Chapter Text
“You figured out who we were that easy?” Grayson asked. He was sitting with them on Colin’s bed. Or rather he was lounging on his side, head in one hand, a handful of cards in the other resting against his chest. They’d finished dinner an hour ago.
“You guys keep saying that. Is it really such a big deal?” Colin was sitting cross legged with Rory on his lap, holding his cards in front of the bear and unknowingly too revealed in a house full of vigilantes. Damian could see he was holding a wild card and so quickly set a skip card down on the pile in the middle, effectively making it Grayson’s turn. His soulmate pouted, but he needed to learn.
“It isn’t not a big deal. To be honest it’s probably freaking B out a little.” Grayson set down another card.
Colin looked worried so Damian clarified, “Father values our safety, and if there’s a possibility that he’s been lacking with security he tends to do a thorough check to make sure our secret can’t possibly get out. He won’t find anything, because despite your modesty it is impressive. You’re observant, clever, with good intuition–”
“Dami and Coli, sittin’ in a tree–” Before Grayson could finish Damian whipped a card at him. He blocked it and set it on the pile, thankfully it was one that could be played. Colin looked grateful for the interruption, and that was the only reason he didn’t further his assault of the imbecile.
“How did you find out, Dick?” Colin asked after taking his turn and changing it to red.
“I snuck around in Bruce’s office and found the way into the cave. It wasn’t long after I moved in. He learned from what I was able to figure out and upped the security over the years. If you can believe it, he used to have a bust that had a button hidden in the neck that opened a hidden door in the bookshelf. The elevator’s there now, and the bust is gone, but I still kinda miss the fireman pole.”
“Wait, what?!” Colin looked amused despite his disbelief.
“Oh yeah.” Grayson nodded. “It was a quick way to get down there if there was an emergency, so it wasn’t a terrible idea. He only took it out because of the… incident .”
“What incident?” Colin leaned forward, all ears. Damian could imagine that anything and everything related to their vigilante work was endlessly fascinating to his fanboy soulmate.
“Well…” Grayson didn’t meet Colin’s eyes.
Damian could feel one of his rambling sessions coming on so he cut him off. “He got friction burn on his thighs. He couldn’t walk right for a day. Father took them out after that.”
“ What?! ” Damian winced at how high pitched Colin’s voice became. “On your thighs ?”
“Gee thanks.” Grayson shot Damian a look, his voice sarcastic.
“You’re welcome.” he answered, unrepentant.
“How?” Colin asked, voice returning to normal pitch.
“Grayson used to wear short pants with his Robin suit.”
“You know, I can answer questions myself.”
“Then do so.” He swatted away Grayson’s hand before he could pinch his cheek, not looking up from his cards.
“Yeah, starting with why ? Why shorts?” Damian appreciated the judgemental look being sent toward his former mentor.
“The original Robin suit was based off my Flying Grayson outfit. I used to be an acrobat. Shorts give better leg mobility, and I still think it’s dumb that the standard changed because people felt all prudish about it.”
“You could stand to be more prudish, Grayson. Uno.” Damian set down a reverse card and held the other one down against the bedcovers. He wasn’t going to let Grayson get the drop on him.
“You’ll never change me, kiddo. The day I feel shame about my body is the day the world ends.” He put down a normal card. “Anyway I had it coming. That’s what I get for going back upstairs in my suit, which Bruce was not happy about. Now all Robin’s must wear pants.”
Colin giggled. “I’ll add that to the list of things I never thought I’d hear.”
Grayson rolled over onto his back, almost squishing Alfred before the feline jumped off the bed with a meow of protest. He kicked his legs up hard enough to make him roll backwards until he was on his knees. It made the bed bounce and caused Colin to fall on his side on the mattress. Damian, used to this sort of thing, simply shifted sideways to give him more room. He was fond of Grayson, but the man couldn’t sit in one place for long without adjusting his posture every five minutes.
“What about you, Colin?” Grayson asked, moving to sit cross legged. “I saw your clippings up on the wall at St. Aden’s. What got you so interested in us and what we do?”
