I4.6
Chapter 38: Chokehold
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Adult themes. DO NOT read if you are underage or dislike controversial things.
Author's Note: I'm not dead, just distracted! I appreciate everyone's patience and kind words about this work of fiction that I've tried my hardest to write in a believable way. Some chapters are easier than others.
Sharp blue-gray eyes trace the outline of the slightly parted full lips before them. They watch as air is pulled in and released from the mysterious cavern of Rachel's mouth. Those eyes roam down the column of her neck and make their way towards her heaving chest. Her breathing is labored, as though she ran a marathon and can't quite seem to catch her breath. The rapid beeping of the heart monitor does little to ease his anxiety and fear over what he's seeing. It's as though he's functioning through a fog and all of his reactions are delayed. He's not sure what to focus on first because his mind is trying to keep up with everything and nothing at once.
Richard is knocked back to his senses when a massive metal arm forces him to step to the side. He watches as Cyborg covers Rachel's mouth with a mask that will pump clean oxygen into her lungs. The big man's large metal hand gently lifts her head so that he can secure the strap over it. They both watch her flinch as he cradles the base of her skull in his hard metal hand. Richard's slack expression morphs into a frown as he gently swipes her short violet hair to the side to reveal a blooming bruise at the base of her skull and around her neck. Both men look at each other with concern while Cyborg is muttering curses beneath his breath. Head trauma is often more serious than broken bones and certain other injuries.
There is a whimper from an unconscious Rachel as Cyborg slowly lowers her head onto the pillow of the medic bay's bed. He is mindful to angle her head a certain way so that she is not laying directly on the bruise. Richard moves to the foot of the bed as Cyborg is attaching probes to track Rachel's brainwaves. He gingerly pulls the navy colored boots off of her feet before removing her socks. His anklet is still encircling her left ankle. The sight of it overwhelms him with emotions that he can't quite put to words, but there is one feeling that dominates them all.
Failure.
It's the only coherent thought that pierces through the whirlwind of chaos. He's an all around failure. As a leader. A protector. A man. Out of all the people in his life, the only one that he is determined to keep safe is the one who is laying in the medic bay's bed. Richard can feel the hot sting of tears behind his tired eyes as he replays the events following the conference in his mind. How could he have been so lax? So stupid? He had been so busy making sure that the venue would remain secure and that he give the people the show they wanted to see that he didn't think about what would come after.
A bitter chuckle escapes his lips as he thinks, my first day as Nightwing is marked by failure.
So much for showing Bruce what a capable man and leader he could be. So much for showing the world that they were safe with him at the helm. So much for proving to his love that he would be her greatest guardian. A knight in shining armor who could protect her from anything or anyone. She was shot straight out of the sky within five minutes of her feet leaving the ground. He witnessed it happen with his own two eyes.
"Robin. Pass me the scissors," Cyborg demands as he slips Rachel's navy cape off her shoulders. "We're gonna have to cut her suit off to assess any other injuries she might have."
Richard nods his head once as he makes his way to the cabinet where they keep the surgical tools and instruments. He picks up the sharp scissors from the second shelf but before he can turn around a strong hand is placed on his shoulder. He glances at Starfire, who has also been in the room with them this whole time. She was the one who lifted Rachel's limb body into her strong arms and flew her back to the Tower as quickly as she could. Even with all of the tension and distress between the two women, Starfire handled her comrade with care. The look of concern on her beautifully exotic features was, and still is, genuine. It had left Richard feeling even more raw and inept when he thinks about how he was trailing behind her on his bike. Straining his neck to look up and keep them both in his eye sight as he recklessly rode to the Tower.
"Friend Robin. Friend Cyborg," she begins while looking somewhat uncomfortable, "I don't think Raven would want either of you to cut off her clothing. She is very protective of her body and space of her person. It would be best if you both stepped out. I think she would prefer that I change her."
