05. DEAR FATHER, YOU DON'T LOVE ME?! ྀིა
Ი𐑼 SYNOPSIS; Damian makes his own decisions without asking permission. Tim also chooses, but in his own style. And Bruce... Bruce is crossing the line, becoming an overly harsh, almost hurtful father. Baby, what are you going to do now? Please don't let anyone cross your path.
𑣲LIST OF THE SERIES + EXTRA: This is a continuation of the chapters. The series currently has 10 parts, released every Sunday. English isn’t my first language, so i use Google translate to help with my posts due to my limited proficiency, please bear with me.
Edition: Chapter corrected and 'improved.' Previous: 04. Next: 06.
DAMIAN'S PUNISHMENT DIDN'T END on the third day as you had heard. You notice it before he tells you. Bruce keeps his word, as if executing a sentence: rigid, exact, inflexible. Damian is outside the Batcave, away from night training, away from anything that smells like a mission or research. Alfred also puts his distance. But you see him sometimes watching your brother. Not with the obvious vigilance given to a culprit, but worse, quiet reserved attention. And you bear the brunt, because it seems that you are the center of every provocation. Not because you asked for it. Not because you have done something to be one. Simply because you exist. Since then, Dami spends too much time with you. More than is considered acceptable. He accompanies you to the library, sits next to you when it's lunchtime, is silent when you're in the garden, speaks little. Just the essentials. But when someone crosses the threshold of a room, their body changes. He takes half a step forward, tenses up, reacts and evaluates. It protects you. Alfred is the first to notice. It doesn't say anything. He watches from the doorway, tray in hand, expression imperturbable. But his eyes, old, trained and impossible to deceive, register every detail. Notice how Damian interrupts when Bruce talks about you. How he responds sharply when Dick asks a question that is not addressed to him, but to you. As Jason makes fun of your behavior, Damian clenches his fists in the annoyance he feels.
-That's not healthy at all. -Alfred murmurs, without addressing anyone in particular.
You pretend not to hear it. Damian doesn't.
-I don't need your approval, Al. -he replies, dryly.
Silence. The house begins to shrink. The corridors are lengthened. The looks weigh heavier than normal. A situation arises, it is Dick who dares to speak to you lightly, with a rehearsed smile and a harmless tone. She finds you in the gallery, "alone," but she doesn't get very far. Damian appears at your side like a summoned shadow.
-That's not true. -says, genuinely surprised. -She just wastes his time looking at pictures he already knows. You know?
-After seeing the paintings, she'll be busy with me.
From the couch, Jason laughs.
-Don't worry, Robin. Dick just wanted to get to know the ghost sister better. -look at the child.
Damian is silent, the word ghost bothers him. Because it means that something does not exist, that it does not count. He steps forward.
-Don't call her that again! -he approaches the sofa where he is. -Luckily, you're just a living body!
You quickly sit up and grab the little one's shoulder; you know Damian said something out of place, even if he did it to defend you from Todd. Jason gets up and walks over to the two of you. Dick quickly intervenes. The tension increases, about to explode, until Bruce appears, as always, at the right time.
-Enough is enough, stop these childish fights.
There are no names, but their eyes are fixed on you. There is anger in them. And something colder, more calculating. Bruce looks at them for a moment longer and disappears from the door again, so after the reprimand, you leave the room and go to the garden, Dami follows you in the same way, the two spend time outside until night falls and they have dinner, that same night, Damian sleeps in your room. But neither of you falls asleep, you sit on the floor of the room, your back resting on the mattress, listening to hisThere are no names, but his eyes are fixed on you. There is anger in them. And something colder, more calculating. Bruce looks at them for a moment longer and disappears from the door again, so after the reprimand, you leave the room and go to the garden, Dami follows you in the same way, the two of you spend time outside until night falls and they have dinner, that same night, Damian sleeps in your room. But neither of you falls asleep, you sit on the floor of the room, with your back resting on the mattress, listening to their irregular breathing.
