Chapter 5 is up, and so am I. Although I really should be asleep instead.
Anyway, a bit of an apology here. I know at the beginning of the story I
said it wasn't really necessary to read 'A Little Fear...' but after re-
reading the last chapter, I realized that it could get a little confusing.
So if you don't really understand why Raven is seeing things, but don't
want to sludge through 8 chapters of angst-ridden romance (I sure as hell
don't blame ya) check out the second half of Chapter 2 and the beginning of
Chapter 3 in my other story. That should clear everything up pretty well.
Alright cats, on to the story we go.
Cyborg was lying in bed, awake. 'I hate to admit it,' he thought, 'but I sure do owe BB for this one. Getting a bed was a great idea. I may not need it for sleeping, but damn, it sure as hell came in handy tonight.'
He turned over to look at the sleeping form next to him. When it came to beauty, Donna Troy had always been the 'goddess' of Cyborg's heart. She had long, gorgeous black hair, and soft skin, that seemed to be tinted pink. Cyborg had always thought Donna had the body of an Amazon, he even told her once, and couldn't understand why she broke into a small fit of laughter.
But it wasn't just her beauty that attracted Victor Stone to Donna. She was the bravest and truest person Cyborg had ever met. However, it was her compassion that won his heart. After the operation that salvaged Victor's body and merged it with machine, Donna Troy was the first to visit him. She brought him flowers and a card, just for formality's sake, but she also brought him his favorite sandwich, and a stack of magazines. Victor received hundreds of cards, and more flowers than could fit in his room at S.T.A.R. labs. But it was Donna's gifts that warmed his heart the most. Donna showed him that she had not forgotten the little things about him, the fact that he liked his ketchup and mustard on separate slices of his sandwich, that he didn't like onions, and his hobbies, which she covered with the giant pile of magazines. It was these things that made Victor feel human, and for that, he would forever be grateful to her.
Donna Troy was even the reason Cyborg got interested with cars. Skillfully hidden between his video game magazines and sports magazines, were some car titles. Donna figured that since he would be having to deal with a lot of maintenance work on his body from now on, that maybe she could help ease him into it.
Cyborg smiled. He couldn't wait to show Donna the T-Car in the morning. But since morning was still a long ways to come, he decided he would go make himself a midnight snack and see if anyone was still awake.
As Cyborg entered the dining room, he saw Robin sitting at the table staring at a little piece of paper.
"Yo, Rob. Whussup, man? Something wrong?"
"It's Raven. She left me a note saying she needed to get some fresh air for a few minutes, but she's been gone for over an hour. I'm getting worried, Cy."
"You check the roof?"
"Twice."
Cyborg sighed, and put down his cold slice of pizza. "Well, I'd say 'Let me grab my coat' but you know I don't wear one, so lets just get out there, find her, and bring her back."
Robin smiled at his friend. 80% machine and Victor Stone was still one of the best men Robin had ever known. "Thanks, Cy." Robin walked over to the main window at the front of the tower. "It's a nice night out, hopefully we won't have a hard time finding..." Robin stopped talking as his focus moved towards the two dark figures standing in front of the door. Robin watched in horror as Eric moved in to kiss Raven on the lips, and then seemingly sweep her off her feet and carry her away. Robin was both physically and mentally exhausted from these past few days tending to Raven, and trying to help her through the telepathic torture she was experiencing. His mind was in such a fragile state that he had to ask himself over and over whether he had really seen what he thought he did or not. A tear started to run down his face as Cyborg approached him.
"Rob? Hey, Dick, you alright man? What's the matter?"
Robin turned away from the window, and without saying a word to Cyborg, started to walk back towards his room.
Cyborg rushed over to the window to see for himself what made Robin react in such a manner. He saw Forrester walking away with Raven in his arms. "Eric...you motherfucker. You've crossed the line this time, pal. You've crossed the goddamn line."
