Residing Waters

Chapter One

Snow fell lightly from the sky and collected on the ground marking all of Gotham a winter wonderland. Watching from the rather large bay window in the five lit room, Rachel leaned her head against the window. The cool glass chilled her but she didn't feel like moving.

It hadn't been too long ago that Rachel had moved into the spacious Wayne Mansion, and she was still getting used to having lots of space, room service, and a giant goose feather mattress that she slept on every night.

Really she enjoyed it though. But it was still quite awkward when she passed a maid in the hallway and they referred to her as 'Ms. Roth' or 'Mistress Rachel.' Vacations on a cruise or in the Bahamas lounging in the sun and reading were quite odd but pleasant.

She watched the snow and then focused on the past.

"Mommy! Look I made one!" Little Rachel wore blue and green gloves with a matching scarf. She sat up and looked at the masterpiece in the snow. "I made the snow angel like you showed me."

Soft footsteps came closer and her beautiful mother came into view. She had long strait black hair that was tied back in a tail. She wore no make up but her natural beauty was simply obvious and could have stopped a man dead in his tracks. Little flecks of snow stuck on her lashes. Her violet eyes were beautiful and always happy. Her stomach swelled with new life. A baby boy, much to Rachel's dismay.

"Thats a really good snow angel."

Rachel laughed and pointed. "Look, Daddies recording ups." She patted together a snow ball and tossed it over at her father. It hit him in the face and he smiled wiping the snow off.

"Are you ok?" A voice came from the entrance of the large room. She broke away from her gaze and turned to find Robin holding two steaming mugs. He crossed the room and handed one to Rachel.

She nodded and focused on her herbal tea knowing that when she looked up she would find his eyes staring intently at her. "Honestly I was just thinking." She told him with a shrug.

"For you simply thinking is very dangerous." He sat down next to her and sipped at his hot coco. "Anything you want to talk about." He looked down at her expecting her to dismiss his offer and prepared to force the thought out of her.

"Not really." She said in a dismissive tone. She pushed back a strand of hair that had strayed from her tail. Now her hair was nearly to her shoulders, long, strait, and silky. She could feel his gaze burning on her so she looked up again.

"Let me rephrase this. Why don't you tell me." He breathed on his drink. As cold as it was outside he didn't need to scald his tongue.

"I was just thinking about my mother and how we would make snow angels in the snow during the winter. Once dad taped us playing in the snow. And someone took photos." She picked up a large leather bound book and handed it over to Robin a page open for Robin to see.

She took another sip of her tea. "That had been a good day. Dad and I engaged in a snowball fight and he told me that the way I threw a snow ball I was prepared for little league. The day after mom's body was buried under the ground I saw dad watch that video crying." She said taking another sip.

Robin was about to say something nice when she continued.

"I stood there for hours watching the snow fall in the video, and looking at mom's face. When he saw he yanked the video out of the VCR and threw it at my head. Then gave me a beating for good measure. Years later while I'm at school, he rummages through my room for money that I might have so he can drink." She took a gulp of her tea. "He found the tape, and when I got home he held it up in front of me and snapped it in two. He told me 'She's gone you hear, there isn't any use in trying to remember something that will be far from our grasp.' Then gave me another beating. When he couldn't find Will, and realized that I had come in late and didn't fix him his sandwich and beer then he beat me again. That was the worst one I think I received."

Robin nodded and thought of some way that he could change the subject. He hated it when things triggered bad memories in her mind. Her mind was a dark world where not even she let him in. He didn't know half of the things that she thought, or why she did some of the things that she did. The only one who seemed to be in tune to her thoughts and actions were her little brother. Will Roth. He had been the sole reason that she had remained alive. In all her life she had thought many times of how simple it could be to slip her throat or wrist. Maybe even string herself up and kick the chair away, but taking care of Will had become her sole obsession. Her mind was locked and only Will had the key.

Slowly but surely Robin was trying to make her feel more comfortable but he was sure that she would never be the same child that she had once been.

