Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

My beloved treasure

Damian rolled his eyes. 

“I’ve told you, it was a gift-” 

“Bloke that there would be a big gift for some living mortal,” Constantine interrupted… again. 

Damian doesn’t think he can roll his eyes any harder than he already has, but the sorcerer sure wants him to try.

“If you’d stop interrupting me perhaps I’d-”

“Kid that ain’t for anybody to play with. Ya gotta return it before-”

“No!” Damian moved it away from the bastard. He might not know it’s a gift from his fiancé, but Damian does and he refuses to hand it over. 

Besides, it tells his lover if he’s in danger, and Damian refuses to make his beloved go through the worry of being unable to tell if he’s safe or not again. 

Constantine sighed, “Lemmie talk to yer folks real fast then yeah? Fellas?” 

Father and Richard moved to follow, and Constantine motioned for Superman and Wonder Woman to come too. 

Damian huffed as he was left alone with the sword. It was a beautiful gift, made from his beloved’s ice and imbued with copies of the constellations. 

If the sword really was dangerous it’d be a stupid idea to leave him alone with it. It’s not dangerous, but they really don’t know that. 

“D̸̜̺̅̈͋a̷͚͉͕̾n̷̡͇̣̓̀̏n̸̨̖̗͘ŷ̶̖?̴̘̒” (Danny?) he whispered, pressing the stone in the sword that’d change his voice to ghost speak. 

“ Yes Dami? Are you safe? Do I need to rescue you? ” Once upon a time it’d startled Damian to hear Danny speak into his mind, but now it’s comforting, knowing he’s always close by. 

“Ì̸͔ ̸͉͙̱̄a̵̰̗̓̃m̴͍̩̥̃̈̎ ̵͙̹̎̀ͅṡ̷͎̲̒à̷͔̟̗f̸͍̽̔̀ȇ̷̯͉̕.̶̝̯̌ͅ ̷̧̱͐̋̕B̴̡̦̒u̷̩͍͂̄t̵̹̫͠ ̷͉̜͖̅̍t̵̢̃h̴̖̝̏̇͜e̷̮̐̏̒y̸̢̦̙̑̿'̵̤̻͚͝ṙ̷̡͚͊̃e̴̙̳̠͒́ ̵̠̩̋͘͝t̶̬̗͈͗r̴̺̊̀ÿ̵̝̺͆͘i̷̲͚͆̽n̴̡̢̄g̶͙͎̗̅̓͝ ̵̳̹̳̍̽̕t̵̠̲̒ő̶͈̹͠ ̴̥̬̭̈̓̆ṫ̶̨͇͗ā̴̭͉̪k̷̙̲̫͂́e̶̳̳̦̽͛͗ ̴̝͊̿ṯ̴̓͘͘h̴̻̎̇ȩ̵͔̝̇ ̷̹̼̒̓̀s̶͚͈̏ẅ̴̥́̅o̶̠̬̹̔̒ȓ̷̮͍͜d̷̻̙̽͗.̸̠͌"̷̤̅ ̵̤͍̎̽͗”(I am safe. But they’re trying to take the sword. )

“ I see. I’ll come get you. ” 

Damian went to protest, but heard the door open, and turned to look back at what the others had decided was going to happen. 

Looking back up Superman and Diana were the fist ones in. 

Superman knelt down in front of him, and Damian glared at him.

“Robin buddy, can you please hand over the sword. We’re just going to make sure it’s safe for you, then you can have it back.”

“No, you’re lying.” Damian said stubbornly, and Kal just sighed, and grabbed the sword.

Damian tried holding onto it, but there wasn’t much he could do against someone with super strength. He didn’t want to hurt them, even if they weren’t listening to him. So he wasn’t going to stab him with it.

A brief moment of struggle later and the sword was taken from Damian’s hands. Superman held it above his head and Damian tried to jump and grab it, instead, he was picked up by Diana and moved away. 

There was a brief scramble for control back, before a blindingly brilliant light appeared, pausing everyone mid scramble. 

It was his fiancé, in his full kingly regalia, looking otherworldly and powerful. 

Everyone took a step back, and Damian tried to crawl out of Diana’s arms, instead being held tighter and moved to the side of her. 

“Who are you?” 

“I am the owner of the treasure-”

“You don’t own m-” 

Diana cut him off by covering his mouth, and Constantine engaged in light conversation with Daniel. 

“Yeah, you can take it back,” Superman said, holding out the sword to Daniel. 

“He’s not talking about the sword!” Damian tried yelling, turning to look at his brother or Father. But it was too late. Daniel’s cold hands wrapped around his waist and picked him up. 

Damian let out a shout as he was lifted onto Danny’s shoulders, being torn from Diana’s arms and gravity deciding to fail him. 

“I’ll be off with my treasure then. Say bye Love!” 

Damian yelled as he was thrown through a portal, reality shifting around him in a sickening swirl. 

Landing in front of the throne in the throne room Damian quelled his violent stomach and spinning mind. Getting thrown through realities isn’t fun. 

Or easy on the stomach and head. 

“Hey Dami, sorry about that, how are you feeling?” Danny came over and helped Damian up, bringing him over to the throne. 

Damian sighed, and leaned against it.

“I told you that I was safe, you didn’t need to take me with you.”

Danny just smiled as he lounged across his throne. That cheeky smile full of mischief and joy that made Damian’s heart flutter. 

“Can’t I spend time with my fiancé love?” He smiled, leaning forward, and holding Damian’s face so gently. Damian thought that his lover was coming in for a kiss when he wrapped his arms around his shoulders and pulled him down into his lap on the throne. 