In his room, Robin stood in front of one of his wooden training dummies. Out of sheer rage, Robin punched his fist straight through it, splintering the wood. Robin clenched his bloodied and battered fist and swung again at the wooden target. 'After all this bullshit with Phobia, after being there for her, every moment that she needed me, THIS is what I get for it?! Well not anymore. Fuck love, and fuck Raven. This is what I get for thinking that super heroes can have love. A regular couple would never have to deal with god damn telepathic fear illusions. Well fine. If that's what Raven wants, then so be it. I don't need her or her so-called fucking love.'
Suddenly, Cyborg burst into his room. "Rob, its Raven. I...I think she's in danger." Robin studied Cyborg's face, his voice, he was panicked.
"She's not in trouble, Cyborg. She's just off to go fuck your old roommate, because he's obviously done so much for her."
"Robin, hear me out here man, I'm serious! Rob...back in school, there was some weird shit that went down man. Girls went missing, the school contacted everybody, but they were never found. A few of the times, they tried to link the disappearances to Eric, but he always came out clean. But man...Rob, I've just got a REAL bad feeling about this. Real bad. I've got a chill up the back of my neck man, and that's one of the few body parts I've got left!"
Robin nodded. "I'll go."
"I'm coming with you."
"No. I said, I'll go."
"But I know where he lives! Plus, I know him better, you need me man!"
Robin flipped open his communicator and switched it over to tracking mode. "No, I don't. I know exactly where they are, and you may know him better, but he took Raven from me. I'm going, and I'm going alone. End of discussion."
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Raven slowly slipped into a fuzzy state of consciousness. "Huhn...wha?" She tried to wipe the sleep from her eyes, but realized her arms were secured down. She tried to move her legs, once again, to no avail. Raven's vision cleared and she inspected her surroundings. She was in an apartment bedroom, it was plain, except for the countless computers and parts lying around the room. Raven then looked down at herself. Her limbs were tied down to the bed with glowing cuffs over each wrist and ankle. She had been stripped of her clothes and was left in nothing but her underwear.
"Oh...no..." Raven slowly started to understand the severity of her predicament. Panic started to settle in as she realized she was about to be raped. Just like her mother. "NO!!" Raven tried her hardest to summon her powers, but nothing happened. 'Fuck,' she thought, 'power dampeners.'
"I see you're awake, sexy-lady. Ready to have a good time?" Eric's voice came from the bathroom, the arrogant tone now firmly returned to his voice.
"FORRESTER! You son of a bitch! LET ME GO!"
Eric laughed. "Now why would I do THAT, babe? After all the trouble I went through just to get you here? Although, I guess it wasn't that hard, seeing as how I knew exactly where you were."
"...What?"
"Bet you didn't think the power to interface with any computer was all that special when Vic and me told you about it, huh? Well guess what babe, ever since I hugged Victor that day, everything he knew, I know." Eric smiled. "I sure am glad he decided to install that team-member emergency tracker in his robotic eye. It told me where you were, every second of every day, Raven. That's how I found you tonight."
"Why are you doing this? Why ME??"
"Well, when I first saw you, I just wanted you for your beauty. I LIKE beautiful girls, Raven. But then, when I stole all of Cyborg's knowledge, I learned YOUR origin, my darling, your secrets. You see, gorgeous, sucking the info out of computers is only half the deal of my powers. There's a flip-side to it. The more I use my powers, the more I lose my humanity. If I'm not careful, I could end up a cybernetic freak like Victor. However, I was given a bit of amnesty. A way to keep my humanity. I also have the ability to suck the life essence out of the human body, and use it to replenish my own." He paused to flash a truly sinister smirk. "Coincidentally, my power only works on those of the female sex. And it only works carnally. Unfortunately, once the essence is drained, my eh...hehe...donator is left a lifeless husk. Ah well, c'est la vie."
The sinister smirk had transformed into a sinister grin as Forrester moved closer to the bound Raven. "You asked me why I picked you, Raven? I'll tell you. Filed away among Victor's many memories was one in particular that grabbed my interest. A little excursion he went on, into your mind. He recalled meeting your many selves, and was impressed by the power each individual had. This seemed too good to be true. A single girl with multiple essences within her? How heavenly. I plan to have my way with you Raven, and once I do I will have replenished enough for me to go on a spree through whatever database I feel like."
Raven struggled against her bindings, trying again and again to summon her powers. "These restraints...how did you?"