After sitting up, Colin had a little sad smile on his face. “Well I guess I can thank old George for that, cause one of my earliest memories was him showing me an article about Batman. He was always reading the paper to keep up with what you guys did. He supported superheroes for years, even before they were technically legal. He was a really nice man who volunteered to help clean up and keep the lawn looking nice, before he died last year. His soulmate died a while before I met him. They were together sixty years, but they couldn’t have kids. I heard she used to bake for the St. Aden’s kids, even though nobody liked it.”
“Why not?” Damian asked, forgetting the card game for the moment.
“People used to really hate orphans, Dames.”
“That’s preposterous!” Even as he said it he recalled the night before the fundraiser, when Father had asked him if he didn’t like orphans. The truth was that Damian had never thought about it much, most likely because Mother influenced him for so long not to waste time thinking of things “beneath” him. Yet what could children who had been dealt an unfortunate hand possibly do to garner hatred?
“It’s true.” Grayson nodded. “I remember how tough it was when my parents died. They were my only blood family, and even though the circus would’ve taken me in they weren’t allowed to, especially because money was tight. It was a good life, and we made decent money, but only enough to take us from place to place. Since they died in Gotham, I was going to be sent to wherever Child Protective Services wanted to send me. If Bruce hadn’t taken me in, I would’ve gone to an orphanage too, probably.
“That doesn’t mean it’s fair, what people used to think. The idea was that a kid without family willing to take them meant they were born out of bond or from a bad match. And there used to be a superstition that kids born out of bond were bad luck.” Grayson scoffed. “I’ve seen magic, I’ve talked to magician’s, and there’s no truth to those old stories. They were just used as an excuse so people could turn their back on them and not feel bad about it.”
“... I was born out of bond.” Damian said. He admitted it so easily, though knowing now the stigmas against people like him, he knew he wouldn’t be saying it publicly anytime soon. If he weren’t in the presence of his former mentor and soulmate he most likely would’ve held his tongue.
“You are?” Colin was quietly surprised. “But…I figured with your dad and your mom…”
“Bruce has kept his soulmate a secret for a long time.” Grayson explained, “He left Gotham after high school and traveled so he could train in martial arts. When he first came back most of his public appearances were during the day, so he got away with wearing sunglasses all the time. He had fake rumors spread about him partying all the time at night, which unfortunately meant a lot of people claimed he’d been with them, making the press think he was a playboy for years. Until yours truly came along and started changing his image to more of a family guy.” Grayson smiled. “I think with me around Bruce felt like he could reveal that his eyes changed. All he had to say was that his soulmate was a very shy person and most people just accepted that. Sure, there are a lot of rumors. Some say he’s keeping them hostage in the manor somewhere, some say that they’re ashamed to be Bruce’s soulmate, and some say he’s been faking it all this time. Doesn’t stop the tabloids from accusing someone of being his soulmate every week, though.”
“Huh.” Colin rested his chin on Rory’s head for a moment, his eyes downward in thought. He played a card on his turn, and after that his head lifted again. “So wait, who is his soulmate?”
Damian met Grayson’s eyes. Then they both turned back to the red head and shrugged in tandem.
“Wait. Wait . Are you saying you don’t know ?” Colin looked gobsmacked.
“If you don’t see someone’s eyes change, there’s not really any way to tell.” Grayson shrugged again. “Does it matter who it is?”
“I mean…I guess not?” Colin tilted his head to the side. “I knew his soulmate was a secret, but I thought I’d meet them sometime.”
“I have my suspicions.” admitted Grayson, smirking. “There’s actually a family bet going. What we can best guess is that it’s someone like us, and personally I think it’s a member of the Justice League. My money’s on Superman.”
“Haven’t you ever just, you know, asked him?”
“Many times.” Damian had to make peace with learning it wasn’t his mother, and perhaps it was from some lingering spite, but at this point he found he didn’t care to know. Most likely once he found out who they were he would never look at them the same way again. “Father is a very private person. Even when he spends time with us he tends not to open up. He’s told me that he likes his independence, that his soulmate understands that. Supposedly it is why their relationship is able to work. I can’t understand his decision.” He offered his hand to Colin, happy once he was holding his. “Even if circumstances had been different for us, I would never want to hide you.”
“Dames…” Colin looked touched, and he sweetly smiled at him.
“Also,” he put down his last card, “I win.”
