In front of New Arkham ntal Hospital, Red Robin grabbed Bruce's arm and said, "Batman, it's very late. What are you doing at Arkham? Has another madman escaped?"
anwhile, Red Hood, slightly bored, kicked a stone by the wall and said, "It's no use asking him. He'll only tell you that it's part of a plan... Hey, Batman! Don't expect to follow you around like a puppy, taking your orders. I'm leaving!"
As Red Hood turned to leave along the wall, Red Robin quickly tried to stop him. Then they heard Bruce behind them, "I'm here to pick up a letter my ntor left before he left. If you genuinely don't want to co, I'll call Jack to turn around and take you both back to Wayne Manor."
At that, the two of them tensed up and stood straight behind Bruce. Red Robin shook his head like a rattle, "Absolutely not necessary!"
Bruce pushed open the doors of New Arkham ntal Hospital with the two Robins murmuring behind him. Red Robin whispered, "I told you this Batman isn't normal."
"Joker is the abnormal one! Every second in the car, I was wondering where the bomb remote was, and Damian actually managed to sleep?!"
"You should say he actually let Batman hold him." Red Robin smirked, his pace quickening as he moved closer to Red Hood. They both looked at Damian, cradled in Bruce's arms.
Damian's hands were around Bruce's neck, his body pressed close to his chest, chin resting on his shoulder. Catching sight of the two Robins' disapproving glares from behind, he grinned, a grin that was both malicious and triumphant.
Unluckiness was a matter of comparison. If he was the sole recipient of Joker's scare, he would have been quite distressed. However, if two other unlucky fellows also got a good scare from Joker, his distress would lessen. And if these two unfortunate fellows were kept awake by Joker late into the night and had even missed a al, now tagging along behind Batman waiting for orders--well, his distress would instead transform into joy.
Right now, Damian was exceedingly joyful.
Under no circumstances would he allow his biological father in the pri universe to hold him; he firmly believed they weren't that close. But if it was a younger version of Batman from another universe, that was negotiable. Moreover, this Batman only held him and didn't even spare the other Robins a glance.
Triumph blood within Damian's heart, gradually overriding the calm deanor he had been trained to maintain. The psychological defenses his assassin training had provided him, not fitting for his age, were weakening, and he was oblivious to it.
Damian knew, every Robin dreamt of being held by Batman. Their instinctual reaction was shock and rejection, but the warmth provided by that fleeting embrace was sufficient to carry them across an endlessly expansive snowfield.
Right now, he was being held by Batman, tightly and for quite so ti. Damian pacified himself inwardly--this wasn't his biological father, and this Batman was still young. After their universe's issues were resolved, and he left, they probably wouldn't ever et again.
These were the reasons he used to justify his lack of guardedness while being in Bruce's arms. After convincing himself, he could feel the trendous sense of security being held by Batman could offer.
If he was held by Batman, then no one in this world could possibly harm him, because he was Batman.
As his killer instincts loosened, Bruce's hand on his back only felt like a firm and strong support, even bringing a hint of sleepiness in this unfamiliar environnt.
"Are you tired?" The deep rumbling of Bruce's voice, like a lullaby, Damian had never heard Batman speaking so close before, the deep resounds echoing in the dark empty hallway, close and far, clear yet blurred.
"You can keep sleeping. Alfred will co to pick us up when we finish." Bruce said.
Damian slightly closed his eyes, he wasn't asleep but rely rested his head on Bruce's shoulder and asked, "Are we going back to your Manor?"
"Sure."
"Then, will you send back to my room?"
"Not necessarily. Aisha only started sleeping on her own last February, and when Selina was around, she slept with her, then and Dick."
"Why such an arrangent?"
"Because she's a child." Bruce kept walking, holding Damian, without a glance at him. He stated as if it were common knowledge, "Children need to sleep with adults when they're young. Weren't you in the sa room as your parents?"
"They never even shared the sa room." Damian purposefully let out a series of weird sounds, blowing the air from his pursed lips, before stating, "And besides, I don't sleep much. Most of the ti, I'm taking classes."
Damian thought Bruce would inquire about his situation, but Bruce didn't ask anything. He just lifted Damian a bit higher and said, "Tonight you can sleep in my room. But don't let Aisha know or else she will bite you."
"What's her story? I an, the fangs..."
Imdiately after asking, Damian regretted it. He shouldn't have asked such a sensitive question to a Batman he'd just t. A sudden fear rose within Damian's heart. Batman had just agreed for them to share a room tonight; would he renege because of his imprudence?
At the thought, Damian felt desolate. But he couldn't figure out why he would feel that way. This was clearly not his biological father, and their relationship was bound to be brief. What difference did it make to sleep in the sa room?
