Chapter 29
Deathstroke's hideout, Corto Maltese. March 30th, 2018. 12:03 PM.
"You don't get it! Do you, old man!?" Damian cried out as he delivered a solid kick to Deathstroke's chest, sending him sliding across the floor on his back. The boy ran after him, wild-eyed with a fury he'd not felt in years. Wilson picked himself back up just in time to block a vicious stroke from Damian's katana that, likely, would have severed his head.
"What is there to get, boy?" Deathstroke spat as he pushing back onto the offensive, throwing swing after swing at the boy. "I've been waiting for this moment for years! To finally be able to look you in the eyes as I–" He stopped short as he felt the steel blade of his opponent drive into his shoulder, and he cried out in pain as he stumbled back. Damian threw himself onto Wilson as he fell, grabbing the old soldier's katana and tossing it aside.
"Shut up!" Red X barked as he pulled Slade closer by the collar. "Your men were there when you had me captured. They killed her. She was the only thing that kept me sane, and now she's dead… because of YOU!" Damian drove his fist into Deathstroke's already broken nose. Wilson grunted in pain, and Damian flung the old warrior across the room. He picked up both katanas, tossing one to Wilson as he stomped forward.
"What are you going on about?" Slade grunted as he took the blade, hastily blocking Damian's swings through the biting pain in his shoulder. "Who is dead? My men said nothing about–"
"They killed my Raven!" Damian slammed the hilt of his sword into Deathstroke's temple, causing him to fall to one knee. "She saved me from the gunshot, then they took her, and they tore her apart! Your men! Your plan! Your FAULT!" Damian ran the katana through Slade's side, blood spurting everywhere. Slade glared back up at Damian through his one good eye, toppling forward as one hand gripped at the fresh wound.
"Get up! Stand back up so I can knock you back down, you piece of trash!" Damian kicked the wound in Slade's side as hard as he could. Wilson screamed in agony, falling to one side. The old soldier grabbed his katana, stabbing up at the boy. Damian shifted out of the way just in time, the sword leaving only a shallow cut across his chest. The Son of Batman hissed as blood trickled down from the broad cut, which stung as most fresh wounds do.
"You can't be serious," Deathstroke picked himself back up, ramming into Damian with his shoulder before pressing his offensive again. "All this rage, all this hate, over what? Some girl? You're pathetic, Damian! Pathetic!"
Damian responded to this with a swift flip-kick to Slade's chin, sending the old man reeling back. Just as the Red X landed, he shot forward like a bullet, his head crashing into Slade's chest. Deathstroke fell to the ground, the wind knocked right out of his lungs, and Damian was on him in a flash, pressing cold steel against the soldier's throat.
"Last time we fought, you ordered me to kill you…" Damian growled down at his opponent, his eyes wide and crazed. "This time, I won't stop until you beg for death! I want you to beg! You hear me, Slade!? BEG!" Damian pulled his blade away from Wilson's neck, driving the hilt into the place where his eye once had been. Wilson screamed out in agony, grabbing Damian's sword and pulling it away. Wilson threw his fist into Damian's throat, and blood flew out of the young man's mouth. The old man then hoisted Red X into the air as he pulled himself to his feet, and slammed him back into the ground with such force that the tiles cracked beneath him. Damian pushed off with his arms, flying back across the room as Deathstroke picked up both of his swords and marched forward. Thinking fast, Damian reached into his belt and pulled out several red shuriken– X-stars, he called them. He began hurling them at Deathstroke in rapid succession, but the old warrior batted each one aside with a flick of his blades, until one lodged itself in the ground in front of him. Slade looked down just before the shuriken could impale his foot, and he saw a little red light in the center of the star flash just before he was sent flying back in a sudden explosion, colliding with the wall on the other side of the fresh cloud of smoke from the blast. Damian smirked as he pulled the small spring locks on his wrists, causing red blades to rip through the wraps in his forearms, which fell away to reveal the light-grey gauntlets on his arms from which the red blades extended, spinning into the shape of an X over his hands. X-blades. Damian's smirk became a grin as he realized he had adopted the same tool-naming habits as Batman.
