Disclaimer: The following story is based on/inspired by characters created by DC Comics. By no means do I take credit for their creation or development.

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Epilogue: Missing

(Several months later…)

"Man it's good to be home!" Vic beamed with pride. They were settling into the newly rebuilt Titan Tower and he couldn't wait to test out all the technological "improvements" he had installed.

"Dude," Beast Boy dropped his box of things in front of the doorway to his open room, "why do I always get the smallest room? I mean, during construction, couldn't you have increased the dimensions or something Cyborg?"

"On Tamaran a small room signifies one who is of high intellect," Starfire peaked over droopy eared Beast Boy's shoulder, "Oh my, Beast Boy, it seems to be smaller."

"Hey hey, me and the construction crew just followed the blueprints," Cyborg shot back, playfully, "I mean, sure, I had to shave a couple inches…or feet off of your room here and there so I could fit in the new, fully loaded, super charged, surround sound Game Station X180!" With a flourish, Vic whipped off the white sheet that had covered the coveted big screen game console.

Beast Boy's jaw dropped while his nose bled.

"Beast Boy, are you alright?" Starfire poked her petrified friend.

"It hurts to look at it directly," drool dribbled down Beast Boy's chin, "Is it worth the smaller room? I don't know…I'm so conflicted right now…"

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On the roof, the sun was warm against Dick's face. The cool ocean breeze tousled his hair as he sat down and hung his feet over the edge. After a moment of gazing at the orange sun setting in the distance, he pulled the Robin suit out from under his arm. He admired the suit in the orange light for a second. Brushing off a patch of dust that had collected on the dark ring that encircled the "R" he let out a sigh before extending his arm and holding it out over the open ocean crashing below. Slowly, he began to open his hand. The dark cape of the suit fluttered in the salty breeze.

"All settled in?" At the sound of Raven's voice Dick's heart jumped. He quickly tucked the Robin suit back under his arm.

"Hey," he smiled though for some reason it seemed a bit sad instead of happy, "look at you…back to normal already, huh? Dressed in white I see…" The thought of Grant draped in the white robe flitted across his mind.

"Yeah, since I came out of the coma I've been likin' the white," Raven said as she sat down next to Dick and swung her legs over the edge of the roof as well, "So how were your travels? Didn't see you around much while they were rebuilding the Tower."

"I'm sorry I wasn't around, Raven," Dick spoke distantly, his eyes tracing the horizon, "I had to do a bit of soul searching. Heh." He smiled fondly to himself, "Visited Superman in Metropolis first and then ended up going back to Haley's Circus for a while."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah…" Dick closed his eyes, "It's not the place it used to be though. Despite all my wishing…nothing is the same anymore. It's funny." Dick opened his eyes again and stared at the crashing waves below, "of all places that should stay constant, you'd think 'home' would be one of them…"

The roll of the ocean waves was thunderous.

"Dick," Raven finally said, breaking the silence, "you know you can call this place your home, right?"

"You mean like how I used to call Wayne Manor, Gotham my home?" Dick retorted. However, as soon as the words left his mouth he felt worse than he already did. "I'm sorry, Raven, I didn't mean that. This place looks great and I'm sure Cyborg out did himself yet again. It's just…I don't know," Dick looked back out towards the open sea, "something is missing." Subconsciously his hand touched his chest.

"You know Superman told me about this one superhero on Krypton," Dick tried to change the subject, "he was an outcast and didn't have a home, but he didn't need one. Because he fought for justice so he was never forgotten. No one knew his real name but the called him 'Nightwing.'" He glanced at Raven, again, "Pretty cool name, huh?"

"Not as cool as 'Robin,'" Raven smiled gently, trying to cheer him up.

"Ha, no," Dick's shoulders shook with a painful laugh, "that's a Mama's boy's name…"

"That may be. But it's your name, Dick. The Ravager knew that and he did everything he did so that you may stay Robin."

Dick's eyes saddened. Quickly he looked away from Raven, trying to hide the tears that rose up into his eyes at the mention of Grant. "Heh," he tried to smile and scoff, "It was all a waste then. As soon as I left Gotham for good, Bruce gave my name away to some kid."

"It was never his to give."

"It doesn't matter, Raven!" He turned back to face her, "I can't be Robin anymore! Not after all that's happened. Not with this hole in my chest…in my life! I'm so hollow now that I can't just be Robin, like nothing has happened!" Dick let out another sad chuckle and turned away again, "You know I turned 20 last week…I'm not a teen anymore and I certainly don't think I can stay a Titan."

"Dick, no," finally letting go of her inhibitions, Raven reached out and turned Dick's head by the chin, so that he faced her, "This is not what I wanted for you. I didn't want you to get hurt."

"Raven? What are you talking about?"

The telepath lowered her head, her dark hair hiding her eyes and the rouge that had risen to her cheeks.

"Dick," she said after a short pause, "you can't stop being Robin. Not yet. You're the only one who really believes in me. We'd…I…I would fall apart without you. It's the reason why I made a deal with him."

"Him?"

"Yes, the Ravager, Grant. He was a powerful adversary and I think under different circumstances he would have been a great ally. So the night when you killed him the first time, I made a deal with him. In exchange for stopping his soul during its descent he had to protect you if I was ever compromised."

"So you're saying he cared for me only because he swore that…" Dick brought his hands up to hold Raven's face in between them. Tears streamed freely down her face.

"No, Dick, that's not exactly how it works. It is neither an oath nor a complete possession. I did not act through him. It was more of an exchange. He gave me a part of himself and I gave him a part of me. We became one, so to speak, and thus I was allowed to influence his actions and perhaps his feelings as well. Upon resurrecting he had no recollection of the deal nor was he aware of how far reaching my influence was. In fact it's hard to say whether his attraction to you was a direct result of his own emotions or an indirect result of…" Raven bit her lip, "of my own feelings."

"Raven…" was all Dick said as the sky began to grow dark. Slowly he drew her in close to his body, embracing her tightly. Below, the waves continued to break against the shore.

After a while Raven spoke up again, "So you see, Dick…you can't just—"

"Shh," Dick hushed. He kissed her on the forehead and hugged her tightly again, "Thank you, Raven…Thank you." In a matter of seconds, she had made him whole again.

Letting go of the tears mounting in his eyes Dick wept and smiled out of happiness for once. He was finally home and Grant had kept his promise after all.

End

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Author's notes: And there you have it. After about 1-2 years of writing and updates we've reached the conclusion of this fic. (cries)

Thanks to all those who've stuck with the fic since the beginning (even if you didn't leave any comments, lol…sorry I just had to tease).

Though, major kudos and thank you's to those who did comment and kept me going! It really meant a lot to me actually, since I must admit that this is the first, full length story (including my original fics that I try to write) that I've actually finished! So, yeah…thank you soo much!

(not to put people on the spot…but especially thanks to loopylouise123 and Rocky-White Wolf of Curses who encouraged me after practically every chapter…)

I don't know if there will be a sequel or any follow up to this fic, yet, but we'll see if the ideas come. ;). Though after an ending like that, I'm not sure if can follow it up, heh. Though if I ever got the motivation to go back and redo parts of this fic…I think I'd rewrite the lemon…it's sooo cheesy…

In other news, I am working on an X-men Cyclops X Iceman one shot, but am still working out major kinks to that one…hmmm…

Anyways, this is turning into a letter… All in all it's been great fun writing this fic. Thanks a million, again, for a great time you guys!

See you around,

--FB