…..

Thanks for the reviews, fav, and follow.

notbenamed: Thanks for enjoying the story so far, and here is the new update. And I will try to stay safe. (I'm so glad that you watched the movie and thought that it was fantastic as well! :))

Mads: I thought that (The Awkwardness) is a better name for that chapter. I might go back and change it.

Silent Hessian: I'm happy that you like the progression of the story. Sometimes, I feel like it is going too fast. Other times, I think the characters don't have time to express their feelings and have a chance to grow. So, I'm happy that you find it intriguing. Let's see where it goes together.

Nightraethingzz: Thank for the support and warm wishes for my safety and health. I glad that read all the previous chapter and are ready for this one.

Everyone: I hope that you and your family are safe during this time. Please, take care of yourself and be thoughtful of other people by wearing a mask and keeping social distancing.

Warning: mention of drugs and prostitution in the first section (above the first solid line) and some in the third scene.

Tension

"Woah. Look, what the cat dragged in?" Yasmine said as Dick came to the bar with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I was worried that John and Doe were blocking your entrance in this whole time. Where have you been?"

"Things have been busy at work lately." It wasn't a complete lie. He was now back at his regular position as detective with Matt as his partner. However, he had been staying away from the bar since Rachael's rejection. He wasn't sure if that was for her benefit or his, especially since she walked out of the common room before the meeting.

"Umm. So, I guess, Moonlight's mood change has nothing to do with you?"

He said 'hi' and waved to some regular patrons of the bar before saying, "Mood change?"

"Yup, she has been walking around here like someone has killed her best friend." The words 'best friend' stabbed him in the heart. In a sense, Yasmine was right. He had killed her best friend by asking her to be his lover.

"So, she wasn't joking when she said that she rejected you."

"She told you?" Dick asked, slightly surprised. He thought that she would've kept it to herself, but he guessed, it was common to tell stuff like that to female friends.

"No, but I suspected it. Thanks for confirming it." She winked at him.

He clicked his teeth, annoyed. "I hate you."

"No, you don't." She informed him with a big smile while leaning closer. "Besides, I have a secret for you." He raised an eyebrow as she whispered. "She likes you, too. She's running away from her feeling, because she's afraid. If you push her little bit harder, I'm sure that she will fall into your arms." She leaned away from him, leaving him dumbfounded. "She told me to tell you to come upstairs once you've arrived. Good luck, officer."

Dick's eyes followed her as she prepared drinks for a group of guys before he moved upstairs. He wasn't sure if he could take Yasmine's advice. He had pushed her far enough already. The result of that encounter led to the current distance between them. It wasn't a distance that he was sure that he could close.

He had hoped, by working on the mission tonight, that they would start rebuilding their friendship. He was doubtful that it would happen now, based on the cold messages between them.

Signing, he knocked on the door. When it opened, he stepped back, surprised. "Sorry. Is Rachael in there?" He moved from the doorway a little bit more. He wasn't sure if the person with green hair in front of him was heading out.

The woman raised an eyebrow as it took him five blinks to realize who she was. "Raven!" He said her coded name. The name that was he used to saying as a teenager.

"Well, it's good to know that I fooled you."

She had. She wasn't like her normal self. She was bright. The wig on her head was green. While it wasn't bad on her, he liked her natural color better. Her feet were covered in blue heels that showed off her red toe nails. His eyes traveled up her pale legs to her short jeans, which had colorful patches on the pockets. He was positive that if he was looking from the back, the jeans would show a hint of her butt cheeks. His eyes traveled up her flat stomach and cute belly button to the baby pink, lace, bralette halter top that hugged her creamy breasts nicely. He was sure if he look close enough, he would see her-.

"If you're done being a pervert, we can go."

"Sorry." He averted his eyes while she put on a wind breaker, which stopped at the bottom of her pants. He wanted to cancel tonight and come up with a better plan. A plan where she didn't dress provocatively.

However, he doubted that that conversation would go over well with her, giving their current situation. Furthermore, they didn't have time to come up with a new plan. The drug dealer who was using prostitutes as drug mules was coming to town tonight to do his rounds as well as kidnapped new, fresh prostitutes to trap in a life of enslavement. They would only be released if they were only placed in prison or killed.

