Work Text:
Prompt:
Damian: *in disbelief* you did what..?
Bruce: I've.. overstepped.
Damian: she's.. where is she right now, Father?
Bruce: she's with Jason.
Damian: and where is Jason?
Bruce: ...
Damian: *licks his lips* Father, where is Jason?
Bruce: he is somewhere.
Damian: *raises his eyebrows* you don't know?
Bruce: he's somewhere.
Damian: *swallows* aren't you supposed to be the greatest detective?
Bruce: ...
Damian: you were supposed to see in between the lines. Be the 'greatest detective' when it came to figuring out my sister.
Bruce: Damian..
Damian: but you never saw it, did you?
Bruce: ...
Damian: i kept asking her to change herself. I kept asking her to try and push the urge to pretend away, all for you..
Bruce: ...
Damian: And you never saw it. You never saw how much it pained her. I thought you did.
Bruce: Damian..
Damian: is that you can say? My name? Is that all you can say, Father? Because its not enough.
Bruce: *grabs his shoulder* Damian..
Damian: its not enough! My sister is out there, your daughter, is out there. And you don't know where she is!
Bruce: shes with Jason-
Damian: *hisses, in arabic* [and how long is she going to stay there!]
Bruce: ...
Damian: [how long do we know she's going to stay with Jason!? He could have brought her to my Mot-] *blinks* ... wait..
Bruce: ...
Damian: she said she rather go with my Mother?
Bruce: yes.
Damian: shes terrified of my Mother.
Bruce: *hand twitches* she was very adamant on going to Talia.
Damian: *stares at him* ...what did you do?
Bruce: i gave her a test, like i do with all of you.
Damian: i don't think you did. We never reacted this way whenever you gave us tests. Hell, even Todd never reacted this way!
Bruce: i just gave her a test-
Damian: bullshit.
________________
Damian was confused. He didn’t understand why his sister would go back to their mother. She was safe here in Gotham with their father. What had happened to make her leave, would she actually go back to the League? To the people who had hurt her so terribly?
He remembered an argument that they had had only a few months ago about their mother. He had been telling her that she was safe and that she could stop acting and pretending to be someone she wasn’t. She had yelled about how their mother always found a way back no matter where they were. She yelled saying that they would never be able to escape their mother’s grasp no matter what they did so there was no point. Was she right? What did mother do that made her go back with her? There was no way she would go back with the woman willingly, there was no way that she would just-just abandon him.
“Oracle, I want to know Hummingbird’s last location. Now!”
Damian demanded as he began to look around frantically to see if he could spot something, anything that could give him a hint to where she was or could have gone. Why would she do this, why would she just leave them?! Leave him! Did mother show up and threaten her? Did he do something wrong and she left because he was too much? Was she captured and someone was faking her voice? No, she never spoke on patrol unless it was absolutely necessary, and no one could fake her tone because she had so many of them.
“Last known location was atop an old apartment complex on route 43. Sending coordinates now.”
Was her clipped response as she harshly clicked away at her keyboard with frantic precision. This was her sister, they may not have known each other well, but she was family and thus important to her. She refused to let her go back to the League, she would make sure that nothing bad happened to her again.
Damian, followed by Nightwing, started to race towards the coordinates that Oracle had sent them. They stayed in a tense silence as they ran and grappled as quickly as they could and barely avoided serious injuries. When they landed they were shocked to see Batman lying on the ground. His hand was bleeding from two different places, a bloody dagger thrown to the side, and Batman had just pulled something out from his leg.
Damian walked closer and examined what his father had been hit with. He picked up the dagger and took in a sharp breath as he knew it was one of his sisters as indicated by the painted cherry blossom branches. He quickly looked at his father and saw Nightwing help him pull out….needles. He rushed to his father’s hand and picked it up causing Batman to hiss in pain, but he ignored it as he fully inspected the two bullet wounds. Marinette had always carried a gun, but she had never used it before in Gotham, and it looks like she still hasn’t as the wounds are to large to have been her bullets. He looked around at the bodies that lined the roof and noticed needles in some of the people as well.
No, no this isn’t what it looks like. His sister would never just betray them, she must have had a reason for doing this. Father must have an explanation, he must know what happened to cause her to flee!
