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The fight was laughably easy for the ex-assassin. Merely a quick few kicks and punches towards each goon, taking them out swiftly with the sounds of rubber bullets cracking against some of their kneecaps. Really, it was like taking candy from a sleep deprived Tim, just too easy, which should have been the first indication that something would go wrong.
Truly, Damian had been remiss to think that nothing would go wrong, him and Todd had a routine when they worked with each other; violence is acceptable as long as neither tells Father, and if it was broken, then the other had what was coming towards them. Simple.
What wasn't so simple was the canister of gas that one of the goons pulled out, looking slightly different to the ones from the last Scarecrow attack, or even one of his goons.
It was bulkier and looked of a lesser quality than the ones personally overseen by Scarecrow himself, which was the second warning that Damian was given, and yet had it ignored.
So when the goon threw it down making the canister explode, Damian scoffed and kept fighting, waiting a second to put on his rebreather as he had built up a resistance to fear gas, and it wasn't like Damian got a full breath, so it was completely fine. Damian was capable enough to handle an infinitesimal amount of simple fear gas.
He would come to regret that thought.
The fight ended swiftly after, Todd checking in on him to make sure he didn't inhale too much fear gas and to offer the antidote, but scrambling off once Damian snapped back at Todd, making the two part ways once more.
The night passed as quiet as it could get in Gotham, there were gunshots in the background that Damian went and checked out if they were close enough to him or if another one of his brothers didn't go to solve, a couple women in back allies being targeted by sleazeball perverts, and a single mugging. Quiet. Easy. So when Damian started to see shadows dancing through the corners of his vision, he thought it was just Gotham. Just his brain playing tricks on him into believing that things were there when they shouldn't be, he had that happen before when he went out several school nights in a row and lied about sleeping, instead training quietly in his room. He had to keep up his league training so he didn't get rusty.
Suddenly, a figure darted in his peripherals, clothed in black, causing Damian to whirl around to spot whoever it was that dared to creep about near him.
"Who's there? Show yourself or be subject to my blade!" Damian growled, frankly, the hiding was pathetic when you had been spotted.
Almost as fast as before, the same figure darted away in the distance, making Damian scowl; a coward, he would hunt them down and make them regret trying to run from him.
He chased them, catching small glimpses of the figure here and there, leading him on in a long, winding route that seemed to lead back to Crime Alley.
After a while, the figure stopped appearing, leading Damian to stop and peer around at his surroundings, furious that his Target had gotten away and had just been leading him on. Damian would make the Target pay for avoiding him, no one escapes him and lives. Not the Heir to the Demon, Damian Al Ghul. No assassin was greater than him, none could rival him in speed, stealth, or strength. Grandfather had personally ensured he had the best training he could receive, both academically and physically.
"Demon Brat, what're you doin' back here? " a mechanized voice scratched out from behind him, making Damian jump, the clothes stretching on his skin like they had been different just a second ago. For a moment, Damian had thought he was back in his League outfit and not the Robin uniform. "Didn't you say you were fine, Brat? You didn't hear me walk up, you always hear me."
"Tch, I'm busy, Red Hood, did you see someone hopping the rooftops a bit ago? I lost sight of them and I'm pretty sure they were following me." Damian stated, quickly changing the subject, straightening up and instinctively falling into the at ready stance.
Damian could practically feel the eyebrow raise Todd gave him through the helmet. "Uh, no, I watched you run over here and there was no one, not in normal cameras or on infrared." Todd spoke, an unidentifiable emotion seeping through the voice modulator. "You sure your ok kid?"
"How incapable do you think I am, Red Hood, to not know how healthy I am?" Damian spat out, the shadows around him seeming to want to jump out and drag him down.
"Well damn, sorry if you look a little tense, Brat." Todd snapped back.
Shadow figures started to dance around Todd, making Damian's heart seem to skip a beat, the shadows flickering around and around, sneers on their faces as they took the forms of assassins that Damian had personally ensured died. The faces that always haunted him in his dreams.
"No need to worry about me, I said that I'm fine, so I'm fine" He ignored how hollow the anger sounded to his own ears, the small bit of fear that seemed to slip into it.
Damian's eyes flit around, watching as the shadows hands caressed his elder brothers face in a mock loving manner, missing the way Todd walked closer to him.
"Brat, you're staring off into space." Todd said, tone sounding murky and soft. Unreal. "Let me call Dickwing at least to check you out?"
