~AT FIRST BLOOD~

"Roman!" shouts Valarie he head poking out of her bedroom. "If this some sort of test then be prepared to get smacked because I am not doing this anymore." 

The quietness made her feel uneasy and she swallowed the nervous lump lodged in the back f her throat. Roman would test her every now and then with surprise attacks and she absolutely hated it. More now because she didn't want to be a killer like he was.

But it soon became clear Roman wasn't here and Valarie reached for the needles on the coffee table as a slight gust of wind made her neck hairs stand up.

Blinking her eyes, Valarie was now facing four people in black suits. "League of Shadows." She mumbled remembering what Roman told her about them.  They would kill...

"You want to kill me."

They didin't answer but came charging at me. This is what Roman was talking about, fighting for her life. Kill them before they kill her.

◇Damian  POV◇

"Where's the fire?" Asks Tim with a laugh as I pushed passed him. "Slow down-"

"There is no time. Step out of my way Drake." I say through my teeth. "I don't have time for this."

"Whoa." His hand is on my chest as I try to take a deep breath  "Let me grab my stuff. I'll go with you."

"I don't need you to come with me." I day bitterly heading for the batmobile. "I can do it alone-"

"You aren't fooling anyone." He replies  "This is a rescue mission not a vengeance mission. I. Am. Coming. With. You."

_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

"Valarie?" Asks Damian seeing the house was empty

Shattered glass fell from the mirror hanging on the pale wall. Curtains looked shredded as they lay all over the ground. Pillows which didn't gave any more feathers in them covered the floor along with the wood and legs of broken chairs and tables.

Damian did his best to keep it together and just took a deep breath. They blood stains even though they were little, still worried him. What if it was Valarie's blood

A couple needles were on the ground and Tim looked around some more trying to find where Valarie was.

He looked at the open door in her room and saw she wasn't there. It made him nervous because he felt Damian breathing on the back of his neck.

"Keep looking." He mutters and Tim nods.

But it wasn't long before they found a trail of blood. It smeared across the wall all the way to bathroom. Running water was heard as both Tim and Damian walked down the hall.

Stopping before the dead bodies that they both knew were from the league of shadows. All unmasked with their faces slashed, one with a severed head

Giving each other a look, they enter the bathroom and to their surprise, Roman was cleaning his hands and face.

"How'd I know my night would be interrupted by you." He sighs putting more water on his face, not bothering to look up. "I've taken care of it. The bodies will be disposed of-"

Without hesitation Damian slams Roman against the sink. Tim not even reaching to stop him, watches Roman tense up as Damian clenches his jaw tightly.

"Where is she?" He asks through his teeth. "Where is Valarie."

Knocking his arm from across his chest, Roman pushes pass him and now stands between Tim who is blocking him from leaving the bathroom.

"I'd answer." Says Tim glaring

"She's safe. I told you I'd keep her safe and I am." Roman replied looking between them. "Unless you are here to get rid of the bodies then I suggest you get out." He says firmly

"That didn't answer my question dick wad!" Says Damian angrily making his eyebrows knit together tightly forming a thick line under his mask.

Roman ignored him and grabbed some lighter fluid from in the cabinet, sprinkling it from the bathroom all the way down the hall, coating the bodies.

Tim looks to Damian who stomps off right behind him. "I'm talking to you-"

"And I'm done listening." Roman spat turning his body now facing Damian, nose to nose. "Valarie will always be under my protection, remind your mother Talia of that."

Now it was Damian' s turn to tense up.Talia was his mother and Roman knew. Tim was on the side watching, his fellow Robin even more closely.

Grabbing a lighter from his jacket pocket, Roman dropped it on the ground. And before Damian could blink he was gone.

"Lets get outta here." Tim began to pull on his arm trying to snap Damian out of whatever shock he was in.

The flames dancing around the small house and dark smoke beginning to fill the air, spirit of the dead began to melt away.

But the one that lingered in the air was Valarie because from what she knows, no amount smoke could burn her humanity that she left inside.

It wasn't Roman who killed today, but Valarie. She was put in a world where kill and be killed was how you survived. With or without a conscience.