Drake landed behind him and froze as he observed the scene in front of him. Damian’s eyes flashed to Bruce, then Tim, then the people, some of whom were starting to wake up. Quickly he pulled out zip ties and tried to distract his brain from the flurry of thoughts and emotions that clouded and invaded his mind. So he set to work securing all of the thugs on the roof so that they could not escape while Nightwing and Red Robin began to help Batman up and moved him to the Batmobile. Damian had a bad feeling, and he for some reason he did not want to be near his father at the moment. He clenched his fist as his nerves began to take over and the ever growing situations in his head became worse and worse.
When they arrived at the cave Gordon looked absolutely furious. Bruce had quickly limped over to where Alfred awaited them in the medical center of the cave so that he could take care of his wounds. He didn’t know what had gotten her so riled up, but he hoped beyond all belief that it didn’t mean that his sister was hurt, ….or worse. He shivered and shook the thought out of his head. No, his sister was too strong and too clever to ever let someone do that to her. Gordon glared at Bruce the entire time he was being treated, and when asked she simply replied,
“Wait for when Bruce is done, because I bet he would love to explain the situation.”
To which his Father flinched. Damian didn’t have a good feeling about that and began to frantically pace while he waited. Why weren’t they searching for her, why weren’t they trying to find or stop her from leaving? He had finally made up his mind to go out on his own when Alfred had finished and helped Father sit up properly.
“What do you need to tell us B?”
Dick asked, a little nervous as he glanced at his little brother. He had never seen Damian so wound up over something, let alone another person. It made sense though, seeing as they were twins and had been with each other since the League. There was a long pause of complete silence, the only noise being the bats chirping and flittering up above, and it was driving Damian insane. He was about to leave again when their father finally answered,
“As you all know Marin was on patrol by herself for the first time tonight. I decided to follow her to make sure she didn’t do anything while we weren’t watching.”
Damian felt his body stiffen as he turned to look directly at his father and stared at him in shock. He couldn’t believe that their father thought so lowly of her, she was the level headed one out of the two of them not to mention the most loyal and respectful. She would never go against Father’s rules, he knew she was too afraid of being punished to do so. Didn’t he see that?! Didn’t he see the way she stiffened up there the first night when he said that, “There will be consequences for violating this rule”? Did he not notice the way she was always on the offense so she wouldn’t severely hurt anyone? Did he not see the effort she put in to being the “perfect daughter”?!
“Keep going Brucie, or I can tell them. You may have turned off your comm, but you left your audio on.”
Gordon said with her arms crossed, a snarl on her lips. Bruce sighed and continued,
“I paid some people to attack her on her route to test her, and she failed. She wasn’t happy and tried to kill one of them. I stopped her before she could.”
Silence filled the cave as everyone except Gordon processed his words. Damian felt sick as he felt his eyes widened farther than he ever thought possible. He didn’t want to believe it, he didn’t want to believe he would do such a thing to his own daughter, but he had just admitted to it. He had just said that he hired people to attack her because he did not trust her. He saw the people on the roof, none of them were maimed, none were severely injured or wounded, and most of them weren’t even have a bruised! How had she failed?! There wasn’t even a sign of any lethal force. Damian began to robotically walk towards his father and looked him directly in the eyes. Disbelief shown his eyes along with his deep fear, carefully he asked,
“You did what…?”
His voice was almost a whisper, but he knew his father heard him. He knew that because he could see the slight fear in his eyes even if it was gone soon after he had seen it.
*
“I’ve… overstepped.”
Was his only reply as he averted his gaze away from his youngest child. He knew that this wasn’t going to end well, he knew how attached his son was to her even if he wouldn’t admit it. Damian sucked in a sharp breath, he still did not want to believe that his father would do such a thing, he wouldn’t attack her, would he? He swallowed and frantically wondered where she was, if she was ok, what was going on in her mind? Was she alone, was she badly injured?! He needed to know!
“She’s… where is she now, Father?”
Bruce still would not look into his son’s eyes he gruffly replied,
“She’s with Jason.”
