A/N: Yeah, I finally decided to update on of my stories…
I know, I'm lazy and really slow, but my life is really complicated right now, so bear with me…
Thanks and kudos to ChaiChi for beta-ing this chapter… thank you very, very, very, very much… you are truly awesome…
Dedicated to Cherry Jade, because she is going through a hard time right now and I wish her all the best.
Disclaimer: I don't own them!
Chapter Ten:
Bloody Destiny
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"You are nervous," Raven stated as she and Richard entered a luxurious apartment-complex.
"I'm not nervous!" Richard said defensively and they waited for the lift.
"You are!" she teased
"I'm not!" he growled back.
"You are!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"A-" He stopped himself before he could say it again. "You know that we sound like three year old kids?" Richard asked and they entered the lift.
"Yeah, I know," she answered and smiled. "But you are nervous."
"I'm no-" Richard sent her a glare and grunted something incoherently.
"What? I couldn't really catch that?"
Richard sighed. "Yes, you are right, I am nervous," he admitted as they walked out of the lift. Raven grabbed his arm, pulling him to the side.
"You don't have to be nervous, you know," she said, looking into his blue eyes. "It will be only Gar and Kori. You already meet them and they like you, believe me."
Richard sighed again. "Yes, they know me, but only as your annoying neighbor and not as your boyfriend. It's different now. They may have loved me as your neighbor, but what if they don't like me as your boyfriend? What if they think I'm not good enough for you? What if they just hate me?" He said this all in one breath and Raven couldn't help herself but grin.
"If you feel better, you're still annoying," she teased him, attempting to lighten the mood. But as she saw his frown, she gently reached for his right cheek and stroked it gently. "Richard, don't worry. They like you and they will still like you when I tell them that you are my boyfriend. I mean, who wouldn't love you?" She assured him with a wink and tiptoed to give him an innocent kiss on his cheek, before Richard grabbed her wrist and claimed her lips rather passionately.
When he finally let go of her, he flashed her his trademarked lopsided smile. "You are right, nobody can resist my charm." He paused, before adding, "I mean, if I succeeded to melt the ice-princess's heart than… ouch!" Richard traced his lower lip with tongue and looked at the dark woman in front him unbelievingly. "You bit me?" It came out more as a question than a statement.
Raven smirked. "Wow, way to go Einstein."
"You know, if you feel that feisty we can go back to my place, there you can bite as much as you want to," Richard purred into Raven's ear and nibbled on her earlobe.
Raven smacked him playfully on his arm. "Behave!" she ordered. "Are you feeling better?"
"Yes," he said and afterwards added. "Thanks!"
"Anything for my dahling." She grinned and Richard was once again amazed by how beautiful she was, before she began trotting towards a particular door.
"Did you just call me dahling?" he asked, creeped out. All he got was a laugh. He jogged next to, as Raven rang the bell.
They heard some faint footsteps from inside and within seconds the door burst open, revealing the tall and handsome Garfield Logan.
Gar smiled happily at Raven, but his smile seemed to shatter into millions of pieces as his eyes caught of Richard standing next to Raven, their hands intertwined.
"H-Hey," Gar hesitantly said.
"Hi, Garfield," Raven greeted back.
"Hey," Richard said asking himself why it seemed as if the air between the three was as thick as ice.
Garfield blinked and gestured them to come inside without saying anything else. He led them to his big kitchen where an overjoyed Kori was already sitting on the table.
"Raven, there you are!" Kori nearly screamed and rushed towards Raven, encircling her in death hug.
"K-Kori… can't breathe," Raven managed to choke out, and Kori let go of her.
"Sorry," She mumbled sheepishly before she caught sight of Richard. "Oh, you brought Richard with you! That's fantastic. You both finally managed to get along?" the red-head excitedly asked – her big smile never wavering.
'To get along is a nice way to describe our relationship' Richard thought as he proceeded to answer, but Raven beat him to it.
"Actually, we… um… you know… we…"
Richard grinned and helped his stuttering girlfriend. He loved to see her nervous and flushing, she was just too cute this way – not that he would tell her that. No. God help him, she would probably kill him if he said such a thing to her.
