Raising a Demon

Ch.11

(A/N)  I put in a few lines from the Son of Batman series where Damian is hostile against Bruce, see if you can find them. They're pretty well hidden, but good luck anyway.

- 3RD PERSON -

November 12, 2014. 10:50 AM, Percy's apartment.

"So what is it that you want to know?" Percy asked, tenderly gazing at the young boy in front of him.

Damian had always thought of what he was going to ask his father, but the sudden opportunity made him tongue-tied.

The two of them decided to converse in the living room, but the silence between them made it hard to even begin. Percy was sitting comfortably on the couch, while Damian sat next to him in a very rigid position.

His mouth had been open for a while but nothing came out, instead just continued to gap at his father. Percy couldn't withhold his chuckle when the boy turned a light shade of pink. Turning away from the amused adult, Damian spoke in a surly tone, "I want to know how you met my mother."

Percy tensed, averting his eye's from the boy's expectant stare. He cleared his throat to rid himself of the nerves, "W-Well... its complicated, but-"

"Why are you hesitant?  Are you trying to think up an excuse? Grandfather said that you-"

"Quit trying to bring your grandfather into this." Percy snapped, careful to glare at the ground rather than the boy.

"But he said-"

"Damian. Whatever your grandfather told you couldn't possibly be true. He most likely said those things to keep you from thinking too frequently of me." Taking a long deep breath, Percy managed to calm himself enough to say, "I only met your mother because of an incident I had with your grandfather."

"Incident?" Damian asked with a raised eyebrow. He hadn't expected his father to be compliant, but now he was eager to hear any kind of explanation he could draw out of the adult.

"Yes, 'incident'. He purposely harmed my mother and step-father in hopes to try and get me to join him. He knew that I would do anything for my family, so he used it to his advantage."

"You're willing to do anything?" Damian asked subtly, avoiding as much eye contact as he can.

"Yes. It's a particular flaw of mine." He chuckled bitterly, rubbing the back of his neck to get rid of the goosebumps forming. "One that could bring my death or the death of others."

"I don't understand. Why are you concerned about this?"

"..." The son of Poseidon hesitated, but the answer had been engraved in his skull since the day he could understand the true concept of death. "I would prefer to die trying to protect the innocent, rather than having their death on my conscience."

Damian recoiled; a familiar shiver rolled down his spine as he stared at his trembling hands. The cleansed palms were flickering between the hallucination of them being drenched in a particular red liquid. The amount of overflow seemed endless as it continued to stain his fingers with the blood of his victims.

Their screams of pain and suffering echoed through his ears, while his vision was clouded with the moisture of his tears. Covering his ears didn't help at all; it just made it louder. His chest felt tight, trying to numb away the frequent chills that slithered up his skin.

He had been so absorbed in his episode that he didn't realize that his father was trying to comfort him. Percy was holding him by his waist as one of his hands rubbed comforting circles on his hand.