Black.
She drifts in a sea of black; unending, unrelenting. There's no sound, no light, no feeling, only black.
Fear breaks through the black, squeezing her heart, then muffled sounds pierce the black. Thoughts forming, images start appearing, and she becomes aware of her own breathing. Pain is the next thing to pierce the black; dreadful agony. Names, places, faces flash through her mind, then settle on a certain Boy Wonder.
"...Raven," a disembodied voice says. "Raven..."
The voice is soft and kind; gently pulling Raven further out of the black.
"Raven."
It's Robin's voice, she's sure of it.
"Raven..."
She jolts awake. "ROBIN!"
She's seated on a gurney in an ambulance. She breathes hard, unsure of her surroundings, panic seizing her as she desperately tries to focus her mind.
Hands grab her forearms and she nearly screams out loud, flinching madly until her eyes settle on Robin- or rather- Dick's face, his piercing blue eyes awash with concern. Something in them snaps her back into reality as she lets out a very relieved sigh.
"I... I..." she trails off.
"Shh," he says. "It's okay."
He squeezes her wrists gently, reassuring her. She settles back a little, her heart slowing, her chest feeling lighter, and the pain subsiding. She swings her legs over the side of the gurney, now fully facing him, their faces about one foot apart in the cramped space.
"How long was I out?" she says, regaining her composure completely.
"Not long," he says.
She notices that he's back in his tux, then looks at herself and realizes that she's back in her white dress. She swallows.
Did he... Dress me?
He chuckles, somehow knowing her thoughts.
She's torn between embarrassed and angry.
"After the explosion, you came through the portal unconscious. I caught you." His face muscles tighten, his eyes darkening. "For a second, it looked bad. But Wonder Woman couldn't find any serious trauma, so she took you into the bathroom where you left your dress, and then met us down here."
He motions out the open door of the ambulance to the controlled chaos; paramedics rush back and forth to help wounded people, police rush everywhere to secure the scene and take statements from everyone.
"The paramedics looked you over, but they couldn't find anything serious either. That was quick thinking back there," he says.
"Thanks, I guess," Raven says.
He shakes his head. "No. Thank you."
She shrugs.
A woman paramedic comes to the open door.
"I see you're up," she says.
She runs Raven through the standard procedures, then shakes her head.
"Doesn't look like you even got a concussion," she says. "You should be fine to go home, but you might want your regular doctor to check you out just in case."
"Thank you," Raven says.
And with that, she joins Robin outside the ambulance where he had been waiting while the paramedic looked at Raven.
"All done?" he says.
She nods a yes.
He smiles and she finds it hard not to return it.
"Now, we just have to make our statements, and we can go," he says.
They stand waiting for a policeman to get to them for a while. She stands next Robin, going over everything that had happened. There were so many enemies- she's almost amazed that they made it through relatively unscathed. And after Joker's plots, she's just thankful that Robin is alive.
Batman had been right; there was no way she could have prepared herself for a Joker case.
A cold breeze blows passed, and she grabs her shoulders, missing her cloak and its warmth.
Robin holds out his black tux jacket. "Here."
She shakes her head no.
"That's okay-"
He pays no mind to her protest; just drapes his jacket around her shoulders. It's soft and warm, and she snuggles further into it despite herself.
"Thank you," she says.
He nods, then goes back to watching the scene.
His scent invades her senses, making her blood boil and her mind turn to mush.
Clean. Masculine. Wonderful, she thinks.
(******)
She sits in the passenger side of Robin's red Mustang, more 80's music plays through the surprisingly clear speakers.
Giving their statements had been surprisingly painless. Robin had known the patrolman that interviewed them, and it went by pretty quick.
Now, she looks out the window of the car at the passing lights, still wrapped in Robin's jacket, still invaded with his scent.
The song ends, and The Cure's Pictures Of You starts playing.
She turns from the window, looking at his side profile as he focuses on the road. She doesn't have to ask why she's looking at him. She finds him attractive. She's always found him attractive. What girl wouldn't?
Early on, she just ignored it. After he and Starfire got closer, she denied it; tried to shut it out completely. She didn't want to be jealous of Starfire, so she shut that out too.
After Starfire left, she found it harder to ignore. She would sit in the common room with her books, looking over the pages, but not really reading them. Instead, she would find herself watching him, seeing him so pained and lonely was hard for her, and her heart would go out to him. She would scold herself for it later when she was alone in her room, but then, she would find herself thinking about him, picturing him. She always found herself a rational explanation why, some way for her to lie to herself about her true feelings.
But it isn't only his appearance that attracts her. He's kind and patient and good. He's stoic; not because he's wants to appear manly, but because he wants to instill confidence in those around him. Nearly everything he does is for others. He puts his body- his life on the line for people he doesn't even know. But he has no superpowers. She's often wondered if she were normal, would she do as he does? Could she devote her whole life to an ideal? Simply because she believed in it?
He stretches his neck and settles more in his seat, his body easing, his breathing growing more relaxed.
Her whole life, Raven has wished to be normal, and wished to be loved- or at least, accepted.