"We are together!" Richard confidently announced and everybody fell silent…
…until Kori leaped for Richard and Raven and hugged them both.
"That's glorious, wonderful! The best news I have heard for a long time." She released and jumped up and down with joy. "You both are so perfect for each other. When did you get together and why didn't you tell sooner? Who asked whom? Did you kiss him or he you? Does your mum know…?" And the question didn't stop.
Richard leaned down to Raven and whispered. "Is this normal and are we supposed to answer?" he asked, somehow creeped out again. He had never seen a person talking so much with such an enthusiasm. It was amazing.
Raven just rolled her eyes.
"You know, you and Richard and me and Roy could go on a double date. That would be wonderful, so ro-"
Raven stopped her before she could continue to babble. "Whatever you want," she said between clenched teeth. "But please stop talking and asking all these questions!"
Kori looked at her for a moment as if she was deeply hurt, before her smile broke out again. "Ok, but you have to tell me everything – later," she said with a wink in her eyes and Richard knew that this wink couldn't mean anything good. He was glad that Raven wasn't the kind of girlfriend who would walk around boasting and telling every juicy detail about their relationship…
"Yeah, later…" Raven winked back, and Richard's eyes widened as he realized that he wasn't that fortunate.
"So… you both are… together now?" Garfield's voice could be heard for the first time since Richard had announced that he and Raven were an item.
Raven smiled a bit and nodded.
"That's cool – really great…" Garfield said and he asked himself if anybody other than him noticed that his voice sounded high-pitched – almost hysterical. He looked around and saw that Kori had dragged Raven to the table, chattering with her about who knows what.
He wanted to look at Richard, but he just couldn't bring himself to do that. Gar feared that he might break down or hit Richard hard and the worst was that he really didn't know why.
Ok, that was a lie, he knew why, but what he didn't know was why Raven didn't know.
Wasn't it obvious that he, Garfield Logan, loved her? But then again how was she supposed to know? He had never told her, never sent her any indications that he felt more than friendship for her. But that was only because he didn't know it himself; he wasn't sure himself. As the saying goes, you never know how much you love something until it's gone, and Raven was gone for him. He knew it – for sure.
He should be happy for her, because she was happy. Raven was happy or as happy as she could be. She even smiled. Raven never smiled, giggled, laughed, or teased, but she did it now and he was more than happy to see her smiling, giggling, laughing, and teasing. More than anybody else Raven should be happy, but why did it have to be Richard who made her happy, who made her smile and laugh? Why not him?
He would give up his life for her, Garfield knew that now, and he asked himself why he had spent so many years running after women who he hadn't loved or who hadn't loved him.
Because he was an idiot – a stupid idiot!
"You should have seen her!" Richard laughed and smiled at his girlfriend before turning again towards Kori. "She was totally plastered!" He laughed again. "But I have to say, she makes a good figure on the dance floor, doesn't she, Garfield?" He addressed the man who sat across from him.
The green-eyed man just nodded, unable to say anything.
"That is so not funny," Raven pouted and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"Oh, it is funny – and you know it," Richard teased her with a cocky grin. "If you excuse me now, I think I need to use the bathroom," he said still smiling and looked at Gar who seemed to be deep in thoughts.
"Oh," Garfield said as he realized that everybody was looking at him. "The bathroom is down the hall on the right side. I can show-"
Richard smiled and shook his head. "Thank you, but I will find it." And with that he stood up from his place and walked down the hall.
Once in the bathroom, he let out a sigh and looked at his reflection in the mirror. "What am I going to do?"
His reflection stared back at him and he asked himself for the hundredth time what had become of him. What had happened that he had to find a solution for not killing a human?
Why - for once – couldn't he be happy? Why couldn't he just enjoy being together with a woman he loved more than anything else?
To complicate things, Richard had realized that Garfield was jealous and in love with Raven. Yes, he did notice that. He was trained to notice such small things and to read the emotions of other people.
Garfield loved Raven.
