Richard and Pennyworth to stop feeling pressured to constantly hover around when there was a chance they’d be alone. “I don’t need to listen to the 130th, I have every word memorized at thi-”
“That’s not the point! In fact, that’s worse!”
Damian would beg to differ, but alright. It wasn’t that he didn’t value Drake’s words for what they were. He could understand that the beta was angry (rightfully so in some cases) and he just wanted to find some sort of middle ground. Admittedly, they’d gotten better at not ripping each other apart since Jason had arrived and actually put effort into getting along since Richard had been introduced. At the same time, they weren’t to a point where it was easy for him to not disregard anything from Drake as insignificant.
“We’ve had this conversation more than 100 times and we still haven’t moved forward!” Drake huffed out an irritated breath, though Damian could see an accompanying sadness to the way that his eyes drooped down a bit. His scent was also a bit more muddled, weak as it was. Betas naturally had more ‘neutral’ or ‘lighter’ scents compared to alphas and omegas as a biological factor. With Drake being in close contact with Damian so much, despite the preference that they don’t always occupy the same space, it was only a matter of time before the distinct mix of dirt and pine made its way into his head. Heck, Drake didn’t even have to be in front of him anymore for Damian to sense him by smell.
“God, at this rate, I don’t understand how anyone can look up to us! You, specifically! We’re probably the worst role models known to history!”
“I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration.” Damian crossed his arms, nearly uncaring as Drake continued to fuss. “I’ve been listening to you, haven’t I? I took all of your steps into consideration before forming my opinion instead of simply creating an entire new plan that I’d force you to follow-”
“-like that would happen-”
“-and in the process, deduced that going through would put you in an unnecessarily risky position.”
“Unnecessarily-?” Drake laughed at that, not that Damian understood what was so funny. Then again, it wasn’t a sincere laugh that echoed through the cave. So, perhaps the beta was having one of his moments? Yeah, that made the most sense. “We need those fucking files, Damian! And I’m sorry that you can’t spend as much time in the spotlight kicking villain-ass as you’d like, but someone needs to-”
“Drake!” Damian let out a harsh growl as he addressed his younger brother, eyes flashing in clear warning at what the other just implied. He knew that they had always had some competitive tension between them and that neither were afraid to call the other out on it. This though? This wasn’t like those other times. This wasn’t some sort of subtle shaming towards wanting Batman’s attention solely on them or wanting to prove themselves via action. No longer was this a matter of petty rivalry, this was a matter of safety and trust! Goddamnit, Drake!
“Loathe as I am to admit it, your technical skills surpass mine!” Drake looked a bit confused at that, maybe even a little humbled. But Damian wasn’t done. “It’s not an argument of who can take down the most rogues as the information downloads, it’s a race against time. We will be vastly outnumbered and thus, will be relying on a quick exit. Going solo on my part is only to ensure that nobody follows or interrupts you as you gather what we need.”
“But we have a stronger defense if we just-”
“We are the invaders, we will be on the attack.” Damian placed his hand across his face, rubbing at his temples gently as Drake remained tense in front of him. Clearly, the other was trying to work out Damian’s logic in his head. Frankly, the young alpha didn’t really find himself caring. Drake wanted an explanation? Maybe not, maybe he just wanted Damian to agree to a plan of his without causing an argument (for once). Was that what he was gonna get? Nope!
“This is not a matter of skill or pride, Drake.” Damian turned as the door to the cave opened, Alfred’s voice traveling along the walls as he alerted them that “Master Richard” had been fetched from school and wanted to see them. “It’s a matter of reason. Neither of us are invincible, but we are efficient. Gather the information swiftly while I hold our hosts back.”
And with that, Damian began his trek towards the stairs as Alfred’s calls became a bit more insistent. A little worried too, with each moment that he went unanswered by the two that were in the cave.
Damian knew that Drake had a hard time accepting his version of “caring” with their past. He didn’t blame the other man and, to an extent, he could feel guilt over his part of the conflict. Be that as it may, Damian drew the line at Drake intentionally centering his planning around his need to prove that he could fight alongside the alpha on the battlefield. That was already proven when Batman accepted him as his sidekick. Damian didn’t need that, he just needed them to return from a successful mission safely. He needed his little brother to return with him after all was said and done.
