When you do something often enough it becomes a routine.
A normal mundane task.
If you grow up with it, it becomes a part of you that you can never just shake off or escape.
Sometimes why would you want to?
Other times, you only wish you could.
***
Peter walked out of the training room wanting to go find his Pops or Natasha, his dad had left with Batman over fifteen minutes ago and still wasn't back yet. He turned the corner to leave the hall but stopped when he caught sight of Damian in the opposite training room.
Damian stood with his katana sword positioned outward in front of him, he tactfully sliced the air around him as if it were a deadly opponent he was trying to ward off.
His movements were fluid and precise, there was a complicated rhythm to them as he took a step forward, then back, then to the left, forward again, back, to the right, back, forward.
"What are you doing here?" his voice cut through the silence of only his steps and the steel whipping of wind. His tone was emotionless, somewhat deep, and eerily light at the same time.
It startled Peter his brain trying to think of an excuse as to why he was watching the intriguing boy, but as he opened his mouth to stutter it out a figure from the opposite side of the room floated toward Damian.
"Thought you might want a sparring partner," Jon replied his feet touching the ground as he landed in front of his best friend.
"Thought you were spending the day with your brother," Damian said as he drew the katana back to his chest before pushing it out again with such a sharp quickness that Peter would have definitely mistaken it for superspeed.
But he knew none of the Robins had powers, at least that's what his two fathers had told him.
"I was..." Jon trailed off taking a step forward to knock the katana out of Damian's hands with one swift movement, "but now I'm here."
Damian followed the clattered noise of his sword hitting the ground before looking back at Jon and smirking, "alright," was all he said.
Jon returned it with a bright smile.
To say Peter was confused was an understatement, why did Robin seem almost happy about Superboy's challenge and why did Superboy smile like he hadn't just disrespected Robin?
Maybe this was just what they were like here, he finally concluded.
Damian took a hold of his weapon again and brought it over his shoulder until it was pointing an inch away from Jon's chest.
The two circled around each other before Jon made the first move, clapping his two hands over the edge of the katana so Damian couldn't force it forward or pull it back.
He tightened his grip on the handle and backflipped, but Jon already predicted his move and quickly released floating a step back to mid-room height.
Damian's eyes narrowed at Jon's playful 'come get me' look, he took off running to the side of the room before kicking off the wall, Jon receiving a surprising blow to the stomach making him stumble in his flying.
Peter watched the two with wide eyes they looked so well in sync, so graceful, their moves so perfectly matched with the others.
It was like watching a violent game of chess, they predicted each other's steps and adapted accordingly.
Except unlike chess there appeared to be no rules, nothing was off-limits, it's like neither had an understanding of the Earth's pull and gravity.
Peter understood Superboy's excuse he wasn't human, he had superpowers.
But Robin, he was just human, nothing special or unique about him but his raw talented skills.
Damian slid back from the light push Jon had given him, he clasped the katana in hand and spun on the spot before launching himself toward the Kryptonian.
This move was a new one, one Jon hadn't seen Damian use in training or out in the field.
And so he was completely unprepared and taken by surprise, not knowing how to block the attack and before the two knew it they had plummetted back to the floor, rolling over each other until they hit the wall.
Somehow in the struggle of limbs, Jon had landed on top both his legs kneeling between Damian's left leg while their faces were barely an inch apart.
It felt like an eternity of the two just staring at each other, green emeralds gazing into blue orbs, until Jon awkwardly cleared his throat a faint blush creeping its way onto his cheeks before he quickly flew back like he'd just been burned.
Damian couldn't understand the sudden weirdness but thought nothing of it when Jon landed on the ground and held a hand out to him helping the ex-assassin to his feet.
"N-New move, huh?" Jon finally asked a slight stutter to his words.
Stop it! Bad Jon! This is your best friend, he scolded himself.
"Needs work. An exemplary tactic, yet poor form," Damian stated, obviously self-grading himself.
"Took me down, didn't it?" Jon pointed out with a slight chuckle his confidence coming back to him with each passing second.
Damian looked up at his best friend, "took us both down. A mistake that could-"
"Easily get you killed in battle," Jon finished for him.
Damian tersely nodded.
