Footsteps Of An Angel
"Death Leaves a Heartache No One Can Heal, Love Leaves A Memory No One Can Steal"
Ch:9 – Family Ties
Astrid had her gun pointed at Kory, her finger on the trigger.
"You're going to kill me," Kory said slowly, "You don't have to lie about the DNA."
"I don't think a distraction is necessary Kory," she replied, "We both know it isn't going to stop me from pulling the trigger and getting rid of you once and for all."
Astrid was looking at Kori with narrowed black eyes, which were gleaming dangerously, as she walked nearer to her victim.
"I think Roy forgot to tell you…" started Kory, "That I can take care of myself."
With one quick movement she kicked the hand in which Astrid held the gun, letting it fly up. And punched her neck to paralyze her for a few moments, in which she caught the gun.
Astrid looked outraged as she charged at Kory only to be shot in the leg.
"I don't twice about shooting someone, even my own sister." Kory finished as she put the gun in her jeans and knelt down beside Astrid, "Game's over, Astrid."
"Not yet, Kory." Astrid glared back.
Before Kory could take another step she heard a car in the driveway and Alfred could be heard talking in panicked tones. She looked back at Astrid and without a second thought punched her square on her nose, she cried out and cursed as Kory quickly tore up a bed sheet and firmly tied back Astrid's hands behind her back.
In the meantime Richard and Xavier raced up to the room and burst in, they both stood in the doorway taking in the scene in front of them.
"Alfred heard a gunshot," Richard walked in towards Kory, "he thought it was you."
"It was" she replied, "I shot her leg, we need to take care of it before she loses a lot of blood"
"Will somebody tell me what the fuck is all this?" Xavier looked at her sharply.
"Rachel's gone, X" Kory turned to him, "Roy has her."
-Cut-
The room was clean, spotless. There was a chair in the middle of it where they had placed her after Alfred had stitched her up. She wasn't tied but she knew better than to escape, so she sat, waiting patiently what they will come up with. It was thirty minutes later that Batman walked in, his mask on.
"Oh, I think we're frank enough Bruce." She sneered at him, "There shouldn't be any secrets."
"Where is he keeping her?" he asked.
"No where I'm going to tell you." she was enjoying it already, she thought to herself.
"I can get it out of you."
"Can you? You can kill me now if you want to but you won't find him either way" she flashed her perfect white teeth again as she settled back and crossed arms across her chest.
"You think your loyalty is worth his while?"
"He doesn't give a flying fuck about me, I know that much." Astrid narrowed her eyes, "Give me that much credit Batman, I'm not an idiot."
"Then why are you here?"
"None of your business!" she snapped at him, "Are you gonna waste all your time on me or are you even gonna try to find my… other half?"
Astrid chuckled as he stood silently in front of her and then exited, locking the door behind him.
"Well?" Xavier eagerly came forward.
"She won't talk." he replied, making his way to the control system.
"The hell she won't." his vision red with anger Xavier started going in to question her when Richard stopped him.
"Don't go in there, she'll make you feel worse" he said quietly.
"I need to know where that bastard is keeping Rachel!" Xavier struggled when Richard held him back, "Let go of me."
"He's right." Batman's voice left no room for further arguing, "She'll get to you."
"Fuck you all…" Xavier pushed back his brother and took a few steps back to show his defeat.
Kory went to Xavier and put a hand on his shoulder, "We'll find her X don't worry-"
"Don't." he put up a finger to stop her, the look he gave her was fierce, "You don't say anything, Kory."
He was struggling with himself to control his emotions and temper but couldn't help it spiraling forward like a torrent towards her, "Just don't say anything"
Her eyes were wide and she took in a slow breath, his tone was insolent and she knew she couldn't blame him, "I'm sorry, Xavier. This is my entire fault."
"You're damn right it is!" he yelled into her face, "Thank you so much for coming back into our lives with your never ending problems Kory! I cannot thank you enough. If you hadn't come back Rachel would be right here!"