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One quick shot was all Damian needed to know that he had arrived at the right place.
Sheathing his katana, he made sure to keep himself completely welded to the shadows as his second brother arrived at the scene. There were plenty of foes that he had already vanquished and he had no intention of leaving anytime soon, so there was no immediate reason for him to step in. The risk of a misunderstanding taking place was too high. Todd looked graceless and completely lacking control as he rolled in, but Damian could tell (from personal experience) that his tumble was only done so that the other could prevent any shoulder, back, or neck injuries. They couldn’t all be like Richard; the youngest one was entitled to his reputation of being the best acrobat.
Guns ablazing, Todd was quick and merciless as he took out all of the remaining insignificantes on the field. From what Damian could see, the bullets that were being used were quite real. They went straight through any fleshy resistance as if it were nothing, leaving plenty of blood and agony in its wake. However, what was interesting was the fact that Todd had yet to shoot at anyone’s head or chest. He kept most of his targets on the lower half; many kneecaps or thighs were taken out. And the upper-upper half; shoulders or biceps were ripped apart by bullets. Naturally, the objective could have been to leave the victims bleeding severely - with the cause of death being an extreme loss of blood.
Yet, that implied that Todd was giving them a chance to live. It took time for someone to bleed out to death, even if they were shot. More backup could arrive and they would be tended to if he and his brother were forced to retreat. Or, by some miracle, the police would arrive in the nick of time and get them stitched up before they died.
It was an...interesting...strategy. Compared to what Damian was used to seeing when it came to the Red Hood’s way of dealing with criminals, this was rather merciful.
“Is this some type of warning?” Damian let himself step out when the last opponent fell, still groaning and crying out from where he had been shot in the side. It was tempting to walk over and threaten them into silence with his trusty blade, but it had a high chance of making him even more fearful. Therefore, even more loud. Luckily, Todd was quick to deliver a well-placed roundhouse kick to the head, effectively knocking out any noises or consciousness that remained. It gave them the silence that they needed to have this discussion. “You’re not usually one to make such a mess. You’re all about quick ends, are you not?”
Todd snorted, returning his gun to the holster attached to his hips. The fact that his hand remained was a clear warning to Damian; he could and would take it back out if the situation called for it. The lack of trust was palpable. “Penguin’s not as scared of me as I’d like.” The way that the helmet’s voice modulator forced Todd’s voice to have a more mechanical chord was unnerving, but Damian would like to think that he was used to it by now. It was only a bit heartbreaking that he wasn’t as used to hearing his younger brother’s natural voice that much. “Decided to fix that. Plus, I knew you were there. Didn’t want to deal with another lecture.”
“Oh?” Damian had yet to hear of this one. He wasn’t a stranger to the fact that his father and Drake continued to waste their breath on trying to talk Todd out of his killing. Admittedly, he too, tried at some point. Although, he accepted his failure when Todd only reacted defensively. He would never judge his brother on his chosen path, not when he himself has killed many before - innocent and not. The early memories of being in the League of Assassins and following the orders of his mother to kill any servants who he grew fond of still haunted him to this day. At least with the Red Hood, all of the blood was already tainted.
“You didn’t hear?” Todd seemed to scoff under his helmet, shaking his head almost mockingly as he cocked a hip out. One hand still remained on the holstered guns while the other one waved into the air meaninglessly. “Daddy Dearest caught me killing some of Black Mask's drug groups. Real inconvenient time for him to swoop in as he does. Though, in my defense, they shot at me first.” Probably cause they didn’t like my interruption... went unsaid.
Ah. No, this wasn’t something that Damian had heard about. Not that he could be angry with his father for hiding it. “We have a silent agreement that your missions aren’t to be brought up for discussion unless it’s an emergency.” Damian would hear about Todd from Alfred, Richard, and occasionally Drake. But he and his father knew better than to speak about the third son unless it was necessary. There was just too much bad blood between the two alphas that it was safer to keep things a bit more restrained.
“Huh...good to know.” From the tone of voice that Todd took, even with the modulator, he almost sounded relieved. Surprised, of course, but also relieved. It was something that Damian kinda wanted to dig into, mostly because ‘why would that need to be something he’s relieved about?’, but he knew better. If he stayed silent long enough, then Todd would likely tell him on his own. And if he didn’t, then that was a good signal that it wasn’t something that didn’t need to come up right now. “So...no lecture then?”
