A/N: Wow. Yesterday I wrote chapter thirty-something before I had any of the other chapters done, just because the idea popped into my head. Wow. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter. Sorry I didn't get it up sooner, I had a power outage.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Teen Titans, thank you very much.
TT2
Monday September 14, 2019
IMPORTANT A/N: (I had to put this A/N in the story to make sure EVERYONE reads it) I made slight changes to chapter 11, and you won't understand the story unless you go back and read it. Now on with the story.
Days had passed and it was now only a week and five days until Richard and Kori's wedding. Kori was ecstatic beyond belief. Don't get me wrong, Richard was too, but Kori was ecstatic to finally be able to plan her perfect wedding.
She was sitting at her secretary desk, devoid of work, looking at a magazine with possibilities for her bouquet in it. She looked up and saw a tall man, wearing a bowler and a long gray overcoat. He was carrying a small briefcase, which he promptly set down on the floor before her desk.
"May I help you?" Kori asked politely.
"I have an appointment to see Mr. Grayson," the man replied in a deep baritone voice. "For three. I am sorry I am a bit early."
"That is ok. You are-?" Kori began.
"Mr…Connors," the man replied hesitantly. "That's what the appointment should be under."
"And indeed it is. Safety precaution Mr. Connors. Any whack-job could just come in here and say they have an appointment," Kori joked, with an endearing chuckle. "I'll buzz him to tell him you're here."
"Ok," the man replied, tipping his hat.
Kori rang the buzzer that went to the intercom in his office. "Richard? Mr. Connors is here to see you," Kori told him sweetly.
"Really? He called twenty minutes ago saying he was going to be late…suppose he got his tire fixed faster than he thought. Send him in," Richard replied, and Kori could hear the shuffling of papers.
"Mr. Connors, you may go in now."
The man smiled, picked up his briefcase, and pushed open the door. Once he had entered Richard's office, to see Richard coming forward to greet him, he dropped the briefcase and swung violently at him.
"What the fuck?" Richard asked as he dropped to the ground to avoid getting hit. "Connors, are you on crack?"
"Hello Richard." The man removed his bowler and grinned maliciously, dropping it onto his briefcase. The man standing before him was a tall blonde, with shaggy hair and bits of black, his face a bit gaunt, but his features handsome. So Richard wasn't looking at Thomas Connors. He rolled backwards and stood deftly, aiming a roundhouse towards the man's face. He bent back and avoided it, but once he bent back up, Richard punched him in the face. He grunted and reset his jaw, before scrambling up and punching Richard in the gut. Richard barely winced, but was blown back when the imposter struck again and hit him in the eye.
"Aw what the-" Richard got up, clutching his eye and swinging at the man, effectively hitting him upside the head. The man, from his position on the floor, swiped at Richard's feet and brought him to the ground. In the process, he had hit his head on a wooden coffee table. Richard moaned in pain, but got up anyways, his head ringing unbearably.
The man came forward and tried to punch him again, but Richard formed an "X" with his arms and blocked it. He kept trying to strie, but Richard backed up and continued to deflect him each time. He used his desk to launch himself over and use his call-box. "Kori? Kori?"
The man swung his fist and effectively broke it. Richard's head snapped up and the man's fist was coming for his head, but he ducked. He jumped onto his desk and squatted to low kick, which struck the man in the chest. He was blown back, but didn't fall. Richard leapt forward and jumped on the man, wrestling him to the ground and punching him unmercifully.
The man spat in his face, and disgustedly, Richard wiped it away. In the time he was occupied with doing this, the man kicked him back. Richard stood, beginning to feel just a bit out of sorts. The man, dazed a little, did a jump kick but Richard grabbed his foot while he was midair and brought him to the ground. Richard tried to step on his chest, but he rolled and sprung up.
The man punched Richard, and there was a loud crack. His nose was broken, and now bleeding profusely, and he dropped back, leaning against a coffee table for only a moment. Richard staggered up.
