Chapter Text
It was all to easy to push aside, no forget about Damian entirely.
Bruce had so many things happening all in one time.
Jason was alive and back into their world. He was trying to ease himself back into their dynamic of family.
Tim had felt neglected and like he didn't belong so he ran away. And the two oldest brothers and their leader spent countless days searching for him.
And now that he was found and returned they had spent so much time trying to make him feel loved.
Cass and Barba were also added to the dynamic though they usually took care of eachother Bruce was trying to help the girls feel situated.
And the only person left out of this equation of family and love was one Damian Wayne Al Ghul.
And no matter what he did he couldn't find out why he was being left out and forgotten. Abandoned.
Until one day it hits him.
Or one night.
They say Tim is bad at taking care of himself but at least he passed out to sleep wherever he wanted. He knew he was safe in the manor.
But not Damian.
No.
Damian didn't feel safe anywhere.
Anyone could want to try and kill him simply for threatening the ranks and hierarchy.
So Damian didn't sleep.
Ever.
He had done training on this he knew he could take it and so he challenged himself and in the end his resolve worked out and he didn't sleep.
Next was the lack of eating, he noticed the others builds in the house.
Dick was lean with strong legs and arms for acrobatics.
So he trained vigorously to be so flawless and graceful as Grayson.
Which has lead to more injuries he's never shared and crying when falling on his head he never allowed anyone to see.
Once he was training, all the bats and birds out of the house on patrol. And he had tried a trick Dick had preformed countless times on patrol and such.
It was so flawless and graceful, but Damian landed awkwardly and tripped hitting his head on the wooden punching dummy.
Damian had curled up under the weapons table sniffling and crying into his knees. That is until the birds were coming come to nest so he scurried out so the mouse wouldn't be caught.
Next was Jason, he was strong and large with broad shoulders and and rock like muscles.
So Damian worked out and lifted regularly trying to mimic his brother massive form.
Which only lead to having the lifting bar come down in his chest and nearly broke his ribs.
He had seen Jason lift hundreds of pounds easily. He stretched and breathed right and it looked so easy.
So Damian worked himself up but became Impatient. A mistake on his part and the bar dropped on his chest.
He cried and gasped pushing thr bar to the ground and standing up rubbing his bruised pecs. He hiccupped and teared up abandoning the training room and curled up under his bed.
Later the question of what the bar was on the ground came up but no one pressed it. Not too curious.
So he moved on to Tim.
He didn't really have a form, he was strong enough and fast enough no where near graceful or even good but his brain made up for it all.
So Damian partook in Hacking and detecting which only lead to frustration and a headache.
He spent hours infront of a screen. Of course he had been trained in easy enough Hacking and cyber warfare but nothing on the level Tim self taught.
In frustration he broke the laptop.
And after an embarrassing amount of time having a small tantrum, and ripping eveything in his room to shreds he moved onto the girls.
They had slim figured and strong personalities. They were thin and fit.
So Damian tried starvation to get the figure. Which mostly worked, down 36 pounds in two months and dangerously underweight he worked out some muscled to keep the slim figure but it never caught his father's attention.
He didn't even seem to notice all of the work Damisn had put in to be perfect for him. And now no sleeping or eating was a habit and he couldn't break them.
He didn't know why he was doing the work for approval. He wish father would just accept him killing Tim and become Robin but Bruce had punished him [even if it was a weak punishment] when he tried.
He wasn't allowed on patrol like the others were, he wasn't loved like they were. He was there but no one saw him, not really.
They saw a figure to make fun of, to rile up and then cast aside.
And the worst thing was when Damian started to realize how all their words were so true.
He was a demon, a nuisance, a bother, a chore.
He wasn't a son, he wasn't a brother, he wasn't Damian Wayne AL Ghul the son of the bat a perfect killer who bested his mother in combat.
He was a inconvenience to forget about.
So he spent nights crying and destroying his room trying to figure out why he wasn't good enough. Why no one seemed to care about him.
He used to be worshiped now he was looked down upon like a dog begging for scraps.
They all noticed Tim's sleepless night, all noticed his lack of eating properly. And they all did something for him, all took care of him.
But Damian was forgotten like always.
They noticed Jason's burst of anger and self hatred and they would coddle him making him feel loved and welcomed. Jason and Bruce went on outings together getting to know eachother again.
Bruce even went shopping with the girls and takes them out to lunch and to the park.
But never him, not even Dick who is the only one who spends any real time with him.
It was all to real one night when him and Tim had a particularly nasty fight.
They were screaming at eachother words not even processed just thrown out. It was the worst they had even had and no one was really around to see or hear.
And just when the others pulled in from patrol did shit hit the fan.
"Damian what have I told you about arguing with Tim or the other" Bruce roared having being stressed and had enough of his son.
"Father I didn't-" he tried to start his eyes wide and fearful.
Jason was snickering and Dick just looked sympathetic.
"No you shut the hell up because I'm sick of your lying and arguing and never getting along with any of your siblings who are trying to make peace with you. I am tired of it and you, why wont you just listen" Bruce stressed dropping the ball on everything.
Everyone grew silent and Jason looked a little mad Damian figured it was at him for trying to blame it on Tim.
Dick went to Bruce, "hey B you don't mean that" he tried to assure.
And Tim looked like he finally won a annoying battle. "If we wanted you, then you wouldn't have been pushed aside and forgotten" he seethed
And before anyone could gasp or yell at Tim, Damian was getting on his motorcycle and pulling out of the cave sobbing.
No one could see how weak he was.
No one could ever know how weak he felt.
So he left as fast as possible and no one chased after him.