10:30 P.M.
Bat cave
Nightwing parked The Batmobile back onto the platform and popped the hatch, both Nightwing and Raven climbed out. Raven pulled the knife out of his shoulder before they got back to the cave; the wound was deep and needed stitches.. Alfred came down the stairs from the bat computer to meet them.
"Welcome back, the police have picked up our perpetrators and are interrogating them. Master Bruce is still at the hospital with Lucius; he has been admitted and is in stable condition at the moment, Luke is there with his father. The rest of the Bat-Family are still in town at the moment; though once everything is prepared they shall go their separate directions once again."
Nightwing wasn't sure what he meant when Alfred said everything is prepared.
"What do you mean by when everything is prepared?"
Alfred looked to Nightwing.
"I shall wait for Master Bruce to tell you when he gets back. He said he would leave Gotham General once he knew Lucius was in good hands."
Raven followed Nightwing up the stairs to the Bat-Computer. Nightwing typed in his access code and the computer came online. Raven had never seen a computer so impressive; the main computer in Titans Tower was impressive but this one was on a whole other scale.
"What's the processing power of this thing?"
"Well let's just say that this makes the computer back at the Tower look like an early thousands cell phone."
Just then she saw Bruce appear on screen. He looked to still be in Lucius' room leaning against the wall looking toward the door. Raven was standing behind Nightwing's chair.
"Nightwing."
"Bruce, you'll never believe who hired our uninvited guests."
"Roland Daggett."
"Wait how did-?"
"The car was rented and charged to Daggett's business account. I had Oracle run the plates."
"Of course you know. I never get to surprise you."
"Actually you did, in a whole different case though."
They both saw Bruce's eyes look from Nightwing to Raven' he kept them there for a few seconds; Rachel stared back when Bruce looked back down to Nightwing.
"I'm on my way out. Lucius is stable and Lucas is going to stay with his father for the night. I'll talk to you about surprising me when I get back. You did good Nightwing; you too Raven."
Bruce ended the call and the computer went back to the home screen; Nightwing started to sign out when Raven turned to walk back to the elevator. She walked on the top walkway towards the elevator, that's when she spotted it. She had been in too much of a rush the last two times she was here; first when Nightwing needed medical attention after fighting Firefly, then again when they came down to get The Batmobile. This time though, it was in clear view as Raven walked passed. She stopped dead in her tracks and turned towards the right to face it. Raven could hardly believe what she was looking at, she hadn't seen it in years.
Behind the glass in front of her. Rachel pulled off her hood and stared at it. She could see the red and green suit with the black circle with the yellow R in it on the left side of the chest; the black and yellow cape still attached at the shoulders. The utility belt, still clung around its waist and the black mask that he had worn for so long around her before finally letting her see who he really was. She remembered the last time she saw it; Dick was packing his things up to leave the night the Titans disbanded. She was so focused on the suit she never heard Dick come up beside her.
"Remembering old times Rae?"
Rachel jumped, didn't know he had come up beside her.
"Yeah."
They both stood in silence for a few seconds just looking at the old costume, Raven was the first to break the silence.
"It's funny. Of all the times I've seen you wear this, it feels like I'm looking at it for the first time."
Nightwing laughed.
"You should have seen me the first time I put the suit on; I was twelve years old Rachel. Twelve. I was so happy, so proud to put it on that I stood admiring myself in the mirror for half an hour. Batman almost left without me."
"You talk about Batman a lot. You admire him, don't you?"
"The Batman taught me, trained me, guided me. What I am I owe to him."
They both went back to staring at the suit.
"The last time I saw you wear this suit was in that final fight with Slade when you rescued me. You stabbed Slade through the shoulder with his own sword then carried me out of the ruins as the building collapsed."
"Yeah, I remember. I drove the sword through his shoulder out of anger."
Nightwing put a hand on the glass and just stared at the suit; remembering. Rachel spoke again.
"Hard to believe that was three and a half years ago, to me it feels like a whole other life."
"That's because to me it was. When I wore this, when I was Robin; there was always someone watching my back. Whether it was Batman or Batgirl I almost always had someone watching my back. Then I left the shadow of Batman and became a Titan, I had four people always watching my back. Then we disbanded and I became Nightwing. No help, no one to watch my back; if I made a mistake there was nobody around to cover for it."
Neither of them knew what to say next. Nightwing snapped out of his trance and backed away.
