Author's note: I would first like to start off by saying NOOOOOO I do not have any intentions on making anybody pregnant in this story haha. As much as I love to create all kinds of drama and what not, bringing a child into this story is just way too much. Secondly, thank you all for your reviews. The more you review, the more I feel like people are actually liking and enjoying my story! Love you all sooo much. Xoxo

TT

Chapter 26

Jade was busy brushing her hair when her cell phone began to buzz, indicating that she was getting a phone call. She walked over to her bedside table and looked to see who was calling her.

Coach Hype.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Jade, it's Coach Hype."

"I'm aware." Jade shifted the phone from one ear to the other and sat down on the bed. "Why are you calling me?"

Coach Hype cleared her throat before speaking. "I was just seeing how your stay in Gotham has been."

Jade raised her eyebrows clearly surprised. This was extremely weird. "It's...good? Um, is something wrong?" She asked curiously.

"No, just checking in. I hope you consider doing some training while there."

Aha. There was the catch. Jade rolled her eyes. She knew there was no way Coach Hype was actually calling because she cared about her well-being.

"Actually, the Bruce Wayne is holding two hour training sessions every day for us while we're here,"'Jade said in a matter-of-fact type of tone. "Hopefully he praises us rather than tears us down like some people."

On the other end, Coach Hype was silent for a moment. Then, she snickered and said, "One does not fix their flaws by constantly being praised."

Jade frowned and narrowed her eyes. Even thousands of miles away Coach Hype manages to criticize her. "Anything else, Amanda?" She smirked after saying her first name.

"Yeah, don't ever call me by my first name again or for the next month of training together I'll make you run suicides."

Jade's smirk disappeared instantly. "I'm hanging up now."

"I'll be checking in daily." Click.

Jade tossed her phone aside and fell back onto the bed. She sighed and closed her eyes. She had a pounding headache and the thought of having months of training with Coach Hype did not make it any better.

There was a knock at the door and she popped up. She wondered who it could be. Everyone made their plans and dispersed about two hours ago. She decided to stay inside and rest for the day.

Vic, Karen, Alain, and Tula went to the mall. Wally, Gar, Isaiah, Mal, and Rachel were visiting the city zoo. Roy said something about visiting his adoptive father, Oliver Queen. Jason was going to find a local gym, and Richard was taking Kori somewhere special.

Jade slowly opened the door but no one was there. She quirked an eyebrow and then looked down at the bouquet of colored flowers in a vase on the floor. She smiled a little and bent down to retrieve them.

She smelled them and was pleasantly surprised by their scent. She was just about to close the door when Roy popped out and nearly gave her a heart attack.

"Dammit, Roy!" She jumped back and almost dropped the vase. "Don't do that!"

Roy laughed and walked inside. "Sorry. I wasn't trying to scare you."

She sighed and looked at him. "Are these from you?" She asked gently. When he nodded she gave a small smile. "They're beautiful."

"Beautiful flowers for an even more beautiful girl."

She blushed and set them down on her bedside table. "I thought you were going to see your dad?"

Roy sat down on the bed and shrugged indifferently. "I can see him another day. I didn't want to leave you all alone."

"Why? It's not like we're—"

"Dating," Roy finished her sentence. He frowned and nodded. "I know. We aren't together. But that doesn't mean I can't spend time with you."

Jade gave him a questioning look. "Actually, yeah it does. People who aren't dating don't spend time together."

"Friends do."

"Roy."

"Come on, you know you can't resist me."

"Roy!"

He all of sudden grabbed her and brought her down to the bed with him, attacking her with his tickling hands. She screamed, giggled, and kicked as she tried to escape his hold on her.

Finally, he let her go but kept his arm around her waist. She hit his shoulder playfully and brushed back her hair. She looked at him with narrowed eyes but couldn't stop the smile from appearing on her face.

"I told you you couldn't resist me," he said.

Jade rolled her eyes. "So, what are we going to do today?"

Roy's eyes went wide with surprise. She was actually letting him be with her. She was going to let them hang out together. He knew moments like these were rare so he wanted to give her a day to remember.

He stood up and held out his hand. "Time to show you around Gotham City."

TT

Kori stared at all the beautiful cherry blossom trees around her. The petals were falling onto the shining river water. There was an exquisitely built wooden bridge not too far from them and it was peaceful all around.

Richard and Kori sat in a small boat on the river. Richard would tow them downstream every so often but he wanted Kori to enjoy their surroundings more.

