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?

- - - - - - -

Fourteen

"You were stabbed with a pencil?" Alfred's chuckle was loud and clear as Richard let out a groan. Looking down he saw that the wound from the gunshot was hadn't healed much, but it didn't help that he had just gotten stabbed with a pencil right there.

"Alfred…pencils are dangerous." Richard chuckled a bit himself. The idea of getting stabbed with a pencil was absurd enough to find humor in a twisted way.

"Ah, is this why you prefer pens?"

"Well now I definitely do." Richard slid off the kitchen table and put back on his shirt. A hole was seen in the upper right corner and he sighed…it had just been dry-cleaned.

"You don't seem to be too angry over the matter?" Alfred questioned him with curiosity.

"I'm still in shock. The next time I see that bastard he better hope that I don't fuc-" Stopping his statement, Richard looked up to see Bruce had walked in.

"Alfred…is it possible you can make some coffee?" Without looking up from the newspaper, which was firmly in his hand, he walked over and sat down at the counter.

"Right away Master Wayne," Alfred's voice was gentle as he walked over to the stove, and grabbed the kettle, bringing it over to the sink to fill it. Soon it was on the stove, getting ready to boil.

"What has you so intently reading?" Richard asked. He had only gotten stabbed an hour ago. He was now home in the rather large and expensive kitchen.

"Did you see today's paper?" Bruce tore his eyes away from the newspaper, and handed the object over to Richard. His eyes were cast down, and hands in his suit pockets…he had just returned home from work.

"Slade Industries one step in front of Wayne?" Richard read the title out loud a bit shocked. Regardless, he continued to read.

The paper told of Slade Wilson's ever growing company. He kept buying out companies, and expanding his territory in the city of Jump. Of course Slade had never surpassed Bruce's sales rate, number of employs, customers, and buildings.

"He's beating me out to all these companies, ones that can be valuable to the growth of Wayne Industries. I remember actually talking to a lot of those companies, and they wouldn't sell at all. He must have done something to get them to sell…but what?" Bruce found himself having his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Something was going on.

"That's true. Didn't you even ask to borrow out Arrow Weapons the one time? You gave him the best offer possible. Keith even said he wouldn't sell…and if he did, he would take up your offer. He always said he had some suspicions about Wilson and his company, and he would never sell to him." Richard shook his head, nothing making sense to him at the moment.

"Something is going on in that company. Whether it is illegal or not, I want to know." Bruce slammed his fist on the table in front of him in frustration in anger.

"Maybe that's it Bruce, maybe something illegal is going on." Richard spoke in deep thought.

"Whatever is, we'll find out. Now why is there a hole in your shirt?" Bruce raised a speculating eyebrow at Richard. He heard his soft groan and a hint of a smile crossed his face.

"I was stabbed with a pencil." Richard then walked out of the kitchen, Bruce's laugh ringing in his ear.

- - - - - - -

With only four more days left until Slade's party, and five days left till Christmas, Kori felt uneasy. Coming into work the next day, Kori was greeted by the story of three new deaths in one night.

Riley Steele, of Steele Family Steel had mysteriously died last night on her way home from work. Her limo had somehow caught fire, and the entire car was wrecked. No body was found from her butler, or herself, but an S was found burned onto the hood of the car, which had managed to survive.

The next person who died was Thomas Greene, the man who was running for mayor of Jump City. This was the biggest death of the three. Last night while leaving his apartment building, Thomas was stabbed in the back multiple times, and his body suffered a severe beating. Thomas stood against crime, and crooked politicians. He was known to work closely with Bruce Wayne on business proposals, and was strongly against Slade Industries. Police believed he was killed by the mysterious "S" killer. For once, no markings of any kind were found on the body.

The last person found dead was the security guard at Kori's own building. His name was Leo Tailens. Security footage was hacked into and deleted, along with the fact that the security camera was trashed. Leo's body was found on the desk of the front office. Two guards usually held post there, but the one guard, Howard Ville, explained how he stepped out to go to the bathroom, and when he came back he discovered Leo's dead body. Leo was found to have an S painted on his white shirt, in his own blood.