There was silence after his little outburst. Kory stared at him and kept her mouth shut as he breathed heavily, Bruce didn't pay any attention and Richard stood beside Xavier.
"Don't talk to her like that," Richard's tone was firm, ever so slightly threatening, "We're all in this together X and we will find her. I promise you."
Without giving a reply Xavier stormed out of the Batcave, guilty for snapping at the people trying to help him and angry at them at the same time. "Do you think he'll do something stupid?" Kory asked Richard and Batman with concerned eyes.
"I don't think so but you never know." Richard replied as he went towards a cabinet fixed into the wall and started digging into it, looking for something.
"How can you be so sure?" Kory raised her eyebrow.
"He's not me." Richard turned around with a syringe in his hand, "Now let's get your blood for the DNA test."
-Cut-
Richard had been right, Xavier was sensible enough to not do anything majorly stupid. After a little cursing at himself and the air around him (plus some physical encounters with the wall that tested his kicking abilities) he had gone up to his room.
How could he have been so stupid? How could he not have known it wasn't Rachel? He was Xavier Redd, Red X, he was supposed to be good at these kind of things. And screw that, whoever he was he should've fucking known his girlfriend had been replaced.
He paced around the bedroom, which was perfectly kept and clean all regard to Alfred and his firm supervision of the cleaning staff. Then he started taking in the small irregularities, things that the real Rachel would do. Decorate the ivory swans on the mantel piece in a specific order; the secret panel on her dresser where she kept her journal was dusty which meant it hadn't been opened in a while. The files from her company that she was supposed to go through were also untouched and other similar things.
Xavier cursed again, how could he not have seen this? Was he so absorbed in his work that he had actually ignored her? He felt furious and guilty for not being more vigilant, how could he have let this happen? And god knew where Roy was keeping her and what they were doing to her, and Trevor and Emily. Roy was going to pay for all this; he was going to make sure of that.
There was a knock on the door and Kory came in without waiting for an answer.
"We need something for Rachel's DNA," she said quietly, "I'm taking the test."
Xavier nodded and went over to a set of drawers and fished out a small wooden box with a stained glass lid. He opened it to reveal a lock of dark hair wrapped neatly in a thin silvery thread.
He wordlessly extracted a single strand of hair and gave it to her. "Thank you." She said before turning away to leave.
As she reached the door she heard him say, "I'm sorry, Kory, for taking it out on you."
"It's okay," she turned around, "It is my fault that we're all in this mess."
Xavier shook his head, "It's not." He said firmly.
"Yes, it is." Kory went to him and took his hands in hers, giving them a squeeze. "And I promise you, I will bring her back to you."
He looked into her intent green eyes, worn out and tired, and then nodded, saying that they both will get what was taken from them no matter what is takes.
-Cut-
Kory strapped the holster onto her thigh, making sure the gun was secure and then straightening up she arranged the skirt of her dress to fall naturally. She glanced at herself one last time, her still blonde hair French braided neatly with her own deft fingers, a long flowing red dress with a slit up her knee and black heeled pumps. She would've still looked worn out if it weren't for a beautician brought in by Bruce especially for tonight.
Richard had been outraged at the idea of going to the charity ball, this was not a time for attending a fucking ball, he had said. But Bruce had a point; they had to act normal otherwise someone might find out about the missing heiress. Kory, if it had been some other life time would've declined to go but in this damned life time of hers she had to.
"For Trevor," she said to herself. "I am doing this for Trevor."
Taking a deep breath she went down stairs to join Bruce and Richard. Red X and Batgirl were on patrol, they were going to track down the last known position of Roy from where he had contacted Astrid on her communicator. Kory had found the communicator in Astrid's things, cleverly hidden in the lining of a bag.
