A/N:Before I begin, let me point out that the switch between the real world and Jump City happen a lot in this chapter - so make sure you know who and what to see when Richard becomes Robin, Rachel becomes Raven, and Slade is either self! I made sure to look it over so the names are where they're supposed to be. Oh and I lied, this is longest chapter!
Warning: There's swearing and sexual themes mentioned. I didn't say anywhere in the previous chapters that there wasn't going to be a mention of pedophilia. What Ididsay was that I don't support it. So if you can't handle that then get someone older and more mature to read it then tell you in the innocent way, lol. But seriously, this is heavy. And now without further adieu...
"Jason, what're doing by the window?"
"Nothing, Mrs. G! Just thought I saw something move and all."
...
"Jason, come on! Stop going by the window! Is there something there?"
"Haaah, I don't know Dick. You know me, I'm paranoid!"
"Hell yes, you are."
...
"Okay Jason, I'm fed up. Just what the hell are y-"
BOOM!
-"Oh my god!"-
"Mom?"
-"No! ...I said NO!"-
"Dad!"
*feet running*
THWACK.
"Jason! R-"
"Dick, no get-"
THWACK.
"Not him. No ...not Dick please, PLEASE! G-!"
"M...M-!"
THWACK.
...
Part Four: The End
(Are we gonna make it?)
The rain was cold and heavy and the thunder was loud but Richard didn't care if he got sick. He quickly snuck around the house to the back trail where he saw Raven last, using the shadows to conceal him. Tonight he was using everything that made him Robin to get her back.
He bent his knees and crouched quickly to the retreating figures. Using the large, overgrown shrubs to conceal his shadow in the dark, Richard made slow and steady breaths to think clearly. A memory hit him.
'Relax your heart when you're anxious, Dick,'Bruce said to him once when he found him kicking a tree after having a heated fight with his dad and being to scared to run away from home. When Richard did as he was told, Bruce helped him take off his shoe to find his several of toes broken and bleeding. 'Never blind yourself with anger or fear. You lose sight of what's important - doing what's right.'
Richard wiped his face of the cold rainwater pouring over him with a wet pajama sleeve. His black bangs stuck to his face and dripped into his narrowed blue eyes. But he kept his lip shut tight and trekked on, feeling the muddied soil squish between his socks.
When he neared the three people, he saw Rachel, gagged by a cloth and tied around the wrists. Her soaking nightgown was clinging to her body. Dr. Slade wore his black trench coat and tried to yank her along but when Rachel doubled over on the ground for a moment to cough, Tara came up behind her, grabbing her long, black hair to pull her up. She was still sick and couldn't fight back and when Rachel cried out from behind the cloth, the thunderstorm was too loud for either to properly hear or care. Richard tightened the fire poker in his hands. In his head, Robin was confronting Slade on the empty road still with Raven in his arms.
"You're a sick bastard!" Robin cried as he took out a retractable steel staff ready to fight. "Let her go!"
But Slade laughed as Tara stepped out from behind him.
"Tara, teach him a lesson," Slade said darkly. And before Robin could react, she had Raven in an iron grip and was passing him along to Slade.
At about the same time in the real world, Richard had gotten the courage to sneak near enough to them and raised the iron rod ready to hit her.
"Let her go!" he yelled and timing with the darkness of the thunderstorm, he jumped out from behind the bushes and smacked her in the side. Tara screamed and fell sideways, enough for it to get Dr. Slade's attention.
The man whirled on his feet with his only eye bulging, the other still concealed by his black bandage. Dr. Slade took a step forward to make a move but Richard, who was furious with betrayal, placed the dull pointed tip of the poker gently on Tara's chest.
"Make a move and I swear I'll run her through," Richard hissed over the splashing rainwater and thunderclouds.
Rachel's purple eyes widened at the sight of the eighteen-year old and found the spirit to try untying the bonds around her wrists. The doctor chuckled and she froze. Never would she believe that this man had enough humour to laugh at anything. Tara rolled around trying to push the stars from her eyes, tenderly pressing her sides for any broken ribs.
"How could you help him?" Richard yelled at down her angrily over the storm. "Do you know what he's done to other patients? What he'll do to her! And you're letting it happen!"
"Why am I not surprised that you of all people show up for Rachel?" the psychiatrist drawled, intentionally ignoring him. Whether Richard heard him over the rain or not was unclear. Richard continued talking.
"I. Want. Answers!" he spat as he snapped his eyes back up the doctor. The dark blue orbs became slits to block out the rain as he seethed in his frozen position with Tara still writhing under him. Dr. Slade merely tilted his head.
"Answers? About what?"