Damian held onto Danny, already used to these shenanigans. 

“Beloved, my family is going to be going insane with my absence. Especially with a Realms being taking me.” Danny just hummed, and wrapped his arms around Damian’s waist. 

“But it’s been forever sense we’ve hung out!” Danny whined, letting his green eyes bore into Damian’s. Damn those puppy eyes. 

“We could’ve told them instead of kidnapping me.”

“I didn’t kidnap you! I had permission!” Damian just rolled his eyes.

“They thought you were talking about the sword beloved. Not their youngest.”

“Puh-tato toe-mato,” Danny said, “They should’ve listened to you.”

“Daniel.”

“Hmm?” 

Curse those puppy eyes. And dammit Danny! Stop making that innocent look. 

“...Tt. Fine. But once you return me you will explain to Father and the others why you have done so.” Damian would not be blamed for this atrocious idea. 

“Yes!” Danny crowed, and Damian was going to regret giving Danny permission to mess with the heroes wasn’t he?

“So my Persephone, how is this dashing Hades going to whisk you away next time?” Damian is not smiling at those nicknames. He is does not find them endearing. 

“Perhaps next time you should get real permission to take me away,”

Danny just laughed. That beautiful laugh. 

Damian probably had the dumbest most lovestruck look on his face listening to his fiance laugh. 

The two fooled around for hours, sparing and fighting with each other, running around, telling stories and catching each other up on their lives. 

“So, since I don’t have to return you for a while, do you want to head over to Frostbite and start moving out the corrupted ecto?” 

Damian took a moment to think. It’d probably take a while before Danny wanted to let him go, it’d been nearly three month since they’d hung out, and Danny had been getting on his business about visiting Frostbite and starting his medical journey. 

“I think that sounds reasonable. I will not be able to remain human for eternity with you.”

So Danny grabbed Damian’s hand and picked him up. 

“To Frostbite!” 

_________________________________________________________________

“Welcome Great one, and young Damian. Are you here to start the ectoplasm flushing?” 

“Yep!” Danny popped the p as they walked back to the medical bed. 

Damian was settled in as Frostbite went over the medical procedure and what would be changed. 

“We’ll start with a 25 mL flush to navigate how your body reacts. Then we can move up in segments to watch how things go,” Frostbite said, measuring out 25mL of pure ectoplasm, and placing it into a syringe. “Ready?” he asked, and he nodded, letting the yeti inset the needle into his arm. 

Damian was brought to a secluded room with a comfy chair and bed, along with a coffee table made of ice. 

“Tell me if you feel any severe symptoms young Damian. Otherwise in thirty minutes you will be free to go.” The two nodded, and Frostbite left to go handle other things. 

Damian and Danny remained in the room, letting Damian settle into the bed before pulling the chair over. 

The two sat there, Danny filling the silence with rambles about nothing. 

Damian would add an input every couple of minutes, but the frequency began to fade out. 

At fifteen minutes Danny checked in with Damian, “How are you feeling buddy?”

Damian mumbled and groaned, and his head lolled over to look at Danny. His eyes were glowing a light green, but a little glassy. Danny felt his head, and it was slightly feverish, but still a reasonable temperature. After the check Danny continued to talk to Damian, keeping him awake. 

Danny was half way through a story about a cat he found when he noticed Damian shaking. 

“Dami love, are you okay?” Danny knelt down next to Damian, pushing back his bangs that had gotten in the way. Tears were dribbling down his face, with his hands clamped over his face to muffle sounds. 

“Oh love,” Danny said, wrapping Damian in a hug. “It’s okay let it out.”

“It’s too much, I want Baba. Where’s Baba? Why isn’t he here?”

It was all Danny could do to hold onto him and comfort him as his system was overloaded with emotion. 

“It’s been thirty minutes, you guys are free to go,” one of the yeti nurses informed them, and Danny thanked them as he supported Damian back to the castle. 

________________________________________________________________

Danny could feel the summoning pulling at his core, but Damian was stubbornly clinging to him, so if he went through then Damian would be pulled through too. Sure he’d be protected but he’s still sick from the ectoplasm flushing. 

The intensity of the summoning increased, pulling irritatedly at his core. Danny shook Damian awake, but he was still quite disoriented and dazed.

Danny quickly weighed the pros and cons of taking Damian with him, and decided that he didn’t want to leave him alone. 

Pulling Damian up next to him, standing him next to himself and accepting the summoning. 

When the light of his transformation faded out and the summoning circle died around him, Danny opened his eyes and nearly burst out laughing.

The heroes has summoned him. Danny could see his sword leaning against a table that held the traditional summoning sacrifices on it. 

Damian was stood close to him, and with the summoning protection he looked a lot more ghostly. Floating hair like his, with stars sparkling within it, glowing toxic green eyes, though that might be more the ectoplasm flushing, and slowed breathing and heartbeat. 

Danny just smiled, and combed through his loves hair, watching the stars blink and shift. 

“Now, why have you summoned us?” Danny asked, turning to the heroes assorted around the circle, watching them shift and glare at him.

He was about to have so much fun. 

Chapter Text

Danny could feel the summoning pulling at his core, but Damian was stubbornly clinging to him, so if he went through then Damian would be pulled through too. Sure he’d be protected but he’s still sick from the ectoplasm flushing. 

The intensity of the summoning increased, pulling irritated at his core. Danny shook Damian awake, but he was still quite disoriented and dazed.

Danny quickly weighed the pros and cons of taking Damian with him, and decided that he didn’t want to leave him alone. 

