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Tim was fuming.
He told B that leaving him alone with the Demon Brat was a bad idea. But no, Bruce said it would be fine and that it would be an opportunity to get to know each other better.
Tim scoffed at the mere idea of him and Damian getting along.
Damian hated him, for no good reason and well, Tim didn’t hate the brat but he strongly disliked him. They got better after Damian was brought back to life. There was a mutual understanding that they'd get along for the family's sake.
That doesn’t mean that Damian listens to him.
And Bruce left him in charge, so the brat should listen to him but no , Damian always knew best.
Tim just wanted him to lay low as Robin. To avoid going near the harbor. He told him that he was on the verge of cracking a huge case that took months for him to set up.
And Damian ruined all his hard work in one night.
Not only did Damian go to the harbor, spooking the drug organization to go underground. There also was a body in the harbor.
Now, Tim had to start over from the beginning. Months of work down the drain, because Damian wouldn’t listen.
He had no idea where to even start again.
Tim didn't even want to think about the body in the harbor. He didn’t think Damian did it, he promised Bruce he wouldn’t kill. But Tim couldn’t deny the fact that Damian went to the harbor and now there was a body .
This was going to be a nightmare to explain to Bruce.
Tim stormed down to the cave.
He saw Damian, just there, sitting on the bat computer, not caring at all that he had ruined months of work.
“What the hell was that?” Tim shouted at Damian, his hands fisted at his side.
“I have no idea what you're talking about, Drake,” Damian sneered at Tim.
“You know, quite well, that Bruce left me in charge-”
“I am aware of Father’s bad choices,” Damian interrupted with a wave of his hands, “what I don’t understand why are you yelling at me like a buffoon?”
“Stop acting like you didn’t do anything wrong!” Tim yelled as he got close to Damian.
“Do not yell at me,” Damian snapped as he stood up from his chair, “I have no clue why you are upset. Knowing you it is probably something ridiculous,” Damian finished with a scowl.
“I gave you one rule! One!” Tim snapped as he towered over Damian, “I could’ve benched you, but no !” Tim shouted as he pointed at Damian, “I thought that you have learned. That you got better. But here I am looking like an idiot.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Damian exploded as he shoved Tim back and he stumbled a few steps, “I have done nothing wrong! No reason to earn your spite.”
“Stop acting stupid. You know exactly what you did,” Tim said with a snarl, “I told you: ‘Don’t go to the harbor.’ What do you do? You go to the harbor!”
“What I do on patrol is none of your business,” Damian said as he crossed his hands and lifted his chin up.
“It is when Bruce leaves me in charge and I have to explain to him how you fuck up!”
“You are not responsible for me,” Damian snapped as he glared at Tim, “I am not a child.”
“You are! Which is why Bruce left me in charge,” Tim snapped back as he returned, his brother glared.
“Tt, there no need for anyone to supervise me-’
“Oh really?” Tim said with a mocking tone, “then why is there a body on the harbor?”
“What are you talking about!” Damian shouted, glaring at Tim.
“You disobeyed me!” Tim yelled as his fist tightened, knuckles going white with the force, “and then I found a body in the harbor in the place I told you not to go!”
“You think I killed someone?” Damian said with his hands fisted to the side, “If I had actually killed someone you would have never found the body! The League taught me better-“
“Wow,” Tim cuts him off with a chuckle that held no humour, “you really proud of that, huh? Proud of everything the League taught you? They taught you to kill Damian!”
“I-”
“Are you really okay with having blood on your hands?” Tim interrupted Damian, not wanting to hear any excuses.
Something flashes in Damian’s face, but it disappears before Tim can tell what it was. After a few seconds of tense silence, Damian pushed by him and storms off.
Tim watched him leave as he sighed.
He probably could have handled that better.
-
Tim had been searching for Damian for almost half an hour. He’d been replaying the conversation in his head and he decided he overreacted.
He was mad, tired and overwork taking care of everything Bruce left him
That didn’t mean he should have snapped at Damian like that.
That didn’t meant he could acused Damian of killing someone because he was stressed.
