Nightwing did not find it surprising when he found out that Raven liked, and sometimes even needed, platonic touch. She liked the reassurance that someone was there for her, and the contact seemed to calm her down some.
She would be perched on his desk helping him work through files, and he would occasionally bump her with his elbow, squeeze her hand, and his fingers lingered on hers a little longer when they would switch files or retrieve new ones.
Even during training, they were constantly brushing up against each other. He would wrap her wrists and knuckles when they would work on various types of martial arts and karate. He would pick her up off the ground after sparring matches (most of them she was on the ground, since she was more dependent on her powers to fight).
During fights, they would stick close to each other, and they fought alongside each other most of the time. They were hardly apart, nearly impossible to separate.
Raven knew this was a dream, but it still didn't make her feel any better.
Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Starfire were all MIA, leaving Raven and Nightwing to fight this fight alone.
And this was a fight they had fought before, but it was also a fight they had barely won. And, all five of them fought this battle.
Slade and the demon minions surrounded them, and they were struggling to keep fighting. They were beaten and broken, but they refused to give up. They fought back to back, constantly calling out to the other to make sure they were still conscious.
It was a brutal fight. A fight they were losing.
Slade finally managed to grab Raven around the middle, lifting her body and beginning to carry her away.
"Raven!" Nightwing yelled, pushing through the demons that were trying to pull him away from the girl he fought to protect with everything he had.
"Richard!" She called out, reaching her arms towards him. One of his arms stretched out, and their fingers just barely brushed, before he was thrown away, Raven losing sight of him in the sea of demons around them.
"It's time, my child." Slade's sinister voice was in her ear, and it made her shiver, made every fear she had ever had come back to life in that moment.
She screamed.
Raven!
She screamed even louder.
Raven!
She thrashed in Slade's arms, desperately trying to break free and run to Nightwing.
"Raven, it's okay!" Richard's voice finally broke through her haze. She bolted upright, eyes wide, trying to force oxygen into her lungs. Her hands were clenched in the sheets covering her body, also to hide the fact they were shaking badly.
"Talk to me." Richard's hands were on her again and she flinched, but he didn't remove his hands from her. One hand left her back and cupped her cheek, guiding her to face him.
She shook her head, covering her face with her hands and letting herself cry. Richard pulled her into the solace of his body, relieved when she didn't push him away, but instead gripped tightly onto the front of his shirt and pulled herself closer to him.
He eased them down onto the mattress, one hand cradling her head to his chest while the other ran soothingly up and down her side.
"Please don't let go."
He wouldn't as long as that was what she wanted.
"Please don't leave me."
He couldn't leave her even if he wanted to.
"Please don't hate me."
He would never be capable of hating her.
"I love you."
"I love you too."