Non-consensual Drug Use - Tumblr Posts
Disclaimer: I do not own anything!
by ADGAEA
A string of child abductions performed in a similar way over the past ten years has caught the attention of the BAU when the mentee, Peter Parker, of an wealthy business man and inventor named Tony Stark went missing.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING!
Words: 1057, Chapters: 1/6, Language: English
Fandoms: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), Criminal Minds (US TV)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Categories: Gen
Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark, May Parker (Spider-Man), The BAU Team, Original Male Character(s), Original Female Character(s), Harley Keener, Harley Keener’s Sister, Harley Keener’s Mother, Felicia Hardy, Randy Robertson, Robbie Robertson
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Additional Tags: Kidnapping, Murder, Child Murder, Child Abuse, Not Canon Compliant, Kidnapped Peter Parker, Medical Conditions, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Cameras, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker’s Parental Figure, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Tony Stark Coparenting Peter Parker, Worried May Parker (Spider-Man), Worried Tony Stark, Out of Character
A human trafficking ring set their eyes on Midtown high, and Peter Parker was one of those that were taken.
TW: threats of rape/non-con, creepy, human trafficking, hypothermia, non-consensual drug use
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my plot.
Note: References to rape are made, but nothing is explicitly described. I used those tags as a precaution.
Please let me know if I missed any triggers or tags.
@febuwhump
What will happen when Peter's Aunt May is abducted on the day of the first anniversary of his Uncle Ben's death?
TW: kidnapping, human experimentation, non-consensual drug use, restraints
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my plot!
@febuwhump
HI! Part two of my Refuge series based within the TSSM universe has been posted on A03.
Summary: What will happen when Tombstone goes after Peter?
TWs: broken bones, blood and injury, blood, loss of tooth/teeth, guns, violence, non-consensual drug use, kidnapping
Disclaimer: I do not own anything!
Story under the cut and on A03!
Montana huffed as he did his best to calm himself. He didn't take kindly to anyone threatening the kid, and now his own boss had made a major threat towards the kid. He wasn't quite sure how to proceed, but he knew that it'd have to be done carefully. He entered the Group chat on his phone and sent a message for an emergency meeting at Ock's lair later that night. He didn't want them all crowding in his apartment while May and Peter were still staying there.
~~~~~~
Peter hugged Harry before leaving to meet Montana. Normally, he'd just walk, but with how crazy things had been, it would be better to have Montana pick him up. Peter took note that Montana was tense as they drove back to his apartment building.
Peter cautiously questioned "I take it that your meeting didn't really go well?"
Montana grimaced and responded without looking at Peter "Nope."
Peter didn't pry further, but he did wonder what had put his uncle on edge.
~~~~~~
Late at night, Montana left the apartment quietly.
It was quite easy to make it to Ock's lair. He was solemn faced as he entered the lair. Ock was quick to greet him, but did not yet ask any questions. It only took a little while longer for the whole gang to appear.
Quentin appeared to be the most worried as he took a seat by Montana.
Once everyone had focused on him, Montana began.
"As some of you know, I had a meeting with my boss Tombstone this past afternoon. It didn't go very well, as he accused me of not doing my job and proceeded to threaten Peter's life. I'd say that we could take them out of the city again, but we can't keep uprooting the Parker's lives every time a new threat comes around. We need to handle this differently, and Tombstone's not as direct of a threat as Osborn was. I have no doubt that Tombstone has spies watching Peter though." Montana said as the others showed varying degrees of surprise or exasperation.
Adrian rolled his eyes "Is it really worth it to protect his child if he keeps getting himself into so many messes?!"
Ock spoke "Of course it's worth it, Adrian. The boy is highly intelligent, and of much use to us. You know that, otherwise you would not have helped defeat the Goblin."
Adrian huffed and stood down.
O'Hirn said "One of us can always try to tag along with the kid. Sandman and I can try to schedule more tutoring schedules so he stays busy outside of school or patrol and he'd be with one of us most of the time."
Montana replied "That wouldn't work full-time, but it would help. I know there's no way to stop Tombstone from watching Peter, but so long as one of us is always around the kid, he'll be fine. We need to make a schedule for who'll stick around the kid each day."
Dan spoke "well, none of have really strict work schedules, so we'll probably just have to do it day by day."
Ock spoke "Precisely. I will also keep a closer eye on the surveillance system of his school. I know that the Enforcers likely have a job tomorrow, and I am going to be busy. Anyone free for a shift protecting the child tomorrow?"
Quentin spoke "I'll do it. Tomorrow's my day off at work. Plus, I can actually blend in and act as a substitute teacher and keep an eye on him all day. TInk helped me with my photostatic veil idea, so I can use tomorrow as a test run."
Montana nodded and said "Thanks, Quentin. Keep us updated if you spot anything suspicious."
The group meeting soon dissolved, all in agreeance that Peter must be protected.
~~~~~~
Tinkerer stood tall as he was escorted to Tombstone's office. He was unsure of what the meeting would be about.
He raised an eyebrow as Tombstone motioned for him to sit.
Tinkerer did as requested and Tombstone spoke "Tell me everything you know about Peter Parker."
Tinkerer furrowed his brow and said "He's quite intelligent, and as you know, he's been working in my workshop for a little while. He's improved upon the equipment that the Enforcers use and has helped me work on a few other projects. I know as much as Hammerhead has likely already told you."
Tombstone nodded and said "I figured, but I also need to know about his interactions with the Enforcers."
Tinkerer grimaced and said "Why such an interest? The kid has no dreams of working for us full-time."
Tombstone's eyes flashed with anger as he said "It is not your place to question my motives."
Tinkerer was not cowed as he said "It is my place to question you when you seem to have taken an interest in the kid."
Tombstone hummed and pursed his lips.
He then said "I see that Parker has gained your favor now as well. Just remember who your boss is, Mason. You either answer to me, or you will lose funding."
Tinkerer huffed and said "Fine. I will not answer any more of your questions. I don't need your funding. I just stayed on with you because you needed those suits for the Enforcers. You can find someone else to do that or they can hire me personally. I don't answer to anyone but myself."
Tombstone gritted his teeth and angrily ordered "Get out then!"
Tinkerer calmly stood and walked to the door. As one of the lackey's opened the door for him, he looked back at Tombstone and said "I suggest that you be careful. Peter Parker has many people who care about him, and you would be treading dangerous waters if you intend to mess with him."
He could hear Tombstone's aggravated growling as he left the room and shut the door behind him. He calmly left Tombstone's hideout and headed for his own apartment. He had to update everyone on the group chat that Quentin had added him to.
~~~~~~
Peter sighed as he finally returned to school with Harry. His arm luckily didn't have to be in a cast any longer either. Luckily, Gwen and MJ policed the crowd of students that tried getting to them to ask questions. Peter was not really looking forward to the next week. He had quite a bit of work to make-up for his classes and now more was going to be added.
Luckily, nothing new had been added in his English class, as there was a substitute for the day. He didn't recognize their name or appearance, but their tone and the way they moved seemed familiar. The guy also seemed to be super passionate about the topic of the work they'd been given to complete while the teacher was out for the next week with the flu.
All the other classes seemed to pile on the homework though. He even had an essay to work on for his advanced biology course. He wouldn't have time to hang out with his friends or uncles for a while. He considered himself to be good at school, and none of the assignments were really hard, but they would still be time consuming.
The day luckily came to an end after his chemistry lab. It had been an odd day purely because random classmates would occasionally come up to him and ask about his disappearance before Gwen or MJ could stop them. Peter was kind of flattered that they had practically made it their mission to keep other students from hounding him with questions that he didn't really want to answer.
He went to his locker to grab a couple of things and met Harry outside of the school. Gwen and MJ had already left.
Harry questioned "Did you want to hang out or work on our mathematics homework?"
Peter replied "Sure. We can either go to your place or Montana's place."
Harry then glanced behind Peter and smiled as he called out "Hey Quentin!"
Peter turned and smiled.
Quentin spoke "Hey guys! You two need a ride? I was in the area so I figured that I could pick you both up after school."
Harry answered "Yeah! That'd be great! Pete, can we go to your place?"
Peter nodded as they walked to Quentin's car.
Quentin smiled and said "Good! To Montana's we go!"
Peter smiled fondly.
~~~~~~
Quentin smiled in relief as Peter didn't seem suspicious of him. Peter had stared at him a few times during his English period, but luckily didn't seem to know that it was him. The photostatic veil that he and Tinkerer had made worked splendidly. Quentin had to admit though, it had been kind of fun substituting.
He knew that the normal teacher would be out for the rest of the week, so he went ahead and signed up to be the substitute for the rest of the week. He wasn't getting paid as much as his usual job, but at least he'd still get paid while using his false identity. He'd just take the next week off from his normal work.
They arrived at Montana's building soon and Quentin spoke "Go on up, kid. I'll be up there in a few minutes."
Peter soon left and Quentin got his phone out. He whistled as he sat in his car and opened the group chat to inform everyone that he had the in school surveillance of Peter covered for the week, but that someone else would have to pick him up after school.
~~~~~~
Peter and Harry finished their work fairly quickly and had enough time to relax before Harry wanted to return to his home. They luckily avoided talking about anything concerning the fact that Peter would be inheriting the Osborn fortune. Quentin soon had the honor of taking Harry home.
~~~~~~
Peter yawned as the day went by slowly. Once it was late enough, he'd gone out and patrolled a little bit, and unfortunately stayed up so late that he only got a couple of hours of sleep. Both May and Montana had reprimanded him for staying out so late, but it had been worth it. Granted, it probably wasn't the greatest choice, considering the fact that he couldn't stop nodding off in the middle of his classes.
He yawned as he leaned his head against his hand while trying to pay attention. Luckily, the bell soon rang, and it was the lunch period.
Peter just laid his head on the table and started snoring.
Gwen, MJ, and Harry shared a concerned glance as Harry said "He must have stayed up too late when studying last night."
Harry then glanced at a frowning Gwen. She'd have an earful for Peter later. She and Harry both knew that Peter was tired because he'd been out so late last night because of his Spider-Man duties.
All three of the friends were surprised as Peter's head suddenly popped up and his eyes were wide open.
Gwen could tell that Peter had suddenly become tense. Harry soon caught on and MJ noticed his change in demeanor.
Soon, Peter could feel the eyes of many students on him, and it was even worse than when he'd come back a few days ago. He tuned into many conversations around him and he heard many whispers of his name and the fact that he'd inherited the Osborn fortune and everything. Peter bit his lip. Someone broke the NDA and let all of the information out. Peter knew that there was going to be trouble.
Gwen and Harry shared a look as the intercom sounded "Peter Parker to the Principal's office."
Peter quickly got up and left for the office. He really needed to get out of the school before any reports could show up to harass he and his friends.
The other three friends shared looks of worry for Peter as they too could hear some of the conversations going around the cafeteria.
~~~~~~
Peter was greeted by both May and Montana as he arrived at the office. He'd already been checked out for the day.
Montana spoke "I'm sure that you may have already heard, but someone broke the NDA. We wanted to come and get you before any press could ambush you after school."
Peter steeled his jaw and nodded as Montana and May stood beside him while they walked out. Luckily, the press was not at the school.
The trip back to Montana's apartment was quick. The midday news was on and playing as they entered the apartment, and Peter was greeted with a picture of himself on the screen and a banner revealing that he was the heir to the Osborn fortune. All he could do was sit on the couch and hold his head in his hands as May rubbed a hand on his back in comfort.
Montana, however, was angry. He'd find whomever had broken the NDA and ensure that they paid for releasing the confidential information.
~~~~~~
Peter ended up having to take a day off from school, as reporters had been trying to contact him again. They'd also been trying to contact Harry for questions, but luckily, Harry was used to dealing with the press, so he gave no comments. Peter felt horrible about the entire situation, but there wasn't much that he could do. Harry had met him at Montana's after school to give him any homework he had missed and told him that thing would blow over eventually.
Peter wasn't quite sure if that would ever happen.
~~~~~~
"Boss, I don't think that going after the kid's going to end well. Not to mention the kid was the main benefactor of the estate when Osborn was killed." Hammerhead said as Tombstone raised an eyebrow.
"If you wish to remain in my employment Hammerhead, I suggest that you not question my actions or orders. I know what I am doing, and I do not need or want to explain my reasons to you."
Hammerhead grimaced and said "Alright. It'll be done. I'll make sure that one of our guys is on the security team at the kid's school."
Tombstone nodded and replied "You are dismissed."
Hammerhead soon took his leave while thinking that his boss's plan wasn't going to lead to anything good.
~~~~~~
As Peter expected, things were different when he returned to school a couple of days later. He would have waited longer, but he wasn't going to let the actions of the press control his life. He'd just try to take a note from Harry and express the fact that he didn't want to comment. Plus, it helped that they couldn't be too persistent, as he was still a minor.
Honestly, he could handle the reporters. The reporters were no where near as annoying as many of his fellow classmates who continued trying to ask him questions or be his friend. He hated the additional attention, and had no idea how Harry had dealt with that for most of his life. Though, he did have more of an understanding of why Harry could be so standoffish sometimes, and definitely understood why it was harder for Harry to trust people. You could never know if someone was truly trying to be your friend sometimes. Peter was just glad that Harry knew that he, Gwen, and MJ were his actual friends.
Not to mention it was kind of uncomfortable that the security around Midtown had increased since Reporters had been seen outside of the school. Peter could also tell that his uncles were worried about him. He was getting texts from them more than usual as they worried for him.
Peter was slightly zoned out as he munched on his lunch.
He only zoned back in when Gwen laid a hand on his shoulder and asked "Are you alright?"
Peter smiled lightly and responded "I'm fine, Gwen. Man, Harry, I don't know how you ever dealt with this kind of thing."
Harry shrugged and said "I lived with Norman Osborn for many years. Dealing with reporters and 'fake friends' was nothing compared to always being seen as a disappointment by him no matter what I did."
Peter was slightly surprised as someone sat their hand on his shoulder. He grimaced as he turned slightly and noticed that it was one of Flash's friends whom he couldn't even remember the name of. His spider sense was up a little, but he knew this guy wasn't an actual threat, just an annoyance.
"Hey, Parker! Here's an invite to my party! It's at my house tomorrow!" the guy said as Peter shrugged his hand off.
Peter said "No thanks. I'm not a party person."
The guy then frowned and said "Aw, come on Parker! It'll be fun!"
MJ spoke up "He said no. Quit bothering us."
The guy rolled his eyes and said "Really Parker, you're going to have a girl speak for you? Just come to the party. You can even bring these other losers with you. You're already on your way to being the most popular guy in the school because of how much you've been in the news, and you being at my party would be great for my own popularity!"
Peter stood up and huffed as he said "I already said no, and please don't talk about my friends that way."
Peter went to turn and leave, and the guy grabbed his arm. Peter turned around and glared at the offending hand that was gripping his arm.
The guy spoke "Just come, Parker! I'll even say please if I have to. I really need something to boost my reputation after I got a speeding ticket last week and my girl dumped me!"
Peter shook his head and wrenched his arm out of the guy's grip as his other friends stood up and practically pushed the guy away. Peter groaned. He could feel a sensory overload coming on. His head was hurting.
He grimaced as Gwen gently touched his shoulder. She looked at him and noticed that he'd flinched slightly. She went to say something, but Peter spoke "I'm going to go outside for a little bit. Sensory overload."
Gwen nodded and watched as Peter left. Harry wanted to follow Peter, but MJ said "Leave him be, Harry. He's overwhelmed."
Gwen nodded and said "He'll be alright. We'll check on him if he doesn't come back in before the bell rings. He'll have to come back in here though. He left his phone and bag at our table."
~~~~~~
"Agent 1187 reporting. I have eyes on the boy. I am leaving my post from within the school to follow the boy. I will radio further information in when it is clear for Mr. H. to come." the Agent reported as he followed Peter to behind the school's gymnasium.
Agent 1187 watched as the boy finally stopped and stood against the wall. The boy was hyperventilating and had his eyes closed. It was the perfect time to strike. Agent 1187 made their move.
~~~~~~
Peter was uncomfortable as he leaned against one of the gymnasium walls. His sensory overload had only gotten worse as he left the cafeteria. He closed his eyes for a little bit and held his hands over his face. He could tell that he was hyperventilating, but he couldn't do anything but ride the overload out. Not to mention it was annoying how his sensory overloads always set off his spider sense.
