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“Damian! Don’t go in there!” Jon said as he couldn’t help his curiosity and followed his friend. “Dad said we aren’t supposed to go in there.” They were walking down a hallway that led to a room which he was warned to stay away from.
Damian intentionally ignored Jon. Damian’s own father had also given him a stern warning about venturing into this particular room. Batman tended to give Robin free rein of the Watchtower, so it intrigued him when he was told to specifically stay away from this room.
“He’s not here.” Damian reminded Jon. Both Superman and Batman were away on a mission in space. “He won’t know.”
Jon groaned. “He always finds out.” He muttered this just loud enough for Damian to hear him.
“You don’t have to follow me.” Damian stopped before he entered the room. As great of a detective as Batman is, he didn’t always find out about everything Damian ever got into. Damian considered it a Robin training exercise to not get caught. If Batman found out, Damian was sure his father would not go easy on him. The same was true for Jon if Superman catches him.
Jon hesitated before responding, “but I want to know what’s in there, too.”
Damian smirked as he opened the door. Inside the darkly lit room, there was another door leading to another room. Not thinking about it, Damian immediately opened up the door and stepped inside. The door slammed shut. There was nothing in the room—not a light or even an air vent. Damian pounded on the door to get it to open, but it wouldn’t budge. Jon tried using his super strength, but that was useless, too. Damian yelled to Jon to use his heat vision, but Jon wasn’t able to hear him.
“Hold on, Damian!” Jon called, even though Damian couldn’t hear him. “I’m going to find help.”
Jon ran as fast as he could to find the only two members of the Justice League that were there: Flash and Aquaman. “Help!” Jon called when he saw them. “Robin’s trapped!”
Both superheros followed Jon as he ran back to where he had last seen Robin.
“What were you two doing here?” Aquaman snapped when he realized what had happened.
“I thought Bats and Sups told you not to go into that room?” Flash also scolded.
“I’m sorry!” Jon yelled. “Can you get him out?”
“Actually, no, we can’t.” Flash confirmed.
Jon’s eyes welled with tears. His friend was stuck and he can’t do anything about it. “Why not?” Jon demanded.
“It’s a failsafe.” Aquaman said, casually. “It was built to contain Batman.”
“You know, in case anything compromised him.” Flash finished the explanation. “We can’t just open it.”
“How can it be opened, then?” Jon asked, getting annoyed that the two adults didn’t seem to take this seriously.
“Well, the only way it can be opened is if one of Batman’s kids opens it.” Flash said.
“But Robin is one of his kids!”
“Yeah, but he’s inside. It’ll have to be someone else,” Aquaman said. The situation amused them clearly.
“Can’t you call Nightwing?” Jon suggested.
“Sure. We’ll give him a call. Why don’t you just hang out here?” Aquaman and Flash left, laughing about how Damian was trapped like a mouse in a mousetrap.
Jon and Damian waited for about twenty minutes until Aquaman and Flash returned. When they did, they had company. Instead of Nightwing, they brought in Red Robin and Superboy. Jon hadn’t expected to see his older brother today. Conner gave Jon a disappointed look when he entered.
“What do you need me to do?” Tim asked. He looked around the room, trying to understand the mechanics of the lock on the door.
“You just need to be scanned and request the room open up.” Aquaman told him. “It’s a pretty simple design.”
Tim nodded. “Seems a little too simple.”
Both Flash and Aquaman shrugged. “It was the best we could come up with. We didn’t exactly want input from Batman or Superman when we designed this room.”
“We figured Batman’s kids would be the best at knowing if he’s been compromised, so that’s why you are the keys to opening the locks.”
Tim let the scanner identify him. “Red Robin.” It said as it completed. Tim spoke back to it, telling it to open. “Permission granted.”
Damian darted out of the room as fast as he could, fearing it might lock him in again. In his excitement to be free, Damian clung to Tim in a hug. Tim was caught off guard, but hugged his little brother back.
“What were you thinking?” Aquaman said loudly, changing his tone to a more stern one.
Tim felt Damian shutter. “Sorry.” Damian said into Tim’s chest. “It won’t happen again.”
