Chapter 20

Arkham Asylum, Gotham City. January 16th, 2018. 7:47 PM.

Batman and Gordon stepped through the reinforced doorway into the "holding cell". There in the center of the bunker was a titanic glass chamber – Poison Ivy's greenhouse. The whole thing had been Bruce's idea; if she were surrounded by her plants instead of tossed into a barren cell, perhaps she would be more cooperative. He was right. The greenhouse was mounted on a platform which rose up through a hatch in the ceiling until it was just overlooking the roof of the facility each day at noon, giving both Ivy and her beloved flora plenty of sunlight. Then once it came back down, a built-in irrigation system ensured that all the plants received adequate water, and an attendant brought a fresh bottle for Ivy herself… Ivy could just as well soak up the water from the irrigation system like everything else in the greenhouse, but it was easier and quicker for her to absorb water through her stomach like a regular human being. It would be more efficient if she would eat normal food as well. But for some time now, Ivy has declined any meals, in favor of photosynthesizing as her darling plants do. Of course, Bruce was sure to provide the highest quality soil and fertilizer available… but for some time, he suspected that the Asylum staff had begun giving her the bodies of any inmates who were killed during their time in the Asylum, and that she and her plants had also been feeding on their remains. This raised the question of whether her sentence should be extended on grounds of cannibalism, but Bruce was unsure of the technicalities of the situation… considering how, at this point, Ivy was just as much a plant as she was a human.

"She likes to block the cameras whenever she gets a visitor," Gordon grumbled. "We've told her over and over to keep her plants away from them, but she just likes to push our buttons. She's making progress, but…"

"It's alright, Jim." Batman put a hand on the Commissioner's shoulder. "Go ahead and turn the cameras off. Ms. Isley and I need to have a private conversation."

Jim turned to the caped figure beside him. "Is this about…"

Batman nodded solemnly. "Jeremiah has given clearance to turn her over to me until the clown is back in custody. Besides…" The masked man turned and looked at the older policeman beside him. "She deserves to know about Quinn."

Gordon nodded, gesturing for the men in the Security room to cut the camera feed. Once that was done, Batman stepped into the greenhouse, the steel door sealing shut behind him. Once he was certain no one could see into the glass chamber, he pressed a button on his left gauntlet, and his cowl separated into several pieces, which shifted down to his shoulders.

"Pam," Bruce called out. "It's just me. Nobody's watching, you can come on out."

Bruce walked further into the greenhouse's interior, looking around at the multitude of plants all around the chamber. Ivy had been very specific that she wanted the whole floor to be covered in soil, not separated into rows. She wanted her plants to be able to grow freely, not confined to some organization scheme concocted by man. As Bruce came to the center of the greenhouse, he stood before a rose the size of a large helipad. After all this time, all the incredible things he'd seen her create, Bruce still had difficulty wrapping his head around the fact that Ivy was able to grow a flower so massive. Slowly and gracefully, a plethora of vines wrapped around his limbs gently carrying him into the air as the rose began to blossom. He'd asked her about it before, how she manipulated the plants to do her will. Her explanation, while intimidating, was rather simple: once she contributed to the growth of a plant, it became connected to her nervous system, effectively making it an extension of her body. And when she created and grew something all on her own (like she'd done with everything in the chamber they were in), she could literally feel every inch of it, controlling it as if it were an additional limb. In essence, the massive garden she'd grown here was her body. Bruce was a foreign object in her body, but one she welcomed. After all, he'd been the one to provide her with this place to create her new body.

Gently, the vines carried Bruce into the enormous rose, where he slid down into the center of the flower. There, wrapped in the rose's pistils, was a beautiful red-haired woman. She was only around 5'7", but her body had a soft quality to it, her hips curving in a way that had captivated many a wandering eye. Her once peach skin was now a minty green, and her body was covered in several hundred leaves which concealed her more sensitive areas, but left her limbs, back, and belly mostly exposed, with a few small vines wrapping around her wrists and ankles. Her eyes were a pale blue not unlike his own, and her lips were a dark forest-green. As Bruce came to a stop before her, Pamela Isley's eyes softened, and she smiled as she walked through the stamens to him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Hello again, Bruce." Ivy's voice was soft, almost a whisper. "Thank you again for all of this."

