Injustice: A Change In Fate (or, The Redemption of Damian Wayne)

An Injustice Three-Shot Fanfic (maybe)

By Snafu the Great

DISCLAIMER: Injustice: Gods Among Us and Injustice 2 belong to Netherrealm Studios. So this story follows both the games and the comics, but with my own spin. My first Injustice fanfic, and on my birthday, too! Granted that my birthday was on the 4th, but still...

CANON DIVERGENCE! Damian always had a soft spot for Alfred. So what if Alfred's survival was instrumental to not only his personal redemption, but also rebuilding bridges with his father? And what part does Red Hood have in the story?

Part One

Gotham City – Year Five of the One Earth Government.

The last place anyone would find him would be inside the executive office of WayneTech. For Jason Todd, it was a perfect hiding spot.

The largest tower in Gotham sat silent, and has been for five long years. After Superman exposed Batman's identity and seized his business, that is. Jason suspected that Damian might had something to do with that.

Five years and the old man and his Insurgency was still fighting the Regime. Batman being the David to Superman's Goliath. And despite the bodycount that the Regime was racking up, from Green Arrow to Hawkman, the League followed Superman like lemmings.

'At least the old man fights for a cause,' Jason thought as he sat at Bruce's desk, having long since ransacked, the Red Hood helmet sat on the desk, resting alongside his guns, loaded.

In all honesty, he didn't know why he was back in Gotham. Crime was down to near-zero, thanks to Superjerk and his Regime. What remained of Gotham's rogues were underground, or relocated to a different city. Maybe it was to check out old haunts, back where he used to patrol with the old man.

Or maybe it was the warning Dick Grayson - now the new Deadman - had given him from beyond the grave, telling him to go to Gotham, as Alfred was in danger.

Jason knew that his dip in the Lazarus Pit had made him a bit crazy, but not THAT crazy. Then, word reached him of Victor Zsasz's mysterious release from the Regime's superprison in San Francisco from a contact with close connections inside the Regime.

That didn't sit right with the Red Hood. For him, there was going far, and going too far.

Something that Superman had done just two days ago, when he crashed a meeting of student activists dubbed, 'the Joker Underground.' Even Jason had to admit that invoking the name of the man who sent Superman off the deep end when he killed his family and nuked his hometown was stupid, but what Superman had done was overkill.

And Jason videotaped the entire event. Superman had used his heat vision to massacre the gathering of students. The Regime spun it that the deaths were written off as a 'gas explosion.' Only Jason has the damning evidence showing that Superman was a mass murderer.

Jason checked on his pistols. They were cleaned, and most importantly, loaded. Standing up, he holstered his weapons and grabbed his helmet. Once his identity was concealed, it was a quick drop to the underground garage, where his motorcycle was hidden. After that, a ten-minute trip to Wayne Manor. Since there was a curfew in effect, there would be no traffic.

He just hoped that he wouldn't give Alfred a heart attack when he arrived.

The Batcave.

One thing for certain, Superman was a coward. This, Alfred knew, which is why he found a homicidal madman lurking inside the Batcave, his skin covered in notches from his many, many kills, a glistening hunting knife in one hand and a maniacal gleam in his eyes.

Alfred gripped the steel baton in his hand. He knew that it wouldn't stop him, and Master Bruce was four thousand miles away, hiding in Alaska.

"Make this easy on yourself, old man," Zsasz rasped, the anticipation of murdering the Bat's closest confidant giving him a greater high than the rest of his hundred-plus victims. "Somewhere in that limey head of yours, you know where I can find Batman."

"Even if I had that information," Alfred replied, "I'd never tell you, Zsasz."

Zsasz's grin nearly split his face in two. "Oh...I was hoping you'd say that." He lunged at Alfred, who hopped back, striking Zsasz in the shoulder with his baton, which was followed by Alfred parrying the knife swing with the baton.

"You move pretty well for an old man," Zsasz complimented. He gestured to the numerous notches on his body. "Since you know all of Batman's secrets, I suppose you know what these notches mean, right?"

"Yes. And I'd rather not become one of them," Alfred deadpanned.

Zsasz lunged again. Alfred sidestepped him, but wasn't fast enough to dodge the cut Zsasz made into his side. "Then you got two choices, old man: tell me where Batman is hiding, or become the mark." The second slash had cut Alfred's arm to the bone. "One call, old man...and you get to live." The third slash was to Alfred's leg, making the older man stagger. "The more you resist, the more painful it will be. All the more fun for me."

