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?
- - - - - - -
Twenty-Two
"Are you sure you want to go home?" Gar asked. Looking at the clock, it was only 10:50 p.m.
"Yes, I think it would be a good idea to get out of here early. We still have time to make it home and celebrate Christmas. I just am a bit tired and I think I'm developing a headache."
"Aw, Rae." Taking his hand, Gar placed his fingers on Rachel's hot head. She wasn't lying, she was pretty warm.
"Why don't we leave then? We can always call Kori tomorrow and apologize that we weren't able to see her. Plus, we have to get up early to cook to bring our part of dinner to Richard's house right?"
"Yes, we have to get up early to make cookies, my cheese broccoli casserole, and also some cornbread." Rachel and Gar walked towards where they saw Victor and Karen.
"That sounds good. Okay, we'll say goodbye to Victor and Karen and then go home right?"
"Right," Rachel gave a small smile and Gar kissed her forehead.
Walking over to Victor and Karen, a server came through with a platter of food. Dressed in black and white the server smiled at the two as Gar stopped him. He looked around the tray seeing pigs in a blanket and cookies, an odd mixture of food. He gave the server a smile as he looked up and grabbed a piece of food. He stuffed it into his mouth as Rachel looked like she was going to protest. They continued to walk over, hand in hand.
"Well look at this, you two all cute together." Karen chuckled. Her hand rested against Victor's.
"Yeah, well…yeah," Gar blushed slightly and Victor let out a chuckle.
"So what brings you two over here? Tired from dancing? You guys did dance a lot surprisingly." Victor spoke up. He removed his hands from Karen's to put his arm around her waist. She leaned against his shoulder.
"We were actually going to get going." Rachel spoke quietly.
"Any reason why?" Victor asked. He looked skeptically at Rachel and Gar. Rachel looked paler then usual and seemed as if she had a lot on her mind. Gar on the other hand was looking green.
"Gar are you okay?" Karen asked shocked.
"I'm fine, why?" Gar swallowed hard.
"You look green!" Victor laughed despite Karen's concern.
"Well I did eat a cookie right before I came over here." Gar heard his stomach grumble.
"Gar, that wasn't a cookie." Rachel said. "That's why I gave you the weird look; I think it was a pig in a blanket!" Rachel gave him a look of worry.
"What?" Gar roared. "I ate meat?" He yelled quietly, shocked. He coughed a little.
"I thought you knew that." Rachel said. She couldn't believe her boyfriend the vegetarian had just eaten meat.
"It looked like one of those cookies with the filling coming out!" Gar quickly walked away and walked back with a glass of wine. He downed the drink in thirty seconds flat trying to wash out the taste of meat.
"Those were on the tray too. You kind of looked up at the waiter as you grabbed it and you grabbed the hotdog wrapped in doe instead and stuffed it down your throat before I could say anything." Rachel spoke of her innocence in the situation; she had no opportunity to say anything.
"You ate meat? Garfield ate meat? I never thought the day would come! I can't believe this where are Dick and Kori? They would love to hear this!" Victor laughed out loud as Gar continued to have a disgusted look on his face.
"Rachel, I think it's time to go home. You don't feel well and I have to go throw up." Gar said.
"Well you two go home then! Get better for Christmas at Richard's house tomorrow. If you hear from Kori remind her, I haven't seen her all night. Also make sure Richard doesn't drink too much and get a hangover." Karen spoke over Victor who was still going wild with giggles.
"Yeah, if we see them again." Rachel spoke. She went quiet Kori and Richard was mentioned. Gar was the only one who noticed.
"See you guys tomorrow!" Karen hugged Gar and kissed his cheek, and did the same to Rachel.
"Yeah! Hey Gar, going to try to ham and turkey as well?" Victor laughed as the two did a 'man hug'. Victor calmed down from his joke as he hugged Rachel and she kissed his cheek.
"I can't wait for tomorrow! I'll stuff vegetables down the big lump's throat!" Gar spoke as he and Rachel walked away and out to get their coats to go to the car and finally, go home.
