Chapter 6

"He's come to take me."

The voice was a small crack in the silence of the room and for a moment Damian wasn't sure if it wasn't just his imagination.

It had been almost a day since Dick had spoken. Since the fiasco of seeing Jason Todd, Dick had grown even more reserved and withdrawn than Damian had ever seen him. Even touching Dick felt like placing his hand on a block of ice as thick as concrete. He tried his best, but it seemed not even a tender touch would rouse Dick from the mental prison of ice he'd locked himself inside.

Damian secretly worried he'd ruined everything he'd tried to build in a single night.

All thanks to Jason Todd.

Goddamn that foolish Todd to the seventh layer of hell. Of course he would come in and destroy Dick's barely kept wall just with his mere presence.

Dick's screaming, it had almost been as bad as that day, the first day. The day everything had changed, when Damian vowed he would change, would help the new rulers change this pathetic planet for the better.

The first day Damian had to keep Dick Grayson from bashing his own skull in.

Why?

The word was all Dick knew, all the delusional man said for days on end, why, why, why ? Every time he heard it, Damian's nails cut his palm from clenching his fist. Every time his heart clenched in a vice grip he could barely breathe through. His own name, who Damian was, Dick hadn't known either.

Dick hadn't known him, hadn't remembered Drake or Pennyworth either.

So why the hell would he remember the lowly scourge, the bottom feeder of their supposed family? Why would Dick remember Jason Todd of all people?

It wasn't right.

Worse, it wasn't fair.

Damian turned to him. Dick sat on the side of the bed, wringing his hands and not looking at him. "I couldn't-I wasn't strong enough." His eyes finally looked up at Damian's, almost hesitantly. "It's my fault and I'm being punished."

"How many times do I-" Damian sighed. "Dick, I'm really not in the mood for this."

"He's here to take me," Dick continued. "Jason is-"

Damian couldn't stand it, hearing that damn name come so easily from Dick's lips, something Damian had struggled with weeks to get Dick to do with his own, it made his blood boil. He latched his hands on the man's shoulders, leaning in so Dick could see the seriousness in his eyes.

Damian's teeth clicked, "Jason is nothing. He's dangerous and not like you me or Tim or Alfred. He's a mistake I never should have brought here. I want you to stay away from him."

Dick blinked at him, "But he-"

"He's not here to take you anywhere. You're not being punished, Dick," If anything Todd was punishing Damian with his mere existence. "Don't worry, I promise he won't ever hurt you-"

"I want him to."

Damian froze. His eyes wavered as he stared at the seated man in front of him, "What?"

"To take me back." Dick gave off the oddest smile that sent a chill right down Damian's spine. "I was afraid when I saw him, but it's alright, he's going to take me back." Dick laughed, and the sound was so distorted, Damian almost cringed at it. "We can go back together. This time it will be okay. I won't be alone. Even if I am being punished, Jason will-"

"Stop it!"

Damian hadn't meant to yell, but his frustrations were mounting too high to ignore anymore.

"Stop it right now!" Damian's grip either tightened or Dick's shoulders tensed, either way Damian's fingers met bone and it felt the smallest amount of pressure might snap Dick clean in two.

Damian didn't relent.

Dick's eyes widened before they fell and Damian could see what he was doing. Dick was retreating. No. Damian wasn't going to let Dick escape back in his mind. Not again.

"Dick, look at me."

Dick's eyes remained downcast and Damian knew it wasn't from lack of hearing the command. Dick was ignoring him.

"Look at me!"

When Dick looked at him this time, something was different. Something had changed. It took a minute to realize what it was and once he did, Damian nearly choked.

Dick's eyes, they were-

"Why did you do it?"

Damian took a step back, arms frozen outward. "What?" He shook his head, eyes suddenly burning, "How-"

Dick continued, eyes determined and clear, cold even, "Did you really hate me that much?"

This was-what was this?

That night, the night in the cave, the night Damian had been so angry, so confused. Why wouldn't Batman listen to reason? The man was too proud to see the logic, too set in his damn ways to understand what they were doing wasn't working.

