Chapter 24
February 19th, 2018. 9:24 AM EST.
Damian leaned his head up against the window in the backseat of Dick's car as they made their way slowly down the road. Part of him deep down wished that he was back in Jump City in Titans Tower, getting back into the habit of patrolling his own city and handing the occasional smaller crime. But Dick had suggested they stay for another two weeks and come along to visit Bruce for his birthday, and how could he and Raven object to that?
He turned to his right, his eyes on the black-haired girl in the backseat beside him. Raven stared out the window as they drove, her eyes hanging half-open as she teetered on the edge of sleep. Damian smiled as her head began to droop for a moment, only to pop back up again as Raven struggled to stay awake.
"You look tired," Damian thought to her. Raven turned to face him and shrugged, a sleepy half-smile on her face.
"A little bit, I guess…" the girl replied. "I don't do good with cars. Always get drowsy."
"I didn't know that." Damian smirked as he tilted his head to the side, continuing their telepathic conversation. "Seems like I've been learning a lot about you lately."
"And yet…" Raven cocked an eyebrow. "You're still an enigma, Mr. Wayne."
"You're the one who can read people," Damian taunted. "If you wanna know something, just reach in and see for yourself."
Raven nodded sleepily as she placed her hand on top of Damian's in the middle seat. Their hands glowed faintly for a moment, and they looked silently into each other's eyes for a moment. Suddenly, Raven smirked as her cheeks turned faintly red.
"Ohhh," she snipped teasingly. "Damian, I didn't know you could dance!"
"What are you talking about?" The boy looked back at her quizzically. "You've seen me dance before. That night at the Pier with that ridiculous dancing game …"
"No, not that kind of dancing…" Raven smiled curiously. "I mean, like, slow-dancing. Like, fancy parties, ballrooms… that whole thing."
"Oh! Well… I figured I would need to pick it up at some point," Damian shrugged, blushing slightly. "Once Father went public about my identity, I'd probably be dragged along to all sorts of galas and such. I didn't want to embarrass myself like Dick did."
"Maybe you could teach me to dance sometime. I've always kind been curious about–" Raven stopped short as an image projected from Damian's mind into hers. She shot him a look, and he couldn't help but snicker. "You really do think it's cute, don't you, you dork?"
"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist." Damian winked, and the red in Raven's cheeks deepened. "So when did you learn to play piano?"
"My mom started teaching me when I was a little girl," Raven replied. "After I came to Earth, I lived with my aunt in New York for awhile, and she got me a teacher. I wanted to keep learning, because it made me feel a little closer to her… y'know?"
"I get that…" Damian trailed off, his thoughts drifting towards the photograph she gave him at Christmas two years ago. Part of him wished he could have met Arella, but then another part of him wondered if he would be put off by who he was…
Raven squeezed his hand gently. "Don't worry," she assured him with a gentle smile. "Mom would have loved you."
"Thanks, Raven…" Damian smiled back at her. "It means a lot to hear that." Raven's irises swirled a little faster as she looked into Damian's eyes. Her eyelids still hung low over her eyes, and her mind began to drift. "You want to go ahead and sleep for awhile before we get there?"
"Not really," the girl shook her head. "Keep talking to me, help me out here. Okay?"
"Alright…" Damian searched in the back of his mind for a moment, trying to conjure up a good question. "How long have you been a Titan?"
"I came to the Tower two years before you did…" Raven let out a quiet yawn. "It was funny… Nightwing was visiting Kori the day they took me in. There was so much going on between them, I had to go straight to my room to keep from getting overwhelmed by all the vibes they were giving off."
"Two years before me…" Damian nodded. "He and Barbara had decided to take a break, see other people for awhile. I remember Dick didn't exactly handle it very well… he was pretty invested in their relationship. I guess when she left, he reached out to Kori for someone to latch onto while he was hurting."
"That's… wow," Raven thought, glancing up at Dick with pity. "That's really sad."
"Oh no. That wasn't the sad part," Damian replied, rolling his eyes. "The pitiful part was that he still kept that picture of her on the mirror the whole time they were split up." Damian pointed to the overhead visor above Dick's head, where a photograph of Barbara was held in place by a paperclip. "He also had the same picture beside his bed in his apartment. He spent a lot of nights crying himself to sleep looking at it… he could put on a convincing show, make everyone think he moved on just fine. But whenever he was alone at night… it tore him apart."