"How are you doing, Pam?" Bruce put his arms around her as she pulled back to look into his eyes.

"I feel better now than I've felt in years." The villainess beamed up at him. "I've been getting along much better with the attendants as of late. I think I can really…"

Pam trailed off as she noticed the look in Bruce's eyes. "… something has happened. What's wrong?"

Bruce let out a sigh. "Harley has been missing for the last three days."

Ivy's face shifted to display her shock, which quickly turned into anger. All at once, the vines threw themselves around Bruce, this time gripping him like a vice. Ivy rose up on her own vines out of the flower, and carried the Batman over to an enormous Venus Flytrap which grew nearby, and quickly threw him into it.

"Listen to me, Bruce," Ivy shouted in a heated rage. "While I leave this place to go find her, you are going to stay right here. And if I find out you had anything to do with my Harley getting hurt, I swear I'm going to make sure you dissolve slowly, for days. And when you can't speak, but only cry out in your mind for death, only then will I–"

"Joker has her." Bruce shouted loud enough for Ivy to hear through the thick flesh of the carnivorous plant. Pam Ivy froze for a moment, then gently sent her vines into the flytrap, lifting Bruce back out and holding him up to eye-level.

"… please tell me it's not true…" Pam's voice trembled with fear. "The things he'll do to her…"

"That's why I need you to come with me," Bruce pleaded. "I know how much she means to you. Dr. Arkham has given his consent to let you come with me until Joker is captured. I need you to help me stop him."

Ivy nodded. "Of course I'll help you. I won't let anything happen to her."

East End, Gotham City. January 16th, 2018. 9:35 PM.

As Selina Kyle darted across the rooftops, her breath came out as a visible wisp of vapor in the frigid air. She'd heard the clown was back, so she figured it would only be a matter of time before someone – be it him, Bruce, or both – would be coming for her. She needed to be ready… which meant she should probably lock up back home before Joker got to her, because there were things in her apartment that needed to be kept safe until Bruce could get to them, and frankly, nobody knows whether or not they'll live through any given encounter with the Joker.

After making her way across half the district, Selina finally slid through her apartment window, letting out a sigh of relief as she shut it behind her. She quickly changed out of her Catsuit and strolled into her livingroom. She didn't turn on the light, but in the darkness she could see in her peripherals the shape of a figure standing in the corner, a cape draped over their body. She bent down to pick up a black kitten at her feet, stroking it gently.

"Well…" Selina spoke aloud to the mysterious guest. "I was expecting someone to show up here sooner or later, in light of what's happened. But… you're too short to be the Bat. Plus, that hair is a dead giveaway. You're no Batman."

"… Half." The figure stepped forward, and Selina turned to see Red X looking back at her.

"Oh. Hey Junior," Catwoman greeted the Titan casually, walking into the kitchen to find the kitten's mother.

Damian slid the mask off of his eyes, following her across the living space. "We have reason to believe that Joker has captured Harley Quinn. What the circumstances were that led to her capture are still unknown, but whatever he's planning needs to be stopped before she or anyone else get hurt. Father sent me to ask you to help us."

"Yeah, that much I figured out myself," Selina sighed, setting the little creature down to open the cupboard and retrieve a fully-grown black cat. "I just… look, I want to help. But whenever that freak comes back, he always comes for me sooner or later. Right now, I have to focus on not getting killed."

"I know," Damian went on, gently stroking the kitten's fur. "That's why Father also wants you to consider taking one of the rooms in the Manor."

Selina turned to the young Wayne, caught off-guard by his message. "Hold on… Bruce wants me to come stay with you?"

"Yes and no," Damian replied, lifting his hand away from the little feline as it began to feed from its mother. "It would only be until Joker has been apprehended, and you would be able to leave anytime, since Father is aware that you prefer to have your own space. He's also offered to let you stay in the Regency room, and actually recommends against taking a room in the guest wing, because that's where my team and I are staying…"

"I thought Bruce gave the Regency room to you?" Selina asked, her eyes on the two cats on the counter in front of her.

"He did. I finished moving out last March since I don't live in Gotham anymore." Damian leaned up against the counter as he turned his eyes back to the thief. "While I'm here, I'm staying in the guest wing with my team."