Damian felt annoyed as his father danced around the question, refusing to give him the straight answer he needed. Damian felt his patience wear thin as he stared down his father. He had to know where she was, he wouldn't just let her go without knowing where she was, right?! He said she was with Jason, maybe he knows where he is and in turn knew where Marin was, he had to know!
“And where is Jason?”
Damian asked stiffly, trying not to let any of his nerves show as he clenched his fists in anticipation. Father did not answer, he stayed silent making Damian’s heart rate spike up as panic coursed through him like a tidal wave. He knew she could take care of herself, he knew that she would survive just fine on her own, but that didn't make it right! She shouldn't have to do that any longer, she shouldn't have to be alone like that anymore! The silence was more deafening than any noise he had ever heard before. His lips felt dry and chapped as he waited, but he still did not answer. Damian licked his lips and demanded,
“Father, where is Jason?”
“He is somewhere.”
Was his mumbled reply. Damian felt like the walls were closed in all around him. He was trapped in an inescapable torment of his fear. Maybe his father was just trying to test him, to see if he could interrogate without the threat of violence. He raised his brow and crossed his arms hoping that none of his fear or worry was bleeding through.
“You don’t know?”
He asked with a voice of irritated disbelief.
“He’s somewhere.”
He murmured with a pause between the two words. Damian felt nauseous at his father’s vague replies. He felt the pit in his stomach continue to grow and his eyes stung. He swallowed everything back and tried to maintain his air of cool. He couldn’t get emotional, he had to keep a level head or else he wouldn’t get the answers he needed. But the feeling of betrayal weighed heavy on his heart, the feeling of complete and utter fear for his sister’s well-being overtook every inch of his mind.
“Aren’t you supposed to be the “Greatest Detective”?”
Damian spat out like it was some kind of joke. How had he not noticed her, his own daughter. She had so many tells that were so obvious when you paid close enough attention. His father didn’t say anything which prompted Damian to go on. He felt rage and regret boil inside of him as he continued to stare at the man, the man who wouldn’t even look at him. Coward.
“You were supposed to see in between the lines.”
He yelled, clenching his fists tighter at his sides, the material of the gloves wrinkling under his intense grip.
“Be the ‘Greatest Detective’,”
He said sarcastically as he used air quotes around the two words before going back to clenching his fists,
“When it came to figuring out my sister.”
His breathing was ragged and he could feel the tears at his eyes begging to be released, but he ignored it and just continued to push them back. His father finally looked at him and quietly said,
“Damian…”
He didn’t let him say anything else as he wallowed in his pity and felt himself deflate. She was right, she was always right, why could he not see that? Why was he always trying to prove her wrong when she was always right?!
“But you never saw it, did you?”
He asked quietly as he curled in on himself, his voice lowered and almost broken.
Bruce was silent, not understanding what his son was getting at. He had seen her, He knew that she was not to be trusted, that she was fake and pretended with everyone. She shifted her personality far too often, she was never truly honest with them, and so he just opted to not be around her. She was too much of a risk if she decided to betray them, the less she learned about him the better. Damian lost the battle as finally a single tear slipped down his cheek, and now it was his turn to look down. He felt shame course through himself as he said,
“I kept asking her to change herself. I kept asking her to try and push the urge to pretend away, all for you…”
There was a small gasp from somewhere in the room, he didn’t know where nor did he care. Bruce still didn’t say anything as he stared at his son in shock. He hadn’t expected this, he didn’t know that this would make his son act so-so… lost. He had never seen this delicate side of Damian. His son was always so self assured and confident, and he had never seen him act so… vulnerable.
“And you never saw it.”
Damian growled his fists clenched once again as he remembered everything she tried to do and was simply ignored or turned away. He thought back to all the times Marin had tried to be herself, had tried so hard, for him. He saw the way her hands would shake when she stopped pretending, when she dropped the molds and just acted as herself. The anxiety in her posture when she revealed herself for who she simply was. He saw the great amount of pain in her eyes when the others left her, the heartache in her stance as Father would be the first to leave and never return like the others sometimes would after a little while, she was always in some form of mental and emotional hurt and anguish that was always overlooked or overshadowed by her molds.
“You never saw how much it pained her. I thought you did.”
