Not a couple

Nightwing followed the black soul bird he knew so well. From the looks of it, it was headed for Jump City Bank. He sped up his motorcycle, watching as the bird turned a sharp left.

He did the same, ending up in front of the bank. He hated to admit it, but she was a villain now, his enemy, and he had to stop her.

Once the Titan's had split up, Raven had resorted to petty theft. He guessed it was her way of coping. Of getting to see him again. He was a solo crime fighter now, but once in a while, Starfire, or any of the others would come and help him. Of course, Raven would always get away, her being the half demon and, to Nightwing's dismay, the strongest.

But he never gave up. He usually came closer each time to beating her. And if his calculations were right, tonight would be the night of her failure.

But Nightwing didn't let let that make him soft. She was still unpredictable, and dangerous.

He hopped off his ride, pulling his helmet from his head. She was standing in front of the bank, a hand on her hip. She had on her basic uniform, except instead of leotard, it was a long dress with slits up the sides.

She stared him down, a small smirk on her face. She took one step forward, causing Nightwing to pull out his bo-staff.

Her hood concealed much of her face, but he could make out her lips and eyes. She was showing emotion. But not the good kind. It was mischievous, evil.

Nightwing kept his masked eyes on her, observing her. This was not the same Raven from his teen years. She was not the emotionless, misunderstood 16 year old anymore. She was an evil, unpredictable 22 year old.

She stepped closer to him, her aura confident. Black magic fizzled around her enclosed fists. When she spoke, Nightwing flinched visibly. Even her voice was different. It was low, but filled with overconfidence.

"Nightwing."

He exhaled slowly, sticking out his staff to stop her from coming any closer. She stopped mere inches away from his weapon.

He didn't speak, but felt her try to push into his mind. She had never broken their bond. That's how he had always been able to find her before she actually committed a crime.

He put up an invisible wall in his mind to keep her out. When they had been teenagers, she had taught him how, in case her own powers ever wandered and invaded his personal space.

Raven scoffed, stepping back a few feet. She rolled her eyes, bringing up the memory.

"I do regret teaching you how to block someone out. A mistake on my part."

Nightwing pulled back his weapon, his voice even as he spoke. He stood tall, arms crossed over his chest.

"Stop playing games, Raven. You and I both know what's about to happen. We fight, one of us wins."

She laughed slightly, her own hands on her hips again. She tested him, wanting to see how long he could keep his attention.

"Oh Richard, always one to be blunt."

He surged forward, pushing her back against the bank wall. He pinned her with his arm, his other hand pulling out a pair of handcuffs. Specially designed for the half demon.

"Don't call me that."

She smirked, her amethyst eyes swimming with darkness. With a flick of her wrist, Nightwing was sent flying backwards, into the ground.

He pulled himself up, rubbing the back of his head. She teleported in front of him, using her dark energy to hold him up, arms pinned at his sides.

"Azarath Metrion Z-"

She was cut off by a black birdarang whizzing by her cheek. He was dropped to the ground, free from her magic. She lifted a hand to her face, putting a finger to her cheek. He had cut her.

While she was distracted, Nightwing took the opportunity attack. He lunged for her, taking her arm in his hand and twisting it back and up.

She hissed, trying to kick him in the shin as the pain intensified. He dodged her leg easily, twisting her around to face him.

"Raven, you know I don't like to hurt you. Just stop already."

She narrowed her eyes, realizing that he might actually win for once. She was never one to give up so easily though.

She phased through the floor, leaving him holding nothing. He looked around, and was greeted by a black tinted car.

It crashed into him, causing him to hit the ground. He crawled out from under the vehicle, spitting blood from his mouth. His arm had a gouge in in, but he would fix it later. Right now he had to stop the dark woman from causing further damage.

She used her soul self to fly to him, catching him off guard. Her beak collided with his jaw, and she smiled as he stumbled backwards. Thinking he was done, she returned to her body, ready to leave.

But Nightwing ran forward, his Bo staff catching her legs. She fell face first, her hands catching her before she hit her head.

She rolled her eyes, standing up. Her hand was cut open from the fall, but she would be fine.

Her eyes glowed a dangerous white as she phased into the ground, disappearing for more than two minutes.

But Nightwing wasn't easily fooled. A couple minutes later, and he sensed her presence. He felt her come up behind him, and flipped the half demon over his shoulder.

She hit the cement with a thud, her eyes squeezed shut against the pain. She knew she couldn't fight any longer. Her many emotions wouldn't allow it. She was overwhelmed with the energy she had put forth. Raven sullenly accepted her defeat, speaking to him through closed eyes.

"Looks like you win, Bird Boy."

