Recollections
Raven sat calmly on the middle of her bed, looking at her CD player, which was blasting Evanescence. They were her favorite band, and she loved to blast their lyrics in the solidarity of her room when no one was in the Tower. She hummed under her breath. 'Bid my blood to run, before I come undone…' She had the music turned up so loud that she barely heard the knock on her door.
Her eyes snapped open, for she had not realized she had slipped into a meditative state, and got up from her spot on the bed, pause Amy Lee's booming voice, and answered the door. "What?" she asked in annoyed tone towards the leader of the Titans. "Dinner in ten." He said. Raven stared at him. "When'd you get back?" she questioned. "A few minutes ago." Came his almost blank reply. "You didn't hear…" she began, but stopped as she saw Robin nod his head. "Never knew you of all people like to blast like that. " he said, staring down the hall. "Beast Boy even started to complain." Raven gave a slight blush. "Well, I'll be there in a few." She turned, and the door swooshed closed with an errie black surrounding it.
0000
Raven looked around at a plain white room. She remembered that time very vividly. It was one of the last times she had eaten with them. A few days later, she and Robin had had a fight. She didn't even remember why anymore. But she couldn't except them anymore after that. Robin had made it clear that he didn't trust Raven, and she felt that if he, the leader of the Titans didn't trust her, the rest of them didn't. So she left.
And now she regretted it. 'Look where I am now.' She thought to herself. It was so true. She was in an asylum, she had gone almost completely crazy. She denied visitors because she felt that there was no such thing as friends, let alone people who cared about her. She stood by this. Nowadays, she wouldn't even let the doctors and nurses in her ward.
Suddenly, a knock on the door came. "No, you can't come in." she said viciously to her visitor. But whoever it was ignored her plea, and enter. She didn't even bother to turn around to see who her caller was. "Rae?" asked a very distinctive male voice. "No, you're not here, you're just a figment of my imagination." But the man put a hand of her shoulder and turned her around. She refused to look at the man, and her hood hid her face. But he found her chin and pulled it up, trying to make her look at him. But she looked away from him. "Get away from me, or I'll blast you into another dimension." Raven said still not looking at the man. "Fine, Rae, but you know I'm coming back." Raven laughed a maniacal little laugh. "That's what you think." She muttered at him. To her surprise, and almost disbelief, he smiled. "Just remember the old days, Rae." Then he turned, and walked out the door, leaving the insane figure of Raven alone again.
Raven had to have stared at the door for five minutes, almost hoping he would come back. Then, here violet eyes became unclouded, she collapsed on the floor, and stated to cry. 'This is the story of a girl who cried a river and drowned the world, but while she looked so sad in the photographs I absolutely love her…'
0000
The next day the same man came to visit Raven. This time she decided it was safe to look at him. What she saw surprised her. The man was dressed in a black spandex suit with a light blue hawk stretched across his chest. His hair was a gorgeous ebony black, and was almost shoulder length. He also wore a mask outlined in black, and pointed at the top corners. He reminded her strongly of Robin. When he walked in, he smiled a huge smile at her. "Hey Rae, told you I'd come back." Raven, however, didn't smile. She just looked at the man with sorrow in her violet eyes.
The man motioned for them to sit down, and they did. "Are you okay, Rae." The man asked. Raven laughed. "Does it look like I'm okay?" she asked with an insane edge in her voice. "Well, no Rae, but, I mean, don't you ever miss the Titans?" He asked. "No." was her flat answer. The man looked down at the floor. "Do you know who I am?" the man asked, next to no hope in his voice. Raven looked up at him, eyes clouded with her insanity again. "No." she said flatly again. "Oh, Rae." The man sighed. "I didn't think you'd remember, but neither did I think I'd have to explain this to you." He looked down at Raven who was shorter. "Raven, do you ever take your hood off anymore?" he asked. Raven now looked up at him. "NO." was her slightly less flat answer. The man sighed. He had a plan coursing through his mind. He wanted to see her face, see if it was still the beautiful, pale, and perfect as he remembered. He sighed again, and when she returned her gaze to the floor, he pulled her hood off.
