Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Five wakes up in an underground lab, stuck in a transparent tube filled with bright green liquid. When he opens his eyes, he sees the lab and several people that are surrounding the tube. It is difficult to see them properly. Some were brightly colored, and some were just black silhouettes.

They were all clearly arguing with each other. He could see them wildly gesturing in his direction and he could hear them vaguely shouting. He was becoming more and more annoyed. Not only that, but he wanted to get out of this tube. Why was he in there in the first place? So Five started struggling, trying to find a way out of the tube. This action caused the people to stop shouting. They all took a step back and lowered their stances. Five vaguely recognized that they were getting into a defensive position, readying to attack.

But no matter how hard he struggled, Five could not break the glass. He focused on the group of people outside and pounded on the glass, trying to look at them, reluctantly asking for help. After a few seconds, one of them stepped forward. It was the shortest one that was wearing the colorful clothes. Some of the other people also stepped forward, trying to stop the smaller one, but were stopped in their tracks by something he said.

The small one proceeded forward and pressed something to the side of the tube. The bright green liquid started to drain, leaving Five with no support to keep himself in an upright position. When he was forced to stand, his legs gave out on him, causing him to fall hard on his knees, making him slightly wince. Then the front of the tube opened and he started to fall forward out of the tube. Luckily, his fall was halted by a strong grip.

When Five looked up, he saw through slightly blurry eyes a silhouette of the small person who opened the tube for him. They were saying something, but it was difficult to hear them. It was difficult to breathe, and he had to struggle for a little bit to become used to his lungs taking in air instead of liquid.

His vision was clearing up a bit, and breathing became easier. Five started to understand what the person holding him was saying. He was telling him to take it easy, to take deep, slow breaths, and that he was doing great. Slowly, his breathing evened out, and his other senses followed suit. He heard the small one ask for his name.

He opened his mouth to answer, but it took a few tries to get any sound out of his mouth. Eventually he manages to say in a hoarse voice.

"Number Five"

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He looked at the clone’s face, his face, through the glass of the cell. They had to place him on a bed in one of the cells in the batcave out of precaution as they didn’t know how he would react when he woke up. The thought of that made his frown deepen. Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you ok?”

Looking up he saw Grayson standing at his side, concern in his eyes. Was he fine? No, not really. How was he supposed to be fine? They just found a lab with a lot of clones and the only one alive was a clone made of his DNA. What did they even plan to do with him? Was this clone technically his brother? Kon was a clone. Everyone saw him as Superman’s son, so was this his son now? Was he a father? He looked back at the clone. The clone looked to be his age, around 14 years old. He wondered how much they had aged his mind. Did he have the brain of a toddler or did they give him the mind of a teenager?

He looked back at Grayson who was still waiting for an answer. It seemed that he waited too long as he saw that a little frown had formed between his brows.

“I’m fine,” he answered. You know, like a liar.

Grayson pursed his lips, clearly not believing him, but letting it go. He gave him a little squeeze with his hand before letting go and turning around. He moved to stand with Drake and father at the batcomputer. Both of them had not left it since the moment they arrived in the cave, immediately wanting to test the blood of the clone. When it was confirmed that it was 100% Damian’s DNA, all of them were put in a state of confusion and anger.

Confused as to why they would pick Damian and angry at the fact that they had managed to make a clone of him in the first place. They were now trying to find out who exactly these people were, what they were planning and how they got his DNA. Right now he couldn't be bothered with trying to figure all that out. He wasn't in the right state of mind at the moment.

He shifted his gaze back to the clone just when they started to move in the bed. They opened their eyes and moved to sit up.

This got the attention of the other bats in the cave and they all walked to stand next to him. The clone shook his head as if to clear it and started looking around the cell warily. It was a strange sight to see, basically, himself. To look at his own face and see what other people saw when they looked at him.

When the clone was done looking around the cell his gaze landed on them. The frown on his face deepend and his mouth formed into a sneer.

“Well, if there was still any doubt that this is a clone of Damian, it’s gone now.”

Of course Drake would see this as the right time to make a sarcastic remark. Before he could give Drake a reprimand the clone stood up from the bed and positioned himself in the middle of the cell. His posture was loose, seemingly unconcerned about his situation. But he recognized the fine lines of tension in his shoulders, the way his legs and arm were positioned, ready to defend if necessary. It was a copy of his body after all.

Father stepped closer, drawing the clone's attention.

“What is your name?” he asked. The clone didn’t answer. We all knew what his name was, he had told him himself when they found him. Number five, and wasn’t that depressing. They didn’t even have the courtesy to give him a real name, they gave him a number instead.

Getting no answer, father moved on. “What do you remember?”

