RATING: M for Mature (blood, gore, violence, seduction– because I don't think I'll be writing any full on smut, mentions of violent crimes– murder, rape, etc., mentions of abuse, occasional cursing).
NOTE: This is a Nightwing/Raven story. I will include other respective love interests, but (most likely) they will not be having any romantic interactions with the two mains. If at any time it sounds like I'm slandering them, I'm really sorry. I don't mean to do it intentionally; and, if it is intentional I will post a warning beforehand.
DISCLAIMER: Characters are property of DC Comics. Ideas, sadly, are mostly mine.
" Try as you will, you cannot annihilate that eternal relic of the human heart, love. "
~ Victor Hugo
Dick had a really weird process when it came to handling his anger.
First, boiling rage.
Second, venting frustrations.
Third, consuming guilt.
Finally, silence.
He'd finished with Katherine a long time ago, and was in the process of cleaning up: anything above the pelvis in one trash bag, anything below in another, and a bag just for her head. He would've made a bag for her insides, maybe donate the organs to the hospital, but that would take too long for him.
Before taking her body to the incinerator outside of Blüdhaven (a three-hour drive away, mind you), Dick made a bag for Katherine's clothing. He had already gotten rid of his own clothes, but he planned to bleach and wash hers before donating it to charity.
On the road, Raven had sent him a text message. Not wanting to be near the cell towers in that godawful city, Dick pulled over to the gas station. He was a little reluctant to answer because cell phone records would show him near the city. He was incredibly lucky that Bruce decided to assign him to the Blüdhaven office a few weeks back, so him being there wasn't nearly as suspicious. And, if anyone were to check his records, they would see that at the very moment Dick was in the building's parking garage.
SMS_Raven: You've been gone for a long time, is everything okay?
SMS_Raven: Are you sleeping over at the office?
Usually, Raven didn't send texts. But, it was late at night, and she had a right to be worried about him being at the office so late.
SMS_Dick: It took me a while to find my license in the dark, and some of the guards thought I was trying to break in.
Dick was treading unsafe waters by bringing other people into his lies, but he needed something that could clearly place him in the office for a long period of time without appearing suspicious. It wouldn't be too hard to find a "witness" if it came to that.
SMS_Dick: It took them a while to realize who I was. You'd think all the tabloids or my picture in the lobby would've been a hint.
SMS_Raven: Ha, ha you're so funny.
SMS_Raven: Next time you worry me I'm letting the police deal with you.
SMS_Dick: Wouldn't want that ;)
Raven tried twirling in front of the full length mirror, but found the gigantic tent of a dress permitting her to do so. Per Kori's suggestion, Raven modeled a backless gown with a tail that made her feel like a mermaid (apparently that's what the design was called anyways). The sleeves themselves weren't on her shoulders, tightly hugging her biceps instead. The color of her skin melded with the dress; her purple hair was the only thing reminding people she wasn't a mannequin.
"You look gorgeous."
She turned to look at her friends, "I don't know. I think this is a little…revealing. If I wear a bra, people will see it."
"You're not supposed to wear a bra with the dress," the storeowner advised.
Her look of confusion turned to a look of horror, "What if the venue gets cold?" she made a gesture to her chest area, "Y'know?"
"It's nothing Dick hasn't seen before," Donna teased, earning herself a light tap on the wrist from Toni.
The bride-to-be reexamined herself in the mirror, "This is way too revealing," the tattoo her back was trying to jump out, "I think I need something that doesn't show off everything."
Kori approached her friend, "Raven, you are an incredibly beautiful woman. You should not feel the need to hide it," she put a veil on her head just to complete the look, "But if you do not feel comfortable in the dress, there is no reason for you to buy it."
She took one more look at herself, "I just feel bad," Raven said, "for wasting your time, guys." And spending so much money.
Her fiancé had repeatedly offered to pay (he'd grown up with more resources then she had), but Raven declined. They were equals in the relationship and she wanted to keep it that way.
"Because this is such torture," Toni joked, "Seriously, Rae, we'd rather be here helping our friend then at work," and she meant that considering she worked in a cubicle.
That had been the third dress Raven tried that day. Dress picking was fairly hard for her; she wasn't exactly a girl's girl and she didn't really know what she was looking for. If Raven had it her way, she'd show up in a pantsuit.
One day, before the officially planning took place, Raven recommended they escape to Greece and have a simple ceremony with a few friends and his family; Dick didn't object. She didn't go through with it: this was supposed to be a traditional wedding of sorts. She worked really had to give him a storybook wedding because, though he never said it out loud, he wanted the big wedding with her in a white dress, him in a black tux, and their friends watching them at an altar.