-They're waiting for you to break.
You don't ask who. You know it.
-That doesn't matter, -he replies. -still, they'll pressure you. -his voice sounds different, firmer. More dangerous. -i won't let them take you away from me. I am not going to allow it.
It is not a promise made with affection. It is a clear statement.
-Don't risk so much for me, I'm the one who has to take care of you, -you murmur. -i'm your big sister.
There's no more to say, you know Damian has fallen asleep, because you're the only place where he can close his eyes and trust that you won't attack him in his vulnerable state. So you spend the night taking care of him and thinking about the moment when your whole routine changed to dedicate yourself only to being with him. You realize that it will soon dawn, so you climb on your cloak and cover yourself with the blankets so that Damian doesn't get angry with you for not sleeping all night.
Alfred watches them again in the morning. Look at how little you eat, the little dark circles in your eyes. Watch Damian push your plate insistently; watch how he looks at you until you eat. Notice how his attention surrounds you with a somewhat unsettling gravity. Dependence, he thinks, but he says nothing. Because something else is starting to change. Jason won't stop joking around the table, Dick stops smiling, Tim sees the way Damian takes care of you. Batman, Bruce wonders when he lost control of his own house. You are still the same, a quiet, present and resigned girl. Because you are not looking for peace of mind from them. You don't seek their acceptance. You just stay where Damian tells you that everything is fine. And while the family believes the problem lies with you, who is you, they don't see what really grows in the shadows: a bond that doesn't ask for permission. Loyalty without limits. A love that, when fully awakened, will be non-negotiable. The Wayne mansion is no longer a safe place for you, that's what Alfred can see in front of him.
But he won't say anything just yet, he's a little tired to deal with you.
Drake watches you without seeing you directly. You know this because, when you look up, he's already turned, looks to his sides, sees something that supposedly catches his eye, but Tim has already decided something. Now it is like that. He does not improvise; concludes. Crosses data, patterns, silences. And for the next few days, Damian has been his favorite equation, Tim concludes that it's not your fault, it's not. Because he knows the family, he knows himself, they always blame you, start with the obvious: check schedules, cameras, routines, see how Damian adapts his day to yours. Take into account that he arrives where you are, that you go out to the garden accompanied by him, that when you are not in sight, Damian gets restless. That if he doesn't find you in the library he gets in a bad mood until he manages to find you. Tim doesn't hold anything back when revealing those things to his siblings, he does it as if it were a simple conversation, he does it without looking like a strange stalker. He does it when the three of them are in the Batcave.
-They don't think Damian is very attached to (reader), -says calmly. -he is always behind her.
-It's a stage of childhood. -Dick says, trying to sound relaxed. -He's a guy who never had the opportunity to meet someone so young. They are just two brothers who live together.
Tim doesn't answer and Jason laughs.
-Or does he finally have someone who doesn't force him to kill? -Todd walks over to the huge computer. -It's that simple, that's why he adores her.
-They are just children, behaving like children.
-She is always calm, (reader) seems to be an ornament. -Tim crosses his arms and looks at Bruce. -She is not a girl with a firm attitude, she is not qualified to be a future Robin. It's slow. Damian is delaying for her, he's an idiot.
Batman listens from the shadows; He does not intervene to deny or avoid the words they use to talk about their children. Alfred, next to him, pours tea, observes and records the information. But everyone knows that sooner or later they will find out from Damian. Because that child knows anyone's threats, hidden words, and poisonous thoughts, even if they come from the family that is now also his. And that happens fast. Because he has ears in every corner of the mansion. He finds you on the terrace lying on the ground.
-They're analyzing you. -he says. -As if you were a nuisance.
-Isn't that you, Dami? You always analyze me.
-It's very different from what I do! -he approaches you. -They look at you as if you don't understand something basic about life. They classify you as a threat, they will act.
