Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Father, there has been…” Talia pauses debating her words, “A complication. With the experiment’s development.” Ra’s Al Ghul motions for her to continue from where he’s lounging on his throne. 

“As far as we can tell the only damage done was the the baby’s vocal cords.” Talia shallows thickly before continuing. How she words this decides the fate of a life. “We think that although it will not have the ability to speak we can turn that into an advantage for training and stealth.” 

Ra’s thinks over the different impacations that this could mean. If the child could not speak it would be harder to for it betray them or to talk back. Communication could still be done through the hands and breaking them could be a suitable punishment for disobedience. 

“If there is no other damage to it, I don’t see why this should hold it or us back, however” he made eye contact with Talia for a few tense seconds before continuing, “If it in anyway hiders it’s training no mercy will be show, and because of this flaw I want every language drilled into him to make up for it” 

Talia bows, “As you wish.” And prepares to walk out. Plans to check on the development of the experiment and the training of it already forming.

“One last thing,” Talia pauses turning back towards her father waiting for his final order. “I trust that whoever is to fault for the damage has been properly felt with?” Talia’s smile is wide and vicious. 

“Of course” 

Ten years latter

In a large room with lots of scrolls and books on shelves lining the walls, as well as a large table in the middle with writing utensils sits Damian Al Ghul and a woman. Damian has just finished all his tutoring on German. Since he is now fluent in the language and has no use for the tutor anymore. He picks up his favorite sword, a katana that he’d been gifted by his grandfather when he turned ten. And signs with one hand, 

“ Your service has been good, you’re duty fulfilled” 

The woman is honorable even though she trembles with fear she bows her head, accepting her fate. She knew that tutoring the heir to the league of shadows would end like this and that this was her fate. Damian nods once acknowledging her honor before he calmly thrusts the sword through her heart. 

He takes a cloth resting on the table and wipes his blade before ringing a bell in the corner of the room to call for a servant. The servant walks in bows briefly before looking up to await instructions. Rather than signing anything Damian just gestures the body lying on the floor. He might not have a voice but he was still taught that Al Ghuls do not speak the the unworthy. The servant bows again this time staying bowed as he address Damian. 

“Lady Talia said that once you had finished with your tutoring for the day to go and see her to start the next part of your training.” 

Damian made no visible reaction to the words, simply nodding before striding out the door heading towards his mother’s sitting room. Excitement and curiosity swirled within him as he wondered what his next task would be. Would it be like the last time where he was sent out to kill a foreign ambassador in China while some of the league hunted him? Or would it be like the one before that where he went out without resources into the desert and had to survive a week before making his way back?

When he arrived at his mother’s door he paused for a second, before knocking and the wood that made up the frame. He walked in after that. As the heir to the league the knock was only to announce his presence, and only with his grandfather did he need to wait for permission to enter. The interior of the room was similar to his language room in the layout and nothing else. His mother’s sitting room was to show off her power and wealth to important clients and ambassadors. 

Paintings and old weapon decorated the walls, and expensive rugs covered the bamboo mats the made up the majority of the base’s floors. Couches also littered the area with one table in the center. Kneeling at the table is where he found his mother reading a report. He went and knelt opposite of her waiting for her to look up before he could speak. 

When she did finally lift her head he bowed his head in respect before lifting his hands to start signing. 

“ You asked for me mother? ” 

“Yes, I’m sending you to learn from your father.” Damian’s eyes widened at this. His mother never mentioned his father. He had learned all he knew about him from the reports about the Batman and his partners. His mother continued one with a sharp look for his break in composure. 

“You are to pack the necessities in two duffle bags or less. We are leaving in two days time” Damian nodded already thinking of what her would need. 

“Good. You dismissed” 

Chapter Text

Damian sat on the plane seat meditating as he waited for the plane to land in Gotham. Deep breaths in and out. He hears footsteps approaching his seat and takes another deep breath.

“Damian.” His eyes fly open looking up at his mother expectantly. “This will be like your other missions except longer and you must not let them know you can not speak. Al Ghuls do not have weakness” Damian casts his eyes down at this as shame courses through his veins.

“You will be staying for a year, at the end of the year your grandfather will assess whether or not you will be staying longer.” His grandfather never saw over his assessments. Damian blinked twice at this any more surprise shone on his face would end with him receiving a punishment. Maybe she would have broken one of his fingers depending on how bad his slip up was. That was a suitable punishment, he could have given an enemy information about him so he would not be able to give any information in retaliation.

His mother continued on speaking ignoring his small breach of control. “At random points during your stay you will be given small tests to make sure you truly are learning.” At this his mother looked up making sure that Damian was still listening, and processing all the information. 

“ Yes mother ” satisfied he was paying attention she continued,

“You will listen to your father and try to gather information about him and his partners as well. Speaking of information, tell me who you most likely will encounter in his house” Damian sat up straighter and went over all he knew about his father from the reports.

“ Richard Aka ‘Dick’ Grayson. 22, male, Nightwing”  When signing his name he finger spelled, but at Nightwing he flattened his hands and put them over his chest thumbs sticking up and fingertips touching. It was meant to resemble the insignia on his costume. 

“ Jason Todd, 19, Male, Red Hood” he finger spelled the name again and made a gun with one hand and the other formed to make an R.

“ Tim Drake,16, Male, Red Robin” The Red Robin symbol was just two Rs flashed quickly one after another.

“ Stephanie Brown, 18, Female, Spoiler” Her sign started off as the sign for spoil before transitioning into the sign for spill.

“ Cassandra Cain, 19, Female, Black Bat” This one was straight forward just the signs for black and bat combined.

“ Barbara Gordon, 22, Female, Oracle”  Oracle was the sign for future, and  he only moved his hand an inch or so away from his head.

“ The Butler, Male, prior military experience”  He doesn’t state anything else about Alfred, because to Damian he is just a servant, nothing worth noting.

“ Lastly, Bruce Wayne, 40, Male, Batman” The symbol used for Batman was made with mockery in mind. His pointer and middle fingers up and his hands on the sides of his head in an imitation of Bruce’s cowl.

“Good, Damian. Continue to prepare for the mission. We will be landing in an hour” With that Damian’s mother left and Damian went back to meditating. 

To Damian it seemed like an hour passed in the blink of an eye. Soon they were landing and heading off to a boat Talia had made sure to rent in her father’s name. During the flight she had changed into an elegant dress that made her already remarkable beauty shine. 

As soon as they arrived Damian dropped his two duffle bags in a corner hidden behind a curtain. Than he preceded to jump and climb into the vents above his mother’s head. They only had to wait 15 minutes for Batman to to arrive. Damian’s mother flirted with him for a bit before she gave signal for him to drop down behind his father. 

“His name is Damian, and he’s ours.” Damian’s father turned around so fast that Damian startled a little bit backing up half a step. Not many could detect him and Damian’s father had reacted so fast. He should have expected it though he was made from the finest genes. Talia glared at him deeply and made sure he knew that she was disappointed in him.

“I’m sorry about that, don’t worry he will be punished for the misstep. That’s part of the reason he’s here. For the year he will train with you” Batman shifted slightly at the mention of punishment but didn’t say anything about it. 

“Damian doesn’t speak to anyone but me and my father, most are unworthy.” Talia motions behind her to the curtain and he moves to grab his bags before being stopped by Talia holding out her hand. Without any hesitation he places his hand in hers and braces his muscles as she quickly breaks his pinky. 

Batman surges forward to stop anymore breaking but Damian just continues on his path to the curtain. He will still be able to somewhat sign with just his pinky broken, it was just a warning meant to remind him to behave.

“That wasn’t necessary.” His father’s rough breaks through the silence. Talia just waves him away not really listening to what he’s saying. 

“I’ll leave him to you.” With her part fulfilled she nods to Damin and he nods back before she walks out heading back to the plane. 

Batman looks at Damin standing in his hooded league garb and Damian stares back. Batman breaks first and turns around heading for the batmobile.

“Come. I’ll have to tell Agent A to prepare a room.”

Chapter Text

The Batcave was large and looked to be mostly practical with the different platforms housing different equipment. However he had no idea what large dinosaur was for, or the giant penny. They seemed entirely impractical. Maybe it was a test, Damian doubted it but still kept his face carefully blank and his muscles tensed. 

“Dick’s home but Jason and Tim are out, before Alfred shows you to your room I want to do some tests.” Damian’s father holds out a syringe and small sample bag. “I need your blood and your hair.” 