Robin has never treated her differently than he treats the others, and has always accepted her, even after he found out she was the daughter of a demon. And he's proven time and again that not only does he accept her, but he cares for her. He faced Hell itself for her.
Everything about him draws her to him. Inside and out, he is the most attractive man she's ever met.
But he is also her best friend.
She's tried to rationalize it away. She's tried to ignore it. She's tried to deny it, but deep down, she knows the truth.
Deep down, she's always known the truth.
She loves him.
"There was nothing in the world that I ever wanted more than to feel you deep in my heart," the desperate, angsty vocals of the song ring in her mind.
Why does she have to be the daughter of a demon? Why can't she just be normal? Why do her powers have to be so dangerous? And why do they have to be so closely tied to her emotions?
It isn't fair.
It just isn't fair.
But it doesn't matter, she tells herself. It doesn't matter if it's fair.
It just matters that it is. The monks at Azarath warned her of her emotions.
For her to allow these feelings- to not shut them out- would put everyone in danger. Especially him, and she cares about him far too much to put him in danger.
Life without him seems unthinkable.
She won't shut him out- she can't- but she will shut out her feelings for him.
So, she'll suffer. Forever to look, never to touch. Forever to want, never to have. She'll suffer because she has to.
Because she can take it. Because she loves him. Because it is the right thing to do.
"You doing okay?" he says, breaking her out of her thoughts.
(******)
Robin
He spots her nodding a stiff yes out of the corner of his eye.
Something's up.
He takes a breath, pondering whether or not to push. Usually patience proves the best option. He resists a sigh and grips the wheel slightly tighter.
It's probably just the comedown from the fight mixed with being knocked out by a bomb. Give her space.
A time passes in silence and the song ends. The radio station goes to commercial, an advertisement for alcohol.
"You want to find another station?" he says, happy to be able to change the subject.
Raven shrugs, then starts scanning the stations.
Commercial.
Commercial.
Spanish Salsa.
Commercial.
Talking.
Talking.
Country.
Commercial.
The beginning to Lifehouse's Everything starts playing. Raven goes to press the button, then hesitates.
"Beats commercials or talk shows," she says.
He nods and they both settle into a silence. He knows she's working through something in her head. He can somehow always feel it when she's struggling. He'd like to think it is just his detective skills, but their bond links them in more ways than either of them probably wants to admit. Whenever she struggles, it's almost like he can feel it like a phantom limb; gone, but still there. It's almost like he can feel her, and feel at least a small piece of what she's feeling, even if the feeling has no context or detail. He doesn't know the what or the why, he just knows when her mood changes, even when she tries to hide it from him.
Neither of them knows exactly how the bond itself started. According to Raven, it shouldn't have lasted beyond her entering his mind. When she was hit by the phantom Slade, the "connection" should have been severed, but it wasn't.
Just focus on something useful, he tells himself.
He goes back over the case, starting with the the night on the couch with Raven, the call from Alfred about Barbara's shooting. He goes back over everything about the asylum, every foe he faced, every word he overheard, every time the Joker spoke to him; searching his mind for any clue that could give away the next move of the person pulling the strings.
His mind stops at the gala. The image of Raven on the dance floor, and the ghost memory of how she felt in his arms makes his heart beat faster, and brings a smile to his face.
"And how can I stand her with you, and not be moved by you? Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?" the singer's vocals come strong through the speakers. "Cause you're all I want! You're all I need! You're everything! Everything!"
The words repeat both in the song and in Robin's mind. He can't help but steal a glance at Raven, and sees that's she's looking his way.
He resists a flinch, and resists the urge to look away quickly, and resists the urge to swallow or clear his throat.
"Good song," he says.
She nods, and he goes back to focusing on the road.
Oh, yeah, you're mister smooth, he scolds himself with heavy sarcasm.
(******)
They sit at a table in the cave. Robin wearing his red hoody, and black sweats; Raven wearing the cream-pink shirt and the gray fleece pants.
They've cleaned up since the fight and packed. Alfred cooked them a meal, which much to his chagrin, they are eating in the cave. A simple steak with a baked potato never tasted so good.
It's been a long time since Robin sat down and had a meal with Bruce and Alfred. It feels good. It feels like old times.
Raven finishes her plate.
"That was wonderful," she says.
Alfred beams at her with a genuine smile.
Okay, maybe better than old times.
A few minutes later, they stand in the empty area, waiting for the League to get back to them. They have already said their goodbyes, and Batman and Alfred have left the cave on business.
"Sorry," the Flash's voice echoes through the speakers in the cave. "The League had a fight today, and Luthor tried to hit Watchtower with a computer virus- long story- don't ask. Anyway, the transporters are giving me some grief. Please bear with me."
"It's okay," Robin says. "No rush."
The Flash, AKA: Barry Allen, is a scientist who works for the Central City PD. He is the fastest man alive, and a founding member of the Justice League.
A few seconds of silence pass.
"Uh, could you try standing further apart?" Flash says.
Robin and Raven both pick up their bags and take a few steps back.
"No, no," Flash says. "That's worse. Try closer together."