“You’re damn right it won’t happen again!” Flash said. “Especially after we tell Batman and Superman what their naughty children have been up to.”
Jon looked down in shame. Damian gripped Tim tighter. Tim watched as both boys looked scared of the prospect of their fathers finding out. He remembered what it was like when he was about Damian’s age and when he got in trouble with Bruce. It was no secret to anyone in the room that both Bruce and Clark subscribed to spanking as a form of discipline for their children. Conner and Tim had both been on the receiving end enough to know that the boys would not be in for a fun time once their fathers arrived home.
Tim looked over at Conner, catching his attention. Tim wondered if Conner could somehow read his thoughts. “Why don’t we keep this between us?” Tim suggested, looking back at the two Justice Leaguers.
“You want us to lie to Batman and Superman?” Aquaman asked, astonished that Tim would suggest that.
“Not lie,” Conner added, catching on to what Tim had in mind. “But if Tim and I handle our little brothers, then there would be no need to worry them about what happened.”
“Plus,” Tim added, “you won’t have to come up with a new failsafe for Batman. If you do tell him, you’ll have to explain how the room works.”
Flash looked like he was considering the proposal. “That’s a good point.”
“So what’s going to happen to the two hooligans, then?” Aquaman asked.
Tim looked down at his little brother, knowing that he’ll probably throw a tantrum once Tim says what he’s thinking. “Conner and I will see that they are both thoroughly punished for their behaviour.”
Right on time, Damian’s head lifted, and he pulled away from Tim. “Like hell, you will!” Damian shouts at him. “Father will never allow you to punish me.”
Regardless if Damian’s statement was right or wrong, Tim asked him, “would you rather explain all of this to your father and let him punish you?”
Obviously, Bruce’s punishment would physically hurt way worse than anything Tim could do to him, but Damian and Tim didn’t have the best relationship. Damian was much closer to his oldest brother, Dick. He wasn’t sure how he’d feel if Tim had to punish him. “What about Nightwing?” There was a rule about using civilian names on the Watchtower, so Damian called him by his superhero name.
“We called Nightwing, but he was in the middle of something,” Flash assured him. “Red Robin was with Superboy already, so it made sense to have him come.”
“Fine,” Damian ground out. Tim brushed his hand through his younger brother’s hair, pulling him closer to him.
“Ok,” Aquaman conceded. “You guys take care of these two. But before you leave, bring them by us on the bridge. We want to make sure they are properly chastised and apologetic.”
Aquaman and Flash left.
“Come with me, Robin.” Tim called.
“Where are we going?” Damian hesitated behind. He glanced at Jon. He didn’t want to leave his friend behind.
“We are going to Batman’s room.” Tim explained. “Besides, Conner and Jon need some privacy, too.”
Conner nodded. “Jon, let’s go to Superman’s room.”
Conner and Tim led their little brothers to their respective fathers’ room. Once inside, Tim took a seat on Batman’s bed. He motioned Damian over to him. Tim had been in this exact position before. He remembered being hauled over Bruce’s knee for misbehaving. Tim tried to hack into the Watchtower to see if he could do it. That earned him extra swats with a wooden ruler that Bruce kept in his desk drawers. Damian’s offense wasn’t bad enough to think about using that on him.
“Damian.” Tim called softly. Damian barely moved to look up at him. He stood a few feet away, enough to be out of reach of Tim’s grip. “Come. Let’s get this over with.”
Damian sighed. “Look. I know what you were doing for me back there. I appreciate you told them you’d punish me so I wouldn’t get into trouble with father.”
Tim kept his mood calm. “I meant what I said. I am going to punish you.”
Damian stared him down, not sure if he believed him. “You don’t have to.”
Tim couldn’t help the smile he gave back. “Damian, I don’t want to do it either—”
“Good. Then don’t.” Damian’s demeanor took an entitled tone.
“But that doesn’t mean I won’t.” Tim didn’t like that Damian was trying to walk over him. “In fact, I think you’ve earned it. I know for a fact that Bruce told you to stay away from that room. You know how I know that?” Damian didn’t answer. “Because he told Dick and I the same thing after it was built.”
Damian let out a deep breath. His features softened. “I just wanted to know what was inside.”