Nevertheless, he couldn't help sneaking an inward wish. Was he the only Robin who could sleep in Batman's room? If he was indeed the only one granted this special treatnt, was it because he was extraordinary or was it due to his obedience?
"Aisha is my daughter." There was no fluctuation in Bruce's tone; it was just a statent of fact. "Her background may indeed seem strange; it's complicated."
"Ha, that's what Batman told when I first went to the Batcave." Damian shifted his head to rest in a different position on Bruce's shoulder. But then he realized that he had just rubbed his cheek against Bruce's shoulder.
The intimacy of this action woke Damian in alarm, but he was soon engrossed in Bruce's words again.
"The aning of it is not that there is nothing to explain, but if I try to explain and my explanation is not comprehensive, it might lead to misunderstandings about her. A hurried and possibly incomplete explanation is worse than no explanation at all."
"Is that how you think?" Damian could not help but ask.
"Yes, otherwise why would it be? Because I'm avoiding reality and reluctant to explain? Or because I'm embarrassed about your appearance and my own behavior and hence refusing to explain?"
Damian let out a sowhat low chuckle, devoid of the previous sharp and devilish tone, but with a hint of childlike naivety. As he laughed, he said, "Of course not. Batman doesn't avoid reality, nor feels sha, because he is Batman."
"Therefore, perhaps that's the reason. If I want you to understand Aisha, I would find a formal occasion, take plenty of ti to explain it, rather than hastily stating two sentences, causing many unnecessary misunderstandings."
Damian fell quiet, as if recalling sothing. When he ca to his senses, he patted Bruce's arm and asked, "When did they disappear?"
"When we entered the hospital and passed the second intersection," Bruce gently shook his head and said, "They didn't keep up."
"Don't you go looking for them?"
"I have my own matters to attend to." Bruce stepped onto the elevator with Damian and said, "To look for them, I would first have to take you back; otherwise, I'd be hard-pressed."
"That's too far-fetched!" Damian sat up and turned to look at him, saying, "Or do you consider a burden? Let go of ; let down!"
"You better stay put." Bruce's brow furrowed slightly. Batman's usual expression flashed across his face for an instant, causing Damian to stiffen montarily, but he soon realized that this severe expression was not directed at him.
Damian heard the sound of high heels coming closer from a distance. Before he could react, Bruce was already hiding behind a door in the hallway with him tucked at high speed.
Bruce leaned his back against the door, looking up, and made a gesture for silence towards Damian. In the quiet space, Damian could clearly hear the heartbeat of two people.
Suddenly, Damian wrinkled his nose, widened his eyes and gestured at Bruce. It was only then that he rembered that this was not the Batman he knew and might not understand the coded signals from their cosmos.
Yet Bruce understood. He nodded at Damian whilst still signaling him to be quiet. After a mont, when the sound of footsteps had completely disappeared, Bruce gently opened the room door.
There were no high heel prints in the corridor outside the door, but a long, fresh trail of blood. Damian's gesture ant he had slled the scent of blood; soone had recently died.
Standing at the door, Bruce looked left and right, seemingly sighing with relief, and continued forward with Damian in his arms. However, Damian could no longer remain idle. He struggled forcefully, and then turning to look at Bruce's face, he said, "Soone's dead, the murderer just passed by!"
"I know."
"Aren't you going to investigate it?"
"If I wasn't carrying you, I would."
"I am not your burden!" Damian struggled even more fiercely.
"I didn't say you were." Bruce tightly wrapped his arm around Damian, preventing him from jumping off his body, and simultaneously caressed his back.
"It's dangerous here."
"You're saying..."
"What I an is, you must save your strength to protect in the possible dangers we might encounter later."
Damian broke out in cold sweat again. He clutched the sleeve of Bruce's clothes, turned his head to look at him, his serious expression indicating he was not joking.
Batman needing protection? That was the funniest joke he'd ever heard, but he soon stopped laughing.
In the last room, they passed in the hallway, the lights were on. From his position held in Bruce's arms, Damian was just tall enough to see through the window into the ward—
The clear silhouette of three human limbs hung on hooks were visible—two male legs and a woman's arm, all dripping with blood. A burly shadow faced the bed, back to the window, seemingly carving sothing.
The strong scent of blood nearly overpowered Damian's sense of sll. The double stimulus of sight and sll made his heart beat faster, and Bruce's embrace beca his only source of security.
Completely opposite to his previous struggle to break free, Damian clung tightly to Bruce's arm, his voice trembling slightly as he whispered in his ear, "...what's going on here?"
"Don't be scared; we'll leave as soon as we get what we need. Nothing will happen."
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