"The punks showed up again?" Batman asks as Raven appears in the Cave with Cerberus, who heads up the stairs.
"Yeah. Listening in on the police radio's?" She asks, guessing he had tuned in in case something major happened. Part of her was figuring she had been added to some kind of tracking program in the Cave, meaning that if her name was mentioned or her image appeared anywhere, a message would show up here, Richard had politely pestered Cyborg to try and make a system like that years ago, but he had given up eventually.
"I was. Go change, you are having your first lesson in escapology." Raven just nods before heading into the wardrobe for a change. Emerging again a few moments later as she is pulling her gloves on as the last part. Following Batman down to the training cave. "Now, in our line of work, there is always a possibility we get caught while out there, sometimes we even have to let it happen. And that is why you will need to learn how to get out of these situations, without having to resort to special powers, enhanced strength or help from others to do it. But if it should happen before you have mastered this, I will allow you to use your powers in the field if you can get away with it without being seen, understood?" He gets a nod, she understand that this is a temporary exception.
"The most common item you can find yourself restrained with is rope." He says while picking out a bundle hanging on the far wall. "Durable, flexible, possibly extremely hard to get out of depending on who is trying the knots. We are going to start out easy, hold out your hands." Raven does a little slowly before he has her hold them next to each other so that her wrists connect and palms together before he loops the rope three times around them before tying a knot on the top. "This is usually the method preferred by those who don't have the time to do it more extensively. There are several ways out of it, of which I will mention two, one is by twisting your arms for a sufficient amount of time before the rope eventually becomes slack by being stretched, it will take a while and you will hurt yourself if you aren't careful. The other way, is to dislocate your thumb and slip your hand out. Now I have some work to do, come find me for the next one when you get out. Just remember, cheat and you will just have to do it again." He says before walking out if the cave.
"Erm, ok." Raven says to herself after he is gone, before setting to study the rope and the knot. "How to get out without just snapping it?" She asks out loud before looking more closely at the knot, a simple granny knot, it would do its job, but not much else. "Ah." She realizes before applying her canines to first loosen it before shaking it loose, pulling up her mask to allow it, smiling triumphantly as she pulls the rest free and walks up to Bruce who is browsing through a file.
"Teeth?" He gets a nod. "Good, teeth can be used to loosen most knots if you can get to them, but remember that in some cases the rope can be considered poisonous."
"And now the next one?" Raven asks.
"Yes, till Alfred has dinner ready. Hold them out." He says as she does again, and again he wraps it around her wrists, but this time trying the knot on the side facing away from her. "Same knot and tie, much more difficult." He says before turning back to the computer. "Just remember, this would be the same if it was the first knot and you were without the use of your jaw." He says over his shoulder as she walks away, figuring he would prefer her not to bother him.
Again she notes that he didn't wrap the rope between the scallops as she walks back to the cave, as she is about to enter the area between them seem to catch the light, enough for her to move over to a lamp to get a good look, realizing why; there is a very small raised area between the scallops that appears to have been sharpened, that would make cutting through any rope there easy.
However as the rope is not there and it takes her almost 10 minutes of twisting her arms around before she can finally slip out, the constant repetition leaves her arms and wrists sore, but she heads back to Bruce again. Who takes a look at the rope before discarding it.
"Hmm, took Tim longer to get out, but he is still growing." He notes. "I expect the next one will take you a good amount of time, but you get to choose, keep doing this or begin working on your lock picking?"
"I'll take lock picking….hey!" Before she has any chance of protest, Bruce had grabbed her hands and cuffed them together using handcuffs.
"Still have to get out of them." Bruce says with a smirk.
"And here I thought you we talking about a door." Raven sighs. "So how do I get the lock pick out?" She asks after a few moments of trying to get the tool out of its compartment in her finger.
"That would be in the manual somewhere in the wardrobe." Bruce continues without looking, Raven just huffs in mock annoyance before stomping inside said room.
Later:
"Master Bruce, I wish to inform you that dinner will be served in a matter of minutes." Alfred says from the top of the stairs.
"I'll be right up." Batman says from the computer without looking away, Alfred nods and retreats back up the stairs as Raven emerges from the training cave.
It had taken her three quarters of an hour to find the right manual, proving to be a single piece of paper where the instructions were drawn on, by hand, along with a little note at the bottom that the finger tool was meant for fixed locks or situations where one couldn't reach ones boots. This had Raven grumbling all the way down to the training cave where she managed to pick out the tool from the boot compartment and sat down. After almost an hour of trying, she is yet to be successful.