He was unprepared when he felt someone grab his arm, and his eyes shot open. Before he could turn around, a needle was shoved into his neck and he was pulled against someone as he tried to cry out, but his mouth was covered. He tried to pull himself out of the person's grip, but he was so tired and still aching from the sensory overload.
He made small noises of discomfort as he was gagged and blindfolded. He was feeling horrible. He soon lost his battle to remain conscious.
~~~~~~
Gwen and Harry went together to check on Peter. They knew that he'd likely gone behind the gym. When they got there, he wasn't there.
Harry said "Where could he be? He left his stuff at the lunch table, and he wouldn't just leave the school. I'll check the restroom and you check the halls in the five minutes of lunch we've got left?"
Gwen nodded and said "Yeah."
The two searched, but by the time the bell rang, Peter wasn't back or found anywhere close to the cafeteria.
They knew that something had to be wrong. Peter wouldn't just leave his stuff behind, especially not his phone.
They met MJ back at the table and she grimaced as she questioned "No sign of him at all?"
Harry and Gwen both nodded a negative.
MJ nodded and said "Okay, let's go to the office. They likely won't be much help, but we've at least got to tell them that there's a missing student."
It did not take them long to get to the office and speak with the principle.
The principle furrowed their brow and said "I'll have security check on a few things."
The three waited at the office outside of the principle's office while the head of security came in with a sheepish look. The guy headed into the principle's office and closed the door. The three friends shared a worried look as Gwen leaned closer to the door and listened in.
She heard the security officer say "One of my men has gone missing from their post, and none of the others have seen Mr. Parker. I'm sorry, but I think that my staff has failed to do their job. We need to go on lockdown and get the police here."
Gwen leaned back and bit her lip as she whispered to MJ and Harry that Peter was most definitely missing along with one of the security staff missing form their post.
Harry quickly got his phone out and started texting Quentin about the situation. None of the uncles were going to like this at all.
~~~~~~
Peter groaned as the blindfold and gag were taken off of his face. He had only just started to stir. He soon noticed that he was tied to a chair, his hands tied behind the back of the chair. He had a massive headache and his spider sense was still going off, but he wasn't having a sensory overload anymore. He was surprised when he looked forward to see that his kidnapper just so happened to have brought him to Tombstone.
Tombstone said "So, Peter Parker, what makes you so special that my Enforcers aren't doing their jobs? Is it because you're so obviously not suited to be a criminal even though you won't hesitate to make technology for them? What makes you so endearing to them? Why are you so important in the grand scheme of things? I know you're not biologically related to any of them, so what makes you special to them?"
Peter just bit his lip and looked away without saying anything.
Tombstone sighed and said "Answer me, boy."
Peter grimaced and looked directly at Tombstone, but refrained from answering. Tombstone looked to the side and made a small hand motion. Peter grunted as his head was knocked to the side by a punch. He could have avoided it, but he didn't want this guy even having a hint that eh wasn't a normal human.
Peter grimaced as he tasted blood. He could feel a little bit of it dribble down his chin. A tooth must have been knocked out. He spit out some of the blood as he flexed his hands behind his back.
He glared at Tombstone as the man raised an eyebrow.
Tombstone hummed as he said "Impressive. You don't even seem to be phased. That will not last very long though, unless you choose to answer me now, boy."
Peter said nothing as he stared at Tombstone. Things were about to get a little more painful.
~~~~~~
Montana was furious as he and Quentin got to the school. May had stayed behind at the apartment in case the police were to come by. Tinkerer had come over to stay with her while he went down to the school with Quentin. Montana knew that the others, including Dan and Ox, would be meeting at Ock's place to see if they could track down where Peter had been taken through Ock's cameras.
He didn't bother to even listen to the security people as he barged past them and into the school that was no longer locked down once they'd figured out that there was not a threat to any of the other students. Quentin followed close behind. Montana headed directly for the office. He knew where it was because he'd picked Peter up from there a couple of times.
He stalked in there and paused as he saw Harry, Gwen, and MJ. Quentin walked past him and Harry stood up. Quentin hugged him and said "Hey, kid. We're working on trying to find Peter. I hear that you three are being kept here for a little bit because police want you to answer a few questions."
Harry nodded and Montana spoke "Well they can't keep you here, and they likely won't be any help. Unless they force you to stay here, you guys can go or come with Quentin and I. The students have been released for the day because of Peter's disappearance."
Gwen spoke "I'm coming with you two. I already texted my dad and said that I was going to be with Harry and MJ for a little while to study."
Harry and MJ both nodded in agreeance.
Montana nodded and then said "Alright then, I parked close. We'll take my vehicle to Ock's place."
The principle came out and said "Wait, Mr. Brice! You can't take them with you!"
Montana gritted his teeth and looked back as he said "I'm not taking them with me. They're following me. They have permission from the school to leave without the need of a guardian signing them out."
He then turned away as the principle continued trying to get his attention. He once again shoved past security people, who weren't really good at their jobs, and everyone got into his vehicle."
MJ sat beside Gwen and said "So, I'm guessing that Ock refers to Otto Octavius. How did Peter even get involved with this bunch of people that he now calls uncles?"
Harry shook his head and said "That doesn't really matter. All that matters is that Peter trusts them, so we should too."
MJ raised an eyebrow, but nodded.
~~~~~~
Peter's breathing was erratic as his head was held up by one of Tombstone's goons standing behind him. Blood was running into his eyes as he stared back at Tombstone. He'd lost another tooth, his nose was broken, and he'd been hit so many times that he'd be surprised if he had any unbruised skin left. Not to mention, it was getting harder for him to see between the blood getting in his eyes and the swelling from all of the hits.
Tombstone curled his fists as he said "Your refusal to speak is rather annoying, boy."
Tombstone looked up and motioned to one of his men "Again, but this time, break some bones."
Peter cringed as his head was dropped. He couldn't keep a scream from being released as his left kneecap was broken.
~~~~~~
Hammerhead grimaced as he stood outside of Tombstone's office. He couldn't help but feel that his boss's actions just weren't right. Don't get him wrong, he's a criminal, but there was no sense in beating a kid like that just to get some answers and threaten the Enforcers. He really felt bad for picking the kid up in his limo after Agent 1187 knocked the kid out.
Honestly, it was kind of impressive how well the kid was doing though. The kid hadn't said a word at all yet. There had been plenty noises of pain coming from Tombstone's office, but the kid hadn't spilled anything.
Hammerhead cringed as the kid suddenly screamed. He couldn't take it anymore. He had to contact Montana.
~~~~~~
Montana was pacing as Ock scanned his cameras. Tinkerer had even joined them to try and search through the footage.They had gotten footage that the kid had been put into an unmarked and unlicensed limo, so they were fairly certain that the kid was going to be taken to Tombstone. Only, they weren't sure which of Tombstone's bases they would have taken the kid to, and they couldn't afford to raid the wrong base.
Ock combed through the footage for hours, but nothing seemed to be working. The limo just disappeared from any footage once it gets close to the outer city limits.
Montana's pacing and Ock's arguing with Quentin and the Vulture did nothing to help calm the three teens that had come along with Montana and Quentin.
Gwen was aggravated as the three monitoring the cameras continued bickering over something stupid concerning the proper way to go through the footage.
Gwen stood and whistled loudly.
She spoke once everyone's eyes were on her "Okay. Everyone needs to cool it or stop arguing over things that won't help track down where Peter was taken. Since some of you have flight capabilities, why don't you try to go out and patrol and see if you can track down anyone who may have pertinent information. Mr. Brice, do you know if Peter had any other electronics on him that could have been tracked?"
Montana just shook his head. The kid's phone was still with them, so there wasn't really a way to track the kid's location that way.
Toomes grimaced and nodded as he said "Very well, Miss Stacy. I don't like taking orders very much, but you have a level head, and it does make sense to do so."
Toomes soon left the room.
Quentin just looked sheepish as he said "Sorry guys, I'm just worried. I'll send some of my gremlins out to search. Tink's already sent some of his drones out, but none of them have detected anything yet, and they don't go beyond city limits yet, so they're not helping much. I think that my gremlins can go quite a way's away from the city though, so they might help until we get a concrete location."
Dan nodded at Quentin's statement and said "Maybe we should just make our way through the bases that we know Tombstone has out there, Montana. He already knows that we'd do anything to get the kid back. He's going to expect us to retaliate anyway."
Montana grimaced and said "It's too risky to go in blindly to a random base of his. I don't want to risk that he'll move Peter around if we raid the wrong base."
Dan sighed and said "Montana, we've got to do it. We'll find the kid either way, and we can't let him stay in Tombstone's hands for very long. We both know that Tombstone does whatever he wants to do in order to get what he wants, and right now he wants something from Peter. We've got to risk it."
Montana nodded and said "Okay. We'll suit up and go. You three kids stay here and help Ock watch the cameras."
None of the teens looked thrilled about sitting and waiting, but they knew that they'd just get in the way if they went with the Enforcers to try and find Peter.
Montana spoke again "Quentin, be ready to tail us and act as backup. We should be able to do it ourselves, but we need to be ready just in case."
He then went to leave the room, but then his phone rang. Montana looked at his phone and grimaced as he recognized the number. Hammerhead was calling him.
He put the phone on speaker and threateningly said "Where's my kid, Hammerhead."
Hammerhead spoke "We're at the base about forty miles west outside of the city. Hurry, Shocker. Tombstone's hurting the kid, and I just don't condone that. I'll back you up when you get here."
Montana practically growled as he said "We'll be there soon. Don't think that just because you're helping right now, you won't face out wrath eventually. You still had a part in getting the kid to Tombstone."
Hammerhead just sighed over the line and hung up. They had an exact location now, presuming that Hammerhead was being truthful. Based upon the resignation and worry in the guy's voice though, Hammerhead was not lying.
Montana spoke again "Flint, O'Hirn, Quentin, you're with us. Quentin, you'll get Peter out of there and the rest of us will handle things. Tink, please hand me some of your enhanced restraint cuffs. It's time to wage war on Tombstone."
The Enforcers were soon suited up and ready to go with the others. They had a kid to get back.
~~~~~~
Peter was clenching his fists hard as he did his best to hold back his tears even though it was hurting his arm. He felt awful. His arm was broken again, and both of his kneecaps were in bad shape. This would take quite a while to recover from.
Tombstone spoke "I don't know how you handle this physical violence so well, but let's move on. Since that's not working, how about we move on to threatening those you love. You answer me or else that aunt of yous will face some consequences of your refusal to answer me."
Peter growled as he hissed out "Don't you dare go after her!"
Tombstone laughed and said "So, he finally speaks. How far do I have to go to get you to answer my questions though. Should I bring her in?"
Peter responded "Never. I'll tell you that I view the Enforcers as my uncles. What more do you need to know? Why am I so interesting to you?"
Tombstone growled and yelled angrily "You are a threat to my business, and I will not allow threats to remain within my midst!"
Before Peter could reply, the door behind him was opened and one of the lackeys reported that the base was being attacked.
Peter smiled painfully. He knew that his uncles had come, and Tombstone was doomed.
~~~~~~
Hammerhead let the Enforcers and company into the base. He said nothing as O'Hirn and Flint went a separate way and started destroying things.
He led the way to Tombstone's office. It was quite easy for him to just push the lackeys aside, as they were too wimpy to fire at him and definitely couldn't defeat the Enforcers. Not to mention, all of their guys seemed to be horrible shots. Hammerhead really had to reevaluate who he was hiring.
He was equipped with his own strength plus a couple of guns he stole from the lackeys along with his own gun. It was not going to be easy to take the Big Man down.
~~~~~~
Montana was furious as he entered Tombstone's office and saw that he was standing behind the chair in which Peter was tied to, and gripping the back of the kid's neck.
Tombstone looked at the group gathered around the entrance and said "Hmm. Hammerhead, I see that you have betrayed me to the Enforcers. That will be remembered once this fight is over. Meanwhile, my Enforcers tear my base apart just to get to this boy. Tell me, Shocker, what is so important about this boy?"
Shocker growled as he said "We already had this discussion, Lincoln. Release my kid."
Tombstone laughed and said "Why would I do that, Shocker. If I get rid of this whelp, you'll go back to doing your job properly."
Dan spoke "You're crazy if you think we'll ever work for you again after you hurt the kid."
Tombstone spoke "Snapping his neck will be easy. It'd be done before you could ever make a move towards me."
Tombstone was startled as a voice sounded from behind him "Not before me though."
Tombstone was then bombarded with some of Quentin's gremlins as Quentin laid a punch on Tombstone's face. Peter was no longer in Tombstone's grip. Dan quickly ran towards the chair and untied Peter and picked him up while Quentin was distracting Tombstone.
Montana spoke "Mysterio, move."
Quentin quickly moved back towards where Dan had carried Peter towards the door and took Peter in his own arms while Montana launched an attack on Tombstone.
Peter didn't complain as Quentin took him away from the fight.
Montana spoke "You know, after tonight, you ain't going to be the big man of crime anymore. You harmed one of my family, and NO ONE gets away with that, crime boss or not."
Tombstone just threw off another gremlin that had been trying to chew on his arm and gritted his teeth. He looked towards Montana and said "You really think that you can beat me! There's a reason that I've been the Big Man of Crime for so long. You can't beat me. You're lucky that I'm not killing you right now."
Montana shot at him with his gauntlets, and Tombstone dodged it easily.
Tombstone spoke "Pathetic attempt, Shocker."
Tombstone then grunted as he was hit from the side by Dan and knocked into Ox who punched him.
Tombstone growled as he spit out a tooth.
He then quickly drew his gun and started shooting. Montana was grazed on his right shoulder and Dan ran straight at Tombstone.
Things were about to get a lot more heated.
~~~~~
Quentin grimaced as he took in Peter's appearance while getting the heck out of Tombstone's base. The kid looked awful. Not to mention the kid was out. He wondered if it was from blood loss or something else. He could tell that the kid had multiple broken bones along with some severe bruising. It made him hope that the others were giving Tombstone the beating he deserved.
Luckily, their transportation was equipped with good first aid supplies. Quentin was glad that he was familiar with first aid, though he hated that it was the kid who had helped him become so familiar with how to perform the proper first aid. He started cleaning the cuts and wounds that he could while attempting to stabilize the breaks. They had to get the kid to Ock's fast. He'd know how to set the bones right since he had all of the proper medical equipment in his hidden laboratory. Kind of freaky, considering the lab was there for sinister reasons until Ock figured out that the kid was Spider-Man, but at least it could still come in handy.
He was honestly surprised, but grateful, that the kid didn't have any gunshot wounds, considering how much Tombstone liked his guns.
~~~~~~
Montana punched Tombstone after discarding the busted gauntlet that Tombstone had hit when fighting him. Montana was also quite pleased that he was the first to draw some of Tombstone's blood. After his punch, the brute fell back and spit out a tooth as blood ran down his chin.
Tombstone snarled at him and went to shoot at him again, but had run out of ammunition when he'd tried to gun Ox down only minutes ago. Ox had easily dodged most of the bullets, and the others had been caught by his awesome armor that was bulletproof thanks to some improvements done by peter and the Tinkerer. If only Montana had used the new bulletproof armor, then he wouldn't have a graze on his shoulder.
Montana got the firearm away from Tombstone and threw it across the room where Ox crushed it easily.
They were prepared when Tombstone pulled out another hidden gun. Montana sent a blast towards hm and knocked the man back into the wall which caused him to lose his grip on the gun. Dan was able to pull it away as well and Ox crushed it as Montana fought Tombstone hand to hand. Tombstone may be vicious, but nothing was going to stop Montana from making the man pay for hurting the kid.
The two continued to fight and eventually passed into the hallway, where Tombstone tripped over a fallen lackey. Before he could even try and get up again, he was held down by Hammerhead's foot.
Hammerhead spoke as he took in Tombstone's furious glare "I suggest that you stay down unless you want to die by their hands soon, because for that kid, they'll fight to the death. I warned you not to go after the kid, but you didn't listen. It's time for a new Big Man of Crime to take over and actually listen to their workers."
Tombstone snarled as he said "Even if I'm put in prison, I will be able to get myself out. I have enough money and a good reputation within the community."
