This chapter is longer than originally planned, but I guessed that a long chapter would be better than two short chapters with no good stopping point. Selina and Bruce's talk is eerily similar to something that happened in my life a month after I wrote the section- thanks to dr.evil99 for being one of many people to listen to the mess that is that guy. The football game is for one of my best friends- hot chocolate is the best ever, and Lauren's one of few people I can be within two feet of while writing. Considering my level of paranoia, that's a very rare accomplishment. Read, review, and go ahead and find the many mistakes that probably riddle the chapter- I know that I missed something(s, probably several). There is one instance of swearing in the chapter- I am willing to bet you've all heard worse, so complaints about the four letters will be laughed at. Some words squish together in longer chapters as spaces disappear- for every one I fix, two seem to get worse, but I think I've corrected the worst problems.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Matchmaker
"How was your night?" Gar asked the next day. Bee was at their table, arm twined around Victor's. That explained just about everything, but he still asked.

"Great," Victor and Bee said at once. Victor continued. "That was the first time I've had a good time at one of Forston High's dances." If his phrasing was careful, he didn't notice. "How about you, Richard?"

The fearless leader looked like he was very close to blushing. Kori answered for the both of them. "It was wondrous. Although I saw both you and Bee during the Mash of Monster, I could not find friends Gar or Rachel."

"We weren't there." Rachel rarely used collective pronouns, and wasn't about to explain herself.

Gar was only a little pink around the rim of his ears, but Rachel still noticed. She seemed to have a sixth sense about when he was embarrassed. "Shelia wanted to meet her, so we stopped by my house- no crowds, no loud music." He didn't add that nothing at all interesting had happened.

"In full uniform, no less." Rachel had expected some reaction to an infamously camera-shy vigilante from a team of costumed heroes on the Logans' doorstep. All she had found was a warm greeting as 'Rachel, or Raven- whichever you prefer.' Gar had told his parents about the Titans. Rachel, against all usual logic, believed that the secret was safe with the couple.

"So, Shelia mentioned some bit of medical terminology, and Harry and I made out about one word in ten for the rest of the night. Shelia says you're a natural doctor, Rachel."

"With a complete lack of bedside manner," Rachel finished, guessing what belonged after the statement, dashing her own hopes in self-preservation. Without hope, she couldn't be disappointed.

"She didn't say that. She said she was glad you were learning to open up to people. Last time you visited, you were a little more closed off."

"I'm still closed off." That comment wasn't worth rolling her eyes over.

"Yes, but you haven't tried to convince anyone that you're made of ice for a while," he said, as persuasively as possible. With Rachel, Gar's attempts never seemed to work.

"I'm not a frozen ice demon?"

He winced. He had a useless talent for remembering conversation to parrot back later, and he remembered the first time he had met her. "You were trying pretty hard, and you weren't supposed to hear that, Rachel. You know I don't think that now; I know you a little better."

Rachel ignored Richard and Kori's confusion as well as Victor's attempts to remember if he had heard this conversation. "I stopped to get a drink"

"You know that Victor blasted me for saying that, right? Besides, I changed my opinion pretty quickly, and still believe that you could change yours," he said melodramatically, steering the conversation away from being too horribly dark.

"Optimists," she grumbled, "will destroy the world." She should have been happy he had the right idea.

"How?" Kori asked, concerned.

Gar smiled, very slowly. "She just told a joke, Kori."

"No. I was sarcastic, as usual, and you happened to find it amusing, possibly because you were one of many targets. Jokes at this table tend to be vapid and originate to my right," she said, with a pointed glance at a certain Garfield Logan beside her on the mentioned side.

"You're just touchy because Shelia said you were a beautiful young lady," he teased. Rachel's expression had been priceless at the compliment, even if he couldn't begin to read it.

"No." She was 'touchy' because his foster parents were all she had ever created in Raoul and Christiana, the perfect couple. Harry remembered their previous conversation, and gave fatherly advice far from "always shoot twice, but the third bullet's the charm." Shelia fussed over her, admiring the belt and talking about how the blue brought out how purple Rachel's eyes were.

"What was it, then?"

"Nothing." She wouldn't bring up that mess. It would take too many explanations, and reveal too many lies.

She wouldn't be happy, if he pried any farther. He accepted teasing from the rest as he rejoined the main conversation. Rachel was reading again, and didn't get past the first line of her novel.

"What thing is attempting to devour her?"

Gar shrugged. "I don't know what's eating her, Kori. Any ideas, Vic?" They were walking out of the lunchroom, safely away from the subject of the conversation.