She brought her hands up for him to see, palms open, along with her eyes.

"What are you waiting for? Aren't you going to cuff me? Throw me in jail?"

She raised a purple brow at him, sensing his anger. He pulled her up off the ground, reaching for her other hand. The hand cuffs were locked on her tightly, and Raven felt her powers weaken. Her lips were curled upward in an evil smile, though.

When she attempted to use her powers to heal herself, she was greeted with a small but painful shock in her body. She snapped her eyes closed as the pain passed through her, but all the while, she kept a vicious grin.

"When you use your powers, it triggers a switch in the handcuffs that electrocute you. The more energy you exert, the more intense the shock."

She looked up at him, eyes glazed with pain. Her voice was slightly strained, but still held its sarcasm.

"Such big words. I didn't know you were capable of speaking like that."

Nightwing ignored her slight jab, pulling her to the cycle, the cuffs attaching themselves mechanically to a handle on his bike, right behind the driver's part of the seat. She gripped it, setting herself down on the bike slowly. She watched as he pulled down her hood to place on a helmet.

Her hair had grown to her elbows, but it still held the same color. He saw a raised, slightly pink line above her eyebrow. His eyes widened slightly at the scar, and he touched it tentatively with his pointer finger.

She turned her head away from him, her eyes closed. Nightwing sighed, putting her helmet on. He put on his own helmet, and swung a leg over the bike.

Raven sat up straight, eying the black and blue bike as he began revving. She looked around as he sped down the street, the night sky bright from the moon.

As he passed the prison, Raven turned her head to face his back sharply. She was under the assumption that she would be going to jail. But he kept going, not sparing the facility a glance.

Raven spoke into the helmet's microphone, watching him tense as she spoke.

"I think your sense of direction has failed you, Dick. The prison is that way."

She swung her head behind them, staring at the police cars.

"We're not going to the prison."

His voice held no emotion, and he sped up. Raven had a sneaking suspicion of where they were headed. She knew this road like the back of her pale hand. She had traveled down it many times. Her last time being when she was 18.

But she still asked, just to make sure. She didn't want to go back. She was an outcast, a criminal. She didn't belong there. As odd as it sounded, Raven felt safer stealing from stores.

"Where are we going then?"

He could hear the fear in her voice. She really didn't want to go, but Nightwing knew it was the only way to get her back to the Raven he had known.

"Home."

That's when she began to freak out. The confirmation to her speculation broke her down. Raven began to pull at the cuffs, her breathing uneven. She grit her teeth in pain as she pulled, her skin growing red.

Nightwing tried to ignore her, his heart breaking a bit at her utter defiance to return. He exhaled slowly, continuing to drive.

Raven watched in horror as the tower came into view. It was still distant, but she knew that they were slowly and painfully getting closer. She desperately tried to get him to turn around. Her hands gripped his sides tightly, (the cuffs preventing her from wrapping her hands around his neck)her nails digging into him.

He clenched his teeth at the pain, but kept going. This was not the woman he had battled just a few minutes ago. This was Raven. The scared, confused girl from the past.

She went back to the cuffs, pulling hard. A trickle of blood fell down her wrist. The cuffs and her pulling had managed to break her skin. She didn't care though. She wanted to go back to her apartment. Back to being a criminal. She didn't want to go back to her past. It hurt too much.

Her voice was broken as she spoke into the microphone.

"Richard, please."

He looked down at the yellow stripes on the road, sighing. She was begging. She never begged, he knew that. This was really tearing her apart. But he was determined to tear away this part of her. This criminal, evil part.

Raven swallowed the lump in her throat. She hung her head in defeat. There was no escaping this. She would be forced to endure this horrible fate.

She was at least hoping that none of the others would be there. That would be her real breaking point. It would cause her to plunge into a complete meltdown. Worse than what she had just done.

But, unbeknownst to her, Nightwing had called all three of them, asking them to come to the Tower before he went after her. He didn't give any details, only asking them to be patient if it took him a while to show.

He pulled the motorcycle into the garage. The Tower was still fully operational, as they would sometimes meet there for reunions. Well, except for Raven.

He hopped off the bike, keeping it steady. When he looked at Raven, he saw the blood on her wrist. Nightwing took off her helmet and unhooked her from the handle, helping her off. She stumbled over herself, and fell to her knees, her cloak fanning out around her.

Her head was downcast, and her breathing was heavy. Her hand cuffed hands lay flat on the floor, her face concealed by a curtain of purple hair.

Nightwing crouched down next to her, lifting her chin up with his hand. He looked at her eyes, seeing all the emotions she had hid away for so long.

"Rachel?"

