Chapter 9: Untitled

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans

CHANGE in Rating M: For dialog/language and sexual situations.

Characters

Jenn - Jinx

Mason - Mammoth

Malcolm - Malchoir


Class ended early on the count of the monthly fire drills and as soon as the drill ended, the students quickly scattered to get home. It was only the second day back, but most felt like vacation had been too short. Others stopped by their lockers, Richard was one of them.

He unloaded a couple of thick text books back into the lockers, throwing the lighter backpack over his shoulder while simultaneously slamming the locker shut.

"Just because you're PMS'ing doesn't mean you can take it out on the poor defenseless locker." Came a mock from behind him.

Richard turned around, ready to spit venom at whoever was stupid enough to mess with him today. He just about had enough of today with Gar and Victor bickering at him about Rachel (she had been absent the past two days) they figured since the two were so close he would know where she was. But he didn't and now his mood wasn't about to get any better.

Standing two feet away from him was someone he hadn't expected to talk to...ever. Yet there she was grinning from ear to ear, her hands tucked behind her back. Richard didn't like Jenn one bit and it had nothing to do with her history with his best friend Vic (he really couldn't care less) but it had to do with the fact that she was thirty percent of the reason why he was loosing Rachel, seventy being her boyfriend.

"What do you want?" He said with a cold voice.

"Where's Rachel?"

His face faltered from his angry demeanor to a surprised state before he quickly composed himself. "If you don't know, what makes you think I do?"

"Ah that's right, you're too busy with Red that you forget you have friends without benefits."

Red obviously being Kori. Since their trip Richard had been ignoring her calls, rarely answering her texts and avoiding confrontation with her as best has he could. But he ran into her the day before and somehow she talked him into hanging out the following weekend. Now he had to find some excuse to cancel on her, he still couldn't help but feel guilty for... well having a one night stand with her. A drunken one night stand. Thats all it was to him but he knew she felt different about it and he just wasn't sure how to break it to her. Things were getting worse now that rumors were flying about them.

"Who did you hear that from?"

"So it is true. Hmm, interesting." Jenn smirked.

Richard glared. "Who?"

"Princess herself, she's been non stop talking ever since she's back at school. Really that girl will tell anyone willing to listen, and thats at least half the school. You should really try to be a little more discrete, you know."

"Why do you care?" It was a rhetorical question, so he walked away hoping she would get the hint.

Jenn had an all knowing smile plastered on her face. "Because I know she's not the one you want."

He stopped in his tracks and turned around, giving her another menacing glare. Then exhaled to calm himself, she wasn't worth the trouble.

Jenn simply shrugged off his glare and held out a small bag to him. "At least take this."

Carefully he took it in his hands, really he had no reason to trust her.

"Relax will you? It's from Rachel."

"When did-"

"Found it in her locker."

She probably broke into it or something. He wouldn't put it past her... Then again, thirty percent of Rachel's locker could also be Jenn's.

Richard dug into the small gift bag and pulled out tangled chains, carefully trying to untangle the objects. First one he manage to get undone was the stainless steel bracelet with his name engraved on the small plate. He tried and failed to put in on his wrist, Jenn helped him latch on the clasp, much to his discomfort. He nodded -which was as close as she was going to get to a thanks so she grinned back at him. He held the dogtags in his hand, Forever and Always engraved on one side, he flipped it around to reveal a picture of the two in the back of it from when they were in middle school.

"She looks very happy." She said, having already seeing it earlier she didn't gawk too much.

Richard traced her face with his thumb gently before returning it back into the bag. "I took her to the circus, it was the first time she's ever been to one."

Jenn notited the worried look in his face. She gently whispered, "Where do you think she is?"

Richard shrugged. "She's probably mad at me."

"So much that she would skip school to avoid you? I don't think so. What'd you do?"

"Long list, could be anything. I'm screwed if she finds out about Kori." Richard began walking out the school building and into the student parking lot with Jenn in tow.

"Only if she finds out from someone else. You should just tell her before she comes back and finds out the hard way."

