((A.N. Richard and Raven have been in a long term relationship, she knows the whole bat family. She closely bonded with Damian, serving as a mother figure especially when Bruce 'died.' Damian and her learned Romany(sadly will be Romainian in this story :( ) from Dick.))
Have you ever loved someone so much you were willing to set them free, just for their own happiness? Well, I have, and it's killing me...
It was just another night out on patrol, a quiet night, at least thats what we thought. We came across some druggies, transporting what we assumed was fear toxin. We both hurried down off the rooftop and started off fighting our own goons. I flew up to get an advantage when I noticed someone running toward him; something was in his hand, a bomb. I yelled to him as I raced against time to get there first. Just before I could grab him, the bomb exploded, something connected with the back of my head, and then everything went black.
When I woke up, I was in a grey, barely lit room hooked up to several machines, most were connected to my head. I called out to the one person I knew who would hear me, " Richard! Unde ești?! Scoate-mă de aici! (Richard! Where are you?! Get me outta here!)"
I heard a voice off of my right shoulder,"Relax my sweet Raven, everything will be alright." When I glanced over, all I could see were the lights of the machine and the side wall. I felt a gentle breeze,
"De ce nu te văd? (Why can I not see you?)"
"I'm over here my sweet," a gentle weight was placed on my left shoulder. I turned my head to see an image that will haunt me the rest of my life; a very translucent looking Dick stood there, his bright blue eyes being the only thing that made him look alive.
I moved my hand to touch his cheek, only to see it pass right through him, "De ce nu te-am atins? (Why can I not touch you?)"
He let out a soft chuckle, one of his infamous ones I've grown to love, "Sleep now my sweet Raven, don't be sad. Carry on our legacy through our child. Be happy, I'll love you forever my dear." With his last words he began to fade into nothing.
"Nu! Vă rugăm reveniți! Te iubesc!(No! Please come back! I love you!)" With a second thought she added, "Ce copil vorbești?!(What child are you talking about?!)" He faded into the darkness as I took one last look into his captivating blue eyes. " Nu! Richard!(No! Richard!)" I could hear footsteps in the distance, on a seemingly hallow floor. I wept as familiar arms engulfed me. "He's dead...Isn't he?" The arms squeezed tighter. "Raven..." The musky voice trailed off. I heard another set of footsteps rushing towards us, "A plecat ...(He's gone...)"
The footsteps abruptly stopped. I looked up and in my tear filled eyes I made out the figure of a clearly startled Damian. He stood in shock as his gaze was torn from all the machines. He finally just cast his gaze upon us, trying to hide how alarmed he really was. [A.N. Dick also taught Damian Romanian(Romany)] " Vino aici (Come here)," I motioned for him to sit next to me on my other side. He very cautiously approached, but when he got close enough I pulled him into a tight embrace; I felt his little arms locking together on my back. "Te iubesc, Damian (I love you, Damian)," "Eu te iubesc (I love you too)." Bruce slowly left the room, sensing the need for privacy. "Damian, remember when I told you that in my culture the dead look after their loved ones as they await them in the afterworld?" He gave a slight squeeze, indicating he understood. "Well...now Dick will be our guardian angel." He roughly pushed away from me, his expression changed into confusion and anger. "What?! Impossible!" I grasped his shoulder as small tears ran down his face, "Damian, I'm sorry..." He shook his head as he spoke, "No, no, no, no. You don't understand! He's the one who told me to come down here!" As he looked at me with such seriousness in his eyes, i had to take a second to comprehend what was just said. "Și tu?" "Huh?" I looked away from him to outside the door, staring at the cases of costumes on the opposite side of the batcave, paying special attention to the original Robin costume, "The dead never leave us Damian, he'll be here anytime we need him. Keeping his spirit alive." Tears filled my eyes; my hand found it's way to my stomach. For the first time I sensed the small being growing inside. I brought Damian back to my side and kissed his head as he relaxed into my grasp.
As the time in silence passed, Damian fell asleep on my shoulder. Before long I felt my own eyes begin to droop. Just before I drifted asleep, I felt arms pulling me into their chest gently, then slowly setting me back down. They kissed my forehead, "Sleep well my sweet Raven." With that everything faded into black, with a peaceful feeling in the cave.