Gwen West
Part Three – House
Dick decided that the only way to drive an expensive, high-class sports car was fast. Raven's fingers tapped on the steering wheel in time to a fast paced jazz CD that was blowing through the sound system. She was driving fast, driving cool, and, apparently, Gwen was used to it; she fell asleep only a few minutes into the ride. Dick became aware of something. Raven was taking them uptown, the polar opposite location of where he lived. He was going to be nice; he wanted her to drive him home. It would be one hell of a long walk. He got the distinct impression that where they were going, the busses wouldn't be running.
He didn't have anything to say to her, he didn't know where to start and where anything he started could possibly end. It shouldn't have been so hard for him to be nice, even if she was different, but a lot of things were hard for him, including the year that lead up to his moving back to the east coast, back to Gotham City.
Dick sighed, Raven raised her eyebrow and the traffic melted away. Uptown Gotham wasn't nearly as dirty and real as the rest of the city. Uptown was where the businessmen lived, Downtown was where their mistresses lived. Uptown was the money, Downtown was the blood, sweat and tears. Downtown was Dick Grayson; Uptown was Bruce Wayne… and apparently Raven Roth.
When Raven shifted gears, her fingers rubbed the leather of the shaft in such a way that no one would notice it if they weren't a talented observer. Dick noticed but didn't know what to say, still didn't know what to say about the weight of it all. That music kept coming through the stereo, Raven's left hand remained on the steering wheel, the right on the gear shaft, all her fingers were beating. His heartbeat didn't have such a coordinated rhythm.
Raven's apartment complex had underground parking and a doorman to meet her and open the door. His name tag said Jeffrey, one of the four stereotypic names for high end servants: Jeffrey, Albert, Jeeves and, of course, Alfred. Jeffrey's gloves were clean, he had a smile for Raven and the sleeping Miss Gwen West and kept that smile on his face as Dick totted a diaper bag and walked three paces behind Raven. They took the elevator to Raven's floor, they had to; the building was sixteen stories high and she lived on the top floor.
Her apartment number was six and was as high as the numbers went on that floor. The layout of the apartment complex was incredibly large, to think that the floor could only have six apartments meant that her home was more than a space for her, a baby and kitchen and a bathroom.
For the first time that day, he was right.
Raven keyed in and the moment he stepped into the apartment, Richard Grayson became stunningly aware that he wasn't in Kansas anymore. The word his mind supplied him to describe the feel of the apartment was a good one: sexy. Raven Roth's apartment was sexy. The angles were clean, the colors were natural, beige walls, leather furniture, the woods were deep and old, the edges rounded, everything was rounded, especially what was low to the ground: if Gwen were to bump her head, she'd rub, not bruise and that was probably the idea behind them all.
"This doesn't look like the kind of place a baby would live." Dick said.
"She didn't always live here. I did exist before Gwen. Don't know how though…"
She left the room to lay her baby down and Dick sat the pale blue diaper bag on the kitchen counter. There was a bar and expensive china, there were candles, book shelves, a magnificent sound system and art that looked in such a way to take away tiny bits of his soul.
She came back into the living room and had her shoes off, so Dick did the same. He tucked them under the coffee table, he was thankful he was smart enough to put on black socks.
"Do you like Brandy?" Raven asked as she made her approach to her mini-bar. She had taken out glasses before hearing his answer. She waited on selecting a bottle.
"I hate it. That's Bruce's drink."
"Indeed, I read that somewhere; that your former mentor enjoys his Brandy. What will you have?"
"Vodka if you got it, Gin if you don't."
She had Vodka and poured him a tumbler's worth and poured herself a tiny sliver of Brandy. He noticed the quality of the liquor immediately as something on the order of ridiculously expensive. He had never had a smoother drink in his entire life.
He had strolled the area of her condo just a bit, saw the etched vases and orchids, each of his steps bringing him closer and closer to the stacked bookshelves.
"You went to college." He noticed, finding two diplomas standing up against the worldly titles in her archive.
"I did."
