Chapter 8

April 13th, 2017. 4:57 PM.

As the elevator door opened, the five teenagers inside were surprised to find the hallway where they'd left their unconscious friend to be completely empty. Frustrated, Damian tightened his grip on the hilt of his sheathed katana. Raven placed a gentle hand on his back, feeling the anger in him rise.

"What were we thinking… of COURSE he was going to wake up. We just left him here in the middle of the hall like it was no big deal. Now where could he be?" Damian slammed his fist into the wall, the thud echoing through the empty corridor. "I should have known better… I should have already restrained him!"

"Damian, you've got to calm yourself," Raven's hushed voice slid into Damian's ear as she whispered, being cautious not to alert Garfield to their presence. "Getting angry right now is only going to make things worse. Clear your mind…"

"… Find your peace. I know…" Damian shut his eyes for a moment, taking in several cleansing breaths. "I'm trying to do better."

"I know you are," Raven's hand lighted onto Damian's chest, and his heart rate immediately slowed. "Give it time, you're already improving. But for now, we need to focus on finding Beast Boy. Tara, any luck contacting Jaime?"

"Nah, nothing yet," Terra replied, still fiddling with her communicator. "Y'know, this would probably be easier if we just all gave each other our phone numbers."

"Well, not all of us have phones," Jonathan said quietly as he floated past Tara. "I still have to borrow Ms. Kori's tablet every time I wanna call my dad."

"Focus, Titans," Damian growled. "The sooner we find Gar, the better. Let's split up and start searching the Tower. Raven, you and Tara start at the foyer and work your way up. Superboy and I will go to the top and try to find Starfire. Be careful."

"Stay safe, you two," Raven replied, squeezing Damian's hand. Their eyes locked for a moment before Raven and Tara took to the second elevator.

"You said your brother was on his way, right?" Jonathan asked as the elevator door closed before him and Damian. "Do you think that'll be enough? I mean… don't get me wrong, your brother is tough and all, but…"

"I know what you mean. And no, Grayson is definitely not enough," Damian answered grimly. "If he were coming alone, he'd probably get himself killed. That's why I had him bring his fiancée, and why I had him contact your father."

"Wait, what?" Jonathan's eyes widened at this information. "You had him call my dad!? Geez, Dame, do you really think this is that big of a deal?"

"The first time I fought one of these demons, the host body had no powers," Damian began to explain, turning to face his teammate. "By the end of it, I had to blow up the Batwing on them to take them out. These things are dangerous… and now one has control of a metahuman capable of taking on the form of any animal he's ever encountered. Who knows what he'll be capable of?"

"Yeesh… I guess I hadn't thoughta that…" Jonathan rubbed his neck nervously. "… Man, I hope Gar is gonna be alright…"

The elevator doors opened to the roof, where a figure stood in the doorway. Damian, not one to take chances, leapt into action immediately, cracking his foot into the face of the shadow before them.

Damian landed just in time to see Dick Grayson crumple to the floor.

"Agh! Christ, Damian…!" Dick shouted, rubbing his jaw. "It's just us!" Barbara rushed to Dick's side, and she and Damian helped him to his feet.

"Sorry, Richard," Robin apologized quickly, as Dick stumbled finding his footing. "We're all pretty on-edge right now, as you can imagine…" As the boy explained himself, a mighty wind blew across the rooftop, and a blur of red and blue swooped overhead, revealing a familiar red-and-blue clad man floating above the four heroes.

"DAD!" Jon shouted as he rocketed up to meet his father in the sky. Superman quickly wrapped his arms around the boy, holding him tight. "Dad, it's gotten crazy here! Beast Boy turned into a werewolf, and there are demons, and we had to split up, and–"

"Jon! Jon, it's alright now, take a deep breath! I'm right here, pal," Clark spoke in a calm, reassuring tone as he stroked his son's hair. "Everything's gonna be okay, buddy. But we need you to be ready to fight. I know Garfield is your friend, but you have to be ready to give it all you got. Can ya do that?"

Jon shook his head, and looked into his father's eyes, his brow furrowed. "Yes, sir."

