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

Chapter Twelve

A/N: Thanks for the 500+ views, it may not seem like much but it does make it worthwhile. Sorry for taking so long with this chapter, i wrote it, wasn't happy, changed parts, still wasn't happy and in the end thought screw it not great but not as bad as it was. Enjoy.

It was very late, or very early depending on how you looked at it. Dick snaked the car up the long drive to the manor. Raven looked out through the windscreen to see a beautiful large fountain in front of an impressive home. "I knew you'd have a large home but I didn't expect it to look so beautiful, o intimidating." Raven said turning to Damian. He looked out through the front of the car. "It's been standing for hundreds of years, home to the Wayne family for generations. My father has done all he can to change as little as possible." He said sitting back into his seat. "Apart from the obvious basement stuff." Dick added with a smile. "I agree with Raven. It's quite imposing, I'm a bit nervous." Kori said. Dick took her hand in his and looked into the rear view mirror at Raven. "It's just a building, you'll be fine, both of you. Try not to let it get to you." He said bringing the car to a stop at the bottom of the steps. Raven looked up at the tall wooden doors of the manor and felt her heart pick up pace. She took in a deep breath and slowly let it out trying to calm herself. She couldn't help but wonder why this was such a big deal, it was just a house after all and she'd already met the most prominent of Damians family. He had also unceremoniously met her family, her father, her so called brothers, where she had grown up, why was this so hard? "It will be fine Raven, you don't need to worry." Damian said as he put a hand on her leg to reassure her. Raven felt a blush flash across her face and her heart skipped a beat. Composing herself she nodded to Damian and he hopped out the car. "What was that?" She thought as she slowly got out of the car. She met Damian at the back of the car as he took their bags out ready to take them to their rooms while Dick took out his and Kori's. Locking up the car they turned to walk to the door, but before they'd taken a single step they heard said door loudly creak open. Jason was the first one to walk through. "Yo, knucklehead, Dick. What time do you call this?" He joked. "Todd." Damian nodded a greeting. "Hey Jay, I know, longer drive than first thought. Hit traffic on the bypass, everything got diverted due to an 'incident' involving Croc and the Bat." Dick said tilting his head and raising an eyebrow asking for clarification. Jason signed but it was Helena who answered as she walked out the door to greet everyone. "Croc robbed another chem store. Took hostages this time. By lifting and running of with a car. Family inside. Dad is, well being dad, didn't want help, diverted all other traffic around the area. Usual stuff really. He'll be back in a few hours. He wasn't going to go, wanted to do things right meet you all here himself but Jim called him. Not Batman but Bruce Wayne. Must have said something cause dad hung up and asked me to pass on the apology and bolted to the cave." She explained walking down the steps and welcoming Dick home with a hug. She then walked over to Damian and studied him for a bit. "Not yet." She said as she extended a hand to greet him more formally. Raven thought it weird that Damian, related to her by blood, got a handshake but Dick, who was adopted into the family, got a hug. Then again, it was Damian, him and hugging went together like fire and water. Her train of thought was broken when Helena walked up to her. "Hello Raven, It's a pleasure to meet you in person. You're a lot like Damian, I can tell. Not a hugger either." She said extending her hand to shake Ravens. Raven smiled at the very accurate reading. "Pleasure to meet you too, not via a phone screen I mean." She said to the older woman. Helena then turned her head and looked to Kori. "Hey Kori, good to see you again." She greeted also with a hug. Jason had joined Damian and Dick and the three boys were chatting amongst themselves. "Young sirs and ma'ams. I do believe you're causing a draft. Would you care to come inside? The manor is starting to feel like Mr. Freeze has paid us a visit. As the boys and Helena laughed, Raven and Kori looked at each other and shrugged completely lost. Damian took Ravens hand and smiled to her. "Mr. Freeze is one of the freaks that my father has fought here in Gotham. He is a scientist that manipulates climate with weapons he creates, they all freeze whatever they come in contact with." He explained to the pair. Now understanding they grabbed