Chapter Text
It was quiet in the Manor.
Bruce hadn't given it much thought at the time. Damian was at school, Tim was living on his own, and Dick had his own place in Blüdhaven. Stephanie was at college and Duke and Cass was studying with Barbara. Harper and Cullen were at school as well. Alfred was out getting groceries.
He had just brushed it off, refocusing on his work. WE board members were divided on a new project that was set to occur in downtown Gotham. It was set to tear down an old row of dilapidated apartment complexes and rebuild nicer, safer apartments in their stead. Some board members were annoyed at yet another attempt to fix up the notoriously crime-ridden area. Others were fiercely supportive of it. And still others were worried about the financial aspects. Lucius had mentioned that if he was to build these apartments, he needed to make them affordable for the people who had lived in the previous building or else he would accomplish nothing.
It was several hours before he noticed the sun streaming through his west office windows.
It was several more hours before he noticed the shadows it cast across his pages. The clock read 5:05. The manor was still silent. Damian must have gone straight to his room.
The clock read 5:48 when there was a crisp knock at his door. He looked up as Alfred stepped into the study.
"Yes?"
"Have you heard anything from Master Damian?"
He frowned, something like unease swirling in his stomach. "No. Is he not in his room?"
"I'm afraid not. When he didn't request I pick him up from school, I assumed young Master Kent had come by to pick him up. But his room is undisturbed and Titus' bowl is unfilled."
Bruce stood. Damian never let his pets go unattended to. Even if he was planning to go out later, he always made it a priority to feed his pets before anything else. If they hadn't been fed, something was very wrong.
The realization that none of his children had done so much as text him in the last hours was disturbing. Stephanie always made it a point to spam his phone with gifs and emoji every day after her classes ended. It was her way of thanking him for covering the cost of tuition and board and anything else she might want.
Crossing the room in two large strides, he swung open the grandfather clock and descended into the darkness. Something was wrong. He could feel it.
He had just stepped into the cave when a call came through. It was from Clark. He accepted and the concerned look on his best friend's face was enough to send the worry in his stomach from a bit of unease to a full blown hurricane.
"What is it." He snapped.
"It's your kids. Jon went over to pick Dami up but couldn't find him. He checked the house next, then the parks. Then he checked to see if he was bothering Tim. Tim wasn't there either. Steph wasn't in her dorm. Neither was Dick in his apartment or at work. Apparently his co-workers said he'd left early because of a bad hangover. Barbara is-"
Bruce had already pulled the video feeds of the Clocktower up. The tech and cameras had gone dead four hours ago. "-missing. So are Cass and Duke."
His heart was racing and he had to focus on Clark's next words to not drown in the thousands of horrid possibilities.
"...don't know where Jason lives, but we figured you were already looking."
He stoically refused to give away that he had only now realized what was going on and had barely started working.
"I am. I haven't found much yet. Did either of you check for their heartbeats?"
While Batman usually refrained from asking for help with his missing person cases, this was different. He didn't care if Clark had to scan the whole world or if he had to get the entire Justice League on board. He was not losing another child. Not again.
Clark paused, listening.
The knotted up emotion in his stomach grew, refusing to be shut behind the barriers he tried to force it into.
Clark's expression morphed into one of worry. He could feel his heart sink into his stomach.
"Bruce... I can't hear any of their heartbeats."
Don't panic. Don't panic. They're fine. They're fine. He's going to find them and they're just going to be in a lead lined bunker somewhere or something because they decided to have a movie marathon. They're alive.
His kids are alive.
"Check again." He demanded, fingers flying across the keys as he frantically pulled up every possible camera and surveillance. A bit of relief came when he saw that Harper and Cullen were safe in their homes. Whoever had targeted his children had clearly not gone for those who were still mostly on the fringes.
"...I think I got a few of them. The new ones, Harper and her brother? I can hear them. Jason's heartbeat has been... irregular since he came back. I can't find him even on a good day. But none of the others.... wait." His eyes sharpened. "I think I hear Damian's. It's weak. He's lost a lot of blood."
"Find him."
Clark disappeared from the video call, his com activating a moment later with a gentle beep in the cowl earpiece.
"What do you know, Superman."
"I think... he's in the desert, not on this side of the planet. He's breathing shallowly. Dry throat but wet breaths. Sounds like internal injury. I can catch bits of what he's saying. Something about... slip? No, ship."
Either a boat or a spaceship. Focus priority on desert areas that have enough space for a spaceship to land unnoticed. Check desert coastlines, though less likely because Damian has no reason to be injured in the desert because of a ship on the coast.
"He's saying 'They're on the ship,' over and over. That and... trying to convince himself he's going to make it." Clark's voice turned sad. Bruce blocked it out.
He couldn't deal with sad now. He couldn't think about how his youngest was in the desert, bleeding. He couldn't think about a small bleeding body in his arms, scorched by the desert heat. The heat of a bomb, the beating of a crowbar- no. This wasn't then. Damian is alive.
He's alive.
The others are probably on a spaceship. They were probably abducted by someone with a grudge against him. It makes sense. They all disappeared without warning and without him finding out. None of their trackers were showing up, which would make sense if they were out of orbit. Clark wouldn't be able to hear their heartbeats in space. It made sense. It had to make sense. It had to be the truth. That's the only thing that it could be. His children were alive and were waiting for him to rescue them.
He would not fail a second time.
"Superman, check the locations I've just sent to your watch. I suspect they're being held on a spaceship and that ship touched down at one of these locations. Damian is most likely to be there."
"Copy."
The faint blip from his com signaled the change from a short wave frequency to a longer one better suited for globe-wide communication. Clark had broken the sound barrier.
He left the satellites scanning for interspace activity and any desert-based travel and raced to the Batjet, barely checking to make sure he had enough fuel (he always did) to make it across the Atlantic. Three minutes later he was soaring above the clouds with two rumbling jet engines mirroring the tumult in his stomach.
Twenty minutes passed. Clark found nothing in those locations. Now he was speeding over the deserts, listening to Damian's heartbeat and scanning with X-ray vision for any sign of him.
It was another half an hour before Clark's voice cut through his thoughts.
"Bruce. I've got him."
Coordinates popped up a moment later, the Batjet automatically rerouting there.
"How is he?"
"Hey kiddo... it's gonna be okay. We've got you. You're safe now. ...They're on the ship? What ship?... Bruce how soon are you gonna be here?"
The GPS said forty minutes.
"Twenty minutes."
Clark appeared next to the window a moment later. "That's not fast enough."
He was grabbing an oxygen mask and slamming on full autopilot within seconds, racing to the hangar doors and throwing himself out without a second thought.
Wind slammed into him and he could feel his ears popping as Clark flew at the speed of a rocket.
Eight minutes later they descended. Bruce could see the trail in the sand, leading to-
Damian.
The moment his boots touched the ground, he fell to his knees, pulling his son close.
Damian stirred, eyes half lidded. "Father..?"
Bruce pressed the limp, bleeding body against his chest. "I'm here. I'm here, baby. I've got you."
Tears dripped from his chin, landing in Damian's messy hair. The boy curled into him, hand pressed against the gaping wound in his chest. "Father... the others.. they're on-"
"They're on the ship. I know. Shhh. It's gonna be okay. I promise it's gonna be okay."
Clark made a slab of glass. He began preparing the medical supplies.
Damian's frail body shook with every breath.
Bruce held his living, breathing son and prayed for a miracle.
Please.
Don't take another away.
Let him live.
Damian's heart beat, slower every moment.
Bruce's tears evaporated in the heat.
No.
Please, no.
Not again.
Not again.