mar

The idea had come to him on a boring afternoon.

A few days had passed since his girlfriend had shown her brothers that she could defend herself. Jason had discovered this in the early months of their relationship, but it hadn’t been a big deal—other than knowing that his girlfriend was even more amazing than before.

However, after Dick had (accidentally) embarrassed him in front of a group of civilians, the idea popped into his head.

A smile had appeared on his face as he turned to look at his girlfriend.

“What?” she asked, before popping a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

“You still remember what you learned in your self-defense classes, right?”

“Yeah, why?” she asked, confused by the question.

And that’s how they got to this moment.

“WOAH!” Dick’s voice rang out from the Wayne Mansion courtyard door to where the couple stood. “Let’s do this!”

The girl laughed softly, shaking her head.

“Okay!” the woman exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “The camera is ready. Dick, you’ll demonstrate the sequence of moves, and Jason, you’ll be the attacker. Do you remember what you need to do?”

They both nodded and took their respective positions. He gestured with his hand to indicate that the camera was already rolling.

“Hi!” Dick greeted the camera enthusiastically. “Today we’re going to show you how to escape from a wrist lock. My brother,” Jason raised his head in greeting, earning a dirty look from his girlfriend, which made him finish with a wave. “Jason will be the attacker. He’ll grab my wrist, and I’m going to break free from his hold.”

Jason takes a step back, while Dick extends one of his arms.

“Here comes the attacker; he grabs my wrist.” Jason performs the action, applying a firm grip. “I’m going to move toward him to throw him off balance, twist my wrist to break free on the narrower side, and pull my arm back forcefully toward me.”

They both repeat the movement once more with a little more speed.

“And after that, I run away to prevent the confrontation from continuing. Okay, let’s do it.”

Dick extends his arm, Jason grabs it quickly, and before Dick can escape, Jason pulls his arm and throws him hard to the floor, taking his brother by surprise.

The girl laughed heartily at that.

“Okay, that wasn’t exactly what we planned,” Dick exclaimed. “One more time.”

Dick reaches out his arm again, and Jason grabs it.

Dick pulls his arm toward Jason and breaks free from the grip.

He lunges forward to start running, but doesn’t get very far before Jason trips him, causing him to fall face-first onto the ground again.

Now, both Jason and his girlfriend were laughing heartily at the fall.

They try again.

This time Dick manages to run a few meters before Jason catches up to him. Dick breaks free from his grip and runs in the opposite direction.

Jason jumps diagonally and strikes his back with both feet, knocking him down.

“What the hell, Jason?!” Dick’s indignant voice rang out. “That wasn’t supposed to happen!”

Jason shrugged his shoulders, amused.

“I thought it was better to show some variety in the attacker. Everyone has different methods. You should know that, Dick.”

“I think we should move on to something else,” the girl suggested with a laugh.

They moved the camera to the training room in the mansion.

No matter how many times the girl had been to that house, she was always surprised to discover a new room as big as her own apartment.

Rich people’s stuff…

“All right!” the girl exclaimed enthusiastically, showing both men a long cardboard tube, about a meter long or so. “Now, we’ll use a stick.”

Dick raised both eyebrows, seeing where this tutorial was headed.

“Excuse me?”

“What?” the girl asked, shrugging. “You run all over Gotham and Blüdhaven with two sticks on your back. It’s not that crazy to teach.”

Jason nodded, agreeing with his girlfriend.

The situation was hilarious to him, and he loved that his girlfriend was getting involved in this.

“Okay…” the boy sighed in frustration. “Let’s just get this over with.”

The woman signaled again that the camera was rolling.

“Hi, everyone!” Dick greeted them, this time with less excitement and more fear. “This time we’re going to teach you how to defend yourselves against a stick.”

Hesitantly, he handed the stick to his brother, who took it with a smile.

That should have been his first warning.

“The first thing we need to do is stay alert and move away from the perimeter.” Dick takes his brother’s arm holding the stick and extends it horizontally. “That’s the attacker’s arm plus the stick.”

He takes a few steps back.

“I’ll get out by counting the tiles.”

“What if he catches you on the grass?” Jason asked with a chuckle.

“You take him to the sidewalk.”

The girl covered her mouth with both hands, trying to stifle a laugh that threatened to escape.

“Hit me.”

Jason starts swinging the stick back and forth, while Dick takes small steps backward, raising both hands so he doesn’t get hit with it. However, Jason advanced regardless and soon found himself hitting Dick hard with the stick.

“No! Enough! Jason! Stop!” Dick called out your name. “TELL HIM TO STOP!”

The scene cuts and shifts to another (Jason beat him for 3 minutes without pause).

“I’m moving away from the perimeter; the attacker must not approach!” Dick emphasizes.

