Chapter Ten: Batgirl
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or Batman, or Batgirl.
Author's Notes: Don't worry; this will be a Robin-Raven fic. The two birds will be back after a short pause! In this chapter, "Batgirl" out guest star enters as Terra prepares to come to Gotham after seeing that Robin checked into a hotel room. Next chapter, news of a visitor!
Peace & Love,
Luna Boulevardes
Jim Gordon sat in his office, going over case after case after case. These were the cold files that hadn't been looked at in years, where the killer was never found. He sighed, remembering thesad case of John and Mary Grayson. Tragic, very tragic. Still, Dick Grayson was now a rich, lucky brat who had the privilege of being the adopted son of Bruce Wayne. Not most orpahns were so lucky.
He shifted through a few more things, and then looked up in surprise when Bruce Wayne himself walked through the door. He blinked.
"Can I help you, Mr. Wayne?" Jim asked, looking at him with mixed confusion and curiosity. Bruce sighed.
"You have a daughter, don't you?" he asked hesitantly. Jim looked at him strangely. That was an odd question. . .
"Um, yes, yes I do." Jim said, clearing his throat importantly. Barbara had just gotten out of college, and would be coming back to Gotham for a while to work and earn a little money before she was in the real world. That way, she'd have a little for an apartment of her own and a steady job on her resume.
"I will pay her an insane amount of money- just name your price-to look after the girl living in my house," Bruce begged in way that made Jim pity him.
"I'm sure Barbara would be . . . delighted to drop by and check it out," the detective said slowly.
"Good," Bruce said. "Very good, I'll see you later then," he strutted out of the building with a smile on his face.
Since Raven had kicked Robin out to the house (he was still wondering how'd she'd managed to get him out of his own home!), she slept most of the time and was an absolute misery. She didn't eat, she didn't wash, she didn't do anything at all. And neither he nor Alfred knew how to respond to a young woman.
Not to say they hadn't tried. They did everything they could; cleaned for her, talked to her, brought her books, fed her . . . she was an absolute nightmare anyway. Her room was never clean for long. She had no interest in the books. Everything that she ate she threw up, and no one knew why (a bad appointment with therapist proven it wasn't bulimia). And conversation? Burst into tears and released chaos every time.
The one time Bruce had mentioned she might go back to Jump City ended badly. She wailed incessantly, and all around the house things began to spontaneously self-combust. Bruce never brought the subject up again.
With Barbara coming down though, she'd have a companion and better yet it would be someone who had known Robin and could possibly reconcile them. Would that ever be nice! Bruce smiled. Who said billionaires were stuck up and did no good for anyone but themselves?
Raven stared in the mirror. She looked like a cross between a WWII soldier with serious PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and a famine victim. She was so skinny now that none of her clothes fit, and yet her stomach bulged forth, swollen. It had been two and a half weeks since she had thrown Robin out of the mansion, and she felt a little guilty.
She missed him!
She missed being held. She missed the little snatches of talking. She missed showering with him. And she had a million little things she wanted to tell him, like how the dawn smelled from the sunroom this morning, and how her tongue felt against the top of her mouth now that she'd burnt it drinking hot coffee.
She wanted the little things like watching him work out, and when he'd kiss her forehead. She wanted to slip into the bed drunk and have wild sex, screaming promises she never intended to keep. She wanted to feel his hair under her finger tips. She wanted to wake up so early she got to watch him sleep.
Oh, she missed him!
Raven sighed, and flipped on the TV. That was about all she had the energy to do these days. September was closing in quickly, and she wasn't sure what was in store. She couldn't go back to Jump City, and she had a feeling Bruce and Alfred would not tolerate having her in Gotham forever, especially if Golden Boy Robin was not approving it.
Why did she make him leave? Talk about stupid decisions! He had been the best thing to happen to her and she had thrown it into the rain out of spite and anger. Raven cried. The TV blared on, and she cried.
"Miss Raven?" it was a question. She looked at Alfred. He cringed. She was so thin her breasts sagged down into her chest and her face was drawn. She was pale, with long, slender, cigarette fingers. He was concerned for the poor girl's health. The butler made a mental note about a doctor's appointment for her.
Yay Alfred!
"What?" she asked, wiping her tears away from her face. She looked down, and her abdomen stuck out and got in the path of her feet. What the hell was wrong with her anyway?
"Master Bruce has called in a . . . companion for you," Alfred said, picking his words carefully. He really did not want to upset her any further.
"Alright. . ." Raven said, a bit curious now. She ran her fingers through her hair. She took a quick look in the mirror. Clean white top, clean jeans. They would have to do. She surprised herself when she realized her legs could barely support her body. Raven fell back, but Alfread caught her. She cast him a grateful look. He was much nicer to her than Bruce was.
"Perhaps you would prefer the elevator?" he asked. She nodded. He allowed her to cling to his arm and be supported while they walked down the hall.
Downstairs, she spied two people. One was an older man, perhaps in his forties or fifties, with glasses, a drawn face and light brown hair. Beside him was a girl with light brown hair and blue eyes, who looked about college age. She had on jeans and a green t-shirt with a yellow scarf draped stylishly on her neck. Raven scrutinized them, and slowly walked forth.
Scrawny was the first word that came to Barbara's mind upon seeing the girl. She was short and skinny, and looked as though she might collapse at any given moment. She warily extended a hand, and Barbara felt as though she was dealing with an easily excited cat.
"You must be Raven," she said, trying to break the ice. Well, that didn't work. The girl gave her a skittish look.
