Missing

Nightmares

He looked so peaceful asleep; you wouldn't be able to tell that Damian was a violent, ruthless bastard who had a sour disposition. Damian had been asleep for hours now, and Dick was only getting more and more worried. He nervously paced in front of the bed, every so often glancing hopefully at Damian and his monitors to see if he had woken up. But no, he was still sleeping. Everybody was in the cave watching Damian sleep, even Jason. He even looked a little guilty.
"Master Bruce, you haven't slept for days. Perhaps you should go and take a quick nap?"
Alfred was concerned about Damian, but even more concerned about Bruce. Even though Bruce wouldn't admit it out loud, he loved his son. And he was worried. He hadn't spoken since Damian had been set up in the batcave, and he refused to take his cowl off.
"I'm fine Alfred. Could you bring me a coffee please?"
"Right away sir."
As soon as Alfred left the room, Damian sat up, screaming, clutching his head where he'd fallen. Alfred ran back into the room. Dick stopped his nervous pacing and ran over to Damian, holding him in his arms, whispering soothing things until he stopped screaming. He then sat stony faced, staring at the wall. There were no tears on his face, which was a little more red than usual as he had just been screaming. Bruce took his cowl off and kneeled by Damian's bed on the other side of Dick.
Dick loosened his hold on Damian a bit so the little Wayne could hug his father.
"Father," Tears welled up in his eyes. "Father, I've been having these dreams," Bruce raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. It was unlike Damian to share anything that made him seem weak. "And the same one has been repeated itself frequently over the past month, but it changed." Bruce and Dick both tightened their hold on Damian.
"Do you want to talk about them Dami?" Dick said, brushing Damian's hair out of his face. Usually Damian hated personal contact of any kind. And here he was putting up with not one, but two people hugging him.
"Maybe, but I don't want him in here." Damian glared at Jason, who was still standing in his little corner with a guilty look on his face. Standing by him was Tim, who edged away from Jason so he wasn't put in the same category. Jason took a step forward.
"Fine. I understand. Just let me say something." Jason waited for Damian to tell him to fuck off, but Damian just looked at him with an expressionless face. Before Damian could change his mind, Jason took a deep breath and mumbled the words, "I'm sorry." It was silent for a second as everybody in the room (except Damian, who's face was still expressionless) looked at Jason completely shocked. Somehow, the room got more astonished when Damian said back, "It's ok." Nobody knew which was more surprising; the fact that Jason had just apologized, to Damian of all people, or that Damian had just accepted his apology without a smart ass remark. Jason turned and walked out of the room. Tim scurried up to Damian, gave him a quick hug and ruffled his hair, and then followed Jason.
Scowling, Damian crossed his arms, removing himself from the embrace.
     "Damian, what kinda dreams have you been having?" Bruce asked this calmly. Damian looked down at his arms, hiding the fear in his eyes.
     "The first ones started out with me, running. And it was night." Dick and Bruce exchanged a glance, a little confused on to how this dream had made Damian scream in terror. Alfred stood back, watching the scene unfold before him.
     "Go on, Dami. It's nothing to be ashamed of; what's said in the room, stays in this room." Dick said this smiling, trying to get Damian to calm down a little. Damian just rolled his eyes.
     "Grayson shut up. Or you will also be leaving. Anyways, it was night. And I was running towards a man. And he was laughing. And I kept running. I could never tell who the man was, or why I was running towards him. I just knew that I had to." He looked sheepishly up at his father, who nodded. Damian continued.
     "But this time it was different. I actually got closer to the man. And it was Slade." Bruce furrowed his brow. Why was his son having nightmares about Slade? Bruce didn't quite know how to deal with this stuff; When Dick had nightmares, he would tell Bruce about them, but not need any consoling. Bruce was pretty sure that Jason had never had a nightmare; he was too busy giving them to get them. And if Tim had nightmares, he sure as hell never needed Bruce to get over them. And here was Damian, his most impassive kid, who was freaking out over a dream? Bruce did not understand children.
Continuing with his explanation, Damian's voice quaked a little. If you didn't know him, one might have thought that the dream hadn't effected Damian at all. But all of those that knew him knew that he was very frightened.
"Then Slade said, 'I have something you want.' When he said that, he started laughing maniacally." Damian shivered, remembering how terrified he had felt during and right after the actual dream. He hoped that they would stop.
Damian sat lost in though until Dick nudged him and said, "Little D?" Damian shook his head and suddenly remembered that he had an audience.
"Right, sorry. So, he turned and started running. And so I followed and then, we just teleported into this beachside cave. And inside was my mother, her hands bound behind her to a pole. She was gagged, and showed signs of torture. And then the dream ended. Really, I'm fine." Dick and Bruce exchanged another glance.
     "Listen, Damian, I know you care about you mother but-"
      Damian cut in, anger written all over his face. "I do not care about that harlot!"
     "Damian," Bruce said sternly.
     "She's a murderer, and an assassin!"
     "Damian," Bruce said Damian's name just as stern as the first time, only louder.
     "And she's a stupid, manipulative bitch who-"
     "Damian, that's enough! Watch your language."
     Damian glared and mumbled, "Yes, Father."
     Grinning, Dick decided to cut in at that point.
     "D, what I think Bruce is trying to say, is that even though your mother is all that and more," at these words Dick earned himself a glare from Bruce. Dick continued.
      "You still care about her and are worried about her safety, just as you should be. She is your mother, after all." Damian humphed, but didn't disagree.
     "If something happened to her that Slade was the cause of, we both know that Slade would've made sure that you were well aware of it by now." Sighing, Damian nodded.
     "As much as I hate to admit it, Grayson, you and Father are correct. I do still care about Mother, even though I shouldn't, and I overreacted. I'll be in my room if you need me."
At these words, Damian got up and walked briskly to the stairs out of the batcave.
     "Well, Master Bruce, Master Dick, perhaps we should head up? Dinner should be almost ready by now." Both Bruce and Dick looked up in surprise. They had forgotten that Alfred had even been there.
     "Thank God that's over. What's for dinner?" Dick laughed and Bruce rolled his eyes, as the three men walked out of the batcave.

Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading! (To my few readers out there; you guys are the best. 😁) Hopefully the chapters will keep getting longer, because I knew the first one was kinda short. Also, I have no clue how many chapters there are going to be, I'm just going to keep writing until my story is done. I've written the beginning, I have ideas for the end, and now I need the middle. Lol, sorry for the lengthy author's note. Thanks again!