Thanks for the follows, favs, and reviews

theteaisscalding: I'm happy that you love it!. Here is the next update! I know! But it will be a while until Dick finds out. More Dick's and Aliza's scenes are coming up.

blackorchid333: I like the name. I'm glad that you are caught up on everything and that you are excited about the sequel. I hope that you like it!

Guest111: Thanks. I'm happy that you think so. Don't worry; you will learn about it. And I'm glad that you love Aliza's and Damian's scenes. Don't worry, there will be more Dick's and Aliza's scenes.

sophia bellissimo12: Thanks! Glad you do!

Everyone: Stay safe, be happy and happy reading.

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#JusticeforVanessaGuillan

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#StoptheHate

#Peaceandsoildary

A/N: DamiRae 2021 Zine

There is a Damirae 2021 zine (a fan magazine) that is out. It contains exclusive fanart and fanfiction. Check the info out on Tumblr if you're interested in it.

A/N: about the story

1. To be honest, I am having trouble with this story. Issues one - five, there are too many characters. To say that Batman is a loner, he has a lot of people in Gotham and the Batfamily.

2. I haven't decided on the pace of the story yet: if it's going to be a slow burn or fast pace. I'm leaning towards the burn at the moment with some fast pace scenes.

3. Raven is going to be stuck in the void for a while.

4. I'm taking information from multiple comic books and timelines for each character. So, if you read the comics, bear with me.

SAFE: Chapter 4

What are you talking about?

"I'm all done." Tim said excitedly. He spent these past five days of quarantine mapping out Aliza's room. It was quite interesting. The room was an ever-changing maze.

It had the ability to sense intent. As long as the person had good thoughts, the person could move freely in the forest maze. However, if a person's thoughts were evil or if it sensed that Aliza was in danger, then it would become a permanent maze for that person.

"It was fascinating. It was as if the maze was a living being."

"Great. Maybe now you can actually listen to your girlfriend complain." His girlfriend's voice came over the earpiece in his ear.

"Sorry, Stephanie, but this is amazing. You should see it. The forest maze looks so natural. A person could spend days here without knowing that they were lost."

He would have been one of those people if Aliza hadn't come down to kick him out of her room.

"Now, all I have to do is figure out how she created -"

"Tim, you know that I think that it's sexy when you go nerdy on me, but this isn't the time."'

"Sorry," he said, shutting down his computer on his wrist. "What were you saying?"

"You know what…. never mind. I'll talk to Cass about it. I'll talk with you later."

"Wait, I'm sorry. I should've been listening. What did you want to talk about?"

"You know what I want to talk about?"

He groaned inward. Of course, she would want to talk about that.

"Stephanie, I don't know if this is a good time. There is a lot that is going on."

"Then when will be a good time? When one of us is dead like Bruce?"

He gasped as she immediately apologized. "I'm sorry, Tim. I didn't mean it like that. You know that his death hit me hard as well."

He knew that. He was positive that it was the reason why she was bringing up this topic after letting it rest for eight months. However, there is one thing that was bothering him about her comment.

"He isn't dead, Steph."

"It was a slip of the tongue. Sorry."

He wondered if she was or if she truly felt that way. The others walked around the house like it was true. That was why he liked being in Aliza's room. He didn't have to interact with others. He didn't have to see their grief.

"It's fine. Let's get back to the topic. I thought that we agreed to wait." He said, taking in the forest as he walked around.

"You pressured me into agreeing to wait. If I had it my way, we would have been married by now.

"We would have been married the next day that you proposed to me."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Your mom would have killed us."

"No, she loves me. She would have killed you."

"Your mom loves me too."

"Hmm."

He stopped in his tracks. "Your mom doesn't like me?"

"She highly respects you."

"That's not answering the question."

"And you are redirecting us from the topic."

"Fine but I can't believe your mom doesn't like me. I'm the best thing in your life."

"Tim!"

"Okay." He remained silent as he thought about it. He loved Stephanie. He really did but he wasn't sure if he was ready to get married to her. They were still young. Besides, none of his brothers-in-bat were married.

"How about-"

"Tim! Tim! Where are you?" The sound of Jason's voice cut him off. "Tim!"

"Steph, I have to go. I think that there is trouble."

"Wait, Tim. What-" Tim hung up and sighed with relief. Why was he so hesitant to set a date for their wedding? They haven't even told the others that they were engaged yet. The only other person that knew was Cass, who rarely talked.