Batman… Bruce. His father. What would his father say if he could see him right now?
The smoke swirled all around, giving way as Deathstroke soared through the air, both katanas raised high above his head, his gruff voice ringing out in a battle cry as he came down towards Damian. The Son of Batman reacted instantly, the sharp twang of metal slamming into metal sounding through the room once again as the swords crashed into the X-blades. Damian swung his arms outward, and Slade's own arms followed suit, leaving him open for attack. Damian began swiping with fearsome precision, his arms a flurry of black and red and grey as he carved shallow marks into Wilson's chest. Wilson's mouth hung open in a silent scream, his eye open wide as he was left unable to counter. After several more cuts from his X-blades, Damian leapt up and, as his weapons retracted back into his gauntlets, rocketed both feet directly into Slade's chest like a kangaroo, catching himself with his hands and spinning like a top back into a proper stance as Slade came down on the floor several feet away. The Red X slowly swaggered forward, looking down at his handiwork; in several shallow cuts on Deathstroke's bleeding chest, the boy had managed to carve the bat-shaped symbol of his father, and topped it with two broad strokes across the whole length of the chest forming an X–his own symbol–over the bat.
"Slade Wilson…" Damian growled through grit teeth. "You have no idea how badly I wish I could just cut your head clean off… right here, right now…"
Deathstroke, his whole body shaking, glared back at the boy, seething with hate. "… g…. Go on, then… do it…" the old man coughed, his teeth tinted red with blood. "Put an end to this feud… between you and I… d…" he clenched his fists as tightly as they could, his hands quaking from pain, weakness, and rage. "do it… do it now…"
Damian glared down at the broken man at his feet in silence for a moment, repeating his father's words over and over again in his mind.
"No, Slade." The young man's fists unclenched, and his hands slowly came up to his chest as his arms crossed. "I'm not Ibn al Xu'ffasch. Not anymore."
Slade's unsteady breath hissed low and quiet in the back of his throat as he growled up at his most hated adversary.
"I am Damian Wayne…" Damian's voice was clear and confident. "Son of Bruce Wayne. I am Robin–Son of Batman. I am the Red X–a Titan. I am hope. I give strength to those who have none." A proud smile spread across his face. "And I believe in justice, not vengeance." Damian stood tall over the battered, broken man at his feet, having found his way to the light again. Raven would have been proud of him.
"I'm proud of you, son."
Damian looked over his shoulder to see the Batman standing in the doorway from which Deathstroke had entered the room. The Dark Knight smiled at him, giving off waves of pride at his son's words. Damian smiled back, relieved to see that the homing signal had reached him. Bruce took a step into the chamber, then quietly stepped off to the side…
Damian's face went blank, and his eyes opened wide as he recognized the glowing amethyst eyes of the cloaked and hooded figure who walked into the room.
"Raven…?"
Damian immediately turned around, his cape swirling around him as he did so. The girl pulled her hood back, long ebony hair falling around her soft, pale face. She beamed back at him, and they both stepped forward. First they moved in single steps, which turned into a slow shuffle, then a brisk walk, until finally they both broke out into a full-on run, arms pumping and hearts pounding against their chests as Raven leapt into Damian's arms, a brilliant flash of violet enveloping the room as they embraced. Tears streaming from her eyes as well as his, the two Titans leaned in and brought their lips together as Damian lifted Raven up in his arms, her legs coming up around his sides. He tasted like copper, but Raven didn't care–he was gone, and he came back to her. Damian welcomed the familiar taste of rain, and his cheeks began to turn warm and red as she slid back to the ground, her arms sliding in around his neck as he held her body against him, his own arms wrapped around her and settling into the small of her back while they squeezed her gently. She was dead, lost forever. And yet, here she was, alive and well. In that moment, everything was perfect. Damian let the world fade out as he was enveloped in Raven's presence…
His eyes crashed open as he felt the sting of metal lodge itself into his back, its razor-sharp tip just barely penetrating his heart.
