Summary: AU, although it's oddly kind of a mix of Batman: TAS/TNA, JLU, and Teen Titans (CN) maybe a little from the original Teen Titans. However, still vastly different, really. It should be a fun ride.

Rating: M (it'll get there—probably.)

Author's (extremely apologetic and immensely grateful) Note: Let me begin with the bowing and scraping. So, uh. Three years. Yeah. I. Am. SO. Sorry. But if I'd forced it, it'd suck, and you don't want it to suck, do you? Right? Right. Secondly, WOW. Holy crap, this story is three years old and three years stale, and you lovely people continue to astound and mystify me by reviewing, actually saying things in said reviews, and still demanding updates, despite my despicably obvious procrastination and slackerliness. You guys rock so hard, I can't see straight. I completely and utterly fail to comprehend what keeps people coming to and coming back to this story, but I am made low and humble by your kindness and enthusiasm. May this third, much belated chapter stand a chance of living up to your expectations. More after the chapter.

Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim. I claim not.

--------------------------------------

↔Episode: 03↔

Look the Part

--------------------------------------

To a man who was used to the grime and crime of hard-edged Gotham, Jump City was a bit like falling through the looking glass.

Not to say that Jump was without its miscreants or anything less than your average city; there were the petty thefts, the juvenile delinquents out to paint the town red, and a normal margin of apathetic citizenry. But for such a large, sprawling urban center, Dick was almost shocked at how low the crime rate was. Perhaps Gotham had him ruined as far as his expectations in humanity went, but the overall surface peace of Jump City was almost… surreal.

Crouched among the sunset-shadowed glowering gargoyles keeping sentry atop Jump's St. Jude's Cathedral, Dick scanned the streets below him, wondering if Nightwing would be consigned this night to the foiling of a solitary purse-snatcher. He should be grateful there was no great wrongdoing needing his intervention, but as he stood, the wind running cool fingers through his hair, he felt strangely discomfited and disappointed.

Where were the rapists? The murderers and muggers? Where was the night-stalking revelry of costumed villainy? Not to say a world without such horrors was undesirable... it was merely impossible. Unbelievable. But try as he might, Nightwing couldn't seem to find the missing mayhem. Nor, though he searched and scoured, could he find why.

The police force was tough on crime, and their detectives were hard working, dedicated, good at their jobs. But not so good that their city should be as quiet as a sleepy suburb. It was absurd. Baffling.

"Maybe you're just being too jaded, Dick. Maybe this is why Bruce retired here," Dick muttered to himself. It made a certain sort of sense. Dick knew Bruce well; he knew Batman better. If he intended to well and truly give up the cape and cowl, relocating to a hotbed of criminal activity would not be the way to do it.

Frowning distractedly, Nightwing sighed through his nose and reached for the grappling gun on his belt. The quietude of Jump City was definitely a matter for further investigation. But at the moment, all was well—or well enough—and there were other matters to attend to.

Mentally cringing a little at the stack of paperwork sitting on his coffee table waiting for him, Dick fired off the hook at a distant ledge. As his body arced into the swing, he resigned himself to the "homework" Bruce had assigned him yesterday afternoon. Which he had been putting off until this evening.

Sighing again, Dick wondered just how seriously Bruce meant for Dick to be his heir. They both knew Dick wasn't giving up his mask any time soon to run a Fortune 500 company, and he rather personally thought the old man would never die. He was far too tenacious to consent to just lying down and rotting one day.

But until they quit playing at whatever game they were currently dancing around, Dick would play along and play the good son, though that meant who knew what drudgeries as property manager of the Heights Towers corporate housing complex.

After all, he already had to put up with that personal assistant woman. How much worse could this day job get?

Thinking back on his recent, remarkably childish behavior towards the frosty young woman, Dick felt slightly abashed. If he were to be perfectly honest with himself, he would have to admit that most of his animosity towards Roth was really misdirected aggression brought on by the new changes and questionable motives cropping up in his relationship with Bruce.

Perhaps this question of Jump City's tranquillity would provide a good focus for his energies, a suitable distraction from the comedy of errors his daily life was becoming.

Yes, he decided. He just needed a good mystery to obsess him. He never could stand an unanswered question.

--------------------------------------

"Oh, not my toenails too, Kori. That really is too much." Raven waved a hand in a weak attempt to shoo the beautiful redhead away from her feet.

Large, expressive emerald eyes showing no sign of relenting, Kori tilted her head to one side. "But dear Raven, I have already done your fingernails, and it only makes sense that your toenails should be painted to match." She donned her most beguiling smile, hand poised to dip the tiny brush back into the bottle of black polish. "Besides, you complained of a most terrible week; I wish to pamper you so that you may forget your troubles for a time."