"Tim!" He sighed and ran to a clearing in the forest before releasing his grappler gun toward the balcony. He swung up and landed on the balcony in front of Jason.

"What's wrong?" He asked Jason, who walked past him to look down at the forest.

"Nothing. How is it down there?"

He sighed and walked next to Jason and glanced down as well. "Beautiful. ."

"Hmmm. On a scale between 1 to 10, what are the chances that she is Bruce's daughter."

Tim groaned. "How many times are you going to ask that?"

"Until we get a DNA result or Alfred calls back. Besides, you were the one that planted the thought in our heads."

"Well, we aren't getting those results soon. Alfred isn't picking up our call, and the computers here won't even read her DNA." Which frustrated him to no end. Why was Bruce so bent to protect her identity and from what? She was a mystery with no clues.

"Fine. The next question if she is Bruce's daughter then who is going to take care of her?"

Tim's eyes connected with Jason's. "Bruce is still alive."

"And if he isn't? Someone has to look after her. Alfred isn't getting younger either."

Tim glanced back over the balcony. "What about Damian? He's also underage."

"Did you really just say that? " Jason clicked his tongue. "That kid can take care of himself. Besides, he has Dick."

Quietness engulfed the room as the words shook them. Who did they have?

Although they all got along and watched each other backs, especially during life or death situations, he and Jason understood that there were limits and boundaries. They would never have the connection that Dick and Damian had. One that they had formed when there were Batman and Robin.

Then again, maybe he felt some way.

It was Dick who easily took the mantle of Robin from him and gave it to Damian even though they were close. And although he got the mantle returned back to him years later, he still felt some resentment towards Dick.

As for Jason, they had built a bond over the years, but Jason was an outlaw. He was either getting into trouble or running from trouble. Tim wasn't sure when he could or couldn't depend on him.

Stephanie would've been the perfect person to lean on. But what if they broke up or worse.

He gripped the rail of the balcony tighter. Bruce was the only-

"Hey, Jason."

"Yea?"

"If something happens to you, I got your back if you got my back." Their eyes met for a second before Jason replied.

"I will agree on one condition."

"What's that?"

"I get to be your best man at your wedding to Steph." He stared at Jason, shocked. "I saw the ring in your draw." Jason explained, turning to leave the room and him behind.

Tim followed after him. "What were you doing in my room?"

"Quarantine. I had to pass the time somehow when I wasn't doing puzzles. Don't worry; I won't tell the others ...for a fee, of course."

Yup, I definitely can't depend on Jason. If only Connor hadn't died.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Batwing asked, flying in the night sky. He was searching for the high-ranking criminal leader that he saw running from the building.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Batgirl said from his back. It was quicker to search for the criminal with Batwing this way.

"You know exactly what I am talking about." He turned sideways to avoid a building, causing her to tighten her grip on him.

"No, I don't. There." She pointed to a fast-moving car that was driving down the street recklessly.

Batwing started to descend, catching up with the car. "So you are going to act like you didn't call out someone else's name while we were together?"

Batgirl flipped off his back and landed on the top of the car. The thump she made caused the criminals in the car to open fire. She slid to the trunk of the car and knocked out a window. She grabbed a criminal by his collar and threw him from the car. She hopped on top of another moving vehicle, which was moving in the opposite direction, to avoid the bullets that followed.

"Oh that. I don't think that this is a good time to talk about it." In fact, she didn't think that there was ever going to be a good time for that conversation. She didn't ever want to talk about it. She had been embarrassed when she did it. And she was still embarrassed now. But most of all, she was confused about what it meant.

"Then when will it be?" Batwing threw a disk at the hood of the car, causing it to shut down. The criminal tried to start it. After a few tries, they abandoned the car.

"Look," Batwing continued as he followed the criminal from the sky as they ran into an alley that was near the street. "I'm not upset about it...Okay, a little but it happens."

"So, have you ever done it before?" Batgirl asked, jumping off the hood of another car onto the sidewalk. She raced toward the alley.

"Twice. Same name with different women." He said, landing at the end of the alley, in front of the criminals. She could hear the bullets bounce off his suit from her earpiece.

Batgirl stopped running as she entered the alley. Batwing had the criminals tied up. "Who was the girl's name that you call?"

