Chapter Text
“Friendship and gratitude.”
There are things that never change.
It was Dick's first thought when he tried to reach Damian for the third time that night. Bruce had told him to leave him alone, that when he was ready he'd come back or something, but leaving him alone is something Dick can't exactly do.
Dick had already been through it after all. Alone, wanting to do things on his own, and with a slight feeling of rejection towards the only father figure he had left just because he didn't do things in the most conventional... or loving way.
Dick couldn't leave Damian alone, period.
“Do you miss me that much?” was the first thing he heard, and had to hold back a sigh of relief just to not give him the satisfaction he was looking for. It was funny, but Dick supposed it was one of the few things that had rubbed off on him from Bruce a long time ago.
“I'm worried, Damian,” he admitted, though, using all the technology in the Batcave to try and locate the brat he was so fond of. Although, well, Damian wasn't so much a brat anymore, more of a rebellious teenager. A teenager who knew very well how to hide from all the security cameras in the world and how to avoid being tracked. At least by Bruce, or anyone who had worked under the Bat brand. “I know it's complicated, but the Titans are good guys, it's easier if—”
“If I just go with them?” Damian interrupted him. “Don't worry, I'm already on it. Jump City is a lot more boring than Gotham.”
This time Dick did allow himself to exhale in relief and leaned back in his seat only to look up at the great, dark ceiling of the Batcave. One of his biggest worries was that Damian would return with the League of Assassins. The hostile and twisted environment of that place really wasn't good for someone like him. It wasn’t good for anyone actually, no matter how much Bruce said that without Ra's they have neither head nor tail at the moment.
Damian shouldn't go back there.
However, the new information hit him like cold water after a few seconds and he soon sat upright again, this time frowning.
“Wait, are you in Jump City?” he asked and many more seconds passed before he heard Damian's slightly mocking voice again.
“That's what I said,” Damian replied just after firing his batclaw to reach the roof of one of the nearest buildings.
It wasn’t difficult to land even if his cape flapped in the wind. However, Damian has always thought that's a lot easier than dealing with the attention that being Robin, Batman's sidekick, caused.
He didn't want annoying fans around him. Honestly, the brand of the Bat could be a nuisance.
“We agreed that we would go together. I haven't talked to Kori—”
“Relax, Grayson,” Damian rolled his eyes, almost picturing his pseudo brother putting his fingers up the bridge of his nose to massage it. “I am sure your girlfriend won't mind.”
He half expected a heated and defensive response from Dick, but if he did, Damian paid it no mind.
For with one hand on the intercom to his ear, he heard something out of the ordinary.
“Okay,” Dick continued. “Okay. Just don't do anything unnecessary, okay? Don't get in trouble.”
But it was hard to obey when there was a battle taking place only a few meters away. So he decided not to answer immediately, just to go to the roof closest to the alley where said battle was taking place.
His eyes easily focused on the girl who seemed to be in the middle of the fight. She, with grace and strength, was fighting as best she could without attracting the attention of people on the main street. Holding back more than was acceptable, and being cornered. Although she was wearing ordinary clothes in dark colors, it wasn't hard to tell who she was just by looking at her. Damian had investigated every single member of the team his father was sending him to after all.
The half-breed daughter of a conqueror of worlds. Highly powerful, who arrived with the Titans a few years ago and decided to stay with them to protect the world and humanity.
Raven.
“The witch girl is fighting three individuals of questionable provenance... and humanity,” he shared the information with Dick, more to make an excuse than to let him know, as he watched the girl fire her magic over and over at the beings that seemed to be made of shadow even though they were clearly solid.
“Understood. Don't move, I'll contact Kori and—”
“Sorry, can't do that,” Damian had been up all night looking for ways to vent. Leaving Wayne Manor had only been the beginning, so he wasn't going to pass up an opportunity like this.
Before Dick could finish speaking, Damian cut the line in the middle of a scolding, or maybe a curse, only to then fire his batclaw and attack without a second thought.
His sword easily pierced the head and body of whatever the humanoid thing was, which soon fell to the ground with a thud.
The witch girl looked at him in surprise, although he is confident that it was because she didn't expect it and not because of his abilities. Up close, she was a few inches taller than him, due to their age difference.
“I assumed the ugly ones were the bad ones,” he commented, flicking his sword to throw away the dust that that thing had released. “Tell me they're not people at least.”
The only thing left would be to break his father's only rule and Damian really didn't want to hear another endless lecture on the same thing.
The girl's confused expression soon changed upon seeing him better in the dim alley light, probably the R on his suit having a positive effect as always, and a very small, almost playful smile crossed her face.
“They're not people,” she confirmed, before gathering magic in her hands again and facing forward again, taking a position and not waiting for him to speak again. “I don't know what they are exactly, though. They are like a battery.”
Damian smiled back, to his own surprise.
“It is enough for me that they are not alive.”