"Oh, that's right! Bruce told me you were with the Titans now," Selina looked back up at the boy with a sly smile on her face. "He also mentioned that you brought someone home with you to Thanksgiving last year. That right?"

Damian paused for a split second before looking away, a smile spreading across his face. "It is… Her name is Raven. She's… she's wonderful."

Selina's smirk turned into a grin. "You been usin' protection?" Damian's smile vanished as his face turned redder than the X on his chest.

"What? N– I would ne– we don't!" Damian straightened back up onto his feet, waving his hands spastically in front of him. "Miss Kyle, she and I aren't like that! I mean, I love her, and she loves me, but we aren't–" Selina couldn't help but laugh as she moved forwards, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Relax, I'm just kidding!" She said as her laughter died down. She then walked past the flustered Damian back into the living room. "But joking aside, it sounds like you two are pretty serious."

Damian took a beep breath to recollect himself. "We are," he sighed, turning and following Catwoman. "At the end of March, we'll have been together for a year. I wanted to do something special for her, so I got her this…" Damian reached into a pocket in his belt, pulling out a sizable wad of protective shipping paper, which he gently unwrapped to reveal the brooch. "… Also, I owe Father twelve thousand dollars."

Selina's eyes grew wide as she looked down at the gift. "My God, Damian! That thing is beautiful!"

"Thanks. I really hope she likes it…" Damian carefully wrapped the brooch back into the packing paper before slipping it back into his belt.

"LIKE it?" The woman threw her eyebrows up in astonishment. "Dame, she's gonna lose it when you give her that thing!"

Damian couldn't help but grin at that. He could hardly wait to see the look on her face when he gave it to her. March 30th couldn't get here soon enough.

"Okay, okay, back to what you were saying earlier…" Selina paused for a moment before nodding her head. "I'll do it. Until we deal with Joker, I'll come stay in the mansion."

"That's great to hear," Damian said, regaining his composure. "I have a bike parked downstairs. How soon can you be ready to go?"

"I always have a go-bag ready. Just give me a couple minutes to grab some more clothes." Selina walked off to her bedroom, and Damian ran a gloved hand through his hair, turning to look out the window. He could just barely make out the bird with black feathers perched on the other side of the glass, which looked like a little piece of the night sky. He smiled contently at the bird, his mind adrift with thoughts of his own Raven… he'd been thinking a lot about where his life was headed since Richard and Barbara's big announcement at Thanksgiving. He'd thought up dozens of different potential lives he could lead; in one he became Batman, and in another he remained Red X. In one he returned to Gotham, and in another he stayed in Jump City. In one he joined the Justice League, and in another he stayed on as leader of a new generation of Titans. There was even a scenario that saw him hang his cape up for good, settling into a life at the head of his father's company.

But in every single version of his future that Damian could conjure up in his mind, there was a single constant. One thing that remained the same in every life Damian could possibly picture himself living. Raven. No matter what Damian was going to do with his life, he knew that he needed Raven to be there. It was that moment that Damian realized that this was more than just affection. This was devotion. Undeniable, insurmountable devotion. As the realization came to him, along with it came the urge to personify this dedication, perform some sort of action to display it to her, and to everyone around… and he smiled as a new thought sparked in his mind.

This was the first time that Damian Wayne ever gave consideration to the idea of marriage.

As the bird outside the window flapped it's wings and took off into the sky over the city, Damian turned to see Selina, now in her Catwoman uniform, with a duffle bag slung over her shoulder. They exchanged nods, Damian opened the window, and the two of them climbed out, shutting the window behind them and descending to the street below.

Wayne Manor, Gotham City. January 16th, 2018. 11:44 PM.

Raven shuffled out of the bathroom, her eyelids heavy, and crawled under the covers into the king-size bed. It had been an eventful day; combat training this morning had been far more intense than it was back home in Jump City. Then again, it was the Batman she had been training with today, so a more intensive regimen was to be expected. For a brief moment, Raven began to wonder how Damian managed to endure the physical and mental strain of training with his father for three whole years. But as soon as the thought entered her head, she remembered: Damian had been trained to be the pinnacle of non-powered human capability practically from the moment he learned how to stand on his own two feet. If anything, training someone as well-bred as Damian would have been a difficult task for Bruce. But then, one would be left to wonder how Bruce managed to keep teaching the boy for three years.

