Because I won't be able to update often, the following chapters will be longer.
Raven shot upright in bed, her breath coming in ragged gasps. It had been a month since the mind-meld with Tim, yet the nightmares hadn't stopped. They twisted together: the Joker, her father, and even stupid calculus haunted her nights.
Tonight's nightmare had been different. Tim had been tied to a chair, the Joker and his goons pummeling him. That felt less like a nightmare and more like a memory, Raven thought, her heart still racing.
She reached over, flicking on her bedside lamp, then grabbed a book from her shelf. There's no way I'm falling back to sleep now.
Tim jolted awake for the umpteenth time this month, gasping for air. He couldn't make sense of what he was seeing, or even who he was seeing. The Joker no longer haunted his dreams, and for that, he was grateful. However, something else did—something terrifying. Something or someone who kept beating the crap out of him. He couldn't pin down what or who it was, but every time he woke, he was drenched in cold sweat, a racing heart, and achy limbs.
With a frustrated sigh, he collapsed back onto his pillow. What is going on? Why can't I sleep? He rubbed his eyes, exhaustion settling in. I can't sleep. I need coffee.
"So," Black Canary smiled, crossing her legs, "have you asked him?"
"No," Raven said. "No. He's still…I don't want to…re-traumatize him by accident. And we haven't really…seen each other in person."
"I thought you two resumed your tutoring."
"Video chat."
"I see. That is very thoughtful—considering Tim and his trauma," Black Canary incline her head towards Raven, "but, Raven, you haven't had a good night's sleep since that night."
"I don't sleep well very often," Raven said.
"You've been having nightmares involving the Joker every night since that night," Black Canary corrected. "You're reliving his trauma. And what about Tim? Is there a chance that he's reliving your memories?"
"Oh, I hope not," Raven answered. She worried her bottom lip.
"Well, what do you think you should do?"
"I know what will help, but…" Raven's voice trailed off.
"Raven, it's been almost a year since you arrived," Black Canary's voice was calm but probing. "You've made incredible progress—you're building a life here, just like your mother wanted. You're taking chances, forming new connections. But you still keep everyone at a distance. Would it really be so bad to let someone in?"
"I talk to you," Raven muttered.
"You only just started really opening up to me. And this is mandatory." Raven sighed and Black Canary continued. "Just…give it a chance."
Raven stared up at the ceiling, reflecting on Black Canary's words. Let someone in? She wasn't sure. She had let people in before… and they had died, rejected her, or, in Eric's case, betrayed her in the worst way. Rolling onto her side with a heavy sigh, she thought, Tomorrow is Saturday. Maybe I'll visit my mother… learn more about this dream-sharing thing. Closing her eyes, she pushed the thoughts away.
Then she was falling. "Ow!" she gasped as she landed on something both soft and hard. Where am I? The thought had scarce time to settle before she was flipped onto her stomach, and a muscular arm wrapped around her neck, cutting off her air flow. I'm being choked! Panic surged through her, her mind racing as she summoned her powers, ready to strike.
"Who are you? How did you get in? What are you doing here?" a familiar voice hissed into her ear.
"T-Tim," Raven choked out.
"Raven?" Tim released her immediately, his voice filled with confusion." Raven gasped for air, coughing as she rubbed her sore neck while Tim hurried to turn on the light. As the light flooded the room, she rolled onto her back, her breath still unsteady. Tim's confused face appeared above her, his brow furrowed. "Raven," he said again, softer this time. "What are you doing here?"
"How's your neck?" Tim asked, sliding the cup of tea to her.
"It'll heal," Raven answered, her voice was still raspy.
"I am so sorry," Tim said apologetically.
"It's fine." Raven fidgeted in her seat, shivering in the cold room.
"So…you teleported in your sleep?" Tim repeated as he sat next to her at the kitchen island. "Does that happen often?"
"No," Raven answered, "only when I'm stressed or worried." Her eyes widened at her honest admission. She quickly brought her cup to her lips, feeling Tim's stare on her. The tea warmed her from head to toe, and she sighed in contentment. "I thought you had to know where something is before you can teleport there," Tim said. "You've never been to my penthouse."
