Work Text:
‘Why do bad things happen to good people?’ Damian Wayne thought with a muddled head and numb heart. ‘Why can’t it ever just stop, even for a few days?’ He rolled over and groaned as pain lanced up his leg. ‘What happened?’
Damian opened his eyes and looked around, hoping that some visual stimuli would kick his brain into remembering what he had been doing before; and if that had anything to do with the weak thoughts that were stumbling around in his head. It had been years since he had those questions. They all ultimately lead down an inconsequential path.
The world around him was dark. So overwhelmingly dark that even waving his hand in front of his face showed nothing. So, Damian relied on his other senses. The ground he was sitting on was soft yet durable. It broke apart in his hands and soft grain ran through his fingers. Dirt. He breathed in with his nose. Dust was in the air, but so was the smell of weed, smoke, and alcohol. ‘Was I stopping a drug bust?’
He pushed himself up and tried to ignore the pain in his leg. He felt at it, wincing with each gentle tap, and felt no blood. It was most assuredly broken. Damian reached up above him and felt the cores telltale of wood.
“Two by six,” he muttered to himself, “most likely used as a stud in a wall.” He ran his fingers past the stud until they hit another wall, forming a ninety-degree angle above him. He was under a collapsed building. This wall had saved him from being crushed. The creaking coming from the strained wood didn’t let relief seep in for too long. He needed to get out.
A groan drew Damian away from his planning. He looked over to see who it was but saw only blackness. ‘of course, it’s still dark...’ his mind trailed off as he tried to remember what to do in these situations. ‘Didn’t Father always say to- Night vision, of course. Why isn’t it turned on?’
He touched his mask and immediately the world flared into view with a bright green glare. Damian gasped as the light shot straight into the headache he didn’t know he had. He looked at his hand and saw that it had come back bloodied. ‘Concussion. Don’t go to sleep.’
He looked around at his prison and saw Red Hood pinned face down about three feet away from where Damian sat. The lower half of the vigilante's body was covered in rubble. Some of Damians' missing memories came flooding back.
Three hours ago
“Father, why must Todd accompany me? Surly Richard would be a much more suitable option.” Damian asked, his snobbishness turned up just a bit more than normal. He could sometimes get his way if the adults were tired from a long day. Besides, he liked working with Richard and... Todd didn’t seem to remember him and that hurt Damian- but no one could know that, not even Richard.
Bruce sighed, a sound which Damian was quite familiar with, and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “Because Dick is still in space and Time needs my help with his investigation.” This was all old news to Damian, but he couldn’t help but ask one more time. “I don’t want you or Jason going after this new group alone, they’ve proven they’re more skilled than the average gang. That is why you two need to work together. Please, Damian, just listen to me this once.”
It would not make Damian happy. Or even slightly amused to go on patrol with the failed Robin. The older man only reminded Damian of better times; only brought memories of weakness and shame. Of hurt.
However, this was Father asking Damian for this. He couldn’t let Father down, not again. “Fine,” Damian snapped. "I’ll go with Todd but know that this is an extremely unsatisfactory pair. My exceptional skills would be better reflected with any of the others. Excluding Drake.” he stuck his nose in the air and pretended not to hear Fathers amused chuckle.
“Thank you, Damian.” Father said warmly.
Present
‘That’s right. I’m supposed to be dismantling an illegal Dog Fighting Ring.’ It wasn’t just that, the group was affiliated with human and drug trafficking, and its leader had multiple cases of aggravated assault, murder, and armed robbery stacked against him. That was unfortunately a common occurrence to Damian, which is why the dog fighting stuck out to him. ‘How can people be so cruel?’
He pushed the thoughts away. Todd. He needed to assist Todd, before the fool bled out.
The wall tenting over Damian was low enough that Damian didn't attempt to stand up. His leg most likely wouldn’t hold his weight anyways, so he resorted to half crawling half dragging himself over to Todd. It was a painful process.
The older man didn’t look good. The helmet that usually covered his face, and hid his emotions, was cracked. Half of the helmet was gone, and the other half was in the process of falling off. The skin that Damian could see was dark with blood. More blood ran down his arm and pooled around his hand. Despite the injuries, the man was still breathing. It was nothing short of a miracle.
“Hood,” Damian hissed. He prodded at the vigilante when there was no response. “Todd, wake up. I believe you have a concussion. Sleep will not benefit you, wake up."
Luckily for Todd, his eyes were fluttering open; Damian no longer needed to take any drastic measures to keep him alive.
“Wha’?” Todd asked. His voice was heavily slurred; Damian had a hard time making out the word.
