Chapter Two-Life Changes

…Six Weeks Later…

"What could she possibly want now?" Richard asked over Rachel's crying.

"If I knew what she wanted, she wouldn't be crying," Kori snapped. She picked the wailing infant up and attempted to feed her. Rachel, however, had a different idea. The tiny baby began to scream more loudly.

"Here," Richard said, taking his daughter. "Mommy and Daddy don't want you to cry. We're really tired, Princess. Can you stop? Yes, that's a good girl."

Rachel stopped, staring up at her father with large emerald eyes.

"Oh, sure, she stops for you," Kori muttered.

By the time Rachel was a year old, father and daughter had a really close relationship.

"Up," she gurgled.

"No," replied Richard, who was leaning over her crib.

"Up," Rachel repeated.

"Sorry, sweetheart, but no."

"Up!" Rachel insisted, scowling.

"Mommy says you have to stay in your crib when we've put you in for the night."

"Up!" Rachel cried, throwing her tiny arms in the air.

"Oh, alright." Richard lifted her from her crib. "You could have flown, you know."

"Put the baby down, Richard," Kori said from the doorway.

"Kori-"

"Down," Kori said firmly.

"Up!" Rachel exclaimed happily.

"Come here to Mommy, Princess," Kori cooed.

"No, it's my turn!" Richard playfully stuck out his tongue.

"What are you, five?"

"Get out of our house, Gar!" the Graysons yelled together, with the exception of Rachel, who said, "Beas Bo!"

"See, she's happy to see me."

"Does Raven know you're here?" Richard asked pointedly.

Gar thought about this briefly. "No."

"THEN GO HOME!"

"Whatever," he mumbled.

"Bye Beas Bo!"

A few days later, Richard woke up and saw it was six a.m. He lay there trying to fall asleep again when he heard whispers.

Walking down the hall, he discovered the whispers were coming form Rachel's room. He opened the door and saw Vic and Gar talking to Rachel.

"You two are in my house," Richard said in a calm but deadly voice.

He was answered with silence.

"At six a.m."

More silence.

"On a Sunday morning."

"We wanted to see the baby," Gar offered meekly.

"She's just so cute," Vic added, taking his "niece" from Gar.

"Give me my kid."

"But…but…"

"Give me my kid," Richard repeated.

Vic handed her over, glaring.

"Now get out of my house."

Both former Titans remained perfectly still.

"Or I'll tell your wives."

They fled. (A/N Yes you read that right. Fled.)

Richard shook his head and looked down at Rachel.

"Sorry Princess. Scary, aren't they?"

"Cawey," Rachel agreed. (A/N That means 'scary'.)

"I think they mean well, though I don't know how Karen and Raven handle them."

"Kawen and Wayven," Rachel said. She recognized the names to be her "aunts".

"I love you Rachel. So does Mommy. We'll always be here for you," he promised.

"Daddy," Rachel said.

He kissed the top of her head. "You'll always be my little girl, Rachel."

It was at the tender age of four that Rachel discovered her father's secret. She had woken from a bad dream and wanted her Mommy and Daddy.

"Mommy? Daddy?" she asked, opening the door to their room.

Rachel recognized her mother but not her father because he was dressed as Nightwing.

"You're not Daddy," Rachel said accusingly, forgetting her fear at the sight of this stranger in her parents' room.

"This is Daddy," Kori said, crossing the room to Rachel and hugging her gently.

"No he's not Mommy! He's the bad-guy catcher from the news."

Richard sighed and removed his mask. "See?"

Rachel covered her face with her hands and ran back to her room.

"Richard," Kori sighed.

"I know."

"We lied to her. We lied to our baby."

"I know," Richard repeated. "Let's go explain; we owe it to her."

They walked down the hall to Rachel's room.

"Princess?" Kori asked gently.

"Go away."

The Grayson adults glanced at each other and went in anyway.

"Rachel-" Richard began.

"Daddy, you lied to me. You too Mommy. Why?" Rachel's voice shook and tears fell from her emerald eyes.

"We didn't tell you the truth to protect you, Rachel. Daddy's secret is a very dangerous one; we couldn't risk you telling anyone," Kori explained softly.

"I can keep Daddy's secret," Rachel said confidently.

"Sometimes we say things we don't mean to. Mommy and I wanted you to have a normal childhood," Richard added.

"I promise I'll never tell."

"We're so sorry, Princess," her mother said.

"It's OK."

"So you forgive us?" Richard asked.

"Course I do. I was just sad because now I know I have to share my Daddy with everyone else in the city."

"I'm only your daddy," Richard replied, and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you. Both of you." Rachel hugged her parents.

"We love you too, Princess."