"We are getting off-topic. This is about you, not me."

"Fine. What do you want me to say?" She stopped next to him. Their eyes connected.

"I just want you to tell me the truth about what you are feeling."

"It's -"

"Batgirl, Batwing. How is it going?" Dick Grayson's voice came through the earpiece, causing her to flush. It had been his name that she had called out while she was with Luke.

Her eyes shifted downward from Luke as she allowed for their com to be connected with Dick's. "It's going well." She answered. "We got the boss and his crew all tied up." She glanced toward the struggling criminals.

"Good. I was just checking in since you and Batwing are the only ones in the field now." She nodded as she watched Batwing move in front of the criminals.

Thanks to Huntress contracting the virus, the other members of the Batfamily who were with her that night were now placed under quarantine. Luckily, none of them showed symptoms. Only Huntress was sick.

Yet, what surprised them the most was that it was Catwoman who was taking care of her.

"We got this." She moved closer to the criminals.

"I know. Just...just stay safe."

"We will." She replied. She knew why he was worried. He was like this before when they thought that Batman was dead in the past.

She wished that she could be closer to him to offer him more comfort and support but due to the virus, it wasn't possible.

"I'll call you later on tonight," she said.

"I'll look forward to it."

She smiled. "Love you."

"Love you too, Barbs. Bye." A warm feeling settled into her chest, then she realized where she was and who else was listening.

Her eyes flew to Luke. She and Dick had forgotten that he was on the same line as them. She heard a click and knew that Luke turned off the com so that Dick couldn't hear them.

"You're right. This isn't the time to talk about this. I don't think you even know the answer to my question. Or, maybe you are not able to admit it to yourself."

Her face flushed. He was right; she wasn't ready to admit the truth. However, before she could respond to his words, a struggling criminal shouted out.

"Let us go. We don't know anything."

"I don't think that is true," Luke replied. "I think that you know something."

"If we did, we wouldn't tell you," another criminal said.

"Is that so? Well, at least we are on the same page. Because I'm not here to ask questions, that is her job." Batwing pointed to Batgirl. "I'm just here to listen."

"Don't worry." Batgirl cracked her knuckles and moved her head from side to side as she stood above the criminal. "I'm sure you will give Batwing a lot to listen to soon."

Dick ended the connection with Barbara and glanced at the time. He wondered what was taking Jason so long. He had asked him to gather everyone in the house and he had yet to return.

He pushed off the kitchen counter and took two steps when he stopped. He watched as Aliza phased through the floor and entered the kitchen. Her back was towards him as she opened the refrigerator.

For a moment, he was taken back into the past.

Rachael phased into his house with carry-out in her hands. She smiled at him. His heart thumped.

The sound of the fridge closing brought him back to the presence. He found Alize staring at him.

He smiled as he glanced down at the container in her hands. "It's too early for ice cream. We haven't eaten dinner yet."

She stared at him without saying anything. She hugged the ice cream tighter. She shook her head.

He walked toward her and bent down in front of her with a gentle smile on his face. "How about you hand me the ice cream, and we can eat it after dinner."

"I'm not a kid. I'm old enough to decide when I want to eat ice cream."

He raised an eyebrow. Her personality completely puzzled him. One moment, she was a silent, shy angel, who sat there and observed her surroundings. The next moment, she was defiant and stubborn. He could clearly see why she would spend her time with Damian.

"An adult would know not to eat ice cream before dinner."

"Jason eats it before breakfast."

"Which proves my point. You can eat it after dinner."

She shook her head. "There is only a little left. If I don't eat it now, then one of the others will eat it."

"Let me see."

She slowly opened the container to reveal a two spoon full worth of ice cream. Whoever ate it last could have eaten the rest.

He put his hand over hers and closed the lid. "Look, I wouldn't let anyone else eat it. And tomorrow you and I can go buy some ice cream, okay?" They were running low on food anyway.

She didn't answer but she slowly offered the ice cream to him. He took it and smiled at her. She didn't return it.

Instead, she said, "If you break your word, it will be the last thing you do."

Dick blinked. Did she just threaten me?

"Grayson, I hope that this doesn't take long." Dick looked at the door to the kitchen to see the members of the family enter.

He didn't reply to Damian, not knowing how long it would take. He stood to his full height and opened the fridge.

He was about to place it in when Jason said, "Don't put it up. I want to eat the rest."