The clone, Five, got a confused look on his face. The sneer got replaced with thin pressed lips. Still, no answer.

“What is your purpose?” was the next question father asked. This one got a bigger reaction however. His eyes widened, mouth opening slightly, frown easing. Five’s eyes drifted a little to the left, seemingly trying to remember something. Just when Drake wanted to ask his own question, Five moved. Quicker than any of them had anticipated he ran up to the glass.

Pounding a fist against it, he shouted: “What did you do to them! Don’t you dare hurt them! I will kill you if you do!”

Grayson recovered first. “Who? Who are you talking about?”

“You know damn well who I am talking about!” came the growled answer.

Grayson raised his hands in a sign of surrender. “We really don’t, can’t you tell us?”

“Don’t play dumb! Where is my family? What did you do to them?”

Family? Did they give him memories of a family? This was getting them nowhere, it was time for him to interfere.

“Do you know what you are?” Five shifted his gaze to him. A gaze full of pure anger looked at him. But when the question registered in his mind a hint of confusion appeared.

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly as I said, do you know what you are?”

“Robin-” Batman began, turning his head towards him.

“No, let me ask this.”

Both Five and Damian stared at each other, neither of them moving. Eventually Five opened his mouth. “I don’t know.” It came out as a quiet whisper, uncertainty tinted his tone. Damian moved his hand and removed his mask. He could hear father sigh at his action and saw out of the corner of his eye that Grayson and Drake were both looking at him with slight shock on their faces.

He focused his attention back on Five. “You are a clone. My clone.”

Five had an expression of pure disbelief on his face, taking a step back seemingly unconsciously. “A…clone?” He looked down at his hands like they were not his own. Five looked back up at him. Quietly asking for an explanation with his eyes.

“We found you in a lab. You were grown there in a tube with healing water that was keeping you alive. According to your DNA, you are a clone made from my DNA. The scientists that were there took their own lives after they destroyed all the data and computers. There were six other clones in the lab, but they unfortunately didn’t make it.”

Five had sat himself back down during the conversation. He was now sitting with his head in his hands. When Damian stopped talking he slowly lifted his head.

“What did they look like? The other ones?” Five softly asked. There was a faint tremor in his voice. Damian thought back to the six other clones that they encountered in the lab.

“Five men and one woman. One of them was big and muscular with short blond hair, an other had short brown hair and was tall and lanky, one had longer hair and looked to be from Mexican descent, one had short hair and looked to be from asian descent, the last male also had short hair and had more feminine looks. The woman had long brown hair and dark skin.”

With each clone that he described, Five trembled more and more. When he was done, Five was kneeling on the ground, tears streaming down his face.

“No, they can’t be gone. Not again. I just saved them! No. I already had to watch them die three times. Three times! I saved them. I- I just- No. No! I can’t lose them again! I saved them. I saved them.”

They could do nothing but watch as Five sobbed and mumbled in anguish, mourning the loss of his family.

Chapter Text

It has been a few weeks sinds they had found Five. They had given him a room next to Damian. He didn’t really mind that, but it was still weird to wake up, open your door and to see your own face staring back at you. Because apparently Five woke up at the same time as him.

After their first conversation back in the cave Five was deemed non-hostile towards them and so they decided to house him at the mansion while still keeping an eye on him just in case.

Further conversation with Five had revealed that the scientists were very selective about the kind of information Five had received. They found out that Five had considered the other clones as his family. According to Five all seven of them had been adopted at birth by a rich man. That man then raised them and trained them to be something like heroes.

Five was also under the impression that the other clones had died on three other occasions and that he was the one that saved them. Damian came to the conclusion that the scientists were experimenting on the other clones and that they died, which Five was witness to. Then they just regrow the other clones and they made Five believe that he saved them so as to create a stronger bond with the other clones.

For what? That was something Damian couldn’t figure out. When he had told his theory to the others they found it plausible, but just like him couldn't find a reason for it. The scientists could have easily erased Five’s memory of the deads of the other clones and just moved on. Instead they made Five believe that he was some kind of hero who had saved his family from death multiple times.

Damian still couldn’t wrap his mind around the pure cruelty that these scientists displayed. According to Five these scientists had messed with his body, making him a killer. When they asked what he meant by that, Five had trouble voicing his thoughts. He became lost in thought, speaking in broken sentences. His eyes would cloud over like he was not in the cave anymore but back in that lab. He would mumble, “I did it for my family.” and “I’m done with it.”

What they could make out of that was that they had probably forced Five to kill while threatening his family, the other clones, and that he was showing clear defiance and unwillingness.

That was enough for the bats to conclude that he would not harm them. So here they now were trying to have breakfast, but failing because Drake decided that now was the perfect time to start a food war with Grayson because Grayson stole Drake’s coffee. While Damian agreed with Grayson that Drake could use some less coffee and more sleep, he would have picked a different time to correct that behavior.

