Never Return

When school ended Damian headed straight home. Usually, he always stopped by at the cafe Harry worked at, but for some reason, he wanted to change out of his uniform and dressed in his usual clothes. Damian put on a simple long sleeved black turtleneck, jeans, and a grey trench coat. He even put on an emerald brooch. He even touched up his hair, even though it's already perfect the way it was. Damian didn't get to have breakfast with Harry because a coworker called in and they needed a cook. Harry, obviously a cook of his own right, said he'll come in. Damian had to admit that he was a bit disappointed that Harry's work called him, but he knew that Harry was the type of person to help people. Also he didn't got a chance to eat Harry's pancakes because all of his siblings ate all of it before him.

As Damian went downstairs, he stopped by the living room to give Titus a pat on the head. Timothy was there watching his usual T.V. shows. Then Father came out of the kitchen, carrying a plate of cut up fruit and there were small sandwiches too. They almost looked like those tiny sandwiches that Pennyworth always made for afternoon tea. Damian raised a brow. Since when did Pennyworth allowed Father to cut fruit? Then the grandfather clock opened as it revealed the entrance to the Bat Cave. Black stepped out, having no shirt with only trousers and having some motor oil grease covering some of his face and body.

"There you are playboy, I was getting worried," Black said.

Father rolled his eyes. "Here."

Sirius chuckled and popped a sliced apple into his mouth. Then without warning, Sirius ruffled his greased hand onto Father's hair. Father was taken aback and glared at Sirius, who just ignored him and smiled.

"Bloody hell, you really are a sour bat," Sirius smirked.

Father sighed. "I'm not."

"You sure?" Sirius raised a mocking brow. Then he hooked his arm with Father's. "Come on! The batmobile is ready!"

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

"Oi, you're the one who asked. Not me. So technically, it's on you, playboy!"

"Oh goodie."

"Lighten up. I'll show you the wonders of magical flying!"

Damian could've sworn he saw a small smile on Father's face. As the two went into the Batcave, Damian turned to Timothy, who's mouth was dropped. Damian had never saw his Father acting like this before. He usually doesn't let anyone touch his hair or link arms together. Even Father's past relationships never got that far, except for kissing.

"Timothy...is Father..." Damian was about to ask, but didn't finished.

"I don't know," Timothy answered. "By the way, aren't you supposed to meet with Harry?"

"I am. I just wanted to change my clothes. Anyway, I must be going. Jason is probably annoying Harry by now."

From what Pennyworth told him in the car ride, Jason practically drove Harry to work himself and of course watched him. Jason volunteered because he wanted to protect his hero from bad guys. Damian knew Jason considered Harry as his hero now, but he hoped he let Harry just be Harry. Then again, no one has ever did something to the Joker and got away with it.

"I'll give you a ride," Timothy said.

Damian raised a brow. "Excuse me, you?"

Timothy nodded. "Yeah!"

Damian grumbled. He didn't really want to have a car ride with Timothy. It was the last thing he wanted. However, due to events that happened, Damian knew that Timothy just wanted to check up on Harry for Dowd, despite Jason already doing the job. Besides, Timothy would be Harry's future cousin-in law.

Damian sighed. "If you must."

When they got into the car, Timothy drove. The two sat in silence. Damian couldn't help it and shook his leg a bit and stared at the window. He really didn't want to be in the same car with Timothy alone. If he was with someone, he wouldn't mind. Damian had always avoided being in the same room with Timothy alone. He had tried to keep his distance and everything else. Even after he met Harry and took a break from Robin, he kept on doing that.

"So, are you going to come back as Robin?" Timothy asked.

Damian nodded. "Only for Harry's safety. After that, I'll continue my break."

Timothy sighed. "Damian, what's really going on?"

Damian raised a brow, trying to keep his composure. "What do you mean?"

"I think you know what I mean. I'm may be an idiot, but I'm not stupid, Damian. Look, I don't know what I did, but I just want to talk."

Damian pursed his lips. He thought Timothy would just drop it, but it turned out he didn't. Now he regretted for agreeing to the car ride. Now he wished he was in the car with Richard, who would blast out that Barbie girl song.