He couldn't see Aliza's face as he continued to place the ice cream in the fridge, yet he could feel her deadly gaze. And I thought that Damian got his evil glare from his mother's side.

"Sorry. The ice cream belongs to Aliza after she eats her dinner." He turned around to see Jason and Tim sitting at the island while Damian leaned against a wall. Aliza started to phase through the floor when he stopped her.

"Stay. You are part of the family now. This meeting includes you."

She stared at him for a moment before deciding to phase back completely into the kitchen. He gave her a kind smile. "Good, you can sit beside Tim."

She looked toward Tim, who patted the empty stool beside him. She floated to the stool and sat down.

He walked on the other side of the island, opposite of the others. He took in a deep breath. "I want to talk about Bruce." He watched as the people in front of him straightened up. "We don't know if Bruce is alive or not. However, I thought it would be good if we talk about it. Get some of our pain out so that we can heal."

Those who held the mantle of Robin glanced at each other. Talking about their feelings was never a Robin's strong point. But the conversation that he overheard between Aliza and Damian compelled him to have this one.

"Look, I went through plenty of therapy to know this isn't helpful. I'm out." Jason stood up. "And before you ask; I'm good."

"I'm out as well." Tim said, standing up. "You only do this when people are dead."

Dick looked toward Damian who shook his head. He pushed off the wall and headed towards the door with the others.

He groaned inward.I knew this was a bad idea.

"Candy corn." They all turned to Aliza who wrapped her arms around her legs. "He hated candy corn but he would always eat them with me when he came to visit."

Each one of the Robins' eyes met with each other. This was the first time they heard her talk about Bruce.

"I like those times because he would tell me stories until I fell asleep. Sometimes, he would sing." A small smile graced her face as the others looked at each other again. No one knew that Batman could sing let alone heard him sing. "He would always sing 'Am I Blue?'. Mom said that was the only song that he knew. I-" They watched tears swell up in her eyes.

"Hamburgers." They all turned towards Jason, who spoke quickly. Aliza's tears paused. "We ate hamburgers together. It was the first meal that we had together after I tried to steal the wheels off the batmobile." He chuckled. "We had a truce. When there were burgers around we would be civil with each other. It was also how we apologize."

There was a brief pause.

"Sushi." They turned to Tim. "After a bad mission, we would make sushi rolls together and talk until I felt better. One time we made a hundred rolls. We ate sushi for the next two days." Tim grinned. "They were terrible."

"We ate pizza." Damian offered up. "One night we made Alfred upset and he wouldn't cook for us a whole week so we ate pizza. Since then, we would eat pizza once a month. "

"What did you do to make Alfred upset?" Jason asked. "Even I never made him that upset, and I used to get in a lot of trouble. Still do."

"I don't want to talk about it." Damian's eyes shifted toward a wall.

"Oh, okay." Tim said before turning towards Dick. "What about you?"

"Peanuts." Dick said softly. "We would eat peanuts twice a year. On the death anniversary of our parents." His eyes connected with Aliza. "We also ate candy corn often because he knew that my parents and I used to eat them together before they died."

"Candy corn is the best," Aliza said softly.

He agreed. "Candy corn is the best."

Raven laid in the white void, ignoring the repetitive voice of Bruce. She was mentally exhausted. She tried every spell that she could think of to get out of the void, yet she remained stuck.

Bruce's voice wasn't helping either.

She signed, rolling over to her side. She pulled out the necklace around her neck and stared out.

"Ric." She whispered, studying the black jade stone that was encased by small rubies, which created a small raven. It helped her to feel calm and at peace as well as bought back wonderful memories of her time with Ric Gray.

She smiled as memories of the two of them together came forward. From their dates to their quiet moments where they laid in each other's arms.

Her hands clenched around the necklace, blocking it from her view. A tear rolled down her eye. As always, along with the joy that her necklace brought, it also brought along sadness.

Ric had been away from her too suddenly. If it wasn't for Aliza and the small family that included Trent, Slade, and Bruce. She wouldn't have made it.

Las Vegas

4 Nights Ago

A horn honked behind Alfred as he drove slowly down the street. He ignored it while his eyes scanned the street.

The dot on the tracking device indicated that the boy was nearby. However, he didn't see anyone who matched the description of the photo. He sighed as he came to a stop at the stoplight.