"Poor Dick…" Raven paused for a moment. "… Poor Kori… I'm happy for Dick and Barbara, now that they've figured everything out, but… I can feel something pulling at Kori whenever somebody mentions Dick. For Tamaraneans, affection never ends… she still loves Dick."
"I figured she probably did. I've seen the look she gets when he comes up in conversation…" Damian's eyes turned to the pregnant woman in the passenger seat. "But I think Dick knew deep down it would end with Barbara. That's just how it is for him… it's always been Barbara. Despite everything, it's always been her."
Damian looked back to Raven. His eyes lingered on her face, where he could just barely see the tip of the scar on her forehead poking out underneath her ebony hair, which cascaded like black silk down her shoulder, sitting bare where her hoodie had slid down her arm, revealing her smooth grey skin. Damian glanced back up to her lips, and his thoughts shifted back to that morning several weeks ago. Something was different about that kiss that morning. Sure, they'd kissed plenty of times before, but this time was different… this time he noticed things about her he hadn't noticed before. The feel of her back under his fingertips, the warmth of her legs around his, the taste that her lips left on his… It was somewhat disconcerting to him, but Damian couldn't help but notice that he had begun to make more physical observations about her, as opposed to the personal things he'd been learning about her up until this point. But that morning, the 25th, that was the tipping point. Raven was a fascinating creature, and he found himself craving further intimacy with her; after he noticed her taste for the first time, it felt as if the rules of the game had changed, and he'd stepped into a world with many more facets than the one he remembered… his cheeks turned vermilion as his eyes shot back to his window, and a sense of shame washed over him. How could he let his thoughts become so crass? He was a Wayne! Heir to the mantle of the Dark Knight! He should be above such baser instincts…
"You don't to feel embarrassed, Damian…" Raven's finger began to trace little circles into the back of Damian's hand as he looked back at her, wide-eyed with surprise. "That kind of thinking is normal for people our age. You have nothing to be ashamed of." Raven looked back at him, a shy half-smile on her face.
"H… how much of that did I… did I let you hear?" Damian could feel his ears burning with embarrassment.
"All of it…" the mage-girl looked down as she ran her finger slowly up Damian's arm. "I feel it, too, y'know. I want to be more… y'know. Intimate. I mean, not like…"
"Oh, of course not!" Damian piped up, realizing what she meant. "Not that. But… yeah. I feel like…"
"Yeah," Raven looked back up at Damian. "It's just… it makes me nervous, that's all."
Damian nodded in agreement. "But… maybe we should try stepping out of our comfort zones. A little bit at a time."
The clouds in Raven's irises began to slow their billowing as she looked back at him lovingly. "Yeah… I agree."
"Ugh, just kiss already!"
Damian and Raven both snapped back to reality as the turned, seeing Dick and Barbara grinning cheekily back at them… with Bruce leaning in through Dick's window, smirking back at them as well.
"Uhh…" Damian looked out his window to see that they were parked outside the mansion. "… Dick, how long have we been sitting here?"
"Five minutes," Bruce answered smugly. "And from what Dick says, you two have been sitting back there making eyes at one another for at least ten."
Damian leaned back into his seat and groaned, his face completely red. Raven turned back to her window, her face just as red as his.
Dick chuckled as he looked at the two teens in the backseat. "Well… Happy Birthday, Bruce."
Titans Tower, Jump City. February 19th, 2018. 6:37 AM PST.
Jon dangled his feet over the edge of the Tower as he watched the first beams of sunlight appear over the horizon. It was strange, not having Damian and Raven with him this morning. They'd been watching the sunrise together for so long now, it had just become part of his morning ritual. But with the two of them still in Gotham, Jon was left to take in the morning all by himself. It wasn't like it was unbearable, but he had to admit he had been a little lonely.
"Hey… Jon, right?"
Jon turned to see Will Batson walking up behind him, a yellow scarf poking out from the top of his thick red coat.
"Hey, Will…" Jon nodded in acknowledgment as he stood up to greet the Leaguer. "How come you're not back in Fawcett?"