The whole entire office was disturbed. Who would be next to die? Would it be a friend or family member? Would they suffer from a disturbing death? Would they die at the hands of this "S" killer? Everyone wondered the exact same thing, where was Nightwing? Kori herself was asking this question, where was the beloved hero.

Kori got up from her desk after staring at the paper for awhile. The "S" killer had made his or her way back into the public life. Kori had very high suspicions that this "S" killer was the villain known as Red X. Without proof though, Kori couldn't bring her evidence to the cops. It seemed that this killer stayed out of the public eye for quite some time, and suddenly made an appearance, and he made it big.

"Kori there is a meeting in ten." A co-worker quickly opened the door to Kori's office telling her about the meeting. Nodding her head in agreement, and whispering words of thanks, the man left and Kori was left alone again with her thoughts.

Who was this killer, and why was he killing all these big shots? There had to be a reason, and Kori was planning on figuring out why. When she got home she planned on looking up some more information on the recent deaths, and some information about Slade Wilson's ever expanding company.

Time escaped Kori, and as she glanced at the clock she saw that seven minutes had passed. Kori stood up and pushed in her chair. Walking out of her office, she followed her co workers to the meeting room. It was only the top floor that would be attending the meeting, and the room was quite crowded. Kori pushed her way to the front and saw Madame Rouge standing in front of a large desk ready to speak.

"I thank you all for coming. This will be a brief meeting and after I expect all of you to get back to work. For those of you who don't know, and trust me by now you should all know, my name is Madame Rouge. With the two recent deaths in our building, I have been told that we are going on high security. We will not lose another member of this staff or building. The whole city is now on more alert. I suggest you all be more careful until this killer is caught. Leave now, and get back to work!"

Kori began to walk back with the rest of the group. Not before she was pulled back by Madame Rouge. Kori was about to say something, snap at the lady for rudely pulling her away from the group…until see saw the mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Ms. Anders I do remember you were the one who wrote the story on Mr. Nightwing. Now, the whole town is wondering why he didn't show…and I expect you to find out."

Kori visible gulped. "I am afraid I can't do that. I only got the interview by a mere chance of luck."

Madame Rouge scowled at the young red head and turned her nose up in disgust. "Very well then, I will pretend you do not have some connection to the hero. You will get me a story. It will attract readers, and it will be good." You could hear the threatening edge to Madame Rouge's voice, and Kori nodded.

"I have some ideas. I'll get you your story." Kori stood up, and as she walked towards the glass door her boss's voice stopped her.

"You have until the day of twenty-third to get me your article. It's going out on the twenty-fourth."

"I understand." With that Kori walked out the doors, really needing a drink.

- - - - - - -

"Why are we doing this again?" Richard glared at Gar and Victor as they sat at the local bar.

The bar was called Howard's Glass. With a unique name, the bar itself was very popular around Jump City. The girls came by the dozen, and the beer was cheap, but satisfying. There were only about thirty people in the bar, and it was only around eight o'clock. The three boys had just got done with a long day of hard work, and wanted to relax some.

"Because Victor and I need a beer, and you need a chick." Gar picked up his mug of beet and hit it with Victor's. The two began chuckling as they then downed half the drink.

"I don't need a chick. I am perfectly content the way I am."

"After a few beers, you are going to want a girl." Victor chuckled at his own statement.

"No, guys, seriously…I'm not in the mood for a random hook up." Richard picked up his own beer in front of him, and took a long sip of the slightly chilled beverage. His gaze wondered to the door where he watched as Karen and Rachel came in, but no Kori.

The girls walked with slight swagger, as their hips rocked back and forth. Walking over to their men they were greeted with hugs and kisses. Richard then took another sip of his beer, this time, finishing off the beverage.

"I didn't think you two would be coming. Where is the third musketeer?" Richard found himself looking back at the door, hoping that at any moment Kori would come in apologizing to be late.

"Oh you know Kori. As much as she hates work she always has those certain days that she is the biggest workaholic. It's one of those nights. I actually think she is cooped up in her office right now at home." Karen spoke for Kori, and then turned her attention back to Victor.

