Nightwing dreaded this day. Every single time it was this day, he would lock himself away in his room and drown in his work. It was a distraction, or at least he tried to make it be. But it still got to him.

He would spend the whole day cooped up in his office going through the same files over and over, just hoping the day would end quickly. He would ignore his teammates coming to check on him, to offer him food or help.

But everyone gave him his space. They understood. They all had their moments where they'd want to just be alone.

Beast Boy's was the day his parents died. Starfire's was the day she and her sister fought, and she defeated her sister. Cyborg's was the day he became half robot.

Raven's, still, was her birthday.

She had been locked away, holding that stupid clock in her hands, her leg bouncing on its own accord, her mind a mess. Mainly, her mind being in the state it had been in was what had brought the Boy Wonder to her room.

"Raven? Is everything alright?"

She snapped out of her trance. "Yeah, everything's fine."

He had been silent for a moment, and she'd felt his slight frustration through the thick metal door. "When are you going to stop lying to me?"

She let out an exasperated sigh and stood, striding to the door, opening it up just enough to peer through at him. "I'm not-"

"Bullshit." He tapped his temple. "I can feel something's up with you."

"Nightwing, it's-"

"Complicated?" He sighed, placing his hands on his hips and staring at his feet. "Raven, you know you can tell me anything." He looked up at her, finding her eyes. "Just let me in."

She had felt how wounded he felt in that moment. He wanted nothing more than to just know what was bothering her, he wanted to help. He hated how he felt in the dark when it came to Raven.

She had pushed the door open more and allowed him to come inside, turning back and walking to her bed. Raven assumed her previous position, one leg folded beneath her, the other dangling over the edge of the bed, her hands clasped around the clock, eyes fixated on the second hand as it passed the seven.

"Raven." The bed dipped under her leader's added weight. "What's this all about?"

She bit her lip and looked up at him. She wanted to say it, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything. Sighing, she dropped her eyes from his, staring back at the clock.

"Star actually cooked something for you. And it doesn't even had mustard in it."

Raven flicked her eyes up to Nightwing, an eyebrow raised in suspicion. "Seriously, she did. She didn't know what to make, so Beast Boy suggested cookies. They actually aren't bad."

Her expression softened.

"Raven, please." Nightwing had reached out, placing a calloused hand on her knee. "Just tell me-"

"You know what today is."

Nightwing locked his eyes on hers, slowly Raven saw the spark of realization in them. "That's what you're afraid of? Raven, we took down your father. He isn't coming back."

When Raven still hadn't looked up from the clock, Nightwing reached up to his own face, taking off the mask and balancing it on her knee. This caught her attention, and she looked up into those icy blue eyes, searching them.

Slowly, Nightwing had brought his hands up to hold Raven's face steady and focused on him. Her eyes stayed fixated on his, and she allowed a few tears to cascade down her cheeks.

"Raven, why are you so afraid?" He all but whispered to her.

In one fluid motion, Raven had thrown the clock away from her and locked her arms around Nightwing, burying her face in the crook of his neck. She mumbled something unintelligible, and Nightwing couldn't understand it.

"What?" He asked, his hands lightly pushed her shoulders so he could see her.

"What if he comes back?" Her voice had been barely above a whisper, and Nightwing felt how hurt she was.

Nightwing had pulled the pale girl into his arms, cradling her head back into the crook of his neck and placed his free hand on her back, rubbing smal circles and he began a slow rocking motion.

"He isn't coming back, Raven. You have nothing to fear anymore."

And that night is what brought the sorceress to Nightwing's door. She knocked twice, waiting for a response. After a few seconds, when no one came to the door, she called out his name.

Still no response.

Raven pressed her ear to the door, then spoke in her normal monotone voice. "Nightwing, I know something's bothering you."

She couldn't hear anything. "Richard, you need to let me in."

The door flew open and Raven walked in, seeing the back of Nightwing's head just over his office chair. He held a sheet of paper in his hand, a red pen scanning along the line he was currently reading.

"What do you want, Raven? I'm trying to catch up on some files." There was an edge to his voice and Raven caught onto it immediately.

"Bullshit." Raven said, crossing her arms over her chest, standing so that she faced him. "You and I finished up the files last night."

He still didn't meet her eyes, just kept his attention on the paper.

She sighed, using her powers to rip the paper and pen from his hands and tossed them to some unseen place in the room, ungracefully plopping down on the desk in front of him.

He released a deep breath. "Raven, I was-"

"No, you weren't." She snapped at him, finally drawing his attention.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked her.

"Why am I doing what? Coming to see what the problem is with my best friend? Gee, I don't know what I was thinking."

"Raven, you know that's not what I meant."

She uncrossed her arms and gripped the edge of the desk. "You helped me. I can help you, Richard, but only if you allow me. Only if you let me in."

Raven felt the pull of his emotions. Anger, grief, regret, sorrow. She felt it all. Then, she felt overwhelmed with sadness. She was so thrown off that her breath caught in her throat. After a few moments she recovered, then slowly, she reached for the mask, once again removing it from his face.

His eyes were glassy, and he hesitated before meeting Raven's eyes.

"Tell me." She whispered to him, running a hand through his hair.

"Today," he said after a moment, "is my mother's birthday."

Her heart reached out to him.

He pulled open the top drawer on the left side of his desk, reaching in and grabbing a thick stack of envelopes held together by a rubber band and extending it to Raven.

"What are these?"

"It's a bunch of letters." He paused, taking a deep, shaky breath. "Each one addressed to my mother. I wrote one every year, on her birthday, the first year after she died. I told her about school, about my problems, about my friends." He sniffled, looking up to meet her eyes once again. "It's everything I wish I could've told her."

Nightwing launched to his feet, wrapping his arms around her and hiding his face in the crook if her neck, just as she had done to him. The first sob broke Raven's heart. She dropped the stack of letters on the desk and wrapped her arms around him, causing him to hold her tighter.

Moments later, she let out a surprised squeak when she was dragged off the desk and fell into Richard's lap. He now laid his head against her chest, letting himself cry in front of her. She ran her fingers through his hair soothingly, the other rubbing up and down his arm.

"She's proud of you, Richard. She's proud of what you've done for everyone. She's proud to calm you her son. I just know it."

He cried a little harder and squeezed her a little tighter.

Raven now understood two things. One, she understood how much it hurt her to hear Richard cry. And two, she knew that she could depend on him to bring her out of her sadness, and he could count on her to help him through his.