"This is a terrible plan," said Rachel, looking over the folder Kori handed to her.

Victor nodded agreement. "This just might be too much right now."

"Are you kidding? This is brilliant!" Garfield declared.

Rachel glanced at Victor's dad and Kori's uncle as they chatted one table away. The pizza shop wasn't too crowded yet, but Rachel scooted closer to Kori in the booth anyway, just in case. This would be fine. They were supervised, and her father had approved, just this once.

"It is good for Robin to know his friends will support him," Kori said. "All my research says that friends, fun, and food are great ways to find happiness. This will help!"

Rachel flipped through the papers again. A cookie party? Really? At Wayne Manor? Already cleared with Bruce Wayne? The Bruce Wayne, local philanthropist, owner of Wayne Enterprises, and outspoken atheist, that Bruce Wayne?

"Well," Victor thought out loud, "If Mr. Wayne thinks he's up for it…"

"I can't," Rachel said.

She closed the folder and sipped the last of her drink, very aware of the silent stares directed at her.

"Will you not even ask?" begged Kori.

Rachel sighed. "There's no point. Dad won't let me around boys without a chaperone, and there's no way he'd ever consider Bruce Wayne a proper chaperone."

"Ooh, what if my mom comes?" offered Garfield. "She'll want to watch me anyway to make sure I don't eat the dough. You get salmonella one time…"

"Also to sterilize the kitchen," Victor added with a chuckle. "Hey, I see our pizza."

Rachel glanced up at a young man with trays as he approached the table. He smiled sweetly.

"Okay," he said. "I have a small meat-lovers with extra pepperoni for the big guy, and a large cheese pizza to split. Are you sure you don't want a plate, Miss? Or another Sprite?"

Her stomach clenched. Pizza smelled so much better when it wasn't from the school cafeteria, and it just wasn't cost effective to order it for seven kids. But if she spoiled herself now…

"Hey." She looked at Victor, who said, "It's covered, Rae."

"I- I think I do, actually. Want a plate," she mumbled. "And a drink."

"Be right back," said the waiter.

"Ha," Victor said triumphantly. "Kori, you hit the nail on the head."

"I hit nothing!"

"It's an expression," Rachel said, crossing her arms.

"I'm saying you know what you're talking about," Victor said. "Give the grump a little food, and she almost sounds alive."

"Get bent."

Rachel felt herself squished to Kori's chest as the tall girl hugged her. She fought a rising blush as her assailant spoke.

"Be kind to Rae. She is the funny one!"

Garfield gasped in mock insult. Or perhaps real insult. Rachel was too focused on being pressed into boobs. What a weird feeling. Do all hugs feel like this, or is this arousal? Rachel didn't know, but she did feel feverish. Very weird, indeed.

"Hey, you might want to let her go, Kori," Victor chuckled. "She looks way too happy where she is."

Kori "eeped" and released Rachel, who blinked at the sudden loss of warmth. The tan girl smoothed the goth's hair and apologized.

"I'm okay," Rachel insisted.

"Are you sure? If you get any more blood in your face, it's gonna come out your nose," teased Victor.

Rachel huffed. "Once again, get bent."

"Here's your plate."

Rachel almost jumped at the waiter's return. He chuckled and set down her drink as well before grabbing the old one and vanishing again. She blinked after him as Kori slid a slice of pizza onto the new plate with a laugh.

"That was… fast," said Rachel.

"It's Wednesday," Garfield said. "They're always dead on Wednesday. Come in on a Friday, and you gotta be fast. Jake knows how to move."

"Man, how the heck do you know everyone's name?" asked Victor.

Garfield shrugged playfully. "I go to, like, five places, dude. People know me, so I make an effort to remember them."

"See, Rae?" Kori said gently as Rachel picked up the food. "Spending time with friends just makes things better. And having an outlet of creation is good for the brain."

"Befide, Rogin donen eed any bedder den voo do," Garfield added.

"Man, a full mouth is a closed mouth," Victor said, disgusted. "Have some manners."

Rachel squeaked at the flavors on her tongue, eliciting a laugh from the people around her. She dropped the pizza slice and covered her cheeks. She chewed very slowly, savoring the herbs in the sauce. So much better than cafeteria food!

"It's good, right?" Garfield asked once he swallowed. "Pizza. Is. The best. Especially at Mack's."

"We should invite Robin to the party of pizza when he feels better," Kori said, clapping excitedly. "We should come here often, since it gives joy to Rae."

Rachel let a laugh escape, and the others joined her. It really did. It filled the space between two prisons. There was no pressure in the booth, no demand to conform. A patience unknown to her lived here, replacing her constant anxiety with ease. She returned her attention to her pizza and its complex flavor profile as the others talked.

"It's a great idea, Kori, but I dunno about cookies, you know?"

"Hey, cookies are amazing!"

"Mm, well… what do you suggest?"

"Pizza!"

"Seriously, man? You have no class."

"I'm a simple man, Vic."

"Mm, my understanding is that boys like the video games and cars."

"Cars are great, but I don't think they're Rob's style. And I don't know if a computer game would work for you guys."

Game?

"Hey," Rachel said, holding a hand over her mouth, "what about mystery dinner theater?"

The others stared at her again.

"A what?" Garfield asked.

Rachel swallowed her bite. "My parents went to one once, so I looked them up. They sound fun, and Robin might be into it. It's like playing Clue without the board."

"How does that work?" asked Victor, leaning forward.

With a gentle smile, Rachel explained the rules of the game, how to prepare for one, what possibilities existed… It was almost perfect.

"The only problem," she said, "is that we don't have a lot of time to prepare, if you want it to be a 'welcome back' deal."

Victor cracked his knuckles with a grin. "That's where you're wrong. You said you can buy pre-made sets, right? And we're looking at seven characters, the five of us plus two adults?"

"Mr. Wayne said not to worry about cost," Kori added. "If we find one we like, he will pay for it."

"Which also covers the dinner aspect," said Victor. "We barely need to prepare anything, really. Just gotta get in character."

Rachel chuckled lowly. "Sounds like a big deal just for a gang of freaks, doesn't it?"

"You'll learn to love it," Garfield shot back with a grin. "Making a big deal out of nothing is what I do."

"We noticed."

Mr. Stone whistled to get their attention and said, "Hey, time to wrap this up, okay?"

"Yeah, five minutes, Dad. We're almost done." Victor returned his attention to the group, saying, "So we'll pick out a game tomorrow at lunch, and Kori can tell Wayne?"

Everyone affirmed between bites of pizza. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. If the game was as fun as this dinner, Rachel thought, at the very least she wouldn't regret it.

##AN##

Beta readers wanted. Please DM if you want to beta this story or any others.