Hello! I just wanted to say that for this chapter I kept listening to these beautiful songs: Life&Death by Hiroyuki Sawano, Tattoo by Loreen and Everything I need by Skylar Gray. I love them so much! Thanks for reading and as always I'd like to hear your thoughts!

Although Damian doesn't let go of her hand on the way back to Wayne Manor, his silent treatment becomes deafening to Raven.

Maybe she shouldn't have kissed him. Maybe their feelings weren't mutual. Maybe they were betting more than they could win.

Ba-thump.

Maybe it was simply impossible. After all, she had asked him to kill her. What kind of sane person would do that?

However, before she could sink further into the whirlpool that was her doubts and feelings, Damian gave her hand a light squeeze before letting go, just as they reached the mansion's gardens. They both stopped, then, and Damian took a breath, as if he needed some time to think about what he wanted to say.

Raven swallowed and he looked back at her.

"I'm not going to kill you," he declared, firmly. "I'm not."

Raven parted her lips to say something, anything, but her words remained just a wish when their eyes met.

"We will find another way. Perhaps the poem has more parts. It doesn't have to be the only ending."

His words were rushed and his almost desperate search for a logical answer made Raven's heart ache. She also wished there was another way. An option in which both could live in the same world without fear of the consequences. She wanted the hope he made her feel to be real and palpable.

But…

The truth was that the thirst that she was beginning to feel more frequently and the darkness that she was sure would torment her during every dream for the rest of her nights reminded her that that wasn't the case.

If it wasn't at that moment that she lost control, it would be at another time and if it wasn't at that other time, it would be later. The power, the strength, the darkness... It was all there, at the tips of her fingers, in every corner of her body, ready to be released, and if Raven kept rejecting it, she knew, it was very likely that not even the strength of all the hunters in the world would be able to stop her.

Damian was her only option while she still had a glimmer of self-control.

Raven also knew, however, that it would leave a very large scar on his heart, so…

"You just have to promise me that if the worst comes to worst, you'll stop me before," she asked, taking a step towards him and putting her hand on his arm. She looked into his eyes and gulped. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I don't want to become what everyone fears."

She may have felt used, and even betrayed, but Raven didn't want to destroy that world that Damian and his family fought so hard to protect. She wanted to avoid at all costs that this prophetic poem came true in its entirety.

She squeezed his arm.

"Promise me, Damian. Please."

Damian was silent for a while. His heart was beating strong and steady, and she wanted to keep it that way.

He clenched his fists. His feelings and thoughts full of objections not said aloud. Frustration clearly blurring his vision.

However, Damian had been raised by his father and therefore knew what he had to say and what he would have to do.

"Only if the worst scenario happens," he accepted, then, resigned and almost refusing to look at her. "In that case, I promise."

So that the world would have no more reasons to reject her, Damian would do what he could.

Raven smiled softly, almost sighing in peace. "Thank you."

But of course, whoever controlled fate or what happened, wasn't going to let that peace continue for the rest of the night.

Suddenly, the alarms throughout Gotham began to sound as if it were a catastrophe, screams reached Raven's ears, Damian could visualize dark smoke rising to the sky from some inexact point, and Grayson's voice was heard on the other side of the earpiece in his ear as both he and Raven turned their gazes to the city.

"Damian, the city— They are attacking!"

Raven's reaction was immediate, almost planned, as if she had already been expecting something like this.

"I'm going to go ahead," she let him know and he nodded.

However, before letting her gain momentum and parting ways, knowing what the worst that could happen was, Damian opened his mouth before he could think twice.

"Raven wait."

She stopped all her movements just in time to look back at him with a questioning expression. Despite the urgency of the situation, neither of them said anything for a couple of seconds.

And then Damian took a breath.

"Be careful."

Raven nodded, not having enough hardness in her heart to promise something, anything, that she most likely couldn't keep.

There was no other option, after all. They both understood it. They had to.