A hard kick to the chest knocked Alfred down to the floor. "Last chance, old man. Call Batman, and you get to live."

Alfred backed away, pulling his injured leg. "Who sent you?" he demanded.

"Why, the Devil himself," Zsasz replied, as he prepared to deliver the killing blow with the blade...

...just as a gloved hand reached out and grabbed his hand.

Zsasz grinned. "Well, well, well. Saved by the Bat." He turned around.

It wasn't Batman.

Five minutes earlier...

The front door being kicked in wasn't a good sign. Jason cut the ignition from his bike and kicked the kickstand out, setting the bike in place. Unholstering one of his pistols, Jason cautiously stepped inside.

"Hello?" he called out. "Alfred?"

That was when he heard the commotion from inside the Batcave. The hidden passageway inside the study was still open, providing Jason quick access to the Batcave.

What he saw made his blood boil. Victor Zsasz was here, all right. And he was fighting the old man's butler, trying to get the location of his whereabouts from him. And Alfred was on the losing end of this fight.

Fortunately for the Brit, he had a guardian angel, and it wasn't Batman.

Zsasz was so focused on Alfred that he didn't notice the Red Hood creeping behind him. But Alfred did.

And Zsasz was only aware of him when he reached out and stopped him from killing Alfred.

"Well, well, well. Saved by the Bat." Zsasz turned his head to face the newcomer. His glee turned to shock upon staring at the Red Hood.

"No," Jason growled. "I'm not Batman."

Zsasz yanked his hand free and took a swipe at the Red Hood. His blade bounced off harmlessly against the vigilante's armor. The hard punch to Zsasz's face broke his nose, making the serial killer stumble backwards. As much as Jason wanted to torture Zsasz, Alfred's survival took precedence. Pulling out one of his pistols, he fired three consecutive shots; the first into Zsasz's hand that was holding the knife, making him drop the knife, the second and third into Zsasz's kneecaps, effectively taking him out the fight.

The boot to the head silenced Zsasz for the moment. With the psychopath neutralized, Jason turned his attention to Alfred.

"Thank...thank you," Alfred groaned.

"Save your strength, Pennyworth," Jason said. "We need to stop the bleeding."

"First-aid kit," the wounded Englishman said. "It's..."

Alfred didn't get the chance to finish the sentence, as Jason was on his way to the emergency station, where he retrieved two first-aid kits.

"This field dressing's not my best work," the Red Hood said as he began to tend to Alfred's wounds, "but it should be enough to get you out of here."

"You've been here before," Alfred noted. "You knew where the medical kits were."

"You can say that. My relationship with the old man is...complicated." Jason tore Alfred's pants leg and began to dress the wound. "We go way back, Bats and I. We even got some history together too."

Before Alfred could inquire further, footsteps were heard coming down the stairs, accompanied by singing.

"Happy birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you..."

"It's Master Damian," Alfred whispered. "Master Bruce's son."

"Happy birthday, dear Alfred..." Damian then stopped singing. "Oh, wait. Nothing rhymes with Alfred. Heh, don't even know if it's your birthday."

He looked older, Jason realized, as he stepped into view, holding a birthday present in his hands, shaggy hair that was once cut short, the trenchcoat hiding his Nightwing armor, his face lacking the mask that accompanied it.

"Happy birthday to…" Damian stopped as he took in the sight before him. First, was Victor Zsasz, injured and unconscious. Second, was Alfred, also injured, and in great pain. Third, was the masked vigilante that was tending to Alfred's wounds.

Damian dropped the present and in an instant, the electrified eskrima sticks favored by the late Dick Grayson were in his hands, having slid them down his sleeves. Jason reacted as fast, pulling out his pistol and aiming it at the renegade Wayne.

"Master Damian, no!" Alfred barked out. "He saved my life!"

"This man is wanted by the Regime, Pennyworth!" Damian pointed to Zsasz. "And what the hell is he doing here? He was locked away in Alcatraz!"

"He saved me from Zsasz, Master Damian," Alfred clarified. "He's not our enemy. If he was, then I would be dead by now."

"You're welcome, by the way," Jason added. "I was hoping for the old man, but you'll do."