their bags with Jason and Helena helping them. As they walked through the door Raven and Kori looked around in wonder. They stood in a large foyer with a central staircase that split off to the left and right to separate wings of the manor. "We'll give you a full tour some time, for now let's get you settled in." Helena said noticing that the two new comers had slowed their pace as they looked around. The group walked up to the stairs to the first floor and along a stretching corridor. "This is us." Said Dick stopping outside one of the many doors. Jason put down the bag he had been carrying. "You all set from here?" He asked causing Dick to give a smirk and a nod. "Yea Jay, should be good. Unless you want to tuck us in." Dick laughed. "Bite me." Jason shot back with a smile. Wishing everyone a good night Dick and Kori retired to their room leaving the others to continue on their walk. They'd come to the end of the hall and rounded the corner, three doors later they'd arrived at Damians room. "Right here we are." Damian said. "I appreciate the assistance you've given but I think we'll be fine from here." He finished. "Yea, nice try little man but Bruce said three rooms not two." Jason said with a smirk. Helena gave him a playful punch to the arm. "Stop teasing them Jay." She said. "Although that's true, I've made up my room for you Raven. It's next door and the bathroom is shared with Damians room." Helena smiled. Raven looked to the floor then back up at Helena. "Thank you very much. I feel bad that you've given up your room though, like I've kicked you out of it or something." She said. A hand landed on her shoulder but not the one she expected. When she looked up Jason had crouched down in front of her. "You haven't kicked her out as such, you got us to forward with a plan that we'd been putting off for a while. Helena and I just moved all her stuff in with me and will share my old room when we're here." He said as Helena put her hand on his shoulder. "Jay is right, this room is now your room. Whenever you visit, you'll have a place to stay." She concluded. "Well said. Feel free to come by anytime as well, not just when accompanied by Damian, the door is always open." Said a deep stern voice. They group turned around to see Bruce walking down the hall, still in the bat suit but he'd removed the cowl. "Rough night father?" Damian asked as he tapped his forehead. Bruce looked up without moving his head. "Minor injury. Croc throw a dumpster. I was distracted, slow to react. Dodged the dumpster. Not the left claw." Bruce told them. Raven walked forward a few steps. "I could heal that if you'd like." She asked a little cautiously. Bruce smiled and put up a hand. "Thank you for the offer but that's quite alright. It'll heal in time and you two have had a long trip. So for now, everyone get some sleep." He said as he turned and walked back down the hall. "I'll help you get settled in." Helena said with a smile as she picked up one of Ravens bags. With a glance and a smile to Damian, Raven walked a little further down the hall and went into her room as Damian and Jason walked into his. "She seems like a good kid D. Look after her." Jason said as he sat in Damians chair and Damian throw his bag onto his bed. "I have every intension of doing just that Jason." He replied. Jason raised an eyebrow and let out a small laugh. "She's definitely a good influence on you." He said. Damian turned to face him, quizzical at first. Letting out a sigh he sat on the bed. "Yes, I've found that. I feel more relaxed when she's around, as I'm sure everyone has noticed with my addressing them more, informally." He said. Jason studied him for a moment. "It's not just you calling us by name D, your whole body language is different. You're not stiff as a board, ready to jump into a fight anymore. You're not taking everything as an insult. You're even allowing yourself to smile." Jason pointed out causing Damian to think for a second this time. "You make a good point. Honestly I feel more concerned for Raven at the moment. She had a relatively small family and even then it was only her mother that could have been considered 'good'. Now she's attending one of our gatherings and you know how many people could and more likely will attend. I'm worried that it might be too much at once." He said and Jason thought on what he said. "Damian, you have to trust her judgement. If she felt it would be too much she wouldn't have come along. I can tell she cares greatly for you and you for her. She's here because it's important to you and your family. She wants to be a part of that. I mean, I say she's already in but that's easy to say and different to feel. If she feels like