Dick quietly turned the knob to Damian's door, the slick strands of his wet hair tickling his neck as cool droplets slithered down his spine.

He always checked in on Damian after patrol to make sure he was asleep and on the look out for signs of nightmares. After all Damian had his father's bad habit of ignoring his bodily needs of sleep, which led to a nastier, meaner tempered Damian, which wasn't good for anyone involved.

The door opened without even a squeak and Dick couldn't help the quirk of his lips as he quickly gazed inside toward the bed and his entire body turned cold.

Bruce. Bruce was sitting on Damian's bed, his fingers curling into the short strands as he caressed the boy's head. And Damian. Wasn't. Moving.

Dick threw the door the rest of the way open, panic tightening his chest as he arched toward an attack-

Bruce turned toward him, Gotham's lights illuminating the white crisscrossing scars on his face and his dark, almost black eyes. He held up a finger to his lips as his other hand tightened in Damian's hair, forcing the boy's neck to arch slightly.

Dick froze.

"Richard, so nice to see you." The smooth cultured voice slid across the room like poisoned silk.

Dick's face tightened in dislike as his body remained coiled, "Thomas. What are you doing here?" What are you doing in Damian's room?

Thomas's face smiled Bruce's smile except there was no warmth or humanity bleeding into that skin. Just cold, cruel ice. "Why, I'm visiting my son, Richard. Like a good parent should." Thomas's hand continued its smooth glide through Damian's dark hair as the boy slept the sleep of the dead.

Damian's stillness more than anything had a hand gripping his heart in fear. "You're not his father." Dick's voice snarled, his lips twitching upward to show his teeth.

Thomas made a tutting sound too close to Damian's to make Dick comfortable. "Uncle. Semantics as far as the media is concerned." He shrugged.

Dick ground his teeth together, fingers twitching, "What do you want?" Get away from him.

Thomas took his gaze from Dick's and slid it toward the boy laying on the bed, bronzed features slack in sleep, small fingers half curled by his face and the rest of his body encased in a simple dark throw.

Thomas's hand fell from Damian's dark hair and slowly slid down his cheek, around the shell of his ear to cup his face. "He's beautiful, isn't he?"

Terror strangled Dick's throat as his body locked up watching Hush caress Damian.

"He looks just like his father. This nose," he dragged a finger down the bridge of Damian's nose making it twitch, "the jaw," fingers twitched Damian's chin, "and those eyes," his thumb dragged along Damian's sharp eyebrows.

Thomas made a slightly sour face as Dick tried to catch his breath. He was too close, he could break Damian's neck. "These lips though-they must be his mother's. Bruce never had lips like these."

Thomas dragged a nail over Damian's slightly parted lips nicking the soft flesh enough to draw blood.

"Stop touching him!" Dick dove forward, anger searing his chest as he watched Hush touching Damian. He'd kill him. Nobody touched his brother. Not Damian.

Thomas gave a cruel chuckle, "Don't move, Richard or I'll wring his pretty little neck." His large hand curled under Damian's head in a vague threat, thumb lightly tapping his jugular.

Dick froze at the end of the bed, breath coming in deeps gulps as he tried to keep his stomach from heaving. He'd failed. Damian was in danger. He'd failed Bruce.

"That's a good bird." Thomas's mocking laughter rang in the darkness as Gotham's lights twinkled in the background.

"What did you do to him?" Dick watched Damian's face, his slack jaw and limp body hanging from Hush's grip.

Thomas hummed, "Nothing much. Just some strong sedatives in his late night tea provided by big brother. He didn't even bother to check it." His chuckle was dark, blue eyes sliding to catch Dick's, "Thanks for that by the way. Made our reunion much easier."

Dick felt a sick burn climbing up his throat. Midnight tea. The spiced chamomile tea he made for Damian every night. The one his dad used to make for his mom. The fucker had poisoned Damian's tea.

And Damian hadn't checked his tea. He had trusted Dick. Trusted him to not check for poisons like he did on everything else. To put aside his training. Trusted him like Bruce had trusted him to keep him safe. The burn turned to acid.

He had failed them. He had failed them both.

Dick's voice was quieter this time, but just as deadly, "What do you want, Hush?"

Thomas maneuvered Damian awkwardly into his lap, the boys sleeping head sliding into the crook of his neck like a broken rag doll as Thomas took a hold of one of his hands and splayed the little fingers wide as he compared them to his own.

"Why, I'm here to take my son home of course. He should be living with his father. Not his older, unadopted, playboy brother." Thomas's eyes were sly as they peered between Damian's upraised fingers, "People would talk."

