I4.6

Chapter 28: Third Time

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Adult themes. DO NOT read if you are underage or dislike controversial things.

Author's Note: Hi! I know this chapter is late, but I was having some technical issues. I may or may not have dropped the laptop that I write this story on...whoops. (Most definitely did drop it)

Blue-grey eyes watch as the moonlight highlights the delicate structure of her nose. Only half of her face is visible to his watchful gaze as her head is turned towards the full moon that is hanging so heavily in the night sky. Richard is taking in all the information that he can about the sullen empath that has been added to his team. His mind is violently churning as it tries to reconcile the data that he has of this young girl and what he sees before him.

According to her profile, Raven is a powerful empath with the potential to be something dangerously formidable. Her origins are murky and her temperament is not the best, but she can do things with her demonic powers that are both awe inspiring and awfully frightening. When he heard that someone like that would join his team, Richard knew that he had his work cut out for him. He was equal parts intrigued by the power and possibility that is packed into one person and concerned about his ability to control her.

Guide, he internally chides himself. If he is going to play the part of a leader of justice then he must start thinking, speaking and acting like one. But even as he tells himself this, he can't help wondering what it will take to get her completely under his thumb. Richard has a very specific type of team that he wants to create. He has visions of a tight knit unit. Fantasies of a well oiled, crime fighting machine. Role plays the way the team should respond to his commands; both on and off the field. Richard doesn't just need this to satisfy himself, but also because he has something to prove. He needs to show his mentors that he is capable of being a leader. He needs to earn their respect so that they will stop treating him like a little boy. He firmly believes that if he is able to tame this demoness then the members of the Justice League will see his worth. Bruce will see his his worth.

"You are my business, Rachel."

Richard can feel her body go rigid in his embrace. He can't tell if it's because of his words, the intimate way he's holding her or because he whispered it against the soft skin of her neck.

"Dick…" she says. He can hear how deadly serious she is in her voice, "Let me go."

She was no longer squirming against him in an effort to get away. Instead, she was standing like a stone with her small fists balled up by her side. He's half surprised that she didn't repel him like she had done the last two times he made her feel uncomfortable. He's learned not to push his boundaries too far, too fast with her. The whole point of all of this is to get her to come to him...willingly. With that in mind, he loosens his hold on her and lets his arms drop to his side. He takes one tentative half step back. Richard can still feel the heat of her body and he is sure she can feel his.

He has to resist the urge to grab her arms as she takes three quick steps away from him before whirling around on the balls of her feet. "What has gotten into you?!"

Richard allows his eyes to trace the contours of Rachel's face. The sunlight adds an ethereal glow to her pale skin and causes the violet of her hair to shine brighter. He commits to memory how her frown pulls her eyebrows lower. He follows the straight bridge of her delicate nose as he watches her nostrils flare in anger. The placement of her cheekbones compliment the shape of her angry almond eyes. The way her full lips turn down at the unpleasantness of this situation. He is mesmerized when she presses them together into a grim line. There's an irrational part of him that wants to tap his forefinger on the tight seam of her lips. To pry them open with his tongue and swallow whatever hateful and hurtful things she wants to say. He knows that she's not ready for what he has to give her, but she better get comfortable with the idea soon. He can feel his control slipping and his impatience is getting the best of him.

"It's the same thing that's gotten into you," he says. There is a bite to him tone that he can't quite seem to keep in check. He knows that he should be placating her, but he doesn't have it in him to do that this morning. She told him that she loves him. It's about time that she acts like it.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she bites back. There is steel in her eyes and anger that comes from having her privacy invaded by his probing questions.

"I know you think that I'm acting out of character, but so are you," Richard says as he folds his arms over his broad chest. He is pleased when he sees Rachel's eyes glance at the defined muscles in his arms. "But you've been acting different ever since you've been spending more time with Beastboy. What are you thinking?"

"What are you thinking?" she asks as she still gazes as the moonlight. Richard jumps because he doesn't know if she is talking to him or to herself on that still night. He says nothing in return and just continues to watch her.