"Aah, you like those huh? Tell me, babe, do they look familiar to you? Just another little thing I picked up from Victor's mind. The restraints are replicas of the ones created by Mad Mod. Victor recalled the Mod using specific power dampening restraints one each of you, and all I had to do was locate Mod's motherboard to access the blueprints of the restraints."
Raven felt a wave of despair was over her. She had not been able to free herself from the restraints the last time, it was Mad Mod himself who released them when it was "time for gym".
"Now, now, baby, don't look so down. This won't hurt a bit." He smiled, "Well, no, it's gonna hurt a LOT, but before the pain starts, it'll feel really good. I promise. Now hold still while I –ACK!"
Forrester was cut off when a black nightstick swung out from behind him and strangled him across the throat. As the nightstick was pulled in, a second one came out of nowhere and struck Eric across the face, sending him toppling to the floor.
Raven looked at her rescuer, his costume was none she had ever seen before. He was in a black, one piece uniform. On his chest, was a bird, in a striking blue, and he held a black nightstick in each hand. Covering his eyes was a black mask, but it left the rest of his facial features uncovered. Facial features that Raven recognized instantly.
"R...Robin?"
"No. Robin is gone. He was a foolish little boy who thought he could mix his job with love. He was stupid and paid for it. Robin is never coming back. I... am Nightwing." His tone was cold, and distant. The very sound of his voice broke Raven's heart.
Nightwing walked over to Forrester's fallen form. "You're lucky I don't kill you now, you worthless little shit." Too quickly for Eric to react, Nightwing brought his foot crashing into Forrester's face. After clamping Forrester's wrists in a pair of handcuffs, Nightwing turned to Raven. "I called the police, they should be here any minute now. You have to stay here and tell them what happened. I told them how to release your restraints, they'll let you go as soon as they get here."
"Why can't YOU let me go?!"
"Because I don't want you to follow me." And with that, Nightwing leaped out the open window, clear to the next rooftop. It would be the last time Raven ever saw him again for a long while.
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Four Months Later:
Raven stood on a rooftop as she watched the dark figure leap from rooftop to rooftop, coming closer to her with every bound. Raven took a step back as the caped warrior landed a few feet in front of her.
"Batgirl?"
Batgirl smiled as she rested her hands on her hips. "Please, you can call me Barbara. Raven, right? Nice to meet you. So tell me, what brings you to Gotham City? And what on earth did you do to Bruce to piss him off enough to send ME?"
"I'm looking for Richard."
Batgirl rolled her eyes, "Aah, well, THAT would do it."
Raven continued, "When I went knocking on the door, I was expecting the butler Rich mentioned so many times, Alfred, to answer."
"But you got ole' sour-puss himself instead, didn't you?"
"Yes."
Batgirl did a mock flinch, "Tch. Bad timing, girlfriend. Alfred left the other day to go visit his cousin back home. So what did Bruce do when you asked for Dick?"
"He said 'He isn't here' and slammed the door in my face."
Batgirl sighed, "Typical. See Raven, after Dick dropped the 'Robin' mantle, him and Bruce had sort of a fall-out. Those two never saw eye to eye, you know. This was just kind of the last straw, for both of them. They haven't spoken since he disappeared."
Raven let out a sigh of despair. "Batgirl... Barbara, please... Rich talked about you a lot, he said you were the only one from home who ever really understood him. Please, if there was anyone who would know where he went, it's you. Barbara...Richard is the only man I've ever loved in my life. I'm not about to let him go, not now, and not after everything we've been through just to be together. Please..."
A long sigh escaped from Batgirls chest. She looked into Raven's eyes and gave her a small, soft smile. "You really do love him, don't you?"
"You have no idea."
Batgirl gave a sad smile, dropping her cheerful disposition for the first time since they had met. "Well now," she said, "I don't know about that..." She looked down at her feet, and then back up at the cloaked hero. 'She really is beautiful. No wonder Dick fell for her the way he did.' She wiped a small tear from her eye and put a hand on Raven's shoulder.