"Heard someone mention dinner time?" She asks as she walks up to the top platform.
"He did." Bruce confirms. "But you haven't freed yourself." He notes.
"This is a lot harder than I thought." Raven sighs in defeat. "Mind unlocking them?"
"Yes, you have to learn this. You'll get a meal when you get out." He says as he gets out of his seat and walks into the wardrobe, as Raven stares after him. "Staring after me won't open them." He mentions from the inside, he emerges in civilian a few moments later, with Raven still staring at him as he passes her without another word and heads up the stairs as Raven looks into the wardrobe. "My belt has a security system and I have the keys with me." Her head snaps back at the darkness of the stairs before hearing the dull bump of the door shutting.
"Rae not back from Jump yet?" Richard asks as Bruce takes up his seat with his two boys next to him.
"Three hours ago, she's practicing." Bruce replies offhandedly.
"What exactly?" Richard asks.
"Lock picking and escapology."
"Hope you didn't put her in the western cell, Tim broke the locks last time." Tim swallows his peas prematurely at this, he hadn't told anyone else about that.
"No, but don't bother her, you know how it went." Bruce warns; the two had in their early days a habit of sneaking up into the house when food became more important to them than getting out. And since Richards returned the two began helping each other out, much to Bruce's annoyance.
"Hope she knows what she got herself into?" Richard asks.
"She knows that she isn't leaving the cave while dressed up." Bruce replies. "And unless something serious happens, she isn't going into the city wearing a pair of handcuffs."
"Yours?" Tim asks at the admission.
"Yes." Bruce replies.
"You know those things are practically impossible to get out of as a beginner." Richard notes, it was of course the point, but even for Richard, Bruce and Tim it takes time to get out of them.
"I am also seeing how far I can push her before she snaps them." Bruce mentions.
"And the usual routine if she doesn't?" Tim asks.
"Of course, she will be let out in the morning, put back into it in the afternoon. Now I want a full briefing on how Gotham has been during my absence." Bruce says while eyeing the two.
Later that night, Raven is both annoyed and somewhat despairing when she sees the threesome enter the cave, change clothes and head out for the night without saying a word while she is still struggling with the restraints, part of her mind was beginning to tell her to just break the damn things, but Bravery's brood had formed an allegiance with Wisdom's in this matter, thwarting Rage and Sloth's efforts, so she keeps at it. At one point, where she felt her eyes were ready to pop out of their sockets from all the staring, she thinks she hears the others return, but she is not sure.
The following morning:
"So who wants to test if she still has that spell on her door?" Tim asks Richard and Bruce who are all in the hallway outside Raven's door.
"Hope she won't use it during the winter." Richard replies before grabbing the handle and opens the door, the three look inside and find only Cerberus staring at them, bleary eyed. "I would have thought she had gotten out of them by now."
"She has to learn it." Bruce shrugs, before walking away, followed by the boys.
Heading down into the cave, they find it suspiciously quiet, Richard scans the stalagmites while the others spread out, Tim into the wardrobe and Bruce down to the training cave.
"She's here." He says, spotting the black clad figure lying on her stomach with her face away from the entrance, she doesn't stir at the sound of his voice or when the others arrive. "Must have fallen asleep while working." He reasons before walking over to her. "Raven." He says as he kneels down and turns her over, to his surprise, finding one loop of the handcuffs hanging off her left wrist and the lock picking tool lying under her. Turning her over has makes her wake up.
"Wha…oh." She groans before sitting up, the others can't see it, but she is bleary eyed.
"Morning Rae, another rough night?" Richard asks with a smirk on his face, he could guess what had happened.
"Ugh. Couldn't get the damn things off before after you got back during the night." She says as Bruce helps her up, they can see she is stiff all over from lying on the matted floor.
"So why didn't you go back up? We got back around three?" Tim asks.
"Figured whatever it was you had for dinner, would be long cold. Don't know, Pride must have taken hold, but I decided I needed to get better at that, so I tried again. Think I fell over after the third." She says, getting a smirk out of Bruce.
"You get that off, then go get some food and rest." Bruce interrupts before Richard can add something else, pointing at the restraint hanging off her.