You don't ask 'how.' You don't ask 'when.' You simply nod and hold that revelation. Later, after sunbathing with your brother, Tim intercepts you in the hallway near the stairs. Smile slightly when you see yourself alone.
He speaks in a low voice: -Do you feel comfortable here?
Your calm disappears completely.
-You don't realize that Damian is getting very clingy with you... little sister.
You are paralyzed by that possible confirmation, unable to answer because you know there is some truth to it. Damian appears. You don't hear it coming. You never hear it. You only see him appear behind Drake's back.
-It's none of your business, Timothy.
-Yes, it is. You know, -he replies. -anything that disturbs the tranquility of the family, it is my job to solve it. -his eyes slide towards you. -You don't seem so happy, sister.
-Because you ruined his day! -Damian replies.
-I didn't ask you, I asked her.
Damian takes a step forward.
-My sister is under no obligation to talk to you, Drake, you're nothing more than a zero to the left.
The tension between the brothers is noticeable, the good thing is that Dick seems to intervene, Bruce from the stairs, does not see his biological son as a soldier who protects him. He sees it as a problem.
You're not far behind, so you take little Wayne by the hand and drag him down the hallway, down the stairs, leaving the other two behind. Bruce sees them come down, but none of the three exchange glances or words; You simply drag your brother and guide him into the great room.
-Dami, stay here, okay? -you push him towards the sofa. -I'll go make tea for both of us.
-Bug, was he about to give that idiot some of his own poison? Why did we leave?
-Forget it, it's not worth it, Damian. Do you want tea?
After that little 'conversation', you leave Damian alone in the living room, Alfred meets you in the kitchen and offers you a cup. You don't ask him what it is. He starts talking without looking at you. But he starts talking without looking at you.
-Damian's mother was always intense. She is like her mother; She was never a kind woman. Not even sweet, she was always intense and spiteful.
You are cold, because you can't believe that Alfred is talking badly about Damian's mother, the woman Bruce decided to meet and spend a night, who Damian told you is intelligent and knows how to teach. Your mouth trembles with contained anger, but you nod bitterly, to continue listening to the man in front of you.
-But now. It's very focused on you.
-Devotion can be dangerous, miss (reader). -he continues -. Even when it is born of love, my child, you have to leave Damian and see for yourself.
-Do you love me, Alfred? -asked honestly. -Dami only protects me. You should know better than everyone in this mansion. -you take a sip of the lemonade. -Don't play with me, Alfred.
Alfred then looks at you, for a long time. But he is not far behind in answering you.
-Sometimes the difference is irrelevant. You should not cling to your younger brother, and he should not cling to you either.
You didn't like his answer, because between the two of you the idea is formed that each one knows his truth, and you don't like that at all. You hate it. So you walk away from the bar and approach the shelf where the other glasses are, you bring it to Al and he fills it with lemonade, he hands it to you and you leave the kitchen without turning to look at him.
Things quickly get worse, Bruce forbids you to train with Damian, Dick tries to distract him, Jason teases, and Tim insists on "preventive" psychological evaluations. Damian rejects everything, he locks himself up with you. Literally. He closes the door to his room, locks it. He sits in front of you, his knees bent, staring at you.
-They want to separate us, bug!
-They can. -he corrects -. But i won't give them that luxury...
There is something new in his tone. It's not anger. It is certainty.
-Not without consequences.
-Listen to me, -says. -if they try to kick you out, I'll go with you. -he says without thinking.
Blink. For the first time, hesitate.
-It doesn't matter where. -It doesn't sound like a plan, your words sound needy. -What matters is to know that we will be together...