It was their job to collect the drugs and to free as many girls as possible, giving them a chance to start over if that was their choice.

…..

Nightwing was still shocked by the Rachael in front of him. He wasn't shocked by her appearance any longer but by her personality. It was as if she was a different person. She laughed at ease with the females who worked this particular corner. He doubted it was her magic that relaxed them into trusting her. It seemed too natural to be magic.

While this new personality of hers was cute and bubbly and attracted several males- who she did use magic to steer them to their regular choices-, how he felt about it was similar to the green wig. He liked the original better. Way better.

"This is the guy that I was telling you about, love." From his spot on a building rooftop, he watched one of the girls introduced a man to Raven while the other girls fearfully back away. He would remember the woman's face for later on. She appeared to be a top player based on the interaction with the guy.

"Hi, papi." Another surprised. Raven's Latin accent was better than his. The way that she added Spanish words and phrases, or just held a conversation in Spanish was beyond perfect. Before tonight, he only knew that she spoke seven languages, including English. He had been positive that Spanish wasn't one of them.

"Milky, here, told me you were looking to make some quick cash before moving on to the next town." He heard the guy said from his earpiece.

"That was the plan, but tonight is kinda dry if you know what I mean." They all chuckled.

"I can help you make up the difference if you help me with something."

Nightwing watched her licked her lips nervously as did the guy, who smiled. "Nothing too serious. I will explain on the ride there. There are too many ears here." Seeing that she was pretending to be nervous, the drug-dealing pimp said, "If you don't want to do it after I explain it to you, then I'll drop you off and have a Uber pick you up."

Raven looked toward Milky, who gave her a reassuring smile. "I did it a few times before, and I would have done it tonight if I wasn't looking out for you."

Raven paused for a second, and did a gesture with her wig. This was the guy that they wanted. "Okay," she said and followed him to the car.

Nightwing quickly contacted the cop, who came to Cyborg with the case. He was one of the veteran cops that liked working cases with the Titans.

He made it off the rooftop and on to his bike just in time to see Raven and the scumbag pass by.

"Sooo, where's this dire meeting that I had to attend this evening?" Willow asked as they walked around with champagne glasses in their hands.

"Well, you caught me." Victor laughed nervously. "You're not mad, are you?"

"I should be, but I'm not. It's not every day that a girl gets to go to the exclusive opening of the new entomological wing of a museum. Although, I wished that we didn't miss the opening speeches." He wished that they hadn't either. She was supposed to find out his gift then. However, an error had occurred at the company that needed everyone attention immediately. "Thank you for bring me here." He stole a glance at her.

"You don't look excited as I thought you would be. I thought you would have left my side by now for all the insects here."

She chuckled. "Maybe after you leave me to go and meet Changeling in the next…" She looked at her watch. "…fifteen minutes, I will spend some alone time with the bugs."

"Oh, so, that's your type." Victor joked. He didn't inquire how she knew that he was going to meet Garfield. Amy had probably told her. "Insects guys."

"Yeah, they are pretty hot." She played along. "If you know any sexy, insect guys, you have to introduce them to me."

"Actually, I know two." He thought of Killer Moth and his son-in-law, Fang. "There are both criminals, though."

"It is nothing wrong living a bit dangerously." She winked at him. "Tell me, which prison should I visit them in?"

"Well, I don't think it will work out. One is older, and the other one is married."

"No to the married one. And I don't mind dating older guys."

"You don't?" He said, surprised. She seemed like the type that dated guys only within her age bracket.

"You are older than me, aren't you?" She said with a seductive smile. His heart thumped. Was she implying that she wanted to date him? Was she now okay with dating her boss? He knew that the age gap was never a problem. He was only three years older than her. He was going to ask her about her feelings for him; however, she changed the conversation to a serious topic.

"To be honest, I'm kind of nervous right now." He looked at her. Nothing about her demeanor said that she was nervous. She gave off an air of calm and confident.

"This is my first time since my parents died that I have been in this type of environment with insects." She explained.

He panicked at the realization of what he had done. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring back bad memories for you." This was a terrible present. They could turn back now. She hadn't seen his gift to her yet, since he suggested that they went through it in the opposite direction that they were supposed to go.