"Forgot about that." Raven mutters, before bending over looking for the lock-picking tool on the ground, before Bruce hands it to her, it's a testimony how tired she really is for Richard, back in the Tower she would never have been caught like this. "Thank you." Richard can almost see her squeezing one eye shut to begin again, aiming with her free hand.
"Bruce, you and Tim head on up, I will make sure she gets it off." Richard says, the two others just shrug before heading up.
"Don't worry, I had this last night." Raven says as the tool hits the keyhole and she begins twisting it around.
"I don't doubt that." Richard says. "But it wasn't necessary to do it again you know?"
"It was, it isn't supposed to take me hours to get out of them." She replies.
"Well those are harder than average to break out of." He adds as he watched her work for a moment. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure." She replies.
"I heard an old rumor somewhere that Amazons lose their strength if caught?"
"Never heard of it and I haven't felt anything change." Raven replies as a click is heard and she is free. "Your source material isn't those magazines in your room I hope?" Richard remains stone faced at this.
"I don't know what you are talking about." He huffs as she returns the tool to its boot compartment and puts the cuffs into one of her belt compartments, joining the one pair already there.
"Of course you don't." She says sounding amused. "Anyways, Bruce promised me hell during my training so I expect this will become near impossible later on." She continues as she walks out of the cave, followed by him.
"That it will." Richard agrees. "But don't work yourself to death down here, he isn't expecting you to surpass him, yet."
"I know, but I promised him I would give him my all and wasn't it you who said something about the more we sweat in the training room, the less we would hurt in the field?" She asks before walking into the wardrobe, leaving him to wait outside.
"I did, but I didn't mean you should kill yourself."
"I know, but I am committed to this. And I know Bruce isn't the kind of person you want to disappoint too often." She replies.
"That he isn't, but you will end up hurting yourself if you keep raising the bar for yourself because he will raise it accordingly." He says as she comes out again, dressed in the training set.
"Let me worry about that if it happens, I'm a big girl you know?" She asks, locking eyes with him.
"I know, I just hope you understand what you have signed on for." He says before turning away, leading her up the stairs.
"I got an opportunity here that most men and boys in tights would kill for, I didn't ask to become 'the one' for all of this, but I won't squander it or trivialize it… I can only hope I eventually live up to it."
"I know you won't, but don't jump on anything that looks good from afar." He stops and turns to face her when he hears she has stopped. He knew well enough that quite a few of his colleagues thought being a Bat meant everything was smooth sailing, but they don't know how how hard it is and what kind of toll it takes on them.
"Richard, I know what I am doing and I am willing to do what it takes. I know I won't like everything Bruce plans on putting me through, but we aren't supposed to either. I may not have the same motivation for wanting to do this as the rest of you, and that may seen as a disadvantage to some, but I am determined to prove that Bruce and Barbara were not mistaken about giving me this chance."
"I know and I know they are not." Richard's before opening the door.
Later that day:
"Next lesson is crime scene analysis." Batman announces as Raven exits the wardrobe again after several hours of rest, dressed and ready. "I know you have some knowledge about it, so I have set one up and your job is to show me what you can do." He says getting a silent nod before leading her down to one of the bottom platforms. "Normally, we arrive before the police contaminate the scene, but some we have to make do with what's left, this is one in the first category." He says as he leads her onto an empty platform. Pressing a few buttons on a console mounted on the posts at the side, the bubble sheen surface, like the one that the conference platform has, springs to life around the platform before it and cave disappears in a hologram, replacing it with a badly lit apartment with a single flickering light and a window to the city as the only sources of light.
Inside the room is an overturned bed with a dirty mattress facing the cracked wall, a small wooden table where a figure is slumped over a game of cards and three half empty bottles of booze and an ashtray filled with squashed cigarette's and a pool of blood under its head. The figure is facing away from them, sitting in a cheap wooden chair; another chair is overturned, lying on the other side. The figure is a male with dirty blond hair, wearing an azure jacket over a cheap striped shirt and black pants. From where they are standing, a gun can be seen lying on ground, opposite side of the table.
"First impressions?" Batman asks.
"Suicide victim, guy hit a rough streak in his life, turned to drink and ended up like this." Raven replies.
"Keep that in mind, and remember if the police do not see us doing it, they are better off not knowing we were here." Raven nods before carefully walking into the simulation, walking clockwise around the table, carefully taking note of everything. "What do you see?"