Richard locks eyes with Cyborg and both men give each other a nod of agreement before Richard hands the sharp scissor to her. Starfire is right. Rachel would not want either men disrobing her while unconscious especially if there was another woman present who could do it. As much as Richard wants to take care of his injured raven, he has to be mindful of the other members of his team. A dark thought of Starfire possibly hurting Rachel with the sharp instrument briefly crosses his mind, but he lets it go. He is confident that Star wouldn't stoop that low. She may be emotional, but she is a woman of integrity.
"While Star takes care of Raven, you should come with me Robin," Cyborg says as he motions to a room off to the side of the medic bay. It was more like a large closet than an actual room. It's where the team stores most of its medications and supplies for the medic bay. It also houses an array of IV bags that are filled with various intravenous drips, pain killers and antibiotics.
"I'm concerned," Cyborg simply states.
"Me too," Richard responds as he spies some of Beastboy's old flea medication. He vaguely remembers having to restrict the mutt's access to the rest of the Tower until he got that particular issue under control.
"She's not healing like she normally would," the metal man adds. "What exactly happened?"
Richard passively accepts the bags of liquid that Cyborg thrusts into his arms as he tries to wrap his head around what he saw and experienced after the conference. He quietly says "She was shot down from the sky. I watched her limp body fall…"
"Then what happened?" Cyborg probes.
"When I realized what was happening…" he began before being cut off by Starfire's voice in the patient part of the medic bay.
"Batman! You can't be in here right now!" she cries and Richard feels himself freeze. The pit in his stomach falls even further when the deep baritone of Bruce's voice hits his ears.
"I'm here to see the patient...and your leader."
Richard finds himself swaying a bit at the knowledge that he would have to face his mentor sooner than he was ready for. He will have to explain his shortcomings to the same people he had been trying to impress earlier today. Richard looks down at the IV bags in his hands. The black gloves of his new suit have already lost their luster in his eyes. The hope and promise that he had imbued in this suit has been shattered by the reality of this situation that he finds himself.
"Even so, Mr. Batman," Starfire continues, "you can't be in here while I'm changing her. Stand in the hallway, if you please. I will summon you when I am finished."
Her statement is followed by the sound of heavy drapes being dragged across metal rods. A rueful smile pulls at the corners of Richard's lips at the thought of a dejected Batman standing outside of a standard curtain.
"Listen man," Cyborg quietly begins, "I know that you probably don't want to see Batman right now, but I can't say that I'm surprised that he's here. You know...with your new suit and all…"
Richard shakes his head in the negative, "I don't think he's really here for me. He had called me to the Batcave earlier. Before all this happened. I think he's here to see Rachel."
"Even so, man," Cy says while putting a hand on Richard's shoulder. Concern for his friend clearly flashing in his eyes. "If you're not ready to face him yet then hang out around here for a while. I'll go talk to him and see what he wants. You can come out when you're ready."
A rush of gratitude flows through Richard's chest and stings the back of his eyes. Even though the bonds between his teammates are stressed, they are not broken. Now would be the perfect time for Cyborg, and even Starfire, to capitalize on his precarious position for their own gain. It would be something that he would do if he was as determined as the metal man is to get ahead. This touching moment just reminds Richard that, at his core, Cyborg is a good man. A soft man. An easily manipulated man.
Batman will run circles around you, Richard thinks before replying with "It's alright, Cy. I'd rather face the judgment of the head honcho sooner, rather than later."
There is a firm squeeze of Richard's shoulder before the metal man picks up a sterile pack of IV needles and catheter, a tourniquet and sterilized tubing for the IV bags. He watches his friend head towards the central part of the medic bay where the love of his life lays, unconscious, in a hospital bed. He looks at the medication in his hands and winces when he sees a combination of painkillers and antibiotics. Standard. Cyborg will have to know more about her condition before he can determine an appropriate treatment. With a deep sigh, a heavy heart and a troubled mind, Richard follows Cyborg towards the main area of the medic bay.
His steps are slow and heavy as he approaches the action. He hears Cyborg greeting Batman as though they're old friends, but Richard knows it's a farce. Batman doesn't keep friends. He keeps pet Robins in the form of wayward children. Had he been any other man besides billionaire Bruce Wayne, the law would have cracked down on his questionable collection a long time ago.
