God!Danny and Servant!Damian
Damian stared at the long hallway of various knickknacks and doohickeys. The ever-changing wallpaper was cracked and peeling, sticky with a green substance. Bizarrely shaped and decorated doors would occasionally peek out from the mountains of loot. The tables that lined the hallway were filled with books and books and many random objects. The hallway was illuminated with a combination of different things, candles and chandeliers and crackling TVs and lightbulbs lighting up the way. At the very end of the long hallway was a lone door, unmarked and conspicuous in its simplicity.
Once he walked through that door, he would be able to complete his wish.
Something to his side caught his eye. It was a small picture of a family, one with many unique characters.
It reminded Damian of his own.
It reminded him of his failures, his goals, and his desires.
Wiping away the liquid that welled in his eyes, he turned and glared at the door that seemed more and more like the light in the darkness as well as his own personal demise.
Damian grit his teeth and began to run.
————
It all started simply. It was an average day, a normal afternoon as Damian bickered with his siblings as always. He and Timothy were rubbing on each other's nerves, only instigated further by Jason who would gleefully laugh every now and then whenever he sparked the dying fire.
Dick sighed and said, "C'mon you two. Why can't you just get along?"
"It's because Damian knows that Tim is better than him at detective work." Jason said.
"Shut up, Todd!" Damian said as Timothy made a strange expression of both smugness and also exasperation. Despite knowing that Jason was deliberately goading them on, they still fell for it and walked right into another heated argument.
Dick only sighed further as his little siblings argued like children. The door to the command room opened with Batman sweeping in, Stephanie following him with a little skip to her step.
"Heya, everyone!" She greeted cheerfully while Batman flew past them to inspect the controls.
All of them were in a spaceship commandeered by the batfamily in a mission to inspect a small alien planet that had recently pinged itself on their radar. It was a dangerous new colony that had an ability to steal the memories of those that they had killed and use it to conquer new planets.
The batclan was currently in a mission to investigate if the rumors were true and to find any weaknesses.
"Father?" Damian asked, as he noticed Batman's tense body language. "What is the matter?"
".... Orphan hasn't come back from her stealth mission."
A ripple of dread went through the room. Timothy immediately sat down on a seat and began to pull up mission records. They updated it regularly as they went, and Cassandra had logged in for her mission a few days ago, but now she was several hours past her expected return. This was a bad sign, especially since it was only a reconnaissance mission, with little to no conflict and even if there was, Cassandra would've contacted them.
Something had gone very, very wrong.
Stephanie whispered, "No... she couldn't have been."
Jason gave a snort, although it was weak and filled with false bravado. "There's no way. She's probably trying to find some new information for us. She's stronger than that."
No one said anything.
His attempt at gathering hope failed.
"... fuck." Jason said quietly, as the worst of what could've happened finally sank its claws into his mind.
Everyone was aware that this current mission was one with high stakes. The alien race they were investigating was a dangerous one, and unknown at that. Although they expected danger, they hadn’t expected one of their own to actually get hurt.
Batman shook his head, a hand reaching out to clasp Jason's shoulder. "We'll find her and then we'll help her." He reassured him softly. It said a lot that Jason didn't shake off his touch.
A stone sank in Damian's stomach.
This was his first mission in outer space and he loathed how vulnerable he felt. In an effort to hide it, Damian scoffed to himself and straightened.
They all lifted their heads in unison, however, when a crash rang through the ship. Their gut instincts had alerted them to the danger a second beforehand, but it was still too late.
The light flickered off, inciting another gasp of panic. They all put on their masks to switch on their night vision.
Batman immediately pulled out several batarangs and said, "Dick, with me! The rest of you, stay here and be careful. We'll investigate."
"Fuck!" Jason screamed, louder. "Why am I not coming?!"
"I need you to protect your siblings!" Batman said before he ran off with Dick in tow.
"Grayson!" Damian couldn't help but yell. "Father, shouldn’t we stick together instead?!”
He couldn’t help the worry that stuck to his voice.
Dick swerved back before he could leave the control room and immediately pulled Damian into a hug. "Little Bat," he said softly. "Stay here and protect Stephanie and Tim, okay? They need it."
Damian wanted to protest at his reassurances, almost indignant at the idea that he possibly needed comfort, but he didn’t say a word as Dick stroked his back. Timothy didn't speak up either, completely silent. Damian knew that he was also feeling some sense of immense dread, their survival instincts giving them a premonition of danger and death.
Damian tried to hold his brother closer, eyes wide before Dick pulled away, pulling on a false smile.
"Be careful!" He screamed and then he left.
"This isn't good, this isn't good." Tim muttered as he furiously tapped on the keyboard to figure out what was going on. Everything was down, even their systems and now they just waited in the darkness for a signal of safety.
Jason cursed under his breath. "I should've been with them!" He muttered.
Damian pushed down his nausea and said, "Then let's go. With the computers down, there is no reason for us to stay here when we could go out and help them."
"Fuck, I'm going." Jason pulled out his guns and immediately began to load them with bullets.
