Chapter Text
Patrol is not as stifling as it is with Father.
Damian feels refreshed when the weekend comes around. He is active with noticeably improved cognitive abilities.
He hadn’t known that having a set sleep schedule would bring about this much change, but apparently Dick had some semblance of an idea. Otherwise, he’d never tell Damian to go to bed, and Damian would be out almost every night.
There are exceptions to the rule, such as when a crisis arises. It is not as often as one would think. Ever since Nightwing marked his territory around the city, crime became less prevalent. Aside from the occasional criminal who purposefully wanted to challenge Nightwing’s boundaries, there was not as much crime as there had been, and Damian’s omega presentation had a lot to do with it. Nightwing had doubled down on protecting his territory, if only to prove a point to Damian, and now he maintains it in a silent promise.
Damian doesn’t mind the lack of fighting. Was this not his purpose as a vigilante? To bring about peace? To protect it?
Damian can recall a time where he’d been desperate to prove himself.
No longer.
“Are you sure you’re warm enough?”
It was getting well within the winter season. Damian had already emerged onto Bludhaven rooftops in costume, but Dick wouldn’t let him escape the general vicinity of his apartment. He was doing a double check-over, and for once, Damian does not mind it.
“I’m fine. Are
you
warm enough?”
Dick’s sunny smile lights up the night.
“I’m perfect. Did you eat enough?”
“I have had the appropriate amount of calories,
yes,”
Damian answers. “You were there when it occurred.”
Dick shrugs. “Never hurts to be careful about it. Don’t want you burning yourself out.”
Dick sprints.
Damian watches him leap for the opposing building. He truly is a trapeze artist. He flies like he’s meant to. Gravity might weigh him down, but Dick doesn’t mind it too much. He works with it. He’s close friends with it. He uses the Earth’s pull to his advantage, and grabs hold of a barred window. Breaking his fall expertly.
Damian makes haste to follow him.
It becomes a game. Dick is comfortable taking the lead, performing stunts that require great practice, and Damian is always following behind him. Attempting to play catch-up with a man in his element. Damian may be a skilled assassin trained to be light on his feet, but there are advantages that Dick has over him. Whilst Damian specialized in secrecy, Dick was a circus-born gymnast, adept in flexibility. It is not as easy to catch up to him as Damian would like.
It is a good thing, he supposes, for Dick’s own protection. Damian feels better knowing Dick can easily out-run the average criminal, and, most likely, nearly his entire rogue gallery. Damian can’t imagine Professor Pyg having any advantage over Dick on the rooftops. Talon might have an easier time of it, but with Damian around, the Court of Owls would not be taking advantage of his papa.
“Nightwing?” Oracle’s voice filters in.
Damian watches Dick smoothly land near a vent.
“Oracle?”
“I’m just warning you in advance. Gotham is off-limits at the moment. We’ve all been having a hard time doing
anything
without getting reprimanded.”
“Reprimanded? What’s up?”
Damian lands next to Dick’s form. He notices that Dick is holding a hand up to his ear. Pressing the comm meant activating the speech option manually. It would not work, otherwise, unless previously programmed to automatically accept all audio input.
“Red Hood.”
Red Hood, Dick thinks, recalling the interesting conversation they’d all had several weeks ago.
“He’s got the city on vigilante lock-down. Red Robin is the only one allowed to move around at night, but, even then, he’s severely limited in what he can do.”
Dick’s worry is evident. “What happened? Do I need to do something?”
Barbara’s voice is dry. “I think you’d only make the situation worse. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I’m pretty sure the same thing happened to you when you were in the middle of a bonding.”
Silence. Damian couldn’t hear what was being said, considering the fact that Oracle had opened up a private channel with Nightwing, but he found great interest in reading Dick’s face. Something silly makes its way to his features, and it comes with a loopy grin.
“Okay, got it.”
“Good. B wants you on standby in case something goes wrong, but I think he’s just being paranoid. He’s antsy over Red Hood taking over nearly half of his territory.”
“I bet.”
“I’m pretty sure things will be fine. I mean, Jason’s a little bonkers right now, and Tim might be amping up his beta duties but-”
“What? Tim’s in a haze?”
“I’ve never seen him so diplomatic. He’s so collected that it’s a tad jarring.”
“Huh,” Dick sounds in astonishment. “I never thought-”
Damian impatiently pats Dick’s arm for attention. “Are we just going to
stand here
all day?”
Dick is instantly sympathetic. “Course not. Sorry, Oracle. I’m going to let you go. Thanks for the heads up. I appreciate it.”
“It’s fine, Dick. Take care of your boy.”
“Always,” Dick promises.
When Oracle’s feedback goes mute, Dick is lowering his hand from his ear.
Damian gives him a
look.
“What was that about?”
“Stay away from Gotham for a while,” Dick answers, resting a heavy hand on Damian’s head. “Red Hood isn’t in the right state of mind to tolerate visitors.”
Damian scoffs.
“As if I’d have a reason to step foot in Gotham.” Then, following, Damian’s tone changes. “Is he okay? Does he need anything? That fool can’t take care of himself.”
Dick’s smile turns into something gentle.
“He’ll be fine.” He smooths his hand over Damian’s hair like it is the most natural thing in the world, and considering their present relationship, it truly
is
an average interaction. “Just trust him, alright?”
Damian’s skepticism is clear to the both of them. “I
suppose,”
he mumbles.
It is then that Dick realizes he ought to be extra vigilant on keeping a watch on Damian, lest he suddenly appear in Jason’s life, and fuss over him as done earlier.
Alphas existed to protect foolish omegas for a reason. Damian couldn’t see past his desires to take care of others.
“Why don’t we start where we left off?” Dick asks. “Bet you can’t reach the flagpole over there without using a grappling hook.”
Damian’s love for challenges, and his value for maintaining his pride, quickly shows. “It’s
menial,
Nightwing.”
Dick doesn’t get further warning before Damian is running. Dick grins as he watches Damian scale the neighboring building, hoist himself up over the ledge, and then leap.
Dick prepares himself to do the same. Damian would not be aware of this, but Dick had given him a head-start. It would only be a matter of time before Dick caught up to him. Yep. That was it. Dick certainly hadn’t stuck around because he was content to watch Damian fly.
It’d been a long road, one that had started two years ago (when he’d put on Bruce’s cowl), but
now
Dick has his boy at his side. Right where he belongs. Dick can’t imagine having it any other way. He's glad that things have turned out the way they are now.
He's glad he acted on instinct, and let this happen, even if he'd been a tad reluctant.
Dick was still worried over a few things. He probably would never be void of things to stress over. There'll always be something in the back of his mind, nagging him, telling him he might not be good enough for his pup but-
“You are slow, Nightwing!”
Dick’s laugh echoes in the night.
Bonds don't break.