He truly thought his father had seen it, every time she sat next to him during meals, and he moved his chair slightly away from her, Damian thought Father had seen the way her eyes dulled. He remembered how Marinette immediately took over as she talked with the others over dinner and how she would glance at their father for any form of reaction. He would only say anything if one if the others talked to or asked him first. He saw the way her eyes glazed over and the light fade every time he did that. Did their father really not see the way that she hurt? The way that he made her hurt?
When she first acted as Marin it was in front of their father. She thought that he would finally be proud of her and finally except her for dropping her act like he wanted her to. He remembered the way she drew in on herself, even if it was very slight, from the nerves before she dropped her molds. He remembered how Father had been studied and watched her. Yet he never really looked at her…, did he? He just saw what he wanted and just did not care about the rest of her. He did not care about the part of her that was trained and beaten for ten years to hide everything about herself! She couldn’t show or have her own thoughts, emotions, opinions, she wasn’t even allowed to make her own choices until Jason came, then he left and it was back to what it was like before but worse.
Father just didn't want to understand that and just assumed that she did it because she could not because she was afraid of being rejected. Marin and him were not the same person. While he had been treated like a king she had been treated like the scum of the earth, simply because she was born first as a girl. Did Father not understand that her life was so much worse and so much darker than his ever was? That she was trained so differently than him, treated differently, pushed differently, that she was constantly one step away from death because of her stupid gender?!
“Damian…”
Bruce began, but he didn’t finish his sentence as his voice trailed off causing more rage to build up in the young boy’s chest as memories of their League days played over and over inside his mind. Like the days she came back to his room covered in cuts and/or burns. Treated like she was worthless when she was the best assassin constantly on the field.
“Is that all you can say? My name?”
He raised his voice in his anger as disgust coated his words in a thick poison as he looked up and glared daggers at his father.
“Is that all you can say, Father? Because it’s not enough!”
He yelled as he leaned into his father’s personal space. Bruce slowly and carefully placed his hands on Damian’s shoulders once again saying his name to try to get his son to calm down so he would just listen to him.
“It’s not enough!”
Damian all but screamed, shrugging off his father's hands from his shoulders as he continued to glare at his father in pure and righteous anger.
“My sister is out there, your daughter is out there. And you don’t know where she is!”
He continued to yell as he pointed towards where the Batmobile was currently parked in front of the cave entrance that was currently sealed shut, as he emphasized his words in hopes that his Father would understand their importance. Bruce sighed and rubbed his eyes exhaustedly as he repeated,
“She’s with Jason-”
Outrage coursed through him so strongly it turned his vision red, and out of habit for when he and Marin had gotten into a rather heated debate or argument he switched into Arabic, his their native tongue.
“And how long is she going to stay there,”
He yelled knowing full well that his father understood ever word he said. There was another long pause, his father refused to say a word which only aggravated Damian even more as his green eyes flashed in the dim light which showed how furious he truly was.
“How long do we know she’s going to stay with Jason?! He could have brought her to my moth-”
Damian paused and blinked. How could he have forgotten? She said that she was going back to the League. She said she was going to go back to their mother. She hated the League, she had nightmares about it almost every night, even if she would never admit that.
“...Wait…”
A deafening now heavy and tense silence once again filled the cave. Everyone knew and understood Arabic so all occupants knew what he was going to say and knew the weight it carried. Bruce remained silent and it looked as if a small glint of guilt shone in his eyes before it disappeared and was replaced with righteousness. Just to be sure, to make sure that what he heard her say was not some kind of sick hallucination he asked flatly with both of his arms at his sides,
“She said she’d rather go with, Mother?”
“Yes.”
Was Bruce’s quick response as he watched his son’s reaction. Damian felt his hands shake from all of the emotions that swam in his head. Everything felt fuzzy and his thoughts just didn’t make sense and he just couldn’t figure anything out through the haze that surrounded his mind.
“She’s terrified of Mother.”
He whispered in a horrified tone as his eyes widened. He watched his father and saw how his hands twitched. Bruce didn’t know what Damian meant by that, how could she be so horrified of Talia if she was so insistent on going back to her? She was never part of their team, she was never loyal to them, she was just waiting to find a reason, a way to go back to Talia. There was no way Marin would want to go back there if she was so traumatized by her. The cave would have been much better for her and she wouldn’t be hurt. She wouldn’t have to fear a punishment like the League’s.
