So, I have needed to post this up a week ago, but I had homecoming, and an evil sister who love the white out tape and my story papers. I hate high school. Well, here it is, in time for Columbus Day! I want to dedicate this to my mom. She doesn't really get Teen Titans, but she helps me get ideas. I love you Momma!
Chapter 12
The entire train ride was quite. Mari never really did ask Joey what he was doing there; all she did was stare out the window and watch the country zoom by.
"Dang it," Joey said out of the blue, causing Mari to look away from the window. "My phone just died. And I left my charger at home." He slumped back in his seat and closed his eyes. "Why did you have to leave so late?" he said with a yawn.
"Go ahead and take a nap. I'll wake you up when we get there." As she finished her sentence, she looked over at Joey and saw his asleep already. She turned back to her window, smiling for the first time in a while.
The rest of the train ride went by fast for Joey, who spent the entire time asleep. For Mari though, they couldn't get to Gotham fast enough. As they got off the train, a hard rain poured down.
"Let's get a cab; the hospital is on the other side of town," Mari said, walking to an ATM that had a pay phone next to it. As Mari got some from the ATM, Joey dug around his pocket fro change to use the pay phone. With a triumphant smile, he pulled out two quarters and put them in the phone. Mari stood under the over hang of the roof, waiting for Joey to finish. As he got off the phone, the two of them walked to the front of the building to wait for the cab. Mari was being unusually quiet. When the cab pulled up, Mari and Joey got in and told the cab driver to go to Gotham Memorial Hospital. The man began to drive and tried to start small talk with them, until he saw the look on their faces. It was only 7:30 at night, but with the bad weather, it looked like it was much, much later. On the ride to the hospital, traffic stopped when four motorcycles zoomed by, followed by another two motorcycles and a long black car.
"Looks like you two came on an interesting night. That was Batman, the new Robin, and the new batgirl. You'll get used to this, though," The taxi driver said with a Jersey accent. The traffic started back up again.
When they got to the hospital, Mari paid the man and ran inside the hospital. She reached the front desk, where a young nurse reading a magazine and chewing bubble gum was sitting.
"Excuse me. Where is Ivy Crawford?" The nurse didn't even look up at Mari, let alone answer. "Miss, I really need to know Ivy Crawford's room. Could you tell me where she is?" This time Mari asked a little louder. She was getting very mad. "Look, lady! My friend is hurt and I need to see her! All you have do to is tell me where she is and I will leave you alone! Now please, tell me where she is!" As she was shouting, she reached over the counter and grabbed her by the collar. When she started shaking her a little, a set of ear-set came out. A doctor came over before the nurse had a chance to call security and tapped Mari on the shoulder.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Scholls. I couldn't help but hear you asking for Ivy Crawford. I'm her doctor. I could take you up to her room." Mari nodded and followed Dr. Scholls to the elevator with Joey following. Mari liked this doctor a lot better than the taxi driver, since he wasn't, trying to make Mari talk.
Finally, when they reached Ivy's floor, they saw that only one person was sitting in the waiting area. She had very tanned, Hispanic-looking skin and black hair. She was biting her gray colored nails before looking over at the elevator that Mari and the others walked out of. She looked upset with Mari, until the girl gave her a big hug.
"Normally, I would try to give you a little crap about leaving and coming back and being a wuss, but I don't think I can. She looks so small with all of the wires attached to her. She'll be happy to see you," the girl said, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes.
"Okay." As Mari walked toward the door she remembered something. "Wait, Joey, this is my friend Cam. Cam, this is my new friend Joey. "She said, introducing the two. "Let's go." Joey decided that he probably should stay outside and try to get a hold of his parents.
Mari and cam sat by a hospital bed that had a girl with red hair. She looked like she was normally beautiful, but she had bruises and cuts all over her face and arms. No one was saying anything. Cam was messing with her hair absent-mindedly, staring at their friend Ivy.
"So, how is everybody?" Mari asked, never taking her eyes off of Ivy.
"Well, Pete is doing fine. They have a big playoff game tomorrow," --she seemed to also be speaking to Ivy-- "but we haven't seen much of X or Bales. After you left, X went and sat at another table immediately, while Balie moved after a week or two. We've all missed you, especially Ivy and me." This made Mari look up at Cam. When she had moved away, she was worried that her friends would not miss her.
"I've really missed you guys too. They both smiled, until they heard a groan and movement from the bed.
"I feel like I got trampled by a stampede of wild mustangs," Ivy moaned, trying to sit up. She blinked a few times. "Where am I?"
"You're I the hospital, Ive," Mari said, surprising Ivy.