Dick rarely asked for anything. If that meant she had to wear a poofy dress to make him happy, she'd do it.
As soon as he was done with work, Dick kidnapped his friends and took them to the jewelry stores, trying to figure out the best inscription for the wedding rings.
"What about 'Yours forever'?"
"Too cliché."
"You don't have to get it inscribed," Garth suggested, "I mean, I honestly don't see Raven being the type to throw a fit over rings."
"I know but…" Dick clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, "This should not be so hard."
Garfield– who had obviously been trying on different gold chains and rings– said, "Y'know, you could just ask Roy for help."
Besides Toni, Roy Harper was Raven's oldest friend. He and Raven spent a majority of their interactions bicker-flirting, and Dick wasn't truly convinced they were purely platonic until the moment he saw how over-protective he was over her (and vice versa). It helped a little that Roy already had someone he was completely devoted to in his life: Lian.
In fact, Roy wasn't shopping with them because he was in the middle of an archery tournament, and was planning to visit his daughter afterwards (unfortunately for him, that meant hanging out with his ex-wife).
Before he left, Roy told Dick to call whenever he needed help with "Raven stuff" because Lian adored her Godmother to no end.
"I don't want to bother him," Dick said, "and the rings should say something about my relationship with Raven, not Roy's."
"Then you should put 'started as a mess'."
After what seemed like hours at the jewelry store– mostly consisting of brainstorming over rings without actually purchasing anything– Dick finally went home to get ready for Wayne Enterprise's latest company function (which is just a fancy way of saying big-ass party).
Both he and Raven equally loathed these things. Raven didn't like having to pretend to be the silently doting wife, given that rarely anyone wanted to discuss medicine or books with her. And, Dick didn't like having to take his work home in an itchy suit.
The only thing that motivated the two to power through was Alfred's desserts.
Raven was actually stuffing a few of the lemon cookies in her mouth– like a lady– while Dick was finishing a conversation with some old stiff in HR.
"Is it just me or was he talking slow on purpose?" Dick asked once he could retreat to her side.
She laughed and kissed his cheek, almost to tell him "I'm just as bored as you". He took the plate from her and started feasting on her leftover crumbs.
"I'm really hungry."
"You do realize there's plenty of cookies here, right?"
"I don't know. You've practically ate them all." That earned him a playful punch in the shoulder. "I'm sorry I had to drag you to this thing," Dick said, "But, I will admit– you look beautiful tonight."
"What about all the other nights?"
He playfully rolled his eyes at her before he placed his chin on top of her head. Raven rarely showed a playful side, unless you include the frequent sarcasm, so he loved that she was comfortable enough to do it with him.
"We should move to the dance floor," he suggested, "Y'know, practice for our big party."
It was actually really funny whenever Bruce turned his living room into a dance hall. The house was humungous with plenty of other rooms to use, but Bruce Wayne liked the idea of dancing in front of a fire place…even though he rarely danced.
"I would," Raven looked up at him, "except those are your new shoes. I would hate for you to bleed through them after a few minutes of waltzing with my feet on your toes."
"Isn't that why I'm marrying you, my living first-aid kit?"
"Robin."
Anytime she called him that, he found himself unconsciously smiling. The first time they met, they were studying birds in the park for a biology lab. For some reason, the robins wouldn't seem to leave him alone no matter how much he tried to shoo them.
"Break it up, Dick," Bruce said as he approached them, "You're going to have the rest of your lives to be distracted by your fiancé," he sent a knowing smile at a laughing Raven, "Right now, I need you conversing with other executives."
"Hush, Bruce," said the date on his arm, "Your son and his girl are adorable."
When he was little, Dick often corrected people whenever they called him "son". It wasn't that he had anything against Bruce, he just wasn't ready to accept his new so-called family.
After a while, after building a relationship with Bruce, Alfred, and the horde of children to come, he stopped correcting strangers.
"Richard. Mingle. Now," Bruce commanded before his date tried to drag him on the dance floor.
Raven leaned up and kissed Dick's jaw, "I can go get more food. That way you won't be so distracted."
"You'll need to put a bag over your head if you wanna stop being a distraction, Dr. Roth."
Dick turned his head to see Raymond McCreary walking towards them. He had a wily smirk on his lips and a drink in his hand. It seemed that he didn't have a date tonight.