No. No. "You can't-"

"I can." The playfulness drained out of Thomas's face as his free hand wrapped around Damian's waist, drawing him closer as a 'wuf' of air passed through the boy's lips. "We need to spend a little more father-son bonding time together." His face turned to nuzzle Damian's mussed hair, "Don't you think?"

Dick snarled, hands wrapping around the wooden bedpost, "I won't let you."

"You can't stop me." Thomas smiled at him, dragging Damian's outstretched arm back to his body and wrapping it close to the boy's torso, expertly trapping the boy to him. "I'm his father-"

A feral sound erupted from Dick's throat.

"That's what all the blood tests will say. And no judge will ever give you-a no named, non-blood relative the parental rights to Bruce Wayne's son." His smile was again slithering across his face. "Especially since I've been so generous lately."

Thomas chuckled into skin at the curve of Damian's shoulder, "You could tell them that I'm not Bruce Wayne. You could tell them how you know that. You could tell them about Batman." Blue eyes clashed with blue in a war of wills, "But you won't. It's the same reason you wouldn't have a funeral. The reason you let me pretend to be him. The reason you pretend to be him, because ultimately Batman, his mission, his legacy is too important."

Dick felt his fingers digging into the bedpost and the splinters under his fingers as he crushed the wood beneath them.

"Since Bruce had the indecency of up and dying on me before we could be reunited," Thomas let his lips graze up the side of Damian's neck as his arms captured the slight twitch in the boy's arms, "I'll just get reacquainted with his son. Poetic justice I suppose." He gave another little mocking laugh as he looked at Dick's twisted face, "And we both know he was all about justice."

His mouth was dry and his heart thumped with silent fear as he watched Thomas. He knew what he would do to Damian. Or would try. Damian would fight. He would fight and Thomas would eventually break him. Bind him. Damian would still fight because he didn't know how to do anything else, but Thomas was ruthless. Relentless. In the same way Damian had used to be before Dick started curbing him. Damian would fight. Damian would lose.

Dick tried to swallow. Everything was hot. He was burning.

He took a deep breath and wet his cracked lips. "Don't," his voice cracked, wavered and he tried to catch his breath against the lump in his throat. It felt like drowning. Like falling. "You don't want him."

Thomas tipped his head in mild curiosity, chin digging into Damian's shoulder.

"Bruce didn't train Damian. Didn't know him. He wasn't his Robin." He gazed at the man with Bruce's face from under his eyelids, long lashes fanning against his cheeks, "I was."

Thomas threw back his head and roared with laughter, "You want to trade? You think I want you? What arrogance." His eyes narrowed on the man who had a death grip on the wooden bed frame, "I want Bruce. I want my brother. I want my revenge. If I can't have him I want the next best thing." His eyes narrowed, "And that's not you."

Dick made an aborted movement with his hand, his brain whirling, Damian was as good as gone. "He's just a child-"

"As was I!" Thomas's voice hissed. "If I can't destroy him I'll destroy everything he left behind. His legacy. His blood." He wasn't gentle now when he yanked Damian's head back, his throat straining in clear relief, "His son."

He needed to do something. He needed to do something now. "He's not his son!"

The words were ripped from his throat and he desperately hoped Damian couldn't hear him. He'd never forgive him. Hell, he won't forgive himself.

Thomas scoffed at him.

Dick just let his words flow, eyes locking with Thomas', ignoring Damian. Please don't let him hear. "Blood yes. Son no. Bruce never acknowledged him. He kept him locked up in the mansion. He wasn't proud. He was ashamed."

He felt his heart constrict and his eyes burn. "He gave him back to Talia. He didn't want him." He swallowed the lies. "He didn't trust him. He didn't give him Robin. He's not Bruce's son I am."

Thomas just watched him, eyes narrowing.

"If he was here now and you gave him a choice between Gotham and Damian," Dick felt the wood groan slightly under his fingers, "He'd choose Gotham."

Thomas snorted. "And if I gave him a choice between Gotham and you? He'd choose you?"

Dick tilted his head slightly, forcing his lips to quirk upwards, "He has before."

He saw Thomas digest the information, the way his eyes slid across him and appraise him like a slab of meat while his hands kept dragging along Damian's skin.

He was sick. He felt dirty. He hadn't felt this way since Tarantula.

He avoided looking at Damian as much as he could. He knew what he looked like. He knew what the others said about him. He knew what Jason and Tim said about Damian. About what Bruce had said about Damian. His fears for the boy. That he was broken. That he couldn't be fixed.

