Summary: Dick discovers that his long-time girlfriend, Kory has undergone an experimental procedure that erases all her memories of him after their failed relationship. Frustrated, Dick decides to undergo the same procedure and have Kory erased from his memory. Once the procedure starts, however, Dick realizes he doesn't really want to forget her.

This is based on my favorite romantic movie. It's complicated so pay close attention.

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or Eternal..., or In Memoriam: 27


I hold it true, what'er befall,
I feel it, when I sorrow most,
'Tis better to have loved and lost,
Than never to have loved at all.

Dick knew it was going to be a bad day from the moment he woke up on Monday morning.

After working straight through the weekend in his increasingly unorganized home office, he had the joy of getting up extra early to get to the office downtown in time for a staff meeting. After hitting the snooze button four times he dragged himself out of bed and into the shower, determined to be no later than he already was, which by now was at least a full sixteen minutes. The cold water shocked him awake. Damn it he was suppose to call the plumber to fix the problem with the heater. He quickly towel dried himself , dressed, and stumbled into the kitchen toward the coffee can, which to his discontent was empty. He grumbled in response, and quickly pulled out his wallet. He dug through it sure he had, had a twenty in there. All there was, was three dollars and forty-two cents. Not even enough to buy a regular coffee at Starbucks.

He groaned staring at his watch, he grabbed the files he would need for his staff meeting. On the way to his parked car he stuffed his files into his briefcase, He was sure it was going to rain, and after spending nine and a half hours typing the damn proposal the last thing he needed was to have it ruined by rain. Besides that it was really, good and today was the day he finally got his promotion.

Dick began to drive his beaten down Volvo down the gray highway towards the train station. If he were to drive all the way down town the traffic would make sure he would not be on time for work. The slow drizzle quickly transformed into a harsh down pour. Dick flicked on his windshield wipers and slid into am empty parking space outside the train station. One the car was turned off, he twisted his body around and began dig through his clutter in his back seat for the umbrella he knew he left there. He rummaged through old newspapers and outdated files. He was sure there had am umbrella back there. He slammed his hands against the steering wheel in frustration.

"Damn it." he sighed.

After a few moments of crude cursing, he tucked his brief case under his arm. He opened the door ready to face the stormy conditions. He made a run for the platform. He stepped in a puddle soaking his socks and slopping his shoes.

"Shit." he cursed under his breath.

He slid his card through the reader and pushed open the security gate. The train would be arriving in about ten minutest. He fell onto a wooden bench, and watched the rain fall onto the railroad tracks. The terminal was a lot emptier than usual. Probably one of those Monday mornings when most disgruntled employees were nursing hangovers and called in sick to avoid having to live up to their responsibilities.

Dick glanced up to see that, in fact, he was the only one there. Well with the exception of a strange woman examining a map of down town Jump City, bolted in the center of the terminal. She didn't notice Dick staring at her. He didn't notice that he was staring at her, but she unusual. She had the widest green eyes he had ever seen, and no bags underneath indicating that she was well rested. Dick on the other hand was often stopped in streets being asked who punched him. She had the strangest shade of red hair. Auburn maybe? She was wearing a wrinkled white blouse and suit-skirt, that was mismatched with a pair of paint stained sneakers.

The girl turned toward Dick, who politely turned away. He felt his cheeks flush. Out of his perennial vision he could see her still watching him, leaning against the wooden pole. She straightened her posture as if preparing to walk over to him. Dick's heart began to race. The girl lurched toward him. To his relief the train pulled across from him. Dick took a sigh of relief, and hopped up from his seat and quickly fled towards the sliding doors.

It was a lot warmer inside the train than he had expected. Ignoring the careless glances of the prior riders. He hobbled toward the back of the train. Falling into an empty seat, he watched the doors close behind the strange girl. She looked around the compartment as the train began to pull forward. The chug of the wheels taking speed. Dick closed his eyes and leaned his head against the cracked plexi glass window.

He imagined how unprofessional it would look when he arrived at the staff meeting drenched and at least fifteen minutes late. His maniacal boss would have a fit. In the two years that Dick had been working there he had been late once, due to reasons beyond his control. His boss still rode him about it. Never mind the countless times he had been at least a half an hour early. Dick suddenly felt a presence standing before him. He opened his eyes and tilted his head slightly to see the weird girl standing in front of him. She smiled at him and gave an awkward wave. Her teeth were perpetually white, he noted. She bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Hi." she said. "I'm sorry to bother you-you looked deep in thought, but I don't go down town too often and I'm not really sure where I'd be going. So anyways you wouldn't happen to know how to get from the station to North Fourth street, would you?"

Dick stared at her blankly for a short moment. She seemed hopeful standing there smiling at him. For one devious moment he actually considered breaking her happy little spirit.