When Raven squeezed his hand, he finally broke his gaze with the other man. Dick saw concern in her eyes, and that allowed his stomach to unclench.
"What are you doing here, Raymond?" he asked between his teeth.
"This is still a business function," Raymond said, "And Talon Trades. is interested in doing business with Wayne Enterprises."
"I think I speak for Bruce as well when I say we would never do business with you or your company."
"Richie, don't allow your emotions to get in the way of a good business deal. That's very unprofessional," he goaded.
Before further altercation, Raven stood between them with her hand on both of their chests. Dick instantly calmed because even the slightest touch from her seemed to relax him.
"Enough, boys," she said, "You're both adults. At least act like it."
"As you wish, darling," Raymond took this opportunity to take Raven's hand from his chest and kiss her knuckles. When he saw her ring, he said, "I've never seen this before," before she snatched her hand away, "Who's the lucky person?"
"Me," Dick answered, possession gracing his tone.
Raymond looked perplexed for a second, and then started laughing. "You must've really enjoyed my sloppy seconds, Richie. Although, I have to say, my ring was bigger," he winked at Raven.
Dick would've responded, but she beat him to it.
"I wouldn't brag about your need to overcompensate regarding your…ring."
That comment, and Dick trying to hide his laugh, seemed to wipe the smile off his face.
"And you're right about one thing: this is a business function," she stood a little taller, "So just shake hands and walk away," she said, "and, unless you really want to air laundry in front of your bosses, Raymond, consider your proposal rejected."
Both men knew better than to argue with her.
Dick put his hand out, "We'll finish this on Monday," and shook.
Raymond squeezed his hand a little harder, "Go fuck yourself, Richie," and walked off.
As soon as he left, Raven cupped Dick's face so he couldn't look at anything but her, "Are you okay?"
"The man is a Neanderthal."
She nodded slightly, but it didn't seem to budge the concern on her face.
Dick wrapped an arm behind her back and pulled her against his chest, "What are you thinking about?" he asked, playing with loose strands of her amethyst hair.
"I feel bad," she confessed, "You guys used to be friends, Dick. I never thought I'd be the person who breaks up a friendship. Maybe you could… forgive him?"
He leaned down and kissed her, for the first time that night, and said, "Even before what he did to you– before what he did to us– Raymond stopped being my friend."
"I just feel like–"
He kissed her once more, "Raven, stop. I'd settle for the memories of our friendship from the past, then have the asshole he is today as a friend.
"And, I have you," he added, "That's worth a lot more to me."
Like some couples, sometimes sitting together in silence was better than a dozen conversations.
Raven and Dick would be classified as one of those couples every Sunday morning.
He usually woke up before Raven. He liked to sit at the bar in front of the kitchen with his book out and a cup of joe on a coaster. Depending on his mood, sometimes Dick would make omelets to compliment the coffee. He liked to take books from Raven's library and read them, given her large range of options. Every now and then he'd break the silence to ask Raven a question about the book he was reading.
Unlike Dick, Raven liked to lean on the clean counter space near the sink to do her reading. She would drink warm tea in her "Your argument is irrelephant" mug– a gift from Garfield, of course– while she read the newspaper. When she finished the news, she'd start a crossword puzzle.
"He's not dead?"
Dick always knew how to make her laugh, even when he was spewing nonsense.
"What are you talking about, love?" she asked as she poured hot water into her mug.
He started waving the book around, "Is he supposed to die or…?"
She looked up and noticed he was referring to The Children of Men, and also referring to its corresponding film.
"You do realize films and movies are different, right?" she said from their door, picking up the newest copy of the newspaper.
He was mumbling to himself– something about unsatisfying endings– before he drank his coffee, put the book back in the shelf, and grabbed papers to work on. Dick was about to sit down again when–
"Holy shit."
He almost dropped his work at her exclamation, "What? What's wrong?"
Raven handed him the paper and showed him the front cover, "I'm not seeing things, right?
He looked at the Gotham Gazette to find a faded picture of Raymond McCreary being forced out of his condo in the same suit from the other night.
The handcuffs were definitely new.
"They found Raymond with Katherine's jewelry," Raven summarized the article, "Apparently, her blood was on her bracelets. I guess she wasn't in Steel City after all."
Dick could immediately point out the puzzlement on her face, so he dropped the paper and pulled Raven into a hug.
"Jesus Christ, what do you think happened?" she asked into his chest. When he didn't answer, she settled for his silence, burying her face further into his shirt.