Oh guys! I'm so sorry for the delay. lots of stuff going. thanks for all the reviews! Sorry again.
on with the story.
I do not own the Teen Titans, clearly.
Nightwing paced outside the room nervously. After finding Raven he had had to call Batman so he could bring her back to the Batcave, to safety. She was still unconscious and he wouldn't risk her life again by taking her on his motorcycle with him. She was barely hanging on as it was. Now, Batman was inside the infirmary checking on her vitals, she had not woken up yet, and the ex-titan was in frenzy. His mentor would not allow him in yet, not in his current mental state. He paced and paced angrily, the guilt was consuming, this was his fault after all. The door opened abruptly, tearing the masked vigilante from his train of thought.
"How is she?" the younger man asked the older one, approaching him urgently.
"Stable," Batman answered emotionlessly as he blocked Richard's path while he tried to peek inside the room, although all he was able to see was a flicker of lavender hair.
"What else Batman? Is she awake? Is she healing herself?" He ran his hands frantically through his jet black hair. "I need to see her, just let me in. What's the big deal?"
"The big deal? Look at yourself Richard, you are a mess, unfocused, on the edge of madness. You're in the exact situation I tried to avoid."
"What do you expect me to do? This is my entire fault Bruce. If I would've been with her, this wouldn't have happened! Just let me stay with her for a while, I need to, I just—"
"Fine. But as soon as she is up, I want her gone Dick. You can't have any more distractions. We already discussed this." And with that said, Batman left, marching away irritated by his protégé's behavior.
Nightwing entered the infirmary noiselessly; the stillness of the room was filled with the soft humming and beeping of the several machines that were connected to her. Then he saw her. A painful knot tied itself around his throat. There she was, her violet tresses sprawled across the white pillows, her small frame lost in the white sheets. She was laying on the hospital bed peacefully, although she wasn't levitating, which meant she wasn't healing. He rushed to her side and kneeled beside her, feeling utterly hopeless and drained. Tears stung in the back of his eyes, but he managed to hold them back. He brushed away a lock of hair from her face, and tucked it safely behind her ear. He kissed her forehead and stayed by her side until the darkness of exhaustion consumed him.
2 years ago
"Rae? Are you here?" he asked as he entered the flat they shared. He dropped the keys on the kitchen counter and plopped down on the couch. They were both working together in Blüdhaven after the Teen Titans disbanded.
Richard had left the tower first, claiming he wanted to recreate his hero identity, seeing as he had grown out his Robin phase. Now he went as Nightwing, night vigilante, a new threat for the criminals of the area.
Raven was one of the last ones to leave the Titans, and she was still trying to figure out what her next move would be. She was planning on studying at Blüdhaven University, so she was crashing at Dick's in the meantime, until she was completely settled in the city.
Of course Richard took advantage of her stay, trying to convince to work with him during his nightly patrols. At first she resisted, claiming her identity in the city was precious for her if she wanted to be accepted by B.U.; but Nightwing was persistent and deep inside her, she still wanted to be a hero. So they both teamed up and fought bad guys during the night. Raven had also had an identity makeover, replacing her leotard with a full length black Kevlar suit, and a simple black mask to protect her identity.
"Hey, you're back." She stepped inside the living room and greeted him. "Any news on the drug lord location?"
"Actually I got the coordinates, we're heading there tonight. Is that okay with you?" he looked up at her from the couch.
"If that's okay with you, I'm fine." She replied in her usual monotone as she headed towards the kitchen to make some tea.
"Great, we leave in an hour then. Tim will be joining us, just for back up."
"Back up? He's just a kid Richard, isn't this mission a bit dangerous for him?" she inquired as she poured the hot water on her favorite mug. Batman's new Robin, Tim, occasionally accompanied them, he was sent by the bat himself for extra training. Although Raven was quite sure he was sent to spy on them. Batman didn't exactly love the idea of his foster son working away from Gotham or Jump City, let alone with her. Raven and Batman didn't get along. She didn't have a problem with him, it was him that didn't trust her, and it made her furious.
"Tim won't be on sight, he'll be around, and he will just show up if we really need more help. It'll be fine Rae, don't worry." He smiled at her as she sipped her tea, lost in thought again.
Later that night, Nightwing and Raven ran silently across the rooftops of the abandoned factories of the West side of town. Robin was waiting a few blocks away just in case it was too much to handle. The procedure was simple, take down the guys, block the guns with Raven's powers and hand the drug dealers to the authorities.
Everything was going according to plan, they had taken everyone down and were waiting for the police to show up, when unexpectedly, a random thug appeared out on nowhere and fired his gun, aiming it at Nightwing. Before thinking it twice, Raven stepped in front of the bullet and although she managed to put up a shield, her powers weren't strong enough and the bullet shattered it and finally buried itself in her arm.
Her scream pierced the silence of the night as she crumpled to the ground, clutching her limb in pain. Just on queue, the police showed up and brought the author of the shot down. Nightwing kneeled beside his injured partner and cursed as he called on Robin, his hands trembling in unadulterated fear.
Both guys had managed to take her back to the apartment and she was now resting on her bed. Her healing was working fast but Richard's anger was setting her off, making her focus falter.
"If you want to say something, just say it" She mumbled as she managed to sit on the bed.
"That was totally uncalled for Raven, what the hell were you thinking?!" he spat as he turned his back on her.
"What did you expect me to do? I wasn't going to let you take the shot!" she replied, questioning his sudden harshness.
"Do you guys need anything or…?" Tim popped in but he quickly retreated back to the living room as he received a shower of death glares from both Raven and Nightwing.
"It was reckless nonetheless! What if… what if something happened to you Raven? What was I to do?"
"I can heal Nightwing, it's almost gone by now, see? Besides, the shield was supposed to protect us." She said stepping out of bed and standing up to confront him.
"But it didn't. It wasn't strong and look at what happened!" he turned around and grabbed her by the shoulders tightly, sending waves of electricity through her.
"It's nothing now, look." She uncovered her arm, showing him that it was almost a scar. "But if you had been shot, Richard, I couldn't- I." She was about to choke on her own tears, but she managed to keep on discussing, her violet eyes piercing through his mask "If something happened to you I… I couldn't live with myself…"
Silence filled the room for a moment, the tension between them thick and palpable.
"Hopefully Batman had sent Robin, at least we could bring you home to safety."
"He didn't send him for back up! I can't believe you're so blind! He sends him to keep an eye on you, on me. He doesn't trust me. He never did and he never will." She turned around out of his grasp, but before she could walk away he grabbed her wrist firmly, pushing her against his chest.
"I don't need his approval Raven. I trust you. I would put my life on your hands, I—I— to hell with Batman." He ripped his mask away, revealing his brutal cerulean eyes to her. She gasped in surprise but before she could utter a word his lips came crashing down on hers.
Please tell me what you think, I shall update faster and sooner that way. So a little trip to the past... hope you liked it :)