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“Yes, Grandfather,” Damian stood before Ra’s. Standing as tall as his short stature would allow him.
“You will leave tonight and you will not return until the Bat is dead.” Damian remained silent, he knew what was expected of him after all. His grandfather eyed him over once more before nodding and dismissing the boy. He returned back to his room, preparing for his departure from Nanda Parbat.
Damian knew just about everything there was to know about Batman, going over all the details he could think of in his head as he sat on the jet nearing Gotham. For the first time, he would be on his own away from his mother and grandfather. Away from the entire League of Assassins. He knew he’d be fine, he’d spent his entire life training for this of course, and it wasn’t like he was just being dumped there. Damian had access to multiple safe houses scattered around Gotham, as well as the locations of multiple of Batman’s own.
As the jet began to descend he braced himself. His first official mission, he could not mess this up.
Luckily, he did not have much to carry. He kept a small bag on his person and would be able to find or buy anything else he needed once he reached the safe house. For now, however, Damian remained in civilian clothing, both his suit and league garb in his bag alongside a few other personal items. No one would recognize him here anyways, no point in the risk of revealing his position so soon.
Despite this, he remained close to shadows and back alleys as he slipped down the streets of Gotham and towards his first safe house. He would have a few hours before Batman and Robin went on patrol. Damian silently rolled his eyes, reminding himself of the cursed partner that had almost slipped his mind. But that would be no problem, disable the bird and kill the bat. ‘Kill the bird if needed.’ Damian thought to himself as he slipped into the safe house.
⋆ ⋆ ⋆
He watched as the sun set before slipping back into his safe house and getting ready. He dressed in an all black suit, it was made to be fit and flexible, protective while still being thin. He readjusted his sword on his back before looking in the mirror, his mask in his hands. Closing his eyes, he placed the mask on to cover his face.
It was time.
Exiting the safe house, Damian climbed his way up to the roof. The boy stood for a moment, narrowing his eyes as he scanned the roofs of nearby buildings. Seeing nothing but the open sky, he clicked his tongue. He stood for just a moment longer before pulling out his grappling hook and shooting towards a nearby building. This way, he moved across the city almost silently, searching for the Bat.
He moved swiftly, having spent months prior to this memorizing the routes he’d learned the Bat commonly followed. He felt it a foolish thing, to be so consistent a child could memorize it. But Damian was more than just a mere child. Afterall, he was a trained assassin.
After a few minutes he finally caught sight of Batman. He remained a little ways away, watching as the man zip tied some thieves together. And that was how he spent his night, following Batman and Robin from a few buildings away.
As it neared 3am, he watched Batman and Robin discuss something quietly, too far for Damian to catch onto what was being said. Eventually the two left, running in the direction he knew the Batmobile was parked. Evidently, the two were done patrolling. Damian took that as his cue as well, and made his way back to the safe house.
Upon his return, Damian began mapping out the locations Batman had patrolled for the night. He made a list of the rest of the information he’d gathered before finally changing and heading to sleep. He still had an early morning ahead of him after all.
⋆ ⋆ ⋆
Damian woke at 6am quickly getting ready as he slipped back into his gear. He left his sword at the safe house this time, having no intentions or worries of needing it. Checking the time once more, he left the small apartment and returned to the roof, making his way towards Wayne Enterprise. He arrived on the roof of the next building just as Bruce Wayne pulled up. He watched Bruce enter the building before waiting. From where he sat he had a perfect view of Bruce’s personal office.
Despite his quickly growing boredom, Damian remained resolved to spend his time there watching Bruce. He knew he’d need to sneak in later and plant a bug, being able to see Bruce talk and not actually hear was rather boring after all. But until Bruce left, this wasn’t an option.
In turn, Damian remained stock still, his eyes never leaving the window that saw into Bruce Wanye’s office. He watched as people came and went. In the few times Bruce left the office, his eyes would scan the room, memorizing the layout, noting the weaknesses where he was certain would be blind spots from where Bruce sat as his desk.
As Bruce finally began packing up for the day, Damian sighed. He decided he’d come back to place the bug before following Batman on his patrol. For now, he grappled away, stopping a few blocks over before he made his way down from the roof and quickly changed back into his civilian clothing. He’d decided to not head back yet, instead heading towards the nearby park to enjoy the warm weather while it lasted.
