Blessing In Disguise

Fifteen

I wake up before dawn the next day. The train has stopped, and I study signs that I can see without leaving the train. I wouldn't want to be left behind, would I? I decide there are two more stops before we can get off.

Damian is curled up beside Dick. He's dreaming, or so I deduce by the flicker of his closed eyes in the moonlight. I hope he will sleep peacefully tonight, without nightmares, because I need him to rest. If we get into another fight we'll need everyone to help. I can't bank on rescue, especially if it puts my brothers on the line.

Tim is on Dick's other side. I know my elder always wanted to be a big brother, and I did fulfill that wish once. But with Tim to baby, I've lost my role. Not to mention Damian.

I feel so out of place here. Dick is, of course, ready to welcome me home. But Tim's adjusted to having my roles as the younger of two, and honestly, I'm not too happy with coming back to him here either. And Damian's just trying to get comfortable in an entirely new world. I just hope things all end up alright for all four of us.

It's sunrise when we leave the train. We slip into crowds, as discreet as possible, and vanish into a busy city. Dick follows streets he's obviously walked before with Tim at his heels. The teen is still clutching that duffel.

I take Damian's hand tightly and weave my way through the hordes of people. It's too fast-moving for me here, and I've lived in the heart of Gotham. I wonder how I ever did that.

An apartment building proves to be our destination. Dick walks into the lobby and asks for Iris and Barry Allen. I pick Damian up when he complains that his feet hurt, and Tim takes my hand while the youngest is on my hip. Dick leads us to an elevator, and hefts Tim onto his shoulders.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't think he was meant to be a big brother.

We get to the apartment and are greeted by a whirlwind of red hair known as Bart Allen. He drags Tim off, and the huge bag is dropped in the doorway. Dick picks it up and sets it beside the couch, where Iris gestures to. Then she takes control, sending Damian to take a "warm bath, because you look like you need it, poor little thing."

Then she offers to let Dick get some sleep in her and Barry's room, and he disappears. I am fed another good meal, like the one I had at the Kents. I thank Iris repeatedly.

She tells me it's nothing. "Best we can all do, we're gonna do. Your dad's given Barry a lot of help, heaven only knows how much he's invested in Clark. We're gonna pay him back by getting you all back to him. Barry and I can only take you for a little while, since we know there's somebody on your tails, so Ollie and Artemis are coming to get you."

This doesn't surprise me. I confirm her thought, that we are being chased, by reminding her who Damian is. "Yeah. Ra's has a bunch of people following us to get Damian. He's Talia and Bruce's kid, so Ra's decided that the kid belongs to him."

"Do you mind me asking why? I mean, Talia, the enemy's daughter?"

"Yup," I say, nodding. "They had a fling a while back. She's still into him but I think he's over her by now. Damian... Dami's just caught in the crossfire of their little war."

It's not long after that Ollie and Artemis arrive. We're loaded into the back of an SUV, an inconspicuous white one, and driven to the airport. A jet awaits us there, one of the Wayne ones, and I curl up by a window. Damian's sitting on Dick's lap while he explains something to Ollie. Tim and Artemis are discussing current events within the Titans.

I get a quite absentminded and I let go of my senses for a bit. After how fast things have been moving, just to keep the four of us out of trouble, I'm too tired to function. I miss home, or at least how it used to be. I vaguely hear Dick say something, but I can't focus. My own name, I recognize, but everything else sounds like it's underwater.

All of a sudden, I'm getting sick. Whatever's going on is beyond me by now. I can't bring myself to focus anymore.

My eyesight is fuzzy, a haze at best. Everything sounds like something between static and rushing water. I can taste fire from the puke and I keep convulsing. Nothing stays down. I can't feel anything.