You look at him for a few seconds, get up from the floor and approach the door of the room. Alfred, who was in the hallway, hears the click of the latch. The butler does not intervene, he only sighs. Because now he understands. It's not that Damian depends on you. It's just that he's chosen you and decided that you're his, his to love, listen to, and guide you. And in a house built on oaths, masks, and obsessions, that's more dangerous than any villain. You rest your head against the door. You close your eyes. You still do nothing to change anything. Because the hatred of family no longer hurts you as much as the idea of losing the only one who never doubted you. And Gotham... Gotham has to learn fast. Just like the mansion. Blind decisions are not easy. But the mansion has already learned to change routines. Then, the spaces, the rules that no one explains to you, but that everyone expects you to obey. The Wayne mansion has always worked like this: control is not imposed, it is filtered.
You no longer meet Dick 'by chance' in the corridors. Jason stops provoking you directly, but his contempt becomes colder, more calculated. Tim appears less, but when he does, his gaze is not on you, but on Damian, measuring distances, times, the reactions of the youngest. Bruce watches from afar. Always from afar. He doesn't order you anything. It doesn't confront you. He doesn't talk to you. Simply rearrange so that you're on the fringes of what you should be in the house. But you're an awkward variable that can be discreetly isolated. Damian notices everything. It becomes quieter. More rigid. It accompanies you even when you don't need it. He sits nearby. Always close. As if the space between the two of you was something that others could steal if they didn't keep an eye on it. Alfred tries to intervene subtly. Suggest separate activities. Individual moments. Damian accepts it with a polite smile and then doesn't. He always finds a way to get back with you. The butler begins to lose sleep. Because he sees how the child no longer rests if you are not there. See how he eats less when he doesn't see you eating. See how their mood depends on your presence like a needle stitching everything together in a zigzag. Dependency confirmed. You don't name him. For you Damian is exactly like that. You sit where Damian tells you to sit. You stay when he stays. You leave when he decides it's time. Not because it forces you, but because the world becomes more manageable when you keep up with it. The Batfamily begins to react. Dick tries to impose normality. He talks to you more, includes you, but his attention is divided: always attentive to how Damian looks at you, how he leans towards you, how he gets in the way without touching you. Jason stops mocking. That's the worst. Because it confirms that something is wrong, that something doesn't add up. He watches you look at something he doesn't understand, but which he senses is dangerous. He doesn't ignore you anymore... calculates you. Timothy presents reports. Not about you, but about attachment patterns, conditioned responses, and extreme protective behaviors in minors trained for violence. He does not mention names, but everyone knows who he is talking about. Bruce hears him. And decide. That he will take you out of the house. It won't kick you out, it's not something I should confront you about. But it works for now, decide to separate from Damian. Progressively. Imperceptibly. Different schedules. Workouts that coincide with your rest hours. Simulated missions. Distractions and small excuses. Damian resists. Not with shouting. Not with tantrums. With dangerous stubbornness, he begins to disobey minor orders, to delay, to return early. To ignore instructions if they interfere with you. Discipline is eroded. Loyalty is reconfigured. Bruce wouldn't love that, if it wasn't for you, he doesn't like that all of his son's attention and rebellion is for you. And for the first time, the doubt is not yours. Of him, of the son who is of his own blood. You are still and will continue to be the same girl. Calm, present. Without asking for anything. Because you don't notice that disgust is changing shape. You're no longer the unwanted daughter. You are the center. The point around which Damian revolves, and by extension, the point that threatens to destabilize everything the family has built.
