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Dick stood on the rooftops of Crime alley, in Gotham, taking in the old sites. It had been years, and he missed home, sure Bludhaven was gone but Gotham still stood. His suit nowadays looked nothing like his Nightwing or Robin, sure it still had his blue theme and a similar mask, but it lost its bat symbol and was replaced with a hooded jacket similar to Deathstroke design.
He spent the last seven years under Deathstroke, the world believing he was dead and in some ways he was. After Jason’s murder and Tim’s close murder he had beaten the joker to death with his bare hands in that warehouse.
He could still remember the sting of pain when Bruce had punched him, how his body hit the ground with the rain surrounding him. The way Tim looked on in horror as Batman banished him from Gotham.
Deathstroke, having heard the news, found him in Central city and slit his throat on his walk back to Wally's one night. He remembers how painful it was, how he choked on his own blood as Slade stared him down and in some ways at that time it was comforting, knowing he wasn’t going to die alone.
And then he woke up. Deathstroke had slit his throat. Yes, he had killed him but apparently the psycho had connections, and one dunk in the Lazarus pit later, he was alive.
He spent the first year, praying for Bruce to find him, for his father to find him. Then Slade tossed a newspaper into his room and all hope vanished. Bruce Wayne mourns the loss of two of his sons, Jason todd-wayne and Richard Grayson. Slade never told him how they found out, some part of him wonders if Wally found the crime scene and that's how but it doesn't matter.
The sound of a door slamming open cuts him from his thoughts as he stares down into the Alleyway, his target stumbling over his feet drunkenly. Ever since Slade died six months ago, he had found a list of every single person who had hired Slade for all the wrong reasons and tracked them down and killed them. Tonight's target was the last. Dick had been stalking the man for weeks, watching his movements, and the man often visited the Crime alley for cheap liquor.
He silently dropped behind the drunken man, aiming a gun in his hand and cocking it. He lets the man hear that he’s there, he’s stone cold as the man quickly turns around at the sound, he stares the man down as he lets the man turn to face him
“H-hey i can give you money, anyth-” He shoots him directly in the face.
He doesn’t flinch as the blood sprays across his face, he doesn’t gag when the smell reaches him. He just stands there, the gun still raised where the man was and watches as the body falls back and to the ground, a pool of blood forming around it.
Maybe it’s the ringing in his ears, maybe it’s the fact he's in Gotham, that he's home and that he’s finally done with Slade but he can’t help but laugh at this moment.
His broken, insane laugh echoes throughout the alleyway as he feels the rain begin to fall around him, and for a moment he wonders if the sky is crying with him. as if at this moment the sky is crying with him. He drops the gun to the ground with a clank, and feels himself slowly sinking to his knees in front of the dead man, his broken laughter still escaping him as he feels tears begin to form in his eyes.
He’s overwhelmed by everything, he allows himself to feel everything as the laughter slows to a stop, it’s too much and he almost yanks his mask off so that he can breath, but that is when he hears the footsteps and feels the cold gun press to the back of his head, rain trickling down his hair and face.
“Now who are you?” The man pressing the gun to his head says, his voice rough, almost familiar in a way. Dick had studied Gotham’s crime after he died, one slight glance at the puddle of rain water below that shows the man’s reflection tells him who this is, Red hood, Crime alley’s guardian of sorts.
He slows his movement’s allowing Hood to see what he’s doing as he reaches into his jacket, he can feel the gun being shoved further into his head as he does so. He then very slowly pulls out files and hands them over to Hood, who takes them but keeps his gun focused on Dick’s head.
The files are Deathstrokes, his report of this client. The man had hired Slade all those years ago to kill his son, so he could gain custody of his grandson. The man only had to provide ‘evidence’ of abuse for Slade to agree, apparently he hated when people beat their own kids, ironic since Dick wasn’t an adult when Slade began to hit him.
A week into the mission, he discovered flaws in the man’s so-called evidence, and after some digging, he discovered the truth and tried to stop Slade; he can still remember the anger on Slade’s face when he made him miss, he can remember the pain when Slade dragged him back to their place and beat him within an inch of his life. Twelve days he spent laying on the cold floor, starving, crying and begging for Slade to come back so he wouldn’t die there, die alone.
On the twelfth day Slade stepped into the room with a medic kit and a plate of food. He never apologized for being wrong about the man, never said anything other than “you did good kid” he never asked Slade what had happened to the client, if Slade had killed him for lying but now, in the rain with the client's body infront of him, he knows he didn’t.
He feels the exact moment that Hood falters, the way the gun slightly falls but not entirely. He knows what he read in that moment, because he too faltered when he found that out. The grandfather had abused his son his entire childhood and those bruises on his grandson? From him when the son still allowed him to see the boy.
