"Weird..." Barry whispered to Hal, as the Justice League meeting came to an end. It was the first meeting ever since The Reach attempted invasion and the mood was awkward. Normally, after a meeting the Trinity would move to a corner and whisper among themselves, but right now Superman and Wonder Woman were looking longingly at Batman's back as he was marching away. "Are things still tense between them?"
"Flash, Spooky's son jumped in front of Superman to receive an attack that would have killed any of us, while Spooky could only watch in The Nest," Hal turned to his best friend with a raised eyebrow. The Green Lantern noticed Superman flinch from the corner of his eye, but said nothing about it- what could he say? "Of course, things are still tense."
"Does he blame Supes?" Flash asked surprise.
"No, he does not," Black Lightning joined the conversation, as he watched Superman and Wonder Woman leave the meeting room. "But that does not mean that things are simple either. If any of my daughters had done that... God! I don't know how Batman does it, allowing Flamebird out if his sight."
"Having an army of kids helps," Hal chuckled. "When I visited Flamebird in Gotham, he whined to me about how they never let him alone. There's always one of them in the same room as him, they even all sleep together in Spooky's bed."
"I would pay gold to see that!" Barry laughed. "Though, I can understand him in a way... Iris is pregnant and I'm going to become a dad. The idea of any of my kids being in danger like that... it's driving me insane. I never understood how hard it was for Batman, no wonder he is so hard on them and so protective. I have a new respect for him."
"We all do," Black Lightning agreed. "By the way, who should I talk about visiting Gotham City? Lightning wants to visit her teammate."
"I'll give Agent A, a call," Hal told Black Lightning. "Thank you!" Black Lightning thank him.
"Have they finally chosen a name for their team?" Flash asked him excitedly. "The Renegades," Black Lightning answered with a chuckle.
"That is so cool!" Flash exclaimed.
"Cool name!" Hal agreed with a smirk. "The superhero community is growing; the bad guys won't have a place to hide anymore!"
"No, they won't!" Flash agreed, beaming.
It was then that the Zeta-Tube announced the entrance of the whole Titans team and a guest. The three of them raised an eyebrow and followed the sound of shouting. They were shocked to see a furious Starfire ready to torch an already beat down woman. She was barely being held back by Tempest and Troia, while Arsenal looked ready to join the fray. Jericho and Kid Flash were consoling a pale Nightwing.
"What in the name of the Speed Force is going here?!" Flash exclaimed, as Black Lightning moved to tend to the burned woman.
"Uncle," Wally looked relieved to see him. "That woman is Mirage; she is a villain."
"A fucking vile criminal!" Arsenal snarled, as Starfire continued to curse in Tamaranean.
"These burns were not made only by Star Fire's Starbolts," Black Lightning whispered to his Justice League teammates. "She was electrocuted as well," he sent a look at Nightwing's batons, making the Flash and Green Lantern understand.
"What has she done?" Hal stepped forward, trying to placate the situation. Kory shouted something, making Hal raise an eyebrow. "Someone who speaks English please?"
"Can't your lantern ring translate for you?" Wally chuckled waterly, at his uncle's humor.
"I do not have the translation application turned on," Hal replied drily. "I was expecting everyone to be speaking English."
"She fucking tried to rape Nightwing!" Arsenal snarled, making Nightwing flinch and the Justice League members blanched.
"W-what?" Flash stuttered.
"Mirage took Starfire's appearance to seduce Nightwing," Kid Flash explained softly, as he hugged his distraught best friend. "What she did not expect was that Nightwing has gotten used to being around fire species, both Flamebird and Starfire produce an internal kinetic heat that Mirage was unable to copy. So, Nightwing realized that something was wrong from the get-go. He took her down, but by the time we got there, Nightwing had entered a state of shock. We had to piece everything together from the security cameras."
"How is he doing?" Jefferson asked concerned.
"Not good," Jericho signed. "Is Black Canary around?"
"She has returned to Star City," Flash answered. "But I'll give her a call, after I put... this in a containment cell," Flash glared at Mirage, speeding them away.