"You're really here! Wait, why are you here? And what the heck am I doin' in a hospital? I'm not sick!"
"Ivy," Cam started, "The police found you at home, half-beaten to death. I need you to tell us what happened."
"I, uh, fell down the stairs," Ivy said, finding the blankets very interesting. Mari was about to say something when Cam interrupted.
"Bull! Ivy, I don't want to hear that you fell down the stairs, ran into a door, or any of the other lode of horse crap you've been tying to feed us. Tell me the truth, Ivy! Has your dad been doing this to you?" Cam was in a fit of rage. You could also tell that her nails were no longer gray, but fiery red.
Ivy hesitated, still fidgeting with the blanket. A soft "yes" was heard. Cam and Mari both looked furious. Cam was about to say something when Joey interrupted.
"Sorry to interrupt, but there is a big scary man nurse that keeps staring at me. Can I sit in here with you guys?" Joey said after popping his head into the door. Ivy leaned toward Mari.
"You brought a boy!" She whispered fiercely "You have a boyfriend." Cam was leaning back in her chair, still mad and trying to think of ways to get rid of Ivy's dad with leaving evidence.
"I know, he's just a friend. And besides, if he hadn't come, I would not be here." She whispered back to Ivy. "You can come in Joey." Joey breathed a sigh of relief as he walked in. "Joey, I want you to meet my other, very close friend, Ivy Crawford." Ivy cringed at the saying of her name. "Ivy, this is my new friend Joey. He, uh, kind of, uh, helped me pay for my ticket." Mari said mumbling the last part. Cam looked over, along with Ivy, at Mari and started to laugh.
"Wait, Heiress needed help with buying something? You have lost your touch out there in Jump City. Have you also gone peaceful? 'Cause if so, I will take this opportunity to finally get a punch in on you. No offence though." Cam said smirking. When they were kids, Rich taught both kids some self defense stuff, but Mari learned faster.
"No. Actually I got suspended from school." Ivy and Cam's jaws dropped.
"You have never gotten suspended before. What did you do?"
"She got into a fight with the vice-principal's daughter. Though, the girl does deserve to get her butt kicked." Joey said, rubbing the back of his head. Mari smiled, and started to laugh a little." So," Joey started, "you are the famous friends the others and I hear a lot about. I honestly thought you'd be shorter like Mari." Cam and Ivy both started laughing from that.
"No, she's the shortest of all of our friends. We tell people that she didn't eat a lot of vegetables when we were little, so she ended up short." Cam said, trying to stop laughing. "Though, I heard a rumor that her dad was a short as this when he was her age. But, the way he looks, that looks like that never happened."
The four of them sat around and talked about different things. Joey tried to say that his football team was way better than theirs; he got a pillow to the face and got pushed out of his chair. They were laughing at this when Dr. Scholls came in.
"Hello Ivy, I hope your feeling better." Ivy nodded. "Good. But I'm sorry to say that visiting hours are over today and your friends have to leave. But they can come back tomorrow if they want." Cam, Mari, and Joey all got up. Cam leaned over and hugged Ivy, then Mari did the same.
"'Kay, we'll be back tomorrow as early as we can." When they walked out, Cam got aggravated again.
"I swear, the second I see that man, he's going to see what a P.O.ed Mexican can do! Ugh! I say we to his place and jump him." Mari shocked her head.
"That's a bad idea. Maybe we should go home," Mari said as they walked to the elevator.
"So, where are you guys going to stay? I mean, my mom won't mind you, but, Mari, but she might have a problem with him." Cam nodded toward Joey. They walked out under a tarp someone had set up earlier; it was still raining just as hard.
"That's fine; I know a place we can stay," Mari said. She went out into the rain and hailed a cab for the three of them to share. They dropped Cam off at her house and headed out of town.
"Why are we leaving town? I thought you said that you used to live here," Joey said. He was starting to sound a little worried that he was going to get kidnapped.
"Stop worrying, you big baby," Mari said, smiling a little while looking through her string bag for something.
They pulled up to a huge gate that had a key pad on it.
"I'm sorry Miss, but this is as far as I can take you," The taxi driver said with an Indian accent.
"That's fine. Here, keep the change." Mari handed him the money and started toward the gate. The rain was now coming down harder, if possible. "Are you ready to run?" She said as she typed in a code for the gates to open. The second it opened up, Mari and Joey made a mad dash for the front door, which was about twenty feet away. They ended up racing each other, though Mari still beat him. She rang the door bell, hoping she didn't wake Alfred up. As she started trying to wring out her hair, a boy that she didn't recognize answered. He had black hair, was about as tall as Joey, and had brown eyes.