The Hood scoffs and pulls the gun away from his head, still keeping it out and slightly aimed at him. “Still don’t know who you are but I ain't no bat, so I’m not about to get upset over you killing a child abuser.”
Dick rises to his feet slowly as he turns to the man, the man ironically is wearing a red bat symbol on his chest despite not being a bat. Other than that observably bright red helmet that stood out like an eye sore.
“Are you done or do you need to stare at them longer?” his raspy voice rang out, as Hood stood staring at him, or at least he thought the man was staring at him before handing over the files.
Dick takes them and turns around and kneeling down and placing the files in the shirt pocket, he can hear the moment that it clicks for Hood as the man snaps his fingers.
“You are the one giving the justice league a headache aren’t you? The murderer is going around all those cities and killing a bunch of people and leaving files on the crimes of their victims.”
Dick scoffs and slowly stands, grabbing his gun and placing it into his hoister as he does so “Way to go Detective” he says sarcastically as the Red hood seemingly glares at him as Dick holds his stare, again he thinks he is but the helmet really makes that hard to judge.
“Look, i’ll let you go but if I find you killing anyone innocent in my terrority, I'll kill you.” he threatens as Dick rolls his eyes and nods his head. Walking towards a fire escape and yanking himself up, flipping over the rooftops much like how he did when he was nightwing leaving without another word to Red hood.
—-
It’s been a few weeks since that incident with the Hood, he hasn’t seen the man but he hasn’t exactly left Crime alley, look it’s hard enough already being in Gotham but to be in areas that the bats patrol more? Yeah not gonna happen. He’s been staying in his own safe house, he had set up many safehouses back when he was nightwing, most of them around the centric parts of Gotham, a few in Bludhaven and only really two in Crime alley.
Yeah the apartment was utterly horrible, the ceiling was falling apart, not enough he could see outside but enough he could see the support beams. Everything was covered in dust and the lights didn’t work but it was home for now.
Despite him being done with Slade’s clients, he isn’t done. He’s picked up an old case, one that he had started when he was nightwing sure it's been seven years but trafficking cases don’t exactly go away and from everything he’s gathered, Batman hasn’t dealt with it.
They’ve become more active recently, spreading throughout Gotham and hiding under names like Joker, The penguin and even scarecrow for their crimes, pinning the kidnappings on other well known villains and getting away with most of it. Sure he had files on this case years ago but that was in his Bludhaven apartment and well Bludhaven long gone, at least most of it.
He sighs, sitting back on the sofa staring at the news articles and police reports on the wall. If he was correct, their base of operations was the abandoned warehouse by the harbor but if he was incorrect it’s unlucky that he’ll get another chance to catch them off guard. Frowning, he runs a hair through his hair in frustration. He wished that Bruce had at the very least taken over his cases when he died, but he supposes it only fair that the ‘world greatest detective’ would miss a case this big.
He looks over at the counter and stares at his gear sitting there, he just wishes it was the Nightwing gear. Three months after Slade death, he had found himself standing outside of Gotham at night, staring at the bat symbol and wondering if he could just go home, if Tim would accept that everything he’s done was to get back to them, if Bruce would accept that he broke his rule over and over but ultimately he found himself staying away.
Dick was afraid that his family no longer would want this version of him, and that it wouldn’t feel like family because Jason still wasn’t alive, yes god he loved Tim, he killed the Joker for him (and Jason) but Bruce, he didn’t know, yes he hoped his entire time with slade that maybe Bruc- no Batman would care, that he figure it out and show up but he didn’t and apart of him was afraid Bruce wanted him dead.
Maybe he deserved it, maybe- he stopped himself, he can’t think like that. Yes Nightwing was dead but Renegade was still needed. So without another thought, he pulled his cowl on, his costume and gear and left, bound to the warehouse.
Being on the rooftops of Gotham was like riding a bike, he never forgot how to move through them. It didn’t matter he hadn’t practiced his acrobats in years or well really practiced, he still moved the same way he had as Robin, as Nightwing.
When he had arrived at the warehouse roof, he made his way through an open window as he quietly landed behind some boxes, instantly he could hear sounds of fighting, gunshots. Confused, he looked over the boxes and froze, standing there was a Robin? Or was that someone new, it was the design of a Robin suit but it had a RR on the chest and next to him was Red hood? The hell. This isn’t Crime alley.
“You just had to set off the alarm” Robin(?) said as he swept his staff under the goons face as Red hood scoffed.
“As if you have anything to say replacement, who broke the skylight” he grunted as Renegade found himself looking up at the skylight and sure enough, it was broken.
