Not Part of the Job [ORIGINAL]

5. Meditation

The stench of metal and rotting flesh filled the air of the abandoned church. Damian was disgusted when he found a small group of dead children locked away in a room. Some had obvious marks on their necks from where they were strangled, some had their throats slit, and some were even decapitated. Damian's stomach turned at the sight. Even he wouldn't go as far as to kill a child younger than himself.

"Orkod Fe Salam." he said his respects just above a whisper.

After finding the corpses, he silently explored the large church in search of the culprits. He was assigned to kill the monsters who did this. When he spotted five of them in a room in the back, sitting around a table chatting, he unsheathed his katana and held it in one hand while pulling out his ninja stars with the other.

With ease, he perfectly aimed his stars at three of them and sliced their necks, watched as they fell over and grabbed their wounds. This caused the other two men to panic and pull out guns. Damian revealed himself and swiftly thrusted his katana into one man's back, pulling it out just as soon as it had happened. He kicked the body over and glared over st the last man.

"G-get away from me!" the man ordered as he pointed a gun at Damian, his hand shaking as he did so. He shot a few times but Damian easily deflected the carelessly aimed bullets with his katana.

Damian narrowed his eyes at the man, inching closer. "You make me sick," he growled. The man shot a few more times before Damian knocked the gun out of his hand and grabbed the man's throat with his gloved hands, squeezing it as hard as he physically could. "I want to hear you suffer, just like those innocent children did. I want to hear you suffocating with every last pathetic breath as I crush your windpipe with my hands."

The man desperately gasped for breath, watching Damian stare him down as his face turned blue. Damian watched in satisfaction as the man's eyes slowly rolled up inside his head and he slipped into death. Damian released him and with a thud the man fell onto the floor.

Assassins weren't always bad. Damian for one didn't kill someone without a reason. His moral compass was sometimes in the middle.

Damian left the church and made his way to his safe house. He couldn't go back to the tower like this.

Once he got there he stripped off his bloody suit and jumped into a hot shower, watching the blood of his enemies go down the drain. He scrubbed the blood from his skin that had seeped through the fabric of his suit.

After drying off he put on his casual clothes again and headed back to the tower.

It wasn't that easy sneaking out and then back into the tower. He's been doing it for the past few nights after joining the team.

Quietly, Damian made it back to his room without disturbing anyone and collapsed on his bed, trying to fall asleep. But he couldn't. He couldn't shake the disturbed feeling off after seeing those dead kids.

He sat up from his bed and ran a hand through his hair, letting out a sigh. He decided that he wasn't going to get any sleep and went out onto the roof to meditate and calm his mind.

—

Raven was surprised when she found Damian on the roof early in the morning after she had just woken up. The sun had just begun to rise over the horizon.

"You meditate?" she questioned, bringing him out of his deepest thoughts. She could tell he hadn't slept all night, it was obvious by the bags and dark circles underneath his eyes.

Damian turned his head to meet her shocked gaze. "Yes," he simply answered.

"This is the first time I've met someone who also appreciates the technique of it," Raven replied before walking up beside him, "Mind if I join? I was planning on doing it anyways, but you seem to have beaten me to it."

Damian was surprised that she had spoken so much, especially to him. That was the most words he's ever heard her say since he's been here. It seemed when the topic was something she liked, she enjoyed talking about it. "I don't mind," he answered.

Raven took the spot next to him and began quietly meditating, hovering over the ground as she did so. Damian could've swore he saw the faintest smile on her lips. Both of them occasionally opened one eye to glance at the other, but never made eye contact.

The two of them peacefully meditated next to each other for the rest of the morning.

"Orkod Fe Salam" — Arabic for "Rest In Peace"