Grayson groaned and Colin pulled his hand away with a look of mock betrayal that made Damian smirk.
“ Dames .”
“I did tell you to hide your cards better.”
“You shouldn’t peek!” Colin whined, sticking his tongue out. “That’s the third time in a row!”
Grayson had played poorly the first round in an attempt to let Colin win and cheer him up. Colin had still felt bad for upsetting Father and Pennyworth, so Damian understood his motives. However, that didn’t change the fact that Damian felt no such inclination. After the first round Grayson tried to win, truly, but still failed.
“When I play, it’s to win.”
“Well next time, I’m gonna win.” Seeing the same competitiveness in his soulmate’s eyes that Damian himself had was exciting. He’d wanted a worthy gaming opponent for a while now, it was just a matter of helping him perfect his technique.
There was a knock at Colin’s door. Father opened it and stepped inside. “How are things going in here?”
“I’m getting my butt kicked at Uno, that’s how it’s going.” Grayson ruffled both Damian and Colin’s hair before standing. “I’ll see you two in the morning. I gotta gear up for tonight.”
“Be careful.” Colin said as he picked up the cards to put them away.
“Always am.” Grayson gave them a thumb up, and walked out of the room.
Father stood at the end of Colin’s bed. “Colin, can I talk to you about something?”
Damian watched Colin become tense.
—--
Colin got tense. “Sure.” he said slowly.
He couldn’t imagine what Mr. Wayne wanted to talk to him about. They were already grounded for going off on their own. They did something wrong and they got punished. Unless Colin was in trouble for something else? But he couldn’t be. Everyone was impressed because he figured out their secret identities all by himself, but maybe Mr. Wayne thought he cheated?
“You aren’t in trouble, Colin.”
“Then how come I feel like I am?” He asked, looking at the card box in his hand and not at Mr. Wayne.
“If I were to guess, maybe you still feel bad for what happened today?” Mr. Wayne walked around the bed and sat next to Colin. “I don’t blame you for the kidnapping. That was out of your control. Leaving St. Aden’s without telling anyone was wrong, but you both are sorry for that, and you’ve been punished. It’s settled. I don’t hold grudges if you kids get punished, and I hope you won’t hold it against me when I have to discipline you.”
Of course Colin wouldn’t hold it against him. It wasn’t just because he was Damian’s dad, either. Even if he was Batman, and Batman, even though he was a good guy, was scary, Mr. Wayne was always fair with him, and kind, too. “Deal.”
Mr. Wayne shook Colin’s hand. “Deal.” He turned to Damian, who’d been watching them the whole time. “I think Titus needs to go out for his night time walk, don’t you?”
Titus jumped up from where he’d been laying on the floor. The dog whined softly, coming over to push his nose against Damian’s arm. When that didn’t work he gently grabbed the edge of Damian’s shirt with his mouth and pulled.
Damian rolled his eyes. “You could have simply said that you wished to speak to Colin alone. Using the W word in front of him is underhanded.”
“It worked.” Mr. Wayne patted his shoulder after he stood up. “Don’t worry, Colin can tell you all about it when you get back.”
“Tt.” Damian looked back from over his shoulder before walking out the door.
“Close it behind you.”
After the door closed, Colin put on a playful smile. “Now I really hope I’m not in trouble.”
Mr. Wayne returned the smile, but his eyes were serious. “I wanted to talk about things that are more personal to you. This way reduces who might overhear us.”
Colin picked up Rory and started rubbing his ear between his fingers. “What kinds of things?”
He thought for a second. “Do you remember the party, when Sister Agnes told you that she and I had been talking about you?” Colin nodded. “The reason we were, was because I asked if any of you kids needed special help, like medicine or something similar. That was when she let me know how she would have liked to have you regularly see a counselor, like you did at school.”
“Oh…” Colin wasn’t sure what to say.
“Did you like seeing your counselor?”
Colin shrugged. “She was nice. I…I used to be really angry all the time. My teachers made me see her because…because…” He didn’t want to say why. “...do you know everything about me already?”
Mr. Wayne’s voice was gentle. “I looked up your casefile and your school records after you and Damian found each other. So yes, I know some things about what you’ve gone through.”