After a few more minutes she says, "Your eyes are going to drill holes in my head."

That's when he knew that she was talking to him. It was time for him to step out of the shadows and engage with the newest member of his team. As he walks up beside her, he notices that she takes a step away from him while trying to pull her hood up to hide her features. His hand shoots out to stop her but he catches himself before actually making contact with her.

"Wait! Don't cover your face," he pleads, he wants to be able to read her expression so that he can have a better gauge of what to say to her. "It's better to have conversations when you can actually see the person. It makes for a better talk."

Richard lets out a little good natured laugh. There is truth to it. If they are going to become closer as teammates then they're going to need to interact with one another and she'll need to get comfortable interacting with the rest of the team. Raven's hand is still holding the sides of her hood, but he can see that she is hesitating. Unsure of what to do next. Richard allows himself to smile. These double dimples have charmed many ladies: old and young.

"Why would you want to talk to me?" Raven's gravel like voice asks. Richard tries to hide his wince. It's not the type of voice that he hears often from girls. It almost sounds like she doesn't use her voice much. He's not sure that he'll get used to hearing it.

"Why wouldn't I want to talk to you?" he asks. He sees her frowning as thoughts run through her head. Even though he hasn't had many conversations with her, he can already tell that Raven is dealing with a lot of self depreciating thoughts. She seems like the type who would berate herself for things that she thinks are her fault. While Richard wouldn't consider this a "good" thing, it could be a helpful attribute that he can use to get closer to her.

"Not many people want to talk to me," is her quiet response as she returns her attention back to the moon. From this angle, Richard can get a better look at her face without the hood getting in the way. He is mildly surprised that she agreed to his request, so he takes the time to study her in her natural habitat. Raven's naturally pale skin looks like fresh milk under the moonlight. Her profile is appealing to the eyes. To his eyes. The straightness of her nose is proportional to the outline of her chin. The roundness of her face clearly shows that she has just stepped in to puberty but hasn't quite lost her baby face yet. He drags his eyes down to the slender curve of her neck and silently marveled at how enticing it looks. How ridiculously easy would it be for him to snap it?

Richard finds himself glancing away at that intruding thought. Anyone with eyes and a working brain cell can see that Raven has the potential to grow into a beautiful woman one day. Beauty and power, he reminds himself. She may not look like much right now, but she is a powerful demoness who only stands to get stronger as time goes on. He needs to get on her good side from now. He needs to make sure that she is on his team.

"Well, I'm not many people," he begins "and I want to get to know you better. You are part of my team after all. I want to make sure that you're comfortable and that we can work together to fight crime and bring justice to the people of this city."

"Justice," Raven mumbles to herself. Richard can feel his smile dropping. Usually that spiel works on others. Many people who enter this business do so with a sense of righteousness propelling them forward in their ideals. Wanting to make the world a safer place, one city at a time, is an admirable endeavor, but it doesn't seem as though Raven is buying it.

"Justice," she repeats again, "I don't know if I'm cut out for that."

She finally takes her eyes off the moon and looks at him with the most beautiful pair of violet eyes he has ever seen. For a brief moment, Richard almost forgot how to speak, but he eventually shakes it off. Raven isn't the first pretty girl he's ever seen. If only she could do something about that voice…

"Why not?" he asks. "You've got the ability to help people live safer lives. Why wouldn't you want to do it?"

One slender hand finds its way out of the comfortable confines of her dark cape. She holds it up between the two of them and Richard watches on in awe as her hand begins to glow black.

"This is why," she quietly says. "I shouldn't be able to do what I can do. This power is dark...it's evil. Evil can't bring about justice."

Richard studies the glowing appendage with critical eyes. Her dark power whips around in the palm of her hand like a wild flame. He looks on in envy, while she looks on in sadness. He can already tell that there is more to her than just a cute baby face and demonic powers.