Raven gasped. The man grinned. He had succeeded. But what surprised him was that she didn't slap him or send him into another dimension; on the contrary, she smiled, left her hood off, and looked at the man. "Thank you." The man noticed the haze that had signified her insanity was gone, nowhere to be seen in her eyes. "Raven." The man said almost lovingly. Raven lunged forward at the man, engulfing him in a huge hug. "Oh my God, how I missed you, Robin." He chuckled. "Nah, Rae, Nightwing, not Robin." Raven nuzzled into his side, looking like a young lover against her boyfriend. You saved me, Nightwing. I'm eternally in your debt." Nightwing grinned as big as possible. "Rae, I could never let you fall insane. When I heard you were in the asylum, I ran here as fast as I could." "But that doesn't stop the fact that I'm here, and I've been that way for so long that I don't think they'll believe I'm not insane anymore." Her monotone had been set again. Nightwing hugged Raven's form closer to him. "I'll make them believe, Rae, I'll make them believe."
0000
"Excuse me, miss, I have a friend here, Miss Raven Roth. I would like to know what her chances of recovery are?" The receptionist typed something on her computer, and pushed her glasses further up her nose. "Slim to none, sir." She said primly. Behind his mask, Nightwing rolled his eyes. 'She obliviously doesn't know Raven well.' He thought, almost saying it outloud. "Well, I was just in her ward, and she actually let me in. When I pulled off her hood, she just looked at me and smiled. She recognized me. She has made a full recovery." The receptionist gave a flirtatious giggle. "I highly doubt that, Nightwing. She's been here for at least ten years, and each day her case has gotten worse." Nightwing looked the lady sternly in the eye, making her cower in fear instead of flirt. "If you will allow me to bring her out and show you she's not insane, will you let me take her to my house?" The scared receptionist nodded.
Nightwing trodded back up to Raven's ward were she had her back turned to the door again. "Raven?" he asked. Raven turned around, smiling, but with tears in her eyes. "I'm so glad you found me, Nightwing." She whispered, walking up to him. Before Nightwing knew what Raven was doing, her lips were pressed to his, and Nightwing was deepening the kiss.
Nightwing parted Raven's lips with his tongue, asking entrance into her mouth. She granted him permission, and let her tongue enter his mouth, both of their tongues dancing around each other's mouths. After a few minutes of the heated kiss, Raven broke away, with a desperate need for air. "Wow." She said, pale fingers touching her off pink lips. "Just wow."
Raven and Nightwing walked up to the giggly receptionist's desk, hands laced together. "Raven, please tell this lady that you are not insane." Nightwing said, turning to Raven. "Yeah, seriously Rene, do I look insane?" she asked, leaning slightly forward into the lady's face. She shook her head, fear in her eyes, and began to type Raven's release form. She handed it to Nightwing, he looked over it, and signed it. He then passed it to Raven and she signed it. As they were walking out, Raven thought she heard Rene say 'And here I thought he was single.' Raven had to chuckle.
0000
"So, how'd you track me down?" Raven asked. "Simple," Nightwing replied. "I was taking a criminal to the asylum, and found myself looking at the list of really mental people, and saw your name. I couldn't believe it, so I came to see if it was true. I'm so glad that even though it was, I was able to stop it." Raven's face gave way to a small smile. "I'm glad it was you who found me, Nightwing. I wouldn't have it any other way."
The two reached Nightwing's house, and entered. Nightwing motioned for Raven to sit on the couch. She did. "I've gotta go change out of this thing." Raven eyed him. "What?" "I'm gotta see you without your uniform?" she asked. Nightwing shrugged. "I guess it's time someone to know that Nightwing's really Richard Grayson." Raven's mouth dropped open as Nightwing trudged up the stairs. 'Richard Grayson? As in, CEO of Wayne Industries?' Raven asked herself. She pondered this until Richard came back down wearing some baggy black pants and a blood red tee – shirt. "Thought I'd wear something that'd appeal to your tastes." He said. "Nightwing, I…" but the man silenced her by holding a finger up. "It's Richard while I'm a civ." Raven nodded. "Back at the asylum, when we kissed, was that real, or was it just spur of the moment I found my long lost friend stuff." Richard looked down. What was it?
Raven could see the look of uncertainty of his face, and her face immediately fell. "Right, of course, just spur of the moment. 'And I almost had you, but I guess that doesn't cut it…' Raven turned her head away from Richard, as to make sure he wouldn't see the tears starting to form in her eyes. Richard put his finger under her chin and pulled her head towards him, making her look at him. "It's not like that, Raven. It's one of those 'I've got to figure out how I feel' things" Raven tried to smile at him, but instead of smiling she got more of a grimace.