That could come in handy later. He could use this information to ki-
Richard eyes winded in shook. What was he thinking? What was he doing? He couldn't think such things. He couldn't-
With a bitter burst of laughter, he bent down and splashed icy water against his face. Looking back up, he sighed. When had he begun to become such a monster?
"I don't have time to think about this."
'You need to'
"No I don't."
'You must think about it'
"Fuck off."
With a sigh, he opened the bathroom door and walked quietly to the kitchen, but before he could enter the kitchen, loud voices caught his attention.
"Friends, please do not argue!" Kori's worried voiced could be heard. Unfortunately from the spot he was standing he couldn't see them, he just heard them.
"No Kori, we have to argue," Raven spoke coldly.
"C'mon Raven, all I said was that you shouldn't trust this Richard so fast. I mean you don't know anything about him, do you?" Garfield argued back, but you could easily make out that he was worried about Raven.
"I know that he loves me, that is enough!" Raven spat out stoically and Richard's heart nearly broke at her words. She trusted and defended him against her friends and he did nothing to deserve that trust and love.
"Raven, don't be so naïve! How can you trust him when you know nothing about him? For all we know he could be a killer!" Garfield spat right back and Richard didn't know if he should laugh or cry at his words. If Garfield only knew how right he was.
"Garfield, don't be so stupid," Raven mocked him. "Do you really think Richard is someone to mistrust?" Her voice was harsh and cold, but it softened on her next words. "Can't you see that he makes me happy? I… I wasn't that happy since… since the death of my father. I... I love him, Gar, I really love him and I want my friends to approve of this relationship." Richard could hear her sigh. "But if you don't, then I have to accept that and go on with my love, but Gar, I won't let Richard walk away from me. No matter what happens. And I don't want you to walk away from me either."
'Ok, this was the time to make an appearance' Richard thought and marched as noisily as he managed to the kitchen.
They looked all at him as he entered the kitchen and if he hadn't listened to the conversation from the hall, he still could have guessed that something bad had happened, because everyone in the room looked rather angry or disappointed or sad.
"Uh…" Richard began and his icy blue eyes were fixed on Raven "Has something happened?" he asked as cluelessly as he could manage.
Raven just shook her head and looked from Garfield to Richard. "Nothing has happened," She sighed. "But I think… we should go now. I think you and Josh have another training-session today, haven't you?"
Richard nodded, and before he could protest or say anything else, Raven was already at the door, ready to leave.
He turned to the other two in the room and saw their – especially Garfield's – sad expressions. "Bye then…" Richard said awkwardly and nodded at them.
Kori just waved with a small smile and Garfield ignored him all together.
So, Richard just walked after Raven, knowing that he was responsible for all this mess.
Once outside, Raven threw her arms around Richard and buried her face in his chest. "I love you. You know that, don't you? You will never leave me, will you?" she whispered in his chest desperately.
Shocked at her display of affection in public, he just brought her closer and stroked her hair. "I know, and I love you too! I really do and I will never leave you – never!" The dark-haired man looked to the sky and wondered why his last words tasted like a lie in his mouth.
He was alone.
All of a sudden, bright light hit his face.
So bright.
He tried to cover his face. What was it? And then he looked at his hands as he brought them to his face.
Blood red.
They were bloody.
Completely covered in the warm liquid.
It dripped from his fingers as his mouth opened on a scream, but nothing came out.
He blinked and birds flew around him, white, purest white, doves. The symbol of peace...
Yet as they flew towards him, they changed...
A black pigment seeped along the spine of their feathers, dying the birds pitch black.
Ravens.
They were now black ravens.
He watched as they hurtled towards him, seeing without understanding as their sharp beaks dug at his skin.
"No! No!" he screamed, holding his arms in front of his face. He looked with a detached sense of terror at the pool of blood dripping down.
He blinked rapidly as he saw something appear in the puddle before him.
A face... red, liquid - a strangely beautiful face with violet hair and amethyst eyes...
"Nnnoooooo!" The whine came from his quivering lips as he desperately closed his eyes.
Other faces appeared, slowly, pulling themselves out of the blood, becoming three dimensional.