"I think," he states with confidence in his voice, "that there is more under the surface than just darkness and evil."

"I think that there's more under the surface to Beastboy," Rachel clearly proclaims. There are hints of exasperation in her voice as she continues with "He may not be the smartest member of the team, but there is more to him than just his ability to shift!"

Richard can feel the tension in his jaw as he slowly begins grinding his teeth in frustration. Why does she need to be so head strong all the god damned time? Couldn't she just listen to him and follow his orders like she normally would? Richard swallows the slew of curses that want to pour out of his mouth. His beloved Rachel is standing before him and defending her relationship with another man. There is no shame in her voice but there is determination straightening her spine. She should be groveling on her knees and begging him to forgive her for her piss poor choices.

As much as Richard wants to teach her a very real, very physical lesson about who she belongs to, he knows that he can't do that...yet. So, he does the responsible thing by burying his mental image of what she would look like bent over this kitchen table with her pants around her knees, wrists tied behind her back and very sore, very red ass cheeks in the palm of his hands. There is so much that she has yet to learn about people. About men. About him.

"Don't you think I know that?" Richard asks through gritted teeth. "He's also my teammate. I've known Beastboy for just as long as you have."

There is an uncharacteristic snort from the beautiful young woman standing before him. "Are you sure about that, Dick? He's told me about how you feel about him. He thinks that you only see his powers and how useful he is to the team, but that you don't look at him like a person."

"Think," Richard mutters in disbelief. "He thinks, Rachel. He may think that way, but that doesn't mean that that's how I feel about him or see him. Beastboy is just upset because I don't baby him like he wants me to. The only way for him to get stronger is for him to be pushed outside of his comfort zones. Right now, all he wants to do is play video games and waste his time when he should be focusing on self improvement!"

Rachel looks deeply into Richard's eyes in an attempt to read his mind and figure out what he is thinking. Eventually, she says, "Self improvement is important, but Dick...at whose pace?"

"What…?" he responds, not quite comprehending what Rachel is trying to get at.

"At whose pace? Not everyone is as driven as you are. Not everyone is willing to dedicate so much time and energy to improve themselves like you do," she says as she shakes her head. "Beastboy isn't you. He doesn't think like you do and he doesn't want the same things that you want."

"Are you...are you defending him?" Richard asks, dumbfounded by what he is hearing. "You're defending his desire to be...what? To be lazy? To be immature? To be inferior to all the other heroes that are out there!?"

"That's your biggest fear, isn't it?" Rachel whispers to him. "Not being good enough? You're more like Beastboy than you realize."

"What if I'm not good enough to be a superhero, like you?" Raven quietly asks. "My origins aren't...the cleanest."

Richard studies the sad expression that crosses Raven's pretty round face. It appears as though she has insecurities about her origins. These uncertainties appear to run deeper than just being embarrassed by having average parents. The file that Batman gave him on the young demonness didn't contain information about her parentage. In fact, it was listed as n/a which Richard found very strange but didn't see fit to comment. Either Bruce didn't want him to know or he doesn't know himself. It doesn't matter in this moment because this emotional weakness can be a major advantage in the long run.

"Your origins aren't what matters when you're a superhero," Richard says in a kind voice, "What matters is what you do and the kind of person you are."

The pair of young birds stand in silence after that statement. Both of them have their eyes trained on the bright moon above them. Each lost in their own thoughts as they contemplate their current situation and potential future on this team. Richard is trying to envision ways to incorporate this lone bird into the fold. It is clear that she is not used to working in a team and it doesn't appear as though she understands family dynamics too well. He finds himself approving all of these things. She is naive, which will make it easier to mold her into the combatant that he needs her to be. He can already see it now! The whole world will know of the Teen Titans and their wondrous adventures in crime fighting. Everyone will know his name. They will know what he stands for, what he can do and everyone will be envious that they aren't on his team. His enemies will quake in fear of what he can do and how well his teammates can preform. He'd have so many young heroes petitioning to be trained by him that he'd have to beat them away with a stick.