"An Associates' degree in World Literature and a Masters' in Library Science… both from Gotham University. How long did it take you?"
"Just under three years. I expedited through the Associates degree and got my Masters' part time."
"What does one do with an Associates' degree in World Literature and a Masters' in Library Science?"
"I'm a librarian."
"The hell you are. No librarian makes this much money to afford a Jaguar, a penthouse apartment, expensive art, cloths and liquor, let alone support a baby."
"I'm a head librarian. With Gotham's recent historical renovations initiative, I made out very well with investments, connections and initiative. That's really all it takes…" She took a very shallow sip of her Brandy and watched him scan her bookshelf. His dark blue eyes stopped on a piece of yellow ribbon that was attached to a photo.
"And this is?"
"I told you I'm a head librarian. My specific library is the rare collections that were donated by Gotham University and by Bruce Wayne. That was the ribbon cutting for the new building."
Dick took another drink and felt the liquor warm him up just a bit, able to keep that dizzy feeling away so he could hold a conversation that luckily had become smoother. He took a drink and held the crystal tumbler in his hand and waited for his turn to speak again.
"You can guess why I'm in Gotham… what are you doing back here?"
He pursed his mouth a little, revealing she had hit something of a sour topic. "I got a job."
"Oh? Where?" Dick could tell that she knew exactly where. That old saying was true: women were the most subtle beasts in the garden now that snakes couldn't talk. Dick watched Raven take the tiniest sip from her tiny supply of alcohol then decided to answer.
"The only place that was hiring with my particular skills and talents…"
"And a place where you had connections." She cut in. She walked away from him to sit on her couch. The leather didn't object as she sank into her seat. Her right leg was crossed over the left. Her left hand held her Brandy, her right was stretched over the back of the sofa. He noticed her eyes, her chest, the way the cloth of her skirt bunched and rippled at her thighs. The spill of her purple hair played in perfect contrast with her white blouse and pale skin. He took another drink.
"It's hard quitting the vigilante business." He said, staying where he was. His eyes stayed on the various ornaments and decorations on her bookshelves.
"No more Nightwing?" Her voice came at him from the right with a tiny air of amusement.
"How do you know about that?"
"Every so often I get a call from Roy when he's passing through. Lian and Gwen have play dates."
"You know Garth's going to be a dad soon."
"Didn't know that." She admitted. "With whom?"
"You won't believe me."
"Who?" She asked again.
"Blackfire."
He heard her chuckled, then turned his head to look at her. She wasn't drinking any more of her Brandy. Aside from the two tiny sips he saw her take, she wasn't drinking it. She hadn't poured him enough to get him drunk, it wasn't immediately possible for him to deduce what she was doing. Her lips started to move and he realized she was talking again.
"Somehow, I do believe you… if anyone could tame her, it's Garth."
"He has a way with women."
"You used to have a way with women too… how are things with you and Kori?"
Dick finished his drink. "Kori became a model for some lingerie company. She does catwalks and photo shoots and campaigns. I'm sure you've seen one or two."
"I don't watch much TV, I haven't seen any. But that's not what I asked you."
"You're drinking that little bit of Brandy very slowly." Dick commented. He changed the subject quickly. He was somewhat thankful that Raven let him.
"I have to. I have no tolerance. I can get drunk on a thimble full."
"Then why have it?"
"You're the sleuth between us. You tell me."
Dick sat down with a good foot and a half between the pair. She was reclined back, he was hunched forward. His tumbler was empty, hers nearly there. They were equally drunk considering their tolerances. Dick pursed his lips again and Raven waited with one sleek eyebrow hitched just a bit.
"I suppose to give the father of your daughter confidence to go back to his own life after he visits you here."
"Bingo."
He was beginning to wonder if Raven possessed the capacity for shame. Every time she admitted her circumstance, one which Dick assumed carried very little pride, she didn't bat an eye, didn't worry her lips, didn't change her disposition at all.
"What does Wally do?" Dick asked.
"He's a talent agent."
"Talent agent?"
"He spots talent." She responded, swirling that tiny bit of liquor in her glass.
