Author's note: After months and months of considering, I have finally decided to write a long RobRae fanfic! This idea has been rooting in my mind for a while actually, but I kept on hesitating. Why? Well, first reason: I'm not really good at writing romance. One shot? Okay since it isn't really that hard. But a real, long fic? Nuh-uh, I don't think so. There's just too much to take care of! How to develop the feelings, how to capture the characters' emotions, how to make sure they stay in character throughout the fic, ughh, the list goes on and on! Second reason: I'm lazy and arbitrary as Hell! Like I can just drop the entire fic in two chapters just because I have got a better idea, or just don't feel like continue it. So, OS and simple-plot fics seemed like pretty good choices for me.

But I really want to write this, really, really want! And I also want to get out of my comfort zone for once, see how things finally go.

Summary: Everything important to him had crumbled down, just because he chose to trust the wrong people at the wrong timing. Misguided and fooled by the lies surrounded him and everything he always upheld, he pushed those that always stood by him to their tragic fates. Now, after many years, Nightwing finally managed to triumph over his enemies, but with a heavy price. The strength he obtained had given those that turned their back against him what they deserved, but still couldn't return what he had lost.

At his most desperate moment, Nightwing was given a chance to return to the moment when everything started falling apart. Could he rewrite the bloody and horrible fate that awaited them all?

Wow, that summary ended up much cornier than I first anticipated.

Anyway, let's get on with the story!

Chapter 1

SMACK!

Within a small chamber slightly illuminated by the dim white light given off of the bulb hanging from the ceiling, the sound of one's fist slammed against a hard object loudly emitted. It was soon followed by the noises of two hard objects colliding into each other, and then a low grunt of pain.

On the ground, tied into a chair with chains filled with strange symbols, was a man. Or at least it used to be a man. All of his limbs had been violently twisted around that white bones were piercing out from where the knuckles should be. His nails had long been pulled off and blood was still oozing out of the opened wounds. It appeared that somebody had mercilessly crushed them over and over even when the nails were no longer there. His face was no longer human-like, in fact, none could tell whether he was once human or not. His nose had been savagely torn off, the same to his lips and ears. Bruises and cuts of all size sprawled out on the amount of skin that was still attached. Layers of fresh blood dyed on top layers of old blood, red on top of usually-looking brown, giving off a foul, suffocating smell, as if to kill the breath of anyone that dared to set foot here.

"You think this will actually change anything?" He let out a rough chuckle, grimacing as his body couldn't take just a small action and sent agony all over himself: "You lost. We won. Can't you see what you always try to protect is already crumble at our feet? We have what we want. All these futile efforts will just…"

His line was cut clean off as a kick slammed right into his stomach, making him double over and spat out a mouthful of blood. Still, the twisted grin hadn't gone yet. The man struggled to pick his head up and stare at his attacker with some difficulties – his face was so damaged that it made his vision blurred. As though the kick from before was nothing, he laughed before going on with his speed:

"You're fucking angry? You're fucking angry that I'm right, that you have lost? That you couldn't save or protect a fucking soul. That you failed to save even your stupid, worthless little frie…"

Something metallic collided into the mess of flesh and blood that used to be his left cheek, and the man grunted in pain as his head was forcefully whipped aside.

While he was panting and grunting in utter agony on the filthy floor, a lone figure crouched next to him, casting a shadow all over his pathetic state in a threating manner. But again, the man showed no trait of fear or fright, even though his entire body was screaming in pain, and every movement resulted in his flesh and bones being torn apart even more, he still managed to somewhat gather his strength and flashed a twisted grin at his attacker.

A set of cold, almost vicious eyes stared back at him, bored into his soul, pierced into the deepest part of him. The vibrant blue filled those orbs were as calm as the ocean surface. Still, he could see it clearly, underneath that seemingly serene semblance, a raging tidal wave was rising, and soon, it would swallow him whole.

Still, that didn't invoke even just a bit of fear inside him. It was over now. Nothing could be changed. Winner took all. His side had won, and it was all that mattered. Only the satisfaction that thought brought was enough to ease his throbbing body and drew a smirk on his beaten face.

"Accept it. You lost. Those foolish beloved friends of yours are gone now. And there isn't a single thing you can do to… AH!"