“Damn it O, you said this job would be easy!” Hood cursed once again as he shot another gang member in the shoulder, blood splattering across the ground.
“Stop complaining! At least we finally found this place!” Robin(?) said as he slammed the blunt end into a gang member's body, sending them into the wall with a thud.
“You’re the one who started it”
Renegade found himself just watching, shell shocked, the way they both fought was almost familiar in a way he couldn’t place.
He narrowed his eyes as he watched Robin(?) leap over a man and under another, making them smack into each other. The way he landed was rough but the moves, he knew those, they were his moves but he had only taught-
Tim? Is that his baby brother? God he looks so grown up.
Before Renegade could process that information, he spotted a laser that was aimed directly on Red Hood's chest, point blank. He froze as he hoped they would notice, but they were too busy, and that’s when he knew he was about to do something stupid. Without another thought, he found himself jumping over the boxes and landing on the ground in front of the two. Their heads snapping towards him in shock.
“What the-“
“who-”
Renegade all but thrust himself towards the hood, tacking the man to the ground as a gunshot echoed through the warehouse, Renegade let out a gasp of pain as it pierced through his shoulder, the pain overwhelming him for a moment as he hissed in pain.
“Hood!”
Tim's voice shouted as he rushed over to their side, Hood who with one arm around Renegade aimed his gun up at the man who shot at them and fired a single bullet in the man's chest.
“I'm a fine replacement.”
“Who the hell is this guy?” Tim hissed as Renega- No Dick felt his vision begin to blur. He looked to the slide, spotting Slade who’s standing over him, laughing with a smirk on his face “Playing hero again little bird?” god he wanna tell Slade to shove it.
He felt someone move him as his head began to spin, when had it become so hard to focus? “yo- kee-” the voices cut out as he felt a hand touch his face, smacking it slightly. He couldn’t get his eyes to focus, was it slade?
“Slade?” he slurred out the words right before his vision went black.
—
The first thing he noticed when he was awake, was that his arms were strapped down and that an Iv was hooked up into one of his arms, and the top half of his costume was gone along with all weapons, the other thing he noticed was how the bat cave hadn’t changed.
Sure there were more cases holding suits and more gear but it looked the same it did seven years ago. He almost thought he had died, if it wasn’t for the fact he could feel his mask and the searing pain in his shoulder, his now bandaged shoulder.
“What were you thinking!” a voice- no Bruce’s voice echoed throughout the cave as Dick found himself straining himself to look over, to find the man with the voice. He couldn’t though, his arms were preventing him from fully turning.
“He took a bullet for me, and I didn't think a hospital was suitable” Hood’s rough voice argued as Dick felt himself falter. Not a bat my ass. He thought to himself.
“He’s right B, the man jumped in front of a bullet for him and we couldn’t just leave him there.” Tim argued, as he heard Bruce huff, annoyed clearly. Dick felt his throat close up slightly as he looked down at the restraints.
He tugged at them, ignoring the searing pain in his shoulder as he did. He needed to get out of here before they finally decided to remove his mask. Yanking hard, he began to breathe heavily, he hated being trapped, he hated being restrained, years of being in Slade’s hold made sure of that.
“Still, don’t like that you didn't just bring him to a safe house, instead of the bat cave” Bruce grunted. Dick yanked hard on the restraints, letting out a cry of pain as he ripped the stitches. Dick snapped his head up as he froze. Damn it, he just let them know he was awake. Footsteps echo through the cave as Dick struggles more, freeing one arm as Hood comes around the corner.
“Woah Take it easy!’ he shouted as Dick yanked his other arm out, aware of how heavily his shoulder is now bleeding. Dick felt himself freeze as Batman rounded the corner, Bruce didn’t look like he aged a day.
“Move! He’s ripping his stitches” Tim shouted, practically shoving Bruce out of the way as he ran towards Dick. Dick eyes frantically looked around, before snatching a scalpel from a nearby table and aiming it at them, Hood instantly acted and pulled out his gun as Tim did a full stop.
“Back up!” he shouted as he shoved himself towards the headboard of the medical cot, he instantly felt Bruce’s eyes narrow at him from beneath the cowl.
“Red robin, suit!” Bruce shouted but Hood was quick to talk over him.
“Easy murder boy, just trying to make sure you don’t bleed out.” Hood hisses at him as Tim began slowly making his way over.
“How about we put the scalpel away and talk this out?” Tim suggests, his arms in the air as he slowly approaches. That is when Dick finally noticed he no longer was in the Robin suit, he was in civilian clothes, god it had been so long since he had seen Tim’s face, he’s older now longer than Jason ever made it and before he knows it with that thought, he’s faltering.
