Chapter 2 –

Two pretty girls in one day

A steady stream of muttered curses came from a dark haired male being tended to by a nurse.

Gar grinned as he stood at the doorway watching the nurse frowning irritatedly at Richard's language as she sewed up the wound; Bruce had decided that Richard could stay awake while his wound was stitched as a punishment.

"Isn't being shot enough punishment?" Richard had argued when Bruce visited that morning, Gar made sure to stay out of their way standing where he was now.

"For others, yes, but since it is you, nope." Bruce had replied, smirking, "It was your stupidity because you were too stubborn to have a partner."

Richard had groaned frustratedly, but made no further arguments. So now, here he was cursing Bruce to high hell and everything associated with the boss.

Gar hesitantly spoke up, "Uh, dude? Do you mind if I have a quick look around?" He asked the annoyed officer. "I wanna get to know this place better."

Richard looked to the young boy, "Where did you come from anyway? You don't look old enough to even be able to apply for this job." He said critically.

Gar rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "My dad used to be a Crime Scene Investigator here; he pulled a few strings and let me take the courses a few years earlier and… voila! Now I'm a full fledged officer." He explained.

The nurse looked up briefly, "Wow, lucky you." She said, somewhat awed.

"Ah! Dammit woman!" Richard cursed, startling the nurse, "Watch what you're doing when your try'na sew!"

"Oh, sorry." She muttered, but Gar noticed the slight smirk on her face and grinned.

Richard frowned lightly as the nurse continued before looking back to Gar, his eyes narrowed in pain, "What if our partnership didn't work out? You'd have to go somewhere else." He said thoughtfully.

Gar grinned, "Nah, Mr. Wayne told me that he's got loads of officers on a list, most from other forces, and that if it didn't work out I could partner with one of them." He said, "So you're gonna have a lot of trouble try'na get back as a single officer." He added, sticking his tongue out.

Richard's frown deepened, "Idiot boss…" He muttered, agitated, before looking back to Gar, "I thought you wanted to look around." He said distractedly.

"Oh, yeah. Seeya in a bit dude." Gar said quickly, sending him a quick wave before leaving the medical bay.

He looked around curiously, stopping every now and then to look at pictures of past police officers and various medals awarded by the mayor. Eventually he came up to a more recent one; Richard was knelt on the floor with his arm on a depressed-looking-girl's shoulder, who was sat beside him.

"She needs to smile." He muttered absent-mindedly, literally jumping when he heard a woman's monotonous voice behind him.

"I hope you weren't meaning me." She stated dryly.

He looked around hastily, putting his hand to his brow in a salute, "Sorry sir-ma'am, I was just muttering to myself s- ma'am, didn't mean any offence." He said in his best serious voice.

The woman raised an eyebrow, tugging a few strands of short, violet hair behind her ear. "This is a police department, not the royal marines." She said.

Gar lowered his hand before nervously scratching the back of his neck, "I know that… I was just –uh- showing you what they do!" He decided, grinning, "Yeah, giving you a demonstration!"

The young woman stared at him, her violet eyes seeming to penetrate his very mind. "Fascinating." She commented sarcastically.

Gar grinned, clearing his throat awkwardly, "I'm Gar Logan, at you're service!" He introduced, holding his hand out for her to shake.

"Raven Roth." She replied, watching his hand.

"I don't bite." He said, affronted.

Raven looked up, violet meeting green, "I know; I just don't touch people because I wouldn't like them to touch me."

Gar's eyebrows lifted suggestively, "Oooh, Okay. I getcha." He stated with a wink, "You prefer it the 'proper' way."

A visible blush crossed Raven's pale cheeks, "Don't be so immature, you know I didn't mean it that way." She said, keeping her voice as monotonous as she could.

Gar burst into laughter, "Dude, you're hilarious." He said between guffaws.

Raven frowned, "So I've been told." She stated, sarcasm dripping off each word.

When his laughter subsided he looked over her almost critically, "You're quite slim for a… how old did you say you were?" He asked.

"I didn't." she replied simply, "But for future reference, I'm twenty."

