This is a robrae/nightrae story, so if that's not your cup of tea, then probably best to skip this one.
Please do not repost or copy/paste.
Ric Grayson was having a busy week, his cab had been whizzing people from the airport to as far as Gotham, with the run up to both Valentine's Day and the annual Bludhaven comic-con. To make it worse he was sure his brain was playing tricks on him because he kept seeing a lady with black hair that almost looked purple in the sun and a long black coat that almost looked like a cape that seemed to find the slightest breeze to flutter around her… he'd spotted her outside the library, the loose leaf tea shop and the police station… but mostly he'd see her at Brenda's Cafe, sipping her Assam tea. The first time their eyes had met he'd been startled by the violet contacts, but strangely they seem to suit her. She'd held his glaze as if she could see through his eyes and into his soul, in a way that even Bruce Wayne hadn't been able to achieve. Then a bunch of kids had come in blocking his view, by the time they had passed, she'd left.
Ric opened the door of his Budhaven apartment to a pile of valentine cards, all in varying shades of red to pink. Ric huffed out a sigh, he didn't really know why he opened them, as they were all addressed to "Dick". Amongst others, he'd received one from Kori with the i dotted with a heart and one from Babs. He knew they were hurt and frustrated that he couldn't remember them, but he wasn't Dick anymore… and why would anyone choose to be called Dick anyway?
Ric went through the rest of the cards, each addressed to "Dick", with witty banter or heartfelt prose but none with a name he remembered… so he tossed them in the bin. He couldn't wait for Valentine's day to be over so there would be no more cards to wade through. He had a day fare tomorrow, some woman, with more money than sense, had hired his taxi on the day rate. It was good money but an early start at 7am… before sunrise. He rolled his eyes, who would be crazy enough to want to go out in Bludhaven before sunrise… tourists…
When his alarm went off the next morning, he tossed it out of the window. As a result he over slept and with much swearing rushed around his apartment in an effort to not be late for his 7am pick-up. He skidded to a halt at the front door. Lying face up on the mat was a card. Someone must have hand delivered it because the dark purple envelope was simply addressed to "Richard Grayson" in a flowing script… no address, no postmark. Curious, he opened the card. It was… different. The cover had a fluffy robin perched within a purple heart under the protective wing of a black raven… his interest was piqued as he looked inside… there was no name just "Somebody believed" written in the same flowing script as the envelope. His heart skipped a beat and he frowned like there was something there that he couldn't see or something had tugged on his heart and mind that he couldn't remember… frustrated he unthinkingly stuffed the card in his jacket pocket and walked out. He didn't have time for mysterious cards, he was going to be late.
He got to Bludhaven Park just as the first rays of sun ventured above the Atlantic. He parked his taxi, wondering where his fare was, then he saw her, at least he assumed it was her, she was the only person there. She was standing at the edge, gazing out at the ocean, the wind blowing both her hair and coat around her still form, giving her an almost ethereal appearance. His heart skipped another beat, causing him to falter, then deciding he was being stupid, he walked towards her. As he approached he saw her coat was not black, as he'd thought, but a midnight blue, the hood had been blown back and the wind played with her hair, making it dance in the sunrise. Before he could announce his presence, she said in a voice that was as soft and ethereal as her appearance, "I love sunrise. The promise of a new day… anything's possible."
He contributed this skipped heartbeat to the surprised that she'd heard him approach as he was sure he'd hardly made a sound. Taking a deep breathe, Ric stepped to the viewing platform next to her, he wanted to ask if she was his fare, but what came out of his mouth was "You always so cheery this early?"
He couldn't explain the words, nor why he'd said them, nor why they had felt strangely right, almost like they had been said before. They stood in strangely comfortable silence, as if they had been doing so for years instead of minutes, and watched the sun as it left the water for the sky until an angry rumble interrupted the silence much to Ric's embarrassment.
Before he could apologise, she turned her violet eyes to look at him, the corner of her mouth lifting in the smallest smile as she said, "Hungry?"
His heart skipped another beat and he wondered if he should go see that Doctor that Bruce kept trying to make him see. He was getting that feeling again, something he couldn't quite explain, like deja vu or something just out of reach, something familiar and yet…
"Sure…" and then it hit him… black hair with purple highlights and violet contacts… "You're the girl from Brenda's Cafe?"
