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He quickly ducks back down behind the AC unit, hoping Batman doesn’t come this way. How did he end up here in Gotham of all places! Why does his cursed bad luck never give him a break. Now he’s here in Gotham, in the city he’d vowed to avoid forever. He can’t risk running into Damian. What if his brother sees him and tries to finish what he failed at before?
Danny needs to leave. Danny doesn’t know if Damian’s told any of the other Bats. He’s never really been sure what to think of the Bats. Batman goes after criminals, but Damian has killed before. He killed Danny. And Red Hood is a crime boss, but he supposedly also works with the Bats.
Danny had figured that Batman was like Mother and Grandfather, despising weakness. He probably accepted Damian and Red Hood because they helped further his goals
Danny knew that Grandfather’s plan had been to send one of them to train with their father. Maybe that’s why Batman is okay with Damian having killed. If Damian isn’t going to stay in Gotham then it would make sense that Batman would put aside Damian’s past deeds while he is training.
But Damian’s been here for four years. They never trained under anyone for more than a few months. Danny had wondered why Damian was still in Gotham, why he had taken on the Robin mantle. It didn’t surprise him that his brother volunteered at animal shelters. Damian had always had a soft spot for animals, even though Mother and Grandfather had tried to beat that out of him. But why is Damian still here? Surely, he can’t still be training. Maybe there’s a longer mission involved.
But it doesn’t really matter.
What matters is that Danny gets out of Gotham before any of the Bats, especially Damian sees him.
He doesn’t want to die again.
After a restless sleep, he gets up in the morning, looking around from his rooftop position to try and spot which direction he needed to head in to get out of Gotham as quickly as possible without having to transform and fly out. He doesn’t want to attract any GIW attention.
He can see one of the bridges leading out of the city in the distance. He’ll head in that direction and make a better plan about what to do next when he’s out of Gotham.
He climbs down the fire escape, wincing when every movement pulls at his injuries. He should probably nab some clothes from somewhere so he doesn't draw too much attention.
He finds a thrift store and enters invisibly, grabbing a change of clothes before making his way to a neighboring roof. He hates stealing, but he’d rather that than having the cops or CPS called on him for wearing torn and blood stained clothes.
Once he’s changed he starts making his way to one of the Gotham bridges. He doesn't know where he’ll go after this. He just knows he needs to get out. He doesn’t think he can face Damian. He doesn’t want to know what his brother will do if he sees him still alive.
But maybe it wouldn’t be so bad… What does Danny have to live for? The crown? He never wanted it, and what have the denizens of the Realms ever done for him? He may have some friends, but as far as he knows the Realms were perfectly fine while Pariah was asleep. Surely, they don’t really need Danny to sit on the throne. He doesn’t need to feel responsible for them.
But he also can’t give up. Jazz and his friends didn’t die for him just for him to give up. He won't make their sacrifice worthless.
He’ll try to live. He’ll get out of Gotham and find a way into the Realms.
He can do this.