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farbsturz · 7 years

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Iron Heart

An oneshot I wrote for @mildlycuriousdragon. In this AU both Jonathan and Conner Kent are androids built by Lex Luthor to defeat Superman.

Word count: 4746

AO3

Damian Wayne & Jonathan Kent; Tim Drake & Conner Kent

Keeping his head low, the teenager buried his hands in his pockets and glanced at the scum surrounding him. A clicking tongue made a small sound as sharp green continued to scan the area, looking for both their target and an item of interest. His shoes made grotesque sounds thanks to the sticking and dirty ground as he walked down the passages of the black market, his distaste hidden behind a mask of indifference as he watched the gun and drug trade around him. Somewhere around here should be the criminal of their day and the teenager whispered a quiet ‘negative’ as the voice of his father spoke up in his ear.

“Continue to look for him. Nightwing and I are in position. Keep up your disguise and do not interfere or pull attention to yourself, Robin.”

Green eyes were rolled. He knew that. Who did his father think he was? Drake? At the thought of his sadly adopted brother Damian couldn’t help but kick a stone lying in his way. It was unfair. Why the hell was Red Robin allowed to stay at the cave and play with his new toy while he had to play such a degrading role? Hell, Damian had been trained by the League of Assassins and here he was, playing a bloody drug addicted in search for the dealer who had escaped prison.

Two days ago Drake had arrived in the cave with an unconscious boy on his bike and it had been mere seconds before they had understood that they weren’t facing anything human. An android, to be specific. And what a great one. The skin and appearance didn’t give its true nature away and there had even be a device installed which had mimicked a beating heart. The android had worn a white shirt with an ‘S’ on it and judging by the explosions in Lexcorps’ building the night before, the bats had quickly put one and one together. Whatever this robot was, it had probably been created by Luthor and had somehow escaped. For now, however, it was out cold and Batman had decided to leave the case to Drake who had the most knowledge of technology.

The teenager huffed.

Finders, keepers.

If Drake got his hands on a perfect android, Damian would find himself one as well. The explosion had been way too big to have been made by a single person and thus he had suspected the robot to have a companion. And where else would you find a probably malfunctioning machine but on a black market for the lesser good civilians of their beloved city?

Damian soon found himself halting at the entrance to a shady looking hall and he didn’t waste a glance at the fairly armed bodyguards as he entered it. He recognized some of the higher ranked drug dealers and easily enough spotted the man of their attention this night. Rubbing his nose, the boy acted all nonchalantly as he whispered to himself. “Guess I’m catching a cold tonight.”

“Roger that.” his father whispered through the earpiece and he could hear some orders being said to Nightwing before their connection was cut off.

The boy left the room again and went into a more quiet hallway in order to put his hood on, knowing that it would only be another calm minute before all hell would break out. His back straightened slightly in anticipation and he counted to 40 in his head before the glass roof in the hall was scattered. Screams and gunshots could be heard throughout the whole warehouse and Damian took it as his cue to jump into action as well. A green mask was placed over his eyes and he began taking out nearby bodyguards, disarming them with ease. Some kicks and punches in the right place knocked most of them out within seconds and Damian proceeded to aid his family out of the shadows.

Only minutes later Damian received the message from his father that the wanted criminal had been secured and even though he would have loved to help cleaning up the rest, he begrudgingly listened to the order to go home. Of course, normally the boy would have argued but a part of him wanted to know more about the machine Drake had found. With a sigh he removed the mask from his face and hid it in his pocket, carefully leaving through a back exit as the police began to storm the place. Sure, he was wearing a wig but Commissioner Gordon didn’t have to catch him.

The fresh breeze hitting his face threatened to overwhelm him and Damian took a deep grateful breath. The smoke, scum and drugs in there had rotten the air and the boy’s body relaxed as the familiar nightsky came into view. He got rid of the false blond hair in the next bin and avoided any popular roads. Damian didn’t need anyone to recognize him as the son of the richest billionaire and playboy Gotham’s.

As he walked down the emptier streets of this forsaken city, earphones were placed in his ears and classical music began to faintly play. Damian welcomed silent moments in which he could simply be without a reminder of his wealth or legacy. Right now he was but a simple teenager, out at a friday evening and minding his own business. The hoodie he wore kept most of the colder breezes away though the boy wasn’t known for complaining about simple things like the temperature.