"I really don’t know what you’re talking about," Damian said

Timothy raised a brow. "Really? Damian, I don’t know what’s going on or what I did to you, but I really don’t want to take over Robin for you. It’s not because I want to. It’s because I’m confused on why you chose me of all people and you could've chose someone else to take over."

Damian scoffed. "Tt, sure."

"Damian, look. I really don’t want to argue with you and frankly we hadn’t argue for a while, but I just want to know what’s wrong so that way I can help you."

"Can you get it to your thick head that there’s nothing wrong?"

"Well it doesn’t look like it."

"Is there something wrong with exploring things about myself and hanging out with Harry?"

Tim groaned. "Damian, there’s nothing wrong with that. Actually we’re glad you made a friend that wasn’t associated with our inner circle, but Damian, I just want to know why me. You do know that whenever you got sick as Robin or benched, Bruce never had us take over, unless we got full permission from the current Robin, aka, you and you know that. Or did you forgot?"

Damian narrowed his eyes. It's not like he forgot. It's just he didn't believe it. He knew that Timothy would get the chance to become Robin again if Damian had gotten sick or something happens. However, now Damian has a break, he expected Timothy to be up and arms to be Robin again. Why wasn't he satisfied ? Sure he's lying about being satisfied as Red Robin.

"I didn’t forget," Damian crossed his arms. "Look I really don’t want to talk about this. I want to be in a good mood when I see Harry."

"Damian -" Timothy was about to say, but he was cut off by Damian’s phone.

Damian thank the lord or whoever was up there to save him from this conversation and took out his phone as he turned on the speaker. On the caller ID was Harry’s name. A smile grew across his face. Right away he answered the call and turned on the speaker.

"Hello Harry," Damian greeted. "I’ll be there shortly."

"Please hurry," Harry spoke in a whispering tone. "Jason is…well getting into a fight."

"He’s what?!" Damian and Tim both exclaimed.

Harry sighed. "A customer got mad about having no cheese in his burger and threw a fit. He threw the plate at me and my coworker. It almost hit me in the face, but I moved out of the way. Jason saw the whole thing and is now threatening to…in his words, blow his fucking brains out." then there was a pause. "Jason got the guy on his knees and making him beg for forgiveness. I'm going to try to talk Jason out of it. Bye, Damian! Bye, Tim!"

"Wait, Harry!" Timothy called out, but the line went dead.

Damian rubbed his temples. "Timothy, hurry before something happens. Harry, literally can't fight - being in a normal fight to save his life."

Timothy raised a brow. "Didn't Harry smack ya with his satchel?"

"Says the one who got smacked with Dowd's book."

"Touché."

With that, Timothy drove, faster this time. When they got to the cafe, Damian and Tim got out of the car as they raced inside. As they got inside, the first thing they saw was a customer, bowing to Harry, while Jason was forcing the customer, who was covered with bruises, to bow. The other customer founded this funny and were filming this. There was even a policeman there who was contemplating if he should intervene or not. Harry had his hands up, assuring the customer that it wasn't a problem and they'll fix his order.

"Jason, please let the poor bloke go," Harry pleaded. "He already had enough. Please! For me!"

Jason sighed begrudgingly. "Fine."

With that, Jason let go. The customer was given a to-go of his order, free of charge because Harry offered to pay for it. With that the customer scurried away. The manager of the cafe scolded Jason for doing that, which Jason sheepishly apologized. Damian shook his head and Tim let out a sigh of relief. As Harry turned, his eyes lit up and he ran up to him.

"Damian! Harry exclaimed. "You made it."

"Just because you're staying with us doesn't mean you're going to miss our cafe meetings." Damian said.

Harry chuckled. "I'll make your usual." he turned. "How about you Tim? What can I get for my future cousin in-law?"

Tim blushed. "Goddammit Sirius. Harry, you can make me what you feel like. As long as it has a lot of caffeine."

"You got it!" Harry laughed.

Then Harry went into the kitchen. Tim went over to Jason, who in turned lecture him about what happened after the manager went to the back. Damian shook his head and crossed his arms as he took a seat. He didn't mind the wait and if Jason didn't butt in and cause problems, Harry would've been off the clock and he and Harry would talk as usual. Damian did wanted to discuss to Harry on getting an owl. Damian wasn't sure what Harry would decide on schooling after everything was over, but Damian did wanted an owl. Just in case.