"Uh sure." he said sitting up in his seat. He looked around distractedly. "Do you have a map?"

She pulled a wrinkled map of down town Jump City, out of her pocket and handed it to him. "Pen?" he asked feeling his pocket for one. "Never mind." he said pulling a pen out of the inside of his coat pocket. It was a glossy glass pen with the words the Paramount inscribed in gold lettering. His eyes squinted. The Paramount was an art gallery up in Blüdhaven. He had never even been to Blüdhaven. He shook it off probably grabbed it by mistake at work.

"Once you get off, go immediately down Hudson way, but turn once you get onto Denali road, go all the way down until you're on east on Fourth street." he explained while drawing guidelines on the map. "Keep going up the block, then you'll reach your destination."

He handed her the map. She glanced it over. "Wow thank you. You know this guide is really great. Are you an artist?"

Dick knew she was kidding, but what else do you say when a cute girl flirts with you? Don't be stupid you little twit. Take your damn map and shut the hell up.

Dick responded with a chuckle. She took a sudden seat across from him. "I do some painting whenever I can get some free time, which isn't so often. To pay the rent I work at a temp agency, which is why I'm here actually. This month I'm a secretary at a law firm, which translates as I do all the things other people don't want to do for minimum wage. What do you do for a living?"

"Uh," he considered lying. "You wouldn't believe me. It's kind of lame."

"Try me." she tempted.

"I work at greeting card company. I'm a copy writer, which means I come up with slogans for greeting cards."

He prepared himself for the laughter. He waited, but she never did. She smiled at him innocently and even interested. "Really, I always just assumed they came from the same place fortune cookies came from."

"Yeah where is that?"

"I have no idea." she held her hand out to him. "Kory Anders. Kory is just a nick name."

He accepted her handshake. "Dick Grayson. Dick is also a nick name."

She giggled a light hearted, genuine giggle. The rest of the ride was silent. every so often Dick would steal a glance at Kory who was busy reading a weathered and beaten copy of Wuthering Heights. Finally the train pulled into the platform. Dick and Kory silently exited and walked through the station. Together they stepped onto the bustling streets of Jump. It had stopped raining and the atmosphere had become very humid and the streets were still wet. It was muggy and cloudy but Dick could see the sun trying to peek through.

Kory sighed. "Well thanks for your help." she said indifferently and began her trek down the street.

Dick watched ger until she was out of ear shot. "Bye." he said quietly. He sighed realizing he was going to make himself later than he already was. He journeyed in the opposite direction. Dick broke out into a sprint half way down the block. He burst through the front doors nearly knocking over a poor intern with a large stack of papers. He lost his patience at the elevator and decided it would be more time efficient to jog up the stairs. By the time he reached the second floor he was out of breath.

"Am I late?" he gasped at the confused looking secretary. Before she could answer him a group of laughing employers pushed open the doors.

"Grayson, you look a mess." his boss Mr. Jody said, before opening the doors to the conference room. Dick sighed with relief. Maybe today wasn't going to be so bad after all.

The meeting went on as usual. Dick was the youngest person in attendance, by at least ten years. The significantly napped and fiddled with their fingers, while Mr. Jody explained last months numbers. Dick diligently took notes on his handy dandy legal pad. The meeting was pretty standard. Finally it was Dick's turn to present his information,. He did a fantastic job on his powerpoint. He was so getting this promotion. When he was finished he had a seat.

"Thank you Grayson." Mr. Jody said. "Now the moment you have all been waiting for. As you all know we've been observing some of our top copy writers and we have finally made a decision on who will be promoted to junior executive. This man is someone who is hard working, diligent, and dedicated. His ideas have made this company thousands of dollars every month, and I think this person will eventually allow this company to compete against the like of Hallmark."

Dick dedided that he would act surprise when Mr. Jody announced him. He straightened his tie. "Congratulation, Xavier."

Dick's mouth dropped open. Xavier who was sitting across from his sleeping made a weird gurgling noise before snapping awake. "Huh?"

The crowd minus Dick quickly surrounded Xavier patting him on the back and congratulating him. It took a minute to process into Dick's mind and when he did, he snapped. He stood up pushing his chair back and slamming his hands on the table. "What!"

The room was silent. Dick began to wonder what he was doing. "Grayson what's the meaning of this?" he said referring to his outburst.

"What's the- what's the meaning? How about the fact that I've busted my ass in this dump for two years, while Xavier has been here for two months. It was my idea to introduce pet death sympathy cards, and I've made more money for this company than any other copy writer in the city. I deserve that raise!"

Mr. Jody was silent for awhile. Dick momentairly considered taking it back and apologizing and blaming into a some new medication he was one, but he was tired of being the yes man.