Richard lifted a hand and pointed to the bruised scar above his eyelid. "You did this to me." Then he pointed at Rachel, who was busy flitting scared gazes between him and the doctor blocking her path. "And you gave one to Rachel. And Kory, and Garfield, an-"
"And Selina, andGarth, and Wallace..." the doctor finished playfully for Richard who dropped his hand in shock. "Although I must admit, Victor's dear scar came out a bit too reckless but-"
"YOU MARKED US," Richard bellowed over the storm. "AS PRIZES?"
"Not prizes, dear boy. You're my clientele."
"For who!"
"Heh, does it matter? They love you all so ...uniquely. All these curvaceous, hard-toned, beautiful boys and girls just littering Gotham are so plentiful. Red heads, blondes, tall boys, young girls, green eyes, blue eyes, and soon to be my best seller ...purple," Dr. Slade leaned back to stroke Rachel's head. She pulled away as if he burned her.
"So that's why Kory and that Pamela woman have the same hand bruise, huh? Because they're red heads!"
Dr. Slade scoffed. "As if I'd tel-"
"So you categorised us by our physical types and gave us the cattle prong! You're sick! I don't even need to say it, I know what you want us to do!"
"You might ...but she doesn't."
Richard looked over at Rachel for a moment and indeed saw what Slade was talking about. Her eyes were wide with confusion and horror, unsure of what Richard had discovered that night. He also saw guilt, a guilt in her eyes that told him she regretted not letting him come to her room that night. He took a step forward subconsciously as his eyebrows furrowing and his head shaking.
"Rachel, no. It's not your-!"
In the distance, he saw the lights from Arkham's windows turning on like a manic Christmas tree. Everyone was getting up and soon an alert would ring out. Dr. Slade snarled and tried to yank Rachel with him again. When Richard saw, he gritted his teeth and tried to go for Tara again, but found she was already on her feet.
"Y ...you got a good swinging arm. You're strong," she weakly teased.
"Shut up, I can't believe you and I ever ran in the same social class."
"What social class?" Tara laughed. "You were dirt the minute you were born. Just be lucky one of Slade's prospects found you and liked you so much enough to ask for a request. You might've lived a boring life."
"What d'you mean found me and asked for a request?" Richard solved the puzzle but still, he didn't have all the pieces.
"Shut up, Tara," Dr. Slade called as another roll of thunder broke out. "Don't say another word. We're wasting time and everyone is waking up!" But she didn't hear his deep voice over the storm. She laughed at Richard's question.
"How else do you think we just picked your pretty little face off the street? Buyers find you, then we do the research, plan the breakout and then, it's 2-4 years of mental reform. You walk out a zombie who thinks he doesn't deserve better after what he did to his poor, innocent family and then ...you're all ours." She snickered to herself as Richard felt something inside him crack. "I could have been one of you but ...I'm an exclusive offer, to doctors only."
For the next couple seconds, Richard's mind did nothing but replay the night his parents were found dead. He remembered the dreams, the nightmares ...the numbness he felt on his court day ...the foreclosure of his home ...the repossession ...the shock, self-loathing, almost suicidal feeling he felt everyday he woke up with before meeting Rachel ...and then, the boy ...the boy who was yelling at him in his dream. Until now he thought it was him, but now...
"Jason!" he whipped his head at the doctor who too busy enjoying this little fight between him and Tara. "You killed Jason too! Why?"
"He found out," Dr. Slade bluntly like it was painfully obvious. Then he chuckled, "But no one wanted him on our list. Too scrawny they thought, not as good looking as Grayson's boy. So the night he found us out ...well, that was near perfect timing to get you anyway. You see, we need to make sure our patients are 'ripe for the picking.'"
"But he's not dead," Tara whispered loudly to him over the rain. "He's part of the business too. But if you think I'm telling where, you're out of your fuckingmind. Heh wait, you already were."
And that sent Richard over the end. With an angry yell, he smacked Tara again in the leg. She fell, crying as blood started to appear.
"Tara!" Dr. Slade cried momentarily forgetting about Rachel, who slipped away far enough to start trying to untie herself. Tara recovered and stared both frightened and angered with Richard. She clenched her fists as she got out of the mud. Richard's eyes began to blur but his rage stopped him from wiping them.
"You killed our parents, you made us forget what happened and then believe that we were murderers! All so ...so we could supply your sick prostitute ring!"
Hearing the truth, Rachel screamed behind her gag and tried more frantically to untie her wrists.
"Pedophiles, rapists, molesters ...it's all them, isn't it? A-And it doesn't even matter what they look like because it could be anyone in Gotham. B-But the things you'll make us do this s-s-." Richard felt his body shake with fear. His hand shook tremendously as he held the rod up. When a sob escaped his throat, he bellowed at the doctor again.
