Chapter Text
Sunday, 6:12 PM
That evening, Damian awoke with a jolt, tossing his pillow onto the floor. Another nightmare. He shook his head, rubbing his tired eyes. He watched as his father entered the room, sitting on the bed next to him.
“Damian--”
“I heard your fight with Grayson, Father, and I’d rather not talk right now.”
“I wanted to--”
“What? Tell me that I’m off the mission? Berate me? Look, I don’t want to talk, Father. Leave me be.”
Bruce sighed, attempting to pat Damian on the back, his hand promptly being swatted away.
“Look,” Bruce said, “I know I said a lot against you. But--”
A pillow smacked him in the face, cutting him off mid-sentence. Damian was breathing heavily, face red with anger. “Get out, Father. Now.”
An alarm rang through the mansion, lights flashing in all the rooms. They looked at one another before rushing down to the Batcave, Damian pushing ahead of his father.
The Batcomputer was surrounded before Batman and Robin arrived.
“It’s a bank heist,” Cass said. “Ivy.”
She pulled up security camera footage, showing dozens of thick vines ripping through the marble floors of the Gotham First Bank.
“She’s not…doing anything,” Duke mused. “Her vines are just there.”
“Regardless,” Batman said, “she’s damaged property. Tim, can you handle this?”
Tim was in the corner, texting feverishly. “Heh? Oh, I’m busy. Kon and I are going to the movies. We’re seeing that one new one.”
“I feel like a movie hardly qualifies for being busy.”
“Do you know how expensive movie tickets are, Dad?”
“We’re rich!”
“Still.” Tim removed his attention from the conversation. Bruce pinched his nose.
“Fine. Jason, you’re on it. No exceptions.”
“Alright. See ya, losers!” Jason ran over to his bike, revving the engine and speeding out of the cave.
“Why don’t we all go?” Duke looked up at Bruce, a quizzical look on his face. He was still relatively new to the whole-crime-fighting thing. His soul hadn’t yet been broken.
“It’s easier in case other crimes pop up.”
The alarm rang again, loud and shrill.
“Like that.”
A video of Bane rampaging through the streets, wreaking havoc and smashing property, played on the monitor. Venom pulsed through his veins, his luchador mask ripped and stretched.
“We need muscle. Cass, you’re on this one.”
She cracked her knuckles, a small smile creeping onto her pale face. “With pleasure.” She ran over to the vehicle depot, jumping into the Tumbler and zooming towards Gotham Square.
Multiple alarms shrieked as footage of destruction and chaos continued to fill the screen. Penguin in the aquarium, Scarecrow in the museum, Freeze at the reservoir.
So much chaos, so few heroes.
Batman was scrambling, assigning each member of the family to a crime. The room thinned out quickly, leaving only Damian and Bruce.
“Still don’t trust me, right?”
Bruce kneeled down, reaching Damian’s level to place his hand on his shoulder. “Damian, I need to talk to you.”
“I’d love to, but Firefly’s--”
“You made that up. Firefly’s still in Blackgate.”
Damian huffed. “Dammit.”
Bruce looked right at his son, softening his gaze. “Damian, I’m so sorry about everything I said. I’ve been so scared of you getting hurt, I’ve been trying to rationalize a way to keep you off this mission. It is a dangerous mission, Damian.”
“I know that! Why do you think I wanted to do this! No matter what, you keep treating me like a child. This mission was supposed to be my chance to prove it to you, but I made a severe mistake. Now you’ll never see me as anything but a child.”
“I know you’re so much more than a child. I’ve just been so blinded by my own fears. You aren’t a kid, Damian. You’re a fighter. A warrior. My son. You’re Robin, and it’s time I started treating you like it.” He held out his hand, expecting nothing but a shake. Instead, Damian pulled him into a tight hug.
“I love you, Father.”
“I love you too, Damian.”
A small beeping echoed through the cave, a softer version of the alarm. Batman sat at the computer, opening a map of the city. “Strange. I’m picking up unnatural motion in the sewers.”
“Could be Croc. Or Man-Bat, though he tends to stay in the sky.”
Batman smiled at Robin. “Ready to investigate, Robin?”
“Of course. I’ll see you at the boat.”
They rushed to the Batboat, engines roaring as they drove through the hidden exit. The rocks parted for them, revealing a thin metal corridor. They drove through it, ending up in Gotham’s sewage system.
