It took Damian's leg six weeks to heal. Well, usually a broken bone would take longer, but he was growing impatient. So, as soon as he could walk on it, he started to get back to business, despite the aching pains he experienced.
If his mother or grandfather noticed him slacking off, it would definitely become an issue.
After he made sure the Titans were fast asleep, Damian snuck out and patrolled the city he was in in search of his new side targets.
First, he took out a pedophile. That was a death he felt absolutely no remorse for. If anything, the sound of the man's agonizing screams were like music to Damian's ears. That's what he deserved, after all.
Next was a cultist. This woman had been sacrificing many innocent lives for the sake of her own insane beliefs. She also deserved her cruel fate, Damian decided.
Lastly, before the sun rose, Damian took out a thief in order to retrieve the debt his grandfather rightfully owned. It was a little late, but now he would have even more than he'd expected, so perhaps that was a bonus.
When he got his money, he fled to his safe house to strip and wash away the evidence from his body before returning to the tower.
The bright sun had just begun to rise over the horizon when he climbed into his cozy bed. Surely three missions was enough to catch up.
—
"Raven, will you get Damian from his room?" Koriand'r innocently asked as she used a spatula to place pancakes on a glass plate. "I knocked on his door earlier, but I guess he's still sleeping."
Raven hesitantly obeyed and dropped her fork before heading towards his room.
Over the past month, she had been ignoring him still. It was hard to gain Raven's trust. She couldn't just give it out to anyone, considering what she let happen a year ago with Terra. That's why she put such a high wall up.
"Breakfast is done," Raven spoke after knocking on his bedroom door.
From the opposite side, she could hear a few groans and footsteps. "I'm coming."
With that, Raven left the spot and returned to her meal.
When Damian finally arrived at the table, his hair was a mess and underneath his eyes were noticeable dark circles. He looked awful.
"You look like shit," Raven commented without a second thought.
"Rae, that was harsh!" Garfield said, looking at her with a surprised expression.
"What? We were all thinking it," Raven retorted before taking a sip of her steaming coffee.
Damian was quiet as he desperately devoured the food Koriand'r had provided. Her comment went into one ear and out the other. He was too tired to snap back.
"She's right. Did you not sleep good?" Dick questioned as he glanced at Damian. "Maybe you should get more rest."
After he swallowed his food, Damian answered. "No, but I'll be okay," he assured before taking another bite.
Dick sighed before leaving the bar to catch up on his work. Garfield and Jaime left to play a game, leaving Damian and Raven alone with Koriand'r.
"Just don't push yourself too hard, okay? We understand if you need a break," Koriand'r said to him sweetly before taking his empty plate, a smile on her red lips.
The kind words slowly began to pull at Damian's heart. Usually when he wasn't feeling well, it was brushed off and he had to try harder. Not because he wanted to, but because he had to.
"Her and Dick are inseparable, so don't even think about it," Raven said when she noticed Damian's bashful expression.
Damian turned his head to look at her, raising an eyebrow. "I do not see her in that way," he admitted when he caught on to what she was implying.
"Oh?" Raven said with amusement. "I'm surprised. Every guy gushes over her. I'm sure you're the same."
Damian got up from his stool and pondered her words before replying. "She is the mother I wish I had."
Raven watched him leave, a surprised expression on her face.
—
The day went by agonizingly slow, and Raven finally decided to check in on the new team member.
When she found him, he was in the training room, using his escrima sticks against a tall training dummy. His sweaty back was facing her, and she could vividly see the many scars that lined his dark backside. There were too many to count, and to her, it was more than the average teenage boy should have.
"What?"
His penetrating voice quickly pulled her out of her thoughts and she watched as he turned his head the slightest to look at her. When she saw his dark pupils staring at her through the corner of his eye, she froze. Now she just looked like a creep.
"I was curious to know where you disappeared for the day," Raven said after clearing her throat.
To her surprise, his expression softened and his muscles relaxed. "Oh. I came down here to fight my boredom."
So, he didn't trust her either. Interesting.
Raven crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, you look like you just jumped in a lake. Why don't you take a break?"
"Breaks are for the weak," Damian simply answered.
"So you're telling me you aren't tired at all?" Raven questioned.
"Nope."
Raven cocked an eyebrow at his answer. "I don't see the point in this," she admitted.
"Do you practice your spells?"
She thought about his question for a moment. "Not after I master them," she answered.
"That's a foolish way to look at training." Damian responded. "You never truly master anything. There's always room to improve."
"Whatever you say."
"Tt," Damian sounded as he eyed her. "You shouldn't rely on your powers to save you everytime. You should expand your skills."
"I know how to fight," Raven defended and narrowed her eyes towards him.
"Right," Damian replied before turning his back towards her once more and quietly focused on his training again.
Raven watched him from behind, an offended expression on her face. Now he was really getting under her skin.
Hesitantly, she left the room, and Damian only glanced back one time when he no longer felt her skeptical presence.
—
The next day, the sight of Raven in sweatpants and a tank top caught Damian's attention. Not only that, but her short hair was tied back. In her small hands were Nightwing's famous escrima sticks.
"What are you doing?" Damian questioned. She couldn't possibly be using these to train.
Raven answered by tapping the two sticks together, resulting in a rush of blue sparks appearing to ignite the ends of the black sticks.
Before Damian could protest, she swiftly brought one of them towards his side, causing him to quickly block the strike with his own black escrima stick.
"You told me I should expand my skills," she spoke.
His eyebrows raised the slightest at her statement. "I didn't expect you to take that as a challenge."
Raven let the corner of her lip curl into a smirk. "There's a lot you don't know about me. Don't judge a book by its cover," she said before attempting to strike with the opposite hand.
Damian quickly caught this and used his stick to block her other strike, pushing against her to put distance between them. She had potential, but right now, she was too sloppy. An easy kill, Damian thought to himself. That was both a good and bad thing for him.
"I wouldn't mind learning," the words left a bitter taste in his mouth after they were spoke. He'd never said something so kind to anyone other than this mother, and it didn't feel right.
"Yeah right," Raven narrowed her eyes at the comment as they clashed sticks. "You're lying."
"Can I not be nice to you?" Damian returned with annoyance in his tone as he pushed back. "Because you're making it very difficult."
Raven scoffed at his response. "I'm just as easy to get along with as you are," she retorted.
They continued like this, until finally Raven managed to side swipe him.
"Got you," she said proudly and smugly grinned down at him. He lay there on his back, narrowing his eyes towards her.
Before she could mutter another word, Damian swiftly kicked a leg out and returned the favor. Once she was down, he got to his feet and held one of his escrima sticks towards her face. "Wrong."
"Hey, I beat you," Raven groaned painfully as she rubbed the back of her now aching head. "That wasn't fair."
"Nothing belongs to fools who stop an inch from the finish line," his mother's words came out of his own mouth almost flawlessly. "The battle is only won when the killing stroke is dealt. No weakness, no hesitation, and no mercy."
Raven didn't hesitate before answering, "I don't kill."
Damian took in her statement for a moment as he watched her get back to her feet. "What if your life was on the line?"
"I don't value my life that much," she quietly admitted, a small, sad laugh falling from her lips after.
Damian couldn't tell if she was being serious or not, so he remained quiet. He honestly didn't know what to say. For him the answer was easy. To others, he assumed it was a grey area.
"Rematch?"
The offer caught him off guard and quickly distracted him from the previous topic. He looked at her, his eyes warily locking with her intense gaze. Her pale cheeks were flushed and sweat slightly glazed her forehead, causing a few stray strands of her dark hair to cling to her face.
"Why not."