Pulling Damian up next to him, standing him next to himself and accepting the summoning. 

When the light of his transformation faded out and the summoning circle died around him, Danny opened his eyes and nearly burst out laughing.

The heroes has summoned him. Danny could see his sword leaning against a table that held the traditional summoning sacrifices on it. 

Damian was stood close to him, and with the summoning protection he looked a lot more ghostly. Floating hair like his, with stars sparkling within it, glowing toxic green eyes, though that might be more the ectoplasm flushing, and slowed breathing and heartbeat. 

Danny just smiled, and combed through his loves hair, watching the stars blink and shift. 

“Now, why have you summoned us?” Danny asked, turning to the heroes assorted around the circle, watching them shift and glare at him.

He was about to have so much fun. 

Watching the king disregard them all in favor of stroking his youngest child’s hair infuriated Bruce.  

Clearly it irritated more than just him, but Constantine only watched. This was his fault in the first place, and Bruce was pissed at him. Damian better not be hurt or he might need to be restrained by Clark and Diana. 

“Now, why have you summoned us?” The king asked, turning towards them smirking. It doesn’t matter if he looked similar to Damian’s age, they had reports of the king going all the way back to Ancient Greece. This “King” was ancient, and knew beyond a doubt how to get his way. 

The way he looked at Damian with such adoration and predatory glee made Bruce ready to fight him for his son. But he had to hold back, he couldn’t loose another son to reckless decisions. Not again.

“We summoned you to make a deal. Is he going to stay with you while we work out the deal?” Constantine spoke carefully. Bruce had made sure that he knew that if he fucked this up, it was all on him. 

“Oh yes. I’m not letting him out of my sight. Besides, he’s sparely summoned, he won’t be hurt,” the king said waving his hands around.

Bruce just glared at him. Was Damian aware of what’s going on around him? Was Damian screaming and cursing this monster out for taking him from his home? Or was he unaware that their here, completely drowned out from reality?

“We’re trying to get the corruption out,” The king said running his sharp claws through Damian’s hair. Damian’s glowing eyes slid shut as he leaned into the hand, showing more affection than he ever did with anyone within the family. 

“It’s quite bothersome you know. Trying to replace it all. He still gets so… emotional sometimes.”

Bruce’s hand clenched. Of course he’d be emotional, he was taken away from his family to a realm similar to Lazarus water. 

Of course, the king paid no head to the tense and angry emotions of the heroes around him, instead stroking Damian’s head like he was a pet. And who knows, maybe to the king his son is a pet.

“But back to the deal. What is it that you want?”

“We want the safe and full return of the boy you took earlier, batman’s son. We can come to a deal to exchange something, are you willing to discuss?” Constantine said, covering his tracts and watching his words carefully. 

The King tilted his head towards Damian, as though carefully considering the deal. 

“I’m sure we could parse out something.” The king left his hand on Damian’s back, holding Damian as he leaned into him. 

“What is something you’d want?”

The smile the king gave was full of sharp teeth. 

“I want Jack Napier.”

Constantine looked confused.

“Who is that, and why do you want him?”

The king snarled, a look of pure disgust and hatred. 

“He follows the name Joker in this realm. He has passed the line into my subjects enough that I am now his king. It is much easier to be given him legally, than go through your silly mortal rules.”

“Alright. We give you Jack Napier, and you give us the safe and full return of Batman’s son that you took from us earlier.” 

“It’s a deal.” With that the summoning circle glowed a neon green, and faded out. 

“Someone get the Joker up here,” Constantine said, as the king touched down onto the ground, bringing Damian down with him. 

Bruce nodded to Nightwing, who rushed off to escort one of the Green Lanterns to Gotham. 

The quiet and tense environment was left unbroken until Nightwing and the Green Lantern returned, Joker dragged before them. 

There was no jokes or laughter, the moment Joker entered the room the king went straight for him, dropping Damian into Constantine's arms, grabbing him and disappearing into a green light. 

Constantine scrambled to hold onto Damian as he fell, ultimately failing as his limp body hit the ground. 

The heroes swarmed Damian, forcing Bruce to push his way to the front of everyone. Bruce began to check over his son, inspecting for any injuries. He was feverish and limp, but looked unharmed otherwise. Until Bruce reached his arms. On his left arm in the crook of his elbow was a small scab, something that’d come from a small poke, like a needle. 

“Someone get a blood test ki-”

“Baba?” Damian murmured.

“I’m right here bub, I’ve got you,” he murmured, ignoring the rest of the heroes. 

“Baba i’ hur’s” he slurred, trying to curl into himself. 

“Hold him still, I’m going to do a scan,” Constantine barked, preparing the spell over his son. 

Bruce had to hold his son down as he tried to move and curl into Bruce, give Constantine enough room for the spell to work on Damian.

“... Bullocks.”

Chapter Text

Bruce was caught between resting besides his son, and going through with his threats to beat up Constantine. 

The spell had revealed that Damian had abnormally high death energy when he came back and it was hurting his son. 

Bruce doesn’t know what the king did to put his son through so much pain, but he’d fix it. He can’t let Damian suffer.

Damian tried rolling over and out of the recovery position, and Bruce had to position him back into it, making him face into the bucket set up. 

“Father? What’s going on?” 

Bruce rushed around to the other side of the bed, and pushed aside the trashcan. It’s the most coherent Damian’s been in hours, about 3 hours since he was dropped off.

“Damian, how are you feeling, does anything hurt?” Bruce had dropped the mask hours ago, too caught up in his worry for Damian. 

