Thanks to sirenmergirl for this request! I love Dami/Mar'i. The only thing about this, though, is that it really messes with the timeline. For those of you who are not comic buffs, Damian is Robin IV (V if you count Steph) and is the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, the daughter of Ra's al Ghul and heir to the League of Shadows. Damian first appeared in comic book history in 1989, although he was just the unnamed baby child of Bruce and Talia. He next appeared in the late nineties alternate future comic Kingdom Come, although he was named Ibn al Xu'ffasch. It was in this comic that his relationship with Mar'i Grayson, daughter of Dick and Kory, became canon. They also appeared in the Titans, volume 2 and I think an issue or two of Justice Society. Damian became part of mainstream DC continuity—that's set on Earth-1 without being some kind of future or alternate timeline—in 2006 thanks to Grant Morrison, and this is where the timeline gets messed with. In Kingdom Come, Damian or Ibn as he was called in that timeline was in his twenties, Dick was in his forties or fifties, and Bruce was old. Grant Morrison's Damian is ten while Dick is in his twenties (obviously doesn't have a daughter) and Bruce is in his early thirties. (Is it bad that I didn't use Wikipedia or ComicVine or anything to help me explain that to you guys?) So whenever I write about Damian and Mar'i, I kind of just do whatever I want, timewise, with little to no explanation because comics mess with ages and time so bad I can't even hope to justify it in my little fic. So look out for that.

The actual Titans aren't in this much, and maybe I should post this under Batman comics, but I am going to retreat to familiar territory and post under Teen Titans. If you think that's a problem, let me know and I'll change it.

Red Casebook Entry will be Damian's point of view. (In comicverse, this is Damian's audio log, so it will be spoken but read like a diary.) Normal narration will be Mar'i's, set an unspecified amount of time between Damian's Red Casebook Entries. I set this to make Damian 20 and Mar'i 19 as of 2013, just because. Beware of time skips.

Oh yeah, and I don't own Teen Titans or Damian or Mar'i, either. On with the show.

"Red Casebook Entry #1. April 15, 1998.

"I completed my first training session with the League of Assassins. Mother says I won't be able to see her nearly as often as I have in the past, but that is of no consequence. I have no need to be overly attached to anyone. The ninja in charge of my training, whom I am to address as 'sensei', says that I am prodigious. Clearly. I am somewhat offended that he was surprised. Has Mother not made him aware of my genetic roots? I am the heir of Ra's al Ghul, son of the greatest martial artist alive. Being prodigious is not optional for me, as breathing or blinking is not. Of course, Mother has kept my father's true identity secret to me. I believe this a test. I am to determine my father's identity before I am told. I do hope it is not any of the ninja who have trained me today. Their prowess is hardly noteworthy. I hope to rise through the ranks quickly. Mother says I am overly ambitious, but I merely wish to stave off boredom."

…

"I don't understand."

Both parents glanced at each other, a look of mutual worry for the emotional state of their daughter, before turning their attentive gaze to her.

"Now, Mar'i, honey, you know that not everybody's parents stay together." The dark haired man spoke softly, trying to give his daughter the right amount of fact and reassurance at the same time.

"Lian's parents," the redheaded woman added, and her husband nodded in agreement.

Their daughter furrowed her brows, her green-on-green eyes narrowing as she thought about this. "That's true, Daddy, but Lian's parents don't get along." She raised her gaze back up to her parents and tilted her head slightly, a gesture she had inherited, along with her bright eyes, from her mother. "You and Mommy love each other."

Her father smiled, a soft smile that was meant to reassure his child but was colored by his own sadness, and took the redhead's hand. "Yes. We do. But Mommy has to go home."

"Home is here," the child insisted, no less confused.

The redhead stepped away from her husband and crouched in front of her child, gathering her in her arms. "Your home is here. And that is why I must go. Tamaran needs an heir, beloved, and you do not belong there."

"But if I go, you can stay here with Daddy," the child said solemnly. "You can stay here with Daddy. You'll be sad without him."

The redhead stood, bringing her child up with her. "I would be more sad if you were apart from us both. I love you, Mar'i. Stay with Daddy, and stay safe."

Mar'i disentangled herself from her mother's embrace and she floated over to her father. "Daddy," she whined, tugging his arm in the direction of her mother. "Make her stay."

The man shook his head and pulled his daughter out of the air to hug her to his chest. "I can't." The four year old stared at her father, a look of shock and distrust on her face. "Now, Mar'i, listen to me for a—"

She would not listen. She let loose a weak spray of starbolts from her palms, which made her father release her.