Justice not vengeance.

How many damn times had Damian repeated that mantra, built into his being since the first day Bruce had let him wear the costume.

Justice, Damian had been told, was being better than your enemy. Not pulling the trigger, not willingly taking the life of another.

Justice, Damian learned, was just the same as cowardice.

And Damian Wayne was no coward.

That night Robin had been furious, furious and utterly confused. The teenager had needed an outlet for his anger and Nightwing, always more observant than Batman, gave him just that. It was always more satisfying to fight something real, Robin felt. Better than any of Batman's simulations anyway.

Robin used his forearm to effectively block one of Nightwing's kicks. The argument had been on going and the air was tense, "He's wrong on this, Grayson, you know it and I know it. Superman is right, the world can't go on like this. The sooner Bruce sees it, the better off we'll be."

"Damian, you can't really think that," Nightwing sounded so sure of himself and his convictions were only pissing Robin off even more.

Between Nightwing and Batman, both blind and as clueless as ever, he'd finally had enough.

"I do," Robin insisted. Nightwing's eyes widened as the teenager tore off his mask, tossing it angrily to the ground. "I can't play this charade anymore. I won't be Bruce's puppet. I won't hide behind his fear any longer."

"Fear?" Nightwing repeated, following the gesture, but only demasking so he could look equally at Damian.

"His fear of doing the right thing."

Nightwing sighed, "That isn't fear Damian, it's knowing when to stop, knowing where to keep the line. How to keep yourself from becoming like them."

"You sound just like him," Damian accused. "You're both so damned blind to what's going on. Can't you see what Superman is doing is-"

"Superman is murdering people Damian, that's neither heroic, nor justice."

That word again- justice .

It breaks the dam Damian's barely been holding inside.

"You're a fool," Damian spat. "A second rate reject that can't even think for himself. You didn't cut it as Batman and you can't even stand on your own two feet without him. I can't believe I ever followed you. You're pathetic, Grayson."

The words echoed across the cavern walls.

Dick's lips pursed, "I've tried to help and all you've done is push me and everyone else away. You think I'm so pathetic. Fine . You'll never have to see me again." He said it calmly, evenly and as his two sticks fell to the ground, Dick loudly made his point.

"Do what you want, Damian. I'm done."

Dick was washing his hands of him.

Damian's blood boiled even more. "Don't you dare walk away from me, Grayson!"

Dick kept walking.

"Grayson!"

Damian was suddenly frantic.

Dick was walking away. Dick Grayson, the one person Damian could count on, no matter what. The man he felt closer to than anyone else, his friend and mentor was finally abandoning him.

No.

Damian's anger and fear was so much that he barely registered reaching down to pick up one of the discarded weapons.

No.

It was heavy in his hand, heavier than his labored breathing squeezing all his insides together.

No.

Damian's aim was either perfect or way, way off.

To this day, he still didn't know which.

NO!

Dick fell and-

NO!

The blood was warm, slippery and wet. Too warm, too fresh, spilling and filling the cracks beneath Damian's boots.

He'd always heard head wounds bleed more, but never had Damian seen so much blood-

The scream, the demand, the giant shadow of black pushing him away, "What have you done!?"

Damian's hands were stained in the drying crimson, a color he saw every time he closed his eyes. Stains he could never erase.

Stains he could never erase. Never fix.

Never-Dick would never-

No, no. Damian wasn't doing this.

He was never doing-never remembering this again.

Damian latched onto Dick's hands and brought them to his face. "I don't hate you, Dick. Can't you see that?"

Dick didn't reply.

"I-I love you, Dick. I've always loved you."

The response was immediate, cold and made even worse but the lift of Dick's mouth, "No, you don't."

Damian's eyes widened.

"You don't murder someone that you love."

Murder, how could Dick even use that word? Nothing could be further from the truth. Accident, it had been a- Damian shook his head. He didn't like this, didn't like this at all .

"He's going to take me away from you," Dick continued confidentially. " Jason's going to take me away and you can't stand it."

