Chapter 35

New Year's Eve morning was a beautiful one. The sun was high in the sky causing much of the snow around campus to slowly melt away. There wasn't a cloud in the sky as the students roamed around Elite High enjoying the best weather they've had in weeks.

The school was holding a New Year's Eve party in the REC center for all the students and staff who decided to stay at Elite High for the holidays. There'd be no alcohol, of course, but there'd be refreshments, music, and fireworks.

Right now, the gang was gathered in the cafeteria eating breakfast. A few were missing such as Richard, Kori, Gar, Roy, and Jason. Oh, and Rachel. But Vic, Karen, Alain, Wally, Tula, Isaiah, Jade, Mal, and Toni sat together conversing about the upcoming night.

"I think it'll be fun," Tula encouraged. "I mean, it's better than staying in the dorms all night."

Across the table, Karen rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but it's not better than New York City and watching the ball drop. Which is where I would've been this year."

"C'mon, Kar. Lighten up. We're basically under witness protection. This was for the best," Vic told his girlfriend.

Karen slumped down in her chair. Out of everyone, she was taking the whole 'stay on campus for the holidays' the hardest. Her reasons were understandable; she missed her family. But so did everyone else.

"Just think, guys. One more semester and we have a whole summer," Jade added.

"Yeah, hopefully. There's no way I wanna spend my entire summer in hiding. I've got places to be a babes to see," Wally said.

"Hey, don't forget Richard and Kori's wedding this summer." Isaiah pointed at Wally and gave him a knowing look.

Wally waved it off. "Eh, I won't. They're still planning all the details for that thing anyways." He leaned back coolly and wiggled his eyebrows. "I'm just excited for the bachelor party."

The girls rolled their eyes at him while the guys simply nodded and agreed with their red-headed friend. While they ate and continued to talk about their future summer, Richard and Kori were just now leaving Kori's dorm to meet them.

They were silent as they walked together. It was yet another night of Kori going to sleep early and Richard staying up all night trying to figure out where Slade is and what he could possibly be planning.

Kori was walking ahead of Richard, her eyes tired. She looked pale, which was definitely not common considering her naturally orange-tan skin. She didn't look well at all.

Kori suddenly felt someone gently grab her hand. She turned and looked to see Richard. He intertwined their fingers and stopped them from walking.

"Kori, can we talk?" He asked.

She nodded but didn't know if she was going to like what he was going to say. The past month has been stressful on her and it's to the point where even her health is getting bad. She was depressed, and no one even knew it.

"I know I've been distant lately, but it's just because I'm trying to create a better future for us," Richard explained.

Kori nodded and said, "I know, Richard. I understand."

She was like a robot saying this because it wasn't the first time Richard has given her this speech. She already knew what he was going to say, yet nothing would change. She missed him, the old him. This Richard, who stayed up all night and stayed consumed in his work all day, was not who she fell in love with.

Kori loved Richard. She knew all the work he was putting in was because of how much he cared for everyone. But she was losing him as a loving partner. On a more personal note, they haven't been physically involved in weeks.

"I love you, Kori."

"I love you too."

TT

"Roy!" Jade whisper-yelled down the halls of the empty school. She hugged her cold arms as she kept an eye out for her boyfriend. "Roy! I swear if you left me in this dark, empty school I will kill you!"

She cursed under her breath and finally reached the auditorium, where she was originally told to meet him. She'd hoped that when she got to the school, he'd be waiting for her.

It was dark inside the school, despite the sun still shining outside. Since Christmas break started, the school has been locked up and practically abandoned. Let's just say a few of them knew how to pick a lock.

Earlier this morning, Roy had told Jade to meet him on the stage of the auditorium. She hesitated at first much because she didn't want to risk getting caught. Breaking into the school could lead to suspension or even getting kicked out of a Elite High.

Of course, Roy convinced her.

And of course, he was nowhere to be seen.

"You've got to be kidding me," Jade said as she walked out of the empty auditorium. "You're dead meat, Roy Harper."

Jade roamed the halls for five more minutes and was thoroughly angry. She was just about to leave when she crashed into someone coming out of the counselor's office. She screamed and flailed her arms out in defense.

"Hey! Woah, woah, woah!" Roy grabbed her arms. "It's me! It's Roy!"

Jade sunk her nails into his arms and her green eyes held fire in them. "YOU ASSHOLE!"

Roy raised a confused eyebrow at her and asked, "What? I've been waiting for you for like ever!"

