Whatever it Takes
Summary: Kori Anders recently moved to Gotham, trying to start a fresh life and move on from her old one. But those around her can't help but to think she's hiding something, something she'll do whatever it takes to keep from resurfacing. RichardxKori Rated M
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.
Prologue: Run
Korina Andrews stood outside of her apartment, opening her mailbox. She shivered as the cold wind hit her, and she quickly grabbed her mail and headed back to her door. She glanced behind her shoulder as she walked, not able to quite kick the feeling of someone watching her.
She took a deep breath, seeing her breath in the air in front her. The feeling of someone watching her grew to be too much as she fumbled around with her keys, trying to get her door opened.
She sighed in relief as her lock finally came undone, and she practically sprinted into her apartment. "Damn lock, I told the landlord to fix it already. What is taking him so long?" she muttered, throwing her mail down on her table.
She glanced around her apartment, her home of 3 years now. Everything about it screamed her style, from the purple walls and her favorite artist's paintings, to the huge bookshelf filled with novels from every genre you could think of. Her easel stood in the corner of the living room, with a fresh canvas waiting for her to splash her ideas onto.
She made her way into her bathroom, and bent over the tub to start the hot water. She took another deep breath as she took off all her clothes, and stood naked in the mirror. Her hand came up to her throat, and grabbed her necklace as she twirled it in her fingers. Sighing, she made her way to the clasp, taking it off, and set it down on the bathroom counter.
The necklace was the last gift her father ever gave her, before he died in a car accident on his way to work when she was eight years old. Out of everything she owned, it was the only thing that she thought was of value. She was twenty years old now and always found herself still taking it off before doing anything she thought might ruin it over the years.
Noticing steam beginning to take over the mirror, she stepped into the shower, letting the hot water cover her body. She let down her hair from the messy bun she had it in, and let her long deep auburn hair fall over her shoulders. She grabbed her Vanilla Almond body wash and began to scrub away all her worries, allowing herself to get lost in the steam of the hot water.
Minutes passed by, and she reluctantly got out of the shower. She looked at herself in the mirror once more, taking herself in. Her hair was wet and tangled, but she knew she was considered beautiful. With her sun kissed skin, long wavy hair, and big green eyes. She stood at around 5'5" and had a petite but curvy frame. However, she was never one to intentionally make her beauty shine, and wore clothes that were usually covered in paint or just in pants and t-shirts.
She glanced down at her phone, "It's already past midnight?"
She quickly grabbed her pajamas and dressed, before throwing herself down into bed, and drifted off to sleep.
Kori shot up in bed, and glanced down at the clock, realizing that it was 2 in the morning. She stood up and walked to her door, fear consuming her as she thought she heard someone in her apartment.
She put her ear against it, and tried to listen for movements, praying it was just her imagination. After a few minutes of not hearing anything again, she slumped against the door, feeling relieved.
She went to walk back to her bed when her door shot open, and she went to scream before two hands grabbed her around the waist.
"Miss me?" the voice breathed sickly into her ear, before smelling her hair, "Because I know I've missed you." She tried to get herself out of their hands, but their strength way over powered hers and she found herself being thrown onto her bed.
"Get off me!" She cried out, but her voice was being muffled by their hands. "Hush," they whispered angrily, "Don't want to wake the neighbors, now do we?"
Their free hand snaked around her throat squeezing it tightly, while the other moved from her mouth down her body. She felt his hand hold onto the waist band of her silky pajama pants. "You know I always loved these pajamas on you, Kori," he breathed into her ear.
"…You're…disgusting…," she gasped out, trying to muster up all the anger in her voice that she could, trying to disguise the fear that she felt. His grip tightened even more on her throat, and she started to feel dizzy. Tears stung her eyes as she brought her knee up hard to the man's abdomen, and he rolled over to his side coughing.
She threw herself off the bed and ran out of her room, heading towards the door. She was almost to the door knob when the man ran up behind her, and took a hold of her tank top. He threw her into her end table, and she slid to the floor. She brought her hand up to the back of her head, feeling the warm sticky blood where she had hit it.
"Feisty, I like it," he sneered, before lunging himself at her again. She felt his body slam onto hers, and she knew she didn't stand that much of a chance. Please let someone hear what's going on, please she prayed, as she watched him swing back his hand, and backhand her across the face.
She felt the warm wetness trickle down her face from her nose, and she flinched as his hand came down again.
"Did you really think you could avoid me, Korina?" He shouted, "Did you? Do you think I'm honestly too stupid to find you?" He began taking off his belt, and she took his distraction as a chance to make a run for it.
She went to get up, but he grabbed onto her ankle, and she felt a sensation of pain as the belt came down across her back. She cried out and kicked at him as hard as she could, make him fall back onto the ground. She grabbed for the nearest thing to her, which luckily was a vase, and she threw it down on his head.
The sound of glass shattering echoed in her ears as she stood frozen in shock, seeing his body lay there motionless, blood flowing freely from his head.
She ran out of her apartment into the cold, crying out for help.
Not much I know, but it's a start. Read and review if you want to, let me know what you think!