He only saw a flash of metal struck across his face, and then a wave of unbearable pain almost paralyzed his jaw. Blood spilled from his tattered lips to the ground, and a glance at his attacker told him what just happened:

One of his teeth had been ripped clean out!

"One more word, and you'll get to see your tongue coming off." A bone-chilling voice made its way to his ears, and the man couldn't help but feeling his skin crawl apprehensively. But he pressed on. He would die anyway. And unlike a certain person, he had no regret!

"You're just fucking angry because I'm speaking the fucking truth. You chose to trust us, remember? That little sense of justice of yours chose to have faith in us! We even had to be grateful to you. Had it not been for your choice, we wouldn't have claimed our triumph. Our first steps would have failed. We owned it all to you!"

A fist collided into his cheek, but he didn't stop.

"Your world is torn apart, your allies are all dead now. You have fallen! Just struggle all you want, deny it all you want, but you can't change anything."

A kick, then another punch, followed by a hook right into his head. Blood filled his mouth with a bitter, foul taste, but he went on.

"And now you are taking it all on me? While you're the reason why it all happened? How could you forget that easily? Even I could remember as clearly as daylight how everything started!"

"Or could it be…" A vile glint suddenly flashed across the man's narrowed eyes, and he let out a burst of chuckle: "That you're mad because of that little slut?"

The vibrant blue orbs facing his pathetic state suddenly widened. For a split second, his attacker stood there, dumbfounded as though having been struck across the face with a powerful blow. Then, the almost placid stare vanished from his feature. He didn't bother covering up his rage anymore. The flame of fury set his body afire, overwhelming his other senses, unleashing the darkest demon within him. With an almost inhuman roar, he threw himself into the tattered figure right in front of him, slamming that impotent body down onto the floor with all he got. A sickening sound of bones cracking reverberated around the small room, but neither of them cared. Despite his life being on the line, the beaten man continued laughing like a maniac, ignoring the rain of fists that coming down onto his form nonstop.

"Yeah, that little slut. I remembered her. We all remembered her. She serviced us very well, better than all the whores we had in fact. I can still recall her screams and her taste now… Very special…"

"She was a fierce one, almost fucking bit a grown man's artery cleaned off. That was so fucking messy. But we broke her into shape. We educated her well. We gave that depraved slut so much pleasure that she even started begging for more!"

"And we owned this to you, again! If you didn't decide to give up on her and thought of her as the bad guy as we planned, such a precious pearl wouldn't fall into our hands."

"Did she serve you well? Did she make you so satisfied that you couldn't stand up? You will have to thank us for that!"

He couldn't utter any word. Whatever he wanted to howl out was forcefully halted at the tip of his tongue by a steeled grip around his neck. Those wiry fingers kept tightening, and tightening, and tightening, slowly cutting out his air supply. Gasping for oxygen, the man looked up at his assaulter, but still managed to crack his lips into a painful yet satisfied smirk:

"You… cannot… change anything… Even when… you try to… put on a new… face. Their blood… is on your hands… Her blood… is on your… hands…"

Vicious blue eyes shot back at him, as his assaulter's feature began twisting in unbearable rage. The grip on his neck was blocking his air pipe, and he felt his vision swayed as no oxygen could get into his lungs. But this didn't matter at all. He might die here, he might lose this battle, but he had already won the war.

"Killing… me… won't change anything… It won't bring… them back… You lost…"

He locked his eyes with the furious blue orbs, and with his all the strength left within him, the man gnashed his teeth together, enunciating each word as if wanting them to etch into his opponent's mind forever.

"You lost… Accept it… Richard Grayson… You lost…"

oOo

Nightwing didn't leave from his spot. He just sat there, staring at the already lifeless body on the ground. The fury dominated his entire being didn't cease just a bit, even when his nemesis had already been a mess of unidentified flesh. It was still boiling, and boiling, and boiling, immersing himself in an inescapable scorching flame.

But he didn't even know who he was angry with anymore.

With the one that destroyed what he tried to protect?

Or simply with himself?

He slowly stood up and made his way out of the suffocating chamber reeking of foul blood, didn't bother to cast a single glance at the body left on the ground. But that taunting smile still lingered in his mind, circling him, haunting him like a persistent ghost, reminding him of what he always tried to forget.