"Mar'i, come back!" he called after her as she flew as fast as she could through the house.

"Dick. Let her be," a feminine voice told him sadly.

Tears blurred her vision, but Mar'i didn't need to see to reach her own private sanctuary. A room in the house that used to be a closet was turned into a teleport. It would take her father to Gotham, Bludhaven, or Titans' Tower here in Jump, but it also had one very special location. There was an asteroid in the depths of space, close enough to see Tamaram at any point in its rotation around its star, Vega. With Tamaranean technology, Mar'i's mother was able to set up a dome of Tamaranean atmosphere inside a trans-warp singularity. She, unlike her mother, needed the Tamaranean atmosphere. She could not survive in the vacuum of space.

The distressed little girl pulled the closet door after her and floated up to reach the teleport pad, selecting the correct button from memory, as she could not yet quite read. Her world shimmered and faded and came back into existence again in the form of black space above and rocky, dull asteroid rock below. From here, Mar'i could see the stars and all of space right around her.

This was her haven. She pulled her knees up to her face without even glancing at the secret marvels all around her. Maybe if she stayed here long enough, she could see the ship carrying her mother away to Tamaran.

…

"Red Casebook Entry #191. April 15, 2003.

"I turned ten today, and I have been training for exactly five years. Mother has insisted I take the day off, which was a mystery to me. I had no desire to cease training, but she insisted and Sensei urged me to show the proper amount of respect. I admit I am glad I did. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of my birth, Mother purchased a small island in the Mediterranean Sea. It belongs to me, now. I thought Mother might reveal to me the identity of my father, but it remains a secret. It's infuriating. Everyone must know. Everyone but me. How do I know how high I must set my goals in order to become his equal or surpass him in skill? The only remedy is to train harder. Become better than any man alive, even my father. I am Damian, I am the heir to the al Ghul Empire and the League of Assassins, and I swear on the tenth anniversary of my birth that I will become the greatest master of each martial art and I will, one day, best my father in a match of skill."

…

It was the day of her tenth birthday, an exciting time for any child. Mar'i was excited to enter her 'double digits'. Her best friend, Lian, was almost a year older than her, and she'd been waiting to catch up. "Thanks for taking me to the carnival, Daddy! Do you think I could learn how to walk on a tightrope, too?"

Dick Grayson laughed as he flipped the keys on his ring to locate the correct one. "Of course you can, Starshine. You'd be great at it. It's in your blood."

Mar'i wrinkled her nose at the mention of blood. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I did it, and you probably can too. You're getting pretty good at normal gymnastics, and you like it a lot, right?" Dick asked as he slid the key into the lock.

"Yeah, but I like flying better. I have to really concentrate on not flying during lessons. I bet they'd let me fly if I joined the carnival!"

"Now, Mar'i, we're a circus family. No daughter of mine will be joining the carnival."

The door swung open onto a rectangle of darkness, which worried Mar'i. Her father was usually strict about leaving the light on downstairs when they went out since their move to Bludhaven. It discouraged small-grade robberies. She peered into the darkness, then glanced up at her father, unsure. "Daddy?"

"Go on, Mar'i."

Mar'i shrugged and entered the house, dropping her bookbag—which held the Nightwing plushie her father had won for her at the carnival—on the ground.

"SURPRISE!" an entire crowd of people shouted at her, jumping out from behind furniture and around corners.

Mar'i lit two pink starbolts over her clenched fists, her reflexes taking over. She extinguished them as soon as she realized what was going on. "Dad!" Mar'i groaned, although she was smiling widely. "You almost scared me half to death!"

Embarrassingly, her father caught her in an embrace, lifting her up off the ground. "Happy birthday, Starshine! Everyone's here."

"Even Grampa Bruce?" Mari'i demanded squirming in her father's arms.

"And Alfred, too."

"Lemme down, Dad!"

Dick did as he was told and Mar'i rocketed across the room to tackle Grampa Bruce's legs in a hello hug. Fortunately, old age had nothing on Bruce Wayne, and he was able to keep himself from toppling to the floor.

"Hi, Grampa!"

Bruce Wayne scooped up the rambunctious ten year old and gave her a squeeze. "How's my favorite granddaughter?"

Mar'i rolled her bright eyes at her grandfather. "I'm your only granddaughter."

"Hello, Miss Mar'i," Alfred greeted her from Bruce's side, "and a happy birthday to you."

