It was strange for him to already be back in the manor at this time - the lunch time. Tim never came back on lunch time from the office with all his work done for the day. It was just something that he couldn't see himself doing it because there was always something that he needed to do every single time. Coming back home with nothing to work on was something weird - strange - since he knew how much of a workaholic he was.

Tim was pretty sure he had gotten the workaholic ethic from Bruce, though he knew it was inside of him since he was a kid. But he liked it as it helped him to focus on something else that was not Damian -related. Everything but Damian. He wanted to block the image of Damian inside his mind: he wanted to block the way Damian looked at him when he returned the mantel with his conflicted emotion, the way the little bat spoke to him with a calm face about his decision of returning the mantle without reasons.

Everything.

He wanted to block everything about Damian from entering into his mind, from messing up with his thought processing. He wanted to believe that everything had never happened - that everything was fine just like the way it used to be. Tim wanted nothing more than to believe that Damian was still the Robin, the little sidekick who would always be there for Batman. He wanted to believe that so badly, but he had to accept the reality. And, the fact that Damian was no longer in the "cleaning-crime-industry" was something Tim had always wanted because for god's-damn-sake, he was too young.

Damian was too damn young for this, for all of this madness . He was not supposed to be there at all. Damian was supposed to be just like any other kid. He was supposed to play around with other normal kids, watching cartoons, selfishly wanting to eat all the sweets possible. But, here he was now, a nineteen years old teenager, almost an adult who had been fighting crime for all his life until that moment where everything stopped, when everything Tim had wanted for Damian was granted.

Damian was no longer a Robin. He was finally a normal kid who could play with those of the same age. And, Tim could finally protect him like an older brother should. He could finally do it like many times before all these happened.

He was supposed to be happy. Tim was supposed to be happy with his younger brother's decision, but no. He was glad, but he was not happy. He thought it was wrong. Robin was not supposed to be passed back to him. No, Damian was the only one who was worthy of the mantle, and Tim had no intention of using the mantle back.

Robin was not supposed to be passed down to anyone anymore. No more crime fighting for children. They were not children's job to do. It was their jobs, the adults, the working ones, the authorities, and not theirs.

He took a deep breath, clearing the inside of his head from all the deep thoughts he had to deal. All he ever wanted was to change to casual clothes, and probably reading a book somewhere, or even working on a case that was left in the cave alone. He didn't really wanted to do anything else but work related and alone since he knew he would be distracted by the thoughts of his little brother again if he were to work with someone else.

But, he knew that not all of his wishes could come true... Not when he heard the sound of a motorcycle's running toward the cave when he came down to supposedly start working on the case he was planning to work on. He saw Dick coming into the cave without his favorite black leather jacket on while the person behind him was drowning in the bigness of the jacket. Tim knew instantly who that person was since no one else could drown in Dick's black jacket but Damian and himself - only slightly.

The bike slowly stopped as they approached their final destination, and he was glad they hadn't noticed his presence in the cave yet. He wasn't trying to hide from them; he just didn't want to see them yet - he didn't want to see his little brother just yet. He knew that he would have to face the truth and eventually talk with the babybat about everything. At the same time, he also wanted to look for a clue, a hint as of why their only youngest decided to stop everything.

He wanted to know.

He needed to know, yet he was afraid. Afraid to know, to learn about what was happening to his little brother, his rival, and someone whom he always had problem with and never understood before.

He drew a breath, a deep breath, to calm his noisy mind for the hundredth times before he had to face Damian - the ex- Robin. He continued walking down the stairs from where he was standing when he heard them coming in...and, probably to prepare himself to face them.

"Alfred should be ready with our lunch upstairs. Wanna head upstairs now?" Dick asked as he took the jacket from Damian's hand and placed it on the steering wheel of his bike alongside both helmets.

