Less than two days later, they were fighting again.
Early Monday morning, Dick had returned to Blüdhaven. For him, as Christmas approached, the busier he became. It seemed like criminals from all over were rushing to meet their year-end targets, and with Nightwing not patrolling his city for two days, the suppressed darkness began to stir once more.
Tim was always the most sensible one at home. He had been tolerating this little devil, but in the end, it was unclear who had struck first.
Moreover, Damian's mouth was venomous, and when he wielded his longsword, he showed no restraint. Some of his moves were clearly aimed at killing. By the time Tim had calmed down from his anger, he was already entangled in a fight with Damian.
Fun Fact: Tim once trained under the world's number one martial artist, Lady Shiva, in Hong Kong, and defeated her upon graduation.
Trivia: As the Red Robin, known for his combination of intelligence and combat skills, he didn't mind a little bit of cheating.
Baia sat nearby, nibbling on a small pastry. She had finished her own portion and was now helping Tim manage his caloric intake, occasionally brushing away sweat from Tim's forehead or giving him sips of water. Damian didn't receive the same treatment; he could only watch helplessly as Tim's visible injuries healed at an astonishing rate.
"Do you want to be called Robin?" Tim dodged a sword thrust aimed at his throat, tilting his head back just in time. The blade barely grazed his raised fringe as it flew past. "I think it's still a bit early for that."
"I have no interest in adopting a bird's name," Damian retorted coldly.
The young assassin leaped off the wall, using it as a foothold to launch himself at Tim with his sword raised. Tim didn't dodge or evade, instead blocking the attack with his staff. Metal clashed against metal, and Tim, still having strength to spare, knocked Damian off balance, sending him flying.
Every time Tim tried to end their "spar" amicably, Damian always thought the fight was still on. He was too pure and focused. Tim had no choice but to pursue, taking advantage of Damian's instability. With a swift strike, Tim disarmed the demon brat, sending his sword flying.
The sword, in its flight, shattered a computer screen that Tim rather liked. The alarm on the Batcomputer began blaring.
The two fought for tens of minutes, ending with Tim pressing Damian against the wall with his staff at his throat.
"Admit defeat?" Tim asked, panting.
"I do not!" Damian struggled while glaring at him. "Drake, you cheat!"
"This is Lesson One: How important it is to maintain good relationships with your allies," Tim said. "You better not go crazy again, or else I'll have to beat you up again."
He released Damian.
"I don't need you to teach me how to do things!" Damian retorted angrily.
At this point, Baia began helping herself to Damian's share of the pastry.
This was what Batman saw when he returned: Tim claimed Damian had an impulse control disorder, while Damian accused Drake of being dishonorable.
"What do you take me for?" Damian demanded. "A criminal? Why won't you let me go?"
"It's obvious, to prevent citizens from being murdered," Tim replied.
Bruce sighed. "Although I didn't ask, you still went out, didn't you?"
"That's not the point!"
"The point is you have to watch your behavior, Damian," Bruce said. "I'm arranging for your identity to be made public, if possible, along with Baia. But if you can't follow my rules, then you'll never be allowed out at night again."
Damian snorted.
Batman suddenly realized that Tim and Baia were the most well-behaved members of the household.
But he still kept an eye on Baia.
"Why do you want to see Freeze, Baia?" Bruce asked. Baia had brought it up again earlier in the day.
"Well... it's a personal matter," Baia replied nonchalantly, deflecting the question.
Bruce studied Baia for a moment, and Baia scooted closer to Tim.
Tim, feeling like he had been made into a punching bag by Batman, wondered if he should rename himself "Most Innocent Member of the Household" for several consecutive years. He used to be a fan of the second Robin, but he never expected to be discovered by the Red Hood, who nearly beat him to death. Now, there was this little demon who wanted to fight him, and Baia was using him as a shield.
Life was really hard.
"... I'll arrange it." Baia was, after all, obedient, and Bruce felt slightly reassured. Ultimately, he relented. "But later on, you and I will go to the observatory. We need to conduct a comprehensive examination of your abilities."
Baia nodded.
The great detective sat quietly beside them, watching Damian ever since he arrived.
And that's how it was from the moment he arrived.
Damian originally wanted to approach the cat, reluctantly planning to pat it once, but the big black cat always kept a distance of about 10 meters from him, watching him closely. Every step he took forward, the cat would take a step back, like a furry satellite orbiting him.
Later, he learned from Grayson's laughter that this cat basically only allowed the witch to touch it.
That annoying witch had provoked him last night. It was obvious she wasn't his match, which was why Damian couldn't lay a hand on her.