Dick hid his swallow as he subtly shifted his body. Elongated his neck. Lowered his eyes. Arched his back.

Damian was difficult. Damian was damaged, but he wasn't shattered. He wanted to belong. He bleeded the need to be accepted. He wanted to be loved so badly, but he didn't know how to express himself in any other way than violence.

Dick couldn't let Hush take him. He couldn't let him break him.

Damian was his responsibility. His brother. His Robin.

"Fine." Thomas's voice broke through the spastic thoughts flying through his mind.

Relief filled him as Thomas moved Damian to the center of the bed, arranging him in his usual plank sleeping position. Legs out, arms at his side.

Dick felt dizzy with gratitude. Damian was safe.

Thomas shifted on the bed next to Damian and smiled. "Strip."

Dick's mind went blank, the dread crawling back into his stomach as he glanced between Hush and Damian. "Here? But-"

Thomas frowned. "Enough games, Richard. Here. Now. Or I'll take the boy and be done with it. I can only play with you so long before I get bored."

Dick couldn't take his eyes from Damian. "He won't wake up?"

Thomas smiled as he checked his watch, "Mmm. Not if you're quiet."

"How long-"

"Now, Richard." Thomas's voice cracked like a whip and Dick hid a flinch.

Quickly. If this was done quickly he'd be gone. Damian would be safe.

He pulled his tank over his head and dropped it on the floor. Then he pulled off his boxers and kicked them next to his shirt.

Quickly and it would all be over.

He crawled from the bottom of the bed toward Thomas. If he could move him away from Damian maybe- Maybe.

"Stop." Thomas's booted foot rose from his crossed legs and almost hit Dick in the nose and he tried not to growl.

Thomas shifted to his knees and curled his finger towards him in a 'come here' gesture.

I'll strangle him. Dick obeyed and soon he was face to face with Thomas. He could see the white spider scars stand out in relief across his face.

Thomas raised a hand and Dick sat back on his haunches as the other man moved around him and hummed in appreciation.

Dick felt his muscles tighten. I'll let Jason shoot him.

"On all fours."

It took everything in his will to make himself bend forward, palms wide on the mattress, knees spread.

He didn't glance at Damian laying beside him, his breath making small whooshing sounds between his parted lips.

He felt Thomas bend over him. His body heavy as he pressed himself against his back, his clothes scratching at his bare skin.

Dick clenched his teeth and stopped himself from elbowing the man in the face as his hands slid down his arms and gripped his wrists. The white of his skin standing in sharp contrast to the darkness of his.

Dick couldn't help thinking about shackles.

Thomas's mouth grazed his ear, "Time to move, pretty bird."

Dick clenched his teeth and kept his eyes pointed straight at the headboard when Thomas suddenly pulled them upwards and shifted them slightly to the right before they landed over Damian's sleeping body.

Dick panicked and jackknifed upward, trying to dislodge the man restraining him, his booted legs pinching down on his to keep him immobile as he looked down into his little brother's face.

"You fucker, you fucking son of a bitch!" Dick's voice was hissed and low as Thomas chuckled in his ear.

"You thought you were a good enough replacement, Richard? Oh, I'll fuck you alright, but I'm going to look at him. I'm going to imagine it's him I'm pounding into, it's his gasps and whimpers I'm hearing." He bit the side of Dick's neck and Dick let out a surprised hiss. "Every time I'll fuck you like this and if you ever dare defy me or try to hide him from me I'll be sheathing myself in his flesh instead." He voice dropped seductively low, "Maybe over your dead body."

Fear and helplessness engulfed him and he couldn't tear his eyes away from Damian's sleeping face.

"Down." Thomas pushed him forward between his shoulder blades and Dick slipped forward, his forearms pushed to either side of Damian's head.

They were within kissing distance and he could feel Damian's breath gliding across his face.

"Beautiful." He knew Hush wasn't talking about him. He resisted the urge to cover his brother's eyes even though they were closed. He shouldn't be here. Neither of them should be here.

His eyes watched Damian's face, the way his eyelashes fanned across his high cheekbones. The way his slightly upturned nose twitched and his face turned toward him, a moan caught in his throat.

"How long?" Panic twisted his words as his mind ran a list of sedatives that Thomas could have slipped Damian. He didn't know how long he'd been out, but he knew Damian's high tolerance for any kind of drug. He probably wouldn't be out much longer and he couldn't-wouldn't let him wake up to this.

Dick heard a pop of a bottle as a finger was unceremoniously shoved inside him.

