Mask off

magic

Damian walked to the basement, hands fidgeting at his sides. He saw Antonio sitting on the floor, reading some book that looked old. When the man saw Damian, he smiled. "Come boy, come sit." Damian hesitantly walked over to the man, sitting right in front of him. The basement was old, looking straight from a horror movie. Damian crossed his legs, waiting for the man to say something. "Y'know, last time I saw you, you were so tiny" Antonio chuckled. Damian smiled, "I don't think I remember you." Antonio nodded while laughing. "S'okay, The living spell sometime messed with you memory for the first week or so." Damian nodded, hands playing with the rips in his jeans. "Damian, tell me about your family."

Damian paused for a second, the question catching him off guard. "Well, which family?" Antonio placed his book by his legs, "Start with your Dads side." Damian nodded, he hadn't really talked about his family since he was brought back from the dead. "Well, they were good people." Antonio nodded, "Well, for a family of superheroes, I would hope they are good." Damian froze. He never told Antonio that his family was superheroes. "How did you" Damian was cut off by Antonio. "Kid, I knw everything, now continue." Damian nodded. "Well, I had many siblings there, all older than me." Antonio nodded. Damian couldn't help but smile at some of the memories he remembered of his family. "Now, tell me why you don't want to go back."

Damian knew he didn't want to go back, but he didn't know the exact reason. "Well there is a lot of reasons I don't want to return." Antonio nodded, looking at the clock on the wall. "Well child, good thing we have a lot of time." Damian tried to gather his thoughts. He knew he didn't want to return, but he didn't know the exact reason. Maybe it was the borderline neglect, maybe it was the expectations he couldn't seem to meet, or maybe he was just tired of always being looked at as the bad person. "I don't think they cared about me, not in the way I needed at least." Damian finally felt like that was the reason, but his mind was telling him it wasn't the only one. "Well, how did they care for you?" The old man asked, being patient with the boy. Damian scrunched up his face. "Fighting crime, that was the only time I really see them, but I didn't want to fight crime, not like that at least." Antonio nodded again, hands resting at his side.

"Damian, why did you not want to fight crime." This question hit Damian hard. He didn't know why, but it caught Damian off guard. Damian gave an awkward laugh, "Well, it's not that I didn't want to fight crime, its just that I always felt like I was being somebody else when I was in costume." Antonio turned his head to the side a little, "Isn't that the whole point." Damian laughed at this. "Not like that, I felt like I had to change myself to fit the role of Robin." He remembers fighting so hard to be Robin, and then he finally got it. Somewhere along the line, he didn't know where Damian stopped and Robin started. The expectation of being better than the rest of the Robins weighted on his mind all of the time. He wasn't his brothers, he wasn't as smart as Tim, or as strong as Jason, or as loyal as Dick. He felt small compared to the rest of the Robins.

"Well, you are always welcome here, but tell me child, why don't you trust you family?" Antonio really knew what to ask. Maybe its because he works with magic. Damian took a shaky breathe, "My father once told me that his family is built on trust, but they never trusted me." Damian continued, "They always thought I was going to snap and kill someone at any second, even though I haven't killed in years!" Damian exclaimed. "When the Joker took me, I thought they would have come, but they never did. I was there for hours, and nobody even tried to save me." Damian let his heart do the talking for once. Antonio seemed like a trustworthy person, so Damian talked. "I guess if I can't trust them, we aren't really a family."

Antonio nodded, urging the boy to continue talking. "I've had expectations put on me my whole life, whether it be the league or with the bats, I guess I see this as a chance to finally be myself. To finally have no expectations." Damian was proud of his answer, it seemed reasonable. Antonio smiled, "I am glad I will get to see you become yourself, but do you plan on staying dead forever?" Damian hadn't really thought of that, but shook his head no. "I will probably tell them I am alive when I am 18, so they won't force me home for being a minor." Damian thought that was reasonable, then he would get the option to reconnect or completely forget about them. HE wanted to succeed as Damian, before he threw the Wayne name on him.

Antonio nodded, "That is a smart plan, but what if they find you before your 18?" Damian laid his hands on his side, "well that depends on if I forgive them or not." Antonio laughed at that answer. "Okay child, now lets learn some magic." Antonio and Damian spent the next couple of hours learning magic. Damian was taught some magic growing up at the league, so he new the basics. Antonio taught Damian spells, potions and other magical things. Damian got the spells quickly, but took him longer to do potions. He got the hang of it in the end. He casted a protection spell on everyone in the house, keeping them safe from everything that could harm them. Damian was satisfied with his magical work for tonight, and decided to head up to bed.

When he walked into bed, Kamilah was there waiting for him. She was sitting on there bed, wearing some shorts and an old t-shirt. "Hey' she whispered. Damian didn't respond, just went and kissed her on the lips. Kamilah looked like a Goddess in the moonlight. The light hit off her tan skin, giving her a glowing affect. Her long brown hair was put in a high ponytail. For the first time that night, Damian had sex not just to have it, but he had it filled with love. His heart skipped a beat every time his and Kamilah's skin touched. He felt so joyed that he could call Kamilah's his, that he could protect her from the world. Damian knew Kamilah didn't need his protection, but Damian offered it to her anyways. They fell onto the bed, bodies interwind still. For once in years, Damian felt surrounded with love.