"Come on Rae, let's get out of the cave. Bruce will be home soon and I need to get this wound taped up and taken care of."
"What it needs, are stitches."
"Later. I'll get it taped up for now and after Bruce gets back and things settle down I promise I'll get it stitched up."
Dick took off his mask and the two headed for the elevator. The elevator took them back to the house where Dick went to find the first aid kit to tape up and put gauze on his shoulder. Bruce returned home and found Grayson in his room taping up his shoulder when Bruce walked in.
"You know, that's going to need stitches."
"Yeah, I know. I'll handle it."
Bruce walked into the room and closed the door to keep Rachel from seeing or hearing them for this conversation. Bruce held a pad of gauze to Dick's shoulder as Dick took the tape and taped the wound.
"Must have gotten you when your back was turned; you're too fast to take a knife there."
Dick tore an end off the tape and stuck it to his shoulder.
"Yeah. The truck turned too fast and I got thrown around, hit my head on the side of the truck hard. Took the knife when I was recovering. Rae pulled it out on the way home."
Dick was moving his shoulder and stretching it out too make sure the muscles stayed loose. If they tensed up he would be in a hell of a lot more pain. He turned to face Bruce who was now standing.
"Where's Zatanna?"
"She left. Flash is facing some sort of magic entity in central city and he knows more about physics than magic so Zee went to help with the assist."
"You said I surprised you, how?"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Alfred said he mentioned something about it to you but I told him that I wanted to be the one to tell you. I also owe you an apology."
"For what?"
"Doubting Raven. And I should have trusted her."
"Don't apologize. It's the way you are. Hell it's the way both of us are. I didn't trust Helena when you partnered us. Anyway what does Rachel have to do with any of this?"
"I saw footage of the two of you going after those guys on the news. I know who was driving the Car."
Dick got ready to be chewed out, he thought he knew what was coming. He was going to be lectured about how only people of the Bat-Family are allowed to drive the Batmobile and that was a huge violation of Bruce's trust and he broke one of the rules.
"You trusted her to drive after you hopped out. She did well. She stalled the car once, though I remember you stalling it three times during your first drive."
"The clutch was sticking and she didn't recover it in time and it was her first time driving it. And she hasn't driven a car or at least a stick shift in a long time."
"Relax Dick, I'm not criticizing."
"What does this have to do with surprising you exactly?"
"Before you left Bludhaven I told you I was thinking about replacing Damian's spot in the Bat-Family. You, had suggested Rachel take his spot and I said I would consider it. Then we got into an argument about it because I felt she needed to be tested and you didn't. I thought you were just standing up for her because of the emotions you have toward her. I saw how well the two of you worked together, that second night with Rojas and tonight. I was wrong."
"Wait, are you saying…?"
"Yes. She's in. I'll have Alfred send her to the cave, everyone else but Luke are on their way to the cave now. We're making her an official member tonight. I'm headed down to the cave now, meet us down there when you can. If you see Alfred ask him to send Rachel down. Dick made his way to the cave. When he got into the cave he saw everyone standing in a group waiting. Bruce saw Grayson approach and turned to face him.
"Alfred went to get Rachel. I just entered her into the system and gave her full access, all she needs to do is authorize her codes. I've also given her some gear that I'm leaving in your room to give her when we finish."
"Thanks Bruce. I mean it."
Dick turned around to face the rest of the group. They were all standing facing one another talking about something, their voices were hushed so he couldn't quite make out what they were saying. Tim turned to look at Richard and nodded his head. Jason was standing there with a disgusted look on his face, he obviously didn't approve. Barbara rolled forward and looked at Dick. Dick stood in the circle and talked with everyone when he saw Barbara motion him over toward her. She had moved away from the group so the two could talk in private.
"You think she's ready for this?"
"Rachel was a Titan Babs, she can handle it."
They all heard the elevator hit the ground, Alfred walked out with Rachel behind him. They both began to walk over to in front of the Bat-Computer where the group was standing. Alfred stepped to the left and raised an arm out signaling Rachel to go in front of him. Rachel looked around seeing the group now in a half circle with Bruce standing in the center, she saw Dick move from Babs' side to just behind Bruce's left shoulder. Rachel approached the group slowly and used the psy-link as she approached.
"Dick, what the hell is going on?"
"Rae, trust me. Please."
"I do."
She stood in front of Bruce who started to speak.