It was going to go according to plan, if she remained calm and put on her best smile for Richard. Richard… He was so closed up since last night, obviously furious at Bruce but he wasn't talking to her as well. Not much anyway. He didn't even sleep beside her last night, working late in the Batcave. It wasn't as though she had slept either but after he had told her to get some sleep she realized she was a little useless in the whole mission. So she had quietly gone back into the house and went up the stairs, angry and helpless. As she had crossed Xavier's and Rachel's room, the idea had struck her. Astrid must've used something to contact Roy, when she worked for Slade they used decoy phones in case they got caught but the real contact took place from special communicators.
After looking through every possible hiding place she had come across Astrid's communicator, there was a single new message on it but it wasn't for Astrid, she knew that.
She could tell, it was for her own self.
-Cut-
The ball was in full swing when they all stepped out of the limo. Bruce immediately adapted his smooth playboy persona and was engulfed by some people he knew. Richard stood unmoving and stiff by Kory's side, arm in arm. She knew he was so worried sick he couldn't even bring himself to pretend for a few hours.
"Just two hours, baby" She murmured softly so no one else would hear them, "Bruce said we can go back after two hours and during that time Red X and Batgirl are sure to track down something."
"Hopefully." He replied curtly, without a glance he kept on walking forward.
"I'm as worried as you are Richard Grayson," Kory's nails dug into his arm as she pulled him back, hissing in his ear, "Trevor's my son too, I've spent three fucking years with him and you've met him once. He's mine as much as he's yours but that sure as hell doesn't give you the right to be an asshole."
"I think after spending three years, living with the guilt that I couldn't save my girlfriend from the hands of crime and the fact that she burned to death will make me more edgy when a bastard kidnaps my only kid. And I've met him only once cuz I never knew I fucking had him, and I think that makes it worse. To think I'll never get to see him again." He hissed back at her.
She glared at him for a few seconds before saying, "So much for putting up a good act."
"Kor…" Richard started but she brushed past him and into the milling crowd and disappeared. He sighed wearily and ran his finger through his gelled hair, messing them up. "Fuck you, Grayson." Then cursing under his breath he started walking after her.
"Please tell me you've caught him and coming back home with Rachel, Emily and Trevor." He spoke in his ear piece.
Far away from the Roth Mansion, Red X and Batgirl were leaping over roof tops. It was getting cold, the wind wasn't that strong but when they ran it pierced through their senses, dark clouds brewed in the dark Gotham sky and the moon was nowhere in sight. Xavier gave a sarcastic laugh at Richard's words, "Okay, I caught him and I'm coming back home with Rachel, Emily and Trevor."
He stopped on a rooftop to catch his breath and Batgirl landed beside him, Richard ignored him and continued, "Where are you?"
"That ware house had nothing." Batgirl replied, "The weird thing is that we found something on the floor, cherry blossoms, hundreds of them."
"Cherry blossoms?" Kory's voice cracked into their conversation.
"Is there any place we have fucking cherry blossoms here in Gotham?" Xavier asked, frustrated.
"Yes," Kory replied almost immediately, "Slade's house had a few cherry blossoms."
Richard considered this for a moment, "That is not an answer to why the warehouse had blossoms."
"Do you think it's nothing? Or Roy left us a clue on purpose?" Batgirl looked at Red X who was looking at a hologram map of Gotham.
"I'd say it's a clue, it could be worth checking out." he said, looking up.
"Alfred, I want you to hack into Slade's old home, see if the place is vacant or not through the security system, if Slade lived there, there has to be a good system installed." Richard said.
The second he finished Alfred replied, "Already halfway through it Master Richard, there is no record of the house being used but the feed from the cameras might help determine that."
"Okay, good." Red X nodded to Batgirl as they both took off, "We're on our way anyway."
"There are guards stationed at gates, no vehicles in sight. The lawns have nothing of significance but I can see more guards, they're armed." Alfred told them, "I'm going to try to break into the indoor cameras."
"Roy will only have armed guards if was hiding there himself or keeping something there, in any case there could be anything there that'll be useful." Red X said, panting hard.
"There's something suspicious about this whole situation, we're missing something." Richard pointed out.
"He's right. It could be a trap." Kory said.
