Chapter 10: Date with Death
Life's Canvas
Chapter 10: Date with Death
An hour later, Kori came downstairs and met Richard as planned. She was in a pair of old jeans, paint stains faded, but evident. She wore a loose white tunic with the sleeves rolled up and she had pulled her hair back in a sloppy ponytail. Under one arm she carried a bag with her pallet and various brushes as well as her little jars of paint. Under the other arm were three blank canvases and her "Spring Robin" painting. Richard hadn't changed, save his shirt being a little rumpled from lounging on the couch.
"Ready?" he asked. Kori smiled and nodded. From the look on his face, he hadn't put thoughts of her past to rest yet. "We're going to have to take the car this time. I don't think you can carry all that on the bike..." he continued. Kori sighed softly, pouting.
"I suppose. You must teach me how to ride one of those things on my own before I leave," she decided. Richard grinned, but there was an odd sense of dread as she spoke. He didn't particularly want her to leave. And with his past, he figured it to be unlikely they would remain in touch... despite what Kori told him.
"Sure, but let's go." He shrugged. Kori beamed and trotted up beside him. "Want me to carry anything?" he asked. She tilted her head to the side.
"You can take the paints..." she replied. He nodded and took the bag. With one arm free now, she slipped it into his and proceeded to escort him out the door. Richard laughed quietly. It was then that he recalled the party next week. He still hadn't fulfilled his promise to Raven... he had to invite Kori. Of course, it was now beginning to seem like a much more attractive prospect.
"Uh, Kori?" he asked.
"Hmm?"
"You remember that party I'm invited to?"
"Yes, that was when you told me about that Kitten girl... why?" she snickered. Richard huffed.
"You don't know how much torture Kitten is... so don't even go there. But, that's beside the point. I was wondering if you wanted to come, "he said. Oh, the lovely ways jealousy can manipulate the tongue! Richard now realized inviting her would mean she'd need a date, which would imply Roy in all likelihood. Not that any other random guy would have made him feel better anyhow. So... there was a logical way to get out of this... "And, if you wouldn't mind, you could come as my date. I mean, because I don't have one yet and you don't have one and... it-it could be fun or something," he muttered.
Kori watched him stumbling over the words as they drove towards the building, his eyes very intently placed on the road ahead. She smiled gently. "I'm sorry, Richard, but I can't..." she said apologetically. Richard was surprised to find he was actually depressed with her rejection.
"Oh, uh, sure. No problem... is it because of Roy or something?" he blurted. Kori laughed then, her voice light and carefree. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, confused.
"No, not at all. I simply don't have anything to wear..." she chuckled. Richard couldn't help himself, and began to laugh as well.
"That's not a problem, Kori. We can go get you a dress, it's no problem at all," he sighed. Kori smiled.
"Really? Because I'd love to go," she said hopefully. They pulled into the parking lot and stepped from the car.
"Ok, great. We can go to the mall after this, if you want," he said. Kori nodded dutifully.
"Of course!" she said happily. She paused, and Richard was frightened to see a slow and rather sly grin work its way onto her pretty features. She slunk over to him and stood half an inch from his face. Richard swallowed and lifted a brow.
"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.
"Kori, it's not your fault. One witness couldn't have convicted a person of murder... not when it was a mass murder that would have ended in the Death Penalty... Kori, it's not your fault," he said again. Kori shook her head furiously.
"Richard, leave. Don't stay with me. I-I'm putting... putting you in danger. Carmen... she'll come after you next," she whispered, her voice hollow. Richard growled.
"I'm not leaving you, Kori. You're in more danger than I am. I'm not leaving you," he said firmly. Kori cried harder, clutching Roy's body to her chest. Richard finally heard the sound of sirens in the distance and moments later police were darting into the building. He watching as they painfully took Roy away from Kori, bustling about with sheets and cameras. Richard grabbed one of the officers and told them about the letter outside and told her it had been written by Kori's sister.
