Damian had three bags full of clothes, weapons, things all at the center of his bedroom. Jason leaned against the wall as he watched a furious Damian wander around his room looking for more things to throw away that belonged to Dick or that Dick gifted him in the past.
And soon, his bedroom was nearly empty.
In a fit of blurred emotions, he dragged all three bags outside his room and when at the staircase, he kicked them all down.
When he returned to his room, both bystanders were sitting on his bed. Jason leaned back against the headboard relaxed and amused for the most part. And Jon kept fiddling around with his hands without a clue of what to do. Damian slammed his door shut before locking it and wandering to his closet. "I don't have many clothes now. I will go to Drake. He will have clothes my size." Robotically, he exit the room to rob the room beside his.
The door shut and through the wall, Jon could hear clattering and drawers opening and closing followed by a loud, "Not that shirt" or "don't take those." He forced his hearing to shallow and turned to Jason. "Should I tell him I'm infiltrating his mom's base?" Jason sat straight and focused his eyes on the unfinished drawing on the desk. "No. He probably knows already. He and Renegade are super close. They're like best friends. Them and Raven."
If Jason eased the idea of having a steady frenemy relationship between Renegade and Superboy, then Jon wouldn't be trying to kill Damian on a daily basis anymore. It would all work out in the end. He just had to play his cards right. "Yeah, so while we're back at HQ, let's try to get along with Renegade. He's not a bad guy once you get to know him."
The door opened and Damian entered, significantly ending their conversation. Damian held two plastic bags full of clothes. "Drake said I could have his old clothes. Although I don't mind that most of it is plaid, Timothy is an odd person. So much plaid." Both watched Damian dress into black skinny jeans, a white tank, and a forest green plaid button up. Not bad, Drake. "His clothes are acceptable. Now come, I would like to finish breakfast made by Alfred."
On his own, he left again. Jon stood first and stretched. "Dami's mad. Like, super mad, he's being so unnaturally calm when he looked like he wanted to murder everyone within a ten foot radius of him. Dang. . ." Jason rolled off the bed then stood. "Yeah, he likes to vent in private and after a few minutes, he'll recover and pretend everything's good." Jason took the first steps out of the room and let Jon follow behind.
The entire mansion was quiet.
And when they both arrived to the dining room to find just a stressed looking Bruce and unhappy Tim, both came to the conclusion that Damian had disappeared from the house entirely.
It wasn't supposed to turn out this way.
Damian was supposed to come back home to a surprised family where no grudges were held because if any of them wanted to go off and find themselves, Bruce could have accepted and let them go off. Sure his method wasn't exactly the most ideal but after a death, people grieved and then moved on. So why was Dick so upset? Damian couldn't find the reason no matter how hard he searched for one in his head.
So his solution was to escape to his bedroom back at the al Ghul base.
Now he was home. Home where all of his clothes were, all of his weapons, and gifts, and everything he loved, adored, even hated. But it was comfortable and it was what he knew. He held up his latest sword that rest in it's case on top of his fixed bed. The sword given to him by Slade for his sixteenth birthday and graduation day. It was a much better sword than any Dick had given him. He thought that out of spite but also in truth. Slade just had a better eye for assassin weapons because he'd been around them for so long. Slade and his mother were in an awkward phase of dating but not quite at the same time and it brought physical pain to both villain's children. Damian finally disregarded his outfit and pulled on Renegade's.
And off to Metropolis he went.
Daytime meant a higher chance of not having to break into Luthor's home in the middle of the night to tell or ask him something business related or ask him for advice in Damian's personal life.
He was off to LexCorps for both.
While jumping rooftops, which he enjoyed because it offered more exercise and lessened the chances of civilians seeing him in broad daylight, he spotted the flying figure and came to a halt. Part of him was curious.
Superman? Or Superboy?
The figure came from the North. North was Gotham which meant that person flying slowly and coming to a stop at a random building to sit down, was Jon.
If Damian was being completely honest with himself, he was totally scared out of his mind to face Jon.
Jon had gone from pest to best friend to lover then favourite enemy in an easy time frame of eight years. Relationship development at its obvious finest, clearly.
A detour wouldn't be the worst.
He turned towards the super's direction and shot a grappling hook to swing across the streets. And when he landed on the same ledge Superboy sat, the hero paid him no mind and continued to stare on ahead at absolutely nothing but the sky. "Damian broke the news to me. Pretty rough spot everyone's in." Jon finally brought himself to turn around and face the villain, his nemesis for life, the person who supposedly killed his best friend. But now that Damian was very much alive, very much friends with Renegade, what happened to the odd relationship Renegade and Superboy shared?
Damian paced back and forth slowly with his arms outstretched as he lazily balanced across the thin ledge of the very high building. By speaking of Damian Wayne, Jon would get it in his head that they really are two separate people.
Coming to a stop, Damian realized he was playing two different characters now.
