Not Part of the Job [ORIGINAL]

16. Assassins

Raven couldn't help but smile at the picture she had received from Damian.

She let herself slip down further in her bubble bath and took a picture to send back, only showing her shoulders and above. 'Why Titus?' she typed out and hit send. Once it delivered she set her phone back on the counter next to her.

The scented lavender bubbles only barely covered her pale body. On her stomach were several red markings of symbols that only she could read. They almost resembled birthmarks.

Back at the beach, they were barely even noticeable. She first saw them form up when she was in the bathroom changing. Now, the marks were becoming more vibrant. That meant that soon they would cover her entire body.

Her phone buzzed, pulling her out of her thoughts. After drying her hand she reached over and unlocked it. Damian had sent her another picture of him and Titus. 'I don't know, it's just a name that came to my mind' he answered her question. Raven was almost tempted to screenshot the cute picture, but knew that would probably weird him out.

After snapping another picture of herself she replied. 'Seems simple enough. When's the last time you bathed him?' she texted out and sent. She placed her phone back on the counter and let out a sigh.

Part of her was glad she had gotten closer to Damian, while the other part of her scolded herself. She already knew her destiny. She knows what she has to do. Yet, she still allowed herself to get close to people.

"Idiot..." she mumbled and rested her head back on the wall behind her, her short wet hair clinging to the back of her neck. Her phone buzzed yet again. She grabbed it and read the new message.

Damian sent her a picture of just himself this time, an obvious puzzled expression on his face. 'I thought dogs cleaned themselves' he simply put.

Raven rolled her eyes before taking another simple selfie of herself. 'I'm pretty sure only cats do that. You're supposed to give inside dogs a bath.' she typed before hitting send.

Damian instantly opened her snapchat and sent another back. It was a picture of him shirtless in the bathroom mirror, holding Titus in one arm. 'I think I'll just throw him in your bath.' he wrote.

Raven snapped a picture of her bubbly bath water, making sure that her marks weren't in it. 'I don't think there's room' she sarcastically typed out and sent.

She placed her phone on the counter before pulling the plug to drain the water from the bathtub. After stepping out she grabbed her towel and began drying off.

Suddenly, the security alarm went off in the tower. Raven didn't even have time to react when she heard the sound of nearby glass shattering. It was the window in her room.

Before the intruder could get inside the bathroom, Raven's instincts kicked in and she used her telekinesis to hold the door shut. A katana pierced through the wood and began attempting to cut through.

Raven felt her powers begin to weaken already and groaned, trying her best to hold her ground. However, her best wasn't good enough and she couldn't hold the door any longer.

One assassin swiftly burst through the door and threw an object at her, just before he was forced to the ground. Raven winced as a ninja star grazed her arm and held the wound immediately.

When she looked up, she witnessed Damian on top of him, hitting him in the head with one of his escrima sticks. There were two more unconscious bodies in her room as well.

Damian stood up and offered his hand out to her, "Are you okay?" he decided to ask.

Raven gripped the towel wrapped around her body tighter and inched closer to him. Instead of taking his hand, she rested her hands on his chest and fell into him, using him as support. Damian could easily feel her heartbeat racing. "It's okay, I've got you," he spoke and hesitantly placed his hand on her back, trying to comfort her.

"Thank you," she said just above a whisper and nuzzled her head into his chest. Her energy was practically drained completely now.

Koriand'r rushed into the bedroom, "Raven!"

The rest of the team followed and looked at Raven with a worried expression.

"What happened?" Dick asked, "Is everyone okay?"

"They managed to sneak past the security system outside," Koriand'r noted, "I do not understand how."

Dick examined the bodies, "League of Assassins," he simply said, looking at the symbols on their katanas. "The best killers on the planet."

"Dude, how'd you take them down so fast?" Garfield asked Damian, his eyes wide.

"I... just acted on instinct," he lied, still holding on to Raven so she didn't fall.

"Well... good job," Dick trailed off, eyeing Damian suspiciously.

"This isn't the first time," Raven spoke up, still clinging onto Damian. "There was one more assassin a few months ago that did this as well."

Koriand'r furrowed her eyebrows. "Why didn't you tell us this before?"

Raven closed her eyes, "I didn't want you all to worry about me," she admitted.

"Rae, we care about you," Garfield spoke up, "We're a team. We all protect each other."

"Yeah," Jaime agreed.

Raven flashed the team a quick smile. "Thank you. I'm sorry for causing trouble."

"You're worth the trouble," Dick said and returned the smile. Koriand'r grinned and approached the two, hugging both of them. Damian looked confused as he watched the other three join in as well.

"Group hug!" Garfield said and squeezed everyone tighter.

"I... I'm so glad to have made just great friends," Raven commented and rested her head on Damian's chest again, a sad smile on her lips.