"This has happened before, and I never heard what causes anything. Just- don't push her, Gar. She's hard to deal with, maybe, but I think she needs a friend. "You're kidding me." Rachel didn't believe what she was hearing.

"No. Tonight is the last of the football games, and I am most curious about the sport. Could we not all attend the game?" Kori was serious.

"Bee wanted to go- she hinted she'd be there. I was planning on going."

"We might as well go watch," Richard said. "It is the last game, like Kori said, and it could be fun."

"You could just make fun of the team," Gar offered.

"I could," Rachel allowed.

"Why would you make fun of the team? They've won four games this year, out of twelve- that's a new record." Richard liked sports. He just couldn't be bothered to join the school team.

Rachel took a moment, to make sure he wasn't being sarcastic. "The 'manly' men wear tight shiny pants, pile on top of each other, and routinely do silly little dances in the end zone. How is that macho?"

"I think that explains why the team is scared of you." Victor had only heard rumors.

"Probably," she agreed. "I'll go, to the game." It would be better than being home.

"Really?" Kori was surprised, to say the least.

"Sure. How boring can it be?"

.Interception.
Victor and Bee were sitting with her friends, and the group was limited to out-of-costume Titans. They did glance at the game occasionally, but were more interested in comparing criminals they had fought. Victor was very short about Red X, which surprised Bee. He refused to talk about that hated criminal, but she left matters be. She knew Red X had played havoc with Vic's mechanical leg.

Richard was explaining the basics of football to Kori. She surprised him, understanding the rules of the game before the game was four minutes into the first quarter. It was a chilly night, and her coat was surely warm enough- he still sat closer than usual. She didn't mind at all, and even ignored her sister while they were in line for concessions.

Gar was bored, and cold. Rachel had brought a book. She did glance at the scoreboard every few chapters. She would read the numbers, shake her head in disapproval, and give up the hope that thehome teamthat would do something beneficial to the score. The crowd was as entertaining as the game- not very. Gar hadn't even tried interrupting her since that morning at Selina's. He wasn't even staring. She was unaccountably mad at him, for doing what she wanted. She was reading through a textbook. He could have the decency to bait her temper.

"Do you want to get hot chocolate?" she asked.

He nearly fell off the bleachers. She hadn't said a word for half an hour (eight minutes into the game). "Sure." The wind was cold, and the possibility of moving was pleasant.

For the first time in his life, he wasn't crowded in the mess of a line. People avoided contact with Rachel, and she ignored them. He heard comments fly through the air, slurs against everything from her hair to her coat to her likely hobbies. She had an almost regal disdain in silencing an annoyance thrice her size.

He paid for hot chocolate while she whispered a pair of threats to the very large man. The skin-head backed down quickly. Gar didn't ask; he only gave her a styrofoam cup filled with boiling hot chocolate. He tripped, going back up the stairs into the bleachers, and she caught him before he could do any worse than spill a few drops onto his gloves.

"A friend of my fathers," she answered, sending a glare after the man. "He wanted me to approach my father and ask for a favor. I convinced him otherwise."

She usually answered questions he didn't ask. "Warmer?"

"Yes."

.Touchdown.
"And we actually talked for the rest of the game," Gar continued. He had been impossible to shut up since Rachel was dropped off at her corner.

"How much of that was insults?" Richard and all others knew that Rachel Roth rarely had a conversation without insulting someone.

Gar shrugged. "About a third, but she didn't mean most of it and the team took at least four fifths of the abuse." Rachel had made someone from his second hour back away just by being there. He was starting to see just how many people were afraid of her- they seemed to think she was a part of the occult.

"What did you and friend Rachel discuss?"

"She was asking just-in-case questions, for a while, like who my main doctor is. She wrote some of it down, deciding she wouldn't want to find me another time."

"Your medical whatever's still set?" Victor wouldn't ask specifics.

"Still set," Gar confirmed. "It hasn't been bad at all for a couple months, but the doc's been nervous about the week I didn't have the usual pills. Nothing too serious- I'm fine."

"I am most glad, friend Garfield. Thank you for the ride, friend Victor," Kori said as Victor pulled in front of her house. "I had a wonderful time, Richard."

Victor saw the look on Richard's face. It could be best described as 'besotted.' "You know, she didn't put 'friend' in front of your name, but you're very much liked, Richard."

"This is the time for guy-to-guy teasing, Richard," Gar said, no malice in the words. "Kori certainly looked happy. Rachel and I could see you- you two were sitting pretty close, and I bet you two weren't talking about doctors."

