Richard did not scare easily, but suddenly plopping into his bed in the middle of the night was an easy way to go about it. He bolted upright, scrambling to get out from under his covers and stand so he could protect himself from the intruder. He unceremoniously kicked the covers off his foot and turned the lamp on, opened his nightstands drawer, and was reaching for the handgun he kept there before he realized who had woken him up.

"Rachel?" He asked, taking a deep breath and calming himself down. His roommate of the past three years had fallen face first into his bed, which might've been funny to an outside viewer, but he had work in three hours, and being woken up in a frightening manner left him annoyed instead of amused. "What are you doing?"

"Mm fmf hfmmf hhfmmf mm. Hmmh hmf fhf fhhm?"

Richard sighed. "I can't understand you." He said, crouching down so he was closer to her.

Rachel turned her head so her face wasn't in his pillow. Her hair fell across her face, but her eye was still visible. "I shaid, I'm tryna sleep cause I'm sleepy. What are you doing?" She repeated.

"Are you drunk?" He asked. Rachel had been dragged off to some club by their friends earlier, if he remembered correctly. "I thought you were the designated driver?" Normally, Richard would've offered to drive for them, but he'd been exhausted after spending all day at his desk hunched over police reports.

"Water you gunna do? Arrest me?" She taunted.

"No, but-"

"Terra said she would drive." Rachel cut him off. "So i's not a crime for me to be drunk an in the car!" She reasoned. "I washn't behind the wheel."

Now that he was fully awake, his brain was starting to process what she was going on about. "Well, that's fine, I suppose…"

"But I'm not suppos to tell you that she was drunk too."

Richard facepalmed. "Alright, it's late, and I have work in three hours." He walked over to his bed and helped Rachel stand up. "Let's get you back to your room." He took two steps towards his door before Rachel shook her head.

"We can't. They locked us in." She told him.

"That's impossible." Richard said defiantly. "The lock is on this of the door. And the door opens into my room." He pointed out. "There's no way they locked it from out in the hall."

"Uh huh!" Rachel sounded almost like a young schoolgirl. "Victor met us, and after he and Kori got super drunk, they came up with some doo-hickey that locked us in here."

"And you let them use it?!" Richard asked in utter confusion. "Why?"

"They said they were only trying to help." She mumbled, her voice soft.

He frowned, wondering why she suddenly seemed upset. Richard turned to look at her, and she wobbled slightly. "Help with what?" He asked.

"I told them that I thought you were attractive." She stated bluntly. At first Richard thought he'd misheard her, but then he saw that her face was completely red. She'd been blushing slightly before, but that was most definitely a side effect of the alcohol. "And they asked why you hadn't made a move on me, even though I've been sending you signs all the time." She suddenly narrowed her eyes and pointed a finger at him. "Y'know you're a baaaad detective. I take back my conglaturations I gave you."

She started leaning backwards, and Richard waited for her to steady herself. She didn't, and her arms started flailing wildly. He stepped forward and steadied her, putting a hand on her waist while the other grabbing her arm. Rachel looked up at him with wide eyes, and neither one of them moved.

And finally, what Rachel said clicked with him.

"They locked you in here with me because you said you wanted to sleep with me?" He asked.

Rachel nodded. "But I'm too drunk to have sex with you right now." He felt the heat rise to his face at her response. "So we'll have to try some other time."

He sighed. "Well, not that I'm opposed, but it's late. C'mon."

Richard helped her over to his mattress, ignoring the snickering and the "He got me in bed!" she mumbled as he pulled off her shoes and jacket before pulling the covers over her. He walked over to his closet and grabbed one of the jackets, intending on using it as a makeshift blanket since Rachel had passed out beneath his. Grabbing one of the extra pillows off the bed, he laid down on his floor, hoping that he wouldn't be too tired when he got up in a few hours.