“I feel like I just spared to death with Grandfather and lost,” huffed Damian, stiffly looking towards Bruce. It took a monumental effort to not flinch or react when Damian mentioned death.

Bruce simply helped Damian up off of his side into a sitting up position. 

“Where are the others? Why am I at the Watchtower?”

“I can call your siblings now, Dick left to explain what was going on after you came back.”

“What happened?” Damian asked again, and Bruce hopes that it doesn’t mean Damian was in pain and delirious calling out for someone to save him the whole time he’d been missing. He quicky typed out a message to the rest of the family and one to Clark and Diana. 

“After you were taken from us, we went and found a summoning circle for the king. When we summoned him he pulled you along with him, we made a deal-”

“A deal?” Damian yelled, pushing his way over to Bruce, “What do you mean a deal?” 

Bruce put his hands up placatingly and carefully pushed his youngest back to leaning back. 

“We traded the Joker for you. Apparently he had a warrant in the land of the dead, and the King decided you were worth giving back for the Joker.”

“I-” Damian cut off, he looked worried, apprehensive even. “I don’t think he’s just going to give up on me Father. He quite likes me.” 

Bruce didn’t know what to say to reassure his son, but thankfully Clark and Diana entered. 

“Ro- Damian, I’m so thankful you’re alright!” Clark said, crossing the room quickly. 

“Tt, no thanks to you.” Damian snarked back glaring lightly at them both. 

“I apologize profusely Damian,” Diana replied, “We were operating under false information it. We were worried that you had been compromised, and that the sword would be a danger to your health.”

Damian broke eye contact and looked down.

“Damian!” Dick screeched, running into the room and slamming into the side of the bed forcefully enough to jolt Damian and Bruce who were sitting upon it. 

“Richard. Good to know that my absence was greatly missed,” he replied monotonously as the rest of the family poured in. 

The next half hour was full of clinging to Damian and apologizes and a bit of crying from Dick. 

“Richard cease your senseless crying. I am here am I not?”

“You could have died Damian! We can’t loose you!”

Quite a bit of crying from Dick. And if the rest of the family had teary eyes and discretely wiped them away, well that’s their business. 

Constantine came back in through the door, carefully skating around the family. 

“Alright, I’m here, how’s the little bugger doing?”

“He’s sore but alive,” Dick responded, as Damian tried again to move forward, but was stopped again and laid back again. 

“Feels like I lost against Grandfather in a spar,” Damian grumbled, muttering arabic curses. 

“Welp, everyone else off, gotta check the bugger over and I can’t do that if you all are hanging off him.” 

The family moved back enough, and Bruce helped Damian to the edge of the bed so that Constantine could do his magic. 

They waited for Constantine to give the verdict, and the room held it’s breath.

“Alright, the little bugger’s not getting more hurt, but he’s gonna need a lot of rest. No swinging off of bloody buildings you hear me?” 

“Whatever,” Damian rolled his eyes, and started getting up off the bed.

Dick came forward to help him, but just hovered over him anxiously when Damian glared at him. 

They started making their way to the Zeta to go home, with Cass and Tim going ahead to tell Alfred the good news. 

Damian continued to stiffly walk down the hall. He paused at a corner and leaned against it.

“Damian? Are you alright?” Bruce asked, coming towards his son, hands out to catch him if he fainted. 

“I’m fine Father, just a little tired.” 

They quickly continued their way to the zeta, and they made it after a few more pauses. 

“I’m glad to see you up and about Master Damian,” Alfred said, meeting them at the entrance to the Zeta tube back in the batcave. “You gave us all quite the fright.”

“I apologize Pennyworth.”

“Nonsense. We are glad you are back. Would you like some tea while you are in bed?”

“Yes please, my traditional one. Thank you Pennyworth.”

The family started to herd Damian upstairs, stopping many times on the way to the stairs alone. 

“Here,” Bruce scooped up Damian into his arms and started walking.

“Father I do not need to be carried!” Damian grumbled as they continued to his room, but he still held onto Bruce as he carried him bridal style. 

“You had enough issues just walking through the halls of the Watchtower Dami, we just don’t want you to be in any pain!”

“Richard I’ve gone through much worse pain than this. It is simply sore muscles.”

They made their way upstairs as Damian and Dick argued, but Damian made no moves to try and get out of Bruce’s hold. 

Bruce paused while opening Damian’s bedroom door, and when it swung open immediately dove away from it. 

“Oh my god!” 

“Someone call Clark and Diana!” 

“Screw that someone call Constantine or Marvel!”

Damian tried to wiggle free to look, but Bruce kept him firmly pressed to his chest. 

Because sitting in a clear bloody box, in the middle of his sons room, was a decapitated and brutalized head. Still bleeding out from the neck. 

There was a paper attached to it, but even with that covering the face of the box at the door, everyone still recognized who that was. 

After all, they’d just traded him away for Damian’s safe return.

Chapter Text

Damian tried to wiggle free from Bruce’s grip again, and Bruce refused to let him go. 

“What is going on? What happened?” 

Bruce had acted so quickly that Damian hadn’t seen what was sitting in the middle of his room. 

Tim reached forward and knelt down in front of the box to start reading off the note. 

“A gift for my treasure. I am aware of your family's fears and paranoia regarding this Joker,” Tim started reading out, as Damian wiggled his way out of Bruce’s hold and into the room. “I hold no such fears. I saw no reason to keep him alive while his soul suffers an endless recompense. May the heads of your enemies put your family at ease… Love, your King.”

Damian stood in front of his ‘gift’ staring at the bloody head of their worst enemy and nightmare. 

