*Not Mine- All Rights To Original Creator* 

Damian flicked his eyes sideways.

"Stop it Mr Pennyworth, I fed you five minutes ago."

The cat meowed loudly at his again, giving him the most innocent stare a cat could give. 

Damian was not amused.

Setting his book down besides him on the bed, the youngest Wayne picked up his cat with one hand and set him on his chest,"Have you quite finished being dramatic?"

The fiendish creature merely turned his head away from Damian sharply, clearly annoyed. However, when he began rubbing the cat's head soothingly, he begrudgingly leant in to his hand, purring softly. Securing Mr Pennyworth with one hand,  Damian adjusted the way he was seated so that he was partially lying down, propped up by his pillow.

Positioning Mr Pennyworth so that it was lying vertically on his chest, looking at Damian, the boy wonder started playing with his cat: moving its forearms from side-to-side and blowing lightly on its nose -causing Mr Pennyworth to shake his head and scrunch up is nose. This persisted for a few minutes until Damian heard loud barking from downstairs followed by the sound of porcelain shattering and loud cursing (not swearing: little Timmy was a good boy, he didn't swear).

Audibly sighing, the son of Batman sat himself up, still holding Mr Pennyworth. Coming to the conclusion that his assistance was probably required downstairs, Damian left the room, making his way to the living room -aka the centre for all chaos in the manor- having heard shouting coming from there. 

Upon entry, he was greeted by the hilarious sight of Titus, the puppy Raven had given him, hanging off of Drake's leg.

"Get it off! Get it off! Stephanieeeee! Jason! Stop filming and help!!!", Tim whined, shaking his leg frantically.

Todd shook his head at the RedRobin, shoulders convulsing with laughter whilst high-fiving his sister. At that moment, Dick walked in to the room with Kori, having finished work an hour before. 

True to his nature, Dick swooped in, hysterically declaring, "Worry not! I shall save you Timmy!"

Damian stroked the cat in his hands to keep it quiet and observed -from his space out of view of the others- with a frown on his face, as Raven entered the room, eyebrows raised at the scene before her. For a moment, she stood in confusion as Dick attempted to remove the dog from Tim's leg, until finally she snapped in to action- just as Damian was about to intervene.

"What exactly is going on?", her tone was quiet, but it still drew the attention of those in the room.

"I would like to know as well.", Damian added, stepping out of the shadows, "Just what exactly did you do to unnerve Titus?"

Dick put his hands on his hips, "How long have you been here for?"

Damian smirked, "A while."

From besides Raven, Kori began speaking, only to be interrupted by Tim's shrieking.

"COULD SOMEONE GET THIS THING OFF ME!"

Smirking, Damian walked over to Drake, real slow, all the while stroking Mr Pennyworth like some kind of old-school villain. After taking his sweet time, he looked down at the puppy with eyes narrowed slightly.

"Release the small person.", he ordered.

To the shock of many, the unruly dog unclamped his teeth from Tim's leg, allowing the boy to nurse his 'grievous wounds'. Damian leant down to rub Titus' head, however, he was stopped by a lithe paw and loud hissing. 

Mr Pennyworth was not in the mood to share.

Raising his eyebrow at the cat, Damian chided, "Tt. Come now Mr Pennyworth. You aren't jealous, are you?"

His cat turned it's head away from him, clearly not impressed. So what if he was acting like a kitten? Mr Pennyworth would not share his human with a dog- he already had to put up with a cow, turkey, crazy red animal (what was it?) and every other creature in the house and on the grounds. It was not fair- Damian was his person. He'd claw that dog to death before it touched his person.

Damian sighed, understanding the look of defiance that Mr Pennyworth was projecting. Robin would never back down from any form of conflict...except when it came to his pets. Knowing that he'd have to break Mr Pennyworth slowly in to accepting Titus as another pet in the Manor.

Shaking his head in exasperation, Damian turned to Raven, who had started speaking to Koriand'r.

"Raven,", he began, drawing her attention, "is it alright if you care for Titus for a while?"

She nodded, scooping the dog off of the floor. The former Robins and Stephanie looked to her in amazement.

"Hey, why didn't it try to kill you?", Tim complained in the same tone as before.

Raven shrugged, trailing a finger down Titus' nose, "I don't know. Perhaps he can smell fear."

Sending Tim a look that projected 'I AM MOCKING YOU', Raven sat down on the sofa, ignoring the affronted expression on poor Timothy's face. She did, however, accept the approving smirks of Steph, Damian and Jason. 

And Dick...well, he was just trying to hold back laughter.

...