"I figured I'd hang around with you guys a little longer," Will replied, his breath visible in the cold morning. "It's nice getting to hang with people my own age for once."
"Well, you COULD just join the Titans, bail on the League altogether," Jon said with a wink.
"Nahhh, no way." Will waved off the notion with his hand. "Once you've been in the Justice League, you don't ever look back."
"Y'know, I heard Cyborg said the exact same thing!" Jon turned back to the sunrise. Will stepped up to the edge of the Tower, peering down over the edge all the way to the ground below. He grinned at he felt his stomach drop, then looked over to Jon.
"Hey, Jon…" Will cocked an eyebrow as he spoke. "… wanna see something crazy?"
Jon tilted his head to the side slightly. "Ummm… okay?"
Without another word, Will held his hands out, closed his eyes, and leaned forward, dropping right over the edge of the Tower and hurdling towards the ground below.
"Will!" Jon cried out at the top of his lungs as he leapt from the Tower, rocketing towards the plummeting teenager as fast as his powers would let him. "Will, take my hand! You're gonna be alri–"
"Shazam!"
With a blinding flash of light, Will vanished, and Captain Thunder swirled through the air, pulling up inches before hitting the ground, Jon following suit. The pair of them tore through the sky for a moment before lighting back onto the roof.
"Ugh…" Thunder groaned, shaking his head in annoyance. "I really need to stop doing that…"
Jon raised an eyebrow in surprise at his friend's newfound demeanor. "W… what makes you say that? It looks like you were having fun."
"That's because as Will Batson, I can ignore the obvious fact that I could very well get myself killed pulling a stunt like that." the hero put his fists on his hips, standing tall as he looked over to Jon. "But as Captain Thunder, the Wisdom of Solomon urges me to think more rationally, and not take such unnecessary risks for the sake of self-entertainment."
"Well… good." Jon shook his hair out before looking back up at Thunder. "… you scared me."
"Yeah, sorry about that. Shazam." Another crash of lightning later, Will Batson was back to normal, and headed for the elevator. "You comin' inside?"
"Yeah, just gimme a sec…" Jon pulled out his phone and took a picture of the horizon, the sun's beams peering through the purple haze of morning. "Gonna send this to Dame and Rae, let 'em know I hope she gets better soon."
As Will and Jon descended into the Tower, a vibration came from Jon's pocket. He went to check his phone, and smiled when he saw the picture message: an oh-so-rare Damian Wayne selfie, with what looked like his father's courtyard in the background, and his face pressed up against Raven's, both of them beaming.
"We'll be home soon, Jonno!"
Wayne Manor, Gotham City. February 19th, 2018. 12:14 PM EST.
Damian sat in the floor of the family room with an old photo album in his lap, with Raven, Bruce, Carrie, and Alfred sitting all around him. It had become something of a tradition each year when Bruce's birthday rolled around to crack open the album and add to it, while also looking back over the events in recent Wayne history. At first the album was a private project of Alfred's, but on Bruce's 30th birthday he happened to walk in on Alfred adding photos of himself and Dick (who was just starting out as Robin at the time) to the later pages of the book, and sat down to look through it with him. Now they did this every year… and whenever someone new came into their fold, they flipped all the way back to 1968, where the album began with Alfred's career as butler to Thomas and Martha Wayne. This year, there were two new members of Bruce's little family: Raven and Carrie. Alfred had gathered up plenty of photographs (some taken himself, others sent by friends and loved ones) to add for each of them.
"Ah, there he is!" the old butler exclaimed. "That was the first night Master Jason ever went on patrol as Robin. Oh, he was so excited…"
Damian let out a chuckle as he looked back at Carrie. "See this, Kelley? This is why Robins are supposed to cover their legs."
Carrie couldn't help laughing at poor little Jason, standing proud in his little glorified green panties. "Y'know what? I totally get it now." Everyone laughed at that one as Damian flipped the page.
"Oh, jeez…" Raven muttered quietly at the photograph before them. "Is that…"
"Yeah, that was Jason's grave," Bruce sighed. "We're fortunate that he wasn't actually around to fill it…"
"Indeed," Alfred added, casting his gaze down to the bottom of the next page. "By… by God, look how young Master Timothy was!" He pointed to a photo of Tim and Stephanie on the roof of some building in Blüdhaven, from back when Tim was still Robin.