While wandering around the park he readjusted his bag on his shoulder, careful to ensure his suit wasn’t sticking out and wouldn’t fall out as he took out a small bag of nuts. Damian continued walking a little further, looking for a more secluded area.
Finally content to having found the most ideal spot, he sat on the ground, taking out a few nuts and putting them in a pile before him, before continuing to eat the rest for himself. He took his time eating, watching the trees intently and keeping his movements steady and calm. Eventually a bird then two flew down, keeping their distance for a while, continuing to watch the boy before eventually hopping closer.
Damian smiled as the birds, crows, came closer. He held out his hand with a few more nuts, waiting patiently for one of the crows to trust him enough to take it from his hand. He remained at the park for a few hours as the sun started lowering in the sky. Eventually he knew he’d have to suit back up to continue with his mission. He could not lose focus of course.
He left the park not much longer after, suiting up in a dark alley before heading back to Wayne Enterprise. Sneaking in was almost embarrassingly easy as he slipped past security and up to Bruce’s office. He placed the mic on the underside of the desk, then placed two cameras around the room just for additional surveillance, before slipping out again, heading towards the entrance of the batcave so he could track Batman and Robin on their patrol once more. And that became his routine for the next few weeks. Watch Bruce work, go to the park to feed the birds, watch Batman patrol, create his plan, and sleep before he has to do it all over again the next day.
⋆ ⋆ ⋆
During his third week of following Batman, Damian had been running late. He’d gone to the park as he had every other day only for one of the crows to hop around until Damian followed it. The crow flew, stopping every so often to ensure Damian was following as he was led deeper into the park, leading to an injured bird on the ground. Finally understanding, he frowned and carefully scooped the bird up. He glanced around, eyes narrowing as he searched for possible onlookers before he pulled out his suit, using it to wrap the injured bird as he walked quickly back to his safe house. The boy was vaguely aware of the other bird continuing to follow him, entering the safe house with him.
He lay the injured bird on an open table, assessing the damage it had taken before deciding how to act. He knew he had to be careful, especially given how small the bird still was. But this wasn’t his first experience with an injured bird, he knew what to do, knew not to panic.
The sun was long gone by the time Damian suited back up, having moved the injured crow into a safer location for the time being. As he stepped onto the roof he looked around. The crow having followed him out flew off, only to appear again moments later, circling above Damian before flying off once more. He frowned before following, struggling only for a moment to catch up and keep the dark bird in his sights against the night sky. The crow eventually flew back down, allowing Damian to slow as he held out his arm to let the bird land on him. Finally looking around at his surroundings, he quickly spotted Batman and Robin working below him as they took down a few thugs.
“Smart thing, aren’t you,” Damian whispered, focusing back on the crow perched on his hand. He smiled as he raised his other hand to pet the bird for a moment before it flew off. Maybe he should’ve been surprised, but it seemed he wasn’t the only one watching others from the shadows.
⋆ ⋆ ⋆
As Damian continued to watch after the healing crow, he remained in the company of another at almost all times. If he wasn’t in the apartment sleeping or directly caring for the injured, he was sitting on the roof across from Bruce’s office with one or two crows hopping around beside him, or at the park feeding the flock.
In return, the crows brought him various items, usually coins or rocks. At some point, Damian trained the crows to help him watch for Batman out on patrol. He would let out a low, short whistle and the crows would fly off. Some time later they would return, cawing at him. He would follow them as they led him directly to the Bat.
On some of the quieter nights, he would teach them other commands. Teaching the crows to return to him at his command, teaching them how to spot danger, teaching the crows to peck and claw at thieves, robbers, and anyone else he felt was acting in bad taste. He may be an assassin, but he did have some standards.
It came to a head on one particular night when Damian had slipped into a dark alley, prepared to use it to change quickly before going to find Batman. He had already sent two crows off to scout for the masked man. In his distraction, he hadn’t realized someone else entering the alley behind him.
“Bit young to be out here on your own, ain’t ya?” The man was tall, at least thrice Damian’s own size. He narrowed his eyes, but said nothing as the guy moved closer. “Awfully expensive earrings you got on, not common to see somethin’ so shiny in these parts.”
The earrings in question were a gift from Talia. A pair of emerald studded earrings. Damian growled under his breath. He could take on the man easily enough on his own, but he also wasn’t willing to risk exposing himself.