Bruce and Robin had rescued Rachel from her home. Sad thing to say but true. She was being abused by her father ever since she was ten, ever since her mother died giving birth to Will.

Will was Rachel's lovable little brother who viewed the world innocently and lived to learn. He could read already by the age of four and by now was accustomed to living in a mansion. Victor, Robin's friend, had gotten the kid so good at video games that the little boy could beat Victor on the hardest level. Will spent some of his time getting better, most of it reading and learning, and the rest meditating with his sister, who told him that she had done it with her mother, and their mother had done it with their mother.

Robin grunted, and instantaneously changed the subject not wanting Rachel's mind to linger in the past. "Its snowing really hard in New York and Bruce will have to stay the weekend. Alfred received his call not too long ago."

She didn't move her eyes from the snow. Either she had ignored him or simply didn't hear. "I should show Will how to make a snow angel." She said so quietly that Robin practically missed it. He watched her eyes sadden and the hard mask of hers fall away. The snow was beautiful and devastating. It was playful yet harmful.

"Rachel, earth to Rachel!"

She turned surprised. "Oh, I'm sorry, did you say something?" The mask was quickly put back on and her usual emotionless expression turned and looked at him.

Robin sighed. "Bruce is going to be detained in New York. It's snowing so hard that its impossible for him to fly back, so he's going to be staying the weekend?"

"Even his private jet is grounded?" Rachel asked surprised.

"Yeah!"

Bruce Wayne was the keeper of Robin, Rachel, and Will. He was gone the majority of the time, going to some meeting, some important party, or even just simply to work. They only probably saw him once a week. On a good week he was there for two days. Alfred was the main person who took care of them, and he had been the one who had taken care of Bruce as well. He had told them that he had a fair share of troubled thoughts and working at Wayne Industries endless hours were the only way that he could forget them. Like her father had used the bottle to forget his. Workaholic basically.

Rachel sighed. "Will he at least be here by Christmas?"

With a shrug Robin replied. "Who knows. Last Christmas he didn't come because he had a very important party to go to and if he didn't go the host would hate his guts, and then they wouldn't donate the millions to his experiments in the Industry."

"It would be nice for him to come back for Will's first Christmas." Rachel said. She set the drink down carefully at her feet, and went to the window to look out at something that had caught her eye.

Robin grinned. "That's right, it is Will's very first Christmas." Robin scratched his head. "How could I have forgotten, man now I feel so bad."

She waved her hands dismissively. "No don't worry. The kid has been talking about it so he's excited for all of us. Personally I'm just glad that he'll actually get something that isn't shoplifted." Before living with Bruce every nice gift that Rachel had given her brother had to be stolen. It wasn't something she was proud of but it made her brother happy.

"What does your brother want for Christmas?" Robin asked looking down in his cup and realizing that it was empty, he set it on the coffee table not too far away from him and turned back to Rachel. "What would you think he would like?"

Rachel smiled. "Anything Batman; action figures, cloths. He also loves that ridicules show El Tigre. Say's Manny is the best hero there is. Oh and he wants a green Ranger for his birthday."

"You mean Green Power Ranger?" Robin asked.

Rachel nodded. "He loves that one. Personally myself I loved the red ranger. That of course was when Mom was still around and the TV was still intact."

"Me I like the red one too. I don't know but I like leaders that are strong, and the red ranger was just that leader." Robin grinned. "I remember I had this dream that I was a superhero and in charge of a group. You know like Justice League?"

"I wouldn't see you anything but the leader." Rachel commented.

Robin grinned. "Thank you."

"In some ways that was not a complement." She smiled and went to go sit down on the curved elegant chair.

He went to join her, feeling himself sink into the seat. "What do you mean?" He asked leaning up against the back of the chair and staring into the fire. "Its either a complement or not." His hands fluttered with the wispy ends of his hair and she pushed them aside.

