Missing

The Message

     Startled, Damian shot up from his bed panting. What the actual fuck had happened?
     Dick was sitting in a chair next to his bed, but his head was in his arms on the edge of Damian's bed. He was snoring slightly.
     As pissed, confused, and angry as Damian was, he couldn't help but stop and look at his brother for a moment. Dick was one of the only people that Damian truly looked up to (not that he would ever admit that to Grayson). He then shook himself out of his trance, yelling at Dick to wake up.
     Sitting up, Dick stretched his arms above his head. He yawned, and then gave Damian a dazzling smile.
     "Mornin' princess." Damian growled at this and crossed his arms. Dick just grinned. It was always fun to screw with Dami.
     "Gather your wits, Grayson. It's unbecoming for you to act so idiotic. How did I get here? What happened?" Dick paused, trying to decide how to respond.
     "Well... you remember the video?" Suddenly Damian remembered everything. He remembered his stupid brother taking him out for McDonalds. He remembered coming home to see that his father and two other brothers had received a video message from Slade. He remembered how broken his mother had seemed; how close to death she was. He shuddered.
     "I do now."
      "Uh good... I guess. You had a pretty bad concussion from when you and Jason were fighting and your head hit the table. Also, you were stressed and tired. So that didn't help."
     The two boys sat in silence, not saying anything. What was there to say? 'Hey, I'm sorry your assassin mom got kidnapped by a former assassin, the one who killed your grandfather, and is now torturing your completely crazy mom to near death.' Yeah, that probably wouldn't go over too well.
    Dick stood, stretching more. "Do you feel better now?"
     "Yes Grayson, just peachy. My head is pounding, my mother is being tortured, and on top of that, I have to listen to your incessant babbling." Laughing, Grayson turned and walked out of the room.
Over his shoulder he called, "I'll bring you breakfast! Stay in bed!" Grunting, Damian rolled his eyes and got out of bed anyways. What he would do for some tea right now. And it's not like that stupid idiot Grayson knew how to properly prepare tea.
Just as he was about to leave his room, Damian saw a weird piece of paper under his sketch book. Any other person would've assumed that it was just another drawing of Damian's, but Damian would never leave a paper out of the sacred book, lest some prying person take a peek (cough cough, Dick). Everybody who knew Damian knew that if they valued life, then they should not dare to even touch his sketchbook without his permission.

He picked it up and read it, his brows furrowing as he read. It was from Slade. And yes, Damian had in fact been expecting a note from him soon. Just not the day of soon.

Damian,

Let us cut to the chase, shall we? I know how much you detest rambling.

I suppose that you already know the contents in this letter. Unless you've gone soft under your father's teachings. In which case, let me spell it out for you. I have your mother, which you already know, and it would bring me such joy to torture her a couple more days, then kill her, and take over the League of Assassins.

What I'm asking of you is simple. I want you to go to the Gotham airport at three am, on the dot. Don't be late; you just might miss your flight.

And also, Damian? Come alone. Don't even let your family know that you're leaving. And we'll know if you do. In fact, my people are probably watching you read this message right now. So I'll know if you tell. And if you do?  I'll kill your entire family, just like I killed Ra's Al Ghul. First your mother dies. Then your brother, Richard. Or do you prefer Grayson? After him will be your other two brothers. What were their names? Justin and Tom? Sorry, Jason and Tim. And the best for last; I'll kill your father in front of you. I'll torture him first of course. So much that he'll be begging for mercy. And when he's dead, I will finally have the satisfaction of killing you. So... tell, or don't tell. Either way, I win.

See you soon, Damian.

- S

After Damian read the letter a couple of times, he sighed rubbing his head. Was it worth the risk to tell Bruce? As much as he hated Todd and Drake, they were still his brothers. And Bruce and Grayson would be furious if he let them die.
He decided that he would go. Alone. And he would make sure that there were no tracers in anything that he brought with him.
He hid the note in his sketchbook, and put the sketchbook under his mattress. It was normal for him to randomly hide his sketchbook. If father did happen to realize that Damian wasn't safely tucked in bed like he was supposed to be, they would probably search his room for clues. They were detectives, after all.
And he knew fully well that they would eventually find his book under his mattress. But he was hoping that they respected his privacy enough to either save it for a last resort, or not look in it all. Either way, it would buy him some time to stop Slade. And, it's not like the note had the location in it. The note said that he would have to ride a plane.
He walked out of his room deep in thought, not noticing that Dick was right in front of him holding a tray of food. Dick put his hand on Damian's shoulder so that he wouldn't walk into him and knock the food out of his hands. Damian looked startled for a moment, then his signature scowl returned to his face.
"Tt. Took you long enough, Grayson. Did you get me tea?" Smiling, Dick turned Damian back around and pushed him into his room.
"Of course, Little D. I know how much you love your tea." He set the tray down onto the desk. It had scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, and his beloved tea. Damian grunted.
"I actually appreciate you bringing all of this food up for me, but I'm not hungry." He picked up the tea and took a sip, closing his eyes as he savored the flavor. Dick had made it just how he liked it. "And you didn't fuck up too bad with the tea."
Dick grinned. "Was that a compliment there, Dami? 'Cause I think that was a compliment." Damian glared in response, taking another sip of the tea.
"Are you sure you don't want to eat this? Because if you don't, I will." Damian shrugged. Dick took that as an invitation to eat his meal.
"Suit yourself," Dick said with a mouthful of scrambled eggs. And usually when he talked with his mouth full of food, Damian always scolded him. But he didn't even shoot a glare at him, which was very unusual for Damian. And Dick took notice of that.
"Hey, Dami... are you ok? Are you worried about your mom?" Damian avoided Dick's eyes
"I'm fine Grayson. What suggests that I'm not?"
"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Damian's gaze softened.
"Whatever."
"You're not hiding anything right? Something that would help with our search with Slade? That bastard hasn't contacted you or anything right?"
Now staring directly into Dick's blue eyes, Damian said with an unwavering voice, "No Grayson. You know that I would always tell you if Slade told me anything."