Importance of Secrecy
Chapter Seven
By: Lunatic With a Hero Complex
You can bandage a gaping wound, but that does not mean it will go away. Only time can heal problems that big. Bleeding will occur, pain will blare, you will have the scar for most of your life. If you wanted instant healing, you'd have to look Merlin's way, and even then, I'm almost sure there'd be a scar.
Nathan Detroit was a beginner's bandage, but it would take many things yet to set things right.
Raven had never met Nathan Detroit, did not, in fact, even know who he was or what his connection to Robin was. Had she known she would've have gained a deep liking for the man and the simple things that his conversation had done for Robin.
As it was, though, she did not know Nathan Detroit even existed off of Broadway.
All she knew was that Robin came back in slightly better spirits than he had started off in.
Still, something was not completely kosher with her non-jewish leader. Though that may be okay if you're not jewish, but that's another discussion.
Despite all of her personal reassurances that nothing would happen right now (Robin was bent on revenge, after that, then she'd worry), her head still imagined all of the wrong things when she couldn't find Robin in the tower.
Soon, she'd quieted the mad rush of outlandish explanations and logically thought of using the communicator, if things were well, it would be with him and on.
Things were relatively well, it was on, it was with him, he didn't ignore her, and he even held banter. Hallelujah, there was a chance.
She was reclined on the couch, not the one that was right now in the process of being thrown out so it could be replaced with a nice, blood free one, but a substitute, brought from the lower entrance room, the thing formally called, "The Reception Hall."
It was stiff, but it had potential for comfort.
Starfire was having an in depth conversation with Beast Boy in the corner by the computers about the difference between a hornet and a horn, and then between a bull's horn and an instrument. It had the makings of a long drawn out discussion.
Last time she'd checked, Cyborg had been in the storage cabinets in the basement, researching Slade's previous weapons at Robin's request, trying to update their defenses to the best of their countering ability.
Raven? Raven was just waiting on a lost bird. A bird that she really needed to talk to. She wasn't completely sure why she needed to talk to him. But one thing was sure in her mind, she did need to talk to him. She wasn't even sure what she needed to talk to him about. She got the distinct feeling that it would come to her when he was in front of her. Hopefully.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud ding as the elevator doors opened to let someone out. That someone turned out to be their fearless leader. Robin didn't pause when he entered and headed straight for the kitchen. Much to her surprise, he seemed to be humming.
She managed-due to long years of practice-to hustle gracefully off of the couch, and head towards the tiled place. As she neared the boy with the mysteriously bobbing head (noting with some amount of curiousity that he was humming a show tune) she once again worried about what she would say, though it was somewhat harder to transition to conversation from scolding it seemed like her best route.
She walked behind him as he entered the kitchen nook and opened the refrigerator. All the leftovers had been thrown into Starfire's last batch of sadness pudding so his water was clearly visible. He grabbed the bottle and turned suddenly to Raven, shocking her with the abrupt change of direction. Though, true to form, she remained in place. He opened the water, twisting the top to detach the plastic safety ring. He quirked a masked eye at her, "Can I help you?"
Here it was, her chance to come up with something biting, yet witty to retort with, and then her brain would know what she needed to talk about, and all would be well in Raven land, he would lose that half assed cheeriness, and her head would sleep easier, right after she installed the air conditioning in hell.
Instead of going in the direction of friendly banter, she went for the jugular, the game of bull shit had officially come to a grinding conclusion, "I know that you are our fearless leader, but I wouldn't expect you to hold yourself above the rest of us when you give an order. After all, you out of all of us, have the most reason to fear Slade."
The eyemask dropped. The water found itself placed oh so gently on the counter. Though she knew this behavior did not bode well, she also knew that she had accomplished something, she'd made him deal, however minutely with his situation.
The boy calculated, coldly, precisely, but he never was an emotional marvel.
Stemming the flow in his own neck, he turned the primitive sharpness of his teeth upon Raven's, and it stung, she had released him and now, the animal was making her pay, "I figured I would learn from my teammates, I faced my demons, instead of ..." he looked at her pointedly, "caging them up."
They stood there in the aftershock of their attack. And Raven realised for the first time that they were not alone. Apparently, Beast Boy and Starfire had been as excited by Robin's return as herself and had followed them into the kitchen, only to watch the vicious feathers fly.
Robin nodded at them, grabbed his water, and Raven's wrist, and walked out of the kitchen.
Beast Boy and Starfire, stood next to the counter, one with confusion spread innocently over her face, one looking suspiciously at the capes disappearing around the corner.
Never, had she seen such an open display of recklessness. He'd locked the door, he knew she could blast it into Hong Kong if she got the notion, but he didn't care. Leaving her standing there beside the door, he'd strode to the center of the room where his favorite punching bag was positioned. It had duck tape all over it, covering spots where his fury had outlasted the fabric.