Dan glanced down at Tombstone and stared him in the eyes with disgust as he said "You forget, Tombstone, that the Enforcers keep their own records of missions they go on for you. We served our time for some of those things and got out, but you were never caught because we covered your tracks because you secretly got us out. You forget that we keep proof of everything we do. we don't leave a paper trail, but we do keep records. You can thank the Tinkerer for never trusting you enough to not keep our own records once we first got our suits made by him. You will go to jail, and your reputation has been ruined. Proof of what transpired today with the kid will also get out. Your money won't be enough to keep you out of prison, Tombstone. Just be lucky that we're giving you a chance to live. Your hide may be close to impenetrable, but there are other ways to kill you. So even if you ever think of getting out or coming after us or the kid again, don't be surprised to find something rather dangerous in your drink, because we will be watching you."
Tombstone just snarled as Hammerhead moved to the side as Ox came and restrained Tombstone. They were so glad that Tink had sent them out with enhanced cuffs.
Dan could tell that Montana was still tense and ready to kill Tombstone as they started to leave.
Dan laid a hand on Montana's shoulder and said "Why don't you go check on Flint and O'Hirn?"
Montana recognized that it was a distraction tactic, but he didn't care. He nodded and left towards the direction where he could hear screaming from some of Tombstone's people. He knew that if he were to spend five more minutes within the immediate vicinity of Tombstone, the albino man wouldn't be living for much longer. Impenetrable skin or not, he'd find a way to kill the man. After all, he had hit hard enough to knock a couple of the guy's teeth out earlier.
~~~~~~
It didn't take Montana long to find Flint and O'Hirn. He couldn't help but be a little bit pleased as he took in all of the damage to Tombstone's property.
O'Hirn and Flint were both relieved when Montana told them that they had restrained Tombstone and gotten the kid out of the place. They had been there to cause damage, and boy did they do their job.
They soon headed out of the base and to their transportation. Luckily, Hammerhead was going to transport Tombstone to law enforcement with his own limo. Dan had reluctantly volunteered to go with Hammerhead to be sure that Tombstone was taken in.
Montana was really worried as soon as he got to their vehicle and noticed that Quentin was just cradling the kid in the middle seat while whispering reassurances wile Ox was looking on with worry.
Ox's eyes were teary as he said "Fawn hurt bad."
Montana steeled his jaw and got in the driver's seat as everyone else piled in.
Quentin spoke "We need to get him to Ock quickly. His pulse is off and he's sweaty. He passed out as I was taking him out of here. I don't think that the drugs they gave him ever fully ore off. Should Peter even be affected by drugs like this?"
Montana grimaced and answered as he hightailed it on the highway "I don't know how it works. I know that regular cold medicine works for him if taken in higher doses, and so does ibuprofen if taken in a large amount, but I don't know how normal doses of a tranquilizer woudl affect him."
Quentin hummed and held peter closer. The kid wasn't looking good at all.
~~~~~~
All at Ock's base were prepared when the posse of uncles got back. Vulture had radioed ahead from where he had followed them by air once they got back within city limits. Gwen couldn't help but gasp in fear when she saw Peter's condition though. He looked like he was on death's doorstep.
Gwen only stopped staring when MJ sat a hand on her shoulder and smiled softly.
She said "He's Peter. I know that he looks horrible right now, but if we know Peter, we know that he'll recover and bounce back better than ever."
Gwen nodded, but she couldn't help but worry. Harry seemed to be in about the same boat as he stood outside of the medical lab that Quentin had taken Peter into. The three teens watched as Montana and Quentin helped Ock treat the worst of Peter's wounds. They knew that Peter had multiple broken bones, and they were kind of glad that Peter was not conscious as the bones were set.
They only looked away for a brief moment when Dan came in with May. May stood at the window and leaned against Dan after looking in and seeing how hurt Peter was. She was teary as she curled her hands into fists. She knew that this wasn't a Spider-Man incident. She never had any thoughts that anyone would go after Peter Parker the civilian. Dan held her close as he steeled his jaw.
Eventually, only Montana remained in the medical area while the others poured out.
Ock spoke "I have taken a couple of blood samples, but I did find evidence that Peter was injected with something more recently than when he was drugged when he was taken. That would likely be why he had not regained consciousness. He had a broken knee and a broken arm along with severe bruising across his torso, head, and legs. He is also missing a tooth. His heart beat was erratic when he arrived and he was diaphoretic, but I have treated him to the best of my ability, as it is not recommended that he visit a doctor unused to dealing with human mutates, and I may not be a medical doctor, but I have the knowledge needed to help him medically. I have administered a proper dose of pain medication. His condition had been stabilized."
Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief that Peter had been stabilized.
Eventually, Ock's tests were completed, and it was confirmed that Peter had been overdosed with a tranquilizer shortly before the Enforcers had arrived at Tombstone's office to rescue him. It was also relieving that Ock had been able to combat the adverse effects of the tranquilizer, though it had not been a relief to know that Tombstone had likely tried to kill the kid via an overdose. With luck, Peter would be awake sometime soon.
Though, Ock had failed to notice that he had mentioned Peter's mutation in front of a few who were not yet in the know that Peter was Spider-Man.
Flint, O'Hirn, and Vulture were quite curious about what Ock meant by Peter being a human mutate.
~~~~~~
Peter groaned as he reawakened. He still felt horrible, but based upon his lessened spider sense, he was back in a safe place.
He opened his eyes and was greeted by the sight of his uncle Montana dozing in a chair beside the uncomfortable medical bed. May was dozing in another chair on the other side of the medical bed. He wondered what exactly had gone on after he'd passed out from the second tranquilizer that Tombstone had injected him with.
Montana soon stirred and noticed that Peter was awake. He leaned forward with a smile.
He whispered "Hey, kid. How are you feeling."
Peter replied "Not great, but at least the swelling's gone down and I can see properly again. It's also nice to not have blood in my eyes anymore."
Montana cringed but said "Do you need more pain meds? It's been a while since Ock gave you any."
Peter sighed and replied "I would not be adverse to it. Man, I'm aching and hurting all over."
Montana got up and said "I'll go get Ock."
Peter nodded and soon Montana had left and come back with Ock, who had a proper dose of medicine prepared. Peter hadn't even noticed that he had an IV connected until Ock injected the medication through it.
Peter questioned "What all happened after I was drugged again by Tombstone? I remember you guys coming into his office, but nothing after."
Montana spoke "We took Tombstone down, and he's imprisoned with no chance of getting out."
Peter sighed in relief.
He also cringed as he realized that he had disappeared from the school when he was supposed to meet back with his friends in the cafeteria.
He questioned "How are my friends?"
Montana answered "They're good. They only left a little while ago. They were worried about you too. You also don't have to worry about school for a little while. They'll be closed for the next couple of days while they reevaluate their security team and get a better security system installed since it was one of them who initially drugged and kidnapped you."
Peter nodded and yawned.
He sleepily replied "Thanks for coming to get me out of there."
As Peter drifted off, the last thing he heard before falling asleep was Montana's soft words "I'll always come for you, kid. Always."
~~~~~~
Hammerhead smirked as he entered one of the Big Man's bases after the news broke out that Tombstone had been incarcerated. Now that Tombstone was gone, it seemed that the power all deferred to him. None of the lackeys made a move against him, and someone had to take on the title now that Tombstone was in prison. He made his way to Tombstone's old office and went in. He sat in the chair that used to be Tombstone's favorite and reclined slightly. Yeah, he could get used to being the new Big Man of Crime.
A villain from the past returns when previously thought dead, and Ezra is in danger.
TW: gore (tongue, burning flesh), cursing in Star Wars language, kidnapping, trafficking, dehumanization, restraints, non-consensual drug use
It's getting better . . . right?
Inspired by this fanfic
uploaded on 04/11/21
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Ao3 // Wattpad
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I'm fine
Damian Wayne knew that no one wanted him around. He wasn’t an idiot. He noticed how everyone always seemed to look at him with a bit of distaste and revulsion wherever he went.
It made him feel like he didn’t belong with them. Like he was unwanted.
Didn’t his family notice how hard he was trying?
They never seemed to look past the fact that he was raised by assassins. They all assumed that he was nothing but a cold, bratty, killer.
And in a way, maybe they were right.
After all, the ones he was supposed to call his brothers didn’t even give him a chance.
Even the team he handpicked, hated him.
What was wrong with him?
If everyone seemed to hate him so much, there had to be something wrong with him. Right?
That’s what everyone at school seemed to believe.
Ever since someone leaked his number, his phone would always be filled with dozens of new messages. Not a single one of them was positive.
“KYS smart ass”
“U know that no one actually likes you, right?”
“U might be Bruce Wayne’s child but remember that u were nothing but a mistake”
“No one's going to like u with that attitude. No matter how hot you might be”
“isn’t it sad that no one likes you?”
“Do us all a favor and just kys”
And as if that wasn’t enough, everyone in his vigilante life seemed to always have something negative to say about him.
They didn’t even care that he was within earshot. In fact, he wholeheartedly believed that they wanted him to hear about all their complaints about him and his attitude.
He received their points loud and clear. No one there wanted him.
No matter how hard he tried, it would never be enough. Sometimes, he wanted to take his suit and run away, killing all the criminals that he deemed deserved it. He wanted to fight back and argue against them with the bratty behavior that everyone seemed to believe he was born with.
But.
It would only prove everyone right. It would only prove that he was nothing but a spoiled, worthless, ungrateful brat that doesn’t know how to take no for an answer.
Ever since Damian was given to his father, he has wanted nothing more than to gain his approval. He promised that he would become everything that Batman wanted and more.
Even if it meant that he had to pretend that their comments didn’t hurt him.
Damian stared back at his empty, plain wall.
A few minutes before he got back to the manor, the team had just completed another mission.
Damian was about to apologize because he felt like he was a bit too overbearing and bossy when he heard them complaining and criticizing him.
Again.
He froze, not knowing what to do.
“- Such a brat!” he heard someone growl. “Like how can someone be such a dick?”
The room filled with laughter and Emiko spoke up, “What did the kid do now?”
“He goes and gets mad at me for being incompetent or something. Like it’s not my fault I wasn’t raised by a crazy old hot assassin lady.” Wally snapped.
They were right, of course. Damian was raised in different circumstances. And he knew that he was a bit harsh. But he just didn’t want anyone to get hurt.
“‘If you don’t halt your tongue you useless speedster,” someone mockingly imitated, “You will perish under my sword.” That brought another round of fresh laughter to the tight group.
Not even the two people that Damian could probably call his friends could hold in their laughs.
“Why are you guys so mean to the small man?” Roundhouse asked, making the tense feeling inside Damian’s chest loosen up a bit.
Maybe they didn’t hate him as much as he thought they did.
He heard Emiko snort, “Please, that wanna-be is barely a man.”
He quickly got that foolish thought out of his head.
Wally muttered something that Damian couldn’t hear.
Emiko spoke up again, “You guys wanna know what Roy told me,” Damian assumed that the others nodded and he found himself leaning in as well. “He said that even his own brothers don’t like him. They just put up with him to make their dad happy. Actually, probably even his own father doesn’t want him.”
Damian ignored how tight his chest was getting. They were right after all. No matter how hard he tried, his father would never love him the way he loved Grayson, Todd, and Drake.
Wally laughed, “You’re probably right. I mean, didn’t his mom just force Batman to take him. The guy probably didn’t have a choice.”
“That must be tough.” someone huffed, “Being tossed around like trash.”
“He probably deserved it.”
Damian stood there, suddenly not wanting to face his team. Again, they were right. Maybe he did deserve it. No one wanted him around.
No one loved him.
He noticed that the talking from the room ceased and decided that maybe now would be a good time to quickly leave.
All he had to do was go in, use the zeta tubes, and he would be out of there.
Damian walked in the room, with the utmost confidence he could muster.
“Great!” Wally had an excited grin on his face, “I can’t wait to go-“ his voice trailed off when he spotted Damian walking in.
“Can’t wait for what?” he couldn’t stop himself from asking.
“We’re going to the movies!” Djinn answered for the speedster. “We wanted to do a bit of team bonding.” she gave him a bright smile.
Damian nodded in acceptance, hoping that his eyes didn’t betray the hurt he was feeling. Understanding the fact that no one wanted him around, he muttered a quick “Have fun.” Then left.
He should’ve known better than to know that they would invite him.
They probably just didn’t want him to ruin their bonding experience. It makes sense. Damian ruined everything. And he doesn’t even have to try.
It’s like all he had to do was step into a room and everyone’s mood suddenly spiraled down.
These feelings stirring up inside of him made him feel weak and useless. He was pathetic.
Damian stopped, why should he care about what they think? Their opinions should mean nothing to him.
Because father would want you to get along with them. His mind whispered. And even if you don’t want to admit it, you’ve grown fond of them. That’s why you want them to like you so much.
Damian sighed, deciding to take a shower. It’s not like he had anything better to do.
He left his phone on his bed, barely anyone but Alfred came into his room anyway.
The steaming hot water sprinkled across his brown skin. It hurt at first but Damian got used to it.
He didn’t know how long he stayed in the shower but when he heard the knock at the door, he immediately assumed that it was time for dinner.
“I’ll be there soon Alfred!” he called out, changing as fast as he could. He didn’t want to disappoint his father by showing up late.
“Sorry, but I’m not Alfred.”
“Grayson?” he asked, stepping out of the bathroom. “What are you doing here?”
“Do I need an excuse to visit my brother?” he grinned excitedly.
Damian wanted to nod and say yes. No one talked to him unless they had to. However, Damian stopped himself when he saw the glint of mischief in Grayson’s eyes.
Immediately putting up his guard, knowing nothing good happens when Nightwing himself is up to no good, he sneered. “I’m not up for your silly little games tonight.”
Grayson had the nerve to look hurt and pout. Damian ignored him, “Please Dami.” he begged, “I just want to spend some time with my brother.”
“Well, I don’t want to spend time with you.” Damian snapped, “Now if you excuse me, I have to go do... something.”
Grayson cheerfully grinned, ignoring everything Damian just said. “Since you have nothing better to do, let’s go hang out with your friends.” Before Damian could say that he didn’t have any friends and that Bruce needed to know if he ever went somewhere, Grayson lifted him up. “I already asked Dad. So come on! I want to meet your team.”
“It’s not like I have a choice.” Damian grumbled, “Can you put me down?”
“Nope.”
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When they arrived at the tower, Damian sat on the only empty seat left.
He was confused. Why was everyone here? Did they just bring him here so that they could talk about how bad of a person he was? Cause he honestly didn’t need a reminder.
He had a bad feeling about this meetup.
He soon became aware that everyone was watching him, “Don’t you guys have a movie to watch?”
“It was closed.”
“How would it be closed? It’s barely 10 o’clock.”
Crush looked at Todd and the boy rolled his eyes before speaking up. “Hey, brat. You do-”
“Don’t I get a welcome, Demon?” Drake suddenly interrupted, “Plus, last time I checked, you didn’t know what cinema they were going to, so how would you know what time it would close.”
“Tt, whatever.” he rolled his eyes, concealing how his chest seems to ache at the fact that his brothers they didn’t even care that were humiliating him in front of his team. “Can I go now?” he turned to Grayson, “I just remembered that I had to do something.”
It was an obvious lie. And from the snickers going on around the room, they knew it too. Damian didn’t bother to pretend to care. He needed to get out of here.
Something felt wrong.
Without waiting for Grayson’s answer he stood up and tried to walk towards the exit. However, judging by the fact that someone was blocking the door, it seemed like they didn’t want him to leave.
He turned around. “What do you guys want?” he demanded, hoping that they would get the hint that he didn’t want to stay here.
“I don’t know what they want,” Todd casually said, leaning forward. “But can you try this? Alfred gave me the recipe.”
Damian narrowed his eyes at the drink, running his hands through his dark, damp hair. A habit he only did when he was extremely nervous or when he had a very bad feeling. “And I should care about that because...?” He made his voice trail off.
Why won’t they leave him alone?
Everyone seemed to grit their teeth before Crush looked at him straight in the eye, an eyebrow mockingly raised. “Please don’t tell me that you're scared.”
Damian scoffed at the thought.
Him. Scared of a drink? As if.
He paused, he was wary of it though. Something definitely didn’t feel right. He wanted to leave before this whole thing further escalated.
It was like he was back in school and everyone was surrounding him so that he couldn’t walk away. Then somehow, everyone would make comments about how useless and stupid he was. Then they would push him around. Sometimes, they would even go as fast as going through his backpack and rip his notebooks apart.
It was humiliating.
Is that what they wanted? To humiliate Damian.
