Chapter 8

At first he had thought it was just another tremor. The west coast got them often enough. But the ground continued to shift and shake, getting more and more violent. Even though it was day time, Nightwing swung into action. Since renewing a lot of his old habits in Gotham and taking the new name of Nightwing, he had been operating mostly at night. But given the situation, he thought it appropriate to begin earlier.

The difficultly with earthquakes is that it's near impossible for the average person to physicality function the way they normally do. Nightwing's capability was far above that of the average human being, but he was still human; much of his aid to the city was between the full magnitude of the quake and later during the aftershocks. At such times, much of his work involved rescuing people trapped in debris and preventing further injury and destruction by releasing points of stress in buildings.

"Help!" he could hear a small voice calling. His,head, quickly followed by his body, snapped in its direction of the voice.

Below him, trapped between a wall and a book case was a young boy. It looked as if the remains of a living room had sunken beneath street level into a pit. It had probably been the basement of the building. It was remarkable that the boy was even alive. The moment he landed, Nightwing heaved the book case away from the child. He picked the boy up and gave him a reassuring smile.

"There's nothing to worry about, kid," he offered in a friendly way. The boy's crying stopped and with a sniffle he was able to smile back.

Nightwing was pleased with that. Just getting him to smile, to forget for one moment that his home had just crumbled, that he had no idea where his parents were or if they were even alive. Just that smile gave them both some hope. One of the things that distinguished Nightwing from his mentor and adoptive father were his people skills, something that Bruce had never fully grasped. Dick was proud of that. It was the one thing Bruce would ever admit Dick was better at. But right now, Dick was no where to be found. There was only Nightwing.

"Let's get you out of here," he said to the feebly smiling boy.

He launched his grappling hook into the air, catching it to a sturdy anchor on the street. Just as he was about to sail out of the pit-like basement, the ground began to gently shake and he heard another distant but distinct sound. It was a rumbling. It could only mean one thing: aftershocks.

The remains of the building around them began to crumble. There were no longer and crevices to hide in. As if things couldn't get any worse, he looked up and saw a huge chuck of a building falling toward him. Without even thinking, Nightwing threw himself to the ground, huddling the boy underneath his own body. The debris would break him, but the boy beneath him might still have a chance. In fact, Nightwing was sure he was going to die, since he had heard that before the moment of death one's life would flash before his eyes, and that was what was happening to him. Well, not exactly his whole life. Strangely enough it was just one single moment in his memory: the roof top of the Titans' Tower, the night Raven had left. He was with her on the edge of the roof. She had been holding his hand and the inside of their elbows were touching. It was amazing to him that this memory was so vivid. He was even able to feel her presence, as if she were there, something he had not been able to do since she left. It was with this memory and feeling that he squeezed shut his eyes and waited for the end.

But it didn't come.

Maybe it was so quick I didn't even feel it, he thought. Maybe this is what it's like to be dead.

Once the ground had stilled, he slowly opened one eye to take a peak to see what death looked like.

The boy was still beneath him and appeared to be fine. Nightwing didn't feel any pain. But he did feel a familiar tingle in the air around him. Surrounding the two of them was a black, staticy dome. Through the top of the dome he could see the giant chunks of building that had fallen on top of them. The dome around them turned into a sphere and began to lift them to street level, pushing the debris aside as they passed through the air. The black orb came to a rest on the street, diminishing, leaving Nightwing and the boy unscathed. Paramedics rushed toward them, quickly taking the boy from the hero's arms to assess his injury.

"Are you okay?" one of the paramedics asked Nightwing.

"I'm fine," he gruffly responded, practically pushing the rescue worker away. Glancing up, he looked for any sign of the black orb's source. He had only known one person who could create such a sphere, but she was gone, wasn't she?

It couldn't be, he thought to himself.

The shadowy form of a bird appeared in the sky and a figure clad in white emerged from within it. She descended until she was at a height that was nearly five feet from the ground.

"Raven!" he shouted, though even he couldn't discern if it was in joy, rage or confusion.

She enveloped them both in another black sphere. Here eyes glowed an unearthly white.

"There are others who need help," were the only words she spoke.

Before he could even register her words, she had taken them to another part of the city, a part more severely damaged. She flew off in another direction, too soon for him to respond. He saw her white form soaring over a toppled building when the scream of a woman forced him to turn his head in the opposite direction. He sped off in toward the scream.

Indeed, even after the woman in trouble had been attended to, there was still much for him to do. Now that people's attention was focused on rescuing, the looting had begun. There weren't just things like food and jewelery to be worried about. Nightwing concerned himself more with the banks and chemical plants scattered through out the city, the chemical plants mostly.