"You take too much burden upon yourself." She told him. "You took mine on, and have to deal with Gary and Cy. Its just that one day you're going to wear your self think."

He grinned and leaned forward. "Are you worried about me?"

Looking down at her feet he saw that she let her emotion slip out. A blush crept across her face. "Unfortunately I am. I still can't believe that last week you fought with that guy, you're still kind of weak from it."

Last week Gary had been teased by the head of the boxing club, he was starting to go after Gary when Robin intervened. Now Robin is a capable fighter but so was the leader. They fought, both sustaining wounds (The boxer the worst off), and the principal only suspended the boxer.

"Its fine." Robin said leaning back against the chair grinning he pulled on her hair and she allowed her head to be dragged back as well. She bumped against the soft back of the couch. "Thank you for worrying though. You hardly ever show your emotions so this is a real treat." Her head flopped down to rest on his shoulder.

"Don't get used to it." She mumbled her face hardening like stone again. She left her head where it was though and closed her eyes. He enjoyed the sound of her soft breathing, he played around with her hair, throwing it in front of her face, running it through his fingers.

A smile crept onto her face. "Why do you always toy around with my hair?" She asked blowing a strand off her nose.

Robin grinned. "Its beautiful, and I love how soft it is. One of you're best features." He let the hair slide out of his fingers and fall against her pale neck.

She gave a content sigh and opened her eyes studying the fire. "Why does Alfred keep this fire on all the time?" She asked. She shifted putting more of her weight on Robin.

If he was bothered by it he didn't say anything about it. "I don't know. He keeps it lit every day during Winter, even when none of us are here. I think that it represents something important to him, though I can't, for the life of me, figure out what!"

She nodded, and fisted her hands and rubbed her eyes with them. Robin turned and glanced over.

"You're tired?"

She nodded again. "I spent most of the night meditating. I had this weird dream where...lets just say dad was in it." She yawned. "Meditating is relaxing but it isn't quite the same as sleep." She yawned again and snuggled into Robin's warmth. Before she could say something else she frowned and shot up. "Someone's in here."

Being in that dangerous situation all her life had made her senses strong, she could tell if someone walked into a room, even if it was crowded with people. She would notice what someone wore and how they fixed their hair. Names were always memorized with faces, and while driving she would notice all the license plates on the cars around her. She was very cautious.

Robin turned and saw the threat. BB and Cy, his two friends had their heads snaked through the entry giggling at the sight. When they saw Robin look toward them the heads disappeared.

"I've already seen you guys!" Robin muttered.

Sheepishly they came out, grins still on their faces as they fought back laughter. Raven turned around and leaned her head up on the couch, the glare she gave them wiped the smile from their faces and they made a quiet apology. Her gaze didn't let up, and they sat uncomfortable until she asked a single question.

"How can someone like Robin make friends such as yourselves?" She asked in a dark tone, expressing her unhappiness. BB who had seen her at the tip top anger level flinched.

"Don't blame them." Robin sighed. "Its my fault I should have raised them better."

Rachel got off the couch, and walked slowly and deliberately toward them. "How long were you watching?"

Robin waved his hand. "Let them be, they don't know any better."

The two looked hurt at this comment but when they turned back to Rachel they blanched. Her finger poked out and they backed out even more. "Because its almost Christmas, I don't want any guilt about murdering you two. But that doesn't mean that I wont forget this. How long were you listening."

"Not very long." Gary shuddered.

"Just long enough to know that your hair's soft and that Robin carrys around too many burdans." Cy told her.

"You're reason for entering and watching?"

"Your little brother was getting worried that it was taking you too long to come back. He said that you haven't been sleeping as well as you usually do." Cy muttered looking down at the ground to avoid her gaze.

"I'm fine." She fingered her drink, it was no longer warm but she drank it just the same. "And you guys stick your noses into Robin's buisness too much."

Victor looked shocked then grinned and held his hand to his heart. "It stings Raven. It stings real bad."

