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Damian came back to consciousness slowly, his head ringing and the back of his skull where the stupid henchman had hit him was throbbing painfully.
Damn it all to hell. He was better than this. That little gang should not have gotten the better of him. He had gotten sloppy and now he was caught and now he would look weak to his family.
Oh, Grayson would not care. He would be more worried that Damian was hurt than he would be that he had been caught. But the others…
Father would be disappointed. While it was not outright said outside of Todd’s rants, Bruce Wayne had high expectations for all of his children and allies and he expected them to be upheld all the time. Damian knew, he knew that he was not in the league anymore and that he would not be punished for his failure but if he was to be honest with himself, Damian would have preferred the punishment to the silence and benching that was no doubt to come.
Todd was going to laugh at him. Call him weak and childish. The undead man would laugh and laugh and say that if he (Damian) was not carefully, than Todd would lose his place as the only real dead Robin.
Drake would not care. He would say nothing at all. He would look at Damian with indifferent eyes and walk away. How it burns him that Drake would do so. There was no love between them. And Damian doubted that there would ever be any at all. Drake was a threat and he set off everything in Damian with how much of a threat he was. Not even Ra’s came close to making Damian feel on edge.
At least the girls were better.
Brown would check him over for injures and fuss for a while. Gordon would update his comms with new trackers and would merely ask that he would be more careful. Cain would pat his shoulder and ask if he wanted to spar. She would understand.
But the rest of them…
Damian hated feeling weak or being seen as weak. Weakness got people killed. And Damian did not want to die. Nor did he want anyone of his family to die because of his stupid mistakes. They were his. They could not die.
The sounds of almost silent footsteps reached his ears as he began to force his eyes open. The ground was dirty and cold and a deep grey, he noticed. And the footsteps had stopped right before him. He turned his head slightly to the side and saw that the feet the belonged to was Grayson in his Nightwing glory.
Blinking slowly, Damian looked up at the taller man and was surprised to see that there was blood splattered across Nightwing’s uniform and that his fists were dripping in it. Was Grayson hurt? Was he hurt saving Damian?
No, that was not acceptable. Grayson is not allowed to be hurt. Not like this.
Damian opened his mouth to demand to know if Grayson was hurt or not, but instead of words all that came out was a painful cough that sent stars to his eyes from the pain.
“Shhh, easy Robin.” Nightwing’s gentle voice reached his ears as he screwed his eyes close. “You are safe now, tiny bird.”
Damian felt the binds that were holding his wrists behind his back fall and blood rushed almost painfully back down his hands as he was lifted into the warm, strong arms of the older man.
“I got you now. No one will ever hurt you again.” Damian opened his eyes in slow blinks as they began to walk out of wherever they were. As Nightwing carried him out, Damian could see countless henchmen on the ground, bleeding and broken from various wounds. All of them were still breathing but the sheer number of men laying there gave Damian pause.
Did Grayson do this all by himself? This looked more like Todd’s work than Grayson’s.
But Todd was nowhere to be seen. If the undead man had helped, than he would have stayed to gloat.
Damian looked up at the masked face of the older man whom he called brother and wondered, just what the hell was Grayson capable of. Of all of the Robin’s and ‘Bat Family’ as they were all known, Ra’s never saw Grayson as a threat. Grandfather’s files all stated that the man who held him now was soft and easily exploitable.
Ra’s was wrong. Grayson was not weak.
No, Grayson was a lot more dangerous than Damian thought. He would have to look into this. But that would have to be later. Right now, he needed to rest.
His eyes slid close once more as Nightwing carried him out into the cool night, the stars briefly twinkling overhead in his sights before he allowed himself to sleep.
-
“You know, you did not have to go in on your own.” Bruce said as Dick loaded Damian into the Batmobile.
Dick sighed and gently brushed a strand of hair out of Damian’s eyes. “I know. And you know you could have easily stopped me.”
Bruce gave a low snort. “I learnt long ago not to get between you and someone you care about who is in danger.” Dick watched as the older man looked at the warehouse. “Next time though, take one of your siblings as back up. It is bad enough I am going to have to bench Robin for running off and getting himself hurt. I don’t want you to be laid up because you were injured again.”
Dick rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, ignoring the pain in his chest and shoulders as he did so. “You give me this lecture every time.”
“And yet you refuse to listen.” Bruce gave a small glare. “I preferred it when you were a small little ball of sunshine that actually listened to me.”
Dick gave a sharp grin at that. “Well I couldn’t stay nine forever B.”
Bruce shook his head. “Take Robin home. I will deal with the rest of this.”
Dick gently hit Bruce’s dark shoulder and did as he was told without another word. He was looking forward to getting back to the manor and making sure that his tiny bird was alright.
And to having a nice, hot bath.