DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Teen Titans characters, or the DC Comic Characters. Nor any of the brand names found in this story!
Summary: Kori Anders, news reporter, has seen a lot in her time. With the recent killing of civilians, Kori is putting away her papers, and testing out her investigation skills. Not only worrying about becoming the next target, she is worrying about her old flame Richard Grayson who seems to be appearing a lot more often, especially when she is with billionaire and rival to Bruce Wayne, Slade Wilson. Who is killing the people and will Kori be next? Oh, and who is Nightwing?
- - - - - - -
Seven
Going down to the Police Station seemed to become a new daily routine to Kori. Trudging up to the office to talk Commissioner Gordon, Kori felt exhausted. She only received a few hours of sleep after she began investigating more about the crimes.
The warm room made Kori feel as if she would fall asleep if she sat down. She went up to the large brown desk in the middle of the room, and saw the familiar red face of the young deputy, Ronald Todd. He put down to the phone as he tended to papers. He looked up as she approached.
"I'm here to see James Gordon. I had an appointment with him." The sunglasses on her face hid her tired eyes. Ronald nodded, slightly blushing with a pretty girl so close to him. He felt his palms sweat as he walked out from behind the desk and nodded.
"Ok, please follow me Ms. Anders." Kori gave him a charming smile and he looked away from the perfect white teeth. Walking together down the hallway, the two past several closed doors, Ronald would cough every few steps, clearing his throat.
"Thank you," Kori's voice was sweet as she talked to the nervous man. He nodded his head walking away from the door.
The closed door had a white paper sign on the glass. 'Office of Commissioner Gordon' was written in large black letters. Raising her hand Kori brought it to the door, knocking lightly. She heard the shuffling of papers, and a man clearing his throat.
"Come in…"
Kori opened the door to the dark office. The shades were closed. Kori could hear the rain pouring outside, it was heavy. She looked to see Gordon at his desk skimming papers. Upon seeing Kori he gave her a warm smile and gestured to the seat opposite of his desk. Kori took the seat graciously and got comfortable. She stripped off her jacket and hung it on the back of the chair. She set her purse on the ground, and then crossed her legs anxiously.
"Thank you for meeting with me Mr. Gordon." Kori took off her sunglasses and placed them in her lap.
"Ms. Anders, not to offend you, but it is not good that we meet under these circumstances. An attempt to kill you was made yesterday, you do realize that you are going to have tell me some information?" He raised a white eye brow and Kori nodded her head.
"I didn't expect anything different." She smoothed out her grey pencil skirt, along with her white blouse. Her red hair flowed freely down her back in curls. Her heels nervously clacked slightly as her leg shook in anticipation. After her meeting with the Commissioner she would go off to work.
"Now…tell me that day's events." He had his small notebook again. Flipping to a clean page he opened up his pen carelessly topping the cap on the desk. He waited for a response.
"Well as you know after the night I was here for Mod's death, my dear friend Rachel took me home to her house. I stayed the night, and the next morning my friend and I went out to lunch." She stopped there waiting for him to catch up on his notes.
"Who are your friends?" He licked his dry lips.
"Well though I don't believe they would do a thing to harm me I will give you the names. Rachel Roth, Garfield Logan, Victor Stone, Karen Beecher, Richard Grayson, and myself was all that attended lunch."
"Very well, continue."
"When we were finished lunch at the Candlelight Diner, I made my way to the station. My car began acting up slightly though. I came here for our quick meeting, and then left. My car was worse than before and on my way home I got a call from Slade Wilson."
"The gentlemen that was there the night of Mod's death?" Gordon gave an apologetic smile as he interrupted Kori.
"Yes, the very one," he nodded his head and Kori began to talk again. "He heard the predicament with my car and a worker for Slade, Xavier Redd, was there at the time. He offered to fix my car. So I made the drive over there." Kori didn't feel the need to mention that Xavier was her ex.
"Please continue Ms. Anders." He again licked his dry lips and Kori had the urge to pull out her chap stick and give it to the man to wear.
"It ended up Xavier wasn't fixing my car, a Mr. X, ended up fixing it. I waited while Mr. Wilson made me tea. When my car was finished I went on my way home. The car worked fine, and I was happy. Later someone on the road began to cut off my car, it was a motorcycle. I recognized the driver as Nightwing, I told you about him. He saved my life as the car exploded. You know the rest. Richard Grayson drove and found me on the side of the road because Nightwing abandoned me. He called 911, took me back to his house, and then told me I would have a meeting with you today."
"Where does this Mr. X work?" The commissioner asked. Kori thought back for a moment.
"I believe it was Fern Street? Mr. Wilson knew the information." Kori said. She began to grab her stuff. "Is that all? I need to get to work, I am behind on deadlines." The commissioner nodded as both said their goodbyes and Kori put on her coat.
The sound of heels clacked on the tile floor as Kori made her way out into the rain. She ran to her car quickly, avoiding trying to get drenched. She got into her rented car and shut the door. The car started, and Kori made her way to work.