Damian nods once and with a small bow rips out three strands of hair giving them to him before grabbing the syringe and preparing to draw blood. 

“Woah, woah, hey!” Damian’s father shoots forward and takes the syringe back, “I’ll draw it you could hurt yourself” That’s ridiculous. 

Damian has drawn his blood before and knows the risks as well as what could go wrong, but his mother had said to obey his father so he rolled up his sleeve and presented his arm. Damian studied his father’s face as he drew the blood. They had very similar features. Damian’s skin was darker due to his mother and the time spent in the sun training, but they had the same eyes, hair and jaw. Of course all of Damian’s features were softened by his youth, baby fat clung to his face and the edges of his body not hardened by muscles and training.

Damian was pulled out of his musings when his father grabbed his hand and started examining the broken pinky. 

“I’ll have Alfred bring down a splint for you before you go to bed, for now I have to analyze your blood and get back to patrol” 

Damian didn’t know what he was more furious at, that his father was calling him and his mother a liar, or that he was being handed off to the butler instead of being treated like a guest much less a blood son. He stiffly bowed and stayed bent waiting for dismissal.

“You don’t have to stop speaking, I won’t tell Talia that you spoke.” His father settled a hand his shoulder and gently pushed Damian into a standing position and out of his bow. The look on his father’s face was one of pity and expectation. He expected Damian to disobey an order like some insufferable child that had been given a taste of freedom. 

Damian’s hands curled into fists at his sides, ignoring the pain from his pinky. He leveled his father with a glare that showed exactly what he thought of that plan and shook his head once. His father looked surprised and the action expecting him to take the offer and only having ever seen careful blankness on Damian’s face. 

They both looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps. An elderly man came into view with a splint for Damian’s pinky, and a set of clothes that looked to be too big for Damian and too small for his father. 

“I have your room ready and a splint for your finger. We didn’t have any clothes that would fit you but Master Timothy is the closest to your size. Was I correct in guessing that you don’t have anything that would be fitting the average ten year old boy?” Alfred raised an eyebrow during the question and was looking pointedly at Damian’s training clothes. 

For some reason shame wanted to warm his cheeks so he just stalked forward and grabbed both the splint and clothes. Before pointedly looking at Alfred waiting for him to lead Damian to his room. 

“You’re welcome” Alfred replied drily. If he thought it was odd Damian didn’t say anything he didn’t mention it just led him to an elevator at one end of the cave. 

Damian’s room was large but simple, clearly a guest room with neutral colors and nothing personal scattered around the room. There was a large bed and a desk in the corner, as well as two wood doors and a sliding glass one that led to a balcony overlooking an impressive span of gardens. 

Upon further inspection the two wooden doors led to a bathroom with a shower and tub, and a walk-in closet with drawers and lots of empty hangers. Satisfied that he had the layout of the room he turned back to the items that he had taken from Alfred.

The clothes were actually pajamas, and after he had put them on he examined his pinky before slipping the splint on. Briefly he debated the possibility that he would be attacked during the night and shouldn’t sleep in the bed before deciding that if he was attacked he could handle it and not sleeping in the bed could offend his father’s hospitality. Not that he had been shown much but just to be safe he grabbed two knives and slipped into bed. Placing one knife under his pillow and carefully holding the other. 

The next morning Damian awoke as the sun was rising. As far as he could tell nobody had been in his room during the night, and with his training and instincts it meant there was a great chance that nobody had. Damian took the time now to hide all of his weapons putting them in different spots with varying accessibility. His favorite katana got strapped to his back and a set of throwing stars are hidden along his person. 

After that he slipped on another set of training clothes and opened the door. Looking down to see a set of clothes he assumed Alfred had put there. He scoffed at the jeans and buttons up. Tim must have a death wish, the clothes offer no movement or protection at all. Stepping over the clothes he starts down the hall. It would be wise to familiarize himself with the layout of his temporary home.

 About an hour later after he’s finished in the main library, someone grabs his arm twisting it back before he’s slammed to the ground with a knee in his back. He only glimpsed black hair and blue eyes before he went down. The voice that growled into his ear isn’t familiar and it sets him on edge. 

“What is the league of shadows doing in Gotham, much less our house?” Well that narrowed down who it was significantly. 

Chapter Text

Damian didn’t understand people. Both his hands were pinned, so even if he wanted to explain he couldn’t. He wouldn’t break his mother’s rule over something like this, but still. Of course his attacker also doesn’t know that he can’t speak, but Damian was still a little upset over his father just dismissing him the night before.

Damian pulls forward harshly to dislocate his shoulder. This also has the added effect of throwing his attacker off balance for a split second, and that’s all he needs. During that split second he rolls forward leveraging his attacker up and over his body. His attacker slams into the floor, and Damian can get his first good look at who attacked him. 

Richard Grayson. 

It seems that he is also getting his fist good look at Damian. He must have only seen Damian from behind and attacked before he could be attacked. It was a smart thing to do especially if he’d had previous encounters with the league. Grayson’s eyes go comedically wide as he stares up at Damian’s face.

“Holy shit , you’re just a kid!” 

Damin snarls at that, popping his shoulder back in before drawing his sword. Who did he think he was, Just a kid! If possible Grayson’s eyes go even wider, and he launches into a backhand spring to get away from the much more threatening looking Damian. Once he’s standing in the relative safety of the opposite end of the hall he says,

“Oh my god, you’re the kid!” 

Damian supposed that was better than a kid, but he still had the urge to stab him. He takes a step forward to start on that but before Damian could start acting the sound of footsteps running down the hall drew his attention. He might not have known him for long but Damian recognized the pattern of the footsteps from the night before. They belonged to his father. His father ran like someone from the league with slight differences from other training or just time away. If his father was here he might as well put away his sword, according to the records his father had a much softer version of teaching.

Damian’s ready position fell away as his father came into view. By the time he had stopped in front of Dick, Damian was in a slight bow to greet him. The bow was not as deep as it would have been if him and his father were alone, but it still showed the proper respect for his father without making Damian look below his standing. His sword was in its sheath along his back before he bowed as well. 

Dick moved into a more casual stance when he saw Bruce, and relaxed almost completely once Bruce was by his side, still keeping his muscles a little tensed. 

“What is going on here?” His father barely spared Damian a glance before he focused on Grayson  looking to him for an explanation.

 Damian was confused and a little hurt. By not acknowledging him first his father had implied if not outright stated that Damian was a lower rank than Grayson. As the blood son he should be at least a rank above Grayson if not more, and definitely not below. Maybe his father hadn’t gotten the tests back yet and was just going on preexisting rankings? Still just to be careful in case Grayson really was ranked above him Damian deepened his bow to the appropriate depth.

Looking back on it Grayson didn’t bow when his father entered, meaning he could be of equal rank to Damian’s father. Damian would have to gather more information before he made a conclusion, but just to be safe he would treat Grayson with the same respect he did with his father. This also could explain why Grayson called him a child. 

By the time Damian had finished working everything out in his head Grayson had finished explaining the situation to Damian’s father and they both turned to him. 

“Damian, this is Dick, he’s your older  brother.” Damian straightened from his bow after he had finally been addressed. When he looked up his father was already looking at him and pierced him with an intense stare. 

“What were you doing here anyways?” His father gestured to their surroundings, and the look his father was giving him turned even more suspicious, if that was possible. Unsurprisingly Damian didn’t answer, just kept a carefully blank face. Grayson looked back and forth between him and his father but also didn’t say anything. 

Damian’s father obviously wanted him to answer, however Damian could not, his mother had made it very clear that if anyone found out about his inability to speak it would be counted as a failure and he would be removed and punished accordingly. It was probably to train his acting and ability to keep a cover. So even though his hands itched and twitched at his sides he did nothing continuing to state into his father’s eyes.

Grayson obviously had gotten bored with the staring contest between them an after a few minutes walked through them both saying,

“As fun as this is, Alfred made pancakes and I am very hungry, if neither of you are going to back down, have fun being disappointed while eating pancakes.”

Damian breaks eye contact and with his father watch Dick walk down the hall towards what Damian assumes is an eating area. Well if Grayson indeed is the same rank as his father than following him is less a disobedience. Right now Damian could care less what his father will do to him, and wants to be as passive aggressive as protocol would allow. He might not do this much less get away with it with his mother however he has had practice on unfavorable guests to the league. He gives one final bow and starts to trail after Grayson’s retreating back walking quickly and silently. 