Tim couldn't see Damian, not when he was covered by Dick's back, and his small, thin posture didn't really help him to be discovered when all his brothers were around him. But, he could hear his voice, low and soft as he spoke to Dick back until some of the words were left unheard by him. If anything that Dick did earned him a smile, than everything Tim did earned him nothing but an insult here and there.

He sighed as he kept walking down the stairs until he reached the floor where both of them were standing. Damian was the first to notice him as he peeked, head out from the side of Dick's shoulder, to look at Tim. He could see Damian looking pale and tired from whatever they were doing outside while Dick handed him a small bag from his trunk.

"Hi," was the only thing that came out of Damian's mouth, as if there was nothing else he could have said or greeted him with.

Dick turned his back around as he found Tim standing just a few feet away from them in casual clothing. He gave a gentle smile to Tim as he walked out from between them to the stairs, trying to leave them alone as Dick knew there was an unsolved tension between the two of them.

"You had lunch already, Tim?" Dick asked, halfway to the stairs as he looked back to see Tim.

Tim stared at Dick for a few seconds before registering everything in and opening his mouth to say something.

"No," he answered quickly. "Haven't had lunch yet."

Dick nodded. "Going back to office later? Wanna join us for lunch?"

He glanced at Damian, who was busy tidying up his bag on Dick's bike, then turned to reply his eldest brother's question.

"Not going back to office; done for the day. I'll join you guys for lunch." Quick nod came from Dick as he began climbing the stairs to talk to their butler.

Tim's attention returned to Damian who began walking away from him, avoiding him for a reason he couldn't determine. All Tim could do to stop him was to call his name, loud and clear for him to hear before Damian could escape from him.

"TT," the famous tongue clicking came as he turned to see Tim. "What is it, Drake? Quit wasting my time."

Tim didn't care for the insult Damian always gave him, not now when he was suspicious of the bag Damian had in his hand. He knew Damian wasn't someone who liked to have extra baggage when he traveled or went out to somewhere within the city. Damian was a simple person if someone really knew him so well, and of course this knowledge was acquired from Dick telling him as he wasn't close enough with the youngest of the family to know this. And this made him more curious of the content of the bag and where Dick and Damian had been, or even before Dick was with Damian.

Tim took a breather, letting the oxygen flown into his brain as he knew the person in front of him would not, or would never answered his questions directly unless he tricked him into it. He walked closer to Damian, closing the distance that separated them from each other, but he silently knew the younger man was clutching the bag tighter than before. Tighter as if he had to suffer consequences for something he had done. And, this was their Damian - the current Damian Wayne - they all began to know again.

"Where did you go?" Tim asked and demanded a straightforward answer from the tiniest of the family.

He frowned as he didn't want to give any answers to the question. There was nothing in the world that Damian wanted but to escape Tim's detective mind now.

"-TT-", again the famous tongue clicking came out from him. "Is there a reason why I need to answer your question, Drake?"

Tim frowned at the response given by Damian but didn't say anything in return as he closed the distance even more than before. He closed the distance so much to the point Damian began to backup one step every other step Tim took. Tim only stopped until he came face to face with the shortest of the family - until Damian stopped taking a step back since he knew he couldn't escape the third and current Robin, not when behind him was a wall.

Tim boxed him by placing one hand on the wall while the other cautiously looking for a way to snatch the bag that was clutched tightly in the youngest hand. His state was intense, and he could feel the tension in the air surrounding both of them. But, Damian didn't say a word, not a single word of complain came out from his mouth - not like the usual.

He moved to the side, trying to break free from the cage Tim had set up for him but Tim moved along with him, still caging the shortest with his arm. They stayed like that for a few minutes in silence while Damian slowly untighten the grip he had on the bag. Tim opened his mouth again, asking "Where did you go?" to Damian for the second time in a row.

The frown on Damian's face didn't go away as he placed the bag on his right side still gripping on it, just not as tight as before. They were face-to-face with each other as if ready to eat each other out of anger and frustration of everything - of the secret Damian was trying to hide from them all. Tim was ready to shout - to scream - at him and told him to tell him everything, so he could help him.