"This is a murder." She replies. "There is an entry wound on his forehead, but there is no trace of gunpowder on his face." Crouching down she lets a finger rest near the mouth of a gun. "Gun is cold, either this it not the weapon or the shot was fired long ago."
"Possibly he fired the shot from afar?" Batman asks.
"Possible, but if he intended to kill himself, why risk missing?" Raven counters, from her crouching position, looking up at the guy. "And why would he have a bullet wound in his chest?" She continues after spotting the bloodstained shirt and the hole as the light flickers just enough for her to spot it. "Trying to run an ID on him." She says and presses her left ear, turning on the night vision and stands up, looking at the face of the man. "Thomas 'Toby' Wickner's, low level mob thug, got kicked out recently. Had a drinking problem for several years and suffered from depression from time to time. Used to play poker with his colleagues and frequented several den's, including other mob's." She reads aloud before turning it off, the light was blinding her.
"So it could be suicide or a murder." Batman says from the corner he is occupying.
"I am almost certain it is a murder now, because of the two bullet wounds. Granted, he could have tried shooting himself in the chest first and miss everything before trying from afar, but why risk it a second time?" She says while looking around the place, noting the overturned furniture and the cards on the ground. Also spotting a large splatter of blood on the wall next to the window. "A theory; Toby is here alone when one or more enter the place for a game of cards, they drink and smoke, at some point a struggle erupts, resulting in the turned over furniture and the cards on the floor." She says as she walks over to rub some dust between her fingers. "And the ash over here. Toby ends up on the losing side and is shot here, or near this spot." She says gesturing at the floor in front of the blood splatter on the wall. "Resulting in the chest wound, possibly the shooter panics or something, but he or she decides to set this up as a suicide case and arranges what we see now. As a finishing touch, Toby is shot again, this time in the head. An autopsy and a bullet analysis will be needed to tell if he was killed by the first or second shot and if the gun on the floor is the murder weapon." She continues as she takes another look at the body, pushing his jacket aside with two fingers. "He doesn't have a wallet; possibly he was robbed after he was killed. Hmm, whoever did shoot him seems to have a sense of humor." She notes as she looks at the cards visible under him. "The dead man's hand, Beastboy and Cyborg arranged a poker night once or twice and wouldn't shut up about it when they either of them got it." She says before remembering something and picks out a scanner she was introduced to yesterday. Quickly she scans the victim's right hand for prints before scanning the gun on the floor. "Hmm, it's his gun, no other prints on it."
"You have mentioned an autopsy and a bullet analysis, anything further to add how to find out who did this?" Batman asks.
"Without disturbing the scene, no. But I suspect the murderer is a mobster, possibly one of Toby's old friends, possibly a rival one wanting him out of the way now that he is without protection."
"Where would you go from here?" He continues.
"The computer has a list of his associates and haunts, I would start with his friends, then his foes. But before that, I would have the bullet in the wall analyzed, Nightwing mentioned once you have the equipment to do so, even if the bullet was shattered. From there it is possible there is prints left behind that can lead us to the murderer." Bruce nods at this and steps into the scene as well.
"Very professional, but you are ruling out the possibility of this being one of the special cases?"
"No, but Toby was not known for any connections to them, he didn't have a reason to as long as he was with Falcone's mob. Granted he could have been made an example of by them and their gangs, but it doesn't fit really, if it was a message, why try to hide it? And from what I read, the MO of the special's filters into their gangs and this doesn't show any signs of them." Bruce nods at this.
"Good, seems you have learned a lot from the material Richard left behind." He says before walking over to the light switch next to the spot he occupied and kills the hologram by flicking it. "This case was purely animated, but we may come across those that look like it. And as you may know, some murders are without reason but you will get to train in this later on. Follow me." He says as he walks back the way they came, to a metal door in the cave wall.
"In here is what, Nightwing and Robin both came to call the Torture Chamber." He says before opening the door and walks inside, Raven following behind him, finding them in a long corridor with many metal cell doors. "Occasionally, we take someone back here for interrogation when we can't do it in the field. We haven't needed to do anything extreme, yet, being in an unfamiliar dark location with us is usually enough after we lay down the possibilities for them." He says while they walk down the hall, Raven stealing looks into the cells, finding some oddly old fashioned, with chains on the wall, others with a single chair or bed with restraints on them as well others appear more outlandish.
"I guess escapology will land me down here too?" She asks.
