Author's Note: Hi all, I'm not dead (love the new p!nk cd). I'm uber sorry that I haven't updated in a while. I figure that Making Mr. Right might be easier to finish so I did that a lot, little did I know I would get severly blocked. I know its not an excuse butI had to juggle a lot of schtuff, such as my AP English exam (a first year university course,I hadto memorize 5 novels and be able to quote them by heart), the Sears Drama Festival play, Skills Ontario competitions, interviews at the Ontario Science Centre, and the fact that I haven't been home for more than a night in over two weeks due to several overnights and competitions.

Ok, enough with the long winded apology. On with the show.

BTW: in case you don't read Making Mr. Right, I'm retiring from fanfiction. I'm going back to my first love, script writing (notice how all my stories are either based on movies or sound like they should be movies)

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.

Chapter 23 - Why?

She was panting. She had to get out of there. Despite the weather, the temperature had risen quite a bit. Raven and Gar got… carried away. When she finally realised, he was too far gone and his eyes had glazed over in a daze. His hands were still on her hips, her arms around his neck. Each covering the other with the warmth they both needed, neither minding the cold breeze brushing past their bodies. And how cold must he have been, his back still drenched in sweat from the dance and only his thin linen shirt to cover him. She at least had his jacket.

They both broke from the kiss heated, neither wanting to let go but knowing they must. Then came the sudden realization of where they were. Two of the hosts gone for God knew how long. Quickly, though reluctantly, Raven pushed away and rushed back into the hall, hurriedly fixing her hair where Gar found his wandering hands; undoing her nicely done up hair and feverishly running his hands through. Of course, she couldn't get it up the same way so she decided to keep it down and hoped that the rest of her looked normal. She felt sort of bad for leaving him out there in the cold, but how would it look if they were caught? It would just add fuel to the already raging fire of the media.

As she stepped into the hall, as composed as she could make herself, she was grabbed by a strong hand and dragged away.

"Jinx! What are you doing?" screamed Raven as Jinx dragged her into the women's washroom, nursing her sore arm. Jinx was oddly strong. You wouldn't see it by looking at her petite frame but the woman could bench-press hundreds of pounds.

"The question is, Miss Roth, is what are you doing making out on the balcony while your gala is going on?" Jinx crossed her arms and tapped her foot, resembling an irritated mother, but somehow not since Raven recognized the mischief and joy in her eyes.

"For you information I wasn-"

"Before you say what you're gunna say, your lipstick is smudged," she said with a smirk. She quickly turned to the mirror and saw what a wreck she looked like. Her lipstick was indeed smudged and her hair was a wild mess. Not to mention she was still wearing Gar's coat jacket. Was she really about to step into the hall looking like this? She gave up on trying to fix the lipstick and just decided to wipe it all off, running into one of the stalls and grabbing a handful of toilet paper.

"These damn things come off so easily. One cup of coffee or one-"

"Passionate kiss with an international thief?" Raven slowly turned as it dawned on her.

"You knew?" Jinx just smiled and shrugged as if it were nothing, "Victor?"

"Victor."

"Victor," said Raven with a faux glare, "I should've known."

"Should've known he can't keep anything from me," Jinx said with a laugh. Suddenly another woman came into the washroom and smiled politely at them, they smiled back. Jinx grabbed Raven's arm again and whispered close to her ear.

"There are a lot of things I know that you don't."

"Why?"

He didn't mind doing the job. As a matter of fact, he didn't mind at all. One could even say he enjoyed it. A perverted, sick pleasure. Of course he did nothing of the sort, nothing so feral so primitive. Just what he was told.

"Why?"

But that didn't mean he didn't enjoy it. Doing a job others might turn away and find repulsive. But it wasn't repulsive to him. It was beautiful, it was art. That's why he was asked in the first place. Because of his history in it.

"Why?"

Masterful art. The turn of the wrist as an artist would stroke a brush. The soft swish-swish­ sound becomes music to the ears. Sculpting mutilating. A drop of blood, like a drop of paint. To the select few, the chosen ones, who could see beauty in what others found horrific.