- - - - - - -
The cold air hit her skin like a thousand icicles. The snow came down, covering the roof of the Jump City Post building. It came with wind sending chills all over her body. She shivered in her as she stood. Only wearing a green dress without sleeves that had been cut to mid thigh was enough to make her go into a bit of distress.
Ropes still covered her body. She was tied tight it was no use getting out without a knife. It was like an expert boy-scout rope tier. Rather than tape on her mouth, a piece of black fabric was tied in the back of her head. She was unable to talk, her screams were muffled. Instead of the chair she was tired around a giant vent on the roof. The cold metal touched her skin and she felt as if her flesh was burning.
"Someone is awake." A voice cut through the silence of the night.
Looking up, Kori noticed a warm Deathstroke coming towards her. She noticed he was still in his suit, the orange and black mask still covering up his identity. His steps were slow. In the background she noticed Red X watching the streets.
"Like the new location. Do you recognize it? It's your own work building. Doesn't it suck being at work on Christmas Eve?" His laugh rose over the sound of the cars speeding down on the streets below.
Kori began yelling at him through the fabric. Her cries were muffled and she could imagine a smile coming to the sick man's face. He walked over casually. His hands were in his pockets and his footsteps were quiet. It was as if he was a snake slithering towards his prey.
"You look a little cold." His hand came out of his pocket and he touched her skin. His hand burned her shoulder. Her whole arm was lit on fire as his hand traveled down it, going over the ropes. It was when his other hand came to her face and caressed her cheek she felt as if she would kill him from disgusted. His fingers brushed down her bruised cheek. He pulled down the fabric.
Kori spit.
"Why you ungrateful little bitch!" His hand came up as if he was about to slap her and her face automatically ducked into her shoulder from instinct.
Kori was surprised when she heard his laughing. She looked up at him to see him using a handkerchief to wipe of his face. He laughed at the same time. She was a bit scared to be honest. This psychopath was laughing at her action.
"I won't hurt you now, no, that would be a waist. You'll suffer later, as well as Nightwing. I'll take care of your punishment later." He gave her a faint smile before lightly tapping her cheek enough to make her look to the side. He seemed bipolar.
"Who are you?" Kori spit out. She looked back at the orange and black mask.
"Have you still not figured it out? We've been over that I thought you were smarter than this, but apparently you aren't." He shook his head in pity.
"What do you mean?" Kori breathed out.
"I mean you are dumb, it's as simple as that. You still haven't figured this out. You call yourself a reporter." He shook his head, she heard his tongue clucking.
"Stop it!" Kori yelled. She hated his taunting. She hated being tired helplessly to a vent. She hated every minute of this night. She especially hated this person in front of her, if you could even call him a person. He was a monster. He was a maniac. He needed to be put behind bars.
"Am I bothering you?" He came close to her, sis breath whispering in her ear. She felt dizzy from him being this close, it wasn't a good thing. "You are a feisty one…I like it."
"Get away from me." Kori threatened.
He pulled away, a smile definitely on his face beneath the mask. "Keep struggling, Kori. It gives me more pleasure." Kori felt sick, he didn't really just say that.
"You're a sick man." Kori retorted.
"Actually, I'm in rather good shape, healthy too."
"You disgust me."
"I would rather much prefer to pleasure you." His voice sounded huskier and Kori got chills down her body that wasn't from the cold air.
"I would prefer if you just tell me who you are! Or are you a coward?" Kori breathed in and out, her breaths were noticeable from even far. It seemed silent to the two even though cars rushed down on the streets below, birds chirping, honking, talking and bustling of city life.
"Do you really want to know? Do you really want to find out?" His voice was low, threatening. Kori nodded her head. She was scared to know the identity; nothing would be complete to her if she didn't. She couldn't go on as if she was a prisoner without knowing the secret identity of her captor. She had to know, she just had to.
The world seemed to slow down. Rather than the cars speeding below at 70 they all seemed to go at 1 mph. The birds flying up ahead seemed to inch forward. The people walking went into slow motion. Everything just went into slow motion as his hand grasped the black and burnt orange mask. It came off.
Slade Wilson.
Kori felt as if she could hear her own heartbeat. She felt as if she was suffocating, she let no breaths out or in. Her mouth was still agape. Her mind swirled with all these thoughts, too many thoughts. Her eyes were glassy, she felt numb.