"Yeah, yeah," Raven tapped her mug. "Um…I saw it in your memories," she explained, shivering. Raven kept her bedroom warm, which is why she was wearing small sleep shorts and a spaghetti top. She had not expected to teleport to freezing Gotham. "So…yeah…" She turned to Tim, who eyed her from head-to-toe. "You're freezing," he surmised. "Wait here." He left, appearing moments later with a hoodie. "Here," he smiled, handing it to Raven.
"Thank you," Raven took the item gratefully before pulling it over her head. It was big on her, and so warm. Raven wanted to curl up in a ball inside of it and go to sleep. She sensed humor coming from her left, and looked to see Tim staring at her, his mouth twisted in amusement. Raven snatched her cup, attempting to conceal her flushed cheeks. "So," Tim sighed, "that explains how you teleported here. It doesn't explain why. Earlier you said you sleep-teleport when you're stressed or worried. Since you teleported on top of me, I can only infer that you are stressed and worried about me. Raven stared at the cup in her hand. "Why? I'm doing a lot better than I was. I haven't gone out as Red Robin—I'm waiting for the all-clear from Batman, who's still off-world. I'm back in therapy, and I'm sleeping more. The dreams are rough, and I don't understand them...but I am sleeping."
"Dreams," Raven had perked up when Tim mentioned the dreams. "Your dreams," she latched on to the topic. "They've been…different, right?"
"Yeah," Tim answered. "They make little sense."
"Can you describe one?" Raven asked tentatively.
"This last one... about a week ago... I saw an older version of Dick and Garfield, some orange-skinned woman, and a black-haired girl. Victor was there too, but he looked different—bulkier. I think Wally was there as well, but he was older... and alive." As Tim spoke, he carefully watched Raven's face. Her subtle, almost imperceptible micro-expressions gave him a clue as to why she was asking. "That's your team," he breathed. "I'm seeing things from your universe. Does that mean...?" Tim paused, his lips pressed together in thought. "I haven't been having nightmares," he stated thoughtfully. "Raven, have you been having my dreams? How do I have your memories?" He stared at her, his eyes searching hers. "Are you having nightmares about the Joker? Is that why my nightmares involving the Joker have stopped?"
"Y-Y-Yeah," Raven answered slowly. "I think we're seeing each other's dreams and—"
"Memories," Tim finished for her. "How?"
"Well, when I entered your mind-"
"Saved my life," Tim interrupted, giving her a grateful look.
"Right. You were dying. Your mind was rapidly deteriorating, so I bonded us."
"What is that?"
"It's hard to explain," Raven began, "but... your mind was deteriorating, and your body systems were shutting down. So, I took your mind," she raised her left hand, "and my mind," she lifted her right hand. "And I merged them." She brought her palms together. Then, I took your soul," she shook her left hand slightly, "and my soul," she shook her right, "and merged them, too." She interlocked her fingers. "By binding our minds and souls, I was able to... become one with your body. That allowed me to pull the poison from your system while also healing your mind. So, for a brief moment, you and I were one. A bridge formed between our brains, and our memories started crossing over. When I broke the connection"—Raven separated her hands—"that should have ended it. But... it seems like we're still connected somehow." She glanced at Tim, who was staring at her in awe. Embarrassed, Raven felt her cheeks flush and her stomach do an odd flip. She pressed on, avoiding his gaze. "I was planning to head to Azarath tomorrow to see if anyone knows anything about the bond I created."
"That…is…fascinating," Tim said. Raven hadn't been expecting that reply. She's been expecting fear and horror, not the wide-eyed wonder she was seeing. "You literally crossed our wires. Now, I have some of your memories, and you have some of my mind. That is amazing Okay, so... what you did when you bonded our minds, souls, and bodies, it's—well, you bridged our neural pathways, linking them through some kind of psionic frequency. Our cerebral cortices—responsible for higher cognitive functions like thought, memory, and perception—were temporarily synchronized. But that was just the surface. Somehow, you also tapped into the deeper layers of our minds—the limbic system, where emotions are processed. You didn't just connect our thoughts—you synced our emotional responses, too. That's where the soul-bonding comes into play. By aligning the neural networks in our limbic systems, you essentially created an emotional resonance, a kind of empathic feedback loop between us."
Raven could only blink as he continued his rambling.