Sighing, knowing she had lost the battle before she had begun to fight, Raven smiled fondly at the other girl. "Alright, but after you're done, we watch Shakespeare in Love and eat ice cream, and no more pampering. I don't like you waiting on me."

Kori merely smiled beatifically. "I do not mind. You do so much for me, it is the least I can do in return." Head bent as she carefully coated Raven's toenails in Sass'n'Sable, Kori inquired, "So this young man, he has been… troublesome?"

Raven snorted softly, checking her fingernails for dampness. "That's putting it lightly. He seems to go out of his way to be irritating in every way, and has seen fit to hinder me at every possible turn; it's taken every ounce of patience and control I possess not to send him into some of the more horrifying hell dimensions I could name."

Kori glanced up, her brows raised in surprise. "Surely you would not actually do such a thing? He has not been that troublesome?"

Raven frowned. "Close enough. And what's worse, I think he's been conspiring with Logan."

Starfire pursed her mouth in a way that hinted she was suppressing a smile. "Has Garfield been playing his pranks again?"

Mindful of her fingernails, Raven stopped short of raking a hand through her hair and settled for exhaling gustily. "Sour cream in my coffee, a rubber dead rat in my desk drawer, my screensaver changed to a grinning block of tofu… and every time, that damn Grayson 'never saw a thing'."

Kori laughed softly, smiling unapologetically when Raven shot her a look of affront. "It seems to me that Mr. Wayne was most correct in his thinking, Raven. This Grayson seems to be a very good test of your ability to control yourself indeed."

Scowling blackly at the carpet, Raven grunted her agreement. "He's lucky I haven't strangled him. That man gets on my very last nerve."

She missed Kori's quick, knowing smile.

"All done. There! Now do they not look lovely?" Kori grinned and gestured at her careful work.

Raven spared her toes an admiring glance and thanked her friend, affording her a brief but true smile. "Now, why don't you get the movie started, and I'll get the ice cream."

"Very well. Oh, walk carefully! Your toenails have not dried yet."

"Will do." Raven padded lightly from the living room and through the entry hall, the linoleum tiling cold beneath her feet when she entered the kitchen.

Retrieving a carton of triple fudge ice cream from Kori's freezer, Raven pulled down a pair of glass bowls and was rooting through the silverware drawers for a scoop when the doorbell chimed.

Setting the tablespoons in her hand on the countertop, Raven called to Kori, "I'll get it."

--------------------------------------

Dick scanned the page pinned to the clipboard in his hand, eyebrows taking a brief, skeptical hike up his forehead as he read the information provided on the printout.

"Apartment four-oh-two, Kori Anders, female, age 23." He scanned the block of text again, flipped the page over and frowned at the blank, white expanse, then reread the information he had just repeated aloud. The words didn't change, expand, or unravel to reveal their secrets.

Dick had been making his rounds all evening, introducing himself to the other residents of the building and connecting to them personally in order to assure a smooth business relationship. It had been a routine of handshaking, exchange of names, assurances that rent was not going up, and declining invitations for coffee or meals.

Until Apartment 402, Kori Anders, female, age 23.

This woman, Kori Anders, had been the last sheet in the stack on his clipboard, the last resident to visit, and the sole occupant of any of the three available two bedroom apartments on the fourth and final floor. And, unlike the sheets for other residents, the only information provided was her apartment number, name, gender, age, an account number for billing, and two contact numbers. No history, no background. No listed occupation. The other sheets—with one notable, mostly expected exception—had all been detailed and thorough, as typical of anything issued by Bruce.

Scratching at his eyebrow with a pinky nail, Dick shrugged and sighed. Bruce was probably playing more games, but perhaps this little interview would yield some answers.

He raised his hand, pressing the little glowing green doorbell button and listening to the newly familiar tune echo beyond the door. Someone inside the apartment called out, the words muffled, and he waited, slouching a little to appear more approachable, and preparing a slightly crooked smile to disarm and set at ease.

"May I help you?"

The door opened and the smile dropped off Dick's face like a fumbled football, his eyes popping wide and shooting to the clipboard in his hand like it had betrayed him.

"What the—what in the hell are you doing here?" Miss Roth snarled, her blank expression morphing into a scowl filled with exasperation and animosity. "Suffering your presence every day at work is bad enough; must you hound me at home?"

Dick was still baffled, and looked from the clipboard, to the secretary, and back again. "You're not Kori Anders. You don't live at four-oh-two."

This wasn't her apartment. She lived one floor below. He was certain of it; he'd deliberately avoided that particular address. So why was she standing here in a pair of gray yoga pants and navy wife beater?

The hostile frown on the young woman's face became a sardonic twist of the lips. "What an astute observation! Quite the detective, you are." Her face transformed again, this time into a guarded, wary look. "What do you want with Kori?"