“She was very adamant on going to Talia.”
He replied monotonously as his voice darkened. Damian stared at him in absolute horror as he tried to figure out his father and what was going through his mind that would make him be ok with his daughter going back to her worst fears. What had he done to push her over the edge so much so that she would willingly go to their mother?! The mother that constantly hurt and manipulated her, that seemed to hate her, that never truly cared for her. Appalled and furious he slowly growled out,
“...What. Did. You. do?”
He emphasized every word as he scowled at his father. Bruce replied in his Batman voice,
“I gave her a test, like I did with all of you.”
He raised his voice a little to emphasize his last words as he looked everyone in the eyes for a few seconds.
A rule that Damian had been taught since birth suddenly played out in his mind, Trust no one, no matter who they are to you. Could he really not trust his father, did he really just give her a simple “test”?
“I don’t think you did.”
Damian began cautiously as he folded his arms again and stared incredulously at his father.
“We never reacted this way whenever you gave us tests. He**, even Todd never reacted this way!”
Bruce sighed in exasperation. He did not understand why his son just could not comprehend that he did what needed to be done. This wasn’t his fault, he did what he’s always done, she was the one who overreacted.
“I just gave her a test-”
Bruce began tiredly only to be cut off by his son yelling once more,
“Bulls*!” *
At the top of his lungs. Everyone was shocked because Damian had never cursed, ever. He said it was for the uneducated and lowly who didn’t know how to speak. Alfred didn’t even call him out on it as Damian pushed his father with all his force effectively knocking him down before he stormed out of the cave with his teeth barred and his hands clenched around what looked to be a weapon of some kind. Everyone’s eyes turned back to Bruce as soon as the doors the lead to the cave were slammed shut with enough force that the bats at the top of the cave flew around for a few seconds before settling back onto their perches. Bruce looked from where his youngest son had left to his older ones and saw the angered and disappointed looks in all of their eyes.
“I can’t believe you B.”
Tim said tiredly as he rubbed his eyes. When he dropped his hand he noticed the tears that fell down his son’s face. He turned to look at Dick, but he was turned away from him as if it pained him to even look at him. He turned to look at Barbra and saw the resentment in her eyes and the rage that threatened to spill at any moment. Finally he looked at Alfred, but he wouldn’t look at him either. There was a sorrow in his eyes, a melancholy that only showed when something valuable was lost forever.
“Bruce, can I tell you something she told me when she was so sleep deprived that I don’t think she even realized she told me about it.”
Tim began as he stared directly at him, his voice never wavering. Bruce didn’t answer so Tim continued on.
“I had asked her about a scar that was on her arm and do you know what she told me?”
Bruce continued to stay silent as he watched different emotions play though his son’s face until Tim swallowed as he tried to collect himself and continued on,
“She told me that one of her handlers, her trainers, burned her for even the smallest mistake. She said that the burn on her arm, which mind you was not small, it was maybe 6" from what I could see, was because her stance was an inch too wide. She told me that she was scared that she would be hurt like that if she showed me Marin. I was confused on what she meant by that, but all she did was smile at me and continue working. You pushed her enough to want her to go back to a place that did that to her, that literally named her Mistake!”
Tim let out a tired sigh and turned away as his heart sunk under the heavy weight that his little sister, the only one that truly understood him, was gone. Silently he walked up the stairs and left the cave closing the doors softly instead of slamming them like Damian had. The others looked at Bruce with upset and disappointed looks as they all left until it was just Bruce and Alfred. Alfred looked down at Bruce as he sat in his chair then looked back up and said,
“Master Bruce, you have royally messed up, and I don’t know what you can do to fix this.”
Before he too quietly left, leaving Bruce alone to contemplate and think over his decisions and reanalyze all of the times he had been with or near Marin. A heavy feeling began to firmly take place in his heart as he thought about what he had done. Had he really gone too far, was this his fault? Was he too harsh on her, or was she just being overdramatic so she could leave them? Was she really just afraid to be herself, did she truly feel like she had to hide from them like that because they would hate or hurt her? How was he supposed to trust her if she never trusted them? This wasn’t his fault. He had only done what he thought needed to be done, she left them, he didn’t make or force her to leave them. She decided to leave, it was her choice, and she chose to go back. He refused to be blamed for her decisions.
