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. If I include other respective love interests, they will not be having any present romance 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.
NOTE 2: This is very short. I just wanted to have something up for all the people still following along. I am actually working on it and kinda know where I wanna take this story.
DISCLAIMER: I've run out of poetic ways to say it.
" The secret of a good marriage is forgiving your partner for marrying you in the first place. "
~ Sacha Guitry
Dick thought he'd learned all of Raven's mannerisms, but this was something else.
Her face was staid while her eyes gave nothing away. She put her book face down. He couldn't tell if she was still processing the information or if she was about ready to faint (most likely not the latter).
She spoke only four words: "Get me a drink."
It wasn't exactly what he was expecting but it truly conveyed how they were both feeling.
He ran to the kitchen, grabbed the expensive whiskey, and started pouring. He watched as she got up from her seat towards the stairs and started… moving picture frames?
After her redecorating, there was nothing left but four ledges left on the wall. They were placed diagonally, parallel with the direction of the stairs. She gripped the highest two and pulled them towards her chest. With a light hiss, the walls came out from the stairs. The taller one mimicked an electrical console with lights but no wires. From what he could see, the smaller one stored knives, phones, guns, and an abundance of other items.
Dick gulped down the drink he poured for her. He quickly refilled and handed it to her. She didn't even look at him when she swallowed the alcohol and returned the glass to him.
She activated one of the burner phones. "Hey, it's me," she said to some garbled voice on the other end, "I'm in need of your expertise, again." She looked over her shoulder at Dick, "It's better if you don't know. I'll be at the factory," then hung up.
Raven grabbed nine-millimeter Glock 19, checked the chamber for a full cartridge, and tucked it into a concealed holster on her belt. Then, she fished out two shovels from another hidden compartment and a random brown box.
She pulled a small luggage from the couch. Dick recognized it as the luggage she never unpacked from their trip to Austria; hell, it still had clothes when she opened it. Then she stuffed a transparent Ziploc bag with latex gloves, trash bags, and shoe covers underneath it.
She spoke only four words: "Time for a walk."
Raven remembered seeing a car abandoned in a parking garage a few blocks from their home. The owner had been trying to get the car stolen– it was unlocked with the keys still in it– so, she figured nobody would mind her borrowing it. Once she got the engine running, she asked him for the address in Blüdhaven where he dumped the body. Two hours later, they were in the middle of nowhere digging up buried remains.
"As soon as we get these out of the ground, we need to bury that box in its place," she said in between shoveling. "Then we're taking these to a crematorium."
Dick didn't know what he was doing when it came to taking care of a mess. But he would've done it a lot better if he had his fiancé with him.
She shrugged semi-casually, "I found on online in the next town over. It's an old building with no cameras, so it won't be too hard for me to pick the lock." When she pushed the shovel deeper with her covered shoes, she heard something crack. That was probably bone.
Both she and Dick kneeled to dig up the bag of remains. Given the poor state that the body was buried, the decaying process was different. The plastic retained the fluids from the corpse. It produced an odor that made toilets in New York smell like flowers.
"We're going to have to burn our clothes too," Raven said while holding her nose, "Good thing I brought that luggage." She placed the rest of the corpse-bags on the surface and replaced it with her random box, starting to move more dirt on top.
He really wanted to ask how she knew all this stuff but found it better not to disrupt Raven's focus.
"As soon as we return the car, you need to give me the keys to the car you took that night. I'll take care of the car's GPS. I haven't decided if we should change the license plates."
"Raven, you shouldn't have to do all this," Dick said for the first time in hours. Her response was to look at him like he was speaking Romanian again. "This is my mess, and… and you shouldn't have to clean it. I'm speaking both literally and figuratively."
Now, she looked angry.
"You're wasting our time for this? Dick, we can talk about how fucked up everything is when we're not hanging around a decaying corpse in an empty field. Anybody could drive by at any moment and see us. So, please, just shut up and take your goddamn pants off."
They hadn't spoken to each other since.
As soon as they arrived home, Raven whisked the car off to "take care" of the GPS. This was the first time in months he went to sleep without Raven by his side. This was also the first time in months he woke up without seeing her face.
It was a little unsettling, but he was starting to think he needed to get used to it.
SMS_Unknown: All taken care of.
That text message was sent over an hour ago, but Raven hadn't stopped looking at it. She had finished with her morning appointments and felt the need to lock herself in her office during lunch.
Since the break started she had done nothing but stare at that message on her burner phone. A phone she was, stupidly, hanging on to.
Love Walks In took over the room. That meant Dick was trying to call her. It was the first time today she heard that ringtone, and she was normally used to hearing it three or four before lunch.
SMS_Dick: Are you okay?
It probably sounded like he was trying to pretend things were normal after the late night they had, but she knew better. He was actually showing a lot of restraint.
She sent him a few words as an answer. That would calm him over for a while because she wasn't trying to make him suffer.
She wasn't mad at him, not really. While he may have handled the situation poorly, she knew he had good intentions. If she was being completely honest with anyone else listening, she might've handled the situation the same way back then.
Back then. That's what was making her mad.
Becoming a doctor was supposed to clean up some of the blood she already had underneath her nails. Moving miles away was supposed to get the stench out of her nose. Falling in love with someone better than herself was supposed to remind her that despite all she'd done she deserved the life she fought for.
The sick part of her that Slade preyed on rejoiced at the idea of being around the mess and all that came with it: lies, deceit, trauma, and a fucking abundance of bleach. That was the demon she needed to keep at bay. The last thing she ever wanted was for Dick to bring that out of her.
No, he wouldn't. He didn't. Because it wasn't who he was.
He wasn't like this…until he met her.
She brought out a monster, and, if she didn't, she turned him into one. Her shadows were seeping out of her control now.
She needed to end this once and for all.
Dick came home after work to find Raven's luggage, but no Raven. Her black suitcase was sitting by the coffee table, mocking him. On the table were a bunch of typed up papers, a passport, and a map.
He should've expected all this, but his breaking heart somehow seemed to surprise him. The guilt he felt from what he'd done was minor compared to the sludge of sadness trying to make its way up his throat.
Raven finally came down. The gun she carried last night was attached to her belt again, waking Dick up to just how much of a monster he'd become. "I'm staying with Toni tonight," she said above a whisper, "And some nights after that."
Somehow, he found a way to nod, and to speak, "Are you coming back?" After he said that out loud, he realized it was a stupid question.
Looking at him with solemn eyes– he was probably hallucinating the empathy– she said, "I don't know yet. I still have my things and…" her voice trailed off. Their eyes met for a moment before she saw he was looking at the coffee table. "I gave them my two weeks' notice today," Raven explained.
"Raven, I…I'm so sorry."
She nervously tidied her things "I said we would talk about it, and we will. But, for now, I…I think we should have space."
He nodded in agreement, despite every one of his instincts telling him to grovel.
Raven tried walking past him towards the door with her things. But, out of instinct, he grabbed her wrist to stop her. Neither of them turned around. Both of them were shaking and they probably thought it was coming from the other.
Both of them wanted to say "I love you" but didn't because it would send the wrong message.