- - - - - - -
James Gordon couldn't help but feel puzzled as he sat at his desk. The newspaper sat scattered on his desk, telling today's upcoming events, and sharing previous news stories. The smell of stale coffee came from the two day old empty mug on his desk.
Touching his mustache James closed his eyes. He leaned back into his chair and thought back to his earlier days. He used to be the best cop anyone had ever seen. His popularity had heighted over the years with increased crime rate, and catching more bad guys with the help of Batman, and occasionally his young protégé Robin.
He leaned up shaking his head clear of his most recent years, his slowest years. With newer and younger guys becoming cops and such there was no room for an old geezer like him. His transfer to Jump had been an easy one. Here he would help train the men better along with crack the case that had every one baffled. Who was this killer? Why was he killing everyone?
Standing up in a hurry as someone knocked on the door, the new cup of coffee that Gordon had made only ten minutes ago spilled everywhere. The door opened to reveal his young deputy Ronald Todd. The nervous man's face turned even redder as he watched his boss struggle with spilled coffee.
"Sorry sir!" He immediately apologized as he scrambled over grabbing a paper towel roll that set on top of a dusty filing cabinet. He began to unravel the roll and put about ten sheets on the desk. It took a moment to realize that with three sheets in hand he patted dry his boss's crotch area. He became redder if possible and looked at any moment a volcanic eruption would happen.
"Todd! Stop drying my area!" Gordon's annoyed voice said. The deputy stepped away from his boss and looked to the floor. After regaining his composure the commissioner looked up. He stared at his deputy and saw his flustered face. He let out a sigh as he hated seeing anyone younger then himself suffer, unless they were criminals, or just deserved it.
"Sorry sir! I apologize for my actions. I did not mean to cause a disturbance!" He looked up and took off his sweaty cap holding it to his chest.
"Its fine Todd, now would you like to tell me why you barged into my office in the first place?" James wiped his forehead and listened to the rain pound the ground outside.
"The copier machine is out of papers…" He spoke sheepishly in a small voice realizing that his statement was silly.
"So then change the damn papers!" He couldn't help but roll his eyes at the naïve cop in front of him.
"I don't know where the papers are," Ronald waited for the screaming voice of his boss. He expected Gordon to fire him on the spot. After all, he was clueless to where the papers were for the copier machine. A simple job that not even a deputy could do. Instead he heard a sigh and saw Gordon rubbing his face.
"I will change the papers. In the mean time call up Slade Wilson and tell him he needs to come down to police station for questioning."
- - - - - - -
"Richard, get up. It is one in the afternoon." A loud commanding voice spoke.
"Go away!" Richard groaned as he pulled a pillow over his head. He let out an annoyed sigh as he felt the warm covers of his bed pulled away from him. He was out late last night as Nightwing, watching over the city. He stopped two robbers, and saved a cat in a tree, a quiet and uneventful night with no signs of Deathstroke or Red X.
"Richard I said get up!" Richard felt the pillow being pulled away from his head. He looked up blinking wildly to see Bruce. He rolled his eyes at his adoptive father as he sat up in bed, sis bare chest showing along with his red boxers.
"Shouldn't you be like Batman or something…catching the Joker?" Richard was a grump in the morning, and Bruce ignored his snarky comments.
"I am on a break." Richard was now awake as he got off his bed and stood up rubbing his eyes and stretching.
"I thought you told me superheroes don't take breaks," Richard countered.
"Ah, but Richard, Gotham crime rates have been down and the police are fully aware that I am not available for the month of December. Also, I have a special friend covering for me, he owes me a favor. " A small chuckle came out of Bruce's lips.
"Who might that be?" Richard asked from his closet. He pulled on a plain white teen shirt, and a pair of blue jeans. He walked out to see Bruce standing next to his bed still.
"The Green Arrow," Bruce cocked an eye brow.
"What is he doing in Gotham?"
"He owes me a favor. Stop asking questions Richard, curiosity killed the cat." Bruce walked out of Richard's room. Richard followed rolling his eyes.
"I thought you said what makes a good crime fighter was asking questions." The two walked into Bruce's office. Bruce took his seat and slid the rolling chair into the desk. He looked at the headline of the newspaper and shook his head.
Richard raised an eyebrow as Bruce slid the paper in front of Richard. The large black headline read, "ARROW WEAPONS FALLS TO WILSON EMPIRE" Skimming the page Richard read the Keith Arrow the owner of Arrow Industries company fell into the ground. Slade Wilson bought the weapon supplier company.
"A good crime fighter knows when to ask questions, they just shouldn't ask such pointless ones. A better question to ask is how the hell Wilson got to the company before I did?" Bruce shook his head as he sighed.
"He is a sneaky one Slade. Probably paid off some people before the auctioning went off, you and I both know he isn't below doing what he needs to do. After all is company is done 10% we've increased our foreign shipping by 25% along with the rest of our company sales that went up 34% he is trying to gain an edge."
"All he needs to do is get more investors on his side and it will be us who are falling behind." Bruce mentioned. Richard nodded his head and Bruce knocked the paper to the garbage carelessly. "Have you found out any more information on the bombing?"
