Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans
"What do you mean the League of Assassins are operating in Jump?"
Nightwing glared up at the giant tv screen which currently portrayed Batman's own grim face.
Raven paused from making her usual cup of tea to look at the brooding match currently going on in their living room. Gar, ever the one to remind the girls of the new kitchen rule stood what Raven deemed to be uneasily and unnecessarily close monitoring her every move. He looked up from his "supervision" to watch the dark cloud of apprehension and distrust in the living room grow.
While it was true that Nightwing and his former mentor had spent several years working on repairing their very damaged and strained relationship, they still held vastly different opinions on almost every subject. In fact, one of the most difficult obstacles to repairing their relationship had been how to learn to respect one another's differences of opinion. And more importantly, how not to take personal offense to the disagreement. Whether either would admit it or not, it was hard for them to not take the other's differing opinions personally. Dick looked up to his mentor and father figure while Bruce cared for and valued his adopted son's opinion greatly. Again, neither would ever admit it out loud, but it was obvious to those closest to them.
"Dude! You mean you're actually admitting to not knowing about the League of Assassins presence here in front of Batman himself!?" Gar exclaimed, half in amusement, half in disbelief.
A low growl from Nightwing accompanied the death glare he threw at the green man over his shoulder.
"I learned long ago that it is better to not try to hide crucial information such as this merely for the sake of pride," Nightwing stated in a clipped voice before returning his attention to his father.
When Nightwing's attention was fully back to the screen Starfire shot Gar a disappointed and disapproving frown from where she stood next to her boyfriend. Gar's only response to her frown was to stick his tongue out at her. This caused him to miss the wave of black energy that sent him toppling over the island he had been leaning against and to the floor behind.
His green head popped back up just in time to glare at Raven as she made her way out of the kitchen, steaming mug in her hand.
Catching the look, she raised an eyebrow at the changeling in a challenge. Silently admitting defeat, he simply huffed and joined the growing crowd at the computer screen.
Meanwhile, the original dynamic duo had been ignoring the commotion in the background and continued the conversation.
"Damnit, Bruce!" Nightwing slammed a fist down onto the keyboard. "How can I help you if you refuse to be honest and upfront with me?"
Batman raised an eyebrow of his own at the use of his name. The Titans had long ago learned the secret identities of the infamous Bat-Family and Bruce himself had even told them that they had first name privileges. In-person. When no one else was around. His son however was a different story, although even he typically refrained from using Batman's first name so blatantly, especially under such professional circumstances.
"I am being honest and upfront with you Nightwing," Batman's use of inflection on their leader's hero persona name was not lost on the Titans. "I only just received the information myself. However, this is a courtesy call. The League of Assassins is a Batman matter. I will handle it. The Titans will not interfere." Batman's voice was firm.
For the second time, Nightwing slammed his fist into the console. Raven tried not to wince. Cyborg would have some words about such treatment toward a computer, and the tower's mainframe computer no less.
"Bullshit. My city, my team, my rules, my call. You wanna send some backup, or a little birdie spy to ensure we don't screw it up? Fine. Go right ahead and waste some jet fuel. But I will not let you treat us like kids. And I will certainly not start allowing you into this city just to solve our problems."
"It's not your problem Dick, it's mine. I let the league get away and now I have to deal with the consequences. It's not that I don't trust you-"
"Bullshit. Again. You don't just let the League of Assassins "get away". You knew where they were going and were waiting to see if I would notice. It was a test. Well, congratulations. I didn't so I failed your stupid test. Now I'm going to deal with them myself and you're going to let me."
Batman's frown deepened at the determination in Nightwing's voice and the insistence that he deal with the league. Raven, Starfire, and Gar all tried to look as determined and serious as their leader sounded. They had long since learned that for whatever reason if Dick felt he needed to prove something to Bruce they were to back him up, no questions asked. In front of Bruce anyway. Dick also knew in turn that if he ever pushed his team's limits too far, he would hear about it.
Apparently seeing what he was looking for, Batman finally sighed.
"Fine. I'll let you deal with it."
Nightwing visibly relaxed at this.
"But Dick," Bruce's voice was hard and deadly serious. "Something goes wrong, one thing happens that is out of the norm, and you call. I mean the moment it gets out of hand you call me. Don't sit out there dick'n around, no "try and solve this before Bruce finds out". Not this time. You swallow your bigger than the planet ego and you call me for help. Period. Understood?"
Raven figured Nightwing was about to protest because Batman sat forward and for the first time she had ever seen, he removed the cowl. Deep brown eyes stared back at all of them with such seriousness and concern that Raven's breath hitched. She had never seen Batman or Bruce look so….worried.
"Richard, I'm serious. Lately, they've been into some pretty dark stuff. We're talking black magic-type shit. Even Zatanna and Constantine have never seen anything like it before."
This made Raven frown. At the mention of magic, she automatically knew that she would be spearheading that part of the investigation, but if Zatanna and Constantine had never come across the type of magic they were using….she tried not to think about it.
Raven felt rather than saw Gar watching her. His emotions had always been harder for her to read than the rest of the team, as though he could block her somehow. But right now, she didn't need to be an empath to know that he was concerned. For what, she didn't know, though she could hazard a guess. It wasn't exactly a pleasant thought that a group of known killers was running around practicing dark magic of rare and unknown origins in your city. Especially if it was your job to protect your city.
Raven was so focused on Gar and her own emotions that she almost missed the silent head nod that Nightwing gave his father. Without another word, the call disconnected and Nightwing turned to face them. With a heavy sigh, he ran a hand through his hair and looked at the floor, deep in thought.