The moment he falters is when Bruce takes the opportunity, chucking a bat ranger at the scalpel knocking it out of his hands whilst slicing his hand slightly, Hood full on tackles him. Dick yells in pain as his arms are forcibly pulled behind him.
“Get off!” he shouts as he struggles against Hood, each movement of his shoulder is making the pain worse and by now his bandages are fully red.
He feels the prick in his neck before he could see Tim, who stepped back holding the syringe as Hood slowly released his grip on him.
“Explain who this is” Bruce's rough voice clearly aimed at Hood echoes as Dick feels himself begin to slip, between the blood loss and the sedation, it’s too much and once again he finds himself surrounded by darkness.
—
When he wakes again, he finds himself now in one of their holding cells, on a medical cot. His eyes struggle to focus as he lazily looks around, he brings a hand to his face and almost sighs in relief that his mask is still on.
“You're awake” Bruce says, startling Dick as he tries not to jump, his eyes quickly snapping over to Bruce who is sitting in a chair outside the containment cell, in full gear. Dick meets his gaze and finds himself unable to say anything,
“Hood told me you’ve been the one going around all these cities and murdering criminals.” he states, it isn’t a question. Dick finds himself nodding as Bruce glares for a second before continuing.
“Yet when it comes to Hood, you take a bullet.” another statement and again Dick nods. Bruce stares at him before letting out a sigh and standing up.
“You are staying until further notice.” And with that Batman walks away, leaving Dick alone.
Dick sighed and looked around, Bruce the ever vague he thought to himself.
He hated that he knew instantly escaping this cell was near impossible, in his early Robin day’s he had gotten himself locked in one of these and it took Bruce and Alfrend two days to find him and by the time they did, he was starving.
He slowly moved his feet to the edge of the cot, raising one hand to feel his wrapped shoulder as he frowned. He still doesn’t know what made him take a bullet for Hood, maybe it was the fact he took care of Tim in some manner or the way he felt familiar in another, either way he still didn’t understand it.
“You are the one who took the bullet for Hood.” a sudden voice spoke up again startling him as he looked over, freezing slightly as a kid stared at him, again not wearing a costume. Jezz did Bruce teach these kids nothing? He paused, really staring at the kid.
Wait a second, was that Talia’s kid? He watched as the kid's eyes scanned him and then seemed to realize something as well.
“Renegade, you- “ he paused as if to figure out his words. “I haven’t seen you since-” again he pauses, before finally saying. “You were always my best teacher” his words come off a bit more emotional than Dick would’ve thought. He felt a smile begin to creep up on his face.
A year in, Slade had taken him, they had ended back at the league of assassins and Talia for whatever reason had wanted him to train her son, so she and Slade struck a deal and Dick was tasked with training a four year old who could barely hold a sword.
“Hello, baby bird” he whispers, he knows that cameras are watching them but he can’t resist using the name. Damian stares at him with widened eyes before schooling the expression off and crossing his arms, placing himself on the ground in front of the glass.
“I still don’t know why you insist on calling me that ridiculous name” he muttered as Dick found himself standing and walking towards the glass before placing himself on the floor in front of it, sitting crisscrossed.
“What can i say, you reminded me of a baby bird “ he teased slightly, smiling. He remembers the little four year old Damian who charged at him with a sword, him stumbling over his feet like a baby bird learning its wings. He could remember the feeling that came over him as he realized how much Damian had reminded him of Jason, of Tim, of Bruce even.
“You never liked Gotham, are you on a mission?” Damian questions as Dick pauses, he knows he shouldn’t answer this, he knows Damian has somehow made his way into Bruce’s arms but he can’t stop himself.
“No missions baby bird, just on my own”
“And Wilson?”
“Dead”
He watches as Damian has a look of shock that passes across his face before nodding to himself at those words, he looks over his shoulder as if he’s looking to see if someone is there before turning back.
“I am glad, his behavior was that of Grandfather.”
Dick finds himself chuckling slightly as he nods. “I suppose”
Dick paused, staring at this grown up yet not quite Damian, he has a bruise on his face and suddenly Dick finds himself doing their old signal, he hits the ground four times. Safe? It was questioned and with two knocks from Damian safe. It was answered.
Dick felt relief as he leaned his forehead into the glass and Damian pressed his forehead into the glass back, another thing they had done in Damian’s younger years.
Dick doesn’t know how he and Damian had grown close, he supposes it was under their training, he at one point even got Talia to allow him to see the kid whenever Slade wasn’t around which wasn’t often. But then it had all changed and he never got to see Damian again, until now at least.
They sat like that for a while, enjoying the silence, both pressed against the glass, and Dick is reminded of their time in the league except this time one of them wasn’t in a cage.