Again he shrugged, feeling that no matter what it is that he does for her it'll eventually backfire on him. It was starting to annoy him how persistent Jenn was being about her. "Why do you care what happens anyways? If she ends up hating me, you could have her all to your self now."

Richard finally reached his motorcycle and casually swung his leg over to straddle it, then he pulled out his helmet from his backpack and laid it on his lap.

Jenn's grin faded into a frown. "It's not about who gets her, you know. She's not some toy so stop acting like a five year old who just got beat up in the sand box and had her taken away from you. It's pathetic."

Jenn pulled her shoulder bag forward, pulling out a folder in a hasty manner causing a rose to fall out as well. She pushed the folder into his chest before bending down to pick up the rose and just as quickly placed it back inside her bag.

Richard raised an eyebrow, the folder now secure in his backpack along with the dog tags. "Whats up with that?"

"It's Rachel's homework."

"I meant the rose." He said.

By the look on her blushing face, he knew that she was trying to avoid that subject. But he was going to take whatever chance he could get to make her squirm just to get some of his frustration without having to physically hurt anyone.

"It's none of your business." She replied hastily.

He folded his arms across his chest, head raised in what was supposed to be an intimidating manner. "This coming from the girl who knows all about my business. That's funny."

"Its different."

"I don't see how."

Jenn glared. Richard wasn't affected at all by it, Jenn was nothing compared to what Rachel was capable of. Instead he laughed, so genuinely it took him by surprise, releasing his tension and anger he had towards her. He hadn't laughed like this since Rachel's fight and it surprised him that Jenn would bring this out in him. It made him realize how much he truly missed her.

"Whatever, I'm not gonna bother you anymore. I have places to go." Right then he placed his helmet over his head, muffling the confused ramblings coming from Jenn. He revved up his engine and speed his way down the familiar roads.

Jenn was right, with the way he had been sulking about Rachel, he had been pathetic. He was done running away from her, it hurt him knowing shes not at school (Jenn hit a nerve when she suggested Rachel would skip school to skip out on him, that was one of his theories) and even more because he didn't know what was going on with her. It wasn't a fluke that she called him, saying she needed him. It was something urgent to her. But the moment he saw her finding comfort in someone else's arms made him a coward so he fled with angry stained tears. He had to ask himself what happened to the one that dared kissed Rachel that Halloween night?

He suppressed himself the moment Rachel told him about Malcolm. In his head he thought if Malcolm could make her happy, he would be happy for her. But he was wrong, and the more Rachel spent time with her boyfriend, the more broken he became inside. The change was happening so slowly he didn't notice it. His mind wondered back to the picture in one of the tags, Jenn was right, she did look happy. He made her happy.

He was done letting someone else do his job for him. No more failing her just because he was being petty and jealous. He was confident now that he would win her back. He just needed to find her and fix things between them.


"It's all your fault. You and that stupid little slut you're sleeping with!"

Those venomous words had once been spoken by her mother, it stung more coming out of his little girl's mouth.

Except she wasn't so little anymore. His little girl was never so angry towards him. When had she turned so vicious? When had her toothy grin been replace with a scowl? Her bright eyes were his personal sunshine. Yet that day, her eyes were cold and tainted with accusation. He could also see the pain in those eyes reflecting back at him. The way she was biting her lip, stopping her self from snapping, told him that she wasn't just angry. She hated him.

"She would've never been in this damned place if it wasn't for you!"

His hands shook against the steering wheel as he looked up to face his home. It didn't deserve to be a called a home anymore, not without his family waiting inside for him. But those memories were long gone and hes stuck trying to grasp the reality that is his life. He wasn't aware of how much time he actually spent starring at the house with hopes that the porch light would turn on and his wife would be at the door calling him inside to join her for dinner.

The mirage faded before him as he stepped out of the car. A wave of nausea hit him as his eye sight began to blur until finally he fell in to complete darkness.

When he came to, he was lying in bed inside a white room. With a quick inspection he knew he was in the hospital. He tried to sit up but a two pairs of hands pushed him back (as well as the resistance from the tubes attached to his arm). His glare met Richards face, and an elder nurse as well.

