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Bruce Wayne (capedcrusade) wrote in modernage,
@ 2010-07-27 18:24:00

Entry tags:

damian wayne | rook, {bruce wayne | batman}, ∴ scenes: completed

Thread: Post-Kidnapping Check-in
Who: Bruce Wayne and Damian Wayne
Where: Blüdhaven, Dick & Damian's place
When: Sunday, may 16th, 2010
Summary: Bruce comes to visit Damian in Blüdhaven for a post-kidnapping check-in. Oh, and to drop off some board games.

Blüdhaven. Dick's town.

Bruce always felt uncomfortable here, ever since Dick had said in no uncertain terms to leave the city to him. A sense of territory he no doubt learned from the Batman.

As Alfred sensibly pointed out, that didn't actually mean Dick didn't want to be visited, but still, Bruce always hesitated to go there. Didn't want Dick to think he was checking up on him.

The recently kidnapped Damian, however, was a different story. Bruce still wasn't sure what the al Ghul plans for the child were. They used him like a pawn in some elaborate game. Bruce glanced at the chess set in the car seat beside him. No, not like a pawn. Like the king. Important, but helpless. Only there to be captured.

Setting the metaphor aside, he made the turn to park next to Dick's place. He was strangely nervous, though it didn't show on his face. This felt strange. Oh he'd observed the proper protocols, called ahead first and everything. Dick would be out, but Damian would be home. Twelve years old, was that old enough to be home alone? He wasn't sure, he'd always had Alfred to be home for the boys.

Stop it, Bruce. Dick's his guardian, not you. He made the call. Live with it.

Scooping up the board games, Bruce walked calmly up to the door and rang the bell.

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ibnalxuffasch
2010-07-28 12:18 am UTC (link)

Damian had too much time on his hands. More than should be healthy, especially concerning the health of other people. He was supposed to be on his best behavior today because his father was deigning to grace him with his presence. Damian slouched down into the couch cushions, irritated and agitated at the situation. In a slightly vindictive act, he put his feet up on the coffee table. Pennyworth would never let him do that if he were living at Wayne Manor.

Hearing the low hum of a well tended car approach, he tensed up before forcing himself to relax. He did not care that his father was visiting, not at all. Damian grabbed the newspaper, folding it over to read the financial section. The words did not hold his attention, probably because he had already read the entire paper several times. The sound got louder before evening out as the engine idled. Damian rustled the newspaper so he could no longer hear anything else. When he stilled, it was unnaturally quiet outside the townhouse. The engine was cut.

Damian cursed at himself, feeling stupid for being on edge. He burned time by folding up the paper and putting it aside, carefully making it look like it had never been read - there was a smudge of a finger print on the back so he left it headline up. When the doorbell rang, Damian jumped to his feet and took a hasty step to the door before reminding himself to slow down. No need to rush, it was only his father.

He leisurely walked over to the door, hands thrust in his pockets. Opening the door, was slightly relieved and anxious that it was his father. Relieved that the wait was finally over, and that all he had gone through was not wasted on a courier. Anxious that he did not know what to say or do. "Father." Immediately after, he followed his level greeting with a slightly off putting accusation, "What took you so long?" Not that he was waiting.

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capedcrusade
2010-07-28 01:06 am UTC (link)

For Bruce's part, he brushed off the rudeness. For Damian, that was positively civil. The incident with Talia must have rattled him.

He looked alright. Dick had said the boy was ok. And of course, there was no reason to doubt Dick's assessment. Yet, Bruce couldn't help but wonder. It was the mental scars, the emotional scars, that someone like Talia would be most likely to inflict. And those were the hardest to detect.

Bruce came inside and set the boxes on the coffee table, then turned to Damian. Kneeling down on one knee, he lightly placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. His eyes were on a level with Damian's. The same color of blue.

"Are you alright?" Bruce asked gently.

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ibnalxuffasch
2010-07-28 02:30 am UTC (link)

Damian did not like people touching him, mostly because casual contact - much less loving contact - had never been a part of his life. He bristled under his father's hands, shoulders tensing up. Even as his body rejected the act, Damian's mind did not know what to make of it. It was not exactly unpleasant, just uncomfortable. He could feel the warmth of his father's hands and the gentle pressure of them.