"Dammit." Tim cursed and Stephanie pulled out her own bo staff and looked determinedly at them.
"Let's go." She said, and they all followed her as she left first.
They ran through the halls to get to the sector where the explosion had supposedly started. The air seemed stale and dark, and a distant 'ooh'ing noise like wind going through a hole disturbed them greatly. Damian wished he had his swords, but all he had was a bo staff and a few batarangs to protect himself.
His eyes searched the darkness. Stephanie and Timothy were next to each other, their shoulders almost bumping against each other's for comfort, while Jason trailed a little behind Damian, guns out and ready. Damian reassured himself that his family was safe. Cassandra was surely just fine and so would his father and Richard be. They would be okay.
They would all be okay.
There was another crash right in front of them and Stephanie screamed. Jason immediately shot into the dark, the bright flash of a gunshot illuminating the hall for a moment, showing just who came through the wall.
A grotesque monster with bulging, writhing black tentacles stared at them before the light faded. Jason relentlessly shot his bullets, but they seemed useless.
There was a short scuffle before a disturbing squelching noise.
Timothy gave a long, loud keen before his body blocked Damian's vision.
The last thing that Damian saw before Timothy was pulling him away was Stephanie's fallen body, a deep blackness covering her that would shine crimson red.
They ran.
The moment Damian was able to reconnect with his thoughts and surroundings, he pulled his hand out of Timothy's and said, "Brown! She's still back there!"
"No!" Timothy snapped, his voice sounding wrecked. "We have to run. I saw her. She's not coming back."
Jason cursed violently and they quickly skidded into the next hall, shutting the sealed doors for a moment.
"Fuck. It's them. They found Cassandra and took her memories." Jason said and Damian choked on his fear and shock.
Timothy shuddered visibly and then said, "I think they got Stephanie too."
Damian grimaced, hurt shooting through his chest like a bullet wound before he gasped.
"Father! And Richard! They—They went ahead of us!" It was almost instantaneous how both Jason and Timothy paled.
Jason smacked his hands over his eyes. "Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!!"
He took out his helmet and quickly put it on. "I'm going out. Maybe I can find them. Bruce is smart, he's probably still alive and I'll find them."
"You're not invincible, Todd." Damian snarled. "Let us come with you. If we die, we'll all die together."
"Like hell we will." Jason said curtly. "You little shits are gonna live because if another Robin dies, I'm...." He paused. He didn't know what to say.
None of them could find the words needed to comfort each other.
Damian's stomach dropped further into his feet, as if he was about to be sick.
Timothy reached out and grabbed onto Jason's sleeve. "Jason. You know it's a suicide mission. You can't go."
Jason reloaded his bullets and didn't say anything.
When he turned, Jason's helmet was still on his face as he stared at both Tim and Damian. Then he reached over to put a gloved hand on their heads and said, his voice crackling softly, "I gotta go, Robins. Protect each other. Be safe. I mean it."
His touch was heavy and warm, even through his glove. Damian stared at his akhi with wide, wet eyes.
Timothy screamed in shock and despair as Jason sealed that exit and then ran off. They heard the distant sounds of gunshots before they faded.
Timothy gasped for breath, tears flowing down his face but he quickly wiped them and then pulled on Damian's arms. "C'mon, Robin. It's up to us now. We have to get to the exit bay and hope that everyone else gets through this alive and back home."
No one voiced the fact that it would be near impossible.
As they ran, Timothy was furiously typing on his communicator. When they reached the ship bay, where extra spacecrafts were stationed and ready to fly, they found it blissfully empty.
Already suspicious, they snuck inside. Damian was almost irritated by the small gasps that left Timothy's throat but he understood, with the grief that seemed to eat through his stomach. After a moment, as they inched towards a spacecraft, Damian reached out to hold Timothy's hand and squeezed gently.
Timothy squeezed back and they both sped up to the spacecraft. They both worked together to open it up and get it ready for space travel when there was a distant roar.
Damian shuddered hard, goosebumps rising over his skin as he worked even faster, flicking on buttons and readying the controls and coordinates.
Timothy cursed and said, "Dammit. I can't message Earth."
Damian bit into his lip.
Nothing was going well. Where were their family?
Timothy handed Damian the communicator. For a moment, Damian just stared at it in confusion before he turned to Timothy with questioning eyes, his heart squeezing in his chest.
What was the meaning of this? Was Timothy possibly handing off their last chance of survival to him? For what reason?
"What is this for?" Damian snapped.
"Just hold it," Timothy said exhaustedly. "I need to go out and see if the exterior of the pod is functional for space travel. You stay here and stay inside while I go check outside."
"No! What if something happens and I am unable to stop it?" Damian said, his foot stomping once on the ground to emphasize his point.
Timothy didn't say anything as he started to walk down the ramp to the ground outside of the ship. Damian rushed forward to grab his hand and pull him back.
"Why must everyone sacrifice their lives?!" Damian shouted. "You don't need to do this! Let's just stick together!"
"Just shut up, Damian!"
"No! Let's leave now! I-I want to leave now!"