"Why?"

Albeit it wasn't art, was it? It wasn't creation, it was destruction. Deprivation of life.

"Why?"

She didn't scream, not once. Very brave of her, but useless. It wouldn't have done her any good to scream any ways, but her bravery was admirable. Stupid, but admirable. She wanted to keep what of her dignity she had left. There wasn't much. Not when she sold it to the devil. The cuts on her face, those were first. Two under each eye, like tribal marks. Then her hands, her feet. All of the… expenditures.

"Why?"

Stripped, soaked, then hung to dry. Like an overused dirty piece of clothing. Then she looked in his eyes and said the one word she uttered,

"Why?"

And she was gone. As he grabbed the back of her head and stretched it back, exposing her long neck, he whispered,

"Why not?"

As Raven made her way to her office the next morning, there was an air about the halls. An unsettling feeling that she couldn't shake. But she was so completely out of it, she was on a level all her own. The gala was magical, she had to admit, and now she was walking on clouds, floating on air. Though despite how she personally felt, there was a tension in the room as she stepped into her office. There she found Vic and Karen huddle around Jinx who had her face in her hands. On the opposite end Dick stood with Roy and two other police officers who were furiously jotting down notes.

"Raven," she heard Gar call her name from his post, staring out the window.

"What's going on? Why is everyone in my office?" Her eyes jolted from one person to the next, reading the expressions on their faces and not liking any of them.

"Rae, sweetie, you better sit," offered Jinx who rose from her seat. Raven accepted, still shaking her head in puzzlement. Jinx gave her a weak smile and crouched down in front of her and took Raven's hands, resting them on Raven's knees. He opened her mouth as if to speak and stopped, back pouting her lips and rubbing her already red eyes. Just then Victor came up behind her and rested his hand on her shoulder; she accepted his nod to explain.

"Raven," Vic started, "Last night, a body of a young woman was found on statue at the centre of Queens Park." Raven began to worry; Queen's Park was a 5 minute walk from here. Her and several people who work at the ROM often went there during lunches.

"Um… They've ID' the body… I'm so sorry Rae… it was Kori."

She couldn't comprehend, for a minute there she thought he said 'Kori'. The body couldn't possibly have been Kori. She looked to Dick and the cops who had all stopped to watch her reaction. Could it?

Dick's eyes hid behind his dark tinted glasses, leaving him expressionless. If he was mourning, they couldn't tell. Jinx's eyes began to water again as Raven felt her own sting at the sides. Kori? Her personal assistant Kori was murdered? Things like this didn't happen, not to her. Not here, not now. Suddenly she couldn't breathe; she began to pant as Gar shoved his way through and grabbed her waist. He turned into a blur as she felt her eyes involuntarily roll behind her head.

Jinx watched as gar carried Raven into Victor's office and kneeled by her seemingly slumbering body. He had quickly caught her when she fainted back in her office and frantically asked Vic if he could take her to his office, that she need her space. He rushed her, carrying her bridal style, down the hall, heads turning to see what the hustle and bustle was about. Now he sat there, so close to her. His head was in his hands and his whole body read genuine concern. Jinx tightened her grip around Vic's arm as they both watched on in sadness from the doorway. Vic then grabbed the door and gently closed it as to give them their privacy.

"Are you okay babe?" He asked her, looking into her eyes. They were still red from when they had heard. They were told much less formally, with far greater disregard for how the parties might react upon hearing that their friend and co-worker had been brutally murdered.

Vic remembered that morning when Jinx picked up the phone; she had suddenly turned pale and nearly dropped the phone were it not for Vic who was there to catch it. They had both requested that they be able to tell Raven personally. And judging by her reaction, it was a good thing that she was with people when she heard.

Jinx nodded, "Yeah, just a little shaken up. I just don't understand Vic. Why?" Vic grabbed her around the waist and held her close, giving her a soft kiss on the forehead.

"I don't know, why. But I do know is that you're safe. I'll take care of you I swear. And I know that Gar is gunna take care of Raven. You'll both be fine."