Raven felt for him. Often, he had been placed in impossible situations, forced to make impossible decisions as their leader. Such a role took a toll on a person, no matter who they were. Even if they were trained and raised by the Batman himself for that exact position and purpose. Dick had once confided in them as his friends that he had once wanted nothing more than to be the leader of his own team. To call all of the shots and take on every problem head-on. To one day lead the Justice League into battle. To be Batman.
But Raven knew better. Even before his private confession to them all, she knew that he wanted nothing anywhere near that amount of responsibility. At least not anymore. Dick himself had admitted as much to them. Despite his hopes and desires as a young child, now that he had the job, it was the last thing he wanted. He now realized what such a leader went through and wanted no part of it.
Starfire had even once told Raven in confidence during one of their "thing" sessions as the guys called it, that she and Dick had begun casually discussing leaving the team and their future beyond.
Raven sighed. It was a difficult position, and she felt no envy of the person who filled it. She had even begun to wonder herself just how much longer they had together as a team. Before one of them broke from the pressure and strain of being a hero 24/7 and left. Never to be seen or heard from again. Or worse.
As they all waited in heavy silence for Nightwing to speak, Raven closed her eyes. She took a deep breath, mentally and emotionally preparing herself for what she was about to do. She knew that Nightwing was being silent because he was trying to process and deal with this new emotional and mental pressure and weight. So, in order to help him process and move on, she was going to take some of it from him.
It was not an easy feat, taking someone else's emotional and mental strain, weight, pain, etc. It took an enormous amount of concentration and skill, especially if Raven did not want the person, she was taking it from to know that she was taking it. It was also extremely risky. The amount of strength and power it sapped from her increased every time she did it as well as the recovery time. She also had to be extremely careful not to take too much at once or too fast. She had learned the hard way that taking all of someone's emotional and mental weight, especially too quickly, had unexpected and unpredictable consequences.
The final concern was that once taken, someone else's emotional and mental burden could not be simply thrown away or boxed up and left somewhere to rot. Once Raven took the burden on, it was hers, plain and simple. She couldn't get rid of it, process it, or even store it. It was simply added to her own burden and remained, forever glued to her figurative shoulders. But this concern was the one she was the least concerned with. She could handle it. She always did. Whatever it took, whatever sacrifice needed to be made for her team, she would make it.
Raven planted her feet and inhaled again, this time slowly siphoning off the mental and emotional turmoil of their leader. Only when she could feel the weight on her shoulders, as though she had actually put a physical weight on them, did she stop.
Opening her eyes, Raven could see that Nightwing's shoulders looked a little lighter.
She exhaled with relief as the room began to swim. A slow, dull pounding became noticeable in her head, and Raven stumbled back a step, in order to keep her balance. She braced herself to try and keep steady, but another wave of dizziness made her stomach turn. She closed her eyes to try and stave off the dizziness and nausea. Her knees shook with effort as she tried not to stumble back again. She only succeeded in locking her knees and braced herself to fall to the ground.
She briefly wondered what half-cooked explanation she would offer to her team at her unprompted collapse when she realized that she still had not fallen.
Raven opened her eyes again to realize that she remained perfectly steady on her feet, and not of her own effort. She blinked several times at the large green arm that was currently wrapped around her waist.
'Wow, I must have felt pretty bad if I didn't realize that he was close enough to put his arm around me.' She thought to herself.
Raven began to slowly take stock of just how close they were.
Her shoulder was pressed into Gar's bare chest while his arm held her tightly around the waist. His other hand grasped her hand that held her tea mug in a firm, but gentle hold. His warm breath tickled her ear and made the loose strands of her hair dance over her shoulder. She could smell his sharp scent of pine, rainforest, and clove that made her head swim, and not because she was dizzy.
Raven looked up to see his deep green eyes, along with the rest of his green face, mere inches from her own. She fought back a blush as she realized how close their mouths were.
As the thought entered her mind, his eyes flashed to her lips. Unbidden, she was sure of it, his tongue darted out and licked his lips. Raven bit her own lip in turn. Almost as if in response to her biting her lip, Gar's grip on her tightened, if only briefly.
As though she had bitten him instead of her lip, Gar shoved Raven away and was suddenly yards away from her.
Raven shivered, suddenly cold. She had not realized just how warm he could be. Trying not to miss his warmth, Raven turned back to the rest of the room, remembering that they had an audience.
Nightwing was looking back at the computer screen grumbling to himself about files and GPS coordinates. Thankfully their oblivious leader had once again proven to be oblivious. Starfire on the other hand was watching both Raven and Gar with concern and a knowing gleam in her eye. Raven sent the Tameranian a silent glare, willing her into silence. Starfire sent Raven a smirk and a wink and turned her attention back to her boyfriend. Raven could tell that it was all Starfire could do to suppress a giggle as well.
While the other two young adults in the room were currently occupied, Raven snuck a sly glance over her shoulder at the green changeling.
She bit back a gasp when she found him watching her intensely. Though the look on his face was one of concern as well, his concern was accompanied by suspicion.
Raven frowned, curious as to why he was suddenly suspicious of her. Then she realized.
Raven's eyes widened and she whipped her head back around so he couldn't see the expression on her face. The room had been silent when she had taken a deep breath earlier. And with such big green ears of his…
Raven gulped as she shakily raised her mug of tea to her lips.
Gar knew something was up. The question was, how much did he know?