"Grayson," Mr. Jody started. "You are more valuable to me here. Think of it as a compliment. I can't afford to loose you, but if you don't like it the door is always open." It was a hollow threat Dick knew, but nevertheless one half hour later he was on an elevator holding a box with all his desk knickknacks in it. He was in a daze when he left. He quit in the heat of the moment and it only began to sink in when he was standing in the front of the Heart Made Card Company building, in the pouring rain, holding a box of his stuff. He handed the box to a hobo on the street and began to make his way down the street. He decided to give both him and Mr. Jody some space. He would beg for his job back tomorrow.

He found himself in the santuary that was a pub. The baseball game was playing on a widescreen televsion and some drunk construction workers were cheering in the background. Dick stared into his half drunken glass of beer. He couldn't believe he had quit his job. He rested his head on the edge of the bar and groaned loudly. He didn't notice the sleek body that sat on the stool next to him. Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped, startled. It was the girl he met on the train this morning. Kory, was it?

"Hey." she said pleasantly. "Small world. Aren't you out of work a little early?"

He looked her emotionless and then laughed. "Actually I quit today. Something...came up. And me? Aren't you out of work only."

She looked at his watch. "Ironically enough I'm temping at an unemployment agency and they close early in the afternoon." it was her turn to laugh. "Maybe I can hook you up."

He rubbed his eyes. "That won't be necessary." He sighed. "I'm going to try to get my job back tomorrow. Tonight I just want to relax. I haven't relaxed in over two years."

Kory took a sip of his beer. "Well your not going to do it in here. I know this great place. We can take the bus back uptown and, do you have a car? Never mind we don't need a car, we can take the bus. It'll be a lot of fun."

Dick was beginning to wonder if this girl was crazy. "You want to take me all the way uptown. You just met me. How do know I'm not a serial killer or a stalker?"

She examined him for a long moment, before shaking her head. "No, you're way to uptight to be a serial killer. And you don't come off as a stalker. And I'm too much fun to be either." he was still skeptical. "C'mon it'll be fun. How many spontaneous moments do you have to run around town with a cute girl. And who knows...maybe you'll get lucky."

Dick laughed. "How can I argue with that."

Dick and Kory got back onto a train that brought them back to uptown Jump. Kory suggested that they take a bus to their destination. Dick insisted that they take his car. On the highway it stopped raining and Dick made Kory promise that she was taking him to some hippy dippy music festival. Most of the car ride consisted of Kory giving Dick directions. It was a long car ride and Kory fell asleep toward the end. He turned up a long road and onto a beach lined with secluded and abandoned summer houses. As it was late March and the weather was still iffy. Dick parked the car on the side of the road. Kory immediately jumped out of the car and began running toward the crashy white water, stripping off her clothes on the way. She left her bra and panties on and jumped head first into the water. Dick slowly walked over the to edge of the water and was careful to not let the water ruin his new leather shoes.

He watched Kory's head bob in and out of the water. The material of the little clothing she had left on stuck to her. "Aren't you getting in?" she called to him at a distance.

"I'm good." he yelled back to her.

"Don't be such a baby!"

He slowly untied his shoes and stuck his feet in the damp sand. He didn't have intentions on getting in the water. He imagined it was freezing cold, and he didn't want to risk illness. He watched Kory for awhile as she ducked under water and came back up. At one point she stayed under longer than she usually would. Dick thought at first that she was messing with him, trying to get him in the water

"Nice try." he called out to her. She didn't back up. That's when he began to worry. "Kory? Kory?"

Without another thought he immediately dove headfirst onto the water, his body in the position of a straight arrow. The iciness of the water stung him like dagger, and the shock overtook him for a moment. He ignored the freezing and rapidly began to feel around for Kory. The water rushed around him and he prayed the current hadn't pushed her away to much. He forced his arm to move as he searched under water for her. His lungs begged for air. He kicked his feet up to the surface and gasped for breath. He saw a tall figure standing on the beach laughing at him. Dick swam back to shore. Kory immediately began to run, but he ran after her. He gently tackled her into the hard sand the two laughing on the way down. Dick let his hold around Kory linger. He stared into her big green eyes. Their laughter subsided and they stared into each other's eyes, two practical strangers. Maybe it was heat of the moment, maybe it was the fact that hardly knew each other, hell maybe it was the fact that they were laying half naked and soaking wet in each others arm but somehow they connected. And they kissed.

After a long moment of intense and passionate kissing, Kory broke apart from him. She stood up and stumbled through the sand and grabbed her clothes. "Well, hurry up it's freezing out here."

Kory lead Dick to one of the empty summer houses. She stomped up the splintered stairs, and was alighted to find the door unlocked. Dick hesitated. "Uh I don't think we should be going in there." he yelled from the front door. "We don't know who lives here."

