"We have got to go now, for your appointment." Raven says from the door as Richard has his head buried under his pillow.
"You don't have to go with me; I grew up in this city." Richard replies from the pillow.
"I have to keep an eye on you." Raven says as she walks inside and pulls the pillow away from him. "Don't make me carry you."
"Ok." Richard sighs and rolls out of bed to get his shoes on and begins tying his shoe laces. "Sorry about the remark, I had just hoped you had gotten over me." He says, knowing that Raven had only snapped because she was actually very raw about that subject.
"Can you at least look at me when you say it?" Raven asks as he does not look up from his feet, his eyes widen when he does, revealing Raven to be wearing a pair of black leather pants with flames coming up from the ankles stopping at the knees, a studded leather belt and a small tight black t-shirt what leaves a small rim of gray skin visible between it and the pants, while having 'Hell Awaits!" in bloody letters written on the front. While she has removed her bracelets, she has instead replaced the right one with a plain black leather one of only a third of the length.
He quickly swallows his surprise and looks her in the eyes. "I am sorry I upset you, I had just hoped that you might have become happy again." She just nods slightly.
"I am too touchy about it still. Sorry about snapping at you, it was uncalled for." She admits with a sigh. "Come on, let's go." She says before turning and walks out of the room with thumps announcing her footsteps. Richard quickly follows her, first of all noticing how tight the pants are around her rear.
"I see you learned how to walk in high heels?" He asks, spotting the heel he was hearing.
"Saw a pair of boots I really liked and decided to at least try them, I may have been overconfident since the heels were too high for a beginner like me and fell down the last couple of steps on the stairs in the hall, which put a considerable dent in my pride that day. But eventually I got the hang of them." She replies as the head down the stairs and through the kitchen to get to the garage.
"So I guess I should expect something opposite out of your car to what I would have thought once?" He asks as they stand in the empty garage next to the kitchen entrance as Raven locks the door after them.
"Opposite of what?" Raven asks with a smirk as she opens the garage door at the back that leads down to the underground garage that houses Bruce's many cars.
"Never mind, its that one." Richard points at a black, first generation, 1968 Chevrolet Camaro with a part of the engine sticking out through the hood. Along the sides and on the hood is painted a skeleton reaching forwards to grab the headlights.
"Found it cheap and worked on it as a side project with Cyborg's help. Had to modify the engine when Bruce asked me to infiltrate the local street racer community, it was painted blue then. After I was done I had it repainted to this and had some of the more obscene bits removed." She says as they get into the red leather seats, where Richard notes the eight ball on top of the gear lever. In his mind it just seemed a little over the top and he starts to wonder if it was Raven or her front he was getting in the car with.
"Hope you didn't have this come alive and eat mine?" Richards asks with a smirk as he had failed to spot his own green sports car.
"Nope, yours is in the back. Put it in storage till you came back." Raven replies as she starts the engine with a roar.
"And once I thought you'd be driving something small, sensible and economically correct one day." He replies as she drives the out of the garage that closes after them after Raven presses a button on the console.
"Timid would have wanted me to get the smallest possible car, if any, and then have me hide under the dashboard." Raven replies with a smile, Richard can imagine her only poking her head up enough for her to see the road ahead if Timid was driving.
"You are enjoying surprising me with every turn, aren't you?" Richard asks as they swing onto the road passing by Wayne Manor.
"Yes, actually I am, but you should read those magazines in the back if you want to amuse me some more." Raven says while thumbing at the back. Richard turns around to find several magazines lying on the floor behind them, picking out one of the top ones; he takes one look at the front page before his jaw lands in his lap.
It's an issue of Gossip Gotham one of over a dozen tabloids from the city and one of the more artistically minded, with a cover consisting of a white background where Raven, dressed in a black top and pants and a pair of reflective sunglasses stands looking over the photographer with her arms folded over her chest looking disdainful. This isn't the surprise, the headline at the bottom is:
The Bruce's Hell Raising Cousin! See her story revealed!
