Silence Speaks Volumes

A Young Assassin's Return (Pt. 2)

The next morning, the household noticed Damian's new addition. That's how they knew Jason must have been visiting this whole time. He kept closer tabs on the family than he'd ever admit.

The boy followed Tim all day. Tim didn't mind since that meant the boy wasn't hiding. He kept his distance, but he was always in Tim's eyeline. Tim suspected Jason had something to do with that too. He noticed Damian sucking on something.

"What're you eating?" The boy was sitting on the floor with his doll and a book, All the Light We Cannot See . Damian didn't answer, so Tim came over. The boy backed away. Tim put his hands up as a sign of peace. "What's in your mouth?" Damian pushed the doll over to Tim. Tim picked it up and examined it. He noticed a secret compartment. He unzipped it and saw the candy. It looked normal, but probably wasn't. Tim wanted to test it. "May I have one?" Damian didn't protest when he took one, so he assumed it was okay. He put the doll back on the ground for Damian to pick up and headed to the cave. Damian picked the doll up and followed Tim.

When they got to the cave, Tim started doing the tests, and Damian messed around with a car. Bruce had been trying to fix it, but he couldn't figure out the problem. Damian had never formally learned mechanics, but it always made sense to him.

The candy had a lot of vitamins and protein in it. Tim figured Jason had to special make those. The nutrients in it could easily substitute a day of eating and satisfy a stomach. It must be long lasting too since Damian's was still sucking it.

Tim stuck the sample in a bag to show Bruce later. Alfred came in to cleaning while they were still down there. "Boys," Alfred said as he began to tidy up the main desk.

"Hey, Alfred," Tim said.

"What're you all doing down here? I believe your mission briefing is not for another couple of hours."

"I was just testing this." Tim held up the plastic bag. "It's a candy Damian was eating. I think Jason made it."

"How do you figure that?" Alfred grabbed the bag and examined the candy.

"It's rich with enough nutrients to replace over three meals. The caloric qualities must also have been tailored for maintenance." Alfred nodded and gave Tim the bag back.

"I believe Master Bruce tried to make something like this a few years ago. He never could get it right." Alfred smiled. He's sure Jason would love to know that.

"I guess Jason finished it."

"Master Bruce never shared his findings." So it was an original. Jason may actually come home. If only to rub it in Bruce's face.

"How do we contact Jason? Dick called his number, so he's probably changed it. It took us 6 months to find that one." Alfred nodded his head at Damian. The boy was oblivious to their conversation. Tim smiled and mouthed 'Thank you.' He walked towards Damian. The boy looked up immediately. Tim stopped.

"Do you have Jason's phone number?" Damian looked back down and continued to tinker with the car. "What're you doing to the car?" Damian came from under the car. He didn't have one speck of oil on himself. He got in the car and started it. It worked perfectly. The horrible coughing sound was no more. Tim was in awe.

Damian hopped out the car and picked up his doll from where it sat on the floor. He walked up the stairs. "Where're you going," Tim asked as he followed. Damian went in his room and shut the door in Tim's face. Tim knocked on the door, but Damian didn't open it back.

Jason was already there. "Hey, Demon. Whatcha been up to?" Damian sat down against his bed. "Did you like the candy?" Jason gave smirk. Damian nodded. Jason heard Tim knock. "Replacement calling... i'm sure they know I come at this point." Damian didn't move to open the door. Jason sat down in front of the boy. It was a bit closer than the day before. He was pretty sure Damian noticed, but the boy didn't seem to mind. He mostly just looked at Jason when the man came. "Did the candy help?" Damian nodded. Jason looked at Damian's ankle.

He noticed it the night before, but figured he'd leave it for today. He wanted to make sure it was healing right and he doubted the boy let anyone else look it over. "Do you mind?" Jason gestured at the ankle. Damian curled up a bit. "Does it hurt?" The boy didn't answer. "Can I see it?" Damian stared at Jason for a long time before nodding slightly. Jason got up and came close enough. Damian's breathing picked up a bit."It's okay," Jason said calmly. He carefully touched the ankle. The boy winced. Jason set the ankle then wrapped it gingerly. Jason sat by Damian. The boy let him. He heard Tim knock again. Damian went under the bed. Jason rolled his eyes. Why was his replacement always stopping progress? Jason got up and opened the door. Tim was surprised to Jason.

"You're--"

"Not relevant. Why're you here?"

"I was--"

"Go away. We're busy."

"What're you doing?"

"We were making progress, but, thanks to you, we've regressed."

"With what?" Jason closed the door in Tim's face. Damian was still under the bed.

"Hey, you gonna come back out," Jason asked softly. Damian shook his head. "It's just me." Damian studied Jason again. He slowly crawled back out. Jason returned to his usual spot. Damian was staring into the distance. Everything flashed. It wouldn't stop flashing sometimes. Like, when there were loud noises, or someone popped up. Damian couldn't be weak. His grandfather said weakness would get him killed. Damian looked at Jason. What Ra's wouldn't know couldn't hurt him, right? Damian crawled over to Jason and sat in the man's lap. Jason smiled. Damian laid his head back on Jason's chest. They sat there for a while. Damian basking in the touch he missed, and Jason seeing more of the brother he'd known.