"Sorry, but I don't trust a vigilante who sent thirty Regime soldiers to the hospital, Pennyworth," Damian sniped.

"More like fifty," Jason corrected. He reached up and pressed a button on the side of his helmet. A soft hiss was heard as his helmet loosened enough for him to remove it with his free hand, tossing it at Alfred's feet.

Damian's eyes nearly bugged out of his skull. "Ja...Jason?!" His voice was laced in disbelief.

"Master Jason?" Alfred repeated.

Jason lowered his gun and turned to Alfred, allowing the butler to get a good look at his face. "Been a while, Al." He was older, with a shock of white hair in his black, the domino-style mask now red instead of black, the eyes showing the same intensity as his predecessor.

"You're...alive?" Damian whispered. "How…?"

"Oh, I did die," Jason confirmed as he holstered his gun. "The Joker saw to that. I got your grandpa and mom to thank for my second lease on life." He snapped his fingers. "Oh, that reminds me..."

Damian was still stupefied as Jason walked over to him. He was literally knocked out of his shock as Jason slugged him across the face.

"Master Jason!" Alfred groaned from the strain as he held his side.

Wringing out his hand, smirking as Damian was knocked down, Jason added, "That was for Dick."

"Dammit...that was an accident!" Damian shouted as he got back to his feet.

"I know. And it's because of that detail that I don't send your head back to your boss." Jason turned and walked back to Alfred.

Damian followed him, but at a slower pace. He looked at Zsasz, still unconscious. Why the hell was he here? "It makes no sense." Damian was pacing the floor, while Jason continued to tend to Alfred's wounds. "Zsasz was locked up in Alcatraz. Hal brought him there. How did he get out? And how did he get in the Batcave? Superman had the main entrance blocked off."

"He used...the hidden entrance from the greenhouse, Master Damian," Alfred grunted. "Only six people know of that entrance. Myself, Your father, Master Dick, the both of you..."

"...and Superman," Damian finished, eyes widening in realization. He looked at the injured Zsasz, then back at Alfred. The gears began to turn in Damian's head as he began to connect the dots together. It was starting to form a picture that Damian did not like, nor wanted to believe. "Superman...Clark...no...he promised me! Gave me his word that you wouldn't be harmed!"

"Superman came here...a couple of days ago," Alfred confessed. "Demanded to know where your father was. I refused to tell him anything." He pointed one bloody hand to the Batcomputer. "There's a recording of the encounter. One week ago today. He didn't know I recorded him."

Damian stormed over to the supercomputer and activated it. Following Alfred's orders, he found the footage in question. And it rocked him to his very core.

"Alfred Pennyworth."

"Clark Kent. Sorry, I meant High Councilor. Common courtesy requires one should knock before entering. Although in your case, it seems that your senses have taken leave of you long ago. Suppose it's my fault that I expected better from the High Councilor."

"You think I'm insane, Alfred? Is that it?"

"In my position, I choose not to say what I really think."

"Yet, you had plenty to say to Damian regarding me. 'My life is ruled by fear.' Is that right?"

"Master Damian – regardless of his relationship with his father – always valued my advice. I suppose my comments are the reason why you're here. Either to offer your seething disapproval of my comments, or to bully me to retracting my statements."

"I don't care what you think, old man. Or where you came from or what you've done in your past. You know where Bruce is, and that is what I care about. Where is he?"

"You're mistaken again. And even if I knew where Master Bruce is, I wouldn't tell you."

"You wouldn't want to upset me, Pennyworth."

"So I've been told. Tell me...are you still feeling the sting of the headbutt I gave you?"

"Tell me where Batman is, so I can end this pointless war, Pennyworth. Now."

"Sigh. It seems that my age is catching up to me. As much as I want to continue this conversation, I can't. Seeing as how you let yourself in, you know the way out."

"We're not done here, Pennyworth."

"Good night, Master Kent."

Damian's heart was lodged in his throat as the footage ended. He turned to Alfred. "My God...I...I didn't know...I almost killed you...I told him what you said..."

"Say what you want about your dad, but at least he fights for a cause," Jason snarked. He looked at Alfred. "Pretty ballsy standing up to Superjerk, old man." His smirk turned somber. "There's more." He fished out a flash drive and tossed it to Damian, who caught it. "I arrived in town about a week ago, and had time to walk around the city. I was perched on a rooftop when I shot this."