"No, we weren't."

"The Titans East have running bets about the relationship between you two, at four to one odds. Are you going to ask her out?"

Richard froze. "No, we're just friends. Good friends. No dating people on the team, right? I mean, that'd make patrol awkward, even without a break-up."

"She likes you, man. She told you about why she's impossibly strong, didn't she?" Victor was careful to not move too fast. "That's her big secret. She told me the bare nothing, the same time Rachel and Gar heard. You're the only one with the full story."

"She told me."

"She likes you, and trusts you enough to tell you about that piece of drama. No one would mind if you two dated. Rachel watched you two and said, and I quote, 'those two should just get it over with, because I'm going to get sick watching them dance around the issue.' It's unanimous, including the way Kori looks at you." Gar didn't know what Richard was waiting for.

"What if we break up?"

"Then you break up. I doubt it would be hostile, if for some reason you two weren't made for each other. Don't think about that first." Victor stayed near logic, helping Richard reason through the idea.

"What about you and Bee?" Richard tried changing the subject. It didn't work.

"I already asked her. She knows about my other commitments, and runs about the same schedule. We're catching a matinee tomorrow- she says she'll pay for the movie if I cover lunch."

"I'm going to be the only guy without a date." Gar feigned annoyance. He didn't mind, really. He wouldn't ask someone just to ask someone, and no one came to mind.

"You could ask Rachel," Richard volunteered as Victor pulled up in front of his house. "She'd be the only other Titan without a date."

.Foul.
"She'd kill me, and it's hard enough to not get her mad as it is," Gar continued. He had been fuming since Richard's suggestion. "He wants me dead. That's all of it, right there."

"Well, you two are the only Titans who wouldn't be dating," Victor said reasonably.

"Don't be diplomatic. It wouldn't work."

"Opposites attract."

"She would murder me, Victor. Remember? Rachel Roth? She doesn't date, and if she did, she wouldn't date me."

They were sitting outside Gar's house, but the conversation wasn't over. "Wait a second- she wouldn't date you, but you would go out with her?"

"Maybe."

No teasing yet. "She did take whatever you told her well."

"I would tell everyone else, but there isn't a rewind setting if people take it wrong. Besides, it adds to the mystery of Garfield Logan."

". . . Yeah, Gar, you keep telling yourself that. Out of the car- Harry sees you, and he wants to know all about your girlfriend." Victor made sure that Gar was halfway out of the car before the last statement.

"She is not my girlfriend!" Gar yelled, right on cue.

"Who isn't your girlfriend?" Harry asked.

"No one," Gar said, sensing a trap.

"That means that everyone is your girlfriend, Gar," Shelia reminded him. "So, who is it?"

"I don't need the Spanish Inquisition. The issue has already been overly discussed."

"We're not Spanish," they said at the same time.

"Do you promise you'll agree with me?" Gar asked.

"No."

"Figures. I'm not in any way asking Rachel Roth on a date, so there's your answer."

"That's all the fuss?" Harry was disappointed.

"Of course you won't ask her, dear, if that's what you think." Shelia didn't betray the words with a contradictory expression.

Gar stalked into the house muttering about know-it-all foster parents, but ruined the effect by holding the door for them. They were just being silly, of course- what was it with everyone playing match-maker?

At patrol the next day, he still was distracted by the very foolishness of the idea. Patrol went as usual, except for one incident. The Titans had fanned out to cover a block on foot. Gar found someone determined that her goal in life was to use nylon stockings to hold up a liquor store. He convinced her otherwise, as did the policeman who followed quickly. The girl put up a decent fight, but she wasn't experienced enough in fighting to be much of a problem.

Her boyfriend was. Gar did well, but almost lost. At one crucial point, he almost overbalanced, and the planned kick was weak. He recovered quickly and finished the fight, glad no one had seen his mistake. Solo fighting was easier, in that way. No Titan was weak, and he was a Titan- end of story. No one had to know.

.Official.
"It's official," Victor announced at practice, once he had enough attention. "Bee and I are dating."

No one was surprised, so the congratulatory remarks were rehearsed and nothing that Victor would want to remember for later. "We have problems, with Bruce." Richard didn't know what to do for his uncle, and the team would be interested. "He's been training more than usual- which means he's up to about ten hours a day- and won't answer any calls from Selina."

"Where is he now?" Victor didn't like the sound of that. Selina didn't look like she would take that well.