He was right. They really did hate him.
The fact that Damian didn’t answer his teammate’s question seemed to boost everyone’s confidence.
Damian noticed that they all had a glint of amusement in their eyes, probably enjoying the fact that he couldn’t leave.
Todd walked up to him, the mug in his hand. Damian couldn’t bring himself to move, he could only stare at the object.
Get out. his head seemed to scream. Get out!
He warily looked around, he couldn’t force himself out of this one. He was trapped and the walls just kept closing in.
“You know,” Emiko taunted. “What would happen if your father heard the fact that you declined a drink that your brother obviously worked hard on just for you?” she suddenly let out a mocking gasp, “Oh! What would the League do?”
“If dad found out,” Drake playfully commented, a hint of delight in his tone. As if he enjoyed how uncomfortable Damian felt. “You would probably be banned from patrol... again.”
Everyone around him laughed and Damian clenched his fists.
This wasn’t fair.
Why should it matter that he didn’t want to try the stupid drink that Drake made?
He tried to look at Grayson for help but he was laughing too. Why would his brother the older kid bring him here just to be made fun of?
He hated it here.
Did all of them hate him so much that they would gang up on him? Threatening him that they’ll snitch to Bruce so that he wouldn’t be able to be Robin anymore?
They couldn’t.
Damian refused to let them take away the only escape he had from his horrible life.
If all they wanted was for him to drink from that stupid mug, then he would.
He snatched the white mug- covered with bats from Todd’s hand. Not even bothering to check what was in it, he drank it all as fast as he could.
Before he could open his mouth to ask if he could leave now, his vision blurred. Dark spots seemed to be dancing around the room.
What was happening?
His head suddenly started to hurt. He tried to walk away but he stumbled, almost falling face-first to the floor when someone caught him.
Damian felt his body being carried and put down somewhere soft.
The last thing he noticed was the fact that everyone seemed to wear matching smirks. The exact smirks that seemed to make chills go down Damian’s spine all evening. Wally took out his phone, angling it to film something.
He heard the voices talking and he felt his mouth open as if answering a question.
His head still hurts.
He wanted the pain to go away.
Why wasn’t it going away?
He wanted to scream for help. It hurts. Everything hurts. But it was like he couldn’t bring the words out of his mouth.
He didn’t know if the reason he couldn’t ask for help was that he didn’t trust them or if he just physically couldn’t do it.
In the end, it didn’t matter. Damian’s small body slumped against the couch and his vision went dark.
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When his green eyes opened, he felt like Superman hit his head with as much strength as he could.
It hurts, the throbbing just wouldn’t stop and his eyes couldn’t focus. Everything was blurry and hazy.
He tried to get up but it was like his body failed him. He couldn’t move.
Suddenly, he felt someone put another blanket over his body. He looked up and noticed that all three of his father’s sons were there, staring at him with worried eyes.
They sat on his bed, “What’s wrong, Dami?” Todd asked in a worried tone.
“Nothing,” he muttered. “Why are you guys here?”
“We’re just worried for you, little bat.” Grayson softly argued, his hands playing with Damian’s dark hair.
“Why?” If he could, Damian would’ve winced at how pathetic he sounded. “ I mean, what happened?”
The older bats exchanged glances before Drake slowly answered his question, “There was a mission.” he faltered, “And you got hurt. Really badly.”
Damian frowned, the pain distracting him from focusing on anything else but the words being said to him. “I don’t remember going on a mission?” His eyes stared at theirs, “What was the mission again, exactly?”
Todd scooted closer to him and Damian wanted to scoot away, will he hurt him? “We’ll tell you everything later. Right now, you need to rest.”
Damian's head throbbed even more, “None of this makes sense. Where’s the team?” When the word team came out of his mouth, something inside Damian seemed to snap, he looked at them, obviously panicking as he asked, “How’s the team? Are they hurt? No one was drastically injured right?”
How could he be so selfish? Why was he focusing on himself so much? He should’ve focused on his team right when he woke up.
No wonder they hated him. He couldn’t even protect them properly.
Were they going to kick him out? Were they going to replace him as their leader? Were they g-
“Your team is fine,” Tim assured him, wrapping his arm around Damian, causing the small child to flinch. Drake quickly removed his arm, muttering a quick “Sorry.”
Noticing that the atmosphere has gotten tense and uncomfortable again, Damian couldn’t help but scold himself. Stupid, he just wanted to help you. Why did you have to flinch?
“They’re worried about you, you know.” Grayson suddenly spoke up.
Damian tilted his head in confusion, “Who?”
“Your team.”
“Why?” he questioned.
“Cause you’re hurt?” Todd supplied, as if it was obvious, exchanging quick glances with the others again.
“I just have a headache.” Damian argued before muttering a quiet, “Plus, they didn’t care before. So why would they care now.”
“They care because you’re their leader” Grayson gently answered.
Damian scrunched his eyebrows, so they didn’t want to replace Damian as the leader. Maybe he wasn’t as useless to the team as he thought. They might not like him but they probably believed he was valuable.
Damian nodded in understanding, “So you’re sure that no one's hurt.” he asked meekly. “Did you make sure that they were all okay?”
They might not like or care about him but Damian cared for them.
“They’re fine.” Todd mumbled, “Now, why don’t you go back to sleep.”
Grayson wrapped Damian around his arms, this time Damian tried his hardest not to flinch. It didn’t work but Grayson didn’t seem to notice or care.
He just didn’t want to turn the pleasant atmosphere into an awkward and sorrowful one.
“You’re never getting hurt again.” he heard Drake vow. “We’ll make sure of it.”
Damian wanted to mention they would not be able to keep that promise. They wouldn’t be there with him at every moment of his life.
Damian chose not to tell them down. As much as they wanted to believe that they knew Damian, they didn’t.
Plus, that promise was doomed from the start. After all, how could they protect Damian from themselves?
He also decided that he wouldn’t mention their strange behavior. He knew that they would go back to hating him tomorrow. Right now, all he wanted was to stay in the older kid’s arms.
For once in his life, Damian felt like he belonged. Like someone cared.
He only wished that this feeling would last forever.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Note:
So I tried something new. What do you think?
Feel free to comment your thoughts and ideas on what I should add. I love reading them!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
next
It's getting better . . . right?
Inspired by this fanfic
uploaded on 04/11/21
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ao3 // Wattpad
next
I'm fine
Damian Wayne knew that no one wanted him around. He wasn’t an idiot. He noticed how everyone always seemed to look at him with a bit of distaste and revulsion wherever he went.
It made him feel like he didn’t belong with them. Like he was unwanted.
Didn’t his family notice how hard he was trying?
They never seemed to look past the fact that he was raised by assassins. They all assumed that he was nothing but a cold, bratty, killer.
And in a way, maybe they were right.
After all, the ones he was supposed to call his brothers didn’t even give him a chance.
Even the team he handpicked, hated him.
What was wrong with him?
If everyone seemed to hate him so much, there had to be something wrong with him. Right?
That’s what everyone at school seemed to believe.
Ever since someone leaked his number, his phone would always be filled with dozens of new messages. Not a single one of them was positive.
“KYS smart ass”
“U know that no one actually likes you, right?”
“U might be Bruce Wayne’s child but remember that u were nothing but a mistake”
“No one's going to like u with that attitude. No matter how hot you might be”
“isn’t it sad that no one likes you?”
“Do us all a favor and just kys”
And as if that wasn’t enough, everyone in his vigilante life seemed to always have something negative to say about him.
They didn’t even care that he was within earshot. In fact, he wholeheartedly believed that they wanted him to hear about all their complaints about him and his attitude.
He received their points loud and clear. No one there wanted him.
No matter how hard he tried, it would never be enough. Sometimes, he wanted to take his suit and run away, killing all the criminals that he deemed deserved it. He wanted to fight back and argue against them with the bratty behavior that everyone seemed to believe he was born with.
But.
It would only prove everyone right. It would only prove that he was nothing but a spoiled, worthless, ungrateful brat that doesn’t know how to take no for an answer.
Ever since Damian was given to his father, he has wanted nothing more than to gain his approval. He promised that he would become everything that Batman wanted and more.
Even if it meant that he had to pretend that their comments didn’t hurt him.
Damian stared back at his empty, plain wall.
A few minutes before he got back to the manor, the team had just completed another mission.
Damian was about to apologize because he felt like he was a bit too overbearing and bossy when he heard them complaining and criticizing him.
Again.
He froze, not knowing what to do.
“- Such a brat!” he heard someone growl. “Like how can someone be such a dick?”
The room filled with laughter and Emiko spoke up, “What did the kid do now?”
“He goes and gets mad at me for being incompetent or something. Like it’s not my fault I wasn’t raised by a crazy old hot assassin lady.” Wally snapped.
They were right, of course. Damian was raised in different circumstances. And he knew that he was a bit harsh. But he just didn’t want anyone to get hurt.
“‘If you don’t halt your tongue you useless speedster,” someone mockingly imitated, “You will perish under my sword.” That brought another round of fresh laughter to the tight group.
Not even the two people that Damian could probably call his friends could hold in their laughs.
“Why are you guys so mean to the small man?” Roundhouse asked, making the tense feeling inside Damian’s chest loosen up a bit.
Maybe they didn’t hate him as much as he thought they did.
He heard Emiko snort, “Please, that wanna-be is barely a man.”
He quickly got that foolish thought out of his head.
Wally muttered something that Damian couldn’t hear.
Emiko spoke up again, “You guys wanna know what Roy told me,” Damian assumed that the others nodded and he found himself leaning in as well. “He said that even his own brothers don’t like him. They just put up with him to make their dad happy. Actually, probably even his own father doesn’t want him.”
Damian ignored how tight his chest was getting. They were right after all. No matter how hard he tried, his father would never love him the way he loved Grayson, Todd, and Drake.
Wally laughed, “You’re probably right. I mean, didn’t his mom just force Batman to take him. The guy probably didn’t have a choice.”
“That must be tough.” someone huffed, “Being tossed around like trash.”
“He probably deserved it.”
Damian stood there, suddenly not wanting to face his team. Again, they were right. Maybe he did deserve it. No one wanted him around.
No one loved him.
He noticed that the talking from the room ceased and decided that maybe now would be a good time to quickly leave.
All he had to do was go in, use the zeta tubes, and he would be out of there.
Damian walked in the room, with the utmost confidence he could muster.
“Great!” Wally had an excited grin on his face, “I can’t wait to go-“ his voice trailed off when he spotted Damian walking in.
“Can’t wait for what?” he couldn’t stop himself from asking.
“We’re going to the movies!” Djinn answered for the speedster. “We wanted to do a bit of team bonding.” she gave him a bright smile.
Damian nodded in acceptance, hoping that his eyes didn’t betray the hurt he was feeling. Understanding the fact that no one wanted him around, he muttered a quick “Have fun.” Then left.
He should’ve known better than to know that they would invite him.
They probably just didn’t want him to ruin their bonding experience. It makes sense. Damian ruined everything. And he doesn’t even have to try.
It’s like all he had to do was step into a room and everyone’s mood suddenly spiraled down.
These feelings stirring up inside of him made him feel weak and useless. He was pathetic.
Damian stopped, why should he care about what they think? Their opinions should mean nothing to him.
Because father would want you to get along with them. His mind whispered. And even if you don’t want to admit it, you’ve grown fond of them. That’s why you want them to like you so much.
Damian sighed, deciding to take a shower. It’s not like he had anything better to do.
He left his phone on his bed, barely anyone but Alfred came into his room anyway.
The steaming hot water sprinkled across his brown skin. It hurt at first but Damian got used to it.
He didn’t know how long he stayed in the shower but when he heard the knock at the door, he immediately assumed that it was time for dinner.
“I’ll be there soon Alfred!” he called out, changing as fast as he could. He didn’t want to disappoint his father by showing up late.
“Sorry, but I’m not Alfred.”
“Grayson?” he asked, stepping out of the bathroom. “What are you doing here?”
“Do I need an excuse to visit my brother?” he grinned excitedly.
Damian wanted to nod and say yes. No one talked to him unless they had to. However, Damian stopped himself when he saw the glint of mischief in Grayson’s eyes.
Immediately putting up his guard, knowing nothing good happens when Nightwing himself is up to no good, he sneered. “I’m not up for your silly little games tonight.”
Grayson had the nerve to look hurt and pout. Damian ignored him, “Please Dami.” he begged, “I just want to spend some time with my brother.”
“Well, I don’t want to spend time with you.” Damian snapped, “Now if you excuse me, I have to go do... something.”
Grayson cheerfully grinned, ignoring everything Damian just said. “Since you have nothing better to do, let’s go hang out with your friends.” Before Damian could say that he didn’t have any friends and that Bruce needed to know if he ever went somewhere, Grayson lifted him up. “I already asked Dad. So come on! I want to meet your team.”
“It’s not like I have a choice.” Damian grumbled, “Can you put me down?”
“Nope.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
When they arrived at the tower, Damian sat on the only empty seat left.
He was confused. Why was everyone here? Did they just bring him here so that they could talk about how bad of a person he was? Cause he honestly didn’t need a reminder.
He had a bad feeling about this meetup.
He soon became aware that everyone was watching him, “Don’t you guys have a movie to watch?”
“It was closed.”
“How would it be closed? It’s barely 10 o’clock.”
Crush looked at Todd and the boy rolled his eyes before speaking up. “Hey, brat. You do-”
“Don’t I get a welcome, Demon?” Drake suddenly interrupted, “Plus, last time I checked, you didn’t know what cinema they were going to, so how would you know what time it would close.”
“Tt, whatever.” he rolled his eyes, concealing how his chest seems to ache at the fact that his brothers they didn’t even care that were humiliating him in front of his team. “Can I go now?” he turned to Grayson, “I just remembered that I had to do something.”
It was an obvious lie. And from the snickers going on around the room, they knew it too. Damian didn’t bother to pretend to care. He needed to get out of here.
Something felt wrong.
Without waiting for Grayson’s answer he stood up and tried to walk towards the exit. However, judging by the fact that someone was blocking the door, it seemed like they didn’t want him to leave.
He turned around. “What do you guys want?” he demanded, hoping that they would get the hint that he didn’t want to stay here.
“I don’t know what they want,” Todd casually said, leaning forward. “But can you try this? Alfred gave me the recipe.”
Damian narrowed his eyes at the drink, running his hands through his dark, damp hair. A habit he only did when he was extremely nervous or when he had a very bad feeling. “And I should care about that because...?” He made his voice trail off.
Why won’t they leave him alone?
Everyone seemed to grit their teeth before Crush looked at him straight in the eye, an eyebrow mockingly raised. “Please don’t tell me that you're scared.”
Damian scoffed at the thought.
Him. Scared of a drink? As if.
He paused, he was wary of it though. Something definitely didn’t feel right. He wanted to leave before this whole thing further escalated.
It was like he was back in school and everyone was surrounding him so that he couldn’t walk away. Then somehow, everyone would make comments about how useless and stupid he was. Then they would push him around. Sometimes, they would even go as fast as going through his backpack and rip his notebooks apart.
It was humiliating.
Is that what they wanted? To humiliate Damian.
He was right. They really did hate him.
The fact that Damian didn’t answer his teammate’s question seemed to boost everyone’s confidence.
Damian noticed that they all had a glint of amusement in their eyes, probably enjoying the fact that he couldn’t leave.
Todd walked up to him, the mug in his hand. Damian couldn’t bring himself to move, he could only stare at the object.
Get out. his head seemed to scream. Get out!
He warily looked around, he couldn’t force himself out of this one. He was trapped and the walls just kept closing in.
“You know,” Emiko taunted. “What would happen if your father heard the fact that you declined a drink that your brother obviously worked hard on just for you?” she suddenly let out a mocking gasp, “Oh! What would the League do?”
“If dad found out,” Drake playfully commented, a hint of delight in his tone. As if he enjoyed how uncomfortable Damian felt. “You would probably be banned from patrol... again.”
Everyone around him laughed and Damian clenched his fists.
This wasn’t fair.
Why should it matter that he didn’t want to try the stupid drink that Drake made?
He tried to look at Grayson for help but he was laughing too. Why would his brother the older kid bring him here just to be made fun of?
He hated it here.
Did all of them hate him so much that they would gang up on him? Threatening him that they’ll snitch to Bruce so that he wouldn’t be able to be Robin anymore?
They couldn’t.
Damian refused to let them take away the only escape he had from his horrible life.
