A/N: I'm sorry it took me so long to update. Things have been kind of crazy in my life, and I just had exams a few weeks ago, and it all gets a little crazy, but things have settled down. I'm back from my hiatus! Yay!
Disclaimer: Teen Titans NOT mine!
TT2
Wednesday September 16, 2019
"What?" Vic asked her, blinking stupidly. So this was how Gar felt half the time.
"Don't speak. They can hear you," Jenna whispered in his ear. "Pretend I didn't say anything." She reached up and nibbled on his earlobe, pretending she had been kissing her boyfriend the entire time as Matty approached them.
"Other customers are starting to complain," he joked. "And it would do me good to not see y'all making out in my work area."
"Matty, stop being an ass," she joked back, but turned to Vic, making sure Matty couldn't see her face, and looked at him seriously. Jenna then put on a fake smile and turned back to Matty. "You're just complaining because you don't have a girlfriend."
The rest of the dinner was spent with light chatter, Jenna pretending as if she had said nothing before. Vic was still distressed over it; what was she talking about? Who was 'they'? He decided not to ask until they were presumably 'alone'.
It was a nice night, and they soon retired to the park, opting to take a late night stroll through Jump City Park. No one was around, and the night was clear with stars dotting the sky like fairy dust. Vic looked up, with one hand stuffed in his pocket and another around Jenna. She sighed softly and sadly.
"What's the matter? You seem rather...detached tonight," he commented softly, turning to look her in the eye. "Are you ok? Is something wrong?"
She was silent for a few moments, until they reached a bench. She quietly requested he sit down. Vic did as he was told, and she took a seat next to him, wordlessly. "Vic, there's something I need to tell you." She reached over and took his hand in both of hers. She looked down to their hands and then up to his eyes.
"Aw, Jen...Babe, what's wrong?" he asked, seeing her eyes were tearing up and her make-up was beginning to run. "Don't cry...shh...don't cry." He enveloped her in a hug. "Whatever it is, it's ok. We'll get through this together."
"No, I can't let you," she whispered in his ear.
"What?" he asked.
"Vic...I haven't been totally honest with you. I've been keeping a secret and I can't keep it anymore. I need to tell you..." she trailed off. "I'm still working for the HIVE." She pulled back and he looked as if he was about to yell, but she put a finger over his lips. "Let me explain," she whispered in his ear. "It's all been a set-up. Our relationship, our meeting, everything," she whispered. "The HIVE has been watching, waiting. They've brainwashed me. They need me to make my move."
"Jenna..." he whispered softly. "Jenna, say it ain't so."
"Vic, I love you," she murmured. "It didn't start out that way...you were just my newest project, but I learned I loved you ever since I first met you. I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to be me anymore. Help me."
He was speechless. Just hearing that took the words right from the tip of his tongue and left him with a feeling of senselessness. So he just let Jenna cling to him, letting her know he was here. He was here for her, no matter what.
It was a long while since either of them said anything, and Vic wondered why. He pulled away and saw she had fallen asleep in his arms, tears streaking her pink cheeks, her forehead red and blotchy. Vic sighed and picked her up, cradling her in his arms as if she were his child. He leaned down and kissed her forehead tenderly, before starting towards his car.
Vic slipped her in and buckled her in, before starting the car and beginning a slow drive back to his apartment. He'd let her stay with him tonight. God knows she shouldn't be alone in the state she was in. While driving he reached over and ran his hand over her hair, stealing quick glances at her but making sure to keep his eyes on the road.
"Jake..." she whispered in her sleep. "Go home..."
She was quiet thereafter, but he was puzzled. She was talking of her nephew in her sleep about him going home? Well, he couldn't blame her; he had strange dreams, too. He took a gentle curve into the parking lot, and took the nearest space. In a few minutes he had pulled Jenna from the car, successfully closed the door with his foot, and locked the car.
Vic trooped up to his apartment and fumbled with his keys a few moments before successfully unlocking the door and starting inside. He stumbled through the darkness and softly closed the door. With Jenna still asleep in his arms he walked to the bedroom and set her on the bed. From his closet he pulled out sweatpants and a shirt to let her sleep in for the night. Vic carefully took off her dress and slipped the clothes onto her delicate form, before slipping her under the covers.
Vic ambled back into the hallway to lock his front door, before joining Jenna in the bedroom. He slipped off his clothes and threw them into a hamper, before grabbing a pair of pants and slipping them over his boxers. He was about to climb into his bed when Jenna jerked awake.
"Jenna?" he asked.
"Vic?" she asked back. "Oh Vic. It's happening!" she exclaimed frantically. "Don't let them know you know. I-"
But suddenly she began having spasms, rolled over, and fell off the bed.