It would take approximately eight minutes until he would reach his motorbike and Damian wasn’t in a hurry. Sure, his father wanted him to go home but he had never said anything about hurrying. Besides, the later he would come home the more likely it was for Drake to have passed out from exhaustion and coffee immunity. A smirk appeared on his lips at the thought of having his sweet time to take a look at the robot himself. He had never seen such a mechanical artwork before and Damian sure as hell wouldn’t let his brother have all the fun.

The police sirens were slowly fading behind him as the boy continued to saunter through the more dangerous parts of his father’s beloved city. It was strange how he felt comfortable being surrounded by possible crime but then again these were the situations he had grown up with. He knew his way around and fighting always allowed him to take a break. Most crimes were easy to stop and it almost seemed like a strange routine, the way he and Batman danced around each other while kicking the bad guys’ butts. Yet Damian couldn’t deny that it had felt more natural with Grayson. His brother’s open and rather optimistic view at the world had shone a weird light onto the mantle of Batman but had somehow worked. Sometimes he missed working with Nightwing together. He had been able to balance Damian out in a way his father could never do.

It hadn’t been long until the boy recognized the familiar sound of trouble, pulled out one of his earphones to listen to the voices of some drunkards. With the click of his tongue Damian pulled the mask out of his pocket and made sure the hood was in place as he sneaked towards the scene, ready to have some fun before returning home. He almost felt disappointed when he only saw a group of 5 young men surrounding a rather fragile looking boy who appeared to be around Damian’s age. The teenager wore a dirty and way too big jacket, held his arm defensively in front of his chest and green eyes narrowed at that. It seemed like he was hurt. The vigilante didn’t hesitate another second before jumping in, a grin on his lips as he kicked the first man in the head, causing him to fall to the ground. The second Damian’s feet touched the ground he was already in the air again, using the graffiti blotched wall to escape an attack. He landed behind another and swept him off his legs. A fist to the jaw, a kick in the stomach. One by one they went down until Damian was the only one left standing.

“You’re safe now, kid.”

Huffing proudly, Damian clapped the dust off his hands and took a few steps towards the boy. However, he stopped when he saw the other flinching back. Green softened slightly behind the mask and the teenager had spent enough time with his oldest brother to know how to act.

“I won’t hurt you. I’m one of the good guys.”

He took another step closer and ignored the boy taking one back. Soon enough a back hit the wall and Damian gently but firmly reached for the other’s arm, wanting to inspect it.

“Let me take a look. Either I can treat it or I’ll take you to a hospital.”

With that being said, he pulled the sleeve carefully back and his breath hitched as eyes took in what he saw.

A rather long cut was located between the elbow and wrist but what should have been flesh and blood had been replaced by wires and metal. Perfect skin had been broken to reveal what Damian had been looking for and his heart sped up as he reached for the other arm, quickly searching for any kind of heartbeat.

He found none.

The grin almost fell through the mask of calmness and the teenager quickly pulled the sleeve back up in order to hide the mechanical arm. There was no way anyone would steal his new project from him. When a quick glance to the group of men assured him that they were still knocked out, Damian began to walk away, dragging the boy with him.

“L-let go of me!”

Huh… it can talk.

Reluctantly coming to a stop, the vigilante clicked his tongue in annoyance. He didn’t have time for this, they had to get away before the drunkards woke up again.

“I’ll take you somewhere safe. But I need you to cooperate. So stop being difficult and come with me.”

But the android had other ideas in mind as he pulled his arm away with a strength someone his age shouldn’t have. Damian’s body tensed up and he lightly shifted his weight, ready to react the way the situation would require him to.

“You’re not the boss of me, you can’t tell me what to do! No one will ever order me around! So get the he….get the heck away!”

Damian sighed impatiently. Great, an android in puberty. He rubbed his forehead and went through his options. Fine, if reassuring didn’t work he would try threatening. Something he was more familiar with.

“We got your partner. At least I assume you two escaped together. You know, tall, black hair, torn white shirt with an S? An android?”

He didn’t stop the small smirk from appearing as the other’s face seemed paler.

“I can take you to him. I will, in fact. You can either cooperate or I’ll be forced to use one of my EMPs. So what do you say, robotboy?”

Crystal blue eyes studied Damian from head to toe but they both knew that there wasn’t really a choice. The android’s body had been damaged and it was obvious that he was lost in Gotham. Besides, they appeared to be around the same age so Damian probably didn’t look like too much of a danger. And it might have been true. The strength the boy had used before was proof enough and the son of Batman wondered whether the other had held back.