This time, Dick tried to take the stick away by lunging forward to disarm him.

Jason leaped backward, moving away, and Dick ended up face-first on the floor again.

And the blows began again, as Dick crawled across the floor and Jason chased him.

“Oh, God,” the woman muttered. She turned off the camera and left the room, leaving the two brothers to do brotherly things.

Dick had an ice pack on his back while Jason played both videos for the whole family.

“I’m never recording a tutorial with you again,” the older brother exclaimed irritably. “Especially not scenes you plan.”

Jason chuckled.

“I didn’t plan anything,” he confessed. “It was her.”

Dick turned to look at her.

“You’re crazy.”

“I wouldn’t say crazy.” The woman picked up the stick Jason had used and raised it so it came into her brother-in-law’s line of sight. “Rather, I make your life more entertaining and keep you on your toes.”

Jason walked into the apartment they shared, laughing.

The scent of the chocolate and vanilla cookies they’d baked that morning still lingered in the air.

“Did you see the look on his face?”

Jason’s laughter echoed through the apartment.

A small smile spread across the girl’s face.

Every time she heard him laugh like that, carefree, a comforting warmth would always wash over her chest.

Ever since Jason had opened up to her, telling her all about his past, his fears, insecurities, and anxiety; sometimes she couldn’t help but feel sad when she thought about those things from time to time, and knowing that such simple moments could make him happy brought her joy to see him so content.

The woman wrapped both arms around the boy’s waist. Her eyes gazed lovingly at his sparkling green eyes and his beautiful face, adorned with those white strands of hair falling across his forehead.

“Although I’m happy to see you this happy,” she murmured with a smile, “don’t ever ask me to do something like that again. I felt bad when five minutes went by, and you were still hitting him.”

Jason grimaced.

“He'll get over it. Don’t worry.”

The girl laughed, shaking her head.

Jason kissed her lips briefly, grateful for her to have been a part of that, when a meow sounded at their feet.

“Hi, baby,” Jason murmured, picking up the little black kitten they’d adopted a few months ago. “Do you want to hear what your dad did today?” The kitten meowed in response. “Of course you do.”

For space reasons, they moved several pieces of furniture so they could move around freely without worrying about breaking something and getting a scolding from Alfred.

“What is this?” the woman asked, referring to an extendable wooden ruler Tim had handed her.

“It’s a ruler.” Jason’s girlfriend looked at him, stating the obvious. “But we’ll use it as a knife.”

Dick leaned against a table next to Jason, crossing his arms.

“Bruce used it with us at first to train us,” the boy explained. “After that, he moved on to real knives.”

“Huh,” she muttered under her breath, inspecting the ruler. “What a nice family,” she murmured sarcastically, raising both eyebrows.

“And yet you’re still here, doll.”

The girl winked at her boyfriend.

“All right. First I’ll show you how it’s done, then you’ll try,” Tim announced. “Extend your left arm forward with the ruler.” The girl did as asked. “Perfect. I’ll block your move.”

With a nod, the woman extended her arm forward again.

Tim raised his left forearm upward to prevent her from attacking him by pulling her arm toward him. With his other arm, he would strike the girl’s wrist with his elbow to disarm her.

However, the girl raised the ruler upward, pretending the blade was up.

Faced with the new movement, Tim stopped his arm.

“What just happened?”

Jason smirked and took another sip from his bottle.

Dick’s turn.

“After that weak job from Red Robin, Nightwing will show you how it’s done.”

The three boys rolled their eyes and sighed tiredly.

“Go ahead, Wonder Boy!” Jason exclaimed with amusement.

“All right,” Dick said, mentioning her name. “You’ll attack me from above and I’ll block your move, okay?”

The girl nodded.

Dick had given fewer instructions than Tim, which showed he wanted to catch her by surprise and prevent her from making a move he didn’t expect.

“Now.”

With her left hand, she raised the ruler above her head. Dick, with a quick movement, blocked the action by forming an X with his arms, preventing her from lowering her arm any further.

However, the girl dropped the ruler, quickly catching it with her other hand, and hit Dick on the head with it, taking advantage of the fact that he was distracted by the unexpected move.

Jason burst out laughing at that.

“Another wonderful job by the incredible and marvelous Nightwing.”

“Tt. I’ll show these fools how it should be done.”

Pff... it didn’t turn out as the boy expected.

Unlike his brothers, Damian hadn’t even given her instructions.

The boy let her approach to secure victory.

The girl, just as she had done with Tim, extended her left arm.

Damian grabbed that arm to immobilize it and take the weapon away.

However, when the boy turned his head, Jason’s girlfriend pulled a toy gun from her pants and pressed it against his head.

“Bang!”

The room was suddenly plunged into silence, as three out of four vigilantes blinked, assessing the situation that had just occurred.

