Life's Canvas
Chapter 19: And So It Was To Be
Kori leaned against the wall, her eyes closed. Roy was dead. Terra was dead. Richard was in danger. And it was all her sister's doing. Her thoughts drifted to Raven and Gar. They would be at the party tonight… it wasn't going to be safe for them either. Kori shifted her weight. Raven was pregnant too. This was going to be an absolutely horrid evening. She ran through what the officer had said again.
She was to go and act as if all was normal (the police force had kept Terra's death as quiet as possible so Carmen would not suspect the blonde had made it to Wayne Manor in time to deliver the message) and 'unveil' the gallery. She would go and pretend to have a good time, and at exactly ten o'clock, she would slip off alone. It would appear she just wanted fresh air and a little quiet. Hopefully, this would lure Carmen out after her. If she hadn't come by ten fifteen, Richard was to slip out as well. Hopefully, two of her targets in a secluded area would be enough to draw Carmen out.
Then, if it worked as planed, Kori would call for the police through the tiny microphone clipped to the top of her dress and they would apprehend Carmen. The only problem was there was way too much room for error for her liking. But at least she wasn't walking blindly into this. Terra had betrayed her, yes, but she had come back to help her in the end. A soft knock to her door made the girl flinch.
"Come in," she muttered blankly. Her stomach had successfully twisted itself into a massive knot. Richard walked in, dressed in a handsome black suit. He also had a microphone in his shirt collar. Kori was ready to go too, dressed in the dress she'd gotten with Richard at the mall. The gold-tinted silk draped over her form nicely, and Richard would have commented had the circumstances been different. Her hair was done in long, spiraling coils that flowed down her back in an elegant, scarlet tide.
"Kori, are you sure…"
"Yes," she cut him off. Carmen had gone too far. Much, much too far. She didn't want to turn in her sister, but she knew it was time to do so.
"Then we should get going," he said gruffly. Richard had been far from pleased when he heard exactly what the plan was, and had been even more distressed when Kori had agreed to it without hesitation. Kori nodded and opened her eyes, hoisting herself up from her position against the wall. He took her hand and she offered an empty smile.
They didn't take Richard's bike, opting for one of Richard's various cars instead. The ride to the gallery building was oppressively silent, and neither was very aware of how beautiful the night had turned out to be. When they got to the building, they were greeted with merrily shining lights, and floating laughter trickled from the door. Richard slammed the car-doors shut and locked his vehicle, taking Kori's arm. She glanced at him. "Richard please…" she murmured. Richard sighed, agitated, but she saw him relax his frame just a bit. "Thank you," Kori said. They entered the building both skillfully putting on brilliant false smiles.
"Dick! Kori!" Raven called. They spotted the Logans sitting at one of the few tables that had been set up in the large entrance area. They would enter the actual gallery when Kori was ready to present it. Raven waved them over, her stomach considerably larger than when they'd last seen her.
"Hi Raven, Gar," Richard nodded to each of them and took a seat, pulling out the chair next to him for Kori. Raven smirked.
"Hey, guess what his middle name is going to be. And it's not Garfield," Raven winked and gestured to her stomach. Richard lifted a brow. Raven had a lively sparkle in her eyes and her cheeks were slightly flushed. She seemed really excited about the baby.
"Uh…" Richard shrugged.
"Richard. We wanted him to have your name too," Raven grinned. Richard managed a small, real smile then.
"Thanks, Rae," he said. Gar laughed.
"Oh, and even though you and Kori aren't married or anything, we want you two to be baby Griffin's godparents," he said with a toothy grin. Kori beamed, momentarily forgetting about Carmen.
"It'd be such an honor!" she exclaimed. Raven smiled.
"That's great," she said. Kori looked over at the wall clock across the room. It was nine forty.
"I need to go open the gallery," Kori excused herself and swiftly left the table, Richard's eyes following her uneasily. Moments later, Kori had a microphone in hand and was welcoming everybody to the new gallery. The doors swung open and everybody cheered, a few people toasting Bruce's newest addition to his already sizable line of galleries. The guests started to meander in to look at the paintings and sculptures and Kori quickly found her way back to Richard's side.
They apologized to Gar and Raven, needing to go and 'mingle' a bit for publicity's sake. At a few minutes until ten, Kori locked eyes with Richard. "I should head out," she said softly, her voice low enough that only Richard heard. He frowned, but nodded anyways, kissing her forehead and reluctantly letting her go. He watched as Kori disappeared into the sea of people and watched the top of the back door open and shut across the room.
Kori walked tentatively out onto the back property, the pristine lawn spreading out several yards. It was a little chilly, this late in the evening, and Kori rubbed her arms… half from the cold and half because she was nervous and needed to do something. She wandered away from the building, doing her best to make it look like she was just taking an innocent walk around. She heard a couple soft clicks in the little device on her dress and recognized it as the police readying their guns "just in case." Kori's eyes narrowed. She didn't want them to kill her sister. Kori didn't have on a watch, so she wasn't sure when fifteen minutes had gone by. All she knew was that it felt like she'd been wandering in the yard quite some time before she heard the back door bang shut and looked up to see Richard walking silently out to meet her.