"Read the article we fed them before you say anything." Raven says, smiling with amusement. Richard opens and closes his mouth a few times before doing so, looking up several minutes later.
"Rachel Wayne Roth, a distant niece from Bruce's mother's side. Now living with her wealthy uncle, happy to spend his money, but a renowned malcontent in Gotham's upper circles, regularly observed in the darker parts of town?" He lists the most important bits.
"Well, neither Bruce nor I have any living relatives left, so they have no one to say otherwise and the documents various people have seen are from the cave. And the malcontent part and the clothes are just a good way to keep the upper-class snobs far away from me when I have to go with Bruce to parties. But we have our amusement because of it."
"And by doing this as yourself isn't putting you at risk?" He asks as he fails to see any changes in her looks, save maybe a little around her cheeks.
"Like you, no one expects to find me here, so they won't be looking. But I am behaving differently and adding some smaller changes to fool facial recognition devices and you have been in Gotham's Goth- environment before?" She asks.
"Several times, drug missions mostly."
"Well I have seen at least 40 different people on as many occasions with purple hair of my shade and maybe hundreds with skin so naturally pale it could be gray or even white. So the papers tag me one of those. That I do go there for concerts from time to time is another matter." Raven shrugs as they head out on the freeway.
"Stopped reading poetry?" Richard asks wondering if there was anything left of the quiet Raven he once knew.
"Well no, but mostly its bed time reading, concerts can be squeezed if I am lucky." Raven explains.
"So anything I'd like?"
"Maybe, but I've only scanned your CD's quickly from time to time. Remember that night in Dis? It's that kind of music. Of course Bruce takes us along for classical concerts too, which are nice too."
"So are you the scandalmonger Bruce is?" Richard continues as he picks out another magazine looking at the front page. "I take that as a yes. 'Rachel Wayne flips the mayor's ball!'"
"His idiot son didn't get the message, threw a fit and I got the blame." Raven shrugs.
"Well your choice of clothing wasn't traditional." Richard says, noticing the photos taken, Raven in a band T-shirt and torn pants.
"I hate the times I've been persuaded to wear a dress for them, I get some 20 people who want to make pointless small talk and dance, thinking I had a sudden 'rash of normality' as they called it. Developed a bad habit of seemingly getting drunk to keep them away, works till people get drunk enough to try anyway."
"At least you wouldn't be lonely if you didn't want to be?"
"They are only drawn to me because I am not like them, being with me would be seen as a manly thing to them, like you." She says with a smirk. "Besides, you know they'd probably die of fright if they really knew."
"I am wounded." Richard shrugs as he pulls out his sunglasses from his shirt pocket and puts them on. "Can I ask what I should expect when I bump into Diana? Just so I know if I should write my last will when we get back?"
"She will have some words in private with you, but she won't kill you. Victor will however, usually reminds me of that fact when we have time for talk."
"So when should I have it done till? Assuming I will meet them in the near future?"
"I am talking with Bruce about that." Raven replies as they take a ramp off the freeway.
"You two really have grown close?" He asks.
"He's like the father I never had, or thought I wanted. But Diana and him are closer still, which they are enjoying a lot. Leaving me and Tim with the city a few nights. She was somewhat disheartened when she realized that he can't commit himself to her the way he is to Gotham, yet, but she is happy now, which I am thankful for and so is Alfred."
"I would have figured he was." Richard says as they have to stop at an intersection.
15 minutes later
"Zee! Visitors!" The big man yells at the door with the name after knocking.
"Who is it?!" Zatanna yells from the other side.
"The Wayne kid." The big man continues after looking at Raven who has added a pair of large reflective sunglasses to her attire from the car, with Richard having changed into a checkered shirt and blue pants since he was dumped in the pool.