"NononononononononoNO!" He lunged upwards, thrashing his arms wildly.
The birds screamed angrily, and black feathers fell down and were sucked into the garnet puddle.
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"Nooooooo!" Richard jerked awake from his nightmare, breathing heavily. His right hand ran through his messy and sweaty hair.
"You always used to have nightmares, didn't you, Robin?" A deep and dark voiced reached his ears and Richard flinched slightly before catching himself again. "You always were too weak to endure them." A bark of laughter hailed through the dark and silent night.
"What are you doing here?" Richard asked harshly towards the direction where the voice came from.
"My my, Robin. Aren't you happy to see me again? Here I was thinking that you missed me," the man said with his deep voice.
"What do you want?" he spat out and wished that he could kill him and live his life in peace – just get rid of him.
"Ah, I just wanted to know how your next mission is getting along. I heard that you visited your prey today. Good, I see. You are still as good as you used to be. Getting to know your victim before murdering is the best way to kill them!"
"Shut up!" Richard screamed. "I'm not going to kill him. I won't do it, I-"
"You will, and you know that. I don't think that you would risk the life of your lovely bird," the mysterious man laughed. "By the way, I'm surprised that you aren't with her. You shouldn't leave such a beautiful woman alone, should you? There are many crazy people out there, and who knows what could happen if-"
Richard jerked out of his bed and lunged towards the man, pushing him at the floor. "Tell me, Slade, what holds me back to kill you right now?" he asked between clenched teeth and his hands pressed at Slade's throat.
Despite the fact that he was denied to breathe, the man managed to laugh. "Go ahead. Kill me, Robin! I know you want to do it… C'mon Robin, kill me. Do what you yearn to do! Kill. Me!"
Richard pressed harder on the man's throat. He clutched Slade's neck and saw him struggling. The air was denied exit or entry into Slade's lungs. It felt good seeing the man he hated more than anything else in the world in such a state.
Just bit more pressure and he could kill him. Just a bit and he could live in peace and Raven would be safe and-
Richard let go of the man's throat and pushed himself off of the heavily breathing man.
"I knew you wouldn't be able to kill me. You are weak – too weak, Robin!" Slade said as he stood up and approached Richard. "But since I am such a nice person, I will give you an option to escape the cruel fate of killing your pretty girlfriend's friend." He paused and looked at him under the mask he was wearing. "Come back with to Gotham and your little Raven and her family and friends will be safe. But before you begin to protest, think about everything you would risk by staying here in Jump City. Are you really willing to risk the life of your little Raven, just so you can live happily? Do you really want to cause her more pain and kill one of her friends?" And with these last words Slade disappeared.
Richard stumbled towards the wall, leaning against it. He cocked out in despair, "What am I supposed to do?" But as the words were out of his mouth, he knew what he hast to do.
There was just one option, and it didn't matter that this option would break his heart – and Raven's.
A/N: This was the last chapter before the new ones are beginning…
Yup, next chapter will be a new one and let me tell you that the next chapter will be full of action…
Only two or three more chapters and this story will be finished, although I'm not sure if you'll all like the end I have in my mind for this story…
Anyway, I wanted to thank everybody who had reviewed the last chapter… you guys are all so wonderful and awesome and just the very best… thank you very much for all the wonderful and encouraging reviews. I can't tell you how much they mean to me…
Oh, before I forget the winners of my challenge will be announced on Friday in my forum, but I'll PM the winners.
So, don't worry…
There will be five or six different winners for five or six different categories… but believe me it wasn't easy to choose the winners…
And the prizes will be: A preview for one of my progressing stories OR a one-shot written by me (You give me the summary and the pairing) OR picture drawn by me from your favourite character (It doesn't have to be from the Teen Titans... it can anything you want, but no drawings about pairings, because I really suck at drawing pairings) OR some original and completely out of my mind drawing by me.
You decide what you want and I'll do it... if I can, of course...
So,
last, but not least: How did you like this chapter…? Review and
tell me… okay…? I really want to know… so, pretty, pretty please leave me a small review...
That was it from me… for now…
Love, Alena