"Dick really loves you, Raven. He'd tell me every time we talked. I'd never heard Dick talk about his feelings like that before, you really made an impact on him. I always kind of had a thing for him, you know. But you're the one he fell in love with Raven, and you're the only one who can make him happy again. That's why I'm going to tell you where he is. He's in a city just a few miles south of Gotham. A place called... Bludhaven."
Cyborg was lying in bed, awake. 'I hate to admit it,' he thought, 'but I sure do owe BB for this one. Getting a bed was a great idea. I may not need it for sleeping, but damn, it sure as hell came in handy tonight.'
He turned over to look at the sleeping form next to him. When it came to beauty, Donna Troy had always been the 'goddess' of Cyborg's heart. She had long, gorgeous black hair, and soft skin, that seemed to be tinted pink. Cyborg had always thought Donna had the body of an Amazon, he even told her once, and couldn't understand why she broke into a small fit of laughter.
But it wasn't just her beauty that attracted Victor Stone to Donna. She was the bravest and truest person Cyborg had ever met. However, it was her compassion that won his heart. After the operation that salvaged Victor's body and merged it with machine, Donna Troy was the first to visit him. She brought him flowers and a card, just for formality's sake, but she also brought him his favorite sandwich, and a stack of magazines. Victor received hundreds of cards, and more flowers than could fit in his room at S.T.A.R. labs. But it was Donna's gifts that warmed his heart the most. Donna showed him that she had not forgotten the little things about him, the fact that he liked his ketchup and mustard on separate slices of his sandwich, that he didn't like onions, and his hobbies, which she covered with the giant pile of magazines. It was these things that made Victor feel human, and for that, he would forever be grateful to her.
Donna Troy was even the reason Cyborg got interested with cars. Skillfully hidden between his video game magazines and sports magazines, were some car titles. Donna figured that since he would be having to deal with a lot of maintenance work on his body from now on, that maybe she could help ease him into it.
Cyborg smiled. He couldn't wait to show Donna the T-Car in the morning. But since morning was still a long ways to come, he decided he would go make himself a midnight snack and see if anyone was still awake.
As Cyborg entered the dining room, he saw Robin sitting at the table staring at a little piece of paper.
"Yo, Rob. Whussup, man? Something wrong?"
"It's Raven. She left me a note saying she needed to get some fresh air for a few minutes, but she's been gone for over an hour. I'm getting worried, Cy."
"You check the roof?"
"Twice."
Cyborg sighed, and put down his cold slice of pizza. "Well, I'd say 'Let me grab my coat' but you know I don't wear one, so lets just get out there, find her, and bring her back."
Robin smiled at his friend. 80% machine and Victor Stone was still one of the best men Robin had ever known. "Thanks, Cy." Robin walked over to the main window at the front of the tower. "It's a nice night out, hopefully we won't have a hard time finding..." Robin stopped talking as his focus moved towards the two dark figures standing in front of the door. Robin watched in horror as Eric moved in to kiss Raven on the lips, and then seemingly sweep her off her feet and carry her away. Robin was both physically and mentally exhausted from these past few days tending to Raven, and trying to help her through the telepathic torture she was experiencing. His mind was in such a fragile state that he had to ask himself over and over whether he had really seen what he thought he did or not. A tear started to run down his face as Cyborg approached him.
"Rob? Hey, Dick, you alright man? What's the matter?"
Robin turned away from the window, and without saying a word to Cyborg, started to walk back towards his room.
Cyborg rushed over to the window to see for himself what made Robin react in such a manner. He saw Forrester walking away with Raven in his arms. "Eric...you motherfucker. You've crossed the line this time, pal. You've crossed the goddamn line."
In his room, Robin stood in front of one of his wooden training dummies. Out of sheer rage, Robin punched his fist straight through it, splintering the wood. Robin clenched his bloodied and battered fist and swung again at the wooden target. 'After all this bullshit with Phobia, after being there for her, every moment that she needed me, THIS is what I get for it?! Well not anymore. Fuck love, and fuck Raven. This is what I get for thinking that super heroes can have love. A regular couple would never have to deal with god damn telepathic fear illusions. Well fine. If that's what Raven wants, then so be it. I don't need her or her so-called fucking love.'