"Starfire why don't you get Nightwing to the med bay? He needs you," Hal bartender perfectly, getting Kory out of her rage induced state. She carried her fiancé in her arms carefully, as the rest of their team followed her. "Ah, someone needs to call Spooky."
"I will," Jefferson frowned. "Why can't they get a break? Poor Batclan." Hal said nothing, but he agreed on the sentiment.
Poor Batclan.
What none of them were expecting was for the poor Batclan to be facing another crisis elsewhere.
"Deathstroke, here to whine at us about Revenger again?" Redbird taunted the mercenary, as he and Blackbird faced him on a Blüdhaven rooftop- they were waiting for backup in the form of Batman and Batwoman.
"No, tonight I'm here to whine about how Batman thought it would be a good idea to steal my son from me," Deathstroke snapped, glaring heatedly at the young heroes.
On the outside nothing showed how their heartbeats skipped a beat, the Batclan were cursing through the coms. Redbird and Blackbird could hear Batman bark at Respawn to stay behind and head back to the Batcave with Shrike.
"Who?" Redbird played clueless, cursing internally that Nightwing was at the Titan Tower- he was much better at this.
"Don't play dumb!" Deathstroke shouted, raising his sword, Blackbird stepped before her brother- they both knew that if someone could survive a battle against Deathstroke, it would be her. "Did you think I have no spies left in the League of Assassins? I know about fucking Ra's experiment!"
"Hey!" Redbird snapped angrily, as Blackbird glared at the mercenary. "That is my brother you are talking about! He is Respawn! No experiment!"
"Where is he? Don't make me ask again!" Deathstroke threatened. "Safe," Cass answered, getting ready for the attack. "Away from you."
Just as Deathstroke was about to attack, a wall of flames spread before the two parties. Redbird and Blackbird sighed in relief, as they looked up to find their family's guarding angel.
"Brat!" Deathstroke glared at Flamebird. "You are as annoying as you were during our sword lessons."
"Teacher," Damian replied with a raised eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like I am trying to do?" Deathstroke replied dryly. "Trying to get my son!"
"Teacher, you lost a child, and two of them ran away from you," Flamebird told him, making the mercenary flinch- though, only Blackbird was able to see that. "Don't ruin my akhi too. I won't allow it. Ra's has already done enough damage."
"I heard that you had disowned the al Ghuls but I was not expecting this coldness from mamma's little boy," Deathstroke mocked, making Flamebird flinch and earning the animosity of Redbird and Blackbird. "You are telling me that Batman can give him a better home than me? I'm pretty sure two of kids almost died under his care."
Three, the Batclan thought to themselves, recalling how they almost lost Flamebird.
"Almost still trumps a dead son," Damian replied cruelly showing everyone why he was the Heir of the Demon and Hell. "Also, my akhi can be a child with baba. Grow and be whoever he chooses to be, can you say he'll be able to do the same with you?" Deathstroke remained silent, but he sheathed his sword. "Ah," Flamebird sighed, lowering himself in front of the mercenary to the horror of his older siblings. "Leave teacher, let akhi go and be happy. If he wants to meet you, I promise you I'll take akhi to you. Hell, Baba will do it. He only wants the best for us and for us to be happy."
Deathstroke said nothing back, but he still left before Batman made it to the rooftop.
"That was a close one," Redbird sighed, as Flamebird extinguished the fire. "Where's Nightwing when you need him? That madman was his teacher, wasn't he?!"
"He is at the Watch Tower's med bay," Batman told them, gaining startled looks from his children.
"What?!" Robin shouted through the coms, from the Batcave with the rest of the birds and Agent A.
"What happened to him?"
Batman did not answer but from the look on his face, Redbird, Blackbird, and Flamebird knew that it was nothing good.
Poor Batclan, ineed.
"He is something else, isn't he?" Iris remarked to Lois as they assisted to a Wayne Gala as reporters together. They were both watching Damian, who was across the room entertaining a conversation with a group of businesswomen from Switzerland and Austria. Lois could hear that the conversation was in fact in German. Iris continued, "He's quite a charmer like his father, that's like his default mode, but when he puts his mind to it— when he really wants people to pay attention—no one can escape his pull."