"Glad to see I can make such a beautiful lady such as yourself, speechless." He let a grin. She didn't register anything else besides her thoughts, all of them of Slade, all of the clues.
- - - - - - -
"Martha's body had not only been shot, but the woman was found with her arms and legs cut off. On her stomach was the symbol of a large "S". Police are reporting that they believe the same person has been behind the last five murders this month was at fault. For this person always leaves behind an "S."
Slade Wilson had been the killer.
"Bruce, you look great. So does the mansion. When do you return to Gotham?" Kori asked him. Bruce was known to live in Gotham City, a few hours away from Jump. He had lived here for over a year though, setting up the new Wayne Industries company here.
"Want to get rid of me that bad?" He chuckled lightly and Kori took a small drink.
"Of course not Bruce, you do throw some of the best parties around here." She smiled and he nodded his head appreciatively.
"You obviously haven't been to one of my parties then." A semi familiar voice spoke. Kori looked up to see no other then Slade Wilson in front of her. Bruce rolled his eyes as his competitor picked up Kori's hand and brought it to his lips. Though they both had never met, they knew of each other. Slade was the billionaire rival of Bruce. Kori was the beautiful and famous newspaper reporter.
"I believe I haven't Mr. Wilson." Kori nodded her head politely as his hand let go of hers. She felt a little suspicious of him, but knew him to be an honest man.
"Then you shall attend my Christmas party, on Christmas Eve. Bruce here is going." Slade smiled mischievously at Bruce and Bruce stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "I would feel honored if a woman as lovely as you were to come." Kori blushed slightly.
Slade Wilson was attractive and only thirty-three. He had brown eyes that often looked slightly golden. His skin was tan, while his hair was brown with grey roots mixed in. Many women found him sexy and charming, and Kori had to admit they were right. He had a large smile and a good body.
"I believe I'm available." Kori smiled. "Am I really flirting with him?" Kori asked herself.
Slade Wilson had been flirting with Kori.
"So Ms. Anders what are you requiring from work?" Slade made small talk.
"I have to grab a folder I forgot, Mod wants me to look up some information on this "S" killer." Kori took another sip. "Just basic information that you can find on the internet currently. Since my computer isn't working properly I couldn't do it at home."
"Ah, yes, the "S" killer. Is that what they are calling him?" Slade let out a hearty chuckle and Kori smirked.
"Is there a better name for our killer?" Kori asked him raising an eye brow.
"What about the Terminator?" Slade said as he rested back against the cool black leather seats.
"Are we trying to be Arnold Schwarzenegger?" Kori smiled and Slade pondered this.
"What about Deathstroke?" Slade asked after much thought.
"That's an interesting name. How did you think of that?" Kori wondered. She leaned in a bit closer anticipating a good answer.
"Just came to mind. Look we're here." Slade said, and Kori sat up straight and looked at the window to see the large building in front of her.
Slade Wilson had even motioned Deathstroke to Kori.
"Kori…is everything alright?" The voice of Slade came and Kori found it was odd he was calling her. She then remembered how she had forgotten to cal him updating him on her previous situation.
"Oh yes Slade. I didn't mean to not call you; a lot was on my mind last night." Kori sighed as she gave up on her call and pulled to the side of the road.
"It's alright dear. So is everything okay there now? I hear a bit of grunting." Slade chuckled as dirty thoughts took over his mind. His smile only grew as he heard Kori sigh.
"You are funny. My car is having a bit of trouble."
"Would you like to stop by quickly? I have Xavier here we were going over business. You know how he is a mechanic genius."
Slade Wilson had invited her over to get her car fixed.
"Thank you Xavier for offering to fix my car." Kori gave me a small smile before it disappeared to an awkward lip bite.
"Actually Kori another person is fixing your car…" Slade trailed off.
"Oh, well then I thought you would do it. I would rather have someone I know fixing the car, and besides it would be too much trouble for them. Vic wanted to add some extra details to my car anyway."
"Kori the person is already here is name is ugh…" Xavier was deep in thought trying to come up with a suitable fake name. Luckily, Slade helped him out.