But most importantly, Bruce and Alfred will see that he is a capable leader. There was no denying that both men had their reservations about making him the team leader of the Teen Titans. They weren't too sure about Richard's judgment calls when they found out about the women at boarding school. They were worried that he would be easily manipulated by a pretty face and skillful lips. Needless to say, both women have been fired and are serving time in prison for manipulating him in the way they did. Now, however, Richard has every intention of proving them wrong. He will maintain his focus with laser like precision.

"What's your goal, Robin?"

"Huh?" Richard stutters. Her voice and question catches him off guard.

"What's your goal? Your emotions are...determined?" she clarifies, "Or, at least, that's what they feel like."

Determined? Oh yes, sometimes he forgets that she's an empath who can pick up on people's emotions. He will have to be more wary of that in the future. It's a good thing that she can't read minds. Then things would get extremely complicated and no one will want her on their team. Her question, however, lets him know that she is incredibly astute with her observations. The real question is how well she can read other people's emotions on a continuous basis?

"You're not wrong," he says while trying to downplay how unnerving that question was, "I do have many goals, but right now, the only one that I can think of is how I can make this team work. I know that we are all new to this. We don't really know each other, yet we are being asked to protect this city. It's a big ask, you know?"

Raven nods her head in understanding as she continues to gaze at the moon. "That is a big ask."

She turns her head to look at him and Richard is careful enough to present the visage of a thoughtful leader. His brows are scrunched together as though he is in deep thought, which he is. The fingertips of both his hands are touching in front of his face like he's seen Bruce do so many times before when in deep thought. He let's her violet eyes soak him in. He can tell that the gears in her head are turning. That she is trying to make sense of this young boy standing beside her on this moonlit roof top. Richard tries to push back his feelings of nervousness because he doesn't know how to read her...yet. Raven has all of the advantage in this moment because of her abilities as an empath.

"You don't have to fake it for me, Robin," she quietly says as she looks away from him. "I know how uncomfortable I make people feel. It's been that way all of my life. It's the reason people don't want me around."

Richard has to restrain himself from saying something cheesy like "that's not true because I do want you around." He knows that that would be disingenuous and she would immediately feel it. That would cause her to shrink even further away from him. Instead, he decides to be truthful.

"Yes, it is uncomfortable for me," he begins "but I also think that part of that is because I don't know you. Maybe if we got to know each other better then I wouldn't mind if you know what I'm feeling?"

Richard asks that last question to the space between them because neither one of them have an answer.

"I don't think you'd want to do that," Raven's sad, gravel like voice permeates the air, "Knowing me is dangerous. It could get you killed or something."

"Living this life could get me killed," Richard counters, "but I still do it because I think that it's for the greater good. I, also, think that getting to know you could be for the greater good as well. After all, we are teammates. We have to depend on each other to accomplish our missions and keep our city safe."

Raven is still looking off into the distance as she thinks about his words and his open invitation. He can see her heavily debating with herself. There is a tenseness in her shoulders that was not there before. Ever so gently, she whispers into the air "how?"

Richard can barely hear it. Probably wouldn't have if he wasn't staring directly at her. His smile is fueled by relief because this is the opening that he needed. Now, all he has to do is worm his way into her mind and into her heart. He knows that it is a long shot, but if he can get her to depend on him like a leader and see him as a friend then he'll be able to control her more easily. Guide, he chides himself once again. Guiding would be the term a real leader of justice would use.

"How?" he says with a small laugh, "We could always start with sharing things about ourselves with each other."

The shock and fear that crosses Raven's normally stoic faces makes Richard take a step back. He hadn't thought that that would have been her reaction. Before she can shake her head "no," he jumps in to clarify.

"It doesn't have to be personal things. It could be about things that we like to do or a memorable moment. You know, something simple," he tries to reason, but he can still see how uncomfortable she is with the idea as she pulls her navy cape closer to her body. "Don't worry, Raven," he continues, "I'll go first."