What Tim should have done was asked Damian why he went to the harbor. Damian often disobeyed instructions but when he did he usually had a reason.
He should've given Damian a chance to explain himself.
But he didn’t and now he was looking for him so Damian could explain himself.
Tim heard a bark and he followed the sounds. Wherever Damian was, Titus would follow. He made his way across the garden and hid behind a bush when he heard Jason's voice. What was he doing here? Jason tended to avoid the manor at all cost.
“Come on, Dames,” Jason's voice drawled, “You gotta talk to someone and since Dick is not here, you gotta talk to me.”
Tim moved slightly from the bush to get a better view. Jason and Damian were sitting on a bench together with Titus' head on Damian’s lap. Damian was petting Titus softly as he avoided eye contact with Jason.
He could see his brothers clearly. Tim doubted that his brothers could see him from where they were at. Tim knew he shouldn’t be eavesdropping on Damian’s and Jason's conversation, but he was curious what Jason wanted to talk about with Damian. From Tim’s understanding Damian and Jason didn’t have the best relationship.
“Shut up, Todd,” Damian mumbled,Tim could barely hear him from where he was hiding.
“Damian, it’s been months since you've been back and you're still having nightmares,” Jason said with an oddly soft tone, putting his hand on Damian’s shoulder, “things ain’t going to get better unless you talk to someone. Who better to talk to than the other zombie in the family?”
“Do you-” Damian hesitated for a second and Tim waited with a baited breath as if he was part of the conversation, “Do you remember being dead?”
“I remember dying…”Jason said, pausing for a moment, “but after that I just remember waking up in the coffin.”
Tim closed his eyes for a moment. He knew Jason clawed himself out after being resurrected. Jason told him once after getting fear gassed, but it wasn’t easy being reminded of the fact.
“That’s good,” Damian's words cause him to open his eyes wide.
“What the fuck do you mean?” Jason said in a bewildered tone.
“I meant it’s good that you don’t remember. That means you went to heaven,” Damian said as he stopped petting Titus, who whined and licked Damian’s fingers.
“Damian, what the fuck are you talking about?” Jason snapped as he stared at Damian.
“I remember,” Damian said in a small voice.
Tim's heart was beating fast, horrified at Damian’s confession.What did Damian mean ? Is he implying that he went to hell when he died?
That couldn’t be possible.
Could it?
“Damian…” Jason said after a few seconds of tense silence.
“The League...growing up they taught me that to belong...I had to be best,” Damian started to explained as he lifted his knees to his chest and hugged himself, “to be best meant to defeat whoever stood in your way, at any means necessary. I did what I had to do to survive. I had no other choice.” Damian said, his voice breaking toward the end.
Tim had no other choice but to listen to Damian in heartbreaking silence. He knew he shouldn’t be listening to this, this was personal, but Tim felt like he needed to listen.
“I came to live with Father and I was told that everything that I learned was wrong. I didn’t understand at first, not really. Then Grayson became Batman and he actually explained why I was wrong ,” Damian said as he put his cheek on his knee, “he told me that I could do good and that I still had time to change. I listened and I did my best, but Grayson was wrong ,” Damian spitted out bitterly.
“That some shit right there, Damian. You are good ,” Jason said as he put his hand on Damian’s shoulder, but Damian shook it off.
“No,” Damian said as tears began to fall softly down his cheek, “I died and I saw the consequences of my actions. No matter what I did, it did not erase the blood on my hands.”
Tim’s hands were shaking, unsure what to do. His own words echoing what he told Damian earlier. Tim felt like puking, he felt sick at what he was hearing. Damian was a brat but he didn’t deserve that.
Damian was a hero.
Damian is a hero.
When he died he deserved peace .
Tim sighed as he sat down with his back against the bush. He closed his eyes as he tried to calm his beating heart.
“Todd?” Damian said, catching Tim’s attention once again.
“What?”
“Do you think...when I die again...do you think I’ll go back?” Damian said, his voice sounding unsure in Tim's ears.
“You shouldn't have been there in the first place, kid.”