A/N: Standard Disclaimers Apply

Chapter Seven: Complications

"Jesus!" MacDonald exclaimed, "You nearly gave me a freaking heart attack!"

I climbed down from the wall, leaned against it, and folded my arms across my chest. "Hmm," I mused, "high stress job," eye arched my eyebrow and noticed how soft MacDonald was, not even as toned as Raven (who relied on her powers too much for my liking), "lack of exercise, not eating well, and smoking too. I'm not even on the board as far as risk of heart attack goes."

"Why are you here?" she growled angrily.

"I need all the DNA evidence from the crime scenes."

"Found a suspect, eh?" Her curiosity was piqued.

"You know that I can't comment on an ongoing investigation," I said with a hint of sarcasm. "So, can I get that information?"

"We're still waiting for an identification and comparative study on Raven Four," MacDonald said as she stamped out her cigarette. "Once we get that in, I'll be able to pass something along to you… unofficially, of course."

I masked my disappointment, "Of course."

MacDonald started to say something about having to go in, but I'd already jumped the fence and was back on my bike. Occasionally, I wanted to leave a camera behind and get that reaction shot of discovering they were alone, but not when there's a psycho on the loose: one that's got a fetish for one of your best friends. I thought about the four dead girls as I drove home and worried about something I was missing. The sun was going up behind me, and my shadow stretched out far ahead of me. My staying up for the last thirty-one hours was beginning to catch up with me. I used the hidden entrance to my garage, hopped in the tube, and dozed on my way back to the Tower.

Kory greeted me with a soft hug and a light kiss on my lips. I smiled and curled a lock of her cinnamon colored hair in my fingers.

"Welcome back, Dick," she said. "Did your… legwork?" I nodded and she continued, "Did your legwork go well?"

"Yes and no," I said as we walked back through the common room. By now, Vic, Gar, and Raven had joined us around the breakfast table and prodded me for details. I supplied them enough to satisfy them, but left out the stuff about the shrine at the Loft. The other three didn't need to know that.

I glanced over to Rae. She sipped her herbal tea slowly and looked like she had a sleepless night. Her exhausted indigo eyes caught mine, and she rolled them closed for an instant. She was internalizing the four girls' deaths, and if I knew her as I thought I did, she was unnecessarily shouldering the blame. Something I was all too familiar with.

"And now you need your rest," Kory said softly. She ushered me to my room and would have stripped me down and plopped me in bed, had she not remembered to be Raven's bodyguard.

I smiled and sat at my desk before glancing at my countdown timer. Lenny had thirty-nine hours to get me my list, but in the meantime, I could go to my workroom and start profiling the killer. The faster I understood who he was, the faster I'd be able to anticipate his next move.

I got up and started the short walk to my thinking room. Garfield Logan sat against the wall opposite the door.

"Hey, NW, Star asked me to make sure you got your rest and didn't go all obsessive and stuff."

"Okay, okay," I resigned. "I'll take a nap, but first I need something to drink."

"Um, okay, as long as you don't go into your workshop. I promised Kory I'd do my best to keep you out of it."

"Where is Kory?"

"Where else?" Gar shrugged.

"Thanks Gar."

I walked past my workshop and into the common room. Vic was lazily playing a video game when I tapped him on the shoulder. Before he could protest, I put my finger to my lips and handed him the evidence bag from my pouch. I already put a little post-it note on it with the message, "Need DNA" on it. Even though I didn't have any to compare it to, it didn't mean I couldn't be prepared. He looked up, glanced over to Rae and Kory, and put the bag in a compartment in his arm.

"I thought you were resting," Kory scolded as I walked up to the girls.

"I will be. There's just something I have to talk with Rae about, privately."

Rae looked up from her tea and arched an eyebrow. Kory glanced at her best friend and nodded. She walked over to Vic and picked up the spare control paddle.

"What is it?" Raven asked.

I told her about the Loft and my encounter with her biggest fan. She did her best to keep a brave, unemotional face but I saw the way she took her breath and let it out with a shudder.

"I left the shrine as is for evidence, in case we needed it," I finished.

"I didn't think he could be so obsessed," Raven said quietly. She looked up, her eyes filled with worry. "You don't think that he's the killer, do you?"

"I don't know. It's a possibility."

She pursed her lips together and looked to the floor. I put my hands on her shoulders and gave her my most reassuring smile.

"So, now what?" she asked looking for a subject change.

"We need to establish a more 'civilian' look for you."

She smiled and looked up at my unmasked face, "Does this mean I need a 'secret identity' Richard?"

I laughed, "Maybe."

Kory had inexplicably taken the lead in the race game she and Vic were playing, and Cy's bellow let everyone in the Tower know. Star, for the first time since we learned about the killings, giggled airily, and the room just seemed brighter for it. Rae and I meandered to the couch, and I traded verbal jabs with Vic about his supposed prowess at this game.

"I have been practicing," Kory said, her brow furrowed with concentration.

And, typically, the Titans Alert sounded.

Vic flipped the game controller out of his hand and grumpily switched to the Alert. It was Haney County Correctional.

Doctor Light escaped.