Alfred stops one night in front of the closed door where he knows Damian is on the other side. It does not enter. There is no need. He thinks that it may be too late to correct nothing. Because contempt is easy to handle. What is now beginning to appear is not what they are looking for, but what they are leaving. And you, without knowing it at all, continue to accept your brother's protection as if it were a natural law. As if the world, at last, only makes sense when you are close to your brother. It's clear that you're the only one who could keep Damian sane. The separation attempt fails without the need for direct confrontation. This is the most disturbing thing. Bruce had already adjusted schedules, missions, and training. Damián disarms them with surgical patience. It doesn't explode. All that remains is. Go back sooner, change routes, feign total obedience, and redefine it in practice. As if I had understood, too soon, that rules are not truths: they are temporary obstacles to being with you. And you're always there when he comes back. Sitting. Reading. Waiting without knowing what you really expect. The family begins to change their behavior without announcing it, again. Dick stops trying to fit in. Jason stops treating you like a poorly told joke. Tim stops seeing you as a passive factor. No one apologizes and no one explains anything. They just watch you. Not with open hatred. Be careful, this is new and you don't like it. You are assigned more central spaces in the mansion. Not as a gesture of welcome, but as a logistical maneuver. It's easier to stay on top of everything. Alfred makes sure you always have what you need nearby. It's not affection. It is prevention. Damian calms down when he sees you visible. That detail does not go unnoticed. Bruce begins to notice something that doesn't fit with his mental model of control: when Damian knows where you are, his performance improves. Fewer errors. Less impulsivity. More concentration and more efficiency. You don't know it, but you become an operational anchor. Jason notices it before anyone else. You see it in how he stops tensing up when Damian sits next to you. In how it no longer provokes when you're around. As if he had understood, in his brutal way, that touching you activates something that no one wants to face. Dick rationalizes it. They say it's a stage. What will happen. It just takes time. Tim is not fooled. Tim begins to accept the hypothesis that bothers him the most: that it's not Damian who revolves around you, but that both of you have created a microcosm of your own, one that doesn't respond to external hierarchies. Alfred calls it 'a bond.' Bruce calls it 'risk.' You don't call it anything at all. For you, it's simply safety. Damian feels closer every day. It doesn't touch you anymore. It doesn't invade you. But his presence becomes constant, like an invisible wall. If someone enters the room, they stand between you and the door. If someone gets too close, their gaze is enough. It is not a threat. He only warns. The mansion adapts to him in a balanced way. Conversations drop in volume when you enter. Important decisions are postponed if Damián is not calm. Without anyone saying it out loud, they start to keep you from feeling uncomfortable. Not for you. For him. And that's where the subtle change happens, the one that no one planned: the contempt fades away. Hatred gives ground. It is not yet transformed into affection, but it loses conviction. Because it's hard to hate something that keeps the most unpredictable element of the house stable. Bruce observes you more. Not as a father. Like a strategist. He begins to ask himself not why you exist, but what function you fulfill. That puts you in a new category. No, in a loved one. Not accepted. Just one thing necessary. Damian leans more on you.
Sleep much better when you're around. Train better after seeing you. Their world is organized around your silent existence. Alfred confirms this one night, alone, with a cup of tea that cools down in his hands. This is no longer a stage. It is a structure that can get worse. And yet you don't change anything. Without resisting. Without demanding. Because you don't realize that the family no longer sees you as an intruder. He sees you as something he can't lose sight of. And when one sibling is obsessive, one of the others will end up following the pattern, love will not be soft.
The patience of the man who gave you everything is not broken so suddenly, it hardens with every misplaced behavior. For days Bruce watches as Damian ignores the rules he proposed, along with his decisions that no longer affect him, he is annoyed by how your presence was being the fixed point around which everything is ordered. He sees no tenderness. He sees no consolation. He sees an uncontrolled dependency, and that, for someone like Bruce, is unacceptable. He decides to intervene in the only way he knows how. Directly. He calls you into his office, while Damian reluctantly trains under Dick's supervision. Alfred is not there. Tim is too busy analyzing data. Jason doesn't show up.
The door closes behind you with a thud. Bruce doesn't offer you a seat.
-This ends today, -he tells you. His voice is not a scream, it is worse. It is the voice used to give orders that do not admit of reply. -Damian needs to distance himself from you. You're delaying it.
-I'm not doing that, Bruce. -you say quietly. -I'm just there.
-That is the problem. -Take a step towards yourself. Its shadow covers yours. -You're not his damn anchor. You are not their center, you are not their responsibility.
