2014-03-02 - The Awakening: ...The Demon Grounded...

Back in his street clothes, smelling of booze the costume Red Hood had lent him and the picture slung over his shoulder, Damian makes his way to his room across the roof of Wayne manor. When he gets to his window he slips down grabs hold of the gutter and swings down grabbing hold of his window sill and pulling himself inside. Not bad for hung over, if he did say so himself. Now, if he was really good Father would not have noticed he was gone.

Damian's good. That's a given.

Bruce Wayne, better known to some as the Batman? He's better. More years of training, of experience. A keen, analytical mind that makes him a modern day Sherlock Holmes.

And he's sitting on the foot of his son's bed. It's morning. He's already dressed, though in a suit-- he has plans to go into the city, to see Lucius later. He watches his son slip into the room with a stoic look, impassive, unyielding. The smell of the alcohol filters over to him, and his eyes narrow slightly.

He says nothing, not yet.

Damian has his back turned as he lands softly on the floor but even without looking he knows he's caught. His spine tenses and he says "Father," his tone guilty. He turns to regard Bruce then for a moment before he goes to close his window.

"Son." How he can put so much into that single syllable: disappointment, frustration, worry-- well, it's a parent thing. And Bruce may not be the best parent, but he /is/ concerned for his offspring.

"You have been drinking." It isn't a question. And he does not sound pleased.

Damian shuts and latches the window, and while he does inspects the security wiring for where Red Hood got through. He hears the concern in his father's voice, the disapproval and he has to hold back a flinch. "Sorry Father," he says as he turns back to face him and sits down heavily on the window seat. "And, yes, I have," there was no point in trying to hide it.

"That is unwise," Bruce says. His tone is laced with barely concealed anger and frustration. 'Brucey' is a 'drunk', but in truth? Bruce find alcohol, or any intoxicants, to be a danger to the mission. "You will not do so in the future. It is counter to your training, Damian. Counter to what you say you wish to do with your life."

Damian nods his face stern and serious, despite the throbbing headache that's beginning to build behind his eye. "I understand Father," he says quietly. He pauses trying to decide how to tell his father about the Red Hood. Ultimately he chooses to be blunt "The Red Hood was in my room again."

"Did he try to harm you?" That... comes quickly. Too quickly, faster than is typical for Bruce. He normally thinks before he speaks. And the words are filled with concern, and a touch of fear. But that latter may just be Damian's hangover talking.

His expression returns to the scowling, dark knight's expression. "Have you ascertained how he got in without tripping our alarms?"

"Yes Father," Damian says as he rubs his forehead to try and relieve the pain of his hangover. "He bypassed the window alarm and then had a route across the roof and across the grounds. He seemed to know how we do things pretty well. He also, has a safehouse on Burnlen Island and gave me these things," he puts down the bag at his father's feet inside is a uniform sized to Damian in the same style as the one the Red Hood wears and sealed tube containing the picture the Red Hood had given him.



Bruce nods, absorbing the information, looking at the uniform and the picture. "He..." he pauses. "No. Impossible." But there's a hint of a potential answer in Bruce's eyes, and something that should frighten Damian-- a touch of madness. "I will have to look into this," Bruce says calmly. "But until further notice, you are restricted to the manor. You may utilize the Batcomputer, but you will not leave the manor itself-- not even to go onto the ground, until I give word otherwise." His expression is hard. "You are grounded."

Damian looks over at Bruce eyes wide "What? No! That's not fair, it's not like I had a choice to go with him," while that's not strictly true, if it had come to a fight he wasn't sure he could beat the Red Hood. "Anyhow, not like the grounds are actually safer," he says adding that final barb as he stands, turns away and crosses his arms.

"I will be upgrading the security," Bruce says calmly. "And your grounding will end when I feel you warrant it." He stands up. "If you had struggled," he reasons, "your room would have been damaged. There would have been noise. You went of your own free will-- at least primarily."

Damian turns back around. He can't argue with that logic but at the same time, grounding. He scowls. "Locking me up is stupid," he counters. "Clearly Red Hood is interested in me, we can use that, I can help you catch him."

"NO." Bruce's voice is firm. "And you will go to Alfred and tell him you are hungover, and you will eat, drink, or take whatever he instructs you to do." And deal with the disappointment that Alfred will heap on the teenager. Because Bruce knows the value of Alfred's much more subtle disapproval. "I will be downstairs," meaning the Batcave, "after you have slept this off."

Damian flinches. "Then you don't want to catch him," he decides and starts towards the door. "Because I'm your best way and you know it," he pauses at the door. "I will speak to Alfred and then come downstairs, sleep is for the weak."

"You will sleep if Alfred says you need sleep," Bruce replies firmly, also moving to the door. "I will see you in a few hours."

Damian stands at the door when his father approaches, he opens it letting it swing open as he crosses his arms. "Fine," he says before following him out to do as he's told...for now.