Kory reappeared in the front door. "No one is here. And it's not like we're stealing and since the door wasn't locked it's not breaking and entering. It's just trespassing. Besides it's cold outside, and about to rain. We'll just stay until our clothes dry."

Dick reluctantly agreed but still wasn't completely comfortable with staying inside of a stranger's house. He tossed his and Kory's clothes inside a dryer between the living room and the kitchen. There were two his and hers bathrobes hanging above the dryer. He pulled one off the hanger and pulled it on. She made his way up the stairs to where Kory was. She was laying on the bed in the master bedroom. He handed her the other bathrobe. She groggily pulled it on. Dick laid down beside her and listened to the sound of rain pattering against the window.

"What are you thinking about, Tim?" Kory asked.

Dick looked at her confused. He looked down at his bathrobe, on the left chest side was the Tim embroidered in blue letters. He laughed. "Nothing really -Betty. Just how I'm going to get my job back."

She yawned and rolled over. "Worry about it tomorrow.

And that's just what he did. The next morning Dick and Kory woke up and snuck out of the house. Kory requested that Dick stop at her apartment. Just like the previous day Dick complied without much question or objection. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, yawed, and glanced at his watch. A tap on the window startled him. A red haired man, with five o'clock shadow was leaning over the driver's side. Dick cautiously rolled down the window. There was a moment of silence between the two.

"Can I help you?" The red head asked, as touch of unexpected desperation laced his voice.

Dick stared at him for a moment confused. His first thought was that this guy was either homeless or crazy. "No." he answered curtly.

The redhead stood up and glanced momentary at Kory's apartment building. He sighed a visible cloud in the gray winter sky. "Ok." he said standing up. He turned around an began walking in the opposite direction.

Dick was perplexed by the encounter, but didn't tread on it for too long. Kory swung the passenger side open. She was clad in new clothes, with a pile of mail clasped in her hands.


It was late at night.

Dick had to pull over to the side of the rode, because in his current state of mind he was in no condition to drive. He needed a minute. He couldn't believe how bad things had gotten, that it would come to something completely desperate and strange. He sat with the car running listening to Cryin' for over an hour. He almost wanted to cry. Almost. He pulled himself together long enough to pull his car onto the icy road. He pressed the eject button and pulled the mix tape Kory had made him Christmas and tossed it out the window. He hoped a very large eight-teen wheeler would come along shortly and crush it into a thousand and one pieces.

He thought about it long and hard. He wanted this, he was sure. Wasn't he? He sped up to avoid all the red lights. Anything to avoid be alone and left to think. Left to reconsider what he was about to do. It was crazy after all. He pulled his volvo into the parking lot at his condo. He could see the white van sitting across the street. He hopped out of his car and stood staring at the white van, the undeniable and visual proof this was all really happening. He could see the dark figures waiting in the van. One of them waved to him.

He ignored them and walked up the walkway to his front steps. He pulled the mail out of his mailbox, and pushed his keys into the lock. When he was safely inside he looked out the window back at the van. They were still waiting. He left the door unlocked and looked at the tightly wrapped package in his arms, from Luneca Inc. He quickly went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. He was trying hard to convince himself this was what he wanted. He did he really did. He ripped open the package and pulled out the blue pajamas. He slid into them and read the instructions on the side of the prescription pill bottle. He let the two tiny white pills lay flat in his hand.

He stared at them for awhile. After this there was no going back. It was permanent. Is this what he really wanted? He just needed the pain to stop. He remembered the hurtful things she had said to him, and without another thought he put the pills in his mouth and swallowed. He made his way over to the lamp in the living room. He switched it off. The signal. He stumbled toward the pull out couch in the living room. The room was spinning and his vision doubled. Those pills were strong. He was unconscious before he was all the way under the covers.

He could hear the heavy footsteps as the came into his house. He saw blurry images of them hovering around him, setting up equipment, asking questions he could no longer answer. Recent memories were becoming blurry. He felt a heavy helmet like thing being attached to his wanted this he did. But if that were the case why was his heart beating so fast? Why was he starting to panic? He was sure this was what he wanted. It was.

Right?


The words she had said to him, broke him. He remembered thinking about just the week before. He even week out a bought her a Valentine's Day gift. A new art set. It was pretty pricey than any other gift he'd bought her and he'd be eating canned soup for the rest of the week, but he just wanted to tell that he loved her and that he was sorry. He could take all the blame. He could. He just wanted her back for things to go back to normal. He remembered going into Hallmark Co. to do some last minute business, and she must have been temping there.

"Can I help?" she said as if she never met him.

Dick stared at her blankly. What was she pulling at? Then a younger man that was probably working there, leaned into Kory.

"Are we still on for tonight?" he asked her.