Damian looked up to observe the woman, who was smiling at him while still holding the toy gun against his head.

“Impossible.”

Damian’s eyes went to the toy gun.

“How do you do that?”

“Where did you get that from?!”

The girl laughed, handing both things back and moving closer to her boyfriend.

“I took it from the box while Dick was thinking about what move to make.”

Jason extended his arm around the girl’s waist, pulling her closer to him.

“I used to take self-defense classes when I was a kid,” she said, feeling Jason’s fingers slowly caressing her waist.

“Before I knew he was Red Hood and before I could do anything, she stopped us from being robbed with a broomstick.”

Damian looked at the girl and narrowed his eyes.

“Would you be interested in being a vigilante?”

Before the girl could say anything, Jason began pushing her away to get his girlfriend away from his crazy family.

“We’re leaving, it’s time for our son’s dinner.”

When both disappeared from the room—which happened incredibly quickly thanks to Jason—to say goodbye to Alfred, Dick frowned and tilted his head in confusion at what had been said.

“Son? Since when do they have a son?”

Damian sighed, then clicked his tongue.

“He means the cat.”

"keep those two away from me" - part 2

Ever since he was a baby, he had been taught that love was a weakness.

Loving and being loved were not part of his vocabulary. The closest he ever came was his mother’s love, but even that wasn’t the kind of love he needed.

Until life—or, as you liked to say, fate—finally decided to bring them together.

Their relationship wasn’t something that happened overnight. It had required work and patience on your part—even more than that.

Damian wasn’t the kind of person who could feel comfortable around strangers, and she had been no exception.

However, she hadn’t given up when he left her talking to herself on several occasions. There was something deep in her heart that made her feel sad every time she saw him alone everywhere at school.

From the moment she arrived, during every break, every class period, right up until dismissal, the girl’s eyes were on him and his loneliness.

As time went on, she realized that Damian wasn’t the kind of person who enjoyed noisy company. So she decided to start from scratch, keeping it simple and giving him space to relax in her presence.

She started simple and from the heart, with chocolate chip cookies. Even though most of them ended up burning the night before, forcing her to start over, she reminded herself it was for a good cause.

Every morning, even if the cookies were inside the Tupperware, you could smell the delicious aroma they gave off. The smell drew everyone in the room; everyone wanted to take a bite of those delicious chocolate chip cookies, but as soon as someone tried to take one and got swatted by the girl, everyone learned that those cookies belonged to only one person: Damian Wayne.

That was just the beginning.

Damian began accepting your gifts, even if they weren’t as exquisite as Alfred’s. At least they were… acceptable.

In the blink of an eye, the two of you were at each other’s houses, working on group projects or spending every hour of the school day together.

“Have you ever ridden the bus?” asked his new friend.

They were both finishing up their latest assignment. It had become a habit that, since she had free rein to choose her partner, she would show up by his side with a smile, as if she’d found her favorite introvert in an adoption store.

On the table were various snacks, courtesy of Alfred, along with a pitcher of juice.

“No.”

He replied simply so that her attention would return to the work and she wouldn’t get distracted by trivialities.

“Hmm,” she murmured thoughtfully. “Well, sometimes the drivers leave the door open while the bus is moving. You know, ”Damian had no idea what she was talking about, but he didn't deny it anyway," when the bus approaches your stop, you go up to the door to let them know in advance that you're getting off. But sometimes they don’t close the door after the previous stop, and that’s when your intrusive thoughts about jumping while the bus is moving come in.”

Damian’s hand stopped writing. He frowned in disbelief at her confession and looked at her in dismay, while she refocused her attention, humming a song, on the project as if she hadn’t just said something troubling.

Damian blinked once. Then again. And again. Until he had an idea.

He would make sure Alfred included her on the round trip to school, or else he would get a driver for her. Of one thing he was sure: she would never get on a bus again. Or at least not alone.

Even in the face of the silly things you might say when you were bored or needed to fill the awkward silences, no spell, blow, or bruise could stop his heart from beating differently for her.

It had probably been her smile; or how her eyes always sparkled when they spotted him in the crowd; or how she had learned to love him regardless of who he was or the legacy he carried.

Their confession of love?

It was a bit strange…

It had been after a gala hosted by the Waynes. Damian still remembers it to this day.

He remembered seeing her come down the stairs, after getting ready at Wayne Manor, the emerald-colored dress highlighting her figure, her body adorned with golden jewelry, and her shiny hair half-up, adorned with a small golden butterfly.

“You look beautiful,” he exclaimed aloud.

That confession brought a genuine smile to her face, lighting it up even more.

The night passed quietly. There were no emergency calls for Gotham’s vigilantes that night.

Damian’s hands fit perfectly around her waist. Meanwhile, her hands gently touched his shoulders and hands.

