"Raven," breathed Damian, stepping closer to the girl, hardly believing she was in front of him. Three hundred and fifty three days without seeing her and she was here. And, in his opinion, she looked akin to a goddess in her all-black clothes and slicked back hair.

"Damian," Raven mimicked him as they simultaneously wrapped their arms around each other in a tight embrace. She never thought this day would come. All those hours of longing to see him in person, seemed to fade away.

Terra looked at Jaime and Garfield. "Is that...?" Garfield gave her a goofy grin and nodded.

Damian pulled away, gazing into her amethyst eyes. "I never gave up on you," he told her. "I called you every night. Every night for-"

"Three hundred and fifty three days," finished the girl in front of him through her tears. At his confused look, she elaborated, "I heard." She searched his eyes, unable to tell if he was upset with her or not.

Damian looked slightly hurt at this revelation. "Why didn't you tell me you were there?" he asked. "That you were okay?"

"Because I wouldn't let her," spoke up Gordon for the first time since Raven walked into the house. He approached her and Damian, his gaze stern. "What is this, kid? Where on Earth have you been?"

"Where have you been?" Raven retorted, but didn't protest as the man pulled her in for a hug.

That's when it hit Damian. "You've been hiding her," her realized, things starting to add up in his head. Inexplicable rage consumed him as he went to shove the commissioner. "You've been hiding her this whole time!"

Gordon caught his arm, trying not to hurt the boy. "Hey, hey!" He glanced at Raven in her fragile emotional state, not wanting to upset her, but also knowing he needed to explain himself to Damian. "Why don't we talk? Alone."

Raven watched their retreating forms, nervous about what would take place behind the closed door.

OoOoOo

"Protecting her!" shouted Damian. "Protecting her?!" He simply couldn't believe this. All those days he spent not knowing if Raven was dead or alive, come to find out she's been with Commissioner Jim fucking Gordon the whole time.

"Listen to me," insisted Gordon. "The more people know about her, the more danger she's in, and the more danger you and your family are in."

"Oh, so I should be thanking you then?!" snapped Damian.

Gordon sighed and rested his head in his hands. "I'm not asking you to thank me," he ground out, losing his patience with the boy. "I'm asking you to try to understand."

"I don't!" Damian's throat was starting to ache from all the yelling he was doing, but he couldn't care less at the moment. "I don't understand!"

Gordon waved his hand in dismissal. "Fine, that's fine," he responded.  "Just don't blame her, alright? She's upset enough as it is."

This only served to make Damian angrier. "I don't blame her, I blame you! I blame you!"

"That's okay, kid. That's okay."

At this point, Damian's face was getting red. "No!" he yelled. "Nothing about this is okay! Nothing about this is okay!" He arms began to flail as he tried (and failed) to punch the commissioner. "You're a stupid, disgusting liar, you piece of shit!"

Gordon didn't dare punch him back, simply held the boy close, knowing he was highly upset due to his own actions. "It's okay," he muttered. "You're okay."

"Liar, liar, liar!" repeated Damian over and over, tears sneaking their way out of his eyes. Eventually, his screams died down to quiet sobs. "Liar, liar." He eventually stopped completely.

"You're okay, kid. You're okay." The guilt churned in his stomach. "I'm sorry."

OoOoOo

"We missed you," said Jaime.

Raven had both her arms slung around Garfield and Jaime as she held them both close. "I missed you too," she uttered softly. Of course, she was the most happy to see Damian, but that didn't mean she hadn't missed her other friends as well.

"We talked about you pretty much everyday," Garfield told her as the three of them pulled away from each other.

Raven smiled, but squinted at the boy before lightly touching his mouth. "Teeth," she muttered in complete fascination.

Garfield looked confused. "What?"

"You have teeth," Raven clarified. Last time she'd seen him, he hadn't has his two front teeth in yet.

Garfield and Jaime shared a grin. "Oh, you like these pearls?" he asked playfully. "You're hair looks pretty good to, Rae." Raven smiled widely at that, subconsciously playing with her newly acquired locks.

"Raven?"

She girl turned to see a blond girl approaching her and immediately narrowed her eyes. She recognized this girl. She was the girl she had seen with Damian the day she had sneaked over to the school.

Terr held her hand out. "Hey," she greeted. "I'm Terra. I've heard a lot about you."

Raven looked at her hand before promptly walking past her, ignoring the girl completely. She didn't have time to feel bad for it because she was making her way towards Celeste.

Celeste grinned, bringing the younger girl in for a one-armed hug. "Hi, Raven. Long time, no see. We missed you."

Raven smiled. "Missed you too." Celeste, being the brilliant girl she was, had found out about Raven the second day she was at their house. Not even Damian knew about it until that day they tried to reach Jon in the school gym. In that time, they had begun to view each other as sisters.

Raven pulled away and walked over towards Lois, who smiled widely and hugged her tightly. "Hey, sweetheart." He voice was tired, but it couldn't deter the joy she felt at seeing the girl she'd come to view as a daughter. She pulled back and held the girl's face in her hands. "Hey."

"Can I see him?" Raven asked softly. She could already tell that Jon was in trouble. The metal links that she had established with him in the Upside Down was still strong. She knew the Mind Flayer was inside him and she would to everything she could to get it out.

Lois hesitated, before nodding firmly.