Silence Speaks Volumes

A Young Assassin Has a Scare

The homework became a routine. Tim left it outside Damian's bedroom door and it was done and on Tim's desk when the teenager came back from patrol. He wondered if Damian minded, but he didn't think the boy did. There was no indication in the homework anyway. Eventually, Bruce found out. "Tim, you can't have him do your homework."
"Why? It keeps him out of trouble and saves me time. You're always saying I need more sleep."
"He shouldn't have to do your homework."
"It was Jason's idea, and Damian didn't object."
"Tim--"
"Alfred said he finishes it an hour after I leave for patrol. The kid's smarter than I am Bruce! Let him exercise his strongest muscle, the brain." Bruce rolled his eyes. Damian was sitting at the other side of the room. Bruce never knew if he listened to their conversations. He was pretty sure the boy accepted it as white noise.
"Damian," Bruce called. Damian looked up. Fear sparked in his eyes, but quickly went away. " Tim needs to do his own homework." Damian blushed.
"Don't you like it, Damian?" Damian looked down at where he was doing Tim's math. "See, Bruce? He likes it." Bruce looked at the papers.
"You're doing it right now? Tim, I thought you gave it to him before we went on patrol?"
"The teachers say it's smart to get ahead. That's next weeks." Damian continued to do the homework. Bruce went to take it and give it to Tim, but Tim stopped him.
"He doesn't like us getting close," Tim whispered. Bruce nodded and stood back. He sometimes forgot. "He's only ever let Jason get closer than eight feet."
"Then why isn't Jason here more often," Bruce asked.
"You," Tim said bluntly. He figured ripping off the band aid was the best approach.
"He needs to be here if he's the only one that's made any progress."
"Dick's probably your best bet on getting him short of Damian." They walked out. Damian followed as usual.
"Tim, I'm not going to ignore the fact that he won't even let us near him."
"Jason's working on it. Why do you think he follows us? Plus, the candy he made makes the every other day eating not an issue."
"It's not good."
"It's not, but we have to be patient." Tim smirked. "Remember that? When I was training to be Robin you were all like: 'Be Patient. You can get killed if you move too soon.' You said everything could get me killed. I only believed you because of Jason." Damian walked into the cave and parked himself by the car. He was homeworkless, so Tim knew he was done. He looked at Bruce pleadingly.
"Get your homework." Bruce sighed with frustration.
"Thanks," Tim yelled to Damian as he went upstairs. Bruce walked up to Damian. Damian backed away to create a gap.
"Damian, come here." Damian stayed away. "I'm not going to hurt you." Damian stayed still. Bruce walked a bit closer and Damian bolted. Bruce wasn't able to catch him. Tim came back down a minute later.
"Where's Damian?" Bruce was scratching his head. "What did you do‽"
"I--"
"You realize it takes us hours to find him. Those are on good days in which he'll let us find him. Wasn't it enough that he even stayed with us‽ Ra's messed him up so much that he's scared of us, but he still stayed around so that we knew where he was." Tim pulled his phone out. "Of course Jason's not answering." Tim went on the comms. "Red Hood, come in."
"Stop calling me. There is literally a whole network of Gotham heroes. I'm an ANTI-hero. I kill. I'm a horrible person. Don't call me."
"We need help finding Damian."
"Let me guess, B messed up? He'll come back."
"Can't you just come do that magic thing where you call his name and he comeswithin five minutes?"
"You're out of luck there. I'm busy. He'll come back. Goodbye." Tim rolled his eyes. Why'd he have to be so difficult.
...
Jason went to look for Damian. He wasn't going to tell Tim that though. Of course they messed things up. That's all they ever did. Jason knew it wasn't Tim's fault, but he didn't like Tim, so he was going to group the teenager with Bruce.

Jason has a tracker in the Red Hood doll. He knew it would come in handy. The boy brings it everywhere, so he luckily had it when he fled. Jason tracked him to an apartment in the upper class part of Gotham. He was pretty sure it was Talia's. He picked the lock and came in. Damian must have been hiding since he wasn't in any of the rooms. "Damian," Jason called. "It's just me." Jason went around looking for clues to where the boy may be. "B's sorry he scared you... You can stay with me tonight if you like." Jason heard nothing. He sighed and turned around to see Damian sitting in the corner. That kid was a ninja inside and out. Jason smiled. "There you are." Damian was thinking about something. Jason couldn't tell what. Damian popped a candy in his mouth. Jason held his hand out. He tried something new every time they saw each other. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it went horribly wrong. It just depended on the day. Damian didn't take Jason's hand, but he did walk over to him and grabbed the corner of Jason's shirt. They walked out the apartment and down to Jason's car. Damian sat in the backseat.

Jason drove to his favorite apartment of his seven. Damian planted himself in the corner of the living room. Jason, deciding to stop torturing Bruce and Tim, called. "I have the demon. Goodbye!"
"Wait, where'd you find him?"
"That's not important. He's staying with me tonight."
"Ja--" Jason hung up. He hated small talk.... And people. He doesn't like them much either.
"Have you eaten," he asked Damian. Damian didn't answer. Jason made him a sandwich. He sat it on the floor five feet away from the boy. Damian stared at it. "It's not laced with drugs or anything. It's just a normal sandwich." Damian continued his staring. Jason just rolled his eyes and went to make his own.

Someone was knocking on the door an hour later. Jason walked past Damian on his way. The boy had eaten the sandwich. He was playing with the doll. Jason looked through the peephole to see Dick Grayson. Jason groaned to show his displeasure. "Jay? I know you're here." Jason opened the door.
"Why are you here?"
"B told me Dami was here, so I came to visit."
"He sent you."
"What do you think? Hi, Dami!" Dick waved at the boy. Damian just studied the man. "May I come in?" Jason looked back at Damian. The boy was napping now. That was fast.
"I guess so." He moved out of the doorway to let Dick in.
"So apparently B nearly cornered him and he bolted."
"Okay..."
"B wants him back, but I told him to wait a bit." Jason nodded.
"You're telling me this because..."
"If it weren't for me, no one would keep you in the loop. Now, you're going to keep me in the loop." Jason still looked confused. "What've you been doing with Dami?"
"Nothing really. I just talk to him and he listens."
"What's the doll for?" Jason shrugged.
"Comfort item."
"Tim told me the candy was a meal replacement." Jason nodded.
"Well yeah. If he wasn't going to eat a more permanent solution was needed. It's better than a feeding tube."
"That was smart." Jason blushed and shrugged. Dick looked at the sleeping Damian. "He lets you touch him?"
"Kinda. Really only when he's hurt. I sit a bit closer to him each time. He hasn't reacted badly to that." Dick nodded.
"Good job, Jay." Jason rolled his eyes.
"Really, Dickie?" Dick just chuckled.
"Mind if I stay a bit?"
"Sure I guess. I have to go run some errands." Jason grabbed his jacket and walked it the door. Dick sat on the sofa and watched Damian for a bit. What had Ra's done that had made the boy act this way? He'd obviously had a bit of PTSD the first time around, but it was much more severe now.

About an hour later, Damian woke up. Dick was watching TV at that point. He looked over at Damian. "Hey, buddy. Jay had to run some errands." Damian still had a look of indifference. He sat back up in his corner and played with his doll again. The toy could keep the boy occupied for hours. No one knew why. "You don't have to stay in the corner." Damian looked up then looked back down. His eyes had met Dick's for a minute.