#au chattering

And he's gone before Clark or any other Super on scene can grab him.

Clark bothers to waste time asking 'where would he go?' while Kon is already taking to the skies, following Jon's obvious path to Gotham, trying to get Tim on the communicator.

He's coming for Damian.

Damian, his best friend of six-plus years. Damian, his boyfriend of one and a half.

And who else would you go to in a moment of fear, pain and turmoil than the one you love most? Who else would you desire when you've been drugged to evoke want?

He'd just entered Gotham airspace, just connected to Tim, when he heard the crunch of concrete. When the communicator clicked on to Tim's line, and he's screaming for backup.

Bring the Kryptonite.

Kon finds them in an alleyway, and his heart sinks. Jon hadn't just pinned Damian to the wall, but through it, and Robin was trapped in a prison the shape of himself.

Jon's clinging to both of Damian's arms, leaning all of his weight against Damian in the cavern he'd just made, squeezing as hard as he could - Kryptonian strength - even as Damian struggled. They're both speaking quickly, talking over each other, Damian shaking his head vehemently.

Jon's not listening.

He goes to kiss Damian, and Robin turns his face away. Jon isn't deterred, just refocuses onto Damian's neck, latching on like a vampire.

And the analogy becomes fact, as in his attempt to leave a hickey, to claim, Jon bites.

Kon smells Damian's blood immediately. Sees it begin to run down Damian's uniform just as he catches Tim arriving on the roof.

They only look at each other for a moment before jumping into action.

Kon's on the ground in an instant, hand on the back of Jon's throat, ripping him backwards. He turns to watch his brother as he collapses to the ground, and feels Tim immediately behind him, staff out as he stands protectively in front of his own brother.

Jon only gets the chance to lunge at them once, twice - Kon blocking and furiously throwing him back every time - before Batman's there with the Kryptonite.

Jon's knocked out immediately, and taken to the Watchtower to be held in the maximum strength prison they have while they try to figure this out. Damian's taken to the Batcave infirmary with broken bones from being thrown into the wall, major bruises across his arms from Jon's hands, and a deep laceration the shape of teeth bandaged on his neck.

Damian doesn't emote when the Supers and Bats debrief in the cave, though Tim and Dick are furious and in Clark's face about it, with Bruce backing them up. Clark apologizes to Damian himself, but Damian seems to wave him off.

Kon has a feeling.

Tim must too, because he doesn't sound surprised himself when he calls to alert him that Damian escaped the cave and was MIA. Just invites Kon to join him on the Watchtower.

And sure enough, as soon as they arrive, they find Damian in the prison - that was quadruple coded and physically guarded 24/7 to avoid this exact thing - sitting on Jon's own medical gurney, their hands clasped together as a recently-lucid Jon dozes on Damian's lap.

Kon doesn't know what to think. Should his heart be warmed, by the obvious love, loyalty and adoration between these two?

Anyway I had this idea, but I’ve forgotten what most of the canon instances I was going to include were, so I’m just gonna word vomit here about it.

But, say Absolute Power still happens and Jon is just traumatized and mentally broken down and no one seems able to help. Clark is desperate and stressed. Superman can’t help his own son???

So he goes to Damian. (Wherever he was during that event, again didn’t read it) he shows up on the doorstep of Wayne Manor, tears streaming down his face, heart in his hands.

“I don’t know how to help Jon.”

Damian of course needs nothing else and goes running. He gets to where the League is attempting to provide medical attention and sees the metal arm and Jon screaming and broken. He goes to hold Jon while Leaguers work, and Jon just sobs violently into his chest.

Damian sees red.

Damian decides there is only one solution.

Damian goes scorched earth. He goes scorched multi-verse.

He finds Ultraman - kills him. He goes to the 31st century - kills anyone Jon ever fought. He goes to Injustice-verse and kills himself, because that version of himself hurt Jon.

He finds and kills every single person who ever wronged or hurt Jonathan Kent, in any universe.

Superman didn’t know how to help his son? He was right to come to Damian. Because Damian knew the answer.

Make sure there was no one left to hurt Jon ever again. Anywhere. Anywhen.

And as Damian took his place next to Jon’s hospital bed, and held his hand with a gentleness reserved for newborns, Clark didn’t know what was worse.

The blood? The destruction? Damian’s violence? The fact he broke every code and moral he ever had? All because Clark asked? Because Superman failed?

Or the fact that Clark didn’t hate him? That Superman was grateful to Damian, instead?

(Lois has no such qualms, and thanked Damian profusely for days, weeks, months, years.)