"I know," Lois replied, observing as he was slowly surrounded by eager businessmen and animal advocates. The gala was a success to celebrate Damian's fight against animal abuse and illegal trafficking- the cherry on top was that he had convinced Diana to be the face of the campaign. "My son fell for his charms after all. He could not resist the pull, what's worse he did not want to. That's what makes him so dangerous, he is like the flame, and we are the moths that will inevitably get burned."
"So, gloomy Lois," Irish chuckled, her pregnancy had her quite giddy lately. "Did you forget that Flamebird was the one to save Superman?" She whispered, using codenames just in case.
"I know he did," Lois hold on her champaign flute tightened.
"Lois, I do not know what your issue with Damian is," Iris sighed, turning to her friend with a stern and disappointed look on her face. "But the simple fact that his life choices don't agree with you it's not good enough. He is within his right to have freedom of choice... a right that was withheld from him long enough."
"I know..." Lois looked down angrily. "I just know he can do more."
"Are you hearing yourself?" Iris huffed. "No matter how good and capable he is, he is also a 15 years-old-boy!"
"I know, which makes me feel even worse," Lois confessed with shame. "Oh, Lois," Iris sighed, pulling her friend in her arms.
Meanwhile, the topic of their conversation had escaped the Wayne Hall and made his way to the Wayne Manor, in a comfortable silence with his half-brother.
"Do you want to meet with him?" Damian suddenly asked one day, weeks after Dick and Kory had moved into the Wayne Manor- so, Dick would have his family after the Mirage episode. "Your father I mean?"
"I had already guessed that" Alec replied dryly.
"I know it might seem as if we do not care about how you are feeling after Desthstroke's visit, we got sidetracked by Dick's... situation," Damian grimaced. "But we do, my promise still stands if you are ever interested in meeting him you can."
"I... I don't want you," Alec frowned. "I mean, after the way Ra's treated me and how Talia raised you, it is normal to be afraid of forming familiar bonds with others. It took me a while to open up to our family, and even more before I started considering them family. But with father... I just don't want to see him period. Not after the stories I've heard from Rose and Jericho." He turned to his older cousin with a rare vulnerable look on his face. "Does that make me a bad person?"
"No! Of course, not!" Damian was quick to assure him. "I can understand that feeling, it's the same feeling that made me cut off Talia from my life for good. We need to prioritize ourselves and our safety, both physical and emotional. There's nothing wrong with that."
"Good," Alec sighed. "I just... I don't want him coming again and hurting any of you."
"I won't tell you that will never happen, we are both smarter than to delude ourselves," Damian replied. "But I can assure you that whatever happens we will face it as a family."
Alec smiled at his brother and bid him goodbye. Seeing as on mission was completed, Damian headed for his second one.
Dick.
"Hey," Damian said softly, smiling gently at his lethargic brother, who was hiding from the world in his fiancé's arms.
"Dami!" Dick greeted him with a beaming smile, though not one as bright he was capable of. "Fire Bird," Kory greeted his future brother-in-law warmly, making way on the bed for him.
Out of all the siblings her beloved has, Damian is the one she likes the most. Not simply because Dick's balant favoritism, but out of a sense of comradeship. Damian was a being of fire, just like her... it made her feel closer to home. Not to mention, she did not have to be afraid of burning him, as he runs hotter than even her.
"So, baba bought you a present," Damian cuddled between two of his favorite people.
"Yeah, a car," Dick chuckled waterly. "He tried to hide the fact he was trying to cheer me up with a luxury car, by buying everyone with a license a car." He no longer sounded angry at Bruce, believing he was trying to buy him. Dick knew better now. "He can be so awkward sometimes."
"Sometimes?" Damian replied playfully, making his brother bark a laugh. Kory looked at Damian warmly and gratefully. "I still have not seen them; I was too busy with the last details of my campaign."
"Sorry about skipping on that," Dick apologized, looking so guiltily at his adored little brother.
"Think nothing of it, I just sneaked out of it myself. It's as boring as every other gala," Damian waved his apology away.