With that said, he launched into the attack.
Using the walls of the alley, Damian managed to dodge the creatures' attacks and land his planned blows while Raven used her magic to keep everyone at a safe distance. The first creature he had destroyed had soon risen again and now it was Raven who was fighting him.
On the other hand, the other two creatures were more cautious now that Damian had gotten involved. They didn't seem to be smart, but they were fast learners.
Accepting challenges like those was something he was always up for.
However, shortly before he could continue, Damian heard:
“You're a good fighter,” she said out of nowhere.
He decided to take the compliment.
“Naturally,” he said before attacking again.
He first struck one of the creatures and then attacked the other, managing to separate its head from its body, only for Raven to send the first creature flying into the other to prevent Damian from being hit back.
He nodded his thanks and acknowledgment, and she just smiled back before lifting one of the creatures up again to throw it against the wall.
Damian was rarely impressed by the abilities of his enemies or his allies. Of course, he could tell when they were failing or improving at something; however, he had to admit that Raven fighting on his side was something to appreciate. Even when he didn't even know for sure the capacity and extent of her powers, it was clear that she was a powerful person.
Quickly, he searched and found what he needed in his utility belt and soon he launched two explosive batarangs so that the other creatures would not move from where they were.
“The more they heal, the more they wear out,” Raven explained as the three creatures rose again. Trembling and less brave. Maybe even smaller.
Damian nodded, firming his grip on his sword.
So there was no need to give them time to heal.
By the time the rest of the titans arrived, Damian and Raven had already finished defeating the rare creatures. What's more, Starfire landed just as Damian drew his sword from one of the limp bodies.
“We came as soon as we could,” the team leader said, turning only to make sure Blue Beetle and Beast Boy were behind her. “Good job, Raven.”
Raven shrugged with a smile. “Well, I had help,” she mentioned, referring to Robin, and he nodded once.
The alien princess smiled at him in greeting.
“Good to know. You must be who Nightwing mentioned. A pleasure to have you in the team, I see that you controlled it quickly.”
It was obvious that it couldn't have been any other way, so Damian just continued;
“Let's drop the formalities, what are those things?” he asked, or rather demanded to know as if either of them already had the answer, as the creatures' bodies began to disintegrate.
But the one who answered was Blue Beetle, accidentally interrupting Raven.
“We have no idea, they started appearing recently. Not even the news have talked about it."
“Doesn't seem effective,” Damian commented, sheathing his sword, only to cross his arms.
The not surprised, but confused looks from the Titans gave him enough answers, so Damian exhaled. The team his father had sent him to didn't seem to be entirely effective when it came to relevant information. No wonder Nightwing had left them.
“And it's not exactly, but we talk about these things in the tower, Robin,” Starfire sighed, as some of the civilians started to notice their presence.
Robin rolled his eyes and fired his batclaw towards another of the buildings. The least they needed was a group of fans surrounding them.
“Then, I'll wait for you there.”
Starfire didn't have time to tell him anything else when Damian left the place as if he had never been there. She had heard from Nightwing that it was a family habit to suddenly disappear, but since he had never done such a thing to her, she thought it was just a joke.
Well, now she saw that it wasn’t.
“Damn, he sure is in a hurry,” Beast Boy mentioned, crossing his arms over his chest. “He doesn't even have a key yet.”
“No need to tell me, hermano.”
Starfire sighed, but just as she was about to give the order to go back, a soft, very soft laugh interrupted her.
For a second she thought she had imagined it, but upon seeing the puzzled and certainly confused expressions of Jaime and Garfield, she knew she hadn't.
“Raven?” she called out to her, surprised at the sudden expression of feelings. It wasn't common to see Raven laugh, after all.
But Trigon's daughter just kept smiling.
“Then you should catch up with him before he breaks in.”
“You’re not coming?” Beast Boy asked and she shook her head.
She had come out with a reason after all.
Unbeknownst to them; however, while everyone was leaving the place, someone, from a distant place, was watching them.
When Damian was finally able to retire to his bedroom —after an obligatory welcome dinner, as Logan had called it, and an endless scolding from Grayson —a bouquet of colorful flowers welcomed him on the nightstand.
He frowned, wondering at what time of night they had done it and who.
He didn't like his privacy invaded under any circumstances. He could throw the flowers away as a warning for next time.
But the closer he got to the bouquet, the less interested he was in doing it. He had recognized the flowers as sweetpeas, a curious choice for a welcome gift, he thought as he picked up the small card that was propped up against the vase.
“Thank you for the lovely time,” said the note.
Well, it wasn't a mystery who had put them there, he concluded as he breathed in the fragrance of the flowers. Sweet and delicate, the opposite of what he'd seen of Raven that night.
He put the flowers on the nightstand and lay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. The memory of him and Raven fighting side by side haunted his head.
Being sent to the Titans might not have been so bad after all. It had been an interesting first meeting to say the least.