Gar nodded slowly, noticing her watching him with slight apprehension that flickered briefly in her eyes, "Well, you're kinda skinny- I hope you eat enough- and you're not very tall either. I bet Richard's taller." He said, watching her reaction carefully; hoping to get more emotion out of her than sarcasm.

"He is." She put in.

Gar let a small smirk grace his tanned features, "And you're not very big in the… chest department either." He added, almost certain that it would get a rise out of her.

The ringing slap that followed echoed in the narrow hallway.

Gar held his cheek, trying to look offended but smiling none-the-less.

"You stupid, immature, perverted little boy." Raven said, anger slipping into her voice, "I can get you kicked off this force faster than you can say that again. How dare you say something like that." She said tensely.

Gar lowered his hand, knowing there was a red mark where his hand was previously. He laughed nervously, "Sorry, I just wanted to see your reaction." He said, trying to sound ashamed.

Raven glared at him, then briefly checked her wristwatch before turning around and heading back the way she came. Gar followed her, knowing she was heading to the main reception area – which was where he was going.

He fell into step beside her, which wasn't too much of a feat because he and she were roughly the same height.

"So…" He started thoughtfully, "Is your hair natural?"

"No," She replied simply, "I dyed it for two reasons; the first being that I hate my natural hair colour, the second reason being that Richard said it would suit being violet."

Gar raised an eyebrow, "Because Richard said?" He asked curiously.

Raven looked to him, "Yes; I value his opinion because he's like my brother, more so because neither of us have any living brothers or sisters." She explained.

"Oh, that's cool." He said, grinning. "Do you know when we'll be able to go on a mission? Me n Richie, that is."

Raven looked to him impassively, thinking. "Unfortunately for you; it will probably be tomorrow because of Richard's wound."

Gar frowned, "That's a bummer." He muttered, before grinning, "Ah well; for now I can enjoy you're glorious company."

Raven rolled her eyes, "Oh joy." She said sarcastically.

"Hey Rae?" He asked after a pause.

She glared at him, "Raven."

"Well, Raven then, why are you coming this way if before you were going the opposite way from me?"

"I was going to visit Richard before my meeting – I'm a kind of senior officer here – I get to go on missions, but also have to go to meetings and the sort." She explained, "But then I was distracted by you muttering about me needing to smile, and you side-tracked me so now I'm late for my meeting." Her pace sped up.

"Okay.. I'll talk to you again Raven – and make you smile." He called as she rushed into the main reception before turning from his view.

Gar walked out of the hallway- which was the central hallway of the med. bay and only just wide enough to fit four people squashed side-by-side.

He stopped quickly when he nearly ran into a confused looking red-head, her green eyes wide as she stopped.

Gar raised an eyebrow; it was just his luck to run into two beautiful girls, though both beautiful in a different way; Raven was somewhat stunning to look at, whereas this girl had the 'cute-factor'.

"My apologies, I was told this is the med. Bay… entrance. Is it?" She asked, her British accent adding to the cute-ness.

Gar grinned, "Yep." He replied, "You're name?" He added, deciding to try and seem professional.

"Kori Anders, I'm a recently resigned, I guess you could say, Police Officer from London." She explained, straightening herself slightly.

Gar's eyes widened; she was like an Amazon or something – he felt tiny next to her… though that was a bit of an over-exaggeration .

She seemed oblivious to his amazement as she continued to speak, "I'm looking for Richard Grayson; I patched him up after he was shot and took out the bullet, but he left after I went to bed – I tend to go to bed early so I can wake up to see the sunrise." She said, and Gar could feel a headache coming on as he listened to her, "But he forgot to take the bullet back here, so the police here could scan it to find the perpetrator… I'd take it to them myself but I don't know where to go." She finished sheepishly.

Gar watched her for a moment, trying to process all the information, "Uh… I'll show you." He said eventually, "I'm Gar Logan by the way."

Kori smiled, "Thank you." She said, before slipping into a nervous silence as Gar led her back the way he came.

Eventually, they reached the doorway that led into the room where Richard was lay, the nurse tending to another patient in that ward.