He walked up and she gave him a small smile in greeting, which he returned. Neither felt it appropriate to speak. But they needed to. They couldn't just stand there like idiots. Carmen was more than smart enough to figure out it was a trap if they just stood like targets. "Hey," he mumbled.
"Hello, Richard. I thought you'd…um… be staying inside," she coughed. Kori had never been the best at acting… especially under pressure.
"Just came to make sure you were alright," he responded, his voice was flat and Kori glared at him. He narrowed his eyes. "It's kind of cold. You shouldn't have come out here. You'll get sick," he bit off the words and Kori sighed softly.
"I'm fine," she replied. He didn't want her out here, understandably, but he could at least try to make this work. They had made their way to the far side of the property, a little patch of trees to their right. Kori looked over, having heard something, and grabbed his hand as a figure slipped out of the shadow of the trees.
The woman was tall, like Kori, and stately. Her hair flowed in long black waves, styled similarly to how Kori usually wore her hair when it was down. Her eyes were violet, a few shades darker than Raven's eyes, and she had on the most disturbing smile Richard had ever seen. "Hello Sister Dear," she purred, her eyes slim and cat-like. She narrowed her eyes further. "Have you missed me?" she asked with a low chuckle. Richard decided right then that the woman was insane. Kori's nails dug into Richard's palm, and he moved a little closer to her.
"Carmen… you're here…?" Kori said, her voice high and nervous. She said it loud enough that her microphone should have picked it up. Carmen laughed.
"You think that'll work?" she asked, sneering. Kori looked at her sister, bewildered. Carmen reached forward and ripped off the microphone. "They'll never get here in time. They're all the way around the other side of the building!" she hissed. Kori squeaked and took a few steps back. Like she had thought, there was WAY too much room for error in this plan… That's when Carmen pulled out the gun. Richard saw it first, going rigid. Kori's eyes widened when she saw the weapon, and then she screamed as she saw Carmen aim the gun at Richard. Richard reacted fast, diving to wards the ground as the gun fired. He felt the bullet graze his left shoulder as he hit the lawn. Kori saw it, and her eyes flashed. The sweet little artist felt a flaming anger burn up in her. By the time Richard had hit the ground, Kori had lurched forward and tackled her sister. The gun flew from Carmen's hand as Kori pinned her to the grass. Carmen struggled, and almost pulled out from under her little sister but Kori whipped her hand back and when she brought it back forward she was clutching a blade in her fist. Kori jerked the knife to Carmen's throat and the black-haired girl immediately stopped her movement. Carmen's eyes became wide with the sudden shock of it.
Kori pushed herself slowly back up to her feet, bent over enough that the dagger still stayed at her sister's throat. Carmen swallowed, the yells of policemen reaching her ears. From the corner of her eye, she saw Richard pick himself up off the ground, clutching his shoulder and staring at Kori with as much surprise as she was. "Kori, d-dear, aren't you going to let y-your big sister up now?" Carmen whimpered. She had underestimated her sister… far, far too much. Carmen had planned it all, and up to this point she'd picked off all that was close to Kori one life at a time and kept her in almost constant fear. But now, with just this mistake of a few seconds, Kori held Carmen's life at blade-tip.
"No. You're going to jail, sister, and you will never get near Richard again," Kori glowered, her eyes flashing with anger. "This was a very bad move, Carmen. Very bad indeed," she whispered as the police surrounded them on either side. With all of the guns pointed on her, Carmen was smart enough to calmly be taken away by the officials, but not with one more threat yelped over her shoulder.
"This isn't the end, Kori! I WILL have my revenge! I swear it!" Carmen screeched. Kori cringed, watching them haul her sister away. One of the officers looked over his shoulder and grinned.
"Good call, Anders! You're pretty much a hero now, hon," he called. Kori nodded absently, turning to look at Richard worriedly.
"Oh, Richard, are you ok!" she asked placing her hand on his shoulder lightly, eyes studying the wound critically. Quick footfalls alerted them of Raven and Gar hustling over, Gar laboring to help the slightly awkward Raven who was finding her maneuverability a bit harder with her swollen middle.
"Kori! Richard! What happened?" Raven hollered as she rushed up. Richard ignored the pain in his shoulder and grabber Kori around the waist, pulling her roughly to him. He had it in mind to keep her in his arms forever and never, ever, ever letting go… perhaps a bit possessive, but he didn't really care.
"Nothing, Carmen's been caught. That's all… but Richard's hurt!" Kori pointed to his shoulder fanatically. Raven and Gar looked at each other and then over at Richard and Kori and back at each other before they burst into a hysteric fit of laughter. Kori and Richard stared at them, baffled. "What's so funny about Richard being hurt?" Kori demanded. Gar stopped and took a deep breath.