Nightwing stopped at he reached another door at the end of the corridor. Exhaustedly, he leaned his forehead against it and shut his eyes, feeling his headache grew as his mind became a turmoil. He thought he had already forgotten all of it. But it was still there, lurking around corners of his head, waiting for chances to resurface and swallowed him in guilt and grief.

Everything started crumbling down five years ago, or was it six, or seven? He didn't know, he had lost count along the way.

Someone important to him, someone he cared about, someone really closed to him was accused of a crime, a horrible crime. She stated that she never did it, that she didn't know anything. But the evidences were all against her. There were even footage, and witnesses, and testimonies, claiming that she was behind everything.

That was a true crisis for them, an intense one. Nobody wanted to believe that she did such a thing, but everything they got proved otherwise. They tried to help her, they did their best. He spent endless nights without sleep trying to clear her name. Still, the more they dug in, the worse it got for her.

She claimed that she was innocent, but they couldn't believe her. Even if they wanted, how could they when everything was against her? They were the protectors of justice, they had to stand up for justice. They had to do everything they got to defend the laws and keep the people safe. She might be their friends, but she was proven to be a criminal, so what choice did they have?

Back there, he was just a boy who desperately wanted to be a hero, to make sure the line between evil and good was clear, and to ensure that everything he fought to protect was safe and sound. Back there, he only thought of justice, and what he would become without it, what the world would become without it, so he tried to defend it with all cost, devoting his life to it at all cost.

He even believed that it was his purpose of life, that he would become nothing with it.

How foolish he was back there…

Nightwing banged his head again the door with an unbelievable thought. It hurt like Hell, maybe he had even bled, but he didn't care. It was all over now. If he had a chance to retake that decision, he would never…

But unfortunately, it was just a wish. This was the reality he had to face, no matter how harsh it had become.

He could still recall the last conversation he had with her back there, in the interrogation room. He wasn't angry at her, he was disappointed, so disappointed. A part of him still wanted to trust her, but justice had proved that she was guilty, so what could he do now?

She remained silent the whole time, and he was the only one doing the talking. Back there, he didn't know why he came to see her, he just knew that he had to, that he wanted to.

"You should just tell them the truth, that'll make it easier."

"I don't know why you did it, but I'll try to get you the lightest sentence."

"Take care."

She only spoke once, as he was walking out of the room.

"I didn't do it. Do you trust me?"

And he, being as heroic and supportive to justice as he was, replied her with one single thing:

"I only trust what's right."

He was there as she was taken away. They said that she couldn't be kept here, that she was too dangerous, and had to be moved to another prison with better security. He stood in the crowd and watched as she was being escorted into the transport vehicle, with her hands and foot in shackles, and some device over her head. He didn't get to see her face, but somehow, that was so relieving. He didn't know how he would react if he saw her.

As he watched the car took her away, it seemed that some part of him was slowly being pulled away too, and he couldn't do anything but watch in silence.

Their lives after her department were nothing different from Hell itself. Nobody could laugh or say anything positive anymore. They worked, and they trained, and they ate, and they slept like real machines. They rarely spoke to the others, they didn't dare to anyway. They all felt somewhat responsible for her case. They all felt they were at fault with the others. They all felt that if they had worked harder, maybe something would have changed.

He watched as their days passed by, uneventful and almost lifeless. But what could he possibly do? They didn't have any other choice. They had to protect justice. And she was a criminal. So they had to cast her away, just like what they did to the villains they fought every day.

Things remained that way for a while, and then, all Hell broke loose!

The vicious attacks into the city suddenly increased with no sign of stopping. They couldn't carry on defending the citizens anymore. With her gone, it got so hard for them to triumph over their enemies. Their comrades from all over the world couldn't help, because they were in the same situation too.

Eventually, they were heavily wounded, and were forced to hide themselves behind the unbreakable walls of their Tower for recovery. Without her, their injuries had to heal on their own, they couldn't enter any battle. Still, the war outside went on.

They had thought they it would be okay, that the people would understand, that they had witnessed these injuries, that they would still have faith in them and the justice they always tried to uphold, and that they would return to the battle once they have regain their strength.