When he came back to reality, Wilson had pulled himself to his feet, and his hand was flat against Damian's back, pressing a concealed wrist-mounted blade into Damian's from behind. The Titan's body went limp as the blade slid quickly back out, and he fell to the ground, Raven dropping to her knees in front of him. She screamed out in horror, but was cut off as Slade kicked her away, pulling out a pistol that Damian, in his unyielding rage, hadn't bothered to look for on his thigh. The old man pulled back the hammer, and aimed the barrel of the gun right between Damian's eyes.
"You little fool…" Slade hissed, his chest smeared with blood. "You'd almost won the day, hadn't you? You had me on the ground at your mercy, and I'll admit: I was tempted to give in, beg for death like you wanted… but you just have too much heart for your own good now, don't you boy? You just had to be the better man, let the villain live on the principle that all lives, no matter how destructive and cruel, are inherently precious…" A foul grin stretched across Deathstroke's blood-soaked lips. "Well… see how much your virtue is worth now. Goodbye."
Just as the soldier went to pull the trigger and blow the Titan away, a black razor-edged object, in the shape of a bat, lodged itself in front of the hammer. The gun went off, bursting in Wilson's hand and falling to the side. Grunting loudly in anger, Deathstroke grabbed Damian by his hair and raised his other hand, preparing to drive the wrist-blade right through the boy's head… But dropped the dying crusader back to the floor as a bullet tore through his head, a vicious mess of blood, skull fragments, and brain matter bursting out the other end behind it as the lifeless corpse Deathstroke the Terminator fell to the side.
Batman turned to see Talia al Ghul standing in the doorway, smoke still rising from the barrel of her gun.
"Azar, no…" Raven's voice was quiet and shaky as she scrambled to her Damian's side, gathering him up in her arms. He looked up at her with tired eyes as he pulled off his mask and dropped it to the floor, his fingers gently lighting upon her cheek as she whimpered.
"Raven… God, you're actually… you're here, you're alive…" Damian sighed, a peaceful smile finding its place on his lips. "I love you so much… so much, Raven…"
"I'm right here, Damian…" Raven smiled back at him weakly. "I… I love you too…" She knew she wouldn't be able to save him; her healing powers were impressive, but even she wouldn't be able to repair the damage soon enough. There was nothing she could do.
Talia moved forward, but was stopped by an arm raised by Bruce. "In a minute…" he whispered. "Let them say their goodbyes… just in case it doesn't work." The woman nodded, moving in closer to the Batman as the two of them looked on.
"Hey… what day is it…?" Damian asked quietly, all but ignoring the pain in his chest and back. "Is… is it the 30th yet?" He reached into his belt, pulling out the wad of shipping paper in his pocket.
Raven nodded, a sad smile on her face as she helped him unwrap the brooch. She recognized it right away, and more tears welled up in her eyes. "Damian, I… oh my God, baby… you remembered…"
"Happy… Happy Anniversary, Raven…" Damian nestled his head against her chest, his cheeks flushing just barely as blood continued to trickle slowly but steadily from his back. "Y'know, I still…" he let out a weak laugh. "… I still wanna teach you how to slow-dance…"
Raven smiled down at her Damian, doing everything she could to hold herself together as her shadow slowly grew across the floor. "Yeah, Damian. Yeah, I want you to teach me…" Raven's hand slid down from the boy's face down the length of his torso, her fingers dipping into the pocket of his belt and pulling out the little black box. "Do you think… do you think maybe you could teach me for…"
Damian smiled down at the box, and reached up with a trembling hand to open it, pulling out the diamond ring inside as Raven's right hand slid back into place holding him up. "… yeah. Yeah, I think we can… we'll dance at our… at our wedding..." Raven held out her left hand, and he carefully slid the band onto her ring finger. The tears continued to stream down Raven's cheeks, and her leaned down and took his lips with hers once more. Damian's hand fell to the cold floor as his consciousness faded, his heartbeat coming to a complete stop as he let out one last breath. Raven pulled away and put her hand to his face, and her shadow stretched across the length of the chamber, reaching out and covering the ruins in darkness. His skin had already gone cold.