“Fine, I will come with you under the condition you will take me to my brother. And if you get any hidden intentions I will grab him and we’re out!”

Was that actually a pout on the android’s face? This might be more interesting than Damian had expected.

The ride home had been rather quiet after the two of them had bickered for several annoying minutes about whether the android should wear a blindfold or not. In the end Damian had won but he hadn’t argued that much with anyone but Drake in a long time. The fact that he had won their little fight was more than satisfactory and he might have leaned a bit too much into some curves with his motorbike only to feel the arms around his waist tightening. It took longer than necessary to reach the cave but Damian wanted to make sure that the android couldn’t easily track down the time and route they were taking. No matter how impatient he was, the teenager wouldn’t endanger their location mindlessly.

The bike finally came to a stop in the famous batcave and Damian removed the helmet, hand running through his slightly sweaty hair. Upon turning around, he could easily detect the more than big eyes the android was making and a proud smile lingered on his lips. After all this was the working place of Batman, anyone would be speechless when seeing it for the first time.

“And who might that be?”

A voice spoke up and Damian noticed the slight edge to the tone. Green wandered towards the batcomputer and as always he found Drake sitting in front of it. This time, however, the chair was facing him and the teenager rolled his eyes. How dare his brother act like a disapproving parental figure? Without a word Damian grabbed the boy’s arm and dragged him over to the wanna-be detective, pulling back the sleeve in the process. He could see the exact moment Drake understood and it was no surprise that his brother pushed himself off the chair to take a closer look. However, Damian moved protectively in front of the android, acting as a barrier as the boy flinched back from the attention.

“Back off, Red. I found him. He’s my responsibility.”

Drake only glared at him but it seemed as if his brother had noticed the tense body language of the android as well. He didn’t make a move to come closer, instead crossed his arms to continue their staring contest.

“He wants to see the one you found, otherwise there won’t be any cooperation. And I’m sure that a conscious android will provide way more information than one out cold, correct?”

“Kon isn’t awake? What happened to him? What did you do?”

The android pushed past Damian to glare up into Drake’s eyes. However, it wasn’t anything but threatening considering the too big jacket and messy black hair. The appearance was too young and innocent to provide anything like a threat.

“We didn’t do anything to him. I found him already unconscious when I returned to Gotham. Right now I’m working on repairing his leg and head but it will take some time until I finish recreating the handiwork. He will be fine, though.”

The android seemed to calm slightly at the information and Damian wondered how all of this could be programmed. These emotions - mistrust, nervousness, anger and relief - were too well portrayed to just be an act.

His fingers twitched in anticipation.

A quick glance at Drake gave him permission to lead the boy over to their little lab and before Damian could say anything, he watched as the other ran towards the unconscious android’s side. It was now that he noticed some traits the two robots shared. Black hair, blue eyes and both showed hints of a well trained body. However, the one he had found seemed to be around 16 years old while the other was closer to Drake’s age.

Damian watched in silence as the boy thoroughly checked ‘Kon’ for any obvious injuries, brushing black hair back and smiling fondly. It was such a kind gesture that it almost felt as if he was intruding a private moment.

“Thank you for taking him in.”

Damian was taken aback when the smile was directed at him and the teenager merely shrugged his shoulders.

“Not like we could let either one of you run around without any supervision.”

Blinking surprised, green stared down at the sudden outstretched hand.

“You can call me Jon.”

Damian clicked his tongue and hesitantly returned the gesture.

“Jon and Kon, such creative names.” he replied with a huff.

“ I’m Robin.”

“Stop fidgeting, idiot. If you’re trying to make it worse you’re doing a hell of a job.”

Damian’s brows were furrowed in both concentration and annoyance as he worked on the android’s arm, trying to fix it the best way he could without having any blueprints. He was currently rewiring some nerves but the constant moving of the other only served to make it harder than necessary.

“It’s not my fault that you’re so slow at this. Besides, I wanna see you being all calm when someone else pokes into your open wound with some weird tools.”

It had been two days since Damian had found his own android back in that alleyway and after Jon had been put through dozens of tests and interrogations, Batman had allowed his son to take care of the damaged arm. The boy had began to warm up to Damian but whether that was something good or bad, he hadn’t decided yet. While it was pleasant to see that Jon was willing to cooperate, the growing familiarity also caused some ridiculous bickering and the android talking back whenever Damian gave orders.