If Jade got angry angrier at this point, she'd combust. She pointed an accusing finger at his chest and said, "I came here fifteen minutes ago and went to the auditorium where YOU WERE NOT! It's cold, dark, this is definitely illegal, and I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WE ARE DOING!"

Roy's wide eyes watched as his girlfriend took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. He gently and slowly put his hands on her shoulders. "I...see your point."

Jade clenched her jaw and smacked his hands away. "What the hell are we doing here, Roy?"

Roy looked to see if anyone was by chance around. He quickly pulled Jade into the counselor's office and locked the door behind them. He then walked over to the file cabinet and opened it.

As he rummaged through all the files, he pulled one out that had little to no papers in it. Jade squinted to try and read the name, but Roy's flashlight was pointed elsewhere.

Roy sat down and looked up at Jade. "You can't tell anyone about this."

"Okay…? What is 'this' exactly? Who's file is that?"

Roy sighed. "Last week, I was with Richard when he was trying to dig up dirt on Slade. That's extremely hard to do considering who Slade is. But Richard is Bruce Wayne's son—that should explain most of what I'm about to tell you."

Jade quirked an eyebrow, clearly still confused. She had an eerie feeling running through her body and she tugged her coat around her tighter.

Roy continued, "Richard found out Slade has a son who goes to Elite High."

Jade almost fainted. Her face went ghost-white and she had to grab onto the table for support. "What?" She asked.

"Yeah, I know. We think that's why Slade has been so successful with his ambushes here. We think his son is working with him."

"The whole time I was serving Slade, he never once mentioned a son. He never mentioned any kind of family! This is crazy."

Roy lifted up the file. "This right here is who his son is."

Jade took the file and opened it. When she saw whose name was on there, her heart stopped. She couldn't believe her eyes. There was no way he was working for Slade. He was in the woods with them during their AT test whenever they got attacked.

It made no sense as to why Slade would put his own son through that. Jade refused to believe that he was just as evil as Slade. He was so kind, gentle, and he was their friend.

"Jericho Wilson," Jade whispered. She looked up at Roy with worried eyes. "You think he is helping Slade terrorize us?"

Roy shook his head. "I don't know, maybe? Richard wants to corner him and interrogate him but I think Richard needs to get a full night's rest and rethink that."

"Well how else would we approach him? What if he doesn't even know Slade is his dad?" Jade asked.

"Well what if he does?" Roy countered. "We need to figure this out—and fast. Things are going downhill and Jericho could be the key to really help us."

Jade felt sick. She didn't know what to do, but she knew Roy was mostly right. If they could find what they were looking for with Jericho, it could help them out a lot. Even if he wasn't working with Slade, he could know information that would give them an advantage.

But if none of that was the case, and Jericho was working with Slade, then they were in a lot of trouble. Jericho was their friend, but they didn't even know who he really was at this point.

"We need to get this file back to Richard and take it from there," Roy said.

Jade nodded and they stood up. She followed him out of the school stealthily and they headed for Kori's dorm room.

TT

Jason sat timidly in the chair next to Rachel's bed. He was nervously wringing his hands together and glancing back at that door, waiting for someone to burst through and begin questioning his presence.

He always made sure to ask the front desk if Rachel had any visitors before he actually came up to visit her. If there weren't, he'd spend at least ten minutes in the room with her. With Gar being here as much as he has been lately, it was nearly impossible for Jason to visit.

He'd brought her fresh white roses today. He replaced the old withered ones from last week with the new ones on her bedside table. Among that simple vase of roses, there were many other bouquets decorated around the bland hospital room. Truth was, no one knew where any of them came from because there were so many.

Jason gently laid his hand on top of Rachel's and took a deep breath. "You can stop being selfish and wake up now," he said sarcastically.

He couldn't help but let a small smile creep over his face. He knew if she were actually awake she'd most likely tell him to leave her alone and quit hovering over her. That, and she could take care of herself.

But even Jason knew that Rachel knew they had a special connection between them. He didn't care if she denied it or buried the feelings; he knew they were there just as much as she did.

Jason never pictured himself liking a girl like Rachel. Never in a million years did he ever see her in his future. But something just clicked, in a weird, twisted way.

"It's New Year's Eve, and it doesn't feel right without you here." Jason swallowed hard. "Everyone misses you." He paused for a moment and reached up to caress her pale, still face. "I miss you."