"Oh…that explains a lot." Richard just raised his eye brows and picked up his drink again. He wanted to finish it, get drunk, and maybe get with a girl…it had been a while. He couldn't seem to swallow the drink though.

Rachel stared at Richard. He looked at the glass as if drinking it was a life or death decision. She watched as he slowly lowered the glass to the table, not seeming like he was going to finish it. Gar watched as well, he watched in shock as Rachel brought her hand to Richard's to remove the glass from his grip. Upon doing this she quickly drowned the drink and looked at him.

"It's been a long day," was her only response. "Karen is being responsible and driving home, if you want to get out of here." Richard nodded his head at her, and got up from his stool which was then taken by Rachel who flirted aimlessly with Garfield.

- - - - - - -

"Silkie…I told you that if you were going to sit in here with me, you would not eat papers!" Kori light berated her cat, gently pulling the papers from his mouth.

In response the cat simply meowed and Kori let out a sigh. Despite the fact Silkie was a cat, in no way, shape, or form did the small tan furry animal act like one. Silkie ate a lot, and the food always varied. He reminded her of a dog…or maybe a goat. Goats did tend to ear everything…much like Silkie.

"You are lucky that paper was not important!" Kori sighed again. She seemed to sigh so much lately that the sigh was losing meaning…whatever a sigh was supposed to mean. Silkie simply ignored Kori before getting up and jumping onto her lap. He made himself comfortable while she turned back to her computer. "Yes…you sleep…I will work, or at least attempt too."

She found herself typing in Slade Wilson into the search bar. Over a hundred thousand results came up. Kori grunted. So far she had found no information about Slade Industries. Kori knew something was going on. Right before the S murders started to happen, Slade Wilson's company was failing. Maybe that was it….

"What was that?" Kori looked away from her computer screen. Looking down at her cat she rolled her eyes lightly as it made a slight hissing sound as she lifted him up from his mat, and placed him on the floor.

Kori got up from her chair as she walked out of the office and into her small living room. She heard the noise again…it was knocking. Going to the door Kori looked out the small peephole to see no one. She then opened the door to look down the hallways. Was it a prank? No one was anywhere.

"Hello?" Kori called out. She received no answer. As she was about to close the door, the knocking sounded again.

Kori looked down the hallway one last time before closing the door. A simple two more taps was heard and Kori went over to her sliding glass doors that led out to the balcony. Her heart pounded with a slight fright as she found that this was where the knocking was coming from. She found an umbrella by the door, and as she slid the glass open she got ready to swing.

"What the hell?" Kori heard as she lowered the umbrella to the floor. She looked to see Nightwing there and Kori quickly dropped the umbrella and gave the masked hero a hug. He was still a little tense but after a moment he hugged back.

"Hurry up and come in before someone sees you." Kori shoved him in as she then closed the glass doors, and the curtains. "What are you doing here and how do you know where I live?"

"Well…I wanted to check up on you…make sure your okay." He rubbed the back of his neck gently. Something Kori always remembered Richard doing when he was nervous. She shook Richard out of her mind as he continued to talk. "Also see if you knew any more then I do about the S murders."

"That doesn't answer how you knew where I lived." Kori gave him a glare and she imagined him rolling his eyes at her under his mask.

"Do you really want to know?" He chuckled slightly.

"No…I guess I don't." Kori gave out her own smile and she ushered him to the kitchen where he took a seat at the small table. "Do you want anything? I can heat up some spaghetti, or tea…or coffee?" Kori opened some cabinets and then looked back at him.

"I'm good."

"I insist."

"Just a glass of ice water."

Kori could feel his eyes watching her every move. From reaching up to grab a glass, to going to the freezer and grabbing ice. She walked back over to the sink where she put on the faucet to cold water, and let the tap water drip in.

"Sorry, all I have is tap." Kori looked back at him to see a smile on his face. It was then Kori remembered she was wearing tight sweatpants and leaning against the counter.

"Tap is perfect." His eye met her, though all she could see was mask. She turned around quickly, her face slightly flushed.

