It was dark. The setting was…unclear. Raven looked around. Red Robin was there. So were Robin, Artemis, and Zatanna. However, she didn't recognize the little girl in front of her. "You can't kill me," the little girl's voice echoed. "You can't kill me. You can't kill me." The little girl giggled, held up her hand, and released red energy. "But I can kill you," she smiled sadistically. Raven felt a fiery pain before –
Raven shot up in her bed with a gasp. She woke up in her bed, drenched in sweat, her heart racing, and she was gasping for air. Her hand immediately went to her chest where she felt the red surge hit her. "It was just a dream," she breathed. "It was just a dream." Raven fell back onto her bed. What's wrong with me? She'd been having the same dream every night for the last three weeks. She didn't recognize the blonde girl. Maybe she's someone from school, Raven thought. Maybe it's the stress of attending school for the very first time in my life. But Raven knew better. She knew the difference between a nightmare and a precognitive dream. This was the latter. She rolled her head to the side, staring at her clock. 3:00 a.m. I need some tea.
Raven sensed their presence before she even reached the kitchen. Tim and Richard. They were sitting at the counter in deep conversation. However, they both looked up when Raven entered the room. Tim regarded her with an air of indifference and pulled out his phone while Richard's face lit up. Warmth spread in Raven's chest. She knew that this Richard differed from the Richard from her world. Nevertheless, she was enjoying getting to know this tween Richard. "Raven," Richard beamed, "long time no see." It was an ongoing joke between the two. They attended the same school and had lunch together every other day – much to the chagrin of every other student at Gotham Prep who was looking to get close to Bruce Wayne's newest ward.
"Hello, Richard," Raven greeted as she used her powers to gather all the ingredients she needed for her tea. {Difference #542 – these young heroes didn't brace themselves every time Raven used her powers. No matter what her old teammates said, Raven always sensed their distress whenever she used her powers for the tiniest task. Here, they could not care less.}
"You really can call me 'Dick'," Richard beamed.
Raven only smiled. "What brings you here?" she asked, shyly glancing at Tim to gauge his response. His eyes remained on his phone screen. "I thought you would be in Gotham this weekend."
"I'm going on a mission with Tim." Richard's smile only grew. "It'll be our first outing together without Batman."
"Dick, we've gone on patrol a bunch of times without Batman," Tim said to the 13-year-old.
"That's patrol," Richard explained. "This is an actual mission."
"What's the mission?" Raven asked as her water boiled.
"Batman and Tim have yet to tell me," Richard said.
"We need to double-check some things," Tim sighed heavily.
Raven assumed he was sick of her presence. Though he'd been cordial these last few weeks, Raven still sensed a wariness from him. Honestly, sensing Tim's emotions gave her whiplash. Some days he treated her like an acquaintance, while other days he treated her with indifference or annoyance. Raven sighed. Looks like today will be one of those days.
"What are you doing up so early?" Richard asked, ignoring Tim.
"I had a – " Raven stopped herself, glancing at Tim, who hadn't reacted at all. "Couldn't sleep," Raven said instead. "I don't feel tired, but that's fine."
"Well, any plans for the weekend?" Richard asked, genuinely interested.
"I'm going to look – " she stopped herself again. He isn't the Richard from my world. He's just a kid. I don't need to share so much with him. "Reading," Raven said as she poured the hot water into her mug. "A lot of reading."
"You know what, Tim?" Richard turned to his silent brother. "We should invite Raven over to the manor."
"Why?" Tim asked with a raised brow.
"The library. It's huge." Richard turned back to Raven. "You'd love the library."
{Difference #543 – Though Richard often invited Raven over to the manor during her last few weeks alive, Raven always turned him down. There was no chance she would step inside Batman's house. He all but hated her guts. The Batman on this Earth was at the very least cordial. Raven was considering taking Richard up on his offer.}
"I appreciate the thought," Raven began, "but it's not – "
"Maybe you can come over next week," Richard interrupted her. "What do you think, Tim?"
Tim looked utterly taken aback. "Uh…um…yeah. If-if that's what she wants."
"Thank you for the invite, Richard, but…maybe another time." Richard nodded his head in understanding. "Well," Raven held her mug close to her chest, "I'm going to go back to my room. Good luck on your mission."
Tim felt his younger brother's stare. "What, Dick?"
"You didn't have to be so rude," Dick said.
"I wasn't," Tim frowned.
"You completely ignored her," Dick argued.
No, I didn't, Tim thought. He had paid attention to every word out of Raven's mouth. He even noticed when she stopped mid-sentence to change her answers. She did it twice. She's been having nightmares, Tim surmised. It didn't take a genius to notice the dark circles under her eyes. Though she hadn't screamed in terror in a while, Tim knew she was having nightmares. He only spent three days out of a week at the cave, but his room was next to hers. He could hear the whimpers coming from her room. Also, when Dick asked about her plans, she stopped herself mid-sentence and changed her answer to reading. Dick likely missed these context clues because he had a puppy crush on the sorceress. Seriously, the kid walks on air every time she enters the room; and he mentions seeing Raven at school every day. Tim shook his head. It was Dick's first crush. There would be many others. "I wasn't trying to be rude," Tim finally said. "I was trying to make her feel less uncomfortable."
"You did a terrible job," Dick told him. "Awful."
"Yeah," Tim sighed. "I know. I don't know what's wrong with me lately. But I promise I will strive to be nicer to Raven."
"We'll see," Dick scoffed. "So…I hear you're moving in with your ex."
"Shut up."