If all they wanted was for him to drink from that stupid mug, then he would.
He snatched the white mug- covered with bats from Todd’s hand. Not even bothering to check what was in it, he drank it all as fast as he could.
Before he could open his mouth to ask if he could leave now, his vision blurred. Dark spots seemed to be dancing around the room.
What was happening?
His head suddenly started to hurt. He tried to walk away but he stumbled, almost falling face-first to the floor when someone caught him.
Damian felt his body being carried and put down somewhere soft.
The last thing he noticed was the fact that everyone seemed to wear matching smirks. The exact smirks that seemed to make chills go down Damian’s spine all evening. Wally took out his phone, angling it to film something.
He heard the voices talking and he felt his mouth open as if answering a question.
His head still hurts.
He wanted the pain to go away.
Why wasn’t it going away?
He wanted to scream for help. It hurts. Everything hurts. But it was like he couldn’t bring the words out of his mouth.
He didn’t know if the reason he couldn’t ask for help was that he didn’t trust them or if he just physically couldn’t do it.
In the end, it didn’t matter. Damian’s small body slumped against the couch and his vision went dark.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
When his green eyes opened, he felt like Superman hit his head with as much strength as he could.
It hurts, the throbbing just wouldn’t stop and his eyes couldn’t focus. Everything was blurry and hazy.
He tried to get up but it was like his body failed him. He couldn’t move.
Suddenly, he felt someone put another blanket over his body. He looked up and noticed that all three of his father’s sons were there, staring at him with worried eyes.
They sat on his bed, “What’s wrong, Dami?” Todd asked in a worried tone.
“Nothing,” he muttered. “Why are you guys here?”
“We’re just worried for you, little bat.” Grayson softly argued, his hands playing with Damian’s dark hair.
“Why?” If he could, Damian would’ve winced at how pathetic he sounded. “ I mean, what happened?”
The older bats exchanged glances before Drake slowly answered his question, “There was a mission.” he faltered, “And you got hurt. Really badly.”
Damian frowned, the pain distracting him from focusing on anything else but the words being said to him. “I don’t remember going on a mission?” His eyes stared at theirs, “What was the mission again, exactly?”
Todd scooted closer to him and Damian wanted to scoot away, will he hurt him? “We’ll tell you everything later. Right now, you need to rest.”
Damian's head throbbed even more, “None of this makes sense. Where’s the team?” When the word team came out of his mouth, something inside Damian seemed to snap, he looked at them, obviously panicking as he asked, “How’s the team? Are they hurt? No one was drastically injured right?”
How could he be so selfish? Why was he focusing on himself so much? He should’ve focused on his team right when he woke up.
No wonder they hated him. He couldn’t even protect them properly.
Were they going to kick him out? Were they going to replace him as their leader? Were they g-
“Your team is fine,” Tim assured him, wrapping his arm around Damian, causing the small child to flinch. Drake quickly removed his arm, muttering a quick “Sorry.”
Noticing that the atmosphere has gotten tense and uncomfortable again, Damian couldn’t help but scold himself. Stupid, he just wanted to help you. Why did you have to flinch?
“They’re worried about you, you know.” Grayson suddenly spoke up.
Damian tilted his head in confusion, “Who?”
“Your team.”
“Why?” he questioned.
“Cause you’re hurt?” Todd supplied, as if it was obvious, exchanging quick glances with the others again.
“I just have a headache.” Damian argued before muttering a quiet, “Plus, they didn’t care before. So why would they care now.”
“They care because you’re their leader” Grayson gently answered.
Damian scrunched his eyebrows, so they didn’t want to replace Damian as the leader. Maybe he wasn’t as useless to the team as he thought. They might not like him but they probably believed he was valuable.
Damian nodded in understanding, “So you’re sure that no one's hurt.” he asked meekly. “Did you make sure that they were all okay?”
They might not like or care about him but Damian cared for them.
“They’re fine.” Todd mumbled, “Now, why don’t you go back to sleep.”
Grayson wrapped Damian around his arms, this time Damian tried his hardest not to flinch. It didn’t work but Grayson didn’t seem to notice or care.
He just didn’t want to turn the pleasant atmosphere into an awkward and sorrowful one.
“You’re never getting hurt again.” he heard Drake vow. “We’ll make sure of it.”
Damian wanted to mention they would not be able to keep that promise. They wouldn’t be there with him at every moment of his life.
Damian chose not to tell them down. As much as they wanted to believe that they knew Damian, they didn’t.
Plus, that promise was doomed from the start. After all, how could they protect Damian from themselves?
He also decided that he wouldn’t mention their strange behavior. He knew that they would go back to hating him tomorrow. Right now, all he wanted was to stay in the older kid’s arms.
For once in his life, Damian felt like he belonged. Like someone cared.
He only wished that this feeling would last forever.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Note:
So I tried something new. What do you think?
Feel free to comment your thoughts and ideas on what I should add. I love reading them!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
next
It's getting better . . . right?
Inspired by this fanfic
uploaded on 04/11/21
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ao3 // Wattpad
next
I'm fine
Damian Wayne knew that no one wanted him around. He wasn’t an idiot. He noticed how everyone always seemed to look at him with a bit of distaste and revulsion wherever he went.
It made him feel like he didn’t belong with them. Like he was unwanted.
Didn’t his family notice how hard he was trying?
They never seemed to look past the fact that he was raised by assassins. They all assumed that he was nothing but a cold, bratty, killer.
And in a way, maybe they were right.
After all, the ones he was supposed to call his brothers didn’t even give him a chance.
Even the team he handpicked, hated him.
What was wrong with him?
If everyone seemed to hate him so much, there had to be something wrong with him. Right?
That’s what everyone at school seemed to believe.
Ever since someone leaked his number, his phone would always be filled with dozens of new messages. Not a single one of them was positive.
“KYS smart ass”
“U know that no one actually likes you, right?”
“U might be Bruce Wayne’s child but remember that u were nothing but a mistake”
“No one's going to like u with that attitude. No matter how hot you might be”
“isn’t it sad that no one likes you?”
“Do us all a favor and just kys”
And as if that wasn’t enough, everyone in his vigilante life seemed to always have something negative to say about him.
They didn’t even care that he was within earshot. In fact, he wholeheartedly believed that they wanted him to hear about all their complaints about him and his attitude.
He received their points loud and clear. No one there wanted him.
No matter how hard he tried, it would never be enough. Sometimes, he wanted to take his suit and run away, killing all the criminals that he deemed deserved it. He wanted to fight back and argue against them with the bratty behavior that everyone seemed to believe he was born with.
But.
It would only prove everyone right. It would only prove that he was nothing but a spoiled, worthless, ungrateful brat that doesn’t know how to take no for an answer.
Ever since Damian was given to his father, he has wanted nothing more than to gain his approval. He promised that he would become everything that Batman wanted and more.
Even if it meant that he had to pretend that their comments didn’t hurt him.
Damian stared back at his empty, plain wall.
A few minutes before he got back to the manor, the team had just completed another mission.
Damian was about to apologize because he felt like he was a bit too overbearing and bossy when he heard them complaining and criticizing him.
Again.
He froze, not knowing what to do.
“- Such a brat!” he heard someone growl. “Like how can someone be such a dick?”
The room filled with laughter and Emiko spoke up, “What did the kid do now?”
“He goes and gets mad at me for being incompetent or something. Like it’s not my fault I wasn’t raised by a crazy old hot assassin lady.” Wally snapped.
They were right, of course. Damian was raised in different circumstances. And he knew that he was a bit harsh. But he just didn’t want anyone to get hurt.
“‘If you don’t halt your tongue you useless speedster,” someone mockingly imitated, “You will perish under my sword.” That brought another round of fresh laughter to the tight group.
Not even the two people that Damian could probably call his friends could hold in their laughs.
“Why are you guys so mean to the small man?” Roundhouse asked, making the tense feeling inside Damian’s chest loosen up a bit.
Maybe they didn’t hate him as much as he thought they did.
He heard Emiko snort, “Please, that wanna-be is barely a man.”
He quickly got that foolish thought out of his head.
Wally muttered something that Damian couldn’t hear.
Emiko spoke up again, “You guys wanna know what Roy told me,” Damian assumed that the others nodded and he found himself leaning in as well. “He said that even his own brothers don’t like him. They just put up with him to make their dad happy. Actually, probably even his own father doesn’t want him.”
Damian ignored how tight his chest was getting. They were right after all. No matter how hard he tried, his father would never love him the way he loved Grayson, Todd, and Drake.
Wally laughed, “You’re probably right. I mean, didn’t his mom just force Batman to take him. The guy probably didn’t have a choice.”
“That must be tough.” someone huffed, “Being tossed around like trash.”
“He probably deserved it.”
Damian stood there, suddenly not wanting to face his team. Again, they were right. Maybe he did deserve it. No one wanted him around.
No one loved him.
He noticed that the talking from the room ceased and decided that maybe now would be a good time to quickly leave.
All he had to do was go in, use the zeta tubes, and he would be out of there.
Damian walked in the room, with the utmost confidence he could muster.
“Great!” Wally had an excited grin on his face, “I can’t wait to go-“ his voice trailed off when he spotted Damian walking in.
“Can’t wait for what?” he couldn’t stop himself from asking.
“We’re going to the movies!” Djinn answered for the speedster. “We wanted to do a bit of team bonding.” she gave him a bright smile.
Damian nodded in acceptance, hoping that his eyes didn’t betray the hurt he was feeling. Understanding the fact that no one wanted him around, he muttered a quick “Have fun.” Then left.
He should’ve known better than to know that they would invite him.
They probably just didn’t want him to ruin their bonding experience. It makes sense. Damian ruined everything. And he doesn’t even have to try.
It’s like all he had to do was step into a room and everyone’s mood suddenly spiraled down.
These feelings stirring up inside of him made him feel weak and useless. He was pathetic.
Damian stopped, why should he care about what they think? Their opinions should mean nothing to him.
Because father would want you to get along with them. His mind whispered. And even if you don’t want to admit it, you’ve grown fond of them. That’s why you want them to like you so much.
Damian sighed, deciding to take a shower. It’s not like he had anything better to do.
He left his phone on his bed, barely anyone but Alfred came into his room anyway.
The steaming hot water sprinkled across his brown skin. It hurt at first but Damian got used to it.
He didn’t know how long he stayed in the shower but when he heard the knock at the door, he immediately assumed that it was time for dinner.
“I’ll be there soon Alfred!” he called out, changing as fast as he could. He didn’t want to disappoint his father by showing up late.
“Sorry, but I’m not Alfred.”
“Grayson?” he asked, stepping out of the bathroom. “What are you doing here?”
“Do I need an excuse to visit my brother?” he grinned excitedly.
Damian wanted to nod and say yes. No one talked to him unless they had to. However, Damian stopped himself when he saw the glint of mischief in Grayson’s eyes.
Immediately putting up his guard, knowing nothing good happens when Nightwing himself is up to no good, he sneered. “I’m not up for your silly little games tonight.”
Grayson had the nerve to look hurt and pout. Damian ignored him, “Please Dami.” he begged, “I just want to spend some time with my brother.”
“Well, I don’t want to spend time with you.” Damian snapped, “Now if you excuse me, I have to go do... something.”
Grayson cheerfully grinned, ignoring everything Damian just said. “Since you have nothing better to do, let’s go hang out with your friends.” Before Damian could say that he didn’t have any friends and that Bruce needed to know if he ever went somewhere, Grayson lifted him up. “I already asked Dad. So come on! I want to meet your team.”
“It’s not like I have a choice.” Damian grumbled, “Can you put me down?”
“Nope.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
When they arrived at the tower, Damian sat on the only empty seat left.
He was confused. Why was everyone here? Did they just bring him here so that they could talk about how bad of a person he was? Cause he honestly didn’t need a reminder.
He had a bad feeling about this meetup.
He soon became aware that everyone was watching him, “Don’t you guys have a movie to watch?”
“It was closed.”
“How would it be closed? It’s barely 10 o’clock.”
Crush looked at Todd and the boy rolled his eyes before speaking up. “Hey, brat. You do-”
“Don’t I get a welcome, Demon?” Drake suddenly interrupted, “Plus, last time I checked, you didn’t know what cinema they were going to, so how would you know what time it would close.”
“Tt, whatever.” he rolled his eyes, concealing how his chest seems to ache at the fact that his brothers they didn’t even care that were humiliating him in front of his team. “Can I go now?” he turned to Grayson, “I just remembered that I had to do something.”
It was an obvious lie. And from the snickers going on around the room, they knew it too. Damian didn’t bother to pretend to care. He needed to get out of here.
Something felt wrong.
Without waiting for Grayson’s answer he stood up and tried to walk towards the exit. However, judging by the fact that someone was blocking the door, it seemed like they didn’t want him to leave.
He turned around. “What do you guys want?” he demanded, hoping that they would get the hint that he didn’t want to stay here.
“I don’t know what they want,” Todd casually said, leaning forward. “But can you try this? Alfred gave me the recipe.”
Damian narrowed his eyes at the drink, running his hands through his dark, damp hair. A habit he only did when he was extremely nervous or when he had a very bad feeling. “And I should care about that because...?” He made his voice trail off.
Why won’t they leave him alone?
Everyone seemed to grit their teeth before Crush looked at him straight in the eye, an eyebrow mockingly raised. “Please don’t tell me that you're scared.”
Damian scoffed at the thought.
Him. Scared of a drink? As if.
He paused, he was wary of it though. Something definitely didn’t feel right. He wanted to leave before this whole thing further escalated.
It was like he was back in school and everyone was surrounding him so that he couldn’t walk away. Then somehow, everyone would make comments about how useless and stupid he was. Then they would push him around. Sometimes, they would even go as fast as going through his backpack and rip his notebooks apart.
It was humiliating.
Is that what they wanted? To humiliate Damian.
He was right. They really did hate him.
The fact that Damian didn’t answer his teammate’s question seemed to boost everyone’s confidence.
Damian noticed that they all had a glint of amusement in their eyes, probably enjoying the fact that he couldn’t leave.
Todd walked up to him, the mug in his hand. Damian couldn’t bring himself to move, he could only stare at the object.
Get out. his head seemed to scream. Get out!
He warily looked around, he couldn’t force himself out of this one. He was trapped and the walls just kept closing in.
“You know,” Emiko taunted. “What would happen if your father heard the fact that you declined a drink that your brother obviously worked hard on just for you?” she suddenly let out a mocking gasp, “Oh! What would the League do?”
“If dad found out,” Drake playfully commented, a hint of delight in his tone. As if he enjoyed how uncomfortable Damian felt. “You would probably be banned from patrol... again.”
Everyone around him laughed and Damian clenched his fists.
This wasn’t fair.
Why should it matter that he didn’t want to try the stupid drink that Drake made?
He tried to look at Grayson for help but he was laughing too. Why would his brother the older kid bring him here just to be made fun of?
He hated it here.
Did all of them hate him so much that they would gang up on him? Threatening him that they’ll snitch to Bruce so that he wouldn’t be able to be Robin anymore?
They couldn’t.
Damian refused to let them take away the only escape he had from his horrible life.
If all they wanted was for him to drink from that stupid mug, then he would.
He snatched the white mug- covered with bats from Todd’s hand. Not even bothering to check what was in it, he drank it all as fast as he could.
Before he could open his mouth to ask if he could leave now, his vision blurred. Dark spots seemed to be dancing around the room.
What was happening?
His head suddenly started to hurt. He tried to walk away but he stumbled, almost falling face-first to the floor when someone caught him.
Damian felt his body being carried and put down somewhere soft.
The last thing he noticed was the fact that everyone seemed to wear matching smirks. The exact smirks that seemed to make chills go down Damian’s spine all evening. Wally took out his phone, angling it to film something.
He heard the voices talking and he felt his mouth open as if answering a question.
His head still hurts.
He wanted the pain to go away.
Why wasn’t it going away?
He wanted to scream for help. It hurts. Everything hurts. But it was like he couldn’t bring the words out of his mouth.
He didn’t know if the reason he couldn’t ask for help was that he didn’t trust them or if he just physically couldn’t do it.
In the end, it didn’t matter. Damian’s small body slumped against the couch and his vision went dark.
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When his green eyes opened, he felt like Superman hit his head with as much strength as he could.
It hurts, the throbbing just wouldn’t stop and his eyes couldn’t focus. Everything was blurry and hazy.