That did it, those words, coming so assuredly from Dick's mouth, so sure and almost cocky, something inside Damian snapped. His released Dick's hands and the man gave a smirk that Damian swore could have belonged to Jason Todd.

Red, Damian saw red. The color of his hands, the crimson stains he couldn't remove, the color of robins, filling his memories with the flutter of their wings.

Red, the color of Jason Todd's helmet.

The slap left his hand numb and it wasn't until he saw the vicious stripe of red across Dick's suddenly pale face that Damian even realized he'd struck.

Red, more red.

Dick was beneath him and Damian didn't remember when or how his hand had found it's way on the man's throat. Long and elegant, just like the rest of him, long and perfect and-

Dick's eyes, wide and fearful as he gasped for air.

He couldn't-Damian couldn't.

He couldn't look at those eyes, couldn't look at Dick at all.

He couldn't stop either.

He needed to forget.

Taking Dick around the middle, Damian dropped the man on his stomach, twisting Dick's head away to the side. Damian didn't want to see his face. He couldn't.

A breath, a plea, a sob, something flew deep from inside Dick, reverberating against Damian. He ignored it, ignored everything but his growing want, his growing need to release everything. His anger, his hatred, everything Damian both despised and yet loved about his life and the people in it.

As he quickly undressed the man beneath him, Damian thought on how it had all turned to this. Damian was aware of the shivering and shudders that passed under his less than gentle touch, but he ignored them.

In an odd way Damian might have cared for Drake and Pennyworth. Admittedly, some days more than others, but he supposed they were his family now.

Todd was another matter.

Dick may have gasped or even sobbed his name, but he wasn't listening.

Damian respected Superman, respected him in a way he'd never quite been able to his own father. The man of Steel was his mentor, the only person he could really trust anymore. His rock when he needed one.

And Dick, Damian loved Dick with every fiber of his being. He loved Dick so much it hurt. Every curve, every muscle, every scar that lined Dick's back, he knew them all. He knew them and he loved each and every one.

Damian loved Dick, but he also knew that Dick needed more than just a gentle hand. Just like any other person Dick needed structure and purpose.

Dick needed discipline.

Because Jason Todd would never take him anywhere.

"Is this seriously all you do all day?"

Tim didn't even look up, he merely turned a page, "Yep."

Jason knocked on one of the bookshelves then skimmed through a book before tossing it over his shoulder, "Kind of boring, isn't it?"

Tim noticed the pile growing on the floor with a frown, "Alfred has to pick those up, you know."

Jason snorted, "Why? It's not like anyone ever comes to visit, is it? I mean this place looks like it's been lock downed like Fort Knox, clearly Damian doesn't like to entertain." Not like Bruce who had been the king of entertainment. Always throwing those damn charity balls and whatnot.

Tim shook his head, "The only people he ever brings here are the Order and trust me that's an ordeal in and of itself."

"Order?" Jason asked. "What like he brings Superman and his lackies for wine and cheese on Sundays or whatever?"

"I'm not quite sure what they do, I'm confined to my room on those days, but yeah that's pretty much it."

Jason watched Tim curiously. A day had passed since the younger man's breakdown and neither of them had really brought it up. Jason wasn't ashamed of holding the man, even long into the night. Truthfully, Jason was just as worried about Tim as he was Dick and if the younger man needed simple body contact to help alleviate some of the pain, Jason was more than willing to offer it. Jason wanted to feel useful for something and even as Tim called out another man's name while he awoke from a nightmare, Jason never mentioned it.

Nightmares, they all seemed to have them anymore.

Tim somehow slipped in his bed the second night and Jason didn't even question it.

Hell, Jason would let Alfred join them if the elder man were to ever need it. They needed to be a united front. If they were ever going to take Damian down, they had to do it together. He had most of his team present and within close distance, but honestly it was Dick's absence that truly bothered Jason.

"Where does he keep him?" As much as Jason hated to put it that way, it was obvious Damian was treating Dick like some kind of pet. Christ , he all but had the older man on a freaking leash.

"Damian stays in Bruce's wing, I don't think he lets Dick out of his sight if he can help it."

