Life's Canvas

Date with Death

"Kori...?" he asked. Her grin widened.

"So, I get to be the date of the infamous Richard Grayson? Now why ever would a lowly little artist like me get such an honor as that?" she purred. Richard rolled his eyes.

"Because, as you put it, you're my friend... and I really don't wanna have to deal with Kitten again," he snapped. She shook her head, hooding her eyes.

"I highly doubt that, sir. After all, when did the 'Babs' girl fall out of the picture? You think you're being such a sneaky little boy, don't you?" she continued. Richard narrowed his eyes. What was she getting at? He didn't think of her that way, and she knew it... she probably knew it better than he knew it considering the idea was becoming hard to grasp.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"You knew I'd bring Roy... and you don't like Roy!" she giggled triumphantly, slapping his arm. Richard sighed.

"Oh, yeah, Kori... you sure got me on that one," he deadpanned. Kori shrugged and nodded, taking her bag of paints from him.

"Anyhow, the gallery looks nice from the outside... shall we go in? I think I see my packages on the front steps there!" she pranced ahead, and he watched her dance up the steps, barefooted again, and place her things on the ground to look at her packages. He sauntered up towards her as she picked up a letter on top of the parcels with shaky hands.

"What's up?" he asked as she stared at the writing on the envelope.

"Carmen..." she whispered. He watched as she tore into the envelope, pulling out the letter, her breath coming out hard. What had she done now! As she read the letter, the color drained from her face. "Oh God..." she choked out, tears coming to her eyes. She swayed unsteadily, and Richard grabbed her around the waist, supporting her.

"What? What happened? What did she say?" he asked.

"Roy... Roy's in there, Richard," she pointed towards the doors. "My sister... she-she..." Kori broke off, sobbing and slumping forward. She would have fallen had Richard not been holding her.

"What! Kori, what's your sister done?" he asked, becoming urgent.

"She's k-killed him..." she cried out, dropping the letter and tearing from his arms. Kori rushed to the doors and yanked them open, unlocked from having been forced open earlier. She ran in and the door swung shut behind her before Richard could grab it. He jerked open the handle and rushed in after her, only to stand cold.

Roy lay sprawled across the cold marble floor, swimming in a puddle of his own drying blood. Richard recognized the glassy-gazed look of death on Roy's face, the same as his parents had looked so many years ago. Kori had thrown herself across him, her small body wracked with sobs.

Richard quickly moved to her side, his hand resting on her shoulder. "Oh, Kori..." he managed. He hated seeing death, but watching someone as innocent as Kori clutching to a corpse was nearly too much.

"Roy, Roy I'm so sorry... so, so sorry." She murmured feverishly, her hands clutching his bloody shirt. Richard pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911, quickly reporting what had happened while Kori continued weep and hold Roy. She had pulled him into her lap now, and was slowly rocking back and forth, murmuring she was sorry over and over. Richard flipped the phone shut.

"The police are coming," he said. Kori tried to nod, but it ended up as just a shiver and more tears.

"It's my fault, Richard... it's my fault..." she whimpered. Richard tried to pry her gently from the corpse, but she refused to budge.

"It's not your fault, Darling," he whispered softly. Both were completely oblivious to what he'd just called her.

"Y-yes it is... If-if I had just turned her in at first, like he asked me... oh, Roy..." she cried. Richard shook his head.