He tried to get up but it was like his body failed him. He couldn’t move.
Suddenly, he felt someone put another blanket over his body. He looked up and noticed that all three of his father’s sons were there, staring at him with worried eyes.
They sat on his bed, “What’s wrong, Dami?” Todd asked in a worried tone.
“Nothing,” he muttered. “Why are you guys here?”
“We’re just worried for you, little bat.” Grayson softly argued, his hands playing with Damian’s dark hair.
“Why?” If he could, Damian would’ve winced at how pathetic he sounded. “ I mean, what happened?”
The older bats exchanged glances before Drake slowly answered his question, “There was a mission.” he faltered, “And you got hurt. Really badly.”
Damian frowned, the pain distracting him from focusing on anything else but the words being said to him. “I don’t remember going on a mission?” His eyes stared at theirs, “What was the mission again, exactly?”
Todd scooted closer to him and Damian wanted to scoot away, will he hurt him? “We’ll tell you everything later. Right now, you need to rest.”
Damian's head throbbed even more, “None of this makes sense. Where’s the team?” When the word team came out of his mouth, something inside Damian seemed to snap, he looked at them, obviously panicking as he asked, “How’s the team? Are they hurt? No one was drastically injured right?”
How could he be so selfish? Why was he focusing on himself so much? He should’ve focused on his team right when he woke up.
No wonder they hated him. He couldn’t even protect them properly.
Were they going to kick him out? Were they going to replace him as their leader? Were they g-
“Your team is fine,” Tim assured him, wrapping his arm around Damian, causing the small child to flinch. Drake quickly removed his arm, muttering a quick “Sorry.”
Noticing that the atmosphere has gotten tense and uncomfortable again, Damian couldn’t help but scold himself. Stupid, he just wanted to help you. Why did you have to flinch?
“They’re worried about you, you know.” Grayson suddenly spoke up.
Damian tilted his head in confusion, “Who?”
“Your team.”
“Why?” he questioned.
“Cause you’re hurt?” Todd supplied, as if it was obvious, exchanging quick glances with the others again.
“I just have a headache.” Damian argued before muttering a quiet, “Plus, they didn’t care before. So why would they care now.”
“They care because you’re their leader” Grayson gently answered.
Damian scrunched his eyebrows, so they didn’t want to replace Damian as the leader. Maybe he wasn’t as useless to the team as he thought. They might not like him but they probably believed he was valuable.
Damian nodded in understanding, “So you’re sure that no one's hurt.” he asked meekly. “Did you make sure that they were all okay?”
They might not like or care about him but Damian cared for them.
“They’re fine.” Todd mumbled, “Now, why don’t you go back to sleep.”
Grayson wrapped Damian around his arms, this time Damian tried his hardest not to flinch. It didn’t work but Grayson didn’t seem to notice or care.
He just didn’t want to turn the pleasant atmosphere into an awkward and sorrowful one.
“You’re never getting hurt again.” he heard Drake vow. “We’ll make sure of it.”
Damian wanted to mention they would not be able to keep that promise. They wouldn’t be there with him at every moment of his life.
Damian chose not to tell them down. As much as they wanted to believe that they knew Damian, they didn’t.
Plus, that promise was doomed from the start. After all, how could they protect Damian from themselves?
He also decided that he wouldn’t mention their strange behavior. He knew that they would go back to hating him tomorrow. Right now, all he wanted was to stay in the older kid’s arms.
For once in his life, Damian felt like he belonged. Like someone cared.
He only wished that this feeling would last forever.
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Note:
So I tried something new. What do you think?
Feel free to comment your thoughts and ideas on what I should add. I love reading them!
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next
It's getting better . . . right?
Inspired by this fanfic
uploaded on 04/16/21
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Ao3 // Wattpad
previous II next
I'm confused (Part 1)
Ever since Damian had that weird experience with his brother’s, it was like everyone’s personality towards him did a whole 180. Like a switch has been flipped.
He suspects that the meta-human they fought had something to do with it.
However, whenever he brought it up, everyone seemed to change the subject. As if they didn’t want Damian to know who they fought or how he got injured.
It was both annoying and suspicious.
His nose crinkled in disgust, he wanted his old teammates back.
Even though he hated how he was treated, at least he knew that their actions towards him weren’t fake.
If anything, he knew that he deserved it.
He ruined everything. He was nothing but a mistake that they couldn’t get rid of.
Everything they did towards him was justified. No matter how much it hurts.
So, why. Why are all of them being so adequate towards him now?
It doesn’t make sense.
“Father,” Damian announced as soon as he stepped foot into the office.
“Damian,” the man acknowledged, glancing down at his son. “Is there something that you need?”
“I was wondering if you could tell me about the mission that the Titans had a few days ago. I believe it happened somewhere around midnight.” he paused before adding, “No one is willing to give me any details about it.”
His father stared at him in puzzlement, “You guys haven’t had a night mission for a while. Are you sure that you even had one?”
Damian nodded, “That’s what everyone told me. Plus, they’ve all been acting weird.” his eyes met his father’s as he seriously said, “I believe that everyone has been hit with some type of mind control meta-human.”
Bruce only raised an eyebrow at his youngest’s declaration. “As far as I know, meta-humans like that haven’t gone near your team. Much less you brothers.”
He mentally sighed.
Of course, he wouldn’t believe Damian. Why should he?
Seeing no reason to continue this conversation, Damian nodded and turned away, walking towards his room. He knew better than to assume that his father would want to spend any more time with him.
After all, he was nothing but a mistake. His father didn’t choose to raise him the way he chose to raise the others. He was forced to by his mother.
That’s the difference between him and his siblings. His father chose them and he didn’t choose Damian.
It might hurt him to admit it but it’s the truth. Bruce will never love Damian the way he loves his other protégés.
As he laid on his bed, he couldn’t help but be confused by the whole ordeal. Everyone told him that there was a mission that happened to take place at night. Yet, his father said that there was no mission.
If there was no mission, then why was everyone acting so weird towards him. Nothing made sense.
Whenever Damian tried to connect the dots on what caused his team’s whole personality change, he got nothing. All he remembered was waking up with a massive headache.
For some reason, Damian missed the feeling of being hurt. He had become used to it. And when his teammates didn’t make the snide, mocking comments they usually made, it felt weird to him.
It made him feel guilty.
He didn’t deserve love. He didn’t deserve anyone caring for him. He didn’t deserve anything.
As he rested his eyes, Damian made a promise to himself.
He will figure out what happened that night, no matter what.
And when he does, he will save them from whatever caused this personality change.
Cause deep down, he knew that they didn’t want him.
“Hey, little bat.” a voice interrupted his thoughts.
He sat up, looking around his room, and noticed that all three of his brothers were standing in front of his door.
“Why are you guys here?” he snapped, not in the mood for their silly little games.
“We just want to hang out with you.” Grayson grinned, “Are we not allowed to do that?”
Damian faltered, wanting to tell them that they never wanted to hang out before, but before he could say anything, Todd spoke up. “So what are your plans for the day?”
Damian narrowed his eyes in suspicion, “Why?”
They looked at each other and stated “Because we want to hang out with you.” as if that answer was obvious.
“And what if I don’t want to hang out with you?” he asked, although it came out harsher than he meant it to.
The way they were acting scared Damian. They were acting like they actually cared about him.
But they didn’t.
After all, How could they ever care about a bratty, selfish, self-absorbed, assassin?
Those were their words, not his.
Not that anyone ever said it to his face. Even they weren’t that low. But he’s heard those exact words come out of a lot of his people’s mouths. Even Grayson’s.
So he didn’t dare bring his hopes up. This was probably another trick so that they could lower his guard and humiliate him.
Those were their favorite things to do to him.
“Look, Damian, we know that we haven’t been the best-“ Drake’s blue eyes met his and he faltered, probably trying to find the right word. “-people when it came to being around you.”
Todd scoffed, “That’s an understatement.”
Drake ignored him, “But we want to try harder now. So will you please just give us a chance?” he pleaded.
Damian believed that this whole ruse of theirs was nothing but a trick. Yet when he saw the sincerity in their eyes, he hesitated.
They care. His heart seemed to whisper. They actually care.
Or, his brain argued. This is just a trick. Drake was always the best actor out of the three of them.
Damian didn’t know which one to agree with.
Plus, there’s no way that they actually care for you. His brain continued. After everything they’ve said, you’re actually going to fall for this? What would your mother say? Meta-human or not, they don’t care about you.
“If I do decide to give you a chance,” Damian tried to negotiate, “Will you guys finally tell me about the mission?”
No matter how much Damian wanted to listen to his heart, his brain had the most logical information. There was no way his brothers would willingly change their attitudes towards him. Meta human or not.
Damian noticed that they glanced at each other again, something they always did when they were hiding something.
“Look Damian,” Grayson slowly said, sitting next to Damian on his bed. “We can’t te-”
“You know, Father mentioned that we didn’t even have a mission.” he suddenly interrupted.
Grayson and the others froze. “He did?”
Damian nodded as he discreetly tried to move away from him. “So, either there was no mission,” the and you guys lied to me was left unsaid, “Or-“
“We snuck out!” The others stared at Todd in disbelief, “What,” he shrugged. “It’s not like he’s gonna tell the bat.”
Grayson suddenly pulled Damian closer to him, “Don’t think I don’t notice you trying to get away from us.”
He missed the way Drake’s lips curled up in a smirk as he moved closer to Damian as well, “Yeah, little bat. Do you not like us or something?”
“Was that not obvious?” Damian retorted, trying to get away from Grayson’s hug. “Let me go!” when Grayson wouldn’t budge, he added a small, “please.”
Todd laughed, “Let the kid go. If he doesn’t want to find out more about the mission, then that’s on him.”
Damian faltered, he really wanted to know about the mission. He was his team’s leader and he was responsible for their safety. He couldn’t fail them again.
“I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever you guys were planning to do.”
Damian noticed how their eyes seemed to light up and he couldn’t help but feel accomplished.
He did something right.
“Great.” Grayson finally let him go, “Today is actually the day where we relax and just bond. Tim had this ide-“
Damian wasn’t paying attention to the older kid’s babbling. He still couldn’t decide if the turning in his stomach meant that this activity he was doing with his brothers was a good thing or not.
It was weird.
Usually, his instincts were something that Damian could clearly interpret. But lately, it seemed like even they were confused.
Though, he had a feeling that it might have something to do with his memory loss of what happened that day.
He glanced up and noticed that his brother’s backs were facing him. They were walking in front of him and considering the fact that they didn’t give Damian a second glance, he assumed that they were having an intense conversation.
Damian knew that something happened that day and considering how no one would tell him about it. He knew that it was important. And he will stop at nothing to figure out what it was.
Even if he got hurt in the process.
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It turns out that Drake’s definition of “bonding” meant going back to the Titan’s Tower.
Damian did not want to be there with his brothers. He didn’t know how to explain it but he got this feeling of deja vu.
And it was not the good kind.
Damian mentally put that in his box of questions to find answers for.
He found everyone from his team hanging out in front of the TV
It was probably another team bonding experience that he wasn’t invited to.
“What’s up guys,” Grayson greeted as hopped on the couch.
The other followed his lead, leaving Damian alone in front of the door.
He didn’t know what to do.
Should he join them?
No.
He would only ruin the bonding experience.
Instead, Damian retreated into the kitchen. Hoping for some peace and quiet so that he could think.
Damian should’ve expected something like this to happen. Even if he only agreed so that he could get more information about the mission, a small part of him found himself looking forward to spending the day with his brothers.
What was the point of that whole sentimental speech if all they were gonna do was abandon him as soon as they saw his team?
Were they embarrassed to be seen hanging out with Damian?
Probably.
Damian sighed. Since when were they so close with his team anyways? As far as he knew, his brothers refused to be associated with anything that Damian was associated with.
Though, he couldn’t help be saddened at the fact that his own brothers had a closer relationship with his own team than he did.
Damian clenched his fists. It wasn’t fair.
None of this was fair.
He was about to leave when a lonely mug caught his eye. It was plain white and covered with bats.
He’s never seen this mug before, yet something about it just seemed so familiar.
He reached out and grabbed it, studying every inch like it’ll give him the answers he was looking for.
“There you are!” he heard a voice suddenly exclaim, “GUYS, I FOUND DAMIAN!”
The sudden screaming caused Damian to jump and drop the mug.
Fuck.
He messed up. Again.
Damian kneeled down, grabbing the larger pieces of the glass when he froze.
Flashes of Grayson forcing Damian into the tower resurfaced. He saw that Drake and Todd were there as well with everyone else. Todd was sitting there with a mug. The exact one that he just broke.
“Damian,” a hand touched his shoulder and Damian flinched, forcing the hand away.
Realizing what he just did, he muttered a soft apology.
“It’s fine.” Todd waved it off, “But are you okay? You just froze there for a minute.”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Damian tried to assure, “I just- I think I remembered something.”
With that simple sentence, it was like the whole room froze.
They warily looked at each other before Emiko hesitantly spoke up. “What did you remember?”
Damian shrugged. “Nothing much. I just-“ he turned to his siblings, “Wait, why didn’t you guys inform me that we were all in the tower during the mission?”
Minutes seemed to pass and no one said anything. It was like everyone was waiting for someone to speak up.
Suddenly, Djinn pulled Damian out of the kitchen. “Come on.” she urged, “Why don’t we watch a movie or something.” leaning in, she whispered. “The atmosphere there was getting way too tense and awkward for my liking.”
Even though Damian knew she didn’t mean to make him feel bad, he still did.
If he just asked them that question in private then all of them wouldn’t be in such a bad mood.
Why did he have to ruin everything?
Damian sent her a fake smile, “You can pick what you wanna watch. I usually don’t waste my time watching foolish things.”
Djinn nodded, used to Damian’s cold demeanor, and picked a movie called ‘Legally Blonde’. “This one is a classic.” she informed him, “It’s a team favorite.”
Due to the fact that Damian was rarely invited to their “team” outings, he didn’t know that. But he didn’t want to ruin the comfortable atmosphere they were in so he only nodded, turning his focus on the huge screen.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t realize that everyone else joined them in the room.
As his eyes got heavier, Damian felt a warm blanket cover his body.
He noticed that Drake was sitting next to him, gesturing for Damian to rest his head on his shoulders.
The smile that Drake sent him when he complied made Damian’s stomach turn.
This happened before, his brain mentioned. And it didn’t turn out good.
Oh really? his heart asked. Then why don’t we remember it?
Because we can’t remember anything that happened! His brain snapped.
You heard what they said before. His heart kindly reminded him, They care. Why can’t we just give them a chance?
His brain seemed to scoff, sure. It sarcastically said, give them a chance. But don’t blame me when you regret it.
Just one chance. his heart firmly stated, ignoring the brain. Don’t we deserve it?
Damian wasn’t aware that he snuggled closer to his brother.
Just one.
For once in his life, Damian decided that maybe it was time for him to listen to his heart.
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Note:
Comment your thoughts!
It's getting better . . . right?
Inspired by this fanfic
uploaded on 04/16/21
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ao3 // Wattpad
previous II next
I'm confused (Part 1)
Ever since Damian had that weird experience with his brother’s, it was like everyone’s personality towards him did a whole 180. Like a switch has been flipped.
He suspects that the meta-human they fought had something to do with it.
However, whenever he brought it up, everyone seemed to change the subject. As if they didn’t want Damian to know who they fought or how he got injured.
It was both annoying and suspicious.
His nose crinkled in disgust, he wanted his old teammates back.
Even though he hated how he was treated, at least he knew that their actions towards him weren’t fake.
If anything, he knew that he deserved it.
He ruined everything. He was nothing but a mistake that they couldn’t get rid of.
Everything they did towards him was justified. No matter how much it hurts.
So, why. Why are all of them being so adequate towards him now?
It doesn’t make sense.
“Father,” Damian announced as soon as he stepped foot into the office.
“Damian,” the man acknowledged, glancing down at his son. “Is there something that you need?”
“I was wondering if you could tell me about the mission that the Titans had a few days ago. I believe it happened somewhere around midnight.” he paused before adding, “No one is willing to give me any details about it.”
His father stared at him in puzzlement, “You guys haven’t had a night mission for a while. Are you sure that you even had one?”
Damian nodded, “That’s what everyone told me. Plus, they’ve all been acting weird.” his eyes met his father’s as he seriously said, “I believe that everyone has been hit with some type of mind control meta-human.”