Damian loaded the data from the flash drive onto the computer. Within seconds, the image of Superman hovering over a warehouse in Gotham City was on the screen. He had crashed a gathering of the Joker Underground, and things went south in a hurry. The High Councilor's face was a mask of rage as he used his heat vision to immolate the people inside, the screams clearly heard from where Jason shot the footage.

"Two hundred people...burned alive," Jason said in a somber tone as the footage ended. "They were just regular people. Still think you're the hero in this? That siding Superman was better than Batman? 'Die a hero, or live long enough to become the villain.'"

Damian remembered that line. It was something his father had once told him and Dick.

"It's not your fault, Master Damian," Alfred groaned.

"I...I thought we were the heroes in this whole mess. That Father and the Insurgency were the villains here. Superman really didn't care about me. He allowed me to remain out of spite." He grabbed his head in frustration. "What have I done?!"

His self-loathing was cut off when a pair of hands grabbed his shoulders and spun him around.

"Listen to me, Damian." Jason's eyes bore into the younger man's own. "We all made mistakes. Some more than others. Only thing we can do is own up to them." He looked at Zsasz. "First things first. We need to deal with him."

Damian turned to Zsasz. In an instant, Jason felt one of his pistols being yanked out of the holster. Gun in hand, Damian stormed over to the serial killer. A hard stomp to Zsasz's knee brought him back to consciousness. He looked at Damian and gave him a bloody grin. "Wayne's little bastard. Made Daddy proud when you sided with Superman, didn't ya?"

Damian jacked the slide back, and saw the bullet in the chamber. He snapped it back into place, and put a bullet into Zszaz's leg. The bald-headed criminal screamed in pain. He screamed even louder when Damian stepped on the wound. "I was brought up in the League of Assassins. I know at least eighteen ways to destroy you. Confirm to me what I already know. Confess, and I'll make it quick."

"Heh-heh-heh." Zsasz spat on the floor. He knew he was a dead man anyway, so he confessed. "Fine. It was Superman who gave the order to have me freed. He told me to make the old man talk, and to spare him if he gave up your daddy's location. I was gonna kill him anyway, despite what Superman told me. Had the perfect spot chosen for my mark and everything. It was just business. Nothing personal."

His laughter was cut off with a single bullet to the head. "It was all personal to me," Damian said as he lowered the gun. Reaching into his jacket, Damian pulled out a phone. It wasn't the official phone used by high-ranking members of the Regime, but rather a burn phone.

"You're not calling your Regime buddies, are ya?" Jason asked in a wary tone. "'Cause you do know that Supes will kill Pennyworth just to get to Batman, right?"

"I'm not calling him. Or Bruce," Damian replied. He punched in a number that he had memorized from memory. It didn't take long for the line to be connected.

"Damian?" The person on the other line knew who he was almost instantly.

"I need your help. Pennyworth was attacked. Superman tried to have him killed in order to smoke Father out, and Pennyworth is hurt bad. Do you have anyone close by?"

"I do. E.T.A. is five minutes."

Damian snapped the phone shut and put a bullet into the phone, destroying it. By this time, Jason was finishing up with Alfred.

"I'm sorry, Alfred. Superman promised me...I didn't know..." Damian began as he knelt alongside the butler.

"I'm not dead yet, Master Damian," Alfred grunted, the emergency injection of morphine Jason had given him dulling the pain.

"I got an evac coming, Alfred. Hold on."

"I'm not going anywhere, Master Damian. Someone has to keep you and you father from trying to kill each other." Alfred grasped Damian's hand in his own. It was clammy and cold. "Your father...knows that what happened in Arkham was an accident. He only saw you joining the Regime as a betrayal. It took me everything to convince him not to disown you outright."

"Save your strength, Pennyworth. Don't speak." In all honesty, Damian did not want to hear nothing about his father. Not at the moment, at least.

"Your father is stubborn, but so are you," Alfred pressed on. "He will find out what has happened here. He always does. Now, your meeting with him is inevitable. You and your father must make amends, for my sake."

Had it been anyone else, Damian would've told them to shove it. But he couldn't deny Pennyworth anything.

First things first, he and Jason needed to get Alfred out of Gotham.

The Watchtower, sometime later.

