I'm so sorry. My apology will be long so I'll let you read this chapter before my rant so here you go. Enjoy(also Thanks to my beta cocopops1995. I love you so much)

"What part of 'don't try to escape on me' didn't you get?" Jason asked, climbing off his motorcycle.

Damian had accelerated on the way to the bridge that they now stood on. The lights of Gotham were far away enough for them to see the stars. They shot their grapnels, climbing to its highest point.

"I wasn't trying to lose you," Damian sat on the concrete, "It was a race, or it would've been if you weren't such a mediocre driver." the kid smirked.

Jason sat next to him, "Brat" he muttered.

This wasn't Jason forte; to talk about feelings and cuddle was Dick's thing, but the kid looked upset and he decided to give it a shot, "So... you were going to tell me why you did ran off?"

"No, I wasn't"

"Yes, you were. Which means that B must've fucked up big time and you have no one to talk to." Truth being told, Jason was still confused as to why would Damian agree to talk to him and why wasn't he talking to Dick, "I can relate to that."

Damian fiddled with the tiny rocks beneath him, "Was he that intransigent back when you were Robin too?"

Jason snorted, "Kid, you have no idea." Jason took off the helmet. No one would be able to see them from this height.

Damian did the same. The kid bit his lip, considering his options. He could just tell Jason about what happened the day before, or he could really talk with him and take what probably was his only chance to talk to someone who didn't label his mother as some crazy assassin. The choice wasn't that difficult to make, "You met Mother, before… before."

"Before the war." Jason supplied, not quite sure where this was going to or what it had to do with what happened between the brat and Bruce, but deciding to humor him nonetheless.

Damian nodded

"Yeah, she threw me into the Lazarus Pit and gave me my conscience back."

The air currents were blowing from Damian's side so Jason decided to light a cigarette. He was going to need it if they were actually going to talk about his return to life.

"She also trained you."

Jason nodded, "She sent me to the best criminals in the world so I could learn from them. I still don't know whether she did it so I would become a criminal as revenge against her beloved or if she did it so I would know how they worked and how to stop them as a present for him." he shrugged, "It could've been both for all I know."

"How was she?" Damian asked eyes trained on the traffic below them. The lights coming and leaving so fast they looked like red and yellow lines.

Jason frowned, mulling it over, still unsure as to what the purpose of this conversation was, "Not bad. I mean, she was an assassin and everything but she took care of me." he took another drag of his cigarette before continuing, "Talia's never really fitted completely into either the good or the bad category. She's complicated, but she never hurt me."

Damian nodded. He tried to swallow the knot in his throat a couple of times before giving up. Jason was right, his mother had never fit into just one category, but she was capable of love. And she loved so thoroughly, so fully.

"When Talia told me that there was another Robin I was…" Jason shook his head, "There are no words for what I felt but somehow her being there made it better."

His eyes trailed to the kid beside him. Damian was curled into himself, his arms on top of his knees, his head resting on them, looking younger than Jason had ever seen him look, so he kept going, "She gave me shelter, food, time and means to go after Bruce, she didn't ask for anything in return other than for me to be okay. Your mother isn't completely evil and I'm sure she regrets what happened between you two." Jason hadn't meant to sound so touchy-feely but he could truly relate to what Damian was going through.

Damian nodded again, not really believing himself capable of anything else. He was right in his belief that talking with Jason about his mother would be different from talking about her with anyone else within the bat-family. None of them understood the duality on his mother's persona, they didn't know how she used to tuck Damian in at night and watch old videos in the living room with him; they only saw the assassin. Jason knew better.

"She," Damian cleared his throat when it came out broken and shook his head, trying to steady himself, silently grateful that Jason was letting him take his time, "She tried to kill me. How can I forget that?"

