Chapter 13

October 23rd, 2017. 10:43 PM.

Damian brushed the dirt from his hands after tying up the two unconscious crooks who had tried to knock over a liquor store in downtown Jump City. It was truthfully kind of relaxing dealing with so small crime her and there after the ordeals the Titans had been going through as of late. Deathstroke was not someone Damian had ever hoped to see alive again, but at the end of it, it was probably for the best that he turned up in Jump City rather than somewhere else. And because of his appearance, the Titans had all grown. Even Damian, who now bore the name Red X, felt he'd benefited from the conflict.

"Alright," he called out to Raven as he made his way up to the roof where she was waiting. "What else do we have on the scanners?"

"Actually, nothing," Raven replied, communicator in hand as she searched the entire city for any sort of alerts. "That was the last one. Looks we have a little free time."

"Ugh…" Red X rolled his eyes at the thought of it. "I hate standing around waiting for something to pop up. It's a good sign, but it's so… boring."

Raven smiled at him. "C'mon, let's go find some place to rest while we wait for someone to call us. I'm a little winded."

"Ha! Getting tired already?" Damian teased as he scooped Raven up in his arms. "How are we supposed to last the whole night, hmm?"

Raven shook her head and laughed quietly, putting her arms around Damian's neck as he carried her across the rooftops. "You're such a dork, you know that?"

Eventually, after a good ten minutes, Damian and Raven stood atop a tall apartment building, overlooking the lower east side of the city. They both sat, dangling their legs over the ledge, and Raven pulled her hood off. Damian couldn't help but gaze over at her as he pulled off his mask and set his gauntlets aside, revealing the black sleeves underneath that ran all the way up to his wrists. Her hair had grown much longer since they met, now reaching the middle of her back as opposed to being up off her shoulders like before. She hadn't gotten much taller, the two of them now being almost the same height, but he could see the signs of their time as Titans in her skin, in the form of scars. Raven had been fortunate in that she escaped most fights without any serious injuries, but occasionally she would be caught by a lucky knife, or grazed by a bullet that hit a bit too close to home. Hence Raven's body did have a few small marks here and there… unlike Damian, who's body was effectively covered in them. Being a close-combat specialist, Damian knew that just came with the territory. He just gave thanks every day that Raven didn't take that kind of damage.

He continued observing her as she sat looking out across the skyline. Her skin, aside from the scars, was smooth and pale, which Damian felt suited her. His eyes drifted to her face; by some strange miracle, her face had only one scar underneath her hair, where Garfield had knocked her through a wall when he was possessed. But aside from that, it was perfect. Her eyes were filled with a peace that made the light in her purple irises dance like beams of sunset across the water. The jewel on her forehead had long since fallen away; there was no need for it anymore anyways. Trigon was never coming back. After a moment of watching her eyes flutter across the skyline, Damian's eyes slowly drifted down to her lips…

Raven glanced over to see the enamored expression on Damian's face, and couldn't help but pause. "Damian…" she whispered, her cheeks adopting the most subtle shade of red. "W… what is it?"

Damian looked into Raven's eyes, and a soft smile appeared on his face. "You're beautiful," he said, his voice quiet but clear. "You're so beautiful…"

Raven's face grew redder, and she turned away. "I…"

Damian slid closer, placing his hand on top of hers. "Raven… I know you can feel me. You know my heart better than I do…" He paused, his eyes drifting down to their hands, as he ran his fingers down her arm. "And you know that… that I…"

Raven turned back to him, the purple clouds in her irises swirling with life. She knew exactly what was coming next. Her heart began to flutter, from fear but also from anticipation.

Damian looked deep into Raven's eyes and took a deep breath.

"… You know that I love you."

In that moment, everything seemed to freeze. Raven had known exactly what he was going to say. But if you'd given her a year, it wouldn't have been enough time to ready herself to hear it. When the words finally came out, Raven's emotions got the better of her. She threw herself into Damian's arms, catching him off-guard and sending them both plummeting from the rooftop. They were in free fall for a half-second before Raven caught the both of them. There they hung in the air over Jump City, arms wrapped tightly around each other, surrounded in a brilliant amethyst light.

"Damian…" Raven's voice was unsteady, tears streaming down her face. "Damian, I love you."

Damian pulled Raven in as close as he could, feeling her magic surrounding the both of them. This was it, he thought. His whole life had been leading up to this very moment. Everything he'd ever done was planned out by some force on high– God, Azar, who can say– to bring him right here into this girl's arms. Here in this moment, he was exactly where he belonged.

Damian looked into Raven's eyes, now practically glowing with feeling, and slowly drew closer. Raven felt Damian's heart beat even faster, and knew what was about to happen. The two of them pulled each other closer than ever, arms around one another as if promising to hold on forever, and closed their eyes, inches away from the moment…

A sudden beeping from the communicator on Raven's belt brought them to a halt.

After a brief second of complete stillness, Damian turned his head, nestling his cheek gently into Raven's neck, and let out a drawn-out groan. It was going to be perfect… Raven shook her head and laughed, rubbing Damian's back comfortingly. Quickly they floated back to the rooftop they'd fallen from, and Raven answered her communicator as Damian pulled his gauntlets back on.

"Raven here," the mage girl said, still beaming. "Go ahead, Jon."

"Y'all, we got a big one!" Superboy shouted excitedly from the other end of the com, his accent slipping through for a brief second. "Some punk on a motorcycle, buncha tattoos and crap, tried to rob the back uptown! C'mon!"

"Oh, we'll be RIGHT there, Jonno!" Damian yelled over his shoulder as he put on his mask, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Raven couldn't help but let out a small giggle before nodding and hanging up. She walked over to Red X, who was at the moment running his hands rather roughly through his hair, and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"It's okay, Damian." Raven rested her head on the boy's shoulder from behind him. "Next time it'll be perfect, promise." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and he suddenly stood up straight. She smiled, her cheeks still glowing red, and moved toward the edge of the building facing uptown. But just as she went to fly off to find the other Titans, a black-and-grey blur tore past her as Damian leapt from the rooftop, his cape expanding into a wing-like shape allowing him to glide off towards uptown.

Raven just smiled and followed close behind her Damian. Next time, it would be perfect, she thought, because he made it perfect.