"Just won't die, will ya?" the man asked, jump-kicking towards his gut (but hitting his ribs, hearing an audibly sickening crack) and then punching his jaw. This time, Richard was down for the count.
The man he had been fighting immediately ran to Richard's desk and began shuffling through papers, until he found what he was looking for in the bottom drawer. It was normally locked, but was unlocked since Richard had been previously using it.
"Nice," the man breathed, looking at what he had uncovered, before running back to his briefcase, locking it up tight, and putting his bowler back on.
Just outside, the real Mr. Connors showed up for his appointment. Kori stated that was impossible, since Mr. Connors had already shown up, but he produced an ID and showed he was, in fact, the real Mr. Connors.
"Richard! Richard!" her voice came through the intercom. "He's an impostor!"
But the man began towards the door, just as Richard regained his strength, and began crawling towards him. He managed to get up in the process, speeding up to catch the man, but the impostor had crashed through the office's large double doors.
"KORI!" Richard gasped when they were out in the main room. "Catch that man!"
Kori stood up abruptly and ran around her desk. She immediately took off, flying at top speed towards this mysterious man. He sped up, but Kori immediately let free four of her starbolts and two of them successfully burned him. They slowed him down, but he did not stop. Instead, he jumped over a banister and landed on the next floor down, in the middle of an open lobby. Kori warmed up her eyebeams and shot many times, but he dodged them each time.
It was a while (and a few damages) later until Kori had chased the man out of the building. She had not successfully caught him.
Kori flew up to where she had last seen her husband and, now walking instead of flying, pushed through a crowd of people to get to him. "Richard!" she cried when she saw him, lying propped up on the floor, with a hand over his ribs and blood over his face.
"Kor," he returned, using his free hand to hold her neck and kiss her when she arrived next to him.
"Oh dear X'hal, what has that horrible man done to you?" she asked frantically. "My poor little-" she cut herself off. Kori removed his hand from his ribs and unbuttoned his shirt, inspecting the area. "Give him room!" she ordered to the people around her. "Somebody, contact an ambulance!"
"I'm on it!" someone shouted from the end of the crowd as the rest of them backed up.
"You have a broken rib or two," Kori informed him.
"Since when are you the little doctor?" he asked.
"Ever since I read 'Medic Basics for Dummies'," she replied. Richard knew for a fact that had been a book in their library when they had been Titans. "He beat you up very badly."
"Trying to make me sound weak?" he joked.
"No, just trying to make you sound lucky. You could have been injured much more extensively than you were," she responded.
"I'll be fine. I promise. I've been in worse situations…can't think of any now, but-" Kori chuckled slightly, through the tears that were beginning to pool in her emerald eyes. "Don't cry, I'll be-" he hissed in pain "-fine."
Kori smiled and kissed him on the mouth, until the paramedics had come to take him away. Kori rode with him in the ambulance all the way to the hospital, where she was then forced to wait in the waiting room while he was patched up.
Kori, in the meantime, took out her cellular phone and dialed in Kimi's number. "Kreo," Kimi greeted in her native tongue, knowing it was her mother. She often talked in Tamaranian with her mother.
"Kimiand'r, Gaktu bor neaa leto su ogna," her mother started softly. "Tas su pakand'r."
"Daddy?" Kimi asked, her voice quivering.
"Kim-bay, what's wrong?" Kori heard in the background, the voice of Danny. "Kimi? Kimi, don't cry."
"Tas no sekruu. Refrakkt deo bokta," her mother told her.
"Mommy…is he ok?" Kimi asked. "Who attacked him? How serious is 'not serious'?" she began spouting off questions, becoming hysterical.
"He will be fine," her mother replied as their conversation turned back to English. "I am in the emergency room right now, and I was not sure if you would like to come wait with me until he is released…so you may see him."
"I will be there soon," Kimi replied. "I love you, mommy."
"And I love you, too, daughter," Kori replied, as the other line clicked. Kori flipped her phone closed and then inserted it into her pocket. It was about twenty-five minutes until she was approached.