Together, Batman and Robin rode into danger.
Sunday, 6:16 PM
The sewers looked like shit, and smelled even worse. Nobody could remember the last time sanitation had even stepped foot in the system.
It was the perfect breeding ground for both bacteria and villainy.
Damian watched through the windows as waste spewed from the pipes into the sewers. The liquid was green and chunky, barely resembling water. “This is disgusting. Can’t you send Wayne Sanitation down here?”
“Wayne Sanitation closed down three years ago. It’s hard to keep a city like this clean. Hold on tight, we’re coming up on the anomaly.”
The sewer maze began to narrow, sharp turns occurring every few feet. The boat rattled and scratched against the stone walls.
Eventually, they came upon a crossroads. The corridors went in every direction, each path unlit. In the center was a small platform floating in the sewage. Bones bobbed around it, decaying flesh and limbs filling the air with a stench more putrid than anything Damian had smelt before. It was like a mix of rotting food and feces.
Killer Croc, AKA Waylon Jones, sat peacefully, gnawing on a corpse. It wore an orange jumpsuit, and glasses hung askew off his face.
The inmate.
Damian recoiled in disgust and fear, retching at the sight. His body was being torn apart, limb by limb. He could hear the skin rending from bones, blood staining Croc’s jagged yellow teeth. Thankfully, he remained oblivious to his audience.
“We need to incapacitate him,” Bruce whispered. “Activate the missiles.”
Damian flipped open a glass case, revealing a button marked with an image of a missile. He pressed it slowly, trying hard not to make a sound.
With a click, the missiles whizzed silently from the underbelly of the boat. They traveled through the water at breakneck speeds before exploding beneath Croc.
The force sent both him and the body diving into the water. He surfaced quickly, orange eyes squinting. His teeth were bared into a smile. His scaly skin dripped with green and red, tail thrashing in the liquid.
“Well, if it isn’t Batman and his Bat-brat! I’ll tear you to shreds, Bat!”
He lunged for the boat, pulling it under. Batman and Robin quickly ejected, landing on the concrete. Croc looked around in confusion before ripping the Batboat in half.
“Look, just give me the kid, and I won’t rip you to pieces.” His rough voice bounced off the walls. He sounded like a chronic smoker.
Bruce’s eyes widened. “You’ve never been one for bargaining.”
“Your kid’s got a bounty on his head, Bat, and I’ve come to collect. So has everyone else! They’re offering a pretty penny just for him!”
“Who’s they?” Damian knew the answer, but he needed more time to stall.
“It doesn’t matter,” Croc replied, smiling again, “because you won't be around to remember!”
He leapt up, revealing his full monstrous form. They dodged deftly, Damian battering him with a barrage of Batarangs. Batman grabbed his explosive gel, jumping onto the beast and covering his back in foam. He grappled to the ceiling, detonating the gel with a BANG!
Croc roared in pain. It was deep and guttural, shaking Gotham’s foundations.
“Robin, run!” Batman shouted across the sewer before being swatted like a fly. He flew into the wall, cracking his ribs.
Naturally, Robin ran.
Towards Croc.
He swung onto his back, pulling his jaw open. It slammed shut just as he dropped a small pill into Croc’s mouth. The monster swallowed, unaware of what he had ingested.
A moment later, he began to thrash around like a drunk, arms lazily swinging in a pathetic attempt to attack. His eyes were heavily lidded, his words jumbled and slurred.
“I’llll get yyyyou, kiiiiiii--”
Croc went down with a THUD! His limp body rolled into the sewage, being carried away slowly by the current. Robin helped Batman to his feet as he groaned in pain and clutched his torso.
Bruce managed to turn his neck, looking at Damian. “Nice job not listening.”
“I knew you wouldn’t be able to take down that beast alone. Batman without Robin is like a Pop-Tart with no frosting: sad and bland.”
“Says the one who hates anything sweet.”
Damian smiled. “I happen to enjoy Pop-Tarts. I’m calling Oracle, she can send down an extra boat.”
He dialed Barbara, demanding that she send down a boat.
“No problem, Little D, just let me grab your location, and…the boat’s on its way! So, what happened to the last one?”
Damian shrugged. “Run-in with Croc. He wasn’t happy.” He stayed silent for a moment. “Gordon, can you send me a map of Gotham’s underground, if you have one?”