"I thought you were helping us! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO HELP US!" His throat was dry and raw, but it also distracted him for some moments.
Tara got up out of the dirt and went to grab for the firepoker Richard was holding - while in the Jump world, her eyes glowed yellow and she and Robin were fighting hand-to-hand.
"I've always known what's been going on!" she cried as she threw punches Robin expertly dodged and deflected. "You think I didn't? That I was forced or tricked like you? I'm his newest recruiter and I want to help Slade, and you don't know anything about me!"
Richard and Tara were yanking on the rod with clenched teeth. She continued yelling.
"Dr. Slade loves me more than anything else! And all these pretty little girls and men like you will be perfect lovers for his friends!"
"You're twisted! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT!"
"The only thing I see is you as a pathetic piece of dirt under my shoe who needs to be rid of!"
And just like that, the earth around Robin began to crumble and shift as Terra used her powers to get the upper hand. Dr. Slade and his Jump City counterpart laughed in Richard's head as she knocked him to the ground. Then with a rock over Terra's head - the iron rod in Tara's - she smiled sadistically ready to drop it over his head.
"This time," she hissed, "let's make that amnesia worse."
But before she could deliver the blow, Rachel, who had finally freed her wrists during the fight, knocked her off her feet with a rock thrown at her skull. Tara fell unconscious. When Dr. Slade tried to reach for Rachel, she scurried away into the dark bushes away from him. Richard got to his feet trying to locate her but instead found Dr. Slade's hands around his neck, squeezing the life out of him.
"You bastard child! You've ruined everything!" the psychiatrist snarled as he tried to squeeze harder. In Richard's head, he and Slade were having a fierce battle but Slade was winning. Every weapon Robin tossed and every fist he threw didn't work.
"R-Rach-!" he tried to cry out but coughed fiercely. His chest was on fire and his heart was beating a mile a second. As he felt his lungs tighten, Slade laughed. The doctor squeezed tighter as he shoved him to the ground and leaned over him.
Dr. Slade hissed. "Look at yourself, boy. You were supposed to be one of the best. I almost had you.Even at a young age, we knew you would turn out to be a handsome man. Just imagine how much you'd be giving back to your society. One hundred dollars an hour ...the smiles you'd put on your prospects' faces!" Richard coughed but the doctor wouldn't let go.
"You're all at fault, your generation," he continued. "You think the world will just eat out of your hands without knowing what truework is? I'm doing this because I'm helping you to see and realise that mommy and daddy can't give you that sense of ethics. I, am your hero, Richard. Your saviour. Everything I've done for you up to this point was for your own good. And now, you won't get the chance!" Rachel widened her eyes and shook visibly. He really believed that, the doctor really thought he was helping men and women by killing everything about them and making them sex workers.
"N-NO!" Rachel cried as she ran out of the bushes.
"N-NO!" Robin cried as he suddenly watched Slade dangle Raven's unconscious form over the edge of the building. Then the doctor leaned down and whispered in Richard's ear.
"I think I'll be her first customer." Then Slade let go of her wrist and dropped her over the edge.
"ARGH!" Richard cried and using as much strength as his adrenaline would make he pried Dr. Slade's hands from off of him and shoved him away into Rachel. The doctor whirled on her and tried to grab her but Richard was faster. He got up and threw a punch at the man's face and sent him spiraling to the ground. A sharp, jutted stone, wet and shining like a blade in the lightning came into contact with the psychiatrist's skull.
Hearing the crack of bone and seeing his body slump in a small, growing puddle of blood, Richard's heart grew erratic, but his mind felt satisfied. Dr. Slade was dead. When Richard and Rachel looked up again, Tara was getting up and ran away from the hospital into the streets. They never saw her again.
The air around them grew cold as all the heat and adrenaline from the fight ebbed away. Richard felt a numbing sensation pool into his senses and while his chest still burned from the close asphyxiation, he couldn't stop panting for lack of energy. Rachel slowly started to walk to him.
In Jump City, Robin managed to swing down and catch Raven from falling before settling her still form on a building rooftop.
Richard caught Rachel as she fell to her knees in the wet mud. She was crying heavily and gasping for air.
"I ...I-I...Ah-!" Rachel couldn't breathe and her sentence wasn't making sense. Richard frowned deeply and knelt in closely front of her. His hands flew up to hold her face as they sat drenched in the cold rain. He ran his thumbs over her tears and cheeks and pressed them to her lips softly. Then he shot them into her wet hair and pushed the bangs that clung to her face.