Her eyes were still on Dick. "Of course." she told him. Then she directed himself to Dick. "Let me know if you need anything."

For the rest of the day he couldn't think, his mind was racing. She was trying to hurt him. She wanted to, and it worked. He kept going back to that guy and pretending she didn't know him. How could she be so cruel. He knew they didn't break up on good terms, but prior to that everything had been almost heavenly. It distracted him while he was work, and on the train ride back uptown. When he got to his car he just stared at the steering wheel. He still loved Kory, so why didn't she? Driving like a mad man he drove to the only person who could think for him right now. When he got to Raven's house she handed him a beer. He was too upset to drink it and just paced around.

Raven watched him from her kitchen counter. "Dick, stop you're making me dizzy."

"How could she do this to me? You should have seen the guy she was with. Fucking jail bait. He must have been right out of high school." he sat on the stair with his head in his hands. His sighed deeply. "All of this because I decided to be honest with her. I don't think I'll ever love a woman again. I fall in love and end up getting my fucking heart ripped out. You know what, love doesn't exist. It doesn't. It's all a game and we all play each other and in the end someone ends up loosing."

Raven sighed. She slid off the counter and walked over to Dick. She took a seat next to him and stared at the front door. There was a long moment of silence. She sighed again. "Okay Dick, I could loose my job for telling you this, but..." she tried to find the right way to say it. "Do you know what I do? For a living?"

He looked at her confused. "All I know for sure is that you work downtown at Luneca Inc., but I don't know what the hell they do."

"Well," she started slowly. "What it is, is we...erase memories."

"Erase memories?"

"Sometimes living with the memories are too painful. Sometimes people just want to forget, and that's what we do. We take away all the memories that disable our clients from being able to move on. Then when they are gone, they can just get on with their lives. Sometimes forgetting is just better. Well, anyways, I'm really not suppose to tell you this because of client, doctor confidentiality, but...last week Kory came in. " he looked at her blankly. "Dick, she got you erased from her memories."

Dick just stared at her for a long agonozing minute. She waited as he said nothing. "Yeah. Ha ha Raven, very funny."

She gave him a serious look. "Dick..."

Suddenly he jumped up. "What! No! You can't be serious."

Raven's hand twitched before she pulled what appeared to be a postcard adressed to her. She handed it to Dick. His azure eyes swept over the words.

Dear Ms. Raven Roth

Please be informed that Kory Anders has had all memories of Richard "Dick" Grayson erased from her mind.
Please refrain from ever mentioning said person that s/he has voluntary elected to have erased as s/he
no longer wishes to remember said person. We appreciate your full cooperation and participation.

With Regards,
Luneca Inc.

He began pacing rapidly. He stopped and plopped down on the couch. Raven handed him his unopened beer, this time he accepted. He twisted the cap off and gulped down half the bottle is one swig. He felt a never ending depression washing over him. His chest ached. There was a literal pain in his heart, it was really broken. He took a few panicking deep breaths. Did she really hate him so much that she would just erase him. Just get rid of him, like he didn't mean anything to her. He could just be forgotten and replaced. That was so much worse than anything she could have said or done. It was worse than pretending that she didn't know him.

She really didn't.


Raven was able to pull a few strings and get Dick an appointment with Dr. Slade, the head of Luneca Inc. It was a few days before Valentine's Day, the busiest time of the year. The earlist she was able to schedule him was two days after he had learned that Kory erased him. He had no intentions at all, he just wanted learn about how the process worked. Raven was unable to tell him too much for risk of getting fired. He called in sick and went down town, into the tiny office building. It was like tiny waiting room. Raven was sitting behind the reception desk, filing out paperwork and taking a phone call.

"...no that offer expired after the new year...I don't think we'll be able to schedule you until early March...no, no Valentine's Day is our busiest time..." she put the phone against her shoulder and directed herself to Dick. "Hey, how are you?" she handed his a clipboard with a document attached to it. "Just fill out this form."

Dick hesistantly grabbed the clipboard and took a seat in a hard plastic chair next to a crying woman holding a box of dog stuff labeled, Buddy. Dick ignored her, and began to fill out the form. It was basic information. Age, gender, name. The it asked stranger questions like to list any mental ailments, or past trips to psychological recovery centers (AKA the looney bin). Dick filled out no, signed the consent and wager form, and handed it back to Raven. She told him the doctor would be call him momentarily. He wondered what type of doctor this guy was. A neurosurgeon perhaps? What kind of doctor erased peoples memories for living, in a shady little building in the center of Jump City?

Finally his name was called by a man with white hair wearing a whit lab coat with a name tag that read Dr. Slade. Dick hopped out of his seat and followed him into the back. There were several doors down the narrow hallway, all which were shut. Dick followed Slade into the last room. It resembled a doctor's office, except the walls were wooden and there weren't any fancy medical equpiment. Dick took a sat in the chair across from the doctor. Slade eyed him suspiciously with his one eye. Dick pretended not to notice.