It turns out that breakfast is not eaten in a formal setting, but instead served so you have to grab your own plate and food. The customs of this house are confusing but Damian is sure he will learn them in no time. He has of course learned almost all of the world’s customs, however he found that they could often differ greatly even within the region depending on the household he was in. That would become another priority, while he was here, learn all the rules and customs of this house. 

Halfway through eating Damian’s father comes in and stands in the doorway a while before clearing his throat.

“The tests came back last night for your hair and blood. Talia was not lying, you are my son. Before the end of the week we’ll have to announce something to the media” 

Damian wanted to roll his eyes at the reaction Grayson made to that sentence. Obviously he had not known of Damian’s origins before now.

“When are Tim and Jason getting back?” Dick didn’t give Damian’s father any time to answer before he started to ask more questions.

“Do they know he’s here?”

“What about Cass and Steph?”

“How long is he staying?”

“Are we keeping him?”

“Whe-“

At that point Damian’s father held up a hand to silence Dick taking a breath before answering. 

“I have to set up a press conference, there is a file on Damian if you want to know more also if you want to try and get Damian to speak about it be my gues.” 

Dick looks slightly put out at that but doesn’t argue with him. Damian’s father looks at Damian once more and starts to open his mouth to say something to him but just shakes his head and walks out instead 

“Sooo…” Dick looks to where Damian’s father had been a few seconds ago as he draws out the word, then turns to Damian to finish his thought,

“What does he mean “convince you to talk”?”

The question was met with silence. Damian only staring at Dick. After a couple awkward seconds on Dick’s part he opens his mouth again.

“Right then, that’s what he meant. I’m going to just…” He points to the door and sort of mimes opening a book before walking out of the room.

Damian wondered if all of his father’s adoptees are as seemingly useless as Grayson.

Chapter Text

Damian spent the rest of the morning doing drills outside with his sword and any other weapon he had brought with him for training. Damian also made sure that when he was in the privacy of his room and had made sure no one was watching he did his finger exercises and signed a bit to make sure he didn’t grow rusty while he couldn’t sign. His pinky throbbed anytime he moved it, but just like his mother had said strength comes from pain and if he does not suffer he will be weak. 

Around a quarter to noon in the middle of his stamina drills he hears a large bang from a door being slammed open inside the manor. He rushes in body braced for attack and looks around for whoever was making the noise. That’s when he hears another door being slammed closer this time. A voice calls out loud enough that Damian is sure it could be hear from all points in the house.

“Hey shitheads I’m back!” The voice is definitely male and it pauses for a second to see if he gets a reaction before continuing possibly even louder this time.

“I hear replacement’s got a replacement! A little demon from the league!”

Based on what Damian knows about his father’s other “children” this must be Jason Todd the sort of famous in the league, Red Hood. He would probably be a lot more famous if most talk of him hadn’t been banned. He was considered to be one of Talia’s greatest failures, and in the league Talia did not fail. 

Damian hadn’t met Todd personally, but before he went rogue he would have been one of Damian’s advisers. He might even have been a teacher for Damian. Todd was dangerous, he had spent time in the league so he knew more of the customs. It was true the Al Ghuls did not speak to the unworthy, but it was never to this extent. Jason would know that Damian’s father was technically worthy. Hopefully he could play it off as being prideful or that Damian was higher as the heir to the league.

The slamming of the doors gets closer and closer, Damian puts his sword away but stays in a ready position just in case it’s not Todd or he proves to be hostile. 

The door to the room Damian was in slams open finally and Jason pauses when he sees Damian standing there. 

“Oh boy, Bruce really messed up this time.” 

Damian did not like that statement. He knew that he was broken, but he didn’t need some low-grade simplyton to tell him about. What was worse was that Todd didn’t even know about his defect.

Damian really wanted to attack Todd but he remembered the surprising status of his father’s other adoptie that he had met and Damian did not like punishments because punishments meant failure and failure led to death. So instead he locked eyes with Todd and dropped out of a ready stance.

Jason snorted at this, “Oh, I see the league has you trained well.”  

On the inside Damian was seathing, on the outside he kept a cool mask of indifference. This could be a test, Todd had worked with the league before what was stopping his grandfather from using him again. His mother would never because of her failure before but his grandfather was above failure. If it was a test he must not fail. He was heir, and just like his grandfather he would be above failure even if it had to cut, torn, and beat out of him. 

After what Damian had felt to be far to long of a reaction time for a break in with loud shouting, Grayson ran into the room. 

“Jay! you’re back!” Dick approached with wide arms and Damian had to assume that he wanted a hug from a very unhappy looking Jason.

“Get your filthy hands away from me” At Jason’s sharp remark Dick pulled his hands back, but didn’t seem to put out. 

Given Grayson’s rank and the way Todd had treated him, with a little leeway due to Todd’s obvious attitude problem Damian could successfully put him up with Grayson’s and his father’s rank. Damian didn’t know why his father let Todd have such attitude, maybe he subdued it when his father was around, or it helped with Todd’s  efficiency? Damian really doubted the last one. Either way Damian did not like it. 

No matter how much he did not like Todd’s attitude he still had to be respectful. So he went into the proper bow height and waited to be released.

“Have you met Damian?” Dick stared with obvious confusion at Damian’s bowed form. He remembers something similar happening in the hallway after Bruce had arrived, but he didn’t think much of it than before because he had come out of it right away before. Noticing the confusion on Dick’s face Jason provided and answer.

“It’s a stupid league thing, yah have ta acknowledge him before he straights up.” At this point Jason was pointedly not acknowledging  Damian. Damian could even see him smirking out of the corner of his eye. 

That was it! He was making fun of the league’s traditions! There was no way that this simpleton was of equal standing to his father! Damian straightened his back and leveled a glare at Todd. To Damian’s absolute furry Todd threw his head back and let out a large laugh.

“Looks like I got the little demon to slip up!” Jason slipped in between large bouts of laughter.

The glare on Damian’s face slipped as the words Todd said echoed in his mind.

Slip up

Slip up

Slip up

It was obviously a test. Todd has been testing him. Damian had failed . How could he have been so careless! 

Damian once again bowed his head and offered his arm to Jason. When Jason saw what Damian was doing he stopped laughing immediately and his eyes widened.

“I ain’t gonna punish you.” He said flatly obviously remembering his own time in the league.

Dick who had up till now just been watching with faint amusement and lots of confusion. Startled and looked at Damian with pity. 

“We aren’t ever going to punish you Damian” he said softly. 

Damian didn’t recognize the look on Grayson’s face but both his and Todd’s words were clear. This would be a test of his loyalty and conviction to his training. He would have to punish himself and show them his will to learn. 

Damian straitened and nodded. He started to head towards the door of the kitchen. 

=

The most effective way was to break his hand, he should do it with the hand that didn’t have a broken finger, but if he still wanted to be efficient as possible during his training he should break the same hand his pinky was broken on. The punishment wouldn’t  be as severe, but he could always do hand exercises on it to worsen it. He did have to be careful not to permanently damage his hand that could cost him his life.

With that decision made he placed his hand in the doorway making sure it was positioned to make a clean break. That’s when Jason caught onto what he was doing. 

He barely had time to step forward and start to yell before Damian slammed the door with a sickening crack.

Chapter Text

“Shit!” Jason rushes to Damian. 

Through the slight haze of pain Damian registers that Jason is coming towards him without any violence in his step and does not tense up. 

Slowly so Damian can see everything that he’s doing Jason reaches out a hand and moves to grab Damian’s broken hand which is hanging limply by his side waiting to be set. 

“Can I set this for you?” Jason doesn’t break eye contact with Damian so he knows that Jason’s asking him and not Dick who’s hovering worriedly over Jason’s shoulder after calling for Alfred. 

Was this another test? Damian didn’t think so but he also didn’t think the last one was either and he turned out to be wrong. So instead he merely cocked his head to the side slightly as if to say repeat the order? 

Before Jason could decide on anything or ask again Alfred came bustling in and immediately took charge of the situation.

“Young Master Damian come with me, Master Dick, Master Jason I expect an explanation when I’m done with him.” After that announcement he ushered Damian out of the room and down to the batcave leaving Dick and Jason standing together in the kitchen. 

Dick rounded on Jason, “What the hell just happened? Why would he do that!” Jason tenced gritting his teeth, seem ready to boil over with rage.

And then he did.

He turned around and punched the wall hard punching through the plaster. 

“I’m such an idiot !” Dick stepped forward turn Jason around to face him before getting in his face and asking,

“What do you mean you’re an idiot! You knew this was going to happen!?” Jason pushes back against Dick.

