Author: Jinx

Fandom: Young Justice/Batman

Pairing(s): Gen

Character(s): Dick G./Robin, Damian Wayne

Warning(s): AU, Slight OOC, Slight (barely there) language

Prompt: Damian isn't Bruce's son.

He's Dick's.

What happened was that Nightwing got hit by a weapon/magic and was permanently deaged to 9 or 10 years old. He'd forgotten everything that was supposed to have happened after that age, including the fact that he has a 5 year old son.

Now, years later, "thirteen" year old Dick is back in school, back on a team, and acting more childish than Damian wants him to be. He calls Bruce "father" for show, but he knows that Bruce will never be his real dad and all he wants is for his dad to be back to normal and start treating him like a son rather than a kid brother. This is why he calls Dick, "Grayson" instead of his first name - it's kind of weird calling your parent by their first name after all.

The Same

The first time Grayson had called him "Little D," the world seemed to crash around him. Damian knew when he froze-even just for a split second-he'd been caught. Grayson's face quickly went from happiness, to confusion, before settling on concern. The young teenager reached out a hand, "Dami-," but he had already begun running without even looking back.

Now, Damian wasn't one for sentiments-nor would he ever be so weak to cry-but that name had left him speechless and with what seemed to be only one option-run. He shook his head as he ran out one of the numerous back doors and into the crisp night. By no means was he a coward either; he didn't run away, he just... needed some time away from that merciless pest. Damian slowed down to a barely walking pace, breath shaky as old snipets of memories fought to make themselves known.

An older man, face practically split in half due to the large grin on his face. His oceanic blue eyes held a certain spark in them.

"Daddy!"

"Hey, Little D!"

Damian shook his head again and clenched his teeth to the point where he could almost feel them buckle under the pressure, reveling under the distraction the physical pain gave him. Tt, he really was weak! It had been five years and technically he was still around... so why were his eyes stinging so badly? Damian took a deep breath and forced himself to keep his eyes open so the extra wetness-tears-would dry up. Images raced through his mind as he rested his forehead on his arms. They were moving too quickly for him to make them out, but he didn't need to-he knew what they were-who they were. Soft footsteps came from somewhere behind him.

"Leave me alone, Grayson," Damian spat the other boy's last name like a curse.

There was a small pause before the other boy said, "Why'd you run?"

"Tt, I didn't run! I needed space from your meaningless existance." Anybody else would have been hurt by Damian's constant verbal abuse, but Grayson knew-still knew-not to take it to heart; no matter how much the younger wished the do-gooder would.

There was another pause. "Dami, are you-"

"It's Damian."

Another bout of silence settled uneasily between the two, but this one seemed to stretch on forever. Eventually Grayson sighed and sat down beside him. Damian caught himself unconsciously leaning towards him, but then deliberitly moved himself a foot away.

"Sometimes I have these weird dreams..." He turned his head away to show his annoyance and hopefully convey the message to "shut up and go away," but as usual Grayson kept talking. "They're weird because I'm always older in them, but you and Bruce are still the same. And sometimes I get the feeling I'm not Robin-that I'm someone else." Still facing away from him, Damian's eyes widened and his breathing hitched a bit.

'He still remembers things...'

Grayson let out a humorless laugh. "There are so many things that don't add up. My memories before you and Bruce are so blurred it feels like it's been decades, not just five years." Damian felt eyes on him and turned to see Gray-no Dick looking at him; those were definitely his father's eyes. "And then there's you. You have this huge aversion to me and if I didn't catch your sad looks every once in a while, I'd think that you'd really hate me. I can tell you don't though. You may not know it, but Damian, sometimes you get this look in your eyes... something like devotion directed towards me, but I've always known that Bruce is your idol; your role model."

'That's a lie...'

"I mean, he is your father, so it makes sense."

'Lie.'

"I guess what I'm really trying to say is I feel like I don't belong. I may be 13, but," a pause. "Maybe it's best if I just permenatly join Young Justice and live at the Mountain..." Then he stood up, turned, and walked away.

"Grayson!" Said boy turned with a questioning look. "You can't just leave, there's no Batman without a Robin." He didn't looked convinced one bit. Damian balled his hands into tight fists and said stiffly through clenched teeth, "I'd... miss your... idiotic company, too."

A huge face-splitting grin covered Grayson's face and he made to tackle Damian into a hug. The smaller boy quickly side-stepped and allowed the current Boy Wonder to crash into the ground. This didn't deter his mood though because he immediately popped back up, grin still in place.

"I knew you couldn't resist me, Damian!"

Damian winced at his full name. Damn him and his weakness... "The nicknames can stay."

Grayson's grin toned down a bit. "Thanks, Little D." Then he ran back to the manor. Damian sat himself back down on the ground. Grayson was still the same; he was still the same man-still his father no matter what age.