A Robin's Miracle - Daminette

A Refusal, Eavesdropping and a Katana

The same evening Marinette arrived.

"No."

"Damian you don't even know what I'm going to say." Bruce countered wearily. Clearly this wasn't going to be an easy conversation.

"Whatever it is, I refuse."

"On what basis are you refusing what I'm about to say?"

"On the basis that you called me into your office for privacy, shut the door so that I could not escape then sat down at your desk like a parent about to have a serious chat with their child. So, I can only assume that whatever you are about to say is something I will not like. So, I refuse." He stated, braced for an argument.

Bruce sighed and sank back into his chair. Well there went his father to son talk, again. Why was it that his talks never seemed to work with any of them? His last one with Tim hadn't gone down well either. Tim however, unlike Damian, only outright refused him after he suggested that he take a break to sleep. To which he responded: "Why would I need sleep when I have coffee?" genuinely perplexed by the very thought. Considering the fact that he had been collapsing around the house more frequently than usual Bruce had thought it would have been obvious, but apparently not.

"Damian we are having this conversation whether you like it or not."

Ignoring Damian's tsk of disagreement, Bruce continued, "I want you to attend Gotham College."

"What!" He exclaimed in disbelief. "But father-"

Bruce cut Damian off before he could protest further. "I understand that you've already undergone all the education you need from the time with your mother, so you probably see no need to go."

Damian stiffened at the mention of his mother. It was a particularly sensitive subject. They didn't exactly have a standard parent-child relationship.

"However, the League of Assassins didn't strictly give you legal qualifications so at the very least you need to take finals. But even then, Damian, this isn't about you getting qualifications. This about you learning to socialise and experience a normal life."

"I don't need any of that."

"Yes Damian, you do. You need to learn to open up to people."

"I don't need friends. I'm already social enough. I have Grayson, Drake and Todd. I've had enough socialization to last me a life time." He insisted desperately through gritted teeth.

Bruce gave him a meaningful look. "You're really going to try that? We both know they don't count. One is a workaholic with caffeine withdrawal, the other has an unhealthy obsession with guns and as for Dick..." Bruce trailed off. "Well let's leave it at that."

At his last statement a muffled yell sounded from behind the office door, followed by a series of bangs and scuffling. The pair ignored this and continued the conversation.

Damian didn't even need to look to know what was going on. All three of them had presumably been listening in on the conversation, and going by the yell he had heard, Jason had pinned a struggling Grayson to the floor in an effort to prevent him from blowing their cover by confronting Bruce over his comment. While Tim, he guessed, stood by, smugly videoing the fight.

Bruce sighed. "You need normal people Damian. Not," he gestured to the door, "this."

"What about Jon?"

"Damian, I said normal." Things were getting desperate for Damian. He was beginning to see no way out of this situation.

"Then, how do you expect me to 'socialise' and get 'the full normal experience' and make real friends if I'm surrounded by some power hungry leeches, who will only want to use me for my name?" he was grasping straws at this point and his father knew this.