It seemed like a perfect night, as they both silently encouraged the love they felt for each other to grow in their hearts.

Until he happened.

In a moment of carelessness, the son of an important, long-established Gotham family pulled her away from Damian to ask her to dance.

One dance turned into two, then three, until, politely, she exclaimed that she had to leave the gala, seeing that her family was waiting for her.

A lie.

Her family didn’t care about those dances. When it came to donating, they were happy to oblige, but pretending to have fun with people who talked about themselves and their achievements? No, thank you.

For the rest of the night, Damian hadn’t been able to hide his displeasure completely. His answers were short and curt, gradually dampening the excitement the girl felt about spending time with him that night.

Soon, the ballroom was empty. The only lights on were those in the second-floor hallway and a few in the rooms.

“Damian?”

The girl’s voice broke the silence in Damian’s room.

Still wearing her emerald dress, her hair tousled, she approached him until she was a safe distance away.

“What’s wrong with you? Is everything okay?”

“I’m perfectly fine,” he replied listlessly, but with a hint of sarcasm.

“Why shouldn’t I believe you?” she asked sarcastically, moving closer.

She sat down beside him, sinking into the comfort of the mattress.

“Come on, you can talk to me,” she insisted. “We were having such a good time, and then… It’s like we’re back to when we first met.”

“Maybe now you can use your tactics and win over that daddy’s boy.”

The girl frowned at the comment.

“What are you—?” A sudden silence filled the room. “Oh, Damian.”

A soft laugh broke the boy’s composure.

“Are you jealous of him?” she asked, amused.

Damian exhaled sharply.

“Why would I be? Who is he, compared to me?” Although Damian’s tone was cutting, the girl didn’t wipe the amused smile off her face. “You could go back and dance with him all night, and he’d still be a nobody.”

“I danced with him out of courtesy, Damian,” she replied matter-of-factly. “Besides, you’d gone off with your father to greet a couple of people. I was going to be bored until you got back.”

“And the other two? Were you mesmerized by his ugliness?”

The woman bit her lip, trying to hold back a laugh.

“That was good,” she murmured, nodding. “But no. You know I still have a problem saying no to people.”

Damian looked away from her.

But the girl wasn’t going to give up on getting back the Damian she’d worked so hard to win over.

She took his hand in hers, accepting the warmth radiating from his body.

“Damian,” she said, cupping his chin with her other hand, forcing him to meet her gaze again.

If there was one thing that remained from the first time she’d met him, it was how easily she could lose herself in the green of his eyes.

They conveyed not only wisdom and experience, but also that Damian was capable of loving uniquely and exquisitely.

His eyes had an incredible ability to leave her speechless. They silenced any words she’d formed in her head.

Damian raised an eyebrow when he didn’t hear a single word come out of her mouth.

That brought her back to reality for a moment, causing her to blink once to snap out of her reverie.

“Goddammit,” she muttered to herself.

Without a second thought—not wanting doubts and fears to creep in—she pressed her lips against his. With Damian’s body just inches from hers, she felt him tense at the action.

Finally realizing the gravity of her actions, she pulled away slowly and opened her eyes gradually, meeting Damian’s gaze as he watched her, slightly flushed.

Noticing the faint trace of fear beginning to form in the girl’s eyes, Damian took her cheek in his hand and pulled her into another kiss, where they allowed themselves to relax and explore each other’s mouths.

“If you’re going to start something, you have to do it right,” he murmured as soon as they parted.

Their foreheads were pressed together, embracing the intimate moment created just minutes ago.

The woman laughed softly.

Of course, Damian would say that after their first kiss.

“I know you prefer to take charge of that.”

The boy raised one corner of his mouth and kissed her again, taking all the time in the world. One of his hands rested on her cheek, and the other wrapped around her waist, pulling her body close to his.

A little over a year had passed since that moment that marked the beginning of their relationship.

Both were about to turn twenty when chaos broke out.

Ever since Damian decided to move to Gotham with his father, Talia had always kept tabs on her son’s life and his friends—one way or another.

When she found out her son was in a relationship with a civilian, it wasn’t exactly something she considered a good thing.

Talia believed that this relationship, these feelings, would cloud Damian’s judgment and make him abandon his life’s purpose.

That is why things had come to this: His girlfriend kidnapped on Talia’s orders, and Damian on his way to Nanda Parbat to rescue her.

Damian wasn’t stupid, but he had let his guard down when it came to his mother and her lessons—even as an adult.

Talia believed Damian needed to get his priorities back on track, and the best way to do that was to scare him.

However, things didn’t turn out the way either of them expected.

“So… you must be my son’s girlfriend.”

The young woman lifted her head, meeting her boyfriend’s mother's eyes. Standing before her was a tall, slender, and beautiful woman, but beyond her eyes, one could sense the danger that lurked within her soul.