"Don't be." She said. "I'm happy that I'm here with you." She gave him a big smile with twinkling, brown eyes. His heart flip-flopped. He was sure that his system froze for a second.

"You made it easier for me to get over my fears. Even though I love insects, it had been hard to see them alive and moving. My play aunt and uncle had tried to help me conquer my fears, but my play cousin, he…." She paused. "….he made it difficult for me to. I always feel relax and safe by your side. That's how I'm able to conquer my fears at this moment. You are truly a superhero." She said softly, gazing in his eyes as they stopped in front of the entrance. "I think that you are the greatest one that there is."

He gulped as he stared back at her. He was getting ready to step out on faith and pray that her answer would be yes. Despite her being his employee, the rumor that was already circulating in the company and the fact that he wasn't fully human, he didn't want to miss out on this opportunity to get to know her more intimately as a romantic partner. He wasn't sure if he would ever meet another woman like her again.

He coughed. He had a speech prepared and was ready to combat any concern that she may have. "Willow." Her eyes seemed to grow more beautiful. He swallowed. "I know about the rumor in the company and how it affects you, but I want to push that aside to ask you if you wanted to -"

He stopped as she gasped. She was no longer looking at him. Instead, she was looking at the top of the entrance way, where the names of her parents were. He cleared his throat again, shifting gears.

"I hope you don't mind, but I researched your parents." He explained. "I was impressed with the work that they had accomplished while they were alive and so, was the board of this museum. They decided to dedicate this area to your parents for all of their achievements."

"You shouldn't have." She said, still mesmerized by her parents' name. "It must have taken a large donation to get their names up there."

"Actually, I didn't donate a dime." Even though, he had been prepared to. "On the board are two alumni from the university, where your parents worked. They were their students, actually. They were happy for the suggestion along with the university, which is a sponsor and partner of this museum. Since the suggestion came from an outside source, the other board members couldn't complain about favoritism.

"Do you like it?" He asked nervously.

She looked at him with teary eyes and said, "I love it."

"I'm glad." He would wait to ask his question later. He wanted her to enjoy the moment.

"You are really my knight in shining armor." His heart was going crazy.

"I-" His alarm went off. "I have to go." He didn't want to, but Gar and he had already postponed their mission due to the unexpected rainy days. "Message me when you leave and arrive at home." She nodded. "Good night, Willow." He turned to leave, only to stop when she grabbed his hand.

He looked at her. Now, she actually appeared nervous as she licked her lips and her eyes shifted from the ground to him.

"Is something wrong?" He asked worried. "Do you need me to take you home?"

She shook her head, and her eyes stayed connected with his. "The question that you wanted to ask before." He knew the question as his heart tightened in his chest. "I will say yes if you ask me properly….on a date."

His heart exploded from every pore and opening in his body. He sure that he had died and gone to heaven. He stepped closer to her as his alarm went off again. She stopped him with her hand.

"Go be a superhero." How did she expect him to leave her after saying that? He could call Gar. He was positive that he could handle the mission alone.

"I-"

"You're going to leave. I'll be waiting on your question when you return." She said with a smile that weaken and empowered him at the same time.

Raven's eyes watched as the drug dealers and the human traffickers were loaded into the back of the police criminal, transportation vehicle. Hopefully, with the evidence that they had collected, the criminals would be put away for a long time.

She twisted her head to the left to see the young females and males that they had rescued. They would be free from a life of unknown horror, from people who thought of them as only as tools to earn cash and fulfill their own sick desires.

Hopefully, they would stay far away from this life, and she prayed to God that it wouldn't find them again like it did Mari.

"Are you ready to go?" She turned her head to the right to see Nightwing standing in front of her. He was fine except for a few scratches.

"Can we take your bike back to the Tower?" He gave her a one over. She wasn't dressed like she was when they had left her loft. She was dress in her Titan uniform. She had used her power to untether her and Mari's identities when the persona was no longer necessary. It had drained her energy and magic as well as created a barely bearable headache.

"Are you okay?" He asked concerned. "Nothing happened to you when you were alone in the car with him?"

She shook her head. "I can't concentrate after seeing this." She told a half truth.

"I understand. I'll take you home and go to the Tower to finish the reports."