Instead, he let out a sharp whistle. It was loud, echoing and bouncing off the walls as it drifted away from them. The man stilled for only a second before he began laughing, continuing his approach towards Damian.
It was about five seconds before a familiar crow swooped down, cawing loudly as though it was calling others as it came down on the man. Its claws dug into his arm and it began pecking at him. Moments later, three more joined it.
Damian smirked at the scene before he made his exit, leaving the crows to attack it until the man managed to shoo them off long enough to run away.
⋆ ⋆ ⋆
A month and a half after his arrival in Gotham, Damian decided it was time to execute his plan. He waited for the sun to fall before gearing up, his sword on his back. He moved silently, multiple crows flanking him as he grappled across the city. He’d waited for the right moment, watching as Robin descended on a group of thugs, Batman remaining on top of the next building, unaware of Damian's crouching presence.
He waited for a moment, ensuring Robin was busy in his own fight before he pounced. He jumped to the next building, landing silently behind Batman. He drew his sword, stalking up behind him. He swung, hitting Batman on the shoulder and preparing to take another shot as the man turned. Damian, used to training with men twice and thrice his size was able to hold his own well enough, managing to get a number of strikes in and avoid as many more.
It should have been fine, just a few minutes more and he would’ve had the opportunity to get his killing strike. Instead, he heard a loud yell, “B!” Robin. Damian mentally cursed the fools that were thugs for not lasting more than a few minutes against the vigilante. “Robin to the Cave, we need backup!”
‘Backup?’ Damian growled, launching himself back at Batman, refusing to back down. He was so close. He couldn’t give up. He had to complete his mission. He had to try. Or die trying.
That is what was expected of him.
Part of Damian wanted to whistle, to call for his trusted crows from where he knew they were watching. But he also didn’t want to risk them in the fray. Nor did he want to risk their assistance being used against him, used as a means to prove he wasn’t worthy of being the heir. He was sent on this mission alone for a reason after all.
Robin joined the fight, fighting alongside Batman with ease. Yet still Damian held his ground. Taking the few punches the two managed to land. He was forced to shift his focus, no longer fighting to kill Batman, but to keep himself from going down for as long as possible.
Minutes later, it seemed their backup arrived. “Having a party without me?” A new voice called as they landed on the roof. “A shame you forgot my invite, I’ve been told I’m the life of the party.”
“Just because you make out with everyone you meet at a party does not make you the life of it, it makes you a wh-”
“Language, Hood,” Batman grunted, dodging Damian’s swing.
Four against one was certainly not ideal for Damian. He clicked his tongue anyways as the two joined the fight. ‘Where the hell did they even come from?’ Despite the odds, it still took them several minutes to get Damian down and none of them were left without at least a few scratches.
“Who is he? He’s definitely not one I recognize,” Robin was the first to speak as he stared at Damian, his head tilted slightly. “Someone from Crime Alley?”
“Nope,” Red Hood said, popping the ‘p’ and shrugging as he lit a cigarette. “Although,” he paused to take a few puffs. “The fighting style is familiar, the League no doubt.” Batman grunted in agreement.
Damian glared at Batman but remained silent. His glare shifted to Nightwing as he spoke up. “Are you sure? He looks like a baby, probably even younger than Robin,” he frowned as he said this, leaning closer to Damian.
“I am not a baby, Grayson,” He growled.
The four men before him froze, staring at Damian. “If he knows our identities we can’t just leave him here, especially if he’s from the league,” Robin glanced towards Batman.
In turn, Batman nodded once. “We will take him to one of the safe houses for questioning. Better to know the League’s intentions before turning him over. Let’s go.”
The three vigilantes nodded, Nightwing grabbed Damian, ready to lead him to wherever they were headed. Damian watched him for a moment before looking past, spotting one of the crows from the park. He let out a long whistle, grinning as he watched the bird swoop down and nip at the hand grasping Damian. “What the hell?” Nightwing pulled back. Damian took the opportunity to try and run.
He didn’t make it far however, quickly being grabbed by Red Hood with one hand, the other covering his mouth. Unfortunately for Damian, the older wore thick gloves, making it impossible for his attempted bites to have any effect. “Get me something to tape his mouth with, Baby Bird,” Hood called back.
With his mouth taped and no other choice, Damian was taken with the vigilantes. Part way to the safe house he was blindfolded to avoid the location being given away.