“Of course I didn’t! But I should have! I was with the league! I knew, know what they’re like!” 

“It’s not your fault, we let his age distract us, he looks young, he is young, we underestimated what the league would do.” Dick stared into Jason’s eyes for a bit to make sure he got the message. 

After a while Jason pulled away and started towards the cave with Dick following a step behind. 

They were almost to the entrance when they heard the sound of a door opening from the front of the manor. They looked at each other and turned back heading to the front door.

Down in the batcave Damian sits on a med-bed as Alfred bustles around getting splints and tape for his hand. 

A few minutes into the comfortable silence at least for Damian Alfred spaaks, finishing off the splint for Damian’s hand as he does so. 

“Young Master Damian, I have called your father and he is headed back from patrol now. He will arrive momentarily.”

That makes Damian start to worry. His father may be disappointed in him for making him miss patrol. Before Damian can go too deep into that thinking the sound of a car echoes throughout the batcave. 

Alfred who had sat down sometime during Damian’s train of thought, Damian made a note that he couldn’t get so distracted, stood up and made his way to the middle of the cave where the batmobile eventually ended up as it skidded into the cave. Alfred must do this a lot because as he got there the batmobile did in fact skid to a stop with the door landing on Alfred’s left side. He pulled open the door and waited for Bruce to get out before closing the door once again. 

As soon as Damian saw his father pull up he was off the names-bed and rushing towards him stopping a bit away to get into a proper bow and awaiting his father’s acknowledgement. His father didn’t say anything to him, instead turning to Alfred and asking what happened. Damian Grit his teeth and waited still in a bow as Alfred explained what he knew of the situation.

Only after Alfred had finished explaining did Damian’s father turn to him and say,

“Never again”

That left Damian reeling. Never again what? Did his father not want him to perform a punishment on his hands instead? Had he been too lenient on himself? Would his father take up all of his punishments from now on? Damian prided himself on the fact that he was trusted enough to perform his own punishments without supervision. Did his father not trust him? No wonder he knew he should have broken his other hand, so many mistakes in one day.  His father was right, he did need a harsher punishment. He hung his head a bit not looking his father in the eyes, he had lost that right when he failed.

Alfred looked like he was about to say something when voices were heard coming into the cave. Damian recognised two of them as Grayson and Todd but the tied voice was unknown.

The three voices stepped into the cave and standing in between Grayson and Todd was Tim Drake the last of his father’s Adoptees.

Drake looked around and opened his mouth,

“What on earth is going on?”

Chapter Text

Tim Drake.

Damian had heard from his grandfather how smart he was. If Todd didn’t figure out Damian’s secret then Drake would. He had found Batman and Robin’s identities out unaided. He even rivaled Damian’s father in his detective ability.

Damian didn’t see it. 

Yes his eyes had a calculating look in them but it was no different than the look in the rest of his father’s adoptees eyes. Mostly he looked tired and weak. Like Damian could blow on him and he would fall over. 

But as weak as he looked Damian trusted his grandfather. His grandfather might like to test him, but he would never make someone out to be stronger than they are. Weaker? Yes, but stronger? Never. You have to earn strength, it can not just be given. 

Damian still didn’t like it, and because Drake did not bow when he entered that meant just like the other two he had to bow to Drake. This was getting old.

In the end Damian was given… another punishment? Test? Maybe both, probably both. He was given a punishment because he didn’t punish himself harsh enough, and he was given a test because he had failed Todd’s test. 

He was forbidden from training for three weeks, or until his hand had healed. He didn’t want to wait three weeks, but that was the test part. He hadn’t been obedient with Todd and this was a test to make sure that he followed orders. That was acceptable. Damian was determined to pass this test and start proving himself to his father. 

~

Dick didn’t know what to think of Damian. Was he really so arrogant that he thought he was above talking to people? Or was it a League of Shadows thing? That is why he called this emergency meeting between as he liked to say and Jason hated, the batbros. 

Dick stood in front of the door to his room and placed his hands on his hips before he started speaking.

“Now that we are all gathered I think you know what this meeting is about.”

Dick got an unimpressed stare from Jason who was sprawled out on the floor craning his neck to deliver said stare. And Tim just stared blankly at him from where he was sipping coffee in the bed. Dick frowned. Where had he gotten the coffee from? Never mind that wasn’t important right now. 

“I think we can all agree that Damian is a little suspicious.” Dick continued on despite the lackluster response from his audience. “There are several things that are concerning but I’ll start with the most recent” 

Dick crossed the room to sit at his desk chair and Jason sat up knowing where this was going.

“We told Tim what happened but I’m still curious about the why. Jason you seemed to know before he started and we talked about it a bit in the kitchen, but I want to know more.” 

Tim was now looking more alert as he drained the that of the coffee in the frankly way to large cup. 

Jason took a deep breath and visibly grew more serious and he stood up and started to talk.

“I was a dumbass and mentioned Damian slipping up after I provoked him. The league has this stupid hiarchy thing where you need to bow to your superiors, it’s super strict. As Damian’s father and temporary teacher the old man would technically count as Damian’s superior.”

Tim nodded and a look of understanding started to dawn on Dick’s face.

Jason continued,

“Because we don’t bow to Bruce he thinks that we have the same standing and therefore he has to bow. When he straightened and glared at me he had disrespected me and had slipped up.” 

Time was starting to have the same look of understanding on his face as Dick. That’s when Jason stopped. 

“So that’s why he did that.”  Dick nodded as Jason finished talking. He started to open his mouth to continue on but Tim who had his brows furrowed cut in before he could say anything.

“Is it just me or is he a little quiet?” Tim looked up at his brother's faces when he didn’t get an immediate answer to his question. 

“That was something else I wanted to talk about,” Dick stood up and replaced Jason in the center of the room. He spread his arms out like he was performing on a stage and proclaimed dramatically,

“He doesn’t talk, like ever. Since meeting him I haven’t so much as heard a sound come out of his mouth.” Dick starts pacing and continues on, 

“Bruce said that it was a standing thing and that he wouldn’t speak to someone who was below him.”

Tim cut in a confused look on his face,

“But that doesn’t make sense? According to the Boeing thing he should be at least equal standing to us? And Bruce as his mentor should be even higher than us?”

Jason shakes his head,

“Not necessarily, he is the heir to the league that would put him directly below Ra’s, and Bruce is high but not that high.”

“True,” Dick adds, “but I don’t like it. It reminds me of when I first started living with Bruce and all of the socialites would look down on me and ignore me like I wasn’t worth their time.” 

Tim looks pointedly at Dick,

“That’s because you weren’t, even if you weren’t from a circus ‘children must be seen but not heard’” The last line was delivered with a dry sarcastic tone to tell exactly what he thought of that.

Jason wanted to argue that Damian was raised in the League of Shadows and it was probably just a habit, but then he remembered that it was the League of Shadows and Damian had probably been told his entire life that he was better than everyone. 

Something still didn’t feel right to Jason, but he chalked it up to just having a lot of bad memories attached to the league. 

“Either way we should keep an eye on him, nothing that comes from the League can be good.” 

And that was one thing all of the bat brothers could agree on.

Chapter Text

The three brothers observed Damian for the next week. He didn’t do anything really suspicious during that time, but he would watch them all with this unwavering stare and after a while it started to become unsettling. The stare that Damian gave them reminded Tim of the way he would watch Bruce and Dick in the early days.

He didn’t speak. That wasn’t really surprising but Tim thought that he would have at least slipped up somehow by now. But no, not even a single peep came from his mouth. Never even a single time did it look like he even considered speaking.

Damian was determined to keep training even if he was banned from doing anything physical. So he did what he did when he was young, he watched. He learned the people around him’s habits, how they thought, acted, and interacted. Granted it was a lot harder to do this with people outside of the league, but Damian was determined to figure his father and his father’s wards out.

They lacked the amount of discipline that Damian had, but that did not mean it was not there. To the untrained eye it looked like they had no discipline, but Damian knew body language. His grandfather wanted him to learn every language there was and one of the firsts that he was taught body language.

The way they had so many unsaid cues when interacting was kind-of impressive, to someone who knew less of course. Damian didn’t think anything that they could do would impress him. It could take him months to figure out all of the unsaids in their interactions and even then he might miss something. Damian found that annoying.