_________
Damian sat in her room holding one of the daggers from the set he had given to her for her birthday. There was only one, which meant that she currently had the other on her. He studied the blade and remembered how happy she was when he had presented them to her. The way her eyes lit up as she weighed them in her hand and saw the jewels. The one that she had left behind was the sapphire dagger, which meant she had the emerald one with her. He hoped more than anything that she would not truly go back to the League. That she had actually just hidden and that it was just a cover story to keep them from searching for her.
He felt a wave of pain and sorrow wash over him as he thought back to all the times he had begged her to stop pretending. He had seen how the others had reacted when she was Marin, but he was just so proud and happy that she wasn't hiding herself that he didn’t really care about how the others reacted. How had he not seen how it had affected her, how her eyes got duller and more hollow? How had he not noticed how tense she was and how fear bled into her eyes only to be replaced by disappointment. The way she forced her eyes to light up for her sibling more than usual when she was Marinette, the way her fingers would twitch when there was a long silence. He felt partially responsible for why she had left, after all he was the one that pushed her even though she was already at the edge. It wasn’t just their father’s fault, it was his, and he could only feel shame as he hugged the blade close to his chest.
If he got a second chance, a do-over, if he ever found her again, he would do his best to make up for the pain he had caused her. He would do everything in his power to make her comfortable and not push her like he had. He vowed to himself that he would find her again, and when he did, he would support her in whatever she was doing, just like she had always supported him. He looked at his clock, 2:03 AM, he had school soon and he did not want to stay here. Clenching his jaw he made a decision, he wasn’t going to stay here, he had a safe house in the city he could use. Quickly he ran over to his room and grabbed a black duffle bag with emerald green highlighting, the one Marin had made him when father banned her from patrol because nobody else could tail her, and stuffed the dagger into one of the pockets. He moved around his room grabbing and packing the essentials, clothes, socks, shoes, his suit, hygiene products, and some cash that he had found. Before he could open his window there was a knock on the door. Damian quickly hid the bag under his bed and told the person to come in so he wouldn’t seem suspicious. Grayson slowly entered the room with gentle concern in his eyes.
“Damian, I’m so sorry for what B did.”
“It is not your fault Grayson, you have no need to apologize for his actions.”
“Right. Look, I know that you want to get out of here.”
Damian stiffened a little not knowing how he knew of his plans.
“Remember how I said I would be helping to train a team up in Jump City?”
Damian raised a brow trying to figure out what he was getting at.
“I do, what about it?”
“Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me? We could help you look for Marin, you could get away from Bruce, and it would probably be healthy for you to talk to others.”
Damian rolled his eyes at that, and then remembered that Jon was currently on that team his brother was talking about. The more he thought about it the more right it felt to go there with his brother. He didn’t want to be near his father. Who was to say that his father wouldn’t treat him like he had treated his sister now that she was gone? Quickly he agreed and grabbed the duffle bag he had hidden beneath the bed.
“Lets go now then Grayson, I assume that you already have a bag packed or have essentials already there?”
Grayson nodded with a small sad smile and both began to leave, Grayson saying his bag was already in the car they would be taking.
“And where do you think you’re going?”
Bruce said as he exited the cave through one of the many secret entrances. Damian continued to walk, not even glancing at his father. He refused to look at the man that took the most important person to him away.
“None of your business, Father.”
Was his only reply as he turned and headed to the garage. He could hear his father following them and before he could catch up Damian slipped one of his kunai from his sleeve into his hand and threw it so it barely missed his father’s head. Grayson didn’t say anything, but he saw the grim look in his eyes. He wasn’t sorry though, he wanted to do much worse to Father than send a warning threat, to the man that made his sister feel so terrible and afraid she thought the League was a better place for her to be. The League was right though, he could never trust anyone, not even the person he thought he could trust with his life. Silently he hopped into the car with his older brother and stared out the window as they drove away from the manor and away from Gotham.