It was as if she were warning you not to approach and to run in the opposite direction.

Talia Al Ghul.

The name echoed in her head.

Damian had told her about her, and about his life before Gotham. Once Robin’s secret was revealed, he decided the right thing to do was to be honest about everything—the good and the bad—and that included his life before becoming Robin.

“Hmm,” Talia murmured to herself, taking her time to examine her face in detail. “I see my son has good taste. You’re quite beautiful. But that isn’t always important.”

“What do you want?” the girl asked. “I doubt it’s money in exchange for my ransom.”

The two of them were alone in a room. The heat radiated from the floor. The walls were perfectly decorated, with only the bare essentials, but that didn’t make it any less elegant. The colors chosen were simple, but black, gold, and emerald green predominated, which answered the girl’s question about why her boyfriend was so obsessed with that color.

“It’s not something we need,” Talia replied simply, pacing the room while the girl sat on one of the single beds. “But more wealth never hurts, am I wrong?”

Talia raised an eyebrow when she received no answer.

“However, no,” she answered the question. “My son is forgetting who he is and who he will be in the near future.”

“So you’re blaming me,” she surmised, where her boyfriend’s mother’s words were leading.

“That’s right.”

The girl nodded slightly, letting her continue with her explanation.

“You’re here to remind him of his duty.”

The younger woman frowned at the remark. She looked up just enough to see her. Remind him?

“Are you going to kill me to prove your point? Because if so, I have a few suggestions.” Talia frowned, and both of them fell into a brief silence. “Although, come to think of it, I don’t think there are any buses around here.”

The older woman shook her head, snapping out of her confusion.

“I’m not going to kill you,” she clarified. “We’ll just work together to… set my son straight.”

“Together?”

The hours passed in silence.

The girl wasn't sure what time it was, but judging by the darkness that was beginning to envelop the room even more, she assumed it was nighttime.

From the contrast in light outside the room, she could tell that guards were stationed outside to prevent anyone from entering or leaving.

The door burst open, and two men entered. Their faces were covered by black garments, except for their eyes.

Each grabbed one of the girl’s arms, forcing her to stand up and start walking.

“Hey, hey!” she exclaimed, raising her voice higher and higher. “Who do you think you are, touching me? Let me go!”

Amid the girl’s struggles, the men finally made their way to the main hall, where Talia was waiting for them.

“You sure took your time,” she remarked dismissively, walking over to where the young woman stood.

Both men stepped away from them, and a new one approached—under Talia’s silent orders—and took the girl in his hands.

“We’re sorry,” one of them apologized on behalf of both. “But she bites.”

If it weren’t for the gloves covering his hands, Talia would have been able to see the teeth marks on the men.

The woman glanced back at the girl over her shoulder.

“What?” the girl asked, feigning innocence. “I told you not to touch me. I warned you. It wasn’t like it came as a surprise.”

Talia shook her head and sighed.

“Stay alert. My son will be here soon. You know what to do.”

The man’s grip on the girl’s arms tightened. With one arm, he seized both her wrists, while with the other he drew a dagger from his belt.

The young woman’s eyes widened in surprise as she felt the cold metal against her neck.

That wasn’t part of the deal.

A deal she had never agreed to.

She tried to wriggle from side to side, trying to break free from his grip or at least move away from the weapon; but there was no way.

The massive doors swung open abruptly. The figure of Damian, dressed in his Robin costume—except for the domino mask—was breathing heavily, his gaze fixed on his mother.

“Son,” the woman greeted him. “It’s good to know you’re still in one piece.”

Behind the boy lay a trail of unconscious people, and the rest who were still conscious were moaning from the ground.

Damian remained silent, a katana in one hand. His gaze shifted momentarily to his girlfriend, who was in the hands of one of them. Noticing the glint of the dagger against his girlfriend’s neck, he tightened his grip on the katana.

“You shouldn’t have brought her.”

There was a deep line of tension etched across his son’s jaw. His body was also rigid and tense as he assessed the situation in the room, taking his time to think of the best way to keep her out of reach of anyone but him.

Damian made eye contact with the man.

“Let her go.”

However, it was to no avail.

The man didn’t bat an eye. He didn’t move a single muscle in his body; as if Damian’s orders—the future leader of the League—were of no consequence.

“See, Damian?”

He turned his gaze back to his mother.

“None of them will listen to the orders you have to give. You’ve lost your focus; you’ve forgotten what you were trained for. And they know it.” His mother clasped her hands behind her back. “They know you don’t have enough power to be the leader the League needs.”

“Mother,” Damian clamped his mouth shut. He tried to ask. He wanted to ask. But Damian Al Ghul did not beg. “I will resume my training in the League if necessary. It’s not her fault.”

