Brothers To The Bitter End

31

Dick watched Damian out of the corner of his eye as he sped down the highway. It had been three months since Damian had told Diana he would infiltrate the Titans, and they had spent that time period being debriefed and training. Damian had seemed to enjoy the contact with his siblings and Wonder Woman, but Dick had noticed the hard edge Damian had always had in the League coming back.

"I know why you're doing this."

Damian was unsurprised. "I know. You're the only one smart enough to figure it out."

"You can't use them to go after him."

"Can't?"

"Shouldn't, then." Dick waved a dismissive hand in the air. "I know you want to avenge your grandfather, but using Tara to get close enough to kill Slade is not the way to do it."

"Oh, please." Damian rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that 'justice, not vengeance' line. You and I both know that your number of kills rivals mine."

Dick shoved a hand through his hair, frustrated. "You and I also both know that I did that to keep you safe. I didn't do it for revenge or for the need to kill. I did it because I had to."

"You just don't understand." The recently thirteen year old boy crossed his arms petulantly. "He killed my grandfather."

"Tony Zucco killed my entire family," Dick whispered, "but I let justice take the reins rather than my need for vengeance because I knew that I would never forgive myself for killing him."

"And do you regret it?" Damian felt a little regret forcing Dick to relive his past, but his brother just didn't understand.

"No." Dick's voice was so quiet, Damian had to lean in to hear. "I don't regret not killing Zucco. What I do regret is the number of people I killed while working for the League. Many of those people should have been able to continue their lives."

Damian sighed, knowing they were at an impasse. "Slade Wilson doesn't deserve to live."

"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean you should be the one to end his life. No one should be judge, jury, and executioner."

Damian remained silent. He knew Dick was just trying to look out for him, but in this instance he knew better than his older brother. Slade had to pay for his crimes, and Damian was going to let nothing get in his way. "So why are we dressed in our suits? I mean, it's not like they haven't seen our faces before."

Dick grinned. "Did I forget to tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Diana met with M'ggan at my request. The Titans, the JLA, and the YJ have all had their memories of us altered."

"Really?" Damian felt a sadistic grin spreading across his face.

Dick grinned in response. "Yep. I asked them to just blur our faces in the memories so they couldn't pick us out of a crowd, and M'ggan did that as well as erase our names from both their memories and their computer hard drives."

Damian let out a low whistle. "I like her."

Dick's expression turned nostalgic. "M'ggan was always so kind to me when I was in the YJ."

"Does she know that you were Robin?"

"I don't think so. Speaking of, thre Titans do know your name is Damian, and they'll probably see your face, but they don't know your last name or anything of your past."

Damian shrugged. "Works for me. The entire League knows my face, so I guess it's fine if a couple of idiots know my face."

Dick snickered. "Bruce would probably die if you told him that."

"Ooh, maybe I should tell him that."

Dick laughed so hard he almost drove off the road.
***************
"Come on, Gar! They're almost here!" Rachel practically dragged Gar out in front of Titans Tower.

"I don't know why you're so excited, Rach." Gar rubbed his arm, giving Rachel a sour look. "That kid is bad news. He's practically a . . ." He paused as Rachel gave him a dirty look. "Well, what I mean is . . ."

Gar was saved from having to come back from that mistake by Kory shouting, "Here they come!"

All the Titans lined up as the sleek black sports car stopped in front of the building.

Inside the car, Dick handed Damian a cell phone. "Not too late to change your mind."

Damian allowed a small smile on his face. "You and I both know that's not true."

Dick shrugged. "Worth a shot. And if you need anything, call me. Anytime, night or day."

"You got it." On an impulse, Damian hugged Dick. He could tell Dick was a bit surprised, but Dick simply hugged Damian back.

"Let's go." Dick reluctantly pulled back and stepped out of the car. Damian took a deep, steadying breath and followed suit.

"Hi." Kory stepped forward and offered her hand to Dick. "I'm Kory."

"Nightwing." He shook her hand cordially and then went to the car trunk to help Damian with his bags. Damian had a large duffel bag, a rolling suitcase that clinked ominously, and a semi large hard case.

"Oh my," Gar whispered to Jaime. "He brought an AK47."

"Or an Uzi." Jaime whispered back. Rachel gave them both scathing looks, but Tara seemed totally uninterested.

"Can we help you with anything?" Kory asked.

Damian brushed past her without a word. Dick shrugged at Kory's slightly offended look. "He's had a long trip. If you could just show us to his room, that'd be great."

"Of course, right this way." Kory perked right back up and motioned for Dick to follow her.

Dick let out a shrill whistle, and Titus bounded out of the car. Dick promptly locked the car and prepared to follow Kory. Damian had grabbed the hard case and the suitcase, leaving Dick with the rolling one.

"What is that?" Kory shrieked as Tiuts bounded after his master, pink tongue dripping slobber everywhere.

"Strictly speaking, he's a Great Dane. However, he might as well be a horse as much as he eats." Dick grinned at the horrified Titans. "Dami better just be glad I can afford him."

"What does he eat?" Gar asked timidly as they all entered Titans Tower.

"The souls of the vengeful undead, random passerby, huge hunks of time and space, and whatever gourmet dog food Jaybird is experimenting with that day." Dick let out an impressed whistle. "Man, and I thought the JLA's tower was overkill. Is that a surround sound theater?"

"The Justice League wanted us to have every comfort while we trained." Kory's voice was bordering was somewhere between displeased and uncertain.

Dick snorted. "More than I got in my day. Actually, this is more than I ever had anywhere! Who paid for this?"

The Titans shrugged in unison, telling Dick the answer. If they didn't know, then Bruce had obviously paid for it.

"And he said we didn't have the funds to add a Olympic training field in the 4th back lawn," Dick grumbled under his breath. "He never even went in the 4th back lawn!"