I do not own Teen Titans.
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Chapter 3: All Together
Although it wasn't what you'd call "drinking hour" in the bar, there were still a few people scattered throughout the place. A purple haired girl sat at the end of the bar. Victor didn't know her name, but he knew she was one of the many regulars. The Cave was rather popular, even with the rumors surrounding Bruce Wayne. Bruce made a lot of money off of it. Speaking of which, he had just spotted his boss in the corner table, next to Richard.
"Victor, have a seat!" Bruce's voice boomed at him over the music. Victor nodded and walked over, sliding out the open chair next to Richard. He sat down just as he remembered the brief case. He had left it in the other room.
"I'm gonna go get the case, left it in the other room. Be right back…" He said, standing up and turning around. Richard shot up out of his chair and smiled, shoving Victor back towards his shoved out chair.
"No, no, let me get it. I should have brought it out anyway." There was something strange about Richard's voice. He seemed very excited about going to get the case. Victor had been around long enough to determine that it meant Bruce had probably lectured him and he needed an excuse to get away. He nodded in agreement.
Victor sat back down, turning towards Bruce, who was looking toward the back exit. Victor looked as well, and saw Slade watching them from the back door.
"He said he was going to look for something, I wonder why he's back so quick." Bruce shrugged and turned back to Victor, smiling. "No problem with the case?" He asked.
It was Victor's turn to shrug. "It depends what you mean by 'no problems.' If you're asking if we got it, well yeah, we obviously did. Were there no casualties? I can't say the same…" He trailed off, biting his lower lip.
Bruce reached over and put an arm on Victor's shoulder. He always liked to make these little moves, as if it made people more comfortable. Actually, it kind of did help. After all, his parents weren't around anymore, so this fatherly sort of treatment was always welcomed.
"Richard told me about what happened. You have to understand, his background isn't what you'd call picture perfect. He's been like this for the entire duration of our friendship. But no matter what you think, he doesn't like to kill innocent people. In his eyes though, killing this group was the best way to go about things. Try not to let him get to you." Bruce shook his shoulder and smiled warmly, and Victor couldn't help but smile back.
Richard returned to the table after a moment of silence, setting it down in front of Bruce and taking a seat. Bruce ran a hand along the top of the case, nodded in satisfaction, and set it under the table.
"Now, your payment." Richard and Victor exchanged excited glances. Bruce had promised them each twenty grand for this job alone, which was double what they usually got for jobs in this zone. They both knew that this case had more value to Bruce than most items. "Off you go," Bruce said, waving his hand. Both of them stood up and left the table.
"That wasn't so bad, now was it?" Richard asked, grinning. He led Victor to a table in the corner and sat down, looking inside the case for the money and then putting it on the floor next to him,. Victor sat across from him, but kept his case in hand. He didn't check it. He never did. Victor trusted Bruce.
"I'm just glad that he didn't try to throw more work our way. I am so not in the mood to go anywhere but home." Victor stretched his arms over his head and cracked his back. He didn't really do that much, but man, he felt sore.
Just then the door opened, and in walked Garfield Logan, causing Victor to smile and Richard to scowl. Five feet, four inches, one hundred pounds, spiked up blonde hair, green eyes. If he was a little taller, girls might be all over him. Oh, and he would have to be a little bit less of a dork. His days were usually spent playing video games and eating comic books, and his nights were spent gathering information that he could sell to Bruce. In truth, Logan, as he preferred to be called, had a great life, but that didn't stop them from making fun of him.
"Hey guys!" Logan rushed over to the table and took a seat in between them. "What's up?" He asked, looking down at their cases. "I see you two just got paid for a job. Was it about that case Bruce wanted back? You know, I got him that info. Wasn't hard either, just needed to-"
"Hey, Garfield… shut up, okay? We get it, you're a pro at picking up information. Truth be told, I wouldn't be so pleased with myself if I was a weasel like you, but hey, whatever floats your boat," Richard said.
Logan suddenly became red with anger. "First off, what I do is tough work, and second, I told you not to call me Garfield!"
Victor chose that time to step in. "Aw, relax Logan, he just likes picking on you because you're a kid. Everyone does." He grinned widely in Logan's direction, who let out something between a squeal and a growl.
"We've got an underage kid trying to buy drinks over here, someone come here and throw him out!" Richard yelled, and Victor howled with laughter as Logan clawed at his friend. In the back, Victor saw Bruce wave off the bartender. Logan calmed down a minute later.
"You two can keep arguing, I'm gonna go and buy a drink," Victor mumbled. Richard and Logan didn't seem to notice, as they were both still having a fight, although a verbal one. "Get me a beer, any beer," Victor told the bartender. He came back a minute later, and Victor went into deep thought as he took a sip.