“No problem! What for?”
“Just a project.”
She clicked a button, and the schematics entered his inbox a moment later. He gave her a brief “thank you,” before hanging up.
Minutes passed before a new boat arrived, sleek and blue. Damian helped Bruce into the passenger seat, grabbing hold of the steering wheel and speeding back to the Batcave.
Sunday, 6:29 PM
Back at the cave, everyone was gathered by the dock, eagerly awaiting Batman. Dick and Jason helped Bruce to his feet, taking him to the medical bay. Tim examined his wounds quickly, his diagnosis just being broken ribs and blood loss.
“He’ll be fine, he’s Batman. Besides, we have Duke!” Duke was already healing Bruce, waving his hands over Bruce’s abdomen. He gave a measly thumbs-up.
“Status reports,” Bruce managed. He sounded weak.
Dick started. “Penguin got away. Once he saw that I wasn’t Damian, he just…left. Sicked his goons on me and ran away.”
“Same with Bane,” Cass said. “He told me he only wanted the hijo, no one else. He retreated into the sewers, where I tried to chase him, but lost his trail.”
The rest of the group shared similar experiences, villains becoming uninterested the moment Damian was no longer involved and just leaving.
It was strange, but not surprising. He had suspected Mother would pull something like this, especially with the help of the Court of Owls. They could offer criminals wealth, supplies, and status all in exchange for catching Damian.
She wasn’t going to stop until she had her son.
Bruce struggled to his feet, limping up the stairs. Tim objected.
“You really should rest, Dad.”
“I’ll rest when I’m dead. Right now, our main priority is finding the League of Assassins. We need to find--ARGH!”
His knees buckled, throbbing with pain. Stephanie and Cass rushed over, trying and failing to lift him up.
“What the hell, Duke?!” Dick exclaimed.
“You didn’t let me finish!” Duke retorted, rushing over to help the girls. Together, they dragged Bruce back to the bed. He heaved, rough and low.
“I thought it was just my ribs?” Bruce looked up at Tim, who refused to make eye contact.
“I must have missed something,” he replied, feeling the injured leg. Batman yelped in pain. “Yup. It’s broken.”
“Broken! Goddamit, Croc!”
“I thought only Bane could break the Bat,” Jason snickered, receiving a mean glare from his ailing father. “Uh, I mean, is he gonna be okay?”
“He should be fine, with rest.”
Bruce groaned, a sound of both anguish and annoyance. “I can’t rest, Tim! We have to find Talia! We have to--”
Tim stabbed him with a needle, anesthetic pumping into his system. Within moments, his face relaxed as his body slumped. Soon enough, he was snoring.
“Tim, that was badass!” Jason held his hand up for a high-five, which Tim gleefully returned.
“Well, he sure as hell wasn’t going to relax on his own.” Tim smirked, a small laugh escaping his lips. Damian’s eyes narrowed.
“That’s illegal. I could call the police.”
“Yeah, but you aren’t going to, because you know he wouldn’t have rested otherwise.” Tim and Damian stared intensely at each other. The youngest eventually retreated with a huff, leaving the older brother victorious.
“Just make sure he wakes up, or this house will be covered in your blood.”
Damian ascended back into the study, leaving Tim speechless. “Did he just…?”
“He didn’t mean it,” Dick said, trying to deescalate.
“Man,” Steph pouted. “That would’ve been a crazy scene.”
Tim looked at her in disbelief. “Steph, what the fuck!?”
She shrugged, following Damian’s path into the study.
“Wait,” Duke said. “What about the rest of the villains?” He turned to Dick, the role of leader falling to him in Batman’s absence.
“We can’t do much now. They’ve effectively disappeared into whatever hideout the Court of Owls is holding them all in.”
“Shouldn’t we at least try to find them?”
Murmurs of agreement spread among the family, Dick nodding his head along. “I guess we could have a scout team do an emergency patrol of Gotham’s underground. Any volunteers?”
Crickets.
“Fine. Duke, Steph, and Cass, you’re on it.” Groans arose from the team before they all shuffled to the Batboat. “Great! Now that that’s settled, the rest of you can just, uh…relax, I guess.”
They all rushed up the stairs, leaving Bruce to rest in the medbay. Dick took one final glance at his dad.
“We’ve got this, Dad