Chapter 26

? February 26th, 2018. 2:31 PM.

The old pickup rumbled over the worn asphalt as it drifted along down the highway. Raven sat in the bed, loose straws of hay in her hair, and gazed out at the fields of wheat that seemed to stretch on forever before her. She looked down at her Damian, sleeping soundly as he laid out next to her, mostly buried underneath the pile of hay. His head rested soundly in her lap, and Raven smiled softly as she watched the corners of his lips twitch as he dreamed. Despite the wind blowing all around them, Raven could still pick out his scent in the air. She didn't understand how or why, but Damian always smelled like trees… like trees that stood tall in autumn. Raven couldn't understand how or why, but she loved it. It didn't take long for it to smell like home. As Raven let her eyes drift to Damian's lips, her mind wandered to his taste… she couldn't quite explain it. It was almost like smoke that hung on her lips, like she were kissing a fire in the winter. It seemed unreal, an unnatural taste that no human should ever produce… but then again, there was no human quite like Damian Wayne.

Slowly, Damian began to stir awake, his eyes fluttering softly as he came out of his dreaming. She ran her thumb gently across his cheek, and he smiled up at her before pulling himself into an upright position, hay flying out of the truck bed as he turned around to face her. He slipped his hand into hers, and smiled back into her eyes as he pulled himself as much as he could out of his drowsiness.

"Any idea where we're at now?" Damian asked. Raven glanced around at the fields surrounding them and shrugged.

"I couldn't tell you," the half-demon replied. "Coms and phone have been out of service for a while. We're gonna have to just make our way to the nearest town and reroute ourselves from there… and if we keep passing through nowhere like we've been doing all day, it's starting to look like we'll have to stop for the night."

Damian threw his head back and groaned. "That sucks…" he murmured. "Remind me to call Kori whenever we get a signal. I wanna make sure the others are getting back to it."

Raven looked down at the little mounds of hay around them before resting their joined hands on her leg. "Damian…" she said under her breath. "… Damian, have you ever thought about kids?"

Damian cocked an eyebrow, still trying to blink the tiredness from his eyes. "Wow, that's… kind of a lot to drop on a guy after he just woke up."

The mage girl looked away, her face going red again. "I'm sorry… I didn't–"

"No, no, no!" Damian put his other hand on Raven's knee. "Raven, you know you can ask me anything. You just caught me off-guard, that's all."

Raven looked back to the boy, her irises shimmering with the faintest hints of light. "I mean… not necessarily having kids of your own, but just…"

Damian's lips slid into a knowing half-smile. "Raven. Come on. I'm no empath, but you know I can feel your heart almost as much as you can feel mine. And I know that's what you wanted to ask."

Raven's cheeks burned as she fought back against the bashful grin trying to spread across her face. "Damian…"

"Well, if I'm being honest, the thought had never occurred to me until recently…" Damian looked down and began absently tracing little hearts into Raven's knee with his free hand. "I mean… I never thought I would have time to raise a child myself. But…" His fingers slowly trailed up her leg and began fiddling with the hem of her skirt. "… well, you changed how I think about things. I… I think I could picture myself settling down, starting a family."

Raven looked back up at Damian, her blushing now dimmed down just barely. "… So could I."

Damian lifted his eyes to hers, his fingers going still as a teasing smirk weaseled its way onto his lips. "And to be clear… you mean with me, right?"

Raven grinned, slapping at his shoulder playfully as he snickered. "Dork."

Damian chuckled as he put his arm around her, pulling her into his lap as they leaned back against the pile of hay behind him. "I think… I think I'd want a girl," he whispered into her ear, slipping his arms around her waist. "One that looks like you."

Raven turned to look back into Damian's eyes, her lips parting just barely. Damian's eyes dropped back to her mouth for a moment, and Raven gently bit her lower lip. The Son of Batman felt his spine shiver, and a breath he didn't noticed he'd held onto hissed out of his throats as he leaned in, gently taking her lips with his. Raven's hand found its way to Damian's chest, and it gripped softly at his shirt as she pulled her mouth away; he hadn't noticed it, but she felt the truck slowing down. The two of them were swallowed up in darkness for a moment, and the next moment Damian found himself lying in a wheat field, with Raven hanging over him, her knees on either side of his stomach. He grabbed his head in a daze, squeezing his eyes shut as he groaned.