"Alfred!" Mar'i floated away from Bruce's arms and hugged Alfred around the neck, careful not to squeeze too hard. "What did you make me this time?" she asked eagerly.

"Snickerdoodles, Miss Mar'i. With actual Snickers in them, as I remember you enjoy."

"Yes! Thank you!"

Mar'i floated down to the ground to locate her friends among the crowd of people. Her father was right. Everyone really was here. There was Aunt Raven and Uncle Gar, Aunt Sarah and Uncle Vic, and Uncle Roy and Lian. Even Uncle Tim had come. Rarely did Mar'i felt more loved than on her birthdays.

…

"Red Casebook Entry #260. November 18, 2005

"Today I mastered Russian. This achievement marks the fifteenth language I speak. English, Arabic, Hebrew, French, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Italian, German, Latin, Greek, Romanian, Portuguese, and if it counts, American Sign Language, for the purposes of communicating to my subordinates in instances where we must remain silent. Mother is content with the languages I speak, but it is insufficient. I am not yet fluent Swahili, not to mention the dozens of other languages that come from Africa. There are several dialects of French that are infuriatingly different than the French I learned. My father probably knows each dialect of each language I speak. I cannot fail. I must continue to train my mind as well as my body."

…

Mar'i stood, dressed in her gymnastics leotard. She wasn't at gymnastics. In fact, she had quit only a few weeks prior. Right now, she was standing on the balance beam, her hair pulled into a high ponytail and a worried look on her face.

"You can do it, Starshine," Dick urged, his voice gentle as he spotted his daughter from the side of the beam.

She shook her head, frustrated, and dropped her arms which she had been holding out parallel to the ground for balance. "I can't, Dad. That's why I quit."

"Are you afraid?" he asked, sounding more curious than anything else.

"Of course not. I can fly and catch myself. Besides, this balance beam isn't that high. A fall from this height won't hurt me like the other kids." She glared down at the balance beam. "I don't know. I just can't do it."

"You can do anything you set your mind to," Dick told her sternly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, of course you think that. You're my dad. Duh."

"It's not because you're my daughter. It's because you're your mother's daughter. And your mother… She could do anything she set her mind to. And I know you're as stubborn as she is."

Mar'i gulped at the mention of her mother. Her father didn't often bring her up, and she let fuzzy memories of warm hugs and Tamaranean dishes make their way through her mind. "Fine. I'll try. But I can't control my stupid flight! It kicks in as a reflex."

"Mar'i," Dick said softly, trying to soothe his preteen daughter. "You love gymnastics. And you're good. I know you quit because you know using your flight is cheating, even if it's not on purpose. But, Starshine, you control your powers. Your powers don't control you."

"How would you know?" she snapped, angered. "You don't have any powers!" Dick dropped his arms to the side, unsure of what to say, and Mar'i immediately looked regretful. "Oh, Daddy, I'm sorry. I just… I want to be like everybody else!" Mari took a seat on the beam, her legs hanging over one side. "I know that I have gifts and whatever, but Lian's super good at archery, and she still gets to be like everybody else!"

"You know," Dick told his daughter, tucking her hair behind her ear in a loving gesture, "when I was younger, I felt so left out that I didn't have powers. Couldn't fly, couldn't lift cars, couldn't change into things. I guess I never considered that it's hard to have superpowers, too.

"I guess I might feel left out when I'm with Luke and Iris if I didn't have powers. But Jai and Lian don't have them, and nobody at school has them. And now I can't even do gymnastics."

"Maybe you'd feel better if you could actually use your powers," Dick began slowly.

Mar'i snapped her head up to look at him. "Are you gonna say what I think you're gonna say?"

"Maybe you'd like to come on patrol with me one day."

"Oh! Daddy, I'd love that! I wanna help you kick bad guy butt all night long!" Mar'i floated until she was standing on the beam again and she performed a jump kick and jabbed punches at pretend bad-guys, landing on the beam again with a fierce smile.

"Hey, I have to talk to your mother about it. Speaking of your mother, you should probably video chat her tonight. I know you've been worried over gymnastics, but she doesn't like to be out of the loop."

"Yeah, yeah, okay. I'll definitely do that tonight."

"Okay. Now how about we work on back handsprings? Remember, no flight."

With renewed energy, Mar'i took a better position on the beam. "Okay!"

…

"Red Casebook Entry #482. April 15, 2007.

