Solidarity?
Chapter Eight
February 19, 2005
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Pure, unadulterated morning sun streamed through the window at the end of Richard's bed, casting a holy light upon the sleeping form in his arms. Beatrice looked as lovely as ever, her hair tousled, lips slightly parted, and eyes shut as she dreamed within her lover's embrace.
He gently began to stroke her hair, which had been chopped from its glorious long locks, to a neat, sharp, shoulder-length. He had been initially shocked, but that soon wore off as Richard realized that the new hairstyle fit her wonderfully, and none of her original beauty had been altered.
It was strange though… to come home and find her hair cut to a length that reminded him of the battle with the two idiot robbers. Wasn't that length the same as the slice that had happened to Raven? Or was Richard just hallucinating from too much thinking?
No. It couldn't be. The idea of Raven and Beatrice being one in the same was a completely laughable thought. They were at opposite ends of the personality spectrum; Raven was cold and distant, and Beatrice had a friendlier take, even if it was with an edge. There was no way in the burning bowels of hell that the two women were even remotely related.
…still…
Hadn't he had these same thoughts before?
Beatrice shifted softly in her sleep and snuggled closer to Richard, making him smile slightly. Last night had been more than he had ever dreamed. Beatrice was shy and innocent, but those feelings soon gave way to passion. She fit into his hands and body as if she were made for him, as if she were another half of his being. The night had been far more than sex. There was so much that he couldn't describe, or understand; but one thing was for sure, Richard was beginning to realize that he truly loved Beatrice. That thought didn't really bother him as much as he thought it would. In fact, he was ready to welcome it with open arms.
The body in his arms shifted again, then turned her tired face up to meet his. Long eyelashes lazily opened to unveil bright, dark eyes. "Morning…" She muttered gently, before settling her head back on his chest. "How long have you been up?" Her voice was deep and husky, and reverberated sexily on his skin. It made him want to take her again and again… never sharing her with anyone else.
"Not too long," He combed his fingers through her short hair, still unable to believe the softness of it. "I didn't want to wake you… you looked so precious sleeping." He teased gently, watching as her face scrunched up in irritation.
"Shut up," she responded half-heartedly, "before I'm forced to hurt you." After a moment, she sat up and stretched her limbs, trying to remove the unwanted effects of sleep from her system. Richard could only lay there and watch as the bright sun shone upon her nude form, illuminating her body in a golden halo. She was perfect in every way; even her imperfections were perfect, because they were part of her. Her shoulders were slender and narrow, her breasts were round and generous, her hips protruded sexily from her small waist… she was a divine being.
"What are you staring at?" She asked defensively, taking the sheet and wrapping it around her body. He was staring at her with a strange look in his eye, something she had never seen before, but something that wasn't exactly unwelcome.
"Your perfections…" He said firmly, reaching out and stripping the obstructing sheet away from her body. "So, don't cover it up… I like looking at you."
Beatrice's face flushed instantly as her body was exposed to his wandering eyes. She didn't know why she was so embarrassed, he had seen much more of her last night. Finally, she looked away, redirecting her attention to the clock beside his bed.
"Oh shit!" she cried as her gaze landed on the time. "I've gotta leave for class!" Unfortunately, Beatrice soon discovered she was trapped; with a wall to her right, a being to her left, a window at her feet, and a headboard at her head, she had no where to escape. She tried crawling over the form on the other side of the bed, but he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to his chest.
"Richard…" She pleaded, biting her bottom lip. "Please… I've really got to go to class… Please let me go."
"You don't have to go everyday, Bea. You could stay here with me all day… just the two of us." He passed a sultry look her way, and it took all of her strength to say no.
"I can't stay, Richard… I've got to get to class today so I can get my new internship." She wiggled a little, to break free of his arms, but was dismayed at the reaction she was stirring within him. "Let me go."
Richard sighed deeply and released her waist. "Alright… but we better continue this when you get back," He grumbled sourly, and then turned to watch her dress.
Beatrice threw on her old, ratted jeans and black sweatshirt. She turned and looked at the nude man lying on the bed, her cheeks turning a crimson color as she did so. After a moment, a small, shy smile appeared on her lips. "I guess I'll agree to that," She teased, leaning over and kissing him gently. "I'll be back between five and six, okay?"
