SON OF BATMAN

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked, her tone laced with a hint of amusement as if she had stumbled upon a particularly odd scene.

Garfield stopped pacing and shrugged. "Damian went inside," he explained, jerking a thumb toward Raven's door. "We're just... waiting for him to come out, I guess," he said, unsure.

The newcomer's eyes widened slightly at the mention of the name. She blinked, her surprise evident. "Damian?" she repeated, her eyebrows lifting in disbelief. "You mean... that Damian?"

Garfield nodded, the corners of his mouth twitching with a cautious grin. "Yeah," he said. "That Damian."

A knowing smile curved the young lady's lips, as her gaze flicked to the red-haired youth standing a few steps away, his arms crossed as he watched the exchange with thinly veiled irritation. She smirked, her expression almost taunting. All he could do was roll his eyes at her, clearly annoyed by whatever unspoken message she was trying to convey with her look.

Just then, something changed.

The room behind the door seemed to shift. A faint rustling sound, almost like the stirring of fabric, drew their attention back to the darkness seeping from under the door.

The tendrils of inky blackness, which had been curling lazily along the floor, suddenly pulled back and vanished, retreating like water being sucked back into the depths.

A deep, rushing whoosh erupted from behind the door, growing louder with each passing second.

The sound was sharp and chaotic like a fierce wind being pulled into a vortex, rattling through the hallway with an intensity that made the air vibrate.

Then, just as suddenly as it began, it stopped, leaving an uneasy stillness in its wake.

The hallway fell into an almost unnatural stillness, and the remaining Titans instinctively leaned forward, eyes widening in anticipation.

All eyes fixed on the door, waiting for whatever would come next.

The anticipation in the hallway grew more palpable by the second, each member of the Teen Titans leaning in as if the act of watching would will the door to open.

They waited, the absence of the darkness tendrils only deepening their anxiety, each heartbeat feeling like an echo in the tense silence.

They exchanged uneasy glances, each silently hoping someone else would know what to do. Their eyes searched one another for guidance, but all they found was the same uncertainty reflected back. No one spoke, the heavy silence only deepening their shared hesitation.

The red-haired youth, his impatience clearly at its breaking point, shifted suddenly. With a determined step, he moved toward the door, his hand outstretched, fingers curling around the doorknob with intent. But just as he was about to turn it, the door swung open from the other side.

Damian filled the doorway, his tall figure blocking the view inside. He was halfway out the door when he came face-to-face with the red-haired youth, who had to crane his neck to look up at him.

For a moment, the two locked eyes. The intensity of Damian's deep, abyssal gaze was enough to make the youth's breath hitch. Instinctively, he took a step back, his previous boldness evaporating under the weight of Damian's unflinching stare.

Kory moved forward, stepping into the space that the red-haired youth had retreated from. A mixture of relief and apprehension flashed in her gaze. "Damian," she said, her voice carrying the weight of the worry they'd all been feeling. "How is she?"

Damian, still halfway inside the room, moved slightly to the side, enough to allow them a glimpse inside, as his imposing frame was blocking any view inside.

He turned his head and nodded in Raven's direction, his expression calm but unreadable. "She's going to be fine," he said, his voice steady, carrying a quiet authority that left little room for doubt.

A collective sigh of relief rippled through the group, when they caught a glimpse of Raven's peaceful form, resting on her bed. Tension visibly draining from their faces.

Kory's shoulders relaxed, and the red-haired youth's frown softened. Damian's words, simple as they were, carried the reassurance they had all desperately needed to hear.

But as the initial relief washed over them, shock quickly replaced it. Their gazes darted between Damian and Raven, disbelief etched into their features. How did he accomplish this? What did he do?

After years of Raven's relentless battle against Trigon, after she had sealed herself away in a desperate attempt to contain the darkness, Damian had somehow succeeded where all hope had seemed lost.

Questions burned in their minds, unspoken but clear in their wide-eyed stares. What had he done, and how had he managed the impossible?

Damian turned back to Kory, "For now, let her rest," he said with a tone that brooked no argument.

Kory nodded at him, her expression softening. "Thank you," she said, her voice quiet but sincere.

Damian's gaze flicked to her, his voice calm and steady as he replied, "What for?"

She smiled and took a step back, giving him space as he fully stepped out of the room, closing the door gently behind him.

The hallway was quiet, the weight of everything that had just happened hanging heavily in the air.

Damian cast his gaze over the gathered group, his abyssal black eyes sharp and unwavering as they scanned the faces before him.

Then his gaze landed on the blue-haired young woman.

Their eyes locked, and the hallway seemed to grow colder. Her frosty blue stare, piercing and sharp as winter's edge, met his without flinching.

For a moment, the world seemed to slow, the tension in the air crackling like frost beneath a boot. His abyssal black gaze, bottomless and unyielding, fixed on hers. Her glacial eyes, usually so detached and dismissive, flickered with something.

Something about his gaze rooted her in place. His dark eyes, black as the void, seemed endless, pulling her in as though they could swallow her whole. They weren't sharp, they weren't piercing, but vast and consuming, like staring into an abyss that could absorb everything.

She felt, for an instant, as though she might lose herself entirely in them, as if the icy barriers around her would dissolve and fall away without a trace.

To her, the moment lasted a lifetime, stretching endlessly. But in reality, it was but a few seconds before Damian shifted his gaze from her, turning his head and stepping past her without a word, his movements deliberate and unhurried.

She exhaled softly, as she realized she had been holding her breath.

Damian's footsteps echoed softly as he moved down the hallway, leaving the group, and her, behind without a glance back.