Raven picks up her bags and mutters under her breath, then steps towards Robin while he does the same.
"Better," Flash says.
They take another step.
"Better," Flash says.
They take another step.
"Better still, but not quite," Flash says.
Robin takes one more step, now toe to toe with Raven, their faces inches apart.
"Better. A bit closer."
"Any closer, and we'd be sharing the same skin," Robin says.
"Alright, standby."
They drop their bags. Robin tries with everything in him to stay passive, but knows his cheeks are reddening; though he also notices that her cheeks are also flushing as she looks up into his eyes.
"The mask," she says.
He winces, then puts his mask on. "Thanks."
She nods, then swallows.
They both stand frozen, staring at each other.
Her scent fills his senses, at the same time overwhelming him and yet making him hunger for more.
He tries to breath easy, but finds it difficult with their breath mingling in the air. His heart races; he can't slow it down. Heat spreads in his chest and butterflies explode in his stomach. He stands perfectly stoic, just gazing into her eyes.
Her expression seems even, but his keen detective senses tells him that it's a mask, and the mask is cracking. Her breath comes uneasy and rapid like his. Her eyes seem wider, clearer, reflecting in them the same longing that he feels. Her mouth opens partway, and his breath hitches in his throat.
He wants to reach out and tuck a lock of her hair behind ear, but tells himself it's a crazy notion, even if it doesn't feel crazy.
She stares back, apparently as transfixed as he feels. The tension is so thick he can barely breathe.
Say something, Robin! Break the tension.
"So..." he trails off.
She starts to speak, then hesitates.
He isn't sure if he's imagining it, but he could swear their faces are closer than a few seconds ago. Her eyes grab his like a magnet. If he doesn't look away- if he doesn't turn his head- he will do something stupid. Her eyes look away from his, landing on his lips, forcing him to swallow.
Something incredibly stupid...
His logical mind turns against him as he starts rationalizing; what if she really does like him too? What if it wouldn't wouldn't turn out like the others? What if she's different? What if he allowed himself to feel for her what he denies deep down? What if he leaned in right now? Would she reject him?
Everything about her says no. She looks like she wants him to lean in every bit as much as he wants to.
So, what's stopping him?
Everyone you love will leave you!
Is that what's stopping him? Is he afraid she would leave him like everyone else?
Not Raven, he thinks. She's different.
He swallows the lump in his throat, summoning his courage, then everything turns white.
(******)
Starfire
She and her husband stand in the common room of the tower, talking with Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Speedy.
Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Captain Marvel had gone back to bed shortly after Starfire explained her presence on Earth.
"Tell me, friends, should you not have gone with Raven when you discovered Robin's peril?" she says.
"Well, Star," Cyborg says. "There was nothing we could have done to help him-"
"Yeah," Beast Boy says. "Plus, the Titans have a responsibility to Jump City-"
"And we couldn't just abandon its people," Cyborg cuts him off. "Robin wouldn't have wanted that."
Starfire reluctantly nods. "Indeed, he would no-"
The dark common room lights up with a pure white light, sending Starfire's heart into a frenzy.
What's that!?
Her hands are primed with starbolts, green energy making them glow. The light fades into black. Her eyes find her husband Gavyn, and his hands glow with his yellow starbolts. She follows his eyes to spot two new figures standing in an empty area of the common room. The figures look like a man and a women; they stand close together- very close together. Starfire spots Robin's mask and Raven's violet hair.
They are home safe!
Starfire is thrilled, then notices the way they are gazing at each other, like no one else is even there.
She nearly screams. "Friends, Robin and Raven!?"
Author's Note
Sorry it took me an extra few days for this update. I've got a cold, and it's seriously hampering my focus. So, if there are all kinds of spelling, typing, and grammar errors- it's the cold's fault!... Also if you didn't like the chapter, that is also the cold's fault...
Sorry, this part is kind of slow. These kinds of scenes are hard for me to write, and I had many decisions to make.
Anyway, so that was Part Sixteen. What did you think? Leave me a review and let me know. I love hearing your thoughts, and every single review makes updating that much easier.
Thank you hshsb for the review! Hahaha, your review had me rolling!
Thank you jeenathespectrobesprincess for the review! Aw, I appreciate the effort, but there's no need to rush. Tests and things come first.
Thank you LimitlessDarkness for the reveiw! *evil laugh* muwhahahah! Thank you, I'm glad you liked the tension and the action. We'll see about Wonder Woman. You think the League Of Assassins is the "main" villain, do you? More like Joker was playing his employers; using them and their offer to accomplish his own goals. Thanks a bunch!
Thank you Chinaluv for the review! I'm glad you liked the cliffhanger. lol
Thank you ShieraH for the review! Thank you so much! I'm so glad you like my portrayal of the Joker.
Thank you ashley,minosera, and Silver Dragon Master for favoriting.
Thank you June Grayson, and Silver Dragon Master for following.
And a big thank you to everyone who has read the story so far. Thank you all so very much.
Well, that's it for Part Sixteen. I almost can't believe we've come this far.
Until next time, readers. I hope life finds you so well.
mojo