"Rachel? Rachel, stay with me! Stay with me, I'm here!" he said loudly over the rain as he felt his own his stinging with tears. He leaned down his forehead over hers and closed his eyes. "…It's over."
Rachel continued to cry but she raised her arms to hold onto his. They stayed that way until the rain stopped and the sirens were heard blaring in the distance.
x
The train ride from Metropolis back to Gotham was quiet. Richard sat across from Bruce in their cubicle and was looking out the window.
"I can't believe it's been so long," Richard said after a long time of silence. Bruce looked up from his afternoon coffee.
"I forgot," the billionaire smiled sadly, "You haven't been around since John was alive."
Richard nodded. Bruce still felt at ends with mentioning the Graysons around Dick but Richard kept trying to reassure him that it was all right. He wasn't fazed any more. He stared at the young man across from him, taking his tired and weary appearance. He looked considerably healthy in his dark sweater and pants but Bruce couldn't deny the sympathy he felts from seeing the dark circles under his blue eyes. He put the cup down, trying to continue the breathe life into the conversation.
"You know he's not coming back," the older man said darkly. Richard snapped his head away from the window to stare at him.
"What? Oh, no, I wasn't thinking about that." Then he turned back to the outside scenery and placed his knuckles under his face. "But I'm glad that the bastard won't be around to hurt any one."
Bruce nodded. "The Metropolis court system may not be as iron-gripped as Gotham's but it's good to see this kind of crime not be corrupted any more."
Richard narrowed his blue eyes. "Hero Syndrome ...who knew that could be a mental disorder."
Bruce imitated the facial action. To any stranger, they looked like a brooding father and son. "It happens, Dick, especially when Slade Wilson had such a history of narcissism. But at least he's convicted for it. It's a shame though I couldn't locate Tara Markov for her chance at a statutory rape plea since it came up in his records. But then you did say she'd accepted being delusional since working for him at the hospital... I'm making sure that Arkham's shutting down for good in case several of his cronies follow suit. I've always had a feeling Dr. Hugo Strange might be a bit a n-"
"What? You're shutting down Arkham?" Richard interrupted as his eyebrows flew the ceiling.
Bruce nodded. "I'm paying for the extra expenses to get it under way right now and those still need care will be transferred over to Metropolis. I can't have any more people getting hurt the way they did ...when they didn't need to." His hard eyes softened suddenly as he pictured the eighteen-year old ten years younger in his memories.
"I'm sorry," he said nothing else, but the teen knew he meant so much more beyond it.
"Bruce, you have nothing to be sorry for," with a sad smile, Richard placed his hand back into his lap, "if anything I should be saying it to Jason. He was the one that could've saved me that night had I listened to him."
Bruce narrowed his eyes again, going back full force on hard-faced.
"We'll find him, Dick. I'm having my best P.I.'s looking for him state-wide. If he's running in the streets, we'll find him. I'll see to it personally that Slade's prostitute circles are destroyed."
"Me too. Kory and Garfield are still out there and I've already applied for a position on the police-training program. Hopefully my cleared record will get me in."
Bruce nodded. "So, what will you do now?" he asked.
Richard shook his head and sighed. "I don't know, but whatever it takes to get my life back on track, Rachel and I are going to do it together."
Bruce gave him a coquettish smile. He knew Richard and the purple-eyed girl were inseparable since the night Dr. Slade died and while he only formally met her once since then, he was curious with how such a timid sixteen-year old had such a hold on Richard. Bruce stretched the silence long between him and the young man before he locked eyes with Richard again.
"I want you to stay in the Wayne Manor."
Richard lifted his eyebrows. "Seriously? Wait, like ...as in-"
"You don't have to seek adoption if you don't want to, Richard. You're eighteen and legally capable of deciding your own fate. But ...my estate is huge and sometimes, I won't lie ...between Alfred and the bats, it gets lonely being rich and handsome."
Richard chuckled and shook his head. He gave Bruce a warm smile.
"Rachel can stay with us too. I know I'm still a stranger but I also know that she'd probably rather stay with you than someone else."
"Sounds great, Bruce. I'll take it."
"Hey, I didn't say I'm selling the mansion to you."
Richard laughed again.
x
"Seriously?" Rachel gaped at the news Richard had told her about Bruce the second she returned to her seat. She was getting some tea while Bruce and he chatted. But when she came back, the older man had gone back to his compartment. When Richard nodded eagerly, her purple eyes lit up at the thought.
"Wow ...imagine living with billionaire tycoon, Bruce Wayne. The media is gonna have a field day after that gets out."
Richard smiled and leaned forward in front of her and took her hand.