Bruce only raised an eyebrow at his youngest’s declaration. “As far as I know, meta-humans like that haven’t gone near your team. Much less you brothers.”
He mentally sighed.
Of course, he wouldn’t believe Damian. Why should he?
Seeing no reason to continue this conversation, Damian nodded and turned away, walking towards his room. He knew better than to assume that his father would want to spend any more time with him.
After all, he was nothing but a mistake. His father didn’t choose to raise him the way he chose to raise the others. He was forced to by his mother.
That’s the difference between him and his siblings. His father chose them and he didn’t choose Damian.
It might hurt him to admit it but it’s the truth. Bruce will never love Damian the way he loves his other protégés.
As he laid on his bed, he couldn’t help but be confused by the whole ordeal. Everyone told him that there was a mission that happened to take place at night. Yet, his father said that there was no mission.
If there was no mission, then why was everyone acting so weird towards him. Nothing made sense.
Whenever Damian tried to connect the dots on what caused his team’s whole personality change, he got nothing. All he remembered was waking up with a massive headache.
For some reason, Damian missed the feeling of being hurt. He had become used to it. And when his teammates didn’t make the snide, mocking comments they usually made, it felt weird to him.
It made him feel guilty.
He didn’t deserve love. He didn’t deserve anyone caring for him. He didn’t deserve anything.
As he rested his eyes, Damian made a promise to himself.
He will figure out what happened that night, no matter what.
And when he does, he will save them from whatever caused this personality change.
Cause deep down, he knew that they didn’t want him.
“Hey, little bat.” a voice interrupted his thoughts.
He sat up, looking around his room, and noticed that all three of his brothers were standing in front of his door.
“Why are you guys here?” he snapped, not in the mood for their silly little games.
“We just want to hang out with you.” Grayson grinned, “Are we not allowed to do that?”
Damian faltered, wanting to tell them that they never wanted to hang out before, but before he could say anything, Todd spoke up. “So what are your plans for the day?”
Damian narrowed his eyes in suspicion, “Why?”
They looked at each other and stated “Because we want to hang out with you.” as if that answer was obvious.
“And what if I don’t want to hang out with you?” he asked, although it came out harsher than he meant it to.
The way they were acting scared Damian. They were acting like they actually cared about him.
But they didn’t.
After all, How could they ever care about a bratty, selfish, self-absorbed, assassin?
Those were their words, not his.
Not that anyone ever said it to his face. Even they weren’t that low. But he’s heard those exact words come out of a lot of his people’s mouths. Even Grayson’s.
So he didn’t dare bring his hopes up. This was probably another trick so that they could lower his guard and humiliate him.
Those were their favorite things to do to him.
“Look, Damian, we know that we haven’t been the best-“ Drake’s blue eyes met his and he faltered, probably trying to find the right word. “-people when it came to being around you.”
Todd scoffed, “That’s an understatement.”
Drake ignored him, “But we want to try harder now. So will you please just give us a chance?” he pleaded.
Damian believed that this whole ruse of theirs was nothing but a trick. Yet when he saw the sincerity in their eyes, he hesitated.
They care. His heart seemed to whisper. They actually care.
Or, his brain argued. This is just a trick. Drake was always the best actor out of the three of them.
Damian didn’t know which one to agree with.
Plus, there’s no way that they actually care for you. His brain continued. After everything they’ve said, you’re actually going to fall for this? What would your mother say? Meta-human or not, they don’t care about you.
“If I do decide to give you a chance,” Damian tried to negotiate, “Will you guys finally tell me about the mission?”
No matter how much Damian wanted to listen to his heart, his brain had the most logical information. There was no way his brothers would willingly change their attitudes towards him. Meta human or not.
Damian noticed that they glanced at each other again, something they always did when they were hiding something.
“Look Damian,” Grayson slowly said, sitting next to Damian on his bed. “We can’t te-”
“You know, Father mentioned that we didn’t even have a mission.” he suddenly interrupted.
Grayson and the others froze. “He did?”
Damian nodded as he discreetly tried to move away from him. “So, either there was no mission,” the and you guys lied to me was left unsaid, “Or-“
“We snuck out!” The others stared at Todd in disbelief, “What,” he shrugged. “It’s not like he’s gonna tell the bat.”
Grayson suddenly pulled Damian closer to him, “Don’t think I don’t notice you trying to get away from us.”
He missed the way Drake’s lips curled up in a smirk as he moved closer to Damian as well, “Yeah, little bat. Do you not like us or something?”
“Was that not obvious?” Damian retorted, trying to get away from Grayson’s hug. “Let me go!” when Grayson wouldn’t budge, he added a small, “please.”
Todd laughed, “Let the kid go. If he doesn’t want to find out more about the mission, then that’s on him.”
Damian faltered, he really wanted to know about the mission. He was his team’s leader and he was responsible for their safety. He couldn’t fail them again.
“I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever you guys were planning to do.”
Damian noticed how their eyes seemed to light up and he couldn’t help but feel accomplished.
He did something right.
“Great.” Grayson finally let him go, “Today is actually the day where we relax and just bond. Tim had this ide-“
Damian wasn’t paying attention to the older kid’s babbling. He still couldn’t decide if the turning in his stomach meant that this activity he was doing with his brothers was a good thing or not.
It was weird.
Usually, his instincts were something that Damian could clearly interpret. But lately, it seemed like even they were confused.
Though, he had a feeling that it might have something to do with his memory loss of what happened that day.
He glanced up and noticed that his brother’s backs were facing him. They were walking in front of him and considering the fact that they didn’t give Damian a second glance, he assumed that they were having an intense conversation.
Damian knew that something happened that day and considering how no one would tell him about it. He knew that it was important. And he will stop at nothing to figure out what it was.
Even if he got hurt in the process.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
It turns out that Drake’s definition of “bonding” meant going back to the Titan’s Tower.
Damian did not want to be there with his brothers. He didn’t know how to explain it but he got this feeling of deja vu.
And it was not the good kind.
Damian mentally put that in his box of questions to find answers for.
He found everyone from his team hanging out in front of the TV
It was probably another team bonding experience that he wasn’t invited to.
“What’s up guys,” Grayson greeted as hopped on the couch.
The other followed his lead, leaving Damian alone in front of the door.
He didn’t know what to do.
Should he join them?
No.
He would only ruin the bonding experience.
Instead, Damian retreated into the kitchen. Hoping for some peace and quiet so that he could think.
Damian should’ve expected something like this to happen. Even if he only agreed so that he could get more information about the mission, a small part of him found himself looking forward to spending the day with his brothers.
What was the point of that whole sentimental speech if all they were gonna do was abandon him as soon as they saw his team?
Were they embarrassed to be seen hanging out with Damian?
Probably.
Damian sighed. Since when were they so close with his team anyways? As far as he knew, his brothers refused to be associated with anything that Damian was associated with.
Though, he couldn’t help be saddened at the fact that his own brothers had a closer relationship with his own team than he did.
Damian clenched his fists. It wasn’t fair.
None of this was fair.
He was about to leave when a lonely mug caught his eye. It was plain white and covered with bats.
He’s never seen this mug before, yet something about it just seemed so familiar.
He reached out and grabbed it, studying every inch like it’ll give him the answers he was looking for.
“There you are!” he heard a voice suddenly exclaim, “GUYS, I FOUND DAMIAN!”
The sudden screaming caused Damian to jump and drop the mug.
Fuck.
He messed up. Again.
Damian kneeled down, grabbing the larger pieces of the glass when he froze.
Flashes of Grayson forcing Damian into the tower resurfaced. He saw that Drake and Todd were there as well with everyone else. Todd was sitting there with a mug. The exact one that he just broke.
“Damian,” a hand touched his shoulder and Damian flinched, forcing the hand away.
Realizing what he just did, he muttered a soft apology.
“It’s fine.” Todd waved it off, “But are you okay? You just froze there for a minute.”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Damian tried to assure, “I just- I think I remembered something.”
With that simple sentence, it was like the whole room froze.
They warily looked at each other before Emiko hesitantly spoke up. “What did you remember?”
Damian shrugged. “Nothing much. I just-“ he turned to his siblings, “Wait, why didn’t you guys inform me that we were all in the tower during the mission?”
Minutes seemed to pass and no one said anything. It was like everyone was waiting for someone to speak up.
Suddenly, Djinn pulled Damian out of the kitchen. “Come on.” she urged, “Why don’t we watch a movie or something.” leaning in, she whispered. “The atmosphere there was getting way too tense and awkward for my liking.”
Even though Damian knew she didn’t mean to make him feel bad, he still did.
If he just asked them that question in private then all of them wouldn’t be in such a bad mood.
Why did he have to ruin everything?
Damian sent her a fake smile, “You can pick what you wanna watch. I usually don’t waste my time watching foolish things.”
Djinn nodded, used to Damian’s cold demeanor, and picked a movie called ‘Legally Blonde’. “This one is a classic.” she informed him, “It’s a team favorite.”
Due to the fact that Damian was rarely invited to their “team” outings, he didn’t know that. But he didn’t want to ruin the comfortable atmosphere they were in so he only nodded, turning his focus on the huge screen.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t realize that everyone else joined them in the room.
As his eyes got heavier, Damian felt a warm blanket cover his body.
He noticed that Drake was sitting next to him, gesturing for Damian to rest his head on his shoulders.
The smile that Drake sent him when he complied made Damian’s stomach turn.
This happened before, his brain mentioned. And it didn’t turn out good.
Oh really? his heart asked. Then why don’t we remember it?
Because we can’t remember anything that happened! His brain snapped.
You heard what they said before. His heart kindly reminded him, They care. Why can’t we just give them a chance?
His brain seemed to scoff, sure. It sarcastically said, give them a chance. But don’t blame me when you regret it.
Just one chance. his heart firmly stated, ignoring the brain. Don’t we deserve it?
Damian wasn’t aware that he snuggled closer to his brother.
Just one.
For once in his life, Damian decided that maybe it was time for him to listen to his heart.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Note:
Comment your thoughts!
It's getting better . . . right?
Inspired by this fanfic
uploaded on 04/16/21
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ao3 // Wattpad
previous II next
I'm confused (Part 1)
Ever since Damian had that weird experience with his brother’s, it was like everyone’s personality towards him did a whole 180. Like a switch has been flipped.
He suspects that the meta-human they fought had something to do with it.
However, whenever he brought it up, everyone seemed to change the subject. As if they didn’t want Damian to know who they fought or how he got injured.
It was both annoying and suspicious.
His nose crinkled in disgust, he wanted his old teammates back.
Even though he hated how he was treated, at least he knew that their actions towards him weren’t fake.
If anything, he knew that he deserved it.
He ruined everything. He was nothing but a mistake that they couldn’t get rid of.
Everything they did towards him was justified. No matter how much it hurts.
So, why. Why are all of them being so adequate towards him now?
It doesn’t make sense.
“Father,” Damian announced as soon as he stepped foot into the office.
“Damian,” the man acknowledged, glancing down at his son. “Is there something that you need?”
“I was wondering if you could tell me about the mission that the Titans had a few days ago. I believe it happened somewhere around midnight.” he paused before adding, “No one is willing to give me any details about it.”
His father stared at him in puzzlement, “You guys haven’t had a night mission for a while. Are you sure that you even had one?”
Damian nodded, “That’s what everyone told me. Plus, they’ve all been acting weird.” his eyes met his father’s as he seriously said, “I believe that everyone has been hit with some type of mind control meta-human.”
Bruce only raised an eyebrow at his youngest’s declaration. “As far as I know, meta-humans like that haven’t gone near your team. Much less you brothers.”
He mentally sighed.
Of course, he wouldn’t believe Damian. Why should he?
Seeing no reason to continue this conversation, Damian nodded and turned away, walking towards his room. He knew better than to assume that his father would want to spend any more time with him.
After all, he was nothing but a mistake. His father didn’t choose to raise him the way he chose to raise the others. He was forced to by his mother.
That’s the difference between him and his siblings. His father chose them and he didn’t choose Damian.
It might hurt him to admit it but it’s the truth. Bruce will never love Damian the way he loves his other protégés.
As he laid on his bed, he couldn’t help but be confused by the whole ordeal. Everyone told him that there was a mission that happened to take place at night. Yet, his father said that there was no mission.
If there was no mission, then why was everyone acting so weird towards him. Nothing made sense.
Whenever Damian tried to connect the dots on what caused his team’s whole personality change, he got nothing. All he remembered was waking up with a massive headache.
For some reason, Damian missed the feeling of being hurt. He had become used to it. And when his teammates didn’t make the snide, mocking comments they usually made, it felt weird to him.
It made him feel guilty.
He didn’t deserve love. He didn’t deserve anyone caring for him. He didn’t deserve anything.
As he rested his eyes, Damian made a promise to himself.
He will figure out what happened that night, no matter what.
And when he does, he will save them from whatever caused this personality change.
Cause deep down, he knew that they didn’t want him.
“Hey, little bat.” a voice interrupted his thoughts.
He sat up, looking around his room, and noticed that all three of his brothers were standing in front of his door.
“Why are you guys here?” he snapped, not in the mood for their silly little games.
“We just want to hang out with you.” Grayson grinned, “Are we not allowed to do that?”
Damian faltered, wanting to tell them that they never wanted to hang out before, but before he could say anything, Todd spoke up. “So what are your plans for the day?”
Damian narrowed his eyes in suspicion, “Why?”
They looked at each other and stated “Because we want to hang out with you.” as if that answer was obvious.
“And what if I don’t want to hang out with you?” he asked, although it came out harsher than he meant it to.
The way they were acting scared Damian. They were acting like they actually cared about him.
But they didn’t.
After all, How could they ever care about a bratty, selfish, self-absorbed, assassin?
Those were their words, not his.
Not that anyone ever said it to his face. Even they weren’t that low. But he’s heard those exact words come out of a lot of his people’s mouths. Even Grayson’s.
So he didn’t dare bring his hopes up. This was probably another trick so that they could lower his guard and humiliate him.
Those were their favorite things to do to him.
“Look, Damian, we know that we haven’t been the best-“ Drake’s blue eyes met his and he faltered, probably trying to find the right word. “-people when it came to being around you.”
Todd scoffed, “That’s an understatement.”
Drake ignored him, “But we want to try harder now. So will you please just give us a chance?” he pleaded.
Damian believed that this whole ruse of theirs was nothing but a trick. Yet when he saw the sincerity in their eyes, he hesitated.
They care. His heart seemed to whisper. They actually care.
Or, his brain argued. This is just a trick. Drake was always the best actor out of the three of them.
Damian didn’t know which one to agree with.
Plus, there’s no way that they actually care for you. His brain continued. After everything they’ve said, you’re actually going to fall for this? What would your mother say? Meta-human or not, they don’t care about you.
“If I do decide to give you a chance,” Damian tried to negotiate, “Will you guys finally tell me about the mission?”
No matter how much Damian wanted to listen to his heart, his brain had the most logical information. There was no way his brothers would willingly change their attitudes towards him. Meta human or not.
Damian noticed that they glanced at each other again, something they always did when they were hiding something.
“Look Damian,” Grayson slowly said, sitting next to Damian on his bed. “We can’t te-”
“You know, Father mentioned that we didn’t even have a mission.” he suddenly interrupted.
Grayson and the others froze. “He did?”
Damian nodded as he discreetly tried to move away from him. “So, either there was no mission,” the and you guys lied to me was left unsaid, “Or-“
“We snuck out!” The others stared at Todd in disbelief, “What,” he shrugged. “It’s not like he’s gonna tell the bat.”
Grayson suddenly pulled Damian closer to him, “Don’t think I don’t notice you trying to get away from us.”
He missed the way Drake’s lips curled up in a smirk as he moved closer to Damian as well, “Yeah, little bat. Do you not like us or something?”
“Was that not obvious?” Damian retorted, trying to get away from Grayson’s hug. “Let me go!” when Grayson wouldn’t budge, he added a small, “please.”
Todd laughed, “Let the kid go. If he doesn’t want to find out more about the mission, then that’s on him.”
Damian faltered, he really wanted to know about the mission. He was his team’s leader and he was responsible for their safety. He couldn’t fail them again.
“I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever you guys were planning to do.”
Damian noticed how their eyes seemed to light up and he couldn’t help but feel accomplished.
He did something right.