"This day marks the fourteenth anniversary of my birth. I have mastered six of the eight one-move killing techniques. Mother attempted to test my knowledge by making me kill six people she assembled for the purposes of demonstrating my abilities. I did not kill them. It is the first time I have ever disobeyed an order. Do not mistake this to mean that I am an obedient puppet of the League of Shadows; obedience is the fastest way to rise, and I am well aware of that. However, Sensei, who has always guided me best, looked uncomfortable with the task. The six people Mother gathered for me did not commit high crimes against any state, they did not hold dangerous information, they did not infiltrate our League. Four of the men had children, and one of them wore an engagement ring. What they all had in common was stealing money—always a small sum, for surely any significant amount would have meant their immediate deaths—from my grandfather. All of these men were desperate. I refused to do it. Mother says that an assassin kills because they are ordered to. I told her that an assassin picks their missions. I would not kill those relatively innocent men. My mother later informed me that they were killed by the group of training-assassins, the rank just below me. I think I was supposed to learn a lesson, but I am unsure exactly what that lesson was. The world of morality is filled with many shadows."

…

The vigilante sessions with her father were growing longer. There were so many rules. She had to be home by eleven, nine on weekdays. She was never allowed out on her own. She even got her own uniform—of course, it was loaded with much more Kevlar than her father's, but Mar'i knew that complaining would mean the end of her days as a vigilante. Her uniform was purple, with a star symbol on her chest and—she'd requested these—fingerstripes that matched her father's. It was a Grayson thing, she'd supposed. She didn't even have to wear a domino mask since her eyes were disguised with a hologram pendant, or ring, or earring as she asked Cyborg for some variation in the designs, while she was using her civilian identity and they were their natural hue while she fought crime. All she needed to do was take the ring off, slip on her special Tamaranean headband that she incorporated into her uniform, and… Bam! Instant Nightstar.

Yeah. Nightstar. She thought of it herself. She simply joined her parents' superhero names together. It felt right.

Mar'i hated leaving patrol at nine on weekdays. Especially if she knew her father was going to be doing something dangerous. Now that she was fourteen, she'd been pushing the curfew. Just a little. Her dad, she'd reminded him several times, was out until three or four when he was her age. But then, he was homeschooled, and that was so not a road Mar'i wanted to go down. Uncle Tim, however, was never homeschooled, and he was out much later than Mar'i was allowed right now.

Keeping up with her father, at least in terms of roof-jumping, was not as hard as she expected. A lot of it was copying what her dad was doing. Copying him was easy, because even if she couldn't do it on her own, her flight compensated. She was doing triple flips right alongside her father, who had more years of experience than she'd been alive.

"Cheater," Nightwing called as his daughter landed a double flip in a perfect crouch while he rolled on the impact.

"Oh! Sorry, Dad! I'm just trying stuff out." Nightstar really sounded apologetic.

"Take it easy. You're doing fine." He placed one foot on the elevated ledge of the building, scanning over their city.

Nightstar stood on the opposite side of the building. She was perched on the edge, her arms spread out above her head while the wind ruffled her hair. Superheroing was beginning to become her purpose, she knew it.

She spotted something in the alley between two buildings. Nothing more than a twitch. "Dad."

He was at her side immediately, alerted by the serious tone of her voice.

Nightstar looked up at her father and pointed wordlessly, then followed as he lowered himself to the ground with a series of acrobatics.

It was a man, half dead. No—half alive. She had to stay optimistic.

"Nightstar, go home."

She widened her eyes at her father. "Huh? Wha—why?"

"Don't argue with me about this." Her father crouched down next to the man, his fingers pressed against his throat, feeling for a pulse.

"You can't—I'm almost fifteen! How am I ever going to learn anything if you never let me stay when it gets a little gory?"

He raised his head to look at his daughter, his mouth set in a grim line and the domino mask having an oddly creepy effect on his expression. "This is not a discussion. Go home."

"Fine!" she snapped, and she floated to the top of the roof.

Normally, her father wouldn't fall for this, but he was distracted. Mar'i crouched behind the lip of a building, looking down at her father and the dying man. She had to concentrate to hear.

"Who did this to you?" Nightwing demanded, and Mar'i could see white gauze, produced from a compartment in his gauntlet.

"C-c-c-cuhhhhh…"

"Go on," her father prompted, his voice gentle as he wrapped a wound under the man's shirt. Not that it would do any good, but Dick Grayson was not the sort of man who gave up when it came to that kind of thing.