"She's cool, let her in Tom." Zatanna yells from the other side as the door unlocks and the two are let into the messy dressing room, with Zatanna sitting at her makeup mirror in her stage outfit. "Whoa, who's the cave man?" She asks, spotting Richard who closes the door after him.
"Well we know him as Richard Grayson, but we can always call him Vandal Savage." Raven says as she takes off her glasses, while smiling.
"I'm immortal, woo-hoo!" Richard says with little enthusiasm as he takes off his glasses as well. "Good to see you again Zee."
"You too Richard." Zatanna chuckles. "But we are dying to hear why you split."
"I caused an almost fatal situation in the cave, couldn't deal with it, had to go. Details are blanketed for now." Richard says. "Anyways I hear Trigon left us a few surprises and that's what prompted me to do it?"
"Ah yes, the seeds. And I and Fate have reminded Rae, she is the best of us to remove stuff like that, since she is connected to it. But let's have a look." Zatanna says as she gets out of her seat and begins scanning Richards head with her hands. "Na, you're clean, but I can sense you have had mystical contact?"
"Went looking for mages and the like, not all of them were friendly, had some questions I needed answers to. I left the cave in a hurry and wasn't sure if Bruce had the League looking for me." He continues, halting the question from Zatanna.
"We just heard you left suddenly and not much else." Zatanna shrugs. "Bruce and Raven have been tight-lipped about it, guess it will remain a secret."
"Probably." Richard agrees. "Sorry to hear about your dad."
"Thank you, it was a lovely ceremony. But as he said, the show must go on."
"And you have gotten on I see?" Richard asks.
"Yeah, back to pulling Bugsy out of the hat and all that. And had to jump through hoops for the League to green light me again. And then I found out about." She says while nodding at Raven for the last part. "Whoever said that mages are worth squat in a fist fight haven't met her."
"Well I am banned from doing magic tricks when I wear that costume." Raven shrugs while studying the contents of a few piled boxes. "But the sleight of hand you taught me has proven useful a fair few times."
"Oh good, I thought you weren't paying any attention." Zatanna exclaims. "But you have a new time to beat in the water tank, 58.2 seconds." Raven looks around to look at the smirking Zatanna, ignoring the questioning look on Richard face.
"Damn, I had hoped it would last at least another month." Raven sighs. "But congratulations."
"Thank you. We have a bit of a competition about who can do Houdini's water tank escape the fastest." Zatanna says to Richard. "Of course Bruce has it down to 36.8 seconds."
"And I seem to remember a time where you two were at each other's throats?" He replies, getting smirks from the two women.
"My mistake, but we are friendly now. Ain't we Rae?" Zatanna asks
"Sure we are, till you turn me into a rabbit again." Raven smirks back.
"All part of learning how to do it." Zatanna replies. "Anyways it's been nice seeing you again Richard, but I got a show I need to prepare. And do be careful around Scandal Savage over there."
"Good to see you too Zee, and don't worry I am walking on tiptoes at the moment." Richard assures.
"Till next time Zatanna." Raven says before heading out the door.
"Can I talk to Richard for a second in private?" Zatanna asks suddenly.
"Uh, sure, I'll be in the car." Raven nods before heading out, closing the door behind her.
"Zee?" Richard asks.
"I'm sorry Richard, but I took a peek in your mind for what happened back then." Zatanna admits.
"Guess I have to expect J'onn to do it as well." Richard sighs. "Guess you can understand why I ran?"
"Yeah and now I understand why she is like she is." Zatanna says. "After you left, I have been told it took a week and a half before she was heard from again, but she wasn't exactly the same as before."
"I have been constantly surprised by what she is doing now." Richard agrees, earning him a fierce stare.
"Not what I meant. I see it in Bruce as I see it in her; a part of her either died or was diminished to almost nothing by what she went through." Richard stares at her in surprise. "And I can see something has died in you as well."