“Not from me.” As mentioned before, Damian had given up on any hope of being able to convince his younger brother that killing didn’t need to be the answer. Not only was it hypocritical on his part (since he has killed before and didn’t regret nearly as many deaths as he should), but it would be disbelieving. If he had to be honest with himself, he was still fine with killing. It wasn’t a first solution and it certainly shouldn’t be encouraged, but it wasn’t as evil as his father made it out to be. Being completely honest, he could see where Todd was coming from. There were those who had no chance at redemption, their minds too broken and twisted to ever see the light. Putting them down was the best way to assure the city that they couldn’t haunt its citizens anymore.
(And if Batman wanted to be more merciful, then he could envision it as putting those rogues out of their misery. Damian was sure that Two-Face had those days where he just wanted it all to end.)
“But you’ll still tell the Bat…?”
“Assuming that they,” Damian motioned to all of the bloody fallen criminals around the two of them, “make it out alive, it won’t matter if I tell Father or not.” Criminals, always so goddamned mouthy. Either they were talkers as a means of intimidation or they were just so scared that they forgot how to shut up. It was a wonder that their own boss could tolerate them, though Damian wouldn’t be surprised if some had to lose their tongues (public punishment) for the others to learn.
“Heh...I guess not.” Todd turned a bit, examining the bodies that Damian had just gestured to. His hand had finally released its hold on his gun, but the older alpha knew better than to assume that it was a sign of ease. If anything, it only meant that they had found a truce with one-another for the time being. Still a bit of an ache, if Damian had to label it. He knew for certain that Todd never acted this defensive in the presence of Alfred, Barbara, or Richard. At the same time, it was better than constantly having one of those guns pointed at him. Father and Drake had yet to upgrade from their own categories in that department.
He and Todd...it was so weird to think that they had finally reached a balance point. He couldn’t say that they were close, but it was nice that the younger alpha felt safe enough with him that they actually communicated instead of avoiding each other. They knew they could rely on each other, maybe not always for emotional support, but physically. Damian could protect him, he would protect him; Todd knew that. It was all that Damian needed to feel a bit better about their improvement.
“How’s Alfred?” Todd’s voice broke Damian out of his little reminisce. The younger alpha almost sounded shy as he spoke, which prompted him to answer quickly.
“Doing alright. Kept rather busy though, from what I’ve been told.” Damian chuckled fondly. “I never thought that there would be time where Alfred Pennyworth, a man who raised the Batman, would admit to being tired after playing with a 12-year-old. Then again, I supposed father never had the tendency to swing from the manor chandeliers, hmmm?”
Todd snorted at that. “God, I don’t even want to imagine that.” A light shiver passed through him, possibly a response to the potential fear he was feeling at imaging such a thing. Cats were known to land on their feet. Pups? Not all of the time, and certainly not from the ceiling!
Would it be appropriate for Damian to answer by saying that he’d once had to catch said child a few times?
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“How was that? Did it look ok?”
Damian slowly lowered his hands from their prepared position, body un-tensing as Richard skipped over to him with a hopeful look in his eyes. He didn’t know why he had agreed to do this on a rooftop, of all places, but it was nice to know that the pup trusted his older brother to catch him if something went wrong. And, just to be clear, that list was endless. On the rooftops of Gotham, there were so many pillars and surfaces to land on, as well as slip or fall from. Given that Richard was an experienced acrobat, perhaps Damian should have been a bit more confident in his younger brother’s skill when it came to flipping or twirling across the various buildings.
As it stood, this was one of those rare cases where Richard wanted to practice something new as they were finishing with patrol instead of waiting until they got home to begin. In the manor, there were safety mats in place and sound equipment for him to practice with. Plus, it was easier to get into a sturdier position when spotting someone. On a rooftop, Damian literally had to be across from Richard in preparation for catching the other if something went horribly wrong. Unless they were in an alleyway. At that point, Damian just jumped down and prepared himself on the ground in case his brother fell down a crack.
