Chapter Text
When Jonathan Kent first met Damian Wayne, he never thought they’d be good friends like their dads wanted them to be. They immediately fought, throwing insults back and forth like they were playing catch. Damian was cold and abrasive, almost everything that Jon wasn’t. The only things they seemed to have in common were their ages and the fact that their fathers were members of the Justice League. Over time, the more their fathers forced them to hang out during their JL meetings, the more they realized that they needed to get along, whether they liked it or not.
Jon knew Damian wouldn’t admit it, but the more they hung out, the more the two started to like each other. The youngest Robin would teach him his fighting techniques while Superboy would teach him how to play games like Minecraft or Animal Crossing. They had fun and Jon would even dare to call Damian his friend to his face, even if it would earn him a punch.
Despite being friends and equals like their parents, Jon couldn’t help but feel inferior to his friend. Or rather, he felt like Damian was invulnerable to almost anything that could be thrown his way, and it made Jon feel weak in comparison. However, Damian never looked down on him for his openness. In fact, if Jon was reading the situation right, he seemed to be jealous. He knew if he ever tried to bring it up Damian would probably push him away. Both literally and figuratively.
And Jon knows to give Damian space and not to push and pry too much about his issues everyone knows he has. But sometimes, when he can’t sleep, he can hear how fast Damian’s heart beats when he wakes up from what is no doubt a nightmare. They don’t talk about it, but Damian knows that Jon knows.
One night however, Jon can’t ignore it when he hears the quiet sobs accompanying the rapidly beating heart of Batman’s sidekick.
Now Jon has never really snuck out before, but he knew the first order of business was to make sure his parents were fully asleep. After all, his dad had super hearing and could catch him immediately. Once he called for them and they didn’t respond, he took that as a sign to throw on a hoodie and some shoes. He carefully and quietly opened his window, feeling the cold air immediately hitting his face. He closed his window behind him and immediately began speeding off towards Wayne Manor.
He practically teleported right in front of the manor, finding Damian crying quietly on the roof. The two made brief eye contact before Damian glared at him and hid his face. “Hey, are you…” Jon already knew the answer as he floated in front of his friend, and he’s suddenly realizing how stalkerish he must seem to the young Wayne right now. He scratched the back of his head nervously.
“What are you doing here Kent?” the assassin asked, voice trembling slightly.
“Well I just- I heard you crying. I thought you might want someone to talk to maybe?” The more Jon thought about it, the more he realized how much he didn’t think this through. He didn’t even consider that Damian probably didn’t want people around. After all, he wasn’t very open to begin with. Why would he want others to see him crying?
“Why?”
“Well, because you’re my friend? And I’m worried about you.” Damian dared to look up at Jon, his green eyes bloodshot and filled with tears. The two stared at each other for a few moments, with Jon’s worry only increasing. He was surprised when Damian moved over ever so slightly, patting the spot next to him. Jon, unable to contain his bright smile, slowly floated down to sit next to the brooding ten year old.
“Did you wanna talk about it?” Damian scowled at him, but it bounced right off of Jon, who was just happy Damian was allowing himself to be vulnerable around him. “That’s okay. I’m good to sit with you until you feel better.”
And that’s what they do. Jon sits with Damian, who is curled up in a ball glaring at the city like it personally attacked him. Tears kept running down his face, a tiny cry escaping his lips every so often. There were a hundred things that Jon wanted to say to try and comfort the boy next to him, but he knew Damian needed to brood on his own. No amount of pushing or prying would help him right now.
Damian wiped a few of his tears away, breathing out a quiet sigh. “How did you get your parents to let you out?” he asked.
“Oh! I uh, I didn’t tell them,” he replied. He listened and heard his father’s deep snores. “They’re still sleeping.”
The assassin smirked. “Golden boy Kent has a rebellious side.” His signature “tt” sounded suspiciously like a laugh. “Who would’ve guessed?” Jon just smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. Damian’s normally hardened and calculated expression shifted into something softer. “I… don’t have many friends.”
