Batbros Forever

Play the Role

Damian tried not to roll his eyes as his father searched him and his backpack for weapons, giving him another lecture about school etiquette.

"You will obey the rules set in place by the school. You will comply with orders given to you by teachers. And you will treat the other students with respect, regardless of how intelligent you think they are." Bruce told his youngest son as he handed him his bag.

"I still don't see why I have to lower myself to the expectations set for children." Damian muttered, pulling at his tie. "We all have a role to play in order to keep Gotham - and this family - safe, Damian." Bruce explained, and Damian nodded.

For the sake of Gotham and his Father (and his brothers, he supposed), he could play the role of the billionaire's son.

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Bruce made sure to be especially charming as he introduced himself to Damian's teacher. He had a feeling he'd be hearing from her a lot. "And this must be Damian." The overly cheery teacher twinkled. "Don't you worry sweetheart. Today is going to fly by, and when you get home, you can tell your Daddy how much fun you had!"

"Really Father?" Damian deadpanned once his teacher excused herself to attend to another student. "Play nice." Bruce smiled as he got down to the boy's level. "I'm guessing you don't want a hug goodbye?"

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt. But only for appearances." Damian mumbled. His father pulled him close and smiled when his son hugged him back.

III

This was utterly demeaning.

These children were even more frivolous and slow than his brothers, and his teacher was nothing but an enabler. Damian fought the urge to groan every time someone said something stupid or the teacher spoke to him as if he were some dimwitted child.

He had promised his father that he would play the role of the billionaire's good little boy, but if this insistent woman tried to force him into any more class sing-a-longs, he might have to break that promise.

Damian sat in the farthest corner of the cafeteria to eat his lunch. He had forty-five minutes of reprieve from these giggling fools, and he hoped they would all be too busy socializing to bother him. But of course, they had to prove him wrong.

"Well well, look we have here. Another Wayne boy." A dirty-blonde-headed kid smirked, propping his foot up on the seat next to Damian.

Maybe sitting in the corner hadn't been the best idea. There was no way to get away from this nimrod without shoving him. "And where did daddy find you?" The boy mocked. "Under a bridge by the looks of him." The boy's brunet friend snickered.

"Aleubu aldawru. Aleibu aldawru. Aleibu aldawr." (Play the role. Play the role. Play the role.) Damian muttered his new mantra in Arabic. "Hey, check it out. He's talking in tongues." The second boy snorted.

"Does daddy like it when you do that?" The first boy asked, leaning closer to Damian's face. "I bet you know all about what daddy likes." "I have no idea what you are talking about," Damian growled. "But I suggest you leave before I do something you won't like."

"Just tell me this." The first boy continued, clearly not buying the treat. "Do you like it? When daddy takes you to bed?" "I bet the little slut loves it." His lackey laughed. "Just like the other three."

Damian crushed his milk carton in his fist. These neanderthals could say what they wanted about him, but he would not sit ideally by while they accused his father of something so disgusting or let them insinuate that his brothers were involved with any such thing.

Just as the boy reached down to grab his leg, Damian shot up from the table. He knocked the boy to the ground, and before anyone could see what was happening, the boy was pinned to the sticky cafeteria floor with Damian's hands around his throat. The teachers on duty pulled them apart as the boy and his flunky faked tears, and Damian was dragged to the headmaster's office, yelling curses and threats in Arabic all the way.

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Bruce gripped the car streaking wheel a bit tighter than necessary. He had been half expecting to get a call from the school having something to do with his youngest son. Still, he had honestly hoped Damian wouldn't full-on threaten another student's life on his first day.

Bruce pulled over and let out a deep breath. "Care to explain yourself?" He asked, trying to keep his tone level. "He was saying things I didn't like. I made him stop." Damian muttered, not even glancing at his father from where he was slumped in the back seat. "I thought we had an understanding, Damian." Bruce sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You have a role to play at school and with the general public."

"Am I to just 'play the role' while fools like him spread slanderous lies about you and my brothers?" Damian snapped. "What did he say?" Bruce asked more forcefully now. Damian began explaining his altercation.

Before he'd even finished, Bruce was flooring the accelerator and rocketing back to the school like a mad man. The car had barely stopped as Bruce jumped out and dragged his son to the headmaster's office.

After almost an hour of loud and colorful threats of lawsuits against the boys, their parents, and the school, Bruce had Damian's punishment reduced from indefinite suspension to time severed.

The young assassin watched his father's entire tirade in awe. He had never seen the man so angry and made a mental note to never be on the receiving end of his fury.

III

"My whole class heard you yelling in the headmaster's office." Jason said cheekily as he got in the car that afternoon. "What'd the Demon Brat do?"

Damian gave them a quick recap of his run-in at lunch. When he'd finished, none of the boys could look their father in the eyes. "How long have you boys been hearing these rumors?" Bruce pressed. "Since my first day of school." Dick murmured, and his brothers nodded their corroboration.

"Why didn't any of you ever tell me?" Their father asked, hurt that his boys felt the need to hide something this important from him. "Because we knew you'd come to school and do that." Jason grunted a bit defiantly.

"Bruce, you adopted three boys, who look strikingly alike and were all around the same age. People were bound to talk." Dick pointed out. "We knew it wasn't true, so we ignored them." Tim added quietly. "We played our roles."

Bruce rested his head on the steering wheel and let out a long sigh. "From now on, if any of you hear any gossip about anyone in this family, you come to me so I can deal with it." He told them, and they all nodded. Bruce pulled out of the parking lot, and they drove in silence for a while.

"I'm not condoning this behavior," He started glancing at his youngest in the rearview mirror. "But that boy deserved it."

Damian smiled to himself. His actions had been justified.

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A/N Hey anyone who may or may not be reading. How are you guys liking the fluff so far? Feel free to PM and comment to let me know if there's any specific trouble you want to see the boys get into ;) (Make sure to add details so I don't leave anything out :D)

Peace ;D