Silence Speaks Volumes

A Young Assassin's Heartbreak

Bruce did put Jason in Arkham. Damian broke him out before he was processed. Now? Now they were running accords the rooftops away from Batman. They hid in an apartment Damian rented the night before. "Thanks, Demon."

Father was wrong. Damian sat in Jason's lap. He won't find you. Come visit me?

"Definitely." Jason gave him a hug.

I have to get back to my room and... grieve before Father comes back.

"Bye," Jason said. Damian waved and left.

...

When Bruce got back, he checked in Damian to see if the boy was there. He found him crying in the corner of his room, curled up in a ball with his Red Hood doll beside him. Dick was with him. Damian was mad about his putting Jason in Arkham. Tim wasn't mad, but he wasn't happy about it either. Dick got up from where he was with Damian and ushered Bruce out the door. "Tim, Babs, and I understand why you did what you did. We don't like it, but we understand. Damian doesn't. He doesn't have our morals or ethics. He doesn't even think Jason did anything wrong. You're gonna have to give him a minute."

"He's been there all day."

"He'll move eventually."

"Jason escaped."

"He did?" Dick was surprised.

"I don't know how, but he did."

"Are you gonna tell Damian?"

"I don't know if I should. He's probably not coming back for a while if at all. Don't tell him, though. We don't want to hurt him more if Jason doesn't come back for him." Dick nodded sadly then Bruce left. Dick went back in and sat back by Damian. "It's okay, Dami." Damian shook his head and kept crying.

He wouldn't go to sleep either. Dick stayed with the boy all night. He sat in Dick's lap awake while the young man went to sleep for a few hours.

...

The next day, Damian still wouldn't eat anything. That was pretty bad considering he only got one meal a day as it is. He wouldn't let anything, but water pass his lips. Sure, it hurt not to eat, but Damian was trained for that kind of stuff. He would eat when his father told him of Jason's escape from Arkham.

"C'mon, Dami," Dick said. He was trying to get the boy to eat. Damian shook his head. Dick had carried him to the kitchen table since he refused to walk. Alfred was giving him a sad gaze as he sat in a chair with his knees to his chest and his Red Hood doll in his right hand. Damian was right handed, so he used that hand to hold his doll. He had become much more ambidextrous since he got the doll. He rarely put it down.

The others were starting to get worried. They boy hadn't eaten since breakfast two days ago. It had to hurt, the hunger. It actually didn't hurt as much as they thought. Damian had been starved multiple times in his short life. He'd gone much longer than a couple days.

...

By the end of the day, Damian still had dark circles under his eyes and an empty belly. "Can I borrow your doll," Dick asked Damian. Damian looked at Dick hesitantly. "I'll bring it back in a few minutes." Damian reluctantly handed Dick the doll.

Dick went outside the room into his Tim's. They had a knife, a sewing kit, and a solution of Jason's soap laced with a weak airborne sedative. Tim had made a solution that they were going to pour into a capsule and put into the Red Hood doll. They hoped that if Damian smelled it he might sleep. Hugging the doll would feel like hugging Jason. They got to work making it and sewed the doll back up. They made sure to open the previous 'wound' so that Damian wouldn't be upset.