After morning training (and an hour of recovering from said training), Raven accompanied Mr. Pennyworth on a little "tour" of the mansion. She was the only one who had both the interest and energy by that time, so it was really just her following along by herself as he told her about the history of the house, as well as the occasional stories about each of the children the butler had helped raise in it; drawings done by Bruce when he was a child prior to his parents' deaths, Dick almost destroying a $30,000 chandelier when he used it to practice his acrobatics, teaching Jason how to change the oil in a car, and one particular story of having to perform surgery on Tim after, of all things, Damian beat the older Robin half to death on his first night in Gotham. Raven wasn't sure whether to be concerned or amused; Damian was certainly not the same person now that he'd been then.

Eventually she and Alfred reached the library, and after agreeing that they'd done enough walking for awhile, the they each took a book off the seemingly endless shelves, sat down, and read quietly. Alfred has chosen a collection of Shakespeare, whereas Raven found herself pouring over The Silmarillion. Of course, their reading time was cut short, as Carrie came to bring the mage girl back to the Batcave to discuss their assignments for the afternoon. Alfred offered to take the book Raven had picked out to her room for her so that she could pick it back up later, and Raven smiled as she glanced over at the little bedside table to see it lying there, a bookmark reserving the page she had stopped on.

Ironically enough, Raven's actual assignment had been easier than morning training; she had been sent to Park Row to inform Red Hood that the Joker was back. While it had taken her a bit longer than she would have liked to track him down, Raven eventually found Jason and delivered Bruce's message. Bruce had told her that, in all likelihood, Jason would agree to help, but refuse to come stay in the Manor. Apparently things were still strained between the two of them (although not so strained that Todd would refuse to come home for Thanksgiving). But to Raven's surprise, Todd accepted the offer to stay with them until Joker was stopped. She and Hood came back to the Cave, and that had been it. But when they arrived, Bruce proposed another round of combat training, this time pitting Raven against Todd. Raven noted that, while he wasn't quite as disciplined as Bruce was, Jason's fighting style was far more aggressive and, in its own way, more challenging than sparring with Bruce. Of course, both training sessions had been trying for her, due to the fact that Batman had insisted she fight without the use of her magic. Raven had picked up some basic martial arts from Damian, but not nearly enough to go head-to-head with the most dangerous man on Earth, or even his wild ex-protégé. By the time they were done, it took every modicum of her mental fortitude just to keep from collapsing in the ring.

Just as she had gotten to the point where she could ignore the aching in her muscles enough to drift towards sleep, the sound of knocking on her door brought Raven swiftly back to full consciousness. She nearly reached out and opened the door with her powers, but then realized that, one: using the blessing of Azar for such an insignificant task, while not seen as an offense by the goddess, was something that Raven personally was uncomfortable with doing too often, and two: Raven couldn't let anyone in her room at the moment, because she wasn't even dressed; she would have been lying there in front of whoever needed to see her wearing nothing but her underwear. Of course, this meant she was going to have to get back out of bed, which in itself was disappointing.

"Gimme a second," Raven called out, dragging herself out of the bed and back into the bathroom. After slipping on a yellow tanktop and dark blue sweatpants, Raven stumbled over to the door and pulled it open. Before she could even greet him properly, Damian stepped through the doorway, pulling the door shut with his foot behind him as he put his arms around her waist and pulled her into a kiss. A sudden burst of bright purple light filled the room as Raven closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around his neck and unintentionally lifting the two of them up off the ground. But just as the pulled away from each other, the overwhelming soreness covering Raven's body lurched to the forefront of her mind, and the two of them dropped to the floor, Damian reacting quick enough to catch the girl before she could topple to the floor.

"Easy now, easy. Where does it hurt?" Damian had gotten quite good at reading Raven's facial expressions, which was useful for situations when it was important to maintain silence, or when Raven was too worn out to communicate telepathically. He lifted the girl gently off her feet and carried her back to her bed, laying her horizontally across it.

