the black raven | THE FOLLOWING

□ mara □

It's eleven at night on Friday, the very same day that Bruce Wayne came home. That's a crazy sentence. Do you know what's crazier?

The fact that I just decided to follow Damian because I've exhausted my emotions to a breaking point and I want some answers, now. Answers to where everyone goes past ten in this house.

Bruce hasn't come home yet, and I get it: the whole city of Gotham just found out Bruce fucking Wayne is alive.

I haven't talked to anyone else besides Rachel today, and no one talked to me. I honestly don't give two shits, I'd rather be left alone to deal with this now.

I've decided to prioritize my mental health for the first time - possibly ever - and let myself at least try to comprehend the total bullshit that occurred today.

It didn't work as well as I thought it would, so now I'm currently following Damian around the house, quietly.

Ok, more like me staying a floor above him and just listening.

I make a reasonable plan of where he's going, only listening to where his footsteps are, how quickly they land, and how quickly they seem to make it back to my ears.

I've lived in this Manor for so long that I've become acutely habituated to the sounds it makes when you walk around, just by nature. I like to know my surroundings, that's all.

Now, I don't know why I haven't stayed to wait up and listen before; perhaps now with Bruce showing up with a shady reason and a cheeky grin stained on his face, I guess.

Out of the blue, I hear the front door scrape against the siding made of some sort of cement, signaling to me that Damian's shut the door behind him, that he's locked it too. The door doesn't scrape like that unless it's locked.

Swallowing, I pause for a moment before leaving. I'm not the best at creeping, but like I said I like to know my surroundings, especially when something as simple as going down the stairs quietly is at play.

To most, it probably seems stupid, but if anyone wakes up in this house, it might as well be my head.

I make it to the door when a noise from down the hallway startles me. I freeze, blinking away the momentary fear that I'm busted.

Alas, after a few moments of a quiet, almost burning stillness, I allow my fingers to wrap around the doorknob.

Just the old ass Manor doing old ass things, Mara, that's all.

I'm in my slippers, sweatpants, and t-shirt I usually wear to bed, deciding to leave the coat in the house. Rather get this all over with now as compared to risking waking anyone else up.

I open the door, and the raw chilliness of the Gotham air hits me. It stings my skin but leaves a cleansing feel behind.

However, it also provokes that buzz in the back of my head, which has been prodding me to get out, to start barking at me.

First, quietly muttering things that tell me how stupid this is, that Damian's almost an adult and that he can do whatever the fuck he wants to, or that I'm a kid and I shouldn't be too nosy.

Fortunately, just as quickly as that self-doubt and anxiety were about to feed on my mind, it was gone within an instant the second I heard a deep, howling sound break the steady heartbeat of the night.

It's a car engine, and I see just the glimmer of a car speed down the Manor driveway, hidden mostly by the shadowy building behind me.

Goddamnit Damian, come on. Just one more minute before you and I'd have caught you.

And the world comes to a stop right then.

Again, for the second time today.

And for the third time in my couple of years of being here.

The first time when Jason--

When Jason died. Jason didn't come back. He hasn't come back, he won't be coming fucking back anytime soon.

Before I can stop myself I've got the vehicle speeding down the driveway, punching in the license plate of the car Damian took into the database of the advanced IT system.

Alfred made me memorize the car's license plates ever since he started driving lessons, telling me it was for security reasons.

The stress is mounting like a stack of pancakes, as I follow the path Damian took.

Either way, I'm not going to let Damian do whatever shady ass shit he thinks he's going to do.

I can't lose another brother.

□ bruce □

I've just given my last smile of the night before turning in. I should know this by now; Gotham never sleeps.

It's eleven o' seven as I read my watch, and let out a heavy sigh. For the most part, this night has been giving smirks, answering questions, and abandoning any problems not excused yet. Like Mara.

Not that she's a problem, but just a.. new experience, shall we say. My hands grip the steering wheel tighter as I think about her.

I've been gone for two years now, and God knows what that's done to her. My time wasn't spent pleasantly; hers was worse.

I didn't even know about her until four-thirty this morning. I got to the Manor around three and got caught up with everything in the Batcave with Alfred and the boys.

To the rest of the world and the rest of Gotham, I've been on a long buisiness trip out of the country. In hindsight, I've been held hostage for money and the location of Mara.

I didn't say a damn word, especially since I got a message from Dick a few months ago. He picked up my trail and message I sent and - I presume - told the others about it, and got them in on it.

From there they found my location and planned a rescue. And now, I'm back, for good. Back as Bruce Wayne. And of course, like Batman.

I'll be honest-- it's going to feel nice to be back in that suit.

I pull up and into the long Manor driveway, and see the garage is open. Probably Damian going out again.

I park the car and get out, getting ready to get at least an hour or two of shut-eye before heading to the Batcave.

I continue to walk, taking four strides to the garage door, and flip off the light.

I stop.

It's darker in here than I remember it.

If all but one car is missing, then I should be able to see my fingers on the light switch.

If I can't, then there are two cars missing.

I rush inside, not wasting another second, and run right into Alfred as I do.

"Master Bruce, my apolo-"

"Alfred, where's Mara?"

Alfred's cheery face fades quickly.

"The last time I checked she was in her room, Master Bruce. Master Damian just left not ten minutes ago, as well. Why do you ask?" Alfred asks his concern thriving on his facial expressions.

"Two cars are missing from the garage."

Alfred's practically dragging me up the stairs, and for a moment I can't stop the thought from coming across, Mara's figured it out.

If she has, and she's gone after Damian, then I don't know what to do. I don't want to bring her into this since her mother's already done enough I don't know about, and let alone her brother died from this.