So, she smiled slightly. Despite everything. Even if it was to lighten just a little the weight that they both suddenly felt in their chests.

"Yeah. You too."

Raven hurried to the opposite side from which she and Damian had arrived at the mansion. It wasn't difficult to visualize the chaos from a distance, as soon, near the police station, a van exploded and more people screamed.

She swallowed and gagged as the smell of blood and death invaded her nostrils.

Ba-thump.

There was no time for that, she told herself, shaking her head. Around her, the few police officers were shooting into the air at the creatures that moved at inhuman speed. It was like a vicious cycle. Vampires attacked police officers and homeless people. They screamed and when the curious neighbors poked their heads out, or even opened the curtains of their windows to see what was happening, other vampires attacked them mercilessly. Many had been smashed to the ground.

Her heart pounded loudly in her ears. Raven felt anger in the pit of her stomach, which manifested itself in the growth of her fangs and claws. Why? Why were they doing that again?

Her gaze quickly shifted to one of the lower-class vampires, who was about to break down the door of a departmental building. Just by focusing on him, Raven knew there would be no turning back when in the blink of an eye she had already smashed his head against the nearest wall and pierced his heart with her fist.

She stopped another one when it was about to bite an officer's neck and then eliminated another who was dragging a woman out of her apartment as her children cried while hugging the doorway.

Why?

Why? Indeed.

The arrogant smile of the one who called herself queen appeared in her mind at the same time she heard her voice.

I must admit. For having spent so many days thirsty, it's amazing that you're still sane. Is it a half-breed thing, or is it because you are a direct descendant of Trigon?

Raven clenched her fists, not caring about getting hurt, just to keep herself stable at least until Damian arrived. So she just shook her head, as if that would scare away the queen just like waving hands scares away flies, and she blocked her somehow. Raven had to focus. She had to stop as many as she could until the others arrived.

Let's see how much you can take.

The Batmobile's wheels screeched against the asphalt as Batman drove, ignoring every driving rule he could to get there faster. At his side, and even further ahead, were his siblings on motorcycles, each one taking a strategic position.

Damian tightened his grip on the handle of his katana. It was fortunate that, since there was a curfew, the streets were almost empty.

"I heard them in my mind," Damian then confessed.

His father's mask prevented him from seeing him frown without looking at him. However, from his tone of voice, Damian knew that it hadn't hurt to tell him.

"Who?"

"The queen…and Raven."

There were a few seconds of silence. Damian actually didn't know if Batman was at a loss for words or if he was just thinking about what to say, so he continued:

"Since we faced her, though it doesn't seem like Raven is aware."

"The most powerful vampires can use telepathy with their servants," Batman explained, although that was common knowledge. "We don't know the full extent of that ability, though."

Damian nodded and looked out the window, up at the smoky city sky.

He would keep to himself the overwhelming feeling in his chest that, he was sure, didn't belong to him. If they still had no idea how powerful that ability was, he doubted they would find out in the rest of the day. What he was sure of, however, was that a connection was needed. His and Raven's feelings had probably unleashed that power for her, but then, was the queen just as or more powerful? And if so, what other ability could she display without needing a connection?

He took a breath and exhaled, and then his father reached his hand to the Batmobile's computer and activated the comms.

"Each one take a different entrance to the center," his father indicated. "Damian—"

"I'm going with Raven," if his father had any objections, he didn't say it out loud and just ended up nodding. None of his siblings made any joking comments either. Maybe because of the seriousness of the situation, maybe because they knew that sooner or later something like that would happen.

A single "understood" response was enough for each of them to take a different route, with him and his father following straight ahead and turning just in time to see the disaster that was happening. His father had to maneuver the steering wheel to prevent a burning trash can from hitting his windshield.

Damian took the opportunity to open the door and jump down to impale a vampire through the chest. Just thinking about finding Raven was enough for something in him to know where he had to go.

"Damian," but then his father called out to him and he reluctantly looked back. "Don't let her play with your mind."

