My Hero
Chapter 5
Ravens POV:
This past month has been the best month ever. I love living with Richard. And I think he loves having me live here. We get to spend every day together. After that first night, I started going to his room every night. I love falling asleep in his bed, and then when he gets home he will always carry me to my room. Rich always lies down next to me and will stay with me till I fall back to sleep. And sometimes, if I'm lucky and if he gets home late enough, he will fall asleep in my room and still be there when I wake up. 'But what I don't get...why does he get home so late?' Last night he had gotten back at six in the morning. He always gets back between four and six in the morning. 'Where does he go?' The thought had been plaguing me ever since we got together. I've tried to ask several times before, like at dinner but Bruce or Alfred always change the subject before I get an answer. It's really starting to make me mad too.
One day I was in the library, reading in one of the chairs by the window. I could hear voices in the hall, they were getting louder. "I just don't see why I can't tell her" Richard was saying as he and Bruce entered the library. "Shut and lock the door behind you. Because Richard, it will put her in danger and you don't want that to happen do you? If they find out it will give them an advantage over us. It will give us a weakness that can be exploited. It's better for everyone especially her, if she doesn't know. The less she knows, and thinks she knows about it, the better." They mustn't have realized I was in here. "She'll figure it out eventually Bruce." Quietly and carefully I slipped off the chair, behind a shelf of books and into a darker corner maybe five feet from where I had been. I wanted to know what they were talking about. 'Maybe it's about why Richy leaves me every night...' "Not if we're BOTH careful" 'Why do they have to be careful? What will I figure out?' "Yes she will Bruce, she's more curious about her new home. She's wandering around more these days. I'd rather tell her now than have her find out just because she's wandering around." Richards words came out as a frustrated growl. Why was he making it sound like a bad thing, when he's the one who's been encouraging me to explore this place. 'Maybe it's his way of trying to tell me something?'"For the last time Dick, NO you cannot tell her and that's FINAL!" I could practically hear the unspoken 'or else' at the end of his sentence. I took a step back in surprise at Bruce's tone and bumped into the wall. I've never heard Bruce talk to Rich like that. "Did you hear that?" Bruce asked him. There was a moment of silence where I closed my eyes and sunk to the floor, praying not to be found. When I opened them again a few minutes later Bruce was glaring down at me. "What do you think you're doing?" The words were growled at me. "Lay off her Bruce" Richard came pushing past him to my side. "You were supposed to be in your room, what are you doing in here?" My boyfriend asked helping me to my feet. My anger at him spiked. "What aren't you telling me Rich?" He looked uncomfortable and I wasn't going to go along with this any longer. "I'm sick of the lies, sick of YOU lying to me." I screamed at him. "Rae-" I didn't let him finish. "Don't! Just...just stay away from me! Leave me alone. I'm sick of all your secrets! I'm out of here!" And with that I stormed out the door, slamming it behind me. When I reached the hall I started running, my vision blurred by tears of rage. I slammed my door behind me and pushed a close by bookshelf in front of it. Working fast I threw all my money, the cell phone, and a change of clothes in a bag. Throwing open my window I sat on the ledge. There was a pounding at my door. There was a nice thick tree branch maybe four feet away from me. I threw my backpack and jumped, reaching for the branch just as I heard my door break. I climbed out of the tree and ran towards the gates that surrounded the property.
Bruce told me one thing that he said I needed to remember no matter what happened. A week after I had started living there he said "As long as you live here, under my roof, you will not leave the grounds after dark" I had promised him that I wouldn't break that rule. Who would have thought that barely three weeks later I would be doing exactly as he instructed me not to do. Gotham was dangerous at night, I knew that. And it was stupid of me to disobey Bruce, I knew that too. All I wanted though was to get away, so that's what I did. I ran off of Wayne property and headed for the city. I left leaving Richard screaming my name, begging for me to come back behind me.
Richards POV:
"Raven! Come back!" But she just kept going. "Oh Raven..." I murmured shutting her window. The sun was setting. I turned and saw Bruce standing just outside her door. "Are you happy now! She ran off, and is probably going to end up getting herself killed." I walked out of her room shoving past him. "Now she won't find out because she'll be DEAD!" I hollered as I made my way downstairs. "Richard. Just because she's in the city doesn't mean she's going get hurt. Raven is smart, she'll probably go to a friend's house or something" That comment made me really mad. "You don't know anything about her. She doesn't have anyone else to turn to! She gets picked on in school. The other students torture her! She has no family. She has no one else!" I opened the clock and ran into the cave to go change. It's the most eager I've been to go out as 'Robin' since Rae and I got together. 'Just please be ok!' "Where do you think you're going dressed like that?" Bruce asked standing halfway down the stairs. "I'm going to go find her" Bruce's steps echoed as he finished descending the stairs. "I think not. It's too early to go out" he came and grabbed my arm to stop my progress towards the batmobile. "I DON'T CARE!" I growled ripping my arm out of his grip. I ran past his precious car and over the motorcycle. Mounting the bike I revved the engine and sped out of the cave with, I'm sure, a fuming Bruce scowling after me.
