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Gar suddenly pulled back, pushing back his messy green locks in consternation. And suddenly, as if hit by an atomic bomb, Rachel pulled back as well, shocked at what she'd said. "Damn..."
"Raven... Rachel..." Gar sighed. "I'm so sorry. I'm a secret agent... my mission was to capture you."
Rachel sat there, dirty and dusty and crying, in shock. "Wh... what?"
Gar looked up, and she saw with extreme surprise that there were tears in his eyes. "I'm... I'm really sorry, Rachel. What I said... I meant it, and I can't... I can't take you. I can't take you to jail, and if I know anything..." He smiled wryly. "Well, if my guy instincts are right, Dick can't take Carey either."
Rachel put her hand to her cheek. "What a..."
"Fiasco?"
The girl looked up and smiled slightly. "That's a good word for it." She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear-- its natural purple now-- and sighed. "I can't tell you how... absolutely wretched I am right now..."
"Actually, I can..." Gar smiled slightly and stood, helping her up as well.
Rachel looked at him and suddenly she was in his arms again, breaking down once more, her tears soaking his already-soaked shoulder. And the best part was...
He didn't mind at all.
Gar slowly brought her head up to his. He leaned forward.
No, he wasn't... he couldn't... Rachel closed her eyes in spite of herself. He's not going to...
And then his lips met hers.
The kiss was long, and fraught with all sorts of passion and the longing of what was yearned to be, and then it felt like it could be. Like everything in the world was right. Rachel broke apart slightly and smiled, and it was only then that they heard the fireman.
"Er... I'm guessing you two are okay?"
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Kori limped along the sidewalk next to Dick, her arm draped across his shoulder, her ankle painfully throbbing with each step. "Dick..."
"Hmm?" Dick looked at her and paused, leaning her against a wall. "What's wrong?"
She coughed. "You never show your eyes."
Dick started. That wasn't what he was expecting. "Yeah. Makes it easier for people not to recognize me."
Kori looked at him piercingly with her own green eyes that seemed to stare right through the glasses. "That is not it. I can feel it."
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He was silent for so long, Kori thought he wasn't goig to answer."When I was little, my parents used to say that I had eyes as blue as a robin's egg. They called me Robin. They were trapeze artists. When they came up onto the wire, someone cut it, and they fell to their deaths." He looked at her. "I can't show these eyes anymore."
Kori looked at him sadly and suddenly embraced him, the wind blowing lightly against their intertwined bodies. "I lost my parents as well," she whispered into his ear as her hair whipped around his face. She pulled back, and gently pressed his cheek. "I feel your pain. But Dick..." Slowly, she reached up and touched the sunglasses. Just lightly, with two fingers.
"You can't hide your eyes," she said softly, looking at him. "You... you will have no soul, no real life. If you hide these beautiful... these seeing-things, you will lose all sight inside of yourself." Gently, she started pulling them down. "You must release the pain and pressure that has built up inside of you for so long."
Dick reached up and grasped her wrist. "Stop," he said hoarsely. "Please."
"No." The strength in her voice startled him. "Dick... Richard... you must! Just lean into it. Trust me."
"Trust..." He couldn't talk. He was paralyzed by her touch, her green eyes blazing into his hidden ones.
"Yes, trust me." She softly pulled them down all the way and put them into the palm of his hand. She looked up and saw them: two icy, blazing blue eyes, crystalline sparkles coming out from their hidden place. "Robin..." Kori whispered. She hugged him again, more fiercely, and then smiled slightly.
Richard suddenly smiled. It was so spontaneous, so odd, that she leapt back in surprise, wincing slightly as her ankle bent again. "Kori, thank you," he said softly. He reached down and helped her stand. It was then she realized how close they were. "Thank you so much..."
Kori blushed. "No, it was nothing... I merely wanted to see your eyes..."
Dick laughed suddenly, and grabbed her, twirling her around. "I love you, Kori Anders," he said breathlessly as he put her down. "I love you!"