"Are we to call you Nightwing now?" inquires the Caped Crusader. There is gruff amusement in his voice as though he is trying to hide his laughter from a child who is playing pretend.
"I would prefer it," is Richard's clipped reply as he turns his attention to the curtain and the two figures behind it. He can vaguely make out the shape of Starfire as she gingerly maneuvers the injured younger woman. Before his mentor can form a comeback, her high pitched voice beckons both him and Cyborg to tend to Rachel. Richard spares his mentor a glance before saying "I'll be right back."
Normally, Batman wouldn't allow himself to be bossed around by the likes of him, but Richard knows that the older man is keeping his peace so that he can observe the dynamics of the team as unobtrusively as possible. Based on all of the events that have led up to this moment, the all powerful bat knows that there have been many changes in the way that this particular Titan team functions. From drugging Beastboy to sending him away. From the results of Richard's psychology test to how tight lipped he has been about his relationship to the empath. From the release of those incriminating photos of Richard and Rachel in questionable positions to the seemingly abrupt change in crime fighting persona. It didn't take a genius to realize that all of these changes will cause friction and that it's only a matter of time before the team explodes. He needs to assess the state of the team with his own eyes before he can make a judgment call on what to do next. Keep Richard as the leader or replace him with the ever capable Cyborg.
Decisions. Decisions.
Richard wonders what it would feel like to be in that seat of power. Would Batman have been able to stop those cloaked figures from attacking Rachel? It is with bitterness on his tongue that Richard thinks, probably as he begins placing the IV bags on the stand beside her bed. Cyborg is prepping her left arm so that he can run the IV and Richard can't do anything else besides watch. There is gentleness in the bigger man's cold metal hands. He never would have thought that such care could be delivered by hands that aren't even human. Hands that weren't his.
"What do you know about her condition so far?"
Richard winces as Bruce's voice disturbs the solemn silence that fills the air. Of course that man wouldn't listen to directions. He does what he wants. He licks his dry lips as his mind runs through how much information to share with him, but before he can speak, Cyborg offers what he knows.
"Well," he begins as he gently inserts the needle and catheter into Rachel's arm, "we know that she is badly injured. It appears as though most of the injuries are from her fall out of the sky and hitting the ground. There is a massive bruise on the back of her head…"
"...and there is bruising along her right side," adds Starfire as she nervously nibbles on her lower lip. "I saw it when I was changing her. But that's not the concerning part."
"Then what is?" probes the Caped Crusader with a quirked eyebrow. Richard knows how much he hates waiting for important intel.
"She's not healing like she normally would," Richard quietly says as his eyes stay trained on the way Cyborg is handling her. He is simultaneously grateful and peeved by the obvious care and attention the metal man is displaying, but he couldn't quite tell how much of it was genuine or just a show for their guest.
"Rachel has access to a deep well of healing energy," he clarifies as a frown mars his face. "This is not the first time that she's fallen out of the sky and hit the ground. Usually, her body automatically begins healing itself when that happens, so she can continue to fight, but...this time...she isn't doing that."
"Do you know why?" his mentor probes again and Richard feels annoyance swelling within him. He does know why, but he doesn't understand why.
"I do, but I don't," he admits. He knows that he's being petty with his vagueness, but he's not sure how much to share with his team and mentor and how much to keep close to his chest because it could work to his advantage.
"Robi...ugh, Nightwing," Bruce says, "why don't you start with what happened before she took flight."
Richard shifts his gaze away from the unconscious young woman and fully turns his attention to the dominating figure that's looming in the medic bay. The undertone of sarcasm when he said Nightwing wasn't lost on the younger man or his other teammates. As much as it pains him to admit to everyone that the last words exchanged between him and Rachel were words of conflict, it doesn't make sense to hide it.
"We were fighting before she flew away," he admits.
"About?" questions Star from behind him. Was that a glimmer of hope in her tone? Glee? Excitement?
"My new suit," he says. He couldn't admit to them that they were also fighting over the state of their relationship. There is no going back for them now. Their "friendship" has been compromised. Even if he and Rachel decided to remain "just friends" it wouldn't be the same. It would always be tainted by the question of what if? For him, there is no other direction besides forward. She will learn that she is capable of giving him what he wants and in return he'll give her everything she needs...even if she doesn't know that she needs it.
