Raven Roth and Damian Wayne: The Walk of Life (Book 1 Of 2)

Chapter Three

Raven stepped out the elevator into the living room to see the four grown ups laughing as Dick stood in a triumphant pose. Kori looked over to her with a smile. Her empathic powers picked up on an overwhelming sense of joy coming from the woman that seemed to skip towards her. "Good morning Raven, how was the sun rise?" she asked gleefully. Raven looked at her quizzically "it rose, so that was nice" she replied still trying to read what was going on. She could sense something was up but couldn't work out what, must have been good though. "Bruce just invited Kori to come to our family holiday for the first time." Dick said as he walked beside Kori. Behind him Bruce and Alfred took to their feet and faced her with a smile. "Bruce is, well he's mine and Damians dad. He came across from Gotham to see us." Dick clarified. Ravens face appeared to soften when Damians name and relation to the strangers before her was mentioned. "That's explains the joyful feelings filling the room. A pleasure to meet you." She said as she leaned around Dick and Kori to greet them. "The pleasure is ours young miss." Said the older of the two men. "My name is Alfred Pennyworth, butler and caretaker of the Wayne family." He added. The young man being, Raven surmised, Bruce Wayne, multimillionaire, charity worker, funder of Titan Tower, adoptive father of Damians brother and sisters, blood father to Damian himself and obviously, now anyway, Batman. Bruce took a few steps forward, stopping behind Dick and Kori, placing a hand on Dicks shoulder. "Dick here has told me a fair bit about you, miss Roth, or Raven, I believe. It's nice to meet you." He said. As he spoke Raven analysed his words. Although it was very difficult to tell, he seemed remarkably gifted at hiding his motivations, his words seemed genuinely pleasant, respectful and kind hearted. "A pleasure Mr Wayne. If everyone would excuse me I'm going to head to my room if that's alright." Raven let a small smile take shape on her lips as she looked up at Kori. "Of course Raven." She smiled back. With that Raven pleasantly waved to everyone and walked down to her room letting the door shut behind her. "A very charming and well mannered young lady" Alfred stated as the group turned around to face him. "I believe you're right Alfred. Now then, where is Damians room? I'd like a word with him." Bruce said turning his gaze to Dick, who pointed down the hall. "Third on the right. Opposite Ravens" He directed with a snarky smile and Bruce headed off.

Damian had been pacing around his room but was now sat at his computer, aimlessly spinning in the chair slowly. He had been thinking about what Dick said but the abrupt laughter from the living room broke his train of thought. It was broken yet again by a single knock at the door and then it slid open as his father let himself in. "Defeats the purpose of knocking if you're just going to let yourself in father." He said flatly, looking at a single spot on the ceiling as he continued to lazily turn in his chair. Bruce put on as much of a frown as he could while trying to hide the smirk inside him. "Damian, enough day dreaming. We need to talk." Bruce said commandingly. Damian stopped and look at his father. Irritation was on his face, eyebrows narrowed and down. Why was his father looking so annoyed? He hadn't done anything. Damian straightened up in the chair as Bruce took a seat on the end of Damians bed. "Dick told me of your dream. It woke you up? Gave you conflicting thoughts?" He questioned still an intense look on his face. Damian frowned, looking almost identical to his father. "As ridiculous as it seems, yes, what Grayson told you is true. I had a dream it woke me up, and now, well I'm not sure but there's a feeling that is different. Something changed because of that dream and I'm unsure of it." Damian explained as his father looked on for a couple of seconds that felt like hours to Damian. Finally Bruce's expression broken, his face softened into a smile and he knelt down in front of Damian, placing a hand on each of his shoulders, a sign of reassurance. "We all have those feelings Damian. And when you first have them they are confusing. They conflict with all you think you know. I first had them when I went up against catwoman for the first time, and they grew with each encounter. The feeling was the same for Dick when he met Kori, Tim when he met Stephanie. The point is we developed these feelings and now, well you know how things are now. So it's up to you if you follow through with the feelings you have or if you let the opportunity pass." He said looking into his sons eyes. Damian blushed a little as he thought on what his father was telling him. "And if it doesn't work out? If what I'm feeling is only me? If she doesn't feel the same?" Damian asked sheepishly. "Then you take a breathe, stand tall and walk on because finding out, asking her, is the hardest but bravest thing you will ever do in you entire life. But you will burn yourself out mentally, trying to figure it out alone. You will be full of regret if you miss your chance." His father counselled him. Damian thought for a second but before he could say anything else his father stood up leaving one hand on his shoulder. "Just think on it for a bit, not too long mind, the family holiday is in two weeks so you'll be back in Gotham for a while, and Kori will be attending this one with Dick." He said with a smile and with that turned and left Damian to think.