"Liar, you love running circles on rich-dumb people," Kory teased. "Milking them dry for every single penny for charity or your plans."
"Well, someone in this family has to be competent with dealing with people," Damian pouted adorably, ignoring Dick's cooing. "It won't be baba or any of my siblings, and shido can only do so much. Also, it is so much fun watching them realize what they had just agreed to do after they signed the check." Damian laughed with Dick and Korry. "Going back to the cars, what cars did he buy?"
"Dad bought me a blue Bugatti Chiron," Dick informed him cheekily. "Little Wing got a red Ferrari Stradale, Cass a black Lamborghini Huracan, and Baby Bird an orange McLaren 765LT."
"Nice!" Damian whistled impressed. "Baba went all out."
"You should have seen Little Wing and Baby Bird's expressions!" Dick gossiped excitedly. "They were awestruck!"
Damian and Korry shared a fond smile as Dick continued to gossip with excitement. Mirage was completely forgotten in the warmth of loved ones.
At least, that was until the next morning when he woke up by a someone's whisper of 'It's done.' Shit! Damian cursed internally, as he jumped off bed and left his brother's bedroom in a rush. "Dami?!" Dick exclaimed shocked by his sudden parting.
The details in the hall as he passed, pictures of family and drawings collected with famous art and tables placed neatly around. The kitchen was more modern but still so very beautiful. It's marble counters so elegant, like nothing you'd see in anything modern with white and grey. No, the house had character, charm, and warmth like his own new home.
It was dark yet kind, filled with shadows yet they were welcoming, as if used to the company. The decor must have been old, it felt so lived in yet so timeless.
This was Damian's home. The home of his family.
Yet, he was not looking at any of those decorations as he rushed through the hallways and into the Batcave. He ignored everything and everyone as he changed to his Flamebird form and used the Zeta-Tubes to get him to the Watch Tower.
He groaned as he saw the mess. He had been too late.
"Flamebird!" Superman turned to the young hero in surprise. "Is everything ok? Do you need help?" The Kriptonian paused his search to pay attention to the boy, his guilt was still eating him alive.
"Mirage! Is she dead?!" Flamebird demanded to know with urgency, making every Justice League member in the room freeze and turn to look at him stunned. "She is... shit!"
"Language!" Superman scolded him automatically.
"Young Warrior, how do you know that?" Diana asked Damian, focusing on the task at hand. Lately, she seems to be the only one capable of that- perks of being over 5000 years old. "Do you know who has done it?"
"Yes," Damian sighed, receiving intel via telepathy from his great-grandparent. "It was Karma, a demon affiliated with my faction in Hell. They saw it as an insult that Mirage hurt a member of my family and killed her." Everyone flinched at the reminder that they were talking at the heir of Hell. Well, everyone but Diana and Clark. "Don't worry, Lucifer took care of it and punished them for getting involved with issues of the Living Realm. The rules of Hell have changed and do not allow for demons to get involved with the living mortals."
"What is their punishment?" Flash asked the Fire-base hero.
"They will not be able to go to Earth without being in my presence," Damian answered. "They are still one of knights, so great-grandparent made sure I would be able to summon them in case I need them. Other than that, they are practically exiled from the Living Realm."
"That's fair," Green Arrow said, pleasantly surprised by the Ruler of Hell's judgement.
"My great-grandparent has grown a lot lately," Damian agreed, before wincing. "I just do not want to tell baba about this, he had only just started to see the good in demons and Lucifer."
"Leave it to us," Diana offered rapidly. "We will tell Batman."
"Are you sure?" Damian asked surprise by the offer, telling Batman bad news is something no one ever wanted to do.
"We are!" Superman shouted, blushing at the knowing looks he got- as always, Diana did not blush and stood tall and proud.
"If you are sure," Damian agreed with an amused smirk. "I leave it to you!" He turned around to the Zeta-Tubes, before he was transported away, the heroes were able to hear his startled realization. "Shit! I still need to tell Nightwing and Agent A!"