“Very clean launch.” Damian moved closer to Richard, placing his hands on the pup’s shoulders in an effort to calm the others’ nervousness. He squeezed lightly until Richard stopped with his little fidgets. “And a very sound landing. Your height could use more work though. As you are, you’ll only be able to get to buildings that are lower than your initial vantage point.” Using a grappling hook could technically solve that issue as well, but Damian would like to give his younger brother options. Lord knows how many times he was scared that something would snap when Richard was flying through the air. He was lighter than the rest of him, but less practiced. He could easily get his line wrapped around something that offered too much friction or displacement and-
“Ok, got it!” Richard’s smile was wide enough that Damian was almost worried that it would harm his face. He shouldn’t have been, with Richard being known to offer that same smile to literally everyone in their family, but it was still new to have someone smiling at him so genuinely. He was used to his father’s occasional quirked lips, Alfred’s humble smile, or his other brothers’ odd grins that he didn’t always understand.
“Shall we head home?” It was getting late and tomorrow would be a school day for Richard. It wouldn’t do well for the pup to be unable to operate in class to his full potential because Damian kept him out too late. Not only would he get an earful from father, but Richard (like the rest of them) was rather passionate about his school work.
“Oh…”
Damian didn’t like the way that Richard’s voice drooped.
“B-but...I...w-well, ok. You’re right, let’s go-”
Damian shook his head, kneeling down so that he could get the perfect height for proper eye contact. Richard was quick to cast his eyes away so that he could spare his soul from being sucked out of his body by Damian’s intimidating stare, but the effect was useless when the alpha had perfectly functioning fingers that could easily catch the omega’s chin. The grip was gentle, but firm as he guided his younger brother’s face back up, making sure that they kept eye-contact.
“What’s wrong?” Damian would use his other hand to scent his brother if there weren’t patches around Richard’s scent glands. It was tempting to quickly peel them back so he could effectively offer comfort, but out of the safety of their home, Robin’s true secondary gender wasn’t safe. The omega kept quiet for a few moments, pupils darting around as he tried his best not to return Damian’s stare. Out of everyone in their pack, he was the most willing to talk about things like this. It made things refreshing, considering that he was the youngest and an omega - automatically making everyone else the tiniest bit more protective of him.
(Ok, a lot more protective, but Damian found no reason to say that out loud.)
If there was ever a problem, then they could get it out of him before it got to a breaking point.
“Robin, what were you going to say?”
It took a few probes, but eventually, Richard sighed. “I wanted to spend more time with you.” It was quiet, nearly a whisper. “But...if you wanna go back home...I-I understand…” The complete opposite of how Richard normally was when requesting something like this. He wanted his brothers or his guardians to know that he liked spending time with them, there was no need for it to be a secret.
To Damian’s knowledge, as the newest member to their strange family, Richard sometimes felt...excluded? It was something along those lines, and while not always clear Damian could understand why. With Todd stolen from them so recently, it wasn’t easy to accept that Bruce had picked up another pup. The wounds were too fresh to risk poking at with another new face into the house. Not to mention that, at least to Damian, it felt like the ultimate betrayal to his ex-youngest brother. He was angry and a bit hurt when he had found himself replaced by Drake. They were disgracing Todd’s name by just trying to fill the void with another pup!
But...how could they expect Richard to understand that?
How could they expect him to know that it wasn’t him that Damian and Drake had a problem with, but their father’s inability to respect their need to mourn their lost brother?
“It’s not a matter of wanting to separate.” Damian brought his other hand up to cup Richard’s cheek so the pup couldn’t look away. A light blush coated the surface of his face, only lightly concealed by the edges of his domino mask. Extremely shy and a bit passive when confronted with his oldest brother, he didn't look like someone Damian wanted on the streets every night fighting criminals. Not that he wanted Drake or Todd to either, but at least they had more years of training under their belts at this point. “It’s a matter of wanting you to get as much sleep as you can tonight. You have school tomorrow, no?”
Richard didn’t relax in his grip after the explanation, though he did hum in an understanding type of tone. It was extremely subtle and Damian wouldn’t have picked up on it if he weren’t hyper-aware of his youngest brother’s mood, but he’d count it as a win for tonight. They’ve only really been ‘properly’ bonded as brothers for a couple of years after a messy meeting. He could understand that it would take a while for Richard to feel completely welcome in his presence when they were already separated a fair amount of the time.
Damian could only be patient and try to prove himself as it passed.