( and that's the kicker, isn't it. can't leave gotham to it's own devices, the city will burn itself down in moments. can't continue on as they have been, because maybe it's them that's kicking up sparks to begin with. but regardless, what they've been doing back home - it's reacting, not preventing. it's dominating their enemies, not helping anyone. bruce hosts countless fundraisers, starts countless non-profits, rehomes families, tries to protect those who need it, and yet still there are so many people out there who suffer. who they can't fix, because they aren't healers, and damian wouldn't wish the lazarus pits onto his worst enemies, let alone gotham's most vulnerable.
it's not even his city. damian wasn't born and raised in gotham, and his sentimental attachments to it are due to bruce's presence. grayson has moved on. drake goes where he needs to. todd and brown are from gotham's seedier areas, but todd doesn't limit himself to gotham, either - albeit less out of choice, and more due to their father's need to strong-arm him out of city borders.
and damian - is just here. a boy who was stubborn enough to stick by my side, this version of his father says, which isn't all that off from their relationship back home. damian has left, broken and torn around the edges, refusing the name of robin because he felt it wasn't something he could have anymore. grayson would never take it from him, but a robin doesn't make the same mistakes damian had. a robin doesn't feel smothered by their father's shadow.
a robin doesn't make the mistakes damian has. )
I felt like I was... finding my place, before. Discovering what it meant to be Robin and Damian Wayne. But I lost it. I failed to protect those who mattered most, and failed again in my efforts to - prevent further losses. I help Batman because someone has to. Someone has to be the light, and Batman cannot be Batman without Robin.
( his head tips, looking up to this bruce who isn't his batman, but is listening where damian's father had refused. )
But what does that make me? What is my purpose, my reason? I thought it was following in Grandfather's footsteps, but it wasn't. I thought it was following Father's, but.. I don't know, anymore. We aren't helping Gotham heal, we are just applying stitches over a wound that continues to get deeper regardless of how hard we work to close it.
no subject
it's not even his city. damian wasn't born and raised in gotham, and his sentimental attachments to it are due to bruce's presence. grayson has moved on. drake goes where he needs to. todd and brown are from gotham's seedier areas, but todd doesn't limit himself to gotham, either - albeit less out of choice, and more due to their father's need to strong-arm him out of city borders.
and damian - is just here. a boy who was stubborn enough to stick by my side, this version of his father says, which isn't all that off from their relationship back home. damian has left, broken and torn around the edges, refusing the name of robin because he felt it wasn't something he could have anymore. grayson would never take it from him, but a robin doesn't make the same mistakes damian had. a robin doesn't feel smothered by their father's shadow.
a robin doesn't make the mistakes damian has. )
I felt like I was... finding my place, before. Discovering what it meant to be Robin and Damian Wayne. But I lost it. I failed to protect those who mattered most, and failed again in my efforts to - prevent further losses. I help Batman because someone has to. Someone has to be the light, and Batman cannot be Batman without Robin.
( his head tips, looking up to this bruce who isn't his batman, but is listening where damian's father had refused. )
But what does that make me? What is my purpose, my reason? I thought it was following in Grandfather's footsteps, but it wasn't. I thought it was following Father's, but.. I don't know, anymore. We aren't helping Gotham heal, we are just applying stitches over a wound that continues to get deeper regardless of how hard we work to close it.