"We just crushed the pharmaceutical market," Fox informed all the departments heads and Bruce, during their monthly meeting. It was no longer a board meeting, as there's no board. Perks of half of the board being involved with the Court of Owls and Bruce buying off the rest. Going private was the best thing WE could have ever done. "The bait of cheaper and high-quality medicaments was too much for the different countries' government, without anyone realizing we sneaked in and took over the market."
"They deserve it!" Mark, the CCO of WE scoffed, while everyone else cheered. "They extort money from people and have them dig debts they will never get out of."
"We just proved that it is possible," Bruce spoke up, bringing silence to the room. Everyone turned to look at him and flushed at the look filled with pride he received from their boss. "And the billions we are getting from the medicaments will be put into the creation and funding of free hospitals and clinics."
"We've already started in Gotham, now it's time to take it worldwide," Dr. Pamela Isley smirked. Only in Gotham an ex-ecoterrorist can become the CGO and no one bats an eye to it. She does have the Wayne seal of approval and the Wayne word in final in Gotham, no one ever forgets that. "Not to mention, with all the money our projects have been making we took WE to a trillionaire company."
"Clean energy, recycling machines, nuclear waste disposal, vaccines and treatment to previously untreatable diseases," Samantha, the CLO of WE smiled, quite proud of what the company she worked at has achieved in such a little time. "Not to mention, the new clothing, make-up, skin care and hair products lines that have taken the world by storm."
"All of it done ecologically, without hurting the fauna and flora that surrounds us!" Trevor the CKO of WE exclaimed, looking at Pamela with stars in his eyes. "All thanks to your inventions, it's a revolution!"
"May I ask why you did not use the Wayne family crest?" Samantha inquired curiously.
"Wait the W in gothic character is not the Wayne family crest?!" Trevor the CMO of WE shouted startled. "We are marketing that as the signature of WE as if we were on fire. Half of the designs under Dr. Harleen Quinzel have the gothic W, all our electronic apparatus and their accessories have it too! Have I been marketing the wrong thing all along?!" The poor guy looked distraught as his colleagues were looking back at him with surprise, before bursting out in laughter. "What? This is not a joke!"
"Sometimes I forget that you are not a gothamite," Barbara, the newly minted CTO-CIO of We snickered, as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "The gothic W, as you so call it, was the logo brand of WE since the beginning of its founding. It was taking from the Wayne typography, created by a calligraphy affectionate of the Wayne family of back then, who had been inspired by the gothic architecture and design the city was taking. But it is not the Wayne family crest."
"Oh, good," Trevor sighed, before turning to his boss and asking the same thing as his colleague. "Yes, why do you not use it?" He then turned to Samantha and asked her. "If we had never used it before, why are you asking?"
"I am asking because the family crest has three different animals, a lion, an eagle, and a goat. Not to mention, the sword, gauntlet, and knight." She answered once Bruce nodded at her, queuing her to go first. "It would give Dr. Quinzel more symbols to use in her designs, while not staying from the idea the clients have of the brand."
"As for why I am not using my family's crest, is because only a Wayne can wear it," Bruce answered. "The Wayne family and WE have been split entities since day one- which will stay that way." Everyone looked at their boss in silence, even Dr. Isley, he was showing everyone why the Wayne have been and are still the leaders and royalty of Gotham City. "I believe this is enough for today," he said standing up, making everyone else stand up with him. "Meeting adjourned. Good work everybody."
"Thank you, boss," and different alterations were heard as the department heads packed their things and left the meeting room.
"Are you returning to the manor?" Fox asked when they were the only ones left.
"Yes, Damian has an art show next week and he has been locked in his art studio for three days," Bruce grimaced. "He only left for the gala yesterday, and I want to make sure he takes a break today. He is still young."
"That he is," Fox agreed with a warm smile. "Though I've never seen him more relaxed or happy than when he was a brush or pencil in his hand."
"He does love his art," Bruce smiled, looking at the painting of Gotham's port in the sunset, that hung on the meeting room. Damian had painted it for his father. "He has an incredible talent."
"He does, my wife loved the painting he made for her birthday," Fox told Bruce with fondness, making the CEO preen with pride for his wonderful son. Though, only Fox was able to notice it after knowing him for decades. "I won't hold you back any longer. Go, spend time with your family. You've worked hard."