He took a half step back, wanting the break the contact. Not used to it, but also not wanting to get used to it. Ever. Something about it reeked of dependence and submission, qualities that were not wanted in al Ghul men. He wondered if they were for men of the Wayne family, and decided that they were not. If there was anything that he could determine about Bruce Wayne, it was that he did not give up or give in. He had that in common with Ra's.

"I'm unharmed." He said warily, wondering if this was a test, "Do you think me weak enough to be injured?" His eyes narrowed in suspicion and anger that hid his wounded pride.

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capedcrusade
2010-07-28 02:53 pm UTC (link)

Bruce let his hands slide off of Damian as the boy stepped away, clearly not wanting to be touched. He ignored the slight disappointment that accompanied the action. It was Damian's body, Damian's choice.

Was Damian weak enough to be injured? No, Damian was even weaker than that. He was weak enough to be taken without injury. Bruce was certain Talia could do it handily even without the ninja she had no doubt brought along, but suspected that hadn't been necessary in this case.

Bruce stood, his gaze automatically sweeping the room. Faint shoe scuff marks on the coffee table next to a newspaper that had been read and meticulously refolded. That must be the spot on the couch Damian preferred to sit, so Bruce took the armchair.

Leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, he gazed at Damian. "Tell me what happened."

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ibnalxuffasch
2010-07-28 03:52 pm UTC (link)

Damian noticed that his father did not answer his accusation, but did not know what to make of it. His anger said that it was a tacit agreement, that his father did think he was weak. Weak enough to be pitied, which was why he changed the subject. Damian's pride, needing recognition, decided that not saying anything was the same as nothing needing to be said. He was not weak, to the point that it was obvious.

Figuring that if his father could change the subject, so could he, Damian walked over to the table and looked at what Bruce had brought with him. "Board games? Do you think I'm bored?" It was a common pun, but Damian did not mean to make it. It was simply that he did not want to talk about the past few days, and certainly not with his father. He would not understand.

And how could he when Damian did not understand it either?

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capedcrusade
2010-07-28 11:20 pm UTC (link)

Bruce watched Damian silently. The fact that the boy was uncomfortable was obvious. Though he generally was whenever Bruce was around.

Very well. They could talk about something else for a while. Maybe that would help. The presents. That seemed safe enough. At least safer than recent events.

"They are yours, if that's what you're asking," Bruce replied mildly. "Tommy Elliot sent them over for you, and I promised to pass them along. Would you like to play?"

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ibnalxuffasch
2010-07-29 05:29 am UTC (link)

"Play?" Damian repeated incredulously, "Don't you have actual work to do?" And Damian did not 'play', on occasion he engaged in 'training exercises' that were not unpleasant, but he absolutely did not frivolously play.

On the other hand, he did enjoy chess, in as much as he did not hate it. It all mattered on who he was playing against. Overly cautions opponents who took minutes to make a move turned the experience sour. But a fast and brutal exchange could prove interesting. Damian was not overly skilled at it, failing to read deep into the game and only thinking a few moves ahead at a time. He relied too heavily on his rooks, knights and bishops while failing to make use of his pawns and queen to their full potential.

The other package might be more interesting, so Damian set aside the chess board and reached for it.

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capedcrusade
2010-07-29 01:14 pm UTC (link)

Sometimes, Bruce wondered if he was overthinking Ra's intention with Damian. Maybe it wasn't actually part of some intricate plot. Maybe it was just to saddle him with an unpleasant child with psychological problems, to keep him slightly off balance all the time.

The image of Damian proudly holding the severed head of the man he'd murdered rose unbidden in Bruce's mind. He quickly shoved it back down. Getting angry wasn't helpful.

"You were alone when she found you," Bruce started. If they weren't going to play, they might as well get down to business. And as Damian pointed out, he did have work to do. Figuring out what the al Ghuls were up to being part of it.

"In fact, you were alone because she'd arranged for you to be alone, though you didn't know that at the time. She was prepared to force you to come, but she'd rather it wasn't needed. Instead, she spoke. She said things that played off your pride, your youth, your insecurities, until going with her almost seemed like your idea. So you did."

Bruce was watching Damian carefully, to see how close to the mark he was.

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ibnalxuffasch
2010-07-29 08:40 pm UTC (link)

Damian scowled in annoyance, disliking the interrogation. It immediately put him on the defensive. It was the same no matter what, no matter whom he was talking to. They were always pecking away at him, questioning him and finding him lacking. His mother did it, trying make him see how people used him. His father played the same card. It rankled him, because no matter what he did it was wrong.