"No. It's not that, it's just… here's Richard, holding onto you like you're going to disappear if he let's go and there you are, getting all upset about a little nick on the shoulder when you sister, who's a MASS MURDERER, just got caught!" he snickered. Kori blushed and Richard glared. "W-well, yes… but Richard's been grazed by a bullet, see?" she again pointed to Richard's shoulder where a little blood was now seeping from the tattered spot of cloth.
"He'll be fine, Kori," Raven said, amused. "But you said Carmen was caught?" ((A/N: I was just now thinking "Where in the world is Carmen San Diego?)) the violet haired woman asked on a more serious note. Kori nodded, her eyes becoming sad.
"Yes. My sister has been apprehended…" she murmured, slumping slightly in Richard's arms. "It is good… but I hate to think of her being in prison, the poor thing…" Richard snorted ruefully.
"She tried to kill us, Kori," he muttered crossly. Kori sighed and shook her head.
"I know… but she's still my sister," she said. Richard grimaced. Still… either way, he decided not to say anything more about it. "None the less, we must attend to your shoulder!" she declared strongly. Richard waved the idea off.
"It's just a little nick, like Gar says. Alfred can get me some bandages at home. Speaking of which, we may as well go… the party's probably over anyhow," he said, looking at Raven for confirmation. She nodded.
"Yeah, everyone left when they heard the gun shot. Lot's of people freaked out," Raven had managed to fall back into her basic monotone, overcoming her "baby high" (Or, that's what Gar called it…) and her anxiousness about her friend's safety.
Kori bit her lip. "Alright then…" she trailed off. It seemed kind of abrupt to just… go back to the Manor, but… ok. The friends parted ways and Richard lead Kori back out towards the car, still sheltering her close to him. "I have a question, though. Why did you have a knife with you?" he asked curiously, as they walked. Kori flushed.
"I thought she might attack us and the police wouldn't come or something… so I brought it. I bought it last night while you were asleep," she admitted. Richard grinned.
"I'm glad you brought it. Although you could've just gotten a dagger from Bruce's weapons collection. He keeps in this stupid cave thing he built under the manor. Calls it the 'bat cave' cause it looks like an old cavern with guns and swords and knives all along the walls. He also has a few weird gadgets…" he rolled his eyes. Kori giggled, glad to have Richard lightening her mood.
"But none of them would have had one of these," she said, pulling away from him just enough that she could hitch up the bottom of her dress and reveal a band fastened around her leg with the sheath for the blade. Richard couldn't help himself and gave a bark of laughter. Kori pouted. "Hey, it could have very well been this knife that saved us," she scowled. He nodded.
"Yeah, I know… it's just…" he trailed off and rubbed the back of his neck.
"What?" she asked.
"You looked cute doing that," he said, motioning to where Kori was still holding up the hem of her dress. Kori narrowed her eyes.
"Dick," she muttered. Richard quieted at the name, sulking. She rolled her jade eyes and wrapped her arms around him, placing a kiss on his cheek. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings," she apologized, a falsely innocent smile on her face. Richard grinned and seemed to accept the apology, capturing her lips soundly in his own. Everything had happened so fast… and it felt good to just hold her.
Raven and Gar watched as all of that took place, knowing smiles on their faces. "They're cute, aren't they, Rae?" Gar said with a soft chuckle and kiss to her temple. Raven nodded.
"Very. It was always to be. I knew it the day Richard first called me. Right after Kori had arrived. They're perfect together… and hopefully they'll stay true to one another and keep on painting life's canvas with their love," Raven murmured. Gar glanced at his wife.
"Why do you have to be so philosophical about everything?"
Author's Note: Well... here's the last chapter. The epilogue will be up sometime tomorrow, I think. I hope you enjoyed reading it. I feel like this chapter came out a bit awkward, but I hope it's ok. I have this severe impediment when it comes to writting endings... so, I don't know. Whatever. I hope to recieve your comments and such. I wonder if the story will hit 300 by the time the epilogue is done... I mean, we're really close. Wow... that'll be a record for me Oh, and I just want to tell everyone now that I'm going to probably stick with one-shots until camp has come and gone so I don't leave you haning in the middle ofa fic when I have to go or something...lol. This is kind of sad... to see Life's Canvas end and all. Well, at least we've still got an epilogue to come, right? Right? Gosh, now I'm gonna go cry... lol.
Love, Princess Starfire of Tamaran
Titans News: No Titans News for the moment... will answer questions and the likes in the epilogue addition of Titans News instead. All I know is I'm going into major spaz mode waiting for Stranded and the titans movie and the KISS!
Chapter 19's Teen Titans "Fun" Fact:
I went toWalmart and was startled as I entered the towel section when I was greeted by Beast Boy's toothy grin on a big beach towel. I investigated further to find the towel depicted all of the titans and Raven was actually smiling quite giddily. It was a raher profound moment for me... Not much of a fact, per say, but I guess you might find it of some entertainment or intrest, and if you are in such dire need of a fact then your fact is this. The Teen Titans have an official towel.