"His name is Mr. X. He is an up and coming mechanic. He is already here in the garage. You can hand Xavier your keys and he will bring it to Mr. X. don't worry, he wants to add a few things as well."
Slade Wilson had planned hired Red X to fix her car.
A loud beeping went off as the red light blinked wildly. Kori looked behind her. The world went slowly at the moment for the two of them. Kori let out an ear piercing scream as the car began to set on fire and it was slowly expanding.
Nightwing jumped forward knocking Kori and himself out of the way. He landed swiftly on the ground holding her bridal style. He began to run forward away from the explosion, and Kori could only watch as it could have been her in that car.
Slade Wilson knew about the bomb, the bomb that would have killed her.
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."
Slade Wilson had been reported to Nightwing.
"Where is your article?"
"Right here," Kori reached into her pocket and pulled out a USB drive. Madame Rouge raised her eye brows in a bit of surprise, but regardless caught the object. Placing it into her computer tower, the file loaded.
Kori waited in silence. Madame Rouge sat with a poker face, reading Kori's rather lengthy article. She fumbled with her fingers, a bit nervous of her boss's reaction. She counted in her head and when she reached the number 94, Madame Rouge looked up at her.
"How much of this is true. We aren't gossip, we are the news. We get everything right."
"It's all true. I found some sources inside the company that reported all of it. Slade Wilson is running an underground business trade; otherwise illegal activity is going on behind closed doors. There have also been reports he is involved with this 'S' murderer, it all seems to fit."
"Not half as bad as I thought."
"Thanks," Kori had a small proud smile on her face.
"We are running it tomorrow, front page. Now why don't you get out of here for the night, you certainly have done a fair amount of work."
Slade Wilson had even been connected to the murders.
"That was such a nice article you posted about me." Slade's smile was cold. His voice was hard.
"It's the truth."
"Now, Kori, I think you are a bit too naïve to know the truth."
The truth was Slade Wilson was the killer.
- - - - - - -
The name kept repeating in her head, the voice, the looks, the memories. The person behind everything was Slade Wilson. How could she have not seen it earlier? It was obvious, everything was right in front of her. Yet she was naïve, she would agree with Slade for once. She was too naïve to realize the truth.
"Deathstroke!" Red X spoke up.
Slade peeled his satisfied eye away from Kori's stunned face. She was frozen in place. He looked over at Xavier. Would it obvious to Kori who he was? "What is it?"
"I think I see him coming…are you ready?"
"I have a bullet in this gun. Someone is going to die tonight and it's not going to be me." Slade's cocky voice spoke.
Kori paid no attention. She was still in shock. To be honest she didn't know what she would be out of it. How long had Slade been playing Deathstroke? Why was he doing this? Who else knew? There were too many questions and little time to get the answers she needed.
"Well I hope you're ready. I see Nightwing's cycle approaching."
Kori ears perked up to Nightwing's name being said. She looked up away from the ground and two the two men. Slade still had his mask off while Red X still sat on the side watching as the cycle sped forward, she could hear the motorcycle's purr.
"Hear that, Kori?" Slade walked over. His hand reached up and touched her face, pulling up the black fabric that once muffled her screams. "It's showtime."
- - - - - - -
AUTHOR'S NOTE
*I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I wrote it in a day surprisingly! I hope you didn't find it boring or anything, I tried hard to make it exciting. It's longer than most of my chapters in my opinion. So, yeah hope it wasn't blah, if you get what I mean.
So in case no one got this part, the italics in the one section after Kori finds out about Slade, that's all of her flashbacks of clues that Slade was Deathstroke. Remember Kori wasn't there when he ever was or talked about him so these were the most important moments in my opinion when Slade/Deathstroke was brought up in Kori's P.O.V. Hope it wasn't confusing, if it was PM me or write a comment and I will try to clear things up! She kept saying Slade Wilson after every part because his name, face, everything was burned into her mind.
So yeah, someone is obviously going to die. I did a bit of foreshadowing somewhere in this chapter, at least I guess you can consider it to be that! Will Richard be able to rescue Kori or no? I guess we will have to wait in see!