As he combed through the city ran into more than just Raven; they had entered into the thick of things as well. He saw Cyborg sifting through some heavy rubble for survivors; Beast Boy flying others to refugee camps. In certain instances that day they worked together in a manner that resembled what they used to do, but it felt awkward, cold and disjointed.

Towards the end of the day, as things were beginning to get some what orderly, more aftershocks hit. They were unlike anything previously recorded in history. These aftershocks were nearly the same magnitude as the quake itself. It killed fewer people than the initial quake did, there being fewer tall things to topple over, but destroyed any form of order that had been created by rescue and relief workers. The aftershocks continued for four days. At the end there was barely any shelter, food or drinkable water for half of the survivors. The streets were madness; a lawless world of despair. Nightwing thought he had seen the last of this sort of human carnage after the Cataclysm in Gotham. He hadn't thought something so awful could happen twice in his life time.

It was night now, and most people had settled. He stayed up to guard against those who hadn't settled. He stretched his mind to find Raven. It was something he used to do all the time for reassurance. He hadn't done it in so many years, but he was stressed enough to do it without even realizing. She appeared behind him moments later. She stayed there, hovering several feet above the ground, behind him, off of his right shoulder. He didn't say anything to her when she appeared and she didn't say anything to him either, which was good, since he wasn't sure if he was glad or angry that she actually came. For the time being, her pretense had relaxed him, but that didn't take away the years of wrong she'd done him. Nightwing wanted very much for the night they spent together to have just been a nice evening between two people who cared a good deal for each other, but he had felt so much more than that. He had never given so much of himself to anyone, even on the most basic levels of intimacy. In her he had found a mutual and complete understanding between himself and another. He had loved her completely and thought she had done the same, but once he realized she had left the Teen Titans of her own accord, he wasn't sure.

He could hear her cape whipping wildly in a sudden wind that swept through the alley. It was a nice relief from the summer's humidity. He could also hear her quiet breathing. Though it was barely detectable, he could tell it was coming a bit quicker than would be normal for her, so similar to the way she sounded that night, her body resting against his own...

Stop that, he told himself. What is up with her breathing? What does she have to be nervous about?, he wondered, hearing his own sarcasm and hating himself a little for it. But then, he could sense a bit of her guilt pushing at a corner of his mind. Or was it pulling at his heart...?

(RRRR)

She didn't think twice about going to him when she felt him call. Once there, however, she thought that she may have made a mistake in coming. As soon as her eyes came to rest on his ridged back, an uneasy rumbling started in her stomach. Part of it she was sure was desire, but most of it was her overflowing guilt.

That was another thing; these emotions she had been opening herself to were causing some problems. Having had suppressed them her whole life, they were all new to her. Some of them were wonderful and others we quite painful. It was a pain she had only minutely understood in the past. It wasn't a physical hurt that she could pin point to one part of her body, but it tore at her whole self from just beneath her skin to her core. This is what she was feeling now. GUILT she had learned it was called.

Then there were other emotions she had that effected her in an almost identical way, though quite inversely, she enjoyed them. She could remember feeling them the night she'd been with him and they were being triggered now as she gazed at Nightwing's back. He was taller than before; he'd grown a good head taller than her by now. Cut lines of muscle ran over his whole body. His shoulders, more broad than she remembered. She also took in his powerful, sinewy legs that led up to his perfectly tight rear. LUST she knew this to be called.

She had tried not to think about him throughout the day as she went about helping the city's inhabitants. Initially, seeing him face to face had been more difficult than she'd anticipated. She was surprised she was even able to get out the few words she had before she rushed away. It seemed she would always be doomed to such a fast-paced in life. Now though, she might have been given the chance that the dire state of the city couldn't afford her before.

What was she to say to him? It had been three years since she had seen him. Since she had been with him. How was she to begin anew after that? What were the words one could use? Did human speech even have the capacity to express the emotions running through her at that moment?

She was still just at the preliminary stages in overcoming her fatal flaw of disastrous emotions. She was not yet able to separate her powers from those emotions, but she was getting better at being able to experience them while suppressing her powerful explosions. She had yet to test her her abilities in the realm of physical contact. Gestures, she was learning, were sometimes worth more than words. Maybe now would be a good time to test her abilities. Perhaps a comforting hand on his shoulder? She reached out her hand, tentatively.

Her hand had barely touched him when an explosion went off several blocks uptown. This was not her doing though. Someone was up to no good.

"Trouble," she uttered quickly, quietly, pulling her hand away.