Suddenly, Cyborg burst into his room. "Rob, its Raven. I...I think she's in danger." Robin studied Cyborg's face, his voice, he was panicked.
"She's not in trouble, Cyborg. She's just off to go fuck your old roommate, because he's obviously done so much for her."
"Robin, hear me out here man, I'm serious! Rob...back in school, there was some weird shit that went down man. Girls went missing, the school contacted everybody, but they were never found. A few of the times, they tried to link the disappearances to Eric, but he always came out clean. But man...Rob, I've just got a REAL bad feeling about this. Real bad. I've got a chill up the back of my neck man, and that's one of the few body parts I've got left!"
Robin nodded. "I'll go."
"I'm coming with you."
"No. I said, I'll go."
"But I know where he lives! Plus, I know him better, you need me man!"
Robin flipped open his communicator and switched it over to tracking mode. "No, I don't. I know exactly where they are, and you may know him better, but he took Raven from me. I'm going, and I'm going alone. End of discussion."
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Raven slowly slipped into a fuzzy state of consciousness. "Huhn...wha?" She tried to wipe the sleep from her eyes, but realized her arms were secured down. She tried to move her legs, once again, to no avail. Raven's vision cleared and she inspected her surroundings. She was in an apartment bedroom, it was plain, except for the countless computers and parts lying around the room. Raven then looked down at herself. Her limbs were tied down to the bed with glowing cuffs over each wrist and ankle. She had been stripped of her clothes and was left in nothing but her underwear.
"Oh...no..." Raven slowly started to understand the severity of her predicament. Panic started to settle in as she realized she was about to be raped. Just like her mother. "NO!!" Raven tried her hardest to summon her powers, but nothing happened. 'Fuck,' she thought, 'power dampeners.'
"I see you're awake, sexy-lady. Ready to have a good time?" Eric's voice came from the bathroom, the arrogant tone now firmly returned to his voice.
"FORRESTER! You son of a bitch! LET ME GO!"
Eric laughed. "Now why would I do THAT, babe? After all the trouble I went through just to get you here? Although, I guess it wasn't that hard, seeing as how I knew exactly where you were."
"...What?"
"Bet you didn't think the power to interface with any computer was all that special when Vic and me told you about it, huh? Well guess what babe, ever since I hugged Victor that day, everything he knew, I know." Eric smiled. "I sure am glad he decided to install that team-member emergency tracker in his robotic eye. It told me where you were, every second of every day, Raven. That's how I found you tonight."
"Why are you doing this? Why ME??"
"Well, when I first saw you, I just wanted you for your beauty. I LIKE beautiful girls, Raven. But then, when I stole all of Cyborg's knowledge, I learned YOUR origin, my darling, your secrets. You see, gorgeous, sucking the info out of computers is only half the deal of my powers. There's a flip-side to it. The more I use my powers, the more I lose my humanity. If I'm not careful, I could end up a cybernetic freak like Victor. However, I was given a bit of amnesty. A way to keep my humanity. I also have the ability to suck the life essence out of the human body, and use it to replenish my own." He paused to flash a truly sinister smirk. "Coincidentally, my power only works on those of the female sex. And it only works carnally. Unfortunately, once the essence is drained, my eh...hehe...donator is left a lifeless husk. Ah well, c'est la vie."
The sinister smirk had transformed into a sinister grin as Forrester moved closer to the bound Raven. "You asked me why I picked you, Raven? I'll tell you. Filed away among Victor's many memories was one in particular that grabbed my interest. A little excursion he went on, into your mind. He recalled meeting your many selves, and was impressed by the power each individual had. This seemed too good to be true. A single girl with multiple essences within her? How heavenly. I plan to have my way with you Raven, and once I do I will have replenished enough for me to go on a spree through whatever database I feel like."
Raven struggled against her bindings, trying again and again to summon her powers. "These restraints...how did you?"
"Aah, you like those huh? Tell me, babe, do they look familiar to you? Just another little thing I picked up from Victor's mind. The restraints are replicas of the ones created by Mad Mod. Victor recalled the Mod using specific power dampening restraints one each of you, and all I had to do was locate Mod's motherboard to access the blueprints of the restraints."
