Cyborg stopped by Kori's house for a quick visit a few hours later, ready to trade information and move on quickly. He didn't expect to find Raven still there, with a dangerously red face, damp trails down her cheeks, and a large stack of facial tissues. He was allowed inside, and guessed that was a result of a very-frazzled Kori running dry on ideas. A woman looking for answers of that sort can't really get them from anyone but the one in trouble, but Kori was doing her best.
"Hey, Raven, are you heading home?" He drew a blank stare that scared a circuit into shorting somewhere. "Gar should be back by now, right?"
"He's talking to Dick. He left a message on my cell phone, saying someone else hadn't been good to talk with, and that he'd see me later tonight. What did you say, Vic?"
He should have known Raven would figure everything out. "Just . . . guy stuff."
"Vic, you're a horrible liar. Kori will side with me- we didn't hear it. I just need to know what he said."
"No way. I didn't tell him a thing, so no clues for you."
"Vic, she is not a happy camper," Kori whispered urgently. Usually, Raven would hear. Today, she was engaging in the occasionally needed binge of crying. "She thinks that he's joking about the relationship, doesn't love her, and that it's because she's half demon. Do you know how hard it is to deal with her in this state? I would be delighted if she would throw me out of the window- that would mean that she was at least somewhat close to normal."
Vic looked from a borderline-frantic Kori to an about-to-cry-again Raven. This was not his specialty. "See you some other time, girls. I'm . . . visiting Dick." He left quickly, denying to himself that he was retreating. This was a tactical maneuver, used before two teammates guilted him into letting the green cat's secrets out of the bag.
"Victor Stone, for all we ever did as Titans, you have to help me," Dick hissed, bursting into the hall. Raven and Kori were in the guest wing of the Wayne mansion. Gar had found Dick in the weight room, the tame upstairs version. Having a relation-issue soap opera in the Batcave was not a good idea. "He's doing the sad-eyes thing- you know, The Face. Non-stop. He's been doing it for hours."
"Raven's talking to Kori. Their link from the puppet prince or whatever he called himself is still there. Kori understands Rae better than me," but I know a heck of a lot more than either of you. Unfortunately, none of that can be revealed without guaranteeing myself grievous bodily harm, so I'll just play the fool.
Dick shoved Vic into the room. If this was any other situation, Dick would be at his side or at the front doing surveillance to decide on a course of action. Neither liked the emotional aspects of being a team. Besides, Dick had dealt with The Face for two hours, forty-one minutes, and thirty-nine seconds, not that he was keeping track.
"Gar, I'm working the late shift tonight, and I'm leaving now. If you promise to spill all the emotional crap so we can all bond and you'll get over whatever's bugging you, I'll drive to that tofu place." Vic's offer was desperate, and they all knew it.
"Sure!" The morose kitten disappeared, replaced by a soon-to-be-salivating Gar. Vic almost wished for the kitten that looked like someone was about to drown it. You have to leave after just an hour, Vic. You'll make it.
The restaurant's hostess beamed to see Gar trailing two new guests. Both looked decidedly uncomfortable, but they weren't running for the burger place down the street yet. She seated them, and a waitress was at their table before two wary guests could even sit down, extolling the virtues of their all-organic, freshly-made tofu choices.
Vic and Dick ordered the safest items in the place- French fries easily drowned in ketchup and chocolate milkshakes with real milk. All other drinks looked far too healthy, and soda was a distant dream. The meal was worth it. Gar finally spilled what was bothering him. Both friends advocated asking her. Dick had proposed in the middle of the police station; Kori had been working triple overtime for the rape case Raven was prosecuting, and that had been the only way.
As Vic paid his share of the bill, he saw a familiar face. "Jenny?"
She disentangled her purse from her latest date, trying to detach it from a charm on her bracelet. Both Vic and the current date moved to help her, but she jerked away, tucking the bracelet into her sleeve. "How many cops are in here, anyway?" she asked, a weak attempt at conversation. "What ever happened to donuts?"
"This is just for a friend, the gree- guy with the green shirt. He's having relationship issues. I haven't seen the bracelet before- didn't know you liked charm bracelets."
"I don't. It's an identity bracelet."
Kori had just explained the difference to him last week. Identity bracelets were a chain with one charm engraved with a name or symbol. Charm bracelets, like Jenny's, had different charms attached to a chain. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, just as well as you know robotics," she snapped. Her date looked extremely confused. She ignored him. "It was nice seeing you, Vic. You're due at the station." She walked to a table with her date, glancing back once with an almost apologetic look. Vic didn't notice. His friends did, and ambushed him in the parking lot.