"Please sit back Mr. Roth, you need to rest." The nurse said. Too tired to fight back, he plopped back into the pillows. Satisfied that Trigon wasn't fighting against her, the nurse let him go and went back to checking his medical charts. "He seems to be doing better now," The nurse turned to Richard. "But he still has a long way to full recovery so hes staying here for a couple of days until he can start getting back on his feet."

With that said, the nurse left the two men. Richard sighed and sat back down on the chair, burrying his face in his hands.

"You had me worried Trigon." Richard said, but it came out muffled.

"What are you talking about?"

Richard glared at the older man. "What am i talking about? Seriously? I found you on your driveway. Unconscious! And I can't reach your wife or Rachel, the house was empty." He paushed to take a deep breath. "The nurse said you collapse from exhaustion, and she thinks you've been starving yourself. Why? And where's Rachel? I haven't seen her at school."

Trigon shrugged, keeping his silence. The silence stretched on for another twenty minutes before Richard stood up and left the room without a word. He wandered the halls while fliddling with his phone, finally getting the courage to call Rachel again. But once again it went straight to voice mail. He cursed under his breath as he turned the corner.

Richard stopped in his track as he saw Rachel across the hall. Richard watched her silently enter a room without noticing him. "Strange... Why is she...?" His thought trailed off he hurried into the room. Without warning he walked inside the room causing Rachel to jump a little.

"Rachel! Why-" The words fell silent on his lips once he saw her mother unconscious in bed. Like Trigon, she too was strapped in with IV's and monitors tracking her health. The monitor's beep beep beepcontinued in a steady rhythm. Her skin had a light pale shade to it (naturally Rachel had inherited that similar paleness) but across her exposed arms he saw how tender her bruises looked, a sickly yellow fading away as her body continued to nurse her back to normal. Upon closer inspection he saw faint scratch marks too, some across her face with a stick running across the woman's temple.

He made his way across the room and pulled Rachel into his arms. It crossed her mind to fight him, but as soon as his scent reached her, she completely relaxed into his arms by pure reflexes. She was to tired to fight him anyways. Her arms circled around his back, pulling him closer to calm her nerves. It worked, she wasn't shaking so much anymore.

"I'm so sorry." His voice cracked, she knew he was fighting off tears. A tug from his jacket was her responce.


Richard looked down at Rachel as she slept on against his shoulder. An hour had passed since she fell asleep. The girl was exhausted with everything she was dealing with. Richard found out details about what happened to her mother (he still couldn't stop kicking himself mentally for not being there for Rachel), then it happened that early in the day she had a huge argument with her father and she wasn't the slightest bit affected when she found out he was lying in a hospital room several rooms down. She had been left alone for three days since her grandmother had to return home.

He wondered when was the last time she had a good nights sleep. Richard stole a quick glance at Arella. It felt like looking at a photograph, nothing had changed.

He placed a long tender kiss against her hair, breathing in the lavender scent that lingered on her. Rachel stirred in his arms when Richard pulled his lips away. But instead of backing off as he had expected, she stayed lying against his arm.

"Thank you." She whispered. "For staying with me."

Richard entwined his hand with hers. "Let me take you home. "

"No."

He was about to fight her and tell her she needed to get home to rest but one look at her face told him she wouldn't change her mind. If she was afraid to go home because she was going to be alone, or if she simply didn't want to leave her mothers side, Richard couldn't tell. Instead he stood up and pulled her with him. "Please. At least come home with me."

They stopped short from the door. "I dont want to go anywhere." She said. Rachel stood firm in her ground, pulling her wrist away from his grip.

"You can't keep staying here, Rae." He stopped himself. He was loosing his temper again. Why did she always have to drive him to the edge? He had to work with logic. "You need to come back to school, you've already missed two days now. I'm sorry but you can't stay here to wait for her to wake up."

"Stop doing that." She pushed him out the door. Someone he had manage to bring her out with him and shut the door behind her. It was better that way, she didn't want to make a comotion in her mothers room.