She frowned, and pulled her hair free from the hair piece. "What am I supposed to be? Nice?" Rachel asked with a grin. She set her drink down on the cherry wood coffee table without a coaster beneath it and Robin could practically hear Alfred's senses tingle as the mug made contact. Rule number one: "Cherry wood was expensive and no cups should be set upon it without a coaster."

"Being nice would be well...nice." BB, or Gary, said.

She grinned maliciously and leaned forward. "I didn't sign a contract saying I had to be nice. SO you can't just tell me to be nice."

Gary turned and looked at Victor. "She scares me..." He clutched Victor's arm and pushed him in between himself and Rachel. Victor pushed away from him and began to back away himself.

"Quit scaring them." Robin sighed. "They don't understand what they did."

"Yeah!" Gary paused. "Hey I so understand!!!"

Rachel pushed passed all of them. "Simpletons." She muttered as she headed for the stairs. She turned back and saw the same question on everyone's lips. "I'm going to my room to meditate before I actually do kill somebody." She headed in the same direction and called over her shoulder, "And have Alfred send me up another mug, mine got cold."

Three hours later she still hadn't come down and Robin went to Alfred asking how long ago she had received her herbal tea. When Alfred told him two hours ago, Robin grew worried. For one hour a day she would lock herself in her room and mediate. She had been up there much longer than usual and that was odd. Robin made his way up the stairs and headed to her room. He got lost twice but found his way to the room after a good ten minutes, and soon found himself at her bedroom door.

He knocked twice and when no one answered he pulled out his handy dandy paper clip. After two minutes of tinkering with the door knob the door was unlocked and he slipped through closing it behind him. He stared around at the room in wonder, for even he, Rachel's boyfreind and house mate, had never been inside her room.

The room was very dark and the only light on was a lamp by her bed. She had bookshelves lining the walls, and the room was devoid of a TV. The door to the closet was painted so dark that it blended in with the wall and he had to strain his eyes to see. Posters of rock bands covered one wall entirely, Evanecence, Papa Roach, Linkin Park, Bowling for Soup, and more. Her curtains were drawn, and by the light of the lamp he could see her slumped over on her bed her head resting on a book. He recognized the book as the leather bound present that she had gotten last year for her birthday.

He smiled and pulled the book out from under her. Then picked her up in his arms while he drew away the covers and slipped her under them. He pulled the blanket up to her chin, something his own mother had done when he had been small.

He sat down on the bed and looked at the page under the light. It had pictures of her mother and her playing in the snow. The little girl in the picture had a vibrant smile that he surely hadn't ever seen on Rachel, even if she was opeing up a little, and smiling much more, she hadn't shown him anything like that.

Rachel moaned and rolled over in the bed muttering something.

He flipped the pages until something he saw intrigued him. It was a birthday party for Rachel. And there was a little pink haired girl with pink eyes in it, smiling with Rachel. Curious he pulled out the photo from the plastic sleeve and read the caption that her mother (well he assumed by the curvy, neat handwriting) had written. 'Raven and Jinx- ninth birthday.'

"Jinx?" Robin asked aloud. He watched the pictures caption but it gave no more clues as to whom this person was. He had gone through most of the photos and realized quite quckly that there were no pictures from family reuniouns, in fact there were no pictures of family and friends, the family had stayed very close in their home apperantly, and lived a happy little life, this was the first time that there had been a friend in the pictures.

He shut the book and slipped it back onto her bed side table. The picture was still in his hands though as he left the room. "Who is this Jinx?"

(YAY!!! FINALLY I HAVE THIS STINKIN' CHAPTER DONE:DOES THE CHICKEN DISCO!!!!!!!!: Well if you enjoyed it then please comment, if you haven't reached this point and got bored by it then please don't, although I higly doubt that you would have seen this little note. PLEASE PLEASE COMMENT!!! I SHED TEARS AND BLOOD TRYING TO GET THIS OUT. (i really didn't but it makes the scene much more dramatic.) Thank you that is all.)