Mutilate

•22•

She stood there, dumbfounded. But she wasn't sad. Raven knew this would happen, so she dare not dwell on it. The empath dropped the blade. Instead of finding Damian, she slowly trekked to the kitchen and rummaged through the drawers. Finally she found a new friend, a lighter. She'd always wanted to burn herself, and she might as well start now. With the lighter in one hand, and now a knife in the other she sat down on the couch. Using the knife she cut her arm as much as she pleased. Then with the lighter, she worsened the cuts by hovering her arm over the fire. The sweet, painful sensation sent a devilish smile to her face.

       "Baby..." She heard faintly. Her body didn't care enough to turn around to look at him. She just continued to burn her body. "Raven. Stop." An unusual voice demanded. That's when she put down the lighter to see the Dark Knight standing behind his son. Her eyes widened and her face paled even more than her regular skin tone. "Do you have any idea how much shit you're putting you're putting yourself through?" He asked seriously, but with genuine care. Raven shrugged, "It doesn't matter..Damian doesn't care..why should I?" Bruce walked towards her. "Of course Damian cares. Why wouldn't he?" Damian bit his lip so hard it started bleeding. "He told me to cut deeper.." she stated very softly. Bruce pulled the empath into a hug.

    He pulled away saying to Damian, "You need to find a way to apologize. And it has to be more than an 'I'm sorry'. Are we clear?" His imperative Bat voice made it hard for Damian to say no, which he wouldn't do any way. The older man held out his hand in front of Raven. She sighed and put the lighter and knife in his possession. "I'll be working in your training room." Bruce walked out of the room and down to the training area. That left the two birds alone.

      "You do know that I didn't mean that and I was just talking on a whim, right?" Raven nodded. Damian sighed and walked towards her. "Baby, I need you to listen to me." He spoke gently. Her eyes stared into his. "No more cutting. Nothing you can say will change my mind. Therapy is next week. And you'll be by my side from now on until you get better okay?" He wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Okay." She agreed. "No more suicidal things should come out of your mouth anymore. I understand if you aren't hungry, but you will eat. When I walk Titus, you will come with me. No exceptions." Damian continued laying down rules for her to abide by. "Yes Damian." She confirmed her agreement to his terms.

Finally, he could take some control.