Jon didn't plan for that to happen. It just popped into his head and he decided to go along with it. A date with Damian Wayne, well, it wouldn't be a true date anyways. Just a cover story for the smaller teen to get some undercover work done. Besides, it would be interesting to play this all out. Damian was mumbling behind him as he tugged him down the streets of Downtown Gotham. Damian wouldn't know this yet, but Jon had super hearing, and that ability truly was a blessing if only to hear how the other's heart raced for him. Nothing romantic, mostly surprise, mild fear and anxiety as Jon had openly admitted to stalking him and his family- that all didn't bother Jon as he enjoyed the fear he could cause. It made him feel powerful.

Damian eventually calmed his heart rate down, instead focusing on their surroundings, "I am not sure how dates usually work. I've seen movies and have done lessons in seduction, but romantic outings are out of the area of my expertise," he said to the alien, an inquisitive expression was shot towards Damian but he ignored it.

" Seduction lessons? Jeez, you're like twelve," Jon joked, but he stopped walking, choosing to stare at Damian with questioning eyes once more.

"It is truly a boring art. I don't see the use of it outside of getting jobs done, men are so easily manipulated by their lust it's disgusting," Damian iterated, his face had twisted up into one of discomfort.

Jon narrowed those crimson eyes, and Damian couldn't help but think they were astonishing, "Batman asks you to seduce criminals? Some dad he is," he mocked sourly, why was this topic irritating him so much. His grip on Damian's wrist tightened just a bit.

It was a silent moment between them, before Damian scoffed, "of course not. He would never, it's just something I'd rather not discuss, especially with a stranger who has a vice grip on my wrist- tt ," he tutted, his fingers twitching a bit beside him. Truly if he wanted to escape he could put up a fight, yet instead, he chose to just scold. Like Jon was a puppy that could be trained. A stray.

Jon sensed the steady heartbeat, not a hair out of place as he shut him out, which was fine. Of course it was fine. The red eyed boy didn't have to know everything, everyone had their secrets. He had his own too. At the mention of his grip, he loosened it, "I don't want to let you go. You'll run," he stated, being genuine, in his own eerie way.

Darker lips parted for a moment, before closing nearly immediately, thinking hard on what to say. There would no doubt be a bruise on his arm later, but he didn't pay that any mind, gazing at the boy in front of him who had a blank expression and eyes that radiated danger. "Then don't let go," he finally spoke.

That seemed to surprise the both of them. Really now, because why would someone like Damian Wayne, Robin, subject himself to that? Easily he could make a scene and chase Jonathan off, but instead he kept him around. Was it because Damian viewed himself as a danger to others, that he was drawn to even more dangerous scenarios just to lessen his fears? His insecurities? Was it because Jon was a stranger his age that felt so similar to himself that he felt like he could lower his guard at any time even when there were clear red flags? Yeah, maybe.

Jon didn't say anything to that, just turned on his heel and pulled the heir a little more gently down the sidewalk, a heavy cloud weighing on them and yet- also raising them up? Almost.

"Let's go walk around that way."

"Mmh."

The city life was starting to irritate Jon. Noises upon noises filled his senses, even with the ability to adjust just how much he heard it sometimes was still never enough, but maybe that was just a side effect of living by himself up in space for so long. In fact, hanging out with Damian was the first interaction he had with someone who wasn't family since he was, like, eight. Oh how those days seemed so far away.

Damian was right behind him and yet if his hand weren't wrapped around the other's wrist- he was sure he'd have trouble sensing him. His footsteps and breathing were nearly silent. What kind of training did Batman put him through? Or was it Talia? The other bats didn't give off the same aura. The Stay Away kind, one he was so familiar with himself.

His fingers twitched against Damian's skin- feeling the steady pulse strangely comforted him. Comfort. What a joke. They had been walking around for about two hours now, nothing seemed suspicious, and they barely even spoke to one another since their first conversation ended. Was it an uncomfortable silence? What was the difference between types of silence? Being with Damian brought new experiences. Maybe he wouldn't be so bored if he continued to follow him around.

A glance over his shoulder earned him a small glare from the shorter boy, he didn't break eye contact, "problem?"

