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It was supposed to be an easy mission. Some drug dealers were selling to some kids in crime alley so Jason had asked Damian if he wanted to tag along to stop them.
So there they were on a roof observing the abandoned warehouse close to crime alley . A source told them that the dealers were supposed to receive a shipment of a new drug . The night air was cold and humid the moon nowhere to be seen under the clouds of fog. Damian was sitting on the side of the roof waiting receive the signal that meant they could go down.
As soon as the truck arrived Jason gave the signal and they jumped into action surprising the goons that were waiting outside. The fight wasn’t hard only some of them had weapons . The fight lasted maybe 10 minutes before they had all the goons restrained . they had taken all of their weapons and kicked them into a pile in the corner of the alley. Or at least they thought that they had taken all of their weapons because when they turned around to enter the building someone pulled out a gun and aimed it directly at robin.
Damian hadn’t noticed but Jason did and when he did it was too late because the goon had pulled the trigger at that moment Jason didn’t think he jumped in front of his little brother to stop him from getting hurt. When the bullet hit Jason in the chest he groaned and collapsed to the floor .
Damian immediately went to the goon and disarmed him using more force than necessary not caring if he injured the man. Then ran to Jason and knelt beside him and started applying pressure to the wound making Jason groan and close his eyes in pain.
“ you idiot I could have had taken that bullet you did not need to injure yourself “
Jason gave him a weak smile and muttered “Didn’t wnt you to be hurt “
Damian rolled his eyes hiding the worry he felt for his brother and lifted one of his hand to his ear to call for backup the other hand still applying pressure to the wound.
“Robin to Oracle I need backup immediately hood took a bullet to the chest he’s loosing a lot of blood and isn’t breathing right I’m applying pressure and I suspect that his rib might have shattered and a fragment of the bone punctured the lung“
“Oracle to Robin I’m sending the jet to you ETA 3 minutes continue to apply pressure to the wound I’m going to alert Leslie”
“Thank you”
Damian put his other hand back on his brothers chest to apply more pressure to the still heavily breading wound when he looked at his brothers face panic rising when he saw his brothers eyes closed
“Shit you idiot wake up!!!”
When his brother didn’t react Damian’s eyes started watering his ears ringing and he started hyperventilating. He knew what a panic attack was he had never lived through one before but he still knew what was happening to him.
At the same moment that he started panicking he heard a faint noise of a motor but he didn’t move didn’t look up he was too scared too tired he just wanted to go home with his brother and never leave his side again.
When a hand touched his shoulder to pull him away from Jason he struggled against it for a few seconds before letting them pull him away from his big brother. Then a hand was passing though his hair and a voice talking to him he recognized the voice but couldn’t quite remember who it was but now he could hear what it was saying and see who it was. It was night wing that’s when he relised he was safe.
“Go Bruce!!! I’ll call the Batmobile I’ll take care of it”
“Okay I already called it Oracle says it will arrive in five minutes ”
“Thanks B now GO!”
“Breathe with me, okay? In… two… three… and out…”
Damian doesn’t respond. His whole body is shaking, the aftershock of too much adrenaline and not enough oxygen. Dick knows this panic well he’s lived it so many times . So he doesn’t push. He just breathes slow and loud, letting Damian hear it.
When Damian finally sucks in a shaky breath that mirrors Dick’s rhythm, Dick comes closer.
A few seconds pass quiet, fragile seconds. Eventually, Damian slumps forward, sad , exhausted and humiliated, forehead pressed against his knees sobbing silently .
They sit there for a few minutes before Damian starts leaning into Dick and slowly removes his head from where it rested on his knees and puts it on his brothers shoulder. At that same moment the faint sound of the Batmobiles motor started getting louder and louder until the car stopped a few meters away from them.
Dick looked at his little brother he looked exhausted hands and knees covered in his brother’s blood.
“Hey what about we go home and wash up then we could check on Jay see how he’s doing?“
Damian didn’t look up he simply nodded into Dick’s shoulder still shaking and sobbing. When he first arrived to Gotham Damian didn’t show any emotion he had gotten better at not hiding his anger or sadness but even now he didn’t normally show this much emotion. He looked way too exhausted to walk.
