Not Through Blood...

Broken Bird (Part 2 of 2)

Dick tried his best not to fall asleep as he sat in a chair beside Damian's bed. He had been waiting here nearly all night for Damian to wake up. They had nearly lost the kid due to blood loss, but luckily, Leslie managed to save him. Honestly, Dick wasn't sure what he'd do without Leslie, or Alfred too, for that matter. But despite Alfred's attempts, he hadn't gotten Dick to leave Damian's side all night, other than to change and take a quick shower.

Dick was nodding off, almost asleep, when he heard a small groan. He straightened up quickly, suddenly wide awake. "Damian?" he asked, standing up and looming over him as Damian slowly opened his eyes.

"Ugh...Grayson?" Damian asked, looking confused.

Dick grinned widely. "Damian, good, you're awake! Alfred and I were worried. You almost died, you know."

"Tt. Well, as you can see, I'm not dead, so I'll leave now-" Damian replied as he slowly sat up.

Dick gently pushed him back down. "Nuh uh, not so fast, mister. Alfred ordered plenty of bed rest for you, so plenty of bed rest you're going to get."

Damian rolled his eyes, but didn't argue further, to which Dick was thankful. The 10 year old narrowed his eyes. "Fine...But ONLY because I have nothing better to do at the moment."

Dick chuckled and ruffled Damian's hair. "Glad to hear that I won't have to strap you to the bed." He paused. "Now that you're awake, I'll call Leslie to do a quick check up on you, just to make sure you're good to go."

Damian frowned at this. "But-" Dick shot him a look. "Fine..." the younger boy grumbled.

Dick sighed. "I know you don't like this Damian, but we...I... care about you, okay?"

Damian stared at Dick like he'd said something absurd. "What?"

Dick raised an eyebrow. "I said I cared about you... What, did I say something wrong?"

Damian shook his head, then turned away for a moment. "No...Its just that...No one had ever really said that they care about me before..."

Dick frowned. Okay, that was just sad. But then again, what did you expect when your mother was an assassin, and your father was a cold-hearted vigilante?

"I won't lie, that's a bit messed up," Dick said. He went up to Damian and gave him a hug, mindful of his injuries. "Every kid deserves to be told that. But I meant what I said. I know we kinda got off to a rocky start, but I really do care about you, Dami."

Damian was surprised by the hug, but found himself giving into it. He mumbled something into Dick's shirt. Dick smirked slightly and looked at him curiously. "What was that?"

"I said I care about you too," came Damian's muffled reply. Dick grinned. Maybe there was hope for this kid after all.

"Awww, you mean it Damian?"

Damian looked up at Dick, glaring adorably at him. "Forget what I just said, Grayson. My injuries are getting to me."

Dick grinned. "Whatever you say Damian. Whatever you say."