My Hero
Chapter 6
Ravens POV:
"Raven!" I wrapped the blanket tighter around my shoulders. I knew that voice, I'd know it anywhere. I saw him standing there, looking uncomfortable, out of the corner of my eye. "Better late than never" he said sheepishly. I was still mad at him, but I was more scared and upset at the moment. Not caring, I tossed the blanket aside and threw myself into his arms. "I'm sorry, I-" I didn't let him finish. "Shut up Grayson. Just, shut up" I felt his arms wrap around me. "Let's get you home" I didn't say anything as he looped his arm around my waist and led me away from the still smoking building.
Alfred came and gave us a ride home. I clung to my boyfriend the entire time. He led me up through my room and into my private bathroom. "Do you want to take a shower?" He watched me for a moment before adding "I'll still be here when you get back." He had probably seen the nervous look in my eyes. I considered my options: fighting sleep long enough to get the soot off and out of my hair or go to bed now with Rich and just shower in the morning. Finally I nodded, grabbed some pajamas and took what was probably my fastest shower ever. When I was done I put on his pajamas from the very first time I slept here. The blue plaid pants and his shirt. When I walked out of the bathroom I looked around. "Richy?" He stuck his head out of my walk-in closet. "Right here" I looked over at him. "Do you own anything besides jeans and t-shirts?" He asked, I think he was serious but he also might have just been trying to make me smile. Either way, I wasn't in the mood. I looked at the ground as I walked over to my bed. "Want me to stay with you tonight?" I was still shaken and didn't want to be alone. I hadn't even had a real chance to answer before I felt my mattress shift. "I was so scared. I thought I wouldn't see you again." I spoke to the picture of us on my nightstand. He put his hand on my arm. "You're alright." I was shaking. "I thought I was going to die" coming up behind me, Richy wrapped me in his arms. "Do you know who did that to you?" He asked soothingly. I shook my head nervously. There was an easy silence for a few minutes. "You do know those are my pajamas. Right?" Rich laughed a little tugging at the shirt. I nodded. "I like them, they smell like you. Even after going through the wash." And they hide more than mine do. I lay next to him putting my head on his chest. "Hmm and what do I smell like?" I could hear his smile. "Like the fresh night air" I sighed lovingly with a hint of a smile. "Shouldn't we go tell Bruce that I'm back?" I asked drowsily. "Uhh...we can tell him in the morning" he had hesitated and seemed unsure of what he was saying. "Won't he be glad to know I'm back?" I started to get back up. "We should go tell him" Rich grabbed my arm, and gently pulled me back on the bed with him. "What's up with you? Is he not here or something?" That's when I realized. "He's not here, is he?" I whispered.
Richards POV:
I couldn't lie to her again. I chanced a glance at the clock. 4:27 am. Bruce would be home soon enough. "No he's not here" I told her. "Is he out, wherever it is you two go every night?" How did she know that he goes with me? "I heard you guys in the library; Bruce said you both needed to be careful. Why do you need to be careful?" I ran my fingers through my hair. "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me." She glared at me. "I'm Robin" she turned and walked to her window. "I don't get why you keep lying to me. Do you not like me or something? Did I do something wrong? Do you not trust me?" I shook my head sighing. I knew she wouldn't believe me. Raven turned to look at me. "Yes Raven," my voice was dripping with exhausted sarcasm, "I hate you because you did absolutely everything wrong and I have never trusted you" I jokingly ticked each one off on my fingers as I walked up to her. She slapped me on the arm, hard. Leaving a mark behind. "Honestly, I'm in love with you. You haven't done a thing wrong and I doubt you ever will. And I would trust you with my life" Raven took a step closer to me. "Then why won't you tell me the truth?" She was looking at the floor instead of me. I lifted her chin, looking into her eyes. "I'm serious. I am Robin." She was about to object but I put a finger to her lips and continued. "I have never in my life, except for when I'm telling you I love you, been more serious than I am right now" She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. "You're Robin, my hero" she said to herself.
"So, if you're really Robin then that means that Bruce... is Batman...?" I nodded. "So... all the stuff in your stories..." I could see fear creeping back into her eyes. "Yes, it's all true and it all happened." She took another small step towards me. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I looked over at her clock 5:09 am. "How about we got to bed and I'll answer all your questions in the morning. I know you're tired" Raven nodded and I scooped her up in my arms, carrying her back to her bed. "I have so many questions" she spoke through a huge yawn. "I know and you can ask all of them tomorrow" I whispered placing a kiss on her forehead. I lay down with her in my arms. "I wish you had told me sooner" Raven murmured already asleep.
When I got up the next morning Raven was gone. I got up and went to my room to get dressed. I was glad that Bruce was at the office today, I would have a chance to talk to Raven about last night first. Checking the library, living room, kitchen, dining room, and the porches and balconies I turned up girlfriend-less. I went back to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. Alfred was there, making a grocery list. "Hey Alfred, have you seen Raven this morning?" I asked making a quick bowl of cereal. He finished what he was writing down before giving me his full attention. "Yes sir, she asked me where a good place for thinking was. I sent her down to the beach." I gulped down the last of the Cheerios and thanked the old butler before running out the door into the warm late morning sun. There was a small strip of beach on the property. It also held yet another hidden entrance to the batcave. I stood on top of the stone steps leading to the sand. Raven was sitting in the sand staring out at the water. I started making my way down to her. When I was maybe half way she stood up and walked closer to the ocean, letting her feet touch the water.