***In***Gotham***City*** -The Next Day- ***

Raven had finally decided to look in to the whole community-work idea. So, she had asked Kori if it was alright for her to leave the manor (to which she received a surprised 'Yes of course! Why would you not?'). It would be good for her to clear her head and form her own opinion about Gotham , the notorious city of crime.

What she didn't expect, however, was for Damian to ask if he could accompany her. Not say, but ask. Of course, Raven couldn't decline -that's not to say that she wanted to- therefore, he ended up coming with her. Yet again, Raven felt it: the queerly pleasant feeling inside. What was it?

Fast-forward a few minutes later and the two of them (due to the convenience of magical portals, courtesy of Raven) were walking through the streets of Gotham. Quiet, contemplating. 

It was a comfortable silence, the sort that leaves one to their own thoughts without creaking a tense atmosphere. Just...calm.

Kicking an orange leaf, that had fallen from a tree above them, Raven decided to break the quiet, asking, "Have you decided what to do?"

He glanced sideways, raising an eyebrow. To translate from 'Damian's gestures' to English, it would be something along the lines of 'Could you elaborate on that?'.

Raven added, "I'm talking about what you'll do for community service."

Damian detected the irritation in her tone, smirking.

"As a matter of fact, I have already secured a voluntary position in an animal centre. It is a few streets from here.", he nodded his head, noting the street they were on.

The girl besides him merely made a hum of contemplation, opting to survey the surrounding area. It was then, as they were walking past a small park and food stalls, that Raven saw the sign. 

Not bothering to fight the growing smile on her face, she stopped walking. Damian turned around, asking why she had stopped with a confused look. 

"I think I've found what I'm going to do.", she said, dropping her usual monotone,"Just go ahead without me, I'll call when I'm finished."

Mildly surprised, Damian just nodded, thankful that he had remembered to bring his phone (which contained only the contacts of the Titans and the Wayne Manor residents). The smile on Raven's face, one so rarely viewed by others, was a blessing. It brought such warmth to Damian's chest that he could hardly do more than nod as Raven crossed the road and began walking towards a primary school. Completely and utterly stunned, he turned around, remembering that the animal centre wanted his there in fifteen minutes.

***The***Next***Day***

"Alright, settle down now!", the teacher, a sweet lady in her mid-thirties, told the class, instantly quieting them.

Thirty pairs of young eyes stared up at Raven from the light blue carpet. Some with brows furrowed, others with gap-toothed grins. A few were waving at the newcomer- the more adventurous ones.

"Miss!", a little boy called out, raising his hand straight up in the air, "Who is she?!

The teacher laughed lightly and chided, "Well, I was just about to tell all of you if you would be patient!"

The boy, whose name Raven would later learn was Jackie, smiled apologetically whilst his classmates snickered at him.

"Kids, this is Miss Roth, she'll be helping out in some of our lessons.", she turned to the more troublesome ones, "So please show her how lovely and well behaved you are! Yes?"

They chorused, "Yes Miss Cherry!"

"Good. Now go to your seats and take out your reading books.", she said, looking fondly upon the children.

Mrs Cherry turned to Raven, "They really are wonderful. Some may be a little shy at first, but they'll warm right up!"

Raven nodded, "That's perfectly alright.", she noted that her voice had turned softer, happier, it was an effect of being around someone as positive as the teacher besides her.

At that moment, the boy who had called out before walked up to the teacher, tapping her on the arm to gain her attention.

"Miss, can I go to the toilet?"

Of course, Miss Cherry granted him permission to do so. Before leaving the classroom, the little boy looked at Raven and waved.

"Hi Miss Roth!", Raven was rolling on the floor on the inside- he didn't pronounce the letter 'r' correctly, instead staying 'w'.

As more children came up to her and started introducing themselves, Raven truly felt in her element. Children...they showed the best of humanity. The goodness. The innocence. And Raven found that she had a strong passion for helping and protecting that.

She didn't have a childhood, but those children...they did. And to be a part of that, was something beautiful.

A.N

Sorry my darlings, I know that chapter was short (only 1700 words when I usually go over 2000) but I've had a lot of problems going on at home so I haven't been able to write as often. Still, thank you for bearing with me and still reading :3

And although I say this EVERY SINGLE UPDATE thank you so much for your comments, votes and reads because hello 2K+ reads!!! Literally, I am dead on the floor from choking on my tea. What even is this?!

Just,  thank you for being so supportive and wonderful (specially my commenters because I figuratively live for you guys :D) SO...THANK YOU (how many times have I said that this A.N ?)

-Bats ;)