"It will." Bruce says. "And you won't always have the benefit of knowing when it will happen." He continues as they exit into a larger cave at the back. "This is where we usually train in resisting interrogation."
To Raven this part of the cave could have jumped out of a history book or museum, there is a rack, an old fashioned dunking stool, even a pair of stocks.
"Kinda old fashioned?" She asks.
"It is, but easy to make and the scum in the city employ some varieties of this. There is however one thing I need to warn you about." He says while turning to face her.
"What?"
"Because of your gender, in case you are captured, they may try to break you by threatening to rape you. This we can't train, but I know you have the memories of one's that didn't happen, but you need to know the risk. I won't say I expect it to happen, but the risk is there."
"I understand and if it was to happen?" She asks.
"You have permission to do what you can, to slip away, lights go out and you disappear, that sort of thing if possible. If the worst happens, just know that we will be there for you afterwards." She nods at this.
"I will do what I can to save those I can, what happens to me is secondary." She says.
"Big words, I hope there is as much action behind them if it should happen." He says calmly. "You have the rest of the day off. Just be prepared to head out by the usual hour."
"I will." She replies.
A week passes like this, Raven training during most of the day, quickly having her focus on the skills Bruce told her she was lacking in, escapology, driving with Richard, throwing techniques with the batarangs and grenades, and studying various school assignments. Bruce notes she is a fast student and she is progressing rapidly in most fields, but she is still struggling with escaping, and that she is a little conservative with her methods that usually involves using the lock picking tool whenever possible, even using it as a saw at one point. After some arguing, Bruce convinces Richard to help him with changing this.
"Are you even sure, gas works on her?" Richard whispers behind Bruce as they walk down the corridors of the manor, late at night after patrols.
"From all I've seen, I believe she is as vulnerable to it as she is to anything else when in human form, I am more concerned that Cerberus isn't." Bruce says as they come up on Ravens door, slipping on the light gas masks from their costumes before quietly entering the room.
Bruce had hidden a small gas bomb in her room while she was out during the day, which triggered when she came home, filling the room with odourless sleeping gas.
They find Cerberus sleeping soundly at the window, while Raven doesn't stir at all as she lies sleeping, dressed only in a black set of panties and a bra. "This is wrong on so many levels." Richard whispers as Bruce quickly scoops her up and throws her over his shoulder before the two quickly make their way down to the cave.
Quickly they have her dressed in her costume, minus the gloves and belt before they carry her down to the prison cave and into one of the cells, leaving her boots beside her as he puts her down.
"She can be as angry as she wants when she wakes up and gets out." Bruce says. "But she will learn how to deal with this." He continues as they lock her arms and legs into the heavy shackles that have a too short of a length of chain for her to clap her hands together. "The gas should keep her out for several hours, come on we have to get some rest as well." He says before leading Richard out the door before slamming it shut, leaving Raven slumped against the wall.
Raven wakes up in the dark, with a splintering headache, wanting to know what was on her face, she tries to move her hands but finds them and her feet secured to the wall and with her sitting on a concrete floor. A sudden flashback strikes her, memories of Tartarus, which has her lurch to her feet in shock and fear, too fast for her head and she quickly ends back on her rump because of it and the chains. The action however has her logical mind enter the situation.
"If you are really back in Tartarus, then you can't break the chains anyway. The material on your face is your mask, meaning this is most likely Bruce's doing and you are in one the Cave cells." The embodiment says. "This is another lesson and he did warn you that you wouldn't always know when it came." Raven nods at this in the dark, it makes sense to her. "Wait with trying anything with this head." She nods at this as well and tries to get comfortable as possible before drifting off to sleep again.
"Do you think it was too strong?" Richard asks as he and Bruce notes that Raven is still sleeping in the cell, they are watching from the computer, having a small camera in the cell to watch her with.
"No, she woke up two hours ago but has fallen asleep again, possibly she has a headache." Bruce replies from his seat. "From the initial reaction, I think she had a short flashback of waking up in Tartarus."
"Seems like she is coming to again." Richard notes after a moment as the green tinted image shows her head beginning to move. In silence they watch her get up and cracks a few joints before she tests how much she can move before leaning to her left and activates the night vision in her cowl.
She quickly spots her boots and tries reaching for them, finding them well out of reach of her hands. Richard can almost tell she is growling at this before she spots something on the wall.