"Raven, who is at the door? The previews have begun!" The sweet, musical voice preceded a young woman of exceptional and exotic beauty as the tall, slender figured occupant of the apartment came up behind her friend, her delicate features pursing quizzically as curious, luminous green eyes peered beyond the surlier girl's stiff frame. "May I help you?"

Dick opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Miss Roth's—Raven, so her name was; it explained "Rae"—hand slamming into the doorjamb, her posture changing so that she filled the entryway and blocked most of his view of Kori. "I'll be in the living room in a moment, Kori. Mr. Grayson was just leaving."

"Mr. Grayson?"

Raven winced slightly at the surprise and delighted curiosity injected into Kori's voice, and she realized she's said the wrong thing. She glared cold daggers at Dick as Kori placed a slender hand on the shorter woman's arm, and Raven made room for Kori in the doorframe.

Dick was blown away by the pure exuberance in Kori's smile. "Hello! Please, come inside; I have heard a great deal about you."

"Ah…" Dick reached for one of his much used excuses not to join any of the residents for any of their invitations, but when he saw Raven try to discreetly throw Kori a panicked glance—which she ignored—he smiled brightly in return. "Thank you very much. I'd love to."

Kori darted briefly down the hall into the living room, stopping the sound of canned laughter and returning to direct the small company down the short hall and into the warmly decorated area. "Please, come be seated. Let us make ourselves comfortable."

"Ah, I'll stand if that's alright. I won't be able to stay long," Dick demurred. "So what exactly have you heard about me?" He fished, sliding a sly, laughing glance Raven's way, though she studiously ignored him and reorganized a stack of mail on an end table beside the couch.

"Well, though Raven has said much," Kori smiled blindingly, guilelessly at him, "she had not said you were handsome."

Dick's brows arched over his forehead, and he smiled awkwardly at the compliment. It was an unusually forward thing to say, yet, strangely, he did not feel quite as if he had just been hit on. "Ah, thank you."

Raven scoffed softly, and he caught her rolling her eyes. His own narrowed just slightly—was it his imagination, or did she seem slightly, well, almost relaxed? Or as relaxed as someone who all but tangibly bristled could be. It was an odd thing to pin down, but she seemed to carry herself less tightly, guard her expression less closely than he was used to seeing in their daily routine.

Turning his attention again to the lovely Ms. Anders, he wondered if she had anything to do with it. Smiling, he held his hand out to the vibrant woman. "Well, whatever you've heard about me, I'm sure it can't all be true, so why I don't I introduce myself anyways. I'm Richard Grayson. You can call me Dick."

"You sure can," Raven muttered, catching his eye and glaring at him over Kori's shoulder as the taller woman enthusiastically shook Dick's hand.

"It is wonderful to meet you, Dick! I am Kori Anders. You of course already know Raven." Kori smiled brilliantly and turned slightly to include her friend in the conversation. "Is it not wonderful to make new acquaintances, Raven? He is not at all so bad as you told me!"

Raven closed her eyes briefly in a way that suggested she was gathering her patience. "Kori, that's… rather beside the point." Pursing her lips, she leaned a hip against the table and folded her arms across her chest, her hostile body language a stark contrast to her vivacious friend. "Is there a reason for paying this visit, Grayson? I assume this isn't merely a social call?"

"You are correct, Raven," he said her name deliberately, relishing the way the shorter woman's nostrils flared at his uninvited use of her first name. Turning again to Kori, he lifted his clipboard and smiled with a more easy charm. "Ms. Anders."

"Please, you may call me Kori! We are all friends now, are we not?" If it weren't for an almost childish sincerity in her face, he would suspect Kori of flirting with him. As it was, she seemed merely to be exceptionally friendly.

What on Earth is she doing keeping company with a cynic like Raven? He puzzled. "Kori, then." He returned her exuberant smile. "You may not know, but I'm the new property manager, and I just wanted to make sure I was familiar with all the residents, and all of you familiar with me. I was wondering if there was anything you needed done or made known about your experience living here that the previous property manager may not have addressed or acknowledged."

"Oh, not at all! Everything here is wonderful, and I am very grateful Mr. Wayne allows me to reside here." Kori sat on the back of the couch, hands clasped gaily in her lap as if she were conducting a television interview. Her personal charm was fascinating and disarming, so much so that he nearly missed the oddity of her words.

His pen pausing on his clipboard, he wrinkled his brow in a show of confusion and tilted his head curiously. "Pardon me. Did you say Mr. Wayne allows you to live here?" She nodded, still smiling sunnily. "You mean you don't work for him?" He scratched his pen cap against his temple when she responded in the negative. "I was under the impression that this was company housing, and inhabited solely by employees of Wayne Enterprises."