As he sat there with her, not saying anything else, Rachel laid still. Though the outside of her was silent and unmoving, the inside was bursting with life…

Rachel touched her face slightly and felt chills run throughout her body.

"What is it, Dear?" Her mother asked as she brought over a cup of tea.

Rachel took the cup and shook her head. "Um...nothing. I just...I…" she trailed off, torn between not wanting to finish the sentence or not knowing how.

Her mother sat down on the plush couch of their home. She had her own cup of tea in one hand and a spellbook in the other. She sighed and said, "You miss your friends, don't you?"

Rachel shrugged. "I do, but it feels like I'd just seen them yesterday. Not a month ago."

"The aspects of life and death are often misconstrued. Our memories are sacred, and oftentimes lost. It's understandable that you feel that way." Her mother pushed the spellbook towards hers "This is the only spell book I have left."

Rachel picked up the tattered, black-leathered book. It was clearly worn out and old. She blew off some dust and set her tea down.

For the past twenty-four hours, Rachel has been spending every 'sleeping' second with her mother. She's been trying to learn everything about Trigon and how to defeat him. Her mother has been giving her a few pointers and they ultimately came to the conclusion of trying to find some kind of spell to be rid of him.

Other than all that good stuff, Rachel has genuinely spending time with her mother in their deserted realm. They've tried all kinds of teas, cooked Rachel's favorite meal, caught up on typical teenage stuff, and have meditated together.

Rachel would be lying if she said she hasn't had a good time here on Azarath. It was almost tempting to stay here. The thought has crossed her mind once or twice in the last twenty-four hours.

"We can work on this tomorrow. Let's just hang out for now," Rachel said with a smile. She set the book aside.

Her mother looked down with a smile of her own. "Oh, Rachel." She reached over and grabbed her hand. "As much as I love having you here with me, we mustn't waste anymore time. We need to figure this out and help you wake up. I think we both know your friends need you."

Rachel's mood immediately went sour. "What if I wanted to stay? Or at least stay for awhile? Mother, look at how our lives could be for the next few weeks or even months...this is a dream come true, ironically enough."

Her mother's sincere smile never once wavered. "I'd love that more than anything in this universe. But dear, your friends need you. In reality, it's a dangerous world with Trigon and his own army on the verge of dominating. You are much stronger than you think, and even stronger with your friends by your side."

Rachel angrily stood up. She faced away from her mother and crossed her arms. She hated that she was right. Tears burned in her eyes and she was at war with her heart and mind.

Her heart was so much more fragile these days.

Her mother came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Do not forget those who love you back on earth as well…"

Jason's breath caught in his throat when he saw a tear escape Rachel's eye and roll down her cheek. He couldn't help but smile at this and grasp onto her hand tighter.

He didn't care if the tear was because she could hear him or even feel him, he didn't care about any of that. He was just happy Rachel was alive and could feel something in her head.

He believed she got closer to waking up every day, and he wasn't giving up on her.

TT

"No way! Aliens are way cooler than zombies!"

Gar almost choked. He put a hand to his chest as if to say Terra had really hurt his feelings. "I can't believe you. I was just starting to think you were totally cool."

Terra rolled her eyes and smiled. "Hey! I'm entitled to my own opinion!"

Gar waved her off. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." He passed her the popcorn as they sat in his dorm watching some movie about Aliens.

Earlier today, Gar had run into Terra yet again before going to visit Rachel. She'd convinced him to hang out some so they could get to know each other a little better. She claimed to want at least one 'cool' friend she knew pretty well before school started back up. And it just so happened Gar was the first recurring person she's met at Elite High.

Gar was hesitant at first, for reasons obvious to anyone; his heart belonged to Rachel and hanging out with another girl was completely and utterly wrong.

But after thinking it over, Gar has spent the last month depressed and stressed out over Rachel being in a coma. He wanted to be there when she woke up more than anything, but it was New Years Eve and he didn't want to spend it depressed.

So, Gar had offered to show Terra a few of his favorite movies. They've spent the last four hours in his dorm watching and talking. He had to admit, she was one of the coolest chicks he's ever met.

"So, I heard there was a New Year's Eve party tonight?" Terra asked.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a party, but yeah, something like that." Gar shoved a handful of popcorn in his mouth. "Are you gonna go?"

Terra laughed seeing as how Gar resembled a chipmunk. "Are you gonna be there?"

At this, Gar looked down solemnly. "I wasn't going to...because of Rachel and all that. But I think I need to spend some time with my friends."

She smiled at him. "I think Rachel would've wanted that."