"So, Mister..." he glanced at his form. "Grayson, where did you hear about us from?"

"Uh," Dick said. He didn't want to get Raven in any trouble. "Well, I saw an ad in the paper." he prayed they did ads.

Dr. Slade nodded approvingly. Dick internally sighed with relief. "Now what can I erase for you today?" Dr. Slade asked.

Dick was pretty sure he was trying to make a joke. "Well," he started. "I- I think I want to...erase my ex girlfriend. We broke up awhile ago but I can't seem to get over it. I've seen her around dating other guys and it's making everything so much harder on me. I just want to move on."

Okay so "awhile" was some what of a stretch, it was only three weeks ago. And he had only seen her around once, dating one other guy, and he really just wanted revenge for erasing him. He couldn't tell the doctor any of this. He didn't know if there were some psychological evaluation he needed to pass in order to be accepted for this procedure. Maybe this was a test. See if some nut really wanted to have people erased from their memory. That's how they lured the crazies in. If this were a test surely he had failed. Any moment now the men in white would burst through the door and drag him away to the mental institute. He deserved as much wanting to erase the only woman he'd ever loved. It was all so maddening.

Dr. Slade watched him patiently. "Yes, we have that request most often around this time of year. Let me explain to you exactly what we'll need from you in order for use to help you. First of all you'll need to collect every item in your possession of your ex girlfriend-"

"Kory." Dick finished.

"Pictures, video, gifts, clothing, anything that you can connect to her. We will use these items in the Navigation room, to draw a map of her in your memory, so that way when the process begins we can target only those that contain Kory and not accidentally obliterate your twenty-first birthday in Las Vegas or anything like that. After our staff members will incinerate the items, so there is no confusion about how they came into your possession. You will wake up like you would with any hangover except Kory will cease to be anyone important to you. Any questions?"

"Uh, will this have any side effects, or-cause brain damage."

"Well, this procedure essentially is brain damage." Dr. Slade answered. "And there are no side effects that won't be associated with a night of drinking."

Dick sighed and stood up. The ride home was hazy at best. He didn't remember anything from the office back to his apartment. It was a like a dream-a nightmare. He grabbed a trash bag from underneath the kitchen sink, and began to shove all of Kory's things that she had left behind into it. Her hairbrush, a sweater, a picture he had drawn of her. He was hesitant in putting the picture in the bag. Is this something he really wanted? Yes. He stuffed it in without another thought with the rest of her forgotten memorabilia.

He checked high and low. Underneath the bed, in desk drawers, in the closet. He filled two heavy boxes with everything that reminded him of Kory and returned to Luneca. Dr. Slade didn't look at the stuff. He directed Dick into a room called the "Mapping Room". There was a small man with blonde hair wearing a white lab coat on top regular civilian wear. He looked oddly familiar, but Dick couldn't put his finger on it.

"Hey." the man said sticking out his hand which Dick accepted as a handshake. "My name is Garfield Logan, but you can call me Gar. Have a seat right up here."

Dick sat in chair that looked liked the one at the dentists. A giant brain scan machine was placed on his head. Gar explained that he would show him one the items from his apartment and Dick would focus nonverbally on the memory. From this they would create a map of his mind, and target the intended memories to be destroyed.

"We a lot of work to do if we want to get this done tonight." Gar said. He placed a snowglobe that Kory had bought from their weekend trip in Boston last spring.

Dick remembered smiling as she rummaged through a tiny, old souvenir shop on the Boston pier. Suddenly green dots appeared on a screen with a picture of his brain. "Got it." Gar said typing something into the computer. This process continued. Dick tried to focus on how much better he would be once this was all over. Soon he told himself. How cruel was it to just erase her, like she never mattered to him.

But after all: she started it. So why did matter to him anyways?


Dick felt a strange sensation. He was conscious but unconscious.

He was fully aware that he was asleep and that there were strangers hovering above his sleeping forms setting up machines and messing with his mind, his memories. He was standing in Dr. Slade's office in the mapping room, watching himself recalling memories of Kory while Gar drew a map of his mind. No one seemed to be aware of his presence. Dick looked on in silent fascination and horror.

"So this is really happening." Dick said to himself.

The memories began to blend together. Him in the mapping room and then him walking into the clinic, while Raven greeted him from the desk. Faces began to blur and voices became inaudible before they ceased to exist. Dick found himself in a completely different scene. He couldn't tell if this were a memory or reality. This he remembered clearly, too clearly. The fact that he was living it, rather than reliving it, told him this was a memory.

He was driving the car, Kory was silent beside him. There was unbearably tension and silent. "Are you alright?" he dared to ask her.