There was one thing that he did notice as well. They were watching him. It was subtle and as much as Damian hated to admit it they were good at hiding it, but he also expected them to be watching him. Damian knew why too. They were making sure that he was following his punishment. Making sure that he could obey orders. They would report back to his father and tell him how he did. His father wouldn’t want a defect son. 

That was another reason that Damian couldn’t let him find out about him not being able to speak. He was lucky enough that he had been allowed to live with his defect thus far and his father might not be as kind as his mother when it comes to imperfections. 

Speaking of his father Damian hadn’t seen or heard from him till the end of the week. That just further proved that his father’s wards were reporting back on his behavior. His father wouldn’t let him go unsupervised especially during a test.

Tim knew it wasn’t good when he got called to Bruce’s office with the rest of his children, including Damian.

Tim was the first to arrive then Dick, Jason, and finally last Damian. 

Tim makes a note that he still had to research bowing protocols when he gets reminded by Damian bowing when he  first enters the room. Staying there until Dick clears his throat and offers a “Hi Damien”. 

When Damian looks up he fixes his eyes on Bruce and the rest of the batkids do the same, until then they had been focused on Damian.

Bruce starts speaking without any preamble, getting to the point in that blunt way of his.

“We need to hold a gala to introduce Damian. We would have had it at the end of this week but…” his eye linger on Damian’s still wrapped wrist. “That won’t work anymore.”

Tim doesn’t miss the way Damian tightens at Bruce’s words. That would be hard for any kid to hear, much less one who had broken his hand because he thought he had failed.

Bruce must have noticed Damian’s reaction but he didn’t say anything about it just continued on.

“We have to introduce him to the press,” Damian looked slightly more pleased with that, losing some of his tension. He obviously liked the idea of everyone knowing who he was, until the next words came out of Bruce’s mouth.

“Unfortunately we can’t pass him off as just another ward, he looks too similar to me for that. We’ll have to tell them that he is my blood son”

Damian really didn’t like that. His whole body was trembling and Tim couldn’t tell if it was from rage or something else. Tim also noticed his hands which were flexing at his sides obviously wanting to do something but being held back. A weapon maybe? If Damian was mad enough to be literally shaking, he was raised in the league his first instinct might be to hurt.

Tim pushed all the new information to that back of his mind, choosing to focus on making a backstory for Damian for now and waiting to unpack it later.

Damian did not calm down as the meeting went by. As much as it went against his training he could not focus on the backstory that his father and his wards were making for him.

His hands itched to sign out words, demand from his father why he wouldn’t claim him as his son, ask what he had done to disappoint him so much? It couldn’t still be what he did with his hand? He was getting punished currently for that and not even his grandfather would denounce him for this. 

Damian tuned back into the conversation just in time to hear his father say,

“And you’ll have to talk.” 

Damian shook his head back and forth but bowed after it respectfully. His mother had told him to listen to his father, but in this case he could not. His father looked like he was going to start arguing with him but Jason cut in before he could.

“He’s not gonna do it old man, probably a direct order from mommy dearest and if you thought what he did to himself was bad just wait until she gets her hands on him.”

That got his father to be quiet. In the end they decided to try and pass it off as Damian being very shy, he wasn’t too fond of that plan but it was better than the truth.

The day of the gala comes, Damian is no more excited about it now than when he had first heard about it. Stephanie and Barbra had arrived earlier to get ready and Cassandra was still on a mission. They met Damian before it started and the interaction was about the same as the rest of Damian’s interactions with the batfamly, it went something like this:

“Hello Damian!”

“...”

“It’s nice to meet you!”

“...”

“Okay, goodbye”

“...”

The girls had been briefed one the plan for the night and also the overall plan to watch Damian expcaly tonight. They wanted to give Damian the benefit of the doubt but the truth was he was raised as an assassin and this was a room full of very annoying socialites, they had no idea how he would react. 

Damian was just about done with the gala. After the speech about how he was the product of an over the seas affair tha and he was still quite shy and probably wouldn’t talk to people, he was flooded with guests trying to win his favor and be the first that the latest son of Wayne would talk to. And if one more person pinched his cheeks no matter what his training was he was going to bite off their hand.

There was on single socialite that would just not leave him alone. She had been talking to him for over ten minutes, more like talking at him, at the five minute mark he started tuning her out. As the “conversion” progressed and he still made no move to respond or even react to what she was saying she started raising her voice and pushing more.

Babs who’s turn it was to keep an eye on Damian noticed the commotion that was starting to be

brew and moved in closer to intervene if necessary. She picked the pace when it looked like the socialite might actually grab Damian.

“Hello Mrs. Williams how are you tonight?”

Mrs.Williams turns to Barbra as when she starts speaking almost looking more annoyed that her attempted conversation with Damian was being interrupted. 

“Hello Miss. Gordon, I didn’t know you would be here.” Translation, what was a commoner like you doing at this party. Babs might have hated galas too.

Mrs. Williams continued not noticing the tightness in Babs’s smile or giving her a chance to answer.

“My night would be a lot better if the brat would just get over himself and actually answer me. The younger generation honestly doesn’t learn any manners.”

Babs could not believe this woman. She kept going on about how they needed to discipline Damian more or bring him out and socialize him once and awhile. Like he was some sort of pet. 

Damian’s face as the conversation went on just got blanker and blanker. Until she said possibly the worst thing she could have said.

“I bet it was that mother of his, she must not have developed him properly.”

Babs thought she would have to muster the will to get up from her wheelchair to hold Damian back from killing this woman, but strangely enough he stumbled back looking like he was the one who got decked. Babs decides that it was time to go with plan B. They hadn’t told Damian of this plan but they thought that there would be a possibility that the public wouldn’t believe the first story or wouldn’t accept it. They had made a different story just in case that were to happen.

Babs spoke up trying to save the situation.

“We really didn’t want to tell the public this but…” she pauses to trick the woman into think she’s hesitant, “Damian not just shy he’s also selectively mute”

Damian looks like he just got sucker punched once again and looks at her with horrified eyes. Babs doesn’t get this response, is he so prideful that he can’t accept this story? Really what’s the worst that could happen?

Chapter Text

The media finds out. And if the media knows so does his mother.

The woman Barbra told was married to a shareholder in a big news company. Babs hadn’t planned on telling her but it was an effective way to get the story out. Everyone was okay with the back up plan being known, it made a bit more sense that the original story and it could be used indefinitely, and if Damian started speaking they could say that with therapy he had gradually gotten over his condition. However one person was not happy with the story.

As soon as the last words of the sentence had left Barbra’s mouth Damian ran. He ran upstairs and barricaded himself in his room. He could not stop her from coming but he could stop his father and his father’s wards from seeing it. 

It took two hours for the story to get out and another 6 for his mother to be standing in front of him. 

“Hello Damian.” 

Ever since he had heard the slide of his window opening he had been in a deep bow, at the sound of his mother’s voice he did not lift his head like he usually would have. She was here for his punishment. Her direct orders had been to not let anybody find out he could not speak, this wasn’t a direct disobedience but it was close enough and needed a stern warning.

“You know why I am here.” He did and he nodded his head slightly to convey that.

“Good let’s get started.” 

Damian had disappeared into his room, nobody thought anything this about it. It took four hours for the last person to leave the gala.

Damian didn’t like to interact with the family anyway. 

He was probably still mad about the cover up.

This was normal.

They should have gone with him.

“At least four different poisons, all normally lethal doses”

They found him next to a puddle of vomit with blood streaked through it.

“Multiple lacerations from various forms of knives”

They found him cut and bloody with knives they recognized to be his layed neatly on the bed still covered with his blood.

“Two broken bones in his right arm and one fracture to his shoulder blade”

That was what first alerted them, it was the first snap that had made them pause and listen closer.

“And last a severe concussion”

When they heard the body thump against the wall they had started running instead of the careful approach they had taken earlier.

And there was Damian lying barely conscious, crumpled next to the window in his room with a dent in the wall where he had probably been thrown into. There is a single note lying on the bed next to the knives,

With love~ 

Talia

Damian eventually fell asleep after he had once again gotten brought down to the medbay in the batcave.

Barbra speaks first,

“He should have passed out long ago from the pain”

Jason snaps at that,

“ With love ?! What kind of stupid shitis that!”

They go silent. They had spent so much time making sure that they didn’t forget that he was not just a ten year old and that he was raised by the league of shadows, that they had forgotten that he was just a ten year old raised by the league of shadows.

They wouldn’t forget again.

Tim’s the next one to speak,

“I’ve seen war criminals scream and cry like a baby with some of this stuff, he didn’t make a sound.”

