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When Damian startles awake, he's not where he was last.
He had been fighting a magic user with extreme prejudice— Gotham is weird enough without mages being thrown into the midst, and even Batman got aggressive with them when he had to deal with their nonsense— when a stray spell had caught him in the side. He had only been conscious long enough to hear Batman's yell of “D—Robin!” Before unconsciousness had swallowed him up.
He keeps himself still and carefully catalogs his surroundings and his body. He's not injured any more than he was when he was last awake, which is good, and the damp and musty air leads him to believe that he's in the cave.
But— something is wrong. The cave doesn't feel right.
Damian's intuition is very rarely wrong, and Damian doesn't think he's inside the cave.
At least, not the cave he knows.
He keeps himself still and steady as the sound of footsteps gets closer. It's two people— one person with heavy steps but fluid movement, and one person, most likely a child due to their weight, bouncing on the balls of their feet as they walk.
“So he really just showed up? That's crazy! D'you think he's a super secret magic spy or something?”
A grunt, then, “No, Robin. But please be careful around him. We don't know what caused his appearance.”
Damian forgets all about faking sleep the moment he hears the voice of his father. He jolts up, startling the two figures at the side of his bed, and stares at the masked figure of Bruce Wayne.
He stares, and they stare back. The standoff is only broken by the small figure next to his father tilting his head and waving.
His eyes slide over from Bruce to the figure, and the only indication of the shock that goes through his body is the minute flinch he lets out as he looks at the masked face of Dick Grayson, small and soft and childish . He's got a domino mask on, but Damian can recognize his facial features through one easily, and everything from the slope of his nose to the tone of his skin is the same. He's wearing a leotard-like outfit, dressed in colors so bright he looks like a performer.
Dick had shown him images of himself as a child, but it doesn't compare to seeing him in the flesh. The colors are brighter, at the very least.
Damian's own Robin costume is much different, having gone through so many iterations before and after it was handed to him that it's borderline unrecognizable from the original. If he stood next to Dick, they would be viewed as completely different uniforms.
“Hello,” Bruce says, softening his tone. It sounds like the kind of voice you would use to speak to scared children. Damian didn't think his father was even capable of this kind of voice. “I'm Batman. This is Robin. Do you know how you arrived here?”
“You got here in a big flash of light, if that sparks any memories!” Then Dick snorts. “Get it? Sparks?”
It seems like some things don't change. Damian scoffs.
“I know how I got here.” He does not elaborate on how, and he can tell they realize that. “I must wait for my companion to retrieve me, most likely. I doubt I can get home on my own considering what's… available to me currently.”
Batman looks him over before stating neutrally, words less of an accusation and more of a question. “Your actions seem to be implying time travel. Am I correct?”
Damian supposes that even at this age, his father is still one of the greatest detectives for a reason. He suppresses a surprised ‘tt’, instead nodding slowly.
“Time, or dimension travel.” Damian corrects after a moment of silence. “I am already noticing some slight differences between some things, though whether that's because time has changed this place or whether it's a different dimension has yet to be revealed to me.” He pauses, here. “If either of you remember this moment, you have not told me.”
“So you do know us.” Batman says.
Dick interrupts with an excited exclamation of, “Woah, a real time traveler! That's so cool. Am I cool? How well do you know me?”
Damian nods. Choosing his words carefully, he says, “I do know you both, yes. You could say we're acquainted. As you can tell by the uniform, your operation has expanded in the future.”
Batman let's out a long-suffering sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. “ Oh no . Robin is more than enough.” After a moment of consideration, he continues with, "At least you seem less likely to swing off the chandelier.”
“So do you know our identities?”
“ Robin .” Batman scolds.
“What? Apparently we work with him, B! C'mon, I'm curious.”
Batman has clearly made a connection where Robin has not. Most likely connecting his work with vigilantes to living with them. Still, Damian replies, “Yes, Grayson, I do.”
Robin cringes a little bit. “Eugh, it's so weird to be referred to by name in costume.”
“Apologies.”
Batman clears his throat. “I won't ask you to tell us your name, because I'm a bit worried about the timeline, but— would you like to come upstairs? I can't imagine that costume is comfortable, chum.”
Damian scoffs. “Do not belittle me, I am perfectly fine. Though I will come upstairs if your hospitality extends that far. Seeing this cave so… changed , so to say, is strange. Or unchanged, I suppose.”
Batman nods in acquiesce, before taking off his cowl and tossing a bottle of solvent at Robin. His father gives him a brief smile before saying, “we'll go get changed really quickly before we head up. I'll try to find clothes that would fit you, if you'd like?”
Damian replies with a denial automatically, but his mind is blank.
This is the first time his father has smiled at him.
That's…
Grayson would call that sad. Damian… Damian isn't sure what to think about that. His mother smiled at him, he knows. But somehow, during their brief meeting, he was so uninspiring that he could not inspire a brief smile from his own father.
He knows the man cared for him in his own way— knows that he saw the potential in Damian. He's not ungrateful , just— his father really has changed over the years. Grayson has said so often, as both an apology and a realization all at once, but Damian had not believed him. This old version of Batman is not the intimidating figure Damian remembers. He's not sure if that's good or bad, yet.
He's shaken out of his thoughts by Grayson bouncing towards him, father in tow.
“Alright!” Grayson cheers. “Alfred says no vigilante gear at the dinner table, but I'm sure he'll make an exception!”