Was he referring to the queen or Raven? Damian narrowed his eyes, but did not respond before running towards where the largest number of vampires seemed to be gathered.

With his sword, he pierced one that attacked him directly and with his batclaw he swung from building to building to not only move faster, but to get a better angle of the streets. His siblings and father had already gotten into different fights each.

And then, as he supposed, he managed to visualize Raven facing several vampires at once. Her crimson eyes shone brighter than those of the others and with her claws she tore off both the skin and the flesh of those who tried to touch her.

Damian swallowed. He had to stop her somehow, he couldn't let her lose control again, but when he was about to fire his batclaw again, a voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Are you really going to risk everything for that vampire?"

The voice chilled his blood and it was as if everything around him suddenly lost color and sound.

No…

Damian slowly turned on his axis, only to see the brown-haired, green-eyed woman speaking to him with genuine, disappointed nonchalance. She hadn't changed at all. She was the same as the last time he saw her before she turned to dust at the hands of his father.

"This is not real. It's impossible," his mother raised both eyebrows.

"I expected more from my firstborn, I'm not going to lie," she looked into his eyes, impassive, emulating her father's attitude although being very different from him. Damian would know. "For you to be this desperate when you couldn't even eliminate me, do you really think she's worth it? Or that you are capable enough?"

Damian felt anger swirling in his heart. Not just anger, but frustration and confusion.

He gulped and closed his eyes tightly for a couple of seconds before looking back at her and raising his sword.

"Who are you?" he asked, not that it mattered.

His mother smiled slightly.

"I know it's hard to believe, my son," she continued, taking a step toward him and then another. "But it's easier that way. I'm willing to help you, even though you've let me down. Even though you have betrayed me and humanity by falling in love with a vampire, don't you think it's the best option? To be with her until the end, that is."

Damian frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

And then his mother's eyes turned red and her sharp fangs shone in her smile.

"I mean, the way you are now, you'll never be able to protect her… To protect the ones you love," another step towards him and her chest lightly touched the tip of his katana. Damian knew then that he wasn't hallucinating. Someone was really there. "Don't you want to? The power to be with them forever."

"Is that why you were turned?" he wanted to know then.

His mother looked stunned for a moment, but it was only for a second that she tried to put on a genuinely motherly smile.

A feeling made Raven look up at the roof of a specific building. She didn't know what exactly, but she did and her eyes widened when she saw what was happening.

Why was the queen with Damian?

And worse yet, why was he lowering his sword?

She quickly tried to go towards him, but more vampires prevented her and her desperation and worry increased when the queen's gaze fell on her. A sinister smile that showed her fangs made Raven's breathing hitch and the fact that she was so close to Damian made everything around her suddenly stop seeming important, or even worthy of her attention, once again.

Ba-thump.

The power and darkness that her aura began to emit made the lower class vampires begin to retreat.

What did the rest of the people matter if she couldn't protect the only one she really wanted to protect? How dare that woman even want to touch him? Raven would destroy her. She would destroy all who wanted to harm him.

"Be careful."

She blinked.

Oh.

Now she understood it.

She looked around. The vampires no longer approached her. Not even the highest ranking ones, those decided to focus their attention on Damian's siblings and father. In her body there was still all that darkness and resentment against everyone, but, she noted, she was still conscious. She was still in control.

Taking a breath, Raven fixed her gaze on Damian. That was what Dick was referring to. The bet Batman had made.

With the right influence she could control it.

Damian was that influence.

And she only finished reaffirming it when the queen's gasp stole the attention of all the undead.

Damian watched his mother's dark blood drip onto the ceiling. Although she showed a surprised, even betrayed expression, he remained impassive as he pressed the dagger further into her chest.

"If anything convinced my mother to become a bloodsucker," he swung the dagger, and when she snarled, everything around him had color and sound again. Likewise, soon, the creature in front of him no longer had the appearance of Thalia Al Ghul. "It was the promise of more power, not of being with me and my father forever."