Ravens POV:
The water felt so good. Bending down I trailed my fingers through the inch of water, and along the wet sand under it. I rolled up the bottom of my jeans to my knees and waded a little deeper. The water was up to my ankles when I felt someone staring. I turned around; Richard was staring at my legs. Quickly I tugged my pants down again and got out of the water before they got too wet. "What are you doing down here?" He asked curiously walking over to me. "Just... thinking." We walked in silence for a while before I got up the courage to speak again. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I knew that he knew what I was talking about. "I was trying to protect you" he squeezed my hand. "I can take care of myself!" I snorted indignantly. Richard stepped in front of me, glaring. "You thought last night was bad, thought it was scary?" I was about to deny that when he continued. "Don't even think of saying no. I know you were scared. It showed through in your actions, and your eyes." I looked down and started drawing circles in the sand with my toe. "Fine. I'll admit it, I was scared, really scared." He grabbed my shoulders. "That was nothing. There are people in Gotham who wouldn't think twice about hurting you, or even KILLING you! You're in danger just by being on the streets in the dark. And that's if you're a normal person." I opened my mouth but the look in his eyes stopped me. It was scary. "You're not normal, not any more. If any of them found out that you know who I am... who ROBIN is... who BATMAN is... they hate us so much you would be lucky to survive. They would torture you. Use you as live bait, or even dead bait to try and get me and Batman to surrender. And that's if you're lucky. If anyone like The Joker or Two-Face found out that you know and managed to capture you- god Rae there's a number of things they could and would do to you. They hate Batman and I so much they would torture you to death just to try and make us hurt." I was shaking by the time he finished. His grip on my shoulders had loosened. Pulling me into his safe embrace, he held me. "I'm sorry my sweet little Raven. Innocence isn't always a gift in this city." I nodded in his arms. "You can't tell Alfred or Bruce that you know alright, I don't want Bruce to get upset with you" I nodded again whispering "Okay"
I felt Rich stiffen. His arms tightened around me as he looked around the empty beach. "Sir, Master Bruce is waiting for the both of you to meet him in his study." Alfred's voice came from behind us. Richard immediately relaxed and the three of us went up to the house. I hadn't been in Bruce's study before. It was off limits to me and Richard unless we were invited in like today, which had never happened before. "This must be important if he's letting us in his study" I commented sitting on the love seat with Rich. Bruce wasn't there so we were waiting for him while Alfred went to cook a late lunch for all of us. "Yeah, I'm surprised that he's not here yet." I just shrugged and pulled my feet up next to me as I curled up against him resting my head on his shoulder. I was still tired from last night and tried to hold back a yawn. I needed more than four hours of sleep. "You're tired." Richard commented pulling me into his lap. I looked up into his amazingly blue eyes. There was just something about his eyes that mesmerized me. "Maybe this will wake you up" He slowly leaned down and captured my lips with his. Everything around me just seemed to vanish. I was only aware of the two of us. My arms brought themselves around his neck. I sighed into the kiss, tangling my fingers into his ebony hair. He deepened the kiss, pulling me closer as I melted against him.
"Why is it that Raven is always on you when I enter the room" Bruce's voice brought me crashing back to reality. I disentangled myself from my boyfriend, blushing from Bruce's comment as Richard growled at his guardian, "Maybe it's because someone seems to keep forgetting that doors are often used for knocking?" I snickered to myself as I moved to the far side of the love seat. "This is my study first of all and second, now isn't the time for that Dick. This is serious." He turned his gaze on me. "There is something that I need to tell you Raven and I'll bet you're not going to like it." He paused and I fought the urge to crawl back to Richy. "Your father is on parole." My heart sank but I hid the pain and pure fear that appeared when I thought of him. Slowly I nodded accepting this and asked how he got out of jail. "Your mother posted bail for him." I sat there pulling my knees to my chest. "Don't call her that" it came out more of a plea than a demand. Bruce raised an eyebrow. "She's not my mother. My mother died when I was seven." I was looking at the floor when I felt Richards arms wrap around my waist, gently drawing me to him. I never had told him about my mom. "Are you close to your step-mom?" Bruce asked. "I don't want to talk about it" I stated leaning into Richards arms. Bruce watched me for a moment before nodding. "Can you tell me about yourself? Dick made a comment while you were gone that made me realize that I don't really know that much about you." I looked at him questioningly. "What are you saying Bruce? That you want her out of the house or something?" Richard asked, trying to keep his voice controlled. I could tell Richard had seen a deeper meaning to Bruces question. "No, I'm not saying that at all. I was just wondering if Raven wouldn't mind sharing a little bit about herself with me." Bruce's reply was calm. "What do you want to know?" I asked quietly. "Why did you guys get together?" I could tell he was honestly curious. "He was my hero" I looked up at Rich and continued "and he still is" that earned me a kiss on the top of the head. I knew he had understood the double meaning. "How was he your hero?" Richard and I could both see the guarded look in his eyes. Rich and I took turns telling Bruce about our junior year. Some of the things Bruce seemed to already know, but for the most part he just sat there quietly listening. "That doesn't sound like you Raven, shy, quiet, and trying to be invisible" Bruce noted when we had finished, leaving out what Kori's flyers had really said. Richard had improvised with that. "It was her, but with a bit of coaxing and time we managed to fix that." Richy gave me a small squeeze and I held back a wince. I had found a few new bruises on my ribs when I was in the shower last night. Bruce nodded. "Alright, so you said your mom was gone. Now what about your father? What's the story with him?" I immediately found myself falling back into that shy girl I had been when I first got together with Richard. I shook my head, not wanting to talk about this. Bruce opened his mouth but nothing came out as Alfred walked in announcing lunch was ready. Why did he have to bring up my father?