Jinx smiled as she pushed away from his hug and they both began to walk down the hall to the communication's room.

"I know we will. God, I can't wait 'til this exhibit is out of our hands and this damned curse is lifted."

Raven found herself lying on the couch in Victor's office. Turning and squinting her eyes she met with the worried green eyes of Garfield. She felt warmth around her hand as he grabbed it and held it in his own.

"Rae, are you ok?" She dumbly nodded and attempted to sit up only to fall back down.

"Where is every body else?"

"They've gone to deal with things around the museum. But you, are you ok?" She nodded slowly.

"Tell me, how…"

"Are you sure you're ok? I mean-" She nodded quickly cutting him off.

"I'm sure."

"Okay," he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up further, "They found her this morning, 'round 3, 4 in the morning, tied up to the statue. Her hands were bound behind the statue's head and her feet tied down with rope."

He paused for a moment and took a deep breath as if to get his bearings straight. He hadn't been there, no, he didn't want to see that up front. Unfortunately he had seen pictures. It was gruesome, horrifically so. It almost seemed as if the killer enjoyed it. Gar could almost see it, him leaning over her beaten body, breathing his hot breath on her skin. Strong arms lifting her limp figure onto the statue, slinging rope around and binding wrists so small as hers. He could hear her crying, sobbing within herself. He could smell it, the blood, once you've smelt that, you don't forget it.

"She was naked but what they found unusual was that her clothes were found neatly folded on a park bench not too far away. Her wallet was there, that's how they ID' her, and there was $164 in untouched cash. They said there were initial signs of struggle, rope burn marks around her wrists and ankles, and slight hints of torture, cigarette butts on her torso, knife cuts along her ribs, her face. But no dead skin cells in her fingernails. No evidence of who…"

"Was she? Was sh-"

"No. After her body was taken down they did a thorough assessment, she wasn't raped."

"Oh," Raven gathered up her strength and managed to sit up, propping herself up on the sofa's armrest, "Then what do they need with me?"

"As you might already know, Kori didn't have any family here… She marked you as her primary contact." Raven felt her eyes stinging again. This wasn't happening. Kori was like a younger sister to her. She was sweet, beautiful, and smart. Who would want to do that to someone so… innocent?

"They need you to sign some release papers and arrange her funeral," he watched as she worked through the situation in her head. It was a lot of information to take in, not to mention the fact that it was so shocking. He thanked God that she didn't have to see the body to identify it; Dick had gone earlier to do that.

"But, Rae, if you can't right now I understand. I can take ca-"

"Thank you Gar, but no. I'll take care of it myself. She was my friend." They sat in solemn silence as they listened to nothing but her quickly shortening breath and the sombre hum of the building. He watched as her eyes began to water again and gentle tear rolled down her cheek. Gar raised a hand to wipe it away and kept it there, tenderly caressing her face. She leaned into his hand and closed her eyes.

"Raven, listen, this wasn't a random killing. They didn't just pick her off the streets 'cause she's a random woman walking alone. She was your personal assistant, your secretary. She had access to your file, your office, everything. She knew everything about you that anybody who'd…" He couldn't finish his thought, "And I think that's why the targeted her." She could hear what he was saying but she didn't want to. Then she felt his other hand cup her face and bring her gaze to meet his. His eyes pleading worriedly at her.

"Rae, you're in danger. This was a sign, a warning that you could be next. And who knows what information they got from Kori," she tried to turn away but he turned her again, "Listen to me. I don't want you to get hurt. I don't want anything to happen to you, and you're a target. You're the main target, the curator of the ROM."

"What do you want of me?"

He sighed and brought his face closer to hers, "I want… I want to take care of you. I want to protect you. I want… you to trust me." His eyes seemed to scream for her, Trust me! And she wanted to, she was so tired now. So tired of playing games, so tired of pretending to be strong. She wanted him to hold her, and as if he had read her mind Gar let go of her face and brought his arms around her in a tight embrace. He squinted his eyes closed as he held her tighter, never wanting to let her go just in case. He wanted to be around her constantly, to protect her, to watch over her. He would go to any depths of hell to keep her from harm, he gladly kill anyone who threatened her.