"You can't. I know I'll never be able to forget the fact my own mother handed me over to the Joker." Jason replied, deciding to open up with Damian, if only because the kid had done it first, "But I don't hate her anymore. Don't ask me why, I mean she practically killed me but," he shrugged, "I just don't hate her"

"I don't know if I can to do that," it came out weaker than Damian had intended but if Jason noticed he didn't comment on it.

"I'm sure you can; my mother didn't even try to apologize, well she was dead but you get what I'm saying, on the other hand I'm sure Talia will do anything to try to win your forgiveness."

"My father won't let her." Damian sighed.

"Bruce can be a hardheaded asshole but he'll come around… at some point." Jason didn't know why he was so sure, but he was.

Damian nodded, not knowing what else to say. That was another thing that was different about talking with Jason: even though they were all orphans, all of the former Robins, and his father himself, have had women that fit in the 'good' category as mothers. They all had only good memories of their mothers and no one questioned them when they said that their mothers had loved them, but it was different with Jason and Damian. Everyone thought poorly of their mothers, pitying them in a silent but still noticeable way.

Both of them stayed in silence for a little while, Jason making shapes and forms with the smoke of his cigarette.

"You told him where I was, didn't you?" Damian asked suddenly.

"Told who?" Jason asked monotonously.

"My father."

"What makes you think that?"

Damian shrugged "They haven't contacted you again through the com, nor have they looked here, even though I'm sure Oracle saw our race"

"Maybe I did."

"You don't hate my father anymore." Damian stated.

"I guess I don't." Jason smirked, his cigarette hanging loosely from his fingers.

"I don't hate him either, but I don't think he wants me here."

Jason stared at the kid, throwing his cigarette aside. It was the first time they'd talked this much. Jason's eyes went to the city in front of them, deciding that it was logical that they ended up like this considering how much alike they were.

"He does. He sounded completely wrecked, even if he was trying to cover it I know him enough to know when something's bothering him. Bruce can be an emotionally constipated asshole, but he cares about you." Jason's eyes stayed trained on the city; there was no need to make this even more sentimental than it already was by looking into each other's eyes.

"Are you going to go to the manor with me?" Damian asked, his vision coming back to focus.

"I wouldn't miss the chance of rubbing this in Bruce's face for anything in the world." Jason smirked, putting on his helmet.

"Damian!" Dick rushed toward the kid when he and Jason entered the batcave, "Do you have any idea how worried we were?" He asked, holding Damian by his arms.

It brought back memories of the last week that Damian would rather forget, so he shrugged Dick off, "There was no reason to be, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Grayson."

"No one's saying you aren't, Damian." Dick ran a hand through his hair before lightly pulling Damian's face up by his chin to make him look into his eyes, "But I love you and I'm gonna be worrying even when you become Batman and reach your dad's age." He added with a fond smile.

It had been an exhausting night. Damian had spent the whole day angry at everyone, upset with himself and the situation. Then he'd almost gotten himself, Colin and half a dozen kids killed just because of his need to prove to himself that he was good enough. It was nice to feel that someone was there for him now.

So he gave Dick a quick hug, muttering a small 'thank you' on his ear. Dick grinned at him and ruffled his hair.

"Thank you for bringing him home, Jason." Bruce said, trying not to let how jealous he was of Dick and Damian's relationship show.

"You're lucky I found the brat. You really need to watch out for your little birds better, Bruce. We don't want another dead one." Jason said, throwing him a mocking smile.

"I will," Bruce said solemnly. Jason had been expecting a comeback or an exasperated sigh, not that. It threw him off balance.

"Good… Good." Jason looked around the cave, uncomfortable with the scene in front of him. Dick and Damian were having a whispered conversation while Bruce's eyes were trained on him, even though Jason could tell the man was peering at their exchange out of the corner of his eye.

"Well, I already did my good deed of the day so I'm leaving." Jason started walking to his bike.

"Jason," Bruce called him, making him stop, "You're always welcome here, in case you weren't already aware of that."

Jason snorted, putting on his helmet, "I'm not the one you should be telling that to, B."

