Chapter Text
After Bruce and I made our agreement, some of the tension disappeared. I will still be furious with all of them, but knowing that I finally had Damian soothed me enough to move on with my day and responsibilities.
That didn’t stop me from taking an attitude with Tim, though.
“We do have the matter of the interns to discuss,” Bruce said as I sat beside his desk, our agreement still fresh. I continued to scowl at Tim, only breaking eye contact when Damian shifted forward in his seat. Across the room, Tim shot me a look, his eyes trained on my face as they waited for my reaction. I crossed my arms, knowing I needed to try to remove myself from the situation as much as possible.
“We need the whole story before we decide,” I said levelly, focusing on the wall behind Damian’s head as he attempted to make eye contact with me. I found I could barely look at him when I thought back on what had transpired with Austin, a strong feeling of guilt blooming in my chest as I processed the kiss I had just shared with Damian. Somehow, Austin cheating on me held little value in the face of deciding that I would be following the man sitting across the room from me around the world. “I have no idea what happened-”
“For ethical reasons, you can’t officially be a part of the decision process,” Bruce said slowly, watching me intently for a moment. I remained looking at the wall, forcing myself not to react further. “I don’t know what you’ve been told, but the situation that Dick made us aware of directly impacts you.”
“Austin and I broke up this morning,” I said, meeting his gaze with a firm look of my own, knowing I needed to tear the bandaid off. “I don’t need to be on the team that decides, but I would like to know the results and circumstances for quality improvement purposes.” My request was met with silence as I nodded to myself.
I had made my own decisions, after all.
“I can handle whatever happens,” I said, crossing my arms, after a few moments of stilted silence. Tim huffed but didn’t speak as I scowled at him. “Is there a problem, Timothy?” Tim shot me a concerned look but didn’t respond.
“I already read over Richard’s report,” Damian said, his voice cutting through the tension as he shook his head at me. “He found the two of them while they were clocked in… while we can’t speak to the interpersonal issues, I think at a minimum a suspension for inappropriate workplace behavior-”
“If they were full employees, they would be terminated,” Tim threw in.
“That would ruin any future career for either of them,” I snapped, shaking my head at the two of them. “The point of the internship program is to teach professionalism—”
“It’s a violation of both of their contracts-”
“They’re still new,” I said, cutting him off quickly. Damian glared at me but quickly softened, eyes flickering as he appeared to realize I was up to something. “I doubt they even realized they have a clause in their contracts about workplace-”
“You can’t be serious,” Damian snapped at me as I turned my glare on him, though I could tell he was protesting to keep up appearances. “You can’t seriously be defending them…”
“People make mistakes, Damian,” I snapped back at him. “It’s how we handle those mistakes that instill loyalty.” Around me, there was a heavy silence, and Bruce and Damian were making direct eye contact with one another.
“And how would you handle this mistake,” Bruce asked, turning in his chair to face me entirely.
“Mandatory ethics training,” I said with a shrug. “We have one on workplace harassment and professionalism we can sign them both up for…”
“We need to do more than a training,” Bruce said with a shake of his head.
“Why neither of them is a manager or executive, they’re both just interns,” I reminded him. Bruce nodded slowly, tapping his chin absently for a moment, before waving his hand toward me.
“We will let you know how the meeting goes,” Bruce said as I stood. “Damian, why don’t you two go and look over-”
“I want to-
“You and Boss can go take lunch or something,” Tim snapped at his brother. “The last thing we need is you tearing his head off becuase-” he stopped, clearly remembering the recent argument over Damian and I’s relationship status. I scowled out of obligation rather than irritation, remembering that Damian did not want his family to know we would be dating.
Damian grabbed my arm as we left Bruce’s office, pulling me into his own and slamming the door behind us, in one fluid movement.
“What the hell as that,” he snarled at me. I pulled back, stumbling even as he caught me. “You can’t just-”
“What do you mean,” I asked, looking up at him. Damian glared at me.
“You defended him-”
“You’re taking this too personally,” I snapped back.
“He cheated on you,” Damian shouted at me as I glared back at him.
“And his time will come,” I responded, shaking my head at him as I pulled my arm from his grip. “But firing him over something as minor as- “
“He publically disrespected you,” Damian snapped at me. “I won’t allow it-”
“He will get what’s coming to him when the time is right,” I snapped back, shaking my head. “Trust me on this.” Damian fell silent at this, hovering over me for a moment as he thought over my request and the interaction that had come before.
“Just this once,” he said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and squeezing. “But if he does anything-”
“I’ll send you after him to defend my honor,” I teased, earning a sharp tisk.
“You see, you’re teasing, but I would do it in a heartbeat,” he assured me, steering both of us deeper into the room.
I spent the rest of the day in Damian’s office, sitting at his desk as I worked. He hovered beside me, and his eyes always trained on my face as if he thought if he looked away, I would disappear entirely.
Just as he had always planned for himself.
That night, he drove me home but did not linger, informing me he had matters to deal with in the cave before he came to check on me later that evening.
I thought he would do as he usually did, appear in my bedroom without a word.
So, I nearly jumped out of my skin when Robin crawled through my window later that evening. Damian’s soft laugh filled my room as he came to sit beside me, his cape swirling as he turned to close the window behind him.