He grunted as he felt his body slip forward a bit more over Damian. He kept his arms strained, so his body wasn't touching the younger boys. He didn't need to be tainted by this.

Thomas hummed as his fingers plowed into Dick's ass, removing themselves and then shoved back in, twisting and stretching with more lube. "I gave him a high dose. A normal person I'd give an hour, but him? He'll probably be up in thirty minutes."

Thomas twisted his fingers and Dick felt his blunt nails scrape his insides as he muffled his grunts in the sheets. "Sooner, if you're loud."

Thomas nibbled on Dick's ear as he rested his head beside his to look down at Damian. His eyes blazed as he looked at the sleeping boy. "I'm going to make you scream so I can look into his eyes when I cum."

"You-"

Thomas shoved his head into the mattress beside Damian's, grasping the short strands of his hair at the base of his skull as he turned him toward his brother.

He heard the sigh of the zipper as it parted and the brush of Thomas's length across him as he bent down to whisper to him again. "Sing for me, pretty bird, because I'm going to make this hurt."

Thomas shoved himself inside without stopping until his balls slapped against Dick's raised ass.

Thomas groaned and leaned his head against Dick's back as Dick bit his lip on a scream.

"So tight. Gods you're tight, pretty bird." Thomas mumbled into his skin as he slowly readjusted his grip on his waist. "Come on, baby, sing for me."

Dick muffled himself against the pillows, biting into their corners as Thomas rutted against him. He shut his eyes as he felt the slick glide of each thrust dragging against his skin. The burn of each insertion and the suck and drag of each pull backwards before having it rammed back inside.

He tried to move his body, twist his hips to regulate the pain and balance, but Thomas kept his grip tight and unrelenting. His clothes grating across his skin making a different kind of burn. His booted feet pressing down on his so hard for leverage that he knew that there'd be bruises.

Thomas's pants against his neck were wet as he alternated between biting and licking, guaranteeing more marks across his skin as he kept whispering his filth and staining Dick with his words.

"-sucking so tightly! You want this. You like this. C'mon, cry for me." Thomas wrapped an arm between Dick's legs and started to pump the lax organ and Dick drew in a quick breath.

"You'll cum for me, baby boy." Dick bit into his wrist, hiding a moan as Thomas pushed his hips up higher and ghosting across his sweet spot. He felt his cock twitch and Thomas's resounding laugh. "That's it. Get hard for me."

Thomas's thrusts sped up, each shove of his hips gaining more momentum as he forced Dick's body downward more until his body was only a finger width's off of Damian's.

Thomas adjusted his movement slightly until he was pounding on top of a spot that made Dick see stars and his body tighten like guitar strings. He could no longer stop the small noises from slipping past his throat and mewled as Thomas continued to pump in from front and behind.

"Yes, that's it." Thomas's voice caressed him as he slowly bit into the back of Dick's neck, leaving a row of his teeth marks and pinpricks of blood as his clothes continued rubbing along Dick's thighs, creating a more heightened friction. A burn to mirror Thomas's humping movements in sharp contrast.

Dick panted and tried to close his eyes as he strained to keep his body straight and not fall onto Damian's prone body beneath him.

Then he felt it.

A small answering groan to his. A weak mewl in the back of a young throat as a small nose tipped beneath his ear and minted breath puffed against his neck.

Dick turned his head slightly, body growing cold as Damian nuzzled into him, his eyebrows drawing down over his closed eyes.

He was waking up.

Apparently Thomas noticed Damian's small movement and the wilt to Dick's cock as he continued to move inside him.

"Look at him, Richard. So beautiful. So young. Don't you just want to take that? Want to spread him beneath you and bend him as he cries out your name?"

Thomas slid over him, thrusting into him ruthlessly as he slid his finger into the head of his peins, slipping the skin up and down and making it rise again as he continued to drive over his prostate inside of him.

"To watch his eyes, Bruce's eyes, look into you, to know its you taking him? Forcing him open?" Thomas's head tipped backward as he gasped, hips moving in quick desperation. "Come on. Come on."

Thomas's nails dug into Dick's skin as pressure rose within the lower part of his belly, his body forced toward its peak.

"Come on!" Thomas snarled as he jammed himself forward in more punishing blows as he pushed Dick closer to the edge.

Dick's fingers curled into the sheets and pillows behind Damian's head as he tried to swallow the mingled cries of pain and pleasure, his body rocking forward as his hips were forced back to meet each angry thrust.

Thomas slapped a hand down onto Dick's ass as he pushed himself over his prostate and pulled at his cock making Dick yelp.

"Grayson?" Damian's slurred voice mumbled into Dick's ear as he twisted around to look into fogged blue eyes.