"I'm sorry, but we already donated to the needy today. Sorry." the boy said, and almost shut the door on them when an older man came to the door. She pushed her way in. Joey followed her in, out of breath.
"Where is he, Alfred?" Mari asked, looking at the old man. Alfred knew exactly who she was talking about.
"He is upstairs in his study," He turned to Joey. "Who are you?" he said. Joey was starting to get a little mad that people kept asking that or looking like they were going to ask that.
"This is Joey. Please give him something warm to eat," she called as she ran up the stairs.
"Wait a sec," the mystery kid called before chasing her. Mari reached a door and opened it without knocking. Sitting behind a big oak desk was a somewhat large man with white hair and blue eyes. He was writing on some papers. He looked up and saw that Mari was standing in front of him.
"Mari? To what do I owe this surprise? Your dad didn't tell me you guys were coming for a visit." Soon someone walked down a flight of stairs behind the desk. He was tall and thin, but other than that, he looked just like Mari's dad Richard.
"Hey, Tim-Tim." She said to the newcomer. She turned back to the first man. "No, Dad didn't tell you because he doesn't know I'm here." She could see the disappointment run across both of their faces. "Before you two start with the whole 'running away is wrong' stuff, Ivy is in the hospital."
"I know," Tim said, looking down. He finished walking down the stairs so he was behind the desk also.
"You knew! And you weren't going to tell me!" Mari's eyes started glowing a little by this. Tim and Bruce were both shocked.
"Mari, calm down. Tim did call, but he got a busy signal each time," Bruce said, trying to calm Mari down. Both Tim and Bruce remembered how Kori got when she was really mad, and Mari seemed to be the same way. Mari's eyes stopped glowing and she staggered a little. She was about to say something else when the door burst open, showing the guy from before.
"Bruce, there's a homeless chick running around your house." He was going to continue when he saw Mari standing right in front of him. "Look, you should get out of here before we call the police." He looked like he was ready to fight. Mari, Tim, and Bruce all raised an eyebrow.
"Um," Tim said, trying not to laugh, "Mari, this is Scott. He's staying at my apartment with Ryan and me. Scott, this is Mari Grayson." The second Tim said her last name, Scott's eyes grew to the size of platters.
Mari sighed. "Look, I'm going to bed. I have another person that came with me. My friend Joey. I'm going to be in my old bedroom, Joey can stay in another. Night Tim, night Grandpa, Scott." She walked toward the door, shoes squeaking from the rain. She was about to walk out when she turned around and said "Oh, by the way, I know everything." She left with just that.
As she walked out, Bruce got n the phone. "You two go ahead and head home. Tim, don't tell Ryan that Mari's here. She going to be home soon and it will just get his hopes up." Tim and Scott walked out, Scott still shocked he called a Grayson a homeless person. As they walked out, Bruce made his phone call….
BACK IN JUMP CITY--
The Logans and The Graysons were sitting at the table in the main room of the Tower, or, in Richard's case, pacing back and forth.
"How could they do that? Rachel, have you gotten a hold of them?" He asked. Rachel put down the phone and shook her head. All of a sudden, the phone rang. Everyone made a grab for the phone. Kori got to it first an answered.
"Hello?… Oh, hello Bruce… Um, sure, hold on." She put her hand over the speaker. "He wants me to put him on speaker phone." Everyone gave questionable looks. Kori did just like he asked and put him on speaker. "Hello, Bruce?
"Hello, Kori. Hello, Dick." Richard shook his head as Gar started laughing at his nickname. "Are the Logans there too?"
"Yes, Bruce. Our friends Rachel and Gar are here. Why are you calling?" Richard answered.
"Mari and her friend Joey are here." All of the parents let out a sigh of relief.
"Okay, keep them there until we come and get them tomorrow," Richard replied, looking at the phone.
"That won't be necessary, Dick. I will send them out with Tim. But Mari had a good reason to come out here. Ivy's father was beating her. And even if Cam didn't call her, Tim was about to call her and tell her. I think she did a very good thing for her friend. Look, it's late, they're safe here. I will call you tomorrow. Good night, all."
"Good night, Bruce," Kori said turning off the phone and looking over at Richard. "At least they're safe," she said. Richard just shook his head and left the room.
BACK ING GOTHAM--
Mari and Joey had a good night's sleep. As soon as they woke up, they smelled Alfred making breakfast.
"Good morning, Miss Mari, Mr. Joseph." Mari started to laugh at his name.
"Hehe. Joseph." Joey's cheeks started to turn red.
"It's Joey, Alfred. So, what's for breakfast?" Mari asked.
