Chapter Text
"Robin, do you copy?"
"What is it?"
"Wow, rude much?"
"Tch, do not annoy me with your small comments towards my responses. What is it that you need, Hood?"
Damian rolled his eyes as he listened to Todd's annoying chuckles from the other end of the comms. He prepared to snap at his older brother's antics once more, but was stopped when the line began to act up. The teenage boy cringed, a frown on his face as Todd's voice crackled through the comms. Taking out the earpiece for a moment, rubbing his ear with his shoulder before muttering.
"Again?"
Placing the earpiece back in his ear, he sighed as he spoke up in annoyance.
"Hood, do you read me?"
He waited, listening for any type of response to his question. Much to his annoyance, he was only met with static. Letting out an annoyed huff, he ran a hand through his hair as he looked around.
"How annoying…"
He had no time to be dealing with faulty devices, not when he was in the middle of finals. He had insisted to the others that he was fully capable of continuing his patrols during finals, a decision he was starting to regret. Still, he was too prideful to admit that he hadn't made the best choice. He was, after all, a prideful boy. Defeat was not something he'd admit so easily.
SCREEEEE!!!!
"Ah!"
Damian was quick to take the earpiece out once again, cursing as he held his ear in a poor attempt to stop the ringing from the high pitched frequency. Beyond annoyed and ready to end his shift early, the teen moved to shove the earpiece in his utility belt, only to freeze when the frequency stopped. He stared down at the device in his hand, doing a full 360 as he kept his eyes and ears glued to the earpiece.
"What the…?"
He did that move a few more times before deciding that it was enough proof. It was just as he suspected, the frequency was coming from one specific direction. More than that, it was interfering with his means of communicating with the others. To him, this was more than enough of a reason to investigate things. If anything, this would finally put an end to the strange happenings that had been happening throughout the city for weeks now. It would certainly makes things easier for him.
"Hm…"
The young vigilante stayed on the rooftops, following the sound of the frequency. He eventually came to a halt on an abandoned building in the outskirts. Narrowing his eyes, he shut off the earpiece before walking into the building, determined to but an end to all this magic mayhem once and for all. He couldn't wait to get home and work on his final projects. Maybe he'd even go and get a pizza while he was at it.
"Come on, come on, come on…"
He paused when he heard the voice of a young girl echoing through the building. Activating his night vision, the young vigilante made his way to the second floor, peering through the railing as he crept along it. After all, he didn't want to risk her safety if she needed to be saved.
"No! No!"
He finally spotted the source of the voice, a young girl who was panicking all by herself. There was no one else around, no devices that might have been used against her. He knew it was a gamble, but the girl looked young and terrified. So, making up his mind, he made his way down to her. Keeping himself low to the ground, he raised his hands up as he spoke up in a calm, kind tone.
"Hello? Do you need any help?"
"Ah!"
Damian kept his hands up, doing his best to show himself to be as non-threatening as he could be. He had, in the five (almost six) years living with his father, had a lot of practice in being more gentle. It was moments like these that made it worth it.
"Hey, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."
The girl before him was younger than him, appearing to be anywhere between nine to eleven. She stared at him with fearful eyes, holding her hands close to her chest as he came out of the shadows. Her eyes lit up with recognition when the light shone on him, a small gasp leaving her as she spoke up.
"You're Robin!"
Damian nodded as he came to a halt, speaking up as he held a hand out to her.
"I am, it's nice to meet you. What's you're name?"
The girl stared at him for a moment before speaking up.
"I'm Deborah, but people call me Bora…"
"That's a nice name you got there. Bora, is it alright if I get closer?"
Fear filled her eyes once again, the young girl taking a step back before shaking her head.
"NO! I don't want you to get hurt!"
"Don't worry about that, you're not going to hurt me."
He frowned when she didn't respond, refusing to look at him again. Examining the room, he spoke up as he turned his attention back to her.
"Bora? Why are you here? Did someone bring you here?"
The young girl stared at him before shaking her head, sighing as she spoke up.
"No, I came here by myself."
"Why?"
Bora looked guilty as she stared down at her hands. She eventually came to a decision, nodding as she began to speak.
"I'm a ticking time bomb, Mister Robin."
"What do you mean?"
He watched as she knelt down, hugging her knees as she spoke up.
"I have magic, but I can't control it. My mom and dad say that I'm perfectly fine, that everything will be okay, but they're lying! I ended up hurting them! I didn't mean to, I promise! So, I ran away. I know they've been looking for me, but I don't want to hurt them or anyone else."
"You ran away? When?"
"Um…"
He watched as the girl thought things over, still hugging her knees as she did so.