We reach the end of the hall, Alfred pausing for a moment. I listen to the quiet creak of the floor and the wind whistling against the Manor as Alfred then reaches, unlocking and opening the dark oak door to, what I assume to be Mara's room.

"Master Bruce, Mara sleeps with her door open."

Her door was closed.

Mara's gone out. She took one of the cars and is outside of the Manor grounds, which is the safest place for her. What makes this worse is that it's my fault, since I just arrived today, with no proven explanation.

I run a hand through my hair, not bothering to tell Alfred where I'm headed nor to wake up the boys.

If I can handle this without them up in arms then that would be preferred. I don't want all of my children turning their angsty teenage hormones towards me.

That's truly terrifying.

In the elevator, my mind short circuits to the possible threats out in Gotham, to an extent where I start to feel warmer like the room temperature just rose.

Mara's outside the Manor and I just landed back, and the Joker has killed Jason. The Joker killed Jason because he wanted to get to me, and Mara's out there now, and she's another direct connection to me.

She's vulnerable, alone, and doesn't know how to defend herself as I do.

I mutter a curse. If the Joker ones about Mara, and he knows she's out right now, then she's in trouble.

"Dad, what're you doing? Is there something going on?"

The voice belongs to Tim, of which I assume Dick follows. Damnit. I can't have them in a frenzy if they figure out why I'm down here.

I keep my mouth shut, rather than wonder. Tim steps next to me, and Dick sighs.

"Bruce," Dick asks sounding exasperated, "what the hell is going on?" 

"Miss Mara has left the Manor in a vehicle, and we believe she is headed after Master Damian," I can almost hear Dick and Tim's hearts drop, and then the shouting starts.

Dick and Tim's voices mix, and I still block them out. Suddenly, a high-pitched redundant noise comes from the computer, and my jaw clenches.

"Could you make some tea, Alfred?" I ask quietly, keeping my eyes on the computer screen before me.

A brief moment of heavy silence, and I hear Alfred shuffle away quickly.

It was a dick move, but I can't have Alfred getting in the middle of this when Dick and Tim can't control themselves, almost losing their shit.

"So, Mara followed Damian to the Robinson Park Reservoir, which means she's close to him," Tim trails off, and I peer over to see his eyes widen.

I can hear Dick's frown in his voice, "what is it? Are they followed? Is it the J-"

Tim is seeing what I'm seeing.

Just seconds ago I was wishing Damian to be near Mara, for her to be following him, and now I can't have her doing that. This secret cannot reach her, it's going to break her.

"He's coming here. Damian's coming to get his suit and head out," it's all Tim needs to say because Dick moves so quickly that I almost missed him.

But I didn't miss him as I yank his arm back as a warning. He doesn't waste a second staring at me, his eyes stirring with fire. He's challenging me, my judgment.

He knows my call on this, and he doesn't want that. He doesn't like that. But this is my operation, and I can't see any other way out of this.

We could call Damian right now and tell him to take her home, but it would only feed her curiosity to see what this is. If she is anything like me or Damian, then she doesn't take no for an answer.

"This isn't some little game, Bruce. This is life or death," Dick growls, jerking his arm out of my grip.

I swallow, "I know this-"

"No, you don't. You're gonna allow her to come down here and see all of this, you're going to expose her to everything. She can't handle that, she's just a kid!"

"And so were you," I remind my eldest of the day I took him in. His eyes falter, fluttering shut for a moment. I know I've won.

But this battle I've won didn't get me anywhere, not with the war still raging on. Who wins this war isn't up to me, not when all my cards are spent before I get to see them.

Mara has every right and no right to see any of this, solely because of me and her mother. Jessie and I fucked this up, royally.

Mara has all the cards now, stacked up like a wall, protecting her from the world. She's smart, keeping her hand close to her.

But now she's using them, and although it isn't smart to do that from my perspective, she has every right to do so. And I've made my decision and it's too late to turn back. Hell, Mara's got Ace's stacked up without even knowing she does.

Because her mother disowned her to me, because I wasn't here for years, and because the rest of her new family learned everything from me, we owe something of truth to her.

Whether it be good or bad, we do. And this, unfortunately, is going to hurt like hell. It's a terribly stupid idea too, but it's too late.

I've never thought about having a daughter nor bringing her into this if I had one, but now it's happening. I never thought about having children, but here I am.

She's more like me than I thought, especially this morning. She noticed which button to shove before she even stepped in the room, and exploited a lie of mine with ease, seeing right through it.

That's one of her cards right there.

Dick has walked away, stepping away to relieve himself. Tim has stepped back, and I turned to watch him flop into a chair, his head in his hands.

"This is so fucked," he whispers. I grimace, knowing it's the truth.

The faded footsteps that chime louder and louder bring the noose around my neck to fasten to fit, only feeling the room's inferno temperature do nothing to help this.

"I know, Tim."

Alfred, who has silently returned with the tea, sets it down and comes to suffer next to me.

"Master Bruce," Alfred starts, but I stop him immediately.

"Thank you for the tea, Alfred."

Alfred looks down, steely-eyed with his jaw tight, and marches off in Dick's direction.

Voices start to appear, low and angry ones. I know who they belong to. I haven't moved from my spot: I don't have the will to.

And then, I see them.

Mara drags Damian by the arms as he tries to resist with all his strength. His face contorted in a blind panic, hers in bitter defiance.

And now there's no turning back, as Dick comes to witness what going to happen, although Alfred hangs back.

Mara steps into the room, and Damian as well, his eyes caught those of the others in the room. Mara's eyes, however, stay locked onto only one person. Mine.