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"We should both stop lying," Damian watched in horror as Nightwing's hand pierced Batman's chest. He stood frozen as his father fell to the floor. Static buzzed in his ears, drowning out all other sounds.
He thought he might throw up when he saw Richard lick the blood from his gloved fingers.
Cassandra was the first to spring into action. Her arm was broken for her troubles. Green Arrow attempted to shoot Richard through the heart.
He tried to kill his brother. No, he tried to kill the thing that had once been his brother. The monster who killed his father.
Damian wasn't even aware he was moving until he felt something solid connect with his chest. Richard batted him away like a pest, sending him through several crates. Splinters dug into the entire back of his body, but the pain hardly registered as he saw Drake get knocked to the floor. Time seemed to slow as Damian watched Dick stomp down on his head.
Blood splattered across the room. Damian felt faint. He stumbled forward, unable to process what he'd just seen. The fight continued around them, eventually Wonder Woman released herself from her bonds.
They were losing.
Damian threw himself at Richard with a fury he'd never felt before. It wasn't enough to stop him from biting down on his neck, then tossing him aside like a used object.
His blood rapidly spilled on the floor as his vision blurred. Eventually, everything faded to black.
The next time Damian awoke, he found himself in a cell with glass walls. He recognized his surroundings immediately as Wayne Tower. For a blissful moment, he thought he might have dreamt the carnage, but when he felt a horrible ache on his neck, he knew it was real.
Damian brought his knees to his chest and hid his face. His family was gone.
Richard visited him every night. He personally delivered his food and drink. Afterwards, he would stay as he attempted to break the ice.
Damian did not entertain him. The sight of him crushing Drake's head under his foot, of his hand emerging from his father's chest...
He couldn't even look at him.
Learning of Todd's fate had not helped matters.
Despite the years of training and discipline, Damian found it more difficult by the day to ignore the monster that wore his brother's skin. It wasn't long before he finally broke his silence, immediately regretting it once it happened.
"Why?" Damian felt smaller than he ever had. Even under the oppressive thumb of his grandfather, he hadn't felt quite so powerless. "Why didn't you kill me?"
"Oh Dami, I would never-"
"Don't," He glared at Richard, yet his soft smile never faltered. That was the worst part of all of this. He would have understood had it been anyone else. Todd, Drake, even his father to a certain extent, but Richard? Cruelty didn't make sense when paired with that familiar smile. "After what you did... How could you take the lives of the family you claim to care so much for? Father, Drake, Todd-"
"Oliver Queen killed Jason," Richard's eyes abruptly turned cold, yet it still wasn't directed towards Damian. "I would have- I wanted him here, with us."
Damian couldn't help but scoff. "As another prisoner?"
"You're not a prisoner."
"What else do you call someone kept against their will?"
"Damian-"
"Would you prefer the term captive?"
"I wanted to give you a choice," The words came so softly it took Damian back for a moment. He quickly recovered, hardening his gaze at the traitor who was once his brother. "You stop aging once you become a vampire. I thought I'd let you grow up."
"Is that your plan then? Keep me locked up for years until you decide the time is right?"
"We have an eternity Damian. Besides, I was hoping you would decide-"
"Then you hoped wrong. I will never join you," Damian found the strength to stand. He looked up at Dick, knowing full well he was incapable of menacing the man. "I hate you Richard, for everything you've done."
"You don't mean that. You've said it yourself, we're the best."
"We were the best. Before you became a monster."
Richard frowned. "That's not fair," He put his hand against the glass wall of the cell. "I'm only doing what's best for my people. What's best for you."
"I'm not yours anymore R- Grayson," Damian turned away as Richard's face went blank. "You've ruined everything."
Silence filled the room for a long while after that. Damian refused to look back, not knowing what would greet him if he did. For as much disgust as Richard sparked in him now, he couldn't help but remember who he used to be.
Eventually, he heard him walk away. Damian sat alone in his cell, doing his best not to curl up and cry. He was not a child, and behaving as one would only serve Richard's interests.
Richard did not return later that night. Normally, he hand delivered Damian's meals. This time, he got nothing. If he wanted to be petulant then fine. Damian had skipped more than enough meals. This would not break him.
It wasn't until after Damian harshly woke himself up when he'd started to doze that he noticed a bowl and water inside his cell. He looked around but found no trace of anyone, dead or otherwise. Not knowing the source, Damian did not eat the food he was given.
Things continued like this for the next several days. Richard did not appear, but food and water did. He was never able to catch who left it. By the time he was forced to start consuming his measly rations, he came to a realization.
Richard must have been attempting to punish him. Isolation was often a tactic to subdue unruly prisoners which is what Richard would have seen him as.
Unsure of how long the isolation was meant to last, Damian resolved himself.
By day five, Damian found his appetite was gone. Whether it was stress or perhaps some kind of drugs snuck into his prior food, he wasn't entirely certain.