"Well, actually, I made Miss Mari's favorite, chocolate chip pancakes and sausage links. Mr. Joey," he said, emphasizing his name, "what would you like to drink?"
"Herbal tea, please. If you have any." Alfred nodded, getting there drinks.
They both ate breakfast in the kitchen with Alfred.
"Um, Joey, you can stay here today if you want. I'm going to visit my old high school, I want to surprise my friends," Mari said. Joey just nodded and went to help Alfred with the dishes.
Mari changed into some old clothes she left in her old room, since the only clothes she brought were soaked from the rain and left with a skateboard in hand. She sped through the streets, trying to make it to the school before the Varsity team kicked off.
When she got to the school, she knew she made it just in time, so she started looking for two different numbers: number twenty two, Peter's number, and eighty one, X's number. She looked around a little and found number twenty two. She snuck up and grabbed his sides, causing him to scream like a girl.
"You still have that stupid girly scream, Peter!" Mari said, laughing her butt off.
"Mari! What are you doing here?" He asked, hugging his friend. Peter was much taller than Mari, since he was a year older than her and the rest of her friends. He had dirty blond hair and hazel eyes. He was like a big brother to Mari, Cam, and Ivy.
"I had some things to take care of. Hey, good luck today. Have you seen X, though? I really want to say good luck to him too."
"No, I haven't. He should be around here somewhere. Hey, want to meet for pizza after the game? Just like old times," Peter asked, walking Mari up to the bleachers.
"No thanks, I--" Mari began before stopping dead in her tracks. They were standing directly under the bleachers and in front of them were two teens making out. But that wasn't what made Mari stop. It was that the boy had on a Gotham Central High School football jersey with the number eighty one on it, X's number. She went over and tapped him on his shoulder. He turned around and got a huge slap across his face.
"What do you think you're doing?" Mari demanded. She looked over at the girl who was trying to sneak away from the scene. Her back was to Mari, but she knew who it was by the hair scrunchy she had her hair in. Mari had given to her for a tenth birthday gift. "Where do you think your going, Bales?" She spat out her name like it was poison. Balie stopped right were she was and turned around slowly.
"Mari, this--" X started.
"Don't you dare tell me it's not what it looks like, Charlie!" She took a ring off of her finger and threw it into the dirt. She then stepped on it and squished it into the ground. "I don't want to talk to either of you ever again." She was choking back tears. She started to walk away when X called back.
"I never really liked you; you're a sad pathetic loser. I only dated you to get to Balie here," he jeered. That is what through her over the top. She turned around and almost tried to kill him had it not been for Peter grabbing her by the waist and pulling her back.
"You know what, I'm gone. Sorry, Pete. Bye." She went off down the street on her skateboard. Peter knew she was upset. So was he. And he knew one way that would make him feel at least somewhat better. He grinned as he joined his team as they ran onto the field.
Mari rode her skateboard all the way to the hospital. There, she went up to Ivy's room and entered. Ivy and Cam were playing cards and listening to the radio. Mari knew that they were listening to the school's radio station, which would broadcast the varsity game really soon. "Guys, if X was seeing someone behind my back, would you tell me?" Mari asked, almost crying.
They both looked at each other and then to Mari. "Yes, right after I knocked them both out. Why, what happened?" Cam asked, laying down her hand of cards down on a little tray they were playing on. Ivy took this opportunity to see what she was playing against and let out a sigh; apparently she lost.
"I saw X with another girl under the bleachers. He was with Balie," Mari said. Cam gasped and grew angry.
"Maybe it's not how it looked," Ivy suggested. Both girls looked at Ivy.
"Sweetie, at your old school, do you remember what the students did under the bleachers?" Cam asked, barely understanding what Ivy just said.
"Yes, they… Oh." Ivy's eyes grew big and her jaw dropped. "I'm sorry," she said, looking at Mari, who was now crying a little.
"That's it, I'm going to kick his and her butt to Brazil and back again!" Cam yelled. Mari was shocked; Cam never mentioned Brazil, since that was where her dad was from and ran away to when he left her and her mother.
"Thanks, but no thanks. Right now, I just wasn't to sit here and listen to how my good friend is doing in football with my two closest friends in the entire world," Mari said. She reached over and turned the radio up.
"The Gotham Central Knights have the ball and are about to hick the ball, they're in formation. There's the HICK! It looks like number eighty one is going to run the ball in hopes of a first down. Oh no, it looks like the Pirates' defense may get to him. What?! Number twenty two just let the Pirates' linebacker get past him. Ouch. That one is going t hurt number eighty one big time. Looks like the coach is pulling out twenty two. Let see if our field correspondent can get a word with the player." The three girls looked at each other in disbelief. A football scholarship was the only way Pete could go to college, and he would never do anything like that to screw up his chances for the scholarship.