"Please warn me next time you do that…" he moaned. Raven slowly lowered herself onto him, holding herself up on her elbows as she ran her fingers into his hair.

"Sorry, baby…" she cooed down at him. "I know, you aren't used to it yet."

After a moment, Damian let his eyes open up to see his Raven's eyes looking down into his, her hair hanging down around his face. "So, what about you?" He smiled up at her. "Would you want a boy or a girl?"

"I don't really know…" Raven brought her head down and pressed her lips against his forehead. "But if we were to have one… I'd want them to look like you."

Damian grinned, his arms sliding into place around Raven. "Well, we'll just have to wait and see what happens down the line. Won't we?"

Raven smirked, not saying another word as she brought her lips down onto his.

Titans Tower, Jump City. February 26th, 2018. 3:34 PM.

"Come on, Jonathan! Get back up!"

Jon found himself on his hands and knees in the training room, drenched in sweat. It was a good thing he didn't train in his costume, or he'd probably have to go out and buy a new jacket… which, frankly, he couldn't afford. He slowly pushed himself shakily back to his feet, and looked up to see Starfire standing tall and ready not to far in front of him. When it came to training with his powers, Ms. Kori was really the only one who could handle him. But as it turns out, that was quite the steep curve for Jon to overcome; he may have the genetic potential to be the most powerful member of the team, but Ms. Kori had been doing this sort of thing for years. She knew how to tap into the full potential of her powers, whereas Jon was still getting the hang of having powers at all.

"Alright, let's try it again," the Tamaranean said, crouching down to prepare for Jon's first move. He complied once more, rocketing forward faster than a speeding bullet. But Kori's reflexes were astounding, and she quickly shifted out of the way of his fist, grabbing him by the leg and tossing him into the air. Jon recovered, trying to shoot back down with his heel fast enough to surprise his teacher and land a hit. Kori, however, proved once again to be smarter than he, as she nimbly hopped out of the way, launching herself back with a kick directly into Jon's chest. He careened back into the wall, leaving a sizable crack where he collided with the concrete, before dropping back to the mat. This was pointless; Jon simply couldn't act fast enough to anticipate Starfire's moves.

"Back on your feet, Jonathan!" Kori ordered. "You've almost got it!" Jon's limbs shook under his weight, and he dropped back to the mat.

"I can't… I just can't do it, Ms. Kori…" Jon grunted as he pulled himself to his knees. Kori began walking towards him.

"I won't accept that, Jonathan," Kori stood over him, her expression stern as her stare bore down on him. "We're Titans. Titans don't say 'I can't.' Titans push through until they can."

"I'm sorry, I just…" Jon clenched his fists in frustration, his teeth grit. "I'm giving it everything I have, I just can't do it… I'm not fast enough."

"This isn't how a Titan talks!" Starfire was adamant, refusing to let him rest. This wasn't working. "What would your father say right now?"

Jon stopped for a second when the words left Kori's mouth. His brow slowly began to furrow. "… Stop talking about my dad, Ms. Kori."

Kori crossed her arms. "Superman never said 'I can't,' and he never gave up on anything," she carried on. "How can you let yourself cut corners where he won't?"

"I'm telling you, you need to stop it…" Jon growled, his fists beginning to quake. A flash of red sparked from his eyes. "Leave my dad out of it…!"

Kori would not let up. "Jonathan, you can do this! I've seen you fight before!" She glared down at the hybrid at her feet. "You're every bit as capable of accomplishing amazing things as your father!"

Jon snapped. His eyes shot up to meet Starfire's, glowing bright red.

"I SAID STOP IT!"

Before either of them could blink, Jon's right fist bolted upwards faster than lightning, driving right into Kori's gut. And audible boom could be heard a split second later in reaction to Jon's punch breaking the sound barrier. A brief second later, Kori stumbled back and grabbed at her stomach, doubling over in pain. When he realized what he'd done, Jon threw his hands over his mouth in shock.