"Bye Lucius," Bruce said, barely holding back the smile off his face and rushed to his car. What he did not expect to find when he parked at the Wayne Manor was the two people he has been hiding from- not that he will ever admit it. "What happened?" Bruce switched to Batman in seconds and demanded to know once he noticed the tense postures of his teammates.
"Mirage is dead," Diana told him, without beating around the bush.
"What?" Bruce gasped, sounding quite winded even though he had not run at all that day. Can you blame him? His son almost-rapist-to-be has been suddenly killed. Bruce could not find himself to regret her death or feel guilty for not feeling a thing. "How did it happen? Who killed her? Wasn't the Watch Tower supposed to be unbreachable?"
"A demon named Karma did it," Clark answered him gently, looking at his beloved with concern. "They are an extremist and fanatic from Flamebird's faction. Lucifer has already punished them; they are exiled from the Living Realm unless summoned by and to protect Flamebird. Flamebird was unaware of it and rushed to stop it when he found out... but he was too late."
"It is not his fault; people do crazy things out of obsession. I should know, this is Gotham." It showed how far Bruce has come that he could react in a calm manner, say that and mean it. "How were they able to get in the Watch Tower?"
"It seems that we forgot to ward it against supernatural beings," Clark sighed. "How did that happen?!" Bruce looked crossed by such a rookie mistake.
"The Justice League Dark are the ones that deal with the occult and supernatural, we deal with aliens and criminal syndicates," Diana answered. "We now know what we did wrong and will not make the same mistake twice. We have already contacted the Justice League Dark and they will be sending someone to ward the Watch Tower. After being approved by all of us," she rapidly added with a smirk, noticing Bruce ready to open his mouth to protest.
"She knows you too well," Clark chuckled, feeling lighter at the common exchange. He has missed it... missed them.
"She does... you both do..." he looked at his teammates with a small smile. "With Mirage gone, Dick will be able to move on. Slowly but steadily, something he has already been doing. I don't have any more excuses not to see you."
"Unless you do not want you," Clark replied firmly, standing tall. It looked as if he was readying himself to hear the verdict of his trial. "I would totally understand... I did fail you and your son."
"You did not fail me Kal," Bruce told him softly with a sigh. He looked down and shook his head, before looking up, at his beloveds, with determination in his eyes. "The last couple of years has been a lot. Not only privately but also in my Batman and Brucie persona. So much has happened and I was able to push it away, focusing on everything I needed to do for my family. Things were going great... which meant that the other shoe was going to drop soon. I prepared myself for it, but nothing could have prepared me for what was about to happen." The raw pain in his eyes was something that shook Diana and Clark- they had never seen him this vulnerable, outside of traumatic events.
"I almost lost my son and my other almost got raped. I know I should be grateful that none of those things happened... but I still wake up hearing Dick screaming 'No! Don't touch me!' at night." Kal-El flinched at that and Diana looked ready to chop Mirage's corpse into pieces. "And Damian might be alive... but for those seconds I did not know that. He was dead to me, and I saw it happen in front of my eyes... and I was unable to do a thing." He sniffed, shaking his head, and trying to contain the tears that threatened to spill. "I think it was then that it hit me. How different my son truly is." He clarified. "Unlike the rest of his siblings there will be times that I won't be able to follow him in battle, be there to watch his back and make sure he comes back home. I am human... and he is not." Bruce chuckled in a self-deprecating way. "I deluded myself believing that it was ok, because he has the Justice League and Justice League Dark looking out for him. The lanterns think of him as their messiah! What should I be worried about?!" Diana and Clark looked down in shame. "No, don't do that. I don't blame you; I never did. I almost failed Jason a couple of years back and he is human. It happens, as shitty as it is. It's life. I needed time to process everything that happened, everything that I had accumulated simply came out and messed me up." He looked at them with fondness and determination. "But I do not need time anymore."
"Does that mean..." Clark trailed off hopefully, as Diana perked up like a blooming flower beside him.