Richard clears his throat before beginning, "When I was little, I used to live in a circus and we traveled a lot. I never thought much of it because packing up and moving on was something that I was used to doing. Anyway, there was an elephant. Her name is Penny...was Penny? I don't know if she's still alive. Maybe I should look into that…."

He knew he was rambling, but couldn't really help himself. He hasn't felt this nervous in a very long time. Raven makes him nervous. He newfound leadership role makes him nervous. The thought of the future makes him nervous. He needs to reign this in and make his point, "Anyway...when I was younger, I would climb up on her back and help scrub behind her ears. She loved that. She'd make this loud noise with her trunk and try to spray me with water."

The troubled expression on Raven's face makes him pause in his story. "What's wrong?"

"Umm…," she begins, "I've heard of elephants before but I don't really remember what they look like. Are they the ones with the long horns and heavy wool?"

"You've...you've never see an elephant before?" Richard asks in confusion.

"Well," she begins a little defensively, "I come from Azarath. We don't have elephants there."

Then it dawns on him, "You're not from earth?"

"No…" she slowly says as she weighs her options, "My mother is from earth but I was born on Azarath."

She begins fidgeting under his expectant stare. Richard is officially intrigued by this other worldly creature. Why hadn't Batman mention these things to him? Surely, the caped crusader would have known that this young girl was not of earth. Or maybe he didn't think much of it because of his relationship with Superman? Either way, this is just more relevant and useful information to add to his profile of her. He wants to press her for more information, but knows that he is playing the long game here. He also has the feeling that they will have more conversations like these in the future.

"If you don't want to say more, then, you don't have to, Raven," Richard says. He can see the visible relief wash over her face and her shoulders fall at the knowledge that she doesn't have to share anymore of herself tonight. She looks at the moon again before turning her full attention to Robin.

"I'm going to bed now," she states, "is there anything more that you need from me?"

"Of course!" Robin exclaims. "You must be tired. Have a good night."

Raven nods her head once before shrinking into the shadows, but before she completely disappear she says, "I know you're worried about your job as team captain, but...I think you'll make a great leader."

That's what she told him that night. That he would make a great leader. So, why is she questioning his ability now?

"Don't you dare, Rachel," Richard hisses at her. "Don' you dare put me in the same category as him. I may have some insecurities, but we all do. At least, I try to do something about it every day when I wake up and every night when I go to sleep. I don't try to run from my reality by playing, and losing, at video games. That type of escapism is something that children do!"

"You're right, Dick," Rachel says as her frown deepens, "You two definitely don't deal with your insecurities in the same way, but at least Beastboy isn't a control freak who thinks that he always knows best."

"Ha!," Richard spits out "I know better than most because I'm rational and straightforward."

"You," she hisses with venom "you think you know better? Then do you know what boundaries are Dick?"

Whatever response Richard had is stuck in his throat as last night replays in his head and his eyes trail down to her all black attire that covers her from neck to toe.

"Dick?" she asks as she waits for his full attention. He has to tread carefully and keep his emotions in check because he knows where this is going. At least, by this point, he's had years of experience.

"Were you the one who took me back to my room last night?" she asks in a deceptively even and calm tone.

"I was," he answers just as calmly.

"And were you the one who took off my pants?" she questions.

Now, this was a dangerous question and Dick quickly thinks over whether or not he wants to tell her a lie. That was his default impulse, but he knew better. She was tapping into the mental connection that they share. He can feel the pull at the base of his skull from her probing.

"I was," he answers, "You don't need to be in my mind to know the truth. I wouldn't lie to you about something like that."

He heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh before he felt the pain in his left cheek. There wasn't much physical power in that slap, but he can still feel the sting. Her watches as her eyes swell up with tears and a look of betrayal crosses her face. She takes one step closer to him so that her words can ring loud and clear.

"Don't you ever do that again," she says with quiet rage in her voice. "You are my friend, Dick. Not my father or my boyfriend. You don't have the right to undress me."