it's too much for her to handle she'll let you know, trust me." He said. Damian nodded in agreement. Standing up from the chair Jason made his way to the door, turning round as he stepped out. "Don't worry D, there's still a while till the others turn up, she'll meet everyone slowly. Good to have you back little man." He said with a smile and shut the door behind him as he left. Damian let out a little grumble and turned his attention to putting away his belongings. "Thank you for helping me." Said Raven as she unpacked one of the bags she had brought with her. Helena was standing the other side of the bed unpacking another and laying the clothes out on the bed. "Please, stop thanking me, it's no trouble at all. I understand that it can be a bit overwhelming to come in here not knowing anyone or where anything is or goes. I felt the same when I first arrived." Helena said to the young girl. "You're Damian's older sister, by blood, right? While everyone else is by adoption or bond?" Raven asked as she moved some of the clothes into draws. "Yes, I am. Though it's a bit complicated. See I am Bruce Wayne's daughter by blood, it's a Bruce Wayne of a different world. In my world dad and mom ended up dying and I became a vigilante to carry on the legacy and find out what happened. After I had done that I felt I needed more training. I had a device that helped me come to this world and I met this worlds Bruce Wayne, Damians dad. Things didn't go according to plan. He agreed to help train me, eventually, and on one nights patrol, meant to be my last nights patrol, the device I used ended up getting destroyed. I was stuck here, no way home, no real identity and nowhere to go. Bruce talked with everyone else and they all agreed I should stay with them, as the first born daughter of Bruce Wayne who had lived elsewhere all my life until my guardians passed away. He had everything arranged, I shared his blood so we did a public DNA test to prove it to the world, signed all the paper work and then ta da, legitimate Helena Wayne of this world." She explained as she put clothes away for Raven. Raven smiled, she found it encouraging that the family she would be staying with were so welcoming. "I honestly find that a little reassuring. That everyone was eager to help you so readily when you needed it." Raven admitted. Helena chuckled to herself. "I happen to agree, knowing their counter parts in my world, I thought they'd be more hesitant, but by the time I was going to go home I'd already made some of the greatest friends and memories of my life. There was also Jay, we'd gotten on very well. In my world Ra's Al Ghul hadn't brought him back so I'd never met him. Here, we'd been on patrols together, had similar methods and attitude towards the criminal element of Gotham. He, well, I felt like he completed me, much like I suspect Damian completes you?" She said with a smile causing Raven to blush intensely. "Damian, makes me feel safe, like it's okay to have them emotions I do. Becoming emotional sends my powers out of control and can be dangerous. But with Damian around I feel in control, like I can keep them in line whilst still feeling them." Raven explained as she put the last of her clothes away. Helena looked on and could see how much Damian meant to Raven. She walked around the bed and stood beside her. "I can see in your eyes that I don't need to do the older sibling ' look after him' thing, so all I'll say is this, take it one day at a time, enjoy being together. Our family is, big, and as far as I know everyone is coming along for this one. It's only a fourteenth, not a huge milestone really, but everyone already knows Damian brought a 'friend'. You can thank Dick for that later. But Jason and I have said not to come all at once. I hope that's okay. I didn't want you to get overwhelmed and bolt." Helena said with a caring look in her eye that told Raven she was being sincere. "Thanks, I appreciate that." She responded with a caring smile of her own. Placing a hand on Ravens shoulder to say you're welcome Helena made her way out the room, opening the door to find Jason with a hand raised to knock the door. "What took you so long slow poke?" Helena said with a laugh. "Just a quick chat with short stack. All good here? Settle in okay Raven?" Jason asked and Raven nodded and smiled to him. With that the older couple left Raven to settle into her new room. She looked around and smiled to herself happy and content with how things went. After a little while of taking in the surroundings of the room she decided it would be best to change into her sleepwear and go to bed for the night, fresh and rested for the proposed tour of the manor in the morning.