"Peter, why did you let that defensive linebacker past?"
"Well, I did it by accident. When I joined the team, I made a promise to keep people from hurting my teammates, or as I like to think my friends, and when I make a promise I tend to keep it," Pete said. Mari smiled; she knew who he was talking to and what about.
"Thanks, Peter. We'll be right back after these commercials." Cam turned off the radio and looked at the others. Out of no where, Mari burst into laughter. Soon, she was followed by Ivy, then Cam. They went on for a little bit. Mari looked at Cam and noticed something.
"Hey, Cam, I was wondering something. What is up with your nails? They change colors constantly," Mari said. Ivy nodded in agreement with her.
"Oh, um, uh, new nail polish?" Cam tried. Mari and Ivy looked like they didn't believe her. Cam muttered something in Spanish under her breath.
"Okay, um, don't laugh but I can change the way I look. And my nails change colors to my mood. Like, when I'm angry or mad, they turn red," Cam explained. Mari looked shocked.
"You too?" Ivy said. Mari and Cam looked at their friend in the bed. "I mean, not the same powers as you, but I do have powers. See?" She turned to a vase of dead flowers Mari just now noticed. Ivy waved her hand over it dust came out of her palm and sprinkled over the flowers. The flowers soon came back to life with vibrant colors. "I can also make people fall asleep." Mari was about to say something when two women walked in. One had beautiful, wavy light brown hair and blue eyes. The other looked like Cam, but with almost black eyes.
"Hello, Ivy. How are you feeling?" The brown-haired lady asked.
"I've been better. Katelynn, these are my friends Cam Rodriguez and Mari Grayson." They both nodded hello to the lady, not leaving Ivy's side. "Guys, this is my social worker, Katelynn Murphy." Katelynn nodded back to the girls.
"Ivy, I think it would be best to see you get out of that home." Katelynn said looking at Ivy.
"No! I can't, he's the only family I have left. If I leave him, where would I go? I don't want to leave my friends. I love it here. Please, don't take me away." Ivy was crying by this point.
"I agree with that. You should stay here. That's why, for right now, Ms. Rodriguez has offered to let you stay with her and Cam," Katelynn said. Ivy stopped crying and looked at Cam who gave her a nod with a smile. "The only problem is that you need to get your stuff from your father's apartment. Do you want someone to go and get it for you?" Ivy shook her head.
"Can I get it later? He leaves for a business trip in a few days for like a month and a half." Katelynn nodded.
The two adults started to walk out when Mari called out to them. "Um, I was hoping that Cam and Ivy could come with me and my friend Joey to Jump City. And Tim is coming with us." She gave "the look" to the adults. Ivy and Cam saw and followed Mari and did what she did. The two women walked toward the door and whispered to each other.
They came back tentatively. "Sure," Ms. Rodriguez said with an accent thicker than Cam's, "Cam, you need to come home and get some clothes."
"'Kay. See you guys tomorrow." Cam said. She hugged Ivy goodbye, and then Mari.
"So, are you going to leave too?" Ivy asked. Mari shook her head. "Alright, so tell me: do you like Joey?" The question threw Mari off a little.
"What?!" Her eyes were shifting around. "I don't know what you mean, I mean, I like him as a friend, but nothing more." Mari was starting to get worried. All Ivy could do was smile. "Ah, um, uh." Mari let out a sigh. "Is it that obvious?" Ivy started to laugh at Mari. "I mean, I've always fallen for the bad boys, but when I first saw him-- okay, the first time I saw him, I hated him, but when I started to get to know him better… I don't know." She collapsed on the bed. "Swear to me that you won't tell a soul. That includes Cam."
"I swear." Ivy spat in her hand and held it out to Mari. Mari looked at her like she was wearing the Pope's hat while claiming to be a ninja. "What, y'all don't do this up here?" Mari just shook her head no. Ivy shrugged, wiping her hand on the blanket. "So, tell me more about Joey. What do you like most about him?"
Mari thought about this for a second. "His eyes. They reveal all of his emotions, even when he doesn't know it. Also, their amethyst color is just breath-taking."
"HE HAS PURPLE EYES?! SINCE WHEN?!" Mari laughed, and then hit her friend with a pillow. She was going to have a lot to tell Ivy about.
Ok. I have one random question for you guys. Where did the whole Speedy Cheshire shipping begin? Was it an original comic pair, or did some random person first start liking them and other people followed? This has been bugging me all week! Please help me! Review!