They took off in the direction of the blast, Nightwing by foot and Raven by air. They reached the site of the explosion in about a minute. It was one of the major pharmaceutical labs in town. A good deal of the medicine in there was needed by the victims of the quakes. The people trying to steal it all could have been deciding one of two things. The more generous choice was to hoard it all and charge the citizens of Jump City an illegal, inflated price for it. The other choice was to take what could be sold as narcotics and sell it elsewhere around the country. Either way, Raven knew they needed to put a stop to it.

Though Raven tried to keep her mind on the task at hand, she couldn't stop thinking about that split second of contact she'd had with his shoulder. She had sensed him tense all over almost simultaneously with her touch. She knew that had she touched him but a moment longer he would have stepped away. Not knowing if she would have been able to face such fierce rejection, she was ashamed to admit that she was somewhat glad an explosion had gone off.

Touching him had felt so wrong; some of his feelings of having been betrayed were transferred into her through that short touch and it pained her to know what she had done to him. Still, there was a part of her that felt wonderfully exhilarated to come into any physical contact with him.

The building was tilted at at sixty degree angle, leaning against another building, which was in no better shape. There were no people within sight anywhere. Dust from the blast was still settling, though, and fresh tracks in the debris told a story as to where the deviants had gone.

"They were prepping it to enter," she heard him mutter. She wasn't sure if he was talking to her or to himself. "They wanted for any collapses from structural damages to happen before they entered instead of the whole thing collapsing on their heads." He glanced back at her. She saw a mischievous glint in his eye. "That doesn't mean we can't collapse something else on them."

She was glad to have him back to normal for the time being. Robin, rather, Nightwing, was back to his old self; enjoying the thrill and satisfaction of a night patrol. She could sense the confidence radiating from him and it passed into her. He really did believe they were going to catch those drug transporters and so did she; he believed he was the most capable man in the world at that moment and so did she. At this point they were an unstoppable pair of hunters.

Inside, the lab was a mess of exposed wires and broken glass. Some lights to certain equipment were still blinking. It was unclear how the facility had maintained any power, but Raven didn't think about it much. They had a job to do.

A clang to their right sent them silently rushing toward the disturbance. They stopped just as they were about to round a corner. They took a brief moment to collect themselves, their backs pressed against the wall, their hearts racing with excitement. Nightwing took out a bird-a-rang and Raven stretched her mind to assess the situation that awaited them around the corner. She did sense some sort of presence beyond the wall, but couldn't get a lock on how many people it might be. Oh well, she thought. Better to be safe than sorry. She muted all her emotions and prepared for the fight that was to come. They made eye contact and with a nod of Nightwing's head, they jumped around the corner, Nightwing's bird-a-rang raised above his head, Raven poised several feet in the air to strike an energy blast, their eyes instantly going to where their opponents most vulnerable spots would be.

"Maaaa!" exclaimed the goat with fright and skipped away hurriedly.

They both lowered their arms, confusedly staring the the direction of the goat. Raven landed beside Nightwing. She tried to express her understanding of what they had just seen.

"Uhh...?" Eloquentshe thought to herself.

"They probably escaped from the labs," he said. When she gave him an even more confused look, he gave further explanation. "All this medication's got to be tested on something before it reaches people."

"Oh," was her simple response.

A second noise from down the hall caught their attention. Nightwing's body tensed and he raised his bird-a-rang again.

"More goats?" she asked sarcastically through their mental link.

He threw her a glare through the slits of his mask.

"You tell me."

She was a little shocked by the edge in his reply. A quip or simple, 'I don't think so' was something she was used to hearing come out of him, but this curt tone was something new.

"No need to get snippy." She flew slowly beside him as he silently inched down the hall.

"I was not being snippy," he shot back with a growl.

"Like how you're not being stubborn now?" She smirked slightly, enjoying being able to rile him.

"Not now, Raven," he shot back to her, not referring to his own stubbornness, but to her badgering. Since when had he not enjoyed bickering? This Nightwing character was someone new to Raven and not someone she was sure she recognized. Was the Robin she knew anywhere inside this blue and black clad individual?

There was no more time to think as they rounded the corner to confront to armed raiders. Raven quickly created a shield of dark energy to protect them from the rain of bullets. She and Nightwing exchanged a glance and his plan of action was wordlessly transmitted. He threw a pellet to the ground, engulfing the room in a thick cloud of smoke, obscuring them from the robbers.

The plan was simply that Nightwing take out the men on the right and Raven the men on the left. It was a plan that had worked hundreds of times in the past and they had every confidence in it working now.

