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Damian was annoyed.
He didn’t want to be here.
He didn’t want to be here with Drake.
When he told his father he wanted to be more involved with Wayne Industry he expected him to teach him. Damian did not expect his Father to appoint Drake to show him around Wayne Industry.
“Stop pouting,” Drake snapped as he played with his phone, “I’m not happy about this either, you know.”
“I am not pouting!” Damian scowled as he crossed his arms over his chest, “I’m not a child.”
“Then stop acting like one,” Drake responded, putting his phone away and fixing Damian's tie, “come on, we got a full day today.”
Damian rolled his eyes at Drake and readjusted his tie. It was perfect before Drake had touched it.
“It should be Father here with me, not you,” Damian grumbled as he followed after Drake, “I shouldn’t be learning the business from someone inferior to me.”
“Well sorry to disappoint,” Drake said with sarcasm dripping in his voice, “but B thought it would be better for me to show you around as I’m the one running the company, well me and Lucius. Lately, Bruce has been too busy with the league and he tends to sign whatever I put in front of him.”
“Father would never be that foolish,” Damian snapped at Drake, “he would never sign a document he has not read.”
“Sorry to burst your bubble, Demon Brat,” Drake said as he moved around people to not bump into them, “but Bruce trusts me and my judgment.”
“Well he is foolish to trust you, “ Damian said as his chin jutted forward and his arms crossed over his chest, “it is obvious I have the superior judgment here.”
“Yeah, sure, whatever you say,” Drake said, rolling his eyes as he grabbed Damian's sleeve and started dragging him with him, “as long as you hurry. We are going to be late to the board meeting.”
“Unhand me at once!” Damian demanded as he tried to shake Drake’s hold on him.
“Stop being such a b-”
Drake’s words were interrupted as a gunshot echoed through the room and Drake fell over.
Damian knew Tim fell, there was no other way to explain the blood on the pavement, but Damian didn’t see him fall.
He saw the blood on the pavement. It was dark, rich red. It was puddling, there was so much blood.
It was so quiet.
But it shouldn't be quiet.
He was so scared.
But the puddle was growing.
He couldn't move.
The blood coated the weed’s in between the cracks of the pavement.
He was so scared.
There were droplets of blood dripping from the weed to the floor.
Drip.
Drip.
Dripping.
The puddle was so big, it would take forever to clean.
It would stain the pavement.
Damian could see the puddle up close now. Now, it filled the cracks. It was drying, it was flaky. He could smell the metallic taste.
Why could he smell it?
It was dark, so dark it was almost black at this point.
It just kept dripping.
He should be worried.
Why isn’t he worried?
He’s terrified.
The weeds are red now, the flowers are pink instead of white. They had five petals and only one was broken and white. The others were pink.
He didn’t like it.
Everything he saw was red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
Red was everywhere.
He didn’t like the color red.
Damian preferred blue.
He could feel the blood coating his fingers.
They were sticky.
“Damian!”
Pain.
Noise.
Screaming.
Crying.
It was too much,
“Damian, look at me please,” A voice implored as someone patted his cheek, “you need to answer me, please.”
Awareness hit him, as he recognized that voice with gentle hands.
“Richard?” Damian asked, confusion in his voice.
“Yeah buddy it’s me,” Richard said with tears in his eyes, Damian didn’t understand why he was crying, “the ambulance it’s going to be here soon, okay? Just stay with me.”
“Ambulance?” Damian asked, his eyebrows furrowed.
“Damian, you and Tim were shot,” Richard explained as he frowned looking down at Damian, “are you in pain?”
“I was shot?” Damian asked dazed, coughing feeling wetness on his lips, he wondered if that was where the puddle came from, “is Drake okay?”
A jolt of pain made Damian groan as he felt Richard put pressure on his stomach. Richard mumbled apologies but didn’t stop his actions.