But apparently, they were wrong.

Someone knocked on the Tower's door that night, sounding so frightened and urgent. They thought that was just a poor citizen being in danger. So, being the protector of peace and justice, despite their injuries, they went and opened the door.

Immediately, a crowd burst into their home. They still remembered those faces: the citizens that they always protected with all their hearts. But what happened next was something none of them could ever imagine.

Their beloved citizens attacked them!

In their current state, they couldn't fight back even when they wanted to. With utter shock and confusion, they were all tied and forced to kneel on the ground. Then, somebody advanced them, a face that they knew so well:

The one that stood on the side of justice just like them, and was also the one that insisted that she was a criminal.

But this time, there was nothing friendly or genial in his eyes, only a freezing cold remained there. His lips twitched upward in a vile way as he looked down at them and laughed at their stunned expression.

He stated that they were a bunch of fools.

He stated that he had always despised them, hated them, loathed them from his guts.

He stated that his man were behind everything, and they wanted to get rid of all the heroes, so they could take down the city and had everybody bowed down on their knees.

Never had they been that furious. They screamed and shouted and yelled at him until their throats went dry. They called out for the citizens for support, thinking that they would stand on their sides once knowing these bastards' true intentions. They believed that those innocent citizens were tricked into doing this, that they would never side with the dark side, that they would stand up for their heroes no matter what.

Again, they were wrong!

"You expect us to help you? Your duty is to keep us safe and you failed at that! We even paid for you to live here and this was how you treated us?"

"Look what have become of me. I lost my house, my car, my company, just because you couldn't do your job right!"

"And you can even call yourselves heroes?"

"Look at you! All safe and warm in here. Do you have any fucking idea what we must go through outside?"

"I can't believe I even support you! A bunch of selfish liars! Fancy promises for what when you only save your asses when it comes to the worse?"

"Useless!"

"We're here because we're sick of your hypocrites!"

Useless? Them?

At the moment, he was so shocked that he couldn't say anything. Why were them even bandaged and wounded like this? Wasn't that to save those people's life? Why must they fight so hard that they couldn't even stand? Wasn't that to continue protecting lives? They were here because of who? Wasn't that because they wanted to get better and return to protect justice, protect innocent lives?

Did they ever fail before? Did they even utter a single complain? They put their life in the line, even willing to sacrifice themselves so that everyone could lead a peaceful life. They never asked for gratefulness, or a single thank you, because that was the job of heroes.

And now, after all the times being saved, those people came and bombarded them with this?

Was this… the justice and innocence they fought so hard to defend?

He didn't even know what happen next. So many thoughts had occupied his mind by then. But by the time he came to his sense, all of his friends were gone, gone by the hands of the people they protected every day.

His emotions were so chaotic that he felt like he was on the verge of collapsing.

Then, that very man came to him and kneeled down by his side, right when he was about to have a mental breakdown.

"I have a something you'd like here. We were kind of closed so it'll be rather rude to let you go without any farewell gift, right?"

He saw photos being dropped right before his eyes. And instantly, his breath was caught in his throat. That was… her.

Being tortured. Being ravished. Being treated like an animal. Being put through all the worst things on the world.

"A cute one, isn't it? Thank you for giving such a lovely thing right into our hands. We had a really good time together, you see."

"Don't send me that look. I let you see your little friend for the last time. Be grateful. Oh, and there's something you'll enjoy…"

He could never forget the words that came next, never, ever, ever forgot.

"You were right, she was innocent. We set her up."

And that was when he snapped. Burning wrath scorched through his flesh, and his mind was washed away in a blind fury. But with who? He didn't know. Probably with the bastards that mistreated her, with the ungrateful citizens, or perhaps with him for choosing to have faith in the wrong person in the first place.

He just knew that he had thrashed his way out of the ropes secured him, and broke through the crowd with all he got. He didn't even hold back, or tried to calm down. He had lost everything, his friends, his faith, his family, all he wanted to protected, everything. He didn't even care whether he killed anyone on his way. He just kept on running until he reached the ocean surrounding their home and flung himself into it.