"So, Raven, do you wanna stay here, or do you wanna get a hotel?" Richard asked, trying to make the poor woman in front of him better. "Well, I can't really go to a hotel, cuz I have no money. But neither do I want to impose my presence on you." "Raven, why do you always have to think so lowly of yourself? You're a great woman." "Because I grew up that way, Richard. Do you remember the Prophecy?" Richard nodded. "But what doe…" Raven cut him off. "When I was growing up the only people who ever wanted to even be remotely close to me were the monks, Azar, and my mother. I grew up around people never wanting to be close to me. And even the people who I spent time with on a daily basis weren't my friends, they were just there to help me with my powers." Richard eyed Raven. "Well, Raven, you don't have to feel that way anymore. I don't want you to go to a hotel. You're staying here." Richard smiled a huge smile at Raven. Raven lunged at him with a hug for the second time that day. "Thank you so much, Richard."
"How about this one?" Richard asked holding up a pink shirt that had a gold crown on it, and underneath it said 'Princess' in fancy letters. Raven crossed her arms across her white clad chest. Richard had said that Raven couldn't go around dressed in a white cape and leotard, so he brought Raven to the mall (much to Raven's dislike). He had somehow managed to get Raven into Claire's. And now that Richard had picked up the princess shirt, he had drawn the line. Raven made Richard drop the shirt as she said "Come on, we're going to Hot Topic."
By the end of the day, Raven had enough clothes for awhile. Between Target and Hot Topic, it would be a wonder if she didn't. After having been at the mall for over two hours, Richard elected for the two to head back to his place.
0000
"So, Richard, do you ever think about the Titans?" Raven asked as Richard put the key in the keyhole, unlocking and opening the door. "Yeah, Rae, I do." "After I left, what happened to them?" "We didn't do so well. Beast Boy kept blaming your leaving on me, so then he left, Cyborg followed about a week later, and then Starfire went to Tameran, and I guess I had already left when she came back to the Tower." Do you ever have contact with them?" Raven was beginning to get suspicious. "Funny thing, actually, I do." Now she was really suspicious. "Hey, Rae, why don't you go change into that corset dress. I wanna she you in it." Raven nodded, grabbed the dress, and trudged into the bathroom.
"Ahem" Raven stood in the doorway, violet hair up in a pony tail, corset dress perfectly fitting her figure. The black of the top blended extremely well with the satin red ribbon that kept the two parts together, and the skirt was beautiful and twirling. "Wow, Rae, you look great. 'I don't want another pretty face, I don't want just anyone to hold…' "So glad you think so. I'm hungry, so do you cook or should I?" Richard looked at the woman in front of him like she was crazy. "As I recall, last time you cooked, the only one who liked it was Starfire." Raven grinned. That was, like fifteen years ago, idiot." She replied, moving into the kitchen. "Wait, Raven, I already started cooking hamburgers in the backyard." He said. Again, Raven grinned. "What do you want as a side dish?"
Thirty minutes later, through grease and freezer burned french fries, the two had a good meal. "Hey, Rae?" Richard asked. "Hmm?" she answered through a full mouth. "Let's eat outside." Raven nodded, taking her paper plate outside.
The second she stepped out there was a chorus of 'Surprise!'s. Raven staggered backwards, falling straight into Richard's arms. There in front of her stood the Titans (save Richard, who was behind her). Raven stood back upright (with a little help from Richard), and put her hand over her chest. "I, you … guys, when, how!" Cyborg chuckled. "It's nice to see you too, Rae, nice to see you too." Raven went up to each one of them and hugged them in turn. "I've missed you so much!" she told them, "But how did you guys know about me coming here?" "Well, lover boy over there called us and told us he had seen you were in an asylum, and he was going to try and get you out," Beast Boy (now Challenging) said, stepping up, "So he told us that the day he got you out that he'd call us and we'd have a Titans reunion." Raven looked at Richard. "You said lover boy?" she asked Challenging. He nodded as if it wasn't something big. For the moment, she dropped it.
0000
"Was Gar correct when he said 'lover boy'" asked Raven to Richard after the other Titans had gone home. He blushed. "Maybe…" Neither said anything, until Raven said "What the hell." Walked up to Richard, put her arms around his neck, and passionately and heatedly kissed him. And he kissed her back in with the same passion and heat as Raven.
After a few minutes of kissing, the two broke apart. "You realized that's the second time today I've kissed you?" Richard asked. Raven nodded. "I guess that's a yes to the lover boy thing." She stated, walking down the hall. "Yep." Richard muttered under his breath.
1111
Five years later, Richard and Raven were at the altar, saying their I do's. They had decided to go out after the night they had heatedly kissed. For five years they dated, and now they were finally tying the knot.
RAVEN AND ROBIN FOREVER!