Before the smoke even cleared, Raven rendered three men unconscious. She sensed Nightwing had been doing equally well and saw the proof as the smoke settled. Three men lay sprawled on the ground around him. Two were silent while one was wailing and cradling his hands in his lap. Raven smirked. All his fingers are probably broken. Her smirk faded as more bullets slammed against the magical shield that protected her. Within a split second, she was back to work, bringing down the last two men nearest to her. As she was mostly flying, the fight was no different for her than any other would have been. With the building slanted though, Nightwing didn't have level ground to work on. From time to time she caught a glimpse of his maneuvers out of the corner of her eye. He found footing on the floor as much as on shelves and desks. He also used everything from trays to chairs as weapons. It was a wonder to watch his body flip and twist like that. That's probably why they used to call him the Boy Wonder, she thought as she took down the last of her men. Looking up, she saw that Nightwing had finished with his half, except she had counted twelve and only eleven were on the ground. Nightwing came to the same realization at the exact same moment.

His head turned to her. Where to? his eyes asked.

Raven concentrated for a moment, feeling out the surrounding area.

"Outside," she said, just loud enough for him to hear. Before she had even finished the word, she saw him sprinting toward the crooked window. He broke through it, head first. In an instant, she transported herself outside, meeting Nightwing's on the ground as he landed. They arrived to find two military helicopters had landed while they were caught in the fray inside. Simultaneously, the two choppers took off in opposite directions. Without needing to speak, Raven took to flight and Nightwing launched a grappling hook, each springing toward the helicopter that was respectively closest.

The moment they saw her, the men on the helicopter began shooting at her. Without hesitation, she used her magic to create a shield in front of her body for protection. With her other hand she threw a blast of magic at the men shooting, sending two flying out the other side of the helicopter and slamming one into the side of the hull, knocking him unconscious. That just left the pilot. She surrounded him in her dark energy, paralyzing the man in fear.

"Land," she commanded. "Now!"

"He won't be landing," said a voice from behind her.

What? There were only four...

Raven turned to see who is was she had not seen before. Near the back of the hull stood a tall figure. She was unable to see his face; the shadows hid his features from view. She narrowed her eyes, angry she'd missed the extra man and worried as to how it was possible.

The figure stepped forward revealing a tall, slim man dressed in purple tunic, his hands behind his back. His white hair stood up on the sides of his head like horns. His bright violet eyes pierced her very soul. "LAND!" she yelled at the pilot once again.

"I think you're making a mistake, Raven," said the man. His eyes began to glow an unearthly golden color. "A very big mistake."

It was then that Raven realized she couldn't stop gazing into his eyes. Soon she wasn't able to maintain her hold on the pilot; the black cloud of magic around him faded thinner and thinner until he was completely free of her hold. Her arms fell to her sides and she began floating toward the man, consumed by his stare.

Raven! she distantly heard. The voice was enough to knock her out of her trance

Nightwing.

She felt herself land on her feet. A bit dazed, she shook her head and the world came back to her. The man was still standing in front of her, now looking a bit more surly and disappointed than before.

"What did you...?" she began to ask, but he interrupted her.

"You should go to him."

Not understanding, she followed his eyes out the side of the helicopter. Several blocks away she saw the other helicopter. Hanging from one of the legs of the craft was Nightwing. Just then the chopper made a sharp spin and a swoop up causing Nightwing to loose his grip and fall.

"No!"

With that, she flew toward the fallen hero at a blinding speed.

He was falling faster and faster. There was a part of her that worried she wouldn't make it in time, but she buried this fear deep inside herself, blocking it out as she had done to her emotions for so many years.

The sound of helicopters and police sirens disappeared. All she could hear was the wind wisping past her ears. She pushed down more terror as the sight of his limp body falling through the air came closer and closer. Air resistance pushed his legs and arms skyward, as if reaching for her. Raven knew she could fly only slightly faster than she could fall. She pushed herself harder. His finger tips were an arm's length away. The ground was fast approaching.

Closer. Closer.

Raven collided with Nightwing, grasping him around his torso in a strong hug.

"Gotcha'," she whispered.

She slowed down and realized his body was too heavy to support with just her arms, so she wrapped her legs around his hips. Now that he was secured to her, she moved her arms to distribute his weight; keeping on of her arms around his middle, she moved her other hand to hold up his head.

"Nightwing?" she repeated over and over, trying to get a response out of him."Richard?" His breathing was shallow, barely detectable. Otherwise, he was completely non-responsive. Were she able to use magic, she would have tried healing him, but the stare of the shadowed man had taken it all for the time being.

"Cyborg," she called into her intercom.

"Here Raven," she heard his solid voice respond.

"I need you in the infirmary. Nightwing is hurt."

"I'm there."

For the first time in her life she was glad of her demonic heritage; it was her demon blood that allowed her to fly, not her magic. She thought of this as she hoisted Nightwing's limp body onto her back and flew to the Titans' tower.