"Kori Anders?" A doctor asked, peering up from a paper over a pair of thick-rimmed spectacles.
"That is me," Kori replied, eagerly jumping up and coming towards the doctor. "How is Richard? Will he be the OK?"
"Why, yes, he'll be just fine. It's just two broken ribs, a broken nose, and a minor sprain in his wrist. He'll be fine by the wedding day," the doctor replied with a friendly smile, pointing to the engagement ring on her ring finger.
Kori blushed. "Thank you, sir. May I go see him?"
"Of course. Follow me." Kori did as she was told and followed the doctor in through a pair of swinging doors. After a few minutes of walking down a bright white hallway, he had led her into a small area with only one bed. On that bed was her fiancée. He was topless, his back against the headrest, with a bandage around his ribs and a bandage on his wrist, as well as a bandage on his nose.
"Richard!" Kori squealed, running forward and throwing her arms around him.
"Glad to see you too," he replied as she pulled away and incessantly kissed his face. "I told you I'd be just fine. There was no need to worry. I always bounce back." The doctor inconspicuously evaded the room.
"And yet I worry as if I were your mother," she replied with a chuckle, cradling his face gently and kissing his forehead. "You scare me. You have ever since you were a teenager."
"You don't need to be scared for me," he told her. "Like I said, I always bounce back."
Kori smiled gently and once more wrapped him in a gentle hug. "Well, you sure scared me today. I could barely catch the man because I was thinking about the condition I had seen you in. I love you." Kori pulled away and looked deep into his eyes.
"I love you-"
But Richard was cut off by an impossibly girlish squeal. In seconds, his vision was clouded with onyx. "Daddy!" the mass of black squealed, pulling back and looking at him. "Oh I was so worried! I thought when mom said you were in the hospital you were going to die or something! I got so hysterical, it took Danny twenty minutes to calm me down! We were sent after that man, but they only told us there had been an attack…they didn't tell us it was you!"
"I'm fine, Kimi. I'm just trying to explain that to your mom. Tamaranians may be tough, but Richard Grayson is tough too!" he exclaimed, sitting up but wincing visibly.
"Speaking of…" Kimi trailed off and pulled up her shirt a little to reveal the long, raw scar that Baron had left yesterday. "Look at what that-" she was about to swear, but for her father's sake, refrained "-jerk, Baron, did to me!"
Kori gasped. "My poor baby!"
"That looks like it hurt," Richard commented, looking at her with worry-filled eyes. "Do you need medical attention for that?"
"Naw," she replied. "I can barely feel it. With skin like leather and bones like titanium, it barely hurt." There was a hint of smugness in her voice. "Tamaranians are tough."
"Half-Tamaranians are just as tough as full-Tamaranians, too," Kori added. "Women and children are actually the toughest of them all. That's why half the warriors on Tamaran are women. They're the toughest of all Tamaranians."
Richard chuckled. "Well, I'm just glad that doesn't hurt you. I couldn't forgive myself if I let my daughter join the Teen Titans and then get seriously hurt. I know we went through it as teens but that's different!"
Kimi raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms defiantly over her chest. "Oh yeah? How so?"
"Well-uh-" he cut himself off and began to think. "Well, maybe it's not different, but you get my point!"
"Actually, dad? No, I don't," she replied, questioning him with her eyes. "What is your point? That because I am younger than you were when YOU were a Titan?"
Richard sighed. This was going to take a while.
TT2It was about an hour later when Richard was released that they went back to Wayne Enterprises, only to collect Richard and Kori's things (though it took a while with workers stopping to give their condolences), before they started homeward. Kimi had bade farewell (after a long and compassionate goodbye) and started to fly off towards home.
Richard was on the phone with Garfield, who was currently at work, when they arrived home. Kori turned on his web-cast and turned it so she could hear but it would not interrupt their conversation.