By day eight, he saw them every time he closed his eyes. The broken bodies of his family. The people he had grown to care deeply for were slaughtered by the one he cared the deepest for.
By day twelve, he started hallucinating. The voices and visage of those long gone greeted him during his waking hours as well.
By day fifteen, he shed pathetic tears.
By day twenty-five, he broke and called for Richard. Naturally, he was there in an instant.
Richard was adept at acting as though everything was normal. Damian, however, did not possess the same skill. He laid, curled in a ball in his cell in what must have been a pathetic sight. He felt so much shame at his weakness. Isolation had broken him, despite having endured far worse in the past. Richard was there to dry his tears, despite him wanting nothing to do with him.
"Dami~" Pathetically, Damian perked up when he heard Richard's voice. He wiped his own tears as the vampire appeared with a tray in hand. He entered the cell, likely smug from the knowledge that Damian was in no state to make an escape, and placed the food on the small desk which was bolted to the floor. "Hungry?"
"No."
"But you are grumpy," Richard huffed. He looked at Damian for a moment then decided to take a seat next to him on the bed. In the several days since the incident where he's spent hours by Damian's side, Richard had not stayed inside the cell beyond delivering food until now. "How are you holding up?"
"You don't care."
"Of course I do," Richard placed a cold hand on his head. He used to be so warm... Damian still found himself leaning into the touch. "I care about so much it hurts."
"Then let me go."
"And then what? Watch you get yourself killed?" Richard pulled him into a sitting position. Damian didn't fight as he pressed his head against his chest. He sat there, listening to the silence where his heartbeat was meant to be. "The vampires wouldn't dare touch you, I'd personally tear apart any that tried, but the humans? You're my brother, Dami. How would they react if they realized you were still alive?"
Damian did not answer. If they were rational, they would see him as a great asset. A highly skilled human with information about the Vampire King... But people were not rational. If they were, Damian would be pushing Richard away right now.
"You must be hungry," Richard smiled down at him. It looked so painfully familiar, yet entirely wrong. His skin was too pale, his eyes a blood red, and small fangs could be seen behind his lips. "A growing boy needs food, you know."
"I don't see why you insist on keeping this up."
"Because I love you," Damian's chest warmed at how easily the words came out. "And I want you to be healthy."
It wasn't long before he relented. The vampires, from what he understood, were working on plunging the world into darkness which would severely harm agriculture. Despite that, Damian was given fresh fruits and vegetables every day. He wasn't sure how to feel about it.
Richard's visits to his cell became a daily occurrence. They would sit together, talk, then Damian would eat and Richard would go off to fulfill his duties.
Today was different.
Damian paced around his small cell, unable to stop the gnawing anxiety in his chest. Richard came at exactly 6PM every day. It was already 6:45 and there was no sign of him.
Had he been held up by business? Damian was just a prisoner, he surely had more important things to do than to coddle him.
7:00
Or maybe Damian had made a mistake. Was it possible he said something wrong in their last encounter and Richard was now punishing him again?
7:25
He'd already lost so much, would he lose even the facsimile of Richard too?
7:40
Damian sat on his bed. He gripped the metal frame until his knuckles were white. It was fortunate that his strength was that of a normal teenager, otherwise he may have needed to replace the bed.
8:00
His throat felt like it was closing. His chest felt tight enough that his lungs might pop. He tried to take deep breaths, but all he could manage were pathetic stuttering ones which barely allowed any air. His eyes blurred with unshed tears that refused to go away no matter how much he admonished himself for them.
Richard would be right to abandon him for how pathetic he was acting. He'd done nothing to deserve comfort, and now he was falling apart without it.
He just wanted his father to hold him. He wanted Richard to hold him.
8:12
The smell of blood instantly caught Damian's attention. He whipped his head to the transparent cell wall. He felt the slightest bit more at ease at the sight of Richard.
Richard, however, did not look pleased.
Damian flinched back when he entered the room. His heart beat in his chest as Richard approached.
For a horrible half second, he thought he might have to face the full brunt of his displeasure, but that was all washed away when he swept Damian into a tight hug. Damian instantly returned it, not caring about the still wet blood that got on his hands and clothes.
Richard was here, and everything would be okay.
"Dami," His voice was so gentle as he spoke. "Oh Dami, I'm so sorry."
"Richard-"
Whatever he was about to say next melted away as Richard pulled back to wipe his tears. He smiled in a way that was so painfully familiar.
"We should get you cleaned up," Richard grimaced. "You won't want to be in those clothes when they dry."
With the same strength he'd used against their family, Richard lifted Damian into his arms. He was perhaps a bit too tall for him to comfortably carry, but neither of them cared much.
When Damian found himself showering the Vampire King's personal suite with Richard right outside the door, a terrible realization washed over him.
He wasn't sure he'd be able to survive without Richard anymore.
"I can't become a vampire," Damian regretted the words as soon as they slipped from his lips. Richard looked down at him, not angry or disappointed, but a little confused.