Very clever, he heard in his mind, but unlike when he heard Raven, the feeling that filled him was sickening and grim. "If I had reacted half a second late, you would have hit my heart."

But, maybe it's too late.

Damian's instincts kicked in as the queen smiled. However, it was too late when he felt the direct blow to his body. His sword and dagger went flying. Obviously, the ribs that were just beginning to heal broke again and oxygen stopped reaching his lungs as he fell at an impressive speed from the top of the building. The worried voices of his family reached his ear in unison, but even if he wanted to, there was no way he could answer them.

The impact this time would kill him.

But Raven wasn't going to allow it. He was able to sense her intentions and presence just in time as a cloud of dust rose in her wake. Her red skin was the first thing he noticed when she left him behind a damaged car.

"Raven—"

"That wound will take a while to heal," she interrupted, without looking at him. Damian had the feeling that she was having a hard time doing so. "We have a chance."

He tried to get up.

"Then, I— ugh!" but he had to stop when a strong push made him double over on his stomach. If the blood he spat caught the attention of Raven, or any vampires around, Damian couldn't notice.

"You have to stay here and recover as much as you can," she requested, resting one of her hands on his chest and helping him sit up again. "...Don't forget your promise."

He frowned. But it was okay now, wasn't it? She was totally in control of her—

His thoughts were stopped when he looked into Raven's eyes… into her two pairs of eyes that were glowing brightly.

She smiled, resigned to his surprise. Trigon's appearance had always been a mystery, as had his true strength. Well, Raven knew that now Damian could get the idea.

"Damian!" and then he heard Dick's voice in the distance. "The vampires stopped…uh…"

The family acrobat also stopped dead in his tracks at Raven's presence. Not only because of her intimidating appearance, completely contrary to what he was used to, but because of the enormous darkness that surrounded her and that, for some reason, did not touch Damian no matter how close they were.

"Take care of him," was the last thing she said before returning to battle.

"Raven, wait—"

But she ignored him. While she still had control, before she was engulfed by the darkness of her blood, she had to end any threat.

She looked back one last time, at Damian, who didn't look away, and took a deep breath.

Ba-thump.

She had to finish the mission.

The ground beneath her feet cracked as she gained momentum. The smell of the queen's blood was particular. It smelled old and rotten, and promised power unattainable to those ambitious and deluded. So it wasn't difficult to find her a few streets away, surrounded by low-class vampires willing to offer her their blood in order to get a sip of hers.

But silver wounds were not easy to heal, much less those that were close to the heart.

They both looked at each other for a moment. Raven still wondered about the queen's motivations. The queen only enjoyed the half-breed's determined look.

Did she think that if they finished quickly enough she could escape her fate? It was funny just thinking about it.

Just her command was enough for all the vampires to rush towards Raven again, completely forgetting what had made them stop in the first place. This time, however, Raven didn't give them a second chance and let all the darkness inside her come out.

She didn't pay attention to their faces. She didn't care if they were young or old. At that moment, her goal was only one and she was waiting for her.

Or so it seemed, because the queen didn't look at all perturbed when she almost managed to grab her neck with her hands, stopping just the second she felt the true strength and evil of her presence colliding with hers as if one magnet repelled another.

"I was wondering," Raven spoke. "When would you start standing up for yourself."

The queen smiled.

"I don't need to defend myself, just drag this out long enough."

Ba-thump.

Raven couldn't help but get angry.

From the ground, leaning on Dick, Damian watched the battle, although, well, it wasn't as easy as it seemed since both were moving at supernatural speed.

What was easy, however, was to feel the waves that their clashing claws caused in the air.

"B and the cops are evacuating as many people as they can," Dick informed him. "Babs and the others are taking care of protecting them."

Damian nodded, saving himself the effort of answering out loud. He didn't plan for it to be any other way. Not when Raven believed in him.