"Did he see something in you?"
Raven nods, drinks, waits.
"I suppose he had to if he was any good. You could have been in Playboy." Dick became aware that he had nothing left in his glass. Raven noticed as well. She took his tumbler and walked back to her bar and poured him a bit more.
"I can still be in Playboy." Raven responded as she twirled the stop back onto the crystal glass she kept her Vodka in.
"How much of your new look is it?" Dick asked as she handed him his glass.
"What?"
"That amulet on your wrist, it's a ward isn't it? How much has it changed your appearance?"
Raven nodded. "Just my skin tone."
"So the long hair is yours?"
Raven nodded. "It came with pregnancy. Usually in pregnancy women develop fuller bodies… because of some… complications that we're both aware of, that didn't occur with me. My hair grew longer, I grew a little taller and I lost a bit of that baby fat in my face."
"I suppose something like that would happen. Your body couldn't have gotten any more mature."
"When was the last time you created something beautiful?" Raven asked.
Dick raised his right brow. He thought for a few seconds then decided to tell her the truth. "Never have."
"I don't buy it. I think the reason why you're back in Gotham isn't for work. You could get work anywhere. I think you're here for Barbara Gordon."
"How do you know about her?"
"I've met her through mutual friends and if there's one thing she likes to talk about, it's Dick Grayson."
"I don't like talking about Dick Grayson. Let's talk about something more interesting or less pathetic. What was the last beautiful thing you created?"
"She's sleeping in the other room." Raven replied.
When Raven decided it was time for Dick to go home, it wasn't late at all. He only recognized the possibility of it being late when he realized he had an early lunch and no dinner. She stood behind him and watched him put his shoes back on at the doorway. She kept looking back towards her bedroom, as if she expected Gwendolyn to come crawling out any second. By the time had his loafers back on, she hadn't, but Raven kept that particular face.
Dick brushed off his pant legs and that tiny buzz from his alcohol. He stood up straight and realized that he was very much taller than her. She might have been five-nine with her heels, but without them she was lucky if she was five-six. He was over six feet tall, he had to look down at her, he had always had to look down at her… but years ago he made the mistake of looking down on her.
"I lied to you about something tonight." She said simply. "I hope you figure out what it was… let it be motivation for you to come back here."
"I'll come back tomorrow."
Raven shook her head in the negative. "Tomorrow's no good. That's Gwen's Daddy-Daughter day."
Dick shrugged. "I'll see you when she's off."
"No, I'm there too."
Dick rolled his tongue behind his lips. It was the closest he could come to holding his tongue. "You're still in love?"
"Like I'd be involved with anything as selfish as that."
Raven opened the door, let him out, and closed the door behind him. He got to the elevator and remembered that he wanted her to drive him home. Dick snapped his fingers as the elevator slid closed and prevented him from going back and asking for one. It wasn't that he couldn't defend himself against the terror of Gotham's night time streets or that the long walk was particularly inconvenient, it was just that it was a long walk and it would give him plenty of time to think about things.
It was well into spring. It wasn't cold any more, it wasn't hot yet. It was a comfortable season for the east coast. Dick tucked his fingers into his pants pockets and moved through the lit streets away from uptown, back towards downtown. He realized immediately when he had reached the demarcation for downtown, there were kids graffiting nonsense onto public buildings, but they all appeared to be rich kids with their oxford sweaters rolled up around their elbows and their hair gelled and parted just so.
He was one of those kids, who wanted to be dirty because he was stupid. He rebelled worse than any of those brats could think to and he was paying for it in ways he hadn't thought about. It was his biggest flaw, his short sidedness. It got him into more problems then he could put words to.
It was the reason his life was coming to complete a circle he wanted to remain as an arc. It wasn't so rare that he didn't get what he wanted. In fact, it was the story of his life. He was a loser, the kind of guy who would get then have it taken away. He had had a great life as a Flying Grayson, but that was stolen from him. He was a trusted ward, but he was fired from that by the person he trusted the most. He had become the leader of a group of heroes whose legacy was rivalled only by the absolute best, but after some many attacks, so many betrayals, so many deceptions of fate, the glimmer and fantastic sheen was pulled away. He had left the last leg of his life in the hands of Donna Troy and Victor Stone, though with him gone, with the Boy Wonder gone, they really weren't the Titans anymore. They were a group of adults who used to be kids with strong idealism and strong bonds.