Raven looked up at Damian, her eyes radiating gratitude and affection, albeit through a wall of pain. "Everywhere…" she groaned. "Had to spar with your dad and brother… not so easy without my powers. Too worn out to heal myself…" She turned away, frustrated that she allowed herself to become so vulnerable. "Sorry…"

Damian brushed a few stray strands of hair out of her face, looking down at her with a soft smile. "Don't be sorry," he whispered, moving his hand down to her cheek. "Everything is alright."

Damian walked around the bed and carefully slipped his fingers into place on either side of Raven's neck, and began to gently work at the exhausted muscles beneath her pale skin. Raven looked up at him, the clouds in her irises swirling and billowing, showing the faintest beams of light from behind them, as he gradually moved his hand down to her shoulders. As he began to tenderly knead the tense muscles in her trapezia and her shoulder blades, Raven's head gradually titled back, her eyes drifting shut as the aching slowly dissipated under Damian's hands. Damian continued to work his fingers delicately into her back, and felt a wave of relief wash over him as he heard a thick sigh slip past her lips. Taking care not to aggravate any areas he hadn't gotten to yet, he slowly lifted Raven to an upright position, and began treating her middle and lower back. Raven's breathing became slower and less-labored, and her mind gradually cleared up. Smiling, she lifted a finger on her left hand, and Damian slowly rose into the air, covered in the shadows cast by her magic on the very air around him. She sat him down gently in front of her on the bed, and then closed her eyes and began to display a subtle amethyst glow as she healed the rest of her body. It took only a moment, and the light faded from around her; Raven's skills as a healer had grown exponentially since Damian first experienced her restorative powers.

"Tomorrow I'll be here all day. I'll come wake you up in the morning." Damian smiled as he started to turn, meaning to climb out of the bed, but Raven took his hand before he could touch his feet to the ground.

"Hold on a second…" Raven slid towards the young Wayne, a tough of curiosity in her eyes. "When you kissed me, I felt something… there's something different in your heart. What is it?"

Damian looked back silently at the girl for a moment, smiling as he tried to construct a sentence that adequately expressed what he was feeling.

"… I've been thinking lately. About you and me. About where this is all headed." Damian paused, still struggling to find the words. "Y'know… years from now. Decades."

Raven looked into Damian's eyes, tilting her head forward just barely as she waited for Damian to continue.

"I… I don't have any idea where my life is going. I don't know if I'll ever leave the Titans, I don't know if I'll ever take my father's place… I don't even know if I'll keep being a hero at all." Damian looked down at Raven's hand, still holding onto his. "… but I know that… I know that I want to be with you for all of it. I… I need to be with you. For the rest of my life, I need to be with you."

After a moment of taking in Damian's words, Raven's expression shifted to one that gave off an overwhelming sense of endearment. Sliding in closer, the young half-demon pressed her lips to his again, running a hand through his hair with her other arm around his neck. Damian's hands shifted as well, his right hand holding him upright as his left came to rest on Raven's thigh. As the two of them lost themselves in one another's presence, the air around them seemed to shimmer, as the tiniest purple lights began to swirl around them like stars in the night sky. Ever so slowly, Raven began to guide her Damian back into the bed, until by the time that they pulled away, he was lying on his back, looking up at her loving face with a myriad of twinkling lights all around them.

"If forever is what you want…" Raven spoke softly. "Then forever is what you have."

Damian's cheeks burned as they turned a bright scarlet, a subtle smile forming on his lips. After a moment of looking into one another's eyes, he sat up with the intent to leave for his own room, but Raven put a hand to his chest to to stop him.

"Stay," the girl urged quietly. "I don't want to do anything yet, but… sleep here tonight. Hold me, like you did in the Tower this Christmas. Let me wake up in your arms tomorrow… lay here with me, just for tonight."

Damian smiled, touching his forehead to hers. "I would lay beside you forever if you asked me to."

Raven and Damian slept in one another's arms that night. During their slumber, Raven's magic flowed freely from her to him, and from him to her. It carried with it bits from each of their dreams, which drifted from one person's mind into the other's. Among several other things that passed between their minds in the night, one thought that repeated itself throughout their dreams stood out above all else: a single line of a song, sung clear and soft in the voice of Raven's mother…

"Seasons may change, winter to spring… but I love you, 'till end of time."