Hey Brother

Chapter Eleven

It had been nearly two hours since Alfred came in and informed the family of Jason's disappearance and Bruce has not let Damian out of his sight since, fearing the twelve year old would run off to find his older brother.

He was right, of course.

Damian grunted, looking out the window in the library where the family had set up shop while they waited for the police to show up. The police were taking their sweet time getting to the manor and that was making Damian angrier.

"What good is having a police force if they are not doing their jobs?" He snarled, whipping around from the window to glare at his family. "Why have they not arrived? Jason could be hurt for all we know and the police are dilly-dallying!"

Selina sighed, leaning forward on her elbows. "Damian, the police are very busy. Plus, they claim that Jason is technically not a missing person because-"

"He has not been gone for twenty-four hours, I know." Damian hissed. "But he is clearly in distress and has run away. That should warrant concern."

Barbara looked up from her phone. "Do you have any idea of where he would go?"

Damian scoffed. "We never left our house grounds when we lived with mother, he doesn't know of anywhere to go." Damian turned around to stare back out the window, debating in his head whether he should tell his family about the phone call from his mother when an idea popped into his head. He glanced at the reflection in the window, watching his family carefully as he thought over his words. "Father, do you know where mother is being held?"

Bruce got an unreadable expression on his face before he replied. "Why do you want to know, Damian?"

Damian mentally cursed. "Well...you see...she's my mother and I want to know where she is." The family gave him a look that let him know they weren't buying his story. Damian sighed, silently asking Jason for forgiveness. "I may know more than I am letting on..."

Tim snorted. "Well, are you going to share your information or what?"

Damian squeezed his eyes shut, turning around to face his family. "Don't be mad at me or Jason..."

"Damian, what is going on?" Bruce asked, placing a calm hand on his youngest's shoulder.

Damian gulped before launching into the story of the phone call, watching as horror dawned on his family's faces. "...and he made me promise not to tell but now he has run off and...and I'm scared."

Helena groaned, dropping her head into her hands. "So let me get this straight. You two got a phone call from your mother during a stressful time where she belittled Jason and then demanded that you two see her tomorrow?" Damian nodded. Helena turned to Cassandra. "And then you go to talk to him but instead get into a fight? And now he has run off?"

Cassandra crossed her arms over her chest. "I didn't know about the phone call." She grumbled, guilt worming its way through her.

Selina sighed. "Well, I think it is obvious where Jason has gone." The whole family stared blankly back at her. "To visit Talia, of course!"

Damian felt his heart stop, tears springing to his eyes. "No, no, no! He wouldn't!"

"And why not? He agreed to see her to-"

"Tomorrow. If he shows up tonight, mother will not be happy. Everything has to be her way or else." Damian swallowed thickly, hands beginning to tremble. "Jason would not risk bringing her wrath down on himself unless it was absolutely necessary."

The family sighed, thinking to themselves that perhaps Jason thought it would be necessary in this situation. He felt abandoned by his family, cast out, so of course he would go running to his mother, even though she did not treat him well.

He would seek comfort in the familiar.

As the family fell into a tense silence, Alfred knocked on the library door. Bruce opened it and sighed in relief when he saw the police. "Thank you for coming, officers."

"Took your damn time." Damian grumbled, glaring at the officers through his tears.

"Yes, well, we had a few other cases we had to wrap up before we could spare officers to come here." One of the officers spoke blandly, making Damian's anger spike.

"'Spare some officers'? Jason should be a priority, not an after thought!" Damian hissed, clenching his fists at his sides. "He is all alone in a city he does not know, angry and distressed, getting into who knows what kind of trouble-"

"Why do you assume he is getting into trouble?" The second police officer asked, raising an eyebrow at the twelve year old.

Damian scoffed. "He is my brother, the one who tried to fight the S.W.A.T. team that came to escort us here. Of course he is getting into trouble!"

Stephanie looked at Damian wide eyed. "Did he really?"

"Yes, but I stopped him. He only did it to protect me. He felt threatened and lashed out. It is his M.O." Damian turned back to the police officers. "You better find him, unharmed, or so help me I will show you what an Al Ghul can really do."

"Are you threatening an officer of the law?" The first cop glared at the twelve year old. "Son, that is a criminal o-"

"I am not your son. And if that's what it takes to get your asses moving, than I sure as hell a-"

"Are not." Bruce stepped in, giving Damian a look that told him to back down. Damian glared up at his father, chest heaving with rage before turning and running out of the library. Bruce sighed, looking to Barbara and Dick to follow him.

Damian made it as far as his room before his siblings caught up, stopping him from closing the door. Damian said nothing, shooting the two a death stare before storming into his room and rummaging through his closet.

Dick and Barbara exchanged a look before following Damian in. "Uh, Damian? What are you doing?"

"I'm going after Jason, of course." He said this like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Then why are you packing a bag?" Damian just glared back, not saying a word. Barbara sighed. "Damian, running away isn't going to solve anything."

"Who said I was running away?"

"If you're not running away, why bother with a bag?"

Damian smirked. "I am not stupid. If both the children of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al Ghul go missing the same night of their first public appearance, the public will be in an uproar. The police will have no choice but to take Jason's case seriously."

"So you are fake running away to get attention for Jason's case?" Damian nodded, shoving random articles of clothing into his bag. "Damian, we can't let y-"

"Try and stop me." Damian challenged, whirling around with such fury Dick felt a shiver go down his spine.

"You didn't let me finish." Barbara smirked, pulling out her phone and shooting off a group text. "I was saying, we can't let you go alone."

A moment later, the rest of the Wayne siblings were in Damian's room with varying degrees of determination on their faces. Damian felt his heart flutter. "You mean...you're all coming with me?" They all nodded. "Why?"

Tim grinned, patting Damian on the head. "You're part of the family and family means no one gets left behind."

Damian nodded, blinking back his tears. He looked around at his gathering of siblings, a smile coming onto his face. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go bring our brother home."