"Covenant of Kahhhhh…"

She could see her father doing compressions, most likely in vain. He would bleed out if he didn't die of heart failure.

Minutes passed with only the sound of Nightwing's hands pounding on the man's chest thirty times, pausing to allow two breaths and then starting up again. Nightstar wanted to go help, but she didn't know how to give CPR properly yet. They gave classes at the rec center in Bludhaven, she made a mental note to herself to go take one ASAP.

Finally, her father stopped. It was a forfeit and he would be in a bad mood when he came home, and distant tomorrow. He leaned forward, his forehead resting on his hand, and was frozen in that position for what seemed like a long time, but couldn't possibly have been more than half a minute. Letting out a long sigh, Nightwing arranged the man's head so that the right side of his neck was exposed, revealing a tattoo of the creepiest looking spider Nightstar had ever seen.

"Council of Spiders," Nightwing muttered, and Nightstar could hardly make it out.

Her father turned his head, and Nightstar hit the floor of the roof as fast as she possibly could, flattening herself with such vigor that she hurt her stomach. Council of Spiders… That was a group of assassins. Uncle Tim had a run-in with them a few years ago. Covenant of Ka… She'd never heard of that before. But Ka was an Egyptian god, or something. Maybe it was a cult.

She'd have to research it later. For now, she had to get her butt home before her father realized she was still there.

…

"Red Casebook Entry #547. June 16, 2008.

"I went on my first mission today. It was not, unfortunately, a solo mission. We were to infiltrate the Covenant of Ka, who have been killing members of the League as well as the members of other groups of assassins across the globe for sport. I killed the leader of the Covenant of Ka. He was guilty of the slaughter of hundreds of men and women who had no quarrel with him, who were not part of an assignment. He began a war among the groups of assassins, who have always coexisted peacefully, if with some tension. He deserved to die. His death opened up a hole in the ranks of the Covenant of Ka, and our agents tell us deaths continue as those in the Covenant fight for dominance. If I die… If I renounce the League… what will happen in my absence? How many people that I know, with whom I communicate, would die? Sensei? Perhaps even Mother? This must be why my grandfather was so eager to produce an heir. It is calming to know that my existence brings peace and equilibrium to the League."

…

"There. Look there."

Dick dragged the mouse to the time Tim wanted him to rewatch and played the video again. "Looks like the League. That kid… He's gotta be sixteen at most. He just kills the Ka leader like it's nothing."

"That's not that much younger than you. Five years isn't so much," Dick pointed out. Before Tim could rebut with a defensive argument, the older Wayne continued with the matter at hand. "But why would the League be interested in the Covenant?" He was pensively silent for a moment before mumbling, "About a year ago there was a murder here…"

Mar'i watched quietly, leaning on the wall opposite the computer. Actually managing to sneak up on her father was quite an achievement. She didn't want to ruin it, but she had to ask.

"What league are you talking about?" she inquired innocently.

Dick turned so quickly, he almost knocked Tim's laptop from the desk. "Mar'i! What are you doing there?"

"I'm sorry, Daddy." She was keeping up the innocent act. "I was only wondering what you were doing."

"We're investigating something, sweetie. Can you do us a favor and go watch a movie or something?"

"Dad!" Mar'i whined. "You can't send me off like I'm some little kid!"

"You are a little kid," he mumbled under his breath.

Mar'i put her hands on her hips. "I am not! I'm almost sixteen!"

"I thought your birthday wasn't for another four months?" Tim interrupted.

The fifteen year old shot him her very best impression of Grandpa Bruce's Bat-glare.

"Sorry, sorry," Tim apologized, holding his palms flat out to her in a gesture of surrender. "The Glare could use some work, but I get the point."

"You can't keep hiding things from me, Dad!" she continued, ignoring her uncle.

"Mar'i. You're doing so well on patrols. Don't make me regret bringing you with me."

"Mom says you're being overprotective and unfair!" Mar'i shouted, stomping her foot on the ground.

Her father raised his eyebrows, and Mar'i regretted bringing her mother into this. "She did?"

"Well… no. That was mostly me saying that. But you started being a superhero when you were nine years old! I'm almost twice that!"

"Fifteen is not twice as old as nine," Dick interrupted hastily.

"It basically is! And you hardly even trust me to throw a birdarang, or a batarang, or whatever new explodey toy you have shoved up your sleeve! Why don't you trust me? I can hit a bull's-eye with a starbolt from fifty yards away! And you still don't think I can do it!"

