A/N: Hey guys! Hope everyone's doing well! As of recently, I am on December break, so now that I have no school, I have a lot more time to write. I'm going to do my best to update sooner, but please don't expect updates every few days. It takes a lot of time to write, and also to make sure that everything connects and flows well. Anyways, enjoy!

Damian's POV

Swish

A katana cuts through the air.

Shing.

A katana cleanly slices off the metal dummy's head.

Clink.

The katana is sheathed.

I frowned, closing my eyes. I was letting off some steam after the imbecilic Todd found the picture of Malak* in my room and teased me about it. I deeply missed her, and Todd didn't do anything but make the Marinette-sized hole in my heart widen even more. I thought about her everyday, as if it would feel like she was right here, by my side. But she wasn't, and thinking about her doesn't help either. I know she wouldn't have wanted me to sit around and mope like this, but I can't help it. I heard a door open and Cain walked in. She had a certain look on her face I couldn't decipher. She walked over to me, and I took notice of how she did so rather carefully. I tensed when she tentatively placed her hands on my shoulders. She bent down and looked straight into my eyes. Cains' vocal cords had been cut as a child, forcing her to rely on body language only, but she was able to communicate with me, since I was taught body language as well and she was learning sign language. Cain continued staring at me and I could see the sadness in her eyes. This told me all I needed to know. She missed Marinette just as much as I did. They had grown up together after all, and were quite close. Sometimes I forget that I'm not the only one who knows and misses Malak. For some reason, everything reminds me of her. Can you blame me, though? We were best friends, we knew everything about each other, she's my other half, she was my other half. Until she died. However something is telling me that there's more to what Mother told me. I recall her words, "She's dead, abn.** She was fighting Slade and didn't notice an assassin had snuck up on her." I also recall how much I had cried that day, mourning the loss of a dearly loved person. I hadn't told anyone but Cain about that time period, since I knew no one would understand my pain which, no matter how much time had passed, would not go away. I knew I should move on and celebrate her life rather than mourn her. Cain shook my shoulders hard to shake me out of my thoughts. I only said four words to confirm my beliefs. "Do you miss her?" Cain nodded, and I could see tears beginning to gather in her eyes. My eyes blurred with tears of my own. Suddenly I shook my head, saying, "No. She would not have wanted this. We need to move on." Cains' eyes widened and she began to violently shake her head. "I'm not saying we should forget about her," I went on, "we should continue to remember and mourn her but we need to get on with life." Cain slowly signed, 'but it's so hard to,' as she was still getting the hang of the language. "I know," I replied, trying to blink away the tears, "but we need to. I, for one, refuse to go on any longer like this. She would have been disappointed in both of us." Cain hesitated for a full ten seconds before nodding. So we went on our way, Cain going on to train and me leaving to do homework. As soon as I exited the door, Todd bombarded me with questions about Malak, or to him, 'the girl in the picture.' "She was an old enemy that I decided to keep tabs on. I forgot I even had that picture," I said. It hurt me like crazy that I had even said such things about her, but I had to throw my pathetic excuse of a brother off. Todd immediately stopped asking questions and intensely stared at me. I didn't back down, I was trained to withstand such things. Then he said, in a weird tone, "Something's wrong." Internally, I gulped. How had he figured it out? Did I not hide the sadness well enough? "You're willingly giving me info about your past." Inside, I sighed. So he hadn't, good. Then, he shouted, "Timmy! Dickhead! Come down here now!" I raised an eyebrow, however he didn't even acknowledge it. I heard loud noises coming from the living room, then seconds later, my two other adopted brothers crashed through the door. Grayson looked like he was on a sugar rush while Drake was half-asleep, about to fall on the ground. He, of course, had a steaming cup of coffee with him. "What's wrong?" Grayson asked.

"Demon-spawn here just gave me some info about his past. Willingly."

"What the he-" Thump. Crash.

"Ah, masters, I see Master Timothy has finally fallen asleep. If you will excuse me, I shall go deposit him in his room. Good day."

We all watched as Pennyworth dragged the unconscious Drake to his room, leaving a shattered glass and coffee on the ground. Then, the attention was once again diverted on me. "Alright, what the heck? Demon? Giving you, his least favorite brother, information? Wait. Jason, call B. We have a clone of Damian on our hands. Oh no! What if Talia got to baby Bird and he's dea-" "Grayson, I can assure you I am not a clone and I do not appreciate you even thinking that," I cut him off, making sure to put lots of emphasis on the 'not.' Grayson gasped. "You ca-" "No," I snapped. "I do not care what you think and that will never change. Now, I have things to do," and I walked off back towards my room. I could hear Todd shouting something about a girl. He was probably talking about Malak, but I didn't have the strength to deal with him anymore today. I was tired, sad, and lonely. Or maybe the last one was resolved because when I entered my room, Titus, my Great Dane, ambushed me with his leash in his mouth. "Down boy," I said. Titus barked and jumped down. Even though I was supposed to be doing homework, I guess I needed fresh air, so I put on the dog's leash and walked out with him.

A couple hours later, as I lay in my bed, I wondered what it'd be like if she was here. If she were alive, would she have forgotten about me? But, she's dead and will remain dead. Unless… No, there's no way. That's impossible. Or is it? Was she revived through the Pit? I blinked hard several times to clear those thoughts. I couldn't let myself become hopeful, only to be disappointed again. My thoughts strayed back to her as I drifted off to sleep.

*Angel

**Son

Third chapter done! As always, please comment!