Work Text:
Damian twisted in his bed, trying to get comfortable enough to fall asleep. Father is gone, he has been staying at Richard’s penthouse for 2 weeks now.
“Richard?” The boy called out into the hall, “Are you back?” And still no answer, he turns to look at the alarm clock the older had insisted getting when he took the boy for furniture.
It could technically light up, Richard had told him at the store, offering to show him how when they returned home, Damian had refused, it seemed childish and unnecessary. It’s was now at 12:43am that the younger would regret that, the room was almost entirely dark. Except for the numbers on said alarm, which only seemed to be mocking him. Laughing at him every time to numbers would switch.
Closing his eyes and looking up at the dark ceiling, Damian is left with the horrifying realization, that Richard had become such a staple in his daily life, that he could not even sleep properly anymore now that he had gone back to patrolling the city.
That’s also when the tears start dripping down his cheeks. They had started softly, gently rolling over his lashes until he could taste salt. He layed there gently crying until he had exhausted himself of the energy to even do that.
─୨ৎ────────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ───
Richard arrived back at the penthouse at 3:37am, not when he was originally wanted to return at one am. A little girl had cornered him crying and he had helped her search for her father before he could actually end his patrol. Now he just needed to check on Damian, the dogs, and shower. Then he can pass out until Damian wakes up in the morning.
Dick walks past the sleeping dogs, Ace and Titus seem to be settling into the penthouse rather quickly. The halls were quiet, and he arrived outside Damian’s bedroom in no time. He gives two quick knocks before cracking the door open slowly, “Damian?” the oldest asks, barely above a whisper. The seemingly sleeping boy makes no noise or movements, so Dick pulls the door shut and makes his way to his bathroom to shower.
As the water warms Dick sits on the edge of the toilet waiting, he’s still gotta write out tonight patrol form, he had to call a pediatrician for Damian’s check up because, who knows if he ever saw a doctor in the LOA, and Bruce had gone missing fairly quickly after the child was abandoned by his mother so it’s safe to assume the child has never been, or he hasn’t been in recent years.
Dick lets out a deep sigh as he steps into the water, almost burning his skin with how hot it was. He quickly gets to work washing his hair, shaving his face, and washing his body. The whole shower, from turning the water on to stepping out and wrapping the towel back onto himself, only roughly takes 15 minutes. He gets changed into comfortable sleepwear even quicker.
It’s almost 4am now, and Dick doubts he’ll be falling asleep and waking up before Damian is awake for the day, so he makes his way to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee.
He’s filling the pot with water when he hears it and at first he thinks it’s one of the dogs whimpering, they would need to go out soon anyways, so he starts the pot and makes his way back to the living room to see both sleeping, quiet and still. “Huh.. Damian then?”
And so he makes his way back to Damian’s room, and he gives 3 more quick knocks to the door, louder this time, “Damian?” he called out opening the door.
Damian looks pitiful on the large bed, tear are rolling down his face and it looks as if he’s on the verge of passing out, and yet he’s silent, not a sound except for some quiet whimpering, “Rich-Richard!” he gasps out reaching for the older.
Dick is quick to scoop the boy up, “Hey! I’m right here,” he says while adjusting his old on the younger, “Hey breathe, just take a few deep breaths for me. We’ll do it together okay?” He’s pulling Damian’s face up to look at him, wanting the boy to actually hear him, which he seems to do as he nods.
It takes a good half hour to calm the boy down enough and comfortable enough for Dick to start asking questions.
“You okay?”
“..mmYeah?”
“Did something happen? Bad dream? Tummy ache?”
“I don’t know.. it was really dark out and you weren’t going to come home for me..”
“What!? I’ll always come back for you!”
“Only because you are obligated to.. if Father hadn’t died I would still be at the manor. You never visited at the manor! Not unless someone was hurt!”
And with that the tears started back up, but this time they sounded more upset than scared, and Dick could understand why. He had been a vital part of Jason and Tim’s lives and then Talia dropped the bomb off, and by bomb Dick does mean Damian, and everything after that just kind of blends together.
Dick had his penthouse in Blüdhaven, so once a week he’d pick either Jason or Tim up and bring them over for the weekend, he would talk to the other teen and maybe Alfred, if he wasn’t busy at the moment, but not once in the month and a half before Bruce ,died’ had Dick talked to Damian. in fact he had ignored the child. “Damian what I did was wrong. It doesn’t matter how mad I was at Bruce for getting with Talia, it doesn’t matter, I shouldn’t have taken it out on you by ignoring you and shutting you out.”
Dick can feel the boy shift in his hold a bit, wondering for a second if the boy had fallen back asleep when, “Ra’s wanted me born no matter what. I doubt father was even sober enough to realize who he was with. I understand why people get upset about me.”
And that confused Dick, “..What do you mean not sober?” He had read the old tabloids and news reports, Bruce had been a drunken teenager, but he had also gotten sober by 19, Dick had never seen the man drink, so for the man to not be sober?
“My grandfather gave my mother a pill to make my father release his inhibitions, the servants and maids back.. there, they had told me what it really was. I know my mother is a rapist, and I know that’s why father never pushed for you to come near me.”
And now that, was a bomb if anything was. Dick had simply been pissed at Bruce for getting with Talia Al Guhl of all people, her father is the man who abducted Tim and stole his spleen for christs sake. but Dick had not known about the drugging that occurred, he was under the impression that Bruce had willingly gotten with the assassin, when in all reality, the league was simply proving how depraved they were managing to get. But that also leaves Dick with the haunting realization that Bruce has disappeared and is missing while keeping this to himself, sexual assault, relapse (consensual or not) Bruce would definitely have bottled the memories away to never speak of it again if no one ever found out.
“..You.. Damian, I’m so sorry!” Now Dick is crying as well, he had taken his frustrations out on his poor baby brother and his poor father, and now one of the is gone- possibly forever- and he has no idea how he is supposed to raise this child to be a functioning human instead of the weapon he had essentially been breed to become. “I never should have treated you that way! I was just so upset! And- And I know I’m supposed to be the adult! But I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing! And I don’t know how I’m supposed to help you!”
He’s pulling the boy back into his arms now, cradling him, holding his as close as he can, just reassuring the boy that he’s here now, and that he will not be leaving him again, “If I have to stop patrolling I will. I will be there for you- every day of your life Damian, okay?” He’s laying down resting against Damian’s much smaller bed and pillows hugging the boy close, and he pulling the comforter up over the both of their chests, “Even if it’s just us okay?”
“Just us?” The smaller asks in a much quieter, much more tired voice now.
“Just us two.” He says kissing the boy’s forehead and his hair, as Damian snuggles closer to his warmer brother, “Babe? I’m going to go get myself a cup of coffee and grab my phone okay? Why don’t you get super comfy in bed okay?” He, asks giving the almost sleeping kid one last kiss on the head, he won’t be shocked if the kid sleeps in late after lunch today. They both clearly needed to let these emotions out, he can only hope that Damian feels better now as well.