At that time, he just wanted to let the water swallowed him whole and took him to somewhere far, far away. Everything was painful to recall. His belief was shattered, his friends were dead, the ones he thought was on his side betrayed him at the most unexpected moment. And the girl he thought to have turned back on him turned out to be the true victim. The thought of what she must go through pained him more than he could take on. Back there, if only he could trust her…

He didn't expect to be able to wake up, let alone in her arms of all people.

He was beyond happy when seeing her. But she was no longer the strong, brave, unbreakable girl who fought side by side with him in battles. Her look was even worse than he could have imagined. She had grown paler, and slimmer, he could even see her cheekbones had gone hollow and her skin stretched uncomfortably over her white knuckles. Her feature had always been cold and distant, but never this austere and grim. The light seemed to have already died from her eyes, leaving nothing but pure darkness behind.

Seeing her like this sent him in an ocean of guilt and lament. His heart sank to his stomach as he took in for the first time what she had been put through. He was the one who pushed her into that Hell. If only he paid more attention and realized something was off, if only he wasn't all that blinded, if only he hadn't been fooled by all those lies…

He didn't bother to ask her how she managed to break free, or how she knew he was in danger. He just simply sprang up from his spot like a spring having been released from massive pressure and brought her into his arms. He didn't know what to say. But he knew that he would never let her go again. It was like he had finally found the light after months of living in the darkness.

That was when he realized he had never wanted her to leave, that he had wanted to stay by her side and never let any harm come her way. But back there, his sense of justice and his heroic nature had built up a wall between them. She had been proven to be a criminal, so despite how much it hurt, he had decided to let go, because it was his mission and duty as a hero.

That was when he realized she meant to him more than anything on the world.

That was when he realized that he loved her.

He took her away from the city that day, away from the Hell they once thought to be their peaceful home. She never said anything, just quietly followed him, like she always did before this disaster stroke. It pained him even more. She always trusted him, always had faith in him no matter what. And looked what he did to her.

A lot of things had changed since that day. Their world had changed, their belief had crumbled, their justice turned its back on them, and killed everybody important to them on the way.

And he had changed too.

That fateful day had ripped a whole part of him cleaned off. He couldn't see things the old way anymore. He couldn't see justice the old way anymore. Memories of how his friends suffered a painful death at the hands of those they always defended always never stopped haunting his mind. Those horrifying images lingered in every corner of his head, he couldn't push them out. The last moment of his friends as their bodies broke apart woke him up every night, screaming and crying as grief overwhelmed his other senses.

He had always sworn to protect justice, protect the citizens, protect the innocence. Wasn't it the right thing to do? Then why did things come down to this?

During those horrid nights, as he wished for nothing but to lie down and never awake again, she was the only one that stayed by his side. Despite all he put her through, despite the fact that he had turned back on her, she never left no matter what.

From then on, he had promised to both her and himself that he would never betray her, that he would take care of her, that he would try to mend what have been broken no matter how hard it was.

They stayed together for quite a long time, fleeing from one city to another, never truly stopped at one place. He didn't feel like making another home. He had one, but it was forcefully taken away from him. Now, all that left of that home was her.

They grew closer, and closer, and closer as time passed by. He never truly said he loved her, and neither did she. But what went on between them was more than enough to tell each other how they truly felt. They shared the same bed, the same meal, they did almost everything together. The nightmares still plagued his dreams, his friends' deaths and the betrayal of those he had thought to be on his side never stopped following him. But she was always there to ease his troubled heart.

As he hugged her, as she huddled closer to him, as her face pressed against his heart and her breaths warmed his chest, a painful knot deep inside him somewhat entangled itself. At least, he was still able to protect her.

But that beautiful life soon shattered right in front of his very eyes.

The ones destroying his life had caught up to them and lured her out, using the same trick that he fell for on that fateful night. She must have been on guard, but the sight that somebody suffering as she was before have moved her.

By the time he found her, she could no longer walk, or move, or see, or use her power. She was there, bare and bruised and bleeding on the ground. He had almost fallen to his knees. As his trembling arms pulled her into his protective embrace, she had lifted her empty eye sockets and weakly whispered his name in such a broken voice that almost tore his heart into pieces.

He could never understand. Why her? Why them? What did they ever do? They always tried to protect the good and fight against the evil. They always stood up for the right. They kept everyone safe and sound and never asked for anything in return. Wasn't that enough to get a happy ending?