"What else do you have in mind?" Batgirl stopped to consider but Red X didn't stop.
"I don't care, I'm going in."
Batgirl sighed and went after him, she knew he was running on rage and desperation and nothing was going to stop him, "I'll let you know when we get there." She told Richard. "And don't worry; I'll keep an eye out for him."
"Thanks Babs." Richard let out a long breath and accepted a glass of champagne. He still hadn't spotted Kory and that only added more to his worries. Asking her won't do any good; he knew she was mad and will probably avoid him the whole night. If only this fucking party would get over with so he could go back to finding Roy and beating the shit outta him. Take the kid back to his mother, Rachel to Xavier and Emily to Gar.
"Is Vanessa home?" Richard stood at the front door of Emily's house.
"No, ah, no she's out to get some things," Emily replied, a little confused to see him, "Can I help you with something?"
"Yeah, um, I just came to drop off this… Thing…" he reached inside his coat pocket to retrieve a CD case.
"Beyonce?" Emily raised her eyebrows in amusement.
Richard looked a little uncomfortable, "Vanessa mentioned her son wanted one so I thought…"
Emily smiled to ease his discomfort, "That's really sweet of you."
"Could you give it to him?" he held it out, he just wanted to get out of here. Coming here was a bad idea, what was he thinking? Of course Vanessa wasn't Kory. Her son isn't going to prove otherwise. It'll just make him feel worse.
Emily, looked back over her shoulder to the noises from the TV coming from inside, "He's watching Tom and Jerry, why don't you come inside, give it to him yourself?" She wanted him to meet his own son; it was about time and only fair. Even if he didn't know it was his own child.
"No, I'm in a hurry-" he was cut off by the appearance of the little bright eyed boy, his shock of black hair, his big blue eyes and curious expression. The little boy could've been his own.
"Trevor, this is Dick Grayson. He's come to see you." Emily smiled brightly and picked him up.
"Hello, mister, nice to meet you." Trevor solemnly extended his small hand.
Richard, despite his astonishment and overwhelmed state, had to smile, "It's nice to meet you too, Trevor." He shook his little hand, "You're a smart little guy."
"Mommy tell me to shake hand and say, 'Nice to meet you'" he replied happily. "I like mommy." He added with a bright, yet shy little grin.
"Yes, I like your mom too." Richard replied, "Well, I came here to give you something."
Trevor squealed with delight when Richard handed him over the CD, "Bon-see!" he exclaimed and clutched his gift tightly. Richard and Emily laughed at his reaction. After Emily reminded him to thank Mr. Grayson for his gift, Trevor insisted that Mr. Grayson came in and joined him to watch TV.
"I like youl watch." Trevor poked his Rolex with a finger, "is it new?"
"No, actually it's quite old." Richard replied, "My uh, brother gave it to me."
"You have a brother?" his little eyes widened in wonder, "Do you two play with toys?"
Richard laughed, "Yes, we do."
"Do you make pictures with clayons? My favorlite colol is blue!"
"Um, no." Richard made a sad face, "Mine's red."
Trevor's face also fell, "I want blother too, big blother. 'Cuj I have no dad. Mommy say I might get one if I wish hard enough." He stuck out his bottom lip in a pout.
Wow, smart little guy indeed, Richard thought with a pang in his heart. What the hell was wrong with him? Why was he feeling so soft with this kid? "It's good that you don't have a brother, Trevor." Richard told him, "He would've taken all your toys and broken them."
Trevor seemed to consider this a moment, then beamed, "You're my new friend, Mister."
Richard felt tears sting his eyes; he gasped and gulped at the vividness of the memory. Trevor… If only he knew, if only he knew it back then. He would've told the little kid that he didn't need a big brother because he had a dad, his dad was right in front of him. "It's me!" he wanted to scream in his memory, "It's me!" He imagined Trevor's delight and that bright smile of his, so like Kory's. He imagined hugging his tiny body, picking him up, ruffling his hair and kissing his temple. Trevor.
His son, Trevor.