Jason swallowed, willing away images of the man cooing, soothing, and kissing all over Dick. Jason stomached turned. It all seemed affectionate and yet there was obviously something more. For as much as Dick was calmed by Damian, the way Damian latched onto Dick, Dick babbling like some kind of lunatic, something about it rubbed Jason the wrong way.

"What happened to Dick?"

Tim's shoulders tensed.

"Christ Tim, you knew I was going to ask it." How could Jason not?

Tim finally sighed, "I know." He exhaled before he continued, "The truth is-I'm not quite sure. I didn't hear about it right away and once I did Damian had disappeared and Bruce-Bruce wouldn't talk to anyone," Tim swallowed thickly as he ground his hands into fists. "I was so angry at him, he didn't tell me and once he did it was too late to do anything. I-it was horrible," Tim's eyes misted over, "I-I should have been there. I could have stopped it, I know I could have. It's my fault."

"Whoa," Jason held up a hand, "Slow down." Trust Tim to immediately blame himself, but he was still hiding the one fact Jason needed. "What happened ?" Jason had a sinking suspicion he knew, but he hoped to all hell he was wrong.

"Dick was," Tim voice cracked. "Dick was dead, Jason."

Hell. "Well he looks pretty damn good for a dead guy."

Tim flashed him an angry glare and Jason winced, holding another placating hand out, "Sorry, I know it's not funny. Although I can't help repeating the was dead part. I'm assuming it wasn't just a miraculous recovery of some sort."

"No, I can't imagine it was," Tim replied.

A deep voice came from behind them, "Am I interrupting something?"

Jason turned to see the great shitbag himself, Damian Wayne, tall and polished, looking way too much like Bruce and certainly much more handsome than anyone so twisted should ever have been allowed to.

Tim shifted as if to distance himself from Jason. Jason wasn't sure when he had moved so close, but seeing the slight panic in Tim's eyes and the way Damian was observing their close proximity, Jason was suddenly struck with an idea.

An either terribly brilliant or just plain terrible idea.

Jason reached out and grabbed Tim's thigh, halting the smaller man's hurried escape from the loveseat they were both sitting on. Blue eyes widened at him in shock and confusion, but Jason winked back. He hoped Tim could read his pointed smile for a sign he should play along. Tim's brow furrowed, but Jason swore his head tilted forward in just the smallest of nods.

Still the same smart little bastard, thank Christ for that.

"Actually," Jason's lip lifted at Damian, "You sort of are."

Damian's brow flickered up, but his eyes were neither cold, nor angry-they were, Jason wanted to say it was disgust there, but the idea was so damn funny, Jason actually wanted to laugh out loud.

As if Damian fucking Wayne, the master ringleader of this shit storm had any right to look on anyone with disgust.

Jason only wished the world could see the insides of the suave, good looking man for what they really were. The monster that emerged would be no doubt as twisted and grotesque as Damian had become and Jason found that image fittingly appropriate.

Tim hadn't said it, but Jason knew the rumors had to be true. It was Damian who had killed Dick, Jason felt it the moment he'd laid eyes on Dick, even if he didn't want to admit it. The question was-why had Damian brought Dick back? The how is already a bubbling mess in Jason's stomach, a time and place he really doesn't want to think on.

Darkness. Cold, cold darkness. Nothing and then-

Jason stopped the thought dead.

Damian's mouth was it's typical sneer as he crossed his arms, looking impossibly bigger than he really was, "I can see that."

Jason remained nonchalant, "Something you needed?" He could feel Tim's muscles tense under his hand and relented his grip on the man's thigh. "We're kind of busy here, D-man."

"Seems you've been quite busy the last two nights as well."

Well, well seemed Damian was indeed a peeping tom.

Jason tried to seem the slightest bit embarrassed, but the truth was he was too pleased with himself to even be able to pretend. Hook, line and sinker , Jason nearly grinned. Either he was a secret genius or Damian was just too easy.

Tim wanted to argue, wanted to say something, but he didn't.

Again, smart cookie.

"What, is that against the rules now too?"

"I wasn't aware this was even a-" Damian's eyes flited between Jason and Tim, "- thing ."