"I'm assuming you sprung this reveal on her," says Bruce, "just like you did with the public."
"Rachel knew of my suit," he defensively counters, "she helped me design it, but she didn't know that I would be revealing it today. She didn't think that now would be the right time, but she respected my choice and walked on that stage with me anyway."
Just like you all should, thinks Richard peevishly. In his opinion, the conference had been a success. The crowds loved it and he was sure that the reporters will be falling all over themselves to write about the hidden love between the two birds. Not to mention what the fandom will do with their little displays of affection on that stage. They will breath life into their romance and hopefully help Rachel see the possibilities that she's determined to deny.
"Then what happened?" Cyborg's voice pulls Richard back to the present and he shifts his gaze back to the bed. Rachel's lovely violet hair is spread on her pillow like a skewed halo around her head.
"Then she told me to see Batman and that she was going to fly back to the Tower," he replies. Conveniently leaving out the part where she told him not to go looking for her when he's done. "As I watched her flying away, I saw a flash of lightening hit her from below and then her body just fell out of the sky..."
...Rachel's as proficient at flying as Starfire is, so Richard's mind couldn't quite comprehend why she would be falling. He's thankful that his body is able to respond better than his brain can. Muscle memory had him straddling his bike and roaring away without his helmet on. He can hear the traffic responding to his reckless riding as he narrowly misses being run over by several cars. Two pedestrians barely managed to jump out of his way as he sped across the pavement in an effort to cover the ground that Rachel flew over. Thankfully, she didn't fall that far away from the conference center.
Richard found himself subconsciously grinding his teeth as his mind begins sifting through the potential culprits like a rolodex. The only criminal he could think of that was capable of taking them all by surprise is Slade. That man had been quiet, but not idle for almost a year. While Richard couldn't quite pin him to a specific place to make an arrest, he does know that the older man has been eyeing Rachel's powers as much as Bruce has. Ever since her sixteenth birthday, Slade had been fantasizing the various ways he could use her powers to further his own goals. Had he finally figured out a way to do that? A surprise attack is right up his alley. But one orchestrated in the brazen light of day isn't quite his style. This moment read of desperation and if there's one thing that Slade is not, it's desperate.
What Richard saw as he approached the scene is even more baffling. There were five heavily cloaked figures surrounding a splayed out figure on the ground. He was too far away to assess the damaged that had been done to her, but he could tell that she was not moving which caused his heart to skip multiple beats. He can feel his body heat begin to rise along with his panic at the unknown situation before him. His ears were tuning out the hysterical cries of the city's residents who were desperately trying to run away while a handful of bravely stupid people stayed behind to record. All he can focus on were those five figures and the death grip that they had on his beloved.
Two figures stood by Rachel's feet, while two more were standing on either side of her arms. Arms that were laying in an awkward position that didn't look natural. Richard suppresses a shudder as he focuses on the leader of the group who is standing so close to Rachel that the tips of his boots were almost touching the top of her head. The figure was at least 6'5" with broad shoulders, but Richard couldn't see his face since the hood of his cloak kept it obscure. The leader's deep baritone voice was leading the rest of the group in a chant that sounded awfully similar to Rachel's "azarath metrion zinthos." However, it doesn't sound as reassuring as hers does. There was something distinctly sinister in the order of the phrasing. Almost like it was backwards. Almost like it perverted the original phrasing. However, strangely hypnotic.
Richard was trapped in stupor as the group raised their arms in unison while crying "Sohtniz!"
He watched in morbid fascination as black tendrils crawled out of each of their palms and latched on to certain chakra points on Rachel's body. The leader's tendril slithered its way around her neck before firmly attaching itself to the red gem in the center of her forehead. The gem flared to life when the tendrils began sucking the life force right out of Rachel before his very eyes. Richard couldn't believe what he was seeing because none of this made sense to him in this moment. It wasn't until her painful cries of discomfort hit his ears and jerking limbs registered in his mind that he sprung into action.