He asked, using her real name which only he knew, his voice soft. He hadn't meant for her to become overwhelmed with the pain, fear, and regret. He had only meant for her to return to her normal self.

She blinked away the emotions, her chest heaving as she spoke. She was reaching her breaking point.

"They're here."

He nodded, even though it wasn't a question. He helped her up, watching her walk on extremely shaky legs. It seemed as if her body and mind had lost all motivation to continue moving.

He had one hand on her back, and one hand on her shoulder. She wasn't ready to face her "family". She had hurt all of them at one time or another. But the one she had hurt most was Nightwing. She had always been extremely brutal with him, giving him wounds during battle that would take weeks to heal.

Yet here he was, trying to break down her rough exterior to reveal her soft, old self. And all because he wanted to help her. Raven tried to persuade herself that if he was like this, the roughest if the once-called team, then the others had to be like this too.

She watched The mechanical door swish open, all eyes on her. Her hood was down, so her barricade was gone. She stood stick still, refusing to move. The shock on each of her old friend's faces was enough to make her cry. But she didn't. Instead, she looked down at the cuffs, pulling slightly. Nightwing stopped her from further injuring herself, sing the hand on her shoulder to keep her own still.

It was completely silent for what seemed like forever, which was actually only a few minutes. A soft, innocent voice said her name.

"Friend Raven?"

Starfire clasped her hands together, floating ever so slightly off the ground. Raven shut her eyes, turning away from the voice.

But she heard the alien again, this time closer.

"Raven, it is I, Starfire. Please look at me."

Raven opened her eyes slowly as she faced the 22 year old. Starfire was wearing the same outfit, except now she had some sort of silver crown on her head, kind of like the one from her betrothed. Her hair was longer, only slightly.

She looked into the alien's eyes, and it reminded Starfire of a hurt earthling puppy. Starfire pulled the half demon into a soft hug, afraid to hurt hair. Nightwing backed up, allowing them room.

When she pulled away, Starfire was crying. She spoke to Raven, a sad smile on her face.

"Oh Raven, I've missed you so. I'm sorry we had done the 'splitting apart'."

Raven inhaled a shaky breath, placing her hands on Star's shoulder. Her own voice was hoarse and small, much like when she had been through the prophecy.

"I....I missed you too, Star."

Nightwing watched as her walls were broken down, her evil side disapproved, being replaced with a scared, soft spoken woman. But it was Raven. His Raven. The Raven who he had been so used to years ago.

He watched Starfire retreat, as Cyborg stepped up. He hadn't changed, only his height and face, showing he'd aged.

"Hey, Rae. We missed you, 'Dark Girl'."

He pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back. Raven relaxed against her "big brother's" touch, feeling at peace.

When Cyborg had finished, and Raven had said what he wanted, Beast Boy came up. His outfit had changed from purple and black to red and white. He was no longer the small 14 year old, but a strong, muscular 20 year old.

He punched her lightly on the arm, but hugged her after.

"Yo, Rae, where've you been. No one was there to make fun of my dumb jokes."

Raven smiled slightly, trying her best not to cry.

"Trust me, somewhere out there, someone was hitting their head against a wall to block out the chicken joke."

He grinned, pulling away. Of course, all three of them had seen Raven, even fought Raven at one time or another. But this was the first time in years that they had actually "seen" her.

Raven turned around to face Nightwing, her mouth still holding a smile. But it wasn't the smile she had used on him earlier. This one was more innocent, thankful.

He took her hands in his, uncuffing her. He had known that if he let her go during the all the hugs, she would have had a meltdown from all the emotions swarming her. He was also afraid she would have teleported away, never to be seen again. So cuffing her had been for her safety, and for his reassurance.

He hugged her tightly, one hand on the back of her head, the other on the small of her back.

Cyborg watched as the hug lasted longer than any of the others, save his of course. He knew they loved each other, it was obvious. Nightwing had been planning this for weeks, Cyborg had been the only one told. And for years, he had tried to get her back. As for Raven, she had been trying to deny it, constantly pushing him away worse than the others. So she could try to keep herself a criminal. But Cyborg knew that she had finally given in. She was ready to love him now. Cyborg knew that.

Raven tightened her grip on him, not wanting him to disappear. Nightwing noticed this, and closed his eyes, inhaling her scent before whispering to her.

"I'm not leaving, Rae. Just promise me you won't break my heart and run off either."

She buried her head in his chest, her own eyes closed. She choked out her answer, on the brink of tears from his love.

"I promise."

He pulled away from her, looking into her amethyst eyes. All the love he had for her was put into his touch. At this point, Raven did cry, but he wiped away her tears with his gloved hand, his forehead on her own.

"Welcome home, Rae."