You nod. Don't argue, bring the bitterness of your words.
-Then stay away, -he demands. -tell him not to follow you. Don't let him look for you!
The phrase doesn't sound very kind and that infuriates him. Bruce grabs your arm. It is not a coup. It's not out of control. It is calculated strength, enough to hurt, enough to score.
-Yes, you can. -he says, squeezing her. -And you're going to do it.
The pain rises, clean, stabbing. You don't scream, it doesn't resist you. You look down, you shut up, that silence of yours is what infuriates him. It pushes you against the desk. Nothing on the desk falls or breaks, nothing hurts you. But the message is clear: obedience or consequences.
-Don't mess with my son again. You've caused enough damage and trouble!
-BRUCE, I'M YOU TOO DAUGHTER!!
-YOU THINK SO, I DON'T SEE IT THAT WAY!! -he squeezed his hand tighter and let go abruptly.
-B, What did i do wrong?...
The two look away in the room. You breathe heavily, and your eyes feel watery. You settle down and leave the office with your arm burning and your head empty. You walk aimlessly until your legs fail you in the corridor that leads to the Batcave. Damian finds you like this. You don't wonder how. It always appears. Look at your arm and notice the reddened spot. His eyes change.
You don't respond. You don't have to. The air around you becomes dangerous; He does not scream. He does not run. It simply straightens out, like a sharp sword slowly unsheathing.
-I told you i wouldn't let them do this to you.
-Dami, it's okay. -you lie. -I don't want trouble.
-There are already problems...
That night, Bruce faces violent resistance from Damian. There is no kindness at all.
Damian begins to disobey important orders. Tim watches everything with almost feverish attention. Violence changes the approach. Start spending more time with yourself. More glued. He does not intervene. Look, listen, and take mental notes. Notice how Damian stands in front of you even when no one threatens you. Notice how your voice lowers when it gets tense. Notice how you adapt to their emotional state without realizing it. That obsesses him. Not emotionally. Intellectually.
-That's not normal anymore, -he says to Dick. -the symbiosis is too stable.
-They are brothers. -Dick replies, uncomfortable. -They have been through a lot.
-No... -Tim corrected. -that's something else.
It analyzes you as if you were a mathematical constant. Damian, as an extreme variable that only stabilizes with you. He begins to wonder what would happen if he took you. How long would Damian last before breaking something? Or someone. He doesn't like the answer. Alfred notices the tension on the table.
Bruce doesn't look at you. Damian does not stop doing it. He notices that Tim barely blinks when he watches them together. They have all crossed a line. The contempt is behind us. Bruce's correction failed. There is another stage. He doesn't control what separates... but what unites. And you, with your arm still hurting and your head resting near Damian, still don't rebel. Because if choosing means losing everything, then you will never choose. You know that man you can't love like a father will want to take away what you love. Your brother.
After the situation in the office, nothing goes back into place. The mansion does not change its atmosphere; It is only recalibrated. Bruce doesn't apologize. He does not avoid you out of guilt, but out of calculation. It keeps you in sight, but out of its immediate reach, as if it fears that any contact will reactivate something it can't stop. Control changes form, fewer orders, more surveillance. Damian does not separate from you. Tim is slowly closing in on you. Too close. But it does not interrupt or provoke. He observes with an attention that borders on scientific devotion. See how you barely get close to Damian when the environment turns hostile. Notice how your gaze seeks it out before making small decisions. Observe how it responds to microsignals that no one else perceives.
-If she leaves, -Tim murmurs, not speaking to anyone. -he collapses. -look at his other two brothers.
Jason laughs reflectively, but falls silent when he realizes that no one else does.
-Are you saying it's a weakness for B?
-I'm saying... -Tim replies. -what's a problem?