“I know, Dami.” Tim pat the bed beside him. Damian looked at it with apprehension. “Come here. Come sit.”
Damian’s mind screamed at him that this was a trap. Damian shook his head.
Tim relented, putting his head in his hands. “I know I’m not your dad. I’m not Dick either. And I know we’ve had our issues in the past, but none of that means that I don’t care about you, Damian.”
Damian hadn’t expected that admission from Tim. He and Tim didn’t always get along. When Damian first heard who Tim was, it was from his mother, Talia. She told Damian that Tim was an imposter that was trying to take away his birthright. Damian harboured deep-seated resentment towards Tim for a long time after they met. Tim tried to be nice at first, but it did little to stop Damian from treating him poorly. When Tim gave in and was mean back at Damian, something inside Damian told him Tim was exactly who his mother claimed he was: a snake. This made Damian more deliberate in his cruelness towards Tim. Tim’s attitude fed off of Damian’s and soon they were both being mean to each other. But Tim never got away with treating Damian badly. Dick, who was in charge at the time, always put Tim in his place immediately. Damian witnessed Tim being spanked on more than one occasion by their older brother.
When their father returned, he was far less forgiving of Tim’s or Damian’s behaviour. The first time he caught Tim and Damian fighting, Bruce threw both of them over his knee. That spanking ended with them both receiving a few swats from a wooden hairbrush. There was a threat made that if Bruce had to spank them again for fighting, then he’d be using something worse than the hairbrush. After that, neither boy fought in front of their father again.
About a year ago, things escalated. Damian and Tim got into a fight that was so bad that it almost cost Dick his life. They were arguing when they should have been paying attention while Dick was undercover. Dick was almost killed during a bank robbery that they should have stopped before it got that far. Afterwards, Dick didn’t go easy on either of his little siblings. After their spanking, Damian and Tim agreed on a truce. Since that day, both had held up their side of the agreement. The fighting finally came to an end. Things were peaceful between the two.
Somehow, during the past year, Damian and Tim started opening up to one another. They weren’t quite at the point that they considered each other friends, but they now had respect for the other. When Tim was called about Damian being in danger, he didn’t hesitate to drop everything and make his way to the Watchtower. Conner came with when he heard his little brother was also involved. Damian might not have been surprised that Tim came to help him, but he was surprised that Tim openly told him how much he cared about him. He didn’t expect the words to make him feel this warm inside. For how much that feeling made him happy, he couldn’t help but also feel a ping of guilt for causing trouble. Tim caring about him meant he also wanted to protect Damian from getting into trouble with their father.
With a deep and heavy sigh, Damian relented. “Ok, Drake. I’ll agree to let you punish me, but only if you don’t tell father.” Damian stood in front of Tim.
Tim didn’t think Damian would give in so easily. He was preparing for a long and drawn out fight. When Damian was within reach, Tim wasted no time grabbing his wrist and pulling him down, over his knee. Tim didn’t want him to reconsider and change his mind, so he immediately started in on the spanking. The first smack was hard, but Tim was sure his hand hurt worse than Damian’s butt. Was this the reason Bruce and Dick almost always spanked him without his pants on? Other than for a few smacks, Tim would almost always be forced to remove his pants and sometimes his underwear for a spanking. He didn’t entirely feel comfortable spanking Damian bare, but he understood the logic of it. If he removes Damian’s pants, then he still won’t be able to see how harshly he’s spanking him. The last thing Tim wants to do is seriously harm Damian. Being able to see Damian’s bottom would allow him to control the intensity of the spanking. Tim weighed the positives and negatives in his head. He came to the conclusion that he’d need to finish Damian’s spanking on his bare bottom.
“Damian,” Tim called out to him after spanking him for a few minutes. “I’m going to need you to remove your pants and underwear.” Tim stopped the spanking and let Damian stand up.
“-tt-” Damian groaned when he got off Tim’s lap. “Can’t I atleast keep my underwear?”
Tim shook his head no. “I’m sorry, Dami. I’ve never done this before. I need to be able to see what I’m doing. I don’t want to harm you accidentally.”
“What do you mean by that? Isn’t that the point of a spanking?” Damian asked.
