Chapter Text
As he stared at the approaching whiteness, he knew that he could expect anything. However, he couldn't lie that he wasn't afraid. He felt fear of what awaited them. However, could anything be worse than what happened to them? At the moment, when only a few survived and the life of the planet was at risk, everything seemed to be a better creation. Soon he would find out how much his life would change. He didn't remember much of it. It was as if he was drifting in lethargy, unaware of what was happening around him. His willpower wouldn't let him settle down and wake up. Darkness completely overwhelmed him. When indistinct voices circled around him again, he wanted to wake up as soon as possible and see who was around him. However, his new body had completely different plans for this. He didn't know how many minutes or hours passed before he finally managed to open his eyes. However, the only thing he encountered was a blurry image of some Sala. He instinctively raised his hand to rub his eyes, but he was surprised by how short his fingers were and how small his hand seemed. His consciousness probably hadn't fully woken up yet and his brain was processing information incorrectly. However, he clearly felt large male hands on his shoulders trying to stop him from getting up. Why did he care so much about this? He had been in a state of being for long enough and he would finally like to wake up in a new, better world and find her... When he finally found someone to whom he gave his heart, the world ended. But would she remember him? The strange thing is that Damian himself remembers it, so he should probably assume that it is the same with the others. He had to convince himself of this. However, he didn't have the opportunity to do so when his body gave in to sleep. It was as if he lacked it... When he woke up again, he was worse than angry. Why couldn't he endure being conscious longer than this short period. He didn't understand it. And also why he wasn't still in contact with the world around him the way he wanted. Was there something wrong with him? Or maybe he hadn't been reborn and was still just a spirit among the matter of physics? He didn't know what was worse at that moment. Newer and newer voices reached him, but he couldn't recognize them. While the color of some of them seemed familiar to him, he couldn't place them on faces. It was as if it wasn't his reality. When it finally seemed to him that his vision was improving, he felt an indescribable relief. The large black spot seemed to disappear, causing him to see more and more distinct shapes. It took him an unknown amount of time to realize that he was in a fairly white room and that he was lying on his back. He wanted to get up to look around, but he wasn't allowed to.
- It's dangerous, kid. You have to lie down nicely.
Kid? Who was that person to dare to talk to him like that?! He was seventeen! He was almost of age, so what right did he have... The man in his line of sight was dressed in a white coat, so he could guess that he was in the hospital. The only question was, what was he doing here?
- You'll feel better soon. I promise you that. Your dad is very worried about you.
Father... That means he was probably not far away. He was alive. He was also reborn and here. Will they have a new chance? But did that mean that his mother was also alive? Too many questions for his current mental incapacity.
- You need to rest. You took a beating, kid. You'll be flying again soon.
He didn't know what the doctor had injected into his IV, but he could guess when he felt drowsiness approaching. Right now, he didn't like this man who was talking to him like a child! No exaggeration. He didn't look like some elementary school kid! How many more times would she put him to sleep before she let him wake up completely. Definitely... being reborn thanks to the results of Flash's movement sucks! He'd thank him for it someday. When he woke up again, he made the decision that he wouldn't let himself be put into this state again. He had had enough of sleeping and lying down. He wanted to finally understand what was happening around him and what was happening. He opened his eyes lazily, blinking quickly to fully awaken his vision. He didn't even notice the man sitting next to his bed, who laughed slightly at the gesture.
- I gather you've already had your sleep for ages.
He didn't think he'd see him so soon. When his eyes adjusted to the light around him, he let his tears flow out uncontrollably. The sight of Bruce Wayne alive and sitting next to him caused an outburst of uncontrolled emotions he hadn't expected from himself.
- Damian...
His facial expression immediately changed at the sight of his tears. However, to the boy's surprise, he raised his hand to wipe the wet marks on his cheeks.
- Are you okay, son? Should I call a doctor?
He shook his head, not wanting to see this charlatan. He was the least needed here at the moment.
- Okay.
He smiled! Bruce Wayne versus Batman was smiling?! What other world did Allen create?!
- You have no idea how much you scared us.
- Why? What happened?
- Don't you remember? You fell down the stairs while playing with your brothers. You accidentally landed on your head and lost consciousness. I took you to the hospital immediately. You've been lying here for a few days. The doctors couldn't wake you up. Suddenly, for three days, you showed signs of waking up from a temporary coma, but they didn't want to overload your body and mind. We're only talking about this now. Fortunately, nothing serious happened to you.
He said all this while caressing his cheek in a nice gesture of comfort. Just like not the father he remembered. He must have missed a lot. However, something else caught Damian's attention at that moment.
- Brothers?
He clearly heard that his father used the plural. However, he only had one brother, so what the hell...