Kori's eyes widened, and she flushed brightly. Why was this happening? It couldn't happen! She was... a criminal... she couldn't get involved...
And yet here she was, loving him right back. And he knew it, and they kissed, so lightly and suddenly it felt like a butterfly.
Dick blinked, and kissed her again, longer this time. They stood there, wallowing in ecstasy, their bodies together like some twisted version of yin and yang... and suddenly, Richard's cell phone rang.
He wanted to ignore it, had to ignore it.
Damn that thing.
He brought it out with a heavy sigh and held it to his ear. Alfonzo's voice echoed. "Richard, do you have a report? What happened?"
Richard paused and looked down at Kori. Kori held his gaze steadily, and he knew what he had to do. "Yeah, Al, we're done here. Well... first the bad news. Raven Rowth... her name wasn't Rachel..." (Here he winked at Kori, who looked confused.) "And Carey Anderson, the Green-Eyed Beauty... they fell into the river and drowned during a chase. They're taken care of." Kori looked shocked. "The good news... we got the guy who was selling those 'X' pills... and..."
Alfonzo shuffled papers. "And what?"
"And I'm retiring."
"WHAT?" The sound of coffee being spit.
"Gar's retiring, too," came a voice. Rachel and Garfield came into view, draped on one another lovingly, together.
"Yeah, Gar's retiring, too," Richard relayed, grinning.
Alfonzo gaped. "What? What happened?"
Richard grinned to Kori. "Well... we met these girls, chief. Kori Anders and Rachel Roth."
"So?"
"So... that's it."
"You're retiring just because of two cute girls?" Alfonzo roared. "You can't do this! Victor just quit, too! He met some girl named Bethany! 'Bee', he called her!"
"Yeah... we're retiring because of two cute girls. There's more, but you wouldn't belive any of it, Al." Richard leaned over and planted a soft kiss on Kori's cheek. "You wouldn't believe it."
And promptly ignoring Alfonzo's muffled protests, Richard tossed his cell phone into the river below them.
Gar spoke up first. "So... anyone up for ice cream?"
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Epilogue
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So, yeah, that's basically the whole story. Dick and Kori got together, and Gar and Rachel got together. Kori and Dick had their wedding a year ago, and Kori's pregnant with a girl, due in about two weeks. I think they said they'll name her Mari'kor. Nightstar in Tamaranian. I really want to go to that country.
Gar and Raven are getting married in a week, and Rae's really stressing all over the little details... the cake and everything. This Tara Markov girl is going to be a bridesmaid, but damn, that girl talks. Keeps mentioning this dude named 'Speedy'. Hah.
So everything's cool... we all live in a giant house. Kori and Dick on one side, Rachel and Gar on another, and me and Bee on the last. Rachel and Kori gave up their thievery, and are now working as directing managers of an art museum. Haha, guess when they were thieves, they picked up some good art tips or something.
Dick and Gar and I work different jobs... Dick works for a big telephone company, Gar's working for a tofu manufacturing and importing job, and I'm kickin' it at a software place. Still have time to wax my baby, though. Hehe.
Bee and I are doing fine... not married yet, just dating. Bee says she wants to see if I'm really the jerk I turn out to be before she settles with me. (She's joking, of course. I think.)
Speaking of which, here's my girl now... but you know the story, and I guess you guys can make it up from there!
Peace, yo--
Vic Stone
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Final Author's Note:
First of all, thank you SO MUCH to all of my wonderful reviewers! You guys rock! I got faithful reviews every chapter, and even a couple constructive criticisms. I'm aware that this chapter was mainly fluff, so I'm sorry if you don't like it... but I tried to wrap it up so I could get on with my other stories, hehe.
Second, I want to know: Sequel? No sequel?
Third, I want you guys to go and check out my other fic: Burdens of the Past. It's more angsty than this one, but rest assured, it will be fluff-filled as well. See you there!
Domo arigato!
-- Aine