Hey everyone! I know I should not be starting another story right now with all the ones I have left to finish but I couldn't get this one out of my head. I've been thinking about it and refining it for the past few days and decided to write up the first chapter and see the response it gets. So one of my vices is the programme Pretty Little Liars. I love the show and I got the idea for this piece from the show. I'll probably use some of the notes from A since I'm not twisted enough to come up with my own, but I plan on switching up the story but using the same premise.

So, in this version, they're all college graduates working in or around Gotham. Read the story description for more detail!

Enjoy!

~Rukia Rae

Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty Little Liars or the Teen Titans.

Raven put her kettle on the stove. Massaging her temples, she decided to turn on the news in an attempt to distract her from her stressful day ahead.

In other news, Harvey Dent has arrested hundreds of Gotham's finest on varying accounts of corruption, from embezzlement to outright theft. In a statement issued today, he mentioned this was only the beginning of his investigations into the Gotham Police force. What do you make of this, Lisa?

Well, Todd-

The kettle's whistle drew Raven away from the television. She, like everyone else, knew the Gotham police were incredibly corrupt, but arresting them seemed like a bad idea. It was good, noble even, for Harvey to want to clean up the police, however, he'd just made himself the number one target of many disgruntled policemen- both the ones who were fired and the ones who now feared being fired. Not to mention all of Gotham's major crime syndicates. Many of them had contacts within the police force and liked that they were able to keep their hands on the pulse of Gotham.

Pouring the steaming water over her tea bag, Raven turned back to the television while her tea steeped. They were on another story now.

Raven managed to catch a glimpse of the tag 'Red-X strikes again!' before they began to discuss a new breaking story. Looks like she had missed the whole thing. She frowned, they barely devoted any time to their stories. Then again, Red-X was nothing new. He was Gotham's most notorious thief who had never been caught. Hell, he hadn't even been caught on camera. The only reason they knew who he was was the noticeable red X's he left at each crime scene. All of them had the same chemical composition (apparently it was some goo that would turn into an 'X' on contact with a surface) but the investigators never found any other clues to his identity. He might as well have been a ghost.

The story the news was babbling about now had much more promise as a 'sensational' story. She rolled her eyes, unhappy that most of those in her field were only interested in shock value anymore. Pushing her thoughts aside, she focussed on the story. It could be useful to know later at work.

Investigators have deemed this arson and have ruled out the house burning as an accident. The victim also looks to have died from her stab wounds before the fire took over her house, burning her and everything else. Police have finally identified the woman as Toni Monetti, an 23 year old who had only recently moved back to Gotham city. Police have named her half brother, Jason Todd as the main suspect in the case. He has not been seen since Saturday night and anyone is urged to call the police if they know his whereabouts.

The screen then flashed to the face of a handsome boy, probably no older than 27, with caramel coloured eyes and dark brown hair. At the bottom of the screen flashed a number to call with any tips or information on him. The news then continued.

Yesterday in Indonesia there was an unexpected flood. The water is up to 4 feet high in some cases.

Raven couldn't get this nagging feeling out of her head. That name sounded familiar. Monetti. Where have I heard that name? Ruffled by potentially knowing a murder victim, she turned off the television, pushing the thought from her mind. She then quickly gulped down her breakfast tea and made her way to the bathroom where she could shower and get ready for the day.

Stifling a groan, Raven walked back to her desk in dismay. She had been wrong about her small, local newspaper. Apparently they were very much into the sensationalist craze. She was to be the lead journalist investigating the Jason Todd case. No matter her job description read editor. No matter that her degree had been in politics and journalism. No matter that they knew she abhorred dealing with the police department and bureaucratic red-tape. No, they were short staffed and wanted a senior member to cover the story.

It was true that she was the oldest member there (apart from the two friends to start the supposedly objective paper) as most used this as a stepping stone in their career. But Raven liked this paper. They let her write about anything that interested her and was current. She mostly worked on writing for the columns on Asia and acting as editor when Missy was ill. But a few months ago, Missy had accepted a new job and Raven was, for a time, their sole editor. It wasn't long before they brought Jessica on board, a girl Raven quickly took a liking to. This girl used sarcasm almost as much as she did.