"That British guy is really cute," a voice spoke.

Damian turned a bit and saw the kids wearing the Gotham Academy uniform. They were from his school. There was a group of teens around his age, probably a bit older and there were two girls and two boys. All were looking at the direction where Harry went. Of course Damian knew that they're not wrong. Harry is handsome in his own right.

"I love his accent," another said. "It's hot."

"I usually thought round glasses would make people look nerdy, but he can pull it off really well," a third sighed dreamily.

"We should go talk to him," the fourth said. "Look, he's just standing there."

Damian saw where they were pointing. Harry was near the kitchen, waiting for the food to be ready. He had a notepad in his hand, getting ready to see someone wanted to make an order. However, he was staring into space. Damian pursed his lips. Why was he zoning out in a time like this?

As the four teens stood up, Damian didn't know what came over him, but a feeling of rage erupt in him. He stood up, and marched over to Harry. He slammed his arm above Harry's head, causing Harry to stop zoning out and looked up at him. Damian closed his eyes for a second, opened them, and glared straight at the four teens.

"It's Wayne!" the teen boy exclaimed.

The four teens raced out of the cafe. Damian let out a sigh and stared down at Harry, who was still looking up at him. He noticed their faces were very close to each other. Damian stared in Harry's eyes. He knew Harry's eyes were like emeralds, but he couldn't be helped and be drawn to them. They were like the most memorable feature of Harry. Yes, there was the scar, but Damian could care less about the infamous scar. The scar was something that made Harry known in the wizarding world and how he looked like his father with his mother's eyes. No wizard care to described his features other than who he resembled. Damian loves Harry's emerald eyes. He loves his untamed jet black hair that is like a scruffy cat. Damian even loves his round taped glasses, and how much of a self-sacrificing idiot he is.

"D-Damian," Harry finally spoke.

Damian blinked a few times and moved away. He blushed and cleared his throat. Then he lightly tap Harry's head. Harry reacted as if it hurt, but Damian knew it didn't. 

"You need to pay attention to your surroundings," Damian said. "You're so lucky you're home tomorrow."

"Sorry," Harry apologized. "I just liked to think and then I ended up spacing out."

Damian sighed and made a small smile as his eyes softened. "It's fine to space out. You can space out wherever you want, but that doesn't mean you can't ignore your surroundings."

"Oh okay! I see what you mean."

Damian chuckled and flicked Harry's forehead. "You're an idiot, you know that?"

Harry scoffed. "You brat."

"That, I know."

Damian and Harry laughed. As they laughed, Damian noticed the cafe had gotten...very quiet. He turned and suddenly, the cafe started to get loud again and everyone was talking, taking orders, and talking on their phones.

"Did it just got quiet a few minutes ago?" Damian asked.

"Oh bloody hell, I thought it was just me," Harry answered with a sigh of relief.

Strange, Damian thought. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that every time he does meet up with Harry, it does get a bit...quiet. Damian always thought it was just not that busy on weekdays, but there were always a lot of people in the cafe.

"Harry, order up!" a coworker called.

"Coming!" Harry shouted and turned to Damian. "I'll be right back."

Then Harry hurried into the kitchen. Damian waste no time to sit down and sighed. He really needed to know what was going on with him. He had never acted out like this before. Damian glanced at his brothers who were just shaking their heads at him as if he had done something wrong...Did he really did something wrong? Damian wasn't sure, but he felt like he did.

Harry came out from the back and set Damian's and Tim's order. After that he went to the back. It was only a few minutes when Harry came out and wearing a jacket over his uniform. That was Harry's cue that he was off the clock. As Harry sat down, Damian cut his muffin in half and gave the bigger half to Harry. Then Damian ate the muffin. It was a pistachio muffin, but this time, the taste was different. Not in a bad way, but in a good way. It was fluffy and moist. It even had more pistachios.

"How's your muffin?" Harry asked.

"It's good," Damian answered. "but different. It's very tasty than the others."

Harry chuckled. "That's good, because you're looking at the one who made them."

Damian blinked. "You?"

Harry nodded. "Jason told me that you didn't get a chance to eat the pancakes I made, so I decided to make you your usual muffin."