She smiled and inclined her head in a regal gesture, "I'm Rachel Roth. Thank you for agreeing to be my chauffeur for the day. How about we start by getting some breakfast at Brenda's Cafe?"
If Ric was confused at why she needed a taxi to get to Brenda's cafe or waste her day fare on eating breakfast when he could have just picked her up from Brenda's after, he held his tongue. It was her money and her time, he'd been paid upfront. "Please call me Ric"
Slightly amused by another regal nod of acceptance, he gestured towards his taxi with an "After you ma-lady," absently rubbing his chest at another skipped heart beat.
Gracing him with another small smile, Rachel swept past him and walked to the taxi.
Surprisingly she slid into the front passenger seat, Ric hesitated before sliding in behind the wheel. "My fares normally sit in the back Ms Roth…"
"Please call me Rachel and perhaps you will make an exception this once," Rachel murmured softly, "you see he's lost and I need to find him."
"Who?" Ric asked, wondering if he was having a heart murmur or some kind of heart attack, why did almost everything she say result in a skip of his heart beat and a bad case of deja vu.
"My friend… Richard."
Ric gapped at her and before he could stop himself said, "You hired a taxi to look for your boyfriend?!"
He saw the blush sweep across her face, making her look adorably flustered, "He's not my boyfriend!" She said her ethereal voice soft but firm.
Ric raised his eyebrows even as his heart fluttered again, "So what? He's a friend that just happens to be a boy?"
"…Yes, I suppose"
Ric smirked as he parked outside Brenda's.
Soon they were settled in a booth, with a plate of waffles topped with strawberries and chocolate sauce and a cup of Assam tea in front of Rachel and a plate of pancakes topped with bananas and maple syrup with a mug of coffee in front of Ric. Ric decided he might as well find out more, "So Rachel, for some reason I thought you'd order pancakes for breakfast."
His mouth relaxed into a lopsided grin before his mind caught up, causing him to pause as his expression changed to confusion, that wasn't what he had intended to say. Surprisingly she was unfazed and responded, "well I have been known to say I love waffles more than life itself…" she paused as Ric experienced another skipped heartbeat.
"To tell you the truth, I tried to make pancakes for breakfast once and was reliably informed that they tasted 'like incinerated glorka roaches'…"
Ric's heart skipped another beat and while he had no idea what a glorka roach was, he said, "it was nice of you to make breakfast," pausing at another skipped heartbeat, he continued, "so what does your friend that just happens to be a boy look like?"
Rachel had been enthusiastically eating her waffles, but she paused and looked over at him at his question… as she put down her fork he felt a little guilty, but before he could retract his question she said, "He's about 6 foot, has an unruly mop of black hair and Azar blue eyes…"
Ric realised he shouldn't have chosen that moment to have a fully loaded bite, as he choked on his pancake at another skipped heartbeat, "azar?"
Rachel paused again, then with a faint smile said, "azure… it's a shade of blue"
Feeling a little stupid, Ric stopped with the questions and once again they fell into comfortable silence as they ate. His heart skipped another beat when he looked up to see her violet eyes studying him over her cup of tea. Once she had his attention, Rachel calmly started to talk, "Richard was last seen in Gotham, but he Iived and worked here in Bludhaven, so I thought I should start here. Maybe we could drive to some of the places Richard would visit?"
Ric nodded, "Where would you like to start?"
"Let's start with The Mountain, it's the True Master's Martial Arts Training Centre…"
Ric rubbed his chest at another skipped heartbeat, prompting Rachel to look at him in concern as she said in her soft voice, "are you okay?"
He sighed and realised he would have to provide some sort of explanation, "Sorry, I seem to have one of those days, a weird combination of deja vu and my heart keeps skipping a beat… like… almost like…"
He trailed off as he realised he'd been about to say … almost like a memory.
"Do you want to stop?" Rachel asked softly.
"No, I'm fine." Ric assured her.
Rachel looked at him, and once again he had the bizarre feeling that those violet eyes were looking directly into his soul, searching. Thankfully, she was distracted as he pulled up in front of The Mountain. Rachel hesitated. "Please, I'll be ok."