⋆ ⋆ ⋆
Finally the blindfold and tape was removed after Damian was secured to a chair. As he blinked, readjusting to the light, he was met with Nightwing’s face. “So,” the older drawled, “How are you?”
“Tt.”
“Not much of a talker then, no worries. I’m great at talking,” Nightwing continued cheerily. “You know, I wasn’t a huge fan of that bird pecking at me but I will admit it was pretty cool, you should teach me how you did it sometime.”
“Shut your face, Dickhead and get the damn mask off,” Red Hood called, throwing a solvent towards Nightwing who caught it with ease.
“He’s in a bit of a mood tonight,” Nightwing stage-whispered to Damian as he began to remove his mask, much to Damian’s dismay. But with his arms tied there was little he could do about it.
With the mask off, Damian’s glare towards the man before him became all the more evident. Nightwing stepped back, tossing the solvent and mask to the side before turning to him again.
“Hey, Hood,” Nightwing called, looking over his shoulder, “He look familiar to you at all?”
Red Hood stepped forward, getting a closer look at Damian. “Familiar, but definitely not from Crime Alley.” He continued to stare at Damian, as though trying to place him but found he was unable to come up with anything. “You know all our identities, kid?”
“Not a kid, Todd,” Damian hissed.
“So likely all of them,” Red Hood shrugged, “You got a name?” Damian remained silent.
“C’mon, you’ve got to work with us,” Nightwing smiled cheekily. “What was your goal anyways, attacking Batman is a bold move.”
He clicked his tongue in annoyance. “I had it handled,” Damian responded. And yet he hadn’t. He messed up. He hadn’t considered the possibility of others. He had failed.
“Could have what? Killed him?” Red Hood laughed as he came back. “You aren’t the first to try kid, what makes you different from the rest?”
“I am not a kid. I am the heir.”
Hood frowned at that. “The heir-” he paused, looking over Damian again as though he finally understood. “No way, you’re the Demon’s Spawn?”
“Tt.”
Hood seemed to take that as confirmation, putting the pieces together as Nightwing continued to stare intently at Damian. “Holy shit, where’s B? This has to be Talia’s kid.” Red Hood turned to look for Batman, “I can’t believe I forgot she even had a kid.”
Nightwing watched as Red Hood disappeared, unsure of what else to say he looked back at Damian and shrugged. Damian’s gaze remained intently on the ground, glaring at it. The two waited in silence, waiting for Batman’s appearance.
He remained silent for a moment, glancing at Damian, “You’re certain he’s Talia’s son?” he frowned, not taking his eyes off Damian.
“Mother speaks highly of you, I have yet to understand why,” Damian looked towards Batman now, rage dancing in his eyes.
“So Talia sent him to kill you, but why?” Nightwing looked between the two, his smile fading.
“Not Talia,” Batman grunted, removing his cowl. “Ra’s more likely.”
The three continued discussing, all but ignoring Damian’s presence. A few minutes later, Robin walked in. He froze in the door, frowning as he looked between his family and their tied assassin. “Hey B, he kind of looks like you,” he said finally.
Bruce looked up to Robin sighing, “Not everyone with dark hair and blue eyes looks like me.”
Red Hood hummed for a moment before agreeing, “No, Timbit has a point B, he does look like you.”
Bruce frowned, much to his dismay his kids had a point.
⋆ ⋆ ⋆
“B, it’s a match,” Robin barreled back into the room, Red Hood on his heels.
“No way,” Nightwing gasped, jumping up from his seat and racing over. He snatched the paper from Robin’s hands, scanning it quickly. “No way,” he said again, passing the paper to Bruce.
The group looked up to Damian, unsure of how to continue. Damian for his part, wasn’t sure either. He’d been sent to kill his father?
Finally, Bruce sighed and moved forward to untie Damian. “Let’s have a chat.”
The five sat together, Damian still keeping his distance as he eyed them. It was a long while before the full story came out and silence fell over the group.
“Damian.”
“What?” Dick looked up, frowning at the younger. The younger vigilantes had all ditched their masks parkway through the conversation, none of them seeing a point if Damian had already known their identities and if Bruce felt comfortable enough to remove his cowl.
“My name is Damian,” he clarified with an eye roll and a click of his tongue.
“Well Damian,” Bruce smiled a little. “I’d like you to join us at the manor.”
“B, he tried to kill you!” Tim cut in with a bewildered look.