"You left a note?" He asks, Bruce often left hints down there that would only show up on the scanner.
"Yes, the only way she is getting out unaided is by dislocating a thumb. But it is not what I wrote." Bruce says. "She hasn't done it before, if she can't, then we have to add aerobics to her program."
"Hmm and she will have till tomorrow morning to get out?" Richard asks.
"Yes, but she doesn't know when that is. Let's leave her to it." He says before turning off the monitor.
Richard spends the rest of the day expecting Raven to emerge at some point, furious, tired, annoyed or something, but she doesn't and Bruce bans him from watching her as he himself only takes brief glimpses but won't say anything. Richard thinks it odd that she doesn't emerge at dinner time or when they return home from patrol, sighing heavily when Bruce just says he will have to wait till the morning.
The following morning, they head down to the cell after finding her bedroom empty. Bruce deposits Richard outside the cell while he enters and shuts the door after him, having turned on the light from the outside.
"Raven, I want an explanation." He says sternly.
"I… I couldn't do it." She replies in a tired voice while looking at the ground, Bruce has come to read this as how she unconsciously signals shame or embarrassment. "I don't know how to get out of this." She admits.
"The note I left." Bruce says.
"I tried, but I couldn't do it." She sighs, nodding at her right hand that is sunk into the restraint, but stuck halfway up the back of her hand.
"Never done it before?" Bruce asks.
"Never." Raven replies. "Is it something I can learn?"
"Yes and you will learn it." He says as he moves over and shoves the restraint back into place. "How bad is it?"
"It's not." She says, realizing she is going to be stuck here till she gets out on her own. "How do you do it?"
"Tip of the day; dislocations happen when bones are lifted from their settings, usually by a sudden blow. I expect you will be out in a matter of hours at the latest." He says before walking out and shuts the door again and shuts off the light.
"No, it is not extreme." Bruce replies flatly to Richard's question. "You've been there."
"Yes, but I had practice before you did it. So no food or anything?"
"No." Bruce says as the outer door shuts behind them.
Later:
"Ah Miss Raven, good to see you above the surface again." Alfred says as she stumbles into the kitchen several hours after Bruce had gone to work, wearing her training clothes.
"I really need some tea right now." She says as she gets herself a chair with some difficulty.
"Are you all right?" Alfred asks after seeing this.
"I… don't know if I did it right." She sighs, holding up her bruised hands, displaying the oddly hanging thumbs on both.
"Oh dear, come with me Miss, we need setting them back." Alfred says, quickly abandoning the teapot he was filling and has her walk down into the small infirmary. "May I ask how long they have been this way?" He asks as he notes the bruises.
"Not sure." She sighs tiredly. "Did it with the wrong one first, then had to pick three locks with them, then redress and a badly needed bathroom visit."
"You will need some ice then I'm afraid." He says as she winces while he sets them back.
"Yeah, but some food would do wonders." She says, getting a smile out of the old man.
"And you shall have it." Alfred says happily before leading her back into the kitchen. She resigns herself to sit with her hands in a bowl of cold water while watching him work in the kitchen.
"Alfred, am I doing badly since he is doing this?" She asks suddenly, letting a tired edge of defeat enter her voice.
"What makes you think that?" He asks.
"These tests just seem to become harder and harder so fast, and I am not ashamed to admit that I am not doing as well as I should be. And I am even putting in extra hours to get it right."
"Never judge the Master's reaction as equating what he thinks; even if you perform badly, he might be pleased at the result you achieved. I have been told that many in the League think of him as impossible to please, but I know he knows that people learn more when he yells at them than when he utters his approval."
"I guessed it was like that, it just never seems like that when you are there." She sighs.
"It's because he saves his praise for the times when it is really needed Rae." Richard says as he enters the kitchen. "Good to see you out again." He says as he sits down next to her. "Hurt the first times I did it as well." He continues while noting her hands.
"Quite right." Alfred adds. "And here is the lady's tea." He says as he brings over the pot and a full cup.
"My day is saved." Raven smiles tiredly. "So how did you get me down there?" She asks before taking a mouthful.
"Won't tell you, because it will happen again, but I can tell you it is gas. But I don't know where he hides the dispenser, there's one in my room too, but I have given up trying to find it." Richard says.
"Wayne Manor, never know when you fall asleep and wake up in a prison." She replies emptying her cup.
"It's good training." Richard shrugs.