“Great.” Grayson finally let him go, “Today is actually the day where we relax and just bond. Tim had this ide-“
Damian wasn’t paying attention to the older kid’s babbling. He still couldn’t decide if the turning in his stomach meant that this activity he was doing with his brothers was a good thing or not.
It was weird.
Usually, his instincts were something that Damian could clearly interpret. But lately, it seemed like even they were confused.
Though, he had a feeling that it might have something to do with his memory loss of what happened that day.
He glanced up and noticed that his brother’s backs were facing him. They were walking in front of him and considering the fact that they didn’t give Damian a second glance, he assumed that they were having an intense conversation.
Damian knew that something happened that day and considering how no one would tell him about it. He knew that it was important. And he will stop at nothing to figure out what it was.
Even if he got hurt in the process.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
It turns out that Drake’s definition of “bonding” meant going back to the Titan’s Tower.
Damian did not want to be there with his brothers. He didn’t know how to explain it but he got this feeling of deja vu.
And it was not the good kind.
Damian mentally put that in his box of questions to find answers for.
He found everyone from his team hanging out in front of the TV
It was probably another team bonding experience that he wasn’t invited to.
“What’s up guys,” Grayson greeted as hopped on the couch.
The other followed his lead, leaving Damian alone in front of the door.
He didn’t know what to do.
Should he join them?
No.
He would only ruin the bonding experience.
Instead, Damian retreated into the kitchen. Hoping for some peace and quiet so that he could think.
Damian should’ve expected something like this to happen. Even if he only agreed so that he could get more information about the mission, a small part of him found himself looking forward to spending the day with his brothers.
What was the point of that whole sentimental speech if all they were gonna do was abandon him as soon as they saw his team?
Were they embarrassed to be seen hanging out with Damian?
Probably.
Damian sighed. Since when were they so close with his team anyways? As far as he knew, his brothers refused to be associated with anything that Damian was associated with.
Though, he couldn’t help be saddened at the fact that his own brothers had a closer relationship with his own team than he did.
Damian clenched his fists. It wasn’t fair.
None of this was fair.
He was about to leave when a lonely mug caught his eye. It was plain white and covered with bats.
He’s never seen this mug before, yet something about it just seemed so familiar.
He reached out and grabbed it, studying every inch like it’ll give him the answers he was looking for.
“There you are!” he heard a voice suddenly exclaim, “GUYS, I FOUND DAMIAN!”
The sudden screaming caused Damian to jump and drop the mug.
Fuck.
He messed up. Again.
Damian kneeled down, grabbing the larger pieces of the glass when he froze.
Flashes of Grayson forcing Damian into the tower resurfaced. He saw that Drake and Todd were there as well with everyone else. Todd was sitting there with a mug. The exact one that he just broke.
“Damian,” a hand touched his shoulder and Damian flinched, forcing the hand away.
Realizing what he just did, he muttered a soft apology.
“It’s fine.” Todd waved it off, “But are you okay? You just froze there for a minute.”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Damian tried to assure, “I just- I think I remembered something.”
With that simple sentence, it was like the whole room froze.
They warily looked at each other before Emiko hesitantly spoke up. “What did you remember?”
Damian shrugged. “Nothing much. I just-“ he turned to his siblings, “Wait, why didn’t you guys inform me that we were all in the tower during the mission?”
Minutes seemed to pass and no one said anything. It was like everyone was waiting for someone to speak up.
Suddenly, Djinn pulled Damian out of the kitchen. “Come on.” she urged, “Why don’t we watch a movie or something.” leaning in, she whispered. “The atmosphere there was getting way too tense and awkward for my liking.”
Even though Damian knew she didn’t mean to make him feel bad, he still did.
If he just asked them that question in private then all of them wouldn’t be in such a bad mood.
Why did he have to ruin everything?
Damian sent her a fake smile, “You can pick what you wanna watch. I usually don’t waste my time watching foolish things.”
Djinn nodded, used to Damian’s cold demeanor, and picked a movie called ‘Legally Blonde’. “This one is a classic.” she informed him, “It’s a team favorite.”
Due to the fact that Damian was rarely invited to their “team” outings, he didn’t know that. But he didn’t want to ruin the comfortable atmosphere they were in so he only nodded, turning his focus on the huge screen.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t realize that everyone else joined them in the room.
As his eyes got heavier, Damian felt a warm blanket cover his body.
He noticed that Drake was sitting next to him, gesturing for Damian to rest his head on his shoulders.
The smile that Drake sent him when he complied made Damian’s stomach turn.
This happened before, his brain mentioned. And it didn’t turn out good.
Oh really? his heart asked. Then why don’t we remember it?
Because we can’t remember anything that happened! His brain snapped.
You heard what they said before. His heart kindly reminded him, They care. Why can’t we just give them a chance?
His brain seemed to scoff, sure. It sarcastically said, give them a chance. But don’t blame me when you regret it.
Just one chance. his heart firmly stated, ignoring the brain. Don’t we deserve it?
Damian wasn’t aware that he snuggled closer to his brother.
Just one.
For once in his life, Damian decided that maybe it was time for him to listen to his heart.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Note:
Comment your thoughts!
It's getting better . . . right?
Inspired by this fanfic
uploaded on 04/16/21
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ao3 // Wattpad
previous II next
I'm confused (Part 1)
Ever since Damian had that weird experience with his brother’s, it was like everyone’s personality towards him did a whole 180. Like a switch has been flipped.
He suspects that the meta-human they fought had something to do with it.
However, whenever he brought it up, everyone seemed to change the subject. As if they didn’t want Damian to know who they fought or how he got injured.
It was both annoying and suspicious.
His nose crinkled in disgust, he wanted his old teammates back.
Even though he hated how he was treated, at least he knew that their actions towards him weren’t fake.
If anything, he knew that he deserved it.
He ruined everything. He was nothing but a mistake that they couldn’t get rid of.
Everything they did towards him was justified. No matter how much it hurts.
So, why. Why are all of them being so adequate towards him now?
It doesn’t make sense.
“Father,” Damian announced as soon as he stepped foot into the office.
“Damian,” the man acknowledged, glancing down at his son. “Is there something that you need?”
“I was wondering if you could tell me about the mission that the Titans had a few days ago. I believe it happened somewhere around midnight.” he paused before adding, “No one is willing to give me any details about it.”
His father stared at him in puzzlement, “You guys haven’t had a night mission for a while. Are you sure that you even had one?”
Damian nodded, “That’s what everyone told me. Plus, they’ve all been acting weird.” his eyes met his father’s as he seriously said, “I believe that everyone has been hit with some type of mind control meta-human.”
Bruce only raised an eyebrow at his youngest’s declaration. “As far as I know, meta-humans like that haven’t gone near your team. Much less you brothers.”
He mentally sighed.
Of course, he wouldn’t believe Damian. Why should he?
Seeing no reason to continue this conversation, Damian nodded and turned away, walking towards his room. He knew better than to assume that his father would want to spend any more time with him.
After all, he was nothing but a mistake. His father didn’t choose to raise him the way he chose to raise the others. He was forced to by his mother.
That’s the difference between him and his siblings. His father chose them and he didn’t choose Damian.
It might hurt him to admit it but it’s the truth. Bruce will never love Damian the way he loves his other protégés.
As he laid on his bed, he couldn’t help but be confused by the whole ordeal. Everyone told him that there was a mission that happened to take place at night. Yet, his father said that there was no mission.
If there was no mission, then why was everyone acting so weird towards him. Nothing made sense.
Whenever Damian tried to connect the dots on what caused his team’s whole personality change, he got nothing. All he remembered was waking up with a massive headache.
For some reason, Damian missed the feeling of being hurt. He had become used to it. And when his teammates didn’t make the snide, mocking comments they usually made, it felt weird to him.
It made him feel guilty.
He didn’t deserve love. He didn’t deserve anyone caring for him. He didn’t deserve anything.
As he rested his eyes, Damian made a promise to himself.
He will figure out what happened that night, no matter what.
And when he does, he will save them from whatever caused this personality change.
Cause deep down, he knew that they didn’t want him.
“Hey, little bat.” a voice interrupted his thoughts.
He sat up, looking around his room, and noticed that all three of his brothers were standing in front of his door.
“Why are you guys here?” he snapped, not in the mood for their silly little games.
“We just want to hang out with you.” Grayson grinned, “Are we not allowed to do that?”
Damian faltered, wanting to tell them that they never wanted to hang out before, but before he could say anything, Todd spoke up. “So what are your plans for the day?”
Damian narrowed his eyes in suspicion, “Why?”
They looked at each other and stated “Because we want to hang out with you.” as if that answer was obvious.
“And what if I don’t want to hang out with you?” he asked, although it came out harsher than he meant it to.
The way they were acting scared Damian. They were acting like they actually cared about him.
But they didn’t.
After all, How could they ever care about a bratty, selfish, self-absorbed, assassin?
Those were their words, not his.
Not that anyone ever said it to his face. Even they weren’t that low. But he’s heard those exact words come out of a lot of his people’s mouths. Even Grayson’s.
So he didn’t dare bring his hopes up. This was probably another trick so that they could lower his guard and humiliate him.
Those were their favorite things to do to him.
“Look, Damian, we know that we haven’t been the best-“ Drake’s blue eyes met his and he faltered, probably trying to find the right word. “-people when it came to being around you.”
Todd scoffed, “That’s an understatement.”
Drake ignored him, “But we want to try harder now. So will you please just give us a chance?” he pleaded.
Damian believed that this whole ruse of theirs was nothing but a trick. Yet when he saw the sincerity in their eyes, he hesitated.
They care. His heart seemed to whisper. They actually care.
Or, his brain argued. This is just a trick. Drake was always the best actor out of the three of them.
Damian didn’t know which one to agree with.
Plus, there’s no way that they actually care for you. His brain continued. After everything they’ve said, you’re actually going to fall for this? What would your mother say? Meta-human or not, they don’t care about you.
“If I do decide to give you a chance,” Damian tried to negotiate, “Will you guys finally tell me about the mission?”
No matter how much Damian wanted to listen to his heart, his brain had the most logical information. There was no way his brothers would willingly change their attitudes towards him. Meta human or not.
Damian noticed that they glanced at each other again, something they always did when they were hiding something.
“Look Damian,” Grayson slowly said, sitting next to Damian on his bed. “We can’t te-”
“You know, Father mentioned that we didn’t even have a mission.” he suddenly interrupted.
Grayson and the others froze. “He did?”
Damian nodded as he discreetly tried to move away from him. “So, either there was no mission,” the and you guys lied to me was left unsaid, “Or-“
“We snuck out!” The others stared at Todd in disbelief, “What,” he shrugged. “It’s not like he’s gonna tell the bat.”
Grayson suddenly pulled Damian closer to him, “Don’t think I don’t notice you trying to get away from us.”
He missed the way Drake’s lips curled up in a smirk as he moved closer to Damian as well, “Yeah, little bat. Do you not like us or something?”
“Was that not obvious?” Damian retorted, trying to get away from Grayson’s hug. “Let me go!” when Grayson wouldn’t budge, he added a small, “please.”
Todd laughed, “Let the kid go. If he doesn’t want to find out more about the mission, then that’s on him.”
Damian faltered, he really wanted to know about the mission. He was his team’s leader and he was responsible for their safety. He couldn’t fail them again.
“I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever you guys were planning to do.”
Damian noticed how their eyes seemed to light up and he couldn’t help but feel accomplished.
He did something right.
“Great.” Grayson finally let him go, “Today is actually the day where we relax and just bond. Tim had this ide-“
Damian wasn’t paying attention to the older kid’s babbling. He still couldn’t decide if the turning in his stomach meant that this activity he was doing with his brothers was a good thing or not.
It was weird.
Usually, his instincts were something that Damian could clearly interpret. But lately, it seemed like even they were confused.
Though, he had a feeling that it might have something to do with his memory loss of what happened that day.
He glanced up and noticed that his brother’s backs were facing him. They were walking in front of him and considering the fact that they didn’t give Damian a second glance, he assumed that they were having an intense conversation.
Damian knew that something happened that day and considering how no one would tell him about it. He knew that it was important. And he will stop at nothing to figure out what it was.
Even if he got hurt in the process.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
It turns out that Drake’s definition of “bonding” meant going back to the Titan’s Tower.
Damian did not want to be there with his brothers. He didn’t know how to explain it but he got this feeling of deja vu.
And it was not the good kind.
Damian mentally put that in his box of questions to find answers for.
He found everyone from his team hanging out in front of the TV
It was probably another team bonding experience that he wasn’t invited to.
“What’s up guys,” Grayson greeted as hopped on the couch.
The other followed his lead, leaving Damian alone in front of the door.
He didn’t know what to do.
Should he join them?
No.
He would only ruin the bonding experience.
Instead, Damian retreated into the kitchen. Hoping for some peace and quiet so that he could think.
Damian should’ve expected something like this to happen. Even if he only agreed so that he could get more information about the mission, a small part of him found himself looking forward to spending the day with his brothers.
What was the point of that whole sentimental speech if all they were gonna do was abandon him as soon as they saw his team?
Were they embarrassed to be seen hanging out with Damian?
Probably.
Damian sighed. Since when were they so close with his team anyways? As far as he knew, his brothers refused to be associated with anything that Damian was associated with.
Though, he couldn’t help be saddened at the fact that his own brothers had a closer relationship with his own team than he did.
Damian clenched his fists. It wasn’t fair.
None of this was fair.
He was about to leave when a lonely mug caught his eye. It was plain white and covered with bats.
He’s never seen this mug before, yet something about it just seemed so familiar.
He reached out and grabbed it, studying every inch like it’ll give him the answers he was looking for.
“There you are!” he heard a voice suddenly exclaim, “GUYS, I FOUND DAMIAN!”
The sudden screaming caused Damian to jump and drop the mug.
Fuck.
He messed up. Again.
Damian kneeled down, grabbing the larger pieces of the glass when he froze.
Flashes of Grayson forcing Damian into the tower resurfaced. He saw that Drake and Todd were there as well with everyone else. Todd was sitting there with a mug. The exact one that he just broke.
“Damian,” a hand touched his shoulder and Damian flinched, forcing the hand away.
Realizing what he just did, he muttered a soft apology.
“It’s fine.” Todd waved it off, “But are you okay? You just froze there for a minute.”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Damian tried to assure, “I just- I think I remembered something.”
With that simple sentence, it was like the whole room froze.
They warily looked at each other before Emiko hesitantly spoke up. “What did you remember?”
Damian shrugged. “Nothing much. I just-“ he turned to his siblings, “Wait, why didn’t you guys inform me that we were all in the tower during the mission?”
Minutes seemed to pass and no one said anything. It was like everyone was waiting for someone to speak up.
Suddenly, Djinn pulled Damian out of the kitchen. “Come on.” she urged, “Why don’t we watch a movie or something.” leaning in, she whispered. “The atmosphere there was getting way too tense and awkward for my liking.”
Even though Damian knew she didn’t mean to make him feel bad, he still did.
If he just asked them that question in private then all of them wouldn’t be in such a bad mood.
Why did he have to ruin everything?
Damian sent her a fake smile, “You can pick what you wanna watch. I usually don’t waste my time watching foolish things.”
Djinn nodded, used to Damian’s cold demeanor, and picked a movie called ‘Legally Blonde’. “This one is a classic.” she informed him, “It’s a team favorite.”
Due to the fact that Damian was rarely invited to their “team” outings, he didn’t know that. But he didn’t want to ruin the comfortable atmosphere they were in so he only nodded, turning his focus on the huge screen.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t realize that everyone else joined them in the room.
As his eyes got heavier, Damian felt a warm blanket cover his body.
He noticed that Drake was sitting next to him, gesturing for Damian to rest his head on his shoulders.
The smile that Drake sent him when he complied made Damian’s stomach turn.
This happened before, his brain mentioned. And it didn’t turn out good.
Oh really? his heart asked. Then why don’t we remember it?
Because we can’t remember anything that happened! His brain snapped.
You heard what they said before. His heart kindly reminded him, They care. Why can’t we just give them a chance?
His brain seemed to scoff, sure. It sarcastically said, give them a chance. But don’t blame me when you regret it.
Just one chance. his heart firmly stated, ignoring the brain. Don’t we deserve it?
Damian wasn’t aware that he snuggled closer to his brother.
Just one.
For once in his life, Damian decided that maybe it was time for him to listen to his heart.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Note:
Comment your thoughts!