"JENNA!" Vic screamed.
He was about to jump over the bed, but she rose, her eyes glowing pink. She stretched one hand out, letting it glow pink as well. There was a malicious smirk on her face, and Vic could tell she was being controlled by a greater force; the HIVE. "Say goodnight, Victor," she spat, before letting her magic go and hit him square in the chest. He let out an anguished cry and fell backwards.
Then the world went black.
TT2
Thursday September 17, 2019
Kori and Richard had gotten a call that frightened them more than they thought possible. As Richard and Kori were watching TV the night after seeing Ryan (he recently moved one town over, so they would be seeing each other often), when their phone began to ring.
Kori excused herself from Richard's arm and went to go answer the telephone. She padded into the kitchen and nimbly picked up the portable phone. "Hello?" she greeted politely.
"Hello. Is this the Grayson residence?" a voice asked.
"Yes it is," Kori replied.
"I am Mr. Natures, Raven works for me over at the Moonlight Café," he announced. "I was just calling because Raven gave me your number in her resume as an emergency contact and I was wondering if you knew where Raven is. She didn't come into work today, and when called she didn't answer. I was just hoping everything was ok."
"Oh, I'm sure she's ok," Kori told the man sweetly. "I'm sure she forgot to call and say she couldn't come in today, and simply missed the telephone when it rang. Either way, I shall call her fiancee and make sure."
"Thank you," the gruff voice of her boss stated on the other line.
Kori hung up the phone and kept it with her as she sat next to Richard once more. There was a second or two of silence before he quietly asked, "Who was that on the phone?"
"Oh, it was the boss of Raven. He stated that she had not showed up for work today, and he was worried, so he gave us a call. I will call Gar and perhaps see if she took the day off and forgot to call in," Kori stated. She reached for the phone, but it began ringing again. Puzzled, she looked at Richard, then picked up the portable phone.
She watched it ring for a few minutes, before hesitantly turning it on. "Hello?" she asked in her innocent tone.
"Hello, is this the household of Kori Anders and Richard Grayson?" a gruff voice on the other line asked. "This isTrey over at AlternaMusic. I'm Gar's boss. I was just wondering if you had any idea where he's been over the past two days. He didn't come into work yesterday, he didn't come into work today, he didn't call, and when we called his house and his cell he didn't pick up either."
Kori gasped. "I will get to the bottom of this right away, and I will call you back immediately." The man obliged and immediately thereafter the two hung up the phone.
"What's wrong, Kor?" Richard asked.
"Richard, go warm up your motorcycle. We're taking a trip to Gar and Raven's house."
Richard did as he was told as Kori went up to her room to quickly throw on some clothes and grab her necessities. She ambled outside and saw that he was waiting there, on his motorcycle, revving it up every few minutes. He had a helmet on, and held one out for her. Kori took the helmet gratefully and climbed onto the back of the motorcycle. She gripped his waist tight, silently letting him know she was ready, and he took off.
"What's the problem?" he asked, turning his back only just a little so he could still concentrate on the road before him.
"Gar and Raven have been missing," she yelled over the roar of the wind as he sped up the pace of the motorcycle. "I worry for them, for no one has heard from them since yesterday. I hope nothing is wrong, but we must get there quick. I am having a feeling."
Richard nodded in understanding. Kori sometimes had feelings, and rarely were they ever wrong. This meant it was time to start worrying. "What do you think could be wrong?" he asked, a hint of anxiety in his voice. He began biting his lip, a common nervous habit.
"I do not know, but I do not wish to wait to find out," she replied. He took a sharp turn onto the main road and sped up a little more. "Raven and Garfield are capable of taking care of themselves, so hopefully it is nothing big. Hopefully this will only be a mere false alarm."
Richard drove in silence for a few more minutes until he took a sharp turn into the parking lot, parked in the nearest spot he could find. Richard slipped off his helmet and rested both Kori's and his on the handlebars. Anxiously she grabbed his hand and began dragging him towards their condominium. It was not long before she was avidly jogging.
"Hurry up!" she chided her husband.
He rolled his eyes. "Kori, it's ok, nothing will change if we don't get there faster. Don't worry, I'm sure nothing's wrong."
Kori, though, was not at all calmed by her husband's attempts. When she got phone calls form both of her best friend's bosses, and they both said her best friends had been missing for the past twenty-four hours, she got antsy.
And do you know what happens when aliens get antsy?
It's not fun. Just ask Richard. He has to deal with an antsy alien everyday of his life. Lucky for him he loves her so much he doesn't care. She dragged him to the entrance and quickly jogged up to their apartment. She knocked avidly on the door, but there was no answer.
"Raven! Garfield!" Kori called. She grew impatient and reached for the doorknob, but it was locked.