"This is most beautiful, Richard." Kori looked all around her in awe. "It is my new favorite place!"

Richard chuckled and he stroked backwards twice before setting the oars back down. "I'm glad you like it."

"How do you know about this place?" She asked curiously. "You do not seem like the type to come here for fun."

Richard smiled a little and looked down. "When I was younger, Bruce used to take me here and make me row us down the river for hours to help build my strength." He smirked a little and looked up at Kori. "Plus, Bruce is a sucker for cherry blossoms."

Kori giggled. "He is very nice, but it seems as if he was, um, a little hard on you before?"

Richard nodded in agreement. "He's hard on me now. Honestly, I wouldn't want it any other way. I'm only as good as I am today because of him."

Kori nodded and tucked some hair behind her ear. She stayed quiet for a few moments and simply looked off into the distance.

Richard could tell something was bothering her. He wondered if it was about last night and what had happened. They hadn't talked about it but he felt like they didn't need to. He wondered if she regretted it at all. Maybe that's why she seemed a little standoffish.

"Are you okay, Kor?" He asked.

She quickly nodded. "Of course. Why would I not be?"

He scooted closer to her and confirmed that there was something bothering her. He knew when she answered that quickly that she was upset about something.

Kori looked away from him. "I do not want to spoil this moment with such questions."

"Kori," Richard said as he grasped her hands. "Is this about last night?"

She looked at him wide eyes. "Why, did you not enjoy it?"

"No!" He quickly said. "I mean, no that's not it. I mean, I loved it—I love you. It was the best night of my life."

Geez, Richard. Work on your social skills for crying out loud.

Kori bit her lip. "I know it seemed a bit sudden but…"

"It was perfect," Richard said as he brushed back a piece of her hair. He kissed her forehead gently. "I love you, Kori."

Kori smiled a little. "I love you as well, Richard." They continued down the river for a bit but Kori kept finding it harder and harder to hide her sadness.

She knew sooner or later she'd have to tell Richard about the news she'd received only earlier this morning.

TT

Rachel did not like the zoo. She hated cages; they freaked her out. Animals locked up in cages freaked her out even more. And the fact that she was with all guys—the most immature guys out of their entire group—made her cringe.

How she let Gar pull her into this one she would never understand.

They were currently inside the aquarium part of the zoo looking at the shark exhibit. The guys were busy tapping on the glass trying to either get the shark's attention or piss them off.

Rachel stood in the back watching them be idiots. She was cold, tired, and had a raging headache. The three security guards with them were standing not too far from them in different positions.

It looked a little strange to have security with them, but Rachel felt a teensy bit better about it. She doubted anything bad would happen out in the public eye, but there was always a possibility.

"Rae!" Gar yelled. "Rachel! Come look at this swordfish!"

Rachel rolled her eyes and begrudgingly walked over. She stared at the ugly fish with the serrated...nose? She knew nothing about fish or sharks or the sea life. And frankly, she didn't care.

"Aren't you having a good time?" Gar asked her.

"Oh, I'm having the best time," she replied sarcastically.

Gar frowned. "Come on, Rae. I thought you'd like the zoo!"

At this Rachel looked over to see Wally squishing his face up against the glass, Isaiah pretending to charge at the sharks, and Mal acting like he was big and bad to the deathly creatures.

She looked back at Gar and said, "I'd rather be anywhere else."

"We haven't even gotten to the snake exhibit!" He latched onto her arm and began dragging her out of the aquarium. "Just wait, you'll love it."

Rachel grimaced as she followed him. The rest of the guys followed as well as the security guards. When they walked outside, they were immediately hit with the bright sunshine. Rachel honestly liked the warm feeling. She was so pale, and normally sunlight wasn't something she ever took a liking to.

They entered the snake exhibit a few minutes later and there were a ton of glass cases filled with snakes. There were small kids hiding behind their parents and teenagers taunting the reptiles.

Rachel hated snakes.

"Aw man," Isaiah said at he pointed to the cobra at the far back wall. "That thing clearly runs this exhibit."

They all walked over to it and stared at the long scaly creature. It was almost all black, save for a few yellow tinted scales. It's eyes were a deep black and it's red tongue continued to slither at them.

The snake was huge, with a rocky environmental setting. The plaque outside the glass case told a bunch of information about it. It stated that the zoo had named the snake…

Rachel almost choked. She squinted to see if the name on it was right. She backed away when she realized she was not hallucinating. Maybe it was a coincidence. But what were the freaking odds?