But it was nice to hear it, even if he didn't admit that part out loud, "See you later, brat." Jason mounted his bike, starting the engine with a strong kick.

"Damian," Bruce broke the silence after giving Dick and Damian some time to talk, "We need to talk."

The kid sighed, he was too tired but on the other hand he wanted everything to be over before the next day, "Yes, father."

"You want me to give you a minute or…" Dick asked, straightening up.

"No, I would rather have this conversation in the manor than in the cave." Bruce said "That is if you're fine with it, Damian."

It surprised Damian that Bruce had asked for his opinion. It made him unsure as to how to react, so he nodded, "I'm going to change."

They went to Damian's room, Bruce sitting on the bed while Damian stayed up in front of his father. Making them be at eye level with.

"I suppose the amount of time that I'll be grounded has increased after tonight." Damian started.

Bruce sighed, "That's not what I wanted to talk about." he said looking into his son's eyes, "Damian, I've been thinking about what you said and I think I owe you an apology."

Damian's eyes widened in surprise. His father wasn't behaving as he'd expected him to, "For what?"

"For more things than I'd like to admit."

Damian frowned confused.

"I should've tried to avoid this war, I should've noticed that Talia was mentally unstable from the moment she disowned you."

Damian's eyes hardened at the mention of that event. It was painful to remember how his mother had decided that, since he wasn't a suitable asset of hers anymore, she'd replace him with a better model; one that she could manipulate as she pleased.

"And I also need to apologize for the way I've acted since you arrived. I hadn't wrapped my mind around the idea of having a son and you suffered for that. I'm sorry for that." Bruce pulled him into his large frame. The kid went limp, too shocked and overwhelmed to react "I love you, son."

Damian would forever deny the way he cried himself to sleep in his father arms, muttering how truly scared he was, how he missed his mother, how sorry he was for putting people's lives in danger. Bruce didn't understand the last part, but he didn't ask, letting the kid get it off chest, whispering how much Damian meant to them, how perfect he was, how he was not a burden.

"I don't want to be broken" Damian whispered into Bruce's chest, his voice hoarse after so much time crying. It was so small and weak that broke Bruce's heart.

"You're not." Bruce said into Damian's hair, hugging him tighter, "You're my brave, perfect, little boy. I love you so much." he couldn't help the stray tears that fell from his eyes; it was so hard to see his son hurting so much.

Bruce held him until he fell asleep and then tucked him into bed, but this time he didn't leave. He watched Damian sleep, making sure that nothing could hurt his boy. At some point of the morning Alfred (the cat) came into the room, curling up at Damian's feet just beside Titus.

Bruce left him like that, surrounded by his pets, safe and warm.

Here we go...

I'm so so so sorry about the delay. This month has been chaotic to say the least. And I just...

I swear in front of you that I'll never ever in my writing life will publish another work in progress unless I already have it all written and just need to edit it.

And that takes me to the next thing. I continued with this story with the intention of giving Dami a happy ending, however, in this moment in my life I can't exactly see or feel a happy ending without it sounding cheap in my ears(eyes). So this is the most hopeful kinda ending I can write right now.

I do have an idea(and kinda chapter in progress) of Damian going to greet Talia the day she gets out of the mental institution but as I said before, right now I don't see that light at the end of the tunnel so I'll put this as finished and when life gets better I'll try to write it but please understand what I'm trying to say in this chapter, it might not be easy to keep walking forward right now but you can do it. There isn't any magic solution where you can just talk with someone and everything will magically get better. IT is a process and it takes time, but I swear that it gets better, especially if you talk it with someone.

Well, I hope you enjoyed it, and, again, I'm deeply sorry about keeping you waiting for soo long.

PS(?): If you want to talk about anything at all my tumblr is on my profile so message me and we'll talk. I mean I'm not good at giving advice but I can listen and well that's sometimes enough...

Love you. Thank you for reading.

Also thank you again to my beta cocopops1995 Love you ;)