Stephanie pales and says with a barely there whisper,

“ What else have they done to him?”

Dick looks up from where he had been sitting with his head in his hands,

“We can’t let this happen again”

Chapter Text

Things changed after that. There was the obvious, like Damian was stuck on bed rest for a while. They hadn’t really realized how used to the odd things he would do around the house they were. 

They had gotten so used to the intense staring that without it they almost became more weary,which didn’t make any sense. 

They also had a changed view of him. They were acutely aware that he was a ten year old that was raised but the league. Seeing what had happened reminded them of the first time he had gotten hurt. Now the fact that he bowed to everyone was less weird and annoying, it served to remind them that he didn’t slip up because it had been beaten out of him.

They wanted to get him out of the league, force him to stay with them but they also didn’t want to take away his right to choose. They remember how much that had meant to them when they needed it. 

The way they acted wasn’t the only thing that changed, the way Damian acted also changed. He had always been very respectful to Bruce but he was more respectful towards the brothers as well. It was like he had been reminded that he might not like it but they were on the level as his father and that meant respect. Jason decided he would change that.

After Damian had been let out of the medical ward in the batcave Todd had sat him down and explained that in the bat family they didn't do hierarchy, and that he didn’t have to bow at all. Damian was a little suspicious but Todd had kept insisting so reluctantly he gave in.

He didn’t close his door as often. He still closed it because he needed to practice signing and if anyone saw they could actually learn his secret, but it was definitely less than before. He noticed how the other occupants of the house would get a little twitchy when he did, often walking past and stopping by his door to listen in. Damian really didn’t know why they kept doing that but if they were nervous he would do it less.

That last change could possibly be the most concerning. Most would see it as a good thing but with Damian it was twisted and the normally good sign turned bad. He stopped flinching again.

They had noticed it when he first arrived, he didn’t flinch… at all. Dick and Jason had been messing around in the living room with Damian sitting on one of the couches reading and somehow a pillow had gotten thrown at Damian. 

Damian looked up and definitely saw it but just sat there and let it hit his face. They hadn’t thought too much about it at the time instead choosing the double over in laughter and continue on with what they had been doing.

As time went on though they noticed that it happened a lot it didn’t matter the person or the place Damian wouldn’t so much as blink. A few days before gala was the first time that Damian had flinch when one of them moved too suddenly and they had been happy. He was obviously trained to expect being hit and not to try and avoid it but this meant that he didn’t expect to get hit with them.

However after gala incident, as they had started to call it, he stopped flinching again and they were determined to gain back that lost progress.

Dick was the only one to actively try to include Damian more, often encouraging Damian to join in on family game night. Damian didn’t have to know that it started after he had arrived and was for him. At first Damian was resolute in his refusal to play anything, but three weeks into his recovery the boredom got to him and he finally gave in. In the league he would have already been training again but his father did things differently and he wasn’t permitted to do any training for at least another two months.

“Hey Dami, you wanna play Go-Fish with us?” That was also new, Grayson insisted on using that ridiculous nickname when addressing him. 

Damian looked up at Grayson’s smiling face and started to regret the decision he had made earlier that day to join the next time he was asked. Instead of drawing out the moment he stood up and walked out the door heading to the living room. Hopefully Grayson would get the message.

It felt a little weird to turn and walk away from Grayson without bowing or being dismissed, but Damian just powered through the feeling and continued walking.

When Damian reached the living room with Dick a half-step behind, the faces of the people there were some variation of confused or surprised. Damian also noted that more than just the residents of the manor were present, someone must have invited Gordon and Brown.

Tim really shouldn’t have been surprised but Damian didn’t know how to play Go-Fish. They would have no reason to teach it in the league. 

It never occurred to him to ask.

Jason was the dealer because apparently living in crime alley meant that you knew your way around cards pretty well. He had started dealing without asking beforehand. Somehow Damian was placed next to Jason and was supposed to start. 

Everyone turned their expective gaze on him waiting for him to start. After a few seconds of staring hard into the eyes of those looking at him Damian dropped his head a little bit and shrugged his shoulders, studying his hand. Steph was the first to get in.

“Oh! You don’t know how to play!” 

Damian reluctantly nodded lowering his head further.

“That’s okay, Dick didn’t know either when he first got here. I’ll explain it to you” Babs cut in after seeing his nod. “So it’s really simple, you have your hand of cards and we take turns asking another player for a specific type of card” she turns to Stephanie,

“Like this, do you have any aces?” This time Steph cuts in with,

“You responded by either giving them the card if you have it or saying “Go-Fish” if you don’t” Steph pauses seeming to notice something.

“If you don’t wanna talk you can just point to the person you want and hold up your card. Oh! That’s another thing, you and only ask for the cards in your hand.”

Damian blinks at Steph.

“The goal of the game is to get all four of a number, whoever has the most pairs at the end wins. Did you get all that?”

A nod. 

“Okay, let’s start playing. How about Tim starts this time so you can see a bit of it played” at the mention of his name Tim’s head pops up from where he had been studying Damian’s face.

“Sure” he says to Stephanie, “Got any queens?”

They play for a few hours. Turns out all of them having exceptional memory makes for a very interesting game. That and Jason and Dick kept lying about what was in their hand. 

The living room is filled with shouting and laughter Damian doesn’t join in but he’s right in the thick of everything and he doesn’t have his trademark scowl on. Even if there wasn’t so much noise nobody would have noticed the near silent opening of the door or the footfalls following it. 

Chapter Text

Jason’s the first to notice. When he looks up mid laugh he catches sight from the corner of his eye. A person stands in the corner of the room partially hidden by shadows. Their face is hidden but Jason knows there’s only one person that could come into a room occupied but the world’s greatest detectives without them noticing them.

“Cass!” His loud exclamation has everyone turning and whipping their heads around to scan the room. 

When Damian finds her he meets her eyes and immediately wants to flee. Every self preservation instinct that he possessed screamed at him to run, leave, get out of the room then the manor as fast as possible. Good thing he learned how to stop listening to his self preservation instincts years ago.

If anyone was going to find out his secret it would be Cain. Trained from birth just like him to read body language and the daughter of Lady Shiva, if he wasn’t careful and on guard every second he was with her she would know in an instant and his mission would be a failure. Al Ghul’s did not fail

Cassandra’s eyes lingered on Damian for a moment but passed on fairly quickly as Stephanie throws herself onto Cass’s back squealing about a girl’s date night with Barbra.

It takes three days for Cass to notice something was off about Damian other then the obvious. She was used to people being unnerved by her, and at first that’s what she thought it was. He made an excuse to leave a room whenever she entered it, and all over his body language said ‘nothing’s out of the ordinary, everything is normal.’ Nobody’s body language said that, only people with something to hide know how to project that. It may work on someone who couldn’t read baddies the way she could, working with the subconscious but for anyone who knew, it was a dead giveaway.

It takes two more days for her to figure out what specificity was off.

 He has no inclination to speak. Not a single desire to open his mouth and verbally add to a discussion.

There is no situation that he could see that would give him a reason to talk. Even if he was trained not to speak with the he unworthy he would still speak to his mother or grandfather. Given the other things she’s noticed she’d take the guess that he’s never spoken.

That he can’t speak.

When Jason was saying some rude things about the league during one breakfast, instead of the flexing in his jaw that would normally happen if someone was trying not to speak out of anger it was just tensed. Alternatively his hands were twitching, raising an inch and falling back down a second later.

If this was just something that happened when he was angry she could just write it off as him wanting to fight or do something physical. But it happened all the time. He probably wasn’t used to hiding it. 

She didn’t tell anyone. If he wasn’t used to hiding it and he was, there had to be a reason. Knowing the league it was probably a test of some kind made to test his devotion and ability to follow orders or something. So she stayed silent, she could see the aftermath of a fail clear as day whenever she looked at Damian. She didn’t want to be the cause of something possibly much worse.

Damian was confused. For the first few days Cain was very focused on him, but for the last week or so she had backed off, no longer tracking his moves when in the same room. Slowly Damian started to relax more around her. If she hadn’t figured it out by now she shouldn’t anytime soon. Besides he actually like being around her she didn’t ask questions or try and make him talk.

The very day that marked two months from the gala incident Damian was up at four and armed with a set of throwing knives and his katana, headed to the cave. It was two hours before the next person was up and found him in the cave. Jason stood and watched making sure that Damian really was healed and didn’t push himself too much. Eventually they were both called up for breakfast by a vaguely disapproving Alfred. Obviously he didn’t think Damian should be exercising yet.