"Not anymore then I've already told you. Whoever is behind these attacks they are doing it for a reason. I have a feeling the next person will be Kori." A lump formed in Richard's throat as he said her name. He had to make sure nothing happened to Kori. She wouldn't be in danger…not when he is around.
"Why do you think that?" Bruce sat back in his chair and put his arms behind his head.
"Bruce, Kori had an attempt on her life. She is still alive. They are obliviously going to finish the deed." As much as Richard didn't want to say those words he knew they were truthful. This killer seemed ruthless. He didn't seem like he would stop at anything if he had already killed seven people.
"Well then, I doubt you will have trouble keeping an eye on Ms. Anders." Bruce had a smirk on his face and Richard was annoyed not knowing why in god's name Bruce was smiling at a time like this.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Richard sounded like an angry five-year old, his whining made Bruce chuckle.
"Hold on for a minute Richard." The phone rang and Bruce picked up the phone of the second ring.
"It's okay, I have been busy as well. I understand that recently you have been under a great deal of stress."
There was silence for a minute as Bruce listened to the person on the line speak. Richard was going to question who he was talking too but decided to wait. He knew it annoyed Bruce if you interrupted phone calls.
"I think I can make that work. What about tomorrow night? We can have a nice dinner and then you can stay for some drinks and an interview."
Silence again and now Richard was extra curious to who was on the phone. He bit his lip anxiously waiting. As he was about to speak he saw Bruce's glare and he rolled his eyes. He hated when Bruce was on the phone, he could never multitask.
"Six o'clock sounds perfect. Don't worry about dressing. Just don't be too casual or I might feel out of place. Yes, see you then…good-bye." The phone was set down and Bruce still had a smirk on his face. Richard looked up from his bare feet and at Bruce.
"Who was that?" Richard questioned. Who would be the guest dining with them tomorrow night?
"That was Kori Anders. She had to reschedule our interview appointment for chaos at home and work. She will be joining us for dinner tomorrow night, and I expect you to attend."
"Fine," Richard grumbled before walking out of the room with a slight smile on his face. He wouldn't admit this to anyone but he was happy he would see Kori again.
- - - - - - -
"You failed me," Deathstroke sat at his metal desk. His hands folded in front of him staring at Red X. The TV screens all around them were lit up with the replaying scene of Kori Ander's car exploding…without her in it.
"It's not my fault Nightwing interfered!" Red X was quick to talk. Often times it got him in trouble.
"Does it look like I care?" His voice was harsh, and the villain felt his teeth clench with unhappiness.
"Your face shows no emotion!" Red X wanted to scream out loud, but the consequences would be devastating. He stared at the masked villain in front of him.
Wearing a half black, and have burned orange colored mask, his face was covered. His mouthpiece allowed no emotion to come to his face. With a built body and well defined chest, he was a tall man with broad shoulder. He wore the burnt orange colored gloves and boots along with a garment that looked like women's underwear. He wore heavily plated armor along with a silver utility belt.
"No sir, I am sorry I have failed you." Was the response that came out of X's mouth.
"Tell me again what happened." Deathstroke leaned back in his chair thinking a plan as he took in his past mistakes.
"I planted the bomb just as you told me too. She was driving on the road fine. She had no clue about the bomb. Then comes Nightwing on his fancy motorcycle cutting her off. She gets out of the car to yell at him, and before the bomb explodes he pushes her along with himself out of the way." Red X was furious at the memory. He had been so close to completing his mission. At the same time he was a bit relieved. Who would want to waste a fine ass like Kori Anders?
"Is this the same man who pushed followed you the night you killed Mod?" Deathstroke tried to recall any memories of this Nightwing character; he had no memories of him.
"Yes, the very same guy."
"Well then he saved Ms. Anders that night as well. Looks like he saves her a lot," A smirk formed behind his mask, coming up with a plan to test Nightwing's relationship with Kori.
"What are you thinking?" X asked. He could already tell his boss was forming a plan in his mind.
"I want you to follow Ms. Anders for a week. See what her daily activities are. At some point we will plan a time to attack, we'll hire someone…I'll hire someone. We will have two gun men. One will point at Ms. Anders the other at a local civilian. Nightwing will probably show if he is a 'hero.' We'll see which he saves." A smirk came to Deathstroke's face as he planned out everything.
"What are you planning?" Red X cocked an eyebrow behind his mask.
"In due time you will know, in due time X." A dark chuckle escaped his lips as he continued to plot how to take this 'Nightwing' down.
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AUTHOR'S COMMENT
*Wow, it's been awhile has it not? I do apologize for lack of updates. I have been very busy! I thought not much would be happening during my winter break, but apparently I am very wrong! I was going to update yesterday but a Track Meet stopped me, for after I was completely exhausted I feel right asleep.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. In a way it's foreshadowing? Okay that might not be the right term but I hope you guys know what I mean. Thanks for all the great reviews I appreciate them a lot! I was going to make this longer but I decided against it. I thought it was a good chapter I hope you guys did too! Once again I am so sorry. I feel horrible for not updating. I hope to update The Secret Locket tonight as well! Hope all is well! New Years is coming up!