"Hm?"
"I swore to father that I would never take another life-"
"Bruce isn't here anymore," Damian hated how casually he could speak of his father's death. He hated even more that the pain had dulled to an almost non-existent ache. He felt numb in a way he wasn't sure he'd ever experienced. "He can't forced you to keep that promise."
"I don't wish to break it."
"Dami," Richard shook his head with an exasperated smile. As if he were a child that didn't want to eat his vegetables. "You won't care about all of that when you turn. You'll be free from the cage Bruce put you in."
Damian didn't comment on the irony of his statement.
"I'm a vegetarian."
"That's for animals, not humans."
"You seem to think of them as animals."
"Maybe," He hummed. "But you won't have to worry about that."
Damian nodded as he stared down at the floor. The thought of drinking human blood didn't make him feel as ill as it should have. If anything, it almost made him feel closer to Richard.
When Richard came with Damian's dinner, he also had something else balanced on the tray.
"Oh Dami~ I brought a gift!" Richard set the tray on the desk, then he placed down a few pieces of paper and a stick of charcoal. Damian stared at the supplies as though he'd never seen them before. "I thought you must be so bored in here all day, so why not give you something to do?"
Richard turned to him with a brilliant smile. Damian found his words caught in his throat.
"Well, did I do good?"
"Yes," He finally choked out. "Thank you."
His chest felt impossibly warm as Richard sat beside him. At the same time, his stomach sank with dread.
"Richard, I have a headache," Damian complained as he leaned against his brother's chest.
"Again?" Richard lifted his chin so that he could get a better look at him. He frowned at what he saw. "Maybe you're getting sick or something."
"I'm not sure," The lie felt bitter on his tongue, as did the half dissolved pain killers he hid from Richard. He spit them out when Richard left his cell, stashing them with the rest. He frowned at his illicit collection, knowing that they would not be enough to kill him outright.
Father had only kept over the counter medicine in his more public safehouses. Anything directly tied to Wayne Industries certainly couldn't have anything illegal or suspicious, so Damian was stuck with less than effective means.
It would be four more days before he felt confident enough in his collection to take them all at once. Even as he swallowed them, knew it was only a token effort. After all, Richard cared too much about him to let him die.
Damian wasn't sure when Richard would come back. He was on day three of isolation for his attempt on his own life. Not that he didn't deserve the punishment. He's made Richard so worried...
At day seven, he caught his first glimpse of Richard outside his cell. He felt more guilty than he thought he would at his crestfallen expression.
On day nine, Richard joined him inside the cell once again. He held him while he cried and begged for forgiveness.
At day fourteen, Damian just wanted everything to end.
"Richard," He clung tightly to his brother. Richard smiled down at him, always so forgiving. "I... I would like to join you."
"Damian," He gently cupped his cheek. "You're not even sixteen."
"I don't care," He closed his eyes and buried his face in Richard's cold chest. "Please, I'll stay like this forever, just don't leave my side."
There was a terrifying moment where Damian thought he might be rejected. That he might look up at Richard and see not the loving smile of his brother, but the maliciously gleeful smirk of the monster who killed their family.
His fears were unfounded.
When he found the courage, he saw so much affection in Richard's eyes that it hurt.
"Of course, Dami," He pulled him closer. Damian tilted his head to the side, exposing his neck. "I'll never leave you."
The inevitable bite hurt more than he thought it would. More than the first time, even. But this time, he was comforted by the knowledge that Richard was the one doing it, rather than horrified.
In some ways, being at Richard's side was similar to being at his grandfather's. The respect, the deference, the slight undercurrent of fear from those far below his station, it was all familiar.
Now though, it felt more right than it ever had.
"There have been rumors of a human stronghold," Wonder Woman reported. Richard sat back in his throne, disinterested to those who couldn't read him, contemplating to those who could.
"All the major cities are gone, the zeta technology too..." Richard glanced at Damian who stood at attention next to him. A small smile crossed his face before his attention was back on the matter at hand. "It's unlikely to be civilians leading the effort. Find any heroes you can and tail them. They'll lead us to their hiding place," He paused for a moment. When no one else spoke, he continued. "If there's nothing else, you're all dismissed."
The remains of the Justice League filed out of the room. The atmosphere was much more serious than the meetings that he'd attended as Robin, but Richard's bright smile once they were alone did wonders to lift the mood.
He stretched as he stood. "Well, that was boring," He turned to Damian with a large grin. "And I don't know about you, but I think I need to stretch my legs."
"Shall we go hunting?"
"Always so formal," Richard ruffled his hair. "Yeah, we shall go hunting."
Damian hummed as he followed Richard out of the room. On their way out of the building, he caught sight of the hall that led to his old cell. It seemed silly now that he had ever wanted anything other than this. Richard was always meant to be something great, and Damian knew he was meant to be at his side. The king and his prince, Batman and Robin, it didn't matter. They would always be the greatest together.