Neither did I Tim's bowed shoulders read.

Jason licked his lips, "I thought Tim was dead, alright?" Jason pushed on through the part truth and only hoped he was convincing about it. "Excuse me for being a little excited to find it wasn't true."

Damian's eyes darkened, "Didn't seem to care that much when he and Grayson tried to reach out to you. Multiple times, in fact. Where were these supposed feelings then?"

In the same place yours were before you offed the man you're currently toting around like a damn handbag, Jason doesn't say. "We all have our secrets, don't we? Hell, isn't that like the damn bat motto or something? And what the hell were you doing? Were you watching us?"

"What I could stomach through," Damian admitted. "Which wasn't much."

Which meant Damian no doubt thought they'd done more than simply shared a bed.

Again Jason held a self-gratifying grin. Good.

"I don't see the problem," Jason peered up at Damian as if considering him with a sly smile. "Unless you'd rather have me all to yourself, big boy ."

Damian's teeth grit, "I'd rather you kept your hands to yourself, Todd. I won't have your idle eyes wandering around my home. Grayson is-"

"Oh god," Jason interrupted with a look of disgust. "Trust me, you don't have to worry about that."

Damian's mouth ticked, "Meaning?"

Tim tensed.

Jason hoped he was still toeing the line enough and not completely jumping into the deep waters. He rose from his seat and calculated his next words carefully. "Meaning I'm not fucking blind, Damian."

Damian visibly tensed under his suit jacket. Goddamn, he was even wearing Bruce's clothes. "Am I really supposed to believe you've changed your stance so quickly?"

"What stance?" Jason asked breezily. "I was worried about his mental state; he all but fucking attacked me." He added after another laugh, "Christ, if I wanted to fuck a vegetable I'd go find a half rotted cucumber to shove up my ass. Probably be more fun and definitely less degrading."

That did it, Jason knew he'd crossed it even before Damian grabbed him and pinned him to the wall. Jason swore he heard a crack in between all the stars swimming in his vision. "You're not a very convincing liar, Todd," Damian seethed.

Jason fought for breath, but didn't lose his smirk, "Maybe you've been cooped up here a little too long Damian. Everyone knows you're clearly Gotham's number one bachelor. You really think you can tote Dick Grayson around and you'll get any looks of jealousy? Come on, man, open your eyes, clearly the golden boy's golden years are over."

Damian's teeth snapped as his grip tightened over Jason's windpipe, "I don't care about that."

"So you'll hide him away like a dirty little secret? Eventually, you're going to want something more than-whatever the hell he does for you, aren't you?"

" That is none of your business."

Jason watched Damian's uneven breathing. Small as it was, Jason knew he'd cracked at least something in Damian's ego if nothing else.

Insulting Dick was unfair and truthfully it was all a complete lie, but-

There was a light knock on the already open door, "Master Damian, I-" Alfred stopped at the scene before him and with an exasperated breath Damian eventually released Jason, albeit unhappily.

"What?" Damian snapped at the intrusion.

"It's-I'm afraid it's time to go sir."

Damian pursed his lips. He whirled around and his eyes found Tim before his hand latched onto the smaller man's arm and he yanked him from the chair. His sapphire eyes then flew to Jason a not so hidden warning in them. Jason fought everything within him as he watched Damian all but manhandle Tim out of the room.

Shit. This wasn't-Jesus, what had Jason just done?

Alfred's look was one of pure misery as he followed, closing the double doors behind him. Jason wasn't sure what the hell was going on but it wasn't until he heard the lock in the door click that he fully began to panic. It wasn't just a click, something else slid in place, something that sounded especially more heavy than a simple lock.

Jason's heart thundered.

No.

He ran at the door and was unsurprised but heavily worried when he realized the wood had absolutely no give.

Shit.

"Damian, you piece of shit, come back here!"

Jason paced, slamming the door over and over again. Still nothing.

"Damian!"

Fucking shit.

Jason and his fucking mouth.

Jason bit into hand to keep his eyes from watering.

What had he just done?

What the fuck had he just done?