…One Year Later…

"Sweetheart, you promised her you wouldn't cry," Richard said as they watched Rachel skip off to her first day of kindergarten.

"I know. But she's still a baby to me. Our baby."

"She's a big girl now, Kori. She'll be fine." Richard wiped away the few tears that had leaked from Kori's eyes.

"Can we keep her five years old forever?" Kori inquired, looking at Richard as if he could control such things.

"I wish we could, Kori, but we can't."

"But tonight you promised you would teach her some karate, did you not? And she has already mastered the art of flight, Richard. I fear she will inherit my other powers as well. Then she will become a hero like I was and you are," Kori said fearfully. "I don't want that for her."

"I don't want it for Rachel either," Richard said gently.

"Promise you won't let it happen."

"I can't stop her destiny. If it happens, it happens."

By the time Rachel was eight, Richard was satisfied that he'd trained her well, since she could now beat him in a sparring match. He never admitted it to her or anyone, but she was a lot better at it than he was. Nevertheless, they maintained their close relationship.

"Daddy!" she shouted as he walked in from work.

"Princess! How was school?" Richard asked as he gave her a hug.

"Fine." She giggled. "Robert Hawkins got in trouble for throwing an eraser at our teacher."

"Well, he's Virgil's kid, right? He's mischievous."

"Mom says to tell you we're having the Logans over tonight. They're bringing baby Arella with them, too."

"She's hardly a baby, Rachel, she's three years old," Richard replied with a chuckle. "What's for dessert?"

"Mom wouldn't tell me. I asked and asked but she wouldn't budge." Rachel pouted slightly.

"What are you learning in school?"

"Fractions. Boring."

Kori poked her head out of the kitchen. "Hi, Richard. Dinner in an hour."

"OK. Need any help?"

"No, I do not require any assistance. I need to discuss something with you, however."

Richard walked over to her, knowing exactly what she wanted to "discuss." He kissed her gently, which caused Rachel to groan. She knew she should be happy because her parents had been happily married for twelve years and not divorced. However, she did find their constant romance a bit disturbing.

After the Logans had gone home for the evening, Richard went into his office. His office had various photos of criminals from both work and his "rounds" as Nightwing. There was also a ton of filing cabinets.

"Paperwork," he grumbled to himself, settling down in front of his computer.

He had been at his work for a quarter of an hour before he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in, Rachel," he said.

The eight year old entered, dressed in her PJs.

"Bed time?" her father asked, turning in his chair to look at his little girl.

"It's eight thirty, Daddy. That would be my bedtime."

Richard gave a lopsided grin. "You're lucky I've become fond of you, Rach. Otherwise, you'd never get away with talking to me like that."

"Daddy," Rachel said exasperatedly. "You know we say the same thing every night. And every night you know that I know you don't mean what you say."

"Yeah, well."

"Can I have my hug so I can get to sleep before Mom makes me miss Saturday morning cartoons?"

"Fine," Richard replied, holding out his arms. Rachel cautiously approached him, not knowing if he might launch a tickle attack to her ribs. At the last second, he did.

"Daddy-please-stop!" Rachel shouted between bouts of laughter.

"OK, Princess." He stopped and gave her a real hug. Since Rachel had discovered his secret, they were very particular about their goodnights, never knowing if he'd still be alive when she woke the next morning.

"Now, get to bed," he said, pretending to be stern.

"Alright Daddy. Goodnight." She gave her father a kiss on the cheek. "I love you, Daddy."

"I love you, too, Princess."

Sometime after two in the morning, Richard woke up in a cold sweat. Kori woke, too, knowing when her Richard needed her.

"Richard, Richard, relax. It was only a dream," Kori said, taking a shaking Richard in her arms.

"Right, relax," he mumbled. "I have a bad feeling, Kori. Maybe we should take Rachel and go to Bruce's or something. We need to get out of here," he continued in a serious manner.

It was then that they smelled the smoke.

"Did you leave the oven on or something?"

"No, I am certain I did not," Kori replied, shaking her head.

"Then go get the bags for emergencies. I'm getting Rachel."

Kori quickly got out of bed and gathered the emergency bags. Richard insisted they keep clothing and supplies nearby in case of…well, an emergency. (A/N: Duh. Emergency + bag emergency bag)

Richard hastily ran down the hall to his daughter's room. He saw a shadow pass by the window. Almost forgetting his house was on fire, he opened the window and went to investigate what he saw.

"Slade!"

Slade turned. "Ah, Bird Boy. Where is that pretty daughter of yours?"

"You…why? How could you do this? Rachel has done nothing to you. My family has never done anything but protect the city from you," Richard ranted.

"Maybe she has never done anything, but you have. As I hate you, worthless child, I have gained the opportunity to destroy the Grayson family."