"No, we'll both go to the Tower and tackle the reports together. Besides, you have to go to work in the morning." She didn't bother to offer to do the reports on her own. She knew that Nightwing took joy in completing the mission from start to finish; that included the reports.

"It won't be a problem."

"I want to help with the reports."

He nodded. "Then, let's go home."

..…

She had two more reports to complete. Nightwing had finished his reports ten minutes ago and was probably asleep. They didn't speak to each other while working side by side on the reports in the evidence room. It hadn't been a peaceful silence that they were used to, but an awkward one.

She wished that everything would return back to normal.

"I can't say, I want it to." She spun around in her chair to see Nightwing walking to her with two mugs. One smelled like coffee and the other smelled like tea.

"I thought, you'd left to go to sleep." She said, ignoring his comment. She hadn't realized she was thinking out loud.

"Not yet." He handed her the mug with tea. "You look like you needed this."

She took the mug and sipped on the tea. "This taste like vacation," she said, watching him roll a chair beside her to sit down.

"A vacation, where?"

She took another sip, trying to figure out where. "Someplace with the one you love." She cringed and kicked herself mentally as the words left her mouth. Why did she have to make the moment awkward again?

They sat in silence, drinking from their mugs, for a while. It was Nightwing who decided to break the silence first. "Raven." She looked toward him, finding her eyes connected with his through the cowl and mask. "What I said that night, I meant it. I do like you. I didn't mean for it to come out the way it did, but it did. I'm sorry for the way my words made you felt and how it made my feelings seemed for you. However, I don't regret saying it because it was how I felt. How I still feel."

Her heart pounded in her chest. She wished that he would stop talking. She was tired and drained due to tonight's events. She couldn't think logically.

He continued on. "If friendship can be the only thing between us, then I want us to have the best friendship ever. But, if there is a small chance that you have feelings for me, then that's all we need to make it work between us."

She looked down at the tea. Her heart and head pounded. Why did he always have to do this? Why couldn't he, for once in his life, give up on something? Her hands clenched around the mug as she bit the inside of her cheeks to refrain from speaking.

"Raven, I….let's be good friends and-"

"When I said 'someplace with the one you love' I didn't think of you." Her eyes connected with his. She could tell that he was hiding his emotions for her sake. "I thought of our friends laughing on a beach. When I think of you, Nightwing, I think of a whirlwind. You are nothing like a vacation. You came into my life and changed things that wasn't supposed to be change: me having friends, us doing the impossible and defeating my father.

"Those things weren't supposed to happen. Just like both of us having feelings for one another." She watched him inhaled, but he didn't say a word. "We can't be together. I'm not allow to be with someone." She looked at her tea briefly, thinking of Goth, before turning back to him. "Plus, I have done things." She felt herself breaking down. "If you knew, you would hate-"

His lips swallowed up her words. The mug in her hands fell but was save by Nightwing's hands. He pulled away from her before she could process what happened.

The rest of the scene played like a movie that she was watching. He placed the mug on the desk beside his.

"I know enough." He said the same words from the first time that they met. Those words had changed her life back then. Maybe, they would change her life now. Maybe, she can do as the priest said. Maybe, she could believe the words he told her years ago.

"We will deal with our issues and baggage one day at a time," he said. "But, right now, I want to kiss you again. Is that possible?"

She was going to take a leap of faith like she did years ago. She prayed that they could overcome the demon that she created.

She nodded, too scared to talk. He pulled her out of her chair into his arms, kissing her fervently while butterflies fluttered inside of her.

"Hey! You got the tent up already." Changeling looked up from the fire, where he was cooking marshmallows to see Cyborg walking towards the camp. "And you got the fire going. Is that marshmallows that I smell? My man."

"Yeah, if I waited on you, I would've probably been hungry and cold by now. You were supposed to bring the food." Changeling said as Cyborg sat down on a log on the other side of the fire.

"Don't worry; I did. I even bought that nasty tofu junk that you like." Cyborg said, emptying out the food from his backpack. "I still don't know why you eat tofu. There are other vegan choices out there now that taste better."

"Really?" Changeling smirked. "I'll give you a hundred buck if you can name one. If you can't name one in thirty seconds, then you owe me a hundred dollar."

"Nope, I'm not going to take that bet."

"Chicken," He taunted.