- Don't you remember? They'll be here soon. They wanted to come as soon as they found out you woke up.
He shook his head, convinced that the man was joking with him. Why did he want to mock him like that at that moment? They sat practically in silence, staring at each other, when suddenly the door to the classroom opened, letting three boys inside. Only one of them did he recognize Richard Grayson, although he seemed to be changed. He still didn't know why he had to know the other two. When they saw that he was conscious, they breathed a sigh of relief. It was just some weird accident. He still couldn't process how he had fallen down those stairs so easily with his abilities. Why would he be playing with them at that age? And why didn't he remember any of it? He had every mission he had done as a child in his head, every training connected to the League, meeting his father, their adventures together, meeting the Titans, the death of his original world at the hands of the events of Darksaid's actions. So why didn't he remember anything his father had said? Why didn't he remember any of these people?
- You don't even know how worried we were about you, kid.
- You gave us quite a scar. Don't do it again, or the old man will turn gray before you're sixteen.
What was that boy with the scar on his cheek talking about? What sixteen? He had already celebrated his seventeenth spring in the League a long time ago, with the imminent destruction of the world on his mind.
- Jason...
- What? I'm telling the truth.
- How are you feeling, Dami?
The oldest of the group standing by the door came closer, sitting next to his father with sadness in his eyes. It was obvious that he was worried. Damian couldn't stop his death at the hands of the parademon and the failed attempt to revive him in the Lazarus Pit from flashing before his eyes. He couldn't let it happen again.
- Fine. I don't understand this unnecessary commotion.
- You don't have to pretend. I'm not mad at you or anyone, son. You can ask and tell us anything.
- Everything? Who are they?
He looked significantly at the other two, who stood a little back and didn't believe his words.
- You're kidding, right?
The taller of them almost shouted it. He shook his head in denial that he wasn't. Seeing the seriousness on his part, Bruce was now worried too.
- It's Jason and Tim. Don't you remember them?
- No.
- But you remember Dick?
- Yes.
- I need to talk to the doctor.
The man quickly left the room as if something strange had just happened.
- You surprised us quite a bit, elf. You really hit yourself in the head, since you forgot about us.
- Back off, okay.
- As feisty as always. Even for such a youngster.
- Jason! Stop teasing him. Damian, the one who's trying to get you off balance is Jason Todd, he likes to tease too much sometimes. Bruce adopted him a few years ago. Due to an unfortunate accident, he was away from home for a while and then you met him at... your grandfather's house. Then...
He felt that he had difficulty saying the last words. As if he didn't want to say them at all.
He wasn't an idiot. He understood how Dick felt about Ra's al Ghul and that he didn't like him. However, he never remembered having so much hatred for him. He'd probably find out more soon. Everyone around thought he had amnesia and that he didn't remember anything, but... maybe it was an effective excuse to justify a few things. He had just been reborn in this new world
in his new body. It was clear that he didn't remember and couldn't remember someone he had never known, because those people didn't exist in his world.
- ... Timothy Drake. He's been living with us since his parents died in an accident. He was a frequent guest at home since he discovered who our old man really was. And since then he's been working with us as the newest Robin since...
- When Joker killed me. There's no point looking for nice expressions here.
The clearly tallest of them didn't beat around the bush and didn't hold back around him, which he considered a big plus in favor of his new brother.
- He's just a kid, you want to...
- You must be forgetting where Dick was born. His playground was Nanda Parbat.
- You can stop!
He had had enough of how they teased each other and how they wanted to treat him gently. Too much new information was causing a slight headache, probably related to the accident. But why did they treat him like a child, since he was only slightly younger than them. They looked at him uncertainly, waiting for what he would say next.
- Dick... How old am I?
That would help him bolster the argument of his naming by those guys...
- Five. You turned five a month ago, Dami.
The surprise left him speechless. He instinctively turned his attention to his body for the first time since waking up. How could he have missed it before?! Oh yeah... He focused on his father and those boys too much to notice that there was something wrong with his physique. Not only had the reality around him changed, he had been reborn in a new world, people he had never known before appeared, but he had also been reborn in the body of a child... Oh no, now that he met Flash, he would kill him! With this small body, he was unable to do anything at all at the moment. If he was five, he should be training with his mother in another part of the world, so what was he doing near his father at that age? This world was much more complex and different than he had expected. Flash had created a completely new world, in which he had to learn everything from scratch, and old memories certainly wouldn't help him.
***
- This looks like a classic case of amnesia, Mr. Wayne. However, I wouldn't raise any particular alarm.
- What do you mean, not? The child doesn't remember half of the things and I'm not supposed to worry about it?