The officer nodded and rushed out to get it. Kori was making a commotion, trying to claw her way back to Roy, and the officers were struggling to hold her back. Richard ran to her side and grabbed her arm firmly. "Kori, come on!" he pleaded. Kori looked at him, her emerald eyes so haunted it was frightening. "Kori, please..." he whispered. She fell limp, and he caught her in his arms, helping her away swiftly and ushering her out the door.
Once outside, Richard held her close to him. "Come on, Kori... please don't do this to yourself. It's not your fault, ok?" he soothed, trying desperately to calm the quaking girl. He heard a door slam and looked up to see Raven and Garfield rushing up the steps, Raven clutching a letter in her hand.
"Anders!" Raven barked, running to Kori's side. Kori barely pulled her head up to look at her caller.
"Madame Logan... Roy..." she whispered, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. She couldn't continue and buried her head in Richard's chest. Raven took a deep breath and brought her hand up to her forehead.
"I know, Kori. I got a letter too. Damn. I should've killed Terra, that little..."
"Hon, please. You don't need to do this," Gar cut in, wrapping his wife up in his arms. She leaned against him wearily.
"T-Terra did this too? Both... both of them?" Kori asked, peeking up at them with horrified eyes, her hands clutching Richard's shirt. He held her tightly, running his hand up and down her back gently, his eyes closed as he tried to sort out everything.
"Of course. My letter was from Terra... I take it Carmen wrote yours," Raven snarled. Kori whimpered and nodded. The violet-haired woman grimaced.
"Just... Gar, what the hell do we do now? We can just trash the gallery at this point, Kori's not safe... and I'm guessing Dick's not safe either," she muttered. "Off hand, neither of us are either." She added. Gar kissed her cheek consolingly.
"The letters, they weren't signed and nobody actually saw the murder... but at least now they're suspects. They'll get caught soon, I'm sure. As for Kori and Rich... I don't know what to say," Gar sighed, running a hand through his short brown hair. Raven sucked in a deep breath.
"I don't know what to tell them either. Dick, we need to explain a lot to you now..."
"No, Kori already told me. All I know is that I need to get in contact with Bruce... I mean, there was a break in and a murder on his property. He'll wanna know. Kori and I... we'll lie low. I'm staying with her, there's no way anyone will get near her without me close by. We can't just discontinue outside stuff though, we have to keep acting normal. People will wonder if Richard Grayson just stops making public appearances all of the sudden. And I don't think this murder needs to get out to public. Media will just screw the investigation up," he said. Raven and Gar nodded. Kori pressed herself even closer to Richard. "I'm taking her home... now," he muttered. Raven nodded quietly. As Richard led Kori away, Raven grabbed the painting things Kori had left on the steps and hurried after them to put them in the trunk.
She did so and then quickly returned to Gar's arms. "Gar... this is getting out of hand," she said quietly. Gar nodded, kissing her.
"I know... but I'm by your side every step of the way. I promise," he said. Raven nodded and gave him a weak, but thankful smile.
"I'm worried about Kori though. She's tough, but she's just so naïve and innocent. She'll get herself in trouble without realizing it. Poor thing just lost the one strong thing left in her life," Raven whispered. Gar shook his head, tightening his hold on Raven's slender waist.
"I'm worried about her too, but Richard's plenty strong enough to keep her safe. He's good for her and she's good for him. Grayson's changed since the wedding... Kori's healing him, and I off hand I think he's going to be the only one who can heal her," he said. Raven looked up at her husband.
"Since when were you so deep," she sighed. Gar smiled softly.
"Since you needed me to be. Now let's go home... we need to leave the police to their business. Besides... someone has to arrange a proper funeral for Roy, right?" he said glumly. Raven nodded and let him lead her out to the car, still sheltered with his arm wrapped around her shoulders.
Kori cried quietly the whole way back to Wayne manor, and Richard could do nothing but sit there with her and hold her hand. As they got out of the car back at the manor, Kori wrapped herself around him. "Thank you Richard..." she murmured. He nodded mutely and hugged her back. What he would've given to be able to kiss her every tear and sorrow away.
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