Jon opened his mouth to speak, but he froze for a moment, focusing his hearing. There sounded like two shady men three alleys over making a business deal. Thank god he had the word Drug be sort of a trigger for him, "come with me," he demanded- yanking Damian faster down the street.

The black haired teen dressed in black and gray gathered his balance quickly, as if he were always on the ready to bolt into high speed chases. Where were they going? Did Jon see someone?

Choosing to trust in him, he felt his boots slam into the pavement below as they pushed through a crowd of people. Internally, he knew he should have thought about the fact civilians would be seeing him barreling in town as Damian Wayne- chasing god knows what. Yet, Jon seemed to know what he was doing. So he could deal with the embarrassment and push onward. This case was important to him after all.

They came to an opening of an alley and Jon pulled Damian further into the darknes. There wasn't anyone there, but before Dami could question anything- Jonathan grabbed him by the waist and lifted him into the air, flying them to the roof of the building to their left. Emerald orbs widened as he wasn't expecting to suddenly take off- so his hand gripped the sleeve of Jon's shirt a little tighter than he'd have liked. Uncool of him. Calm down. Grappling is way more dangerous.

Jon set the shorter one down on the roof, motioning for him to follow silently- with a finger pressed up to Damian's lips- causing the other to scowl and swat his hand away before following, Jon knew Damian's heart skipped a beat just then.

Silent as mice, they crouched against the ledge of the building, down below were two men. One in a hoodie and the other in a business suit. Damian pulled out his cell phone and started recording, zooming in on their faces- as much as he could anyways.

"Did you get the delivery?" Suit asked, voice terse, body language even more so.

Hoodie nodded his head, "sure did, want the usual amount?" He questioned, hands in his pockets where no doubt packages were being held.

"No, this time I want more, deliver them to my place tonight at ten," Suit ordered, reaching a hand down to the briefcase that was previously sitting on the ground. "There's fifty grand in here, I want a match in worth."

"Damn, stuff that good?"

Damian frowned as he ended the recording once the briefcase was handed over. He sat back away from the ledge and put a finger to his chin in contemplation. Jon followed his lead and sat criss-crossed compared to the proper kneel Dami was doing. "Whatcha thinking about?" He asked.

"Thinking... What does the drug even do to warrant someone paying that much money for it? Surely it's not being used in a rapid pace, if that were the case this fool would be spending hundreds of thousands a year depending on how often it's being taken," Damian rambled.

"Could be for friends? Coworkers? Lovers?" Jon wiggled his eyebrows at the last suggestion, which just made Damian roll his eyes, though he did seem to think over those possibilities.

"Yeah... maybe..."

Jon scooted next to him, "you thinking about going tonight?"

Damian ignored the sudden warmth against his side, electing to pull up the video on his phone once more, "I'm going to have to run this recording through facial recognition first, but yes I plan to," he confirmed, swiping on the screen to send it to the Batcave. To get a head start on running the program so he didn't have to wait longer than he needed to.

The pale teen nodded his head, straightening up his back as he stretched his arms over his shoulders, "I should probably head back before I'm noticed. You should head home too, before you disappoint Alfred by missing dinner," he pointed out.

Green eyes were focused on the text from Tim that he barely registered what Jon had said, "yes I know, I won't be la-" Realization crossed his features before turning to look at the taller boy, "how did you-?" But Jon was gone. Only evidence of him being there was the dust drifting from where he flew off. Concern only briefly crossed his mind before he stood up, dusting his knees off, and made his way home.

When Damian arrived home, he went straight to his room- uttering a polite "hello" to Alfred when passing by. It felt like his room was forever away, so far from the front door, so far from everyone else's as well. Just how he liked it. As soon as he was in his room he pulled out his phone once more and lifted it up to look around the room after tapping on the custom bug scanner app that Tim had modified for all their devices.

The screen showed his room in a black and blue scale, if there were any bugs there would be a red light. Though, as he stepped around his ornately decorated room- moving the camera around, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. There wasn't a single bug in sight. He even checked in places no one would think of and still didn't see a thing. Puzzled, he walked out of his room, making his way down to the dining area where some of his family should be. With any luck Tim would already be sitting there.

Sitting there he was, a mug of coffee already in his hands as he listened to Dick ramble about his day. "-so I said, oh! Baby bird! You're home," he greeted warmly, an empty plate in front of him awaiting Alfred's delectable cooking.