"I know what is missing from her, she told me before I left. She was willing to love me and Bruce had set that weekend up so that we could confront ourselves with this, because I felt it too, instead she got stabbed in the heart, by me." He says looking at the ground. "I knew what I had done when I left, after receiving clarity I have looked for a means to restore it, not with me… but someone. I just want her to be happy."
"Do you have any idea how to go about this? Raven is a master of controlling emotions and her own don't peep without her say so any more." Zatanna asks.
"I have an idea, but I know I will be hated by her if I use it and it succeeds, but she may become happy, one day." Richard sighs.
"Will it be worth it?" Zatanna asks.
"No one should go throughout their life without love, her least of all. Yes, I am willing to do it, no matter what may come after."
"And if she rejects and restores things to the way they are?" Zatanna continues.
"Then I have given my best shot, but I will mourn having to watch her go through life without it." He replies resolutely.
"Good, better go, she is waiting, good luck." Zatanna says before escorting him out.
Later, Wayne Manor:
"Well it's…different." Richard says as he is admitted to Raven's room in the manor.
The original bed is still there, so are the closets, but Raven has put her own touch on the room, making it darker with the curtains being dark blue, same color as the top half of the walls that used to be green. On the wall to the left is a large battle axe with a wooden shaft mounted over a desk with a desktop computer and a few books. Next to the bed is a large bookcase, filled with books. Also on the walls are a few framed pictures and two posters, one looking like a fanged skull is pushing its way out of the wall and one Batman poster that displays an older version of the symbol, where the bat is black and surrounded by a yellow oval. Also in the far corner is a second book-rack lined with different items, glass balls, a few books and many ceramic jars. In the opposite corner from the computer is the basket that Cerberus is currently inhabiting and a old mounted globe standing beside it.
"Thank you, come in." Raven says. "If anyone asks, then I am just into role playing." She says nodding at the rack of ingredients before sitting herself down on the chair at the desk. "But Bruce has asked me not to do magic here ever since I accidentally animated one of the couches. So I take it far into the woods if I need to."
"Take it the axe is authentic?" He asks before it dawns on him. "Bruce let you practice up here?"
"Yeah, from the time travelling, took it from the Viking that tried taking it to the back of my head. And yes, he did because Fate provides me with homework. Oh you need to see this." She says as she gets up and walks over to the ingredients book-rack and brings a small round glass container, sealed with wax, over to him. "Don't drop it; I'd hate to have to recapture him." She says while he studies it, seeing nothing in it.
"Let me out!" A small voice cries suddenly from within.
"And this is what has become of Malchior." Raven smirks as Richard studies anguished reptilian face appearing in the bottle. "Merlin was training him to be a guard dog in his old body when we found him, now he is an excellent paperweight."
"And the rest of him?" Richard asks.
"Stored in Fate's tower, dragon parts are highly valuable to us mages, but we only use it sparingly."
"She had me torn apart!" Malchior complains from his bottle.
"Hope you haven't planned anything like this for me?" Richard says as he hands her the glass back.
"I entertained the idea." Raven smirks before putting Malchior back on the shelf; internally Richard notes he wouldn't be surprised if she had, at least a part of her would have.
"So, Bruce says you've been around?" He asks after a moment of studying the axe, noting the edge is sharp, not that the weight of the thing would actually need it to stop someone permanently and that it was easy to dismount if needed.
"Like you, he did send me off to some people who weren't hiding, you're almost stepping on the photo album by the way." She notes, he looks down to see the item lying on the ground next to the bed, as he bends down to pick it up, his hand brushes against a box under the bed, which she notes. "That's private." She notes and he just picks up the album.
"Who took them?" Richard asks as he regards them all, pictures of her in various locations set up in sections, all ending with a picture of Raven with slightly pleased smiles on her face alongside the masters of the places she was sent to train with. Richard recognizes the old man called Yuro Sensei by Bruce at the end of a string of photos from Japan, including one of Raven in a dark blue Kimono, with a black sash and deep blue paper umbrella, she looks surprised in that photo.
