Work Text:
To say it was a nightmare would be an understatement.
Gotham was on fire. Buildings, cars, trashcans - everything. A citywide blackout. Poisonous gasses of every kind rolling through the streets, taking down anyone who dared to step outside.
Bats included.
Despite their years of training, their state-of-the-art technology, their antidotes and inoculations, all of it - they were still no match. No match for the villains who banded together against them, no match for the strategy slaved over. No match for a night of just god-awful, rotten luck.
They were no match for Batman’s rebreather breaking with a lucky hit. They were no match for Damian’s stupid, kind, heartbreaking decision to shove his own rebreather onto Jason’s face when he saw that Jason’s mask had been taken by a hidden goon.
Tonight, they were no match for the hellscape that is Gotham City.
So it was Nightwing who made the call to fall back, as he grabbed a trembling Batman before he collapsed. Felt some relief when he saw Red Robin scoop a too quiet Robin off his feet as they took off towards a rarely used entrance to the old bunker.
The city was powerless - literally. But the bunker under the penthouse had never been part of the city.
It still had a generator, and the old thing coughed to life when Jason hit it. It wasn’t much, but enough to have lights, and run the medical equipment they needed to make sure Bruce and Damian were okay.
And good god - they were not okay.
Bruce was clearly suffering from a new strain of fear toxin, his fists clenched and skin sweat-soaked. He was only half-conscious, falling into those horrifying dreams that Crane loved so much, but Cass silently strapped the restraints onto his wrists and ankles anyway.
Damian was also struggling to stay lucid, eyes drooping every few seconds, followed by a sharp jerk to sit up straighter on his cot. He still wouldn’t say much. Gave clipped yes or no answers when asked something. It was when Jason’s guilt got the better of him that they realized:
“Are you stupid, Damian?!”
“No.”
“Why the hell would you do that? Why’d you give me your mask?!”
“You were in distress.”
“Oh, so better you get hit with the fear gas instead?!”
“Always.”
“‘Always.’ I- what the fuck? You could have died. Is that what you wanted?!”
“...Yes.”
“...”
“...”
“Why the hell’d you take that gas for me?”
“Because you’re more important than I’ll ever be.”
Damian had gotten hit with a truth toxin. He couldn’t lie, he couldn’t avoid, even if he wanted to. Tried to stop himself, bit his lips, bit his tongue, and got nothing for his efforts but a mouth full of blood.
So as much as they didn’t want to, as much as it was literally the last thing any of them wanted, they left him alone. They didn’t speak to him. They tried other ways of comfort, of course. Dick kissed his temple. Cass squeezed his hand. Tim brought him snacks. Jason found some of his favorite books online and gave Damian his phone.
But Damian didn’t react to any of it. Kept still on the bed, head turned away, eyes a thousand miles away as he wrestled between consciousness and dozing.
Meanwhile, Bruce whimpered and sobbed. Muttered a word or two here and there. Never enough to make sense, but enough to make his remaining children ache with worry.
“The way I see it, we have two options, and I don’t like either of them.” Tim sighed from in front of the old computer after a few hours. Jason had resigned himself to the training area with Cass’s supervision, and Dick watched absently from the railing, wondering if he’d break the old punching bag.
“Give ‘em to me, Timmy.” Dick hummed.
“We split up, and a few of us get back to the Cave by any means necessary to get started on an antidote.” Tim droned. “This bunker saved us in a pinch, but we didn’t keep anything like antidotes or updated medical tech here when Batman and Robin went back to the manor, and Nightwing came out of retirement. And Alfred can’t even hope to brute force his way into the correct recipe without our blood test readings, which we can’t send because of the blackout and the siege on the city.”
Dick hesitated a second, watching as Cass blocked one of Jason’s harder punches to the bag, and motioned for him to inhale slowly with her.
“Option two?”
“...We wait it out.” Tim said miserably. “It’s gotta leave their systems eventually, right?”
Dick stared at Jason and Cass for a few seconds more before turning to Tim.
“...No.”
“To which one?”
“Both.” Dick said definitively. “I’m not sending anyone out, not with the city like this, and I’m not going to let our dad and brother just lay here and suffer.”