"He's on rounds being an accountant, and should be back any minute. I tried getting through to him, but he's less coherent than he normally is before coffee. There could be trouble."

"I'll say."

"Selina?" Richard turned around quickly to see the new arrival. "I thought Bruce changed the codes- I would have let you in, of course," he added quickly, seeing the look Kori was giving him. "Bruce is being ridiculous."

"I hacked the system," Selina said with a shrug. "Oracle checked right away, saw that it was me, and unlocked her security. I tried a few likely marks before DAMNCAT opened the door, and I plan to speak with a certain batty accountant, face to face." Selina was not pleased.

Beneath a long coat, Richard would swear he saw purple leather pants. Purple leather? Selina Kyle was a huge name in fashion, and he doubted that trend was coming back. "The outfit?" he asked, trying to puzzle out that mystery.

"It's what I was wearing when I met Batman. I figured he couldn't forget this." She slipped out of her coat, tossing it aside carelessly. The three male occupants of the room would have to agree with her, and rethink their assumptions about people looking good in purple leather.

"Anders cancelled on me again," Bruce said from the top of the stairway, balancing a high stack of portfolios and paperwork. He set them on the conference table in a neat pile before he saw a jacket. He turned around, and not even being prepared lessened the shock. "Selina?"

"No, it's some politician's daughter who's been pumping you for information for a few years. I thought you didn't date criminals, Bruce. I know the whole deal, now, and Pam told me that Talia was definitely down here. Talia would sell you out the instant it would do any good." Selina's eyes were narrowed, and the Titans watching in shock wouldn't be surprised if her pupils turned to slits.

"Selina, you were Catwoman. Thieves and vigilantes do not date," Bruce said for what had to be the hundredth time.

"Catwoman?" That was unexpected. Five Titans were now fully watching the spectacle, remembering facts. Catwoman was sans mask, at the moment, but still had lock picks, a few more modern tools for crime, and the infamous whip, all hanging neatly from a belt.

"But vigilantes and corrupt politicians do?" Selina ignored the teenagers. She had Bruce to deal with, and that was enough. "If you'd asked anyone but Talia, we could have told you that Pammy killed Joker- he went by Jack in two circles, and nobody knew his real name. Not even Harley, and she had the best shot."

"Selina-"

"No. My turn to talk. You were worse than me, back in the good old days. Do you remember those times, when the police station was still corrupt? I raided rich houses, and never once did something a week in the hospital and pain killers wouldn't cure."

"That was years ago, Selina. Of course I remember, back when things were worst. That was before . . ." He never could finish that sentence.

"I know, Bruce. My crowd was furious that he'd attacked an innocent. Jim Gordon was cleaning up the corruption, and someone gave the Joker the idea that the commissioner would break if his daughter was hurt. That came from the office of al Ghul, where Talia monitors all out-going e-mails." Selina didn't flinch away from hard facts.

"No." Bruce couldn't believe it, wouldn't believe it.

"Yes, damnit! Ra's knew about it, and so did Talia. Barbara hasn't looked. She knows what happened was Joker's plan, Trigon's approval. Ra's confirmed that Gordon had a daughter."

"Selina, I know Talia was a mistake, now." Bruce had to admit that much.

"What about four years ago, when I told you she was crooked as a crescent moon? That's when you didn't talk to me until your uniform ripped, remember? After that, you wanted to be friends. You never mentioned Talia to me, for the last two years. I knew, Bruce, but not from you- and all I really had was a suspicion. Friends mention people like that."

"What about you?" It was a weak challenge, and Bruce knew it. Worse, so did Selina.

"I work in fashion. I haven't had a boyfriend in years, especially during the touring circuit to get the name recognition. Thanks for asking- after how many years? This is your last chance, Bruce."

"For what?"

"To make good on all that rooftop banter."

"That was- different, Selina."

"What's different? You, me, talk. Do you want me to repeat some of it to refresh your memory?"

For the first time, Bruce recalled their audience. "Selina, there are children present."

She glanced at an enthralled audience- well, one enthralled, three interested, and one reading a book and glancing at the scene. "Their poor, virgin ears," she deadpanned. "You said that once, with a first-person possessive pronoun, as I recall. I bet you that it was the only pat of you to lose that quality. You said-"

"No. That's over. Things have changed, Selina, and-"

"No, they haven't. You're still the pansy afraid of commitment, I still fit in my old costume."

"I am not afraid of-"

Selina broke off his impending tirade with a glare he had only seen behind a mask. Catwoman was taking over. "What's your other excuse, to turn me down? Don't tell me that wearing tights has finally gotten to you."