Rachel felt like she couldn't breathe. There's no way this was just a coincidence. He was taunting her. She stared at the snake and it seemed like everything else around her was fading away. Everyone's voices melted down to nothing. She was sweating and suddenly felt very claustrophobic.

She read the plaque over and over again. Her mind was racing. What if he'd found her? What if he was here? They weren't safe. They needed to get out. Out of Gotham, out of the damn country, out of this world.

The plaque seemed to taunt her as well as the snake. She kept glancing between the two of them. Over and over, she'd read the words on that stupid plaque:

"Our cobra here is the vicious of them all. We call him 'Trigon the Terrible.' He has his own cage because he is much too dangerous to have any friends."

Rachel began to hyperventilate.

"He is the most powerful and impure of all snakes…"

She glanced back at the cobra who was staring into her eyes. It raised up and shot forward, it's eyes a bleeding red color.

Rachel jumped back, tears stinging in her eyes. She stumbled backwards and grasped her chest. She could no longer breathe, her voice could say no words.

Gar was in front of her speaking but she couldn't understand him. She just laid on the ground screaming, crying, trying to block him out of her mind. She couldn't feel Gar's hands on her shoulders, she didn't even realize when one of their security guards picked her up.

Soon, her world went black.

TT

"So anyone want to tell me what the hell happened?" Richard was pacing back and forth in the infirmary at Wayne Manor.

Gar, Isaiah, Mal, and Wally all stayed silent. Rachel was on the bed with a pulse-ox hooked up to her. He oxygen level had gone down to the sixties when they'd first arrived. It was now teetering between the high eighties-low nineties.

"So you guys all of a sudden forgot how to speak?" Richard stopped in front of them angrily. "What happened to Rachel? Where was security? Who was watching her?"

"Richard, man, calm down," Gar said quietly. He felt awful about what had happened but he didn't even know what exactly had happened.

Richard looked at Gar as if he'd just smacked him across the face. "Calm down? CALM DOWN?" He took one step closer towards them. "Our job is to protect Rachel. You're lucky she's stable enough to just be in this infirmary!"

Suddenly, Kori put a hand on his shoulder. "Richard, please keep calm. Our friends here did not mean any harm. They do not even know—"

"Not NOW, KORI!" It was the first time Richard had ever raised his voice at her.

Kori stepped back with a look of hurt on her face. She turned on her heel and walked out. Richard didn't care at the moment. All he cared about was the fact that the one task, the one mission they had while coming on vacation nearly failed.

Rachel stirred in her sleep and slowly opened her eyes. She turned her head over to see the guys and Richard, none of them looking happy.

She sighed. "Great."

Richard marched over to her. "What happened, Rachel?"

She tried sitting up but cringed and slumped back down. Gar was immediately at her side. He turned to face Richard with an angry expression and said, "Back off, dude."

Rachel's blank face never faltered. She remembered what had happened: the zoo, aquarium, snake, its name. She was slightly embarrassed and was angry that it was only their second day of break and this happened.

She squeezed her eyes shut. "I don't want to talk about it. I'm fine."

"Well we need to know what happened? What if—"

"Richard."

He turned around and saw Bruce in the doorway. Richard grimaced and waved him off. "I can handle this."

"I don't have any doubt that you can't." Bruce walked into the room. "But the girl needs her rest. Let her be."

Wally, Isaiah, and Mal stood up and said their apologies to Rachel before leaving. Gar was about to leave as well but she tugged on his arm and whispered, "Stay."

Gar seemed a little shocked at first but sat down next to her and kept his hand in hers. He wasn't planning on leaving her side any time soon.

Richard's jaw clenched and he looked down. He looked back up to see Bruce waiting for him to exit the room. His mood instantly went sour, for his leadership role failed today. He felt like a disappointment.

Richard angrily walked out and Bruce closed his eyes with a sigh. He walked over to Rachel and asked, "How do you feel?"

Rachel looked off to her side, clearly ashamed. "Like a joke."

Bruce chuckled slightly. "You can't help what is happening to you." He leaned back on the counter behind him. "And don't mind my son, he feels as if he's responsible for this."

"Well he shouldn't," Rachel said as she looked at him. She felt Gar squeeze her hand. "It's not his fault, it's not anyone's fault but my own."

Bruce nodded, seeming to understand where she was coming from. "I think you all are too hard on yourselves. Sometimes things happen that are not in our control, and with that comes the sad truth that we must feel as if it is our own fault."

