A/N: Happy Holiday Hoopla Everyone! Well the world didn't end so here's some got dang BATMAN. My special thanks to those who gave me such wonderful reviews last chapter and the always positive Xaphrin. You guys gave me the push I needed. Enjoy!
xXx
One Week Later, Wayne Manor
Nightwing's back hit the sparring mat with a sharp smack. His breath was forced from his lungs and he gasped desperately trying to get it back. Bruce wasn't pulling any punches.
"Again." Batman motioned for Nightwing to get to his feet again.
His former student hissed sharply and winced as he stood. They had been at this for hours. A mental diagnosis revealed what was probably bruised kidneys, a sprained shoulder, and two slightly fractured ribs. He'd fought through worse to be sure, but never after having it inflicted by Batman.
"Damn it, Bruce. What is with you today? I thought we were supposed to be drilling Jason. When did this turn into you just beating the hell out of me?" He shifted into the beginning stance and nodded warily for Batman to start again. The pair exchanged blows for several more minutes before Nightwing was once again sent sailing through the air.
"Ever since I have begun to doubt your ability to defend yourself." Batman grunted, helping Nightwing back up for what felt like the hundredth time. "You may no longer be my student, but I still consider you my son, and therefore it is my responsibility to ensure you remain safe." His eyes darted to and older wound, one that Richard had gotten on patrol a few nights ago. "You've been sloppy and impulsive on patrol lately and I cannot allow the kind of recklessness that puts your life and countless civilians' lives at risk. While I am away with the League, you are responsible for Gotham and the many people that I care for. And with the way you are acting now, I will not put their lives in such careless hands. So, we will continue to drill until this is remedied. I asked you here to help me train Jason, true. But how can I let you do that if you ignore everything that I've taught you?" His normally stony eyes softened briefly. "What is bothering you, Richard?"
Nightwing snatched a bo staff from the weapons rack and lunged for his mentor, trying to wipe any thoughts of Raven and Duncan from his mind. That was something he didn't want to think about right now, not when it might prove Batman's point. "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine!" He snapped, aiming the heavy metal staff at the older man's hip hoping to damage the joint and gain an advantage. Bruce is wrong,he told himself only half believing it, I have everything under control. Batman blocked the blow easily, stepping out of the way with nearly silent steps.
"You call this nothing? You have yet to put me on the defensive and are letting me dictate the terms of our match. Add that to the fact that you constantly sacrifice your footing for wild attacks."
Nightwing felt like a blood vessel was going to pop any moment. The last thing he needed was to be lectured by him about something that he didn't even understand. Bruce had had hundreds of love affairs that he took up and discarded without seeming to think twice. He might consider Nightwing weaker for not having a emotional vacuum but at least Richard still seemed human. It wasn't any of his business anyway. He glared at Batman through sweat-soaked eyes and growled. "I thought we were sparring here, Dr. Phil, not having group therapy. You wanna beat the hell out of me? Bring it."
His mentor raised an eyebrow and moved into position. "As you wish."
The two relentlessly spun around the Batcave, weapons and limbs clashing. They were both so preoccupied with thrashing each other that they were completely oblivious to Jason, Barbra, and Alfred's entrance.
"Hey Alfred," chirped Oracle, parking her wheelchair by the elderly butler. She had stopped by to discuss Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn's latest crime spree with her former teacher, but had been unnerved to find him and Richard in the midst of a "family quarrel" as Alfred called it when he welcomed her in. "And little brother J, how are you?"
Jason quickly ducked out of the way before she could ruffle his hair affectionately. He's nothing like how Richard was at this age, she thought a little sadly, remembering how carefree the original Robin used to be. Richard had once been a bit of a jokester when first taken under Batman's wing, but tired of never being taken seriously had turned solemn as he grew. Jason on the other hand, she continued, seems to have been born missing a sense a sense of humor. She inwardly winced. It was after Jason's over-eager beating of Harvey Dent's goons that Bruce had called in Richard for help. She glanced at the stoic boy out of the corner of her eye.
He's still so standoffish, he hasn't even seemed to warm towards Alfred. He's more like a mini-Bruce with extra malice than a second Richard. I hope Bruce listened when I told him to keep a closer eye on Jason, he's too ruthless. She took in the two members of her adoptive family exchanging blows. Speaking of ruthless. "Oof. I haven't seen Bruce and Richard go at it like this since Rich wanted to go solo and leave for Jump City. What happened?"