The image of Victor Zsasz's corpse cold on the Batcave's floor dominated the screen of the meeting room inside the Hall of Justice.

Behind his stoic demeanor, Superman did not like this image. Zsasz was a means to an end, yet here he was, dead as a doornail, and Alfred was nowhere in sight. On top of that, Damian wasn't answering his hails.

"I managed to hack into the Batcomputer and pull this," Cyborg said. "Victor Zsasz's motive was pretty clear. He wanted to find Batman, and planned on killing Mr. Pennyworth for the info."

"It's clear someone put him up to this," Wonder Woman noted with concern. While she had her problems with Batman, she actually liked the butler.

"How the hell did he get out?" Yellow Lantern inquired. "I personally delivered Zsasz to prison a week ago."

"When we determine that," Superman replied, "we'll both have answers. As tragic as this, Alfred put himself in danger due to his loyalty to Bruce."

"Ally or not, Sinestro's been the gatekeeper and Warden of the superprison. We can't rule him out as a suspect," Cyborg noted.

"What is to be done regarding Pennyworth?" Hawkgirl asked.

"If he is alive, then I want him found," the High Councilor ordered. "Search the hospitals in Gotham. If Zsasz wounded him, then he can't get very far. If Bruce finds out about this – and he will – he will come out of hiding. Don't allow your personal feelings to get in the way of your jobs. You are ordered to take him down."

"What about Damian?" Flash asked. "He's not answering his hails."

"Speak of the Devil..." The image of Zsasz changed to that of Damian Wayne, clad in his Nightwing armor, the background black, "...and he will appear."

"Damian," Superman greeted. "You did not answer our calls. We were worried. Zsasz attacked Alfred. We don't know where he is."

"I do." Damian's voice was eerily calm, yet cold. "He's here. With me."

It was subtle, but Damian saw the look of surprise on Superman's face. "You're not on the Regime frequency, Damian." Cyborg noted.

"I know. I had the line jacked. Oh, and don't try and trace the call, Victor," Damian added. "You're just wasting your time. I'm not in Gotham."

"What is the meaning of this, Damian?" Wonder Woman asked. "All this secrecy...I expected it from your father."

"It's necessary on my end, Diana. For my protection, as well as Alfred's." He turned to Superman. "Zsasz talked. He spilled his guts before I spilled his." His eyes narrowed. "You promised me, Clark. You gave me your word when I joined you. No harm was to come to Pennyworth."

"Damian..." Superman began.

"Only you have the authority to get Zsasz sprung from the superprison. You put him up to it. You had him to try and do your dirty work. All because you didn't like what he told me about Bruce."

Superman was aware that Diana and the others were looking at him. He ignored them. "A likely story, Damian."

"Really?" Damian's face changed to that of Superman's confrontation with Alfred. Only when the footage ended and Damian brought back the Regime, looks of shock were on their faces.

"You broke your promise to me, Clark," Damian deadpanned. "You tried to have Pennyworth killed out of spite."

Superman growled. "I did what I have to do to stop this war. This war with your father has gone on long enough. If I have to smoke him out by killing his beloved manservant, then I will do so. My only regret was not doing the job myself."

"Guess that makes my decision to leave a lot easier, then."

"So what happens now?" Superman sneered. "You're gonna go back to Bruce? Beg for his forgiveness? You got red on your ledger, Damian. The Insurgency won't have you."

"I know. I'm not going to join my father," Damian replied. "But Alfred needs a protector. I can't trust any of you with this responsibility. Therefore, it falls onto me."

"You walk down this path, Damian, and what happens next is on you," Superman threatened. "But...should you return to the Watchtower and surrender – with Alfred – then I'll show the both of you leniency."

"In that case, then consider this my resignation. As to your threat...come and get me if you can." Damian then ended the call, his image being replaced by that of the One Earth Government.

Superman's hand balled into a fist. His eyes glowed red before he closed them and took several deep breaths to calm himself down. No need to go and wreck the place.

"Clark?"

Wonder Woman's voice and her hand on his brought him out of his rage. He opened his eyes, now back to normal. "Damian Wayne is now an enemy of the state. Effective immediately," Superman said in a voice as cold as his Frost Breath. I want him and Pennyworth found. And if Damian resists, then lethal force is authorized."

He turned and stormed out of the meeting room. No one dared to stop him.