Bruce and Talia quickly moved forward, the latter gently pulling Raven away as the former took his son's lifeless form into his arms, movingly swiftly towards the glowing green waters to the side. Raven let Talia help her to her feet in confusion.
"Wh… what are you doing with him?" the half-demon stammered through her shock as the Dark Knight stepped down into the large tub, wading further into the liquid.
"We don't have much time," Talia spoke fast, taking Raven by the hand and pulling her forward to the water's edge. "This is a Lazarus pit. It can restore Damian's body, but only if it's effect takes hold before brain-death."
Bruce lowered Damian's body into the waters, letting it float gently forward before sinking down beneath the surface. As the Batman climbed back out, he turned to the girl with a stern look in his eyes. "Raven, listen very carefully. I need you to focus your healing magic on the waters, to try to amplify their potency. I don't know if it'll work, but… please. I need you to try. For him."
Raven nodded before closing her eyes, dropping to her knees and stretching her hands out over the pit. "Mother of Azarath, I beseech You… hear the plea of Your faithful Handmaiden," she prayed. "Mother Spirit of the Nether Realm, look down upon Your servants this hour. Reach out with Your hand and bless these mystic waters with Your healing touch, and breathe life back into the body of Your servant therein. Azarath…"
Bruce placed a hand on Raven's back, the other hand taking hold of Talia's as he closed his eyes and joined in. "Metrion…"
Talia's eyes slid closed as the word manifested itself in her mind, and she let it escape her lips in unison with the two beside her. "Zinthos."
As the words sounded through the chamber, the waters of the Lazarus pit began to swirl, changing from the glowing green color to a shimmering purple as Damian's body remained beneath the surface, unmoving on the chamber floor. After a moment, the amethystine waters fell still, and Damian still did not move. Raven watched with bated breath, begging for him to open his eyes, lift his head, twitch his fingers. Anything to indicate life. But as the seconds stretched out like years, the body below stayed perfectly still.
He was gone.
Raven slowly let out a trembling exhale, and fell onto Bruce's side as the hiss of her breath gave way to a quiet, defeated whine, which broke apart into sobs as Raven cried weakly, turning away and curling up into Bruce's arms, the room growing ever darker as her shadow deepened. The Batman pulled his mask off, and tears began to form in his own eyes as he pulled Raven closer, and he felt Talia's hand light upon his shoulder, her other hand covering her mouth as her eyes went wide in disbelief.
"Raven…" Bruce whispered. "Raven, I'm so sorry… I tried…"
Just as Damian's father let the words escape his lips, the boy's mother brought herself lot to the ground, her eyes never turning away from the body down below as she let out a ragged, devastated scream, which reverberated throughout the chamber. Bruce reached over, pulling her in as she clung to his body, and the three of them sat there at the edge of the waters, Raven and Talia unable to stop their weeping as Bruce stared down at his son. He swore he'd never let it happen again; he swore that, as long as there was life in his chest, Damian would never see his death again. But he failed.
As the three felt the weight of their worlds come down upon them, Damian opened his eyes.
All at once, a blinding purple light blazing from his eyes, Damian burst out from beneath the waters, screaming and writhing in hysteria. The three snapped back to reality, shocked to see the young man still alive as he swiped frenziedly at the waters, gasping and shrieking as he struggled to make sense of his surroundings.
"Raven, reach out to him!" Bruce shouted. "He needs someone to calm him down, bring him back to his senses! Go!" Without another word, Raven jumped forward out of Bruce's arms, coming down in the water right in front of her Damian. As he continued to howl in his madness, the mage-girl took his head in her hands and reached out to his mind.
"Damian, Listen to me! It's Raven, okay? It's your Raven!" the witch-girl's words echoed through the rift between them and into Damian's mind. "It's okay now, Damian! Everything is alright!"
Damian continued to thrash, his hands grasping Raven's arms as he jerked about, and Raven kept on.