"I do think you can do it, Starshine. It's just—you're my little girl. I don't want you getting hurt."

"Well good job. Not a scratch on me, but I hate—" She paused. She was angry, and a little bit hurt, but she did not hate her father. He looked horrified that she was about to say it, so she hurried to correct her statement. "I hate it when you do this!"

With that, she lifted into the air and stormed through the house to her room. Her father hated it when she flew in the house, but she didn't care right now. She needed to be away from him. She turned the lock on her door and grabbed her cell phone. Clicking through the contacts, she found Lian and stepped into her closet, pulling the door closed tightly. This was where the teleport to her treehouse was, and she'd used it dozens of times before. But before she went to her treehouse, she had something to take care of.

"Hey, Lian?" she greeted her best friend when she finally picked up the phone. "Remember what you were saying about a new Teen Titans?"

…

"Red Casebook Entry #694. September 10, 2010.

"My father is Bruce Wayne. I was confused when this was revealed to me. Bruce Wayne is a socialite from America's Gotham City. My mother revealed to me that he is also the Batman, a man my grandfather greatly respects, a man who disapproves entirely of the League of Shadows. I asked to be left alone. I am unsure of everything. The world I have built up, of my father being the leader of a rival group of assassins who would see me as a prize, who would covet my skills, is a lie. I have been deluding myself. My father undoubtedly hates my violent tendencies. I doubt he even knows he has a son. I don't know what to think. I have been asked to infiltrate his Batman persona from the inside; to gain his trust as his son, fleeing the League of Shadows to seek his aid. I cannot. I refused the mission. Grandfather even tried to persuade me, but I steadfastly refused. If I am to destroy my father, I will need to train more. I will need to do it directly. Grandfather was not pleased, but he agreed that I will, one day, bring down the Wayne legacy and their network of vigilantes, and I shall do it my way. I am unsure if I even want to do it, but I must best my father. I must prove my worth. I am Damian Wayne, and I will defeat the Batman.

…

Their Tower was fashioned after the original one in Jump. Uncle Vic was busy with the Justice League, so he couldn't help them construct it, but Aunt Sarah was there, and she knew almost everything that Uncle Vic did, and she had a more artistic flair to her work.

The team was something of a motley crew. There was Mar'i, obviously, although she had no desire to lead. That job went to Lian, who, in the nicest way possible, was much better at bossing people around. Maybe it was because if she pointed an arrow at you, you didn't know if you would get electorcuted or frozen into a block of ice when it hit you. It made you eager to please.

Luke McDunnogh, Offspring, joined their ranks, too. He was the son of Plastic Man, with the same elastic, shape-shifting abilities. He was funny and a nice source of relief from Mar'i's crazy life at home.

Iris West, Kid Flash. She was a little too serious in Mar'i's opinion, but they got along all the same. She was a speedster, and she was really good at what she did. They all were—you had to be to form your own team of vigilantes—but Iris seemed to doubt her abilities more than the rest of them. Maybe that was why she was so serious.

Zachary Zatara, cousin of Zatanna, gifted with the same ability of backward-magic. He was kind of… sarcastic. All the time. In a way that made it hard to tell whether or not he was being mean. He was kind of full of himself. His catchphrase ended up being, 'I am the best teenaged magician of my time!' but honestly, how many teenage magicians were there, anyway? He seemed to have a soft spot for Lian, though, so Mar'i let him snark all he wanted.

Even though Mar'i sort of threw the team together because she was angry with her father, he seemed proud of her. The team decided to base in New York City, which was only forty-five minutes away from Bludhaven and a half hour away from Gotham. With zeta beam teleports, though, she could have been superheroing on the moon and her father wouldn't have been able to use distance as a hitch in the plan.

There were bedrooms—she and Lian got a lecture about not letting either of the boys sleep in their rooms at the same time, which was an awful experience, to put it gently—but they really only slept there on weekends. Zatara, who dropped out of high school in favor of becoming 'the best teenage magician' often returned there to sleep, though. Mar'i and Lian would escape there during the week to catch up and talk to each other, and sometimes Iris would join them.

Mar'i knew she was really doing something worthwhile. She had her family at home—her father, her aunts and uncles, even her mother, via video-chat—and she had her Titans family. Everything was working out.

…

"Red Casebook Entry #831. April 15, 2011.