Peeling the upper half of his costume off and throwing the cape on a rack of weights, he'd begun assaulting it. Unlike that fateful day on the roof, this was not a graceful practicing of position. This was primitive defense. He was sweating, he was panting, and his eyes, (which he'd unmasked without a word, he did it more now, it seemed) were fierce. The bag was never stll, he attacked it with a barrage of punches, kicks, knees, any way he could cause the inanimate object pain, he was employing. Though somewhat frightening, his body was beautiful in motion, like one of the gods of mythology, only it glistened under arc sodiums, not sunlight. After a particularly nasty jab at it with his left foot, he turned from it towards her, and he strode in her direction.
For a moment, it looked like he was going to replace the punching bag with her, but he stopped three feet in front of her.
All this time she hadn't moved, not from this spot, she'd just watched him. The thought fleeted through her head that perhaps that had been rather stupid, then courage took over, and she realized she needed to talk to him, so she just stood her ground.
He stood there looking at her angrily, then his features melted into a look of resignation and he asked her weakly, "Why?"
Her mind blanked on her, of all the things she'd expected to hear him say, this was not one of them. Not finding in her mental stores what 'why' he was talking about, she answered a question with a question, "Why what?"
He closed his mouth, fists balled tightly by his hips, licked his lower lip and tilted his head down exasperatedly before looking at her again, "Why won't you let me run my course. Can't you just stop interfering? Do you know, Raven that I have been Robin for five years, and in all that time, you are the only one I have ever wanted to know my secrets. That includes Batman. The only person. And do you know, Raven, that right now, I wish I was just all alone again in my little world, where no one cares and no one interferes. But then again. I don't think I can ever go back. Over the past few hours, since ... I have conciously felt myself wishing I could tell you everything. About what it was like before, about why I chose green instead of brown, about my mother..." He locked eyes with her, and she felt that same shiver up her spine, "But I can't, and it hurts, so will you please just back the fuck off, before you find yourself trapped under something you didn't bargain for."
He'd said the last part so softly, she almost hadn't heard him. He bowed his head again, pushed a button on his infamous utility belt, that made the doors click as they unlocked, and turned back to the punching bag. She could see the muscles in his back tensing to go back into battle.
That had been almost the equivalent of verbally dismissing her, but she didn't take the offer.
She stood there, blinking at him, feeling mentally windswept. In a bout of unnatural instinct, she walked across the gym to his tensing body, grabbed him by the shoulder, turned him around, and kissed him.
It felt strange to the sensible part of her brain to be standing here kissing her leader dead on the mouth, the leader that she often took orders from. But the rest of her brain cared nothing for the logic, and when he kissed her back, it actually rejoiced. Where the sound the mouth made could be harsh, the actions of it were soft and respectful. He was more gentle then it seemed his nature would suggest. After a few seconds, she felt his hands find their way around her waist, strong hands use to the hard steel of a bo-staff, but yet, being oh so very careful with her soft flesh. Soon, he was dominating the kiss and she had gladly relinquished control.
Too soon, however, they were pullling apart, both of them almost in a state of shock.
Raven was in wonder at her choice of action. Robin, however, was floating on a completely different wavelength. He looked terrified. He backed away from her, fingers on his lips, eyes wide and working. It almost looked like he was in the room with his worst fear and he couldn't get out.
But, the shockers had yet to finish their barrage. The fear melted into utter confusion. Robin started talking, but not to her. Not to anyone in particular. "No, not again, its not safe. But I love her, isn't that worth it. Do you remember what happened to the last person I loved? Yes, but this is different, she can take care of herself, and I'm able to defend her now, not like her. Still, do I really wanna take that chance, I'm not able to stop everything."
Though Raven was admittedly reluctant to believe that he was indeed talking about her, it became obvious that there was no other candidate. So, she did what she knew how to do, she issued closure on mental issues.
"You aren't taking the chance, I am."
Robin's head snapped up from the in depth conversation he was having with himself, and his eyes locked on Raven. Somehow, though the sight was rather startling, Raven didn't find her self frightened by the fire in Robin's eyes, she was thrilled.
Those eyes became solid, became sure.
That body became the body of a predator, tightly coiled, almost cat-like.
It advanced.
He was in front of her, she found herself helplessly silent. In awe. So that's why he wasn't emotional, this kind of emotion would short out the tower on a regular basis.
He cupped her head between the two lithe powerful hands, he looked straight at her, "I will not break my own wings, nor yours."
Robin captured her in another kiss, swift, powerful, gentle no more, but not unpleasant.
He bit her lower lip, leaving two tiny puncture wounds, and sucked on them until she couldn't feel the pain through the haze in her brain. She wound her hands around his neck, and he lowered his mouth to her neck. Raven rubbed her head against his and returned the favor, laying small kisses along his shoulder until she reached the round muscle at the arm joint, where she delivered a small bite.
Robin immediately brought his head up to capture her mouth again.
This was going somewhere fast, and it was a wonderful ride.