"Is spending time with my mother a crime now?" He spat back, feeling like he'd been backed up against a wall.

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capedcrusade
2010-07-29 11:32 pm UTC (link)

"No," Bruce answered, getting a little exasperated. Not with the rudeness, but rather with how thick Damian was being. Even Jason would have figured it out by now.

He shoved the feeling back down and continued. "Think, Damian. Has anything ever been that straightforward with her? That she wanted to see someone and simply did so? And if that was her motivation, why involve the League?"

Bruce shook his head. "Talia and I were on good terms. It's why I was willing to invite her to the party. If she wanted to see you, she could have asked. But she never asked, Damian. She never asked to see you. What does that tell you about recent events?"

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ibnalxuffasch
2010-07-30 06:36 am UTC (link)

Damian was not stupid, just largely in denial. He was only twelve and wanted nothing more than to be on good terms with his parents. Oh, and he would not mind taking over the world at some point, but that was a fantasy. The problem was that he had this idea in his head but no way to make it real.

Especially since his parents were often in direct opposition to each other, there was no way to please one or the other. In the end, he always ended up defending one of his parents when in the company of the other. When his mother started in on his father, he cautiously defended his father. After having been so recently in his mother's company, it was easier to defend her against now than it would have been earlier. It helped that he wanted to stop this line of questioning, even though it was a same path he had trod down on his own.

It was one thing to think it on his own, to admit such cruel facts in the privacy of his mind. It was quite another for his father to lay the facts bare...no matter how true they were.

Damian lashed out with the anger of a child trying to hold on to a dream, but with an intelligence and cruelty that betrayed the tumultuous arrival of his early teenage years. "You think you are better, Father," he spat out, his voice climbing in volume as he continued, "Mother showed interest in me. If she hadn't, would you have shown the slightest inclination to visit at all? What are your motivations?"

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capedcrusade
2010-07-30 06:44 pm UTC (link)

Bruce remained calm. He'd seen Damian's tantrums before. Instead of shouting back, he answered the question, though there was a hint of steel in his voice that wasn't there a moment ago.

"First, I am here to see if you are alright," he answered steadily. "To which I believe the answer is obvious." Obviously not, that was. But Bruce was beginning to think he'd just made things worse by trying to help. Maybe he should have just left this to Dick. Which did seem to be the answer they always returned to whenever there was an issue with Damian.

It still bothered him, leaving Damian to Dick. Didn't seem very fair. But then, nothing about the situation was particularly fair. They just had to manage as best they could.

"Second, I want to figure out if this is actually over. Why did Talia take you when she could have just asked? Is she going to take you again? What else was she hoping to accomplish? Was it part of a distraction, and if so, for what? Yes, it could have just been Talia being willful, but years of experience with the al Ghuls have shown me that the simple solution is usually not the correct one."

"And finally, as to whether I would have come if she hadn't taken you. No, I would not have. For many reasons, but not the least of which is you've made it very clear that you don't want me to."

This was going nowhere. Maybe he should leave before it got worse.

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ibnalxuffasch
2010-08-01 07:17 pm UTC (link)

Father's calmness about the situation only made Damian angrier. Of course, if he had gotten angry as well, Damian would have just used it as justification for fighting back. Being deprived of the satisfaction of getting his father riled up got under his skin. Any reaction was better than no reaction.

Compound this with the fact that Damian did not know the answers to his father - no, Batman's - questions. Because it was not Bruce Wayne speaking, it was all about Batman and Batman's enemies. One of whom was his mother. He was not the introspective type, but the thought had crossed his mind before to ask if he was more al Ghul or Wayne. Clearly not enough of either to understand what was going on his their minds.

He did not have answers for his father. But he had realized something, "You suck as a father." Damian picked up the chess set and turned to leave. Even Grayson is a better -whatever- than his own father is.

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capedcrusade
2010-08-01 08:48 pm UTC (link)

Bruce raised an eyebrow at the boy's retreating back. Was that a realization, there at the end? An obvious truth to be sure, but insight was rare enough for Damian that it could be a sign of progress.

His mind swiftly examined the statement from several angles before arriving at disappointment. No, it had been a childish insult, nothing more. Ah well.

Dismissing the interview from his mind in favor of more pressing concerns, Bruce left to make the long drive back. As the child had pointed out, he did have actual work to do, and Gotham needed its Batman.

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