Chapter Text
Some might say we're released
Pushing daisies, deceased
But we all know the worms must be fed
The day was supposed to go smoothly. Damian did his homework and followed his routine correctly, as it should be.
He woke up, had breakfast, walked Titus, cleaned Alfred's litter box, spent time with Batcow, teased his brothers (Dick insisted this would help create strong bonds),He went to school and put up with the faces of the children around him, did his homework and that was it.
There was only one thing left: patrol.
It was a Friday. A specific day where the members of his family gathered, but with the exception of Cass, Stephanie and Barbara.The girls decided they would spend their time with a "girls' night", in fact, Selina was with them.
But Barbara Gordon still agreed to help them with communications.
So, there was only Damian left; Richard, his mentor and father figure, Timothy, the smartest boy in the group and his brother and Jason, the black sheep of the family and secretly his favorite brother.
The Father seemed happy with Damian's presence, spending more time with his son, opening up more and talking about the day, even though Damian didn't have much to say.
Damian realizes how much he has improved, he may still be 11 years old and have been disowned by his mother, leaving his destiny aside, he decided to choose the righteous path.
The hardest and cleanest path, the path of justice and his happiness
Damian was already burdened by the path he followed, the path he was forced to follow when he was born, the most destructive path, the path of killing.
Damian knows he never expected this, he never expected a family, he also knows that this was the best thing that ever happened in his life.
It went a little wrong at first, Damian and Timothy's relationship was terrible, with the only basis in the relationship: distrust.
Damian was also difficult with Richard, suspicious and afraid that in the end, if Damian made a mistake, he would be left behind.
Batman didn't trust Damian, so he also didn't trust Robin's mantle in the hands of his own son.
So, Batman is gone.
A new Batman emerges in his place, an impostor, but is soon haunted by his own mistakes after fighting the true heir to the Batman mantle.
Dick Grayson
Damian hated him at first, his happiness for no reason, his hope in difficult times, when everything seemed hopeless.
"We always have choices, and when you think you don't, create one"
Little by little Damian opened up, gained confidence, but he never expected to earn a place in Grayson's heart, he never expected that one day he would be seen as someone other than a brother, a son.
These are memories that Damian never wanted to forget.
Dick picked up the broken pieces of his family, apologizing to Tim, going after Jason and Cass, and spending more time with Barbara and Stephanie.
So Bruce comes back from the dead
And everything seemed perfect for Damian.
He had a family now
He had...Happiness
Damian would never trade anything for this, for his family, for his memories.
Now here he is. Getting ready for a patrol with his father and brothers
He didn't expect that his mother would also join
...🦇...
"Are you ready Robin?" Batman asks as he stares at his son.
The wind brings whispers from the city, which murmurs negative and sad things into the heroes' ears.
The mission was just infiltration, entering and collecting information in a warehouse.
"I was born ready, Father," Damian says in a firm voice.
Batman just grunts as he smiles at his own son.
Sometimes he thinks about how bad he feels about Damian's past, how much he wishes Damian could have a normal life.
"Interrogations point to the location of the warehouse on the left, heat cameras indicate that there are a total of 6 men, 3 outside and 2 inside, the last one appears to be in the truck.Investigate to see if the drugs are inside." Oracle's voice fills Batman and Robin's ears.
Music could be heard in the background with Cassandra's voice, probably talking to Stephanie.
Robin waves to his father as he runs off to his mission.
Batman just watches, then hears a statistic on his communicator, followed by the voice of... Oracle?
"Batman, I need you to go into the warehouse on your right, I'm afraid some of Venom's drugs are already unloaded there" She says,but now, there are no voices in the background, no music, just oracle.
"Batman to Oracle. I thought the drugs hadn't arrived yet, much less unloaded from the truck." Batman says as he frowns.
"There are records of the truck entering the garage during the day, I think they have extra drugs to ask for something more at the time of sale" She says coldly
"Understood" Batman says as he jumps to the ground
"Hey old man, do you want some help?" And, he meets Red Hood. "Hood." Batman greets. "Your help is always welcome, I'm afraid you were already investigating this case as well." Batman adds.
"They want to trade drugs with someone, and probably sell them in the city, I heard rumors that they would use minors to sell this crap" Jason says as he reloads his weapons.
Batman just grunts in response, then he puts his hand on the communicator. "Report," he says.
"I'm not too far from you, B. Want a little help?" He hears Nightwing answer, he says half-breathing, probably running across the rooftops.
"Wing, no need, I already have B" Jason replies
"Is Little Wing there? Great!! 3 minutes" Dick ignores Jason's response, only caring about his brother's voice.
"present" says Timothy over the intercoms.
"I didn't mean to ruin your night...But I think I just saw some crafty people in black clothes and--" Tim pauses for a moment.
Batman doesn't like silence. "Red Robin, report."
"Holy shit B!! I think it's the League of Shadows!!" Tim replies
"Language, Red. Second: What the fuck?" Jason almost screams through the comms. When he turns to face Batman, he is surprised, it was as if he could see Bruce's wide eyes through Batman's cowl.
"Robin report!!!" He screams over the communicators
No response
"Nightwing meets me in the left warehouse" Batman says
"Batman what's going on??!! Where's Robin?!" Nightwing yells over the comms
"Robin is alone in the warehouse on the left. Batman says, "Hood, distract the warehouse men while I go after Robin." Batman doesn't wait for an answer as he fires his grappling hook into the warehouse.
When Batman arrives, he is surprised by several League assassins unconscious on the ground.
He starts running when he notices blood on the floor, and none of the killers show any wounds to bleed.
"Robin!!" Batman shouts, but gets no response.
Not for long
"Beloved" he hears, and stops
He stops when he sees Damian lying on the floor with several cuts cutting through his uniform, he appears unconscious.
And it probably has something to do with the syringe in Talia's hand, who is standing behind Damian with her eyes locked on Batman.
"What have you done to my son!?!" He screams as he runs towards him, but stops to dodge Talia's blows, who attacks with her dagger to keep Damian from getting close.
"I did what I had to do. It's your fault. If you hadn't messed with my son's mind, this would never have happened, he would never have abandoned me" Talia responds with anger in her eyes, but not to attack
Batman manages to land a few blows and dodges them, he doesn't know if it's adrenaline or desperation to know if his son is okay.
Fortunately, Nightwing arrives, his eyes fall straight on Damian's motionless body, he despairs and quickly takes the boy away
"No!!! You can't take him!!" Talia tries to follow, but is stopped by Batman.
"You will not touch another finger of my son" he growls
"He is the heir of the devil. He will return to me. You will not stop him." Then she retreats, fleeing through the shadows of the warehouse.
Batman runs outside, and finds Nightwing rocking Damian like a baby while whispering kind words.
Batman hopes she gave Damian a sedative or something, but realizes he made a mistake when Damian suddenly wakes up with his eyes wide open.
"Shh....It's okay Robin, you're safe now" Nightwing says softly
Batman is surprised when he sees his son start to cry, he approaches while massaging his son's arms (he knows that Dick will not easily let go of the boy)
But then, Damian responds
"W-who are you?...Who is...Robin?..."