“Damian, buddy, you were shot, but everything is going to be okay,” Richard reassured him, “Tim is going to be just fine, Jason is with him, and look, the ambulance is here.”
Damian smiled softly. Drake was going to be fine, that’s good.
But he was really tired.
He wanted to close his eyes just for a little bit.
It would be fine.
Richard said so.
Damian closed his eyes and let the darkness take over.
-
“No!” Tim snapped as he tried to move from the bed, “I want to see my brother now.”
“Sir, you can’t move right now,” The nurse said pailing slightly, “you’re going to rip your stitches”
“I don’t fucking care!” Tim snarled as he pushed his blankets away, “you won’t tell me what’s going on!”
“Hey, hey, hey,” Jason said as he walked into the room, “what’s going on in here?”
“The patient won’t stay in bed and it’s at risk of ripping his stitches,” the nurse said quickly.
“Well, they won’t tell me what’s going on with Damian,” Tim groaned as he settled back into the bed.
“Sir, I already told you,” the nurse said rolling her eyes, “I can’t tell you the information of other patients.”
“Listen here, you-”
“You can go,” Jason interrupted coldly, “ now. ”
The nurse ‘hmp’ and stomp away from the room.
“I’m sorry, Timbo,” Jason said while he squeezed Tim’s shoulder, “they told us you weren’t going to be up for at least an hour so I went to get some updates on Damian.”
“How is he?” Tim said looking at Jason.
“He’s in surgery right now,” Jason said with a sighed as he rubbed his face, “they were worried about him for a while, but he’s gonna pull through.”
Tim’s shoulders slumped as he took a deep breath. He closed his eyes as he tried to calm his beating heart.
“Did you find out who did it?” Tim asked after of few moments of silence.
“A disgruntled ex-employee,” Jason said his fist tightening, “he’s been handled.”
“Hmm,” Tim responded as he fidget with his hands.
“What happened, Tim?” Jason asked after staring at Tim for a few seconds, “me and Dick arrived and you and Damian were already on the ground.”
Tim rubbed his face harshly, feeling the IV pull slightly. He had no idea what happened. Tim could explain what happened but he didn’t understand how it happened.
“Me and Damian were about to walk into the building. We were running late, and he was being so annoying,” Tim huffed as he ran his fingers through his hair, “he didn’t want to be there with me .”
Tim settled in his bed as he pulled the blankets up. He was being careful with the stitches on his hip. Tim knew that Damian wanted to be with Bruce. Damian wanted to hang out with Bruce and Bruce had saddled Damian with him. Of course, that would make the Brat upset, but there wasn’t anything that he could do about it. Tim wanted to show him the ropes in hopes of appeasing the little demon, but no, they had to get shot.
“I went down and I couldn’t stand-” Tim stopped as his eyebrows furrowed, “Damian just stared at the ground. He didn’t do anything. I told him to run, but he just didn’t respond. Then he got shot and fell as well. Damian didn’t respond at all. He just drop like a rag doll. For a second...I thought he was dead.”
Jason looked at Tim and patted his leg. Tim cleared his throat awkwardly as he felt his eyes watered. He felt useless when everything was happening. Tim wanted to crawl and check on Damian but he didn’t have the strength . Watching Damian, lay on the ground, not moving, was one of the worse moments of his life. Tim thought he just watch his little brother died.
“I don’t know what happened,” Tim admitted as he rubbed his eyes harshly, “Damian just froze and Damian doesn’t freeze. ”
“He just a kid, Tim,” Jason said with a small shrug, “whatever happened, well...it’s going to be okay...and if it’s not, then we will make sure it is.”
“Yeah,” Tim said with a nod, he yawned as exhaustion caught up to him, “everything is going to be alright.”
“Get some rest, replacement,” Jason said as he leaned back in his chair with a book, “I’ll wake you up when Damian is out of surgery.”
Tim nodded and closed his eyes, hoping that they’ll wake him up soon with news about Damian.