But as all good things, it had to end. Eventually Damian got up and wiped away not so subtle tears and turned to leave but just as he did, he paused and without looking back at Dick, he spoke.
“They won’t hurt you, I promise, there is no reason to run.”
Stunned into silence, Dick watches him leave, feeling comforted by those words despite the fact he feels like he should know that.
—
It wasn’t long after Damian’s visit that Hood visited, carrying a tray of food, soup from the looks of it. Dick was back sitting on the cot, looking at his hands, at the scars. when Hood knocked on the glass. Dick didn’t look over as the man spoke.
“You’ve caused quite a stir, gotta admit I'm jealous, can't say I've seen B this agitated in sometime” Hood chuckles as he opens a small hatch on the bottom of the door and pushes the food through.
“And I thought you weren’t a bat.” He shoots back as he stands up slowly, going over and grabbing the tray.
Hood shrugged and sat in the chair Bruce put earlier. “I ain’t. We just work together.” Dick raises an eyebrow at him, clearly not believing him before shrugging and going back to the soup. Taking one sip, he instantly recognizes Alfred's famous chicken soup.
Hood smirks at him as Dick takes more sips, practically shoveling it down his throat. He can’t remember the last time he’s eaten something this good, let alone Alfred’s cooking, it almost makes him wanna cry. They sat there in silence for a while whilst Dick ate and Hood stared at him before finally he spoke up.
“So, why’d you take a bullet for me?”
Dick pauses mid sip to look at Hood, finding himself feeling more honest than usual, he answers. “I don’t really know.”
Hood stares at him, almost gobsmacked. Dick stares back as hood shakes his head at him. “You don’t know? You took a bullet for me and you don’t know?”
Dick shakes his head, shrugging as he takes another sip of the soup, his hands were shaking too much to use the spoon so he just lifted the bowl to his lips.
“No you have to know, it doesn’t make sense. I threatened you and-” Hood paused, staring at Dick’s hands before looking up. “You really don’t know,” he states. Dick says nothing.
Hood stares at him for a while before speaking, “I thought that’s why you were there, to gain my trust that you somehow found out I was there.” Hood pauses, shifting in his chair, an uncomfortable look.
“But you were there for the traffickers, weren’t you?” Dick refuses to meet Hood’s eyes, because he doesn’t need to. He can feel Hood’s eyes burn into him despite the helmet as Dick places the bowl down on the tray.
“I was, i was going to deal with them but you and Robin, were already there” he doesn’t elaborate more, he doesn’t need to.
“And you-” hood pauses, Dick can imagine the same expression on Damian's face earlier on this man’s as he tries to find the words. “You just decided to take a bullet for me?”
Dick nods, shrugging as if it isn’t a big deal which to him it isn’t but to Hood it seems as if it is. “I don’t understand it, I don't understand you. You are clearly an assassin, the way you move around makes that clear but that doesn’t explain why you would do that, for someone you don’t know”
Dick sighs and faces the hood, really looking at him. “I've been told I have a habit of playing savor.” is all he says and it doesn’t seem to help Hood at all as he seemingly grows more frustrated.
“No one does something without wanting something!” he now shouts, standing up abruptly. Dick again doesn’t know what this man wants him to say. He understands it, he gets it the man runs the Crime alley but the way he moves, the way he’s expressing his frustration, Dick can’t help but be reminded of a very young Jason, who was terrified of Bruce and in one Dick’s good moments as a brother, he expressed Bruce wanted nothing from him but for him to be safe and Jason like Hood reacted this way.
“I don’t want anything” he mutters as Hood freezes, staring at him. Before scoffing, walking away.
Dick watches him go as he sighs and shakes his head, leaning back in the cot, staring at the empty bowl on the tray. He wonders which prison Brucei s going to toss him in, Blackgate probably being the safest bet.
With those thoughts, he found himself drifting off.
–
Damian stood with Drake n staring at the camera’s with a frown. Father had forbidden him from going down to see Renegade not that it stopped him, but it was so odd to see Renegade this.. Defeated. Drake told him they had pulled a scalpel on them earlier on, but Damian knew Renegade, he knew that man would have killed them even in this weakened state but he chose not to. Not that Damian wanted them to.
Todd came in, clearly frustrated as he threw his helmet on the ground with a loud slam.
“So i am assuming, you didn’t find out the reason” Tim spoke up as Jason sat down next to him, in the chair staring at the camera’s with an annoyed look on his face.
“I did, but it doesn’t make sense.”
Damian raised an eyebrow at him, as if to say go on. Todd was annoyed but kept his gaze on the camera’s.