Colin hugged Rory really tight against his chest. “Then you know how bad I used to be…”
Mr. Wayne moved closer. He put his hand out like he was going to maybe hug him or something, but then set it down near Colin instead. “You were never bad , Colin. You were hurting , and that made you act out, but you are not a bad person.”
“B-But I got detention, and I got suspended–!”
“So did I.” he interrupted.
Colin’s eyes widened. All the dark thoughts tumbling around in his head came to a sudden stop. “You...you got suspended from school?”
“More than once.” Mr. Wayne admitted. He looked off into space as he explained. “The first time it happened was because I beat up my best friend.”
“Your best friend…” he could barely whisper the words.
“It wasn’t his fault. We were eight. When my parents were killed,” he paused to sigh, “it was all over the news. After a month or so Alfred told me that I had to go back to school. I didn’t want to, but then I didn’t want to do much of anything. On the one hand the other kids were very kind, and they told me how sorry they were about what happened. For a while they were understanding, and let me have my space. On the other hand, after a while they thought I would be okay again. I wasn’t, but I don’t blame them now for not understanding why the jokes that used to make me laugh weren’t funny anymore, or why I didn’t want to play the games I used to love. It was hard for my friend Tommy, because our friendship helped him deal with a lot of his own issues at home.
“So one day at recess he started to yell at me. I don’t remember most of what he said, or what I said back. I just know that when he said something about my mom and dad…I snapped. I jumped on him and just started whaling on him. He used to be the brains, while I was the brawn. We were a great team…” Mr. Wayne laughed sadly. “The teachers pulled me off eventually, but not before I hit him hard enough to leave a scar. Right here.” He rubbed the outer corner under his right eye. “He doesn’t have it anymore, but he did for a long time.”
“You only got suspended for that?” When Colin got suspended it was because he pushed another kid hard enough into a wall that he bumped his head. The other kid was okay, he didn’t even need to see a doctor, but he could’ve been really hurt. The principal told him that Colin could have put him in the hospital, or he could have died, and that was why he had to be suspended. It stuck with Colin. From then on he became more of a loner, sticking to himself. He couldn’t imagine not getting in worse trouble if he did what Mr. Wayne did.
“His mother wanted me to be expelled. Alfred defended me, saying that I wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t been provoked. I wish he hadn’t. Maybe if I faced more consequences I would have gotten the help I had needed back then. Not that I want you to think badly of Alfred! He did what he thought was best, and he was raised to deal with his emotions on his own, without burdening others with his problems. If he acted out it was his responsibility to learn to control himself. He thinks differently about these things now, and I do too.” He gently held Colin’s hand. “That’s why I was thinking that group counseling might be a good thing for you to try. I know you have problems trusting adults, so maybe being with other kids with situations like yours will make you feel more comfortable?”
“I don’t know.” Colin admitted. “If you think it’ll help, I’ll do it. I just don’t know if it’ll do any good.”
“It’s worth a try, right? Sometimes I think about the criminals I fight, about how they were kids like you and me once. If they’d gotten the support they needed, the help, maybe they wouldn’t have felt like they needed to resort to crime. Some of them, like Mr. Freeze, are actually doing much better, now that they have therapists to talk to.”
“Really?” Colin thought for a while. “Well…I guess if it’ll stop me from turning into a supervillain, it can’t be that bad.”
That actually made Mr. Wayne laugh. It came out all of a sudden, loud and deep, and it made his eyes squeeze shut. It reminded him of Damian, though his soulmate’s laughter was softer, like he was trying not to be heard by anyone.
A big, warm hand ruffled his hair. “You’re a funny kid.” Colin couldn’t help laughing a little, too. “So is that a yes?”
“Yeah.” Colin agreed. “I’ll try it.” He didn’t know what to expect, but Mr. Wayne wouldn’t ask him to do something that would hurt him. He was sure of it.
“I’m glad. We can tell Mark about it when he visits on Monday.”
“Mark? My social worker Mark?” That’s right, the last time he saw Mark was a couple weeks ago. He visits Colin and takes him out for lunch to ask how he’s doing. When Colin’s not with fosters it happened less often.
“I just got off the phone with him. He’s really excited to see you.”
“Me too, I missed him.” He really meant it.