He hadn't talked about it with anybody, but Victor was thinking about getting out of the business. If anyone asked him about his experience as part of Bruce Wayne's gang, he would tell them the truth: He loved the money and he loved the people, but he couldn't stand being around so much death. It just wasn't for him.
Telling Richard would be the hardest. He knew that his best friend loved working with him. It was all over his face. But if Richard was a true friend, which Victor trusted him to be, then he wouldn't get upset over Victor quitting.
Everyone else would be a breeze to tell when compared to Richard. Victor knew that Bruce had let several people go happily, even got them parting gifts. He and Bruce were close, so Victor didn't expect it to be too difficult. As for everyone else? Well, they'd understand. He didn't really care about them so much, it's the thought of what his parents would think…
"Dad… Mom…" Victor closed his eyes, trying to push them out of his head, but he couldn't. He never had gotten over the guilt, no matter how many times Richard assured him that what happened wasn't his fault.
Richard and him went to the same high school. Back then, Bruce was in Gotham, but he had gotten Richard his own small place to go to school in Jump. Bruce visited twice a month, which Richard seemed to love and hate. Victor and him had met in detention, and from there on, they were best friends. Victor was the star football player, and was very popular. Richard was more of the school punk, and a bit of an asshole, but he had a lot of friends too. They both graduated with great grades, and it was in senior year that Richard told him about Bruce and his criminal ways. Richard said that he could have gotten him a job, but Victor didn't want one. He had a football scholarship and was looking into something a little more legal. But that was all before the accident.
A couple weeks after graduation, he was driving his Mom home from work. His parents were both high level scientists at some tech company, so they drove together, but on that day Victor's Dad stayed behind late. While on the drive home, Victor swerved off the road into a tree trying to avoid a kid in the road. He lived, but his Mom died. His Dad never forgave him, and Victor hated him for it. A year later, his Dad was dead too, from lung cancer, and he never got to say goodbye. It's part of the reason that Victor hates Richard smoking. He wasn't going to lose two people to that disease.
Everything went downhill, and so fast. Victor never bothered with college. His parents gave him everything in their wills, and he sold it all away. He blew a lot of money gambling, and the only reason he got through it was because of one person: Richard. He got him into Bruce's gang, and everything had picked up since. But still… sometimes he hated his life.
"Victor, are you okay?" A sweet voice asked him. He looked up, and there was Kori Anders, looking as beautiful as ever.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking, you know?" He answered quickly. Kori nodded and took the twirling stool next to him. He took that moment to look her up and down. She looked to be "off duty", even if she was wearing some strange clothes. All purple, he noticed.
"Yes, I know. How have you been?" She asked, sounding genuinely curious. Victor smiled. She was a smart girl, but somehow she always sounded naive. From the outside, you'd think she was innocent, but Kori was far from it, at least in sexual terms.
"Well, Richard is back in town, so everything is going pretty good now. A few snags here and there, but it's all good." Victor noticed that she had a confused look on her face, and he knew why. Supposedly, she was foreign, which would sure explain the odd skin color, hair, and the very proper English that she spoke. He had a feeling that she had yet to grasp what a lot of things meant.
"I am glad to hear that," She said. Kori leaned over onto his shoulder, and Victor smirked. Once in a while, Kori and him got into some interesting situations, which always made Richard jealous. He thought she was the hottest thing on two legs. Considering Kori was one of the best hookers in town, Richard could just pay the right price and have his way. He never did though.
Speaking of Richard, Victor didn't see him talking to Logan anymore. Logan was over with Bruce, who was laughing and patting him on the back. Victor knew that he liked that. Apparently, Logan had been parentless since a very young age. Victor felt for him. Seems like a lot of people were without parents these days…
Unknown to Victor, Richard wasn't so far away. He was down at the end of the bar, sitting next to the purple haired girl, who was working on her third drink. Richard took a look at her out of the corner of his eye. Her purple hair was down to her shoulders, and it made her pale skin look even whiter. The girl's face looked mean, but something about her made him think that she wasn't mean at all.
"Hey, I've seen you here before. Actually, I've seen you here a lot. You like your drinks?" Richard asked casually.
The girl looked over at him and scowled, but answered a moment later. "They have alcohol in them, so I guess so."
Richard couldn't help but laugh. He looked around the room, and for a moment he could sense her looking at him. Maybe she had some interest in him? 'I can only hope' he thought. While in Japan, he didn't exactly get any action. All work and no play.
"Same goes for me. Bruce Wayne, the guy who owns this place, is kind of my care taker, so you can consider these drinks on me. Bruce won't mind." Richard smirked, but he could see that she didn't seem too impressed.
"You're not the only one who gets their money for doing nothing," She mumbled, finishing off her drink and ordering another one in a flash.