Alfred, seemingly out of nowhere, produced a still steaming cup of tea and handed it to Oracle. "Always good to see you, Miss Barbara. Master Bruce has been concerned for some time that Master Richard has been acting quite irresponsible lately while performing his duties. Apparently, he was poisoned drastically by Scarecrow earlier this week and if Master Bruce had not been nearby could have lost his life. I have not seen him so careless since he first donned his Robin persona." The man servant shook his head. Even through his critique Oracle could see he was trying to hold in judgment. Alfred may softly scold or give a nudge in the right direction but he hardly ever gave his outright opinion. "Master Bruce is attempting to find the cause of his recklessness." A small frown curled the edges of his mouth as he watched Batman counter a particularly violent attack. "In his own way of course. Though I do wish Master Bruce would remember that Wayne Manor is not a hospital and I am not a surgeon. "
Oracle winced as skin and bone met skin and bone. "Looks like tonight you just may be." The two turned their attention back to the match unfolding before them.
Countless times Nightwing swung at Batman with growing desperation, and each time his mentor sent him slamming to the ground. With each defeat he would continue to ask Nightwing what was troubling him, and each time his adopted son would simply lunge again. Finally Bruce had had enough. As Nightwing made to strike at his ribs, Batman snatched the young man's wrist on the arm with the sprained shoulder and twisted.
"Enough! You are acting like a child. I haven't seen you this impetuous since I first began your training. As it was then, I believe it is not me you are really fighting. So, who or what has you acting so rashly today?"
Nightwing bit down on the pain and struggled against the older man, refusing to speak.
Batman sighed, sounding much like a weary mother taxed by her son's unruly behaviour. "No matter. As I told you before, I simply cannot allow such brashness to be responsible for Gotham. Unlike before, however, I will not be foolish enough to simply trust you'll to obey me in this matter. I know you to be too headstrong to stay behind, no matter my orders. Therefore, you have the following choice: you either allow me to help you by telling me what troubles you or…" His grip tightened, and Nightwing hissed between his teeth. "I break your wrist and keep you from the field that way. Either way this ends now, my patience has grown thin."
"Must you really resort to such barbarism Master Bruce?" Alfred called, a hint of worry creeping into his usually calm voice. "I hardly think this method of parenting is necessary."
Batman ignored his long time friend's comment and dug his fingers deeper.
"Do you really think something as small as a broken wrist would stop me Bruce?" Nightwing snarled, fighting Batman's grip like a caged animal. "I've fought with worse and without your help. You're treating me like a side kick you can still bully into submission. My life is none of your business, and I'm not a damn kid anymore!"
Batman relaxed his grip on his protégé slightly and thoughtfully regarded the young man he had raised. "You are right on both counts." In one fluid motion he released Nightwing's arm and swept his left leg. The cave rang with the sickening sound of a knee dislocating. Striking again he targeted Nightwing's fractured ribs and broke them further. Calmly sinking to the floor beside where his eldest son writhed in pain, Batman sat cross-legged and waited to speak. "A broken wrist would not stop you, if anything it would make you more determined while in this state of mind to defy me out of spite." He waited for Nightwing to find air. "You also wish to not be treated like a child but as my peer, fair enough. Then as my peer I have this to say: you are acting like a 'damn child' in the throes of a tantrum, and I refuse to coddle you anymore. Your actions have consequences Richard, you lashed out in anger and left yourself open to the pain I inflicted. As a result you have sacrificed your ability to do your job in this city. Better by my hand than one who would end your life. What was the first lesson I taught you when I brought you down here?"
The sweet endorphins rushing through his body could do nothing to ease the waves of pain rocking Nightwing from head to toe. He stared up into his mentor's face through the fog of agony and resisted the urge to spit and snarl. For once, Batman might have been right, as much as it pained him to admit. "A true warrior keeps his heart from his mind." He gasped, feeling his organs going into shock. "A heavy heart loses lives." On the far side of the cave Oracle and Jason mouthed the words along with their brother in arms.
"Very good." Batman stared down at his son, and continued doing nothing to aid the young man while he writhed on the training mats. "You now have two choices: either you can wallow in this foul mood of yours for the next six months that it will take for you to completely heal, or we can discuss your problem like adults and I can call someone from the League to heal you."
Nightwing thought he felt his heart stop several times as each breath fresh agony ripped across his chest. He didn't think Bruce had punctured his lung but it still felt like he was suffocating.
