Chapter Text
Damian would never admit he was glad for the excuse to take Jon with him on patrol. Patrols were so much easier with a Super by your side. Damian was sure not to let his guard down regardless of the promised ease of tonight's patrol. His mother’s voice whispered in his mind to never underestimate your opponent, especially when they're backed into a corner.
So despite basically bringing a gun(a Kryptonian) to a fist fight(the average Gotham back alley crime), Damian remained alert. He was possibly even more alert than usual since the only reason Alfred had cleared him to come was because Damian had agreed to bring a patrol partner. If he got injured on patrol with Jon then Richard would never let him hear the end of it. Then to make matters worse, it was likely that Alfred wouldn't ever allow him to use Jon as a loophole again.
Stupid bruised ribs. Making everything more complicated.
Still as the light rain slowly worked its way into the layers of his suit and the two of them passed yet another empty alley, Damian couldn't help but be in good spirits. He was doing something important with someone whose company he begrudgingly enjoyed.
Summer break had just started. Damian and Jon had plenty of plans to fill the summer but it was a pleasant surprise that they could start on said plans this early. Robin stopped down a smile, not wanting to give Jon any chance to realise his feelings on the matter.
Sadly his good mood didn't last.
He and Jon were running across a roof, headed towards the edge when Jon sucked in a breath and stumbled to a stop. Immediately Damian clocked his best friend’s change in pace and turned to take in his friend’s rapidly paling face. Jon was staring at a spot between their feet, looking more ill by second.
“Superboy.” Damian snapped, hoping his tone would cut through Jon’s thoughts. “Report!”
Jon’s head whipped towards Damian but none of the horror was eased from his face. Damian had only a moment to take in Jon’s dilated pupils and quicker breathing before the Kryptonian’s gaze snapped back to the roof and he choked. “She's still- she's-”
Jon’s heat vision suddenly blinded Damian for a moment before he blinked away enough spots to see a melted hole in the roof. Superboy didn't even wait long enough to make the hole bigger before he threw himself through the hole, using his invulnerability to finish making the hole an accessible size through pure force and panic.
Damian cursed. Whatever Jon saw it must be bad to have him running in without a plan. They’d been friends long enough now for Damian to have mostly curbed that bad habit. Robin tapped his comm to let Oracle know he was running into an altercation before dropping down after Jon.
Green.
Glowing sickly green dripping from the edge of the table. Flowing down an IV line. Coating the surgical instruments scattered onto the ground.
Lazarus Green. Pits green.
Damian froze as his brain screamed at him. He barely registered Jon knocking down the last of some lab coated figures on the other side of the table. All he could see and think about was the pits. Grandfather's grin. Jason's rage. Everything lit up in green.
“Dami.”
Robin snapped himself out of his momentary pause, his training taking over, and met Superboy's eyes over the table. Over the body strapped down to the table. He didn't even bother correcting Jon’s slip on using the wrong name.
“She's still alive.”
“What?!” Damian’s attention immediately focused on the body, no, the girl, strapped to the table. She was slender, definitely underweight, roughly his same height with shoulder length pure white hair. She was cut and pinned open like some kind of middle grade science project, various organs set to the side. Not even the pits could sustain someone in a state like this. “How could she possibly be-”
“I don't know! But her heart-” Jon swallowed thickly. “It's still beating.”
Before Damian could process that bit of information, an alarm started blaring. Red lights on the walls started flashing. Then suddenly the girl on the table convulsed and let out an ear shattering scream.
The lights above flickered. Damian covered his ears like that would help stop his very bones from vibrating. The scream seemed to just keep going. Every added second made Damian's desperation to make it stop, grow ten fold.
Suddenly, his eyes caught on the cuffs holding her down. The lights on them glowing a bloody red. As suddenly as he had spotted them, he had his sword in hand, a plan already formed. He sliced the lines leading to the cuff on her left ankle before turning to the one on her wrist.
Thankfully, Jon picked up on Damian's plan, and ripped off the other two cuffs with a sharp hiss. The girl deflated like a balloon and finally stopped screaming. Jon shook his hands out and glared so hard at the ruined cuffs that Damian suspected he was considering melting them. “Electricified.”
Damian couldn't do much but huff at the statement. His growing anger was making it difficult to remain on task.
A breathy chuckle echoed his huff and his attention snapped to the girl's face. She was crying but an unhinged smile was cracking her chapped lips. “T-take that you stupid…” she trailed off as she lost consciousness.
Damian felt a spark of admiration. Still fighting even through being dissected. Damian recognises a warrior when he sees one.
Superboy suddenly jerked to attention and lasers sprung from his eyes to hit the door, melting the handle. “We’ve got company incoming.”
“Damn.” Robin pointed at the girl. “Put her back together as best you can.”
“Me?!” Jon shouted.
“You know where organs go better than me! Just look at my organs anytime you forget where something goes.” Damian glared at his friend as he tapped his comm. “Oracle. I need immediate backup to my location.” Thankfully Jon dropped the issue and steeled himself to start grabbing the organs on the table. “Don't let anyone escape before the police arrive.” He glanced around and frowned. “I don't have access to a computer but there is likely one nearby. I’m setting up a beacon for you. See what you can scrape before they start deleting it.”
With a flick, Robin set a special batarang flying into a dark corner to be embedded into the wall. “Beacon signal received. Robin, what is happening down there? Your signal is weak.”
Damian turned back to Jon and the girl before he grabbed some surgical thread and needles. He stared at the girl's pained expression, splattered with green, before coming to a decision. “Alert Dr. Thompkins to make her way to the cave. We’ll have a patient there shortly.”
“B’s not gonna like that.” Oracle had clearly put together that it wouldn't be him or Jon who would be the patient.