“He was sent by the League of Assassins and failed his mission, he can’t go back,” Dick glanced at Damian.
Jason grinned however, leaning towards the younger, “Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time Bruce took on someone who tried to kill him now would it?”
Oh. “You were the first failure. Grandfather told me you died,” Damian frowned.
“Nope!” Jason laughed. “Not while trying to kill B anyways, I died months before that though.” Damian decided to not question it.
“Come on boys, let’s go home,” Bruce sighed. “Damian?” the boy just nodded in response.
“Oh joy, new sibling,” Dick cheered with only the slightest bit of sarcasm.
⋆ ⋆ ⋆
“Dami, will you teach me how you trained those birds now?” Dick whined. Damian had stopped trying to get him to stop using that ridiculous nickname after the third week, the older just grinning after every threat he had made. It had been a few months since Damian attempted to kill Batman and he seemed to settle in with the family pretty well. Or, at least as well as you can settle a trained assassin into daily life.
Bruce had contacted Talia shortly after they arrived back at the cave that first night, only to learn she had been unaware of the true nature of the mission her father had sent Damian on. Damian and her spoke for a while before he was sent away, leaving Bruce and his mother to continue discussing. It was decided then that Damian would remain in Bruce’s care, allowing him to train and learn from his father before she came to retrieve him.
“Tt, you are too loud and move far too much Grayson, the crows do not like you,” came Damian’s response.
At some point, the crows began following him back to the manor, deciding to make the garden into their own home. Damian was silently happy about it, caring for them each day becoming part of his daily routine. He still made it a point to visit the park and the crows who remained there, of course, making a stop there whenever he patrolled, an activity that became more and more common as the weeks passed.
Most nights it was only Bruce, Tim, and Damian as Jason returned to his safe house and business in Crime Alley while Dick returned to Bludhaven, but at least once a week so far both the older boys would return to the Manor and join patrol.
⋆ ⋆ ⋆
“Father,” Damian approached Bruce one night at the Batcomputer. “I would like to officially establish myself as a vigilante within the group.”
Bruce’s hands froze over the keys as he hesitated. He did not want to deny the boy, knowing he was working to unlearn some of the ideals he had learned within the league. Plus, it had been weeks since Damian began patrolling with them and it wasn’t like you could hide the existence of an entire person for long.
Frankly, Bruce was surprised the media wasn’t raising questions already. But Damian could be a tricky thing to see even on the most active of nights.
As he was thinking of how to respond Tim walked in. He frowned looking at Bruce for a long moment, “Why do you look constipated?”
Damian turned on Tim at his appearance and repeated himself, “I would like to make my presence in Gotham known.”
Bruce looked between the two boys, waiting to see what would happen. Tim frowned, thinking for a moment before asking, “How?”
“As a vigilante obviously, Drake.”
Tim rolled his eyes before clarifying, “As Robin?”
He hid the hurt, the fear from his voice well. But Damian clicked his tongue and shook his head. All three were silent for a long while before Damian shifted his weight and softly said, “No.” Although he would not yet admit it, Damian didn’t quite feel he deserved the title of Robin. Not after he learned the true history of the mantle. Not after he thought to kill Robin just weeks ago.
“What were you thinking, Damian?” Bruce pulled the conversation back, his gaze focusing on his youngest once more.
Damian smiled, just slightly. “What do you think about Crow?”
Bruce thought for a moment before nodding. “We can discuss it more after I finish this report,” he gave Damian a small smile in return. Damian nodded in response before turning and making his way out of the cave.
His thoughts wandered as he exited the cave and went up into the manor. A few months ago he had come to Gotham with the goal to kill Batman. His father. And now he could not return home to his mother. Instead, he was following in his father’s footsteps in learning what it meant to find something worth protecting. Finding a way to use his stills for something good.
To add to it, he had his crows.
As he closed the door of the manor, three birds descended towards him and Damian smiled, holding out his arm. Two landed on the ground before him while the third perched on his waiting arm. It was evident that one was the injured bird he’d helped so long ago. He reached up, rubbing a finger against the crow’s feather. “Hello, Arrow,” he whispered softly to the bird on his arm.
He’d come to Gotham with the goal to take a life, and instead had managed to gain one of his own. Indeed much had changed. But Damian found he hadn’t minded it. With time, maybe he could learn to view this place as home too.