Damian wasn't sure if wanted to punch Jason or thank him, but he really wanted to see Harry cook and help him. He wouldn't mind Harry ordering him around the kitchen. Damian could actually see Harry smiling while he was baking these muffins. He couldn't help and blushed a bit. Damian wasn't sure why he was blushing all the time now. He wasn't sure if he was feeling sick or something else, but it only happened when he's around...Harry.

Oh my god...

Was this how perverts think? Damian thought. He did thought Harry was cute a few times and when was the last time he thought someone was cute? He never use the word cute. Even when he dated his past exes, he never called them cute, just "above average" or "appealing looking", but never cute.

"Breaking news!" the television was turned up as Harry and Damian turned. "The whole city of Gotham just witnessed Batman and an Irish Wolfhound in a flying batmobile! Many were amazed what technology Batman was using and was wondering if he was testing his flying car around."

Then there was an video of the flying batmobile and a still picture. The picture was zoomed in, but Damian could see Father in his bat suit, smirking and Black who was in his dog form was eerily having the same expression as well. They looked like they're having a great time.

"I can't believe it," Jason whispered.

Timothy nodded. "I know. Can't believe B actually agreed to have his car altered."

"Why did Sirius brought me along?!" Jason whined.

Damian, Harry, and Timothy looked at him with blank expressions. Timothy opened his mouth and closed them a few times, Harry was giving Timothy an apologetic look, but Damian just shook his head. It was obvious what priorities Jason had. With that, Damian, Harry, Jason, and Timothy finished their snacks and left the cafe. Damian gave them a generous tip. Was five hundred dollars enough for a tip? Damian wasn't sure, but he wished he could've tip more if he had enough cash on him.

All of them got into Timothy's car and drove away. The car ride was silent, except for Harry who was telling Damian how his day was. Damian couldn't help and smile as he heard how Harry's day was. Of course Damian knew that Harry had to go to work earlier than before because the cook was in the hospital and had to clock out, so Harry volunteered to be there. He just didn't know what else happened.

"So anyway, how was your day, Damian?" Harry asked.

"In art club we did needle felting," Damian answered. "It was really fun. It's where we use wool and a needle to form it into pieces to make a plush."

"Wicked," Harry awed. "Can you teach me? It sounds fun and relaxing!"

The thought of Damian teaching Harry how to needle felt made him fiddled with his fingers. He imagined him holding Harry's hand and guiding his hand to poke the wool with their faces close as he taught Harry and no one else. Alone.

"So I heard you two slept together?" Jason asked.

"Jason!" Damian hissed, but Harry gasped and demanded. "Who told you that?!"

"Sirius," Timothy sighed and shook his head. "He sent us copies."

"Harry, Damian didn't do anything naughty to you, right?" Jason questioned.

Harry blinked a few times. "We just talked and accidently fell asleep."

Jason smirked. "Not from what we saw."

Damian stood up, but Harry placed a hand over his. Blinking a few times, Damian let out a sigh and nodded as he saw back down. He gave Harry an apologetic look, but Harry just shook his head and patted his shoulder. Grumbling, Damian just crossed his arms and pouted, muttering how he wished to punch Jason for thinking he would take advantaged of Harry like that. Sure he did...peck Harry on the forehead last night, but at the time, Damian didn't know what overcame him. It felt right to do that. The thought of Damian's actions from last night made him even blush harder. What's wrong with me? Damian thought. The more he thought about what he did last night and today made him took a glance at Harry who was staring at the window, minding his own business.

It only took fifteen minutes for them to get back to the manor. When they got inside, they smelled the scent of Pennyworth's cooking. As they go into the living room, they stopped. The first thing they saw was Black, who was in his human form, fast asleep on the couch, while the T.V. was on. Father was there too and he was fast asleep, but Black was resting his head on Father's lap. Damian and Harry's mouth dropped, Timothy almost dropped his coffee, and Jason was processing the whole thing.

Pennyworth walked into the living room and smiled. "Welcome home young masters and Mister Harry!" then he turned to Father and Black as he snapped his fingers. "Master Bruce, Mister Sirius, wake up!"

Then Father and Black woke up. The two froze and their eyes widened. Black yelped and fell onto the floor. Right away, father got up and helped Black back onto his feet. The two were stammering in apologies of accidently falling asleep. Damian could've sworn that Father's face was in a very light pink color. Black, on the other hand was very red.