“Send my mask footage to him as soon as you can retrieve it. Also remind Father…,” he prepared to to start stitching the girl closed, meeting Jon’s eyes as he relayed his message for Batman, “My grandfather has eyes everywhere.”
—
Transporting both an injured girl and a ground bound Robin via Superboy's flight(he was never going to call it the Super Express, Jon) was a difficult endeavour but neither boy was willing to waste a second getting back to the cave.
Despite flying as fast as the two of them dared, Dr Thompkins still managed to beat them to the medbay inside the Batcave. Damian flipped off of Superboy's back as his flight slowed down so Jon could focus on keeping the Lazarus Pit Girl as steady as possible.
“Robin.”
Damian suppressed a sigh as he watched Jon, the girl cradled in his arms, rush into the medbay. It seemed he would have to deal with Father's second guessing before he could check on the girl's progress. He turned to the cloaked figure and crossed his arms. “Batman.”
His father met his eyes for a moment before relaxing his stance. “Damian.” And just like that the Dark Knight pulled the cowl back and it was just Bruce Wayne, his father, standing across from him.
Damian relaxed slightly. Perhaps this wouldn't be as much of a battle as he had feared. “Did you receive my message from Oracle?”
Father frowned slightly. “Yes.”
Damian nodded. “And the mask footage?”
The frown deepened. Despite the security risks, his father was always weak to endangered children. Not that the girl was much younger than him, but Father would still see her as a child. “Yes.”
“I assume you understand why we couldn't take her to a regular hospital.”
“Bringing people into the Batcave isn't a decision that should be made lightly.”
Damian grit his teeth. “She bleeds Lazarus Waters. She was mid dissection when we stumbled upon her. I refuse to allow Grandfather to further her suffering assuming she wasn't already suffering at his hands to begin with.” Damian met his father's eyes. “Do you truly think I made my decision lightly?”
Father paused. “We will need to inform the others to follow protocol regarding a stranger in the cave.”
Protocol was important. As much as Damian wanted to believe the girl had no ill intent towards them that would be a rather naive assumption to make. Still the matter was… sensitive. Not only for the girl but also for several members of the family. “Keep details limited.”
Father's face would seem stoic to the average gothamite but to any Robin, Batman looked like he had just sucked on a lemon.
Damian held up a hand. “As much as I would like to keep this case to myself…” he did his best to keep his displeasure in check but his father knew him well. The batman would know how conflicted he felt saying the following words. “Tt, Todd and Drake should be informed first.”
The assassin stared at the floor. He'd fallen back on his old habit of calling his brothers by their last names, immediately guaranteeing his Father being aware of his inner turmoil. Damian had gotten better at admitting his affection for the family but his father’s soft looks every time he did were difficult to stomach without feeling like he was being pitied. “Am I free to go?”
A pause before Father finally answered. “Be sure to fill out a full report.”
“Like I would forget.” Damian spun on his heel and headed for the medical bay. He trusted Father and Barbara to keep the family informed. For now he had a victim to assess and a Kryptonian to comfort.
The young heir assessed the situation as he entered the medical bay. The girl was laid carefully on a cot, hooked up to various devices, and breathing slowly. Dr. Thompkins and Alfred were cleaning up various surfaces of the workstation, silent in their easy routine.
Jon perked up at the sight of Damian. He resolutely ignored the pleased feeling at Jon’s excitement to see him. “How is she?”
Jon deflated a bit as Damian came and sat next to his best friend. “Not great. Her blood pressure is so low they didn't dare open her back up. Good news though, I apparently put everything back close enough to normal that it probably won't need to be redone… if she doesn't get infected from having my hands…” Jon looked a bit sick again before shaking his head. “Anyway the stuff in the IV matched her blood close enough that we decided to give the rest of it to her.”
“Did you-” Damian stopped when Jon wordless held up a vial filled with a familiar glowing green.
“Apparently it's not a match to Lazarus Water but it's close enough that they're definitely related somehow.” Jon handed over the vial before slumping back down in his chair. He stared at their patient. “Do you think she'll make it?”
Damian quietly noted to himself to check over the lab analysis of the girl's blood and the sample pulled from the… lab, if one could even call the work place of mad scientists a lab, and compare them to the file they had on Lazarus Water. “She's a warrior.” The boys stared at the pale girl on the bed. “I have a feeling giving her a chance to recover was all she really needed.”
Jon sighed. “I hope you're right.”
The two looked up at the sound of someone clearing their throat. “Master Damian, Master Jon.” Alfred looked over them carefully. “You should get cleaned up. Dr. Thompkins will return tomorrow to check on the young miss’s progress.”
The best friends exchanged glances. “I don't want to leave her alone…” Jon said hesitantly.
“I’ll be keeping watch.” Alfred assured them. “If the young lady wakes up, you two will be the first to know.” Seeing their doubtful faces he continued. “I’m sure she won't like to wake to the sight of someone covered in her blood.”
Jon winced at the reminder of what state his suit was in.
Damian didn't comment on the fact that neither of them would be comfortable with anyone but the two of them watching her. At least until she woke up. Alfred was an amazing medic but something he and Jon always shared was seeing things through to the end. “I’ll keep watch first.” Damian turned to Jon. “I’ll need to distract my family from poking their noses where they don't belong. Be quick. Many of them will be back from Patrol soon.”
Jon gave a lopsided smile, “Eye, eye, Captain.” He gave a messy salute before disappearing in a blur.
Alfred raised an eyebrow but thankfully refrained from making any comments on their attachment to the girl. “Very well, If
you're going to watch the young miss then I’ll bring you some food.”
Damian nodded and waved him off. It was going to be a long night.