And Jon finally sat up to really look the enemy in the eyes. Aa much as he could at least. He stared into the mask that covered whoever was behind the mask of Renegade. "So Damian... told you about everything that happened? You've been fighting me for three years for no reason at all! There have been so many times I came close to killing you! How did you just go along with all of that?" Speaking as Superboy to Renegade, Damian sat himself next to the hero wearily. They were both in mentally and emotionally unstable states so a fight could possibly break out if neither were careful.
"I really was looking for someone to fight back then. I just took the opportunity at hand. I didn't mean to reveal identities either, it just sort of happened in the heat of the moment. But we've had a good run in the past three years? We fought a lot but granted, if I weren't a villain, I believe we would have been great friends."
Superboy squinted his eyes at the person beside him. "Well, you know almost everything about me. I don't know a thing about you so I can't say the same." Damian shook his head at this one with a laugh, "No, no, you know more about me than you think." He leaned forward slightly and cautiously. Don't mess this up. Damian let a hand fall on the hero's right shoulder and let his hand slide down the arm to grip onto the muscle and steady himself.
"Renegade. Hold on, don't-."
"You can't stop me, Superboy." And the surprise and worry flashing in Jon's eyes made Damian pause for only a few seconds while letting his mouth hover a bit over his supposed enemy's. "Don't tell me you haven't even once thought about this in the dark of night. I've seen the way you look at me when you have me down and vulnerable under you. How do I know? I feel the same way."
"Shut up. You're wrong. Damian's back now."
A smirk found its way to Damian's face when he pushed himself closer and let his lips greet the other's. Jon grabbed Renegade's arm and held him tightly because this was a villain and this was wrong. Especially since Damian was back and alive and that was confirmed. It was final. So why was he doing this? He had no idea. Maybe it was his teenage hormones. He'd blame this lewdness on being human.
The soft thudding near them made Jon open his eyes and glance to the side and suddenly shove Renegade's body away from him.
"Superboy."
"Dad!"
Renegade handed him a quirky look before standing and bowing down mockingly to Clark, taking his leave by jumping off the ledge and sending Jon a wink. "I hope it lasts longer next time, Superboy." Clark watched Damian swing away and off towards the direction of the zetatubes.
All he knew was that Jon broke down his door this morning, literally, screaming that Damian was alive before flying out the closest window at full speed towards Gotham.
Saturday morning tended to be quiet.
The outburst was surprising so when Clark called Bruce and received a crying bat on the other end of the line, he finally understood that Damian came out as alive to his family.
For what reason?
"Dad, that was nothing, I swear!" Clark stood his son up. "I've seen weirder, Jon, don't worry about it, okay? Go back home. Lois is worried."
"Are you-I-uh. M'kay. I'll see you later then!" He paused once his feet were off the ground, turning to face his dad. "It was nothing." And that was denial.
Jon flew away in a hurry to get away from an upcoming for sure awkward talk between him and his dad.
Clark decided to pay a trip to LexCorps.
If anyone knew what the heck was going on, it would be Luthor for sure. And the trip wasn't even long. With Superman's speed, he was able to get there and successfully land into Luthor's office within the minute.
And in only a minute, he found Renegade also inside Luthor's office, mask off and hood down, sitting in a chair opposite the businessman.
Damian smiled brightly. "Your son's gotten better at kissing. I was surprised. Expected though. I've kept track of all his girlfriends in the past three years. Easy victims." Clark nearly paled at the sentence but decided to not dwell on the possible murder victims at Damian's hands. Luthor watched with curiosity. "You're insane. Why on Earth are you trying to flirt and fall in love with Jon as Renegade and not you? You're just making things confusing for him!"
He has a point and you know it, Damian.
"I admit I got caught up in the moment but Damian's life is just so hard! Being Renegade is much easier."
Luthor added in a tut at the comment. "I am afraid I know where this goes and Clark is correct, Damian. You cannot run away from something because it's hard. That's something only cowards do." Damian opened his mouth to say something but shut it when no words were able to form. Instead he glared at the man who was supposed to be on his side of the argument.
"I am not running away. I'm just. . . delaying confrontation."
-
This was seven hours ago.
Damian presumed it best he returned home. It was five pm in the early evening and now that he was officially alive again, being at a proper and stable home was wise for normality.
But home was with his mother and somewhat father-figure. And so he left for base and for home out of his Renegade uniform and in civvies.
While gliding across the water swiftly in the speed boat on the way to the island, five words came into mind. Five words that reminded him of his pathway and helped him on the most difficult decisions and roughest time periods in his life.
Determination.
Skill.
Discipline.
Opportunity.
Success.
Five key factors that he followed to reach every single one of his goals for three years. Never have they failed him so now they wouldn't either.
Now he was pacing. Eyes closed shut and fingers tangled into the hair at the back of his head to madsage his neck. "Determination. A river cuts through rock not because of its power but its perseverence. I have my will so I am okay." He wandered into his bathroom and then into the walk-in closet. "Skill is the unified force of experience. I am aware of my abilities, yes." He exit the utility rooms and found his bed to lay down and stay still. "Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most."