"Bite. Me. Bruce."
Batman shook his head and stood up. "Still so spiteful, even in such pain. Have it your way then. Alfred?" He called motioning the aged butler over. "Please have Jason help you put Richard in his room. I'll be leaving for the night. I need to speak with Gordon before I join up with the League." Batman nodded to Oracle as he passed, his expression never changing. "It's always great to see you Barbara, phone Canary would you and ask if she would monitor Gotham while I'm gone. Tell her I'll owe her one." He paused and placed a hand on her shoulder, his eyes softening briefly. "Also could you sit with Richard a while? He listens to you."
Barbara nodded simply, watching Alfred and Jason scoop her friend up off the cave floor. "Of course."
xXx
Alfred's weathered hands gave the bandages a final wrap and tightly tied them off. Nightwing hissed and jerked away from the butler as far as he could on the bed.
"Ouch, Alfred! Be careful dammit!"
Alfred rapped his knuckles on the youth's forehead reproachfully and tutted. "Mind your tongue, Master Richard, I'm not above putting a bar of soap in your mouth. I don't care how old you are." Collecting his first-aid kit he smiled at Oracle and shut the door behind him.
There was a slow, stifling silence between them. His eyes avoided hers, no matter how long she tried to wait him out. Sighing, she finally gave up and moved closer to his side. "What's going on with you Richard?" Oracle asked, tucking the blanket tighter around him and adjusting her glasses. "It's not like you to vent on Bruce like that when he tries to help you. This goes beyond you two butting heads." She reached across the mountain of sheets and held his calloused hand in hers. "You had this look..." Oracle trailed off, hoping against hope that he would respond. When he didn't, she finished for him. "It was like you were trying to punish yourself for something through the pain he afflicted."
Nightwing jerked his hand away and turned towards the wall, his eyes cold and his lips pressed together. Oracle knew this face all too well, having run into it many times when they were children. He was putting up a barrier between them, that no power known to man could tear down. The first time she had been stonewalled like this was when she had questioned him about his parents. Richard had closed himself off from her completely for a week. For him to use such methods again, Oracle knew she must be close to a particularly raw and open wound.
Oracle ran through a few possibilities before settling on the most likely. "Is this about Kori?" she whispered. His face stayed steely and she continued down the list. "The Titans? Bruce? Catwoman…" She sighed and shook her head, that last one had been grasping at straws. "You can't stay locked up like this forever, Richard. You know what this will do to you… what it is already doing to you. You let Scarecrow of all people get the drop on you and even worse, you let Bruce nearly murder you in the cave tonight. This refusal to accept what is already there in front of you is going to get you killed. You have to deal with this… whatever it is." Her voice grew sharper with each word. She knew that he hated it when she used what he called her "Big Sister Voice" but she was desperate to get through to him. Good, she thought watching Nightwing wince in pain as her words sunk in, at least he has some soul left.
"Just tell me what is going on…" Her thumb slid over his hand. "You were there for me when Joker put me in this chair and I hated the world. Remember? Let me help you like you helped me." She waited for any indication that he cared, but was met with silence. Seeing no response from him, Oracle released the brake on her chair and began to wheel herself out of the room.
"Fine. Bruce is right you know. You are acting like a damn child and it is going to get you killed. Should you choose to wise up, you know where to find me, Peter Pan."
"It's about Raven."
The whisper was so quiet, she thought she misheard it, and it stopped her dead before she could reach the door. "Raven?" She looked back at him, noticing the twitch in his lips as she said his old teammate's name. So, she hadn't misheard it.
"What does the half-demon girl from your old team have to do with anything? I thought she returned to her home world five years ago. Wait..." She paused, slowly remembering bits of gossip heard from Alfred not too long ago. "Is she the girl from the Titans that you had that failed romance with?"
Nightwing groaned as he shifted himself into a sitting position and leaned back against the pillows. "Something like that..."
xXx
It was the first time he had dared to speak of the bond between them, the night Raven stormed from her surprise birthday party. If they had both been honest before then, neither would have denied its existence yet they never addressed it. Raven, he suspected, worried that to verbally confirm its presence was to make it real and therefore able to inflict pain. As for himself, Robin was embarrassed by his weakness in letting Raven see some of the still raw pieces of his soul. But, on that night none of that seemed to matter, her hurt seemed greater than ever somehow and her walls up even higher. So he played the only card he had.
"Raven, what's wrong?" He caught her in the darkened tower hall before she could disappear into her room. Though she paused, she kept her back towards him like a shield.