"Can you believe it? Who would want to just senselessly come and beat me, with hundreds of people there, just to steal a piece of information on the Stone project?" Richard asked him, resting on the couch. Kori came and took a seat next to him, interlacing their fingers. "Yea, of course you can tell Rae…ok, you get back to work…Kori sends her love…bye."
Almost instantly, as the song on the web-cast came off, Gar's voice came on. "And we have breaking news. It appears there was a robbery at Wayne Enterprises today. Richard Grayson, 29, was attacked while in his office today, and a piece of one of his latest projects was stolen. Grayson, a good friend of mine, got off with only two broken ribs, a broken nose,and a sprained wrist. The police are still looking for the attacker," he announced. "On a happier note, Jump City kids are going to be finishing their first day of school this time in exactly one week, so to honor those kids who'll have to endure prison for next nine months, we'll be playing teenaged indie-rock and alternative non-stop from twelve to five, commercial-free. Rock on, kiddies. You've got a good mix of music coming at you so don't touch that dial…if there were a dial…well you get my point. This Gar, out."
A new song began to play, and Kori began to hum along with it. "Did you call Victor?" she asked, looking up at him as she rested her hand on his chest. "He is sure to want to know information on your project together was stolen."
"Oh, right," Richard stated, apparently just reminded about that little piece of information. "And we're going to have to fill the Titans in on what we know."
"Right," Kori trailed off thoughtfully. Then, realization dawned upon her pretty face. "Richard…Richard! Do you think this has something to do with the break in at STAR labs? And I bet it has something to do with this 'Baron' character's break-in at Wayne Enterprises a few days ago!"
"It very well could," he replied. "In fact, I bet it did have something related to everything else."
Richard reached for his cell phone and began dialing in Victor's cell-phone number. "Vic?" he asked when he heard someone pick up.
"No, it's Jenna," the feminine voice on the other line replied. "He's in the bathroom, hold on a second."
TT2"Victor!" Jenna called as she pressed the cell phone to her shoulder to reduce the sound on the other line. "Vic, baby, it's Richard!"
"Coming!" he replied. He came jogging down her hallway a few seconds later, entering the kitchen, and gratefully taking the small silver machine from her. "Hello?"
"Vic, look, we need to talk," Richard told him. "You have gotta get to my house ASAP, something happened that might be a problem."
"What happened? Sounds serious," Vic replied.
"I'd rather not say until I see you in person, but there's been another break-in," Richard told him seriously. "I was attacked."
"Aw man," Vic breathed. "That's horrible. I'm with Jenna right now, but I'm sure-" and while he said this next sentence, he was looking at her remorsefully "-she'll let me make up our dinner date and swing by."
"Go," she responded hoarsely, a small smile working its way across her face. "I'm sure whatever's that 'horrible' is more important than a silly dinner date."
"Thanks, Jen," he replied softly, resting a palm upon her cheek. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes, ok? Yea, I'll see you then…Bye." Vic flipped his phone closed and put it in his pocket.
"I guess you have to go?" she joked with a small smirk. "Call me, and I'll decide whether I'll let you make up our date or not."
"Aww, I'm sure you will. You're just a big sweetie," he replied.
Her smile fell. "Yea," she replied, though not very convincingly. "Look, call me after you're done, ok? I want to hang out tonight, if that's possible. There's something I need to tell you." He looked at her questioningly. "I'll tell you tonight, ok?"
He nodded in agreement. "I love you," he whispered, wrapping her in a hug. For a short second he pulled back and kissed her forehead tenderly. "And I'll see you tonight."
"I love you too," she mumbled, hugging him tightly. "I really do. Don't forget that."
He pulled back and looked at her funny, but she dismissed this look with a wave of her hand. "I just wanted you to know. Now get along. I don't want the Titans complaining about me holding you up."
"Don't worry, they won't complain if I have anything to do with it," he replied, his arms lingering around her waist. "They'll just have to wait a few more minutes while I say goodbye to my girlfriend. Isn't that right, Miss Jinks?"