Angry, Richard threw himself at Slade, intending to kill him. But then he started to cough uncontrollably. And then he remembered his little princess, fast asleep with sweet dreams gracing her subconscious

"I'll deal with you later," he snarled.

Please let her be OK.

Thankfully she was lying unharmed, snug in her bed.

"Rachel, we've gotta go! The house is on fire!"

Rachel sat up and rubbed sleep from her eyes.

"Come on," he said, lifting his daughter from her bed.

Richard stumbled, trying to avoid falling beams. He carefully shielded Rachel from the flames as best he could, coughing the whole time. It made Rachel want to cry, hearing the hacking coughs of her Daddy.

Finally they made it out of their crumbling home. Rachel was gently set on the ground while Richard leaned against the trunk of a tree in their front yard. Rachel ran to her mother, who hugged her.

"I got some of your clothing, sweetheart," she told her daughter. "And your bear from when you were little."

A fireman approached the family.

"We've been able to contain the flames, ma'am," he said.

Kori nodded, still numb to it all.

Richard, who had sat down in an attempt to rest, started to cough again.

"Richard!" Kori cried, rushing over to him. She hugged him to her, never wanting to let go. Richard pulled away and kissed his wife.

"I love you, Kori. Don't ever forget that." Then he looked at Rachel. "You're safe now, Rach. Take care of your Mom." His eyes closed and a look of peace was etched on his face.

"Daddy!" Rachel wailed, but it was no use. He was gone.

Tears sprung to the emerald eyes of the Grayson women. Mother and daughter hugged each other as they cried.

"Make him wake up, Mommy. Please," Rachel begged.

"I…can't. He is truly d-d-dead." Kori began to sob more loudly, rocking Rachel back and forth gently.

Another fireman approached. "Do you have anyone to call? If not, someone will take you the station. You and your little girl need some rest, Ma'am."

Kori nodded, wiped away her tears and stood. Rachel continued to try to wake Richard, still bawling. Kori was handed a cell phone. Shaking, she dialed the Logans.

"Wassa matta?" Gar asked groggily.

"Gar, it's Kori."

"Kori, what's wrong?" he asked, immediately concerned about his friend.

"House…fire…Richard…"

"We'll be right there," he promised.

The Logans arrived five minutes later, Raven holding a sleeping Arella.

"Kori…how did this happen?" Raven asked her friend, staring at the rubble of what had once been 321 Angel Grove Boulevard.

"It was him, Aunt Raven," Rachel spat. "It was Slade. Daddy told me when he was rescuing me."

"Slade?" Kori questioned. "Are you sure? This was arson, not an accident?"

Rachel nodded. "Daddy told me."

Kori's eyes narrowed. "That-"

Raven quickly directed Kori's attention to Rachel, who had resumed her position at Richard's side.

"Wake up, Daddy," she said quietly. "Please."

"We'll take her home with us," Gar offered.

"Would you? I believe she needs her rest. I shall remain here and-"

"We'll be back first thing tomorrow," Raven assured her friend. She then did something unlike herself: offered a hug. Kori accepted, feeling the tiniest bit better.

Gar, in the meantime, had gone to collect Rachel.

"You're coming home with us," he told her quietly, kneeling beside her.

"Not without Daddy," Rachel said stubbornly.

"Look at your mother, Rachel. You're breaking her heart. Just come home and sleep. We'll be back tomorrow, I promise."

"No."

Gar picked her up. "I'm sorry, but you need rest," he replied, hoisting her up onto his shoulders.

"But Uncle Gar," Rachel whined. "My Daddy."

"I know you love him, Rachel. But he's-"

"HE ISN'T DEAD!" Rachel shouted.

Gar sighed and put her in the backseat of his car. She began to cry again, but silently.

When they arrived at the Logans' house, Gar again lifted her onto his shoulders and carried her into the house. She was tucked into the bed in the guest room. Raven sat with her until she fell asleep, repeating how sorry she was.

Rachel cried herself to sleep. It was 24 hours later when she woke. Her mother was next to her, still wide awake.

"Princess," she whispered.

"Mommy, is he really d-dead?" Rachel asked fearfully.

"I'm so sorry, Rachel, but he is."

"How?"

"Smoke inhalation, sweetheart."

"What's gonna happen to us?"

"Well, we have the store. It's almost Christmas, so we'll be getting a ton of wreath orders soon. I have a savings account; it's not too big, but it was in case something happened to one of us. It should get us an apartment, at the very least. It'll be OK."

"Daddy."

"I miss him, too. I miss him, too."

Aw…how sad. I cried writing this, I really did. Please R&R!

-iluvrobbie