Bruce was at breakfast when they arrived. That put Damian on edge. Often his father didn’t eat with the family much to Pennyworth’s displeasure. Five minutes into the meal and Grayson’s one sided conversations his father cleared his throat.

Grayson’s chatter died off and everyone focused their attention on the man sitting at the head of the table. 

“So, Damian guess despite the… difficulties with your communication you need to start school”

Damian and the rest of the family blinked at Bruce before he continued on.

“I don’t think it’s the best idea but I made a point in the past to send my other kids to school and not having them homeschool it would seem odd if I didn’t do that with you”

Dick tried to chime in with a “What” but Bruce continued on,

“Further at some point we need to start making more public appearances and school would be a good way to gage your… skills with social interaction.”

It was clear to Damian that skills was not the word that his father wanted to use but he could figure out what the other word was. Either way he had his first outright test and he was determined not to fail this one like the ones previously. 

Damian was starting to nod when Jason cut in this time with a concern.

“Even if he has the excuse of being selectively mute he still has to communicate in class somehow. What’she going to do? write everything down?” Jason said the last bit with a scoff.

There was silence at the table and Damian didn’t even try to hide his scowl. It hadn’t even started and he was already failing his test.

“Well what if he did…” Dick trails off looking around the table helplessly. 

“No.” Cass speaks up “ Not write. Sign.” 

The rest of the family turns thoughtfully to Damian. When Cass had started school she had used sign language to communicate in the beginning as she learned to use her voice.

Tim spoke up hesitantly, “Sign language isn’t exactly speaking, so you’re not technically talking to the unworthy.” After seeing no quelling looks Tim continued on faster, “Even if you don’t know sign language I bet it wouldn’t take long for you to learn, and we could use the excuse of you learning it for school, not that it’d be a lie”

Except for Damian it was speaking to the unworthy. Sign language was his ‘voice’ if he signed to people then it would count. However for missions the rule wasn’t important and he could speak to whomever he wished to as long as it forwarded the mission. The only problem is that his father and his father’s adoptees would be one step closer to finding out about his defects. He didn’t want to fail this test though and it was their suggestion so technically his wasn’t jeopardizing his mission although that would be for his mother to decide.

Decision made he looked his father in his eyes and lifted up his hands

No need to teach me. I am fluent in many languages including sign language.

Chapter Text

“You’re kidding me” the deadpan remark came from Tim. “It was this easy the whole time. All this panic and drama with such a simple solution!” At the end of his rant he slumped down in his chair. 

“Sorry, It’s just… it feels a little pointless, all this time we kept wondering what we were going to do, and how this was going to work.” If possible Tim slumps even further into his chair. “We had a way to communicate this whole time.”

Damian doesn’t see the reason for all the stress, he can complete training and take orders just fine without communication. Either way, using sign language was apparently the correct answer judging by the reactions around the table. He just wished that he had figured it out earlier. 

He stretched his hands a bit, as much as he hated to admit it he had missed the feel of signing. It was something familiar. He stomped his foot a few times to get everyone’s attention and then started signing.

My apologies, I did not realize that communication would be important. I do wish to assure you that I could have still completed training well without communication. There is no reason for my opinion to be known.

There, it had been polite enough for who he was addressing and showed that he knows what his mistake was while assuring them that he could still perform tasks. However when he looks around the room. His father had an uncomfortable expression on his face, while Dick looked pained and made a choked sound. Jason just looked resigned while Tim looked curious. The only person he could not read was Cass, who sat there with a perfectly blank stare match with completely neutral body language. 

What did he say! He was trying his best but no matter what it seemed that every other thing he did was wrong and upset them somehow! 

In the end it was Dick who gathered himself first and cleared his throat,

“Okay, setting that statement aside for awhile, I do believe we still have things to sort out.” He turns his head to Damian’s father, “Bruce?”

Bruce straightens up and composes himself. 

“Yes, a meeting needs to be set up with the principle of Gotham Academy. Unfortunately there is a board meeting that is mandatory for Tim and I the day the meeting is scheduled so Dick will have to take him and get everything set up with the school.” 

Dick looked excited however Jason leaned forward and braced his arms on the table,

 “Why don’t you just change the meeting time? Either of them?”

For a moment Bruce looks taken aback at the questioning but he responded quickly,

“These are important people, I can’t just rearrange the schedule however fits me best. There are things that-“

“Bullshit” Jason drawls out, “You’re the CEO of the company and lord knows you give enough money to the academy to do what you want. What’s the real reason? Why don’t I bring him in for the meeting? You see I think that-“ At the end Jason started to pick up volume.

“Hey!” Dick stood up and slammed his hands on the table. “Whatever the reason,” he side eyes Bruce, “I can take Damian to the meeting. I’m an adult, I can stand in as a guardian. Plus,” he side eyes Jason now “I’m legally alive.”

It’s Jason’s turn to stand up now,

“What’s that supposed to mean!”

“It’s not supposed to mean anything! It’s just a fact!”

“Oh sure-“

“You know it’s true! Why are you so upset about this?”

Jason is stopped from replying again but two loud and distinct thunks as Cas props her heavy boots up on the table crossing her ankles and raising an eyebrow.

Dick and Jason sink back into their chairs avoiding eye contact with Cass. Tim snorts,

“Now that pointless argument is over, can we continue?”

Jason opens his mouth to retort but is interrupted by a loud slurping from Cass’s empty orange juice glass. Bruce clears his throat and begins talking again,

“Right, thank you Cass.” She levels a disappointed look at him and pointedly looks away. Bruce swallows. “Anyway, Duck I’ll tell you when the meeting is later, I think for now it would be best to end breakfast and start our days,”

Damian doesn’t waste anytime getting out of that room after getting the dismissal. He has a few things to think over.

Up in his room Damian sits on his floor and starts meditating, going over the breakfast conversation in his head. Something about what he said had displeased them and he couldn’t figure out what it was. Maybe his father didn’t want to teach him? It made sense. Given what Todd had said and the fact that Damian had hardly seen his father during his stay supported that theory. If his father didn’t teach him did that mean he failed? Did he fail before even doing anything?

Slowly Damian’s breathing starts to pick up. It made sense didn’t it? He had failed in one of the biggest ways possible before he was even born. Maybe his father already knew what was wrong with him and was just seeing how long it would take for him to figure it out. Does that mean he’s failing in two different things? He should leave, a failure isn’t useful to anyone.

As Damian’s thoughts continue to spiral he backs himself into a corner and abandons his meditation pose to curl into himself, clawing at his skin leaving long bloody scratch marks. The room around him seems to grow expanding into a void with just Damian in it all alone. In his state he doesn’t hear the knock on the door or the click of it opening.

Jason was the one sent to ask if the demon brat had a phone or not. If Damian was going to be leaving the house they had to have a way to contact him. He pauses outside of Damian’s door and waits to see if he can hear anything. When he doesn’t he raises his fist to knock.

 After waiting a bit and hearing no answer he opens the door in a hurry, memories of what happened the last time Damian had been alone in his room flashing through Jason’s mind. 

Darting his eyes around the room he doesn’t immediately see Damian and starts to panic a bit before the sound of hitched breathing reaches his ears. Looking over he can see Damian curled in the corner shaking and breathing irregularly.

Jason sprints over to where Damian is and slides to his knees. 

“Hey,” Jason hovers his hands around Damian. “Can you hear me? If you can take big deep breaths and focus on my voice.” 

Jason realizes that he’s probably boxing the kid in and moves to give him space. Before he can get too far Damian’s hand shoots out and grabs onto his forearm tugging him closer. Damian’s grip is borderline bruising and when close enough he wraps his other hand around Jason’s forearm as well. This gives Jason an idea.

“Okay, not moving away got it.” Jason shifts and sits on the floor, “Alright, I’m going to tell you what I’m going to do and you’re going to shake your head or hit me or something if you don’t like it.” 

Damian nodes just the slightest bit and Jason takes that as his cue to continue,

“Now I’m going to grab your forearms and count to three” he pauses to see if there’s any reaction from Damian. Seeing none he grabs Damian and makes sure that there’s a lot of pressure but also being careful to not hold too tight.

“Breathe with the counting.”

After about ten minutes Damian seems to come back to himself a bit. Jason opens his mouth to ask a question but doesn’t get a chance to as Damian throws himself at Jason and curls up into his lap. Jason’s arms automatically come around Damian and he starts rocking a bit.