Damian tutted and sat back, slightly winded from the meager motion of moving over. It was truly pathetic. He turned his attention to Todd and quickly found the laceration that the blood was pooling out of. It was located on the bicep, so Damian was able to tie it off and apply some sutures. It was... worrying how crooked they were. “I am unsure of how we ended up in this situation. The last memory that I have is of Father demanding me to keep you in check. Everything else is blank.”
Instead of a cutting remark or unhappy grunt, Todd only hummed his acknowledgment. Damian pushed away the concerned feeling growing in his chest and checked around the rubble pinning Todd to the ground. There was no blood that Damian could see, but that didn’t mean everything was ok. Internal damage was a real threat.
Todd shifted and made a sound that Damian recognized as a muffled scream. Despite the pain of being forgotten, Damian couldn’t stand his once brother being in such pain. “Please Todd, don’t try to move. It- I cannot get this rubble out...” His voice trailed off. What was he going to do? He couldn't move the rubble without causing more damage to Todd, and Richard was in space... they were stuck. Well and truly stuck.
A small whimper escaped from Damians throat. He didn’t even care. The only person who could witness his weakness was a nearly dead man. Then Damian would follow, and no one could see how weak he truly was.
A soft noise distracted him. It was coming from Todd. The man was breathing heavily, and a soft, breathless word could be heard faintly. “Al’akhu al’asghar.”
‘Little brother.’ The word shot straight into Damians soul. That was Arabic, that- Todd called him that before, in, in the League.
“’Akhi?” Damian whispered, stunned. It couldn’t be- Todd didn’t remember him, he never had-
Todd breathed the word out again. “Al’akhu al’asghar,” and turned his head to look at Damian. The blue-green eye that Damian could see was glazed over. Todd was still looking at him, but it was obvious that he assumed he was in a different time.
“’Akhi?” Damian asked “Do- do you know who I am?” He was scared, not that he’d let anyone know that, but he was terrified that Todd really wouldn’t remember him. It was why he avoided the man. “Please?”
Todd’s eye focused on Damian and he lifted his arm up in invitation. Damian felt a smile worm its way onto his face despite everything. His chest was warm. He scooted over and let himself get tucked against ‘Akhi's chest. He ignored the pain flaring up from his leg and head.
“You really remember me?” Damian asked as he settled down. ‘Akhi hummed happily and squeezed Damian closer. It was awkward due to the rubble, but Damian paid no heed to that. He was with his brother, finally.
‘Akhi began to hum a soft song, one that he used to hum to Damian when he was a child. When they were both back in the League. He was the only person who had ever sung for him. The tune shifted into something more soothing, and Damian soon felt a hand running through his hair. ‘Akhi had done the same thing that night.
Seven Years Ago
Damians hands shook, despite the fact it had been hours since his test, despite his mother’s soft smile, and his grandfather's high praise. His hands still shook. It was weak, pathetic. He was five now, a big boy. This shouldn’t be that big of a deal anymore-
‘Just pull the trigger. Be the heir your mother thinks you are. Pull the trigger, Damian.’ It was his grandfather speaking, pointing to a small woman who was blindfolded. She was pleading in a language Damian hadn’t begun learning. She was scared. 'Shoot her.’
The bang from the gun was deafening. The kickback caused the shot to go high, and the bullet hit the woman's shoulder instead of the chest, where he had been aiming. Blood began to pour from the wound. It left in a spurt of dark, dark red. Not bright red, like when Damian cut himself with a knife. This was life blood from an artery. The woman didn’t scream, or cry out, she only gasped in shock and horror before slowly slumping to the ground.
Her breaths heaved and gasped and Damian could hear the tears in her voice even though he could see no water from her eyes. The woman's hand lay limp at her side. She didn’t try to stop the bleeding. She didn’t care.
His hands shook harder, and his eyes stung as he came back from the memory. It was an easy and early warning of tears. Damian stuffed his hands into his mouth and ran into the first room he saw. It was one of Mother’s private rooms, she had told no one to enter the room. Damian should be safe in there for a couple minutes. He just needed to compose himself.
He closed the door and walked backwards to make sure no one saw him enter. Only when his back hit something hard did he turn around and come face to face with a boy.
Damian most certainly did not yelp. The boy was older, maybe around twelve or thirteen. He had black hair and bright blue eyes that looked through Damian instead of at him. He was sitting on a bed, which is what Damian had run into. “Um, what are you doing in here!?” Damian said. “Don’t you know that this place is off-limits? You could get in trouble for being here. Get out!”