If the android’s words could be trusted, Lex Luthor had been secretly working on robots with Superman’s powers ‘just in case the alien ever went mad’. There had been many others before Kon and Jon had been created, most of them destroyed after gifted with powers too strong to handle. The few who had been able to survive had been put through different tests, challenging their endurance and control. It seemed that in this time the two androids had gotten to know each other and when Kon had overheard a conversation with his already developed super hearing, he had began to plan their escape. Luthor had told another scientist to destroy Jon because of his inability to use his powers at will and so Kon had taken the boy at the right moment and ran off.

How those androids were able to imitate human emotions and thoughts, however, was still a mystery to Damian. Though he could understand why Jon had been so worried about the other, going as far as calling Kon his brother. They only had each other, didn’t know the world outside the lab and on top of that, one of them was knocked out.

Damian’s tongue was sticking out in concentration as he finally finished patching up the metallic arm. With a satisfied huff he leaned back and gestured towards his masterwork which looked as normal as any other human limb.

“See, I told you I can fix it. I’m the son of Batman, nothing is too difficult for me.”

Jon merely rolled his eyes but inspected his arm closely, moving it experimentally to see if everything was okay. A small smile appeared on his lips and blue eyes met green ones.

“Thank you, Robin.”

The genuine gratefulness surprised him and Damian simply shrugged his shoulders.

“Whatever. I cannot risk you not being at your best. Besides, now you can’t cry around anymore about how your sleeve gets stuck in the wires.”

“I didn’t cry, jerk!”

The teenager smirked and crossed his arms.

“Sure did.”

“Nu-uh!”

They continued arguing back and forth for some time and yet the conversation remained lighthearted. Damian wouldn’t admit it but he had already grown fond of his android and it seemed as if Jon was trusting him enough to be open about his own thoughts. While it was already clear that their opinions were differing from each other quite a lot, they still got oddly along. Well, until the android would start picking on his height. It were times like these when Damian might have lost a little of his cool and attack the boy with a batarang. Or two. But of course it was always Jon starting it.

“Robin, stop fighting with your little friend.”

Nightwing leaned against a wall close to the batcomputer, arms crossed and lips pulled into an amused smirk. Damian hated this expression on his brother. It only meant Grayson was having fun with his suffering.

“He’s not my friend, Nightwing. Do not confuse my curiosity for kindness.”

Grayson merely laughed in obvious amusement and pushed himself off to saunter over to them. Damian watched with a frown as his brother leaned down to be more on their eye level as he offered a hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Jon. You can call me Nightwing. Robin can be quite mean if he wants to but he got a good heart.”

Damian clicked his tongue and turned away from his brother, wanting to express his disapproval of said words.

“Anyway, Red Robin asked me to get you, Jon. He would like to talk to you about your brother.”

The change of mood was so painfully obvious in the android’s expression and Damian didn’t quite know what to do. He knew he would be worried if it had been Grayson who hadn’t woken up for several days and he guessed the other was feeling the same. With a small sigh the human grabbed Jon’s arm gently and began to lead him away.

“Thank you for informing us, Nightwing. I will take over from here.”

The small chuckle didn’t go unnoticed to Damian and he sped up to get away from the too amused eyes watching his back. He was merely doing this so he could continue studying the android. And Grayson was an idiot anyway.

Jon was unusually quiet as they walked through the cave and while Damian would appreciate the silence any other day, somehow it didn’t feel right in that moment. His chatting skills were worse than Drake’s sleep schedule but yet he forced himself to say something. Anything.

“I do not like to admit it but Red Robin is quite competent. He is one of the best soldiers Batman has when it comes to strategy, intelligence and technology. If anyone can fix or even improve that android you’re calling your brother, it’s him. There is no need to burden yourself with such unnecessary worry.”

He could see Jon slowly nodding in the corner of his eyes and with that they were once again embraced by silence. At least it was more endurable until they reached the small sector Drake had claimed as his own. Kon was still laying on the same operation table as the days before, the pillow and blanket Jon had insisted on still present. The boy hurried over to his brother’s side and Damian could see that the leg and head had been perfectly repaired.

Nothing less expected of a former Robin.

Drake smiled tiredly as he saw Jon’s relieved expression but the exhaustion was obvious in the other’s dark circles. Damian knew that nights had been worked through in order to fix the broken android.