Gar tensed up at hearing her name come from another girl's mouth. He suddenly felt uncomfortable and extremely guilty. He stood up, brushed off his pants, and walked over to the window.

Terra sensed his sudden mood change and stood up as well. "I—I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. It's definitely not my place."

"No," Gar said. "It's fine, it's not your fault. I just...I think I'm gonna go visit her now."

"Oh, okay. Yeah. I should go and get ready for tonight anyways." Terra waited a few seconds for Gar to turn around. When he didn't, she shuffled to the door.

Gar's jaw clenched and he closed his eyes. How could one person feel guilty for two person's feelings? Someone he's known for awhile, and someone he's known for a day. His emotions were going to crash.

"Wait," Gar finally said before Terra walked out the door.

She turned around with a soft smile. "What's up?"

Gar let a lazy smile spread across his face as he said, "I'll see you tonight, Terra."

TT

The REC center was packed with students who'd stayed on campus for the holidays, or came back early. There were surprisingly more teenagers than usual. It was a pretty fun atmosphere, though, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

It was ten o'clock at night, and the night sky was ever present outside. The fireplace in the REC room was burning and there were all kinds of gold and silver decorations everywhere. Refreshments were being manned by a few of the teaching staff whereas the DJ, aka Mal, was making sure the music was up to par.

Kori was standing with Richard near the fireplace watching their friends play a game of pool and converse with other people. She was feeling pretty good, and Richard hasn't left her side since they arrived.

She sipped on some punch and watched as Roy and Jade walked up to them. Roy immediately pulled Richard aside and began talking to him. Whatever they were talking about looked pretty serious.

Jade greeted Kori with a smile and asked, "How's the wedding planning going?"

Kori laughed a little. "It is going, to say the least."

"Hey, if you ever need any help just give me a shout." Jade nudged her playfully. "I'm pretty good at color schemes."

Kori giggled and nodded appreciatively. "Thank you, Jade. But today we decided to go with a lavender color scheme."

"Ooo, that'll be so pretty!"

While the two of them talked more about the upcoming wedding, Roy was grilling Richard about Jericho. Earlier today, him and Jade went to Kori's dorm where Richard was and spilled the beans. Luckily, Kori was out with Karen so she had no idea about any of this.

As bad as it seemed, Richard really wanted to keep Kori out of this situation. He wanted her to focus more on her well-being and the wedding than all the bad stuff. He wanted her in high spirits.

The thought of keeping this from her pained him, but he was only doing what was for the best. At least what he thought was the best.

Richard's mood immediately went sour when Roy told him that Jericho was not coming to the party tonight. "I don't get it. Why isn't he coming?"

"I don't know, maybe he has social anxiety!"

Richard rolled his eyes. "My ass. That just screams suspicious. Do you see Kole anywhere?"

Roy looked around for a minute and spotted the headmaster's daughter chatting with Tula by the refreshment table. He pointed and said, "Over there."

Richard made his way over to them. Earlier today, he'd planned with Roy to catch Jericho at the party and nonchalantly help him stray away from the crowd. Then, they question him intensely about Slade.

Since Jericho wasn't here, that ruined their plans.

Because why would anything go their way.

"Kole." Richard laid a hand on top of her shoulder to get her attention.

The pink-haired girl jumped slightly and her eyes went wide when she saw Richard. She smiled widely and practically had hearts in her big blue eyes. "Hi, Richard! What brings you over here?"

He cut to the chase. "Where's Jericho?"

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she tilted her head to the side. "Um, my boyfriend Jericho?"

Richard could feel a vein popping through his head at her lack of common sense. Who else would he be talking about? It took every ounce of willpower in him to not be a sarcastic douchebag back to her.

Richard took a deep breath and said, "Yes."

"Oh, he's in his dorm. He wasn't feeling good. I'm supposed to go see him after midnight!" Kole said cheerfully.

Richard nodded and thanked her. He turned away, ignoring whatever else she was saying. He went back to Roy and said, "He's in his dorm."

"Are we really doing this?" Roy asked.

"Yeah." Richard looked over Roy's shoulder to see Kori staring at him, clearly concerned. She was with still with Jade but was obviously paying close attention to Richard's own expressions. "Come on."

Richard began walking away with Roy. Kori took note of this and started for him until Jade moved in her way. She carried on the conversation some more but Kori couldn't tear her eyes off of a retreating Richard.