~Roommate AU~

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Richard's eyes cracked open as his alarm went off so loud it could've woken the dead. He didn't move at first, and that was almost his undoing. Just as he turned to lay on his back, a foot came down next to his head and nearly curbstomped him. His eyes widened in fear and he froze as Rachel flew out of his bed and ran over to the door. She twisted the knob left and right, shook the door, and then fell to her knees.

Richard realized what was happening and acted quickly, grabbing his trashcan and dumping out the contents as he moved over to Rachel. He put it in front of her just as she started to vomit, narrowly saving his bedroom carpet. He pulled her hair back to keep it out of the way, and tried his best to ease her discomfort.

The morning after his 21st birthday had been similar, and he'd been smart to ask off for work the next day. Rachel mumbled something about it being too hot, so he stood and turned his fan on. Trying his doorknob, Richard realized that she'd been telling the truth last night about their friends locking them in.

Out in the hall, Garfield and Terra had fallen asleep against each other. They'd been assigned watch duty to make sure Kori and Victor's "genius" plan went off without a hitch. But they'd fallen asleep soon after they locked Rachel in Richard's room.

The door was kicked off its hinges, and both of them jolted upright as it crashed against the opposite wall. They took one look at the glare on Richard's face and decided that they wanted to live to old age, scrambling to their feet and running for their lives. "Tell Victor he's paying for that!" Richard yelled after them. His upstairs neighbor yelled at him to quiet down, and he sighed.

Walking into the kitchen and grabbing an empty glass out of the cabinet, he filled it with ice and water and walked back to his room, where Rachel was still leaning over the trashcan. "Here." He offered her the glass of water, and she grabbed it and took a small sip from it. "How you feeling?"

She groaned. "Everytime I've ever gotten this drunk, I always say never again. Why, oh why, can't I stick to that?" She asked. Richard chuckled, placing a soothing hand on her shoulder.

"So, like shit." Richard confirmed. "You want me to help to your room?" He asked. Rachel nodded, grabbing the trash can and slowly standing. She grabbed onto Richard for support, far too dizzy from her hangover to stand on her own. They made it to her room, and Rachel got into her bed, laying down on her side. Richard put the trash can on the floor beside her, in case she needed it again, and said, "Alright, I have to get ready for work. If you need anything, just holler."

~Roommate AU~

Several hours later, Richard finally returned home after a long day at the precinct. He closed the door behind him as he walked inside, pulling the chain latch over and locking it. Walking inside, he saw that Rachel was sitting at the kitchen table, reading. "Hey. You feeling better?" He asked, setting his briefcase down on the couch.

She nodded and said, "After I took a nap and showered, I felt much better. But I'm going to kill Kori the next time I see her." She said.

"Make sure you take the stuff I told you and put it to use, then. If you get arrested, I'm going to have to pick up the other half of rent, which I'd rather avoid. It was the whole point of moving in with you." Richard said.

Rachel nodded, remembering how they'd agreed to share an apartment three years ago. Rachel was trying to save money, and told Kori that if she had a roommate, it would certainly make her life easier. The news passed from her to Victor, then from Victor to Terra, and finally from Terra to him. After learning that they had mutual friends and a common desire to have more money, they'd agreed to get a cheap apartment downtown. The rest, as they say, is history.

Richard opened the fridge, grabbing the ham out and closing the door behind him. As he started making a sandwich, Rachel spoke up. "Sorry about last night." He turned to look at her from his spot at the counter. "I didn't mean to ambush you like that."

Richard shrugged. "It's alright." He said as he put the ham back in the fridge. "Nothing happened, so you don't need to apologize."

"Hmm." Rachel looked down at the table. "But you know…"

He turned to look at her, the sandwich in his hands halfway up to his mouth.

"Last night, you said you weren't opposed to trying some other time."

The room suddenly got very, very tense.

~Roommate AU~

A/N

And the rest is left up to you guys! Oh, this was a great week. I'm seriously looking forward to next year's robrae week as well.