Dick hated how things could simply peel away.
It started to rain.
Today was Thursday and on Monday he'd be starting his new job at Wayne Enterprises. He had brought that on himself, but he really didn't know where else to turn to. He hadn't gone to college, and his high school degree was a GED. He had been so busy playing the role of Boy Wonder that he hadn't thought about the end of it all. Only a few of them had: only a few of them had prepared to grow up.
Roy, Garth, Kori, Wally, Raven. They had all gotten out when they were ready to get out, to get what they wanted. From what he understood about their lives, it had worked out for them. Roy was a damn good specialist agent. Garth's family restaurant was the most popular food joint in Steel City. Kori's career didn't seem to have a limit; she was built for such international stardom. And Wally and Raven…
Dick keyed into his apartment and took off his wet shoes and socks. He tossed the shoes to the side and dunked his socks into his dirty clothes bin. The floor was hardwood and cool, convincing him to put on a pair of dry socks.
Gwen West. Wally West and Raven Roth and Gwendolyn West… I never thought she could do it… that Raven could get what she wanted… even if for a little while, she had Wally West and had a blue eyed girl to prove it. Gwen's nine months old, on top of the nine months of pregnancy… its been a year and a half at maximum… what has she been doing that whole time?
What did she lie to me about?
He should have kept better tabs on her. He should have kept tabs on her, he figured. He hadn't trusted her to grow up well without the Titans, somehow he hadn't believed she'd grow up at all. But then again, he had entrusted her with Melvin's team, he had trusted her with selecting the members of the Titans, he had believed her when she swore to keep his secret identity as exactly that, a secret. In all those tasks she was successful.
He could identify the part of himself that couldn't accept all of this. He massaged his feet for a while, checked his caller ID and found no one had called. Of course, all of three people had his phone number, including himself. Only Bruce and Raven knew he was in Gotham, and he had never thought to make Raven aware, so he could have only expected one person to call. Bruce hadn't.
Dick laid out on his couch and pulled a blanket over his body. His apartment was dark now and the rain struck at his single window that had an amazing view of the apartment complex next door.
He was going to have to see Bruce this weekend, probably endure a stuffy dinner and some lecture about responsibility that he wasn't even going to listen to. He'd make it look like he was making an effort to ingest Bruce's advice, but he wasn't actually going to take any of it to heart.
The things I do to start again.
Maybe I can fix some things that I did wrong the first time. Dick thumped his forehead with his index fingers.
Raven Roth and Gwen West… is there even anything for me to fix there?
Dick would consult his social calendar, even though he knew very well that it was empty, and decided he'd see Raven again this weekend and hear a little more about her world, the universe and Gwen West.
…
/ "Miss Roth, you're going to have to push."
"I am pushing!"
"You have to push harder."
Raven sighed and panted and concentrated on the next contraction. The delivery room was crowded, the air was hot and the father of her child wasn't holding her hand. A nurse held her leg back and wiped her forehead as Raven Roth gave birth by herself in midsummer.
"Miss Roth, it's a girl."
"Why isn't she crying?"
"Not all baby's cry at delivery." The doctor gave the child a firm paddle to her backside and the baby wailed softly.
"Be careful, she's so tiny." Raven sighed. She dropped back to the bed exhausted. The nurses cleaned her baby before passing her along to her mother. The child took to nursing immediately.
"Miss Roth, do you have a name selected?"
"Yes. Her name is Gwendolyn. G-w-e-n-d-o-l-y-n."
"That's a lovely choice. Her surname?"
"… West. W--- E-S-T. Gwendolyn West."
"Miss Roth, do you have any closest of kin who will be arriving?"
"Her father will be arriving. That guy... just loves to make an entrance." /
End of Part.