But Jessica had never worked as a writer, only an editor. And, evidently, everyone else had assignments.

It's an honour, really. You should be proud to cover such a big story.

Her boss's words rang in her ears. She wanted to growl. It wasn't an honour, it was her boss wanting to take a vacation (he left tomorrow) but wanting the benefits of someone to cover the biggest story gracing the news.

She sighed and picked up the phone dialling the number of her best friend.

"Robin? It's me. I need your help, can you get me into the Monetti house this afternoon. I know it's a high alert crime scene and all but I need pictures for an article."

"Of course. I've been given permission to enter the crime scene, I'm helping the police compile their report. I'm going in at 3, drop by then."

As she listened to his reply, feeling elated.

"Wonderful. You're a life saver."

She hung up and wrote the details on a sticky note. She then opened her laptop and decided to do some preliminary research on Toni Monetti and Jason Todd.

He saw her black mustang drive past the house, undoubtably looking for a place to park. The area immediately around the house was packed with cars-from the police, investigators, detectives like himself, forensics, and friends looking to pay respects. There was a growing shrine near the mailbox of things dedicated to memories of and with the deceased girl.

A few moments later he saw Raven walking toward him in her usual business attire-a charcoal grey skirt and a lilac blouse tucked in. Her dark mahogany hair was tucked back neatly in a bun. A smile of relief crossed her petite face.

"Thank-you so much for getting me in. Really."

She gave no indication that she knew him outside of the professional world despite the fact that they had been friends since childhood. He had gone into the detective field and thought it prudent while at work to assume another identity. He used his middle name and his deceased family's last name (Robin Grayson), wore coloured contacts, dressed shabbily (as most detectives did) and smoothed his usually spiky hair down into a manageable 'do. He had created fake facebook and twitter pages for Robin. He was quite pleased with the disguise. Anyone looking for a link between Robin Grayson and Richard Wayne would have to know there was a link between them.

And he was impressed that despite knowing him for years as Richard Wayne that she could treat him as an acquaintance when he was Robin Grayson. It was a remarkable transition and helped his disguise.

Extending his hand for a handshake, he replied, "It's no problem. Anything in particular you were hoping to photograph?"

They had gone through most of the house fairly quickly; the house wasn't that big. It wasn't until they had reached Toni's room that Raven felt the need to sit down. There were several items out, as though Toni had been making a scrapbook. Pictures littered the floor. Raven had to remind herself that this was a crime scene and she wasn't allowed to touch anything. But it had clicked seeing the senior prom picture of the girl. Raven had been one of her good friends in high school after moving to Gotham High from Jump City.

Back then Raven remembered she went by Argent Monetti, she claimed that Argent represented her better than her birth name. Raven had never used her birth name and it hadn't mattered at the time. The picture that held Raven's interest showed Argent in her silver floor length dress, her inky black hair coloured with red streaks. Raven smiled, remembering how Argent's mother had guilted her into going, claiming she wanted to see her baby in a dress in her lifetime. It had worked and she had convinced Raven to go with her, as 'dates' since neither had anyone else to attend with.

"It's quite a shock, isn't it?" Asked Richard wryly, steadying Raven with his hand on her arm.

She nodded, "We went to high school together."

A pause.

"I never thought I would know a victim. This seems like a cruel scene from Law and Order," she added.

He nodded. His face gave nothing away, but Raven knew he felt the same. He had known her too, after all.

She took a few more pictures before telling Robin, "I think I've got everything I need. I'll be headed out now, but thanks again for your help."

She then waved and all but darted from the house into the fresh air. She needed to calm her nerves. On the walk back to her car, she mused at how this was affecting her. She had been great friends with Argent, needed her in high school. They had been close and shared many similar personality traits. After the first year at being at different universities, they had lost touch. But, being in that room, she was taken to all those years ago when they had been best friends in high school. They had been close and, despite not talking for years, Raven felt that closeness now. Argent was the type of person she had felt like they would always be friends. During her first year at university, after they hadn't spoken for about 5 months, she came back during winter break and ran into Argent at a coffee shop.