Dick tries to deny the obvious, he talks about shared trauma, about adaptation, about time. But even he starts to lower his voice when you argue near you. He begins to measure his words to avoid tension. The mansion quickly learns what's bothering you. And, by extension, what bothers Damian. Alfred becomes a silent mediator. Making sure you always have hot tea for you and your company sticky. That the spaces are quiet. Let no one raise their voice near you. Not out of compassion. For prevention. Because he has seen Damian's look when he thinks you have been bothered or made uncomfortable. It's not anger. It is a resolution.
At this, Bruce calls a private meeting to which you are not invited. Damian does not attend. That alone is an affirmation.
-We cannot separate them. -Tim says, straight to everyone in the cave. -Not anymore.
-So what? -Jason growls. -Shall we leave it like that?
-No, -Tim corrects. -we integrate (reader).
-She's not the problem. -he continues -. It is the solution. As long as she is stable, Damian will be. As long as he is around, he will be encouraged to cooperate, he will give in and he will be willing to follow the rules... in his own way, of course. -look at everyone.
Bruce does not comment on his son's observations. He can only think about the mark on your arm. In how your attitude changed as a result of their action. As you raised it I will not be considered as if it were a daughter.
-What if someone threatens her? -he asks at last.
Timothy doesn't hesitate to answer.
-Then there will be no one left to repeat the mistake!
Bruce watches you from the door of Damian's room. It does not enter. Damian is with you, sitting on the floor, with his back against the wall, like an ancient guardian. You read. You don't look straight ahead.
-Come down to dinner, Damian. -It is recharged in the frame.
You are immersed in reading, you do not see how your brother grimaces at his father's short words. In the face of the silence and contempt of the younger Wayne, Bruce understands something with bitter clarity: he didn't lose you, but his son. It lost the exclusivity it had before. He knows that the change is made official without ceremony, before his eyes. So he accepts it and walks away from the door to return to the boys who are waiting for him in the dining room along with Alfred.
After B walks away, Dami looks at you and speaks: - Are you hungry? We can eat here in my room.
-You shouldn't do such a thing, let's go down to dinner with the others. -you look at the book you are reading and fold the corner of the page before closing it and getting up. -Let's go.
-Are you sure? -he gets up from the floor and leaves the room before you. Take your hand.
Each of your older siblings takes their respective distance from you, Dick speaks to you more carefully. Jason looks at you with tense respect. Tim asks you soft, constant questions, as if he's mapping your mind. And Damian... Damian relaxes just a little. For the first time since i arrived, he is sleeping soundly. Eats without monitoring the behavior of others in the dining room. Train with surgical precision. Their world once again has defined limits. Because you're being included in their tasks and activities. You, for your part, do not know that the hatred and contempt is over. You don't know if the love that comes will not be normal, healthy or free. You just know that the house stopped pushing you. Now it holds you. And when a family like this decides to withhold something, they don't do it to make it leave. He does it so that he will never be out of his reach again. It is not noticeable at the moment. That is the most dangerous thing. Tim has always been attentive, meticulous. Present in a way that doesn't invade... until it does. The difference is so gradual that your mind normalizes it before questioning it. He appears when you get up. He knows what book you're reading before you open it, he adjusts the light in the library without you asking. Correct the temperature in the room. The silence, too perfect to seem casual, Drake sits across from you. Not next to you, not behind: in front. He looks at you as if every gesture of yours is valuable information. He doesn't smile much, just nods and registers.
-You sleep less, -says, without preamble. -and you eat less when he can't be by your side.
-I hadn't noticed... -you reply.
It doesn't sound proud, it sounds... satisfied to give to the right. But for that very reason, you start avoiding certain rooms without knowing why. To change corridors. To close the door more carefully. It bothers you that he's always close, but never too close. It does not cross a clear boundary. This prevents you from pointing it out, but Damian notices it. He tenses up as Tim walks in and approaches. His gaze hardens. But Tim doesn't compete. It does not provoke it. It's not a challenge.
-It's already typical. -says the younger. -What did you miss?