"Fine." she said rather bitingly.

He glanced at her. "You're not okay."

She looked at him annoyed. "Don't fucking do that. You always fucking do that! You think you always know what's going on, and you don't. It's so fucking annoying."

"Well then why don't you tell me what's wrong Kory." His tone was condescending, and his temper was rising.

The words got caught in Kory's throat. "I saw you fucking hitting on that girl. Your ex girlfriend."

"Jesus Kory. How many fucking times do I have to tell you Barbara is just a friend. For God's sake we haven't dated since high school. It was almost ten years ago."

Kory crossed her arms over her chest and huffed out the window. Her glaze glared out the window. Dick shook his head disapprovingly. The ride was becoming increasingly tense. Dick stood his ground. He knew she was being irrational and couldn't let her win this one. She'd break first, she always did. They arrived home. Dick silently unlocked the door. Kory pushed past him and stomped around his apartment. She flicked on the light in the kitchen. Dick heard her scoff and suck her teeth.

He took off his jacket and tossed it on the chair in the living room. He groaned and sat down in the easy chair. Kory appeared before him with a sweeter look on his face. He watched her movements keeping his face stoic. She stood in front of him and hitched up her dress before straddling his waist. She pressed her forehead against his. Their lips met in forgiving ecstasy. Dick's fingers quickly tangled themselves in her hair. Her lips were like rose petals. Her scent was sweet.

His hands dropped to her waist and slipped to her thighs before snaking underneath of her dress. His hand lingered on her pantyline when his finger got caught in a hole. His eyes snapped opened. Before she could respond he pulled his lips off of her and pushed the hem of her dress up.

"Have you been fucking other guys?" his voice was incredilous.

She looked at him guilty. She slid from his lap and turned her back to him. He became enraged. He said her name over and over, growing in fury every time she failed to respond. She turned back to him. "Yes."

Dick stared her his mouth slightly open. He was speechless. She waited in silence while he slid back into his seat. "Will you be honest with me?" he asked calmly.

"Yes." she answered.

"Why?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "Because I love you." she answered. Her caught the reluctance in her tone.

"Why did you do it?" he asked.

"I don't know."

"Are you bored with me?" Kory was such a free spirit, it was one of the things he loved most about her. The complete opposite of himself. It also caused her to be impulsive, easily bored, dangerous. That terrified him.

"Yes." she answered slowly.

Dick gave a small condescending laugh and shook his head. "Why did let me fall in love with you then? Why did you just string me along for all these years and then just..." his voiced trailed off. God, he was so mad. "Why did you do it?"

"I don't know." her own voice was rising.

"Yes you do." he said. "Why?"

She sighed indifferently. She wanted to spare his feelings, she really did, but she didn't know what to say. That for the first time she was really in love and that scared her. That she intentionally fucked things up so that she wouldn't have to take the risk? "You're too-"

"Don't say I'm too good for you." Dick cut her off. "I am, but don't say it. Why didn't you just tell me when we first walked in the door? Why- did you let me hang out to dry for your amusement."

Kory's eyes wavered. The guilt was overpowering. "I-I was scared."

"You're a coward. You spoiled bitch." Dick stood up from his seat. Kory flinched. There was a long moment of silence. "Was he better than me?"

"Don't do this." Her tone was not begging.

"Was he better than me?" he repeated.

She sighed. "Different."

He crossed the room so that he was standing directly in front of her. He wanted their eyes to meet. He wanted to see the guilt, he deserved as much. "Different how?"

"He's more gentle." she squeaked.

Now he was offended. He flexed his hands in attempts to control his anger. "Are you saying I treat you like a whore?" It was a statment rather than a question.

"Sometimes." she answered honestly.

Dick would never forget what he said next. The angry, scalding words that left his mouth. "I wonder why that is."

He regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Kory's eyes widened. Her jaw snapped shut. Without another word Kory stormed into the bathroom. Dick ran his hands over the back of his head. When Kory returned she was holding a bag stuffed with clothing and a few snacks. She tossed her house keys on the table.

"I won't be needing these anymore." she said angrily. Kory whipped open the door and slammed it shut behind her.

Dick immediately lept up to follow her. Kory was already half way up the hallway. "Kory, please." he pleaded with her, closely following her. "That was stupid I'm sorry. I-I was just mad- annoyed. I don't know-"

She stepped out of the lobby into the cold winter night. The cold penetrated Dick like knives through his shirt. He hesistated at the door watching her harsh steps move further and further out of view. Further and further out of his life. Dick took slow steps out of the door, watching her auburn hair flying in the wind.

"Kory!" he screamed up the street.

She didn't turn. She didn't even falter.