"Hey! Listen to me, you're okay! You're okay, baby…" Raven's mental voice softened as she saw him begin to ease his struggles, his screeching dying down into panicked whines. "Hey, hey listen to my voice. Think, think back. Do you remember Christmas? This past Christmas, we were all alone in the Tower… we went out in the snow, walked through the park…"
As Damian's iron grip on Raven's arms softened his flailing gradually ceased, and his voice dropped into a whimper. In her mind, Raven could hear echoes of that December night as he tried to remember.
"There you go, my baby…" Raven cooed into his mind as eyes squeezed shut, and a saccharine smile formed on her lips. "And then we went out to the pond… we went to the pond, and it had frozen over. Then we went skating on the ice… can you remember the song I played for you? Try to remember…"
Damian's head hung low as his whole body trembled, and Raven heard his voice quiet in the back of her mind. "I… I-I…"
Raven knew it was working. "That's right, Damian. Try to remember for me…" Raven pulled her boy closer, and pressed her lips to his head. "Can you sing the song for me? Try to remember the words, love…" She felt him fumbling for words in his mind, and she knew he was on the cusp of coming back down… So she did the only thing she could think of.
"Remember the words… 'And Iiiiii…'" she let her voice carry the melody into Damian's mind. "'had a feeling that I belonged…'"
Damian's hands slowly trailed down to Raven's back, his fingers tightening around her cape. "… 'And Iiiiii…'" Raven's cheeks turned bright red as she heard his voice. "… 'had a feeling I could be someone…'" he sang shakily in Raven's head as he pulled her closer, burying his face in the crook of her neck.
"'Be someone…'" Raven's lips brushed gently against Damian's cheek as her voice joined in in their minds, singing softly together as the memory of spinning around on the frozen pond in the snow played back in their minds. "'Be someone…'"
Damian lifted his head and looked into Raven's eyes, his smile shaking on his lips as his eyelids hung low. Their eyes closed, and the song started again from the beginning in their minds as the two brought their lips together once more. The tastes of smoke and rain filled their senses as lips and tongues came together tenderly, drowning out the rest of the world as the purple in the waters around them rose into the air as twinkles of light, giving off the appearance of amethyst stars in space as they swirled around the two floating up out of the Lazarus pit, which now returned to its original green color.
Watching them from the water's edge, Talia placed her hand on Bruce's arm. "Beloved…" she whispered. "Who is this girl?"
Bruce smiled as he let his opposite hand light atop hers. "Her name is Raven Roth…" he whispered back. "and as of a few minutes ago, she's our son's fiancée."
"Fiancée?" She asked, looking over at Bruce's face. "Bruce, he's only fifteen years old."
Bruce chuckled low in his throat. "Maybe on the outside… but he's more an adult than either of us could have hoped he'd be by now." He looked back at Damian's mother with a smile. "And she's no different. She's family now."
Talia looked back silently for a moment. "… and what of me? Am I family, Beloved…?"
Bruce put his arm around the jade-eyed woman beside him and held her tight. "You're Damian's mother, Talia. The mother of my son. We might never agree on everything, but you'll always be a part of our family."
Talia smiled and looked up at her son, who appeared to be lost in his own Beloved's eyes. She recalled being lost in his father's eyes the same way once, and she sighed. "… I've disbanded the League of Assassins."
Bruce looked down at Talia in shock. "You what?"
Talia looked up at the Batman, her sincerity showing on fear face. "You were right, Bruce. It was for the best that the League die with my father. As much as I miss him, I know he was wrong. And I…" the woman paused, forcing down the lump in her throat. "… I want to be part of Damian's life again. I want to be a better mother to him. Even if you don't want me as your wife, I just want…"
Bruce wrapped his arms around Talia, pulling the woman in close. "You don't have to say anything else. We'd love to have you back in our lives. Come to the Manor, stay with me. You'll always be welcome… I promise you."
Talia smiled, closing her eyes and leaning into Bruce's embrace. She put her arms around him, and knew she'd made the right decision. Her place was here now. Her son, her Beloved… they were her home.