"Rachel Roth, we are the Bat-Family. We all stand in front of you, out of costume to show the great deal of trust we have put in you. We do this because ever since the death of Damian, I have been looking for a replacement for him. We all had our own picks, some were better than others. Dick suggested you, he believed in you more than I at the time but I see the trust he puts in you so I know you won't disappoint him. I have decided that you are to be Damian's replacement. You will have access to all of Batman's resources and equipment. Do you accept?"
Rachel was speechless she didn't know how to respond. She looked over to see Dick with a grin on his face. She heard his voice in her head.
"You've earned it Rae."
"I accept."
Bruce turns to face the group.
"Is there anyone who objects to Rachel joining the Bat-Family?"
Jason stepped forward.
"Bruce, you seriously can't be considering this! I mean, she's a damn outsider. Just because the two of them were on some washed up has been team, doesn't mean she should-"
Dick threw a punch that was so quick, nobody in the room saw him throw it. He connected perfectly with the side of Jason's face, Jason fell to the ground and looked up at Grayson who was still clenching his fist. Jason split blood onto the ground and stood up ready to throw a punch back.
"You want to go Grayson?!"
"No, I don't. But if you need an ass kicking I'm game!"
The circle had opened up giving the two of them room to fight. Jason lashed out with a punch trying to catch Dick off guard, Dick was ready for it. He grabbed Jason's arm, turned him around and kicked the back of his knee sending Jason to the floor. Jason recovered and swept Dick's legs, he fell to the ground and tried to roll but Jason was expecting that. He slammed his elbow down onto Dick's injured shoulder causing him to scream in pain. Dick stood up and put Jason in an arm bar.
"Rachel is joining the team! Deal with it!"
"Like hell she is! Just because you want to bend her over a table doesn't-!"
Dick brought his knee straight to Jason's throat causing him to collapse and gasp for air. Jason stood up ready for another attack.
"I had a better choice and you know it!"
Jason struck out for a strike with his elbow, Dick caught it and flipped Jason over his back causing Jason to land on his back not able to move; knowing Dick could break his arm if he fought back.
"You can't be serious! Roy's a loose cannon with a death wish and a drug addiction! Does that sound like what we need?!"
Bruce shouted over the both of them.
"That's enough!"
Neither of them heard him, and if they did they didn't care. Jason brought his leg up and kicked Dick in the chin. Dick dropped Jason's arm and Jason stood up, he put Dick in a headlock then took his thumb and drove it into the wound on his shoulder. Dick screamed, Jason never backed off until Bruce pulled the two apart.
"I said ENOUGH!"
The entire cave echoed with Bruce's yell, the bats that were in the cave were even flying overheadmand throughout the cave in a panic.
"Jason, I picked Rachel because out of everyone she seemed like the wisest choice and because Dick trusts her and has worked with her. If you don't like it, there's the door."
Dick stood up off the ground holding his shoulder, trying to get the pain to stop. He walked passed Jason who shoulder checked him and mumbled something as he walked by. The half circle reformed and Katie and Barbara stood between Jason and Dick. Bruce started again.
"Now, I want to finish this before another fight breaks out. Do you still accept?"
Rachel looked at Dick who was holding his shoulder and looking back at her, he winked and nodded his head.
"Yes, I accept."
"In that case Rachel, welcome to the Bat-Family. You know have access to all of my equipment and resources. From this point forward Rachel, you are family."
Jason stepped forward, his lip was still bleeding from Dick's first punch.
"We began as the soldiers Batman built for his crusade. But we became something else, something he never expected. We started as an army. We chose to be a family. And if there's hope for us... there's hope for anyone."
The next half hour was full of congratulations and conversations about the Bat-Family and asking Rachel how she was doing. Dick and Jason as expected, didn't speak to one another. Katie called Rachel over while Dick was talking to Tim and Bruce.
"How you holding up?"
"Okay, considering. Didn't expect a fight to break out but knowing Dick…"
Katie smiled.
"You know he cares about you, a lot. I've seen it in his eyes. The way he looks at you."
They both looked over to see him standing away from all the people, just standing in the shadows ready to get out of the cave.
"I know."
Bruce walked over to Dick while Katie and Rachel were talking.
"You know you can stay at the Manor. It's your home as much as it is mine."