“Is it okay if I pick you up ?”
Damian took a minute before answering with a tiny nod. Slowly and carefully Dick starting lifting the kid up into his arms being extra careful to not freak the kid out more than he already was. As soon as the kid was in his arms he wrapped his arms tightly around his brothers neck holding him like his life depended on it.
Once they arrived next to the car nightwing tried to put Damian down on the passenger seat but the kid wouldn’t let go of him so he sat on the passenger seat the kid on his lap and he programmed the autopilot to get them to the cave.
On the way there Dick looked at his baby brother’s face the kid was sleeping robin mask still on tears leaked from under it his skin was pale and even in his sleep he was still visibly shaking. It broke Dick’s heart to see his brother like that.
When they arrived to the cave
He carried him gently to one of the clean benches in the locker room of the cave. He didn’t lay him flat just propped him sitting upright against his chest as he kneels behind him. The uniform had to come off. Damian shouldn’t wake up like this. Not covered in his own brother’s blood.
Carefully, Dick removes the cape, trying not to shift Damian too much. The clasps click free one by one. He pulls it off and sets it aside.
Then the gloves. Then the belt.Then the mask. And finally the hardest part the tunic he had to be careful with the collar so it didn’t drag across Damian’s face.
Damian mumbled something in his sleep.
He took one of the soft towels from the first aid shelf and wiped the blood smeared on Damian’s arms and neck, wincing at how much of it there was on his tiny body. It’s not Damian’s. That made it worse somehow.
He dresses him in soft, clean clothes one of jason’s too big sweaters that Damian had secretly taken , and a pair of sweatpants that Dick had stashed in the lockers weeks ago.
When Damian is clean and warm and curled against his chest again, Dick lets out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. He holds his little brother tighter, fingers carding gently through Damian’s hair careful to not wake him up .
Dick was still in his costume minus the mask so he left Damian to go get changed into more comfortable clothes. When he returned the kid was still sleeping Dick slowly picked him up and brought him to the med bay where Jason was hooked to multiple machines his heartbeat steady.
He sat down carefully trying not to jostle the sleeping kid bundled in his arms.
After about an hour Bruce entered quietly, his cowl pulled back, exhaustion etched into every line of his face. He stopped when he saw them Dick was sitting on one of the uncomfortable benches of the med bay, back to the cave wall, Damian asleep and bundled in his arms.
Dick looks up and gives a soft smile. “He passed out in the car on our way back.”
Bruce kneels in front of them. His eyes flick to the discarded, bloodied uniform, and then back to Damian’s pale face.
“How is he?” Bruce asks.
“He’s shaken up pretty bad. But he’ll be okay.”
Dick pauses, running a hand through Damian’s hair.
“He was more afraid of losing Jason than I think he realized.”
Bruce’s shoulders drop slightly.
“He stayed with him until you got there,” Dick adds. “Did everything right.”
Bruce nods, and very gently, brushes a gloved hand across Damian’s hairline removing the hair that was stuck to his forehead with sweat from his face.
“I’m proud of him.”
Dick holds the tiny boy in his arm just a little tighter.
“Me too.”
Bruce sat next to them and fell asleep only a few minutes later Dick decided to try and do the same he hadn’t shown it to any of Damian or Bruce but he was exhausted from that night events took a lot of his energy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first thing Damian felt when he came to was the warmth under him after a moment he realized that the warmth in question was his brother’s sleeping form after realizing that he immediately stood up embarrassed of his actions of last night.
The second thing he noticed was his other brother Jason lying on a cot machines hooked up to his body. The man was awake and giggling after seeing his little brother react like that.
“Stop laughing this is not funny Todd”
“It kinda is tho”
“Tt”
Damian took a few steps in the direction of the medical bed he looked like he wanted to ask something but was too afraid of being rejected. Jason realized what the boy wanted and asked
“You wanna hop on?”
“Tt. You’re ridiculous Todd… but fine”
The boy started climbing on and laying down stiffly next to his brother afraid of hurting him more than he already was.
Jason pulled him closer and Damian curled up next to him murmuring
“Don’t ever do that again”
“I would do it a million times if it means you are safe”
THE END