Setting: Post!Apokalips War, new timeline AU

Inspired by: Comic by chromium7sky and all the Super!Rae fanart xD

"Do we know that this will work for sure?"

"It'll work." Violet eyes looked into green before the gaze was averted, letting a sigh of concern leave the young man's lips. There were many uncertainties, many questions lingering in the air. As it was expected after everything they had gone through. They've had one hell of a time, after all. But there was something else, too.

"Would you rather have the world as it is right now?" She then asked again after a moment, placing her hand over his and bringing his eyes back to her.

"I- Of course not," he stuttered and took a quick look at the people- the survivors around them before locking his eyes with hers once more. "I just- We only just got each other back. I don't want to lose you again." His brows furrowed, he tried his best to hide the immense pain in his chest that he felt just thinking about it. But he knew she felt it regardless. She always did. A sigh escaped her lips as well.

"I know," she mumbled and looked over at the water before them, her lips curling into a sad smile. "But- We found each other in this timeline. I'm sure we can find each other again in another."

He looked at her in somewhat of an awe and surprise of how lightly she seemed to take the situation at hand and before he even knew it, he released an incredulous chuckle.

"How do you know that?"

"I don't." A simple shrug and a gentle squeeze on his hand as she could see Flash preparing to start his run from the corner of her eyes. "All I can do is hope."

And a whoosh sound went past them. That's how they all knew these were their last moments together like this and it brought a tear in her eyes. As fucked up as the world turned out to be, she had loved so much of it. She found friends, found family, she found love. And all of that would be gone in a blink of an eye. Even if it was for a better future, she couldn't help but to feel sad about losing all the positives that she had gained during her stay here.

"Raven-" his voice brought her back from her thoughts and she looked at him teary-eyed, noticing the sadness in his own eyes as well- "what if we can't find each other in the new timeline? This new- Flashpoint?" The thought of her not being able to find him pained her to the point that it felt like her heart had just gotten pierced by a dagger, but she had to remain hopeful. She had to.

"Dum spiro spero, Damian," the girl spoke through her tears and lifted her free hand to caress his cheek. "While I breathe, I hope."

"Dum spiro spero," he repeated in a whisper in an almost desperate thought that speaking those words out loud would help to make it come true and slowly leaned in until their lips touched for their first and their last kiss in this timeline as the world around them slowly disappeared in a bright light…

Deep breath…

Be calm…

You can do it…

Violet eyes slowly opened as she took in the scenery before her. It was definitely much different than Metropolis. Darker. More grim. Filled with so many negative emotions. Fear, hatred, greed… She hadn't arrived too long ago and she already hated being here. But she had set her mind on doing this and, well, she was already here, so there was no backing down now. Sporting the signature look of her family, Raven roamed about along the rooftops of this godforsaken city in hopes of attracting the kind of attention she came here for. And she didn't have to wander around for too long before she heard that very familiar deep voice behind her.

"You're far away from home, kid."

She wasn't startled or afraid of the man in the slightest, so she turned around to face him as if she had expected him.

"I didn't know how else to contact you," the girl responded confidently.

Sure, he wasn't the friendliest of superheroes she knew. In fact, most people, sometimes even his own friends, were afraid of him. And while, yes, he did give off this dreadful vibe, Raven was more- curious. There was a sense of familiarity with him and she felt comfortable enough around him.

"Well- Not without Superman finding out about it, anyway," she added in once his silence told her that her response wasn't extensive enough. Of course, there were other ways to contact Batman. But not without someone else's help. Which is exactly what she didn't need this time.

"Why are you here then?" Brief with his words, as always, the masked vigilante stepped out of the darker corner of the rooftop.

And that's when she froze for a moment. Like she hadn't thought of even getting this far. Suddenly doubting if it had been a good idea to come here after all. Was this the right thing to do? Behind Clark's back? Not telling anyone? Not trying a different alternative and just going straight to Batman? Who was currently looking right at her, expecting an answer-

"I- I wanted to ask for your help in finding someone," Raven stammered a bit at first, but found her confidence again towards the end of her sentence.

"There are legal ways to do that."

"Not for someone who's got no legal records on the entire planet," she was quick to respond, but stopped for a brief moment before elaborating with a sigh. "Look, all I got is a fake ID and fake adoption papers. As far as the law is concerned, I didn't exist until I was fourteen. And even for someone who was born on Earth and dropped at an orphanage as an infant, it could take years to- to find your actual family, so… Please. All I want is a chance."

Batman looked intently at her, putting the puzzle pieces together the more she spoke. He didn't say anything- did he ever?- only hummed in thought. Sure, he could ask her why she didn't just go to Clark and Lois for this. They were renowned reporters, very much capable of helping her. But she had made it clear that she didn't want Clark to know she was even in Gotham right now, meaning she probably didn't want them to know anything at all about this. A foster child looking for their blood related family not wanting to tell their foster family about it to not hurt their feelings? He'd seen that all too many times before. Some with less happy endings than others.

"You've been on Earth for how many years? Why now?" His raspy voice then finally broke the silence, startling her just a little bit. Of course, she had expected a question like that to pop up. But truth to be told, she had no solid answer for it. Or, what could be considered a solid answer, anyway. There were many things she could tell him in response. That she wanted to know if she had any blood relatives on Earth at all. That her mother had been an adopted child herself and she wanted to do this for her. Or that she could never go back to Azarath because it got destroyed and she missed her mother, even though they were never truly allowed to have a proper mother-daughter relationship, so she was seeking a way to somehow connect with her through others of her bloodline. Or that there was just something constantly missing in her life and she felt like she was always searching for something- someone, not even knowing what or who that was, so she was hoping that finding family would perhaps quench this feeling. But- It was all so complicated, even for her.

"I just want to know." That was a simpler answer.

Raven shrugged and hid her hands behind her back, thinking for a brief moment as her gaze grew distant, not focusing on anything in particular. "I'd like to think that getting to know both sides of my family would do me good."

A part of that was true, too. All she ever really was recognized as by those who didn't know her was the demon's daughter. A hellspawn, born to an interdimensional beast that almost destroyed this world just like he had done with countless others, had her adoptive family and the heroes of Earth not intervened and helped her stop him. Having a nice, quiet, normal family somewhere sounded nice sometimes. But again, it wasn't the main reason.

The Bat's "hm" almost sounded like a growl as he contemplated the sincerity of Raven's explanation, unsure if he should trust it or not. Well, she didn't blame him for not trusting her. Not a lot of people did. Her eyes returned to observing the masked man before her in anticipation of his response. Luckily, however, she didn't have to wait for too long. Glancing sideways for a second as if hearing something, he looked back to her and swiftly turned around.

"Follow me," he said as he started making his way to the edge of the roof. "It's not wise to parade around Gotham with that "S" on your chest."

"It's- not an "S"..." The girl mumbled quietly under her nose, but quickly levitated after him as the two of them got down into one of the many dark alleyways where he'd hidden the Batmobile. It was for the best not to argue with him since he seemed like having agreed to her plea, even if he didn't outright say it.

It wasn't a no either.