Richard sighed and let the water run over his face. It hadn't been a long journey home, seeing as he was only a few streets over from his apartment. As soon as he made it home, he remembered Rachel, the girl from the bar, and tonight was the night he was meeting her at the diner.
But now, he felt conflicted. He liked Rachel, he truly did. He found her beautiful and interesting and kind, though she had a side of her that loved to tease. But all in all, he liked her.
But Raven... Raven was an entirely different story. She was half demon, but yet, she saved him from a certain hero who almost had him this time. She was intimidating and intriguing. He found that he wanted to get to know her, and the more he thought about her, the more beautiful he thought she was.
With a groan he turned off the water and dried off, wrapping the towel around his waist and walking into his bedroom. He threw the closet door open and grabbed a pair of dark jeans and a navy blue t-shirt, tossing them into his bed and changing into them.
For now, he would enjoy his night with Rachel. Later, he would decide who he would rather learn more about.
...
Sure enough, there she was, in that same booth that she had ran from just last night. She wore a deep purple shirt and a silver bracelet dangling from her left wrist. As Richard walked in, a bell chimed, drawing Rachel's attention.
Their eyes met and Richard smiled, Rachel giving him a small smile of her own. He slid into the booth and greeted her.
"So, you actually showed up."
"Of course I did." Richard leaned across the table, never taking his eyes away from hers. "I was having a rather good time and you ran off before I was finished talking."
"Oh?" She challenged, crossing her arms on the table and leaning towards him. "I apologize for an inconvenience I may have caused you."
"Oh, no, I didn't mean-"
She laughed, cutting him off.
Richard froze. He knew that laugh. It was the laugh he heard in the alley yesterday.
"You okay?" She said, a faint pink staining her cheeks.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He recovered quickly. "I jut forgot how much I liked your laugh."
She laughed once again and that same chill ran down his spine.
"I hated having to run out like that." She admitted to him. "My ex-boyfriend came into the store, and it didn't end well between us. I don't like being around him anymore."
"Completely understandable." He told her, idly playing with his fingers. "But you know, it's his loss."
She smirked. "It was my gain." She smiled at him and his breath caught in his throat. "More so now, might I add."
He smiled back just as the waitress appeared. They ordered their food and Richard turned his attention to Rachel. "So, was this boyfriend the first one you ever had, or no?"
"I had one before him. It didn't end well between he and I either, unfortunately."
"Seems like you have bad luck with relationships." He taunted.
She tossed that smirk at him again. "Seems like you have just as bad of luck as I do when it comes to relationships, Mr. I-spend-my-nights-at-bars-staring-down-random-women."
"Hey!" He said, mocking insult. "I don't stare down random women. You are the first woman I have ever talked to anywhere outside of a bar, let alone met them for dinner two nights in a row."
She raised an eyebrow, an almost cocky expression on her face. "Should I be concerned that you take men home from bars then?"
His face turned bright red and she laughed again.
Just as he was about to give her a smart ass remark, the bell chimed and his attention shifted to the door, where he saw a familiar face and froze.
Slade.
Quickly, Richard fished his wallet from his pocket and tossed a twenty dollar bill on the table. "I apologize, but I have to go."
"Oh." She sounded slightly disappointed. "Alright then."
"Can we try tomorrow, maybe here at noon?" He hesitated by her, trying not to draw attention to himself.
"Yeah." Her eyes lit up a bit. "Yeah, that'd be good. I guess I'll see you then, Richard."
He nodded and nearly ran for the door.
...
Nightwing liked to hide here, on the fire escape of the apartment building a few blocks from the industrial building she had taken him to. He couldn't stop thinking about her. He had been intimidated by her at first, but soon, he felt... drawn, to her in some way. He could not shake her image from his brain, and when his eyes closed, he saw her face. He saw her no matter how hard he tried to think of anything, anything else.
But he had to see her again, in person. Not in his memory or in his dreams, where she had become a reoccurring resident.
Trash cans crunching snapped his attention to the alley below, where he saw a figure curled up among the bent metal cans. A caped figure stood before it, and Richard found himself placing a name to the person.
Red X.
"You know you can't escape me now. Not when you're weak like you are at the moment."
"What did you do to me?" A familiar voice said, the figure pushing itself off the cans.
"Oh, are your powers failing you? Tsk tsk. Sounds like my pretty Little Bird has a broken wing." He taunted, stepping closer, bending over to reach for the person. "My, my. What am I ever going to do with a broken little bird?"
Red X pulled up suddenly, whirling his prey into the wall to his left. Richard caught a flash of purple, and the unnamed person's head dangling inches above their chest. The next thing he caught sight of was purple hair. And he only ever knew one person with that color hair.
Raven.