At those words of assurance, Rachel got out of the car and seemed to glide inside with her coat bellowing around her. After a moments hesitation, Ric followed her, since it beat sitting in the taxi. He was only a couple of minutes behind, but she seemed to have disappeared… she seemed to do that a lot… he briefly wondered why that felt… normal.
The place looked deserted, but then out of the corner of his eye he saw a wizened old lady, he called out "Uh, excuse me?" There was no response, so he increased his voice "Excuse m-"
"Go away!" She said as a turnip flew at his head, he caught it a few millimetres from his face.
"Um, sorry to bother you, but I have come to train with the True Master." Ric paused, slightly confused, "No wait, I mean…"
She rolled her eyes as she interrupted him to say "Of course you do… but the True Master will not train you… first you have to prove your worth by completing the bear, snake and monkey classes", as she spoke she gestured to the board.
He frowned at the board as his heart skipped another beat. "Ah, young warrior. You take things much too seriously."
Ric jumped a foot in the air as he spun round to the wizened old lady now standing next to him peering up at him, turnips forgotten. "Tell your girlfriend that if she wants to find the answers she seeks...you must get to the top of the mountain before night falls."
"She's not my…"
The wizened old lady had disappeared and Rachel, dressed as Robin was standing in front of him, violet eyes hidden behind the domino mask. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as his heart skipped another beat. When he opened his eyes, Rachel was back in her cloak-like coat. She hesitated… "You don't know me, it's ok, I can carry on the search alone"
Ric responded on instinct, "I know enough"
He was still slightly confused, skipping heartbeats, crazy deja vu... and now having… what… visions… blackouts? Great… but at least he'd made her smile.
"Why don't we stop for lunch?"
Surprised he looked at his watch, sure enough it was almost 1pm… "Why don't we try "Jump City Pizza"?
They drove to Jump City Pizza in relative silence. Broken only once they had sat down. Rachel was looking at the menu, "Why don't we just get one between us, you can pick, I'm ok with most toppings, as long as it's not pickles, bananas, and mint frosting"
The soft uptick of her lips told him it was a joke… he laughed although it sounded a bit strangled. "Let's just go with pepperoni…"
He understood her ease with letting him order when she nibbled her single slice in the time it took him to wolf down the rest…
She glazed at him "Better?"
He paused… surprised as he realised that he did in fact feel better, as if he was soothed just by her presence and strangely comfortable silence.
She didn't wait for an answer, "Did you know Haley's Circus are in Budhaven for one day and one evening only before they move to Gotham?"
"Haley's Circus!" the fog cleared and Ric grinned, "now you're talking! I grew up there… until…"
He wasn't sure if he imagined her eyes softening as if she she knew, but was waited for him to say it aloud. When he didn't continue, she said, "Richard loved the circus, his favourite was the trapeze"
Ric glanced over at her in surprise… "Really? Mine too.."
They spent an afternoon walking through the circus grounds looking for Richard in the crowds as he regaled her with tales of life at the circus. He even won her a little toy monkey in a red jacket which clapped symbols when it was wound up. He found the thing oddly disturbing, but couldn't say why, she on the other graced him with her trademark half smile and said "I must be the luckiest girl in the world."
Ric wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic and he was distracted by another skipped beat, but he saw her place the toy monkey carefully in an inner pocket of her voluminous midnight blue coat, so maybe she really did like it…
Rachel was decidedly unimpressed with the magician's act, claiming 'it was all smoke and mirrors' in an ominous voice, which caused Ric to smirk even as his heart fluttered again.
They watched the main show, mesmerised with the trapeze and laughed at the clowns… well he laughed, she just looked mildly amused.
After he insisted on riding the big wheel and when Rachel hesitated, pointed out that she'd be able to look for her friend who happens to be a boy from the top. She hesitated until she saw the hopeful lop-sided grin on his face and sighed… "fine."