“... Okay but that’s kinda romantic-” 

“Jason!” scolded everyone, and even Damian glared at him. 

“What? I’m just saying!” 

“We should send it to the Watchtower, they can deal with the… bio hazard and chemical mess that is his blood.” 

The rest of the family agreed with Bruce, and Jason went off with Bruce to find a box to stick and ship it with. 

Damian wandered back over to his closet and grabbed some comfortable pajamas for the night and walked back out of his room. 

It was going to be a disaster for the rest of the night, and Damian wasn’t dealing with that tonight, he’s going to bed. 

Damian changed in the bathroom and walked back to the family wing. The rest of the family was still doing whatever near his room, and he would not be getting any sleep in there tonight. 

Damian whistled for Titus to come away from his room, he didn’t need to see the gore. 

“Hey Damian, are you ready for bed?” 

Damian nodded, 

“Yes Father, I will be sleeping in your room tonight. I hope you do not mind sharing your bed.” 

Bruce’s lips twitched, which in Bruce terms is a smile. 

“Of course chum, give me a few minutes first then I’ll be in for the night.”

Damian made his way to Bruce’s room, and settled into Bruce’s bed.

It took a five minutes before Bruce arrived, sitting on the edge of his bed with a book. 

“Good night Damian.”

“Good night Father.” 

Damian lay on his back under the blankets, allowing himself to fall into slumber now that his baba was here. 

When Damian finally woke up, the light was streaming through the curtains onto the wall in front of him. A few blinks to adjust his eyes and Damian sat up carefully. His muscles barely protested with the movement, only letting out small twinges of pain.

“Morning Dami, how’d you sleep last night?” Damian looked over to where Father was when he fell asleep, and instead Richard was sitting in a chair besides the bed and his father was asleep next to him. 

“Well enough Richard, did you manage to remove the head from my room?”

“Yeah, we were gonna talk about that after lunch though, didn’t think gore and food sat right together,” he joked, standing up and bending backwards in a truly ridiculous way. 

Damian flipped the blankets off of him, and suddenly Richard took a flying leap onto the bed. 

“Ack! Richard what do you think you are doing? Get off of me!” He yelled, trying to move out from underneath his eldest brother. 

Father groaned and sat up, which pushed Richard onto Damian fully.

“Father! You are not helping!” he yelled, failing to roll from underneath the two. 

Father just laughed at him. The indignity! 

“Sorry chum, how do you feel this morning?”

“Much better,” Damian said, managing to maneuver himself out from under the two of them, “I do believe it is almost time for food. May I visit my room to grab clothes and shower?”

“Yeah, we’re still not done checking over your room though, so make sure you change in the bathroom or something,” Richard replied, getting up and wandering away. 

So Damian grabbed his clothes and headed to the shower. 

Peaking under the sink for the materials he’d be using, a large basket was sitting where he stores his things. 

There was another green note on it, and it was filled with different hair care type materials. Special shampoos and conditioners, hair masks, styling gel, and a fancy oil pulling comb all bundled up in fancy paper and bows. 

Damian ignored all of them for reaching back to his opened products and pulled them out. 

Damian got ready for his shower, and started up the water. 

He got in and popped open his shampoo to start cleaning his hair. But instead of the white shampoo he was supposed to get, it was blue. Damian pulled the lid off and looked into the bottle. 

Someone had put blue dye into his shampoo! When Damian checked the other products, they were also all dyed different colors. 

Damian scowled as he got out of his nice warm shower and had to dry off without cleaning himself. 

“Who dyed my shower supplies?” he yelled, walking out of the room once he was dressed. 

“What?” Tim asked, standing in the middle of his room blinking slowly at Damian as his computer continued to analyze whatever it was on the computer. Father was standing next to him, looking concerned. 

“What are you talking about Damian?” he asked, turning back from his computer. 

“Someone dyed my shampoo and conditioner,” he complained, handing over the bottle to Father. 

“Is there anything else wrong in the bathroom? I know we looked it over but do you want us to look it over again?” Tim offered, walking over to the bathroom like he was going to check it over right then and there. 

“That is the only thing changed within the room, however-” Damian was cut off when Tim opened the cabinet under the sink and spotted his lover’s gift. 

“Bruce! We’ve got another gift!”

Chapter Text

Bruce quickly stepped around Damian and into the bathroom. 

Tim was right, it looked to be a hair care basket, filled with different products and items. Bruce could count three different types of hair masks in there alone. 

“Tim, go get Cass and Jason, bring Damian with you.”

Tim got up and pulled Damian along with him out the door. He could hear his youngest complaining still.

“Drake stop dragging me this instant! I am not a child, I am perfectly capable of walking on my own!” m walked out and grabbed Damian’s arm as he rushed to the door. 

Bruce grabbed his phone and stood in Damian’s bedroom. If the king could get into Damian’s room without them knowing then their wards were either defunct or someone had invited him in. Seeing as none of them had invited or given anyone permission to enter their house in the last month, either this has been a problem longer than they’ve known, or Damian is giving him permission to come in. 

“Diana, Clark,” he greeted, as they picked up their phones.

“Bruce, is something wrong?” Diana asked immediately, sensing his tension. 

“Damian received another gift. It was placed directly in his bathroom.”

“How did that happen? I thought you had wards against him from Constantine?” Clark asked, and Diana remained quiet. 

“We do. Either he’s been here before the wards were put up or he’s been invited in. Damian still has the ability to invite people in, I’m thinking that some sort of spell was placed on him, making him more willing to interact with them.”

“You can stay over at one of my safe houses,” Diana informed them, “he’d be a guest and as such would not be allowed to invite anyone into the house properly.”

