Well I definitely didn't update before Christmas, but I'm still going, and I have so much more in store for you my reader. Hopefully I can find the time to start my other projects, I've been taking up hobbies faster than I can actually get around to them, mostly because college is kind of a drag when you're not huge on parties. That said I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Dick woke up with beams of sunlight in his eyes, not a total inconvenience, though the fact that the sun literally was in his eyes was cause for some irritation. He groaned under his breath and turned from the sun, sitting up and thinking of what he would do on one of his excruciatingly rare days off. He took three days a year to himself and every time he would call Alfred to touch base he would get the same earful about "only three days of three-sixty-five" and "Master Bruce's stress" and how he should "maybe bring a girl home for once". That stuck with him. He smiled deviously and projected his thought straight to her. Maybe. He really hated that when he woke up she wasn't next to him, though that only would take time, and she had to be ready.

Maybe what birdie?

You doing anything today?

No? Why?

Well have you ever met my Dad?

Well he was always the more gutsy of them. Though he was surprised when he opened the door and rather than walking out, she walked in, a mild, wide eyed look in her eyes. She didn't say anything at first, opting to instead walk to his bed, then his bookshelf, then his chair before deadpanning at him "so you want me to meet Bruce?"

"How'd you?"

He stopped before she could answer his stupid question and instead intoned (literally) that's right, we share a head. At least he got a soft smile, before her expression changed back to it's usual. He could feel the agitation radiating off of her and he understood why.

"You're anxious about meeting Bruce?"

"More anxious about meeting Batman"

"So is that a-"

"No, I'd still like to meet him"

"We'll leave in a few hours"

He packed his bags with a spare change of his Nightwing uniform, a few shirts, jeans, and his escrima sticks on top before tossing it by the tower's evacuation exits. Ironically it was more or less used as a vacation exit seeing as as the years went on Vic only made the place more secure. Hell he thought, if it were any more secure it could withstand a nuke.

Meanwhile Raven was stressing herself out over the trip. They were taking a car which was nice considering how she hated the deathtrap Dick always insisted on riding, but she simply didn't know what to pack. She tossed in her spare uniform first, then paced about the room . Think, think. Bruce Wayne, mansion, lots of money, classy, batman, possibly the most dangerous human in the world. She threw an assortment of clothes into her bag and stopped by her shelf on the way out her door to grab a book. Something bigger than butterflies were nibbling at her stomach at the situation. She had never thought that at her age, with her half demonic status, that the most terrifying thing to her would be meeting the parents. Surely enough though, when she walked out to the exit tunnel Richard was standing there, radiating the same confident calm he always did. "Let's go".

The walk under the tunnel was quiet enough, and when they reached a dead end, Richard dialed a small keypad hidden behind what she assumed was a false pipeline on the ceiling. The brick and mortar walls began to shift, and then there they were. A completely unassuming parking garage on the city bay. They tossed their bags into the trunk of what Raven thought was a far too economical car for the taste of Dick, but before she could ask, he turned to open the passenger seat door and said simply, "Alfred insists that I drive this when I visit home, it's inconspicuous". She mentally thanked Alfred, though not before she had Dick explain who he was.

The car was deceptively fast, and the moment it left the city limits they were moving at a breakneck speed towards Gotham's own Wayne Manor. Though to Raven, at least being in a car made it comfortable. They idly chatted about Richard's family, old cases he had done with the caped crusader, and the library that was their entwined minds. Before long though the car was silent, and she took the time to meditate, every so often he would chime into her mind with some update on how close they were.

Dick would every so often look to her, and see the same expression she would get whenever she meditated. She sat relaxed in the cloth of the seat, jeans and sweater not shifting in the slightest as her irises seemingly disappeared, her mouth shifted ever so slightly in some old mantra that kept her confined in a meditative stasis. Nothing out of the usual, just a drive into the country with his beautiful demonic girlfriend. He pulled into a service station to fill up his car. He did so quietly as to not disturb her trance, though his ulterior motive was to try a new trick he had thought of to surprise the empath. He started the gas pump and slid back into the driver's seat before closing his eyes and focusing, restraining a smirk.