Bruce and Alfred said their goodbyes to Dick and Kori out by the car. They had been there a few hours and not seen any of the other titans, until Bruce felt eyes on them. Looking back up the Tower he spotted a green, wide eyed face staring out a window before it darted down and the curtain fell back in place. He chuckled to himself "well, we will see you in a couple of weeks for the party."He said stepping into the car. "Party?" Kori questioned. Alfred shut the door and clarified "yes, it is Master Damians birthday celebrations. Master Bruce makes a point of celebrating Birthdays due to the business everyone is in and the real risks that carries." Kori thought about it for a second and he had a point. She smiled "I think that's a lovely idea." Alfred gave a courteous small bow and made his way to the drivers seat. After some waves Bruce and Alfred set off back to Gotham City and Wayne manor. As they left Garfield Logan, Beast Boy, tripped over himself in his rush out of his room and bumped into Jaime Reyes, Blue Beetle,walking down the corridor. "Dude where's the fire?" Jaime asked. "Man! He was here! In the tower!" Gar said excitedly. "Who's? What are you talking about?" Jaime replied confused by the whole situation. Raven walked out of her room disturbed by all the commotion. "Bruce Wayne, name behind the money for our here tower, father to both Dick and Damian, and he's batman of course." She said standing in her door way .Jaimes face widened with the revelation of what had been going on while he slept. "He came here? In person?" he said as he looked at Raven only to have his attention pulled back to Gar jumping. "I know! Wonder why he came all the way here from Gotham, check out the Justice leagues competition I bet."Gar exclaimed. Raven just rolled her eyes at the idiocy of the idea. "No,numbskull, he came to speak with Dick and Kori about a family holiday they have. It seemed like an important family tradition and he was inviting Kori to join them for the first time since she and Dick became, well, together I guess." She said. Gar and Jaime looked at each other and then back to Raven."wow, family must mean a lot to the guy if he drove across the country for an invite. Never would have guessed that from Mr dark and broody." Said Jaime. Raven didn't know why but she felt a slight irritation at his words. "He has a deep seated respect for everyone he has taken in as family, and loves them all very much, he does what he does out of a necessity to look out for them. It's hard to read even with my level of empathy but there's something sad regarding family for him and a powerful will behind keeping them safe and feeling welcome. This was, difficult, for him." She said frowning at her two teammates. From nowhere a clearly annoyed but stern voice interrupted "At ten years old his mother and father were murdered in an alley right in front of him by one of the very people they were striving to save from poverty. It was done on the orders of a mob boss they wouldn't buckle to. So yea he has a lot of family stuff that goes on in his head, which as politely as I can, you should stay out of." The three turned to see Kori standing, with a concerned but ultimately slightly disappointed look on her face, behind Dick, who was obviously more annoyed than he wanted to be, with crossed arms and a deep frown on his face. Raven looked down at the floor apologetically. Dick unfolded his arms and let out a sigh "Raven I know you can't always help it, just like I know you can feel where I'm coming from. It's just that when it comes to the mind of Bruce Wayne, well him in general really, things can get pretty dark and heavy pretty quick. And I wouldn't want you to feel the kind of pain he carries within himself. Even if he hides it well." He knelt and placed a hand on her shoulder as she brought her eyes up to meet his and nodded silently.Dick stood up and turned to Gar and Jaime "As for you two, yes having the big bad bat here is exciting but try to remember he's still just one of us, a normal, ish, human being with no real powers and a crazy load of money. Ok so not so normal but still he's just a guy. Now off with whatever you had planned for today." He said as the boys went off to the living room. "I'm going to head to the apartment, want to join?" Dick said turning to Kori with a cheeky smile and an eyebrow raised. Kori smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek "not right now. I'd like to stay and have a word with Raven if I may." She responded.Raven looked up with surprise on her face. Dick just smiled a nod and set off to carry on with his day. Kori gestured to Ravens room asking if she could go in and talk with her. Raven nodded and walked in first, sitting on her bed wondering what this was all about.