Where did they go wrong?

He tried to protect justice, to uphold it at all cost. He spent almost his entire life pursuing criminals and locked them behind bars. He could stay up all night and not eat a single thing until he was sure that the good people he defended sleep tight under their warm blankets.

He protected them all, and yet, they turned on him.

His friends never stopped trying to defend them, and yet, they're killed by those they always tried to help.

She was the most innocence one among them, and yet she had to go through the worst.

He had promised that he would protect her, that he would help her through everything, that he would someday bring back her smile. And now, she was here, bleeding and tattered, limped in his arms, her breaths could die out in an instance.

Was this what justice repaid those who tried to uphold it? With deaths and misery and pain? While those who always tried to take it down ended up having the last laugh? The heroes became forgotten, and the villains got the throne? Was it how thing supposed to be?

He saved people, but in the end, it was those people that pushed him into this Hell.

He and his friends risked his life for the city, but in the end, the city soon forgot them all, and stamped on them as if all their efforts from before were nothing.

She did nothing wrong, she even tried her best to protect them even after everything she had gone through, and now she was dying in his arms.

He used to feel sorry that he couldn't do more and bring justice the true peace it deserved. Even if the citizens made any mistake, he would be more than happy to go and fix it for them. And then what? They killed his friends, destroyed his home, dragging the girl he loved through Hell.

He never asked for gratefulness. He just hoped that they would always support him and his team no matter what.

But did anyone bothered to take his side when his life was on the line? Nobody!

He had gripped her closer to his chest and took off running. He dashed out of the scene, feeling his heart run colder and colder as her breaths got weaker and weaker. That day, some parts of him began collapsing, as something else took over their places.

Nightwing let out a breathy, bitter chuckle as everything started unfolding inside his mind. His prior life passed by before his very eyes as a fast-forward movie, went on and on, until it reached the recent time.

After that incident, there wasn't much to talk about. He had gone after those that destroyed their life, and made them pay one by one. But he could never be satisfied, he had thought that it was because he didn't manage to kill them all, but it wasn't.

That bastard was the last of them, but even when he snapped his neck, he couldn't feel any better.

Maybe that bastard was right after all. They had won, and he had lost. Nothing could be changed, no matter how hard he tried.

Nightwing slumped his shoulders as a heavy sigh filled with lament and regret made its way out of his lips. What had been taken from him couldn't return.

If only he had realized that their justice was just a façade, none of this would have happened! If only he was able to see through all those lies, none of this would have happened! His vibrant blue eyes ran cold as he slammed a furious fist against the metal surface of the door.

But time wouldn't return. What had been done could not be undone. What he had lost would be lost, forever.

He shook his head with a bitter chuckle and turned the knob, walking into a small yet bright room.

A young girl was sitting on the single bed locating at the window, quietly staring outside. Her feature seemed relaxing, as her long violet hair slightly swayed in the slight breezes passing through the opened glass frame.

Nightwing's eyes softened as a small smile twitched the corner of his lips upward. He made his way to her side, and she turned back upon hearing his footsteps.

"Richard?"

A small voice full of wonder escaped her pale lips as she instinctively turned her head around, trying to locate where he was. He had been seeing this quite often ever since he managed to bring her back from the Death, but it always pained him to look at her in such a state. Bandage wrapped around her head, dragging a long, white strip over where her eyes used to be. She could no longer see anything now. And he couldn't help but feeling guilty.

"Yeah, Raven. I'm here." He reached her side and bent down to press a kiss to the top of her head. Sitting down on her bed, he pulled the girl into his lap, letting his large hand stroke her hair. Raven gently leaned her head onto his chest, and he wrapped one arm around her waist to secure her there. The sight of her being so helpless always made his heart plummet to his stomach. She was once the strongest, most powerful girl he used to know. But now, she was a broken, tattered, fragile girl who had to permanently stay on her bed.

"Why didn't you leave? I thought that you had already left."

"Why're you keeping asking me this?" Nightwing tucked Raven's head under his chin as he cupped one side of her face. Did she truly think she was a burden to him, that he only protected her because he felt guilty? Ever since that day, it seemed that she was expecting that he would take his department soon. He couldn't get it. What made she think that he would leave her here alone?

