A Slave for Her

Chapter 11

A Slave for Her

Chapter Eleven

Day Three: Early Morning

Raven's eyelid fluttered until the sunlight that peeked through the curtains woke her up. She rolled on her back and touched her stomach. She bit her trembling lips as she moved her hands up and down her stomach, only to remove them to wipe away her tears.

She calmed herself with breathing exercises in the corpse pose. When she finished, she was ready to face the day.

Her feet touched the ground.

She hesitated, wanting to get back in bed, but deciding two days in bed was enough or else she would never get up.

She stood up then sat down. Two deep breaths later, she stood once more. Magic flowed through her body, erasing the tear stains from her face and the dirt from her body. She stared at the light that came through the curtains.

One minute.

Two minutes.

Ten minutes.

A crash echoed into the room, forcing her into the present moment. She rushed to put on the clothes that Dick left for her, then ran out of the room to see what happened.

"Is everything ok?" She asked, causing Dick's head to appear over the counter in the kitchen.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." He stood to his full height and threw pieces of glasses in the trash. "I overloaded the counter with the groceries, and accidentally pushed the cup that I had early off." He grabbed a paper towel and bent back down.

She glanced at the amount of groceries and moved to help him put them up. "It's eight in the morning."

"I know. You miss the sunrise. I saw it on my way to the twenty-four hours supermarket."

Raven groaned. "I forgot that you were a morning person."

"Well, that is to be expected after you wipe your memory of me, the team, and the world vice versa." She paused at his sarcastic tone and so did Dick. A heartbeat later, he said, "I'm sorry, Rae. I didn't mean ... I didn't mean to bring it up or for it to come out like that. After everything that you've been through. It's just...the memories of us and the team are still being added back to my mind. I feel like it was yesterday that I was begging you not to give up."

She placed the milk that he held in her hand on the top shelf of the refrigerator, closed the fridge, and turned to Dick, who stood next to the counter. She closed her eyes at the expression on his face.

"I understand. When my memories returned, it felt like my two lives were merging into one puzzle with extra pieces. It's confusing." Tears fell down her eyes. "Out of all the memories, that day that we fought against Trigon for a second time stood out the most. I still remember how I felt, how you felt that day."

"You didn't have to do that. You didn't have to sacrifice yourself to save the world. We would have found another way."

She shook her head. "I remember my emotions and thoughts from that day. I knew that in my heart Trigon was going to win. I saw visions of it. I couldn't let him take my family away from me."

The memory of that day flashed in her mind. Trigon had escaped from his seal and came back to Earth with the assistance of the members of the Church of Blood. He had come back stronger than before, more prepared. Superheroes and civilians dropped like flies, even Changeling -who changed his name from Beast Boy- was hanging on to life by a thread.