She took a deep breath and whispered in his ear, "I trust you. Be my shield." And so help him God he would be.

Dick walked swiftly down the hall, cell phone pressed urgently against his ear, threatening to burn a hole in his cheek. Behind him Roy and Karen struggled to catch up. Swearing frustratingly Dick snapped the cell phone shut so hard it may have snapped in half in his hands.

"Whoa, Dick, wait up," called Roy. Panting, he and Karen slowed as they reached Dick.

"What do you want?" Dick impatiently put off.

"What's the hurry, bud? Can't you talk for a while?" Roy grabbed Dick's shoulder and forced him to a stop.

"Yeah," interrupted Karen gently grabbing Dicks other arm, "Dick." Karen and Roy held onto either side of him as if he were an escaped fugitive. He glanced, surprised, at both of them then he smirked and began to chew on his tongue. His demeanour eased up as he realised what they were doing and a thin eyebrow rose from behind his glasses as he rolled his head sideways.

"Alright, I see what this is."

Karen feigned a shocked expression, "Why Dick, we only wanted to talk."

"Talk, huh? Listen, I know what you're thinking," he shook them off his arms and straightened his suit. Dick took a step forward and turned back to look at them, taking off his glasses and wiping them on his shirttail. His usually tame blue eyes arrogantly egging them on.

"But I had nothing to do with Kori Anders' death."

"Who said anything about her death?" asked Roy. But Dick was smarter than that; he knew exactly how these police types worked. They always think they've got you figured; the key is to stay a step and a half in front of them. So when they zig, you zag, when they turn left, you turn right and when they bark at you expecting you to back down, you bark back.

"Well, officers-"

"Detectives," corrected Karen.

"Detectives, you have clearly come here to talk about the case at hand. Otherwise, you both shouldn't be talking in here with me; you should be sitting in your little white van outside eating donuts and drinking coffee. But aside from that, Kori and I had been dating. That doesn't make me a suspect that makes me a relation to the deceased. You should be staying out of my way and letting me mourn instead of rubbing your damned suspicions in my face, such as you are."

"You have to admit though, Dick, that it looks pretty bad for you," said Roy, tucking his hand in his front pants pocket, his other hand resting on his belt. He didn't buy Dick's little boyfriend in mourning façade. Little rich boys like him went through women like regular people went through socks. If you lose a pair, no problem, you just go out and buy new ones.

"Yea, you get involved with this girl and suddenly she gets brutally tortured and murdered," Karen crossed her arms in front of her and kissed her teeth, "Doesn't look good buddy."

"Well, I'd say it looks great from here," Dick stared Karen down, "But of course it would, because I'm at no fault. You don't even have evidence against me, all you have is lousy speculation."

"Dick, let me tell you something," Karen glared as she took a step forward meeting his challenge even though he was clearly taller than her, "There is no such thing as a clean murder. There's always something you can go back on, something killer forgot. And if I find any-"

Roy pulled her back, it wasn't wise to threaten Dick Grayson. Dick smirked as he watched Roy try to calm Karen back down.

"Miss Beecher, I suggest you get your facts straight. You don't know who you're dealing with her girly," he mockingly spat at her. He knew they couldn't touch him, with one wave of his hand he could have them disbarred for wrongful accusations and speculation, and maybe he could throw in a little malicious intent there too.

He gave Karen one last vicious wink as he put his glasses back on and took a step towards Roy, whispering in his ear making it loud enough for Karen to hear, "Roy, old boy, do try too keep your bitch on her leash."

With that he walked away, chuckling as Roy struggled to hold Karen back from jumping on him.

"Relax Karen, he's just trying to get a rise out of you," Roy harshly whispered into her ear as he held her back.

"Well it's workin' 'cause I feel my blood pressure risin' alright," she stopped her advances and worked on fixing her mussed up clothes. She stared into Roy's eyes and he felt the anger emanating from them.