"Ms. Kori!" Jon cried, rushing to her side. "Ms. Kori, I'm so sorry! Here, let me help you up–"

Kori's eyes shot up to meet Jon's. "That's it…" She took the young hybrid by his shoulders, a look of sheer excitement displayed across her face. "Jonathan, that's it!"

Jon stood staring back at the Tamaranean, an eyebrow cocked out of confusion. "Ummm… what's what?"

"That's the secret!" Kori exclaimed, rising to her feet. "That's how you get to your strongest point! My powers grow stronger when I'm confident; your powers grow stronger when you're angry!"

Jon blinked several times, processing this information. "… do you really think so, Ms. Kori?"

"Absolutely!" Starfire leapt back to the other side of the mat. "So if we want to push your limits and make you stronger… we're going to have to get you riled up!"

Jon hesitated for a moment before shifting into stance. "… I don't think I like where this is going…"

Just outside of Jump City. March 3rd, 2018. 3:45 PM.

Damian and Raven looked out from beside their pond at the familiar cityscape that lay before them. It had taken some time doing it the way they did it, but they were finally home. At the beginning of their trip, Damian had honestly wished they could buy a plane ticket home, and even made an attempt to convince Raven that they should. But Raven had her heart set on taking the long way home, hitchhiking their way across the entire country to get back to California from Gotham. And by the end of their journey, Damian was actually disheartened that it was already over. Part of him didn't want to go back to regular life; part of him wanted to stay on the road with her forever. And he suspected that part of her wanted to do the same.

But of course, life isn't all kisses and road trips. The time had come to go back to the Tower, and settle back into their routine of keeping Jump City safe. Still, it was an interesting ride… Damian found his mind wandering to a certain possible future, in which he and Raven decided to hang up their capes, raise a few children, and live a normal life together (at least, as normal a life as one can lead as the CEO of one of the world's most powerful companies). Had it been a year or so ago, Damian would have dropped the notion like a hot potato; his life was devoted to justice, he could never stop fighting for what he believed in.

Of course, a year or so ago, he didn't count on being happy.

Damian looked over at his beloved Raven. She had her hood pulled up, probably to avoid anyone in the city seeing her face. They were close enough to the city now that such a concern was valid, since… well, they lived here. People knew them here. Raven was on a first-name basis with the staff at the city library (well, they still called her Rachel, but she knew all of their names). She looked exhausted, which was understandable; they'd been walking for most of the day. But she smiled up at the city they called home, and she looked ready to sleep in her own bed again.

"Good to be back, isn't it?" the Son of Batman sighed, putting his arm around her.

"Mm…" Raven nodded before turning to her Damian. "Damian, these past few days have been…"

"Painful for your feet?" Damian winked, Raven laughed.

"They've been uplifting," she went on. "They've been some of the best days I've ever had… thank you for being there with me."

"I wouldn't have missed it," Damian replied, gently placing a hand on her cheek. "We have to do it again someday. Just you and me, wandering like that…"

"We really do." Raven smiled lovingly back at the boy, her violet eyes glowing under the shadow of her hood.

Damian paused for a moment. His heart skipped a beat as a thought popped into his head. Should he… should he do it now? After the incredible experience they just had, he considered… his hand reached slowly for the pocket in his belt with the little black box inside…

"Raven…" he stammered, reaching up and pulling her hood off of her head so he could see her face a little bit better. "Raven, I–"

He stopped. Something was wrong. He felt as if someone had pushed on his chest… Raven hadn't moved, so what was it? He meant to ask her, but all she could do was hang her mouth open and stare down at his chest. Confused, he looked down at himself. There was a hole in his uniform. How did that get there…?

This was when the colors began to fade; slowly, everything began to fade to grey. But the fade was gradual enough that he only really noticed when he put his fingers to the hole in his uniform. When he pulled them away, his gloved hand was covered in some grey liquid… it was only upon looking back at Raven that he realized the liquid on his hand wasn't grey at all.

His whole body went limp.

Raven caught him, holding him tightly in her arms.

Everything went black.