Mark was maybe Dick’s age, and Colin was one of the first kids he got assigned to. After Colin’s last social worker, who got in a lot of trouble for not helping Colin when he was being hurt, Mark had to try extra hard to get Colin to open up to him. But he was always patient, and kind. He ordered the kids meal for both of them when they went to Bat Burger and gave Colin his toy. That helped a lot with getting Colin to like him. Plus he actually listened , and cared. Sometimes another kid he helped would have something bad happen to them, and Colin could see how Mark was thinking about it even if it was days later. He didn’t tell Mark everything , but he felt like Mark was one of the few adults who had his back.
Colin couldn’t wait to introduce him to Damian. He was sure they’d like each other.
—--
The guy who wore the black bandana around his face when Colin was kidnapped was called Trey. He was five foot nine, twenty years old, with light brown skin and dark brown hair. Black eyes, no soulmate to speak of. He was officially arrested for possession with intent to sell, because the warehouse he and his cohorts were staying in had been storing seven tons of laced heroin. He was one of the lower higher ups in a gang run by the Marcona Cousins, a dying out crime family in Gotham. He went missing after his bail had been posted, and was never seen again.
As the rumors go, he got in a car with some guys who weren’t from his gang. They drove from the police station into Tricorner, the very tip of the island at the end. There was a building there, boarded up and looking abandoned. But the men who picked Trey up led him inside to meet their boss. Now Trey had no idea what they wanted to talk to him about. He was only told that the guy who posted the bounty for Colin wanted to talk to him. Trey didn’t know how they even found out where he was, and honestly it kind of freaked him out a little.
They took him to a big room with a table in the middle and a single chair and left him there to wait. He sat down and waited, with nothing to do. An hour or so passed by, and Trey got up to try and leave. The men guarding the door had guns and told him to sit back down. So he did. It was only after midnight that the boss managed to show up.
Now Trey was pissed, and he was ready to scream at the guy for keeping him here. He was stupid enough to think that who he worked for might hold enough sway for them to get off his back and never bother him again. But as soon as he saw who walked through the door, he lost all his bravado and sank deeper into the rickety wooden chair he was sitting on.
“You…”
It’s a very different vibe between the common thugs of Gotham and the Rogue Gallery. Thugs were a dime a dozen. Any teen dropout in Gotham could be a thug, or the mothers and fathers getting paid just barely minimum wage who needed to feed their kids could be thugs. A lot of those thugs worked for bigger bosses, gang runners like Falcone. But some were dumb enough to work for people like Penguin, Two Face, or if they were really desperate the Joker. People like them had very little to lose, if they were willing to work with someone who held their lives on a razor blade edge every single night, and thought they were expendable enough to put them on the front lines for the Bat Clan to fight. Being around the so-called freaks like Black Mask, Riddler, or Bane was like being watched by a predator who was using you to lure out a bigger, juicier piece of prey.
A lot of things were said in that room. Mostly it was a ton of monologuing on the part of the boss. He talked about what Colin meant to him, why Trey screwing up and letting him be rescued was a mistake, and why he’d been watching a nobody orphan in the first place. But it was what he said he was going to do to Colin Wilkes as soon as he could get him away from the Waynes, that turned Trey’s stomach and made him pity the kid he’d been willing to give to this psycho to make a quick buck.
Trey stood up from his seat. Whether he was going to run or attack the boss, no one knows. He was quickly caught by the bosses henchmen and thrown down onto the table. He kicked and yelled, but there was no one around for miles. Another henchman brought over a big gas tank. The only label on it was some sort of scary symbol that Trey didn’t recognize. They attached a gas mask to it and held Trey’s head down so they could strap it over his mouth and nose. Slowly, ever so slowly the fight went out of him, and his pupils dilated more and more until they were nothing but pinpricks. Not that anyone could tell the difference between the black of his irises and the black hole of the pupil.
The boss had opened up a case another henchman was holding and pulled out a bottle that he pushed a syringe into. When it was full he lifted it, not even bothering to tap it to make sure the air bubbles were gone. “Since you delayed me, I’ll use you as my temporary test subject. Let’s see what this formula does to you.”
The creepy, demented cackling of the boss echoed in the room. Before it was drowned out by screams.