Talia smiled imperceptibly.

“It will take you quite some time to regain that level, Damian.”

Damian’s tense expression didn’t change. He didn’t even blink under his mother’s gaze.

Talia spoke again. “Move the dagger away from her neck.”

In the blink of an eye, the dagger moved away from the girl’s neck. His girlfriend took a deep breath, unaware that she had forgotten to breathe for a few minutes.

“Block her body from Damian’s view.”

Soon, his girlfriend’s figure disappeared beneath the man’s massive frame.

“Press the dagger into his stomach,” she continued without pausing to breathe. “Stop.”

In that split second it took his mother to give the order to stop, his breath caught in his throat. From head to toe, his body went numb. There were limbs he could no longer feel, and others that felt as if they were floating.

“Do you see it, Damian?” his mother asked. “That is power. The power you’ve lost while you’ve been with her.”

There was no reply.

There was no scream.

No arguments.

All it took was a gasping breath and the glint of the shiny dagger covered in red to put an end to that talk of power.

Damian’s mind went blank.

Talia’s muffled voice echoed in his head as he moved toward his girlfriend.

“I told you to stop!” she exclaimed angrily.

Damian’s hands pulled his cape from his back. He took his girlfriend in his arms and laid her down on the ground. He pressed the cape against the wound that kept staining everything crimson.

“The plan wasn’t to hurt her.”

“Beloved,” The nickname slipped out of his mouth in a sigh.

The girl was breathing heavily, her eyes darting restlessly, betraying the fear she felt.

Okay. She used to joke about her intrusive thoughts of jumping off a moving bus. But she didn’t want to die. Not now. Not like this.

Reality hit her like a bucket of ice water.

Damian’s pressure wasn’t enough. She could feel her clothes getting wet with blood.

“You’re going to be okay,” the boy murmured. Although the comment was meant to reassure her, it was also meant to reassure him. “You’re going to be okay, beloved. Breathe, please.”

“Damian,” his girlfriend sobbed, choking on her words.

Damian’s emerald eyes met hers. His girlfriend had always been good at reading the emotions he kept hidden, even in that moment.

Damian was scared.

He knew the pressure on the wound wasn’t enough. His hands trembled as his mind filled with fear. His eyes glazed over with every passing second; with every second that his girlfriend wasn’t breathing properly or as her fear grew relentlessly.

“Dami…,” she sobbed again. “I don’t want to die. Please, I don’t want to die. My parents…”

Damian swallowed hard. He couldn’t get that huge lump out of his throat.

“You’re not going to die. I won’t let that happen.”

She died.

She died in her boyfriend's arms, while he begged her not to leave him.

Ever since her chest stopped rising, Damian hadn’t uttered a single word. Much less had he let go of his girlfriend’s body, which was growing cold beneath his touch.

The knot grew tighter.

And from dwelling so much on his fears, they came true.

She was dead because of him.

Because of his family.

Because of who he was and who he was supposed to be.

She had paid a price that wasn’t hers to pay. A price that wasn’t her responsibility.

“Damian.”

His mother’s voice echoed in his ears.

As his only response, he pulled his girlfriend’s body closer to him. As if his mother speaking could cause him more pain than she had already inflicted.

His eyes slowly fell upon the girl’s face. Her beautiful, closed eyes denied him a glimpse of the color he had fallen in love with. Her cheeks, which were always adorned with a rosy hue, had lost their color.

How could he have let that happen?

She had been the only person who had been able to see past Robin, past the fact that he was an Al Ghul, a Wayne. She had seen him for who he really was.

And now there was no one who would.

And there wouldn't be anyone who would, either.

She had died because of the League.

Because of something he was supposed to lead.

She died far from everything she knew. Far from her family.

She died in his arms, with him being the only thing that could bring her comfort.

There was nothing that could bring back her warmth. He would never again see her eyes shine every time they saw him enter a room. He would never again hear her laughter every time he kissed her.

Nothing could bring her back.

Nothing.

Damian should have listened. He should have stopped at the first person who told him no. He should have left behind his fear of being alone.

But he couldn’t.

He was aware of what it would do to her. He was aware of what he would have to do once she returned.

But as soon as his girlfriend’s body sank into the depths of the Lazarus Pit, he should have known things wouldn’t turn out as he expected.

He had seen his grandfather return so many times that he already knew the procedure.

Not this time.

As she sank, the pit disappeared with her. The green liquid vanished, fading into the air, until the only thing visible was her in a huge empty tank.

"No," he murmured.

His body moved quickly, going down to where she was.

"No, no, no."

The plan had not gone as he expected.

She hadn’t risen from the depths with anger. With the rage of being revived and brought back into a ruthless world.

No. She had returned with something worse than anger.