Turning off the water before the drink overflowed she handed him the glass. He took a nice long sip finishing off about half the glass. Kori giggled lightly about how thirsty he was. He looked at her then, giving a skeptical look. She just looked away blushing.

"So you said you were here…"

"To check up on you and see if you know any more information about the S murders."

"How would I know more then you? Are you the crime fighter here?" Kori had a teasing tone to her voice.

"Sometimes the press just seems to know more. And I am not doing a very good job if you haven't seen the papers."

Kori noticed his face drop, his expression turning into a slight frown. She frowned as well and reached out to place her hand over his. His was cold, while hers was hot. She latched their pinkies together.

"No matter how hard you try, you can't save everyone. No one is expecting you to make everything evil disappear. They are just expecting you try your best, and trust me Nightwing…I can tell you are." The sincerity of Kori's words touched his heart. At that moment Kori longed to reach out and pull off his mask, to look into the eyes of the one she was falling in love with.

"I just should have been there." He shook his head and pulled his hand away from hers. Kori felt rejected and she stood up from her seat and walked over to him.

Straddling his legs, Kori balanced herself on him. She could feel his hot breath in her ear, his body warmer than his hands, and could smell the scent of the outdoors lingering on him. "No one asked for a hero, the fact that we have one though…that's pretty incredible. That doesn't mean though you always have to be a hero…no one can do that, not even the great Nightwing."

Leaning in, lips touched lips. Tongues intertwined, and hair was felt. The feeling of hands lingered on each of their bodies, as their passionate embrace became a bit steamier. Kori's hands found their way to his face and her fingers rested on the edges of his mask.

"Don't…I can't…we can't." Kori got up quickly, feeling embarrassed, hurt, and bit betrayed. "I have to go…I should be out watching the city. I shouldn't have come."

"But it's good you did." She met his eyes. "I don't know why…but I get the sneaking suspicion that Slade Wilson is doing some illegal activity. Even if you can't figure out who this killer is, you can bring a power seeking man to justice."

"Thank you Kori." He got up and took another sip from his water, finishing the glass. He walked into her living room yet again and to the door and looked at the umbrella, chuckling a little. "I guess I am happy you can seem to defend yourself when a stranger goes knocking on your balcony."

He opened the curtains and then slid open the glass door. He stood there, is hair slightly flowing in the cool winter air. Kori walked out closer, leaning again the door. She looked at him, handsome in the night.

"When will we meet again?" Kori bit her lip. Fearing the answer may be never.

"I'm always around." He told her. He walked closer. Using his gloved hand he lifted her chin to meet his face.

"Yes, but when will I see you?" She could hear her voice desperate, almost pleading but ignored all of her instincts to say good night and walk back inside.

"On the twenty-third…we'll meet at Howard's Glass. I'll wear civilian clothing but you'll know it's me okay?

"Okay," Kori was unsure of what else to say.

"Be safe okay?" He leaned down to give her a chaste kiss, before pulling away and giving her one last longing glare. He then jumped off the balcony and seemed to fly in the night sky like a bird soaring away.

- - - - - - -

AUTHOR'S NOTE

*I won't deny saying I know…it has been a long time since my last update. For that I am VERY SORRY. I always feel horrible when I don't update right away because I know myself I am very impatient and hate when other writer's don't update…and here I am doing the same thing. How hypocritical of me.

Though I am not without reason for not updating. For one, I have writer's block. I hate it so much! I knew the beginning of the story and most of the middle, and the end. I thought about just skipping to the night of the 23rd in the story, but realized that would be rushing the story so sorry if the next two or three chapters are slow. So also I live on the east coast. It's like we are having a blizzard. The amount of snow is ridiculous! Shoveling is not fun, and neither is the damage it has, like knocking over some trees, and also breaking large objects…like a car port for example. Also let's just say my parents and I are not on the best terms and when they take away your sanctuary (my laptop) I can't get much done.

I all hope you don't hate me too much! Thanks for all of the past feedback though! Your guys are flipping amazing and I just want to hug all of you, as creepy as that sounds you just make everything so much better. I hope to update a lot more soon and finish the story! Thanks for sticking with me.