His right hand unconsciously covered his Rolex on his left hand, the same one he wore the day he met Trevor. He had lied then; it was given to him by Bruce. But he didn't want to mention his dad in front of a kid with no father. He needed to get back Trevor, he needed to. So that he could tell him that he was his father and so that one day he could give him a Rolex when he grew up.
"Kory, Kory where are you?" his voice was a hoarse whisper as he called out to her.
The tone of his voice must've overcome her anger at him, "Richard? What-"
"I need you, now. Please." He managed to say, his throat tight.
As if by magic, she was there beside him before he knew it and leading him away from the crowd of people. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Kory" he said as soon as they were alone.
"Sh, Richard, it's okay. What happened?" she looked at him with worried eyes, cupping his face with her hands, warm and soft against his skin.
"I love you, I love you so much." He kissed her, again and again, small, soft kisses against her lips. "I don't wanna lose you, I don't wanna lose Trevor. I don't wanna lose my family."
"I know, I know" Kory replied, her voice breaking slightly, answering his kisses and then kissing him longingly as her own heart started welling up with the raw sadness of their situation. She felt Richard's hot tears against her cheeks, he was crying. She had never seen him cry before. And it made her heart break even more, to see him cry. For her, for Trevor… And it made it impossible for her to do what she had to tonight. But she had to do it. She had to.
Richard broke away to hug her, hold her tight against him, his face buried in the curve of her neck and shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him back, holding on to him with the same amount of desperation. "I'll get him back; I'll get Trevor back to us. And I'll kill Roy; I'll kill him with my own hands." Richard's voice was dangerous now, "I'll fucking kill that bastard."
-Cut-
It was snowing, light and soft. Batgirl and Red X continued making their way to Slade's house and they didn't stop to admire the small happiness.
"Less than a month till Christmas," Batgirl muttered to herself, "Joy."
Slade's old mansion was in the outskirts of Gotham, secluded and private, a lot like Bruce's. They both had their own and equal share of secrets after all. "We're almost there." Red X said to her and she nodded. They were on his X cycle and speeding their way down the road, Batgirl touched her ear piece, "Any update on the feed?"
"No, Miss Barbra, I haven't been able to hack into the indoor cameras for I believe there are none inside." He replied.
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"Positive."
"How many guards are out there?" Red X asked, stopping the motorbike a little away from their destination, "Is this snow gonna be a problem?"
"Snow?" Alfred sounded confused.
By now Batgirl and Red X had moved on and the main gate of the house was in sight, they both hid in the shadows and looked, they could make out the two shadowy silhouettes of men standing guard. "Yes, Al, snow. Don't you see it? And there are two men at the gates, is that all?"
Alfred hesitated before speaking, "But I don't see any snow in the camera feed."
"What do you mean?"
"Master Xavier, we have another problem." The butler sounded worried, he had decided to check on Astrid to see if she needed another dressing. But when he had turned around, he saw the door open to the room where Astrid was kept.
She was gone.
"She's gone, sir." Alfred's voice reflected panic and shock. "I checked on her twenty minutes ago. She was right there, she's gone!"
"What?!" Rex X exploded, "How the fuck did she escape? How could you let her slip right past your nose?"
"I…" Alfred sounded as perplexed, "None of the alarms went off, no nothing. I would've known."
"Holy crap," Red X muttered and punched a tree, "Find out how she escaped and tell me."
Batgirl looked at his masked face, then back at the gate, "X," she whispered.
"What?" he asked, not looking up.
"X," she poked her elbow at him, "Look."
He raised his head to look at what she was getting at, she had shone a torch at the gate and his heart dropped when he saw the two dummies standing beside the gates. "It was a set up." His eyes widened under his mask, realization dawned on him, "We need to get back. Now."
-Cut-
I guess I don't even deserve to explain such a horrendously long update. I had moved to college and it's been busy, busy, busy!
In any case, hope you all liked it.
Do let me know what you think. (If anyone's still reading. =|)
RainWalker