Raven walked through the halls of her library as she usually did, her emotions shifting between the books on the shelves. Rarely did she ever simply walk through for no reason, though given her circumstance in the car she figured she would sit down with her emotions and maybe talk with them about her, and she hated the fact that it was still so new and exciting, boyfriend. All around her the books shifted and her mood soured when she thought of the impending meeting. He was after all the greatest detective ever, a member of the justice league, and no doubt he knew about her origins. How was she going to introduce herself? How would she win the trust of the Batman? The wooden walls of the library began to darken and Raven ascended a flight of stairs that passed the now permanently sealed doors. She herself had made sure to place barriers around the entrance. Whatever lurked there she was not adamant about seeing again, and if Richard found it, god knows what that thing would do to him. She decided on a change of scenery and the stairs slowly changed color until she was walking up marble stairs, then rough stones, then a steep gravel incline, before she reached the top of a grassy hill with a simple towel laying on the ground. Last time she was here there was no towel, leave it to Dick.

From the great height she was at the expanse that was her and his mental scape seemed to stretch endlessly. Technically this was a visualization made from her dreams imbued with her power, but she still valued the shifting expanses of her own little world.

Our little world. She almost leaped out of her skin when she felt a long and very strong arm scoop her into his lap, though when she smelled his cologne and felt his lips on her temple she eased into him.

"Shouldn't you be driving" she said aloud. His tone was relaxed when he said that he stopped for gas. Though she could feel an uncertainty in him. She was going to ask what was wrong, though she was more curious on how he got into the library without dreaming. He was getting better with their bond, frighteningly fast. He spun her around so that she was sitting cross legged in his crossed legs and said earnestly "don't worry about Bruce, just be yourself and he'll warm up to you".

Then they both heard a loud click and simultaneously they disappeared from the library, leaving Raven's emotions staring into the distance, a lone white face staring back. Dick got out of the car and took the receipt from the machine before once again driving down the expressway to Gotham. The city limits finally being within sight of the couple. As they approached the exit, Dick reached for his phone and pressed a singular button before an older man answered "Master Richard! It's been far too long. How have you been?" She could feel joviality radiating off of him, and his smile remained on his face as he replied "Alfred I hope that Bruce was expecting me, I'm finally taking you up on that special circumstance". She heard the old man laugh and then hang up as they pulled off into a more heavily forested area of the city outskirts. The road was paved, though there were no other houses on the road, save Wayne Manor looming in the distance. They pulled through an iron gate, down the driveway, out the car, to the front door with their bags, and before he could move any faster to open the door a slender old man opened the door and wrapped his arms around him. "Master Richard how empty the house has been without your presence! You've grown so muscular! This must be your lovely girlfriend!"

She stood there slack-jawed as the fearless and stern leader of the Titans met Alfred's embrace by lifting him off the ground, laughing as he did, before putting his bags down and swapping pleasantries with the man. Alfred's white-moustache-accented smile followed him out of the room with promises of lunch, while a much larger form stepped down the stairs to greet them. The man stood much in the same way a brick wall did, she looked at him and tried to feel the emotions radiating off of him. Nothing, as far as psychics went, Bruce Wayne was like a void in the room, reading him would be impossible.

"It's good to see you Dick" he turned to her then "this must be your girlfriend I've heard so much about".

"Uhh" she stuttered before backtracking mentally and refocusing "Yes, I'm Raven... pleased to meet you"

Smooth.

I guess I'm back, though it certainly took a while. As always your criticisms are appreciated and I look forward to updating my stories. I head back to actual university soon so maybe a consistent work schedule will make me more productive. Freelance work really deregulates life. I might go back and edit this one as it has been a while since writing.