"It seems the Lazarus Pit was absorbed into her body," exclaimed Batman. After they realized the Pit had brought her back to the world of the living, there was a price to be paid for it. "After seeing what happened with Damian, no one who has been exposed to the Pit should have physical contact with her."

Damian frowned and clenched his jaw at his father’s words.

Both he and his girlfriend had returned to Gotham. Including his mother.

The girl was in the Batcave’s stretcher, connected to a machine that revealed her heart was beating again.

However, as soon as Damian heard that sound, his hands went directly to his girlfriend’s; but as soon as he touched them, parts of his soul tore away from his body. They tore away as if someone was peeling off layer by layer, opening every wound the Pit had closed.

"You can’t ask me that," the boy exclaimed. If it hadn’t been for Alfred tending to his wounds that had begun to open, he would have stood up abruptly. "She’s my girlfriend."

"You’ve been exposed to the Pit, Damian," his father replied. "And apparently she absorbs everything the Pit has touched. If you remain under her touch, you could die. She will take what the Pit gave you."

"Then let her take it."

Bruce shook his head.

"You should have listened when we told you the Pit wasn’t the answer. You should have left things as they were."

"She’s my girlfriend!" The anger in his voice was evident.

"I’m sorry, son," Bruce replied.

He really was sorry. Bruce had seen the happiness she brought to his son. He had seen how he opened up and allowed himself to be a normal teenager.

“Beloved.”

“No,” murmured the girl. “Don’t come closer, please.”

A few minutes after waking up confused, under the Batcave’s light, Bruce explained what had happened, and what had happened to her.

“Beloved, you won’t hurt me.”

“You don’t know that, Damian.”

The woman looked at both her hands.

She didn’t want to admit it, but they felt different. She felt different.

“You should have let me die.”

Damian frowned, annoyance growing in his chest at her confession.

“Don’t say that. I wasn’t going to let you go knowing I had the chance to bring you back. You said it yourself, you didn’t want to die.”

“This is worse than dying, Damian,” she whispered.

The boy tried to approach her again.

His chest hurt at seeing her suffering. All he wanted to do was wrap her in his arms and whisper in her ear that everything would be okay; that they would find a solution, and everything would go back to how it was before.

But he couldn’t do it.

“I told you not to come closer!”

Damian stepped back at her scream. His chest tightened seeing her so distressed because of him.

“Why can’t you see it from my point of view?” she inquired, looking at him with tearful eyes, hurt to be in that situation. “I love you, Damian,” she whispered. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

“But… do you know what it’s like to know I can never kiss or touch you again, knowing I could kill you in the process? Even if it’s an accident.”

“We’ll find a solution.”

She smiled slightly, bitterly. “And what if there isn’t one?”

Damian remained silent.

“I love you, but I can’t be with you knowing I’ll never be able to kiss you without hurting you in the process.”

“You must be thrilled,” the girl’s voice reached Talia’s ears. “Now Damian has a clear path to become what you want him to be.”

Both were alone. Far from curious eyes and ears.

Talia was good at hiding what she felt. Hiding the emotions that could work against her.

However, she didn’t, and the girl noticed it.

But she didn’t care.

She didn’t care what Talia thought. She didn’t care if she felt guilty or not. She didn’t care if she felt remorse.

In her eyes, she was to blame for everything.

Talia got what she wanted.

Damian would become the leader of the League of Assassins.

She was doomed to have abilities she never wanted. To never again have the man she loved.

And that was the aftermath of loving Damian Al Ghul.

Damian’s statement put Tim’s fears to rest; Tim’s hair was tousled, and he had a twitch in his eye from the stress that had built up in just a few minutes.

A growl sounded below them.

They both looked down. A pair of piercing eyes glared at them angrily.

“And you won’t tell him about this.”

Another growl was heard, but this time two fangs were visible.

“Oh, God,” Tim exclaimed, pulling off his mask and pressing two fingers to the bridge of his nose. “Jason is going to kill us.”

“Todd won’t find out.”

“And how can you be so sure of that? Look at her!” he said, pointing with both hands at the cat in front of them. “They turned her into a cat, and we don’t know how to reverse it!”

“Drake,” Damian exclaimed irritably. “Jason won’t be back for another two days; we have more than enough time to figure this out.” Damian’s gaze shifted to the white-furred animal with black spots. “Maybe we can bribe her with tuna.”

The cat hissed at what she considered a degrading comment about tuna.

“Tt. Calm down. We’ll call Zatanna first thing tomorrow and sort this out.”

Tim sighed wearily and nodded at Damian’s words.

“It’d be best if you stayed tonight. It’ll be easier… for everyone.”

Ever since Bruce was a child, it had been perfectly normal to see Alfred walking through the hallways of Wayne Manor, cleaning and tidying things up.