"Jade, our boyfriends have left us. Does that not concern you in the slightest bit?" Kori asked the overly-chatty Asian beauty.

Jade scrunched her nose and shook her head. "No, not really. They're men—always too serious. We should let them have their man time."

"Man time?"

"Yeah, they clearly need it. Come on," Jade shoved Kori towards the karaoke machine. "Let's sing a song!"

TT

Richard didn't even knock when they approached Jericho's dorm room. He aggressively opened the door and stormed in. Behind him, Roy made a noise insinuating that he was uncomfortable.

"Dude! You ever hear of knocking?" Roy yelled.

Richard ignored him and scanned the dark room for the blonde-haired boy. The lights were off, the room was clean, everything was in place. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but it was strange how there wasn't even a speck of dust on anything.

Richard walked in and Roy followed, making sure to shut the door behind them. Richard flipped on a light and began to search the room.

"This seems really bad, Rich," Roy said. "What if the guy is innocent? He can't even talk. We are true assholes."

"Would you shut up?" Richard asked. He knew Roy had a point but he didn't want to hear it. "Search for something that could be connected to Slade."

Roy sighed. He walked over to the closet and opened it up. Jericho clearly didn't have a roommate, for the opposite side of his room was bare. Some of the guys at Elite High went without a roommate for the sole fact that there weren't enough students in attendance.

Richard opened the desk drawers and filed through everything. There wasn't much in them: pencils, sticky notes, paper clips. There was a picture of Jericho and Kole on his desk as well as his textbooks and binders. His laptop was there, but of course it had a password on it.

"Damn," Richard mumbled. He wasn't even going to try and break into his computer.

After a few more minutes of searching, the two of them stood in the center of the room and looked around. Things were clean—there wasn't even anything under the bed.

"Well, now that we're done here can we please get back to the party? Jade will kill me if I miss that midnight mark," Roy whined.

Richard shook his head. "There's got to be something here. This is all way too organized."

"Come on, Rich. Like you have any room to talk."

"That's not what I meant," Richard said. He rubbed his chin in thought and did a complete 180 around the room. "If I were something important...where would I hide?"

Roy watched as Richard over-analyzed every inch of the room. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why haven't we stopped to ask ourselves why he isn't in here?"

"Maybe he changed his mind and went to the party," Richard said.

"True, but we didn't pass him on the way here." Roy walked over to the window and peaked out the blinds. It was dark out, and snow began to fall. "It's all just a little strange to me."

Richard's eyes landed on the picture of Jericho and Kole once more and he examined it carefully. For a split second an image of Kori passed through his mind and he felt guilty for not being with her right now.

He walked over and picked the picture frame up. When the back came slightly loose, a small piece of paper fell out. Richard picked it up and unfolded it.

JeriKole1

Richard smirked. "In plain sight."

Roy's eyes went wide as he saw the piece of paper. "Aw man! We are so good!"

Richard rolled his eyes and typed the password into the laptop. Once he hit enter, the screen showed a loading icon. It began to log them on, but it took a few minutes.

"Damn, this thing is slow," Roy said.

"Yeah...it is." Richard glanced back at the door. He was a little on edge at the concept of anyone walking in on them. It was actually more convenient that Jericho was gone. Although, it was suspicious as to where he could be.

Suddenly, the laptop screen went black.

"What the hell?" Richard spat.

"There's no way this thing died already, it's plugged in!" Roy added. He bent down to give a second glance at the laptop charger. It was indeed plugged in.

The two of them stood there in shock for a few seconds. Then, the laptop turned back on but what they saw nearly gave them both heart attacks. It was a video chat.

From Slade himself.

The evil mastermind looked nothing but content in the live video.

"Slade," Richard and Roy both said at the same time with the greatest amount of hatred in their voices.

Slade chuckled maniacally from the other end. "I see you found your way onto my son's computer."

Well, there was their confirmation that Slade not only had a son, but that son was Jericho.

"Where is he," Richard demanded.

Slade shook his head. "Don't worry, child. He is safe with me."

Hearing this sent chills down their spines. Richard suddenly felt guilty, because he felt like Jericho might've been innocent. Even if he wasn't, Richard felt as if there was some goodness in Jericho's heart and that was enough to save him.

"Give him back or—"

"Or what?" Slade interrupted. He tsked and sighed. "I'm always one step ahead of you pathetic kids."

Richard clenched his fists but before he could say anything else, the video cut off and the computer sparked.

"Dammit!" Richard cursed.

One step forward, a million steps back.