"Mm-hm…" he said, sitting up and wrapping his arms around her waist. He pulled her close to him, so that he could lay his head on her stomach for a moment. He didn't like her not being with him, and he wasn't sure why. All he knew is that his heart ached whenever she wasn't within his reach. "I'll miss you," He whispered, turning to look up at her.
"Well, good… then the sex should be great when I return," she teased gently, then leaned down and kissed him again.
Richard smiled and let her go. "I'll see you later tonight then."
"Bye!" She flashed him a rare smile, and then slipped out his doorway.
Richard lay there for a moment, running his hand over the splotch of fading warmth where she once lay. He felt strange, as if his soul was no longer his soul, but part of someone else's. He felt complete…
'God,' he thought as he pushed off the covers and stood up, 'that is so cliché.' He quickly dressed and picked up the apartment, trying not to let his mind wander too much. It was slightly disheartening to him to know that his whole being was basically held in the hands of a very pretty gothic girl, who lived next door. He was no longer himself anymore, he was a lover to someone far more sensual than he was.
After he showered and dressed, Richard was ready to head off to Wayne Manor. He had some snooping to do concerning a certain stuck-up superheroine who happened to be stealing the glory in his end of the city. As he grabbed his keys, a shift in light caused a shimmer of purple on his pillow.
"That's Bea's hair…" Richard whispered slightly, smiling. 'She was pretty closed-mouthed last night, I guess it would hurt if I at least found out a little more about her. Some how I'm having trouble believing she's from some tiny, po-dunk mountain town in Siberia.' He snatched up another evidence bag and dropped a few lavender hairs into it. He paused for a moment and looked at the few hairs, feeling a little like he was betraying her trust. 'Oh well, I just hope she doesn't find out, she'll shoot me.'
With his evidence bags in tow, Richard stepped outside his apartment, and took the first steps to visit Wayne Manor.
-
"You know," Bruce said conversationally as he watched Richard scan the few, long, lavender hairs he pulled from a bag, "you're not being very sporting about this. What happened to the good, old-fashioned days when two superheroes duked it out to get information? Kids just have too much technology these days…" He shook his head and sighed in mock-frustration.
"I'd be careful there, Bruce," Richard responded, eyes never faltering from the computer screen. "You could start sounding like an old man."
Bruce made a sound of indigence as he defensively crossed his arms over his chest. "If I didn't like you enough, you would be dead by now." He walked up behind the younger boy, eyes locking on the monitor in front of both of them. "In all seriousness, Richard… what did you find out?"
"She's half demon." Richard finally turned and looked at his friend, steady eyes never betraying his skipping heart. She was no ordinary person, she was a demon; someone who could control black magic whenever she felt it necessary. The idea frightened him deeply, this was no ordinary superhero he was dealing with; this was something far more powerful, and chillingly dark.
"Her DNA is unstable because of obscure union between demon and human, that's why her powers are so amazing." Richard turned back to the monitor and saved her file to the master computer. "They're kind of like an odd side effect… you know, kinda like viagra."
Bruce snorted inelegantly, a smile passing over his lips. "Like what?"
Richard grinned slyly as his eyes caught Bruce's. "Well, viagra was originally used as a blood-thinner, it wasn't until after awhile that the scientists discovered that there were other side-effects."
"I don't know if I would enjoy being compared to viagra if I was a girl." Bruce slid into a chair and laughed slightly. Richard just shrugged as he disposed of all of Raven's hairs, making sure nothing fell into the wrong hands.
"I'm not comparing her, I'm using it as an analogy." He cleared the screen and very carefully placed Beatrice's own hairs on the scanning pad.
There was a moment of silence before Bruce decided he should give some advice. "Dick, don't you think it's a violation of trust for you to be scanning Beatrice's hair? If there's something she's not telling you, there's probably a reason why."
"She kept leading me in circles yesterday, Bruce," Richard responded calmly, his fingers flying over the keypad. "It's not that I don't trust her, but every question that I asked about her heritage was turned back toward me. She completely avoided the subject." He turned back to Bruce and shrugged slightly, as if to say he was at wits-end, and had no where else to turn. "Besides, I'm having trouble believing she's from a range of mountains in Siberia."
His explanation, however, was lost on Bruce. The older man's bewildered eyes were glued to the screen behind his companion, and his mouth was open slightly in shock. There was a slow, heavy pause before he dare said anything. Finally, he turned to his companion carefully. "Hey, Dick… did you dispose of all of Raven's hair?"
"Yeah." Richard was busy looked for the pen he dropped under the console.