He follows the both of them upstairs. Stepping out of the clock, he glances around the study briefly— Grayson had repurposed it when father had passed, and he'd never seen it in its original state— before following these young, strange versions of his family to their dinner table.
Pennyworth tuts when he sees Damian, but doesn't say anything about the suit at the table. “Hello, young sir,” he says, “do you have any dietary restrictions?”
“I'm a vegetarian,” Damian says stiffly. His Pennyworth is not the biggest fan of him, though their relationship is on the up and up, and he doesn't know how to talk to any version of this man.
Pennyworth nods, stating, “of course. The meal I've made for tonight has no meat in it, which is a stroke of good luck if I've ever seen one.”
A silence settles over the table once the meal has been placed down.
Grayson breaks it, as he often does. “So, what am I like? Am I cool? Am I old ? Please tell me I'm not twenty or something. That's so old. I'm not ready to be that old yet. Can I even ask you this?”
“I… suppose you can.” Damian says. He's reluctant to part with this information, but— maybe, maybe it can help them where it could've helped him. “This is an alternate dimension to mine, not time travel. So I suppose I can answer questions, though I doubt I will have satisfactory answers.”
“How do you know?” His father asks.
Damian shifts in his seat. “The time on the clock.” He eventually says. “It's wrong. Or at least not accurate to my own dimension.”
Father's face does something complicated before it smooths out. “I see.”
“So, am I old? Or cool?”
Damian deadpans, “I would never at risk of death call you cool.” Then he pauses, and answers. “You're twenty six, I believe.”
Grayson's eyes go as wide as dinner plates. “That's so old ! I'm practically ancient! Holy moley.” Then he asks, “how many people are there now? Is it just you and me and B?”
He shifts, unsure how to continue without upsetting Grayson's childlike sensibilities. “I—”
Before he can continue, his comm goes off. “ Batman to Robin, can you hear me ?”
He brings a hand up to turn on his own comm before replying, “Robin to Batman, I can hear you. You've come to retrieve me?”
“ Oh thank god.” Grayson says, relief in his tone. “ Little D, you scared the absolute bejeezus out of me. I'm coming to get you. We landed on 45th street— where are you?”
“Wayne Manor. I landed in the cave.”
“ Roger that. I'm coming to get you, Damian.”
Damian scoffs. “No names in the field.”
“ Of course, of course .”
The comm link clicks off, and he's suddenly left alone with just the little Grayson and his father. They both look at him.
“So— your Batman is coming to get you?” Grayson asks.
“Yes.” He replies. Suddenly, he's gripped with an all consuming need to tell them about himself. Damian— he acknowledges that his childhood wasn't a normal childhood, in an abstract sort of way. He doesn't ‘fit in with other children, can't ‘regulate his emotions properly’. He understands, objectively, that if he had grown up with a regular upbringing, he would be a better person, a better him .
He can no longer have that— the League's habits are too ingrained in him by now. He cannot run from the hold they have on his life, nor does he quite want to.
But— maybe this Damian can have a childhood appropriate for a child. Maybe this one can grow in peace, even if Damian himself could not.
He reaches for his mask solvent, and carefully eases off his mask. Bruce no doubt recognizes his facial features if his choked expression is any indication.
“I am Damian Al Ghul— though currently I am a Wayne.” He says. “I know you know who my mother is, and she lied about having a miscarriage to keep you from throwing away your livelihood for a baby. I have no such compunctions. I did not have a normal childhood, but maybe this version of myself can.”
He hesitates, here, before barreling onward. Never let it be said that he's never done Todd a favor. “And— when you meet Jason, which you will not for a while yet, keep him safe. He is asinine and rude, but even he does not deserve to get hurt like he did.”
He does not throw in anything about Drake, because he doubts Drake would appreciate it. He'll find a way into their lives somehow, either by accident or on purpose. To deny him finding his own way when he's not in any danger would be unjust. Damian may not like Drake, but he doesn't consider himself an unfair person.
There's a frantic knock at the door. Bruce gets up to go get it, still a little shell shocked, and Grayson stares at him, eyes still wide.
Bruce comes back with Grayson and Drake, who he's somehow not surprised to see, despite everything. They're both unmasked, which is a little more surprising.
Graydon rushes over to wrap an arm around him, patting him down for injuries. “You're okay, Little D?”
Damian sighs and allows it. “ Yes , if I were injured I would have reported it.”
An amused scoff comes from next to him, and Grayson grips him a little tighter. “Sure you would.”
Damian ignores that, instead focusing on. “Drake.” His lip curls. “What are you doing here? I thought you had run off.”
“Got an emergency call.” Drake says. “ Someone had to figure out the technology to find you again, and it certainly wouldn't have been Dick.”
“I take offense to that.” Grayson says, but he's laughing.
Little Grayson finally breaks his silence, blurting out an excited, “ I'm batman?!”
Grayson gives his smaller self a strained grin, saying, “sure are.”
“Cool!”
Looking at his wrist— barren of any watch and therefore ruining any excuse he could've made— he says, “oh, look at the time! It's time to go. C'mon Robin.”
Drake begins fiddling with a machine, and Damian allows himself one last look at his younger, happier father. It seems that his father has realized why Grayson is Batman, grief in his expression. Damian catches his eye and mouths, ‘ fix it .’
Bruce nods, and Damian steps into the portal.