"Damian-"his hoarse voice croaked as Thomas forced himself into his body again and gave a low laugh as he winced.

"That's it, pretty bird."

"Gray-shon," Damian's muddled voice came out in barely a whisper as his brows tried to draw downward in confusion, "Grayson," A small pink tongue darted out to wet his lips, "Wha a're ya doin' 'ere?"

"Fucking, pretty bird." Thomas's voice laughed high above them as quickly picked up his pace and Dick felt the coiling in his belly that meant he was close.

Damian made a confused, pinched face as tried to roll his eyes upwards towards the unknown voice.

Dick panicked and rolled his upper torso over Damian, hands grasping the sides of his face, forcing him to look into his eyes as he touched their foreheads together. "It's a nightmare, Dami. Nothing but a bad dream. Go back to sleep."

Thomas growled in frustration as Dick blocked his view of Damian and he kept rocking and thrusting into him, feeling the pull in his own gut as he pulled on the other man's cock.

He hissed down as he watched his dick slide into Richard's abused hole and grinned a slow smile, "Look into his eyes for me, Richard."

Damian's eyes rolled as they looked up at him, Dick's body shivered slightly, "Go back to sleep, Dami." Dick's voice grated and he tried to smile as he felt the heat in his body rise.

"Think of his opened legs and your cocks feel of release while he's clenching around you."

Damian glaze eyes looked up at him as he felt Thomas brutally pound into him and tried not to shake as the boy slowly blinked and closed his eyes with a soft sigh.

"Look into Bruce's eyes while you cum."

Dick's body betrayed him and he felt himself jerk, a cry wrung from his throat as his cum splashed onto Damian's stomach, his fingers still tightly clutching the boy's dark hair.

He heard a deep groan as Thomas jerked into him quickly three times before a hot wetness burned inside him and slicked down his inner thighs.

Thomas withdrew from him, the sound of the zipper making Dick wince as he kept his protective position over Damian.

"Not bad, Richard. Bruce would be proud." He gave a low chuckle and swatted Dick's ass again as he rose from the bed, pulling his clothes back into order. "I'll be in touch."

Dick didn't dare to breathe again until he heard Thomas leave and counted to thirty. Twice.

Dick winced as cum slid down his legs and he looked over at Damian. He was still asleep, his head cocked slightly to the side, his stomach splashed with Dick's cum, Thomas's voice still ringing in his ears.

He shivered violently and quickly grabbed his clothes from the bottom of the bed and slid his boxers on. He'd take another shower when he got back into his room. He took his shirt and slowly wiped his cum off of Damian, making sure he didn't wake.

Shame burned him as he watched Damian's chest rise and fall.

Because Damian had trusted him he'd been drugged, threatened with kidnapping and almost raped.

Dick's hands shook as he tried to swallow the hot bile in his throat.

Hush wanted Damian. Sure, he had taken the deal this time and would probably do so until it no longer amused him. Then he would stop playing games. Then he would do what he'd threatened and take Damian.

Dick would prevent that. He'd do-had done-anything to prevent that.

He reached out to smooth Damian's hair when Hush's voice blared through his mind, "So beautiful…his father didn't have lips like these…look into his eyes when you cum…knowing it's you taking him…forcing him open…that's it, pretty bird…"

Dick recoiled as he jumped from the bed, clutching his hand to him if burned.

No. He wasn't like Thomas. He wasn't.

Damian shifted on the bed, his body turning toward the heat from where he'd been, face nuzzling the pillows where he'd bit them, "-grayson-"

His heart stopped and he slowly backed away and out the door and didn't stop moving until he was outside in the hallway in front of Damian's door as he slid down to the ground, wincing in pain.

This couldn't happen again. Never again.

He'd have to think of some way to protect Damian. To keep him from Hush. Out of his reach and away from the media.

The most important part-Damian could never know. No one could know.

He closed his eyes and rested his head on his crossed arms over his knees. If anyone knew-if Damian knew-he could see the boy's look of disgust. He could barely stand him now, tolerated working with him, and compared him to Bruce. All. The. Time.

But he trusted him. Trusted him enough to drink his tea without checking it.

He shuddered.

No. He couldn't stand it if Damian looked at him with that knowledge of what he'd done. Of what he'd allowed someone to do to him. Not with those eyes.

One thing was for certain he'd have to take care of this without anyone finding out, which meant he was on his own.

He sighed as he let his head fall back against Damian's door with a 'thunk', eyes staring unseeingly at the ceiling. "Sweet dreams, Dami."