I think the rest of the family would react the same regardless of who killed him - anger, grief and desolation.

Dick would be absolutely shattered, no matter what the circumstances are. I mean, look at canon where it's only implied it was basically his fault. He isolates, drinks, doesn't take care of him, the full 9s. I think even if he killed Damian on purpose, he wouldn't fight any kind of incarceration.

Jason would be angry. Angry at whatever Damian did that justified killing him, and angry at himself for not being stronger, for running out of options, and for hurting his family (again).

Do you mean, if Bruce was a bad father and the Batfam found out?

I think Jason would be furious and absolutely get in Bruce's face about it. Threaten to shoot him, threaten to call Talia, threaten to just take Damian away. Cass is behind him, nodding in agreement. Steph would be there too, as Jason's hype girl, going, "And another thing you bastard...!"

Tim, I think, would justify it and be on Bruce's side somewhat. But if he starts to struggle to justify I think he just removes himself from the fight and tries to ignore it. Better to ignore that your father and hero is awful than do anything about it.

Dick simply shows up, packs Damian a bag, and they go stay at the Clocktower with Barbara, and goes radio silent on all things Damian and Robin. He'll talk cases and training and WE but he will NOT speak of Damian, not until he sees progress in Bruce's actions, or Damian asks.

When shit started to go down, Clark hid Lois and Jon. Made sure they were safe. They watched as Clark disappeared, only to return bitten and Turned, under the rule of Vampire King Dick Grayson.

They hear about the massacre of the Batfamily at Dick’s hand, and thinks that means all of them. Lois is furious, and Jon is absolutely shattered by the perceived loss of his best friend.

So they become hunters themselves, with the goal of course of taking out Clark to give humanity a chance/‘save’ Clark themselves. They get good at it, renown a la the Winchester bros in Supernatural.

They travel, they age, yada yada. Then they find a vampire looming over a person. Jon goes to attack, take him out, but hesitates at the last second when he sees that hood and R Insignia. In that hesitation, he watches as Damian doesn’t attack, but protects the person, killing another vampire Jon didn’t see.

Damian, upon recognizing Jon, tries to flee, but Jon doesn’t let him. Tearfully clings to Damian, rambling about how he thought he was dead and gone a decade ago.

Damian reluctantly explains what happened with Dick, how he and Alfred survived and found some of the other Bats not with them in that shack. How Jason died for him. How his goal is to take down Nightwing himself or die trying.

Jon’s grief mixes with fury, and without thinking, he vows to protect Damian at all costs, Damian and Lois, no matter what. Damian tries to leave again, he’s a vampire, a freak, he’ll put Jon in danger. But Jon won’t listen. Lois won’t either when she gets to the scene.

Lois tells Damian how proud she is of him, how Bruce would be too, and holds him when he cries after that.

They get Damian blood as he needs it. Jon offers his own more than once, to Damian’s horror. He takes it anyway.

But in the twilights of sunrise and sunset, all they care about is that they have each other. They have their little resistance groups. That Vampire King Dick Grayson didn’t take everything from them, as much as he tried.

oh, I think it'd be the saddest thing they've ever seen, especially when they come across Damian as Batman at 18, find out Alfred had to kill them, that Jason buried them, all of that. They're so heartbroken to see what became of Damian, Jason and Cass, and their friends.

Jon as space and Damian as earth.

Because Jon always wanted to explore space, he wasn't meant to be grounded. He's a wanderer on the best of days, flighty at worst. He never really settles and misses home but doesn't know where that is.

Damian as earth because as people think they have him figured out. They take him for granted and think they know everything there is to know. The earth is life, nurturing, but also ruthless and about surviving. Damian keeps those he lives safe the way the forest keeps his young.

Jon never stops leaving, but he brings a piece of earth like all the great explorers did. Damian becomes his tether, he becomes gravity, home in an inhospitable place.

Dicuss. (I love your fics! Do You Feel The Way My Past Aches? Has a special place in my heart.)

So, I love the idea of, regardless of AU, if they get together Jon is exTREMELY protective of Damian. Just...all the time. Even when he knows Damian can handle himself. Damian eventually just lets it happen, because the only way he can show his own absolute devotion to Jon is to give him what he wants, which is Damian safe.

Back in the day, I was planning a vague Beyond The Mountains sequel, and one of the main settings was going to be a secluded cabin in the woods (mentioned in their original story) that becomes their new home base/Damian lives and is hidden away in while Jon goes and does hero stuff. And your ask just reminds me of that a lot haha