What wasn't a common sight, however, was a cat trying to reach the doorknob of one of the manor's many doors, trying to open it.

Alfred let out a sigh.

“Master Damian really needs to start exercising some self-control around animals.”

With patience and grace, he made his way toward the door, while the cat waited for the butler. Alfred turned the doorknob, and the animal wasted no time in entering the room.

“I should remind Master Jason to tidy his room,” he muttered to himself. “Or at least ask him to let me do it.”

As the butler thought aloud, his gaze never left the cat, which was slipping between Jason’s clothes on the bed.

With her tiny paws, she gathered the clothes together, and when she decided she’d had enough, she lay down on top of them, relaxing her little body as if letting out a sigh with her body language.

Alfred’s eyebrows shot up in a frown. “Interesting.”

The man couldn't help but notice the strange detail around the cat's eyes. A perfect line around each eye, strangely reminding him of Jason's girlfriend and the eyeliner she wore every time they met.

Not wanting to get involved in another vigilante problem, he decided to simply pretend he hadn’t seen anything.

He left the door ajar, just enough so that Jason’s girlfriend could come and go freely from the room.

Tim and Damian were running all over the manor, searching for the sudden—and temporary—member of the family.

“Where is she?!”

As they frantically rushed through the rooms, they disrupted all the order Alfred had worked so hard to maintain.

When they reached the second floor, they stopped abruptly upon seeing Alfred.

“Alfred, by any chance haven’t you—?”

“Don’t finish that question, Master Tim,” he said wearily. “What you’re looking for should be in Master Jason’s room.”

Without another word, the butler left, leaving the two young men alone in the long hallway. And without wasting any more time, they both headed for Jason’s room.

“Can you see her?”

They both started moving around the room, not caring if they made a mess of it. That was the last thing on their minds.

“Where the hell did she go?”

Tim picked up the pile of clothes on the bed and carelessly tossed it onto the floor so he could search through the sheets.

A loud meow of surprise and indignation echoed through the room.

Both boys turned their heads toward the source of the sound.

Two pointed black ears poked out from among the clothes, and soon a white body covered in black spots appeared.

“I’m sorry,” Tim apologized, murmuring your name.

The cat snorted indignantly.

How dare they toss you into the air like that when you were sleeping so peacefully among your boyfriend's clothes?

Oh, you would never have thought of something like that, but you were hoping someone would come over so you could bite their hand.

The sound of an engine cutting off in the driveway caught the attention of the three people in the room.

Damian and Tim were sitting on a couch, far away from where she was. Even though the cat had already bitten them when they got careless trying to lift her off the floor, they didn’t want to take any more chances.

The three of them looked expectantly toward the door, hoping to see Zatanna so they could resolve this once and for all.

But what appeared was far worse, in Damian and Tim’s words.

An excited meow echoed through the room the moment Jason appeared in the doorway. The cat’s small, furry paws slid off the armchair and pushed off, landing on Jason’s chest, its claws digging in slightly to keep from falling.

“What the hell?” the newcomer grumbled. “Come here and get this thing out of here, you little demon.”

An annoyed growl escaped her lips. How dare he call you a thing?

Jason met her gaze.

Just like with Alfred, he furrowed his brow when he noticed the eyeliner on both her eyes, highlighting the color of her eyes that had him so smitten.

Jason shifted his gaze to both boys, then back to her. He stayed that way for a few seconds, until his brain managed to connect the dots.

“Doll?”

A meow was the answer he needed to confirm that it was his girlfriend.

“What have you done?” Jason asked the two men, his annoyance evident in his eyes and the tone of his voice. Meanwhile, he cradled his girlfriend in his arms as she purred, happy to be there.

“It was an accident, Todd.”

Tim also chimed in, trying to calm things down. “Zatanna is just a few minutes away; we were waiting for her.”

“Yeah…” Damian said. “We thought it was her at the door. What are you doing here, Todd? You were supposed to arrive tomorrow.”

“My mission ended early,” he replied simply. He looked at his girlfriend, transformed into a cat, sleeping comfortably on his arm. “And when I didn’t see my girlfriend at home, I figured she’d be here… but I didn’t expect to find her like this.”

With a hint of hesitation, he stroked her behind the ears, receiving a soft, contented purr in return.

“Stop laughing, Jason!” the woman pleaded, exasperated. “It’s not funny! Your brothers fed me nothing but tuna for two days! Do you have any idea how humiliating that is?”

“But you looked so cute.”

The woman slapped his chest with her hand, trying to get her boyfriend to stop laughing.

“Maybe we should get a cat,” he said out of the blue, “that way you’ll have a friend the next time this happens.”

She grumbled in annoyance.

“That’s it! I’m going to ask Zatanna to turn you into a fish, so I can flush you down the toilet!”