The boy cocked his head to the side and didn’t say anything. Damian felt his face heat up. This- this child wasn’t listening to him! The demon's heir! ‘Who does he think he is!?’
“What’s your name?” Damian asked. He stood on his toes to try and look down at the much taller boy. His mother promised he would grow taller, but until then Damian would hate how short he was. “Do you know my mother?”
The boy still refused to speak. Damian bit his lip and tried to hold back tears, he- he didn’t know proper torcher techniques, and the kid wasn’t talking, but he’d probably tell Mother that he was in here, and then Damian would get in trouble, and she’d find out he didn’t want to kill that woman-
There was a loud bang outside the door.
Damian screamed and curled up, covering his head. It- he didn’t! He never wanted to! The cold feeling of metal in his hand, pulling the trigger, the amount of blood-
Damian started crying. To his horror it wasn’t silent tears, or the occasional snuffle, it was full tears, snotty nose, and chest deep sobs. ‘Why? Why does it hurt so much? Why can’t I just be a good kid?’ Why-’ Soft hands grabbed Damian around the waist and pulled him up. Damian pushed weakly at the hands but soon found himself pressed up against a warm chest.
He relaxed and let the kid hold him close. No one else had ever held him like this and it was- it was so nice. He let himself cry.
He flinched when the kid started to run his fingers through Damians hair, still humming that strange song. Damian snuggled closer until he could feel the vibrations through the kid's chest as well as hear his heartbeat. He closed his eyes and finally couldn’t see the woman with blood pumping out of her shoulder. He cried himself to sleep while the strange boy shushed and hummed above him.
Present Day
Damian blinked tears from his eyes. It had been a long time since he thought of his first kill. It had gotten easier after that. Each death numbed him a bit more until Talia had taken him to Bruce. Then he had been free from killing. He turned around and drew closer to ‘Akhi.
There was a loud groan and suddenly the hand on Damians head let go. “Damian?” Came a scratchy voice. “What’s going on? Where are we?” Damian felt the warmth in his chest vanish, though he couldn’t bring himself to extricate himself from the embrace.
“Under a fallen building.” Damian murmured. He’d move if Todd asked him to, but if no request came then Damian would enjoy his last minutes in his first brother’s almost hug.
Todd grunted and, surprisingly, pulled Damian closer. “Have you tried the coms, or the emergency beacons?” he asked in a tired voice.
Damian jerked his head up sharply, causing both to groan in pain. “I- I was unable to recall that part of the... the... I forgot.” He finished lamely.
Todd chuckled and tapped at his own com. “B? Do you read me?” A pause, “Old man?” He cut off with a curse and dropped his hand. “Nothing but static. Let’s just hope that the emergency beacons work.”
Damian nodded and pressed his. There wasn’t any way to tell if the signal got through. They would just have to wait.
“Todd?”
“Hmm?”
“Your mother, she was religious, right?”
Damian felt Todd shift around for a moment. “Yeah, she was Christian. I think she was Catholic. Why?”
“Why do bad things happen to good people?” Damian blurted out. “I mean, well, why are there so many evil people in the world?”
Todd froze. Damian looked up at him, but Todd was looking out into the darkness. He probably couldn’t see anything if his helmet was broken. “That’s a tough question kid.” He finally said. “I- I haven’t thought about those types of questions for a long time.”
Damian flushed and turned his head away. ‘It was a stupid question.’ He thought angrily, ‘Why would anyone want to talk about that anyway.’
Todd sighed above him. “I don’t think that bad things happen to people based on how good or bad they’ve been during their life. I mean, I was just a kid, jumping around and helping people when Joker caught me. I don’t believe that some higher power let that happen to me, just like I don’t think someone let me meet Roy and Kori.
“Everyone on earth makes their own choices, and people get hurt because of those choices, or because of the choices others make. That’s why I stay out on the street. I want my actions, my choices to help other and bring them peace.” He paused before squeezing Damian just a bit tighter. “I also keep people from making the same bad choice twice.”
The last point in his speech sounded a little condescending, but Damian let it be. It was a strange night after all. He himself allowed the strict walls to come down, and Todd had also allowed vulnerability out.
“Todd?” Damian asked after what felt like an eternity of comfortable silence, “If we get out, will you be my brother again?”
He felt more than heard Todd chuckle. “Of course, kid. I've been waiting for you to ask.”
Damian smiled and let his eyes close. He would stay awake, of course, but Todd could handle the watch for a little while. Damian didn’t know if they’d ever get out, but if they didn’t, he couldn't think of a better person to spend his last moments with.