“He said he didn’t have a reason, he just did it.”
“Hard to believe, he mentioned Slade” Tim piped up as Damian frowned, it wasn’t to him because he knew Renegade, the man was foolish but kind in a way grandfather and his mother had never been.
“I know but the way he kept going on, it sounds-” Jason pauses, as he looks towards the both of them. “It sounds like Dick, the way he went about things” Damian frowns, as Tim eyes widen.
He never got to meet Richard, but from the way Todd and Drake always spoke of him, he was the best Robin and truly would’ve made a better Batman as Father put it.
“I know it isn’t him, i know Deathstroke killed him but god, Tim it sounds like him” Damian freezes, they never told him before who killed Richard and if it was truly Wilson then vengeance wasn’t possible anymore.
“It’s not, we know it’s not. Wally said there was too much blood, we saw the footage” Tim tone shook with each words as Damian, turned his gaze to Renegade who was now asleep, he could inform them that Wilson was dead so they wouldn’t have to worry but doing so would provide information that Renegade had trained him and he knew Todd wasn’t too fond his old trainers.
He turned towards his brother, Tim who had gotten up and was now hugging Jason who clearly was distressed. He looked back at Renegade then back at them before frowning.
“Deathstroke is dead” he states as Jason and Tim freeze, before snapping their eyes towards him wide with what looks like relief and fear.
“How do you know?”
“What?”
Jason speaks first, then Tim mutters the second, sounding breathless as Damian nods his head. “He is dead, I don't know how but” he pauses. Forgive me Renegade, he thinks to himself before pointing at the screen.
“He does.”
He watches as Tim stares at the screen bewildered as Jason eyes burn into him, searching for something and with Damian fidgeting, he finds it.
“You know him”
It isn’t a question but Damian nods regardless, feeling heat rise in his face almost as if he’s ashamed. Tim's eyes don’t leave the screen as he speaks.
“That’s why you asked me to let you speak to him alone, you knew him. I thought you were just gonna threaten him.”
Damian shakes his head, slightly backing up unsure how to go about this anymore.
“No, I did not at the time at least. But he- Renegade is one of my old teachers”
He sees anger rise in Jason’s face instantly as he stands quickly, “he laid hands on you?” Jason hands twitch quickly before going into a fist as Damian shakes his head.
“No it isn’t like that, if you forget Todd, you were also one of my teachers”
Jason flinches back at the reminder as Tim frowns, looking on at them. It was well known that during Todd’s time at the league, he and Damian met through his mother, but it was also something they didn’t like speaking about.
“He wasn’t like the others at the league To- Jason, i promise, just let me explain” Damian pleads, using Jason’s actual name to convey the point, he sees Drake's eyes widen.
Jason falters, sitting back down, nodding at Damian to keep going as Tim sits beside him finally having taken a seat. Damian takes a deep breath, glancing at the sleeping Renegade before explaining.
=-=-=-=
Damian was four when he met Renegade, it had been a few days after he overheard his mother arguing with grandfather. “If he is to be the true heir, it’s only fitting he’s trained by him!” she argued as his grandfather disagreed, shaking his head at her. Apparently they came to an agreement cause not even four days later a man arrived, with a smaller man next to him.
“Thank you for coming, Wilson.” his mother spoke as Wilson scoffed, nudging the young man next to him forward. “I only did this cause you asked for your favor”
Damian remembers staring at the man from behind his mothers legs, he remembers seeing the horrible bruises that decorated across his skin, he instantly recognized the lazarus green in his blue eyes.
“Damian, meet your new teacher. Ri-” his mother cut off by a sharp shake of the head from Wilson, she rolls her eyes and scoffs.
“Renegade” she said the name with such distaste, Damian at the time didn’t know how to process it. Was he supposed to respect his teacher or hate him because of his mother’s tone?
Wilson harshly slapped the back of Renegade’s head as if to get him to speak up.
“Hello, Damian,” the man spoke, his tone slightly raspy and Damian couldn’t help but wonder if the bruises around his neck had to do with it. He nodded at the man. His mother clapped her hands together as she went over, taking Wilson's arm.
“We’ll leave you alone to get to know each other.”
Damian watched his mother leave with a slight unease as he turned to face Renegade, he noticed the softness in the man’s eyes. “Seems i’m going to be your teacher”
And at the time, he couldn’t help but think, well duh.
“How old are you?” Renegade asked and Damian scoffed, crossing his arms.
“Four”
He watched as the color drained from Renegade’s face before he finally nodded, a few moments later a few servants brought katana’s into the room, handing Renegade’s his first and then Damian who struggled to hold it.