"So Raven's coming over tonight." Dick heard Garfield's voice someone. It was loud and clear as if he were speaking on a megaphone. Dick searched the sky for the source of the voice. This must have been how Moses felt when he was summoned by God. They were there, around him, talking around him. He was real, Dick realized, he was real in this memory. It wasn't a memory he was...reliving it.

"I like Raven, I just don't think she likes me." said an unrecognizable voice. "Maybe I should invite my girlfriend over. You know I have a girlfriend now."

"Uh, Roy we need to focus here." Gar sounded completely uninterested.

"The situation is kind of interesting-between me and my girlfriend." Roy continued. "You know that girl we did last week-Kory? Well I thought she was kind of hot so I looked at her file, went to her job, and asked her out."

Garfield scoffed. "That sounds completely unethical, and don't tell Raven when she gets here. This guy is her friend, and you're dating his ex girlfriend. It will just piss her off."

Dick bolted to where his car was parked and fumbled to find his keys in his pocket. His shaky hands struggled to unlock the doors. As soon as he was in the car he jammed the key into the ignition and pressed hard on the gas pedal sending the car absconding up the street. He slowed when he was caught with Kory. He rolled down the window. "Kory, please let me take you home."

"Fuck off." she replied.

Suddenly a car fell out of the sky. The cars parked next to the sidewalk where Kory was stomping up the street exploded as if invisible thousand pound boulders had been dropped on top of them. Kory continued as if nothing had happened. "It's all falling apart Kory." Dick yelled from the car. "They're erasing you and I'm happy about it."

He pulled the car over to the side, not bothering to turn it off or shut the door. He followed Kory up the street. "Do you hear me? You'll be gone by tomorrow. The perfect ending to this piece of shit story!"ind

Suddenly the sounds of the memory were becoming less and less distinguished and the sounds around him were becoming more and more distinct. He could no longer hear the sound of the snow crunching under Kory's boots or sizzle of his running engine. Dick stopped in his tracks. The buildings up the street were fading. The memory was being erased. Dick was abruptly unable to recall the events that had just transpired.

"Do you have any unethical that is?" Garfield's voice sounded annoyed. "You took advantage of one of our clients. Those files are confidential. We have a code of ethics to adhere to."

The one known as Roy scoffed. "Don't be such a boy scout."

Dick closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes he was no longer standing in the middle of the street. He was back in his living room. He was seated on the couch and a rerun of I Love Lucy was playing out on the television. Kory materialized from the bathroom with a toothbrush hanging out of her mouth. Her dress was pulled down to her waist exposing a racy amount of her hefty bosom and lace, black bra. Dick recognized this memory. It was a few hours before they broke up, before they went to the party.

Dick's mind raced with ways to keep her there, before she was erased. Kory unaware of fate, pulled her jacket on. "I'll be in the car." she said disappearing behind the front door.

Several ornaments hanging on the wall crashed to the floor, and the televison spontaneously combusted. Dick shot up from the couch and threw the door open. "Kory!" he shouted down the hall. Kory was already gone. The hallway became blurry as it faded away. Startled Dick stepped back into apartment. He felt his body freeze.

He body froze several more times as his mind raced through several more exercrable memories of him and Kory. The time they got into an argument at the flea market, the time at Kang's restaurant they sat silently: dine of the dead. It made Dick realize how trite and futile their arguments had been. Were these they reasons they had broken up? Were these the reasons they had both been reduced to erasing each other's memories? Stupid contentions like how many kids they both to have, or when Dick was going to get around to cleaning out the closet?

It really was stupid. Maybe they weren't meant to be together. Maybe this was for the best.

Kory was now laying next to Dick underneath of the blankets. She was on her stomach while he was on his back. "Dick?" Kory asked him softly. "I love you." she sighed softly.

Dick stared at her for a moment. He pulled her so her torso on his chest. He kissed her neck and peckered kisses up to her lips. "I love you." he whispered.

"Do you promise?"

He pressed his lips against forehead. "I promise." he whispered.

"Forever?"

"Forever." He promised.

He opened his eyes from the bliss and Kory was gone. "No." he moaned in agony. He crawled under the sheets trying to catch her. He didn't want to forget. "Please let me have this one. Just this one."

At that moment the past didn't mean a damn to him. All the fighting and arguing he couldn't even remember what they were about. Was it because, his memories were being erased? He could still feel Kory's warm body on his chest, smell the cinnamon in her hair. No. He couldn't remember because, it didn't matter. All the pain and horrors of their relationship didn't obliterate these tender moments. These moments and memories were the only ones that mattered, because love conquered all.

He could still hear Kory's voice in his ear. "Do you promise? Forever?"

"I promise." he whispered as his world of bliss faded into nothingness and he began to forget.


I have been working on this for well over a year. Many versions of this had been written. This particular chapter was started last summer.