"Funny," Dick counters as he looks down his nose at her, "you told me you were glad I was there as I was unbuttoning your pants."

The blush that spreads across her pale cheeks is gratifying and Richard has to stop himself from smiling at the sight of it. He knows that he should probably back down and profusely apologize for over stepping his boundaries with her, but he doesn't have it in him to lie to himself anymore. These lines that she is attempting to draw in the sand are imaginary. They're all in her head. Even if she did try to enforce them, he has every intention of trampling over them with a smile.

"I don...don't know what yo..you're talking about," she stutters as she averts her eyes. Those lovely violet eyes that had just been looking so fiercely at him through her tears.

"Oh really?" he chides as he takes a step closer to Rachel. He can feel her body tensing up as the proximity between them closes. He can tell that she wants to take a step back, but her pride would not let her. Richard doesn't care because this is working in his favor, even though he still needs to be mindful of the fact that she can cause him some major damage if she wants to. However, he is confident that she wouldn't hurt him. Maybe he would be more worried if this was years ago when they were just getting to know each other, but at this point in their lives, they've been intimate with one another in every other way besides physical. He didn't see a reason to hold back anymore.

Richard lowers his voice as he towers over her. He wants her to realize that he isn't the same little boy that she used to have rooftop conversations with. He lets the bass of his deeper voice wash over her as he says "You don't remember, Rachel? You told me that you loved me as you healed me."

He reaches down with both of his hands to yank both of hers closer to him. He feels her tense as he moves them to his hair. "You don't remember that the first time you admitted to loving me was with your hands running through my hair?"

"What?" she questions with panic in her voice as she tries to rack her brain to remember this.

Richard drops his arms and cages her in an embrace as one hand quickly tucks a lock of her hair behind her ear as he continues with "The second time you admitted to loving me was just like this. You were nestled so comfortably in my arms."

Rachel drops her hands from his hair and begins pushing against his chest in an attempt to break out of his hold. Richard just holds her tighter. She says through gritted teeth, "Let me go, Dick!"

"Not until I tell you about the third time you admitted to loving me," he says as he quickly drops his hands and weight into a squat. Before Rachel can realize what he's doing, he grabs the back of both of her thighs and scoops her up. There is a yelp as she is thrown off balance and has not choice but to grab on to his shoulders to stabilize herself.

"Ah yes," Richard says with a deep chuckle in the back of his throat, "You did make a noise similar to that one last time, too. But! It was in this position that you admitted your love for me a third time…"

Before he could finish the rest of his sentence he felt the sting of another slap on his already injured cheek. Even so, he didn't let her go. He just tighten his hold on her legs to keep her in place.

"Dick, I'm warning you," Rachel hisses at him. The chakra gem in the middle of her forehead is glowing dangerously. He lets her go and watches her float back away from him. Her feet never touching the floor.

Before she can move or say anything else, he says, "Remember that you're the one who changed the boundaries of our relationship."

"Even so, Dick…" she begins but doesn't finish her thought. Her expression is unreadable. In the blink of an eye Rachel is swallowed by the shadows in the kitchen. If Richard had to take a guess as to where she went, it is probably the cave at the bottom of the Titan's Tower. She is going to need some time and space to sort out her thoughts and emotions.

He takes several calming breaths as he gingerly presses his hand against his abused cheek. He was lucky to get away with as much as he did with only this to show for it. What he told Rachel just now wasn't the complete truth, but he needs to change the narrative and make it appear as though she instigated these things. He isn't sure if she'll remember that hazy moment when she admitted her love for him. He knows that she was out of it from the drama, the emotions, the turmoil in the air and the drain on her healing energy, but none of that matters anymore. She said, what she said and there is no going back for either of them now.

"Don't look so surprised, Starfire. You already knew this was coming," he says to the beautiful alien standing in the kitchen doorway.

And scene! Don't let him mind fuck you Rachel! (It might be too late though).

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Till next time! :-)