"I think I left a few weeks ago? I was hiding in the alleys, but then my magic kept making the things around me act strange. I made my way over here, and I haven't hurt anyone since."
"Hm…Bora, have you eaten anything?"
"Not today, no…"
"Hm, wait here."
He wasted no time, leaving the building and going off to a nearby restaurant. He tried his earpiece once again, but was just met with more static. His earpiece wasn't the only thing acting up, nearby lights and televisions flickering and acting strange. Shaking his head, he'd find a different way to communicate with his findings with the others when he could. His mission at the moment was to feed Bora and get her back home. So, ordering a kids meal, the vigilante made his way back to the building. Much to his relief, Bora had stayed put, waiting for his return. Holding up the meal and drink, he gave her a short nod as he placed it down and took a few steps back.
"Eat up, okay? Not too fast, you'll make yourself sick."
The young girl lit up, drool practically spilling from her mouth before she happily sat before the meal. Sitting on the floor, she was more than happy to eat her first full meal in a long time. Damian watched, satisfied that she was more than happy to eat. Maybe getting her back home would be easier than he thought.
"Bora?"
"Yes?"
"Would it be alright if I got you back home? Your parents are probably worried sick."
The young girl paused before frowning. She ate another fry before shaking her head.
"I'd really like to, but I can't."
"Why not?"
"I don't want to make them sad. I…I took a book from my mom's shelf. It's about magic, so I thought it could help me figure out what's wrong with me."
"And?"
She carefully set down her burger, wiping her fingers before slipping off her backpack and pulling out a book. She opened the book to a bookmarked page, setting the book on the floor and sliding it over to the vigilante before her.
"That's the page it was on when I took it. My parents wrote down notes."
Damian nodded, lifting up the book and reading it over. Just as Bora stated, there were notes scattered about in the margins and on sticky notes.
"What?"
He furrowed his eyebrows as he read through everything.
Instability.
Her magic was unstable. This child in front of him was dealing with magic she could not control. And according to these notes, if she couldn't find a way to control it, it would kill her. This child before him was slowly being poisoned by her own existence.
"Is there a way to stop this?"
"Well, I did overhear my parents talking about it."
She willingly approached him now, her food already finished. She flipped through the pages, stopping on one near the end of the book.
Pacts.
"They were talking about one of them making a pact with me, to help stabilize my magic. As long as the person I make the pact with stays alive, I'll be okay by the time I grow up."
It seemed simple enough, so why did this girl run away? His silent question seemed to be conveyed, the young girl squirming before speaking up, frowning.
"They'd be forgotten."
"Pardon?"
Bora began to nervously play with her fingers, nodding as she repeated herself.
"The person who would make a pact with me would be forgotten by everyone. They'd still be alive, but no one would remember or know who they are. Until the pact is over, no one on the planet would remember them. I mean, I'm supposed to be the only one who would know, based on what the book says. That's why I ran away. I don't want my mom or my dad be forgotten."
"You're their daughter, Bora, they just want to keep you safe."
The girl didn't seem to agree, shaking her head as she frowned.
"I don't care, I can't let them do that. I don't care if my magic keeps flaring up, I don't care if I die, I can't let them do that!"
Damian decided that this child was an idiot. Still, he couldn't fault her for her thought process. She was far too young to be thinking like this, to be going through this. She, compared to how he was at her age, was definitely deserving of a good, stable, happy life. She didn't deserve any of this.
"What about me?"
"Huh?"
Bora blinked as she stared up at him. Damian just cleared his throat, clearly surprised with his own words. He wasn't quite sure what his plan was, but he flipped back to the bookmarked page before pointing out to one of the notes written by Bora's parents.
"There, it says that your magic is the reason behind the anomalies. If it gets too out of control, it could cause serious harm to people and things. I mean, from nature to the very foundation of the city, this could be bad."
"I know, that's why I left."
A simple solution, but not a permanent or safe one.
"Bora, this won't fix anything. Things are just going to get worse, staying out here won't stop the anomalies."
The girl's face fell at his words, clearly distraught with the news. Damian just stared before closing the book, handing it back to her.
"I'll make a pact with you."
"Huh? Why? You don't even know me!"
"But I know that you're a kid, and you deserve to grow up."
"What about your family?"
He was sure that they'd probably call him an idiot. Still, he was far from innocent in many things. He was sure that his existence alone still caused them stress. Really, this might just be the break they needed from him and league.
"I know what I'm doing, Bora. Let me help you."
The young girl stared at him with wide eyes before retreating back to herself. She appeared to be thinking things over before looking back at him. He watched as she slowly smiled at him, the teen returning the smile as he held out his hand.
"Do we have a deal?"