The Demon's Assassin (Damirae)

Chapter Four

The fight erupted in strong blows and calculated defense. Damian had fought Deathstroke many times over the years, making both of them used to each other's fight patterns. Deathstroke fought with brute strength, his punches able to dehabilitate his opponents immediately while Damian was faster and relied on blows that weakened his opponent over time.

The fight was even. Damian felt himself not holding back, aiming his katana at arteries and veins to kill his opponent. In the back of his head he knew this was wrong, but his anger took over his judgment. He was tired of seeing his teammates being injured and killed by this man. This was for the greater good.

"I'm impressed, you've gotten better over the years." Deathstroke said as Damian's katana narrowly missed impaling through the villain's neck. "Here I thought you were going soft."

"You talk too much," Damian replied hellaciously, landing a blow to Deathstroke's stomach, slicing through his armor. Deathstroke took a few steps back as Damian kicked his sword out of his hand and kicked his feet out from under him. This was it, Damian could deliver the final blow. His adrenaline was pumping and his head was full of range. He was so close to finally ending Deathstroke forever. He raised his katana above his head aiming for Deathstoke's heart. Before he could land it, he heard a gunshot and a sharp pain in the side of his stomach. Deathstroke was too quick and had a hidden gun his boot.

Damian knew he was injured badly. Although his suit is bulletproof, the shot was at close range, easily penetrating through his armor. Damian realized he made an error. He was distracted and didn't notice the gun. He was distracted. Something he never thought he could be. Damian fell back on the cold concrete holding his wound. His was losing a lot of blood and his vision began going in and out. He was able to see a figure approach him. Deathstroke raised his gun once again for a killing shot.

"I always forget how arrogant you batkids are, thinking you can beat me. I still remember the satisfaction of seeing Spoiler's brain exploding. She was especially arrogant."

Damian let out a low growl at Deathstroke's mention of Stephanie. He wanted to destroy him for what he did to her, but he was too weak to fight.  Damian's instincts took over, as he rolled over onto his stomach, holding his wound.  He pushed himself up, ready to find cover, but he had already lost too much blood.  

 "Batman seems to have a special place in his heart for you. I'm about to make a lot of money from your death, kid."

He hadn't really thought of death before. He was always skilled enough to avoid it. Damian opened his eyes once more to look at his opponent. Damian was beginning to lose consciousness, as he was preparing to hear a crack of a gun and meet Death. Instead he was met with the sound of glass shattering, and the whoosh of flying metal. He saw blurry images of two men disarming Deathstroke but Deathstroke was fighting back. Finally, Damian couldn't keep his eyes open anymore and he faded out of consciousness.

Damian awoke due to the sound of beeping machines. He looked to his right where he saw Dick slumped in a seat next to his bed, asleep. Damian was able to piece together that he was back at Titans Tower. It must have been Nightwing and Batman who saved him. Damian sat up, making the bed creak, waking Dick up. Dick looked at him, relief flooding his face but just as quickly his relief turned to anger.

"What the fuck  were you thinking?" Dick said gripping the armchair as if he was trying to stop himself from punching Damian in the face. "You directly disobeyed orders and almost died."

"I had to do something, Grayson. None of you ever do anything. I needed to end it."

"How did that work out for you? You should have talked to me. You're so lucky Kori went to your room to check on you and found that note. Otherwise Bruce and I wouldn't have even known you were in trouble" Dick replied, his voice raising.

"Great. Now Father is involved," Damian replied crossing his arms.

"I don't know what to do with you Damian. Bruce thought it would be helpful for you to be around a team, to learn about working with other people. But then you go out and do this." Dick replied sighing. Damian felt a tinge of guilt for worrying Grayson like this. He understood how bad it could have ended up but he didn't regret going after Deathstroke.

"You were too emotionally involved.  You weren't focused, you were sloppy." Dick said.

Damian wanted to defend himself.  Yell at Dick for telling him he messed up.  But Damian knew he was right.  He was going to have to take this lecture.

I need to go back to Gotham to talk to Bruce about what he wants to do. Please don't do anything stupid for a day, okay?" Dick said turning around and walking out of the room.

Damian hated being bedridden, but when he tried to get up, he remembered how bad his injuries were. He needed a few more hours to gain his strength. Then he would figure out what he wanted to do about Deathstroke. He decided to lean back and get some sleep. But a few minutes later, before he drifted off to sleep, he heard a knock on his door and a person entering. At first he thought it was Dick ready to give another lecture. But instead, he was met by a cloaked girl in purple. Her hair dark and cascading down her shoulders. It was Raven.

"Raven? you're done healing?" Damian asked as the girl took a seat on the corner of his bed.

"Yes. Sometimes I think you all underestimate my power. I am the daughter of the devil you know." She said, a rare shadow of a smile passing through her face before she resumed her normal neutral expression. "Anyways, I came to check on you. I heard you were injured after going on a... mission." Raven hesitated, leading Damian to realize that she knew about his near-death battle with Deathstroke.

"I'm fine. I just need a few hours to rest," Damian replied stubbornly.

"You were shot Damian. You're going to need a bit longer than a few hours to rest. But, the reason I came in was to offer you a more expedient option of healing.

"You're not healing me. That would drain you too much, there's no way you're back to normal yet" Damian said in a matter of fact tone. He was not going to weaken her just because he made a mistake during battle. This was on him. Before he could continue, Raven raised a hand, as if to stop him from talking.

"I appreciate your concern, but I know that. I was going to suggest healing sessions. They wouldn't drain me much, but you would still heal faster than regular." Raven replied. Damian was going to protest that he was fine and didn't need help, but Raven wasn't going to let him win. He knew her better than that. Instead of putting up a fight, he just nodded.

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow morning. Try to sleep," Raven said as she stood up and headed for the door. But, before she left, she hesitated a moment, and turned back to Damian. "Also... I just wanted to say thank you for caring enough to go after the person who hurt me. But remember who you are. You are not a killer, Damian. You are good." And with that, Raven walked out of the room, leaving Damian with his thoughts.

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