A/N: That is a picture of Nightwing with a ton of scars on his back.  Ouch!  Sorry this one is really bad.....

Damian's P.O.V

"Agh!"

I woke up suddenly to the sound of my own scream.  I guess I had been tossing and turning that night, as I saw that my pillows and blankets were scattered everywhere.  I sighed and put my pillows and blankets back on my bed.

But I couldn't go back to sleep.

Only one solution.

I got out of bed and walked across the hall, opening a door and walking in.

Grayson lay on his bed, everything seemed normal, at first.

His window was open.  He always had it open, in case of night patrol's and such.  His bed was by the window, because after a patrol, he normally jumps into the window and then on his bed.  I don't think it's effective but, you know... His carpet was crooked as usual and pictures of me and the rest of the family littered the wall.  But the three photos he treasured most were on his nightstand.  Pictures with the people he treasured most.  Secretly I'm proud that I'm one of them.

The first one was Grayson and West and Harper.  West and Harper were really touchy subjects in the manor but from what I got from it, when Grayson moved in at age 9, West and Harper were his first friends, and they considered themselves as brothers.  I know Grayson blames himself for West's death, he can't seem to get over it.  I get they were 'brothers' and all, but I don't know why they were so close.  I've met West a couple times, he's very nice, and funny.  He likes to eat a lot.   I was kinda sad when he died, but Grayson took it the hardest.  Father once yelled at him to get his head in the game, because he was looked like he was finished living.  I know he still hasn't gotten over it.  Harper gave up on life, he lived on the street, until he found his clone person or something.  He has a family and Grayson visits them often.  Anyway, the picture was of them at a young age.  Probably 9, 11, 14.  I love to stare at Grayson when he was young.  He looks so different!  Weak is the word that comes to mind, but I know he is the opposite.  They all stood on a cliff overlooking the ocean.  Looks like Grayson had been crying, I'll ask him sometime about that.

The second was a picture of him with his old team.  The Young Justice.  I will soon be part of it, apparently.  They were dressed in civvies.  Grayson must have been 13.  Grayson was wearing his sunglasses and was on a swing looking thingy.  But I knew better.  It was a trapeze bar.  He was sitting on it, it was low to the ground.  His team stood around it.  On the far left was Conner Kent.  From what I get from Grayson is that he is half son of Lex Luthor and Clark Kent.  Next to him is a martian.  Megan Morzz, comes from Mars apparently and was 'white'?  I dunno.  Next to her was Kaldur'Ahm.  He is an Atlantean, he is very serious, he's their leader, though I think Grayson is the superior leader.  Grayson is next on his trapeze bar, and West was next to him.  Artemis Crock was next to West, she is the daughter of crooks.  Bleugh.  I don't know why Grayson likes her.  But then again, she did lose her boyfriend, so I will not be too harsh.

The last picture is my favorite.  It's Grayson and me.  He is hugging me and I am glaring at him.  It is amazing.  But I still love it.  Oh, the glare though.  It's so amazing!

After I stared at it for a while, I hopped onto Grayson's bed.  And then I found what was wrong.  Grayson had his shirt on.  Okay.  Okay. I get it.  It sounds weird, but Grayson never sleeps with his shirt on, because he knows I don't like it.  When he wears his shirt I can't feel his chest or hear the comfort of his heartbeat. 

I looked at the shirt.  Then I lifted it up, I needed to know why he had it on.

Then I knew why.  It has been two days after the Court of Owls incident, the time he sacrificed himself for me.  And everybody else.  For me.  

I had seen his scars, his old ones and his new ones.  The new ones were the worst.

I fingered his scars and winced, was this what was going to happen to me?

Suddenly Grayson shifted and woke up,"Damian?"

"Hi Grayson, I couldn't sleep."

"I know, that's why you came."

"Yeah, why do you have your shirt on?"

Grayson seemed uncomfortable as he answered,"Because the face you gave me when you saw them.  The scars."

"What face?"

"That face full of disgust."

I quieted.  I didn't think that my feelings affected my thoughts.

"I feel better when you take it off though, it makes me feel like I'm at home."

"Okay," Grayson's shirt was off in a few seconds,"Better?"

"How did you get them?" I was referring to the scars, and I was close to tears.

"I already told you a few days ago!"

"But... but... who would do that to you?"

"People who aren't afraid to hurt children."

"Will it happen to me?"

"Not on my watch.  Never on my watch."

"Grayson?"

"What?"

"Did it hurt, getting those?"

"Of course."

"But you didn't show pain."

"Of course not, I need to be strong."

"Why?"

"I need to be strong for you guys."

"You do it for me?"

"Kinda.  Hey look Dami, you won't get hurt at all.  I'll be here okay?"

"Okay, and I have another question."

"Yeah?"

"That picture of you West and Harper."

"What about it?"

"Tell me everything about West."

"That hurts worse than a scar." Grayson said sadly.

"Please?"

"Yeah, I need to tell someone sometime.  Wallace Rudolph West.  That was his name.  Wally and I met when I was nine during a mission, and we bonded ever since.  He knows my back story.  And every time I cried for them, for my parents, everybody I had believed I had failed, Wally was there.  He would comfort me, he would tell me that I wasn't a failure and he believed in me.  When I was mad at Bruce, Wally talked me out of doing something bad.  He's the reason I haven't committed suicide, yet," he looked away,"I have always been there for him, when his dad abused him.  That day out on the cliff, he learned my back story, why I acted the way I did.  Why I jumped off the cliff," I looked at him, he jumped off a cliff? Anyway,"Yeah, that was Wally.  When he died, I feel it was all my fault.  And he was mad at me too!" he sighed and I could see he was trying not to cry.

"You know Grayson... people cry, not because they are weak, but because they have been strong for too long."  I had found this quote on the internet.

"I'm not done being strong then." Grayson smiled and got up,"Here is something." he pulled out a pair of goggles,"I found them on the ground on the place The Famous Wall Man died.  His goggles."

I took them from him and examined them, nothing special, but a few red goggles, but they were obviously worn with care, from the new look on them,"How old is it?"

"From when Wally was 11."

"Can you tell me about Harper?"

"Later.  Now get some sleep."

"Grayson?"

"What little D?"

"Those scars?"

"What about them?"

"What are they to you?"

"Battle scars, and I will wear them proudly.  They show I have survived and will survive.  Now will you go to sleep?"

I lay my head down on his bare chest and listened to his beating heart,"Yes. Yes I will."

Scars.  I knew now what they were.

Scars.