Ravens POV:
It took me a while to reach the center of the city where all the stores were. I went in one of them and bought myself a giant black hoodie. I pulled it over my head as I left the store. It was almost fully dark out now. 'I wonder how much of Rich's stories were true?' The streets were deserted. No one was around and some of the gorier parts of Richards stories about Batman and Robin flashed through my head. 'Does the Joker really torture is victims? Does Two Face really use a coin to decide if someone lives or dies? And how they die? The Scarecrow-' the sound of a motorcycle jerked me from my thoughts. Thinking fast I stepped into the shadows under an awning.
Richards POV:
I was driving thought the center of the city. There wasn't anyone in sight, but then again most people knew to stay off the streets after the sun goes down. I had covered probably half the city looking for Raven. Street by street, searching every alley and dead end. I only turned towards home when I realized that the sun was coming up. When I got back I changed out of my costume and went to the kitchen for some coffee before going back out to search. "Master Dick, I take it your search was unsuccessful?" Alfred asked walking over with a towel in his hands; he must have been doing dishes. I sighed reaching for the coffee pot and a mug. "No sign of her. I'm just hoping she stays out of trouble till I DO find her." Gulping down my coffee, I went upstairs to shower and change before I left to continue my hunt for the love of my life.
I came home again just as the sun began setting to go out on my patrol. There was still no sign of Raven and I was worried she was hurt or kidnapped somewhere. I went down to the cave to change and look at a map of the city on the computer. "If only I had a way to track her" I muttered to myself, looking for likely places for Raven to be hiding. That's when I remembered I had given her my phone, "and this computer can track it" I typed in my phone number and waited for the results. The computer beeped and an address popped up along with a picture of the building and the room number she was in. I turned towards the motorcycle, making sure I had a change of clothes for after I found her. "Dick, I need to tell you something" I didn't stop or reply. I just mounted the bike and left the cave with Bruce calling after me. He would leave within the hour and if it was important enough he would come and track me down. He's done it before. As I rode into an older part of the city I started to smell smoke. As I drove on I realized the smoke was getting thicker. 'Wonder where the fire is?' I sent a message to Batman so he could check it out.
Ravens POV:
The floor below me was getting hotter. I coughed opening my eyes. I didn't know how I had gotten here, or even where 'here' was. My hoodie was gone and my jeans were cut so they were a little longer than a pair of capris. And I didn't have any idea where my backpack was. The room was filled with smoke. Instinctively I tried to cover my mouth to stop from breathing in any more smoke than I already had. My hands were bound. I tried to move, and found that I was tied to a beam, with... whatever it is, it's stronger than normal rope. Flames were beginning to show through the cracks in the floor boards a few feet away. I wanted to scream but knew it was useless and would just end up taking in more smoke. It was getting hotter, and harder to breathe. I tried to get closer to the floor but couldn't move more than an inch. I watched the flames slowly inch forward terrified. There was a creak of the floor as it caved in a few feet away. "Anyone here?" Someone else was here. I started looking around. "Help" I started coughing again. "Over here!" I coughed. The floor creaked again, closer to me, before it caved in. There was a foot and a half between me and the flames. "Hold on" and the next thing I knew someone was behind me. "I'll get you out of here" the voice came from behind me. "Batman?" I had never met or seen him or his partner in person. "Come on" my hands were free. The flames roared through the hole as he pulled me away. Wood started splintering, I couldn't tell from where though. "Look out!" He pushed me back, landing next to me on the ground. A flaming support beam landed right where we had been standing. I finally got a good look at his face. "Robin" I always had been interested in him. There was just something about him... He looked at me and helped me up. He picked me up, took a couple of steps back and ran at the fallen, flaming support beam. I closed my eyes expecting to feel the heat of the flames. I could hear glass breaking, and then felt cold air. When I opened my eyes again I was soaring through the air in his arms. I clung tighter to him. He was holding a cord with one hand, me with the other as we slowly got closer to the ground. He still held me in his arms after we landed. Robin carried me over to the paramedics and sat me on the edge of an ambulance. Some doctors came over to check on me along with... Batman. "Are you alright?" He spoke to me but glared at Robins back as he ran off. I nodded slowly, still shaken from it all. I looked away for a moment, but when I looked for Batman again he was gone.