Without thinking, Nightwing launched himself over the railing, reaching into his belt and throwing a small explosive towards X, a battle cry erupting from his throat. Red X's attention shifted to him, an adhesive X was thrown at the explosive, wrapping around it and sending it flying into the wall.
Nightwing rolled and kicked out, his feet connecting with X's chest, sending the hero flying through the air and crashing into the trash cans, similar to how he had done to Raven. Springing to his feet, he reached Raven, who was on her hands and knees, trying to force at into her lungs.
He took her into his arms, lifting her up, when he caught movement in his peripheral vision. He reached for another explosive, but he felt a sudden cold wrap around him and the scene before him disappeared.
Nanoseconds later, the cold feeling was gone, and he looked around, seeing he was on the roof of his apartment building.
"It's not far away from him," Raven's voice was quiet, much quieter than it had been before, "but it's as far as I could get us away."
Richard's arms were still around her waist, his stomach pressed to her side. "How did X get the upper hand on you?" He removed his arms and leaned back on his haunches.
"I don't know." He noticed her arms were shaking. "I was walking home from this diner, then the next I know I'm shoved into the alley and thrown into the trash." Her chest was rising and falling rapidly.
"Are you feeling okay?" He asked, not knowing if he should reach out to her or not.
She shook her head. "I-I couldnt use my powers. I feel weak, like I'm about to pass out." Her elbows buckled, but Richard reached out and caught her before she could face plant the cement.
"I got you." He said, pushing himself onto his feet, his arms wrapped around Raven's waist, pulling her up with him. He tossed her arm around his shoulders and kept his left arm around her waist, walking to the entrance to the stairwell.
"You don't have to do this." She said, wobbling on her feet beside him. "I can manage up here for the night."
He smiled down at her. "I owe you, remember?" Richard opened the door and helped Raven down the stairs and onto his floor. She was beginning to go limp entirely.
"I think I've been drugged." She said, nearly falling forwards.
"I'd say you're right." He reached his apartment and opened the door, closing it behind him, nearly dragging Raven through the threshold of his bedroom. "You probably just need to sleep it off."
He lowered her into his bed, picking up her legs to tuck them under the sheets. He pulled the covers under her chin and looked at her, staring at him with those amethyst eyes that made him feel uneasy.
"Thank you..." She trailed off.
He chuckled, realizing he had said those exact words to her a few days ago. "Richard."
"Richard." She hummed before her eyes closed.
With one last glance at her, he walked out of the bedroom, leaving the door open just a crack. After grabbing a bottle of beer from the fridge, he settled on the couch, flipping the television on, and trying not to think of the beautiful girl currently sleeping in his bed.
...
Raven woke feeling nauseous and weak. She groaned, turning over into her side, pulling the silk sheets tighter around her body. She inhaled deeply, catching the scent of Old Spice and something she could quite place.
Her eyes shot open. Where the hell was she?
She tried to remember last night, what happened that lead her to here. She racked her brain, thought over and over her plans for that evening, when it hit her suddenly. She gasped and launched upright in the bed, glancing around the room, her chest rising and falling heavily.
Richard? Nightwing? She had seen both of them last night, she remembered. She had that second date with Richard, remembering he stormed out on her, making up some excuse exactly as she had done last week.
She could feel his anxiousness whenever the middle aged man came into the diner, and it overloaded her senses, as she was frightened by the man too.
Slade, who had been tracking her for the last couple of weeks. And apparently, he was some connection to Richard, a bad one at that. She stayed and finished her dinner, but the waitress had come back and leaving her a drink from some man across the room.
Then she remembered being jumped in the alley by Red X. She was getting her ass handed to her, she remembered that much by the dull ache in her ribs and the pain in her head. That was when Nightwing came from out of nowhere and attacked Red X.
Raven was in Nightwing's bed. He had taken her to his apartment. Suddenly, a moment from last night reappeared in her mind.
"Thank you..." She trailed off.
He chuckled, realizing he had said those exact words to her a few days ago. "Richard."
"Richard." She hummed before her eyes closed.
She gasped. Nightwing and Richard. They were the same person.
She knew he had looked familiar, and that rasp to his voice, but she could piece why it hadn't clicked to her until now.
Nightwing, who had saved her life moments ago to pay her back for saving him, was Richard, the fun, attractive, intriguing man she'd met and had dinner with.
And now, she was in his bed.
If Richard knew that she was the half demon spawn who had saved him from Slade, he certainly didn't show it. He probably didn't know, otherwise he may have called her by her real name.
The doorknob turned and Raven fell back into the bed, feigning sleep.
Moments later she felt the bed dip with added weight, and just as she felt a warm hand on her arm, she snapped into action.
Raven sprang up, her hands finding Richard's wrists and pinning them to the bed, straddling his hips, her face inches above his own.
She saw his eyes flick to her first set of eyes, then her second. He gulped.
"Hello, Richard."