"How do you know my name?" she asked, her voice shaking a little bit. Barbara frowned.
"Didn't you know we were coming?" she asked. Raven shook her head.
"No one tells me anything around here," she said with a defeated sigh. She sat down, and the Gordons sat too. She looked very tired. Barbara felt sort of bad for the girl.
"Why are you here?" she asked, as though trying to recall something. Jim began to speak but his daughter cut him off.
"Bruce Wayne wants to hire me to be a companion to you," Barbara said bluntly. Raven considered it. She liked that this girl hadn't beaten around the bush. At least someone around here would tell her like it was. Raven went over it carefully. A companion . . . was that anything like a friend? She hoped so. Although she'd stick needles in her eyeballs before she admitted it, she missed Terra and Starfire and their stupid antics.
"I'd like that," Raven said slowly, still thinking about it a bit. "I think I would really like that," she smiled slightly. Barbara nodded. So it was settled then. Bruce Wayne would feed her, board her, and give her a crazy amount of money to look after skittish-cat-girl here.
Sweet!
As Barbara sat in her bedroom for what would be the last time for a while,she thought about her new charge.
First, she was absolutely terrified of Barbara, it seemed. Not that Barbara blamed her. A little interrogating had led her to find out that no one really did do anything to help Raven. She was sort on her own all the time. And she was fighting with her boyfriend, that couldn't be good. Barbara wondered what Robin could've said to make her so mad and him so guilty that he was kicked out of his own house.
But, Robin was fine, she knew. He was living in the Wayne Hotel, and enjoying seeing the sights of Gotham, a little shopping and working out. Some business matters needed to be taken care of too, but he didn't tell and Barbara didn't ask. She wondered if she should mention him to Raven.
Most importantly, though, the first thing was going to do at her new job was drag Raven in to see a doctor. She was too thin as any idiot could see. Barbara was not about to have her die on the job. Nope, not happening. They were could see Dr. Livingston, the woman who looked after Barbara. She was a nice woman who could handle any situation thrown her way.
Seeing that she didn't need to unpack, Barbara sat down in front of the TV. She stated tomorrow, and until then there was nothing to do but wait.
Beast Boy was startled as a refreshed looking Starfire had entered the room. She had made MANY life changes since the wedding incident. First the hair cut, and then she changed her uniform.
Now she wore an outfit similar to Blackfire's, although hers was belly bearing still and the gems on her hands and throat were green. The protectors on her arms helped her defense and aimers on her arms helped her shoot starbolts as they locked on a target. Also, she was more versatile after ditching long purple boots and indulging in small silver bootlettes, rather like Raven's although no one mentioned that.
Her latest change was convincing people that "Teen Titans" was no longer appropriate and officially changing the name to simply "The Titans". It earned them much more respect.
As she walked in now, she was wearing baggy gray sweatpants and a huge lavender sweater. Starfire sighed as she helped herself to a steaming cup of coffee. It was early.
"You look like you just got laid," Beast Boy said with a smirk. Starfire met it with one of her own, now becoming more common.
"Maybe I did," she retorted. Beast Boy stared. His video game was forgotten.
"Are you serious?" he asked, looking at her in disbelief. Starfire laughed. "Dude! Who's the lucky guy?" It now in the brief silence that Beast Boy heard Terra's voice;
"Cy, you look like you just got laid!"
"Maybe I did,"
Starfire and Cyborg? Well whoda thunk it! Terra thought happily as she packed her bags. She was heading out for Gotham. Extensive research (aka a tabloid magazine) and negotiation (aka an argument with the manager of the Wayne Hotel) had yielded that Robin, and Robin alone, was indeed checked in there. And she was off for a little confrontation.
Terra had discovered through online research that Robin had connections to Bruce Wayne, and hacking into the security system had shown that Raven was there. Without Robin. Strange, but Terra was never the one to judge on those things. Now all she had to do was get down to Gotham and go talk to Raven.
Um, good luck with that.
As Terra completed her packing job, she slipped her plane tickets into her coat pocket. Very good! Now all she had left to do was confront the Titans. They didn't know about that little outing she had planned. . .
Terra sighed. She knew it was for the best. Robin and Raven needed to come back to Jump City. Things hadn't been the same without everyone there. Everything had changed. Enough was enough already. At least she wanted to know that they were safe.
"Hey guys," Terra said as she walked into the main room. They stared at her.
"Why are you out of uniform?" Cyborg asked, looking at the girl with a critical eye. Terra giggled. She tended to do that when she was nervous.
"Look, I planned a little trip . . . I found some evidence that Raven and Robin may be in Gotham. I'm flying out there tonight, and I'll be staying there a while. I'll call in when my plans are absolute," she reassured them.
"Are you sure?" Beast Boy asked, giving her an incredulous look. "You could be gone for, like, ever!" he whined.
"Yeah, and what if Raven and Robin don't want to see you?" Cyborg pointed out to her. Terra sighed.
"I won't know that until I get there. And no offense, but I'm the best one for the job. BB would get distracted, and not be taken seriously. Cyborg is needed here to lead, because none of us are very good at it. And with Starfire. . . well, yeah." Terra finished. "Look, I'll be fine and I promise to call, okay?" she said. "Communicator is online," she said laughingly.
"Well, good luck," Cyborg said, clapping her shoulder.
"We will miss you, friend!" Starfire exclaimed, hugging her tightly.
"Bye," Beast Boy said sadly. He hugged her, and then kissed her hard. She smiled at them, and disappeared through the door.
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