"And our bodies becoming one?" he said, lost in his own world, "that's even more fascinating. When you linked us, it must've triggered a somatic response—like how neurons in the motor cortex fire to control voluntary movement. But instead of controlling just our own bodies, we were briefly influencing each other's biological functions. The bond must have caused a temporary fluctuation in bioelectric fields, aligning our biorhythms, syncing heart rates, breathing, maybe even muscle responses." He looked at her in amazement. "You didn't just connect us mentally or emotionally. You linked us on a cellular level—maybe even a subatomic one. It's like you reprogrammed our very biology to operate in tandem, if only for a moment."
Raven stared vacantly at Tim. She blinked once, then twice. "I used magic," she said.
Tim chuckled. "I'm sorry, I'm nerd-ing out. You've been having nightmares," he said, getting back on topic, "my nightmares. Have you relived the…torture?" Tim asked hesitantly.
"I've seen and experienced enough," Raven answered. She then frowned. "Tim, I am so sorry that happened to you. I wish I could take your pain away completely."
Tim's blue eyes locked onto her violet ones, and he couldn't look away. There was something undeniably tender in the way he held her gaze amidst the chaos of their conversation. Raven wanted to look away, but she couldn't. Her heart jumped in her throat as he continued to gaze at her. Eventually, he spoke again. "I've dreamed some pretty horrific stuff that I don't understand at all," Tim said softly, his gaze still fixed on her. The way he spoke, the intensity of his focus, seemed to reveal just how deeply he valued her presence and the comfort she brought him.
"What did you see?" Raven asked.
"Well... it was a huge, red-skinned monster with four or six eyes. It kind of reminded me of the one we faced in your mind, but much worse. It had white hair and horns, I think. Two nights ago, I had an incredibly intense dream about it. I was so overwhelmed with fear that I ended up throwing up."
"Uh…yeah," Raven shifted in her seat, "that's Trigon. That's my dad."
Tim stared at her. "Your father is horrifying, terrifying, and deeply alarming. Honestly, I don't think any words can truly capture the scene I was dreaming about. The carnage and bloodshed—the ease with which he disposed of…" Tim felt his stomach turn. "It was a dreadful night. I can't imagine fighting him."
"Yeah. What else?" she asked, not really wanting to know.
"He…possessed you? You interrupted a wedding–I think? Dick was marrying someone."
"Yeah," Raven bit her lip uncomfortably as she remembered that day.
"Um…" Tim sighed. "I also remember feeling intense heartbreak, like my heart is being smashed to pieces. It's awful."
Raven fidgeted in her seat. "Wow, you've seen a lot," Raven exhaled, not meeting Tim's eyes.
"You've been through a lot," Tim muttered. Raven felt hesitancy coming from Tim. "Anything else?" she asked, not looking at him. "I can sense you're holding back."
"Did someone try to…procreate with you?"
"Trigondammit," Raven muttered. She was feeling flustered. Has he seen everything?
"Raven," Tim said softly, leaning in a bit to catch her eye. Raven let her hair fall to shield her face, hiding from him. "Raven," he whispered again, his voice gentle. When she didn't respond, he gently reached out, his warm hand covering hers. The unexpected touch startled her, but she looked up to find him offering a reassuring smile. "Whatever happened to you," Tim said with sincerity, "it wasn't your fault."
"No," Raven whispered, shaking her head, "there are things you don't know—things I did when I became desperate. I hurt…" Raven stopped herself.
"Whatever you did or didn't do, having someone capture and try to force or threaten to force themselves on you—you didn't deserve that." Raven blinked back tears. "I'm guessing a lot of villains on your Earth wanted offspring from you because of your heritage."
"It felt that way."
Tim hesitated as his expression softened. "As I've been watching and listening to you, it seems you hid a lot from your team…mentally and emotionally. You dealt with a lot more than they know, but you kept it to yourself for the sake of their comfort." Raven felt something sprout within, and her heart quickened as he continued. "Don't do that here, with us…with me," Tim said. "Go to Black Canary or come to me. Don't try to handle things on your own."
"What if it's better that way?" she asked softly.