Stupid Drake, no sense for self preservation.

The teenager kept his distance and watched quietly as his brother began to explain each step he had taken in order to replace broken pieces and recreate the circuit. It had been well thought out and Damian could recognize a genius’ work if he saw one. No matter how much it might have bothered him.

“He is all patched up now and I checked his vitals several times. On paper he is perfectly fine and yet he didn’t move once since I fixed him.”

Ahh, so that’s why he asked for Jon. If the android wasn’t moving regardless the good state the body was in, it was only wise to ask for information from someone who had knowledge in that field.

Damian noticed the android furrowing his brows as he was deeply in thought. Both Drake and Jon seemed to be lost for the moment and the vigilante decided to approach the problem from his own perspective. His brother probably thought too complicated about the mechanical aspect while the super dork was busy being worried.

Super dork.

Green eyes widened.

Without another word Damian hurried over to where Drake sat and pushed him away to gain access to the computer. His fingers flew over the keyboard as he hastily searched and read through a file. He absentmindedly heard his brother complaining about the rough treatment but right now he couldn’t care less to argue. Finding the information he had been searching for, Damian turned around and pointed at both Jon and Kon, eyes directed at Drake.

“They were built to be on par with superman. As far as we know, they possess the powers of heat vision, ice breath, super hearing and whatnot. But what if they need the same source of energy as Superman as well?”

Drake’s eyes widened in sudden understanding and he began to look through the notes he had been taking, soon coming across the one thing he hadn’t managed to wrap his head around.

“It’s a battery.”

Damian only nodded.

“How could I not see it? Of course, they both have to be fueled by something. And if you’re correct, they use the sun as their source. Kon had been in the cave the whole time, there had been no moment where he had been exposed to any sunlight at all. And with the energy he had to use in order to escape, it would be no surprise for him to be running low right now.”

The two brothers didn’t waste another second before they made their moves, heaving the unconscious body onto Jon’s back as they hurried upstairs. Damian trusted his android enough by now to not give their secrets away and the three boys ran past Alfred into the big garden. As Kon was gently lowered onto the grass, Drake began to check his vitals once again.

Damian clicked his tongue and lightly nudged Jon’s shoulder.

“Stop chewing your lip, idiot. He will be fine.”

Blue eyes blinked surprised and the android smiled sheepishly. The two teenagers stood quietly next to each and Damian didn’t comment on Jon leaning relatively close to him. They watched as Drake continued to work until closed eyes finally snapped open.

Kon gasped loudly as he jolted up, blue eyes wide open as he coughed heavily. Jon was by his side within a second and began to rub soothing circles on his brother’s back, whispering words and explanations.

“Jon? Is that you?”

The android’s voice was still weak and he almost seemed to tear up as muscular arms wrapped around the little teenager’s body. They remained like that for a while and Drake moved to stand next to Damian. They exchanged gazes.

“We’re not going to…” Drake gestured towards the brothers hugging.

“Over my dead body, Red.”

His brother only smiled.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“You should be ashamed of yourself.”

“Says the discount Robin.”

“At least I’m not wearing some souvenir of my ‘father’.”

“Because cosplaying as your older brother in his teenage years is so much better.”

The rooftops of Gotham were mostly quiet except for the two boys bickering back and forth as they made their ways towards the reported crime. Damian was swinging from building to building as his newest partner jumped around next to him. Jon’s uniform consisted of a bright blue bodysuit with a cape attached, a pair of sneakers and a mask handmade by Robin.

“Robin, Sparrow, focus.”

The voice of his father spoke through their earpieces and Damian clicked his tongue in disapproval. He hadn’t been finished arguing.

“Red Robin and Tanager are already in position. Group up with them and go in together. Understood, Robin?”

Damian rolled his eyes as his android chuckled softly, merely humming in acknowledgement.

“You shouldn’t be so cheerful for someone who still can’t fly yet, Sparrow.”

Jon’s smile vanished immediately and it was the teenager’s turn to smirk.

“Race you to the others, birdbrain.”

And with that Robin was already taking off, leaving a surprised android behind. He could hear the other yelling after him but Damian would sure as hell not slow down. A smile lingered on his lips as he swung through the streets accompanied by his new partner and friend.

And for once the streets of Gotham didn’t seem as dark.

#dc #damian wayne #jon kent #tim drake #conner kent #my fic #mildlycuriousdragon #happy birthday to my best friend!#i hope you like it

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