"I don't want a relationship-"

"One question. You don't want a relationship at this moment, or you do not want a relationship with me?"

"I don't want to deal with you now, Selina. I don't want to jump into something because you're forcing the matter."

"Forcing what matter? You say 'Yes, I would love to do something to get me out of brooding' or something of the sort- ad lib, I don't care. I say 'yes,' we move on with our lives. Or, conversely, you say 'get out of my cave,' I leave, and you get the ribbing of all mutual acquaintances. Really, your bypass system is too much- damn cat? Cute, Batman. Cute."

"Do we really need an audience?" Bruce asked.

"We didn't have one a few years ago. Remember how that turned out? 'I don't take criminals to dates, I take them to jail'? I don't always steal from the good guys. I broke into Trigon's house, all on my lonesome."

"You know where he lives?" Bruce couldn't believe it. She had found the hideout of the most elusive crime figure in Forston.

"Of course I do, not that you've ever thought to ask. No use going, Batman- your style will end up with you dead, no matter how much Kevlar I put into that suit. His house is a place for subterfuge, and is a veritable fortress. He's in this neighborhood, Bruce, in a nice little mansion with two or three stories- I couldn't tell, in the dark, and the plans inside are one of a kind."

"What do you know about him?"

Catwoman was growing impatient. "He's married, and not happily. Everything could have changed, I suppose- I was there ten years ago, and only saw the wife once since Pammy so kindly got rid of the Joker."

"How little have you told me?"

"No." That one word was a warning, almost a growl. "How little have you asked, Bruce- there's your thought for the day. So, answer? Final chance, you know I'm finished, and a girl can only wait so long. I'm sick of waiting. Did you see the article in the rag of a magazine?" The 'rag' was distributed nationally, but full of gossip about celebrity figures. "I'm the second most eligible bachelorette, behind the president's kid, and I might just run into an offer I can't refuse."

"Why are you so damn interested?" Bruce couldn't understand Catwoman, or Selina- he didn't know why she could be two people so distinctly, and still blend together to confuse him. "What are you trying to prove?"

"Nothing. I'll take your politeness as your answer. Here's mine, Bruce, to both questions- Good-bye."

"Selina-"

"That's all you ever have to say. You could talk to Catwoman, if you want to get results. If the cat burglar isn't a thief, what is she? You'd never bet that I targeted the gang. The Elysians don't like Trigon at all, or his patsy."

"Elysians?"

"Me. Pammy. Harley. Nigma. Dent. People you've met, people you don't know- we resisted Joker, we resist Slade and Trigon. We're not the baddest part of the underworld. So long, Bruce, and don't call me. I won't call you." She collected her coat, nodded to the Titans, and stormed from the basement with more dignity than thought possible when wearing skin-tight purple leather.

"Bruce," Richard said after a few moments of silence, "I think I won't be going to you for relationship advice. You just turned down Selina."

"I had to" was his only answer. He had yet to look away from the staircase.

"No. You chose to, and she's been working on that little speech for a long time. She won't take an apology easily, if she takes one at all." Bluntness was Rachel's strong suit.

"Who said I should apologize?"

Gar was the one to give him a skeptical look. "We did, because you scorned a famous, rich, and gorgeous woman who was genuinely interested in you."

"She just wanted information," Bruce said in his Batman voice. He sounded like aquarium gravel was jammed in his larynx, and looked like a frog was hopping about and jamming in the mess.

"No- she had plenty. She wanted to get an end to suggestive banter. She could help you- did you hear what she said about Trigon?"

"I don't need your help, Victor," Bruce said stiffly.

Kori disagreed, gently. "If you needed no help, you would be taking Selina for a date. You are not. We shall leave you to peace." The Titans followed her. Richard looked back to see his uncle, sorting through paperwork industriously and seemingly undisturbed by all that had happened. Richard saw the small signs that meant not all was right in Bruce-land, but there was nothing he could do. His uncle would have to clean up that mess himself.

.Lies and the Lying Liars who Lie.
"Angelina won't be happy," Margaret warned. Margaret was one of the regular waitresses, trusted to run the cash register and serve pizza. "You're her most loyal tofu-and-soy order, and you hardly touched it."

"I'm just not that hungry tonight- there's nothing wrong with the pizza." That excuse wasn't cutting it- time to alter reality to fit a lie. "Somebody kicked me, last night, and I'm still a little queasy." That could explain the pain just below his rib cage. There wasn't an alternative to lying, when he was already the weakest on the team. He couldn't be weaker.