"So what's up with you and Robin?"

Raven stopped dead in her tracks, turning to look at Tara with a very confused look.

"Tara… is now really the time to be asking this?"

"Well come on," Markov continued, "you two are always hanging around each other, you're always the first to make sure he's okay, HE's always the first to make sure YOU're okay, and you read together. You READ together. Nobody does that!"

"Damian and I have similar past experiences, so we just sort of… wait. What do you mean, 'nobody does that'?"

"I mean, nobody does that. How do you do the… the pacing?"

Raven shook her head. "We literally read it together. It's a mental thing. We read different characters, and we take turns with the narrative… I've done it with everyone on the team."

Tara crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Well, clearly not EVERYONE."

Raven let out a quiet giggle. "Well, once all this is over, you and I should sit down together and–"

That moment, there came a loud crash from within the walls, and all the lights went out. The power to the whole Tower had been cut. Tara instinctively clutched tightly to Raven's cloak in the pitch black of the corridor.

"… and we can read something together. What do you like to read?"

"Uhh…" Tara thought hard for a moment. "… I like Lewis. Like, Narnia? That guy? He's good."

"Oh, yeah! He's a wonderful writer!" Raven replied excitedly. "Have you ever read The Screwtape Letters?"

"No, but I do have a copy," Tara replied. "I've been meaning to check it out. But like, who even taught you to read like that?"

As if on cue, a bright flash of green broke through the black that surrounded the girls. When they turned to look to the source, they both smiled.

"Actually, I did that," Starfire said calmly. "On Tamaran, it is customary to share your favorite tales with your children or younger comrades as such."

"Kori!" Raven let out a sigh of relief as she walked over to her teacher's side. "Thank Azar you're here! I'm not sure we can handle this on our own…"

"Don't worry, little sister," Kori put her free hand on Raven's shoulder and smiled. "We're going to make sure Garfield is okay. Damian's brother Dick is here, and even Jon's father Superman came along. We're gonna take care of everything."

As Jaime walked through the Hall of Justice, he kept his eyes to the floor. Never had he been this nervous in his life; sure, it was scary facing down all those creeps that came after Raven, but this was the Justice League. THE Justice League. They're like the superhero Hall of Fame; that's pretty intimidating for a kid.

Victor kept his hand on Jaime's shoulder, and guided him through the building, until they came to an elevator in the very back, which took them deep down into what appeared to be some kind of sub-level laboratory. As the two stepped out of the elevator, Jaime froze. There, standing before the enormous computer display, was the Batman.

"Hey, Bats," Vic called, "I got somebody here who wants to talk to you. He's got… questions."

The constant clicking of keys on the keyboard stopped, and the imposing figure turned to face the two. He looked first to Victor, then down to Jaime. He let out a low hmph in acknowledgment, then turned and pressed a few more keys, and the display went dim.

Victor placed a few pats on Jaime's shoulder. "Just relax. As long as you don't piss him off, you got nothin' to worry about." Jaime nodded as Vic left the room.

"So…" Batman said, his voice a low growl in his chest. "Jaime Reyes. That's your name right?"

"Uh, y-yes," Jaime stuttered, standing up straighter. This was actually happening right now. He was talking to Batman. Batman.

The caped figure crossed his arms and leaned up against the computer console. "I've heard a lot about you from Damian… he says you're a valuable teammate. Which is impressive, considering he's never even said that about me."

Jaime couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. "R… really? He said that? Uh, th-umm, thank you."

The two stood in silence for a moment. Then, the Batman reached up, and slowly pulled the cowl off of his head. Jaime stood blinking at his face for a few seconds. Wow… Damian looks just like him.

"So… he's really your kid, huh? That's…"

The man smiled. "It's big. I know," he said, walking forward and placing a hand on Jaime's shoulder. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

"Yeah, I do. I mean…" Jaime rubbed his eyes and shook his head. He had so many questions, where on earth was he supposed to begin. So, after searching his whole brain, he came up with "… who was his mom?"