"No, I'm just not dumb, like you, to take on a bet that I know that I'll lose. You know, I don't believe in eating fake meat. I hate processed food."

"What's that in your hand?" He nodded to the can of spam in his hand.

"I stand corrected. I hate processed, fake meat. It's tough on my digestive system."

"Whatever," Changeling rolled his eye. "Just hand me my food."

Cyborg tossed a small bag over the fire to Changeling, who caught it. "Just be happy that I bought your tofu, and didn't rip you off and steal a hundred dollar from you."

"What do you mean?" He asked, searching through the bag for a particular item.

"Man, seriously. Why do people forget that I'm a cyborg? If I wanted to, I could've search for the information on my system without you even knowing."

"That's true." Changeling said nonchalant, still searching through the bag. "But you're a human to me, so it's easy to forget. A human with mechanical skin. Like I am a human with green skin."

"Yeah, but my skin looks way cooler. The ladies dig the tech."

"I'm sorry, but which one of us are single now. It's-" He stopped as a thought popped up in his head. "Do you do that during trivia nights?"

Cyborg coughed, looking at the items that he took out of the bag. "I don't know what you are talking about?"

"I know, you didn't know that Clash of the Planets question." He shouted excitedly. "I didn't even know the answer, and I know almost everything about that franchise."

"Dude, did you wanted to win against Tempest's team, or not?"

Changeling gave him a thumbs up. "There was no way I wanted to lose that prize." Plus, he hated to lose to Tempest, who had changed his name from Aqualad. Even though they were friends, he still saw him as a fierce rival when it came to competitions.

"Then let's keep it a secret."

Changeling pretended to zip his lips. "No problem."

"Are you ready to track down this animal?" Cyborg looked at his watch. "We have an hour before its usual time of appearance. And we seem to be the only campers tonight, so it should target us."

Changeling nodded, rubbing his palms against his legs. He knew how tonight was going to end, even though Cyborg didn't.

Not wanting to think about it, he changed the subject. "How did your gift to Willow turn out? Did she like it?"

A giant smiled appeared on his face. "She loved it," Cyborg said. He could tell by his expression and his tone of voice that he really liked her. Changeling hoped that he didn't fall to deeply in love with her. Love could be painful.

They spent the hour talking about his date with Willow and the events that follow while eating camp food. Soon, the hour had past, and it was time for action.

"Are you ready to find this animal?" Cyborg asked, standing up from the log. "We'll scan the surrounding areas to make sure there are no campers or late-night hikers. Then, we'll come back here and wait."

Changeling nodded, knowing that wasn't the plan that was going to be implemented. "Hey, before we go, do you want to try the new cookie that Retra baked?"

"Oo," Cyborg stared at the cookie in Changeling's hand with hungry eyes. It was the only cookie left in the small, plastic bag. "Don't mind if I do?" He grabbed the cookie. "You know, I love Retra's baking." He shoved the whole cookie in his mouth.

Sweat gathered in his palms as he watched his best friend chewed and swallowed the cookie. Never in his life did he thought that he would be doing this to Cyborg. But it was for the best that he kept this secret to himself. Maybe one day, he would come clean about everything when he was old and winkle. However, he had to protect his future with Retra and that secret that was rooted in a small village in Africa.

Changeling watched as his friend fell to the ground with a thump. The cookie that he gave him contained a small, untraceable nanotech that depleted his main battery supply. He would have to tell Willow later on that her idea worked. Someday. It was too dangerous to mention it now.

He changed his form into a green gorilla and placed Cyborg securely inside the tent. His backup system should kick in an hour or two. The process was slowed down by the nanotech.

Leaving Cyborg there, he went to collect the lone wolf that he had captured earlier while he was waiting on Cyborg. The medicine that he gave the animal would make it appear to be the savage animal that was killing the campers and hikers.

"Sorry, buddy." He said to the deranged animal that was knocking against the cage. "I promised to get you out before they try to euthanize you."

A/N:I enjoyed creating the two new relationship. One is sweet and carefree with caution while the other is full of painful baggage and longing. Yet, both are full of untold secrets.

The scenes in this chapter with Nightwing and Raven was difficult to create and to write. (It gave me a headache. Seriously, it did.) It wasn't like my original plan. I hope that I did it justice. Let's see where their relationship goes.