“It’s strange seeing you in costume, “I admitted. “I know who you are, but it’s still strange.” Damian nodded.
“Well, you have time to get used to it,“ he teased. “Being able to stop by on patrol makes my life easier…”
“You could’ve done that the entire time,” I reminded him, crossing my arms. “I’ve known the secret for months.” Damian scowled at me, acknowledging my point but not explaining further as he pulled the hood down to reveal his hair. I let out a small sigh once his hood was down, finding comfort in the familiar windswept style. Damian appeared to notice, pointedly relaxing before me with a small smirk.
“So Robin,” I said, catching my breath and flopping down onto my bed with a huff. “What brings you to my room?”
“I figure if we only have six months, I should probably try to get a lifetime’s worth out of it,” Damian admitted, crossing his arms and leaning against ht wall across from me. “Have any plans tonight?”
“The night’s yours,” I said with a smile. “What do you have in mind?” As I spoke, Damian reached his hand out to me, grasping mine tightly, and started toward the window.
“Figured I’d show you what you’re missing out on,” he said with a confident smirk.
Climbing out of my window, Damian wrapped an arm tightly around my waist, my own arms wrapping around his neck.
“What-”
“Just don’t let go,” he said, his lips beside my ear as he shifted so I was bracketed in his left arm, pressing me close as I wrapped my arms around his neck.
“Why would I-” There was a low whistle beside my ear as Damian stepped off of the small ledge on my window, the air shrieking around us as we plummetted, the grappling gun in his hand catching as swinging us clear across my street and up a nearby building.
Flying through the Gotham air, I could understand why his family loved what they did so much, the lights and colors blending together into an abstract mass that told the story of a cursed city. He landed atop one of the buildings, gently setting me on my feet with a small laugh.
“You didn’t scream,” he commented.
“Should I have?”
“Most do,” he shrugged.
“How many girls have you taken-”
“Not talking about it.”
“But I think we should…”
“I have never dated anyone other than you,” he said, turning on me as he fired the grapple again. “And other than saving people, I would never allow anyone to touch me like this.” I blushed at the reassurance, silenced as I slowly learned of his lifelong dedication to me.
We did not travel long, only going a few blocks over from my home before Damian carefully helped me to my feet, his arm remaining around my waist as he led me to sit along the side of the building. Both of us were quiet as we took in the rare dry night in Gotham. He wrapped his arm around my waist as I found my footing, pulling me to his side as we watched, the two of us molding together as we rested.
“Why the field trip,” I asked softly.
“A few months ago, you mentioned wanting to fly like my family does,” he said with a shrug. “Figured I’d let you do it safely…” I smiled up at him, noting the faint tug at the corner of his mouth.
“Aw, you do listen,” I teased, earning a gentle squeeze on my side.
“Don’t start,” he laughed, shaking his head at me. His mask hid the eye roll, but I knew it was there as the two of us moved to the edge of the building. The two of us were silent as we looked out over the Gotham skyline together, pressed closely together as we rested. “I always listen to everything.”
“Prove it,” I teased with a small laugh.
“And how should I do that,” he teased me, eyes rolling under his mask.
“I… what’s something I said last New Year?”
“Oh,” he said slowly. “I was a little distracted that night…” I scowled.
“So you don’t-”
“I have a question about earlier,” Damian said quietly, interrupting me as he clearly avoided the topic of our conversation on the night I had “met” Robin.
“Which earlier,” I asked, deciding to let it drop. “What happened in my office or what happened in Bruce’s?”
“Father’s,” Damian clarified. “When we were talking about the interns.” I nodded.
“What about it,” I asked, reflecting on how I had defended Austin and the other intern. A small part of me wished I had pushed for further punishment for both of them. If there had been any other member of the team who had done so, I likely would have. For Tim, Bruce, or Damian, I would have begged to let the employees go, but it felt different when it was personal to me.
I was proud of the way I had handled things.
“What you said about loyalty earlier…”
“What about it?”
“Do you truly believe that,” Damian asked, tilting his head to the side. “That the way you handle these situations is how you build loyalty.” I paused for a moment, thinking over my words before nodding firmly.
“Absolutely I do,” I admitted. “Giving some leniency makes people feel as though they are indebted to their company… that might be useful later in the year.”
“What makes you say that?”
“When I became an intern, the Gazette offered me thousands of dollars to share any W.E. Secrets I was privy to,” I admitted quietly, thinking back on the night I had received a call from Vicki Vale. She had been incredibly nice to me as she had made her offer. I swallowed hard, thinking back on the interaction.
“No one ever called me,” Damian responded softly as I laughed.
“I think the entire city knows your family sticks together.” I teased him, leaning back against his shoulder. “But she tried to get me to break my contract and spill… she was especially interested in whatever goes on down in R&D…”
“But you didn’t tell anyone,” Damian prompted.
“I didn’t.”
“Why not,” he asked. “The money-”
“I had made a mistake on one of the spreadsheets,” I explained. “I had accidentally miscounted the number of contracts we had for phones, and Tim came into my office to show me how to fix it. He didn’t yell at me or make me feel dumb. He just helped me fix the problem and never brought it up again…” Damian huffed.
“And that made you loyal to the company?”
“In part.”
“What’s the other part?”
“I’d rather not say.”