"Thanks for the offer Bruce but no. I'll take her to one of the safe houses and show her how to log in and access the system. She needs to learn how anyway. Besides, after that fight with Jason I should get the hell out."
"All right Dick. You know I'm here if you ever need help."
"And you know how to reach me if you ever need help. Or Rachel's."
Rachel was now talking to Barbara, well more like Barbara was talking to Rachel.
"You holding up Rachel?"
"For now. Wasn't expecting a fight to break out."
"Things between the two of them are tense. Always have been. Dick still blames Jason for stealing the mantle of Robin from him. Then ever since Dick killed Blockbuster Jason has been trying to make him see how much better it would be if Dick started to kill. They're family and they care about each other but it gets tense sometimes."
"I know what you mean, I used to get into fights with Beast Boy all the time, then Terra."
"Dick doesn't talk much about being a Titan. I think he misses it too much to say anything."
Rachel looked to Dick, he was playing with his phone, a sign that he was ready to leave. Barbara saw her look and commented.
"You love him."
Rachel was caught off guard and tried to lie.
"I wouldn't say-"
"Rachel, please. Don't insult my intelligence. I see it in your eyes when you look at him, your body language when you're around him. The way you acted when you brought him here that night after Firefly, you were so concerned you could barely focus."
"You know my answer then."
Barbara put a hand on Rachel's shoulder and looked into her violet eyes.
"I made the wrong choice and lost him forever. Do yourself a favor, don't lose him. You'll regret it for the rest of your life. Now promise me you'll get Dick out of here and take care of that shoulder. He sure as hell won't take care of it."
Barbara wheeled herself away, Rachel could have sworn she saw a tear roll down her cheek as she did. Barbara always regretted making the wrong choice. Rachel walked over to Dick.
"Hey Rae, ready to head out?"
"Where are we going?'
"To one of the safe houses Bruce has in Gotham. I'm going to show you how to access them and get into the system. You'll need to know how since you're one of us now."
"That's the other thing I wanted to ask, how in the hell did you keep something like this from me? The psy-link is always there, I can always read your thoughts and I never sensed this from you."
Dick smirked.
"It's me remember?"
Dick and Rachel left the cave a few minutes later, the Bat-Family had all gone their separate ways. Katie went home to her apartment she had with Margaret, Barbara went back to her dad's house, Tim left for San Francisco and planned to drive all night and Bruce was heading out on patrol. Dick and Rachel took Dick's bike to the safe house. It was almost one A.M. when they arrived, the safe house was a high class apartment building owned by Wayne Enterprises used to hold business meetings and CEO's that did business with them. Dick parked the bike in the underground parking garage, there was a reserved spot for Bruce Wayne that he parked in.
"This spot is reserved for Bruce or anyone Bruce gives permission to park here. If you ever get a car or bike or whatever you can park here too. Normally, I'd be entering through the window or rooftop but I'm not entering as Nightwing."
Dick and Raven took the elevator to the top floor, and walked down the hall to the room.
"This room is always empty, Bruce doesn't allow anyone in. You can't get in without an access code, each member of the Bat-Family has a different code, and if you put in the code but give the wrong identification or password the room goes into lock down and you're trapped."
Dick pulled out a piece of paper that Bruce had given him; on it was a sequence of eight numbers.
"Here, this is your code. Use it to get in, then once you are in the system will ask you to identify. You'll need to say; Raven access B-08, password: Roth. We can change your password later. Then I'll have to enter mine since two of us are entering. Bruce has the same Virtual Intelligence watching over the safe house that he uses in the cave."
Dick had Rachel enter her code and the door opened, they walked into the room and closed the door. There was a beeping noise then a female synthesized voice spoke through the intercom.
"Identify."
"Raven, access B-08. Password: Roth."
"Accepted. Please identify guest."
Dick spoke.
"Nightwing, access B-02. Password…"
Dick paused and looked at Rachel, then looked back to the ceiling.
"Password: Rachel."
Rachel looked at Dick with a smirk.
"Accepted. Welcome, Raven and Nightwing."
"So, your password is my name?"
"All the good passwords were taken."
"Uh-huh."
"Your room is down the hall to the left, I've got the one on the right."
Dick and Rachel went to their separate rooms. Rachel changed into the clothes Zatanna had left for her and walked out of her room to look for Dick. She heard small grunts coming from his room and looked through the crack in the door to see Dick trying to stitch up his shoulder. Rachel opened the door and walked in.