“That’s smart, I can help transport things, are you all staying at D’s house or just some of you?”

“I think we’ll take turns, rotate through a watch schedule. Half of us will stay with him and the other half will be staying in the cave for investigations.”

“I do not see the reason I must go with you all to the safe house. Are we not perfectly fine here?”

“Damian, I get that you don’t understand, but it’s for your safety. Can you pack up so we can head on over?”

“Fine.” 

Damian grumbled as he put things into his duffel bag. Clothes, hygiene supplies, and other essentials were dumped into the bag. He was still orderly, he’s not a freak, but he wasn’t as careful as he would be if this were something serious. 

Nobody’s even explaining anything to him! He’s just been told to pack for an indeterminate time period, and if anything is left behind he can ask someone else to grab it for him.

At least he can bring Titus and Alfred with him. He thought, loading up toys and their supplies into their own bag. 

Damian swung the finished bags over his shoulders and headed downstairs to hand the bags over to Superman. He was helping to delver them and their things to DC where Diana’s safehouse was. Why they had to go across the country was also not explained to him. 

Damian wandered over to a tree to sit under with Titus and Alfred the cat while everyone else talked to each other and moved things around. 

He pet Alfred calmly as he totally didn’t pout. He had his phone, he could still hang out with Daniel in DC, he’d just need to find a way to sneak out or convince him to come over himself. 

A grating metal on metal screech grated through the air, and Damian flung himself up into a defensive stance. There was a glowing point of swirling green about three feet away from him, hidden besides the tree. 

The swirling green bleed through the air and pulled open a portal. Damian exited his defensive stance. Anyone that would come through a portal like that would be no threat to him. 

“Damian!” Called out someone farther away, and pounding feet got louder as they all ran towards him. 

Out from the portal came his partner’s form, as he reached his hand out for Damian’s.

“May I have the pleasure of having you tonight?” 

Damian rolled his eyes, Daniel was back to making fun of his formal speech patterns again. 

Suddenly, Danny reached out and pulled Damian through the portal, and Damian felt the wind of someone attempting to grab at him from behind. 

He took a moment to reorient himself from the portal, looking back up when he was steady. They were back in the Far Frozen. 

“Sorry to steal you again Dami, but if we want to keep clearing your ectoplasm we need to go through another shot.”

Damian nodded. 

“Well, lead the way beloved.”

Chapter Text

Damian sat himself down on the bed again, nodding in greeting to Frostbite. 

“Good evening Damian, how are you feeling today?”

“I am well Frostbite. How are you doing?”

“I’m alright, you’re here for another ectoplasm flushing is that correct?”

“Yes it is.”

Damian remained seated calmly as Frostbite prepared his ectoplasm shot. 

“You reacted well to the 25mL flush, but I don’t believe that we should be increasing it anymore soon.”

Damian just nodded and held out his arm for the shot. He was incredibly brave, Danny never sat still for shots, he always needed someone to hold onto him to help him stay still enough to get poked. 

Frostbite finished the shot and removed himself from the room, leaving Danny and Damian alone. 

“So how have things been?”

Damian hummed thinking. 

“Well, Father has declared that we are going to DC for something, we are going to be staying in a friend’s safe house for a little while. However I get to bring my pets, so it alleviates some of the annoyance at having to pack and move.”

Danny nodded as he listened. 

“My brothers are being quite annoying, they keep hovering and trying to keep me close to them. Richard has even gone as far as to hide some of my personal possessions in order to prevent me from going outside where they cannot see me.”

“Damn dude, that sucks,” Danny started, but Damian wasn’t done. 

“However it is… nice. To know that they care so much. I can understand that this is an attempt to keep me safe, no matter how obnoxious or poorly planned it is.”

Danny beamed at him. He was already opening up emotionally! Pure ectoplasm tends to have odd effects on emotions, but hopefully he won’t get angry. It’d be a pain to have to fight him before he calms down. 

“You sound like Jazz,” he laughed, and Damian scowled at him. 

“Perhaps it is because she has some common sense, unlike some people in this room. Do you happen to know why they are so overprotective Daniel?”

Oh shit, back to Daniel.

“Uh… nooo?” he said, and one second more of that look and Danny was breaking, “You said I could do a prank, it’s not my fault they’re so obnoxiously bad at communicating!” If they’d just talk to each other, or even Damian, they’d realize that it was definitely a prank. Hopefully. Maybe. 

“I allowed you to continue to fool them, however it has gone far too long and is frankly unamusing at this point.”

Danny pouted at his fantastic fiancé. 

“Fiiiiiiiiine,” he whined, “I’ll explain when I bring you back.”

 “No you will not, I… will be making sure that there is no miscommunication.” Damian paused to shift around on the medical bed before continuing, 

“… and as such I will need my full facilities about me. Tomorrow you can come over.”

“Yeah, alright, after lunch?” 

Damian nodded, and Danny was satisfied with the plan, though it is sad that their prank is gonna stop soon. 

“How have you been feeling, any symptoms we need to look out for?” 

Damian hummed, thinking for a moment. “I have been running warm, and Richard has commented on my calm behavior recently. I have also required more food recently.”

Danny nodded, the hunger would be for his new growth, the calmer feelings from lack of ectoplasm poisoning, but running hot would need to be watched. 

“Alright, any different emotions right now?”

Damian blinked a few times at Danny, and he waited for him to answer. 

“It feels… odd. Like a sedative.”

“Are you feeling tired?”

Damian paused and thought, before nodding once. 

“Alright, take a little while to rest, I’ll wake you when it’s time to head back.”