"I don't doubt that." Raven replies. "But I am a little annoyed at being carried off in the middle of the night in nothing by my underwear."
"Warned you." Richard smirks.
"Hope you enjoyed the view." She notes dryly, pouring herself a fresh cup.
"And if I did?" He asks, still sporting a smirk, getting a sigh out of her as the only reply before her stomach begins growling. "Better hurry up Alfred or that lioness is clawing its way out." He says.
"As you very well know Master Richard, my exquisite sandwiches cannot be rushed." Alfred replies without turning.
"Please, I am famished." Raven pleads, but it doesn't make the old man hurry up, getting a tired sigh out of her. "Wonder what the League is doing?"
"Plenty, but they have given you two weeks off for your work." Richard replies. "Flash thinks you are, enjoying the beaches somewhere." This gets a smile out of her. "Actually, that reminds me, they want you on the Satellite tomorrow, all the Titans will be there for the tryouts and they want you to help with a few."
"I am available if I don't get drugged and stuffed in a box beforehand. Oh Sweet Azar, I never knew I could get his hungry!" She continues as Alfred turns around with a tray filled with sandwiches in his hands.
"She got out?" Bruce asks as he enters the kitchen, half an hour after Raven has retired for a shower and a nap.
"Indeed sir, with two dislocated thumbs I might add." Alfred replies as he looks up from the dishes. "But I might add that she needs a little getting used to your dislocation techniques."
"She will, but she has the added problem of an Amazon's constitution. Her muscles are much denser than that of an ordinary human, but it is not impossible for her to learn." He says while sitting down, knowing that her strength and constitution was working against her, pull to little and nothing would happen and if she pulled too hard, she'd end up pulling the chains out of the wall. "Was she hungry when she got out?"
"Very, downed an entire pot of tea and five sandwiches." Bruce nods at this, he had noticed she didn't eat a lot normally, and one of Alfred's sandwiches was usually a half meal for her. "Master Richard notified her that the League has requested her presence tomorrow?"
"They did, and she will go." Bruce says. "Where is she now?"
"I believe she retired for a nap and a shower." Alfred replies.
"Good, so how was she emotionally when she got out?"
"Tired and a little downhearted I believe, she mentioned wondering if she was performing poorly." Bruce smirks a little at this. "May I ask if this is true?"
"Of course not, she is performing well, but she has much to learn. But she is showing a great amount of willingness to learn."
"Would you be comfortable with leaving the city for her to handle?" Alfred asks, Bruce thinks for several moments about this.
"Not alone, not right now. With Dick or Tim around, yes, but she isn't ready to handle Gotham alone."
"Sir may I inquire if you have noticed Master Richard's behavior around her?" Alfred asks as he begins drying the dishes.
"I have and it has been going on since she showed up."
"Do you disapprove?" Alfred asks, having often asked to matters of the heart of Bruce Wayne.
"As long as the team remains unaffected, I won't interfere." Bruce replies. "I know he will have to approach her soon and have it resolved."
"Perhaps it is time then, that Bruce Wayne takes his youngest ward fishing?" Alfred asks with a smile.
"Hmm, perhaps it is that time?" Bruce asks, echoing the smile. "Hmm actually, the formula one is passing Bridgestone next weekend."
"So you're off to England for the weekend?" Richard asks in surprise right after the announcement that Bruce, Tim and Alfred are going, while they were all sharing the evenings sandwiches.
"We are, and I trust I can leave the city in your hands in the meantime?" Bruce replies, while Tim is already smiling like an idiot, it wasn't a secret of any sort that he loved Formula One racing.
"Of course." Richard replies.
"You disapprove?" Bruce notes at his expression.
"I… no, of course not, but I figured it would be months before you would leave town again?" Richard explains.
"Gotham still has a Batman if needed." Bruce shrugs.
"I am not putting on that again." Richard replies flatly getting a few moments of silence.
"Training continues I guess?" Raven adds.
"Of course, there will be a schedule to follow." Bruce replies without looking at her.
"At least I know who is to blame if I find myself in a cell again." Raven says with a smirk at Richard, whose face heats up. "By the way, is it as myself I go tomorrow?"
"Yes, but bring the costume, someone did mention something about it." Bruce says. "Now tonight we will be hitting the west side, Harvey is reported to be operating there these days."
Next chapter: Titanic Tryouts! (joking :) ) You might see a few new faces.