"I just don't like parties." Robin fought the sudden reflex to reach for her. The emotions she kept mostly hidden from the other Titans to him came off her in waves and, like a twin, he could feel each one as if they were his own. Fear, Anger, Sadness.
"It's more than that, I can tell. We have a bond remember? You've been inside my mind, let me inside yours."
How he had begged then for something he would later run from.
"Robin, you know me better than anyone. You should know there are places in my mind where you can't go. Where no one should ever go."
"I'm willing to try, if you'll..."
"I can't!" Raven cut him off with a snap.
"Tell me what's going on." he pleaded.
"Just trust me. If you knew anything about the day of my birth you'd know there's nothing to celebrate." With those words ringing in his ears, she walked away and hid behind her favourite defense, her bedroom door. Robin could hear the others talking in hushed whispers as they cleaned up the living room. Dreading the questions he knew they would ask, Robin drifted to his own room worrying Raven's problems over in his mind with each step. He nearly reached the door when he heard her voice pierce the night. He raced there and pummeled the door with his fist, determined to knock it down if necessary. Raven finally answered coated in a cold sweat.
"I heard you scream!" Before she could answer the Tower's alarm sounded and red lights strobed.
"Trouble."
The factory was filled churning pistons and grinding gears casting numerous shadows in which any villain could hide. Cyborg idly wondered aloud who their foe would be tonight and the group pondered with relaxed amusement. But then Robin saw the impossible: Slade.
"No." The words escaped in a whisper as Beast Boy knocked against his back. The rest of the Titans spotted their long-time enemy, who until this night, they thought dead. As their cries of protest filled the cavernous factory their leader clenched his fist.
"Slade," Robin hissed, all other cares momentarily forgotten in his obsession with the masked man. "I don't know where you've been but you shouldn't have come back. I'm still ready." A strange symbol appeared on Slade's mask, glowing like a third eye.
"That's precious Robin, but I didn't come back for you." The battle began and the Titan's pitted their best against Slade's new powers. But as the fighting raged around them Robin began to doubt his team's chances of survival. Suddenly the world stopped though to his mind Robin had simply blinked and then found Raven at his side. Seeing him about to lose his life had forced Raven to freeze time, desperate to end the chaos around her and escape Slade. It was in this world of an in between moment that she told Robin everything.
"When I was born they looked into my future. On this day, the anniversary of my birth, something is supposed to happen. Something very bad."
It was there on the cold stone church floor that Slade found them and tore Raven from his side. He dragged himself along the floor after them, willing his legs to work again. Consumed with the need to stop the man who had plagued him from inflicting any such pain on Raven, Robin fought through the cloud of pain and hauled himself to his feet. He wouldn't let Slade have her.
Robin finally caught up to them, limping along Raven and Slade's path of destruction carved into the city streets. All around him people stood like statues, maybe to never move again. Raven had performed the spell by accident, and there was no guaranty that she could re-animate the city. But, none of this mattered to Robin now. His thoughts only filled with finding Raven and never letting Slade or anyone else near her again. Something inside him ticked with the desire to both possess and protect her, keeping her safe from any harm.
Pulling himself around a corner, Robin spied Slade clutching her arms on a roof top, half bronze mask glinting in the moonlight. Then Raven screamed in agony, the only sound from their conversation to reach Robin's ears, and it tore through him like a knife. As her cry echoed, time released the breath it had been holding and started again. It went unnoticed by Robin, however, as he watched with horror while Slade threw Raven's limp and tattered boy from the roof. Instinctively he shot a repelling line into the sky and caught her slim form before she hit the ground.
It was a long time after they returned to the tower before she spoke about what Slade had done. At first he had feared the worst, seeing the ragged state of her clothes. Bile had risen in his throat as images of Slade with Raven raced through his consciousness. It angered him to think that Slade may have taken even the smallest part of her away from him. Luckily, he had managed to return Raven to the tower before the others had seen. He had no idea what seeing their teammate in this state might do to them, but it for himself… it was breaking his heart. She didn't deserve this, not her.
"He didn't harm me, Robin." Raven whispered, voice rusty, as if her earlier scream had permanently damaged her vocal cords. She hid her face behind a curtain of newly long violet hair. "Not in the way you think."
"How did you…?" he questioned.
She uncovered her face but looked through him to the wall beyond. "You've checked me for injuries and though you found none, you're still fuming as if Slade had left me in pieces." Raven replied, expressionless. "Our bond is a two way street, remember?"