"He's an incredibly pompous asshole," Roy sighed, "But he's right. We can't touch him. Not without real evidence, not just a gut feeling and a general dislike for the guy. And you know he could take us down if he wanted and he wouldn't even have to break a sweat. So just calm yourself, if it was him, then take him down by the book."

"Yea, you're right. I just wish I could take those damned glasses of his and shove them down his cocky little throat," She turned to the front doors and started walking, "Let's go. You know, it's times like these that I wish I smoked."

Garfield quickly arranged for a separate housing for Raven. He was on the phone with a place on Spadina Road but they had put him on hold. He wasn't about to let her go back to her loft alone in a dangerous like hers after what happened. After all, he as Kinyago got right in and out of her loft with easy. Although given that his former 'partner' wasn't as nearly a capable a thief as he was, he could still get in there with brute force as opposed to the finesse that Kinyago had.

Gar wanted to kick himself. Shit, he thought, I shouldn't have blown my cover. I'd know why that damned Red X was by now if I hadn't. Why did I have to be so stupid? He couldn't get the images of Kori tied to the statue out of his mind. He kept picturing Raven in her place, that brute laying his filthy hands on her. He could almost see her tears, hear her cries. Thoughts that almost brought him to tears. He didn't want that to happen to her, he wouldn't let it. He would spend every penny he owned to keep her safe.

"Hello Mr. Logan?" The woman finally came back on the phone. Her heavy Chinese accent apparent.

The place on Spadina wasn't the most glamorous of places and wasn't nearly as nice as her old place. Actually, it was a dump. He had seen the places along Spadina, which was Toronto's version of New York's Chinatown. Spadina was the busiest of busy streets downtown, always lit by traffic and various Asian shops selling everything from illegal bootlegged movies to exotic fruits. The smells there weren't always the greatest nor were the people too friendly, but he had rather put her there than leave her where she was.

"Mr. Logan, everything is good. Your account checked off and we will bill everything directly to your office."

Gar muttered a quick thank you and hung up. Her new apartment was above a small Chinese restaurant called Swatow. He actually knew the place and the owner, it was one of the few good places along Spadina that served good food and kept to the sanitation laws. Gar had arranged that all Raven's needs be met, if she were hungry they would give her food, no questions asked, the bill sent to his office back in Chicago. Of course he was paying for everything. Raven offered to do it all herself but he wouldn't hear of it. The least he could do was this for her.

What she didn't know about his plans was that the apartment was a two bedroom; he was going to stay with her. He was going to keep his room at the hotel and tell no one about neither of their moving; he didn't know who to trust anymore. Despite the location, Chinatown being the last place you would find a woman like Raven, and the constant watch of the owner, and busyness of the street, Gar didn't feel that she was safe unless he were with her. He knew it was a very male egotistical thing to think, but he couldn't help it.

He turned to watch her, sleeping on Victor's couch using his suit jacket as a blanket. Her face was scrunched up as if in pain and he couldn't bear to see it. He would go to any extent to see her safe and happy. She had been happy at the gala, she didn't want to show it but she was. That little episode on the balcony did her good. He felt her insecurities melt away with his kiss; her walls fall down with his touch. She had finally let him in, without words. Of course, he smiled at the thought, she would fight with him. Always. Her pride getting the best of her, not wanting to seem too weak or too needy, even though he knew she was. That Raven on the balcony was the real Raven, that Raven that cried for Kori was the real Raven and he wanted to see more of her. He told her he would keep her safe, and he would.

A/N: HA! Betcha didn't see that coming didja? I did say before that I was going to kill someone off. There it is. Kori Anders, deceased. Betcha didn't think I'd kill of one of the five did you? That murder scene was brutal, kinda reminded me of my original story Babel, which is also unfinished, in my fiction press account. WowI haven't seen that thing in months.

I also managed to slip in a quote or two from my play, they're the wierd sounding lines like, "What do you want of me?" That's not a typo, its actually of. Well see you next time, I have a feeling that this story is far from over. I'm ecstatic about them moving in together, hoping not to make it so emo angsty.

Making Mr. Right will be finished by the end of this week, I swear.