What Lives in Shadows

Chapter Two

Damian glared at his reflection on his phone camera, scrutinizing the injury he'd gotten while out with Grayson. It was bad. He had learned from his brothers and father how to apply stage make-up to cover up some of the worst injuries, but there was no way he'd be able to sneak this past Raven without her being suspicious. And, as if to add insult to injury, it looked like he'd gotten into a bar fight. So, now she was going to start speculating that he snuck out of the apartment to do... what? Go beat up people at a bar? Great.

He touched the gash near his eye, wincing as pain seemed to shoot right through his face and into his teeth. Maybe he could sneak out of the house before she woke up this morning? At least then he wouldn't have to see her and make up an excuse. Say he was going out for a run and then not coming back... for a day or two while he hunted down someone who could fix this?

Oh, god. He was pathetic.

"Rats."

Damian turned his glare towards Jon, trying to understand exactly what he meant. "Rats?"

"Rats!" Jon doubled down on the word and leaned forward, examining the gash. "You... got attacked by rats? Okay, that does seem a little far-fetched. How would rats attack your eye?" He snapped his fingers and stood up. "How about a mugging! Gotham is full of muggings. You're just another nameless victim to a horrible crime."

Damian snorted and rolled his eyes. "Raven has been my sparring opponent more than once, she's going to call my bullshit on that one. So, no, a mugging is not going to be a good answer." He sighed and peeled off his uniform, being careful to keep quiet. Just a few walls away, Raven was likely asleep on the sofa, Titus curled up around her. His heart did a curious twist at that thought, but Damian chose not to dwell on it. He had already decided that they were starting over, and that they were going to try this again - from the beginning. So, it didn't matter how much he liked seeing her in his life, surrounded by his things. "If we're going to lie to her, then I'd rather it be something reasonable at least."

"Mugging by rats!"

Damian paused as he pulled on his sweatpants and gave him another flat stare. He could not be serious.

Jon sighed, defeated. "You know, you could just tell her."

Damian glared, panic filling the pit of his stomach. Tell her. Ha! That would go over like a lead balloon. "Try again."

"Raven seems pretty smart, Dami. She's going to figure all of this out soon enough. You might as well bite the bullet and tell her." Jon ran his fingers through his hair, sighing. "I know you want to be all secretive and brooding, and protect her from your darkness or whatever, but maybe you should just get it all out in the open so you have a chance to work through it. And besides, given what you've told me about your time with her from before, she's probably the one person you can trust with your family secret."

He hated it when Jon made sense. Damian pursed his lips and crossed his arms over his chest, his list of reasons to keep his secret growing every shorter. "Shut up. When I feel like it's time to tell her, I will tell her. Until then... mugging by rats it is." Damian pushed past him, making his way down the hallway to the living room, feeling Jon follow him.

"I vote for telling her." Jon sighed again. "She's going to find out soon enough."

"Find out what?"

Raven's soft voice surprised him so much that Damian whipped around and stared at her, unable to speak. It was nearly three in the morning, what in the world was she still doing awake? Titus was passed out next to her, snoring into the sofa cushions, and Raven had the news on the TV, but the sound was muted. She was dressed in one of his t-shirts, and her hair was pulled up into a small, messy bun on the top of her head. His chest tightened as he stared at her. Fuck. She was cute, and that was definitely not helping his whole 'starting over from the beginning' plan.