Raven felt a wave of despair was over her. She had not been able to free herself from the restraints the last time, it was Mad Mod himself who released them when it was "time for gym".
"Now, now, baby, don't look so down. This won't hurt a bit." He smiled, "Well, no, it's gonna hurt a LOT, but before the pain starts, it'll feel really good. I promise. Now hold still while I –ACK!"
Forrester was cut off when a black nightstick swung out from behind him and strangled him across the throat. As the nightstick was pulled in, a second one came out of nowhere and struck Eric across the face, sending him toppling to the floor.
Raven looked at her rescuer, his costume was none she had ever seen before. He was in a black, one piece uniform. On his chest, was a bird, in a striking blue, and he held a black nightstick in each hand. Covering his eyes was a black mask, but it left the rest of his facial features uncovered. Facial features that Raven recognized instantly.
"R...Robin?"
"No. Robin is gone. He was a foolish little boy who thought he could mix his job with love. He was stupid and paid for it. Robin is never coming back. I... am Nightwing." His tone was cold, and distant. The very sound of his voice broke Raven's heart.
Nightwing walked over to Forrester's fallen form. "You're lucky I don't kill you now, you worthless little shit." Too quickly for Eric to react, Nightwing brought his foot crashing into Forrester's face. After clamping Forrester's wrists in a pair of handcuffs, Nightwing turned to Raven. "I called the police, they should be here any minute now. You have to stay here and tell them what happened. I told them how to release your restraints, they'll let you go as soon as they get here."
"Why can't YOU let me go?!"
"Because I don't want you to follow me." And with that, Nightwing leaped out the open window, clear to the next rooftop. It would be the last time Raven ever saw him again for a long while.
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Four Months Later:
Raven stood on a rooftop as she watched the dark figure leap from rooftop to rooftop, coming closer to her with every bound. Raven took a step back as the caped warrior landed a few feet in front of her.
"Batgirl?"
Batgirl smiled as she rested her hands on her hips. "Please, you can call me Barbara. Raven, right? Nice to meet you. So tell me, what brings you to Gotham City? And what on earth did you do to Bruce to piss him off enough to send ME?"
"I'm looking for Richard."
Batgirl rolled her eyes, "Aah, well, THAT would do it."
Raven continued, "When I went knocking on the door, I was expecting the butler Rich mentioned so many times, Alfred, to answer."
"But you got ole' sour-puss himself instead, didn't you?"
"Yes."
Batgirl did a mock flinch, "Tch. Bad timing, girlfriend. Alfred left the other day to go visit his cousin back home. So what did Bruce do when you asked for Dick?"
"He said 'He isn't here' and slammed the door in my face."
Batgirl sighed, "Typical. See Raven, after Dick dropped the 'Robin' mantle, him and Bruce had sort of a fall-out. Those two never saw eye to eye, you know. This was just kind of the last straw, for both of them. They haven't spoken since he disappeared."
Raven let out a sigh of despair. "Batgirl... Barbara, please... Rich talked about you a lot, he said you were the only one from home who ever really understood him. Please, if there was anyone who would know where he went, it's you. Barbara...Richard is the only man I've ever loved in my life. I'm not about to let him go, not now, and not after everything we've been through just to be together. Please..."
A long sigh escaped from Batgirls chest. She looked into Raven's eyes and gave her a small, soft smile. "You really do love him, don't you?"
"You have no idea."
Batgirl gave a sad smile, dropping her cheerful disposition for the first time since they had met. "Well now," she said, "I don't know about that..." She looked down at her feet, and then back up at the cloaked hero. 'She really is beautiful. No wonder Dick fell for her the way he did.' She wiped a small tear from her eye and put a hand on Raven's shoulder.
"Dick really loves you, Raven. He'd tell me every time we talked. I'd never heard Dick talk about his feelings like that before, you really made an impact on him. I always kind of had a thing for him, you know. But you're the one he fell in love with Raven, and you're the only one who can make him happy again. That's why I'm going to tell you where he is. He's in a city just a few miles south of Gotham. A place called... Bludhaven."