Bruce cocked a brow as he let out a small chuckle. "Well! Straight to the point, aren't you?" Jaime rubbed his neck nervously, turning a bright shade of red. Bruce crossed his arms and sighed. "It… it happened about fourteen years ago. Her name was Talia…"

Damian's flashlight illuminated the livingroom of Titans Tower just enough for the five in his group to navigate around the furniture without bumping into anything. He was certain that the power outage was Garfield's doing (or rather, whatever the demon was inhabiting Garfield's body), attempting to gain the upper hand and kill them all. It wouldn't be expecting all five of them, but then… the one who took control of Mark Mardon a year ago was able to stand up to Superman… but then again, this wasn't the same Superman. This Superman seemed older… more experienced. Perhaps he would be strong enough to handle Mardon, but Garfield is probably far stronger.

Then again, Damian thought, even I was able to land a solid hit on Logan. Perhaps he's not quite as strong as I've been assuming…?

As this thought went through his mind, a flash of green caught the corner of his eye. On instinct, he reached for his sword and launched himself towards it… but before he had a chance to strike, he found himself enveloped in a familiar dark energy, suspended in the air.

"It's alright, Damian," Raven whispered, her hands raised to focus her magic around the boy. "It's just us."

Damian released his grip on his hilt as Raven lowered him to the ground. "I'm glad you're okay. Have you three found anything yet?"

"You mean aside from claw marks up and down the halls?" Tara chimed in from beside Kori. "No. Guess he's a little ahead of us."

"Hold on. That doesn't make any sense…" Dick scratched his head as he spoke, trying to make sense of their situation. "We started from the top and checked every single room. You guys did the same from the bottom, so…"

Everyone froze as the realization dawned on them. Slowly, Damian turned his eyes upward and shone his flashlight at the ceiling to spot an enormous mass of green flesh and fur.

Right now, Beast Boy was a brutal, mindless beast, controlled by an actual demon from actual Hell, capable of rending them all limb from limb. And at this very moment, he had the high ground.

"Titans…" Damian said through grit teeth, his focus locking onto the Changeling, "… Ready."

Garfield roared out like thunder as he dropped to the ground, crushing the living room table beneath his weight. Starfire made the first move against him, her body whirling like a top as landed several consecutive blows to Beast Boy's face. But after a moment, Gar managed to brace in anticipation of her move, and brought her to a halt with her leg pressed against his face. With a growl followed by one swift motion, he batted Kori across the room, and immediately launched himself towards Tara.

Markov had regained her composure, however, and quickly pulled a sizable rock through the nearby window, clocking the wolf-beast in the side of his head with it as they were all showered in broken glass. Garfield stumbled back as Tara swung her stone into his head again and again, her arms swinging wildly as she struggled to attack faster. As she brought her fists down, intent on rendering the Changeling unconscious, Garfield took hold of the stone, crushing it in his hand. Tara stumbled back, tripping over what remained of the table, and Garfield pulled his lips back over his teeth in a sneer.

Just as he raised his claw to strike, Jonathan made his move, delivering a punch into Garfield's chest with such force that the air seemed to crack at the point of impact. Gar flew upwards, smashing into the ceiling before dropping back to the ground, dazed and clutching at his chest. Jonathan's eyes began to glow red.

"C'mon, BB," Jon pleaded, "it's us! Fight it, man, you've got to–"

Before Jon could finish, Gar delivered a swift crack with his head to Jonathan's nose. The young Superboy stumbled back, hands on his face before the wolf-man flipped around, smacking him away with his tail.

"Y'know, I think Fido's had enough fun for one day," Dick quipped as he, Barbara and Damian pulled out their ropes. "Let's kennel this puppy."

The three leapt into the air in an almost synchronized fashion, their lines soaring behind them like some bizarre ribbon show. They whirled all about Garfield, wrapping him up tightly before landing in front of him and pulling with all of their might, bringing the creature down to its knees and unable to move. Raven quickly moved into position, casting her magic on the monster and glowing with a brilliant purple aura.