"Tell me," the queen said as they both stopped on the roof of another building. Her chest rose and fell unevenly, and Raven knew it was due to wounds that weren't healing, although she wasn't in much better shape. "Can you feel it? What is pouring out of you."

Ba-thump.

Raven didn't want to answer that. There was no need when little by little her consciousness seemed to fade and they both knew it. Instead, she took the opportunity to lunge at the queen and put into practice everything Damian had taught her about hand-to-hand combat. Her punches and kicks struck with speed and precision, each blow fueled by her need to finish as soon as possible.

However, a single carelessness was enough for the queen to hit her back. It may not have been that elaborate, but it was powerful enough that Raven's back slammed into the wall of the nearest building and debris fell around her.

Ba-thump.

She wiped away the trickle of blood that escaped her lips with the back of her wrist.

How dare she? Who did she think she was to even dare touch her?

Ba-thump.

The queen smiled and showed her claws as if she was welcoming whatever was going to happen. Raven put a hand to her head. What was it that she had to do?

Oh yeah.

She had to put an end to the one who called herself queen. She had to finish the mission.

And to do so, she would destroy everything in her path.

This time she was too fast, even for the queen, as she lunged with all her power, grabbing her by the neck, and passing through the walls of two buildings in a row as if they were not made of noble material. It was a miracle that they didn't collapse on impact, but it mattered little when the fire mixed with gas leaks and the sky was covered in black smoke.

If there was still a hint of compassion in her being, it was no longer noticeable. The dark energy was getting stronger, so much so that even any human without trained eyes could see and feel it. Raven was no longer Raven. Damian clenched his jaw and reached for his sword when he sensed it.

"Woah, hey, hey, what do you think you're doing?"

Todd was quick to try and help him as he stood up from where he had been leaning. An aspirin and a painkiller could only do so much. And although he expected Jason to make some teasing comments like he normally did in situations like those, the truth was that he was now noticeably and seriously worried about his little brother.

"The battle is not over yet, if you go now—" but before he could finish, a loud explosion interrupted him.

It wasn't an explosion though. In reality, it was the sound of the queen's body falling brutally onto a car and Raven landing next, denting the car mercilessly. She had her back turned to them, but when she stood up, everyone could see that she was holding something in her right hand.

A heart. The queen's heart, which was still beating.

Only to then crush it between her fingers as if it were just a mass of wet plasticine.

"...A path of blood and fire," Damian remembered.

Jason looked at him bewildered.

It was what the prophecy said.

His condition wouldn't allow him to do much, everyone knew that, but Damian wouldn't go back on his promise.

"Just back away," he requested, looking into his eyes, his voice raspy with effort as he released himself from the Red Hood.

Raven slowly turned her head as Damian approached, his footsteps echoing. No one said anything for a few seconds. She didn't seem to have any intention of doing so as she turned around. Her head tilted, all four eyes furrowed as if she were wondering who he was or how he had the nerve to show himself in front of her.

The darkness and menace she radiated was enough to make anyone want to run in another direction, but he couldn't do it. The weight of responsibility was totally against what his instincts were screaming at him.

"I didn't want it to come to this."

She didn't respond, her black claws reflecting the fire from the fires around her.

"I know you're still there."

His hands tightened on the handle of his sword. Wishing, against his own nature and personal beliefs, praying to whatever god would listen, if they were there, for them to bring her back.

"Raven…"

But it wasn't like that and ignoring his words, she lunged towards him, at incredible speed, kicking up dust and exerting so much pressure with just one movement that the shock wave was enough to shake cars, make leaves fall off trees and knock over garbage cans.

Damian was sure he even heard glass breaking, like when they faced the queen for the first time and he prepared for the crash.

With his sword he managed to deflect her claws, which were going straight to his chest, but it was not enough to prevent her from pushing him more than a block until his back hit fiercely against a building. He gasped for air, but she didn't care as she grabbed him by his uniform and lifted him up, smashing through bricks, concrete, windows, and anything else in the way.