"But only if you want to," he reassured. After everything at Arkham, Dr. Slade, and the coroner inquiry and murder trial they traveled to Metropolis for, he knew Rachel was drained in all sorts of ways. "I'm living with him any way because we're practically family but y-"
"No, no! He's ...I mean, it's a very caring offer. And I know he means well." She smiled and squeezed his hand.
"I want to stay with you. Even if that means Bruce is willing to adopt me."
Richard smirked. "Rachel Wayne. Kinda sexy."
Rachel rolled her eyes and slapped his arm. Richard was continuing to grow more open around her, and even she knew the obvious attraction the flowed between them. She didn't dare mention it though.
"Everything else that comes will just fall into place," she added with a shrug. "But I'm glad. ...No more living in the dark."
And as a patch of sunlight poked through the cloud cover and shone through the window, it hit Rachel's face and she smiled at its warmth. Richard felt his breath catch in his throat. Rachel felt her eyes droop in tenderness.
"Thanks for everything, Richard," she said softly. But Richard shook his head.
"No," he argued, and then he pointed at himself. "I'm Robin, remember? And you're Raven."
And when she smiled, Richard couldn't take it anymore. He leaned over and aimed to finally press his lips to hers…
x
Is there a chance, a fragment of light
At the end of the tunnel, a reason to fight?
Is there a chance you may change your mind
Or are we ashes and wine?
(Yes, I think we are.)
END.
A/N:After 3265 hits, 53, reviews, 15 favourites, and 20 alerts, ladies and gentlemen, that's all she wrote! Claps and confetti everywhere! Everyone, thank you.
Thank you soo much for joining me on this whirlwind of a ride. I have NEVER in the history of existence finished a multi-chapter fanfiction before so I'm uber proud of myself. It's also quite special since the first ever fanfiction I wrote for this site was a Teen Titan one (circa 2005!) so I find this kind of symbolic. Haha, well I hope you enjoyed -or at the least, I hope it left you with some feeling in the belly.
WAS THAT A CORNY ENDING OR WHAT? :O Lmao I don't care! :D But YES, jeez I'm a RavenRobin girl ...
Hero Syndrome is a true mental illness and that was what Slade had from the beginning. I told you it was dark.
Also want to say thank you to all of my reviewers since the creation of this story and how grateful I am for your kind reviews and many off-scene conversations we may or may not have had: New york Mike,RxRFannnnn,SladeRavenFan, Always in-s-h-a-d-o-w-s,crazynerd, Dassa,TheDreamChaser, xxNightSade12 (girl! :D), jayenator2.0,No Line on the Horizon, & Sudy Nym!
You were all stars! Even those of you who didn't review but took the time to read some/all chapters - Muah! Sorry if you were expecting a Mailbox reply, I didn't see the point in writing one since this was the last chapter! -I'll PM you if I can/allowed! ;)
Now, I'm seriously leaving for Florida in a couple of minutes so sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes I missed. I'll fix 'em when I get back. BUT! You didn't think I wouldn't leave you without a gift now would I? ;D I'll see how the States treats my imagination this time around since this idea came from down there. So now, here you go:
What Might Come.
The Iron Circus (Raven/Robin - rated T or M?)
"You're a Rothschild, Raven! A ROTHSCHILD! The minute you step into that ring, my family is going t-!"
"No, Richard. A-Robin, I mean! Aaarg! I can't-! I-!"
"No, Raven! You told me, you could do this. We promised to do it together! You can't tell me you're backing out now."
"I never was! But I can't do this ...no! I won't do this! Not to them!"
"Fine then, walk away. Act like this whole thing between us never happened!"
"But I can't! You mean everything to me!"
"Fight for me!"
"I..N-!"
"THEN TELL ME YOU DON'T LOVE ME!"
Azar's Cinderella (request by GreennaveyblueRaven - Raven/Robin/Beastboy - rated T)
An unconscious knight. A poor girl. A lost boy and his pals. And a princess who isn't even the rightful heir. When their destinies intertwine on the journey for the search for the true princess of the kingdom, will they save or destroy it when twisted adventure, mysterious villains and growing relationships get in the way?
LOOK OUT FOR THESE TITLES! WHETHER THEY APPEAR UNDER THIS NAME OR NOT! I HAVE ANOTHER RAEROB AUTHOR NAME -STRICTLY FOR DARK, SEXY PLOTS! ;D
But until then, there is nothing else to say except, THANK YOU SO MUCH AGAIN EVERYONE. Take care for the holiday season the New Year, and for all you Raven/Robin, Slade, Arkham fans …stay creative!
& stay gold... and sane.
-Her Head in the Clouds, 11:14p.m., Dec 2011.