"By the will of Azar, I command you," the mage girl called out with authority, "leave quietly this flesh you have taken, servant of the Fallen Serpent! You are ban–"

Before Raven could complete her incantation, somehow the possessed Changeling found the strength to tear through the sturdy Bat-ropes, and with one swipe sent the girl crashing through the wall.

"RAVEN!" Robin's panicked voice tore through the room as he bolted in the direction which his friend had been sent flying, leaving his friends to continue combating the creature. There, on the other side of a large hole in the wall, Raven lay unconscious, covered in pieces of broken wall and piping, blood running down a sizable gash in her forehead.

As Damian cradled his best friend in his arms, he felt his eyes begin to sting. This was on him; he should have known not to leave Garfield unattended in the hall before. He should have investigated his condition sooner. If he had just done what needed to be done… if he had just protected her like he should have…

Damian gently set Raven down on the floor, and grasped his katana. He knew the source of the tears on his cheeks was not just guilt. This was the rage he'd been suppressing since his little clash with Reyes. For the past fourteen years, he'd been taught to control his emotions. The only emotion he was ever permitted to express in any sense was his anger. But upon joining the Titans, he found himself pushing his anger down just like all the rest of his emotions. And he was sick of holding it back.

In an instant, Damian rocketed towards the beast, making one broad stroke before crashing right into Garfield's chest in a shoulder-tackle.

The green wolf-beast went one direction. But his right arm, from the elbow down, went another.

Between them was a spray of red liquid that covered Damian's face. As he pulled himself off the floor, hearing Beast Boy screeching in agony as a bright red light shot out of Superman's eyes into the fresh stump, a single thought echoed in his mind:

What have I done…?

April 17th, 2017. 1:34 PM.

"Damian…?"

Damian's eyes slowly crept open as the familiar voice slid into his ears. He lifted his head up off of his crossed arms to see that Raven was finally coming to. Her eyes were weary and her hair was unkempt, but Damian didn't care. He just silently thanked any god that was listening that she was still alive. He stood up quickly, and rushed to her side.

"It's alright, Raven," he began to reassure her as he took hold of her hand. "You've been out for four days. But everything has been taken care of."

Raven smiled at her closest friend for a moment, taking the time to find comfort in his presence. But quickly she felt a new pain in the back of his mind.

"Damian…" Raven whispered, "… what's wrong?"

Robin's heart dropped. He was afraid of what was about to happen, but… he swore he would never lie to her.

"Garfield… was injured in the fight," he stammered, trying to find the strength to own up to what he'd done. "… I… I cut his arm off."

Raven's eyes widened for a moment. This was… this was serious. She almost let out an exasperated "you did what?", but she could feel the tear in Damian's heart grow as he told her what happened.

"It's my fault…" Damian's eyes stayed glued to the hand he held, as tears began to well up behind them. "I just… I lost control. I saw how bad you'd been hurt, and I…" with this, Damian had to squeeze his shut. "Oh god, I thought you were gone. I thought… I thought he…"

Raven placed her other hand onto the boy's face. "Damian… I know. It's going to get better." She pulled the boy into her arms, and ran her fingers through his hair. "The pain won't go away… but I promise you, it will get better."

Damian tried to hold himself together. Fourteen years, he'd been taught to control his emotions. The only emotion he was ever permitted to express in any sense was his anger. Even when his father and butler insisted that he open up, he kept his heart shut tight. Even when his mother turned her back to him, he stayed strong. But now, after everything, he broke down. He just fell all to pieces in Raven's arms; his walls of strength and resilience gave way, and he cried weakly, like the broken child he'd denied all these years. For the first time in his short life, Damian knew how it felt to truly need someone. He needed these Titans. He needed his father. But above all else, in this moment, he needed Raven. He needed her like the earth needed the rain. And as they sat there in the infirmary of Titans Tower, they silently made a promise to one another: no matter what the cost, they would do everything in their power to be there for the other. Because Raven knew, after everything that had happened, that she needed Damian just the same. She wept there with him, holding the boy as tight as her weary arms possibly could. Damian saved her from her past; now she needed to do the same for him.