Richard quickly unsheathes his electric rods and aims to deliver a damaging blow to the back of the head of the man closest to him. As he feels his feet leave the floor so that he can swing down with weight and momentum, he is flung backwards. The air is knocked out of him when his back hits the side of a parked car, but training has him rolling back onto his feet while trying to catch his breath. The group is still surrounding Rachel and paying him and his attempts to free her no mind.
"WHO ARE YOU?" Richard bellows at the group. "WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH HER?"
The leader of the group turns his head so that he can lock eyes with Richard and the younger man is taken aback by the man's features. He can clearly see four distinctly red eyes staring back at him with "S" like marks engraved into his skin. Richard's mind instantly takes him back to Rachel's sixteenth birthday when Slade tried to use her to open up a portal for her mass murdering father. Richard continues to watch as a devil like smile splits the man's face in two to reveal sharp, elongated teeth beneath. Teeth that parted so that this creature can run its slimy tongue along its chapped lips.
"Sruo tub sruoy ton sruo si ehs" The alien sounding language grates on Richard's ears in an unpleasant way. It didn't sound like Kryptonian or Tamaran. He didn't know what they wanted with Rachel, but he knew that they were slowly killing her and if he didn't break their circle soon then who knows what kind of lasting damage this will have on her. He also wasn't sure about what kind of effect prematurely breaking the circle might have. An abrupt disruption could cause life threatening injuries too.
"Let her go! NOW!" he demands with a yell. The leader's decrepit smile just widens at the hysteria in Richard's voice before turning his head back towards the chanting group. He begins to join the chant as Richard throws two explosive tags at the bigger man's calves. One tag hits the ground while the other attaches itself to the hem of his robes. Both explode on impact. He watches with grim satisfaction as the leader and follower next to him stumble out of the crude circle that they had formed around his beloved. Richard feels a sense of relief flow through him as the black tendrils dissipate and Rachel's floundering body goes still. It was a calculated risk made on the assumption that attacking the leader before he could fully rejoin the chant would be enough to break the circle.
The two underlings who were standing by Rachel's feet finally turn their attention towards him. He could see that they weren't as tall or as powerful as the leader, but that doesn't mean that he should underestimate them. Especially since they were just consuming her life's energy. There wasn't much that he could tell about their physique since they are wearing heavy crimson robes, but he could clearly see that each member has four sets of glowing red eyes and "S" carved into their faces. Richard had no idea if their demonic abilities were as powerful as Rachel's so he decides to fall back into a defensive stance. Right now his main goal is to snatch up Rachel's limp body and retreat.
As the two step away from her prone form laying on the ground and approach him, green fire bolts begin raining from the sky. A bolt collides with one of their heads, but the other member had just enough time to create a shield to protect himself. Richard didn't need to look up to know who was flying in from the sky. He knew those green flames from anywhere. Instead, he dodges pass the cloaked figure who has turned his full attention to the princess in the sky. Returning fire with his own dark energy bolts. Uncomfortably similar to Rachel's.
Richard makes it to his love's lifeless body just in time to see the leader levitating Rachel's unconscious form off the ground. He lifts his right arm and a black portal forms beside him. Richard knew he had to get to her before they stepped through to the other side. He throws two more tags at the large man's head, but they are stopped in midair and detonated. What the leader doesn't notice is that he had also thrown out an electric wire towards his feet. Before he realized it, the wire had wrapped snugly around both of his ankles and there were borderline lethal amounts of electricity coursing through his body. Richard watches as the big man stumbles again and falls on his side, giving him just enough time to place himself between Rachel and the intruder. He is ever mindful of the two henchmen fighting with Starfire who is still flying in the sky. That leaves one more that's unaccounted for.
Richard turns just in time to see the fourth lackey attempting to levitate Rachel's body away from him, but he manages to grab her just in time. He hauls her limb body to his and keeps her flush against his chest as he rolls away from the dark bolt that hits the spot they once were. There is a roar from the leader and a powerful dark ray hits the lackey directly in the chest. Richard watches as the smaller man's lifeless body hits the ground. He can hear the leader speaking to himself, but has no idea what he's saying.
