Title: John Does
Summary: She coolly raised her eyebrow, her eyes peeking out from the top of her book, "Am I supposed to know who you are?" The man only gave her a cheeky smirk, letting his hand sink in his right pocket, "I would hope not sunshine."
Pairing: Red X/Raven
Inspiration: My friend, Cresenta, and the show "Tru Calling".
"Friend Raven, wouldn't you want to work in a place more…", she struggled for her next few words, "Not-death-like?" Starfire asked her, turning a curious glance at her friend who was staring at the building of the Morgue with little interest. Raven only shrugged in an indifferent manner.
"I'm creepy remember? Doesn't this suit me?" she responded lightly, letting the optimistic teen realize she wasn't really being serious. Starfire only sighed quietly, pulling her hat down to cover her bright green eyes from passing civilians who were staring at the two teens with some interest, while others passed by without glancing at all. She chewed at her lip, hoping that no one would notice them, but it was easy to see they had captured the attention of a few, even with sunglasses covering Raven's eyes, or a hat covering Starfire's hair, which was tightly wrapped in a bun.
"Shall we… enter?" Starfire asked, despite the gnawing feeling in her stomach that told her she did not want to enter this dark and dismal place, decorated with lights that did not bring any brightness to the area.
"You can go home if you want."
"Are you sure Friend Raven?" Starfire asked, somewhat relieved yet at the same time concerned for leaving her friend alone in this… this place.
Raven nodded, putting a soft smile on her face for Starfire, who sighed at her response.
"If you are sure. I will trust your judgment."
With that, she walked away, leaving Raven alone to walk into the Morgue. She entered quietly, her feet not making any noise as she walked through the lonely corridor. Eventually she met another brown haired man in his forties, who identified himself as the coroner, and Raven nodded her head at him.
"Raven Roth", she said politely to the man whose name was Shawn Randers. "I'm here for the, uh, job?"
Shawn nodded and led her to his office. As Raven walked through the dismal corridor her mind flashbacked to how Beast Boy had beautifully suggested that she be the one to investigate the murders of high class civilians. Her "creepiness" played a factor in his judgment, she was sure, but she knew better than to complain. The murders were growing more brutal each day, each week to be more precise. Every Wednesday a different body showed up (there were three, as far as she knew), and as much as the police were heavily investigating the case, they would not let the Titans in on the investigation. (She had her suspicions that it had to do with the Chief's bubbling jealousy/hatred for the Titans who, in his opinion, always stole the spotlight.)
Raven knew that eventually, when the number of bodies reached a critical number the police would have no choice but to ask Robin for help, but the whole team agreed that waiting a few more weeks would only cause more harm than good.
"So you'll really only be working the desk job, recording the number of bodies, the time of death, cause of death, etc." Shawn said, turning his blue eyes onto Raven who nodded at the information. He raised an eyebrow, "We don't really get many people… willing to work in the morgue… Any reason as to why you chose this job?"
Raven shrugged, "Not really. I guess I'm just one in a million."
Five days of recording corpses had passed, and Raven knew that she had two days until the next body came in. Sighing, she crossed her right leg over her left one, and leaned back as she pretended to read a magazine. Looking up she noticed Shawn working in his office with the blinds close, and Raven took the chance to go through the files.
She quickly typed the password into the computer and looked at the data recorded from the last three weeks. After clicking on each Wednesday of each week she looked through the bodies recorded and found the one she was looking for.
Name: Dr. Amanda Tawney
Age: 32
Eyes: Green
Hair: Blonde
Sex: Female
Occupation: Doctor
Time of Death: 11 p.m.
Cause of Death: Strangulation
Found: In her apartment, Bedroom.
Name: John Anderson
Age: 43
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
Sex: Male
Occupation: Lawyer
Time of Death: 11 p.m.
Cause of Death: Strangulation
Found: In his house, Bedroom.
Name: Erica Evans
Age: 29
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
Sex: Female
Occupation: Pharmacist
Time of Death: 11 p.m.