"Oh, Mr. Wayne was very kind and made a special exception for me—"

"Kori." Raven stepped quickly next to her friend, silencing her with a sharp, if not unkind, glance and a touch on her arm. Kori's eyes widened momentarily, and she tucked in her lips and blushed, chastened. Raven turned her attention to Dick with that carefully blank face he had become accustomed to at work, though there was a fierce intensity in her dark eyes that took Dick somewhat aback. In that moment, he felt as if he stood before an adversary ready to throw out all the stops against him, and a chill traced up his back. "I'm afraid that line of questioning isn't any of your business, Mr. Grayson. It should be sufficient for you to know that Kori is here under Mr. Wayne's full knowledge and consent. If you wish to know more, I would suggest asking him directly, though I doubt he will tell you."

Dick's politely curious smile had cooled to a slight curve of lips, less a smile than a recognition of challenge. "Is that so?"

"Yes." Raven lifted her chin, and Dick took notice of the way she held her hands at a slight, careful distance to either side of her, a posture one might mistake for openness, but no one practiced in the art of the threat and the following through of it would confuse her gesture of readiness for anything so innocent. "Now if that is all, Mr. Grayson, Kori and I were about to start a movie."

That wasn't in the least all, but for the moment, Dick was willing to put the matter off. "Certainly, ladies. Sorry if I've interrupted your evening."

Kori, recovering from Raven's scolding, smiled sweetly and made a dismissive hand gesture. "Oh, not at all, Dick. It was a delight to make your acquaintance. Shall I see you to the door?"

Raven caught Kori's eye quickly, and they seemed to exchange words in that glance, and by the way Kori lowered her chin, Raven appeared to have won a disagreement. "Don't trouble yourself, Kori. I'll see him out."

Kori smiled again, somewhat less brightly, and nodded at Dick. "Have a lovely night, Dick. I hope we shall meet again."

"That would be nice, Kori. Have a good night, yourself." Bobbing his head genially, he turned towards the entryway as Raven stepped beside him, keeping careful inches between them and folding her arms over her stomach very carefully. "Raven." He acknowledged. She glanced at him, but did not bother to speak, turning back toward the door and ushering him into the short hallway.

Dick followed her, clipboard tucked under his arm and eyes on the back of Raven's head. She opened the door for him and stood impatiently beside it, eyes narrowing on his diplomatic smile. No doubt she recognized the neutral mask from her time spent with Bruce. "Have a nice evening, Raven," Dick said politely as he passed through the doorway.

Back out in the hallway, he turned to see her barring the door with her body, the fierceness back in her eyes. Indulging in no pretense of civility, she waited to catch his eye before saying, "If I hear anything about you bothering Kori with unnecessary questions, I will make things very unpleasant for you, Grayson. We both know whom I work for and who raised you, and I'm sure you've picked up a certain curiosity as a consequence. Nevertheless, if you decide you'd like to sniff around, I will know, and there will be… repercussions." She raised her eyebrows demandingly at his pleasantly unruffled exterior, her mouth tightening at the corners. "Are we clear on this matter?"

"Perfectly," he replied coolly. He endured a narrow glare before she nodded, apparently satisfied, and without further address turned and shut the door in his face.

Dick strode towards the elevator, hands in his pockets and gait easy, whistling a little tune as his smile grew on his face. Raven was right. Growing up under the firm guiding hand of the Batman nurtured a natural curiosity to become a an unflagging appetite for mysteries and their answers. But while the puzzle Kori Anders represented was certainly intriguing, he would leave it alone, as promised. For now.

In the meantime, he had at last caught onto the puzzle that had been under his nose all this time, a riddle he should have taken notice of since the moment he was asked a question in the form of a sentence.

It was time he bent his mind to the question:

Who is Raven Roth?

--------------------------------------

AN: So, uh… heheh. Bet you guys didn't believe I'd ever actually update, huh? Not that I can blame you. Sometimes I didn't believe it either. But, here it is! Tada!! Although be warned this may get re-posted in a while with some edits and touch-ups, since this hasn't been run by the betas (I wanted to hurry and get it out to you), so keep a look out! As for this chapter…

So, Dickie-boy has met Kori, and finally realized he knows jack crap about Raven Roth, and that perhaps he might ought to, after all. This should make things interesting.

And what's this? Do I see insinuations of an actual possible plotline there at the beginning? I do declare! ;D Keep your eyes peeled, duckies. What's going on in Jump? Where are the villains? Where's Slade, Red X? The HIVE? Why is Jump so quiet without any heroes around? Where are the heroes?

These questions and more answered in further installments of Awkward Entanglements! I promise not to make you wait three years for the next one. 3

Review with any questions and I'll reply with any answers I can give you. Until next chapter!

Abbie

The Utterly Lame

PS: Next Chapter: More introductions—and action! At laaaaast…