"No, it's never better that way. When I heard about the Joker's death, it brought back every bad memory. All the trauma I went through came rushing back. I didn't tell anyone on the team, and that led to me being demoted, benched, poisoned, and almost killed. I don't know how your old team operated or what led to your acts of desperation, but… you're not alone. I might be the last person you expect or want, but you have me."
Tears welled up in Raven's eyes as she felt the depth of Tim's sincerity. "Why?" she whispered, her voice trembling. "Why do you care so much? You don't know me—the real me."
"You're right," Tim said gently, his eyes never leaving hers. "I don't know the real you, but I know enough. And," he shifted to face her fully, "I find myself wanting to know more." His gaze was intense, holding her in place, wishing her to see his earnestness. "How about this?" he continued. "Whenever one of us has a hard time sleeping, we call each other. We can talk about what we're seeing, dreaming, or just… anything." Raven's instinct was to refuse, but she found it hard to do so when he was being so genuine. She bit her lip, feeling a mix of confusion and warmth. "What are you thinking?" Tim whispered, leaning closer, his eyes searching hers.
Her heart raced as she felt a flush rise to her cheeks under his steady gaze. What shade of blue are his eyes? Raven shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "Um…" she began, unsure of how to respond.
Before she could find the words, a sound from the other side of the penthouse broke the moment. The door opened, and a blonde-haired man with tousled bed hair, around Tim's age, stood in the doorway, his eyes widening in surprise. "Oh!" he exclaimed with a smile. "I didn't realize you were having a sleepover."
"Uh, no," both Raven and Tim replied concurrently. Tim quickly added, "I'm actually her tutor."
"You're tutoring her at two in the morning?" the blonde man raised a brow.
"She's 18," Tim said. "I mean—no—I mean—she is 18 years old," he tried to correct himself.
"I'm going to go," Raven stopped him. She stood from the chair and almost created a portal in front of the newcomer. "Um…" she stared at Tim. "I'm going to go back to your room." Waves of amusement floated from the blonde man, flooding Raven's senses.
"Yeah…yeah…just…wait for me and we can finish," Tim said. The man barked out a laugh. "Our conversation," Tim glared at the guy, pushing Raven toward his room. "We can finish our conversation."
"Okay," Raven walked off.
Tim turned to Bernard with a glare. "What?" Bernard shrugged innocently. "I'm not jealous. She's cute."
"She's in high school," Tim said sharply.
"And she's in your room wearing your sweatshirt at two in the morning?" Bernard smiled.
"She's 18," Tim said before slapping his forehead at how it sounded.
"Yeah, so you've said," Bernard's smile grew.
"I—you—just—ahh," Tim groaned, turning on his heel.
"Have fun," Bernard called out from behind him.
"Shut up!"
Raven turned as Tim entered his bedroom, her eyes meeting his. His face was flushed, and he seemed just as embarrassed as she felt. She had already removed his sweatshirt, folded it neatly, and placed it on his bed. They stood there in a shared, awkward silence. "So… um… sorry about teleporting on top of you," Raven said, her voice soft.
"And I'm sorry for almost choking you out," Tim replied, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips. Raven's small smile made his heart skip a beat. "You don't do that a lot - smile," he said, almost as if he was discovering something new about her. "I can count the number of times I've seen you smile on one hand."
Raven looked down at her bare feet, lost in thought. Another boy had said something similar once, but he had red hair and green eyes. "I've made you sad?" Tim's voice broke through her reverie, his concern evident. Raven's head snapped up, eyes wide with surprise. "You were just sad," Tim continued, taking a step closer. "I felt it… like it was my own."
"Okay," Raven spoke with determination, "this bond is stronger than I thought. I'm going to Azarath to see what I can learn." She created a portal. "Maybe I can… undo this."
"Now? Aren't you tired?" Concern laced Tim's voice, his gaze unwavering.
"This is more important," Raven insisted. She didn't want him feeling her emotions, but the sincerity in his eyes made her hesitate. "Trust me. It's better this way."
"Well, get some rest," Tim said firmly, folding his arms. "Seriously."
"I will," Raven promised, her voice softening as she stepped into her portal. "Goodnight, Tim."
As she disappeared into the inky blackness, Tim frowned. This connection between them was something he wanted to understand better. The warmth in his chest lingered, hoping that her research would be fruitless.