Jenna smiled. "Of course." She kissed him on the lips, savoring his taste, before interlacing their fingers. "Call me, ok?"
"Ok," he replied, letting her fingers slip from his. "Love ya."
"Right back at ya, tin head," she joked softly, watching him turn around the corner. It was moments before she heard the soft click of her apartment door.
It was only a minute or two later that her cell-phone began to vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out and flipped it open, before pressing the small device to her ear. "Jake?"
"The one and only," the voice replied smugly.
"I-I can't do this," Jenna stuttered softly. "You know how you were talking about going against the HIVE and all? I think we should. I can't do this to Vic. I think I really love him."
"Jen, snap out of it. I'll get Matty over there if you're having second thoughts. We need to go through with this," her surrogate son replied. "Remember what Master always says."
"Right," Jenna replied awkwardly. "Well…I'm going through with the second half of Phase E tonight. I'll send you confirmation at midnight. What's your plan?"
"Tomorrow night I have to complete my objective for preposition eleven," the boy on the other end replied. "Look, just pull yourself together before tonight and we'll be fine, ok? It's not that hard if I can go through with it too. Jake, out."
"Jenna, out."
Jenna collapsed into her kitchen chair and let her head fall into her arms, before beginning to weep endlessly.
TT2
It had been a week. A lousy week. A lousy yet somehow quite fulfilling week.
Garfield had done everything in his power to show Raven he loved her before her was unexpectedly called to battle. The monday morning of the confrontation, he cooked her breakfast in bed. That night he took her to diner. The next day he took off work to go to work with her, claiming it was 'take your fiancee to work' day. The night after, Wednesday, he cooked a romantic dinner and they had a moonlit picnic in the park, staying there well past moonlight. On Thursday they attended a club, where they met up with Vic and Jenna (by accident). On Friday they went to see a horror movie of Raven's choice, a remake of an advertised "true story" called Amityville Horror.
On Saturday and Sunday, they stayed in. I think you can figure out what they did those nights.
Raven slept silently beside Garfield on Monday night, sleeping lightly, her boddy pressed up against his side and one hand on his chest. He laid awake, staring, unblinking, at the ceiling. Suddenly, as he stroked her hair, Raven jerked away from her previously peaceful slumber.
"Oh Gar," she breathed softly. "I had the worst dream. I woke up, and you weren't here. I tried to find you, but you were gone," she whispered, snuggling into his warmth in the crook of his neck. "Don't ever leave me, ok?"
"I won't," he replied, continuing to stroke her hair, though he knew it was a lie.
"Good," she sighed contentedly, cuddling back into his warmth and closing her eyes as if she was about to fall asleep again. "I love you," she whispered, barely audible. Her arm came up and rested over his chest.
"I love you too." He pressed his lips to her forehead and she smiled gratefully into his armpit.
He sighed, and before long, Raven was fast asleep. He felt lucky, for the time being, that he had not been called upon yet. They promised it would most likely be within the week (they probably needed to get prepared for their mission), but at this point it seemed it would be about two weeks before he was called upon. "Hey Rae," he started softly, knowing she couldn't hear him, and grateful for that fact. "Ever since I was eighteen, you've been the most important woman in the world to me. I was such an immature young kid, and I don't blame you for hating me."
He flashbacked to the moment they started dating, then to the moment they both realized they were in love, then to every date they had ever gone on. He flashed back to every important moment in their relationship. It had all been such a perfect relationship up until now. "Remember our second date?" he asked, smirking softly as he reminisced. "Getting attacked by reporters wasn't exactly the date I wanted, but I still got to spend it with you."
"You're the most important thing in the world to me. More important than the doom patrol. But maybe making you happy involves going off to fight. I don't want you to live in a world with danger. I want you to be happy and safe," he whispered into her ear, closing his eyes and snuggling towards her. "Maybe that means I have to fight, even if I'd be away from you. Maybe I have to fight," he repeated in a soft voice, feeling consciousness slip from his grasp.
Within moments, he was fast asleep.
TT2