“It’s not supposed to do any lasting damage. If it leaves a mark afterwards or if it breaks skin, then it’s not a punishment anymore. It’s abuse.” Damian made an ‘oh’ face. He stayed standing in front of Tim. “Now, take off your pants and underwear. I’m not going to tell you again.” Tim was doing his best to remain stern. It wasn’t quite Batman's level of intimidation, but it was more than he usually uses.
Damian did as he was told and returned to Tim’s lap afterwards. Tim started in on a fresh round of swats. There were no noises that came out of Damian’s mouth, but Tim focused on the tiny vibrations that he made as he flinched in reaction to the swats. When a particularly hard swat landed, Tim noticed Damian nearly jumped up.
Even though Bruce never really gave a lecture till after a spanking was administered, Tim thought it would be best to do it while he finished up the punishment. “What you did today was not only foolish, but it was also dangerous. You had no idea what that room was for. I didn’t even know what it was for. You were told to stay away from it. Why did you ignore that?”
Damian pursed together his lips, avoiding giving away proof that this punishment was hurting him. In an attempt to respond, he let the words escape through his gritted teeth. “I just wanted to know.”
“That’s not a good enough reason. You’re Robin. You need to be better than that.” The words caused Damian to choke out a small cry. Tim figured the spanking was finally getting to him in addition to the lecture. To speed things along, Tim tipped Damian forwards and placed swats to the under curve of his butt. This is the spot that would continue to sting long after the spanking ended. “What were you thinking, getting Jon involved? You know that he’s just down the hall getting a spanking, too? Did he think it was a good idea to explore that room?”
“No. Aw!” Damian cried out. “I’m sorry!”
“Good. Then we’ll never need to repeat this, will we?” Tim punctured every word of his question with a slap.
“No!”
The spanking ended. Before Tim pulled Damian up, he rubbed his back softly. He could feel the telltale signs of quiet sobs from the boy. He’d never judge anyone for crying during a punishment, but also understood that Damian didn’t want to be seen crying in front of Tim. Damian’s bottom was a vibrant pink colour. It definitely wasn’t the worst spanking Damian ever got, but it didn’t need to be. Tim was sure he got the message through to him.
When Damian calmed down, Tim stood him up and stood up beside him. Tim didn’t have to wrap his arms around Damian because Damian dove into him on his own. It felt good to be on the receiving end of a hug after having punished his little brother. Tim rested his head on Damian’s with his arms clasping him. “It’s ok, Dami. It’s over. You’re forgiven.” Tim recited the words that Bruce always told him as he held Tim after a punishment.
“I’m sorry.” Damian said again. This time, he looked up at Tim as he said it. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
Tim couldn’t help the surge of pride that overtook him. “Why don’t you get dressed? I’m going to go check on Conner and Jon. You still need to convince Aquaman and Flash that you learned your lesson.”
“You don’t think they’ll tell Batman what happened, do you?” Damian asked sincerely.
“I think you’ve learned your lesson. I’ll make sure Batman doesn’t find out.” Tim gave Damian one last smile before he left the room.
Tim stood outside Superman’s room listening, making sure that Conner was done with Jon’s punishment before he knocked. Conner let him inside. Jon’s eyes were red, with tears running down. He was rubbing the sting out of his bottom. Tim gave him a sympathy smile.
“How did things go?” Tim asked his friend.
“I think he’s learned his lesson.” Conner answered simply. “How’s Damian?”
“He’s sorry. When Jon is ready, we should all go have a chat with Aquaman and Flash.” Conner nodded.
Aquaman and Flash were on the bridge, just like they said they’d be. Tim and Conner stayed back as they let their little brothers approach the other two superheroes.
“I assume you have both been punished?” Aquaman asked. Both boys bowed their heads, nodding. “Good. Then we won’t have this problem ever again, will we?”
“No, sir.” Both Jon and Damian said.
“If you’ve truly learned your lesson, then I guess we won’t have to tell Batman or Superman.” Flash said. “You’re free to go.”
“Come on.” Tim waved them over. “Let’s head back to the cave. Maybe Alfred will whip us up some cookies.” Damian and Jon smiled back at him.