Rachel stayed quiet at this. In some way, Bruce made her feel a little better. She knew he knew all about how unfair and cruel the world was. He knew about what was happening with all of them. He knew about Slade, Trigon, how Rachel was the center of all of this. But he was still understanding.

She felt a form of comfort from Bruce that she's never felt from anyone else. It was nice, and already she began to feel better.

Bruce began walking back to the doorway. "Our nurse will keep coming to check on you. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask." With that, he walked out.

The silence between Rachel and Gar lasted for awhile. They sat there, hands intertwined and breathing steady. It was almost as if nothing needed to be said between the two because they already understood each other.

Finally, Gar decided to break the silence by asking, "Rachel...what happened?"

She stayed silent for a few minutes. Her mind was racing at what had occurred only a few hours ago. She could feel a tear run down her cheek, even though her face stayed emotionless.

She looked over at Gar with a blank expression. "He's coming."

TT

Dinner time was painfully silent. The entire group sat at the table, the only sound was their silverware clinking. Bruce was not present, he had some last minute work to do. Rachel was still in the infirmary with Gar by her side.

Kori and Richard were not speaking. They'd simply sat across from each other rather than next to each other. Richard was still pissed from earlier and had not spoken to anyone. It also didn't help his mood that Jason was sitting right next to Kori.

Karen, Vic, Alain, and Tula were the last to hear about what had happened to Rachel. However they could feel the tension in the air. The guys were in a sullen mood much because they felt partially responsible for what had happened.

Lastly was Roy and Jade, who's day together went downhill once they were immediately called back to the Manor. They were the only ones who'd said anything during dinner, and even then it was only to say "Pass the salt."

Suddenly, Richard stood up and threw his napkin down. He walked out without saying anything. At this, Kori sighed and stopped eating.

"Man, Richard needs to stop beating himself up over something that's not even his fault," Vic said, finally breaking the awkward silence.

"Yeah, it was a situation that couldn't have been helped," Roy added. "All that matters is that Rachel is safe now."

Everyone agreed to that. Then, Jason cleared his throat before speaking. "I know none of you really like me, but for what it's worth I think it'd be a good idea to give Richard some space right now." No one said anything, mainly because they were surprised at Jason's words.

He continued, "Richard is clearly the leader of your team. He feels responsible for anything bad that happens to his teammates. Just let him be alone for a bit."

They could all honestly agree to that because it was true. No one tried correcting Jason, and no one was cold towards him. For the first time, he actually showed them that he was a decent guy.

After dinner was done, Jason decided to do something he thought he'd never in a million years do.

He went to visit Rachel.

When he got to the infirmary, he stood in the doorway and stared at her from afar. She was awake, but was staring out the window. He knew Gar was in the kitchen getting food for them because he'd passed him on his way up.

Jason had no idea how to go about this, but seeing how much it affected everyone if one of their own was hurt made him feel some type of way. Plus, he might as well try getting along with everyone if he was stuck with them for two weeks.

"Hey," Jason said from the doorway.

Rachel slowly turned her head to see who it was. She saw him and her bored expression didn't change. "I must be dreaming."

He couldn't help but laugh at that. He walked in awkwardly and up to her bed. "I, uh, I just was coming to...um...see how you were doing?"

Rachel blinked. Then, "You're joking, right?"

Jason rolled his eyes. "Why does everyone think I'm a bad guy?"

"Because you're a dick." Rachel narrowed her eyes at him. "And you taunt Richard. You try and get with Kori all the time. You're rude. You condescend people. You act entitled. Should I go on?"

Jason's jaw clenched and he looked off to the side. "I think you've made your point."

Neither one of them said anything for awhile. They just sat in awkward silence. Rachel had no idea what Jason was doing here, or why he all of a sudden decided to turn over a new leaf. All she knew was that she did not trust him.

Rachel sat up a little and cringed slightly. Her head still hurt and she was aching everywhere. "What are you really doing in here?" She asked as she squeezed her eyes in pain.

Jason rolled his eyes. "I'm stuck with you people for two weeks. I might as well try and make the best of it." He took a step towards her and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she snapped.

"You don't look fine." He put the back of his hand on her forehead. "You're burning up, Rachel."

She grimaced at his touch. "Don't." Rachel suddenly felt very faint. "I just need some water."

Jason immediately handed her a cup of water that was by her bedside. He figured she'd be fine from here, but whenever he left, he didn't fail to let the nurse know she'd spiked a fever. After all, he was trying to be a nice guy.