"Doing what?"

"Act like you're my father! You do nothing but treat me like a damn child!"

There was a long pause. Richard pried his eyes off the floor and gazed intensely into her own.

"Is that what you think I do? Rachel I care about you and I want the best for you. You should know that I would treat you like the beautiful woman you are," His voice was barely above a whisper, but his words held enough power to echo in the empty hallway. He took a step closer as she mirrored his actions, only to end up at a dead end against the door. "If you would only let me."

Rachel couldn't take it any more. She had let this go too far, unable to brake his gaze. Her hand was clumsily looking for the door knob, she needed to put some distance between them. When she finally found what she was looking for, she felt his hand on top of hers. Taking a step forward while forcing her body to push the door open and entered the room once again. Richard knew no boundaries as he kept on invading her space. With a swift movement he had her pinned against the closed door with both of his arms ready to prevent her if she tried to escape. He lowered his face down to meet her eyes again.

Rachel's heart was beating so loud it was suffocating her ear drums. She could see Richard's lips trembling to release a faint hum, edging closer and closer to her as she felt his warm breath on her lips. She couldn't help but lick her lips, becoming too tempting for Richard to stop.

He shifted his hand and gently pressed it against her cheek, his thumb rubbing against her lip and with a final tug, his hand shifted again. It was lightly grazing against her skin, leaving a trail of goosebumps along her neck down to the length of her arm. The simple touch released a familiar fire inside her, burning with a different sensation than Malcolm had brought onto her. It would be a disgrace to even compare it to him, but she knew she felt the fire once before brough on by a stranger in a mask. He could see the spark in her eyes, the hunger was beginning to take form within her and only his touch would sedate it. He could feel her chest rise up and down, tempting him to press his body against her own, but he had more self control right now. That was the only thing giving him the upper hand.

He rubbed his nose against her warm skin and kissed the corner of her mouth. She pulled back as her face burned bright red both from embarrassment and anger to have let a damn moan escape her lips.

Richard chuckled, letting his arms drop as he took several steps back.

"Damn it Richard! What do you think you're doing?" She wiped her hand against her jaw in mock disgust. Best friend or not, she was ready to strangle him.

Richard shrugged. "It was just a simple innocent kiss. You're the one getting all worked up over it."

"You kissed me before. That halloween night, behind the Zorro mask. That was you!"

Richard shrugged, as if that kiss was nothing more than a casual thing for him.

"Get out! I don't know what game your playing with me, I want no part of it. Now, leave!"

Richard growled, sometimes she was just too difficult. "That just it, I'm not playing any games. I want you Rae, and not just as my best friend. Not any more."

Behind them, Arella stirred in bed making small groaning sounds barely audible enough for the two to stop fighting. They looked at each other, then towards the bed with a curious glance. A few more seconds of stilled silence pass, as they watched intensly at Arella. Rachel caught her mothers finger twitch and gasped, running to her mothers side.

Richard didn't fight the push she gave him. Instead he left the room.

Rachel took her mothers hand in hers and felt a weak but gently grip on hers. Relief washed over her as she watched her mother stir in bed. She pushed back hair from her face, waiting for her eyes to adjust as they fluttered open for a momment. "Rach...el."


A/N: I hope it doesn't seemed rushed... YAY UPDATE :D Again I could give you a long excuse but I'd rather not waste the unlimited space that is the "Internet". I mostly had trouble with transitioning the scenes together. This is the best i could do... and im not to happy about. So go a head and click on the review button and let me know what you think :D

The little fluffy scene is dedicate to Katherine for reminding me this is a Rob/Rae story lmao XD

To all the Flinx (KidFlash/Jinx) Fans: Im considering doing a spin-off for this couple (damn you plot bunnies! *shakefist*) and it all depends on the feed back i get. Would any one be interested in reading? I thought about doing it here first, but then the idea grew and begs to be its own story. So plz say "Yay" or "Nay" on the Flinx :D All feed back is appreciated!