"Tim, Bruce sent us off together because Tim isn't old enough to travel alone. Well he is of course more than capable, but people would ask why Bruce would send his adoptive son halfway around the world alone. Tim has an album as well with the photos I took of him."
"And this one of you in a Kimono?" Richard asks, showing her the photo.
"Well, were only away for quick but intense courses, three to four weeks at most, I took some time on each trip to see some sights and sample the elder cultures. I still have that kimono in the closet."
"Suits you." Richard notes as he continues browsing. "Brazil?" He notes as he recognizes the statue of Jesus in Rio De Janeiro.
"Capoeira training." Raven replies as Richard flips a page to have his eyes widen. "Some of the other students suggested that I'd at least try that, somehow I got suckered into the actual carnival." She says, knowing he was looking at a picture of her in a very skimpy carnival costume appearing to be made of silver and azure stones, consisting of a two piece bikini, a diadem and a large assortment of feathers in the same colors.
"Well, you certainly don't look unhappy being there." Richard notes, actually she looks like she very much enjoying herself on the float she is on like the girls next to her. "So you know samba as well I take it."
"Well, I couldn't stand up there and pretend I was just a part of the float." Raven smirks. "However Bruce did grumble a little when he found out."
"Uh-hu." Richard says as he flips through the pictures. "Cambodia, China, Egypt?" He asks while looking up from a photo of the Sphinx where Raven is leaning against its right paw.
"Mystical training with Fate and physical training in the desert, I still find sand in the bag's I used on that trip. You'd be surprised if I started telling you about the mystical bits about those places."
"I am sure you could." He replies guessing she was about to tell him the Sphinx was more than just a statue or something. "So are you done training in magic?"
"In a few years according to Fate, with my current schedule." Raven shrugs. "Half a dozen months if I didn't have anything else to do."
"Ok." Richard says before closing the album. "So besides being graciously admitted into your sanctuary, what's up the rest of the day?"
"Well I have car maintenance from last night, for you there's nothing till we head out for the night. If you are bored however, I know a smelly dog that could do with a walk." She says looking at Cerberus who pretends to ignore her.
Richard spends the rest of the day trying to split his attention between rediscovering the mansion and getting himself up to speed, physically and mentally. All the while he has the odd sensation that he is being followed or watched, but he shrugs it off as his own paranoia which he admits is annoying him when he is not working. It is particularly when he revisits the bedrooms, the compulsive detective in him has him look under Raven's bed for what he brushed his hands against earlier, finding a box with some scribbling on it that he does not open. Eventually in the late afternoon he succumbs to the desire for fresh air and walks Cerberus in the forest, wondering how he is supposed to right the wrong he had committed. Eventually he admits he needs to ask if Raven even knows she is missing something inside of her, but he assumes she will just brush him off.
He asks at dinner, Raven-made sandwiches, citing Zatanna had noticed something was missing inside of himself. Predictably Raven says that if she was missing something, it is obviously insignificant, but she had noticed that he has been much less confident than she remembered him. He admits this, but says he thinks it's due to him being back and not receiving the welcome he thought he was going to get.
The night's patrol is on bike, with Richard borrowing Bruce's after finding one of his old spare helmets. Raven lets him know that she is generally uncomfortable on the bike as she mentions that fatal accidents are more common on bikes than any other motor vehicle. Which Richard also notes as they drive, she stays in the same lane as much as possible and doesn't do anything particularly fancy. The evening patrol proves to be almost as fruitful as yesterday, with them stopping a few drug dealers, an armed robber and three muggers before heading homewards at around two in the night.
"Uh Raven?" Richard asks as he returns from a late night snack, finding the woman in his bed under the sheets facing away from him as he enters, but she turns around at his question.
"This is a training situation." She replies. "I am wounded in the field, out cold, cannot be moved due to the injuries."