Cause of Death: Strangulation
Found: In her house, Bedroom.
Raven printed all the information out while keeping an eye on Shawn's office, while also sending the information to Robin.
She knew that the police suspected that this week's target would be a male, as next week's would be a female. Age, eye and hair color didn't seem to be a reoccurring theme in each victim, but the killer's signature was that he murdered them all in their own homes at 11 at night, and they were all upper class civilians.
That's it.
Raven sighed at the lack of information in this case. She knew someone was going to be murdered this week, and it bothered her to know that she could do nothing…
Unless…
Raven looked up the address of each victim. Maybe she could go to their apartment and find the killer's aura… Taking out her communicator, Raven attempted to call Robin when she was interrupted by the sound of the door opening.
Looking up, she stealthy put away the communicator and glanced at whoever was standing in the doorway.
He walked in, his black and short straight locks neatly yet messily cropped up. His amber eyes looked straight at her, determined and curious, she could tell. His stance was lazy yet sophisticated, with his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He wore a black button up shirt, yet from this distance she could tell it was made of fine Egyptian cotton.
As he walked closer to her, he gave her a sly smirk. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his obvious confidence as he put out his hand to shake hers. "I'm Xander… are you new here?" he asked curiously, giving her a look over.
Leaning on one fist that was propped on the table, she just stared at him, not bothering to shake his hand. "Are you saying you've been here before?" she retorted dryly, not really wanting to deal with the ego he so obviously had.
He pulled his hand away, tightening it into a loose fist, and smirked, "Heh, clever girl. But yes, I have. My uh… aunt was murdered… I was just wondering if we could get her back… For funeral purposes, you know."
Raven nodded, "I'm sorry for your loss." He only shrugged in response. "What's your aunt's name?"
"Amanda Tawney."
The name obviously struck a bell—looking at the screen in front of her, she saw that Amanda Tawney was indeed the first victim in the killings of upper class civilians.
Raven slightly rolled in her rolling chair, biting her lip to give him bad news. "She's part of an ongoing investigation, you do know that right?"
Xander simply shrugged, "Couldn't hurt for you to confirm her release, could it?"
Raven gave an inaudible sigh before clicking a few links to see if Tawney's body could be released yet. "No. Sorry", she said, with as much compassion as she could muster when she found that her body was not ready for release.
Xander nodded and stayed silent, staring at an indistinct point on the floor. Raven tapped her fingers on her desk while she scrolled through more of the files.
She didn't realize he was still there until he spoke again, "Raven, right?"
She looked up quickly, a mix of confusion and suspicion etched onto her face, "How did you—"
Smirking, he interrupted her, "Your nameplate, of course."
"Nice try. I don't have a nameplate."
He grinned, "Lucky guess then." She raised an eyebrow in response.
"Lucky guess?" she asked dryly, her hand slowly reaching for the emergency button on her communicator in case she had to call for backup.
Xander chuckled, his laughter vibrating in his throat, "Calm down. You looked like Raven from the Teen Titans so I took a shot and turned out to be right. No big deal."
She raised an eyebrow, "Forgive me if I don't believe you."
A cheeky grin. "Well that's all I'm giving you to believe."
She did her best to mask the annoyance that was creeping up her face. "What did you say your last name was?" she asked, trying to figure out who this fool was.
Xander shook his head, a chuckle escaping his lips, "I didn't tell you. Only fair since I had to guess your name and all."
Raven rolled her eyes, "I guess we're even then", she said as dryly as she could.
"Yea we're even… for now."
Raven paused, her fist curling as his words rang in her… the words familiar in her brain yet she couldn't register where she had heard them. "Do I know you?" she asked, trying to mask the suspicious tone in her voice. Where had she heard those words before…?
Xander winked, a smirk creeping onto his face as he turned around to walk away, "I would hope not sunshine."
Start of a new murder fic; I just have an obsession with them. Reviews are always welcome with bouts of gratitude. :D
This could be a short story, or a long story. I'm really not sure yet; I just go along with what comes to me and pray I get somewhere.
Love,
Ivy