#Brooke Woodsman my beloved

[livingtobethevillain]

I read a really good fic recently that had the premise of Damian sneaking out and doing graffiti at night to get away from the house and basically he makes friends with the street kids in the area. (Colin is an established friend from the beginning)

Obviously I loved this idea.

So I made my own, more angsty twist on it ofc.

This is bad dad Bruce btw.

So my idea is as follows. Bruce is a piece of shit and really neglectful and emotionally/verbally abusive. All of damians siblings are moved out and only visit occasionally when outside of masks. As a coping mechanism Damian starts sneaking out on the nights he doesn't patrol. Whether it be because Bruce benched him for a stupid reason or whatever else. While out and about he stumbles across some kids of varying ages. They're loud and playfully shoving each other around but Damian notes the joy and contentedness. Damian then notes that they're doing some graffiti on the front of an abandoned church. The closer Damian gets the more he notices what the piece is shaping up to be. It's a protest piece advocating for gay rights from the looks of it. It's not finished but it's already impressive and eye catching.

One of the older teenagers, around damians age, notices him and immediately whistles to get the attention of the other people making up the group. They suddenly seem tense. Damian knows it's because he's an outsider. He says the first thing that comes to mind.

"I like the art. It's very impressive." He's a bit awkward and there's a bit of a standstill where everyone is sizing each other up but then the older teenager who damian noted before smiles crookedly and barks out a laugh.

"Thanks man. You ever done this before?"

And before Damian knows what's happening he's being brought forward and into the group. After awhile the group relaxes and they're back to the rowdiness and warmth from before.

Damian for the first time in a long time, or since his siblings stopped coming around, felt good. He felt at peace. He didn't have to walk on eggshells here. He didn't have to be anyone but himself. These kids laughed at his dry sarcasm and accepted and understood the ugly temper he carried.

Damian felt safe.

Ironic that it's with a bunch of strangers in back alleys that he feels safe with and not with his own father.

From then on the relationships between Damian and the group grows. (They all come from a variety of places locally. Whether that be the nearby orphanage, local shelters, or their own homes they needed to get away from for a bit.)

Damian gets close to one girl in particular. She introduced herself by the name Brooke. She was the one who whistled to get the groups attention upon first coming across Damian. Damian knew from observing interactions that Brooke was like a leader for the older kids and role model for the younger. Most looked up to and respected her a healthy amount.

Damian and Brooke are around the same age. Damian being 16 and Brooke 17. From a first glance they seemed like opposites. Brooke being extroverted, eccentric, warm and reckless. But looking closer they were more similar than anything. Both headstrong, intelligent, determined, and natural born leaders.

At this point Damian has been sneaking out for a little over a year. It's been noticed by his siblings how damians been benched almost constantly. When asked Bruce just replies its punishment for how Damians been acting out as of recently and it's left at that. For now.

Damian dreads going home. Brooke's only half joking when she offers he crash at her place. The group knows he's Damian Al Ghul-Wayne. They also know about Bruce Wayne. Playboy, billionare, and His shitty dad.

Then Damian and Bruce get into a massive argument. The house practically shakes with how loud the screaming is. Venomous insults and bitter hatred is thrown back and forth but it all comes to a head when suddenly Damians head is whipping to the side. The room goes still. Damians face is hot to the touch from where Bruce had struck him across the face. Damian straightens and he feels himself shut down. He ignores his father's demands he come back and slams, locks and baracades his bedroom door behind him. He stuffs his necessities in a duffle bag and like a million times before he lugs himself out his bedroom window and climbs down to the ground. Then he leaves.

He had left all devices that could be tracked at Wayne manor. So he pulls out a burner phone and calls Brooke.

"Where are you?" He says bluntly.

"Whoa who pissed in your cereal this morning?" Brooke laughs but cuts herself off when Damian stays silent.

"I'm at home right now. Im babysitting my siblings while my mom's at work. Why? Are you okay?" She asks seriously.

"No i-Can i come over?" damians voice cracks before he clears his throat. "I know you were joking when you said it but you said I could if anything happened-" Damian mutters.

"Hey" Brooke says soothingly. "Of course you can come over. You know my address." She hesitates. "What happened?" She murmers.

Damian laughs bitterly. "Exactly what we knew would happen." He grits his teeth. "Yknow he's never hit me before today."

"That fucker-" Brooke hisses.

They stay on the phone until Damian gets to her front door. He doesn't even get the chance to raise his hand to knock before the door is flung open and he's pulled inside by Brooke.

From there the story flips between perspectives. Damians, where he's brought in and taken care of by Brooke's family + the alley kids. And then Damians siblings when they find out that Damian is gone and Bruce has no idea where he is.

The siblings are pissed and through some digging they find out about all the abuse Bruce had put damian through.

Idk if they beat Bruce's ass before or after they find out where Damian is.

---

If you didn't already pick up on it, Brooke is my OC. I love her very very much. Honestly I'm actually torn between if I want her as a love interest or as an Older Sister figure. Idk it depends.

I hope you enjoyed reading!! Tell me what yall think :DD

TL;DR Damian let's his inner Dick Grayson shine and fucks off on his own because Bruce is an asshole.