Damian grit his teeth, breath catching as his heart seemed to beat wildly in his chest, whispers of the Phantom Shadows that were now swirling around him, muttering words of vitriol "Gonna go back to the League, aren't you?" "You're going to be dragged there no matter what, psycho killer" "emotionless"
Todd was turned away from him, hand up to his earpiece and talking aloud, words undecipherable as Damian desperately tried to keep his face neutral despite the shadows now clinging to him like he the honey and them the flies.
He swallowed hard when more black spots started to join the shadows, a numbness in his body that took over. A burning in his chest started to edge around, a need in his throat.
No weakness. Grandfather would kill him if he showed any weakness, so he fought down the burn, wherever it came from, spots dancing and swirling and whispering and Todd just stood there, movements seeming so slow as Damian clocked every move, every twitch, every microscopic thing that made up Todd's mood at that moment.
And-
Oh.
He, why wasn't he-
No, no no nononononono-
Stumbling forward, instinct making his steps soft but still irratic, Damian reached out.
Damian grabbed Todd's jacket.
He couldn't breath, why couldn't he breath?!
Blood and death dripped over his vision as he fought to just fucking breath.
Vaguely, he noted a hand resting on his chest, moving him arm to go on something warm and moving, firm and safe. But the shadows were relentless and he shamefully shed a few tears.
"Oh how the mighty have fallen"
"So it seems our killer has joined us peasants"
"Go on, apologize"
The shadows spat on him, words feeling like.knives the beat him down to the ground to the point where he could almost feel the small prick of pain on his skin, needle sharp.
Time stretched on forever as the shadows hissed at him, making him plead for forgiveness and that he hadn't wanted to. Damian had never wanted to hurt anyone, it wasn't until Grandfather had shown him that it was either the quick death Damian served, or the long and tortuous one Grandfather relished in having.
One by one, the shadows vanished and the sounds of someone calling for him louder.
"Kid, please breath for me, like I'm doing, please please, c'mon, your doing a good job right now, please try a little bit more." The words started to sound out over the harsh verbal cuttings of his victims. "That's it kid, breath with me, in and out, just like that."
Damian focused on the voice, pushing out the others furiously, not wanting to confront his sins any longer, wanting the soft comfort that any child his age had, the comfort that was always unconditional.
Blinking back the tears that hadn't fallen, the shadows had floated away, no longer swirling around him or Todd or had gotten close, helmet gone and instead a look of panic and intense worry adorned his face.
"You back with me, kid?" Jason said, voice softer than Damian had ever heard it, accentuated by the soft sniffles that Damian emitted.
A hot blush rose up violently though Damian as embarrassment reared in his chest.
"Fine just...sorry." Damian said, wanting to curl up and take the beating the a proper Wayne would. Weakness was never allowed anywhere, even if his brothers were allowed it, Damian was never allowed it and so why shouldn't be different here? Damian didn't deserve much of the frivolous niceties that his brothers offered, Damian had grown to understand that the League was wrong, but he still had blood.on his hands and that was unforgiv-
Todd's arms jerked him towards him, Damian's face resting on his chest, nestled in the dark confines of Todd's jacket, hiding him from the outside world. Damian felt Todd wrap his arms around him, squeezing him gently into himself.
"I know that look, kid, you're not 'fine', and you don't have to apologize. Emotions are normal, even if they aren't what people would like. You are a kid, still, and my baby brother." Todd said, loosing his grip and tilting Damian's head up to make him look Todd in the eye. "No matter what you have or haven't done, you will always be my brother, and I will always love you and be there for you. The rest of us too, and dont forget it."
Tears burned at the corners of his eyes again, a small headache starting to pound against his head as Damian sniffed, trying to sound haughty but failing.
"You're an idiot, Red Hood." Damian stated, voice wavering, watching his brothers face fall a bit before saying in a soft whisper. "Thank you."
Damian saw the soft smile on his brothers face, and felt the warm comfort his brother brought as he was hugged once again, and this time, unlike the others, he didn't fight it.
It didn't take long for Richard to arrive, furiously checking over Damian before wrapping him up in octopus arms that Damian squirmed against.
Once Richard was done fussing over him, he insisted on making sure that Damian got back to the manor alright and at that moment, and for another first, Damian didn't fight or sneer at Richard.
Damian gave a last look at Todd, a soft smile on his face as he turned back to follow Richard beck to the manor.
Back home.