“Shhhh, It’s okay, it’ll be alright, I’ve got you, you’re not alone.”

Chapter Text

Ok so hello wonderful readers. First like the title said I will not be abandoning this fic. However I do believe that a hiatus is the best option for me right now. It’s kinda already on a hiatus for… the past year give or take. I don’t know when this will start up again, I really hope that it’s sometime this summer or next year but I can’t make any promises. That’s all for the news about the fic, but if want some context I’ll be talking about it in the next paragraph.

Okay so fun fact I actually started this my sophomore summer… in high school, aka when I was barely 15. If you do the math that means that I’m now in my senior year. I know, I was frighteningly young(to people who are also not in high school). That’s the first reason that I think it’s a good idea for me to take this break. Obviously I’m trying to focus on graduating, and getting into a college, and creating a good portfolio. I’m in a really good place to graduate, but I tend to get really overwhelmed and anxious so focusing on one thing is the best option for now.

I also want to be far to you guys. What I’ve been doing is just writing when I have some time and motivation. There’s sort-of a plot planned out but not really how I’m going to get there. I also wasn’t doing any pre-writing. I think I mentioned once that I have a bad relationship with motivation and planning, and it turns out there’s a good reason for that, I got diagnosed with ADHD. That added to my already known about severe anxiety so I’m trying to find a good way to deal with both of those and make sure I’m a functioning person.

I really like this story and concept, and I feel like it deserves better then what I’ve been giving it in terms of planning and care. So do you guys. I might rewrite so of the things that I’ve already posted, but nothing should change too majorly. I really want to thank you for all of your support. Let me know if you have anymore questions I’ll try to answer them, stay wonderful!

Chapter Text

Hello Everyone! 

I just wanted to let you know that I've decided to rewrite this. I'm not super happy with how I wrote this before so I'm rewriting it and then finishing it. I've already started the process of rewriting and I'll be posting the new version as a different fic. The title will be the same and this will still be available to read for anyone who wants to reread it of decides they like the original better. The general plot should stay the same but there are a few new elements added that I felt really made the to the story better. I'll be posting the rewritten Prologue here as well as the in the new version then once I've finished rewriting the rest of the it I'll post each chapter one by one probably everyday before I get to the new stuff. If you'd rather I just post each rewritten chapter as I finish them let me know! 

I also want to thank everyone one who's read this and stayed with it through this, let's be honest, absurdly long process. You're support really means a lot to me! Now with out further ado, the new prologue:

At an isolated facility high in the mountains two people stand in a throne room. One is a new mother just a few hours after her baby has been brought into the world, although looking at the way she stands tall and proud not a hair out of place not even the best detective would be able to tell. Neither she nor her talking partner shift or fidget during the course of their conversation, both of them stand with a stony grace.

The mother opens her mouth to speak and says with a clear and strong voice, 

“There has been…” Talia Al Ghul, pauses debating her words, “…a complication. With experiement’s development.” The man across from her Ra’s Al Ghul, eyes sharpen and he motions for her to continue. 

With a blank face and quiet indifference she continues, 

“As far as we can tell the only damage done was to the baby’s vocal cords.” At this point Talia has a slight hitch in her breath, almost imperceptible. How she words the next part decides the fate of her child’s life so stealing her nerves she goes on,

“We think that it will never have the ability to speak. However the physicians and trainers think that we can turn this into an advantage for training and stealth.” 

Ra’s studies her face closely as he thinks over the different implications. On one hand if the child could not speak it would be easier to train and mold, less chance for irrelevant and stupid questions to be asked. It opens up the possibility of a perfect soldier with flawless obedience, although care would have to be taken that it did not become mindless in its obedience. Such a state was more suitable for a footsoldier but not the heir of the Demon’s Head. Decision made Ra’s started his decree, 

“If there is no other damage to it, I don’t see why this should hold it or us back, however” he made eye contact with Talia for a few tense seconds before continuing, “If this condition in any way hinders its training no mercy will be shown.”

Talia bows and relief floods through her, “As you wish.” 

As she is leaving Ra’s calls out one more thing,

“Talia.” 

She pauses but does not turn back towards her father, 

“We must have another discussion of what is expected from an Al Ghul, we wouldn’t want our new family member learning any bad habits.”

Almost imperceptible did not mean anything in a place where emotions and tells were beneath them. 

Stony mask once more firmly in place Talia turns back for one a moment,

“Of course Father” 

Ten years latter

On the same mountain In a large room covered floor to ceiling with shelves filled with scrolls, books, maps, and other odds and ends holding written knowledge sits a large table that lays close to the ground, noticeably absent of the things that clutter the rest of the room. At the table, lounges a young boy, he sits with a careful and controlled grace full of coiled power and pretend leisure. 

His skin is a deep caramel, telling of hard work and long hours under a hot desert sun. His eyes resemble hard cut emeralds in more than just color and lack any kind of the youthful innocence children deserve, and despite the lean muscle that further shows long hours of physical activity there is a great deal of baby fat still clinging to his face and other areas that the muscle could not beat out.   

Curiously he does not fidget, instead having an uncanny stillness especially that’s especially unnerving for a child of such a young age. In contrast the adult kneeling with her head bowed at his feet trembled and filinched when he brought a hand up and gave a single loud snap that cut through heavy silence permeating the room. At the noise the woman slowly raised her head to stare not at his face but his hands. 

Nimble fingers move swiftly as he signs out a message, 

“You have performed admirably, I thank you for your service.”

The trembling increases as the boy pulls an ornate sword from his back, it releases from the sheath with a quiet hiss. He continues signing with one hand, 

“You will be rewarded with the highest honor.”

Then the slick sound of sword through flesh, a short gasp of last breath and the soft thud of a head hitting the floor. Damian Al Ghul flicks the blood off his sword with a quiet splatter and resheaves it. 

Hours later sees Damian in his room methodically cleaning his sword. It’s been one of his post lesson rituals since he was three and his grandfather had entrusted him with the upkeep of his own sword. Due to the failure of his birth any of the tutors that he had to speak with needed to be killed once they’ve finished their job. This was to keep the rest of the league from finding out that he’s defective, and then seek to challenge his claim to the Demon’s Head before his ascension. Beyond that it also shames the Al Ghul line to have such imperfection in the line of succession.

This latest tutor had been honorable, She knew the outcome when she started and beyond the trembling she had accepted it. Some of the previous fools thought they were better and had begged for their lives, like they weren’t already being given the highest honor that they could achieve in their short lives. Not only did they  get to teach the Al Ghul heir but they also got to die by his hand. 

Damian’s head turns sharply at the sound of five swift knocks at his door. Five means that it’s one of his mother’s messengers. He replies with two fast knocks on the table to let the messenger know that they may state their message but not come in. Few league members are high enough in the hierarchy that they deserve to look upon the demon’s heir, Damian doubts this one is one of the few. The messenger is not surprised by this response and goes on to deliver his message,

“Lady Talia wishes to inform you that once you have finished with your tutoring for the day you should visit her to prepare for the next part of your training.” 

Damian, even though he’s unable to be seen, does not make a visible reaction to the words, something that’s been carefully trained into him. He waits until he hears the sound of the messenger walking away before moving to put on his formal armor, compared to the loose black cloth outfit he had been wearing before the armor was hard and unyielding. It was made out of a light but sturdy steel alloy, and painted a smooth and shining black. Along the edges were curls of gold accents, and attached to the shoulder plates was a striking green cape the same shade as the Al Ghul family’s eyes. As each piece slotted into place the increasing weight reminded him that even though he was defective his grandfather had graciously looked past that and bestowed upon him the title of heir anyway. The armor was a symbol to the rest of the world and Damian would do everything in his power to live up to it. The last thing that he put on was a gold circlet with one large emerald inlaid in the center, attached to the front was a black veil shielding his face from the gaze of any of the unworthy that he might pass in the halls.

Preparations complete he strides out the door and starts to head towards his mother’s sitting room. As he walks excitement and curiosity swirls within him and he wonders what his next task will be. Would it be like the last time where he was sent out to kill a foreign ambassador in China while other members of the league hunted him? Or would it be like the training before that, where he went out without resources into the desert and had to survive a week before making his way back? In the very back of his head there was also a hint of hesitation, so far he had proven himself to be worthy but how long would that last? Could this finally be the mission that exposes him and causes him to be cast out and shamed? Damian shoves those thoughts down and out, Al Ghuls do not hesitate, do not worry, 

Don’t feel, 

Aren’t soft.