Both men stood in the corner of the room unaware that the other four were listening to them, quieting down themselves.
- Exactly. It's normal that in such cases similar circumstances can occur.
- Doctor Meyer... I'm counting on an explanation, if you don't want me to get carried away right away.
- Calm down, Mr. Wayne. The risk of amnesia after head injuries is possible, but it's not a constant rule. There is also no one constant that speaks of a rule for memory loss. One person can forget their entire life and another can only forget the situation that led to this accident or some other unfortunate situation in life. As you can see in the case of your son, he forgot about part of his family. I don't know how and what made his mind do it. Maybe it's temporary and he'll remember everything soon, or maybe these memories will never come back. We're not miracle workers, Mr. Wayne, and the only thing we can offer is what we'll do. The advantage in this situation is his young body, which is still developing. So there is hope for a positive assessment of the situation.
Damian listened attentively to the doctor's nonsense, still letting all the new information pass through his brain. He still couldn't digest that he was five years old again! This short height and short arms... How was he supposed to fight?! And on top of that, he didn't even have a chance to be Robin now, because that other unknown boy was. He didn't like him anymore and he hadn't even had the opportunity to exchange a single word with him. In general, since he had entered the room, he hadn't said a single word. He didn't want to break the fantasy of either his father or the doctor that he would ever 100% regain his memories, since he had never had any in that regard! However, amnesia seemed to be an effective form of excuse for his behavior, probably different from the norm they were used to.
3 890 / 5 000
keyboard
- We'll do some tests. If Dr. Green doesn't have any contraindications, it's possible to send the little patient home this week.
Home... If he was here with his father, it means he lived in Wayne Manor. There must be some clues in his room that will help him discover everything that's going on around him. He wouldn't be himself if it were otherwise.
- Dick, take your brothers home and tell Alfred the good news. I'll call him tonight. Take care of everything, son.
- Of course, Bruce.
He smiled, knowing perfectly well what the man was secretly drinking to in the civilian's presence. It wasn't hard to guess. Soon, the two of them were alone in a rather uncomfortable silence.
- Damian... do you remember Alfred?
He hadn't expected this question, but he probably wanted to prepare the ground for him to talk to the butler and return home quickly and safely. He nodded quickly, not even expecting him to be prone to such gestures.
- I'm glad. As soon as we return to the estate, I will make sure that no harm will ever come to you again.
He wanted to tell him not to promise anything, because he would not be able to fulfill it. Damian knew real life, the pain of dying, broken limbs and a broken heart. Although he had the shell of a child, inside his soul he was a seventeen-year-old experienced in fate. There was no way to overcome that.
- Oh...
He quickly bit his tongue. He was five years old, damn it. He couldn't call Bruce father. Surely the little one in whose body he was located didn't call him that. It was doubtful that it would. He also had to be careful not to suddenly seem suspicious of his behavior. He preferred not to draw unnecessary attention to himself.
- Yes, son? Did you want to say something?
- Where's mom?
At the sound of those words, it was safe to say that the man sitting in front of him froze. As if it was quite a... muddy subject and was it possible that Talia had done something that even Bruce was afraid of at the sound of her name? However, he quickly shook himself as if he had composed a ready answer to this question in his head.
- Your mother... I'm sorry Damian, but she's not with us.
- What do you mean? She left?
In his previous life, he had become accustomed to her betrayal and death, what were they planning to serve him this time?
- She's dead. She died in an accident.
- Oh...
He had hoped for a moment that maybe somewhere out there in the world she was hiding from them and that maybe this time she was alive.
- How long ago?
- A year has passed, son. You miraculously survived then, but we managed to save you. And now you've ended up in the hospital again.
It was obvious that the man was reluctant to return to these memories and it hurt him more than he wanted to admit. If Damian thought it was possible, he would think that Bruce was talking about something much deeper than others thought.
- You were too young, still are, to fully understand what was happening around you. You took quite a long time to recover. And now this amnesia. Everything will be fine, son. We will get through this together. I will never let you suffer again.
He sat down on the edge of the bed, taking the boy into his arms, much too big for his small body. His father's embrace was completely different than he remembered from the events in another Gotham. As he would probably call this world he knew now. Currently, the embrace seemed much warmer and more protective than he was used to. Just the same as when, thanks to Raven, he came back to life and his father could hug him after he had died in his arms just a few minutes earlier.
- Dad, you're choking me!
He instinctively shouted the word, which he had practically never shouted before. He was used to calling this man Batman, father. But I don't think he's ever used the term that just fell from his lips. It was probably appropriate for his position and age, but that doesn't mean he was particularly comfortable with it. As soon as he's older, he'll go back to his habits and be Robin again!