Damian found himself quiet at that one.
Discipline was one of his rules he was not following. He was so very undisciplined. Lately, his plans have been going off track and unstable and based heavily on emotions. On feelings that weren't needed and had to be trashed.
This amount of emotion is unhealthy.
He continued his count. Opportunity. "In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity. Battle has not come yet and I have yet to find a challenge worth my life."
And the last. Success. His end goal. "Without continual growth and progress, improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning." When he took over the world would he be able to proudly say that and know it was true. Because when he finally took what could be his, he would be able to live with the fact that it was his doing and that hardwork had paid off in the end. That he wouldn't be disappointed and wouldn't live with regrets or guilt.
And that brought a smile to his face when he opened his eyes to find himself facing the wall.
A knock was heard from the door of his bedroom.
And not Renegade's bedroom, but Damian al Ghul's cozy and neat bedroom, the new and improved, and current bedroom that he could say he loved much more than back at Wayne Manor.
"Sweetie, you have a visitor?"
His mother's voice? And what visitor? Last he checked, Slade was out of country, Asia he believed, and his villain friends were most likely frolicking around a city somewhere and enjoying themselves and their sort of put together lives.
The door opened and Talia stepped in. He smiled a little at her but dropped it immediately when the next person stepped in.
"Hello father. You've come this far?"
Without the Batman voice, Bruce shut the door and pulled off the mask. "Damian, you and Dick just had a little falling out. It's been three years so it's kind of expected, you do realize that? He's actually really sorry. But I've come to take you home."
With reluctance, the teen turned to his mother out of curiosity. Surely his father told her the situation. He knee his mother, without a doubt, would help him make the right choice. "You should take some time off your training. Spend time with the other half of your family."
"If that is what you wish, mother, then so be it."
Damian stood and put away all his weapon cases. "How long will I be staying with father?" Bruce couldn't help but let his shoulders slump because the words coming out of Damian's mouth made it sound like he was a child seeking custody from a parent. And his favoured parent was obviously his mother, the assassin queen. Talia saw the look and settled her hands around Damian's body to hug him. "You can always visit but you need to make up the years missed."
"So. . . three years?"
"That is. . . not what I mean, Damian, but you'll understand in time."
After Damian left the room, Talia took Bruce's hand and stopped them both. The door closed shut and they were both alone. "He's in a rough spot, Bruce. Make sure he stays positive. Let him go at his own pace and give him the space he needs. He'll open up."
Both parents actually had a hard time believing they even were parents in the first place, for two reasons. That their significant other was their enemy, and they couldn't really understand how they wound up in their situation.
Perhaps it was too little freedom.
And at the same time too much.
Both answers were correct though and finding a bridge between the two was difficult. So for now, their best option was to even out the playing field on both ends. Bruce really had catching up to do with Damian but Talia feared one thing.
That Damian wouldn't know what to say because what real life experiences did he have other than preparing for battles and for a war?
Nothing.
Bruce exit the room with the bat mask on and made his way back dowm the halls and towards the entrance again. And that's when he ran into a group of heroes.
The speedster in front of him let his gaze wander up to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Wally tiredly rubbed at his eyes before jumping back a step. "It's the bat! Ho-why are you here? Gasp! Did you sneak in too?" Talia also stepped out of the room and turned to find the group of heroes and villains. "You're all gathered together, unexpectedly, a reason?"
Shimmer gave her an equally confusing look. "We could ask you the same thing. Why is there a hero here?" Raven cut her a glare that made the other back down.
Talia clapped her hands twice. "This is my ex fiance-."
"I wasn't-."
"Ex. Also, Damian will be taking some time off to spend with the bat, so reach out to him only if it is an emergency."
When she turned away, Bruce also followed after with a curious Wally trailing behind. "Dick told me about him actually. Am I allowed to see him? I didn't even know he's been here all this time?"
Talia ruffled the ginger's hair with fascination because first off, a teen's hair is never that soft and because of how dumb some heroes really were. Most adult heroes especially. He had to give props to Superman and Green Arrow for keeping it a secret for so long. Well, not really on Superman but more for Oliver. That poor man. She turned and waved. "I'll see some of you for dinner. Until then." Bruce walked after her until they found the exit where Damian was already waiting and boredly spoke to another masked assassin assigned to help people cross across the large body of water.
"Damian."
The teen and assassin stopped the conversation. With a small nod to their boat driver, the assassin boarded and started the water vehicle while both passengers entered and seated themselves.
Neither spoke until they were on the mainland and the assassin was out of sight.
"Well, father, what are your plans now? To keep me inside the manor? Have me face your first son, the perfect son? The first Robin? I'd rather have stayed here with a million assassins wanting to conversate with me than go back to that hell-like household and face those people."
Bruce didn't even have time to say anything before Damian stormed away towards a parked and very well-hidden, rented, vehicle.