“I kind of gathered that. Mom says that it’s okay to not have a lot of friends though. Just as long as they’re good friends.” Damian nodded in understanding, absorbing Jon’s words.
“I thought that leaving the league would… help broaden my understanding of the world. That’s what I always told myself.” The super looked over to see his friend fidgeting with his fingers. “It has only made me question things I believed I already knew.” Jon stayed quiet. He wanted to give Damian the freedom to say whatever he wanted. Not bog him down with questions that could make him clam up. Damian turned to make eye contact with Jon. His eyes were still red but his tears had dried. “Has your father told you anything about my past?”
“Just that you were raised to be an assassin since you were born. No details.”
Damian nodded. “I had a nightmare of my time with my mother and grandfather,” he confessed, looking down at his hands. “I’ll spare you the gruesome details, but it was of a time I had failed a mission. I believe I was five at the time. Grandfather took a whip and slashed my back fifteen times. It was hard to stand, yet all I could hear was the disappointment of him, my mother, father, the other predecessors. I understand that my father and by extension the others love me, but there are certain expectations when you are not only the biological son of Bruce Wayne, but also the Demon’s Son.”
Jonathan Kent didn’t know as much as Damian about how the real world will challenge them as heroes. Despite being half alien, people would probably say he’s the more normal out of the two. He wondered how often people saw this side of Damian. The side that allowed himself to be a kid that experienced horrors no one should have ever had to go through. He wondered how much he actually talked about what he experienced and how it made him feel, and how it affected how he thought today. It made him wonder how the rest of the family treated him in response to his abrasive attitude.
“I kind of get it. Being the son of Superman doesn’t come with the same expectations as being the heir to both Batman and the league, but I understand not wanting to disappoint your dad. For any reason,” Jon said. Damian turned back towards his friend, his expression neutral.
“Are you ever afraid that you won’t be able to live up to your mantle?”
Jon took a few moments to think. “To be honest, it hasn’t crossed my mind too much. But there are moments when I look at my dad in action and I think, “I have to live up to that? How will I ever be able to live up to that?” But Mom says that at some point, it doesn’t matter how the ones before us did, but what we do after them that matters.”
The two fell silent for a few moments and Jon studied Damian. He almost didn’t recognize the boy next to him. Gone was the “Robin” and “Damian al Ghul-Wayne” he had interacted with previously and before him was just Damian. The kid he never really got to be.
“Legacy is very important to my family.” Jon could hear his unspoken words for the first time. Damian was his family’s legacy. Not just the Waynes, but also the al Ghuls. He understood that Damian had a lot of pressure on him for only being ten. Why he felt like he needed to be the Demon people thought knew him to be. To uphold the reputation of his families.
“But is legacy important to you?” Jon asked softly.
“I don’t know.” He gnawed on his lip for a few seconds before he hesitantly confessed, “I do know, however, that having good friends is important to me.” He turned to fully face Jon, determination written all over him. “You are a good friend, Kent.”
Jon felt his heart swell at those words. He couldn’t help but give Damian a bright smile that he instinctively glared at. “You’re a good friend too, Damian. I like being around you.”
Damian scoffed, a hint of a smile on his face. “Thank you, Kent. It’s… nice being able to talk to you.” The super briefly laid his head on the assassin’s shoulder. Damian flinched, but did not pull away. “How long are you staying?”
“However long you want.”
“Hm.” Damian, to Jon’s shock, leaned his head to rest on the farmboy’s shoulder. “Don’t make this a big deal.” The super leaned his head on top of the other’s and watched the clouds move across the Gotham sky.
They both knew he would.
Jon wasn’t going to stop thinking about this and he’d hold it over Damian’s head forever. But he wouldn’t tell anyone what they talked about. This quiet moment would stay between them and only them; and if Damian let some more tears fall, neither of the two would mention it.