"!yrd si ehs litnu evila lrig eht peek ot evah ew! Em ot netsil yeht tnac yhw. !kcuf eht tahw!"
Richard frowns as he cradles his beloved's body closer to his own. The pointer and middle fingers of his right hand desperately search for a faint pulse in her throat. Thankfully, he finds one and breaths a sigh of relief that is short lived because the leader is turning his full attention towards them. Richard watches with trepidation as the leader's eyes narrow in on the hand that he has placed on Rachel's neck. A frown distorts his already ugly face. He watches as the leader lifts a hand as though in a stopping motion "Reh llik tnod. !pots!"
Richard has no idea what he's saying or asking for, but it becomes clear that the leader is distressed by his hand on her neck. It doesn't take long for him to figure out that the leader doesn't want him to hurt her. They probably need her alive. Once that realization hits him, Richard changes the position of his hand to fully encase Rachel's delicate throat. Her breathing is shallow and he is worried that if he applies more pressure then he might really kill her, but this action seems to be the only thing keeping this creature at bay.
Against the sound of intense fighting in the background Richard stares directly into all four of the leader's eyes and declares, "Leave or I will strangle her to death."
The creature looks taken aback by his statement which means that he can understand what Richard is saying. To punctuate his point, the leader of the Titans carefully tightens his grip around his subordinate's slender throat. He feels his love's body begin to jerk in response to her restricted airflow, but he tightens his grip anyway. The intruder takes one step back as though in shock from what he's witnessing. He turns his head around and shouts something in his strange alien language. A portal appears behind the creature and the three remaining fighters that were battling Starfire quickly disappear into it. The leader takes one more deep look into Richard's blue-gray eyes and smiles his horrific smile before nodding his head once. As though in approval.
"...and then they just disappeared," finishes Richard.
WHAM!
Richard stumbles a little as Starfire's fist makes contact with his shoulder. "You choked friend Raven! Are you crazy Robin?!"
"Ah!" Richard winces as he gently clutches his shoulder. He can practically feel the bruise forming beneath his new armor. "I wasn't going to choke her to death, Star. It was the only way that I could think of to make them retreat."
"There could have been another way," chimes in Cyborg, causing Richard to frown at his response. How would he know? He wasn't there. He was safe and sound back at the Tower. As much has he wants to say this, he is mindful enough to hold his tongue. It was a good thing that they were able to call ahead of time and have him on standby for Rachel's arrival.
"Even so," defends Richard, "we were out numbered and out powered. Possible harm to Rachel was the only thing that he seemed to respond to so I had to use it."
Even though Batman's face has remained stoic throughout Richard's recounting of events, he could tell that his use of Rachel's real name has peeked his interest along with the fact that he was willing to use violence on the young woman. There was a part of the Caped Crusader that was worried that the little witch had his protege wrapped around her little finger. It was the only reason Richard even bothered to include that bit of detail in the retelling. Otherwise, he would have just omitted it and told the group that the leader decided to retreat when he recovered his love's body.
"Well," Bruce's deep baritone cuts through whatever else the rest of the team had been trying to say, "What matters is that she's here. Injured, but still alive. Hopefully she can fill in the missing pieces when she wakes up. Are there any ideas of who might have done this?"
Starfire shakes her head in the negative, "We have not seen these villains before. They fight like Raven...but they seemed...stronger."
"Is it possible that they have the same demonic origin as her?" inquires Batman with a distasteful frown. He has made it clear to Richard on more than one occasion what he felt about her heritage.
"They share similar traits, but I don't know if they're related to her," supplies Richard.
"It's not completely out of the realm of possibilities," adds Cyborg. "The odds of Trigon having more children running around isn't that far fetched. Maybe Raven was the one he liked the most?"
"Or she's the easiest to manipulate," states Batman as he takes in the frown of disapproval that mars Richard's face. He smirks a little at the reaction before saying "The rest of you should tend to her. I need to speak to Nightwing. Alone."
Dunn dunn dunnnnnn! What do you think about Richard's story? Is he telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help him god?