"He did have steel-toed boots on," Richard assured the waitress. "That's enough to mess with anyone's appetite." The wrath of Margaret was something he would save for Talia.

"Perhaps tomorrow you will feel more greatly recovered," Kori said.

"We're doing team tomorrow, so don't be afraid to pull back. That guy looked downright nasty." Victor doubted Gar would hold back, but the offer was there.

Rachel didn't say anything. She just looked at him, and he was sure that his lie would be found and told to the team. He was the first to look away, and didn't feel any safer after she changed the conversation to where the Titans might be the following night. He would just have to do better.

He did worse. He hadn't slept well for no apparent reason, and still had a phantom pain. Everyone knew that his balance was off, and only had reasonable suggestions to solve the unknown problem. Rachel suggested asking Shelia, an idea Gar quickly shot down. He earned a second disbelieving look from Rachel, and knew that she had to be seeing through his lies.

There was no patrol Monday. The team dynamic was not right, and everyone knew it. No amount of practice returned the usual way they worked as a team. Richard, again leader in title, didn't take chances. They would just practice for a longer time on Tuesday- that was all.

Rachel found him on the first break during Tuesday's prolonged practice. "Gar, I need to ask you a few things."

"Like what?" he asked, oddly belligerent.

"Have you been sleeping well?"

"Why do you want to know?"

She refrained from commenting. She was just as unhappy with the situation as he was. "I'll take that as a no. Your balance and coordination are off, your appetite is minimal, and I don't think that steel-toes kicked you in the abdomen. Steel-toes are too bulky, you're too quick, and he looked like a puncher." She said everything very quietly, but that didn't matter. It was still an accusation of some kind.

"What are you going to do about it, Rachel?"

"Absolutely nothing," she said, lips pressed together in a tight line. Fine. He didn't want to talk to her. "I just felt that I might make sure you were still healthy, as I'm the only person on this team you've told about a serious condition."

He let her walk away. His sleeping habits were none of her concern. The last thing he needed was to have extra tests run at the hospital. Finances were tight, but Shelia and Harry insisted Gar's part-time volunteer job was more important than some minimum-wage grind.

Rachel watched him during his part of an impromptu sparring tournament. She had lost soundly to Kori, instead of the few moves she usually lost by. Gar almost always lost, but he usually didn't flinch when Kori tapped him. During sparring, she barely touched her opponent. Rachel had seen enough signs.

"Where does it hurt?" Rachel was the one to offer a hand when he fell. Kori was too nervous; she knew it had barely been a touch.

"Here." Giving up, he pointed at the area below his lowest right rib.

She had a reaction to that simple gesture, and didn't offer to lift him. The Titans didn't know why she was so worried about a clipped bruise, but Gar was beginning to see what he had ignored. Pain. There was only one response, when she used a doctor's gentleness to probe the area. He passed out.

Rachel took no time to recover. "Richard- call 9-1-1 and give your address. Victor, call Dr. Kozlowski." Rachel rattled off a number and an extension, bypassing secretaries. "Kori, open the door- he needs to be upstairs when the ambulance gets here, if we don't want paramedics in the Batcave."

Richard had an answer. "An ambulance will be here in ten minutes," he said quickly, caught up in the urgency he didn't understand.

"No good- this is an emergency." She snatched the phone- emergency trumped politeness. "What's the hold-up?" She listened, then interrupted. "No, that doesn't matter. Your patient here's unconscious and won't mind, and the IVs won't be necessary. If you come now, we won't need a respirator." She gave the shaken operator a few more seconds. "Thank you."

Victor handed over the other phone. Kozlowski had no patience for the clueless, and Rachel knew what was happening. "It's Garfield Logan," she said quickly. "Yes, hepatocellular carcinoma- usual symptoms, including the pain and swelling, he's on his way. What IVs will he need? Really- I'll remember. Thank you."

"Rachel?" someone asked.

"He'll be fine, probably, but he might not be conscious for a while. I've never dealt with this specific ailment before, but I have done research. Would you get the door now, please, Kori? I'm pretty sure I can avoid likely painful areas, and he needs to be upstairs." If she didn't manage to guess where the worst of the pain was, he was already out cold, and wouldn't know that for a while. She picked Gar up and walked up the stairs as if she carried people about every day of her life. She ordered the paramedics about the instant the doors of the ambulance opened, climbed into the back, and waved to three shell-shocked teenagers. Rachel never went a week without surprising them- they just hoped this would be explained soon.