"Star, give me your hair-clip," he ordered of her. It was lucky she had decided to wear her hair up today. Kori obliged and easily took the clip from her hair, handing it to her fiancee. He expertly used the clip to pick the lock on the door, and within moments it swung open in one fluid motion. Kori flew into the living room, and hovering in the air, looked around for any sign of life.
No luck.
She flew into the kitchen.
No such luck.
She flew to the guest bedroom.
Again, no luck.
She flew into the guest bathroom.
As well, she had no luck here.
She flew into the family room.
Do I really have to repeat myself?
At last, Kori flew into the bedroom, with Richard right behind her. She gasped, letting her feet touch back down to the ground, and backed up so her back was pressed tightly against his chest. "Richard," she breathed, her voice shaking. "Oh X'hal."
Once Kori regained herself she walked forward, ignoring piles of ripped clothes, splintered furniture, smashed CD's, tossed jewelry, broken glass, and askew papers. Kori sat on the edge of the large bed, watching Raven with watering eyes.
Was she even alive?
Kori reached out and ran her hand through Raven's violet locks. The girl turned in her sleep, the one sign that she was still alive because her breathing was too deep and even to notice. Kori gasped once more. Her eyes were puffy and red, her forehead was blotchy, her lips were dry and her skin was paler than normal. Her face was gaunt and while she seemed emaciated in her face, she seemed to be gaining weight.
"Raven? Raven?" Kori asked, gently nudging her. "Oh, Raven, please wake up."
Her eyes slowly blinked open and Raven looked up at Kori. Almost at once she began bawling and reached up to hug Kori around the waist, crying into her collarbone. "Kori, he left! Kori he left me! The child...me...and he left...Oh Kori!"
"Richard, go start a pot of tea," Kori ordered of him. He nodded and left the room. Kori stood and picked up Raven, cradling her in her arms, before beginning out of the room, stepping around the piles of ruined paraphernalia. "It will all be ok soon, dear friend Raven."
"He left, Kor. It'll never be ok..." she wailed, wrapping her arms around Kori's neck and crying into her shoulder.
"Ok, let us sort this out..." Kori cooed, setting Raven gently on the couch and draping a blanket over her. "We need to know what happened to you so we can make you feel better, correct?"
Richard came into the room with three cups of green tea. He gave one to Raven, one to Kori, and kept one for himself. "Now, Raven," Kori started softly, patting her back after she set her cup of tea down on the coffee table. "Calm down...shh...that's right. Now what happened?"
"I-I came home," she sniffled. "Yesterday afternoon I came home to find Gar sitting on the bed, next to a suitcase. I asked him what was going on, and he told me he needed to go off to fight the Brotherhood of Evil."
Richard and Kori gasped.
"We got into a small fight and he told me this was something he needed to do...it was something he needed to do to protect me, to make sure I was safe, to make sure the world was safe for me to live in," she continued on, her hand wandering down to her abdomen. "I didn't have the heart to tell him I was...I am pregnant."
Kori gasped and her eyes darted down to Raven's stomach. She patted it softly. "You mean...he does not know you two are expecting a child in the near future?" she asked in her adorably naive way. "He left and you did not tell him?"
"I couldn't have him distracted by the mere thought of being father while at battle. I didn't want that to interfere with anything," Raven whispered, taking a deep swig of her green tea and sighing in relief. "I couldn't pluck up the courage to tell him something that big moments before he left to go fight."
Richard could predict tears, and put an arm around her as Kori took her cup and let Raven cry into her fiancee's lap. "Oh, it's ok Raven," he cooed softly. "I'm sure he'll be back soon. Gar would never want to stay away from you."
"I agree with Richard, Raven," Kori whispered softly, patting her back as she hunched over and continued to bawl. "He will not wish to be away from you for long. We all know he loves you and would do anything for you, even if it includes going off to fight with the Brotherhood of Evil to protect you."
Despite their attempts to calm her, Raven continued to snivel softly.
"Rae, c'mon, don't cry," Richard whispered, and Kori began to mumble meaningless words in continued attempts to hush their friend. "It'll be ok."
Richard looked to his fiancee. A frown was set in stone on his face, and his eyes were tired, those of a forty year-old.
"I'm not upset for how long until he comes back," she told them, looking up, fresh tear lines streaking her cheeks. "I'm upset over whether or not he comes back."
TT2
ThursdaySeptember 17, 2018
Vic slowly let his eyes flutter open. Before him was an agitated Jenna, wringing her hands and nervously looking him over. When she realized his eyes were open, Jenna threw herself at him in a colossal hug. "I'm so sorry! I'm so so sorry! I told you I was brainwashed, and-oh GOD! I didn't mean to hurt you. I was just-" she continued rambling before he gently pulled away and pressed his finger to her lips.