“Then what the hell else are we going to do?” Tim threw his hands up. “We’ve been stuck here for three hours, and I haven’t been able to come up with literally anything else we could do, so what do you propo-”
“Son?”
Tim’s voice died in his throat even as Dick whirled toward the medical area. The voice had been Bruce. Soft, shaking, childish - but their dad nonetheless.
“...Damian?” Bruce whimpered now. “Son?”
Damian sat up a little straighter, head tilted as he looked towards his father. “Yes?”
“Damian?” Bruce asked, hopeful now. As Dick, Tim, Cass and Jason congregated back together in the med bay, they saw that Bruce’s eyes still weren’t open. In fact, they were squeezed shut, with as much force as Bruce could muster. “Are you here?”
“Yes.” Damian said simply. He shifted to throw his blanket off and stand, but Tim held his hand up, shook his head.
“Are you okay?”
Damian opened his mouth, glanced towards his siblings, then slumped a little. “...No.”
“No?” Bruce breathed tearfully. “Did I hurt you?”
Damian’s throat made a confused sound, like his brain couldn’t decide what to say. What the truth was. “No…?”
Jason went to Bruce’s side, eyes scanning the monitor’s readings.
“No? No. Good. That’s good. I’m glad I didn’t hurt you.” Bruce suddenly tugged on his restraints. “You know I love you right?”
Damian’s face instantly went white. “...No.”
“You…you don’t?” Bruce asked painfully. Tim was instantly between their cots, checking the dosage of medication and fluids they were pumping into Bruce’s veins. “You think I don’t love you?”
“Damian, don’t answer that.” Dick ordered quickly as he rushed to Damian’s side. “You don’t have to-”
Damian’s eyes were wide as he stared up at Dick, and involuntarily said: “I know you don’t.”
Pain tore through Dick’s chest, and he saw it reflected on his brothers’ and sister’s faces.
“Do you think I love the others more than you?”
“Bruce!” Jason yelled. Bruce twitched. “Come on, old man, wake up!” He slapped Bruce’s arm. “You’re dreaming!”
“It’s okay.” Dick whispered quickly, as Damian closed his eyes. “You don’t have to answer. You don’t have to do or say anything you don’t want-”
Damian’s voice was hardly a breath. “Yes.”
Bruce gave out a whine, lurched violently against his bonds. He growled in frustration.
“Do you think I hate you?”
“Don’t.” Dick begged, reaching up for Damian’s face. “Damian, please don’t answer-”
“...Yes.” Damian blurted out, even as he moved his hands to slap over his mouth.
“We’ve got to separate them.” Tim hissed, even as he shook Bruce’s arm in an attempt to wake him. “We’ve gotta get one of them outta here.”
“And go where?” Dick snapped, even as he clung to Damian’s wrists. “We need power and this is the only place we can get it. And like I already said, we are not splitting up and going out there-”
“Who?” Bruce wailed pathetically. “Who would I love more than you, Damian?”
Damian shook his head viciously, and Dick could see the red of fresh blood beginning to seep through his fingers.
“There’s nothing else I can give him to shut him up, Dick!” Tim raised his voice, to hopefully drown out Bruce’s babbling. “And Damian should not be forced to be tortured like this!”
“I went to Apokolips to bring you back to life. I fought your mother. Your grandfather. I let you kill people.” That seemed to stop Bruce in his tracks, in whatever his nightmare was showing him, as he let out a little gasp. “...I’m ashamed of you?”
“For fuck’s sake, Bruce…!” Jason yelled, punching Bruce’s arm. Bruce’s eyes opened a little, a tiny sliver. “Shut the fuck up, you-”
“Is that what you think?” Bruce continued. Another tug of the restraints on his wrists. “You think I’m ashamed of you?”
Tears rolled down Damian’s cheeks and mixed with the blood from his mouth.
Dick held his own hand over Damian’s. “It’s okay. It’s okay, Damian. It’s fear toxin, alright? He’s not in his right mind, it’s his greatest fear he’s talking about. He isn’t ashamed of you, he doesn’t hate you. He’s asking because he’s afraid-”
But Damian pushed his hands away from his mouth, the momentum taking Dick’s too.
The words fell out of his mouth like vomit. “Yes, Father.”