He didn't give her a chance to change her mind, grabbing her hand and not letting go until they were strapped in. After a while she relaxed and he grinned, truly enjoying the views, the sky was so clear you could see Gotham in the distance. Caught up in the moment, he put his arm around her and turned her as he pointed out the sights… although she initially stiffened, she couldn't help but relax, as if his good humour and joy was somehow contagious, as he continued his enthusiastic spiel, going so far as to cheekily point out the Bat crouched on a gargoyle atop Gotham's clock tower.
As the sun started to set he bought some candy floss, the vendor looked at them and smiled, "I got just the one for you" he said, while swirling blue and purple floss onto a stick as if he'd done it for them many times before.
Ric paid for the massive stick of candy floss, ignoring the vendor's knowing smirk. Then he grabbed Rachel's hand again, "Come on, I know the best place to see the fireworks!"
They climbed the slope to a grassy verge and he briefly remembered the old woman telling him to get to the top before nightfall. He brushed off the now familiar flutter, and found a spot throwing himself down on the soft grass. Rachel sat down with a little more grace, before leaning over to grab a cloud of candy floss. They settled in watching the sunset in all it's glory as they waited for the fireworks to start, just enjoying the candy floss and the hustle of the circus below.
"So… if you don't mind me asking… what is it with you and Richard?" Ric asked, after spending the day with her trying to find this guy, he figured he was allowed to ask.
Rachel glanced at him and then let her eyes drift back towards the brightening lights of Haley's Circus in the darkening sky, "We have a bond - I've been inside his mind."
Ric smirked…"Right… a "bond" huh? So how long have you been in love with this Richard guy?"
"It's not love," the response was quick and probably as firm as her ethereal voice could get.
Ric raised an eyebrow, leading Rachel to hesitate before elaborating softly, "I thought it was love. I honestly believed it was, but it turns out I was wrong. She explained that I didn't love him and he didn't love me…"
"She…?" Ric barely managed not to roll his eyes, "did it ever occur to you that she might have liked him too"
Rachel looked past him, into the embers of her memories, "it doesn't matter anymore. I promised that I would never kiss him again. Our friendship was everything to me, I couldn't loose it, not without loosing myself as well. No one I've kissed before or after has made me feel the way he did, like the dawn had finally arrived and I was floating on sunshine"
Ric wasn't sure whether to shake her in anger or soothe her in sympathy… instead he said, "well maybe I should give you a kiss…you know, for comparison…?"
Violet eyes met his, wide with surprise as her face reddened… Ric's blue eyes had once again clouded with confusion, and his mind stumbled over the words even as a blush crept across his own face. Before he could apologise and plead temporary insanity, Rachel whispered "I guess one kiss can't hurt…"
His heart stopped, and for a moment he seriously wondered if his heart had finally given up and after a day of skipped beats, he was finally having a heart attack, low oxygen to the brain might explained the words randomly spewing from his mouth the whole day. His eyes flicked to her lips. If he was going to die anyway, he might as well kiss her… she didn't move, so he leaned in and as his lips touched hers. Haley's Circus went black and his heart exploded flooding him with white light. The shattering explosion of memories and emotions crashed through him, even as the fireworks exploded in the nights sky.
Neither of them noticed when Raven's powers lifted them off the ground, nor when Richard started glowing a soft baby blue as Raven's healing magic ran through him, healing his wounds, sparking his memories, warming his heart and filling his world until it felt like… he was floating on sunshine. Dick finally lifted his head and opened his azure eyes to look into her violet ones which were brimming with emotions. "Somebody believed," she said as she pulled him into one of her rare hugs.
Dick's look of surprise faded to a warm smile as he gathered her as close as he could and said the words she had been longing to hear, for a really long time, "Raven… let's go home."
Small print:
- Teen Titans/Nightwing are owned by DC Comics.
- Raven and Nightwing were created by the dynamic duo of Marc Wolfman and George Perez.
- Dick Grayson was created and introduced as Robin by Bill Finger and Bob Kane.
- This story takes snippets from the Teen Titans Animated Series and combines them with the events in New Teen Titans/Nightwing/Batman/Titans in DC comics.
- This is retelling of how Dick Grayson regains his memories. It is an original work by me.
- The text in italics denotes quotes from the awesome Teen Titans Animated Series, which set the bar way too high… and a few from Teen Titans Go! (What can I say? The show has it's moments)