"Calm down," he told her with a small chuckle. "I'm fine, am I not?"
She bit her lip nervously. "I guess. I'm just-I feel horrible. Please, forgive me?"
"I forgive you," he told her, trying to keep a straight face, but he failed miserably and chuckled. "Really, you were just under mind-control. I don't blame you. I blame the HIVE, but I don't blame you."
"Oh, I love you," she gasped as she threw her arms around him once more. She pulled back and bit her lip. "Look, I was supposed to mind erase you about last night, while I was no longer under their influence, but I forgot. Just, tell anyone who asks that you passed out last night for...some reason..." she trailed off. "I don't know, but..."
Vic looked around as she kept trailing off. "Where am I?" he asked.
She blushed. "I needed to get back to my house, but I didn't want to leave you alone, so I used my magic to bring you back here so I could keep an eye on you," she told him. "I-" but she was cut off by a loud ringing voice.
"Mommm!" a voice rang throughout the apartment as the door slammed shut. Jenna's eyes went wide as she bolted up off the bed and ran into the hallway. There were quiet murmurings for a few moments, before Jenna gingerly walked back into the bedroom.
Vic watched as she walked back into the room, chewing her bottom lip. "My nephew left a change of clothes here when he slept over a few nights prior," she announced, her voice at an odd volume. "He slept over because my sister said something about-"
Then the front door slammed shut, and Jake seemed to be gone.
"Vic," she began, starting forward to sit next to his side on the bed. "Listen, there's more I still haven't told you. Everything is so screwed up that I can barely remember what I haven't told you and what I have told you. My life's been all downhill ever since the HIVE became murderous."
"Jen, what's wrong?" he asked, his hand coming up to rest over hers, and intertwine their fingers.
"I didn't tell you, Jake isn't really my nephew, he's my son," she explained. Vic's eyes nearly bugged out of his skull. "He's been my son ever since I was nineteen. Jake was given to me. He was five at the time. I wasn't told anything about his past, and he would never open up to me, but he's been a real reclusive boy. The first breakthrough in our relationship was when I was twenty and he was seven. He hurt himself, and he was crying pretty hard." Jenna looked away, willing unshed tears to pass. "I patched him up and told him he'd be just fine, but he said he was only crying because his mom used to do the exact same thing when he had a boo-boo. It was the only thing he had ever told me about his family."
Vic watched her intently as she wiped away her tears. "We've been close ever since, and we've always been a team, belonging to the HIVE. We've always talked about going against it, but were never able to. Like I said, they're murderous. They'd kill us. Ever since he's been my son, I've always loved him. I've always wanted to protect him. I'd die for Jake. For now, I told him to go to Matty's house until I tell him what's going on."
She rested her head against the headboard, watching him through her blurry vision. She smiled softly. "You know, I'm just waiting for you to up and walk out one of these days," she told him. "I guess that's what I expect you to do."
"I could never do that," he responded.
"And that's why you're different from other guys,"she whispered. "I just, I need to-"
but her cell phone rang and she jumped up to grab it from her bureau. She looked at the caller ID before flipping it open. She greeted whoever was on the other line with a stiff "yea?". She listened for a few minutes before an eyebrow rose. "What!" she exclaimed.
Vic jumped up form his position on the bed and came towards her, concern etched into his features. 'Jenna?' he mouthed. 'What's wrong?'
She ignored him blatantly and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What happened? He just left a note that said...?" Jenna gasped and dropped her cell phone. Vic's eyes widened as he reached forward and lightly grabbed her arms.
"Jenna," he breathed.
She broke from her trance and bent over to pick up the dropped phone. "I'll be right there," she whispered. She shut the phone and slipped it into her pocket. "Vic, I have to go," she told him. "I'll call you later tonight, if I get the chance, but for now I need you to get out." She grabbed her car keys and deposited them into her pocket as well. "I'm sorry."
"What happened?" he asked.
"I-I can't tell you," she stuttered quickly. "I will, I just need to get this sorted out. God, my life is so fucked up," she moaned. She hugged him and for a moment let herself slip away. "I really wouldn't mind if you decided to leave me."
"It sounds like you're trying to get rid of me," he chuckled, raking his fingers through her hair.
She puled back and smiled. "C'mon, you need to go. I can't have you here. It's too dangerous." She swatted at his backside until they were to the door and he pulled it open easily.
"Too dangerous?" he asked inquisitively.
She looked up to him and nodded. "Don't ask, I promised I would tell you and you can hold me to that."
He smiled softly before leaning down to peck her lips softly. "If it helps, I hope you work it all out."
"Me too, Vic. Me too."
TT2