Tim looked up from his mug to greet Damian as well, but something definitely showed in the youngest's eyes because it got him to actually set the mug down onto the table, "you okay?"

Damian didn't enjoy seeing Dick also shooting him concerned looks, but he sighed heavily, tossing his phone to Timothy who barely caught it- "can you check this for any bugs?" He didn't think Jon bugged it, especially because he wasn't anywhere near his phone or had access without Damian noticing, but he could still be cautious.

Worry flashed in Tim's icy eyes, and he looked at the phone with curiosity, "sure I can, but what makes you sure it's bugged? I have incredibly strong firewalls in place to prevent that."

"I'm not sure, I don't think it is either, I just need to confirm my suspicions about something to ease my thoughts," Damian replied, pulling out a chair to sit next to Dick who was across from Tim.

Tim and Dick both didn't seem convinced, but they stayed silent, instead just communicating with their eyes when they didn't think Damian saw. Which, of course he did, idiots.

"So how did your little outing go?" Dick asked, a smile on his lips as he leaned against the table.

Alfred came out of the kitchen with a trolley loaded with dinner and gave Richard a disapproving look, "elbows off the table, Master Richard," he scolded, unloading the contents of the cart onto the mahogany table.

"Ouch, Richard, I'm in big trouble," He joked, sitting up straighter, but his eyes didn't leave Damian. Genuinely interested about being involved in his life. Damian often wondered why. Why would Dick feel such affection for him? Why did anyone?

Sour thoughts plagued his mind as he quietly stirred the tea that Alfred had oh so generously poured for him. It was lemon ginger. "It went fine, I found a lead and Drake is running it through recognition software to get an address."

"Just fine? Sounds like a big lead," Tim pointed out, handing his plate to Alfred who was silently taking in the conversation. Butlers man, they're always listening. "Something come up that has to do with you thinking your phone is bugged?"

"No, just drop it," Damian sneered, "it's not important and honestly it's aggravating to even think about. So many people in the city that could pounce on you at every opportunity, I don't see how the two of you enjoy basking in that type of attention."

The insomniac across from Dick just snorted, "I don't enjoy basking in any kind of attention. I just have a life," he refuted, taking a swig from his mug.

Damian glared at him, "are you insinuating that I do not have a life?"

"If the boot fits, you don't push yourself to do anything outside of being Robin. You do all your school work at home, your best friends are your pets and Alfred, I don't even think you have a single hobby we know of outside of stabbing people with swords and making complaints," Tim insulted. Well, wasn't entirely unwarranted, nor entirely incorrect- but it cut the young Wayne deeply.

Anger surged through his veins and he could see a smirk on Tim's face once the other noticed he had successfully riled him up. "You don't know a damn thing about me," he spat, slamming his small hands against the table- much to Dick and Alfred's dismay for the rough display.

"Oh yeah? And who's fault is that? Unlike you- everyone else in this family at least tries being one outside of titles and blood," the second youngest retorted.

"Tim, too far..." Dick warned, his eyes looking increasingly concerned for the small mass of irritation beside him- who was barely containing his anger.

Damian pushed his chair back and tossed the napkin onto his empty plate, "I'm not hungry," he stated, stomping off towards his room.

Alfred sighed and watched him go, hearing the sound of stomps carry throughout the silent household. In the distance there was the thud of his bedroom door closing. "Master Timothy, you should mind what you say. He does not open up for a lot of reasons, the only thing we can do is be there for him. Reminding him that we care," he spoke wisely, walking over to where Damian had been sitting and cleaning up the mess.

Tim thankfully looked a little ashamed of his outburst, but he sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair, "it would help if he'd act less like a brat," he mumbled under his breath.

"Starting to sound like Jason there, Timmy," Dick teased weakly, he was so going to be writing all of his feelings out in his journal later. Number one therapist for that man. "Can you put some food aside for D later that I can bring up?"

The elder man nodded, "consider it done, I would bring him up some tea as well. It seems to be a calming thing for him," he suggested, dabbing the spilled tea with the previously discarded napkin. Was he being sarcastic or serious? Who knew.

I appreciate you for reading my fanfic! I especially appreciate the comments hehe. The story will get darker as it progresses so just keep that in mindddd...