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He should have fought harder for her to stay behind. But he had relented after her pleading that this would be the last mission for a while, which he suspected was just going to be fashion season picking up. He should have told her no, that it wasn’t going to be a safe mission, that Scarecrow wasn’t someone to be messed with especially as of recent. He had come up with a more advanced fear toxin that they hadn’t quite found an antidote for. Because if he had tried harder, he wouldn’t be standing here, watching her disappear into the ground, forever.
Earlier that fateful night, Marinette danced into the kitchen as he was pulling his boots. She smiled and said, “after we finish the mission, want to have a celebratory shower?”
“I still think you should stay, but yes,” Damian said, standing.
“Nope I’m going,” She pouts, wrapping him in a hug. The argument had been going on throughout the day, and she had told him that if he wasn’t going to let her go, she would show up anyways. He rather has her protected and part of the plan rather than her just dropping in and having more chances of getting hurt.
“Fine,” He sighs, engulfing her in a hug. “Now get ready, we leave in five minutes.”
“Ok honey,” Marinette said, letting him go.
“Bring Kaalik, you know just in case,” Damian said, grabbing his mask off the coffee table.
“I know I know,” She says, padding down the hall to the master bedroom. The ride to the docks, where getting Scarecrow was getting a load of chemicals, was spent with quiet chatter about the day and last time to go over the plan.
They arrived with the element of surprise that was until something went wrong, one of the goons was out of the routine search. They were spotted and that’s when all hell broke loose, shots were fired, and not too long after, they had Marinette.
“Now, Robin put down the katana, get on your knees, and put your hands behind your head,” Scarecrow said, a goon holding a knife to her throat.
“I’m sorry, I should’ve listened, I shouldn’t have come. I love you so much,” Marinette says, quietly, his eyes watering at the realization about what was going to happen. He quickly does as Scarecrow says.
“Don’t do anything to me, just let her go. Do what you want to me,” He states, his eyes never leaving his Angel’s.
“Sure, give the boy what he wants,” Scarecrow said, tossing a vile to a goon. “Untested, fear toxin, but this is injected, faster working. What are the side effects you may ask? Well, everything has been dialed the vividness of the nightmare, the speed, the amount of time it’s lasted has also been upgraded and how hard it is to break the trance, even with your antidote,” he monologues, answering his own question as the goon injects him. “Best of luck to you. Untie her.” As soon as he heard the ropes he hit the ground he saw a blurry outline approach him, her.
“Damian, please I’m sorry,” Marinette pleads, attempting to pull him into a hug. He freezes.
He sees Joker approaching him, holding his wife’s severed head.
He stands up abruptly, picking up his katana, and charging at Joker. He would pay for what he did. Marinette sees him clench his fist as she was standing up. As she was backing up he screams “YOU WILL PAY!” Before charging at her. She ducks under his swing.
Not too long after he started his attack, he got him. He stabbed Joker in the chest and dragged his katana down, splitting him open. A high pitched scream of agony rang in his ears, his vision shifted from a bloody Joker to his poor sweet Angel. She was dying, it was all his fault. He screams drops his katana, runs over to his wife, who is bleeding out, and rocks her body as he cries. He sends a distress signal to his family through his earpiece.
“Please Angel, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to do this, please stay with me, you can’t leave,” he sobs.
A weak. “I love you, Damian,” comes from underneath him as she fights to keep breathing and her eye open. “I love you Angel but this isn’t goodbye, it can’t be,” he pleads, kissing her forehead as her gasps fo her last breath…
Not too long after, though it felt like forever, he heard the footfalls of his family.
“Robin, we received your distress signal, what’s the matter?” Nightwing asks, turning the corner of a storage bin. There he sees his little brother hunched over a detransformed bloodied Marinette.
“What happened!” they scream, running over to them. He just sobs in response.
“I don’t think there’s anything we can do,” Nightwing says softly.
“No no no no, this can’t be it, I love her I can’t, she didn’t deserve this,” he sobs as they, pick her up. One of his brothers takes Damian’s coil to wrap her up in.
He remembers being sent home so they could deal with her body. He went straight to the in house gym and beat on the punching bag for what seems like hours. The bag eventually falls with him following soon after. The next thing he knows he’s being dragged to the master bedroom he’s instructed to grab clothes and take a shower. He does as he’s told mindlessly. He takes a scorching hot shower to try and erase the feeling of blood. He gets out of the shower, his skin rubbed raw, and puts on the sweatpants, and grabs the shirt. Something falls out, a stick. He looks at the shirt, it has a picture of a nest and egg and reads “You’re going to have a baby bird!” With his shaking hands, he picks up the stick, it’s a pregnancy test, a positive pregnancy test. The bile rises in his throat as he throws up everything barely making it in the toilet.
The time off from hero-ing, weird foods, and mood swings, though he would have never told her that.
He was going to be a father, and he ruined it. He ruined everything, he thought as the care-taker covered her final resting place with dirt. He hasn’t talked to his family and he doubts he will ever again. Everything went dark.