They had talked for hours, rekindling that strong friendship that had always been there. They had gone for coffee once more after that before falling out of touch again. Raven frowned, perhaps they hadn't talked much because in the back of their minds they both knew that their friendship could be rekindled whenever, that it was based on personality as much as it was day to day events and stories.

Raven slipped into her car working on auto-pilot. She looked at the time- 4:15- and concluded that her boss would have left for the airport by now. And that meant that there was no reason for her to go back to the office. Sighing, Raven almost went to her favourite cafe but decided against it when her brain decided to remind her that was where she had last spoken to Argent. No, she was not ready to go there yet. Or anytime soon.

Frowning, she changed course to starbucks. She was not one for chain coffee shops, and Starbucks seemed to be the pinnacle of pretension, but she figured that she would be able to write undisturbed in a corner there and she could eat there too. It would be killing two birds with one stone, so to speak. And, hopefully, now that she had the photos, she could quickly churn out the article and be done with this mess. She could then go home and process this loss. Then she would take her own things to the shrine tomorrow and, maybe, visit Argent's mother to see how she was coping.

Getting out at Starbucks, Raven began doing her write up for the article, including photos of the crime scene and including the few details the police were allowing to the press at the moment.

When she had finished, she was not at all happy with the article. It just wasn't original, it provided no new insight into the story. Raven dared not claim to be Argent's friend in the papers (it would mean many sleepless nights for her and dredging up painful memories for countless interviews). Saving her article and deciding it was the best she could do, she sent it to her boss.

She cursed, the time on her laptop read 8:56. How she had managed to waste so much time, she didn't know. But it didn't matter, her assignment was in and she could turn in for the night. Gathering her things, she made her way back to the car. She only trusted herself with death metal music and so she blared this in her car on the short trip home. To keep her thoughts occupied, she decided to take the stairs up to her flat.

She opened her door and dropped her bags at the door. She was exhausted and decided that it would be a good idea to pour some nice wine and mull things over. Making her way to the kitchen, she turned on her lights and went to her sparely furnished wine rack and settled on a nice vintage pinot noir. She turned to go back to her kitchen island-and nearly dropped the bottle.

Her blinds over her enormous window overlooking Gotham had been closed. She never closed them. Time stopped and Raven could feel her heart hammering in her chest. Wielding the bottle as she would a bat, Raven assumed a fighting stance.

She jumped noticeably when she heard the mechanic voice say nonchalantly, "Hey there, Cutie."

Turning around slowly, she came face-to-face with Red-X, the notorious thief who prided himself on not getting caught.

"Um...shouldn't you have left by now with whatever it is you've decided you're taking?" she asked, keeping her face impassive. She hoped her stoic face betrayed nothing of her insides- which were still thrumming with adrenaline and fear.

"I'm not here to steal from you," he said bitterly, "I need your help."

"My help? What could you possibly want from me?" she asked incredulously, trying to process what was going on.

"You're a trusted journalist, known for being objective. To be a good journalist that also means you must have connexions. I'm being framed for a murder I did not commit. I need you to help me prove them wrong," he explained, almost spitting out each word.

"I'm a thief," he continued, "I operate from the shadows. The crime scene was messy- completely unlike me. And I'm not a murderer, for all of your qualms on my profession. And now I can't go out of my place ever because I'm wanted as both of my identities. Please. You need to understand that this isn't me."

It was odd, but she could sense the sincerity in his voice and actions. And his arguments made sense.

"So you want me to what? Investigate further?" She frowned at him, not quite grasping his meaning. How was she supposed to help?

"Yes... No... I don't know," he replied, sitting on one of her barstools, "I just need someone in this damn city to know I'm innocent. To believe me. To not think I'm a murderer."

He sighed and, despite the mask, Raven sensed a bit of pain. Or fear at having his fate determined by the goodwill of a stranger. Still, very reluctantly, he took off his mask.

Underneath was the face of Jason Todd.

"Oh," was all Raven could manage.

First chapter done. It was a bit rushed (have four essays due soon) but I hope you all still enjoy! Drop me a line and let me know what you think!

~RukiaRae