A Little Overshadowing Never Hurt Anyone

It and Him - Chapter 22

Damian did another lap of his room, hands locked firmly behind his back so as to not fidget. Fidgeting when anxious would be childish. Richard had been gone for four and a half hours on his search for Todd, which was likely going to be a dead end anyway. Todd wouldn't help search for Timothy, and he would most likely laugh in Richard's face and then go off on his own out of curiosity to find him anyway without knowing all the facts. Such behavior would be moronic of him.

Damian glanced out the window, but didn't cease his rhythmic pacing. He had read many books on the dead and specters during his time with his grandfather in Nanda Parbat. They were commonly associated with the Lazarus Pit itself. Grandfather had described them to be vicious, vengeful creatures that only had one goal in mind that they needed to complete in order to pass on to the other world.

He absently pondered what the ghost that took Timothy was after. Not that he would ever care at all — it would simply be out of curiosity. It is likely that the ghost wants to enact revenge on them capturing him. He knows they are vengeful creatures. They kidnaped him so he in return will kidnap Drake and leave his body in a ditch somewhere out in Gotham. Damian's father, Richard, and Pennyworth would be broken over his death for months once the ghost disposes of him, un-needing of the earthly body anymore. Damian clenches his fist and takes a deep breath.

Damian had few to no interactions with the specter before he disappeared: only the sighting of him before Richard shot him out of the sky, and then Father told him he should stay upstairs during the interrogation with Nightwing in order to not "overwhelm" him.

Speaking of "him," the one thing Damian didn't seem to understand is the fact that his grandfather, his father, and now Grayson, as well as many others in the "hunter" field referred to these ghosts as "its" which seems nonsensical to Damian. Surely they are still the consciousness of real people. While they might be vengefully formed spirits, they are still a person with a conscious mind, able to communicate, able to express thought. While they may not have a physical form anymore, it was not right to dehumanize them. It leaves a sour taste in his mouth.

He wonders what Richard is saying to try and convince Todd to join their conquest. That is if he hadn't been shot or attacked in the streets of Gotham already. He promised to carry his weapons on him and to have one singular tracker that he would only turn on in a state of emergency. But Damian still felt anxious for him, not that he would ever admit it.

After being thrown into the Lazarus pit, Todd became... unpredictable. Intense influx of anger and general mood swings, to downright slitting Timothy's throat open after a fight just to prove a point to Father. Something that he was told by Richard that his sweet little Jason Todd would never have done in his right mind, and that something is wrong with him.

It is imbecilic of Richard to continue trying to reconcile with the Red Hood, brother or not. He is going to end up making the man mad and getting attacked or worse. Just like how Damian had to tip-toe around his grandfather for all of his years. He has seen how the Lazarus Pit affects people. Maybe these ghosts were similarly affected... Damian would need to do more research, but right now...

He stepped closer to the window, sucking in a deep breath. He unclenched his fingers that were locked together behind him in order to place them on the window sill. He could just continue thinking of possibilities... Or, maybe, he could go and make sure those possibilities don't happen.

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Dick stared at his little brother's body for a second. The voice coming out of it seemed like Tim's; he could hear Tim, but it wasn't him at all. His eyes were glowing green and he had a slightly eerie aura about him. How could Jason not tell? But then again, how could Dick not tell back at the manor? If he had noticed everything he saw now, he could have stopped him. Now, the ghost had his brother only a few feet away and Dick couldn't do anything about it because Jason had tied him to a chair!