"Damian!" he heard once again the worried voices of his family.

"Ugh!"

She threw him to the ground of the roof and he, as best he could, got up at the right moment so that his sword repelled her claws with sparks. It wasn't something slow. On the contrary, unlike their first encounter, not only was she repowered, but he was one blow away from having one of his ribs go through his lung. Therefore, it was not strange that the battle looked so one-sided.

"I know you're still there…Raven!"

Using and gathering all his remaining strength, Damian lunged at her again, managing to land blows and battle her. However, at the last second, it only took one more hit for his katana to snap in half and she sent him flying towards the other end of the building.

Then, as if everything she had done was just the preamble, she effortlessly picked him up by the collar and carried him to the edge of the building. The tips of his feet barely touched the ground, his lungs struggled to receive oxygen, but Damian didn't look away, even though his entire body screamed in pain.

"Surround the building and—!"

No!

"Don't!" he shouted at them as best he could, hoping that at least one of them would hear him and pass on the message. The least he needed was to lose someone else. "Don't come…!"

He suffered with his decision.

He still had half of his katana after all.

But.

"Don't make me do it…Raven!"

When she didn't respond instantly, he prepared to fall, but then...

She didn't drop him.

Damian looked up as he heard a sound, similar to a sob. The second pair of eyes had disappeared, but her skin was still the same color and her eyes glowed the same deep crimson... Even her hands, one holding the other as if to prevent herself from letting go.

Raven was fighting herself. Dark energy going crazy around her. Her feelings in an avalanche, colliding with each other.

"Do it," she begged him, her menacing eyes pleading and filling with tears, glancing away for a split second at what was left of the katana. "Damian, do it!"

He felt his vision blurring. Both because of the blood loss and the situation. He didn't want to do it. He really didn't want to. Why did it have to be him? Hadn't what happened with his mother been enough?

He tightened the hilt of what was left of his katana.

And then, when they both heard the wire of a batclaw, Raven growled like a wild animal. Her eyes turning back into two pairs of bright crimson at the presence of someone from his family, loosening her grip on his neck only ever so slightly in distraction.

He thought of his mother.

No. Damian wasn't going to let Raven down too.

Then, in the blink of an eye, all evil and dark aura disappeared as his broken sword pierced her chest. She gasped and staggered. Her eyes and skin returning to normal just in time to release him into the roof.

Damian fell almost like a sack of potatoes. Raven looked at her hands, with which she almost killed the only person she wanted to protect, and then looked around. The remaining vampires, if they were not the queen's direct servants, had fled. The fire seemed to expand. The immediate danger had passed, though.

But.

Her legs trembled as she felt the silver residue travel through her bloodstream. Half of the sword was still buried in the middle of her ribs, mocking her regenerative ability with its shine. Her undoubtedly human inheritance receiving all the consequences of being stabbed.

Raven swallowed. It hurt. It hurt a lot.

And yet she decided to take out the sword so that it would stop obstructing the path of blood.

The last thing her mind registered, as her legs were overcome by her weight and she coughed up dark blood, was Damian approaching as fast as he could, even with so many broken bones and bruises on his body, his expression was one of pure dismay for her.

Raven felt like smiling. For some reason she wondered if she would turn to dust like normal vampires, or if they could bury her body, like humans, and she stretched out her arm to try to touch Damian.

He managed to take her hand. He was saying something, was it "you're going to be okay" when they both knew that wasn't the case? Or a desperate plea? But Raven was no longer listening.

Thank you, she tried to tell him and was sure that somehow he understood. Thank you. For keeping his promise. For being with her.

For becoming her important person at the time she needed it most.

Then everything went black.

Damian clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut. Raven had closed her eyes, but the lack of her presence, her feelings, made it clear to him that she was not sleeping.

He swallowed and hugged her limp body, not caring who in his family was watching him.

He had kept his promise.

Damian had stopped her.