Gar motioned for Kori to stop, which she did though raised an eyebrow in confusion, before he stood at the doorway.

"Hey Richie." He greeted his partner.

Richard looked up, "What?" He asked boredly, casting a glance to the window at the end of the ward and frowning at the clear day.

"I've got someone here who wants to see you." Gar replied, smirking, "She wants to give you a nice big cuddle, with kisses and-" he was stopped by a pain in his toe where Kori had slammed her foot.

Why was it that today he was being abused by women?

Kori stepped into sight, "I didn't say anything about 'cuddles and kisses'" She told Richard, who watched her curiously. "When you left my apartment you forgot to take the bullet with you." She said.

Gar could see the sudden guilt in Richard's eyes.

"I didn't mean to leave, but Raven had a right go at me so I had to." He said.

Kori giggled lightly, "You had other business, so it doesn't matter." She assured him, "I would've preferred if you'd told it to my face though." She added, obviously getting satisfaction from his guilt.

"I- you were asleep, I didn't want to wake you." He said.

Kori burst into light laughter, "Jeez," She muttered, something to which both Richard and Gar raised their eyebrows to, "And I thought I was easy to fool. I'm only joking with you Richard."

Richard frowned lightly.

Kori smiled, going over to sit on the chair beside his bed, "I have to be quick though, there's a workie coming to my flat to fix the plumbing – it's kind of messed up." She said.

"Am I the only one confused here?" Gar asked from the doorway, "What the heck's a workie?"

Kori's light giggle filled the room, "A work man, hopefully a very muscular one." She added thoughtfully, missing the momentarily shocked look on Richard's face, "Anyway," she continued, pulling out a sealed clear bag with the bullet inside, caked in dry blood, from her pocket. "Give this to whoever can scan it to find out who shot you, and please tell me when you find something. Here's my mobile number." She said, pulling out a slip of paper from her other pocket and handing it to him.

Richard stared at her somewhat blankly, "Uh, dude?" Gar spoke up, "I think she means cell phone."

Richard glared, "I know what she means." He said bitterly, knowing that wasn't the reason he had stared at her.

Kori smiled, "Anyway, I have to go – I need to be there when the workie is." She said, "I'll try and visit sometime, and you're welcome to visit me too." She added, somewhat shyly.

Gar grinned, "Aww, does Richie have a girlfriend?" he asked teasingly.

Kori replied with a grin of her own, "Yes, as far as I know he has two; me and Raven." She replied, knowing that wasn't what he meant.

Gar frowned thoughtfully, "No I meant girlfriend as in… girlfriend." He said slowly.

Kori smiled, "I know, but why not tease you when you tease me." She replied, causing Richard to laugh. She stood up, arching her back into a stretch – her top coming up slightly to reveal a toned stomach, "Good bye Richard." She said, sending him a short wave as she rushed to the doorway. "And thank you Gar." She added.

"Bye." Richard replied finally, "And his name is Garfield." He added, causing Gar to glare at him.

Kori's lips twitched, "What a cute name." she said.

Gar glared at the two, "You guys are just jealous that I have a better name." He said, pouting.

"You hit that right on the nail." Richard replied sarcastically, at the same time as Kori said, "Very much so."

Kori smiled sweetly, before starting down the hallway, "Goodbye Garfield." She said, a teasing tone in her voice.

Richard laughed, while Gar frowned.

"Dude, you're just on her side 'cos you fancy her." He said.

Richard rolled his eyes, "What a retort." He stated dryly.

"Whatever dude." Gar said, "I'm going out… Seeya."

Richard laughed lightly, "Seeya." He said before a frown crossed his features; he weren't supposed to be getting on with his partners.

Gar walked down the hallway, oblivious to Richard's thoughts as he wondered what he could do for the rest of the day.

"Wonder if Raven's out of that meeting yet…" He muttered, still intent on making the unemotional girl smile.

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Yaaay!! Finally updated, lol, have been soo busy recently, but finally done it. I hope its …good :s and I also hope it wont take as long for me to update it next.

I wanted to start hinting at a sub-pairing, if you can't tell by now then shame on you!!!