If the boy wasn't on the street then that meant he was in one of the buildings. That meant that he would have entered them and asked around, possibly alerting someone else that may be looking for him.

This is taking longer than expected.

The orphan had moved quicker than he had expected. Although, the tracking device helped. It wasn't always dependable. There were days that the boy's signal would be lost and he had to wait for it to reappear.

Luckily, he had been waiting in Las Vegas when the signal had resurfaced two hours ago. He had predicted that the boy would go to a big city. Runaways always do.

The light turned green.

"Good heaven."

He watched as a group of men chased after a boy. In front and beside him, angry honks flared as drivers cursed at them for crossing the road illegally.

A second later, those same drivers cursed and honked at him. Alfred made an illegal U-turn. He drove past the group that crossed the road illegally. He turned right, stopped at the corner of the street, and unlocked the doors of his Bentley Arnage. He rolled down the window on the passenger side and shouted, "Get in!"

He watched the boy pick up his speed and dashed towards the car. Seconds later, he opened the door, slid inside the car, and closed the car door behind him.

Alfred sped off down the street after locking the doors. He drove through the roads of Vegas listening to the heavy breathing of the boy in the back seat. When he took the exit to leave the city and head to Gotham, he spoke.

"Long night, Master Thomas? I saw that you made some friends while you were in the city." They stared at each other through the rearview mirror.

"They aren't my friends. But yea, it's been a long night, Penny One."

"You know who I am?" Alfred's eyes frequently moved to and from the rearview mirror.

"I don't make it a habit of jumping into peoples' cars just because they yell 'get 'in. No matter how nice the car is."

"That's good to know that you know the basic rule for stranger danger."

He heard the boy sigh and watched as he looked outside of the window. "Is it true? He's gone?"

Alfred closed his eyes briefly before reopening them. "We believed so."

"So, what now?"

"We continue on. That is what he would have wanted." They were quiet as he drove in silence.

For the next ten miles, he focused on the road. He paid attention to the cars surrounding them and watched out for people that may be following them. He was curious about the boy that Master Wayne told him to fetch but remained quiet. Master Thomas would speak when he wanted to.

"Penny One."

"Yes, Master Thomas?"

"Just Duke is fine."

"Yes, Master Thomas." He turned to merge onto an interstate.

The boy chuckled. "Fine. Why did you come searching for me?"

"Master Wayne asked me to. He thought it would be safer for you. He also hoped that you would work with the others who are in the mask and cape business. If not, he expressed his thought of you staying with Ms. Roth."

"I see."

"What exactly do you see?" He asked, sensing a double meaning to his words.

"A never-ending battle."

"Unfortunately, Master Thomas, he saw the same thing."

Elsewhere

Trent opened his eyes to a wooden ceiling. "Where am I?"

"In the world of the living, fortunately. Your powers from your grandfather saved your life."

Hearing the familiar voice, Trent relaxed. He turned his head. His eyes took in the layout of the small cabin before landing on Slade, who was shaving his face in front of a mirror.

"Where's Talia?"

"Living as well. Your power, unfortunately, shielded her too. She dropped you off here before leaving."

"So I was right; she knew where you were."

Slade rinsed the razor off in the sink. "You are getting better at this."

"I still have a lot to learn."

"Humble as ever. Too bad you are not willing to learn what I want to teach you."

Their eyes connected in the mirror. They had this conversation before. Trent had no plans to abandon his church upbringing again to follow in the footsteps of the man he considered as his father. He had already done it once. His soul still felt tainted from that time even though he knew that his sins were most likely forgiven since he repented.

"Why aren't you in Arazarth?" Slade asking, changing the subject.

"Tia and Bruce have been gone for a long time. Aliza can't feel her."

"Wonderful." Slade dropped the razor in the sink, visibly upset "Where in Aliza?" He asked, turning around.

Trent looked away, ashamed that he hadn't made sure his little cousin was completely safe.

"I left her with Damian, Talia's son. "

"Great." He said, throwing clothes at him. "Come on. You've got enough rest. "

"Are we going to get Aliza?

"No, if Raven and the Bat are gone, we will need someone else's help. She will be fine with the child for now."

Trent nodded. He got up and put on the clothes that were given to him after studying the strange material. "You never said where we were. "

Slade looked at him before opening the door. " See for yourself."

He walked toward the opened door and stopped. He turned to Slade. "What is this ?"