"I have been given my mission. I am to tear the Bat-family, as they call themselves, to shreds. Bruce Wayne, the Batman, closely affiliated to Selina Kyle, also known as Catwoman. Dick Grayson, Nightwing, ward of Bruce Wayne and the first Robin, also known as Nightwing, closely affiliated to Starfire, who has returned to her home planet of Tamaran. Dick Grayson. The son that my father loved. The son he wanted. I am very interested in this target, and I admit it is unprofessional. It's almost entirely personal. I wish to cause this man as much emotional damage as possible. Since this 'Starfire' is out of my reach, I will make a target of his daughter. Mary Grayson, also known as Mar'i Grayson, also known as Nightstar. She is easily within my breadth. A seventeen year old with a ritualistic life. It is not technically part of the mission, but this girl is my main target. Jason Todd, the second Robin, also known as Red X, also known as Red Hood; an operative anti-hero who serves as a nuisance to both the League and the Bat-family. He is not a relevant target. Tim Drake, the third Robin, also known as Red Robin; closely affiliated to Stephanie Brown, also known as Spoiler, also known as Batgirl. They are relevant targets, but I remain much more interested in the first Robin and his spawn. Other targets include Barbara Gordon, the first Batgirl, also known as Oracle, closely affiliated with Ted Kord, and Cassandra Cain, a prodigy raised as an assassin like myself, the second Batgirl, also known as Black Bat, stationed in Hong Kong. Her distance makes her irrelevant. I have a plan of attack. I will watch recordings of each person listed in this entry, pin them all as persons of interest, rank their importance as targets, and when I am fully prepared, I will go to America.

…

"Absolutely not."

Mar'i glared at her father. "Why not?"

"You're too young," he said simply as he continued loading the dishwasher.

"Dad. You're being unfair. Would you listen to yourself?"

He turned his blue eyes to his daughter's bright green ones. "I am. I'm wondering if you're listening to yourself, actually. What you're asking me is to allow you to start a relationship with a boy who sleeps in the same building as you."

Mar'i stamped her foot on the ground. "Oh my god. I cannot believe you just went there. Do you know what you're accusing me of?" she shouted angrily.

Dick closed the dishwasher calmly. At least she had his full attention now. "I'm not accusing you of anything. I don't think—"

"It sure sounds to me like you're accusing me of trying to… to—"

"That's enough, Mar'i," Dick interrupted sharply.

"Uncle Roy lets Lian and Zach date!" Mar'i pointed out, trying to keep her eyes from glowing. It was difficult when she was so angry.

"Uncle Roy is not me, and you are not Lian."

"I wish I was! Her dad actually lets her do fun things every once in a while!"

"Mar'i…"

"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean that." The teenager took in a deep breath o calm herself. "Why does everything have to be a struggle with you?"

"Everything is not a struggle," Dick countered, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the counter.

"It took ages for you to let me go out on my own. And when you finally did, it was because you hurt your back, and I'm still under a curfew in Bludhaven."

"That's not everything."

"Don't you understand, Dad? I'm not like you. I'm Tamaranean. I have powers that you have to let me use. I have emotions that I can't keep inside, and you're trying to make me!" She was getting teary now. She always got upset when her father failed to understand that she needed to do certain things.

"Starshine," Dick said softly, and he opened his arms for a hug. When she stepped into his embrace, he was quiet for a long time. Then he said, "I know that you're different. You're not like Lian or Iris, and I guess that's why it's hard for me, too." He put his hands on her shoulders and gave her a stern look. "But you can't hide behind your heritage. Maybe it did take me a while to let you go out on your own, but you needed to practice controlling your powers. And right now, I don't know if you have enough practice controlling your emotions."

She scowled at her father. "You can't tell me how to feel. I'll just date him behind your back, if you don't give me permission," she informed her father bluntly.

"That's not a good way to solve this."

"Neither is outright forbidding me! Why can't you trust me, Daddy?"

"I do trust you."

His resolve was weakening. She could feel it. "You and mom dated when you were Titans," she reminded him quietly.

"We were older," he snapped defensively.

"By, like, a year! Please, Dad. I told Luke I'd ask you first, but I really want you to be supportive of me."

Dick ran a hand through his hair. "It's times like these I wish your mother was here."

That stung. It always did when he said that. There was guilt, first of all, for making him miss her, and then there was the hole she felt in her stomach because she missed her, too. But, beyond that, Mar'i felt hopeful. Her mother would let her date whoever she wanted. Her mother would let her date Trigon, if she really wanted to. She clung to that hope desperately now.

"Let me talk to her about it and then see what I can tell you, okay?"