Damian groaned as he forced himself up. Danny would be bringing him back home, and he wanted to be awake for the transition. Danny held him close, supporting him as he portaled to the manor again.

Damian sat down on the stairs outside. He landed a little rougher than he thought, and the sun was beating down on him where he was sitting. Damian pulled at his shirt, it wouldn’t be too long before he’d be picked up, Clark and Jon both knew he’d gone missing, so they’d be able to hear him sitting here. Kon too, though Kon was probably out with Timothy. They were probably at the tower tracking anything they could find. Timothy was techy like that. 

Damian wiped the sweat off of his head, and tried to spread his limbs out. They were like hot pudding, he really felt like he got hit with a sedative while on patrol. 

A cool breeze flapped at Damian, providing only a moment of relief before hot hands were on him. 

“Damian, thank Rao you’re okay-” he heard Clark ramble on but his brain had decided to follow his limbs and turning into hot pudding.

Chapter Text

Damian didn't understand much of what was happening around him. There were people yelling, hands on him, he was being shaken-

"Damian! Damian you need to wake up please!"

Richard? God he's so hot, he feels like he's boiling, he's so hot, and he can feel his heart rabbiting in his chest.

"Damian chum, can you open your eyes for us? Or respond somehow?"

Damian tried to pull his eyes open, the blurry visions swimming in front of him.

He could see Father above him, or was it Richard? No, both of them are there. Clark… Clark is also there.

"Shh Damian, you're alright. You'll be okay."

Damian looked at his father, who was looking down at him… probably with concern but it was too blurry to see.

"I'ss hot" he slurred, he wanted his Father to understand and fix it. His father fixes so much for him.

"I know chum, I know," he said, brushing his bangs back. And his hand was cool and gentile.

There was a sudden freezing chill lashing up his leg, and he cried out, trying to pull away from the burning pain.

"Shh, Damian you're okay, it's just ice," Father says.

"Jon you need a barrier between the ice and leg!" he heard Clark scolding.

The pain lessened, and sweet coolness spread as more ice was pressed around him.

Damian sighed, melting into the cold ice and shade that was suddenly over him.

He could feel an Iv being started, the small prick and uncomfortable slide in of the tube being an identifying feature.

He felt his shirt being gently pulled off, along with his shorts. He was left in his boxers, surrounded by ice and covered by the shade of his family… probably.

Eventually, Damian was able to open his eyes and look up at his father who was sitting above him, still gently moving his hands through his hair.

"Hey Damian, how are you doing chum?"

He wet his mouth, and opened his mouth to respond, and instead burst out coughing violently and dryly.

"Here, some water."

Damian thankfully drank from the cup in his fathers hand, and coated his throat with cool liquid.

"Careful, don't drink too fast." The cup was soon taken away, no longer having any liquid in it.

"Clark is going to bring you up to your room, we'll be right there with you okay?"

Damian nodded, his eyes beginning to drift shut.

He was picked up in Clark's arms, and his IV was held up with him.

The breeze was nice during the few moments that it occurred. But then he was laid in the bed, and surrounded in ice again.

The soft bedding quickly and comfortably pulled him into sleep.

Chapter Text

As Bruce finished tucking the ice around Damian, and setting up the room ac to blow as much air as possible, he finally sat down next to his youngest.

"What are we going to do?" Tim asked, holding the tablet in front of him. Damian's vitals were displayed on the screen in front of him, and while not currently dangerous, were concerning.

"We're calling the league. We're not letting him be taken again."

A few people would stay with Damian while he recovered, while they dealt with the king.

Damian had been doing so well, and while he hadn't been pleased with moving for the short amount of time, he'd been understanding and willing to go with them. And he'd been getting along with his brothers much better recently. He hadn't fought with them seriously in weeks, instead interacting with all of them positively.

And then he'd been taken away and almost killed.

Bruce was done with trying to prevent this from their side of the veil. If he had to fight the king to get him to leave his son alone, then so be it. He would not have this thing harass and harm his son any longer.

The meeting was set for tomorrow, and tonight they'd stand watch over Damian, making sure that he's comfortable and healing. And when he woke up, they'd assure him that he'd be safe, that he'll never be hurt by that being again.

But for now, Bruce stroked his hair gently, and made sure that none of the ice packs were directly on his skin. He'd keep watch over his youngest, and make sure that he sleeps soundly through the night, and heals.

Chapter Text

The night came and went with little progress, with Damian's temperature dropping and staying low enough to call him stable.

He however, did not wake up with light movement, and the family was too worried to wake him until the morning.

"Damian chum, can you wake up for us?"

Bruce watched Damian's eyes flutter and shift, carefully opening up and squinting up at him.

He looked so young and confused for just a moment before his eyes lit up.

"Baba?" He said, turning over towards Bruce and letting the now only slightly cool ice packs fall from him.

"Hey chum," he said, moving the hair from his eyes as Damian continued to move and roll onto his sides.

"Did Daniel finally explain things?" He asked with a yawn, ignoring his brothers that were moving around and hovering.

"Who is Daniel?" Bruce asked, watching Damian yawn and try and move closer, almost like he wanted to press up against Bruce.

Damian didn't respond very well, mumbling out something before trying to get even closer to Bruce and almost falling off the bed.

"Baba?"

"I'm right here habibi," he said, moving up onto the bed with Damian, who settled onto Bruce's chest like he was meant to be there all along.

"Hey habibi, who's Daniel?" He asked, jostling Damian slightly to keep him awake.

Despite the grumpy noises and mumbling, Damian did speak loud enough to hear, "m' fiance… he didn' mn to scare you, he wanna be funny."

