Friend or Foe?

Chapter 12

(Warnings: Self-Hatred and Self-Harm)

After his little talk with Alfred, Bruce ended up paying more attention to Damian's behavioral patterns. Dinner the night after was very awkward and silent. He knew he would have to talk to the boy soon, as he had promised Alfred he would, but he wanted a chance to observe him. As soon as he was actively observing the young teen, he noticed how different the boy looked. It was an extremely subtle change, or maybe that's just what he told himself, to validate why he hadn't noticed before.

The boy's expression seemed off, less alive maybe. His knuckles had small scabs that looked to be peeling off, and some nearly faded bruises that you wouldn't notice unless you were actively looking. Was it just Bruce, or was the boy wearing makeup? Which wasn't odd on its own, since they often had to cover up bruises from patrol, but he hadn't remembered Damian getting any hits in the face recently. Or maybe he was distracted and wasn't paying attention when it happened. Aside from his appearance itself, the boy was oddly silent and barely touched his food.

As Bruce observes his son once again, during breakfast the next morning, he notices the same themes as before. How long has he been like this? It suddenly occurs to him that the boy has seemed quieter for at least a week, ever since they had that argument and Bruce benched him. Is that when it started? He'd assumed that the kid was just trying to be respectful, to get back into his father's favor and earn Robin back.

Damian barely acknowledges Bruce, his gaze seemingly distracted, as if stuck in thought. Bruce picks himself up from leaning against the counter and heads closer to his son. He places a hand on the boy's shoulder, "Have a good day at school." He states a tad softer than his usual neutral or dark tone. Damian looks up at him with a bit of a spark in his eyes, and Bruce suddenly realizes how dull they had been just a moment ago. Bruce walks out and begins thinking about the more serious talk he's planning to have with Damian.

—A little later, with Dick, Jason, and Tim—

"All right, spit it out. Why'd you bring us here?" Jason demands sternly. Tim sighs, uncrossing his legs and leaning forward with his elbows against the table, holding his hands together. "All right... look, I took Damian out. And it didn't go well." Tim states with a somewhat serious tone. Both Dick and Jason sit up more, "The Demon Spawn? Of course it didn't go well." Jason states with a bit of a snicker. Tim's expression doesn't falter. "Okay fine, what do you mean by 'didn't go well'?" Jason inquires as he shifts to fold his arms with an eyebrow raised. "Honestly, we were having fun, and as hard as it is to believe, he seemed happy."

"That sounds like it went well." Jason states dismissively. Dick gives Jason an unamused expression. Jason sighs before shifting into a more serious expression and stays quiet as if waiting for Tim to continue. "Riley and some dude showed up, said his name was Travis. He seemed friendly enough, but there was definitely something off about him, and Damian seemed really uncomfortable." Tim states with a serious tone and a hint of concern in his expression. "You think this guy has something to do with the Brat's recent behavior?" Jason questions with an unsure expression. Tim sighs, "I'm not really sure, but there's definitely something going on. And this guy is involved somehow. Speaking of which, Riley seemed off as well. He's probably involved as well." Tim states before the three of them go quiet for a second.

"You look like you have more to say." Dick states, putting his hand on Tim's shoulder. Tim sighs, "He thinks I'm just pitying him. I want to reach out again, but I think he'll just push me away again." Tim states with frustration and a bit of concern. Before either Tim or Dick can say anything more, Jason speaks up again. "You want to help him, you got to find out what's going on. Stop walking on eggshells and start being direct." Jason states, as if it's obvious. "You say that like it's easy. This is Damian we're talking about." Tim states with an unamused expression while Dick sighs.