Robin knew her emotional distance was a method of coping for the empathy, but still he wished she'd scream, cry, something. Anything was better than seeing her so... empty. He heard the faint beep of the com-link in his ear and sighed. Against his better judgment, he had agreed to help the team throw Raven another birthday party, despite the day's events. Earlier, Cyborg had come to the door with the idea and the two had spoken in the hall quietly. They dressed it up like they were doing it to cheer her up, but all of the team knew deep down it was really for them. Their world had been shattered and they needed one good moment in this day.
"Beast Boy paged me to come downstairs, will you be alright by yourself?"
A flicker of anger passed behind Raven's eyes and Robin instantly felt a black spot erupt inside his heart. She needed something more than a party. She needed a shoulder and someone to lend her strength but she would never let him help her.
"I'll be fine I just need a few minutes." She attempted a sad smile before rising from the bed and ushering him out the door. "Go on."
He continued to stare at her, waiting for a sign that maybe this time she would let him in, but she just stared ahead and closed the door. As it slid shut behind him with a pneumatic hiss, Robin heard a faint sob come from the other side. Even after everything they had been through together, Raven still wouldn't and couldn't let herself break down in front of him.
Later, she came down to the common room, hair freshly cropped. As the lights clicked on and the team yelled "Surprise", none of them, save Robin, could see any of the distress lurking beneath the surface. Raven smiled and laughed with her makeshift family, but to him each interaction felt hollow. As if it was just a show, and she was trying to protect them from the truth. Finally, the last candle had been extinguished and the last young hero had retired for the night leaving just Robin and Raven in the dim starlight.
"You should get some sleep, I'll clean the rest of this." He called to her hunched form, crumpled on the couch. After Starfire, the last to stay up, had gone to her room, Raven had caved in on herself, seemingly exhausted at holding up the pretenses.
"Robin?" Her voice was little more than a soft rasp, as if she feared to speak louder. He turned to find her suddenly behind him.
"Yes?" he asked, lowering his voice to match hers and trying very hard to keep breathing. Raven had never been this close before, to anyone, and having her almost leaning against his chest was driving him mad.
Get it together Grayson, he thought, now is not the time.
"I'm so sorry." Raven's slender arms circled his waist and pulled herself close. As she buried her head Robin saw her shoulders shake with stifled cries. Taking a few minutes to recover from the initial shock, Robin cautiously brushed her hair with his fingertips and hugged his teammate tighter.
"Sorry for what?" He could feel her tears soaking through his uniform shirt. Raven gathered a fold of his cape in her fist and held on like it was the only thing anchoring her to this world.
"I'm sorry for not telling you, for putting everyone in danger. For being who I am and that being so much more trouble than I'm worth. For not being strong enough to stand against Slade on my own." Her breathing was coming in ragged gasps now, words running together in their eagerness to be finally said.
Robin realized that Raven had probably been biting them back for some time. "But mostly…" She looked up at him, suddenly brash in her brokenness. "I'm sorry for being so weak and asking what I'm about to say: Robin please stay with me." His breath hitched in his chest and he was very sure he heard his heart stop. "Please, I can't stand being alone tonight, it's a lot to ask… especially after everything that's happened, but I can't ask the others. I keep seeing Slade's face everywhere, hear his words in my head." Raven looked away, genuine fear shining in her eyes. "I- I trust you."
Robin held her chin and turned her to face him, using the other to remove his ever present mask. For the first time amethyst eyes met ocean blue while Robin wiped her tears away. He had never removed his mask for anyone outside the Batcave, always paranoid about his secret identity. But suddenly none of that mattered he didn't want any more walls between them. Placing a kiss on each cheek, he pulled her close once more and murmured into her hair. "It will never be too much Raven. I'll stay tonight and as many nights as you need."
That night he held the girl who held his heart until dawn.
xXx
"So what went wrong?" Oracle asked, handing Nightwing a glass of water and helping him sit up. Nightwing took a few sips before responding.
"Nothing at first. Our relationship grew, but in secret. It was like that Greek Myth of Cupid and Psyche. We would only be a couple at night, one of us leaving the other at first light to keep the team from knowing. Raven was terrified of the others knowing, although I suspect they knew from the start. In the months that followed leading up to Trigon's rise to power she opened up to me completely."
"But not you to her?" Oracle questioned.