"You can still have a life, Richard. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I've been through worse. Just go on and live as you want."

"Raven." The blue-eyed man sighed heavily as he patted her head reassuringly: "You're all I have now. I want to protect you. I want to take care of you. Please just stop thinking that I do all of this out of pity." Inching closer, he pressed his lips to her cold ones. The kiss wasn't passionate, wasn't intense or deep. It was just a short, light kiss, as his lips only ghosted on hers for a while. They broke apart, and he patted her head gently, moving his gaze outside of the window.

The world was slowly crumbling down. Heroes had no place on this planet now. He had lost contact with his comrades, even his mentor. Even when he tried to reassure himself that they were okay, his own hunch told something different, and his hunch had never gone wrong before.

"You can still save…"

"Raven." Nightwing cut her off: "You know I don't want to walk down on that path ever again. Just look where it got us. Look what it did to…"

He forced the rest of the line back into his throat, didn't want to trouble her even further. She had had enough pains and problems to deal with on her own. Even though he tried to help her cope with them, there was some parts of her that he couldn't reach. He wasn't in her state, he couldn't possibly understand what she went through every day.

So he remained silent, and continuing rubbing the girl's back as he stared out at the window. The sun was setting, it would get dark soon. The nightmares would soon return to him, one by one, two by two.

His enemies were gone now, dead by his hands. And still, he couldn't change anything.

Had it not been for her, he would have…

"Richard, I want to die."

His eyes widened as he looked down at Raven. The girl was staring up at him even though she couldn't see anything. Her lips slightly parted, and to his utter shock, she repeated the cold words:

"I want to die."

"What? But… why…"

"You have already seen it for yourself." Raven looked at him, and her lips formed a bitter, melancholy smile: "I can't do anything right now. Even if it's just something simple as eating or bathing. I can only sit here, and sit here, and sit here for the rest of my life." Her voice suddenly broke as she sobbed, each words like a sharp needle to his heart: "It hurt. I don't want to continue, Richard. I don't want to go on living anymore. I thought of biting my tongue off, but you keep coming back, every single day, you keep coming back. I don't want to make you sad. You have already suffered enough"

She sniffled, stopping for a while to somewhat recompose herself. Then, she spoke to him, in the calmest way possible that sent shock all over his body:

"But I can't go on enduring this, Richard. So I want you to leave. I'll bite my tongue off tonight. If you don't want to see it, leave while you still can."

Each word was as clear as crystal. She didn't even hesitate as she told him. This life, she had truly had enough of it.

She had had enough of the pains and the misery always ate her from inside out.

In that case…

"I won't leave you, Raven." He whispered to her, as softly as he could. Before the violet-haired girl could say anything, he had already scooped her into his arms. He stood up on the bed, the mattress dipped under his steps as he faced the window and the street beneath.

"We'll go together." He kissed her head, gently murmuring into her ears: "I have nothing left to fight for anymore."

The girl seemed surprised for a while, but then a bright smile shone on her pale lips as she slowly nodded her head. She had never showed such a happy smile before. Maybe to her, death had already become somewhere much more peaceful. He thought bitterly as he pressed his chin on top of her head, and Raven buried her face in the crook of his neck.

Hugging her tightly, Nightwing leaned forward, and they both fell out of the opened window, plummeting toward the hard ground below.

If he could go back in time, he wouldn't be a hero anymore. He wouldn't play the good guy anymore. He would protect what was truly precious to him with all cost.

He would get rid of those putting his loved ones in harm by all means.

And he would definitely make up for her…

The sound of something hard hit the ground echoed throughout the quiet area, and then, only silence was left.

The night fell, and soon swallowed everything in its endless darkness…

Author's note: Oh my God! I made it, I made the first chapter! Yes, yes, yes, yes!

I know that it sounds so tragic, but trust me, the story is completely not. Everything will eventually get better and better, and you will soon get to see some intense actions.

And don't forget that this is a Dark Robin fanfic where he gets a chance to start everything from the start with M rate. Yeah, you got what I mean! Hot RobRae scenes is gonna come along, so make sure to stick around.

Love you!

Remember to leave a review if you like this idea.