She floated up so she could throw her arms around her father's neck. "Thank you, Daddy." Then, for good measure, she threw in an "I love you."

"Love you too, Starshine."

…

"Red Casebook Entry #963. October 12, 2011.

"It has taken me upward of six months, but I have finally landed in America. Despite urges from Sensei, I have chosen Mar'i Grayson as my first target. Since she is on the fringe of the Bat-family, it will be a warning. I prefer to play with my food before I eat it. A trait I inherited neither from my father nor my mother, although I believe both of them have similar scare tactics. This habit of mine is born from a grudge. I have rented an apartment outside Wolfman High School in Bludhaven, where Grayson is in her senior year. Coming here is perfect, as once Grayson is terminated, I can make a clean getaway, as most of the Bat-family is stationed in Gotham."

…

Given her recent relationship problems with Luke, Mar'i was certainly not looking for another boy to give her problems.

But she found one all the same.

He was older than her. He had to be. He wasn't in high school, obviously. Unless he went to one of those snooty private schools down the road.

It started in October. Mar'i—or Mary, as she was known at school—always walked through the park to get home from school. She didn't strictly need to, but she liked it. Sometimes she'd stay and hang out with her friends, or she'd read for half an hour before dealing with the craziness of her father and her uncle, and sometimes her Aunt Stephanie.

At the end of October, she noticed him. He was an interesting kind of guy. He always had a book with him. War and Peace one day, an old poetry book another. He was attractive, too. Nice hair in the way that she couldn't tell if he'd done it purposefully or if the wind ruffle it like that. Such blue eyes. She normally didn't care for blue eyes. Girls fawned over blue-eyed guys, but seeing as her father had blue eyes, they never did anything for Mar'i. But these… these were like ice. Of course, looking at the color of his eyes meant making eye contact, which always made her feel weird.

The shape of his eyes was nice, too. Thin, like an almond got stretched a little bit in the middle.

He was young. Maybe a freshman in college. It wasn't that weird for her to have a bit of a crush on a stranger. It wasn't as though she was about to ask him for his name or anything.. She only thought he was attractive from afar. Girls did that all the time with celebrities, what difference did it make that he wasn't famous?

What really made her notice him, though, was the way he always seemed to be watching her out of the corner of his eye. He'd always pretend to be busy reading when she caught him, but she knew. Maybe he had a weird crush on her, too. It wasn't that odd to think that he might.

"Pull it together, Grayson," she muttered to herself as she passed by the bench he occupied one day in December, just before Christmas break. She was such a loser. If she ever decided to tell Lian about her dumb crush on some random guy, she'd get made fun of so bad.

Comic credit: The entire idea of the Red Casebook Entry is from Batgirl v3 #17 (my very favorite issue of any comic ever!). Granted, it's probably a Red Casebook because he's Robin, but I don't care, I used it anyway. The space treehouse thing is right out of Kingdom, including the wording I used to describe it, so that's not mine. Covenant of Ka and Council of Spiders are both assassin organizations from Red Robin, although in that comic it was the Council of Spiders that were killing other assassins. That was a very minor plot arc so if the lore got you down, don't worry about it too much. The whole team of the new Titans Mar'i puts together is from Kingdom.

Also, April 15is not Damian's canon birthday at all. I just set it for that day because that's the day I began writing this fic. I don't think he has a canon birthday. Speaking of birthdays, I put mine as one of the Red Casebook Entries. Stalker points if you can find it.

I fully intended for this fic to be a oneshot when I first wrote. But then plot happened and in part because of the way I formatted it, it… grew. Quickly and uncontrollably. So… Time for a deal? I have this whole thing finished and ready for posting. It's about 22k words (3 chapters) at its full length, not including author's notes. If you guys want me to put up more, leave me… let's go with 7 reviews. I am NOT holding out for reviews here. If I don't get 7 reviews, I'll post the next chapter in a week. But 7 reviews will have the next chapter up right away, even if I get 7 today. I just want to make sure I'm not inundating you guys with too much fic at once, that's all. Also, if I get 7 reviews for the first chapter and 5 for the next, I'll still put up the third chapter on Saturday. Same goes for next chapter.

Thanks again to sirenmergirl for requesting a Dami/Mar'i piece, and thanks to you for reading!

No teasers for this fic, as it is written like a oneshot and therefore full of plot. But I'll tell you what's coming up. What you'll see in the next chapter: College, a date (won't say who goes), Christmas, another Valentine's Day, and Mar'i gets attacked while on patrol.