“...Oh.” Bruce sighed. Now it was Damian squeezing his eyes shut, even as Dick tried to gently wipe away his tears with the corner of the bedsheet. “Oh dear.” A moment of uneasy silence. “...I’m sorry you feel that way.”
And Damian relaxed slightly, because it wasn’t a question. Because he didn’t have to answer anything.
“But who do you think I love more than you?” Bruce asked thoughtfully, half-open eyes darting around blindly, like he could see Jason and Tim standing around him, but didn’t recognize them. “You didn’t say. And I would like to know, your opinion is very im-”
“Everyone!” Damian shrieked, twisting painfully towards Bruce. “Every single person you have ever met before me, and every single person you have met since I was forced into your life as yet another burden someone else has demanded you bear!”
Tim and Jason just stared at the brother in stunned silence, and Dick was too thrown to even attempt to comfort him.
“...Everyone?” Bruce repeated blankly, even as Damian slumped exhaustedly into Dick’s arms. “That’s…a lot of people.”
“No shit.” Jason murmured, voice brittle.
“Would you be happier if…if I sent you back to-”
“I found them.”
Tim jumped at the soft sound of his sister’s voice and spun around. She was practically running towards them from the dark corner of the bunker, something bulky in her hands.
“Found?” Tim asked. “Found what…?”
“Tim. Phone.” Cass held up her treasure as she approached Damian’s bed. Giant headphones.
Noise cancelling headphones.
“Music.” She said as she hopped onto the side of the bed, tilting Damian’s face away from Dick’s chest just enough to place the headphones snuggly on his ears. “You have some, yes? On your phone?”
“I, uh…yeah! Yeah.” Tim backed away from Bruce, who was now muttering about travel, and Talia. They could hear the question in his voice as he spoke, but continued to speak over him, in hopes that Damian did not. He pulled his phone from his pocket, fumbling through unlocking the screen. “Always have music. You know me, I’m the music guy of the family.”
Damian lifted his watery eyes to stare at Cassandra. She smiled as she turned the headphones on. “You cannot answer what you cannot hear.”
“Something loud.” Dick requested. “And maybe a little upbeat? A little comforting?”
“Dick, believe it or not, I already have a playlist full of Damian’s favorite classical composers already made.” Tim smirked. “What kind of brother would I be if I didn’t already have one for each of you?”
Dick smiled softly as Damian let his head collapse back against his chest, and gently carded his fingers back into Damian’s hair. He couldn’t hear the music, but felt the vibrations as Tim hit play.
As Damian let his eyes fall shut again, Cass took a hold of his hand and squeezed his fingers. She looked up at Dick. “Stay with him? We will handle Bruce.”
“If you insist.” Dick hummed, slowly shifting himself onto the bed. He didn’t let Damian go, and Damian didn’t ask him to, just went with the movement. “I’ll be right here if you need me.”
“Damian.” Bruce called again. Damian didn’t flinch. Didn’t move. Didn’t open his eyes. Just clung to his brother and focused on the music being blasted into his ears. “Damian, do you know how much I love you? Can I tell you? Please?”
“When you’re not hopped up on fear gas, and he’s not physically forced to tell us every deep dark thought he’s ever had, you can tell him whatever you want.” Tim declared, leaning on Bruce’s mattress. “But in the meantime-”
“Because it’s a lot.” Bruce continued, like Tim hadn’t spoken. “Because I love you more than anything. Just like I love your brothers. And your sister. You’re my whole world. You’re all my whole world. And I know I haven’t told you that enough.”
Jason let out a groan. “I’m too tired for this.”
“Ditto.” Dick called, squeezing Damian’s shoulder.
“Definitely less than ideal.” Tim agreed.
Cass gave a soft giggle, and pushed Tim away so she could kiss Bruce’s temple.
“We love you, Father.” She whispered. “And you have nothing to fear, because Damian does too.”
Bruce’s muscles went limp, and his fists unclenched. “Do you really think so?”
Cass let her smile widen, as she took Bruce’s hand, and Tim and Jason returned to checking his and Damian’s medical monitors. She glanced back to their youngest, guiltily cocooned in the safety of their eldest’s arms, who was keeping tired watch. “I know so.”