Hmph, he didn't care.
"As for you, Damian," Bruce came up with another idea, "it's simple if you want to go out with me. Just wait until your injuries are fully healed."
Damian had actually been quite beaten up by Tim, with bruises even on his face, especially since Tim had been genuinely angry later on. Although if it weren't for Baia, Tim might have been in worse shape, considering Damian was wielding a deadly weapon with no restraint.
"That witch won't take me a minute to heal!"
"But it still depends on whether she's willing."
"Don't call me a witch," Baia interjected, not showing any signs of anger, only smiling at Damian. "Call me sister."
"You wish, that's never happening in this lifetime!!" The demon brat bristled.
Realizing he was somewhat powerless when asking for help, Damian felt a bit frustrated, but it was quite amusing to see this stubborn kid eat humble pie.
"If you can't respect me and just see me as some sort of household elf," Baia said, "then I have the right to refuse your request. Think about it, Damian."
Stacking the three empty plates that once held pastries together, Baia licked the cookie crumbs off her fingers contentedly, humming a tune as she went upstairs.
Ace was about to go over and greet his new little mistress when Batman growled, leading Ace away.
It was absurd that Batcat wouldn't let Batdog near her!
"Damian grew up in an unhealthy environment, he has behavioral issues, it's normal."
Baia was in the study reading a book on medicine, dressed in a loose black silk shirt, her long hair tied back behind her ears. She was nestled in the leather sofa, comfortably crossing her legs and propping them up on the footstool.
She hadn't expected Tim to find her to talk about this.
"I know, I'm not really angry," Baia replied honestly. "But I really think he needs to change his attitude. I mean, where did he even come from—the League of Assassins? Doesn't sound like a great parenting organization."
"The League of Assassins. His mother is Talia al Ghul, daughter of the leader of the League of Assassins," Tim said, also grabbing a book from the shelf and sitting beside Baia. Sometimes he felt like Baia's mental age wasn't very high, but compared to Damian, she seemed much more mature. "It's a crazy organization. Ra's al Ghul has always tried to control the world in his own way. He wanted an heir, first it was Bruce, now, Damian."
Tim was holding a copy of Foucault's "Madness and Civilization," a rare first edition with delicate pages. Baia glanced at the book, feeling that it was quite fitting in a way.
There were annotations, notes, and underlines in the inner pages, with beautiful handwriting, but it seemed like it was a long time ago.
After all, she was planning a trip to Arkham Asylum.
"He needs help," Tim said.
"He looked like he wanted to kill you just now, rather than seek help," Baia pointed out.
"He's been trained to treat enemies that way since he was young," Tim said. "Honestly, I was close to losing it back there, but now that I think about it, it's not entirely unacceptable. Damian is Bruce's blood, whether his existence was accidental or not, that's not something he can decide. All we can do is help him get back on track."
Baia closed the book and observed Tim for a moment. "To be honest, you don't sound as rational as you think."
"What do you think I'm doing?" The young man sighed lightly. "I'm trying to convince myself."
Damian's appearance had made Tim's existence somewhat awkward, although he didn't want to admit it. But now it seemed that Bruce intended for Damian to take over the Robin mantle. He wasn't an ordinary child; it was inevitable that he wouldn't grow up in the same way as an ordinary child. Unless something unexpected happened, he would likely be the heir to Wayne Enterprises as well.
Tim's focus in life was shifting from Batman to his own leadership of a small group, but that didn't mean he had already found his place like Dick had.
The most important thing is, he also doesn't think Damian would be a very competent Robin, at least not in the near future.
"Don't think too much about it, he's far from 'inheriting' anything," Baia flipped a page in the book, "'Still a long way to go,' as Damian frequently mentions."
"You're right," Tim raised an eyebrow, "household elf."
"I'm not a household elf!" Baia slammed the book down indignantly.
"Hmm, well at least a household elf wouldn't devour three plates of pastries in one go."
As soon as Damian emerged, he saw Baia chasing after Drake with a book in hand, using some very amateurish moves—mainly hitting Drake's head with the book. But Drake immediately surrendered decisively, looking like he had suddenly been stunned.
That was just plain foolish.
When Baia angrily left the manor with Batman to go to the watchtower, Damian found Drake.
Tim was in the living room typing on his laptop when Damian appeared in front of him, arms crossed.
"Drake."
Tim looked up from the freshly baked apple tart Baia had brought, while Damian looked down at him.
"I will become the strongest Robin."
Red Robin calmly closed his laptop, demonstrating with action that he didn't want to be in the same room as Damian, and casually dropped a line.
"I remember someone saying he didn't want a bird name."