"You know, you could have asked for help."
"Didn't want to bother you. Besides, I've done it myself so many times I didn't think this was any different."
Rachel sat down on the bed behind Dick.
"Give me the needle."
"I got it Rae."
"You want me to stick my thumb through the wound like Jason? It's either that or you give me the needle."
"You evil woman."
Dick gave Rachel the needle and stitch and she started to stitch the wound up. She could feel Dick wincing from the pain.
"No Novocain or painkillers?"
"Nope. Never."
Rachel kept stitching the wound, it was deep but thankfully the knife was sharp so it was a straight wound. She could see muscle tissue as she kept stitching the wound. She decided to talk about something to try to take his mind off the pain.
"So, you want to bend me over a table?"
Dick's heart skipped a beat. Rachel felt it. Dick tried to respond but stuttered a few times trying to find the right words.
"I mean- Or I think he meant- Jason knew- he knows that I- There's not a good answer for that is there?"
"Nope."
Rachel dug the needle into his shoulder hard, just to tease him. Dick winced and grunted from the pain.
"Easy Rae."
Rachel got a devious thought in her mind.
"You know, that table in the living room looked sturdy."
Dick's eyes got wide, he looked over his shoulder with a horrified look on his face.
"Only you would get off while stabbing me with a needle."
Rachel kept stitching the wound, she was about half way done. She started looking at his back; scars covered most of it. She remembered seeing some of the older ones when they were Titans but most of them were new.
"What are all of these scars from? I remember seeing the older ones but most of them are new."
"Mistakes that I've made. Really good fights. The usual."
Rachel started running her hand over some of the scars. Some were circular, others straight from knife wounds, the rest were odd shaped.
"This one?"
"Got it in Bludhaven. My grapple line snapped in mid swing, fell at terminal velocity through a skylight in one of the malls. I knew landing in the fourteen foot pond was the only way to break my fall. Scar is from the glass."
She moved to another one.
"This?"
"Joker. He captured me when I was Robin, he dug a rusty nail into my back. Thought I was going to get tetanus."
"Damn. And this?"
"That, was the reason I left Gotham. I told everyone it was to get out of Batman's shadow, well that was only half true. Full truth, is that I was shot in the shoulder. Bruce didn't want me in the field the next night for fear that I would get hurt again. I refused, and he fired me from being Robin. I left town that night."
Rachel moved her hand over more scars but didn't ask. She traced over ones she remembered seeing while Dick was training or remembered seeing him take hits. Then she stopped at ones she didn't realize; Dick's heart skipped a beat when she stopped her hand over it.
"You tensed when I touched this one. Why?"
"Doesn't matter."
"Dick."
"All right fine. Remember when Brother Blood abducted you? I spent a week tracking you down. When I found the Cult of Blood's hideout they captured me while I was infiltrating the sanctum. Those next two weeks they spent getting you ready for the "Ritual." Well they tortured me, wanted me to convince you to conceive a child with Brother Blood. I refused and they would heat up metal rods and burn me, or hit me with them. I escaped when all the guards left the room because you were about to crack. You know the rest."
"Oh my god Dick. I'm so sorry. You never told me…"
"Didn't want too. You would feel responsible and you were already vulnerable. You didn't need to know."
Rachel wrapped her arms around Dick and held him against her chest. She kissed the back of his neck then pressed her cheek against his back.
"Thank you, for rescuing me."
"It's what I do. Now, can you finish stitching me up?"
"Oh yeah, sure."
Rachel continued to stitch him up, Dick started the conversation this time.
"Sooo nice tattoo."
Rachel's cheeks got red and she missed the stitch she was on.
"I thought I told you not to look at my ass in the elevator."
"I turned around to pick up my escrima and saw it."
Rachel sighed.
"My father's influence is gone. For the first time in my life, I'm finally free. Even without my father's influence I still have trouble deciphering my own feelings. Along with borrowing some of Zatanna's clothes I'm finding different ways-."
Rachel stood up and turned around, she lifted up the back of her shirt and revealed it to Dick.
"-To express myself. So what do you think?"
Dick turned around and looked at the tattoo. It was a raven right on her lower back, wings were spread out like it was flying down her spine.
"I like it. It's appropriate, and hot."
Rachel put her shirt down and sat back on the bed.
"Glad you like it. If you tell anyone, I'll trap you in another dimension. Now let me finish stitching you up."