-I don't do anything wrong, kid. -he says, almost to himself -. She's adjusting to me.
That phrase gives you a chill that you don't know how to name. Start asking more personal questions. Not intimate, but questions that somehow give you the information you are looking for. Drake blurts out, 'What calms you down?' 'What are you worried about?' 'What do you remember when you're alone?' 'What makes you feel safe?' 'Do you really like being with Damian?' under pressure you respond without thinking much about it, because it's your thing. Responding is the most natural thing you can do. Because it seems that he wants to understand you completely. You start to feel small when she looks at you for too long. As if you took up less space than you thought. As if you were reduced to patterns, to variables, to a formula that he can solve.
-Don't force yourself so much, (reader). -she tells you when she sees you quiet. -I realize it's always the same with you.
He does not raise his voice or approach. That's what makes you so uncomfortable. There is no visible escape. Damian usually interferes with Tim's events, but he doesn't care. Just wait and watch as you look for your brother with your eyes.
-It's so fascinating, -he murmurs. -you are the center of two different systems.
You don't understand the phrase, but you feel the weight of what it possibly means. You have a hard time sleeping. You feel that, even in the dark, someone thinks of you too precisely. You don't feel afraid. Not yet, just a diffuse discomfort. Persistent. You know Timothy doesn't love you, let alone love you. But he doesn't hate you either, he can't and shouldn't. He only claims you. And you, without fully realizing it, begin to wonder if you were ever so invisible to him... or if just now someone decided to see you too much. You start to notice tiredness before fear. Not because Tim does something explicit or strange, but because your mind is no longer fully rested; There is a nagging sense of being taken into account even when no one is around. As if your existence left a trace, as if every little decision was recorded in some invisible place. Tim doesn't follow you, that would be silly. He anticipates, when you change your routine, he is already there, when you decide not to talk, he does not ask. When you're restless, slow down the pace of the environment without announcing it. Adjust everything to your size. You don't attribute it to him. You tell yourself it's a coincidence. That it has always been this efficient. But it wasn't like that before. You start to feel very uncomfortable in open spaces. You prefer rooms with a single exit. You don't know why. Always sit where you can see the door. And you find yourself turning your head when you hear footsteps that you recognize perfectly. Tim doesn't talk to you much. You don't need to do it anymore.
-You're even more tense, little sister, -he says without looking at you. -probably because of the change Damian has had in the night patrol, right?
You don't remember telling him it affected you.
-Maybe. -you answer wearily.
He nods, as if confirming a long-tested hypothesis. Damian watches them with open hostility. It's right next to you, closer than usual. Tim remains unperturbed. It does not invade. But neither of them gives up.
-You don't have to always be here Damian... -says calmly.
-What the hell do you care. -he answers -. If I want to be here it's for pleasure.
Tim smiles barely. Not out of mockery, by recognition.
That smile makes you more uncomfortable than any direct threat. You don't like it at all. Alfred tries to politely distance your two brothers. He invites you to accompany him to other areas of the mansion. It assigns you small tasks. But Tim always seems to know where you are. It never interferes. It just pops up after. As if it were following an internal map. You start to feel watched even when you're with Damian. That confuses you. He is your refuge. It always has been. But now there are times when, even next to it something else seeps in.
⤿𐔌՞. .՞𐦯 A/N; This is already the fifth chapter, so we are already halfway through the series, since decided that there would be 10. It would also add Headcanons, incorrect Quotes, imagine, drawings, and memes to the original list of the series. On Monday the 15th, tomorrow i will start with this topic; I'll make two of each. Also tell you that i didn't upload anything last Sunday because I had the 'Rrecovery Week' at the university and passed it; passed the calculus subject. So break free from the system! managed to pass the calculation and i achieved it in four days... what didn't do in the whole semester achieved in just four damn days.
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Editing day: 22/11/2025 Officially published on tumblr: 14/12/2025