"Round two?" Jon asked, suddenly Damian grinned it would have terrified anyone, but luckily Jon wasn't anyone, he was someone who knew Damian all too well and he found himself grinning in return.
"If you think you can keep up, Superboy?" Damian tauntingly questioned taking several steps back to be in the middle of the room again.
"Don't you mean if you can keep up, Robin?" Jon challenged.
Peter still standing by the doorway watching the two intently didn't notice Nightwing reappear behind him.
Dick watched as his little brother dove forward his punch missing Jon, but his kick sweeping the Superboy off his feet and landing him on his back.
"Yeah," Dick scoffed making Peter jump at his sudden presence, "and your dad wanted him to evaluate you."
"H-He's really g-good at fighting," Peter stammered out.
Dick smirked, "you should see him when he's trying."
Peter's eyes widened slightly as he watched Nightwing retreat into the room, he stood off to the side his arms crossed over his chest as he waited for the two to finish.
"What do you want?" Damian inquired as he ducked Jon's chokehold and pushed the Kryptonian away with a forceful kick.
"Just observing, little brother," Dick grinned.
Damian shot him an annoyed look and that's all the distraction time Jon needed to barrel forward and tackle Robin to the ground his knee firmly digging into Damian's stomach and his hands easily pinning the boy to the training mat.
"I win," Jon victoriously smiled.
Damian struggled with his arms, but it became apparent Jon wasn't going to loosen his grip until he admitted defeat. He quickly bucked his body up with all the strength he had, it caught Jon by surprise making him stumble but not release.
But that was all Damian needed, he rolled to the side his legs coming up to wrap around Jon's neck leaving the boy of steel in a headlock.
"Yield!" Robin commanded.
"Make me!" Jon gasped his own pressure on Damian deepening to the point of crushing pain.
"Need any help?" Nightwing questioned amusement layering his tone along with a widely happy grin.
"NO!" Damian snapped as he tightened his grip.
Batman, Iron-Man, and Superman walked up behind Peter, who was still watching the two teen heroes slowly murder each other.
He wondered how Robin could take that pain, Superboy, he knew could stand it he was the man of steel's son after all, but Robin, he was just human, fragile and breakable and how he hadn't surrendered was beyond Peter.
"Hey, Pete," Tony smiled, "what are you-" he started to ask before catching sight of the two supersons going at it like a life on the line death battle.
Batman smiled, proud his son refused to admit defeat his lover, on the other hand, looked more exasperated at the two's actions than anything.
"Boys!" Clark spoke.
Damian and Jon carried on fighting their grips only tightening by the minute.
"Superboy! Robin! Enough!" he ordered.
"Now!" Bruce added.
Tony and Peter had never seen two people move as fast as Damian and Jon did both immediately releasing their holds on each other and breaking apart.
Jon sucked in a breath of air before coughing roughly at the dry feeling scratching his throat, Damian only panted his one hand raised behind him gently massaging the ache in his back.
The two got to their feet and shared a look.
"You held back," Jon observed.
"So did you," Damian bluntly shot back.
"Go for the trachea next time," Jon advised as he ran a hand over his throat if he were human he'd have deep purple bruises littering his neck, but as always not a scratch.
"Don't focus so much pressure on the spine," Damian suggested, "it's easier to break a rib which can lead to a punctured lung incapacitating your opponent."
"Noted."
Even after almost six years of being on and off partners Damian and Jon were still learning things about each other, still teaching each other things.
It was good that way, it kept them on their toes.
"What?" Damian snapped when Tony stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the two.
"Robin," Clark gently scolded.
Damian rolled his eyes, "This is exactly why they're not considered true heroes," he retorted, "they can't do the necessary only pretend they can."
Bruce couldn't disagree with his son even if he wanted to because he knew Damian was right, blatantly blunt, but right.
There was a difference between wanting to do the necessary and actually doing the necessary.
Only very few could succeed in the latter.
Hero or villain, it leaves a mark on you. One you can't scrub clean or wash away.
It made the difference between the pretender and the true hero.
It also pushed a true hero to the brink of villainy, where he eventually had to take a step back and remind himself who he started out as and who he wanted to carry on being.
Justice, not vengeance.
After a while, not many can tell the difference between the two, blurring them into the same thing.
And that's what separates necessaries from unnecessaries.