Nightwing stared at the ceiling and shook his head, trying to clear the shadows of a regretful past. "Somewhat but not nearly like she had. The worst part was of course the times during those months were she would get skittish about how exposed she had become and back away." He sighed. "I loved her so much then and wanted her to trust me. Time and again I would convince her to stay, to have no secrets. Little did I know I was just setting her up each time for a deeper hurt." His fist clenched, knuckles turning white with self-loathing. "But then, Trigon fell and suddenly it wasn't about her anymore. We had explored all the skeletons in Raven's closet and before I knew it, we began to move onto my own. Then I was the one getting skittish."
Oracle reached out and smoothed his hair from his face.
"I would back away, and that angered Raven. She started thinking that I didn't show her the same trust she had shown me. I was sixteen… I was just a stupid kid," he stammered, fighting for control over himself. Raven wasn't the only who hated showing weakness. "I couldn't tell Raven that it wasn't that I didn't trust her it was that I didn't trust me, I didn't know how." Nightwing gave her hand a small squeeze, still searching for solace. "With her father gone, she would finally have a chance to live a normal life and I saw myself becoming the only dark spot in her world." He offered a bitter laugh. The irony of turning from saviour to villain had left a sour taste over the years. "There's a saying that to live a happy life you must live it in a round room, because shadows hide in corners. I wasn't ready to live without corners."
Oracle waited for him to continue, but when he stayed silent she nudged him along. "So, what happened?"
Nightwing fidgeted. "One night we fell asleep together and I began to dream. Suddenly, Raven was there in the dream with me and it was no longer a dream, but memories from my past. I freaked, accused her of invading my mind without my permission, she insisted that it was a mistake and had no clue how she had done it. I stormed out of the room and our relationship ended there." He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand. Oracle wondered if he had noticed the bags beneath them. "A few weeks after that, I threw myself into dating Kori and our team did it's best to ignore the elephant in the room. I just tossed her to the side because I knew that she was too close, like she didn't even matter." Nightwing snarled with self loathing. "The worst part is that they all believed that she had broken my heart, I didn't know until Kori told me about a year later. I guess Cyborg told Raven. The real icing on the idiot cake though is that I managed to ruin things with Kori too, because in spite of everything Raven was always between us. I couldn't get over her and Kori resented that I only chose her after being rejected by Raven." He rolled onto his good side and looked at his friend. "I really made a mess of things, Babs."
"But why punish yourself now? Yes, Raven came back but that was almost two months ago. I mean, you couldn't have messed anything else up beyond what it already is… could you?" Nightwing avoided her eyes. "Richard you didn't..."
He smiled grimly, running his thumb over the nearly invisible line on his cheek, left from Raven's powers a week ago. "Oh, I haven't told you the best part. I beat up a guy from her college, that apparently she has feelings for, and then blurted out that I still loved her afterwards."
It was Oracle's turn to wince. "Ouch. You are pretty stupid." She removed her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose. Even as a teen these love triangles had given her migraines, something that had only worsened with age. "Let me guess, didn't go over the greatest and you've been taking it out on everyone else and yourself Bat-Family style." She replaced her glasses and rolled her eyes at him. "God, you are so Bruce's son, adopted or no. You both have such dramatic guilt trips that drag everything down with you. Can't you two just be normal people and eat some ice-cream and watch crappy tv for a day?" Nightwing's brisk laugh quickly turned to a groan as he clutched his damaged side. At least he was smiling, Oracle thought.
"That would be nice, but I don't think I have it in me." He watched Oracle's face for a moment. "So, what should I do now?"
"Oh, so now you want my advice… great. You know I'm not good at relationship stuff either, curse of being mentored by Bruce I guess, but I'll give it a , you screwed up Rich, you screwed up bad. But I'm going to say this: if she is this important to you then fight on. You were kids when this happened and truth be told still kind of are. While what you did was granted, a special brand of stupid, you are also stupidly stubborn enough to make it right." She raised a finger in warning. "I said 'right' not 'happily ever after'. You may not get the girl, but maybe with some self sacrifice you can fix your friendship. Raven may end up with this guy and you have to respect that. In the mean time you have to stop punishing yourself. I'll talk to Bruce, give him the short version, and see about getting you healed." Oracle rolled herself to the doorway and looked back smiling. "You don't have the figure for a wheelchair."
xXx
A/N: *dead* Long chapter folks, but hopefully that was a good thing. Motivate my sloth-like nature and review.