Timothy turned to him with a furious expression but whatever was on Damian's face made him pause. Then he pursed his lips together before pulling Damian in close.
They had never hugged before.
The closest they had ever been was whenever Damian lunged forward for a knife to Timothy's gut.
But this... this wasn't so bad. Damian's eyes burned with an urge to cry and he grabbed onto his brother's suit.
"We will be okay, Damian."
And just as he said that, he pushed Damian forward and through the aircraft as the aliens finally revealed themselves as well as the tentacle that now wiggled into Timothy's stomach.
It happened in an instant.
Damian couldn't even react as Timothy was impaled through his torso.
Blood spilled on the floor and through Timothy's mouth. Timothy coughed, more blood dripping down his chin. He inched forward as the tentacles seemed to pull him back. It was a slow thing, as Damian watched in frozen horror as Timothy moved towards him.
"Timothy!" He couldn't help but blurt it out. "You're going to be ripped in half, you imbecile!"
He took out a batarang, already formulating a plan to hopefully cut away the tentacle but then Timothy reached into his side pouch and took the access card out, slotting it into the card reader and smiling reassuringly at Damian as blood dripped from his lips and body.
"You'll be okay." He croaked, before a black blur shot out and impaled his skull, blood splattering over the doors as they quickly shut themselves.
The aircraft began to lift itself from the ground automatically as Damian screamed with rage and grief, his fist smacking into the door as he flew away. The last thing he saw before he sped off into space and back to earth was Timothy's limp body being dragged backwards.
Damian sank to his knees and didn't get up for a long time.
When he arrived back to Earth, it was useless.
Because Gotham was now gone.
————
Damian opened the door.
Inside was a wide, circular room with marble walls and floors. The ceiling was tall, and windows covered it, letting in golden light that lit up the room with an ethereal glow. In the middle of the room was a pool of water surrounding a tall tree on a little island.
Damian couldn't help the gulp of air that he took, rejuvenating him with a refreshing lightness like he was breathing in sunlight.
"Ah." A voice gasped softly. Damian whipped his head upwards and stared at a figure floating within the tree branches. "Hello."
This person wore white and black, their clothes all flowing around them. On their face was a deer skull, its horns stretching behind them as their white hair, strangely similar to Jason's unique white coloring, floated gently.
"Are you the God from the legends?" Damian asked, his voice sounding braver than he felt as the pressure of this being encased him.
"The legends? I suppose so. Do you have a wish, Damian al Ghul-Wayne?"
Damian flinched before his gaze hardened. "Yes. I would like to make a deal with you."
"I see." The god jumped off of the tree branch and floated in front of him. The air felt colder as they drifted closer to Damian. "What is your wish?"
"I want my family to live again."
The being paused. They tilted their head and then said, "Your family?"
"Yes." Damian paused and then clarified, "I want my entire family to be alive again. My father, all of my brothers, my sisters, my grandfather, and my extended family within Gotham."
"... a very big ask." The god murmured.
A chill rose within Damian and he said urgently, worried that his wish wouldn't be granted, "I am willing to do whatever it takes to have my wish granted. I can kill whoever you ask, I can offer my own body...! Anything, as long as my family is alive again."
The god tilted their head the other way. Then they said, "I see. Name your family."
Damian's breath hitched but before he did, he asked, "Will my wish be granted?"
"Yes."
Damian thrilled at that, before he paused. Then he asked carefully, "What is the price?"
The god turned to look at him. Their empty eye sockets, filled with a faint green glow, seemed to bore holes into his soul. "The price of the revival of your family is to sacrifice your life and eternity to me. You will offer your life, your death, and your eternity to me, for me to do whatever I wish."
Damian's breath stuttered. He paused, heart pounding as he debated with himself.
But who was he kidding?
There was no such question in the first place. Damian was not worth even an toe from his family. He wasn't even worth enough to even gaze upon their shoes.
Damian nodded firmly. "I agree to your deal. If I offer everything that I am to you, you will agree to revive my family as they once were?"
"They will be revived and reverted back to a time when they were once alive. They will be well and healthy, I assure you. With this deal, I can promise that they will live to old age."
Damian beamed. "Deal. My family's names are Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Richard Grayson, Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, and Timothy Drake."
The god seemed to give off an air of satisfaction. "Then, for the soul, eternity, and life and death of Damian al Ghul-Wayne, the aforementioned people will be revived and brought back to life."
They clapped their hands. "It's been done."
Damian couldn't tell if they were lying or not. Still, Damian was overjoyed at this piece of news. "Then... may I go see them?"
The god floated a bit in front of him. "No. You'll stay here, with me."
Damian paused, his stomach dropping and he wanted to smack himself for hoping. "I see. What will you have me do?"
Would they make Damian kill for them? Be a slave? Use his body? Would he have to sacrifice his body parts for them? Kidnap people? The possibilities were endless and although it made a bitter, sour taste go through his mouth, Damian did not dare complain.
The god seemed to be smiling as a broom appeared into existence in their hands. They handed it to Damian who grabbed it unsurely.
"Clean up."
————
And that was the beginning of how Damian became a servant of a lone God.
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