"Hey, I remember that day!" Bruce said with a smile. "Tim had just gotten out of school for the summer, so we decided to take a day. By the end of it, he and Steph had run off somewhere…"
"Just couldn't stay mad at 'em, huh?" Carrie looked over her shoulder at Bruce.
Bruce shrugged. "Tim never gave me a reason to be angry too often," he said. "Everything he did had a purpose to it."
"Except for his sleeping habits, I should say…" Alfred grumbled.
"Okay, that is a good point," Damian said with a smirk as he flipped the page. When Raven looked down to the next page of photos, she had to stifle a laugh when she saw a photo of a ten-year-old Damian, covered in what looked like blood with a stern look on his face, standing proudly in front of a cow.
"Okay, hold on…" the poor girl couldn't fight back the grin spreading across her face. "I know you've mentioned Batcow to me before, but I thought you were kidding!"
Damian let out a dramatic gasp, smirking back at the Girl. "I would never joke about Batcow!" The young Wayne cried out. "She is the terror…"
"… that moos in the night!" Everyone exclaimed together before breaking out in laughter. Damian looked down at the next page, and was surprised to see a photo of him and Raven at Pier 64 shortly after he joined the Titans, sitting at a table conversing over a cone of cotton candy.
"I didn't know anyone had any photos from that night…" Damian said quietly, thinking back to that conversation. His cheeks turned red as he turned to Raven, who was also blushing.
"Kori had her camera out the whole time…" Raven shrugged, looking up into Damian's eyes. "She sent me this picture not long after everything settled down a few days later."
Damian smiled. "I'm glad she got this picture…" He slipped a hand into Raven's. "That conversation is one I look back on pretty fondly."
"Again… just kiss already, you two." Everyone looked up to see Dick and Barbara walk into the family room. Damian shook his head smiling.
"I'm not to keen on doing something so rambunctious in front of my own father, Richard," the younger Wayne said with a wink. "My standards must be just a tad higher than yours."
"Master Damian, putting aside the fact that you just used the word 'rambunctious' unironically…" Alfred commented wryly (to which Damian blushed a bit more), "… both your father and I have watched you break a man's neck before. You said it was 'fun'. You are, in all honesty, the worst example of behavioral standards in this room."
Damian's face flushed at the butler's statement. Dick, grinning smugly, held up his phone up over the photo album. "Y'know, if you don't want to do it now, I can always just play the video…"
"Nope!" Damian shouted as he snatched Nightwing's phone up and deleted the video.
"Dude!" Dick swiped the phone back in anger. "Why would you–"
"Not to worry, Master Richard," Alfred sighed, an eyebrow cocked as he pulled out his own phone. "I have the video right here."
Oh no… Damian thought. Dick's phone was one thing. But I can't touch Alfred's, or I'm a dead man.
Damian went to look to Raven for support, but by the time he'd locked eyes with her, she already had her hands on either side of his face, and pulled him in for a kiss. Before we could even react, Raven pulled away and threw her hood up, leaving Damian flustered and embarrassed. Everyone cheered (except for Bruce, who could see how uncomfortable the two were), and Alfred slowly put his phone away.
"Okay, maybe that was a little much…" Dick put his hands on Raven and Damian's shoulders. "But trust me, it gets easier with practice."
"Dick, leave the kids alone," Barbara snipped at her fiancé. "You'll have plenty of time to embarrass children when Tommy is born."
Dick stood back up, walking over to the Batgirl and planting one right on her cheek. "Yes, ma'am."
After a moment of Damian rubbing little circles into her back, Raven pulled her hood back off, and the seven of them continued flipping through the pages of Alfred's photo album. Something about it was almost cathartic; after everything they'd been through — brainwashing, deaths in the family, the literal coming of Satan — it was important for them to look back on the memories they held closest to their hearts. Tea with Alfred on a Sunday morning, Tommy's ultrasounds, Carrie at the fair with her school friends, and plenty of sunrises over Jump City. Little moments in time that made the rest worthwhile. That's what it's all about, right?