This girl sure was strange. Much different than most girls in here. Unlike the others, she didn't really come off as a slut, but he knew that with her looks she wasn't a virgin. He also couldn't help but notice that there were markings on her arms, as if she had been cutting herself. Depression would sure explain the angry facial expressions.
"My name is Richard, Richard Grayson. What might yours be?" He said. Richard extended his hand, not sure if she'd take it, but she did.
"Raven Roth… Nice to meet you," She replied.
Maybe this girl didn't hate him as much as he thought she might. After all, judging from her looks, a "nice to meet you" was getting pretty far.
"So… Raven, who supplies your drinking money?" He asked, hoping this wasn't getting too personal.
Raven hadn't touched her new drink, which Robin took as a good sign. She really did have some interest in him. Perhaps his question helped more than hurt. "That would be my father, Tom Nomed. Before you ask, I kept my mother's name, even after I began to live with my father. You might have heard of him. He went to jail six months ago for murder, and he was apparently the leader of a big crime ring. I actually knew about the crime boss thing already, I just didn't care that much. Anyway, even though he can be a total ass, at least he lets me have all this money," She answered.
Richard laughed a little against his will. "Yeah, I know the name," He said. 'Understatement of the year' he thought. The murder that Nomed, or Trigon, as he was known in the crime world, went to jail for was actually committed by Roy Harper. Richard and him did the job together, and set it up to make it look like Trigon had committed it. Worked like a charm, and Bruce was only too happy to pay both Richard and Roy a good amount for the setup. One less crime boss to deal with.
"Now I live all alone in a nice apartment, spend the occasional night at a poetry bar down the road drinking tea, spend some time here and there talking to people I can tolerate, and spend the rest of my time in this bar drinking my life away. Fun, huh?" Richard gulped nervously as Raven returned to her drink.
Richard looked across the bar and saw that Victor and Kori were having what looked like a nice chat. Logan was sitting at a table by himself now, playing with what looked like a gameboy. 'Fucking dork.' Richard motioned Victor over to Logan with his hand, and his friend pointed out Logan's table to Kori.
"My friends Victor and Kori seem to want us to go sit with that kid Logan, care to join me?" Richard asked, putting his hands together as if he was begging.
"I'm not really a social person. You're lucky I'm even talking to you," Raven mumbled, but it didn't stop Richard from hearing that she was exaggerating. She actually did want to talk to him, he could tell.
"I just think that a pretty girl like you shouldn't sit all alone in a bar." Even though it was dim, he still saw her blush a little. "You don't even have to talk, c'mon."
"…You just won yourself some more time with me, let's go," She said. Raven picked up her purse from the floor and followed Richard over to the table. He looked down at the briefcase of his money on the floor, then at Raven behind him, and smiled. He had a feeling that his day was just getting started.
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It was many, many hours later. Everyone drank a fair amount at the table, except Logan, who hardly ever drank, and was also underage, not that it ever really stopped him when he felt like it. Richard was pleasantly surprised to see that Raven had stopped her drinking though. It was obvious that she was an alcoholic, so it came as quite a shock that she didn't have a drink. But it was a good kind of shock. He was beginning to really like her.
"My uh… guardian got me through most of my childhood. He had a fair amount of money, and even if he was pretty hard on me, he was always there to help me out. Since he owned a lot of animals, I got pretty involved with animal rights. You could say I'm a little nuts over them." Logan smiled, looking a little embarrassed.
"It's kind of surprising that you don't go by 'Garfield'," Raven said, gathering the attention of everyone, especially Richard. "Because, you know, of the cartoon cat and all." She smiled widely. "It isn't that dorky of a name."
Everyone burst out laughing, except Logan, who turned bright red and glared at Raven, not looking as if he was truly angry, just embarrassed. Victor banged the table as Kori fell onto his shoulder laughing. Richard offered a high five to a slightly uncomfortable looking Raven, but she raised her hand and he slapped it lightly. He was happy to see she had at least gotten around to making jokes.
Logan impatiently waited until the laughter died down to speak. "Har har, real funny. You all got it out of your system now? Yeah, my name is Garfield, get over it. I prefer Logan, okay? So just lighten up."
The others continued talking. Richard looked at Bruce, his friends, and everybody else in the room. Things seemed to be at a high point for everyone from the looks of it. Yeah, he liked how this day way going…
But then it all went to hell.
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You know what? It took me weeks and weeks of attempting to finish this, but I finally got it done, and I feel decent. I know it didn't provide anything really interesting, but it introduced the other characters, and that's what's important at this point. I'm not really sure how the reviews will be, what with Teen Titans canceled and all, but I hope some people will still R&R this. If things go smoothly, you can look for a chapter within the next couple of weeks.
Next Chapter: After a hectic moment at the bar, Bruce allows Richard and Victor to enjoy some time alone with the girls. What will develop?
"It's a work in progress… but at least it's working."
-SinFire