Work Text:
“Help! Please, somebody help!”
Jason just happened to be passing by the open entrance to the Batcave when he heard his youngest brother’s desperate cries floating up the stairs. The sound stopped him dead in his tracks as a cold chill ran down his spine. Damian may still be just a kid, but he tried so hard to make everyone else forget that fact. He hid behind his patronizing snarky attitude and never let others see his vulnerable side. So, if his sobbing pleas were any indication, something must be terribly, terribly wrong…
Tearing down the stairs of the Batcave, Jason stumbled to a halt when he saw what had caused the commotion. Damian was kneeling on the training mat, tears streaming down his face, grasping his twin’s hand for dear life. A katana towered over her tiny form, one end protruding from her stomach and the other end pinning her to the floor. Even from this distance, Jason could hear her ragged gasps as she struggled to catch her breath. He was by her side in seconds, noticing a second katana laying discarded just out of reach of her hand. Damian looked up at him, his face twisted in anguish, “We were practicing. She was supposed to block my advance, but an alarm went off and she became distracted. Todd…. Please help her.”
Jason opened his mouth but flinched as he looked down to see his sister weakly grasping his fingers. “Not Dami’s fault…. I should have- have paid attention.”
Jason squeezed her hand back, trying to muster up a reassuring smile. “It’s okay. It was an accident. It was nobody’s fault. But don’t worry, we’ll get you fixed up real soon.”
He gently pulled his hand out of her clutches and hurled himself at the intercom on the wall. He wanted to remain calm for both of the twins’ sakes, but the sight of his sister’s tiny body lying in a growing pool of her own blood was too much for him. Slamming down the button, Jason frantically screamed, “We need emergency medical assistance in the cave! Dick! Alfred!….. BRUCE! Get your asses down here now!”
Dick materialized next to him in seconds. He knew if Jason called for Bruce’s help, something dire had to have happened. And it appeared his assumption was not wrong. As he tried to grasp the scene before him, Dick’s gaze rapidly shifted from his sister to Damian to Jason back to his sister to the sword embedded in her stomach to his sister again, each change of focus leaving him gaping like a fish out of water.
Alfred arrived next. He had seen many terrible things both during his time in the military and since Master Bruce had started his nightly crusade, but the sight of the pale, wheezing form of his beloved ten-year-old charge laying at his feet was one of the worst. Without a word, he knelt down and began examining the wound around the blade. Checking her pulse, he was relieved to find it strong, if slightly irregular.
A flutter of a cape announced Bruce’s arrival. He had just been preparing to go join Tim on patrol, so he was currently in his batsuit minus the cowl. He immediately fell to his knees next to his daughter, his face pinched in a pained grimace. He began stroking her hair where it was splayed haphazardly across the mat.
Damian tried to explain what had happened. “Father, it was an accident. We were just sparing like we always do but she looked away for a moment. I did not –”
“Not now Damian.” Bruce coldly snapped as he refused to look at the trembling boy.
Damian’s already teary eyes grew wide at this harsh rebuff and Dick pulled him into a hug. For once, Damian didn’t resist. “It’s okay. He’s just scared. He didn’t mean it.” Dick murmured into his hair, but Damian remained stiff in his arms.
Glancing up, the young girl once again managed a soft, “Father…. It’s not Dami’s fault… Don’t blame him.”
Bruce just nodded at her slightly, lips pressed into a firm, hard line. Looking up at Alfred, he asked, “Well?”
“We’ll have to carry her to the medical facility before I can do anything. However, the sword seems to be pinning her to the floor so it will have to be removed before we can transfer her.”
All the boys immediately blanched at the idea of being the one to remove the sword, a fact that did not escape Alfred’s notice. With a sigh, he took charge of the situation. “This has to be done as quickly as possible since there is a good chance she will begin to bleed profusely once we remove the blade. Master Jason, go to the other room and get all my supplies set up.” Jason grunted and hurried off to do as he was told.