"Vic, you were flirting with someone else's date. What gives?" Gar knew that wasn't at all Vic's usual methods.
"That was not flirting. She was obviously wondering why a cop would go willingly into a restaurant that serves such chick food, and the purse brought attention to the bracelet. Gar, the next time I have a relationship issue, you owe me a trip to a steakhouse."
"I've been a cow. What do you have against tofu, anyway?"
"Vic, who is she?" Dick cut in. The tofu vs. meat debate could go on all night.
"Jenny. Jenny Wilkinson. She's a secretary at the precinct, and the only person besides my partner, the chief, and Kori to know the ring isn't just jewelry." He checked his watch. "And I'm leaving. I've heard vague threats about what Mare can do, and I'm not about to be a guinea pig." He left quickly, putting questioning off for some other day. Maybe Kori would explain it for him. She had all the details.
"No going on duty with problems running through your mind," Mare said before Vic could even fasten his seatbelt. "Don't give me that are-you-psychic-or-just-psychotic look. I've been an officer longer than you've been alive, and I know that going out on patrol while thinking about other things is bad. Especially for your first night-shift, when the big names come out."
"Two of my friends are having problems; both want to get married, but the guy's too scared to propose."
"So tell him that if the girl does want him to ask, she'll know if he's been thinking about it, even if this isn't one of your special friends. If she likes him at all, she'll either say yes or ask for a little time. 'No' isn't nearly as common as guys think." Mare pulled out of the garage, making a sharp right turn. Vic saw her left hand for the first time that night.
"You're getting hitched?"
"We haven't set a date yet. Don's doing great- he has full control of his arms, face, and was showing off and wiggling his toes. First thing out of his mouth when I went to see him was 'Want to get married?' I said yes, and he pulled out the ring he'd been carrying around that night. Would have made it a hell of a lot easier if he'd of asked me, so his parents didn't have to say that I knew his current wishes best. Besides, they both couldn't make the trips to Gotham, and weren't moving him from the convalescence ward there."
"So, asking isn't likely to get you killed? This is Raven and Garfield, otherwise known as Raven and Beast Boy." She'd seen both of them.
"They look ready for the commitment. That, and any dressmaker on or near the West Coast would sell their soul to design a dress for Raven. She's famous, she's gorgeous, and she's a challenge- interesting skin tone, hair, eyes, the whole deal."
"So, without knowing a thing about Raven, you'd tell Gar to go for it?"
"Definitely." She glanced at him. "What's your other problem?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
She was silent for the next eight blocks.
He caved. "Okay, it's this bracelet Jenny has. I've never seen it before, but it has a tan line on her arm. The tan line shows spaces between chain links. Something's funny about it, and it keeps making me think of her, then the bracelet, and then flashing through possibilities."
"Is it a tingly feeling, in your gut?" She didn't even glance at him to know he would nod. "It's called a cop's intuition, as close to women's intuition as a guy can get. Some detail will give you a funny feeling. Nine times out of ten, it's right. What do you think is strange about it?"
"It's a charm bracelet, with the little charms all over it. She called it an identity bracelet." It sounded silly, even to him.
"Okay, Romeo. You're either fixated on any detail about Jenny, or there's some kind of clue in there. When you figure out what kind of clue it could be, let me know. Until then, focus on the now. Look up ahead. The Escalade's riding low on its wheels, has tinted windows, and is driving in a bad part of town. The little light bulb above the license plate's burned out. We're pulling him over."
"Is that allowed?"
"The light bulb thing? Yes. That's a traffic infraction. It isn't used unless the car looks suspicious. We pull them over, glance in the back, find drugs, and he's off to jail."
"So, this is night patrol?"
"Yes, and I wish it wasn't. If your life's so bad only drugs make you feel like it's worth living, you need to get out of the skid row you're in. Too many people can't afford it, too many middle-class and rich kids thrive on the feelings. It's a no-win situation, except for the sellers."
"Except this one. If we have anything to do with it, he'll be in jail for a while."
"Are your tough-talk lines always that lame?"
He shrugged. "They're worse when I had Robin to play off. You're lucky to only get half the effect."
She shuddered. "Some things just don't need thinking about. Go on, read that boy his rights- I can smell the marijuana from here."
:My Public Service Announcement: Seriously, pot is bad for you. Inhaling smoke is never good, pot delays reaction time, and about eighty percent of teenagers who get into car accidents are high, according to a recent statistic of the Department of Transportation (part of US cabinet under president). The message here? Don't smoke. No, I do not want defenses of pot. I've heard them all before. It's bad for you? Got it? Of course not, but I've made my effort.