So, Tim knew what to give away to help Damian.

Tim wanted to help, to know, and to show Damian, his goddamn little fucking brother that his family cared. That they were there for him whenever he needed them; but without knowing anything, there was no way for them to help. There was no way for him to help Damian.

The frown on Damian's face subsided as he sighed in front of Tim. His lips quivered as if he was about to say something wrong, his hands trembled slightly as he tried to hide it from the person who was staring at him so intently with those blue eyes. Damian opened his mouth saying, "Grayson and I went to Sepi's for a drink before coming back home." Damian shot a short glare at Tim before continuing with his words and let the frown to melt, "And, if you would like to release me now, I still owe Grayson a proper lunch that Pennyworth has prepared."

With that, Damian slipped away from Tim's sight with his bag, clutched tightly in his hand as he walked away from the cage Tim had set up to keep him in front of him. He didn't care if Tim believed him or not, didn't care of he bought the half truth and lies he was feeding Tim into but for now, all he wanted to do was to rest before having lunch with the eldest brother.

--

Damian didn't walked any further than his bed the moment he entered his room. He had no more energy to put up with whatever everyone was doing. All he needed was to rest before anything ever to come up again to him, just right after he had managed to run away from Tim, the detective of the family. He sighed as he turned to his side, facing the chimney he had inside of room. His jade eyes wandered before slowly closing it into a deep sleep. His steady breath was the most important of all especially when sleeping.

But no, he couldn't fall asleep. He was tired, but he couldn't fall asleep. His mind wouldn't let him fall asleep even after he closed his eyes and let the darkness to eat him away into unconsciousness. His consciousness remained there and never left.

All the questions that Dick asked - Tim asked - remained in his head. Why was he lying to them all? On the very top of that, why was he even here if he didn't want them to know? No one was supposed to ask him anything about his decisions. No one was supposed to question his action. They should have rejoiced, especially Tim since he knew his reaction when Robin was taken away from him. They should have rejoiced because the day had come when he, Damian Wayne, gave up the Robin mantle he had worked so hard and given up so much for.

His mother, grandfather, the Al Ghuls, the assassins - everything from his past, he had let go for Robin, for Batman, for his Father, Dick, and himself. For the better.

Damian laid on his back, took a breath before letting go a sigh as he just laid there in silence. The silence that was beginning to be too loud for him - for his mind. But, there was nothing he could do to shut them off. All the small whispers inside of his head, the whispers that was eating him off everything he believed to be worth of.

Everything he had achieved by giving up something he held dear in his life once. Damian knew Robin had taken his life - his normal growth. Robin had taken everything from its previous owners, but it had taken a lot more to him than to them.

Damian sighed as the frown on his face began to form and a headache was pounding his head like like a hammer to a nail. He didn't move, not until he heard his dog moved and stared at the door. Damian could hear the footsteps getting louder each steps of the way and were heading toward his room before it stopped right in front of the door.

"Damian?" He knew whose voice that was.

He sighed as he sat up on his bed until the person opened the door to see if someone was actually inside. Dick smiled as he saw Damian sitting on the bed with Titus standing still beside him like a bodyguard on duty.

"Ready to have lunch?" Dick asked with a smile on his face as he came closer to Damian who just looked at him and nodded his head.

"Yes, let's have our lunch," Damian answered as he stood up and Dick ruffled his hair gently. "And, maybe, you can continue your story too, Grayson."

Dick looked at him confused with what his littlest brother had just said. And, instantly, it clicked for him as Damian was talking about the police story that got ridiculous at the very end.

"Sure! Anything for you, lil' D," He replied him with a big smile on his face.

"I'll do just that after I call Tim to come up and eat with us, okay?" Damian nodded as Dick moved and kissed his brother's forehead as they both walked away into the dining hall for their lunch.