Alfred picked up the towel that was lying next to the mat and tossed it to Dick. “Master Dick, when I pull the blade out, I need you to press this into the wound as quickly and as tightly as possible.” Dick nodded, biting his lip slightly as he stepped away from Damian and moved closer to his sister.
“Master Bruce, as soon as she is no longer trapped, you need to carry her as quickly but as carefully as possible over to the medical facility.” Bruce began to say something, but one stern look from the butler shut him up quickly. Damian noticed that he had not been given a job to do so he just silently moved out of the way as his family prepared to try to fix his mistake.
As everyone got into position, Bruce soothingly whispered to his daughter, “Okay, my little one. I am sorry, but this next part is going to hurt. I need you to stay as still as you possibly can.”
She gazed up at her father through half-lidded eyes, “S’okay …. It doesn’t hurt anymore….” Bruce and Dick exchanged worried glances but silently prepared themselves.
On the count of three, Alfred pulled the sword from the girl’s stomach in one swift, fluid motion. Her body spasmed as her agony-filled scream echoed throughout the cave. Dick slammed the towel into the wound as a fountain of blood sprayed into the air. In seconds, she was a moaning, shaking mess in Bruce’s arms as he bolted to the medical facility.
Damian slowly sunk to his knees on the bloody mat. Each one of his sister’s screams or sobs from the other room was like a physical punch to the gut. He had done this to her, accidently or not. He was the cause of her suffering. She was the one person who had been by his side every day of his life. She was the one person who truly knew everything he had endured both with the League of Shadows and with the Bats. She was the one person he could trust without hesitation, and yet he had done this to her.
As another wail tore through him, Damian folded over until his head was pressed firmly against the mat, not caring as her blood soaked into his hair. He pressed his hands tightly over his ears attempting to drown out her cries and the frantic voices of their family as they tried desperately to save her. It did little to block the sounds and he was soon rocking back and forth on his knees, tears streaming down his face, silently begging for it all to stop.
And then it did. Damian had thought the noise had been torture, but he soon realized it was nothing compared to the sudden uncertainty of the silence. He froze, terrified at what this newfound stillness meant. Damian felt a hand gently rest on his back and then Dick was pulling him into his chest. When his brother quietly murmured, “She’s going to be alright.”, Damian let loose a heart-wrenching sob.
After holding the small boy for a few minutes, Dick helped Damian stand and he walked him into the other room. Their sister was lying on the bed, stomach wrapped in thick bandages, oxygen tube in her nose, IV in her arm. Though unconscious, her face was still pinched in pain but at least Damian can see her chest steadily rising and falling.
Jason was in the corner of the room, pacing back and forth, fingers subconsciously twitching at his hip. Normally when he was this agitated, he would just shoot his problems, but he knew in this situation, his guns were useless. Alfred was cleaning the bloody instruments on the table next to the bed, but he gave Damian a small smile and nod when he entered. Bruce was holding one of his daughter’s hands and staring unblinkingly at her face. Everyone always joked about how little the twins were but seeing her lying here like this, he thought she had never seemed smaller, more fragile.
A soft sniff behind him alerted Bruce to Damian’s presence. As the young boy approached his father’s side, his eyes were trained meekly on the floor. “Father, I am so sorry for injuring her. I did not mean to, but it was still my blade, my hand that did this. I am willing to accept whatever punishment you deem is appropriate.”
Bruce sighed and pulled his son into his chest, arms encircling him in a hug. Damian stiffened in surprise. “It’s okay, son. It was an accident. And…. I’m sorry for how I treated you earlier.” He glanced at the sleeping form in the bed. “I was scared for your sister, but I still shouldn’t have brushed you off like that. She was right. It wasn’t your fault.”
At these words, Damian collapsed into his father’s embrace. He still felt responsible for his sister’s current state, but he felt a wave of relief wash over him with the knowledge that his father was not angry with him.
Eventually, Damian gently pulled away from his father so he could approach the bedside. As he grasped her hand tightly, he watched his twin’s face soften slightly, as if calmed by his presence. In that moment, Damian swore that he would never let anyone hurt his sister like this ever again.