"I send a distress signal and wait." Richard replies automatically, it is the protocol that had been drilled into his head by Bruce; "Never leave anyone behind, this city has enough people who could use dead Batman and Robin for a display." Back then it was just Richard and Bruce, but the rule still applied, and Richard had drilled the same rule into the heads of the Titans. "But why this?" He asks anyway.
"I am vulnerable and a woman, without injuring myself, this is the best alternative to the actual situation." She shrugs.
"I'd… hardly call you vulnerable Raven." Richard replies as he remembers that she is one of the few people he knows that could level a city block without moving a muscle.
"I am." Raven replies as she sits up, revealing her to be wearing only a black bra and that her arms are held behind her in such a way that Richard knows they are being restrained.
"You are putting an awful lot of trust in me with this." Richard admits, realizing that he is going to be sleeping next to her with this.
"Come morning and we will know if I was wise in doing this." She shrugs and lies down again, letting her powers pull up the sheet. "Don't hog the sheets when you've brushed teeth."
Richard is only vaguely aware of getting ready for bed, but very aware of getting into bed and turns off the light. In the darkness he thinks, earlier today he had wondered when he would get an opportunity to right the wrong he committed and now he has it. But in the darkness, with her next to him apparently soundly asleep, he realizes, he can't do it. She is trying to trust him, going so far to make herself incredibly vulnerable to him. All it would take was a quick jab at the correct place and he would be able to do anything he wanted with her. He annihilated that trust two years ago, he can't do it again, not now. It makes him sad, he spent a year and a half working himself up to this and now he can't. The last thing he thinks before sleep claims him; "Zatanna was right, I have lost something vital, maybe it is not a bad thing?"
Richard wakes up in the early morning as usual, at first he is surprised to feel something warm resting against him before he realizes Raven has turned in her sleep and is resting her head against his chest, while his right arm is holding her close. Richard doesn't move, only studies her face in her peaceful sleep for a few moments before she stirs as well.
"Morning." He says quietly so he doesn't startle her, getting her to turn her head to look at him.
"Morning." She replies before sitting up, revealing the handcuffs she had been sleeping in and the marks they have left on her during the night and the lock picks lodged in the locks that she begins to work automatically. "Thank you."
"What for?" He asks as he gets out of bed.
"For not doing what you had been hoping to do." She replies as she opens one cuff, swiftly followed by the other.
"You… knew?" Richard asks in surprise.
"Saw what you had been asking the mystics on your journey, how to revive a dead emotion." She replies.
"How long did you know?" He continues.
"Since removing the seed and confirming your story." Raven replies.
"You never asked me to." Richard notes, wondering again how the three had communicated without moving or speaking before it hits him again. "You've formed the bond with Bruce and Tim?!"
"Well yes, Bruce asked me to confirm the story you gave for safety reasons I am sorry if this offends you." Raven shrugs as she pulls the sheets off while Richard rubs his forehead.
"You have been talking this whole time?" He asks.
"Hourly reports, nothing more which is usual for us…."
"Did he tell you to do this?" Richard asks waving at the bed without looking.
"He told me he wanted to see if I could trust…."
"Just answer the question!" Richard cuts her off, which surprises her.
"No." She replies after a few seconds.
"Wish I could believe that Raven, I really do, but I know him better than you and I am not sure I know you anymore. Please go." Richard sighs in a dejected fashion, Raven just stares at him. "GO!" He bellows, startling her into teleporting to her own room.
Author's Notes: If some of you think Richard is being a jerk right now and that it doesn't really suit him, remember that he quite often got unpleasant where he became unreasonable and stated shouting whenever he was stressed, annoyed or confused in the show. And right now Richard is definitely annoyed and confused, since he is not in loop of the Bat-clan that he helped create and because he is not in Raven's loop and can't tell when she is herself and when she is putting up a front to him.
Read, Enjoy & Review :)