Bruce swallowed a lump that had lodged its self in his throat. This was not good. "And you're positive you didn't mix up the hairs?"
"Yeah, why?" Richard stared at his friend a little oddly before he sat up and turned around to stare at the screen. In that very instant, he felt as though his gut had been punched and all the air emptied from his lungs. His body went cold and all of his brain cells seemed to shut down automatically. What was flashing on the screen could not have been true… it couldn't!
"Exact Match…" Bruce murmured as he read the screen aloud. "Raven."
"No…" Richard whispered, pulling back from the screen. What had just happened? There had to be a reasonable, logical explanation as to why the monitor said what it did. "No, that can't be right! There has to be a mistake!" He rushed forward to clear the screen and try again.
Bruce quickly snapped up and grabbed his arm. "Look at the screen, Dick. Look… there's no mistaking that! Your lover is the girl you've been trying to avoid for the past few weeks. She's Raven." He hadn't meant the words to sound like venom, but they burned anyway. It was a cruel joke that Fate had played on them; Richard was head-over-heels in love with a superheroine… and a demon no less. This was not good, not good at all.
"It all makes sense now," Bruce began to pace, eyes never leaving the screen and Richard. "Why she was attacked… her hair… why she was suddenly at the theater, everything you told me, Dick. It all makes sense. She is Raven… Beatrice is Raven. I'm just mad we didn't see it before."
"We?" Richard hissed as he snapped around to stare at the pacing Bruce. His body felt cold and hot; wet and dry; infuriated and glad… he felt everything at once. Fury so hot he felt he would melt, and gladness so strong he wanted to burst out laughing. He loved Beatrice, he was attracted sexually to Raven… and he could have them both. But not without a price… he had to tell her the truth about him.
"Everything is going to turn be fine…" Bruce ventured carefully. He could see that his friend looked just about ready to check into a loony-bin. He was either going to cry, yell, or laugh; Bruce wasn't exactly sure which.
"That doesn't make it okay!" Richard suddenly whirled on his companion, eyes blazing with a sudden fury. Apparently he decided that anger was the best way to let his emotions escape. "She kept it from me! She kept everything from me!" He was suddenly feeling very betrayed and forlorn, how had this happened?
"Need I remind you that you kept everything from her." Bruce raised an accusing eyebrow, and stopped pacing. "I don't want to call you a hypocrite, Dick."
"Then don't," Richard bit out between clenched teeth. He snatched his keys and started up the stairs, every step shaking the ground he walked on. He felt confused and disoriented, as if he didn't know right from left and up from down. Everything blended together to make one sickening blur of color and feeling. "I'm going home… I have to talk to Bea about this."
Bruce slid in between his ward and the exit, hoping he could be a voice of reason to his 'son'. He looked angry, frustrated, betrayed, but most of all, he looked pissed-off. "Be careful about this, Dick. One wrong move and you can not only screw up your relationship, but you could unleash her powers. I recommend that you go about this delicately… and by delicately I mean with gentleness… and by that I mean-" Richard cut his babbling off quickly.
"What am I supposed to do, Bruce? Give her a mug of hot chocolate and tell her everything's going to be okay because I still love her and that's all that matters?" His entire being seethed with sudden burning anger and frustration.
"EXACTLY!" Bruce squared his broad shoulders and glared heatedly at the young man. Obviously he wasn't getting through to the dolt of a boy. "You love her, Dick. Don't think that I haven't noticed, because I have. There is a lot going on here that you have to be careful about… including your feelings. So what she didn't tell you that she was a superhero? That doesn't change her feelings towards you. But if you say one wrong, dumb-ass word to her, you can kiss everything you've found good-bye."
Richard took a deep breath before shoving a hand trough his hair. "Alright… I'll go about it your way…"
"You'll like my 'way'," Bruce snapped before grabbing the younger boy by the shoulders and shoving him out the door. "You'll get to keep Beatrice." He watched as Richard rushed through the lawn to his motorcycle, and waited until he pulled away.
"At least…" he added after the dust had settled, "I hope you get to keep her."
-
Okay… so, I know it's REALLY late, and REALLY crappy, but I was really busy and then I had writer's block and all sorts of things were just going wrong. But, chaptereight is finally finished and here for your enjoyment… or so I hope. Anyways, PLEASE review…. I'll try my darndest to get chapter eight out ASAP!
Love: Xaph!
Please love me! I love you!