He remembers the first time he tried charging at Renegade with the katana and him tripping over it or it falling out his hands, eventually Renegade laughed and smiled at him.
“Clumsy little bird, Hold it a little higher. You got this”
And despite the fact, he was embarrassed at how Renegade laughed at him. He believed the man’s words. And so when he ran with the katana at the target the next time, he didn’t trip or drop the katana, he even managed to land a hit on it.
He remembers looking over at Renegade with a huge smile on his face, as Renegade chuckled and ruffled his hair at the time he flinched and instantly began apologizing and trying to hand Renegade the katana to punish him as his mother had done, his grandfather and all previous teachers.
But he just looked at Damian, with an expression Damian can’t understand to this day and shook his head.
“I’m not gonna hurt you baby bird, i promise”
From that day on, they spent countless days, weeks training together. Days where Wilson was gone, Renegade would sneak into his room and tell him stories, of heroes, of villains.
He remembers thinking it was dumb, that how could anyone ever believe someone can fly but the way he had spoken of it was as if it was true. And despite the man being his teacher, he never once punished Damian, not once, he even took Damian’s punishments.
He had broken one of his katanas and his grandfather wasn’t pleased, he remembers him shouting before Renegade stepped in front and properly declared he had broken it. He remembers feeling so utterly confused by why Renegade would take his punishment, he didn’t see the man for three days after and when he came back, he just shrugged it off and told him.
“Better me than you.“
Four months in, in the middle of the night. Damian had woken to Renegade frantically shaking him awake, he remembers rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he looked up at the man.
“Renegade?” he whispered, confused and disoriented.
“Yeah it’s me, baby bird. Come on, let's get you up”
Is all he said when he picked Damian up, shifting Damian’s head onto his shoulder. Damian being four and tired, clinged to the man.
Renegade was dressed in his newly fitted uniform that Wilson had gotten him at the time, and Damian at the time thought it was odd but chose to say nothing.
He looked on tiredly as Renegade carried him out of his room and down the hallway, the thought had crossed his mind to ask where they were going but there was such a trust with the man that he felt it wasn’t needed.
Maybe if he had, this wouldn’t have been their last night together.
He remembers Renegade ducking behind doorways and hallways when guards had passed them, he doesn’t know when his eyes closed but one moment they were in a dimly lit hallway and suddenly they were outside.
The snow bit at his nose and he buried his head into Renegade’s shoulder.
“Renegade’s it's cold” he whined as Renegade shifted him in his arms.
“I know baby bird, i know but we are almost the-”
Out of nowhere, suddenly a scream echoed from Renegade’s voice as he was sent to his knees, making Damian stumble out of his arms and into the snow.
“Renegade?!” he shouted in panic as Renegade kept screaming, holding his head as sobs began to force themselves through the screaming.
“I thought we were over this flightless bird.”
A voice spoke up from behind him, Damian remembers turning around with wide eyes as Wilson stood there, holding a remote with a smug look on his face as Renegade’s body suddenly collapsed, the screams stopping as the man’s eyes rolled to the back of his head.
“Renegade!” he screamed, trying to get to the man when all sudden his mother yanked him away and into her arms. He remembers fighting to look at Renegade, to see if the teacher, the only person who ever was kind to him, was alive.
But his mother just forced him to look away as Wilson passed by them, going towards Renegade. She held his head close to her as she whispered.
“Shh, my little Khafash, you don’t have to worry about him” and with his mothers words, she walked away with Damian in his arms and he never saw Renegade again.
=-=-=-
By the time he finally finished explaining, he felt breathless. He had thought he had gotten Renegade killed all those years ago, he spent years grieving the only person who seemed to actually care about him.
The silence from Todd and Drake, made him slowly look up at those who were staring at him in horror, eyes wide with tears in them, Todd looked close to murder and Drake looked on the verge of wanting to hug him.
“I was weak at the time, and I thought I had gotten him killed. Clearly I was wrong” he states as Jason shifts, standing up and approaching Damian, before hugging him so tightly, Drake swiftly follows.
“It wasn’t your fault” Dr- Tim whispered as Jaso nodded in agreement. Damian froze, feeling tears begin to gather in his eyes.
“Your brothers are right, I wish you had told me you felt this way earlier” a voice spoke up from behind him, eyes widening, straining his head to look behind him as Jason’s arms tighten around him. Standing there was Bruce, with a soft somber look on his face.
Damian broke from Jason and Tim’s hug, facing his father.
“F-Father i-”
A small shake of the head from Bruce stopped him as Damian looked to his feet, feeling the heat rise in his face.
“He doesn’t owe you an explanation. “ Jason hissed from behind him, placing a hand on Damian's shoulder, a way of comfort.