"Dami sweetheart, can you tell us more?" Dick tried asking, sitting at the edge of the bed and reapplying all the fallen ice packs.

"Shh, is seep time," was the response he got, with Damian rolling over so that his face was pressed into Bruce's chest.

"We'll figure this out when he wakes up. After that we'll call the league and sort this out," Bruce said. It sounded like Damian knew a few more things than they did, and he had to hope that it was true, and not a lie or manipulation.

Damian woke up sore and cold, and for a moment he almost thought he could hear the changing of guards and the far sounds of metal on metal for training.

But he could feel the sun on his skin, he never woke up with sun rays in Nanda Parbat, it was a security and temperature hazard to have windows big enough for that.

He was also much too comfortable to be back there.

"Damian? Are you awake?"

He was also on top of Father, much to his own embarrassment.

Damian opened his dry eyes, and blinked a few times to get them to focus.

If he was in Nanda Parbat he'd be dead by now.

But he's not, and he won't be, Daniel promised him that if he ever returned to call him and he'd take him away.

Damian didn't bother trying to get off of Father, if Father didn't want to be here he'd tell him, and Damian wasn't going to give up his comfortable location in his Baba's lap.

"Good Morning Father," he said, properly greeting him despite his improper location.

"Good morning Damian, how are you feeling?"

"I am decent," he responded, still slouched and pushed up into his Father.

There was silence for a few minutes, apparently his Father was just not understanding what was occurring.

"Chum, who's Daniel?"

Damian wanted to sigh, and roll his eyes like Todd did when ever someone asked a stupid question.

"My fiance, and the king Father. Who else would he be?"

Chapter Text

Damian was displeased with his new circumstances. Father had made him get up and begin his day, and had hovered the entire time, no matter how much he protested.

"Father this is ridiculous. I do not need to be coddled!"

"Damian you nearly died yesterday, that's not something that you just bounce back from."

Damian huffed, but allowed his father to do as he wished. He'd understand more when they finally explained everything.

And if his muscles hurt a little too much well, the coddling had it's benefits.

When they finally made it downstairs, Damian then had to deal with the coddling from the rest of his family.

Father set him in his seat at the table and made a move to go sit far from Damian, but was stopped when he reached out and grabbed onto him.

If Damian is going to be coddled then the least his father can do for him is stay near his side, unlike his normal routine of sitting at the end of the table.

To Damian's immense pleasure he did in fact sit besides Damian, leaving a complaining Richard who normally sat on that side of him.

Richard sat on the other side, and the rest of the Family also sat closer than normal. There was normally a few chairs of space between a few people, or maybe one or two between the sides, but today everybody packed in close, Richard even moved his chair to be closer to him.

It was sweet but unnecessary of him to get closer to Damian, as he was currently surrounded on all sides by his family, with no intention of leaving.

As they finished up breakfast the family moved into the living room, and Damian could tell that they were readying to interrogate him.

"So Damian, we realized we haven't gotten your point of view from this whole ordeal," Richard starts off, his father grunting in agreement, and the rest of his siblings nodding along.

"Could you fill us in maybe? Start from the top and go down to now?"

"Very well," he said, sitting up straight and readying his report.

"I suppose the start would be how I became betrothed to Daniel-"

"Who's Daniel-"

"Aren't you engaged to the King?-"

"Is that the king?-"

Damian glared at his siblings, and they appeared to get the message to be silent for once.

"Yes, Daniel is the King of the Infinite Realms, having defeated the previous ruler in combat and earning the throne. He does prefer to go by Danny, however he has earned my anger currently, so I am referring to him as Daniel."

His siblings don't look very pleased about that, but no one interrupted him again.

"As I was saying, Grandfather has many magic books involving the infinite realms, as they are part of the reason the pits exist. When I was an infant, Grandfather made a deal with one of the previous King's hand, and exchanged my soul for the continued service of the Waters," His family made angry faces at that, except for Todd who looked sick instead.

"I am lucky that he was over thrown about two years ago, and his successor, which is Daniel, decided to have me in a different way."

His family looked straight sick, like they were going to leave and kill his grandfather as soon as they could.

"As the terms given and the King's part completed, he could not annul the price that needed to be paid completely. Instead, he decided to own my soul in a different way, as the shared ownership of a soul can be considered marriage in the realms, he decided to go about it that way instead."

"However, as neither of us are of age yet, we are not able to be married. As such, we cannot pay the price that is intended, nor the new one, and I remain betrothed to Daniel."

There was a momentary pause, before his family burst into questions.

"Not 18-"

"You're 13-"

"Damn, that's one way to escape-"

"Oh god-"

"We only have 5 years-"

Damian took in the chaos, and promptly decided to continue the story.

"Yes, and he apologized for not being able to undo the contract in it's entirety, however the moment we get married, the timer will begin and he will be able to undo the pit's after the marriage has reached approximately 10 years."

"In the process, we have become good friends, and have independently become enamored. We have assisted each other many times, and have many ways of communicating. The sword was a gift after I mentioned my skill in it's use, and the many gifts that come along are simply courting gifts. He does like to spoil me."

"But he doesn't hurt you? You come back sick and injured and-"

"Yes, while Grandfather bargained for the continued existence, he has however failed to properly take care of it through time. As such, prolonged contamination is severely harmful when mixed with clean ectoplasm, and he has been taking me to a medic to be cleared."

Damian feels like he's missing something, as he runs through the story in his head. If his family would stop interrupting him and being loud, then perhaps he'd be able to tell the linear story and properly.