Because now there is a lot of yelling, running around the table and throwing food. Damian wished that Alfred was here. He would have put a stop to it immediately, but as it stands Alfred had gone to give Father his meal in the batcave.

At least Five was not present at the moment. Who knew what this chaos would do to him. Five was together with Father in the batcave. They were trying to figure out more about those scientists and the lab where they had found him.

Damian clenched his fists in frustration while dodging to the left to avoid a piece of bread from colliding with his head. They still hadn’t made any progress with their investigation. It was beginning to frustrate all of them.

Drake has been sleeping only one hour every two days and drinking coffee like a true addict.

Grayson has been walking around like a mother hen that just lost one of her chicks and had then decided to steal Drake’s coffee.

Father has practically been living in the cave whenever he was not patrolling the city.

Last he heard from Todd, he had become more violent and easier to anger.

Even Cain has been more restless. She has been going on more patrols and had taken it upon herself to shadow Five as closely as she could, whenever she could.

Not that Damian could speak for himself. He would punch and kick a little bit harder than necessary, taking his frustration out on lowlife criminals. Other than that he would spend more time with his animals. Sitting for long hours in the stables with Batcow and Alfed the cat. Going on long walks with Titus.

In a way he wanted to get rid of the extra adrenaline that he got from not being able to find anything regarding the purpose of the creation of those clones and another small part of him used these distractions to avoid Five.

It was a weird feeling, but it was difficult to be in Five’s presence. He had his body, his face. The way he moved was the same, all quiet feet, moving in the shadows, like an assassin. By looking at him he could see from a third person view how he interacted with people. How he talked, how his face moved. He would see how dismissive he could get about things that are important to other people, how he would frown or sneer if something stupid was said.

He didn’t like it. It was like being confronted with himself and seeing all the good and the bad behaviors. But especially the bad stood out. So Damian avoided Five.

One thing that had been a bit of a surprise however was the fact that Five, just like Drake, had an extreme liking for coffee. With the only small difference that Five drank his coffee black while Damian didn’t even want to know all the things that Drake put in his.

If they hadn’t done the DNA test proving that it was a clone with a 100% match to Damian, he would’ve thought that some of Drake’s DNA was used as well.
Moving to put his plate in the sink and side-stepping Grayson as he was tackled to the ground by Drake, Damian walked out of the kitchen and went to the front door. He was planning to go to the stable to take care of Batcow.

“Damian.”

Stopping at the call of his name, he looked behind him to find Five standing there.

Not really knowing what to say, both of them stand there looking at each other for a couple of seconds before Five opens his mouth.

“Can we talk?”

Not expecting that Damian raises an eyebrow before slowly nodding his head.

“Sure, I was just about to tend to Batcow in the stables. We can talk on the way.”

Without waiting he turns around and walks through the door, Five following close behind. They were silent for a few steps before Five once again was the first to speak.

“You are avoiding me.”

It was not a question, but a statement. Damian didn’t answer prompting Five to speak again.

“I can understand not wanting to have a clone of yourself just walking around. Behaving like you do, talking like you do. Interacting with others like you do. But you don’t have to worry.”

At this Damian furrows his brows. Why would he need to worry?

“Worry?”

“Yes, worry. I am not going to replace you in the family dynamics. You are still the sole heir of the Wayne family. I cannot be considered as a legitimate son since I am just a clone but-”

“You are not just a clone!”

Damian and Five had stopped walking. Damian had a heavy frown on his face and was looking at Five with anger. He pointed a finger at him.

“You are a human being! You may be a clone but you have your own thoughts, your own preferences!”

“That’s-”

“It’s true! You know more about math than I do. I have seen some of your calculations and they are beyond impressive. Sure, we may move the same and look the same, but unlike me you like coffee. You love being in the sun and have a distaste for snow, while I enjoy the snow. You complain more than I do! Or at least you voice them out loud.”
The more Damian was talking the more he realized that he had been paying more attention to Five than he thought. Had he really been looking at him so closely without even realising it himself?

“So don’t you say that you are just a clone! You are you! You are your own person!”

Damian was slightly panting now. Having stepped closer to Five without noticing. Five was staring at him with wide eyes.

After a few seconds Five let out a chuckle and a small smile appeared on his face.

“Thank you,” he said, before moving towards the stables again.

Damian stood still, looking at the retreating back of Five. Maybe hanging around Five would not be as difficult as he had thought. He said it himself. Five was his own person. They may share the same DNA and they are so much alike, but they couldn’t be any more different.

A small smile appeared on his own face before he moved to catch up with Five.