Chapter 28

Wayne Manor, Gotham City. March 29th, 2018. 11:15 PM.

Nothing.

Nearly four weeks Bruce had been scanning the entire globe for any sign of Damian's presence–his tracking signal, his body signature, even his voice pattern–but nothing. It was like they pulled him right off the face of the earth. Like he'd been written out of existence. It drove Bruce up the wall… Bruce had struggled harder for longer to find a missing person before, and he'd been able to keep a level head. But this was different, more personal. This was Damian… his son was missing.

Of course, having disciplined himself to handle his behavior over the years, Bruce proved to be able to rein in his emotions considerably well for someone in his situation… which, unfortunately, he couldn't say for Raven. Raven was a complete wreck; when she first returned to the Cave, the girl was burning with a determination he hadn't seen since he displayed it himself when Damian had died. But as time went on and days turned into weeks, the undeniable lack of progress began to take its toll on her, and the stone-cold facade she had arrived with began to erode, revealing the broken, vulnerable girl underneath. She and Damian were more devoted to their relationship than Bruce gave them credit for, and it showed in how poorly she was faring given the not knowing. For this, Bruce blamed himself; he told her she was a part of his family. He promised to take care of her, and right now she was suffering. He had to find Damian soon… not just for himself, not even just for Damian, but for her.

Raven herself had slipped into the library after the first two weeks of nothing. She hadn't come back out since… she didn't want Bruce to see her break. She knew Bruce could see it getting to her, but she didn't want him to actually see her crumble. Presently, she found herself curled up against the wall, hugging her knees to her chest in silence. She tried to feel him, reach out over the farthest distance she could reach to connect to his mind… but she found nothing.

She hadn't felt so alone in a very long time.

How did this happen so fast? She had just gotten off of the greatest eleven days of her life; she and Damian had just made it across the entire country together. They opened up to one another like they never had before, learned things about one another they never would have guessed. She… she wanted him to ask. She wanted him to give her the ring, she wanted to be able to wear it everyday, to look down at it on her finger and feel him beating in her heart… she wanted forever. She needed forever. She needed him. She knew they were just kids, she knew how foolish they must have looked to everyone else, but she didn't care. She'd forgotten what it felt like to be loved long ago, but Damian showed her. She learned to love again because he loved her, when she thought no one could, and now… She extended her reach as far as she could, sat day and night by the Batcomputer waiting for a response, begged and pleaded to Azar for something, anything, to let her know that her Damian was okay. But her search yielded no results. The Batcomputer found no trace of him. And her prayers went unanswered.

"Miss Raven, may I sit with you for awhile?"

Raven looked up to see Alfred standing nearby, his hands folded behind his back. He looked down at her with concern in his tired eyes.

"Y… yeah… sure, Mr. Pennyworth…" Raven's eyes slowly turned back to the floor. The old caretaker slowly brought himself down to the floor beside her. They sat in silence for sometime.

"Miss Raven…" he began. "… I know I should say that Master Damian will be alright. That he always turns out fine…"

"Mr. Pennyworth, it's okay. I know he died once before… I just…"

"You know that we're doing everything we can. But… but let me assure you of something else."

Raven turned and looked at the old man. Even without her powers of empathy, the direction of the lines on his face showed his sorrow plain as day.

"If… if Master Damian does not return…" The butler spoke in a low, drawn-out tone. "… if he really is gone… we've made preparations for you. Master Bruce has reached out to your Aunt Alice, and…" he looked into her eyes. "… and if you'll have it… Master Bruce would like to move forward with adoption proceedings."

Raven stared back at the elder gentleman, taking her time to think. Slowly, Raven began to nod. "… thank you, Mr. Pennyworth… I'd love that. But…" Her tired, sore eyes began to well up with tears that she didn't know she had left to shed. "… he… I… I was gonna marry him, Alfred… we were… we were supposed to grow old together… I can't let go of that. I can't…" The half-demon turned his face back to the floor, squinting her eyes and hiding her quivering lips behind her knees. "… I can't let him go…"

Alfred nodded knowingly. "We aren't going to do anything until we all three deem it appropriate… until we all believe that Master Damian has…" He paused, turning away for a moment. "… that Master Damian has died."

Raven broke. She sputtered out a breath, then drew in a deep breath and slowly exhaled, her breath shaking violently as her whole body trembled. Her hands clenched into fists, and she pounded against her knees as she began to whimper, her voice growing louder as she pounded harder and harder until she threw herself into Alfred's arms, her ragged voice echoing throughout the library. She knew her lack of composure was shameful, that she was above such outbursts, but she couldn't control herself. The whole Manor grew dark as her shadow stretched out to each and every room, and her wails rang out into the halls of the empty old house. Alfred pulled her close in his arms, his own tears streaming down her face into the girl's hair. She clung to his suit for dear life, her lungs burning from the pain of her cries.

As the Batcave grew darker, Bruce turned away from the computer screen as he heard the echoes of the child's voice make its way into the cavern. He rose immediately, and ran up the stairs into the house, making his way through the darkness into his father's library. There he found his butler with their new charge in his arms, their bodies quaking against the wall. He dropped to his knees beside them, and put his arms around them both. Silently, a single tear rolled down his cheek. He had to stay strong, he had to keep himself together. He had to…

Undisclosed location. March 29th, 2018. 11:45 PM.

