Chapter Text
Damian didn’t even know why he was humoring such a thought. He knew the answer. It was stupid to let it take up any more time in his head.
Yet, he couldn’t seem to let it go.
"Do you think you’re a good person, Damian?"
Of course he wasn’t. He had killed hundreds, maimed thousands. Father, Grayson, Todd, hell, even Drake were sure that wasn’t true. But Damian knew it was.
“Of course I am,” He’d scoffed at the girl, looking down at his algebra worksheet–he could have finished it already, but it would raise suspicion if the formerly-homeschooled boy finished his worksheet in two minutes–with disinterest. “My father donates to charity, as do I. How could I not be with how much good I do?”
After all, Damian Wayne was supposed to think well of himself. He couldn’t tell this girl that he had killed hundreds of men, women, even children.
“Well, have you ever lied?” The girl–Molly Anderson, he thinks her name is.–had asked, leaning over from her desk to his.
“Yes, but–” Damian began, only for her to cut him off.
“Have you ever taken something that isn’t yours?” She interrupted, tilting her head. Her voice wasn’t accusatory or shaming, however.
It was..gentle. Almost, inquisitive. It was like she was interested rather than trying to prove him wrong.
Damian frowned and set down his pencil. He turned to fully face Molly, “Yes.”
He had taken a lot that wasn't his. A life. Many. Too many to count.
She hummed and scooted closer, “Okay, one more,” She hummed, and Damian relented with a nod.
“Have you ever been jealous of someone else?”
Damian’s frown deepened and he nodded.
“Well,” she paused, thinking for a moment, then speaking, “Then you’re not a good person.”
Damian scoffed, who was this girl to tell him what he was or wasn’t? Even if she was right.
“Excuse me?” He grumbled, crossing his arms.
Molly flustered,and stammered over her words, “That came out wrong! I meant that you’ve broken three out of the ten commandments, which means you’ve sinned, and everyone who sins is a bad person!”
The ten commandments?
Damian had heard of such. His mother had mentioned that some people–foolish people–believed in an entity that had control over everything.
“Elaborate.” He conceded.
Damian was curious, sue him. He thought he knew everything, so he always liked to learn more.
Molly looked down at her hands–Damian now noticed there was a notecard in them–and bit her lip. “Okay,” She said, squirming then sitting up in her seat.
“So, in the beginning, before there was anything. There was God. And everything was good. There was no lying, or cheating, or murder, or anything like that.”
Damian perked up.
A perfect world?
That was just unrealistic. The world isn’t perfect. He can see that. And no murder? He’s killed enough to know that is just wrong.
“Then, God made people. A man and a woman, named Adam and Eve. And he put them into this giant garden with every animal and plant in the whole world. And they could eat anything, except for a fruit in the middle of the garden.” she explained. Molly spoke with her hands a lot, Damian noticed. She was currently holding out an open palm and putting one finger in the middle of it.
“So, long story short, the devil convinced Eve to eat the fruit, and she had Adam eat the fruit, and sin–which is basically all of the bad stuff–was made.
Damian nodded along. That..sort of made sense.
“Tell me more about this..devil.” He inquired, turning to face her completely, with his whole body turned instead of just his head.
“The devil is the enemy. He’s the one that makes us want to do bad things, and he hates God and anyone who follows him.” She explained.
“We all have sinned. Me, you, everyone. And because of that God can’t be with us anymore, because God is perfect and we aren’t.”
“So, now the bad news.” She frowned, “Sin is like..a debt,”
Damian frowned. He must be in a lot of debt, then. “How do we pay it back?” He asked her.
“The price of sin is death.”
Damian felt sick to the stomach.
Death? He deserved to die about a hundred times over, then.
“Wait, wait there's more!” Molly exclaimed, noticing Damian’s sour expression. “God still loved us, so what He did is he sent his son to Earth.”
Damian listened. There was more, maybe another way to fix this, to pay his debt.
“And his Son was Jesus. And Jesus lived a perfect life. He didn’t sin once, not even a white lie or like, being jealous.”
This man sounded..well, perfect. No sinning? Damian now knew that was impossible.
“And do you know what all of the leaders back then did? Like, the religious ones?”
Damian was on the edge of his seat. They must have praised him, they had to have made him king or worshiped him or at the very least allowed him to teach them his ways. “What?”
“They killed him.” She said, crossing her arms with a solemn look. “They tortured him and nailed him to a cross. And the reason that Jesus did it, instead of calling on God to kill them all or to save himself, was because he paid for all of our sin, all of our debt.”
Damian’s heart hurt.
“You do not understand how much I have committed these..sins.” He muttered. “He would have had to die a million times.”
Molly just smiled and shook her head no. “No. It's all forgiven. And you can be saved and forgiven forever.”
“How?” He twisted in his seat,
“You just accept him as your Lord and Saviour.”
Damian nodded, his expression unreadable.
“Thank you, Molly. I will think this over.”
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Damian had a lot to think over when Alfred picked him up.
Forgiven forever? All of his murders, his transgressions. His “sins” as Molly had called them, forgotten? It sounded too good to be true..and yet, he couldn’t help the heavy feeling that laid on his chest when he thought about it.
“Pennyworth?” Damian hummed, eyes locked on the window. “Where do you believe we go after we die?”