"I love you, both of you," Bruce finally admitted and felt like a weight off his shoulders. "I would really like to try being a... us."
Bruce laughed as he was enveloped in the arms of his partners.
Everything was fixed now and will remain like that... until, it finally breaks again, and they will need to fix it one more time.
But for now, the heroes celebrated and rested their well-earned peace.
"I thought you've changed," those were the words that broke the peace of the Wayne's weekly family dinner. Every head turned towards the dining room's door. There stood an angry Dick, the cold-intense kind of anger he had not felt since his parents had died. "How could you?"
"Chum, I don't understand," Bruce spoke up, feeling choked up. "What did I do..."
"Do not call me that!" Dick shouted, startling everyone. "Do not call me that," he repeated, this time much calmer, but somehow the tone scared everyone more. "Only a father deserves to call me that... and you are no father."
"Master Richard!" Alfred scolded his grandson, after seeing the broken and sad expression on his son's face. "You cannot talk to your father like that!"
"I can!" Dick snapped at him. This time really worrying his family. No one ever snaps at Alfred. "No father would ever make plans to contain his own son!"
That shut everyone up. Looks of various degrees of horror and betrayal adorned the Wayne siblings faces, as they slowly turned to a very guilty Bruce Wayne.
"Shit! You really fucking did that!" Jason cursed, staring at his father as he had never seen him before.
"You said that it did not matter what blood runs through our veins!" Mara accused him. "You liar! You promised!" Alec seethed, glaring at him with hate.
"Why?" Cass signed, showing her betrayal.
"Because I am too dangerous," Damian answered softly, making everyone turned to him in disbelief. But Damian's eyes were only for his father, who was looking at Damian with an expression that begged forgiveness. "Because my powers will grow. Powers that surpasses Superman and have no known weakness, as kryptonite is for Kyrptonians. Because I can defeat you all in matters of minutes, that is if I do not go straight for the kill. Then you would all be dead in seconds. Because the only ones that can stop me are: one, related to me and want me as their heir. Two, part of my league and out of the control or influence of Batman. Aren't I right baba?"
Bruce flinched at how softspoken his son called him father. Because now he did not feel worthy of the title... he did not know that he'll ever feel truly worth of it again.
"That does not mean he can do this to you! How could he betray you like this? You who is always willing to help and heal other!" Tim exploded.
Everyone looked surprised by his explosive anger, anger that surpassed Dick's.
Well, everyone but Damian. Damian who knew where all this anger came from.
"You should know why," Damian replied, smirking sardonically at him. "You think the most similar to him out of all of us. I am quite sure that you've thought about it too... and felt very guilty about it afterwards. I destroyed the Reach's army because the Grey Lantern Force took control of me. A force I've quite stubbornly refused to train. What will happen when someone who is not so willing to respect my wishes takes control of me? You've all seen how much chaos and destruction a controlled Superman can do. Do you really wish to see what I can do when my powers are being used for evil? I can tell you already it won't be pretty."
"How can you be so calm Baby Bat?" Dick asked him, calmer this time.
"Did you really think you were the first one to find those plans?" Damian snorted humorlessly. A broken sound left Bruce's throat, as everyone stared at Damian in horror and sadness. "I can understand it... it does not mean that I like it. But I do understand it. I made my peace with it."
"How?" Alec and Mara turned to their akhi, begging for an answer.
An answer that can allow them to keep their duties of protecting Damian and allow them to keep their image of their baba intact.
"By understanding that the one who made those plans was not my baba," Damian sighed. "It was Batman. Batman always needs to keep control of everything, and he does not trust anyone. There was a time when the line between those two had almost disappeared."
"How are so sure that the two of them are so different?" Jason frowned, confused.
"They are," Damian assured him. "While Batman will use those plans because he sees me as a danger to contain. Baba will use them to protect me from anyone... even myself." Damian smiled at his father, as everyone stared in silenced- awed by his maturity and with a lot to think about. "At the end of the day, baba always wins over Batman. He just needs us to us to remind him, from time to time, that he is much more than just Batman."
"I'm sorry," Bruce lowered his head in shame. "I know," Damian told him softly.
What else could be said?