"Bloody hell, I'm so sorry, playboy," Black apologized.

Bruce sighed. "It's fine. You looked tired anyway."

"Still, you could've woke me up."

"It would be very rude of me to wake up a guest of my home, Sirius."

"Ah-hem!" Pennyworth cleared his throat and the two shut their mouths. "As much as I would like to hear you two argue over something petty, but dinner is going to be in a couple of hours and the two of you are covered in motor oil and grime. Please wash up and be presentable at dinner."

Father nodded. "Yes Alfred." while Black said. "Yes, Alfie."

Then Black put his hand on Father's shoulder and the two apparated away. Pennyworth shook his head and muttered to himself how the two could've use the stairs and not apparating around the house. Then Pennyworth went back into the kitchen. Damian and Harry looked at each other. The two were so confused on what happened. Damian had saw it first hand when he came home and now this.

Jason groaned. "I'm really in a K-drama."

Timothy shrugged. "Could've been worst. There could be a love triangle."

Jason gasped. "I would hate that! I've already dealt with Boys Over Flowers and I don't want to deal with that again!"

As the two went into the kitchen, Damian and Harry just stood in the empty living room. He let out a sigh. He couldn't help and remembered what he just witnessed. He did wondered what else did Father and Black did aside from making the batmobile fly. Damian knew that Father took a day off because of the wizarding situation. Damian was actually surprised that his father would be himself than using his "playboy" persona. The only people he doesn't act like that would be the Justice League, them, and some people who knew his identity like Selina Kyle. Damian had to admit, the way Father was acting was very normal...like normal it can get. It was nice that Father was making friends around his age than using his connections to make friends. However...Damian wasn't sure if that's what friends acted like how Father and Black acted.

"Hey Damian," Harry said. "Does my godfather and your father..."

Damian nodded. "I think so. It's too obvious."

As much as Damian really wanted to dwelled into the topic, but at the same time he knew it wasn't his place. Besides, if it was just a harmless buddy friendship or something more, Damian wouldn't mind. He just hoped Father wasn't oblivious like in his previous relationships. Damian swore that if he saw Father being a dense idiot, he would really get an aneurism.

The two looked at each other and shrugged as they sat at the couch and turned on a movie. Damian wasn't sure what movies to watch, but he is fond of animated movies because of the art, but just because the art was good, the story has to be good as well.

"What do you want to watch?" Damian asked.

"I've haven't watch Lion King 2," Harry answered. "I've already watched the first one, but not the second. Dudley had and he didn't like it because it had romance in it."

Damian nodded and put on Lion King 2. As the movie start, the two watched in awed. Damian had to admit, this was one of the better Disney sequels. The animation was really good too, even the art. As they watched the movie, they finally got to where there was a time skip and the reunion of Kiara and Kovu. Damian noticed Harry kept looking at him a few times. Harry even chuckled when Kovu learn how to have fun.

Harry turned to him. "Hey Damian."

"Yes?" Damian raised a brow.

"You're kind of similar to Kovu and you look like him too."

"Harry!"

Crossing his arms, Damian grumbled while Harry just snickered. However, Damian blushed for who knows how many times in one day. He could see the resemblance. It was a G-rated version of him, but the similarities were still there. If Damian was Kovu, does that mean Harry was Kiara. Narrowing his eyes, Damian's blush deepened. He was so glad Harry wasn't noticing his blush. His chest pounding like a drum. Damian did noticed how he was acting at least a week now. He didn't know why. He never acted this way with anyone before. The more he thought about it the more he remembered that he was acting like...like his siblings whenever they fell for someone.

Damian fiddled with his hands and stared at Harry in the corner of his eyes. Does he really felt this way? Did Damian like Harry more than a friend? Damian wasn't sure. It was confusing. He was no stranger on going on dates, but the difference was that the dates he went to, the people like him and he only agreed because he wanted to see if they were worthy to be in a relationship with him. He never really had an official relationship.

Shaking his head, Damian growled. No, he doesn't like Harry like that. There was no way someone like Damian could like Harry, romantically. Harry was just a friend and a good and honest friend at that. Damian...Damian doesn't feel that way...right?