“No he doesn’t, I just wish I had known.” Damian looks on in shock as Bruce kneels in front of him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“I wish i had been there for you” he pauses, looking behind at Tim and Jason who are in just as much shock as he is.
“For all of you”
Jason shifts from beside him, seemingly uncomfortable as Tim finally having the courage, decides to pipe up.
“So us now knowing this, what are we gonna do with Renegade”
With one glance they all made towards the monitor, and for the first time ever with this family, everyone was silent and unsure what to do next.
–
What Dick wasn’t expecting when he woke up was to see Alfred standing there, having clearly come in to take the bowl.
“A-Alfred?” He whispered, still sluggish with sleep. Not realizing his mistake as the older man turned to him with wide eyes, his eyes scanning him before speaking.
“I apologize young sir, but i don’t believe the others told you my name”
And all of a sudden a knife was at his neck. Alfred staring down at him threateningly with narrowed eyes.
“So you best tell me how you know this” Dick frozen with shock, could do nothing but stare at the man, this was his grandfather, a man he knew to be kind and never once threaten to harm him.
The knife dug deeper in his throat as Alfred went to speak when all sudden, the sound of the door being thrown open and Damian’s voice rang out.
“Alfred! Don’t hurt him!” He sounded out of breath and with the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching echoed.
“Alfred!” Bruce’s voice echoed and with one last glare, Alfred pulled away, swiftly shoving the knife into his pocket and dusting himself off.
“My apologizes, Master Damian and Bruce but he seems to know something, he shouldn’t”
Dick felt himself gulp as he nervously looked in between Alfred and Bruce as they argued in a code he technically wasn’t supposed to know. Then all a sudden, Hood- no Jason? Came around the corner, Tim next to him and Dick couldn’t breath.
His eyes scanned every feature in Jason’s face, he looked older yes but was there the lazarus green in his eyes that Dick knew too well, although there was a lot more green than his own. But without a doubt, that was his brother, his baby brother.
“Jason?” His words came out breathless, as everyone in the room's eyes darted to him, Alfred looked even more murderous, Bruce and Tim were scanning him looking for something, Damian was looking between him and Jason as if he had to make sure that he heard Dick’s words right. And Jason, his brother, his baby brother was looking at him confused.
Before he knew it, he was stumbling out of the cot and approaching Jason rapidly, reaching his hand out to the man’s face as Jason looked even more confused.
Bruce moved to get in between them but Alfred for whatever reason stopped him.
“Y-You are alive? How? When?” he muttered, as Jason uncomfortably shifted trying to move away from Dick.
“I got better” is all he said as Damian moved to his side, taking Dick’s arm.
“Renegade, you know him?”
Renegade laughed, a bit crazily as he looked around at his family who were all staring at him, before settling on Jason with tears in his eyes he spoke.
“Know him? That’s my baby brother and he’s alive” he all but sobbed out as Jason's eyes grew more confused and a bit angry, everything around them blurring as Dick reached towards him.
Damian stilled beside him as Tim stepped up to him, grasping Dick’s arms, pulling him away from Jason.
“Explain”
Bruce grunted from behind him and Dick being so desperate, all but yanked his mask off, finally revealing his face however scarred it was.
“Master-” Alfred began.
“Dick?” Jason finished, his words sounding breathless as Tim startled, pulled away with wide eyes, his eyes frantically scanning him, looking for some kinda trick.
“Hi Timmy”
And that’s all it takes for Tim to rush into his arms, all but tackling Dick into a hug, Jason quickly following, their arms hugging him unbelievably tight as sobs echo from them, Dick holds them unbelievably tight. Dick noticed Damian shuffling on his feet beside him all but yanked Damian into the group hug, who clung to him as tight as his other brothers did.
“Dick?” Bruce’s shaky voice echoed, sounding terrified as he turned his head towards the man, still holding onto his siblings who weren’t about to let him go anytime soon. Bruce was staring at him with a hand to his mouth and tears in his eyes, Alfred was looking at him the same way.
“It’s been awhile Bruce”
And that’s all it takes for Bruce to yank all of them into a hug, Alfred standing aside, hovering and frantically checking him, apologizing over and over for almost slitting his throat.
“You’re alive, my boys are alive”
“Jesus old man, can’t say i ever heard you cry” Jason teases despite his own tears, both of them holding on Dick tightly.
There are words whispered between them, words that are left unspoken, his family is clinging to him and all but tugging him upstairs, refusing to leave his side, Alfred instantly off to cook more food as his family refuse to leave his side. A lot of tears are shed even some from Damian who will deny it later despite the fact it’s all true.
And Dick for the first time in seven years, feels like he’s home.