Damian hung from the chains holding him to the wall, his eyes locked on the dusty brick floor beneath him. He hadn't said a single word since the moment Lawton told him that Raven was dead. He ate when the assassin brought him food, he drank when he brought him water, and he slept whenever he let the chains out enough for him to lie on the floor. But other than that, he made no movements. His face made no expression, and his eyes stayed on the ground. After all, there was no reason to anymore… without Raven, Damian couldn't find a reason to do anything.

As the sound of footsteps echoed down the corridor, Damian could hear Lawton approaching again. In all likelihood, he was coming to let out his chains again, allow Damian to get some rest. But the sound of keys jangling in his hand suggested otherwise. Lawton opened the cell door, and knelt down to look at Damian.

"My client is here to take you…" Deadshot sighed. "Again, I'm sorry for all this happening to you. You seem like an okay kid., but… I need the money."

Damian slowly lifted his eyes to meet Lawton's. There was no emotion in the boy's face, no feeling in his eyes.

"None of this is your fault, Lawton…" Damian's voice was raspy as he finally spoke, his throat dry and swollen. "You were just doing what you had to do… for your daughter. I understand that…" Red X let his arms fall to his sides as Deadshot unlocked his restraints.

"Go on up the stairs," the hitman murmured. "He's waiting… good luck."

Damian slowly picked himself up off the cold ground and shuffled down the corridor towards the stairway. He turned back to say something, but Lawton was already gone. Damian let out a sigh and looked down to his belt. For some reason, Lawton had left the boy wearing his full uniform… he even sewed up the hole where the bullet had entered his chest. He pressed a button on his belt buckle, activating his homing signal, and proceeded up the stairway into the next room.

What awaited Damian in the next room took him by surprise. It was a large chamber, apparently some form of bathing chamber. Tracing the green glow to the large tub to his right, Damian immediately recognized the shimmering waters of a Lazarus pit. Damian was certain that the League had located them all, but apparently they were wrong… not that that surprised him. The League proved wrong about a great many things.

"What's the matter, boy? Does the sight of the pit bring back foul memories?"

Damian found himself immediately on edge, his eyes widening as he recognized the voice. He looked up across the room to see one eye staring back at him from behind the familiar metal sheath.

Damian remained silent as Slade Wilson walked slowly towards him.

"I'm sure I'm the last person you wanted to see right now, Damian," Deathstroke hissed, his voice carrying all the way across the room. "But I'm here to settle the score between us once and for all."

Damian began to walk forward himself, still saying nothing. Slade pulled a single katana from his back, tossing it to the boy, who caught it by the sheath. His eyes never looked away as Wilson pulled the second katana off of his back, taking it in both hands as he shifted into stance.

"You and I are going to duel. Right here, right now. If you don't kill me, then I'll kill you. I'll put this blade through your heart, throw you into that pit, then pull you out and put the blade right back in. I'll watch you suffer, as I've suffered every single day since you were born." Slade glared at the boy with a fearsome rage in his eye. "I only hope you can put aside your father's pathetic mantra of 'justice, not vengeance' long enough to give me a decent fight." Without another word, Slade bolted forward, swinging out at the boy with all his might…

The piercing sound of steel clashing against steel reverberated throughout the chamber as Damian lifted his sword, blocking Slade's deadly stroke with ease.

"Slade…" The Son of Batman growled through clenched teeth. "You killed my Raven." His glare burned into Wilson's eye. "This… this is justice."

Before Slade could react, Damian forced the soldier's sword down, reaching up and jerking away the mask from his face. Damian's head whipped forward, smashing right into Wilson's nose and shattering it into pieces. The old warrior stumbled back, and Red X let out an ungodly, primal roar as he launched forward, coming down like a vengeful wraith on his captor…

The Batcave, Gotham City. March 29th, 2018. 11:57 PM.

"What the… Raven. Raven, get over here! We found him!"

Raven's eyes darted to the Batcomputer, where Bruce had jolted up to a standing position, knocking his chair down as he called out to her. She appeared beside him in a blink, her heart racing as the two of the, looked up at the screen in front of them, which displayed a map of the entire planet, with a single pulsing red dot on a small island nation off the American east coast. Damian's homing beacon had turned on.

"Azar's mercy…" Raven whispered excitedly. "It's him! It's really him, isn't it!?"

"Corto Maltese…? Why is he in Corto Maltese?" Bruce stared grimly up at the screen. Raven jerked his shoulder, pulling his attention back to her.

"That doesn't matter right now!" The Titan urged. "What matters is that we get to him now before something happens!"

Bruce nodded, pulling his cowl on over his eyes. "Get to the Batwing, we'll be there in ten minutes." He turned to Robin, who was waiting nearby to head out on patrol. "Carrie, send word to Dick, Jason, and Tim. Let them know what's going on."

"You got it, Boss!" The girl hopped on her bike and sped off out of the Cave. Bruce quickly turned to Alfred.

"Alfred, keep an eye on his signal. Once we get in the area, I'll need you to keep us honed in on Damian's signal."

"Of course, Master Bruce… good luck." The butler nodded, picking up the chair and sitting down at the Batcomputer as Batman and Raven rushed to the Batwing. "… and please bring him home safe…"